After his discussion with Mal, Jay had planned on searching the whole school for Carlos and straightening everything out. He was getting so tired of everything being so unnecessarily complicated. Jay was not going to wait any longer to talk to him, because every time they waited too long to talk to each other, bigger fights ensued. So he put on a brave face and stomped quickly through the halls, looking for his best friend.

He found the boy in the courtyard, and Jay would've smiled if Carlos hadn't been with him. Ben's tall frame was standing in front of Carlos and they seemed to be talking about something that was making Carlos laugh, which kudos for Carlos for being happy, but Jay couldn't help but be angry that it was Ben who was making Carlos laugh. Ever since Ben and Mal had broken up, Ben had seemed to take a major liking to Carlos, and though he wouldn't admit it, Ben's little charade around Carlos made Jay's blood boil.

Jay realized he must've been staring at the pair for a little too long, because when he came out of his daze, he realized Carlos was looking straight at him. Jay tried to smile, showing that he had no ill intent. When he took a step forward, he watched as Carlos frowned and took Ben by the arm, tugging him away. Jay continued to walk towards the pair, because even Ben wasn't going to stop him from fixing things with Carlos.

Carlos pushed at Ben's back and they seemed to be rushing out of the courtyard. Jay lowered his eyes and watched as the two quickly scurried away.

"Carlos!" Jay shouted, thinking that maybe the boy hadn't seen him. But he had, because when Jay called his name Carlos turned his head and gave Jay a gruff scowl before turning back around and walking off with Ben.

Jay bit at his lip angrily to refrain from yelling or shouting something stupid. Why couldn't Carlos just talk to him? Carlos had to know that avoiding the subject was just going to cause more chaos. And the fact that he was involving Ben? That just made the situation ten times worse. Who knows what Carlos had been telling Ben.

Carlos had told Jay that he didn't like Ben. That it would be too weird, with Mal and everything, but Jay didn't really know if he should believe him. The thought made Jay a little angry, because Carlos was being so stupid by hanging out with Ben. Rumors would start, and they really didn't need that. He knew whatever he was doing with Ben was probably innocent, but just to be sure, he was going to find a way to get Carlos alone without Ben in the way to ruin anything.

He figured the best person to help him with his issue would be Mal. Not that she would be willing to help, but she would be the best person to solve it if she did actually agree to help. Jay found her talking in a circle with a group of girls, and if he hadn't been so upset he probably would've taken the time to flirt with each one. But right then, all he could think of was Carlos, and he had to fix whatever he had managed to fuck up.

When he reached the group he walked behind Mal and roughly latched onto her arm and pulled her away. She made a disgruntled noise and tried to shoo Jay away.

"What the hell Jay!" She shouted, pushing Jay's hand away from her arm.

"Sorry, I need your help," Jay made a lame attempt at a smile, and he was met with Mal's famous scowl.

She scoffed and managed a weak laugh as she responded. "Why would I help you after you rudely shoved me away from a conversation?"

"Because it has to do with Carlos."

Mal deadpanned, though she did have the thought of screaming, because holy crap she was so done with their mess. "No."

"No?" Jay tilted his head in confusion. "But-"

"I'm done fixing your problems, Jay!" Mal tried to keep her voice down, but couldn't help the raise in octave when she spoke Jay's name. While she did consider Jay and Carlos as her brothers and in some way she did love them, she couldn't handle fixing another one of their problems; another stint in their 'relationship'.

"Mal just hear me out, alright?" Jay paused as Mal sighed, crossing her arms over her chest impatiently.

She sucked in a breath and bit down on her lip. She really didn't want to help, but she found herself saying: "Fine."

Jay grinned. "All I need, for just a couple hours, is for you to get Ben away from Carlos."

"What? N-"

Jay pushed at Mal's shoulders. "Shut up, you said you'd listen. So look, I really need to fix things with Carlos, but it's basically impossible with Ben hanging over him constantly. I just need you to distract him to give me enough time with Carlos."

Mal nearly growled as she answered, "Alright." She grit out between clenched teeth, forcing a smile onto her lips. "But I'm doing it for Carlos, not for you."

"Yeah, whatever. So if you could do it by today or tomorrow, that'd be great." Jay looked behind his shoulder as Mal went to speak. Jay turned back around to gaze at Mal quickly. "Don't say anything, I gotta go." He smiled, patting her shoulder as he dashed down the hallway.

"Jay!" She screeched, startling the group of girls.


It had been extremely difficult to avoid Jay. It wasn't that Carlos was mad at Jay or anything, he was just really confused and filled with anxiety. He knew what Jay wanted to talk about, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear what Jay was going to say. He just wanted one full day of no Jay. A day of no Jay also meant a day of no Mal, and probably a day of no Evie. So, he wasn't left with many options.

He could've hung out with Jane or Lonnie all day, but Ben had found him first. Even though Ben had been a little weird lately, Carlos still asked him to hang out for the day. Ben tried to ask about Jay, but Carlos was quick to change the subject every time. Everybody didn't need to know what went on in their personal lives; it was already bad enough Evie knew —because that meant Mal probably knew too — and he was really getting tired of that. He wanted, for once, to have something private about his life.

Ben would try to ask about the Isle too and that was almost worse than asking about Jay.

"I don't want to talk about that, like at all," Carlos had to finally say when Ben wasn't understanding that Carlos was changing the subject for a reason.

Ben faltered a moment before smiling lightly, "Oh okay, I get it."

After that, the rest of the morning had gone pretty well. Ben had slowly learned what was okay and what wasn't okay to talk about, and Carlos found himself actually enjoying himself. They had only saw Jay twice, and Ben never asked once why Carlos had always rushed away after they spotted Jay. It only got a little weird when Mal came up out of nowhere and placed a long kiss onto Ben, without even saying a word before.

Carlos tumbled behind Ben and stared wide-eyed at the pair. Had Mal forgotten they had broken up? From his view, it sure looked like she had. By the time he had realized he should probably quit staring, they had already broken apart. Mal had a wide suspicious smile on her face and Ben's eyes were a little glazed over, and he was stuttering in confusion.

Mal took a quick look at Carlos. "Hey, C."

"Hey.." He responded wearily. She winked at him, and he wondered if he doesn't know something that he is supposed to know. She looked back over at Ben, putting her arm around his shoulders.

"Hey Ben," She smiled up at him only confusing Ben and Carlos more.

"Mal.." Ben began slowly, because what was he supposed to say? He laughed nervously, and Carlos couldn't help but join in. "What are you doing?"

"I have something to show you," She sounded too chirpy; so unlike herself. Carlos lowered his eyes at her, because she had to be up to something. He knew for a fact two days ago she had been bashing Ben, so what had changed?

Ben laughed again. "Uh, I'm kinda hanging out with Carlos right now." He gestured frantically towards Carlos who did not lower his suspicious stare at Mal. Mal widened her eyes and jutted out her mouth at Carlos. She was clearly trying to tell him something, but he didn't understand at all. He scrunched up his eyes in confusion and shook his head, telling her he had no clue what she was on about. She rolled her eyes before quickly wiping the frown off her face and smiling back over at Ben.

"Oh, well this won't take too long. I'm sure Carlos won't mind, right?" She grinned over at Carlos who still looked like a lost puppy. She could feel Ben tense next to her, so she repeats louder, more directed towards Carlos.

"Right." She gritted out with wide eyes burning holes into Carlos' head. His eyes shifted to the left, and he paused a moment. He thought he knew what she wanted him to do.

"Uh, yeah. Right. Totally, I have some things I need to do anyways." Carlos agreed and was rewarded with a smile from Mal. So that's what she had wanted, but he still wasn't sure why.

Ben seems to falter, upset and disappointed in Carlos' remark. "Are you sure?"

Carlos took a quick glance at Mal. She was glaring, hard. He looked back at Ben, smiling. "Yeah."

"Okay...Then I guess we should go see whatever you want to show me." Ben broke from Mal's grasp and motioned down the hall.

"Yup.." She wasn't sure how much time she could buy Jay, but she would try her hardest, for Carlos of course. "Bye, Carlos."

"Bye." His hand rose in a weak wave and he waited a moment for them to leave before turning around and starting down the hall in the opposite direction.


Carlos finds himself at Evie and Mal's dorm. He had been heading to his and Jay's dorm, but on his way he had nearly rammed head first into Jay. Jay hadn't spotted him so Carlos had grasped onto the wall and pulled himself into the other direction as he nearly tripped over his own feet. It made him look like a fool, but he thought it'd be better than speaking to Jay about the whole sex thing. He was happy with forgetting it — okay, maybe he didn't really want to forget it, but they had to,— but he also knew that Jay..Jay was not going to want to drop it.

Carlos rapidly knocked on the door, afraid that Jay would walk through the hall at any moment. (His anxiety was at a ridiculous level). When there was no answer, he opted to kick his foot at the base of the door, hoping the rattling of his shoe hitting the wood would be more annoying than the pounding of his fist.

"Evie, if you're in there, open up!" Carlos shouted frantically. Within seconds the door was yanked open and he was met with an angry scowl from Evie.

"Goodness, Carlos! Is somebody dying? Like, seriously. Calm down sweetie."

"Sorry," He mumbled, walking into the room and shutting the door behind him. He gazed around the room; for some reason he had been expecting to see Mal, forgetting that he had seen her nearly ten minutes ago with Ben.

"What's up?" Evie asked as Carlos got settled into a chair.

He wasn't really sure. He had just wanted to get away. He racked his brain for something to tell the blue haired girl, who was smiling at him. "Do you know if Mal wants to get Ben back?" Yeah, that was a good place to start.

Evie lets out a loud laugh, and Carlos already knows the answer: No.

"Are you kidding? Last night she told me how much she wanted to set him on fire." Evie laughed again, and Carlos' frown only got larger.

"Oh."

Evie stops laughing at his meek response and she noted the way he looked severely confused.
"Why? Did something happen, or..?"

"It was weird, Ben and I were talking and all of a sudden she just laid one on him. For like a good minute, too."

"What!" Evie jumped from her seat.

"Yeah...she was acting really shifty. She kept eyeing at me, like there was some secret I was supposed to know. Do you know anything about that?"

"Hmm," She tilted her head as she tried to think of a list of things Mal had told her in the past couple of days. "Nope."— Wait.— Evie paused... Jay. That little witch! When Mal had told her she needed to distract Ben, she hadn't thought she'd go to such drastic measures. G-R-O-S-S.

"Oh okay." Carlos played with the hem of his shorts and looked around the room aimlessly. Evie watched him curiously. She knew something was off; something was wrong, but she wasn't sure if she should bring it up. Maybe he just needed to cuddle and watch a movie? But then again, he probably did need to talk about whatever was bothering him, because knowing Carlos he would kill himself inside until his bottled up emotions were let out.

"Hey, Carlos.." Evie began slowly, "Is there any other reason you came in here?" She paused. "Just to talk about Mal or...someone else?"

Carlos cracked a smile as he scooted himself further up in his chair. "You suck at being discreet, E."

"Yeah, I know," She sang as she let out a soft chuckle. "But really, do you want to talk about.."

"Jay?" Carlos finished for her. No was the answer in his head. But he really did need to get some things off his chest.

"Yeah. Have you talked to him?" She wasn't sure if she was supposed to bring it up or not, but finding Carlos in a sobbing mess had left her feeling distraught for the rest of the day. She just wanted to help him, so hopefully he would let her.

Carlos nodded no weakly. He continued to pick at his shorts as he worked up the courage to talk about Jay with Evie. After a moment of silence he let everything out. He told Evie about the alcohol Jay had brought back, and he ignored the disapproving face Evie was trying hard to mask. Slowly he made his way into the whole sex story and he worked his way quickly through that one, because it was already awkward enough just thinking about it; plus he had already given Evie a short synopsis of it in the bathroom. Afterwards, he then told her how he had been avoiding Jay all day, something he was sure was going to make Evie yell at him. When he finished speaking, Evie opened her mouth and shut it quickly. Carlos figured she was scared she'd say the wrong thing.

"Okay..so why did that night freak you out so much?" Evie had an idea, but she wanted Carlos to say it for himself. If he said it aloud, then maybe he could accept it easier.

"The next morning, when I was sobered up..and hung over, I had this sudden realization, and it was terrifying."

Evie leaned in closer to Carlos, "And what was that realization?"

Carlos seemed hesitant in his answer, but he managed to get it out after a few seconds. "That what if... I don't know? What if Jay had just used me for fun—y'know?"

"Carlos!" Evie chastised, frowning. Sure, Jay had done some low things, but he wouldn't do them to Carlos. At least, Evie didn't think he would.

Carlos jumps startled at Evie's outburst. "It's true!" He yelled, because she had to know it was. "I mean he's Jay, Evie."

"But he wouldn't do that, not to you."

"We don't know that." Carlos' voice was shaky. It was a little weird to hear his thoughts aloud. To share them with someone else was a little terrifying, because it made the whole thing even more real.

"Okay, I don't mean to sound like a bitch, but aren't you being a little hypocritical? I mean it would be terrible if he had just used you for fun, but aren't you using him too?" It was true, and she thought maybe it was worse because he had used Jay first. She knew it hit Carlos hard because he had immediately paled at the sudden realization.

Evie continued to stare at the pale boy, his eyes flicking relentlessly around the room; mind working overtime. She wasn't sure if he was going to answer. For a moment she wondered if maybe she shouldn't have said what she did, but it had been the truth. It was about time he realized it, anyways. During the prolonged silence and awkward stare off, she noticed a leather chain with a moon pendant hanging from it on Carlos' chest. With her and her obsession with accessories , she couldn't help but get distracted. It was a cute necklace, and she wondered if Jay had stolen it for him. In all honesty, she kinda wanted one too.

"Hey Carlos," She found herself saying. "Where'd you get that necklace?"

Carlos blinked, hand lazily reaching for the leather around his neck. He looked curiously down at it and before thinking mumbled out, "Jane."

Evie tilted her head curiously. "Oh?" She gazed at it for a little while longer before speaking. Why would he be wearing something from Jane. "And when did she give it to you?"

"I dunno.." He bit at his lip nervously. "A week or two ago? I don't know honestly."

"Interesting.." She chewed on the bottom of her lip as she thought about it. He seemed to be answering her questions easily enough, so why not ask more? "Why'd she give it to you?"

"As, a, uh—an apology present? Yeah, she said she was sorry for acting crazy and stuff, then she gave me this." He twisted the charm between his thumb and pointer finger and Evie noticed he was trying really hard not to make eye contact with her.

"So you're on good terms now?"

"Mhmm.." He still wouldn't look at her.

"Does Jay know?"

Carlos looked up at that; his eyes glazed over with an unknown fear. "No."

"Carlos.." She warned and he sunk down deeper into his chair. "Why? You need to tell him, so you can quit your little fake arrangement, or whatever you're calling it."

"I can't." He was chewing on his lip now, and Evie was positive he'd bite right through it. "I don't want to." He seemed to cringe, and Evie understood then. She completely understood.

"Oh Carlos." She sighed. "You like him, don't you?"

Carlos seemed to break down at the question as he let out a quiet, shaky sob. "Yeah." He takes a breath, trying to regain his composure. "And it's the worst feeling ever, Evie! I can't..I can't handle it. I don't know how to handle it! I don't know how Mal did it...I mean she handled it but she obviously didn't handle it well enough otherwise her and Ben would still be together. And not only do I have really strong feelings for someone, I have strong feelings for Jay, my best fucking friend. Do you know how screwed up that is?"

"Carlos.." Evie began before quickly realizing Carlos was ranting and hadn't planned on stopping anytime soon. He had stood from the chair and had began pacing around the room.

"And with this fake arrangement...it's the closest thing I'll get, alright? Anything realer than this will screw everything up. That's why it hurts so much, to know that Jay is probably just using me for a good time, not because he actually likes me. And it hurts even more that my brain tells me that's okay, because I still get to be with him, even if it's fake. I just...I don't know what to do. I don't."

Evie quickly made her way over to Carlos' shaking form and grasped at his shoulders. "Sweetie." She smiled. "You need to talk to him. Maybe not about everything, but at least about that one night. That way you can know. Otherwise, if you keep hiding these secrets, you're just going to dig yourself into a deeper hole, and we both know how hard those are to get out of."

"I..I can't."

"You can." She shook his shoulders gently. "Carlos, this may be Jay we're talking about, but he cares about you more than any of the girls he has ever hooked up with. I'm sure he had no cruel intentions. If he did, I promise I'll be the first one to place my fist onto his face, alright? But Carlos, you need to talk to him." She watched as Carlos nodded slowly, though she was almost positive he was only doing it to shut her up. "Have you ever thought that maybe Jay is having these type of thoughts too? That in some way it's probably screwing his life up as well?"

"No, I haven't." Carlos mumbled. "I guess that kinda makes me a douche."

"No, it just means you have been way too stressed. Go talk to him, C."

Carlos sucked in a big breath of air, breaking free from her grasp. "Okay, I will."


He should not have made that promise with Evie. He gave himself a pep talk all the way down the hallway back to his and Jay's dorm, but once he opened the door, his courage was completely gone. Instead of talking, like he had promised to do, he decided he could stall by promptly kissing Jay. He had shut the door loudly and quickly, walked straight up to Jay, grabbed at the back of his shirt and kissed him. Jay was confused, but quickly placed his hands onto Carlos' sides and returned the kiss greedily. It had been nearly five days, and they had both missed it.

When they pulled apart, Jay looked at the boy curiously. "What was that for?"

"I don't know. Practice?" Jay scoffed at that, and Carlos didn't blame him. It was a stupid response.

"Where've you been all day?" Jay asked curiously, though he knew the answer.

Carlos cleared his throat, taking a step back from the tall boy in front of him. "Out."

Jay laughed, "Yeah, I figured as much. I just meant with who?"

Carlos lowered his eyes in confusion but replied anyways. "With Ben and then Evie."

"Oh," Jay said coolly. "Kinda missed you, with your annoying facts every five seconds, y'know?"

The comment stung a little, but he knew it was just a usual, stupid sarcastic response from his best friend who he was currently falling for. "Wow, that was almost nice. But um, I missed you too?" Carlos cringed at his own response.

Jay grinned and he reached over to ruffle Carlos' hair, which needed a little messing up. " Yeah, I've been working on that." When Jay felt Carlos tense under his arm, Jay was quick to move away.

Carlos scratched at his face awkwardly while biting down on his tongue, having an internal battle on whether or not he should bring up their hook up night.

"Um, I was thinking maybe we should talk about that-" Jay began for Carlos, as if he had been reading the younger boy's mind.

Nope. Carlos' mind screamed. He nearly leaped from his spot and latched onto Jay, attacking his lips again. He thought he was ready to talk about it, but he wasn't. He totally was not ready to possibly lose Jay.

As Carlos' body launched into Jay's, the thief stumbled as he gripped Carlos' arm. He made a noise in the back of his throat as Carlos quickly nipped at his bottom lip, hands gliding everywhere. Jay frowned against Carlos, though he returned the kiss. Carlos was acting a little weird, but Jay was not one to deny a kiss.

When Carlos pulled back, he had planned on going back in, but Jay turned his head laughing. "I want to talk about that night, C. You think we could?"

"Not now,"Carlos mumbled against the crook of Jay's neck. He lifted his head and captured Jay's lips again, but this time Jay did not return it, at least not for as long as before. Jay gave the boy a quick peck before pulling back.

"Carlos!" He knew the boy was trying to distract him, and he was slightly angry that it was starting to work. He lowered his eyes at the boy, who was chewing on his swollen lips nervously. Jay breathed heavily, repeating his name again.

"We need-" Jay began when Carlos' eyes met his, but then he stopped when his eyes wandered over a necklace around Carlos' neck. He studied it quickly, wondering if it was the one he had given him. When he realized it had a pendant on it, he knew it wasn't his own. Who was it from then? It was probably from Ben. God, he sounded like a jealous boyfriend.

"What?" Carlos asked, curious as to why Jay had stopped midsentence.

"Where'd you get that?" Jay's eyes motioned towards Carlos' chest and Carlos' heart plummeted and he suddenly wanted to rip away from Jay's grip.

Shit. He had forgotten to take the stupid thing off.

He gulped nervously, because what was he supposed to say? His first thought had been to lie, but then Evie's stupid voice of digging himself into a deeper hole squirmed its way into his mind, and he decided against it; sadly enough. His mouth seemed too dry as he struggled to stutter out, "Jane."

"What? Jane gave it to you? Ew, dude."

"Yeah," He laughed nervously.

"It's a good look and all for you, but um, why are you wearing it, since it's from Jane and all?"

God, he wanted to lie. It had gotten so easy to lie through his fucking teeth that he had to squeeze his nails into his palm to force the truth out. "She apologized.." He paused, squeezing his nails tighter into his skin while taking a much needed breath of air, "And I forgave her.."

"Woah!" Jay stumbled away from Carlos. "You forgave her?" His voice was dripping with disgust and Carlos felt like crying. "I'm sorry, but do you not remember what she did to you?"

"You mean, what she tried to do." Bigger cringe, Carlos had not meant for that to come out.

"Carlos, Jesus Christ dude! She tried to force herself onto you, and you still forgave her! What the hell!"

"She fucking apologized, Jay!" Carlos yelled, and he wasn't sure why he was standing up for her, but it wasn't like it was a huge deal anyways.

"It doesn't matter—"Suddenly something dawned on him and he glared at Carlos, voice loud and accusing. "Wait, exactly when were you going to tell me this?"

Carlos paled at that, and he found that his palms were sweaty. "I don't...um," Shit, he sucked at thinking up excuses.

"When did this happen, Carlos!" Jay shouted finally, and Carlos clenched his fists harder as he backed away from Jay. He had never been on the receiving side of Jay's anger before, at least not like this.

"A week or..two ago..I don't know. I don't know." Carlos' voice was low, and he wished Jay's would mirror his. Instead, Jay was pacing the room as his voice boomed onto the walls. This is not how Carlos had wanted the night to go.

Jay nearly growls as he kicks at the ground angrily, and turns to face Carlos. His anger seems to drain as he looks at Carlos and it's quickly replaced with disappointment and maybe some slight betrayal.

He walks quickly up to Carlos and tries not to shout, "So you've been lying to me this whole time?"

God, Jay had never felt more fucking used in his entire life.