Ch 24:
"True love's kiss won't defeat this!" Uma cackled from the water. "The world will know my name!" she shouted before one of her tentacles shot out of the water, cracking like a whip over the crowd's heads. Chloe cowered back into the stair railing even though the tentacle was nowhere near her. She could feel herself gasping for breath, her heart pounding in her ears.
The crowd parted after they got back on their feet and Mal stepped into the open where she disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke. When the smoke cleared a huge, purple dragon flew into the sky. She blew fire at the water, only to nearly get smacked by a giant tentacle.
Chloe felt herself get dizzy and shakily sat down on the steps, clinging to the handrail next to her. Her stomach was churning with nausea, and she closed her eyes and tried to take deep breaths.
The boat started rocking violently in the waves, nearly sending Chloe tumbling down the stairs. She sensed something swing toward her, and her eyes flew open to see Anthony stumble on the stairs. He'd left his piano to approach her spot on the stairs. The rocking boat sent him tripping up the steps to land near Chloe.
Chloe clung to the stairs railing, watching as Anthony pulled himself up to sit by her, grabbing the railing above her to keep himself in place.
"Hi." Anthony called over the crashing waves, howling wind, and screams. "Some party, huh?"
Chloe let out what was some mix of a gasp and hysterical laughter.
Anthony tried to keep Chloe focused on him, encouraging her to take deep breaths. Meanwhile, Ben dove into the ocean between Uma and Mal, trying to talk them down. That at least stopped the boat from rocking, and no one was screaming anymore. In just a few minutes, Ben seemed to get through to Uma, who left peacefully, disappearing into the ocean.
With the chaos finished, Anthony focused on Chloe, helping her with taking deep breaths, telling her to close her eyes and imagine she's somewhere else, somewhere more calming. Within a few minutes, she felt steady enough to let Anthony help her to her feet.
"Thanks." Chloe breathed, both hands in Anthony's for a moment after she stood.
"No problem." Anthony grinned slightly, letting go of one hand, but keeping Chloe's other hand in his. "And don't even try to be embarrassed. If a giant octopus fighting a dragon doesn't constitute a panic attack, I don't know what does."
Chloe laughed, briefly falling into Anthony and getting a quick hug before standing up straight and looking out toward the ship's deck. Mal had transformed back into a human, looking the same yet different from earlier. Her purple hair was down and wavy, and her gown was now a dark purple with green designs on her bodice and belt. She looked just like the image in the stained glass image behind her.
Hand-in-hand, Chloe and Anthony rejoined the crowd, though they stayed in the back of the crowd. Evie walked Mal to where Ben stood in the center of the boat. To everyone's surprise, as soon as she was close enough Ben pulled Mal into a kiss, making everyone laugh and 'ooh' jokingly. Carlos had to pull Ben back by the shoulder.
"I owe you guys so much." Ben announced, to which several people answered with:
"Yeah."
"You got that right."
"Just a little bit."
Everyone laughed, even Chloe now that she was calmed down from her panic attack.
"Well, if there's anything you need, or anything I can do for you-"
"Um," Evie stepped up hesitantly, raising her hand for a moment, "actually, there is, Ben." Chloe peaked between a couple heads and saw Evie glance toward the Isle in the distance. "I know a girl who would really love to come to Auradon. It's Drizella's daughter, Dizzy. She's like a little sister to me."
"Then she should come." Ben answered simply, making Chloe blink. She thought it was more complicated than that.
"Okay." Evie laughed in surprise. "Actually, um-" Evie stepped up abruptly, making Mal jump in surprise and everyone else laugh. "Ben, there's a lot of kids who would really love it here in Auradon. Kids just like us who also deserve a second chance. Could I maybe get you…a list?" she asked hesitantly.
"Yes." Ben answered eagerly. "Yes, absolutely. Please."
Chloe cheered with the crowd, clapping her hands excitedly. She'd been planning on stopping by to talk to Ben about exactly that, wanting to ask for Diego, Harry, and Jace to get a chance.
The cheering was interrupted by one of the guards bringing Mal her spell book, which apparently Uma had below deck. There was a tense moment as everyone waited for what Mal would do. On the one hand, Chloe would understand if Mal decided to hang on to it, for a number of reasons. It was passed to her from her mother, it was like her legacy. And it had helped her with hundreds of things since she came to Auradon. But on the other hand, the conversations they'd had in the past day seemed to get through to Mal that she doesn't need to be a perfect princess. She can just be herself.
After a moment of thought, Mal decided it belonged with Fairy Godmother in the museum, and the headmistress happily took the book, disappearing into the crowd with it.
And the moment was ruined by Mal kicking water at Ben, making everyone laugh. Ben retaliated by doing the same.
"Alright, let's get this party started!" Jay shouted, making the crowd cheer.
They got the DJ booth and piano reset up; thankfully they hadn't been ruined by all the water. Before long, music was blaring and everyone was having fun dancing on the waterlogged deck, splashing each other and kicking up water. Chloe stayed off to the side, but had fun by the railing. Her friends made sure she didn't feel left out. Jane and Evie dragged her out a little bit and they all had fun dancing. Chloe made sure to splash them and have fun, making herself ignore the rambunctious crowd.
Anthony played a couple songs on the piano, including the one he wrote for Chloe. All the couples slow danced to the song, but Chloe didn't feel left out. She just enjoyed standing near the piano, listening to the song and letting it sooth her. And when it was finished, Anthony was done performing for the night. He let the DJ take over and they slow danced to a different song. Chloe had never slow danced before. She could run and climb and dodge in and out of crowds back on the Isle, but one slow dance and she stepped on Anthony's toes at least three times. She apologized each time, but Anthony just laughed, insisting it was fine.
Chloe stayed much longer at Cotillion than she did at the Castlecoming dance, and that was only partially because she was stuck out on a yacht at sea. The boat docked only a couple hours or so after the Uma fiasco, but the party wasn't due to end for a few more hours. But with all the craziness and the fun dancing with her friends, Chloe was exhausted before long, and Anthony agreed he was ready to head out.
They took one of the waiting carriages back to the school. Instead of heading straight to their dorms, they took a detour to the school kitchen and ate bowls of ice cream. It was well after midnight before they finally made it to Chloe's dorm room.
"Well, apart from that little hiccup with the love spell and a giant octopus, tonight wasn't too awful, was it?" Anthony joked as they stopped in front of Chloe's door.
Chloe laughed quietly. "No, I suppose it wasn't too bad." she agreed. "Though I think my dress might be ruined." she added jokingly, looking down at her soaked dress.
"Nah, I'm sure it could be saved." Anthony disagreed. "Anyway, do we still want to get coffee this weekend? We could do it Sunday if you want, since it's late and you have that vet appointment for Bee tomorrow. Or we could wait until next week if that's too soon." Anthony paused. "Sorry, I'm rambling a bit, aren't I?"
Chloe tried to stifle her laughter this time. "It's fine. And Sunday works. What if we went to Mad for Tea Café around eleven on Sunday, so we could get something to drink and maybe something to eat while we're there?"
Anthony grinned. "Sounds perfect."
Chloe opened her door, and Motley was quick to hop down from Chloe's bed to greet them at the door, her tail wagging so hard her whole body wiggled. She was just as excited to see Anthony as she was to see Chloe.
Anthony crouched down to give Motley some proper attention for a few minutes before standing up. "Well, I'll leave you to get to sleep, since you have that appointment in the morning. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow." Chloe returned, smiling.
Anthony seemed to hesitate before quickly ducking down and kissing Chloe on the cheek before hurrying down the hallway. Chloe stared in shock, her body frozen like a statue as she watched him leave.
Chloe spent the next twenty minutes or so in a daze, changing into her pajamas and getting ready for bed. When she finally flopped down on her belly on her bed, she smiled widely down at where Bee was curled up in her box, stretched out on her side and blinking sleepily up at her.
"Wow." she breathed, giggling like an embarrassing school girl, rolling over and hugging a pillow to her chest.
Maybe parties weren't so bad if this was how it ended.
AN: Sorry this chapter is so short, but you have Chloe and Anthony's first date to look forward to in the next chapter, so there's that.
The ending of this chapter was probably a bit cheesy, but I feel like they're both adorably awkward enough that it seems accurate. Review and let me know what you all think!