Chapter Thirteen

A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everything else belongs to Disney.

Okay, so you know when you're writing something and an idea comes out of left field? That's pretty much what happened with the end of this chapter, ngl. I just hope it pays off!

Hard to believe we're about three chapters away from the end. This was a lot of fun to write and there's still so much that needs to happen! My outlines have been wrong before as to where a story will end so maybe it'll be wrong here too!

Oh yeah, just a head's up-I'll probably be alternating between this story and Choosing Home for a bit in terms of updates since Choosing Home's got three more chapters to go and we're close to the end here too. I'll still be working on Truth or Fiction and The Last Bridge but I just wanted to let you know there'll be a slight change to the update schedule.

Hope you all enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! :D

They arrived in Auradon without any fanfare or anyone really noticing they'd been gone. A surprising feat considering one of the members of the group was the King of Auradon but maybe it was a good thing.

As it allowed Mal to drag Jay off to the side without anyone noticing, Estelle trotting after her dutifully.

"Did Uma pull me out of the Cove that day?" Mal growled as she turned to face Jay. "No lies this time Jay. I want the truth."

Jay sighed. "…yeah, she did. I was the one who pulled out Harry and she got you with your dad's help."

"You…you let me, you let us, lose our best friends over a lie?" Mal growled, furious that Uma had been right. That she'd missed out on years with her best friend, with her cousin, because Jay for some reason thought it better to let her live in a lie.

"I didn't let either of us do anything," Jay told her. "I was just as upset as you were Mal."

"You could have told me Uma had helped instead of just laughing her tentacles off! But instead you let me think she didn't care instead of the truth! That she was trying to comfort me?"

"…you were upset. I didn't know how you would take it."

"I would have been glad! You watched me cry in the clubhouse as we waited for them, watched me think that my best friend had betrayed and abandoned me and didn't say anything when you knew it wasn't true!" Mal exclaimed, blinking back the tears that were in her eyes.

Reporters were everywhere after all, and the last thing she needed was a report about her crying in an argument with Jay to be the next running story every time she turned on the news.

"Mal, what was I supposed to do?" Jay asked, keeping his voice down to avoid attention as well. "If I'd told you after you dumped the shrimp tails on Uma, you wouldn't have believed me. And you were so shaken up after the Cove, I don't think you even noticed it was Lord Hades helping Uma get you out of there! And don't forget, I lost my best friend too!"

"You could have told me when we were waiting in the clubhouse for them! Remember, when we were discussing the motto? I'm sure they were coming anyway! We would have never split!"

"Yeah okay I could have told you then. Would you have believed me or would you have thought that Uma had convinced me to tell you that?" Jay asked.

"I would have at least gone to Uma to ask if it was true or not! You were the one who reminded me that our motto was Ruthless yet Loyal."

"Are you saying I wasn't being loyal? Harry looked ready to punch me that day! I've had your back since day one Mal!"

"I know Jay," Mal sighed. "And you have no idea how grateful I am for that but you left me believe a lie for eight years. You practically bit my head off when you found out that I was in a flirtationship with Harry."

"…I was jealous," Jay said, his voice soft. "You could reconnect with Harry but because of everything, I couldn't do the same with Uma. You got my best friend and…and I guess a small part of me thought I was losing you to Harry."

Mal couldn't help the small, sad smile that pulled at her lips as she rested a hand on Jay's shoulder. "Jay…the whole point of the flirtationship was to see if there was any chance of reconnecting the old gang. If it'd worked…you would have gotten your best friend back. I was trying to get Harry back to you."

"Harry would have welcomed us back no problem," Jay said with a small sigh. "You and I both know that. But Mal…I said some horrid things to him that day, compared him to his father. Plus I said some stuff when Ben and I saw him in the clubhouse…called him a traitor…"

"You were worried," Mal told him. "It's understandable. And I don't think Harry holds a grudge over that stuff. Not anymore. There was a moment…when they had me wore we were talking and it…it honestly felt like the gang was back. Had you been there too it would have felt whole. You know?"

"…I messed up Mal," Jay said after a few minutes of the two of them standing in silence.

"We both did," Mal told him.

"I…I should have told you sooner," Jay said, shaking his head. "I'm sorry Mal. I…I wanted to tell you but I didn't know how you'd take it and…the longer the feud went on…there just wasn't a right moment to tell you. And then we brought in Carlos…and then Evie. Gods could you imagine Uma and Evie in the same room?"

"Yeah that wouldn't have been pretty," Mal muttered before sighing and shaking her head. "I'm still mad at you you know."

"I know. I deserve it."

Mal sighed. "Jay…you know I love E to death nowadays but…"

"I know," Jay said, his voice gentle. "Uma was your best friend and she's also your cousin. There's no replicating that bond."

"…I talked to her you know? Through the Olympian mind link," Mal said after a few minutes. Hades…Dad told her I was his daughter."

Jay couldn't help but sigh as he heard that. Gods Mal…I'm sorry, he thought. If I'd known…well it doesn't matter, I should have said it sooner."

"It's…it's fine Jay," Mal muttered. "It's done. We can't change the past no matter how much we wish we could. There's nothing we can do."

She looked over her shoulder at the rest of the group who were standing there waiting for them. Ben was talking with Jane who'd apparently come up and was approving something on her tablet.

"Let's go," Mal sighed.

"Right," Jay nodded. "You need to get changed for your big night after all."

Mal nodded but didn't say anything. Joy, going back to being the painted lady of the court, she thought.

Jay frowned slightly as Mal continued to stand in silence. Mal…? What's wrong?

"Mal, it…it might not be my place to ask right now but is anything wrong?" Jay asked after a minute. "Is there anything you need to talk about?"

"…you know you're the first person to actually ask that question?" Mal said after a minute.

"Well it stands," Jay told her. "I'm here for whatever you need Mal. Talk to me."

Mal shook her head. "I…Jay, I can't go back to being that girl I was before. I was…I was a fake. I was using magic for everything because t was the only way to make it seem like I knew what I was doing. I'm exhausted. I can't keep being this perfect painted lady of the court that Ben needs….besides, after our fight…I don't know if Ben wants me as his date or as his Lady…or if he even wants me at all."

"Hey," Jay said, his voice gentle as he rested a hand on Mal's shoulder. "He wants you. You know when he found out Uma had you, that was all he could focus on? Not the fact that Uma had the wand but the fact that you were in trouble. He loves you Mal. And not just the shallow love we sometimes see in the alliances on the Isle. It's a type of love we really only associate with Auradon. With feelings and everything."

Mal bit her lip as she looked up at Jay.

"You should at least talk to him," Jay told her. "Tell you what, if he's not smart enough to accept that you can't be perfect all the time, I'll kick his ass for you myself."

Mal chuckled, causing Jay to smile at the sound. There we go, that was it. He could handle Auradon with its fussy rules and not being able to steal things all the time. But what he couldn't handle was one of his sisters being upset.

It didn't matter that Mal and Evie weren't related by blood, they were his sisters. Full stop.

"I…I ran away from a fight with him Jay," Mal said, her voice soft. "I left him a tear stained note and his ring. He probably doesn't want anything to do with me."

"Does that sound like Ben?" Jay asked.

"I've been dating him for six months Jay! I think I know my boyfriend!" Mal snapped.

Jay smirked. "Nice use of present tense there Mali. I thought you and Beastie boy broke up?"

"…I hate you."

"No you don't," Jay snorted. "But you'll hate yourself if you don't talk to him. Just try? Because your boyfriend there didn't even think twice about giving up the safety of his kingdom when your safety was threatened."

Mal shook her head. "He shouldn't have done that. I don't care that it was a fake wand, what if Uma had been able to channel her magic through it and bring down the barrier? Auradon's more important than I am."

"Not to Ben," Jay said.

"…you're not letting up on this are you?"

"I'm probably about as stubborn as you are and you know it. You're clearly bottling some things up and that's not healthy."

"Ben doesn't need to be bothered by this," Mal said, her voice a near whisper.

"He wouldn't think of it as you bothering him, not when he loves you," Jay told her. "He'd want to know."

"He's already swamped with everything else Jay, and your little foray to the Isle probably ate up a big chunk of time for him. Besides, all it'd do is make him feel guilty. I just…I can't do that to him."

"Mal, I'll say it again. You didn't see him when you were captured," Jay told her. "He was worried. Extremely worried in fact. It was as if nothing else mattered to him other than getting you back. He'd want to know."

Mal couldn't help but bite her lip again. "…okay…"

"Thank you," Jay sighed in relief. "And I meant what I said. If you tell Ben that you can't be perfect all the time and he doesn't handle it well, I'll be happy to kick his ass all the way to the Isle for you."

Mal chuckled and gave Jay a small smile. "I guess that means you're rotten huh?"

"To the core, Mali. To the core," Jay said as he wrapped an arm around Mal's shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Are…are we good?"

Mal sighed. "Ask me tomorrow, after I've recovered from Cotillion Jay. I just…I've been a mess for the past six months and now they expect me to be a perky Lady of the Court when I'll be surrounded by water? Even if I didn't just take a plunge today I…"

"Why didn't you say something when they were planning Cotillion?" Jay asked.

"Jane said that Cotillion's always on a yacht and I didn't want to make it look like I was trying to just swoop in and change things," Mal said.

Jay nodded, even in the back of his mind an idea was starting to form.

"I guess I should go talk to Ben huh?" Mal said.

"Good idea," Jay nodded and walked her over to the group. Watching as Mal and Ben walked a little off to the side, Jay turned to Evie.

"How fast can you whip up a dress and suit if I give you the measurements?"

"Three hours, four tops," Evie said. "But I've made everyone's dresses and suits Jay. And no one's complained."

Jay sighed. "Okay, so you're all going to think I've lost my mind but Carlos, Evie…you guys remember who Mal and I used to run with right?"

"…no!" Evie exclaimed. "Jay…she was going to dangle Mal off a plank! She held Mal hostage!"

"And she's the only one I know of with a better grasp of water magic than say Elle or Melody," Jay shot back. "Mal will kill me for telling you this but she's got a fear of water Evie. And what happened today?"

"Oh Gods," Carlos said softly. "She…she fell in the Cove."

Jay nodded. "Mal's going to be putting on an act at Cotillion but she's going to be petrified all night. At least with Uma and Harry on the ship, even if there's a part of her that doesn't trust them…her mind won't be on the water."

"And what if she goes after Ben?" Evie asked.

"I won't let her," Lonnie spoke up. "I think this is absolute madness but then again madness is rather fun. I'm in Jay."

"I'll put their names on the guest list as to avoid any problems with the wards," Jane said, causing everyone to jump since they'd forgotten she'd walked up to talk to Ben and had pretty much just stuck around. "I have no idea what happened or why Ben's dressed up like a kid from the Isle but you need to get someone to Cotillion and that I can help with."

Carlos grinned. "Thanks Jane."

"Okay, we all know what to do," Jay nodded. "Carlos, you and Jane add Uma and Harry…and might as well add Gil's name to the list too."

"Gil?"

"Gil LeGume."

"…we're including Gaston's kid? Beast is going to be there and he's not exactly…the best when it comes to the VKs. Family Day ring any bells for anyone?"

Jay sighed. "Uma and Harry will look out for Gil, and I think if we say they're our plus one's no one will have an issue. Sides…Ben has said that he wants to invite more kids off the Isle right? Inviting Mal's cousin off the Isle on her night? What could be better?"

"I'm sorry what?" Jane asked.

Jay chuckled sheepishly. "Oh right…how well can you keep a secret?"

"Just because I'm a cheerleader doesn't mean I'm a gossip," Jane told him. "My lips are sealed."

"Great," Jay nodded. "Okay, back to the plan. Carlos?"

"Jane and I will add Uma, Harry, and Gil's names to the guest list," Carlos rattled off. "I'm guessing Evie's going to go and create the suits and dress they'll need so they won't stand out as much."

"Not a problem," Evie nodded. "I'll pull in some help from the Fitzherbert girls but I'll get it done. I'll ask Doug to do the deliveries."

"So what are we doing?" Lonnie asked.

Jay smirked as he tossed the control for the barrier. "We're picking up some family for Mal. I think it'd better if they talked together face to face anyway."