Chapter 10 – An Enchanting Afternoon

-:-:-

In the process of setting Gil up with a tutor, things had somewhat devolved.

Because Gil didn't just need a tutor, he needed specialize one-on-one schooling on a detailed basis for a while before he would be prepared to join the rest of the school. He lacked most of the basics and an understanding for how school functioned – neither of which were his fault, but correcting those problems simply required more focus than a student tutor trying to round out their extracurricular activities could possibly offer.

It led to Chad and Audrey working with Fairy Godmother to get Gil a private tutor – one all of them vetted to ensure they were supportive and careful, had a clean record and was suitably qualified and not biased against VKs. They changed Gil's schedule from classes he was struggling through to one-on-one time with his new private teacher (whom Fairy Godmother promised to sporadically check on a few times every day) with the exception of his electives. Gil still had art (which he loved) and Tourney, though his keyboarding class had been shifted into a personal module to be run through with his teacher, because he was way behind on that too.

"If anyone asks, this was Fairy Godmother's idea," Chad informed Gil sagely, sure to hold the second mate's gaze. "You went to her because you were concerned, and she set this up for you."

"Okay," Gil agreed, though his brows were furrowed in confusion. "But why can't I say you helped me?"

"Because your partners don't like us," Chad said, seeing no point in hiding the truth of the matter. "And they'll probably think we were messing with you instead of helping."

"Like we'reincapable of it," Audrey grumbled, her arms folded across her chest defensively. "Whatever. Point is, we wanted to help you because you're a good guy and you deserve it, but we really don't want to deal with your friends, so…" She made a vague motion with her hands.

Gil chewed on his lip thoughtfully. "So… could we be secret friends?" – was what he got from that conversation.

Chad froze, because he liked Gil a lot, more than he should, and wanted to take care of him and contribute to his happiness but also knew such roads would only end in tragedy.

But then Audrey was talking. "Sure," she said, her fingers slipping into Chad's. "We can be secret friends, but you can't tell anyone, okay?"

"Not because we're embarrassed of you," Chad rushed to explain. "That's not a problem."

"I just don't want to deal with Mal if I don't have to," Audrey sniffed, generously taking the blame when she would likely be more than happy to acquire new friends, especially one as honest and genuine as Gil.

"That's fair," Gil decided with a nod of his head. "Mal can be grumpy sometimes." He perked up. "Okay, we're secret friends." He seemed delighted by this prospect. "Does that mean we can have secret hang outs? Can I ask you for secret advice?"

"Sure," Audrey said, because Chad was already falling back down his road of minor despair. "We can do that, Gil."

"Cool," Gil chirped, seeming to resonate awe with every bone in his body. "I mean, secret cool."

-:-:-

"That boy," Audrey said later when they were cuddling in her room.

Jane had requested to room with Uma in a public show of acceptance that was really just a shot for her to get it on with her new girlfriend, so by default Audrey had a room to herself. Fairy Godmother thought it would be better for her, as though enforcing any kind of isolation was great for someone in the midst of being partially scorned by the public, but the bright side was that Chad now got to pretty much live in her room, safely avoiding Doug. Or, more accurately, avoiding Doug's absence, since the dwarf kin was just about always with one of his partners.

"I know," Chad sighed, then sighed again when he remembered the absurdly hopeful look on Gil's face.

"I can see how you got dragged around by him all day," Audrey said. "Still can't believe he gave a handjob to someone he just met."

"He was trying to be helpful," Chad said, flushing as he remembered that particular encounter. "Which is the problem. You can see why Uma and Harry are so protective of him. He wants to be a good guy, wants to be needed and validated, and gives away pieces of himself far too easily."

"And now he's getting lost among his hoard of boyfriends and girlfriends," Audrey sighed. "I can't believe none of them noticed him struggling."

"To be fair, they might be struggling under the trauma of losing their memories," Chad said. "Just- I would be, if that happened to me. The struggle of notknowing would drive me crazy." He groaned, flopping back onto her bed. "I can't give them their memories back, and it seems like everything I do just makes things worse. I want to be done with all that."

"May I ask why?" Audrey said, not a barb, merely a curiosity as she curled against his chest. "You like them."

"It wouldn't work out," Chad murmured. "Even if they could get past this-"

"They literally already did that once before," Audrey deadpanned, unimpressed. "So instead, maybe they just have to get past the fact you tampered with their minds-"

"They weren't supposed to find out!" Chad burst. "But yeah, even if they can get past that, there's still a good chance I'm going to be taking over Sardinia after I graduate Auradon Prep. The Sardinian Council is going to want me to establish a firm future for my kingdom, give the people hope after my dad and grandfather fell through, and I can't- we can't waste time dating… what, ten other people? It's ridiculous even thinking about it."

Audrey paused, her lips pursed in thought, which rarely meant good things for Chad. "Is that the only reason you came back to me? Because your council would accept it?"

"No." Chad sat up, pulling Audrey with him so he could properly cuddle her and explain himself. "I won't lie, I was scared of visiting you. My grandpa was really upset about everything, and while he wanted me to maintain good ties with your kingdoms, it was also an embarrassment to Sardinia, to have you go after Ben so pointedly, even if it wasn't your fault. I just-" He swallowed, trying to work his way through it. "I'd failed so much as your boyfriend, as your friend. I couldn't keep you happy and I couldn't break your possession and I couldn't kiss you awake either."

"Chad," Audrey murmured, pulling him into a tight hug, letting him lean his head against her shoulder. "That wasn't your fault. It was a completely different curse. That scepter was designed to hurt me as much as it hurt anyone else, and that included pushing you away." She ran her fingers through his curls, tracing a light pattern on his scalp. "I'm sorry I made you feel like you weren't enough. You were – are – a good boyfriend, but my grandmas kept wanting me to win Ben back from Mal and I just… I hurt you." She swallowed. "It was no wonder that you wanted to be someone else for a little while."

"I don't know what I was thinking," Chad answered honestly. "But I do know that I wasn't expecting you to be happy to see me. I thought- I figured you were settling, and that… it didn't feel good."

"I'm not settling for you," Audrey huffed, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "You're no one's fucking second choice, least of all mine. Fuck Ben, fuck queendom. I'm happy with you, and I'd like to stay happy with you for as long as that's allowed."

Chad felt himself tearing up, and he leaned against the princess carefully, afraid he might squish her, and probably should have been less surprised when she stubbornly held his weight.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, throat tight with tears. "I'm sorry I flirted with other people. I'm sorry I hid my issues from you."

"Chad," Audrey tutted. "You were doing what you needed to in order to survive. You couldn't have known how I would have reacted because I used a mask with you too, but no more." She turned his head up, enough so she could stroke his cheek carefully before she leaned down and captured his lips in a soft kiss. "From this point on, no secrets, and we can love as many fucking people as we want as long as we also love each other."

"I'm good with that," Chad said, firmly deciding that the time travel thing was a past secret he was not going to address going forward. "I um- I might also love Ben, then."

"Then that dipshit's lucky," Audrey decided. "And he can't have us."

"Unless he grovels like, a whole lot," Chad decided. "And gets you a lot of presents. Like, a lot of presents. And a song and dance of your own."

"That might be an acceptable bounty," Audrey sniffed, and that was that.

-:-:-

"You two are lunatics," Lonnie declared from her perch at Audrey's desk, as though she was not delighted to receive delicious gossip first-hand, though granted, it wasn't anything she could share. The mere prospect of being allowed access to knowledge few others had would be enough to keep her going for a while. "And you are definitely playing with fire."

"Shut up, Lonnie," Audrey grumbled, looking between two different blazers while Chad helped Gil button up his shirt after it became obvious that the tiny buttons of Auradon high fashion could not withstand the might of Gil's basic grip. "You're here so we can cover our bases."

"So if anyone asks, Lonnie helped me get ready for my date," Gil chirped, a happy flush dusted on his cheeks as he likely thought of Uma and Harry waiting for him.

"Exactly," Chad murmured, making sure he'd done the buttons up correctly because he'd already fucked it up once in his effort to be quick and professional and Lonnie had definitely laughed at him. "Are you sure you want to use non-Isle wear? Because there's nothing wrong with your clothes."

"I know," Gil said, flush darkening, likely feeling embarrassed on Chad's behalf. "But I've always wanted to be a spiffy boy, and now I can be."

"Yes," Audrey drawled while Lonnie cackled into her hand. "You will be a very spiffy boy."

"You look great," Chad assured the other blond when he cast a worried look over to Lonnie. "Just ignore them."

For whatever reason, Chad's casual compliments always seemed to take Gil from nervous to bashful like, every time, regardless of the fact that the stuff Chad said was purely a statement of obvious facts.

"Are you excited?" Lonnie asked as Chad rolled up Gil's sleeves, knowing that the second mate wouldn't be able to handle two layers that fully covered his arms when he usually went with those short, tight sleeves that made Chad hate himself.

"Yep!" Gil said, perking up. "We're going on a picnic! King Ben said we could even go swimming."

At that, both Audrey and Chad froze, but Lonnie was thankfully focused on what Gil had accidentally given away.

"Oh, so Ben's going to be there, is he?" Lonnie murmured, a coy smile pulling at her lips. "You guys double dating?"

"Um, yes." Gil latched onto the suggestion eagerly, making Lonnie's grin widen at the obvious lie. "Yes, that is the thing we are doing. Lots of double dates! It's like a group um- double dating thing."

"That's great, Gil," Chad forced himself to cut in before Lonnie could launch herself in for another gossip probe. "You've been swimming at the Enchanted Lake before, right?"

Gil blinked at him, startling out of his nerves to give Chad a confused look. "How did you know we were going to the Enchanted Lake?"

Audrey swooped in for the rescue. "Because Ben takes all of his dates there," she grumbled, putting up a show of exasperation to cover her sudden tension. "He lacks creativity."

"Back to Chad's question," Lonnie said, grinning at Audrey's bitterness towards the now-king. "They probably haven't yet. They closed the lake down during the search for Jafar. They thought it was too good a place for the sorcerer to spring a trap. It just now reopened, so you guys will probably be the first to break it in."

"Neat!" Gil cheered, oblivious to Chad's growing horror. "Evie says it's really pretty."

"Aw, so Evie's going too, eh?" Lonnie prompted with a wag of her brows. "Giving triple dating a shot?"

"Lay off, Lonnie," Audrey said, chucking one of the many handkerchief selections she had out for Gil in the Imperial City teen's direction, which might have been successful had Lonnie not merely laughed.

The rest of Gil's date preparation was a bit of a blur.

-:-:-

"On a scale of one to ten, how fucked are you?" Audrey asked after Gil had been escorted away by a grinning Lonnie.

"Superbly," Chad groaned. "I don't know why I didn't think of them using the Enchanted Lake."

Well, he did, because they weren't supposed to remember the memory wipe, but now they did, so of course they wanted to fix it.

"Will the lake even fix this?" Audrey asked, fidgeting with the extra belts they had gotten out for Gil as they worked together to put his clothes away.

"It washes away all magic effects," Chad groaned. If it was strong enough to undo a curse Jafar had attached to Chad's soul, then it could definitely undo the tampering of a would-be wizard. "Enchantments, charms, curses, potions – all of it. That's why its location is so tightly guarded."

But Ben knew where it was because Ben was king, and in a few short hours, he was going to be a king that remembered the spaz that was Lance.

The bigger issue was Uma and the pirates remembering, because they were the only ones who could connect Lance to Chad, and she was the one that had been so determined about Chad dating all of them in the first place.

"I could charm them again?" Chad offered. "Maybe tweak smaller things this time-"

"Chad," Audrey huffed, pausing her work to smack his bicep. "You can't solve all your problems by running away from them. And you definitely can't use a spell that messes with people's minds more than once. It already didn't work. You're just going to have to talk to them."

"Maybe they won't like me anymore," Chad offered. "The others might think it was Jafar, but Uma knew I had magic, and knew I was active while Lance was being held hostage. And maybe she'll get so mad-"

"That you'll get arrested for tampering with the king's mind?" Audrey prompted, making the color drain from Chad's face.

"Fuck," Chad hissed, curling in on himself. "I didn't- I wasn't thinking-"

"You panicked," Audrey said, crossing the room to curl around Chad's back. "Look, I went a little crazy and got possessed by an evil scepter and you went a little crazy and got possessed by your low self-esteem and like, years of abuse. We both made bad choices, but I think they're going to find yours a little more relatable. I mean, they've been taking turns searching the Enchanted Forest for someone they can't remember. They are stupid, dedicated people who have already broken laws for the sake of each other, I think they'll give you a pass."

"I'm not giving you up," Chad declared, holding onto that one thing as he turned to hug Audrey properly. "Don't- please don't be noble and break up with me-"

"There's nothing fucking noble about me," Audrey snapped. "I'm not Ben. If they want you, they have to get me, and they can fucking deal with that."

The candor was enough to leave Chad crying, once more wondering how he could have missed the brilliance that was Audrey the first time around.

"Marry me, please?" Chad found himself blubbering. "Audrey-"

"I'm yours," Audrey assured, holding him close. "Until the end, I'm yours."

For Chad, that was all that mattered.

-:-:-

They got maybe two hours of peace before the window magically blew open and in stormed Uma – Harry and Gil silent ghosts on her heels.

"You motherfucker," Uma hissed, marching across the room to where Chad was cuddling Audrey on the couch, both of them sitting up when the pirates entered the room. Uma curled a hand into his collar and yanked him to his feet, Chad following obligingly, figuring he deserved whatever punishment the captain gave him. "You fucking piece of shit. Harry!" she called over her shoulder, making the first mate startle. "Congratulations, you have been relieved of the title of biggest asshole in this relationship – that now goes to Chad."

"Uma," Chad sighed, unsure of what to say.

"You're unbelievable," she snapped, moisture building in her eyes. "We thought Jafar had you again, doing who the fuck knows what-"

"Again?" Audrey cut in, her tone suddenly tight. "What do you mean 'again'?"

"I mean the fucker already cursed him once," Uma snapped. "What he did, we do not know-"

"Chad." And then Audrey was there in his space too, looking up at him with a cutting gaze. "What happened?"

Chad's throat tightened. "I-"

"He couldn't talk about it," Uma said. "That was part of the curse, but Harry broke it at the lake, so maybe now you need to get sharing."

"It doesn't- it didn't matter," Chad said. "He's already arrested."

"If he hurt you, it matters," Audrey said. "What did the curse do to you?"

It didn't happen this time around, but the fact of the matter was that it'd happened before and it had almost destroyed Chad, who had already been held up on weak legs.

He felt tears building in his eyes, a helpless sort of heat growing as Harry and Gil drew close.

"You can't tell them," he whispered, his voice tight with emotion. "It was… stupid. Just-"

'My son likes you, does he?' Jafar had drawled, tracing his finger along Chad's jaw, the prince held frozen by invisible restraints. 'Wants you above all others? Well, that won't do. Can't have him chasing a happily ever after he never truly earned.'

"He made it so I couldn't touch Jay," Chad murmured, hot tears pouring down his cheeks. "Because he um- figured out that I liked him. And he thought- I dunno, that Jay liked me too, though obviously that was misplaced-"

'What's wrong with you?' Jay burst, moving forward, Chad's feet shifting on unwanted reflex to push him back. 'You can't have Jane so I'm not good enough for you anymore? Is that it?'.

"It wasn't misplaced," Audrey murmured, her face nuzzled against his shoulder. "He stares at your ass too much for it to be misplaced."

"It's a nice ass," Harry grumbled, causing a brilliant flush to spill over Chad's cheeks.

"Obviously, it wasn't a huge problem," Chad said. "Since Jay and I don't hang out."

"Was that why you cried when we saw him at the festival?" Gil asked. "Was it part of the curse?"

"Sort of," Chad said. "And Jafar might have like- touched me a little, but it wasn't much-"

"It doesn't matter how fucking much it was if you didn't want it," Uma snapped, wrapping her arms around both him and Audrey. "Fuck. Your grandpa already made you feel low and then you got hit with that. No wonder you were desperate to shy away from everyone." She turned her attention to Audrey. "I'm assuming you helped take out gramps."

"Fuck yes, I did," Audrey murmured, her gaze hard. "And Chad helped me with my grandmas, because Chad is a generous and lovely and smart."

"So are you," Uma declared, making Audrey startle. "And we don't know you, not really, but if you love Chad, you're fine in our book."

"She's really nice!" Gil chirped. "She and Chad helped me get my school stuff worked out, and they helped and pep talked me for our date." He paused. "Lonnie was also there, but they wanted to keep our friendship a secret-"

"Because people are still treating princess like shit, got it," Uma said, taking it all in stride. "Well, not anymore." She looked at Audrey. "You're crew now. And if you'll have us, we'd like to claim you."

"We'd have to go slow," Audrey said. "So you don't freak Chad out. And he'll be worried you're only including me out of obligation."

"I fucking hate that word," Uma snapped, and then she was reaching forward, cupping Audrey's cheek before she dragged her in for a kiss that left Audrey shuddering, the princess positively melting against her. "No obligation," Uma hissed when she pulled away, and then she kissed Chad too, nice and sweet. "Neither of you are, and we're gonna fucking prove it to you."

"May I kiss him, captain?" Harry asked, cheeks hot in a dark flush. "Gilly's already gotten him twice."

"You could have had him too if you weren't being such an idiot," Uma grumbled, but she was smiling fondly, unable to deny the first mate anything. "Fine, let's get on the bed. We need some cuddles, stat." She turned to Chad. "Don't think we're letting the whole memory wipe thing go, though. That was shitty."

"He was scared, Uma," Gil offered. "People do dumb things when they're scared."

"Fine," Uma sighed, letting her head fall back in surrender. "We will be lenient."

"It's only fair," Gil said. "We let Harry be grumbly forever without giving him too hard a time over it, I think it's okay to allow Chad one chance to run."

"But only one," Uma said, holding Chad's gaze. "That's the important part. I want you to remember that, because it's not happening again."

"Aye, captain," Audrey giggled, smiling up at Chad with a flushed look of happiness that melted away his lingering concerns.

Things were different this time around, but it was a good difference. And with Audrey, well…

Maybe he could do this.

"Now, bed," Uma ordered. "We have some worlds to rock."

"I can't wait," Harry declared with no amount of sarcasm, and that was how Chad and Audrey found themselves led to her pink-covered bed, the pirates looking down at them like they were gifts, like they were something special, and even if Chad was scared, he was glad he could offer Audrey this much.

And maybe he was glad he could offer this to himself as well.

-:-:-

They didn't actually get that much time to make out.

It was probably for the best, because it was sort of overwhelming having Harry push into his space again, the first mate's hand tentatively roaming Chad's body while Gil curled around his back, peppering his shoulder with kisses. That in itself was intense, but Chad also caught glimpses of Uma making out with Audrey, the captain's hand definitely underneath Audrey's shirt, doing something that made the princess shudder in her hold.

They were allowed maybe fifteen minutes of this before the window pushed open again, and in crawled Mal and the others (who were hopefully under some kind of disguise spell that hid the seven individuals climbing into Audrey's room).

"Not all of us can teleport as far as you, assholes," Mal muttered, her hair slightly damp, and come to think of it all of them were in various states of swimwear/swim covers ups, because apparently Uma had left like, right after her memory came back. "Don't do shit like that. Saying 'It's Chad' and then fucking leaving to fucking make out with other people before we can even figure out what's going on!"

"I had to prioritize," Uma said, pulling away from Audrey with flushed lips. "I was also super pissed, but I'm not anymore. We talked things out."

"Great," Mal snapped. "Can we get back to the part where Chad was Lance? Where you-" She turned her gaze onto Chad. "Thought it was okay to impersonate an Isle kid."

"I made up his backstory," Uma drawled. "You don't have to yell at him for that. Figured it would be safe to go with something close to the truth."

That seemed to cut the wind out of Mal's sails, making all of them tense in surprise.

"Chad," Ben said, his voice tight with emotion. "Your grandfather… did he really starve you?"

Chad flushed. "He didn't starve me. I was just on a strict diet-"

"His grandfather was an asshole that hurt Chad and his dad," Audrey snapped. "If you came here to yell at him for that, you can fuck off right now."

"I'm not here for that," Ben said, seeming to take over the conversation. He moved forward slowly, and Mal let him, Audrey let him come close, until he was kneeling beside where Chad was perched on the edge of the bed. "Do you really not feel worthy of being my friend?"

"Fuck, Ben." Chad ducked his head, conscious of the others' collected interest fixed on them and flushing under the weight of it. The king wasn't pulling any punches, but they were all struggling through some abrupt revelations. "Let's not kid ourselves."

"Chad," Ben pressed, broken and hurt as he rested his head against Chad's knee. The frustration was a familiar thing, something that surged whenever Ben was struggling with the isolation and deferment that was gifted to him from his position as king. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Chad soothed.

"It's not fine," Jay snapped, seeming unable to hold his silence anymore. "My dad attacked you. What- what did he-?"

"Just a curse that he broke," Uma tried to wave him off.

"You weren't there that first day, Uma," Jay snapped. "When he broke down at the sight of me."

"Sorry," Chad offered on reflex.

Jay tensed, shaking his head angrily. "That wasn't the point. I didn't- I just wanna know what he did so I can fix it."

Chad felt his cheeks getting hotter and hotter, hated the joint stare he was shoved under, Carlos' quiet speculation and Evie's evaluation and it was all going in a direction he had never wanted it to tread.

"He didn't want you to be happy," Chad murmured, his hands shaking. "That's what it came down to. I guess he didn't realize you were dating the others." Jafar had focused on the individual Jay was publicly dating, not seeming to know about the others, or care enough to collect further information. "He thought you were sweet on me-"

"Son of a bitch," Jay snapped, turning away with an angry flex of his shoulders. "That fucking piece of shit."

Chad managed not to flinch. "Yeah, he was wrong-"

"He was right," Carlos offered, sort of shattering Chad's world.

"My fucking fault," Jay said, shaking his head. "I tried not to like you, because I didn't know you weren't an asshole, but he figured that out-"

"It's behind us now," Chad said, focusing on the present. "Jafar's arrested, the curse was broken. Everything's good."

"You're not dating us, so no, not everything's good," Mal huffed, like this mattered.

"Guys, you don't even know me," Chad said. "You barely knew Lance. The only reason you wanted him was because he was with Uma. Just let this go."

"No," Uma said, making Chad sigh. "You like them-"

"Uma," Chad hissed, flush intensifying. "Shut up."

"You like us?" Ben asked, perking up.

Chad dragged a hand across his face. "Please don't pretend like that matters."

"No." And that came from Doug, of all people. "No, I remember what you said on our horse ride now. You reassured me, comforted me – you comforted all of us as much as you were able, apologizing and giving us what you thought we were due, and now we're going to give you and Audrey what you deserve, because we dealt her a bad hand too."

"We really did," Ben said, turning his gaze over to Audrey. "I'm so sorry, Audrey. I did it all wrong. I got so wrapped up in everything – in being king and suddenly getting new partners and trying hard not to fail them that I let you slip through the cracks, and I shouldn't have. I hurt you, and then I ignored you, letting your hurt build up until you couldn't help but get possessed by a scepter." He reached over, grabbing her hands. "I know I don't deserve it, but could you give me a second chance? Give us a chance?"

Audrey made a show of considering this, her expression cool and reserved, distracting from the hand trembling in her lap. "I'll give you one shot," Audrey said. "But Chad and I- we're engaged. We're a set deal, so no matter what else happens…"

"Got it," Ben said as Uma wrapped an arm around her waist, as Gil cuddled into Chad's back. "Okay, we can do this, we can… we can start over again. All of us."

"All of us," Mal echoed with a smile, though a smile tugged at her lips. "We don't do anything by halves, do we?"

"Not really our thing," Evie chirped, which-

They weren't wrong.

-:-:-

Endnotes:

Check it out, it's the big poly pile literally no one was expecting ever. OT12? I don't know her ;)

I have zero restraint, lol, and no apologies for any of it ^_^

Thanks to everyone for the continued feedback and support! We're getting close to the end now, and I hope this one proves to be as satisfying as its predecessor :D

Story notes:

Cue the Enchanted Lake being closed for trivial and plot-necessitated reasons because I may or may not have forgotten about its existence entirely for a hot second there.

Until next time :)