Because People


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

Alright, here we are! Jay's turn to have a 'Because People' moment! I know the moments kinda feel disjointed because they jump from the first Descendants to after the second Descendants to the second Descendants and now the first Descendants but unfortunately that's how my brain came up with the chapters. The importance of outlining has never been more obvious here lol!

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think! :D


Jay sighed as he sat on the roof of the school. He'd climbed up a few hours ago and in all honesty he was a little surprised no one had come looking for him. Or even noticed that he was up there.

Then again, after what had happened at Family Day, maybe he shouldn't be so shocked. After all, no one but Ben bothered to speak up when they were being harassed by Chad, Audrey, and her grandmother.

And yeah, we're from the Isle of the Lost so we're used to that sort of thing, Jay thought as he tossed a small pebble from the roof. It just…it hurt a bit more coming from the 'heroes'. Not that I'd ever say it out loud of course but still…not even Coach said anything.

All the Auradon Prep faculty had been there after all, hell King Beast and Queen Belle had been there and they hadn't said anything! Granted Beast and Belle didn't say anything when Leah was tearing into Ben either so Jay had to seriously question why they were considered to be 'good'.

I mean yeah dad hypnotized the sultan and committed a coup against Agrabah but I'm not saying that's not something that should be punished, But at the same time at least with the villains, you know that what you see is what you get. None of this nice to your face but stab you in the back stuff that Auradon seems to excel in.

He sighed softly as he brought his legs up and rested his arms on his knees. He couldn't lie to himself—it had hurt hearing those things from Chad. After everything Coach Jenkins had said about the team being like a family…well Jay knew who his family was.

His family was Mal, the purple haired annoyance of a 'little sister' who Jay would follow anywhere. His family was Carlos, the small, tech obsessed 'pup' who had really started to come out of his shell ever since they arrived in Auradon. And his family was Evie, and that was a thought he never thought he'd have when he was younger.

I guess my family's also Ben, Jay thought. He was the only one to come to our aid after all…not that we need it! I had Chad on the ropes and Evie brought the knockout potion!

She had told him before Family Day that she wasn't sure if there was going to be a negative reaction to them being there. From the adults that is. After all, the adults on the Isle weren't exactly the most loving of people.

Hell, what was he saying? His dad would often tell him that the food he'd get was the food he could steal. Carlos was his mother's servant. Evie had been raised to believe the only thing that mattered were her looks in attracting a man even though Jay knew Evie was one of the smartest people he knew.

Chad's words continued to ring through Jay's head, like the bell at Dragon Hall. What? They were raised by their parents Ben. What do you think villains teach their kids? Huh? Kindness? Fair play? No way, okay. Uh-uh….oh! You enjoy hurting people!

He didn't enjoy hurting people! And the only time he ever did hurt someone since arriving in Auradon was on the Tourney field anyway. Not that it mattered, he could still hear the announcer calling him a hot head as he ran onto the field.

"Thought I'd find you here."

"Carlos?" Jay asked, looking over at the younger boy. "What're you doing up here?"

"Wondering why you're here by your lonesome," Carlos told him as he sat down next to Jay. "I mean, I get it. Family Day was worse than I thought it'd be but I thought you'd be with Mal. She's still ranting about Jane."

Jay shrugged. "I'll be in a minute. I just…people you know?"

"I get it," Carlos nodded and pulled a bit of candy out of his pocket. "Swiped it from one of the tables at Family Day. Want some?"

"I'll pass."

"Suit yourself," Carlos shrugged and began to nibble on it.

Jay sighed and looked over at the other boy. "Where'd you disappear to? When Leah, Audrey, and Chad started tearing into us? I mean I know you walked off with us but you disappeared for a moment."

Carlos sighed. "I was in the tree grove with Dude. I…the way Chad was going, I figured it'd only be a matter of time before someone tried taking Dude away from me. You know, son of Cruella DeVil not being around dogs or something like that."

Jay's blood boiled slightly at the thought of someone taking Dude from Carlos. "You know we'd never let anyone take Dude away from you right? And neither would Ben for that matter."

"I know," Carlos nodded. "But…why risk it you know? We don't exactly get the nicest of things on the Isle…and I still remember Chad making a comment during Tourney practice. Remember? When I brought up Bee?"

Jay nodded. Oh yeah, he remembered. They had been talking about their pets and one of the team asked if Jay or Carlos had any pets growing up. Jay had mentioned his eels that he'd gotten in his baddie bag from Evie's birthday party—Lagan and Derelict. Meanwhile Carlos had started talking about Beelzebub, one of the kittens Lucifer had sired and who was another item in the baddie bags.

It hadn't taken Chad long to make a comment, though maybe Jay shouldn't have been surprised. After all, Chad's mother was Cinderella and Lucifer was one of the beings who made her life miserable before marrying Chad's dad.

But still, making bets about how long it'd take Cruella to make Bee into a pair of gloves? Yeah Jay did not regret that harder than average hit on Chad during practice.

"Think Ben would let me bring Bee over?" Carlos asked. "I could introduce her to Dude."

"I'm pretty sure Ben would do anything if it meant we'd be happy," Jay said. "Though hold off for a bit okay 'Los? After Mal de-love cookie's him, he's not going to be in the best of moods and we were all surrounding him like a pack of hyenas the day of the Championship."

"Oh…right…" Carlos sighed. "Do you…do you think it's a bad idea? Stealing the wand tomorrow?"

"I don't know," Jay sighed. "We have it good here in Auradon but…after today, it's clear they're just always going to see us as villains. So why try to be anything more?"

"…we could try for Jade and Diego?" Carlos said. "And Evie's got Dizzy, everyone knows that. We steal the wand and…and they're going to be trapped on the Isle forever."

"What makes you say that Carlos?" Jay asked. "We'd be breaking down the barrier so they could be free."

"Really? You think Mal taking the wand in front of everyone at the coronation when she's up front as far away from the door as humanly possible won't summon some guards?"

"Mal's got magic. And I might have some too, dad was a genie when he got defeated by Aladdin after all."

"Mal's magic so far has opened a door, made someone prick their finger, given girls new hair, and made a love spell cookie. And we can't exactly rely on your hypothetical magic," Carlos said with a small sigh.

Jay opened his mouth to rebut what Carlos had said but closed it when he heard footsteps. "Hush up, someone's coming."

"Don't worry boys, it's just us," Mal's voice came out of the shadows.

"How'd you know we were up here?"

"Asked Evie's mirror where you guys were when we didn't find you in your rooms," Mal said as she sat down next to Jay. "…does anyone else really dread tomorrow?"

"I would have thought that you'd be chomping at the bit," Jay said. "After all, you were the one who reminded me that I was 'mean, awful, and bad news' the day of the Championship."

Mal sighed. "I know, and I stand by it. It's just…you guys didn't see Ben's face when we were leaving Family Day. He…he's our ally and we basically just left him to fend for himself."

"No you didn't."

"Ben?"

Ben chuckled softly as he sat down by all of them. "Your shadows were casting down on the quad and I wanted to check on you guys. I didn't really get the chance to earlier and…and Doug told me what Jane said."

Mal shrugged. "They're mean words Ben, we're kinda used to that by now."

"Yeah, kinda comes with the territory for the Isle," Evie nodded even as she wished more than anything Ben hadn't come alone.

Ben smiled slightly and looked over his shoulder. "Doug, Lonnie, stop hiding in the shadows and come over here!"

"Doug?"

"Lonnie?"

The two aforementioned students came into the light and sat down, Doug by Evie and Lonnie squeezing close to Jay.

"Thought you had to go cow-tow to Chad," Mal muttered, glaring slightly at Doug before looking over at Lonnie. "And you clearly only care about us if we're benefiting you."

"Mal…" Jay said softly.

"No, no, she's right," Lonnie sighed. "I should have said something when Leah started and I didn't. I'm sorry guys."

"I am too," Doug nodded. "Really sorry. I never thought Chad would smack your hand like that, Evie."

Evie shrugged slightly. "Yeah well…now you know."

"We can…we can leave if you want." Lonnie said softly.

Jay shook his head. "Plenty of roof for all of us and…you did apologize at least. More than what Chad did."

"Yeah well Chad got a three hour lecture from his dad after a recording of him smacking Evie's hand and knocking her off balance found its way into his phone," Lonnie shrugged.

Ben sighed. "Lon, I thought we talked about your hidden cameras?"

"Who said I was the one who filmed it Ben?" Lonnie said with an innocent smile that fooled no one.

"Okay, I like her," Mal chuckled and Jay smiled slightly. Maybe the coronation wouldn't be so bad after all.

Maybe Auradon wasn't that bad after all. Maybe his family could be expanded…at least for that night.