Chapter 5 – The Ball
-:-:-
"Brilliant as always, Benjamin," Chad cheered, holding up his glass in a mock salute.
"It's um… very nice, Ben," Doug offered, feeling distinctly awkward.
Ben's smile seemed to get a bit tight. "I'll be honest, I didn't expect to see you and Jane here tonight, Doug."
"Audrey and I invited them," Chad cut in, just as obliviously cheerful as always. "To be our plus ones." He threw Doug a wink. "Cool parties deserve cool guests, you know."
Ben tensed, his voice dropping to a low growl. "Don't joke like that, Chad."
Chad's smile faded into a look of genuine confusion, and Doug tried to focus on that rather than his growing humiliation. "Joke about what, Ben? Doug is a really cool-"
"I don't know what you and Audrey think you're doing," Ben interrupted with a threatening sort of rumble. "But you need to stop."
"Is that an order?" Chad asked, finally realizing Ben wasn't playing around. "Are you trying to interfere in the personal lives of your subjects?"
"Why are you doing this?" Ben asked. His voice dropped, and suddenly he seemed more uneasy than mad. "If it's about then-"
"Cripes, Ben." Chad flushed. "Not everything's about you. Audrey and I are allowed to be nice to people if we want. We're not incapable of kindness, or whatever you seem to think."
"This just seems very pointed," Ben said. "Doug-"
"My roommate for six years?" Chad challenged. "Or Jane, my fairy god-person? We're allowed to have friends too, Ben."
"You need to stop this," Doug interrupted, finally finding his tongue in time to get a startled look from Ben. "We're not together anymore. I'm allowed to move on, and you can't just interrogate Chad and Audrey like they're villains."
The king sighed, and for the first time since the conversation started, Doug recognized a sort of weariness in him. "That's not what I think," he said. "But maybe they're not being as honest as you think they are."
"I'm right here," Chad said, the hurt clear in his tone, hands tensing against his sides.
It made it less of a surprise when Audrey strolled onto the scene a few moments later, Jane hanging onto her arm. "Benjamin," Audrey greeted, her lips pulled into a smile that bore no joy. "Can we help you?"
"He was just leaving," Doug decided, giving Ben a tense look.
The king sighed. "Doug-"
"He was just complimenting our outfits, and then leaving," Doug repeated, hating how shaken Chad seemed beside him.
"Thank you, Ben," Audrey said, her smile widening. "I picked them out myself."
Jane didn't say anything, choosing to huddle closer to Audrey before offering Ben a tense smile.
The king looked at them, likely weighed the odds and didn't like them, before making a tactful retreat with a nod of his head.
Audrey waited for him to be out of earshot before huddling in with Jane. "What'd he say?"
Chad's head was ducked, not at all like the regal Prince Chadwick that had entered the ball. "Just that, you know, you and I are evil opportunists that are using Doug and Jane for our own nefarious deeds."
"That dumb shit," Audrey hissed under her breath. "I swear he gets stupider every year."
"Should we go?" Doug asked, trying to block Chad from outside view as much as possible.
"We can't leave right after he approached you," Audrey muttered. "People will talk. Granted, they'll do that anyway because we decided to show up and had the audacity to have a good time, but right now we need to mitigate the fallout of Ben being a compulsive blowhard."
"Compulsive?" Jane echoed, shifting so that she could hook her arm through Chad's, giving him some unspoken reassurance.
"Yeah," Chad sighed, seeming to pull himself together. "There's no way that was planned. Mal, Uma, Evie, and Carlos are all strategists – they'd know a confrontation at a public event would get the worst possible results. They'd have never let it happen."
"Which meant Ben came over here on a whim," Audrey deduced. "Saw you vulnerable with the perceived 'dumber' one of his opponents and thought it would be a good time to talk." She paused, trying to work the scowl off her face. "Moron."
"You're not stupid," Jane murmured to Chad, rubbing his arm. It earned her a small grin that didn't seem to meet Chad's eyes.
It was amazing how quickly their lighthearted evening could take a turn for the worse.
"Well, I'm not surprised," Audrey sighed. "One of them was going to approach eventually."
"I'm surprised Evie hasn't made an appearance," Chad murmured.
"I'm not," Audrey hummed. "She's been a bit of a mess, lately."
"She has?" Jane asked, likely knowing that Doug couldn't.
Audrey gave a sympathetic shrug. "Doug was a rock for her. As overwhelming as things were for you guys, it's still overwhelming for them, because none of them understand the concept of slowing down or delegating."
Doug tried not to flinch but definitely ducked his head, a light thread of shame ringing through him.
"Hey, no," Audrey chided. "That wasn't intended to make you feel bad. That's just the facts," she explained. "As long as they don't communicate, they're going to have problems."
"Do you think anyone else is going to come over?" Chad asked, trying to pull their focus from possible sorrow.
Audrey hummed. "Mal didn't look too happy about Ben's little chat," she declared, surveying the room. "They're gonna tighten ranks, if anything. Like, Jay and Harry might throw caution to the wind and say hello, but I think those are the only people we have to worry about."
"Harry won't come for me," Doug declared, remembering their ill-fated attempt at making out.
A sad look crossed Jane's face. "He felt really bad about that."
"I feel like this is a story for later," Audrey said. "But trust me, based on their looks, Jay would come after both of you if needed."
Doug and Jane didn't say anything, the words seeming too good to be true.
In truth, neither Doug nor Jane had much contact with their exes since their respective breakups. Doug had blocked their numbers during his first day at Chad and Audrey's apartment, spurred entirely by fear. It wasn't that he was frightened that they would try to contact him, more the opposite. He just- he didn't want to be aware of how little they wanted to reach out to him, so he'd blocked their numbers, taking comfort in the potentially false belief that his move to block them was why he didn't get any calls from them.
Jane had done the same thing when she'd dumped them, and since they regulated most of their excursions to school or being with Chad and Audrey, they didn't really see the others. Carlos operated out of an entirely different building on the other side of campus and Evie's teachers had always gone to her. If the others were going to school, Doug didn't know about it, and they weren't operating anywhere on campus near Jane or Doug.
The rest of the night was a bit tense. Doug saw flashes of Evie in passing but forced himself to redirect his focus anytime it threatened to land on her. He danced with Jane, smuggled mini beef wellingtons into her purse to surprise Audrey with later, and spent a lot of time trying to cheer Chad up. The blond pretended he was okay, and if someone wasn't familiar with him, they might even believe that, but Doug could see the pain that flashed in his eyes when Chad thought no one was looking.
It made it a relief when Audrey said they could finally go, Chad giving them a wink that didn't feel nearly as playful as usual.
"Midnight is the magic hour in my family," he sang. "You know how it is."
"Yeah," Audrey scoffed. "And if you lose one of those damn shoes, I'm gonna clock you with the other one."
"My hero," Chad drawled, tone full of awe.
They didn't expect any confrontations on their walk back to the valet, and in truth, they didn't get any.
But they did receive company from an unexpected source.
"Hey!" a voice called from behind them, and the group turned in time to see Gil, of all people, scrambling out of a secret passageway to meet them. "Um." He paused when he got to their side, seeming rife with indecision. "I um- I-"
He was upset, that much was clear. There was moisture building behind his eyes that made Doug ache for him. To be honest, Doug hadn't realized the blond pirate cared for him and Jane all that much – they hadn't been afforded much time to talk to each other during the brief stint where they had attempted to date.
Eventually he managed to find his words, though they came in a rushed burst, and were also the last thing Doug expected. "Can I come with you?"
The four of them paused, trading looks before Gil pushed onwards.
"Please, I- I love- I can't do what they- I just-" He was crying now, tears rolling down his face. "I love captain and Harry but this is hard, and I keep telling them I can't- I can't do it and they won't- they said it'll get better but it's not and-" He cut off with a gasp, and it didn't take much for Jane and Chad to rush to him, the prince offering him a handkerchief that Gil gratefully clutched.
Audrey sighed. "Well, I suppose there are worse things than Uma hating us."
"Are we doing this?" Doug asked, surprised, though in hindsight, why should he be? Audrey didn't like it when people were hurting, especially when she thought they should have been taken care of in the first place.
"We're doing this," Audrey declared, sharing a nod with Chad. "At least for the night. We can arrange for them to talk things out later, but for now, I think he needs some space."
"Please," Gil gasped. "I know I'm dumb and not v-very useful but I can- I'll be good-"
"You're already good," Chad assured him, patting Gil's arm.
Audrey sighed again. "Come on, let's get to the limo."
"It'll be okay," Jane soothed, but she seemed a bit uncertain too. If Ben had been mad with them before, it would get worse once they took Gil, the heart of the pirates, with them.
But he seemed so broken up, and Doug had been there. Jane had been there.
The least they could do was pay it forward.
-:-:-
It seemed like the routine with handling depressed members of Ben's (ex?) lovers was to immediately herd said person into a bath. Chad took care of that himself, tugging Gil with him towards the master bedroom while Audrey heated up some soup Chad had frozen for just such an occasion when comfort was needed. Doug and Jane themselves retreated to her room to change, and Jane hesitated for maybe a few seconds before letting her wings loose, as was dictated by the chalkboard.
"It's Gil," Doug reasoned as he braided her hair into a loose plait. "He's not going to care."
"I know," Jane hummed, but she was still worried. Likely concerned that Gil would tell the others when he returned to them, that they would feel bad because she didn't share that part of herself with them, when really, it had never been a matter of trust. Doug knew that much from experience.
She dressed in a set of Audrey's pajama pants and one of her long sleeve shirts while Doug stuck to his own clothes, though they were options Audrey and Chad had helped him select all those months ago. When they got back to the main room it was to see Audrey still in her ballgown, her heels abandoned by the couch as she spoke into her phone in a forceful tone.
"No, Ben, we did not corner him," she snapped, her voice low, vicious. "He came to us crying. We brought him back to our apartment to cool off, but I don't have Harry or Uma's numbers – yes, I absolutely would have called them over you – you made Chad cry." There was a pause where she rolled her eyes, likely unimpressed with whatever Ben had to say. "Look, they- and I mean they need to talk to him. Not all of you. Because when all of you talk, nothing gets communicated. I'm noticing the running trend-" A pause. "Well if they did, that's their business," she growled. "Just text me Uma's number, okay? Chad's comforting Gil right now, and by comforting, I do not mean wooing away from you,you paranoid schmuck." Another pause. "Thank you. Apology not-accepted. You want to apologize, talk to Chad."
She hung up before Ben could respond, tossing her phone onto the coffee table with an aggravated sigh.
"Idiot," she groused under her breath before dramatically flopping onto the couch.
Doug shared a look with Jane before the two of them moved to comfort her, one taking each side as they curled in close.
"I have purse mini wellingtons for you?" Jane offered, holding up her clutch. "Doug distracted the waiter while I grabbed them."
"Jane," Audrey said with no amount of levity. "You are too pure for this world. I would very much love your purse mini wellingtons."
They held the princess while she anger ate the small snacks, but when they were gone, she seemed to be closer to herself.
"Fuck this night," she decided, handing the purse back to Jane. "The bad parts, I mean. There were plenty of good parts, like when we got to dance with you guys." She sighed. "I had such high hopes for stripping you of your formalwear."
"Well." Doug shared a bashful look with Jane. "I mean, youstill have formalwear that needs to be stripped."
"We could help you," Jane added, tucking a stray curl behind her ear.
Audrey offered them a roguish grin. "You two always were the clever ones."
They ended up retreating to the guest bedroom to help Audrey with her clothes. To be thorough, they freed her from the pink lingerie she had hidden underneath, Doug taking the opportunity to get a snack of his own while Jane traded easy kisses with the princess. In the end, they redressed her in Jane's clothes, the fairy blushing when Audrey claimed a pair of her panties with a wicked smirk.
She elected that time to go without a bra, because she was determined for Doug to just be horribly distracted, apparently.
By the time the soup was ready, Chad returned with Gil, the pirate dressed in a spare set of Chad's lounge clothes with his hair loose around his shoulders.
"You take over this," Audrey ordered the prince, Chad wearing Doug's clothes, of all things. "I've got to call Uma."
Gil tensed. "You don't- you don't have to-"
"She needs to know where you are, sweetie," Audrey said, pressing a kiss to Gil's cheek before picking up her phone. "I'll be back soon. You two-"
"We'll cuddle," Jane declared, offering a hand out to Gil.
The blond accepted it, though his gaze seemed to be fixed on the wings growing from Jane's back. "Are those new?"
Jane blushed as she tugged him over towards the breakfast table. "No. I um- I was just shy about showing them, before."
"Oh." Gil sniffed. "Well, you shouldn't be. They're very nice."
"Yeah, they are," Chad chirped from the kitchen, his entire disposition seeming a bit easier.
Jane's blush intensified. "Thanks, Gil."
She settled the blond at the head of the table, where she and Doug immediately moved to flank him. They dragged their chairs close so they could have a point of contact with him, Jane holding his hand while Doug wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
Gil seemed to soak up all of it.
"Thank you," he said, giving them grateful looks. "I… things weren't bad, back there, but I couldn't- I couldn't be a leader of Auradon, like they wanted. Like, traveling with Jay was great, but Ben wants us to be ambassadors too, and I can barely read." He said the last part with great shame, his head hung in despair. "They got me tutors, but I had to improve by a certain date to get my next set of school stuff which I would have to know by a certain date and I couldn't remember any of it, or the etiquette stuff, and I can't help with social media or-" He cut himself off, pressing a hand to his face while Jane and Doug drew in closer, trying to give him reassurance. "They're all doing so much," he whispered. "They're making the world better and I can barely do anything."
"That's not true, Gil," Jane urged, rubbing his forearm. "You're very talented. You might not be great at academics, but you're a natural athlete, and you make people feel better just by being nearby."
"Yeah, um- that's what Uma said," Gil sniffed. "But I don't think it's enough. They keep asking for my opinion for press releases and online, they call me the 'dumb one'."
"Gil," Doug sighed, moving so he could properly wrap himself around the blond, Jane mimicking his actions on Gil's free side. "You can't read that stuff. It's toxic."
"But what if it's true?" Gil asked. "What if I'm only good for my looks, and um- 'entertainment value'? What if I don't have anything else going for me?" His voice dropped lower, like he was scared. "What if that's the only reason Captain and Harry like me?"
"It isn't," Doug soothed. "And they'll tell you that themselves."
"And you're not a piece of entertainment for them," Jane added. "You're Gil. You're sweet and optimistic and bright despite having a difficult childhood. Uma and Harry love you."
"Yeah," Gil said, though he didn't seem to entirely believe it. "But they love Mal and Ben and the others too, and I…" Gil shuddered. "I don't know if I can. I'm so afraid dating just them, but adding Evie and Carlos to that? The king?" He shuddered. "It's so much." He turned to Jane, beseeching. "That's why you left, right? Because you couldn't do it anymore?"
There was a pause, but then Jane nodded, which seemed to comfort Gil somewhat. "Yeah," she admitted. "That's why I left."
"Well," Gil sniffed. "I think that's what I need to do too. Because I only have so much, and I don't think it's enough."
"You should still talk to Uma and Harry, though," Doug offered. "They need to hear this."
"Right." Gil nodded. "But if it goes badly, can I stay here?"
"Of course, Gil," Chad said, the prince's gaze filled with sorrow. He had been quiet for most of the conversation, all of this likely stuff he had heard while helping Gil change.
Gil slumped with relief. "Thank you," he murmured. "That that makes me feel a lot better."
In truth, it made Doug feel better too.
-:-:-
Doug was not sure how Gil's conversation with his crewmates went. He hadn't been there. Audrey had taken him for moral support, and while Doug hadn't expected that to be the end of things, he also hadn't expected to hear much more from Audrey about it save that the order of the world had been restored.
When Gil returned with her to the apartment that evening, looking entirely broken while Audrey just looked furious, Doug realized how tragically that particular conversation must have gone.
"Harry hates me," Gil moaned as they cuddled him on the other guest bed, Audrey doing her best to wipe away his tears while Doug curled around his back. "He said I was weak and stupid and- and wooed by um- darkness or whatever."
"Your ex-lovers are stupid," Audrey snapped, aiming a frustrated look at Doug, but it was Gil who shook harder with the force of his tears.
Later, Doug would get the full story.
"Uma wasn't there," Audrey explained when Gil had cried himself to sleep. "She got pulled away to some kind of refugee emergency. We were supposed to reschedule, but then Harry showed up and…" She sighed. "The fucker had been drinking, I think. Must have given up on Gil before he even said anything. Now I don't know what's going to happen."
"Will Uma see him?" Doug asked, heart tight in his chest.
"The question now is will Gil see her?" Audrey countered. "He seems determined that all of them hate him now. I talked about taking him to see Evie, but…" She sighed. "Poor guy."
"Yeah," Doug agreed, letting his forehead rest against the curve of Gil's spine. "Poor guy."
Gil stayed with them for a few days sort of in an awkward transition stage. His schedule had been tightly regulated by whatever assistant Ben had that month. It was a trial for Audrey to get the lesson plans from her (a battle that ended in more subtle threats and a small amount of blackmail) before the princess hired a tutor to help Gil in the comfort of the apartment. The teacher was a bubbly middle-aged woman who was Chad-approved, the prince determined to only hire someone who was encouraging, kind, and adaptable in their teaching methods.
"He has bad experiences with private tutors," Audrey explained when Doug had asked. "His mostly raised him, and they were not kind."
Gil's tutor was very kind, and rewarded him with stickers and praise that he most certainly hadn't gotten back on the Isle.
He hadn't been lying about his reading level. Gil wasn't academically gifted, but none of them pressured him. He'd learn at his own rate, and that was what mattered.
"You take your time," Chad soothed, combing a hand through Gil's hair when he had voiced concern for his usefulness. "You've earned it."
It was a bit awkward, juggling a new person who wasn't officially broken up with the others. Gil seemed to think he was and refused to answer any of their calls or texts. He contented himself with keeping the four of them company, shadowing Chad through food preparation or helping Jane organize her paperwork. Audrey found a wonderful cohort in him when she realized he was more than happy to point out clothing he thought would look good on the others on her computer, and together the two of them arranged for an onslaught of presents that made all of them smile.
Gil was also quick to point out stuff he thought Audrey would like, because she 'really was the queen of nice, and she deserved good things too', which made him an immediate hit with the rest of them.
It was different, but it was also Gil, so it was good.
-:-:-
It was a natural progression for Gil to share a bed with them.
Just- it was Gil. He was a cuddle bug. There was no way he would have been able to stay in his room by himself. They really hadn't thought much of it the first few nights when he felt especially sad, but then a few days became a week, became two weeks, and then the rest of them realized Gil's presence as just a thing.
It was a cheerful thing, though. Gil was always up for acting as a pillow, or curling around someone's back. He liked being held just as much as he enjoyed holding onto them, and took the prospect of healthy emotional support very seriously.
Gil also didn't super understand boundaries, though that was likely their fault. When lost, it was easy for him to mimic the behavior around him, and the others didn't really have boundaries with each other. Not a lot. They each had their own space – Doug his music room and Audrey her office and Jane her bedroom and Chad the terrace – and Gil seemed to understand that, but everywhere else was pretty much fair game. So when they casually walked in on each other when they were in the bathroom, he didn't really get that was a relationship thing instead of a friendthing, because on the Isle, they didn't really do bashfulness. They couldn't afford it.
And that was how Doug came to have his shower interrupted one evening, Gil likely wanting to ask him a technical question about his phone that he immediately forgot upon seeing Doug's body.
At least, that was what Doug assumed. All he knew was that the was rinsing out his hair one moment and then turning to see a frozen Gil staring at him the next.
The blond's gaze, of course, fell pointedly between Doug's legs. "Oh, wow," he said, genuinely shocked. "That's really small."
He didn't intend to be cruel; Doug knew that. He wasn't trying to hurt Doug.
That didn't stop it from happening.
"Like," Gil continued, oblivious to Doug's humiliation. "I've never seen one that small before."
Doug didn't say anything, found his words choked in his throat as he turned away, trying to hide himself until Gil would just leave.
It seemed to shock the pirate out of his stupor.
"Oh, wait- hey-" He heard the shower door open, and then Gil was in the stall, getting the lounging clothes Audrey had gotten him soaked, not that he seemed to care. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry. It's cute! Super cute." Gil moved forward with a grin, like he was going to hug Doug or something. "I bet it's really easy to suck. Could I do that?"
"Um- what?" Doug gasped, his voice seeming to rise two octaves.
"Suck it," Gil said earnestly. "Or- wait, Evie said you didn't like sex stuff. Sorry. Nertz, I messed up twice."
"Gil," Doug said, his heart hammering in his chest. "I um- I lied about that."
"Because of your baby bean?" Gil asked, earnest and cheerful and also sort of awful. "But it's cute."
Doug braced a hand against his face as though that could somehow hide his onslaught of shame. "Thanks," he managed. "I appreciate that. But please, this is a secret, so don't tell anyone."
"Of course!" Gil chirped, and when Doug looked up, Gil was nodding. "That's your business. Like sometimes Harry likes to wear- wait." Gil stopped himself. "That was a secret that I did not share!" he announced, giving Doug a bright grin. "See, I can keep secrets."
Sort of, but now Doug was curious as to what Harry liked to wear.
Not that such knowledge would ever be known to Doug.
"Why is there shouting?" was how Audrey walked in on the scene, her brows furrowed in concern until her gaze landed on the pair of them hovering close together in the master bathroom. She sighed. "Gil, what did we say about knocking?"
"To… do it?" Gil offered, then he frowned. "Aw, I forgot that too."
"It's okay, Gil," Doug said somewhat awkwardly, offering him a few pats on the arm. "Just- try to remember next time."
"And Gil," Audrey continued, advancing on them with a careful tone. "It's important to respect Doug's privacy."
"Right!" Gil cheered. "I'm not going to tell anyone about-" He motioned to Doug's groin. "I promise. I think it's super cute, and since he likes sex now, I asked him if I could suck it."
Doug was sort of hoping he'd forgotten about that. "Gil," he groaned, because all this talk of sex was going to get his dumb dwarf libido going. Gil's near proximity alone was almost enough to set him off. "We're not dating. And the others still want you back."
Gil's shoulders slumped. "And I um- I want them back too," he admitted. "But I don't want that life. And besides, Harry hates me." He paused. "Well, maybe you can know he likes to wear panties sometimes then, but that doesn't mean I can't keep your secret."
"Alright," Audrey said, mind somewhat blown. "We are just learning all the new things here."
"Why are we having parties in the bathroom?" Chad asked as he strolled through the door with Jane.
Of course. Why not invite everyone?
"I want to date you guys!" was how Gil decided to answer. "Please. I promise, I can stay very good looking for a long time-"
"Gil," Audrey interrupted. "We like you for more than your looks, just like the others do. You're a great guy."
"Then…" Gil shifted his weight awkwardly. "Can I date you? Because you're also really great, and I like you."
Chad and Audrey shared a look, and then Audrey sighed. "Okay," she said. "But we're going to do a lot of talking first."
"That is most of our relationship," Chad offered sagely. "Talking."
"That sounds like a nice change of pace," Gil hummed. "Most of my old relationship was guessing. I did not like that. I am not a good guesser."
"Most of us aren't," Chad replied with a shrug.
-:-:-
Endnotes:
Thanks for the feedback, everyone! Happy to give Jane some love, and now it's Gilly's turn! I will say that this is the extent of the current pattern that's been set up – with the more insecure of Doug's old relationship finding their way to Chad and Audrey's. Things will start getting shaken up next chapter :)
Story notes:
Gil, pumpkin pie, revenge spilling of secrets from ex-lovers is not cool – but Audrey will work that concept through his head soon enough. Baby steps.
Much like Reese De'What, Gil is not a good guesser ;)
Until next time