Summer was getting close and it was getting hot in Auradon. School was finally over and a lot of the kids were lying around in the park. So was Jay, together with Carlos, Dude, Jane, Mal, Evie and Doug. Evie and Doug were actually discussing homework, while Jane tried to listen in. Carlos tried as well, but he was distracted by Dude, who was lying on his lap. He was softly petting the dog, while Dude peacefully slept. He didn't show it from the outside, but Carlos was still worried. His mother hadn't showed up in Auradon yet. Like a lot of the first generation of villains, Carlos's mom had not cross the bridge yet. Fear crumpled up in him, not knowing what his mother would do to Dude. He was ready to protect his friend with all cost, knowing that his friend and probably all of Auradon would also stand up to his mother if she planned to skin a horde of dogs again. Carlos sighed. He couldn't bear the thought of Dude getting killed by his own mother. Dude's loyalty and confident words always helped Carlos. Dude never saw him as the son of Cruella de Vil. From the very beginning he just saw him as a best friend. Besides Dude there were also Mal, Jay and Evie who were always at his side.

At the moment Jay was sitting beside him against the same tree. Eyes closed and enjoying the warmth of the sun. Mal was lying stretched out on the grass in front of his feet, listening to Evie and Doug discussing chemistry.

"I'm bored," Mal suddenly busted out. Jay tiredly opened one eye, to quickly close it again.

"Maybe you should also start making your homework," Evie playfully mocked Mal. "Even queens need to graduate, you know."

Mal looked as if she was seriously thinking about the comment, but then shook her head. "Nah, I don't think so." Carlos softly laughed and send a glance towards Jane. He held her hand, while he was petting Dude with his other hand. Life was good here.

"Jay, you got to see this!" This time Jay quickly opened both his eyes the moment he could hear Gil's voice. Mal raised in panic for a while, but then saw Gil coming their way with a huge smile on his face. She let her head fall on the ground and felt bored again. Still no villain attack yet. Gil might have been a pirate and probably still was, but from the very first day the barrier had fallen it was obvious at least Gil wouldn't be any threat to Auradon. The same couldn't be said about a bunch of other VK's. The others still looked in surprise when they saw Gil running towards them with a bunch of red roses in his hands.

"Jay, look what I found." Gil had finally reached the group and knelt beside Jay in the grass. Gil gently pushed the flowers towards Jay. "I already knew these flowers were beautiful, but they also smell amazing. Watch out for the thorns, though." Jay smiled as he smelled the roses, even though he had smelled them before. Jay nodded in agreement, the flowers indeed smelled nice.

Gil gave one flower to Jay and then moved on to Carlos. "Here, smell them. Let Dude smell them too!"

"I already do," the dog commented from Carlos's lap. "My nose is much better than yours." Gil didn't seem to mind Dude's comment and even gently petted his head. Dude sighed in agreement. Then Gil moved on to give a rose to Jane and then Mal.

"You know it's a declaration of love to give someone a rose," Mal said, even though she still accepted the rose and even smelled it.

Gil looked up in surprise. "It is?"

"Where did you get them, actually?" Doug interrupted their conversation.

"I just took them from the gardens over there. There are a bunch of them. You can just take them."

"You just cut of all those roses from a bush?" Doug repeated. Gil nodded happily, while he handed two roses over to Doug and Evie. "Please don't tell me you took them from the school garden." Doug said, while hesitantly taking the rose. Carlos already send a painful glance towards Jay, knowing where this was heading.

"I don't know, it was just a garden," Gil answered, with still a bunch of roses in his hand. Mal tried to hide her laugh behind the flower, while the others of the group stayed painfully silent. The excitement disappeared on Gil's face, when he looked at the members of the group in turn. He then faced Doug again, who was still unsure what to do with the flower. "Did I do something wrong?"

Doug didn't know how to reply, knowing the other guy probably didn't mean any harm, but then quickly came to an decision. "I'll come with you and check," Doug answered and stood up. "One of my uncles is actually a teacher in Auradon Prep. He also takes care of the garden, so maybe I can help you. It's probably not as bad as I think it is."

Gil seemed a bit more at east. He and Doug already walked away from the group, when Jay made a decision as well. "Let me come along too," he said. "In case you need some extra help." Gil nodded gratefully. He knew he couldn't fight his way out of difficult situations anymore, so Jay wouldn't be much of a help if he got in trouble, but he still felt much better knowing Jay would be at his side.

Doug kept reassuring that it probably wasn't as bad as they thought, until he stood in the garden in front of the abused plant. "What did you do?" he asked slowly and panic could already be heard in his voice.

Even Jay, who honestly didn't care about flowers before, shook his head. It was a beautiful blooming bush, standing in the middle of the garden, for everybody to be seen. Just an hour ago, the incredible plant reached towards the sky with beautiful flowers popping out from all sides. At the moment it was half torn out of the ground. A lot of the stems were cracked and the flowers hang sadly towards the ground. A lot of other stems were brutally cut off. All with all was the first so beautiful plant transformed into a dying disaster. Gil started to realize this when he was looking at the plant. He was still holding a few of the beautiful red roses tightly against his chest. Maybe if it was too late for the plant, at least he still had these beautiful flowers.

"Shouldn't we just run away now," Gil suggested to the other two. If he couldn't fight, it was best to just run. He immediately got a disapproving look from Doug.

Jay smiled pitiful. He understood it would be hard for Gil to just face the consequences. He remembered how hard it was to suddenly be called down upon for stealing, especially that one time when Fairy Godmother caught him first hand. He had to return the stolen goods to the rightful owners and even had to apologize. On top of that he got detention as well. Fortunately for him the coach was more forgiving. He wouldn't suspend him from the team and understood that old habits die hard. At the end it turned out alright and Jay believed that Fairy Godmother wouldn't be too hard on Gil either. But Jay could see on Gil's face that he was worried.

"Don't worry," Jay said, while he put his hand on Gil's shoulder. "Doug said one of his uncles take care of the garden. I'm sure he can arrange something for you." Jay looked over at Doug and hoped for some support.

Doug still stared at the broken down plant and then looked worried at Jay. "Did I already mention that the uncle I was talking about is uncle Grumpy?"