Gil and Jay stepped out of the car, being back at Auradon again. Gil still had a huge smile on his face, while they both turned around and said their goodbyes to Rapunzel and Ruby.
"Welcome back," Carlos greeted them from the stairs of the school. Lonnie was sitting beside him with Dude on her lap.
"You two were gone for a pretty long time," Lonnie said while she stood up, carrying Dude in her arms. "You guys had fun?"
"Yes, it's amazing over there," Gil answered, while he petted Dude on his head. "But I really got to run now, Uma and Harry have no idea where I went and they're probably mad at me for being late for training." Gil then quickly turned to Jay, suddenly remembering something important. "Oh Jay, Ruby asked if we would come back tomorrow. I already told her I would. You're coming too, right?"
Jay already shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't. I have Tourney practice tomorrow."
Gil's smile disappeared by hearing Jay's answer. He cursed to himself as he turned his head away. "I totally forgot about practice. I said I would come to watch." Regret was seen on his face, as he stared down towards the ground. He still softly petted Dude over his head, unsure what to do next.
"Don't worry about it, it's just practice," Jay said as he placed his hand on Gil's shoulder. The slight touch made Gil hesitantly look up. "You can watch me during the match next week. You really should not miss that one. It's going to be the most important match of the year."
Jay's enthusiasm grew while talking about the specific match. He had been looking forward to it for months, but knowing that Gil would be there to watch him play made him even more thrilled than he was before. A little smile appeared back on Gil's face, glad that Jay wasn't disappointed in him after all.
"Oh, don't worry about it," Gil said, regaining his own enthusiasm. "I'm definitely going to be there. I'll be rooting for you." For a moment the two guys just smiled at each other, both forgetting Carlos and Lonnie who send a confusing look at each other.
"But I really have to run now," Gil said, already taking a few steps away from the group. "I see you all tomorrow," he said while raising his hand. But then he suddenly seemed to change his mind. He walked back to Jay, only to quickly wrap both his arms around the other guy. Before Jay could comprehend what happened, Gil had already released him.
"Thank you," Gil said as he send Jay another shy smile. He then quickly turned around and decided to make a quick sprint back to the ship.
Jay was left behind, feeling completely frozen. He could feel his heart racing in his chest as he watched Gil rushing back to Uma and Harry. He didn't even notice he had a stupid smile on his face. The entire world seemed to disappear, except for that bright smile and those two hazel eyes. He could still feel those two strong, but gentle arms around him. He wished Gil would still turn around and come back to him, even though he was already almost out of sight.
"This is getting weird." Jay jumped up as he heard the dog talking again. He painfully remembered he wasn't the only one present. He quickly shook his head and tried to think clear again.
"Have a nice evening," Jay tried to save himself. He faked a smile as he waved at them and tried to quickly walk away.
"Ho Jay, wait up there," Carlos said as he quickly walked up to Jay. He had an amusing smile on his face. "What was that all about?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jay lied, while he shrugged. Maybe he could still pull this off if he played it cool.
"Come on, you can tell us," Carlos pushed a little. "We are your best friends. You can tell us if there's something going on between you and…"
"There's nothing going on," Jay interrupted him.
Carlos crossed his arms and looked at Jay. He was not buying this for a second. "I remember when you were staring at me like that," he said with a confident smile on his face.
Lonnie almost dropped Dude in surprise. "You and Jay were dating? Wait, you two are gay? Or bi?"
Jay rolled his eyes; why were they having this conversation.
"No, we were not dating," Carlos said, just answering the first question. "Well… It's a long story actually."
Jay tried to walk away again. Maybe if he left quietly they wouldn't notice.
"But now you're dating Gil?" Lonnie was clearly talking to him, so Jay stopped and turned around to face her. It surprised him that Lonnie didn't seem to disapprove. He was sure Lonnie would think less of him when his little secret was revealed, but she didn't look shocked at all. She actually looked excited for him. Jay sighed and broke eye contact with her.
"There is nothing," Jay finally explained. "It's one sided. Again." Lonnie's smile disappeared as she tried to hide her saddened look behind Dude.
"How do you know?" Carlos asked. He didn't seem to believe it. "Did you already tell him?" Jay didn't answer and just stared at the ground. He still didn't know why he was even having this conversation.
Carlos continued, knowing the answer on his question by Jay's silence. "You should tell him. Gil seems really attached to you. He clearly likes you."
"You two look so good together," Lonnie added with a confident smile.
"Well, it doesn't matter," Jay answered, still showing his defensive behaviour. "I'm happy the way it is. At least we're friends now."
"We also stayed friends after you told me you were in love with me," Carlos said offended.
Jay send a quick look at Lonnie, still not sure how she would react to all this new information. She send him a pitiful smile, ready to give him a piece of her mind as well. Jay sighed; at least the dog stayed silent.
"I agree with Carlos," Lonnie started slowly. "You have nothing to lose and I also think that Gil really likes you. That last hug he just gave you."
"It doesn't mean anything to him," Jay said. Both Carlos and Lonnie could notice that Jay was losing his tough act. "Could we please talk about something else?" Jay asked as he continued his walk. Carlos and Lonnie glanced at each other again, but decided to stay quiet for the time being.
"The other guy is going to figure it out on his own soon, otherwise he has to be really thick." Jay quickly turned around and send a death glare towards the dog.
"Do not call him that! Gil is not stupid!" Jay angrily said and pointed a threatening finger towards the dog.
Carlos quickly stood in between them. "You know he didn't mean it like that. Dude likes Gil too, you know that," Carlos said towards Jay and it seemed to calm him down a bit. Carlos sighed relieved, even though he secretly agreed with Dude. Lonnie walked in between the boys and send a smile to Jay.
"So, now we have Gil and Carlos," she said confident. "Any other secret crushes I should know about?"
"I've got Jane," Carlos immediately replied.
"That's not a secret. Who was there before Jane?" Lonnie asked as she tried to turn this into a girl talk.
"Nobody honestly," Carlos said after thinking for a few seconds. "Just Jane."
Lonnie sighed disappointed and turned back to Jay. "And you?"
For a second Jay hesitated if he could tell them about Harry, but he quickly pushed this idea out of his mind. Lonnie might have surprised him by being so calm when learning about his feelings for Carlos and Gil, but it was still better not to reveal any more secrets for this evening.
"Well, I could tell you guys about this boy I once dated a long time ago," Lonnie continued as she noticed Jay wasn't going to answer. "It wasn't really a happy ending, he turned out to be kind of a jerk. But I was really in love with him before I noticed."
Jay smiled and felt more at ease while Lonnie told her story about some guy he didn't even know. It didn't take long before Carlos was invested in the story, as he and Lonnie started bad talking about Lonnie's ex. Jay was glad they weren't talking about his love life anymore, even though he still couldn't set his mind of things. His mind kept going back to Gil and the quick hug he had given him, wondering why Gil had come back to thank him. He had done nothing special. He didn't know how to feel or if Carlos was actually right, he only knew he was looking forward to see Gil again the next day.
