Jay walked up towards Gil, having to take a few stair steps to reach him on the tribune. He looked back one more time and was relieved Lonnie and Carlos actually started to do some exercises instead of staring at them the whole time.
"Hi Jay," Gil greeted him when Jay stood in front of him.
"Hey," Jay started unsure. He had no idea how he could start this conversation. By watching Gil looking nervously around it made Jay realize Gil didn't know either. Maybe he should just sit down and have a conversation about tourney first.
"Jay, I actually need to talk to you," Gil started, ruining Jay's chance to have a casual conversation. Jay sighed. He knew he shouldn't delay it anymore further.
"What's up?" Jay responded, trying to hide his nerves with a smile. Gil didn't try to hide anything. Jay could see how Gil nervously wringing his hands. A deep frown was seen on his forehead as Gil tried to find the right words.
"I really enjoy spending time with you," Gil started looking down. "Yesterday as well, when we were at the mountain top together. But I'm really sorry." Jay frowned as his heart seem to drop. Gil raised his head and looked Jay straight in the eye. Plain worry was written on his face. "I am really sorry. I really did not mean to kiss you. Well, you could say it runs in the family. But that's a really bad excuse, right? Anyway, I am really sorry. I promise it won't happen again. Even though…"
"Gil!" Jay interrupted Gil's rant, since he got more and more confused with every word Gil said.
"Yes?" Gil softly replied.
For a moment Jay just looked at him. He wasn't sure if Gil regretted the kiss or not, but something was clearly messing with his head.
"What are you talking about?" Jay asked not unfriendly.
"I forced myself on you," Gil softly said. There was something in his eyes that Jay hadn't seen before. Was it shame? Jay chuckled nervously. It sounded like a bad joke, but the look in Gil's eyes confirmed him it wasn't.
"No you didn't," Jay answered.
"Yes, I did. Just like my dad," Gil continued. "I shouldn't have given you that rose. And I shouldn't have kissed you yesterday. But I swear it won't happen again."
"What if I want it to happen again?" It were the first words that entered Jay's mind. He quietly cursed to himself when the words had come out, but his regret faded away when seeing Gil's reaction.
Gil finally went quiet, looking at his hands again. The shameful expression made room for a shy smile, a small red blush appeared on his cheeks. The hurt vanished from his eyes and they became gentle again. He was suddenly lost for words.
"You actually believe I would let you force yourself on me," Jay said. His voice sounded upset, but he still had a smile on his face. "Who made you believe this?"
Gil shrugged again, looking up towards Jay. "No one, it just felt like the only right explanation for what happened. I mean you said yourself you didn't want a red rose anymore."
"Forget about what I said about the rose," Jay quickly replied.
"And you pushed me back when I wanted to kiss you goodbye." The hurt appeared back in Gil's eyes.
"Forget about that too," Jay rushed to say. "I kissed you back."
Gil still didn't look back up at him. He just sat there. Staring at his hands, shamefully looking away. "I just hope you don't hate me. You know, like how Belle hates my dad."
Jay could feel a little shock flowing through his entire body. Slowly all the pieces started to fall into place. Gil was just like everyone else. Behind those bright eyes was still the shadow of his dad hunting him down. Strong, but secretly also very fragile. Jay shook his head, realizing he fed those fears by being insecure himself. He stepped back, not wanting to get hurt, but hurting the other guy instead. Unintentionally, but still hurting him.
Jay took a deep breath. He should actually think about his words carefully this time. He sat down besides Gil, closer than he would usually sit to someone. But this time they weren't alone, like in the cherry tree. Still Jay felt the urge to come even closer, for once not caring who might be looking over at them.
"I don't think I could ever bring myself to hate you again," Jay said honestly.
Gil looked down, while he was still squeezing his own hands. "You probably would if I told you everything, but I'm not allowed to tell you."
Jay raised his eyebrows. Gil looked up in fear and cursed to himself. He was probably not allowed to say that either. Jay couldn't help but laugh at Gil's despair. He just couldn't keep his mouth shut, even when his life depended on it.
"Well, no matter what it is," Jay said with a smile, not willing to push Gil any further. "I still don't think I could hate you for it."
Gil looked back up, seeing Jay's charming smile again. He noticed how Jay moved his hand closer to him. Gil still hesitated, but then slowly turned his right hand palm up. This time Jay didn't ignore it and softly laid his hand in Gil's palm. Jay's thump softly rubbed over Gil's fingertips, just where the topless glove ended. Jay quickly looked around. No one on the tourney field seemed to mind the two guys who were secretly holding hands on the tribune. Even Lonnie and Carlos were still doing their exercises without looking in their direction. Jay was relieved. He wasn't planning to let go of that hand anytime soon, but he also didn't want anybody to see them like this.
Jay looked back at Gil, who had been looking at him the whole time. The soft touch on his fingers calmed him down. The kindness in those two dark brown eyes made him feel strong. Gil knew he still had a lot to figure out. Fear rose in him when he thought about his dad and the plan he had with Auradon. But for the moment he was safe, keeping Jay close to him.
"So, where do you want to go next?" Jay suddenly asked. Gil looked up in surprise.
"You still want to explore Auradon with me?" Gil asked. Jay squeezed a little in his hand and send him a charming smile. There was nothing he wanted more.
"I would love to," he said softly. "So, where do you want to go?"
Gil finally seemed to believe Jay's words, as a bright smile finally appeared back on his face. Just when he wanted to answer, he heard a strange noise coming from his pocket. It took him a moment to recognized the sound of a buzzing cell phone.
"Someone needs you?" Jay asked who had much more experience with phones than Gil. Gil simply shrugged as he tried to get his phone out his pocket with his left hand. He refused to move his right hand away from Jay's grip.
"It's Harry," Gil declared when he finally got his phone out of his pocket. Jay sighed annoyed. Even when Harry was miles away, he still found a way to interrupt them.
"Hey Harry, I figured out how to answer your call," Gil said happily to his friend.
"Great Gil, where are you?" Jay could hear Harry's voice from the little machine.
"I'm on the tourney field with Jay," Gil answered honestly.
"Hold up, you're with him again? This is getting tiresome, why don't you tell me what's going on?"
"Well…," Gil slowly started. He looked at their hands which were still intertwined. Jay raised his eyebrows, pressing his lips together, silently hoping Gil wouldn't answer the question.
"Anyway," Harry continued, not willing to wait for an answer. Jay sighed relieved. "We just got a call from Mal. You, Uma and I are all invited to the castle. It's supposed to be urgent, so Uma and I are heading towards the castle right now. We will meet you there. You can bring your boyfriend as well. According to Mal the Core Four should be there too. It's going to be some kind of meeting, I guess."
Jay looked up at the word boyfriend, wondering if Harry was referring to him or not. It was at least clear Harry had no idea Jay listened in to their conversation. Gil did not seem to be surprised with the choice of words, while he just continued the conversation.
"A meeting at the castle? What could Mal probably want from us?"
"I don't know," Harry answered. "Just be there as fast as you can. You should be glad, this is actually your chance to look around and get some information."
Gil's eyes widened for a moment. He hadn't even thought about snooping around the castle until Harry mentioned it. Jay noticed how Gil suddenly send a quick glance at him.
"I'll be there," Gil quickly said before Harry could say anything else. At least then it would've been Harry who spilled the secret and not him. Gil hung up the phone and send a quick glance at Jay again, wondering how much of Harry's words he heard. Jay didn't seem to mind it, since he was already looking on his own phone.
"I have indeed a message from Mal, asking me if I can come to the castle as soon as possible. Meeting with the Sea Three, it says." Jay looked over at Gil beside him. He had already one of the three close to him. He put his phone away as he stood up.
"Seems like we have to leave," he said and Gil stood up as well. They walked down the tribune, still holding each other hand, until Jay painfully realized they were not alone. He quickly let go, but also send a charming smile towards Gil, letting him know he still liked him just as much.
"Carlos, I got a message from Mal, we need to go to the castle," Jay said to the black-white haired boy who was still practicing with Lonnie. Both Lonnie and Carlos seem to burst from curiosity. Even Dude stood right up, wagging his little tail and his ears upright. Jay already rolled his eyes and pushed Carlos ahead.
"We need to leave," Jay quickly said, before one of them had the chance to even ask the question who would be burning on their tongue. Lonnie quickly grabbed Gil's arm when Jay dragged Carlos with him, already walking towards the castle.
"How did it go?" Lonnie softly asked Gil.
"Wait, you guys know what we were talking about?" Gil asked, raising his eyebrows a little.
Lonnie didn't answer the question, but just gave him a sweet, innocent smile. Gil smiled back at her just before he looked back at Jay who still manhandled Carlos.
"I'm still not sure," Gil answered with a frown and tilled his head a little.
Lonnie laughed a little. "Yea, Jay is a hard nut to crack. But he's in love with you. Just ask him straight."
Gil frowned to Lonnie again, but also gave her a little nod. He quickly followed Jay, Carlos and Dude who already got a tolerable head start. He quickly turned around to wave at Lonnie, who gave an encouraging thumps up back at him. Gil nodded again, but this time just for himself. It was about time he and Jay would set things straight, even though they were both clearly not so themselves.
...
The four of them reached the castle and saw Evie already waiting for them in the huge entrance hall.
"There you guys are," Evie greeted them. "Uma and Harry are not here yet, even though you're already here." Evie send a confused look towards Gil.
"Oh, I just happened to be on the tourney field with them," Gil explained. Evie already smiled at him.
"That's alright, Uma and Harry should be here any minute. You can follow me."
Carlos and Dude followed Evie closely as she guided them through the castle. Jay followed from a distance and Gil just followed his lingering pace. The opportunity finally appeared when Jay saw an empty room on his left and no one was around to check on them. Jay quickly slipped in the room and pulled Gil on his arm with him. Gil stumbled in and saw how Jay quickly closed the door behind him. Jay turned around to face Gil again.
"I had the feeling we didn't really had the chance to finish our conversation," Jay explained his behaviour. Gil laughed at him, he didn't mind at all.
"So," Jay continued their interrupted talk on the tourney field. "I have a suggestion where we could go next." Gil already listened closely. "I promised you a while ago that I would take you to the Enchanted Lake. How about it?"
Gil's face lit up as he got a mischievous glint in his eyes. "We could sneak out in the night. You said the lake is best seen in the dark."
Jay laughed back at him and gave him a quick wink. They proved again that they thought alike.
"When will we go?" Gil asked enthusiastic.
"Uh, I don't know," Jay said thinking. "Maybe in a few days? I will text you about it, alright?"
Gil nodded and Jay smiled at him again. Jay wanted to open the door again, but Gil's voice stopped him. "Are you in love with me?"
Jay slowly turned back towards Gil, a shy smile on his face.
"Yes," he softly replied, while staring at the ground. He then looked up at Gil again, showing another confident smile. "I thought that was obvious by now."
Gil laughed at him for a moment, before a frown appeared on his forehead again. "I never had a boyfriend before," he said shyly. "Or a girlfriend for that matter."
Jay stared at him for a moment. Boyfriend and boyfriend, it suddenly didn't sound that weird anymore. He walked up to Gil and placed a quick kiss on Gil's lips. He immediately took a step backwards again, hoping Gil wouldn't notice the blush on his cheeks. "Well, I guess now you have."
For a moment Gil just stood there. A bright smile slowly appeared on his face. He stepped forward, carefully closing the gap between them. He softly laid his hand on Jay's cheek as he asked for permission with his eyes. For a moment he was terrified Jay would push him away again, but Jay actually moved closer to him.
Gil closed the gap entirely as he softly kissed Jay. They might not be standing on a mountain anymore, but Gil still felt as if he was standing on top of the world. Jay put both his arms around Gil's neck, moving even a little bit closer. The others could wait for a bit.
