Chapter 2 – Eighteen Months Ago

Notes: Yep, there are time skips in this story, because why not make things confusing? This particular chapter takes place eighteen months before the events of Chad's enchantment.

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18 Months Ago

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Chad didn't mean to stumble upon Mal, least of all a version of her that seemed close to tearing out her platinum hair, staring hopelessly at a selection of scarves in what seemed to be the hopes that one of them might jump out and strangle her.

It was a very specific look; Chad was intimately familiar with it.

He looked around to see if one of her Isle friends was nearby – and when that failed, to see if Ben or one of her Auradon friends was nearby, but it was just Mal alone, standing in the accessory section of a high-end boutique, seeming to curse the life choices that had brought her there.

Chad slowed to a halt. Normally he wouldn't get involved, but his etiquette teacher had feelings about princes helping pretty damsels in distress, and Mal certainly seemed to fit that category in her cutesy lavender dress and pale locks and stricken expression of hate. And Chad was only slightly on a time limit. Audrey had been feeling down lately because Ben had dumped her like an idiot, so Chad had just purchased her a few unique pieces of jewelry that had just come in stock from Hanover while he had a break between training and his next study session. He had about an hour to do so, and while he had planned to spend part of that time rewarding himself with food and making sure the packaging for Audrey's gifts was perfect, he could spare some time looking into Mal's situation. At the very least, he could text Ben, who might not be able to do something but he probably had Evie's number and she could help. It was all about delegating.

So with a confidence he did not feel, Chad strolled over towards the future Lady of the Court, noticing how several sales associates were maintaining a careful perimeter around Mal's radius of fury.

When she did not immediately notice him standing beside her, Chad cleared his throat. "What's wrong?"

Mal blinked out of her one-sided glaring match to aim an unimpressed look at Chad. "What the fuck do you want, Chad?"

"I want to know what's wrong," Chad repeated, deciding to ignore the way she spat out his name like a curse. His grandfather did it all the time, it sort of reminded him of home. "Is something wrong with the scarves?"

Mal went back to turning her as-yet-to-be-defined fury onto the fluttery pieces of fabric. "I don't know," she hissed, crossing her arms with a furious huff. "Ben and I are visiting Imperial City at the end of the week and I'm in charge of getting our host gift, whatever the fuck that is."

"It's a gift for your hosts," Chad informed her, dutifully recalling the information his world etiquette teacher had worked long and hard to push into his skull. "As a show of respect, gratitude, and friendship." Among other things. "Are you visiting the generals?"

Mal, who seemed to ready to snap at him for interrupting her, aborted the action with a startled look. "…yes."

"Okay." Chad nodded. "Then you probably shouldn't get them a scarf." He let his gaze drift over the rest of the store. "Or anything from here. A good option is something expensive that is exclusive to Auradon, like cognac."

Mal looked at him as though he had grown a second head.

Right. "It's an alcoholic drink," he explained. "A spirit? Adults like it."

As far as Chad could tell. His dad liked it a lot. To the point where Chad had started to hide his bottles, because sometimes it seemed like he enjoyed it too much.

"Nimrod," Mal growled. "We're too young to buy that shit. Isn't that like, an Auradon rule?"

"Technically, we wouldn't be buying it," Chad pointed out. "Ben gave you a charge card to the castle's account, right?"

Chad knew this because Ben had gotten one for Audrey, who used it whenever she had surpassed her own budgeted royal allowance.

Mal seemed suspicious that he knew that much, but she still nodded, fingering the strap of her dainty, purple purse. "…yeah?"

"Then we'll just arrange for the purchase," Chad explained. "If we go to the store and have it directly shipped to Auradon Castle, you – as someone with access to the castle account – will be allowed an exception." Seeing as this shop was in no way useful to their current needs, Chad began guiding her out of it in confident steps he entirely faked "The shop that we're going to is accustomed to these sorts of purchases – it's an honor to provide a gift to other leaders in Auradon."

"…huh," Mal said as they got back onto the pretty, cobblestone street. "And the lady general and dude general will like this stuff?"

"General Fa and General Shang," Chad corrected, the information having been drilled into his brain long ago. "And yes. But if you want verification, you should call Lonnie. She'd know for sure."

Mal made a face. "Wouldn't that be cheating? I'm supposed to do this on my own."

"Acquiring additional information isn't cheating," Chad said, making a face of his own. "Part of being a leader is delegating to people with more intimate knowledge on particular subjects. It isn't like Lonnie would be buying the present anyway, she'd just be confirming whether it is or is not a good gift." He spotted the familiar store he used to frequent on his father's behalf with a mixture of contentment and anxiety, nudging Mal towards it. "And that's not cheating. That's just… being careful. And it's good to be careful, it saves a lot of time."

Chad didn't exactly have a lot of free time, that was why he tried to make the most of it.

Mal let out a low hum, and then, without commenting on Chad's statement at all, she pulled out her phone.

Success.

By the time they'd gotten into the store, Lonnie had confirmed Chad's gift selection as suitable and Chad was on his way to finding the Senior Selection Adviser, who perked up after going so long without seeing Chad.

"Prince Chadwick!" François greeted with a pleasant chirp. "And Miss Bertha. How may I be of service to you today?"

"Do you have any bottles of Cognac Grande Champagne de chez Frapin?" It was always a mouthful, but Chad had been proud when he'd finally memorized the correct order of words for the drink. "Mal needs to get a host gift. Of course, your discretion would be greatly appreciated."

"Think nothing of it!" François boasted, signaling to one of his assistants. "I have what you are looking for in the back. If you get your account card ready, Dominique will take care of you at the register and make wrapping and shipping arrangements."

"Thanks, François." Chad grinned, happy that things had gone so well.

"It is my pleasure, Prince Chadwick," François said, bowing. He turned to offer one to Mal as well. "Miss Bertha."

With that he left, prompting Chad to guide Mal towards the register where Dominique was waiting.

"It's for high ranking Imperial City military leaders," Chad explained, choosing not to leave specific names even though there could be no misconception as to who he was talking about. "Could you wrap it in red?"

"We shall use our standard gift wrap for Imperial nobility," Dominique vowed, typing the instructions into the computer. "And shall we have this delivered to Sardinia Castle?"

"To Auradon Castle," Chad corrected, a slight surge of embarrassment kindled in his chest, even though that was a fair misconception. "To the care of Henry Cogsworth."

"Of course." Dominque nodded, accepting Mal's account card and making the necessary transaction.

"You have Cogsworth's number, right?" Chad whispered while she got to work.

Mal nodded ever so slowly, like it was a test of some kind.

"Then call the castle and have him contact you as soon as the package arrives. It should be there by the end of business today." François tended to expedite things for royalty. "That way you don't have to worry about it."

"And that's it?" Mal asked, gaze shifting between her phone and Chad. "That's all I have to do?"

"Pretty much." Chad shrugged, watching as Dominique handed over the receipt and order confirmation to a bewildered Mal. "I told you – it's important to delegate." There was no sense in tearing out your hair over something that could be achieved by people better trained to do it. "You'll have your gift by the end of the night and now you can spend your free time doing whatever you want." Speaking of which – Chad glanced at his watch, frowning. "I've actually got to run myself, but call Cogsworth – after that, everything will be settled."

He didn't wait for her not to say goodbye, because hoping for such things had been trained out of him. He merely offered Dominique a polite nod before walking out of the store, back towards the location of his bike. He used it to navigate the city under the guise of staying in shape, but really, it was the best he could manage under his grandfather's rule.

"Hey!"

Chad paused when he heard Mal's voice, thinking she was thoroughly done with him that day, and was surprised when she rushed to catch up with him, phone and receipt still clutched in her hand.

"Why did you help me?" she demanded, brows furrowed in concern. "I thought you didn't like us."

"I didn't," Chad confirmed, because he tried to be honest. His grandfather had told him 'those VKs are no good', and then Evie had tried to use him like everyone else tried to use him and Jay had been vicious and Mal a thief, so Chad had believed him. "But you guys chose good." And that had to count for something. It had to. "And Ben trusts you, so it seems kind of dumb not to trust you too."

She stared at him for a moment, as though expecting him to elaborate. When she realized he had nothing, she spoke up again. "That's it? That's the entire reason?"

Chad shrugged sort of helplessly. "You guys have been working really hard," he explained, because words were cheap but Mal and the others had at least tried to be nicer, to the point where Chad didn't even fully hate Mal anymore for what she'd done to Audrey. Sometimes he wondered if that was a personal flaw. "That deserves respect," he settled on, deciding they were words that likely wouldn't come back to haunt him. He waited a beat, and then – "If you need any more help with host gifts, you can ask me," he offered, because maybe Mal hadn't realized that was an option. "I had to learn all of this stuff years ago – I may as well pass the info on to someone who could actually use it."

Chad himself might never be king, but he was trying. He wished that would count for something too.

Mal stared at him as though he had just offered her a lifetime supply of strawberries. "You want to help me."

"If you need it." Chad shrugged again. "You don't have to tell Ben. Or you can tell Ben. Whatever." He looked back at his watch. "I really have to go, though."

"Okay," Mal said, which was enough of a dismissal for Chad, who power walked away from the situation to make up for lost time. He may not have gotten the reward food, but he had gotten Audrey's gift and helped out a pretty damsel and those two things were good enough accomplishments for that day. At the very least, it would bolster him through sucking at his private mid-term exam.

Sometimes, it was the little things you had to hold onto.

-:-:-:-:-:-

"Hey."

Chad tried not to be surprised when Mal pulled up beside him when he was walking out of the library, armed with a handful of books and a folder of worksheets that confirmed he was still, in fact, dumb.

"Um." It took Chad a few precious moments to remember the correct way to respond to one of his peers. "…hello."

Mal kept her gaze steadily ahead, acting as though it were mere coincidence that they were walking together. "They liked the cognac."

It took Chad a few seconds more to realize what she was referring to, the day's exhaustion catching up to him with a relentless pull, worsened by the fact that he still had a lot of studying to do when he got back to his room. "That's good," he said eventually. "I'm glad."

"Ben was proud of me," Mal continued. "For being so thoughtful."

"Well, it was a thoughtful present," Chad said. "Classy and unique."

Lonnie thought so, and apparently, so did Ben.

Honestly, Chad was relieved that he had actually managed to give someone good advice. He'd wanted to help Mal, but at the back of his mind there had been the constant fear that his perpetual tendency to fuck things up would somehow rub off on her.

Thankfully, it hadn't.

Mal was quiet for a moment, and then she finally turned to face him. "Did you mean what you said, about helping me?"

"Of course," Chad's mouth said before he could work through his surprise, desperate to be helpful despite being unqualified to do so. "I mean, if I can. I'm not always great at this stuff."

As his grandfather liked to remind him. But Chad tried.

"You're good enough for me," Mal declared, likely unaware of the multitude of better options that were available to her. "Here." She passed over her phone. "Gimme your number. You're going to be my royal-person guru since Ben and Evie are so busy."

"O…kay," Chad said, numbly accepting her phone as per her request. Were he in Mal's shoes, he definitely would have turned to Ben and Evie first, but… "You could always ask Ruby," he said as he created a new contact. "She's good at this stuff too-"

"Nope," Mal interrupted, deftly reclaiming her phone before motioning for Chad to hand over his. She snatched it from his hand as soon as he'd retrieved it, and he panicked for a few seconds thinking she was going to drop it (Audrey did that sometimes, to test his reflexes), before he realized she was inputting her number into his phone.

Oh. He was getting the number of Ben's girlfriend. But that wasn't a big deal, obviously, because she was dating Ben.

"There," she said after taking a selfie for her contact photo. "I'll text you later so we can meet up tomorrow. We've got a visit in fucking Ulstead this weekend and Ben keeps thinking everything will be fine but Ben is… wildly optimistic."

"It will be okay," Chad offered, and then, when she shot him an unimpressed look, he amended with, "It will be okay, after we make a plan." Plans were great, they offered guidance when you felt lost in the world. Chad made plans for everything just in case; they made him feel better. "I've been to Ulstead plenty of times. Things will be tricky-" Because King Phillip's parents – well, his mother – could be a bit… intense. "-but you're Ben's girlfriend, which means they have to offer you a certain level of respect or else they risk slighting the crown."

Which they did not want. Other kingdoms might look down on them, might give them unfavorable trade deals.

"Huh." Mal looked like she hadn't considered that. "Great. I can… I can work with that." After a beat, she amended, "We can work with that. Tomorrow."

With that, she started walking away, leaving Chad with his armful of books and a phone that showed a picture of Mal smiling, which he found surprisingly… touching? It was nice. She'd done it for him.

Because he was helping her, but still, it counted.

He decided it counted.

-:-:-:-:-:-

"What's this?" Chad asked, holding up one of the flashcards from his first etiquette class that he had held onto out of the stubborn paranoia that his dumb brain would forget everything. Every once and a while he liked to go through them to confirm he still knew what was right.

Mal looked up from where she was slathering another layer of baby blue nail polish onto Chad's toes to squint at the card. "That's the…butter spreader."

"Right." Chad grinned. Mal was doing way better than when they'd first started this lesson. He found that giving her something to occupy her hands helped her focus more on the flashcards. "Where does it go?"

"On the bread plate," Mal replied, not a second of hesitation. "And that goes… up and to the left of your plate-plate."

"Yep!" Chad moved onto the next flashcard. "What's this?"

"That's the cocktail fork," Mal settled on after a moment. "It's the only fork that goes on the right of the plate, and its only used for dumb things, like shrimp and olives and whatever."

"Just use it whenever Ben does," Chad advised, flipping to the next card. "Honestly, most people don't use it. It's just sort of there for the prestige."

Mal scrunched her nose, making her sort of look like a bunny. "Stupid," she muttered under her breath. "Who even needs this much silverware anyway?"

"Old people," Chad replied sagely, and it was sort of worth it to get a surprised laugh from Mal, even though he'd spoken the truth. "Seriously, this information is mostly good for winning over the older dignitaries – retired Kings and Queens, the Dukes and Earls. Our classmates' grandparents, basically. They appreciate someone who can respect formal decorum because it shows extra consideration – that you were willing to go the extra mile to determine which is the white wine glass and which is the red wine glass, despite being underage." He flipped to the next card. "They'll probably give you some anyway – it doesn't taste very good so just take small sips whenever they're looking and try not to make a face."

Chad had only become good at maintaining a poker face due to his grandfather's oppressive presence, otherwise he would probably still be making faces to this day. He didn't really like wine, or the smell of it that seemed to linger on his dad sometimes.

"Ugh," Mal sighed, head shifting lazily to the side as she switched out her sparkly polish for a clear coat. "Will it even matter if they like me?"

"Sure, it will." Having other royals like you was sort of the name of the game. "You're pretty much the face of the Isle kids. If you can get them to like you, then they'd probably be more accepting of any Isle policy changes you want to make, or like, support you when you guys bring more kids over."

Mal paused her efforts to unscrew the clear polish to stare at Chad. "You think we're bringing more kids over?"

"Well, aren't you?" That seemed like the obvious move. "I mean- they haven't committed any crimes to warrant being imprisoned, and you guys all turned out okay, so bringing more Isle kids over seems like the next logical conclusion." He held up a new notecard. "What's this?"

"Gonna need to take a time out from the place setting stuff," Mal said, straightening up out of her hunched position. "So what, now you've made this like- huge one-eighty regarding isle kids?"

"It's not a one eighty." Chad scrunched his nose, not understanding the question. "No one even knew there were villain kids on the Isle until Ben brought you over, so of course we thought you'd be evil 'cuz- you know, you were surrounded by villains all the time." He set his notecards to the side so he could give her his full attention. "But you've already proven that you're just kids that were dealing with a shitty situation, so it makes sense to help the other kids that are in a similar situation get out where they can make their own choices." Chad thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "Sure, they might choose to be bad, but like you guys, they deserve that choice, so…" He picked up the notecards again. "Is the time out over now?"

Before Mal had a chance to reply, there was the sound of the dorm window unlocking, and then a second later, Jay was climbing onto the window seat.

"Hey," he greeted distractedly as he relocked the window. "Ben's stuck in another council meeting, so I was thinking we could sneak him some dinner-" He paused when he saw Chad and Mal sitting on the floor near the foot of her bed. "…what the hell."

"Is it almost dinner time?" Chad asked in an effort to stave off his own panic, because Jay still sort of intimidated him on a basic level. "Maybe we should cut this short."

"Are you- are you friends with Chad?" Jay continued as though he hadn't heard the blond, his attention entirely on Mal.

"No," Mal pressed with a roll of her eyes. "I'm just… deferring to his expertise. So I can learn this etiquette shit."

"It seems tedious, but it's actually super helpful," Chad offered, though he was pretty sure Jay was going to ignore him again.

"What the hell," Jay repeated, staring down Mal. "How desperate do you have to be to study with Chad? That guy fails everything."

Chad shrunk in on himself, but didn't try to deny it, because what Jay had said was technically true. It was a wonder Chad got through all his classes.

"I compared his notecards to the dumb book Ben gave me," Mal sniffed, tilting her head in a sort of haughty way that Audrey had mastered years ago. "They match up."

"But Chad?" Jay pressed. "Why not Evie? Evie knows this stuff, and she's Evie."

"I didn't ask your opinion, Jay," Mal snapped, seeming close to throwing one of her bottles of nail polish at the other teen. It was nice that she was defending Chad, even though that mostly seemed to be on the principle of her choices getting questioned rather than her desire to defend Chad's character. Still, it was nice. "And Evie's got her own shit to do. Chad offered-"

"He probably wants something from you," Jay pointed out. "Like your homework, or something."

"Okay," Chad decided to speak up. "To be fair, I didn't think Evie would actually do it." And if she did, he didn't expect to get a good grade, which he hadn't, even with a magic mirror.

Maybe magic mirrors just weren't good at chemistry.

"Yeah, but you didn't protest when she did, did you?" Jay shot back, brows furrowed in an unimpressed glare. "And then you turned her in-"

"She was cheating," Chad protested.

"You were cheating."

"Yes," Chad agreed. "Which was why I also got in trouble."

"Enough," Mal snapped, making the other two fall into silence. "Jay, go ahead and sneak food into Ben's room for when he comes out of the council meeting."

Jay blinked in surprise. "But-"

"And then you can cuddle him while I fucking review this dumb shit with the one person that offered to help me," she continued, seeming thoroughly done with the ordeal.

Jay looked like he was about to protest, but then thought better of it, letting his shoulders slump with a sigh. "Whatever."

That was all he said before he slipped back out the window, the pane locking behind him with a few quiet clicks.

There was a tense silence, and then Mal went back to unscrewing her nail polish. "…that's a soup spoon," she muttered, and it took Chad a few seconds to realize she was referring to his notecard. "It goes to the right, outside the knives."

"That it does," Chad agreed moving onto the next card. "Now this-"

"Chad?" Mal interrupted, her voice cool as ice as she began to paint the clear coat onto his nails.

A tiny swirl of anxiety built in Chad's stomach. "Yes, Mal?"

"If you ever take advantage of my friends again, I'll turn you into a damn lizard too."

Chad swallowed. He did not, for one second, doubt her. "Yes, Mal."

"Okay." And that, apparently, seemed to be that. "…is that the water goblet?"

"Yep," Chad said, and then they moved on, because they were just two associates making a knowledge business transaction. And there was nothing to look into there.

Nothing at all.

-:-:-:-:-:-

"I'm onto you."

Chad would like to pretend he wasn't terrified when Jay cornered him after Swords and Shield's practice, but he was, because Jay was very muscular and menacing when he wanted to be and Chad was just Chad, who for some reason was really good at swinging a sword but had none of the courage to back up that battle adrenaline when he was off the fencing court.

"…what?" Chad asked after a few seconds when Jay didn't say anything else, content to stare Chad down with that squinty eyed look of his.

"I'm onto you," Jay repeated, taking a step towards Chad that the blond appropriately countered. "You're trying to suck up to Mal."

"Um…no?" Chad clutched his backpack closer to his chest like a shield, then realized what he was doing and swung it onto his shoulder, because he was a prince. "Mal needed help-"

"You want an in with Ben," Jay continued, shoving a finger against Chad's chest. "And you figure if you're nice to Mal, she'll put a good word in with him."

"I don't- I don't want that," Chad stuttered. "Obviously, I'm not against that, because Ben's king, but Mal needed help and she asked-"

"So you'll just help anyone that asks you?" Jay pressed, quirking a brow at him. "That's all it takes?"

"Um…" Well, seeing as no one besides Mal or Audrey ever asked Chad for anything… "Yes?"

Jay stared at him for a long, hard moment, emanating enough intensity that Chad wanted to shrink back against the lockers and maybe out of existence entirely.

"Okay," Jay declared after a beat. "I want you to do my homework."

"But." Chad frowned. "That's…"

"Just once," Jay said with a roll of his eyes. "To make up for what you did to Evie."

"Shouldn't I be doing Evie's homework, then?"

Jay shot him an unimpressed look. "You gonna help or what?"

Chad sighed. He supposed he really did owe it to one of them for his past behavior. He never should have asked Evie to do his homework, he was just- he'd been desperate.

It was no excuse, though.

"…okay," Chad said, fidgeting with the strap of his backpack. "I'll um… come to your room later to work on it."

"That you will," Jay said, narrowing his eyes at Chad with a look of subtle warning before strolling away as though he'd never been there.

-:-:-:-:-:-

"How'd you do it?" Jay said, crashing one of Chad's study sessions with Mal while the future Lady of the Court glared at him, cradling her new sketchbook in her hands while she kept herself busy drawing who knew what while Chad quizzed her.

"Um…" Chad wished Jay was talking to Mal, but the son of Jafar was crossing to where Chad was sitting at Mal's desk, doing that looming thing again. "Do what?"

"The homework," Jay pressed, crossing his arms with a huff. "I watched you do it, I took it from you as soon as it was done, and yet somehow I got a perfect score."

"You did?" Chad perked up just as he saw Mal do the same across the room. "That's great!"

"No, it's nonsense," Jay insisted. "You always get horrible grades! How did you do well for me?"

"What are you talking about?" Mal asked, no longer content with being ignored. "Did you have him do homework for you, Jay?"

"It was a test," Jay said, waving her off. "Only I don't know what the results are, because he got a perfect score."

"Maybe I lost my testing anxiety because I was answering as you," Chad offered. "Are we even, now?"

"Gah!" was Jay's response, and then he threw himself onto Evie's bed in a dramatic flop.

"You stupid shit," Mal said, and it took Chad a moment to realize she was talking to Jay instead of, you know, him. "I can take care of myself, Jay. He's not manipulating me."

"I didn't say that," Jay mumbled into Evie's pink comforter.

"No, you had to go be a macho dipshit and try to uncover the truth for yourself behind my back," Mal snapped, snatching up one of the drawings she had ripped out and crumpled into a ball and chucking it at his head.

Chad made a note of where it landed – he liked to collect Mal's reject drawings. He wasn't sure what about them made them unworthy of staying in the sketchbook – they were all pretty to him.

"Don't get mad at me for trying to watch your back," Jay grumbled, turning his head to look at her. "That's like, my job-"

"Oh, is it, now?" Mal huffed, the beginnings of a real argument bubbling up. "And what else is your job?"

"Guys," Chad cut in, somewhat beseechingly. "It's okay. I'm not upset Jay tested me and Mal, it's cool that you've got someone who's so dedicated to keeping you safe." Chad would give almost anything to have someone care for him that much. The closest he had was Audrey, and he still wasn't worthy of her. "Please don't fight anymore."

There was a beat, and then Jay and Mal shared an unreadable expression.

"He says shit like that," Mal exclaimed, gesturing to Chad with a broad sweep of her arm. "And you think he's evil?"

"Fine," Jay huffed. "Sorry I didn't bring my concerns to you directly."

"Damn straight, you are," Mal huffed with a toss of her hair. "Now, come rub my shoulders. Or better yet, rub Chad's for making him do your homework."

Chad flushed at the thought of Jay touching him – not that the other teen would want to, he was definitely going to say no, but like- Jay was super strong and Chad wondered what his shoulder rubs would feel like.

"It's okay," he rushed to say, holding his notecards higher in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. "It was only fair, after what I did to Evie."

"No," Jay said with a strange kind of tone as he slid off Evie's bed. "I think Mal's right. You definitely earned a shoulder rub."

"Um." And that was all Chad got to say about it before Jay was walking behind the back of his chair, setting his hands on Chad's shoulders and squeezing.

Chad's attempts to help Mal review were then rife with stutters, his face burning uncomfortably hot because Jay was touching him and it also felt nice and he wanted this to last forever.

Mal hummed when they'd finally gotten through the pile more or less successfully, a smile tugging at her lips. "If we wanna be real thorough, you should lie down on my bed," she explained, sliding off the purple comforter. "That way we can get your lower back."

"That's um- alright," Chad said, but Jay was already tugging him up, grinning instead of smirking or glaring, which was very foreign and new and something Chad appreciated very much.

"We insist." Jay grinned, and then he was guiding Chad onto his stomach while both of them worked on his back, Mal even going so far as to run a hand up under his shirt and it felt really nice.

By the time they were finished, Chad was a pile of mush, cheeks burning so bright he thought they'd stay red forever, and there was an uncomfortable warmth beginning to pool between his legs that Chad would need to talk down real soon for fear of Jay and Mal noticing and getting the wrong idea.

"Good rewards for a good boy," Mal said, petting a hand through Chad's curls, and she couldn't know what that meant for him, that someone thought he was good, but he clung to the words with both hands, desperate and perpetually reaching for more.

It was all he had. It was all he ever had.

-:-:-:-:-:-

"I feel like such a phony sometimes," Mal groaned, letting her head fall back against the wall of the school's dance studio as they took a break from their ballroom lessons.

"Why?" Chad asked, nudging her water bottle closer in the hopes that she might actually hydrate. Hydration was important, but Mal seemed to forget that sometimes. She may have had access to drinkable water on the Isle, but she'd had to ration it. Which was just one of the many horrible things Chad had learned about the place over the course of their tutelage.

"Ben," Mal huffed, the way she always seemed to when she was annoyed. "He's so perfect and caring and nice, and then he'll look at me like I can hang the moon when I really fucking can't." Her perfectly manicured nails – courtesy of Evie – curled into fists against her knees. "I hate it. I feel like I'm always a second away from failing him. From making him look bad."

"Have you thought about telling him that?" Chad didn't have a boyfriend- or girlfriend, rather, but he was pretty sure you were supposed to share things with them. "You're one of Ben's favorite people. If you were feeling bad, he'd want to know."

"But he's so happy," Mal groaned, flopping over until she was slumped against Chad's shoulder. "Every time I get some of this shit right, it's like I'm super woman or something, like I'm the crowning hope of the Isle, showing everyone how good we can be." She sighed. "It's a lot of pressure, sometimes I feel like I'm going to explode from it."

"Ben's under a lot of pressure too," Chad pointed out. "If anyone understood where you're coming from, it'd be him. You should consider giving him a chance."

"Or," Mal said with a dramatic sweep of her finger. "I could keep doing what we're doing and study really hard to ace this shit."

"You could also do that," Chad hummed, taking a sip of his water. "And in the meantime, I'm happy to listen to your venting if you need it."

Mal straightened up with a slow stretch, finally grabbing her water bottle, even if she kept it cradled between her hands instead of drinking from it. "How do you deal with this?" she asked, toying with the top of the bottle. "All the studying and practices and training? You have like, way more extra studies than anyone else I know."

He had them because he was dumb and had a tendency to fall behind otherwise, but Chad knew Mal hadn't actually meant the comment maliciously. She just tended to be blunt, and Mal knew about his extra studies because they had to work around them to plan her study sessions.

Chad shrugged. "I don't know," he replied honestly. "I just… do." He frowned, wishing he had a better answer. "I've been dealing with this stuff all my life, though, so maybe I'm just used to it, like how you're used to being on guard all the time."

Mal nodded, seeming to appreciate the comment, before standing up with a stretch. "Maybe," she allowed, finally taking a swig of her water before setting the bottle down. "Now, let's get back to dancing before Jay crashes the party and becomes a giant nuisance."

Chad made a face. "Why would Jay want to join our dance session?"

Mal deigned him with one of those mischievous smiles, like she was amused by some sort of secret she couldn't tell him. "Because he's a mess," she explained vaguely.

For the sake of time management, Chad decided to abandon that line of inquiry and set his own bottle to the side, climbing to his feet in a smooth motion.

"Okay," he said, crossing back towards the center of the room. "So we had just gotten to the Bolero from Avalor, right?"

"Right," Mal groaned. "How could I forget the Bolero?"

"Positive thoughts," Chad reminded her. "You can do this; you freestyle all the time."

"Freestyle and ballroom dancing are two different things," she reminded him with a pout.

"Maybe." Chad shrugged. "But some stuff transfers over. Artistry. Confidence."

"Coordination?" Mal offered with a wag of her brows. "Fine, save your pep talk. Let's Bolero."

-:-:-:-:-:-

"But which one, though?" Mal asked, holding up two of her newest dresses for Jay and Chad's approval. "Which one seems more Auradon-y? I don't want to go in there looking like an Isle kid."

"Well um- technically the Isle is part of Auradon," Chad said, doing his best to pretend he wasn't in Mal's walk-in closet surrounded by Mal's clothes because he hadn't even been in Audrey' closet and he was pretty sure this was inappropriate somehow. "So either way you would look 'Auradon-y'."

Mal took a moment to stare at him, the same way she did whenever Chad said something particularly out of left field for her, and she would either think it was stupid or amazing, and usually she thought it was amazing even though it was anything but.

"Um…" Chad cleared his throat. "The lavender one?"

"With your boots," Jay added, trying to be helpful.

Mal blew a strand of hair out of her face. "You say that about all the outfits."

"Well, your boots go with all your outfits."

"They do not, but I appreciate your enthusiasm," she said sagely. "Okay, outfit decided. You know what this deserves?"

"Um… a break?" Chad offered. He was beginning to recognize that anytime Mal asked that particular question there were only three answers, and he was getting better at guessing when each was used.

"A reward!" Mal countered, but she was smiling, which meant she wasn't annoyed. "Chad deserves a reward for actually being helpful."

"We should give him a massage," Jay cut in instead of protesting. "I think I'll do his legs this time."

"That isn't necessary," Chad insisted, cheeks flooding with warmth because the last time Jay had done that he'd touched Chad's butt and he was pretty sure it was on accident but also Chad had thought about it probably way too much.

"My room, my rules," Mal declared in her sagely way. "Now take off your shirt. Evie wants me to test out a new lotion for her and you're my guinea pig."

"Maybe he should take off his pants too," Jay hummed, and despite his embarrassment, Chad surrendered to their care, mostly boggled that they would extend the effort.

It was weird.

Nice, but weird.

-:-:-:-:-:-

"Chad," Mal's voice was sharp when it cut through the haze of Chad's exhaustion, tone pointed enough that Chad was pretty sure that hadn't been the first time she'd said his name.

It made him force his eyes open, which had been threatening to flutter shut as he moved to the next flashcard. "Sorry," he murmured, rubbing at his eyes with the heel of his palm. "I had to stay up late last night."

More accurately, he had stayed up until early morning studying, feeling so sure that he had nailed things this time, and the cumulative weariness that resulted from that lack of sleep had been following him around all day.

Still, a commitment was a commitment, and Chad wasn't going to cut out on Mal because he was a little sleepy.

The lady-to-be gave him an exasperated look, and he was about to apologize again, when she said, "Just take a nap already."

"…what?"

He couldn't take a nap, they were studying.

"You're obviously tired," Mal continued, gathering up his flashcards before he could say anything about it. "Lie down on my bed and I'll review these myself. I'll wake you up later and ask you any questions I have then."

"But…" Chad frowned, following her prompts and nudges on auto-pilot while he tried to reason out her consideration. "I'm supposed to be helping you."

"And you have," Mal said as she tugged Chad towards her bed, ignoring his protests until she more or less shoved him down onto it. "And you will, so just relax. You've earned this."

She plopped herself down beside him before he could protest further, setting her back against her headboard while she prodded him onto her pillows. They were soft – softer than the things his grandfather had traded out in his room, and he lost a moment reveling in that.

"I'll wake you up later," Mal repeated, sealing his fate by running a careful hand through his curls, for no other reason than to comfort him, or because she could, and it was such a small thing that Chad wanted to weep.

Instead, he allowed himself to turn into it, eyes drifting shut against his will.

"Okay," he mumbled, darkness closing in slowly. "But make it… t-thirty minutes at… most…"

"Chad," Mal huffed. "I've got this."

That was the last he heard before sleep claimed him, but those delicate fingers were still carding through his hair, and he clung to that. Like the greedy little creature he was, he clung.

-:-:-:-:-:-

"…you guys do this often?"

Chad frowned when Ben's voice brushed against his awareness, the king being so far removed from his usual thoughts that the prospect of thinking about him by accident seemed distinctly weird.

Maybe he was hallucinating Ben because he'd been hanging out with Mal too much.

"Sure," Mal sniffed – and that was her defensive tone, back in the beginning when she hadn't known something but hadn't wanted to be called out on it despite the idea of her knowing it would be both bizarre and unfair.

"They usually just study." That was Jay, now – what was Jay doing in Chad's dream? "This is the first Mal has enforced naptime."

"Well he needed it," Mal groused, overprotective and grumpy. It was a cute combination. Chad was glad his mind had invented it. "Stupid guy runs himself into the ground and refuses to take time for himself."

"Yeah," Jay drawled. "That doesn't sound like anyone else I know."

There was a small pause in which they likely glared at each other, and Chad slowly but surely came to realize he was not, in fact, dreaming.

He was still on Mal's bed, comfortable and soft and a luxury, but in addition to Mal's presence beside him there was someone else at his back, stretched out on the bed close but not touching.

It was… Jay? Why would Jay be there? Was he sleeping too?

"Okay." That was Ben again, and Chad realized that the king must be standing nearby, must have seen Chad on his girlfriend's bed. "I guess I just didn't realize you guys were friends."

"They're not," Jay hummed, seeming amused by this, unaware of the way Chad's heart squeezed. "They're associates."

"Fuck off, Jay," Mal hissed, but she pointedly kept her volume down, so as not to wake Chad.

So they were associates, but at least they were considerate associates. That was better than nothing.

Chad felt Mal shift beside him, likely to turn back towards Ben. "I decided Chad's not that bad. He owned up to being an asshole-" Sort of? "-and now he supports us. So far he's been pretty helpful."

"Just helpful?" Ben prompted, tone difficult to place. "Nothing else?"

There was a pause. "Well…" Mal sighed. "What was that shit you were saying about friendship?"

"That you can never have too many friends?" Ben offered, which seemed like a very Ben thing to say, wisdom that could have been passed onto him from his mom.

"Right," Mal hummed. "It's like that."

"Except you're not friends," Jay sang, voice taunting.

"Fuck off, Jay," Mal snapped, leaning over, likely to take a swipe at his head.

Chad was sure it was an amusing sight.

"Okay." Ben sounded… relieved? Maybe fond. Chad couldn't tell. "Okay. Well, I'm glad you found a new associate, Mal."

"Thank you," Mal whispered, curling a hand through Chad's hair. "Now, not to be rude, but like, if you wake him up I will straight up spell you, so-"

"I'm going," Ben said in that amused tone he got sometimes, likely holding up both hands in surrender. "See you guys at breakfast?"

"Sure thing," Mal said, seeming more relaxed than she had been before. It was a wonder what proper Ben-time could do for her.

"Bye, Ben," Jay offered in an exaggerated whisper, and there was another shift of weight while Mal smacked at his head again.

"Shut up," Mal hissed as Ben exited the room. "Or I will revoke your cuddling privileges."

"Oh, nooo," Jay laughed, pressing closer until he wrapped an arm around Chad's waist. His waist, and then he was nuzzling close to Chad's back like he belonged there.

That was – okay, Chad had already committed to pretending to be asleep out of social awkwardness so he'd just rest through this too. Maybe Jay will pull back in ten minutes.

Yeah, that was a good plan.

Chad allowed himself to relax, drifting back towards unconsciousness with Mal's hand in his hair- confident that the entire exchange actually was a fever dream after all. His mind had come up with stranger scenarios in a bid to stave off loneliness. Why not do this too?

Yeah, that was it. No need to look any deeper.

-:-:-:-:-:-

"So."

How Ben had managed to sneak up on him, Chad did not know. Chad spent a lot of time pretending he and Ben were friends when he knew for a fact they weren't friends and having the king initiate a conversation with him outside of class was sort of overwhelming.

Thankfully, Chad was tired, so he just sort of blinked up from the energy bar he had half-shoved in his mouth as he made his way to the library this time, where his tutor would be waiting in one of the private study rooms.

Ben's perfectly composed smile greeted him, the king looking rested with clothes that were unwrinkled, seeming refreshed after Tourney practice where Chad just sort of looked half-damp and all strung out.

"You've been helping Mal?" Ben continued brightly upon seeing that he had Chad's attention.

Chad swallowed his mouthful of energy bar before reluctantly tucking the rest of it into his pocket, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to finish this conversation and his snack before having to be at the library. "…yes."

For whatever reason, that made Ben smile wider. "That's awesome, Chad." The king fell in step with Chad easily, as though they had meant to do this. "I know Mal's been a little overwhelmed playing catchup and being my girlfriend, and I'm glad she's got someone like you to help." He cleared his throat carefully. "Though I'll be honest, I hadn't expected that from you."

Because Chad was so dumb. Right, yes, he got it.

Chad shrugged. "It seemed like the right thing to do," Chad offered, feeling relieved when he caught sight of the library in the distance. "Especially after… you know."

"Right," Ben hummed. "Well, I just- I wanted to thank you," he said, squeezing Chad's shoulder. That was- he had done that. On purpose. "I really appreciate it. And hey, maybe this means we can hang out more."

Or hang out at all.

Chad found the entire prospect overwhelming. So he let his mouth stumble through an answer. "…okay, Ben."

The king brightened up again. It was weird. "Great! I'll get your number from Mal." He started walking away before Chad could protest, because apparently that was a thing he wanted to do? Out of self-preservation, probably, because Chad was so dumb. "Bye, Chad!"

"…bye, Ben," Chad murmured, watching the king's retreating back for far too long, until he realized he was almost late for his study session.

Manners and panic be damned, Chad crammed the rest of his energy bar into his mouth before throwing away the wrapper, taking the library stairs two at a time in a quiet but efficient bid to save time. He chose to focus on that instead of Ben's offer of friendship. He'd probably been just networking since he thought Chad was going to be king one day. And hell, he even might be so- right. Ben was just being smart.

Because, unlike Chad, he was a smart guy.

It was no small wonder that he'd been chosen to be king of the United States of Auradon.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Endnotes:

Thank you guys for the generous support for last chapter! I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and your feedback is greatly appreciated!

Story notes:

Props to Google for educating me on Chinese gifts to the host. I sort of winged what would be appropriate for high ranking military officials. Double props to reddit for supplying the very long name of the alcoholic beverage that is supposedly specific to France – the place Central Auradon is based on. I honestly have no idea if I used the name right, I'm not one that is much for alcohol, but it certainly did seem impressive :)

For the record, I totally invented the title 'Senior Selection Adviser'. If that is, in fact, a real thing, my subconscious is a wizard ;P

I looked up a fancy table place setting diagram for reference and tried to use the most unique looking silverware/glasses to reference in order to allow Mal to easily identify them. Do I personally have something against shrimp? Yes, yes I do, but that's just me ;)

Real talk – I just googled 'signature dances of Spain', as Avalor is based on real-world Spain, and found the Bolero (which also originated in Cuba). It's a partner dance that has apparently fallen out of fashion, but I thought it would work for the purposes of this scene

The 'you know' from the Ben-Chad scene in this instance was the chaos that was Parents' Day