Chapter 4 – Family Reunions
"You think it'll work?" A girl asks.
"No idea. Hope so." A boy answers with uncertainty.
Hayden can't help but smile as he sees them, leaning against a nearby building as he watches them. "Want to fill me in whatever you're planning with Mal?" He calls and they all notice him at last.
"Hayden!" The girl exclaims, smiling despite how things ended last time they met.
"Evie. Carlos. Jay." Hayden greets his old friends in turn and they all nod or smile at him in return. "Hate to admit it but I missed you guys."
"Well who's fault was that?" Jay mutters and Evie slaps him on the arm.
"Jay!" She exclaims.
"No, it's true. I abandoned you all. I couldn't have expected to be welcomed back with open arms." Hayden sighs, looking down and they're distracted by a whine from the puppy sitting next to him, now having one head instead of three as promised.
"You got a dog?" Carlos asks, interested.
"Yeah. Dad gave her to me. Don't try to pet her though. She's not a people…puppy." He corrects himself from saying 'person' as she's literally not one.
"What's her name?" Evie asks curiously.
"Cerbie. I named her after her daddy." Hayden informs but, before they have a chance to figure it out, they're joined by one last person.
It's Ben. He's surprised when he sees Hayden but doesn't get a chance to ask when Evie asks Ben, "So, where's Mal?"
"She's not coming back." He answers in defeat.
"What? I'll talk to her." Evie says, moving over to the pipe outside, calling for Mal.
Hayden doesn't stay with them and instead moves to the side of the building and looks to Cerbie. Getting the message, Cerbie takes several steps back before running forwards and leaping high into the air. She catches the ladder of the fire escape and growls as she wiggles in the air. A second passes before it drops to the ground, Hayden scooping up Cerbie as he climbs the ladder. They reach the second floor, and he puts his hands on the window, closing his eyes as he pushes the limited power he has out onto it. The lock clicks open, and he smiles as he pulls up the window, climbing inside. He sets Cerbie on the floor and hears Mal yelling at the door to 'go away', Evie clearly having no luck with talking to her.
Mal jumps when she turns to see her brother at the doorway of the other room. For a moment, joy crosses her face before it turns bitter and she snaps. "Get out!" She shouts at him.
"Mal, listen I…" He begins.
"I don't want to hear it! You abandoned us! You abandoned Auradon!" She yells.
"Auradon was never my home and you know it!" He snaps right back.
"You abandoned me!" Mal then chokes back a sob, shaking her head as tears fall. "You abandoned me…" Her broken voice makes him want to run over and hold her, to protect her from the world. "Just like dad." She whispers.
"No, Mal, I…" Any excuses die on his tongue, knowing nothing could explain it or his reasons for staying away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave you for so long I just, time just got away from me and before I knew it months had passed and…" He sighs. "You stayed in Auradon." He finally gets out and she's confused. "Auradon. The world of magic and love and rainbows around every corner. I…I couldn't go back there, not after what happened. It was bad enough before when they just hated me for Hades being my dad. After the coronation and what I did…well, I guess I just couldn't stand the idea of you doing the same. Of looking at you and seeing the same hate in your eyes as I'm seeing right now." He confesses, not mentioning how he dealt with the pain when it all got too much, his unhealthy coping mechanism.
"Hayden, I…" Mal sighs, realising now how hard it must be on her brother. Sure, he left them and got to go with dad in the underworld, but at least with her she had her friends with her. How many kids did he really get to talk to in the underworld? How lonely would it had been in the world of the dead? "I don't hate you for what you did." She admits and he looks at her in shock. "I'm angry and upset but I'm willing to forgive." She smiles sadly, emotions of missing her brother bubbling up all of a sudden. "Come here." She says, holding her arms out for a hug and he feels relief as he closes the space between them, holding each other tight as if afraid to lose the other again. "Just promise me that you won't do that again. Promise me that if you go back to dad that you'll pick up the phone once in a while or write a letter or something. Just to know you're alright."
"I promise." He vows as they pull apart and then smirks teasingly at her, gently holding a lock of her purple hair. "Glad to see the old Mal's back. Blonde did not suit you at all. You're not an Auradon girl after all. Not here." He puts a hand over his own heart, and she smiles sadly.
"I know. I just wanted to fit in." She sighs.
"Don't ever change yourself just to please other people." Hayden lightly scolds, repeating back the words his father had said to him so many times growing up. He then frowns. "Mal, I felt your stress, your worry, your nerves running wild. It blew up not too long ago. Why?" He interrogates.
Mal opens her mouth but stills at his firm look, eyebrow raised at her hesitance, knowing she can't like to him. He's her brother…plus he knows when she's lying. With a sigh of defeat, she tells him everything. About using magic to cheat by, the reporters and their constant harassment, their mother Maleficent apparently still stuck as a lizard, and of her recent fight with Ben. Soon as she's finished, her face widens with alarm as she sees protective brother take over Hayden. Uh oh. Someone's going to die. Someone who was warned against hurting his sister when they first met. Now he must face the consequences.