Sorry for the wait!


Chapter Two

Things didn't really seem to change after that.

Carlos walked her back to her room a little while later, which he would have normally done. Expect this time, he was holding her hand. That wasn't normally done. And when he dropped her off at the door, he didn't just say goodbye and leave. Instead, he lightly kissed her on the cheek, his own cheeks red.

"So, uh, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Of course," Evie responded, hoping her voice didn't sound too fake. It wasn't that she didn't want to see him. Quite the opposite, really. She was still upset over their arrangement.

"Great! Maybe we can have a picnic...or something." He scratched the back of his head, looking unsure. "At least, that's what Jane and I used to do when we were together."

"A picnic sounds fun. If you get the main part of it together, I'll bring drinks and dessert."

Carlos was a huge fan of her desserts.

"Will do. Can't wait. See you tomorrow, Evie." And with that, he was gone.

Evie shut the door behind her and leaned against it. Maybe tomorrow she'd tell him that this whole summer romance wasn't going to work, that she didn't want to have one after all.

But her heart ached just thinking about it.

"Traitor," she mumbled to it and flopped on her bed. Her heart didn't seem to care that she was basically in a sham relationship with Carlos. All it cared about was that she was with Carlos.

What was she going to do?

Tomorrow, she could break it off with Carlos, tell him that it wasn't such a good idea. But what would he think of her after that? He said nothing would change between them, but there was a possibility he'd be offended if Evie decided to end it after one day.

Ugh, where was Mal when Evie needed her?

No, wait. Mal couldn't know about this, yet. Or Jay. They'd either tease them mercilessly about it or think the whole thing was stupid. No, until Evie figured everything out, Mal was not going to know.

Evie was on her own.


Carlos closed the door to his room before falling against with a sigh. He had done it! He had finally manned up and asked Evie out and she had said yes. But it was only for the summer, so was it really a relationship?

Ugh! He slapped his forehead. "How can I be so stupid?"

Carlos knew why he had done it, though. It was because of fear. This way, with his sort of nonchalant approach, if Evie had said no he'd be able to play it off as a playful suggestion. He'd been protecting himself, but in the end, he'd probably hurt himself more.

The deed was done and Carlos figured he had one of two choices to make tomorrow, when he went on his first 'date' with Evie. One, he could end it right there and say it was all a mistake. It would hurt. Or two, he could let it last until the end of the summer and then, break it off like was planned. It would hurt, too.

Either way, Carlos wasn't getting out of it unscathed.


There was something a little off with Carlos when he finally joined her for their date with a picnic basket. He seemed a little preoccupied when he greeted her with a kiss to the cheek and his smile didn't reach his eyes.

Was he already second guessing this 'relationship'?

True, it wasn't a real relationship, but what did it mean if Carlos already wanted to break it off? Had he found someone else already? Someone he actually liked?

"Everything okay?" She asked, working hard to keep her tone light, as she started taking things out of the basket.

"Yeah," he answered a little too quickly. "Everything's fine." He sat close to her and rested his chin on her shoulder. "So what goodies did you make?"

Carlos was the kind of person who always wanted dessert before the main meal.

"It's a surprise. Only because if I show you now, then you'll eat it before your lunch and ruin your appetite."

"I thought you were supposed to be my girlfriend, not my mom," he grumbled.

Both froze for a moment, afterwards. It was the first either one had said anything about being boyfriend and girlfriend.

"Well, a good girlfriend always looks out for her boyfriend," Evie replied after a second, hoping that it hadn't sounded forced.

"I guess you're right," Carlos admitted and smiled at her, a real smile.

He unwrapped a sandwich and took a large bite. Evie took a much daintier bite before giving a mischievous side-eye. "And it's apple pie, by the way."

Evie had never seen a sandwich disappear so fast down someone's throat.


Afterwards, they laid out on the checkered blanket to look up at the sky. Fluffy clouds floated by and Carlos called out shapes he found in them (many of them dogs). Beside him, Evie laid with her arms folded on her stomach, mind far away but gave Carlos enough smiles and 'hmms' to make him believe she was still listening.

At least for a while.

"Are you sure everything is okay?" Carlos was leaning on an elbow and looking down on her, a concerned look on his face.

"Yeah. I was up late making the pie. I'm just tired." Ugh, that's the oldest excuse in the book! She chastised herself. He's going to see right through it.

Instead of calling her out on the obvious lie, Carlos laid back down. This time he scooted closer and laid one of his arms out straight, so it was behind her head. "Why you take a little nap, then?"

It took a moment for Evie to understand what Carlos was really saying. But when she got it, she couldn't help but smile. He had extended his arm out so she could use it as a pillow. "Okay," she said before lifting her head and laying it against his bicep.

If she were to turn to her side, she would fit perfectly into his side.

So, she did.

Carlos was a little startled by the action, but soon had his arm curled around Evie. She put an arm around his waist and gripped a belt loop for support, making sure it stayed put. Then, she closed her eyes. Though, she wasn't tired, she was so comfortable being at Carlos' side that she fell asleep.

Evie dreamed of a ball. What princess wouldn't? And the ball was for her. Over the last few years she had been in Auradon, Mal and Ben had thrown her a few birthday parties, but nothing like this!

Everyone was there. Everyone from Auradon Prep, everyone from everywhere. Ben's parents, Chad's parents (which meant Chad was there somewhere. Ew), Lonnie's parents. Everyone. And she was in the center of it all. Dancing with a handsome prince. She was dressed in a white, poofy dress (not her normal blue) and the prince was wearing a black suit, with a white undershirt and a red handkerchief in his pocket.

Looking up, she saw that her prince was Carlos.

"You look beautiful," he said as he twirled her around the dance floor. Other couples were doing the same, like Mal and Ben and Jay and Lonnie. However, they weren't dressed as nicely as she and Carlos.

"Thank you. You look quite handsome yourself," she teased and flicked an errant piece of hair from his forehead.

"I hope you think I'm handsome," he replied before leaning close. "You married me, after all."

Evie woke with a gasp.

She couldn't believe she just had a dream about her wedding. Her wedding to Carlos, who was only inches away. Oh God, she had it bad. Glancing up, she saw that Carlos' eyes were closed in sleep and fortunately, had not seen Evie startle awake. That would have aroused questions she would not want to answer.

As carefully as she could, Evie detached herself from Carlos' side and began putting things back into the picnic basket. She left the apple pie, which was half gone, knowing that Carlos would want to have a piece (or two) before they packed up completely. He really did love her desserts.

I wonder if he likes them more than Jane's, she thought, which was a very dangerous place to go. Evie felt ashamed of herself. Carlos and Jane had had a relationship, they had cared for one another. It was petty for her to feel giddy about the thought that he liked something of hers more than his ex-girlfriends.

Just as she put the last dish away, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and a chin propped itself on her shoulder. "You feel better now?" A somewhat groggy voice asked in her ear.

Turning to get a better look at him and smiled before flicking him gently in the nose. "I do," she answered. "Who would have thought you were so comfortable, Carlos De Vil."

Carlos shrugged and moved away from her. "I try."

Evie slid the pie dish closer to them and Carlos' arms disappeared from around her waist to reach for it. Evie mourned the loss, but couldn't keep a smile from her face. She handed him a fork. "Here," she offered. "Finish up."

Carlos's eyes widened a little before he dug in. He could sometimes be a sloppy eater, but it looked as he was taking measures not to be so messy around her. A huge feat, considering how much he loved her apple pies.

"What else did you want to do?" Carlos asked once the pie had been devoured and his mouth clear.

She shrugged. "I don't know, honestly." Most days, she spent in her room making designs for her portfolio.

"We could sneak into Chad's room and mess it up a bit," Carlos said mischievously. Apparently, all of the villain hadn't left him (and that was okay with her). "I figure Jay and I are owed some payback for all those times he snuck into our room for our 3D printer.

"Plus, what he did to you."

Chad had been the first boy she'd crushed on. He had been a prince and handsome, too. But he had been a jerk and it had taken her awhile to figure that out for herself.

"That sounds tempting," she said, honestly. "But we should wait until Jay gets back. He'd be mad if he missed out on some mischief."

"You're right." Carlos laid back on the blanket and folded his hands on his full stomach.

"We could go see a movie?" She suggested. "That's a normal...date thing, right?" She and Doug had gone to see a few movies in their short time together.

"Sure, and then, go out for ice cream afterwards."

"You and your deserts." Evie laughed and poked him in the stomach.

He swatted her away playfully and raised up on his elbows. It took Evie a moment to realize he was staring at her.

"What?" She asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Was her hair messed up? Make up? Was there something in her teeth? (How could she check that without being so obvious about it?)

"You're beautiful, Evie," he said, voice serious. "I've always thought so."

Of all things Evie thought he'd say, that was the last thing she expected. Evie knew she was pretty, had been told so all her life, but the way Carlos said it was different. It was reverent. No one had ever said it like that before.

Not even Doug. He'd said it in disbelief, like he couldn't believe that someone pretty was with him.

"Thank you, Carlos." Her face was on fire (and that so clashed with her blue hair).

A hand slipped into her hair and she turned to face Carlos once more. He was closer now and on his knees beside her. "I'd like to kiss you, again. If that's okay."

"Y-Yes," she said, instantly. She'd been wanting to do this all day, but hadn't wanted to be the one to initiate it.

Her eyes slid shut as she felt his breath on her mouth before his lips met hers. It was a sweet kiss, an innocent one. Like the ones she and Doug had shared. But she wanted something different with Carlos.

So, she gripped the back of his neck, pulled him closer and deepened the kiss. At first, Carlos froze, unsure. Maybe not believing what was going on. But he was soon back to kissing her.

When they broke apart, Evie was slightly breathless and knew her lips had to be swollen. It had been awhile since someone had kissed her like that.

"Wow," Carlos spoke once he caught his breath and gave her a crooked smile.

"Yeah. Wow," she agreed.

"So, um...do you wanna go see that movie, now?"

Evie had to smile at how flustered Carlos was acting. Truthfully, it felt like her stomach was full of butterflies. She reached for his hand and squeezed. "Sure."

Hopefully, there would be other opportunities for them to kiss like that, again.

And soon.


Thanks for reading!