Author's note: So this chapter's a little longer than normal, but I was really having some fun writing it. Also, this actually only half of how long it was supposed to be. Hopefully I'll have the second half up in the next few days, and hopefully it's as much fun to write as this chapter was. For now though, happy reading and I hope you like it.
The party was in full swing. The DJ was making sure that everyone had the right music to dance to if they wanted; and Jay and Audrey were taking full advantage of it, showing off their near perfect rhythm during the fast songs, and making a few other people feel like they should get some more practice. They also danced close during any slow songs, staring into each other's eyes as if they were the only ones in the room.
Truth be told, their display was making Ben just the tiniest bit jealous since Mal still hadn't arrived. But he shrugged it off, they were into each other, and this was probably the first time they had really been able to spend time together without having to think about titles or parents or anything else like that.
"I swear, if those two get any closer together, they might merge," Doug said from his seat on the couch that was across from the couch Ben was on.
"Leave them alone, they're having fun," Evie told him as she fed him a piece of chocolate.
"Yeah, besides, you're one to talk right now, Doug," Ben laughed at his friend. Doug shrugged and smiled off the comment because with Evie sitting on his lap, it was almost the same for him.
After feeding him his piece, Evie reached over to the table that was in between their couches and grabbed herself a piece and put it into her mouth. Her eyes closed as she savored the sweet morsel, thanking whatever possessed her to choose good over evil back at the coronation since it meant staying here in Auradon with sweets like these. The chocolates are so much better here, she thought. Of course, in her opinion, the sweetest thing in Auradon was the boy she was currently sitting on.
"We're nowhere near as close as Jay and Audrey are right now, baby," she told him with a flirty smile, "But we might get that close later."
Both Evie and Ben laughed as they watched Doug blush and swallow noticeably harder. Evie planted a quick kiss on Doug's lips, licking her own afterwards to get the taste of chocolate his had left on hers.
"So, Ben, I thought you said Mal told you she was coming?" Doug asked, trying to steer the conversation to something less awkward for him.
"She said she was, I'm just not sure when she and Jane are getting here."
Almost as if his statement was a summons, a small wind picked up around the small table followed by the appearance of two clouds of smoke, one light blue and the other purple. When the smoke quickly dissipated, Ben, Evie, and Doug, as well as the rest of the room, were finally able to see Mal and Jane standing on top of the table.
"Now that's an entrance," Doug said as he shook off the shock.
"Mal," Evie shouted as she saw her friend. She jumped off Doug's lap and reached up with open arms. Mal laughed and leaned down to hug Evie.
"Hey, E," she said as they embraced. After they let go, she turned and looked at Ben. "Hey, Bennyboo, care to help a lady down?"
Ben smiled at her as she reached out her hand. Mal let out a squeal when instead of taking her hand, he placed one foot on the table and reached up, grabbed her by the waist and lifted her off the table and down to the floor, her arms went around his shoulders and their lips met in a heated kiss. "Hey you," she said when they finally separated.
"You have no idea how much I missed you," he told her with another kiss, this one much quicker. "You look amazing."
"Ugh," Jane said, though she was smiling at the sight of her two friends finally seeing each other. "Doug?" she asked when she realized that she still needed to get down also.
Doug chuckled and held out his hand and helped Jane down when she took it. "Hey Jane," he told her happily, giving her a quick hug.
"Janey," Evie shouted as she practically pushed Doug out of the way to hug Jane herself. "Sorry Dougy," she said after releasing Jane. "Oh my God, you look so pretty," she told the younger girl as she held her at arm's length and took in the sight of Jane in her dress which she'd matched with a pair of blue ankle boots instead of taking Mal's offered combat boots.
"Thanks, Mal gave me the dress. It's the one you made her for her date with Ben," she said, hoping she didn't sound nervous.
"And it looks incredible on you. Did you two use a spell to change its color?"
"Mal did. She used the wand," she answered, getting a wide-eyed expression in return. Jane nodded her head in response to the unasked question of the validity of what Jane had just said. "She even said the whole 'bibbidi, bobbidi, boo' and everything. It was like watching my Mom work."
Evie squealed in excitement at the revelation that her friend was full on embracing her magical side. "You have to tell me everything going on with you two and the whole magic thing, especially since I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."
"Practically, since I always seem to be grounded now," she said, the last part slightly shouted in Mal's direction. Mal waved her hand in Jane's direction, clearly not concerned with Jane's complaint at the moment as she and Ben were still looking longingly at each other.
"Well at least your Mom let you guys out tonight," Doug said as he and the girls sat down. Jane got a guilty look on her face at that statement and just stayed quiet. "She did let you guys out right?"
Jane shook her head slowly.
"Mal and you snuck out?" Evie asked, clearly surprised at the action, albeit more in Jane's case than Mal's. Sneaking out had Mal written all over it. "Mal, you are being a totally bad influence on Jane," she shouted over to her friend, who was still ignoring anything that wasn't Ben at the moment.
"Uh-huh, no thanks, not hungry," she said as Ben whispered something in her ear and they walked off.
"And there they go," Doug said. "That wasn't even two minutes," he said, slightly upset.
"Since it was under five minutes, I believe you owe me money now," Evie laughed as she held out her hand. Doug reached into his pocket and pulled out a few coins and put them in Evie's hand. Jane just looked at her, motioning to what just happened. "We had a bet on how long it would take those two to run off. Doug had ten minutes, I said less than five."
"Good call," Jane said.
"Then again, in that outfit, I don't blame him," Doug uttered. Evie turned at looked at her boyfriend, an eyebrow raised in accusation. "Well, I mean…um, I meant…she looked…," he babbled, his nerves spiking at the look Evie continued to give him. "Jane, help."
"You are your own," Jane told him.
Before Doug could continue trying to backpedal, Evie burst out laughing, her face softening and her eyes almost tearing up from her ruse. Doug just looked at her, confusion still on his face, but the fear gone from his eyes. "I'm sorry, baby, I couldn't help it," she told him, gabbing his sweater vest and pulling him in for a kiss. "Boys are so gullible," she told Jane who was now laughing with her.
"Speaking of boys, is, uh, um, Carlos here?"
Evie gave Jane a very knowing and mischievous smile. "So I guess we'll have to talk later then, huh? I suppose. I guess me and Doug can occupy ourselves since all my friends are ditching me." Jane's mouth dropped at that sentence. She was about to start saying that she was sorry when Evie once again started laughing. "I'm kidding Jane, I get it, you two are missing your boyfriends."
"Um, Carlos isn't my…"
"He will be after seeing you in that dress," Doug offered. "You do look really pretty."
Jane blushed at the compliment and tried not to begin fidgeting nervously from it. "Since he didn't know if you were coming or not, Carlos started hanging with some of the guys from the tourney team. They're over by the food tables, although, I'm pretty sure you could get him to leave them for a little alone time," Evie told Jane, a flirty smile on her face. Once again Jane blushed, this time much more noticeably before thanking Evie for telling her where to find Carlos and leaving.
"Well I guess you're stuck with just me for now," Doug said in a mock self-deprecating tone as he reached around her from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist. He gave her a small kiss on the back of her neck and Evie felt her heart flutter from the simple gesture.
"That's not so bad, not when I'm with my favorite person in the world," she said as she turned and put her arms on his shoulder and around his neck. As they held each another a slow song started playing and before either of them knew it, they were slow dancing where they were standing and shortly after that, making out like nobody else was around to watch.
The Auradon Knights tourney team was lounging only a small distance away from the massive buffet tables, most of them taking full advantage of it. Carlos opted for a plate full of chocolates rather than actual food since at home Liz pretty much restricted his intake of sweets to almost nothing. A few of the guys had their girlfriends with them, but most were by themselves, like Carlos, and were just hanging with each other until deciding to go off and see who else they could hang out with.
As he was stuffing a brownie into his mouth he saw a few of the guys look behind him, their eyes slightly widening from surprise. He was just about to look himself when he heard a shy, almost mouse-like voice behind him. "Um, hi Carlos."
Carlos turned around at the sound and actually felt the breath leave his body for a second as his eyes widened. Jane was standing there, and she looked more beautiful than he ever remembered seeing her. He swallowed hard, the brownie in his mouth almost choking him from being forced down. "Carlos, don't just stand there, say hi to the pretty girl," Carlos heard Chad say from behind him. "Hi, Jane," Chad added with his trademark smile.
Jane waved at him.
"H-hi, Jane," Carlos stuttered, causing a few of the guys on the team to laugh. "You look really pretty."
"Thanks," she said, feeling her cheeks get a little warm.
"That was smooth," Chad chuckled. Carlos could feel himself blushing at the comment and hoped that the lights were dim enough that Jane couldn't see it. While he was rolling his eyes at the same time, he didn't see Jane look around him and motion for Chad to be quiet, drawing more laughs from the guys.
"W-when did you get here?" Carlos asked, still nervous, mostly from having to do this in front of the other guys on the team.
He wasn't normally shy, but he wasn't exactly the most confident person when it came to talking to girls; he knew he wasn't Jay, and he certainly wasn't Chad. In fact, when he first met Evie, it took everything he had just to talk normally and not stumble around like a kid with his first real crush. Which I pretty much was, he thought to himself.
"I got here a few minutes ago," Jane answered, nervously brushing some hair behind her ear.
"And I'm sure every eye here was on you," Chad said as he came up and stood next to Carlos. "You look lovely tonight," he complimented her, not hiding that he knew he was saying the things Carlos should be saying.
"Um, thanks, Chad," Jane said, both flattered and a little off put. She hadn't planned on Chad being so assertive with her, and it left her a little confused. Sure, she found him cute, pretty much every girl at school did; but she'd never considered him her type, even now. She wagered it had something to do with the fact that his mother was Cinderella and her mother was the Fairy Godmother. They'd grown up together, and despite how attractive she might find him, she always saw him as an older brother. A really obnoxious, sometimes conceited older brother. So this kind of reaction and attention was…strange to say the least.
"Carlos, don't just stand there, ask Jane if she wants to go somewhere to talk," Chad said while putting his arm around Carlos.
"Uh, Jane, do you want to go somewhere and talk?" he asked slowly, looking at Chad more than Jane.
"Look at her and ask her," Chad said under his breath. Behind them, both boys could hear the team chuckling.
"J-Jane, do you –"
"Yes," Jane said a little too quickly causing the team to break out in laughter they tried to hold back. Jane blushed at the realization of what she'd done. Good one Jane, she thought, way to make yourself look desperate.
"There you go, buddy. Now go and talk with the pretty girl," Chad smiled, a quick tap to Carlos' back, yet grabbing onto his shoulder and leaning in to whisper in his ear. "Because if you don't, I will."
Carlos' eyes widened and he quickly shrugged Chad's arm off him and grabbed Jane by the hand and led her away, also quickly. Once the two fourteen year olds were far enough away, the team, and Chad, broke out laughing loudly. A few made some lighthearted jokes, but most were just poking some minor fun at what they just seen.
"Chad, would you have really gone off with Jane?" one of the other players asked.
"No," Chad answered shaking his head. "Jane's too much like a sister. But Carlos needed the push and Jay wasn't here to do it for him."
Carlos and Jane found themselves sitting under one of the ground's larger trees where they'd spent the past half-hour talking. They found that once they were away from the prying eyes of the tourney team, and pretty much everyone else, they were able to talk more easily since the majority of their nerves were gone. Carlos still found himself stumbling every few words, but it wasn't horribly noticeable and Jane even found it cute at times. In Jane's case, she just found herself trying to keep her composure and keep from blushing too much. But as the minutes went by, they both became more comfortable and were soon talking and laughing without any uneasiness.
"So you're sure you're feeling better?" she asked him, referencing his ankle from weeks before.
"Yeah," he answered happily, stretching out his leg and moving his foot around for proof. "See, good as new. You have no clue how glad I was to be out of that medical boot."
"I can guess," She responded. "When me and Mal found out you were in the hospital you scared the crap out of us."
"Sorry about that," he told her. "And I never did say thank you for taking care of me while I was there," he said.
Jane shrugged. "You don't need to thank me," she told him. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
Carlos smiled when she said that and Jane felt an immediate rush of heat hit her cheeks. Why does he have to have such a cute smile, she thought as she did her best to make sure the heat was just felt and not seen by her blushing – again. She never could seem to keep herself from blushing whenever she was around him and that usually meant she was kicking herself mentally for not being better at staying cool. Then again, she'd always had this problem with boys since she was so shy. Yet despite her shyness, she still felt an odd sense of comfort and ease around the youngest VK that even she couldn't explain.
For his part, Carlos was finding it difficult to find things to talk about. He felt like if he stopped his mind might start to wander and he'd say something stupid. Mostly though, the reason he found it difficult to find things to talk about was because all he wanted to do was tell Jane how beautiful she looked, and how much he liked her dress, and the way she did her hair…
Then again, he thought, girls do like compliments. He took a deep breath and, after having to calm himself down at the cute way she was biting her lip, he bit the bullet and just said what came to mind.
"I know I said it earlier, but, um, you look really pretty tonight," he said, sounding way more confident than he felt.
"And there you go again; I'm trying not to blush because of how cute you are and you say something like that," she blurted out, catching Carlos off guard. I knew girls were complex, but I really am out of my depth, he thought.
"Trying not to…huh?" Carlos said to her, completely confused now.
Jane's brought her hands to her face to hide her wide-mouth expression of shock, though her eyes being opened wider than most headlights gave her away. "Oh my God, I said that out loud, didn't I? Oh God! I meant to say that in my head."
Carlos watched as she buried her head in her hands and shook it, almost as if she was trying to make the past few seconds act like they never happened. "Jane?"
Finally, she took her hands off her face and took several deep breaths. "I like you," she blurted out again, this time not surprised to see how shocked Carlos looked. "I really like you, and…I was hoping that tonight I might find out if you…liked me too."
Carlos sat slack-jawed, his mouth slightly opened. More on reflex than genuine thought, he nodded slowly. Even though she still looked mortified, Jane's insides were doing summersaults at his answer.
"Then if you like me, and I like you, then," she started, then seeing that Carlos was still a little dazed, "Oh screw it."
With no other words, she leaned in, grabbed Carlos by his face and kissed him. Again, operating more on reflex than thought, Carlos kissed back, their lips moving against the other's until finally they separated only because they needed to breathe.
"That was…," Carlos stammered.
"Yeah," Jane smiled, feeling her cheeks actually burning this time, and for once not caring if Carlos saw her blushing. "Wanna do it again?"
Carlos smiled, and this time he pulled Jane toward him, and before they knew, the two fourteen year olds were kissing each other like they'd wanted to for the longest time.
So glad Mal talked me into sneaking out, Jane thought, and so worth the grounding if we're caught.
