Chapter 8
Guys, this is the last chapter. This is it, we've reached the end. First off, I'd like to thank everyone who commented and favorited, my heart inflated everytime I saw an email informing me about it, so thank you. Second, this was originally two chapters, but one was too short so I just put them together. Last, have fun reading, nerds.
It's been a whole month, and he was still asleep. Evie tried to reach him again in the dream world, but it had never worked out. She wasn't always by his bedside anymore, remembering his letters, so she went to class and hung out with her friends, knowing Doug wouldn't want her cooped up inside.
Although she wasn't with him, she was always thinking about him, worrying about his battle and when he would finally get up. She was sitting in her dorm room, sitting in pajamas, about to go to bed.
She removed all of her makeup, and made sure she had finished all of her homework, finally lying down in bed. Mal was out of Auradon, attending some fancy event with Ben. Mal was hesitant to leave her behind, not wanting her to be alone, it had taken two days to finally convince her to spend time with her boyfriend. Ben had been patient and understanding, knowing Evie's situation, and helped in anyway he could, usually in the form of letting Mal be best friend and not a girlfriend or sending comfort food.
When Mal had finally left with Ben, Jay and Carlos had made sure to spend all afternoon with her. They had filled the time with homework and activities, making her smile. The other girls had also joined them for a part of the afternoon, making sure the boys weren't corrupting Evie, but eventually had to do other things, Jay and Carlos remaining with her. The two had left her to go to bed only an hour ago, making sure she was okay to be alone.
Evie lied awake, staring at the ceiling, thinking. After a while, she had decided she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. She grabbed D's leather jacket, putting it on and making her way to the infirmary.
She walked in the cold evening air, passing places that reminded her of both D and Doug. The bench she remembered passing when she had waken up on D's back, the picnic table where she had shown Doug her first good grade achieved without magic, and then she saw the tree.
The one where the two of them broke up, her thinking he was just using her. Her fingers ran across the surface, finding the broken bark where D had punched the tree. She chuckled, "Poor tree, didn't deserve to be mistreated like this." She let go of the tall structure, continuing on her way.
She finally made her way to the infirmary, seeing Doug's bed being surrounded by curtains that Fairy Godmother had put up. She listened to his heartbeat, it was steady. She opened the curtain, expecting for him to be lying down, still asleep.
Instead, she was met with green eyes, "Evie." Her heart raced, "Doug?" He smiled, "I won, Princess. I won the battle." Evie took two large steps, throwing herself into his arms, pressing her tears against his shoulder.
He wrapped his arms around her, holding her delicately, and placed his cheek against the top of his head. They were both crying, happy that they were finally reunited. Doug then held her face in his hands, wiping away her tears, and looking over her features, "You're not wearing any makeup."
She let out a breath, "I know, I must look like a mess." He smiled, "You're always beautiful." She blushed, hearing his words, she wiped the snot dripping out of her nose, "You took so long, I was starting to worry."
Doug chuckled, "I'm sorry, it wasn't so easy coming back. Uma's barrier spell did a number on me." Evie held his hand, "But you came back to me. Thank Auradon for that."
She pressed her forehead against his cheek, making sure he was there, she watched as he played with her fingers, "Eve?" She hummed, "Yes?" He looked into her eyes, "I love you." Her heart was elated, "I love you too."
He smiled, and pressed a kiss on top of her head, working his way down to her mouth. He captured her lips in his, trying to express his love to her. She matched his pace, the silence filling with passion. They pulled away only because they had to catch their breath, foreheads still in contact.
His eyes were full of adoration for her, "I missed that. I missed you." She chuckled, "Well, now you have me, and I'm not going anywhere." Doug hugged her tighter.
They had all rejoiced when the news came out, thankful that he had finally woke up, each one celebrating in a different way. Mal had come with potions to help his recovery, Jay with a slap on the back, and Carlos had talked to the band instructor for him, assuring that Doug still had his position when he was back to normal. Also, Ben had made sure his heroism was known to Auradon, a thing Doug didn't know how to feel about.
Doug was making a fast recovery, his body recovering from fighting itself and Uma's magic. He was still in the infirmary, but he was able to walk around campus for short amounts of time, usually with Evie. Today, he was sitting in his bed, looking out the window.
Evie was by his side, reading a fashion magazine, and had glanced to see her boyfriend in deep thought. She closed the magazine, and held his hand, which had automatically given hers a tight squeeze. She laced their fingers together, "What are you thinking about?"
He glanced down, "D." Evie tilted her head, "I thought you returned as Doug?" He sighed, "I don't know anymore. I have all of D's memories, I have some of his thoughts. He's still in there." Evie questioned, "Is that a bad thing?"
He shook his head, "No, I just- who am I supposed to be now? Doug or D?" Evie was taken aback, she hadn't realized he was struggling with this, believing it was things were fine now that he was awake.
She placed a hand on his cheek, his eyes automatically looking into hers, "I think he'll always be a part of you, like how the Isle will always be in me. The choice of whether you'll be D or Doug, is up to you, I'll love you either way."
Doug smiled and kissed her palm, "Thank you, Eve. You always know what to say." She smiled, and they soon got lost in each others' eyes, until a knock at the door was heard. They paid their attention to their guest, it was Dizzy.
The younger girl walked towards them, Doug smiled, "Hey Ice Cream Cone." She smiled at the nickname, "D, I came to check up on you. Also, I think I left my notebook last time I was here." He chuckled, "Yeah, I have it in the drawer, give me a second."
He opened the nightstand next to his bed, locating the purple notebook quickly, and handing it to her. She accepted it, stashing it in her bag, and pulled something out, "You dropped this when Uma had attacked, I didn't realize I still had it until I found it. That's a cute picture, Doug."
It appeared to be a picture, just big enough to fit into a wallet. He smiled looking at the picture, "I was wondering where this went, I thought I had lost it. I put it in my jacket, but Evie said the pockets were empty." She was curious about the photo, "What is it?"
He immediately blushed, "It's nothing." Dizzy blurted out, "It's a picture of you." Doug looked at her incredulously, "Dizzy!" She responded with a sheepish smile, "Sorry." Evie grabbed the picture when he was distracted, he immediately tried to grab it back, "Evie!"
She looked at the photo, she had thought it was going to be a school photo or at least one professionally taken. The picture was her without any make up, her hair a mess, and she was wearing an old shirt and sweatpants, Evie's laugh lines were showing. She knew it was from when she and Doug had been working on a project late at night in his room, and she was too tired to walk back to her dorm. The picture wasn't too bad, but there were plenty of pictures much better than this.
Evie looked back at him, not knowing what to say. Doug gently took it out of her hands, smiling at the picture, "When I woke up as D, this was in my wallet, so I kept it on me." Evie gestured at the picture, "Why this one?"
Doug looked at it tenderly, "This was a piece of you that you let me see. A piece you trusted me with, I guess I just always wanted to remember that." She hugged him, not knowing what else to do. He hugged her back, the two of them finally releasing when a cough was heard.
Dizzy was still there, "It's good to see you, D. Or is it Doug?" He chuckled, "You can call me either, as long as I still get to call you Ice Cream Cone." She nodded joyfully, "We should go out for ice cream when you feel better."
He nodded, "Deal." She gave them another smile, "When are you returning to class Doug?" He answered, "Probably in a day or two. I'm already super behind and there's only two months until midterm, so I have to get cracking on it." They then went on to talk about school, enjoying the normality of the moment.
Doug had finally made a full recovery, his body returning back to its normal state. He went back to class, catching up with his missed lessons with Evie. Doug also went back to band practice, all of them happy their leader was back.
For the most part he was Doug, but their were small moments that D shined through. When someone was getting bullied, he went and scared them away. The band member also like to playfully tease Evie and his friends. He wasn't as nervous as before, taking things in confidently and cooly. It was those moments where Evie couldn't help but see D in him.
Evie was currently on her way back from the fabric store, needing new material for clothes. She was walking to her dorm when she spotted him in the corner of her eye. He was sitting on a bench with Dizzy, eating ice cream and laughing.
She walked over to them, stopping behind Doug. Doug saw the shadow, looking up to see Evie's smile, his own growing, "Hey Princess." She pecked his lips, and then seated herself next to him, "What are you guys talking about?"
Dizzy laughed, "We're talking about the time when D had scared off a bully so much, that he nearly cried. Doug really showed him that day." Doug snorted, "He ran so fast I thought he was going to Sherwood Forest!" The two laughed at the shared joke, Evie smiling at their bond.
They continued to share stories, only to be stopped by Dizzy's phone going off. She checked it, quickly hiding it, her cheeks flushed. Doug licked his ice cream, giving a playful smile, "Is it Seth again?" Dizzy's blushed deeper, Evie awed, "Dizzy! You like him!"
The young girl didn't say anything in her embarrassment, Doug tilted his head, "Go hang out with him Ice Cream Cone." She nodded, "See you later Evie. Bye D." She threw away her trash, her eyes glued to the screen, Dizzy's thumbs moving quickly.
The teenagers laughed, and looked at each other. Doug's eyebrow went up, "What is it Eve?" She held onto his hand, "I'm happy." He joked, "I thought you were Evie. If not, Uncle Happy did you get your hair done?"
She slapped him playfully, and gave her hand a squeeze, "I am too. Thank you, for making me happy." Evie smiled and stood up, tugging his hand, "Come on, we have orders to fill out."
He got up, taking the bag from her, and started walking in a comfortable silence. Their hands swung between them, their shoulders bumping every now and then. Doug cleared his throat, "Can I ask you a question?"
Evie looked at him curiously, "Of course. What is it?" He continued, "Who did you like better: D or Doug?" Her eyebrows scrunched together, "Why does it matter?" Doug scratched the back of his neck, "I love you either way, but I'm just curious is all."
She stopped them, grabbing his other hand, "I love you, it doesn't matter if your wearing suspenders or a leather jacket." He leaned down to kiss her, Evie meeting him halfway. It was filled with passion and love, moving in sync with one another.
When they had separated, both of them had smiles on their faces. Evie pulled on his hand, "Those dresses aren't going to make themselves." He chuckled, and continued to follow his girlfriend, not caring where it took them.
Evie was currently working on Mal's dress for her meeting with Pocahontas, drawing out ideas and looking at different types of fabrics. Her attention was ripped away from a cotton cloth when a knock on the door was heard. She told the visitor to come in, her boyfriend rushed inside, dressed in blue jeans and a button up.
That was another thing Evie noticed after Doug had woken up, his clothing choices were a mix between nerd and bad boy, often going for a casual dress up when he didn't have to be in his band uniform. When Doug had asked for her opinion when trying this new look, she said she didn't mind it, and that it suited this new him.
From the second he entered the room he was rambling, "Evie, I've been giving this a lot of thought, and I mean a lot. It's just a big step, and I didn't want to scare you off, but I think now is an okay time to give this to you. Especially after the whole D thing-" She put her hands on her shoulder, immediately making him stop and melt in her hands, she gestured for him to take a breath, "I'm not going anywhere Doug, slow down."
He took a big inhale, "I wanted to give you this." He pulled the small object out of his pocket, bringing it up to her vision.
It was his gold ring, sandwiched between his two fingers. The ring bared his family symbol, a pick axe, and his initials. She plucked it out of his hand, staring at it, not knowing what to say.
Doug held her other hand, "I know you're picky about what you like to wear, and you don't have to wear it all the time. I just wanted you to have it, if you're not ready, then I can give it to you later-" She attacked him with a hug, holding tightly, "I love it." He hugged her back, cherishing her warmth, and placing his cheek against her head.
They separated only enough to look at each other, she held up the ring, "Put it on me?" He smiled, gently taking it out of her hand, and placing it on her ring finger, "A perfect fit." They stayed there looking into each other's eyes, filled with happiness.
No one knows what the future has in store, but Doug knew he would fall in love with her each and every day, and Evie knew she would love him, no matter whe he was. They were ready to face the world, together.
All good things must come to an end, but another good thing is in store! I will be starting up a collection of Devie one shots, within the month, so be on the lookout. SEND ME PROMPTS! I want to know what you guys want to read. Leave a comment, I love feedback. Till' next time, friends.