It was a particular sunny day when Doug bumped into the small white headed boy on his way to the bleachers, where the rest of the band was waiting for him. He remembers because, although the sun always shines in Auradon, some geeky part of him always expected it to become real gloomy the day their world ended.

"Oh. I'm sorry," he apologized as they both stumbled back, and he realized the boy was wearing a blue jersey with the number 101 printed on the fabric with carefully placed numbers.

"No, no," the boy- Carlos, he remembered- reassured as he bent over to pick up the book he had been reading before they collided, "It's my fault. I should watch more where I'm going."

Doug blinked and he was momentarily concerned how he wasn't worried the younger teen just pickpocketed him. He did, after all, grow up on the Isle of the Lost and was practically best friends with Jay, who Doug would've instantly demanded back whatever the thief undoubtedly just stole. Then he remembered it was Carlos who never seemed maliciously out to hurt anyone before.

"Hey," Carlos said after a moment as he narrowed his gaze and asked, "Aren't you Evie's friend? Doug?"

"Oh. Uh… yeah," Doug nodded, and the boy's face brightened.

"I'm Carlos," he introduced though he didn't offer his hand as he added, "I don't think we ever formally introduced. Thanks, for helping her out."

"No problem," Doug replied as he realized that though they've met and he was introduced to them it never really extended beyond that, "Thanks for not really being evil."

"Yeah," Carlos agreed as he rubbed his neck awkwardly, not really shyly though Doug didn't really know what else it could've been, "I'm sure our parents are beyond angry back on that island. They're not exactly what you would call understanding."

Doug blinked because he knew Ben had grown more and more concerned about them the closer he got but he never expected anything beyond normal childhood fears of disappointing their parents, "Was it really that bad back on the isle?"

"I wouldn't call it bad," Carlos explained before he furrowed his brow and added, "It was just different. We weren't allowed to have friends, and it wasn't like we could turn to our parents for love. I mean, they're evil."

"Even to their own children?" Doug asked with a blink because he's spent his entire life doted on by his dad and six dwarves, he couldn't imagine parents not loving their children.

"It's… complicated," Carlos concluded with a dip of his head before continuing, "There really wasn't any room for love of any kind on the isle. There wasn't room for anything other than learning how to be evil and malice and doing everything your mother tells you to."

"Cruella, right?" Doug asked and Carlos replied with the tiniest jerk of a nod and he prodded, "Is she as crazy as everyone says she is?"

Carlos blanched, his freckles standing out amongst his other features like flecks of dirt as he gasped, "Who says that?"

"Everyone," Doug repeated in a slow concerned voice as he realized the boy's reaction was one of fear and for some reason that concerned him.

"Listen, don't ever repeat that when she's around," Carlos informed as he tightened his grip around the book he had been holding, the tendons on his hands sticking out amongst white skin.

"Whoa. She's still on the isle. She won't overhear," Doug reassured quickly and he realized then why Ben was so intent on making them all feel at home, especially considering he knew eventually they'd all go back to the isle for a visit.

Carlos relaxed fractionally as he forced himself to breath and when he looked back up at the older boy Doug realized he was trying to force his calm as he swallowed, "I know, it's just, I keep feeling like I'm going to turn around, and she's going to be there screaming at me for betraying her."

"She won't hurt you," Doug tried for reassuring, wondering how Ben could handle this all the time.

"It's not me I'm worried about," Carlos informed as he shut his eyes to force himself to relax, it was then Doug realized what he was saying under his breath.

"Periodic table of elements," he said and Carlos blinked back up at him as he frowned in confusion, his brow furrowing slightly.

"What?" he asked and he sounded more confused than anything.

"Periodic table of elements," Doug elaborated as he gestured back towards the teen, "That's what you were whispering under your breath, right?"

"Oh. Uh… yeah," Carlos nodded as he explained, "It comforts me, when I repeat it to myself."

"Did you need a lot of comfort back on the island?" he asked careful to keep his distance because now he was almost certain they had been abused in some way and he was literally trying to force it out of him.

Evie was going to kill him.

That is, if Jay or Ben or Mal didn't get to him first.

Carlos just shrugged like the question was the most natural thing in the world as he explained, "My mother could get… loud whenever I did something she didn't like or if I cleaned her things too slowly. She'd go off on little tangents about how the dogs were going to get me while I slept because I was such a bad boy. I'd lay on my mattress for hours whispering the periodic table under my breath."

Doug swore, for a moment, his heart stopped and he forgot how to breathe.

Evie once asked how Snow White and the seven dwarves talked about her mother, more curious than anything else. Once he finished telling her he asked if she was really as bad as they made her out to be, knowing firsthand how elaborate his uncles could be. She had just grew real quiet as she told him that they were wise to lock her away.

At the time, he hadn't thought much of what she could mean.

"Are they all like that?" Doug pestered and he knew he was borderline annoying now but some part of him had to know because, rather or not he admitted it, he was starting to grow attached to the odd group of friends.

Carlos grew quiet for a moment before shrugged and nodded, "Pretty much. What? Did you think that raising children would soften the hearts of some of the most feared villains of all time?"

Yes. That's exactly what Doug thought.

He never got a chance to voice that, though, as the next moment a long haired boy wearing a nearly identical jersey as Carlos jogged over to them. He was grinning but something in his eyes made Doug shuffle uncomfortably. It looked almost predatory, though Carlos seemed unconcerned as his older friend slung an arm over his thin shoulders.

That was another thing Doug noticed. Out of the four of them, Carlos and Jay were the ones who touched the most. It was almost like the older boy instinctively knew that his friend needed some sort of physical comfort because his mom never bothered offering any.

"Hey nerds," he greeted with a slight laugh like he thought it was funny as he gently punched Carlos in the side.

Carlos didn't protest.

He just blinked at his friend like he was trying to remember something important before he demanded, "Shouldn't you be with the rest of the team? You're, like, their most valuable player."

He was their most aggressive player, that was for certain. Doug didn't voice that out loud, though, because he liked his face the way it was.

"Come on," Jay protested as he ruffled the teen's hair, "I can't play without my little genius brain. Besides, those snobby rich kids can get so annoying. No offense."

The last part was directed towards Doug, who waved it off with a nervous smile and Carlos shoved his friend away. In retaliation, Jay clung tighter and drew him closer to his chest like Doug always imagined a pair of brothers would.

He wondered if they even realized they acted like that.

"Come on Jay," the smaller boy wined as he tried breaking free now, "Let go. We're going to miss the game."

"I have to go," Doug finally gasped as he remembered he was supposed to be on the bleachers by now.

He hurried past them, not even bothering to look back to see if Jay had stopped and they were headed towards the rest of the team. He figured that they must have because they were on the field by the time the game started.

They won the game, naturally, and Evie gave them both tight hugs once they met up with the girls as soon as they could get away from the rest of the team.

They were kind enough, after Mal defeated her mother and they all proclaimed they weren't going to be whom their parents wanted them to, but Jay still felt a small spike of animosity towards them lingering from when they forced Carlos in the pool. He could still remember the panic he felt upon returning only to find Dude barking at the edge of the pool while everyone else stood around, gawking dumbly as one of Jay's only friends drowned.

Thankfully, Mal's perfect prince (Ben?) had jumped in to rescue him. Good because the second he realized what had been happening, Jay was seconds away from diving in himself. Then they'd both would've probably drowned.

He was also still bitter at Chad, not only for saying all those mean things about the girls at the crocket game, but for shoving Evie. She was a girl and he was supposed to be a gentleman and nothing else should matter because you shouldn't shove girls around- especially not girls whom Jay has grown quite fond of, almost like a sister.

So yeah, he was never fond of lingering to long in the locker room and Carlos must feel the same because he's as quick as Jay and they hurried to where the girls were waiting by one of the picnic tables, talking about something they learned in class, and although Mal wasn't as big a nerd as Carlos or Evie she could still put most of the prissy jerks at this school to shame.

Jay wondered how he became friends with them.

"Great game," Mal praised, punching Jay in the arm instead of hugging him and Jay grinned as he resisted the urge to rub his shoulder.

"It was nothing," Jay instantly replied with a smirk because of course they won; the team had him on it.

"I'm so sure," Mal agreed with that mischievous grin of hers, and he resisted the urge to laugh at her.

It was almost comical how everyone seemed (rightfully) afraid of them at first. Even Ben appeared cautious as he introduced himself the first time. It just went to show how different everything was here, never once was even Carlos- who was the smallest out of the four of them- scared of any of them. Cautious, for sure, and willing to obey Mal's every command because she had a reputation for being almost as crazy as her mother, but never really frightened.

Not like all the snobby rich kids here.

"Who else is hungry?" Evie asked, breaking Jay from his thoughts and he blinked as he realized he was.

The one thing he didn't miss about the isle was the food.

It was delicious and plentiful enough and you didn't have to steal any of it, though Jay would still swipe an apple or an orange just because he could. It also meant candy and chocolate and strawberries and he forgot how he ever got along without any of those things.

Just like he would wonder how he survived without any friends because Mal had been right. Being friends with the three of them made him incredibly happy, happier than the thrill of swiping rich people's belongings could ever make him.

"I'm starving," Carlos agreed, grinning.

They went to the cafeteria, piling their trays with much more food than the rest of the kids around them and ate all of it. Other people were staring, some saying snide remarks under their breaths, but Jay ignored them because he knew the isle was different and that most of the snobby jerks wouldn't even last a day much less sixteen years.

It was also kind of funny when Carlos pointed out a spy camera above one of the tables, and it seemed like none of the other kids seemed to notice. Not that he had noticed either but that was one of the reasons he kept Carlos around.

"Who do you think is watching them?" Mal asked with a grin as she sat down beside Evie, eyes shifting over to the table with the camera.

"Who knows? Who cares?" Jay brushed off, already starting on his meal with large hungry bites- Evie liked to say he ate like a bear, whatever that meant.

"Do you even think it's on?" Evie asked as she glanced at it with a seemingly bored expression.

Jay glanced at Carlos because, if any of them would be able to tell then it would be him, but he was shoving his face as badly as Jay was and soon they turned their attention away from the camera as Mal and Evie talked about something Jay really wasn't paying attention to.

He finished his tray first and went to swipe something from Evie's but she slapped his hand away, never faltering in her conversation with Mal. She didn't even glance at him, and he knew he needed better friends to steal from.

He allowed his attention to wonder, seizing up some of the richer kids dumb enough to still be carrying with them very valuable items. It was almost like they wanted to get stolen from.

"Hey Jay?" Carlos asked suddenly and he drew his attention away from a particularly short girl with a gorgeous diamond necklace wrapped around her neck to his friend staring at him with an amused smirk, "Are you crushing on that girl or her necklace?"

Jay smirked as he rolled his eyes and replied, "What? No, I-"

He was interrupted when Ben approached their table and he felt something sour settle in his stomach when he realized the blond boy wasn't smiling. He was always smiling when he approached them.

"Hey guys," he greeted, setting both his hands on Mal's shoulders as they settled their attention on him and something in his eyes set off an instinct buried inside of Jay, "My parents want to see you for a moment. I'm sure it's nothing."

"Alright," Mal agreed, going to rise when Ben gently guided her back down.

"Not you," he explained and there was a hint of concern in his voice as he glanced at the rest of them and clarified, "Just you three."

"What? Why?" Mal demanded and there was anger in her voice as she spun to glower at the prince.

"I don't know," Ben offered, "They just said that it was apparent that they talked to them and not you, immediately."

"Don't worry," Evie reassured as she rose to her feet and flashed the purple haired girl a quick reassuring grin, "I'm sure it's nothing."

Jay knew it wasn't but didn't dare voice that out loud. The last thing he wanted was for the prince and Mal to try and sneak in so they could overhear whatever Ben's parents had to say.

They left a still steaming Mal at the table with Ben, who would hopefully comfort her and calm her temper down some. She was getting better at holding it in but Jay knew that there were still slips.

It took a while before they finally found the large room Ben's parents were waiting for them in, Belle's face a mask of concern as she focused on them as they entered.

"I'm so glad you made it here safely," she said as her husband added, "I hope you didn't find any difficulty."

They shook their heads, still confused on why they'd been called. It wasn't the first time, but Mal had been with them then. Now there was no Mal so something was obviously wrong- he didn't need to see the look of concerned worry in Belle's eyes.

"Good," Beast nodded, stalled, and the pit in Jay's stomach expanded as his shoulders tensed; whatever was happening wasn't good and it sent every instinct he owned on high alert.

"If I may ask," Evie spoke first as she caught on to what Beast had been doing, "is something wrong? Did we do something we weren't supposed to?"

No, because if they had then Mal would be with them and she wasn't. That's the one thing Jay couldn't figure out: why they left Mal out? It wasn't a secret that they did everything together.

"No, no," Belle quickly reassured and Jay didn't miss the way her hands seemed to shake as she held her husband a little tighter.

She was obviously strong but whatever she knew and they didn't had her shaken up. That did nothing to comfort Jay.

"Why isn't Mal here?" he demanded, unable to keep it in and Belle ducked her gaze while Beast was careful to keep a tight mask on.

"This doesn't involve her," he explained and Jay's literally never heard more wrong in a sentence before in his life.

"If it involves us then it involves her," Carlos protested, eyes narrowed furiously as he stood beside them as tall as he could.

"No- that's not what I meant," Beast floundered as he tried backtracking; it was Belle who interrupted him, voice steel as she gazed at each of them.

"This is about your parents," she informed and it was like all the air had been sucked from the room.

Carlos paled, Evie wavered but managed to stay upright, and Jay felt his stomach land somewhere in his shoes, which couldn't have been normal or healthy, but it made sense now why Mal had been uninvited. Her mom had been defeated.

"What about our parents?" Carlos asked and though he was obviously trying to be brave he looked terrified.

Jay swallowed as he recalled his distraught friend as he cried 'Her only true love is her furs' and he felt sick all over again.

"They've escaped," Beast finally said, and Jay knew then what true terror felt like.

Before he might've talked about his father like he was a joke, but that had been before he completely disregarded everything he ever taught him. He had disobeyed him, betrayed him, and those who did that to the mighty Jafar before had died.

"I thought they were trapped on the isle, inside the barrier," he protested as the thoughts swarming in his head now seemed wrong and dark and he was afraid not only for himself but for the others, for his friends and even slightly for the snobby jerks that were too rich to recognize a problem.

"They escaped," Belle informed them like they didn't already figure that one out, "we suspect the same way Maleficent had."

"Jane," Evie gasped beside him and he flashed back to when she grabbed the wand because she had wanted it to make her beautiful; she must have broken the barrier in her recklessness.

He swallowed, wondering how they were still remaining upright because their parents were going to find them and they were going to kill them.

"Wait, why did you call us in here and not lock down the school?" he demanded suddenly, anger slipping in his voice at their carelessness.

"We're hoping you can tell us where your parents will be so we can deal with them without causing a school-wide panic," Beast explained and Jay could've cursed him.

"What makes you think that we would know?" Carlos demanded suddenly, still pale but holding it together better than most people would give him credit for, "It's not like we've talked with them recently."

"Wait," Jay interrupted as his friend's words gave him another thought, "You don't think we helped assist them, do you?"

The couple looked guilty though they were quick to protest and something angry curled inside of Jay's chest as he realized that that's exactly what they thought- brief as it may have been.

"Even after everything and you still don't trust us?" he demanded, interrupting them midsentence and he resisted the urge to grab his friends and bolt.

Evie's expression darkened as Carlos swallowed though neither looked all that surprised, they must've come to the same conclusion as he had. They just hadn't voiced it out loud.

"Is that why this is so private?" Evie demanded and her shoulders were stiff as she glared at them, pretty features twisted in an angry expression, "So no one will know that you directed the blame at us even though we're innocent. We don't know where our parents would've escaped to."

Jay nodded, glimpsing Carlos start to do the same before he stopped and stiffened.

"That's not entirely true Evie," the younger boy protested as his eyes glistened with the slightest traces of fear, "We do know where they're at. Or, at least, where they're going to go."

"That's great," Beast praised though Jay's heart stopped once he realized his friend was right, "Where?"

"Here," Carlos swallowed meeting his gaze with a wide eyed one but that was about the only indication of him being as terrified as he undoubtedly was, "They're coming after us."