After what had happened in their dorm, Jay was running around like a mad man trying to find Carlos. When he had kissed him earlier that morning, Jay didn't respond. Not because he didn't like it, in fact Jay loved it, but it was because he was so overwhelmed that Carlos felt the same for him.

And Jay needed to tell him that.

It was Saturday, which meant no classes. While there wasn't any classes, there would be no practice either because of last night's win.

Which meant finding Carlos would be virtually impossible without help.

Sprinting through gaggles of girls, Jay ignored their offers to hang out and go on dates and made a beeline for the dorms. There was only one girl he wanted to talk to right now, and that was Evie.

But when he found her, she did not want to talk to him. Not at first, at least.

Evie was standing with her back to her mirror. Shooting Jay a poisonous glance, she didn't say anything and returned to the task at hand: which was...actually, Jay had no clue. Mal just stood there and allowed Evie to hold up different outfits to her, sometimes making a face at them in disapproval.

It was clear neither of them wanted to speak to him, and that was fine. That made Jay feel better, actually, because that meant that Carlos had been here and had told them what had happened. Which meant that Jay was that much closer to finding him.

"Listen, guys…" Jay was interrupted by a sharp look from Mal, and her eyes shone bright to silence him.

"If you're looking for him, he isn't here," Mal informed, "And he really does not want to see you."

Evie's mouth was set in a hard line as she compared different outfits.

"You know, I think this matches your complexion, and if Carlos was here like he was supposed to be he'd say the same thing." Mal smiled sweetly and took the selected outfit to the bathroom to change. As the door shut, dead silence and tension hung thick in the air as Evie crossed her arms across her chest and stared Jay down.

It wasn't easy, being best friends with a girl like Evie. She knew everything about you, so you couldn't even pretend to play tough. Jay always deflated around her.

It was almost like he could physically feel the air leaving his body, his carefully built Isle image crumbling beneath her gaze.

"I had no idea he felt that way about me."

"Well, he does and he's really hurt and embarrassed right now." Evie turned away from Jay and started putting the vetoed outfits back in her armoire. She needed to busy herself, or else she'd really lose it. Evie loved love and seeing it in this lighting was making her heart hurt.

She wanted Carlos to be happy for once, and she especially wanted Jay to finally accept that his sexuality was a part of him.

"You know, you try to hide it so well, Jay. You really do," Evie conceded, turning to the thief she had been through Hell and back with over the past month. She had told herself she wouldn't lose it, that she'd give him the silent treatment, but...that just wasn't her.

And she really wanted Jay and Carlos to work out.

"It's almost as if you believe that you can ignore what your heart says, but you can't. You can't put a stop to what you're feeling just because you're told by one person that it's wrong," Evie rubbed at her eyes, effectively smudging her carefully done eyeliner.

Evie was the only one that knew about Jay's sexual confusion, and she was the only one who had known about Jafar's "pep talk" to stomp out the "impurities" in Jay's mind.

Remembering this, she pushed on, not knowing what else to do with herself. Jay had to know that what he was feeling wasn't wrong. "But let me tell you something, Jay: they do not know what you're feeling because they are not you, and you are not them. I know it's hard living with parents like ours, but coming to Auradon has really shown me that what my mother has told me my whole life isn't true."

Jay felt his throat constricting, a lump preventing himself from swallowing down the emotions that were trying to make an appearance. His feelings were something he wasn't equipped to deal with on the Isle, but now...it was something completely different. He could let it out, and he could confide in a friend. He had never had anyone who was this honest and cared as much about him as Evie did.

"I hope you can realize that as well, that your father doesn't dictate your life choices and he does not get to decide who you love. You're born the way you are and if you being born this way is wrong, I don't want to know what's right. Because you are such a good person, Jay. Even if you like boys or girls. And I'll always be here to support you and hold your hand when you need it."

Jay pulled Evie to his chest in a tight hug, laughing a little at the hand holding part. She was always the first he grabbed for when he was scared, even on the Isle. And he was doing that now, grabbing onto her because he was scared of what would happen once he saw Carlos.

They stayed that way and cried for a few minutes before finding themselves again. Taking a few minutes to compose himself, Jay finally released Evie from his vice grip of a hug and smiled a watery smile.

Placing a kiss on Jay's cheek, Evie smoothed Jay's vest down and looked at the door where Mal had been watching. She was always one to eavesdrop.

"We gonna tell him where our sunshine is?" Mal asked in a teasing tone, knowing full well that Evie and Jay were back to best buddies. Plus, she loved playing protective dragon over Carlos.

"I suppose," the blue-haired mess replied cooly, looking in the mirror and sighing quietly. "We'll leave it for you to fix, Jay. But let it be known that, while I'll always be here to support you, I will personally kill you if you ever tell anyone you saw me this way." And just like that, they were back to normal and Mal was leading Jay out.

"Okay, so where should I be looking?" Jay was anxious to find Carlos, and Mal didn't want to torture him any further.

"The path right off the tourney field where he found Dude."

The cracking of twigs alerted Carlos that somebody was here, and Carlos briefly hoped that it was Evie with the snacks he had asked her to bring.

But, instead, he got Jay.

And he didn't know which was worse: the absence of snacks in his moment of need, or having the person he had just confessed his feelings to come to his quiet place.

They both stared at each other for who knows how long, Jay twisting a bandana in his hand nervously and Carlos picking at the log he sat on.

The silence was growing to be suffocating, and it felt as if Carlos had cotton in his ears because he couldn't hear anything but the tension.

"Do you...wanna sit?" Carlos finally offered, breaking his gaze away from Jay's to stare at the ground.

"Uh, yeah, I could sit." Jay sat down on the log, leaving a decent amount of space between them. This would be harder than he thought.

More silence ensued before it was broken by Jay, his voice low, "About this morning…"

Carlos closed his eyes and inhaled before he finally answered him. "I'm already over it, Jay. We don't need to do this."

The son of Cruella de Vil felt the son of Jafar staring at him and fought against the urge to meet his gaze. It would just get messy if they did this, and Carlos was really tired of cleaning up messes.

"That's the thing, Carlos. I'm not over it."

"Look, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable it's just that I -"

Carlos was silenced by Jay's lips crashing into his. While Carlos had been trying to apologize and explain himself, Jay had closed the distance between them and taken Carlos by surprise.

And what a surprise it was.

Jay cupped Carlos' face in his hands, caressing Carlos' checks with his thumbs. The kiss was full of so many things: hurt, anger, regret, and above all, love.

The younger of the couple snaked his hand into Jay's hair, tangling his fingers and deepening the kiss with a gentle tug.

When the two resurfaced for air, their cheeks were flushed and they both looked like they had so much to say.

"I'm sorry it was so long overdue. There were some things I had to figure out about myself…" Jay rested his forehead against Carlos', who only smiled in response.

"It took you long enough."

"I spent so long trying to ignore what I was feeling for you because my dad told me it was wrong, and I really didn't want to disappoint him again...but I guess I have a renegade heart, because it stopped listening to my head and finally gave in to what it wanted."

They laced their fingers together and Carlos scooted closer. "And what did your heart want, Jay?"

The answer was, for once, simple.

"You."