Author's Note: Sorry guys, this isn't quite as long as the other chapters; mostly because I'm worn out from Christmas. Guess who got Descendants on DVD! :3

Anyhow. I'm really grateful for the reviews, follows, and favorites I've gotten. It means a lot to me, and definitely motivates me when it comes to churning out chapters.

pinksakura271 : The idea of Ben getting territorial, so to speak, when it comes to Mal has always been interesting for me. The inner beast inside of him could definitely come out when protecting his girl...and Anthony just might bring out that side of him!

alexc1209 : Yes, Hans has definitely been brainwashing her from a young age. You gotta almost feel sorry for her...though as life at Auradon seeps in, she may definitely be changing her mind about what she's been taught. How far do his lies go, exactly? No one knows...except for me. *cough cough* :P

DarkDeath000 : Thank you! I'm very flattered by all that. You totally propelled me to churn this chapter out, even if it's a bit shorter than the first two. ^_^

Onto the story, now! :) Enjoy!

"She doesn't seem that bad, Ella," Finn says one night, during a sleepover at her castle.

It's been a week since the Villain Kids arrived in Auradon, and, well, life has never really gone back to normal since. Ingrid Westergaard seems determined to burrow her way into every aspect of Ella's life; she sits next to her during Painting I and asks her all sorts of questions. Does your mother really have the power to control ice and snow? Can you do the same? What's your favorite subject? Favorite book? Favorite food? Favorite song? It's a rapid fire set of inquiries, one after the other, and Ella tries her best to give short, succinct answers while Ingrid attempts to crawl inside the inner workings of her mind.

Ella snorts, unwrapping one of the chocolates Finn tends to stash in her room. "She is, trust me. She's constantly trying to talk to me, trying to butter me up…Like we're best friends or something."

"You have to understand, Ellie. They were raised thinking bad is good and right is wrong. Maybe she's really trying to get to know you. Maybe," Finn smirks at this, "She's got a crush on you."

Stiffening, the blonde bites her bottom lip, not quite knowing what to say at first. Finally, she responds, "She doesn't have a crush on me. I don't want her to have a crush on me."

"She's pretty enough; be lucky it isn't Yzma's kid, or one of Madam Mim's granddaughters." Finn says, leaning back into the squishy purple armchair in the corner of her bedroom. Ella is lying on the bed, sitting on top of a big lavender comforter with a sun in the circle. On the flatscreen in front of the bed has the local North Riding radio station on, with the Simply Magic's hit "Losin' It (Forbidden Lovers)" playing.

"You're trying to hide it, but the truth's shining through your eyes

You've gotta crush you won't admit, so you'll speak only lies

And you're trying to ignore the sparks that you feel

And you're trying to tell yourself that it wasn't real

But you can't bury your feelings, no matter how hard you try

So dive into this forbidden love before she tells you goodbye…"

Finn grins widely, her eyes lighting up mischievously. "Hey, maybe you can play this at your wedding. You can have a joint one with Ben and Mal!"

"One, Ingrid and I are not getting married; she doesn't have a crush on me, and I don't have a crush on her. Two, even if I did have a crush on her, I wouldn't risk it for a million reasons, the main ones being that she'd try and kill me – just like her father did to my aunt, might I remind you – and the fact that my social life would be utterly decimated. You saw what happened to Merin, Maura, and Meredith, and they aren't even the ones who are…y'know…into…you know." Ella frowns deeply as she says all of this, folding her arms across her chest stubbornly.

"Just because Chad Charming would never invite you to another party again, and Audrey wouldn't ever even glance your way, doesn't mean that your social life would be 'utterly decimated'. Being gay isn't that bad." Finn is filing her nails now, whittling them down with the purple filer she keeps in her purse at all times. "Are you even gay? You've never had a crush on anyone. Or at least, if you've had one, you've never told me. Which you totally should've done; I could have hooked you up with him. Or her. Whatever."

"No. I'm not…I'm not like that. That's…that's gross." Ella has to resist visibly wincing. She sounded so fake in that moment.

Finn glances towards her, raising her eyebrows. "You've always been an awful liar, Ellie."

"I don't know, okay!?" Crap. Crap, crap, crap. The cat's out of the bag now, at least partially. Ella's eyes widen and she clasps her hands over her mouth.

"Well, here's a simple test," Finn says, as if nothing is wrong, "Do you wanna kiss Ben?"

"No."

"Chad Charming?"

"No."

"Aziz Agrabah?"

"No."

"Doug Dopey?"

"No!"

Finn sits up straight, her shoulders squared. "That settles it. I can see someone not being attracted to Doug, but Ben, Chad, and Aziz? The hottest boys in all of Auradon? You like girls."

Ella audibly groans, burying her face in her hands. "Please, for the love of all the Gods that exist in Olympus, don't tell anyone. I know you have a difficult time keeping secrets, but this is the one secret I really need you to not tell a soul about. I…I don't really know if I like girls or not. But I don't like boys. And I don't want anyone to know. You see how they treat the DunBroch girls. They'll absolutely kill me at school."

"Hey, hey, hey," Finn says, her voice softer now as she gets up from the armchair and sits on the edge of her bed, "It's alright. I'm not gonna tell anyone. I swear."

"Thank you." She mumbles, feeling the awkward embrace of her cousin.

"You know, you could have told me as soon as you realized this. You didn't have to hold it all in. How long have you known that you were…you know…?"

"I don't know. Forever. Never. I just don't know. I didn't write it down on my calendar.."

Finn snorts at that, and Ella smiles, just a tiny bit.

"It's not gross."

"I know."

"It's not wrong."

"Then why do most people around here act like it is?"

"Why does everyone act like being born on the Isle means you're doomed to follow in your parent's path? Why does everyone dress in pastels, blues, and yellows? Why does everyone in Auradon Prep simultaneously agree that Total Make-Out is the worst show on ABC, yet it's been on for years? Conformity. People like Chad Charming, they go around talking about how all 'the gays' are wrong, or that Merida DunBroch is gross, and everyone follows suit because they don't want to make waves." Finn pauses for a moment. "You'd think they'd be a little more tolerant about these sorts of things, after Jay, Mal, Evie, and Carlos came to Auradon."

"I hate it." Ella says, curling up a bit so that her chin rests on her knees. "I hate it all."

"I know."

They don't speak much for the rest of the evening. Instead, they watch cheesy teen comedy romances, eat a boatload of chocolate, and try to ignore the elephant in the room.

"You're a lesbian, aren't you?"

That's the first thing Ingrid Westergaard says to Ella one cold Monday morning, as she huddles in the corner of the library during lunch. When she hears this, the hairs on the back of her neck stiffen, and she feels like she's been punched in the gut; did Finn blabber about what they talked about Friday night to everyone else? How many people know? When will everyone start to abandon her? When will her life collapse around her, leaving her in shambles?

"You've got it written all over you, y'know. It's like you've got a sign with flashing neon letters saying, "Hello, I'm gay!". Even if no one else at this school realizes it, I saw it from the moment I met you."

Ella relaxes, but only a miniscule amount; her shoulders are still tensed up, her back as straight as an arrow. She had dragged a chair over to the farthest corner of the library, in between Auradonian historical archives and those DVDs teachers always liked to show on slower class days. She had hoped, had prayed, that Ingrid wouldn't try and seek her out again. But, as usual, this girl seems all too determined to find her.

Ingrid sits cross-legged on the floor beside the dark brown chair, looking up at Ella, looking remarkably like a child for a second. She's wearing a purple hoodie today, paired with white pants and black boots that almost reach her knees. She looks…as much as Ella hates to admit it, she looks really good in purple, white, black, and blue. Better than Ella could ever pull off those dark blues Ingrid tends to wear.

"Don't worry. I won't spill your little secret. Oh, don't try and protest," Ingrid smirks, "If you're not gay, then I'm a talking frog. It's a shame Auradon seems to be so uninviting to those who are different; where I come from, no one gives a shit whether you like girls, boys, both, neither, whatever."

"So what if I am?"

"So what, you say? From what I've seen around here, you're gonna have to live the rest of your pretty little princess life in a pretty little princess fantasy, marrying some man you want nothing to do with, you'll have pretty little princes and princesses, you'll live the absolutely perfect Auradon life, and deep down inside? You'll have to live with that nagging inkling of never feeling whole, all because you never got to be who you are." Ingrid's words are surprisingly accurate, all things considered; they dig and gnaw deep into Ella's brain, seeping in like a vat of poison.

Ella looks down at the book she's reading, trying not to think about what the redhead is saying. "Why do you care?"

"Oh, isn't it obvious? I'm interested in you, princess. What can I say? I'm attracted to blondes. Especially when they've got blue eyes, fair skin, and a picture perfect reputation at school. You're single. I'm single. Wanna mingle?" Ingrid raises an eyebrow at her, cocking a perfectly crooked grin, tugging up lopsidedly at the left corner of her mouth.

Ella lets her hair fall down around her, obscuring her eyesight (save for the words on the page that she keeps reading, yet doesn't fully absorb). "Nice try, Westergaard. But no, not going to happen."

"Just one date, then. Tonight. Or tomorrow night. Or whenever. Your choice." Ingrid's awfully persistent, it seems; almost as much as Kristine when she wants Ella to hang out with her at the Storybrooke Mall.

"How about never?"

Surprisingly, Ingrid laughs. It's not a cruel or mocking laugh, either; it's a genuine one. "I'm not taking no for an answer, here, princess. Just give me a shot, okay? If you don't wanna do it ever again, I swear, I won't even look at you. It'll be as if I never came to Auradon."

Now that sounds like a good enough proposition. Ella tilts her head up slightly, letting the hair fall out of her eyes to see Ingrid's all too eager face. Her eyes are bright with hope, and her hands are shoved into the pockets of her hoodie, and Ella swears that she can see the faintest of blushes across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, right where there's a light dusting of freckles.

She looks almost…cute, really.

And then Ella thinks, well, why not? She won't like it, she knows she won't, but…well, Ingrid says she won't ever interact with her ever again. And all her problems will be over. Boom. Just like that.

"Tonight. Meet me near the forests by the school. And if anyone spots us, I swear, I'll find some way to hex you. I'll get Mal to hex you, if I have to." Ella tries to sound threatening, but…well, she really can't. She's about as dangerous as a kitten, and Ingrid knows it, because she laughs again.

But that hopeful look in Ingrid's eyes? They swiftly turn to relief, as if she was incredibly nervous about daring to ask Ella out.

And that makes Ella feel too weird to describe. The closest she can get to an accurate description is that it feels like her stomach is doing a million flip flops a minute.

"Okay. Tonight at seven. Right by the forests. Dress nicely." And before Ella can even register it, Ingrid gives her a little half-wave, then turns right around and walks away.

The first thought that runs through her mind is, What the heck was that?

The second thought that runs through her mind is, Did I just set up a date with Ingrid Westergaard?

The third thought? I actually set up a date with Ingrid Westergaard. Crap.

Tonight's gonna be very interesting, indeed.