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“Seriously, you shouldn’t eat that many Skittles. All that sugar can’t be good for you.”
“I’m making up for the past years. It won’t kill me.”
“Still. It’s not healthy. And I want some before you eat them all”
Harry rolled his eyes and gave Carlos the bag of candy. They were sitting on Harry’s bed, next to each other, both reading a book. Harry’s one was about navigation, the only subject he willingly dived into, and Carlos was reading about the history of Auradon.
They were enjoying the last day they could spend together without the others. All their friends were coming back from their trips, and it would be a harder for them to get some private time. They were a little nervous too. Carlos knew that his gang wouldn’t be glad that he chose Harry. He will have to be careful on how he tells them.
“Harry?” Carlos asked absently “How do you plan to tell Uma and Gil about us?”
“I dunno. I guess I’ll just go for it. I don’t see why they’ll be unhappy about it.”
Carlos nodded. It was easier for the pirate, he didn’t fear the reaction of his friends. They never saw Carlos as a threat, so they had nothing to worry about.
“Yer okay? Ya look worried.”
“It’s that obvious?”
“Aye. Yer less annoying than usual.”
Carlos chuckled and tried to punch Harry’s shoulder, but the other intercepted his fist and blocked his arm. Carlos struggled a little, but he quickly gave up, fully aware that Harry was way stronger than he was.
“You’re the annoying one ...” Carlos mumbled.
Harry shrugged, and put a quick kiss on Carlos’ cheek, before he released his hold on his arm. The white-haired boy sighed, and grab Harry’s wrist to make him wrap his arm around his shoulder and linked their fingers together.
“Ya really are that anxious about this?”
“I don’t know. They’re just so protective. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for that, they just care about me. But I’m just afraid they might overreact. They don’t really trust you.”
“I guess I hadn’t given them a reason to…” Harry answered softly.
“I mean, it’s not as bad as it was on the Isle. At least we’re not enemies anymore. I just hope Mal and Jay won’t be too mad about it.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine pup’”
Carlos nodded and leaned a little more against Harry. He knew his friends wanted the best for him. They always protected him. He just needed to convince them that they didn’t need to protect him from Harry. Not anymore.
Carlos was sitting on the stairs in front of Auradon Prep. It was finally the day his friends were coming back and he couldn’t be more excited. He barely slept the night before, and he couldn’t wait to hear about their trips. He was staring at the road, ready to greet his friends.
After what felt like forever, a limo entered the school, and parked in front of the statue of the king. Carlo immediately rushed towards it, to see a the newly crowned king and his purple-haired girlfriend getting out of the car.
“Mal!” Carlos called.
The girl turned around to see her friend, and a bright smile enlighten her face. She let go of Ben’s hand and crossed the last meters between Carlos and her, and she took him into a crushing hug.
“Oh my God! I’ve missed you!”
Carlos laughed, and held Mal as tightly as he could.
“I’ve missed you to M!”
Mal released her hold on the younger boy to look at his face.
“It’s so weird, I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages!”
“Yeah, I felt that too.”
Mal chuckled and wrap tightly her arms around Carlos’ shoulders to give him another hug. Right behind her, Ben smiled fondly. He was always amazed by the link that united Mal and the rest of her squad. He was glad she had people that care that much about her.
Carlos let go of Mal and ironically bowed in front of Ben.
“Well hello, your Royal Highness!”
“Come on Carlos, just don’t.” Ben laughed, before he gave Carlos a hug too.
“How was the tour guys? Do the people of Auradon still think we should be locked out?”
“It depends, some kingdoms agreed with my decisions and others are really uncertain. But I think we made a good impression. Eventually, they’ll understand it was the best thing to do.”
Carlos nodded, hoping that Ben was right.
“Okay, I wish I could stay longer, but I have to go back to the castle, my parents are waiting for me. Mal, I’ll see you later?”
“You certainly will.” Mal assured with a wink.
Ben chuckled, and gave his girlfriend a quick kiss, before he went back inside the limo. The two VKs watched the car leaving the school. At the same time, Carlos’ phone buzzed.
“Hey, Jay just got here! He’s with Evie, at her place!” Carlos explained in a cheerful voice
“What are we waiting for!” Mal grabbed Carlos’ hand, and they rushed toward the forest to Evie’s house.
Being reunited with his three best friends was for sure one of the best moments of Carlos’ vacation. He almost got crushed by Jay when they hugged, and Evie hadn’t let go of his arm since she saw him and kept apologizing for leaving him alone.
They were all pilled together on one of Evie’s couch. The girls were sitting in the middle and were listening to Jay rambling about his trip.
“I’m mean, I thought I was gonna be sick! I didn’t know it would be that cold, that was insane! But it was worth it. The landscape was amazing. And they had those big fluffy white dogs called Huskies. You’ll love them Carlos.”
“Man, I wanna go to Arendelle too now…” Carlos pouted.
“I guess we’ll all have to go next time!’ Evie laughed, amused by Carlos disappointed look.
“What about you Evie? What was it like in Snow White’s castle?” Jay asked.
“It was… Gorgeous. Everything looked so expensive, and clean, and so pretty. I thought that Ben’s parents’ castle was big, but Snow White’s is twice that size. The room they gave me was so huge that you could have fit 10 beds in it. And Snow White was so nice. She asked me about my designs, and she even asked me to make her dresses, with a remuneration of course. “
“Obviously she did. You make the best clothes in Auradon!” Mal confirmed.
“I don’t know about that, but she loved them anyway. And we did a lot of things. We visited some of the prettiest places of her kingdom, and she even introduced me to some of the dwarves. I’m so glad she invited me; it was the perfect vacation. But I missed you guys so much…”
Evie snuggled closer to Mal and took Carlos’ hand in her own.
“What about you C?” Jay asked, “What did you do?”
“Nothing crazy. I had my routine you know, walking Dude, reading, playing video games, that kind of stuff. I spent a lot of time to the kennel. Oh, and I found a name for my puppy. I’m calling her Ewilan.”
“Ewilan? That’s a cute name.” Evie remarked.
“I know, I really like it.”
“Sooo, that’s it? You hadn’t done anything else?” Mal asked, some disappointment in her voice “That sounds boring.”
“I didn’t mind. I hanged out with some of the VKs and with Jane, sometimes. But it was a bit awkward, you guys know why.”
“Yeah, that poor girl had no idea… I don’t know how she could believe for a second that you were straight” Mal giggled.
“So, you weren’t too lonely” Evie questioned, while biting her lips. She knew very well that Carlos was okay with them going away for a while, but she still felt a guilty about it.
“I mean, a little at first, but it got better.”
“It got better? Like you got used to be alone?” Jay frowned.
“No, I just mean I wasn’t alone anymore.”
Evie and Mal exchanged a look.
“Really? What aren’t you telling us?”
Carlos looked away for an instant. Mal decided that he was hiding something, and she intended to find out what.
“Hum… Well, I’m not sure how to say it, because that’s new and… “
“Stop stalling and just tell us!” Mal interrupted, while pocking him in his ribs, earning an offended look from the white-haired boy.
“Okay, fine, I have a boyfriend!”
Everyone stayed silence. For a second, no one dared to speak, until Evie threw her arms around Carlos.
“Oh my God, really? I’m so happy for you! Since when? Who is it? Do we know him? Is he from Auradon? And does he…”
“Evie, Evie, let him breath, he can’t answer if you’re strangling him!” Mal laughed, trying to get Evie off Carlos.
“Why haven’t you told us before?” Jay asked, giving Carlos a weird glare.
“I didn’t want to just text you about it, I needed to tell you in person. “
“You hadn’t answered my questions! When did it start” Evie excitingly repeated.
“It’s almost been two months.”
“Two months? Are you kidding? You should have told us before; I wouldn’t have care if it was on the phone!”
“Sorry Evie, but I just needed to be sure it was real, you know. It wasn’t exactly planned.”
“Which bring us to the main question: Who is it?” Mal enquired with a grin.
Carlos took a deep breath.
“Well… I think you guys are not gonna like it…”
“Why wouldn’t we?” Evie asked while staring straight into Carlos eyes.
“It’s just… You guys don’t really like him."
“Oh my God…” Jay whispered. The others gazed at him with a surprised look. “Carlos… Are you dating Chad?”
Carlos’ jaw dropped in surprise.
“Ew, no, why would you think that Jay? He’s not my type! And he is straight and totally into Audrey, there’s no way I would ever date that guy!”
“I don’t know dude, you said we didn’t like him.”
“Come on Jay, he is not that bad.” Evie tried to argue.
“He maybe isn’t, but he’s a jerk.” Jay sighed.
“Anyway, back to the point” Mal interrupted, “We still don’t have a name Carlos.”
“Yeah, hum… You guys promise you won’t be mad at me?”
“Jeez, just say the name already!” Mal snapped.
“Fine, it’s Harry!”
Jay and Mal gasped at the same time, and Evie gave Carlos a shocked look. None of them spoke, and Carlos wished he could merge into the couch so he could avoid the storm he knew was coming.
“Harry… Harry Hook. That one?” Mal started.
“Hum… Yes?” Carlos hesitantly answered, trying to avoid looking at his friends.
“The one that was bullying you on the Isle?”
“Yes Mal, that one.” Carlos sighed, a glimpse of annoyance in his voice.
“You gotta be kidding me…”
Mal stood up from the couch and walked toward the window. Carlos hesitantly looked at Evie, who had an indescribable expression on her face. Finally, he gazed toward Jay, and discovered that he seems angry.
“No way in hell. Seriously Carlos, you’re my friends, but Harry? On all the guys in Auradon, that’s the one you choose to date?”
“It never planned to! I didn’t even want to at first! It just happened.”
“I mean… With all the things he did on the Isle?”
“Jay, you did bad things on the Isle too! And you were forgiven. I don’t see why Harry couldn’t be. He maybe did bad things, but it doesn’t mean that he’s a bad person!”
“He kidnapped my boyfriend, remember?” Mal intervened, coming back near her friends.
“Ben forgave him for that, and you know it. Also, it was Uma’s idea. And let’s be honest, we all know that if we hadn’t been the one chosen to go to Auradon, we would probably have done the same thing if we had the opportunity.”
Mal shrugged but didn’t try to deny it.
“It’s not just that C. He was a real jerk to you on the Isle.”
“I remember that Jay. It was a long time ago, and it was how things were on the Isle. And it wasn’t that bad, he was just scaring me. It’s not like that anymore.”
“Look C, we just want you to be safe.”
“I know M. I am. Harry wouldn’t hurt me.”
Mal huffed. Carlos could see that she didn’t believe him, and it was a bit hurtful. He didn’t know how to prove to Jay and Mal that they had nothing to worry about. The two of them had known Harry for longer than him. They were rivals even before Carlos joined their gang. And since all the VKs arrived on the Isle, that hadn’t really had the occasion to get to really know Harry. They weren’t ready to trust him, even less with their younger friend. Next to him, Carlos heard Evie sighed. She was the only one that hadn’t said anything. He gave her a hopeful look, whishing that she would take his side.
The blue-haired girl sat closer to Carlos and took both his hands in hers, looking at him with kind eyes.
“Okay Carlos. What Mal and Jay trying to say in their… pretty unsensitive way, is that we love you, and we want to be sure you’ll be okay with Harry. You’re right, things are not the same in Auradon. But Harry’s only been there for a short time. It took us a while before we understood how things are here.”
“I know that. He’s really trying you know.”
“I’m sure he does, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to become a new person. You can’t take the Isle out of the VK, remember?”
“Of course not. We are VKs too, and we’re fine in Auradon. You don’t need to worry about me, I promise. You guys have to trust me.”
“We trust you.” Mal explained, sitting on the armchair next to Carlos, “It’s Harry we don’t trust.”
“I’m not asking you to trust him. I know what I’m doing, okay?”
Mal and Jay exchanged a look. They didn’t seem mad anymore, just worried.
“Alright Carlos. If you’re sure it’s okay, then I’m fine. I’m happy for you”
Evie gave Carlos another hug and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Then, she looked insistently at her two other friends. Mal shook her head and smiled at Carlos.
“Fine. If you’re happy, I’m happy too.”
Carlos frowned, not really convinced. He knew Mal better; she was way to protective over him to just stop this here. She was up to something, he wasn’t stupid. And the way Jay slightly nodded at her confirmed his suspicion. At the same moment, he received a text he knew was from Harry.
“Hum… Jay, can you come with me? I need to… go see Fairy Godmother. Yes. It won’t be long.”
Carlos scoffed at the pathetic lie. He dropped his phone on the table in front of him.
“Don’t bother Mal. I know better. He’s waiting for you at the school, by the lockers.”
“Who?” Jay asked, genuinely surprise.
“Harry. You know, for that part where you guys threaten to kill him if he hurts me, that kind of stuff.”
Evie chuckled at her obvious friend. Carlos would never fall for such a stupid excuse.
“Anyway, he’s waiting for you, so feel free to be as protective as you want. It’s the only chance I give you. He’s my boyfriend, not matter if you want it or not.”
“You had everything ready, haven’t you?” Evie smiled, while messing with Carlos’ hair.
“I know you guys. Even if my boyfriend wasn’t Harry, you would have done the same thing anyway.”
“Well… At least you’re not dating Chad I guess…” Jay muttered reluctantly.
“See! It could have been worst!”
The three others laughed, and Mal squeezed a little Carlos’ shoulder before she walked toward the door, Evie and Jay right behind her. Evie winked at Carlos before she left the room.
“When we come back, I wanna know every detail!”
After the door closed behind them, he let out a loud sigh and lied on the couch, his arm on his face. It didn’t go as bad as he excepted. Now, he just had to hope his friends where not going to kill Harry on sight.
Uma, Gil and Harry were sitting on a table in the garden of Auradon Prep. Gil was just finishing to tell his friend about his trip, the excitement in his voice even made Uma smile a little. She was maybe tough and stuff but seeing Gil so happy had to power to soften her.
Uma had also taken some time to talk about her time in Ariel and Eric’s kingdom. She took Harry interest when she told them about the huge port near the castle. She even felt a little guilty when she saw the envy in his eyes as she described the ships boarded there, so she made a mental note to find a way to bring him there someday.
She knew how important the sea was to Harry, and she really wanted to sail with him someday. But right now, her friend demeanor ware pretty… unsettling. He was holding his head in his hands, his elbow resting on the table. He was barely listening to Gil and was really quiet. Harry was never quiet. Even when he was sick on the Isle, she could hardly get him to shut up. So, it was weird to see him that silence. He was hiding something; Uma could feel it in her core.
After another 5 minutes of Gil rambling about penguins, and that much time of Harry not saying anything, she got enough.
“Alright, this has to stop.”
Gil gave her a disappointed look.
“No, it’s not because of you Gil. Harry, what is going on? I never saw you that quiet.”
Harry gazed at her without saying anything for a short moment. He straightened a little on his chair, before he quickly said:
“I’m dating Carlos.”
Gil gagged on the drink he was having, and immediately turned to Uma to see her reaction. She stared at Harry, trying to take in the news. At least he didn’t beat around the bush. Harry has always been straightforward.
“Dating? Like dating, having a boyfriend, dating?”
“Aye, I guess so…” Harry whispered, looking away.
That wasn’t was Uma was expecting. Harry flirting with anything with two legs was as natural for him as breathing. But dating… He never done that before. It wasn’t his thing, and the Isle wasn’t a good place for dating.
“For real? It’s cool man! Carlos is a nice guy. I’m happy for you! It’s a good thing, right Uma?” Gil happily said.
“Yeah, I think so… Since when?”
“Hum… Two months”
Uma frowned a little but didn’t make a comment.
“And how did it start?”
“We started to hang out after ya left, and it just happened. Wasn’t really planning anything.”
“Okay… Do Mal and the others know? Because there’s no way they’ll be fine with that.”
“He’s telling them today. Carlos is almost sure they’re going to be mad, and they’ll possibly try to kill me.”
“That’s reassuring!” Uma scoffed,
“With your history with Mal and Jay, I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be ugly.”
“Aye. We’ll see what happened. I’m supposed to wait for them by the lockers. Carlos will send them there so we can have a little chat.”
“Really? I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”
“Carlos thinks it is.”
Uma took a moment to think. Harry didn’t really have another choice than facing Carlos’ friends, and at least he seemed ready for it.
“Alright… When are you supposed to meet them?”
“I’ll text Carlos and he’ll send them on my way.”
“Damn, you really planed this!”
“He did most of the planning. He was really nervous about this”
“And you weren’t?”
“Should I be?”
Harry looked a bit uncertain. Uma knew he was always looking for some kind of validation from her. She never really knew why, but he valued her opinion more than his own. She was still wondering why Harry was putting her on such a pedestal sometimes. Not that she minded, it felt good to be that admired, and to be one of the only person Harry totally trusted.
“No. I’m happy for you. I don’t know Carlos that well, but he seems to be a nice guy. You just surprised me.”
The relief in Harry’s eyes made Uma feel weird. Despite what he was saying, she could tell that he was apprehensive of her reaction. One of Uma’s many talents was being able to read into Harry with a certain ease, something not a lot of people could do.
In front of her, Harry had taken his phone and was texting. When he put the device down, he stood up.
“I texted Carlos. I’m getting this over with, and I’m meeting you two later when it’s done.”
“I was happy to know you.” Uma grinned.
“Yeah, hilarious.” Harry grumbled.
He started to walk in the direction of the school. Uma watched him until he disappeared from her field of view. Then, she stood up and grabbed Gil by the arm.
“Come on. We have some place to be.”
“Really? Where?”
“We’re going to pay Carlos a little visit.”
Evie was walking behind Mal and Jay. She was trying to keep up with their rhythm, her two friends definitely in a rush. They wanted to confront with Harry as soon as possible. Evie wanted to have a little talk with him too, but not with the same motives as her friends. They wanted to threaten Harry, to make sure he was never going to hurt him, or he will suffer the consequences. She agreed on the part on protecting Carlos, but threatening? She didn’t think it was the good approach. Or maybe it was, Harry was a tough guy after all.
When Carlos told them about this situation, she could see how important it was to him. Carlos was the kind of person that really invested himself in every relationship, and it could be easy to hurt him through those. Evie could tell that Harry became really important to him. She wasn’t sure what to think about that, but she made the promise to herself to try to calm her two friends, so they wouldn’t go too hard on Harry.
As promise, Harry was by the lockers. He was leaning nonchalantly against it and didn’t seem to worry for a second. Evie frowned when she noticed that he didn’t have his hook with him. She never saw him without it, which was odd, but she kept it to herself.
When Harry noticed them, he gave them his signature grin, the one that was always upsetting Jay. He was the first to get to Harry, and he had to restrain himself from punching him in the face. He knew he had to hold back for Carlos, who would not be happy if his boyfriend ended up with a black eye.
Mal joined him quickly, and stood right in front of Harry, which wasn’t really frightening for him, considering the high different between them.
“Alright, what game are you playing?”
“I’m playing no game.” Harry answered curtly.
“You better not. Because if you do, I’ll find out, and I’ll make sure to send you as far away from Carlos as possible.”
“Well, well, shouldn’t a queen be more mannered? Ya should stop trying to look threatening, it doesn’t work.”
This time, Jay didn’t hold back, and pushed Harry back against the locker. He earned a small laugh from Harry, who looked happy he managed to make him loose control.
“Man, stop playing. I don’t know what’s on your mind, but it must stop. We won’t let you get to Carlos that easily.”
“I told you already, I’m not playing.”
Jay sighed loudly.
“I’m not believing a word that you’re saying. You can’t keep playing with Carlos like that. It’s not going to end well, for either of you.”
In a matter of second, Jay saw Harry’s expression going from cocky to serious. The pirate rolled his eyes, moving away from Jay for an instant, before coming back.
“Look, I’m not messing with him. And considering there’s nothing I can tell ya that would make ya believe me, ya gonna have to trust my word.”
Harry’s voice was softer, and he spoke very quietly. It took Jay out of guard, because he never saw Harry like that. He seemed almost… vulnerable. But it has to be a trap, right?
“What do you want Hook. Seriously. You never seemed to give a shit about Carlos, except when it came to bully him.”
This time Harry looked annoyed. He gave Mal an irritated look.
“I don’t want anything. What am I supposed to tell ya?”
Mal was about to answer, when Evie, who stood on the back this whole time, put a hand on her shoulder.
“Okay. Mal, Jay, chill out.”
Evie pushed her two friends behind her softly. Then, she stood in front of Harry, trying to show as much calm as possible. She needed to cool down the situation. Harry looked at her, a bit uncertain.
“Alright. Harry, I’m going to ask you something, and you’re going to answer with as much sincerity as possible. Do you care about Carlos?”
Harry’s face softened a little, and he looked down.
“Aye. Of course, I do.”
Evie studied him for an instant. He kept looking anywhere but at Evie, his hands behind his back, and swaying a little on his feet.
“Okay. I believe you.”
“But E…” Mal started
“Mal, please, let me finish” Evie cut, giving her friend a calming look.
Mal frowned, but raised her hands and took a step back, exchanging a glare with Jay, who shrugged in answer.
“Thanks. So, Harry, if you tell me you care about Carlos, I believe you. He cares about you, that’s for sure. He’s smart, if you were playing him, he would have figure it out. We just don’t want him to get hurt.”
“I wouldn’t hurt him.”
“Anymore?” Mal added dryly.
“Yes, anymore… That was almost 2 years ago, he got over it, what can’t ya?”
“Because he’s our friends and we love him?” Mal suggested.
“He’s right M. It was a long time ago. We’re in Auradon, everyone can have a second chance.”
For a moment, no one spoke. Their stared at each other, waiting for one of them to say something. Finally, Harry asked:
“So… Are we done here?”
“No”
“Yes”
Mal and Evie spoke at the same time. Mal was about to protest, but Evie didn’t give her the chance.
“Yes, we’re done. Thanks for listening.”
Harry looked at each of the VKs in front of him, and slowly started to walk away.
“Harry!” Evie called.
The pirate turned around.
“I’m not saying that you will, but if you hurt him, I’ll break each and every single one of you bones myself.”
Harry scoffed loudly.
“And I wouldn’t stop ya, princess.”
Harry finally left and disappeared behind a wall. Evie turned around to see her friends and was greeted by a laughing Jay.
“Damn Evie, that was harsh. But I’ll definitely help you do that.”
“I hope we’ll not have to get to that point.”
“E, I’m not sure” Mal began, “How are we supposed to trust him.”
“Carlos said it before. We don’t have to. We have to trust Carlos. He’s not a little kid anymore, I’m sure he can deal with this. If something goes wrong, he’ll tell us. We don’t have to interfere. In the meantime, I think we should maybe try to get to know Harry a little better. Carlos saw something in him, so I bet he’s a good person deep inside. We just need to give him a chance. For Carlos’ sake”
Mal nodded. She knew Evie was right but putting a stop on a lifetime of hate and rivalry was hard.
“Fine. For Carlos.” Mal mumbled.
Next to her, Jay nodded slowly.
“Great. Now, what about we go to the kitchen, and grab some food? I’m sure Carlos will be down for some chocolate.”
“Now we’re talking!” Jay smiled.
The thief wrapped an arm around each girl shoulder, and he guided them into the school to the kitchen.
Carlos has been alone in Evie’s house for less than five minutes when he heard the voices approaching. He frowned, not expecting his friends to be back so soon, especially with the knowledge that it took a good 10 minutes to walk from Evie’s place to Auradon Prep. When he heard a knock on the door, he understood that it wasn’t his friends.
He stood up and opened the door, to find Uma and Gil in the doorstep.
“Hello there. Mind if we come in?”
Carlos nodded.
“No, I guess not.”
Uma entered the house followed by Gil who gave a light smile to Carlos. The boy closed the door behind them, took a deep breath, and joined the others on the living room. Uma already made herself comfortable, sitting in one of the chairs, Gil resting against the armchair of her sit. Slowly, Carlos sat on the couch in front of them.
He felt a little awkward. He didn’t know Uma that well, she never exactly paid attention to him before. It was different with Gil. Not a lot of people knew it, but Gil and Carlos were friends on the Isle. It was a bit of a secret, because of the rivalry that opposed their respective squad. Gaston lived near Cruella’s places, and they used to hang out a lot together when they were small kids. Even after Gil joined the pirate crew, they still saw each other sometimes.
Carlos wasn’t sure what to think. He felt like Uma was scanning him from head to toes.
“So, I guess you know why we’re here.”
“I have a pretty good idea. I was kinda expecting you to be honest.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Harry thought you wouldn’t come though.”
“Why wouldn’t we? Your friends went after him, why shouldn’t we go after you?”
“He just thought you guys wouldn’t worry about him.”
Uma shrugged.
“That dumbass can never see when people care about him… We’ll need to have a little talk with him, Gil. Because I guess that’s how it works in Auradon right?”
Carlos nodded. He knew how much Harry cared about Gil, and he literally worshiped Uma, but he acted sometimes like if it was a one-way thing.
“Anyway, this is not why we’re here. I don’t know how much you figured about Harry, but I’m gonna tell you one thing: he’s more sensitive than he let appear. That’s why he doesn’t, or more likely didn’t, do dating. He doesn’t want to be hurt, so he avoids this. And now he’s dating you. Which make you the person that could hurt him the most. You get that right?”
Carlos nodded again, waiting for Uma to finish.
“I’m not gonna threaten you, because there’s not point, but hear me out: you need to be careful with him. I never saw Harry being romantically involve with someone, and if it ends badly, I have no idea how he will handle it, if he can handle it. So just… Be careful okay? That’s all I ask.”
“I am. I wouldn’t hurt him, never.”
Uma exchanged a look with Gil.
“You better not.”
Carlos scoffed, knowing what Uma meant. She was maybe not gonna threaten him directly, but he could feel the warning in her voice. That if he hurts Harry, there will be consequences. He wasn’t too worried though, hurting his boyfriends was the last thing he wanted to do.
His phone buzzed a few seconds later.
Harry: Im not dead. Meet me in the common room?
Carlos: that’s a relief! Be there in 10 😊
Carlos put his phone away.
“Seems like Harry wasn’t murder by Jay nor Mal. He’s waiting for my at the school.”
“We’re coming with you. I have some tidying to do in my room.”
They all stood up, and left the house, Carlos locking it behind him. They started to walk, Carlos next to Uma, not really sure if he should start to talk or not. But there was a question he really wanted to ask her.
“Hum, so Uma… You said Harry never dated anyone before, but… I kinda thought he dated you. I mean, the way he looks at you sometimes, it’s… I don’t know. It looks like there was something.”
Uma rolled her eyes, but he could see that she was smiling.”
“Harry and I never dated. Not from a lack of efforts from him though. He never told you about this?”
“I never asked. I thought it might be a sensitive subject.”
“He was really disappointed when Uma turned him down. A bit sad too. The next weeks were really weird, I remember that well.”Gil added.
Carlos stayed silence, not sure how far he could push this conversation.
“Come on, ask. I know you’re dying to.”
“Why did you turn him down?” Carlos finally questioned.
“Because he’s not my type.”
Carlos stopped walking.
“Not you type? Have you seen him? He’s the most good-looking guy from the Isle! And I guess you like his personality, considering you guys are friends.”
“All of that is true, but I wouldn’t date him anyway.”
Uma stood a few meters away from Carlos, who looked confuse as ever.
“Why is that?”
Uma sighed, turn away and started to walk again. Carlos had to run to catch her up. He noticed that Gil was trying to stop himself from laughing, and he had no idea why. Finally, Uma stopped walking again, and stood in front of Carlos, looking him right in the eyes.
“Tell me Carlos, what have I done that made you think I was straight? So I can stop doing it forever?”
Carlos stayed still, his brain trying to process the information. Everything became clear suddenly, and he couldn’t hold back a laugh.
“Oh God! Poor Harry… He had no idea, right?”
“None. It was too late when I noticed that he was into me. I mean, that guy flirts with everyone, I thought he was flirting with me like he was with everyone else.”
“Yeah, you were a little oblivious… I even told her Harry had a thing for her at some point and she didn’t believe me.”Gill teased gleefully.
Carlos chuckled. This wasn’t the way he thought this talk will turn, but he was glad it did.
“So you’re into girls?”
“Yep. There are more chances that I end up dating Evie than Harry. So, yeah. Only girls.”
“Evie’s your type?”
Gil laughed loudly at the same time as Uma let out an exasperate sigh.
“No. I mean, she’s cute, but no! It was just an example!”
“Okay, okay, I get it!” Carlos replied, not trying to hide his smile.
For some reason, it became suddenly easier for Carlos to talk to Uma. When they arrived at the school, he decided that he could become friend with her at some point. She was rough, said everything that was on her mind, but she was easy to talk to. They never had a proper discussion before, and now the they had, he was sure they were gonna get along.
Uma and Gil left after the enter the hall, in direction of their rooms. Carlos immediately walked toward the common room. It wasn’t a big room, at least not in Auradon’s standards, but it was one of Carlos’ favorite place.
The walls were paint in a soft blue color, and were covered with a lot of different posters, about the school’s team, some bands and work projects made by the students. Big windows where giving an amazing view on the forest and the garden, letting a soft red light come in when the sun was setting. Couches, chairs and pouffes were disposed everywhere, on top of huge fluffy carpets. There was a bit of mess on the tables, that remind Carlos of the Isle. This place looked more like something he knew, and it made Carlos feel really comfortable, a feeling shared by a lot of VKs.
Carlos spotted Harry, sitting on one of the couches, his feet resting on the coffee table in front of him. As far as the boy could tell, he didn’t notice his presence, too lost in the sight of the forest outside.
Slowly, Carlos approached him, and suddenly jumped next too him, wrapping both his arms around his shoulders. Harry gasped, and Carlos saw confusion in his eyes for a second, the time it took for him to recognize his boyfriend. His faces soften immediately, and he put an arm around Carlos waist to bring him closer, so Carlos was almost sitting on his lap.
“Ya know I hooked some people for less than that, right?”
“Well, I like to live dangerously. And you don’t have your hook anymore, so you wont “hook” anyone or anything.”
Harry hummed in agreement and started to kiss Carlos’ jaw, tickling him a little. Carlos let him do it for a little while, before he put a hand under Harry’s chin, to guide him into a kiss. It was slow, and easy, and it was over way too soon. Carlos kissed quickly Harry’s cheek.
“So, how was it? They didn’t go too hard on you?”
“Nah. Jay and Mal think that I have some evil plan in mind that include seducing you, and they don’t really believe when I say I don’t. But the blue princess seems more open-minded about us, she somehow reasons them.”
“Why am I not surprised… At least Evie is trying to understand…”
Carlos was a little sad that his friends could believe that Harry wasn’t messing with him. Thankfully, he had Evie to help them change their mind, even if it was a long shot.
“Uma and Gil paid me a visit.”
Harry stopped stroking Carlos’s hair for a minute.
“They did?” He sounded genuinely surprised.
“Yeah. Uma really cares about you, you know. They want to be sure you’ll be okay too. It makes sense, they’re your best friends after all.”
Harry stayed silence, confusion on his face. It kinda hurt Carlos to see that his boyfriend didn’t thought that his friends would look after him.
“I think Uma and I could be friends. We walked together from Evie’s place to the school, she’s actually great.”
“Of course she is!” Harry immediately answered, almost defensively.
Carlos scoffed at the way the pirate was acting when Uma was mentioned. He really cared about her, no one could deny that. Funnily, it was something that Carlos liked about him. The way he deeply cared for the people that were close to him, that he’ll protect them at all cost. It was a part of him that he kept hidden, perhaps one of the best parts of him.
“You know, I think it went well after all. Evie is not going to leave me alone unless I tell her everything about us…”
“Ya hadn’t already?”
“Didn’t have the time. They were too shocked; I didn’t have the chance to go into the details.”
“Which are?” Harry asked uncertainly
“How we got together, what we did during the vacations, that kind of things. I’ll keep some details for me though.”
“That’s probably for the best.”
Carlos giggled, and he was drawn into another kiss. Harry took the lead, while Carlos was slowly running a hand one of the bare arm he was a little too obsess with. A little voice in his head was telling him that he should probably go and find his friends, but hey, he wasn’t in a rush after all.
“Girls, Carlos told me that he went back to the school” Jay shouted from the end of the hallway.
The girls turned around.
“Really? Where is he?”
“Don’t know. I asked, he didn’t answer.”
The three friends were walking toward the exit of the building, to check if Carlos was in the garden. Suddenly, Evie stopped.
“Guys, I think Carlos might need a little space from now.” She whispered softly.
“Evie what ...” Mal started
“Shhhh!” Evie hissed, putting a hand on Mal’s mouth.
She made a small gesture with her head. Her friends realized she was looking into the common room, whose door was wide open, and they could clearly see Carlos and Harry sitting in one of the couches. They had definitely not noticed them, too caught into their make-out session. Jay was about to say something, but Evie grabbed his arm, and she pulled them along with Mal to exit the school.
They should be allowed to have some privacy after all.