Archive of Our Own

“We’ll see,” Evie stated plainly, and Jay could tell she wasn’t fully paying attention to his requests.

“Or you could just let me come with...” he offered, testing to see if she was listening.

His statement brought her back from her thoughts. “No, Jay.”

“Jeez, I was joking, but didn’t think it was that terrible of an idea.”

Evie sighed; she didn’t mean to snap at him like that. She was very nervous about meeting Doug’s R.O.A.R.-playing, golden-child of a brother, and Jay reminding her every minute of the day wasn’t helping. Plus, her relationship hadn’t exactly been perfect recently.

It wasn’t bad; it was just awkward again like they were walking on eggshells. Ever since Evie had gone back to the Isle, there was an elephant in the room between the two of them. Cotillion was one of the most fun nights she had in Auradon thus far after the Uma situation had settled, but no amount of roses, dancing, and laughs could hide her realization that she was still an Isle girl, like Uma and like Mal. Somehow, she had to find a way to blend her past with her present. It probably wasn’t going to be easy, but she did have some fashion-related ideas in mind.

“Sorry,” she started, shaking her head. “I didn’t mean to- I’m just- We’ve been kind of off lately... and I need this night to go well.”

Jay softened, finally catching on to her worry. He felt a little guilty, too, as he feared some of the issues might have come from his little white camping lie. “Sorry, that may be my fault...”

Jay and Carlos may or may not have told Doug that she had gone camping when she was MIA trying to rescue Mal, and then Ben, from the Isle. Doug fused this idea with one that she was seeing someone else, which she quickly pushed away before their night at Cotillion.

He had apologized for the accusation when returning to the dorms that evening, stating that he had been worried about her, and when she was back in her room without a scratch, he'd jumped to conclusions. He also added that he is all ears whenever she wants to talk about the rescue mission or the Isle in general. Given that it had been a long and exhausting night, Evie decided it would be a conversation for another day, and well, that day hadn’t come yet.

It had been a little over a week since that night, and they hadn’t had much time to spend together in between.

Evie shook her head, “No, not at all. You did what was best at the time- Isle/Auradon relationships are just complicated, you know?”

Jay nodded. He knew what she meant. Their past on the Isle of the Lost wasn't a great conversation topic, and it certainly weighed on relationships like it had with Ben and Mal.

“I hope tonight goes the way you want it to, then,” he admitted. “And if there’s anything Carlos and I can do to help, let us know.”

Evie smiled, “Thanks, Jay.” She didn’t expect it but had quickly learned that Jay and Carlos weren’t so bad at this “girl talk” thing. It was actually quite nice getting their perspective; they were her family, after all.

Jay pulled her in for a hug, “And if you just happen to get an autograph, that’d be a bonus.”

Evie rolled her eyes as she laughed and headed the other direction towards the dorms. “Have fun at practice!”

“One second!” Evie called, fixing her hairpiece in the mirror.

Doug stood on the other side of the door, fiddling with the box in his hands.

Evie swung the door open, smiling when their eyes met. “Hi!”

“Hi,” he grinned back. “I was, um, walking by the bakery on the way here and saw they had one of your favorites left.”

She took the cupcake box from him, her smile spreading further across her cheeks. “Thanks!” She quickly placed the box on her desk, feeling slightly better about the night already. Though things may be a bit awkward, they still hadn’t changed.

“So tell me about this brother of yours,” Evie started, shutting the door behind her as they walked out. Doug didn’t talk about his brother often, probably because he wasn’t around much anymore. She just knew he existed and was always busy with sports and stuff.

Doug shrugged. “Not much to tell... he’s cool, but we have our differences,” he admitted.

Evie sensed that Doug was feeling weird about all of this, but she didn’t quite know what to say.

And, well, Doug could sense that Evie could sense that he was acting weird, so he decided to change the subject. “I heard Darcy is excited to see you again.”

Evie smiled, starting to respond before stopping herself. She was going to remark how Darcy reminded her of Dizzy, who she was dying to have come to Auradon. But that would bring up the Isle, and they still hadn’t ventured on that conversation yet.

“I mean... obviously, I was excited to see you too...” Doug trailed after she hadn’t responded.

Evie snickered, “No, I know...” She was letting all this Isle stuff get to her head, causing her to fumble with her words. She let her hand find his, fingers intertwining in hopes of conveying all she couldn’t find the words to say. Plus, it helped calm her current nerves, and the way he reciprocated felt like it was serving the same purpose for him.

“Hi!” Darcy exclaimed as she opened the door, letting Evie and Doug inside.

“Hey!” Evie beamed back, accepting Darcy’s excited hug. Evie could tell Darcy loved having her there, being so used to just her brothers.

“Nice to see you too,” Doug teased as his sister whisked Evie away.

He hung up his jacket and shut the front door, wondering where everybody else was. His family had invited them to dinner once his brother Derek had announced he would be able to come for the weekend. Anytime Derek was home, his mom made such a big deal about it.

It wasn’t that he was jealous or anything, but growing up in the shadow of an athletic older brother wasn’t easy. Let alone, everything about Derek was perfect, his looks, his skills, his personality. The only thing Doug had on him was grades.

He worked his ass off in school, ever since he learned he had not inherited the athletic skill his brother had, nor figured out where he got it. But no matter what, it was never enough to outshine him. He was a professional R.O.A.R. player, after all, so it was nearly impossible.

Lucky for Doug, his brother never attended Auradon Prep, so school had been his safe space. Though people knew about the relationship between the two, no one ever mentioned it. Half the people at that school were related to well-known public figures anyway.

But still, Derek was quite charming, and the thought of him finally meeting Evie made Doug a little nervous.

He followed behind the girls, ending up in the living room where his mother and Derek were chatting away.

“Oh, Hi!” His mom exclaimed once Darcy brought Evie into the room. “This is Evie, Doug’s girlfriend,” his mom gestured as she introduced Derek to Evie.

“You must be Derek,” Evie chimed, stepping towards him.

He had a tall, muscular physique, with light brown hair hanging over his forehead. His smile was bright as he greeted them, reaching out to shake Evie’s hand. “It’s great to meet you,” he charmed. “I’ve heard so much about you!”

“All good things, I hope,” Evie teased as the family chuckled. She enjoyed Doug’s family and had seen them a few times at Auradon Prep since Beastgiving, but she hadn’t been back to their home since she and Doug had starting dating.

There seemed to be a bit more pressure now.

She joined them by sitting down in the chair Doug’s mom gestured to, as Darcy went to join her eldest brother on the couch. Evie waited for Doug to sit down on the chair next to her, but his mom had other plans for him.

“Doug, honey, why don’t you go help your father in the kitchen?”

He did as he was told, missing Evie’s worried look as he turned in the other direction, leaving them behind him. He should’ve known he would have to do all the work tonight, without Derek lifting a finger. He was the strong one, but whatever.

Doug recognized the meal when he entered the kitchen, though his dad was absent. He wasn’t a great cook but had helped in the kitchen enough to be decent. He started to take over the cooking to give him something to do as his brother wooed his girlfriend. Though he tried not to think about it while he chopped the vegetables- the last thing he needed to do was lose a finger. 

Evie’s laughter echoed through the house, and he softened at the sound. He recalled the first time he had heard that laugh, her real laugh, not the stifled giggle her mother convinced her wouldn’t cause wrinkles.

They had been working on some homework, per usual, when Doug had made some stupid joke about oxygen molecules or something under his breath, and Evie had just lost it. It must have caught her so off-guard that she had no time to remember her mother’s rules.

He was so captivated by her laugh that it was contagious, and they chuckled for the rest of their study session that night. Though they were just friends at the time, he swore he was going to do whatever he could to make her laugh every chance he could get. It was the most glorious sound in the world.

He only wished he was the one causing it right now.

Evie giggled as Derek recounted old stories of him and Doug as children. Darcy, too, of course, though she was much younger than the two brothers. So far, she had learned a lot about Doug’s middle school dance team and scout camping trips.

“One time, when Doug had come back from a camping trip, he brought home more than just poison ivy,” Derek explained. “Doug hid a turtle in the house for an entire month before I caught him feeding it some fruit.”

“Aw, man!” Darcy exclaimed. “I wanted to keep that turtle so bad, but dad made us put it back in the wild.”

Evie smiled wide, thinking of a young Doug trying to hide a turtle in his room. Though, he was rather good with pets and often helped Carlos out by taking Dude on walks.

She turned and looked over her shoulder, wondering where he was. “Do you think they need any help in there? I don’t mind-“

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” his mom waved away her concerns. “How’s the business going?”

“Great, actually,” Evie beamed. “We did really well with Cotillion dresses this month. The orders haven’t stopped coming in since!”

“That’s so cool!” Darcy squealed, as the other two looked impressed.

“I know, right?” Evie agreed, smiling in Darcy’s direction. “Doug’s been a huge help.”

“Kid’s great with numbers, isn’t he?” Derek added.

Evie nodded. “Yes, and the deliveries, and scheduling fittings...” She looked down as she fidgeted with her dress. “It’s a lot of work, I’m glad I don’t have to do it on my own,” she admitted, unbeknown to the light blush that had formed on her cheeks.

As if on cue, Doug entered the room.

“We were just talking about you,” Derek smirked, his perfect smirk.

Doug pulled back the corners of his mouth to avoid a scowl towards his brother, noticing Evie’s blushing face. “Dinner’s just about ready.”

“Perfect,” his mom smiled, standing up out of her seat as the others followed. “Darcy, help Doug bring the food to the table.”

“I’ll help too,” Evie stated, this time not giving anyone time to convince her not to. She could tell Doug was in a sour mood.

“Are you okay?” She questioned once it was just the two of them in the kitchen.

Doug gave her a shrug and half a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine...” He didn’t want to bother her with complaints about his family. Compared to her, he doesn’t have much room to do so, but he could still tell she was concerned.

Evie quickly squeezed his arm in support before they continued to bring the food to the table.

For the most part, dinner was going well, Evie thought. Doug had perked up a bit and was contributing to the conversation (mostly with his dad), Darcy never stopped hyping Evie up to the entire family, and Evie and Derek were getting along quite well.

Though to Doug, that wasn’t exactly his favorite thing.

“I actually have something to announce,” Derek said towards the end of dinner, catching everyone’s attention. “I just started seeing someone.”

“That’s great!” His mom cheered, as she and Darcy and Dopey proceeded to ask questions.

Part of Doug was thrilled that his brother wasn’t actually trying to steal his girlfriend with all that charm and wit, but another part felt like he was stealing his thunder once again.

Evie watched the family’s excitement as Derek talked about his new relationship with Tiffany, daughter of Tinkerbell. Their mom couldn’t stop gushing about how she’d always wanted to meet the fairy and how they would get along nicely, already planning a lunch outing.

Evie couldn’t ignore the pain in her chest when she realized this kind of conversation certainly hadn’t occurred when Doug told his family about her. She'd been thinking about her mom since she had returned from her rescue mission, glad she hadn't seen her but wondering what she was up to nonetheless. 

The weight of the Isle and her mother and her complicated relationship suddenly stifled her hunger. She pushed the rest of her food around on her plate as Dizzy’s recent words were playing over in her head again. “You can take a girl out of the Isle, but you can’t take the isle out of the girl.”

“What’d you think of Derek?” Doug asked as he entered Evie’s room behind her, receiving an invitation given that Mal was nowhere to be found.

“He seems cool,” Evie shrugged. “He wants to meet Jay and said he could come to see a Summerland Sevens practice or two.” Evie watched his face for a reaction but still couldn’t pinpoint what was up with him. “Didn’t seem like you enjoyed the evening too much, though...”

Doug finally met her gaze, and the sullen expression on her face made him feel terrible. “I’m sorry,” he admitted. “It’s not you- it’s just... he gets under my skin.” Doug sat down on the edge of Evie’s bed. “He always gets everything, and the last thing I wanted him to have was you. But of course, I spent the whole night sulking instead of being with you...”

He stopped rambling when she put her hand in his, leaning on the bedpost.

“Doug, you’re a great guy, and anybody would be lucky to have you.”

“Sounds kind of like you are breaking up with me,” he joked, at least, hoping there was no truth to it.

Luckily, Evie smiled one of her room-brightening grins. “I wasn’t finished,” she chuckled until she remembered the conversation she had witnessed at dinner. “Unless... you’re going to break up with me...”

Doug snapped his head up, clearly in shock at what he just heard. “What? No. Why would you think that?”

Evie shrugged, feeling a bit better already from his reaction. “I don’t know... your mom was just so happy talking about hanging out with Derek’s girlfriend's mom and... well... obviously that not gonna happen with my mom anytime soon...”

Doug squeezed her hand and shook his head. “We don’t need to worry about that. Nothing I’ve ever done is enough to beat Derek in her eyes, and I’ve learned that... I just forgot it tonight.”

Evie looked at him with sadness in her eyes. She knew a thing or two about trying to impress mothers. She ran her free hand through his growing hair and said something she wished someone had said to her long ago. “You are enough.”

Doug showed off one of his biggest grins of the night. “Thanks. So are you. You’re more than enough, actually.”

Evie chuckled, tugging his hand so he would stand up and she could kiss him. He happily conceded, his arms wrapping her waist as her fingers stayed in his hair.

But she pulled away after a bit, still unable to completely shake her feelings about the Isle life she had been trying to bury.

Doug looked at her with concern as he saw the worried look on her face and raised an eyebrow.

“I think I’m ready to tell you about my trip to the Isle...”

He followed her lead, sitting across from her on the bed, as he listened to her recount the events she had witnessed: Trying to bring back Mal, Ben getting kidnapped, facing the pirates, etc. It really helped him put everything into perspective.

“And when I saw Dizzy...” she continued, “She helped me realize that the Isle is a part of me, it’s where I come from. I was trying to hide it, but I can’t.”

Doug nodded, rubbing his thumb across her hand as she spoke.

Evie reached to her nightstand for some old sketches she took from Dizzy. “You can tell in my designs too,” she admitted, showing them to him. “But I have an idea for a new collection, merging our Isle style with Auradon’s style...” she looked up at him for a response.

Doug grinned widely. “I think it’s a great idea,” he marveled. “Especially for when Ben’s council approves your list of additional VKs to come from the Isle. And thank you, for, you know, sharing all of that with me.”

Evie grinned back. “Thank you for listening,” she said before pecking him on the cheek. “I hope this doesn’t change anything...”

“Not a thing,” Doug promised. “Except I didn’t know you could sword-fight, so you’re even more amazing than I thought.” He hoped he wasn't saying too much, but he felt like she needed to hear it.

Evie blushed. “Only in emergencies- I’d much rather be designing or sewing or studying.” She said, gesturing to her desk. “Which reminds me...” she trailed as she stood up to retrieve the box next to her sewing machine, “someone brought me a cupcake earlier.”

Doug chuckled. “Perhaps it would pair nicely with a movie?”

“I didn’t say I was sharing,” she teased, sitting back down next to him. “But a movie sounds nice.”

Doug swiped a finger of frosting from the cupcake, causing Evie to giggle as she tucked herself under his arm, settling in to choose a film. For a moment, the family issues from earlier didn't matter anymore- they had each other's company. 

And for now, that was all they needed.