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It was Carlos’ idea.
They didn’t really have a need to celebrate holidays on the island, and he wanted to experience every single aspect of a traditional Halloween in Auradon, which meant catching up on all the horror movies they didn’t get on their three channels back on the isle.
They had spent the past week borrowing different movies from their new friends, most Ben provided because he was secretly a horror movie addict, and they planned out an evening where they could watch all of the classic Halloween and horror movies (except for Psycho, Jay read the synopsis and wasn’t going to let Carlos anywhere near that film after Cruella’s parenting).
So here he was, sitting on the couch with his boyfriend in his arms, seemingly having a perfect night… except for his desire to run for the fucking hills. Jay had thought that growing up on the isle would’ve prepared him for these movies (I mean, what would be more horrific than living on an island full of villains) but he had been wrong. So very, very wrong.
The first movie had been tame enough; The Rocky Horror Picture Show wasn’t so much “scary” as it was a musical, though everyone in Auradon assured them that it was a cult classic… whatever that was. The next movie was also pretty tame, The Nightmare Before Christmas being more of a children’s movie that everyone in the kingdom had grown up loving, so while it was a Halloween movie it wasn’t really horror. The third movie however, had taken a big leap from “Claymation skeletons singing” to “turn the FUCK around there’s someone behind you.”
The Woman in Black had been a decidedly bad choice to watch, though Jay knew that if any of the other movies people had recommended were like this he would be thinking the same thing about all of them. He closed his eyes as the music changed, knowing by now that it meant that something scary was going to happen, and prayed that this movie would end soon.
Carlos on the other hand was enjoying himself immensely, fascinated by the quality of the effects in this film, being drastically better than anything he had seen on the isle. He still couldn’t quite get over the fact that the last movie had been made by taking a picture every frame and moving the characters miniscule bits after each snapshot, and he was impressed that there were people who had that much dedication to making a movie. This third movie was also impressive, most of the scares had been done in such a way where you knew it was coming but you still jumped anyways. He spent a lot of time looking in the background instead of the main character, positive that there were scenes where the woman was there.
He smirked when he saw the woman moving in the background of the shot, loving the simplicity of it. He wasn’t scared, though he probably should be, he just didn’t understand what there was to be scared of. He knew what it was like to hear noises and pray that there wasn’t a woman behind you waiting to strike, but his mother had always been crueller than a few jump scares and making a rocking chair move on its own. Besides, he had a better chance of being sucked into a black hole than being haunted by a ghost, especially since he’d never be stupid enough to live in a haunted house.
Carlos looked up to face Jay, who he was currently laying on as they watched the movies from their couch, so that he could point out something in the background, when he saw Jay’s face. His eyes were clenched shut and his jaw was set, as if he could physically block out the movie if he focused hard enough. Carlos realized that Jay’s breath was coming faster than normal, and the arms that Jay had wrapped around him were tense with fear.
“Jay?” Carlos whispered.
Jay opened his eyes and looked down to see Carlos staring up at him, concern evident on his face. He tried to slow his heartrate down and relax his face, but just then something jumped out on the screen and Jay visibly flinched as he shut his eyes again.
Carlos’ eyes widened as he moved out of Jay’s arms, immediately reaching for the remote and shutting off the TV. He quickly made his way back to the couch to sit in Jay’s lap, wrapping his arms around the older boy and pulling him to his chest.
“Are you okay?” Carlos murmured, feeling Jay’s breath start to come slower against his neck.
“Yeah,” Jay breathed, already feeling better in Carlos’ arms.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were scared? The movie’s been on for like an hour… have you been like this the whole time?” Carlos asked.
“Yeah, well not the very beginning but ever since he got to the house… I just knew how important this was for you and I didn’t wanna ruin it-” Jay started rambling as Carlos pulled back to look him in the eyes.
“Hey,” he interrupted, “My wish to take part in all things Halloween is not as important as you. Never has been, and never will. Okay?”
Jay smiled and reached a hand up to cup Carlos’ face, “Okay.”
Carlos leaned into Jay until they were just a breath apart, stopping so that he could whisper, “I love you.” He closed the distance between them, tilting his head and bringing a hand up to Jay’s hair to deepen the kiss. Jay happily obliged, reaching the hand that wasn’t resting on Carlos neck to wrap around his torso. Jay slid his tongue deeper into Carlos’ mouth, drawing out a groan from the younger of the two. Carlos pulled away to catch his breath, resting his forehead against Jay’s as they both tried to slow their heartrates.
“I love you too,” Jay replied, moving him and Carlos so that they were spooning on the couch as they faced the TV.
“How about,” Carlos said as he moved out of Jay’s arms, “We put in a different movie? It’s still pretty early, we have time for one more.”
“Which one?” Jay asked, not thinking that there were any non-scary movies left in their collection.
“Hotel Transylvania. It’s a cartoon about a monster hotel, think you can handle it?” Carlos smirked as he said it, but his eyes revealed genuine concern. Jay knew that if he said no Carlos would understand and not judge him for it, which made him love him even more.
“Sure,” Jay replied, “I mean the first two movies were fine so that one should be too.”
Carlos popped the DVD into the player and moved back to Jay, lying down in front of him on his side. He blushed when Jay wrapped an arm around him and pulled him back so that they were flush against each other, but he didn’t really mind.
Jay looked down at the boy in his arms, already smiling as the movie began with a baby vampire and her father, and sighed. He couldn't believe how lucky he was, knowing that anyone else who knew him would tease him relentlessly for being scared of a movie. He pulled Carlos even closer to him as he settled in to watch the movie, knowing that this one wouldn't be a problem.
With Carlos in his arms, he wasn't scared anymore.