Chapter Text
Chapter 1- Jay
“Thanks for saving me, gorgeous face.”
Gorgeous face. Gorgeous. Face.
Why could Jay not get those words out of his head? And those light blue eyes, that husky accented voice, that cheeky grin… What was wrong with him?
“Jay!”
“Huh?” He looked up at Coach Jenkins staring at him, arms crossed. Uh, oh. The coach beckoned him over and Jay trudged towards him.
“I called you seven times, Jay. I’ve never seen you so off your game. What is going on with you?” the coach remarked, frowning at him.
Jay rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, Coach. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m having a hard time focusing. I’ll do better, I promise.”
“Yeah, you will. With all these new students joining, we need you at your best. As team captain, they’re all looking up to you to lead them.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
As Jay put his tourney gear away, he scolded himself internally. Why was Harry Hook of all people at the forefront of his mind? Ever since that day they were searching for Ben in the forest, something shifted. He didn’t want to think about what that could mean.
He and Harry had known each other since childhood. They were in rival crews back at the Isle. With Mal and Uma’s rivalry, it was always a relationship of mutual disdain. Especially when Harry and Mal broke up.
They were all thirteen, and it had been both Harry and Mal’s first relationship. Mal was never well-liked at the Isle of the Lost, as Maleficent’s daughter and the resident bully. Jay didn’t know what their relationship meant to Harry, but to Mal, it was just a power play over Uma. She tossed him aside without a second thought, solidifying the two crews’ animosity. Harry being the relentless flirt he was, bounced back relatively quickly, from what Jay could tell, and stayed loyal to Uma as her first mate.
Jay, on the other hand, always had Mal’s back. Her short-lived relationship with Harry was no different. He was protective to the core and knew the Mal deep inside that she hid from the rest of the world. They were best friends, after all.
Since the barrier fell, the former rival gangs had to adjust to being allies. Some would even say, they had become friends, in their own way. Jay had particularly gotten quite close with Gil, bonding over their desire to see the wonders of the world they had been so long caged from. He got along well enough with the rest of the pirate crew, but he’d been avoiding Harry for weeks. It’s not that he didn’t like him, but he didn’t know how to act around him. He was confounded by his own reaction to Harry’s presence, especially since that damn nickname Harry had thrown out casually.
Gorgeous face.
Damn it. Not again, Jay. Get it together.
“Hey, man!” Gil’s voice called out, shaking Jay out of his own head. The blond boy waved at him excitedly from across the hall. “Where ya headed, Jay?”
“Just back to my dorm. What’s up?” Jay responded, fist-bumping him.
“I saw this trail by the ocean that I wanted to check out. Wanna come with? Maybe tomorrow morning?”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll swing by your dorm at 7.”
“Sweet! See you then!”
Jay smiled as he watched Gil saunter off. All of the new VKs were just getting settled into their first semester at Auradon Prep. Ever since Mal brought down the barrier, Jay had actually yet to see what Gil had done with his dorm. The guy was kind of a mess, so he didn’t have high hopes.
Jay headed back to his dorm, trying to keep a certain dark-haired pirate out of his mind. He was Jay. He was a big-shot at this school. He had no reason to be flustered by some unhinged new kid.
He slung his tourney bag onto the ground when he got back to his and Carlos’s dorm and flopped down on his bed.
“Thanks…gorgeous face…”
Fuck.
The next morning, Jay was exhausted. He was kept up half the night, again. He refused to acknowledge the reason why.
He got dressed and headed to find Gil’s dorm. He really appreciated Gil’s invite. The plans were something to take his mind off of his current predicament, and he was actually pretty excited to hang out with his new friend. When he got there, he knocked on the door, expecting to be hit with Gil’s far-too chipper morning attitude.
When the door swung open, Jay froze.
It was him. The person who had been plaguing his restless mind for weeks.
“Jay,” said Harry Hook. “Looking for someone, mate?”