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Ben took the cookie out of Mal’s hand and took a bite, and started complimenting them, but that was where things stopped going as planned. He swallowed the bite of cookie, and his voice started trailing off, but then instead of looking back at Mal, who was right in front of him, he looked behind her and locked eyes with Carlos.
The VKs looked around at each other, trying to hide the shock on their faces.
Ben walked past Mal and towards Carlos. Mal took the rest of the cookie from Ben’s hand, trying not to panic.
Carlos tried to play it cool, this was surely just a small setback, right? Mal could fix this.
“Uh… how… uh… how are you feeling?” Carlos asked Ben.
“I…” Ben shook his head, “I feel great. Guess we should head to the game, then?”
“Right!” Carlos said, a little too loudly.
“Just… uh…” Ben paused, “would you find me afterwards?”
“S-sure!” Carlos nodded. Ben put his hand on Carlos’s shoulder as he walked away.
As soon as Ben was out of earshot, Mal grouped the VKs together, “What was that?”
“I don’t know,” Carlos tried not to be too loud, so he wouldn’t call attention to them, “but you can fix it, right? Just give him another love potion-”
“Uh, no, if I gave him another love potion, it wouldn’t negate the first one, then he’d just be in love with both of us!”
“Well, what if you gave him an anti-love potion first and THEN a new love potion?” Evie suggested.
“Are you crazy? The second he realizes we gave him a love potion he’s never going to take anything we try to give him again. We’d be lucky if we didn’t get sent back to the Isle of the Lost,” Mal pointed out, “I mean, I hate to say it, but… Carlos, you’ve gotta stick with this until the coronation.”
Carlos was terrified, but he knew Mal was right. If they were going to go through with this plan, this was the only way to do it.
“Just… get to your game,” Mal sighed, “and don’t forget to meet Ben afterwards. We have a lot riding on you now.”
For most of the game, Carlos just sat watching. Every so often Ben would look over at him and wave, and he would sort of awkwardly wave back.
During the last quarter of the game, though, Jay decided to drag Carlos onto the field.
“Jay, I can’t, I’m not that good,” Carlos protested.
“Come on, buddy,” Jay whispered to him, “don’t you wanna show your new boytoy that your practicing has paid off?”
“He’s not my-” Carlos cut himself off as Jay ran away.
Much to Carlos’s own surprise, he wasn’t a complete failure on the field. Through teamwork between him, Jay, and Ben, they made the winning goal.
Amidst all the cheers, Ben found Carlos and pulled him aside. Carlos’s heart was pounding, which was a combination of the thrill of the game and anxiety for what conversation was about to happen.
“Carlos, I…” Ben spoke quietly, but not quite a whisper, “I’m… I’m in love with you… so much that it’s… kind of… ridiculous?”
“Oh,” Carlos knew that’s what was coming, but he hadn’t planned his response, “what about Audrey?”
“I’ve been meaning to break up with her, anyway,” Ben admitted, “I just… never had a good excuse until now… that is… if you like me, too?”
Carlos tried to mask the fear on his face as he nodded, “Y-yeah, I think you’re… super great,” he wasn’t lying, Ben had helped him practice for Tourney and get over his fear of dogs, “you’re probably the kindest person I’ve ever met.”
Ben put a hand on Carlos’s shoulder again before he started walking away. Carlos watched him go and talk to Audrey, who looked deeply offended, but in the vain way she always did, and stomped away.
Once the cheering subsided, the Tourney team got their trophy and went off for victory pizza, and Ben, of course, was sure to sit right next to Carlos.
“Sounds like Audrey is going to the Coronation with Chad, now,” He started, “so… would you be my date to the Coronation?”
Carlos knew this was the most important part of the plan, and maybe he could still fix it… sort of, “Yeah, I’d love to… but… what will other people say? Maybe… you take Mal instead-”
“Carlos, I don’t want to keep this a secret forever. Look, there’s a family day for the school coming up, if we can tell my parents then, then it wouldn’t be a problem for you to be my date at the coronation.”
Carlos sighed and nodded, “Alright, if you think it’s a good idea.”
Carlos spent the rest of the weekend in Mal and Evie’s dorm. Mal was going over the plan with him over and over again, hammering the importance into his head. The plan didn’t need to change, it was just the person who was executing the plan that was changing.
Just when Carlos was feeling confident about the plan, though, another curve ball was thrown at him.
At school on Monday, Ben pulled Carlos aside and asked something entirely unexpected, “Would you go on a date with me?”
“A date?” Carlos repeated.
“Yeah, I know a place not far from here, in the woods by an enchanted lake. It’ll be great,” Ben smiled.
Carlos, knowing he needed to sell this, accepted the offer, but almost immediately ran to find Mal and Evie.
“You guys have to help me,”
“What’s the matter?” Mal asked.
“Ben wants to go on a date, I don’t know what to do.”
Mal looked at Evie, Evie looked at Mal, then at Carlos, “I’ve got you. Come with me.”
Evie helped Carlos with a new outfit, and then she got out her makeup.
“Woah, I don’t think that’s my style,” Carlos shook his head.
“Don’t worry, it’s not gonna be anything big, just a bit of eyeliner to make your eyes pop,” Evie assured him, “guyliner, you know?”
“Well… okay?” Carlos tried not to flinch as Evie penciled the eyeliner around his eyes.
“There… done!” Evie held up her little mirror so Carlos could see.
“Oh,” Carlos stared for a few seconds, “I don’t… I don’t hate that.”
“And neither will Ben,” Evie smiled.
“Could you, maybe, teach me how to do this myself?” Carlos wondered.
Before Evie could answer, there was a knock on the door. Mal got up and answered, and was only surprised for a moment to see Ben standing there, dressed up in his letterman jacket and holding two helmets.
“Jay told me that… Carlos might be here?” Ben said.
“Yeah,” Mal stepped aside, “we were helping him get ready.”
Carlos stood up and went to the door.
“Wow,” Ben whispered, “you uh… you look incredible.”
Carlos smiled, which was a surprise to himself. It wasn’t forced, it just came naturally.
“Uh… I hope you like bikes,” Ben held one of the helmets out to Carlos, who took it.
“I guess I’ll… see you guys later?” He looked back at Mal and Evie.
“Yeah, have fun!” Mal waved as Ben and Carlos left.
Ben showed Carlos to a little motorized scooter, which Ben drove as Carlos rode on the back. They went into a forest, which was beautiful in the afternoon light, and then parked the scooter by a trail with a bridge, where they talked as they walked along.
“Tell me something about yourself that you’ve never told anyone,” Ben started.
“Never told anyone?” Carlos’s mind seemed to go blank, “uh… I’m not sure. What sort of thing do you want to know?”
“I dunno,” Ben shrugged, “like… what’s your biggest fear? Now that it’s not dogs.”
“Oh, dogs were never really my biggest fear,” Carlos looked back at Ben, “a close second. No, I was really most scared of my mom.”
Ben stopped walking, “Your mom?”
“Well, yeah,” Carlos turned around, “everyone’s worst fear is their parents, isn’t it?”
“No,” Ben frowned, “I love my parents.”
“Well… yeah, I love my mom, too. It’s just…” Carlos couldn’t find the words.
“What made you so scared of her?” Ben asked.
“Oh… you know,” Carlos turned back around, he wasn’t totally comfortable with this conversation anymore, “when your parents get upset and they… they yell and they throw things and… threaten you and…”
“Carlos,” Ben ran up beside him, “that’s not normal.”
“It’s normal on the Isle of the lost,” Carlos paused, “it’s tough love. It’s how everyone does it, parents, spouses, friends, strangers, boyfriends and girlfriends… it’s… not fun, but it’s how people treat each other.”
Ben took Carlos’s hand and looked into his eyes, “It’s not love. I love you, and I would NEVER treat you that way.”
Carlos once again felt himself involuntarily smiling, but he shook the smile away, “Well, what about you? What’s your biggest fear?”
“Um…” Ben considered, “maybe it’s cliche, but probably the people I love getting hurt.”
“Mhm,” Carlos nodded, “makes mine sound a little silly, doesn’t it?”
“Not at all,” Ben assured him.
They kept walking until they got to the enchanted lake, where a little picnic was set up for them. It was very cute, and very Auradon-y, but Carlos didn’t mind. He hadn’t told his friends, especially not Mal, but he’d come to like all this Auradon stuff. He felt bad that the villains were going to take over it all, but that was the whole point of coming here.
“You know, I don’t know all that much about you,” Ben pointed out as they were eating, “tell me about yourself.”
“Well… uh…” Carlos had never really been asked to talk about himself before, “I’m 16, I was raised by my mother, and… well… I don’t know, I grew up on the Isle of the Lost. But you knew all those things already.”
“How do you like Auradon?”
“Oh, I love it here,” Carlos said, “and I can’t believe I’m talking to the future king right now.”
“I’m not becoming king just because they’re putting a crown on my head,” Ben said, “it’s a choice I’m making. Sure, my parents might be the image of goodness in Auradon, but that doesn’t make me automatically like them. And you… you don’t have to be like your mom, either. I can tell you’re not like her.”
“You can? How?”
“Well, for one, you love dogs.”
“Yeah, you should’ve brought Dude along,” Carlos joked.
“Yeah? Maybe next time,” Ben smiled, “the way you play Tourney, the way you work with our teammates, you’re… you’re not evil. If no one else sees that, I do.”
Carlos smiled, but then frowned. Ben was, in a way, right. Carlos didn’t WANT to be evil, he didn’t want to be like his mom, but he didn’t have a choice. An Auradon kid like Ben would never get that.
“Hey, let’s go for a swim,” Ben stood up.
“Oh, I… can’t swim,” Carlos shook his head.
“Can’t swim?” Ben repeated, “you live on an island!”
“Yeah, it’s just… you know… got a magic barrier around it,” Carlos reminded him.
“Well… you don’t have to swim, then,” Ben decided, “just get in the water, we’ll stay in the shallow end.”
With a little more convincing, Carlos got in the water with Ben. It was a little cold at first, but he got used to it.
“Hey, watch this,” Ben swam across the lake and climbed up on a huge rock, then jumped into the water.
Carlos cheered as Ben splashed into the lake, then, in one horrifying moment he realized that he might actually have feelings for Ben.
But that didn’t matter. Once the love potion was reversed, Ben would break up with him for sure. If he didn’t, then that would just be crazy. With all the villains running wild in Auradon, the newly crowned king couldn’t be dating one of the villain’s kids.
Carlos knew that wasn’t what he wanted, but he felt like it was too late to stop it now. Mal wouldn’t let him back out, and their parents DEFINITELY wouldn’t let them back out.
In his guilt, Carlos realized he’d lost track of Ben. Where did he go? Could he have drowned?
“Ben?” Carlos called out, wading deeper into the water to try and see him. All of a sudden, there was a drop off. Unable to swim, Carlos tried to back up and find his footing again, but he couldn’t. Before long, though, he was scooped up by Ben and carried back over to their picnic.
“Where did you go?” Carlos demanded, “I thought you might’ve drowned!”
“You tried to save me,” Ben said, “even though you can’t swim?”
“Well… yeah,” Carlos paused, “but what were you doing?”
“Getting you this rock,” Ben handed Carlos a glowy crystally rock, “you make a wish and throw it in the lake.”
Carlos silently wished he didn’t have to go through with Mal’s plan, but he knew how ridiculous a wish it was to make as the rock broke through the surface of the water.
“You’re shivering,” Ben got out of the water and grabbed the jacket he’d been wearing earlier, then draped it over Carlos’s shoulders and sat next to him. After some silence, he spoke again, “Carlos… I told you that I loved you… what about you? Do you love me?”
Carlos was caught off guard, “I… I don’t want to hurt you.”
Ben nodded, “Things weren’t supposed to turn out this way, were they?”
Carlos wasn’t sure what Ben was talking about, “In general… I guess not.”
“But…” Ben put his hand gently on Carlos’s face, “are you happy with how they turned out?”
Carlos looked deep into Ben’s eyes, which were filled with sincerity, and, daresay love.
“Yeah,” Carlos decided, “right now, I am.”
That next Friday, in their Remedial Goodness class, the Fairy Godmother explained to the VKs that with family day and the inability of the villains to come and visit, she had set up a video call for the VKs to see their parents.
While they had to be a little vague, Mal was discussing the progress of the plan with Maleficent. She explained the Coronation, but before she could get further than that, Cruella noticed that Carlos was holding Dude.
“He’d be the perfect size for a pair of earmuffs,” Cruella laughed wickedly.
Carlos never would have said anything like this had Cruella been right in front of him, but, with the protection of the TV screen, he stood up to her, “He’s the perfect size for a pet. This dog loves me, and I love him. And FYI, your little dog is STUFFED. So give it a REST.”
Not long after that, the villains began arguing amongst each other and Mal ended the call.
As the VKs left the classroom, they thanked the Fairy Godmother, and then once they were far enough away, Evie asked Mal what she thought would happen to them if they couldn’t pull their plan off.
After joking about their parents being proud of them for doing their best, Mal confirmed she thought they’d definitely be goners.
Carlos squeezed Dude a little tighter. He worried that as soon as Cruella got to Auradon she’d go through with turning Dude into earmuffs. But Mal was right. Whatever would happen when the villains succeeded would be better than what would happen to the VKs if they failed.
They went to Jay and Carlos’s dorm to go over the plan once again. Evie and Jay would find the limo to open the barrier, using a potion Mal made to knock out the driver. Mal would be in the building to make sure nothing went wrong, but it was up to Carlos to snatch the wand while he was up there.
Evie then noticed the page Mal was open to in her spellbook.
“You want to break Ben’s love spell?”
“Of course,” Mal said, “Ben and Carlos aren’t really in love, and it just seems… unfair to keep Ben under a spell longer than he needs to be.”
“Right,” Evie nodded.
Carlos, though he agreed with the sentiment of breaking the love spell, had begun to feel like he really WAS in love with Ben. He couldn’t tell his friends that, though. He felt like couldn’t tell his friends anything. He just felt like a pawn in their plan, a plan he didn’t want to be part of anymore but was in too deep to get out of.
That Sunday was family day, and while the other students were spending time with their families, the VKs were spending time together. Well, Mal, Evie, and Jay were. Carlos sat on a step, holding Dude. He hadn’t felt well all weekend. He wasn’t physically sick or anything, he was just conflicted. On one hand he felt guilty about deceiving Ben, but on the other, he was too scared of his mom and the other villains - and even his friends - to do anything about it.
Meanwhile, Ben was getting his picture taken with his parents, and, just like he said he would, he decided it was time to tell them about Carlos.
“I’m dating someone new,” He started.
“Oh, good,” Belle smiled, “I never wanted to say anything, but I always thought that Audrey was a little self-absorbed. Fake smile, kind of a kiss-up.”
“Do we know your new girlfriend?” Adam asked.
“Well…” Ben paused, “sort of… and… I mean… I’ll explain after pictures.”
So once their pictures were taken, Ben started leading his parents around, trying to find Carlos.
“There’s something you should know,” Ben finally spotted Carlos sitting on the stairs, “it’s… not a girlfriend.”
“Hm?” Belle wasn’t sure she’d heard her son right.
“Carlos!” Ben called out.
Carlos looked up.
“Come meet my parents!”
Carlos stood up and set Dude down, then went to hug Ben.
“Mom, Dad, this is Carlos,” Ben took Carlos’s hand and led him to Belle and Adam, “from the Isle… my… boyfriend.”
Belle and Adam were silent. This was a lot of information to take in at once.
Belle eventually was the first to speak, but it was just a slightly-too-loud “Hi!”
“Hi,” Carlos replied. Adam gave a half-hearted wave.
“I was thinking maybe he could join us for lunch?” Ben said.
“Of… course,” Adam finally spoke, “any friend of Ben’s…”
“Is a friend of ours,” Belle finished his sentence.
“Could I bring Dude?” Carlos pointed down to the little dog at his feet.
“Um… yeah!” Belle decided, “the more the merrier!”
“And how about a game of croquet before lunch?” Adam offered.
“Uh… sure, sounds fun,” Carlos nodded, “I’ve never played before.”
“I’ll teach you,” Ben started leading him towards the croquet court.
Belle and Adam looked at each other, unsure which elephant to address first. They didn’t want to be rude, but they had a lot of questions.
They ended up not being able to get much croquet done because Dude just wanted to chase the balls around, so they sat down for lunch.
“So, Carlos,” Belle started the conversation, “how exactly did you come to start… uh… dating our Ben?”
“Um… well…” Carlos didn’t know how to tell the story without talking about the love potion.
“He joined the Tourney team, and we really hit it off,” Ben answered for him, “so, next thing we knew… we were a couple.”
“Ben, how long exactly have you… KNOWN that you’re-” Adam was interrupted by Belle.
“Carlos, you’re Cruella De-Vil’s son, aren’t you?”
“Uh… yeah,” Carlos nodded, then added under his breath, “unfortunately.”
“So I guess it’s a little ironic how well you get along with that dog, right?” Adam forced a laugh.
“I guess so. My mother always taught me to be terrified of dogs, but… Ben taught me that they’re nothing to be afraid of, and now Dude and I are… basically inseparable.”
“Fairy Godmother told me about the video call with your parents,” Ben remembered, “are you okay? Is that why you were sitting alone on the steps?”
“No, I’m fine,” Carlos lied.
“What happened on the video call?” Belle asked.
“My mother made a comment about turning Dude into earmuffs,” Carlos shrugged, though he was choking back tears.
“We would never let that happen,” Ben promised, putting an arm around Carlos, “your mom can’t get to you here. You don’t need to worry about her hurting you.”
Carlos realized what he had never considered: his mother couldn’t get to him in Auradon. None of their parents could. So maybe there WAS a chance to get out of stealing the wand, if he could convince his friends, that was.
So, that night, he brought it up to Mal.
“Guys, what if we didn’t steal the wand? What if we just stayed here in Auradon?”
“Are you kidding me?” Mal exclaimed, “We’ve come this far, the coronation is TOMORROW, and you just want to throw it away? Do you realize what our parents will DO to us-”
“Our parents can’t get to us here,” Carlos interrupted.
“We’re NOT Auradon kids, Carlos,” Mal argued, “we’re evil. We’re vicious. We don’t belong here. World domination is what WE want.”
“But it’s-” Carlos tried.
“No buts,” Mal insisted, “I don’t have time for you to get cold feet, we’re doing this, and if I have to spell you to do it, I will,” she walked away.
Carlos couldn’t sleep that night, he was too anxious, not to mention trying not to cry. The feeling lingered into the next morning as Mal handed him the anti-love potion to give to Ben after the coronation and as he rode alongside Ben to the coronation. Even having Dude in his lap didn’t help.
“Don’t be nervous,” Ben took his hand, “your job is easy. You just have to sit there and look handsome, and you’re already a pro at that.”
“Oh… thank you,” Carlos couldn’t bring himself to smile.
“Carlos… would you… wear my ring?” Ben took his ring off.
Carlos couldn’t speak, and the tears he’d been holding in all night started to well up.
“Carlos?”
“I think you should take this,” Carlos shoved the box with the love potion antidote into Ben’s hand. He didn’t care what Mal said, he was done lying to Ben, and he WASN’T going through with this plan.
“Hm?” Ben opened the box and took what looked like a cupcake bite out of it.
“It’s an anti-love potion,” Carlos explained, “I’m… I’m sorry, that cookie we gave you was a love potion and-”
“I know,” Ben interrupted.
“You- huh?”
“The spell washed off in the enchanted lake,” Ben explained, “it wasn’t intended for you, was it?”
“No,” Carlos sighed, “Mal was supposed to be the one you fell in love with… but… if the spell washed off… have you just been pretending to be in love with me since then?”
“Not at all,” Ben shook his head, “were you pretending?”
“Well… I thought I was, but… after that day at the enchanted lake, I realized… you may be the first person to have actually shown me what it means to love someone, and… I fell in love with you.”
“I guess that’s the day we really fell in love,” Ben joked, “too bad for Mal… she tried so hard to get me to fall in love with her that-”
“I’m… so sorry, Ben,” Carlos frowned, “Mal never had a crush on you. She wants to try and steal the Fairy Godmother’s wand so that our parents can take over Auradon. That’s why Mal needed to be your girlfriend, but now I’m gonna be the one up there and… I can’t do it. The only reason I EVER wanted to do it was because I was scared of my mother, but you showed me I didn’t need to be scared of her, and now… now I’m scared of Mal.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Ben put his arm around Carlos, “we’ll get Mal sorted out, okay? You don’t have to worry about anything.”
Carlos looked at Dude, then at Ben, then sighed with relief, “Thank you.”
“So… will you wear my ring?” Ben offered again.
Carlos smiled and nodded, “Yes.”
Ben put the ring on Carlos’s finger and kissed his hand.
When they got to the coronation, Carlos was taken to stand up front, Dude still in his arms. He saw Mal, Jay, and Evie up in the stands, and Mal was glaring at him, almost daring him not to take the wand.
He watched the ceremony, trying to ignore his friends as Ben was crowned king. The Fairy Godmother took her wand out of the glass case to bless Ben as the new king.
Suddenly, though, the wand was snatched out of her hand. The crowd gasped and all turned to face Carlos, who was holding the wand high over his head, a look of horror on his face.
“It’s Mal!” Ben looked up at the stands, “she has him under a spell! Grab her!”
The people around them restrained Mal, but Jay and Evie ran down from the stands to Carlos.
“Let me go!” Mal screamed.
“You don’t want to do this, Mal!” Ben called up to her, “you don’t have to be your parents!”
“That’s all we KNOW, Ben!” Evie protested.
“Maybe it WAS all you knew,” Ben said, “but you’ve grown so much since you’ve been in Auradon. Jay, you’re the best Tourney player our school has ever seen. You get along so well with the guys, you feel like part of our family.”
“And if I might add… Evie,” Doug came forward from the stands, “you’re an amazing classmate and… altogether an amazing girl. Doesn’t being in class together make you happy?”
Evie and Jay looked at each other and smiled.
“Mal,” Ben looked up at the purple-haired girl in the stands, “un-spell Carlos. You don’t have to go through with this. Your mom can’t reach you here.”
“Doing my mom’s bidding is all I know, Ben,” Mal pleaded.
“Mal,” Evie tried, “we all found happiness here, you can, too.”
“I don’t WANT to be happy here,” Mal cried, she looked out at all the people in the audience. At Ben. At her friends. Then she sighed and said an incantation that set Carlos free. He handed the wand back to the Fairy Godmother and ran to hug his friends.
“Take me home,” Mal demanded, “take back to the Isle.”
“But Mal, what about your mom-” Evie said.
“I’ll be fine,” Mal insisted, “take me home.”
Some guards came and took Mal away.
“I feel bad,” Evie said, “that she couldn’t find happiness here like we did.”
“It was her choice,” Jay pointed out, “and, we’ll miss our friend, but there was nothing we could do.”
“So, you two are like… actually in love?” Evie turned to Ben and Carlos.
Ben put his arm around Carlos, “Yeah.”
“Yeah,” Carlos repeated, “I guess we are.”