Courage || Carlos De Vil (Disney's Descendants)

Chapter 39

"So, this is Evie's place, eh?"

Harry and Gil stared at the cozy bungalow from top to bottom: the grey stone walls, red brick roof, arched glass windows, clear lawn, all the way up to the sign that read Evie's 4 Hearts.

"That's right," Jay confirmed. "She accepted commissions so that she could —"

"Typical," Harry scoffed, looking unamused (or perhaps, bitter) as he cut Jay off before he could finish his sentence. "She was always obsessed with being a boring 'ole princess."

Carlos and Jay made no comment on that, deciding to be the bigger persons and not pick a fight. Carlos then picked up his pace, heading straight for the front double doors of Evie's home. He wasted no time in twisting the knobs and pushing the doors wide open.

"Meredith?" he said tentatively, eyes searching frantically for her in the living room and down to the halls. "Mer?"

At long last, he spotted her in the kitchen. She was slumped on the ground, her upper body propped up just slightly as it leaned onto the refrigerator. It looked incredibly uncomfortable, but Carlos was just relieved to see that she was only sleeping and hadn't been turned to stone. But as he thought it over, he realized that it wasn't that much of a relief after all because he didn't know how to wake her up, anyway.

"Oh, man," said Carlos, crouching down to check on her. No bruises, wounds, or any other signs of injury; she really was just put under a sleeping spell. He sighed, gently cupping her jaw with his hand.

"Oh, it's the little redhead!" Gil recognized, entering the kitchen with Jay and Harry.

"She's really been spelled?" Jay asked in disappointment. He had been hoping that Meredith and the others had miraculously dodged Audrey's magic, but he was wrong.

"Yeah," Carlos said dejectedly. "I don't know what I was expecting, but I don't think there's anything we can do about this right now."

"Yeah, we've got no idea how to break these spells," said Jay, folding his arms and looking deep in thought.

"Perhaps a true love's kiss?" Harry snickered. "Sounds like a naive thing that princesses believe in."

Carlos blushed beet red at that suggestion. His face only grew warmer when Gil started to make exaggerated kissing noises and Harry laughed obnoxiously.

"Alright, alright, that's enough," Jay pushed Harry and Gil away, steering them out of the kitchen. "Let's check on the others then get ready to leave. We should be looking for Ben, remember?"

"Aye, aye," Harry waved him off as he and Gil left the room. Meanwhile, Jay paused to turn and look back at Carlos and the sleeping Meredith.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, just give me a minute," Carlos replied. "I'll be out in a bit."

Jay nodded, hesitating once more before finally leaving.

Once everyone else was gone, Carlos felt the burning in his cheeks return when he replayed Harry's words in his head. True love's kiss? It couldn't possibly be the answer to this, could it? Sure, it had succeeded many times in the history of Auradon, like with Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, but it was a thing of the past. Still... it wouldn't hurt to try, right?

No, that's ridiculous, Carlos mentally scolded himself, shaking his head in disbelief. A kiss wouldn't wake someone up from a spell these days. It sounded even crazier when it had to be one founded on true love. Carlos wasn't even sure he knew what love felt like. His mother raised him his entire life, and he was grateful for that, but she had done some questionable things to him and their relationship was still strained. He had his best friends, too, and maybe he did love them, but that was purely platonic.