The stars were twinkling in the sky when you and Carlos returned from the field trip. After the two of you had left the room of the Great Dragon War, you didn't find anything significant to the prophecy. Miss De Liliare didn't seem to do anything suspicious and most importantly, there were no returning dragons. You would let out a silent sigh of relief, but Carlos's words still echoed in your head. He wanted to talk to you, a "heart-to-heart" conversation. Terms like that didn't exactly help calm your nerves.
Carlos offered his hand and you took it, wondering where he was planning to lead you. His white hair seemed to glimmer like waves under the moonlight, slightly glowing in the darkness of the night. "So, um," your voice seemed to quaver with nervous energy, "what did you want to talk about?" Carlos led you down a small path and stopped you by a tree not far from the Auradon track. You wondered why Carlos chose this spot. Knowing Carlos, you'd get your answer.
Carlos let go of your hand and ran his hand down the back of his head. A gesture, you noticed, that he did whenever he was nervous or about to speak of serious matters. "(Y/n)," Carlos faced you, "you seem distant lately." You thought back to the past days. You had been avoiding his questions a lot, you noticed. Both because you didn't want him to know you were thinking of him (you felt that you were being too obsessive) and because you didn't want to worry him about your worries.
"I know that I've asked you this before," Carlos's eyes held your gaze and you couldn't help but get lost in them. They were like the chocolate that he liked to eat: warm and sweet. "But, are you feeling alright?"
Your throat tightened and you tried to maintain a normal eye contact with him, but failed. Instead your eyes found their way towards the ground, the trees, and even the Auradon field. Images of the prophecy flashed through your head, horrid images. You remembered the painting that Professor Camilia had been encaptured by and the description under it. You could see the words on the plaque as they flashed through your head, and the story was impossible to forget. Judelia pulled her friend into a final embrace and killed her.
She killed her.
Who in their right minds would kill their best friend, even if it was for the sake of "good"? You knew you certainly couldn't, even if (b/f/n) had called you anything worse than "isle leftovers". She had still been your friend at some point. Those memories together couldn't have been fake.
With the thought of (b/f/n), the knot in your stomach was tightened triple-fold. It wouldn't even be too far of an understatement to say that all of the rock pokemon were nesting there.
She killed her.
Visions of losing your friends to death flashed through your mind, but you pushed them aside. Maybe it was better that Auradon banned a story in which the heroine had killed her best friend.
"I'm fine." You wanted it to come out confidently, but instead, your voice sounded like a whimpering puppy. Maybe you were trying to convince Carlos that you were fine, maybe you were trying to convince yourself. Either way, you could tell that neither of you believed that statement.
Carlos's eyes flickered with worry. To your surprise, he turned to pat the trunk of a nearby tree before saying anything. "This is the tree I went sprawling up after I ran across the tourney field away from Dude. That was when I first came to Auradon. I truly did believe my... my mother, when she told me dogs were rabid pack animals." His voice seemed to lower in confidence at the mention of his mother, but Carlos continued. "The point is that Auradon is a lot different than the Isle. In the Isle...communication is practically nonexistent. The strong devour the weak. You rule or be ruled. That policy was no different between parents and children, or even friends. I felt trapped. Whenever I was hurting, or even drowning inside, I couldn't tell anyone. I didn't have any real friends until Evie came along. My mother didn't care. Emotions were a sign of weakness."
You drew your eyes off the ground and peered at Carlos. He seemed to be slightly shaking (although that could've been you) and you wondered why he was telling you this.
"But in Auradon, emotions are a sign of strength. Emotions don't have to be locked in." Carlos locked his warm, chocolate eyes with yours. Your heart almost skipped a beat and you wondered when the last time he looked into your eyes this way was.
"In the Isle, you don't have the opportunity to acknowledge your bottle of feelings. You can't share it either. But in Auradon, you don't have to bottle up your feelings until they spill over. You don't have to stash it in the corner and pretend everything is okay."
Your heart swelled in your chest, and you could hear the rhythmic beat. It reminded you of the times you sat in the theater room and felt the vibrations of the movie rumble through the entire audience. But this time, it was coming from you instead of around you.
Carlos took both of your hands in his and you gave him a nervous, sideways glance, the rhythm of your heart speeding up. How did you ever deserve to meet someone as sweet as him?
"You've been thinking off into space recently, and I can tell something's up." He hesitated, then mustered his courage, "but...we're in Auradon and sharing emotions is a sign of strength. So, whatever it is that you're keeping in, whatever it is that you're going through alone, know that I have your back. Even if you don't want to tell me, I'm here."
Your face felt as red as Carlos's jacket, but you wanted to cry tears of joy. You hugged Carlos and you felt his arms wrap around you like a fluffy blanket.
You didn't think you were stressed. You didn't think you were bothered by (b/f/n). You thought you were over it, but you were wrong.
Each of those feelings just bottled up inside, stacking up like your to-do list. You would always tell yourself that you would deal with each task later, each feeling later, but being the person that you were, they were put aside for the immediate problems. Now, you didn't know what was what and why all of these tasks existed anymore. They were just overwhelming. And Carlos must've noticed it before you had.
"I-I've been," you tried to form a sentence. It was like trying to explain the hundreds of tasks you had in one sentence. After struggling to come up with something, you said, "You were right. I-I've been thinking a lot. Too much, I guess. I just...I wanted to be strong. I wanted to be something. I mean, Auradon life is pretty bland." You didn't know where the words were coming from, but they started flowing out of you. It was as if you had a hidden diary all along and you'd finally found the lock to open it.
"All of my life, I've read stories of heroes and princesses and good and evil. But nothing like that happened in Auradon anymore. I mean, evil and good were isolated after all. And what's a hero without their villain? So when I started losing everyone I cared about, when I lost (b/f/n) to Audrey and I lost you to Jane...when I found that room and that prophecy, I guess it sort of came to me that this was my chance. I could be the star of my own adventure and save the school." You rested your head on Carlos's shoulder and blinked away tears.
"I'm selfish, aren't I? To think that I could be cool and strong and protect everyone. To think that I have a chance to thwart a prophecy. I mean, even in Greek mythology, prophecies came true no matter how much a king or queen tried to prevent them. Look at Oedipus." You peered up at the stars, becoming quiet. The air was chilly, and you remembered the night that Carlos took you outside to view the stars. "It was in waxing crescent back then, the moon, that is," you murmured, your thoughts dying down.
"It was," Carlos agreed. The two of you broke out of the hug to look at one another face to face. "We may not be able to stop prophecies, but we can influence them," the son of Cruella De Vil whispered to you. "And who said you had to face it by yourself? Team Descendants is on your side. I have your back."
A warmth was bubbling in your throat, wanting to leap out. You wanted to hug him again, cry with joy. Do something to show him how happy you were to have met him. But being the person you were and not a protagonist of a YA novel, you stammered. "I-I don't know what to say."
"There's no right or wrong thing to say," Carlos told you. "Or at least, not around me." You could almost imagine that his face was freckled in a red blush at the moment. He smiled at you sheepishly, "I like it when you talk to me. I like it when we hang out, and I don't think you're selfish at all. You're kind, and funny, and amazing." He brushed a loose strand of hair behind your ear and you felt your cheeks-no, scratch that-your whole face glow a hue brighter than the Evil Queen's poisoned apple. Your heart was beating so fast that it could probably overtake Haru from Free in a swimming race. But worse of all, you couldn't stop the tears that streamed down your face and the ridiculously wide grin that had decided to take residence.
No one had ever made you feel so needed before. Wanted, loved.
Carlos wiped away your tears with his thumb and pulled you into an embrace once again. "I love you," he whispered. You gripped his jacket and sobbed, your heart bursting with emotions. Stress, sorrow, anger, desperation, happiness, and love had never come to life all at once at any time but this.
You wanted to tell Carlos that you loved him too, but the emotions choked you up and you ended up pulling him tighter.
You never wanted to let go.
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I said "last a/n" on that one update, but I lied (but I swear these are short).
Happy Valentine's day! I tried, I really did. This is an official chapter, but it happened to fall on Valentine's day (yay, early update much?) so that's just my perfect timing.
If you're single, don't worry, because I am also a single pringle and a very happy one so don't sulk in the corner (you are wonderful just the way you are!).
This chapter was probably cringe-y, so I apologize (it's hard to work with my old writing style and my new writing style together ugh).