Maddie lay on the couch, watching Mal spray paint.
She heard the gate going up, like someone coming up.
Sam entered, saw them and turned around, neither of them noticing her or so she thought.
"So you are just going to come in here and walk out when you see me?" Mal asked, setting her can on the floor.
Sam turned around walking to stand in front of Mal.
"Because that is kind of rude." Mal said. "I understand why the other people were yelling at me when they saw me. But I never did anything to you. At least I don't think I did. It's hard to remember. I've been gone for so long."
"Six months is a long time." Maddie said, laying upside down on the couch causing her hair to touch the ground, as she looked up at Mal and Sam.
"Six months is what it took for you to crack, huh?" Sam said. "I knew one of you couldn't have fit in that quickly. One of you would be bound to come back here because fitting in was too hard. I always knew it would be you."
"How did you know that?" Mal said, tapping her foot on the floor.
"The amount of times your eyes flashed green when you talk to the reporters." Sam said. "Dying your hair blonde so you could look like one of them." Sam picked up a strand of Mal's hair. "Do I need to keep going?"
Mal looked down at the floor, her feet stopped moving as she started to cry.
"Are you." Sam paused not knowing what she was asking. "Are you okay?"
Mal sniffled silently looking up at Sam. maybe it had been her imagination but Mal's eyes looked like she had been crying long before Sam had saw her. Her eyes were red and puffy. It made Sam wonder how she hadn't seen it before.
"I'm fine." Mal said,running her fingers through her blonde hair. "It's just-. It's just nobody noticed when I was there that I wasn't happy. When I mentioned going back to the Isle they'd always laugh and think I was joking. But now I'm here and you haven't seen me for months and only saw me on the tv and you knew I wasn't okay."
"Can you stop crying for a minute." Sam said. "You are making me feel bad for bringing that up. Stop crying Malsy."
"You shouldn't be the one asking if I'm okay." Mal continued to ramble. "My own friends didn't know I wasn't okay. My own friends thought it was a joke for me ever returning here. Does it seem weird to you?"
"No." Maddie said. "This is your home Mal. You grew up here. This is where you spent most of your life. You can't just forget it because they want you to. You can't forget here like they did."
"Can I ask why you're here?" Sam asked Maddie whose gaze quickly fell to the ground. "Come on it can't be that bad. You were in Auradon where people act nice because they want to. What would make you want to run away from that?"
Maddie seemed to fight back tears, and while she was upside down it wasn't hard to see.
"Uh. You know what?" Sam said. "Forget I asked. I don't need you to start crying like Mal over here."
Mal stifled a laugh though while she was crying it sounded more like a hiccup. Or maybe she was hiccuping from how much tears she was crying.
"Can you both stop crying for a minute." Sam said, clasping her hands together. "I mean like now."
Mal picked up a rag from the floor and wiped the tears away. Maddie stopped crying too, wiping the tear streaks that were left on her face.
"Come on." Sam said. "You were in Auradon. Your problems can't be that bad to make you come back here."
Mal shook her head, causing her hair to fall in her face. Sam reached out and pushed it away.
"Ben and I had a fight." Mal said flatly as if that was the answer to all of Sam's questions.
"That all?" Sam said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"He got mad that I was using my spellbook for everything." Mal said. "Then he said this wasn't the Isle of the Lost and I shouldn't be keeping secrets from him. So I left."
"Interesting." Sam said. "And why did you come back here Maddie?"
"Carlos tried asking another girl to Cotillion." Maddie said. "Right in front of me."
"Ouch." Sam said. "Well I guess those are probable reasons for leaving. Carlos is an idiot and so is Ben. Problem solved. Now go back to perfect little Auradon."
"For a second I thought you actually cared." Mal said. "But I guess not."
"You shouldn't run away from your problems." Sam said. "You are supposed to face them head on or you will eventually when they come back to bite you."
"That sounds really suspicious." Mal said. "I have a feeling that you are going to tell Uma you saw me and I am not here for that."
"Sure I'll tell Uma." Sam said as Mal and Maddie's eyes widened. "When she apologizes for real to me."
"Since when did Uma apologize for anything?" Maddie asked.
"Since she was friends with Sam." Mal said. "She always apologized to her. One reason why she didn't get to be apart of my gang."
"I always took it that you didn't want her to join because you were jealous." Sam said. "You two always tried to outdo each other even when you were friends."
"They were friends?" Maddie asked.
"Yes they were." Sam said. "They only started hating each other until recently. Since they were ten."
"I'm not jealous of Shrimpy." Mal said.
"Say what you want." Sam said. "I won't believe you."
With those parting words, Sam left the hideout heading to who knows where. Mal and Maddie exchanged looks before following her.