"Carlos?" Belle says.
The son of Cruella practically jumps out of his skin when someone says his name. He turns to the beauty who is carrying a stack of books to the table.
"Y-Yes?"
"Can you please go to the Enchanted Objects section for me? There are a few volumes that I couldn't carry. There's one with a blue spine, another with a brown dust jacket, and the last one is missing the back cover."
"S-Sure, where is the section?"
"On the far end of the building, close to the back."
"Okay," he says before disappearing behind the bookshelves.
Both Regina and Belle have stacks and stacks of books on one of the tables. The former Evil Queen is not particularly pleased to be doing the research part of their mission, but anything beat being near the half-octopus diva who smelled like sun-dried seaweed. She never had a particular liking for Ursula, even when they were working together to find the Author. Their egos clashed too often, and it didn't help that Regina was secretly working for the heroes at the time either, meaning the trust between the queens of darkness was non-existent.
She also knew that her knowledge of potions and ingredients was important, something only the Dark One could rival her in. She felt it was better to have another adult help with the research anyways; knowing teenagers, they'd be sneaking looks at their phones before too long. They didn't have the attention span required, even if this was for their overall benefit of going home. Ben had a large book open on the table, trying to read it, but Regina knew that his eyes were already glazing over. She did give him credit for trying to help.
Meanwhile, both sets of twins were babysitting the younger ones to keep them quiet. Simon and Whitney took turns reading to Neal and it made the queen almost vomit the happy and cheerful tales that they chose. They truly were Snow and David's children, reading all about hope and happiness. Paige and Patrick were also reading to Gideon, their nephew evidently... thank god there was never a family reunion in Storybrooke because everyone would be related to everyone and it would just be too weird. Even though the baby was only interested in grabbing at the pages, he seemed to enjoy the attention and the occasional hug from Paige. It was an unusual scene that was for sure, but it kept the noise to a minimum.
Regina watches as Carlos vanishes behind the bookshelves. The kid was extremely jumpy, more so than she expected. She suspects that he's hiding something but can't be sure of what. She knew that kind of demeanour too well... if only she had Emma's lying superpower then she could confront him about it. She hears his footsteps grow fainter as he appears to be going to the correct section, but she can hear the hesitation and the slowed movement of his steps.
...
Why are you doing this Carlos? He thinks to himself. Don't you want to go home?
Of course, I do, but what about meeting your mother?
He goes to the Enchanted Items section and begins to search for the books. It doesn't take him too long to find them and he pulls the stack into his arms. As he begins going back to the table, his eyes go back to where the recipe for the portals lay. He wants so badly to just go and get it.
"Here you go," he says, putting them on the table.
"Thank you, Carlos," Belle says smiling. She's finishing scanning through one book and reaching for the next. Her ability to speed read is impressive to the son of Cruella and her alternate son.
"Wow, you're a fast reader," Ben comments.
"Well, whenever there's a world-ending crisis that threatens the town, you learn how to pick up the pace," Belle smirks at her joke. Once and a while, the bookworm could be witty with sarcasm.
Carlos decides to try and appear helpful, hopefully giving him enough time to get what he wants.
He takes a book from the pile.
"Do you mind if I read over by the door?" he asks. "The lighting is better."
"Okay..." Belle says.
"You sure you don't want to be here, there is lots of room," Regina says, sensing the tension.
"It's okay..." Carlos says, swallowing hard. "I want to enjoy the sunshine."
Regina shrugs but her eyes follow the kid until he vanishes near the entrance.
Something is up... the queen says.
Carlos's heart is pounding as he sits with the book in his lap. He opens it and tries to stare at the first page, but his mind is elsewhere. He just wants to get this over with...
He turns the page to make it sound like he's reading. The stack of books on the desk is just waiting to be touched...
Should I just rip out the one page? he wonders.
Just then the doors of the library open and in comes Jane, Doug, Robbie, and Dizzy. Carlos' heart drops, now the situation has become even worse. It's bad enough he's going to have to steal their only way home, but now his girlfriend is here too.
"Hey guys," he says standing up, trying to act as casually as possible. He goes over and hugs Jane. She can feel the stiffness in his stance. "What are you doing here?"
"Ben texted us," Doug says. "He said that you could use the extra help with researching and since Uma isn't here, we figured it was safe."
"Anything to get out of the convent for a little while, Tallia and Freddie have made it their personal mission to drive the fairies insane," Jane says. "It was funny at first, but now it's just annoying."
"Well... I'm glad you came," Carlos says. He clings to Jane so tightly that she's having trouble breathing.
With some effort, she finally breaks free and looks at her boyfriend. He looks spooked beyond belief.
"Are you okay?" she asks.
"Y-Yeah," he lies.
"You sure? you seem a little tense."
The teen bites his lip. "I... I didn't sleep well last night. Being in a new place was weird and Jay was watching movies late into the night."
"Doesn't sound much different from being at Auradon Prep," the daughter of the Fairy Godmother shrugs.
"Usually I have my laptop to distract me, but with that back in our dorm..."
"Carlos, who's here?" Belle says, coming around the corner. Ben and Regina are behind her. "Oh hello."
"Hi there, you're Belle, Ben's mother correct?" Robbie asks.
"That would be me."
"Ben texted us saying that you might need some help with researching portals," Doug says. He adjusts his glasses.
"Yes, we do, there are a lot of books and only so many of us."
"It doesn't help that half the group is babysitting," Regina mutters.
"Well we'd be glad to help you out," Doug says. He can barely contain his excitement. He cannot wait to see the kind of library the town has, especially if they use magic so casually, there will likely be fascinating volumes of the history of the dark arts and such, something he would love to take a closer look at.
"All right then, just grab a book and start looking for anything that has something to do with portals.
Belle leads the group to the table, but Carlos and Jane linger in the back. She still has her arms wrapped around him, but the boy's heart is going into overdrive, plus he's begun to sweat and not because he's with his girlfriend.
"I'll go get a book and we can read together," she says, pecking him on the cheek.
"Okay babe," he nods.
It's now or never, he thinks to himself.
He watches his beautiful girlfriend temporarily disappear. He sees the front counter and decides to just do it... go on instinct.
He goes to the stack of books and finds the old faded one that was open to the portal potion.
Should I rip it out? he cringes, wishing he'd made the decision earlier.
Suddenly, the door opens again and one of the bearded dwarves walks in. The boy freezes, positive that he's been caught, but the dwarf strides past, only glaring at Carlos before going straight for Regina.
"Grumpy?" Belle says in surprise.
"I need to speak with you Queenie!" he grumbles, standing in front of Regina. "We need to re-think the sleeping arrangements with the pipsqueaks."
"What's the problem?" she says, not really in the mood to deal with this right now.
"The kid's a terror; he's as bad as..."
"You?" the mayor asks, raising her eyebrow.
"You know I don't work well with others, let alone kids. There's only one Grumpy in this town and you know I live up to that title."
"You used to be called Dreamy," Belle sighs, wishing that he still carried his original name.
"Dreamy's been dead for a long-time sister. Anyways, that kid is going to spend his night on the streets if you don't find another place for him."
"For God's sake Leroy," Regina says. "You seriously can't get along with anyone. He's just a kid..."
"I don't care if he has one leg, I want him out!"
"But he's your son."
"He's NOT my son. You can't expect me to..."
The arguing begins and Carlos lets out a sigh of relief, knowing that this is a blessing in disguise. He stares at the page and decides it truly was now or never for him.
He separates the piece of paper from the rest of the book and as quietly as he can, he begins to try and tear it out. His hands are sweating, and his heart is racing so loudly that the fighting between the Evil Queen and a dwarf is drowned out.
Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump...
Carlos fumbles, trying to make the least amount of noise that he can. Each fibre of the book tearing from the centre sounds like the blast from a gun.
Come on... come on...
Halfway... he thinks. He's holding his breath while blood circulates in his brain...
The fighting continues... he thinks. And now the babies have started crying. He can't be sure all he can hear is right.
Thump, thump, thump, thump...
Come on damn you!
At long last, the page is free. He subtly folds it and slides it into his pocket. He then shuts the book, buries a few heavy volumes on top of it, and then grabs another from the pile, making it appear as though he was looking for more research.
Now I just have to get it to Mom... he thinks. Then she can find a way to get here... and we can be here longer.
He stumbles over to where Grumpy is still throwing a fit. Jane and the rest of the group are standing around, frozen and confused. Several of them already have books, but cannot concentrate due to the chaos unfolding. Belle is forced to go and get Gideon as he becomes upset by everything and Ben tries to help Whitney and Simon with Neal as he's not too happy with the noise either. The son of Cruella grabs his girlfriend's hand and pulls her close.
"Want to go read outside until the racket dies down?"
"S-Sure," she says.
The two slowly slip away and go towards the door, Carlos' heart still pounding against his chest. The simple piece of paper in his pocket now feels like an anchor...
I hope it's worth it...
A/N: Sorry that it's been so long. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Happy April Fool's Day.