Third Person
Harry decided to let Brielle sleep for forty-five minutes, her peaceful humming as she slept almost put him out too. When the time came Harry woke her up by whispering to her until she began to stir, she's not the heaviest sleeper so simply the whisperings of sweet nothings are enough to wake her up. He started by leaning in a bit closer to her and brushing her hair from her shoulder,
"Love, it's time"
He whispered, she already began shifting and humming some at the newfound noise that wasn't from the TV,
"Mon chéri~"
He whispered next, more of a purr than a normal whisper at that's alright. The familiar words and the shoulder brushing was enough to get Brielle to wake up. She opened her eyes and immediately locked them with Harry's, though she had only just woken up he could tell she was more alert than she was forty-five minutes ago. She smiled and scooted closer to him,
"Thank you for making me take a nap, I feel way better already"
Harry smiled and gave her a quick kiss in the forehead before she sat up,
"I'm glad ya do, those beautiful eyes of yours look much brighter"
Brielle's cheeks always are lightly dusted with a bit of blush when Harry was around, but simple little things like that only made her light up more. She stretched some and rolling her shoulders as Harry got up and put his shoes back on,
"Yer a very beautiful sleeper by the way"
Brielle looked back to him as she slipped her shoes back on,
"How so?"
"Ya hum when ya sleep, so it's just soothing ta listen to. Not ta mention ya seem ta naturally smile, it's adorable"
Brielle lit up in her cheeks and giggled,
"Oh really? Well I did have a bit of a good dream, I forgot it though but that's alright"
Brielle did remember that dream, but she didn't want to tell Harry about it. It was a reoccurring dream, but it was such a happy one she didn't mind,
"Ah well that's always lovely, even if ya forget the dream at the end"
She took a second as he finished putting on his shoes and stared at him, Harry was in that dream and he did something she never thought he was about in real life, so she chose not to tell him,
"Yeah... well, I should probably get back to work. Wanna come to keep me company?"
Harry smiled and nodded, not noticing she had stared at him for a second with admiration and a bit of longing a few moments ago,
"Of course"
Brielle and Harry walked out at the same time, Harry letting Brielle through the door first. They walked down to her office arms locked and just as they walked up and opened the door to her office, Ben and Evie came from Ben's office looking panicked as ever. Ben ran to Brielle and grabbed her shoulders,
"Brielle we gotta talk"
He said in a rush before leading her into her office. She looked to Harry with a raised brow as their arms slipped apart,
"Alone"
Evie added as Harry tried to follow Brielle into her office. Harry went ahead and paused what he was doing and stared at Evie with a very confused expression. Ben shut the door behind him and Brielle,
"What's so urgent that you have to drag me from the hallway into my office for?"
Brielle said as she crossed her arms and raised a brow at him,
"Brielle I-I really messed up"
Brielle tilted her head some,
"What did you do now?"
Ben felt terrible, tears burned his eyes and he could feel his heart racing as his lungs tried to keep up,
"It's Mal... uh I don't know how t-to say it... but she left this"
Ben handed Brielle a slip of folded paper, she unfolded it and went to her desk for her reading glasses and put them on to read the note. She froze and her eyes widened as she read the content of the sad and frantically written note, Mal's handwriting obviously shown how she rushed to finish the note, how rushed she was to leave. Brielle slowly looked up to Ben from the note,
"She's gone back to the Isle?"
Brielle whispered in disbelief, she thought Mal hated the Isle but here she was, running to the Isle to get away from Auradon,
"It's all my fault, I was too harsh on her. Dammit I should've tried to understand better when I found her spellbook"
Ben rambled on in a panic, Brielle walked up to him and put her hands on his shoulders,
"Ben calm down, we can figure this out I'm sure of it. Who found this?"
She said holding up the note,
"Evie, I went to go look for her as you said for Mal but she wasn't there so I asked Evie to check the dorm while I kept looking around for her. I couldn't find her so I went back to my office to reevaluate when Evie came in with the note"
Brielle nodded some,
"Okay, so it was in the dorm? Was anything missing?"
"Yeah, and all of her Isle clothes were missing, her spellbook, and Maleficent"
Brielle nodded and looked to her window where she had a view of the Isle,
"She could totally be there by now... dammit"
She muttered as she walked from Ben with a quickened pace, she put her glasses back down on her desk right as Ben spoke up again,
"I want to go find her, I have to apologize, I have to get her to come home"
Brielle whipped her head around to Ben with a shocked expression,
"You're telling me you want to go to the Isle? Ben are you crazy? You know how much could go wrong in that span of time that you're in that barrier and Auradon guards can't just pull you out? It's not safe for people like us, we've never been in that environment we'd stand out!"
She frantically semi-yelled, the truth was she was panicked again, at least she wasn't tired this time,
"But Brielle I need her back! I love her dammit I want her to come home!"
"Ben there is no way you are going to the Isle, at least alone"
Brielle had a thought, she hated it but she knew what had to be done,
"The VKs have to go with you if you're going, they know the lay of the land, how to act, that sort of thing"
She already hated having to ask Harry to go back there but she trusted him with her life, he could handle her brother right?
"All of them?"
He questioned,
"Yes all of them, the more able-bodied individuals you have with you the less likely something bad happens"
"Even Harry?"
Brielle sighed and shook her head,
"If he wants to, he really hates the place... but from what I've heard he was one of the scariest people on the Isle, if anyone could protect you it would be him"
Ben sighed as Brielle walked to the door, apparently unaware of how panicked she looked because as soon as she opened the door Harry looked at her very concerned,
"I heard yelling, what on earth happened?"
Harry said as she let them in. Brielle shut the door after Evie and Harry as they came in, since Evie had never been in Brielle's office she looked around her library like office in awe,
"Mal's ran away, gone back to the Isle"
Brielle announced, Harry's eyes widened and Brielle simply took a deep breath and closed her eyes, this was stressful for even her,
"What? Why?"
Harry muttered, Ben stepped up and held back his tears,
"It's my fault, she's been using magic this whole time to fit in because she was scared to disappoint me and I freaked out about it, I was too harsh on her"
Ben muttered with a shaky breath. Harry looked at Brielle as she kept her eyes closed, he knew that she was stressed out already, now this? He brought an arm around her waist and just pulled her into him some for support,
"So, what's the plan?"
Harry asked Ben, Ben sighed and shook his head a little,
"I need to go to the Isle, apologize, and get her to come home"
Evie shook her head,
"Uhm no you're not, you know how much people kinda hate royals there first of all? Second, you're also the king, there's no way you could just waltz on in there unnoticed"
Brielle opened her eyes,
"That's what I said"
Evie looked at her with a bit of a smile,
"But Ben really wants to go, I hate to even ask but... would you guys be game to go with him? And Carlos and Jay of course but that's the only way I'm letting him go... I really hate to ask"
Brielle muttered, she felt Harry get tenser which led her to look up at him,
"You don't have to, I know how much you don't like it there"
She whispered to him. Harry took a deep breath and looked down to Brielle and gave her a bit of a smile, the only one he could muster up as going to the Isle wasn't his favorite thing of course,
"I'm in, if I were in yer place I'd do the same thing. Besides, I miss Gil especially, Uma a little. A wee visit wouldn't hurt I'm sure"
Harry said with that bit of a smile,
"I thought Uma went all power-hungry and you two drifted apart?"
Evie asked, Harry smiled a bit more,
"Ah well, it doesn't mean I don't still care about the lass a little. Yeah, we aren't on the best of terms but it will be nice to see some familiar faces. And Gil, I really miss Gil, he's such a delightful idiot he really doesn't belong on the Isle at all but that's just me. But really, I would do the same thing Ben wants ta so of course I'm in"
Brielle sighed and leaned on Harry,
"I'm in too, I'm sure the boys will be too. I'll go find them"
Evie went and jogged to the door,
"Oh and Ben, you aren't going to the Isle looking like that, I'll meet you at my dorm. I'm sure I can whip something up real quick"
Evie went ahead and flew out the door with haste, leaving Ben trailing after her to her dorm, Brielle looked back up at Harry with sad eyes,
"I hate making you go back there"
She whispered as she began to feel a little guilty, Harry turned towards her and shook his head,
"I know ya do, and I know ya wouldn't even mention it unless it was important"
Brielle suddenly leaped onto him in a hug, holding onto him tighter than normal. Harry wrapped his arms around her waist and mid-back and buried his head in the crook of her neck,
"Please be careful"
She whispered, her voice breaking a little bit. Harry chuckled to ease her some and rubbed her back,
"I will I promise, everything's gonna be alright darlin'. I'm glad yer staying 'ere, I don't want ya getting hurt during all of this"
Brielle moved her head so she could look at him, their faces close,
"Me? I don't want anything to happen to you"
Brielle whispered, Harry gave her a soft smile and put one hand on her cheek,
"I'll be alright, what could happen ta me eh?"
"Oh I don't know, literally anything"
Brielle said panicking a little more. Harry leaned into her and gave her a long kiss in the forehead,
"I'll be alright, it's Ben ye should be worrying about but even then ya shouldn't worry too much, ya have a lot on yer plate as it is"
Brielle sighed and brushed through his hair some, pushing it back from his face so she could just look at him for a second, her dream from earlier coming back to mind which made her smile some more,
"You should probably go get ready, I wanna see you all again before you go okay?"
She said as she worked her eyes just around his features before working back to his eyes. Harry noticed her eyes glancing around,
"Of course, what are ya thinking about?"
She tilted her head a little and kept her smile bright despite the circumstances,
"Oh nothing, just looking at your face"
Harry chuckled and tilted his head some,
"I can see it in yer eyes, yer thinking about something else. I do think I have ta go get dressed now but if yer caught up on something then I'd love ta hear about it"
Brielle sighed and shook her head,
"It's nothing more important than our current task at hand. Now go on, go get dressed my pirate"
Harry smiled some and nodded,
"Sure sure it's nothing, I know ya too well for that"
He bent down to her level and kissed her right on the lips, one that was intended to be short but the two seemed to not want to break away so quickly. They leaned into each other for a few seconds and found themselves coiling their arms around each other any way they could, Brielle wrapping an arm around his neck and her other hand cupping his cheek while Harry had one hand doing the same and the other around her waist pulling her into him as much as he could. The kiss seemed like one that was meant to simply hold passion, love-filled passion at that. They slowly broke away and just stared at each other for a second, catching their breath as the kiss lasted for as long as their breaths could,
"Can I get another one of those before I leave?"
Harry whispered with a bit of a dorky smile, one that Brielle immediately caught onto,
"Yeah... I'd like that too"
She whispered right back,
"I really do have to go get dressed"
Harry whispered next, but neither of their grips ceased,
"I know"
Brielle whispered, they simply stared at each other and took at each other's features before finding their way back to each other's eyes. They eventually in unison slipped away from each other, both becoming cold at the new distance between them,
"I'll meet you guys down at the limo seeing as that's the only way to the Isle"
Brielle said with some sadness in her voice, Harry nodded and gave her a reassuring smile,
"Alright, don't fret bonnie lass, it'll all be alright I promise"
With that he made his way to the door, giving her one last smile before shutting it behind him. Brielle took a deep breath and her hand found its way to the pendant around her neck, ever since Harry put on the Celtic knot necklace the day of her coronation she hadn't taken it off, always proudly wearing it no matter what. She rubbed over the crystals in the pendant with her thumb, focusing on keeping herself calm.
A/N
Hiya! And here we go, down the rabbit hole of D2 we go XD I already have some ideas for some extra conflicts, so buckle thy seatbelt for it tis about to get bumpy :] Remember to drink some water and to be kind to yourself today :D
-Brooke