Evie smiled as she curled up on the sofa, Doug sitting next to her and the both of them under a thick fleece blanket. It was their weekly movie date night and honestly Evie loved it. It was a nice break from the pressures of her studies or the booming nature of her business. It honestly was amazing how word had spread. A few more weeks of orders and she would definitely have enough to buy at least a starter castle.
That wasn't to say that Evie didn't like her business or that she would rather be doing something else. But she did enjoy the time alone with Doug. With the increased work load between the two of them, sometimes their movie nights would be the only time they would see each other.
"So what movie are we watching?" Doug asked as he leaned forward to grab the bowl of popcorn that was sitting on the table in front of them. "Did you feel more like action or suspense? Or maybe horror?"
"You forgot about where I grew up didn't you?" Evie chuckled, sneaking a few pieces of popcorn from the bowl. Doug always over buttered the popcorn so Evie learned she needed to grab what she wanted before the butter was put on. She liked butter but there was a difference between lightly buttered and dumping a pound of melted butter on the popcorn. "There is no movie you all could make that could scare someone from the Isle."
"What about Don't Look Under the Bed?"
"When it's Jay's bed? That's just sound advice though you might find something he's swiped from you so it's up to you if you want to take that risk," Evie giggled as Doug rolled his eyes.
"Phantom of the Megaplex? Underwraps? Mom's Got a Date With a Vampire?"
"Again, Doug, nothing's all that scary compared to seeing Maleficent mad at you when you're at your birthday party and you're six," Evie told him and Doug sighed. Evie shook her head fondly, it wasn't the first time they'd had this debate and was likely not going to be the last time either. "Don't worry. I picked something that would let us turn off our brains so to speak."
"If it's that three hour boat movie again—"
"You just hate it because of the door scene," Evie gently teased Doug. "You know they show in the movie that there was no way both of them could fit without the driftwood capsizing."
"They could have fit," Doug muttered but then shook his head. "And it's not just that. That main bad guy, what's the point of having one? The iceberg's the bad guy!"
"It adds drama," Evie shrugged. "I have to admit I'm not a fan of the villain either. There's being evil and then there's being cruel. Besides the mother reminds me of Leah a bit, from the limited interactions I've had with the former queen."
She also didn't want to say it out loud but Evie could sympathize with the main female character, being forced by her mother to marry a man of certain stature and falling in love with a man who was the exact opposite.
Wait...love? Evie thought, glancing at Doug. Is this love? It's...it's not as dramatic as what Ben and Mal have though. We're more...domestic as Carlos would say. Like an old married couple, though Mal said that Chip called her and Ben that at the party so I don't know how true that is. Either that or Chip knows some very dramatic married couples.
"Well then if we're not watching that, what are we watching?" Doug asked, pulling Evie out of her thoughts.
"Pride and Prejudice," Evie told him as she pressed play on the remote control, the movie already selected on their preferred streaming service. Carlos had gone on a three hour rant when he had found out that Doug and Evie still used DVDs for their movie nights.
Literally. Mal had timed it. It had gone on for so long that Jay had fallen asleep while Ben, Jane and Doug took notes. In case they were tested on the material afterwards, they joked.
After the rant though, he helped them pick what streaming service they wanted to use. And by pick, he just gave them his password stating that it didn't make sense for either Doug or Evie to pay for the service when he was already using it. The only stipulation was that they had to set up their own 'screen' as to prevent Carlos' recommendations from getting skewed.
"The one where Mr. Darcy jumps into a lake or the one where Mr. Darcy walks through a field at sunrise?"
"Field at sunrise. If it was the lake, it'd take us five movie nights to get through. Not that I would complain about that at all."
Doug chuckled. "You just like it because of all the old timey fashions don't you?"
"I will admit that the outfits are beautiful. I'd love to try my hand at making one at some point," Evie nodded with a small smile. "Now hush, it's starting!"
"As you wish," Doug nodded, scooting down as to be as close to Evie as he could. Evie smiled and rested her head on his shoulder.
"You've been reading The Princess' Bride haven't you?"
"Ben let me borrow it. He blew through it in two days, never put it down. I think he might have actually showered with it, that's how glued to it he was. I wanted to see what it was about."
"Did you like it?"
"Yeah, it was good. Lot of action and adventure yet some romance," Doug told her. "I heard they made a movie out of it."
"Well maybe that can be what we watch next week," Evie said as she turned her attention back to the movie. She sighed contently as they watched, and Evie couldn't help but imagine herself in that world.
Granted I'd probably go spare if I had to go without my hairdryer for more than a day, she thought. How did they get their hair looking so beautiful without things like hairdryers or straighteners? And the dresses! Gods, without a powered sewing machine, it'd take days if not weeks to finish a dress!
Evie chuckled as the sound of soft snores could be heard from Doug about forty five minutes into the movie, his head gently resting on her's. She couldn't even be mad; Doug was in all advance placement classes and had been studying non stop this past week.
He clearly needed the sleep and they had already seen Pride and Prejudice numerous times since they started their movie nights. It was why it had become the kind of movie they could go to when they just wanted to turn their brains off so to speak. They'd seen it so many times they could just sink in and enjoy, not needing to pay attention to the plot they knew so well.
Sure, Evie wasn't going to lie. She had been a little jealous when Mal had told her about her first date with Ben, and that sliver of jealousy had returned when she saw the Enchanted Lake in the first viewing. Compared to her then study dates with Doug, Mal's dates with Ben seemed more...magical.
But now? After seeing two viewings and spending time with Doug? Evie wouldn't trade her 'simple' dates for the world. With all the stress they were dealing with, who needs a complicated date to plan?
Besides, as Mal had told her one night as they were getting ready for bed, lately everyone's date nights had evolved into nights in. Be they Jane and Carlos on their study dates or Jay and Lonnie spending hours in the gym practicing their sword work whenever she came back from college for the weekend.
Oh Jay would swear up and down that they weren't date, but Evie could see the smile on his face as he walked into his dorm. It was the same smile that Mal often had during her dates with Ben or the one Carlos would sometimes wear on his dates with Jane.
Evie could still remember the first time Jay had come back from a practice session with just Lonnie.
"You replacing me?" Mal joked, looking up from the book she was reading as Jay plopped on his bed, completely drenched in sweat and potential bruises but still grinning from ear to ear.
"No one could replace you as a sparring partner Mal," Jay told her with a small chuckle. "But Lonnie was in town for the weekend and wanted to practice and I had nothing to do."
"Uh huh," Mal smirked and looked over at Evie.
"I know that look," Jay sighed as he sat back up. "Whatever you're thinking, stop it. Mal. Lonnie and I are just friends. Besides, she's going back to school on Monday. Even if I wanted anything to happen, which I don't, it won't."
"Sure Jay," Mal nodded as she went back to her book. It was another one of Ben's birthday presents that she had swiped from him. She'd give it back, besides he'd gotten way too many books that day. He wouldn't miss this one just yet.
"How did you guys even get in here by the way?" Jay asked as he propped himself up on one of his pillows. "The door was locked since I was at practice and Carlos is off with Jane."
Mal and Evie held up copies of the key to Jay and Carlos' dorm.
"Chad made us a key," they said with smirks on their faces.
"They were his last made pair from the viewing. You know, the one where he kept breaking into your dorm?" Mal said, chuckling at the shock on Jay's face before putting her key back into her pocket. "He wanted us to have 'em in case Anthony found them while snooping through Chad's room. I have to say, you get Chad away from Leah and I guess by association Audrey and he's downright tolerable to us VKs. Ava's told me he's actually pleasant to her the few times I've had a chance to talk to her."
"Probably because his mom was raised by a villain. She probably raised him to not cast judgement on the VKs. He more than likely just got caught up in Leah's drama at Family Day. Or at least the Chad in the future at the first viewing," Evie pointed out, putting her key back into her pocket. "Lady Tremaine is Queen Cinderella's step mother after all."
"Anyone else want to note the irony that Mal, a VK, is the only one with a non-wicked stepmother?" Jay chuckled.
"Yes the irony is not lost on me," Mal said, rolling her eyes and going back to her book. "That joke is as old as Zeus himself Jay."
"Has...has anyone heard from Audrey?" Evie asked, biting her lip. "The last time you saw her was at the yearbook photoshoot, right Mal?"
"Yeah," Mal nodded, looking up from her book. "It was...it was weird. She called Ben 'Bennyboo'."
"Even though she didn't do that when we went to the last viewing?"
Mal shrugged. "Maybe she forgot? She could have been excited and it slipped out. I mean they were dating for a year before we came along. That's a long time to call someone a nickname."
"You know you have your own room to read in, right?" Jay asked as Mal went back to her book after a few minutes of silence from the group.
"Yep."
"Yet you choose to read here?"
"Glad to see your eyes work," Mal said with a smirk, putting her feet underneath her as she continued to read.
Doug's snort brought Evie out of her thoughts and she couldn't help but smile before gently removing his tilted glasses. Setting them on the table in front of them, Evie grabbed one of the pillows and set it behind Doug's head.
"Mmm....Evie? Wha...what are you doing?" Doug asked, sleep clearly evident in his voice.
"Did I wake you?" Evie asked him, keeping her voice soft.
"...I fell asleep didn't I?"
"You did," Evie nodded. "That's okay, though. You needed the sleep. Mal told me that Ben's been doing the same thing on their dates too."
"He's been working with Fairy Godmother to have an official early graduation ceremony for him. Everyone else will walk at the end of the year," Doug said softly. "They asked me to play Pomp and Circumstance on my trumpet."
"Do you know how to play that on your trumpet?"
"Hey, I provided Ben with an impromptu beat for his musical number. How hard could it be to learn Pomp and Circumstance?"
Evie gave a soft giggle. "Well, you can practice tomorrow after you've had some sleep."
"Okay. I'm sorry I ruined date night."
"You didn't ruin anything," Evie told him, brushing some of his hair out of his eyes. "You need a haircut."
"Eh, I like it long," he said softly. "It's a nice change."
"Okay," Evie chuckled, a soft smile gracing her lips. "I should go though. Let you get your sleep. We can finish the movie tomorrow."
"Hmm...it's a date then," Doug said as he slowly started to fall back asleep. Evie shook her head slightly before grabbing her bag and going to leave. Turning back, she couldn't help but smile again as she saw Doug fast asleep on the sofa.
Gods I love him, she thought for the second time that night. Evie wasn't going to lie, it was rather unnerving. She had grown up with the idea that love was something to be loathed, that upward movement was more important than liking the person you'd spend the rest of your life with.
After all, that was the reasoning her mother would use whenever she tried to pair Evie with one of the few princes who were on the Isle. She knew the AKs thought it was cruel, to try to force Evie into a relationship with someone who was at least twice her age.
But Evie knew better, or at least thought she understood where her mother was coming from. Evie's father, Daniel, had been a stable hand in her grandmother's employ who had passed away before everyone was brought back to life and whisked to the Isle. Beast had at least done her mother the kindness he had not done Anastasia and allowed Evie's parents to live together.
Maybe he was working off the same logic as the Enchantress who cursed him way back when but regardless, her mother and father were permitted to live together.
And together they had, until Evie was about eight years old. That was when a virus ravaged the Isle, killing numerous villains. Including Evie's father. As her mother had been put into isolation by Maleficent when Evie was six, her father was unable to get any assistance as he slowly died for the second time.
Since that day, the Evil Queen was more adamant than ever that Evie should marry a prince. Evie could understand why—a prince meant better access to the limited supplies the Isle had. A prince wouldn't have suffered like her father did.
But then Evie was invited to Auradon, a land where anything was possible, and there was no longer a need for her to marry for stability. She could take her time in a relationship. She didn't have to act like a flirt. Even if, as Audrey had said when Evie had first arrived, she had no royal title or status.
That was okay. She didn't need it. Because she had her friends, and her business. And Doug.
She knew now, in her heart, that she loved him. But that was also terrifying. Because what if she loved him but he didn't love her?
She thought she had that with Chad, back when she was still jumping from prince to prince. She even looked past him using her to get his homework done. But it was clear that Chad didn't have the same feelings Evie had had.
She couldn't go through the same thing with Doug. Evie wasn't sure her heart could take another rejection like that.