#the way in the jaylos one jay first is mostly walking but then he starts running once he sees carlos rush forward and is like nooope lol

[daggery]

for @itsalwaysforyou: jay + i've got your back

+bonus: because i love all of the tags on this post about protective and watchful jay

[hitchell-mope]

(Third film. After “smells like teen spirit”. Back in Auradon. At Evie’s house. Mal’s in the kitchen making party food. Uma’s fighting a loosing battle with the swivel stool. And Celia’s sitting on the counter)

Celia: ok. I’ll bite. Why Harry. Out of all the idiots, all the boys, and Gil, that you could have chosen. Why Harry?

Uma: hm? Shit. Fuckin’. Crappy chair. What now

Mal: I can get you a proper chair if you like

Uma (slamming her palm down on the counter): I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY KITCHEN FURNISHINGS!!!! Ow

Mal: ok, dude. Say it. Don’t spray it.

Uma (sounding like Sideshow Bob): urgh. (Normal voice) What were you saying Ceels?

Celia: why. Harry.

Uma: he’s a good employee. Does what I say, when I say it, without argument

(Her sister and cousin look unconvinced)

Celia: you wanna tell or can I? Or if you’d prefer we can go full on Greek muse

Mal: ha. And let halfwit Harry be happy? Yeah, no, don’t think so

Uma: yeah I’m lost

Celia: toi, ma chère soeur, tu aimes le pirate

Uma: slander and blasphemy

Celia: well it’s true. Wether you like or not. You “wuv” him

Uma: you’re wrong. Mal, tell her she’s wrong

Mal: I can’t, I’m cooking. (She clears her throat) Coughshe’srightthoughcough

Uma: low blow. Even for you.

Celia: you know it. (She starts humming the “in a tree” song)

Uma: must she use that insipid song?

Mal: she’s your little sister. So yes.

Uma: I’m not, you know, with Harry

Mal: I am really not the one you should be talking to about this. If I had my way he’d be staring down the business end of a jet propeller.

Uma: yeah. You’re right. Got anymore booze?

Mal: open bar cuz, open bar.

Uma: thanks

(She reaches for a new bottle and promptly falls off the swivel stool)

Celia: HAHAHAHA!!!! Called it

Uma (popping up from the floor): I have to go

(She heads for the gazebo)

Mal: if I were you I’d go after her and knock her off the trail.

Celia: meaning you’d turn her away from Hook.

Mal: yep.

Celia: luckily for her, I’m not you.

(She gets off the counter and heads in Uma’s direction. Then she stops and turns around)

Celia: by the way. Where are Dizzy’s folks?

Mal (looking very uncomfortable): uhhhh (her eyes flit to the ceiling)...asleep...?

Celia: eh they deserve after the day they’ve had.

(Celia leaves Mal my long about Lamborghini’s, Doug’s shirt and throttling Evie, and goes to her sister)

Celia: hey

Uma (taking a swig of whiskey that empties half of the bottle): what?

Celia: just checking up on you

Uma: I’m not. It doesn’t exist.

Celia: yeah, yeah, I know. But if it worked

Uma: I am not like them. And you know I’m not. I’m (she takes another swig, emptying the bottle completely) independent

Celia: yeah the thing about they is well.

(This is when “miss independent” happens. After the song Mal poofs in)

Mal: Jay phoned. They’re just coming up to the house.

Celia: about time

Mal: oh and Uma, que pensez-vous de la livraison de Harry dans une boîte d'allumettes?

(Uma blanches and poofs to the front of the house. Mal bursts into cackles)

Celia: I hope you’ll still find it funny when you’re eating your meals through a straw.

Mal: ahh it’ll be worth it. C’mon kid

(They troop through the house and end up meeting Devie at the bottom of the stairs. Mal flings her arm over Celia’s eyes)

Mal: oh look. They’ve finally emerged from the nest (telepathically) Doug your buttons are disordered. Evie, my dear sister, you might wanna charge into your own clothes instead of Doug’s shirt

(They both look red faced and proceed to make the changes)

Mal: that’s better. (Verbally) lets go then

(Once outside they wait for the others. Jaylos, gilonnie and Jane walk up first)

Mal: where’s Ben. You said you found him

Jay: I also said I had a surprise for you

Jane: oh god tell me you didn’t

Gilonnie and Carlos: he did

Jane: fucking cats

Mal: cats? What about cats?

Jay: not cats. Ben.

Mal: uh-kay

Jay: 🎶come on out Ben🎶

(Ben poofs in. Mal promptly squeals in surprise)

Mal (euphorically, Unser her breath): it’s just like cats

Evie: ladies gentleman and pirates. I give you the acting queen of auradon

Mal: oh blow it out your ass sis or I’ll tell them about you’re last wardrobe choice

Evie: I’ll shut up

Lonnie: now that the king and his fiancé are safe. There’s something I’ve been waiting a year to do. You’re Uma yeah?

Uma: yeah

Lonnie: awesome

(She launches herself at Uma and tackles the sea witch to the ground)

Uma: what the fuck!

Lonnie: what’s your problem with Mal anyway? Huh? Is it that she’s more powerful then you? Or that she got away first? Oh don’t worry. I know what she did. And I don’t care. That’s who she was not who she is. But you did what she did. And you did worse. You were angry. And you lashed out at the first person you could. So how are you any different

Uma: get this crazy bitch offa me!

Mal: Lonnie! Lonnie, we’re cool now! So if could I uh hehe?

Lonnie: really? Well alright then.

Ben: got it all out of your system?

Lonnie: mostly. Might be some residual anger that’ll present itself at an inopportune time. But for now I’m ok.

Mal: cool. How about we get you a drink?

Lonnie: appletini?

Mal: more then doable. Let’s get you inside, Evie wipe that smirk off your face, and get you a nice appletini on the rocks yeah? (Lonnie nods) yeah...

(Mal and lonnie go in. Ben approaches Uma)

Ben: I’m sorry about her. She kinda got left out last year and today’s been awful for everyone concerned. She just snapped

Uma: don’t make allowances for her kid ok? I don’t make allowances for Harry

Carlos: no, of course not, you just let him get away with blue murder

Uma: don’t you have a genie to be cowering behind?

Carlos: not after the mirror, no. But I could repeat the process if you like? (Uma shuts up) good

(Jaylos go into the house. Uma turns around and looks at Jane who is not impressed)

Uma: hey, which one are you

Jane: I don’t want to talk to you. You enslaved my mother. And you boyfriend looked at me like I was food

(She follows jaylos into the house. Evie is tight lipped with barely contained glee)

Evie: today has been raining shower of crap but it’s gotten so much better in the last half hour

(Dizzy walks up to them followed by Hades, Elsa and the Hooks)

Dizzy: grandpa wouldn’t let jay keep Harry in a matchbox

Doug: awww honey, but you know what, there are mountains of cupcakes on the buffet table in the kitchen. Why don’t you go and show Celia?

Dizzy (turning to Celia): now you’re gonna see Wendy kinda magic I can do

(The two head inside)

Doug: I’m gonna head to the garage. You go inside, enjoy the party

Evie: meet me when you’re done?

Doug: goes without saying

(Devie leaves the patio, leaving Ben, Gil, Uma, Hades, Elsa and the Hooks)

Ben: I need to change, starting to feel chilly. Gil could I borrow some of your clothes? I’d poof but I knibda want time to think

Gil: sure

(The two brothers head inside)

Elsa: you haven’t lived until you’ve had my daughter cooking. And I’m starving so I shan’t keep you

Hades: I’ve heard only good things about my daughters cooking. So I’ll join you

Elsa: perfect(.)

(The two head inside)

Uma: tension much?

Cj: typical case of biological father vs adoptive mother both trying to assert their place in the child’s life

Harriet: huh?

Cj: pissing contest. You know what? You three head in. I just remembered something

(She heads to the garage where Doug’s pulling a motor engine in and out of a hole in the ground by a metal chain)

Cj: so you’re the half dwarf who grievously injured my brother

Doug: I stabbed Harry in the dick as he was trying to kill me. Also. It’s been a year. Get over it already.

Cj: a Hook doesn’t forget. Nor do they forgive.

Doug: you know there’s a subdivision of Eton here. I’m sure you’d be able to get a scholarship

Cj: hah. Boys club. And besides. When this is all over I’m going back home and doing away with my father.

Doug: yeah, sure, whatever. Now are you going to stand there gawking like a haddock or are you going to leave me to my own devices?

Cj: I should like to see what happens when the chain breaks or you’re strength gives up.

Doug: won’t break. Dwarven titanium. Magic.

Cj: I know what dwarven titanium is. I’m not as uneducated as the remaining plebs on the island

Doug: yeah. I know. I read your file. (He puts the engine down) I also know that you’re James Hook’s least favourite child. I know who your cousin is. And I know that you’re allergic to vinegar. Which is rather depressing since that’s the only readily available condiment on the island besides rock salt. Don’t mess with me kid. I’m the major-domo.

Cj: so you’re the hornbill to the maneless leonine. Alright then. If you’re do intelligent. Tell me. What goes through your mind when you’re face to face with the sister of the man you viciously attacked and left for dead?

Doug: of course he told you that. I don’t leave the numbskull for dead. Elsa, Merida and I delivered him to the ship and Uma revived him.

Cj: they wouldn’t lie. Not to

Doug: each other yes. But everyone else is fair game. Believe what you wanna believe. I’m going inside to make my kid a snack. I make a mean pb&j. Oh. And I’m not scared of you Miss Hook. I lived through my worst nightmare today so you’re of little to no consequence to me. And stay away from the cars. I’ll know if you don’t.

(He leaves her looking slightly shocked and runs into Mal on the patio bench. She’s holding a sandwich)

Mal: blt?

Doug: beef instead of bacon?

Mal: baloney. Fried on one side, salted on the other. Minced tinned tomatoes. Iceberg lettuce. I know my friends lunch orders.

Doug: you’re a marvel Mal

Mal: not really. I just cook when I’m nervous. Or bored. Or worrying. Or planning a party. Which in this case was all of the above.

Doug: ah. You covered (she hold up a beer bottle) naturally. Wanna sit

Mal: sure. I’ve been on my feet for most of the day

Doug: I’ve been thinking

Mal: yeah?

Doug: oh god this is gonna be difficult. I know you’ve made up your mind and Ben, Jay, everyone, won’t hold it against you if you choose not to. But I think it’s time

Mal: time for what?

Doug: to. Start helping

Mal: oh boy. Ok look. I get it. I do. I get it. But we tried. I tried. And came back with produce in my hair. We all did

Doug: that was six months ago. And besides. (He pulls her off the bench and has her face the window). Look. Vk and Ak. Somewhat peacefully. Coexisting. All because you kept a handle on things when everything else had gone crappy

Mal: eh. Though my cousins about to pelt my sister with apples. Hey jay? Could you? Thanks. What’re you suggesting bud?

Doug: start off with FaceTime. Say once a month Ben FaceTimes you when he goes to the island. And work your way up. It could work

Mal: my being rhere would grind everything to a halt. They’d be focused on me and not on Ben

Doug: true. But you have got to step up some more. You can’t hide behind the curtain forever

Mal: I know

Doug: come on

(This is when “collision of worlds” happens. After the song Mal turns to the party still going on inside)

Mal: I’ve been an ass haven’t I?

Doug: no, not an ass. Just yourself

Mal: somehow that doesn’t make me feel any better. I suppose I should go talk to him

Doug: you do that

Mal: before I forget. (She tackles him in a bear hug). Thank you. Now I’ll go.

(She poofs into Gils room where Ben is currently trying on a pair of aquamarine trousers with yellow braces)

Mal: you know if I had my way, that’d be all you’d have on

Ben: if you had your way, I’d still have the tattered bike pants on

Mal: touché. But why the 13th Doctor cosplay? And more to the point, why Gil’s 13th Doctor cosplay?

Ben: well I did just spend two hours traipsing through the forest, half naked, accompanied by, among others, your birth father and adoptive mother. So I feel like I should cover up a bit

Mal: fair is fair. Speaking of. A few questions. Who did it to you? Why did they do it? Can I kill them? And is it like my dragon form or is it a one and done deal?

Ben: my father, your birth mother and Chad. To get rid of me. Yes you can. And yes I can.

Gil: Harry ran his mouth and Ben switched and chased him for half a mile

Mal: he’s a moron. Oh and by the way. I sorry about the boys.

Gil: I know. I still don’t get why Adam did that

Ben: he’s a heartless up his own ass opportunistic bastard. That’s why

Mal: finally letting loose with the swears I see

Gil: “bastard” is nothing. My baby brother right here gave Adam the mother father uncle and aunt of all call outs. He even used the “count without the O” word

Mal: I’m impressed

Gil: it was amazing. I’m so proud

Ben: shoulders buddy, shoulders

Gil: right, sorry, my bad

Mal: before I forget. I made an omelette station downstairs. And a smoothie bar.

Gil: see ya!

(He rushes downstairs leaving bal alone)

Mal: so I’ve been thinking about the wedding

Ben (putting the coat on): yeah?

Mal: mhmm. I’m guessing we have to have it in the cathedral cause yknow, royalty, but we can still plan the reception yeah?

Ben: correct? What were you thinking

(Mal clicks her left hand and brings her arm down, shifting them to a new location in the process)

Mal: were you there your post coronation rave. Bookends and all that

Ben: oooh I like it

Mal: I’ve even thought of the song for our dance

Ben: I think I know where you’re going with this and I love it. And I’m in a tux. (He feels the top hat) with bunny ears. Huh

Mal: from my dream last night so was this

(She now has the purple Aurora dress on)

Ben (impressed): wow

Mal: not to fancy. But not too modern. And I’m wearing flats so stent dwarfed in comparison by me

Ben: well I could always activate my beast paws.

Mal: might give your mother a heart attack

Ben: true. True

Mal: well then your highness. Shall we practice?

Ben: yes we shall

(This is when “at the beginning” happens. After the song the school exterior melts back into the spare room. Mal’s eyes flash fuchsia and she collapses into Ben’s arms)

Ben: woah! You alright?

Mal: yeah. I just gotta talk to my father

(She switches back into her previous outfit and trots back downstairs where Evie’s hosting a singalong. This is when “better when I’m dancing” happens. After the song she walks outside)

Mal: dad I need a word. You too Uma. You’ll want to see this. (Once they’ve sat down she hands a scrap of paper to hades). Does this mean anything to you?

Hades (Jesse L Martin): “when the day becomes the night...no time for tea...before my final rhyme...return home....turn back the hands of...”. It’s one of the Cheshire cats forsaken riddles. Why do you ask?

Mal: I was talking to Ben just now and everything turned dark fuchsia for a sec, like when my eyes when I use magic, and I heard Doctor Facillier say that in my head. It’s not a prophecy is it?

Hades: no. The last prophecy I remember hearing was the Fates telling me I’d rule the cosmos. Followed by Herc beating me. Why would you think it’s a prophecy?

Mal: uhhhh

Uma: no. NO! YOU DO NOT GET THAT AS WELL AS EVERYTHING ELSE! I REFUSE TO LET THAT HAPPEN

Hades: I’m afraid I’m not following

Mal: I’ve got all the hallmarks. Powerful parents. Double heritage. Annoying brother. Really it should be Ben though. Or you cuz

Uma: really? Me?

Mal: yah. You’re much better qualified

Hades: haha. It’s funny. You’ve spent so much time trying to kill her. And she still think you’re better than her

Uma: what’s your point?

Hades (smiling smugly, he’s eyes glowing bright yellow): be very careful about who you piss off my dear

Uma: don’t test me uncle

Hades: and don’t test ME niece

Mal: >snickers<. Sorry. Anyway. So rhere really isn’t a prophecy built around me?

Hades: nope. not even close

The cousins: oh thank god

Hades: would it really be so bad if it were though?

Mal: most likely yes

Uma: she doesn’t even have the cajones necessary to get kids off the island. Why would she be so sort of cliched chosen one

Mal: HEY! You know why I don’t go. I told you why I don’t go. My reasons are my reasons. And you don’t get to say anything to me after the crap you’ve pulled to one up me when I personally couldn’t care less

Uma (oh so very smug): face it cousin. I’ve got moral high ground in this one

Mal: and you had face it “cousin”, that you have a thing for my brother

Uma: not really no seeing as I hate him and he’s only into guys...

Mal: not the fun one. The rat one

Uma (experiencing face freeze): huh?

Mal: well Harry’s my brother and you’re my second cousin which means he’s also your second cousin. And if I read the signals right possibly your almost stepbrother

Uma: I’m gonna kill you

Hades: no you won’t niece. It doesn’t matter. You knew him long before your father and I -ahem- “joined” together and your Olympian dna only counts the parents with said dna. You’re not related to my second son, Uma. And I have absolutely no intention at all of claiming you as my adoptive daughter. So, to use the modern turn of phrase, you’re golden. Is that better

Uma: sort of

Mal (at the same time as Uma): dammit.

Hades: good. Now that that’s all settled. Shall we rejoin the party?

Uma: in a minute

Hades: oh Kronos what is it now?

Uma: did you bring me out here just to say that Harry’s my cousin? Or to talk about the prophecy that isn’t?

Mal: first one. But you pressed my buttons so I wanted to throw you from your comfort zone

Uma (nodding): alright. I respect that. HOWEVER! Don’t look at me like that dragonhide. However. The fact remains you’ve gotta grow a pair and get out there. Your own feelings be damned. It’s not about you

Mal: When has it ever been about me?

Uma: butterfinger boy’s made his whole vendetta about you lousing up his home

Mal: thank you Uma, thanks for the help

Hades: ooh. I know what to do

Mal: smite Harry and save us from his unneeded existence?

Hades: no. You need a pep talk

Mal: no. Please don’t

Uma: actually. I wanna hear what he has to say

Hades: thank you Uma. But you probably won’t like what I have to say

(This is when “who I am” happens)

[tomb-bloom-noctem]

Doubt/Never Any

Prompts: Summer of Descendants prompt list provided by (@)jaylos. August 7th prompt-Jaylos

Rated: Teen. Some language, minor violence. Some mentions of abuse.

The beats dropped in his music, pumping up his heart. Another beat drops as sweat drops off his face too. The pace speeds up and he follows it. Pushing himself to be harder, better, faster, stronger. All of it. He was determined that he, Jay, would never be beaten in a fight again. 

As a child he was afraid. He didn’t want to fight and he feared the consequences. He feared his father especially. Threats of being turned into a mouse and feed to his father’s snake could still be heard loudly in his head. So he feared his father’s wrath and would run away. But running away only made everything worse. The threats changed from being “turn you into a mouse,” they became “turn you into the mouse you are! Coward!” From then on, Jay never backed down from a fight. That was when he started winning. People, mostly his fellow male students, wanted to battle. He never lost. His father usually payed no mind to his only son unless he was angry. When stories were told of how Jay was fighting back, winning against whole groups of bullies, not backing down no matter what began to fly around, that was the first time Jay saw any pride in his father’s eyes. 

“That’s my boy,” Jafar said. That was the happiest Jay had ever been. After his first fight, Jay never lost a fight. Until now. Until last night when he was jumped by an older classmate he’d never met before, only knew by the stories. Gerald, the eldest son of Gaston. 19, a senior, a walking hunk of muscles, and bad through and through. He jumped at Gerald for attacking another student in Jay’s grade. Jay hated bullies. And even though he lost the fight he had at least helped his bullied classmate. One eye over his swelling black eye, the other outstretched to help his classmate stand, Jay shook his hand. 

“I’m Jay by the way.”

“Carlos De Vile,” he replied shaking Jay’s hand. “Thanks for helping me.”

“It’s no problem. Can’t stand jerks like him,” Jay commented, feeling the burn in all of his muscles. “Damn he sure can use what he’s got though,” he chuckled. Carlos nodded weakly. “What did he want with you anyway?” Jay asked. Carlos shrugged. 

“Wouldn’t help his little brother. He was trying to get me to hack into a phone he stole from a girl in class. Told him to piss off. That stealing her phone was never gonna work. That girls want a man, not a pig like him. Then the idiot went to his big brother and said I threatened him. Like I really look like the kind of guy who could take on someone, let alone one of the Gaston children,” he said with a sigh.

“Well why don’t we change that?” Jay suggested.

“What?”

“Well I mean, this place is crazy dangerous. Anything can happen to anyone here. As you clearly know now. Look I’m just saying I work over at the Troll Lifts Gym. I can get you into some slots for weight training and such. Build them muscles a little and defend yourself a bit better,” Jay stated.

“You’d really do that? For me?” Carlos asked with a little bit of suspicion in his voice. 

“Yeah. A few slots of time in won’t get noticed or hurt anybody. Gonna have to pay at least a little eventually but I guarantee I can get you at least a few training sessions in free of charge and all,” Jay promised.

“Um...okay. If you’re really sure,” Carlos cautiously agreed.

“Great. See you there tomorrow at 4 pm!” Jay said sprinting off.

“What? Hey wait!” Carlos called after him but Jay was already too far away. He groaned. Pain was already attacking his body and now he was gonna work out tomorrow. Slowly he trudged home, weighed down by the dull, pounding ache that he felt all over himself. He laid down on the floor, his “bed,” just a blanket and pillow on a hard and freezing cracked concrete floor. Hopefully the cold might make his muscles numb.

Jay had raced back to his house, got some ice on his eye and ate the bit of food he had left over from another day. Making his way up to his bed afterwards, he wondered to himself why he was so quick to offer up lessons to that kid. He’d helped other bullied kids before but something in him offered the help before he really processed the thought. Maybe it was cause he knew him. Carlos De Vil. They had been in the same class since they were kids but he never really talked to him. He didn’t seem to have much friends. He could remember seeing the small and skinny guy avoiding big crowded areas like the lunch room or the gym during free time, instead hanging out in the tech room. Almost nothing in the tech room worked properly but it seemed like Carlos had a knack for all the ones and zeroes, wires and chips of technology and fixed up a lot of things in there. He saw the poor kid get overwhelmed by older kids before, especially when word got out he could fix phones. He did say that whole scuffle began when he refused to help hack into a phone. It would be good for the kid to toughen up some. Be able to defend himself. Jay had peace with his decision. He was gonna help this guy out and with that thought he fell asleep.

Yanking out his earbuds, Jay stopped thinking about last night and just grabbed himself some water. A quick glance at the time, 3:50 pm, and he should hopefully be seeing his new client soon. Jay stretched his muscles, ignoring the burn in them. Gerald sure had done a number on him before walking off in disgust all right. He had tomorrow off thankfully so he could get a bit of a muscle rest in then. And Carlos was his last client today anyway, even though it was unofficial. If he worked out with Carlos till 5, he could still have everything cleaned up and put up then close up the gym by 5:30. Yeah. He could make this work. Meantime, he could get his own good workout before Carlos arrived in order to keep making himself stronger. It irritated him to no end that Gerald beat him in that fight. He was gonna have to get stronger himself. 

A jingle at the door caught Jay’s attention and there he was. Decked out in a t-shirt and red shorts, Carlos De Vil stood there, nervous and unsure of himself. He fiddled with his water bottle as he looked around, possibly trying to find him. 

“Hey! You did make it! And you’re early even, I like it,” Jay said as he outstretched his hand for Carlos. He shook it but Jay could feel him tremble. Poor kid was so scared for some reason. 

“Thanks again you know. For doing this,” Carlos said.

“No worries man. My pleasure,” Jay said as he walked over to one of the bench press stations. “You’ll be fending off your bullies in no time,” he said as he adjusted the weight on the bar.

“I doubt that,” he barely heard Carlos say. He turned and faced him. Carlos was looking down in embarrassment. 

“Hey man. Never have any doubt, okay? No you won’t leave here today with the strength to take on anyone. It’s a process, gotta give it time. But if you trust in me, and more importantly yourself, you’ll get there. Okay?” 

Carlos met his eyes. His eyes seemed glossy, like he was gonna tear up. He nodded looked away again. Yeah. Jay had no doubt. He’d somehow or other manage to help this kid. Slamming the last weight into place and locking it tight, he called Carlos over.

“Alright this bar is alone is 20 pounds. Now it’s got 80 pounds in weights on it, making it 100 pounds total see? I want you to bench press me 10 reps. First though a quick warm up.” Jay led Carlos through some warm up exercises and then Jay deemed him ready to start. Carlos got positioned under the bar. “Remember, if you can’t lift it, don’t panic I’m right here. I’m your spotter, see? If it’s too much I’ll get it off of you,” Jay reassured Carlos. That information seemed to give Carlos a little bit of confidence.

“Oh and um...sorry again about yesterday,” he said as he placed his hands on the bar. “From this angle that eye looks worse.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just focus on getting stronger,” Jay said. He nodded and proceeded to bench the reps that Jay requested. 

“Alright! Okay let’s add a little more and see from there.” Jay said. Carlos ended up being able to bench press 160 pounds before his arms gave out. 

“Damn it!” He groaned.

“Aw no none of that man! You did great! I get people who come in here all the time who start off not being able to do that much. It’s not bad at all Carlos. You gotta stick with it. Remember what I said, don’t doubt yourself. Just give yourself time,” Jay reassured him. Carlos brushed his white tips out of his face and nodded.

“Right. Never doubt again. Right,” he said softly as if he was trying to convince himself. They spent the rest hour doing various exercises like jumping jack reps, lunges, sit ups, and others. Jay was impressed by Carlos’s spirit.

“Alright Carlos, it’s five till 5, I gotta close up at 5:30. Let’s call it a day, give you a few to shower if you like,” Jay said. Carlos nodded enthusiastically and ran off to the showers. Jay took cleaning product and worked on the equipment. Admittedly they didn’t have much for the gym but the owner tried his best. Disinfectant products were some of the hardest to come by though since it wasn’t usually thrown out with enough product to use still. The weights and benches and most of the other equipment actually had been thrown out among the trash. The owner of the gym, a guy by the name of Roger, put a lot of time and gold into restoring them all enough to be used safely. Roger was one of those kind of guys who may have been labelled a villain enough to justify throwing him here but he wasn’t really a bad guy. Just a petty thief in his youth. The gym was his pride and for Jay it was his pride too. He learned to grow strong here and he looked up to Roger. He felt a little bad for having Carlos here for a few sessions without pay but he knew that if Roger found out, he would be willing to let a few slide. After only a few minutes Carlos came out of the locker room still pulling his shirt over his head. Jay gasped lightly when he saw Carlos however. It was just for a second but he was close enough to see for certain, Carlos had several large scars on his back. He couldn’t see just how high they went up but they were for sure on his lower back and continued down his hips, except for Carlos’ shorts blocked how far exactly. Just that little bit of scarring he saw though told Jay this guy has seen some things. Lived through them too. If he had to guess what those marks were from he would have said a whip. Throwing his towel into his torn up backpack, Carlos turned to Jay with a smile on his face.

“Jay...Thank you for doing this. I’m so sore right now but I feel so good too. I’ll see you next time,” He said with a wave.

“Oh hey wait. Uh you know we go to the same school right? In the same grade and everything,” Jay mentioned.

“Oh! Yeah you’re right. Um why do you bring it up?” Carlos asked.

“Just cause I was thinking...like um. Just that I’ll see you in school. We can even...I was thinking maybe if you were cool with it, you could show me some of your tech stuff and I’d just pay for your gym membership with it. Kinda like instead of giving you money for learning the tech stuff, I put it into paying for you to come here,” Jay suddenly blabbed. Where did THAT come from? Carlos grinned wide. 

“Really?! You like technology too?”

“Well uh actually I don’t know anything about it but hey it could be something. And you know it’d be fair. It’s like you teach me to do tech and I train you here, trade skills instead of buying them. You know what I mean?” Jay asked his face suddenly feeling very hot. Carlos smiled even bigger and somehow his face felt hotter.

“Yeah! That sounds great! Thanks Jay! On Monday, head to the tech room at lunch. Okay? Bye!” Carlos waved and exited the gym. Jay exhaled heavily. He drank some water and splashed some on his face trying to get why he started blushing so badly. And where had that blurt out come from!? Learning tech! Man what the heck? He didn’t know a thing about technology and now he was supposed to start learning it! What was his brain doing? He was gonna look like an absolute idiot in front of Carlos now. He sighed in frustration. Smooth going Jay. Real smooth. Then his thoughts fell back on those scars. Gosh someone did a number on him. Abuse and violence was nothing new on the island but Jay hated it. His father may have always threatened him if he misbehaved but for the most part he was actually quite ignored. Plenty of people Jay knew were quite heavily abused by their parents or other family members. Just about everyone he knew had had an abusive partner at some point. And of course crime was sky high here. Anyone at any time could suddenly be the victim of a minor crime like pick pocketing or more serious, violent attacks. For some reason his heart really beat painfully picturing the scars Carlos had, that mere glimpse looked more painful than anything Jay had ever personally experienced. As Jay clicked the gym’s lock and left for the night, he imagined someday Carlos being strong enough to stand up to whoever did that to him. This thought was inexplicably comforting.

Monday soon came and Jay headed to the tech room with a slight dread. He really hoped that Carlos wouldn’t think him to be so stupid if he couldn’t grasp all of these technology things. It was a surprise to him however when all that really happened was that Carlos insisted Jay ate while Carlos spoke and showed him a few things on a screen and occasionally had Jay jot down a note. He explained to Jay how computers ran on codes. Binary was one of the most common and he took a little bit of time to explain the code and showed Jay a few examples of how the coding works. It boggled Jay’s mind that Carlos had all of this understood and memorized. He felt certain he wouldn’t ever be able to keep the ones and zeroes in order like Carlos could.

“Man this is gonna be harder than I thought. I’m doomed,”  Jay laughed.

“Hey now. Remember what you told me? Don’t doubt yourself, ever. You’ll learn it if you apply yourself and stick with it,” Carlos told him. It felt like Jay had been smacked. Damn this is how Carlos must have felt walking into the gym. Lost and confused. But as it would turn out Carlos was a good teacher. By the end of lunch, Jay felt like he was at least 5% smarter than all of his school years combined. 

This wound up being the flow of things. Jay took a little bit out of his paycheck from the gym and paid for Carlos to have a membership and then he’d workout with Carlos after school. Carlos during lunch would teach Jay about coding and how different parts of computers and phones and other technology worked. They started to hang out outside of their usual activities. They discovered they had a lot of things in common too! They both loved metal and dubstep music. They loved the same programs on TV; Auradon Ninja Warrior, Chef of Steel, and Auradon’s Most Haunted. They loved tattoos and liked looking through the magazines for inspiration of what ink they might get someday. They agreed spicy food was the way to go. They even had mutual friends they hadn’t realized before. Classmates Evie and Mal were friends with the both of them but somehow they never crossed over with each other. “We’ll have to hang out, the four of us some time.” 

More than a year passed since that first day that Carlos worked out with Jay. He had been skinny and pale and afraid. Now he was lean and muscular, easily benching more than 200 pounds and not nearly as afraid as he was before. Most bullies didn’t dare mess with him anymore. The two of them started hanging out with Evie and Mal as well quite regularly. The four of them made quite a team even. Carlos taught Jay absolutely everything he knew about technology. The school eventually paid Carlos to fix their main computers and were very impressed with how well he had done. Jay and Carlos could make music together on an old computer they fixed together. They edited software to fit their needs and could then create whatever kind of music they wanted with just a few keystrokes. They loved to jam or workout to the tunes they made. Jay found out the reason behind those scars. That Cruella De Vil used to whip Carlos with a belt and one night when she was quite drunk she kept whipping and whipping, causing the scars. He learned that Carlos was so skinny because he was so often without food and that she made him sleep on the floor. Jay absolutely would not stand for that and set up a space for Carlos in his room. Carlos no longer lived with that awful mother of his, now instead calling his best friend’s room his home. Jafar either didn’t notice or didn’t care. Fine by Jay. His best friend was safe. 

He sat and reflected one evening. More than a year. More than a year and a half even. They were no longer juniors but seniors and the school year was already halfway over. Soon they would graduate and could purchase a place of their own. Jafar mentioned to Jay a place he saw for sale, a room up on the first floor of some mostly empty apartment building. They planned on the two of them and Evie and Mal all moving into the place as soon as they graduated. It was all really coming together. He remembered how back then he didn’t really have a plan. Just school, work to save himself some money, move out, and that was kind of it. There was nothing for him to look forward to necessarily. No real joy. Just surviving. Now he was going to soon be a graduate, with a place of his own, surrounded by his friends, Roger offered to make him co-owner of the gym after he graduated, it was all perfect.

Well except one thing. 

Something he was still carrying inside. He hadn’t told anyone at all it was weighing on him heavily. He wanted to let it out but he was afraid that if he did, everything would come crashing down. 

He was in love with his best friend. 

Jay knew for years he was gay. He tried to speak with his dad about it before, when he was 14, but like everything else, Jafar didn’t acknowledge it. He had never had a boyfriend but he did have a few crushes here and there. Problem is, he didn’t want to out himself only to find out who he was interested in was straight. That would be more than awkward. That was possibly even dangerous for him. No, he wasn’t going to come out to anyone until he was really sure. With Carlos he knew he was in love. There was no denying it. He didn’t really become attracted to Carlos until after getting to know him very well but once he did he fell hard and fast. It’s been months since he knew and it felt like a weight on his chest. He tried to discretely uncover Carlos’ sexuality but that got him nowhere. Carlos always kind of shrugged off the answers, claiming he didn’t really notice or know. Maybe he was asexual. That could be it. Jay groaned. He wanted his best friend but he didn’t want to lose him. It would be better to have his love be unrequited than rejected as a whole. Not that he thought Carlos would hate him or anything but he could see it now. Jay confessing his love for Carlos, Carlos growing uncomfortable, saying he just wants to be friends. And then the slow drift apart. He wouldn’t do it fast, act like all was good, but it was inevitable. He’d feel uncomfortable knowing that his friend was interested in him and would spend less and less time around him until they became strangers all over again. No. That hurt too much to even picture it. 

“Hey man!” Carlos cheerfully greeted. He just got back from an evening run. Jay waved from his bed. “Dude, I found a cool thing out by Mal’s house. Come on!”

“Wait what? Now? Leave now?”

“Yeah! Come on Jay it’s really cool. Mal told me about it, let’s go! Hurry!” He ran out the front door, poor confused Jay stumbled after him. Carlos sped away, parkouring and running to the spot.

“Dude! Wait up!” Jay shouted after him. He followed his friend until finally he saw he was stopped by a old broken statue standing in a pool of water. Carlos turned to Jay and smiled. 

“Come on! We have time,” he ushered Jay over to the pool. Once Jay was at his side, he pulled out two gold coins. “Mal said that there’s a shooting star tonight. And according to Mal, if you toss in a gold coin into a still pool of water like a well or a fountain, your wish will come true,” he said with glee. 

“Are you serious man?”

“Come on, what have we got to lose? Mal and Evie made their wishes already,” he pointed out two other gold coins in the fountain.”I passed them on my run, they told me about it. I wanted to get you in on it too. Just take a coin and do it Jay,” he urged. Slightly skeptical he took a gold coin. A wish that would come true. No, he couldn’t. Could he? Would it really work? What the hell, he decided. Guess he had to try. Clutching the coin tightly, he wished with all his heart that he would be able to tell Carlos how he really felt. And that maybe, just maybe, Carlos would feel the same. He tossed his in. Carlos clutched his up close to his chest with both hands, eyes squeezed tight. Moments later, he carefully tossed his in too. 

“So what did you wish for?” Jay asked.

“Shh, wait. Can’t say it out loud until after the shooting star goes by. According to Mal’s estimate it should pass by in...7 more minutes.”

Jay shrugged and took a seat on the ground,  playing with his fingers in the dirt and rocks. Carlos stood at the edge of the pool, almost standing on his tippy toes. Jay was second guessing himself as his fingers dragged mindlessly through the sand. There was no way in hell this was gonna work.

“Jay! Look!” He looked up and wow! There it was! A large white light, powerful and fast flew overhead. He quickly rose to his feet and stood next to Carlos and marveled at the sight. It was brighter than any star he had ever seen. Like a flash it was gone, leaving Jay breathless. 

“Wow...man even if my wish doesn’t come true, it was worth it to come out here and see that,” Jay breathed in awe.

“Yeah. But don’t doubt it Jay. It’ll come true. So, now that it has passed you can speak your wish out loud. Whether we know it or not our wishes already came true. What did you wish for?” Carlos asked. Jay turned away, looking down. His hands clenched into fists behind his back, his toes curled in his shoes. This was it. It was now or never.

“I wished...,” he paused with a sigh. “I wished for something that I’ve wanted for a very long time now. But never felt brave enough for it on my own. I wished that I could be honest with someone. A friend of mine who is very important to me,” he saw Carlos looking slightly puzzled as he spoke. “See this friend of mine is really important to me in more ways than one. And I’m scared if he knows that, that he’ll feel uncomfortable and want to leave, not be my friend anymore. And losing him like that would hurt more than just him never knowing how I feel. I wished that I could tell him how I really feel and not lose his friendship. And even maybe...maybe my friend would feel the same. I wish I could tell him how much I love him,” Jay said slowly. He kept his head down and his eyes closed, bracing for impact. Now he’s done it. He trusted a stupid superstition and now he’s ruined everything. It wouldn’t take a genius for Carlos to understand he meant him and to be disgusted by him. To run off and leave him behind. He felt confusion wash over him when he felt Carlos’ hand on his face, moving his head. He couldn’t open his eyes but he knew he was facing Carlos now. He waited, not sure of what was going on. Why wasn’t he saying anything? What did he want? To make him look him in the eyes as he rejected him? No please, that would just be cruel. He squeezed his eyes tighter. 

A sensation that was warm and light played on his lips and it got heavier and and warmer. It took him way to long to realize that wait HE WAS BEING KISSED WHAT?! His eyes flew open and yeah! Sure enough Carlos was holding his face so he could access his lips, eyes closed and lips pressed onto his. Jay pulled back, too shocked to even believe his eyes. Carlos let go of him and stood up a little straighter, looking a little red like he was blushing. Jay tried to speak but he kept stuttering and stumbling. Carlos took his hands into his.

“Jay...I wished for the exact same thing,” he confessed. Jay’s head was spinning. Was this even real? Maybe he passed out after he sat down and reality would come wake him up right before the shooting star passed over for real. This was a prank. This was fake. This couldn’t be.

“I don’t believe it,” he admitted softly. 

“I know I know I was really shocked to hear you say what you wished for too but I...gosh Jay I’m so relieved. I was so sure if you knew how attracted to you I really am that you’d hate me,” Carlos said, tightening his grip on Jay’s hands. Jay was still mentally spinning. This was too good to be true...

“I just can’t believe it...” he quietly said. Carlos nodded and took a step closer. 

“I know but it’s real. There was never any doubt for me that I love you and now we never have to have any about each other,” He said. Jay’s head finally stopped reeling and his words sunk in. This was real. Shooting stars and wishes or not this was really happening! Jay suddenly was overcome with joy and he lifted his best friend into the air, both laughing at the reality. He lowered Carlos back down and brought him closer for a kiss. They broke apart and smiled wide at each other. Yes this was real, this was meant to be. Jay took Carlos’ hand again and chuckled.

“You’re right.I never questioned my love for you and now we both know the truth. There’s no need to have any doubt.”

[THE END]

Hello again it is I, Autumn the author of this work. Damn this one was giving me trouble I hope that you dear reader enjoyed it in the end. The plot kept falling apart on me and plot bunnies got me down lost rabbit trails until I finally found this path for the story. I really hope that you all enjoyed this, the final ideas to make it work came together today, the day I’m supposed to post this. Gosh dang I’ve been trying to have all these prompts written ahead of time so all I have to do is post them but look at this, 12:31 am, late again! Aaaaaaaagh. Keep going gotta keep going. Anyway. Thank you again for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it so much. Feedback is super helpful if you can give it, it can help me know what works and what to improve and such. Thank you thank you thank you for reading! <3 

[justlistenuniverse]

Jaylos Headcanon #1

Headcanon where Carlos wants to be a cheerleader - but in Auradon you can't be one when you are not a girl

So he asks Evie for help and they dress him up as a girl (after she said he should just talk to Ben and make it happen that way but Carlos thinks that he has to dress up for some reason)

So he dresses up as "Carly" and auditions for the Cheer Squad and the Cheer Coach Phoebe is baffled at how good that new girl is

The other girls quickly grow to like Carly since she's surprisingly strong and super flexy and she was born for flips

Audrey is first a bit bitchy but she also grows to like Carly and soon the two of them become quite close as they help each other with routines and talk about school and boys

Carlos loves all of it, even the talks with Audrey (she's surprisingly sweet and tough and he likes her), but it's getting hard to hide from Jay (who still buys the "I'm learning" "I've got a project" "I'm going to the library" excuses but he is not dumb, he'll notice!)

Plus Jay, Carlo's long-time crush, best friend, and roomie, starts to flirt with Carly and at night, when Carlos is doing his homework and Jay is laying on his bed, Jay tells Carlos about how great Carly is and how cute and yes, the boy got a crush on Carlos' female identity. How bad is that?

Meanwhile, Audrey starts to develop a crush on Carly too

When she asks her out though Carlos breaks and tells her that he is Carlos and not Carly and that there is no Carly. And he also tells her that he is most certainly gay.

Audrey gets super angry and she's so hurt and storms off but then she thinks that it all adds up now. how Carly just disappeared into thin air whenever practice is over and all the girls walk to the locker rooms and that she always skipped girl's night with some lame excuses and Carlos was still so sweet to her and never made fun of her and she will probably miss him as a friend

So she walks to the boy's dorm and knocks and when Jay opens the door she smiles and asks if Carlos is there and if she could talk to him

Carlos is so shy and silent when they walk through the school that it hurts. But when Audrey tells him that yeah, she's hurt and it was a super dumb action of him, she will help him out. Because she likes him as a friend and he's unbelievable good at cheerleading and she knows about that stupid "no male cheerleader" rule which she still doesn't get

They also talk about Audrey's new found orientation and why she doesn't need to hide it and how Carlos grew to be comfortable with his sexuality. Audrey happens to be less insecure than he was when he noticed but she's still not ready to tell anyone else (she might have a late-night phone call with her mom though)

The next day, Carlos Evie and Audrey can be seen sitting around a table at lunch, talking and laughing and pointing to some of Evie's sketches for something

But even with Audrey's help, Jay and Mal start to get suspicious

Carlos is always disappearing, appears to be super sweaty when he finally enters his and Jay's room, never attends any Tourney games anymore (which bugs Jay more than he'd like to admit) and since when is he good friends with Audrey of all people?

Mal finally confronts Carlos when he's coming from practice (in sweatpants and a loose shirt but still drenched in sweat bc he never showers with the girls), chatting to Audrey (who's all clean but in soft clothes because it's the evening and after practice and that's her new best friend next to her) and he tells her everything, even making Evie show Mal the Cheerleading costumes and the wig she's created for him

Mal tells him that he needs to come clean because he can't play a double-game any longer. People will start to notice that Carly is never in any classes and they already started asking her if she's related to Carlos since they both look so alike

A week later, the finale Tourney game of the season starts and Auradon is playing their hardest enemy yet and the boys are nervous as fuck

When they walk out the first thing they see is the fans and then the cheerleaders and that's when Jay does a double take because is that Carlos in a male cheerleader uniform doing flips with Audrey?

Carlos sees Jay stare (and with him half of the team and most of the students including the other team) and just smiles and waves and prays that Jay won't be angry

It's a tense game and Carlos does his best to cheer for his team, performing really cool looking routines with his girls whom he talked to before the game (they were all a bit angry and weirded out but when Audrey talked to them about how Carlos never entered the locker room and never touched them in a sexual way they calmed down)

But during half-time [is there a half time? I don't know], one of the other players makes a loud and more than rude comment about Carlos as a male cheerleader and how Auradon only has fags around and everyone loses it

Audrey is yelling at the guy, telling him to back off her squad or she'll forget her good manners while half the team is trying to hold back Jay but when the guy shoves Audrey they let the thief free, watching as he barrels into the other man

but then there's Carlos. Small, ordinary, genius Carlos, stepping in between the boys, making Jay immediately stop (because hurting Carlos? not an option) and hissing at the other boy to get lost or he'll show him what a fag like him can do to a prince who has muscles but doesn't know how to use them

Coach tells the Auradon boys to calm Jay down while the coach of the other team yells at his boys for being intolerant immature assholes

When the second half starts Carlos is still on the cheer squad after Fairy Godmother and Ben decided that the gender is so not important

And when they win he makes sure to wink at the guy that pushed his friend, hurt Jay and bullied him (the guy turns white immediately and leaves the field)

At the party they throw for winning the championship Carlos watches as Jane womans up and asks Audrey to dance (and he also catches them making on the balcony later on)(he might also show his girl a thumbs up when she beams at him) when Jay walks up

"Should've known it was you."

Carlos laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, you should have. But you didn't, which is okay by the way. I am awesome at playing a game like this."

Silence. Carlos sipped at his punch while Jay tried to muster up the courage to say what he really wanted to say.

"So... would you like to, maybe, like, go on a date with me?"

Carlos nearly spits out his punch. He stared at Jay with huge brown eyes, not believing what he just heard. But there he was, his best friend, his long-time crush whom he might even love, looking amazing in a dark red waistcoat and black skinny jeans and with a hopeful look in his eyes that couldn't be an imagination.

"But... I'm not Carly."

"Yeah, well..." Jay blushed and rubbed his neck with that adorable little smile he always got when he turned a bit insecure. "Maybe the reason that I flirted with Carly was that she looked like you. And that I fell for Carlos long before I fell for Carly but thought I wouldn't stand a chance with you."

Carlos spends the rest of the evening dancing with his might-be-boyfriend. And when Jay has to go for some weird winner ritual the auradon tourney team has, Carlos dances with Audrey and Evie and Mal and all his girls, having the night of his life.

Bonus:

Carlos being fiercely protective of his Squad, even back when he was still Carly

Audrey randomly walking into the boy's dorm to talk with Carlos. They spend hours on his bed, both in soft clothes, talking about everything. Some weeks into their habit, Evie joins them. It's never too girly but Carlos can be talked into painting nails (never his own though) and he has a great fashion sense. Jay mostly spends those nights with Mal who welcomes that change into her life. It gets boring being a princess all the time and if there's a better way to get rid of that boredom than climbing up to the roof and talking to her best friend or planning pranks, she hasn't found it yet.

Everyone, even Chad, telling Carlos that he looked damn good in that skirt (he knows)

Ben lifting the gender-specific rules around the school and suddenly there are more boys trying out for the cheerleaders, a mixed R.O.A.R. Team and girls who even try out for Tourney (Coach ends up letting Mal in because with her and Jay playing together? No one will be able to beat them)

[if-you-stay-with-me-for-ever]

If You Stay with Me Forever

 Length: 6.9k words  Ship: Jaylos [+others]  Chapter 7/??: Keepers and Seekers and Everything in Between  Written by Alondra and Joanna

 Summary:

[hogwarts au]; They say that when you meet your true love, time stops and you just know. After that, falling in love is as quick as falling asleep. That’s not what happened when Carlos met Jay.

Chapter Index

The first girl Jay ever fancied knocked him unconscious just fifteen minutes after having met. It was the third Friday of Jay’s fourth year at Hogwarts, and the Quidditch tryouts had half of the school eagerly waiting to be able to tryout for their house team, and the other half practically buzzing with excitement, ready for the cup to start so they could watch the games and cheer for their teams. All around, everyone was thrilled. That day, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had booked half of the Quidditch pitch each for their tryouts, so there were a fair amount of students from both houses in the field and bleachers.

           Jay’s hands, cold and sweaty, would not let go of his broom and he gripped it as if he were about to fall, even though his feet were firmly grounded. And he was not even trying out for the team.

           “Jay, I’m gonna need you to fly with this next girl, she’s the first one trying out for Beater,” came Seneca’s voice from somewhere on his left, making him snap to attention.

           “Huh?” He shook his head and concentrated on what his captain was telling him.

           “Just work with her, help her with the Bludgers,” she implored him, sounding tired.

           Lars McKinnon, former Beater for the Gryffindor team, had just graduated, and the spot was currently being fought over. Jay was afraid the Quidditch tryouts would be so successful he would be kicked out of the team to make room for better players. Hence, his nerves. But if Gryffindor’s captain trusted him enough to have him test other students, then, he thought, his spot in the team wasn’t in jeopardy after all. Not for now, at least.

           He nodded at Seneca and took off in his broom swiftly, going to meet with Allaway, Victoria in the middle of the Quidditch pitch to give her a bat and some instructions, perhaps more nervous about it all than the girl herself. When he met her in mid-air, he nearly fell off his broom. Her eyes were greener than the grass they were flying over, and her hair, dark and curly and all over the place, looked like something out of a Renaissance painting. Or at least Jay guessed so, he couldn’t really recall any Renaissance paintings with girls with such beautiful hair. He couldn’t recall any Renaissance paintings for that matter. He shook his head and tried to concentrate on the girl and stop thinking about stupid paintings.

           “He- hey. I’m Jay, I’ll, er, help you with the Bludgers today,” he stammered, trying to sound casual and suave.

           “Awesome,” she said in a deep, smooth voice as she took the bat from Jay’s hand. “Don’t be gentle with me,” and she was off, ready to play.

           Seneca blew her whistle and the Bludger was released. She took off from the ground and flew around the two Beaters, analyzing Victoria’s moves closely. The Bludger came for Jay first, but he hit it with the bat easily and redirected it towards Victoria, who, he just realized, was chewing gum. She flew straight to the Bludger to gain momentum, one hand holding tightly to her broom and the other one ready to swing her bat. She hit the ball back at Jay and flew away in a move that all the Beaters knew too well, which allowed them to see where the Bludger ended up and when it flew back again at them or other players. But, strange enough, every time the Bludger flew her way, she plunged forward and met it halfway, as opposed to diving to the side to get a better angle, or simply waiting for it. Seneca took some notes and nodded several times.

           Fifteen minutes into Victoria’s tryout, Seneca released the second Bludger. Jay and Victoria passed them between each other and prevented Seneca from being hit. Jay was going after a Bludger that was flying straight at the captain when he heard Victoria shout a warning at him. He dived forward and managed to hit the Bludger that was going straight for Seneca just as he felt it. Victoria had accidentally thrown the Bludger at him and it hit him square in the nape, knocking him unconscious.

           “… dumb kid tryna get killed,” someone was murmuring.

           “It was all my fault, I’m so so sorry,” came a second voice.

           “Could you just let him breathe for a second?” That was Carlos’ voice, that one he couldn’t mistake.

           Jay tried to incorporate himself, but a hand on his chest forced him to lay back down. He was laying on the bleachers with his head supported by a couple of rolled up scarves, his friends surrounding him. On the background, he could hear other kids cheering and whistling, so the tryouts weren’t over yet, he hadn’t been out for long.

           “I’m alright, I’m alright,” he said, getting up and batting Carlos’ hand away, who was trying to get him to lay down again.

           “Jay, how do you feel?” Evie was sitting by his feet and practically laid on top of him as she tried to get a better look at his face.

           “Fine, jeez,” he accepted the water bottle that Carlos offered him and sat down properly, looking around. “Did your Bludger hit me?” He asked Victoria, frowning up at her from the pain he felt at the back of his neck.

           “Yes, and I’m so sorry,” she admitted in her deep voice. Jay could get used to hearing it.

           “It’s alright,” he said, rubbing at his neck.

           “That’s what you get for trying to show off,” Mal said, crossing her arms and scowling at him.

           “That’s enough,” Carlos intervened just before Jay could snap back at Mal. “He’s alright, thank you,” he told Victoria, who nodded and walked away, glancing back with an apprehensive look on her face.

           Carlos insisted everyone got back to what they were doing while he took care of Jay. There were still kids flying around in the field, so nobody complained too much before going back to keep watching the exciting tryouts, although the kids trying out for Gryffindor Beater would have to do it without Jay’s assistance.

           “That Victoria girl really is something else,” Carlos said softly as he sat next to Jay on the bleachers once they were alone.

           “She’s awesome, isn’t she?”

           “If I were half as good as her, I’m sure I’d get in,” Carlos joked, looking down at his hands.

           “I’m sure she’ll get in— wait. You wanna be part of Hufflepuff’s team?” Jay asked, eyes wide.

           “No, no, I meant to say she’s so good she’ll surely get in. She’d get in even if she was half as good,” he explained, but Jay wasn’t in the same page as him.

           “Why don’t you try out?” He asked excitedly.

           “Didn’t you hear what I just-“

           “You should definitely do it!” Jay exclaimed, speaking over Carlos.

           Carlos just shook his head with a slight smile on his lips and looked back at the field where two boys were throwing the Quaffle around, Seneca flying with them as well, her notepad forgotten as she played too, passing the Quaffle, laughing, shouting instructions and correcting their moves.

           “I don’t think they’d take me,” he admitted after a while.

           Jay laughed and punched Carlos in the arm slightly.

           “I knew you wanted in! But hey, you’ve been practicing loads. Hell, you’ve been practicing with me,” he added proudly.

           Again, Carlos just laughed and looked away. That was something Carlos did a lot, Jay noticed, when it came to talking about himself. Jay didn’t want to make Carlos uncomfortable, so he kept quiet and watched the rest of the tryouts. Mal and Evie were cheering for Ravenclaw’s Keeper, who blocked nearly every single shot that was thrown his way by other Ravenclaw kids. Jay couldn’t help thinking about Victoria, which made him smile like a fool. He was the first one to vote for her when Seneca asked him and his teammates who should be Gryffindor’s new Beater.

             Dinnertime came around and the four friends set off to the Great Hall, ready for the weekend to begin so they could lay on the cool grass next to the lake and do absolutely nothing, like they used to do. They all sat on their usual spot in the Slytherin table and watched as Jay ate sausage after sausage, betting on how many he’d be able to eat. Evie was the winner, who claimed he wouldn’t get past sausage number twelve.

           They were almost done with their food when a group of five Slytherin kids sat next to them, talking and joking loudly. Carlos fidgeted on his seat, the scene reminding him a bit too much of the bullies that roamed his school and picked on kids like him. Well, mainly just on him.

           “Evie, isn’t that your little boyfriend?” Mal asked, grinning from behind a cup of tea. Give it to Mal to look menacing while drinking green tea with milk and honey.

           “Stop it!” Evie cried softly, clearly flustered and looking down at her hands.

           “What boyfriend?” Jay and Carlos asked at the same time, earning another grin from Mal.

           “Charming, Slytherin’s Keeper.”

           “The cute one,” Evie added despite herself, smiling dreamily at her knees, too afraid to look his way.

           Carlos looked over and recognized him immediately, “the cute one”. Chad Charming was mostly known for being part of one of England’s richest, most controversial families, Mal explained. His mother was working for his father’s family as a servant when they fell madly in love, and although she had always been nice and kind to the media, she was often portrayed as a gold digger. But reality was that she was as regal as a queen. She was a queen with neither crown nor kingdom.

           “Mr. Charming’s family are all wizards, only Chad’s mum’s a Muggle,” Mal kept telling them as they all eyed Chad Charming discretely. “But they don’t like having anything to do with the wizarding community, they live like Muggles in London.”

           Carlos nodded and tried not to look at him anymore. He had seen him before, always chatting with giggling girls or his Quidditch team, being noisy as they walked through the castle halls as if the school were theirs. He could admit that he was a good looking bloke, he wouldn’t go as far as calling him “cute” like Evie did, but he could understand why some girls were so infatuated with him. The only reference he really had of the guy was Lonnie. She had some classes with him and it seemed that she knew him from even before they started studying at Hogwarts, something about their parents being friends from school or something. She would sometimes talk about him, and he really didn’t like what she told him.

           “How do you know so much about him?” Carlos asked.

           “Spend a day with Evie and you’ll get it,” Mal said with a shrug.

           “You like that idiot?” Jay grimaced and Mal chuckled at his reaction. It was a known fact that Gryffindors and Slytherins didn't get along, aside from a few exceptions, like themselves for instance, but Mal was sure that Jay’s disapproval of the Charming lad had nothing to do with house rivalries and everything to do with that time he shoved him during Jay's first Quidditch game. He fell off his broom, causing him a contusion. He had to stay in the nursery for almost a week after that. That had been almost two years ago, but he was still bitter about it.

           Evie rolled her eyes, letting the discussion die there. She wasn’t going to start a fight with Jay, she knew he didn’t like Chad, it was more than obvious, and even if she could have said something back, she decided it was better not to.

The tryouts for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team were a week after Gryffindor’s, on a chill morning with gray clouds that covered the sun, the grass wet with early mist. Carlos nervously fidgeted with the hem of his uniform and squinted up at the cloudy sky with pursed lips. That couldn’t be a good sign.

           As he awkwardly stood between at least a dozen other (bigger) Hufflepuff students waiting to showcase their talents, Carlos tried his best not to faint. He didn’t know how he had let Jay talk him into trying out. He felt far from ready to do something like that.

           But, with a combination of pleas and quite a bit of motivation and encouragement, Jay had managed to convince him to tryout for the team. He reckoned that he would be a wonderful Seeker; he was small and rather fast. He had spent the last summer doing basically nothing but playing around with Jay on his broom after all.

           There were more Hufflepuff kids trying out than there were Slytherins, who, after several complains, grudgingly agreed to share the field with Hufflepuff that day. A lot of younger kids from second, third and fourth grade were doing the tryouts, but there were not many fifth, sixth and seventh graders since they were more worried about studying for their OWL’s and NEWT’s than the inter-house Quidditch cup. That was not the case with Slytherin students.

           Carlos looked around and realized there were other kids trying out for Hufflepuff Seeker as well. There were only three more, but that was enough to make him really regret being there.

“Hey, don’t worry. You’ll do great,” Lonnie’s voice startled him, she must have seen in his face just how worried he was. She put a hand on his shoulder to show support and beamed at him, warm and energetic as always. “You already have one vote,” she winked at him, making him smile despite the knot in his stomach.

           Lonnie was wearing her Quidditch gear too, her long dark hair held back in a ponytail and her goggles hanging from her neck. Carlos wasn’t surprised when she told him last year that she was part of Hufflepuff’s Quidditch team, and he knew that she played with professor Li almost every Summer when they went back to their house for the holidays, so she was an outstanding Chaser.

           “Thank you, Lonnie,” he told her just as she was called by the captain of the team, Dridan Findlay, a boy from sixth grade that looked as if he were in his twenties, with a hard Scottish accent that was more often than not impossible to understand. Carlos was extremely intimidated by him even when Lonnie assured him that he was nothing but a big puppy.

           He watched her leave and start a conversation with Dridan. She looked really happy talking to him, all giggles and slight shoves, and Carlos wondered if she had a crush on Dridan. That wouldn’t surprise him, he had noticed that most of his friends were suddenly developing crushes or falling for other kids, except Mal, of course. That girl wasn’t one to daydream about boys like Evie or Lonnie, apparently, but everyone else was, which made him feel weird somehow.

           He was lost in his thoughts when he heard someone calling his name. He looked around and spotted Mal and Jay making their way to where he was, wrapped in their winter robes and scarves. He met them halfway, the borrowed Quidditch gear making it a bit difficult to walk, he had yet to get used to it, and he was worried that it may get in the way while he tried to catch the Snitch out in the field.

           “You nervous?” Mal asked once they were within earshot.

           “A little, yeah,” he sighed, looking towards the field. “I really don’t know if I should do this.”

           “What is with you and this negativity, Carlos?” Jay punched his arm playfully, perhaps a bit more excited about Carlos’ tryout than him. Carlos rubbed his arm, giving him a sheepish smile.

           “Yeah, well... there are plenty of other kids that are more qualified than I am. Besides, I don’t think Dridan would take Ennis out of the team,” Hufflepuff’s actual Seeker, Ennis Lewis, was actually really good, he had caught the Snitch two times in three matches, but they had lost one of those games anyway. That year would be his last one on the team, but some younger kids still hoped they could wow the captain and take over his spot.

           “Please, that guy just caught the Snitch out of luck last time our teams played against each other!”

           “But he did! And in the match before that one, he’s good!” Carlos refuted his friend.

           “And so are you!” Both boys turned their heads, surprised to hear Mal’s voice. She wasn’t one to get excited over Quidditch, not when it wasn’t about her own house beating Jay’s, so even to hear her giving a comment about the game or how Carlos played... it was unusual. “I’ve seen you practice Carlos, you’re good, you’re fast, isn’t that what being a Seeker is all about?

           “Well… yeah,” Carlos said reluctantly.

           “Case closed, then,” Mal declared. “Plus, they don’t have to kick Ennis to let you in. You can be like, his understudy or whatever those are called in Quidditch.”

           “Alternate,” Jay said with a sigh, shaking his head.

           “Whatever. Now go out there and kick their arses, Carlos,” Mal pointed at the field with a peculiar smile on her face. She almost looked proud.

           Jay laughed hard at this, but his laughter turned into cheers as Carlos walked back to the middle of the field, ready, at least, to get that over with. He thanked Merlin and Einstein that neither of his friends could see his face now, the freckles on his cheeks practically disappearing as he blushed, overwhelmed by the attention. He glanced back at them one more time before Dridan finally called the first name for the tryouts, Penelope Fenn, who let out a yelp and took off in her broom. He caught a glimpse of blue right next to Mal, and he waved at Evie once he recognized her. It was a no brainer why she had arrived so late; the tryouts for Slytherin’s team were right on the other side of the field. He was glad that she hadn’t ditched him to go see Chad Charming.

  Carlos didn’t get into Hufflepuff’s team. That came as a surprise to Jay, who honestly believed that the mere fact that the four of them were wishing for Carlos to get in would exponentially increase his chances of succeeding. He was gullible that way.

           However, Jay realized that not getting in might have been what was best for Carlos. He was an extremely fidgety and nervous kid, and perhaps Quidditch would have only worsened that, he had to build some character first. And that was why he loved being around Carlos, he liked being able to help him and watch him grow. Plus, not having him as a rival when he played against Hufflepuff meant he could completely destroy his team and not feel so guilty about it.

           Victoria was on Gryffindor’s team now, which also helped him boost his mood during practice and ultimately made him play better. He was having an awesome year all in all.

           When a colder weather rolled around and the leaves began to fall off the trees, Jay realized he had a massive crush on Victoria Allaway. She was everything Jay could think about, everything he wanted to think about –besides Quidditch, but that was permanently on his mind anyway. He got all giddy and nervous whenever she walked into the common room, where he had been spending most of his afternoons since the school year began, hoping to see her. She was a very active girl, and whenever she walked into the common room, it was only to go straight into her room to change out of her muddy clothes and into fresh clothes which she again got mud all over. She just couldn’t stay inside the castle, and Jay loved that.

           Wednesdays after Transfiguration, Jay had lunch with Evie and Carlos in the Great Hall (Mal had double potions on Wednesdays, and didn’t eat until they were all in their next class already). He was absentmindedly eating a turkey sandwich when Evie snapped her fingers in his face.

           “Jay, enough with the daydreams already,” she demanded. “Carlos just asked you a question.”

           Jay got himself out of his Victoria-trance and focused on Carlos, who looked apologetically at him.

           “It wasn’t such an important question, I’m sorry,” he said.

           “No, no, I’m sorry kid-o, what is it?”

           “Well, I just wanted to know if any of you still had your Divination notes from last year. I feel like everybody in class hates me for being one year younger than them, I don’t think anyone would lend me their notes,” he explained quickly, but Jay stopped listening after the third word. Victoria had just entered the Great Hall with her best friend.

           “Yeah, I’ll think about it,” he said absentmindedly as he stood up, took his food and bag, and flew through the room to sit with his roommates in Gryffindor’s table just before Victoria and her friend sat by them.

           “Tom,” Jay whispered urgently at his friend before he was even properly seated.

           “Thomas,” he corrected him through gritted teeth.

           “Thomas, if you like me even a little, pretend I just said the most hilarious thing.”

           “What?” Thomas asked, his brow furrowed. “Mate, what are you-”

           “Allright, now, laugh now!” Jay insisted and, shrugging, both Thomas and Rick bursted out laughing.

           Victoria glanced briefly at them and Jay felt stupid butterflies on his stomach. She went immediately back to the conversation with her friend though, but that didn’t stop Jay from celebrating his tiny victory with a huge grin.

           “For Merlin’s sake, did we just fake laugh to make Victoria look at you?” Thomas asked, letting his fork fall loudly to his plate, an indignant expression on his face.

           Jay kept smiling at him and took a huge bite out of his sandwich.

           He soon learned that Victoria liked Herbology almost as much as he liked Quidditch, and spent most of her days helping Professor Longbottom take care of the plants and flowers that grew in the greenhouse, that’s why she was always so muddy, which Jay couldn’t complain about, he liked that look on her. He’d like any look on her.

           Of course, Jay used that piece of information in his favor. He hated his Herbology class, even more so since he stopped taking them with Mal and had nobody to bother to keep himself entertained, but he made an effort and paid attention to the professor until he found a legitimate doubt in his lesson, which he then asked in private when nobody was in the greenhouse except for Professor Longbottom. And Victoria.

           “Professor, there is something nagging at my mind since last class that I didn’t have the chance to ask you,” he said in his best student voice.

           “Yes, Almasi, what is it?” Professor Longbottom asked from behind the leaves of a Flitterbloom.

           “Well, you said that the witch’s ganglion is used in the Potion of All Potential, but you never said what it does by itself. This has been bothering me, you see, my father has a vast plant collection at home, and I’ve never heard of this plant before,” he risked a glance at Victoria, who was looking at him as well, a small pot with a moving plant precariously held in her hands.

           “That’s right, it’s used in that potion. But, the interesting thing is, no one has discovered what the plant can do by itself yet, its magical properties are, up to this date, unknown. Apparently, it does nothing,” Professor Longbottom had set his tools down and was walking toward him, clearly excited one of his students had gone as far as asking him something –anything– outside of class.

           “The thing is,” he went on, raising his index finger at the glass ceiling. “When combined with the niffler’s fancy, which isn’t covered in class until your fifth year, Merlin knows why, the witch’s ganglion releases this juice, this- this strong smelling juice, that completely overpowers the rest of the smells in the potion, by the way, and it is that juice that works as a catalyst with the rest of the ingredients. It’s fascinating, Almasi, fascinating.”

           Jay stared at him, his notebook in his hands, and simply nodded, pretending to ponder on what Professor Longbottom was telling him.

           “Alright. Alright, well… that was it, Professor, that was my doubt.”

           “I actually have a book on the matter, I can bring it from my office and lend it to you next time you stop by,” he added excitedly, putting his hands on his pockets, but he immediately regretted it when he realized he had mud all over his fingers.

           “That would be great Professor, I’ll come back soon to fetch it,” Jay said, glancing at Victoria again. She was smirking down at the small plant she was cleaning with a Q-tip.

           “Do come back, Almasi,” Professor Longbottom said as he tried to rub the mud out of his pants.

           And Jay did go back, four times actually, always making sure that Victoria would be there as well.

It was the middle of the school year when Carlos started to get a bit annoyed by this whole deal of the heart. He, being twelve, couldn’t for the life of him understand what all the fuss was about when it came to crushes and relationships, he had never really worried about all that and he couldn’t even imagine himself being as infatuated with anyone as Jay was with Victoria. Sure, she was a pretty girl with long eyelashes and nice legs that made every boy in the room turn their heads as she walked in, but he just couldn’t find himself turning his head along with them.

           And even though it was not the same reaction Evie inspired, it was similar, Carlos noticed. Both Victoria and Evie had a similar drawing effect, although it worked in completely different ways.

           Evie had this charm, this natural air of royalty that simply captivated everyone she spoke to. Heads would turn when she smiled or laughed or simply flicked her hair off her shoulder. Victoria, on the other hand, had a different kind of magic and beauty, one that attracted everyone’s eyes just by walking into a room, as if her presence were as tall as the ceiling. Like a supernova. She was funny, and loud, and even if she wasn’t as tall or as regal as Evie, she made herself noticed even in the most crowded hall of the school.

           Carlos liked Victoria, there wasn’t a reason why he shouldn’t, except maybe that every time she showed up, Jay would turn his head to look at her and ignore him completely. If they were supposed to be working on their homework together, Jay would change their plans to walk her to the Gryffindor tower; if he ran into her in the library, he would talk and joke with her until they were kicked out by the librarian, even if he had been there with Carlos and the girls. If Victoria so much as walked into the same room as Jay, he would try his hardest to catch her attention and sweet-talk her, telling her how good she was at Quidditch.

           So yeah, Carlos liked Victoria, but only when Jay wasn’t around. He thought that maybe he could cope with that whole situation if it weren’t for Evie, who was in a very similar position as Jay’s, although in her mind, Victoria’s cool smile was replaced by Charming’s conceited one.

           Carlos wondered if it was an age thing, and hoped he wouldn’t be like that come his fourteenth birthday.

           “Where are Evie and Jay?” Asked Mal as a form of greeting, sitting in front of Carlos on the Hufflepuff table where he had been reading. A couple of fourth years eyed her apprehensively and scooted a couple of feet away from her.

           “Where do you think they are?” He replied, sounding as irked as he felt. Mal rolled her eyes and pulled her books out of her bag, sharing the sentiment. Carlos glanced at the Gryffindor table where Victoria sat among a group of other students –mainly boys– doing some schoolwork. Jay was sitting right next to her. 

           “He’s worse than gum,” Mal said, noticing how Carlos’ eyes would fix on Jay every couple of seconds.

           Yes, he is. Carlos wasn’t about to deny it. Everywhere and every time she showed up, Jay ditched them and flew to her side in the blink of an eye.

           “I wonder how he’ll react…” Mal crooned, a smirk on her face. It was the kind of smile that hid a secret. Carlos was about to ask what she meant when someone suddenly appeared next to Mal.

           “Hey, Mal,” came Anthony Tremaine’s dragging voice. “Do you happen to have your Herbology notes with you?” He nodded at Carlos as if he had just acknowledged his existence, his signature half-smile half-sneer on his face. Mal just shrugged.

           If Hogwarts had some sort of chart of the most popular kids in school, Carlos was sure that Chad and Anthony would be competing for the first place. Everybody in school knew about the rivalry between the Charming and the Tremaine families since Chad had been more than happy to spread his sad, sad family story to every girl who was willing to listen.

           He told the story of how his mother, former maid of his father’s mansion, had it rough when she was a kid: first her dead mother, then her dead father, and then her stepmother, who exploited and treated her as a servant. Chad’s father literally saved her when they fell in love and got married. It came as a shock to her stepmother, Lady Tremaine, when she heard that her servant daughter had run of with the man she had always wanted her own daughters to marry. And it was even worse when she realized that he was a wizard, just like her and her daughters. So, full of jealousy, she married one of her daughters to a successful wizard whose career as a St. Mungo’s Healer impressed everybody.

           So, Chad and Anthony were practically cousins, yet they didn’t get along that well. Or, at all. Carlos could only imagine how that situation must be like in their common room.

           Carlos knew the story almost by heart now, but of course that wouldn’t be the case if it weren’t for Evie, who constantly defended Chad’s actions toward Anthony Tremaine by telling the tragic story herself. Maybe that was just the reason Carlos liked Anthony more than he did Chad, Anthony didn’t go around sharing his background story with anyone. Not that he should, his own grandmother was actually the villain of the tale. In any case, Anthony didn’t go around making pretty girls do his homework in exchange for a second of his oh-so-precious time and a half-hearted smile.

           In fact, Anthony Tremaine was just interested in one pretty girl.

           It was clear that Mal knew very well what Anthony’s intentions were, but she always said she didn’t know why he was so stubborn on going out with her when there were so many other girls he could go after. Girls that actually fancied him to begin with. Evie had her own theory, as she once told Carlos, ‘He likes complicated girls. From all the girls in school, even if some of them like him already, he happens to like the only one who won’t even look his way. She’s always ignored him.’

           And yet, there he was, Anthony Tremaine, with all his might, trying to talk to Mal once more.

           “They’re in my room, do you need them now?” Mal replied.

           “Kind of,” he pursed his lips. “But don’t worry, I’ll ask someone else.” Anthony waved his hand, winking at her before walking away, ignoring Carlos completely this time. Mal looked at him as he left, expressionless. Carlos wondered if she really didn’t fancy him, not even a little.

           His thoughts were interrupted by the loud thud noise of heavy books hitting the table as Evie sat next to him, causing Carlos to suppress a yelp.

           “Hey, guys” Evie chirped with her usual smile, panting a little from carrying so much weight. “Was that Anthony? Did you turn him down again, Mal?” She grinned at Mal but only received an arched eyebrow back.  

           “Are those even your books, E?” Mal retorted.

           “Ha, funny,” but her smirk didn’t disappear. Carlos watched their interaction, maybe a little unsure of how to approach the subject. Were they fighting, were they just joking around? He was afraid he would never know the answer to that. He might be a genius (Jay’s words, not his) when it came to science and technology, but when put in any social situation and asked to follow the rules of society, he was lost. He sure was far from genius in that subject.

           “Where's Jay?” Evie quickly asked to move the conversation to safer topics.

           “Where do you think?” Mal gestured with her head at the table behind her. Evie sighed, resting her elbows on the table and shaking her head.

           “He’s got it bad, hasn’t he?”  

           Carlos’ eyes went down to his own book to continue with his homework, he was already tired of that conversation.

           “Well, it depends on what you mean by ‘got it bad.” Mal leaned on the table, looking at her friend with a sardonic smirk. “Jay’s got it bad for Vic, fact, but has he got it bad enough to do her homework for her, like someone else I know?”

           Evie froze on her spot, wide eyes fixed on her friend. “Please, Mal, don’t compare what I’m doing with Jay’s case,” she scoffed, trying not to appear taken aback by her comment.

           “Because doing Charming’s homework is so much different than Jay’s pining, right?”

           “You’re doing what?” Carlos finally raised his head from his books to look at Evie.

           “Alright, I’m helping him, so what? He’s really busy with Quidditch and he asked me to help him. Me. He doesn’t do that with anyone! He’s quite a hard worker,” Evie tried to defend herself, seemingly happy to be the one who Chad had chosen to trick. Mal rolled her eyes and huffed.

           “But he can’t do that,” Carlos insisted.

           “He’s using you.”

           “He is not! He’s a gentleman and kind and-”

           “Charming?”  Carlos suggested sarcastically, which earned him a chuckle from Mal.

           “Yes!” She cried, throwing Mal a pleading look. “He wouldn’t do that, not to me. He said I’m a very smart girl, and very pretty too. I think he likes me,” she added shyly, looking down at her hands with a sheepish smile on her lips.

           “The guy’s a jerk!”

           “I couldn’t agree more with Carlos. Charming’s is a jerk and he’s known for tricking girls into doing his homework!”

           “How would you know that, M? You don’t even talk to him, you don’t know him.”

           “I don’t have to, I have eyes,” she shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest, sure of her words. “Besides, I do know him from all you tell us about him. You wouldn’t be able to stop talking about him even if there was an Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon loose in the castle.”

           “You’re exaggerating,” Evie turned to Carlos beside her in search of some support. “I don’t talk that much about him, do I?”

           “Well, you do, actually. It’s getting tiresome,” Carlos pursed his lips “… just like Jay’s crush.”

           “Oh, Merlin. Is it that bad?”  

           “Sorry to break it to you princess, but yeah, you’ve got it just as bad as Jay”

Carlos sighed and a small cloud formed in front of his face. He was waiting in the benches of the Quidditch field, book on his lap, watching the Gryffindor practice as he waited for Jay to finish and help him with some Arithmancy homework he had been putting off.

           He watched in awe as Gryffindor’s Seeker caught the Snitch for the second time in today’s practice and released it to go after it a third time.

           It was somewhat funny how Jay had been actually astonished by the fact that Carlos didn’t get into Hufflepuff’s Quidditch team. He was clearly affected by that more than Carlos himself, even when he kept assuring him that it was nothing. He was fine, really. Making the team would have been nice, Carlos wouldn’t lie, but maybe it hadn’t been the right moment when he came to think of it, he was struggling to manage his busy schedule with the advanced classes, finding time to rest for a while so he wouldn’t pass out in the middle of the Great Hall, and still have time for a social life. He wouldn’t have the time to practice anyhow.

           He couldn’t help letting out a yawn, eyes still trying to keep up with what was happening on the field. Jay’s figure was always near Victoria’s, both of them smiling and laughing as they passed the Quaffle to each other, as flirting was part of the practice.

           Carlos was sleepily thinking about his History of Magic homework when a group of giggling girls a couple of the benches in front of him caught his attention.

           “... she really asked you out? Oh Merlin! What did you do?” They had their heads close together in secrecy.

           “Well, I was flattered, even if I’m not into girls.”

           “Gigi, If Victoria ever asked me out on a date I would probably die right there and then.”

           “You have a boyfriend, Clara!”

           “True, but have you seen her?”

           The girls chuckled at the last comment, turning their heads at the field again, where the Gryffindor team was now on the ground having one final team huddle. It occurred to Carlos that some of the girls weren’t there to please their eyes with the male players only, as he had first thought. Female players were also attractive.

           “I heard that a guy in fifth grade asked her out,” the girl named Gigi said.

           “Let me guess, she said no.”

           “Pfft, of course she said no, she’s gay, that’s not even a secret. Boys are just too oblivious or stupid to notice it,” Clara added.

           Gay. He wasn’t new to the concept, he was reminded of the models that his mother hired to promote her clothing, the young men with stylish long legs and tiny waists that looked too fragile to touch; Carlos remembered the conversations he overheard between them when he wasn’t paying attention to his books, talking about nothing but boys. Carlos hadn’t give it much thought at the time, he'd thought it was normal. However, he never considered that girls could also be gay, that much was new to him. But if Victoria was gay, then, well, that would explain a few things.

           He’d noticed that Victoria never accepted going out with any of the boys who asked her, and that she seemed much more touchy-feely with other girls than with boys. Carlos looked at her body language as Jay tried to lure her into his charms –he had seen every phase of Jay’s flirting technique in the last few weeks–, but she was completely unaffected by it. Jay was subtly but unmistakably flexing his arms as he talked to her, but she simply took a sip of her water bottle, eyes closed, not even noticing the show Jay was putting up for her. That must be why she talked to Jay with an easiness uncommon in other girls who were crushing over Jay; she wasn’t attracted to him. Victoria was into girls. How was realizing that just now?

           “Carlos!” Jay’s voice broke his train of thought, jogging towards him to pick up his bag with a bright smile on his face. For some reason he had a bad feeling about it. “Hey man, I’m heading to the common room with Vic for a moment, you don’t mind right?” He asked, way too hopeful.

           This was not the first time that Jay did something like that, but this time the hurt stung a little more than usual. “Are you really ditching me again?” He frowned “You were the one who asked me if I could help you, and I told you that I was busy, but you insisted.”

            “I know, I know, and I feel terrible.” Jay looked back to where Victoria stood talking and smiling to another girl from the team (whose blushed cheeks didn’t seem to be caused by the effort of the practice, Carlos noticed). “It's just that we're having this Halloween themed party in the common room and Vic asked me if I wanted to go, and, well, I said yes, and I do sort of... want to go with her. ” And there it was, Jay gave him one of those pleading smiles he used when he wanted something.

           He hated himself for being so weak “Fine, go, but-”

           “Thanks man, I own you one!” Jay didn’t let him finish, rushing immediately towards Victoria who was waving at Carlos with a smile on her face. He smiled back at her.

           “But there’s something you need to know…” Carlos pursed his lips, watching them both walk out of the field. Saying he had a bad feeling was an understatement.

                  <-- Previous Chapter || Chapter Index || Next Chapter -->

[farklelucas]

Hiya! If you're taking prompts please could you do a jaylos one where Jay is struggling in school and they find out he's dyslexic so Carlos starts tutoring and helping him like the good bf he is xxxxxx

how did you know this was my favorite headcanon????? (probably bc i wrote it into my other fic lmao) anyway this isn’t… necessarily… in the same universe as my other fic, but it’s a very similar scenario minus one or two minor things. anyway in this jay is having a panic attack, and obviously i can’t speak for everyone who has panic attacks, but i personally have them almost exactly like this. (hyperventilating, tightening my hands into fists so hard my palms almost bleed/gripping things tightly, etc. the only thing i left out is crying, which i do a lot of, but i feel like jay’s panic attacks wouldn’t manifest that way? idk just my take on him, especially bc crying = fragility and that’s just not something i think he’d do, at least not in public.) & the breathing technique carlos recommends for jay is from this video. idk about anyone else, but helps me a lot.

always taking fic prompts

Carlos sees Jay panicking before he even gets up to leave the room. His hands are gripping the desk, his lip is caught between his teeth, his eyes are shut tight. And before anyone knows it, he gets up and staggers out the door, barely keeping it together. The door slams shut behind him and everyone stares at the space where he just was.

Carlos throws his hand into the air. “Can I please go check on him?” he asks. The bored looking teacher doesn’t say much of anything, just waves his hand, so Carlos takes that as a yes and launches himself out the door.

By the time he makes it to the bathroom, Jay is bent over the sink and his breathing is a lot worse. His knuckles are white with effort again

Carlos gingerly shuffles up behind him. “Jay?” he says quietly. He gets no answer, just more huffing. Jay sounds terrified. “Jay, listen to the sound of my voice. Just… calm down, try to breathe normally.”

The high-pitched panting begins to die down. His breathing slows until it’s quick and shallow, in and out through his nose - still not great, but not actual hyperventilating, so it’s progress. Carlos puts his hand lightly on Jay’s shoulder. When Jay doesn’t tense up or anything, he keeps it there. “Alright, I’m going to ask you to do something for me. Will you do it with me?”

There’s a long pause, in which Jay continues to breathe quickly and grip the sink, but he nods. “Okay. Breathe in for four seconds.” He listens and watches as Jay takes a deep breath, counting to four in his head. “Now hold your breath for seven seconds.”

One. Jay stops breathing, closing his eyes tightly and holding them there. Two. Carlos tightens his fingers, just a little bit, trying his best to keep Jay grounded. Three. He feels completely hopeless and helpless right now. He knows it isn’t his fault Jay is upset, but he hates that he can’t fix it. Four. He wants to reach his other hand out, to hold Jay’s hand, but he feels like this is what’s best right now. Five. At least, he hopes this is what’s best. It’s what always worked for him, anyway. Six.

“Now breathe out for eight seconds.” Jay lets out a long breath, completely deflating like a balloon with a pin stuck in it. Carlos rubs his hand up and down his back now, guessing it’s probably safe to touch him now. “That’s it, you’ve got it. That’s good.”

They spend a little while like that, Carlos trailing his hand up and down Jay’s back and Jay slowing down his breathing. Eventually, Jay reaches up and catches Carlos’s hand, intertwining their fingers. “Sorry,” he mumbles.

Carlos rubs his thumb over the back of Jay’s hand. “Don’t be sorry,” he says. “Are you okay?”

Jay sighs and rubs a hand over his mouth. “Yeah, panic attack. It happens.” Carlos knows; Jay told them about him early on in their relationship, let him know the warning signs in case he ever saw it happen and got freaked. It’s how he knew how to stay so calm. Jay turns around so he can lean on the sink and look at Carlos dead-on. “Usually lasts a while, though. You helped a lot.”

“I used to have them when I was a kid,” he says, shrugging. “After my dad died. I learned that technique pretty early on.” They sit quietly for a moment; Jay just stares at their interlocked hands and Carlos looks at Jay. Then he asks, quietly, “You can tell me to mind my own business, but… what happened? I’m just worried about you.”

Eventually, Jay shrugs. “I don’t… I know you and Evie and Mal are really great in school, and that’s great. But I just don’t… get it like you guys do. I don’t know how you read the words like that, but it just doesn’t make sense to me.”

Carlos frowns. “Like… what?”

“With the words moving like that. They don’t make sense to me. I can’t keep track of the letters, and it gets overwhelming sometimes. Today it’s been one class after another, and I was just exhausted.” Jay looks up. Carlos’s confusion must show on his face, because Jay furrows his own brows. “What, you don’t… words don’t work for you that way?”

No. In fact, something seems off. Something seems… wrong. He squeezes Jay’s hand and tries to give him a reassuring smile. “We’ll go talk to the Fairy Godmother after class, okay?” he says. “We’ll see what she thinks.” Jay reluctantly agrees.

–

The Fairy Godmother is, as usual, really nice about it. She listens to them and asks Jay about his problems with reading comprehension. Then she casts a couple spells and, when she’s done, turns to them with a delicate sigh. “Just as I thought,” she says. “Jay, you’re dyslexic.”

Carlos and Jay look at each other, both unsure of what she means. “What, uh. What is that?” Jay asks.

She looks between both of them, confusion twisting her pretty features. “You don’t… you haven’t heard of it on the Isle?”

Jay snorts. “Lady, we were barely in school on the Isle.”

“Is it deadly?” Carlos asks, his alarm far higher than Jay’s. He grips Jay’s hand laying on the armrest between their two chairs, and Jay squeezes back.

“No, no,” Fairy Godmother rushes to say, “of course not! It’s just a sort of…” She frowns to herself, like she’s trying to figure out how to explain it. “A sort of learning disability.” Carlos and Jay tilt their heads at her. “It means that you can’t read or learn as easily as other people. You just need to put in a little bit more elbow grease. I know Lonnie Mulan is also dyslexic, so maybe she could help you with some learning techniques. But my recommendation is to get a tutor.”

Carlos glances at Jay, who looks interested in what she’s saying, which Carlos supposes is a step above upset or annoyed at least. “Okay,” Jay says. “Thank you.” And with that, they get up and leave the office.

The walk back to their dorm is mostly quiet at first. They hold hands and are in silence for a while, before Carlos says, “You know I’ll tutor you, right?”

“Yeah,” Jay says, almost immediately. Like that was obvious - which, Carlos supposes, it was. Of course Carlos would help him; he’d do anything for him.

“And Evie, too. If you want. We don’t have to tell her at all if you don’t want to. Whatever you’re comfortable with, of course. I just want to help -”

“Carlos,” Jay cuts in, laughing. “Relax.”

Carlos frowns. “So you’re not upset?” he asks.

There’s a slight pause, and then Jay shakes his head. “I’m more comforted by the fact that there’s an explanation,” he says. “And that I’m not just stupid, like I thought. I mean, I’ve always done badly in school - except for in, like, gym and math. But I guess that the… dyslexia never affected those.”

Carlos nods and thinks about that for a moment. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?” he wonders.

��Thought it was normal,” Jay says with a shrug. “My dad never exactly made school a priority, so he never thought to work with me on homework and I never brought it up.”

Makes sense, Carlos supposes. They then arrive at their dorm. Jay pulls his key out of his pocket and goes to turn the handle, but Carlos reaches out a hand to stop him. “You know that I’ll do whatever it to takes to help you, right? Whatever you want me to do, I’m on it.”

Jay grins and leans his head forward until their foreheads touch, just softly. “Thanks,” he murmurs. “You’re the best.”

Carlos grins. “I know.”

–

He’s sitting at their lunch table with Evie and Mal when there’s footsteps behind him - and suddenly, arms flung around his shoulders. “Oomph,” he grunts, then laughs. “Hey, babe. What’s up?”

Then Jay brings the thing in his hand up to Carlos’s face - a bright, red A on an English test. Carlos couldn’t be prouder.

[daggery]

Jaylos + Evie's knife purse 👀

(this kinda turned into jay/carlos/evie)

so none of the core four know exactly when evie started to collect knives in her knife purse. for as long as any of them have remembered, it's just always been one of her things. also evie is very fussy and protective over it, the knives are her babies okay :) so she doesnt let anyone really handle it except for her

SO. here is something that would probably take place sometime when the core four are newish friends, so the knife purse is still a thing of Great Interest to them. jay and carlos play a game that's basically that game where you guess how many jellybeans are in a jar and whoever is closer to the real answer is correct. the struggle would be like.. first of all their only real glimpse of the knives would be whenever evie opens it briefly to take out a knife and then she closes it back up. second of all, at this point she hasn't collected enough for the purse to be stuffed so there are no useful hints there.

jay and carlos mostly pick a random number. because the REAL fun is trying to actually find out the real number of knives in the purse that evie will not let anybody else touch. also nobody knows where evies stashes the purse when she isn't using it. jay's like PFTT i'm a thief, lemme just turn on the charm and she will hand that thing right over. next time they're in the hideout and evie's got her purse of knives and cleaning them or smth, and jay goes up to her like ;). TWO SECONDS LATER evie is up on her feet and has a knife pointed an inch away from his throat because wow jay, she literally had an entire arsenal of knives on her lap, what did you THINK was gonna happen. evie's like "oh darling, no, i know what you're trying to do <3" all artificially sweet and carlos is in the back unapologetically screaming in laughter at jay's epic fail

later when they're off hanging out alone, jay and carlos continue to bond over their intense desire to count all of the knives in evie's purse. her secrecy has only made them more curious. jay puts carlos into a headlock and carlos starts squawking like "what the HELL did i DO >:((" and jay's like "this is how i cope with failure :'(" carlos's like "ok true" and then he wiggles out and kicks jay in the shin and he's like "this is how i cope." after they get out their mutual "must annoy the other guy to no particular end at least once per day" energy, they get into their more productive planning mode, by which i mean they just walk along the side of a dirt road and brainstorm ideas on the fly and bounce them off one another while also getting distracted by something shiny they see every five minutes.

eventually they cook up a plan that heavily relies on carlos's ability to distract evie bc they are pretttyyyyy sure that she has a softer spot for him. unfortunately they underestimate how on point evie's bullshit sensor is and carlos finds himself in the exact same knife-to-throat position as jay. jay finds himself in the exact same position as carlos from before, where he is laughing his butt off from where he is hiding from view just around the corner.

carlos and jay go on another walk alongside the road, but their plans do not work out ever. knife purse mystery remains a mystery to this day :) instead they just cope together over the Despair of never finding out how many figurative jellybeans evie has in the purse. they may or may not acknowledge how it is lowkey attractive when evie is feeling all dangerous and knife-y

also i mentioned how unlike evie with her showy purse, jay likes to surprise bad guys by randomly jabbing at a knife at their face that he seemingly pulled out of thin air; every knife he uses is a surprise! anyways... jay is like "carlos, it's like the way ur our surprise :)" referring to the way that ppl tend to think carlos's the weak link of the group but the core four know that he's actually very smart and capable and someone to watch out for.. but ppl dont know they should doing that..... :) at this, carlos is like “?????????!!!!!!!!!!” in that way you feel when someone you like says something neat abt you, like “wow you actually think about me???” (also on the flip side, does this make mal the Obvious Purse of Knives?? basically she's capable and LOUD abt it. hmm weird metaphor here but the basic idea behind it is something i've just realized i've thought about to some length before.. but that is for another post!)

hmmm okay that’s what i have in me right now! this is sooo wordy but i do not have the strength in me to reread it and make it concise lmao. but THANK YOU for the ask <333

send me a ship + a word for a headcanon!