Evie POV

I ran out of the tunnel and climbed into the limo followed by Carlos and Lonnie. I looked at Carlos. Ben exited the tunnel and called out to Mal. A couple of seconds later, the two entered the limo. I looked around. "Where's Haden?" I asked. I peered out the back window in time to see a smoking Haden with flames dying down as he ran out the tunnel. He turned to the tunnel and picked up his sword. "You tell your stupid narcissistic dad, that the Son of Hades says 'Screw you!'" He shouted conjuring a neon blue fireball before throwing it down the tunnel. "Haden!" Mal called out. Haden turned his head. He ran after the limo and jumped inside the back as Mal closed the door. He leaned on his elbow before blowing long strands of hair out of his face. "I say that went well." He breathed. "I'm really sorry that things didn't go the way you wanted them to." Ben said to Mal. "I mean...As long as you're safe, that's..." Mal responded panting. "I mean, at least I got to see the Isle. They're my people, too. Uma helped me see that." Ben stated. "Ben, Uma captured you." Mal argued. "She's an angry girl with a bad plan. That's not so different from you and Haden when you two came to Auradon, Mal." Ben explained. I looked over at Haden to see him with his eyes closed resting his head on the seat. He held a very tight grip on his sword. He must've gotten hit by one of the rats because he had a bruise on the left side of his jaw and a 1 1/2 inch wide cut on his right cheek that had blood trickling out of it. But after Ben said that, I noticed Haden tighten his grip around the handle of his sword. He had clearly been offended by what Ben said. Which is odd because Haden doesn't get easily offended. "Awkward." Dude said. "Dude...Dude, I know you can talk, but it doesn't always mean you should." Carlos told the small dog. "Here we go." Jay announced before we crossed the bridge to Auradon. We arrived back at the school and we walked the campus. Haden trailed behind the rest of us lost in his thoughts. "I'll get these back to the gym." Lonnie said to Jay. "Thanks." He said. Jane walked over to us. "Ben! There you are. Cotillion's tonight." Jane said before pulling Ben aside to talk in private.

Haden POV

I slowed to a stop thinking about Cotillion and how Evie was going with Doug. "We need to talk." I heard Evie whisper to Mal. "Yeah." Mal answered as the two girls began to walk away. "No." Carlos voiced. The two VKs stopped and turned to look at the Son of Cruella. ""No?"" Evie asked. "You guys are always going off in a huddle, whispering your girl-talk stuff or whatever, and Jay, Haden, and I are tired of it." Carlos explained. Jay looked at the the girls before raising his hand. "I'm not." He stated. "We're your family, too. We've been through a lot. Together. I'm not stopping that now. Okay?" Carlos explained. "Everyone, sit." Carlos ordered sitting on the grass. He looked around at all of us. "Come on." He said. The others sat in a circle and looked to me. I sighed throwing the blade into the grass making it stand before I fell back and sat on the grass between Carlos and Mal. We sat in awkward silence for a moment. "I don't know how to start girl talk." Carlos voiced. "What up?" Jay asked with a shrug of his shoulders. Evie chuckled softly. "Um...Well...I'm a mess. I'm such a mess." Mal started with nervous chuckle. "I mean, six months ago, I was, you know, stealing candy from babies. And now, everybody wants me to be this Lady of the Court. And I have no idea how to keep up the act." Mal explained. "Then don't." Carlos suggested. "See? this was dumb." Jay stated starting to get up. "Maybe it wasn't." She told Jay before taking Mal's hand. "We're always gonna be the kids from the Isle. I tried to forget it, I really tried, but those are our roots. And we all did what we had to do to survive. Some more than others." She said meeting my eyes. "But it made us who we are. And we're never gonna be like anybody else here. And that's okay. That's okay." Evie explained. "And we can't fake it." Carlos pointed out. "No." She said shaking her head. I dropped my head a bit. "Yeah, I mean, especially without my spell book." Mal stated. "Well, if Ben doesn't love the real you, then he's not the one." Carlos said. "I like that." Evie said. "Give him a chance." Carlos told Mal. "I'm gonna make some changes to your dress, and if you're up for it, only if you're up for it, it'll be waiting for you, okay?" Evie told Mal. Everyone started to get up and walk away leaving Mal alone with me. Jay stayed back and sat next to Mal. "Come to Cotillion tonight, all right? If Ben isn't smart enough to love you and you can't stand another day, I'll drive you back tomorrow myself." Jay said to Mal. She smiled at him with a nod of her head. "Okay." Jay said getting to his feet. Mal looked at me.

"I don't think I'm gonna go." I said after a while staring at the cerulean blue sky as I picked at the blades of grass. "Why not?" She asked. "Well...I don't know. It just wouldn't feel right. It doesn't seem like the time for me to put on a fake smile and pretend like everything is okay when it obviously isn't." I breathed. "Look, about me and Ben. You shouldn't let that ruin your night, Haden." Mal stated. "No...I'm not--I'm not talking about you and Ben, M. I'm talking about me. With everything that's going in my life. With my new responsibility of ruling over land of dead people, protecting you guys, and...with what happened back in the Isle. I don't think I should be around you guys right now. Especially after what I did to Evie back there." I said. "Sometimes I forget that you're royalty. I never realized how hard it must be for you to rule a kingdom all alone with no one to help you." Mal stated. I sighed. "Yeah. I couldn't have help if I wanted to. No one is allowed entry into the Underworld unless they're a deity, a demigod, or...you know...dead." I explained. "And no gods want to be in the Underworld because of how horrible it is. I mean, who can blame them? There's nothing fun about the Underworld. All it is...is misery and damned souls, with the unerasable stench of death." I added. "Not even Zeus?" She asked. "Hades put special precautions in place that keep Zeus from ever entering the kingdom." I answered. "So...yeah. I'm all alone down there. It's true what they say about Hell...it's terribly lonely down there." I said with a sigh. "That's why you don't want to go to Cotillion." Mal said. I looked up at her. "What do you mean?" I asked. "You're afraid. Afraid of what Evie will think of you now. That's why you don't want to go." Mal said. "I don't know what you're talking about." I said brushing it off. "Please. Haden. I'm not an idiot. I know about your little crush on Evie. I've known since before we ever came to Auradon." Mal stated. I looked away embarrassed. "You're my oldest friend, Haden. And I know how you deal with your emotions...you can't keep these kinds of things to yourself forever. If you do...it'll tear you apart from the inside and it'll make you feel worse." She said grabbing my hand. "You have to tell her." She said. "I can't. Not after what happened on the Isle." I said shaking my head. "Yes, you can. When have you ever known Evie to be unforgiving? Even when we lived back on the Isle? Hmm?" Mal asked. I sighed as I dropped my head. "Look...just...think about it. I know the others will miss you not being there." She said getting to her feet and leaving. I heard three barks from afar. I looked to my left to find Chester running to me before slowing down and dropping to the ground beside me. "Hey boys." I said scratching each of their heads. "Sorry about leaving you behind while I went to the Isle." I said resting my head on the nook between Thanatos and Deimos necks. Phobos whimpered a bit before resting his own head on my chest. "I missed you too, Phobos." I said with a smile.