Secret Love

Chapter 3

Mal and Carlos have been spending a lot of time lately. She would often come to his secret laboratory, which was located in a tree house behind Hell Hall, to play with his paint grenades. Once every few days, they would vandalize someone's property with the paint grenades.

Today, they were planning on hitting Ursula's Fish and Chips shop.

Mal walks in through the front door and shoves a pirate out of his seat. He sits down on his table and started eating his slime. It was disgusting, but then again, every piece of food one the Isle is.

"Hey, you're gonna have to pay for that!" yelled Uma.

"Hey, Shrimpy," greeted Mal. She then smelled something shrimpy. "Hair still smells like shrimp, huh?"

"Thanks to you," growled Uma. "Pay up or leave, your choice."

"And if I don't, what will you do?" Mal stood up and looked at Uma in the eye. "No one on this island would dare lay a hand on me."

"They're afraid of your mother, not you," said Uma.

Mal now has a dark look on her face as her hands curls into fists.

"Say that again," Mal dared.

"You really wanna do this now?" asked Uma. "My mom's gonna be furious if we make a mess."

"Really?" Mal puts on a wicked grin on her face.

Carlos walks in through the entrance, pretending not to care about Mal and Uma's conversation. He looks at Mal and winks, telling her that he's ready.

"Are you just gonna smile all day or is this going down?" asked Uma.

Mal replies with a question. "Tell me, Uma. How often do you wash your apron?"

"Once a month, why?" asked Uma.

Mal snaps her fingers. Carlos takes out a grenade, pulls the pin, and throws it to Mal. Mal gives Uma the grenade and runs out of the chip shop with Carlos. Uma juggles the bomb in her hands, panicking. She throws it away, but the nanosecond it left her hand, it had detonated.

Mal and Carlos return to see Uma covered in purple point from head to toe.

Some of the customers started laughing, including Gil, who went back inside to see what had exploded. Harry couldn't help but smirk in response.

"MAL!" Uma yelled.

"So long, Shrimpy," Mal teased.

Mal and Carlos run away.

"Harry! Get them!" Uma ordered.

Harry takes Gil and a couple of pirates to chase Mal and Carlos. However, they were already too far gone.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ ROTTEN TO THE CORE ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Mal and Carlos ran to Mal's bedroom in Bargain Castle, still laughing from their stunt on Uma.

"Hey, nice throw back there," said Mal.

"Did you just compliment me?" asked Carlos, surprised.

"Don't get used to it," said Mal.

Mal notices Carlos staring at her again. She raises an eyebrow, confused as to why he always stares. He's been doing this since they started hanging out every day.

"What?" She asked.

"I'm just having a hard time believing this," said Carlos. "You and me, partners in crime, messing with everyone, just the two of us."

Mal clicks her tongue and raises an eyebrow.

"Getting a little too attached now, are we?" she said.

Carlos blushes and looks away nervously and shoves his hands in his pockets. Mal could see the red under his freckles and smiles in a sinister way.

"Seems to me that you're a little too attached to me," said Mal, walking closer towards Carlos until their faces were inches from each other.

Carlos was getting redder the closer Mal got.

"You're not gonna kiss me again, are you?" asked Carlos, leaning back a bit.

"Depends on if you'll hate it," said Mal, sounding playfully flirty.

"It's hard to if you're so good at it," said Carlos honestly.

"Then you're not getting one," said Mal, turning her back on him.

"But what if I want one?" Carlos said.

Mal froze for a moment. She looks back at him with a confused look on her face. Upon realization, her confused look is replaced with a sly grin.

"Are you actually interested?" asked Mal. "If Jay, Harry, Zevon, and Anthony can't make me swoon, what makes you think you can?"

"I'm not trying to," said Carlos.

"Why so interested?" asked Mal. "I thought I scare you."

"You still do," said Carlos. "I just... these past few weeks have been really precious for me, not just because we get to hang out a lot but also because I'm starting to see something in you that I really admire."

"And what exactly do you see in me?" asked Mal.

"A strong, beautiful woman whose wickedness shows both shows her fire and hides her soft side. While she loves watching people suffer, she yearns for something more. I can tell. You need something in your life," said Carlos.

"I'm surprised you're bold enough to say this to may face," said Mal. "What do you think I need?"

"Love," said Carlos.

"And you think you can provide that for me?" Mal questioned.

This time, Carlos leans closer.

"If you let me," he said.

Mal looked as if she was moved by his words, but then the dark look on her face returns.

"Get out," she said. "Just get out."

Carlos chooses not to argue and leaves, but not before putting something on Mal's hand. Mal opens her hand and sees a rock carved to look like a dragon.

Carlos had already reached the bottom of the staircase, only to hear footsteps coming down fast.

Mal rushes towards Carlos and quickly smashes her lips into his. Carlos tried to pull away, but at the last second, he didn't. He puts his hand around her waist and pulls her closer, deepening the kiss.

"You're right. I do need it," she admitted.

Whoa! Looks like the ship is sailing. What do you think?