[3] Burning Point | Descendants 2

TWELVE: Difficulty With Trust

It was in the middle of the day when Carlos was sitting down on his bed, his laptop in front of him with Dude at his side. The boys didn't have practice today, so they were free to do what they wanted. Jay was taking a nap in his bed, deciding to use the free time he had to get some sleep. But Carlos was watching the press conference that Ben held yesterday, listening to the lies the king told to reassure the people.

Carlos scrolled down and the other headlines, most seemingly about Helena's absence and the fate of their relationship. It was then that he started to think that maybe Helena being in the Isle wasn't so bad after all. She was able to take a break from all the stress and anxiety the media was causing her. It was all she ever wanted, to be free of the expectations and pressures of others, it's all that they both wanted.

A knock on the door caused Carlos to snap out of it. The white-haired boy got up and answered the door to see the postal worker that Mal had spelled.

"Hello there, this just came in for you and your friends," Kenny told him as he handed him a letter, Carlos noticing the light green glow to his eyes.

"Thank you," Carlos muttered, taking the letter and closing the door. He opened the letter and started reading as fast as he could, not being happy with what he read.

"What was that?" Jay asked, his voice groggy from sleep.

"CJ's reply," Carlos responded and then let out a sigh. "This isn't good, not at all. Get up, we have to talk to Evie and Mal."

Reluctantly, Jay got up from his bed and left the dorm with Carlos. The pair headed to a spare dorm, which also doubled as the office for Evie's popular new fashion business, Evie's 4 Hearts. When the boys walked in, they saw Jane standing on the podium as Evie was taking measurements, Doug sitting behind a desk and calculating the numbers. Mal was sitting on her bed, reading through another one of the books that she had to read on how to be a proper lady.

"Oh, hi guys," Jane said to the two boys, Jay flopping down beside Mal to finish his nap.

"Hey Jane," Carlos replied. "Guys, we really need to-"

"Ugh," Mal groaned, throwing the book down on the floor in frustration. "I don't want to do this princess thing anymore."

"What's wrong? I thought you and Ben were working things through," Evie said as she continued working on Jane.

"We are, but things aren't exactly the same anymore since... that argument we had," Mal said, being mindful of Jane and Doug in the room. "Sometimes, I don't think he fully understands what I was trying to say then."

"If he isn't smart enough to love you for who you really are, then he doesn't deserve you. It's as simple as that," Jay advised, comfortable under the warmth of the blanket.

"I know, but now I just can't help but think that maybe it's best for him and for Auradon if I take myself out of the picture."

"Okay, as much as I like that you're venting and getting this all off your chest, I really think we should be talking about this right now," Carlos interrupted, Mal's eyes widening when she saw what he was holding in his hand.

"Is that-" She began to ask and he nodded his head, the dark fairy getting up and taking the letter from Carlos' hands. "I'm sorry, Jane, but you and Doug have to go. We need to talk about something."

"Guys, I'm not even-" Evie began to protest as she turned to him, only to stop when she saw the letter Mal was now reading. "Jane, I'll come find you later today once I'm done here, but we really got to take care of this first."

Jane looked from the villain kids and then back to the designer, slowly nodding her head. "It's fine, don't worry about it."

Evie then shared a look with Doug, silently warning him not to question her about this. The son of Dopey let out a sigh before getting up from his seat, he and Jane both leaving the room suspicious as to what was written in the letter.