Only one more chapter!

When Jay and Aziz stood in front of each other it was like they were looking in a mirror, Evie thought. They didn't have identical faces, of course, but they had an abundance of characteristics and features that were creepy similar. To Evie, it was almost laughable that Carlos decided to start dating Aziz. He might as well have been dating a carbon copy. She wasn't going to bring it up, Mal clearly didn't want to talk about it, which was fine. And Carlos and Jay had to know in some form of capacity, and if they didn't. Well, then they really were the biggest idiots in all of Auradon.

When they finally got to meet Aziz, Evie was surprised. She truly wanted to hate him, but it really wasn't possible. From what she could see, Aziz had a true heart and was incredibly kind. He had good intentions and that's all Mal and Evie really wanted for their friend. Carlos was happy. Jay was happy.

The second day Aziz ate lunch with them, Evie watched intently as Jay fidgeted in his seat. Carlos was currently joking with Aziz. Jay was smiling but it seemed forced. He looked like he wanted to be apart of the conversation but felt like he was unwanted. Evie had leaned over, tapping Jay on the shoulder.

She smiled brightly at him, giving him the tightest side hug she could manage. "Mal and I would absolutely love to hear how your day is going today." Jay returned her smile, grateful for the distraction.

That, Evie was going to have to talk to him about. Just days ago he had claimed to be happy for Carlos. That everything was fine and it would stay that way. But watching him, then, it was like viewing another person. Jay's flip had switched and he looked betrayed and annoyed all once. Something had changed. And Evie being Evie couldn't let it rest. She had to make sure that all of her friends were okay and happy. Seeing Jay upset but pretending to be happy just wouldn't do.

That night, Evie had gently invited Jay into her room. He had seemed weary, considering Mal and Carlos weren't invited into the conversation. One on One's in their group always signified something serious. Jay hated their serious talks.

"Is Mal not coming?" Jay asked.

"No," Evie sighed. "She wouldn't want to be here anyways. She's been a little grumpy lately."

That drew a laugh from Jay. "She's always grumpy." Evie nodded in agreement. She gently guided Jay to sit on her bed. She followed suit, plopping herself down and sitting close to Jay so that their shoulders were touching.

"But, we're not here to discuss Mal."

"And what are we here to discuss exactly?" Jay gave Evie a concerned look as he kicked his feet back and forth on the carpet.

"You seemed a little sad at lunch." Evie stopped, giving Jay time to speak if he wanted to refute the accusation. She knew he probably would.

Jay's face immediately scrunched up in doubt. He gave Evie a look that was supposed to make her feel stupid. "No?"

"Well, to me you seemed sad. You weren't sad earlier, so I just thought I would ask if you're okay."

Jay bit at his lip, debating. It wasn't easy lying to Evie and he didn't like doing it. "I'm fine. I'm not horrible but I'm not great." He sighed. "Fine."

Evie nodded as she brushed a piece of hair out of Jay's face. She tapped the corner of his eye, willing him to look her in the eye. "Is that all?"

Jay nodded.

Evie didn't want to force the truth out of him. She never wanted her friends to be tricked or feel pressured into telling her their problems. She just wanted them to feel better. She knew telling another person what is wrong usually helps her, but Jay didn't agree with her on that. He would keep everything bottled up forever if he could. She knew there was more. Jay was fidgety and avoiding eye contact. He clearly wanted out of the situation. She was going to ask him one last thing before letting him leave.

"Are you happy?" She asked softly.

Jay paused, then, "Carlos is happy."

"No. Are you happy?" Evie reiterated, grasping at Jay's hand resting on his leg.

"I'm happy that Carlos is happy." His tone was final, and she knew that it was the best answer she was going to get. Which was fine, because it was a clear enough answer. Jay wasn't happy, but he sacrificed it for someone else. Who would've thought her boys would've ended up being so kind. Some days, when she catches her friends getting judgmental looks, she wishes they knew how kind her friends really were.

Evie couldn't help the look of awe mixed with pity that made its way onto her face. Her emotions controlled her and she didn't like to turn them off if she didn't have to. "I love you."

Jay rolled his eyes but returned her smile. "I love you too."

The weekend had finally arrived and Carlos had never been more relieved. It had been a weird week to him. It started off well enough. He had introduced Aziz to his friends and they all, surprisingly, welcomed him in open arms. Carlos had thought it had gone great. Aziz had other thoughts on the matter. Later that night Aziz had made sure to let Carlos know that "You didn't talk to me more than once for the entirety of lunch."

Carlos didn't know if that was true, but he apologized nonetheless. It had clearly upset him, because he had brought it up with a frown on his face and was trying to will his voice to remain calm and level. From then on out was when everything went off kilter. It felt as if everybody was holding a breath. It was tense and Carlos couldn't figure out why. The most frustrating thing out of it all was everybody else adamantly denied Carlos' accusations.

The remainder of the week during lunch with Aziz and Carlos' friends, Carlos tried to make it better. He made sure he included Aziz more into the conversation and he made sure nobody felt left out. Despite this, Aziz seemed sullen and stand-offish. Carlos had asked him about it and Aziz had brushed it off, saying he didn't know what Carlos was talking about. Then there was Jay, who barely said more than five words while they were all gathered together. That was unusual. Jay was usually the one who was bursting with energy and would never shut up. He was the life of the party. Mix Aziz and Jay together and it made for a weird combination that felt like it would explode at any second.

Evie was quiet, too. When he tried to bring it up with her she had smiled nervously, insisting she didn't know what he was talking about. It was weird. He was done with things always being weird. He just wanted a little taste of normal, that was all he was asking for.

So, the weekend was time for all of his friends to readjust themselves and get their shit together. The tension would be gone, there would be no subtle glares or odd looks given at each other, and there would be no silent treatments. Carlos didn't know what the hell was going on and he needed it to end. Except, it didn't end. It only got more hostile and uncomfortable and Carlos was sick of it.

Carlos, Jay, Mal, and Evie had planned to see a movie that weekend. It was a weekend that they were all available at the same time so they had been looking forward to do something together again. They were going to leave school for a while, experience freedom and everything would be okay. Carlos, of course had wanted to invite Aziz. That seemed to be mistake number one.

That morning Carlos had made his way to Aziz's room. He should've invited him earlier, but it had slipped his mind. Aziz had opened the door with sleepy eyes and a lopsided smile. Carlos quickly let himself in. They were on a schedule and he didn't want to get behind.

"What is the reason I get to see your pretty face this morning?" Aziz had asked, starting off good.

"Well, I wanted to see if you wanted to go to the movies with me and my friends?"

Carlos watched as Aziz paused, slowly settling down onto his bed. His tongue slide over his lips in contemplation and he then asked. "Who's all going?"

Carlos perked up at that. Aziz seemed excited to go, so that was a good sign. "The usual, y'know. Evie is super pumped to go. Doug might join us, but aside from that, just the usual."

Mistake number two had been not being specific enough.

After that, Aziz had agreed easily. He gave Carlos a quick good morning kiss and then ordered him to stand outside while he changed. Carlos tried not to make fun of him for that.

By the time Aziz was finished and they had reached their meeting destination, Carlos was tired but Aziz seemed to be in high spirits so that was all that mattered to Carlos. Carlos admired Aziz as they both leaned up against the brick wall, waiting for the rest of the crew to show up so they could be on their way.

"What movie are we seeing?" Aziz asked.

"I don't know, we usually pick—" Carlos had started to say before he was roughly picked up and spun around. He was manhandled into a big hug and he was immediately surrounded by a strong, familiar scent. "Jay!" He shouted, pulling at the hands that were wrapped around his midsection. He shouted as Jay's pointy fingers grabbed at the skin under Carlos' ribs.

"Hey, C! Are you ready to see this mov—" Jay's voice trailed off as his eyes rose and he locked onto Aziz's tense form. Once he realized that Aziz was standing less than ten feet away from them, Jay quickly let go, immediately putting distance between him and Carlos.

Carlos, despite being an ignorant fool every now and then, made strong note of this. It wasn't hard to miss a strong pair of arms around you when they are snatched away in five seconds flat. He had been pushed away like he had literally burned Jay. Jay seeing Aziz had caused the didn't…. he did not like that.

Before Carlos could even comment, Mal, Evie, and Doug came bounding behind Jay. They were shouting and all smiles and momentarily allowed Carlos to forget about whatever the hell had just happened.

They were walking to the bus they were going to take when Aziz was quick to remind Carlos of the situation that had occurred. "You didn't tell me Jay was going to be here." His voice was low and he sounded angry. Carlos snapped his head to glance at Aziz. His face was giving away no emotions. Carlos knew he was trying to act casual, but his voice had betrayed him. The hostility had appeared again, and Carlos didn't understand why.

Carlos lowered his eyes in confusion, trying not to snap back at Aziz. "I said the usual. Jay is always the usual." Carlos held his gaze on Aziz for longer than normal. It was all he could do not to ask him what the hell his problem was.

"Right," Aziz agreed. "Right"

The movies hadn't gone much better.

Carlos had followed Jay and Mal to the middle of the aisle as he always did when they saw movies together. He went to sit down when his arm was gently grabbed by Aziz.

"Not here," He said.

"But I always sit next to Jay and Mal," Carlos countered.

Aziz's eyes moved from Jay and Mal to the end of the row, narrowing on in where Doug was sitting. "I don't like sitting in the middle."

"What?" Carlos laughed, confused. "Everyone likes sitting in the middle."

"I like the end. Let's go sit by Doug."

Carlos looked down at Jay who was peering up at them, watching the show that was going on above him. He momentarily made eye contact with Carlos, smiling lightly. Carlos smiled back, shrugging as he looked back at Aziz. "Okay."

They shoved their way through the aisle, bumping legs with every one of Carlos' friends. Aziz sat himself down next to Doug, putting Carlos at the very end of the row. Carlos peered down the row at his friends. Him and Jay, oddly, were at complete separate ends. Carlos chuckled as Jay gave him a small wave.

Mal looked at him, creases building between her brows. She motioned at the seat next to her and patted at it. She didn't like that Carlos wasn't sitting next to her. It messed up their system.

Carlos shook his head, shrugging as he pointed to Aziz. Mal frowned, but returned back to her seat. Carlos watched as she leaned over to Evie, whispering into her ear. It must've been something about him because in the next few seconds Evie had turned her head to look at him and Aziz. She quickly looked away again and began speaking with Mal and then Jay.

That was why he always sat right next to them. Now Carlos felt like he was missing an essential conversation.

The movie started and Carlos could forget about all his worries. The movie wasn't as enjoyable as usual. He couldn't mock the characters with Jay and he didn't have Mal poking at him to be quiet every five minutes. He took several glances at Aziz and back at his friends. This was supposed to be a fun filled friend day and he was going to make sure it happened.

"I loved the ending of the movie," Evie said, more than once. She, out of everyone, loved the movie the most.

"Well of course you did. It was a happy ending." Mal joked, linking arms with her blue haired friend.

Jay followed suit, linking arms with Mal. "I don't know, I kinda felt bad for the other dude. He got screwed over. Where was his happy ending?"

Carlos rolled his eyes. He tugged at Aziz's hand, motioning for him to follow suit. Carlos linked arms with Jay and Aziz reluctantly linked with Carlos. "Well," Carlos said, glancing at Jay. "This wasn't his story. When it's his, he'll get his happy ending, too."

Mal groaned. All their eyes snapped to her as she spoke. "Why are we going all serious on some B rated movie. It's not that deep you guys." She laughed, picking up her pace. The rest of the group matched her speed. Carlos knew they probably looked ridiculous, but he was happy. He needed days like these. He missed the days when him and the other three were constantly together. The more he was away from them, the more he realized that they were truly his family. He hoped, one day, that Aziz would understand this.

"That's the fun part of watching movies," Jay responded. It was a little surprising but out of their whole group Jay was the one who was obsessed with movies. He could talk about them for days if you let him. "And I think it is deep, and that guy got a shitty ending."

Carlos snorted, tugging at the corner of Jay's elbow with is own. "Hey, hey!" He insisted, tugging so hard that he nearly stopped the chain they had made. "I disagree with you. I don't think you're seeing it from every angle. His story isn't done. He still has time for his happy ending." Carlos eyed Jay carefully. He caught Jay look down at his lips before quickly returning his gaze. Old Carlos would've been flustered and looked away. This Carlos felt brave and stood taller, holding Jay's gaze. He'd be damned if he was the first one to look away.

Carlos tuned out the voice of his friends around him, egging Jay to break contact first.

"They're not listening." Carlos thought he heard, narrowing his eyes as Jay blinked rapidly.

He heard Evie's soft laugh. "I think they're playing one of their games again."

"This is weird," Jay forced out, breaking his eyes away to look down at their feet all walking in sync. He could feel Aziz tensing up. Carlos realized he hadn't said a word since they left the theater. In hopes that it would cheer him up, Carlos gave Aziz a quick smile and a wink.

"Well I'm right." Carlos laughed, tugging at both Aziz's and Jay's arms. Mal refuted with something Carlos couldn't hear. Their group burst with laughter, and the tension was broken; forgotten until another mistake was made.

Mistake number three of the day?

It had been saying, "Goodnight Jay," To Aziz right before Carlos had given Aziz a kiss.

Carlos had pulled back at Aziz's reaction. His body had gone tense and rigid, and he hadn't kissed back. Carlos was going to ask what was wrong and then suddenly his brain did a rewind and he found himself muttering, "Shit." He didn't know why he had substituted Aziz's name for Jay's. The only reason he could come up with was the fact that they had spent all day together. It had just been a brain scramble. It was the same as when you would call your teacher mom. It was a fluke. It didn't mean anything.

Aziz stumbled away and the flash of hurt that was on his face made Carlos want to hug the boy forever. He always managed to hurt someone. Sometimes, on dark days, he wondered if that was all he was good for.

"I didn't. I don't know why I said that." His tone was pleading, Carlos was always pleading for forgiveness, it seemed. He had to convince Aziz that he hadn't wanted to say Jay's name.

Aziz's face was crestfallen. It quickly faded into something else. Carlos watched as Aziz deflated in what seemed to be acceptance. That hurt more than the painful look he had been wearing earlier. Something had to have been wrong for a while if he had so easily accepted this situation.

Aziz put even more distance between himself and Carlos and with a resigned sort of nod he said, "I know."