A/N – Hey guys! Welcome back to another chapter. I hope you enjoy! :)
…
CHAPTER 22
…
The group listened intently as Mal explained her past with Harry. When she was finished, the Auradonians sat quietly, jaws on the floor. Mal grinned, watching them.
"You guys okay?" She laughed.
They jolted, as if awakening from a sleep, and nodded slowly.
"I told you everything. I swear," Mal continued, leaning forward in Harry's lap and stretching like a cat.
"So, you really did all that then? Back on the isle?" Jane asked nervously.
"Yeah," Jay answered, cutting in. "We all did stuff like that. It's what we had to do to survive. But that's not us anymore. Right, guys?" He asked, looking at the other VK's.
"Exactly," they all agreed.
"And, anyway," Evie started, "You guys know us. You know we wouldn't do anything like that now."
Doug smiled at her, putting an arm around her. "We know."
There was a moment of silence, as all of the new information that had been spoken sunk in. Jane's eyes still flitted nervously between the VK's.
Gil spoke up. "So, I don't know about you guys, but I didn't have a chance to at much breakfast before, ya know," he smiled at Mal sheepishly. "So, I'm pretty hungry!"
Everyone laughed and agreed, grateful for the of change of subject.
"You're always hungry, mate," Harry smirked, causing everyone to laugh again.
"Should we get food then?" Carlos asked the group. "We've missed breakfast in the school cafeteria, but we could always go to the other café?
The group set about leaving the dorm room, and Carlos walked over to Jane, who was still sitting down on the floor. He stretched out his hand to her, and jerked his head, implying that he would help her up. She eyed him bashfully, but accepted his hand, and let him tug her up from the floor.
"You probably think I'm being silly, she began, blushing. "For being, uhm, scared, I guess."
"I don't think that at all. It's normal. You're not used to violence, which is a good thing! We don't think you're being silly, and I definitely don't. Besides," he grinned, "You didn't think I was silly for being scared of dogs when I first got here."
She laughed, nodding her head in agreement. "We should probably catch up with the others," she said quietly, gesturing to the others who were already out in the hall.
Carlos smiled at her, and tugged her gently out of the room, closing the door behind them.
…
The large group made their way slowly to the café on the other side of the school grounds. As they walked, they split into separate smaller groups, taking about this and that amongst themselves; the girls giggling at something that Lonnie had said, and the boys following close behind, the three of them pushing and shoving each other, chuckling.
Harry and Mal lagged behind, strolling with their hands entwined behind the rest of their friends.
"Do you think I made a mistake?" Mal asked Harry quietly, glancing forward to make sure her friends didn't hear their conversation.
"Mistake about what?" He replied.
"I don't know," she sighed. "All of it?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you think 'all of it' was a mistake?"
She groaned. "I don't know what I think. But I know that Ben is going to be furious." She looked down at the ground, before jerking her head up quickly to look at Harry.
"What did you do with him?" She asked quickly, a slight sense of panic in her voice.
"He got what he deserved," Harry answered grimly, tilting Mal's head gently to look at the dark mark across her cheek, and the fingermarks around her neck.
"What?!" Mal cried. Everyone in front of the pair turned around at her shriek. She waved a hand at them dismissively.
She lowered her voice again, before turning and whispering frantically, "Harry, please tell me you did not hook the King of-"
He cut her off mid-sentence. "Relax, love, I was joking!" He smirked, sticking his tongue out at her.
"Oh my god," Mal muttered, breathing out a sigh of relief. She glared up at him. "I hate you so much. You are the absolute worst," she said, swatting him lightly across the chest.
"But, seriously though, what did you do with him?" She asked again, staring up at him intently.
"I dropped him in a cupboard in the corridor outside the dining hall. And I gave him a very good reason not to mention anything to anyone until we had had an opportunity to catch up with him."
"What did you do?" She murmured.
"I just," Harry grinned, "gave him a gentle suggestion. That's all."
Mal laughed softly. "Yeah, okay, Pirate." Her eyes drifted downwards to the ground, watching her and Harry's feet stepping in perfect time with one another. "Thank you," she whispered.
"For what?"
"I don't know. Everything."
"Well," he replied, tilting her head up towards him again. "You're most welcome, my wee dragon."
She smiled at him. He looked her up and down. She raised an eyebrow, questioning him.
"Have I mentioned how bloody gorgeous you look?"
She smirked. "No, I don't think you have."
"Well then, let me fix that. You look absolutely gorgeous. You always do," he continued, nudging her to turn her in a circle in front of him, "But there's something especially nice about you when you loo like you. You know what I mean?"
She laughed again. "I think so."
Harry looked around them. They were currently walking across a large, open, grassy, area in order to get to the smaller café. He smirked to himself, as Mal watched him curiously.
"What?" She asked, glancing around to see if she had missed something.
"Nothing," he answered smugly, letting go of her hand and jogging forward to catch up to the boys. He tugged Jay aside and muttered something in his ear. Jay laughed, and high-fived Harry, then started to count down out loud.
"5, 4, 3," He began to shout. Jay sprinted forward to Evie, as Harry sprinted back to Mal, who had stopped to watch them curiously.
As Jay reached one, Mal and Evie were lifted up onto the shoulders of Harry and Jay. Both girls squealed, now aware of what was happening.
The two boys laughed as the rest of the group stopped to stare at them.
"CHARGE!" Harry and Jay roared, racing forward with the girls balanced on their shoulders.
As the two rushed forwards, Gil ran up behind Carlos.
"Quick! We can still win!" Carlos laughed, and Gil quickly lifted the smaller boy onto his shoulders and began to run as well.
"CHARGE!" He yelled as well, before trying desperately to catch up to them.
…
The aftermath was hilarious. All six of them tumbled to the ground, rolling around in the soft grass.
The Auradonians walked up to the mess of arms and legs slowly. "What was that?" Lonnie asked, chuckling as she helped Evie to her feet.
The rest of them made no move to get up, instead choosing to lie there, laughing hysterically.
Mal sat up, tugging Jay up with her. They looked up at the others from their seat in the grass.
"It was a game we used to play on the Isle," Jay began to explain.
"We used to change teams every time we played it," Harry continued.
"So, Carlos ended up trying to carry Jay once!" Mal exclaimed, bursting into laughter all over again.
"Do you remember?" Carlos wheezed. "We didn't even make it ten feet!"
Gil interjected too. "And then, when you dropped him, he landed in- in- in," Gil spluttered, hardly able to speak for laughing.
"In the mud pit!" Evie cried, giggling.
"You guys should play it with us!" Harry grinned, looking up at the Auradonians.
Lonnie grinned back. "It looks fun!"
"It looks dangerous," Jane murmured.
"We'll only play it on the grass then, Jane," Mal assured her, "So that if you fall, it won't hurt."
Doug chuckled, helping the others up. "We should play it at the waterfall."
Carlos gasped. "We totally should! That would be so good; it'd be so slippy!"
"Maybe we should go then. We could have a whole day there! Bring food, and spend the entire day there," Evie suggested, smiling.
The whole group agreed happily.
Harry tugged Mal back into him, wrapping his arm around her as they finished the short remainder of the walk left. She rested her head against him as the walked. "It'll be one last day of fun before school starts again," she said, pulling a face.
"Aye, can't wait," he agreed, planting a kiss to the top of her head.
…
The group sat down in the small café, which, thankfully, was empty apart from them. They ordered their food, which was swiftly delivered to them. Gil ate excitedly, trying to cram as much food into his mouth as possible.
Jay chuckled. "Relax, buddy, you can get more afterwards."
Doug spoke up, addressing the whole group. "Have you guys told Harry and Gil about the science trip yet?"
Harry turned to him. "Science trip?"
"Yeah, we meant to. Thanks, Doug," Evie smiled, before turning back to the two pirates. "At the start of the year, you go on a camping trip with your science class. To learn 'valuable survival skills', so we spend three days camping in the woods, on the other side of the kingdom, she explained, making quotation marks with her fingers, and pulling a face. "I hate camping," she moaned, slumping back in her seat.
Doug smiled sympathetically at her. "It won't be too bad. I'm in your science class this time! In fact," he looked around the table, "I'm pretty sure we're all in the same practical."
"We are," Jane answered. They turned to look at her.
"What?" She shrugged, smiling. "I have access to the class lists because of my mom."
"Well, that's good. We're all together then." Jay whooped, high-fiving everyone within arm's reach.
"Yeah," Jane replied, "But,"
"But what, Jane?" Mal asked, a sinking feeling in her stomach.
"But so are Audrey, Chad, and Ben," Jane sighed, looking at Mal nervously.
"Ugh," Mal groaned. "Ben and Audrey are horrific enough, but Chad as well?!"
"Who's Chad?" Harry asked her concernedly.
"Ugh, no-one important, believe me. He's a jerk. He never leaves Evie or I alone. Or any of the girls, actually."
Carlos leaned forward, craning to see Mal. "He's still bothering you two?"
Evie nodded her head in agreement with Mal. "But we can handle ourselves," she replied, winking at him.
"I'm sure you can," he laughed.
"He's bothering you, love?" Harry asked Mal quietly.
"Yeah, but he's harmless, don't worry. It's Ben we need to worry about," she answered, absentmindedly rubbing the marks on her neck.
Harry glanced down at her, before addressing the table
"Well, none of you need to worry about this 'Chad' anymore," Harry spoke. "Cause now you've got two pirates to look out for you!" He exclaimed.
"Right, Gil?"
"Mmm hmm," Gil shook his head fiercely in agreement, his mouth still full.
"You look like a chipmunk," Lonnie chuckled.
Then she turned to look at Harry. "But Evie's right. We can handle ourselves."
"Yeah, they can," Jay agreed, grinning. "You remember what these hellcats were like back on the Isle?" He asked Harry, gesturing at Mal and Evie. "I think Lonnie would have fit right in!" He laughed, nudging her.
"And everyone loves Jane, so she's sorted," Mal spoke, and everyone agreed, laughing as Jane blushed.
"Can we get more of this?" Gil asked, holding up an empty bowl. "Ooh, and milkshakes?"
Evie smiled kindly at him. "Of course we can, but-"
She was interrupted by the café door being flung open.
"And what do you think you're doing here?" A shrill voice cried from the doorway.
Mal and Harry groaned simultaneously.
"Oh, for God's sakes," Harry muttered. "Can I throw another milkshake around her?"
Mal snorted. "I'm not opposed to that," she whispered back.
…
A/N – Thank you so much for reading, and if you liked it, leave a review, and let me know! :)