ALI

I leap away from Jay, flustered and caught off-guard as Carlos stares at us, wide-eyed, from my bedroom door, Mal and Evie at his side. I turn my back on them as I pick up my water bottle from the table, drinking from it in hopes of cooling and calming myself down. My heart beats rapidly in my chest.

"There you are," Mal says, focused only on Jay. "We're heading to the kitchens. Are you coming or not?"

I turn my head slightly, meeting Jay's eyes immediately and feeling a flush take over my cheeks. I turn back to the table.

"...Yeah. Coming."

I sigh as the door closes behind them.

Crap.

—

After maybe half an hour of moping in my room, there's a knock at my door and it opens soon after to show Lonnie's face.

"Lonnie, hey," I say, sitting up from my bed, "What's up?"

"I was just gonna go down to the kitchens, make something to eat," She throws her thumb over her shoulder, "Did you wanna come?"

I hesitate. "Ah, you know... I don't really-"

"Pleaaaaseeee?" She pouts, "We haven't hung out in forever. I miss our midnight snack-a-thons."

With a half-hearted sigh, I nod. "Alright. Let's go."

She cheers and bounces on her feet as I make my way slowly to the door. The second I'm in arm's reach, she grips my hand and pulls me with her out the door - which shuts with a loud bang! because of my grip on the handle.

"Careful!" I laugh, easily matching her pace because of my long legs. "What have you been up to lately?" I ask.

Lonnie shrugs as she smiles, walking backwards so she can face me. I make sure she doesn't run into anything. "Not a lot," She says, "Mal made my hair all... cool," She pauses to show off her new hairstyle.

"And I've been running the drills you gave me to do at practice. Other than that... not a lot. What about you?"

I run my hand through my curls and shrug. "Much the same. I haven't been able to hang out with Ben a lot, though, because every time he comes to my room or I go to his, Audrey somehow finds out and summons him."

"Gods," Lonnie sighs, scrunching her nose, "Why does he even stay with her? She's awful!"

"I know!" I laugh, "But Ben doesn't want to hurt her feelings, so he's staying with her."

"That's only going to make it worse, though," Lonnie argues, "It's leading her on."

"I know, I know," I sigh, "He knows, too. We've been trying to meet up so he can work on how he'll break up with her. We were actually making progress the other day, until she showed up."

"That sucks." Lonnie says.

"Yeah," I agree.

We make it to the Kitchens and Lonnie pushes open the door, but we both pause as the VKs all stare at us with wide, bewildered eyes.Then, as if the staring never happened, Lonnie continues forward with a grin.

"Mal! I was looking for you-"

"I thought you wanted snacks?" I say, tilting my head. She grins.

"Well, that's now. I was looking for Mal earlier." Lonnie explains. As if I'd never interrupted, she continues, and I follow behind her slowly, ignoring Jay's eyes on me. "So, as I was saying- all the girls want you to do their hair!"

Mal and Evie laugh awkwardly, and I notice Mal's spell book is open on the bench, covered by a cloth. I raise a brow at Carlos and Jay who wave me over. I lean against the bench between them both and pretend to ignore the subtle pressure behind Jay's knee as it rests against my side.

"Cute dog." I tell Carlos quietly with a smile as I recognise Dude. "I thought you were scared?"

"Turns out there's nothing to be scared of." He smiles.

"Midnight snack, huh?" Lonnie asks, having seen the mixing bowl in Mal's hands, "Whatcha guys making?"

"Nothing special, just cookies-"

I tense as the four VKs all cry out for Lonnie to stop as she dips her finger into the mix and tastes it.

"What? I'm not going to double-dip." Lonnie defends.

I raise my eyebrow with a smirk.

"Feel.. anything?" Evie asks. I withhold a snort at the awkwardness of it all.

"Yeah, like maybe it might be missing something?" Mal tries.

There's silence as Lonnie thinks and I resist the urge to bristle as Jay leans forward against a pole near Lonnie with a smirk. "Hey there." I watch as Lonnie meets my eyes and gives me a look before walking away, "It could use some chips."

"Chips?" Jay asks. I lean forward and pat his shoulder patronisingly, "Nice one, Casanova." I give him a bitter smirk as I move to sit where he had been not long ago and pat Dude, scratching behind his ears.

"Chocolate chips," Lonnie tells them, "Just the most important food group." As she places down the bowl of chocolate chips onto the counter, I frown to myself.

I don't know why I'm so bitter about this. It's not like Jay and I have ever actually been anything, but...

It hurts. Knowing that not even an hour ago, we'd almost kissed, and yet, now, he's down here flirting with my friend? It feels worse than when Abu cut my cheek with a gold ring in a poor attempt at hiding it from my Dad.

I noticed Carlos and Evie giving Jay a look, seeming to not be happy with his choice to flirt with someone while I'm in the room. It makes sense, seeing as they'd walked in on us in a compromising position, but still, it's kinda nice to know I'm not being completely ridiculous.

"Wait, didn't your Moms ever make you guys, like, chocolate chip cookies?"

The VKs, all silent, watch Lonnie with confused frowns on their faces.

"Like, when you're feeling sad, and they're fresh from the oven, with a big glass of milk and she just makes you laugh and puts everything into perspective and..."

"Lonnie," I say softly, my heart hurting as I look at the sad expressions on the VKs faces. Subconsciously, I think, I lay a gentle hand on Jay's folded arms. He looks at me with a weak smile and takes my hand in his, pressing a soft kiss to it before turning his attention back to Lonnie and the others.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"It's just different where we're from," Mal shakes her head and goes back to stirring the cookie mix.

"Yeah, I know. I just, you know, I thought... Even villains love their kids."

My grip on Jay's hand tightens. "Lonnie!"

She looks at me with wide eyes and I shake my head at her, frowning.

"Oh."

My heart physically hurts when I look at Jay and see how despondent he looks. Forgetting whatever anger I felt towards him, I step closer to him, tightening my grip on his hand and leaning against his side. He lets go of my hand to wrap an arm around my waist tightly before taking hold of my hand again.

"How awful." Lonnie murmurs, a tear rolling down her cheek as she gently lays her hands atop Mal's. With a shallow breath, Mal swipes Lonnie's tear from her cheek and flings it into the mix, covering it up with a fake laugh as she and Evie dust off their hands.

"Yeah, well, big bummer, but we have to get these into the oven, so thank you so much for coming by, really, really, have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow. Evil dreams!"

"Goodnight!"

"Goodnight, see you tomorrow!"

I raise a brow as she rushes Lonnie out of the kitchen and shuts the door. "So... what spell did you need a tear for?"

"Nothing."

"A love spell."

Mal gives Jay the evil-eye, raising a brow and pursing her lips. "Jay!"

"What?" Jay shrugs. "We can trust him." I pull away from him with a smirk and lean on my own two feet. "Love the confidence, Casanova."

"It looks better on you." He smirks.

Mal fake gags. "Ew. Alright, lovebirds, separate. Ali, you don't need to be an accomplice for this. Go back to your room. Jay, Carlos- cookie sheets. Evie, oven."

"Yes ma'am."

Carlos and Evie walk to the other side of the kitchen with Mal while Jay stands with me for a few more moments. "You didn't have to do that, you know," He says. I raise an eyebrow in question. "Hold my hand. It was nice, but.."

"I'm gonna stop you there, Jay. You needed comfort, I gave it. That's how it's been since I met you, that's how it will always be, okay?"

He smiles like a fool, then taps his lips with a mischievous grin. "Kiss me goodbye?"

I roll my eyes playfully, but softly kiss his cheek. He freezes. "See you at the game, Casanova. I'll be rooting for you."

I walk out of the kitchen with swagger, shouting my goodbyes to the others as I walk out the door. Hearing Mal call Jay's name as I walk away makes me chuckle to myself.

—

I knock on the polished wooden door impatiently. "I swear to god, if you don't open this door soon..."

It swings open with a slight creak and I'm greeted by Ben in all his half-asleep glory, messy-haired, groggy-eyed and dressed in crown patterned shorts. I snort but let myself glide past him. He closes the door behind me.

"What's wrong?" He asks me, and the yawn he makes afterward makes me feel slightly guilty about waking him up. We both sit on his bed.

"Sorry for waking you up, but I need to tell you something."

Ben leans forward,recognising my serious tone. "What is it?"

"It's about the VKs."

1664 words.

For whoever may be wondering, Booboo Stewart (Jay) is 5'8" and Mena Massoud (Ali) is as well - our boys are exactly the same height. It kind of gives me life I'm ngl.

The only character I own is Ali. Everything else belongs to Disney.