𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐘 - carlos de vil ✔︎

07.

WE WERE in the kitchens, making the love spell we needed, which was just a batch of spelled cookies. I stood beside Mal, reading the recipe while she and E would make it, and the boy sat on the steel counter with Dude.

"Ok, it says that we need one tear, and I don't cry," I said, holding the book in my hand, underlining the sentence with my finger.

"Let's just chop up some onions," Carlos suggested, grabbing one out of a wooden bin.

"That won't work. We need one tear of human sadness. And we have to follow it exactly if we want this to work." I turned my head towards him.

"A tear's a tear." Jay rolled his eyes.

"That's not true, Jay. They both have antibodies and enzymes, but a tear has more protein-based hormones than a reflex tear." Evie shook her head, passing M the flour.

"Listen to you," Mal smirked.

"Yeah, I knew that." My brother scoffed with a chuckle. 

"Did not." Carlos hit his arm

"Yeah, I did." 

"There you are, Mal!" Lonnie then opened the door, walking in. I quickly closed the book on my finger, holding the page, hiding it behind my me.

"I was looking for you. You know, all the girls want you to do their hair! Midnight snack, huh? What you guys making?" She looked at the bowl of batter in front of us.

"Nothing special. Just cookies." M shrugged. Suddenly, she dipped her finger in, tasting it.

"Oh, no, no!" 

"Wait, wait, wait!" We all held out a hand, motioning for her to stop.

"What? I'm not gonna double dip." She stared at us weirdly.

"Feel anything?" E asked, hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, like it might be missing something?" I added to seem more normal.

"Hey, there." Jay stepped forward with a grin, flirting with her.

"It could use some chips." She shrugged her shoulder, walking over to the pantry in the corner.

"Chips?" He repeated, confused.

"What's that?" I furrowed my brows while the girls sighed.  

"Chocolate chips. Just the most important food group. Wait, didn't your moms ever make you guys, like, chip cookies?" Lon questioned, throwing some into the mix. "Like, when you're sad, and they're fresh from the oven, with a big old glass of milk, and she just you laugh and puts everything into perspective and... Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"It's a bit different where we're from, Lonnie," I said with a tight smile.

"Yeah, I know. I just, you know, I thought... Even villains love kids. Oh... How awful." She explained nervously, a tear forming and eventually falling while she held Mal's hand.

M caught the tear off her cheek, putting it in the bowl. "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." She pushed Mulan's daughter out the door.

"Good night. See you tomorrow." Lonnie said, closing the door behind her.

"Okay, boys, cookie sheet. Evie, oven. Cece, book." M instructed and I threw her the spell book.

"Yes, ma'am." E mocked, bringing the batter.

─── ⊹⊱☆⊰⊹ ───

I wore a cropped black and gray striped long-sleeve, purple cargo pants and heeled combat boots with my regular silver jewelry. I was walking in the halls with Jay, his arm over my shoulders in a brotherly manner. 

We walked over to Mal while she dug through her locker. I asked her, "Are you feeling kinda weird about this, M?"

 "I mean, it's not so bad here, you know?" Jay smirked. 

"Are you two insane? Long live Evil! You're mean! You're awful! You're bad news! Snap out of it, guys." She shook her fist at us and snapped her fingers in our faces. 

"Thanks, Mal. We needed that." Jay chuckled and she patted him on the back. We walked off, and he lifted his arm off me, going to the railing and talking to the girls down there on the field. I stood beside Carlos, who sat down, with Evie leaning back against the railing.

"Hi." I greeted him, bending down slightly and running a hand through his hair. He hummed in delight with a chuckle. 

"Hey." He smiled, turning his head towards mine. 

"You think this will work?" I questioned, skeptical of this plan, standing up with my palms still on Carlos' shoulders. 

"It should, we added the tear, right?" E nodded. 

"Yeah, we got it." De Vil confirmed. 

"Guys, eyes up," Jay said, joining us and referring to Mal and Ben over by the lockers. We watched him take a bite of the cookie, grabbing it from her hand. She looked over at us, and we slowly came over. Carlos moved his arm around my hip as we stood behind M and Jay behind Ben, palms on his arms. The prince almost took another bite when she took it from him and put it back in the bag.

"How you feelin', bro?" He asked with a smile. 

"I feel... I feel... I feel like signing your name. Mal! Mal!" He sang loudly, and she slapped a hand over his mouth, giving the bag to my brother. Jay whistled, looking at it.

"Wow." I giggled, elbow resting on Carlos' shoulder. 

Basically, after the Tourney game which the boys had won, Ben sang a song about Mal, expressing his love for her and asking her as his date for the coronation. I watched from the bleachers beside M and E, Jay being lifted into the air with the tourney cup. I don't think I've ever seen my brother or Carlos or Mal or Evie look as happy as they did today. Nothing made them smile that bright. I think all of us were proud of the guys, and they were proud of themselves. Maybe I didn't want to leave...