"oh, my beautiful flower. you're okay!" rapunzel cheered, grabbing her daughters cheeks and studying her face.
"it isn't their fault mum, chad's a horrible jerk." she cried.
"we know, that chad kid does seem like a huge jerk." her father said, keeping his voice low to avoid being heard.
"i promise, those kids are harmless. some of the nicest people i have ever met really." cordelia rambled.
"slow down flower, we've told you before. we trust you and your judgement." eugene reassured his daughter, who was staring up at them with big eyes.
"do you mind if i go check on them?" cordelia asked.
"of course." she smiled. "your father and i must be going now anyways. we left pascal in charge."
"i'll call you guys in the morning, thank you for coming. i love you both so much." the blonde smiled, bringing her parents in for a group hug. she said her final goodbyes to her parents, before finding ben. "can we go check on them now? i'm worried about them."
~
the vk's picked at their food cautiously, very wary of ant potential spell or even poison. cordelia stood close by ben as they approached them, concern evident on both their faces. carlos looked up, greeting cordelia with a smile which she returned, sitting besides him.
"hey, guys." ben addressed them, trying to break the uncomfortable silence. "how is everyone?" they all stayed silent, their expressions blank. evie continued to push her food around on her plate, while mal stared down at her hands. cordelia reached out and grabbed carlos's hand, sensing he needed a little comfort, eliciting a blush from him.
"hey, listen. forget about it. all right?" ben urged, placing a hand on jay's back. "it was nothing, let it go." he moved behind mal, massaging her shoulders gently. "tomorrow after the coronation. i promise everything will be okay." cordelia slowly rested her head on carlos's shoulder.
"i promise too." cordelia pipped in, her voice slightly firm as she spoke. "i'll do anything to make sure no one bothers any of you again."
"blondie, we have to go. my mum and dad want to speak to us." ben interjected, with a worried expression on his face as he put his phone back into his pocket. cordelia nodded, letting go of carlos's hand and placing a kiss on his cheek. "we'll see you guys later."
"listen evie." doug said, walking over towards her. "i want to talk about earlier today, i just-"
"doug." chad barked.
"what?" doug mumbled, looking back over towards chad. he went to speak to evie once more before getting cut off.
"doug." he barked again.
"doug?" evie questions, looking up at doug.
"sorry, i can't." doug walked over to the ak's table, sitting down, stealing glances at evie. who was tossing her food around on her plate.
"mal's just the bad girl infatuation."
"yeah." jane agreed. "i mean, he's never going to make a villain queen."
audrey joined in, glancing over teasingly at carlos. "carlos, you're not seriously thinking you have a chance with cordelia?" their evil laughter filled the air until mal's gaze fell upon them, silencing them up.
carlos held his head low, fidgeting with the hair tie she had given to him to hold but forgot about. "beware, foreswear, undo jane's hair!" mal flipped through her spell book. one of audrey's friends gasped, prompting audrey to laugh and point at jane. who hair had gone back to it's original state.
