Stained Glass Breaks and So Do Hearts

Glass hearts and Space hurts.

Carlos, one of the original VKs had always had a habit of avoiding people. He would hang out with the other VKs, Evie especially, but he liked his space. All that space can leave a heart often wanting. Boy, did his heart do some wanting now. It started the moment he left the limo that brought him to Auradon.  

He always was smart but finally he would get to learn more than he ever thought. Carlos was far from innocent, he was a VK, but he was never satisfied by the evil, it was the kinship that made him do it. He didn’t want to feel the pain and loneliness he had felt before, when his mother had him. Auradon was his chance to finally change things for himself and he would be smart about it.

It started with chocolates, like every romance, but it was far from romantically intentioned. Carlos had indulged in some on the Limo and was now sticky with it. He was never a clean eater and that never really changed. When Ben touched his hand and smiled, “It is so, so, so good to finally me... meet you all. This is a momentous occasion, and one that I hope will go down in history... Is that chocolate?” licking the chocolate from his finger made Carlos go pale but hot. It was a strange reaction that seemed to reoccur whenever Ben touched him. Carlos just stared and Ben moved on like it was nothing. So he pretended it was nothing too.

Lessons had gone well as school had begun. Carlos took to his studies like expected, soaking up everything he could. Anytime he had a class with Ben though, he couldn’t help but stare. However, they were not in Auradon to learn, but to get the wand. The first plan failed but Mal had come up with another. She planned to spell Ben into loving her. Carlos said nothing when the thought made his heart hit his stomach. It was like bells were ringing, telling him to stop it but this fire in his throat was extinguished by the thoughts of his mother. If they were to fail because of him, his scars throbbed to remind him of how cruel she could be.

Carlos kept to watching Ben from a far. He refused to let himself believe it was more than a passing fancy, something built from friendliness and nothing more. It only got harder to deny when Dude had chased him into the forest. He knew that books here said dogs were harmless, his mother’s abuse had left an emotional scar. One that would soon be healed by a brunette with the most perfect smile. Ben had come to rescue him as only a true prince would.

“Ben, help me! This thing is a killer! He's gonna chase me down and rip out my throat. This is a vicious, rabid pack animal!” Carlos panicked. Ben looked confused, seemingly never having hear this before

“Hey, who told you that?”

“My mother.”

“Cruella?” Ben commented almost amused picking Dude up,

“She's a dog expert. A dog yellerer. Why are you holding him? He's gonna attack you!” Carlos worried for Ben but also started to notice how he wasn’t being attacked. Maybe Ben made everyone feel different when he touched them.

“Carlos, you've never actually met a dog, have you?” Ben smiled comfortingly.

“Of course not.” Carlos breathed as if there were any other answer to that.

“Dude, meet Carlos. Carlos, this is dude. He's the campus mutt.” He offered the dog towards him as if presenting him.

“He doesn't look like a vicious, rabid pack animal. Jeez. You're a good boy, aren't you? You're a good boy.” Carlos took Dude giving him belly rubs.

“I guess you guys have it pretty rough on the island.” His expression faltered with realization.

“Yeah. Let's just say we don't get a lot of belly rubs.” Carlos blurted out before blushing looking at Ben, imagining for a moment his hand on Carlos’ stomach. The warmth, the contact. The loneliness begins to gnaw at that spot, leaving his stomach feel like a hole had formed.  

“Good boy. I mean, you're a good runner. You're... you're fast, you know.” Ben faltered again attempting to regain his composure patting his shoulder. The touch brought back that pale look but with a hot blush underneath. Ben left shortly after that and Dude became someone to keep the loneliness away because god knows it was eating him alive.

As Mal and Ben grew closer, no one seemed to notice the black and white boy sitting on the other side of windows and tables watching. Even Evie was seemingly too distracted by the plan to notice the look on Carlos’ face. His pain was plain for the world but the only one to see it was dude.  

He bottled the pain up behind window panes but glass wasn’t thick enough to stop the hurt from getting the better of him. He found himself spending more time away from the VKs. He had started to isolate until the coronation. When the party to celebrate the defeat of Maleficent and the crowning of King Ben, they danced. Ben danced with everyone to celebrate but when he danced with Carlos, that pale heat was back. He couldn’t hold in the pain when they touched. His eyes began to water, and Ben stopped, “Carlos?” Carlos just shook his head and rubbed his eyes.

“Sorry… uh Allergies.” He started to edge away but Ben gently took his free arm and it started coming out in waves. By this point all the VKs had stopped to come over.

“’los? What’s wrong?” Evie said petting his head softly. It only made him choke on the words that wanted to come out so badly. Mal had wrapped her arm around Ben reflexively and Carlos couldn’t take it. He fled. He ran hard and fast. For a long run of time, he felt like he was back on the isle. He ended up back at where Ben had helped him with Dude. Everyone was out looking for him, but when rustling came it was Dude and Evie who found him.  She always knew how to find him.

Carlos clung to Dude who cuddled him. Evie didn’t pry, she knew that pain wouldn’t be easy to explain and let it go for now. All the memories and touches seemed to come flooding back to Carlos. All this space. He gave Ben so much space and all it did was hurt. His chest burned and his heart ached as if the glass holding back his pain had shattered and hurt him instead. When he calmed down Evie took him back to his room. They chalked it up to the intense emotions of the day but no one really believed it. They knew something was hurting Carlos but for that night all he wanted was to leave the glass shattered around his heart and let go of some of the pain. This space wasn’t working and now he knew he needed to come up with a plan to close the gap. He was smart and a VK, how hard could it be. But love and emotions aren’t so easy to navigate…