Stained Glass Breaks and So Do Hearts

Doug and Evie's Secret

After recovering from their office escapade, Carlos and Ben cleaned themselves up in the nearest bathroom and with a kiss, parted ways. Ben went back to his office to clean up any residual mess and focus on his duties. Being a king seems like all fun and games, but the reality is that Ben's pen could determine who thrived in Auradon. As a just and fair king, Ben was focused on ensuring everyone was well taken care of, especially those without status or fat bank accounts. From having to organize the efforts in relation to the isle, to deciding what color rugs in the foyer of the castle would be changed to for fall.

Carlos thankfully shared his responsibilities with Mal, who was far more prepared to be a lady of the court. After everything that happened in the past few days, Mal's internal green fire was reignited and her purpose renewed. She was taking charge of most Isle related meetings and Carlos knew better than to argue. Today, Mal was booked up solid with meetings in light of the events with Audrey and Hades. This gave Carlos time to go spend a little time with two of his best friends. First, Carlos went to his dorm to fetch Dude before heading to Evie's. He had a date with the king later that night so who better to help him prepare than his best friend. When Carlos arrived, Evie and Doug were curled up on the couch watching a movie and eating caramel popcorn. Evie made it special by adding a little bit of apple and spice, so the treat had a little bit of bite too it. Doug loved it, usually finishing most of the sweet treat himself. Carlos carried dude into the room smirking.

"Should I come back later?" He asked motioning to the door with his head.

"Of course not 'los. You're always welcome... did something happen?" Evie said eyeing him curiously and getting up after pausing their movie. Doug's now free arms found the large bowl of caramel popcorn, watching the two with curiosity. Carlos couldn't help the blush that crept up his cheeks and even tinted the tips of his ears an adorable shade of red.

"Well uh... you could say that yeah..." He eyed Doug, contemplating whether this was a conversation he could manage in front of one of Ben's closest friends.

"Carlos... you are practically glowing. I don't know what happened, but I think I could use some. My skin is looking a little dull today." She smiled consulting a small hand mirror from her pocket in the shape of a heart. Carlos laughed nervously before dude jumped out of his arms to join Doug in devouring the popcorn.

"That's uh... something you and Doug might have to work out... that I very much don't want to know the details of..." he said awkwardly, his blush only worsening. Evie eyed him, starting to circle him like a vulture.

"hmmm... Love bites, messy hair, full-body glow... "Evie contemplated eyes narrowing a bit on his face leaning in a bit, making Carlos recoil a bit. The blue-haired girl let out a gasp and her eyes went wide before the shrillest and most ear-splitting squeal broke their eardrums.

"CARLOS! YOU DID IT!" Evie squealed, Carlos, Doug, and Dude all cowered away from the sound. All he could do really was cover his face with his hands and nod embarrassed.

"That's not why I'm here... I just wanted to hang out before my date..." Carlos said trying to change the subject away from the very intimate subject now being raised.

"You have to tell me everything. I thought you two were waiting for the time to be perfect?" Evie gushed excitedly for her best friend. He shrugged his face still a shade of red similar to what he was already wearing.

"Well... I guess all the surprises today really did it. That and he said that as long as it was with me, it would be perfect." Carlos said looking away, catching the look of Doug eating popcorn watching the two like they were some kind of entertainment.

"Oh wow... I knew Ben was charming but that's so romantic... Where did this happen anyway? I thought he had King business... OH MY GOODNESS! YOU DIDN'T!" Evie squealed again making the three recoil again.

"We did... uh, can we talk about something else...?" Carlos begged, his entire body was undoubtedly a shade of crimson at this point.

"Fine, fine but this isn't the end of that discussion." Evie threatened before an idea came to Carlos.

"Have you and Doug...?" he asked causing Doug to nearly choke on his popcorn. Now it was Evie's turn to be painted red.

"No... but um... well..." She looks over at Doug who shares a look with her. The two seem to be trying to have a silent argument of sorts before Evie sighs heavily biting her lip. "Fine, yes we have... it wasn't originally supposed to get that far but I couldn't help myself. It didn't exactly... go the way either of us planned..." Doug and Evie both looked a little uncomfortable, but Carlos was curious.

"Wait... when? What happened?" he tilted his head the way dude does sometimes. Evie looked at Doug, who was now staring into the empty bowl of caramel corn like it would somehow save him from the awkward subject.

"well uh... Mal might have walked in on us... with Jane and... Lonnie..." Evie put her hand on her face. "Mal had to use a memory-erasing spell cause it was so embarrassing... She and us are the only ones who remember it."

"Oh god, I'm so, so sorry!" He hugged her, whispering quietly with a wicked playful smirk, locking eye with Doug. "Was it at least good before that?" Carlos teased. Evie buried her face in his shoulder nodding her head a bit.

"So about that date with Ben..." Doug coughed, now the less than proud owner of a full-body blush.

"Yes?" Carlos smirked still at him, watching him squirm. Just because Carlos was good didn't mean he didn't like to be a little bad occasionally, Ben would know. With that, the conversation turned away from embarrassing subjects and onto the events of the night to come.