Il libro di Jaylos

Promises Broken - Chapter 7 (Final Chapter)

It was a long way to Hell Hall but anything was better than staying in school where he was now nothing more than a fool who had given his heart to a bully.
The front door to Hell Hall was wide open and Cruella's car was still parked in the driveway; Carlos knew he should be scared to face his mom but his heart felt so empty and his mind was blank that he felt nothing walking into the house.
Carlos couldn't hear Cruella but he saw the whole kitchen was black, the pan had probably caught fire from the omelette, there was broken glass and plates everywhere, even some fur coats were strewn across the floors.
Creeping towards his small room the young De Vil listened for noises but all was silent; his bare room looked like he felt, Cruella must have found his room and she's destroyed everything.
Every item of clothing Evie had created was in shredded ribbons on the floor, the single light was smashed and two of the legs on his bed were broken, even his books hadn't escaped her wrath.
Sighing Carlos still felt empty, his whole world was falling apart and there wasn't a single thing he could do about it.
"so you finally came back." Cruella's voice was eerily calm.
It looked like part of her fur coat had caught fire and like she hadn't slept in days; she moved towards him like a tiger hunting pray.
Carlos couldn't move, he allowed Cruella to wrap her sharp fingers around his arm and drag him towards the staircase.
"you're going to have a little accident Carlos." She told him calmly before flinging him down the huge flight of stairs.
Feeling the ground disappear beneath him the young De Vil didn't panic, maybe death was the answer here, maybe accepting punishments for his own stupidity was all her was good for.
Only Carlos never reached the bottom of the stairs, he's barely tumbled twice before being encased in a pair of strong, slightly sweaty arms.
The young De Vil didn't even get chance to think before he was carried out into the drizzling rain and he saw long black hair.
"let me go Jay." Carlos managed to snap.
"never." The older boy stated firmly.
With a lot of energy Carlos pushed away, causing Jay to drop him onto the wet floor, "what are you even doing here? Don't pretend like you care." The younger boy snapped pulling himself to his feet, feeling his palms and knees stinging.
"I do care." Jay insisted taking Carlos's hand in his.
Wriggling free the young De Vil stumbled back, "stop it! Just stop it, you got your money, you can drop the act." He shouted, tears in his eyes again, "please just stop."
"I want to tell you the whole truth, you said you'd listen to me." Jay's voice was pleading, "I need to explain myself."
Carlos wrapped his arms around himself, thinking he fallen down the stairs and this was his dream world but the stinging on his skin was all too real, "why? So you don't feel guilty?" he asked spitefully.
"please let me explain." Jay pleaded, holding out his hand desperately.
Cruella was in the doorway watching them, waiting for one of them to make a move and was shocked to see her son leaving once again; she tried to chase them down but a motorbike is much faster than a woman in heels.
"don't tell me you are skipping school again." Jafar shouted at Jay as he trudged through the aisles, Carlos wondering mindlessly behind him.
"not now dad." Jay said through gritted teeth.
Jafar eyed them both, "so he found out then?" he said slowly.
Feeling his face burn Carlos wanted to cry, obviously everyone knew about the bet except him, Evie probably knew too; still he followed the older boy to his room.
Against his better judgment the smell of Jay was calming to Carlos and he tried not to immediately forgive everything that had happened.
"go on then, explain." Carlos coughed, spotting his fantasy novel sitting on top of the television.
Jay pulled his wet hair from its ponytail, looking for the right words, "it wasn't meant to end like this." He said.
"stop stalling!" Carlos shouted, annoyed at the older boy for trying to sugar coat the situation, "just tell me the truth!" tears spilling over again.
The older boy looked taken aback, he gulped loudly before speaking again, "Chad bet me one hundred bucks to ask you out on a date and an extra hundred if I kissed you." He told Carlos shamefully.
Carlos tried to stop the bile from rising in his throat, "is that it? Is that your explanation?" he asked quietly.
"no, it started because of the bet but it turned into much more. You're just too cute and smart and trusting." Jay began to ramble, he sighed again, "I found myself falling for you."
Carlos so badly wanted to believe him but he didn't think he could after everything, "how do I know you're not lying again, you did a pretty convincing job this weekend." The younger boy picked at a loose thread on his jacket.
Jay approached the younger boy cautiously, "I wasn't lying." He said firmly, "everything I said to you while you were here was the truth."
There was silence for a moment, the young De Vil didn't know what to say to Jay; his words sound so sincere but what if it was all a trick again.
"I know I've been unacceptable but this brought us together and I am so thankful for that." Jay said softly.
Carlos laughed bitterly, "oh, you're thankful for breaking my heart."
"No! I'm thankful to get to know the real you, more than the little nerd who was Evie's personal dress-up doll." Jay exclaimed finally grabbing Carlos's hand.
"it just two hundred bucks for you to see it." The younger boy sighed, not removing his hand from Jay's more out of exhaustion than forgiveness.
"I threw the money back at Chad, it felt dirty, like it was burning my hand just to hold it and I felt cursed." Jay said softly, "please let me prove myself to you."
The young De Vil was quiet for a moment, thinking over Jay's words, "you made a complete fool out of me." He said quietly, "but you've also saved me from my mom twice." He added randomly.
"I will always save you." Jay insisted.
"if I give you another chance, how can I be sure you won't pull this stunt again." Carlos asked seriously.
"you'll have to trust me." Jay said sweetly, "I'll make you happy."
Finally Carlos smiled, tightening his grip on the older boy's hand, "okay, I'll give you another chance, don't blow it."
Jay kissed the young De Vil firmly on the cheek and pulling Carlos to him in a very emotional hug that he didn't seem to want to end.
"do you want to go back to school?" Jay asked about half an hour later as he handed Carlos a chocolate bar.
Chewing thoughtfully on the sweet treat the younger boy wanted to say no, he only wanted to stay in Jay's room, encased in warmth and happiness but he knew Evie would be worrying.
"let's go back." Carlos said with a small smile.
Jay looked unhappy but he still pulled on his coat and they escaped past Jafar again; the old man seemed to have given up shouting after his son whenever he was with the young De Vil.
"you sure about this?" Jay asked as they climbed off his motorbike.
Confrontation wasn't Carlos's strong point but he felt stronger with Jay by his side, knowing now he would always have someone now to back him up, "let's get to class."
The moment the young De Vil entered the classroom he was attacked by a streak of blue; Evie hugged him like he'd been missing for years not a few hours.
"Carlos! What happened? I've been so worried!" Evie exclaimed, tears in her bright blue eyes, her gaze flickered to Jay and she flew at him instead.
"stop stop!" Jay shouted as Evie hit him hard with her handbag, baring her teeth.
"this was all your fault you two-bit playboy, I hope you rot!" Evie shouted and went to attack him again, with chanting from the class, before Carlos stopped her.
Pulling the handbag from the girl's hand Carlos gave her his best smile, "it's okay Evie, I trust him." he said kindly.
Evie looked confused, her mouth opening and closing several times before she nodded slowly, "are you happy?" she asked in a hushed voice.
Carlos gently touched Jay's slightly bruised arm, "I am." He said truthfully.
Taking their seats the boys had to pass Chad who raised his hand to high-five Jay, his smug grin still in place, "two hundred not enough for you man? Get him into bed and I'll give you a grand." He sniggered.
Red blotched Jay's face, nostrils flared and the young De Vil didn't even try and stop him from punching the blond in the face, instantly breaking his nose.
"detention Mr Jafar." Mr Jaq sighed, "infirmary Mr Charming." He pointed the blond out the door before returning to the slideshow on the board.
By the end of the day everybody knew about the bet and they also knew that love seemed to have sprouted between the Tourney jock and the Science nerd; nobody dared question what had actually happened, just gossip and rumours.
Carlos did have to explain to Evie that Cruella had destroyed all of his clothes, he felt guilty since she's spent so much time on each piece, but the blue haired girl didn't seem to mind too much as she suddenly produced hundreds of drawing for more clothes and lent him a few she's already made for the next season.
Jay wouldn't allow the young De Vil return to Hell Hall but Carlos didn't mind, being able to sleep in a warm, safe place more than made up for losing his books, which prince Ben and Mal replaced.
Jafar eventually found caught his son to help around the shop and Carlos helped too; it was nice to do some work and be rewarded; by Jay, not by Jafar, who bought either chocolate or a book to thank his smaller boyfriend for helping.
A couple of times Carlos panicked that everything was going to break apart again, mainly whenever Jay left the room to talk on his cell phone, so the older boy started to put his cell on speaker to put Carlos's mind at ease.
The young De Vil didn't want to be a crazy boyfriend always thinking the worse so he tried his best to trust Jay and every time there was nothing to worry about.
Carlos was happy most days, he woke in the mornings next to the person he cared most about, ate fresh food, didn't have to hide away and was able to have the freedom to be himself.
Chad not only had a broken nose but was also kicked off the Tourney team for bullying another student.
To give credit to Jay he stayed true to his word about making Carlos happy and had to be restrained several times from spoiling the younger boy, on Carlos's request, and in turn he took interest in Tourney.
The relationship may have only been worth two hundred bucks to start with but now it was worth more than the world.