Il libro di Jaylos

bullied

taken from: Skypan on Ao3

On the Isle of the Lost where the only citizens are villains, meanness is to be expected. Values are taught backwards. Being good is bad, and being bad is good. However, some people take it to the next level even there. None of the parents were very loving, but most provide food and clothing and shelter for their young, maybe even a little affection every now and again.
Carlos de Vil has had it the worst, and most of the villains can see it. He wears long sleeves, even in the summer, for some reason he always seems to have foundation in his bag, and to be honest the boy is just a little too thin. The other kids have no idea what kind of demons Carlos has at home though. All the other kids know is that he is small, he is weak, and that he doesn't fight back.
Carlos is used to people hurting him; he had come to accept it really. Sure he has friends (or at least allies) too; his mom is friends with three other villains who have kids so they're thrown together a lot. They had come to be a little gang of their own. But even so, he was always waiting for one of them to scream at him, slap him, to punish him for something. That's what his mom does, and that's what a few of the older kids at school had started doing. Why bother telling anyone? Who would help a runt like him?
By high school he has skin wrapped in scars that he constantly has to hide, a mountain of anxiety from the feeling of constantly being attacked, and a major crush on his best friend. He's a little bit of a genius, so he does the homework for a lot of his grade in return for slightly lighter beatings. He's still never spoken about the bullying to his friends, he just assumes they would tell him that he deserved it or to just man up. No, they would never find out just what kind of hell Carlos is living in.
Until one day...

"You are nothing and don't you ever forget it." Carlos is on the floor, his eyes closed from pain. His senses are swimming and he's starting to feel cold from loss of blood. But from the sounds of the ranting, the beating is just about over. It's worse than normal and Carlos worries that he'll have trouble getting all of his homework and chores done tonight.
He hears the footsteps of the three guys who had jumped him start walking away. He waits until they're totally gone to move. Very, very slowly he sits up, wincing from the way his body protests. He opens his eyes and quickly locates his backpack where he stashed it behind the trashcan when he heard the guys coming for him. He pulls it over and opens it, taking a small cardboard box from inside. First he surveys the damaged: He'd have bruises on his face tomorrow no doubt, but they probably won't show up for a while so they aren't priority. He has cuts and gashes on his arms and back which would need to be disinfected and bandaged. Nothing seemed to be broken luckily, and they had avoided his legs knowing that he always wore shorts, a trick he had picked up years ago so that at least part of him will be protected.
Carlos sighs and uses the wall to pull him up. He walks as quickly as he can (very slowly) to the nearest bathroom and wets down a dirty rag from his box. Pulling back his sleeves, he winces and begins to clean up his cuts. He's so immersed in his work and the person entering the room is so naturally quiet that he doesn't know he's there, until-
"Hey C, where were you last period-"Jay freezes as Carlos whips around (and immediately regrets it). Jay lets out a few choice curse words and grabs Carlos's hand to look at his arm. "What happened? Who did this to you?" He seems furious, there's a fire in his eyes Carlos has only ever seen before when he's defending Evie from creepy guys or Mal from... Well, herself.
"I, uh... I don't remember," Carlos responds weakly. "But it's alright, just as long as I get cleaned up before going home."
He sounds so calm and matter of fact that Jay's heart breaks a little. Then he notices something. What seem to be faint scars all along Carlos's arm and now that he looks closer, his face and neck. Jay grabs the rag from Carlos's hand and starts running it along his hands and arms, up to his neck and over his jaw.
"No, Jay, don't please! I'm fine, it's all fine, I just need to finish, please stop-"Carlos is pleading, terrified of Jay finding out his secret. He's been keeping this hidden for so long, he can't let people find out now.
Jay sees scars upon scars as well as fading bruises and newer ones. He feels sick, Carlos might as well be a voodoo doll his skin is criss-crossed with so many scars and blooming so many colors. "How long?" He chokes out.
"I don't know what you mean?" Carlos tries despite himself.
Jay glares at him, and though the anger isn't focused on him, it's still intimidating. "How. Long." He repeats.
"M-my whole life..." Carlos admits, tearing up as he finally speaks the words he's never said. "My mom has been hitting me since I was a kid. I thought it was normal for a while, but I saw how your parents treated you guys and... I realized that I must be worse than you. I've done something wrong, because otherwise people wouldn't hurt me so much. Even after I came to school, through elementary and middle school most people seem to have it out for me. And I guess for them it's because I can't fight back, but still it kind of feels like I'm being punished. I just wish someone would tell me what I did that was so wrong? Was it when I was a baby? Did it make my dad leave me with her?" Carlos is sobbing and shaking by this point, not even looking at Jay anymore.
Jay pulls Carlos against him and hugs him firmly, but not so hard as to hurt him. He doesn't trust his voice yet, so for now he rocks Carlos back and forth, gently rubbing his back in slow circles. Finally when Carlos's tears have slowed to sniffling and Jay feels like he isn't about to cry or throw up, he pulls back just a bit. Jay gently lifts Carlos's chin so their eyes meet. "You have never done anything wrong. You are not being punished for something you did when you were younger, I promise. You are the best person I know Carlos. And although that's not supposed to be a good thing... Look, I just know you aren't being punished. The people who hurt you are bullies. More than that, they're-"And he let out a few more curse words. "But they don't even matter. What they think and what they do is wrong. So I'm going to stop them."
Carlos stares up at Jay in amazement. "Why? Why would you help me?"
Jay opens his mouth and almost admits his own biggest secret. He wants to tell the smaller boy that he thinks he's the most beautiful thing in the world. He wants to say that every time Carlos smiles it feels like someone is saying "there is a heaven". He wants to say that if he could keep Carlos next to him and safe forever, then he would. He wants to say that Carlos's laugh is the best music he's ever heard and that his hair is the softest thing to ever touch his skin.
But they're on the Isle. Maybe, if they lived in Auradon where people care and understand, he would have said those things. Maybe he will in the future. But not now, now when he's just learned how difficult Carlos's life is. He can't make it worse by throwing in a bi best friend. Besides, Carlos might not even like him.
So he swallows it all down and smiles his classic smile, the one he uses when he flirts with girls to get something. "Because you're my friend C. For a genius you sure can be stupid sometimes. I'll always help you. I've got your back"
And Carlos smiles back. He smiles big and wide and his eyes light up. Jay feels like there's a swarm of bats in his stomach and his heart has taken up a new address in his throat. Yeah, there's a heaven. And it's in Carlos de Vil's eyes.