Why are Lovers Always so Oblivious

Ashlyn's POV

My thoughts were interrupted by the door slowly opening and Evie smiling at me.

"Hey Ashlyn. What are you doing here?"

I quickly snapped back to reality and give her a wave. "Oh, hey Evie. I just wanted to see if you wanted to help me with something?"

"Does it have anything to do with the bag Carlos is holding?" Mal asks from behind her.

I smirk. "It does actually. Mal, Carlos can explain it to you outside. Could I have some alone time to talk to Evie?"

She gives me a confused look but gets up from the bed and walks up to Carlos. The second she leaves I slam the door shut and grin.

"What's going on Ashlyn?" Evie asks.

I smile. "I may have been walking towards your dorm when I heard Carlos singing a love song about Mal."

Evie's face drops as she begins to grin excitedly. "Oh my god! Yes! I knew it! He does love her!"

I smirk. "Anyways, I might have a plan on how to get them together, but...you have to promise not to hate me for it."

She nods vigorously and I sigh, but it's quickly replaced by that usual wicked grin. "So, I may plan on convincing me and my brother to flirt with both Carlos and Mal to get them to realize their true feelings for each other. And if that doesn't work I'm sure Carlos will step in if my brother tries to kiss Mal.

She looks at me in complete awe and befuddlement. "She'll kill both of you." She warns.

"But it's for true love." I whine.

She smiles. "Cut the kissing part, or Mal will kill your brother."

I groan. "Who said that wasn't the point of that part of the plan?"

She gave me a smile. "She'll also kill you." She says.

"I'm prepared for that." I reply.

She gives me a look of confusion but shakes it away. "So what did he do? What song did he sing? What did he tell you? Mal feels the same way."

"Um, he spray painted a jacket, he kept repeating obvious a billion times, he denied that any of it was true and wasn't what I thought, and really? I couldn't guess." I answer.

She just laughs. "Oh my god. You need to tell me everything later."

"Later?" I ask.

"Mal will get suspicious if we wait too long. She already knows about this whole Marlos thing, but she's too scared to admit it."

"Marlos?" I ask.

"Their ship name. Marlos or Cal. We chose Marlos."

"Makes enough sense. Um, quick question. How long has this been going on?" I ask.

Evie giggles. "Love at first sight?"

"How long?"

"Six years ago. She's been crushing on him since."

I couldn't hold in my laughter. "What about Carlos?"

"I'm not sure. From what you told me it sounds like he just realized how he felt, but he's felt it for a while. I'd guess a few years or so."

"It took that long for them to get together?" I groaned.

She nods. "They aren't actually together yet. We know they feel the same, but they don't."

"I'm just gonna put my plan in action today. I can't handle anymore of these lovey dovey moments where they're still both oblivious to the obvious."

"Now you know how I've felt for the last four years."

"They're both going to hate me after today," I say with a grin.

She just rolls her eyes and grabs my hand, bringing me to the door. "So what do you need help with?" Evie asks. "Other than what you told me?"

"We've been getting a bunch of complaints for keeping you here. Ben wants to tell everyone the real reason, but I refused."

"Thank you."

"Yeah, no problem. Anyways, Ben thought I was joking, but I came here to see if you wanted to help me burn all these letters. Figuring as they are about you four."

She narrowed her eyes causing Ashlyn to smirk. "You're nothing like a princess."

"What gave you the hint?" I joke.

She laughs and opens the door; to see Mal and Carlos obviously flirting with each other. I mean, how are they not together? They literally are staring into each other's eyes and laughing. Their smiles are much wider than I've ever seen anyone smile, except maybe Crystal when we first learned magic, or when she learned I was awake after the accident. That was her finding out I was alive, and they're acting the exact same by being around each other, but they don't know it! Evie told me that for six years Mal's liked Carlos, and I suspect Carlos has for at least three years. A minimum of three years of moments like these, even in a place like the Isle.

"Love birds! Are you done yet?" Evie questions with a smirk.

"Are they always like this?" I ask her with my voice lowered, although I already can guess what the answer is.

"You have no idea." She groans.

I smirk. "I might have a few ideas." I whisper.

She just chuckles, but it's cut off by Mal and Carlos. "Don't call us that." Mal snaps. "We're just friends." Carlos adds.

I narrow my eyes in Carlos' direction with an 'are you serious' look. He meets my glare and gives off a sheepish smile. "Coward." I mutter under my breath.

Evie seems to have heard it, since she stifled a laugh, earning a look of confusion from Mal. "Is this the only reason you're here?" She asks, gesturing to the bag of letters I left in their dorm.

I hesitate. Better not to tell Mal who has a crush on Carlos that I plan to flirt with Carlos. "Yeah. Audrey drives me insane. Just because she doesn't think we made the right choice doesn't mean that she should complain about it every waking second of the day." I lied. Well, at least part of it was a lie. The part about Audrey being a bitch is totally true.

"They're all from Audrey." Mal states awkwardly.

I nod. "So much for her making friends."

We share a laugh before the room turns silent. Evie is first to break the awkward silence, "So I'm gonna go get Jay. You three start without us."

"Start?" Mal scoffs. "How long is this supposed to take?"

"Well I never said the letters were the only things we were burning."

They shot me a grin before silently nodding. Evie took that as her cue to run off, and my plan began.

Step one; time to piss off Mal

Mal's POV

Ashlyn led us down a hallway into what I assume is her dorm. It had silver white walls and a very castle-like look to it. The curtains were a marine blue unlike ours, and the room was almost twice the size of both ours and the boys room combined. Across the room were piles of stuff, including a brown box, similar to the one that Ashlyn had all the letters from Yen Sid in. Next to one of the beds was a long brown staff and on the table next to it was a pair of white gloves. On the counters and walls were multiple photos of Ashlyn's family and someone else's family. A few photo's had a group of strangers and Ashlyn. She looked to be only about nine in that picture and had the biggest smile I've ever seen. Next to her was a short girl with silver colored hair. There were small blue streaks in her hair and it extended down to her neck. Her eyes were blue and she was standing next to two adults. One with spiky white hair and the other with platinum blond colored hair. Something about them seems familiar, but I just can't place it. Especially the man, I feel like I've seen him before.

"Why is your room so much bigger than ours?" Carlos complains as he looks around the room.

Ashlyn shrugs. "Something to do with me being the soon to be queen." She says, although it comes out more as a question.

Carlos's face turns from complete awe, to complete and utter confusion. "Why are you becoming queen now? Aren't you older than him?" He asks.

That does make sense. Why wouldn't Ashlyn be queen before now? Maybe we would've come sooner if she was. Maybe he could've come.

"Simple." She growls. "My parents don't trust me not to destroy the barrier the second I become queen." She seethed in anger, her voice lower than normal. "Even once I become queen there has to be a complete agreement between me and Ben before I can make any decisions, meanwhile my brother can practically do whatever he wants since he's my parents favorite, despite me being older. My parents seem to think that the second I get that crown I'll destroy Auradon."

"Is that really why?" I ask. The entire time she was avoiding eye contact with me and seemed to hesitate before answering. It takes a liar to know one.

She pouts, "You don't believe me?" She says in a much higher pitch than normal, her frown suspiciously forced. She breaks eye contact with me and turns to Carlos. "You believe me? Right?"

I turn my attention to Carlos to see him nod quickly. "Yeah, I do." He says, making her smile.

She begins to walk closer to him, my cheeks heating up quickly. Stay away from him...please.

She walks closer and pecks him on the cheek. I look over to Carlos, praying he won't react similarly. He doesn't react though, he just stands there shocked. No blush, smile, frown, nothing. Just a blank expression.

He leans closer, making my heart stop. No...no...please no. Why her?

His mouth opens slightly and he leans closer to her before whispering something in her ear. She giggles slightly before backing away. I take a deep breath in relief, and she walks towards me. My glare sharpens. If looks could kill she'd be six feet under. She comes closer before whispering in my ear. "Tell him how you feel, or I'll tell him how I feel."

I feel my heart break. Carlos would choose me. Right?

"Don't worry he'll choose you. If you tell him the truth." She whispers. I glare straight into her eyes, causing her to laugh.

She walks over to Carlos again and whispers something in his ear, causing him to send me a sympathetic glance. Luckily, Carlos changes the topic and breaks the tension by saying, "Who's the other girl?"

Ashlyn gives him a look of confusion before he directs her attention to the photo I was staring at earlier.

She chuckles. "Oh, that." She sighs. "That's my roommate Crystal. Daughter of Elsa and Jack Frost."

Why is that name so familiar?

"So she's an Isle kid?" Carlos questions.

Then it clicked. Jack Frost. He's on the Isle. But I've never seen the other two before. Isn't he supposed to be a hero?

She chuckles. "Not quite."

"What do you mean?" I ask her.

"Her father was sent to the Isle after an incident. They tried to send Crystal there, but some...stuff happened that changed that."

"Why would they send a hero to the Isle?" Carlos asks. Good point.

"No one really knows. Not even me or Crystal." She lies straight through her teeth. "My father claimed that he committed punishable offenses against Auradon and deserved to go there, although that's straight up bullshit."

"So what really happened?" I ask. "No lies this time."

She shrugs. "Ask Crystal. Although, it's hard to get her to open up after what she's gone through."

"What do you mean?"

She sighs. "Crystal's a sweet girl. We've been friends for as long as I can remember, but she's gone through a lot. Nothing compared to what you've gone through, but by Auradon's standards, she's been through a lot of shit. Most of it was my family's fault."

"Then why are you such good friends?" I ask harshly.

She smirks. Why does seeing me pissed off entertain her? "Nobody is the same as their parents, no matter what their parents try to do to make them that way. I'm not like my parents. I believe everyone deserves a second chance, or in your case, a chance. Our parents don't make us who we are. Both me and Crystal saw that. No matter how much our parents tried to keep us apart, our friendship kept growing stronger."

"Why'd they keep you apart?"

"Nobody's perfect. And accidents happen. My parents don't seem to realize that. There's a pretty strict feud between mine and Crystal's families. Apparently, my family won, since her dad was sent to the Isle and her mom was banished from Auradon."

"And why do I feel like you're hiding something? What really happened between your families?"

She smirks. "Again. Nobody's perfect. Including my family." I glare at her. That doesn't answer my question. "Not everything's as it seems. Auradons a lot worse than it seems, and my family is at fault for that. Problem is, nobody believes that. They don't know what I do. Nobody does, except for Crystal's family. They probably know even more. I just know one thing, my family's far from perfect."

"Sounds like you're on her side rather than your family's." Carlos points out.

"I'm just trying to do what's best for Auradon. My parents don't understand that." She answers simply.

"What are you hiding!" I snap.

She glares at me, sending me a sad smile. I'm tired of her bullshit. Half of it's been lies. Carlos notices the look on both of our faces because he walks closer to me and tightens his hold on my hand.

She smirks. "There's no reason for me to tell you what I'm hiding, when you're hiding stuff too. It takes a liar to know one. And I've been around plenty."

"You know plenty about us from those letters from Yen Sid." I snapped. I'm sick and tired of her lies and avoiding my questions.

"Apparently not enough." She groans before staring straight into my eyes. "Want to talk about why you four tried to steal the wand Friday night?"

"What?" Both me and Carlos exclaim in shock. "Why would you think that?" I ask, my face plastered with a fake smile. How'd she know?

She just laughs. "Please, I know every sign of a break in on that museum, entrances, magical spells to put guards to sleep, disabling the alarm and pretending to be a guard, you know, just the really obvious break in signs."

"And what makes you think it was us?" I ask, holy shit, she knows, do I get to kill her now?

"Simple, only a being with magical potential can use the power of the wand," She says with a playful smirk. "I should know." She muttered.

How would she know? I mean she has magic, is it possible that she's used the wand. There's no way in hell that she tried to steal it, although it would explain how she knew all the signs, and it does kind of make sense.

"What makes you think it was us? Surely we're not the only kids with magical potential," Carlos questions.

"Actually, Mal's the only one of you with powerful enough magic to put a sleep spell on the guard. Everyone can mutter a few spells without practice." She explains, that dumb smirk never leaving her face.

Is Ashlyn the one that was following us last night?

"Besides, you're the only ones who have a purpose for the wand, that and I already checked with all the other suspects yesterday."

Other suspects? How many others are there? I glance over to the staff in the corner of the room. "What about your roommate? That's from the museum as well. Maybe it was them." I suggest.

"How did you know that the staff was at the museum?" She said with a smug grin.

Fuck.

"I-um..it just seemed like a magical artifact."

"And it was in the picture of you and Crystal's family." Carlos adds. Thank you! We almost screwed that up.

She just chuckles. "There's no need to lie to me." She says with a fake pout. "Besides, what would make you think it would be in the museum."

We're screwed. She knows about our plan. She- "Didn't they move all magical artifacts to the museum once they banned magic?" Carlos asks.

She nods. "They did, but judging by your reactions and need to protect yourself from my accusations and guesses, it's pretty obvious. Not to mention that when I told you someone tried to steal the wand you didn't look surprised in any way. Most people would look confused or panicked, but you kept straight faces through the whole thing. I haven't even told anyone about it, or that I know for fact that it was you."

"But you just said that you questioned other people yesterday," Carlos points out.

She grins, "I lied, I do that sometimes."

More like in every single damn sentence that comes out of her mouth.

"What are you gonna do about it? We failed anyways, so what's the harm?" I threatened her.

She just laughed again. "There's the confession I was looking for."

Fuck.

"But there's no harm." She narrows her eyes in my direction. "Besides, you four promised to be good, right?"

Jay made that promise. Not me. And he said maybe! Using my entire will to hide my disgust at being good I fake a smile. "Definitely."

"We just want to have a chance to fit in here." Carlos adds.

She nods in understanding. "You'll never fit in. Being different is good. Besides, being the children of villains will likely never be treated the same as hero kids, despite how wrong it is. Things may be much better in Auradon than they were on the Isle, but unfortunately you'll likely never be treated the same as if you grew up here. You were taught villainy. You were taught to lie straight to people's faces." She shrugs. "Well, I was too. So...my point is that you have your own reasons to try and steal the wand. Do I care much that you tried to steal the wand?" She vigorously shakes her head. "Hell no." She giggles. "I just want to know why. No punishments, no nothing. Even if you want to use it to destroy Auradon I won't tell a soul. I just want to know why you need the wand of all things."

I glare at her. "We don't have to tell you anything."

"No. You don't." She admits. "But I've been telling you about myself and Crystal, so it only seems fair that you tell me." She says with a shrug.

"And half of it's been you lying through your teeth." I practically growl.

She laughs. What is with this girl and laughing? Why is me being angry so fucking funny?

She stops her laughing by biting down on her lip. "They weren't lies, just half truths. There's somethings that need to remain hidden for now, but you'll learn about them soon. I assume by your answer that you aren't gonna tell me why you broke into the museum."

"Hell no." I growl. "And if you tell anyone I will-"

She quickly raises her hands above her head in surrender. "I told you. I won't tell a soul."

I send her a menacing glare before stalking out of the room with Carlos in tow. But one thing she said when we got there keeps echoing in my mind, "Don't worry he'll choose you. If you tell him the truth."

Does Carlos have a crush on me too?

Ashlyn's POV

As soon as Mal and Carlos left I rushed towards Evie's dorm. Something tells me that Mal and Carlos are either going to head there, or to Carlos' dorm, meaning I need to get there first. I pulled open the door slightly to see Evie sitting at a desk by her bed. I peered around the room, relieved that Mal wasn't there yet. Something tells me she isn't gonna be happy after I flirted with Carlos, deliberately pissed her off, and lied to her face.

My thoughts were interrupted by Evie walking towards me. "How'd it go?" She asks me.

I sighed. "I think I took it too far."

She narrows her eyes in my direction. "Really? What did you do?"

"I flirted with Carlos." I answer plainly.

"And you're still alive? I thought she would've killed you."

I sigh. "That's what I thought, but when I kissed Carlos' cheek-'

"You kissed Carlos' cheek?"

I nod slowly.

"In front of her?"

I nod again.

"How are you alive still? She just built up the courage to kiss Carlos' cheek and she's been crushing on him for six years. She even had to convince him it was just a trick to win a fight. How was she okay with you doing it a day after you met him? She's going to actually kill you. Do you want me to give you a headstart?"

I shake my head. "That's what I thought, but she didn't yell at me, or punch me, or anything. She just looked upset. She looked like she was about to break into tears. I had to stop early because Carlos told me that if I continued on Mal would probably break down."

Evie's eyes widen in what I assume is realization. "Shit." She mutters.

"What?" I ask.

She bites down on her lip before saying, "Mal's lost a few things in her life. Things that were really important. After the first few times she lost the will to fight for what was hers. She just would break down and slowly spiral into depression, that only Carlos could get her out of." She curses under her breath. "Why didn't I think of it sooner. Carlos is the one thing that's kept her in line, losing him-"

I nod quickly. "Okay. Flirting with him. Not my best idea. At least now she might tell him how she feels."

Evie nods in agreement. "Just back off for now. The last thing anyone needs is for Mal to think she's losing Carlos. Don't won't end well for anyone, and probably will end in your death and the destruction of Auradon."

I nod. "So what do we do now?"

She smirks. " Now it's my turn. And I'll go with a less...heartless approach."

Rude. "I wasn't heartle-" She puts her finger over my lips to stop me from talking. "Shh." She looks towards the door. "She's coming. They both are."

Shit.

"You have magic, right?" Evie asks.

I nod. "Yeah."

"Then disappear! Or something! Just get out! Mal is gonna be pissed if she sees you, especially if she finds out it was a setup."

I bite my lower lip before disappearing in a cloud of gold smoke.

Mal's POV

"That whiny, perceptive, bitch." I mumble under my breath as me and Carlos walk out of Ashlyn's dorm. "We went to burn letters not to-"

"Shh. I know. We grew up on the Isle. We can spot a lie a mile away, but if she doesn't want to tell us the truth she doesn't have to." Carlos assures me.

I smile and lean closer to him as we walk towards Evie's room. "How'd she even know about the wand?" I complain.

He chuckles before leaning in closer to me. "I don't know. But we need to make sure she doesn't tell anyone."

I nod and bury my head into his chest. He flinches a bit, but melts into me. "You'd choose me. Right?" I mumble. Shit. I hope he didn't hear me.

He furrowed his eyebrows and said, "What?"

"N-Nothing." I stammer.

He just chuckles and strokes my cheek as we continue to walk towards Evie's dorm. God, he's so cute. I just wanna-No! He doesn't feel that way. I can't ruin what we have by asking for more than he can give. M-Maybe him and Ashlyn would work out better together than I ever could. He deserves someone better than me. Maybe he-

"Mal? Are you okay?" Carlos asks me as he leans in closer to me, staring straight into my eyes.

Damn it! I hate it when he does this. He always stares straight into my eyes to tell if I'm lying. I can never get anything past him when he does this. It's so annoying. His eyes droop down into what I've heard is called puppy dog eyes. He bites his lip before asking it again, "Mal? Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing." I stammer.

He rolls his eyes. "Mal, please don't lie to me. What's wrong?"

I shake my head slowly. "Please, don't go." I muttered under my breath.

He caresses my cheek as he leans closer to me. "I'm not going anywhere." He tells me. "Not without you."

I can feel my cheeks heat up as he leans in closer and runs his fingers through my hair.

Carlos won't leave me. Not for Ashlyn. Not for anybody. And that's the thought that finally made me smile. Carlos seemed to notice because he smiled widely and laughed. I saw him open his mouth to say something, but then he quickly shut it again, biting down on his lip to not let a single sound out.

"Thank you." I sigh as I lean in closer and kiss him on the cheek. I then turn around and run towards Evie's dorm as I hear Carlos begin to chase after me. I began to run faster as soon as I heard Carlos start to catch up. A few minutes of him chasing me later and I finally made it to Evie's dorm. We took a few detours during our game. I began to pull the door open as I felt a pair of arms wrap around me before forcing me backwards.

"Jerk." I mumble, but he definitely heard it.

"Hey, we're villains. We always play dirty." He jokes.

I rolled my eyes. "That doesn't mean you have to be a jerk and throw me to the floor."

He laughs. "But where's the fun in that?" He whispers into my ear. I laugh, but it's interrupted by the dorm room door opening and Evie walking over to us. She starts laughing randomly. "Did I interrupt something?" She teases.

Shut up.

Me and Carlos share an awkward look before getting off of each other. "N-No nothing." I lie. Is it a lie? Was that really nothing?

She just smirks and gives me a suspicious glance, which I already know means, we'll talk about this later. I roll my eyes and let go of Carlos' hand. How long was I holding it? Why am I freaking out so much? Why does-"

"So how was your time with Ashlyn?" She asks.

I shrug before glaring at her. "Weren't you supposed to meet us there?"

She nods. "Couldn't find Jay." She says with the fakest smile I've ever seen. What is going on with her?

Carlos nods slowly before flashing me a smile. Does he know something I don't?

"Long story short, we never burned any of the letters." Carlos admits.

"Because the Princess was too busy flirting with Carlos and lying straight to my face." I growl.

Evie nods before grinning. Not now Evie! Do not tease me about this right now! Not in front of him!

"Oh. You actually-"

"And she knows about the wand." Carlos says quickly, interrupting Evie.

Evie straightens and glares at him. "What?" She questions.

"She knows we tried to steal the wand." I admit.

Evie frowns. "What if she tells someone. I mean, we just got to stay, if they find out it was us then-"

"I think we're fine." Carlos pipes up. "She promised not to tell anyone, and something tells me, she wasn't lying during that part."

"Half of what she said was lies. I wouldn't have been surprised if that was too."

"I'm sure it wasn't. She wouldn't do that."Evie defends her.

"And I also assumed that she wouldn't try to flirt with Carlos. Guess we were both wrong." I growl.

Carlos and Evie exchange awkward glances before Carlos puts his hand on my shoulder. "It's not like that." He whispers. "I don't like her that way."

Evie nods and I smile. Maybe I do have a chance still.

"Well, this is awkward." Jay says as he walks towards us from the boy's dorm.

I watch Evie glare daggers at him. "Didn't you say you couldn't find him?" I ask before bursting into laughter. "Looks like you didn't look too hard. Did you?" I teased her.

She just glared at me before pulling me into her dorm and slamming the door behind us.

"What was that for?" I complain.

She just rolls her eyes before smiling. "So what's going on between you and Carlos?" She asks.

I try my best to avoid her question by burying my head into my pillow. "Nothing is going on."I groan as I fall onto my bed.

"I don't believe you." She says in an obnoxiously high pitch.

"And why is that?" I groaned.

She smirks. "Because you two were both a blushing mess. You seemed on the edge of tears. Which I assume is because Ashlyn tried to flirt with the person you've had a crush on for six years. Oh, and did I forget to mention, you were on top of each other when I opened the door. What else should I think?"

"It's nothing." I deny.

"M, just tell him how you feel. It's kind of obvious he feels the same."

"No. He doesn't." I can feel tears well up in my eyes.

Evie sighs before sitting down on the bed, next to me. "M, can I tell you something?"

I roll my eyes but nod. She takes a deep breath and says, "It was all a setup. Everything with Ashlyn. Her flirting with Carlos was very deliberate. It was a part of a plan to get you to finally tell him how you feel."

"What?"

She sighs again. "M, none of it was real. We made a plan for her to flirt with Carlos, to make you jealous, so you'd tell him. She doesn't feel that way for him. Only you do."

"Wh-Why?"

"Damn it Mal! Because you're both head over heels in love with each other!" Evie shouts.

"What? Carlos-"

"Yes Mal! He's in love with you." She snaps.

"Then why did he-"

"Because he knew about it. He knew what Ashlyn planned to do. The thing he whispered in her ear, was telling her to back off. To stop. Because he knew it hurt you. Okay, Ashlyn took it too far, but we both did it, because we are sick and tired of watching you two faun over each other, and be too oblivious to the fact you're in love!"

I remained silent. Is Carlos really in love with me?

"Take a chance Mal. You won't regret it." She says before slamming the door shut.