Chapter Text
Mal feels herself crumbling under the pressure of trying to be all things good and pure and Ben. Evie notices, she notices Mal's lying and sneaking around. She sees the half-smiles that Mal gives Ben and sees guilt in Mal's eyes where there should be love. And Evie would be lying if she said she didn't take in some amount of satisfaction from watching the charade.
Evie is Mal's best friend and Evie loves her. Evie is Mal's best friend and Evie is in love with her. Those lines started getting blurry long before Ben entered the picture. But Ben's presence -- and the alcohol that Evie's been using to get rid of some demons that followed her from the Isle -- do absolutely nothing to make the lines any clearer.
She's sitting in Carlos's room, explaining the situation. She realizes she should feel more shame about revealing the fact that she's secretly happy that her best friend and Prince Charming are hitting rocky ground but then she remembers who she's talking to. Evie is nothing if not observant, she's a perfectionist who often finds herself lost in the details. She notices the way Carlos lights up whenever Jay comes to him with his girl problems. The way that Carlos never really offers Jay any help, just ways to help get the situation off of his mind. She'd say it was adorable the way that Carlos eagerly pounces on any opportunity to spend time with Jay, evoking an image of puppy in her mind, if she didn't think it was pathetic on some level.
(Carlos may be pathetic but Evie realizes that she's no better off.)
Carlos is nothing if not empathetic. In Auradon, Evie finds that the more things change, the more they stay the same. And one thing that has never changed is the warmth in Carlos's big brown eyes. Even on her worst days, when she's drunk and so far gone in her darkness, Evie can always look in those eyes of his and find her way back home. Evie admires the way that Carlos has never really let the world make him cold. She wishes she was more like him and tries not to hate herself for all the ways she isn't. She typically fails at the latter.
Carlos thinks she should talk to Mal. She reminds him that talking isn't her strong suit.
How could she talk to Mal when she's been playing an act for years? She's a puppet with alcohol, drugs, self-hate, and self-harm pulling at her strings.
Carlos tells her to stop being so dramatic.
"You don't need to do an entire intervention," he says rolling his eyes, "But I don't know what I'd do without you. Don't you think Mal deserves the same? Just someone to talk to."
Evie confronts Mal about the lying and the sneaking around. At first Mal lies about the lying, because old habits die hard. But Mal is just a girl and she is bottling too much up inside. She explodes and so much is pouring out that Mal's slightly concerned that she might flood their room. If Evie has the same concern, she doesn't voice it.
Instead, Evie wonders how things could have turned out differently. She wonders if there's an alternative universe out there where the four of them aren't so broken down, where the four of them are okay.
Instead, Evie thinks about telling Mal to run away with her. It'll just be the two of them and they can work on licking their wounds together. Evie wants to tell Mal that she doesn't need to change for anyone, especially not to be loved by Prince Charming because Evie's been loving her all along. Evie wants to shout at her that it's okay to be broken, Evie's broken too, they can fix each other, they don't need to be perfect.
Instead, Evie asks, "Do you love him?"
If there's doubt in Mal's eyes or hesitance in her voice, Evie doesn't challenge her. Evie doesn't tell Mal how Mal could never be less than beautiful but Evie hates her new hair and her new clothes. She resists the urge to rip the fake blonde hair out of Mal's head, resists the urge to burn all that pastel colored clothing, and forces a smile when she hears a, "Yes."
Evie tells Mal that she should make it work. She tries not to choke on the word "honesty" when she tells Mal to come clean. She tells Mal that she loves her and she wants her to be happy, which is true.
Evie decides that there are definitely universes out there where Evie isn't drowning her demons and Carlos doesn't still have nightmares. But Evie also decides that in this universe, Mal at least deserves the chance to be happy.