"You know...I've been thinking," Mal whispers, glancing at Honey who was fast asleep at the kitchen table while the others were huddled in the corner.

"Uh oh," Jay jokes, laughing until Mal punched his arm.

"Ssshhh! Anyways, I've been thinking, and wouldn't it be better if two of us were in the front row instead of just one?"

"Yeah, but how-"

"Honey's in the front row too," Carlos cuts Jay off, realizing where Mal is going with her plan.

"Exactly." She points at him with a smirk. "So...all we have to do is figure out who'll give her the love spell."

"No!" Everyone stared in surprise at Evie's outburst. Noticing the looks, she quickly tried to recover. "I mean...Ben only said that Honey was allowed in the front, not Honey and a date. She's probably not allowed to bring anyone with her." She silently prayed they would take her excuse as her just being logical instead of something else.

"Okay, maybe not," Mal admitted reluctantly, momentarily looking defeated before she perked up again. "Oh! But, with the love spell, she'd listen to whoever put her under the spell. So maybe..."

"We can make her steal the wand," Jay realizes, he and Mal smirking at the brilliant plan. "That's perfect! No one would suspect her."

"I don't know, guys. This doesn't feel right." Carlos glanced at the sleeping redhead with hesitation. Evie sighed in relief once she realizes she wasn't the only one not on board.

"Yeah, I agree. We can pull this off without getting her involved."

"She's already involved. She helped us make the damn cookies!" Mal pointed out loudly, freezing when she noticed Honey start to stir. As they all waited to see if she'd wake up, Mal took the time to inspect her best friend. The last time she'd seen her act like this was when one of them was in trouble, but even that was different. Her earlier assessment that Evie was getting too attached was right. She just hoped it didn't get in the way of the mission.

"Please," Evie looked at them, mostly Mal, pleadingly, catching them all by surprise, "leave her out of this." After a few seconds of Evie and Mal staring at each other, Mal came to a conclusion.

"Fine," she started, watching as a weight seemed to be lifted off of Evie's shoulders. "We'll leave her out of this...for now."

Signaling the end of the conversation, the oven's timer started going off, fully waking Honey up from her slumber. She groggily picked her head up off the table, eyes moving from the oven to the group in the corner.

"Hey, guys," Honey said with a sleepy smile. "I think the cookies are done."

"Thanks for offering to walk me back to my room." Honey sent Evie a grateful smile as they stopped by her door. She would like to say the time they spent walking from the kitchen to her room was enjoyable, but it was filled with awkward tension that she didn't understand. The two had been fine all day, but now it felt like the blue-haired girl didn't want to be near her.

Evie returned the smile half-heartedly, mind still racing from the conversation with her friends just minutes before. Honey was one of the nicest people they'd met in their time in Auradon, and while she may have convinced her friends not to involve the girl, that doesn't mean Honey wouldn't be affected in some way. Ben was her best friend, Auradon was her home.

Evie remembered Honey telling her about how her favorite spot in the kingdom (well, besides the kitchen) was Belle's garden. It was a place of comfort for her, a place where she can think and be at peace. From the way she described it, Evie imagined it was the most beautiful place in the world, and she pictured her and Honey hanging out there, just the two of them, laying on the grass underneath the giant willow tree, talking about everything under the sun. She wouldn't get to experience that if their plan succeeded.

"It was no problem. Thank you for helping us with the cookies."

"Oh, of course! It was my pleasure. Let me know how that goes. You know, if they work or not," Honey responded chirpily, not noticing the look of panic that crossed Evie's face.

"I-If they...work?" Evie asked hesitantly, thinking she caught on about the love spell. If she did, she was taking it surprisingly well.

"Yeah. The cookies help you sleep, right? I hope they work. I remember my first week here. I didn't sleep well at all. I was just so used to my rickety little bed and small, plain bedroom in my cottage," Honey empathized, recalling her own discomfort from a few years ago.

"Oh, haha, yeah. The sleep cookies. Yup, should work great," Evie chuckled nervously, glad to not have been caught.

"Cool. Well, I should get to sleep. I'm exhausted," Honey said, punctuated by a big yawn that left her a bit teary-eyed.

"Yeah, you look like you're about to pass out any second." Evie laughed, looking over Honey's slumped body and tired eyes.

"Thanks for hanging out with me today. Maybe...maybe we could do it again tomorrow? Like, after the Tourney game?" Honey asked hopefully. The smile that lit up Evie's face caused a small smile of her own.

"I would love that."

Honey lazily waved at Evie as the blue-haired girl walked away, leaving Honey to watch as she leaned against her door with a smile. She was knocked out of her trance by the door opening abruptly, stumbling over her feet as she spun around and was met with Jane's inquisitive face.

"You sure have been hanging out with Evie a lot," Jane states bluntly, raising an eyebrow at her friend. The image of Jane angrily storming out earlier popped up in Honey's mind only once before she registered the girl's words.

"Oh, well, yeah. I mean, I guess? Mal too."

"Yeah, but it's not Mal you want to hang out with, is it?" Jane asks knowingly, wiggling her eyebrows in a way that irritated Honey greatly.

"Shut up. Of course I wanna hang out with Mal," Honey argues, hoping Jane would just drop the subject.

Jane just giggled, shaking her head as she plopped down beside Honey on her bed. "Honey, just admit. You have a crush on a certain VK," Jane teased, poking the other girl's side, making her squirm and mumble a "stop" as she swatted her hands away.

"You're being ridiculous," Honey huffed as she turned away from her friend, hoping she wouldn't see how much she was fighting the blush that was creeping on her cheeks.

"Well, whatever," she waves her hand, knowing arguing with the girl about her feelings would get her nowhere. "Just be careful, okay?"

Honey turned her head back to Jane after hearing her words, scrunching her eyebrows up in confusion. "What do you mean."

Jane hesitated, not wanting to hurt her friend's feelings. "Well, it's just that...you know...you tend to trust people very easily. Which isn't a bad thing!" she quickly assures her, seeing Honey frown, "It's just that she's...you know...a villain," she whispers the last part with wide eyes. Honey rolls her eyes, fed up with people talking about her new friends like that. "I just don't want you to see you get your heart broken if she turns out to be as evil as her mom."

"Well, thanks for the concern," Honey spits sarcastically as she got up from her bed, turning her back to Jane as she riffled through her drawers for some pajamas, "But she's nothing like her mom. At least, I assume. I've obviously never met her." With her pajamas in her arms, she slams the drawer shut, causing Jane to jump from her seat on the bed. "I'm honestly surprised by you, Jane."

"What do you mean?" Jane asks with a confused frown.

"You never used to judge people like this." Honey gives Jane a disappointed look as she shook her head.

When they were younger, she and Jane had been super close. Though their situations were different, they were both considered outsiders amongst all the princesses and princes in Auradon. While Honey would get picked on for the fact that she was a "peasant", Jane would often get picked on for not being as stylish or confident as the other girls. She remembered gravitating toward Jane in the first place because she wasn't as obsessed with outer beauty or status as the other kids were, and because she never judged her for her parents not being notable figures. But now, Jane was hardly recognizable from Audrey or any of the people that followed her around like groupies.

"This is different," Jane mumbled softly, shying away from the disappointed look she was receiving.

"Is it, though?" Honey asked, watching as Jane repeatedly opened and closed her mouth, searching for the right words. When her friend didn't seem to be answering anytime soon, Honey sighed tiredly and turned away, entering the bathroom to change. Leaving Jane behind in deep thought.

It was the weekend, and Honey was more than prepared to sleep in and do nothing all day. But of course, nothing was ever that easy for her.

She woke up to someone banging on her door. With a groan, she sat up and noticed Jane's bed was neat and empty, making her groan even more when she realized she'd have to get up and get the door herself.

"Ben, I swear to the Gods, if y-" she cut herself off when she opened the door all the way to reveal her father, not her best friend. The man, completely oblivious to his daughter's grumpy mood over being woken up, was smiling widely. She noted with furrowed eyebrows that he had streaks of yellow and blue face paint on his cheeks, as well as a giant foam finger that he was enthusiastically waving around.

"Hey, sunshine!" he greeted her, pulling her in for a quick hug. He still didn't notice the forced smile on her face as she wiped at her eyes, still trying to wake up. "Why are you still in your pajamas?"

"Maybe because I just woke up," she let out a short laugh as he looked at her guiltily.

"Oh, boy. Did I wake you up? I just assumed you'd be ready."

"Ready for wh-" Her father's strange attire suddenly made sense as she remembered it was the first Tourney game of the season, and she had promised to go with him. "Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot!"

"No worries, sweetheart," he assured her, patting her on the head with the foam finger and messing up her already messy hair. "Why don't I go down there and save you a seat, okay? Give you some time to get ready." He sniffed the air and scrunched up his nose, dramatically waving his hand in front of his face. "And definitely take a shower." Honey rolled her eyes and gave him a light punch on the shoulder as he laughed.

"Rude. Okay, I'll be down soon," she promised, saying goodbye to him as he left, cheering and waving his foam finger at anyone he passed in the hallway. She laughed and shook her head at his silliness as she closed the door. Once she was alone, though, she frowned, realizing she had to get ready for a game she didn't even really want to go to. But it was important to Ben, so it was important to her.

By the time she showered and got all dressed up to show her support for the team, she was running late. Jogging through the hallways on her way to the game, Honey nearly ran right into Mal and Evie who were huddled together, whispering amongst themselves.

"Oh! Hey, guys! I'm glad I ran into you." She takes a deep breath, a little winded from running.

"Hey, Honey! I'm guessing you're going to the game, too?" Evie asked, glancing in amusement at the amount of yellow and blue she was wearing. Mal didn't even try to hide her amusement, laughing in the girl's face as she saw the face paint and Ben's jersey.

"Well, someone has a lot of school spirit," Mal observed with a teasing smirk.

Honey rolled her eyes before looking down at her clothes in embarrassment. "Laugh all you want, but Ben needs all the support he can get. He may not show it, but he gets super nervous. That's why he doesn't eat anything right before a big game," Honey explained, being met with guilty looks. "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Mal quickly says, cutting off Evie before she could say anything that might get them sent back to the Isle without the wand. "Wow, would you look at the time?" Mal holds up her bare wrist as if she were looking at a watch. "We should get going!"

Though slightly startled by the girl's strange behavior, Honey shrugs it off and follows them to the Tourney field, trying to keep up with their quick strides. The closer they got, the louder the cheers were, and Honey could already feel the energy from the crowd before they even got there.

"Are you sitting with us?" Evie asks Honey hopefully, gesturing up ahead to the stands, waving at Lonnie was waiting for them.

"Well, I'd love to, but my dad is saving me a seat, so..." she trails off, growing at the slight pout Evie had on her face. "But, maybe I could get him to switch seats!"

"No, no, it's okay," Evie dismisses, waving her hand as she smiles at Honey. "You should go be with your dad. I think it's pretty cool you guys hang out," she smiles sadly, thinking of her own relationship with her mom.

"Thanks for being so understanding. I hate that I hardly see him during the school year," she frowns, oblivious to Evie's growing jealousy. "Oh, look, there he is!"

Evie follows where honey pointed to, her eyes landing on a similarly dressed older man with a big smile on his face. A smile makes its way onto her face as she looks from him to her friend beside her. "You look a lot like him. You have the same good energy."

"I can introduce you after the game if you'd like," Honey asks, looking at the blue-haired girl with a hopeful expression.

"I'd love that."

a/n: oof, this chapter is long overdue lol. i had like half of it written, just sitting in my drafts since the beginning of january. i thought i'd have more time to write since i'm taking a break from school, but i haven't felt much motivation to write for this story or any of my stories lately. so, sorry about that!

anyways, i hope you like this chapter! i would really appreciate votes and comments because they make my day.