That night I lay in bed letting all my happy, bubbly feelings drown me from reality. In less then three weeks, I could be seeing Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos, Lonnie, Ben, Dizzy, Gil, Arson---And Sera! I completely forgot to ask if she was awake yet! 

I roll over in bed, staring at the flickering blue flame that never goes out next to me bed. "Could she be awake?" I ask out loud, needing to hear it. She has to be. Brit said it could last UP TO a year. So... she has to be. Doesn't she?

I roll over again and stare at the ceiling. The flickering from the bedside fire makes the shadows jump all over the wall. I can't fight my grin as I think of all the people I haven't seen in more than a year. Is Dizzy still the best hair person? Does Mal still call her that? Are she and Ben still together? They probably are. What's going on with Uma and Ares? I hope they haven't escaped. Though they'd probably have come after me if they had. 

And, feeling happier than I have in months, I find myself dreaming about everyone I'll see in just three weeks.

_________________________________________

~Two weeks and six days later~

"DAD!" I yell, staring in pleasure at my creation. "Come here!"

"What? What?" he gripes, walking outside with a grumpy look on his face. But it disappears when he sees what I've made. "Wow."

I grin. "Soooo?"

He keeps staring at the life-like sculpture made almost entirely of ice of him and Mom. I based it off a picture I found of the two of them when they were younger. He still had fiery hair then, so his hair part of the sculpture is on fire. In the picture (and the sculpture) Mom is laughing so hard she looks almost short on breath, while Dad is holding her close and looking at her like she's the only thing in the world. 

He keeps staring. "Elsa!" he calls. "Come and see this!"

Mom comes out, wiping her hands with a dishcloth and stops abruptly when she sees it. "Did you make that, Ellie?"

I nod and hold up one fingers as the universal wait sign. I put a hand up, fisted closed, and open it up fast. A flurry of snowflakes burst upward and explode in a snowstorm. Soft white flakes start falling around the statue.

Even Dad gets a little teary-eyed. 

"I wanted to say thanks." I tell them. "And apologize."

"For what?" They both say. 

"Well, for mom, for everything I said or did after the garden party to now." I say. She gives me a sad smile and I know she's thinking back to when she freaked and kept telling me to talk to FG. 

"And for dad, I wanted to say sorry for sort of being a brat since I met you. And for not trying harder to be your daughter and not just an acquaintance. Since I'm going back, I don't think you'll be coming, since it's a school... But I----"

The rest of my speech was cut off when they both hugged me simultaneously. 

"You've got nothing to apologize for." Dad says. "I haven't exactly been a good Dad for your whole life."

"Yeah, that's another thing." Mom says. "I'm sorry for lying about your father."

"And I'm sorry for not being here." Dad says.

"This was supposed to be about me, you guys!" I laugh. But I hug them again anyway. I can't begin to even think about how much my life has changed since the first time Carlos, Jay, Evie, and Mal set foot on Auradon. 

__________________________________

Even though I shouldn't be nervous, I feel butterflies swarming in my stomach as we draw closer to Auradon Prep. After we'd gone inside, I'd heard Dad yelling at the school board until they agreed to let me come back. Then he'd talked to Ben, and let Ben talk to me, and Ben sounded really happy that I was coming back. He told me that everyone was waiting patiently and that they'd be there when I went back. I'd laughed and told him to say hi. 

And now, with my dad driving and my mom riding shotgun, and me in the back, part of me wishes I could turn the car around and go right back home. 

Mom must sense my anxiety, because she reaches back and puts a hand on my knee. "Remember, Ellie, it'll just be your friends that know you're coming back. Nobody else knows."

"So Maira doesn't?" I ask. 

Mom laughs. "No, actually, she's become part of your smaller group as well."

I stare at her. "Um, what? She hates me." I say.

Mom just shakes her head and brings her hand back to the front of the car. Dad looks at me in the mirror. "Liss, look out your window."

Part of me REALLY doesn't want to, but....

I poke my head into view of Auradon Prep. 

And I see a white-and-black-haired someone pacing in front of the Beast statue (in Beast mode, Not Adam), looking like he's chewing on his nails.

"Lissa..." Dad starts.

"Dad!"

"Hades." Mom chides. She puts a hand on his shoulder. "We're leaving, right?"

"But---"

"Right?"

"But That Boy---"

Mom's hand pushes down on his shoulder and whatever he'd been saying disappears with a squeak. "Yes, dear."

I grin at mom. She winks back and takes her hand off his shoulder. Dad grumbles as I get out of the car, but they both still drive away after I grab my (very small) suitcase from the back. Carlos still hasn't noticed me, so I just start walking. I choose to carry my suitcase, and I walk as quietly as I can. 

And I'm still about 20 yards away when he looks up. 

And I stop walking. 

All the color drains from his face. 

But my face feels the opposite, like I've just set my eyebrows on fire again. (Long story.) I reach up nervously and tuck a lock of my white-sort-of-still-blue hair behind my ear. 

He doesn't move. He still looks about the same as he was a year ago, a black-red-and-white leather outfit and freckles scattered all over his face. 

"Hi." I say. 

Some of his color comes back and he smiles. "Hi." He agrees. 

I almost feel like something's pushing against my back, prodding me forward. So I keep walking, this time leaving my suitcase behind. Carlos starts walking at the same time I do, and then I can't take his worried look and I start running, crashing into him and hugging him as tightly as I can. He hugs me back almost as fiercely. 

I bury my face in his shoulder, trying very hard not to cry. I hear some sniffling behind me and almost smile at his failure to not cry. But it feels so good to be back here, to be back with him, that for the moment I don't care. 

And then he pulls back. "Ellie, I'm so sorry---I never meant---And---" He stops abruptly, his eyes fixed on my black eye. 

I shake my head, not letting go of him. "Carlos, I do not care. I promise. Not letting you die was way more important."

"But---"

"Stop." And he actually does. "Carlos, seriously, when will you learn? I don't care if you cut all of my hair off. I'll care more about you."

He smiles a tiny bit. "But---"

"Ah!"

"I---"

"Up-bup-bup!"

He smiles for real, color shining back into him. "Okay. I'll stop. But I do have something." He lets go of me to dig through his pocket. He pulls a silver box wrapped in blue ribbon out that definitely should not have fit in his pocket. 

"What, is your pocket like Mary Poppins' bag?" I joke, taking the box. 

"Who?"

"You obviously still have a lot to learn." I laugh, pulling the ribbon off and lifting up the lid, different theories running through my mind. 

So I was really not expecting a silver half-crown with dark blue gems dotting the edges of a snowflake in the center. Two gems are missing, and there are some spots that are rusty. 

"Is this the crown I lost during Cotillion?" I ask, laughing when he nods. "Where'd you get it?"

"I had Jane summon it with her mom's wand. And I fixed it up." He scratches the back of his neck. "I didn't do very well."

But the two missing gems make it that much sweeter. He takes it gently and places it on my head. I grin and shove it to the side, making it tilt lopsided. Carlos laughs. 

"You know, I actually like my black eye." I tell him, pointing to it. His smile dissipates quickly. "No, I'm serious. I like it. It's different."

"I thought you hated being different." He reminds me.

"Well," I wrap my arms around him again. "That was before."

"Before what?"

I chew on my bottom lip, deciding if this will make him sad or make him laugh. "Before I met you."

Thankfully, he laughs. And then, out of nowhere, I realize he's a lot closer to me than he's ever been. I can practically feel a blush creeping up my neck, but it doesn't have time to finish because Carlos leans forward and kisses me.

________________________________________

The_Awkward_Seaweed please don't burst! XD

Hope everybody enjoyed this chapter! Please comment what you think!

(Also... Christopher Robin coming out TOMORROW!!!! AAAAAH!!!!! CANNOT WAIT!!!!!)

Okay, seriously, I hope everybody reading this liked this chapter. I put a lot more thought into than I normally do, because I realized that Carlie has been a thing for a while and they've still (well, NOW they have) kissed. BeautyBeastRose was the one who pointed it out. Thanks!

All right. Bye!