Rain was in hell. Literal hell.

Everyone said she was overreacting, Evie had dared to laugh at her, and Jay mercilessly teased her.

Ben was flirting with her. Flirting! How was she supposed to react to that?! She could deal with shy Ben, she liked her little jabs and winks. But him doing that to her? Oh lord have mercy.

On Monday during History of Auradon, he'd been helping her out with something - Hades, she couldn't even remember now - and when she'd got something atrociously wrong, he'd laughed softly in her ear, not with malice, no, then she'd have probably stabbed him with her compass.

Then Tuesday rolled around and after Gymnastics she was sweaty and mildly agitated by the warm weather, she'd looked across the Tourney field and seen him pour a bottle of water over his head, when he noticed her, he grinned and waved. Yes, she was clearly staring and her jaw had dropped - but that was obviously not a her problem!

Wednesday and Thursday had brought about a new problem: he wouldn't stop complimenting her - damn Ruby and her excellent fashion advice.

"In those shoes, you're almost the same height as me," Rain twirled on her heel, seeing Ben standing by her locker - a teasing smile on his face. She pulls her Ettiiquite books closer to her chest and ignores everything in them.

"Are you saying I'm normally short Benjman?"

"I absolutely am Garbrielle," She should have pushed him against the locker and told him that the next time he used that name for her, he'd lose his tongue.

But she didn't.

Instead, she let out a shocked laugh and he got to watch as her cheeks tinged pink. Thank god the confidence spell ended on Saturday, nothing too embarrassing could happen in the next 24 hours.

"I'll see you tomorrow at the Tourney match right?"

"Yeah! Jay's been super excited about it, Carlos...Is praying he's on the bench the whole match,"

"He's really improved actually," Ben notes "Think he just needs some encouragement,"

"Don't we all..." Rain mutters, remembering the Villain's attitudes towards hobbies - Her mother had snapped her pain brushes in half and called her worthless when she tried to show her a painting. Maybe if she and the others had some genuine encouragement -

"Rain?"

"Huh?" she looks up to the concerned eyes of the Crown Prince "Sorry,"

"Are you okay?" he'd noticed her tone shift, and wanted to reach out to comfort her, but holds back.

"Totally!" Rain's usual overly cheery smile appears "I'll remember to cheer your name as loud as I do Jay and Carlos' tomorrow," she gives him a friendly pat on the shoulder and walks away.

The first sighting of Audrey after a week is at the Tourney Match before the game, she's leaning on one of the stands, flirting with Chad, her arms wrapped around his biceps.

"Desperate much," Mal grimaces from her spot next to Rain, Ruby snorts.

"It's making me feel a bit sick," she admits

"What's making you sick?" Evie appears suddenly and the three girls all chorus 'nothing' at once.

"Is it Ben's crush on Rain, because that is absolutely adorable,"

"Evie," Rain groans

"What? Even Doug's noticed it! He told me he overheard Ben talking to his mum about a 'girl',"

"Oh damn Rain, In with Queen already,"

"What?" Rain turns around and finds Lonnie standing above her, a half smirk on her face.

"Do none of you know what a private conversation is?"

"No,"

The cheerleaders start their routine, and the crown shushes.

Rain really isn't sure what's going on throughout the whole game, all she knows is that they're against some weird school in the woods (Something Robin Hood related, she couldn't remember), and that with a minute left, it's 2 all.

The crowd around her is chanting, and she feels Ruby shake her shoulders from behind her - she'd moved earlier to get a better view.

♫ Ohay, Ohay, hey! ♫

"This is a nail-biter, folks. There's 47 seconds left on the clock. We're all tied up. The Sherwood Falcons, two. The fighting knights, two. What a game between Auradon's fiercest rivals."

The teams get into their huddles and take up positions along the kill zone. Akiho! The dragoneers have been laying down a withering hail of fire."

"And now a substitution..." No one can tell who's going to be put on, but the coach is talking to Jay "He's bringing that hothead Jay in from the Isle of the Lost and that little guy Carlos can barely hold a shield."

"Whoo!" Rain cheers when they appear on the field, Carlos looks up at her scared, and she gives an encouraging thumbs up.

"When they break from their huddles, this is gonna be a big moment here. And the tipoff is ready. Here we go. Long pass goes to Jay. Jay dishes off to Prince Ben. Nice little block by Carlos. He does a little dancing jig in his opponent's face. And now Jay gets the ball back."

"Here comes Jay! Jay, hurdling manoeuvre at mid-field."

"Jay makes a nice pass to Prince Ben through the kill zone.

"Big block by Chad! Prince Ben moves over wide, gives it back to Jay. He's in the clear! Shot!"

The cheering gets louder as Jay goes to score.

"Oh, what a save by Philip the Falcons' goalkeeper!"

As the Auradonians groan, the game continues, It's all moving so fast Rain can barely keep up.

"23 seconds left. You could cut the tension with a sword. The long ball is played into Jay. Jay, great jump, great leap. And a great move by Jay. Big block from Chad. Jay dishes off to Prince Ben. And then Carlos with a big block, goes down. Jay through the kill zone, picks up Carlos. Oh, he's being hammered by dragon fire."

Jay is using Carlos as a human shield.

"Still, going on. Jay, hurdling manoeuvre at mid-field. He's in the clear. The ball goes back to Jay!"

"He passes to Prince Ben. He scores!"

"Whoo!" Rain jumps up and down with the others, getting lost in the crowd, as Mal covers her ears and grumbles, Rain cups her hands over her mouth

"Go Ben!"

"Prince Ben has won it! What an unselfish play by Jay! What a team! Incredible! And it's the new guys, Jay and Carlos, who set up the prince for the win here. What a victory! An absolutely wonderful end to one of the best games ever. Here they come, folks. The winners of the first tourn..."

The commentator is cut off by Ben grabbing the microphone

"Oh no-"

"Excuse me. Excuse me. Can I have your attention, please? There's something I'd like to say." Ben takes the microphone, his eyes searching the crowd until he finds Rain sandwiched between Mal and Evie, he stands on one of the Tourney match obstacles.

"Give me an 'R'!"

"'R'!" everyone cheers

"Give me an "A"!"

"'A'!"

"Give me an "I"!"

"'I'!"

"Give me an "N"!"

"'N'!"

"What does that spell?"

"Rain!" Evie shouts in Rain's ear along with the crowd and the girl in question covers her face, she hears Ruby laugh behind her.

"Come on, I can't hear you!"

"Rain!" This time Mal joins in, a shit-eating grin on her face.

"I really like you, Rain! Did I mention that?"

Audrey looks up at her ex in shock before she rushes across the pitch, no one else notices.

"Give me a beat! Whoo!"

"Uno, dos, tres, quatro!" Doug shouts and a rhythm starts to play.

"Oh my God!" Mal says looking at Rain

"This has to be the cookie!" Rain exclaims - Evie joining her on the last word.

♫ Did I mention ♫
♫ That I'm in love with you? ♫
♫ Did I mention ♫
♫ There's nothing I can do ♫
♫ And did I happen to say ♫
♫ I dream of you everyday ♫
♫ But let me shout it out loud ♫
♫ If that's okay-ay-ay (Hey!) ♫

All of Rain's surrounding friends are up and dancing, even Mal through second-hand embarrassment, is grinning and shouting 'hey' into Rain's ear.

♫ If that's okay (Hey!) ♫

On the pitch, Jay is clearly enjoying this far too much, grinning up at Rain as her hands are ripped from her face by Lonnie and Ruby.

♫ I met this girl that rocked my world
♫ Like it's never been rocked ♫
♫ And now I'm living just for her ♫
♫ And I won't ever stop ♫
♫ I never thought it could happen to a guy like me ♫
♫ But now look at what you've done ♫

Jay points Rain out dramatically to Ben.

♫ You got down on my knees ♫

♫ Because my love for you is ridiculous ♫
♫ Because my love for you is ridiculous ♫
♫ I never knew (Who knew?) ♫

"Who knew?!" Carlos shrugs dramatically and Rain debates killing them all in their sleep.

♫ That it could be like this ♫
♫ My love for you is ridiculous ♫
♫ My love is R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S! (R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S!) ♫
♫ It's (RIDICULOUS!) ♫
♫ Just (RIDICULOUS!) ♫
♫ And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss ♫

♫ Well, did I mention... ♫
♫ That I'm in love with you ♫
♫ And did I mention ♫
♫ There's nothing I can do ♫
And did I happen to say? ♫
♫ I dream of you everyday ♫
♫ ♫ But let me shout it out ♫
♫ If that's okay-ay-ay (Yeah!) ♫
♫ If that's okay ♫

Ben is looking directly at Rain, and although she's horribly embarrassed, she finds herself smiling. This boy was insane.

♫ I gotta know which way to go ♫
♫ C'mon gimme a sign ♫
You gotta show me that ♫
♫ You're only ever gonna be mine ♫
♫ Don't want to go another minute ♫
♫ Even without you ♫
♫ That's if your heart just isn't in it ♫
♫ I don't know what I'd do. ♫

♫ Because my love for you is ridiculous ♫
♫ I never knew (Who knew?) ♫
♫ That it can be like this ♫
♫ My love for you is ridiculous ♫
♫ My love is R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S! (R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S!) ♫
♫ It's (RIDICULOUS!) ♫
♫ Just (RIDICULOUS!) ♫
♫ And I would give my kingdom ♫
♫ For just one kiss ♫
♫ C'mon now! ♫

Everything falls into chaos as a dance break occurs, and Ben rips off his shirt, throwing it up to Rain, she catches it with ease and opens it up, the 'Ben. 07' spread across her chest

♫ Because my love for you is ridiculous ♫
♫ I never knew (Who knew?) ♫
♫ That it can be like this ♫
♫ My love for you is ridiculous ♫
♫ My love is R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S! (R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S!) ♫
♫ It's (RIDICULOUS!) ♫
♫ Just (RIDICULOUS!) ♫
♫ And I would give my kingdom ♫
♫ For just one kiss ♫
♫ C'mon now! ♫

One minute Ben is dancing, the next he's on the horse Macott, then he's being thrown up the stands, Rain tries to run away, but Evie pushes her back and she falls right into Ben's arms, she looks up.

"Hi,"

"Hey," he greets, Rain notices a sweaty bit of hair stuck to his forehead and flicks it out of the way, the crowd 'awe's "I really like you Rain,"

"I think you mentioned that," she whisper grins, the moment is ruined by the sway of a brown ponytail.

"Chad's my boyfriend now! And I'm going to the coronation with him. So, I don't need your pity date." Audrey has returned, Chad being dragged with her, she turns and dramatically kisses him.

Ben couldn't care less. And he turns to Rain "Rain! Will you go to the coronation with me?"

"Sure!" Although her words are casual, her tone isn't.

"She said 'sure"!" he tells the crowd.

"Let's go, Ben. The whole team's waiting for you." Jay comes and drags Ben away from Rain, she doesn't realise she's holding his hand until she has to let go.

"Bye!" she keeps smiling, both amused and flattered. Slightly giddy, she turns to Evie and sees her disappointed face "I feel really sorry for Audrey."

"You do?" Evie and Mal ask, Mal asking with a bit more disbelief.

"Yeah" Rain smiles softly at Evie "I feel like if she were talented like you, and she knew how to sew and knew beauty tips, she wouldn't need a prince to make her feel better about herself."

"Also the split ends," Ruby adds from behind them "That girl needs a hair mask and I'm not gonna give it to her,"

Evie smiles, and gives Rain a side hug "I guess I am kind of talented"

"You are definitely gifted" Mal says a smile gracing her lips as well

"Thanks guys,"

"Anytime,".