────── ☼ ☼ ☼ ──────

────── ☼ ☼ ☼ ──────

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐎𝐘𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐘

────── ☼ ☼ ☼ ──────

Three months had passed since Rylee and Morgan's adventure on the Isle. But to the Fitzherbert girl, it felt like it was only yesterday. The princesses were welcomed back with open arms by their peers at Auradon Prep as well as their families. They didn't hesitate to resume their classes and continued their training for Tourney, both wanting to graduate on time. Despite being happy back in the place where they belonged, not everything went back to how it was before.

It was no surprise that Rylee and Morgan's friendship with Ben was tarnished. They couldn't forget about his ulterior motives for having them observe Remedial Goodness Class and sending them to the Isle, and no one blamed them for it. The princesses still worked as his Royal Advisors but they never spent any more time than necessary with the King of Auradon. Because of this, Rylee and Morgan grew even closer to Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos since they spent all their free time with them. They also were with Gabby as much as possible as she continued to adapt to the lifestyle in Auradon.

At the moment, Rylee and Morgan were working in the office that Ben gave them when he was crowned king. The princesses were preparing everything Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos needed for VK Day, which was happening in a little over an hour. While the redheaded girl prepared the new students' schedules for the upcoming semester, Rylee looked through her laptop to figure out which dorms were available for them. It was just their luck that rooms opened up near the current VK's dorms. As soon as she finished writing down the information she needed, a soft knocking sound cut through the air. This immediately caused Rylee and Morgan to stop what they were doing before looking toward the source of the sound to find Ben standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Ben," the blonde girl greeted as she placed the information she had just written down into a folder before turning her full attention to the king, "what can we do for you?"

"I just really needed to talk to you guys," the brunette boy told them, causing Morgan to let out a quiet sigh while Ben walked further into the room after closing the door behind him.

"Can you make it quick?" the Macintosh girl asked as she sat down on the couch next to Rylee, "we're kinda busy getting everything ready for the four new arrivals."

After staring at the two girls in front of him for a long moment, Ben let out a long sigh. Rylee and Morgan's eyes were glued to him as he made his way across the room and sat down in the chair across from them. The three of them sat in somewhat awkward silence as the princesses waited for the king to speak. What felt like an eternity passed before Rylee and Morgan exchanged a quick glance then they looked back at the boy they'd known for their entire lives.

"I just wanted to apologize for everything that happened," he finally said, breaking the silence as he looked to the floor beneath his feet, "I shouldn't have said those things to you back on the Isle."

"It's fine, Ben. You've already apologized like a hundred times since then," Rylee responded while forcing a smile onto her face.

However, the Fitzherbert girl's smile instantly faltered when she noticed the Beast boy looking at her with an unconvinced look in his eyes. The two of them just stared at each other for a moment before Ben broke the silence forming in the room. "And things are still awkward when we're around each other."

"If I'm being completely honest with you, I don't know if it'll ever be not awkward. No matter how much we want things to go back to normal," Morgan told Ben, drawing the king's attention toward her right as the Fitzherbert girl copied his previous actions and looked down at the floorboards.

"I know. I know. I messed up big time and I'm really, really sorry," the brunette boy told them before Ben let out another long sigh, "you guys are two of the most important people in my life. I don't wanna lose you."

The King of Auradon's last five words caused Rylee's whole body to freeze. A million thoughts swam around in her head as her eyes snapped up to meet his. After everything the three of them had been through, Rylee, Morgan, and Ben had always been there for each other, no matter how strange or difficult things got. Despite everything that happened back on the Isle, Rylee finally realized it shouldn't have this big of an impact on their lives. After all, Ben's heart was in the right place...even though it didn't lead him to the right decision. But that was why Rylee and Morgan were his royal advisors and, more importantly, his best friends. To help steer him away from his bad ideas.

The Fitzherbert girl just stared at the boy in front of her for a moment longer before she finally snapped out of her trance. When she looked over at Morgan, she found the daughter of Merida and Ryan looking down at the floor. It surprised the Fitzherbert girl that her most confident friend was unable to keep eye contact with the boy in front of her as guilt started filling her eyes. But that just showed Rylee that Morgan came to the same conclusion as her.

"You're not gonna lose us, Beasty. No matter how hard you try to get rid of us. It just might take some time for things to get back to how they used to be," the blonde girl finally said as she looked back over at Ben, causing a small smile to form on the king's face before the princess continued speaking, "besides, I was getting tired of holding a grudge against you."

"But, next time you feel like we're out of line, let us know instead of having ulterior motives," Morgan added as a small smirk started forming on her lips, "we've never kept secrets from each other and we don't wanna start now."

"Deal. But there is something I wanna do to make it up to you guys," the Beast boy told them while his smile grew much larger than before, causing confused looks to appear on Rylee and Morgan's faces, "since you guys were on the Isle for a while, you probably met someone who deserves a second chance. So, I thought you guys could go with Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos to the Isle and bring a fifth kid over."

"Are you serious?!" the princesses exclaimed, earning a small laugh from Ben before he got to his feet and looked at his watch.

"They leave in thirty minutes. Better get ready."

Rylee and Morgan instantly pulled Ben into the tightest hug they'd given him in a very long time, which the boy didn't hesitate to return. That lasted for another long moment before the princesses raced back to the room they had in Beast Castle to get ready for their journey back to the Isle.

As soon as they swung their door open, Gabby jumped out of her seat and raced toward them with a huge smile on her face. The younger girl pulled them into a quick hug before sitting back down on her bed that was just beneath the huge window. Ever since Skyler and Holly left to explore the world of Auradon together a few weeks ago, the Gothel girl started feeling isolated. Even though she was enjoying her new and much better life, none of the students her age made an effort to get to know her. The only exceptions were Rylee and Morgan's younger siblings, but their only conversations had been over video chat so far.

"I still can't believe four kids are coming over!" the young girl exclaimed, causing Rylee and Morgan to exchange a knowing look before turning their attention back to Gabby as she bounced up and down on her bed, "I'm so excited! I hope they choose someone I know!"

"Actually, there's gonna be five kids coming over," Morgan announced, making the daughter of Mother Gothel grow still as she stared at the older girls with curiosity in her eyes, "Ben is letting us pick another kid from the Isle to come over since we met a lot of them while we were there for a month."

"And we were wondering if you had a friend you'd like us to bring over," Rylee continued, instantly making the large grin return to the raven-haired girl's face, "we thought that having a familiar face around along with our siblings would help you with your first year."

"You'd do that for me?" Gabby questioned, only to receive nods from the princesses in response before the smile on the younger girl's face grew larger than humanly possible, "no one has ever done anything that nice for me before."

"Better get used to it. Because when Ruby and Roland get here tomorrow, they're gonna spoil you rotten," the Macintosh girl said before she and her blonde friend started laughing, knowing that was the understatement of the year.

"Do you have anyone in mind, Gabs?" the Fitzherbert girl asked after turning her attention back to the Gothel girl.

"Of course I do!" Gabby shouted as she jumped to her feet and rushed towards the older girls before stopping a foot away from them and hopping on the balls of her feet, "she's been wanting to come here since the first wave of VKs were invited. Hopefully, she filled out an application."

Once Rylee and Morgan finished getting changed into the clothes Evie had made for them, the princesses said one more final goodbye to Gabby and left the room. Passing staff and guards sent the girls warm smiles and waves as they walked through the halls of Beast Castle. When the two of them finally made it down to the foyer of the royal home, they found Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos near the doors having an inaudible conversation amongst themselves. It wasn't long after that when their attention turned towards Rylee and Morgan before large grins appeared on their faces.

After saying a quick greeting and exchanging a few hugs, the group of six make their way toward Mal's purple limo. While Morgan, Mal, Evie, and Carlos went to sit in the back, Rylee took the seat up front with Jay. Once they were ready to go, the son of Jafar started the engine and began their journey to the Isle.

────── ☼ ☼ ☼ ──────

────── ☼ ☼ ☼ ──────