gwen and the boys immediately collapsed to their knees, hitting the floor in fake agony.

"because my love for you in ridiculous!" claimed ben, falling onto his back. "i never knew—!"

"who knew?" carlos and gwen both asked as they helped ben up, shrugging their shoulders at each other and swiftly dancing away.

ben grinned. "that it could be like this, my love for your is ridiculous! my love is—!" gwen reached up and held onto the microphone stand as aariz held ben's microphone, the entire team watching as he spelled out the letters with his body. "R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S!"

"R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S!" the tourney team followed his movies with a chant, also spelling the letters out with their bodies.

"it's—!"

"ridiculous!" the crowd chanted.

"just—!"

"ridiculous!" they chanted again.

"and i would give my kingdom for just one kiss!" finished ben, and gwen found herself stood at the front of a diagonal line, opposite carlos, while she clicked her fingers with the rest of the team. "well did i mention that i'm in love with you, and did i mention there's nothing i can do," ben continued singing. "and did i happen to say, i dream of you everyday, but let me shout it out loud, if that's okay!"

"hey!" aariz and felix yelled.

"if that's okay!"

"hey!" the crowd yelled next.

gwen then found herself in small huddle with the boys, at the front of the line, again opposite carlos, as she swayed her hips to the music, smirking at a scared mal whilst ben carried on singing to her. "i gotta know which way to go, come on, give me a sign," gwen then rolled her arms with all the boys, laughing gleefully. "you gotta show me that you're only ever gonna be mine, don't wanna go another minute livin' without you 'cause if your heart just isn't in it, i don't know what i'd do!"

ben then fell back into the team as they all caught him and launched him forwards again as he went flying in the air for a short moment before falling back onto his own two feet. 

"because my love for you is ridiculous! i never knew—!"

"who knew?" gwen shouted, dancing around felix and aariz as the two boys laughed, the latter even grabbed her hand and twirled her around.

"that it could be like this," ben put himself at the microphone stand. "my love for you is ridiculous, my love is—!" ben then spelled out the letters with his body once again, and gwen nodded along with the team as they watched him do so. "R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S!"

"R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S!" the team copied him yet again, spelling the letters out with their bodies as gwen smiled widely.

"it's—!"

"ridiculous!" the crowd chanted.

"just—!"

"ridiculous!" they chanted again.

"and i would give my kingdom for just one kiss," finished ben. "come on, now!" ben yelled, and he began to dance around his microphone stand.

gwen laughed, dancing with the rest of the team as she stood besides felix, the both of them having the times of their life's as they high-fived ben when he ran past them and she cheered loudly as carlos did the splits when ben pointed at him — she and him had always been the best dancers of the group.

ben took off his jersey shirt as the team all stood around him. gwen stood at the front of the group and pointed at mal, smiling as ben threw his shirt right in mal's direction, causing the purple haired girl in the stands to catch it with a gasp.

"because my love for you is ridiculous! i never knew—!"

"who knew?" felix and aariz voiced, and laughed at the sight of their best friend jumping on the school mascot's back. 

"that it could be like this," ben continued as gwen danced in front of the mascot, moving herself at a pace for it to follow. "my love is R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S!"

"R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S!" gwen stopped and did the dance once last time, laughing in shock when aariz and felix suddenly grabbed ahold of ben, throwing him into the crowd.

"it's—!" ben said as the crowd started moving him towards mal, who looked beyond terrified.

"ridiculous!" the team yelled. gwen stood with jay, carlos, felix, and aariz. the five of them laughing at what was in front of them.

"just—!" ben started to get closer.

"ridiculous!" the team shouted as gwen rested her hand on carlos's shoulder, aariz and jay sharing a laugh, whilst felix kept his eyes wide in shock.

"and i would give my kingdom for just one kiss!" ben announced, stopping in front of mal. "c'mon now!" he exclaimed, and the music dramatically stopped as gwen folded her arms over her chest, shaking her head in amusement.

"what's going on right now?" felix questioned.

"i don't know," aariz responded. "but i love it."

gwen smirked slightly.

"i love you, mal," ben stated, wrapping his arms around the girl. "did i mention that?"

many of times, gwen thought in her head with a humorous chuckle.

audrey suddenly walked up the bleachers and she stole the microphone from ben, looking smug for someone who just got publicly dumped in front of the entire boarding school. "chad's my boyfriend now! and i'm going to the coronation with him, so i don't need your pity date!"

gwen groaned and looked away in disgust when audrey leaned down to start snogging chad.

"mal!" ben snatched the microphone back, looking hopeful. "will you go to the coronation with me?"

mal leaned into the microphone. "yes!"

"she said yes!" ben yelled, causing the entire crowd to start cheering loudly for him. audrey scoffed and stormed away from the two, chad following behind her like a lost poppy.

"hey ben!" gwen called up towards the boy as felix pretended to tap a fake watch on his wrist. "c'mon, the whole teams waiting for you!"

"coming!" ben replied, and bid his goodbye to mal before making his way back on the field. almost as soon as he got down there was he bombarded with questions from felix and aariz.

"okay, since when was this a whole thing?" aariz raised his eyebrows in amusement.

"i don't know," ben admitted, and the villains hid their chuckles with coughs. "but whatever this is, i hope it lasts forever."

"okay, lover boy," felix shook his head. "we've still got to lift the trophy, but trust me we are not done with this conversation!"

"i told you he liked mal!" aariz accused, pointing at felix, who rolled his eyes. gwen widened her eyes in alarm. "i told you from the moment they met!"

jay and carlos shared a look.

"yeah. yeah, whatever. you were right!" felix sighed with a dismissive wave of his hand. "now c'mon, we have a trophy to go lift."

gwen decided to ignore whatever she had just heard the princes admit, she was never a fan of boy drama and she was not getting herself involved with it now. instead, she opted to celebrating with her team, and she laughed as alex placed her on his shoulders. she looked up and pointed at mal and evie, who grinned and waved back at their best friend.

gwen had no idea what she was thinking right now, ever since coming to auradon her mind had started to become messed up.

but right here, right now, celebrating this win with all her best friends, she wouldn't mind reliving this moment again.

there was a thought building within the back of her mind that was trying to remind her about the wand and their plan, but gwen pushed it all away. for the first time in her life, she was having fun.

for the first time ever, there were people out there actually proud of her.

gwen hated how much she couldn't stop her smile from growing.

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            . ˚  ⁺ .  ✦ . 　. ✦ .⁺ ˚ .　　　

GWEN LAID SPRAWLED OUT across carlos's bed, her mind running as she ran her fingers through her hair. she could feel the magic growing stronger in her veins, the magic her own mother had warned her about. she was having so much fun at auradon that she completely forgot about their conversation before she left.

she bit her lip, her mind running with anticipation the more she thought about it.

"alright seriously, what is wrong with you?" carlos asked, looking up from his laptop as she looked at him in a mix of confusion and shock. "you've been sat there staring into space for half an hour... i'm starting to think you're plotting my murder."

"you know i never plot, i just act," gwen sent him a swift grin, and he rolled his eyes at her, waiting for her reply. "besides i'm fine. i'm just thinking about something my mother said."

he frowned in concern. "was it... bad?"

"look at you getting all concerned about me!" she gave him a teasing wink, and he ducked his head, looking away for a moment. "carlos, i'm fine. i'm just... anticipating something?"

"anticipating?" carlos repeated, sitting down with her and gulping lightly; gwen had always terrified him. "gwen, what's wrong?"

gwen let out a sigh, realising that it was best to tell someone the surprising news. "my mother told me i'll have the same powers as rapunzel in auradon; i didn't believe it at first, but everyday i can just feel myself getting stronger and i... i don't know what i should do."

carlos stared at her, mouth agape.

"have you... have you tested it out?" carlos asked, a little hesitant to do so. when she turned to frown at him, he continued. "you know, tested them out just in case they... don't work?"

"that's the thing, i don't know how to work them," gwen sighed, flopping back against his bed as she stared up at the ceiling. "i've tried ignoring it this whole time but as i've just said to you, i can... feel myself becoming stronger, and i don't think i can ignore it anymore."

"you have to tell the others about this," explained carlos carefully. "maybe they can help you better than me; i don't know a lot about magic, but their parents lived and breathed magic. they'd be more help to you than me."

"evie is too preoccupied with her face to help me, mal would probably use me to her advantage and force me into her grand plan, and jay would most definitely offer to sell my hair for gold," chuckled gwen, her tone of voice deadpan as she raised an eyebrow at carlos. "you're the only one i can tell... unless there's a problem with that?"

"no, no, no!" carlos frantically rushed out, scared of making her angry. "it's just... you never come to tell me things... like, ever."

gwen knew that he was right, because back on the isle carlos was probably the last person she would have gone to for help. she didn't necessarily bully him, how can you bully one of your allies? but she was definitely his biggest fear, and everyday gwen sought out a new way to scare and aggravate him, which was very easy considering carlos was so reactive to her and her insults.

there was the odd few times she would go physical with him, like pushing him into lockers or shoving down the stairs at dragon hall, or even those times when gwen would get bored and would, randomly, start to fight him.

but she never did anything to hurt him.

no matter how much she tried, gwen always ended up stopping herself before carlos could get hurt. he was used to pain, relating to his mother, and gwen didn't want him to feel anymore when he was with his... friends.

when she was fighting with jay it was different, the two of them actually tried to hurt each other. gwen never actually considered what she did with carlos was fighting and often used the term 'play fighting' with him. and, whether she liked to admit it or not, through the lines of her insults, she really did have some sort of soft spot for the de vil boy.

screw auradon for making her realise that.

"well i want to now," gwen answered, shrugging as carlos stared at her in silence. "do you reckon felix couple help me? maybe he's possessed the powers from his mother... i don't know!"

"just ask him," carlos said, and gwen snapped her head towards him as if he were insane. "what? it's better to be safe than sorry."

"i never say sorry," gwen retorted, scoffing.

carlos smiled cheekily. "never said you did."

"i don't know if i want them, though," gwen finally said, the emotion in her voice juxtaposing with the deadpan expression that cast across her face.

"why not?" carlos asked, shocked. "having powers would be so cool! especially if they're healing ones, they could really come in handy!"

they are also the reason my mother kept rapunzel locked away for so many years.

"maybe," gwen agreed, not wanting to tell him the real reason why she wanted to stay powerless, why gwen wanted to make sure her mother could never lock her away like she did to rapunzel.

gwen may be a villain, but she was also a victim as well — a victim to her own mother — and with the freedom she had gained in auradon, gwen was not ready to go back to her chains just yet.

maybe one day, but not yet.

gwen gothel didn't want to become the object to her mothers deep desires; she knew that breaking down the barrier would eventually follow to that.

so while she had it, she would enjoy this freedom, enjoy it before her days of everlasting fighting has officially begun.

"there you are!" a voice suddenly exclaimed, and they looked over to see mal storming in the room, extremely tense. "hey carlos," she then waved her hand dismissively at the boy, before turning and glaring at gwen. "where have you been?!"

"right... here?" gwen answered, frowning.

"whatever," mal shook her head angrily. "we don't have time for this, i need your help!"

"i'm not usually the person who willingly goes out their way to help people," gwen stated, raising her eyebrows in a questioning manner as carlos hid a smirk at her words.

"i knew you'd make me do this."

"wha—?"

gwen was abruptly cut off by mal grabbing her by her ear and pulling her to walk alongside her.

"mal! ouch! jesus! this is not how you get your own way! violence is never the answer!"

"says the girl who fights people for a living," stated mal, slamming open the door, waving at a shocked carlos, who stood by his bed, not knowing what he should do.

"mal!" gwen complained one last time, and carlos's  door was closed shut as mal began to harshly drag her by her ear through the auradon halls, in search for their other girl friend.

it took some time, but finally, after ignoring all of gwen's complaints, they finally found the girl with doug, the duo grinning softly at each other as they appeared to be deep in conversation.

"there you are!" mal shouted as she and gwen now walked side by side. "we have been looking for you literally everywhere!"

evie frowned, concerned. "what's wrong?"

"that's exactly what i'm wanting to know!" smiled gwen, folding her arms over her chest, raising her eyebrows at mal challengingly.

"ben just asked me out on a..." mal let out a huff as she glanced over to one side, finding it hard to even say the words out loud. "on a date!"

gwen snorted.

"we can handle this," evie said comfortingly, and went to stand up as doug chuckled.

"we? no thanks, i don't do beauty preparations — especially if they're for dates!" gwen scoffed, and shuddered with a shake of her head.

"no, no, no!" mal denied, and tried to reach for the girl once again. "if i have to go through the pain of going on the date then you can suffer with helping me get ready for it!"

"no thanks! i'll just stay here with doug!" gwen smiled as she sat herself down in front of him.

doug stared at her in complete fear.

mal and evie shared an amused look.

suddenly, evie and mal latched onto each of gwen's arms and forced her into a standing position as she tried to protest. they caged her in between them as they ignored her and linked arms with her, making her walk back to the dorm with them.

"i did not agree to this!" gwen protested, but soon enough, despite all her fighting, she found herself back in her dorm room as she watched evie apply some blush on mal's cheeks.

"okay, easy on the blush," mal said with a grin. "i don't wanna scare him away."

"not that you could," snorted gwen, stood pacing around the room as she impatiently watched her friend get ready.

"that's true," mal agreed, laughing awkwardly.

"please," evie smiled, and she continued with what she was doing as gwen stopped to stand and watch, her arms folded. "my mom taught me how to apply blush before i could even talk. always use upwards strokes!"

"my mom taught me how to survive it if i ever get pushed out of a tower," gwen deadpanned as evie grabbed some lipstick, and she frowned when she noticed the girls staring at her. "literally don't ask. she taught me some makeup tips, though, mainly just the tips that'll make me look younger."

mal opened her mouth lightly as evie began to dab some lipstick on her lips. "well my mom was never really big on makeup tips," mal said, looking upset almost. "i never had a sister."

"well now you have two," evie immediately replied, and motioned towards gwen, who looked up with a soft look on her face, a look none of them had ever really seen her use before.

"yeah," gwen agreed, patting mal on her shoulders and sitting down next to her. "we're gonna need all the family we can get if we don't pull this off."

"exactly," smiled evie. "my mother's not a barrel of laughs when she doesn't get her way. just ask snow white."

"i don't even think i need to discuss mine," laughed gwen. "but let's just say, i'm not ready to get locked in a tower for the rest of my life."

"are you afraid of them?" mal suddenly asked.

"sometimes," evie answered for herself, but gwen's quietness was enough for mal to know that she felt the same way. "are you afraid of your mom?"

"i just really want her to be proud of me," revealed mal after a few moments of silence. gwen frowned, hating how much she related to mal. "she gets so... angry with me when i disappoint her... and yeah... she's my mom so i know she loves me... in her own way."

gwen and evie shared a soft glance.

"come on," gwen nudged mal's shoulder, grabbing her hand as she pulled her up to stand. "let's see if putting me through all this torture was worth it."

"gwen!" laughed evie.

"are we done?" mal asked, and allowed for gwen to take her towards the mirror. as soon as she paused in her steps, taking a look at herself, mal gasped in shock. "oh..."

"i know!" evie grinned, laying her chin on mal's shoulder as she stood behind her.

"we did well," gwen nodded, standing beside mal. her arms were, of course, folded, but she bumped hips with her best friend, the physical contact she felt comfortable doing.

"i look..." mal hesitated.

"say it," gwen nodded at her encouragingly.

"not hideous," mal admitted.

evie softly shook her head. "not even close."

suddenly, a knock was sounded at their room door, and gwen went over to lean against her bed pole as she watched mal open it up, instantly being greeted by ben stood on the other side, who stared at her in amazement.

ben smiled fondly. "for the first time, i understand the difference between