˚ ₊ ♡ ❰ chapter 4 ❱ ⋆ ✰ ₊˚.༄
˚ ₊ ♡ ❰  𝙱𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙵𝚁𝙴𝙴  ❱ ˖⋆࿐໋ ⋆
⋆⋅ ━━━━ ‧ ༻✩༺ ‧ ━━━━ ⋅⋆
— in which a tourney win with
her team and a song is the first
time gwen gothel has ever had

DONT FORGET TO READ CHAPTER THREE !! THIS WAS A DOUBLE UPDATE TODAY ❤️❤️

if you're dry readers this chapter and don't spam comment i'm including the cheating trope.  

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GWEN HAD PLOPPED HERSELF next to carlos, leaning against the counter he sat on. she folded her arms over her chest and watched evie and mal bake the cookies, never really being a good cook herself. she occasionally looked down at dude as she glared, which earned a smack from carlos.

the villains were currently in the middle of baking a few cookies for ben, cookies they hoped would spell him to fall in love with mal — jay tried to nominate gwen to take the fall and have to be the one to spell ben, but after a few punches from her and the silent treatment from carlos, the group decided that mal was their safest option.

"alright, it says that we still need one tear," stated mal. "and i never cry."

"let's just chop up some onions," carlos suggested, picking the vegetable up to show to the others.

"good idea," gwen nodded, and grabbed it from his hands as she walked over to mal with it, standing at the girls side and nudging her shoulder.

"no!" mal sighed, taking the onion out of her hands and throwing it across the counter. gwen squinted her eyes at her and smacked mal on the back of her head, walking over to go back to her previous spot, next to carlos. "ow!" mal glared at her. "it says that we need one tear of human sadness, and this love potion gets the best reviews so we have to follow it exactly," mal explained.

jay scoffed, rolling his eyes. "a tear's a tear!"

"that's not true, jay. they both have antibodies and enzymes, but an emotional tear has more protein- based hormones than a reflex fear," evie explained, and gwen just blinked at her in silence.

mal looked at her in shock. "listen to you!"

"i have no idea what you just said," gwen admitted with a head shake, and tilted her head as evie gave her a swift wink.

"yeah, i knew that!" jay lied, laughing.

carlos hit his arm. "did not."

"yeah i did."

"jay, there's no way you did," gwen soon joined in, shaking her head. just as she said those words, the door opened, revealing lonnie walking towards the five with a huge smile.

"there you are, mal! i was looking for you!"

gwen failed to hide her eye-roll.

mal frantically covered up the spell book with evie and smiled at the girl, trying to play it off cool.

"you know, all the girls want you to do their hair!" lonnie explained, and she looked over to see what was in mal's mixing bowl. "midnight snack, huh? what you guys making?"

"nothing special, just cookies—"

before mal could even finish her sentence, lonnie had dipped her finger into the mixture, and gwen watched her do so, confused why the others were panicking and protesting.

"no, no!"

"wait, wait, wait!"

lonnie looked at their shocked faces in confusion. "what? i'm not gonna double dip!"

"feel anything?" evie asked, unsure.

"yeah, like maybe might be missing something?" mal added, looking a little worried.

gwen rolled her eyes at her friends stupidity.

jay decided to use this to his advantage as he made his way to lonnie, resting his arm on the metal pole, he moved a strand of his hair, smirking flirtatiously at her. "hey, there."

lonnie didn't understand what he was doing and gave him a tight smile. "could use some chips."

"chips?"

gwen took this as her opportunity to slide besides mal, nudging the girl and turning her voice into a quiet whisper. "you haven't added the tear yet, so the spell wasn't going to work on her."

"how did i not realise that?" mal shook her head as she snapped her attention towards lonnie, noticing her looking through the fridge. "what are chips?"

gwen walked back to where she was and smirked at jay's horrendous attempt at flirting, causing him to smack her swiftly as she yelped.

"chocolate chips? just the most important food group!" lonnie set a bowl onto the table, and she started pouring little portions of them into their pastry. "wait... didn't your moms ever make you guys, like, chocolate chip cookies?"

gwen froze.

she had no idea where this girl was coming from. were their mothers were supposed to make them chocolate chip cookies? she had never heard of a thing so bizarre before, back on the isle, the only things mother made for their kids was, if you got lucky, supper on the occasional fortnight.

lonnie failed to notice the looks she was getting so she continued with her ranting. "like, when you're feeling sad, and they're fresh from the oven with a big old glass of milk and she just makes you laugh and puts everything into perspective and—"

during lonnie's talk, gwen noticed how carlos had gone quiet. she stole a glance at him and frowned when she saw the sunken expression falling on his face. she did not know what to do, never has gwen ever felt weird about seeing him sad before — she was usually someone who made him cry if pushed far enough. so why was it so different now?

why was it different for all of them? why did gwen want to run up to all her friends and give them the biggest hugs ever?

gwen didn't do hugs — she had no idea what was happening to her right now.

little did she know, every single villain kid in that room was thinking exactly the same thing as her.

lonnie stopped her sentence short, looking at all of their faces — she didn't see the smiles that she was hoping to be staring right back at her, instead, she saw five eyes full with sadness staring at her. "why are you all looking at me like that?"

"it's just... different where we're from," explained mal, going back to their pastry.

"yeah, i know. i just, you know, i thought... even villains love their kids..."

mic drop.

gwen glanced up at the girl in a mixture of disgust and shock, her head shook in complete disbelief as she took in lonnie's words — flashbacks to her life back on the isle started ravishing her vision, all the times her mother was ever disappointed in her, all the fights she got herself in, all the abuse she took, all the times she wished for someone to state they were proud of her, because fuck was she trying so hard. and yet no one cared.

gwen didn't know what love felt like, she had yet to experience the feeling of a mothers love. placing on her mask, once again, she folded her arms over her chest and opted to just staring at lonnie when eyes fell to her, shaking her head lightly.

"oh," lonnie realised, tears staring to form in her eyes as she turned to mal and grabbed her hands softly. "how awful."

mal seemed repelled at first but as she noticed the tear falling down lonnie's cheek, she quickly came back to her senses as she reached up and flicked it into their bowl. "yeah, well, big bummer!" the five changed their expressions as if nothing happened, gwen clearing her throat. "but we have to get these into the oven, so thank you for coming by!" stated mal, starting to push the girl towards the kitchen door. "really, really have a good night; and i'll see you tomorrow! evil dreams!"

"goodnight!" lonnie said, walking out the door.

mal clapped her hands together and turned to her group of friends. "okay! boys, cooking sheet. evie, oven, gwen, tidy."

gwen threw her hands up in disbelief. "why am i always the one who has to tidy?"

"because we know you hate doing it the most!"

gwen glared daggers at the back of jay's head.

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                                     THE NEXT DAY, THE VK's had planned to spell ben with the cookie before the tourney game. gwen had her kit ready in her bag as she leaned against the balcony, frowning as a group of boys, who all played for the team, walked over to hear. she looked down at them all, considering they were stood on the grassy area below her.

"you ready for the game later, gwen?" payton, the son of peter pan and wendy, asked, sending her a charming smirk as she snorted.

"depends, are you?" gwen smirked back, and she winked at him. flirting was always a way that she, and evie, gained their power on the isle and after many lessons she had become a pro at it.

"you know we are," laughed another boy next, and gwen failed to get his name.

"how come you're all dancing over here?" wondered gwen, tilting her head at the little group, her golden hair swaying as she did so.

"oh, so is it a crime to talk to you now?" nathan, the son of prince naveen and princess tiana, questioned with a raised eyebrow, jokingly challenging her.

carlos eventually walked over to the group, placing himself besides gwen as he carefully leaned against the railing. he frowned as he glanced between them all, wondering what was going on and what he had walked in on. however, when he saw all of the boys staring up at gwen — transfixed in a state — carlos rolled his eyes in realisation.

"never said it was," gwen replied monotonously as she wanted nothing more for them to all leave now carlos was here. "was just wondering."

"you coming to the after party when we win?" alex, the son of alice, questioned next, flashing her what could only be described as a boyish smile, his head tilted up at her.

"when we win?" humorously laughed gwen. "not if, but when?"

"with you and jay on the team, we are so winning this game," bragged payton, and the boys started nodding in agreement.

"and carlos," gwen squinted her eyes at them all.

the boys simultaneously cast an awkward look to said boy, their faces displaying grimaces.

"gee, thanks," carlos deadpanned.

gwen failed to disguise her laughs.

nevertheless, she took this as her cue that the talk was over and she grabbed carlos by his arm. gwen sent a wink towards the boys. "well, boys, i best be off to go get some food, but i'll see you all later on the field!"

"bye gwen!" cane a synchronised chorus.

"have them all wrapped around your finger," carlos shook his head once they had moved away from the group, and gwen ruffled up his hair with a laugh.

"what can i say? i'm just irresistible," she bragged, laughing for a second until she stopped as she saw mal stood with ben in front of his locker. "has she gave him the cookie yet?"

carlos shook his head. "not yet."

"you think it'll work?" gwen pressed, and they stood next to evie, who was watching carefully as well, the same question on all their minds.

"it has too," carlos replied. "it's our only hope."

for a little while, it seemed as if ben did not want to take the cookie from mal's hands — at one point he even turned away from her to walk off. but then, as quick as anyone could blink, he quickly snatched it from out of her grip and took a large bite.

"come on," gwen whispered, and they met up with jay as the four slowly crept up behind mal and ben, listening as he explained the taste of the cookie. at last, gwen came and stood by mal's side, looking a bit too hopeful.

if this worked, their plan to steal the wand could finally take action.

"mal, have you always had those little golden flecks in your eyes?" ben asked, and went to take another bite of the cookie if mal didn't snatch the cookie off of him, placing it back in the plastic bag.

out of relief, gwen and carlos shared a small high-five, watching jay come up behind hen, placing his hands on his shoulders. "how you feeling, bro?" he teasingly asked the future king.

"i feel... i feel... i feel like... like singing your name! mal—!" ben started to sing, but mal quickly placed her hand over his mouth to stop that, muffling the sound of him singing her name.

gwen took the cookies off of mal and let out a low whistle whilst observing them.

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FINALLY, THE GAME HAD arrived. the crowd cheered as the band played, the cheerleaders dancing their hearts out; at one point audrey was even dancing with the schools mascot; gwen had to hand it to her, the girl has moves.

gwen sat on the bench, directly in between carlos and jay, as she watched her team out there. it was, currently, a very tight game and she wanted to do nothing more than to get out there and send some prissy princes flying to the ground.

"this is a nail-biter, folks," the announcer said into the gold microphone. "there's forty seven seconds left on the clock — we're all tied up. the sherwood falcons, two. the fighting nights, two. what a game between auradon's fiercest rivals!"

"get 'em, chad," jay nodded to their teammate as he saw him getting ready to go on.

chad sent him a shocked, but grateful, look as he nodded at him. "thanks, jay."

"you two are up," the coach turned to look at gwen and jay with a smile, her already starting to put on her helmet as she began getting ready.

"coach," jay began, and gwen sent him a frown as she stood next to him. he grabbed carlos, bringing him to a standing position. "how about my buddy here?"

"oh, no," carlos sat back down.

"not so sure about that," the coach shook his head, and gwen glared at him through her helmet.

but jay was not giving up, and grabbed carlos once again. "coach, he's been practicing!"

"jay..." carlos warned, refusing to meet anyone's gaze.

"— and you said yourself a team is made up of a bunch of parts," jay continued.

"jay, i'm not that good!" carlos denied.

"well, carlos is kind of like our brain!" gwen added into their conversation, deciding to get involved as she stood at carlos's other side, placing her arm on his shoulder. jay pointed at her in agreement.

the coach turned his attention to the pitch. "come here!" he called out to a player, before throwing a crosse at carlos. "you heard them, get out there!"

"don't worry, bro. i got your back!" jay assured his best friend, patting his shoulder lightly.

"how about my front?" asked carlos.

"i'll guard that for you, pup," gwen ruffled his hair up, laughing as she pushed him to walk in front of her, just so she knows he wouldn't turn and sneak away last minute.

"he's bringing that hothead, jay, in from the isle of the lost as well as the new girl, gwen, and that little guy carlos can barely hold a shield!"

"break!" the team shouted.

"when they break from their huddles, this is gonna be a big moment here. and the tip-off is ready," the whistle blowed, and the game had begun. "here we go! long pass to gwen and she dishes off to jay who passes to prince ben — nice little block by carlos — he does a little dancing jig in the opponents face."

gwen snorted as she ran past her friend dancing on the field, shaking her head at his giddiness.

"and now jay gets the ball back, here comes jay! jay, hurdling the maneuver at mid-field — makes a nice pass to prince aariz through the kill zone. big block by felix! prince aariz moves over wide, gives it back to gwen. she's in the clear! shot! oh! what a save by phillip, the falcons goalkeeper!"

"no!" gwen groaned in frustration, annoyed that her amazing shot hadn't gone in.

"come on, it's alright!" ben patted her shoulder as felix directed her back over to the team huddle for the play to start again.

"let's go, guys!"

"twenty two seconds left. you could cut the tension with a sword. the long ball is played into felix. felix, great jump, great leap. and a great move. big block by chad. felix dishes it off to prince ben who passes to prince aariz, and then carlos with a big block, he goes down — gwen through the kill zone, she picks up carlos. they're being hammered by dragon fire. still going on. jay hurdling manoeuvre at midfield. he's in the clear. the ball goes back to jay, he passes to gwen, gwen passes to prince ben, he scores!"

the crowd went wild.

gwen threw her hands up in the air, her eyes wide. she felt aariz hug her tightly and, for once, she did not gag at the sudden affection as she accepted his embrace, felix soon coming over to join them.

"prince ben has won it! what an unselfish play by jay! what a team! incredible! and it's the new kids, jay, gwen, and carlos, who set up the prince for the win here. what a victory! and absolutely wonderful end to one of the best games ever. here they come, folks, the winners of the first tourn—" the tourney announcer was abruptly interrupted by someone taking the microphone off of him.

"excuse me! excuse me!" said ben, and gwen's arms fell from aariz's shoulders as she frowned, sharing a confused look with felix. "can i have your attention, please? there's something i'd like to say!"

everyone went silent.

the gears started turning in gwen's head, and she looked over at mal in the stands.

"give me an M!" ben suddenly yelled, making the letter shape above his head.

"M!" the crowd copied his actions.

"give me an A!" ben continued.

"A!" the crowd repeated.

"give me an L!" ben then shouted, and all gwen's suspicions were proven to be correct.

"L!" the crowd screamed, and realisation quickly dawned upon audrey as her face fell.

"what does that spell?"

"mal!" gwen shouted with the crowd, cupping her hands over her mouth and cackling when she saw mal close her eyes in annoyance.

"come on, i can't hear you!"

"mal!"

"i love you, mal!" ben suddenly announced as felix and aariz looked at each other, confusion wrote on the both of their faces. "did i mention that?"

audrey let out a pained noise, and she rushed away from the crowd, directly past carlos and gwen, who laughed as they watched her leave.

"give me a beat!"

"uno, dos, tres, cuatro!"

gwen widened her eyes in clear amusement as soon as she heard the music beginning to play. she snook a glance towards mal stood in the stands, sending a teasing wink towards the girl. she noticed the other tourney players bopping to the music, and instantly decided to join in with them. she knew it would piss mal off, and jay and carlos seemed to have the same idea as the trio shared a wicked grin.

"did i mention that i'm in love with you!" ben soon started to sing, pointing right at mal. felix and aariz sent a shocked look towards each other, before they shrugged and decided to join in. "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 loud, if that's okay! hey! if that's okay!"

"hey!" jay yelled, sending mal a teasing grin.

gwen immediately sought out an opportunity as she ran towards ben, dancing alongside him for the next part of his song. ben continued. "i met this girl who rocked my world like it's never been rocked!" gwen copied his movements. "and now i'm living just for her and i wont ever stop," he stated, sending her a grin. "i never thought that it could happen to a guy like me, but now look at what you've done—!" the entire tourney team paused and