Chapter Text
Miscellaneous Audrey Antagonism – The Proposed Double Date
Notes: This was intended to eventually segue into a group bonding thing that would allow Ben to see the darker side of Audrey while growing more attached to the might of Chad/Evie, but unfortunately I was never able to fill it out, thus leaving it to be abandoned.
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“We should go on a double date,” Audrey announced out of the blue at lunch one day, breaking out of her awkward, forced smile to address Chad and Evie.
Chad… did not understand. “Why?” he asked. “You don’t like Evie.”
Audrey pressed a hand against her chest as though she was mortally offended. “I do too like Evie.”
“No, you don’t,” Carlos spoke up. “You’re the one that spreads all those awful rumors.”
“There’s rumors?” Chad asked, splitting his attention between Audrey and Evie. He felt like he was getting pulled between two unyielding forces, even though Evie wouldn’t meet his eyes. “What rumors?”
“Don’t worry about them,” Mal muttered. “They’re stupid and wrong.” She stabbed at her pasta with angry movements. “But Audrey also started them-”
“I did not,” Audrey insisted, and Chad wanted to believe her but even Jane was giving her a dubious look, and Jane gave just about anyone the benefit of the doubt.
“-which makes me wonder why you’d want to double date with Evie and Chad anyway,” Mal finished as though she hadn’t heard her. “I find this suspect.”
“Well you shouldn’t,” Audrey sniffed, turning her wounded look to Ben when she realized no one else believed her. “As I am being nice and offering an olive branch.”
“Seems more like a trap to me,” Carlos grumbled under his breath, his attention mostly focused on the tablet Chad had gotten him to work on a project for his programming class.
“Guys,” Ben finally spoke up, looking less and less happy as the conversation went on. “Maybe there have been some… tensions in the past-”
“Just yesterday she told everyone that Evie was only dating Chad for his money,” Mal pointed out, and Chad was glad he hadn’t heard that rumor, because it was terrible.
“That’s not true,” Chad spoke up, hating the way Evie tensed beside him. “Why would you say that, Audrey?”
Audrey’s expression switched into something close to murderous. “Do you believe her over me?”
“Um-” Chad had gotten so used to Mal being the boss and being nice to him that he’d forgotten where he’d come from, forgotten his roots, and it wasn’t until this exact moment that he realized how crazy that was. Maybe Mal had heard something wrong. Maybe this was all a misunderstanding.
“Please, Audrey.” It was Lonnie who rolled her eyes, huffing at Audrey’s overdramatic reaction. “We all heard you talking about it. You don’t have to put Chad on the spot like that.”
“He buys her a lot of stuff,” Audrey pressed, not even denying it after she’d just- then Mal was right all along? “And stuff for them.”
“I bought you a lot of stuff too,” Chad said, still fumbling to play catch up, and it wasn’t until he got confused expressions from everyone else, including Ben, that he realized what he’d said. “I mean, because we’ve been friends for a long time.”
Audrey was his only friend, everyone knew that.
“You mad that he’s spreading the love around, Audrey?” Mal cooed, but it didn’t seem sweet like Evie’s normally were. This was more like a taunt.
“Hey, let’s just settle down,” Ben tried again, giving his best reassuring smile that didn’t even work on Chad, and Chad loved Ben’s solid confidence. “Change can be… difficult, and that’s not an excuse to make poor choices.” He seemed to aim that at Audrey, who did not like it one bit. “But we should always strive to move forward in kindness, if we can.”
“Sure,” Mal huffed. “We can do that at school, though. Not on a double date where you control the situation.”
It was obvious who the ‘you’ in question was, and Audrey was already puffing up in mock offense. “What are you implying?”
“She isn’t implying anything,” Ben said, and he offered this with such certainty that Chad did believe him, even though he knew it wasn’t true, and then he further rocked Chad’s world by saying, “What if Chad and Evie planned the date?” At the table’s surprised silence, he continued, “You guys take care of all the logistics, and you tell us when and where to show up. That way everyone’s satisfied.”
Everyone except Audrey, but at least Evie seemed to finally relax, and Mal’s gaze had narrowed thoughtfully. “There will be chaperones,” she decided. “But otherwise, that seems… acceptable.”
“Great,” Audrey said, and it was likely just Chad’s imagination but she seemed to be saying it through clenched teeth. “Can’t wait.”
The smile Mal gave her in return was drenched in sweetness, and it was so very weird on her that even Carlos gave her an odd look. “Neither can we.”
So that was how Chad got invited on his first double date.
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“Have… there been a lot of rumors?” Chad asked later, when he was walking Evie from her final class to the garden, where she’d meet up with Mal and he would meet up with Jay and Carlos before going to Tourney practice. “About you guys?”
He wished he’d imagined the way Evie’s smile got a little more strained, but he was pretty sure he didn’t. “…there have been some.”
“I’m sorry,” Chad said, for lack of anything else to do. He was sorry he wasn’t socially aware enough to hear about them, sorry they had happened at all. “Are they bad?”
“A few,” Evie allowed with a shrug of her shoulders. “But they don’t matter. I’m used to people gossiping about me.”
“They matter to me,” Chad pressed, and while he hated the way Evie came to an abrupt halt, her expression shifted into a muted concern. “If they make you feel bad, I want to know about them, so I can make you feel better. I want to be there for you, Evie, and… I’m sorry I’m not good with gossip stuff.” That was the nicest way of saying people ignored him that he could think of. “I’m glad that they don’t bother you, but if they ever do, would you tell me, please? So I can support you however you want, even if that means finding Mal or Jay or Carlos so that they can hug you better.”
He felt better after he’d said his speech, even though he didn’t really know what to make of the expression on Evie’s face, though it seemed closer to positive than before, and definitely wasn’t concerned. Was she happy?
“…I’ll try to do that, Chad,” she said eventually, but she was smiling, like she was pleased with him, and Chad could take comfort in the fact that he’d done at least one thing right that day. “Thank you.”
Chad flushed. “You don’t have to thank me,” he murmured. “I just want to be a good boyfriend to you, since you’re such a good girlfriend to me.”
“Well then,” she said, deftly slipping her hand into his and tugging him forward. “You’re doing a great job.”
Chad didn’t even ask for verification, because Evie didn’t say things she didn’t mean, and if she meant that-
Then he really was doing a good job.
It was an overwhelmingly wonderful thing.
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Chapter 7 – Alternative King Christopher Scene
Notes: The original version of this scene ended up having Chad’s father be a little too lucid and supportive at this point in the story, so I ultimately re-wrote for something a bit angstier (you know how I do). Below is a fluffier version of King Christopher meeting Evie for the first time. To clarify, the contract Chad references in the beginning is not the marriage contract because the Duke hasn’t made an appearance yet, but the contract Mal suggested Doug make to confirm Chad’s position in Evie’s life.
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“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you,” Evie murmured against his curls, holding him close while wiping away what remained of his tears. “I got pulled into an interview by the school news, and then Ben and the others showed up without you and we got Jane’s text…” She pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. “I don’t care if she’s gone, we’re not going to leave you alone like that again, okay? We’re going to make it up to you.”
“You don’t have to-”
“Yes, we do.” She was so beautifully sure. “You’re not alone, Chad. You’re one of us.”
One of them, and Evie’s, and she was even willing to sign a contract for him (not that he’d ever let her do that but still).
Maybe he had done horribly by Audrey, but he could do better for Evie. She believed in him, and he didn’t want to disappoint her. She had already promised to tell him if he ever let her down and she hadn’t yet, so he just needed to take comfort in that.
For the first time since Audrey’s confrontation, Chad felt something close to peace fall over him. Things could be okay, maybe, or at least closer to them.
No sooner did he have the thought then the door to the infirmary flew open, and in strode the worried visage of his father, Chad’s grandfather a half step behind him.
“Chad.” His father crossed the room with a wrecked sort of composure that seemed to be the only thing Chad could inspire from him, and it only got worse when he noticed all of Chad’s bruises. “My boy,” he gasped, one hand moving to cradle Chad’s jaw while he seemed to almost stare through him. “My perfect boy.”
Chad’s gaze drifted frantically to his grandfather. He didn’t know what to do, he so very rarely talked to his father and he definitely avoided him when he was close to losing his composure like he was now. At most, Chad had expected his grandfather in a couple of hours, he hadn’t expected both of them so soon, and the lack of preparation made him silent with stupidity.
“We had a meeting with King Adam,” Chad’s grandfather explained, watching the display with a weary sort of resignation. He knew as well as Chad did that there was little helping his father when he got like this.
“And then Fairy Godmother called and said there was an attack,” Chad’s dad pressed, and of course Fairy Godmother was one of the few individuals that had direct access to his father’s phone, she had been his mom’s godmother. “Who did this, Chad?”
“Audrey Rose,” Evie informed him, feeling the tension settle in Chad’s shoulders.
“A princess?” Chad’s grandfather echoed, disbelief etched into his tone. “You allowed a princess-”
“He didn’t allow anything,” Mal snapped, and when Chad looked to her it was to see that Aziz had joined her huddle with Jane, and they had likely been gossiping about Audrey together.
Chad’s father didn’t seem to hear them, teetering close to falling apart. “My boy,” he murmured, tracing Chad’s cheek. “Maybe we should take you back to Sardinia, where it’s safe. You could be homeschooled and we wouldn’t have to worry about you getting hurt-”
“Dad.” Chad swallowed, tried to protest but didn’t want to make things worse when he was so terribly conscious of the others watching him.
“What good is this school anyway?” Chad’s father continued. “I was educated in Sardinia and at least there you could have a guard with you at all times so you can stay safe and sound-”
“Dad.” Chad hated how shaky he was, hated the way Evie’s arms tensed around him. “I can’t- I can’t come home, I-” He frantically searched his mind for a reason and only came up with one. “I have a girlfriend.”
This, of all things, made Chad’s father stop and seem to actually focus on him instead of blond curls and blue eyes and a bruised body. “…you have a girlfriend?”
“Yes.” Tentatively, Chad motioned to Evie. “This is Princess Evelyn Hatzfeld, of Hanover.”
“Charmed,” Evie said without missing a beat, dipping into a perfect curtsey. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, King Christopher.”
Chad’s father stared at her for a painful moment, and then, like some kind of miracle, a smile broke across his face. “The pleasure is mine, Evelyn,” he said, squeezing Chad’s shoulder. “My little boy’s growing up so fast. You already have a girlfriend.” He looked over his shoulder towards Chad’s grandfather. “A girlfriend.”
“Who would appreciate Chad staying at Auradon Prep, your majesty,” Evie continued, emboldened by the positive response. “I promise I’ll do a better job looking after him.”
“I’ll look after you,” Chad protested, because it wasn’t her job to keep him out of dumb situations.
And this, somehow, earned a laugh from his father. Like it was magic. “You’ll look after each other,” he decided, tentatively placing a hand on Evie’s shoulder. “Oh, this is… fantastic news. I’m so proud of you, Kit.” They were words he had never expected to hear from his father, accompanied by a smile he had never expected to receive either, and both of those were so overwhelming and different from the breakdown Chad had been expecting that neither he nor his grandfather really knew how to respond.
“You- you should come to Sardinia, over the break,” Chad’s father continued, as though he was actually invested in Chad’s life. “If you’re available, the invitation is yours.”
Evie, who didn’t seem to think things could go this well either, broke out one of her radiant smiles. “I would be honored, your majesty.”
Chad’s grandfather cleared his throat, drawing close enough to put a hand on his father’s shoulder. “That’s enough, Christopher. Perhaps we should give them some space to recover.”
“Right.” Chad’s father didn’t seem all that affected by the reminder of why he was there in the first place, too busy smiling at Chad and Evie. It was strange. “Of course. I-” He pulled Chad into a hug that he couldn’t have possibly expected, Chad blinking numbly into the hold because he honestly couldn’t remember the last time his father had willingly touched him without falling into tears. And true, when his father pulled back there was some moisture in his eyes, but he was still smiling, carding a careful hand through Chad’s hair. “Please be careful, my boy,” he whispered. “For both me and your mother.”
“Of course, dad,” Chad managed, his throat feeling unbearably tight, but his dad only nodded and allowed Chad’s grandfather to pull him away, back towards the relative safety of their car. There was no telling how long his father’s good mood would last, and it would be best to remove him from the premises entirely before the inevitable fall.
The room was terribly silent after their departure, and Chad wondered if Evie would change her mind now that she’d seen what her future could hold.
It was Aziz who spoke up first. “Is… is your dad okay?”
Chad shrugged, turning his head into Evie’s shoulder. “Probably not.”
“You looked surprised when he hugged you,” Jane whispered, expression shifting into one of surprise as though she hadn’t meant to voice that much.
Chad squeezed his eyes closed and wished for it to be tomorrow. “He doesn’t touch me that often.”
“Why?” Aziz asked. “He’s your dad-”
“Enough questions,” Mal snapped, thankfully interrupting them. “If Chad’s good to go then we’re going to take him back to the dorm.” She cocked her head towards the nurse. “Is that okay?”
The nurse blinked out of her stupor. “Yes, yes that’s fine. But if that headache persists you need to bring him back here immediately.”
“Got it.” Mal offered her a sarcastic salute before crossing to Chad and Evie, wrapping an arm around his shoulders before gently prompting them off of the examination table. “We’re gonna go back to our room.” She turned to Aziz and Jane. “We’d appreciate it if you kept this quiet.”
There was a distinct undercurrent of threat in her tone, though it didn’t seem to be necessary, based on the serious expressions on Aziz and Jane’s faces.
“Of course.” Aziz nodded. “You can count on us.”
“We’ll see,” Mal declared with narrowed eyes, and then she was dragging them onward, Evie hooking her arm through Chad’s elbow and holding his hand the entire way back to their dorm room.
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Chapter 9 – How The Conversation Could Have Gone
Notes: This is a very brief snippet for how the dinner conversation could have gone. I decided to change routes to something that flowed better, but below is the route that would have had the royal families touching on possible enchantments much sooner in the conversation.
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King Adam didn’t seem much better. “Benjamin, you have to be reasonable. I think all of us here can admit that this… choice was quite sudden. Declaring your love for someone else while you were in a committed relationship goes entirely against your character. Some find it suspect.”
“You think he was coerced?” Chad asked before he realized he probably shouldn’t be talking.
Still, that seemed to keep the conversation going, Audrey speaking up with an arrogant tilt of her head. “It was more likely that he was enchanted.”
“Enchanted?” But magic had been outlawed. And even if someone had the means, why would they make Ben fall in love with Evie? “Who would do that?”
“I wasn’t enchanted, guys,” Ben spoke up just as Evie’s fingers flinched against Chad’s hold – maybe she thought- was Audrey accusing Evie? “I got caught up in the heat of the moment.” He turned to face Audrey head on. “Look, Audrey, I’m sorry I didn’t formally break up with you before I asked Evie and Chad to coronation. That was wrong of me-”
“And that’s the other thing,” Audrey interrupted. “You didn’t ask Chad, you just asked Evie. She’s the one that made you include him.”
“What else was she supposed to do?” Chad’s grandfather spoke in. “The girl could hardly turn down an open invitation from the king-to-be…”
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ALTERNATE STORYLINE – Chapter 7 – Ben Falls In Love With Mal
Notes: The first run at the love potion I took had Ben falling in love with Mal, the same way he did in canon. As such, Audrey demanded Chad break up with Evie and date her instead. I ended up nixing this because a lot of the things they talk about are covered in the hide and seek chapter, which I ended up writing later. This confrontation is to take place after Chad publicly turned down Audrey asking him to coronation, since he was still dating Evie at the time.
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“Chad.” Audrey dragged him into the shadowy nook under the bleachers before Chad could even make it back to the locker room, her grip squeezing tight against his forearm. “Chad, what was that?”
“I-” He’d panicked, and now he was panicking again – Chad really was useless – and he didn’t know what to say in the wake of Audrey’s rage-filled glare as he hadn’t been on the receiving end of it in a long time. “The-the thing with Mal. That’s- it’s sudden, isn’t it?”
“Of course it’s sudden, Chad,” Audrey hissed, words being spat out like venom.
“S-So it’s weird,” Chad rushed to say. “Like- maybe it’s a phase? And if it’s a phase you should- if you’re loyal to him he’ll remember that and when he comes back he’ll love you even more-”
“That wasn’t the deal, Chad,” Audrey snapped, fingers curling into Chad’s hair before she roughly dragged it downwards, making it so he had to hunch over painfully. He deserved it, of course, for making Audrey look bad in public. “The deal was if Ben breaks up with me, you’re mine.”
“I know.” She needed to be aware that he hadn’t forgotten. “But- with Evie-”
“Who cares about Evie?” She tugged on his hair again, hard enough to rock him forward.
“S-She’s a princess,” Chad explained. “And she’s really nice. She um- doesn’t deserve to be um- dumped like-”
At once, Audrey let go of his hair, but that was only so she could slap him across the face.
“Do you like her?” Audrey snarled, emphasizing this with another slap. “Chad,” she began, curling one hand into his hair again and letting the other shove under his shirt so she could rake her nails across his stomach. “Can’t you see she’s just using you? She only wants to be queen, she doesn’t actually care about you. I mean, she’s an Isle kid – she isn’t capable of those kind of feelings.”
“B-But I think she likes me,” Chad pressed. “And I like spending time with her-”
“Chad,” Audrey sighed, a painful thing, dragging new and fresh marks across Chad’s abdomen until they started to bleed. “You have to remember that you’re too stupid for her. You’re weak and flighty, and she might not see that now but she’s going to eventually. Now, I-” She jerked on his curls again, hard enough to make his eyes start watering. “-know you. I’ve grown up with you. I understand you like no one else can and even though you are unquestionably stupid, I’m okay with that.” She stopped tugging on his hair to drop a hand to his jaw, squeezing it carefully. “You’re my sweet little dunce. And even if you won’t be a good king one day, you will be lovely arm candy. And we’ll have such pretty children.” She gave his face another squeeze. “Do you think Evie would be as kind?”
…maybe? Chad didn’t know. He’d only known Evie for a few months but he liked her a lot. He knew she was rough around the edges for a princess, but she never hurt him, and she always seemed happy to be around him.
“Look, Chad,” Audrey huffed. “Either break up with her now, like a gentleman, or be the greedy little child you are and hold onto her, only to be dumped by her later when she realizes what a mess you are. I warn you though, if you make me wait, I might not be there for you, and then you’ll be all alone again.” She rubbed a careful circle against his cheek, knowing how much Chad hated to be on his own. “Think about it, ducky, and then do the right thing.”
With that, she walked away, leaving Chad with a stinging bruise on both cheeks and a new conundrum, knowing there was nothing but truth to Audrey’s words but wishing, for once, that she was wrong.
Chad knew what he had to do, he just- he hated it.
He wished life was easier, but he was a prince, and with that came certain responsibilities. He had to do the right thing.
Evie deserved that much.
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Chad’s feet felt like lead weights when he dragged himself to Evie and Mal’s dorm room after he’d gotten changed. He’d had to wait for the rest of the team to finish up before he could take off his uniform, conscious of the new un-Tourney like bruises mottling his torso. He’d had to apply makeup to his face to make himself seem simi-presentable, but that had only bought him so much time, leaving him to knock on Evie’s door far too soon.
Part of him hoped no one would be there, that she might be out celebrating, but Carlos opened the door, gaze shifting into something like relief when he saw Chad.
“Hey, dude,” he greeted, letting the prince into the room. “What happened to you?”
“I got um- held up,” Chad said, making a conscious effort not to shove his hands in his pockets because he was supposed to be regal and not a schlub. He took a moment to scope out the others – Jay was, of course, sprawled across Mal’s bed like he owned it, watching what sounded like a replay of the Tourney game on the phone Ben had gotten him with Dude curled against his chest. Mal seemed stuck by Evie’s desk, the princess pointing enthusiastically at what had to be a collection of designs she’d made for Mal’s coronation dress.
The princess’ gaze lit up the moment she saw Chad, and she was across the room in an instant, holding onto his arm. “That was amazing, what you did out there,” she gushed, and just like every other time she complimented Chad, he basked in it, even though he knew he didn’t deserve it. “And the look on Audrey’s face…”
“Yeah.” Chad mustered a smile. “She wasn’t happy.”
“I’ll say.” Carlos made a face, curling up beside Jay with his laptop. “Since she grabbed you right after the game. What did she want with you, anyway?”
This got Mal’s interest. “Audrey spoke to you?” Her gaze narrowed. “What did she say?”
Because he was inept, Chad found himself shifting uncomfortably under the weight of their combined stares, wishing he was almost anywhere else. “Just- I need to talk to you, Evie. If that’s okay.”
Evie blinked, but she didn’t question him, didn’t yell or look annoyed. “Of course it’s okay,” she said softly. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Um.” Chad swallowed. “If we could- in private.”
“No.” Of course Mal was the one to put her foot down. “Whatever you have to say to Evie you can say to all of us.”
“Right.” Chad knew that, he knew that. “Sorry, I…” This was so much harder than he’d imagined, but he tried to look Evie in the eye, because she deserved the moon and the stars, and he couldn’t give that to her. “I have to break up with you.”
Evie looked about as thrown about this breakup as Chad had been over his own with Audrey. She blinked, clearly trying to process this, and in that time Mal stormed up beside them.
“Why?” She growled, clutching onto Chad’s arm.
It was a fair question. “I’m… I’m sorry,” he said, because manners mattered. “I haven’t- I wasn’t honest with you.” Because he was ashamed. “You haven’t known me for that long but I… I’m not smart. Or- good at a lot of things, and that might be okay now but in the future I just-” He cut himself off with a shallow. “You deserve better.”
Like Ben. Chad wished he could give Evie Ben; they’d be so good together.
Mal opened her mouth, likely to snarl at him, but Evie was the one who spoke up next, her voice carefully soft. “Did Audrey tell you that?”
Chad felt his shoulders hunch, had to fight to straighten them up because no one liked a sloucher. “…she reminded me,” Chad explained. “And she’s known me all my life so she- she doesn’t mind that I’m- um- dumb. So.”
“…so you want to date her?” Evie prompted, one hand settling on Mal’s shoulder to keep her quiet.
Chad opened his mouth. Closed it.
No, actually. He didn’t want to date Audrey; he just also knew he couldn’t do any better. Audrey herself was a gift and she was willing to put up with him, that was more than Chad could ever hope for.
“Do you want to keep dating me?” Evie tried, and at that, Chad immediately nodded, because Evie was the nicest, smartest, kindest princess he’d ever met, and she liked him for whatever reason. “Then it’s settled,” she declared. “We won’t break up.”
“But-” Chad frowned. “Long-term-”
“You’re not dumb, Chad,” Mal interrupted with a frown. “And unless you actually want to break up with Evie, you are not dumping her, got it?”
“But she could do better,” Chad pointed out. “By a lot.”
Evie surged forward, cradling Chad’s face in her hands with a tentative care Audrey had never exerted. “I don’t want someone else; I want you, Chad.” She said it like she meant it, and then she even leaned forward, pressing her lips against Chad’s like she wasn’t ashamed of him, like she liked him, and it filled Chad with such a hopeful warmth that he couldn’t do anything but lean into it, happy to meet her halfway.
“Now, come on,” she said when she leaned back. “We have a coronation dress we could look over. Or we could just-cuddle on the bed while Jay reenacts his grand Tourney plays, or we could help coach Mal through her date with Ben.”
“He hasn’t asked me on one, yet,” Mal groaned, letting her head fall back with a dramatic sigh.
“But he will,” Evie chirped. She slid her hand into Chad’s, and they weren’t even in public – it was just for them, for here, and Chad loved it a lot. “Now, what would you like to do?”
Chad was so unused to the question that it threw him, but eventually he managed a tentative smile. “…all of them?”
“Good choice,” Carlos offered, and then Evie was dragging him towards her sketchbook, happily taking his suggestions while Jay heckled them from across the room, Mal throwing the occasional ball of crumpled paper at his head in retaliation.
Overall, it was the best not-breakup Chad had ever been a part of.