Chapter Text
Slowly pulling away from the kiss, I allow my eyes to open slowly before gazing down at Doug. Expecting to see his eyes open, I patiently wait. I quickly turn away from him, sucking in my breath. I silently anticipate him waking up, my body tensing slightly. But after a second, I don’t notice a single movement, not even a single sound.
I gaze back at the boy, who stays sound asleep. What's going on? The kiss should have worked. I gently shake Doug to wake him up. "Doug, come on! Wake up! Wake up!" I exclaim as I try to shake him awake again. Nothing; Doug doesn't even flinch.
I feel panic and sadness rise in me. Why didn't the kiss work? I glance over at Mal and Uma, who both sigh as they look at me. I shake my head. No, this is some sort of joke! Doug will wake up! Doug has to wake up! I turn back to the boy, who still isn't moving, other than slow breathing. I feel tears burn my eyes. The kiss really didn't work.
"I-I don't understand. Why isn't the kiss working?" I quietly whisper as I continue to stare down at the boy. I love Doug and thought Doug loved me, so why isn't the kiss working?
Mal sighs as she moves past Uma and walks over to me. "I'm sorry, E. Maybe Audrey did something to make it so a true love’s kiss doesn't work. But it's okay. We're going to wake him up," Mal tries to reassure me as she gently grabs my wrist. I shake my head as a tear falls down my face, pushing my friend away.
"But the kiss didn't work! How could Audrey make it so that true love’s kiss doesn't work? Face it, Mal! For some reason, Doug and my love aren't strong enough," I state as I continue to just stare down at the sleeping boy in disappointment. Mal sighs before pulling me away from Doug.
"Don't say that, E. I'm sure your and Doug's love is strong enough. Like I said, this is just Audrey's doing. Let's leave the guy to sleep, okay? We're going to wake him up. He’ll be okay," Mal reassures as she keeps my gaze off him.
I sigh as I take a deep breath. Okay, fine, I'll leave Doug for right now. But I still have my doubts. I doubt Doug didn't wake up because of Audrey. I think I, for some reason, don't love him enough.
Ugh, I'm the worst "crush" ever.
I take a deep breath to push down the heartbroken and sullen feelings overwhelming me. "Okay, let's go," I quietly mumble as I take one last look at Doug before I leave my workroom. Uma sighs as she follows me.
"You'll be fine, girl. Maybe that boy wasn't right for you anyway. Maybe he doesn't really love you or something," Uma tries to joke, making me turn and give the sea witch an angry glare.
That is not true! Doug loves me! He has to love me!
"That can't be true! Doug loves me; I know it! It's my fault. I must not love him or something," I assure Uma, who chuckles as she meets Mal’s gaze, but the purple-haired girl just returns it with a glare.
"Don't do this right now, Uma. Evie's clearly upset right now. And just don't say that. Doug loves you, E. And come on, you love Doug. I've seen it. Don't bring yourself down just because some kiss didn't wake him up. Okay? There must be a reason why the kiss didn't work," Mal states, and I sigh as I still don't believe Mal, but I don't want to fight her on it right now.
"Yeah, whatever. I'm going to go check on the twins and Dizzy," I brush off, wanting to move on. I try walking off to head into the living room, but Mal quickly runs to my side, pulling me into a side hug.
"Okay, but we’re going to figure this out, E. Remember, don’t bring yourself down over this. It's not your fault, okay?" Mal steps in front of me, forcing me to meet her eyes. With my blank stare, feeling numb inside, I hesitantly nod.
I know I shouldn't bring myself down, but I can't help but blame myself for this whole thing. I mean, I know Doug loves me. He's shown it. So, it has to be my fault. I must not love him enough for true love’s kiss to work.
"Yeah, sure. I'll be back," I tell Mal as I leave the kitchen. I head into the living room to make sure the twins and Dizzy are still comfortable. They’re still asleep, and now I doubt we'll be able to wake them up either.
But if anything, it might be better to keep them asleep. I don't want them to have to worry about how Auradon is still in danger.
But I can't believe it. Doug really didn't wake up. I thought that we could make something out of our friendship all this time. Was it all for a waste? Are Doug and I just not meant to be? Am I not meant to be with him? If I'm not meant to be with Doug, who am I meant to be with? Am I even meant to be with someone?
I mean, Mal said that she thinks it's Audrey who made it so true love’s kiss doesn't work, but I know for a fact that whenever someone loves someone else enough, the kiss always works, so since the kiss must not have worked because I don't love Doug enough, which makes this situation with him all my fault.
How am I going to explain to Doug about what happened? I don't know how I'm going to tell him that I don't love him enough that a stupid kiss doesn't work. Even though I really thought it would work.
After checking on the twins and Dizzy, I head back into the kitchen and immediately spot Mal and Uma fighting again. This time, the girls seem to be fighting over Doug and why the kiss didn't work. I told them both why it didn't work, so why won't they drop it? I'm already upset; I don't want to get more upset.
I groan as I storm over and get in between the two girls. "Will you both stop? You two have not stopped fighting since Uma got here! I've had enough of your fighting! I know we're all upset for our own reasons: Mal, you're upset about Ben and what Audrey is doing. Uma, you want all the kids off the Isle, but we can't do that right now because we still have Audrey to deal with! And I'm upset because the person I thought I loved apparently I don't love enough, so true love’s kiss doesn't work! We are all upset, and I understand that, but fighting is not the answer. So, can we just stop fighting, please, and just get along?" I exclaim in frustration as I feel tears enter my eyes again.
Mal and Uma both sigh as they look at each other, anger still glistening in their eyes. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry, Uma. Evie's right. We're all upset but shouldn't take it out on each other. Let's just stop fighting right now and focus on defeating Audrey and getting our friends back," Mal states, yet it doesn’t really meet her eyes.
She doesn't care. Of course, she doesn't.
Uma chuckles before crossing her arms, her eyes still glistening with the same anger. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm sorry, Mal. How's that princess? Are you calm now?" Uma inquires, and I sigh as I place my hands on my hips, gazing down at the hardwood floor.
I'm starting to calm down, but I need time to think about what happened. "I'm calmer. But I just need some time, okay? I'm going to head up to my room to touch up my makeup and think, okay?" I admit that I need the space to think. Mal walks over to me, placing a hand on my upper shoulder.
"Okay, but we're going to be down here if you need us, E. I'm sorry about what happened with Doug, okay?" Mal expresses, and I slowly nod. I appreciate that Mal is trying to help, but right now, I just need my own time to calm down and think.
"I know. I'm going to be okay. I'll be back soon. Now, I don't want to come back down here and see you both fighting again. You both need to get along, and if I hear fighting again, I'm coming back down here and giving you both a piece of my mind because I'm not dealing with this right now," I somewhat threaten the two girls, who both nod in understanding.
I give both a small smile, hoping they’ll keep to their word. "Okay then. I'm heading up to my room. I'll be back down in a little bit. Let me know if anything changes, okay?" I tell Mal and Uma, who both smile and nod.
"Of course, girl. We're not going to fight. We're just going to have a snack and wait for the boys to get back. We'll be fine," Uma assures, and I nod as I look over at Mal, wanting to hear her confirmation as well.
"Yeah, we'll let you know if anything changes. And I promise Uma and I won't fight," Mal states, making me nod. I’ll hold them to their word, but I don’t know if I can handle their fighting right now.
"Okay. I'll see you both soon," I mumble as I leave the kitchen and head to my bedroom so I can be alone for a little bit and touch up my makeup since all the crying I've been doing. I just know this whole mess must have messed up my makeup.
I do blame myself, though. It's all my fault that Doug isn't waking up. I must not really love him or something. And I’m heartbroken that this is happening. How am I going to focus on the situation with Audrey if all I’m thinking about is how Doug didn’t wake up from me trying to prove that I care for him?
Maybe it’s because we’re not officially dating. Yeah, we’ve had friend dates, but nothing has been official. Neither of us has admitted that we want to be together. I was kinda hoping that waking him up would prove that we could be together, but it feels like that’s not the case. Maybe we weren’t meant to be together after all.
I head into my room, sitting at my vanity to touch up my makeup. It's nice to get away from Mal and Uma for a little bit. I care for both of the girls so much, but they can be a little much at times. I know we're all stressed with Audrey, but we all need to calm down a little bit. We need to have a level head if we are going to defeat the girl.
That means we can't fight over the smallest things right now. We need to stick together and be strong together. I can't continue to be upset over Doug. I can worry about him and the kiss later when he wakes up, and Audrey is finally defeated.
But once this is all over, I'm going to have to explain to Doug what happened. Oh gosh, I know that's going to be hard. I don't even know what to do now.
Do I just end things with him before they really have even gotten started? Do I try to build a stronger relationship with Doug so that if this ever happens again, a true love's kiss will work in the future? Do I just ignore this whole situation, and Mal's right with Audrey making it so true love’s kiss doesn't work? I have so many thoughts and have no clue what to do about it.
But I'm right about how I can't worry about this right now. Right now, I need to focus on defeating Audrey. Maybe this was her plan, and she's trying to bring me down or something. I can't let this problem bring me down right now. I need to be strong, and I need to stand with my friends.
I know I can handle this situation, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to keep it together until we can all defeat Audrey and get Auradon back to normal. I can't let my friends down. I can't let my team down. I can't let Auradon down.
I finish touching up my makeup and sigh as I look in the mirror. Much better. Before, I looked like a mess. Now, at least, I look a little more put together. I put my makeup bag away and get up so I can head back downstairs.
Before I head downstairs, though, I hear something fly at the window. My eyes widen as I turn to it. Why in the world are their wooden boards flying against the windows?
I run over to my bed and hop on it. I try to open the window, but I quickly find that it is locked. Okay, something is going on! Is this Audrey's doing? Okay, I need to get downstairs now! I need to check on Mal, Uma, and the kids to ensure they're okay.
I just hope everything is okay! But this has to be Audrey's doing. And if Audrey is behind this situation, then this must be serious. We're going to have to get these boards off the windows, or I don't know what's going to happen!
We can't lose. We can't let Auradon down. We have to keep fighting for the safety of all of the kingdom. I just need to push all of the feelings away and focus on what matters most. Because otherwise, everything is going to be at stake.
It doesn't help that I can feel my heart starting to race, the anger bubbling inside as I can't get my thoughts off of what happened with Doug. I just have to hope that I can handle this because right now, I'm starting to have some major doubts.