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bunny-lou · 3 years

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If y’all haven’t seen the PRECIOUS art from @blecbleh, go check it out right now.

Sorry this is in the middle of January, but my work and school life have been crazy! Here is your late Christmas gift for the @descendantsgiftexchange. You said you liked knight!Jay, so this is kind of a spin on it! I hope you like it because your art puts so much joy and cuteness into the fandom.

A job is a job. Jay had long since learnt to not ask questions in shady situations. Pay is good, hours are decent and it requires a skill set he already has.

It’s also, as an added bonus, not fucking hard.

Jay is leaned up against the wall outside a bedroom that’s larger than his whole apartment inside a mansion that’s larger than his whole apartment complex. He has his phone out, one ear bud in, coffee at his feet on the ground. At this point, he’s getting paid to scroll through Tindr and beat his Candy Crush score.

The bedroom door swings open and Jay looks up from his phone to see another young man staring back at him. Huh. The ad made it seem like he was guarding some brat. Well, this dude is probably a brat, but he’s a full grown brat, probably old enough to stop being brat and start being bastard.

Brat looks Jay up and down for a moment, then scoffs. “Another one?” He rolls his eyes and partially shuts his door. “I thought we were past this.”

“I’m Jay-.”

“You’ll be gone in a week.” Brat decides to step out of his room for this first time this morning – though Jay notes that he’s fully dressed, truly looking like the son of a fashion designer – and stomps past Jay.

Jay tucks his phone in his pocket and resolves to stay silent. He just has to watch out for the brat, not make friends.

---

For the record, Jay lasts longer than a week. He’s been here almost a month.

Brat’s name is Carlos, which Jay actually knew before starting his job, but he had forgotten until a butler in the house said it. Jay doesn’t address him as Carlos because Jay doesn’t address him at all. Carlos doesn’t address him either.

Jay has no idea why he’s even here. Carlos doesn’t go anywhere. He stays in the house most days, reading and looking over papers and tracking what his mother spends compared to what she brings in. Jay usually sits a few feet away from Carlos and plays on his phone or flips through a magazine. Their most exciting adventure was when they almost went to the grocery store to pick up the kind of coffee Cruella likes because her assistant got the wrong brand and started hyperventilating, so Carlos sighed and offered to go himself. They had gotten as far as the doorway before a butler grabbed the keys and said he would go instead.

Speaking of Cruella, she’s the reason Carlos said Jay wouldn’t last a week. She’s the woman giving Jay those nice checks and she’s scary as hell and seems to frighten off most of her staff. She’s tall and lanky and her nails look like weapons and she screams until Jay’s eardrums hurt. Most of the time, she’s screaming at the people around her: designers and interns and her own bodyguard. She hardly acknowledges Jay because they’re almost never in the same room, but when she does, she’s screaming about why he’s dressed like a hoodlum. Jay always tells her he never got a uniform. He’s pretty sure Cruella doesn’t actually know who he is. She hardly acknowledges Carlos at all.

Jay has a more intense rule list than he thought. Not that Cruella or Carlos seem to notice what he is and isn’t doing. Jay spoke to Cruella’s head body guard, some dude named Horace who was hanging around Cruella when she was just a designer and not a nationwide icon. Apparently, Jay is supposed to be with Carlos any time he’s not with Cruella, from sunrise to sunset nearly every day, even though Carlos doesn’t leave the house. She’s a stickler for Carlos not being out of sight of his guard, even if he’s out of sight from Cruella for larger periods of time. Jay wonders if they’ve had people break in to their house to try and steal the jewelry and accessories that line the closets and that’s why she’s so psycho.

“Dude, don’t you play any kind of video games?” Jay groans as they sit in a library. Carlos is pouring over records – Jay is pretty sure he’s Cruella’s son as well as her financial person – and Jay sits further down the table with his feet up.

“No one is making you be here if you’re bored.” Carlos tells him disinterestedly, but Jay noticed his jump at the breaking of silence

“The checks are keeping me here. Plus, this is easy.” Jay lays his phone down on his stomach and lazily stretches. “Is this all you do?”

“It’s my passion.” Carlos deadpans without looking up from his binder.

Jay brings his feet down and sits upright in his chair. He looks over at Carlos, who looks at him from the side of his eye. “Why do you need a body guard?”

“I don’t. Mother insists on it.”

“You guys went to a fashion show this week, right?” Jay waits for Carlos to look at him. “That’s why I had Wednesday off. How was it?”

Carlos gives him a small, half-smile. “You’re interested in fashion?”

“No. It’s fucking boring.” Jay scoffs. “I’ve been told I dress like a hoodlum.”

To his surprise, Carlos actually laughs. “A little bit, yes, but we don’t leave so it doesn’t matter.”

“Why don’t we, then? Leave?” Jay waggles his brows. “I’m new to this area, what’s fun to do around here?”

Carlos tilts his head and thinks to himself. “There’s a park a few miles away I used to go to. And an old arcade not far from there.”

“Dude, yes!” Jay exclaims and shoots up out of his chair. “That sounds perfect. Let’s go. Take a break for an hour.”

“I’m not really supposed to-.”

“We’ll be back in an hour. Come on!” Jay clasps his hands together. “Aren’t you tired of being inside all the time? Live a little!”

Carlos watches him for a moment. “You want to go…with me?”

“I don’t know the town.” Jay pouts. “I don’t know where to go.”

“You promise we’ll be back in an hour?”

“Cross my heart.”

Carlos stands from his seat and grins. “Well, we’re not letting you go dressed like some hoodlum.”

Jay matches his grin. “Well if people are dying to meet the De Vil heir, maybe two hoodlums won’t be so bad.”

---

Since he started, Jay had only seen Carlos in formal attire. Long slacks and button down shirts, freshly pressed vests, belts that cost more than Jay’s phone.

Now, Carlos is dressed in a pair of old basketball shorts – still red – and a black hoodie. He has a pair of brand new white sneakers on his feet, but he looks completely different.

“I can keep my hood up.” Carlos tries to hide his hair. “But if it’s windy…”

“Here.” Jay pulls his own beanie off his head without thinking about it. “This won’t come off.”

Carlos looks at the hat with wide eyes and slowly reaches out to take it. He tugs it on his head, over his ears, and looks at himself in the mirror.

“Definitely a hoodlum.” Jay nods in approval.

“Oh, most definitely.”

They sneak out of Carlos’ room and check the halls. Cruella is in her office today, down town, so all of her employees are with her. In the mansion, it is Jay and Carlos and the various house staff only. They slip down the stairs and avoid a maid by ducking around the corner.

“Man, your mom must get pretty pissed if she hears you’re not organizing her books or whatever.” Jay whispers.

Carlos looks up at him. Their closeness has Jay realizing, for the first time, their height difference. “Yeah, you could say that.” He looks down at the ground. “Only an hour, right?”

Jay raises his hand. “Promise.”

They tiptoe through the kitchen and out the door. The air is crisper than what Jay would like for a day at the park, but he’s never had a proper coat and the cold has long since stopped bothering him. They run down the extravagant driveway and Jay thinks Carlos will enter the code to open the gate, but instead, he leads Jay to an area in the fence just big enough for them to slip through the bars.

“You sneak out often?” Jay teases as he wiggles his way through.

“I’m a rebel on the inside.” Carlos tells him.

The park is only a few blocks away and it’s fancy. Of course it’s fancy, this is a neighborhood of rich people, Jay thinks with only a little bit of spite. The swings have no rust and the slides are huge and the blacktop is evenly paved without even a crack.

Carlos bounces nervously on his feet before dashing for the monkey bars. He’s too tall for them, the playground is meant for children, but he holds his knees up as high as he can as he moves.

Jay laughs at the ridiculous sight. He spots a carousel not far and grabs the edge, pulling it along as Jay runs in a circle, jumping on when he finds the speed to be fast enough.

No one else is around, probably to prissy for the sharp wind, so Jay is loud when he laughs.

The carousel slows further when Carlos jumps on. “Where are you from?” He asks, only slightly winded from his monkey bars. “You said you don’t know the town.”

Jay takes a moment to take in Carlos’ pink cheeks and light sheen of sweat. This is a much nicer look than all of his fancy and rigid clothes. “I used to live pretty far from here.” Jay tells him. “I saved up money to come to a nicer neighborhood.”

Carlos gives him a look that is clear that he knows Jay’s answer is not really an answer, but he seems to respect it and not ask again.

“Have you lived here your whole life?” Jay asks. The carousel is completely still. Jay hops off and heads for the swings.

“No, mom used to live in England. Sometimes, we go back and live there for a few months.” Carlos shrugs his shoulders, like being able to leave the country for months at a time isn’t impressive. “She moves a lot.”

“And you move with her, right?”

Carlos nods. Jay knows Carlos is old enough to move out on his own, but why would he? His mother is rich, his mansion is huge, his clothes are custom made. Hell, Jay wouldn’t have moved out either if that was his situation.

As promised, Jay keeps track of the time. Their walk was almost 15 minutes there and will be the same back.

“Do you want to be a designer like your mom?” Jay asks him as his swings slows down. He allows himself to be rocked back and forth by the momentum, eyeing Carlos next to him.

“No. I think I want to maybe do something in the science field.” Carlos says. “Not that I’d every tell my mom.” He keeps his feet raised, refusing to let them drag in the dirt. He must have been careful in all of his running, his shoes still look clean. “What about you? Professional body guard in your future?”

Jay laughs. “With how well your mom pays, may as well be.” He looks at his own filthy shoes in the dirt. “I used to want to be a tourney coach, but uh, I gotta figure some stuff out first.”

There is a moment of silence between them. Carlos asks for the time and they decide it’s best to get going.

“So tell me about your mom.” Jay says as they walk side by side. “Is she really as crazy as the media says?”

Carlos shrugs. “Probably. She had a scandal when I was a kid, she openly tried to buy a bunch of puppies from her friend and wanted…well, you know the story. Anita, her, uh, friend, said no and mom harassed her and then it seemed to be one problem after another.

“The people who work for her are scared of her.”

“If you worked more closely with her, you’d be scared of her too.” Carlos snickers.

Jay scoffs and puffs his chest out. “Your big, fearless bodyguard begs to differ.”

Carlos laughs at him and the noise makes Jay smile. Not for the first time, he wonders who the real Carlos is: quiet, brooding, well-dressed homebody or laidback, happy hoodlum scientist.

“My big, fearless bodyguard has yet to have to do his real job.” Carlos rolls his eyes. “My mom is the one who needs real protection – from the tabloids and bitter past employees and clients and animal rights activists...and probably herself.” His tone turns sad and that’s not good.

Jay, exaggerating his slightly wounded pride, flexes his arms. “Well, just so you know, if I ever have to do my real job, I can kick the ass of anyone and anything.”

“Good to know.” Carlos rolls his eyes and nudges Jay’s shoulder.

They sneak back in the fence and up the driveway, hiding behind the huge bushes. They crack open the door to the kitchen and slip inside. Only a few feet in and Jay and Carlos both freeze at the screaming they hear.

“My mother’s home.” Carlos breathes. “Shit.”

When Jay looks at Carlos, everything about him is familiar. So many things click into place all at once. Carlos’ eyes are huge, his muscles tense, his jaw locked. His breathing is quick and shallow. His hands are curled into fists and his shoulders tremble.

Carlos looks like Jay used to, before Jay left. Hell, Carlos is even wearing the same beanie Jay wore the day he left.

“Go to your room.” Jay whispers and drags Carlos along, who’s frozen in place. “Go change.” Carlos blinks at him. “Go!”

Jay turns away and saunters back down the hall, not sneaking, not suspicious, not hiding his footsteps. The screaming gets louder as he gets closer. Butlers and maids protest for only a moment before Cruella’s howl silences them.

“Not one of you morons knows where he is? How many times have I told you idiots? You do not let him leave the house. Never! He does not walk out that door unless I am with him! Call the cops if you have to and tell them it’s happened again! Oh, when I get my hands on him, he’ll be on a leash for the rest of his miserable life! I’ll have the heads of each and every one of-.”

“There!” A nervous maid points to Jay as he curiously pops his head in. “There’s his keeper!”

Keeper? What a weird-.

Jay keeps his cool as Cruella stalks over to him. “What’s going on?”

“Where is he?” Cruella seethes. She snatches Jay’s shirt, sneering in disgust at how old and worn is it. “Where did you take him? What did he say to you?”

Just like Carlos had looked so similar to Jay a few years ago, Cruella looks so similar to Jay’s own monster. For the briefest moment, with her hands in his shirt and her smoker’s breath on his face, Jay stops seeing Cruella and starts seeing a man with skin like his own, hair like his own, twisted fingers and alcohol stained breath.

Jay is done being scared, he already made that promise to himself.

“Get the fuck off me, lady!” Jay snaps and shoves Cruella back. Her eyes widen in shock, Jay is sure no one has stood up to her before. “What are you talking about?”

“My son, you little bastard! Where is-?”

“We were in the backyard.” Jay rolls his eyes. “I wanted to get outside before the weather turned to complete shit, we were in the garden. Why? Is your garden not allowed?”

Cruella falters. “My son never goes-.”

“He said he had some winter-themed designs and thought the cold air would help inspire him or some bullshit. What are you freaking out about?” Jay narrows his eyes and crosses his arms. “We didn’t get into like poison ivy or anything.”

“Well…” Cruella snarls at him in disbelief. “Where is he now?”

“In his room.”

She turns and stomps out of the room, some of the shaking staff following her. Jay trails behind, still looking as disinterested as ever. He knows the fear he saw in Carlos’ eyes and he’s certain Carlos understood the necessity of getting changed quickly. Jay knew how to act fast in similar situations.

Cruella slams the door open hard enough that Jay hears the crunch of the handle going through the dry wall. “Boy!”

Jay can barely see over the heads of the two maids that followed. “Mother?”

“Where were you?” Cruella screeches.

Jay moves quickly to push his way through the girls. It wouldn’t do to have Carlos say they were somewhere else. “I told you, we were in the garden!”

“Silence!” Cruella demands of Jay and she turns back on her son. “Where. Were. You?”

Carlos swallows. He’s dressed in new clothes: white slacks and a red turtleneck that Jay thinks looks very good on him. “I was in the garden. Out back.”

“That’s not what Horace told me!”

“Then Horace is a liar who is wasting your time.” Carlos says quietly.

“Not a single staff saw you leave.” Cruella seethes. She towers over her son in her heels, heavy coat making her look so much larger than she is.

“I thought it was my responsibility to watch him.” Jay spits at her. So much is making sense in his head, but there are still so many questions he has. Cruella needs to leave because she’s scaring Carlos and scaring Jay and he refuses to be scared anymore.

Carlos reaches for his mother before she can turn to Jay and begin yelling. “Mom, look. I’m here. I didn’t go anywhere. I promise. I’m here.” He grabs her hand and squeezes and Cruella looks down at where they are connected.

“You will tell the staff where you are going from now on.” Cruella says slowly. Her soft voice is nearly as terrifying as her screaming.

“Okay. I’m…sorry I worried you.”

Cruella turns to Jay and he doesn’t waiver at her gaze. “You’ve lasted longer than any other of my son’s keepers, so you may stay, but don’t ever speak to me like that again.”

Jay doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t break eye contact until she does.

“Fetch me Horace.” Cruella snaps at the maids, waiting out in the hall. They scamper away. Cruella looks at the two of them. “I’ll be staying home for the rest of the day. Keeper, you are no longer needed then. I’ll escort you out.”

Jay wants to stay and ask all the questions he has, but he nods and follows Cruella out of the door, waving goodbye to Carlos.

---

“Thank you so much.”

Jay grunts as Carlos throws his arms around Jay’s chest and squeezes him. He pats Carlos’ back awkwardly. “No problem, man.”

It’s the earliest Jay has seen Carlos. He arrives at sunrise, and waits outside Carlos’ room for him to appear. Usually, Carlos comes out mid-morning, dressed for the day and ready to go. Today, he is still in his pajamas, black silk that is undeniably soft against Jay’s skin.

Carlos pulls back and looks like he wants to say more, but doesn’t.

“So yesterday…” Jay trails off.

“A shit show.” Carlos finishes for him. He moves to his bed and Jay follows and it’s the nicest bed he’s ever been on.

“What the hell is wrong with your mom?”

Carlos winces and rubs the back of his neck. “Do you really want to know?”

“Dude, tell me.”

Last year, Carlos had ran away. He snuck out of his window, down a tree and took off. He was gone for almost a week, about to cross the state border when a police officer found him sleeping on a park bench two cities over.

“You’re an adult.” Jay says quietly. “Why did they bring you back?”

“Cruella...” Carlos picks at his nails. “She gets what she wants.”

Carlos skips over what Cruella did and said to him when he came back home. She moved his room next to hers and began working from home more often, to keep an eye on him herself, as well as have her employees aware of him. It’s why Cruella says he needs a bodyguard.

“I’m not here to protect you.” Jay realizes out loud. “I’m just here to…keep you.”

Carlos leans back against the dozen of pillows on his bed and hugs one to his chest. He looks so sad, so small, and Jay is once again reminded of himself.

“I had a shitty dad too.” Jay tells him. Carlos looks at him with big eyes. “He, uh, he used to work in a castle in another country, he was pretty important for a while, but he got thrown out for, uh, disagreeing with the guy in charge. He had to leave the country.” Jay rubs the back of his neck. “He came here and opened up an appliance store. He hated it. He was so angry about the life he used to have, then I came along and made it all worse.”

“No you didn’t.” Carlos mumbles.

Jay smiles. “He was so bitter about everything. He drank a lot. He yelled a lot.” Jay runs his hands over his arms, the many scars that are still hard to see in the rising sunlight. “He uh, he got real mean a lot. So I ran away.”

Carlos’ eyebrows shoot up.

“I moved to a city about 20 miles away, I stopped talking to anyone my dad might try to get information from and got the cheapest apartment I could fine. I looked online for jobs and found a good-paying one that didn’t require a lot of experience and…here we are.”

“You ran away? How long ago?”

Jay thinks. “I’ve been here for a month. I did some odd jobs before this. Maybe three months?”

“And he still hasn’t found you?”

“Well, I don’t think he’s looking for me.”

Carlos hides his face in his pillow. “I wish I was that lucky.”

“You know, De Vil, I don’t think it was luck that brought us together.” Jay grins and grabs Carlos’ ankle. “I think it was fate or something like that.”

---

Weeks pass by without incident. They don’t try to leave the house again. They play a lot of card games to pass the time. Carlos even ordered a gaming system and had it delivered to the house and they spend time like that. They scare the chefs out of the kitchen (well, Jay scares the chefs out of the kitchen) and make cookies one day.

They spend a lot of time plotting.

Jay has some friends back in his old neighborhood that he contacts. He told all of them right before he ran away and gave them all tearful goodbyes. He couldn’t risk keeping in touch and leading his father back to him. He’s willing to risk this for Carlos and he tries not to think about what that means too much.

Some friends call him up sobbing about how happy they are that he’s okay. Jay cries too in his apartment. He’s missed them. He explains the situation to them, how Carlos is basically the same as Jay, and they agree to help.

“What if it doesn’t work?” Carlos whispers to him. They’re alone in the library again. It was unspoken that they don’t write anything down, it all has to be kept in their memory.

“Hey, I made it work.” Jay points out. “I’m an expert when it comes to getting out.”

“Did your dad have all these resources to-?”

“No, but don’t think about that.” Jay grabs Carlos’ hand. “It’s my job to keep you safe, remember?”

Carlos gives a sad smile. “Actually, your job-.”

“-Is to keep you safe.” Jay stresses and squeezes Carlos’ hand. “That’s my job. I’m going to do that.”

“You promise?”

Jay grins back at him. “Cross my heart.”

---

The doorbell rings and it echoes in the mansion. Jay tries not to bounce on his feet. Carlos is not faring any better, wringing his hands on his bed.

A butler arrives up the stairs and knocks sharply on Cruella’s door. “Madam. A young lady is here to see you. She says she has an appointment with you.”

“What?” There are scuffles in Cruella’s room. “Nonsense, I don’t have any-.”

“Hello? Mrs. De Vil?”

“How the hell did she get past the gate?”

The thudding of quick footsteps fades down the hall.

Jay looks at Carlos and nudges him. “Deep breath, dude. We’re gonna get you out of here. And she won’t find you this time. I promise.” Jay tries to wrap an arm around Carlos’ shaking shoulders. “We’ve got everything planned out.”

Carlos gulps and nods. “We should go downstairs now, right?”

They make their way to the top of the staircase and a voice Jay hasn’t heard for months floats through the air.

“I’ve been a fan of yours since I was old enough to match my belt to my shoes. Your interview with To Die For last year, about how we need to be making more sacrifices in the name of fashion? I could not agree more.”

“I’ve met you before.” Cruella says. “You’ve been at some of my shows. You’re…”

“I’m Evie. I was in Snow’s Top Ten Designers to Watch this past spring.”

Jay remembers that. They had celebrated with cheap wine and pizza and allowing Evie to dress all of them to her heart’s content.

“You had all the faux leather, didn’t you?”

“Only to keep those psycho animal lovers off my back. I am so sorry that they are still so unreasonable to you in the media, it breaks my heart for them not to appreciate such genius.”

Jay and Carlos make it to the bottom of the steps. He doesn’t want Evie to see him yet, fearful that his appearance will be a distraction to her.

Carlos stops a maid, who is curiously watching Evie, loud enough to be heard in every room. “Go call Horace.” Carlos whispers to her. “I think this girl is an obsessed fan.”

“Shall I call-?”

“No.” Carlos tells her firmly. “She hasn’t done anything wrong yet. Something about her doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Yeah, let’s stay away from her.” Jay makes sure that the staff nearby sees him pull Carlos into the kitchen, away from the danger.

A few people wearing aprons in the kitchen give them strange looks.

“My mother has a meeting out there. Will someone please send out some beverages? She thought you all had something to offer already, she’s looking like a terrible host and she’s furious.” Carlos whimpers to the kitchen staff, looking over his shoulder as if Cruella will come in any minute screaming.

Two of them get to work with fresh lemonade and sparkling cider and glasses so clean that Jay can see them glisten.

Carlos looks pitifully at the two of them remaining. “I think she wants some food out there too. She seems really upset. I didn’t ask what they wanted.”

The chefs grumble – something about Cruella forgetting to tell them everything – and skirt out toward the living room.

“Let’s go.” Jay grabs Carlos’ hand and tugs him to the door, but before they can escape, Carlos is yanked out of his grasp.

“I knew somethin’ fishy was goin’ on.” Horace leers at them. He has a tight grip on Carlos, refusing to let go.

“Horace, please, you know I can’t stay here.” Carlos squirms, but Horace doesn’t let up. “She’ll kill me!”

“Not my problem.”

Jay keeps his eyes on Horace’s hands, the way they’re digging into Carlos’ shoulder and hip, going to leave bruises. “Carlos. Mal has purple hair. Her car is old and blue, she’ll be sitting up the street.” With that, Jay swings his fist into Horace’s side, hard enough for him to grunt and release his grip on Carlos. Jay doesn’t slow down and goes for Horace’s face next, getting his nose.

Having a shitty dad in a shitty neighborhood meant Jay learnt to win a fight. Get the first hit and don’t let up.

He swings again into Horace’s stomach, but Horace grabs him and hauls him up by the waist, just like he did to Carlos. They all but crash out of the kitchen door, back toward the living room, and tumble to the floor.

“What the hell is happening?”

Jay lands hard on his shoulder and groans. He pushes himself onto his hands and knees and tries to punch again, but Horace is bigger and uses his weight to his advantage, forcing Jay to the ground again.

He has been hit before, by men just as old as Horace, but it still hurts when he lands a hard hit. Horace goes to land another hit, but Jay hears something land on his back.

“Boy! Get off of him!”

Carlos pops his head over Horace’s shoulder. His arms are wrapped around Horace’s neck in a weak chokehold, but Carlos hangs on when Horace flails. “Jay! Get, arg, up!”

Jay squirms until he can pull his feet up and shove them into Horace’s stomach. Horace coughs and doubles over, gaping for air, and Carlos hops off his back and helps Jay up. “I told you to leave!” Jay seethes.

“I’m not leaving you.” Carlos tells him earnestly and it’s sweet, but Jay is not the one at risk of being held here for the rest of his life.

When they turn around, a small crowd is watching them. Cruella is fuming, mouth opening and closing without sound. Evie is staring at him, as is Harry, who is right behind her, waving. Staff are standing in shock and this wasn’t part of the plan.

“Horace, you buffoon, get up! Now! What is the meaning of all of this?”

“I’m leaving.” Carlos tells her with a shaky voice. “I am moving out right now, today. I’m not taking anything with me, I’m just leaving.”

Cruella stalks forward. “You insolent, little-.”

“Don’t lay a fucking finger on him.” Jay pushes Carlos behind him and scowls at Cruella. “You’re not locking him up like he’s some prisoner and you’re not hurting him ever again.”

“I will do what I want with my son. I’ll tie him to my side if I have to. Bars on his window and a lock on his door, he’s not going anywhere!”

“Uh, Mrs. De Vil?” Harry shouts. “Yar curtains are on fire.”

Cruella jumps around and Jay follows her gaze to see that, yes, her curtains are on fire and the flames are spreading.

“What the fuck, Harry?” Evie screams, but she’s already grabbing the drinks from the kitchen staff and tossing it on the curtains and Jay half way hopes she doesn’t succeed in putting it out, but he’s already grabbed Carlos and headed for the kitchen door.

The snow is cold and their tracks will lead Cruella right to the spot in the fence that they slip through but that won’t matter because they’re leaving and they’re not coming back. Carlos slips through first and Jay follows and they run to the street and up the sidewalk.

“Hey!”

Jay looks over his shoulder to see another old friend standing at the gate. “Uma?”

“Long time, no see.” She’s holding a metal chain with a heavy padlock. With the chain wrapped around the bars of the gate, Cruella won’t be able to open them, none of the cars will be able to get out. “I’ll wait for the rest of our crew.”

“You’re a genius.” Jay tells her and she grins at him.

They don’t have to run any further because Mal drives to them, skidding to a stop. “Hey losers!”

Jay’s face hurts with how big he smiles. “Hey, Mal.”

“Sappy re-unions later, let’s go now.”

Carlos and Jay pile into the car with Uma waiting at the gate. The car is old, one that Jay helped Mal buy and patch up time and time again, and the seats are torn, but it’s the loveliest site Jay has ever seen. They have the perfect view as people start spilling out of the house and Jay belatedly tells Mal and Uma through the open window, “Harry set the curtains on fire.”

“He’s been very well behaved at the naval academy, he deserves this.” Uma says.

As if being summoned, Harry and Evie begin running down the driveway. None of the staff follow them and Cruella makes a pitiful effort, but her heels and heavy coat can’t keep up with Harry and Evie. Horace seems to make an effort when she screams at him, but Harry and Evie are already too far ahead.

Harry dives into the front seat, Evie slips into the back. Uma locks the gates and forces room for herself in the back seat as well.

Carlos ends up halfway in Jay’s lap, but Jay isn’t complaining. “This is Carlos.” He introduces as Mal peels off in a way that makes the inflamed curtains seem safe.

“Thank you guys, so much.” Carlos pants, still breathless from his escape. “I know that’s the most pitiful thing I can say for everything that you just did, but thank you.”

“Deep breath, little buddy.” Harry turns to tell him. “Ya’ll crash at mine and Uma’s tonight. We’ve got leftovers and wine and Gil’s orderin’ pizza! Jay, we already went to yar place and grabbed all yar shit.” Harry pats his knee.

“You guys are the best.” Jay laughs, adrenaline still coursing through him. “I’ve missed you guys.”

Evie kisses his cheek. “We’ve missed you too. We won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”

Jay feels Carlos twist in his lap, looking out of the rearview window. He’s biting his lip and watching every car they pass fearfully.

“I won’t let anything happen to you.” Jay tells him.

Carlos sinks back down in the seat and rests his head on Jay’s chest. “I won’t let anything happen to you either.”

Jay laughs. “Yeah, have you ever fought someone before? Your landing on Horace’s back saved my ass.”

“Well you punching him for me was even better.”

“You guys are disgusting, please do not make out while I’m sitting back here.” Uma gags from her spot and Jay gives her his middle finger.

The creaks and groans of Mal’s old car cover their voices when Carlos tells him with a shy grin, “I’ll be your body guard too, okay?”

“Promise?”

Carlos grins and hides his face in Jay’s shoulder. “Cross my heart.”

#jaylos #jay descendants #carlos de vil #Cruella De Vil #descendants fanfiction #descendants 2 #My writing #blecbleh

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