"So, this is Evie's place, eh?"

Harry and Gil stared at the cozy bungalow from top to bottom: the grey stone walls, red brick roof, arched glass windows, clear lawn, all the way up to the sign that read Evie's 4 Hearts.

"That's right," Jay confirmed. "She accepted commissions so that she could —"

"Typical," Harry scoffed, looking unamused (or perhaps, bitter) as he cut Jay off before he could finish his sentence. "She was always obsessed with being a boring 'ole princess."

Carlos and Jay made no comment on that, deciding to be the bigger persons and not pick a fight. Carlos then picked up his pace, heading straight for the front double doors of Evie's home. He wasted no time in twisting the knobs and pushing the doors wide open.

"Meredith?" he said tentatively, eyes searching frantically for her in the living room and down to the halls. "Mer?"

At long last, he spotted her in the kitchen. She was slumped on the ground, her upper body propped up just slightly as it leaned onto the refrigerator. It looked incredibly uncomfortable, but Carlos was just relieved to see that she was only sleeping and hadn't been turned to stone. But as he thought it over, he realized that it wasn't that much of a relief after all because he didn't know how to wake her up, anyway.

"Oh, man," said Carlos, crouching down to check on her. No bruises, wounds, or any other signs of injury; she really was just put under a sleeping spell. He sighed, gently cupping her jaw with his hand.

"Oh, it's the little redhead!" Gil recognized, entering the kitchen with Jay and Harry.

"She's really been spelled?" Jay asked in disappointment. He had been hoping that Meredith and the others had miraculously dodged Audrey's magic, but he was wrong.

"Yeah," Carlos said dejectedly. "I don't know what I was expecting, but I don't think there's anything we can do about this right now."

"Yeah, we've got no idea how to break these spells," said Jay, folding his arms and looking deep in thought.

"Perhaps a true love's kiss?" Harry snickered. "Sounds like a naive thing that princesses believe in."

Carlos blushed beet red at that suggestion. His face only grew warmer when Gil started to make exaggerated kissing noises and Harry laughed obnoxiously.

"Alright, alright, that's enough," Jay pushed Harry and Gil away, steering them out of the kitchen. "Let's check on the others then get ready to leave. We should be looking for Ben, remember?"

"Aye, aye," Harry waved him off as he and Gil left the room. Meanwhile, Jay paused to turn and look back at Carlos and the sleeping Meredith.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, just give me a minute," Carlos replied. "I'll be out in a bit."

Jay nodded, hesitating once more before finally leaving.

Once everyone else was gone, Carlos felt the burning in his cheeks return when he replayed Harry's words in his head. True love's kiss? It couldn't possibly be the answer to this, could it? Sure, it had succeeded many times in the history of Auradon, like with Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, but it was a thing of the past. Still... it wouldn't hurt to try, right?

No, that's ridiculous, Carlos mentally scolded himself, shaking his head in disbelief. A kiss wouldn't wake someone up from a spell these days. It sounded even crazier when it had to be one founded on true love. Carlos wasn't even sure he knew what love felt like. His mother raised him his entire life, and he was grateful for that, but she had done some questionable things to him and their relationship was still strained. He had his best friends, too, and maybe he did love them, but that was purely platonic.

So, what about Meredith? Carlos enjoyed spending every minute with her, whether it was during an adventurous date or they were just relaxing on a lazy day. His heart still fluttered whenever he was around her, and his eyes focused only on her even when they were surrounded by other people. He cared for deeply, wanting only the best for her. But still, how could he tell if that really was love?

Screw it, I'll just do it, Carlos told himself. If it doesn't work, it'll just be a sweet gesture... yeah, that's it.

And so, Carlos leaned in, pressing a chaste kiss onto Meredith's lips. After a beat, he pulled away, waiting for any reaction — but there was none. She remained asleep.

"I knew this was crazy," Carlos huffed, getting ready to stand back up. However, he stopped when Meredith's eyes fluttered. He froze, wondering if he'd only imagined it. But he didn't — not at all. Her eyes eventually opened, and she blinked a few times as one would to get the sleep out or their eyes upon waking up.

"Holy sh —"

"Carlos?" Meredith said in confusion. Her eyes widened when it registered in her mind that her boyfriend was in front of her, and not back in the Isle of the Lost like she last remembered. "What happened? How are you here?"

Carlos forced himself not to react violently to what had just happened. The kiss worked. It actually worked.

"Uh, I — you... what's the last thing you remember?" he spluttered.

"Well, you left for the Isle," Meredith began, sitting up straighter. "I called Jane and Ben, actually. I tried to warn them, but I don't think it did much... and then I just got knocked out. That... that was a spell, right?"

"Yeah, Audrey's sleeping spell," said Carlos. "Most of Auradon is still sleeping, and the others have been turned to stone."

"That's horrible. So, who else is awake?"

"W-what?"

"Who else woke up?"

"Uh... no one."

"What? How am I awake, then?" Meredith asked in shock.

"Maybe the spell wears off early for some people," Carlos chuckled nervously, feeling guilty for lying. "I mean, Audrey's not used to magic, so that could be why..."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." Meredith took a look around her, her mind still a bit fuzzy. And then, she realized that she was still on the floor. "Uh, should we get up?"

"Right, right," Carlos said hurriedly, springing to his feet. He held out a hand, which Meredith took gladly as she got up, too. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it really just feels like I napped," she reassured. "Where's —"

"Hey, Dizzy and the twins are asleep in the living room and so is Doug in the studio — oh, you're awake!"

Meredith and Carlos turned to look at the kitchen entrance and found Jay standing there, looking pleasantly surprised.

"How'd this happen?" he demanded, jogging closer to them.

"Spell wore off," Carlos answered right away.

Jay frowned, saying, "I don't think it works like —"

"I'm sure some other people woke up, too," Carlos said through gritted teeth, eyeing Jay intently and hoping he got the message. Fortunately, Jay seemed to take the hint.

"Ah... yes," Jay said slowly. "Probably. Not Dizzy and Squeaky and Squirmy and Doug, though, but... yeah."

"That's too bad," Meredith sighed. "So, what's gonna happen now?"

"We're supposed to be looking for Ben," Jay explained. "It doesn't look like he was turned to stone or put to sleep, but we're sure Audrey got to him somehow."

"Well, did you find anything already? Any clues where he might be or what Audrey did to him?" Meredith said, worried for Ben.

"Uh, not yet. We searched the castle already and Mal and Evie are at the dorms now, and we were gonna head to the woods... but Carlos here insisted that we pass by and check on you first."

"That's sweet," Meredith teased, swiftly kissing Carlos on the cheek. For the nth time, Carlos blushed, recalling how he'd woken her up with a kiss.

"If you're all good, we can get going, actually," Jay went on. "The sooner we move on, the faster we can find Ben and fix this whole mess."

"Let's go, then," Meredith said, already on her way out. When she was out of earshot, Jay faced Carlos, placed his hands on his shoulders, and shook him harshly.

"What the heck happened? Did you really —?"

"Yes, I kissed her and she woke up," Carlos explained in a rush, feeling shy.

"No way, man!" Jay clapped him on the back. "That means you do love her, and she —"

"Keep it down! And make sure Harry and Gil don't mention it, okay?"

"I got you, bro."

The two best friends followed Meredith out into the living room. Seconds later, Harry and Gil came out from the hallway after doing who knows what — they probably snooped around and stole some stuff, but there was too much going on to pay attention to that right now.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Harry smirked, seeing that the girl who should have been under a sleeping spell was now up and about.

"Yo, did Carlos really —" Gil started. Jay ran over to stand behind them and clamped his hands over the two boys' mouths when Meredith wasn't looking.

"Don't say a word about any kiss and I'll give you boys some cash. Sound good?" Jay said lowly.

Harry rolled his eyes and used his hook to to remove Jay's hand. He couldn't turn down such an enticing offer, though.

"Fine," he shrugged.

"Sure!" Gil agreed.

"Are you all... friends now?" Meredith questioned, looking weirded out.

"No way," Carlos denied. "We're just... working together until we find Audrey and fix things. Uma's here too, by the way."

"Uma?" Meredith exclaimed. "Gosh, a lot did happen while I was out."

"You'll get used to it."

"I got a scent! I think! Yep!" a voice said from outside. Dude then came running in, his paws padding softly on the ground.

"Of Ben?" asked Meredith.

"No, of chicken. Of course, it's Ben!" Dude responded. "Is your brain still mush from that sleeping spell?"

"No need to get smart with me, Dude. I might just cut your budget for treats in half," Meredith half-joked, leaning down to pet him.

"Oh, my bad. I'll be good!"

"Great. Now, can you show us the way?"

"On it!"

The mutt trotted back out the door, and the VKs and Meredith followed suit. Once they were out of Evie's home, Carlos grasped Meredith's hand in his own, both out of habit and for comfort. Even if this was something Carlos did often since they'd been together for a while now, he found his heart hammering in his chest and his stomach erupting in butterflies. He was still reeling from the fact that he'd manage to wake her up from a sleeping spell because of a kiss — true love's kiss.

♚ ♚ ♚

The woods were fairly quiet as Meredith and the VKs surveyed their surroundings for any sign that Ben might have passed by. The only actual noise came from the group themselves, either from calling out for Ben or when they'd make side comments, which composed mostly of Harry making complaints and Gil being impressed at the little things.

"So, what else happened while I was asleep? And where are the others? I still feel like I'm out of the loop," Meredith was now asking Carlos, eager to be updated before anything else.

"Basically, Harry and Gil stole our bikes when we got to the Isle," Carlos began, briefly eyeing the two boys walking a few feet away from them. "We weren't able to catch them, but at least Mal got Hades's ember pretty quickly. We were finally about to leave, but Harry and Gil got through the barrier right before it closed — oh, and it turns out, they crashed our bikes. Then, Uma showed up and got hold of the ember. We all fought, you know, the usual... some deals were made... we ended up all going to Auradon... anyway, now, we're stuck in this situation."

"That was mouthful."

"That was already the shortened version."

It wasn't long before they went back to calling out for Ben, only to feel a bit more discouraged each time as they never received any response.

"Ben!" Carlos shouted.

"Ben!" Jay even cupped his hands around his mouth in an attempt to make his voice louder.

Carlos sighed and plopped down on a wide rock, motioning for the mutt to come his way.

"Dude," he said, waving him over. "Come on, nothing?"

"Nope, I lost it," Dude answered.

"What do you mean? Do you think Ben is further away now?" asked Meredith, sitting next to Carlos.

"No, it's more like... the scent is his, but it's not really him... and it's confusing me!"

Carlos and Meredith shared perplexed glances of their own, wondering what in the world Dude was trying to say. Meanwhile, the other boys continued to scour the area for any other clues. Harry and Jay both observed the ground for tracks and the tree trunks for possible marks, but Gil, as usual, wavered for a moment and got distracted by a berry bush.

"These things just grow everywhere," he said to himself in awe, picking out a dark berry. He popped it into his mouth, making a noise of approval at the sweet taste that exploded. Satisfied with his snack, he then spun on his heel to face the others. "Hey, we should play that icebreaker! Um, Jay, I like the way that you can bounce around and jump off things."

For a few seconds, Jay just stared at Gil, slightly caught off guard at that sudden compliment.

Not noticing Jay's silence, Gil added while picking out another berry, "These are free, right?"

"Yeah, um..." Jay trailed off, unsure if he should even continue the icebreaker. With a small chuckle, he told Gil, "I like how you get a kick out of a berry bush."

"I guess you've probably seen everything by now, huh? Furry rocks, giant fish... you're probably used to grabbing lunch off of a bush."

"No, I mean, no, not really," Jay said quickly, sensing that he may have hit a sore spot. Again, he forgot just how little VKs were given and exposed to back at Isle because he'd gotten so used to the comforts of Auradon. "I mainly just use the vending machines at practice. You know, tourney, kind of eats up most of my time. So..."

From behind them, Harry laughed sardonically.

"Tourney — that's a wee boy's game," he jabbed, which Jay could only glare at.

"Hey, you know what would be fun?" Gil then said. "To go rafting on a jungle river."

Jay nodded in agreement, adding, "Find a lost civilization."

"Oh, or maybe a penguin!"

"Oh, well, you'd find those more in like icebergs, but I'd love to see one of those."

"You guys are killing me," Harry said frustratedly, pushing himself in between Jay and Gil. Using his hook, he poked one of the berries on the bush and placed it into his mouth. In what sounded like an odd mix of genuine surprise and sarcasm, Harry hummed in approval at the taste. "Hmm."

"I can't tell if they're fighting or getting along," Meredith whispered, watching the interaction among the three boys.

"A bit of both," Carlos chuckled.

"P.S., your mutt went that way, lovebirds," Harry pointed at the distance, addressing Carlos and Meredith who were both still seated on the rock. At that, the couple got to their feet to go after Dude.

"Carlos! Meredith!" the mutt said, voice faint and indicating that he was much deeper into the woods now.

"Dude, what do you see?" Carlos asked.

"This way!"

Meredith and the VKs shared curious looks before running after Dude. Hopefully, this would be the moment where they'd find Ben once and for all.