▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 ━︎━︎ 𝐂𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐓 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 onto the land of Auradon, something like relief seemed to flood through Ilaria's body. A small breath left her lips before she grew tense remembering Cotillion was that night. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She just needed a second to herself. She turned to Evie. "I'm going to go to my room for a little bit. Come get me when you're done."

     Evie gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand. "Alright."

Ilaria walked to her room, closing the door behind her and jumping onto her bed, landing face first. A loud groan fell from her lips before she stayed like that for a solid five minutes, unmoving. Finally, she stood up and changed out of her leather clothes. She pulled on a red and black shirt and black pants, letting her red leather jacket hang on her shoulders. After a few more minutes, a knock came to her door. She opened it and gave Evie a soft smile. They greeted each other with a kiss before walking to Evie's designing room.

     "I'm sorry for leaving like that." Ilaria softly told her. "But I was always going to come back to you." She stopped, turning to face Evie and grabbing both of her hands. "Evie, I. . . I love you. And maybe it's way too soon in our relationship for me to say that, but it's true. And you don't have to say it back if you're not there yet, because I completely understand. But I wanted to tell you."

     Evie smiled brightly. "I love you too, Ria." She gave her a deep passionate kiss and Ilaria's eyes fluttered closed as she kissed Evie back. When they pulled away Evie and Ilaria both had wide smiles on their faces. "Now, let's finish these dresses."

     Ilaria smirked and nodded. "Lets."

     Evie finished the final touches on Mal's dress and Ilaria smiled, nodding approvingly. She walked over to the far side of the room, combing through the dresses and checking off the ones that were there and ready. As Evie moved to gather the other dresses, placing them on a rack, a frantic knock came at the door. "Come in," Evie called.

     The door burst open and in walked Doug. Evie spun to face him with wide eyes. "Where's Ilaria?" Evie pointed and Ilaria turned. "I have a scout badge in s'mores."

     Ilaria rose a brow and chuckled as she walked closer to him. "I know."

     "How could you go camping without me?"

     A confused chuckle left her lips. "What?"

     "Have you replaced me with another camping buddy? Is it Evie?" He turned to Evie. "No offense." Evie smiled at him and he turned back to Ilaria. "She does not camp like we camp."

     Ilaria stared at him. "Doug, you have not been replaced. I would never go camping without you, I know better."

     "Then where have you been? Because Jay and Carlos said―︎"

     Ilaria interrupted him. "I went to the Isle."

     Doug stuttered. "W-what?"

     Ilaria nodded her head. "I went to visit my mother. Wasn't a very pleasant visit." A small frowned pulled on her lips before she shook her head. "We'll talk about it after Cotillion. I would've been back sooner, had Ben not come to the Isle and got captured. I singlehandedly saved Auradon." A loud scoff left Evie's mouth and Ilaria playfully rolled her eyes. "Alright, I had some help." She glanced at Evie who smiled and shook her head before turning back to her dresses.

     "So you didn't replace me?"

     Ilaria shook her head. "No. I could never." She glanced at Evie before looking at Doug once more. "Now, Evie and I have dresses to deliver, so I'll see you tonight, okay?"

     Doug let out a relieved breath. "Alright." He glanced at Evie, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry for interrupting." Evie gave him another smile and waved him off. Doug left and Ilaria let out a breath as she walked over to Evie.

     "He cares so much about you."

     Ilaria smiled. "He does. He's the best. Now. Let's go deliver these dresses, shall we?"

     Evie nodded excitedly. "We shall."

After they delivered all of the dresses the two girls went their separate ways in order to get dressed. Ilaria pulled the dress on her body and she surprised herself when a small smile pulled on her lips. The dress went off the shoulders, a corset bodice that was red and black. The dress flowed at the bottom, the bottom has red with black lace covering it, reaching an inch above the ground. The lace had small hearts in the design and Ilaria loved it. She matched it with a pair of black heels, along with her heart necklace and some matching earrings. She curled her hair, putting on very light makeup before pausing to stare at herself in the mirror. This was a completely different version of her, and although she would never admit it out loud, she liked it.

She took a steadying breath before leaving her room and making her way to the event where Evie would be waiting for her. By the time she got there, music was blasting and people were dancing. She descended down the stairs nervously, her eyes searching for a familiar head of blue hair. A breath of relief left her lips when she spotted her girlfriend, quickly making her way towards her.

     She was in the middle of talking with Doug when he nodded towards Ilaria. Evie turned and her heart melted at the sight. "Ria. . . you look beautiful."

     Ilaria felt heat rush to her cheeks. "You look beautiful yourself." Evie smiled widely before the couple exchanged a kiss. She turned her head to look at Doug. "Well, don't you look all nice and dressed up."

     Doug bowed. "Thank you." Ilaria chuckled and shook her head. The sound of trumpets grabbed everyone's attention and Evie quickly grabbed her hand, dragging her to the front with Doug following behind them.

      Lumiere stood at the top of the stairs. "The future Lady Mal." He announced before stepping to the side. Jay, Carlos, Jane, and Lonnie all joined them at the front. When Mal stepped out, gasps echoed along the crowd. She looked beautiful, sporting the yellow and blue Auradon colors. Her long hair was in a braid and she quickly turned to face the crowd, a small tiara on her head.

     "She looks beautiful." Ilaria whispered. She squeezed Evie's hand. "You really outdid yourself." They all began clapping and cheering for her as she walked down the steps. King Beast grabbed her hand and helped her down the last few stairs. She stopped, exchanging a few words with Adam and Belle before Evie slowly approached and Mal turned to her, allowing Evie to lead her over to their friends.

     "How are you?" Evie softly asked.

     "Uh. . . I sort of feel like I'm going to throw up." Mal honestly answered. They both chuckled.

     The two joined the group of friends and Evie turned to face Mal. "Look, we're right here with you, okay."

     Mal smiled and nodded. "Okay."

     The trumpets sounded again. "King Benjamin!" Lumiere announced. The crowd cheered and clapped for him before they all bowed.

     Evie gently nudged Mal forwards. "Go get him." Mal smiled and took a step forwards and Evie reached over, grabbing Ilaria's hand and interlacing their fingers.

     Ben walked down the stairs and came to a stop in front of Mal. Ilaria quickly read his face and a frown pulled on her lips as she whispered to Evie, "Something's wrong." Evie furrowed her brows, glancing at Ilaria before looking back at Ben and Mal.

     Mal and Ben bowed to each other before Ben slightly shook his head. "Mal, I wish I had time to explain." He turned to the stairs and when the light came on, announcing someone else's entrance, the crowd began murmuring. Ilaria's eyes widened when Uma appeared.

     "What the hell?" Ilaria muttered. The group all exchanged glanced with each other before watching the scene unfold in front of them. Ben walked up the stairs, grabbing Uma's hand. Mal gasped in shock. The two came to a stop and Ben kissed the family ring that now laid on Uma's finger.

     The two approached Mal. "Sorry. It all happened so fast." Ben explained. "Something happened to me when I was on the Isle with Uma. A connection."

     Mal stuttered for a moment. "What are you saying?"

     "I'm saying. . ."

     "It was love!" Uma finished, a wide smile on her face. "It was. I just. . ." They turned to face each other. "I realized how alike Ben and I are, you know?"

     "We are." Ben smiled and Uma let out a giggle. Ilaria clenched her jaw, anger beginning to rise up. "You're so beautiful."

     "Ben." Mal said, but he didn't look at her. "Ben." Mal shook her head. "Did you go back for her?"

     Uma looked at Mal. "He didn't have to. I dove through the barrier before it closed and I'm an excellent swimmer so. . ."

     Ben chuckled. "You are."

     Uma smiled giddily. "Thank you." She pulled away from Ben and grabbed Mal's hand. Mal attempted to pull away from her. "Listen, Mal. I just really want to thank you. I do. For everything." She hugged Mal and Mal stood there frozen. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

     Ben came closer to Uma. "Don't you see, Mal? You were right. You knew that we weren't meant to be together. That's why you never told me that you loved me. Thank you."

     "Ben," Mal started. Tears pooled in her eyes. When music began to play, telling them it was time for the dance, Uma and Ben pulled away and began dancing with each other.

     Ilaria strode forwards, coming to a stop beside Mal and grabbing her hand. "You don't need to stay for this. I don't know what the hell is wrong with him." She pulled her back towards the others.

     Carlos lip lifted up in anger. "Not too thrilled I risked my life for him." He raised his voice at the end of the sentence.

     Lonnie walked over, placing a hand on Mal's shoulder. "We're with you, Mal."

     Jay appeared next. "Let's get out of here." Mal numbly nodded her head and they all began to walk towards the stairs and towards the exit.