Oh, you love me, you love me
Why the hell d'you love me?
'Cause I don't even love myself
Baby, the best part of me is you
____________________

"ARE YOU kidding?" was his immediate answer.

I was back in his room, sitting cross-legged on his bed and nervously fiddling with my fingers.

"Brae, you're not selfish." He said, "Not at all."

"But you're always the one supporting me, not the other way around." I replied weakly, "I mean, look at us now. Here I am being emotionally unstable and here you are comforting me. Again."

"That's literally my job."

"Isn't that my job too?"

"Well, when I need comforting, yes." He answered, "But you're the one who's upset right now."

Me. Always me who's upset.

"Brae. Look at me."

As corny as he sounded, I did.

"Remember that time Fairy Godmother had us video call our parents, a long time ago?" He asked, edging closer.

I gave him a small, weary smile. "Yeah. And I hope that never happens again cause... just no."

He smiled a little too. "Remember when Cruella was screaming at me? You held my hand, remember? Like this."

He took my hand in his and squeezed it tight. My chest was filled with a tingly sensation of warmth.

"How is this not comforting me when I needed it?" He asked, staring at me intently, "Not to mention all the other times you've been there for me. Literally since day one. At the museum stairs, remember? When I was frightened of loud noises?"

He was taking me down memory lane, writing out our history before my eyes.

"You barely understood what I was going through, but you tried so hard." He continued, "No one has ever tried that hard to understand me."

"Carlos..."

He raised our entwined hands up for me to see. "This is enough for me, Brae. Really. You being here makes me a better person, I promise. I mean, considering the fact that I grew up alone, you're more than I could've asked for."

Despite everything, I laughed. This boy. Unbelievable.

"You're not 'too much', or 'too little'." He reassured me, "So no more questioning it, okay?"

"Okay." I paused. "How are you so sure about all this?"

He shrugged. "Gut feeling? I've never trusted anyone this much before."

Me either.

I grinned, letting go of his hand. I suddenly wrapped both my arms around his chest, almost knocking over the open laptop he had placed at the end of the mattress. I pressed myself close to him, like I was trying to find some way to melt into him.

"Brae?" He questioned, a tad surprised.

"Oh shush. Just let me enjoy this."

He laughed, then I felt him scoot closer. He leaned his head on mine and kept silent, just as I requested, letting me hold him for once.

I feel like I could breathe him in. His love was intoxicating. It didn't seem real.

"I went to see Ben this morning, in case you were wondering." He said suddenly after a few minutes of silence, "He needed my big brain to fix his computer."

Of course he did.

I breathed a small unnoticeable sigh of relief, then entangled my fingers in his hair. He just sat there and let me do whatever I wanted, blinking innocently.

My phone rang, and I removed myself from him so I could properly answer. "Hey Mal!"

"Where are you?"

"At Carlos' room."

"We're heading to the cafeteria for late lunch. One of Dizzy's friends said there was free ice cream."

"Free ice cream, huh?" I repeated, looking at Carlos, who's face lit up in delight.

"Yeah. You coming?" Mal said, before Dizzy took over.

"Hi Brae!" The young girl giggled.

"Hey Diz." I smiled, "And yeah I'll definitely be there. I'll drag Carlos with me too."

I glanced over at him. He nodded enthusiastically.

"I tried calling Jay but he didn't pick up." Mal continued.

"Ah, I think he might be a little preoccupied right now." I answered, remembering this morning's events. I hope he's having luck with Lonnie. "I'll leave him a message."

"No it's okay. I already texted him. I'll see you."

"See ya."

I hung up, then turned to face Carlos again.

"You're just gonna let her interrupt our moment like that?" He asked, faking a sulk.

I grabbed one of the pillows and playfully whacked the expression off his face. He yelped, shielding the next blow with his hands.

"Hey!"

He snatched the pillow out of my reach and yanked me close, catching me off guard with a kiss.

"There." He pulled away within a second, grinning like he just completed some kind of mission.

Dazed with the sudden move, it took me a second to respond. "What was that for?"

"Evie stole your first ever hug, remember?" He teased, "This is redemption."

I made a that doesn't even make sense face at him, causing him to laugh.

"They can hug you all they want." He said, still holding me close, "But every kiss-" He peppered my lips with another one, "- is mine. Your first, to your last."

I wasn't about to argue.

But whoever taught this sweet, darling boy to say stuff like that deserves a heck of a raise.

I cracked an uncontrollable, lovesick grin as he threw the pillow back on his bed and reached for my hand. I let him interlock our fingers and pull me out of the room. I felt like he could take me anywhere and I would not give a crap as long as he keeps holding my hand like this.

"C'mon, love. Ice cream awaits."

For the next few hours, my mind strayed from my mom and sister. I was distracted by the laughs around the table. I was even more distracted when Jay and Lonnie came walking casually into the cafeteria hand in hand.

I raised my eyebrows at Jay, giving him a knowing look that said I think you owe me one. He simply grinned back at me. I didn't think anyone was gonna address it until Mal spoke up smugly.

"Woew. Look at the new couple in the house."

Lonnie laughed. "I'm gonna go get ice cream." She declared, leaving Jay behind for us to interrogate.

Dizzy scurried after her for a second bowl.

"So you finally found the courage to talk to Lonnie?" Mal teased.

"It took a little push." Jay replied, sitting down and doing finger guns towards me, "Thanks to Brae."

"You are so welcome."

"We're kinda official." Jay continued, "We're both unsure about the whole dating thing, but we decided to just go with the flow and see where it takes us."

Mal smiled. "That sounds good." She commented lightly, taking another bite of her vanilla ice cream.

"So does this mean you'll stop screaming 'I'm coming in and I don't wanna see something I don't wanna see' at the top of your lungs every time you walk into our room?" Carlos asked him.

"Nah."

Both Carlos and Jay laughed.

Carlos reached over and gave him a friendly shove. "Okay but real talk. I'm happy for you, brother."

"Thanks." Jay said.

"You finally had the guts to talk to her."

"The same guts you had after weeks of avoiding Brae?" Jay teased.

Carlos rolled his eyes as I proceeded to choke on my spoonful of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with extra whipped cream and sprinkles-

"I hate you." Carlos said in all seriousness.

"Why, I hate you too." Jay responded.

Both boys broke into massive grins. What a precious example of brotherly love.

___________________
Here's some Jaylos and Braelos (I just made this up) content. Yee yee!
also I am now aware of the amount of times I've had Brae attack people with pillows. Oh well.