Chapter Text
Tilly gracefully landed on the ground of Auradon Prep as she took in the giant school in front of her.
It had been a while since she had been at Auradon, last year she spent her sophomore year at Neverland Academy. Mostly because she was dating the Prince to be King and then all of a sudden, she wasn’t. Audrey swooped in and wooed him right from her nose. Easy to say it wasn’t a nice break up and Tilly just thought it would be best for everyone if she took a break from Auradon. So she flew back home to spend time with her adopted father, who still had a lot of growing up to do, Peter Pan.
“Oh my gosh! Tilly! You’re back!” Jane ran up to her and engulfed the girl in a hug. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back? Oh my gosh, my mom is gonna flip!”
Tilly wrapped her arms around Jane and gave her a big hug, “I missed you too J” she said with a light laugh. “Also, I’m pretty sure your mom already knows.”
Jane laughed and shook her head, “Oh right.” They held hands and just stood and stared at each other trying to take the other in. Then someone cleared their throat and Jane was brought out of her stupor. “Oh! Tilly, this is Carlos! Carlos this is my best friend in the entire world, Tilly Bell.”
Carlos smiled and waved, “Nice to meet you!”
“Carlos? Oh! You’re from the Isle!” she said, then realized how rude she sounded and quickly tried to correct herself, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that as a bad thing. I just..”
“It’s fine, really. I don’t mind being known as one of the kids from the isle. It’s home, as bad as it is, it’s home.” He said, with a smile. Tilly relaxed at that, thankful he was so understanding.
“There are more right? Your friends came with you?” She said, just hearing about the new program through the grapevine.
“Yeah! We were actually on our way to see them if you wanted to come!” Carlos told her. She smiled and walked with them, catching up with Jane about what happened here while she was gone.
“Hey Guys!” Carlos called out to his friends as they stood in front of the Beast statue with Ben.
“Tilly!” Ben said, seemingly caught off guard. “You’re here. You’re back!” he said. The girl with purple hair looked at Ben strangely then over at Tilly clearly sizing her up.
“Yup!” she answered slightly confused, “You signed my transfer papers, remember? And you wrote me that really nice letter?” Ben nodded slowly. “Did I read into that wrong?”
Before Ben could answer a hand was thrust into her view, “Hi. I’m Mal. Ben’s girlfriend.” She said, a fake smile clearly plastered onto her face.
Tilly’s face lit up with a genuine smile, “Oh Hi!” she took Mal’s hand and shook it lightly. When Mal took her hand away, she dusted of the glitter. “Oh, sorry that happens sometimes.” She smiled sheepishly. “I’m so excited to meet you! Ben gushed about you in his letter, and I’ve never heard him talk about anyone like that, not me or Audrey. So, he is clearly happy, which means I’m happy. For both of you.” She finished. Mal nodded slowly trying to wrap her mind around what she was saying.
“Oh, sorry did he not tell you? We used to date, back before Audrey, but I thought we were friends now. I have moved on and he certainly has to.” She looked to Ben then for some explanation.
“We are friends! Definitely friends!” Ben said, overly enthusiastic.
“Right, so why are you staring at me like that?” She asked, looking at Ben then around to the rest of the group.
The girl with the blue hair stuck her hand out quickly, “I’m Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen.” She said as they shook hands.
The tall boy stuck his hand out then too, “Jay, son of Jafar” She shook his hand out too.
“Tilly, Tilly Bell. Daughter of-“ She was interrupted when Mal finished her sentence.
“Daughter of Tinker Bell?” to which Tilly nodded enthusiastically. “One of the only living faires left in all the realms!” she said with a light laugh.
“Yeah not for long” Jay said under his breath to Carlos who elbowed him back.
Mal smiled at Tilly awkwardly, “Why don’t we go inside?”
“Oh no, we can wait! Jane said we’re getting more Isle kids! Don’t you want to greet your friends?” Tilly asked looking down the road to see the limo pulling onto the grounds.
“Oh I wouldn’t call them friends.” Mal deadpanned and looked to Ben for help.
“Tilly, why don’t you go get settled in your room again?” he offered, and she looked around at all of them and their awkward stares back.
“What’s going on? Why are you trying to get rid of me? Is it still awkward? If it is, I completely understand and I’m sorry for stepping over any lines. I-I” She started but Ben shushed her.
“Tilly, we are friends and you aren’t crossing any lines or anything, trust me. I just think it would be best if maybe you weren’t part of the welcoming committee for this group.” He informed her.
She looked back as the stretch limo pulled onto the campus grounds. She then looked back at Ben who looked at her, almost scared.
“He’s coming, isn’t he.” She responded. Ben looked down as he nodded, clearly ashamed. Tilly took in a deep breath, fighting back tears. “You know, it’s fine. It’s okay” she said, fighting hard to keep her tears at bay but failing as they slid down her cheeks.
“Tilly, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think it all through and after everything that happened at the end of last year…” he trailed off as he watched her cry.
“Ben, it’s okay really. Everyone deserves a second chance.” She told him nodding still trying to convince herself a bit too. She heard the car pull up behind her and she looked to Jane who nodded and held her hand out. “I’ll see you guys later” she said, taking Jane’s hand and walking away.
Behind her the car door opened, “Ah, just pulled in and I’m already making people run away in tears!” Harry boasted as he stepped out of the car.
Everyone glared at him then and Ben and Carlos even growled. Harry put him his hand and hook defensively, “What, I was just kidding!” Behind him came Uma, Gil, and Dizzy.
The core four showed the new four around Auradon, one of them always keeping an eye out for Tilly just as a precaution. Then they all went to their dorms and prepared for their first day of school the next day.