A-Z Jaylos Ice (Or the 5 times Carlos fell and the 1 time someone caught him)

*First time meeting AU. Make of it what you will.

1.

It's the first snow of the year in Auradon and Carlos is jittery with excitement. The Isle has winter, sure, but not like this. The snow here is so fluffy and white, nothing like the gray sludge that he's used to from home. Carlos couldn't wait to get out of class and into the snow, maybe getting together one of these "snow ball fights" Ben had told him about. He was concerned at first at the prospect of a fight, but Ben had explained it was less of a fight and more of a game, so Carlos was perfectly willing to try.

The bell rings and Carlos shoots out the door. He runs forward towards the nearest clear space – And immediately falls painfully on his backside. Ice, he thinks to himself, another new experience.

He attempts to stand but ends up just slipping again. Luckily Ben happens along and helps him up before he can make more of a fool of himself. As he's helped along towards the amassing group of students getting ready to make snow sculptures, he catches sight of a boy from his class (Jack? Jason?) Looking a little disappointed and then walking away. He shrugs off his confusion just in time to help Evie make a perfect replica of Dude.

2.

The next time Carlos fell was Monday morning. He had overslept (just his luck) and was hurrying along the quickly emptying corridor, hoping to make it to his classroom in time. Unfortunately, the amount of snow and ice outside made for a lot of slush on the floors of the corridor, and Carlos went tumbling. Cursing his life he quickly got up and brushed himself off as best he could before hurrying away to his first period Physics II class.

Just as he ducked inside the classroom he noticed the same boy from before (Jay, that's his name!) Standing rather forlornly by the lockers, looking after him. When their gaze met, Jay quickly turned away and walked in the opposite direction. Carlos would probably have thought more about this weird "coincidence" (there's no such thing) if he weren't about to get completely roasted in front of his class by the professor.

3.

The following Thursday Evie convinced him to come ice skating with some new friends she'd made, a girl named Mal who he remembered from the Isle, that boy named Jay who was apparently her best friend, and a few other assorted Auradonians. Since he didn't have dance practice and he had finished his homework in study hall, he agreed.

What hadn't occurred to him was that he had never tried ice skating before and had already had enough trouble just walking across a patch of black ice on the side walk. By the time they were all out on the ice, Carlos was pretty much clutching onto the wall, attempting to push himself along as best he could. This is ridiculous, he can't help but think, I'm a dancer, I have great balance! Why can't I get the hang of this?

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Jay watching him and Mal seems to be talking to him about something. They keep gesturing at him and that's when Carlos realizes: They're probably making fun of him because he can't skate. He knows Jay has seen him tumble a few times before too and so now he's probably telling Mal all about how the little de Vil boy can't keep his feet under him. Frowning in determination he pushes off the wall hard and manages to go a few shaky steps before he plummets over onto the ice. As people rush around to make sure he's okay he thinks smugly well they can't say I never tried.

4.

Okay, this one is seriously not his fault. It's not his fault he and Chad were sort of roughhousing and Chad had pushed him too hard, making him slips. It's not his fault he seems to be cursed by some sort of winter fairy to always locate patches of ice when he's walking. And it's certainly not his fault that Jay seems to be hanging around every time he falls flat on his back. It's not!

5.

Carlos doesn't remember falling. He seriously does not. All he knows is that one minute he was walking along, minding his own business, watching out for ice even! Then he just so happened to glance up and straight at Jay, who was pulling off his beanie to shake his hair out. Then Carlos was on his back once again on the cold concrete. So maybe he got a little distracted by just how beautiful Jay is, but no one needs to know that. This is just another act of clumsiness as far as anyone is concerned.

Wait, why does the back of my head feel warm and… Wet? He reaches back a hand and when he looks at it its red with blood. "Carlos!" An unfamiliar voice exclaims above him. He can't really tell what's going on, everything is pretty blurry, but he tries to smile at the voice anyway. They seem really worried. "'M okay," he slurs right before he passes out.

+1

A day later he's being released from the hospital wing of the school and is trying to walk out to the little security cart someone managed to get to take him back to his dorm. As soon as he lets go of the nurse's hand and tries to hobble out to the car though, he slips again. He braces himself for impact… But it doesn't come. Instead he feels a strong pair of arms catch him and he looks up right into Jay's eyes. He seems concerned but after a second he grins down at Carlos, who he basically has dipped in the middle of the side walk.

"You saved me…" Carlos says in wonder.

"Well, this isn't the first time someone has fallen for me," Jay says with a wink before returning Carlos to his feet.

"But- I thought you didn't like me."

Jay definitely looks alarmed now; his eyes wide and his mouth open a little. From behind him Mal cackles before Evie shushes her. "What? But – I've been trying to help you for weeks!"

Now it's Carlos's turn to stare. "That's why you were always around when I fell? I thought it was just stupid luck, or you were making fun of me or something."

"I would never do that, I promise!" Jay presses forward a little, taking Carlos's hand in his.

Carlos looks down at their joined hands and then back up at Jay's face. "Well… How about helping me back to my room and we can see how this might go…?"

Jay grins, relieved. "Yeah, yes of course!"

Carlos had never been so happy to fall.

AN: Guess whose back! I'm sorry for the extremely long and unexpected hiatus, school was really kicking me around there for a while, but its summer and I'm back now! Also I'm kind of obsessed with 5+1 fics, so you might be able to expect a few more of these.