Why him?
Why did it have to be him?
The townspeople had responded negatively the moment Rapunzel's return had been announced – or rather, as soon as the man who was responsible for bringing her home was announced. While their happiness over finding the Lost Princess was immeasurable, the entire celebration had been dampened a bit because it was him that had done it.
Flynn Rider. The inhabitants of Corona would glare at him during the whole party. What was he good for? Well, apparently he was good at rescuing princesses, but there had to be some kind of mistake – he must have had an ulterior motive. Princesses were rescued by princes, heroes, knights in shining armor. Certainly not criminals. Flynn Rider didn't fit any of the expectations of what a hero should be – especially considering the way he was staggering through the town square during the entire party, drunk out of his mind, too inebriated to even notice what was being said about him.
"Princess!"
Rapunzel jumped out of her daydream, glancing around the classroom. "W-what? Oh, I'm sorry, I must have dozed off there," she lied, sighing and adjusting the way she sat. She looked down at her textbook, pretending to read intently.
A year had passed since her return to Corona and she still couldn't help but think about that day and the week that followed. She had been so elated that she had ignored all comments made about the creditability of her paramour. In fact, she would dare say that that week is when she truly fell in love with him.
"After the party's over, you'll have to start following rules," he had reminded her, a look of arrogance of his face, that she happened to find adorable. She asked what they could do in the meantime, and he had dragged her off into a deserted alleyway and kissed her senseless.
Looking back, maybe she should have doubted a relationship that began when one of the members was drunk and the other was so incredibly elated that she might as well have been.
Rapunzel deeply wished that she could have that one week back. It was the only time was everything was perfect. Before she and Eugene had to face any sort of reality. Before she became apt at listening in on the rude things her subjects were saying. All she wanted was to feel in love again, without all this constant worry.
In a hopeless action, she slammed her textbook shut, gathering it in her arms as she walked to the hallway, calling out a goodbye to her teacher. Technically, class wasn't over for another ten minutes, but the teachers never could have too much authority over her.
She walked briskly back to her bedroom, trying to plan the rest of her day. Well, she had to do her homework, that was a definite. Due to her recent difficulty paying attention, she had been having to do more and more work outside of class, practically teaching herself, not caring to admit what was going on. In a way, she didn't mind. Settling down with a book and a piece of parchment in the evening was an excuse for her to be alone – because she had a feeling that without the homework, she would be alone anyway.
She didn't know why, but Eugene hadn't been around as much lately. She knew he was busy training with the guards (they wanted to make him into a guard someday – kind of ironic considering his past), but the amount she had seen him lately, or the lack thereof, was astonishing. She knew there was no way he spent all of his time in training, but she was too afraid to confront him about it.
It had always been like anyway. He had just "officially" moved into the castle a few weeks ago, and Rapunzel had been so excited, but it turned out she was just getting her hopes up. It was silly to think he would make more time for her.
She considered heading over to his bedroom to see if he wanted to hang out, but she would feel foolish if she had to walk all the way out there just to find that he was somewhere else.
As it turns out, Rapunzel didn't see Eugene until that evening, when she was in the middle of, well, doing her homework. She was so absorbed in it that she didn't bother looking up when she heard her door open, not wanting to lose her train of thought. Inwardly she was wondering who it was.
"Boo," Eugene said, walking up behind her and placing his hands over her eyes. She could just picture the smirk on his face.
Rapunzel couldn't help but smile widely. Even when she was mad at him, she seemed to forget that whenever he was near, feeling instead a warm glow in her heart. Damn him. "Hi," she said.
"What you got there?" he asked, kneeling down a bit so he was closer to her, nibbling at her ear.
"It's just history," she said, closing the book, having completely lost her train of thought. Of course. He always did this to her. She used to think it was exciting the way she would forget about everything but him, but lately it was…problematic.
Eugene scoffed. "Boring!" he said. "Aren't you glad I saved you from it?"
"Well, I guess, but I…kind of have to finish it sometime. But somehow I get the feeling that you're not going to give me any time tonight, am I right?" Rapunzel asked, moving her head a little to avoid his kisses.
"I don't plan on it," Eugene said, smirking as he turned her head towards him to kiss her fully on the lips. Rapunzel couldn't understand why he did stuff like that. Kissing her as if he was in love with her.
Ugh, what was she thinking? Of course Eugene was in love with her. She must have just been grumpy because her brain was fried from learning about ancient wars. And besides…she had missed him a lot today. Grabbing onto his vest, she kissed him deeply, not wanting to let go.
"Ah, that's my girl," Eugene said, smiling when they broke away, standing up. Rapunzel simply watched him, not sure if she should be feeling happy or objectified. Eugene began undressing himself, throwing his clothes on the floor. "Is it okay if I stay here tonight?"
Funny that he asked her that after he started talking over his shirt. "Sure thing," she said, chuckling a little. She could have said, "No, I have work to do," or "No, I'm tired," but she always had a problem standing up for herself.
Rapunzel rose from her seat, glancing toward the door to make sure it was locked. At least he always remembered that. "So," she said, ringing her hands together, "where were you today, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Why does it matter?" Eugene asked.
"Well, sometimes I miss you," Rapunzel admitted. She wasn't expecting to get a real answer out of him. He seemed to never give her real answers.
"I was just walking around town," Eugene said, shrugging. Ah, there it was. Rapunzel rolled her eyes and looked at the ground, smiling because she knew he would say something like that. It wasn't that she thought he was lying, but she doubted it was that simple. Perhaps she should have been angrier at him – after all, they were boyfriend and girlfriend…but it was so hard to be mad at him.
Especially when he did things like this, Rapunzel thought, swallowing nervously as he made her way towards her, putting his arms around her waist as he pulled her against him. Rapunzel blushed, feeling her body heat up, and looked away, embarrassed. She liked being close to him, she had to admit, but her feeling of confliction only continued as he began running his hands over her curves.
"So do you think you could maybe not go off on your own as much?" Rapunzel asked, smiling softly at him. She didn't want him to think she was angry.
Eugene had a clear look of exasperation on his face – clear to Rapunzel, though it was very slight. "Well, sure. But you're always busy all day anyway, so what's the point?"
"The point is," Rapunzel said, smiling as she felt the muscles on his chest, "that I feel alone when you're not here. Like I'm not good enough for you."
"Of course you're good enough for me!" Eugene said. "I just get bored sometimes."
"So I bore you?" Rapunzel asked quietly.
"No, I…geez, we're not talking about this right now. I don't need talk like this ruining my night." He pulled away from her and lay down on the bed, folding his arms behind him as he stared at the ceiling.
"Well I doubt you'll ever want to talk about it," Rapunzel muttered. She wasn't entirely sure whether or not Eugene could hear her. Either way, he wasn't listening. Rapunzel didn't even know why she had bothered tiring. She was, of course, probably overreacting. It wasn't as if Eugene ever mistreated her in any way. She just needed to be quiet and keep her mouth shut – just like princesses were supposed to do.
"Are you going to come to bed?" he asked, glancing at her with a look of impatience.
"Ah…of course," Rapunzel said, flashing him a smile. "One second, please." She ran behind the changing screen and began undressing. She could have done it in front of him, but from her, at least he couldn't see the look of sadness on her face. Yet another night where she wasn't able to stand up for herself. Oh well. She knew she'd overlook all of this as soon as they started kissing again. It was sad, really, but she didn't mind…not really… She was in love with him, and that's all that really mattered. Eugene's disinterest in her was probably nothing more than a phase.
Even though it had lasted for a while…
He had never really had a knack for telling her how much he appreciated her. Flirting with her, sure – but even from the beginning, he never had never been particularly romantic. Sometimes he was sweet, but it was getting to be increasingly less. She had thought that he had been changed ever since he started dating her, but honestly, she wasn't so sure.
Anyway, she wasn't sure why these thoughts were all coming to her now, and she really wished they wouldn't. She supposed she was just reflecting on all of his discourteous behavior from the past year at once. He wasn't all bad. Not at all.
Slipping on a flimsy nightgown, she walked back to the bed, putting out the lamp as she crawled next to him, wrapping herself around his frame.
Eugene smiled, whispering something in her ear about how she looked wonderful in sleepwear. Rapunzel giggled, pressing kisses against his neck and thanking him. It was the last meaningful thing he said all night.
A/N: For those of you who might be wondering, I do plan on continuing this, but it will probably be a while between updates. This chapter got so much more sensual than I originally intended, hence the rating. It's mainly for safety, as I doubt anything is going to get really graphic. But we'll see about all of that. And yes, the title is taken from the Sara Bareilles song. Deal with it. And feel free to review?