The End at the Beginning
The sun hadn't yet shown enough of itself to brighten the windows of the coffee shop, so it seemed to Rapunzel when Eugene entered that he emerged straight from the darkness. It gave her an idea for a sketch. Then she remembered the man at the counter staring expectantly at the paper cup in her hand. People usually weren't very articulate or polite before sunrise.
"Here you go, sir. Have a nice day."
The man turned to leave without a word, leaving space for Eugene to move forward. He adjusted the glasses on his face.
"Your usual today, sir?" It was Rapunzel's coworker asking Eugene to make his order.
Eugene's eyes flicked from where they had been—on Rapunzel—to her. He opened his mouth to reply to her, but nothing came out. To stop him from looking like an idiot, Rapunzel inserted herself into the situation.
"Of course he does, Melina." She took his usual-sized cup from a tall stack behind her. "And I'll pay for it on my break, okay?"
"Sure." Melina moved away to arrange the various breads in the glass case next to her, while Rapunzel scooted off to make Eugene's drink.
She wrote Flynn on the cup with her black marker in letters that resembled typescript before she set it beneath the espresso spout. Even though she knew he was watching her, she looked up to catch him at it. He looked solemn—more so than she'd imagined he could be—just like he had when he'd walked in, but he didn't look down or away.
Since no one was waiting in line, she walked out from behind the counter and into the café, Eugene's cup in hand. He watched her walk all the way to his table, but it didn't make her feel awkward. When she reached it, she didn't sit down, knowing the shift would see her. Eugene touched the cup, but made no move to pick it up.
"How did it go?" she all but whispered it, even though there was plenty of noise in the background from a coffee grinder and a running faucet.
Eugene nodded. "It went."
"Is everything alright?" Her mind went to the Crown, the Stabbingtons, and the getaway.
"It will be, I think."
He stood up and they were kissing—just like that. Rapunzel had stumbled backwards because he had never come so close so quickly before, but he caught her by the small of her back and pulled her up against him; he had seen to too many details to have any reason to think of distance between them as good or wise any longer.
AN: It's short because it's a prologue. It might not be worth its own chapter, but I wanted it to be separated from the first true chapter in the story, which will be posted tomorrow. So—here's to hoping you'll stick around for it. 4/4/12