This is Our Life

by PerrythePlatypusGirl

CGI Modern High School AU. When MK transfers to a new school after her mother dies, she thinks she is the only one with problems. But then she runs into a certain group of friends and is quickly proven wrong. Multi-crossover. Epic, Frozen, Tangled, Brave, Hotel Transylvania, the Lorax, ROTG, HTTYD, and much more. Rated for mild language.

7. Episode 7: How I Met My Mother

A/N: Hey everyone! So sorry for the delay. XD Anyway, a couple of notes before you start the episode:

1. IT'S VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY LONG. XDDDDD I'm really sorry, I hope you can sit through it.

2. This actually contains the plots for two different episodes I wanted to do, but neither of them worked well on their own so I combined them. The transitions between the two may be a little awkward, so I apologize. ALSO, much of the story is told in flashback form, but I'm pretty sure the beginning and ending of the flashback are clearly marked, so hopefully it's not confusing. XDD And when you see italicized quotes at the beginning of a section, think of it as narration.

3.TRIGGER WARNING: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS MENTIONS OF GUN VIOLENCE AND SOME SLIGHT (MOSTLY VERBAL) CHILD ABUSE. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

So, without further ado, enjoyyyy!

---

Episode 7: How I Met My Mother (and My Boyfriend)

"Mommy, why did you name me 'Rapunzel?' Is it because of the fairy tale princess?"Her mother turned around to look at her and smiled. "Well, I actually named you after a flower," she responded. "But I guess it's no different. The flower and the princess are both beautiful...just like you, dear."Rapunzel nodded, then spoke softly again. "Mother...today at school we watched 'Beauty and the Beast,' and then afterwards the teacher told us that true beauty comes from within." She paused. Her mother didn't turn around."Mother...do you think I'm beautiful on the inside too?"Her mother did not respond for a long, long time. Finally, she turned and flashed a smile again. "...of bcourse/b I do, dear. You're my precious darling daughter." She turned back to the cooking. "Now go wash up for dinner. I'm making hazelnut soup."Rapunzel nodded again and did as she was told.It wasn't until later that she'd realize that her mother's "darling" sounded a whole lot like "dolly."

---

Rapunzel slammed her head down on the lunch table, just barely missing her lunch tray, as she sat down. "Uggggggggghhhhh," the poor senior groaned. "Blaaaaaaaaaaasdfghjkl;."

"Dear God, Rapunzel," Once-ler smirked as he sat down with the rest of the group. "That did not sound human."

"Are you ok?" Anna asked.

"No," Rapunzel snapped, without lifting her head. "It's the beginning of November, application deadlines are in three weeks and I still don't know what colleges to apply to!"

"Well, have you been researching some?"

"Of course I have!" Rapunzel yelled, finally lifting her head up. "I've been researching but I can't seem to choose! I don't even know what majors I want!"

"That's ok," Hiccup responded, staring at whatever book he was reading today. "You can just go in as Undeclared. Then you can decide."

"Yeah, and you can just apply to all the ones that seem interesting," MK added. "The counselors always tell us that you should apply to a whole bunch and then choose from the ones that accept you."

Rapunzel sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I know, I know...it's just...sooo stressful." She put her head down on the table again.

"Ah, it's just the first semester that's stressful," Merida reassured her. "Once yer done with the whole college thing, ye can literally do nothin' fer the rest of the year."

The others laughed and nodded in agreement.

Anna blinked, her mouth full of food. "Seriously, nothing at all?! No fair, I've never seen that happen before!"

"Aw, come on, Anna, you've got a big sister!" Merida replied. "Didn't Elsa ever just do nothin' when she was a senior?"

"Elsa has never done nothing her whole life, I'm not sure she even knows what that means."

"Hey Rapunzel!" Jack suddenly piped up. "I know what'll cheer you up!"

Rapunzel looked up just in time to see Jack stick a straw up his nose, and then grab another one from Once-ler's tray and put it up his other nostril. She grimaced along with everyone else.

"Ew, Jack..." Mavis groaned. "What are you doing?"

"Making her laugh," Jack replied simply. "Laughter is the best medicine."

Rapunzel rolled her eyes but smirked. "Sorry Jack, but that's not working."

Jack shrugged. "Oh well, I tried." He removed the straws from his nose and handed Once-ler's straw back to him. "Want this?"

Once-ler made a face. "No thank you."

Mavis giggled, and Jack turned to offer her the straw instead. "What about you? You want it?"

"Ew, no!"

Anna suddenly perked up. "Oh, Rapunzel!" She cried. "I just remembered, are you going to that college night thingy tomorrow?"

Rapunzel frowned. "I heard about it, but I wasn't planning on going..."

"I think you should, there's going to be a lot of information about how to choose colleges and stuff. And there's gonna be a bunch of student representatives and stuff too."

"Oh, maybe Eugene will be there!" said Jack.

Rapunzel smiled. "Yeah? Well, that does sound like a good idea. Are any of you coming?"

"I'm coming!" Anna replied.

"Me too!" cried Merida. Hiccup looked up briefly and nodded, indicating that he would be there as well.

Rapunzel nodded again. "Ok. I'll meet you all there, then. Hopefully this will make my life a little easier."

---

Rapunzel sighed and fidgeted nervously in her flimsy folding chair. She hadn't known that juniors and seniors were going to be separated for this thing. Now Anna and Hiccup and Merida, the people she actually wanted to be with right now, were gone in a separate room while she was stuck here with a bunch of seniors that she barely knew or even cared to know, despite the fact that they were her own age.

Rapunzel sighed again and looked at the night's schedule for the zillionth time that minute. List of college representatives, speakers, student representatives...it didn't list the names of the students who would come talk, but Rapunzel was hoping with all her heart that it would be someone she knew... Although, the only college people she really knew were Elsa and Eugene, so there wasn't such a high chance of that.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a group of laughing seniors showed up and sat themselves down in the row of seats next to her. And as her amazing luck would have it, seated next to her was Hans the Prince of Buttholes himself (Rapunzel didn't like to swear).

She scoffed in exasperation, catching Hans' attention, and he turned to look at her with his million-dollar grin. "Oh hey, Punz," he greeted sweetly. "What's up?"

Rapunzel frowned at him. "Don't call me Punz," she snapped. "What are you doing here?"

Hans shrugged innocently. "Same as you," he replied. "I'm here to listen to people talk about college."

Rapunzel pretended to snicker. "Sorry Hans," she snapped. "But they don't allow douchebags in college."

She had meant to piss him off, but instead the boy just laughed. "Whoa, ok," he chuckled. "Someone's in a bad mood."

Rapunzel turned red with embarrassment and snorted, turning her attention back to the program and pretending to be very intrigued by it. Thankfully, Hans lost interest in talking to her and turned back to whatever he was talking about with his friends.

Rapunzel continued to stare uninterested at the program, hoping the thing would start soon. She was able to get a few seconds of peace before she heard someone calling her name again.

"Hey Punzie!" one of Hans's friends called out. (Rapunzel couldn't remember the girl's name, nor did she care to try.) "Is your boyfriend here to talk?"

Rapunzel shrugged without looking up. "I don't think so. Why?"

"Aw, well I saw him outside and I thought he was one of the representatives."

Rapunzel instantly looked up, her eyes as big as tennis balls. "Really?"

"Yeah, he was talking to one of the college speakers outside."

"Hey Rapunzel," another girl said, "Just out of curiosity, do you ever get worried about him? I mean, dating a college guy is kinda...weird."

The others chuckled in agreement.

Rapunzel grit her teeth. Not this crap again. "He's a freshman," she replied as calmly as she could. "It's only one year difference."

"I don't know, Punz," said a boy with shoulder-length blond hair. "My older brother dumped his girlfriend the second he got into college. I guess all the partying and hot girls got to him too quickly."

"Whoop whoop! College life!" The first girl said, making them all burst into laughter.

Rapunzel buried her face in the program.

Hans chuckled with them, then cleared his throat. "Hey, guys seriously, back off."

The others chuckled some more, but they listened to him and stopped talking about it.

Rapunzel grit her teeth to keep from yelling at all of them. It almost freaking sounded rehearsed. They all knew she would get pissed, so they did it on purpose, and then Hans swoops in and plays the hero or some crap and then they all bow down and obey their Prince.

Typical. But whatever, at least they stopped.

Hans leaned back in his chair and opened up his own program. "You're welcome, Punz." he said cockily, not even looking her in the face.

Rapunzel growled. "Don't call me Punz," she snapped. "And quit trying to be a hero, Hans. We both know you're faking it."

Hans looked genuinely shocked for a moment, before placing a gloved hand over his heart and pretending to be hurt. "Aw, Punzie," he cooed. "That cut me deeply."

Rapunzel just rolled her eyes and ignored him. Thankfully, Hans and his posse actually took the hint this time and left her alone.

The talks soon began, but by this point Rapunzel was too annoyed to really pay attention. It was all stuff she'd heard before, anyway. Deadlines, financial aid, yadda yadda.

In the middle of the presentation, the student representatives stepped out to give advice and talk about their own experiences in the horrible college application process. Rapunzel nearly jumped out of her seat in excitement when she saw Eugene. Hans' friends weren't lying to her after all. He really was here!

Eugene didn't seem to see her as he spoke (charismatically, like he always did. Rapunzel heard some nearby girls giggling over him and couldn't help but feel a little cocky...), but after he was done she caught him standing to the side, scanning the crowd and trying to find her. Rapunzel tried to get his attention, but it was rather tough to do so without drawing stares from the people around her.

Finally he saw her and gave her a huge grin, making Rapunzel almost squeal excitedly.

Eventually, the meeting ended and Rapunzel was swept up by the crowd as she tried to get outside and find Eugene. The college reps were standing around taking questions at the moment, but Eugene wasn't among them for some reason.

Rapunzel frowned, wandering around the room, wondering where he had gone. She was just about to give up and leave, when she suddenly felt someone hug her waist from behind. "Boo!" he shouted.

Rapunzel yelped, but grinned when she turned to see Eugene standing there with a dorky grin plastered on his face. She gave him a shove, but continued smiling. "You scared me." she giggled.

"Sorry," he snickered in response. He took her hand and the two stared walking slowly away from the crowd. "So, were you educated by all the sage advice I gave at the presentation?"

Rapunzel faked a yawn.

Eugene gave her a look of fake hurt. "Aw, that's just mean."

Rapunzel giggled and looked up at him once more. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming tonight?" she asked.

"I did. I texted you like three times but you didn't respond."

"Really?" Rapunzel pulled out her phone and realized that it was powered off. "Oh sorry. I must have forgotten to turn it back on after school."

Eugene laughed at this. "You mean you still turn your phone off during school?"

Rapunzel pouted. "What? It's in the rules. Just because everyone else breaks the rules doesn't mean I should."

He chuckled and ruffled her hair. "You're adorable."

Rapunzel pushed his hand away in annoyance and stuck her tongue out at him, pretending to be invested in something on her phone. "Shut up, Eugene."

He laughed again. "Ok, ok I'm sorry," he said, giving her an innocent grin. "Man, you seem a little irritable today, don't you?"

Rapunzel sighed. "Well, I was fine until tonight," she complained. "Then Prince Hans and his stupid band of knights decided to sit right next to me and annoy the crud out of me."

Eugene frowned. "Hans?" he repeated. "Isn't that the guy who used Anna to get to her sister or something?"

"Yep, that guy." the girl replied with a roll of her eyes.

"He's still around? I thought Anna broke his nose or something."

Rapunzel laughed. "Well, apparently not. Or maybe he's just so perfect that it healed right away and was good as new."

Eugene gasped jokingly. "You mean...Hans has Magical Powers of Perfection?"

Rapunzel burst out laughing. "Yes. He's secretly a fairy. Hans the Magical Perfect Fairy Prince."

Eugene pretended to swoon, and the two of them burst out laughing. Rapunzel took her boyfriend's hand lovingly. "Aw, Eugene. It's been so long since we hung out like this. Remember when we used to just laugh and joke around every day?"

Eugene sighed. "Yeah, I know. College is such a pain in the arse, you know?"

Rapunzel's smile faltered a little. "Yeah, college," she repeated flatly. "How's that going for you anyway? Lots of partying and hot girls?"

Eugene snorted. "Oh yeah. I get invited to all the parties. I'm the most popular dude on campus."

Rapunzel smirked. "Really?"

"Yep. All the upperclassmen hate me because I'm a popular freshman, but hey, I can't help being perfect."

Rapunzel just folded her arms and laughed. "Oh, no, don't tell me you're a Magic Perfect Fairy too."

Eugene frowned. "Aw, no. You caught me. I have no choice but to kill you now."

Rapunzel couldn't help but giggle a little as her boyfriend leaned in to kiss her with an "evil" grin on his face. She leaned toward him as well, but just as their lips were about to meet she heard something.

"Hey Rapunzel!" a familiar voice called from a few yards away. "Whoop whoop!" It was followed by a series of laughs.

Rapunzel turned and frowned when she saw the same group of dumb kids who had been taunting her earlier. She wasn't sure why, but the comments really bothered her now. Her grip on Eugene's hands loosened a little.

Eugene was also staring at the group with a frown as they walked off. "What the heck was that about?" he asked.

Rapunzel let go of his hands. "Uh, nothing. But, actually, I have to go now." she quickly pushed past him and headed in the other direction to the parking lot.

"Huh? Already?" Eugene asked in disappointment. "Don't you wanna go out to get food or something?"

"No, I'm sorry I can't." Rapunzel replied hastily, not looking at him. "I...still have a lot of homework to do at home."

Eugene just stood there looking upset, but he didn't try to stop her as she hurried off. What was wrong with Rapunzel lately? She was suddenly being so edgy around him for some reason...

Rapunzel, meanwhile, was busy mentally punching herself in the face. Come on! Was she really letting those comments from a bunch of bozos bother her? She was better than that. Just because Eugene was in college now, doesn't mean that he was doing all the things that college people were doing! She was so sick of hearing people say that!

But then another thought hit her that made her slow down just a little. Did everyone think this way when they saw her with Eugene? Did they all just shake their heads at her and assume that she was screwing herself over by dating a college guy?

Even her friends had thought the same at first.

Rapunzel blinked back tears and hurried to the parking lot, ignoring the high-pitched feminine voice that was calling out her name.

She was so sick of all the taunting, and just wanted to her away from it all. She didn't know how much longer she could bear it. Would she have to like, start dating Eugene in secret? She didn't want to do that!

Rapunzel quickly got into her car and drove off into the night, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

She couldn't admit it to herself, but deep down she was having some slight doubts about Eugene was well.

---

Anna stood there pouting in the frosty air, slightly annoyed that Rapunzel hadn't even paid attention to her. Hiccup and Merida had to take off right after the talk, so now she was left alone to wait for Elsa to come get her.

Anna sighed and walked to the front. If there was one thing that she hated, it was standing outside in the cold for a long time. Hopefully Elsa hadn't forgotten about her and was waiting out front.

She wasn't.

Anna huffed in frustration and pulled out her phone. Elsa where are you I'm freezing!

Elsa replied after a moment. Leaving now. Hang on.

Anna wanted to scream. She was only just leaving the apartment?! How long did she expect her to wait here?!

Anna paced back and forth, trying to keep warm. She rubbed her arms and turned, hoping to see Elsa car pull up, but instead she ran into another familiar face.

"Hey Flynnn Rideeeeeer!" she called. The yelling was more out of feeling cold than anything else.

Eugene cringed at the sound of his former nickname, and turned to Anna with a frown. "Oh God why."

Anna walked quickly over to him and started hopping up and down to keep warm, which made her words sound choppy.

"What're you doing here?" she asked, shivering.

Eugene didn't answer and simply watched her jumping up and down with a blank expression on his face. "I swear, you get crazier and crazier every time I see you."

Anna ignored his comment. "Hey, does Rapunzel know you're here? I saw her running away a minute ago but she didn't talk to me."

"Yeah, we were talking for a little while, then she suddenly just...took off." he frowned. "Has she been acting weird to you lately? She's been kinda...distant."

Anna paused. "Maybe she's on her period," she blurted.

Eugene blinked in surprise at Anna's rather random conclusion. "Er...sure, maybe. But I mean like...it's been a few weeks."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's like...she leaves really early, she won't go out to eat, she doesn't even talk that much to me anymore."

Anna paused again. "Huh. Weird. She still talks about you a lot." the girl thought for a moment. "You want me to talk to her about it?"

Eugene shrugged. " I don't know."

"I'll take that as a yes." Anna turned in satisfaction. She began to hop up and down again.

Eugene was staring at her again and finally sighed. "Why...why are you doing that?"

"I'm cold!" She began to jump higher.

"...Yeah, I'm gonna go before I catch the crazies."

"See ya, Flynn Rider!"

"Shut up!"

---

The group was sitting around their lunch table, as usual, but Anna wasn't as engaged as she normally was. Eugene hadn't exactly asked her to talk to Rapunzel, but she still felt like it was her responsibility to find out what was going on with her cousin. After all, Rapunzel was always there for her, and Anna wouldn't be much of a friend if she wasn't willing to do the same.

Only problem was, how would she bring it up? She wasn't so good with delicate situations like these. What if Rapunzel got upset and ran off? What if Anna accidentally made the problem worse? What if she caused Rapunzel and Eugene to break up?

Anna jumped a little when she felt MK tap her shoulder and almost yelped. MK blinked in surprise and waited for Anna to calm down.

"Hello...?" MK asked with a laugh. "Is Anna here today?"

Anna grinned sheepishly and glanced over at Rapunzel, who was deeply engaged in a heated discussion with Jack about...something. Anna turned back to MK. "Sorry," she replied. "I'm just thinking about something. You see..." she leaned in closer to her friend. "I've been entrusted with an important task."

MK blinked. "A task?"

Anna nodded.

"Like...homework or something?"

"No, i-it's...more personal. I saw Eugene yesterday, and he said that Rapunzel was acting weird, and he wants me to find out why." Anna took a bite of her food. "B-but...I don't know how to bring it up. I'm afraid I'll mess things up-" she paused suddenly. "Or...what if she tells me something awful, like she's been diagnosed with cancer and only has three months left to live?!"

"Uh...I-I think you're being a little overdramatic..." MK replied.

Anna stared at her for a moment then sighed. "You're right, you're right. I should just...ease into the topic, right?"

MK shrugged, not really knowing what to do about the matter, but nodded.

"Ok. Hey, Rapunz-"

She was interrupted by a loud SLAM. which caused everyone at the table to freeze and even caused people at tables around them to jump.

Once-ler had arrived and had slammed his tray down on the table, before tossing his backpack and sitting down to eat. He didn't seem to realize the shock that he had caused until he noticed his friends staring at him.

"...what?"

"Fer God's sake, Longlegs," Merida blurted. "Tone down yer entrances, ye scared the crap out o' everyone."

Once-ler just stabbed his lunch with his fork and grumbled a "sorry."

Anna looked down at his tray and yelped a little. "Eek! Oncie, why did you get the beef?! That stuff is-"

"Shut up," Once-ler snapped in annoyance. "It's all they had left and I'm starving." He stabbed the meat in his tray again. "If this stuff is really alive, then I'll kill it."

Anna felt a chill go down her back, and she noticed MK shudder a little as well. It was true that Once-ler was usually a lovable dork, but he was pretty damn intimidating when he was mad.

"Is...everything ok, Oncie...?" Rapunzel ventured.

Once-ler stuffed some of the awful beef into his mouth while he tried to calm himself down. "Fine. Just stressed and starved, is all."

"Are you sure...?"

"Yes." he huffed. "I'm just hungry because I was too busy to eat dinner or breakfast. That's not so unreasonable, is it?"

Anna and Rapunzel exchanged an uncomfortable glance. Clearly being hungry was not the only thing making him angry right now, but it was probably not the time to ask about it.

Once-ler seemed to be aware of the awkward atmosphere he had caused, so he took a deep breath and tried to change the subject. "Anyway, enough about me. What's up with you, Jack? You're so obsessed with sitting at the girls' table lately. Are you trying to hook up with one of them?"

Jack turned red in the face while the girls all laughed. "Wha-?!"

"No shame, bro." Once-ler teased, patting his friend on the back. "You've got plenty of options here. What about you, Merida? You're single, aren't you?"

Merida made a face. "Ewwww!"

This sparked off a whole other argument between the two. Once-ler seemed satisfied with the distraction that he had caused and went back to stabbing at his food. Anna noticed this but didn't question. She knew better than to bother Oncie when he was like this, and besides, she still had her task to focus on. Once-ler had sidetracked them majorly.

"Wait, I forgot," Norma blurted. "Jack's into older girls! He's probably going for Rapunzel."

Rapunzel nearly choked on her food from a sudden burst of giggles. "Yeah ok sure. Sorry Jack, but I've already got Eugene."

Bingo! "U-uh, speaking of Eugene-!" Anna burst out.

She spoke so loudly that the entire table stopped giggling and turned to her curiously. Anna gulped. Great. She was hoping to just talk with Rapunzel, but now everyone was listening. Why hadn't she waited until she and Rapunzel were alone?

"S-speaking of Eugene..." Anna continued quietly. "Er, he was at the college night yesterday! Did you see him?"

Rapunzel paused for a moment and Anna thought she saw her frowning, but it was immediately replaced by a huge grin. "Yeah, we talked for a while." She giggled a bit. "We came to the conclusion that Hans is actually a Magical Fairy Prince."

"What?" Jack scoffed. "What the hell do you and your boyfriend talk about?"

"Hey Rapunzel," Mavis asked suddenly. "How did you and Eugene meet anyway?"

Rapunzel blinked. "Huh? Why do you ask?"

Mavis shrugged. "Ah, nothing. It's just that you always say 'oh, it's a great story, it's a great story,' and you never actually tell us the story."

"Yeah, she's right!" said Merida. "Ye do say that, Punzie. How long are ye gonna keep us in the dark?"

"Besides, we're always listening to Anna talk about Kristoff, we might as well get a more interesting love story to listen to." chuckled Jack.

"Hey!" Anna cried. This was no time to be making fun of her! She was dealing with her cousin's possible relationship crisis here!

"Tell us a story, Punzie," Merida cooed sweetly.

"Yeah, tell us a story!" her friends encouraged.

Rapunzel sat there surprised, a little shaken from being put on the spot so suddenly. "Uhhh, ok." She paused for a moment, thinking of how to start, and smiled. "It is a pretty good story."

The others leaned forward, looking like a bunch of eager schoolchildren with wide eyes.

"Ok, well...it was my sophomore year. I was kind of a loner back then, my only friend was Anna. Except since she was a year younger than me, so I had to go through freshman year alone."

"Ye looked different back then too," Merida commented. "Ye had that long blonde hair that reached te yer thighs."

"Ooh, I remember that!" said Jack. "She looked like a little Barbie doll."

Rapunzel suddenly froze and turned pale.

Anna wanted to throw her tray in Jack's face. What was wrong with him?! Rapunzel hated the word doll more than anything else!

Before Anna could lash out at him, Rapunzel gulped and continued talking. "I...did kinda look like a doll, didn't I?"

"Uh, Punzie, you don't have to talk about that if you don't wanna!" Anna blurted while everyone else just looked confused. "Just tell us the part about Eugene!"

"But this is the part about Eugene," Rapunzel practically whispered. She took a breath and continued. "You see...I didn't live with my parents back then. I lived with a woman who I th-thought was my mother. G-Gothel was her name. And she-" she gulped. "She wasn't horrible. She never hit me or anything. B-but she was...weird. She treated me like a..." her voice dropped. "Like a doll. Not like a daughter."

Everyone at the table was deathly silent. They hadn't expected the story to be this serious. The fact that lunch was almost over and the cafeteria was emptying only made it worse.

They weren't sure whether to stop her or not, but it was too late anyway. Rapunzel was already talking. "Anyway, I wasn't allowed to go out very often and I wasn't allowed to talk to boys." She giggled. "So then when Anna and Merida tried to introduce me to Oncie and Jack, I had to run off. It was so awkward."

She giggled, and everyone around her responded with heavy-sounding laughs. At least she was trying to lighten the mood a bit. Maybe the story would get more fun from here?

"So that's why ye did it?" Merida asked. "I was wonderin' at the time..."

"Yeah," giggled Rapunzel. "Not that Jack and Oncie were doing much to change my view on men. I grew up being told that men were evil womanizers and all Jack and Oncie ever did was follow Elsa around flirting with her."

The group laughed while Jack and Once-ler grinned sheepishly. "Hey, come on," Jack said. "We weren't that bad..."

Rapunzel rolled her eyes. "Not that I would know." she replied. "But the first thing I heard from you was-" she sat up straight, put her hands on her hips, and deepened her voice to imitate Jack. "'Hey Once, did you see that really hot senior?'"

She turned around to act like Once-ler. "'You mean that one with the platinum blond hair? I think her name is Elsa!'"

Anna squealed with laughter. "And then I said, 'Guys, that's my sister!'"

Rapunzel, still pretending to be Jack, put on a surprised face. "'Oh...well, your sister is really hot, Anna!'"

They all laughed.

"Well, she is hot," Jack shrugged. "Can you blame me?"

Rapunzel took a bite of her food. "Well, that was no excuse to follow her around and make inappropriate remarks all the time!"

"Hey!" Jack cried, offended. "I may have flirted a lot, but I never said anything inappropriate!"

"Oh, really?" scoffed Once-ler, seeming to have finally come out of his funk. "What about all those comments about your "staff?'"

MK nearly choked on her drink while Mavis burst out laughing.

Jack blushed. "I did that once."

"You did that like ten times! She looked like she was going to punch your head off!"

MK turned back to Rapunzel, clearly getting uncomfortable. "U-uh...can we get back to the story?"

Rapunzel giggled and quickly went back into flashback mode. "Ok, well. Anyway, that was that. Jack and Oncie were flirting with Elsa, Anna was flirting with Hans, and Merida kept saying that me and Anna looked like cousins." She shrugged.

"Anyway..." Rapunzel went on, "The first time I met Eugene, it was kind of an accident. I bumped into him in the hall, and he knocked me over." she smiled. "He was different back then too. For one thing, he went by "Flynn Rider" for some reason-totally ridiculous-and he kept feigning confidence and acting like an idiot."

"It was love at first sight," Norma sighed with a fake swoon.

"Not really," said Rapunzel. "He terrified me. I always saw him around school, and he looked like a stupid punk flirt, and I didn't like him very much." she shrugged. "After I bumped into him, he spent a few days trying to talk to me, but when he saw me avoiding him, he gave up. Then I just forgot about him."

She paused, remembering the events, then opened her mouth again. "And then I guess things got really weird when Anna's aunt and uncle moved in."

---

Two years earlier...

Rapunzel nervously glanced at her watch and ticked a strand of golden hair behind her ear. She glanced over at her best friend Anna, who was standing on her tip-toes and waiting for the car.

Rapunzel fidgeted nervously, hoping that she wouldn't be late coming home. If she hadn't promised Anna that she would stay with her until her aunt and uncle came, she would have taken off long ago.

Anna's aunt and uncle had just moved into the town to take her and her sister in at last. This was the first time that they were coming to meet them, and now Anna and Rapunzel were stuck in front of a park, surrounded by luggage, waiting for them to show.

Anna stopped looking around for the car and took a nervous breath. She turned to her best friend and smiled. "Thanks for waiting with me, Rapunzel. I don't know what I would have done alone."

Rapunzel nodded. "It's no problem. But why would you be alone? Isn't your sister coming too?"

Anna nodded. "Yeah, but...Elsa and I haven't been close lately. She's been locking herself up ever since...you know..." She looked at the floor and wiped her face.

Rapunzel bit her lip, knowing that Anna was referring to the passing of her parents. The past year since the accident had been especially hard on the Arendelle sisters, since they were now orphans and didn't have anywhere to go. Anna's sister Elsa had insisted that they would be fine on their own, but she hasn't turned 18 yet so it was decided that they still needed guardians.

That's where their aunt and uncle had come in. The couple was their closest of kin and were apparently rich. Very rich. Anna and Elsa's parents hasn't exactly been poor, they were pretty rich themselves, but even so it would be a tough adjustment for the two sisters. Plus, they hadn't actually seen their uncle and aunt since they were babies, and now they had to go live with them! Rapunzel wondered how they would handle it.

At that moment, Rapunzel heard high-heeled footsteps behind them and turned to see Anna's sister Elsa walking toward them. The older girl stared straight ahead through her shades, and you couldn't see her eyes if you tried.

Rapunzel shuddered a bit. Elsa sure was pretty, but she was kinda scary as well. No wonder Anna hadn't wanted to wait alone with her. It must be sad to have such an awkward relationship with your own sister...

Anna seemed to notice her as well. She paused, cleared her throat, and finally spoke. "Hey Elsa!"

Elsa glanced over at the two, as if she hadn't even realized that they had been there. "Oh. Hey Anna."

Anna was quiet for another moment before attempting to speak to her sister again. "Are you excited?"

Elsa shrugged and said nothing more.

Rapunzel wanted to disappear into the shadows. This was so awkward! It was only a good thing she wasn't involved in this conversation or she would-

"Hey, have you met my friend Rapunzel?"

Dangit, Anna.

Elsa stared at Rapunzel through her shades with a blank expression. Rapunzel felt like she was judging her and it was terrible. "U-uh..." she stammered. "H-hi."

Elsa paused. "Hello."

"Merida says that we look alike," Anna continued. "Do you think so?"

"Who's Merid-" Elsa stopped and rolled her eyes. "Never mind. Sure. A little."

Anna's face drooped in disappointment as she turned away. It was clear that Elsa didn't want to talk right now.

Rapunzel gave her a sympathetic look, but Anna just smiled. "Can you believe she's graduating this year?" she whispered. "I only just got into high school, and now she's going to go to college. I'm so proud of her."

Rapunzel nearly burst into tears. Poor Anna. Still supporting her sister, even through the hardships and even while her sister was pushing her away. Would she ever be able to do the same...?

They continued to wait for the couple to appear. They waited. And waited. And waited.

Rapunzel was going to burst with nervousness. Not only was she being crushed by the awkward atmosphere, but she had promised her mother that she would be home by five! It was already four-fifty and Anna's aunt and uncle still weren't here!

Dangit, Rapunzel! she scolded herself. You've got to stop making promises that you can't keep!

Finally, a long limo pulled up in front of the park where they were standing. Rapunzel sighed with relief and picked her stuff up to go, but Anna grabbed her arm. "Punzie!" she cried. "There they are! I'm so scared and nervous at the same time!"

Rapunzel winced as Anna gripped her arm. "Anna, wait! I need to-!"

Before she could finish, the door of the limo opened, and a middle-aged couple stepped out with excited smiles on their faces. This must be Anna's aunt and uncle.

"Girls!" their aunt chirped. "It's so good to see you!"

Anna blinked, still slightly shocked, but smiled back. "H-hi, aunt Prim! It's good to see you too!"

The two held their arms out for a hug, which Anna gladly accepted, while Elsa just stood where she was looking stunned.

Their uncle seemed to notice this. "Elsa! Is that you?" he cried. "I barely recognized you!"

Elsa seemed to snap out of her trance and walked slowly over to them. "Y-yes, it's me..." she said, holding out her hand for a shake. "It's good to see you as well, Uncle Thom-"

Her uncle cut her off by sweeping her into a bone-crushing hug, which Elsa was obviously not ready for. Rapunzel couldn't help but giggle as stunned look crossed Elsa's face when she was hugged. It was a little strange after seeing her act like a cold, sophisticated lady.

Her uncle continued to hug her. "It's so good to see you two ok, I know things haven't been easy for you..."

"Look at how much you've grown!" their aunt cooed, squeezing Anna's cheeks. "Elsa, you're graduating this year, aren't you?"

"Y-yes..."

"Wonderful! We will be in the front row cheering you on!"

"N-no, it's fine, that's not necessary-"

"Nonsense, of course it is!" her aunt insisted. "Now, let's get your luggage into the car and head home-you'll love the house!"

The four of them, along with the chauffeur, started buzzing around and packing the suitcases into the car. Rapunzel decided that this was a good time to leave. She only had five minutes to get home now.

"Anna!" she called out. "I'm gonna head home now, ok?"

This caught the attention of Anna's aunt, who froze when she saw her.

Anna didn't notice this and frowned. "Aw man! Are you sure? You should come see the house, it's so big and-"

"N-no, I can't," Rapunzel interrupted. "I need to get home right now..."

"Why Anna," her aunt piped up suddenly. "You never introduced us to your friend here."

"Oh, sorry. This is Rapunzel, she's my best friend ever! Punzie, this is my Aunt Primrose and Uncle Thomas."

Rapunzel smiled weakly as Anna's aunt approached her with a gentle smile. "H-hi," the girl said shyly, silently wishing she could leave. "Nice to meet you, Mrs..."

"Corona," the woman replied quietly. "Very nice to meet you, Rapunzel...you sure look a lot like Anna, has anyone ever told you that?"

Anna answered for her. "Yeah, everyone at school says it all the time! My friend Merida says that we look like cousins!"

"Oh, does she?" her aunt responded, not taking her eyes off of Rapunzel. "That's interesting."

Rapunzel hastily nodded and bit her lip. "Yeah, but...I kinda have to go now. I promised my mom I would be home by five..." she quickly turned to leave.

"Ok," Anna's aunt replied, smiling once more. "See you around, Rapunzel."

"Bye bye!" Anna cried after her, before getting into the car and slamming the door.

Rapunzel took off instantly, finally happy to get going. She only had a few minutes to get home, but she was sure her mother would understand if she was a few minutes late. Hopefully. It's not like she had been hanging out with a boy or anything, so she was good.

Anna, meanwhile, was back in the awkward atmosphere, sitting in the back of the limo next to her sister. She was excited to begin her new life, but at the same time she was scared of what lied ahead. What if things were too different, or what if she was too busy missing her parents to enjoy anything? And what if Elsa never spoke to her again? That would be the worst.

"Prim?" Uncle Thomas called out, startling Anna out of her thoughts. "We're leaving now, you coming?"

Aunt Prim was still standing there looking stunned, but he turned around and smiled. "Ah, I'm sorry. Coming."

The couple got into the limo and they drove off. Uncle Thomas started talking to Anna and getting her excited about the new house, and the new life ahead of her. On a couple of occasions he tried to get Elsa involved in the conversation as well, but she just kept shrugging or giving him one-word answers, so he gave up and just spoke to Anna.

Aunt Prim, meanwhile, was quiet. She just stared straight ahead of her, frowning, seeming to be deep in thought. Anna soon found a break in her conversation with Uncle Thomas and took the opportunity to call her. "Hi Aunt Prim!"

Aunt Prim blinked and gave Anna an apologetic smile. "Sorry dear, I was just lost in thought, I guess." She paused again. "Hey Anna, you know that friend you introduced me to?"

"Rapunzel? Yeah, what about her?"

Aunt Prim hesitated, as if she really wanted to say something, but then she shrugged. "She...really does look like you, doesn't she?"

Anna nodded. "That's what everyone says."

Aunt Prim nodded and was silent again. Then she grinned. "Wouldn't it be funny if you did turn out to be cousins?"

Anna laughed. "Yeah, that would be awesome! I talk about it with her sometimes. But her mother isn't related to us, so that can't be true."

Aunt Prim nodded slowly once more while Uncle Thomas looked at her curiously. "I see..." the woman replied. "And her mother...what's she like?"

Anna tilted her head, not quite sure why her aunt was suddenly so interested in Rapunzel. "Um, I've never really talked to her...I just know that she's kinda strict and overprotective. She doesn't let Rapunzel go out often."

"Is she nice?"

Anna shrugged. "She seems ok...I guess. Rapunzel seems to like her."

Aunt Prim nodded again and let the subject drop. There was an awkward silence in the limo for a while. Uncle Thomas leaned over to Aunt Prim and they started to have a heated discussion about something, but they were whispering and Anna couldn't quite hear them over the whirring of the car's engine.

The girl sighed and leaned back in her seat, feeling the butterflies in her stomach once more. Eventually, she let the soothing sound of the limo's engine soothe her to sleep.

---

"Gothel never liked it when I came home late, but that day she didn't seem to be in such a bad mood..."

Rapunzel cautiously opened the door and stepped inside, glancing around for any sight of her mother. "Mother...?" she called out quietly. "I'm back..."

"Rapunzel!" her mother's voice boomed, causing the girl to jump. The black-haired woman came bounding hastily down the stairs toward Rapunzel. "There you are! You told me you would be home at five, what happened?"

"S-sorry," Rapunzel replied, looking down at the floor. "My friend's aunt and uncle were running a bit late, so I had stay with her until they arrived...I left as soon as they came..."

Her mother, whose name was Gothel, sighed and shook her head. "Oh Rapunzel, you need to learn to be on time to things. How is the world ever going to take you seriously if you're never punctual?"

Rapunzel bit her lip in slight frustration over this generalization, since this was actually the first time she had come home late in nearly six months.

Nevertheless, she let it go. "Yes, mother. I'm sorry."

Gothel nodded hastily and checked her watch. "Yes, good. Now, I need to run off to the grocery store to pick up a few things before they close. Since you were late, you set all my plans back nearly ten minutes, Rapunzel."

Rapunzel looked down at the floor and said nothing.

"Now, you get started on your homework until I get back. Don't get into any trouble, do you understand?"

"Yes, mother."

"Good. I will be back in about thirty minutes. See you in a bit, darling!"

"Bye."

Rapunzel continued to stand there after her mother had gone, staring at the door. Her mother had a habit of leaving the house all the time, while Rapunzel was virtually not allowed to go anywhere except school. It was a bit strange, and Rapunzel wanted nothing more than to be able to go out and hang out with friends like other teenagers did. However, she didn't bother to question it. Whenever she tried, her mother would always come up with some clever reason to keep her in the house, whether it be dangerous boys, alcohol, or something else.

Oh well. It wasn't really so bad in the house anyways. Whatever her mother was doing, it was probably for the best.

Picking up her backpack, Rapunzel went to her room at the top of the stairs, sat down at her desk, and pulled out her homework.

It was quiet for a while, with Rapunzel quietly whizzing through her work. She was no straight-A student, but she was fairly smart. If only her mother didn't dismiss her with an annoyed nod every time she tried to show her her grades...

All of a sudden, Rapunzel was startled out of her thoughts by loud noises coming from downstairs. It sounded like someone had slammed the door and was proceeding to knock down everything in the house.

The girl jumped. Was that her mother? Did something happen? Rapunzel quickly dashed out of her room and down the stairs, hoping that nothing catastrophic had happened to her mom.

She reached the bottom of the stairs and was greeted by the sights of some of her mom's mementos and picture frames lying on the floor. Luckily, none of them were broken, but it was clear that they had been knocked over. Rapunzel cautiously picked them up and put them back on the shelves where they belonged. "Mom?" she called out, trying to find some sign of her.

Gothel did not respond, but Rapunzel suddenly heard some gruff male voices coming from outside. She tensed up a little, but walked slowly over to the window. She was just about to peek outside, when suddenly-

"Ow!" Rapunzel yelped as someone grabbed her arm from behind and pulled her down to the ground. Before she could process what was going on, she suddenly had a hand over her mouth and was pinned to the wall next to someone.

"Don't move!" another male hissed into her ear. "Don't make a sound!"

Rapunzel felt her eyes go wide with fear. Some guy had broken into her house and now he was attacking her! What was he going to do? Assault her? Kill her?

Rapunzel mentally cursed herself for forgetting to lock the door and struggled to get out of the guy's grip.

"Hey, stop moving!" He whispered at her. "They're gonna hear you!"

Luckily, Rapunzel was able to free one of her arms and jab the guy in the chest with her elbow. He gasped in pain and released his grip on her. Rapunzel jumped up, desperately looking for something she could use to defend herself, and finally grabbed a frying pan and pointed it at her attacker's face.

The guy raised his hands up in surrender, and Rapunzel's eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Flynn Rider?!" She shouted, recognizing the boy from school. "What the heck are you doing?!"

Flynn tensed up slightly and put a finger to his lips, signaling for her to be quiet. "Calm down, blondie," he whispered. "I'm not gonna hurt you, but you need to quiet down..."

"Why?!"

"Because-"

"Rider!" A gruff voice suddenly called from outside. "Get out here, you coward! We know you're around here!"

Rapunzel glanced in the direction of the voice and gasped. There were two guys, way larger than Flynn, standing outside her house looking extremely mad. With the scars and eye-patches they had on their faces, they made Rapunzel so nervous that she almost wanted to collapse.

"Wh-who are they...?" she barely whispered.

Flynn shrugged. "Just a couple to thugs, nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?!"

"They'll be gone in just a minute," Flynn responded, looking over his shoulder. "Then I'll be out of your pretty blond hair forever, ok?"

Rapunzel remained poised and narrowed her eyes at him. What the heck did this guy think he was doing? Why should she let him hide in her house? Why were those scary-looking guys after him? What would they do to her if they found him in here?

Rapunzel opened her mouth to retort, but then stopped when she saw one of the big guys coming toward a window directly in front of her. She froze, but he hadn't seemed to see her yet.

Flynn must have sensed the fear in her eyes and known what was going on. He grabbed her wrist again and pulled her down next to him like before, so that they were both hidden from view. Rapunzel cuddled her frying pan closer to herself, barely able to breathe as the thug scanned the kitchen through the window.

"Bah, there's nobody in here," the guy scoffed after forever. "C'mon, he's probably down the next block by now."

Rapunzel started to relax and she heard the guys retreat. Flynn seemed to do the same.

After they were gone, Rapunzel wasted no time in getting up and threatening him with the frying pan once more. "Alright, Flynn Rider!" She demanded. "You tell me what's going on right now!"

Flynn tensed up once more and gave her a nervous smile. "Ok, blondie, just chill for a moment-"

"My name isn't Blondie!" Rapunzel snapped. "It's Rapunzel!"

Flynn stared at her for a moment before shrugging. "Whatever. Close enough. Listen, I was simply..." He paused. "...trying to help out our community, ok?"

Rapunzel glared at him, but he continued talking.

"You see, those guys were thieves that went and stole this really expensive gold ring from that rich family that moved into town recently, the Coronas." He opened up the satchel that he had with him, revealing a huge, expensive-looking ring.

Rapunzel gasped. Corona? Hadn't that been the name of Anna and Elsa's aunt...?

Flynn closed the sack and continued. "And I, like good citizen that I am, took it from them and was about to return it to its rightful owners." He flashed her an angelic smile. "I'm just doing my duty, you see. I'm the good guy here."

Rapunzel narrowed her eyes again, not quite trusting him. "H-how do I know that you're not a thief too?"

Flynn looks hurt. "Aw, come on, blondie, don't be so harsh. I mean, you know me! We go to school together!"

Rapunzel didn't budge.

"Come on! Hey, if you let me out of here not only will I leave you alone, but you'll also be helping to return stolen property back where it belongs." He smiled once more. "Come on, Punzie, be a good citizen."

Rapunzel hesitated a little, still holding an iron grip on that frying pan. "You...you promise that you'll return the ring?"

Flynn looked at her kinda funny, but nodded. "I promise."

Rapunzel nodded and slowly lowered the frying pan. "Ok. Fine. Now...get out of my house!"

Flynn sighed tiredly and stood up. Rapunzel got ready to follow him out the door, when suddenly she noticed that he had dropped something on the floor. Cautiously, without taking her eyes off of him, she leaned down and picked it up. It was a driver's license.

Rapunzel frowned. "Wait a minute..."she mumbled, catching Flynn's attention. "Who's...Eugene Fitzherbert?"

Without warning, Flynn snatched the card away from her and stuffed it in his pocket. "Ah, thank you!" He cried hastily. "It would be a shame if I lost that! Anyway, see you at schoo-"

"Who's Eugene?"

Flynn stopped and huffed. "That's...nobody. The name is Flynn, ok?" He turned around and headed toward the door again. "Ok, ta-ta! See you tomorrow, blondie!"

And then he walked out the door and disappeared.

Rapunzel just kinda stood there, bewildered, wondering if she had done the right thing by letting him go. After a couple seconds she sighed, went back up the stairs, and went back to her homework. Considering everything that had just happened, however, she couldn't really focus.

By the time her mother came back home, Rapunzel had packed away all her homework and had resorted to just rolling pencils around on her desk. She hadn't actually finished all her work, but that was ok. It not like her mother really cared about her grades.

"I'm back, darling!" her mother called cheerfully from downstairs. "Did anything happen while I was gone?"

"No," Rapunzel answered. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Alright then. Just finish your homework and then come down for dinner."

"Ok."

Rapunzel layed her head down on her desk and continued to fiddle with her pencil. Frowning, she briefly wondered why she had not told her mother about the incident with Flynn.

Then again, if her mother found out that she had been interacting with a guy at all, she would grill her.

Forget it, Rapunzel thought to herself. She doesn't need to know.

---

About a week had passed since that day and Rapunzel had made a conscious effort to avoid Flynn in school. Meanwhile, it was getting a little lonely for her, since Anna was always distractedly hanging out with her enormous group of friends which now included not only two, but three different boys. And, of course, if there were boys involved, Rapunzel could not join them. It was a wonder her mother had not sent her to an all-girls school, but then again, there wasn't really one around for miles.

So that meant the she spent her time alone, not really talking to anyone. At the end of the week, however, she found herself waiting in front of the school next to Anna once more.

"Rapunzel, you haven't been hanging out with me that much lately," Anna pouted, raising her voice a bit to talk above all the other students leaving school. "How come you never come sit with me and my friends? I could introduce you to all of them, I know they would like you a lot, and we could hang out, and-"

"Anna," Rapunzel giggled, cutting her off. "I'm not allowed to hang out with boys, remember?"

Anna blinked, then frowned again. "Oh yeah, that's right. Too bad. You'd really like the guys, too. They're kinda ridiculous but they're funny and cool to hang out with. And you know that new one, Hiccup? He's actually kind of a quiet one, actually he's a lot like you..." she trailed off.

Rapunzel shrugged. "Oh well."

Anna was quiet for a moment, probably looking for something else to talk about. "Oh hey! I never got to tell you...remember when my aunt was looking at you kinda funny last week when she picked me up?"

Rapunzel tilted her head in confusion. "Huh? Uh, kind of..."

Anna's eyes widened in excitement as she leaned closer to her friend. "Well, don't quote me on this, but...she thinks that you might be her daughter."

Rapunzel pulled away and blinked at her, shocked. "What? What are you talking about?"

Anna smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "Yeah, I'm not sure how to feel about it either. See, about 15 years ago, my aunt and uncle had a baby daughter, but she disappeared and was never found. So now she thinks you might be her."

Rapunzel gaped at her. "Is...is it because we look alike...?"

Anna shrugged again. "Maybe. Personally, though, I think she's looking into it too much. Though I guess I can't blame her..." she paused a moment and frowned, then continued. "But actually, it's kinda nice that's she's occupied with something. Now she's not too upset about the ring that got stolen."

"The ring...?" Rapunzel's eyes widened in remembrance. "Oh yeah, I heard about that! But didn't it get returned...?"

Anna shook her head. "No! It never came back! The police are completely stumped!"

"Wha-?!" Rapunzel was shocked. "He...he didn't give it back...?"

"They've searched everywhere, but they can't seem to find the person who took it," Anna rambled on, oblivious to Rapunzel's sudden attitude change. "They think that the person who stole it isn't the same person who has it now, so it's really complicated..."

Son. Of. A—.

Anna quickly perked up. "Oh hey! My ride is here!"

Rapunzel looked up to see a fancy car, though not the limo that the had seen last week, pull up. Anna waved to her friend and headed toward the car.

"A-Anna!" Rapunzel called out. "Hold on...!"

But Anna didn't hear her, and the car was gone before Rapunzel could get their attention.

Shoot! And Rapunzel didn't even get to tell them who had the ring! She would have to get the word to them as soon as possible...

...meanwhile, if she ever saw that stupid Flynn or Eugene or whatever his name was, she would personally bash him over the head with her frying pan and drag him over to the Corona front porch.

---

"Unfortunately, I forgot all about the situation and didn't tell Anna about the ring. Kinda stupid on my part, I guess. Anyway, a couple days later I was coming home from an errand that I was running for my mother, at the same time that Mrs. Corona was going for a walk..."

Rapunzel hastily glanced at her watch. "Ok good," she mumbled to herself. "I still have time to finish all my homework..." She jogged lightly in the direction of her house, careful not to drop the frozen chicken that her mother had asked her to pick up. Her long golden hair fluttered in the wind behind her. It was nearing springtime, but the cold breezes of winter still lingered for some reason. Rapunzel only wished it would stop, she wasn't really into cold weather. She had always been more of a summer person herself...

"Rapunzel?" A voice called softly behind her. "Is that you?"

Rapunzel turned around curiously to see Anna's aunt Prim walking behind her, all bundled up in a warm looking sweater and smiling widely.

"Oh, hi Mrs. Corona," Rapunzel greeted politely. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just out on a walk," the woman answered, walking over next to Rapunzel. "How have you been? Anna says she hasn't been hearing from you lately."

Mrs. Corona smiled warmly at Rapunzel as she spoke, and the girl suddenly remembered Anna's words form the other day. "She thinks you might be her daughter."

Rapunzel hesitated, but smiled back at her. "I'm...fine. I'm just a little busy, that's all. My...my mother is usually tired after work so she sometimes sends me out to run errands..."

Mrs. Corona nodded. "Oh, I see. Does your mother make you do stuff for her all the time...?"

"No, only if she's tired. Other than that, she doesn't let me leave the house very much, except to go to school..."

"She doesn't?" Mrs. Corona asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Why not?"

Rapunzel shrugged. "I don't know. I guess she's afraid I'll get into trouble or run into a guy or something like that."

Mrs. Corona listened intently and nodded slowly once more. "Well...I guess I can't blame her. If I was your mother, I would probably worry about you too..."

Rapunzel said nothing.

"Still..." Mrs. Corona continued. "Doesn't she let you go out with friends, or go to the movies, or things like that...?"

Rapunzel shook her head slowly. "No," she replied quietly. "Just school and errands."

"Hmm...that's doesn't quite seem fair to me."

Rapunzel was silent once more. They walked for a couple more blocks and she distractedly glanced at her watch once more. "Oh no!" she suddenly cried. "It's almost dinner time! I need to get this home to my mom right away!"

Rapunzel took off in the direction of her house, feeling stupid for wasting too much time with Mrs. Corona. But the woman continued to follow her. "Do you want me to walk you home, Rapunzel?" she asked.

"No thank you!" Rapunzel called, looking behind her. "I'll be just fi-ah!" She hasn't been looking where she was going and suddenly felt herself trip over something on the sidewalk. She managed to catch the chicken before it hit the ground, but as she fell she felt the fabric of her jeans rip around her right knee and Rapunzel was stung with pain as her bare skin scraped against the pavement.

Rapunzel cringed and lay there for a moment in slight shock as Mrs. Corona walked hurriedly over to her. "Are you alright, dear?" she asked, kneeling down.

Rapunzel set the chicken down on the ground and sat up, revealing a skinned knee with with a mess of blood around it. Rapunzel yelped at the sight. "Ahh! Oh no!"

Mrs. Corona put he hands on Rapunzel's shoulders to calm her down and smiled. "It's ok," she soothed. "It's only a skinned knee. Don't worry, I have a first aid kit in my purse, I'll take care of it." As she spoke, she pulled a small first aid kit out of her large purse and opened it up, while Rapunzel sat there sniffling like a small child.

Mrs. Corona quickly cleaned the cut, disinfected it and applied a bandage, but Rapunzel wasn't the least bit comforted. "Do...do you maybe have something I can cover it up with...?" She asked.

Mrs. Corona looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I just...I don't really want people to see it."

The woman smiled. "Don't be silly Rapunzel, there's nothing to be ashamed of. People fall down and hurt themselves all the time. It will be fine." She helped the girl up and inspected her knee one more time. "Don't worry about it. It should heal fairly quick."

Rapunzel was still a little insecure about the bandage, though she wasn't really sure why. Nevertheless, she nodded, picked up the frozen chicken, and went back on her way. "Thanks, Mrs. Corona."

"Anytime. Hope to see you soon, Rapunzel."

Mrs. Corona turned to leave, but Rapunzel stopped. Part of her was curious to see if what Anna had said was true, if Mrs. Corona really suspected her to be her long-lost daughter. Slowly, Rapunzel turned around and asked. "How...come?"

Mrs. Corona turned to her with a confused smile. "What?"

"How come you want to see me again...?"

The woman still looked confused, but smiled warmly at her once more. "Well...why wouldn't I? You seem like a very nice girl."

Rapunzel simply nodded and turned back around. "Ok. Thanks. I'll see you soon, Mrs. Corona..."

Rapunzel took care not to walk to quickly this time, and she finally made it home. When she walked in the door, she placed the frozen chicken by the stove. "I'm back, mother!" she called.

Her mother appeared from around the corner, looking like she had just gotten out of bed. "Hello, Rapunzel," she greeted. "What took you so long?"

Rapunzel hesitated. "I...I was daydreaming a little on my way back..."

Gothel rolled her eyes. "Yes, of course. How typical of you." She walked over to where the chicken was placed, then suddenly gave Rapunzel a sharp stare. "Wait a minute...what's that on your knee?"

Rapunzel tensed up and stared down at the bandage. "I...fell down and skinned my knee..." she mumbled.

"What?" her mother snapped. "Speak up, Rapunzel!"

"I fell and skinned my knee," Rapunzel repeated, louder. "A lady on the street gave me a bandage..."

Gothel huffed in frustration. "Rapunzel, what would cause you to do something so stupid? Weren't you paying attention at all? I send you to walk two blocks down the street and even then you get into trouble!"

Rapunzel stared at the floor and said nothing.

"And look!" Gothel continued. "You even managed to tear your jeans, just how clumsy are you? Those clothes cost me money, you know!"

Rapunzel still said nothing. Gothel paused in her ranting and took a couple of breaths before pointing up the stairs. "Go upstairs and change," she told her quietly. "Then finish your homework and come down for dinner, alright?"

"...yes, mother..."

Rapunzel didn't take her eyes off the ground but quickly did as she was told. The cut still stung a little when she touched it, but once she put on a fresh pair of pants it wasn't noticeable anymore.

While Rapunzel sat at her desk to finish her homework, she couldn't help but run the day's events through her head. I wonder... she thought to herself. If Mrs. Corona didn't believe that I'm her daughter, would she have been so nice to me?

...Hey. If I really am her daughter, that would make me Anna's cousin. And Anna is always talking about how we look like cousins... she frowned. ...and...Mrs. Corona was being awful nice to me, whereas mother treated me like dirt just for ripping my jeans a bit...

Rapunzel suddenly jolted up in her chair and softly slapped herself in the face. No, Rapunzel, don't be stupid! You already have a mom! Mrs. Corona is probably just desperate because she lost her kid all those years ago, but that doesn't mean that it's you!

With that final thought, Rapunzel went back to her homework and pushed the thought out of her brain.

---

"And yet, I guess I just couldn't convince myself. I kept remembering how she would always get mad if I changed something about myself...if I wanted to change my style, if I ripped some clothes, if I ever tried to disagree with her. I thought, man if she got so mad about me ripping my jeans a bit, what would she so if I cut my hair?

...She had always been...particularly fond of my hair."

Rapunzel had had enough. She didn't want to be a pretty little flower anymore. She didn't want to be her mom's little princess, not if it meant living like this. She wanted to be free to do what she wanted, she wanted to be able to hang out with friends, to dress the way she wanted, to not be treated like a plastic doll all the time.

It was May, the end of the school year, and about six months since Anna's aunt and uncle had moved in. Ever since then, poor Rapunzel had only gotten more and more conflicted. It was obvious now that Mrs. Corona really did suspect her of being her daughter, and perhaps even Mr. Corona felt it as well. Anna was just about thrilled with the idea that she and Rapunzel might actually be cousins, and she was always babbling about how her aunt would let her go anywhere and do what she wanted.

But nobody seemed to be considering how Rapunzel felt on the matter. She had been living the past 16-almost 17-years of her life with Gothel, the woman who had raised her, fed her, and taken care of her. Her mother.

Her mother who always called her stupid, clumsy, naive, and unable to do anything, and the only time she ever seemed to compliment her was to tell her what a pretty doll or flower she was.

Meanwhile, here comes another woman whom she had never seen before in her life and rarely ever spoke to, but treated her like a daughter. A woman who listened to her, laughed with her, and was more or less willing to accept whatever Rapunzel wanted to do. Someone who actually seemed to care.

Even if she wasn't truly Mrs. Corona's child, Rapunzel often felt herself wishing that she was. It was a terrible feeling, like she was betraying her mother who had raised her all these years, but she couldn't shake it.

So now, Rapunzel had decided to put them both to the test.

It was time for a haircut.

Rapunzel stared up at the salon she was standing in front of, clutching a twenty dollar bill in her hand. She would have cut her hair herself for free, but her mother had those scissors hidden good. So while Gothel thought she was out on an errand, Rapunzel had made her way over to the nearby hair salon to get rid of her pretty Barbie locks forever.

She had always found them rather heavy anyways.

Rapunzel took a deep breath, and finally entered. Immediately, she was bombarded by the smell of shampoo, hairspray, and other nauseating chemicals. She was about to turn back, but she was suddenly stopped by a taller woman who was wearing a buttload of makeup.

"Hi there," the lady greeted with a smile. "Do you have an appointment?"

Rapunzel paused for a moment. "Um, no..." she mumbled, then remembered and quickly spoke up. "I...I'd like to get my hair cut, please." She timidly held out the money to the woman.

The lady smiled, "No, it's ok sweetie, you pay us after we're done."

Rapunzel took the money back and blushed. "S-sorry...I've never really been to one of these before..."

"That's ok," the lady distractedly turned to look at a sheet in front of her. "Well, all of our hairdressers are currently busy with someone else, so you may have to wait a moment. However, if you're not looking for something too complex, I might be able to refer you to our trainee. Is that ok?"

"Um, sure."

"Ok, then just have a seat and I'll call him out for you."

The lady left, and Rapunzel shakily sat down on one of the comfy couches. Once again, she questioned what she was doing. If she was late and her mother found out what she was doing, she might flip out. Or even if she didn't, how would her mom react when she saw her haircut?

Rapunzel heard footsteps behind her and turned to see the lay coming back with a horribly familiar young man. "Here she is," the woman said, then turned to Rapunzel. "Follow us to one of the chairs, ok?"

As Rapunzel stood up, the other person finally got a good look at her and stopped in surprise. "Blondie, it's you!"

Rapunzel smiled weakly when she saw him. "Eugene. Hi."

Flynn cringed a little at the sound of his real name as Rapunzel briefly wondered why she had blurted out "Eugene" instead of "Flynn." There was something else picking at the back of her mind too, but she couldn't quite remember what it was...

The lady led them over to one of the salon chairs and then quickly left as Rapunzel sat down. "So..." she said to him, a little weirded out since she knew she wasn't supposed to talk to him, "you're a hairdresser?"

He turned the chair around and shrugged. "Yeah, well, I just took what I could get. Don't judge." He then took a few strands of her blonde hair in his hands and glanced at her. "So, just a trim, then?"

Rapunzel frowned and glared at the mirror in front of her. "No. Just cut it all off."

Flynn looked at her in surprise. "All of it?"

"Yes."

"Aw, but Punzie your hair is so pretty-"

"I don't want to be pretty!" Rapunzel suddenly snapped. "Just cut it off, ok? Cut it all off!"

She wasn't sure why, but suddenly she wasn't worried about her mother's reaction anymore. She didn't want to be pretty and that's all she knew.

A few other people in the salon turned to stare at them, and Flynn quickly lowered his voice and smiled weakly at her. "Alright, whatever you say. Still-" he suddenly tossed a catalogue into her lap. "You might wanna look through there first. I don't think you really want to be bald."

Rapunzel hesitated for a moment, then decided she might at well look through it. Opening the catalogue, she flipped through several pages until she finally landed on a picture of a cute, spiky pixie cut.

"Eugene," she said. "Do you think this one is...'rebellious?'"

Flynn frowned and stared at the picture. "Um, I'm not sure," he answered. "I would probably call it spunky, though."

Rapunzel nodded. "I'll take it." she handed the catalogue back to him as he quietly started to cut her long blonde hair. Rapunzel stared straight ahead of her as she felt the snips. No turning back now.

A moment passed before Flynn spoke again. "So...just out of curiosity, why the sudden change of style?"

Rapunzel shrugged. "I just felt like it."

"But you said that you don't want to be pretty," he observed, grinning slightly at her. "That's not something you hear girls say every day."

Rapunzel didn't respond right away. "...I guess I'm just tired of it."

"Of being pretty?"

"Yeah...that's all anybody seems o care about."

Flynn snorted. "You got that right, blondie. Pretty people always get nice things. I mean, look at me. I'm so good-looking that I always get what I want. Life is easier for me because I'm so gorgeous."

Rapunzel would have giggled, but all of a sudden she remembered something that had been picking at her mind earlier. Something very important.

"No you don't," Rapunzel retorted suddenly. "You steal things!" she turned to look up at him accusingly. "You never returned the ring!"

Flynn froze, staring down at her in complete shock. Then he smiled and whispered, "What are you talking about? Of course I did. I returned it months ago."

Rapunzel glared at him. "No you didn't. You lied." She paused for a moment, taking in the paleness of his face. "Eugene...you probably don't know about this, but I know Mrs. Corona personally. I can tell her all about it."

Flynn's eyes widened and darted all around the room.

Rapunzel stopped suddenly. Why the heck? Why was she bringing this up now?! He had sharp scissors in his hand, for crying out loud!

She decided to change tactics. Instead of threatening him more or struggling, Rapunzel decided to turn around in her chair and face him. "Eugene...can I ask you something...? Why would you take the ring in the first place?"

Flynn sighed tiredly and turned he back around. "Alright, you got me," he admitted quietly as he went back to cutting her hair. "I kept the ring because I wanted to sell it. And get money."

"Why do you need money...?" Rapunzel prodded. "Isn't this job enough?"

"Not even," Flynn scoffed. "They don't even pay me as much as a regular employee. If they did, I probably wouldn't steal."

"What about your parents? Don't they have jobs?"

Flynn stopped. "They're..." he was quiet for a moment, then went back to her hair and mumbled, "They're no help."

Rapunzel paused for a moment. "Ok, I understand." she said. "But still, if you give the ring back, Mrs. Corona would forgive you." She paused for a moment again. "And maybe she'd be willing to help you ou-"

Flynn burst out laughing before she could finish. "Help me? That's funny, blondie. Rich people don't care about guys like me. Don't be so naive."

"B-but she's a really nice person! When she sees that you only needed money, she'll help you!"

Flynn rolled his eyes. "Yeah, of course she will. When cows fly and grass turns red."

Rapunzel frowned and stared at the mirror in front of her. There was a short moment of silence between them as he continued snipping at her hair. "...I think she would," Rapunzel whispered. "And I know this sounds kinda weird, but you don't really seem like a bad person, Eugene."

Flynn rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, blondie. Whatever you say. But for the last time, my name is Flynn, not Eugene!"

Rapunzel just smiled a little and looked up at him. "But...I like Eugene better."

Flynn suddenly turned red and just stared down at her hair. "...uh, thanks. But still."

Rapunzel just nodded and sat still so that Flynn could continue cutting her hair. "...you're gonna return it, right?"

"If it's either that or you rat me out, then I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

Rapunzel smiled. "Thanks, Eugene."

Rapunzel couldn't see his face since it was hidden behind his bangs, but she could swear she saw him smiling.

A few minutes later, Rapunzel held up the small mirror to check out her new haircut. All of a sudden she was nervous once again. "Does...does this look ok?"

"I like it," Flynn responded. "It's cute. Why, do you think it looks bad?"

"N-no...I mean," Rapunzel paused, feeling her hair and trying to find words to describe how she felt. She looked so different. her head felt so light with all that hair gone, her ears were uncovered, her face in general was just framed so differently.

Her mother was going to kill her.

"I-I..." Rapunzel stammered. "I-I think I made a mistake..."

Flynn frowned. "Wow, harsh, blondie. I know I'm not the best, but in my defense, you were moving your head around a whole lot, it made it kinda hard for me to-"

"No, no...it's not you," Rapunzel told him apologetically, "I-I just...don't think I should have...I don't know what I'll d-do when I get home..."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Rapunzel looked up at him with slight tears in her eyes. "I don't think my mother will like it," she practically whispered.

Flynn blinked, then chucked awkwardly as he removed the blanket from around her and started cleaning up. "Is that all?"

"What...?"

"Well, it's your hair," Flynn responded. "Do you like it?"

Rapunzel hesitated and looked at the mirror again. It was actually quite cute, with her blond hair now sticking up in short wisps and brushing the side of her face. She smiled. "Y-yeah...I do like it..."

"Then what does it matter what your mom says? I mean, it's just a haircut, it's not like you're doing drugs or anything."

Rapunzel forced a giggle. She couldn't tell him why she was really feeling this way. "Th-thanks, Eugene," she said. "F-for the haircut. And for...being so nice."

Flynn looked surprised, but smiled at her. "What, you think I'm nice? Well, gee, don't tell anyone, ok? That might ruin my whole reputation."

Rapunzel giggled, for real this time.

After saying goodbye to Flynn and making him promise once more to return what he had stolen, Rapunzel paid for the haircut and quickly left. As she got closer to home, however, she began to slow down.

Oh god, this was so nerve racking. She hadn't even gone to buy some food or something so she could at least pretend she had done an errand. And she couldn't go do it now because she would be late.

Rapunzel stood in front of her door with her heart pounding. Maybe she could just avoid her mother for the time being, and then...oh, well it didn't matter. She would find out sooner or later.

Oh well...Rapunzel thought. Here goes...

She opened the door and stepped inside to be greeted by the smell or cooking. She couldn't see her mother at the moment, but she could hear her shuffling around in the space just behind the door. "Rapunzel?" Gothel called as she heard the door open.

"H-hi, mother," Rapunzel replied. "I-I'm back."

"Well, what are you standing by the door for, dear? Come on in."

Rapunzel slowly, nervously, obeyed, closing the door behind her.

"Did you get the things I asked you for?"

"N-no..." The girl whispered.

"What was that?" her mother turned to her, irritated. "Rapunzel, please speak u-Rapunzel!" Gothel stepped back in shock as she looked over at the girl, her eyes going wide. "What-what on earth happened to your hair?!"

Rapunzel gulped. "I...I cut it," she mumbled.

"What?!" her mother snapped. "Don't mumble around me, Rapunzel!"

"I cut it!" Rapunzel shouted. "I went and got it cut!"

Gothel stared at her in horror. "You what?! Who gave you permission to do that?!"

"Nobody, I wanted to cut it!" Rapunzel yelled. "I didn't like the way it looked before, so I cut it! There!"

"Don't shout at me, you little brat!" Gothel stormed. Rapunzel flinched a bit and stepped backwards. She was quiet, then decided to take a different approach. Maybe if she spoke quietly and didn't yell, her mother would understand.

"I-I'm sorry I lied about the errand, mother," Rapunzel apologized quietly. "B-but...I just wanted to try something new-"

"Something new?!" Her mother snapped. "Why would you need to try something new?! You were perfect the way you were before! And you went and ruined yourself!"

"I-I didn't ruin anything!" Rapunzel protested. "I think it looks better this way! I like short hair and I-"

"You're not allowed to have short hair!" Gothel stormed again. "You're not allowed to do anything with your hair unless I say so!"

"But why?"

"Because I'm your mother!" Gothel yelled. "I decided what you look like! I decide why you wear! I decide whether you get your hair cut or not! Don't you dare try to change yourself without my permission again! Do you understand?!"

Rapunzel stood there stunned, not knowing how to react to all this. Meanwhile, Gothel grabbed her wrist, tightly, and proceeded to drag Rapunzel up the stairs to her room. "Come on," Gothel snapped. "You're going to stay in your room until your hair grows back, understood? No one is to see you this way!"

Rapunzel finally snapped out of her trance and broke free from Gothel's grasp. "No!" she cried. "No way am I staying up there for that long! What's wrong with you?! You don't even care about my grades, but you try to lock me up when I cut my hair?! Why do you treat me this way?!"

"Shut up, you insolent fool!" Gothel screamed, and suddenly slapped Rapunzel across the face, sending the poor girl reeling backwards and falling down the few stairs that they had climbed.

Rapunzel looked up, trying to see if Gothel had any look of regret on her face, but instead the woman was coming at her, looking like she was only going to yell at her some more.

That did it.

Rapunzel quickly got up, left everything behind, and dashed out the door to her house.

"Rapunzel!" Gothel yelled after her. "Where do you think you're going?! Get back here!"

"No!" Rapunzel cried, not slowing down. "I won't! You're not my mother anymore!"

"Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Come back!"

"No! You're not my mother! You're not my mother and I hate you!"

Rapunzel turned a corner and kept running, running, trying to blink out the tears in her eyes. She had no idea where she was going, all she knew was that she wanted to get away from that woman and never go back.

It wasn't fair! After all these years, her mother just turned out to be a horrible, selfish woman! She hadn't raised her as a daughter at all, she had kept her as a dolly, a perfect little angel pet who would just listen to whatever she said! Couldn't even handle her dolly changing her appearance just because it kept Rapunzel out of her control! So all those years of so-called "mothering" and "nurturing" were nothing but a lie?! Was there even such thing as mothering or nurturing in real life?! Rapunzel didn't know anymore.

She kept running as far as she could, until eventually she ran out of energy and stopped by a fast-food restaurant near the end of a block. Rapunzel sat huddled under the awning, staring at the sunset ahead of her, trying to calm down.

Crap, what am I gonna do now? the girl wondered. I left so quickly I didn't bring any food or clothes or money with me...and no way am I going back to get some...

Rapunzel's stomach growled, and right at that moment a couple came out of the restaurant with a bag of food in their hands. Rapunzel quickly ran and hid in a bush to avoid being seen.

"Man, the food here really stinks," the man complained. "What a ripoff. I'm never coming here again." With that, he tossed the bag of food into a nearby trash can, and he and his wife disappeared.

Rapunzel slowly came out from the bushes and walked carefully over to the trash can where the man had thrown the bag. The aroma of fresh fried chicken and french fries filled her nose, causing her mouth to water.

Is this what it's come to...? Rapunzel asked herself. Eating put of the trash...?

Her stomach growled again, and Rapunzel realized she had no other choice at the moment. Sighing, she took the bag of food and went back to her hiding spot. She found that the chicken sandwich was already half-eaten, but she didn't care.

Rapunzel quickly stuffed the food in her mouth, not really tasting it, and not really caring that it was being stained by her tears.

---

"I was on my own for about three days, just wandering around, eating food that was left out, I had no idea where I was or what I was going to do next. I completely forgot about school, I was losing hope...I thought my whole life was over. But then, I got lucky."

"Rapunzel...?"

Rapunzel sat on the ground with her head between her legs, listening to the rain pattering down. She heard the voice calling out her name, but she figured she was only imagining things...

"Rapunzel, is that you?"

Rapunzel slowly opened her eyes to see a pair of feet in boots standing in front of her. So, she wasn't imagining it after all. Rapunzel gulped, and slowly looked up to see the feet's owner.

"A...Anna...?"

Anna's face lit up for a moment, before she took in Rapunzel's weakened features. She looked absolutely exhausted. "What happened?" Anna asked in concern. "Why are you out here in the rain? A-and what happened to your hair?"

"Anna..." Rapunzel almost burst into tears at the sight of her friend. "Anna, do you live near here?"

"Huh? Yeah, I do."

"Can...can you take me to your house, please?"

Anna's eyes went wide. "Oh! Ok!" she helped Rapunzel stand up and they walked together under Anna's umbrella. "Of course I can! You can explain when we get there, ok?"

Rapunzel nodded, gladly accepting her friend's help. She was only glad that she had found somewhere to go. Maybe at Anna's house she could finally figure things out.

"What?! You've been out on the streets?!"

Rapunzel nodded sadly after Anna's outburst, huddling under a blanket and drinking some warm tea that Mrs. Corona had made for her. "I ran away from home," she admitted. "It's been three days."

Mrs. Corona stood there horrified as Anna continued to flail. "No way! Why didn't you tell us?! Is that why you've been missing school?"

Rapunzel nodded once more as Mrs. Corona sat down next to her and hugged her tightly. "You poor dear," she cooed. "What happened? Why did you run away? Did something happen between you and your mother?"

Rapunzel cringed at the last word, but nodded. "We...we had a fight. And I ran away." She smiled a little, embarrassed. "I was so stupid. I forgot to bring food or money...I might have starved to death if Anna hadn't found me."

"Yeah, you should have come to us sooner!" Anna replied. "I mean, I thought you were sick or something, if I had known that it was that bad..." she trailed off.

"I'm sorry," Rapunzel apologized.

"It's ok, dear," said Mrs. Corona. She paused for a moment, then sighed. "Would you like us to walk you back home after the storm's over? Maybe we can get this whole thing worked out."

Rapunzel quickly shook her head. "No. I don't want to go back there."

"But don't you think your mother is worried about you?"

"...no. I don't."

Mrs. Corona and Anna both looked surprised, and there was a short awkward silence in the room. Then Mrs. Corona wrapped an arm around Rapunzel once more and looked her in the eyes. "Listen to me, Rapunzel," she said. "You don't have to worry about a thing. Our home is your home. You can stay here as long as you like."

Rapunzel looked up, surprised. "I...I can?"

"Of course!" Mrs. Corona responded with a smile. "You're always welcome here, honey. What do you say?"

Rapunzel beamed. "I'd love to stay with you!" she cried. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Corona!"

"Alright! I will get the guest room ready for you." With that, Mrs. Corona rushed off, eager to prepare a place for her new young guest.

"All right!" Anna cheered. "We're gonna be house-mates! Come on, Punzie, I gotta show you around this place!"

Anna took Rapunzel's hand and the two started to run all over the building. Rapunzel looked around in awe. Anna was right, this place really was huge. It might be hard go her to live here without getting lost.

"You don't have any other clothes with you," Anna noted. "So I guess you'll share mine. I'm pretty sure we're the same size. And Aunt Prim will be totally ok with buying you new ones soon."

"Thanks."

"No problem! Oh by the way," Anna looked over at Rapunzel's haircut and grinned. "When did you cut your hair?"

Rapunzel frowned. "Just a few days ago..." she mumbled. "I don't really wanna talk about it."

Anna cocked her head. "Oh. Ok. I just wanted to tell you that it looks nice."

"It does?"

"Yup! I think it looks way better than your long hair. It makes you looks cuter."

Rapunzel felt herself smiling widely and ran a hand through her short hair. "Thanks, Anna."

"You're welcome. Now, come on, I wanna show you my room!"

The two took off once more down a separate hallway, while Rapunzel grinned from ear to ear. Before they could get to Anna's room, however, something caught Rapunzel's eye, and she stopped to look into a room at her right.

The window was open, and the rain had died down, but that's not what had caught her attention. On a large table in the middle, placed on a stand, was the biggest and most familiar looking gem she had ever seen.

"Hey Punzie, what's up?" Anna called, jogging over. "Why'd you stop?"

"Anna, in there..." Rapunzel said in a hushed voice. "Isn't that...the ring?"

Anna glanced into the dimly lit room and her eyes went wide. "Oh my gosh! It's back...?!"

The two girls dashed into the room for a closer look, and Anna tapped lightly on the large gem. "No way! I think this is the real thing! I've gotta go get Aunt Prim and Uncle Thomas!" Anna turned and ran out of the room. "Aunt Prim!" she called. "Hey! Uncle Thomas! Come here, quick!"

While Anna went off to find them, Rapunzel stayed behind to stare at the ring. She couldn't believe he had actually brought it back. After everything that had happened, she thought that he would just rip her off like last time.

At that moment, Rapunzel spotted a small note next to the stand. She picked it up, read it, and smiled. She knew it. Eugene wasn't a bad person after all...

Anna soon came back with her aunt and uncle, and all three of them came over to gawk at the ring. Mr. Corona picked it up to inspect it, and soon nodded and smiled. "Yep. This is it alright." He looked up at the window. "Someone must have climbed through that window and put it back."

"Hey, is that a note?" Anna asked, pointing to Rapunzel's hand. "Lemme see," she took the note, read it, and frowned. "It just says 'sorry.' What does that mean?"

Mrs. Corona smiled. "I guess whoever took it must have had a change of heart."

Anna beamed. "Alright, then! Looks like everything is falling into place today, isn't it, Punzie?"

Rapunzel simply smiled. "Yeah. It sure is."

Anna quickly grabbed her hand again. "Ok, come on! I still haven't shown you my room!"

"Hold on," Rapunzel interrupted. She broke free from Anna's grasp and turned back to her new hosts. "Mr. and Mrs. Corona, may I ask you something?"

"Of course, Rapunzel."

"As long as I'm here with you...am I..." she paused. "Am I allowed to talk to boys?"

The couple looked surprised, glanced at one another, then smiled. "Of course," Mrs. Corona answered. "You can talk to whoever you want...as long as they're not dangerous, of course."

Rapunzel beamed once more. "Thanks so much!" And with that, she turned and followed Anna to her room.

"Awesome that you can talk to guys now," Anna said as they walked inside and Rapunzel looked around happily. "Now I can finally introduce you to Jack and Oncie and Hiccup!"

Rapunzel momentarily stopped glancing around and frowned. "Oh, those guys..." She had only been interested in talking to Eugene...

"Aw come on," Anna coaxed. "They're not as weird as they seem..." she paused. "Well, actually they are, but they're really nice, too."

Rapunzel giggled and resumed looking around, when suddenly she heard a door open behind her and a pair of footsteps.

Anna's face lit up. "Elsa!"

Elsa turned to them, a blank look in her eyes, and stared at them both.

"Hey, remember Rapunzel?" Anna continued. "She's gonna stay with us for a while. Isn't it cool?"

"Hi," Rapunzel greeted the older girl, waving shyly.

Elsa just blinked. "Hi." And then she walked down the hall looking like she couldn't care less.

Rapunzel frowned and turned to Anna. "Is she ok?"

Anna just gave her a pained smile. "Yeah. Typical Elsa. Only ever comes out of her room to use the bathroom." she shrugged and went back to what she was doing. "Now come on! I need to show you all the cool stuff I own!"

Rapunzel laughed and followed Anna across her large room. She was now determined to get those past three days out of her mind and start fresh. Everything was going to be ok from now on.

Or so she thought.

---

"So you're the famous Rapunzel? Wow, you're even cuter than I thought you'd be!"

Rapunzel just stood there stiffly as Anna's too male friends Once-ler and Jack smiled down at her. She knew that they were just trying to be nice, but to her it felt like they were scrutinizing her. "Th-thanks..." she mumbled.

God, boys were so weird. They looked different, sounded different, acted different, they even smelled different. She hasn't noticed it before when she had been talking to Eugene at the salon, since they weren't face-to-face and were surrounded by hairspray, but with these two it was so much more evident. If she didn't know better, she could have sworn they were aliens. (Especially these two. One of them had white hair and carried a stick for no apparent reason, and the other was unnaturally tall, to the point where Rapunzel could hardly believe he was a year younger than her.) She was only glad that Anna was here.

"Didn't you used to have long hair?" asked Jack, the white-haired boy.

Rapunzel nodded nervously. "Yeah, but I cut it."

"I like it," Jack commented, reaching out to touch her hair. "It's cute,"

Rapunzel flinched, suddenly afraid to be touched by him. She ended up bumping into Anna, who caught her and glared at Jack.

"Quit it, Jack!" Anna scolded. "This is her first time talking to guys, so don't freak her out!"

Jack looked surprised. "Sorry!" he apologized. "My bad."

"So, Rapunzel," Once-ler began, trying to change the subject. "You're a sophomore, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Cool. Then maybe you can give us some advice and stuff. You know, course selections are coming up and we haven't done it in high school before..."

"Oh yeah!" Anna piped up. "Rapunzel, you've gotta help me choose my classes! I'm really nervous about what I'm gonna pick."

Rapunzel grinned. "It's really not so bad..." But before she could continue, something in the crowd caught her eye. Someone was sitting at a nearby table, and he looked awfully familiar...

Meanwhile, Jack was still rambling on. "Well I've got some advice for Rapunzel right now...try not to fall in love with me, ok?"

"Ew," Anna grimaced.

Rapunzel wasn't paying attention.

Once-ler rolled his eyes. "You're such an idiot Jack. Why would she ever fall in love with you? I'm the sexy one around here."

"You wish."

"You both wish," Anna butt in. "Hans is way hotter than either of you."

"You mean the one with the sideburns?" Once-ler smirked. "Anna, you showed him to us before. He looks like he walked out of a corny 70's movie."

"Shut up, he's gorgeous! Don't you think so, Rapunzel?"

Rapunzel still wasn't paying attention. She was still focused in the familiar looking person at the table. The crowd was finally cleared out a little and she could finally get a good look at his face...

"Eugene!" she practically squealed. She ran away from Anna and the other two, not even bothering to look at their reactions.

"Eh?" Jack questioned as Rapunzel dashed off. "Who's she running to?"

"No idea," said Anna. The three of them began to follow her until they too could get a clear view of the boy's face.

Anna's face scrunched up. "Who's that guy...?"

"I don't know, I think she's friends with him," said Once-ler. He turned to Anna. "I thought you said she's need talked to guys before."

"Well that's...what she told me..."

Meanwhile, Rapunzel approached Eugene, who was still staring straight into a book, and tapped him on the shoulder. "H-hi, Eugene."

He looked up at her and grinned. "Blondie! You're alive! I was wondering where you went."

Rapunzel giggled. "I was...sick. But I'm ok now."

"Cool. Still rocking the new haircut, I see."

"Yeah," Rapunzel smiled. "I like it so much better than my old hair..."

"Rapunzel!" Anna called out from behind her. She came walking up to them along with Once-ler and Jack. "Rapunzel, who's that?"

"Oh!" Rapunzel's eyes lit up. "Sorry. This is Eug-I mean, Flynn Rider..."

Eugene gave her a small but grateful smirk.

"...Flynn, these are my friends, Anna and Jack and Once-ler." To be honest, it still felt weird to call the boys her friends, but it would be impolite not to.

Flynn waved nonchalantly. "Hey, Blondie's friends... Why is that guy carrying a stick?"

Once-ler smirked. "It's his securit-"

"Don't say it!" Jack snapped.

Rapunzel ignored them and turned to Anna. "Flynn is the one who cut my hair," she explained.

"Oh, so that's how you know him! I was wondering!"

At that moment, the bell suddenly rang, signaling that students should head to their classes. Flynn quickly got up. "Well, looks like I've got jet. See you later, Blondie and Company."

He turned to leave, then suddenly stopped. Turning to Once-ler, he glanced upward, noticing his height for the first time. "Hold on..." He said. "Are you a freshman?"

Once-ler raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, why?"

Flynn walked over and stood next to him, comparing their heights and being devastated to find out that Once-ler was taller. "I'm a junior!" Flynn cried, making everyone laugh.

"You've got some weird friends, Blondie," Flynn commented as he headed off to class. He smirked. "Be careful who you hang out with, ok?"

Jack and Once-ler looked hurt. "Hey, excuse you!" Jack called after him. "We're totally decent people, thank you very much!"

"He's just kidding," Rapunzel giggled. "I'll see you later Eug-er, Flynn!"

Flynn waved at her as he walked off.

Rapunzel and the rest headed off toward the building as well. Rapunzel was grinning from ear to ear, and Anna seemed to notice.

"So..." Her friend began. "You two seem close."

"Well, not really," Rapunzel shrugged. "He just cut my hair and-oh!" She hadn't thanked him for returning the ring! She'd have to do it next time she saw him...

"What? What is it?"

"Huh? Nothing..."

Anna shrugged it off, but still continued grinning. "Hey Rapunzel...do you have a crush on Flynn...?"

Rapunzel turned around so quickly that her backpack nearly flew off her shoulders. "Huh?"

Anna giggled. "Nothing, it just seems like you like him."

"No I don't!" Rapunzel protested. "I don't have a crush on anyone!"

Anna wasn't buying it, and simply grinned mischievously at her friend while she began to sing-song: "Rapunzel likes Flynn~! Rapunzel likes Flynn~!"

"Anna, stop that!" Rapunzel yelled, turning red. "I do not!"

Anna giggled. "I'm gonna invite him to our group of friends~." she declared. "And then you two can bond~."

"Stop it!"

Meanwhile Jack and Once-ler watched them argue, snickering as they took in the whole scene. "Girls are so weird, man..."

---

"Well, Anna kept her word, and Eugene somehow ended up joining our little troupe. I thanked him for returning the ring and I soon found the guts to tell him about how Gothel had reacted to the haircut. He was pretty upset, but we got past it quickly.

Meanwhile, Anna's aunt finally openly admitted that she thought i was her daughter, and next thing I knew we had to take a DNA test.

I guess those couple weeks were about the most blissful times of my life back then. I was making friends, I was having fun, and I thought all my troubles were behind me. But then, well...something happened."

---

A hooded figure stepped into the salon, hand on her hip, and walked over to the front desk. "Excuse me," the figure asked. "I need a bit of help with something,"

The makeup-clad lady at the front looked the woman over with a hint of disgust, and a hint of intrigue. "Yes, ma'am...are you here to get your hair done...?"

Meanwhile, Flynn was just finishing up his shift and was preparing to go home, when he saw the scene at the front and stopped curiously to watch.

The hooded woman scoffed. "No," she answered. "I'm looking for someone. Do you remember a young girl with blonde hair who came here for a haircut?"

Flynn tilted his head.

The front desk woman frowned. "You're going to have to be more specific, ma'am...we get a lot of young ladies with blonde hair around here."

The hooded figure scoffed once more, clearly annoyed. "She was a teenager, about this tall, pretty as a flower. Came in a few weeks ago, I believe."

The front desk lady still looked clueless.

"Her name was Rapunzel."

Flynn suddenly felt himself stiffen. Rapunzel? Why was this woman looking for Rapunzel? Was she...?

The front desk lady shook her head. "I'm sorry ma'am...I don't-"

"Oh for God's sake, you have to remember! It was only a few weeks ago! I know she got her hair cut at this salon! You tell me who cut her hair right now!"

"Ma'am, please, calm down-"

"No," the figure snapped. "I won't calm down." She reached down to grab something at shiny at her hip, and Eugene felt himself freeze when he saw what it was.

"If you don't tell me who cut her hair..." the woman continued, still reaching for her hip, "Then I'm going to-"

"Stop!" Eugene cried suddenly. The two ladies, along with everyone who had been watching them, suddenly turned to face him. Eugene gulped and tensed up, ready to move if he needed to. "I remember Rapunzel," he declared cautiously to the hooded woman. "I'm the one who cut her hair."

The hooded woman's eyes widened, and then her expression twisted into a death glare. "You..." she hissed.

Eugene felt a slight chill. This had to be her. He and Rapunzel had been talking a lot at school these past few weeks, and she had told him a great deal about this woman. It had to be her.

Gothel.

"You must be her mother," Flynn said nonchalantly. "She told me a lot about you."

"Rapunzel did?"

"Yeah, we've been hanging out a lot." He stared her in the eye and grinned mischievously . "She's having so much fun now that she's not cooped up with you."

Flynn knew that it was probably dangerous to piss her off right now, especially with the weapon she had at her hip, but if he could get her to throw a tantrum without getting himself killed, then maybe Gothel would expose herself in public and someone would call the police...

Gothel's face twisted into a glare again. "Oh, I see. And you say that you're the one who cut her hair...?"

"Yeah, that was me. And you know what? She told me that she likes the haircut more than she likes her old hairstyle." Flynn smirked. "I guess the long hair reminded her too much of you, so she decided to get rid of it."

Gothel was fuming. The tension was building, and the people around them was starting to whisper.

Knowing that this insane woman might pull out her weapon at any moment, Eugene felt his heart pounding, but he still had to wait for the right moment. "You know..." he began. "You're not a very good mother, getting all freaked out over a haircut. No wonder she ran away. And you know," he stood poised, ready to run, "I think that haircut...the one that I have her...made her realize just how much she hates you."

That did it. Gothel snapped, swore loudly, and finally revealed her gun in a heated rage. She shot a couple times in his direction, but Eugene was ready for it and managed to duck out of the way just in time.

Everyone inside the salon screamed and hit the deck, and Eugene quickly bolted out the door. Gothel chased him down the sidewalk, gun in hand, but luckily all those years as a street boy had made Eugene a very swift runner.

"You're gonna go to jail for this, you know!" Eugene shouted behind him. "Everyone can see you!"

"I don't care!" Gothel screamed, shooting again and just barely missing. "You're going to pay for what you did to my Rapunzel!"

"Rapunzel hates your guts!" Eugene spat. He quickly turned into an alley and stopped to catch his breath. He had to keep that woman at bay until the cops showed up. He knew someone had called them by now. All he had to do now what keep her distracted and not die.

Eugene heard Gothel approaching and quickly resumed running. He wasn't entirely sure why he was doing something this crazy, but he did know that his little friend was in trouble, and he wasn't going to let this insane woman get to her ever again.

It was time for her to pay for what she did to Rapunzel.

---

Rapunzel and Anna were enjoying a couple of ice cream cones in the hot sun, soaking up the warm sunlight as they strolled down the block. Rapunzel was so happy that school was out for the weekend. Now she and Anna could hang out and enjoy themselves.

"Hey," Anna piped up suddenly. "Doesn't Flynn work at the hair salon right around the corner?"

Rapunzel blinked, noticed her familiar surroundings, and grinned. "Yeah, I think so! Let's go visit him!"

"Yeah, maybe he'll dye my hair purple!"

The two girls laughed and turned the corner...only to stop in horror at what they saw.

There was yellow police tape all over the salon door, people were crowded around, and cops were all over the place trying to conduct some type of investigation.

"Oh my gosh," Anna said. "What happened here?"

Rapunzel's heart skipped a beat and she dashed toward the salon. This was supposed to be the time of Eugene's shift, but she couldn't see him anywhere.

Rapunzel weaved her way through the crowd, with Anna following straight behind, until she finally saw a familiar face. That makeup-clad lady who had welcomed her to the salon last time she came was talking to a police officer, looking distraught.

"...she looked like she was going to threaten me," Rapunzel heard her say. "Kept asking about someone named Rapunzel."

Rapunzel's eyes widened. Someone was looking for her? It couldn't have been Gothel, could it...?

"Then suddenly, our trainee jumped into the conversation," the woman continued. "He's only a boy, still in high school. He said a few things to her, which made her angry and then...then she just pulled out a gun and started shooting at him!"

Rapunzel felt her ice cream cone fall out of her hands.

"H-he somehow managed to dodge the shots, but then she chased him out the door...everyone was panicking..."

"Which way did they go?" The officer asked her.

"That way," the woman responded, pointing in the direction opposite from where Anna and Rapunzel had come. "They went that way."

Before she could hear anymore, Rapunzel quickly grabbed Anna's hand and pulled her in the direction which the woman had indicated. "Come on!" she cried. "We've gotta save Eugene!"

"Rapunzel wait!" Anna protested. "We can't just go by ourselves! That lady has a gun with her!"

"We can't just leave him!" Rapunzel cried. "He could die!" Without looking to see if Anna was following, Rapunzel turned and continued running. All she could think about was Eugene. Why was Gothel after him? Was she really going to kill him just because he cut her hair?

This is all my fault, Rapunzel thought. This is all because of me. If only I had just sucked it up and stayed with her, then this wouldn't have happened.

Rapunzel suddenly stopped, hearing the sound of a gunshot echoing in the distance. She froze, framing out for a moment, then continued after the noise. She suddenly came to an alleyway and stopped again, wondering if she should go in or continued straight.

Her question was answered by another gunshot, this one much, much closer.

Eugene was cornered. Gothel had shot at him twice in the alleyway, but each time he was able to evade her. But now, he had hit a dead end and had no choice but to turn and face her.

Gothel noted the terrified look in his eyes and grinned evilly. "You're out of options," she said.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Eugene spat out. "What would you gain by killing me, anyways? It won't bring Rapunzel back!"

"Oh, but it will," she answered cooly. "If you hadn't cut her hair, she wouldn't have left. When she sees what happened to you because of her, she'll come back. You'll see." She slowly raised her gun and pointed it at him. "Oh wait. You won't."

Eugene cowered by the wall, preparing for the inevitable...when suddenly a high pitched voice floated into the alleyway and someone stumbled in.

"Mother, no!"

Eugene opened his eyes in shock to see an all-too-familiar girl standing in front of him, with her arms out to block him from the gun.

"Rapunzel?!"

Gothel looked equally surprised, but she held her ground and did not lower her weapon. "Rapunzel..."

Rapunzel continued to shield Eugene with her body. "Don't do this, mother," she pleaded. "Please, leave him alone."

Gothel narrowed her eyes at her, but she seemed to be thinking it over. "Rapunzel," she said softly. "If you wish to save him, then you will come with me right now. And you'll stay with me, understand?"

Rapunzel just stood there, frozen. She didn't want to go back with her, but if she didn't, Eugene might be killed...

"Rapunzel, don't do it!" Eugene told her. "You don't deserve to be with that woman. Just run! Get out of here!"

Rapunzel didn't move.

"Rapunzel, run!"

But she held her ground. "No," the small girl said softly. "If you want to shoot him, you'll have to shoot me too."

Gothel raised her head slightly in anger, adjusting her aim so she was pointing at Rapunzel's head. "Fine," she hissed. "Suit yourself, darling."

"No!" Eugene cried. Instinctively, he reached out and grabbed Rapunzel's arm and pulled her out of the way. Gothel pulled the trigger, but instead of hitting Rapunzel's head, the bullet buried itself right in Eugene's chest.

The boy gasped in pain and fell into his back, grasping desperately at the bloody wound.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel screamed, dropping to her knees at his side. "Eugene, no!"

Gothel simply walked slowly over with an expressionless face. "Well then," she said, pointing her gun at the fallen Eugene's head. "I guess you must want to die, then."

Rapunzel desperately leaned over him, trying to block the gun. "Mother, no!" she sobbed. "Please don't..."

Gothel pulled her trigger anyway, and Rapunzel cowered...

...but nothing happened.

Gothel looked shocked, and tried again, but once again nothing happened. She was finally out of ammo.

What happened next was a blur. The police suddenly showed up out of nowhere, along with Anna, Elsa, and their aunt and uncle. Gothel was quickly arrested, but Rapunzel wasn't paying any attention to them. She was too busy leaning over Eugene, who seemed to have trouble breathing.

"Eugene..." she sobbed. "Wake up, please. The police are here now, and the ambulance...you've got to hold on..."

All of a sudden, she was roughly pulled away from him and she screamed. "Let go!" she cried, not knowing that it was Mr. Corona who was holding her. "Lemme go! Eugene needs help! He's hurt! Let go of me!"

"Rapunzel!" Anna's voice cried. "It's ok, the ambulance is here, they'll take care of him-"

"No, I have to see him!" she bawled. "This is all my fault! Eugene! Eugene, nooooooooo!"

---

Back in the present…

Rapunzel stopped talking. Her face was pale, her eyes were tearing up, and she just sat there staring at her food. Her friends were all staring at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue the story, but none of them dared to speak up or push her on.

Rapunzel gulped and wiped her eyes, smiling sadly at the memory. "He...he took the bullet to save me, " she continued quietly. "And ever since then, I...knew that he loved me and...would never do anything to hurt me...oh gosh..."

Rapunzel felt like a total idiot. How could she have possibly forgotten? She had always trusted Eugene since that horrible day, and they had been inseparable...but then when he went off to college, she started suspecting him only because a few dumb kids had said some dumb things to her? Why was she so stupid?

Her friends were still waiting for more, but Rapunzel had finished. "I need to go," she declared, quickly standing up. "I need to go now..." She quickly rushed off, leaving her friends behind in the almost-empty cafeteria.

Anna watched her cousin go and smiled softly to herself. Looks like she had completed her mission after all. Eugene had wanted her to talk some sense into Rapunzel, but in the end, Rapunzel had talked some sense into herself. Turns out all she needed to do was remind herself of why she loved and trusted Eugene in the first place. Everything would be ok between them now.

"Man," Mavis mumbled after a moment. "I just wanted to know how they met..."

"It's so complicated," Anna responded with a smile. "It wouldn't have made sense if she only told you a small part of the story."

"I guess you're right."

"So, what happened after that?" asked Jack.

Anna turned to him and grinned. "He lived!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "No, duh! That why he was at my house a month ago, isn't it?"

Anna giggled, and everyone else joined her. "Well, he got really lucky. The doctor said that the bullet barely missed his heart. We all went to see him in the hospital a couple days later. Rapunzel was so happy to see him, it was adorable." Anna smiled at the memory. "After they let him go, he finally asked her out. And then she decided to get her hair dyed brown to match his, and that was that."

"Then over the summer we got the results of the DNA test, and Rapunzel turned out to be our cousin, just as Aunt Prim had suspected." she chuckled. "Mother's intuition, I guess. Then Rapunzel moved in with us permanently..." she frowned. "...but then of course, Elsa decided that the two of us had to leave. But even so, it all worked out for the best. Rapunzel doesn't usually talk about this with anyone, so...I don't know. Maybe this was good for her."

MK smiled. "Oh yeah," she said. "I remember asking Rapunzel how she could trust Eugene, and she just shrugged and said, 'I just know.'" She poked at what was left of her food and sighed. "I didn't get it at the time, but now I think I do."

"I love happy endings!" Jack cried, making everyone around him laugh.

The bell rang right then, and the group soon had to disperse to their separate classes. MK walked alongside Anna, who was looking giddy despite hearing such an intense story.

"Hey Anna," MK asked. "You didn't get to talk to Rapunzel about what Eugene said last night, did you? Your task?"

Anna laughed. "Aw, I don't need to do that anymore," she answered. "That problem has already been solved."

---

He wasn't picking up his phone. He must be in class...

Rapunzel shut her phone of once more and stood leaning against the wall, before hurrying off to class once she heard the bell ring. She hadn't meant to leave her friends in the cafeteria like that, but she had to call Eugene right then.

She had to apologize. She had been edgy around him for no reason at all. All those taunts about "Eugene is in college," and "Eugene might be cheating"...why had she listened to them?! Of course he wasn't cheating! She felt like a complete idiot just for thinking so! Now Eugene was probably upset with her, and she couldn't stand that.

But he wasn't answering his phone, and she knew she couldn't leave it on at school. That only meant one thing.

She had to go see him as soon as possible.

---

Rapunzel raised a fist and slowly knocked on the door or Eugene's dorm room. She wasn't used to being here in the evening, but with the situation bothering her as much as it was, she would have to deal with it.

She knocked again, and this time the door opened to reveal Eugene's older, tired-looking roommate.

Rapunzel smiled sweetly, recognizing him from previous visits. "Hi, Ralph," She greeted.

"Oh hey," Ralph replied, "you here for Eugene?"

Rapunzel nodded, and Ralph started to go back to where he was sitting. "Hey Eugene!" he called to the bathroom. "Your girlfriend's here!"

"Eh...?" Eugene's voice answered from inside. "Rapunzel's here?" The door opened, and Eugene stopped out with a toothbrush halfway in his mouth. "Rapunzel!"

Rapunzel laughed. "Hi, Eugene."

"Gimme a second, I'll be right out."

Eugene quickly finished brushing his teeth and walked over to greet her with a hug. "Hey," he greeted sweetly. "Good to see ya, Punz. You wanna come in?"

Rapunzel's smile faltered a bit but she kept her composure. "Actually, there's...something I want to talk to you about. Do you mind going for a walk?"

Eugene gave her a slightly concerned frown, but nodded. "Sure, no problem." he turned back to his roommate and started to close the door. "Hey Ralph! I'm leaving for a bit, try not to eat everything in the fridge, ok?"

Ralph rolled his eyes. "You know, that joke got old after the first ten times you used it."

Eugene laughed and closed the door. He put an arm around Rapunzel and the couple headed outside. "Where to?" Eugene asked."

Rapunzel shrugged. "Anywhere, I guess."

They got outside and walked a few blocks, enjoying the crisp autumn air. It had been a while since the two of them had gone out like this...

"Ok," Eugene declared. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Rapunzel bit her lip and stared at the ground, wondering how to begin. "Uh, well...Anna told me she saw you yesterday after the college presentation."

Eugene suddenly seemed to understand what this was about and frowned. "Ohhhh," he responded. "Did she...tell you what I said?"

Rapunzel stared up at him in confusion. "No, she didn't. What did you say?"

Eugene looked away and shrugged. "Nothing, I just said that...well, you're being kinda...edgy lately."

The words stung her. "Yeah..." Rapunzel whispered. "I have."

"Rapunzel..." Eugene began quietly, looking her in the eye. "What's going on...?"

"I-it's so stupid," the girl replied. She started to look away again, but Eugene gently pulled her chin so that she was looking into his eyes again. He smiled.

"Tell me."

Rapunzel blushed a bit and smiled before pointing to a nearby bench. "C'mon, let's sit down."

They sat, and Rapunzel sat there for a moment twiddling her thumbs. "W-well," she began. "Yesterday night, when I ran away from you, it was because...because of those guys I told you about."

Eugene frowned. "Hans and his troupe?" he asked suspiciously. "Why? What did they say to you?"

"They said that...that you're in college and..."

"And..."?

Rapunzel took a breath and blurted the last part out extremely quickly. "...and that college guys always get caught up in partying hot girls and they cheat on their girlfriends!"

Eugene looked stunned. "Huh?!"

Rapunzel looked away and buried he face in her hands. "I'm sorry! It's something that people have been saying to me for a while. It didn't bother me at first, but then they all just kept saying it and saying it and I-!"

"H-hold on a second!" Eugene interrupted, looking wounded. "Cheating? You...you thought I was cheating?"

"No!" Rapunzel cried. "I didn't! N-not really..." she buried her face in her hands again, a small sob escaping her lips. "Th-they just kept saying it, Eugene! I-it was so annoying and I g-guess I just c-cracked...I'm really sorry!"

Eugene just sat there in silence and watched as Rapunzel tried to control herself. "Rapunzel, I...I don't...I'm not cheating."

"I know," Rapunzel told him. "I know you're not. I guess I was just confused..." she quickly sat up straight and looked him in the eye once more. "But I'm not anymore. I won't avoid you anymore, and I won't suspect you anymore. I promise."

Eugene's expression softened when he heard that and he quickly pulled Rapunzel into his arms. Rapunzel hugged him back tightly, real song the last few stray tears that were still in her system. "I-I'm really sorry..."

"Hey, it's fine," Eugene replied softly. "It's not your fault."

Rapunzel nodded, and they continued to hold on to one another until her tears finally stopped. But even after that, they didn't let go.

"You know," Rapunzel began. "Today one of my friends asked me how I met you."

Eugene scoffed. "Yeah? And did you tell her?"

Rapunzel giggled. "Yeah. I told her everything." She snuggled Eugene some more, and continued softly, "...I haven't forgotten, you know."

Eugene nodded. "I know. And even if you did, I still have the scar to prove it."

Rapunzel giggled again and Eugene ruffled her short brown hair. "I love you, Blondie," he told her softly.

"I love you too."

They sat there in the crisp air a while longer, still holding on tightly to one another. Rapunzel knew hat people wouldn't stop making fun of her about Eugene, and heck, he was probably made fun of too, for having a high school girlfriend. But whatever. Rapunzel wasn't going to let it bother her anymore, because she remembered what he had done for her all those years ago. They were inseparable.

Screw the haters.

---

Don't forget to review! I promise episode 8 will be more lighthearted. XDD