Author's Notes: I think you will all be pleasantly pleased with this chapter. The friendship seems as though it may finally be starting and I hope you will review and give me your thoughts on how I am doing so far. It is definitely hard to keep writing when there is no encouragement from readers so even if you are an anonymous reviewer please, please, PLEASE let me know what you are thinking about the story. Now go enjoy chapter 10!

Rapunzel had stopped crying long ago as she sat by the fire Flynn had made. Once the bright orange light had filled the forest she became much less afraid of the unknown. Flynn was sitting with his chin rested on top of his knees across from Rapunzel. He was extremely puzzled by this girl. He watched her expressions that she made as she watched the flames dance through the wood. This girl was so amazed by the simplest things; it just didn't make any sense! Flynn was pulled from his thoughts as Rapunzel stood up and walked over to sit by him.

"You seem... troubled, Flynn." Wow,he thought, this girl barely knows me and she can already read me like a book.

"I'm not troubled I'm just deep in thought."

"Are they troubling thoughts?"

Flynn let out a laugh, "Uhm, yeah maybe they are Blondie but I need to sort them out before I talk about them."

"You could sort them out while you talk..." This girl would not stop but Flynn did think it was kind of cute that she cared.

"Well they are about you so it wouldn't hurt if we talked about it." Rapunzel leaned in as if to tell him she was ready to listen to anything he had to say. "To be honest, I'm confused about the whole 'being locked in a tower all your life' thing."

Rapunzel closed her eyes in thought, "I was afraid you would say something about that."

"So are you gonna tell me about it or not?" Now it was Flynn's turn to push for answers.

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"Come on Blondie, I basically saved your life."

"Yes, but you were the one who put me in danger by kidnapping me in the first place."

"Well, technically it was NOT kidnapping seeing that we were hired to save you." Flynn then realized it was not exactly the best time to bring that part of the story up. Rapunzel's eyes got bigger than they already were and very angry looking.

"Excuse me?"

Flynn sighed seeing no way out of the hole he dug for himself. "A man hired me to climb your tower and rescue you. I think-I think it was your... father." He said the last part as gently as he could because he knew deep inside himself that she had never known a father figure in her life.

"What? That's not possible. My father ran away when I was born because he thought my powers were... freakish. At least, that's what Mother told me." Rapunzel then stood up to pace with her face scrunched up in confusion.

"That's another thing I've begun to question, Rapunzel. How do you know that woman is your mother?"

Rapunzel turned on him with rage flooding her face. "That woman has been in my memories since before I can remember." Rapunzel's face fell into thought and confusion again as she continued pacing. "I have had some thoughts recently about her not being my real mother though."

"And why is that?"

"She doesn't look anything like me." Rapunzel sat down by Flynn again as another truth hit her. "She also never seemed to truely care about me."

"Why do you think she doesn't care about you."

"Because she only seemed to care about the safety of my hair. Since I was a little girl Mother would always tell me the world wasn't safe because there were people who would think my hair was valuable and would take advantage of me just for my powers. There was this one time a long time ago when I asked if we could cut my hair because I was at that awkward stage when I was tripping over EVERYTHING and it just got in the way. Mother turned on me and said my hair would lose its power if we cut it." Rapunzel placed her head in her hands as she made a realization that changed everything. "I'm so stupid," she muttered.

Flynn sat in silence as he felt anger boil up inside him. That woman who said she 'loved' Rapunzel was just using her for her hair? That is so low! If I could get my hands on her I'd, I'd-

"Flynn? Are you okay? You look... angry this time."

"That's because I am angry!" He stood up to get his point across. "That woman made you believe she cared about you when all she wanted was your hair! She manipulated you and ruined your life for her benefit not once thinking about how it would effect you! She-" Flynn stopped speaking as Rapunzel gently placed a hand on his should and made him face her.

"Flynn, Thank you."

Flynn was again confused. "For what?"

"For caring about me more than my hair. Right here in this moment you have proved to me that She was wrong about the world. Not everyone is bad or manipulative. She described to me the world that she had known but that was becaue of who she was. She was bad and manipulative which reflected what kind of world she had known her whole life. Though, that does not justify her actions towards me it proves that I was right about me needing to discover the world for myself."

Flynn was at a loss for words at this young woman's courage and wisdom. He searched deep inside himself and realized that though he was 24 this 18 year old girl still had more wisdom than he did.

"Your welcome." He gave her a small smile. "We should probably be getting to bed. We want to get an early start tomorrow."

"Okay. Good night Flynn." She then carefully lay down on the floor and closed her eyes.

"Good night." Flynn then walked over to his own spot and lay down but kept his eyes open in thought. Without even realizing what he was saying words spilled from his mouth. "Rapunzel, my real name is Eugene Fitzherbert." Crap, he thought, what is this girl doing to me? "I was an orphan." Flynn or Eugene or whoever he was now heard rustling and within seconds saw Rapunzel lay down beside him.

"Why'd you change your name to Flynn Rider?"

"It was the name of the main character in my favorite kid's book at the orphanage. Flynn Rider was everything I told myself I wanted to be when I got adopted by a family. He had money, people who cared about him, and he was not bad with the ladies. I never got adopted and so I decided to make my 'dream' come true by becoming a thief. I may have gotten money out of it and occasional girl friends but none of them ever cared about me they cared about what I had to offer them. I guess that's why I got so mad about your mother or whatever she is, using you like she did." He watched Rapunzel's reaction. She rolled onto her back and thought for a second. Then she propped herself back up onto her elbow and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

"I care about you Eugene Fitzherbert. From this moment on I always will." Rapunzel then stood up and walked back to her previous sleeping area. "Good night Eugene."

"Good night, Blondie." He smiled to himself as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.