Yay! I'm back already! I didn't let myself get any work done today and just let the words pour out of me. I'm just so in love with these two, I'm basically living through them at this point.
I also want to say thank you, as always, for your lovely reviews! I can't tell you how much it means to me that you're all out there enjoying this story, and the fact that you take the time to leave me a note saying so is just such a thoughtful thing I can't keep away from my laptop!
And a quick note to tell you that someone we all know and love so, so much will be entering this story soon and I'm so excited!
The next chapter has already been started, and I'll have it up as soon as I'm happy with it!
Her anxiety slipped away as they drove, while it was just her with Eugene, as normal. He asked her about work, and she told him she was sick of the place. She was going to be super brave and start job hunting. She told him about the nice girl in the pharmacy who had helped her pick makeup out, and asked if he liked the colour of her lipstick. He told her it suited her, but it was going to look terrible on him. It took her a second to figure out what he was saying, and then she blushed furiously, because apparently using the "date" word made everything a lot more nerve-wracking than usual.
They were driving out of Corona central, away from the lights and busy streets she'd grown to love. She thought the house she'd grown up in was in this direction, but she'd only taken the road once when they'd found her, and she couldn't be sure. The roads became longer and straighter and Eugene's car went faster along with a few other people out for a night time drive.
"I haven't been to this restaurant before, but I've heard it's really good. And it's only a twenty minute drive or so from your house, so I won't have you home too late."
"I don't care if we stay out forever," she said honestly. She saw a smile quirk his lips, but he didn't say anything further.
There were a couple of streets of stores and restaurants, like a smaller version of the town they'd left behind. Eugene parked the car in a dark corner of the block and took her hand once they'd exited. He squeezed it reassuringly at the look on her face.
"Hey, you okay?"
"I've never been on a date before," she said quietly.
"I figured," he chuckled. He tugged her in the direction of a small, dark building with hundreds of yellowy lights strung around the walls and roof. "Me either,"
"What?!"
He looked down at her, his face serious. "I've never been on a date before."
"You?" she would have trusted anything he had to say, but that just seemed a little unbelievable.
He shrugged, "I didn't really do the whole date thing. I wasn't looking for anything longer-term than a night with anyone."
"Huh," his words flared up nerves in her stomach again. "And now you are," she stated shyly.
"Yeah," he chuckled, for the first time seeming a little uneasy. He'd been good at being Flynn Rider for years, and the confident wall he put up was more than Rapunzel could ever hope to manage. "I want to keep you around, Blondie."
It wasn't overly busy inside. The light was dull, just more yellow lights in giant bulbs hanging from the ceiling in no set order. The tables were made of dark wood, and thick and heavy. There were small glasses with Corona's native flowers sitting in the middle of each, with two menus and two empty glasses.
The front desk was cluttered with antique-looking knick-knacks, and a girl in a bright red sundress and navy apron smiled at them as they approached. She didn't look at Rapunzel as though she wasn't good enough to be there, which was refreshing. She didn't really look at her at all, to be honest – her eyes ghosted over her in greeting, and went to Eugene when he spoke.
"Just a table for two, please."
She took them to a table under a huge painting of three men sitting in a bar, filled up their glasses with water and said she would give them a moment to decide what they were having.
Rapunzel watched her as she departed, leaning across the table. "She has a really nice bum,"
Eugene laughed once, his glass held to his lips. "Remind me to have a look next time."
They spoke easily as normal. Eugene watched her intently while she spoke, and Rapunzel realised that was something he never used to do. She decided he had really nice nostrils. She'd always liked his nose, and she knew that was what he thought of as his best feature, but his nostrils in particular were also wonderful. She wanted to tell him that, but he was currently speaking about work, so she would wait until later.
She also decided she loved his teeth. He laughed once, loudly, at something she'd said, and she stared at them until his lips sealed shut again. He was the most handsome man she'd ever seen – not that she'd seen a lot of them. She liked the tiny lines on his forehead, and the ones on the outsides of his eyes. She watched him laugh properly for the first time ever, and he scrunched his nose as he did, and her fingers twitched. A wave of something rolled through her, making her feel all warm and taking strength out of her arms and legs for a moment, and she wanted to reach forward and just touch him, hold him really tightly, but she didn't.
The waitress came back and asked what they were having to eat and drink. Rapunzel said she wanted to order a fun drink, and the waitress recommended something fruity with mint, and Rapunzel accepted. Eugene got a beer he'd never heard of. Apparently they brewed them all on site. Rapunzel wanted to ask what went into brewing, but she ordered salmon instead and the girl left before she could question her. This time, both watched her leave.
"See?"
"It is a nice bum," Eugene agreed. "Yours is better, though,"
Rapunzel resisted bursting into nervous laughter. "You're just saying that to be nice,"
"No, I'm really not,"
"You've never actually seen it." She ignored the small voice that told her to be quiet inside her head. This was new, scary territory, but it was also delicious, and she wanted to play with it.
"Well, to be fair, I've never actually seen hers either," he nodded toward the waitress, who was now behind the bar speaking to another young couple. "But I've seen enough of yours. It's very grabable."
"Grabable!" she laughed, way too loudly, and an older woman with short blonde hair threw her a humoured look. She calmed down quickly and looked across the table at him with wide eyes. "Eugene," she said seriously. "Do you want to grab my bum?"
"I'd love to, Blondie."
"I think I want you to, as well." Rapunzel said honestly. "Just so you know."
The food was delicious, as was her drink. She finished it quickly, and Eugene suggested water might be safer for the remainder of the night. It only tasted like sugar, but apparently it was more alcohol than she'd had in any drink before. She remembered that horrible feeling from being sick at the Snuggly Duckling, and figured he was right. She didn't want to be throwing up in front of him tonight. She was really hoping he'd grab her bum.
Eugene made to pay when they were getting ready to leave, and Rapunzel asked if she could pay for her half. She'd brought money specifically so he wouldn't have to.
"This is my first date," he reminded her. "Let me be a gentleman."
She thanked the waitress and told her she had a nice bum. The waitress thanked her genuinely, and Eugene grabbed her hand, smiling to himself, pulling her from the building. The night was quiet as they waked back to his car, completely dark now, the restaurant throwing a glow of yellow to everything around them. It was dark closer to his car, something that would have scared Rapunzel had she been with anyone else. But she was with Eugene, who she thought of as a security blanket. She knew without doubt he wouldn't do anything to hurt her.
"Did you have a nice night?"
"I did, thank you," she smiled. "But…do you not like the way that I kiss? Because you haven't kissed me tonight, and I thought you would have."
He stopped for a second, and then the world span around her as he grabbed her hips and turned her, pressing her back into the brick wall of the dark mechanic store he'd parked in front of.
Without saying anything, he bent to press his lips against hers, not gentle, his hands holding her hips hard as he pushed himself against her.
She was too surprised to tell her arms to move, so they stayed straight by her side, not remembering how to react. Her legs drained of all their energy, and she wondered if she was purely being held up by Eugene and the bricks behind her. She attempted to kiss him back with the speed and skill he devoured her with, but she mostly felt messy and overwhelmed. It didn't seem to deter him. Her heart pounded hard in her chest and the butterflies were back in her stomach, bad. She felt her lower abdominal muscles twitch so anxiously it was almost painful.
And then, he was gone. He let out a long breath as he stared down at her, standing an arm's distance from her. Rapunzel wondered how she looked as she stared back at him, unable to figure out what expression was on her face but aware her lips were parted and she was gasping through them.
"Are you ready to go?" he seemed completely composed, but his eyes were dark, as though he were thinking very hard over something.
"Yeah,"
They didn't say much as he drove her back to his house. She thanked him for dinner multiple times. They stopped at a set of traffic lights right before the long bridge that took them to the island, the main section of Corona. Eugene reached over without looking when the car was braked and took her hand gently, holding it as though she were made of paper while his thumb traced lines back and forth along her knuckles. She watched her hand in his for a long time, but neither of them spoke.
The drive back seemed a lot quicker than the drive out earlier. He slowed early, completely silent as he ghosted up the road and stopped quietly, right in front of the glass doors at the entrance.
Rapunzel hesitated, staring up at the building as though it wasn't her home. She'd just had one of the best nights of her life, and now she had to go upstairs and sleep in her tiny bed without him. She wasn't ready for him to go away yet.
Almost as if he was reading her thoughts, Eugene's voice sounded over her shoulder.
"Come back to my place?"
She turned in her seat to give him a small smile.
"Only if you want to, I know you haven't been home much. But I'm still off work for a while, so we'll have the entire day to do whatever you want tomorrow. And I'm kind of getting used to having you around."
"I'll go grab some things,"
He smiled at her, and she wondered if she saw relief. She wasn't exactly used to Eugene yet. Flynn still stood guard a lot of the time to hold his emotions from her, but she liked the tiny appearances every now and then, even if they were few and far between.
He waited in the car while she ran upstairs. She grabbed the biggest bag she had – just a soft cloth thing with long straps she could throw over her shoulder – and threw in a few pairs of underwear, just in case it was a couple of days until she was home again. She packed two dresses, kicked off her shoes and stuffed them into the bag as well, and her work clothes, just in case. She remembered her phone charger, for if Cass got overly worried again.
The thought of her own towel and toothbrush waiting for her at Eugene's house made her smile, and she locked the door behind her as quickly as she could and skipped down the stairs, not wanting to wait for the elevator's slow doors and slower speed down two floors.
His car was still hovering where she'd left it, and she opened the door and threw her bag in, jumping in after it and resting her feet on top of the zipper.
"Ready!"
He eyed her bag for a moment, and she wondered if she'd scared him off, but a smirk twisted the side of his lip and he pulled away from the curb without saying anything.
Again, he took her hand while they drove. She squeezed it back happily this time, and played with the radio until she found music that sounded earthy and relaxing, leaning back in the seat and looking up at the stars through his windows.
His home was dark when they left the car and started their walk to the staircase, but the lights from the signs in the street reflected off the walls and windows and lit it up. Rapunzel realised she thought of this place as home drastically more than her own, and she wondered when that had started.
They were reserved when Eugene opened the door and she let herself in ahead of him. He turned the television on for background noise, and a program about rebuilding houses filled the slightly awkward silence that ate at them in the small space.
Was he expecting her to do something after he'd kissed her like that in the street? What was the next step of things to do? It scared her, but excitement outweighed it. She wasn't unsure of him, she was unsure of herself. But what did Eugene want from her? Was she being too expectant of him? She wondered if she would go crazy if she made herself wait any longer to try more of what they'd done the other day.
She made a cup of peppermint tea without saying anything to him, very aware that he was leaning against the counter behind her, his sleeves pushed up to his elbows so his forearms were in view. She decided they were her favourite thing about him. His forearms were wonderful.
She turned to him with false confidence when she was finished making her tea, standing on the other side of the counter and watching him silently while she took tiny sips, her eyes wide over the rim of the mug in his direction.
"How was your salmon?"
She grinned at the conversation route he'd gone with. "It was so yummy! I've never had mashed potatoes like that before! I'm going to try to make them. And asparagus! Add that to my list of foods and vegetables I've tried now!"
"Asparagus is nasty," he pushed himself from the counter and crossed his arms over his chest.
"How was your chicken?"
"It was delicious, Blondie."
"I think you're delicious,"
He seemed not to know what to say, so he smiled. But it wasn't the confident smile that she was used to seeing; the one that would tell her that he knew he was delicious. It was a smile to say he'd thought what she said was funny and unexpected.
She could pretend she was brave, at the very least.
She placed her tea onto the counter and walked toward him calmly, maintaining eye contact. She was going to kiss him, and he was going to keep being surprised. It was only once she was in front of him that she realised that didn't really work without any momentum. Even on the tips of her toes she couldn't reach his lips with hers.
He seemed to understand this when she did, and he smiled wider. "Do you need a little help, Blondie?"
"Well, that's just not fair."
He bent and kissed her softly, pushing her hair away from her face and holding her cheek with his right hand. This wasn't the needy, urgent kissing from the street, but disappointment didn't flood through her like she'd expected. This kissing still made her knees week and her heart race. Her arms lifted and she pressed her hands to his stomach, feeling him subtly through his shirt as she followed his movements, feeling more and more confidence through her lips the more she practiced.
"You taste like peppermint tea,"
She grinned against his mouth, her eyes opening to watch him as he straightened and took a seat in one of the bar stools, his hand falling to her hip and pulling her toward him.
"Let me know if I do anything that scares you, would you? I felt like you were a little freaked out outside the restaurant earlier."
"I wasn't freaked out!" she told him honestly. "I was trying to figure out how to move!" she toned down her enthusiasm. "It was nice, kissing like that. It makes me feel things."
He watched her for a long moment, then rubbed his face with his hand that wasn't holding her. "Ugh, I feel like I'm ruining you."
"What do you mean?"
He sighed. "Once your innocence's gone, it's gone. And you have more of it than anyone I know."
"Well, that's not my fault." She pushed herself to wrap her arms around his neck and looked at him evenly. "And isn't it better that you ruin me than anyone else? You make me happier than all the other people in the world."
He chuckled and put his other hand to her hip, holding her as she was holding him. They watched each other silently for a long time, then she pressed her lips together and looked at him seriously.
"Eugene,"
She was thrilled when she saw worry in his eyes at her unlikely tone. "What's up, Blondie?"
"Do you want to grab my bum?"
He grinned at her and his hands moved, half as a joke, behind her, resting on her gently before giving her a gentle squeeze. "Much better than the waitress'." He cleared his throat and his arms fell. "I have to have a shower. You can put whatever you want on the TV. Help yourself to anything. Do whatever you want."
"Okay," she stepped back as he stood from the bar stool, watching him go, suddenly feeling very nervous. Did he remember their conversation about seeing each other naked in the shower? Did he want to be left alone? Or should she just do it and prove to him she wasn't scared?
She was completely silent after he'd pulled the bathroom door closed behind him. But not completely closed. It was open just enough for a tiny sliver of light to be seen coming from the room. Enough so that it wouldn't make any noise if she followed him and opened it enough to step through.
Her wide eyes looked toward the television as her heart raced and her thoughts tumbled over each other. She couldn't seem to focus them enough to see what was happening on the screen, and the sound was muddled to her, though it was louder in the room than the sound of the shower in the bathroom, which seemed completely clear.
Eugene seemed to drink in the awkward silence that popped up between them every now and then, but Rapunzel occasionally wished it would just go away. She didn't necessarily want to rush things, but she wanted to prove to him that she wasn't a completely innocent little girl who would break if he touched her.
Deciding that she would regret everything if she allowed him to finish his shower and exit the room and fall back into their little awkward state for long enough to just fall asleep, Rapunzel wandered out of the kitchen, toward the bathroom.
Her glazed-over eyes only left the television when it fell from view and she took a long, shaky breath as she gripped the handle and pulled the door open.
