AN: Hello, and welcome to another rendition of 'Killing Me Slowly.' I'm very happy that you're here. Today, the identity of the mystery character who was at Eugene's door at the end of Chapter 10 will be revealed, as well as what this person's arrival means for the future of New Dream. Our favorite couple is going to have to decide if this sticky situation of theirs is truly worth fighting for.
I'm ready to dig deeper into Eugene's past and play around with this new character, so I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 11: The Girl Who Stole Christmas
"Hi, Flynn. Long time no see."
"Eugene." This is all he can manage to choke out, because he's fallen into a state of oblivious shock, and it's far too late in the night to comprehend the person standing in front of him.
"What?" The familiar face squishes its eyebrows together, confused by his response.
"My name. It's Eugene." He repeats blankly, blinking rapidly, willing his eyes to stop staring at the woman at his door in surprise.
"Oh. Oh. Right, because you 'turned yourself around' for the princess or something. I heard the stories." She pushes her way past him rudely, slinking through the doorway. Eugene is sure to leave it wide open, lest she get any ideas if he were to grant her the privacy. "Genius! You know, Flynn... I actually feel a little guilty for not always giving you the credit you deserved, because this is smart as hell."
"Eugene."
She ignores his correction, carrying on. Dumbfounded by her presence, he sinks onto the bed slowly, and she immediately follows.
"Finding a way into the palace, working here, gaining the king and queen's trust before making out like a bandit! And you were going to keep me out in the cold and not let me in on this one, huh?" The woman snickers, eyeing Eugene closely with a look in her eye that makes his stomach churn, as if he might throw up. "Naughty, naughty."
"Stalyan, I... what are you doing here?"
"I'm here for a job, silly! Just like you!" She looks around, inspecting the small bedroom. "A little birdy told me that Lance is here, too. It's been a while since I've seen that idiot."
Eugene pulls himself back, careful to keep a healthy distance between them. He knows he should defend his closest friend's intelligence, but he's too in shock of her unannounced arrival to care.
"I'm not here for a job. I'm here because I live here."
Eugene states this so matter-of-factly that she thinks he's joking, and she laughs in disbelief.
"Okay, seriously Flynn, you can cut the little act. I'm not going to tell the princess."
"It's Eugene."
She stares blankly at him for a moment.
"Whatever." Stalyan looks him up and down, her growing smile a little too prideful. "Speaking of the princess... I heard she got married, didn't she? That must've thrown a wrench in the pretty little fairytale you had going on here."
"Yeah. She did." God, why does she have to bring that up?
"Ouch. That's rough. I guess no one really does trust you around here. With good reason, I suppose. Can you imagine you as Prince Consort of Corona? I mean, come on." She pauses, tilting her head slightly in consideration. "How much you wanna bet that she pops out a kid soon? You know how these royals are. They only care about having successors, so they can continue telling all of us what to do."
Eugene feels his blood pressure skyrocket at the baby comment, a deep anger coursing through him at the mention of his worst nightmare: Rapunzel getting pregnant by a man that's not him.
That's not possible, because she only lets me fuck her. That's what Eugene wants to shoot back, but he successfully entraps the nuclear comment.
"You know, Stalyan, I really don't want to talk about this with you of all —"
"So, what's the big ticket item around here, then? Probably the crown, right? I know the lost princess isn't so lost anymore, but I'm sure the thing still has a high price value. I actually got to hold it in my hands today. I mean, I know you already tried to steal it once, but it's gotta be worth hundreds of thousands, if not mill —"
This girl never knew when to stop, did she?
"Alright, stop! I'm not here to steal anything!" Eugene glares at his former flame, his mind becoming blurred in his frustration with her sudden appearance, and her vagueness as to why she's here. "But I'm guessing you are?"
Stalyan smiles knowingly, years of familiarity lingering between them. He'd always been able to see right through her, and vice versa.
"I might've been hired... by someone. To do… something."
If Eugene knows Stalyan well enough, and he does, she's definitely up to no good. This cryptic bullshit is just the card she would predictably play – she's done it with him plenty of times before. And if Stalyan is going to be around the palace for a while, as she claims, that 'no good' could very well negatively affect Rapunzel.
Eugene feels the panic rising in his chest, hundreds of memories from his past life rushing back, mistakes he'd made that he doesn't have the emotional energy to relive – the kind of mistakes that Rapunzel would probably hate him for, if she knew about them. Stalyan is exactly the kind of person Eugene has always wanted to protect his princess from; people from his past that will seek to destroy her innocence, her light… her trust in him. Her trust in the fact that he was actually capable of changing.
Stalyan could very easily, and would happily, send a wedge flying right through Eugene and the un-suspecting princess – and Charles had done a good enough job of that already.
Speaking of Rapunzel, Eugene needs to get Stalyan out of his room, and pronto, because she'd promised to sneak away to see him after she was done with the royal Christmas Eve festivities. And if Eugene knows Rapunzel well enough, and he does, he knows that she'll come through on her promise.
He'd been all hot and needy for her when he'd run into Rapunzel in the hallway earlier in the night, and she'd responded in kind. Those desperate feelings for release, for a night filled with moans and loving whispers, would surely deflate if Rapunzel were to arrive right now, and get an eyeful of the strange woman on his bed. In retrospect, the princess could appear at any moment. After all, she is just as notorious for showing up unannounced as Stalyan. Suddenly, that's the last thing Eugene wants.
The difference between Rapunzel showing up and Stalyan showing up, is that Eugene yearns to be with Rapunzel, while he yearns to be away from Stalyan – far away. In the presence of his ex-girlfriend, Eugene isn't the least bit turned on anymore. The way he feels now, is such a stark difference from what he'd felt in Rapunzel's presence only a little while ago.
Despite their wild past, Eugene realizes that Stalyan just doesn't do it for him anymore. Honestly, Eugene doesn't find Stalyan even the slightest bit attractive. Not now, when he has Rapunzel to compare her to. Comparing the two women would be like comparing the warmth of the sunshine on your skin, after living in the frozen tundra for twenty-five years.
Deciding which is better, is a brainless conclusion. Stalyan is a traditionally beautiful girl – the sultry kind of beautiful that lures you in, only to destroy you completely, and without warning. She was notorious for entrapping men who were already taken, men who couldn't handle her dominant personality. Flynn Rider had handled it, well enough. But even he'd been worn out by her demanding, over-bearing nature across nearly a decade of knowing her.
Rapunzel's beauty, on the other hand, is so far beyond any of that traditional, expected stuff, because it comes from within, shining bountifully from her exterior. She doesn't need to manipulate others into loving her – they just do. The love people have for her is a direct reflection of the unconditional love she has for them. The princess is unconventional in almost every way, wild and free, but not the type of wild and free that Stalyan is. Rapunzel lures you in, but in the kind of way that makes you want to change, to be better – to be better for her.
From Eugene's biased frame of reference, Rapunzel is the savior that freed him from himself, while Stalyan is the devil that had played into – no, which had fed, his worst side – a side of himself that Eugene isn't so proud of anymore.
Eugene prays to the heavens that his princess won't arrive as promised until after he's gotten Stalyan out of his room and far, far away from both of them. He knows that if Rapunzel catches him with another woman, on his bed, even if he's completely repulsed by said woman's presence, he'll be in some seriously hot water.
Not to mention, Rapunzel and Stalyan would not be the type to braid one another's hair and swap stories about Eugene back and forth, though Rapunzel typically does love doing those kinds of things. Knowing how protective (Stalyan more possessive than protective), both women have gotten over him in the past, Eugene knows that their meeting would probably facilitate the makings of an all-out war. This is something Eugene just doesn't have the energy to deal with – not after the mess of these last three months, and all those months have taken from him already.
He doesn't need Stalyan showing up here, unannounced, taking away the little sliver of Rapunzel that he still gets to enjoy far too infrequently.
Eugene's money is on the princess though, if he had to place a bet on the winner of that fight. Despite Stalyan's many years of working with her father in the black market and participating in the most complicated of heists, and despite the princess's timid appearance, Rapunzel is one force to be reckoned with – especially when armed with her trusty frying pan. Eugene would know, as he'd been the first to experience her spunky streak and her good aim. Her love for him is so genuine, so pure, that he knows she would go down swinging for him, if it were to ever come to that. The same way he'd gone down swinging with Charles only about a month earlier.
Things are starting to get real complicated around here, aren't they?
"Who hired you?" Eugene demands, surely not in the mood for any of the little mind games that Stalyan is so well known for playing. He wants to know why this unpleasant woman is here and what her ultimate plan is, so he can put a stop to it as soon as possible. She always has a plan, and usually, those plans end in someone getting hurt.
Assumedly, what with her jealous tendencies, her target of choice is the princess.
"Ah, ah, ah. That information, I cannot disclose."
"What are you up to, Stalyan? Tell me, now." Caught in his irritation, Eugene leans in, not meaning the gesture to be suggestive, but rather, threatening. "And if you don't tell me, I'll just figure it out for myself. I'm sure the king would love to hear about an intruder in his palace."
"Look, I'm not an intruder, exactly. All I can say, is that I'm going to be posing as a... as a maid for a little while." She raises an eyebrow, smirking. "A maid for the princess."
"You? A maid?" Eugene can't help but scoff at the ridiculous notion.
Stalyan pulls back, jutting her bottom lip flirtily.
"Don't be mean." But, what with her insane bounce back rate from rejection, she's leaning back into him with a smile in only a moment. "I'm sure you have a sexy maid outfit fantasy shoved somewhere in that dirty little brain of yours. Remember, Rider, I know exactly how you tick..."
Stalyan side eyes his crotch, and Eugene starts to feel a little disgusted that he'd ever been with her for as long as he had.
"I've never seen you clean a single thing in my entire life. You'll never pass for a maid. Someone will figure you out."
Cass. She could be Eugene's only hope. If Stalyan really is going to be a maid for Rapunzel, what with her brooding manner and continually suspicious attitude, the lady-in-waiting will surely put the pieces together –
"Well... you could've. Seen me clean, I mean." Stalyan slinks even closer to him, toying with his collar, and her eyes grow dark. "You could've seen a lot of things from me, if you hadn't left me at the altar."
He pushes her away, both of their faces quickly turned annoyed with the other, typical of their interactions.
"I never apologized for that, huh? Look, I'm sorry for ditching you, on our wedding day, after you spent years walking all over me. You had to of seen that one coming, if only from way off in the distance."
"Please. Save me the sob story, Rider." That's just like Stalyan. Empathy isn't in her vocabulary. "You loved it. You enjoyed being told what to do. You chose to stick around for as long as you did." She smiles, a gleam in her eye. "Don't worry. I've forgiven you for your unthinkable betrayal. I'm willing to put the past in the past, if you are."
"I'm not." He responds to her suggestive comment, completely deadpan in the face.
"Oh, come on!" She reaches over to shake his shoulder a little, trying her best to jog his memory of their many exciting, past adventures. "Think about it! We were partners-in-crime, the best in the business! We were like Bonnie and Clyde, but sexier." She pauses to lean in, her voice sultry and low. "We belong together, Flynn."
Is she insane? Has this girl lost her mind, once and for all? She must have, to think that I would ever choose her, now that I've gotten a taste of what a healthy relationship actually looks like.
"Look, Stalyan." Eugene is sure to lean back carefully, resituating himself away from her. "You and I? Wasn't meant to be. We're not right for each other. We never were."
She pulls back a little herself, laughing as though something has deeply amused her.
"Oh, I get it. Because you think that you and the beloved Princess of Corona are." She retorts, the sarcasm dripping from her lips. "You know, I had the pleasure of meeting your royal pain in the ass earlier today. The little bitch walks around this kingdom like her shit doesn't smell. She's always so... nice to everyone." Stalyan makes a face, showcasing her disapproval. "You can see right through her. I almost threw up in my mouth."
Almond eyes narrowed, this defamation against the best woman he's ever known, sets Eugene off completely. If he wasn't pissed off by Stalyan's sudden intrusion yet, he surely is now. Rapunzel is sweet, compassionate as can be, and the best part: she's completely genuine in the way she so fiercely loves those around her.
Eugene's voice leaves his mouth like shards of glass, words that he hopes will dagger Stalyan right in her cold, thoughtless heart.
"If I were you, I'd strongly reconsider the way you talk about the princess in front of me."
Stalyan simply waves her hand, brushing him off. They've known one another far too long for her to feel threatened now.
"What're you going to do, Flynn? Sure, maybe slandering the king and queen is a crime… that is, if you're caught. But no one ever said anything about the precious little lost princess. Please. This kingdom was surviving just fine without her all those years. And now that I've actually met her… I'm really not sure what all the hype is about."
Eugene is getting really tired of Stalyan referring to him by his old name, and even sicker of her bad-mouthing the princess – his princess – who, yes, is beyond precious in every way.
"I'll turn you in. Whatever little 'job' you have going on here, I'll tell someone. Seriously, don't test me. I'm not your puppet anymore."
Stalyan laughs heartily at that, nudging him in the arm.
"No, you won't." She leans in, dropping her voice to a hushed tone for her desired effect, with every intention of joyfully watching him squirm. "Because if you do stab me in the back, again…" Stalyan smiles slyly, like a cat that can't be trusted. "I'll tell everyone that you're having an affair with the married princess. And I'll start with her husband."
Eugene freezes, every drop of blood seemingly draining from his face.
"How did you know about that?"
"Well, I didn't, until just now." Stalyan shakes her head, snickering. "You sneaky bastard."
This is just great. Now she, the biggest blabbermouth that I've ever known, knows about the affair. I'm surely going to be tied up in a noose by the time the sun is coming up tomorrow morning.
Eugene would say that things couldn't possibly get any worse, but he doesn't want to jinx himself.
In his extended time away from her, Eugene has forgotten what a stone cold bitch this girl is. Stalyan has always had a flair for drama, always loved watching people squirm, pulling information from deep within them that they didn't want to share. She's nothing like his sweet princess, a princess who truly cares about the wellbeing of her kingdom, and the happiness of each individual living in it. Rapunzel has always remained humble, too, and would never even consider the notion that she's better than anyone else, simply because she's the princess – to not be humble, is simply not in Rapunzel's nature.
This humbleness is completely unlike Stalyan. The girl walks around like she's some prize to be won, if only because she's the Baron's daughter. She'd been emotionally abusive, she'd walked all over Eugene for years, and she was nothing like Rapunzel, in the best possible way. Eugene hadn't been perfect when he was still referring to himself as Flynn Rider, not by a long shot. He'd been good with the ladies, but not always good to them. He would be the first to admit it, and not proudly. But he'd deserved to be treated better than Stalyan had treated him, even considering the questionable person he'd been back then.
To sum it up, finding his kind, good-natured princess in that tower of hers, had been a much-needed change of pace for Eugene, after the emotional rollercoaster of a years-long, on-and-off-again relationship with Stalyan — one that had, yes, left her standing alone at the altar.
Eugene had dodged a serious bullet there, making a run for it the morning of, praying the Baron and his henchmen wouldn't be hot on his heels in heavy pursuit. In the midst of his desperate getaway, the thief would be separated from Lance for the first time since their childhood spent in the orphanage together. That's when Eugene had decided to return to the kingdom of Corona, staying put there for a while. He would hop around to some of the neighboring kingdoms, too, even making his way to Maddoline a few times. Yet, he always found himself being pulled back to his home in Corona. Then, he would've said that pull had everything to do with being hired for jobs and collecting his cut of the check. Now, he would argue that it had everything to do with the fate of meeting Rapunzel.
As that fate would have it, back in Corona, Eugene would be hired for the job to steal the lost princess's crown with his occasional crime partners, the Stabbington brothers.
And now... well, now he's thinking about that very same lost princess, and how she's everything Stalyan never could've been for him.
Eugene knows that leaving a woman at the altar is a top tier asshole move. He'd even felt a little guilty for it the next day – after all, they did have a lot of history, a lot of messy strings attached. Those strings had gone completely tangled, but they were there, nonetheless. He'd known Stalyan would be furious about his sudden disappearance, and the Baron too, but Eugene had been too fed up for too long to care. After nearly ten years of knowing Stalyan, and dealing with her less-than-pleasant, manipulative tendencies, he couldn't take the abuse anymore. He surely couldn't imagine coming home to her every day for the rest of his life — lest he wanted to have an eternal migraine.
Skipping out on his future wife is a onetime thing, though – Eugene knows that, and it eases his own conscience. Leaving Rapunzel at the altar is something Eugene knows he would never do. She's the breath of fresh air that he doesn't want to breathe out. He actually wants to marry her, more than he's wanted anything in his life, really. He yearns for that forever commitment with Rapunzel, more than he'd ever wanted an island, a castle of his own, or more money than he'd be able to spend in a lifetime. Stalyan on the other hand... well, she was pretty much like choking on sawdust, and Eugene had only almost married her because he'd basically been blackmailed into it by her father, whom he'd frequently been hired by to steal precious treasure and highly coveted items.
Thieving Life Hack #1: Don't date the daughter of the man you're working for. It's far too complicated, and you'll probably end up in a marriage you never wanted.
If Eugene had been able to marry Rapunzel as he'd always hoped, before Charles had stepped into the picture unexpectedly (Eugene's brain can't even handle thinking about the annoying prince right now – he needs to focus on one homewrecker at a time), it would've been because he genuinely wants nothing more in life than to be her husband, give her a few babies that would hopefully look just like her, and grow old with her. It would mean praying that he passes away first, so he never has to go a day without her.
Growing old with Stalyan assumedly would have looked like a lot of fighting, an inevitable divorce, a very angry Baron, Eugene winding up paying a lot of child support, and probably becoming an alcoholic. Marriage to Stalyan would mean praying that he passes away first, just so he can get away from her.
That miserable picture snaps the former thief back to reality.
Now, Eugene thinks about the ring sitting in his nightstand – the ring meant for Rapunzel, which he hadn't stolen for her – and he starts to feel positively queasy in the presence of his ex-girlfriend. The thought of the person he used to be makes him want to puke, and Stalyan is really good at coaxing the Flynn Rider out of him.
"Okay, Stalyan, that's enough. This little reunion is over. It was nice to see you, or whatever," Okay, that's a complete lie, but whatever he needs to say to get her out of his room before Rapunzel shows up. "But you need to leave." Eugene pauses, determined to make his intentions fully known. "And I mean leave the palace, not just this general vicinity of my bedroom. Although you need to leave that, too, just so we're clear."
"I'm not going anywhere. Not until I get my payout." The young con-woman examines her fingernails for a moment. "And that could take a long, long time." Stalyan smiles brightly, as if a grand idea has entered her mind. "I know! I'll go make friends with the princess in the meantime, corrupt her a little. After all, she was in a tower for eighteen years. Unless, of course… you've already corrupted her. Which, knowing you, you probably have."
She was right. Eugene had corrupted the princess. He'd had a lot of fun doing it, too.
"If you hurt her, if you go anywhere near her, I swear —"
"What? You'll hurt me? You already did that, Flynn. And that's only part of the reason why I'm here: to make your life a living hell, because that's exactly what you did to me." Stalyan's narrowed eyes soften, and her typical, sultry smile returns to her lips. "But, in the meantime, if you need a fuck buddy —"
"Trust me, I don't. And even if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't choose you."
Stalyan sighs, a hint of frustration, or maybe what Eugene hopes is defeat, laced through her voice.
"You know... the princess might've burned you, but we burned pretty bright, once upon a time. I came here kind of hoping we could rekindle that fire."
She's isn't completely wrong. They had burned, in their own fucked up way — crashed and burned, that is.
Their relationship had been toxic as toxic gets. The only upside to that high level of toxicity had been that it typically results in fantastic make-up sex. That's the only reason Eugene had stuck around for as long as he had – well, and the money that came with continually being employed by her well-connected father. But honestly, Eugene had only liked Stalyan when they would have sex, as it was the only time she wasn't telling him how wrong he was — and even then, he'd never liked the Baron's daughter very much. She was calculated, and rude, and had a bad attitude bigger than the entire kingdom of Corona and the neighboring kingdoms combined.
Flynn Rider had been selfish as all hell, had a massive ego to match, and messed with people's trust for sport. The difference is, he feels guilty for the person he's been. Stalyan doesn't. She has to be the most narcissistic woman he'd ever known, stealing every trick from her father's sleeve, like having essentially no conscience, and manipulating people for all they're worth.
In hindsight, Stalyan had been perfect for Flynn Rider – but surely not perfect for Eugene Fitzherbert, who was an all-around changed man, shaped by the little hands of one princess.
Combing through the crippling guilt of the past in his mind, Eugene knows he would take non-toxic sex with Rapunzel over the arbitrarily exciting, crime-induced life he'd once lived with Stalyan, any day. Because with Rapunzel, everything is a product of pure love — not a confusing mix of love hanging by a thread, but mostly mutual hatred.
"C'mon, Stalyan. That was different and you know it. I didn't love you like I love her."
Eugene looks her right in the eye when he says it, only because it's completely and utterly the truth – it's the truest thing he's ever said to her, and he doesn't regret the brutality of the statement. Not after the comments she'd made about Rapunzel.
"Ouch. Almost ten years of knowing each other, all of our wild memories, an engagement, and that's all you have to say?" Stalyan shrugs, seemingly un-phased by his harsh honesty. "Either way, I suppose that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun, does it? All this history we have between us, that's gotta count for something between the sheets."
The girl really can't take no for an answer, can she?
She's like a leech — good at sucking the energy out of you until she gets what she wants. She'd done it at least a dozen times in their on-and-off again relationship: come running back when he'd gotten fed up enough to walk away for a few days or weeks, and the vicious cycle would ensue all over again after one kiss.
But not this time. This time, she wouldn't get so far.
"Yeah... I don't think so. I'm in love with someone else! And no matter how many times you want to show up in my life, unannounced, there's nothing you can do to change that."
"Who said anything about changing it? All I'm saying is… what the princess doesn't know, can't hurt her."
Stalyan's suggestive hand is inching down the front of his chest, and he moves to shove her wrist away, when Eugene hears the worst sound he could've possibly heard in that moment: a sound that usually makes his knees go weak and his heart melt into a useless puddle.
"Am I interrupting something?"
Rapunzel is standing there in the open doorway, arms crossed, eyes narrowed in furious green slits. She's still dressed in that gorgeous red ball gown, just as Eugene had requested.
He'd wanted to take that dress off of her. Now, all Eugene wants is to disappear.
"Oh... hi, Princess."
It takes a moment, but Stalyan's face eventually registers in Rapunzel's memory bank, and her anger shifts momentarily to taken aback confusion.
"You're... you're the maid that I met earlier. The one that brought me my crown." The princess's eyes dart between the two ex-lovers, their history still undenounced to her. Rapunzel recoils, stepping away from the doorway, and Eugene knows that the worst possible case scenario must be running through her head – that he'd just been about to sleep with this mystery woman. "Do you two... know each other?"
"Oh, Flynn and I go way back."
Rapunzel narrows her eyes further at the mention of his former moniker.
This woman, whoever she really is, is calling him Flynn. Rapunzel hates when people call Eugene by that name. Doing so completely rebukes all of the work Eugene has accomplished in order to change, to be a better man.
"We met when we were just wee little teenagers, didn't we?"
The still-unnamed woman rubs a hand up Eugene's arm, and Rapunzel considers how much trouble she'd be in if she were to break the woman's slender fingers.
"I'm Stalyan. I don't think I properly introduced myself when we met earlier."
Thankfully, Eugene flinches away from the woman – from Stalyan's touch – staring at Rapunzel with a look that pleads, 'Please don't be mad, I can explain.' Rapunzel's frown only draws itself deeper, her arms crossed over her chest, ignoring her love's broken expression.
"That's funny. Eugene's never mentioned you."
"Well, I can assume that I am a bit of a… touchy subject for… Eugene. After all, when we were engaged —"
"I'm sorry." Rapunzel interrupts, her voice cold as winter. "When you and Eugene were..." The princess's face transforms from confused, to saddened, and back to angry in a matter of just a few seconds. Her eyes rest upon Eugene's pleading expression once more, completely furious. "When you were what?"
Shit. Stalyan really couldn't hold back, not even a little, huh? Eugene isn't the least bit surprised. He should've known that Stalyan had meant it when she'd said that she was here to make his life a living hell.
Stalyan: 1. Eugene: 0.
"Ohhh... I see. Flynn never told you about that." Stalyan laughs a little, and it's obvious that she doesn't feel the slightest bit guilty about Rapunzel's newfound realization. "Well, this is awkward."
"Funny that you never mentioned that… Flynn."
Rapunzel speaks through gritted teeth, and Eugene can see the way her hands are shaking. He wishes he could hold her, plead with her to listen. The moment his old name leaves Rapunzel's mouth, Eugene knows this isn't going to be pretty. She hasn't called him that since the day they'd met. She'd taken to his real name immediately after he'd revealed it, very much preferring his true self to the show he'd put on as Flynn Rider.
Eugene quickly stands from the bed, making a beeline for the love of his life – the woman he knows is about to let her infrequent, but terrifying, fury lose on him.
"Rapunzel, can we talk? Please? I'll tell you everything –"
He's pleading with her, she knows. Eugene has a hand wrapped gently, but firmly around her arm, ready to pull her into the hall, desperate to explain away the suggestive-looking scene before her.
"Fine." Rapunzel snaps, spinning to yank her arm from his grasp.
She huffs her way down the hallway, where they can have a bit of privacy from the open bedroom door, where Stalyan is still sitting on his bed, smiling evilly in response to the waves she's already stirred up. As Eugene had guessed, she's extremely proud of herself for successfully eliciting a fight between the ex-thief and the princess, after only one day of being in the palace.
When they're far enough away from Eugene's bedroom door to talk more openly, their tones hushed, Rapunzel questions Eugene immediately, and he prepares himself for the hard conversation they're about to have. He prays that he'll say the right thing, so as not to set her off any more than she surely already is.
"Eugene, was I... was I your rebound from that girl?"
Eugene isn't sure where she'd learned the term rebound (probably from Lance), but he's too focused on talking the princess down from her high ledge of anger to care.
"No! No, Rapunzel, of course not! You were never a rebound. I wasn't looking for someone when I met you."
"I can't believe that you were engaged and never thought that would be important information for me to know!"
"She's not important to me anymore."
"But she was. At one time, you were in love with someone else enough to almost marry them!" Rapunzel crosses her arms again, letting out an angry breath. "And she looked pretty important to you just now, sitting on your bed, with her hands all over you!"
Eugene finds himself growing frustrated, wishing she would just listen long enough to understand that his intentions were pure, and that his heart still belongs to her alone.
"Rapunzel... do you even hear yourself right now? You quite literally are married! You go to sleep every night in the same bed as a man who isn't ME! Has that fact been lost from your memory?"
She's taken a bit aback, her voice gone timid for a moment at his harsh question, as his own voice rises – something he's never really done towards her before.
"Well, no, but —"
"Then how can you seriously be mad at me right now? How can you be mad for what happened before I ever met you?
Rapunzel shakes her head, in awe of Eugene's ignorant response, completely frustrated that her love doesn't comprehend the principle of the situation.
"I'm not holding a grudge against your past, Eugene. I never have, you know that. I'm mad that you hid something so significant from me." Her hands are flying this way and that as she speaks, and he can see that her irritation is about to peak. "I didn't hide anything from you, I never would! I didn't know I was going to have to marry someone else, and I definitely didn't want to! That's not a secret that I kept!"
Eugene sighs, knowing the young, shaken up princess has a point.
"Look, I'm sorry. I should've told you a long time ago about Stalyan," Tentative fingers reach out to caress either side of her face, making his voice as soft as he can, despite his own irritation. He's relieved when Rapunzel actually lets him take her face in his hands. "But things were different with her. I wasn't engaged to her because I was in love, I was engaged to her because her father had blackmail on me. A lot of it. Like, almost ten years' worth. I was going to get in big trouble if I didn't do what they wanted."
She's looking up at him, the anger still etched across her cute face. But she's listening, and that's a step in the right direction, so Eugene carries on.
"But I walked away! And I guess... I guess I just thought that I could leave the past, in the past." He takes his princess by the shoulders suddenly, desperately wanting her to understand the posture of his heart. "You are the only woman I've ever been in love with, Rapunzel, and that's the honest truth. And I thought I could have a fresh start with you…" Eugene shakes his head, defeated. "But look how that turned out."
The princess scoffs, shaking his hands from her, not surprised that he'd made a jab about her sudden marriage – as if she'd chosen for it to happen.
"Regardless of how things turned out with us, Eugene, you still should've told me about her. I had a right to know! You had an entire year to be honest with me! And you were always going on about how 'people who love each other, are honest!'"
His chest deflates, and Eugene runs an irritated hand over his face, because he knows she's right. He had said that in their first year together, a lot. And he'd meant it, then, but more about their feelings for one another, and less about his checkered past.
"You're right, Blondie. You're right. I did. And like I said, I'm sorry for that. I shouldn't have hidden something that big from you." Eugene's face looks... sad, his voice tipped with vanquish when he finishes. "But does it really matter now?"
Rapunzel's eyes go wide, then narrow once more, and Eugene knows he's made a misstep. A big one.
"Yes! Of course it matters! How could you even ask that?" Rapunzel, suddenly so enthralled with his past, is deeply offended that he'd question her right to be angry.
"Because we can't change what happened in my past, Rapunzel! We've talked about this before. I did things I wasn't proud of, a lot of them. This? This is one of those things! I can't go back and change that I almost married her. I wish I hadn't, and I wish I hadn't kept that from you." Don't dig your hole deeper, don't dig your hole deeper… "But I did, and now you are married to someone else. Don't you understand now, how much it's been killing me to watch you with him? And I understand why you're angry with me right now, I really do, but —"
"Eugene… I'm not in love with Charles. I have no history with him! I don't want some girl, who looks like... like… that, coming here and stealing you away!"
Now it's Eugene's turn to scoff, only because this comment is completely ludicrous in his mind.
"You were already stolen away from me by a freaking prince. I don't know that there's much more 'stealing' anyone can do here!"
If Eugene wasn't so upset, he would laugh at the irony of her metaphor, that an ex-thief could be stolen away.
She blinks, soaking in his statement.
Maybe Eugene is right. What are they fighting for anymore? Delusion, false hope, a far-off notion that they would be able to be together someday, like they once had? That isn't going to happen. She's married now, and they surely can't keep sneaking around like this forever. So do any of his past mistakes really matter, even if they come knocking at his doorstep?
"Well, maybe we should just end this, then. If that's how you really feel."
"Maybe we should." Eugene regrets the words the moment they leave his mouth, but he's too upset to immediately snatch them back.
"Fine."
"Fine."
"Have fun with the... maid."
"Have fun with your prince!"
"Ugh!" Rapunzel stamps her foot, leaning in close to Eugene. Their faces are only inches apart now, but not for the reason Eugene had hoped they would've been close tonight, when he'd met her in the hallway outside of the banquet hall, and whispered dirty things in her ear. "You're acting like... like —"
"Go on, say it!"
"You're acting like Flynn Rider!" She exclaims in a strangled voice that tells him she's about to cry, the words bursting violently from her chest. "And Flynn Rider is not the man that I fell in love with!"
Ouch. Okay, that stung a little.
This was an insult for the ages, at least in her mind, and Eugene knows it.
"Well, actually, you kind of —"
"No." Rapunzel interrupts, knowing what he's about to say, her firm voice demanding his full attention. "I fell in love with you when you started acting like Eugene. The Eugene that I know. The Eugene that took me on a boat to see the lanterns, the Eugene that gave up everything he'd ever known to stay here in the palace with me, the Eugene that didn't hide things from me. That's the man that I fell in love with."
Her bottom lip trembling, tears in her eyes, Rapunzel turns suddenly, storming down the hallway and up the stairwell, her skirts flowing behind her in an angry, red curtain. Eugene's heart breaks – no, it shatters, into a million Rapunzel-shaped pieces as he watches her disappear up the stairs, surely to return to her room, where she'll burst into tears. The image makes Eugene's head hurt. He considers chasing after her, but feels a slender hand on his shoulder, pulling him back.
"Let her go, Flynn. Just let her go."
After quite literally shoving Stalyan from his bedroom, Eugene paces the stuffy room for quite some time, wondering what he needs to do to get Rapunzel to forgive him, to believe the scene with Stalyan on his bed hadn't been what it looked like. He kicks himself endlessly, completely pissed off at Stalyan for showing back up in his life at such a time as this (or for showing up at all, ever). But he's more so pissed off at himself, knowing he should've been honest about the entirety of his romantic past with Rapunzel a long time ago.
Eugene rips his bedding from the bed and throws it angrily to the floor, frustrated that Stalyan had sat there, in a place where he and Rapunzel had shared so many special moments and so many firsts. Suddenly, he feels a need to wash the sheets immediately.
The bedding had just been freshly washed, too. And just like she does with so many things, one touch from Stalyan had tainted it. What once had been pure and poured over with the sunshine that is Rapunzel, had been darkened by Stalyan.
What Eugene had told the angry princess, is true: Rapunzel is the only woman Eugene has ever been in love with. He'd loved Stalyan, inevitably cared about her after knowing her for so long, in a really twisted way. But that was a long time ago, and he'd been a completely different man the last time he'd felt anything romantic toward her.
He knows he probably should've told Rapunzel about his almost being married before, but he'd decided against doing so long ago, when they'd first moved into the palace. He honestly hadn't really thought about Stalyan since. Despite their prior engagement and nearly a decade of knowing her, his relationship with Stalyan just didn't seem significant enough to worry Rapunzel over. Eugene hadn't wanted the princess to think that his almost-marriage to Stalyan would've meant what marriage to Rapunzel would mean to him.
The Baron's daughter had never held the kind of weight that Rapunzel holds in Eugene's heart, had never changed him like Rapunzel was capable of. Losing Stalyan hadn't broken Eugene in the way that losing Rapunzel a few months ago had completely destroyed him, and continues to destroy him. His life without Stalyan had been a lot more peaceful; life without Rapunzel is unbearable.
With Stalyan, Eugene had been defiant, stubborn, always fighting for the upper hand. With Rapunzel, he was gentle and soft, putty in her hands, and not afraid of being wrong. With Stalyan, sex was sex, and nothing more. With Rapunzel, he made pure, blissful love, the kind that makes you forget your own name. With Stalyan, the rain had been a good reason to stay inside and rehash old arguments. With Rapunzel, a rainy day was a good excuse to dance in the courtyard without shoes, jumping from puddle to puddle. With Stalyan, every man was a man worth impressing, a man to woo and tease. With Rapunzel, Eugene was the only man in the world, the only man worth teasing, and she was damn good at it.
With Stalyan, life had been a miserable cycle of mistake after mistake, fight after fight. With Rapunzel, life had been beautiful, purposeful – dare he say, life with Rapunzel, before the marriage to Charles, before Stalyan's sudden arrival, had been nothing short of perfect.
Eugene's anger towards Rapunzel for her Flynn Rider comment subsides in about five minutes. He recalls something she'd said to him what feels like years ago now: "For the record, I like Eugene Fitzherbert much better than Flynn Rider." He remembers the warmth deep in his stomach in that moment, like butterflies had erupted there. She'd said it so sweetly, with so much authenticity, sitting there by the fire that first night they'd spent together, after she'd healed his hand. No one had ever preferred his true self to his cool, charming alter ego.
Not even Stalyan, after so many years of knowing him. It had only taken one night for Rapunzel to crash right through his well-built façade, to open him up, to dissect what was really inside.
Eugene wonders if that's the very moment he'd unknowingly started falling for Rapunzel, there in the firelight, after bearing their hearts to one another for the first time. He'd fallen for her so hard because she'd liked him, for him. And now, after this walk down memory lane, Eugene realizes the weight of what she'd said before she'd ran down the hallway only a little while ago.
Though she was so angry when she'd called him out for ripping a 'Does anything really matter?' page straight from the Flynn Rider handbook, Rapunzel had all but said: "I've always loved you, for you. What other woman can say that?"
The previously happy pair had rarely fought, and the few times they had argued in their first year living in the palace, one of them would typically be knocking on the other's bedroom door in less than an hour, apologizing profusely. Usually, Eugene and Rapunzel would fall into one another's arms in an instant, whispering sweet nothings into the other's ear about how wrong they were, and how sorry they are.
But things are wildly different now. This was big, the biggest fight they'd ever gotten into, a fight fueled by four months of stress, and words that cut deeper than anything she's ever said to him out of frustration before. Even then, Eugene can't blame Rapunzel for the anger she's feeling towards him right now.
For this reason, Eugene knows he can't fix this with a simple 'I love you,' which usually would be followed by wrapping Rapunzel in his arms, and a subsequent make out session, in which he'd pepper her body with kisses, telling her what an idiot he is. Likely, it would take time for Rapunzel to believe that his feelings toward Stalyan and her unexpected arrival were nothing but surprise – and trying to figure out why she's here at the palace, so he could figure out the best way to get her to leave.
It's been a long time since Eugene has thought long and hard about Stalyan. Despite the many years they'd spent together, she isn't someone that crosses his mind very often – at least, not since he'd found Rapunzel. Pretty much since the day he'd met her, the princess has completely consumed Eugene and all of his being. His every thought, his every hope and dream has consisted of Rapunzel, in a way that the Baron's daughter never had control over him. He'd never ached for Stalyan deep in his bones, hadn't lost sleep when she was away from him, hadn't wanted her quite as desperately as Eugene wants Rapunzel each and every day.
Sure, he and Stalyan had made good partners, as far as the execution of both large and small scale heists go. But when it came to romance, Stalyan and Eugene had been like oil and water. They'd both done as they'd wanted, selfishly unwilling to bend over backwards, or even bend a little, for the other person. Their fights were explosive, their make-ups short-lived, and the notion that it would be a good idea for them to get married, had been laced with the delusion of being young and dumb.
But Eugene is a grown man now, a man who has learned from his abundance of mistakes. He's twenty-five, and he yearns only for security, stability, and contentment. This is wildly unlike the constant adventure and freedom that his younger self had wanted so badly. He's no longer some eighteen-year-old kid who only really cares about two things: money and himself.
Marrying Stalyan, always staying connected to the Baron, had been a fairly smart plan of action, if only considering things from a money standpoint. But the once-pleasant relations between Eugene and the Baron had started to go seriously south when the former thief began a romantic relationship with his crime partner's daughter. The Baron was incredibly protective over his precious Stalyan, and Eugene – Flynn Rider, rather – had crossed a bold line, a line that the Baron hadn't been happy about.
Regardless, what Stalyan wants, Stalyan typically gets, and despite being unhappy about the arrangement, the Baron had forced Eugene into the marriage far sooner than he was ready for it. Even if he didn't exactly appreciate the idea of the thief screwing his daughter, the Baron wanted to keep Eugene around too, if only because he was good at what he did, and made the Baron a lot of money. Marriage hadn't been on Eugene's radar back then, not even in the slightest, but Stalyan begged, pleaded, and even threw a tantrum or two. So, to shut her up, Eugene had stolen a diamond ring. The Baron, eager to please his high maintenance daughter, had milked every last bit of blackmail he'd had on Eugene after nearly a decade of working together. This was to ensure that he wouldn't skip town before the wedding, because the Baron had known that's something Flynn Rider would do.
And, right on track, that's exactly what he'd done. Just before the ceremony, Eugene had hightailed it back to Corona in a tuxedo, not even stopping long enough to say goodbye to Lance, or even to tell his childhood best friend where he was going. And really, Eugene wasn't all that sorry for it – because if he hadn't, if he'd never had the courage to walk away from Stalyan and the Baron once and for all, he probably never would've met Rapunzel.
And an alternate life in which he'd never known Rapunzel, despite the current mess of their lives, is an alternative that Eugene just can't bear to consider.
Now, he's picturing Rapunzel in that red dress again, looking all perfect and shit, so unsuspecting and trusting, and his fist flies unintentionally into the wall. The skin on his knuckles sting and split, immediately starting to bleed.
Aren't things already fucked up enough with Charles around? It seems a little repetitious for Stalyan to show up. As if Eugene's luck hadn't been bad enough lately, now he has to deal with not only one person who could destroy the relationship Rapunzel and Eugene are hanging onto by a thread, but two.
Eugene considers stomping his way upstairs, dragging himself to Rapunzel's bedroom, pounding on the door and begging her to forgive him, but he assumes that wouldn't be the brightest idea. Charles could easily be there, or come upon him, and a fight with Charles is the last thing Eugene needs right now. Despite how much it had killed him not to chase after Rapunzel, he knows he'll have to find some other way to talk to her, to explain everything.
So instead, Eugene finds a bandage for his hand, wraps his bleeding knuckles tightly, strides to the door, and locks it. He strips down to his undergarments, gets into bed, and tries his damn hardest not to cry. He's a grown man, a man who's lived through at least six months in jail, a stab wound, and the love of his life being married off to another man. And he can't handle Stalyan? Still, he can't stop the few tears that escape, rolling down his cheeks pathetically. Eugene sniffles, angrily wiping them away, knowing he only has himself to blame for Rapunzel's outburst.
The princess has every right to be upset with him. He'd hidden something from her, something important. Eugene knows that, and he'd responded to her anger like a total asshole. He'd responded like she doesn't have a right to be angry: just like Flynn Rider would have. In his frustration, he'd unwillingly planted the untrue idea in her head that he doesn't want to fight for her anymore, for their relationship. Typically, he was always so patient, so gentle with Rapunzel, and he feels a heavy guilt settling in his stomach for the way he'd acted. But lately, everything has been so out of sorts – including Eugene. He knows he didn't handle the conversation the way he normally would have, had the last few months not been so stress-induced.
Eugene sighs deeply, rolling over in bed, knowing he's not going to get much sleep tonight. The only thing that's going to be on his mind for the next eight, miserable hours is Rapunzel, how badly he wants to hold her, and the image of her crying in the bed she shares with Charles. She should be here in bed, with him.
She would've been, had Stalyan not shown up.
Was Eugene's past ever going to stop knocking on his door, literally?
AN: Oh, no. Commence the first big falling out New Dream has had so far in this story. How do we feel about all of the angst, and about Stalyan being around to stir the pot? Hasn't our favorite couple been stressed enough in the last four months?
This chapter's featured song is Bitch Came Back by Theory of a Deadman. This song gave me pure Stalyan and Eugene vibes — how he probably would've felt during much of their on-and-off again long-term relationship, and in the midst of her return. Their relationship seemed like a bit of a... well, in my opinion, it seemed like a hot mess, assumedly filled with a lot of name calling, emotional abuse, and dare I say, probably some cheating. We all know that Rapunzel is the only woman Eugene ever would've even considered changing for, and Stalyan is about to wreak some of her own havoc in retaliation to that. She still wants Eugene... but then again, can we really blame her? He is irresistible, after all.
We're about to have a lot of jealousy going on around here, in the form of a love… square? I hope to see you in Chapter 12 and thank you so much for reading!