Eugene gulped hard several times; the silence stretched a bit too thin between his forthcoming answer and Rapunzel's question. Eugene could feel that old standby instinct of wanting to lie through his teeth threatening to take over. But this was Rapunzel before him…. And this much he'd learned by now; if an honest woman confronts you about your past hookups, you should level with her. Though Eugene would've told Rapunzel whatever she wished to know, no matter when she chose to ask. After he'd been exploited for so many years by the likes of Stalyan and the Baron, Eugene had reached a breaking point fairly early on where he couldn't bring himself to seduce the innocent anymore. He'd never liked doing that in the first place since it made him feel cheap, sleazy, and just all-out gross. Even thieves had to have some type of internal guidance system. It was yet another reason why he'd left Stalyan.
Eugene also knew that if he had to start running interference regarding his past during his first day as Eugene Fitzherbert the gentleman ….then he'd have to keep lying forever afterward….just like Flynn had. And Eugene was simply tired - no, exhausted - from all of the running, running, running. Flynn Rider had been on the move ever since he ditched the orphanage before his 10th year all those years ago. No more running, Eugene resolved. Even if leveling with the princess means she wants me out of the picture, so be it. She deserves to hear the truth from the source.
"Rapunzel…." Eugene began delicately, "the short answer to your question - I'm sorry to say - is far too many. But I'm requesting that we put a bookmark in that answer; we'll circle back around to finish it." Eugene nearly lost his nerve to continue after seeing the crestfallen look in Rapunzel's eyes. He instead busied himself by locating the ring-shaped pull embedded in the trapdoor of the floor. After tugging on it, he noticed it wouldn't budge. Without prompting, Rapunzel volunteered further information, explaining how when the princess was still little, Gothel always made her go up to the loft before she opened the trapdoor for her trips away. The crone never wanted the girl to figure out how to operate it. Thus Rapunzel said, "But you're good at finding your way out of places. I figured you could make the mechanism work - even without having seen Gothel's trick to unlatching it."
No sooner had Rapunzel said the word "unlatching" when a sharp click-THUNK issued from the floor. "Found it," announced a smirking Eugene, as he moved the toe of his boot off of the otherwise camouflaged mechanism. He couldn't help feeling a little smug after having effectively outthought that diabolical dead woman….again. The young man repositioned himself to again tug the metal ring and sure enough, the trapdoor swung open this time.
"After you," said Eugene, gallantly gesturing Rapunzel down the next set of stairs.
"If only I had met you sooner," Rapunzel said wistfully, as she shook her head. She'd tried to find that hidden mechanism in the floor for years. Eugene had discovered and figured out how to disarm it in mere seconds.
Eugene could not help his contrite chuckle. "Rapunzel, if we had met sooner - even one year earlier, I doubt I ever could've left this place the first time. But it would've been for an entirely different reason."
"Oh, yeah?" Rapunzel challenged, an unexpected edge to her voice. She folded her arms and demanded, "And what's that?"
"Well, for starters," said Eugene, his voice becoming far more subdued, "you never would've reached the fateful decision to enter a trust agreement with the kingdom's most disreputable scoundrel. I mean….how could you?" Eugene pondered softly. "Especially based on the faulty info you'd been given about the world in general, you wouldn't have had a reason yet to take the chance on our deal. Gothel's control freakishness….hadn't yet pushed you to the brink. Instead, she would've come home, you would've had no choice but to tell her that you'd caught me breaking in, and….well…."
"Don't say that," Rapunzel abruptly cut him off, abandoning her walk down the stairs, instead rushing over to grab Eugene's free hand. "Don't you ever say that," she admonished, eyes wide. "Even if you had remained a perfect rogue stranger to me, Eugene Fitzherbert, I never would've wanted that old crone to hurt you on purpose. And especially not like... this," finished Rapunzel, once more stretching her palm and pressing it against the jagged bloody tear in his doublet. A renewed ember of hope sparked inside him. And before he knew it, Rapunzel was apologizing, of all things!
"I….I'm sorry I put you on the spot that way regarding, ah, any prior relationships. It wasn't fair of me to throw something like that on you so suddenly." Meekness overtook Rapunzel and she looked at the floor, absently tracing out an invisible half-circle with her big toe. "Besides," she confessed, "I only did it to distract you from my own awkwardness. But….but you kept…..insisting I should tell you what was bothering me since you are trustworthy." Eugene was swift and carefully set the trapdoor down with the hinge open outward. He also briefly removed and set down his satchel.
The anxious young man went directly to Rapunzel with open arms but halfway through the motion thought that perhaps he shouldn't, because Eugene didn't want her to feel obligated to reciprocate. So the keyed-up man kept his fingers curled into his palms rather than reach out, and he kept his arms from raising above waist height. He was half-frozen, trying earnestly not to telegraph what he truly wished to do.
Eugene's own thumbs must've betrayed him, though, as they involuntarily flexed, splaying outward from his balled fists. Rapunzel approached him and briefly gazed into his eyes with a hint of smile behind her own. She proceeded to lean over and take each of his hands, in turn, and tenderly kiss each errant thumb, in turn. Yet any embarrassment Eugene felt over her keen perception would soon melt away. For the princess took his left wrist and placed his arm over her right shoulder, took his right wrist and guided his arm around her waist, and then she mirrored the gesture with her own arms around him. The pair had briefly stopped their world to oh-so-carefully melt deeply into each other. After some time, they briefly broke their embrace. Rapunzel drew her arms in and criss-crossed her upper body with them, tucking in right up against Eugene's chest. This allowed the sweet young man to attentively draw the princess into himself so tightly, nearly tight enough for him to wrap his arms around her twice as he buried his entire face into her silken hair. Each time they embraced….Eugene was simply floored with just how perfectly they "fit" one another; she could nestle comfortably and flush against his own shape, creating a head-to-toe highway of warmth and love.
Eventually, contented humming issued from Rapunzel's throat. "I've never felt this safe before," she murmured in awe, her face still pillowed against Eugene's chest. "Nobody's ever held me like this before either." This realization had moved the princess to tears. Eugene leisurely placed a ring of popcorn kisses around the crown of her head in effort to soothe. "Dearest Sunshine of mine,' he whispered into her hair, "I can promise you there's so much more where that came from….." and he was able to draw her imperceptibly closer into himself.
Soon moisture pricked the corners of his own eyes, for Eugene had a similar epiphany to Rapunzel's. In all his years of relative isolation on the run, Rider never once allowed himself to partake in anything on this type of intimacy level. He'd always been keen to its existence, though. And he knew it was so much deeper and more meaningful than sex. And being the secretly sensitive person Eugene was, it was something he furtively craved but couldn't bring himself to put that type of expectation upon another human being, knowing the unfavorable lifestyle he led.
And here this fractured thief managed to get caught up within a perfect healing ray of sunlight….and she was willing to take him on along with all his demons, even without knowing the full story in advance. And boy, did he ever have more than his fair share of demons. In spite of himself, Eugene had to say it again. "Sunshine…..I don't deserve you."
He immediately heard a tiny huff of impatience from her. "Eugeeeeeene," Rapunzel overemphasized with mild vexation, "deserving or not, I've chosen you. You are forever my new dream. So….so start acting like it….please?" she implored, gazing at him with wide-open concerned eyes. Even her pep talk to him had proven about as rough and tumble as dandelion fluff.
"For you, Sunshine." Eugene caressed her cheek. "It'll be a struggle for awhile….but I will no longer speak of 'deserving to have you.' I shall instead focus on 'building new dreams with you'."
"Thank you," Rapunzel said gratefully. "It….just….hurts me to see you thinking so much less of yourself due to circumstances now beyond your control." She slipped her hand into Eugene's own. And it was that moment he finally found an opening to finish what he started.
"Circling back to the bookmark in our conversation…. Rapunzel…. Ever since the first time you chose to address me as Eugene, everything...the past few days...has been unlike anything I've ever felt or experienced with any woman before. It's all new….all of it. So many firsts already. Nonetheless, you still have every right to ask me about whomever I've been with prior to when we met. And while I do intend to eventually tell you about those encounters - if that's what you want - you should also be aware that for me, Eugene Fitzherbert, it's still a little too soon to openly discuss much of anything just yet. But I will try for your sake, if that's what you need." He briefly bowed his head, his eyelids automatically sliding shut.
Rapunzel was so fleet-footed that Eugene had not heard her change positions to where she grabbed his satchel, immediately encouraged Eugene to open his eyes and to help a struggling Pascal who was now lugging a forgotten cast-iron frying pan, and she started down the steps at long last. That was….abrupt, Eugene thought to himself. If Rapunzel was perpetually so talented at keeping him on his toes, then he'd best get himself some better boots - and soon!
"You okay?" asked Eugene, just to make sure. He grabbed the brass ring of the trapdoor and just before he closed it…..he looked around the Tower one last time. He knew that he should feel the most ominous and terrified that he'd ever felt, especially upon glimpsing his own bloodstain on the floor. But something…..someone was protecting him. And even though he was neither superstitious nor believed in ghosts, once in awhile he would privately allow himself the indulgence of conjuring up invented people and imagery from his past. Fleetingly an image of who could only be his mother comes to mind; it was her spirit that must've been shielding him from the worst of today's trauma, he decided. Thank you, he mouths the words to a seemingly empty Tower, pulling the trapdoor tight shut forever...
"I'm more than okay," Rapunzel replied enthusiastically, as she made her way down the dingy spiral staircase. "Who cares about past relationships when you can tell me about all of those firsts you just mentioned instead?"
Eugene almost - almost - laughed aloud with relief. Here he had been so worried about past relationship questions when Rapunzel instead wanted to be told all about the present. Three days, and this was the only thing he'd come across so far in which Rapunzel was anything like any other woman he'd met. And Eugene was more than happy to indulge her need to know just how special she had become to him and why.