AN: Hello, readers. I am here with your (hopefully) newest bit of Tangled guilty pleasure. This is the first Tangled story that I have published, though I have started plenty of stories that have remained in the graveyard that is my notes app, and it has been my favorite movie since circa 2010. This story will include some of your favorite characters from Tangled the Series, but will not follow the storyline of the black rocks, Rapunzel's reoccurring blonde hair, or the moonstone in any way.
'Killing Me Slowly' is a completely different story in its own right, filled with forbidden love, secrets, and an arranged marriage. If any of these words piqued your interest in the slightest, please, stick around. It's about to be a cycle of hurt and pain, but one of passion and true love, as well. I suggest that you listen to the song Killing Me Slowly by Bad Wolves before reading the story, as it has provided the inspiration for the ensuing situation below.
This story is Rated M for mature themes, sexuality, and language.
Disclaimer: I do not own Tangled – though of course, I wish that I did. The upcoming chapters will be much longer than this one, but I simply wanted to get this story off the ground. Now, without further ado, let's do this thing.
Edited on February 15th, 2021
Chapter 1: Rude Interruptions
Eugene wonders if she can shove her tongue down his throat any farther, or if the way that she's rocking her hips against him can possibly turn him on any more. Lying there in the soft hay of the barn loft, he and Rapunzel had struggled their way up the ladder only five minutes earlier after a particularly long horseback ride, trying not to kiss one another at each rung.
He removes Rapunzel from her comfortable place in his lap, causing her lip to pout adorably, though a smile quickly graces her face when he lies her down in the hay before settling between her legs. He reaches down to gently nudge them further open, exposing her to the warm, setting end-of-summer sun which shows itself through the loft windows.
Eugene notes the way that the sunshine always feels and tastes a little like her.
His lips drag up the inside of her thigh until he reaches her silky underwear, smirking as her impatient fingers tug at his hair. Eugene pushes her long skirt up, bunching it around her waist. Rapunzel is already whimpering his name, sending a cold shiver down his spine – a shiver which goes straight to his groin. Eugene clasps her shaking calves in his steady hands after placing them over his shoulders, pulling her closer to him. Breathing against her, he leaves tantalizing kisses up and down her thighs – causing her to moan with a brutal impatience – before finally lapping at the wetness which is already dripping down the inside of her thighs.
She's always more than ready to let him show her just how much he adores her, and he's always more than ready to oblige.
"Oh, God, yes… Eugene…"
Her cheeks burn with a flustered pink color, her short hair a tousled mess, his name falling from her lips with reckless abandon – and he couldn't possibly feel more serene in this moment.
"There are a few things in life that I never wanted to see,"
Rapunzel's eyes snap open as she quickly pushes herself up from the hay, a deep crimson traveling up her neck to dot her cheeks – a very different kind of blush from the one in which she'd only just been experiencing.
It's adorable, really, though Eugene isn't the least bit surprised by this rude interruption, and even less appreciative of it. He stands easily, wiping his lips with the back of his hand, before turning around to face the ultimate bane of his existence.
And continually effective cockblocker.
Cassandra spreads two of the fingers which she's now using in the hopes of protecting her eyes from the intimate scene before her, peeking through them cautiously, eyeing Rapunzel's still bewildered – and even more embarrassed – face. With slight amusement, Cassandra watches as her dearest friend's chest still heaves slightly – her lips still recovering from wanting to moan out her love's name – as the princess scrambles to stand and smooth her dress. Rapunzel tries her best to appear presentable, though fails miserably: her hair disheveled, her eyes wide and dilated with obvious desire.
"And that is definitely one of those things." Cassandra finishes, shivering dramatically, pursing her lips in disgust.
"C'mon, Cassandra. Just because no one will fuck you –"
"Eugene."
That comment only gets him a disapproving look from Rapunzel – which is quite low on Eugene's list of favorite looks to grace her pretty face (he would very much prefer joy, or pride, or the awestruck look typically on her face when she's with him) – so he decides to keep his mouth shut. For now.
It has been nearly a year since Rapunzel has been reunited with her family. One year of pure bliss: horseback rides through the forest, painting on palace walls, finding secret hiding places, falling pathetically deep in love with one another, and Eugene's personal favorite: one year of Rapunzel's slow, but sure, sexual awakening.
Now, it wasn't that he'd pushed her, or that Eugene wouldn't have been okay with waiting for her to be comfortable with exploring her sexuality, however long it might take. He wasn't even the one to broach the subject of anything that went beyond a simple kiss. Because, honestly, Eugene had been deathly afraid of what she might say, or that he would only confuse the newly-returned princess further. In the first few weeks of living in the castle, Rapunzel had plenty to be confused about. Sex wasn't exactly something to be taken lightly, and it definitely wasn't something to be taken lightly with the love of your life and the girl who you would quite literally die for.
Needless to say, the notion of sex is a mindful subject in which Eugene has approached with Rapunzel with a special type of delicacy. Although he's unofficially been in charge of teaching the princess about and explaining to her many things in the past year (many things which she probably shouldn't know) – and while Eugene hasn't explained every little thing to her with perfect ease (the ever-presently, overtly curious girl asks a lot of difficult questions) – sexual intimacy is not going to be the thing in which Eugene screws up for her completely.
If something so intimate were to happen before she were truly ready, without the proper buildup, the entire thing could blow up in his face, and Rapunzel would potentially be too afraid to try again. Eugene doesn't want that, if only because their relationship is so pure, and real, and still slightly innocent – innocent in the way that he doesn't want to take things faster than they need to be taken, or so fast that she'll fall headfirst into fear about things which she shouldn't have to be afraid about. Innocent in the way that he doesn't want to take advantage of her unshakeable trust in him – a trust which Eugene has spent an entire year procuring between them.
In the past year, Rapunzel has been forced to face many new things, and has been overstimulated by even more – things like getting to know her parents for the first time, being away from the tower in which she'd known as her only home for eighteen, long years, an endless list of responsibilities and expectations as princess, and coming to terms with the death of the woman whom she'd always thought to be her mother.
And, hardest of them all, learning how to truly trust anyone who isn't Eugene to provide her with proper guidance in the world.
Of course, Rapunzel had almost immediately fallen into an easy intimacy with her parents, forming a special kind of bond with them which can only occur between parent and child. Regardless of the close-knit family unit which Rapunzel, Eugene, and her parents have created in the past year, Rapunzel has always slightly struggled with the possibility of letting anyone but Eugene and herself, truly guide her decisions. After all, she'd been lied to for her entire life, and Eugene is the only thing currently with her in the palace which she'd known before coming to the palace.
Sure, Rapunzel can still carry a bit of naivety in her heart, and perhaps always will. But she was often a bit skeptical of people and their true intentions, too – what with the underlying trauma of what had happened that final day in the tower. What with the fear that, someday, someone would do their best to take Eugene from her once more. She hadn't wanted to feel this way, as not blindly trusting others was so against her nature. But this brutal skepticism after first arriving in the palace, had been something in which the new princess had to work through.
Rapunzel may be naïve, but one thing that she certainly is not, is stupid, and Eugene didn't want to hide the truth of the world from her for the sake of doing it. She wasn't as fragile as she'd been made to believe, and she wasn't as incapable, either. Finally being free from her tower – free from Gothel and her off-putting refusal to allow Rapunzel even the slightest shred of self-worth – had proven that. Rapunzel was well aware of the haunting trauma which laid beneath the surface after that horrible final day in the tower – trauma in which she knew that she had to deal with.
The princess – completely going against her etiquette tutor's best efforts to instill within her proper, royal behavior – would often travel to Eugene's room the middle of the night in the rushing panic of a jolting nightmare, if only to place her hand upon his chest to ensure that he was still breathing, to ensure that his heart was still beating for her. Eugene had become accustomed to her bare feet padding across his wooden floorboards, pulling the warm blankets back, and subsequently climbing into bed with him, despite how inappropriate such a situation was deemed. Typically, he didn't send her away – because, typically, he yearned for her comfort in the middle of the night just as much as she yearned for his.
Needless to say, Rapunzel had a lot to deal with when they first arrived at the palace. Eugene did too, what with his thieving identity being torn into little, Rapunzel-shaped pieces. He had quickly assumed that the last thing on her mind would be learning about sex, of all things. After all, Eugene wasn't entirely reckless or entirely selfish – actually, he was a lot less of both since meeting her. He could live without fooling around if it meant that he could still spend every day with the woman who he'd fallen so pathetically, so deeply in love with over the past year.
But the day that she'd found a certain book on reproduction in the library, about two months post-tower, Eugene was a dead man, as good as gone. She had all but cornered him in his bathroom later that day, asking that he explain to her the inner workings of reproduction and whatever 'sexual intercourse' was. Eugene stumbled through a generic explanation, something that had to do with birds and bees, explaining to her delicately that there are parts on a man and parts on a woman – parts which were created to fit together in perfect, blissful harmony.
When this sorry excuse for an effective explanation was quickly followed by the demand that he show her how it all worked in that painfully innocent way of hers, Eugene couldn't be the one to deny her of her education moving forward, now could he? After two months of living in the castle with her, their relationship pure and innocent as could be, the cat was out of the bag, and Eugene wasn't one to deprive his princess of just about anything.
Eugene knew that premarital indiscretions were deeply frowned upon around here, and likely enough to get him thrown out of the castle if caught, but he'd quickly supposed that this special kind of intimacy with the love of his life was a risk that he was willing to take.
Because, frankly, he couldn't stay away from her if he tried.
Besides, they've never gone all the way, and Eugene strongly suspects that they probably never will until she has an engagement ring sparkling on her finger – at least, if he doesn't want to see a rope hanging from his neck anytime soon. Waiting until marriage to have sex would be the right thing to do – if only not to completely overwhelm Rapunzel in a new world – a world in which she is still adjusting to each day.
And – although he'd never admit it – Eugene finds it kind of romantic to know that their first time will be on their wedding night. He'll get to feel her around him for the first time as her husband, and she'll moan his name as his wife, and waiting would be the right thing to do. Despite Eugene's long list of past sexual indiscretions, he desperately yearns for his first time with her to be special, memorable – something which will make Rapunzel feel completely safe and entirely loved. Eugene doesn't want to rush that. Though this night is still a while away, no doubt, Rapunzel is well worth it.
Everything which comes with being with her – endless, stuffy parties with even stuffier guests, and scratchy clothing, and judgmental stares, are well worth it.
Besides, there's a lot that you can still get away with doing, without going all the way. Loopholes are a Eugene Fitzherbert specialty, after all.
Rapunzel had been expectedly nervous when their exploration of her sexuality had first begun. She'd understandably been quite self-conscious, too – no doubt after years of being demeaned and belittled, taught to believe that her only self-worth was tied up in seventy feet of long, golden hair.
But Eugene has been sure to take this newfound intimacy between them painfully slow: always sure to remind her of just how beautiful she is every chance that he could. After all, she was utter perfection in human form, if he'd ever seen it. To Eugene's gratefulness, Rapunzel's shyness around him and subsequent innocence rather quickly melted away from her – secretly melted away from her – but only when he would hike her skirt around her hips, and only behind his closed bedroom door, or in secret places like a hidden meadow or the barn loft. Only for him to see.
And he likes it that way: Eugene likes that his name was the only name which would ever fall from her pretty lips, he likes that he was the only one who could make her feel warm between her legs, and he likes that no one but him would ever have to know about it (at least, until now, when Cassandra had so rudely interrupted them). He likes that she is always more than willing to break royal code for his sake; not because he wants Rapunzel to get into trouble, per say, but because Eugene often finds himself terrified that if she doesn't find the courage to push the boundaries every now and again, the pressure of being a princess will crush her altogether. He likes that they share so many little secrets and inside jokes between them – little secrets like the things that he would teach her in such hidden places.
Things that she really shouldn't know, at least when taking proper etiquette into account.
But she would beg him to show her – to teach her – and Eugene really never was any good for saying no to her.
Beyond her explored sexual experience, the beloved Princess Rapunzel still remains as the slightly naïve, completely bubbly girl who Eugene had come across by pure, lucky happenstance in that prison of a tower. She was still the same, curious girl who he'd fallen head-over-heels in love with and subsequently died for – the girl who feels and tastes like pure sunshine, and makes you feel just as warm when you're around her. Eugene takes pure pride in being the one to transform her from a generally innocent young girl, locked away in a tower, to a young woman who would quickly feel essentially no shame in sneaking him into broom closets for long make out sessions, or padding to his bedroom in the middle of the night, if only to lose a few hours of sleep with him in the exchange of making one another feel good.
Rapunzel had become so completely comfortable with their tightknit intimacy in the past year – in every way, even beyond the physical – and Eugene has always been glad for that. The young princess wasn't quite so innocent when repeating his name in breathless moans, pulling at his hair every time that his head would find its way between her legs, which was often.
And exactly where it had been just now, before such a rude interruption had impaled them.
"Do you have any idea how scarring that was for me?"
"Cass, I am so, so sorry." Rapunzel's wide, green eyes are big and remorseful on her closest friend and lady-in-waiting, before quickly shifting their gaze to narrow upon Eugene's unbothered expression as he raises his hands in a casual defense. "I knew that we should have lifted the ladder! If you would've just listened to me instead of being so focused on –"
Cassandra, thoroughly disgusted in every way, cuts off her best friend to address her reason for interrupting such an intimate moment.
"Look, its fine. Let's just... never speak of this again, okay? Besides, that's not why I came looking for you."
"Is everything okay?" Rapunzel's eyebrows furrow together, noting the typically-serious look bestowing her friend's face.
"Yes, please, do tell the reason why you felt so inclined to interrupt my feel-good-happy-fun-time."
Crossing her arms over her chest, Cassandra swivels in place, her expression transforming from complacent, to completely irritated.
"Oh, shut up, Fitzherbert. Do you ever have anything to say that's not incredibly idiotic, perverted, or both?"
Eugene only shrugs, mostly indifferent to the lady-in-waiting's usual taunting.
"No, not really."
With a hard roll of her eyes, Cassandra returns her gaze to Rapunzel, who has become far too accustomed to her two dearest companions metaphorically grabbing at one another's throats.
"I'm not sure what about, but your parents want to talk to you, and they said it was urgent. So, if I were you, I'd cover the hickey that's probably going to start growing on your neck."
The lady-in-waiting points to Rapunzel, only the slightest twinge of amusement in her dark, unreadable eyes.
"And if I were you," Now, to Eugene. "I'd wipe the smirk off your stupid face."
"Oh, you think my face is stupid? Have you looked in the mirror lately? And that haircut! I mean, come on! Have you ever heard of a little styling –"
Sighing deeply, Rapunzel begins to make her way down the barn loft ladder and away from the stables, padding barefooted to the courtyard where her parents will be waiting for her.
Eugene and Cass will surely be bickering for a while, and who was she to be so rude as to interrupt?