Killing Me Slowly: A Tangled Fanfiction

by keeparecordofthewreckage

Living in Corona, Eugene and Rapunzel are more in love than ever. One year post-tower, they have navigated trauma, grief, new relationships, and what it means to have a real family. But is their love strong enough to withhold the restraints of an unexpected arranged marriage? (Rated M for references to prior trauma, sexual intimacy, and language). This is a currently active story!

35. Chapter 34

AN: I can't believe that after nearly two years, hours upon hours of hard work (and mountains of angst), we've reached the final chapter of this story. I've put my entire heart and soul into this fic: so many tears, so many laughs, so many late nights spent editing with burning eyes until 2 AM, and so many life changes have occurred since I began writing this ever-winding journey that I've put New Dream on.

I've grown immensely as a writer and as a person through the creation of Killing Me Slowly, I've somehow grown in my love for these characters even more, and I'd like to thank every single one of you for supporting me in it. The love and appreciation that I have for all of you – my own little group of loyal readers, something I've always wanted to have – cannot be described with simple words.

Our featured songs for this final chapter include As the World Caves In and Love Story – both beautifully haunting covers performed by Sarah Cothran – Start a War by Klergy, I'm a Wanted Man by Royal Deluxe, Speaking of Truth by Laleh, and Sign of the Times by Harry Styles.

Also, I just got married in September to my own personal Eugene Fitzherbert, so this chapter is very near and dear to my heart. Halloween night was Killing Me Slowly's 2nd birthday, and I can't think of a better way to celebrate (albeit a bit late) this story. The last time that I get to say this for Killing Me Slowly…enjoy it. All of it. I sure know I have.

Chapter 34: As the World Caves In

There's a room where the light won't find you

Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down

When they do, I'll be right behind you

So glad we've almost made it

So sad they had to fade it…

Eugene doesn't recall ever really knowing true peace; hadn't felt that he'd needed it. He can recall being a dishonest, selfish thief for as far back as he can remember. And for a long time, that identity as a thief was as little and as much as he understood about himself.

When he was just a boy, Eugene knew only chaos. After doing it for long enough, running from the law – and from his subsequent inner demons – was the only thing that felt comfortable. The only thing he felt as though he'd deserved; the only thing he'd earned for himself, and the only thing he was actually good at. Good for.

He'd tried to successfully block it out, but as a young child, Eugene remembers that everything just hurt. His head constantly hurt because his stomach hurt from being so hungry all the time, and his heart hurt because he knew that no one cared. He could starve to death, and it wouldn't matter to anyone – not really. Maybe to Lance, but even then…Lance had himself to feed and worry about. Much as they truly loved one another, the two men grew into a pattern of necessary selfishness, which was why they'd been separated for so many years until very recently. Where survival was concerned, that selfishness just made sense.

Back then, Eugene didn't know what it was like to have a place to call home. A place that was always warm, and always dry, and always had someone there to tuck you in at night. He didn't know what it might feel like to be able to truly rely on anyone but himself. From his jaded view of the world, people crossed paths to use one another to get what they wanted, and to continue on their merry way when they got it.

People didn't cross paths just to stay. People always left. That's what he'd grown accustomed to telling himself, anyway. If Eugene had been able to find it within himself to believe otherwise back then, the reality of his situation perhaps would've been too much, too bleak, to bear all alone.

There was a time when Eugene couldn't possibly imagine a life where he was handed everything on a silver platter, nor a life where he was loved for who he truly was; loved in a way that forced him to finally love himself. He couldn't bring himself to indulge in such a fantasy, but he'd wanted to. On the days when he was lonely, which was most days (even though he'd refused for so long to admit it), he'd wanted that. That stability.

When he was younger, Eugene couldn't bring himself to dream of someone loving the real version of him – couldn't dare to dream of the comfort and vulnerability that comes with a love like that. So instead, he'd allowed himself to be treated like crap by the first girl who seemed like she'd loved him. When that didn't work, he'd allowed himself to dream about piles of money and living utterly alone, because he'd somehow convinced himself that nothing would be better than pure solitude. That he'd earned the right to be lonely.

Whether he'd allowed himself to dream of it or not, he'd found it in the end: a love like that. A love that pulled the mask away. Finally, after over twenty years of chaotic self-deprivation and hiding his true self from everyone – including himself – he'd found a home to nestle his wary heart in.

He'd found a home that was always warm, and always dry. A home that never allowed him to go to bed hungry, and a home that was filled with people who genuinely cared about him, and one person who mattered more than all the others. These people surrounding him now, they didn't love him for what he could do for them or for what he looked like. They didn't just pretend to care so they could get what they wanted from him. They just cared about him.

And while no one technically tucked him in at night, someone probably would've if he'd asked.

In this place, this home, Eugene had found the comfort that he'd never dared to dream of as a child – lest it be snatched away from him all over again – and had found a love which had molded him into the best version of himself. The version of him that was honest, and kind, and valiant. A man who did right by those who counted on him, and a man who sought justice where justice was lacking.

Eugene had become the kind of man he'd assumed he'd never be capable of becoming, if only because this type of man wasn't suitable for survival; the kind of man who would've been eaten up by the world and spit out. When he was young, he couldn't have afforded such a luxury. And while this current version of himself still fucks up far more often than Eugene would like, these mistakes were much better than being all alone in the world, contrary to the alluded contentment with loneliness which his younger self had grown so attached to.

As much as Eugene had convinced himself otherwise in his youth, being alone could only be glamorized so much and could only be romanticized so far. Most nights, he was not only alone – he was lonely. Much as he'd wanted to deny it, there was a difference, and he'd felt it. And even on the nights that he wasn't physically alone, he still felt it. On the inside, he was still just as lonely as he would've been without that random girl in his bed.

He always was lonely, really. Eugene had come to believe that perhaps he'd been born lonely, had come into this world screaming and crying for someone – anyone – to care. To fight for him.

Alas, no one ever really had. He hadn't been truly worth the fight, perhaps. Hadn't been worth the effort it would've taken to try to change him. Or, more likely, he just hadn't crossed paths with the right person yet.

Until her, that is. Until she came along and fought for him. Saved him.

Golden light floods in through the big windows lining the right side of Rapunzel's bedroom wall, casting glimmering shadows of waning dawnlight onto the messy bedspread. As Eugene's heavy eyelids will themselves to bear the weight of this new day, he registers a slight breeze raising the hairs on the back of his neck.

For a moment, Eugene almost forgets where he is, half expecting to wake up on a boat traveling to or from Maddoline. Everything has become so blurred together since then, his sense of time completely warped.

But no, this is no boat, and a journey from Maddoline is a journey that he won't have to endure any longer; a journey that he's promised himself they'll never have to endure ever again. The white drapes framing each large window – drapes, and not sails, much to his relief – fly delicately away from the balcony doors at the far end of the room and back again, brushing against the glass as gentle humming floats from beyond the open doors to kiss his cheeks awake.

Every muscle in his arms and thighs have been left taut and aching overnight, Eugene realizes. Shifting in bed and pushing his groggy body up onto his elbows, Eugene rubs at his eyes with the back of a heavy hand, still feeling as though he's floating underwater.

The sharp pangs straining at his forearms and biceps probably have something to do with holding up his own weight after making love all night long – not that he's bothered by it, of course. It was the best possible reason to be sore in Eugene's book. After they'd fucked that initial time, they'd awoken in the night, found their way back into each other's arms and made love again, slow and passionate in the moonlight seeping through the windows.

It had definitely ended up being one of the best nights they'd ever spent together. Despite the winding, treacherous road which had led them here, the difficult wait they'd endured to feel this way again had been more than worth it.

They had gone through hell, but perhaps they'd finally reached heaven – or at least had come very close to touching it.

It had never felt so intimate, so real and right. To have Rapunzel back in his arms, and for good this time…there were no proper words Eugene could find to describe it. His heart was absolutely fit to burst, and he could simply cry at the relief of having her safe and sound again. He had. And he wasn't even the slightest bit embarrassed by his tears, not in front of her, because Eugene knew that Rapunzel shared the same semintment; the same relief.

Being without her for those weeks when she'd been stranded alone in Maddoline, Eugene had felt as though his very soul was attempting to eat itself from the inside out, like he was all but rotting away while she was gone. Not having to feel that way anymore…it was such a heavy burden lifted off his shoulders, such a comfort to him.

Now, Eugene drags himself from the bed, planting both feet on the cold marble floor and allowing his head to fall between his legs while the tired fuzziness of his mind slowly subsides. Finally hauling himself from the warm mattress, he dutifully follows the pretty humming floating in from the open French doors, finding Rapunzel there on the stone balcony. Attesting to her free-spirited character, a cream-colored sheet is wrapped haphazardly around her otherwise bare shoulders, a paintbrush in hand.

To see her in this element, in a moment of such quiet contentment and peace…Eugene could never ask for more. It's all he's wanted for her for months now: to somehow feel that well-deserved peace again. The peace they'd had before.

A wooden easel and colorful canvas stands proudly before the stool she's perched upon as Rapunzel begins to softly sing, unbeknownst to his presence, the sweet words causing tears to actually prick in the corners of Eugene's tired eyes as she idly swipes her paintbrush across the canvas.

"I'm gonna be the girl who has everything

Soon as he wears this ring

And swears that he's mine

True, we don't know what obstacles fate may bring

But why put off everything

When we can share everything

'Cause once he's my everything

Then everything will be fine…"

Words sung straight from her sweet heart, aligned perfectly with the desires of his own heart clenching in his chest, Eugene can't stop himself from thanking his lucky stars for this gorgeous woman before him. She was so precious, so perfect, and his younger self never could've dreamed of someone just…wanting him like this. A want that was so sickeningly pure with its intentions and motives.

This was not someone who wanted him for what he could do for them or steal for them, but wanting him for the simple sake of it. Wanting all of him, including the parts that weren't all that pretty. The parts of him that were less than perfect, that were hidden behind the mask he'd worn for so many years. This once-masked version of himself now brought to light seemed to be the side of him that Rapunzel had come to love most, and Eugene loved her for it.

He was going to marry her. After everything they'd suffered, she was still his new dream – she was his truest dream more than ever. She was the greatest dream he'd ever held, and Eugene was finally, finally going to marry her. After more than a year of waiting and wanting, and after six months of pure agony, they would ultimately become an unbreakable unit.

Of course, they always had been an unbreakable unit in the face of adversity pretty much from the day they'd met, but as much would finally be true legally, too. Come hell or high water – come bastard princes from foreign, greedy kingdoms – he was going to marry her, and they would never be separated again. No matter what it might cost him, Eugene would make sure of that.

It was the only thing that mattered now; the only thing that had ever really mattered.

She was going to be his family, and that was the only thing that truly meant anything to him. Everything from Eugene's past – all that loneliness, all that selfish survival – everything that had once mattered felt so trivial, so fragile now. And yet, it had all led him to this one moment, this one person. His entire world was sitting right in front of him, clenching at his heart with her gorgeous singing voice and tender words, letting him know that his sentiments about her were mutual: that marrying him was the only thing that truly mattered to her, too.

Of course, Eugene knew that Rapunzel would always have a kingdom to abide by and awaiting people to answer to. He knew that her shoulder-crushing duties as princess and future queen would sometimes have to come before him. Eugene was okay with that, and had come to terms with that simple truth a long time ago. It was her fate to fulfill, her destiny to discover, and he would never get in the way of that.

But for now, amidst this peaceful lull between life-shattering disasters, their inevitable marriage was all that mattered. She was all that mattered. She was his home, his safe place that would always be warm and always be dry. The promise they'd made to one another the night before was enough for him – more than enough.

"Absolutely beautiful," Eugene finally murmurs with a fond smile tugging at his lips when Rapunzel finishes her gentle song, causing the startled young princess to jump on her wooden perch and suddenly realize that he'd been standing there behind her while she'd sung.

"The song or the painting?" Rapunzel cheekily asks, looking over her shoulder and shooting a mutually loving grin in his direction as Eugene enters the wide balcony space and relishes the balmy, fresh air upon his face.

"You. Both." Eugene shrugs, sauntering up to her and leaning down to press a soft kiss to Rapunzel's bare, freckled shoulder as she finds his cheek to nuzzle against her own. "But mostly you."

"You're the beautiful one. Don't forget that," Rapunzel argues jovially, refocusing her attention to the painting before her, leaning her face close to the canvas and painfully angling her hand so as not to touch the wet paint as she works. While she adds a particularly tiny detail, Rapunzel cutely bites her tongue so that the tip sticks from the corner of her mouth in rigid concentration.

"I won't forget if I always have you around to remind me. Hey, what time is it?" Eugene questions with a deep yawn, rubbing at his eyes again and squinting in the bright morning light as he stretches his arms high above his head. He hadn't bothered to glance at the bedside clock when he'd awoken, having been too immediately allured by her pretty humming from the balcony.

"A bit after nine now. I checked just a little while ago, but I've been up since six." Rapunzel giggles at the way Eugene stretches beside her like a newly awakened cat in the youthful glow of the sun, adding another stroke of orange paint to her portrayal of a pastel-toned sunrise, perfectly capturing the fresh rays of sunlight now protruding from the calm harbor beyond. The kingdom below was waking up right along with the sun, though its ambitious princess had already been awake for hours.

"Of course you have." Eugene playfully rolls his eyes, sure that Rapunzel will never kick the habit of waking up so obscenely early after doing so for most of her life; sure that he'll never tire of sleeping in just to find her like this. "Why didn't you wake me, sweet girl? I would've gladly watched the sunrise with you out here."

"I know you probably would've if I'd asked, but you also probably would've grumbled and groaned the entire time about having to be up so early. Besides, you looked so peaceful, and like you really needed the sleep," Rapunzel whispers against his lips with an easy smirk as Eugene leans down to kiss her once more, brushing a fallen bang from his eyes with her free hand. "Like someone fucked the life right out of you."

"Yeah, someone did. I'm lookin' at her," Eugene teases, gently flicking the side of Rapunzel's nose as she bats him away, threatening him with the wet paintbrush. "I'm pretty sure I don't have any cum left in me."

"Very funny." Rapunzel only chuckles and shakes her head at the intimate memory of the previous night, growing very serious all of a sudden with heady emotion glinting in her eyes. "Last night was really perfect, Eugene, and I just wanted to thank you. It was everything I've needed since…"

"I know." Eugene nods understandingly and ruffles Rapunzel's early morning bedhead, not wanting her to have to return to that horrific place in her mind – not on this day. Not on this day where everything would change for them, and for the first time in a long time, a day where those changes would actually be for the better. "It was everything I've needed, too. Trust me. It felt really good to be so close to you again."

"And – and what you asked me about…I mean…" Rapunzel looks down at her paintbrush, idly twirling it around in her hands. The blush upon her cheeks is almost too endearing to endure. "Do you still want –"

"You mean…does my mid-sex marriage proposal still stand? Yeah, Blondie." Eugene grins, finding it quite adorable that she'd even consider the possibility of him ever changing his mind about anything concerning her, but especially this. "You don't have to worry about me revoking that question any time soon. Or ever."

"Good. That's good." Rapunzel nods, returning to her painting with a satisfied little grin of her own. "I just wanted to make sure that we were still on the same page and everything. That you didn't just ask me because…well, you know."

"I know? No, Princess, I'm not sure that I do know what you're getting at here. Please, enlighten me." Eugene prods as he leans back on the balcony before her, wanting to pull the words out of her like they're a stubborn rope hanging from her mouth. His intense stare causes Rapunzel to inwardly groan in response to Eugene's feigned ignorance, setting her paintbrush down on the easel ledge and staring him straight in the eye.

He wants to see her squirm? Fine. She can make him squirm, too.

"I just wanted to make sure that you didn't ask me to marry you because of everything we've been through lately, and because you were coincidentally buried deep inside of me at that particular moment in time."

Releasing a large sigh – though unable to keep the devilish smile from his face in response to that loaded remark – Eugene leans forward to place his palms on either side of Rapunzel's stool, caging her in at the thighs and hovering his nose mere inches from hers as he slouches to be at eye level with her.

"Blondie…I asked you to marry me because I've wanted to marry you pretty much since the day I met you. As far as everything we've been through lately? It heightened my emotions, sure, but that's not why I asked. I want to marry you because I'm in love with you, not just out of spite. I want to marry you because I'm ready to be married." Eugene smirks then, shrugging with a nonchalant, Flynn-like air about him. "Being inside you at that particular moment? Just a massive freaking bonus."

"So…" Rapunzel visibly calculates everything Eugene's just said, brushing off his feigned bravado, knowing that he's only acting this way to tease her. "You really do want to get married, then?"

"Damn right, I do!" Eugene exclaims, throwing his hands up into the air for emphasized effect. "It's all I want, Rapunzel. All I've wanted for a long time now."

"Because I'm yours?" Rapunzel asks softly, peering up through the bright rays of sunlight at him, voice timid enough to melt Eugene's heart into a puddle right there on the balcony.

"Because you're mine," Eugene confirms, cupping Rapunzel's sweet face and kissing her deeply, both of them recalling the heated words they'd spoken to one another in the throes of passion the previous night.

'You're mine. You're fucking mine.'

Now – finally – he would be hers forever, and she would be his. Only his.

Pulling away, still cupping Rapunzel's cheeks in his hands, Eugene can't help but simply stare down at her. The golden sunlight of morning catches the swoop of hair at the top of her head, reflecting back at him like a halo of sorts. It was fitting, seeing as how she'd saved him in more ways than he could accurately count or acknowledge.

Heavens, she was so damn beautiful. And she was going to be his wife! Him, Eugene Fitzherbert, getting a wife!

"Well, I'll let you get back to your painting, sweetheart." Eugene caresses Rapunzel's cheek one last time with his knuckles, thumb lingering against her jawbone. "I'll see you later this evening, okay?"

"What? Noooo…where on earth are you going until evening? I decided just now that we're actually supposed to stay in this bedroom all day long!" Rapunzel protests with a whine, tugging at Eugene's forearm to keep him planted in place on the balcony. "Me and you, uninterrupted. Newly reunited, remember? Newly engaged? Newly engaged means lots of sex, doesn't it? It seems like it would, anyway. Or is the insane amount of sex supposed to come after the wedding night…"

"Easy there, tiger. We already have insane amounts of sex, so I think we're good there. But sadly, I do have a few things I really need to get done today before any more reuniting can happen." With a flattered chuckle, Eugene leans down to place a trail of soft kisses along the length of her neck, causing Rapunzel to sigh out into the warming morning air. "Don't you worry your pretty little head, though. We'll most definitely come back here tonight for all that crazy sex you seem to already have planned for us. I'll make today up to you."

"That is what I'd planned, I'll have you know." Rapunzel hmphs playfully, tapping the tip of Eugene's nose before stealing a kiss on the same spot, pushing her eyebrows together and sticking out her bottom lip in a faux pout. "What do you have to do today that's so important, anyway? More important than, say, staying in bed with meeee?"

"It's a surprise." Eugene smirks mysteriously, placing a final peck upon Rapunzel's awaiting – albeit protesting – lips. "I have a few plans of my own for tonight, you know."

"Oh, do you now?" Rapunzel questions with the curious, upward quirk of an eyebrow, genuinely intrigued by Eugene's own brand of vagueness.

"You'll like these plans." Eugene ruffles Rapunzel's short hair one last time, throwing her a parting grin over his shoulder as he exits the balcony. "Promise."

Eugene doesn't allow Rapunzel's exaggerated pouting to derail him too much. He's sad to leave her sheet-wrapped body for much of the morning and afternoon, but more excited for what he has planned for them this evening – a night they're sure to never, ever forget. Leaving her now will surely pay off later.

After all, this would be the night to finally, truly wash away the many horrible nights they've recently spent apart against their will. A night to provide them with a fresh start, a clean slate. Spending a bit more time apart this morning in exchange for a night like that was a price he could afford to pay, albeit a bit reluctantly.

Returning to the sunbathed bedroom, Eugene rifles through the armoire standing beside Rapuzel's bed – the dresser donned with swirls of little suns, flowers, and mini versions of themselves which Rapunzel had painted upon the expensive wood soon after they'd first moved into the palace – finding the spare pair of plain brown pants, white button-down shirt, and light jacket he'd stashed there.

It feels like a lifetime ago since Eugene had originally left a spare assortment of clothes in her room, wanting something clean to wear for the following day if he were to spend the night – which Eugene expects will be happening often again, now that Charles is gone and they're safely back home together.

Not that he minds, of course. While Eugene's bedroom down in the guards' quarters had always been fairly comfortable and entirely familiar to him now, and while it had become an intimate place of refuge for them after Rapunzel had been married and forced to share a proper bedroom with her new husband, the bed was so much smaller there, and the room so much less private. Despite their brick foundation, the walls seemed paper-thin.

Eugene knew as much because Lance had reminded him so. Often. It wasn't Eugene's fault, though, that Rapunzel tended to get a little loud when they made love. That was only the sign of a good lover, right? That he knew what he was doing, that he could please her? How could Lance possibly fault him for that?

Hastily shoving the white shirt into his pants, pulling on his leather boots, and rolling up the sleeves on the cropped, purple jacket which dons the Coronan crest, Eugene strides to the far end of the bedroom and eases the door shut behind him, praying for an empty hallway when he steps outside. Thankfully, a ghostly quiet corridor greets him on the other side of the heavy double doors, and Eugene begins to create a mental checklist of everything he needs to take care of before the evening hours are inevitably upon him.

Eugene isn't quite sure why he's so relieved to come face-to-face with an empty hallway. He doesn't really give a shit what anyone thinks anymore, not after everything they've been through in the last few weeks. But after the intimate and completely blissful night he's just shared with Rapunzel, he isn't much in the mood to receive a scolding from anyone for sneaking around when they were still technically unmarried.

Which was soon to change, regardless of whether anyone but the two of them knew it yet.

Eugene's first stop is at his own bedroom in the guards' quarters, where he retrieves his old satchel, as well as the emergency money which he'd shoved beneath his mattress months ago. He'd started saving almost immediately after moving into the castle, just in case he ever found himself in the need of a substantial amount of money, and so that he wouldn't have to ask the king and queen for it.

Money for a day like today.

He could've asked Frederic for money, Eugene supposes. The king probably would've given it. But Eugene wants to do this himself, and his pride was the one thing keeping him from asking for help in the matter. For the first time, he really wants to buy something – something this important – himself. Not take it, not steal it. Buy it. Something truly special, something that will mean something to him – to them – forever.

Something that might cost less in monetary value than the royally-funded engagement ring from Charles – the one still collecting dust in the bedside drawer in the bedroom Rapunzel had once shared with her husband – but worth far more in sentimental value.

After slinging the weathered satchel across his chest and dividing the money from beneath his mattress into two separate piles (shoving each neat stack into its own envelope for safekeeping), Eugene sets out in the direction of the main entrance to the castle with the intention of leisurely finding his way toward the kingdom proper.

On the weekends, late morning and early afternoon were typically a bustling time for the downtown shops pointing toward the harbor: exactly where he was headed now. As he mentally prepares to walk through the busy town, Eugene has half a mind to realize that someone very well might catch him buying the particular thing he sets out to buy. This thing was likely to stir up countless rumors, both throughout the court and its surrounding villages.

He really doesn't care, though. He's far too giddy – far too fed up with recent events, too – to care what anyone has to say about it, good or bad. There's only one person who Eugene holds in high regard on the matter, and that was Rapunzel – only Rapunzel. And that was that. It was inevitable that everyone eventually found out, anyway, and entirely predictable. Some would likely be shocked that he hadn't asked sooner.

Rounding a corner, nearing close to the main foyer now, Eugene finds himself running smack into a soft, familiar face. It wasn't his favorite face in the world, but so similar that it almost freaked him out sometimes.

"Eugene! Good morning, honey," Arianna chirps, wiggling her delicate fingers in a casual greeting, half of her thick hair pulled away from her face in an elegant twist at the back of her head.

"Your Majesty. Good morning." Eugene feels a genuine smile tugging at the corners of his mouth in the sudden presence of a woman he's come to love and respect so deeply, beginning to bow at the waist before Arianna reaches out to grab at his forearm, promptly stopping him.

Despite her scolding tone, a gentle grin breaks upon Arianna's pretty, gracefully-aged face. "For heaven's sake, would you please just call me Arianna already? I think we're far past the formal pleasantries, don't you, Eugene?"

"Alright, alright." Eugene chuckles at their most predictable topic of banter, raising his hands in a mock gesture of surrender. "Good morning, Arianna."

"How did you sleep, sweetheart?" After replacing her feigned look of annoyance with a real smile as she quickly links their elbows, Arianna falls into an easy stroll beside Eugene as she leads him along. "Are you feeling well rested, adjusting alright to being back home again? I know that sometimes after I return from a long trip, it takes some time to readjust to my usual sleep schedule. And I know that your trip wasn't exactly a vacation, so…"

I just spent the entire night fucking your daughter until she was sobbing out my name and lost hours of sleep to indulge in that one, gorgeous sound, but…yeah. I slept well, how about you?

That's what Eugene thinks to himself, though he thankfully keeps his sex-drunk thoughts hidden, secretly locking them inside his head and heart forever. Hopefully the bags under his eyes won't give him away.

"I've been sleeping alright. You?" Eugene asks, trying so hard to be polite when hot memories of Rapunzel's legs perched on both his shoulders are flashing through his mind.

"Oh, well, you know…I've just been fretting like any mother does, I suppose," Arianna admits with a tired smile, eyes clearly filled with that motherly worry she's referring to now. "Fretting about both of you."

"I'm doin' okay, really." Eugene shrugs nonchalantly, never wanting to give Arianna a reason to feel that way. "More worried about how she's adjusting than myself, but no complaints. It might take some time to heal, but we're gonna be fine. Promise."

Arianna halts their leisure stroll at the edge of a deserted veranda, sighing deeply as she unlinks their elbows to face him fully, deep creases appearing in her forehead due to her stressed expression.

"Eugene…there's actually something I've been wanting to speak with you about, but I haven't really gotten a private moment with you since you've been back." Eugene nods, prompting Arianna to go on, and with a defeated sigh, she continues. "I'm not sure how to word this without being terrifyingly blunt, but…we can't trust Sinclair. He…he's always been gunning for Fred's job, though there's no technical way for him to have it – not unless Fred and I spontaneously both drop dead, I suppose, and if Rapunzel were thereafter somehow deemed unfit to rule."

"Well, crazier things have happened lately, so I guess you never know what Sinclair might try to do." Eugene reasons with a roll of his eyes, prompting Arianna to do the same.

"This is true. Anyway, it's become increasingly clear to me that he wants everything from us, that he wants power. That the power he currently has, it…it isn't enough for him. He's proven to me that he's very willing to do whatever is necessary to get what he wants, including turning his back on this family while claiming that he's doing 'what's best for the people.' If you ask me, off the record, he's only doing what's best for himself."

Arianna rubs at her forehead, a nervous habit in times of stress, allowing Eugene a quiet moment to soak in everything the queen's just confided in him.

"Okaaaay…" Eugene nods along slowly, registering Arianna's growingly alarming confession. "So what does that mean for us? For Rapunzel?"

"It means…" Arianna pauses and chews at her lip, looking out at the kingdom below from the veranda for a long moment, frowning deeply before continuing on. "It means that you need to watch your back, and that I need you to watch hers, too. I know you'll do that without being asked, but I needed to talk to you about this for my own sanity. I'm becoming increasingly worried that Sinclair is up to something. Something no good."

"Up to something," Eugene repeats, mulling over the warning words. "Meaning…what, exactly?"

Arianna shifts uncomfortably, leaning closer to Eugene and murmuring in a hushed tone, though the hallway is seemingly deserted.

"There's been whispers – just rumors, really – circling around in court that Sinclair is preparing to make a deal with Maddoline, that he's trying to negotiate some bargain in the wake of your little…fire incident." Eugene cringes visibly around the words, though Arianna only mulls forward. "Apparently he hasn't learned his lesson, and apparently he doesn't feel that you've already punished yourself enough for your reckless actions. I, for one, know that you were simply doing what you felt was necessary to protect my daughter, and I can't promise that Frederic wouldn't have acted in the same manner if he'd been there, but…I fear that Sinclair will negotiate some sort of deal to hand you over to Maddoline in return for not waging war against Corona."

Now it's Eugene's turn to take a drawn out moment to peer down at the city below, silently contemplating his next move; wondering what he could possibly do to fix this, and what he might do to fuck it all up again. Contemplating what this revelation could mean for him, and more importantly, for Rapunzel.

"Wait, could the Council actually do that?" Eugene stops short, fully facing Arianna once more. "Could they really just…sell me out like that, without the go-ahead from you and the king? I mean, I get that I messed up – like, really messed up, but –"

Not that any member of the Council would actually vouch for him. Not after the havoc he'd wreaked upon this kingdom for so many years before even meeting Rapunzel. The Council as a whole had never really believed in his miraculous change of heart, despite meeting their once-lost princess for themselves and seeing the life-altering effect she could have on just about anyone. Even then, they hadn't bought it.

They probably never would, and Eugene had been at peace with that for a long time now. He'd never expected them to. Before Charles, he'd known that the Council and Sinclair would presumably never like him, but that disapproval was a small price to pay in order to be with her. So long as Frederic and Arianna were okay with him sticking around, and so long as the king had pardoned Eugene of his past crimes, the Council hadn't had any truly substantial reason to send him away. But now, after the massive mistake he'd made back in Maddoline…

Fuck, he'd given them a damn good reason to get rid of him.

"It's plausible, I suppose." Arianna tilts her head in thought. "After all, they had enough legal authority to set the marriage agreement back into motion to begin with once Rapunzel had been returned to us and the deal with Maddoline was no longer technically nullified as a result. I'm sure Sinclair could find a way to get what he wants again, even if we don't agree with the decision. He's not the most trustworthy advisor, and I've never been the biggest fan of his, if I'm being completely honest with myself. The only reason he's been here this long is because Fred has always trusted the man's judgment on political matters…that's all changed now, of course."

Arianna looks down at her fingers, and Eugene realizes that they're shaking with guilt as she whispers to her palms now, as though she were unable to bring herself to look at him. "Everything's changed now."

"Hey, it's gonna be alright, okay?" Eugene leans in, gently patting her shoulder and kissing Arianna on the cheek, pulling a soft smile from the queen's worried expression at his sudden tenderness. The kind of tenderness that only a son would show to their mother; the mother he'd never had, and the mother he'd always wanted. "Sinclair can't touch us. There's nothing he can do that could possibly be any worse than forcing Rapunzel to marry a man she doesn't love – a literal psychopath, who kidnapped her again, might I add. The worst is over. You have to believe that."

He needed to believe that, too, or he was soon to be hellbound toward losing it completely.

"Oh, don't say that. Don't say that things couldn't get worse," Arianna responds with a worrisome laugh, rubbing stressfully at her creased forehead. Eugene can't help but ponder upon how gracefully Rapunzel ought to age, considering that even Arianna's most worried expressions still managed to remain beautiful. "Jinx it, and he'll somehow find a way to make things far worse for us than they already have been."

"Hey, no worries. At least not for today," Eugene comforts reassuringly, adding with a wink, "You're gaining a son tonight."

Arianna's eyes immediately light up before she playfully nudges him, once again linking their elbows and turning them away from the veranda to lead Eugene back toward the main hallway.

"I already gained a son a long time ago, my dear." Arianna smiles now – really smiles, face lighting up like sunshine – though she quickly grows serious once more, placing a gentle hand upon Eugene's cheek. He subtly nuzzles into the motherly touch, and will never admit how fulfilled he feels from that singular, tiny gesture; a small piece of his child-like heart left unattended for so long, now finally being nurtured. "But you deserve this. Both of you. I'm just so sorry that Frederic and I didn't do more to save you from –"

"We all make mistakes. Even the people we love." Eugene shrugs easily, having found peace with the situation much more in the last few days, now that they're settled back home and now that Rapunzel's far, far away from her maniac of a husband; ex-husband.

Now that the Council had begrudgingly agreed to legally nullify the nightmare of a marriage in light of their own mistakes (at least as it was recognized by the Coronan government, though the Maddolineon monarchy would likely disagree with the deserved change).

"It doesn't mean we love them any less."

Arianna's eyes become brimmed with tears, pure relief and gratefulness washing over her face at his words. "You're a pretty amazing young man. You know that, Eugene Fitzherbert?"

Eugene only smiles and throws Arianna a cheeky wink over his shoulder, light on his heels as he near-skips away. "So I've been told a time or two."

---

Shielding his eyes as he steps from the gold-trimmed jewelry shop and into the late morning light of the bustling cobblestone street, Eugene prays to himself that Rapunzel will like the ring he's chosen for her; the ring he'd promised to her the night before, and the ring which would rest upon her dainty finger for the rest of their lives.

This one, simple thing would physically symbolize that she was truly and finally his, in every possible way. Emotionally, physically, legally…

His, and not Charles's.

The band he'd chosen for her was quite simple, solid gold and surrounded by gleaming diamonds all the way around. He'd sneakily procured her ring size weeks prior when he'd purchased the flower ring he'd gotten her for Christmas. The ring had fit perfectly then, so he's fairly certain this one will, too.

No ring had seemed truly worthy of Rapunzel and her ever-radiating beauty, but…at the very least, he could try to replicate it. The jewelry shop, though small, had an impressive selection to offer. There'd been so many rings to choose from that it was almost overwhelming, faced with rows and rows of shimmering options and the fear of not getting this day just right. Eugene had momentarily wondered if he should've taken her with him; if he should've gotten Rapunzel's opinion and known for sure that she'd like what he'd picked.

But that would take the fun surprise out of the whole thing, wouldn't it? And if Eugene was being honest, he was in love with that look she got on her face when Rapunzel was genuinely and thoroughly surprised.

Thankfully, Eugene Fitzherbert knew his princess like the back of his own hand, and the jeweler had been a tremendous help. There had been so many different cuts and styles, and so many times when Eugene had second-guessed himself for the mere sake of his own nerves, and in the name of such an important decision. He'd finally settled on the simple but stunning design which was currently tucked inside a little, velvet box and filling up the space in his breast pocket, leaving Eugene feeling wholly pleased with his selection.

Eugene now finds himself whistling with each step as his mind wanders around the hustle and bustle of the downtown markets. So many busy streets, so many busy lives being lived; lives which will cross in this moment, but never really cross. So many lives which Rapunzel has already touched in her short time as acting princess.

Strolling along, Eugene finds himself – in spiteof himself, and in spite of his desperate desire to not really care either way – hoping that the people around him will accept him as much as Rapunzel does. Hoping that when he gets down on one knee and offers his hand to her for eternity, the people of this kingdom will understand that he's offering his hand to them, as well. That he's not doing any of this for show, for the money or for the lifestyle, but for her. Only for her. And with his dedication to forever protect her, comes a promise to protect them, too.

He'd almost been married before meeting Rapunzel and had carried a ring around in his pocket preceding this day, only once, waiting to give that ring to another woman. But even then, on that day so many years ago (when he'd still had one foot in childhood, really), it had all felt so very wrong. Like he was making this huge mistake that he wouldn't be able to undo, but could see no other way out of at the time. Back then, with Stalyan…it had most definitely felt like he was putting on a show. Like he was part of a circus, and he was the main spectacle to laugh and point at.

But with Rapunzel? Never. With her, there was no show, and he was no spectacle to point fingers toward.

This – this weight against his breast pocket from the ring box, and the relentless butterflies stirring in his stomach at the mere idea of finally getting down on one knee, absolutely pouring his heart out to her – had always seemed right. Had always felt right, and had always felt inevitable for them.

Springtime in Corona was now approaching full-swing, bordering near-summer weather today as the salty air swept through downtown. Eugene's sinuses could attest to that, fresh blooms and pollen dancing in the air around him like freshly-awoken ballerinas. In this vein of spring, he finds his boots stopping before a colorful flower cart, procuring a bright bouquet of yellow and pink tulips. He would still have several things to pick up – to set up – before he could feel truly prepared for tonight, though. The flowers and a ring were only the beginning of his list of things to do before the evening was upon him.

If Eugene were to be completely honest with himself, recalling his conversation with Arianna that morning, it did feel strange to be back home in the kingdom again. He'd only been away for a few weeks, but the agony and anxiety of the whole experience had caused their trip to feel so much longer, their sense of time left so warped.

It'd felt like an eternity to be away from his home: to be away from both Corona and Rapunzel. Now that he's back, Eugene realizes he doesn't want to leave again for a long while. This contented sense of belonging, it had taken twenty-five years to find him, and he's honestly not interested in letting go of that security any time soon.

Paying and thanking the man behind the flower cart, Eugene continues on his way in the bright, calm sunshine. Pulling the once-thick envelope of money out of his satchel and counting what he has left as he strolls along, Eugene ensures that he has the provisions left for the few things he'd like to pick up to make this night extra special. Focused on counting the money in his hand, Eugene rounds a corner and runs straight into –

"Excuse me, sorry." Eugene momentarily glances up, stumbling in place as he faintly registers in his peripheral the person he'd run into falling easily back against a brick wall adjacent to a sun-shielded alleyway.

"Well, well, well…now you were never one for fine jewelry."

And Eugene finds himself immediately stopped in his tracks at that one, singular comment. That one voice.

Eugene knows that voice, much as he desperately wishes he didn't. He wishes that very voice wasn't ingrained into his veins in the worst way, relentlessly reminding him of a time when he was another man; a different man.

A much worse, much more selfish version of himself.

Stalyan.

With a deep sigh, Eugene tucks the envelope of money back into his satchel, slowly turning around to find Stalyan tucked there in the shadows of the alleyway, arms crossed and a feline smile stretched across her face.

"Stealing it, sure. But buying it honorably?" Stalyan grins a little wider, casually swiping a piece of fallen, auburn hair away from her eyes. "Forget about it."

"What're you doin' here, Stalyan?" Eugene rolls his head over a shoulder, scowling at her in clear annoyance. This day was supposed to be special, his perfect plans intentionally interrupted, and now he's pissed. "You were supposed to meet me at our agreed upon location, two hours from now."

Stalyan merely shrugs at Eugene's chiding, picking at her manicured nails and appearing uninterested in the conversation altogether.

Funny, considering she's the one ambushing him.

"Followed you here," Stalyan explains shortly with a shrug, as if that somehow justifies her ever-erratic behavior. "Figured we should just get this over with and move on with our lives."

"What makes you think I have the money on me?" Eugene questions, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"You do. I know you."

Better than her. The envious sentiment is left unspoken, hanging there between them, but he knows that she's thinking it. You think that you know me better than her, don't you? Well, you're wrong about that. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

"You knew me," Eugene quickly corrects, scoffing with a cross of his arms against his chest, thoroughly irritated that Stalyan would assume she knows this version of him so well, considering the way it's so very different from the version of him that had quite literally died in the tower. "And even then, how much you really knew about me was freaking shotty at best."

"If that's how you want to play this, fine." Stalyan huffs, subtly stomping her booted foot like a temperamental child. "You know, I was prepared to let bygones be bygones, but if you want to start throwing around insults about how 'bad' our relationship was –"

"It was!" Eugene cries, causing a few mid-day shoppers to turn their heads toward him as they meander by. "It was bad, Stalyan! How can you possibly not see that?!"

"And whose fault was that?" Stalyan grinds condescendingly, planting her hands on her hips before quickly dropping them again, appearing restless as she stabs a finger in the air at his chest. "You're the one who left me at the altar, remember? Or has that detail conveniently slipped your newly purified mind?"

"Oh, please, things were bad long before that day. And besides, are we really going to dredge that up again? You shot me! Has that detail conveniently slipped your mind?" Eugene exclaims, holding his palms flat out between them. "I think we're even now! Anyway, that was years ago!"

"So what were you doing here?" Stalyan nods toward the small jewelry store just down the street with a defeated sigh, as though it weren't painfully obvious – conveniently ignoring his question, as though she wants to make him uncomfortable for her own sheer amusement. "And don't try to feed me any bullshit."

"Here? Like...here in Corona, here?" Eugene points both index fingers to the ground, indicating here as a vast, vague word. He knows exactly what she's getting at, the bush she's beating around, but ignores this, if only because Eugene doesn't feel like Stalyan deserves to know the special plans he has for Rapunzel. He knows he's being a bit of a jerk at this point, but he doesn't really care. "Well, to start, I kinda live here."

"Very funny." Stalyan grimaces with an unimpressed look on her face, leering up at him in that judgemental manner she always used to look at him with when she was set upon getting her way. "I mean at a jewelry shop, you sarcastic asshole. What were you doing in a jewelry shop?"

In spite of himself, despite the urge to spat an equally rude insult right back at her, Eugene goes quiet at that.

There was a time when he'd been so used to Stalyan's insults that they'd ceased to even hurt anymore. He'd eventually grown numb to all of it, and he supposes that's why he'd left her in the way he had. But now that he's with someone who doesn't consistently insult him – now that he's with someone who would rather insult herself than knowingly insult him – Eugene doesn't quite know what to say.

Stalyan's frequent string of harsh words had always hurt more than the sting of any physical hit, and Eugene hates being suddenly flooded with that nostalgic feeling; hates remembering how small he'd felt when they were together, and the way that he'd been forced to compensate for it for so long.

Remembering that Rapunzel has never, never made him feel that way, and never would.

"You have a lot of nerve talking to me like that after everything you've done," Eugene seethes quietly. When Stalyan doesn't say anything in immediate response, Eugene delivers the blunt truth he knows she doesn't want to hear, though he's more than happy to give it. "I bought a ring, Stalyan. Not that you deserve to know anything about me or us at this point, but that's why I'm here. I bought a ring, okay?"

Now it's Stalyan's turn to go quiet for a long, awkward moment. She looks skeptical for a time, then oddly accepting. She quickly turns altogether stone-faced, though, her emotions near-unreadable. "Really."

"Really," Eugene confirms easily, prouder than a peacock to admit it out loud.

They stare at each other for a long time after that, hands on their hips, eyes narrowed as if warning the other to question their statement. How familiar it feels, how familiar she seems like this…that disappointed look on her face…it all makes Eugene sick to his stomach. The deja vu is enough to make him want to throw up or run away as fast as he possibly can, back to the castle and back into the arms of the only safe person he's ever had.

"What?" Eugene finally spits out, growing increasingly annoyed by Stalyan's rare silence and skeptically raised eyebrows. "Don't you have some snarky comment to throw at me or something? Or have you finally run out of all the different ways to tear me down?"

Stalyan only sighs – one of many deep sighs which she's released during this conversation, though she'd brought the conversation upon herself to begin with – eyes fluttering shut as her head shakes.

"No. No snarky comments." Stalyan's quiet again for a long moment, still shaking her head and staring down at her feet. "I guess I just always thought that it would be us in the end. That we would magically find our way back to one another, and that all the romantic bullshit the world tries to make us believe would find a way to somehow make it right again – how fucked up we were. I just…I wanted to make it right. And I couldn't."

"Yeah, well." Eugene shrugs, stealing a quick glance over his shoulder toward the castle looming over downtown, wishing he was there instead. Wishing that he hadn't left Rapunzel there on that balcony, and wishing that he'd been able to spend the entire day tangled in the sheets with her as she'd lovingly suggested.

But tonight, when he'd finally be down on one knee in front of her, all of this in-between bullshit – as Stalyan would call it – would be worth it. Dealing with Stalyan one last time would be worth it in order to secure a peaceful future with Rapunzel. "I guess you just don't do it for me anymore. Haven't for a long time."

"Once upon a time, it was me you were getting a ring for," Stalyan sadly ponders, and Eugene half-registers the blow which his harsh words have delivered as the clear hurt lands upon her face. "Well, I think you stole that one, actually. But you're really buying something now, which I guess shows how much you've really changed…though I'm not entirely sure if it's actually for the better –"

"Stalyaaaan," Eugene chides through gritted teeth, glowering down at her.

"Yeah, yeah...I know." Stalyan holds up her hands in mock defense. "I'll find a way to put it to rest, stop living in the past. Promise."

Not that her promises really mean anything to him anymore. But it's a start, Eugene supposes.

Stalyan's silent again for what feels like a painful eternity hanging between them, finally releasing a heavy, deflated breath. "I just wish I could've been…better to you. For you. Enough to make you want to stay."

"I was never very good at staying." Eugene justifies, which is true. He hadn't been, not back then.

"You stayed for her," Stalyan murmurs quietly, toeing at the dirt with her leather boot. When he doesn't respond, she tries her best to perk up, offering him a meek smile. "So how's Princess Sunshine doing, anyway?"

"Oh, don't act like you give a single shit." Eugene rolls his eyes, immediately irked by the mere thought of Rapunzel's name in Stalyan's mouth, let alone this snarky version of his favorite nickname for her. "I'm not doing this with you, Stalyan. The small talk, the exchanging of fake, bullshit pleasantries. I'm not doing it. Like you said, let's just get this over with, alright?"

Stalyan shifts nervously, and for the first time since he's known her, she doesn't look so sure of herself.

"I didn't really want her to get hurt, you know. I wanted to scare her a little, sure. Maybe send her away with him, but I..." Stalyan's usually intimidating gaze falls quickly to the ground as she swallows hard, throat bobbing with her uncomfortability. "At first, I didn't think he would actually hurt anyone, thought that maybe he was just…bluffing about all of it. And then everything sort of just spiraled out of control faster than I could stop it –"

"You're right. You didn't think." Eugene bores down on her, looming over Stalyan angrily as she shrinks back, causing a very small (and selfish) part of Eugene to fill with glee – if only because, in their youth, he'd always been the one doing the shrinking back from her. "You didn't think when you showed up here, you didn't think when you got involved with Charles, and you sure as hell didn't think when you promised to help him take Rapunzel. You didn't think when you promised him that you would fucking murder me!"

"I didn't really want to kill you! Honest!" Stalyan whines out, her voice pitchy and full of something that could resemble regret or guilt if Eugene didn't know her so well; if he didn't know her for the manipulative, lying shell of a person that she really is. That she always has been. "I wouldn't do that! I just wanted to convince you to leave with me, at least originally! I really did think that this whole…thing with the princess was just another one of your ruses, another one of your little mind games to get what you wanted from her!"

"Thing?" Eugene balks, thoroughly offended, though not really knowing why. He shouldn't care what Stalyan thinks, not enough to actually be offended. "You think what I have with her is just a thing?"

"But!" Stalyan quickly interrupts, holding her hands out between them as though to stop him from walking away, though Eugene hasn't even moved yet. "But – when I realized that I couldn't do that, that I couldn't make you leave…that you were always going to pick her...I only wanted to slow you down, just like I said that day. I wasn't lying about that. I wanted to give you a taste of your own medicine, sure. Let you know what it felt like to be the one who got left behind."

Stalyan repositions her stance, no longer shrinking back from him, but leveling with Eugene at the nose and once again clearly feeling her usual bout of arrogant confidence.

"I could've bled out —" Eugene coldly throws back through clenched teeth, his jaw actually beginning to ache from gritting them so hard.

"Well yeah, but the point is…the point is that I only told Charles I'd kill you so he would give me an advance payment. I never really intended to go through with it." Stalyan argues with a roll of her eyes, as if admitting that somehow made the whole thing any better. "I thought that maybe if I completed a job without being connected to my father for once, I could somehow prove to you that I really wanted to try again and start a new life together. Fresh slate, ya know? But now…now I can see that I was wrong."

With an exasperated shrug, Stalyan kicks at the dust and rocks beneath their feet, eyebrows scrunched together in an irritated scowl as she crosses her arms over her chest: a child throwing a tantrum.

That was the Stalyan he'd always known.

"You were wrong, Stalyan. So, so fucking wrong." Eugene scoffs, almost unable to believe what he's hearing: the way that she's so easily attempting to justify what she'd done in the name of years-past puppy love (which he'd realized hadn't even been real love all along). Almost unable to believe it, but not wholly surprised. "Per usual, you were too wrapped up in your own selfish bullshit to think about how your actions might affect — might hurt — those around you!"

Now it's Stalyan's turn to scoff under her breath with another plain roll of her violet eyes, suddenly much less melancholy or nostalgic for their youth, and far more defensive all over again.

"You know, that's rich, coming from you. You've seemed to forget that when we were younger —"

"Exactly! When we were younger!" Eugene stresses, blatant pleading in his eyes as he bursts out, begging for her to stop this; to just let it rest already. To let the past stay in the past, and to finally, mercifully let him go. "I've grown up. I've changed! When the hell will you?"

"I had to grow up pretty quickly, no different than you! You're not the only one who's ever had to suffer!" Stalyan angrily declares, taking a subtle step closer in her visible display of fury and supposed injustice. "You know, Rider, you're not the only person in the entire world who's had a traumatic childhood, constantly whining about how 'bad'you had it, when we gave you everything you ever could've needed! You would've been on the freaking streets if it weren't for –"

Eugene only laughs with a cross of his arms at that. "I would've been a lot better off and gotten hit a lot less."

Stalyan's quiet for a long breath of silence as his heavy comment settles in the air between them – something they've never really talked about before – swallowing hard as he glares down at her, voice dropped to a near-whisper. "I just…I was hurting, too, you know. And no one ever taught me how to deal with it."

"Aw, Daddy's poor little girl wasn't handed every single thing she's ever wanted," Eugene mocks with a hard roll of his eyes. "Cry me a frickin' river! Back then, no one had ever taught me how to love, either, but you didn't see me constantly smacking you around!"

"No, all you did, Rider, was jump into bed with anything with a pulse when we were technically still together, and give my dad constant holes to dig us out of!"

Okay, Eugene must admit, the whole cheating thing wasn't great. He definitely wasn't proud of it, and he hated that ghostly part of him which he couldn't quite erase; a part of him that Rapunzel wouldn't be proud of, either. But he wasn't that man anymore, and it sure as hell didn't excuse the abusive way Stalyan had treated him long before he'd ever gotten into bed with another woman.

"And all you two ever gave me was constant headaches and major self-esteem issues!" Eugene argues sarcastically back, glaring at her with a pointed look in his eye. He'd let the name thing slide enough for one day, but no more. "And don't you call me that. You know I don't want to be called by that name anymore! And don't you dare try to act like you never cheated."

"It hasn't exactly been easy living with my dad! You of all people should know that! You're the one who was actually able to leave! You were able to get out!" Stalyan exclaims, desperately attempting to clutch onto some fraying thread of long-gone sympathy from him. "And how dare you strut around this kingdom, acting like you're better than everyone all of a sudden, like your past doesn't mean anything? Like it didn't shape you, like that name didn't shape you! You think you're too good for all of it now, just because you have her? Get yourself between a princess's prissy little legs, and suddenly you're a fucking saint?"

"Yes! I do!" Eugene outbursts, hands on his chest, eyes wide and sincere. "I do think I'm too good for how you treated me! Not because I think I'm good, but because I found someone who showed me that I'm more than that name, more than my past! That I deserve better! Not that I'm better than anyone else, but that I can be better. A better man, a better person! For her, and for myself!" Eugene's voice shifts to a warning tone, a threatening finger pointed in Stalyan's direction. "And don't talk about her like that."

"Oh, and how dare anyone get in the way of you and the precious love of your life –"

"The love of my life almost wound up fucking dead because of you!" Eugene steps forward, forcing Stalyan deeper into the alley, pointing that finger to her chest as she involuntarily presses against the brick wall behind her. "She was kidnapped, drugged out of her poor fucking mind, threatened, and – fuck, Stal, you're so lucky that she's alive, or else I would've hunted you down. You can mark my words on that. You know, I just – I can't believe that you think any of this is okay! That you're actually trying to justify what you did!"

Stalyan shrinks back at that, lowering her voice once more from its heightened, emotional place. "Not all of us find someone who actually gives us a reason to be a better person, you know."

"Not good enough." Eugene shakes his head, clearly unsatisfied with her rare show of vulnerability. "That's not a good enough excuse for what you've done. To me, and more importantly, to her."

"I know. Okay? I know it's not enough," Stalyan breathes, pushing herself off the brick wall before trying (and failing) to catch Eugene's gaze as he drags a hand through his hair, stressfully beginning to pace the length of the cramped alleyway. "I know there's nothing I can say or do to make you look at me in the way that you used to…but I really wish there was."

Eugene quickly turns on her then, whirling around in place, face set into a deep scowl. "You're lucky that I do have the money on me, because I know you, and I just knew that you'd pull something like this. And honestly? I'm glad you decided to push this little meeting forward and get it over with sooner than planned, because I never want to look at you ever again. In any way."

"I –"

Eugene fishes a hand into his satchel, pulling out the second envelope of money and shoving it harshly into her hands, hard enough to nudge her back and cause Stalyan to stumble a bit in the dirt. "Here's your fucking money, as promised. Really hope all of this was worth it."

Gingerly turning the envelope over in her hands, as though wondering to herself if everything she'd done really had been worth it, Stalyan ultimately tucks the thick wad of paper into her back pocket before turning to go. Stalyan isn't three paces toward the opposite end of the alleyway, though, when she stops in her tracks, suddenly turning back to face him.

"Hey…Eugene?"

It's entirely strange – nearly unsettling – to hear her call him by his real name, though part of Eugene appreciates this last-ditch effort to at least try to realize how much it truly means to him.

"Did you mean what you said that day in the hallway?" Stalyan nervously wrings her wrists together, chewing at her lip. "Or did you just say what you thought I wanted to hear so I would let you go after her?"

"About what?" Eugene asks, that day such an anxious blur in his memory.

"About being sorry for leaving me in the way that you did. For leaving me on our wedding day of all days." Stalyan shakes her head, voice low and almost timid. "I know I wasn't perfect, okay? I know that, but…who does that? I mean, I was just a kid. And I really did love you, even if I didn't always show it in the right ways. I was…I was ready to give up my entire life to be with you."

Eugene slumps his shoulders, finally thoroughly defeated in this years-long battle they've been fighting. "I was just a kid, too, Stal. And I lied to myself about it for a long time, but when the moment actually came…I realized that you weren't the one I was prepared to give up my entire life for."

Stalyan only nods, gaze dropping to the ground as she swallows hard in acceptance. "You fought for her. Died for her. You never would've done that for me."

"No. No, I don't think I would've," Eugene quietly admits, taking a half-step forward. "And – look, I am sorry. I'm sorry for how I treated you back then, because I wasn't perfect either, and I'm sorry for how I ended things. Not that I left, but for how I did it. But I was too young, and I had no ideawhat the hell I was doing – what I deserved. But I should've faced you that day. After everything we'd been through, I should've at least said goodbye properly. I can admit that now. But I'm only sorry if you're sorry for pushing me to act that way, for treating me the way you did. For the role that you played in what happened to Rapunzel."

Instead of genuinely apologizing in the most opportune moment, unsurprisingly to Eugene, Stalyan tilts her head curiously at him. "Part of the reason why I followed you from the jewelry shop was because I thought that maybe you'd bring her with you if we met later today at our agreed upon time, just to spite me. And I honestly didn't want to risk having to see her."

"Didn't wanna have to fully face the damage you've done, huh?" Eugene huffs a laugh of disbelief, always blown away by Stalyan's sheer lack of awareness. "Didn't want to have to say sorry for doing what you did to her? Feeling a little ashamed for the first time in your life there, Stal?"

"Something like that."

"Don't worry," Eugene responds curtly, tilting up his chin at her. "I wouldn't allow her to be within ten feet of you ever again."

Stalyan's arrogant expression softens then, and for a long moment, she looks sad. Really, really sad.

"You never loved me like that. Never truly protected me like that. That night of the party…you were willing to do anything to keep her safe. You were so willing to – to hurt me for hurting her." Eugene swears that he can see tears circling the rims of Stalyan's eyes, though they're gone far too quickly to actually be sure. "You never really…loved me. Not like that."

"You never really let me in."

Stalyan doesn't say anything right away at that, the comment hanging between them like smoke that's thick enough to choke on.

"Do you think she'll ever forgive me?"

The fact that Stalyan even remotely wants Rapunzel to offer her forgiveness is a step in the right direction, Eugene must admit – that is, if all of this isn't some big ploy, which he absolutely wouldn't put past her.

"If it makes your guilty conscience feel any better, not that I owe you anything...Rapunzel's a pretty forgiving person. Much more forgiving than most people deserve." Eugene's mouth quirks into a small smile in spite of himself, the thought of his sweet princess being enough to make him grin in even the worst moments. "Besides, I don't think she's the one who truly needs to forgive you here."

Stalyan sighs, rubbing at her forehead and understanding what he's wordlessly getting at.

"Look, I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry for how I treated you when we were young. I'm sorry for pushing you to leave me in the way that you did. I've always known that I was a big part of the reason why you left like that, but I just…I didn't want to admit it, ya know? Not to myself. Deep down, I know that I can't...I know that I can't really blame you for wanting to go. Daddy and I weren't...we were never easy on you. I know that. And after everything, I can see now why you..."

Stalyan stumbles on her words, visibly trying hard to find the right ones.

"I can see now why you'd want to be with someone like her over someone like me. She's...she's good. Much as I want to hate her, and sometimes still do, I can at least see that goodness. She makes you want to be good, makes you want to save her, and yourself." Stalyan looks up to meet Eugene's hard gaze. "I never had that kind of power over you, did I? We were both sort of just...anchors pulling each other down, huh?"

"Like I said, Stalyan, it's never been a competition. It never had to be, because there's no one comparable to her. And love's not about power." Eugene shrugs easily, unaffected. "That's why we don't work. Why we were doomed from the start. Because you actually think love's about power. And it's just not."

"I know. I know that now." Stalyan smiles sadly, eyes filled with genuine resolution for the first time. "You were always going to choose her. I can see that now, too, and I don't blame you for that, either."

"Well…thank you for apologizing, at least." Eugene runs a hand through his hair, releasing a heavy breath. "So many years without closure, and it feels like we can finally both move on. Truly start a new chapter of our lives."

Stalyan nods, biting at the inside of her cheek as her eyes linger on his vest – on the protrusion of the ring box imprinted in the leather there, sticking out like a sore thumb.

"I hope you have a good life, that you'll always be happy with her. Truly, I mean it. You deserve it." Stalyan half-turns, looking at him over her shoulder now like a back-lit ghost. "You're a good man. Deep down, I think I've always known that, but I was just too worried about myself to even think to remind you of it. You deserved far better than that. And now…now, you're different. But maybe different is good after all."

Stunned as Eugene is by Stalyan's honest words, he knows that she doesn't say this to be conniving or manipulative, nor to guilt him for their past together. For once, she's saying something to him with pure sincerity in her eyes. Something he'd always wished for, but had assumed he'd never receive from her.

Eugene knows that, after today, he's never going to see Stalyan again, and they're finally both going to move on. If he's being candid with himself, he's never felt so relieved in his entire life. Well, aside from when he'd been reunited with Rapunzel in Maddoline.

Speaking of Rapunzel, it was high time that Eugene started making his way back home to her, and about time that he made her his wife. A wife which he would be proud to have, a wife which he would die for, and a wife which he would be a better man for; a wife worth staying for.

With a final, contented nod in Stalyan's direction as she walks away from him one last time, Eugene gently pats the little box waiting in his breast pocket with a giddy smile, and turns on his heel toward the castle.

---

Rapunzel's curious footsteps pad along the marble floor, the castle feeling like some sort of empty ghost town; like every servant and every guard had been asked to leave the premises for the evening without her knowledge.

And who knows? Maybe they had. But Rapunzel hadn't seen a single soul on the journey from her bedroom to her instructed destination (a journey which would typically lead to an encounter with at least a half-dozen guards asking where she was headed), and she was beginning to wonder if Eugene had anything to do with the sheer quiet of the castle tonight. He'd said that he'd prepared special plans for them, after all. Perhaps the castle's utter stillness had something to do with that.

'Meet me in the ballroom in the west wing. And wear something pretty,' the letter he'd left on her pillow had read in black ink, his familiar handwriting and loving words causing Rapunzel's heart to jump into her throat, anxious butterflies immediately forming in her stomach at the possibility of the promise he'd made last night.

Nearly two years later, and he still made Rapunzel feel the way she'd felt when she'd laid her eyes upon him for the very first time: a slight buzz of nervous energy and excitement, and like something she'd been waiting forever for had finally clicked into place.

With her mind wandering as it was, it didn't take Rapunzel long at all to reach the large ballroom doors in the west wing as Eugene had asked of her in the note. She was wearing her favorite green dress, hands only slightly shaking, and suddenly the door handle before her felt worlds away. Like she was looking through a portal, falling through a mirror, and watching her life flash before her eyes. Like everything had led to this one, singular moment, and now that she was finally here…well, Rapunzel honestly felt like she might throw up in the name of nerves.

But this was Eugene, and there was no reason to be nervous. There was surely no reason to be afraid, because if tonight was going to entail all the things she thought it might, every worrisome feeling from this moment on would cease to matter; would no longer have the ability to consume her, when he was consuming her so entirely.

With bated breath, front teeth digging painfully into her bottom lip, Rapunzel pushes with all her might upon the heavy oak doors before her.

Tears immediately well in her eyes as Rapunzel takes in the sight of Eugene standing there in the dim chandelier light, a bouquet of flowers in one hand, the other resting in the pocket of his pants. He's dressed far more formally than usual, having rid himself of his typical jacket or vest, replacing it with only a white button-down shirt and a nice pair of black dress pants.

Candles are set all around him, flickering as dusk filters in through the vast windows at Eugene's back. Candles, candles, candles everywhere. Wax melting, dripping to the floor, and Rapunzel isn't quite sure where to look because this relentless flickering of what appears to be hundreds of candles around them reminds her too much of the one candle which used to flicker all those nights when she'd been forced to sneak into his room long after the sun had set on their world. It's all too much in the best possible way, and God, she might lose it already –

"Sunshine," Eugene finally breathes, as though he was letting out a breath he'd been holding for a very long time; like he'd been waiting forever for her, too.

And, in a way, Rapunzel supposes that he had. Living their respective lives for so long before ultimately crossing paths, both alone and lonely in every sense of the two words, she'd waited for him. And he, for her.

"And I suppose these are the grand plans you alluded to this morning?" The young princess wonders aloud, spreading her arms out before her to acknowledge the gorgeous, intimate setting he'd created for them.

"The very ones." Eugene grins, stretching the hand that had previously been stuffed into his pocket out toward her, nodding to Rapunzel's formal dress of a deep, forest green color. "I see that you got my message."

"Loud and clear. I know the green's your favorite." Rapunzel smiles back, waving the note which she'd taken as a token of jovial proof around in the air for emphasis before graciously accepting Eugene's outstretched hand, eager to be close to him after an entire afternoon apart.

Even a measly afternoon – after nearly a month spent separated – had felt like a lifetime, and like far too long.

"Who would've thought that a lowly thief like moi could pull off such a romantic gesture as this, huh?" Eugene nuzzles their noses as he pulls her close, relieved to have Rapunzel back in his arms after the afternoon he'd had; after reminiscing upon the life he'd almost lived, and thanking whatever God there was that he'd walked away from that life in order to find a new one with her.

"You're not a lowly thief, Eugene." Rapunzel huffs out a laugh, playfully rolling her eyes at him. "You live in a castle. You get daily facials and massages, you get your face shaved for you now, and you use that fancy lotion out of those little glass jars you like so much."

"Well, not anymore. But I was! I was lowly, and dangerous, and conniving." Eugene takes on a sing-songy tone, teasing her shamelessly as he twists Rapunzel into his arms from behind, squeezing her gently against his chest while whispering into her ear, "And youuuu were in looooove with a criminaaaaaal."

"I wasn't –!" Rapunzel protests, eyes growing wide as her cheeks flush a bright shade of pink, attempting to turn her neck away from his relentlessly mocking mouth.

"Ohhh, you so were! You thought that dangerous side of me was sexy, didn't you? Didn't you? You fell in love with me when I was still him." Eugene pokes Rapunzel in the ribs, causing her to giggle uncontrollably and thrash around in his arms. "And don'tyou knock my face cream! You know how prone I am to dry skin!"

"I guess I did. I guess I did fall in love with you like that…even if I didn't understand it at the time." Rapunzel smirks gently, turning back around in Eugene's arms to fully face him and stare up at his lips as she murmurs, "I fell in love with the most wanted criminal in the entire kingdom, and I hate to admit that it was actually kind of incredibly sexy."

"Ah hah!" Eugene exclaims in triumph, planting an ongoing string of kisses along both of Rapunzel's still-blushing cheeks before pulling away to simply stare at her, face grown serious. "You look so pretty right now. I could just eat you up."

Rapunzel quite literally feels the air whoosh from her lungs, her chest warming up from the inside like all the melting wax around her. Oh, how was she possibly going to last the night if he was already talking like that…

"Please do. Eat me up…" Rapunzel lowers her now-pleading voice, standing on her tiptoes to tenderly nuzzle their noses together with a sly grin playing upon her lips; lips which he would die to kiss right about now. "And then eat me out."

"Mmm…that could definitely be arranged, Princess," Eugene whispers back as he twirls a lock of hair beside her ear around his finger, a rush of blood surging from his heart, down to his stomach, and straight to his cock at her blunt words.

The headache of this entire afternoon had absolutely been worth it, because man, was he ever going to fuck her good tonight. So good that she was going to see freaking stars dancing above their heads, so good that it would put even the night with the lanterns to shame. But first, and somehow even more importantly –

"Soooo…are you just going to stand there and beat around the metaphorical 'I've missed you all day and we should fuck' bush, or are you actually going to tell me why you asked me to come here in this pretty dress?" Rapunzel asks with a sly grin, subtly spinning in place so that her skirts swoosh up around her before rocking back and forth on her heels in anticipation.

"You're right. Trust me, I've definitely been…thinking about you – like that – all day, don't get me wrong." Eugene rushes to reassure her with an insidious smirk of his own. "But first…I've really gotta ask you somethin', Sunshine. And it's real important, so I need you to listen close to everything that I'm about to say, alright?" Rapunzel only giggles at his dramatics, nodding at Eugene to go on.

Eugene quickly grows intensely serious, though, wrapping each of his shaking fingers around Rapunzel's biceps and looking her straight in the eyes, as if to ensure that she's not going anywhere.

As if she ever would. Perhaps the gesture was done more to ground himself, and less to keep her in place.

"Rapunzel…you're the only thing in this entire world that truly matters to me. You know that, right?"

Rapunzel smiles gently, nodding along. "Of course. And you're the only thing that truly matters to me."

Her parents and her kingdom would always mean so much to her, but he…he was irreplaceable. Truly, undeniably irreplaceable. The only man she could ever want, and the only thing she genuinely couldn't bear to lose. The only one she would honestly rather die right along with than have to live without.

"And you know that I'd do anything for you? Anything to protect you?" Eugene presses, his gaze so sincere and harshly focused upon her that Rapunzel can compare it only to the way he'd looked at her when they'd reunited in Maddoline. Aside from that night and right now, he's never looked upon her with such intensity, and Rapunzel nearly feels as though she might catch fire like the endless candles surrounding them.

"I think you proved that in Maddoline," Rapunzel ponders aloud, tilting her head adorably with a small grimace at the painful memory. "And in the tower…"

"Rapunzel, I just – I need you to know that I…I only want to be a better man for you," Eugene stutters, internally wanting to slap himself for his lack of composure during a time like this, a moment he can never redo or get back!

Fuck, he'd practiced this! In the mirror earlier today, he'd practiced everything he'd ever wanted to say to her!

And now that the precious moment has finally come, he just…he really just doesn't want to mess it up! He doesn't want to stumble, and he sure as hell doesn't want to sound unsure of himself, because he's never been surer of anything in his entire twenty-five years. For her, so badly, he wants this moment to be absolutely perfect.

And here he was, stumbling and stuttering like a lovesick idiot – and wasn't he? Wasn't he a lovesick fool for her? That much might be true, but still! Still, he just doesn't want to ruin this for her. This defining moment.

"For the rest of my life, I only want to be better for you. Be a better man, a better…everything. A better person, a better worker, a better friend. I want to be your everything, and I want you to be mine. Forever," Eugene confesses, holding absolutely nothing back from her. "I want to be your family."

"Oh, I want that, too!" Rapunzel's eyes glaze over with crystalline tears, swiftly taking both of his cheeks into her palms. "More than you could ever know. And Eugene, sweetheart…you already are my family."

In spite of himself, Eugene whimpers out at that, because this is all he's ever wanted! A real, true family.

"The day I met you…everything changed. I changed. Before you, I'd never truly loved another person. Not in this entirely selfless, all-consuming way, where you just want to be better for them. For so many years, I'd only cared about myself. I'd been that way for so long, too long, that I honestly didn't know how to do anything else. How to be anyone else but that selfish criminal." Eugene's bottom lip trembles, and her tears are inspiring tears of his own, and – no! No, he can't cry now, not yet! Not before he gets this out! "But with you…with you, Sunshine, I learned what it was like to love someone other than yourself. I learned what it was like to put someone else first, to be in love, to make love, and I just – I didn't have any of that before, didn't think I needed it. But I did, and I do. I need you. You make me better!"

Eugene's mind flashes back to his conversation with Stalyan earlier that day, and how she hadn't been able to give him any of those things; the love he'd needed, and the love which he now realizes he'd deserved all along.

"No one saw what I needed then, not even myself. But you…you saw me. You saw me when no one else did. The real me, beneath all the bullshit. Behind the mask. You saw me for me, and you loved me. All the ugly parts, and all the parts that I was dying to hide. The parts of me that I was trying to hide behind. But you just…you saw me. And for that, I am forever grateful and in debt to you, Rapunzel."

Tears spill from Rapunzel's eyes as she takes both of Eugene's hands into her own, clasping them together and bringing them up to rest against her fast-beating heart, nodding along as his rambling, vulnerable words come rushing out.

So much for practicing in the mirror.

Shaking her head, nearly unable to believe his self-loathing with silvery tears still rimming her eyes, Rapunzel speaks with thick emotion nearly closing up her throat, "The debt has been paid. So many times over, the debt has been paid, Eugene."

"I want you, Blondie." Eugene whimpers, tears running down his own cheeks as the intimate moment overpowers his ability to remain stoic and practiced. "Forever, I just want you. I want to learn more about you with each day that passes, I want to learn more about myself with you and through you and because of you, and I want to learn more about what it means to love another person so selflessly and so completely. I want to make love to you everyday for the rest of my life, I want to turn that love into perfect little babies who look just like you, I want to grow old with you, and I want…I want everything. I want everything. With you, and only you. And I never, ever want to lose you. Never again."

"Never. Never, Eugene, you'll never lose me again. You never really did!" Rapunzel sobs, throwing herself into Eugene's arms and allowing his warmth to envelope her wholly as she cries against his chest, the unbearable emotion of the moment too much to handle with grace. "My heart was always with you, even when I was taken away. It'll always be with you, no matter what!"

"Oh, Blondie…" Eugene murmurs into her hair, clutching the back of Rapunzel's head in one hand.

She pulls suddenly away, barely able to talk coherently through her tears. "Everything you said, about spending forever together and making love and making babies together, and…all of it. I feel the same way about all of it!"

"Kiss me," Eugene suddenly demands, eyes darkened with love and lust and everything in-between. "Kiss me. Please."

Without thinking, and without even giving her a real chance to actually kiss him, Eugene drops to one knee and quickly pulls the ring box out of his pocket. The image before her is so overwhelming that Rapunzel covers her heart with a quivering hand, attempting (and failing) to stifle her sobs, nearly hyperventilating.

Too much. They'd been through so much in such a short amount of time, too much, but none of it mattered now. None of it mattered now, because he was pulling the ring he'd chosen that morning from its velvety box and slipping it onto the outstretched finger of her left hand – a perfect fit.

He wants that kiss. No, he wants that ring wrapped up in his hair with his head between her legs, wants her sobbing out his name like she had last night. Louder, better, lovelier, because they were really, truly free now.

"Kiss me. Kiss me, and then marry me, and stay with me forever," Eugene asks of her, pleading. "Please."

"Yes." Rapunzel only nods, slipping to the floor on her knees before him, planting sought after kisses upon Eugene's grinning mouth between each word. "Yes, yes, yes."

"Let's go up to bed. Let me take you to bed, please," Eugene groans, falling back onto his bottom, tugging Rapunzel along with him so that she's easily able to straddle either side of his thighs on the cool marble.

Please, let me fuck you with that ring on your finger. Let me be inside of you with the knowledge that I'm going to marry you. Let me hold you in my arms, let me know that all of this is real! That this isn't just a dream, and that no one is going to take you from me ever again...

Eugene starts to ease her up and away from the floor, though Rapunzel stubbornly pushes her hips against his in order to keep him straddled there. She moans out as their hips grind together, and once more, they fall into the long-awaited kiss; finding themselves lost in the flickering candlelight, and in the unbelievable goodness of this moment.

"Come oooon, baby. Just wanna be inside —"

You. You, you, you! I want to be inside you! Only ever you, for the rest of my life!

"No, wait…" Rapunzel breathes out, her words ending in another stifled moan. "Just…waaaait…"

"What could you possibly need to wait for right now?" Eugene chides with a chuckle, shaking his head while pushing the fallen hair out of Rapunzel's eyes. "Haven't we waited enough?"

Rapunzel leans down to kiss him again, long and hard before gazing around them with a contented sigh. "Just give me one more second. I just...I don't want to leave this moment. Not yet. I don't know how long we have before something goes wrong again, and I just want to —"

"Shhh…" Eugene shakes his head, knowing what she's about to say, and caressing the side of Rapunzel's face with each of his palms in order to comfort her away from such thoughts. "Everything is going to be okay now. No one can take you from me. Not ever again."

"You know, last night was amazing, but…" Rapunzel changes the subject with a smile, knowing that what he says is true – knowing that if Eugene believes she'll never be taken from him again, she won't be. "I think we can do even better. I just wanna get so lost with you tonight, Eugene."

"So do I," Eugene groans at her words in agreement, nuzzling his nose against her cheek. "Gonna make you forget your own name…"

"I only want to remember yours anyway," Rapunzel quickly reassures. "It's the only one I need to know tonight."

Dipping her head down to kiss him once more, Rapunzel's suddenly interrupted as the heavy oak doors of the ballroom are pushed open with great force, many of the golden candles surrounding them winking out. The young princess lets out a bewildered gasp, squinting her eyes in the dim light at the large, back-lit figure looming there in the doorway.

"Dad?"

"I – I'm very sorry to interrupt." Frederic shifts awkwardly, looking to the ceiling as though he could somehow will his daughter to retrieve herself from such a suggestive position in his presence. "Uh, we um…we just received word. King George of Maddoline has declared war upon the Kingdom of Corona. And he's..."

"What?" Rapunzel leans toward her father with clear concern growing on her face, though she doesn't release her hold around Eugene's neck; doesn't shift her knees from either side of him, doesn't show any signs of ungluing herself from his body at all. "What is it, Dad?"

Frederic lowers his gaze to meet his daughter's worried expression, raw grimness etched across his own aging face.

"He's called for Eugene's head. They've already voted, and…and the Council is fully prepared to hand him over. Tonight."

AN: Remember, my dear readers, this story isn't over. This isn't even close to over.

I hope you'll join me soon for Part 2 of the Killing Me Slowly duology: A Kingdom So Dark & Forgotten. Until then, thank you for joining me on this journey. I'll carry Killing Me Slowly – and all of you – in my heart forever.