A/N: March 22, 2021 was our 10 year engagement anniversary! So somehow that led me to rewriting the first rejection lol. For once I was at a loss for a title though, so, eh, dug out Zac's First Date The Musical's soundtrack.
Standing in Front of You
Tangled: Before Ever After rewrite: Eugene instead of Cassandra
Eugene straightened his shirt, after having just lost his tie to even get this chance. He gulped and gently pushed the doors open. "Blondie?" he whispered, before silently entering and closing them behind him. His eyes adjusted to the moonlit room, only to find there was no sign of her. Her dinner dress was thrown on the otherwise untouched bed, and her window open. His heart sank. She's left… and lied to Stan and Pete- or they lied to me… But she ran off because of ME… Where on Earth would she have gone?
"Pascal?" he tried next, but was met with silence. He sighed, wringing his elbow as his insides twisted. Come on, just let me explain, Blondie! Last big dramatic declaration I made, you understood - and good thing 'cause I didn't have time to explain… But now that we actually have more time! So why not…? why not… How could I make you wanna escape ME...
Rapunzel crept down the thankfully empty hallway, as all the servants were tending to the international guests at the banquet. She paused in front of his door. Ghosts of a past life terrified of confrontation nagged her and flew around her head, but she bit her lip, determined to ignore them. With a deep breath, she knocked on the door. ...then she knocked a little louder with more confidence. ...finally she sighed, and tried to wager which was more likely: Is he mad at me and ignoring me? Or is he just too sad and is ignoring the world? With hope, she decided on the latter.
"Eugene?" she called gently. Focusing on how hurt he looked as she left him in the dining hall, she tried the knob. It opened; inside was pitch black. "Eugene?" she called into the darkness again as she carefully opened the door. Her eyes adjusted to the dark somewhat as light from the hall now spilled in, and she could tell that his bed was made, and see that he obviously was nowhere to be found in the tiny room. He's left! She panicked, but then tried to tell herself he was probably just finishing the dinner she had run out on.
Still, she turned his lamp on just to be sure. A wave of relief poured over her as she saw that his satchel and powder horn were still hung; his other boots still lined the wall behind the door; and upon his dresser, sat his engraved comb and dagger and- a small red box. She gasped. He's been here since, though! Perhaps on instinct, or some deeper rapport, she whirled on her heel and raced back to her room.
Eugene walked around her room, not touching anything but silently looking for clues. Eventually he wandered through her window to the balcony - then he nearly jumped over the ledge when he noticed a dark figure hiding to the side, glaring at him. He caught his breath quickly enough, and returned the furious look. "Cassandra! What are you doing here?!"
"What are you doing here, Romeo?" she smirked.
He grimaced. "That's not funny." He shook his head and sighed. "I just wanted to talk to her. Privately. But I guess you're playing lookout for her, wherever she ran off to..." He crossed his arms at her.
"You guess right," she said as smugly as she smiled.
"Then where'd she go?" he bit.
Cassandra merely sighed.
"Cass," he groaned, "I scared her. And if you're here, and I'm here, that means she's somewhere alone right now."
"You worried she can't handle herself?"
"That is not it and you know it. I'm worried that she's alone while she's upset right now, and probably mad at me or scared that I- I- that I'm trying to lock her up again or something…" He looked to the ground and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Which is not how I meant all that to sound…"
"How did you think it would sound?" she snapped back at him.
"I thought it would sound romantic!" he flailed at her.
"Staying in the same place for the rest of her life? To give up everything she wants and only focus on popping out babies?!"
Eugene waved his arms up behind his head in agony at hearing it thrown back at him in that light. "I just didn't want anything to change! I wanna keep this! I want her to be happy here- And I hoped-! I just want that to include me, too! For a future!" He flung his arms back out at her, holding all these grandiose petitions in the air.
Back inside, the bedroom door clicked open again, and Rapunzel tentatively stepped inside.
Eugene froze in a panic, at the same time he was relieved to finally see her. "Blondie!"
Framed in the window, she could clearly see Eugene's silhouette. She hesitated, but set to making her way to the window, keeping her eyes averted. "I, um, heard you guys yelling…"
"We uh…" Eugene stammered, then shook his head. "We're just worried about you."
"Are we?" Cassandra glared at him, but he hardened his own resolve. She responded by scoffing, then headed back inside. "You both already know what my advice is."
Rapunzel tightened in on herself even more, avoiding Cassandra's looks as well.
Cassandra sighed, but finally left them in their awkward silence.
Eugene watched with growing concern as Rapunzel clammed up, even once Cassandra had closed the bedroom doors again. Finally he cleared his throat, "Um, may I uh, come in?" He tried to laugh as he motioned to the window frame still between them.
Rapunzel cracked a smile, taking full advantage of his signaling to calm the tension between them. "Yeah," she chuckled breathlessly, "Yeah of course, I'm sorry."
He stepped back through the window, but turned concerned again. "Sorry for... what?"
"For- uh-" she sighed again on her way back to her bed, then plopped down on the edge. "Everything…"
"Please don't," he scoffed with his voice as small as possible, "Don't apologize to me."
She gripped the ends of her hair at her temples, shaking her head. "I shouldn't've run out on you like that."
"Ah- Well," he shrugged, "Alright, forgiven, but I'm sorry, I should not have put you on the spot in front of all those strangers in the first place, so that's still my fault." Then the whine came out. "I just thought I was so sure you'd say yes…"
"I-..." she froze up again.
But he shook his head clear. "And I'm sorry again, are you even ready to talk about this? Where were you just now?" He stood pensively in front of the window seat, wondering if he should leave entirely.
A tiny smirk tugged on her. "I had actually gone to your room," she chuckled, but it quickly died. "Because I didn't want you to think-... that I- that I didn't-"
His spark of hope lit up again. "So you do want to talk?"
Startled, her eyes finally snapped to his face: gentle, caring, genuinely curious and hiding his own hurt. This was Eugene; this was not a confrontation that anything bad could come out of. She put a smile on. "I guess?" she sighed.
He suddenly avoided her gaze, unable to deal with the fakeness right now. That's a 'No.' "Do you want me to leave?"
She pursed her lips and turned away, mulling it all over. Maybe we don't have to do this- maybe it'll just… go away? Better swept under the rug? Like it never happened?
"I'll- I'll even send Cassandra back in if you want," he offered. So she can tell you to dump me... both his ego and heart cried.
"I don't know what I want right now…" she mumbled.
Eugene twitched in place, completely at balanced odds for if he should leave or not. Finally he took a deep breath. "Can I stay?" He hated how his voice cracked with it; he only meant in this moment, not the big picture of their lives. "I- I'd like to stay and…" Put my foot in my mouth some more. Another deep breath. "I know I screwed up. I know I said some stupid things when I was rambling before, but there's more I wanna say…" He shrugged a hand out, "That's hopefully a little less stupid…"
She cracked another smile. She weighed those options, and found that since he was the one all these thoughts swirled around, he was the one she did actually want to see. "I would like you to stay, Eugene," she finally stated genuinely and sweetly, even if her voice was so tiny in the giant dark room.
He took the last few steps to her bed, but opted for sitting on the floor cross-legged leaning back against it, but still angled toward her. It only took about a whole minute for him to get his own voice back under control, to sound smooth and serious. "Rapunzel, could you ever forgive me?"
"What?" she gasped, then shook her head as she answered. "Eugene, o-of course- but I- I don't even know if there's anything to forgive I mean-"
"I put you on the spot in front of a roomful of dignitaries we don't know, then-" he scoffed at himself, throwing a dismissive hand out, "I got carried away not even realizing what it sounded like..." He paused, then added roughly, "Who I must've sounded like-"
"NO," Rapunzel jolted, loathe herself to ever draw such a comparison. "No, I know you're not. And I- I know I shouldn't care what all those people think. I'm more upset with myself for making you look bad-"
"Ah- that you really shouldn't be worried about eith-"
"But I care about you! You tried to do this big thing for me, and I just-..."
"That I see clearly now that you didn't want, so I am sooo sorry. I think I- I was being selfish. I didn't really realize it before, but making a big show out of it- I wanted all those important people to accept me, to prove I could belong with you… Which I know is stupid, but-"
Rapunzel smirked. "Even more forgiven. Anything related to this royalty stuff is really tough to deal with."
He smiled slightly, touched by the mercy she was showing him. "I just… I've been so happy being here with you, I don't want things to change."
She raised a brow. "Ah-"
He waved his hand away, already understanding her objections. "And I don't mean I expect everything to stay exactly the same for a hundred years. I don't expect you to give up anything or stay cooped up, 'in this castle,' let alone forever. I just don't wanna lose you. I just want us to have a future, together. And I thought you'd want that, too."
She sighed. "Even just thinking about it on my way back to my room, I realized there's no way you could have meant for it to sound like, well, what it sounded like."
He chuckled with relief, "Thank you, yeah, I- you know I don't wanna sound like that. I'm sorry, I- I must've scared you..."
She took a deep breath and turned away. "You did…"
He reached out to touch her knee, startling her but regaining her attention. "I'm sorry, Rapunzel. I don't ever want to scare you, or hurt you, or make you feel bad in any way. I know I did tonight though…"
She smiled again, not used to such sincere apologies in situations like this. "I know you didn't mean to. But I wish I had a better answer for you…"
"Ah-" A new fear sparked in him. "No, please, I don't want you to reverse your answer now just 'cause you saw me get upset. Clearly there's something I don't understand here and I don't want you compromising yourself just to placate me. 'Cause I love you too much to see you force yourself to do anything you don't wanna do."
She shrugged, trying to do just that. "But I-" She blushed, feeling her own love bubble up inside, but when she thought about his proposal speech again, her heart felt like breaking. But I do want to stay with him forever! "I just…" No, no just saying yes, he said! She sighed. "Alright, well, then…" And she sighed again. "I don't know what to say…"
"Alright…" he trailed off.
Staying with him could mean anything. It's my dad smothering me with guards and protection, but if he wants things to stay the same- and HERE… She felt dizzy again.
They both spaced out, both replaying so many things in their minds...
They sat in silence for a couple minutes…
That then went on even longer…
And became even harder to break…
So they stayed, stuck sitting in the silence...
Finally Eugene could not take it any longer. He sighed, then choked out meekly, "...do you know why you said no…?"
She shook her head, still staring into space, tense. I can't accuse him of the smothering, too...
He only caught the shake out of the corner of his eye. He winced, as he gagged on his own throat. "Come on, we gotta talk about somethin'..." His voice broke. This can't be how...
I know, but… She shrugged. Now it's awkward and I really don't know what to say!
He shook his head, trying to clear it and catch his breath, then got to his feet and wandered back over to the open window, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed. He looked out over the town, to the bay, and the woods beyond. A refreshing breeze blew through, rustling through his hair and bringing the fresh scent of earth, leaves, and sea as he drew a deep breath. He soon realized it starkly contrasted with the stuffy perfumed air inside. He blinked as an idea hit him; what he assumed now would be a much better idea than anything yet.
He turned around, arms still crossed, but standing up straight and tall and confident. "Rapunzel."
She had been watching him, but now blinked at him expectantly.
His voice was now sure and serious. "Are you happy here?"
"W-what?" she gasped, confused. "Of course I'm, happy here," she barely managed. "How could I not be happy here…" I mean besides the constant supervision...
He glanced away. "Because I- well… At least I thought I knew you, and you don't sound happy to me…" He sighed, and took a few more steps back toward her. "And we brought you back here to be happy."
She fidgeted. "I- I dunno- I mean, obviously, I love my parents, and, everything's great, and…" What else could I even need? This is the best, he said...
He sagged again, his arms falling to his sides and his voice dropping off low as well. "Then, is it me you're not happy with?"
"What! No!" She bolted to her feet, startling him to throw his hands up in defense, where she grabbed hold of his wrists. "Eugene, I am most definitely VERY happy with you! Don't even say that- don't even think that I couldn't be-"
He took her shoulders. "Hey, hey, okay-"
She pleaded up to his eyes, his big brown hurt eyes, "YOU are STILL my New Dream, I just-..." She groaned and dropped her head to his chest. "I'm sorry…"
He sighed at hearing it again, and so dared to wrap his arms around her to pull her close, although he kept his hold loose. "It's okay, it's okay."
With her face on his chest now though, she could feel how his heart was thudding and his breathing shallow. She picked her head back up, startling him into letting go. She pursed her lips and furrowed her brow, hating what she was putting him through as well.
But he continued pursuing his suggestion. "Sweetheart, it's a beautiful night out. I've already ruined dinner, and tomorrow is your big day…" He bit his lip as he paused and considered what he was saying.
"What is it?" she asked quietly.
He locked eyes with her. "Do you want me to get you outta here?"
Her eyes widened, the idea washing over her with such a relief. She giggled as a smile sprang up on her face.
Now THAT'S a YES! Eugene's own pensive mouth finally rested into a slight smile as well. "You're dating the Greatest Thief in the Seven Kingdoms. I can sneak you out and back in without anyone ever noticing." Although, his brow remained furrowed. "At least, I hope you're stilldating him?"
"Yes," she chuckled. "Yes, I'm still dating him. Unless he's still too mad at me?" She winced.
"No," he chuckled back, "No, I wasn't mad at all, and I could never be mad enough for that. As long as you say so, I'm not going anywhere." But he hesitated on something else. "C-can I have- I mean, could we… Could we get a real hug?" His hands twitched ever so slightly, hoping to coax her in.
She laughed at him for even doubting it, then tackled his chest with as much force as she could. Her arms locked in tightly around his waist, gripping the back of his green waistcoat with tiny balled up fists. Her face landed between his shoulder and pect, tilted up towards his.
He hugged her back just as fiercely, squeezing her as hard as he could. His head dipped to her shoulder and face burrowed into the crook of her neck, as his eyes screwed shut. Somehow breathing escaped him for a moment, til he gasped, his own voice distraught. "I just love you."
"I love you, too," she breathed on his neck.
She still-! He chuckled past his closing throat, then picked his head up to see her. Now, we can really talk. "Whatever your reasons for saying no, I just wanna know why, so I can fix it. I don't wanna argue to convince you, or annoy you into oblivion. But whatever's the matter, I'll work on it." A hand came up to hold her cheek. "I just wanna stay with you. Meeting you was the best thing that could ever happen to me, and everything since, I have been sooo lucky it's not even fair, and now I just don't wanna lose this. I've never had anything like this, like with you, and now that I do- now that we have this, I just wanna keep it. I'll do anything to keep what we have."
She held his hand there, as his words brought a peaceful smile. "I know, and I do want you to stay with me, too! But I don't quite understand how to explain it myself. I'm sorry, I don't know what else to do right now… You want things to stay the same as they've been, then that's..." Fine? She sighed, but quickly regained her resolve. "I'm just not ready for that yet. But you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, too. That I definitely know."
He sighed, a little easier. "Tonight was just me trying to… keep what we have, to show everyone how serious I am about you, and... do all that… with what I thought was… the next thing to do, ya know?" ...isn't that what I thought last time too? He cleared his throat, trying to banish his own ancient thoughts. His eyes dipped. Maybe it is better we just wait then- 'cause I canNOT screw this one up. Rapunzel is too special; maybe she's smarter for turning me down instead of jumping at me like... He could so easily envision their wedding, their married life, and future family. But I KNOW I'd never leave her, especially not like THAT! "I'm so sorry…" he trailed off, letting that apology encompass his entire life.
"Oh, Eugene," she sighed and kissed his palm, interrupting his own troublesome past thoughts with their wonderful present. Then she curled her hand around his to hold and dragged it down to her heart. "I don't think we're in danger of losing anything." Even as he smiled at this, her face fell again. "But I don't know what else to say about it all… About," she gulped, "Getting married. It's a lot, it's huge, and I'm not sure what I feel about it all…" She watched his face shatter yet again. "But Eugene," she gasped, desperately guilty.
"Yes, Princess?" he teased huskily, but just below that, he looked and sounded like an actual kicked puppy.
"I need you to understand something, please…" Oh Eugene, I don't want to see you agonizing over this either!
His hand put a death grip on hers as his mouth dried up. "What is that?" Nevermind- we're over- I screwed EVERYTHING up...
"It is you," her tiny voice squeaked out.
The wind was knocked out of him. His eyes quadruple-blinked, then shot wide. "Uh- WHAT?" He could not have heard her correctly.
"I do want to marry you - SOMEDAY."
"ME?!" His arms pulled her tighter as his whole face lit up. "Really?!"
"Yes, YOU," she laughed. How are you surprised?! But as he sputtered in confusion, she continued, deflating a bit again. "But someday. Just not now, not… like this? I dunno. I honestly don't know when I'll ever feel ready for it, but I'm sorry, I don't know what else I need. All I know is I need you to be patient with me, but don't- this doesn't feel like- I don't know, but I don't feel like…"
He giggled at her stammering. "You're not ready to be engaged?" he offered.
She sighed out in a deep breath, "Exactly! But, I know, of course, I choose you."
Eugene's grin could hardly get any bigger, as he suddenly felt drunk, on top of the world, on cloud 9. WE really are IT?! "Sunshine, I can wait for someday. I don't know what else you need either, but I do know you already have my devotion. My commitment. My love. And Darlin', I will be the most patient man in the world for you." He pulled his hand back with hers, up to his lips to kiss it. "And I'm pretty sure you've already just made me the happiest man in the world."
She hopped up to hug him again, this time with her arms over his shoulders and around his neck, and she predicted correctly his next move.
Eugene hugged her so dearly, quickly shifting to lift her up off the ground and spin her around, eliciting a squeal that he reciprocated.
As soon as her feet touched down again, she yanked his collar to smash them into a kiss. Soon though, she parted them, still holding his cheeks. "But I believe you owe me another forbidden roadtrip?"
He grinned so hard despite his teeth keeping a hold of his lip. "Anything for you." He brushed her hair back, staring deep into her eyes once again, seeing all her love, as it ever was. They drifted closer, but he paused with a giggle. "Actually, can I tell you something else, though? Why I chose tonight?"
"Hm, why's that?" She grinned back impishly.
"I chose tonight 'cause tomorrow is your big day, becoming the official Crown Princess. And I wanted you to know that I'm with you. That I am so proud to be at your side. That I'll always support you, and your rule, and in all your responsibilities, but most of all, just you… Just like I did before you were a princess. I fell in love with this crazy girl from a tower in the woods, and… ya know?" He smirked, and she blushed. "I love you, for who you are." His fingers slid back to the tips of her hair, pinching them there to lightly pull, bringing a gasp from her. "Not what you could do. And that's still true. Not for a title and all the riches and luxury of royalty, either."
She melted into his eyes, her hands falling to the sides of his neck. "That I do know, Eugene Fitzherbert." She pulled him in for a kiss, and they eagerly interlocked, all smiles, for a while. "But you do like the luxuries," she teased, pointing a finger on his chest.
"Well I'm not gonna say nooo to massages and room service," he teased back with rolled eyes, earning her giggle, before stealing her very lips themselves back. He eventually trailed kisses around her cheek to her temple, then whispered, "You got that rope?"
She blushed, giddy for another adventure. She stopped fiddling with where his tie had been, and pointed up.
He looked up: Sure enough, the rope she used to access her rafters was laced around them high above. He followed it down to the wall where the access point was tied off. "You wanna get it down or should I?"
"I've got it," she chuckled, then, with another peck on his cheek, hopped over to it. "I know where it's tied." She began quickly climbing up.
His soft smile only grew as he admired her go. He followed to begin coiling from that end around his arm. "I'm just gonna wanna stop in my room to change first."
"No problem," she quietly called back.
"Geeze, how long is this one?"
"140 feet."
"Oh," he chuckled.
"This tower's a lot higher!"
He shrugged in agreement, with a huge coil on each shoulder now.
Eventually she got to her end. She stood on the beam right above Eugene, and hooked the end loop around her foot, then held on. "You ready?"
He watched her set up, then held fast on his end. "Yup, come on dooown," he played announcer.
She giggled as she stepped off the beam. As he slowly loosed the rope bit by bit, she safely slid back down til he was right in front of her. "Thanks! Partner," she winked at him.
He actually blushed himself. "No problem," he gasped, "Partner." He took a deep breath as he openly gazed at her with such pride. Someday...
She narrowed her eyes and smirked at him. Maybe our adventures don't have to come to a close...
A/N: Please Review/Comment! Follow me as MiraNova23 on tumblr at .com, for Tangled Fandom Resurrection, messaging, keeping up with what's going on in my life, how the writing's going, my other fanworks, lots of Chuck vs Tangled, and all-around general Disnerdiness.
