Chapter Five:

Nickolas - Nicki - Lighter - or Nightlight as most people called him, had known the Overlands since he was in middle school. He'd been there when Micheal Bennett had died, when Olivia Overland had become a recluse, and he'd been at Katherine's side for all of it.

He'd known Jack the entire time too.

The kid had always been happy-go-lucky, and even played a crazy amount of pranks when he had the chance. Nightlight liked him, and he knew Katherine adored her little brother. The older Overlands were close, and did their best to fill the void that losing two dads and a mom created. Nightlight had seen Katherine and her siblings at their worst, when Sophie got sick at two years old or when Jack broke his arm falling out of a tree. He'd seen Katherine scared, from Halloween to getting a call from MJ at the emergency room, but he'd never heard so much fear in her voice until that moment.

"NIGHTLIGHT!"

So he leaped out of his seat, ran into the kitchen, jumped over a chair and out the door.

Only to see Katherine and Jack huddled around a third girl in the grass.

She was brunette with blonde roots, and wore torn and muddy clothes. Nightlight could tell she wasn't well, and her eyes kept rolling up back into her head and she shivered uncontrollably. Jack held her in his arms, and Nightlight noticed that he'd forgotten to put shoes on. Katherine wore jeans and an ill fitting tank top - Nightlight recognized the flannel around the mystery girl, since it was his - and she shivered a bit in the autumn wind.

"Katie!" Nightlight yelped, leaning down to his girlfriend, who pushed him towards Jack.

"We have to get her to the hospital!" Katherine cried, leaping to her feet and running back towards the house.

"Give her to me," Nightlight said to Jack, who drew Rapunzel closer.

"No!" The younger teen protested.

"Jack." Nightlight said calmly. "I'm stronger than you are, and she's not doing well. Take my keys and go start the car, and I'll be right behind you,"

Jack hesitated for a moment, but relented. Nightlight scooped Rapunzel up into his arms and followed Jack around the house, where he put her into the backseat. Jack slid in next to her, grabbing her hands and rubbing circles on her arms to keep her warm. A minute later, Katherine burst through the door, jumped over a bush and slid into the passenger seat. A bright yellow raincoat was clutched in her hands.

"GO!" She yelled. "GO GO GO FAST!"

The group ran into the hospital in a flurry of limbs (Katherine), worry (Jack), and complete calm (Nightlight). A team of doctors took Rapunzel when they saw her condition and whisked her away while a nurse handed Katherine a clipboard of paperwork to fill out. Rapunzel's parents (called by Merida) showed up only 10 minutes after, and her mother took the clipboard from Katherine.

"Thank you for finding her," Arianna Corona told Jack. She had the same bright green eyes as her daughter, but her hair was the chocolate brown that Rapunzel chose to dye her own. Her husband, Frederick, was a burly man who didn't speak to the Overland siblings, but kept looking worriedly towards the doors where his daughter had been taken.

"I hope she's okay," Jack mumbled, pulling his knees up to his chest. He realized that he'd forgotten to put shoes back on. It almost made him smile.

"Rapunzel… she only just got back to us," Arianna whispered. "I thought she'd run away, that we weren't doing something right, that she hated us just as much as she hates that woman…"

"What?" Katherine asked.

Arianna looked a little taken aback.

"I guess she wouldn't tell a lot of people…" She whispered. "Rapunzel was kidnapped when she was a baby - by this woman who used to be our neighbor. Her name was Gothel. Well, Gothel raised Rapunzel as her own daughter, and she only found out the truth last year. We moved here so we'd have a fresh start, but Rapunzel was convinced that Gothel was going to come back and get her,"

"Oh my god…" Katherine breathed. Jack didn't say anything. Suddenly, all of Rapunzel's weird behavior made a lot more sense. If she was afraid of some psycho kidnapping her again, why wouldn't she dye her hair, limit her friends and stay out of sight as much as possible?

"I thought she was finally opening up…" Rapunzel's mother whispered, sinking into her chair as Frederick laid a hand on his wife's shoulder.

They stayed there for a few hours, just waiting for news. They were a motley group. The Corona's wore mussed clothes that could have been yesterdays, as they hadn't been sleeping while they searched. Nightlight was dressed normally from school, and Jack almost was, except for his missing shoes. Katherine still wore her muddy jeans and tank top, with the yellow jacket she'd grabbed wrapped around her shoulders.

Three hours later, a nurse came out to talk to the Corona's. She then led them back into the hospital, and up several floors to Rapunzel's room. Noticing his anxious expression, Mrs. Corona grabbed Jack by the hand and took him with them. They were led up to the door, where the nurse stopped Jack and let the adults inside.

"I know you're not family sweetie," She whispered. "But I letcha in 'cause you look so nervous,"

"Is she okay?" Jack asked.

"She'll be just fine," The nurse replied. "She was very close to an overdose but we got her settled back down. She was asleep last I saw,"

"Overdose?!" Jack yelped. The nurse looked confused, but gave him a sympathetic smile and left to finish her work.

He waited a few minutes before the door opened and Mr. Corona gestured for him to come inside. Rapunzel was lying propped up in her bed, clas in a thin hospital gown. There was an IV in her arm, and fresh stitches across her hairline. Someone had pulled her short curls back in a ponytail.

"Jack!" Rapunzel cried happily, trying to sit up more. Mrs. Corona laid an arm across her daughter's chest to keep her from hurting herself.

"Jack, huh?" Mr. Corona said, giving the teen the side-eye. "This is the boy?"

"Y-yes," Rapunzel whispered quietly, Mr. Corona noticed his daughter's nervous expression and softened.

"He seems nice," He said, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. "We'll go out and talk to the doctor, okay darling?"

"Okay Fre- Dad," Rapunzel corrected, still a little awkward using the name. Her parents quietly exited the room and Jack sat down in the chair next to her bed.

"I guess you'll want to know what happened?" She asked quietly. "It's time I told someone other than my parents,"

"Only if you want to," Jack answered. Rapunzel took a deep breath, wincing a bit as the action seemed to hurt her ribs. She seemed tired, but also determined. She had to do this.

"I… was born Rapunzel Arianna Corona, but I've been Rapunzel Ann Gothel for most of my life," She said slowly. "I was kidnapped by my parents next door neighbor when I was only a few weeks old. They never suspected her, but she snuck in through the window and took me away with her. We still don't know exactly why, but the police said she had lost a daughter to child services when she was younger and thought I would be a good… replacement. Her name was Galiana Gothel,"

Jack nodded. Rapunzel took another shaky breath.

"We moved to Phoenix when I was five or so? That's when things really got bad. Gothel never let me out of the house, even to play in the yard, and she'd keep me locked up in my room when her… friends came over. She always told me that the outside world was full of thugs and drug dealers, but the thing was, she was the drug dealer. Gothel specialized in Sundrop-"

"Sundrop?" Jack asked incredulously. "She made Sundrop?"

Rapunzel nodded weakly.

"Sundrop. And she made it the good stuff. She got paid well. Sundrop is the worst type of drug though, and she kept using it on me to keep me out of her way. I spent so many hours lying on the floor of my bedroom that I lost track of the days. Sometimes it felt like I'd go to sleep in March and wake up in September. When I was ten, she decided that I was old enough to start making it for her, so I did. Anything to please… my mother,"

Jack nodded again, trying to encourage Rapunzel to keep going.

"So I spent the next few years alternating between being a drugged up zombie or making the stuff. Then, when I was fifteen, a new family moved into the house next door. Gothel started going out to deliver the Sundrop to the dealers, since I was getting older and she thought they'd… I don't know, try and get me alone? But the important thing was that she was out of the house, and I was alone. So when Flynn broke into the kitchen… I couldn't help myself,"

"Flynn?"

Rapunzel smiled wistfully.

"Flynn Rider," She said. "He was… different. He broke into places for fun, and thought our house was abandoned. I hit him with a frying pan… but we became friends. And once he realized what my mother made me do and how doped up I was constantly… he wanted to help,"

"So he called the police?"

"No… he didn't." Rapunzel whispered. "We waited until the night Gothel said she was going to meet all the dealers, and then he snuck over and helped me pack my stuff into a backpack. We were going to run, find a bus station and ride up to Salt Lake city. Then Seattle. But Gothel came back earlier than I thought she would, and she… found us,"

Jack could see it in his mind. A younger, dazed - but hopeful - Rapunzel with this mystery boy, excited to be rebelling and sneaking out. And he could see it all going wrong.

"She shoved me into the mirror - this giant old full length mirror we had - and I fell back and hit my head. It shattered, but I was so doped up from the Sundrop that I didn't feel the glass cutting into my arms and legs. Gothel… she grabbed Flynn and wrestled him around. He tried to break out and grab me, but she stabbed him in the stomach. Then, it's a blur, but I remember fighting her, and we fell down the stairs, and the knife flew out of her hands. She was knocked out, and I crawled to her purse, where her cellphone was, and called 911. The police showed up twenty minutes later, and they took us all to the hospital,"

Rapunzel stopped for a second and looked at Jack. The teen stared intently at her, but there wasn't any blame in his eyes. It reassured her.

"At the hospital, Flynn went into surgery for his wounds. He was hurt so badly, and I thought he wasn't going to make it. The police handcuffed Gothel to her bed after they found the Sundrop stuff, and they questioned me for hours. I was so doped up I'm sure they thought I wasn't any help, especially when Flynn's parents arrived,"

"And?"

"His mom was so mad at me, and I knew it was all my fault," Rapunzel continued. "The story went out to the news the next morning, since it was one of the biggest drug busts of the past few years, and they showed Flynn and my pictures in it, said that we'd been trying to run when it all went down. Frederick and Arianna - my real parents - saw the news and flew to Phoenix overnight. They were convinced they'd finally found me, and they had. The police let them do a DNA test and it came back positive, and Gothel even confessed it. So as soon as I was cleared, they took me home with them. And it was nice… until Flynn woke up,"

"What happened then?"

"His mom and dad wouldn't let me contact him, or even see him," Rapunzel whispered. "They blamed me for him almost dying, and I was devastated. Not only was I going through serious withdrawal from the years of Sundrop, my only friend in the world wasn't able to talk to me. And I was so upset… I found more Sundrop. It was the only thing that made me feel remotely better, and Arianna and Frederick found me and decided that we needed a new start as a family. So we moved here, to Burgess,"

"And you met me?"

"I met you," Rapunzel said faintly. "And I was actually getting better, but then I was on my way home from your house and… the Stabbington brothers got me,"

"The Stabbingtons?"

"Gothel's best dealers," She said. "They were mad and blamed me, so they grabbed me and really beat me up. Doctor said I had some broken ribs. They had Sundrop on them, and kept hurting me… and since it numbs you to the world, they kept giving me more and more of it. I was so messed up, that when they finally dumped me in the woods, I could barely move. I found your house… and the shed seemed like the only safe place. I stayed there… until you found me,"

"Oh my god," Jack whispered. "I'm so sorry Punzie,"

"It's… better… now," She whispered and sank back into her pillow, exhausted. Telling Jack everything had taken longer than she had thought, and had been too stressful on her broken body. Rapunzel needed to heal, and sleep was the best way to do it.

Jack stayed next to her.

The Corona's came in from time to time, but Jack didn't talk to them. He stayed next to the sleeping blonde-brunette and kept their hands loosely intertwined. He didn't eat much, and drank even less.

The nurses tried to kick him out, but Jack refused. Katherine and Nightlight had to get back to the younger Overlands, and they left without him. Jack stayed up all night, and was there when Rapunzel woke up that morning.

But the overdose had consequences and she felt them. Jack was thrown out of the room as doctors and nurses rushed in to help her, and he was only allowed in once she was sedated again.

He stayed the next night too.

On the third morning, Olivia Overland arrived to collect her son.

Jack refused to leave.

The entire Overland family was there, and Jack found himself out in the hall arguing with his mother and older sisters.

"You need to come home!" Olivia yelled. Jack scoffed.

"That's rich coming from you!" He yelled back. MJ looked a little shocked at her brother's tone.

"Young man -"

"Don't 'young man' me!" Jack challenged. "You don't care about me! You haven't for years! I doubt you even remember my full name, you've been drinking and forgetting about us that long!"

"JACKSON OVERLAND, STOP TALKING BACK TO ME OR-"

"OR WHAT?!" Jack snapped, feeling the rush of worry climbing up his spine. "You'll ground me? Well guess what Mom I've been grounded for the past seven years! Or did you not notice that I've been helping MJ raise Sophie?!"

"THIS IS NOT ABOUT EMILY-JANE!"

"M-J!" Jack yelled. "M! J!"

"JACKSON STOP THIS!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW ME! YOU DON'T KNOW ANY OF US!"

"YOU DON'T THINK I KNOW THAT? THAT I HAVEN'T BEEN THERE AS MUCH AS I SHOULD HAVE?"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!" Jack yelled. He noticed a crowd of nurses and patients had appeared from inside other rooms. One stepped forward cautiously.

"Sir, ma'am, this is a hospital and there are people that need to-"

"JACK!" Emma suddenly screamed, breaking out of Katherine's hold and sprinting towards her brother as his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he started to sway. She was only a few feet away when the teen hit the ground - hard. The nurses leapt into action, grabbing and dragging Jack into a nearby, empty room.

"He'll be okay," A doctor said, turning to the family, but nobody knew who he was talking to.

"He's just heavily dehydrated and tired miss, he'll be alright once we get some fluids in him,"

"I can't thank you enough,"

That voice was familiar. It sounded worried, but too young to be this worried.

"I'd suggest also getting him to a therapist? It seems he might have anxiety or depression issues, and we'd like to help him get through those quickly and easily. Lots of support at home is also recommended,"

"I'll do my best, but… money's a bit tight at our house, this is certainly going to cost us…"

"I'll get a job - help out more!"

"Goosie no, you don't have to feel responsible!"

His head was pounding, and everything hurt. He didn't know where he was, but he had an idea of who was around him.

The light above him was too bright.

He blinked his eyes a few times, experimenting as his vision adjusted.

"JACK!" A new voice chirped. "HE'S AWAKE!"

Author Notes: Only one more chapter (epilogue) left!