"Dam key" Merida struggled to open the door to her house. Rapunzel did her best not to let her giggle slip out. Merida eventually got the door open and let Rapunzel go in first. She stepped in and her mouth fell open. She walked into a huge circular room with a spiral stair case in the middle. There were open and closed doors around the room which lead to halls and to more doors. The house was beautiful and elegant. There was bits of antiques and furnisher in the room but the one thing that stood out was a large painting of a bear that was standing on its hind legs with fur was as dark as the night itself. Rapunzel took it all in with a sigh. "Yeah it's a bit much but me mum likes it that way, me, my brothers and dad just go with it. C'mon my room's down this hall" Merida started to walk past the spiral stairs and threw a door. "Me parents and brother's rooms are upstairs. Mines down here so it's away from everyone else. I like it that way and it also helps when I have to leave at night without anyone knowing" Rapunzel looked at her confused. "What do you mean leave?" "Oh sometimes I go out to the park nearby and think. I sometimes might take a bottle from me parent's liquor cabinet" Rapunzel stoped in her tracks. "You drink?" Merida turned around and stared. "Well yeah, so does Hiccup and Jack. It kind of takes away the problems were going through" Rapunzel didn't know that. She had always thought that alcohol was bad because of Gothel and the things she did when she drank it. She shook her head at the thought. "No it's just, you know, illegal and in some ways bad" "Good point, but it depends on how much you drink and when you drink it. Gotta be smart me friend" Merida started walking again and opened a door which Rapunzel assumed was her bedroom. Rapunzel stopped talking about it because she didn't want to be pushy. What problems exactly?. Merida's room was the opposite to the rest of the house. It had clothes, shoes and crap all over the floor. There was band posters covering the walls, a mirror in the corner and a desk which had makeup, books and black nail polish on it. Merida's bed was quite lard and had aqua and black sheets. Merida threw her bag on the ground, got out her phone and plugged it into some speakers. Rapunzel stood at her door awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Merida noticed and decided to help her. "Ah just throw your bag down anywhere and come sit down on me bed" Rapunzel put her bag down and sat on the end of her bed taking her shoes and socks off. "Okay so Jack let me know that you don't know many bands or singers so this afternoon I plan on giving you an education of some of our favourites" Rapunzel liked the sound of that. "Cool! What song first?" Merida scrolled through her music. "How about mirrors by PVRIS?" Rapunzel gave her a look. "PVRIS?" "It's the name of their band. There's a poster with them over there" Rapunzel looked at where she was pointing. There was poster of a girl holding a black umbrella with two guys standing on either sides of her. They were all wearing black and had piercings and tattoos. They were standing in the woods and the white words "PVRIS" was on the bottom right corner. "That girls really pretty" Rapunzel wished that she had a body like hers or Merida's. "I know right!" Merida got up and started dancing around the room as the song started playing. Rapunzel giggled at the sight. Merida started to sing the chorus and as she did she pointed at Rapunzel as if she was singing to her. "Darling don't be so shy, I'll see you at midnight. And when I close my eyes, I said it three times, I said it three times. You make my world spin, placebo feelings. And in the morning, I'll wait to see you again" Merida's hair bounced up and down as she danced around like a lunatic. She all of a sudden ran up to Rapunzel and pulled her off the bed. "C'mon lass, dance with me!" Rapunzel did her best to stay on the bed but Merida was a lot stronger then she thought. "No I'll look like an idiot!" "Pfft you really think anyone cares, besides no one's watching us!" Rapunzel stood there for a bit not wanting to, but her body and voice took over and soon enough she looked even crazier than Merida. Wow her voice is incredible! Merida thought as they sung the last verse. "Okay that was fun" "See I told ya blondie. Oh this is teenagers by my chemical romance! Warning this song has quite a bit of swearing" Rapunzel shrugged. "I don't mind" By the end of the song Merida was on top of her bed singing her head off and Rapunzel was spinning around and around on Merida's spinney chair. "Woah I'm dizzy" and with that Rapunzel fell off the chair and onto the floor in a giggling mess. "Careful lass! Don't want ya to die so early in our friendship" "Yeah that wouldn't be very good" Rapunzel felt all hot and gross. She only had on a tank top and bra underneath her jumper. "Oh wow I'm hot, do you have a t-shirt I could use?" Merida nodded, she went to her cupboard and pulled out a black shirt which, of course, had a band on it. "Here, just get changed in the corner" Merida chucked the shirt at Rapunzel. "Thanks" Rapunzel stood in front of the mirror and started to take her jumper off. Merida turned around to give her privacy "After your done would you mind me doing them nails of yours? They just seem a bit bear" Rapunzel nodded excitedly. "Yes please that would be amazing" Merida went to her speakers and turned down her music. She then went to her draws and pulled out some black nail polish. "Now I can already tell that you usually don't wear a lot of black but.." Merida's voice trailed off as she turned around. She dropped the nail polish and stared. Rpaunzel looked at her in the mirror. "Oh I'm so sorry I should of gotten changed a lot quicker" then she realised what she was staring at. "I Didn't think you would look either" Rapunzel's back and arms were covered in scars and burns, some more visible than others. Rapunzel stared at herself awkwardly, bitting the inside of her cheek and quickly pulled the shirt over her small body. Merida stood there lost, not knowing what to say. She felt tears coming to her eyes because she knew those scars were not by some accident. Rapunzel sighed. "It's a long story. It was from my mom, Gothel. Well she adopted me so she wasn't really my mom but let's just say she wasn't the greatest at being a mom" Rapunzel sat down on the bed and told Merida her long and painful story. Merida was shocked that all this happened to her. She didn't say a word the whole time she was talking. "The scars will take years to fade but I look forward to the day when there hardly noticeable but I guess.." Merida quickly pulled Rapunzel into a hug. "I'm so sorry! This should never happen to anyone and I.. I don't know what to say!" Merida was crying. Rapunzel felt tears she had been holding in trickle down her cheeks. No one except Ana had ever been this kind to Rapunzel. "Promise me you won't tell anyone, please?" Merida sniffed. "Of course blondie" Rapunzel smiled into her friends shoulder. "Thank you" Merida let go of Rapunzel and whipped her cheeks. "So let's do them nails of yours. Is black alright?" Rapunzel nodded. "Yeah I'll do something different for a change" Merida picked up the nail polish off of the carpet and opened the lid. It felt nice and smooth across her nails. "So Merida, you like Hiccup?" Merida felt her cheeks rise in temperature. "Yes. And you like Jack" Rapunzel's smirk melted away. Do I like Jack? I don't think I've ever liked someone, let alone Jack. Maybe I do? Rapunzel thought. "Maybe" "Awww you two are the cutest couple I've ever seen" "Were not together, besides Jack wouldn't like a girl like me. I mean of all girls he would go for you" Merida burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" Merida tried to calm down so she wouldn't spill nail polish. "Jack and I have been best friends since the beginning of high school. I could never see him in that way" Rapunzel shrugged. "Well I could never see him going out with someone like me" Merida felt like slapping her. "Are ya kidding me?! You're the prettiest and hottest girl I know! Don't ever say that about yourself, ever" Rapunzel sat there silent. "No one's ever said that about me, thanks I needed that" Merida smiled. "No problem blondie. Have you ever thought about getting some piercings or maybe cutting your hair?" "I've always wanted to but I just never have" Merida's eyes brightened and a huge smile spread across her face. "We should totally take you to get your firsts, maybe even seconds. You would look good with an eyebrow piercing or spider bites. Your hair though, there's so much more you can do with it. We could colour it, brown would look nice, or we could give you an undercut or maybe cut it really short" Merida was at the edge of her seat. "Wow it sounds like you've thought about this already" Merida let out a sigh. "Yeah I have. Ever considered tattoos for when you're old enough? Hiccup, Jack and I already have" "Yeah, I think if I did get one it would probably be of the sun. It would go right her on my ribs" Rapunzel pointed at where she wanted it. "That would look amazing! I want to get one of a bear's footprint behind my ear. That reminds me, me and the boys are going to the mall to get Hiccups first piercing! After were going to just hang out and get food. Would you like to come? The guys would probably like you to come anyway" Rapunzel sat there in thought. "You sure?" "If I wasn't I wouldn't ask" "I'll just have to ask my mom but yes I'd love to" Merida smiled excitably. "Awesome! I'm starving let's go get something to eat"
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Jack struggled to open the apartment door with the bags of groceries in his hands. There wasn't much but maybe it would impress Pitch enough not to beat him up. Maybe if he was blind drunk he wouldn't see it at all. He put it all away and went off to his room. His room wasn't the greatest but it was his own. There was only a bed and a set of draws for furniture. Luckily he had his own bathroom. He's be dead if he had to share one with Pitch. There was only a bath, no shower, a small sink and a cracked mirror, thanks to Pitch, in the bathroom. He started running the bath. Maybe it'll help with the pain, Jack thought. He took of his Jacket and then his shirt. He turned around to examine the damage Pitch had caused him. He had bruises all over his back, chest and arms. He had cuts and to many scars to count. He felt his rib and cringed. He was skinny and hated himself. He wanted to get away from Pitch, oh boy did he want to, but who the hell would want some skinny, messed up punk kid? Jack took off the rest of his clothes, revealing more scars and bruises, and got into the bath. He laid there thinking. He thought about what people would think of him if they saw all these cuts and bruises. Merida would think of him as a coward, for not even being able to fight back or even protect himself. Hiccup would just laugh and walk off with the rest of the world. The whole school would laugh and hate him even more. And Rapunzel… She would never understand. She'd probably walk off, not even bothering to laugh or talk. Jack closed his eyes and did his best to push the thoughts away. He felt himself slowly drifting off into the warmness around him.
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There was darkness all around Jack. He had no idea where he was. Jack looked around for any sign of life. "Hello? Is anyone there?" No answer. He started to move around, searching for light, when he ran into something hard and cold. A light flickered on and he realised he was in a glass box of some kind. He looked and felt the box to see if there was a door or some way out, but there wasn't. Jack hit the glass but the box didn't budge. He started to panic and realised it was getting hard to breath. "Help is someone there!" He started punching the glass when then a small figure came in to light. "Emma!" Jack felt every emotion possible. The small girl smiled when she saw him. She had long brown hair with an awkwardly cut fringe, brown eyes and a small, thin body. She smiled a smile that went to her ears and ran towards him. She put her small hands on the glass. "Jack! I'm glad you're here too!" He smiled kindly at his sister. "I'm even gladder to see you" Then all of a sudden blood started to drip for Emma's right side. Her face went pale and her eyes had lost their shine. "Emma!" Now the blood was pouring and she was crying in pain. Jack started pounding the glass, trying to get to her frail body. "No please! You'll be alright. I'll get to you, just hang on!" Jack kept hitting the glass until his hands started bleeding. He was crying now and finding it harder and harder to breath. Emma laid down on the floor in her blood soaked clothes, as a pool formed around her. "Jack I'm scared" Jack stopped Jack sat on the floor crying. That was the last thing she ever said before she died in the car crash. "Emma, it's gonna be fine. We're.." "Why Jack!?"Jack stopped talking. He could hardly breathe now. "Why didn't you save me!?" Her head fell as she took in one last shaky breath. Jack couldn't breathe as he laid there in the suffocating box crying himself to death.
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Jack opened his eyes to be surrounded by water. He got up as fast as possible and fell out of the bath. He laid on the cold floor coughing up water and struggling to breathe. The room was silent, except for his loud breathing. He revisited the nightmare over and over in his head. Why didn't you save her? You should of lent over and protected her with your own body. You should of died for her. That blood on her body should of been your own. She deserved to live not you, you piece of shit. Jack felt tears form in his eyes but he wiped them away angrily. He got up, dried himself and walked off to get some warm clothes on. There was no heater in his house so he knew it would be a cold night. Better try and sleep before Pitch gets back, thought Jack. But somewhere inside him, he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep.