~Rapunzel~~~~
Just after Friday slips into Saturday, Rapunzel's shaken awake by her best friend. On the phone yesterday, Merida had told her that they would be leaving for the lake house early in the morning, but she wasn't prepared to get up this early. Still groggy from the horrid night's sleep, she trudges downstairs and barely remembers to change out of her pajamas before piling into the Dunbroch's SUV after Hiccup. Blinking, she does a double-take and realizes that the boy next to her isn't actually Hic; it's Jack. Unexpectedly, she feels a smile creeping onto her face at the sight of him, her heart beating fast when his arm brushes against hers.
Once on the road, sleep once again tugs at her eyelids. She tries to fight it and stay awake, in case her horrible dream returns, but it's too much to resist. She's about to nod off, her eyes already sealed shut, when the car suddenly takes a sharp right turn. The momentum throws her up against Jack and causes her head to roll onto his shoulder. Scared to breathe, Rapunzel waits for him to shake her off of him, disgusted, but he hardly flinches. He just looks down at her for a moment before his eyes return to looking out the window, probably assuming that she's still sound asleep. Relieved, she sighs and lets sleep consume her completely, nestling her head into the hollow of his neck.
~Jack~~~~
Jack turns his head to look at Rapunzel, unable to resist. He quickly averts his eyes before anyone sees him staring, opting to look out the window instead. He can't help but like the weight of her head on his shoulder and how natural it feels. Shaking his head, he tries to clear his mind of those kinds of thoughts. It's just Rapunzel, he reminds himself. Still, he can't muster up the guts to shrug her off. She just looks so calm, and, judging by the awful nightmare he'd witnessed earlier, he reasons that she probably needs the extra sleep. With that, he takes one last look at her calm face and peers out at the black night once again.
After a few hours, however, he grows tired of looking out at the monotonous shadows. He shifts to look at the sleeping girl next to him and realizes that his eyelids are slowly growing heavier by the second. Making sure he doesn't wake her up, he gently lowers his head on top of hers. His cheek rests on her soft hair, using it as a pillow of sorts, and he drifts off into a peaceful sleep with the faint scent of her perfume pushing him over the edge into complete slumber.
The interior of the car fades away to the view of the lake from the dock. Glistening water stretches out before him, and he realizes with a start that in his dream Rapunzel is still right beside him, her head still resting on his collarbone. Their feet dangle in the water, yet he can't feel the liquid on his skin. The deep red and gold colors in the sky shine so vividly that they bathe the entire cove in a blanket of orange. Though it's unclear to him why, he snakes an arm around the sleeping girl's waist, tugging her closer, and closes his eyes against the warm sunlight. Minutes fly by as they sit in paradise before a jerking movement on his shoulder wakes him up.
His eyes bolt open, and he gasps softly as the beautiful lake deteriorates into the leather seats of the SUV. Rapunzel winces, curls into him, and wraps her arm around his in her sleep, making it clear to him that her nightmare isn't as easy to get rid of as he had thought. Taking care to check that no one is watching, Jack reaches for her free hand and rubs his thumb over her white knuckles. Almost immediately Rapunzel's body relaxes, the tension in her face wiped away.
Hours seem to pass like seconds to him. One minute he's watching her eyelids as they flutter every so often, and the next the SUV pulls into a long dirt driveway. Glancing sideways at Rapunzel's sleeping face, he knows that he should wake her up, but something inside of him says otherwise. So when the car crawls to a stop in front of the simple log cabin, he quickly hops out, slides his arms under her, and lifts her bridal-style off the leather seats. Carefully, he carries her through the cabin door.
The earthy smell of pine needles greets him in a wave as soon as he crosses the threshold into the kitchen. Jack inhales deeply, taking it all in and finding comfort in the change in atmosphere. The cabin itself has a simplistic layout, with the main family room to the left of the front door and a hallway with the spare bedrooms just off of that. The family room spills over into a porch that has been renovated into a sort of game room complete with a dining table and shelves overflowing with different assortments of games lined up along the far wall.
Jack passes through the kitchen and turns down the hallway. The girls had been assigned the room to the far right, and when he pushes the door open, he finds two twin beds on opposite walls. He gently sets her down on one of the mattresses before crossing the room and pulling back the blankets on the other. Picking up Rapunzel and carrying her over to the now uncovered bed, Jack notices for the first time how easily he can lift her. It's almost as if she's made of feathers; she's so light in his arms. He waves the thought away and passively notes that maybe football weight-training is finally starting to pay off. As he lays her down and pulls the covers around her, Rapunzel's mouth turns up into a smile, and it feels like she's smiling at him. "Goodnight, Punzie," he whispers, smirking at the pet-name he used to call her when they were kids.
He quickly turns to exit the room, hoping no one notices that he'd been gone, but pauses just long enough to look over his shoulder one last time to see her sleepy smile before closing the door behind him.
~Rapunzel~~~~
Morning rays stream through the slatted blinds, scattering shards of light onto the carpet. Rapunzel's head feels foggy from the lack of sleep, and her memory of the night before is spotty. All she remembers is falling asleep in the car, but vaguely recalls that Jack had whispered her name. No, her mind corrects, he whispered my nickname. It must have been a dream, she reasons, but even so, the thought of him calling her "Punzie" sends exhilarating shivers up her spine.
Blinking, she sits up and stretches, a smile spreading across her face when she hears cheery voices bubble in from the cracked-open door. Checking her reflection in the bathroom mirror, Rapunzel combs through her waist-length blonde hair with her fingers before heading out to greet her hosts. The entire Dunbroch family is seated at the breakfast table in the porch, lost in laughter as she enters the room. She immediately catches Jack's gaze from across the table, and he opens his mouth as if to say something to her, but Mr. Dunbroch suddenly turns around in his chair and calls, "Oh, you're awake! Good morning! Did you sleep okay?"
Caught off guard, Rapunzel stammers, "Uh, yes I did, thank you. Do you mind if I get a bowl of cereal from the kitchen?"
"Of course not! Help yourself to whatever you can find."
Nodding her thanks, Rapunzel retreats to the kitchen, suddenly starving when she remembers that she never ate dinner last night. She returns to the table with her breakfast only to find that all of the seats are taken. Without looking up from her iPad, Mrs. Dunbroch nods to her son, "Hiccup, get a chair for Rapunzel, please."
The boy in question moans in protest, quickly shoving a large bite of toast into his mouth before pushing back away from the table.
"Here," Jack interrupts, abruptly rising from his chair, "just take mine."
Hurriedly, Rapunzel stutters, "Oh, no, you don't need to do that. I'm fine, really."
"I'm up anyway," He replies with a heavy shrug before heading to the kitchen to drop off his plate.
She obediently sits down in the proffered seat, baffled. That was weird, her mind bluntly states, and for a few moments, the room remains silent.
"Well, what a gentleman!" Mrs. Dunbroch comments, giving her son a hard look before turning her attention back to her tablet. Merida glances over at her best friend, a question in her eyes, but Rapunzel just stares back at her with an equally confused expression, unsure what to think either.
Spooning the cereal in her mouth, Rapunzel quickly finishes her breakfast to escape the awkward silence that had fallen over the table. She carefully places her dishes into the dishwasher and hurries back to her and Merida's room. Desperately in need of a change in scenery, Rapunzel yanks off her pajamas and slips into her bright purple Tank-ini, grabbing her sunglasses and towel from her tote bag in the porch, before walking through the back door that leads out onto the deck. Instantly, the sun's rays brings a warm glow of heat to her skin as she picks her way down the steep, crumbling stone staircase that leads to the water's edge.
When she steps out onto the pier, she's surprised to see Jack already on the docked pontoon boat, facing away from her as he lathers sunscreen onto his arms and legs. She takes a step towards him, but he suddenly pulls his tight shirt over his head, and her heart stops dead in her chest. She struggles to breathe as the sun highlights the golden tan on his muscles, clearly defined from years of being the star football quarterback. Frozen, her eyes take him in, and she tries to say something, anything, but her words die in her throat.
Without warning, he turns around and smiles at her, and he doesn't even have to say anything for her to know that she's been caught red-handed. Mustering up her pride and willing her cheeks to cool down, Rapunzel holds her head high, joins him on the pontoon, and steals the bottle of sunscreen from him. She refuses to meet his eyes, opting instead to look out at the water or the floor beneath her as she rubs the lotion into her skin.
Plausible excuses scroll in her mind, and she opens her mouth to test one but sees the smirk on his face and bites her tongue. Knowing that whatever she says will sound forced and petty, she decides to let him draw his own conclusions. Is she embarrassed? Sort of, but not as much as she thought she should be. She's almost glad that he noticed her watching; maybe it'll give him some kind of hint to how she feels. But is it enough?
Rapunzel stops, the bottle of sunscreen halfway to her arm, and steals a glance over at the boy next to her on the padded bench. He's so different from her, and definitely a little intimidating due to the fact that he's a year older and has at least a foot on her height. Would a care-free senior like him really date an introverted junior like her? Whoa, whoa, whoa, girl. Slow down, her thoughts remind her, it's not like he's ever done anything to make you think that he'd even be remotely interested in you. He's a quarterback remember? He probably has enough cheerleaders his own age to choose from.
Suddenly Jack looks up at her, his stunning ice blue eyes throwing her for a loop and breaking her train of thought. In this moment, something in his eyes tells her that there's more to him than what's on the surface and that, given the chance, he wouldn't fit the stereotype of a normal, stuck-up quarterback.
Immediately something inside of her makes her regret thinking he would be shallow enough to feel limited to cheerleaders. Just by the way he looks at her with a flicker of curiosity embedded in pools of cerulean makes her feel like melting into the floor. He smiles genuinely at her, but she has a feeling that he's hiding something behind that impish grin.
Just then, Hiccup and Merida come barreling down the stairs, arguing like always. Rapunzel looks away from Jack, her face growing hot as her best friend plops down next to her on the boat. Merida and her brother continue to debate as they smear sun-tan lotion on their skin, oblivious to the red-faced girl and the boy still staring at her.
A/N - In my opinion, this chapter is longer, but maybe that's because it took longer to edit... anyways, I hope you guys like chapter 2! Please review and tell me what you think!
Also, I want to give a shout-out to my first reviewers: Mayarajelly. , CelesteGurl, and Aria1357. You guys definitely made my day, and I appreciate every compliment and recommendation you give me! I wasn't confident about my story or my writing abilities in general, but you guys gave me the encouragement I needed... so thank you a million times over!