Chapter 22

She doesn't start to sob as soon as they're out of sight of the manor the way Eugene predicted. Instead it's a hundred times worse as she curls up on the bench with her head in her mother's lap and her back facing Eugene as if she can't bring herself to look at him. The jostling and the noise of the carriage make it impossible to tell if her shoulders are shaking from quiet little tears, but the way she clutches at her stomach and curls in on herself and the expression on the queen's face tell him all he needs to know.

This is bad. Very, very bad.

The queen hasn't asked what happened. When a fuming Rapunzel declared that they were leaving, she trusted her daughter and made hasty arrangements for their departure. If their abbreviated stay caused a political incident, then so be it. In this matter she believed that the princess knew what she was doing and all its ramifications.

Eugene wasn't so sure about that part. Sure, if Rapunzel said they were hitting the road, he'd be the first to help her pack, but then again he didn't really care if they offended half the countryside.

Maybe the queen felt the same way.

There was really no telling.

The queen runs a hand through Rapunzel's hair as if attempting to stroke the hurt away, as if through the simple, repetitive gesture she can calm not only her daughter but herself. She shoots a look of concern up at Eugene, trying to find some explanation for what happened, trying to find some assistance or suggestion while she's feeling so useless.

But Eugene doesn't have anything to offer her. His arms ache from how hard he's having to hold himself back from grabbing Rapunzel and pulling her into an embrace so tight it will squeeze all the fear and anger out of her and will somehow explain everything he's feeling even though he can't put it into words himself. But she doesn't want him to touch her, and he knows that they'll both feel even worse when she shrugs his hand away.

He's helpless, and he's not at all used to feeling that way.

He slumps forward and rests his face in his hands. His posture, and the tension of his fingers, and the slope of his mouth all make him look utterly defeated, and this scares the queen even more. She swallows and directs her gaze down at her daughter, stroking her hair with even greater intensity.

In reality it doesn't take very long for Rapunzel to fall asleep, but the time stretches painfully until at last her shoulders ease and her breathing evens.

At last the queen looks up and met Eugene's eyes and in a hushed voice says simply, "Tell me."

He doesn't know what to say, and after running a hand through his hair he settles on, "Lady Sophia said some hurtful things." His voice is just loud enough for her to hear over the rumble of the carriage, soft enough not to wake the princess.

The queen lifts a delicate eyebrow at him as if to say no shit. But then again, there's no way she would phrase it quite like that.

"She was rude to Lord Wesley. From what I've gotten out of Rapunzel, it was a lot like how Gothel was rude to her."

The queen's hand tightens on the girl's shoulder, as she nods for him to continue.

"Then she questioned my intentions."

"Towards my daughter?"

"Towards everyone."

"Ah."

"And then to top it off she insulted Rapunzel's intelligence."

The queen sighs and rolls her eyes. "That woman…" She trails off, too polite to voice her feelings even in private.

"…is a first class bitch?" he suggests.

"Watch yourself, Mr. Fitzherbert."

"Why? It's the truth."

"It's your opinion."

"And yours."

"Perhaps."

"Oh, come on."

She tilts her head and purses her lips in a way that tells him she is not going to continue talking about it and he should stop being obnoxious. "Exactly how big of a scene did you cause?"

"Excuse me?"

"Please tell me you didn't break Lady Sophia's nose."

He gapes at her. "You honestly think I would… No. No, no, no. It was all Rapunzel. She just… lost it. She wasn't violent – and I've seen her violent – but she was just… I don't know. Angry and yelling."

The queen thinks on this a moment, smoothing out a wrinkle in Rapunzel's sleeve.

"Then what did you fight about?"

"What?"

"What did you and Rapunzel fight about? I assumed the two of you fought over your behavior forcing her to leave. But now I see that I jumped to conclusions."

Eugene's throat goes dry and he instinctually hides behind something smarmy. "You really don't think much of me then, do ya?"

She lifts her eyebrows.

"Who said we fought about anything?" He knows that track's not going to work the second the words are out of his mouth.

"You've explained why she's upset, but not why you're upset."

"I can't be upset when some old biddy's rude to my girl?"

"You can," she admits. "But this is something different. You're not exactly upset. It's more like…" She narrows her eyes at him in contemplation. "…guilt."

The way he drops his eyes gives him away.

"And I don't believe that Rapunzel would be this upset over verbal insults. She's heard such things before, and although they anger her she usually calms down and brightens up if given time. No, Eugene, this isn't anger. This is heartbreak."

He swallows and shifts uncomfortably. "It's just been a long day."

"And now you're making it longer."

"Is there any chance we could not talk about this?"

"No."

"It's not really any of your business." He knows he's on thin ice with that one, but he's running out of excuses and he's starting to flail.

"Of course," she says. "Please continue to brood in solitude. I'm sure eventually you will come up with something resembling a solution."

He frowns. "No need to get snippy."

She shrugs ever so politely. "Glass houses."

"Ugg. Fine. You want to know?" He leans forward and his voice drops down again. "She attacked me – totally out of the blue – and said that she wants to get married."

The queen blinks at him.

"Married!" he shouts, the volume restrained to a whisper that makes his voice crack.

"Oh dear."

"I know! It's nuts."

She nods, looking thoughtful. "I take it she didn't take your rejection very well."

"I didn't reject her."

"…Then I'm very confused."

"I told her I had to think on it. That's different."

The queen rolls her eyes. "Oh, Eugene, you know nothing about women."

"Hey. I know plenty about women."

"The fact that you just said that to me shows that you don't."

He has to think on that one for a second.

"Don't you remember what it was like to be eighteen and in love?" she asks.

"No."

"Alright. Do you remember what it was like when you were eighteen and you watched your friends who were in love?"

He tries to remember. He's never really had many friends, but bringing this up would just be petulant, so he thinks up the closest situation he experienced to what she's describing. "It was like I was taking crazy pills."

"Exactly."

"Soooo… what?"

"So be gentle with her and watch what you say, because you are taking crazy pills and you will be for a very long time."

"Great."

"Hmmm, and maybe you should explain some of your hesitancies to her. I don't think she understands about your fear of commitment."

"Fear of commitment? I died for her! That's as committed as it gets!"

"Yes. But your death does not involve her wearing a wedding dress."

He stares at her as that cold horror crawls back up into his chest. "You're kidding me."

"Yes. A bit," she admits with a smile. "It's fun."

He shakes his head to clear it and looks out the window in time to see the castle gates creak open. "Crazy pills," he mutters.

He reaches out to gather Rapunzel up into his arms when they come to a stop. The queen brushes a strand of her hair away from her face, and helps to arrange the princess' arms so they don't dangle. He carries her away from the queen and the servants that are now swarming the carriage to grab their luggage, and into the castle where her face is illuminated by torchlight, displaying thick tear tracks that almost seem to glow. Something twists in his heart at the sight and he adjusts his hold on her to pull her closer so he can press his lips to her forehead and continue to walk.

Carrying someone around is not nearly as easy as everyone seems to think it is, even if it's someone as small and light as Rapunzel. Sure, he's carted her around dozens of times before because she seems to think that he's some kind of jungle gym and yeah, maybe he's starting to believe her on that point. And yes, he does makes it look easy, but that's just part of why he's so fantastic.

Because he is fantastic. He just has to remind her of that, and then remind himself, and eventually they'll be ok again.

"Eugene?"

He looks down to see that her lips are pressed together in a frown as she refuses to meet his eyes.

"Hey," he says, trying to sound nice and unthreatening and apologetic.

"I can walk."

He stops for a moment in the empty hallway. The servants haven't descended upon the area yet to get the princess ready for bed and unpack her luggage and build up her fire, and without their buzzing presence the passage feels deserted and chilled. Or maybe it's just the look in her eyes that makes him feel that way.

He starts walking again. "Nah. I got it."

"Put me down," she snaps, then starts to struggle so much he nearly drops her.

"Ouch. Don't kick me."

"Put me down."

"Oof. Hey!"

He decides to set her down, but he grabs her hand as she starts to walk off. She tries to pull away, but he holds her tight and she ends up rounding on him. Her eyes flicker back and forth between anger and tears, as her nose wrinkles and twitches in irritation, which would be cute if it were directed at anyone other than him.

"Let go."

"No. I don't like seeing you this upset, so we're going to have it out right now."

"I don't want to."

"Why not?"

"Because… arg, I don't know why! I just know that I'm mad and I don't want to look at you."

It feels like a blow to the stomach, but he tries to let it pass over him as much as possible. "I've got issues. You know that. It's not horribly surprising. And when you spring something that major on me I'm going to freak out a little bit. It's not about you. It's about everything else."

"I know! I know, I know. But…Arg!" She grabs at her hair in frustration, squeezing her eyes closed. "I just can't stand it. The way people talk about you. It's awful! And there's such an easy way to fix it, but you won't do it!"

"Rapunzel," he takes her cheeks in both hands, forcing her to look up at him. "Hey, now. Calm down. It's alright."

She stares up at him, her big, green eyes sparkling with unshed tears, mesmerizing and heartbreaking. A second later she throws her arms around his neck, and he pulls her close, enveloping her small form, wanting to hold her and protect her and never let her go.

"Marriage isn't some easy fix. And people aren't going to stop talking shit about me just because we get married." He pulls back enough to give her a small smile and run a thumb over her cheeks to wipe away the tears. "They'll hate me no matter what. So you know what? Fuck 'em. They're not worth getting upset over. What you and me have going is between you and me and nobody else. So let's just take our time, ok? We can go at our own pace."

Her shoulders slowly relax as she searches his face. "What about your issues? They'll still be there."

"I'm sure you can beat them out of me if you try hard enough."

The corner of her mouth twitches towards what might be a grin. "I do like challenges."

"Oh, then you'll love me."

Her smile finally cracks, lighting up her face like the sun. "I do."

"Friends again?"

"…Maybe."

"What can I do to make it up to you?"

"Hmmm." She adjusts her hold around his neck, something glittering in her eyes. "What do you have in mind?"

"Uh, chocolate? And flowers?" She looks amused, but not impressed. "No, you're right. Those suck. I'll, uh… take you someplace. Anywhere you want to go. All day. Just you and me… And I can buy you something nice… Or I could steal you something very nice."

"Eugene!"

"Ok, ok. Uh… how about a good hallway make out session?"

"Oh, I like that one."

"Do you?"

"Sounds fun."

"Well, if it's the only way."

She grins as she drags him down into a kiss.