Hello Dears! Thank you for being so patient! You have been rewarded with chapter 11! Have fun :D

Rapunzel POV:

Staring back and forth from the window to the spot where Eugene was sitting, I begin to get a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. I get very anxious thinking I may never see him again. No more escaping from royal life. There will be nothing to do but count the days until I marry. And then after that, smile, wave and pretend to be perfectly happy with my life. I've run out of tears to cry about it again, but as it turns out, not crying is worse. The emotions are in there with no way to be released.

"Rapunzel?" I hear on the other side of the door. There are a lot of people I don't feel like talking to. The door creeks open and I see Patriala standing there. She walks inside and gives me a hug, I realize while I'm embracing her that I'm still sticky and I reek of clams, that's when I begin to regret hugging Eugene earlier. I pull away and sit on the floor.

"Are you okay?" She asks

"Yes. I need a bath, but yes." I'm not too bothered by the ball's events anymore. I can't stop thinking of Eugene. That's really what's getting me down at the moment. Triala sits down beside me, "Rapunzel, it was just a rocky night. Things will better. I mean, after the wedding-" I wince at the word 'wedding' as I always do, and seeing this Patriala huffs, "Punzel, look at me." I don't. "You have been very pessimistic about this whole thing! I was discussing it with your parents and they were saying that you've done nothing but think of how you will never be happy again! Can't you just try?" she scolds.

You know what? Sometimes this girl is to optimistic for her own good, "You don't understand..." I say without looking at her.

She groans, "You know I hate seeing you upset about something, but you're not even making an effort to be happy! For all you know, Amegendo could be the love of your life, but you wouldn't know because you keep pushing him away. You think you know how this plays out, but you don't!"

I face her angrily, "Triala, in three weeks I'm going to walk down the aisle and say 'I do' to a man I don't know. Over the years, we'll form a bond, and possibly fall in love. One day we'll become king and queen of both kingdoms. The end. Isn't that how it will play out?"

"Now tell me, what is so wrong with that?" she asks ignoring my question.

I look around my room and see all my paintings, "Triala, what's that?" I ask pointing at one of them.

She seems very puzzled by the sudden change of topic, but she appears to know I have a point somewhere, "It's a glass of wine."

"Yes and that one?" I say gesturing towards another.

"The vase of flowers in your room"

"One more." I say pointing towards the last one.

"Your favourite purple dress"

"What do you think of those paintings, Triala?"

She sighs, obviously irritated trying to figure out what I'm driving at, "I don't know, Rapunzel, they're just objects in your castle!"

"Exactly! There's no story behind any of these paintings!" I blurt out, "I don't have inspiration because I haven't done anything outside the palace!"

Triala's face smoothens as she understands my problem. She looks down, thinking.

"I guess, I just expected that when I turned eighteen... I'd be old enough to decide to leave the palace for awhile and explore the kingdom or maybe some of the neighbouring kingdoms... or the whole world..."

Triala looks at me with a sad smile and sighs, "You always were the adventurous one. Remember when we were kids? Our parents bought us matching dresses and I couldn't wait to try mine on, but you said-"

"Can I where it later? I haven't gotten this one dirty yet!" We say together, both of us end up laughing.

"And then..." I say still giggling

"You ran into your room just so you could climb down the vines on your balcony!" We laugh some more. When it dies down, I frown.

"Father told me never to do that again after that. He said it wasn't very princess like."

She pauses, "We were raised to become queens someday. Rapunzel, being a ruler and being married is a whole adventure on its own. Maybe it's not the kind you wanted, but I know you'll love it too! I spoke to Amegendo, and seems like a very nice guy." I smile a little when she adds, "I approve of him, honey."

I laugh and hug her, "What time is it?" she asks.

I stand and look out the window, "Late. People are starting to leave already." Patriala stands, bids me goodbye and leaves the room. I continue to look out the window for several minutes, watching each carriage exit the palace gates. I look beyond the castle into the forest, wondering if that's where Eugene is. When I see the last landau leave, I turn on my heel and walk to my bedroom. I shed my clam-coated dress and kick it to the side the room. I remove my underwear as well, realizing they're just as cold and wet as my outfit. I stretch feeling the cool air. I put on my clean, dry nightwear and pull into my covers. I haven't completely dodged the engagement/ birthday party situation. My parents will definitely ask me about it tomorrow, but for now I just need to relax and doze off...

Knock knock knock

My eyes slowly slide open. Is it morning? Am I being called for breakfast already? When my vision clears, I see the moonlight shining through my window, and I'm confused. Who could be visiting me at this time of night? My mother? Father? My heart races when I think that maybe Eugene came to visit. The thought pulls my out of the bed.

Knock knock knock

I walk to the door and swing it open, surprised by who I find on the other side. "Amegendo! What are you doing here?"

I looks at me shyly, "Sorry to disturb you, Rapunzel. I just wanted to talk-"

"No. I mean what are doing here, in my home?"

His looks a little surprised, "My family and I are staying here until the wedding. Didn't you're parents tell you?"

I roll my eyes, "No, they didn't. But, lately I'm the last to find out about everything around here so I'm not surprised..." I say turning around, walking back to my bed, "Come in. What did you need?"

Amegendo closes the door behind him and walks inside, "Well, firstly, I wanted to apologize for... dressing you in soup."

"It's fine. I was being dramatic myself. I'm sorry too."

"No, no. It was perfectly understandable. You have nothing to be sorry for."

We stay in silence for awhile when something Eugene said popped into my brain. I wanted to ask Amegendo, but what was I going to say? 'Hey, the reason you were acting weird tonight, was it because you just naturally tend to screw things up or did I make you really nervous?' No! I try to find away to ask the question without sounding stuck up. "Accidents happen, Amegendo." I start, "You shouldn't beat yourself up about it, I mean, it was only soup! One of my favourite soups actually..."

He laughs lightly, "Yeah... I just feel bad about ruining your pretty dress... In fact I was so tense about meeting you, I couldn't think straight!"

"Same here. I get that." Alright, so I did make him nervous, but not in the sense Eugene thought I did. "You know what?" I say after a few seconds, "We should just forget tonight and start fresh tomorrow."

"Yes." He smiles, "It would be best if we could just go through the motions and wait for it all to play out for the next couple weeks." I nod. He continues, "Let's start simply. Friends?" He holds his hand out and I shake it.

"Friends"

"Wonderful" He looks at the door, "I'll see you in the morning, princess." He says. He gives a small bow and goes to walk out.

"Sweet dreams." I call as he shuts the door.

For the first time in this engagement, I feel like I'll sleep sound and satisfied. I don't need to be anxious about the prince's personality and tomorrow I can tell my parents that I'm okay. I don't need to worry about the people around me and vice-versa... for now. Just go through the motions, Rapunzel, go through the motions. It amazing how much my mood had changed in the last, maybe 5 hours. Eugene finds his way into my mind again, but I'm too tired to dwell on what he might be doing. He's a big boy, he can handle himself. My bed feels so much better than it has in a week. I drift off before my head hits the soft cool pillow.

I'm sorry for the Eugene-less-ness of this chapter! At least Rapunzel brought him up a lot! Excuses... excuses... HOWEVER, The next chapter will be told in Eugene's perspective! I know I said in chapter one he'd only tell the story in like, 1 or 2 chapters, but that was before I came up with Chuck and Red! Stay tuned and don't forget to review!