AN: Thank you thank you thank you! My review count is getting higher by the minute and I'm so happy! So, here is part 2/3, Chapter 5: Eugene. Oh yeah, and I don't own any of the characters or dialogue. At all… so no copyright infringement intended. IT ISN'T MINE. I DON'T OWN TANGLED OR THE ORIGINAL RAPUNZEL! Okay, so here's the chapter.

Chapter 5: Eugene

"It's Eugene," I admitted, looking directly at Rapunzel. She sniffed, loudly and removed her hands from her face, her bloodshot green eyes meeting my brown ones. She wiped her eyes.

"What?" she said in a choked tone of voice.

"My name… it's Eugene Fitzherbert… I thought you might as well know," I said. Rapunzel sniffed again. She smiled a little bit.

"Where did Flynn Rider come from then?" she asked. I turned away from her and removed my hand from her knee, and locking my hands together.

"When I was younger there was this book that I used to read to all of the little kids called The Tales of Flynnigan Rider. Swashbuckling rogue, richest man alive, not bad with the ladies I might add," I said. Rapunzel chuckled at my description of the book that made me who I am today.

"Was he a thief too?" she asked. I looked at her.

"Well… no, actually he was so rich that he could do anything that he wanted; and growing up with barely anything… I got a little jealous, decided to try and be like him…" I explained. "Look, you can't tell anyone about this, it could ruin my whole reputation." Rapunzel reached out and put her tiny hand on top of mine.

"We wouldn't want that now would we?" she asked with a laugh. I laughed myself, giving her a warm smile.

"Well a fake reputation is all a man has, right?" I said. Rapunzel laughed and smiled. She was so pretty… I had to hold myself from just taking her as my own right then. I cleared my throat and got up. "I, I um, should get some sleep… goodnight Blondie," I said, getting back under my own covers. She adjusted herself so we were facing each other.

"For the record, I like Eugene Fitzherbert much better than Flynn Rider…" she said after a moment. I could feel my face heating up. I felt at loss for words.

"Well, you'd be the first… but thank you," I said. Rapunzel rolled over and was silent. I sighed. There was something about her that just made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. The only issue was that I didn't know what made me feel that way. I had just told her my deepest darkest secret, in an attempt at comforting her. Don't get me wrong, it worked. But now she knows and I can't take any of it back. Not that I'd want to, she seemed trustworthy. Rapunzel, congratulations… I've decided to keep trusting you.

The night passed without a single disturbance, I awoke at the first glimpse of sunlight through the window. The clock on the nightstand read 9:30. I rubbed my eyes and looked over to Rapunzel's bed. She was sleeping peacefully, snuggled in the blankets, hugging a pillow. She was muttering something, so I went over to her so I could wake her.

"Eugene…" she was muttering. "I like that name… Eugene, it has a nice ring to it…" she continued, adjusting slightly so that she was more comfortable. I put my hand on her shoulder and shook it lightly.

"Blondie, come on… get up, we have a long walk ahead of us," I said quietly. She jolted up, eyes wide, the pillow whacking against the wall to the right. She looked around, her eyes locking on me. Before she could say a word, there was a knock on the door. I went to the door, looking out the peep hole. There stood three police men, I couldn't tell if they were there to arrest me or help me. I unlocked the door and opened it just a crack.

"May I help you?" I asked in a deep voice. One of the cops held up a picture of me. I gulped. I could feel Rapunzel moving so she was behind me.

"Yes, we heard that Flynn Rider was in the area and we are searching for him," one of the cops said. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"I'm sorry; I don't know who this Flynn Rider is. I'm just packing up so my girlfriend and I can return to our road trip," I lied. The policeman didn't look like he believed me.

"Sir, may we come in?" one of the other police asked.

"Sure, just let my girlfriend get dressed first though," I lied once again, shutting the door. I turned to Rapunzel who looked quite angry; her arms were crossed over her chest.

"Girlfriend?" she hissed angrily. "Eugene, what is going on?" I couldn't find the heart to look her in the eye.

"Look, we need to get out of here; it just looks like my past is catching up with me, play along, alright?" I said in a whisper. Rapunzel let out an angry huff and rolled her eyes, but she nodded anyway. I gave her a smile as we gathered our belongings. I was glad that I paid for the room the night before so we could leave. I opened the window and stepped out, holding out my hand to Rapunzel. "I'm only going to ask once… do you trust me?" I asked. Rapunzel bit her lip, and then she slowly nodded, taking my outstretched hand. She stepped out and we took off running towards home.

We stopped to rest about two miles down the road, hiding in a little book store. I dragged Rapunzel down one of the isles, praying that the police weren't very close behind. To my surprise, Rapunzel began laughing. She leaned against one of the shelves, knocking over a few books. We leaned down and picked them up. Rapunzel stopped and looked at one of the books that lay on the floor. She picked it up and scanned the cover.

"Rapunzel… that's my name!" she said. I rolled my eyes at her statement of the obvious. She groaned and held the book out to me. "Eugene, Rapunzel is the name of this book…" she said. I looked at the children's book in her hands, a girl with long blonde hair hanging out of a tower and a man climbing up to it was depicted on the cover. Rapunzel opened the book and flipped through the pages. She stopped and flipped back a couple of pages. She held up a picture of what looked like a blue radish.

"What is that?" I asked, while examining the picture.

"Rampion!" she said. I felt my face scrunch up at the thought of the name. Rapunzel giggled and pulled out her phone, typing something in and holding the phone to me. "Rampion," she said again. "The name Rampion is derived from its Latin specific name, Rapunculus, a diminutive of rapa, a turnip, the roots which are boiled tender like parsnips and eaten hot with a sauce. They are sweetish, with a slight pungency, but though wholesome, are considered inferior to other roots now more widely grown for culinary use. The larger roots are reserved for boiling, sometimes the young roots are eaten raw with vinegar and pepper, and occasionally the leaves, as well as the roots, are eaten as a winter salad. The leaves can be used in the summer and autumn as a substitute for spinach." She said. I shook my head in a confused manner, examining the words on the screen.

"How do you know all that?" I asked, handing the phone back to her. Rapunzel laughed and kept flipping through the pages.

"Mother used to grow them during the spring months; her winter salads are never complete without them. It was one of my favorite foods as a child, but when I turned twelve she suddenly stopped growing them, it was weird. I have the definition as a note in my phone whenever anyone asks, which they never do," said Rapunzel.

"So, what does rampion have to do with a children's book?" I asked. Rapunzel handed the book to me, open to a page of a child being stolen.

"Read the name of the woman who stole the baby…" she said. I looked at the woman with raven's black hair in the cloak.

"Gothel…" I muttered. "Isn't that your mother's name?" Rapunzel nodded.

"Something seems a little bit funny. I'm going to buy this book and ask her about it when we get home," she said in a determined voice. "I suggest you stay hidden until I come back, just in case," she added, getting up with her intended purchase.

"I like your thinking Blondie," I said. Rapunzel gave me a reassuring smile before disappearing into the store to make her purchase. I got up and picked up another copy of Rapunzel, wondering what exactly was so coincidental about it. As I read, I picked up that the mother got sick, and the father made a deal with Gothel so that his wife could have Rampion. Gothel stole the child when it was born and named her Rapunzel, after the Rampion. She hid the child away when she got older (twelve years old to be exact), to hide her beauty from the world.

"Are you ready to go? The coast is clear," I heard Rapunzel say from above me. I hastily put the book back on the shelf and stood up, brushing off my jacket. Rapunzel giggled and I followed her out. The resemblance between the story and the girl in front of me were almost too similar. I'm sure that she was just as confused as I was, so I didn't bring it up.

"You know Eugene," Rapunzel began as we walked down the sidewalk towards The Village. "I asked the clerk about the story, and she told me pretty much the entire thing. It made me think… that book is really similar to my life. I'm starting to think that my mother isn't who she says she is," she said. I stopped her and we stood there for a moment.

"Now Blondie, let's not jump to conclusions here," I said. She began walking again with me right beside her.

"What's really weird is that my mother stopped growing Rampion when I was only twelve, in the story, Gothel locked Rapunzel away when she turned twelve. My name is Rapunzel, mother's name is Gothel. It only makes sense!" she said. I rolled my eyes.

"Blondie, it could just be a plain coincidence, you won't know anything until you ask. Besides, why are you bringing this up?"

"I was just curious," Rapunzel said. We were silent for a few minutes until I heard sirens behind me.

"Uh Blondie, we might want to… RUN!" I yelled out as the sirens drew closer. Rapunzel turned, her eyes lighting up with the reds and blues. She began to run ahead of me, I was close behind. She stopped briefly when her jacket sleeve scraped against a fence. She clutched it in pain, but kept going. Our running ended shortly after when I pulled her into an alley way, waiting for the cars to pass. We caught our breath and I noticed a fence. "Come on Blondie, we need to go," I said quickly. She nodded, groaning and clutching her arm. I noticed a familiar light from the other side of the fence. I turned back to her. "Rapunzel, are you okay?" I asked. She nodded again.

"I- I'm just fine… my arm just hurts a little bit," she said, groaning again.

"Come on, we need to get you to a doctor," I said. Rapunzel shook her head.

"I'm fine! Eugene, what is going on?" she asked.

"I ran from cops, it's no wonder they're looking for me!" I said.

"Why were they looking for you in the first place?" she cried in a whisper. I sighed and took off my jacket, ripping a piece of my sleeve from it and tying it tightly around her arm.

"I don't know, I haven't stolen anything in a month!" I said. Then it hit me. "Oh… Antonio and Jack!" Rapunzel gave me a confused look. The gash on her arm began seeping through the cloth. She winced in pain. "I can worry about them later… right now, we need to get you to the doctor or you'll die of blood loss. Your mother wouldn't like that now would she?" Rapunzel didn't argue. I swept her into the air and we began to make our way to the hospital.

Don't worry Rapunzel… you're going to be okay… I thought to myself.

AN: Okay, so Rapunzel gets hurt. Tell me what you think and you'll find out what happens to Rapunzel next chapter, called: Bonding. Thanks for reading! (Oh and once again, I don't own Tangled… AT ALL.)