Status: Married, few months.
Eighteen-year-old Rapunzel slipped into the alleyway and crawled behind the filthy, green dumpster. She tugged her black shirt hem up, prodding gently at her injury. Crawling out of her bedroom window and jumping the fence hadn't left her unscathed; she'd dragged back a terribly large amount of skin, leaving a horizontal, throbbing, bloody scrape across her stomach. Of course, she supposed it would've helped if she hadn't lost her balance and then fallen headfirst into a bunch of rose bushes on the other side...but that was all behind her. She still was surprised she'd been able to skin herself on her tummy, more or less. But it was bound for infection, since she hadn't been able to clean it. Her bandaged arm ached, too, and she knew she probably could use some stitches, if nothing else. But she obviously couldn't get medical help, and she definitely would not be going to a hospital. With her luck, they'd contact her adoptive mother! She hauled a bottle of water out of her little floral-patterned bag and trickled a little bit of it over her wound clumsily, biting back a gasp. She'd tend to her arm later, a bloody task she wasn't looking forward to completing.
Rapunzel let her fingers trace the ugly reddish-brown scar that remained across her stomach, once again remembering her escape from her adoptive mother. And once again, she wished her skin didn't scar so easily. She wouldn't have these reminders then. At least she could cover this one up, unlike the nasty reminder on her arm. She didn't notice Eugene stride into their room and watch her sympathetically for a moment. But then, he grabbed her around the waist, pulling her away from the small vanity's mirror and slipping the hem of her yellow shirt out of her grasp and down towards the waistband of her jeans, giving her a playful kiss on the cheek while he did this. "Hey. Quit poking at that scar of yours, gorgeous."
She blushed, turning around in her husband's arms to give him a quick kiss. "Well...I was just thinking about it because it's been five years today since I obtained said scar."
His dark eyebrows rose. "Five years since you escaped her."
Rapunzel nodded. "I don't know why I even keep track...it's silly, I know."
"No it isn't," he shook his head. "It was a major step in your life. Like, the biggest one ever!"
"Mmm...I think the biggest step for me was letting you in and then marrying you. But it was the second-biggest, I guess, if you want to look at it that way," she slipped away from him and grabbed her purse. "We better get going to work." She didn't really want to talk about it.
Eugene followed her down the spiral staircase and out the front door, each of them snagging a muffin from the plastic bag on the counter. After downing a mouthful, he gulped and nudged her arm gently. "I think we need to celebrate your fifth-year-away-from-Veronica-anniversary."
She glanced up at him and giggled. "It doesn't call for celebration...I'm not even going to try repeating all that."
"Sure it does. It takes a lot of courage to escape an abusive relationship. But you did it. I say after work we head down to the creamery."
She bit her lip. "You said you had a long day with Levi today?"
"It's open 'til midnight," he mentioned, slipping an arm around her shoulders and plopping a kiss in her hair.
She laughed. "Alright...if you're so bent on it. But I have the feeling you just want an excuse to go to the creamery-" He gave her a mock-offended glance. "Maybe I'm glad my wife ran away from her adoptive mother five years ago, and want to make a big deal out of it because she's worth it and way too...I don't know. Quiet about it."
She grinned, shaking her head. "Like I said, it's not a huge deal to me. More like, I wish I could forget about it."
He nodded, but Rapunzel felt an instant pang of guilt. They were married and she still kept some things to herself - this included. Of all people, Eugene would understand and empathize with her during the short time she, too, was homeless. A chilly breeze of October air sent her back in time, and she pulled her sweater sleeves over her hands to try and ward it off.
That second night was so cold. She hadn't considered the date of her escape...October wasn't the best time to run away from home. Not in the Pennsylvania or New York area. The temperature tanked and she was left hugging a brick building, sheltered behind a bunch of pallets from both terrible people and the wind. It was almost dawn, but she had to try and get a couple of hours of rest before continuing. She was about two days away from Buffalo, New York, but it still didn't seem far enough away from her adoptive mother. Her injuries were throbbing and her nose was running; her stomach grating a reminder that she hadn't eaten since her departure. She rummaged in her bag, searching for the leaves and few wild strawberries she'd found in the woods she'd passed through earlier in the day. The berries weren't much, but they were something. The leaves she'd picked were good for drawing out infection; she'd read about them once when researching home remedies for a health class essay. It'd be best if she had some milk, bread, and plastic wrap to make herself a poultice, but these green leafy things would suffice if she wet them. She cleaned up her wounds with her little first-aid kit - that was already dwindling in supplies - and bit back a whimper as the saline solution bore into her. She gently pressed the leaves up against the inflamed injuries and quickly wrapped them back up. She'd curl up in a ball and sleep with her bag as a pillow.
She shook her head to clear the snippet of a memory and pushed through the bookstore doors, holding them open for Eugene.
"Chilly morning!" Mrs. Barnes called as she bustled over. "Big day today, we've got that new bestseller coming in! Rapunzel, after you clock in, could you please go to the stock room and get the materials for the display? We need to get it up A-S-A-P. Thank you!" she called over her shoulder as she headed to the cash register.
Rapunzel grinned. "Well...it's got to be a busy day today if Mrs. Barnes starts giving out orders, right?"
Eugene chuckled, nodding. "Mmhmm. I'm going to go clock in and see if Levi has his new truck ready...he's excited to take it out for the day instead of that old clunker we usually take. See you later,"
"See you," she nodded, blowing a kiss in his direction. "Love you!"
He winked and she watched him leave before heading to clock in herself.
"Why on earth-you're skin and bones! Where are your parents?" The rotund man asked her. She backed away from the store fearfully. She hadn't been doing anything bad - she'd just been pausing to look in the bookstore's window, dreaming about the heavenly scent of books. She'd been on the run for two weeks and for the past week had been traipsing around Albany, trying to find a homeless shelter that would take her in. They were full up...it seemed that a few other homeless individuals were having the same trouble, but nobody would hold her company for long. They had certain 'territories' and she was the outsider even there. It was understandable, but it still hurt. Her stomach wound had healed for the most part; leaving a gnarled scab, but her arm still ached and had a minor infection she was dealing with. She'd just given up on humanity as a whole.
"I-I wasn't going to do anything bad, sir. I was just looking at the books," she said quietly. Her eyes flashed with fear. She'd met a few rather unsavory characters in the past two weeks.
"Runaway?" he asked.
She nodded silently. "But I'm eighteen. I-I'm...running away from someone who really hurt me." She bit her lip and let her hand pull back the bandages along her arm. He nodded, giving her an odd expression.
"Do you need a ride to the hospital?" he asked.
"No!" she blurted before remembering her manners. "N-no, sir. I...I'm okay."
" 'Sir' is pretty stiff, dear," the man allowed his face to crease into a smile and an expression foreign to Rapunzel. She imagined it was like that of what a father or grandfather would give their child, if this could ever be a perfect world. "Call me Mr. Barnes. It's almost closing time...why don't you step inside for a minute? Explain some things to me."
She stared at him pensively, mistrustfully, for a few moments. He added that she could trust him and he even had some kids and grandkids of his own, and a nephew who was just a little younger than she had just started working at his store. She took in a shuddering breath and nodded silently, following him inside the bookstore.
"Hello, dear. How is your day going?" Mr. Barnes asked, smiling as she clocked in. The exact date was fuzzy in his memory, but he too remembered finding the bedraggled little girl on the sidewalk one October. Eugene must be good for her; her face always held an expression of general belonging and appreciation more than ever. Nobody would notice it except for the ones who had seen her right after her escape.
"Oh, it's going wonderfully," Rapunzel smiled. "How is yours?"
"Nicely, thank you. It's a busy one, though!" he rocked back in his seat a little.
Rapunzel nodded. "Yep - Mrs. Barnes gave me directions on the display. I should get started on that, right?"
"She'll chase you with a broomstick if you don't - she might be acting cheery right now, but she's completely stressed and cranky. My poor dear. I think I'll make her take the evening off with me - Levi and Gunther should be able to wrap the place up."
Rapunzel nodded, smiling. "That'll be nice! She never seems to get frazzled. You guys need a break once in awhile!" When Mrs. Barnes burst through the door, red in the face and carrying a box, Rapunzel scurried out quickly.
After work, Rapunzel made a quick casserole, leaving Eugene's plate in the oven so it would stay warm for him. It was getting pretty late and she was getting fairly concerned when she finally got a text from him. She called him immediately, her hands trembling like leaves in a windstorm. As she did so, she grabbed the keys to her car, turned the oven off, and ran outside.
"Eugene!" she gasped into the phone. "Oh my gosh! What happened?! Are you okay? Is Levi okay?"
"Eh..." she heard a sniff and a muffled sound as Eugene rubbed a trickle of blood away from his nostril. "Someone fell asleep at the wheel and drifted over onto our lane. Levi pounded on the horn and they woke up in time to slam on the brakes. It's on a bridge, so we couldn't swerve to miss them. Because we both hit the brakes, neither of us were going sixty - the posted limit - but the truck's totaled. Airbags were deployed. Windshield's shattered...front end's pretty mooshed up, too, but...we're good. Thank goodness."
Levi yelled to be heard in the background before Rapunzel could respond, "Can you call Mr. Barnes' home phone? I don't have the number and he's not answering his cell. I need the store's insurance information for the truck."
Rapunzel bit her lip. "Eugene, please tell Levi that Mr. and Mrs. Barnes were planning on going out tonight, but I'll try their home phone when we got off." she paused as she heard Eugene repeat her message. "Oh my gosh, I'm glad you guys are okay. Is there anything I can do? Oh my gosh...I can't believe this. His new truck? I'm coming. Where are you at? A-are you okay?"
"Only one question per breath of air, please. Calm down," Eugene chuckled, and she wasn't sure whether she wanted to smile at his laugh and be thankful he was still around to produce it or cry out of frustration. "Yes, his new truck"-at this, she heard a loud groan from Levi-"We're waiting for the police and tow guy. We're about half an hour out from the store, still. We've got some cuts and probably will get some bruises, but we're okay - Levi might have some whiplash, too."
Rapunzel ushered up a silent prayer of thanks. "Oh, thank goodness. Oh, wow...Alright. What street? Is the other person okay?"
"Right at the beginning of the bridge on the interstate heading north. And yeah," Eugene nodded. "We spoke to him before I called you. He's got a broken nose, probably, but that's it. Oh, and maybe a concussion because he cracked his head against the windshield, but the ambulance hasn't arrived yet to confirm anything. No other passengers. Thank goodness,"
"Thank goodness," Rapunzel echoed, finally realizing how shaky she was. She gripped her steering wheel a little harder. "Wow..."
"Think we'll have to do a rain check on the creamery tonight, though-"
She gave an incredulous laugh. "Eugene Fitzherbert, you just got into what could have been a very bad car wreck, and you're apologizing to me that our plans for the evening have to fall through? I'm not even remotely concerned about that. I'm just so thankful you two are okay!"
"Alright, well-I'm glad you're not upset or anything," Eugene chuckled.
She shook her head. "Are you sure you didn't hit your head? Goodness gracious, why would I be upset? I'm upset because my husband just got in a car crash that could've very well killed him! I'm on my way. I'll see you - just stay careful!"
"We will. I love you,"
"Love you too," she hung up the phone and pushed down the bubbling fear that still hadn't subsided.
There was a traffic jam.
There were never traffic jams in their little town. Well, maybe sometimes, but not regularly. But...there was.
Rapunzel got there several minutes after the police and ambulance showed up, but she had to find a place to park off of the bridge. Then she gathered up her first aid kit from the car - sure, the ambulance had been called in, but her mind wasn't working a hundred percent correctly - and started jogging. The cool October air made her skin prickle with goosebumps and she had to reason with herself to not run zigzag through the traffic like a chicken with its head cut off, but she just had to see for herself that he was okay - and Levi too, for that matter.
A young, gangly police officer stopped her before she could make it the whole way to the scene of the accident. "Miss, we know there's a traffic jam, and we're working to get it taken care of. Please wait patiently or take another road, and don't gawk. Nobody sustained major injuries."
"I know that! I'm married to one of the individuals involved in the accident," she explained. "Let me through, please?"
He must've seen the mild panic still written across her face, because he stepped aside and let her through without asking any more questions. Another officer, a man of average height and dark skin, was talking with Eugene, Levi, and a man Rapunzel didn't recognize. The stranger's graying hair still held a few shards of glass and a medic was tending to his nose, so she decided he was probably the other driver. She waited silently, fidgeting, until the officer put away his notebook and nodded, shaking hands with the men and then leaving. Then she hurried over and threw her arms around Eugene.
"Hey, you," he chuckled and hugged her just as tightly as she was him. "I'm glad to see you."
"I'm so glad you're okay! All of you!" she exclaimed as she realized that Levi and the older man were still standing there.
"And not even a hug for me, though," Levi pouted, and she rolled her eyes teasingly before giving him a one-armed hug that made him squirm.
"Levi, I called the home phone for Mr. Barnes while I was on my way over, by the way. They didn't answer."
He nodded before turning to assess his truck, which was in an absolutely pitiful condition. The other driver excused himself, dialing someone on his cell phone. Finally, Rapunzel turned to Eugene.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you're okay. Are you okay?" she peered at his face, using the light from the flashing police lights to see him. He had several small cuts on his face from the shattered windshield glass, and a bit of drying blood clung stubbornly to the skin underneath his nose.
"I'm fine...I'll probably have a very colorful face once the bruising from the airbag fully develops, but I'm fine. Just a little shaken up," he chuckled quietly, nervousness tinting his laugh. His hands were still shaking, so Rapunzel immediately hugged him again, but then slipped away from him and reached for her first-aid kit.
"You didn't let them - the ambulance people - clean you up, did you?" she asked. "Levi's cleaned up and the other driver's cleaned up, but you're not," she observed, giving him an almost accusing glance.
"They have more important things to do than clean up cuts. Levi needed to be checked for a neck injury, as did Jake - the other driver - and Jake's nose needed tending to, too. I can clean myself up when I get home-" he broke off mid-sentence when Rapunzel stood up on tiptoe to peel a microscopic sliver of glass out of the worst nick. He grimaced, but snagged her hand before she could pull the disinfectant wipes or antiseptic cream out. "Hey. They're not life threatening-"
"Let me mother-hen for a minute! I've-I've got all this pent up worry to release!" she exclaimed. "Did you call the towing company yet?"
"He's out on call," Levi overheard her question and answered. "He said he'd come through when he had the other car dropped off."
"So a long wait, in other words," Eugene sighed, grimacing as he glanced at the traffic jam behind them.
"That's okay. Stay still," she directed, dabbing antiseptic cream on his face. "Is your nose broken or just bloody?"
"Just bloody," he reassured her, and she sighed in relief. After she'd put the first aid kit away, she hid her hands in her cardigan as they shook once more, her stress draining away. Eugene took one look at her and pulled her up against him. "Hey. Don't be scared, we're fine. Thank goodness, we are, but we're fine."
"I know...but you could've been killed!" she exclaimed. She didn't add the rest of her sentence: I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you.
He nodded in understanding and gave her another squeeze. "Well...let's not focus on what could've happened and instead think about what did happen. Okay?"
She nodded, nibbling her lip a moment. "I'm never letting you drive again."
"No, that's what my mom's going to say when she finds out I wrecked my new truck," Levi strode over and piped up. "I still haven't told her yet. I like to keep that element of surprise going."
"She's going to kill you, Levi! Maybe not for totaling your truck, because that was out of your control, but definitely for not telling her!" Rapunzel exclaimed.
"Trust me," Eugene gave Rapunzel a teasing grin and then gave Levi a conspiratorial expression. "If I hadn't told this one, she would've slain me."
She tsked her tongue, but Levi took the opportunity and ran with it. "Really? She's so short and tiny all over-"
"She's wicked with a frying pan, though," he shook his head, and Rapunzel tsked her tongue.
"Well, since you're both having so much fun teasing, I'll assume you're okay and back to normal. Either that or have nervous energy to get rid of," she grumbled.
It was nearly one o'clock in the morning when Rapunzel and Eugene got back to their little Victorian home. Eugene groaned as they went inside the house.
"I've never been happier to get home after work," he yawned. "When I said today was going to be a long day at work, I didn't mean it to be this long of a day."
"And I hope it never happens again," Rapunzel said. "I'll get up in the morning to take the books to Mr. Barnes' house, since the store's closed tomorrow. But you sleep in, alright?"
Eugene made a neutral-sounding noise, and headed for the fridge. "We'll see. Should I call this dinner or a midnight snack? Midnight dinner? Snicker - dinner and snack mashed up together?"
She laughed. "You're something else. I did make casserole, but it's kinda..." she pulled the plate from the oven and scrunched her nose up. "I'm just gonna throw that out. I should've put it in the fridge instead. Sorry,"
"That's fine," he shook his head and pulled out a container of leftover stir-fry. "Sorry our plans got messed up. I wanted to make sure you didn't spend the day alone like you did five years ago."
She shook her head and grinned. "Only you, Eugene...only you. There are two major differences, though, that I'm especially grateful for."
"Hm?" he said through a mouthful of rice that had been stuffed hungrily into his mouth.
"One, I have a house now, and two, I have you," she kissed him on the cheek. "And I'm glad you're okay. You're never getting inside a car again."
He laughed. "Really? Is that even humanly possible? Someday, I'll need to."
"Ride a bike, then," she said.
"Bike riders get into really messy accidents-"
"Okay, just stay out of trouble," she laughed.
"Never, darling," he teased.