Okay I'm sorry I'm such a horrible person I feel bad every time a write a chapter for this it was supposed to be fluff. I don't know. What's wrong with me?

"Tell me exactly what happened." Rapunzel said worriedly, for about the tenth time. Hiccup sighed, Jack nodded, and Merida huffed. "Look, we already told you, we aren't hurt. Nothing happened, Punzie." Merida sighed again.

"That isn't what I'm asking. I need to know how this started. From the very beginning. How does Eu-" She shook her head. "How does Flynn know who you are? How does Pitch know who you are? And what in fuck's sake did they want with you!?" Rapunzel nearly screeched.

Oh. Merida thought. Punzie was really, really pissed. Like, she was literally red. And for some reason, Merida got the feeling she was aiming this more at her rather than Hiccup. "Oh, uh, Punzie… I think you need to calm down? A little… please?" Merida squeaked.

"I will not 'calm down' until I find out why the girl I li-" Rapunzel stopped abruptly and turned red for a moment. Wait. Was she about to…? Merida thought No way. Rapunzel started over. "Just give me answers, will you!?"

"Okay, okay. Sit down. Calm down. Breathe." Merida soothed. Rapunzel gave in. Merida started to tell the tale.

1 year earlier

Merida was upset. One of her best friends, Hiccup, was being bullied. Because he was gay. Which was really ridiculous. And honestly? SHe really wanted to just sock all of them. But she didn't know who they even were. It was like they were in plain sight, but hidden.

Hiccup wouldn't talk about it. She knew what was going on. A ton of people did. But nobody even knew how to help. Merida was so frustrated that she rammed face first into a brick wall. Which hurt.

She got a call from Hiccup that very evening.

"Merida? There's something I have to tell you." Hiccup's voice came from the other line.

"I wont be going to school tomorrow." He had sighed.

"Oh, ok, did you want me to get a copy of the homework for you? There shouldn't be much, after all it is going to be Friday." Merida had laughed into the phone.

"No…" He called softly. "I'm going to… I'm transferring." He whispered the last part. Merida was shocked. She wasn't expecting that. It would be good for him though. She knew that. As his friend, she had to support him.

"Really? That's great. You wont get bullied anymore that way. Maybe you'll even find yourself a boyfriend!" She giggled. She just wanted him to be happy, though truthfully she was a little upset that they wouldn't see each other as often.

After that, Merida didn't stay in touch with him for long. She knew he had new friends, and that meant that he had better people to hang out with than her. She was never really anyone's best friend. Often she felt like she was just the extra in the school play, rather than a lead or even a side character. She didn't get to be very open with her personality after all.

The bullying at the school seemed to wane. But only for a while. Soon they got bored with stealing lunch money as normal bullies did. They wanted to get back to ruining one person's life. Unfortunately they had to choose someone new. And this time, 'someone new' meant Merida.

First they sent her subtle hints. They put a hairstraigtener in her locker with a note that said, "You really need this, use it for our sake." They did cruel little things. Merida thought nothing of it.

Present

Merida continued to tell them bits and pieces of the past. She still had no intention of telling them the worst parts, but she told them she was bullied. Of course, there were other parts to that. She wasn't going to tell them. Not yet.

Rapunzel watched and listened to Merida quietly and patiently. She knew that Merida wasn't telling them everything. For example, she spoke as if she had been in that building before, which meant it was even more serious than she thought. How many times? Who had gone with her? When had it happened? Why did it happen? What happened to her? Rapunzel felt that maybe Merida would open up with time.

"Rapunzeeeeellll!" uhg. Mother again. Or, "Mother". Rapunzel had recently figured out that she had been adopted. Well, it's not like her mom actually told her. Rapunzel had found a picture of herself and a man and a woman who looked strikingly similar to her. Her only guess was that she was adopted, since on the back it gave names of the two people. It had her name too, but instead of Rapunzel Gothel it was Rapunzel Corona. Strange.

It sort of hurts to know you are adopted. It hurts more if your parents wont even tell you that you are. It sort of feels like an unnecessary secret. Rapunzel hated secrets. She just wanted everything to be happy. But this was the real world. You have to be realistic here.

Rapunzel slid down the banister. She loved doing that. It felt dangerous, risky. She liked to do things that were outside of her comfort zone, as much as her mom wanted things to stay the same way forever.

"Darling, you know I don't like it when you do that." She sang. She always seemed to have this threatening tone behind her voice, and it bothered Rapunzel sometimes. She wished her mom was more… gentle, to say the least.

"I know, Mother. I just… I just thought it would be fun." Rapunzel sighed, she knew she couldn't win with her. She just didn't know how to say no to her. "I'm sorry."

"Rapunzel, I just want you to be safe. And being safe means that you have to do everything the same way that way you never have to take risks. You're lucky I even let you go to a public school!" Rapunzel showed a hurt face. "Great. Now I'm the bad guy." She heaved a sigh.

"Darling, you have to realize that I do what I do for you. The world is full of evil. And if it finds a single ray of sunlight…" She reached out and patted her dark brown hair. "It will crush it. But sometimes I wonder if it's already too late…" It was odd to Rapunzel how much her mom missed her old hairstyle. But she couldn't remember those times. She just wanted change. She just wanted her mother to understand that she could live her own life.

"Mom? can I ask you something?" after a nod from her mother she continued. "Am I adopted?" Her mother looked shocked for a moment. "I saw the picture… in your desk." She finished. A ray of emotions seemed to pass over the womans face in a span of a millisecond. Anger, hurt, betrayal, worry.

"Oh… you could say it's something like that." She smiled but it was off. She was worried about something. "Go to your room. Please." She sighed for the final time and Rapunzel raced up the stairs. What was she worrying about? What was wrong? Rapunzel couldn't sleep that night.

"Merida!" uhg. Mum again. Or rather, this time it was her mentor. Her mother was convinced that she would follow up in her place as the Mayor. Maybe not directly after her, but Merida was sure that when the time came, her mom would force her into running for the position. Which meant hours upon hours of useless training for something she didn't want.

Merida remembered that not so long ago, Elinor had wanted to set up an arranged marriage for her. Who was it she had wanted her to marry? Merida had almost laughed when her mother had said it a year ago. "You are to marry Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. His father is a retired governor and it would do you both well." was what she had said. Which was completely ridiculous. Mr. Haddock had known his son was gay for a while and if he pushed him into a marriage, he wanted it to be with someone he might actually end up loving later. (Which is a totally different story anyway, but Jack was involved.)

Thankfully, both of the parents had realized it was not a good idea. After a while, Elinor came to her senses and realized Merida needed to find her own love. But of course that hadn't stopped the political training or, well, her mom's ridiculous 'you must follow in my footsteps' attitude.

Elinor had no idea that Merida was gay. It was a touchy topic between the two, romance. They hadn't talked about it since the marriage fiasco. Sometimes Merida really wanted to tell her mom. When they had any sort of 'moment' together. Other times Merida felt like she had to keep it a secret forever, even when she left the house and grew up. Those were the times where Elinor would behave as if she hated the fact that Merida could be even remotely close to what she defined 'gay' as.

She thought that being gay meant that you couldn't have kids, that you could never be seen by the general public as someone who can be a politician. Even though it meant much more than that. To Merida, it meant finding someone that she really loved. It didn't really matter either way right? Sure, boys are cool, Merida thought, but the thought of being romantic or doing that with one is just gross.

"Merida? Are you in there?" Merida's father said. She snapped out of her memories, and being the lady she was, said, "Huh?" Everyone at the table laughed. Well, everyone but her mom.

"Were ye saying something Mum?" Merida asked. "I might have missed it." She giggled a little as Elinor smiled softly at her. But it wasn't a real smile. It was a politician smile.

"Yes, dear." She muttered, annoyed. "I was just wondering why you were home late today." Oh. Whoops. She forgot to text her mom about that one.

"I was...eh...I was at a friends house." Technically it wasn't a lie.

"Who was she? Is she important?" She asked. Merida snorted.

"He. His name is Jack. His mom is a dentist." Merida calmly spoke.

"A dentist… wait what? A boy? You went to a boy's house?" She sounded mad now. "You know the rules, Merida, no boys until you are older." She scolded.

"Really? You didn't seem to think so when you almost married me off to another gay kid!" She yelled back.

"Another? What do you mean?" She whispered. Shit. Merida's eyes widened in shock and she got up and backed away, shaking her head. She didn't answer.

"MERIDA! What do you mean, another!?" Merida ran to her room. She knew she would have to talk to her about this sometime. But not now! She slammed the door and locked it from the inside. Unfortunately, Elinor had followed her.

"Merida! Merida! Please, I'm sorry! Let me in!" Elinor said calmly this time.

"Mum. I didn't want to get married that time. Do you know why?" Merida bit her lip. It was now or never. "Mum, I'm… I'm gay. That means I like girls, and I don't want to get married to a guy. It means that I want to choose who I love. I want to choose who I am. And I am not some mans wife. I am not a politician. I'm not… I don't want to be like you, Mum." Merida called softly. She couldn't imagine the hurt her mom must be feeling. But it had to be done.

"Maybe… maybe we should start over." Elinor said, shakily at first. "I can accept that. I love you, dear. More than anything. I'm sorry." Merida felt a rush of relief. She opened the door. She was pulled into a bear hug. ((I'm sorry I just had to))

"I'm glad… that you can trust me with this."

Merida couldn't sleep that night, either.