I apologize because this chapter, well it came out very angsty in an otherwise dramatic plot. Sone of you may cry, but the story must be told. I have tissues so please feel free to cry.

Rapunzel wondered how her friends were doing. It had honestly been a very long while since she had talked to them. She missed them very much so.

Growing up, Rapunzel had a very tough time even making friends, because of the incident that had happened with her nanny.

Rapunzel's parents were managers in a spa that worked wonders for anyone who happened to visit them. It was so popular in fact that it took up most of their time because a large amount of people came in just from hearing about how rejuvenating it was to them.

Which of course was when the problem started. Rapunzel had been a toddler when her parents business took off, and because the work was so demanding, they hired a nanny to watch Rapunzel, if neither of her parents could watch her.

Gothel was very kind for the first few years of Rapunzel's time with her. She was crazy, but she was never mean or otherwise spiteful to the young girl.

It started when Rapunzel turned 12, just before she started puberty. Gothel became jealous of Rapunzel's beauty and began berating her, calling her clumsy and unrefined, breaking down the girls self-esteem.

Rapunzel hated lying, but never found the courage to tell her parents about the abuse until much later on.

Thankfully, it was over after Gothel went to prison, and Rapunzel healed not long after, becoming her usual bubbly self.

Then, of course, college.

If there was one thing Rapunzel was grateful about when it came to college, it was the simple fact that she had made a best friend forever (in a girl her age that is) at first glance, it didn't seem like the two had anything in common. Merida was tough and almost tomboyish, with a rebellious streak and a real short temper

Rapunzel was meek, bubbly, as girly as could get and always happy.

Yet strangely the two worked out together, as roommates and eventual friends. Rapunzel loved Merida like a sister and would always be happy to help her.

She was family.

Even tough Merida had left the country some time ago (before returning) the two kept in contact always willing to help each other out if needed. In the past few years that became even more apparent because of a wee little problem that Merida had contracted during her time away.

Even so Merida wasn't complaining, (neither was Rapunzel) so there really wasn't a problem to be concerned with. They just did the best with what they could. It was tough work, but it was all very rewarding to them.

Rapunzel had hoped to get together with her friends, but Merida's current situation would make it difficult for them all to get together.

Rapunzel shook her head. There was really nothing that she could do about it Merida was stubborn and she would rather die than reveal her secret… she was still so very upset about it all

Rapunzel ha tried to help out as best she could, but in the end, it was ripping her apart as well. but what else could she do? Merida was her friend; she just couldn't abandon her.

The problem was how long was Merida going to hold it in for. In the past few years, Merida had become emotionally unstable, and Rapunzel genuinely worried for her old friend. She hadn't recovered and if she continued to spiral, there was no telling where she would end up for it.

If Merida snapped, it wouldn't be pretty and it would destroy everything that she had ever worked for.

How would that help anybody?

Rapunzel sighed. She hoped Merida would be ok. Then again, there was no telling with the other woman. she was very volatile and stubborn. Trying to talk to her when she was upset was like trying to talk to a wild animal. Very dangerous.

Merida had had a lot of issues over the past few years, from her mother's condition to her current problem; Rapunzel wondered how she hadn't snapped already.

That still didn't stop her from being concerned though. Merida might be tough, but it still wasn't healthy for her to be going the way she was.

There was no talking Merida out of it either. She continued down her path, ready to do whatever she could in order to complete her goals. Rapunzel hadn't helped at all in that regard (she was scared of the consequences) , but she was concerned that it would eventually lead to trouble.

Merida had left home in order to deal with it, but Rapunzel knew it would only lead to trouble after everything that had happened. Merida was independent, or so she told everyone. But after her reaction to the events of the past few years, Rapunzel believed that Merida did need some help with her life. It was all too much for her.

What needed to happen? Rapunzel knew that Merida needed help, but it didn't seem likely that the other girl would allow it.

Merida was very rash and rarely thought things trough before she did it. Which was why visiting her cousin's home town where Joseph was, well it was not exactly a very good idea.

Rapunzel knew that Elsa and Joseph were very happy together (she had seen pictures), but sincerely hoped that Merida wasn't going to try running a wrench into their relationship.

Unfortunately Merida was a teensy little obsessed thanks to her condition. Of course, what had happened between Merida and Joseph was the exact problem that Merida was now having, but Rapunzel was one of the only other people that knew exactly why Merida was exactly the way she was. She had never told anyone else.

Rapunzel was not a liar, but she also swore to never break a promise and she promised Merida that she wouldn't ell anyone about what happened. Merida was already crazy about the issue as is; she didn't want to be responsible for driving her insane.

If that were to happen, Rapunzel would never forgive herself. She just couldn't do that to Merida she just didn't deserve it at all.

But what had happened… Rapunzel just wasn't sure how long she could continue like this. the silence was agonizing; destroying her from the inside. How was she able to cope with it after all the visits to Merida's house, all the gatherings she went to over the past few years? Rapunzel didn't know.

Though she and Joseph had also remained in contact, there was very little mention of Merida. She had broken his heart, though he wasn't bitter over it, since it had led him to Elsa.

But it broke Rapunzel's heart because she just wasn't able to tell him about Merida.

Rapunzel choked. Her best friends were silently, unknowingly at odds with each other. It was just too much for her.

But Rapunzel couldn't break her promise. She was just too kind for that.

Would Merida ever find a way to tell him the truth? About what really happened the day they broke up. Rapunzel remembered when Merida had told her. She was crying scared, confused. She was all alone.

Rapunzel had tried to help out the best she could, but Merida just continued to fall into a spiral of depression, adding into the fact her family was also stressed by her mother's condition.

Rapunzel admired Merida's strength, but what she really needed was not going to be able to help her, lest it create a chaotic aftermath.

Rapunzel clenched her fists. She just wanted her friends to be happy. But because of Merida's stubborn personality, she had only managed to become a depressed woman.

If it continued to escalate, Rapunzel was sure that Joseph would definitely pay the price for Merida's actions.

Rapunzel didn't want that to happen. The two of them were her best friends. They had helped her grow so much; virtually nothing had torn them apart. But now, Rapunzel was the only thing holding them together.

If anything, Joseph would go on to marry Elsa and have a family with her; it was the best course of action.

Of course, if there was one person who wouldn't be happy with that it would be the red haired Scottish woman who would rather die than simply tell the truth.

Merida had told Rapunzel time and time again that she would eventually tell Joseph the truth, but each and every time, the other woman would lose her nerve.

Due to this, Rapunzel had suffered every day heart broken by the situation that her friend had put herself through.

It had affected everybody. Merida's parents of course were none to happy when Merida had told them what had happened, though they tempered out later on. Of course they also promised never to tell anyone about the truth either.

Didn't stop them from being angry of course. Rapunzel had never seen such a death filled glare in all of her life. It even made her afraid and she wasn't involved at the time.

Even worse, Joseph didn't know!

How was Merida going to be able to tell her friend that he was a—

Rapunzel's phone rang stopping her trail of thought. She quickly grabbed I and stared at the phone. Speak of the devil. It was Merida herself calling. What did she want? It wasn't like calling Rapunzel was a very often thing (it was more the other way around)

Rapunzel quickly answered the phone "Merida?" she called doing her best to sound chipper.

There was a moment of silence on the other ends. Rapunzel wondered if Merida had hung up or something when her voice came through.

"Rapunzel" came the voice of a very heavy Scottish accent. "How you doing wee lass?"

Rapunzel sighed. She knew that Merida was stalling. Merida never called unless it was something that was very important to her.

"Merida, what is it?" Rapunzel asked quickly. She wanted to help Merida as Quickly as possible, not get lost in a long conversation before hand.

She heard Merida wince and she knew that she was right. Merida did seem to want something, but what exactly it was, it seemed that it was something not well, normal

"Well lass… I… uh." It seemed that Merida was at a loss for words for a moment, until she blurted out "why didn't you tell me that Joseph was dating your cousin!" she all but screamed through the phone. Rapunzel jumped from the unexpected shout.

Even worse, Merida was asking about Elsa? Rapunzel felt her heart freeze. Merida…. Oh no, she had done it she went to see her ex boyfriend and ended up running straight into his current girlfriend.

That was not good. After all these years of stalling Merida had run into the exact situation that would not exactly be ideal for her stress.

Merida refused to talk about Joseph what did she expect to happen. That he would just crawl back to her years later when she was the one who ran off in the first place?

What was she expecting Rapunzel to do? Merida never even met her cousins before, why would she be asking about them? She never told Merida that Elsa had even met Joseph before. She doubted that Joseph would be ok introducing Elsa to Merida. It would be so awkward.

Rapunzel stuttered "I… I…"

Merida groaned on the other end of the line "Rapunzel… I need to know… please"

Rapunzel sighed. "They've been going out for the past few months" she told Merida.

She heard Merida gasp. Oh boy that didn't sound very good. Merida was in shock. And with her, it was shock, then anger. Rapunzel moved the phone away, preparing for the outburst.

Merida began screaming "a few months?" She began to rant "what has that wee devil been doing while I've been-

Rapunzel just listened as Merida continued to scream. Merida's temper sure hadn't improved at all. She was still screaming and ranting even after she had managed to scream out everything she could think of to say.

Rapunzel was used to it. in college Merida was known for her temper; it had caused her quite a bit of trouble, though it was mostly amusing to say the least.

Unfortunately even after her condition, she still hadn't tempered enough to not scream and rant at everything that managed to piss her off. It had caused her quite a few sleepless nights.

A few moments latter, it appeared that Merida finally managed to calm down. Rapunzel moved the phone back "feeling better?" she asked Merida.

Merida breathed heavily on the other end of the phone. It seemed to Rapunzel that she was still clearly pissed about the piece of information that Rapunzel had told her about, but had managed to get the anger out of her system.

Rapunzel still felt bad for her though. she never did truly recover from breaking up with Joseph (though it was still her own fault).

"oh yeah" she responded sarcastically "tell a woman that her man is with another lass and she will feel much better!" she yelled out.

Rapunzel winced. Uh oh. There she was going again. ever since the break up, Merida had always referred to Joseph as 'hers' even tough she rarely spoke of him to anyone other than Rapunzel.

Rapunzel sighed. She wasn't going to argue with Merida on the matter. "Merida if you just tell him-" she was cut off by a loud growl

"no lass… he doesn't get to know now! How many girls has he been with huh? Why doesn't he just ask them how they are doing first huh?"

Rapunzel winced that had been years ago… but to her knowledge, Joseph had remained single for some time following breaking up with Merida. Elsa was his first major relationship in a while following that period of his life. She wasn't sure about how many others had been in his life after his break up with Merida

"How should I know Merida?" she responded, "we barely kept in contact!" She screamed

That much was true. Joseph hardly ever contacted Rapunzel because he was afraid he would run into Merida. He called and such, but other than that, he spent most of his time alone she supposed.

Unlike with Merida though, their friendship never faltered. Mainly because he never blamed Rapunzel for what had happened. It wasn't even her fault to begin with.

It was Merida's and Merida's alone.

She swore she could hear Merida seething on the other end of the phone.

"that wee devil…" she muttered "going off with someone else when I need him"

Rapunzel sighed, "what are you going to do, Merida? You don't want to tell him. If that's the case, let him live his life. You not a part of it any more. Or at least, please, I beg of you… be his friend… he may not love you as much as he did, but he s not angry with you. He forgave you a long time ago."

That much was true. Though he was initially bitter with the break up, he forgave Merida and allowed himself to move on.

Merida unfortunately hadn't.

That was her problem of course. But Merida had to be stubborn about the situation.

"lass, you don't understand…" Merida whispered "I still love him…"

Rapunzel groaned "Merida… get over it!" she screamed finally fed up with Merida's idiocy "its your own fault! You should have told him years ago! Instead you ran away because you wanted independence. You thought you didn't need him! He would have married you anyway!"

Rapunzel howled in anger. She didn't care that she had screamed at Merida. All she cared about was helping Merida.

She hear Merida breathe on the other end. No one had ever told her that. she had assumed the worst. Of course since Rapunzel knew she refused to talk about her ex, she had never been told that.

Rapunzel breathed heavily. It felt good just to say that. Merida really needed a wake up call. After all, her stubbornness was why she was even in this conversation in the first place!

Then after a few moments of silence, Rapunzel heard something that she hadn't heard Merida do in years. she was crying bawling like a little girl. Rapunzel felt her heart break all over again.

Merida cried for several minutes, relieving herself of every tear that she had ever wanted to shed. Finally it seemed that she had forgiven Joseph for leaving her behind after she had run of. It seemed that she realized that her mistake.

Merida sniffled on the other end of the line "lass… what have I done?" her voice was so weak; it sounded like her throat was sore from the crying.

Rapunzel bit her lip "Merida… are you going to tell him now?" she asked hesitantly

"I… I think I have too." She said

Rapunzel smiled. Finally her friend was able to she the truth. "Great Merida" she said "are you still in town?"

She heard Merida scoff "of course I am lass, but.. my flights in less than an hour… and I don't want to tell him while he's with his lass… it can't happen like that."

Rapunzel sighed. Merida was absolutely right about that. while Joseph had every right to know… Elsa… it would hurt her in the process.

Rapunzel groaned. This was definitely not going to be good.

What was she going to do? Joseph and Elsa were going to get married. But if Merida told him, it would no doubt complicate things. Even worse, Elsa could completely break down... and that was the best-case scenario.

Rapunzel sighed. They were going to be in dangerous territory. "Good bye Merida." She said hanging up on the other woman. Rapunzel then sank to the floor and put her head in her hands. She began to cry heavily. She felt heartbroken

She may have just broken up her best friend and her cousin.

Sorry! i will have to flee for my life!