"Great!" Eugene says happily, seeing Hiccup when he opens Rapunzel's front door. "You made it just in time. We haven't started eating."
Hiccup follows Eugene to the dining room. He is greeted by the mouthwatering odors of Rapunzel's cooking. Merida sets the table while Ruriko brings out a dish of potato gratin and roasted vegetables. Both girls greet Hiccup cheerfully when they see him.
"Wow, Rapunzel, this looks amazing," Hiccup praises her as he eyes the spread.
"Take that as the biggest compliment, Punz," Eugene jokes. "This guy has a family chef who prepares their meals everyday."
"I know!" Rapunzel exclaims gleefully. "At least my cooking's passed the look test. Hopefully I'll pass the taste test."
"I'm sure it'll taste great," Hiccup says. "I brought something as a gift to the host." He takes out a bottle of wine. "I'm not as well-versed in wines and years as the rest of my family, but my sister says that this should be good."
Merida takes the bottle from Hiccup before Rapunzel can and reads the label.
"A La Grume 2010," Merida says, impressed. "Your sister does have good taste in wine."
Merida hands the wine back to Hiccup to give to Rapunzel. She tries to avoid making eye contact with him as she can feel him looking at her suspiciously. "Since when have you become a wine expert?"
"Let me take this and put it in an ice bucket," Rapunzel cuts in. "Thank you so much for this, Hiccup. Now, it feels like a proper feast. We can drink this as soon as it's cool enough. But not too much, Merida. Wouldn't want a repeat of last night."
Rapunzel realizes her mistake as soon as the words leave her mouth. She looks up quickly to see Hiccup turning his questioning stare towards her and Merida shooting her an accusing glare. Luckily, Eugene hasn't taken notice of the exchange and is busy scrolling through something on his phone.
"What do you mean, last night?" Hiccup asks.
"Oh," Rapunzel says, laughing as naturally as she can force herself too. "No, I told Merida about this really vivid dream I had last night. I dreamt that she got wasted, and I had to take care of her. I called her up this morning to make sure it was just a dream. Eugene, do you mind helping me get the pot roast from the kitchen?"
Rapunzel can still feel Merida's gaze boring into her back as she and Eugene make their way into the kitchen. Likewise, Merida can feel Hiccup's gaze returning towards her. She finally decides to boldly look him in the eye.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" she challenges him, cocking an eyebrow.
He narrows his eyes further and says, "I don't know. It's just that, lately, I feel like you've been keeping a secret from us."
Merida shrugs and tries to feign innocence.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Hiccup brings his face very close to Merida's, their noses practically an inch apart. He studies her intently which causes her to feel uncomfortable and redden involuntarily.
"Fine," he says, pulling back. "I won't push you anymore. You can just come clean and tell me when you're ready."
Merida is happy to not have to respond since Eugene announces the arrival of the main dish for the night. Rapunzel follows him, carrying a board of assorted cold cuts, cheeses, and crackers. Eugene dashes back to get the Hiccup's wine contribution, already in an ice bucket before all four friends sit down to eat.
Throughout the meal, they all compliment Rapunzel on the deliciousness of her cooking, but no one devours the food more heartily than Eugene. The other two musketeers tease him by how animal-like his behavior is. Rapunzel just happily enjoys the company she's been missing at home ever since her parents left.
Suddenly, the phone rings. Rapunzel stands to answer it.
"Hello? Oh, hi mom! I'm doing great. Actually, I'm having dinner with Merida, Eugene, and Hiccup here. I cooked for them." She pauses as her mom replies with some requests for Rapunzel to buy before they get back. She also reminds Rapunzel what time they expect to be back on Tuesday.
After getting off the phone with her mother, she returns to the table to finish eating. They all finish dessert – sticky toffee pudding, which Rapunzel also made from scratch, with ice cream – and all declare how delicious and satisfying the meal was. The three friends then offer to help her clear the table and clean the dishes. Although she insists that she can do it after they go home, they insist on helping her.
When all the chores are finished, Rapunzel sees that it's still quite early in the night.
"You guys want to watch a movie or something?" she suggests.
"Yeah, sure!" they agree and head to the den. They scan through the family's collection of movies, trying to decide on what to watch.
"Oh, man!" Eugene exclaims. "You have The Expendables? We have to watch that!" He and Hiccup high-five while the girls roll their eyes at the typical boyish behavior and interests.
Merida sees The Conjuring. "Ooh, I've always wanted to watch this. I heard it was really good."
"Yeah, I got really freaked out," Rapunzel says. "I think it's my favorite horror movie right now."
Hiccup groans. "I don't want to watch that."
"Yeah," Eugene pipes in. "I'd rather see explosions and gun fights and car chases and all that."
"Whatever," Merida says. "You guys just don't want to admit that you're too chicken to watch a scary movie."
"No, we aren't!"
"Oh, really? Who called me up that night we watched Insidious saying he couldn't fall asleep? Yeah, I'm looking at the two of you." Hiccup and Eugene eye each other sheepishly, only now aware that they had done the exact same thing by calling Merida up when they were scared shitless by the movie.
"What about an oldie but a goody?" Rapunzel intervenes, pulling out Zoolander. Her friends' expressions brighten and all quickly vote on watching their well-loved comedy. Rapunzel rushes to get some popcorn and drinks for them before starting the movie.
At the end of the film, they see that, unsurprisingly, Eugene has fallen into a food coma. Hiccup stands up and thanks Rapunzel again for being a great host but says that he ought to go home. Merida offers to walk him out, while Rapunzel tries to wake the passed out Eugene. When Merida gets back, she sees Rapunzel watching Eugene sleep.
"I thought you-" Merida stops when Rapunzel puts a finger to her lips.
"I couldn't wake him," Rapunzel tells her. "He just looks so peaceful. Do you want to watch another movie? It's only 10:30."
They decide to choose a chick flick since they're too tired to watch something scary now. They settle for the 80's movie Some Kind of Wonderful. During the movie, Rapunzel notes the similarity between Merida and the tomboyish Watts. In the movie, however, Watts falls in love with her guy best friend Keith which causes Rapunzel to wonder if there are more parallelisms between her friend and the protagonist.
"You remind me of Watts, you know," Rapunzel says when the credits roll.
"How?" Merida asks. "I don't see any other similarities beyond the fact that she has a guy best friend."
"Okay, can I ask you a serious question?" Rapunzel asks half-whispering. Merida turns to look at Rapunzel with a curious gaze. "We're best friends, so we can tell each other anything. You can be honest with me, and I promise I won't tell anyone."
"What are you getting at?"
Rapunzel takes a deep breath before asking, "Do you...have feelings for Hiccup?"
At this, Merida's eye widen and she falls into a fit of giggles. "No! What gave you that idea? Rapunzel, you know me. Don't tell me you've started believing all those rumors from school. Everyone just wants to stir up some drama between me and Hiccup, but it's not true."
"It's just that everyone teases you, so I was starting to think that there might be some truth to it and that you just never told me."
"Okay, I can't tell what Hiccup feels for me although I'm sure he feels the same way I feel about him, but on my part, I'm 100% sure that I do not have feelings for the guy. There are no sparks or anything between us. I think people assume his protectiveness of me is of a jealous boyfriend type, but really, it's more of an older brother type."
"Really?" Rapunzel asks, still doubtful. "How are you so sure that those feelings are strictly platonic? Maybe you like him, but you just don't know it yet."
This time, it's Merida's turn to take a deep breath. "Okay, Rapunzel. I haven't been completely honest with you, at least when it comes to crushes. The reason I'm sure I don't like Hiccup is because I've liked this one guy ever since freshman year."
"What?! You've had a crush on a guy for almost three years, and you haven't told me? Who is it?"
"Hans," Merida says, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Hans? Hans Isles? Hans, Hiccup's twin brother?" Rapunzel giggles.
"Say it louder, why don't you?" Merida snaps, taking a quick glance in Eugene's direction to make sure that he's still asleep.
"Sorry," Rapunzel apologizes, lowering her voice. "I just find it hard to believe. I mean, it's so not obvious and is really unexpected. Who would've known that all this time, people have been teasing you to the wrong twin?"
"Yeah, well I'd rather people keep doing that than for them, especially Hans or Hiccup, to find out the truth."
"Okay, okay. Well, your secret's safe with me. I haven't told anyone about the Jack Frost secret, have I?"
"Tonight was a close call."
"Yeah, but I managed to save it."
"Barely." Merida says flatly. "But thank you. I appreciate that you keep my secrets. I'm glad I can trust you."
"So, tell me. What is it about Hans that made you like him and continue to like him all this time?"
"Well," Merida thinks for a moment. "For the most part, it's how passionate his is. Like, how much he immerses himself in art and photography. I mean, it's obvious that he loves it because he doesn't mind doing it 24/7. He doesn't care what other people think. He'll just do what makes him happy. I just wish he wasn't so mysterious though, but I guess the mystery intrigues me too. But I really enjoy the few conversations we get to have whenever I catch him at Hiccup's house. We actually invited him to come here tonight, but he said no. I don't think he likes us very much."
"I think he's really just introverted. So why don't you tell Hiccup and ask him to help you out? Hans is his twin, after all."
"No way," Merida shakes her head so vigorously that her curls form a chaotic whirlwind around her head. "It's too embarrassing for me to tell my best friend that I've been in love with his brother all these years, even if they're fraternal twins."
"Have you guys had enough of your girl talk there?" the girls jump to see Eugene sitting up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Have you been eavesdropping all this time?" Merida throws a throw pillow at him.
"No, I couldn't make out what you've been talking about. I just heard whispers and giggles, so I assumed you were being all girly now. Although, it being you, Merida, I now think that's impossible."
Merida throws another pillow, hitting him square on the head.
"Jeez, I was just kidding," Eugene says, standing up to stretch. "Hey, Punz, thanks again for tonight. I ate so much, I got knocked out. Sorry that you guys had to wait for me to wake up. But thanks for letting me sleep. That was the best."
"No problem," Rapunzel smiles. "I told Merida I didn't have the heart to wake you up. You looked so sweet and peaceful sleeping. It's so different from how you are when you're awake, so I decided to let you sleep."
"Ha ha, very funny," Eugene says. "Anyway, I think it's time to go home. It's pretty late. What about you, Red? Going my way?"
Merida stands up and nods. "Thanks so much for tonight, Rapunzel. It was great!"
"No, thank you guys," Rapunzel stands up and hugs both her friends. "I really needed the company because I've been so lonely here at home lately."
"I can come over any time," Eugene pledges. "You provide the food, and I'll provide the tummy."
Merida smacks his arm, but all three laugh anyway as Rapunzel walks them to the door. They tell each other good night, and the two friends head home. Rapunzel watches them leave for a minute before locking up and getting ready for bed.