Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE PREVIEW PICTURE! IT BELONGS TO SweetasTea ON DEVIANTART! I also do not own any of the characters. All I own is the storyline.

Word Count: 5995

AU: Royal AU

UAs: Rapunzel was never stolen as a baby, so she grew up as the princess of Corona. Also, her parents cut her hair when it started to get long, just like any normal parents would. They were surprised when it turned brown, but ultimately just accepted the change and didn't pay much attention to it.

Prompt: Childhood Friend Romance

Age 6

Princess Rapunzel smiled as she closed the back cover of the book. She wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting on the library floor, and her back was beginning to ache from it, but it had been more than worth it for the riveting tale of a wizard and his brave apprentice who had saved an entire kingdom from ogres and giants using only magic spells.

Now, what to read next? she wondered. She slid the book back onto the shelf and sprung to her feet, skipping down the massive case of books and scanning the spines for another intriguing one. She was just about to pull out a book titled The Last Unicorn when she heard the distinctive rustling of pages a few shelves over.

Curious, she creeped around the edge of the shelf, tiptoeing toward the sound of pages turning. To her knowledge, she was the only person who frequented the library…or at least the only person who got so excited about the books that she read them without even bothering to find a chair first. She wondered who else would be in here reading on the floor like she did.

The princess turned the corner of one of the shelves and found a little brown-haired boy just about her age lying on his belly, immersed in some fairy tale book with large, beautifully-painted illustrations. He seemed to be scrutinizing each illustration with great care before turning the page and looking at the next one. Rapunzel had never seen him before, but from the looks of his simple, puffed-out shirt and pants, he appeared to be a new servant.

"Hi!" she chirped.

The boy looked up from a picture of a fire-breathing dragon flying high over a mountain, taking in the little girl standing in front of him. She was in a bright pink dress embroidered with white jewels, her translucent collar laced with fabric roses. Her brown hair went just past her shoulders, her bangs braided back around her head in a similar style to how the queen wore her hair. If all that wasn't enough of an indication she was the princess, the diamond-encrusted tiara sitting on her head gave it away.

The boy's eyes widened and he scrambled into a sitting position, ducking into a hasty bow. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, I didn't see you there."

"Oh, you can just call me Rapunzel," the princess assured him. "I don't like all the icky formal stuff. What's your name?"

"Jack Overland," he mumbled, still seeming a bit anxious to be in her presence. "My dad just started working in the kitchens here."

"Whatcha reading, Jack?" Rapunzel bounded over and sat down beside him. She could feel the servant boy stiffen as she pressed up against him, looking down at the book. Marking his place with her finger, she closed the book so she could peek at the cover. "The Princess and the Dragon? How is it?"

Jack looked away. "I…can't read," he told her sheepishly. "So I just look at the pictures and try to figure out what's going on."

"You can't read?" She stared at him in horror.

He nodded. "Yeah, only royalty learn how to read! Didn't you know?"

"Oh." Her face fell. "That's horrible!"

He smiled and shrugged. "It's okay. I really love looking at the pictures!"

"Well, I'll just have to teach you how to read, then!" Rapunzel said excitedly. Jack looked at her in surprise.

"Really? You'd—you'd do that for me?"

"Of course!" she replied emphatically. "No one should have to miss out on reading! You want me to read your book to you?"

"S—sure!" As much as Jack had been enjoying putting his own story together with the pictures, he was curious as to what the black markings all over the pages said. And if this enthusiastic princess (who was much less snobbish than Jack had expected) offered to tell him, who was he to say no?

She flipped the book back to the beginning, turning and giving him a fond smile before beginning.

"Once upon a time, in a magical kingdom far, far away…"

Age 8

Jack lay curled under the canopy bed, peeking cautiously out from under the lavender fabric hanging over the side. He snickered to himself, thinking about how Rapunzel would be back from her princess lessons any minute now. All he had to do was wait.

The hinges of the bedroom door squeaked slightly as it swung open, and Jack hurriedly let go of the fabric, shrouding himself in darkness once again. Humming cheerfully, the princess started to make her way toward her bed. Jack tensed, smirking as he prepared to strike.

Like a viper, he shot out from under the bed, seizing hold of Rapunzel's ankles. She let out a scream.

"HaHA!" he cackled. "The mighty dragon has captured his prey!"

"Jaaaaack!" she whined, trying and failing to pull her feet away from him. "Let me go!"

"Resistance is futile as he drags the unsuspecting princess back to his evil lair!" he went on, beginning to climb his hands up the outside of her skirt to try and capture her wrists.

Rapunzel snatched a hairbrush from her dresser and smacked him lightly on the arm, catching him off-guard enough to push him off of her. "What the dragon never suspected was that the princess had a sword with her!"

"Oh no!" Jack stumbled backwards. "This did slow down the fearsome dragon. But it wasn't enough to save the princess!"

He bounced back up again and wrapped his arms around her waist, dragging her toward her bed. Rapunzel continuously smacked him with her hairbrush, although never hard enough for it to really hurt. Still holding onto her, Jack jumped into the bed so that they both tumbled heavily onto it.

He grinned at her, pinning her down to the bed. "Muahaha! Now you're trapped in my evil lair, where no prince or knight will ever find you."

Rapunzel thrust him off of her and slithered on top of him, straddling him with her knees. "That's what you think. But this is actually what I've wanted all along! I'm on a quest to rid this kingdom of the entire dragon race, and you led me straight to Dragon Mountain!"

"Oh no!" Jack eyes widened in mock horror. "I have to warn the others!"

Rapunzel cackled loudly. "Too bad, because you're going to be the first!" She raised her hairbrush, ready to bring it down on his chest, but he grabbed her wrist before she could, pulling her hand away from him. "Not on my watch," he taunted.

They wrestled playfully around on the bed, laughing as each tried to pin the other down. At last, Rapunzel ended up on top again. Having freed her wrists from Jack's grip, she raised her hairbrush and smacked the handle into her friend's chest before he could do anything to stop it.

"Ha! You failed!" she taunted. "Soon, I will rid the world of your entire species! And I will show no mercy, not even to the babies."

"Oh no!" Jack choked. "I can feel the life…leaving my body…" Rapunzel smirked triumphantly.

"But then, with his last dying breath, the mighty dragon let out a burst of fire and burned the wicked princess to a crisp!"

Rapunzel let out a screech, waving her arms around in pretend panic. "Help! I'm on fire! I'm on fire!"

"No one can help you now," he wheezed. He clutched at the air dramatically before closing his eyes and sticking his tongue out like a piece of roadkill. Letting out one last, "Aaaaah, no!" Rapunzel collapsed beside him and did the same thing.

Opening their eyes, they lay there panting beside each other for several seconds. Rapunzel could feel adrenaline still pumping through her blood, and as she thought about her earlier lesson with Lady Traynor, she felt a prickle of unease.

"Jack, are we still gonna be able to have fun like this when we're older?" she asked suddenly.

Jack gave her a puzzled look. "Well…sure! Why wouldn't we?"

"It's just…" She sighed. "During my etiquette lesson, Lady Traynor was telling me all about how princesses had to be all proper and sophisticated, and how any queen has to be serious and responsible or no one will think she's a good queen. So I guess that means that at some point, I can't have any fun anymore."

"Hmmm." Jack creased his brow, giving the matter serious thought. Suddenly, something occurred to him. "Well…people can still have fun together if they get married!"

"Really?" She looked at him hopefully.

"Yeah!" he said. "I hear married people have fun wrestling around on beds together all the time! And probably playing other games, too."

She let out a delighted giggle. "Then one day I'll marry you, Jack! Then we'll never have to stop playing together."

His brown eyes widened in surprise, and he shook his head hurriedly.

"You can't marry me, Zellie!"

Her face fell. "Why not?"

"Princesses can only marry princes! Didn't you know?"

"That's not true!" Rapunzel crossed her arms. "Because princesses become queens, and queens can do whatever they want."

"But you can't be the queen until your mom dies or retires," he pointed out. "Until then, she and your dad can still make you not do stuff."

"Well…" She fiddled with a strand of brown hair. "My parents really love me…I'm sure they wouldn't make me marry anyone I didn't want to! And you're so nice and great…why wouldn't they let you be my husband?"

He looked at her uncertainly. "You sure you could talk them into it?"

"Of course I'm sure," she said. "They're my parents!"

Jack beamed. "Okay! Let's get married, then."

Rapunzel nodded enthusiastically. Her green eyes suddenly alight with mischief, she tensed her legs and unexpectedly sprung onto her friend.

"Rawr! I'm a lioness!" she announced.

"Oh yeah?" he growled. "Well, I'm the really tough giraffe who's gonna kick you in the face!"

They were soon back to their tussling, the topic of marriage long forgotten.

Age 10

"Ah, look at those two, running about like spring rabbits!" Maid Fenning chuckled, watching the two brown-haired children dash around the castle gardens. "It's a miracle they haven't trampled any flowers yet."

"You know, I worry about them sometimes." Maid Rosenfeld's voice drifted over from where she was trimming a hedge with a pair of shears.

"Why ever is that?" Maid Fenning asked.

"They're so close!" The other woman turned and gave her a sad smile. "And you know what always happens in the storybooks…the boy and girl who were best friends as children always fall in love when they get older."

"Oh, you silly old hen!" Maid Fenning chortled, waving a hand dismissively. "This isn't a storybook, is it? Alas, if only real life were as romantic as those. I'll bet those two are like brother and sister."

Maid Rosenfeld tutted. "Well, even if you're right, do you think Prince Eugene will be quite all right with his wife being so close with another man after he and Princess Rapunzel get married?"

Maid Fenning raised her eyebrows. "My, that's a long ways in the future! Who's to say they'll still be best friends by then?"

Maid Rosenfeld shrugged. "Well, they'll likely still live in the same castle. It's not as if they'll have any good reason not to be. Besides, have you seen the two? They're practically inseparable!"

"Not as though Prince Eugene would have anything to worry about, even if they did stay close," Maid Fenning decided. "It's not like there could ever be anything between them. She's a princess and he's a servant, for heaven's sake! Surely they both know that?"

Maid Rosenfeld's gaze flitted to the boy and girl romping around, their spirited game of chase sending them around every trimmed tree and topiary in the lawn. "I'm not so sure," she mumbled.

Both women fell silent, and the only sounds in the garden were the excited laughter of the children and the snip-snip of shears on hedgerow.

Across the lawn, Jack finally got close enough to grab Rapunzel behind a seahorse topiary, out of the sight of the nosy servants. "Ha!" he gloated. "Now I get to kiss you!"

Rapunzel had told Jack that he could kiss her if he caught her, and now, after her evading him for what felt like hours, her seemingly-endless energy had finally burned out and he had managed to catch up to her. The princess made a face, clearly not happy about the agreement she had made earlier.

"Do you have to?"

Jack crossed his arms and pouted. "Well, you said!"

"Okay, fine," she huffed.

He leaned forward and planted one sloppily on her mouth, complete with a smooching sound effect. As soon as he had finished, Rapunzel quickly brushed it off with the back of her hand.

"Ew! Boy spit!" She looked at him in worry. "I thought that would be more fun. Do we have to do that all the time when we're married?"

Jack shrugged. "Probably not if we don't want to."

"But…we'll have to do it at the wedding, won't we?"

"Well, you're the princess, aren't you?" Jack pointed out. "Surely you could talk some priest into having a special wedding with no kissing? Bribe him with some of the family treasure, if you have to!" he added with a smirk.

Rapunzel squealed, gleefully bouncing up and down. "That's a great idea! Or maybe I could convince my parents to pass a law saying a marriage can be perfectly valid even if the bride and groom don't kiss!"

"Yeah!" Jack said.

"Phew." Rapunzel breathed out a sigh of relief. "I almost thought that was gonna stop us from getting married."

He shook his head, grinning. "Nah. I think now that we've sorted that out, we're good to go."

Age 13

"Psst. Jack! Jack!"

Rapunzel poked her head through the door of the servants' quarters, delighted to see the moonlight filtering into the room outlining a familiar spiky-haired silhouette lying on the bed nearest the door. She started to tiptoe over, getting ready to wake him up, but he rolled over and fixed her with a tired glance before she could. She smiled with relief, glad that she wouldn't have to pull him from his slumber.

"I can't sleep," she said, rubbing the lace of her white nightgown between her fingers.

"Me neither," Jack admitted. "As you could probably tell."

Rapunzel grinned. "Are you up for a midnight adventure?"

He grinned back even wider. "I'm always up for a midnight adventure."

"Come on, then! We have to be super sneaky, though."

He quickly slipped on some clothes (which Rapunzel realized she hadn't even bothered with, still being in her white silk nightgown) and scrambled over to meet her at the door. She smirked down at his feet, realizing neither of them were wearing shoes. Honestly, that was just fine with her. Who needed them anyway when it was so much better to feel the soft grass and smooth cobblestones with your bare skin?

Together they made their way through the dark halls of the castle, careful not to tread too hard on the squeaky wooden floors. Rapunzel turned to Jack and giggled triumphantly as they slipped out of a window, bypassing the guards stationed at the front door. Jack joined in giggling, and Rapunzel grabbed hold of his hand and led him eagerly down the hill toward the town.

It was strange, Rapunzel thought. She and Jack had been holding hands since they were both 6, and it had never felt like anything out of the ordinary. And yet for some reason, this time the feeling of his fingers laced between hers sent chills down her spine. It seemed like her entire body had suddenly started to shake and sweat, and she hadn't the slightest idea why.

The moonwashed kingdom was quiet, save for the chirping of crickets and the hushed whispers and laughs of Jack and Rapunzel. Gone were the yelling merchants with their carts that Rapunzel was so used to seeing in the square, gone were the roaming buyers, and gone was the little band that usually attracted a crowd of dancers. The silence was peaceful, but also wonderfully exhilarating in its utter strangeness.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," she whispered to Jack. "Mother and Father would be so mad!"

"I know!" Jack whispered back. "Isn't it great?"

She beamed. "Undoubtedly!"

Her smile faltered as she found herself glancing anxiously at the windows above the shops. "Do you think anyone looking out of there could recognize me?" she asked anxiously.

Jack shook his head. "Nah. You're not wearing anything fancy enough." She eyed her nightgown proudly, relieved she had chosen to leave it on.

As they neared the edge of the island, Rapunzel came to an abrupt stop. Jack jerked to a halt beside her, giving her a perplexed look.

Before them was the gently sloping shape of the white stone bridge, the sprawling hills and dappled forest beyond lit up radiantly by a glowing full moon. Rapunzel swallowed.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked.

"It's just…" She hesitated. "I've never been over this bridge before."

"Me neither," he admitted.

"I'm really scared. I've…I've never been outside the kingdom before."

"So…do you not want to cross the bridge?" He sighed. "Geez Punz, way to get my hopes up. You lead us right to it!"

There was a silence. "No, I do want to cross it," she said finally. "And we're going to."

One of the corners of Jack's mouth curled up into a crooked half smile. "That's more like it."

"This is so exciting!" Rapunzel gave a gleeful hop. "I can't wait to see everything that's over—"

"Race you!" Without the least bit of warning, Jack took off running across the bridge.

"Hey!" she called out after him. She groaned, hearing him laughing up ahead.

Her bare feet pounded on the stone as she ran across the bridge, trying to catch up. It proved to be futile as Jack passed by the turrets marking the end of the bridge when Rapunzel had just barely gotten over the hump in the middle.

"Wooo!" He jumped up and down, pumping his fists in the air.

"Not even fair!" she puffed, joining him a couple seconds later on the dirt path leading into the woods. "You got a huge head start."

"Wasn't that big, Punzel." He smirked.

"Still!" She swatted him, and he snickered.

Rapunzel looked toward the dark outline of the trees, and her breath caught in her throat a little. The leafy tops were like massive, looming stormclouds and the inky trunks underneath were equally as unnerving.

"Oh," she said.

Jack narrowed his eyes. "What is it?"

"The woods look a bit scarier up close."

She was worried he would tease her for being a scaredy-cat, but instead he just shrugged. "That's all right, we don't have to go in there." From the slight shake in his voice, it seemed he wasn't crazy about the idea of going exploring in the dark forest either.

"Why don't we just sit here and relax for a bit?" Rapunzel grabbed his hand and led him to a little stretch of grass by the road. She reclined serenely on it, looking up at the sprawling night sky. Jack followed suit, laying perhaps a bit closer to her than was necessary.

"I don't think I've ever seen the night sky like this," she said. "Just…stretching out above me like some huge dome, going in every direction. I've only ever seen it out my bedroom window."

He smiled thoughtfully. "Yeah…it really is something, isn't it?"

"My parents told me that on their wedding night, they came out and laid down like this outside of the castle courtyard and came up with one reason they loved each other for every star they saw."

Jack gagged loudly. "Ew! Oh my god, that's so corny! Please don't tell me we have to do that on our wedding night, Punz. If we're still getting married, anyway," he added in a mumble.

Rapunzel turned and started at him in horror. "Of course we're still getting married! Whatever made you think we weren't any more?"

He smiled sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. "I dunno, we just haven't talked about it since we were 11. I was making sure you hadn't changed your mind."

"Of course not," she said, sounding offended. "We get married so we never have to stop having fun together. That's always been the plan. Why would it change now?"

"Because I've got some bad news," he said gravely. Rapunzel's eyes widened, and she felt her stomach squirm anxiously. Whatever it was must be had if it could make even Jack be serious.

"What?" she almost whimpered.

"I talked to my mom, and I'm afraid married couples actually do have to kiss all the time."

"Jack!" She swatted him again. "You had me worried."

"You should be worried!" he retorted, although he was smirking. "Weren't you making elaborate plans just a few years ago to have a kissless wedding?"

"Yes, yes I was." Rapunzel let out a resigned sigh. She hated to admit it, but as of late, the idea of kissing didn't seem quite as disgusting as it once had. And she wouldn't be caught dead saying it aloud, but from time to time she had imagined what it would be like to kiss Jack.

Imagined. Just an innocent thought experiment, right? Not that she actually wanted to kiss him. Or anyone.

"I know it's really gross, but if we're going to have to kiss all the time when we're married, we might as well get used to it now," Jack said, sounding defeated.

"I suppose you're right."

Even as she said it, Rapunzel wondered why she didn't try harder to fight back. She wondered why she didn't try harder to convince him otherwise, that they could, in fact, have a kissless marriage if they so pleased and there would be no one with the authority to tell the princess that she needed to kiss her husband more.

Because kissing was gross, right?

Perhaps it was because, when he reached out and pulled her across the grass towards him, the quickening of her heart was due more to excitement than crushing fear.

And when his mouth met hers and pressed against it, the soft feel of his lips distracted her from any gross boy spit. The longer their mouths worked against one another, the less she cared about their saliva mixing a little. Besides, Jack wasn't aggressive. He was adorably timid, making sure not to press the least bit harder than she did or go any farther than Rapunzel herself initiated.

It almost felt like it was over too quickly. Jack pulled away and let out a breath.

"I could actually get used to that," Rapunzel admitted.

Jack grinned widely at her. "Me too!"

Age 16

The closet door slipped open a crack as Rapunzel walked by. She suddenly felt a hand grab her arm and yank her inside, pulling her into a sitting position. The princess let out a yelp of alarm as the door clicked shut behind her and shrouded her in darkness.

A familiar snickering floated through the darkness, and Rapunzel glared at its source, forgetting that he probably couldn't see her face. "Jack!"

She hated how clever he was sometimes. Of course he remembered she would be walking through this hallway on the way back from her etiquette lessons.

"What?" he purred. "I just wanted some alone time with you."

She sighed. "And you couldn't wait for me back in my room?"

"Ah, where's the fun in that?" He leaned forward and kissed her nose. "Besides, nobody's gonna guess you're in here if they come looking."

Slowly, her lips curved up into a smile. "Okay, you might be right there."

"Aren't I always?" he hummed.

"Not always, but often enough," she breathed back, leaning forward. In seconds they were kissing ravenously, arms tangled around each other as their mouths worked hungrily at each other and their tongues explored one another's mouth. Jack started to push her towards the floor, and her chest started to heave as she was pressed to the wood with him on top of her. As the kissing got faster and more passionate, both of them found themselves having to frequently stop for breath.

Finally, they pulled apart. "I think I love you," Jack said, his small smile now visible as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

She returned it, her eyes soft. "I know I love you." She wrapped her fingers around the back of his neck and pulled him towards her again.

"You bad, bad boy," she panted between kisses. "Servants don't make out with princesses."

"Hasn't stopped me before," he sang.

"Aren't you scared of getting caught?" she teased.

He smirked at her. "The day I found out we weren't supposed to be doing this, I thought 'oh no, a minor inconvenience' and then kept doing it. If I was really scared of being caught, I would've broken it off right then."

"That's the spirit," she whispered.

"Are we ever going to stop?" he asked, his hands beginning to work their way up Rapunzel's stomach until his fingers were slowly lacing their way around her chest. She didn't make any move to slow him down.

"No, I don't think so," she purred, carefully starting to unbutton his shirt.

Age 18

"What the hell do you mean?"

Rapunzel's hands were balled into fists, her skin sweating as her entire world crumbled around her.

"Rapunzel! Watch your language!" her mother scolded. "Princesses don't swear."

The king ignored his wife, shaking his head sadly as he looked at his daughter. "We thought you knew," he said. "We thought you always knew. Betrothals at a young age are just the natural way of things. We needed an alliance with Etheran, and so…" He trailed off.

"You betrothed me?" Rapunzel spat. "To a man I've never even met? And you're just now telling me, after I'd finally gathered the courage to tell you about my relationship with Jack?"

"We thought you knew about betrothals," he mother repeated.

"Of course I knew," the princess hissed. "I just thought you two loved me enough to not do it to me."

"Rapunzel, it's not as though Prince Eugene is an awful person," the king scolded. "I've met him and talked to him on trips to Etheran, and he's a very respectful, charming young man! I'm certain he will make an excellent husband, and if I didn't believe that with all my heart than I would have broken off the engagement."

"We did what had to be done," the queen added.

"What had to be done, sure," Rapunzel said bitterly. "I guess what had to be done was forcing me into an arranged marriage because that's easier for you than going down there yourselves and oh, you know, working out your difficulties with Etheran like mature adults."

"Don't be so disrespectful!" the queen snapped.

"Like it isn't disrespectful to force your daughter to marry a man she's never met so that you can have the easy way out of a diplomatic issue," she retorted.

"Rapunzel, as you keep obsessively pointing out, you've never met Prince Eugene," the king said. "So how can you know for sure you'll be miserable with him? Who knows, if you gave the man a chance, you might even like him."

Rapunzel crossed her arms. "I couldn't care less if I might like him. I love Jack and I want to marry him!"

The queen sighed. "Look, even if it weren't for your betrothal, you could never marry Jack. The future king has to be of royal blood—"

"Why?" Rapunzel challenged. "Jack is charismatic. He's kind. He would understand better than anyone the struggles the peasants have to face and he would work to help all of his subjects. He'd make a wonderful king."

"He's a servant!" the king spat. "We can't have those sorts of dirty lowlifes in our court, let alone on our throne. How would the other kingdoms look at us? Our reputation would be tarnished forever, all because you thought you were in love with some stupid poor boy."

"He's not stupid!" she snarled. "He's clever, and funny, and everything I've ever needed. And if you really loved me, you'd let me marry the boy I loved and find another way to make an alliance with Etheran. If you like, I can even travel there with you and help you talk through the negotiations with them!"

The king shook his head. "It's not happening. My daughter is not going to marry a servant. You're going to marry Prince Eugene, and that's the end of it!"

"But—"

"No buts!" He cut her off. "This is what's best for the kingdom. It's too risky to try and negotiate with Etheran, and the most practical solution is to have you marry this perfectly decent young man."

"Your father's right," the queen added. "We have enough to worry about without you being picky over your husband. Did you really think we were going to let you wed some kitchen boy who doesn't know how to do anything but sweep the floors and carry trays of food around?"

"He can learn how to do other things," Rapunzel retorted.

Her mother snorted. "That's highly doubtful. You mustn't let love blind you to what he truly is."

"But he makes me happy," she whispered. "Don't you want your own daughter to be happy?"

The king sighed. "Of course we do, but we want the kingdom to be safe and secure as well."

"It can be safe and secure with Jack—"

"NO!" the king roared, with enough force to make Rapunzel wince. "I'm not having this discussion with you any longer. You're marrying Prince Eugene. End of story. I don't care what you think or how you feel, I have to do what's best for the kingdom."

"But if you would please just listen to me—"

"Your father's right," her mother interrupted her. "Enough."

Rapunzel opened her mouth to speak again, and quickly closed it. She gave her parents a long, hard look.

"Fine," she said finally. "You want me to be miserable? You want to split me and Jack up? Fine."

She turned to walk out of the room, sparing them one last glance over her shoulder. "But be careful. You might just lose the princess you worked so hard to save with that golden flower 18 years ago."

Age 19

"How long do you think this ride's going to be?"

The wooden wall of the carriage was already beginning to hurt Rapunzel's back as she sat hunched up against it. She shuffled over and adjusted her brown peasant dress, trying to make herself more comfortable. With the dying sunlight streaming in through the cracks in the back compartment, the stacks of wine barrels that were piled behind her conglomerated together into one massive black silhouette.

Jack, sitting across the carriage from her, shrugged nonchalantly. "Who knows? All night, maybe? The next kingdom is a good long ways away."

Her eyes widened in worry. "All night?"

"Yeah!" he replied enthusiastically. "It'll be an adventure!"

"But what if there are road bandits out?" she asked, concerned.

Jack snorted. "Who's going to rob a cheap wine delivery carriage? A gaggle of drunks? It's not like we have a bunch of riches back here."

"All right." She smiled at him weakly before her brow furrowed in concern again. "But are you sure the man driving isn't going to check the back sometime along the way?"

Jack shook his head. "Nah, why would he? He's already loaded everything in, and all the things he needs are up front. Besides, even if he does, it's not like we don't have a place to hide." He gestured toward the stacks of barrels, and Rapunzel nodded slowly.

"Okay. I just…I've never really been in real trouble before. The thought of getting caught doing something like this just…" She trailed off.

He laughed. "Aw, come on! This whole thing is literally the biggest trouble we're ever going to be in. Sorry Punz, but it really doesn't get much worse than this. I mean…the princess abandoning her royal duties to run away disguised as a peasant with her servant lover to start a new life in a faraway kingdom? Does it get more scandalous than that?"

"You do have a point there!" she admitted, chuckling.

The sound of footsteps crunching on dirt sounded outside the carriage. Rapunzel froze, starting to panic until she heard the man open the door to the front compartment and realized he was simply getting in to get ready to go.

"Yes!" Jack said, pumping his fist in the air. "Almost time for our midnight journey!"

He looked over to see Rapunzel was staring at her feet, face etched with uneasiness.

"Zellie?" he said softly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just…I'm leaving a whole life behind, and I'm terrified. I have no idea what to expect."

He bit his lip, suddenly wondering if he was asking too much of her. "You know…you don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"Wh—what?" She stared up at him in surprise.

"It's not too late to go back," he went on. "Jump out of the back of this thing. Run back into your castle. Be a princess again. Save your relationship with your parents and marry Prince Whatshisface…who knows, he might not even be that bad. If that's what you want, I…" His voice cracked slightly. "I won't get in the way."

"But I told you I'd marry you, didn't I?" she protested.

"Rapunzel, we were just kids." He smiled sadly. "I was never going to hold you to that."

"But I was going to hold me to that," she insisted.

He shook his head. "Well, you shouldn't feel like you have to. I don't expect you to love me the same way now that you did when you were a kid. We all change as we grow up."

"Well…maybe I don't love you in exactly the same way I did back then, but I still love you," she said. "And of course I'm going to be scared that I'm leaving everything I've ever known behind. Who wouldn't be? That doesn't mean I'm going to back out at the last minute and scurry back into the castle, like some sort of coward who's not willing to face challenges to be with you. Sorry Jack, but you're stuck with me."

She crawled across the carriage floor and kissed him softly before crawling back to her original spot.

She could see him visibly slump with relief. "That's my girl!" he said, grinning.

The back of the carriage jerked, indicating it was about to leave. "Okay, last chance," Jack told her. "Do you want to go back?"

"No," she said, her voice strong and sure.

"Then here we go!"

The carriage lurched to life, and all of the sudden they were bumping along down the cobblestone pathways leading out of Corona.

"Do you think they'll tell stories about me after I'm gone?" Rapunzel wondered aloud. "Call me 'The Lost Princess?' Weave together wild, elaborate tales about what happened to me?"

The carriage tipped back, traveling over the bulge in the middle of the very same bridge that Jack and Rapunzel had walked across to have their first (teenage) kiss, all of 6 years ago.

"I imagine they will," Jack replied, grinning. "But they'll never know."

And perhaps if Rapunzel had known that meeting a boy in a library would lead to her stealing out of her kingdom for good in the back of a wine carriage 13 years later, she would have been surprised.

Then again, perhaps she would not have been surprised at all.

Phew, just barely managed to not break the 6,000-word mark with this one! Geez, it's like I can't even DO short one-shots XD Well ironically, since this is the second-longest drabble I've written this week, this is the drabble I probably had the LEAST inspiration for. See, I'd already played around with the "childhood friend romance" idea with my She's Not My Girlfriend story, so I had to painstakingly think up something brand new for this. I decided to go with the princess-and-poor-boy Jackunzel AU, which is a personal favorite of mine because it really gives the pairing a fairy tale-type feel while also providing some natural conflict for the story. I'm sure this type of story has been done before, but I sincerely hope I put a somewhat original spin on it ^^; I was a little lost on how to give the story more substance, but while on TV Tropes clicking connecting links from the Childhood Friend Romance page, I came across the Childhood Marriage Promise, and I decided it might be interesting to use that as a driving force for the story. So…here we are with that! Jack and Rapunzel plan on getting married since they're both 8, and are blissfully naïve of outside forces that might get in the way. OH, THE DRAMA! Honestly though, it was nice to show a more nasty side of Rapunzel's parents, considering they were shown to be overly perfect in the movie. Also, poor Prince Eugene D: I wouldn't feel too bad for him, though. I'm sure he also isn't crazy about the idea of marrying a stranger. And who knows? Maybe he'll get re-engaged to the lovely queen of Arendelle after Rapunzel's out of the picture!

Would Princess Rapunzel have ended up happy if she chose to marry him? As per canon, probably! BUT she decides (correctly) that arranged marriage is wrong, no matter how cool the guy you're engaged to is, and goes off and chooses her own husband. You go, girl! (Lol chances are you will see me shit on the concept of arranged marriage as often as possible in my fanfics, no matter who they're between XD Sorry not sorry!)

TOMORROW: Everyone in the Milton High School theater department is getting sick of the unresolved romantic tension hanging in the air between Jack and Rapunzel. So, at the post-musical cast party, they crack a scheme to get them to finally hook up.