Day 3 of Jackunzel Week is rather intimidating… Some of you may remember, my story Among The Stars started as a oneshot written for the third day of the first Jackunzel Week, back in 2013. The prompt was "make hay while the sun shines", and I wrote a sci-fi AU where pilot Jack hides princess Rapunzel from evil Imperial forces… in his shower. I still affectionately refer to that as the "Shower Scene", and I love watching/hearing people react to such a racy nickname, because it was as platonic as it is possible for a shower scene. (Jack showering alone later in the story was a lot "steamier", but even that was tame.)

I've finally accepted that I will probably never be able to write another story that will be as popular, or as much fun to write, as ATS was. That was an amazing time in my life – one of the best.

Shoot. Now I've made myself sad.

But, because of that, I feel as if Day 3 has to be something real special. As if I don't already struggle from crippling doubt whenever I go to write…

Hey, though! I finally get to write Eret being protective over Rapunzel, which is a headcanon I've had forever.

Releasing From The Promise

Rapunzel had never broken a promise. It was something she prided herself on. It was why she didn't give out promises lightly. Only if she truly believed she could keep her word.

She had learned the hard way that not everyone was as true to their word as she was.

Merida said she was too trusting. That, because she was so open and honest, she assumed the rest of the world was as well. Hiccup wouldn't say those words exactly – he was too kind. But she knew he thought the same thing. All her friends seemed to.

She wrapped her blanket tighter around her shoulders as she sat in the window seat, looking out at the garden. She shifted just enough to bring her toes inside the fabric, which helped to stave off some of the cold that wasn't just from the weather.

Outside, the clouds were heavy and grey, blocking out the sun, and he blue sky. Rain drops fell, pattering against the window she sat against. Splattering on the leaves of the plants, and the colorful petals of the flowers, that grew in the garden she tended so carefully. The storm wasn't heavy enough that she needed to worry about the more delicate plants. It wasn't even a storm, really. Just a little fall of rain. Beyond her parents' property, further down in the valley, trees peeked out through the grey white fog.

She had never really been one to enjoy the melancholy mood of a rainy day. She had always preferred the sunshine and blue skies.

In that moment, though, she was glad for the rain. Sunshine would just feel like an added insult to the injury she was currently nursing.

From over on her bedside table, her phone chimed with an incoming text. She looked over at it. Her body started to uncurl, to go over to check it. Because that was what she always did in response to the sound of a text alert. But she stopped herself before she moved more than half an inch.

She didn't want to see it.

It was probably Merida. She hoped it was just Merida. Or Hiccup. Or Astrid. Or any of her other friends.

She didn't want it to be Eugene.

That was why she didn't want to answer it. Because something told her it was Eugene. And if it was, she didn't want to hear what he had to say. She didn't want to hear his apologies. To hear him say he loved her, and he had just made a mistake, and he wanted a second chance…

But how many second chances could she give? How many times could she believe his apologies, only for him to turn around and do something else that hurt her? How many times could she believe his promises to change, when he always broke them?

She didn't even laugh any more when Eret threatened (or offered) to hurt him. Now, she still would hold him back, but she understood why he wanted to. And for the first time, she truly appreciated his strange instinct to protect her.

She wished she had listened when he cautioned her against Eugene.

Instead, she had let herself get swept up in the giddy whirl of feeling as though someone loved her. The idea of having someone look at her the way Hiccup looked at Astrid. Someone to hold hands with, and share experiences with.

Maybe she had also been excited by the idea his past wasn't squeaky clean. "Bad boys make a girl's heart beat faster," as her mother said. And she had fallen for it. For the idea that maybe she could change him. Or that he would change for her. So she ignored all the warning signs. Accepted his apology, and his promise to change. The first time, the second time, the third…

She had been so stupid. So, so stupid.

She squeezed her eyes closed, fighting back tears.

The worst part was that, if she listened to his apologies, if she read his texts, or listened to his messages… she might forgive him again. Just like she had when he violated his probation. Or when he got arrested for getting into that fight at that bar. Or all the times he hadn't shows up when he said he would, or called when he said he would.

All those things she had forgiven. Blindly. Against the advice of all her friends. (Against Eret's all but pleading that she not give in.)

She knew Eret hated himself for having to be the one to tell her that Eugene had cheated on her. She also knew he was nursing bruised knuckles from a right hook to Eugene's jaw. And she was more empathetic about his scraped knuckles, than Eugene's face. That was how she knew she couldn't give in this time. Because she had already been hurt so many times by this relationship, she wasn't even mad at her friend for the fit of violence.

Eugene had probably given more thought to his face than he had to Rapunzel before he hooked up some girl. ("I didn't recognize her," Eret had said. Though Rapunzel wasn't entirely sure she believed that. Something about the way his eyes had shifted.)

Her phone rang.

Ignoring the ingrained response to get up and answer it, Rapunzel buried her face in the blanket, and let herself sob.

To Be Continued