This is very late, I know. I'm sorry. Reality is a lovely place, and I wouldn't want to live there… but it makes me pay regular visits. Or rather, it crashes into mu world, no matter how hard I try to keep it out.

But I still plan to complete all 7 prompts.

And here we (finally) have the continuation of Day 3, "releasing from the promise". (Sorry to leave that on such a bummer note…) Without further ado…

Fate Drives Us Together

Rapunzel still wasn't sure who brought Jack into their group. Only that he had shown up a little after her break up with Eugene. Though she suspected he had been forced to go through a vetting process with the others before she met him. All her friends had been over protective during that time. And she couldn't quite say she blamed them. In some ways, being spoiled had been nice while she nursed her broken heart.

Maybe that was why she hadn't really known what to make of Jack, once she was ready to meet him.

While he fit with their group, he was different. In a way, he was like no one Rapunzel had ever met before. Quick, both mentally, and physically. With a sarcastic sense of humor that sometimes leaned towards dark. And blue, blue eyes that seemed to show every emotion that passed through his mind.

He was only a few inches taller than she was, with a lithe build that made her want to pull her to sketchbook to try and capture the contours of the way he moved. He had been the first thing she found herself wanting to draw in weeks.

Though she still wasn't sure she would ever be able to capture the exact way one corner of his mouth quirked in that boyish, lopsided grin.

No one was safe from him and his tricks. (Well, except Astrid. One threat from her, and Jack seemed to have developed a fearful respect for her. There seemed to be a three foot aura of safety around her, as if he was afraid she might get caught in a prank pulled on the others.)

Merida seemed to be his favorite victim. He had told Rapunzel once that it was because Merida provided the best pay off.

It had been a hot day in mid-July, and they had been sitting on the edge of her family's pool.

"What do you mean, 'pay off'?" she had asked.

The corner of his mouth had curled in pure mischief. "Just watch."

"What? Jack, no—"

But he had already stood up, and begun making his way towards where Merida and Astrid had been sitting at the table where snacks were set out. Hiccup and Eret had been batting a beach ball between them.

Jack's nonchalance as he approached the snack table was Oscar worthy. If she hadn't known he was up to no good, Rapunzel might have believed it. All she could do was watch, in something akin to horrified awe, as he went over to the cooler and pulled a bottle of water from the ice. Still, she had almost missed the small movement of his other hand, it was so subtle. She didn't see what he did, only that he did something.

She had to press a hand over her mouth as she watched him walk past Merida. Still nonchalant.

Right up until the moment he hooked a finger in the back of Merida's tshirt (or rather, Eret's tshirt, which she was wearing), pulling the collar back ever so carefully… and dropped three pieces of ice down her shirt.

Rapunzel gasped, letting out a shocked laugh of disbelief. Though it was covered up by the fact Merida screeched when the ice hit her sun heated skin.

"Jackson Overland Frost!"

She jumped out of her chair to fast it toppled, and lunged at Jack. But he had started moving as soon as the ice had left his palm. So by the time Merida was on her feet, he was already jumping into the deep end of the pool. Close enough to where Rapunzel sat that she was splashed by the wave his impact caused.

Merida stopped at the edge of the pool, but screamed at the distorted image of Jack as he swam under the water.

He was coming towards where Rapunzel still sat, and she expected him to surface with that cocky grin.

Instead, his long fingered hand had caught her ankle, and pulled. She had just enough time to realize what was happening, and inhale deeply, before she was submerged. Jack's hand caught hers, pulling her over to the other side of the pool, away from Merida and her white hot fury.

Once there, they broke the surface. And, sure enough, she was faced with that grin she wanted to desperately to draw properly.

"See?" he said. "Pay off."

Rapunzel found herself giggling as they tread water to stay afloat.

It wasn't that he was the first person to make her smile since Eugene's betrayal. She had never been one to stay in the dark long. And her friends had selflessly helped her back into the sunlight. But something about the way Jack made her smile felt… different. In a way she couldn't begin to describe.

It wasn't something she became aware of until that moment, though. As she looked into his blue eyes, both of them sharing in the moment of laughter. The small conspiracy of what had happened.

When she did realize it, her smile faded a little. Not entirely sure she was comfortable with the butterflies that seemed to be coming out of hibernation. Fluttering in her bloodstream, humming to the song that was him.

For the moment, she decided to ignore it. Diving under the water, and swimming towards Hiccup and Eret. There was safety in numbers, after all. When Jack came over a few seconds later, he didn't show any sign of being offended. Maybe he hadn't noticed the way she had run away.

She hoped it would pass. But from then on, she had found herself hyperaware of Jack. Of his presence. His expression. Everything he said. His words played over in her head when she tried to go to sleep at night. And she was forced to admit… she was falling in love again.

A year ago, before everything with Eugene, she would have embraced the sensation. She would have relished in it.

If it hadn't been for Eugene – or Flynn, as he was apparently calling himself again – when Jack asked her out, a few weeks later, she would have said yes.

She knew that as she said no.

Jack's expression fell. He tried not to let it show. But he had already been so nervous as he asked, rubbing the back of his neck, that he couldn't stop his disappointment from showing.

"I'm sorry, Jack."

"No, no," he said, trying to grin. "I just—I guess I—"

"I want to say yes!"

That got his attention. Blue, blue eyes blinking, he cocked his head to the side as he looked at her. "Uh… what?"

"I want to say yes," she said. "I like you, Jack. I really do."

"I like you, too," he said.

"And I wish I could say yes," she told him. "But I… I had a break up recently."

"Yeah. Uh… Eret mentioned it."

She wasn't surprised, really. Eugene was never mentioned among the group. But she wasn't at all surprised that he had been told about it.

"I'm just not ready to try again," she said. "Not yet."

Jack nodded.

For a moment, they sat in tense silence, Rapunzel biting her lips as she tried to think of something to say to ease the tension.

"What if I said I'll wait?"

Rapunzel blinked, startled by his voice in the middle of her thoughts. Not sure she had heard him properly. "What?"

"I'll wait," Jack said, holding her gaze in earnest. "As long as it takes. I'll wait until you're ready."

"Are you sure?"

Jack smiled. And it was sincere. "I'll wait for you. As long as you think you'll want me at the end of it. I'll wait."

For the next five months, Jack waited for her. Always there when she needed him. Fitting in with their group as easily as if he had been a part of it as long as any of them, with the ability to make all of them laugh. He never once asked if she was ready yet – he just waited.

As the months went on, Rapunzel found herself falling even more in love. Terrified of all her feelings – especially when she realized they were stronger than anything she had felt for Eugene.

Until Christmas Eve. All of them would be celebrating with their families Christmas day itself, so they spent the night before celebrating in Jack and Hiccup's loft apartment. Exchanging gifts, and laughing together as they looked back over the past year.

Jack gave her a snowflake necklace, and a matching pair of earrings. She gave him a scarf she had knitted. Which he put on as soon as he opened it, and didn't take off. No matter how much Merida teased him about it.

The evening wound down, Merida and Eret leaving together, Hiccup walking Astrid out to her car. And Rapunzel found herself left alone with Jack.

"Do you want me to walk you out?" Jack asked.

"Not yet," she said, smiling shyly as she moved over to sit next to him on the couch. Leaning back into the cushions. Inhaling deeply, she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'm not ready for tonight to be over."

"Me, neither," he admitted.

She fingered the delicate silver filigree snowflake, on a silver chain. Normally she preferred gold jewelry, since it went better with hair blond hair. But she loved the necklace she now wore.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you still waiting for me?" she asked.

"Of course," he said. "Honestly, I'm more in love with you than I was. Even if you never say yes, I think I'll be waiting for you the rest of my life."

Rapunzel lifted her back from the cushions of the couch, shifting towards Jack. Leaning closer to him, until her nose brushed his cheek.

Jack responded, turning his head, until his lips were a breath away from hers.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes," she whispered. "I… I want to try."

One of his hands came to cup her cheek. His palms cool and calloused. "I love you, Rapunzel."

"I love you, too, Jack," she whispered.

His lips brushed against hers. Gentle and caressing. Somehow cool and warm all at once. It was a kiss. She had kissed Eugene. But, somehow, this was so different. So wonderfully, deliciously different.

This felt like fate.