A/N: I recommend listening to this while you read: [youtube]/watch?v=oTE0wePCD4U
Also, we're about 2/3rds of the way through!
Chapter 23
5 months after the escape
Rapunzel and Eugene run through the rain hand in hand.
It's pouring down heavy, obscuring their vision within the darkness of the night. They aren't sure what time it is. The sun hasn't seen the horizon in hours. But they aren't tired, in fact, it feels as if they could run for miles.
The thick trees of the forest surrounding them drip with water and appear as mere shadows in the night. There's nobody else around, with nothing but the moonlight guiding their path.
Despite the cold air and the storm, the fact that they're failing to outrun the rain makes them want to laugh as they hop over mud puddles along the wet grass, carefree and spontaneous. It's reminiscent of a time they'd shared outside a thieves' camp some time ago, sharing their first kiss beneath a willow tree amongst a brewing storm.
Eventually, they reach the cottage nestled in the woods. They'd spotted it just in time, as the rain began to fall, hoping to seek shelter there for the night. It's what they've been doing every night since they escaped the castle.
The house is a tiny, charming abode – one that can't fit more than one room. The four walls are connected by a single pointed roof, made of decaying brown shingles that are beginning to fall out of place. A stone chimney protrudes from one side. More stonework lines the base of the house around the outside. The glass of the small square windows are foggy and difficult to see through. The wooden door with large metal hinges and circular knocker had been left ajar.
There are no lights on, no plume of smoke emitting from the chimney, no crops, no wagons, or horses parked outside.
Rapunzel runs inside first - the door having been unlocked and not entirely latched closed. Eugene follows her through the archway, finding instant relief being away from the crashing thunder and heavy downpour.
It's quieter inside, the walls suddenly drowning out the sounds of the storm.
Just as they thought, the house is empty and abandoned. It's clear someone had lived here, once, a long time ago. Whoever it was, they'd taken everything. There are no personal belongings, pots, pans, or trinkets. All of it is gone except the wooden furniture propped against the walls, collecting dust.
There's a table with two chairs by the door, an empty bookshelf, and a bed and mattress in the corner. There's a round rug on the floor that has probably seen better days. The fireplace contains nothing but a pile of ashes. The wallpaper is faded and the wooden beams in the floor creak when they're stepped on. It isn't old or rotting, only empty.
There isn't much space to move, no doors leading to other rooms. Potted plants hang in front of the windows. The greenery that would have once looked beautiful are now wilted and dry.
The sheer lace curtains are pulled open, the ends bunching on the floor. Streaks of raindrops slowly trail down the glass of the lattice framed windows. Whatever is on the outside of them is blurred and misty from the storm.
They have nothing to light the wax candles on the windowsill with. It leaves everything else a shadow in the darkness, illuminated by the blue moonlight.
Eugene shuts the door behind them. He wastes no time in removing his vest, hurriedly shaking it off his shoulders, frantic and messy. He discards his squelching and muddy boots by the door too, hoping to feel somewhat dry again soon.
Though, his skin is already soaked, and he runs a hand through his hair afterwards, shaking out the water as best he can. All he's left with are his trousers and thin white tunic clinging to his torso.
Rapunzel, having already rushed inside moments before him, stands further inside the little house, also removing her soaked boots and hopping on one foot while trying to pull the last one off. The leather sticks to her skin but eventually she manages to remove it without falling over completely. She carelessly throws them both to the ground, her bare feet now damp against the hardwood.
When she's done, she watches Eugene silently from across the room. He hasn't noticed her yet, currently too preoccupied with himself.
She wants to laugh – at how they had somehow found themselves in this silly mess. Though she's grown used to it now. Every day is an adventure with him. That's one thing she can always count on.
She doesn't laugh, out of fear of making him feel bad. Still, she smiles at him softly and her eyes squint in admiration at the situation, and the sight of him like that, fussing over his hair. Like he always does.
Rapunzel shivers from the cold. Eugene feels it too. Though it's warmer inside than out there. It'll take a while before they're completely dried off.
After a few moments, she catches his eye. Eugene is breathless and almost laughing too. His lips have tugged into a crooked grin, one that makes Rapunzel's heart sigh.
Though, Eugene's expression softens when he notices the way she is looking at him - her lips parted and her gaze longing. Somehow, she looks sad. Like she wants to say something but isn't sure how. He can't quite read it.
Suddenly, he becomes serious, mirroring the girl across the room.
Rapunzel reaches up to pull the hood of her cloak down, letting it fall back onto her shoulders. Her short brown hair had survived the rain better than his.
Her fingertips find the thread tied in front of her collarbones that secure the cloak around her shoulders. She slowly unravels it, letting the garment fall to the ground and bunch around her feet.
Despite her messy hair and disheveled appearance, the sight of Rapunzel just standing there takes Eugene's breath away.
He admires the dress she wears, now revealed completely, and wrapped perfectly around her tiny frame. The thin fabric is pale pink in color, washed and faded. The tight sleeves reach her elbows. The long skirt falls loosely over her hips and reaches just above her ankles. Water drips from the dirty hem and onto the floor. Her bare feet meld into the wooden floors, toes wiggling.
Though she grew up wearing gowns and ribbons and corsets, this dress is plain and thin and dirty, but looks just as beautiful on her.
Eugene sees her chest rising and falling from where he stands, water glistening off her collarbones.
She stays that way until Eugene finds himself slowly becoming drawn toward her, suddenly forgetting about how uncomfortable it is to be soaked in rainwater, and the cold chill it leaves against his skin.
Rapunzel peers up at him as he stops in front of her, the top of her head just reaching his neck. Their toes are touching now, chests brushing against each other's. It's completely silent, with nothing but the rain pelting against the window like static.
The faint moonlight illuminates Rapunzel's face dimly. The water droplets trailing down the window cast shadows over her pale skin like tears.
Eugene's hands come up to stroke her hair, his fingers running through the short tufts below her ears and feeling the wetness of it against his palms.
His hands cup the base of her jaw and rest atop her shoulders. It sends a comforting shiver down Rapunzel's spine that she doesn't pay any attention to.
He scans her eyes, albeit slightly worried that something is wrong. He doesn't ask, but he searches for the answer in her half-lidded green eyes.
They drift closer to each other until there's no where left to go. Eventually, their lips press softly together, and their eyelids fall closed as Eugene dips his head down to meet hers.
Their bodies connected as one are mere silhouettes in front of the window, sheltering them from the outside world.
They kiss as if they've never kissed before, with all the timidity of someone who has been afraid of intimacy their entire life. As if all the months that they have known each other had been leading up to this moment. It's slow and careful and soft.
Rapunzel's hands come up to cup Eugene's face. His stubble scratches her fingers. She springs herself up on her toes to reach him. Her arms wrap around his neck, desperately, asking for more.
Rapunzel steps back, pulling him along with her.
Eugene wraps his arm around her waist as he lowers her gently down onto the bed behind her, melting into the mattress and him on top of her.
Rapunzel settles on her back. Eugene props himself up with his other arm, hovering above her. Their lips don't leave each other's for a second.
Eventually, the palm of his hand snakes from in between her ribs, down the front of her stomach and around her hip. Down her thigh and slowly wrapping underneath it, pulling her knee up.
Her dress bunches up at her hips, the long skirt of it splayed out beneath them and falling off the edge of the mattress. The cotton fabric is rough and damp between his fingers. The bare skin of her leg is cold against his hand, her toes numb.
"You okay?" Eugene whispers to her between kisses.
"Mhm," she mumbles against his lips.
It isn't that they haven't done something like this before, but Eugene doesn't want to get too carried away, not if she doesn't want to. Though, everything about this couldn't be more perfect. He doesn't believe he's ever wanted her more than he does in this moment.
"Do you want to stop?" Eugene pulls away from her briefly, looking into her eyes to be safe. He just hopes she isn't lying to satisfy him.
"No," Rapunzel answers almost all too quickly. It's the last thing she wants right now.
She senses his worry – he always worries about her. Rapunzel can read his mind better than he thinks she can. She has always been able to, but she still appreciates that he asks.
Eugene only continues to stare down at her, not completely convinced with that answer.
Rapunzel pulls him into another kiss before he can say anything more.
His chest falls on top of hers as she wraps her arms around his neck, pulling his body down against her own. Eugene can hear her breath and feel her legs wrapping around his torso.
Never has she kissed him with such intensity before. It confuses Eugene, leaving him wondering if this is her way of asking for more. Somehow, he doesn't believe that she would.
He isn't sure if he should go on, so he runs his fingers up her thigh again, asking her with his hand instead. The softness of her skin makes him shudder.
Eugene expects her to flinch, or tell him to stop, or flick his hand away, but she doesn't.
Butterflies flutter in his stomach nervously as he unbuckles his belt despite having done this countless times before. He'd spent many lonely nights in brothels since he was a teenager, though those nights don't compare to this one.
This is entirely different. This is real, and sincere, and terrifying.
"Are you sure?" he asks again.
"Yes," Rapunzel breathes, completely honest. "I promise."
The biggest difference is that Eugene never loved those women.
This is Rapunzel – his Rapunzel. The name alone makes his heart fly. Loving, compassionate, headstrong Rapunzel. He's never loved anything more, never been close to loving someone as much as he loves her.
He knows her better than he has ever allowed himself to know anybody, and she knows him just as well - the real Eugene Fitzherbert, not the Flynn Rider that the rest of the world knows him as. It connects Rapunzel to him in a way that nobody else ever has.
He hasn't spent a day without her since they'd left Corona, and after all that time, Eugene is not sure he ever wants to again.
It's the two of them against the world. His partner in crime - both literally and figuratively - his soulmate, his princess. That's how Eugene always wants it to be, how he hopes it will be.
If anything happened to her, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. He'll protect her until the day he dies. He would follow her across the world. He would sacrifice his life for her.
Eugene is fully aware that Rapunzel has never done this before. Being only eighteen and raised in a castle her whole life, under strict order, unsocialized and probably never alone with a man near her own age before. The thought of it is nestled in the back of Eugene's mind the entire time.
He has never been so afraid to give himself to someone as much as he does with Rapunzel. He wants her first time to mean something, because she deserves it. She deserves the world.
Which is why doing this terrifies him just as much as it terrifies her.
It's why when Rapunzel suddenly winces underneath him, Eugene feels his heart stop. She gasps through clenched teeth as her body momentarily goes tense.
"Sorry," Eugene freezes up too and his eyes well with panic, his entire world crumbling with fear.
Rapunzel relaxes a moment after, breathing steadily. "It hurts," she whimpers.
"I'll stop."
"No. Don't." She shakes her head.
Everything in Eugene's mind is telling him not to listen to her. He's already gone too fast, despite going as slow and as careful as he possibly can.
But Rapunzel trusts him more than anyone. And Eugene trusts that she would tell him if something was wrong. Not just with this, but with anything. She doesn't want him to pull away. She wants to be close to him. She's been wanting this for so long. And man, does Eugene want it too.
So Eugene kisses her again, softer this time.
After a while, his lips gradually trail along her jaw and below her ear. He nestles his nose in the crook of her neck, causing Rapunzel to tilt her head back.
It sends a chill through her body and the corners of her lips tug into a brief smile at the feeling of it.
He keeps going, as gently as possible and anxious about hurting her again - testing her with every moment and giving her the opportunity to stop him whenever she wants, but she doesn't again.
Rapunzel tilts her head even further back as her jaw falls open, reacting in a way she can't control. Her fingers tighten around the tuft of hair at the nape of Eugene's neck, her eyebrows pressing together slightly.
A whimper escapes the back of her throat that she hadn't meant to make as he continues to do whatever it is he is doing to her neck.
He can hear her sigh next to his ear, feel her breath over his shoulder, making his heart soar. All of it is heaven, like a dream.
Despite it, Eugene touches her like she's a burning flame – with all the delicacy and care of someone who fears becoming burned. He touches her like she's fragile and may shatter at any moment.
But he falls into the feeling of the love of his life safe and protected in his arms, just like he promised himself he would do all that time ago.
Afterwards, in the dead of night and sheltered beneath a rainstorm, Rapunzel is panting for breath almost as much as Eugene.
A thin layer of sweat coats his neck and between his shoulder blades, staining his shirt. Tiny strands of hair are sticking to his forehead now.
His muscles are trembling, limbs weak as he struggles to continue hovering above her, propping himself up on his hands. The rhythm of his heaving chest moves in sync with hers.
What was once a cold night is now so warm and comfortable, the heat rushing through their bodies and warming the room.
Rapunzel strokes her thumbs across Eugene's flushed cheeks that are now hot to the touch. She brushes back the strand of hair that always manages to fall over his eyes, not minding the dampness of it against her fingers.
A lazy smile reaches Rapunzel's lips as she admires him through the nearly pitch darkness of the room. She's never seen him look so vulnerable before, breathing heavily and looking exhausted.
Somehow, she has fallen in love with him all over again.
Her hands cup his face as she pulls him down toward her for one last kiss.
With their lips pressed together, Rapunzel's eyebrows crease painfully, involuntarily, and her nose begins to tingle. A lump forms in her throat as she feels herself beginning to cry, though she doesn't know why.
Rapunzel doesn't let go, until Eugene hears a choked sound emit from her throat. He pulls away, concerned.
He notices tears welling in her tired eyes, glistening in the moonlight. Her freckled nose and cheeks have turned a deep shade of pink.
"Hey…" he mumbles, hoping to stop the tears from falling before it's too late. "Sweetheart…"
She tries to blink them away, but they pour down her face before either of them can stop it.
She feels embarrassed – ridiculous for becoming so emotional over nothing. But Rapunzel has never been good at not being emotional. She hates herself for it sometimes. But all of a sudden, she just can't stop sobbing.
"What's wrong?" Eugene strokes a strand of hair away from her forehead, his face hovering just inches above hers.
It's a silent sob, the kind that nestles painfully in the back of your throat until you can't breathe from trying so hard to keep it down. But no matter how hard Rapunzel tries, she can't swallow it back.
She sniffles and her breath hitches, like a pouting child.
Eugene's first and only thought is that he had done something wrong, and suddenly he is terrified again. He breaks at the idea of ever being the cause of Rapunzel looking so sad.
But all Rapunzel can think about is how genuinely happy she is.
After so many years of misery and hopelessness, she never thought she would feel this way. She never imagined a feeling like this ever even existed. And now she has it, and she doesn't know what to do with it. It's overwhelming.
"I just love you so much," she weeps, her voice breaking.
Rapunzel's hands come up between their faces to frantically wipe her own cheeks, feeling a mess.
And suddenly, Eugene almost chuckles, relieved that that's all she had been thinking about, and not something else.
It's the best answer he could have heard.
But he doesn't laugh, fearful of upsetting her further. Instead, he grins softly, kisses her forehead, and says simply, "I love you too."
With his muscles finally relaxing, Eugene melts down on top of her. He wraps his arms around her slender body and gently rests the side of his face against her chest. He fits perfectly against it, and suddenly he realizes he has never felt so comfortable in his entire life.
Rapunzel cradles his head and mindlessly combs her fingers through his damp hair. She closes her eyes and sighs, tears still wet on her face. The feeling of his weight settling against her immediately calms her racing heart, sending her to sleep.
Eugene feels her chest slowly rising and falling beneath him.
Thunder rumbles lowly outside. The rain is still pelting against the window, but they are safe here for now. Nothing can touch them.
Eugene falls asleep to the rhythmic sound of Rapunzel's heartbeat, pounding softly beneath his ear.
A/N: This was actually the first chapter I ever wrote for this story. I've had it written for almost a year but was too nervous to upload it as a standalone, so I'm super excited to finally be able to share it.