~Flynn~

I wasn't even with my friends for 10 minutes before Maui comes along and drags Eret and I away, saying something along the lines of needing help, but leaving quick enough for the others not to really question it. I wouldn't have minded so much if it wasn't for the fact that I was eagerly waiting for Rapunzel. She...she's really grown on me. I've known her since 9th grade, when she first arrived, and we've hung out many times before because of her quick friendship with Jack, my main bro, but we've never really been close. Not as much as we have this year. This year we have had more one on one time than we ever had in the past, and I regret not getting to know her better in the past.

It's because in the past we didn't have that many classes together. We also didn't sit close enough to talk to each other during the classes we did have. There's also the fact that I was way more busy back then with my "work" than I am now because I had to prove myself a lot to my superiors. Oh yeah there was also a time where I thought she and Jack had a thing for each other, along with her hanging out with her girl friends during lunch. Even though she became quick friends with Jack before any other boy, he has never sat with her or Tooth before during lunch because it's easier for the boys to sit with the boys and the girls with the girls.

That changed when Elsa came. I guess I have her to thank. If it wasn't for Elsa, Jack wouldn't have decided to combine the boys with the girls so he could get closer to her, and I wouldn't have gotten closer to my own blinding ray of sunshine.

Who I don't deserve in my life.

I don't deserve any of my friends. I don't deserve Mildred. I don't deserve to know those wonderful children at the orphanage. Now Hattie...yeah I deserve that bitch. She hates my guts and the feeling is mutual. Definitely not going to miss her after I graduate and get kicked out of the orphanage. But everyone else...it's going to be hard. I might just die.

Woe is me.

"Okay," says Eret when we're out of the party room and in the hall, "Where the hell are you taking us, Maui?"

"Yeah, I'm waiting for someone," I agree with my sorta friend. Eret and I are really cool bros, but we're not afraid to beat each other up too. I'm still mad about him fucking up my face when he attacked me during lunch awhile ago.

Did I deserve it for lying to him knowing damn well he wasn't going to believe me? Yeah, but still. No need to get violent. He knows how the Stabbington Brothers get. He works for them too. I was just doing my job, searching for anything valuable from a famous poacher, aka Eret's dad Drago. They and some guy named Grimmel are well known for hunting wolves and bears and foxes and selling their fur. It's sad really.

Eret had called me a dumbass for listening to them, saying something along the lines of "My dad will fuck you up worse then the twins", which honestly I don't believe. Drago likes making others do the work for him, like his son. Because while the two of them are great at poaching, they're even better at smuggling and selling drugs. Well, Eret is at least. Like I said, Drago has others do the dirty work and that includes his son.

Luckily for Eret, he's not alone. He has me. His only real friend in the business who looks out for him every chance I get. I have his back and he has mine. When he needs help selling drugs, I'm there. When I need help stealing shit, he's there. We know what honor and loyalty is.

Are we proud of what we do? No, but it helps us get by. All of the money I get goes to the orphanage as anonymous donations, and Eret uses his share to give to his dad so he doesn't get abused, which happened a lot in the past.

And Maui? Well he used to live that life. We worked with him.

But that changed when Moana found him when she was 14.

Which was only 2 years ago.

She doesn't know about Eret and I, but Maui sure does. He was mine and Eret's mentor, even though he's older by only a few years. He's a cool older brother figure, but man imagine my surprise when I found out he cleaned up his act because of a girl that goes to my school two grades below me. His cousin. Small world.

"It won't be long," Maui says as he turns the corner and heads for the elevator.

When we're inside, Maui presses to top level and that's when Eret and I share confused looks.

"Hey," says Eret as he gestures to the glowing button. "Why the hell are you taking us to the top of the building?"

Maui shrugs, smirking while he does so, and says, "It's pretty up there."

I snort while Eret rolls his eyes, not amused at all. "Oh Maui, comedic as ever." I say as I lean back against the elevator wall and checked out the tattoos on his back. His whole body is covered. It's badass but definitely not something I would do. Maybe one or two but not my whole body because ouch.

Maui, who kept his back toward me, shrugs again. "It comes with the sexiness."

Ha. He thinks he's hotter than me. "Like I said, comedic as ever."

Maui chuckles before looking back at me. "You better watch out before you get hit in the face again." He was referring to when Eret and I had gotten in our fight. "My fist is just itching to punch that mouth of yours that never shuts up."

"Pfft," I waved him off, "I wouldn't say never. It needs a break sometime."

And while Maui and I bantered back and forth, I noticed that Eret was texting on his phone. I had hoped that it wasn't anyone from "work", that it's his mystery lover that I have yet to discover, but my gut was telling me otherwise. Ugh he can't catch a break. That's what happens when you're the son of a poacher/drug lord.

When we finally make it to the top, the elevator dings open, exposing the cool October night air, and when we step out, the sky exposed the billions of stars. In a city full of lights, it's nice being able to see the stars too. But seeing the ground far below? Nope. Nuh-uh. Hell no to that.

"Okay," Eret says while I stupidly kept looking at the ground below me. You know, maybe I could manage to climb down if I had the right equipment. Hmmm..."We're here. So what's up?"

Maui sits on the brick edged railing, unbothered that he could possibly lean back and fall to his death, crosses his arms, and says, "I want you guys to leave the business."

"Wait-" I start, eyes wide.

"-What?" Eret finishes, equally surprised. "Why? And couldn't you have just told us that in the hallway or through text?"

Maui shrugs as he looks at the ground below, still unbothered by the far distance down. "Everyone does everything through text. I think face to face, in person, with a beautiful scenery, such as my face, is way more effective." He looks back up at us then and continues. "So are you going to do it?"

"You still haven't explained why you want us to," Eret says, without skipping a beat.

I remain silent as I patiently wait for Maui's response, which he didn't give for a moment. Instead he closes his eyes and sighs, right as a cool breeze hits us. I shiver at the coldness and noticed that not one goosebump made itself known on Maui's bare chest. All he's wearing is a skirt made of grass or whatever. He's dressed as a Hula dancer I think, or something of the sort, and while I am terribly jealous of his god-like appearance and wish for him to put some clothes on, I can't help but respect him too. I'd do the same damn thing if I had his appearance.

"What's the point in explaining when you know damn well why I want you out of it," Maui says, a little annoyed. "You and Flynn have so much potential. You can make the world a better place if you get out of the bad place that you're in. I did it. So can you."

"You don't think we know that?" I say, scoffing. "Maui, I've thought about leaving ever since you left, but it's not that simple. This life is all I've ever known. It's the only thing I'm good at-"

"That's such bullshit," Maui snapped, but before he could say anything else, Eret cuts in.

"No what's bullshit is that you have the audacity to tell me to leave when you know that my dad is one of many crime bosses," he says. "I was literally born into this life. I can't leave. Unless I die. That's the only way. I mean after all you had to fake your own death until you got the call from us telling you that you're no longer they're concern."

"And it worked," Maui pointed out, gesturing to himself. "You can stay with me until you have your life together. Both of you."

Brows narrowed in confusion, I ask: "Why now? You've been free for awhile, so why now?"

His smile is genuine and pure. "Because I'm pretty sure I have this adulting thing down now. You can say I'm a pro at it."

I fake a gasp. "Whaaaatttttt? No way! I heard adulting is impossible."

Maui grins as he flexes his pecs, which always pisses me off and impressing me at the same time, and says: "Not for me." He then goes serious again. "You still have time to change your life before you graduate. The rest of your senior year doesn't have to be shit. You can change. I did. If it wasn't for Moana, I wouldn't be where I am now. I didn't know I had other family other than my fucked up parents who gave me away, so when Moana found me...everything changed-"

"Yeah, well all I have is my dad, so there's no hope for me. I don't have anybody." Eret interrupts, more sad than angry.

"Yeah," I say as I cast my gaze to my feet. "I don't have anyone either."

I hear Maui groan in frustration and next thing I know his hands are on my shoulders, shaking me violently. "Jesus Christ, y'all are a bunch of idiots! Of course you do!" I stumble when he lets go of me and watch with dizzy eyes as he does the same with Eret. "You have all your friends and your girls."

Eret stumbled too when he was released from Maui's grip and says, "Girls? What the bloody hell are you talking about?"

"Rapunzel and Heather. I saw you two at the fair by the way, Eret. You two make a cute couple." Maui answers, nonchalantly, and his response left me choking.

I just don't know which one I was more shocked over. Him thinking that Rapunzel is my girl (who else thinks this?) or him saying that Heather is Eret's girl? "Holy shit what?" I finally choke out. "You think Rapunzel is my..." I trail off when my eyes land on Eret then. "And you! Heather?! She was your mystery date? Ooohhh Astrid is gonna kick your ass when she finds out you're dating her ex-best friend."

"Astrid has no say in who I or Heather date," Eret grumbled. "She's not the boss of either of us. Plus, why would she care? They're not friends anymore. Now if I was dating Merida that would be a different story. And for the record, Maui, Heather and I just started dating. I wouldn't exactly consider her my girl yet."

"Yeah and Rapunzel and I aren't even dating," I point out, ignoring my secret wish that we were.

"You still secretly call her yours though, don't you Flynn?" Maui asks me, raising his eyebrow accusingly.

I roll my eyes as my face heats up. Damn he's good. "Of course I don't. I don't own her." A damn lie and he knows it. Luckily he doesn't push it.

"You still like her though, right?" He asks. "Same for you, Eret, with Heather. Aren't they enough to want to be something better?"

Yes, she is.

"Don't you want to be better for them?"

Yes, I do.

"For your friends? For yourself? Come on, guys. You say you have no one, but you you have a ton of people. You literally have one person right in front of you who is begging for you to leave because he cares. Just…" Maui stops to close his eyes and sigh, frustrated. "Just think about it, okay?"

A moment of silent passes and during this silence, Eret and I look at each other, both of us wearing an expression of uncertainty. I know he wants to have a normal life just like I do, but...it's too risky. But then again...I always did live life on the edge. "Well," I say, "I'm down. And hey, if I die, then I guess I won't have to worry about adulting. Gotta look on the bright side, am I right?"

Maui laughs and reaches for me again, only instead of shaking me this time, he wraps his large arm around my shoulders. "That's my boy. I knew I'd have better luck with you. What about you, Eret? Made up your mind yet or do I still need to wait?"

Eret's jaw clenches and he sighs. "Give me a week to think about it."

Maui and I glance at each other and shrug at the same time. "It's a start!" We say in unison and laugh while Eret walks past us. Unbeknownst to him, I noticed his little smile as he walked by. Yeah, he totally loves us.

Why be friends with me if not? It's like I always say: no one can resist me.

Not even Rapunzel. She's bound to be crushing on me. I mean...she gives off these vibes that she likes me, so...she must be crushing on me right? However, I've been wrong before. Like when I thought she liked Jack. Damn that's what everyone thought during Freshman year. So I mean...I'm probably wrong now. She probably doesn't have a crush on me at all. I'm most likely too self-absorbed for her. Or maybe I'm wrong about that? I could just ask her, I do tend to be blunt a lot, especially when I flirt, but it's different with her because...it's real flirting with the intention of winning her over.

She's not my first crush, but she is the first one who has me crushing hard. And she knows how much of a flirt I am. Nothing will work on her. It hasn't before. It has made her laugh though, which is why I'll continue to do it even though I know I don't stand a chance. And straight up confessing my feelings? Ha. When has that ever been easy?

Actually, you know what? I'm being stupid. I'm not a coward. I never have been. Rejection is not a fear of mine. If she rejects me then so what? There are plenty of girls out there who would love to have me. But you know what? I need to be more confident in myself. I can totally win Rapunzel's heart. I know it. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

And yet, when Maui, Eret, and I return to the party, and I find her dancing amongst the crowd, I realize that rejection from her is something that I fear after all. I may be a thief, but she's the one who stole my heart. She stole back in 9th grade when I first saw her. I just didn't know it yet, and it's taken me four years to develop real feelings for her that went deeper than just physical attraction. How could it have possibly taken me so long to fall for her? Granted, I did have a lot on my mind since 9th grade is the year I started…"working".

"You should go dance with her," Maui shouts above the music while we walked alongside the wall, trying to find the table my friends were at earlier.

"Yeah," Eret says on the other side of him. "Staring at her is creepy."

I roll my eyes and say, "You're just jealous that you haven't found Heather yet."

"Actually," he stops and points toward the food and drink table, where Heather stood with Chloe, "there she is now. Good luck with Raps, Flynn. Maybe this time she'll dance with you instead of knocking you out with a frying pan."

Maui laughs while being confused. "Wait what?"

Eret laughs too while I glare at him in annoyance. "It's a long story," I tell Maui who pats my back.

"Well, it's a story I'll gladly listen to another time, but first," he pushes me toward the dancing crowd, which causes me to yelp and nearly trip, "Make your move, Romeo."

I straighten my blue vest and flip him off. "Don't call me Romeo. That idiot died because he couldn't keep his dick in his pants."

Eret points to my groin. "Neither can you apparently." He and Maui burst into laughter while I look down, mortified.

Relieved to see no bulge, I flip them both off again, both hands this time, and say, "Thank you for the heart attack, assholes." I then turn around before they could see my lips slide up in amusement and make my way to the girl of my dreams.

Not gonna lie, the walk to her, while it looked easy, was a real struggle. I got shoved and had to do my own fair share of shoving, feeling like a huge prick since a lot of the people I accidentally shoved were girls. Not my fault they're all clustered together, showing no knowledge of personal space. Good god, it's like a party club instead of an 18th birthday party. I'm pretty sure I smell alcohol too. Mavis's dad and a whole lot of other parents are definitely not going to like that.

I swear if someone blames me for spiking the punch, I'm gonna punch them.

Rapunzel is twirling around when I'm finally within her range and that's when I noticed the very shiny, very pointy, and very real looking crown she held in her hand. The gems sparkled just as brightly as the disco ball above my head and I knew right on sight that they're not fake in the slightest. I've seen a plethora of real gems to know the difference. Fakes don't shine as bright. The money I could get from that would pay off the debt I owe the Stabbington brothers. Hell, I might have some money left over to donate to the orphanage.

But...I promised Maui I'd quit and...it belongs to her.

Rapunzel stumbles a little, dizzy from her spinning, and as she does this, she notices me and smiles, piercing me right in the fucking heart. "Flynn!" She says, cheerfully as she rushes towards me. "I was wondering when I'd see you. I was afraid you did something dumb and that we wouldn't get to hang out."

Is my heart supposed to be beating this fast? "Aww were you worried about me, Blondie?" I smile down at her, wishing I could see her freckles and damning the darkness that consumed the room because I couldn't.

She punches my arm, equivalent to a feather, which feels nothing like Astrid's rock hard punches, and giggles. "I was more worried about the destruction you'd cause rather than you."

I dramatically fake a gasp and clutch the fabric above my heart. "You foul woman. You wound me."

Her giggles struck into my chest deeper than the beat of the music. I swear she's glowing like the sun in this dark, foggy room. "I think you'll live. So," she scans me up and down and for the first time in my entire life I feel...insecure. Ew wtf. "This is your thief costume. I was picturing an all black outfit with a black mask with eye holes. Not...this charming material."

I chuckle and slightly puffed out my chest. "Well you know me. Charming is my middle name."

Instead of a giggle she gave me a full on laugh that was even more angelic. "Jack said you're middle name is Pubert."

"What?! Ew, no! That bastard-"

Her full hearted laughter interrupts me. "I was just kidding. I actually have no idea what your middle name is."

"I don't have one," I answer, a bit too quickly. My name always makes me nervous. Why? Well because it's not my real name. It's fake because I hate my real name. Who needs a real name anyway? What even is real? It's all an illusion. "I'm a two name person." Literally. I have two names. "Having three names is...lame. Middle names are just too mainstream."

My breathing is cut short when she suddenly takes hold of my hand. "Well then, Mr. Two Names, how about we go sit down and eat? I'm starved from all this dancing." She then drags me away before I could respond.

Dang. I really wanted to dance with her. I'm gonna say this in the least creepy way I possibly can...I really want her body pressed against mine. Romantically. Not sexually. Not that sex isn't romantic. I sure think it is. Hehehehe. Seriously though, I want to breathe in the familiar scent of her perfume and shampoo. Green Apple. Just like her eyes. I want to hold her in my arms. I want her to feel safe in my embrace. I want her to know that she can always rely on me, that she can always come to me whenever she wants. I want her...to want me.

But hey, dancing can wait. A girl's gotta eat, and I'm gonna make sure she gets fed.

A minute later, we're at the food table and she takes no hesitation in grabbing two plates (which were both for her). I had almost reached for the second one in her hand, thinking it was for me, and held back a laugh at my stupidity. Of course they'd both be hers. You can't just have one plate. That's absurd. And just like Rapunzel, I grabbed two plates for me, and went to town.

When our plates were filled, one full of sweets and the other full of actual food, we make our way to the table I was at earlier before Maui so rudely stole me away, and as we walked, I saw Tooth and Bunny already at the table eating. "So," I say, wanting to pry before we could reach them, "that crown of yours," which she put back on her head when we approached the food table a moment ago, "is it made of real gems?"

She nods, which caused a flower in her braided hair to become loose a little bit. "Yeah. Real gold too. It's probably worth more than my own life."

"No," I shake my head, and carefully set my plate of food on top of my plate of sweets so I could readjust the loose flower in her hair, "your life is definitely worth more than fancy rocks."

Her apple green eyes are wide for a moment before she looks away, flashing me a shy smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I say, but I think I said it too softly because she doesn't say anything else. Maybe I flustered her? Yaaasssss! Or is that a bad thing? Noooooo!

What I do know for certain is that I gotta get that crown. I don't want to since it's hers and the only thing I want to steal that's hers is her heart, but...she's rich. Filthy rich. She can buy herself an exact replica. I need that crown to pay off my debt and to pay the orphanage.

Robin Hood did it.

So will I.

If I don't pay off the debt I owe the Stabbington Brothers, leaving the business won't be easy. I mean, it already won't be easy, but it'll be easier once they're taken care of. Maui would understand.

And I hope Rapunzel does too.