XVI - You Belong With Me (Chloe's POV)

The months I spent with Red were different. Not in a bad way, of course, nothing about her could be bad. She came to all my tournaments, regardless of where they were. We studied together, helping each other with our worst subjects, and sometimes we did more than studying. Soon enough, it was as if everyone else simply faded away; the bonds I had with them weren't strong enough to stay in my orbit like Red had. It was almost a cruel irony. When I first met her I thought she was rage, and fire, and destruction. I thought she was reckless, defiance and hatred all wrapped into one person. She was sharp edges that you could cut yourself on if you got too close. I thought she was nothing but sarcasm and rudeness, until I saw who she was, until I saw why she was that way. But now that I'd known her, I realized how far from the truth I really was.

Granted she never let anyone else see her the way I got to. I saw every part of her. I got her happiness, her tears, sometimes even her anger, but it was never enough to drive me away like she was so afraid would happen. What I loved getting most of all was her touch, her affection. I loved doting on her in public—she was a princess and deserved to be treated like one—but she rarely showed any to me. Of course, I was okay with it because I didn't want to make her uncomfortable. And besides, it just made her secret touches ignite me even brighter than before. There were a couple times she did show affection in front of our friends though. Once she couldn't find a chair beside me, so she chose my lap instead. Just the act alone made me want to devour her right then and there; I didn't care who saw.

It was a Sunday morning near the last days of May and the school year would be ending soon. The sun was just starting to feel warm and flowers were breaking free from the wet mud of winter. Red was sleeping silently beside me when I woke up. There was nothing on my to-do list today, so I could stay here with her as long as I wanted. I watched her as she slept, the gentle rise and fall of her chest with each breath. The way she always buried herself in a sea of covers. The flutter of her dark eyelashes against her olive skin when she stirred in her sleep. Fuck, she had her claws sunk so deep into me that if I ever tried to escape, it would hurt worse than staying. A soft, tired smile crosses her face before she opens her eyes.

"Good morning, gorgeous," I said as she woke up.

"Must you always be so respectful?" she asked, a hint of teasing in her voice.

"Oh, I think you know just how disrespectful I can be," I said, my voice turning sultry as I pulled her underneath me. Her hands come up to hold my face, and I lean down to plant a kiss to her lips, morning breath be damned.

"I know," she let out a small laugh. "You've made sure everyone around us knows I'm yours in every way."

"It's just a reminder," I said, laying down on her, nuzzling my face into her hair.

"For who? Me or other people?" she asked.

"Everyone that thinks they'll ever have a chance with you," I said. She was mine, and I made sure everyone knew it. Every now and then a random guy will come up to her, trying to hit on her and Red has always set them straight. They still tried to get her to go on dates or sleep with them, but the answer was the same every time. Each teenage boy thought he would be the one to tame her wildness, but what they didn't know was that was what I loved about her. Her ability to be spontaneous, to be so carefree and yet so caring at the same time. I was the only one she wanted, and that in itself made me ache for her.

"You know what time it is?" I asked her.

"No," she said nonchalantly.

"It's the same time as when we met last year, remember? Freshman and new kid orientation is tomorrow," I said.

"Chloe, why would you bring that up? My mom tried to kill your mom, remember?" she said. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, but my point is that because of that we're together. And we're engaged," I added the last part for fun. I decided it was time to tell her my parents' story.

"What?" she exclaimed, jumping out from underneath me. I sit up on my elbows, trying to hide my laughter. Her right hand finds the ring on her left ring finger, twisting it anxiously.

"You proposed to me, remember? You even have my ring on your finger," I asked coyly.

"No I didn't, and this is a promise ring, not an engagement ring, you said so yourself," she said, her face showing an expression that said she was searching her brain for any inkling of truth to my words.

"Yeah, you did," I started. "When we went back in time and broke into Merlin's office. You gave me Hook's shoes. My dad asked my mom to marry him by giving her shoes."

"Oh my God. That is not what I had in mind when I gave you those! We're still in high school, how are we gonna get married?" she said, rolling her eyes.

"Relax, I'm just kidding," I said. "Besides, I'll propose to you after high school." Her face turned bright red at that last statement, finally pushing me over the edge. I bursted out into laughter. I wanted to stay like this all day, just laying in bed with her, but it was finals week, and I needed to study.

I gave myself five more minutes to relax in bed with her. This time she held me, and it was nice to hear her heartbeat. I finally got to hear the thing that kept her alive, that kept me alive, because without her I was sure I would die. I plant a kiss between her breasts, fighting to not go any further.

"What was that for?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing," I said. "Just because I love you." There was a knock on our door, and I went through the list of who it could be in my head. It wasn't my coach or my team, we didn't have a tournament or practice today. It shouldn't be my family because they hadn't said they were visiting, and the Queen of Hearts didn't normally randomly pop in. There was another knock, and I let out an egregious groan as I got up to go get it. When I opened the door I was surprised to find a mail carrier. We didn't normally get mail on Sundays.

"Urgent message for you from Mulan," the mail carrier said.

"Thank you," I said, taking the piece of mail from him. He was gone just as quickly as he'd arrived, and I closed the door, opening the piece of mail while walking to the desk Red and I shared.

"What is it?" Red asked, sitting up on her elbow in bed.

"It's from Mulan," I said as I gently unfolded the letter inside.

Dear Princess Chloe Charming,

You have been accepted to Auradon University on a full-ride scholarship contingent upon your agreement to be on our Swords and Shields team. Enclosed with this letter you will find more information regarding your future studies and the regulations for our athletes. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Best regards,

Mulan

It happened. It really happened. I hadn't even sent in an application, and they were already offering for me to go to school for free. My heart beat rapidly against my ribs, feeling as if it would beat right out of my chest. Red gets up out of bed, walking over to me and reading the letter over my shoulder.

"Chloe," she breathes. I don't have anything to say, I'm still in shock. "I'm so proud of you." She moves my hair out of her way, planting a kiss on my cheek. She kept peppering light kisses on my neck. I don't know what to feel. I'm shocked, excited, scared… I should be happy. It's an honor to be able to have this opportunity. So why did I feel like I was drowning?

"Red," I said, my voice sounded hoarse, like a diver coming up for air after a deep dive in the ocean.. I loved her affection, but right now it was smothering. I felt like I was drowning and there was no way to come up for air. She stops in her tracks, a concerned expression on her face.

"Talk to me," she said, but I couldn't find the words to match how I felt.

"Hold me," was all I could come up with. So she sits on her bed, back pressed against the headboard and holds out her arms for me. I nestle myself inside her, and her warmth envelops me completely. She smelled like cherries, the scent rich in my nose as I drew in deep breaths. Red strokes my curls, slowly and gently.

"It's okay, love," she said as she rubbed circles on my back. I wanted to cry, I needed to cry, but the tears never came. Every nerve in my body felt as if it were on fire, anxiety taking over me completely. Red never said a word, she just let me lay on her however long I wanted. That was one of the things I loved about her. She didn't need to say anything to comfort me. Too many times people said generic things like "it'll be okay," "you'll be fine," or "you can do this, you're strong enough." But Red? She didn't try to say anything, she didn't need to. She herself calmed me down.

After a while I tried to get up, but she pulled me right back in. "I should study for finals this week."

"Not a chance, baby," she said. "You're so anxious right now that even if you try to study you won't retain any of it." She was right, and I hated it. So for the rest of my Sunday, I laid in my girlfriend's arms, trying not to fall apart.

The week went by in a haze. People tried to talk to me but it was like talking to a wall. Wednesday night I sat at the desk in my dorm, staring down at a statistics textbook as I fought back tears. I hated math, yet my parents thought it would be best for me to take every class possible. I barely had a B in the class, and the final would be worth fifty percent of my grade. I was so engrossed in reading and rereading a paragraph about z-scores and standard deviation that I hadn't even heard the door open behind me until Red wrapped her arms around me, kissing my cheek.

"What are you studying?" she asked as she started planting kisses on my cheek. It had been a while since we got the chance to do anything, so her touch was intoxicating and I had to search my brain for the answer.

"Statistics," I said. Red moves my hair out of the way, granting her access to my neck. Fuck, if this is how I made her felt when I attacked her neck I can understand why she was always so desperate.

"You're stressed, love," she said, her voice low and sultry. "Let me fix that." Normally we were the other way around. I usually gave to her, but there were times she wanted to go down on me and I couldn't deny her begging. "Please?" she said when I hadn't given her an answer.

"Yes," I breathed out.

"Good," she said quietly, her lips turning up into a smile. "Because you didn't really have a choice, princess." My heart started pounding in my chest, and I was surprised when she picked me up from the chair and kissed me. With ease she shoves my textbooks and papers onto the floor, shoving the chair out of the way and planting me on the desk instead.

"I needed those," I pout.

"You can have those later. Right now you need me." The way she kissed me was intoxicating, and I never wanted it to end.

I struggled to come back, to come down from my high. My heart pounded in my ears while I tried to slow my breathing back to normal. Red stands back up, kissing me gently, and I can taste myself on her lips. "Holy shit," I said when I could finally catch my breath.

"Feel better?" she asked, smirking at me.

"Yeah, a lot better actually."

"Good, I was hoping I would have that effect on you," she said, smirking like a devil. I knew we had to be done, I needed to go back to studying, but I didn't want to. I wrap my legs around her waist, pulling her back into me.

"You know, you're awfully tense yourself," I said, teasing her. She rolls her eyes at me.

"You just want your share of the fun," she said. "Now get dressed, we're going out."

I pout at her, "Why? You hate going out."

She lets out an exaggerated groan, "Just do it, please?" I match her attitude, letting out teasing goans as I put on a pair of denim shorts and a white t-shirt. The marks from her lipstick still stained my body, but I didn't care. I knew I should care if people knew what we did. But she was my girlfriend—it was expected at this point. A few of her lip prints were visible on my thighs, and if you got close enough you could see some through the fabric of my shirt.

"Is this okay?" I asked, not wanting to look out of place.

"Yes, love. That's good. Come on." She holds out her hand and I take it. Red guides me through the hallways of our dorms. The sun is beginning to set, but that doesn't make it any less busy. Students still sat outside on the courtyard, studying for finals or just talking with friends. The heat from the day lingers in the air, making it harder to breathe than usual.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see," she said, a playful smirk toying on her lips. The walk was longer than I thought it would be, until eventually we ended up at the Enchanted Lake. I had only ever seen pictures of it, never the real thing in person. I gasped at the sight of it, the air around it seemed to be teeming with magic. This was the very place my mother had found Fairy Godmother, and how she met my dad and fell in love.

"Red, it's beautiful," I breathed out, still mystified by the scene before me. "But why?" I asked, reality hitting me like a sheet of bricks.

She takes my hand again, this time leading me down by water. "Because," she starts, "I thought you could use a little distraction from finals stressing you out all week."

"You didn't have to," I said when we finally sat down on the cool concrete of the gazebo.

"I know," she said, taking her hand and cupping my cheek, "I wanted to." My heart melted. I didn't deserve her. Shit, no one deserved her. No one deserved this person who had seen too much, felt too much, and still had a heart of gold.

"I love you," I said, leaning in to kiss her.

"I know," she said when we broke apart. "That's why I did this. You always come up with romantic dates and stuff for me, so I wanted to do the same for you. Oh, and I brought food." She reaches over to the picnic basket sitting on the bench and brings it over to us. Inside is a mix of our favorite foods. Even though I'd been getting her to try new things, she still had her comfort foods. She never ate much either, and yet I always kept snacks in my bag in case she got hungry.

"I know it's not a five-course meal or anything, but I thought it would be good for you to get away from studying for a little while," she said as she handed me a turkey and cheddar sandwich wrapped in tin foil.

"Red, it doesn't have to be fancy. I don't want prim and proper, I want you," I said.

"Are you saying I'm not proper? How rude of you. I am a princess you know," she teased, taking a bite of her sandwich, and I rolled my eyes.

"You know that's not what I mean," I said. "I don't care if you plan big elaborate dates or buy me expensive things. I want what's real. And I know sometimes it's hard for you to remember what's real and what isn't…that I'm real and that we're together, but as long as I have you, that's enough for me."

"Gosh, you're such a sap, Chlo," Red said, but I saw the faint tears in her eyes as she blinked them back. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"Nothing," I said smiling. "You get me for free."

"Isn't it weird that in this timeline we grew up together? Like, we're supposed to have all these memories of each other as kids and we just…don't," Red said, turning her attention back to her food.

"Yeah, a little," I said. "I wish we could see ourselves the way our moms do. I mean for them in this timeline maybe us dating wasn't so much of a surprise as we thought it would be."

Red lets out a quiet laugh, "All I can imagine is little you pining over me at all the Auradon dances we went to together."

"Shut up," I said, my face flushing as I gently shoved her away.

"What?" she said, feigning ignorance. "You're the one who kissed me at Castlecoming."

"Yeah, and I haven't regretted it since we made up," I said, kissing her cheek. She sets down her sandwich, moving closer to me. I'm sitting on the edge, my feet dangling in the water beneath the gazebo. Red nuzzles close to me, wrapping my arm around her. I didn't mean to strike a nerve with that last comment, but now I felt bad that I did.

"You know I really thought I was going to lose you," she said so quietly I could hardly hear her.

"You'll never lose me," I said, squeezing her tight. "I know it's hard for you to believe that I'm here to stay, but I am. You're still learning to trust and to love, but I'll always be yours, and you'll always be mine. We've been together for over six months now, but you'll have me for the rest of your lifetime." I kiss the top of her head and I feel her arms tighten around me.

"Remember the last time I checked the Looking Glass?" Red said, tracing circles on my thigh.

"Yeah, why?" I answered, remembering what she had said, "It just… it showed me a future I wasn't expecting, is all."

"This is what it showed me. Us. Here. Together," she said.

"Really?" I breathed out. If the Looking Glass had shown her this moment in time, I felt like we were truly destined for each other. The Looking Glass was never wrong.

"Yeah," she said. "I didn't think it would actually happen at the time, but I guess I was wrong."

"Well I'm glad you were wrong, because I wouldn't trade this for anything," I said.

"You're really never gonna leave, right?" Red asked, trying to seem nonchalant, but there was an undertone of anxiety in her voice.

"Never," I said. "Not willingly, at least.

"Okay," Red said, her anxiety soothed.

That was where we spent that evening, watching as the colors of the sky turned from bleeding shades of orange and pink to darker purples and blues. Red held my hand as we walked back to our dorm, most of the students that we passed on the way here had dissipated, retreating to their rooms for the night. Somehow she knew exactly what I needed, yet I hadn't said a word about it to her. She always said how lucky she was to have me, but in actuality it was the other way around. I was the lucky one. I got to have this girl who didn't know what love was, yet she gave it to me so freely. This girl who gave me all her firsts—and would someday give me all her lasts, too. The way she trusted me so cautiously with her heart in the beginning, and now she had given it to me completely. I spoiled her and in turn she spoiled me. She was a perfect paradox of my own personal heaven and hell, but no matter what, I would be by her side. Whether it was as an angel or demon because of her was dependent entirely upon what she wanted me to be.