XIII - The Alchemy (Red's POV)

Chloe was rifling through the closet for her Swords and Shields bag as I laid on my bed. She was trying to play it off, like it was no big deal, but underneath her facade I could tell she was anxious. She would have a lot of people watching her do what she did best, of course she would be nervous. When she finally found what she was looking for she started getting ready, putting on all her protective equipment.

I couldn't take my eyes off her. Watching her get ready for a big match, it made me feel like I wanted to be used by her. I knew she would never just use me for my body—I meant far too much to her for that to happen. But I wanted her to take me right here, right now. She notices my staring out of the corner of her eye, smirking a little before I quickly avert my eyes away.

"Like what you see, princess?" she asked coyly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, feeling my face flush. She saunters over, putting her fingers under my chin so I look up at her.

"I think you do know," she said, her voice low. I don't have any words to speak to her—she's right and she knows it. Right now she's just enjoying the fact that she can toy with me about it. Chloe plants a hungry kiss on my lips, and I almost hold her there, but I know we can't afford to waste any time right now.

I get up, walking over to our closet, reaching for her side of the clothes. It doesn't take me long to find what I'm looking for. I pull out her varsity jacket and shrug it over my shoulders, her last name and number are on the back, so everyone will know it's hers.

Her jacket is bigger on me than it is on her. It wasn't particularly cold outside, but I knew it would be better to have a jacket on than nothing. I smile whenever I realize that it smells like her, too.

"Red, what are you doing?" she asked, confusion crossing her face.

"Wearing your jacket," I said bluntly. "It's not like you'll be wearing it or anything, so I figured I would."

"But out in public, in front of all our friends? Are you ready for them to know?" she asked.

"Yeah, I want them to know who I belong to," I said as I walked over to her. She grabs my hips, pulling me closer to her.

"You're sure?" she asked, her voice no louder than a whisper.

"Yeah, I'm sure," I said, planting a kiss on her cheek. When I pull away I find there's a nice red lipstick print where I kissed her. "You can have a little piece of me with you while you're fighting now."

"Keep talking like that and I'll have to make it where you can't walk for a week," she whispered.

"You wouldn't," I said, smirking as I kissed her. She rolled her eyes, glancing at the clock—she needed to be at the field in ten minutes.

"If we had more time I'd make you eat your words right now," she said, grabbing her bag and my hand before walking out the door. We walk together in silence, and she gives me a quick peck on the cheek before dropping me off at the bleachers to watch her.

I find my mother in the bleachers, sitting with Chloe's family. She spots me, and a huge smile crosses her face. I go over to her and she gives me a quick hug. Every time she sees me she hugs me. It's weird, and I'm still not used to it. The only person I was used to receiving physical affection from was Chloe.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "Don't you wanna sit with your friends?" Oh, that's not the response I thought I would get. In the old timeline my mother would've commanded me to be by her side at all times, but in this one she wanted me to have my own freedom.

"Uh, yeah. I'm gonna go sit by Zoey," I said. It wasn't hard to find Zoey in the crowd, she didn't have hair quite as long as her mother, but it was dyed a rainbow of colors, and she had numerous piercings. Here in Auradon, she stuck out like a sore thumb, but if she were in Wonderland no one would take so much of a second glance at her. Sometimes she was even the target of some bullies, but that was what had made us friends. We were friends because we were so similar, we always teased each other but it never got to the point of being mean. That and the fact that her mom was our art teacher, and we both loved art.

"Hey," she said over the talking crowd of people around us.

"Hey," I said. She looked at the jacket I was wearing, a questioning look on her face. "Whose jacket?"

"Chloe's," was all I said.

"So are you guys finally official?" she asked. "Or are you still dancing around with each other trying to pretend you don't see it?" I roll my eyes at her, playfully smacking her.

"Yeah, she's my girlfriend," I said. It felt good to finally own up to it, to be able to call her mine. I was proud of her and I wanted everyone to know.

"Finally! It's about damn time. You guys have been flirting and touching each other for months now," she said, teasing me.

"Oh, shut up," I said, and the match began.

The way Chloe had described it to me was that they would go from the bottom up. The ones with the least amount of experience would scrimmage against each other first, and then the ones with more experience would have their match, and so forth. Chloe would be going up against the one that beat everyone else, so she would be fighting last. This was the first large event for the Swords and Shields team, they had been practicing for about two months now, and after today they would start to play other schools in Auradon.

The air around me was loud and energized. Parents and families cheering for their kids, the clink of the swords clashing against each other, the grunts and ragged breathing of the fighters below. If I weren't here for Chloe, I would've already walked away, but I was here to support her, so I would stay as long as I needed to.

The matches started lasting longer and longer the more skilled the fighters got. Chloe had been doing this ever since she could walk, so I wondered how long it would take her to beat her opponent. Some of them left the field with injuries, too. A couple were just minor cuts and bruises, but one boy left the field with a gash on his arm that was bleeding so badly the coach had to put a tourniquet above the cut. I hoped nothing happened to Chloe today. I had managed to keep my temper even lately, but if I watched someone hurt her, that all might go out the window.

"It's almost time for your girl," Zoey said at the end of the last match. I felt my cheeks get hot, someone else calling Chloe my girl made me feel like a cage of butterflies was set loose in my stomach. She was mine, and I was hers. I watched the field below as Chloe tied up her blue curls into a ponytail. Before she puts on her face shield she searches the crowd, looking for someone, her eyes land on me, and she winks at me. Zoey catches sight of it and starts giggling like a madwoman.

"She's got it bad for you," she said, still laughing.

"Shut up," I said, gently shoving her away. Chloe picks up her sword and the match begins. Her opponent is at least a foot taller than her and a good fifty pounds heavier, but she's faster and smaller. She easily dodges their attempts to stab her. She's fighting Li Shang II, Mulan's son. From what she's told me about practice, they always wind up fighting each other, so this must be normal for her. As I watch her fight, I realize I'm holding my breath, although I don't know if it's because the match is that good, or if it's because of my anxiety that she could get hurt.

This match lasts the longest out of all of them. Li and Chloe keep almost catching the other, but never quite hitting enough to where it would qualify as a hit. Li moves to take a stab at Chloe, but she quickly flies out of the way. She's on his left side now, and she takes a stab at him. I bite my lip as I watch her, and just like she always does, her sword hit enough of him for it to qualify as a hit, and she's won the match.

The referee comes over to her and Li and breaks them apart, he holds up Chloe's hand, indicating her as the victor. Everyone applauds and cheers for her as she takes off her face shield, throwing it on the ground beside her. I watch as her eyes scan the crowd again, once she finds me she shakes her hand free from the ref's hold. Chloe bounds up the bleachers toward me, and for a moment I'm confused. This is her moment of victory, she should be down there basking in the glory of being the best of the best.

When Chloe reaches me she grabs my waist, and I throw my arms around her neck. She plants a hard kiss on my lips, and it takes me by surprise. I kissed her back almost instantly, forgetting about everyone else around us. The cheers and congratulations drowns out, and all I can hear is my own heartbeat. The Chloe I met at the beginning of the school year would've never done this, but now? Now she was proud of me, she wanted to show me off. She wanted the whole world to know I was hers. When she pulls away I plant another kiss to her cheek, leaving behind another red lip-print.

"I love you," she said before going back down to her teammates. Her teammates are all gathering around her, applauding her win. A few even bow down to her, making me laugh.

"Well if there was ever a doubt about you two, there isn't one now," Zoey said. "I think you guys will be the talk of the town tomorrow."

"Oh well," I said. "Let them talk. They've already been talking about us for weeks." Chloe is down by her team, but there's one person I don't recognize. She's tall with long straight black hair. I can only guess that she must be Mulan. I knew she was part of the Swords and Shields team at Auradon University, but Chloe had just won a match against her son, surely there would be some tough feelings there. The conversation between them doesn't seem tense, instead it seems as if Chloe was told some good and great news. I wanted to go down there myself, but I figured that Chloe would tell me about it whenever she was ready. She catches sight of me again, motioning for me to come down and join her.

"Red, this is Mulan, coach of Auradon University's Swords and Shields team," Chloe said, pulling me close to her.

"Nice to meet you," I said as professionally as I could.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Mulan said, her voice smooth and calm. "Chloe, I would really love to have you on my team. I'm not supposed to tell you this because the paperwork isn't all finished yet, but we'd like to send you to Auradon University on a full ride scholarship if you'll join our Swords and Shields team." I looked over at Chloe, who was proudly beaming with excitement. "Now, you can't say much yet, because it isn't official, but we're very close to it."

"Of course," Chloe said, cooling her excitement. "I understand completely. I would love to be on your Swords and Shields team."

"Excellent," Mulan seemed to glow with pride. "I can't wait to see you on my field." She turned and walked away, over toward her son. It took all of two seconds for Chloe to explode, her excitement bubbling over like boiling water. She throws her arms around me, and I can't help but feel excited for her…but yet at the same time, I felt hurt. It's not that I wasn't proud of her or happy that she had this opportunity, I just wondered about our future together. It felt like a knife had been stabbed into my heart, twisting, drawing out more pain around the wound. I knew no matter what she would prioritize me and our relationship, I just felt it.

"I'm so proud of you," I said into her ear. She pulled back, capturing my lips in a passionate kiss.

"Well, Ella, looks like we'll be in-laws after all," I heard my mother's voice say from behind me.

"Mom," I groaned, my face flushing.

"What?" she said, a confused look on her face.

"We're just so happy you girls can be together right now," Ella said. Chloe didn't seem to catch on to her sentence, but I did. She said "right now" not "forever." I wondered what the laws in Cinderellasburg were like about royals and who took the throne. I would be taking over Wonderland, there was no other way around it. I'd eventually be the Queen one day in the not-so-distant future. Chloe on the other hand, she didn't have to take the throne. Technically, the throne was hers already because she was the only natural born child of Cinderella and King Charming, but they had adopted Chad and prepared him to take the throne all his life.

"What do you mean 'right now?'" I blurted out, my mind racing.

My mom and Ella exchanged looks, almost as if they were asking each other if now was the right time or not. "Why don't we walk and talk at the same time?" Ella said.

I held tightly onto Chloe's hand as we walked with our mothers back to our dorm room. Family Day was almost over, and soon enough our parents would be back in their own kingdoms. "Chloe is the heir to the throne of Cinderellasburg," Ella started. "The people of my kingdom, they're very…traditional, and they might not take so easily to your relationship. Chloe, we've been preparing you to be queen one day all your life, but you don't have to take the throne if you don't want to. I know how much Red means to you, and love is worth giving up everything for."

"But what about Chad?" I asked. "Can't he take the throne?"

Cinderella let out a gentle laugh, "I'm sure he'd gladly take the throne if Chloe abdicated. He's wanted nothing more than to be a king his whole life."

So Chloe didn't have to take the throne, she could abdicate and let Chad take over, but she's been planning to be Queen her whole life. Surely she wouldn't want to throw away a lifetime of work over a girl? And besides, the old ways were just that—old. What did it matter if it were a king and a queen or two queens? I look over at Chloe, and I can see from her facial expression that she's buried deep in thought. If she took the throne, we couldn't be together anymore. And Chloe had so many opportunities ahead of her; she could go to college for free because of her athleticism. She would be on a college Swords and Shields team that she always dreamed of. Where did I fit in any of her plans? She was right next to me, but it felt like she was floating a million miles away.

Eventually it was time for us to say our goodbyes to our families. Mine was relatively quick and easy, having only my mother. Chloe's was much more drawn out, more heartfelt. Her parents doted on her, and her brother teased her. Once everyone was gone, Chloe sat at our desk, mindlessly scribbling in her notebook.

"Chloe, what's wrong?" I asked, moving over to her. I wrap my arms around her shoulders and she releases a tense breath.

"Everything," she said.

"Everything is a big topic, can we narrow it down to what's bothering you right now?" I asked. She used that trick on me once, when I was upset about something and didn't want to talk I just said "everything" when she asked what was wrong. The girl wouldn't let it go, she made me get it out, one way or another.

"You're evil," Chloe said, smirking, and then her face turned to horror. "Wait, shit that's not what I meant."

"Chloe, stop. I know what you meant. I'm not mad. Come here, lay with me," I said, walking over to my bed, setting myself in.

"But I'm all gross from the match today," Chloe protested.

"Bed. Now," I ordered. I didn't boss her around often, but this was one of the few times she needed it. She reluctantly did as ordered, but she took off her dirty clothes and put on her pajamas from last night before settling in bed next to me. "Spill."

"I don't know what to do, Red," she said, her voice almost breaking. "My parents have spent my entire life preparing me to take the throne, to be queen one day, and I thought that was what I wanted. And then I met you, and now I'm captain of Swords and Shields and they want me to be on their college team." The dam breaks, tears start to fall from her eyes, and I wipe them away. "I'm tired of trying to be perfect. I can't be queen, and go to college, and have you all at the same time. It's impossible. I've thought about every way I could try and do it, but I can't."

I hold her as she cries, her body violently shaking. I know this isn't just from today. This is all the text messages people sent her in the beginning of our relationship, all the bruises and cuts and scratches from practice, every test she's gotten a B on when she studied hard enough she should've gotten an A. She needed a release, and this was it. I gently rock her, like a mother cradling a small child. Chloe's body eventually stills, she sniffles before drawing away from me, "Mulan offered me a position at summer camp for Swords and Shields training at Auradon University. It's a 3 week program in July. I told her yes, that I would take it."

I'm taken aback. Chloe hadn't even told her parents that, yet. My heart began to swell with anxiety. Would we make it through nearly a month apart? Were we that strong yet? I couldn't let Chloe see how I felt, I had to be strong for her, she needed that right now.

"Oh, wow," I started. "That's amazing, Chlo, I'm so proud of you." I planted a kiss on her forehead. It wasn't a lie, I was proud of her, I was just worried that she would leave… "Chloe, can I ask you something?"

"Yes, of course, love," she said, her eyes red and face blotchy.

"Do you even want to be queen?" she opens her mouth to answer but I cut her off. "No, don't think about what your parents want—or me—don't think about anything else, but your future. Be selfish for once, damnit."

She went quiet for a moment, contemplating my words. She was searching deep in herself for an answer to my question. "No," she said finally.

"Okay," I said. "You don't have to be queen, Chad can take the throne, and you can go to college and be on their Swords and Shields team—you can have whatever you want, baby."

"But I want you," she said the last word with desperation heavy in her voice. "You don't understand, Red. Yes I want to get a degree and be on a college team, but none of that fucking matters if I don't have you!" I'm shocked by her sudden outburst, but no sooner than it starts it's over. "You're going to be Queen of Wonderland in just over a year, we'll be seniors in high school about to graduate. I don't care about a piece of paper or being an athlete as much as I care about you."

It was in that moment, that if I had any doubts about her love for me, they were shattered. Here she was, telling me she would give up the chance to go to college, to be a professional athlete, all if it meant being by my side. I didn't know if she would go to college like she wanted, or be on her dream team, but I knew I would try my damndest to make it happen, she deserved that much from me. She deserved not only my love but my support, too. She had given so much of herself to me, in showing me how to love, how to give and receive love. She showed me how to trust, how to feel. I would give her everything she wanted and more if it meant making her happy. Hell, if she told me to burn the world to the ground I'd do it in a heartbeat.
I sit up, and so does Chloe. We're facing each other on my bed, and I take in how broken she looks. Her face is red and blotchy, an expression of utter sadness on her face. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying. In this moment she looked like a small, scared child, and my heart ached for her. She had focused so much on how I felt, everything I went through, that I never even realized what she must've been through, too. Her parents pushing her to be perfect all the time. Perfect grades, perfect social life, spotless record…and a perfect boyfriend. But I wasn't a boy, and yet she chose to break the mold anyway.

I take her hands in mine, "Hey," I said, getting her attention. "We're gonna do this together, okay? And I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure you can have everything. I want you to have me, and college, and Swords and Shields. I'm gonna make this work."

"Okay," she said, sniffling. I give her a gentle kiss, and her lips are salty from her tears. "Have I told you I love you?"

"Just a little bit," I said, smiling. "But I love you, too, bluey."