Chapter Text
"Seriously, Mother? You want me to get married to Max? You want me to get married to the son of Maddox Hatter? He's the biggest villain in all of Wonderland. How could you possibly trust him after all that he did to you?"
"Don't be like this, Pink. This marriage is supposed to be for the good of Wonderland."
"But why? Why him? Why not anyone else? How is this even good for our kingdom?" Pink said.
"It'll be good for Wonderland because if you marry Max, then Maddox will no longer be a threat. To any of us."
She scoffed. Loudly. "And I just have no say in this whatsoever?"
"None. I'm sorry, Pink, but it's already been decided on. You don't have to love him, you know. For events, just pretend to."
"And what if I can't pretend, Mother? Then what will happen?"
"Learn to tolerate him first, Pink. It'll become easier after that."
"Right. Goodnight, Mother."
"Goodnight, Pink."
She couldn't sleep. Not entirely.
She had tried, multiple times.
She had even tried counting sheep, something she hadn't done since childhood.
Just then, a soft knock echoed through her room.
"Go away," Pink said. "I don't want to talk to you, Mother. Not now."
"It's not Mom, Pink. It's me. Now come on, open this door and let me in." Red replied.
Slowly, Pink got up, crossed her room, and unlocked the door.
Sure enough, when she opened it, Red was standing there.
"Can I..."
"Come in, Red. Quickly. Before mom sees. We aren't supposed to even be up right now."
She walked in, sidestepping Pink and closing the door behind her.
"What happened, Pink? You weren't at dinner today."
"I wasn't hungry."
"You're lying," Red said. "I can tell something is bothering you, so spill."
"Mom's forcing me to marry Max Hatter."
"You mean... Max, the son of Maddox Hatter?"
"That's what I said!" Pink replied. "I seriously don't understand her reasoning behind this!"
Pink sniffled, and then continued.
"Out of everyone in Wonderland, she just had to choose Max. Without telling me! Now it's too late, and there's no way to cancel the engagement."
"Pink, I'm so sorry. Do you want me to talk to her? Make her change her mind?"
"No. She's expecting me to go through with this. I don't want to disappoint her."
Red sighed.
”Pink…”
”It’s fine, Red. I’ll go through with it. She said it would benefit Wonderland. Isn’t that what we want?”
”Yes but, you know you don’t have to like it just because Mom said you do, right?”
”That's exactly why I don’t like it,” Pink said, while stifling a giggle. “I’ll just have to tolerate him. That’s what Mom said to do.”
Red smiled.
”Good.”
Pink yawned and then said, “As much as I would like to keep talking, we do have school tomorrow. Goodnight Red!”
”Night, Pinkie,” she said. “Don’t let the bugs bite.”
“I won’t,” Pink replied, smiling as well.
With that, Red left the room, leaving Pink alone with her own thoughts, once again.
Oh my hearts… Can I really do this? Can I really marry Max Hatter?
There was only one answer. She would have to, no matter what.
How distressing.
Pink stayed up all night, tossing and turning.
After 3 hours, she decided it was hopeless.
There was no way she was getting sleep tonight.
In her mind, there was only one logical thing left to do.
Get ready for the day.
She couldn’t fall asleep, and she had nothing else to do.
She needed a distraction.
Anything to keep her mind off of the fact that she was going to be engaged.
She really hoped her mom wouldn’t announce the engagement. At least, not any time soon. She still needed time to process, and she was sure Max did too.
Speaking of Max…
Did he know about this?
Was he just as confused as she was?
Was he utterly repulsed at the idea of being tied to her forever?
She wouldn’t be surprised if he was.
They’d hated each other since childhood, and over the years, the hatred just seemed to grow.
They would argue frequently, even over the littlest things. It didn't matter what the argument was about, they just argued anyways. It was almost as if Max argued with her just to annoy her and because he enjoyed it.
If that was the point of all their arguments, then it worked.
It annoyed her so much.
Every time he opened his mouth, she would audibly sigh, as if waiting for some stupid remark to leave his mouth.
Additionally, he always played pranks on her. She used to think that when they got older, he would grow out of it, but no. He never did. He still tried playing pranks on her atleast once every few weeks. Even now, he was still as immature as he had been when he was 10. That in itself speaks volumes.
Once, before Maddox had been banished to the Isle of the Lost, him and Maddox visited the palace. Being a troublemaker, Max had naturally gotten the grand idea to put hair dye into Pink’s shampoo.
Her hair, once a beautiful shade of pink, had been dyed an awful shade of neon green for weeks. Being 9 years old and convinced it was permanent, she cried for hours because of it.
He didn't apologize for it. Not once.
That was the worst part.
He had walked into her room the day after and saw her crying.
Instead of saying anything, he had simply closed the door and walked away.
From that day on, Pink had tried to do everything in her power to start distancing herself from Max Hatter.
It didn't work.
Ever.
It was almost as if he was everywhere.
In every room that she was in.
It was horrible.
Whatever, Pink thought. Now is not the time to dwell on the past. I need to get up anyways.
She glanced at the clock sitting on her bedside table. It read 4:21 a.m.
A little early, but it'll be fine nonetheless.
Pink got up and started quietly tiptoeing to her bathroom.
Closing the door softly, Pink looked up into the mirror and stared at the reflection looking back at her.
Her eye bags had gotten more noticeable, but it was nothing that a little concealer couldn't fix.
She started humming a song that was stuck in her head absentmindedly, and splashed water onto her face as an effort to wake her up.
She brushed her teeth, washed her face, did skincare, and last but not least, put a swipe of concealer on under her eyes, as well as some mascara.
Good enough, she determined.
She exited the bathroom and crossed her room, going to her massive walk-in closet.
What to wear...
Aha!
She picked up her bright pink skirt, pairing it with a top that was a lighter pink and her pink jacket.
She looked into the mirror, suddenly feeling a little bit self-conscious.
It was the first day of school...
Should she wear something more...
No, Pink thought. The outfit is fine. Everything will be okay. I'll try to wear something different tomorrow.
Just then, someone started knocking on the door. The knocking had started off quietly, and then gradually got louder.
"Pink!" Her mother said, "Are you up yet?"
"I've been up," she yelled back.
"Good. Come down for breakfast now. The chef made your favorite, strawberry pancakes. They're really good, Pink."
Breakfast was unusually quiet.
It wasn't a comfortable silence.
It was the awkward type of silence.
The type that seemed to loom over everyone.
Despite the awkwardness, Pink had to admit, the pancakes were absolutely delicious, just as her mom had promised.
Her mom had tried asking Red questions, only to be met with curt, one word responses. It was sad, really.
She didn't seem interested in making conversation at all, and she kept looking at me weirdly.
Pink nudged her elbow.
"Red," Pink whispered. "Why aren't you answering Mom's questions?"
"I'm adjus..." She suddenly stopped, almost as if she wasn't supposed to say that.
"It's nothing," she said instead.
Weird.
Red had never brushed Pink off like that before.
Come to think of it, Red's never brushed anyone off ever, at least, not on purpose.
Pink wasn't expecting that at all.
Her mom looked over to her instead.
"What about you, Pink? Are you nervous at all?"
Yeah. Extremely nervous that everyone at school is going to somehow know about the engagement and start spreading rumors about her.
"No, but I have a question."
"What's your question, Pink?"
"When are you going to announce the engagement between Max and I?"
At those words, Red looked completely befuddled.
Why?
She had no reason to be confused.
I told her everything last night. There was no way she could so forgotten so easily.
"Wait," Red said, suddenly, "Max who?"
Is she serious?
Mom turned over to her and said, "Max Hatter, who else?"
"Right..."
"Anyway. I was thinking that we could announce it at the next royal gala! How does that sound, Pink?"
"Um," Pink said, slightly uncomfortable, "Is there any way you could announce it later? I still have to get used to this whole... shtick."
"Fine, I'll delay it until you both graduate, but you and Max will still be engaged during that time. I see no reason to delay this announcement, as it's set in stone. But, if that is what you really want, I'll allow it."
"Oh, Mother, thank you so much!"
"Anything for you, sweetheart. However, I do believe you both have to get to school on time, so hurry up and finish your breakfast. No more time for chit chat, the driver will leave in 10 minutes."
Well, Pink thought, not chit chatting won't be hard to do as Red seems to not want to talk at all today.
Seriously, what is up with her?
I did tell her that we were engaged... So why did she seem so shocked to hear it from our mom?