Chapter Text
Wake up.
Avoid Red.
Eat.
Avoid Red.
Look for answers.
Avoid Red.
Eat.
Avoid Red.
Avoid Red.
Chloe had lost track of how many times she had looped the same day over and over.
How many times she had brushed off her friends, brushed off Red, to scour for answers. How many days she had given up and let the same cycle as the very first play out just to get some time with Red because she was only so strong. How many times she had gone off to be alone and brood over her shitty situation only to eventually cave at the later hours of the day and crawl home sadly to be comforted by her friend who didn't have a clue what was going on, but was kind enough to simply be with her and not ask questions.
Not that it matters the number of times. I suppose I should be grateful that I can keep fucking it up with the one person I care about repeatedly with no real consequences this time.
She had to end this. She was going fucking crazy. She needed this to be over.
But how?
Who would know how to stop this? Who could she confide in without looking crazy. They’d probably think the bracelet Max gave her permanently fucked up her head. Maybe it did. After all, they had messed with so much of time and themselves. Who’s to say the bracelet didn’t damage her head? Her mind went around and around to the same two thoughts, back and forth like a pendulum. Stuck like a broken clock. A broken clock…
A broken clock.
Maybe she had been looking in the wrong spots this whole time. She had been searching libraries, archives, any source of information about endless dreams, comas, and even afterlives but nothing in Auradon matches. Clearly whatever this was didn't play by Auradon's rules.
And who knew best about breaking Auradon's rules?
Maddox.
Chloe went to bed that night with renewed hope and a plan.
--
Morning came and Chloe didn’t waste a second. Throwing on clothes, she sprinted out the door, the sound of it slamming shut behind her jolting Red.
“Chloe?” Red called out, watching her friend’s retreating form, but Chloe didn’t turn back.
Running across the quad, she reached the rabbit hole and immediately hopped down.
She sprinted past confused citizens, navigating to the royal castle. Luckily, with Bridget not being evil anymore, the place wasn't swarmed with security watching every little thing. She spotted a lone guard by the side of the building.
Perfect.
“Take me to Maddox Hatter.” Chloe demanded of him.
“Ma’am, I don’t think-“
“Take. Me. To. Maddox. Hatter.” Chloe said, trying to keep her voice level. “Now.”
The guard looked bewildered, clearly recognizing her as the friend of the crown princess and wondering why the hell she was threatening him.
Chloe leveled her sword at the guard, “I’m not going to ask again.”
The guard looked stunned and seemed to consider his options, before putting his hands up in surrender. “Alright, I’ll take you. But if the Queen finds out then you’re explaining yourself, Ms. Charming.”
“Yeah, sure, I’ll do that.” Chloe said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. “Matter of fact, I’ll tell the Queen first thing tomorrow morning if I make it to then.”
“Uh, okay?” The guard seemed confused and a little worried for Chloe’s mental state.
The guard led her around to the back of the castle towards where the cells were. He opened the large heavy door of the barracks.
“Cell number 182.”
“MADDOX,” Chloe yelled angrily, stalking towards the cell.
“Chloe Charming, what a pleasant surprise. I don’t get many visitors that aren’t Max.” Maddox gave her a nauseating grin.
“The pocket watch. How does it work?”
“You know how it works, Charming. It’s time travel. You click the watch, you travel through time.”
“Don’t fucking play with me, Maddox.”
Maddox turned serious, “I’m not playing with you, it’s the truth. You know it yourself. What more, exactly, are you looking for?”
Fuck it.
“I’ve been re-living the same day over and fucking over. I’ve looked for answers in just about every book in existence and nothing has helped. I figured it had to be that damn pocket watch. Do you know anything about what I’m saying? Does it sound familiar at all?”
“Why should I help you? You and that damned girl ruined my life.”
“We saved your son.” Chloe pleaded.
Maddox scoffed, “You wouldn’t have needed to save him from anything if you hadn’t fucked up our lives in the first place.”
Chloe realized that reasoning wouldn’t work with Maddox. Reaching through the bars, she grabbed Maddox by his stupid jacket with her left hand, her right wielding her sword and placing it under his chin.
“Anything you know about the watch. Tell me.”
“If you’re stuck in a time loop, killing me won’t matter. I’ll just come back the next day,” Maddox laughed, which quickly turned into a wheeze as Chloe pressed his throat tighter into the bars.
“You may not permanently die, but I can make you wish for it.” Chloe threatened, her sword touching his skin now.
Maddox considered his options.
“The watch does exactly what I would I assumed the other me told Red. The watch takes you to where you need to be for your true desired change, creates a vacuum, and gives you another chance to make things right. Once you’ve done the work to line up your desired result, what you most wish to achieve now ready to be knocked into place with the continuation of time, the watch completes the cycle and lets time flow free. The question isn’t about what my watch is doing with time, Charming, it’s about what exactly you’re doing with time.”
"Okay, well, my desired change is to make it to Monday and it's not exactly giving me that, now is it?" Chloe said with a scowl, getting frantic. "There has to be something more to it, because the watch keeps taking me back to Sunday and I don't even like Sundays that much! I'm generally impartial to choosing a day of the week!"
"Curious, even my son figured it out, what with his little bracelet fiasco, and yet you scramble like a cat in a bathtub," Maddox said, delighted by Chloe's confusion. "It's Wonderland magic, and Wonderland has always been ruled by a Heart."
“What? What does that-? You’re wasting my time, Hatter.” Chloe grunted in frustration, releasing him and storming out of the barrack.
“I waste time not! Time only wastes me! And it shall waste you too!” Maddox called after her with a laugh.
Chloe ignored him, her brain confused. She thought for sure he would have her answer. She should’ve known better.
Hiking back through Wonderland, Chloe stopped when she heard someone shout her name.
“Red?”
“Fuck, Chloe, what are you doing?” Red ran up to her and grabbed her shoulders.
“What are you doing?”
“I tried to call out as you were leaving but you wouldn’t listen so I followed you. I lost you at the Tulgey Wood. Where did you run off to?” Red looked frazzled and upset, her eyes scanning over Chloe, trying to make sure she was okay.
“I’m sorry for scaring you,” Chloe went to place a gentle hand on Red’s shoulder, but thought better of it. After the way she acted around Maddox, she wasn’t sure how much she trusted her emotional state with being close to Red.
Red, noticing Chloe’s hand withdrawing, grabbed it and held it tight.
“It’s okay, just tell me what’s going on? You look…” Red trailed off, unsure how exactly to phrase Chloe’s slightly manic state.
“I’m not, like, evil again or anything.” Chloe promised quickly.
“I know that, you idiot,” Red sighed. “That’s not what I’m worried about. Last night you seemed off and now running off this morning? Talk to me, Chlo.”
“I don’t even know what to say.”
Red cupped Chloe’s face gently in her hands. “Say whatever’s on your mind. I’ll listen this time, promise.”
Chloe leaned into Red’s gentle touch. In the middle of Wonderland, there wasn't much opportunity for her to escape this time, not without sprinting away from Red like a crazy person. Then again, it's not like Red would remember...
I think I’m in love with you but I’m terrified of hurting you. Of losing you. Of you not feeling the same. I just threatened to torture your old father-figure to death and I’m losing my mind and you’re gorgeous and brave and I think if I speak, I’ll shatter.
“I,” Chloe started, but fear stopped her.
How could she even begin to tell Red.
Looking at the girl she loved, and she did love her, staring into her expectant eyes, Chloe felt her walls fall down.
“I came here for answers. Something’s been going on and I don’t know how to stop it and I hoped that I’d find a solution here.” Chloe explained, still trying to keep things somewhat vague, still unsure if she could tell her everything.
“Is it,” Red paused uncertainly. “About the bracelet?”
“Not exactly. Maybe? I don’t know.”
“You came here to talk to Maddox,” Red deduced.
You’re too smart for your own good, Red of Hearts.
“Yeah, I did.”
“He didn’t try to hurt you, did he.” Red looked concerned again, turning Chloe’s face this-way and that as she checked for any signs of harm.
“No, no, he didn’t do anything.” Kind of hard to when I had him choking against a metal grate with a sword to his throat. “He just said something weird. He said I already knew how to stop what’s happening, asked me what I’m doing with time.” Chloe sighed and shook her head. “It’s probably nonsense.”
“Maybe not completely. Wonderland may sound confusing, but it’s always truthful. Even if it’s not reality, it’s still honest,” Red said.
Her words struck Chloe.
Honesty.
Once you’ve achieved your desired result, time flows free.
“Red of Hearts, why on earth have I been looking for answers anywhere else when I could’ve been talking to you?” Chloe asked, smiling fondly at her best friend.
Red blushed at Chloe’s affectionate gaze and gently shoved her shoulder. “One thing I’m not an expert in is that brain of yours, Charming.”
This had to be it. She had been avoiding Red due to her fear of her love for the girl, had been trying to protect her, but in the end, she’d only been hurting both of them. Red cared for her, whether that was as a friend or more, Chloe didn’t know. But they did care for each other. Chloe knew that now. Pushing aside her feelings for Red had only made things hurt worse, made her angrier, maybe the watch was just waiting for her to embrace her feelings for the other girl.
I suppose I should say ‘thank you’. I’ve been repeatedly wasting a whole day I could’ve had with Red over my own stupidity.
“How about we get breakfast together?”
“Lead the way, sir Charming.”
--
Chloe woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. She had done it, she had broken the cycle. She picked up her phone. It was finally-
It was still fucking Sunday.
You’re fucking joking.
It didn’t work.
She thought that by no longer avoiding Red, of no longer letting fear of the unknown control her and instead learning to just embrace the present, she would get to, I don’t know, actually live in the present?
Clearly not. Alright, what other fucking realizations of the heart do I need to figure out.
Chloe groaned and punched her pillow. Wasn’t one day of attempted emotional maturity enough.
“Morning to you, too, princess.” Red looked caught between amused and concerned.
“Morning.” Chloe grunted.
“Don’t be too happy to see me.” Red teased.
“You’re, actually, the one thing I am happy to see.” Chloe told her truthfully. “If I had to be stuck in an endless loop of fucking bullshit, I really am glad that I get to wake up to you every morning, Red. Genuinely, seeing your face is the one guaranteed thing in this completely guaranteed day that I actually don’t dread.”
“Chloe?!?” Red looked shocked, her jaw hanging open.
“Seriously, I used to worry about finding the right person, about knowing if it was true love or infatuation, but I’ve relived the same conversations with you day after day after day and I actually think I love you more! And that’s even with me trying to avoid you half the time! I’ve barely been letting us spend time together because I don’t know if I can trust myself around you and even these few minutes we spend together, which, once again, are almost always the exact same every. single. time. have still made me fall for you harder. I’m so completely in love with you that I might actually be driving myself crazy over it. Or the world is trying to drive me crazy over it. Either way, I’ve somehow managed to break time it’s-fucking-self because I don’t know what to do with what I feel towards you.”
How’s that for honesty, Wonderland.
“You said you weren’t an expert in my brain? Well, not this you, other you. But still. I don’t even think I’m an expert in my own brain, if that helps,” Chloe joked, laughing in a borderline manic way. “I want to be close to you, Red. I want you all to myself. Seeing you with Luis makes me want to kill him because I know what it’s like to want you and he’d be an idiot to not try but also fuck do I wish he wouldn’t try. Man, I really wish he wouldn’t try because how can I compete with him? He’s sweet and he’s strong and you two bonded and if he makes you happy, I’ll accept it, but fuck I wish it was me. And that’s the other half of it. I want to be near you every minute of every day but I’m so scared of hurting you. I repressed my feelings for you, let myself become literally evil from jealousy, and if I keep getting closer to you, Red, that’s only gonna make the chances of something like that happening again get so much greater. I want to love you and support you in any way I can but how can I trust myself to be by your side when I’ll always want more. I heard it said that desire is the root of all evil, and I think if I could desire you anymore, they’d have to make a whole new fucking barrier just to keep me away.” Chloe panted at the end of her speech, staring at Red with desperate, longing eyes, begging her to understand.
“Chloe,” Red got up out of bed and started to walk towards her roommate. She began to try and speak but was cut off by Chloe.
“I think that’s all I got in me this time.” Chloe said, before turning over and passing out.
--
Chloe yawned as she woke up, stretching her arms above her head. She blinked the sleep from her eyes, feeling slightly more at peace.
Who knew emotionally unloading would’ve made my sleep this much nicer. Good to know.
She stood up, feeling refreshed and ready to try a new solution. She was more determined than ever to break the loop, and had a good feeling about her attempts going forward. First, to start with breakfast, though.
Chloe went to open the blinds, and—
It was dark outside.
What time was it?
It was 11:59 pm. Weird timing. She had figured out in her many attempts to stop it, that the loop reset at midnight, but had never been awake to see it happen. She wondered if she would feel a change as the day rewound or not.
She laid back in bed, deciding to just rest and wait for the reset. No harm in having a full day’s worth of time to get work done on getting out.
“Chloe?” Red mumbled blearily. Chloe checked the time. 12:01, perfect. New cycle.
“Huh? Oh, hey Red.”
“Chloe.” Red repeated, getting up and walking over to her.
“Mhm, what’s up”
Red walked over to where Chloe was laying on her bed. Gently climbing on top of her, Red grabbed Chloe’s chin and kissed her. Chloe froze in shock, but then immediately wound her hands in Red’s hair, pulling her as close as she physically could. Red lowered her body to be flush against Chloe, cupping her face as she made out with her. Chloe traveled from Red’s hair down to her hips, sword-calloused hands holding her friend in place, almost afraid to let go.
“You fell asleep before I could say anything, you goof. I love you, too.” Red whispered against her lips, causing Chloe to practically moan against her in relief.
They broke apart from the kiss, staring at each other in a daze, until Chloe's eyes widened.
“What day is it?”
“What”
Chloe almost threw Red off of her as she sat up, blindly reaching around for her phone on her nightstand.
“It’s Monday. Holy fuck, it’s Monday!” Chloe laughed in relief.
“Uh, yeah? Sorry, but after your uh, well, after this morning you fell back asleep and have been out for ages. You missed basically all of Sunday.”
“Oh, I promise you that I did NOT miss Sunday, not even a little.” Chloe said with a grin, before kissing Red again.
“Woah, easy, Chlo!” Red laughed into the kiss, amused by her roommate’s (girlfriend’s)? enthusiasm. “Never seen someone so happy to have lost a day off.”
“Will you be my girlfriend?” Chloe blurted out, not wanting to waste any more time in uncertainty.
“Of course, kind of goes hand-in-hand with the whole ‘I love you’ thing.” Red grinned. “Are you okay, babe?”
Babe. Chloe liked the sound of that.
“Never been better.”
--
“What was that you said about avoiding me? And also having the same interactions over and over again?”
“Yeahhhh, we have a really long talk ahead of us.”