Chapter Text
Chloe walked in fast strides towards the lab. She kept sparing glances over her shoulder, alert, her pulse racing. Her teeth hurt where she was clenching her jaw a little too tightly, and when she rounded the corner, she collided with someone, both of them startled as they stumbled back.
When Chloe saw who it was, her temper flared up and a wave of disappointment washed over her.
“Red. Where have you been?!”
The girl who was supposed to have been watching the door saw the immediate shift in Chloe and had the decency to look apologetic.
“I’m so sorry. I had to leave. Luis wouldn’t just go on his own.”
She stepped forward and grabbed Chloe’s hand.
“Did you get the wand?”
Chloe halted, frowning and pursing her lips. She knew she should be angry at her friend for ditching her, but she couldn’t. After all, this was her fault. So she nodded, taking out the wand from where she had kept it hidden.
Red squealed in delight.
“How was it? Did someone see you?”
Red was curious. But the blue-haired girl couldn’t stop her face from flushing as the sudden image of Hazel and the way her lips had felt against her own flashed through her mind for a brief moment. It was mortifying enough that Uma and Fairy Godmother had been there. She wanted no one else to find out what had happened.
“Everything went fine.”
She smiled nervously, not even beginning to fill her in on the missing details. And, feeling relieved by the way Red instantly relaxed and didn’t ask any follow-up questions, she sighed.
Then Red started walking, hurrying Chloe along so they could reach the lab in time.
Hopefully, no one had gone in yet.
………………
No one, in fact, had. The lab was exactly the way they had left it.
Chloe breathed out in relief, her eyes glistening a little as she squeezed Red’s hand. The wand beginning to feel a little too loose in her grip now as her eyes took in the disaster. She had stayed for a long time that day in the lab, trying to make the potion work. She really had. But she couldn’t stop the sudden wave of disappointment at the fact that it simply hadn’t.
Red watched her closely from the side. She noticed the clear hesitation and the conflicted look on her face, something not at all characteristic of Chloe. She thought about saying something, but decided against it, knowing the best she could do was offer her support in silence.
She didn’t have to, though. Because soon enough, a determined look formed on Chloe’s face.
With a small ‘you can do it’ of encouragement from her friend, she stepped forward.
Hearing the crunch of broken glass under her boots, Chloe scanned the floor for a spotless place. But it was useless, because there were broken pieces practically everywhere. So instead, she swept her foot over the glass right where she stood, carefully casting the pieces aside. And when there was a safe amount of free space on the floor, she stood still, muttering something under her breath. A sudden rush of adrenaline tooking over her body as the wand slowly started working.
Meanwhile, at a very safe distance, Red just stayed mum, keeping a close eye on her, more curious than anything as she watched her friend work quietly.
She didn’t even know Chloe knew how to use magic.
The only magic she had ever seen was her mom’s back in Wonderland and the time when she staged the coup at Auradon.
But that was way different.
Watching it firsthand, from another source, was… oddly enough. Though there was no mistaking the giddiness she felt as Chloe mumbled softly.
A moment later, the wand began to produce a soft blue hollow light, starting from the bottom and then spreading towards the tip. Chloe’s blue curls starting to shift softly as she mumbled quiet words under her breath, fully concentrated.
Red felt a gasp creep up her throat as every small piece of glass started to levitate.
And she watched in astonishment as the equipment in the laboratory mended itself right before her eyes, pieces of glass from everywhere returning to the exact state they had been in before the explosion. Every smudge of whatever had been inside that beaker also shifted slightly and slowly disappeared, leaving the floor clean.
When it was done, the light disappeared, and both friends just stood there in silence, a soft exhale escaping Chloe’s mouth.
“That was like, the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”
At Red’s voice, Chloe turned around, a soft hue adorning her frame. She looked sheepish, embarrassed almost. Then she smiled, her lips curling as she shook her head.
“I think that was the very first time someone has seen me using magic.”
Red’s eyes trailed the soft hue surrounding Chloe’s body as it slowly began to dim. Then she laughed, delighted. She went closer to her friend, sliding her arm through hers and grabbing Chloe’s shin playfully.
“You’re good at it. I didn’t know you could do that.”
The blue-haired girl scrunched up her nose, her cheeks flushing.
“I can. Everyone thinks being an Hk is easy. But the truth is, there’s so much stuff you have to learn.”
She hid the wand again between her skirt and jacket, shooting one last glance at the lab before she started leading Red out of the room.
She followed instantly.
“I see.”
Chloe closed the door the moment they stepped outside and then halted when Red immediately started heading towards the principal’s office. The blue-haired girl’s voice stopped her.
“Wait. We can’t go back.”
Red turned around, shooting a glance over her shoulder at the corner where the hall turned towards the principal’s office, not understanding Chloe’s hesitation.
“Why? Don’t you want to return the wand?”
She crossed her arms, eyebrows furrowing.
“When I left, I heard Principal Uma’s voice getting closer. So, we should probably go at midnight.”
She said.
“Like last time, remember?”
Chloe felt herself grow nervous as Red watched her closely. But honestly, she didn’t seem to mind, shrugging her shoulders and muttering that it made sense. It was incredible how Red just seemed to trust her so easily. And, breathing out a relaxed sigh, she realized she had been convincing enough to sell the lie, patting herself on the back.
When her friend started walking away, she followed.
Then she cast a look the other way. The instant reminder of soft dark brown eyes flashing through her mind, and her heart skipped a beat, her skin beginning to warm at the ghost of soft lips pressing against hers and the body of the pirate guiding her to rest her back against the safe, eager.
Chloe flushed red, mortified, when three words sent a jolt of alert through her body.
Like a chant, repeating over and over again in her head.
We’ll talk later.
…………..
Chloe’s mind was in turmoil as she swept her blade sharply and fast against the training dummy. Sweat poured down her face, landing on the surface of her white training shirt. The hilt gripped tightly in her fingers.
She’d been trying not to think about Hazel.
When she and Red had returned to their dorm to at least keep the wand hidden there, Red had called out softly and announced that Luis had texted her, that he wanted to meet her. So she had left right after, giving Chloe one last squeeze on the shoulder as her friend sat comfortably on her bed.
Trying to relax now that the problem was fixed.
At least, partly.
But it was no use, because her mind kept going back to the feel of hard leather beneath her fingertips as she had gripped it desperately. The astonished look on Hazel’s face as she took in what Chloe had asked of her, dark eyes watching her closely. That had never been her plan. It had very much been a mistake, and she regretted it. Because not only had she put Hazel in a very difficult situation, she had liked it.
Hazel was not by any means her first kiss. But there was something about it that left her feeling weird. As if the kiss had happened just a moment ago and not about two hours ago. And Hazel had done it so quickly and so unbothered that her face warmed just thinking about it.
That’s why she couldn’t just sit alone with her never-ending thoughts. She rose from the bed and grabbed her training gear, heading directly to the gym.
That was where she was at the moment, muscles contracting with the effort of every swing of her sword. She had been at it for at least forty minutes. More than two hours after the kiss.
Chloe stopped for a moment to catch her breath, feeling tiredness creeping in.
And when she was about to step forward again, the closed doors of the gym swung open, a figure striding in confidently.
The princess turned around, eyes widening and posture immediately straightening up. She raised her arm eagerly, brushing off the remaining sweat from her face, all red from the workout. And then her stare fixated on the newcomer.
Hazel stood there, dark eyes spotting Chloe in the center of the floor as she breathed out, nodding to herself.
Then she stepped forward, eyeing the sword the princess had in her right hand, stopping right in front of her.
“Found you.”
She said, not even knowing the turmoil that was forming inside Chloe’s chest as it jolted in panic. The blue-haired girl’s eyes flickered towards the entrance helplessly, figuring out a way in her head that she could just leave and step out of this conversation.
But a nagging thought in the back of her mind kept her still.
And she sighed, reluctant.
Because as much as she wanted to bolt out of this situation, Hazel deserved an explanation.
Chloe turned around and placed the sword gently on the floor, raising her bottle of water and drinking a bunch from it, the cold liquid soothing her throat in a fast swish. Then she went directly to the bleachers, sitting down carefully and patting the space beside her, glancing embarrassedly at Hazel.
The pirate sat down, the warmth from her body a sharp reminder that she had just sat very close to Chloe.
And when the princess spoke, she could not look directly into Hazel’s eyes. Her fingers curled up in her lap.
“I’m so sorry.”
She muttered, one finger tapping a steady rhythm against her knee in an obvious nervous pattern. Her lips turned down slightly in a grimace as she tried to talk.
“I didn’t peg you to be evil, princess. Stealing the wand seems to be at the top of the list of worse things you could do around here.”
Hazel’s voice was light, her tone amused, and all she received from her comment was a light glare, Chloe huffing out a puff of air as she tightened her hands into fists and crossed one leg over the other.
“It’s not like that. I needed the wand to fix something, as I told you.”
She looked at Hazel.
“Tomorrow, I have a test. I stayed almost all day in the lab trying to make a transformation potion.”
She frowned.
“It did not work. On the contrary, it exploded and the whole laboratory was destroyed. But I have fixed it.”
Hazel was observing her quietly, her stance calm as she sat lazily on the bleacher.
“Red and I are going to return the wand tonight, at midnight.”
That caught Hazel’s attention, her eyebrows lifting in surprise.
“Red? So, she knows?”
Chloe just frowned.
“She was supposed to be guarding the door so no one could enter.”
Hazel laughed.
“And that obviously did not work out.”
She finished Chloe’s statement, the words like a joke on her tongue as she kept watching the princess’s angered form, probably her mind going back to what happened.
“No, it didn’t.”
She confirmed.
Chloe tried to stand up by pressing her hand against the bleacher for support, but as she did, she hissed softly as a jolt of pain went through her arm. She felt confused and tried bringing her hand into view, seeing the wrap that was placed around her left hand starting to peel off, a few smudges of blood dirtying the white cloth.
She had totally forgotten about it.
Then she frowned, the pain a reminder of what had happened.
“Is that from the explosion?”
Hazel’s voice inquired curiously, Chloe’s eyes meeting hers and noticing the slight frown on the pirate’s face as she focused on her wound.
“Yeah.”
She whispered, seeing Hazel’s face shift slightly as she nodded.
In the silence, she felt her body slacken as the rush of adrenaline began to leave her body. Just a soft hue of pale rosy cheeks as her eyes closed and the sudden flash of a kiss and a press of bodies made her heart thump, hugging her hand to her chest, the pain now making it harder to ignore.
When she opened them, brown eyes settled on Hazel. A sudden feeling of gratefulness filling her as she realized how much of a help the brunette had been. If it wasn’t for her, she would have been caught stealing the wand.
“Why didn’t you?”
Hazel kept observing her, not comprehending the question.
“Why didn’t I what, princess?”
Chloe rested her back against the other step of the bleacher, watching Hazel quietly.
“Why didn’t you turn me in?”
She was met with no answer, Hazel’s face almost expressionless. She thought she would not answer, but then she shifted, raising one hand and grabbing Chloe’s left hand, which she kept hugged close to her chest. Chloe watched everything slowly, how Hazel’s fingers began tracing a small, soft caress against the back of her hand, almost as if she wanted her to focus on the feel of it rather than the pain.
“I was a little preoccupied at the moment.”
She let out, her mouth forming a small smirk as she caught the mortified look on Chloe’s face as her eyes closed again. A groan leaving her lips.
“Honestly, my mind kind of short-circuited after you asked me to kiss you.”
Hearing Hazel’s reason, she only grew more embarrassed. The tips of her ears flushing red as she bit her lip softly.
“I’m so sorry, Hazel. I’m so mortified I can’t even look at you right now.”
Her chest contracted at hearing Hazel’s sharp laugh, the pirate quite obviously enjoying Chloe’s torment. And she only leaned back, her body finally feeling the wobbly feeling of tiredness mixing with all the other things she was feeling.
They stayed like that for quite a bit, both quiet as the laugh quietly disappeared. Chloe glanced at their hands, where she could still feel the soft ministrations of Hazel’s fingers as they distracted her.
She kept doing that for a long moment, the blue-haired girl’s form relaxing a little.
“I did not dislike it.”
Hazel’s voice was quiet as she spoke.
She had shifted closer, Chloe realized.
And the princess blinked, distraught, wondering if she had heard right.
Seeing how the blue-haired’s face turned to observe her, confused, the brunette could only stay mum as her attention focused on Chloe’s lips. Not for a moment stopping from softly caressing the hand so poorly taken care of. Her eyes subdued a bit.
“Did you?”
She asked, a hint of something in her voice.
And Chloe desperately wanted to say yes, that she had disliked it.
That the thought of kissing Hazel had been wrong.
But she didn’t. And she could not lie.
She wetted her lips, nervous, and caught how Hazel’s nostrils flared at the movement.
“I didn’t.”
Chloe softly admitted as well. Her heart clenched at the way Hazel’s eyes widened a bit, but she caught it. The way Hazel’s breath evened out as she raised one hand and gently tucked one blue strand behind Chloe’s ear, her finger pressing lightly against her cheek as it receded.
And her eyes focused on Chloe’s red face.
“Good.”
It was what she said before she surged forward and left a very soft kiss on Chloe’s cheek, her breath brushing slightly against her skin. A sudden warmth instantly enveloped Chloe’s body.
And then she stepped back.
“You should really get that checked out, princess.”
Hazel left one last caress on the blue-haired girl’s hand as she rose, placing it carefully on her lap and casting her one last look before she left.
Chloe just watched Hazel disappear through the doors, her heart racing madly.