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Chapter Text

The first thing going through Red’s mind after the whole ordeal was a simple thought, induced by the massive amount of stress, chaos and uncertainty she had just gone through: thank fuck.

The second thing, after she got a change to catch her breath, was: what now?

Was it truly fixed? After being raised by an evil mother for years, using Maddox’ pocket watch to go back in time to avoid a mean prank being played on her, could it really be over just like that? It almost felt too easy.

Maybe she should just enjoy the victory, though a part of her felt like they’d forgotten something. But it had been a long few days, without much sleep – having a stranger’s life and a mother’s kindness depending on you could do that to a person, it seemed – and her brain wasn’t really working properly.

The opening ceremony went by so quickly, and before she knew it, the Queen of Hearts – Bridget, her mother, a word she might now use without contempt in her voice – had to leave.

Her mother hugged her tightly. Red wasn’t exactly raised to be a hugger, but maybe she’d have to get used to it now. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. A problem for later, she decided, while she hugged her back while she had the chance.

Bridget held Red’s face in her hands. ‘’I hope you enjoy Auradon Prep as I did in my time,’’ she said. ‘’I struggled with making friends, but once I opened myself up to it and tried to be myself, it all worked out well for me. Just remember,’’ she added with a wink, ‘’life’s a little sweeter when you are.’’

She said it in a way that made it seem like something she’d say to a younger Red often, almost like an inside joke. It should’ve felt like an endearing moment between the two of them. Instead, Red was just reminded that this version of her mother didn’t exist until today. Briefly, she felt a tinge of sadness, wishing she’d been raised by this version. Beggars can’t be choosers, though, and beg for a mother who loved her she did, for years. So maybe it wasn’t that bad that she didn’t get that until now. It might just make her appreciate it more. She thought of young Ella, who was raised by her horrible stepmother and somehow managed to raise someone as sweet as Chloe. She decided to take her as an example. If she could turn out to be a good person, surely Red could also stand a chance.

She looked around her and saw Chloe talking to her mother. Sweet Chloe, who had seemed to believe in her, trusting her with Merlin’s enchanted recipe book. If someone like her could see something good in Red, there must be a reason, right?

After several more hugs from her mom, promising her she’d stay in contact and then ‘’Just one more hug, honey!’’, Red watched her mom walk out of the courtyard, towards her car and on her way to Wonderland. She wondered what it was like over there. She would have to wait to find out, though. It’s probably bad form to skip your first day of school to visit your homeland.

After most of the parents left, Uma turned towards the students. ‘’Alright everyone, you’ll find a list of dorm assignments at the front desk right inside. Use today to get settled, make some friends, get everything in order. Classes start bright and early tomorrow. Dinner is served in the cafeteria at seven, so I’ll see you all there to feast on the start of a new year.’’ Some people clapped and immediately went inside enthusiastically, to see who they’d be sharing a dorm with. Some dorms were for two people, although Red supposed single dorms must be possible as well. After all, Ella had her own room when they visited her. Although, she remembered, that was years ago. Who knew what the school was like now.

After what seemed like a moment’s hesitation, Red could see Chloe starting to walk towards her. She tried to keep in mind what her mom had told her, about making friends and being herself. But hadn’t Chloe started to like her only when she changed herself, trying to be better?

Then again, Chloe had changed too. Two days ago, breaking into the principal’s office to steal a book had seemed like treason to her. Now, she was willing to do it if the cause was right. Maybe change wasn’t always bad.

Stop, she thought. Stop thinking so much. You’re tired, you need some food and some sleep. And maybe one of those cupcakes Young Bridget made. They were surprisingly good.

When Chloe got closer, Red smiled. Yeah, maybe change wasn’t the worst.

Chloe smiled in return, that sweet, wide smile she had. It was slightly infectious. ‘’So, stranger,’’ she whispered, ‘’excited to see what this school looks like in our own timeline?’’

‘’Why are we whispering?’’ Red mumbled in return. ‘’Everyone’s already inside.’’

‘’We both know this school is full of surprises. Who knows, maybe Merlin’s owl is still flying around trying to find us.’’

‘’Better find some more shoes to throw at it, then,’’ Red laughed. ‘’Although the ones I stole for you look nice, so maybe keep them.’’

‘’I’ll try to find older ones in my suitcase. Speaking of, we should probably get our stuff inside and see what rooms we’re in.’’

Red nodded. ‘’I hope it’s not on one of the top floors; I’m too tired to haul my bags up so many stairs. I’m starting to miss my mom’s evil footmen already. Do you know they used to lift her throne so she wouldn’t have to walk?’’

Chloe, looking absolutely horrified at the thought, shook her head. ‘’Well, let’s see how much exercise you’re about to get.’’

None, as it turned out. Not that Red’s room was not on a higher floor – the second, which was not too bad – but it seemed she didn’t need footmen all the way from Wonderland.

‘’Royal treatment,’’ the uninterested-looking man behind the desk had said. ‘’Someone put your suitcases in your rooms already. You both have private dorms. 202 for our Princess of Wonderland,’’ he added in Red’s direction, ‘’and 201 for young princess Charming’’. He said it in a way that made Red wonder – and no, that was not a Wonderland pun – if this royal treatment was something he was happy with. From the way he glared at her, she gathered it was not.

For a second, she felt what could best be described as bummed out when she realised Chloe wouldn’t be her roommate anymore. Apparently, having one sleepover in the past had made her get used to the girl, almost attached – although she didn’t love throwing that word around. She shook her head. They just got back from trying to save their mothers and a kingdom or two, which would make anyone start to feel a bit fond. In reality, they’d only known each other for about two days. Once the school year started, they would probably drift apart. That’s what happened, right?

If only she could ask someone who’d had friends before. Someone like Chloe, probably. Red sighed; of course the person who might have an answer for her was the person the question was about. You got to love irony.

At least Chloe had the room right next to her. They could still hang out, it they wanted. That might be nice. She hoped it’d be nice.

Chapter Text

Along with Red, Chloe walked up the stairs to 201 and 202, their single rooms. She was glad they were neighbours. She didn’t know anyone here other than Red, and surely their recent adventure would result in a friendship, right? It had to. You can’t save someone’s mom and then do nothing more than nod to them in class. Then again, she didn’t have much experience with such a situation.

While walking, the whole ‘’royal treatment’’ thing didn’t sit right with her. She was perfectly capable of lifting her own bags. Or maybe not, since lifting things wasn’t exactly her strong suit – pun intended; Red might not have appreciated her Wonderland-joke before, but that was before, and whatever, it was funny – but she would’ve at least tried. Maybe she’d needed several trips up and down to get all of her stuff. Maybe she’d sweat a bit. That didn’t matter. She remembered Ella – or her mom, really, but that was before she was her mom – tell her that her ‘princess was showing’. Chloe wanted to turn over a new leaf, one where she wasn’t scared of getting her hands a little dirty.

Someone taking her bags as part of a royal treatment wasn’t exactly the start she’d hoped for.

But at least she wasn’t alone.

Exhausted, they walked in a comfortable silence. Once they arrived at the second floor and saw the numbers 201 and 202 on their left, they stood still.

‘’Well,’’ Red said somewhat awkwardly. Chloe hadn’t known her to be awkward. Snarky? Maybe. Stubborn? Absolutely. But never awkward.

‘’Well,’’ Chloe repeated, turning to Red. ‘’I guess that concludes our first adventure of the year.’’

‘’Are you implying that there will be more? Because I think I’ve had enough time travel for now. Probably forever.’’

‘’Maybe we could get up to fun adventures from now on, instead of life-threatening ones?’’

Red smiled a bit. ‘’That sounds more like it. Although I liked the time travel cupcakes.’’

‘’I’m sure cupcakes still exist in this timeline.’’

‘’They better. But maybe we’ll skip the flamingo feathers this time.’’

Chloe nodded, laughing. ‘’Deal. Well, I guess I’ll… check out my room, then.’’ She did not move a finger after saying that, not knowing to what extent this was noticed by her new neighbour.

‘’Yes, I’ll… go do the same.’’ Red nodded slowly, not moving either.

For a second, they just looked at each other. Chloe could see how tired Red was; the slight bags under her eyes didn’t lie. But more than that, she could also see familiarity. They might not have known each other for long, but she knew her in a way you didn’t know many people in such a short amount of time, or maybe ever. The secrets they had shared and the lessons they had learned in less than 48 hours were something special. They had to be.

So, with that in mind, Chloe opened her door. ‘’Or we could see both of our rooms. See who’s got the better royal treatment.’’ She might not agree with getting that treatment in the first place, but if it got her to stay close to Red, so be it. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye to their time together yet. Which was weird, given that even without being together they would be separated by merely a wall, but still. She had gotten used to having the Princess of Hearts by her side.

Red opened her door as well, with a sparkle in her eye. ‘’May the best princess win.’’

They first went into Chloe’s room. In the middle of it was a double bed with an insane amount of pillows. Chloe wouldn’t admit how happy that made her out loud, but come on, it looked immensely comfortable.

On the right were two dressers and a mirror. Her bags were placed in front of them. She was relieved to see the bags hadn’t been unpacked yet. Luckily, that seemed to have been a step too many, even for Auradon’s standards. Plus, Chloe actually liked unpacking. There was something about making a place for everything, making this room her own, that made her feel a bit more at ease.

On the left, she found a desk. In the corner, next to a large window, was a comfortable chair facing the bed. Red immediately ran over there and sat down, sighing deeply. ‘’If I don’t have such a chair, Charming, I’m taking your room. No discussion possible.’’

Meanwhile, Chloe was inspecting an empty bookcase against the wall next to the door. Knowing the stubborn nature of Wonderland’s princess, Chloe did not follow this up with a response right away. Instead, she walked into the other room’s open door, observed it, and went back with a smile. ‘’No need for another swordfight, your royal highness. Your room seems to be the exact same as mine, comfortable chair and all, but mirrored.’’

Still, Red didn’t move. ‘’Hmm, but I like this one now. I might just keep it.’’ Chloe responded by taking one of the many pillows from her bed and throwing it at her. ‘’Hey!’’

‘’You’re the one basically threatening a home invasion,’’ Chloe shrugged innocently. ‘’I simply defended myself.’’

Red looked up and saw Chloe’s slight smirk. ‘’Think you’re funny?’’

‘’Funnier than you.’’

‘’What happened to that nice girl I met two days ago?’’

Chloe sat on her bed, facing her. ‘’You mean the one you called annoying? Maybe you rubbed off on her. Or maybe the Jabberwocky finally got to her,’’ she added in a whisper.

Red’s smile faded for a second. ‘’I’m sorry about that. I was just…’’

‘’I know.’’ Chloe threw another pillow at her, more softly this time. ‘’It’s okay.’’

Red threw the pillow back, but didn’t respond right away. After a few seconds, she seemed to shake it off and said: ‘’Good. Because now you’re slightly less annoying. When you’re not throwing stuff at me, at least.’’ She stood up and looked out of the window. Chloe automatically stood up and followed her.

Together, they enjoyed the view for a bit. They stood in silence, not knowing how long. It wasn’t until Red’s stomach started making noises that did simply not sound healthy that they realised how much time must’ve passed. Red finally went to her room. Within minutes, though, she was back again, this time with a fresh set of clothes on. ‘’Ready to go?’’ she asked, offering Chloe her arm. ‘’A warm meal is waiting for us.’’

Chloe took her arm and held it while they went towards the cafeteria. Maybe she really did make a new friend. She truly hoped she did.

Chapter Text

If you asked her later, Red would say that she actually liked her time at Auradon Prep, and looked back on it with fond memories, despite the hard work she had to put in to keep her grades up.

If you asked her right now, though, Red would say the classes were not worth getting up so early for. Not one bit.

If you asked Chloe, she’d say Red was overreacting. In return, Red might say that she’d been looking forward to the freedom of sleeping in once she was gone from her evil mom, who never let her. This might result in a long discussion about freedom versus responsibilities, with both Red and Chloe clearly advocating for one rather than the other.

This might also have happened on their very first day of class.

Chloe, dressed and ready to go, had knocked on Red’s door. They’d compared their class schedules the day before and had found out that they had most of them together, to both their enjoyment. She figured she’d see if Red wanted to get breakfast together and then walk to their first class, chemistry.

Unfortunately, Red had severely overslept. She had also not unpacked yet, despite Chloe strongly advising her to do so the night before. Red would blame this on being used to being homeschooled; Chloe would blame this on Red and only Red, since a boarding school like Auradon Prep meant the school was your home.

After some bickering back and forth, Chloe unpacking Red’s bags in record time and finding her something to wear while Red took a quick shower, the girls were ready to go. Despite Red’s objections – ‘’I could just take breakfast to class and eat it there’’ – Chloe was determined to get both of them to breakfast and to class in time. She’d been looking forward to attending Auradon Prep for ages, and nothing was going to ruin it, not even a time machine in the form of a pocket watch – or a nuisance in the form of a redheaded princess.

The girls got breakfast and an extra-large coffee for Red and found a table, where Chloe kept looking around. ‘’Waiting for someone?’’ Red asked, her mouth mostly full with a bite of bacon and eggs.

‘’First of all, that was disgusting,’’ Chloe shuddered. Despite both of them being princesses, she supposed her parents were a bit more strict in that regard. They cared about politeness and using your head, whereas the Queen of Hearts had until recently seemed to care more about chopping them off.

‘’And second of all?’’ Red asked, mouth still half-full.

‘’Second of all, I’m just taking it all in.’’ The cafeteria actually looked quite nice, with several rows of long tables and paintings on every wall. Yesterday, at dinner, all of the candles along the walls had also been lit, giving it a bit of an eerie but pretty atmosphere. Now, since it was early in the morning, the windows provided more than enough light.

‘’The only thing I’m taking in is my coffee,’’ Red said, her bite finally being swallowed.

‘’I can’t wait to see you so happy every morning.’’

‘’Can’t blame you. I’m great company.’’ The banter they had developed made Red feel more comfortable around Chloe. That and the fact that they were still hanging out. Maybe their friendship really could develop beyond the saving of lives. It seemed like a lot less pressure, at least.

That lack of pressure was easily replaced by the pressure to get to class in time, however. Chloe really seemed to care about it. Because of that, Red actually walked fast to find their classroom in time. She didn’t even really mind that much when they got there fifteen minutes early. She’d make Chloe adjust to a normal schedule in time, she was sure of it. This was only day one.

The door to the classroom was already open, so they found a place on the second row. Chloe wanted one in the front, of course, but Red managed to convince her. Not by giving a good argument; no, it was way too early for that. Instead, she simply sat down and refused to move. Reluctantly, Chloe gave in and joined her, of which Red was immensely proud.

Since it was only the first day of school, the class was not too difficult yet – as opposed to the classes they’d had to follow during their trip back in time. The downside here, however, was that they actually needed to pay attention. This was something both girls were struggling with, although neither of them noticed that about the other. They were both in their own heads.

Red was mostly thinking about her mother, as was expected. Having a mother change her personality overnight was not easy for anyone, even if those changes were positive. it didn’t help that she didn’t get to spend time with her mother, when all she wanted was to get to know the new her.

What was less expected, though, was where Chloe’s mind went. Just like Red, she was thinking about her own mother, but for different reasons. Or actually, maybe their reasons were more similar than the girls knew.

It seemed that Red’s mother wasn’t the only one who had changed since their return to their own time. Chloe didn’t really know what had changed yet, but her mom just seemed… off, somehow.

Then again, she’d only seen her for a few minutes. Maybe she was just shaken up by meeting her younger version, and seeing how she grew up. Or maybe Chloe herself had changed, and that made her see her mother in a new light.

She’d contemplated telling Red last night, when they were hanging out in her room before dinner, but the moment passed and she wasn’t sure whether to bring it up again. She didn’t want to worry Red, not after they’d gone through so much trouble to save her mom. And she didn’t want to worry herself, either. It might be nothing, so why focus on it? She couldn’t even think of something concrete her mother had done that made her feel this way. It was just a feeling she couldn’t seem to shake.

The rest of class consisted of both girls trying to keep their attention and failing. Under normal circumstances, Chloe would probably have scolded Red for being so distracted, but today, she didn’t even notice.

She struggled to keep in a sigh. What a way to start the school year. Nothing like time travel and family drama.

Chapter Text

The next couple of weeks went by in a blur, during which Red and Chloe had started to settle into a nice little routine.

Every morning, Chloe would get up early and go for a walk. She liked to settle her thoughts at the beginning of the day, to calm them in a way. Her morning walk easily became one of her favourite parts of the day, along with what came right after it.

After circling the school terrain for a bit, she’d go inside and walk by the cafeteria to grab a coffee. She didn’t drink coffee herself – Red made her try a sip one morning, followed by Chloe nearly spitting it out – but Red really seemed to need it to get herself started each day. So, by the time Chloe came back from her walk, Red would be dressed and ready to go and Chloe would knock on her door, greeting her with her coffee. She wasn’t sure how or why this tradition started, exactly; one day she just happened to walk by the cafeteria and saw a large thermos of coffee just standing there, so she grabbed Red a cup. When she saw how happy this made Red, she did it again the next day, and she hadn’t stopped in the weeks after.

In return, Red made sure to always be ready by the time Chloe knocked on her door. She knew how important it was to Chloe to get to class in time and had decided to make a genuine effort. She finally made a friend, so she wouldn’t let anything get in her way – even early mornings, difficult as they may be.

After the coffee delivery, as Red had affectionately come to call it, they would go to breakfast together. Sometimes, if they were extra early, they would go for a short walk outside to enjoy the weather. The Auradon Prep campus was beautiful, so Red didn’t mind it, and Chloe liked going again. Whereas Chloe used the first morning walk to calm her thoughts, she used the second, shorter one to spend time with Red. They didn’t really talk much in the morning, but she enjoyed her presence.

After that, they would attend their classes. They had most of them together, so except for maybe one or two classes a day, they’d go from class to class together the entire day. They would then spend lunch together as well.

One thing that bothered Red was that it was usually just them. Sure, there were some classmates who were kind and sometimes joined them for lunch, but not often. Red herself didn’t mind; she liked just hanging out with Chloe. However, she was starting to worry that Chloe didn’t share this sentiment. She seemed like the type of person to have a huge friend group and get along with everyone. A part of Red started to worry that she was the problem. Did people avoid her, and therefore Chloe? She tried to be kind, for Chloe’s sake, but she wasn’t good at it. She wasn’t raised among kids her own age, and her mother’s behaviour might not be the best example for making friends.

Chloe didn’t seem to mind, but how would she know for sure?

After lunch, classes continued, and they would sit together for dinner afterwards. After that, their evenings were all free, so they usually spent those in Chloe’s room. Red tended to make a mess of her room, so Chloe’s was usually the safer option.

One evening, when they were both in their own rooms, Red got bored. She decided to drag the comfortable chair in her room to Chloe’s, so they could sit near the window together. Sometimes, they’d do their homework together, or Red would do card tricks for her – the only thing she inherited from her mother that she did enjoy. Either way, they’d spend the evening sitting in their chairs together until it was time to go to bed, at which point Red would leave and they’d be separated for one of the few times that day.

One morning, however, Red woke up at her usual time. She took a shower, got dressed, and sat on her bed – the downside to dragging her chair to Chloe’s room was that she missed a comfortable place to sit, but she didn’t mind. She spent more time in Chloe’s room than in her own, anyway.

She waited until she heard Chloe knock on her door, like every morning in the past weeks. She expected it anytime; three soft knocks, after which she’d open the door and see Chloe, cheeks flushed from her morning walk, extending a cup of coffee for Red to grab with a smile on her face.

But it didn’t come.

After about five minutes of waiting, Red decided to go find her friend. It was unlikely for Chloe to be even a minute late, so she started to worry. Her head started to flood with reasons for Chloe to miss their meet-up. Maybe she got lost? No, she knew the roads here pretty well after walking around every day. Maybe the coffee wasn’t done yet? No, then she’d just show up here and Red could grab coffee during breakfast. So where was she?

She first tried Chloe’s room, of course. But she got no response. She opened the door slightly, to peek in, but saw nobody. Okay, there went the easy option.

She walked to the cafeteria. One of the upsides of Chloe’s bright, blue hair – other than that it just looked good on her – was that she was easily recognizable. This should make finding her easier, at least. But she was nowhere to be found there, either.

Red started walking around the hallways, even going to their first class of the day incredibly early. But nothing.

She was starting to get desperate. If she knew Chloe’s morning route, she might be able to find her, but it changed every day. She really started to worry now. She had to be around here somewhere, but where?

Red started almost running around campus. Some people looked at her like she was crazy, but whatever. They’d react the same if their friend was missing. Maybe it was also crazy to see someone as missing after just about twenty minutes, but Chloe was nothing if not consistent in their morning routine.

She circled campus. She didn’t think Chloe really went off of the campus terrain, at least by much, because her morning walks weren’t that long.

Finally, after running around for way too long – she didn’t care for cardio much, so this was a bit too much exercise for her liking – she thought she saw a glimpse of blue hair sitting on a bench. She took a deep breath and ran over there, ‘’Chloe!’’ she exclaimed when she got closer and saw that it was indeed her friend sitting there. ‘’I’ve been looking all over for you. Where the… wait, are you okay?’’

Chloe had turned around, allowing Red to see her red eyes. She’d clearly been crying. ‘’It’s… it’s my mom,’’ she said. ‘’I think something’s wrong.’’

Chapter Text

That morning, Chloe had started her daily walk just like usual. If she didn’t go for her walk, her head seemed like a scrambled mess. She felt like something was wrong, but was never able to put her finger on what. She was here to focus on her classes and get good grades, so she had to stay calm and do what she had to do.

She was usually good at that, so why not now?

She kept thinking back on the only time she saw her mother since returning from the past, at the opening of the school year. She seemed more distant than usual. It was such a short moment, but she knew her mother, so shouldn’t she know if something was off?

It didn’t help that they might have messed with the fabric of time. Going back in the past and making big changes, like they did, could result in something unexpected, right? Maybe they had completely messed up and didn’t even know yet. But she couldn’t tell Red, who finally got the mother she wanted after so many years. She just couldn’t. Chloe knew what a mother’s love felt like, but Red only knew the lack of it. She deserved a chance to experience it.

That morning, however, Chloe’s worries seemed to be confirmed.

Before she left for school, she promised her parents to write, and they of course promised to write back. Chloe had written them several times; once a week, in fact. She was still waiting for a response. At first she thought her parents might be busy, maybe on a trip or something. Or maybe one of the staff members had mistakenly threw the letter out when it came with the mail. Who knew?

But this morning, she saw the mail arrive during her walk. Every kid in school had their own mailbox, on the ground floor of the school. So when she saw that they had just been filled with that morning’s mail, she was incredibly excited to see a letter in hers. She grabbed it and continued on her walk, going outside for some privacy while reading it.

She sat on a park bench near the outskirts of campus and opened the long-awaited letter, hoping for the kind words of her mother that she’d been craving ever since she arrived here. So when she finally read them, her heart sank when she saw the letter was only a few sentences long.

Dear Chloe,

I’m glad you’re enjoying your time at Auradon Prep. Say hi to your new friend Red; it’s nice you made a friend so quickly, although you have been spending a lot of time together. How are your classes going? And extracurriculars? Make sure to be kind to your professors; good connections will only get you so far without putting in the work.

Kind regards,
Ella Charming,
Her Royal Highness,
Queen of Cinderellasburg

Chloe easily recognized it as the basic template used for letters. Kind regards, followed by her full name? What was this?

But what hurt the most was the handwriting. It wasn’t her mom’s.

Her mother only wrote personal letters herself – or at least she used to. One of the royal servants would write formal letters on her behalf, but her mother always wrote to her or her brother by her own hand. And the letter was so short. Normally, her mother could easily write four pages filled with small updates. She would see a cute dog Chloe would love, or run into a family friend that had held Chloe as a baby, no update was too small. This letter was simply not from her mother. Maybe from ‘Her Royal Highness of Cinderellasburg’, but not from her mother.

Chloe kept staring at the letter while tears filled her eyes. Her feeling hadn’t been wrong, and this was proof. She couldn’t keep denying it.

She had no idea how long she sat there, crying and missing her mother. What had they done? They did somehow exchange her mother’s love for Red’s mother’s? What was it that they did? They stopped the prank from happening, so how would that change Ella’s behaviour when they had meant it to change Bridget’s?

After a while, she heard footsteps approaching her fast. ‘’Chloe!’’ She immediately recognized Red’s voice. Oh shit, she totally forgot their morning ritual. The letter had messed her up more than she even realized.

‘’I’ve been looking all over for you. Where the… wait, are you okay?’’ Red’s voice trailed off a bit once Chloe turned around. Of course, her tears had quickly given it away.

Chloe tried to wipe her tears off her face as Red sat next to her. ‘’It’s… it’s my mom,’’ she said. ‘’I think something’s wrong.’’ Red grabbed her hands to get them away from her face, looking her in her eyes. ‘’What is it?’’ she asked, in a kinder voice than Chloe had ever heard her use.

Unsure where to start, she handed Red the letter. With it being so short, it didn’t take her long to read it. ‘’She wrote to you,’’ Red said, albeit unsure. ‘’That’s… good, right?’’ She didn’t sound too convinced herself.

‘’Look at it. It’s so short, she barely says anything. And it’s not even her handwriting. The ‘kind regards’ thing, and her whole title? That’s a standard format used when a servant writes a letter on her behalf.’’ She took a deep breath. ‘’She didn’t care enough to write me herself. She doesn’t care.’’ She couldn’t stop another wave of tears. ‘’She doesn’t care about me. I thought something was wrong, but I didn’t know what.’’

Red scooted closer and hugged her, holding Chloe in her arms as the blue-haired girl cried in her shoulder. She’d never seen Chloe this upset before. Even when her mother had been sentenced to death – still not Red’s finest moment – Chloe had remained hopeful, in a way, and hadn’t shed a single tear. This was different. Like she’d given up already.

And immediately, Red hated herself. ‘’Why didn’t you tell me?’’ she asked softly. She couldn’t bear to see her friend hurting. Maybe if she’d paid more attention, she could’ve caught this. Maybe if she’d gotten up earlier and joined Chloe on her stupid morning walks, she would’ve told her about this. Maybe if…

Chloe interrupted her thoughts by letting go of the hug and wiping her tears once again. ‘’You just got your mom back, Red,’’ she sniffled. ‘’I wasn’t sure if something was wrong with mine. I didn’t want you to worry. You’ve had enough worries about your own mother for long enough,’’ she added.

Red took Chloe’s face in her hands in an attempt to get her to look at her, and to wipe away some stray tears. ‘’You could’ve told me,’’ she said seriously. ‘’We’re in this together, aren’t we? Friends who time-travel together, stay together, or something?’’

She was relieved to see Chloe smirk a little bit. ‘’You helped me get my mother back,’’ she added in a more serious tone. ‘’Whatever’s going on, I’ll help you too.’’ I’m the reason we’re in this mess in the first place, she thought to herself. Whatever I need to do, I’ll get us out of it.

Chloe looked at her. ‘’Are you sure?’’

Red stood up and grabbed Chloe’s hands, getting her to stand up as well. ‘’Yep. And I think it’s time for a little trip.’’

‘’A trip where?’’

‘’To Cinderellasburg. We need to find out what exactly is up with your mom before we make any drastic decisions.’’

Chloe tried to keep in a laugh, failing. ‘’You? You don’t want to do anything drastic? I guess your mother isn’t the only one who changed by our little trip back in time.’’

‘’I guess you’re rubbing off on me then,’’ Red shrugged. ‘’Now come on, we need to pack our things. And find out how we’re going to get to your house.’’ Red, still holding one of Chloe’s hands, started walking towards the school and dragging Chloe with her. She smiled, and Chloe felt warm inside. She was right, she should’ve told her sooner. Maybe Red really did care about her. And more than that, maybe Chloe really did care about Red, too.

Chapter Text

While walking back to the school, they immediately went into planning mode. Red’s plan was to fake a family emergency so Chloe could go home as soon as possible. Chloe shook her head, saying: ‘’They might check in with my parents, so the chances of someone finding that lie out are a bit too high. Plus, they might not let you come with me if it’s a family thing.’’

‘’Fair.’’ Red was glad Chloe had accepted the fact that Red would be joining her for her trip home. There was no way she would let her go alone. The situation was difficult enough with her help, let alone without.

‘’Maybe we could just wait for the weekend?’’ Chloe offered. ‘’It’s not ideal, but it would be a lot less suspicious.’’

Red sighed, ‘’That’s two more days. Think you can wait it out until then?’’

‘’I’ll have to. If we do this too fast and they found out something’s wrong, what would I say? What if my mom finds out?’’

‘’True, we don’t know how she’ll respond in this… timeline, I guess.’’

‘’Exactly. We should act like nothing’s going on, so we can observe my parents and try to figure out what changed in this timeline.’’ It seemed like an impossible task, but Chloe thought it better to not add that part. Plus, they had to at least try. Who knew changing the past and then figuring out what exactly had changed in the tens of years following it would be so difficult.

‘’Alright. So how will we get there? Do you have some fancy royal carriage we can use?’’

‘’We do, actually. And cars. Although they’re all back home at the palace, so I’d need to get in contact with someone from there and ask to be picked up.’’

‘’Maybe we could ask the school to arrange it? I’m sure they would, for their favourite royal student,’’ Red smirked.

‘’What, you mean they prefer me over the Princess of Hearts, who still falls asleep in class despite being delivered coffee every day?’’ Chloe smiled.

‘’Weirdly enough, yes.’’ Red was silent for a bit. ‘’Although I do appreciate the coffee,’’ she added more sincerely.

‘’My pleasure, princess. Alright, let’s try to find some transportation for Friday.’’

As they walked in, they went to the man behind the front desk they’d spoken to on their first day. His enormous lack of enthusiasm for being here was still very much present, although it seemed to somehow grow at the sight of them. ‘’Guess his hate for royals hasn’t gotten better,’’ Red whispered to Chloe as they approached. ‘’Let’s hope he’ll help.’’

He did, luckily, although he didn’t seem too happy about it. ‘’Students and their weekend trips,’’ he mumbled to himself. Then, to the girls, he said: ‘’I’ll arrange a car to take you on Friday after classes. It will pick you up on Sunday evening around eight, to ensure you’ll be in time for your classes on Monday.’’

The girls thanked him several times, in hopes of staying in his good graces – or ever getting there in the first place – and then went back upstairs. Halfway, however, Chloe turned around suddenly, almost making Red fall out of sheer surprise. ‘’We have class!’’ Chloe said in shock. ‘’Red, we have class. Go!’’ She started walking a bit too quickly for Red’s taste.

‘’Can’t we just say we’re sick or something? We’ve had enough tears for one day, and Mathematics isn’t going to help us,’’ Red complained.

‘’If we run, we might still make it.’’

‘’We haven’t had breakfast yet,’’ Red said, starting to get out of breath again after the unwanted exercise from this morning. ‘’We could starve to death.’’

‘’I’d rather starve than miss class.’’

‘’That seems unreasonable.’’

‘’Red!’’

‘’Alright! Coming, coming.’’

They arrived exactly as class started, so they sat down right away, only to realize they didn’t have their books, notebooks or pens. Luckily, the teacher either didn’t notice or didn’t care, so they just sat there and tried to pay attention. Neither of them succeeded, of course. This time, Red noticed Chloe struggling to focus. ‘’Try not to think about it too much,’’ she whispered. ‘’Just two more days, okay? We’ll figure out what’s wrong.’’

Chloe smiled at her and nodded. ‘’Yeah. Yeah, we’ll figure it out.’’ She wasn’t exactly convinced yet, but she appreciated Red’s attempt to put her at ease.

And so, for the next two days, Red tried to distract her as much as she could. They did their homework together and ate together, as usual, but Red started joining her for her morning walks as well. When she asked her why, the redhead just shrugged and said: ‘’You shouldn’t be alone with your thoughts.’’

And so she wasn’t.

Chapter Text

On Friday, their last class of the day seemed like absolute torture. It took too long to end, and both Red and Chloe were clearly getting restless. They had spent that morning packing their things for their trip and had their bags laying in front of their doors, so they could grab them and leave as soon as humanly possible.

So when class ended, they did exactly that. After sprinting upstairs, grabbing their bags and sprinting back down – ignoring their confused classmates, who were only just walking upstairs or still hanging around the classrooms – they went outside to see one of the royal cars pull up.

The driver walked out and put their bags in the car, after opening their doors for them and letting them inside. Red whistled as soon as they were inside. ‘’Fancy, princess.’’

‘’You keep calling me princess, but you know you’re a royal just like me, right?’’

‘’I know, but we didn’t have such fancy cars,’’ Red said. ‘’We didn’t have anywhere to go.’’

‘’Did you not leave the palace?’’

‘’Not that my mother knew of, at least. I sometimes snuck out to walk around at night, but I never went too far. I wasn’t allowed to leave.’’

Chloe went silent. How do you respond to something like that? With Red being so kind to her, it was easy to forget the way she was raised. It was just like she’d wondered about her own mother when they were in the past. How do you grow up with such an awful home life and then end up such a kind soul?

‘’I’m sorry,’’ she said eventually. ‘’I can’t imagine growing up like that. I-‘’ She went silent as the driver stepped inside. It was probably better to keep their conversations about alternate timelines to a minimum when in the presence of, well, anyone else.

The trip to Cinderellasburg didn’t seem too long, as both girls slept through the entire thing. They were exhausted after the last couple of days; Red from getting up way earlier than she was used to, Chloe from worrying constantly. So when they arrived, the driver woke them up with a gentle cough.

Chloe awoke and noticed she and Red had moved towards each other in their sleep, their hands almost touching. She pulled back, blushing a bit.

Red yawned loudly. ‘’We’re there already?’’

Chloe looked out of the window and saw the castle she grew up in. Her heart started beating loudly in her chest. She’d never been anything but excited to be home before. How times had changed. ‘’Yes. We’re there.’’

Red seemed to understand her conflicted feelings. ‘’It’ll be okay. I’ll be there the whole time, and whatever’s going on, we’ll fix it.’’

Chloe nodded and took a deep breath. ‘’Alright. Let’s go inside.’’

The driver opened the doors for them again and they stepped out. ‘’I’ll make sure to get your bags inside, Your Royal Highness,’’ the driver said as he curtsied.

‘’Thank you, Peter,’’ Chloe said. ‘’We’ll go inside.’’

The girls made their way to the front door, where two guards stood. They also curtsied. ‘’Frank, Angelo,’’ Chloe nodded to them as they opened the doors, not noticing the way they slightly frowned at that.

‘’Do you know all their names?’’ Red whispered.

‘’Of course!’’ Chloe said. ‘’I grew up with them.’’

‘’But… they seemed surprised when you called them by their names.’’

Chloe looked back at them. The guards didn’t look at them, already closing the door behind them. Were they surprised? She hadn’t noticed. She’d always called their staff by name. They were always around when she was a kid, so it seemed only natural. Plus, her mother had always taught her to respect everyone, whether they were another royal or a member of staff. ‘’Maybe that’s something my old mom taught me,’’ she whispered back, realizing that this might be only one of the changes they unknowingly caused. ‘’Maybe the current version isn’t as respectful to staff.’’

‘’Let’s try not to draw conclusions yet,’’ Red said, although she suspected Chloe was right. ‘’Alright, where do you think your mom is?’’

‘’She’s probably in her office,’’ Chloe said. ‘’Or the living room, maybe. Let’s see.’’

Red followed Chloe as she manoeuvred herself through the almost maze-like building. There were simply too many hallways. Red grew up in a castle, too, but it was a lot more straight-forward than this. Every hallway seemed to lead to three different ones. How did someone ever learn where everything was?

Chloe, having grown up here, almost laughed at Red’s confusion. ‘’You get used to it after a while. Although our little weekend trip might not be enough for you.’’

‘’I’ll just have to come back, then,’’ Red said.

‘’Maybe when we’re not on a time-saving mission,’’ Chloe whispered. At normal volume, she added, ‘’Here we are.’’

She knocked on a large door in the middle of the hallway. ‘’Come in!’’ a voice said, after which Chloe opened the door, Red close behind her, and stepped in.

She saw the slight confusion on her mother’s face. ‘’Chloe!’’ She exclaimed. ‘’You’re here?’’

‘’Yes! I figured I’d come back for the weekend. Did no one tell you? Pe- a staff member picked us up from Auradon Prep just now.’’ She’d almost called him by name, but remembered her conversation with Red. She couldn’t let anything on, and if she wasn’t supposed to know staff members’ names in this timeline, she would have to pretend she didn’t.

Her mother stood up and walked towards her. ‘’You’re right, it was mentioned,’’ she said. ‘’I completely forgot. I’ve been so busy the past few days. But how nice to have you here.’’ She gave Chloe a hug.

Chloe let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding in and hugged her mom back. At least her mom was still a hugger in this timeline. Anything that stayed the same was a gift in her eyes. She looked at her mother’s office. It looked like it used to before. The same large, wooden desk, filled with letters and books and-

The hug didn’t last too long, but it was better than she’d feared. After it, Red curtsied and said, ‘’Your Royal Highness. Thank you for letting me stay here for the weekend.’’

‘’Any friend of my daughter is always welcome here,’’ the queen responded. ‘’Now, I have to go back to work, but I’ll see you girls at dinner. A staff member will guide you to your room,’’ she added to Red. ‘’I hope you enjoy it here.’’

The girls walked back out again. Immediately, a staff member Chloe didn’t recognize – maybe this alternate timeline lead her mom to hire more people, or different ones – held his hand out to stop Red. ‘’Princess of Wonderland,’’ he said with a slight bow. ‘’I’m here to lead you to your room.’’

‘’Oh, I could take her,’’ Chloe offered. ‘’Where is it?’’

‘’I wouldn’t want to bother you, Princess,’’ the man said. ‘’It’s all the way across the castle.’’

‘’It’s not a-‘’ Chloe tried, but she got interrupted.

‘’With all due respect, I got orders from your mother. I am to take the princess to her room.’’

Chloe didn’t want to start an argument; clearly, the man wasn’t about to disrespect a direct order from her mom. So she just nodded and said, ‘’I’ll come find you in a bit, Red. I’ll unpack my stuff first.’’

Red nodded. She was clearly not happy with this development, but knew better than to argue with the royal whose castle she’d just entered. Chloe’s mom might not be as inclined to ‘’off with her head’’ her as her own mom used to be, but in this new timeline, who knew what could happen. So she followed the man down several hallways, getting absolutely lost, and eventually arrived at her room.

It was a big room, especially considering it was only a guest quarter, but it seemed to be very far away from the other rooms, at least Chloe’s. Maybe this was normal for guests in a royal castle; she wouldn’t know, as her mother didn’t appreciate anybody else in her home.

What was probably not normal, however, was when the man closed the door behind her and locked it.

Chapter Text

Chloe went to her room and saw her bag already there. She didn’t have to bring much, since it was only a weekend trip, but she still unpacked her stuff. Normally, she liked to take her time for this, laying everything out and returning it to their original place in her room. This time, however, she wanted to find Red and discuss their arrival with her. Did Red agree that her mom acted differently? Normally, if she would’ve come home after not seeing her for a month, her mother would hug her like it’d been a year. And what was up with the guard bringing Red to her room? Normally, there’d be no problem with Chloe showing a guest around herself.

As soon as she was done, Chloe left her own room, with the intention of finding Red’s. There was a small wing with guest charters, so she assumed she’d find her quite easily.

However, that was before she saw the obstacle in front of her door: the same man as before. ‘’Princess,’’ he said, ‘’I’m here to guide you to the dining hall.’’

‘’Oh!’’ she exclaimed, surprised. ‘’I was actually planning on going to find my friend. We could come to dinner right after.’’ She tried to move past him, but he held out his arm, stopping her.

‘’I’m afraid it wasn’t a question,’’ he said. ‘’The queen wants me to bring you straight to the dining hall. Your friend can go there on her own.’’

Chloe didn’t know what to do. She wanted to find Red, but how could she escape him? He had a threatening look in his eyes, so she didn’t want any trouble. Was this the type of person her mom hired these days?

She nodded and followed the man, going straight to the dining hall. She looked around for any sign of her friend’s signature red hair, but found nothing. Where was she?

Meanwhile, Red was sitting in captivity. She’d always felt like a prisoner in her own home growing up, but it had never been as literal as it was now. At first, she’d tried knocking on the door, asking if anyone was on the other side. She’d heard nothing, though, so she gave that up after a while.

She started looking around the room. There had to be something she could do. If Chloe was right and something was up with her mom, she wasn’t going to sit there while her friend could be in danger.

The door was clearly a no-go, but maybe there was something else. A vent she could crawl through? A secret passage? An old castle like this had to have some secret passages, right?

The window. Of course, how could she skip the obvious choice?

She stepped over to the window. It wasn’t locked, so she opened it up as wide as it could. Not a lot of space, and they were pretty high up. Any normal prisoner would see no escape here.

But Red was no normal prisoner.

After sneaking out of her own home for most of her childhood, she knew a way of sneaking out or two. Climbing out of a window was easy. Sure, this was a bit higher than her room back home, but it shouldn’t be too different.

She climbed out of the window carefully, and saw a balcony a bit to the left. That was a safe space to start. And if it didn’t work out, at least she could rest a bit instead of quite literally hanging around.

It was too far to jump, but the outside of the building had a lot of lanterns to light up the whole castle. She was sure it looked beautiful in the dark. If only the queen hadn’t locked her up in her room, she might’ve been able to enjoy a nice moonlit walk with Chloe. She would surely give her a tour of the entire castle, if she had the chance, including a detailed monologue for every single thing they came across. She’d love to hear them.

Chloe. Where was she? Was she okay? Her worry only grew her motivation to get out of here quickly. She took a deep breath and grabbed a nearby lantern, pulling a bit to see if it could hold her weight. Luckily, the lanterns were big and sturdy, so she should be able to use them to get across.

She held the lantern and stood up carefully, using the window to hold her feet. She pushed against it to cause some momentum, swinging around until she was close enough to grab the next lantern. She repeated this process to more times until she arrived at the final lantern before the balcony. Just one more swing, and then-

Shit. Shit shit shit.

The lanterns started moving with her, slowly getting loose from the castle wall. This was less than ideal. She had to hurry before the whole thing fell. With one final swing, she managed to jump onto the balcony.

She sat down and caught her breath. She might be a pro on climbing around buildings like this, but that didn’t make it any less exhausting. Plus, she hadn’t accounted for falling lanterns.

After resting for a few seconds, she tried to open the door leading to the balcony. It was locked, but it didn’t seem too sturdy. Hoping for the best, she pushed against it. Nothing. She stepped back and threw her entire body weight against it this time.

That did the trick. The entire door fell down, with Red on top of it. ‘’Dammit,’’ she mumbled to herself. She stood up and rubbed her shoulder, which had gotten the worst of the blow. At least she was out of her own room.

She looked around this room. It looked similar to hers. She walked towards the door and listened for any movement on the other side. It sounded like nobody was there. She supposed that was one of many upsides to a massive castle; it was easy to sneak around in. Although maybe that would actually be considered a downside for the people living in it.

She tried to open the door she assumed would lead to the hallway. It opened! She exhaled with relief. Sneaking through the castle seemed a bit easier than climbing all the way down, and certainly less exhausting.

She looked around carefully before stepping outside and closing the door behind her. Okay, that was step one.

Another downside to a massive castle, this time for the people doing the sneaking around: how would she ever know where to go? Her best option seemed to be to just start walking, in hopes of recognizing something she’d seen along the way to the room. Most hallways looked pretty much the same here, from what she’d seen so far, but they did contain different paintings.

She saw one she recognized; it was a family portrait of the Charming’s. Chloe, her brother Chad, and King and Queen Charming. Red remembered it, because the painting portrayed a much younger Chloe, with messy hair and a smile missing two teeth who must’ve just fallen out. Red remembered it, more specifically, because she’d been planning on teasing Chloe about it later.

Okay, so she should enter this hallway. She continued on for a bit; she saw another painting she thought she recognized, this one showing the castle. The castle in the painting looked a bit different than when she arrived here earlier, with less green surrounding it, so it must be from at least a few years ago. This one she remembered because she’d been wondering what it would be like to grow up here. Not a castle, since she’d grown up in one herself, but a castle filled with a loving family.

A loving family that she may have changed without meaning to.

Red continued on, slowly making her way through the castle, hallway by hallway. She took some wrong turns resulting in dead ends, and had to wait for guards to pass sometimes, but her experience with sneaking out paid off when she recognized the large door from before. The door to the Queen’s office.

That might provide some answers. Except, of course, it was locked. Which made sense, but was still a little bump in the road that made Red sigh deeply. She’d already endured classes, a long car ride and imprisonment today. It would’ve been nice to avoid further obstacles.

Where could she go now? She still didn’t know where Chloe was, or what the Queen was doing now. She might find a way to get out of the castle, if she was lucky, but she wasn’t going to leave here without Chloe. She had to find her first.

She heard slow footsteps approaching from around the corner. Shit. She looked around. The office was closed, so that wasn’t an option. She started walking in the opposite direction from the footsteps, going around a corner she’d just come from. There were several doors, but she didn’t know what they lead to.

The footsteps got closer, so she started to panic and tried random doors. The first two were locked as well, but the third one opened. She went inside without looking and closed the door behind her as quickly as she could. Trying to hold her breath, she waited for the footsteps to pass.

But they didn’t.

Where was this unknown person going? To the Queen’s office? Was it the Queen herself? Or maybe a guard?

She heard a door open. If that was the door to the office, this might be her chance to get some answers. Maybe she could hit the guard from behind, try to knock them out for a little bit. It wasn’t the safest option, but Red had no idea how long she’d been walking around at this point. Waiting for even longer might not help her case.

She opened the door she’d been hiding behind slowly, trying to look into the hallway. Nobody seemed to be here. She stepped out carefully, approaching the corner. If she’d just look around…

She heard a door close. Crap. This was a terrible idea, this was a terrible idea, this was-

‘’Red!’’

Chapter Text

By the time Chloe arrived at the dining hall, she felt incredibly tense. The whole situation felt wrong. Having a guard escort her from her room? Not allowing her to go see Red? It was becoming clearer by the minute that they messed something up when they went back in time. The only question was what it was exactly.

When she arrived at the dining hall, her parents were already sitting down. They were on the far ends of the table, both looking out of the window, with a single chair in the middle meant for Chloe. No chair for Red, then. Would she not be joining, like the guard said?

Chloe sat down carefully, not knowing what to do or say. She’d never once felt uncomfortable around her parents before, but these people might not be the parents who raised her. Her father didn’t look unkind, just a bit… distant. Like he wasn’t truly here. He hardly reacted to her coming in. They hadn’t seen each other in weeks, and this was the welcome she was getting?

‘’Hi dad,’’ she said eventually. ‘’How are you?’’

He finally looked at her. ‘’Chloe!’’ he said. ‘’When did you get here?’’

Did he not see her come in? What the hell was going on with him?

‘’Just now,’’ she said. ‘’I thought I’d come by for the weekend, to catch up with you and mom.’’

‘’That’s lovely, Chloe. How have your classes been?’’

Chloe told him about her first weeks of school, in an attempt to feel some normalcy. ‘’And then Red and I decided to come here,’’ she ended. ‘’Do you know where she is? It looks like she hasn’t shown up for dinner yet.’’

‘’Your friend was tired after the car ride,’’ her mother said quickly. These were the first words she’d spoken since Chloe arrived at the dining hall. ‘’She decided to take a nap. I’ll make sure she gets to eat later, when she wakes up.’’

Chloe’s heartbeat immediately rose. Red turning down a meal after a long day was the last thing she would do. She had learned that quickly, after spending a whole month at school with her. But commenting on that would not help her here, she thought. She couldn’t let her parents think she was up to anything.

Luckily, she had no chance to say anything more, because the doors opened and three staff members arrived with plates full of food. They explained the meal to them, but Chloe couldn’t bring herself to listen to a single word. Once they left, she just grabbed her cutlery and started eating.

The rest of the meal was completely silent, other than the sounds of chewing or an occasional sip of wine from her parents. The staff had left the room after serving their food, so it was just the three of them.

A part of Chloe was happy their parents didn’t ask anything; she wasn’t sure how to answer them without giving away how miserable she felt. All she could think about was Red, and whether she was okay. She started to eat more quickly, hoping to go and find her as soon as she was done.

Once her plate was empty, she was her parents weren’t done eating yet. She couldn’t arouse any suspicion, so staying seated until she had a good moment to leave might be her best bet.

But waiting for the right moment was excruciating.

Finally, her parents finished their meals, as well as their wine glasses. When her mother got up to fill them back up with a carafe standing on a side table, Chloe stood up too. ‘’Would you excuse me?’’ she asked. ‘’I need to use the restroom.’’

Her mother glared at her. ‘’As long as you come back after,’’ she said. ‘’Wouldn’t want you getting lost in the castle.’’ That was a joke her mother used to make sometimes, knowing very well that Chloe knew the halls of the castle better than anyone. But this time, it sounded more like a threat. It made Chloe’s heart sink. This woman seemed so familiar to her, yet so unfamiliar at the same time.

‘’Of course,’’ she said. Her mother nodded and grabbed the carafe to fill the wine glasses while Chloe exited the dining hall.

Right before Chloe closed the door behind her, she looked through the slight gap in the door, watching her mother. She’d filled the glasses with a dark red wine, the colour similar to something the Queen of Hearts would’ve worn.

She started to fully close the door, but saw a glimpse of something right before the gap closed. What was that? It looked like her mother grabbed something from her pocket, something shiny. She carefully held it above one of the wine glasses, the one belonging to her father. A pink liquid came out of it.

Chloe’s heartbeat rose once again. She had to get out of here. She started walking away from the door, not sure where to go first. If her mother expected her to come right back, she didn’t have a lot of time. Crap, maybe she should’ve thought of a plan before.
Okay, think. What had she seen since she got here?

She closed her eyes, trying to visualize everything from the past hours. Then it hit her. Her mom’s office.

But that door was usually locked. Okay, she had a few minutes to make a plan. She took a deep breath, nodded to herself and went on her way.

She ran into a lone staff member in one of the hallways. He made no eye contact with her, looking at the floor instead. What would she herself have been like in this timeline? She was apparently not aware of any of the staff’s names, but would she also have been unkind to them? Like she imagined the former version of the Queen of Hearts would’ve been to her members of staff?

She saw something glistening as he walked past her. Keys. Would the keys to the office be in his possession? It was worth a shot.

She quickly stuck her arm out and grabbed them. They came loose easily. For people working for a royal family, they didn’t seem to be very attentive. Maybe that was a result of said royal family not even making the effort to learn their names. At least that worked out in her favour in this moment.

She kept on walking, the man not reacting. Okay, on to the office then. She unlocked the door and gazed upon her mother’s desk. There it was.

She thought she’d seen something earlier, although it hadn’t clicked until just now. She grabbed the book in question and went through it quickly. There it was, confirming her fear. But she didn’t have time to waste on fear; she had to find Red.

She ripped out the page she’d been looking at and stepped out of the office, locking it quickly. She thought she saw movement on her left, so she turned around quickly, praying it wasn’t a guard who just caught her.

Luckily, it wasn’t a guard. It was her friend.

‘’Red!’’

Chapter Text

‘’Chloe! What are you doing here?’’ Red whispered as she hugged her friend tightly. She’d been even more worried about her wellbeing that she realized, so although she’d never really been a hugger, the instinct just took over.

Hugging her back, Chloe whispered in her ear: ‘’Rescuing you. Or trying to, at least.’’

‘’Oh. Well… thank you?’’

Chloe let her go and smiled, relieved. ‘’No need to thank me. Especially since you apparently saved yourself first.’’

‘’Yeah, I… might’ve climbed out of a window for that.’’

‘’What?!’’

‘’I was panicking!’’

‘’I was just about to come find you.’’ Chloe held up a set of keys as she shook her head. ‘’I could’ve used these to get you out.’’

‘’Well, if I’d been informed about that, I would kindly have waited for you to arrive. But unfortunately, the guards were not exactly waiting to share any such information with me.’’

Chloe shook her head. ‘’You’re lucky you’re alive, you idiot. You could’ve fallen.’’

‘’Since when do you call people idiots?’’

‘’Since you’re acting like one and I’m stressed. Now come on, follow me. Quickly.’’

Red knew better than to argue with anyone in the middle of sneaking around a castle, especially a princess who just risked herself trying to save her. So she followed Chloe, who luckily knew where she was going.

After a few minutes of walking, the girls entered Chloe’s bedroom. ‘’Okay, we don’t have a lot of time,’’ Chloe said.

‘’What just happened? All I know is that I got locked into a room and had to climb out. Where were you? What is going on?’’

‘’Do you have the pocket watch with you?’’ Chloe asked, without answering any of her questions.

‘’What?’’

‘’The pocket watch,’’ Chloe repeated impatiently. ‘’Do you have it?’’

She shook her head. ‘’It’s in my bags,’’ she said, her heart sinking as she realised she hadn’t seen her bags since she arrived here. ‘’I didn’t want to leave it at school.’’

‘’Good. We’re going to need it. Which means we’ll need your bags.’’

Red walked towards Chloe, who had started pacing around the room. ‘’Chloe? Please tell me what’s going on.’’ She softly grabbed Chloe’s arm to stop her from walking around. ‘’Please.’’

Chloe stopped, looking at her. ‘’We need to get you out of here, preferably by going back in time. My mom isn’t… my mom, anymore. Something happened. We need to change something again.’’

‘’How do you know? And what do you want to change?’’

Chloe started pacing again. ‘’Chloe! Will you please stand still and explain to me what’s happening?’’

‘’I can’t stand still, Red, because I feel like I’m losing my damn mind!’’ Chloe lashed out. ‘’Shit, sorry,’’ she added immediately after, slowly walking towards Red. ‘’I’m sorry. I just… I don’t really know what’s happening either, just that something’s wrong.’’

‘’It’s okay,’’ Red said while carefully grabbing her hand. ‘’I promise. Just tell me what just happened. Where were you while I was in that room?’’

Chloe’s chest rose and fell by her heavy breathing; Red could feel her heartbeat racing by carefully putting her finger on her wrist. ‘’Okay, change of plans. Breathe first, explain later.’’

Chloe nodded tried to take a deep breath, but gave up halfway and then started talking anyway. ‘’Look, there’s no time to properly explain now, but right after dinner, I saw my mom putting something in my dad’s drink. I think it might’ve been a love potion.’’

‘’Why do you think that?’’

Chloe took something out of her pocket and showed it to Red. ‘’Remember when we were in my mom’s office earlier?’’

‘’Hard to forget, when she tried to imprison me right after,’’ Red mumbled while she took the piece of paper Chloe gave her. ‘’What is this? It looks like… some kind of recipe?’’

Chloe nodded. ‘’This is a recipe for a love potion. I saw her pour something in my dad’s drink, right after pouring his wine in for him. It was quick, but I saw the shimmer of a flask. It was transparent and it contained a pink liquid. I thought I recognized it from a book on potions I once read, and I went to her office to check.’’ She took another deep breath. ‘’Right after I stole the key to it.’’

‘’You stole a key? Maybe breaking into offices could be your criminal niche.’’

‘’Red. Not the point.’’

‘’Sorry, sorry. Just… processing.’’

‘’Right. So, I stole the key, entered the office, and saw a book. I saw it lying there when we first arrived, but I didn’t think much of it. Then I realized, we didn’t use to have this.’’

‘’How can you be sure?’’

‘’One perk to growing up in a castle without other kids around is the amount of time you have to read, so read all of the books we have here. I don’t recognize this one at all. And when I got into the office, I saw this page dog-eared.’’

‘’Who dog-ears their pages?’’

‘’Once again, really not the point. The point is that my mom had a book we never had before we messed with the timeline, with a recipe for a love potion that she apparently re-reads often enough to dog-ear it or that she had just been reading. Plus, she seems really different, and I just saw her pour an unknown liquid that looks exactly like this recipe into my father’s glass.’’

Red was, in contrast to her usual self, quiet.

‘’So, I need the pocket watch,’’ Chloe continued, ‘’so I can fix this. Please.’’

They had to go back in time again? After everything they already did to change Red’s mother, now they had to do it again for Chloe’s?

But Chloe had helped her. She had to do the same for her. It was far from ideal, but there was no doubt in her mind about that. And so she just nodded and asked: ‘’Do you have any idea where my bags could be?’’

‘’I think so. There’s an area where the staff usually put guests’ stuff before someone takes them upstairs to their rooms. Since our arrival was on short notice, I think they’ll still be there.’’

‘’Okay. How do we get there without anyone spotting us?’’

‘’That’s the hard part. My mom thinks I’ll be right back for dinner, so we don’t have much time. In fact, she’s probably already wondering where I am.’’

‘’Okay, then go back.’’

‘’What? I can’t leave you.’’

‘’They might not know I’m out of that room yet, so I have a better change of sneaking around. Tell me where my bags are.’’

‘’Red…’’

Red looked deep into Chloe’s eyes. ‘’If we’re doing this, we have to hurry. And we need to fix this, so we’re doing this. How do I get there?’’

Chapter Text

‘’Okay,’’ Red mumbles softly to herself. ‘’Just sneaking around a castle to find my bags so we can travel back in time for the second time. Nothing weird about that. This is a regular weekend for anyone.’’

Chloe had used the back of the page she’d ripped out to draw a map for her. The plan was clear: Chloe would go back to her parents and lay low until she could go to her room. In the meantime, Red would get the pocket watch and then sneak to Chloe’s room, where they would use it to go back in time.

Since the Charming family was together in the dining hall, most staff members would be around there somewhere, Chloe had told her. If Red was quick, she could at least find the pocket watch before they would spread around the castle.

The room Chloe had mentioned was not too far away, but it was on the ground floor, so Red had to first go to a staircase and get down there. The big, main staircase was too much of a risk, so Chloe had pointed her in the direction of a smaller one. Nobody in sight so far, which was good.

Slowly, hallway by hallway, Red managed to make her way to the room Chloe had circled on the map. Stories always made sneaking around sound so exciting, but truly, it was a matter of patience and listening. Red was never the most patient person, but she would have to be now. She wouldn’t let Chloe down.

It had hurt her, seeing her friend so down and panicked. Neither of them truly understood what was going on, so she didn’t know how to comfort her, but she wanted to. She knew what it was like to feel like you hardly know your own mother; she wouldn’t wish that upon anybody, especially Chloe. She was so kind, even when Red had been rude to her at the beginning. She forgave her for what she did and did everything she could to help her. She deserved the world.

And Red couldn’t do that for her.

But she could find the pocket watch. At least that was something.

After coming back from the longest dinner in her life, Chloe went up to her room, hoping Red was okay and everything was still going according to plan. Her father had seemed different than before the left the dining hall, way more present and loving. Could that be a result of the love potion her mother had just given him? It had to be.

Her mother never used the potion before she went back in time, she knew that. Her parents’ love was the most pure thing she’d ever seen, and it was real. This, whatever it was between them now, wasn’t like it was before.

Once she entered her room, she sat on her bed. She wanted to lay down. But she also wanted to stay awake for when Red came back, and she was sure she’d fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She’d just stay awake, until Red was here, and then-

About thirty minutes later, a knock on the door awoke her. Crap. That ‘staying awake’ thing didn’t exactly last long. She could feel herself get angry at her own stupidity, but there was no time for that.

She opened the door. It was Red, breathing hard and slightly sweaty. ‘’I got it,’’ she said, out of breath. ‘’I had to make a run for it at the end, but I don’t think anyone really saw me,’’ she added as Chloe pulled her into the room, closing the door behind her.

‘’Are you okay?’’ Chloe asked her.

Red nodded. ‘’I’ve had too much physical exercise for one day, but other than that, I’m good. How about you? How did your parents react when you came back?’’

Chloe sighed. ‘’I was gone for too long, so I might’ve had to fake a… stomach emergency to explain that.’’

Red had to stifle a laugh at that.

Chloe swapped at her arm. ‘’That’s not funny!’’

‘’It is a little bit.’’

‘’Red!’’

‘’Come on! After everything, fake stomach issues have to be somewhere at the bottom of our list of problems.’’

‘’Maybe for you. You didn’t have to see the look in their eyes.’’

Red gave up holding her laugh in at that and sat down on the bed. ‘’I’m sorry,’’ she laughed. ‘’This whole situation is just… insane.’’

Chloe sat next to her, trying to look stern at her laughing friend but failing as well. She couldn’t help a slight smile. ‘’Just wait until you’re the one to pretend to be on the toilet for well over twenty minutes. That’ll change your tone of voice.’’

‘’If that happens, you can laugh at me as long as you want, princess. Just as I’ll do now.’’

Chloe shook her head, still smiling. Red’s laughter did her good, even if she didn’t want to admit it. It would surely grow her ego until it wouldn’t fit anymore. ‘’Well, at least you got the pocket watch.’’ She sighed and laid down. ‘’This day has lasted way too long for my taste.’’

Red, who had finally stopped laughing, followed suit. ‘’Agreed,’’ she said as she turned towards Chloe. ‘’So, what’s the plan now?’’

Chloe looked at her friend, whose face was just a bit too close on the bed. She felt her cheeks warm up a little bit. ‘’Well, we have the pocket watch, so… I suppose we use it.’’

Red kept looking at her, seemingly deep in thought. ‘’What is it?’’ Chloe asked her, hoping Red hadn’t seen her blush. It was nothing, she was just tired. It had really been a long day.

Luckily, it was not about that. ‘’How exactly are we going to handle this?’’ Red asked. ‘’Do we just go back and see?’’

Chloe had been thinking about that all throughout the rest of dinner. ‘’We need to know exactly what went wrong in the past in order to fix it,’’ she said. ‘’Maybe we need to go back in time and not do anything.’’

‘’What?’’ Red sat up at that.

‘’We can’t guess at what we have to do, otherwise we might mess something else up, just like we did now.’’ Chloe got up as well. ‘’We saved your mom, but somehow messed with mine without knowing. Something similar could easily happen again. So I was thinking, we could go back in time and see what happens in the original timeline without interference.’’

‘’You mean, let my mom be pranked?’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’And then what?’’

‘’Look, I get it’s not ideal, okay? Far from. But we need to know what happened. We can go back in time again to fix it when we do.’’ She saw Red’s worried face. ‘’I’m not suggesting we go back permanently to the original timeline, Red. I promise. I don’t just want to get my mom back to how she was, I want you to have the new version of your mom, too. There has to be a way for both of us to get what we want.’’

‘’Are you sure?’’ Red said in a soft voice.

It broke Chloe’s heart to see her friend so vulnerable. She grabbed her hand, in an attempt to comfort her, and softly stroke her thumb against it. ‘’I’m sure,’’ she said. ‘’You just got the mom you’ve always wanted. I’m not going to let anything or anyone take that from you. Even if I have to go back in time a hundred times until it’s right.’’

Red squeezed her hand, making Chloe’s heart speed up a bit. ‘’Okay,’’ she said. ‘’Let’s do it. Together.’’

‘’Together,’’ Chloe confirmed. ‘’Are you ready?’’

‘’One second.’’ Red let go of her hand, but scooted closer to her and put her arm around her. At Chloe’s questioning look, she said, ‘’I want to make sure we go back together. I hardly know how this thing works.’’

‘’That’s reassuring,’’ Chloe said. ‘’Okay, let’s do it.’’

With Red’s arm around her and the pocket watch in Red’s other hand, Chloe put one hand on Red’s knee and the other around the pocket watch as well. ‘’Let’s do it.’’

The girls closed their eyes and moved the pocket watch. A strange sensation came over them, just like a month before. When they opened their eyes again, they were once again at the Auradon Prep courtyard – or, hopefully, Merlin Academy at this moment in time.

They saw Fairy Godmother sitting there, practicing a spell and having to run after her spell book after the failed. It looked exactly the same as when they’d travelled in time before. At least this seems to have gone right.

Still holding on to one another, the girls looked around, and then at each other. ‘’Alright,’’ Red said. ‘’Time to go to class.’’

‘’Never thought I’d hear you say that.’’

‘’We just travelled back in time again, and that is the first thing you say? I hope you never make a discovery that lands in a history book. You would have the lamest sentence ever put in there.’’

‘’Hey! And ‘time to go to class’ is better?’’

‘’It was at least slightly funny.’’

‘’It was not-‘’

While bickering, the girls walked into the school. It may look exactly the same, but something had definitely changed since they last went back in time. This time, they truly had each other to count on.

Chapter Text

Just like their last time here – or in this time, at least – the girls walked into Merlin Academy. Unlike last time, they knew what to do.

Sort of.

They waited for Merlin to run into them, pretending to be transfer students, so he would once again take them to his alchemy class. The class where they would meet their mothers – or the young versions of them, at least.

‘’We should act casual around them,’’ Red whispered. ‘’No calling them ‘mom’ this time.’’

‘’You heard that?’’ Chloe looked horrified.

‘’Yep. You’re lucky the rest of the class didn’t hear it. So play it cool this time.’’

‘’Like you weren’t flustered when you met Bridget.’’

‘’She was pink!’’

‘’What’s that, ladies?’’ Merlin asked, looking over his shoulder while he tried to open his office door. Red wondered if there would ever be a timeline where the man managed to find anything in his many coat pockets.

‘’Nothing, sir!’’ Chloe said quickly. ‘’Just excited to start our first class here.’’

‘’Glad to hear it.’’ They followed him into the classroom, with the other students right behind them. ‘’All right, class. Let’s get started. We have two new transfers here today, so let’s at least pretend that this in an honours class.’’ Red mouthed the words along with him, making Chloe chuckle. It was strange to be in this moment for the second time, so she was glad Red was here with her. ‘’Um, Bridget and Ella, split up and help these two get sorted, won’t you?’’

‘’Good luck,’’ Red whispered, briefly squeezing Chloe’s hand before walking over to her mother while Chloe did the same.

‘’Bridget?’’ Red asked. The girl smiled sweetly. ‘’That’s me!’’ she said. ‘’What’s your name?’’

‘’I’m Red,’’ she said, shaking her hand. ‘’Nice to meet you.’’

‘’You too. Ready to get started? I can show you the ropes.’’

‘’Let’s do it.’’

Meanwhile, Chloe had sat next to Ella, introducing herself as well. She was glad to see her again. Ella had been nothing but kind to her before. This time, Chloe was determined to keep her involvement to a minimum. No vase-breaking in this timeline. Like she and Red had discussed, they needed to see what would happen without their interference. She could be friendly with Ella, though, as long as she didn’t let that friendship change anything that would’ve happened before. She just had to stay away from anything about Castlecoming and the prank, or Uliana stealing the book. As long as she did that, they should be okay.

This time, instead of being repulsed by the pods they had to drain, Chloe immediately started helping Ella. Meanwhile, Chloe was helping Bridget stir, immediately handing her the griffin-claw when she asked for it. ‘’Thank you!’’ Bridget said brightly. ‘’We make a good team already.’’

For the rest of the class, Red and Chloe were bonding with their respective mothers. As soon as Bridget showed Red the flamingo cupcakes, however, she felt her nerves creeping in. She couldn’t intervene, she promised Chloe she wouldn’t, but she knew what was about to happen. Uliana taking the feathers would ultimately result in the prank that changed her mother so severely, turning her from the lovely Bridget she just spent class with to the cold, heartless woman who raised her.

At least she got another cupcake. They tasted just as good as they did the first time.

As Ella, Bridget, Chloe and Red all walked out of class and went towards the courtyard together, Red saw Chloe’s slightly concerned look in her direction. Maybe her nerves were more visible than she thought. She hung back a little, Chloe doing the same and asking her how she was doing.

‘’I’m okay,’’ she whispered. ‘’Just nervous for what’s about to happen. But we promised no interference, so… you know… I won’t.’’

Chloe looked at her, a sad look in her eyes. ‘’I’m really sorry,’’ she whispered back. ‘’I can’t imagine how hard this must be, knowing what it’ll lead to. But I promise you, it’s just so we can know what happens. We’ll fix it properly as soon as we can, okay?’’

‘’Okay.’’ Red took Chloe’s hand for a second. ‘’I trust you.’’

She let go of her hand when she saw Ella and Bridget looking back at them, a curious look on both their faces. ‘’You guys coming?’’ Bridget asked sweetly.

Red nodded. ‘’Yep. Of course. We were just discussing our very first class.’’

‘’You’re so lucky you started with Merlin’s class,’’ Bridget said. ‘’He’s a great teacher.’’

‘’He really is,’’ Chloe responded with excitement. ‘’He has so much knowledge. I can’t wait to find out more.’’

Chloe and Ella continued their conversation about Merlin’s brilliance; Red looked at her friend and smiled for a bit. She didn’t even notice Ella coming up next to her. ‘’So,’’ she asked. ‘’You and Chloe. How long have you two been together?’’

Red nearly choked. She felt like part of the cupcake got stuck in her throat. Ella looked worried, hitting her on the back. ‘’Geez, are you okay?’’

‘’Yup,’’ said Red, struggling to breathe a bit. ‘’Just… swallowed some air. Or something.’’

Ella, a look of slight amusement mingling in with her worry, looked at Chloe. ‘’You sure?’’

‘’Yeah, yeah, for sure. Just didn’t expect the question. We’ve only known each other for like a month, and we’re just friends. So we’re not, like, together. I mean, we came here together, but not like-‘’

‘’I get it, save your breath,’’ Ella laughed. ‘’My apologies. I thought I saw a vibe between you two, but I guess I was wrong.’’

‘’Yeah. Guess so.’’ Red wasn’t sure how to respond to this.

‘’I’m sorry if I made any assumptions,’’ Ella said, her brow furrowing, like she was scared Red was angry with her for saying it.

‘’Oh, no worries, it’s all good. I’ve just never dated anybody before, so the idea of me even being in a relationship kind of… surprised me?’’

Ella laughed a bit at that. ‘’Hey, same here. I have like, zero experience, so I might’ve just seen something that wasn’t there. You guys look like you’re close.’’

‘’Yeah, we are,’’ Red admitted. ‘’We haven’t known each other for very long, but I guess she brings out a good side of me.’’

‘’That’s good. I have the same with Bridget. She’s just so bubbly, she makes me want to see the good in people. Even if I struggle with that sometimes.’’

‘’Yeah, Chloe’s the same way. I like her optimism.’’

‘’I guess they’re kind of alike, then.’’

‘’I guess they are.’’

Chloe turned around to see if Red was still there. She smiled at her when she saw that she was. Red smiled back at her.

Ella thought they were together? Clearly, they were just friends. Sure, they were a bit touchy-feely sometimes, but Chloe just brought out that side in her. That didn’t mean that they were anything more than friends, right? Or was this something that friends didn’t do?

Her lack of experience with both friendships and relationships was once again proving to be difficult. And once again, she wished she could ask Chloe about it. But she couldn’t just tell her that Ella thought they were a couple. And anyway, they had bigger things to worry about.

Like Uliana and her gang of villains walking up to them from across the courtyard.

Chapter Text

‘’Okay, so… Uliana is pissed, Prince Charming very non-directly asked Ella to go to Castlecoming with him, then Ella asked Bridget to go to Castlecoming, and now we’re here.’’ Red sighed dramatically as the laid down on her bed. ‘’This all feels like a massive déjà vu and I am truly too tired to process it.’’

‘’At least we don’t have to figure out how to stop the prank this time,’’ Chloe offered. ‘’That ought to give us some rest.’’ She closed the door behind her and laid in her bed as well. ‘’Which is good, because we’ve basically lived for two full days without sleep.’’

The girls just got to the Stardust Room, the dormitory Merlin has assigned them to, just like before. Chloe was glad to still have Red by her side, and she had a feeling Red felt the same way. Everything that happened in the last few days had been hard and exhausting for both of them.

The first time they went back in time, they would spend the next afternoon visiting Ella in her home. Since that got her in massive trouble, with her mom not wanting visitors and Chloe breaking the vase, they had already decided not to go this time. Breaking the vase lead to Ella being grounded and not being able to go to Castlecoming, so better to stay out of it this time. After all, the original timeline should’ve included Ella going to Castlecoming with Prince Charming, where they fell in love, and-

‘’Wait!’’ Chloe exclaimed, quickly sitting up.

Red groaned. ‘’Princess, can you not see I’m trying to get a nap in? Your family is not doing great things to me today.’’

‘’Are you comparing me not letting you sleep to my mother trying to imprison you? Don’t answer that,’’ she added immediately as Red tried to speak. ‘’I just realized something that might be important. Remember when we went to Ella’s and broke that vase?’’

‘’I vividly remember you doing that last part, but sure.’’

‘’Not the point. She got grounded, remember? So she couldn’t go to Castlecoming anymore?’’

‘’Yeah, why?’’

‘’Well, my parents fell in love during Castlecoming. They mention it all the time. So, in the timeline we created my mom never went there, how would their relationship have started?’’

This made Red sit up as well. ‘’Shit. You’re right.’’ She thought for a second. ‘’Maybe they just fell in love anyway? I mean, they were classmates, they saw each other all the time.’’

‘’Maybe. But my mom gave my dad a love potion. What if they never fell in love at all?’’

‘’That would explain the love potion. So, what do you think? They didn’t fall in love because of what we did, so she decided to force it herself? But why would she do that?’’

‘’Maybe to get out of her awful home life. You saw her mom, the way she treated her. I can imagine doing something desperate to get out of that situation.’’

‘’Like me using a time machine to get out of mine.’’

‘’Basically, yeah.’’

‘’It sounds like it makes sense. But we don’t know for sure.’’

‘’I know, I know. We shouldn’t make assumptions. We should stick to the plan, just observe and see what happens.’’

‘’I’d like to add something to that plan.’’

‘’Which is?’’ Chloe asked curiously.

‘’Taking a nap.’’

While Red tried to go to sleep, Chloe decided to take a quick shower. The warm water usually helped her relax, and relaxation was definitely something she craved right now.

When she was done, Red seemed like she was already asleep, so she carefully got into bed and put the lights out. But after a few minutes, she thought the heard something. Was that… Red sniffling?

She stepped out of bed and walked towards Red’s bed. ‘’Red?’’ she whispered. ‘’You still awake?’’

Red immediately stopped sniffling and was quiet for a few seconds, but then softly said: ‘’Yes.’’

‘’Are you okay?’’

‘’I don’t know.’’

Chloe turned the lamp on Red’s nightstand on, to be able to see her. And sure enough, she saw tears on her friends face. It felt like a gut punch, seeing her like that.

‘’What is it?’’ She sat on the floor next to her bed, so Red’s face was at her eye level. ‘’You can tell me,’’ she added. ‘’If you want.’’

Red tried to hide her embarrassment. She used to cry herself to sleep sometimes, when she was a little kid. Her mother’s distant behaviour had always made her feel like she wasn’t good enough, like she didn’t deserve to be loved. She hadn’t cried like this in years, though. She found a way to turn those emotions off.

But something had turned her emotions on again, in the last couple of weeks.

Or someone.

And it made her feel vulnerable again, like a little kid just wanting to be loved.

She hated it.

‘’I’m just so sorry,’’ she sobbed, not being able to hold it in anymore. ‘’I caused all of this. If I hadn’t sentenced your mother to death, the whole thing might have ended differently.’’

‘’But your mom would still be that way, with or without your help,’’ Chloe said. She pulled Red towards her a little bit, to give her a hug. Red didn’t protest. In fact, she seemed to lean into it. ‘’You can’t blame yourself for how she turned out. All of that was happened way before you were even born.’’

‘’But now you lost your mom because of it.’’

‘’We decided to change what we did together, though. We broke into that office together, right? We defeated those stupid owls together. And we went back to our own time hoping things had changed, together. None of us knew that we were wrong.’’

‘’Yeah, but…’’

‘’But what?’’

‘’I don’t want to see you hurt.’’

That felt like another gut punch. Was Red so upset because she was scared to hurt Chloe? When it was Red herself who’d already experienced so much hurt?

‘’I don’t want to see you hurt, either.’’

‘’Best turn that light back off again, then.’’

‘’Red.’’

‘’Just joking.’’

‘’Your attempt at humour is… interesting.’’

‘’Got you to smile, though.’’

Chloe noticed she was right. ‘’But it should be my job to make you smile. You’re the one crying.’’

‘’Well then, tell me a joke.’’

‘’Red,’’ she said again, in an even sterner tone this time.

‘’What?’’

‘’You’re deflecting.’’

‘’Maybe.’’

Chloe sighed and carefully held Red’s hand, looking her in her eyes. ‘’I know you struggle with expressing your emotions, but it’s okay. In fact, it’s good to let it out.’’

Red’s unserious façade seemed to fade again. ‘’I just don’t want you to see me cry.’’

‘’There’s nothing wrong with crying, though. It’s healthy. And I won’t judge.’’

‘’Promise?’’

‘’Promise. I cry like, all the time. I almost cried when I saw that cute puppy the other week, remember?’’

Red smiled sadly. ‘’That you did.’’

‘’Then you can cry too.’’

‘’This is the weirdest conversation I’ve had in a while. And I time-travelled twice in like, a month.’’

Chloe started to stand up, seeing Red’s face immediately fill with worry. ‘’I’m sorry, I’ll stop joking,’’ she pleaded. ‘’Just…’’ The words ‘please don’t leave’ were left unsaid, but Chloe heard them anyway.

‘’I’m not leaving,’’ she said sincerely. ‘’I just made a mistake sitting on the floor. Scoot over.’’

Red did exactly that, making room for Chloe on the bed. The blue-haired girl laid down next to her. ‘’Come here,’’ she said.

Red hesitated for a bit, then thought, what the hell. She’d already seen her cry now, how much worse could it get?

Chloe made room for Red to put her head on her shoulder and wrapped her arms around her. ‘’If you don’t want me to see you cry, just cry on my shoulder, okay?’’ she said. ‘’I won’t see a thing.’’

The kind gesture made Red cry all over again, not knowing where all of this came from. ‘’I hate emotions,’’ she mumbled, making Chloe stifle a laugh. ‘’I know, honey,’’ she said. ‘’I know. But it’s better to feel them than push them down. They’ll just come out worse later on.’’

And so the two girls laid there, Red crying on Chloe’s shoulder, feeling like a lifetime of hurt just came out all at once. Chloe might be right. She held this in for so long, she didn’t even remember the last time she cried. It must’ve been years ago. She didn’t know exactly when she stopped crying herself to sleep as a kid, just that she did.

The whole time, Chloe held her and rubbed her back. Red didn’t recall ever feeling so safe with anyone, so secure. She truly trusted her.

How far they’ve come since that first meeting.

After a while, once the crying had lessened, Red noticed Chloe stopped moving her hand and loosened her grip a little bit. She’d fallen asleep.

Carefully, Red grabbed the blankets she’d pushed over earlier and put them around her friend, then went right back into her arms. ‘’Good night, Chlo.’’

Chapter Text

The next morning, Choe woke up with a weight on her chest. Literally.

She opened her eyes and saw Red still laying against her, with her head on Chloe’s shoulders and one of her hands holding one of Chloe’s.

Chloe felt a warmth spread over her. She’d almost forgotten what had happened last night, but it all came back to her now. Red crying, her face buried in Chloe’s shoulder, and them falling asleep next to each other. Although she didn’t remember ever getting under the blankets. Did Red do that for her?

Red was still asleep, so Chloe remained still. She figured her friend would need the rest after last night, so she didn’t want to wake her. Instead, she closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep again as well.

But she couldn’t.

When had they gotten so comfortable with one another? A month ago, Red almost couldn’t stand her, and now she was showing Chloe her vulnerabilities and pretty much falling asleep in her arms.

Chloe’s heart broke a little bit rethinking how the night before had played out. Red trying to keep her crying to a minimum so Chloe couldn’t hear. She couldn’t help but wonder if Red had felt like this in the past month, feeling so guilty and alone. With Chloe just a wall away, but never going to her.

Chloe had been so caught up in her own worries, she kind of forgot what her friend had been going through for so long. She decided to make more of an effort to be there for Red. Even if Red hated showing her emotions, Chloe could at least try to be there for her. That way, if Red ever did decide to talk about it – or, like last night, her emotions just came out anyway – she knew Chloe was there.

She felt Red stirring a little bit, but kept her eyes closed. She didn’t want to be staring at Red when she woke up. Although a part of her secretly wanted to; she looked so sweet in her sleep. Nothing like the standoffish girl she’d met a month ago, or the façade she still tried to put up sometimes. Now, she just looked at ease.

She heard a yawn. Okay, so Red was awake. ‘’Chlo?’’ she mumbled. Her morning voice, apparently, was a bit lower than her usual one. Chloe felt that warmth again.

She opened her eyes, seeing Red stare at her. ‘’Oh. Hey,’’ she said.

‘’Hi there.’’ Red yawned again. ‘’God, I needed that nap.’’

‘’Me too. Did you… sleep well?’’

‘’Best night’s sleep I’ve had in a while. Your shoulder makes for a nice pillow,’’ Red smirked.

Dammit, that blush again. Get it together, Chloe. It was nothing weird to cuddle with a friend, especially after she cried like Red had last night. No need to be all awkward about it.

‘’Good to hear. Please leave a review.’’

Red laughed softly. ‘’Will do. Five stars, without a doubt. How did you sleep?’’

‘’Pretty well, actually. Although your body is like a furnace.’’ It was true, although Red’s warmth against her actually felt nice.

‘’Guess I shouldn’t have put the blankets over you then.’’

‘’So that was you.’’

‘’Didn’t want you to get cold.’’

‘’Thank you.’’ As if Chloe could ever get cold again. She feared the blush might never disappear. She craved the cold, actually; she felt like she just kept heating up.

‘’It was the least I could do. After, you know, the whole… crying thing.’’

‘’How often do I need to tell you that it’s okay?’’

‘’At least about five more times.’’

‘’Got it. I’ll make sure to put that on the to-do list.’’ This time, Chloe yawned. Despite the heat, she felt so comfortable she could fall right back asleep.

‘’Stop yawning,’’ Red said, yawning immediately afterwards.

‘’You started it.’’

‘’Irrelevant.’’

‘’Sure.’’ Chloe looked over at the clock hanging on their wall. ‘’Oh, maybe we should get up. We have to get to class.’’

‘’Do we really have to?’’

‘’I don’t feel like it either, but yes.’’

‘’Wait, you don’t feel like going to class? What is happening?’’

‘’Just tired after everything,’’ Chloe lied. Maybe she wanted to just stay where they were for a bit longer – not that she’d admit that. ‘’But we need to keep a low profile, remember? Skipping class won’t help us do that.’’

‘’Alright, alright. I’ll go take a shower and then we can go get breakfast with Bridget and Ella. At least we’ll get to hang with them again.’’

‘’Deal.’’ Red got up; Chloe immediately missed the heat. Why did she have to be such a good student and go to class?

After Red got back from her shower, they were about to leave the room. But Red stopped and turned around in front of the door. ‘’One last thing,’’ she said.

‘’What?’’ Chloe asked. ‘’We should go, or we’ll be-‘’

She got interrupted by Red giving her a big hug. ‘’Thank you,’’ she said. ‘’I know you’ll tell me I don’t need to say that, but I want to. That was the first time in possibly ever that I got to cry without judgement.’’

Chloe threw her arms around the girl and hugged her back tightly. ‘’You don’t. And you’re welcome. Just promise me you won’t wait for it to get so bad next time, okay? You can always talk to me.’’

‘’Okay, fine. But please know I’ll be grumpy about it.’’

Chloe let her go and opened the door. ‘’I expect nothing less. Now, let’s go. I’ll get you a coffee.’’

Red followed her out of the room with a big smile on her face. And it wasn’t because of the prospect of caffeine in her system.

Chapter Text

The classes that day seemed especially boring, since the girls had lived this exact day before. Last time, Chloe had wanted to pay attention because ‘’This is the only chance I’ll ever have to be taught by Merlin himself, Red. Merlin!’’, but things were different now. So the girls spent their classes giggling and making jokes, not paying attention one bit. They even managed to drag Ella and Bridget into it during the last class of the day.

‘’Are you always like this?’’ Ella whispered, laughing.

‘’Oh, no. Chloe here is normally an exemplary student. I’m just a bad influence,’’ Red grinned.

Chloe swatted at her arm. ‘’Just… giddy for Castlecoming,’’ she said. ‘’I’m excited to see it.’’

‘’You should come with us! It could be like a platonic double date,’’ Bridget said.

Red nearly choked again, the same reaction she’d had when Ella asked her about her and Chloe. This did not go unnoticed by Ella, who slightly raised her eyebrow and looked at Red. ‘’Sorry. The air again. It’s… very dry in here.’’

Even Chloe and Bridget looked at her with curious looks at this. Ella clearly tried to hold in a laugh, and said, ‘’You’re right. We should get some fresh air after this.’’

‘’But, what do you guys think?’’ Bridget asked, apparently choosing to ignore Red’s strange behaviour. ‘’Shall we all go to Castlecoming together? We still have to find outfits, though.’’

Ella looked hesitant at that, just like last time Bridget had mentioned it. Red figured it was because of her financial situation; she didn’t exactly have the funds to buy new dresses. But she didn’t seem to want to mention this. She got out of it yesterday by saying she had to go home, but with Castlecoming around the corner, she didn’t have much time.

So Red decided to help her out. ‘’Actually,’’ she said, ‘’I would love to go. It’s just… I’m a little short on cash, so I don’t think I can go shopping for it.’’ It wasn’t even a lie, technically. Unfortunately, the pocket watch didn’t give out free money after travelling back in time. She was lucky they got all their meals at school, otherwise the lack of money might actually be a problem for them. As if they didn’t have enough to worry about.

Ella looked almost grateful that she wasn’t the first to bring it up. ‘’Yeah, uhm, me too.’’

Luckily, Bridget seemed to get it. ‘’Oh, right, that makes sense. Sorry, I didn’t think about that.’’

‘’It’s okay,’’ Ella assured her, although Red thought she could tell that it did bother her that her best friend didn’t think about it, knowing her home situation. But Red wasn’t here to start any drama; she had to stay uninvolved. How would Ella and Bridget have solved this in the original timeline where Bridget got pranked?

‘’Maybe,’’ Bridget said, ‘’you could borrow some of my clothes? That way, we can all go free dress shopping in my closet.’’ She smiled.

Chloe smiled. ‘’Let’s do it! That sounds like fun.’’

Red and Ella both nodded. ‘’Amazing!’’ Bridget exclaimed. ‘’How about we go to my room after dinner? You can all try something on.’’

And so, the girls did exactly that. Bridget had an enormous closet in her room, that she immediately opened when they got there. ‘’Grab anything you want,’’ she said. ‘’Oh, and I have some shoes we could wear, too.’’

For the next hour or so, the girls changed into all kinds of outfits. Bridget had a lot of pink, but some other colours as well, luckily. The colour might look good on Bridget, but Red and Chloe weren’t too excited about it clashing with their hair colours.

Bridget had a room divider that they used as a makeshift dressing room, trying something on and then showing it to the others one by one. Bridget quickly found something to wear; she knew everything that was in her closet, after all. Ella found a dress that was a very light pink, so the colours wouldn’t clash too much. She looked good in it, but more than that, she seemed confident. She wasn’t used to wearing expensive clothes, and Red could tell she enjoyed looking so nice.

After that, it was Chloe’s turn. She came out in a beautiful black dress, showing off her figure red couldn’t keep her eyes off her – which was, unfortunately, noticed by Ella. She wasn’t doing a great job at convincing her that she and Chloe were just friends, was she?

‘’You have to wear this,’’ Bridget said. ‘’It looks amazing on you. Doesn’t it, guys?’’

Ella nodded immediately. Red was a bit more quiet, unsure how to respond.

‘’Do you not like it?’’ Chloe asked her, a bit insecure.

‘’No, I… I love it, Chloe. You look beautiful. You are. Beautiful, I mean.’’ Crap. Be normal.

The girls stared at each other from across the room. Red felt a blush coming up and tried to hide it with her hair, but the bright red just brought it out even more. She was so focused on her own blush that she didn’t notice Chloe’s cheeks getting warm as well. ‘’Thanks,’’ she said breathless. ‘’I’ll, uhm, get out of it. Behind the screen. Then you can go try something on.’’

Chloe disappeared behind the screen again. Ella looked at Red, who just shook her head. She knew Ella wanted to say something about it, but not now. Not with Chloe right there.

Luckily, Ella understood, just nodding at her softly. ‘’Any idea what you’ll try on, Red?’’ she asked, trying to change the subject. Red was grateful. She didn’t even mind the idea of discussing this with Ella, but discussing it with Bridget was a step too far. She may be different and it may be years before she was born, but this was still her mother, and she would not discuss such a thing with her mom.

Plus, Bridget seemed way too caught up in the outfits to truly notice what had just happened.

Just as Chloe came back in her own clothes, Red answered Ella, saying she had no idea. Bridget got up immediately. ‘’I think I have something that would look amazing on you,’’ she said. ‘’I’ve actually never worn it before. Let me get it.’’

She followed Bridget behind the screen, where she opened a clothing bag. ‘’What do you think?’’ she asked after showing it to Red.

Red stared at it and just nodded. ‘’Alright,’’ Bridget smiled. ‘’I’ll leave you to it.’’ She went back to the other girls, leaving Red alone to change.

Once she stepped out of the impromptu dressing room, the other girls gaped at her. But the only reaction she truly cared about was Chloe’s.

‘’Wow,’’ she just said. ‘’That’s… nice.’’

‘’Just nice?’’ Ella joked. ‘’You got ‘beautiful’, you can do better than that.’’

Red glared at her. Ella just smirked.

The outfit Bridget had given her was a black suit, almost like a tuxedo. Bridget would later explain how she’d gotten it, that she was saving it for a more formal event if she ever decided not to wear pink, but Red would forget immediately. Because all she heard after was the rest of Chloe’s reaction.

‘’You look absolutely gorgeous,’’ Chloe said, getting a look of approval from Ella.

Red wanted to say something, but just looked at Chloe. She saw Ella look at her again, from the corner of her eyes. There was no getting out of that conversation anymore.

Chloe, not seeming to notice Ella’s look, kept looking at Red as well.

Crap.

Chapter Text

After everyone changed back into their normal clothes, Bridget gave everyone the clothes they’d chosen to wear. They were discussing their plans for tomorrow. Since it was Castlecoming day, they didn’t have any classes.

Just as they were about to go back to their room, Red started to panic. She didn’t want to be alone with Chloe right now. Not until she’d figured out why she was acting so weird around her since last night. Maybe her showing her emotions had been tougher on her than she originally thought.

But why did that make her stare at Chloe the whole time?

Besides that, she didn’t want to be alone with Ella, either. Because that would surely mean a conversation that she wasn’t quite ready for, either.

So, thinking of the only solution where she’d have Bridget as a buffer for as long as she could – or at least, the only solution that came to her in her mode of panic – she blurted out: ‘’We should have a sleepover!’’

Chloe and Ella both looked at her like she was crazy – which was fair, given that she’d almost yelled this at them out of nowhere.

But Bridget was excited. ‘’Yes! We totally should! We can sleep in tomorrow, so we can stay up as late as we want.’’

Chloe shrugged, a smile appearing. ‘’I mean, it does sound fun. Let’s do it.’’

Ella looked thoughtful, then said: ‘’My mom isn’t home tonight. So although she would never approve, she probably won’t even notice I’m gone.’’

‘’Let’s do it,’’ Red said, relieved. ‘’Should be fun.’’

The girls went their separate ways for a bit; Red and Chloe brought their borrowed clothes to their room, while Ella left her dress in Bridget’s room. Bridget and Ella, meanwhile, were gathering ingredients because they would of course have to bake something. ‘’Every sleepover needs snacks,’’ Bridget had said in a serious tone. ‘’Otherwise it’s just sleeping.’’

Red was unsure to what extent this was true, but given her lack of sleepover-experience and her craving for more of Bridget’s baking, she decided to just accept this as fact.

The plan was as follows: the girls would gather back at Bridget’s room, where they would bake something to have the oh-so-important snacks. After that, they’d go to Red and Chloe’s room for the actual sleepover, since they had two beds and therefore more sleeping space.

Except. Shit.

Red just realized they would have to share beds.

Way to keep your distance, you idiot. Maybe she should have thought this through a bit more. But there was no getting out now, with Bridget taking her role as Chief Sleepover seriously as ever.

‘’So,’’ Chloe asked her when they made their way to their dorm. ‘’A sleepover? Not that I don’t love it, but where did that just come from?’’

‘’No idea,’’ Red said in all honesty. ‘’It just popped up in my head.’’

‘’Well, it does sound fun. And we can spend some more time with Bridget and Ella before we go back.’’

‘’Exactly.’’

They dropped their clothes off. Red went right back to Bridget’s room after, but Chloe wanted to wash her hair first. ‘’It takes forever to dry,’’ she said, ‘’so I don’t want to wash it right before bed.’’

Good, Red thought. She had some time to gather her thoughts. She took her time to walk back to Bridget’s room.

But then she ran into Ella on the way there.

Well, her plans were just going great today, weren’t they?

‘’Hey, can we talk for a bit?’’ Ella asked. ‘’Only if you want to,’’ she added quickly. ‘’We don’t have to. But I told Bridget I’d go to the kitchen to ask them if we can get some butter, since she ran out. So, want to come with me?’’

Red nodded. ‘’Let’s go. And… yeah, we can talk.’’ She’d avoided it all day, but maybe talking was good. Hadn’t Chloe told her to stop holding in her feelings?

‘’So,’’ Ella started. ‘’About what I said yesterday. I hope I didn’t cross any boundaries. I truly didn’t mean anything by it, I just got a vibe from you guys. And maybe I was wrong. But… you’ve both been acting a bit strange today, so I just wanted to check if anything was wrong.’’

Red sighed. ‘’You can’t tell Chloe about any of this,’’ she said. ‘’Or Bridget. She’s sweet, but she seems like she can’t keep a secret for her life.’’

Ella chuckled. ‘’Accurate. She tries, but she just gets too excited at the idea of gossip and wants to share it with everybody. So I won’t tell her. And I won’t tell Chloe, either.’’

‘’Thank you.’’

‘’So, tell me. What’s going on?’’

‘’That’s the thing. I don’t actually know. We’ve known each other for like a month, but things seem different since yesterday.’’

‘’Because of what I said to you?’’

‘’A little bit, maybe. But something else happened last night.’’ She told Ella about her slight emotional breakdown, how Chloe had comforted her, and how they’d slept still holding on to one another – and had remained so in the morning, even after they’d woken up.

‘’Damn. Okay. That really escalated quickly.’’

Red sighed. ‘’I know. Or maybe it’s been building up, or something. I don’t know anymore, honestly. I suck at this.’’

‘’Well, what is ‘this’, exactly? What are you feeling?’’

‘’I thought it was just friendship, but maybe it’s a bit more than that. Like just now, with her in that dress, I felt like I couldn’t stop staring at her.’’

‘’Maybe that’s because you indeed could not stop staring at her.’’

‘’Hey!’’

‘’It’s true! You were gaping, girl. It was not very subtle. But then again, she was gaping at you just as well.’’

‘’Was she really?’’

‘’How did you not notice that through the intense eye contact you were making? You both seemed like you were about to start drooling.’’

‘’So… what does that mean?’’

‘’It means that you might be developing some feelings. And I can’t know for sure, of course, but it kind of seems like she is, too.’’

Red was quiet. Feelings? Really? ‘’What the hell do I do with that?’’

‘’That’s up to you. What do you want to do?’’

‘’I don’t know. How do I even know if I really have feelings for her? Maybe this is just how friendship is supposed to feel.’’

‘’Bridget and I are best friends, and she is objectively beautiful, but I have never once stared at her the way you two just did.’’

‘’Ugh! My head’s a mess.’’ Red stopped walking for a bit, since they were nearing the kitchen, and she’d rather die than have any more people find out about this right now. She leaned against the wall. ‘’I don’t even know what I’m feeling.’’

‘’Okay, try to describe it to me.’’

‘’I don’t know how.’’

‘’Well, what did you feel just now? When you were gaping at her?’’

‘’I was not gaping, but okay. I just thought she looked beautiful.’’

‘’Well, she did. And you were gaping. What else?’’

‘’I don’t know! I just couldn’t keep my eyes off of her.’’

‘’Okay, what about last night? When you guys fell asleep next to each other, how did you feel then?’’

Red thought for a bit. ‘’I guess I felt safe. Comfortable. I’ve never been much of a hugger, and I get a bit weird around physical contact with most people, but not with her. It felt natural, I guess. And I’ve never fallen asleep so easily as I did with her. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever really wanted to spend time with anybody, yet I don’t want to be away from her for a minute longer than I have to.’’

‘’Damn. Okay.’’

‘’Damn what?’’

‘’Damn, you’re in deep.’’

Red groaned. ‘’So those are, like, feelings?’’

‘’I’m afraid so, my friend,’’ Ella said. ‘’You’re in deep shit. Now the question remains, what will you do about it?’’

‘’Is ignoring it until I die an option? If so, I choose that.’’

‘’Now, what would Chloe say if you said something like that?’’

‘’Probably that I’m an idiot and I shouldn’t do that.’’

‘’I concur.’’

‘’What then? Do I tell her? What if she doesn’t feel the same? Oh my god, what if she does?’’ That last thought made Red panic even more. ‘’I care about her, Ella. I don’t want to mess this up.’’

‘’You won’t, honey,’’ Ella said sympathetically. ‘’Just follow your heart. That’s the best thing you can do, honestly. I know it’s scary, but sometimes the best things are the scariest.’’

‘’Yeah, maybe. But it’s… complicated.’’ She couldn’t exactly tell Ella about the time-travel situation and the whole ‘trying to save their moms’ thing, so she had to be vague. ‘’We’ve both been going through some family stuff and I don’t want to be too much on top of that.’’

‘’Look, I can’t tell you how she feels or how she’d react if you told her how you feel. I wish I could, but I can’t. The only thing I do know for sure is that that girl really cares for you. Trust me, the way she looks at you makes that very clear, even if you can’t see it.’’

‘’Really?’’

‘’Really. I get it, it’s scary, but she cares about you and you care about her. Just hold onto that thought, okay?’’

‘’Okay.’’ Red slowly started to walk towards the kitchen again. ‘’Thanks, Ella.’’

‘’Anytime. Now, let’s go get that butter, before Bridget goes berserk. She gets really serious about baking.’’

Chapter Text

Chloe arrived at Bridget’s room after taking a shower, but was surprised to see nobody else there. ‘’Hey! Where are the others? Red already went back like twenty minutes ago.’’

‘’Hey Chloe! Ella’s just getting some butter from the kitchen. I bet Red ran into her and joined her.’’

‘’Oh, okay. That’s good.’’ Chloe had gotten slightly worried when she noticed Red’s absence, but how much trouble could she have gotten in in such a short amount of time?

Knowing Red, probably a lot. So she hoped Bridget was right and that she was just with Ella.

‘’So, is there anything I should know about?’’ Bridget said teasingly.

‘’What?’’ said Chloe, with a way too intense tone of voice. ‘’Sorry. Just… what?’’ she asked again, kinder this time.

Bridget giggled. ‘’Just the way you two look at each other. I thought there might be something going on. What, thought I didn’t notice?’’ she added when she saw Chloe’s surprised look. ‘’People never think I see such things, maybe because I tend to talk a bit much, but I’m an observer too. And I definitely observed some looks between you two.’’

Chloe’s blush should match Red’s hair at this point. Why? Why did Bridget have to be so… accurate? ‘’It’s been a bit weird between us since this morning,’’ she admitted. She briefly shared what had happened. Not in too much detail; she didn’t think Red would appreciate that, after all. But she explained they’d shared an emotional moment and how they ended up falling asleep, with Red putting the blankets on her after Chloe had already fallen asleep.

‘’That’s so sweet,’’ Bridget sighed. ‘’I wish I had someone to do that for me. How was it this morning?’’

‘’I don’t know,’’ Chloe said. ‘’Weird. Not in a bad way, but we’ve never done anything like that before. We hug sometimes, or we hold hands for a little bit, but nothing like this.’’

‘’Okay, so this is new. That’s exciting.’’

‘’Exciting? Try terrifying,’’ Chloe shuddered. ‘’What do I do with this? What even is this?’’

‘’What do you think it is?’’

Chloe thought she knew, deep down. But she wasn’t quite ready to say it out loud. Not yet.

But she didn’t have to, because the door opened and Red and Ella walked in, holding a whole bunch of butter. ‘’The kitchen had enough to spare, so one of the chefs gave it as soon as we said it was for you,’’ Red said. ‘’Is this a common thing?’’

‘’I don’t have a fridge in my room, so I can keep most ingredients myself, but not butter. So yeah, I go to the kitchen quite a bit. They usually have some to spare.’’

‘’She’s got great connections,’’ Ella added as she put her share of the butter down. ‘’Alright, we got everything. What now, boss?’’

‘’First, we put on our aprons,’’ Bridget said. ‘’And wash our hands. Hygiene is key, ladies.’’

Of course, Bridget had enough aprons for all four of them. For the next hour or so, they followed her instructions so they could make the ‘best cupcakes ever’, according to Bridget.

In the meantime, both Red and Chloe were feeling very self-conscious about every interaction between them; Red because Ella now knew, and Chloe because Bridget did. To their credit, though, both Ella and Bridget did their best to act as they always did, not wanting to make the situation weirder for the girls.

After a while, they felt a bit more at ease. It was funny to see Bridget being so bossy, albeit still in a kind way, and to see Ella attempt to navigate the whole process. ‘’I don’t usually help with baking,’’ she explained. ‘’So thank you for this.’’

Red, who had somehow managed to get a whole lot of flour on her hands, said: ‘’I prefer eating the results over this, too.’’

Chloe laughed at her. ‘’You’re just too impatient for anything like this, Red.’’

‘’Whatever do you mean? I’m like the most patient person ever.’’

‘’You once swore at a coffeemaker because it took two seconds longer than usual to get it to work.’’

‘’Okay, but that was a long time ago.’’

‘’It was last week!’’

‘’Well, it feels like years away,’’ Red smirked. This made Chloe smile as well. Ella and Bridget, missing quite a bit of time-travel related context, just shook their heads at their banter and continued baking.

Once they put the cupcakes in the small oven Bridget had in her room – which had to be some kind of fire hazard – the girls sat down. Ella and Bridget sat on the bed, Red claimed a comfortable chair similar to the ones she and Chloe had in their rooms at Auradon Prep and Chloe accepted a bunch of pillows and a blanket from Bridget, to make herself comfortable on the floor. She settled in right next to Red.

‘’So, Castlecoming tomorrow,’’ Chloe asked. ‘’What can we expect?’’

‘’Oh, it’s wonderful,’’ Bridget said excitedly. ‘’The whole school will be decorated, and everything looks really pretty. There will be an orchestra playing, so we can dance if we want. And everyone’s all dressed up. I love it.’’

‘’Plus, there’s basically a carnival happening to the side, including a massive Ferris wheel,’’ Ella said. ‘’I may not be the biggest Castlecoming fan, but… the Ferris wheel is kind of cool.’’

‘’Sounds nice,’’ Chloe smiled. ‘’We definitely have to go on that.’’

Red nodded. ‘’Absolutely.’’

‘’Although I have a slight fear of heights.’’

‘’What? Since when?’’

‘’Since… always? But a Ferris wheel sounds nice. I bet you can see all around the school from there.’’

Bridget nodded. ‘’It’s really wonderful. We should all go in together.’’

‘’And we got you,’’ Ella said to Chloe. ‘’No worries.’’

The oven pinged, meaning the cupcakes were ready. Bridget jumped up. ‘’Alright, girls,’’ she said. ‘’Ready to go to our next location?’’

‘’You mean our dorm?’’

‘’Well, yes, but that seems less mysterious. Anyway, let’s go.’’ The girls carefully grabbed the cupcakes – or at least, most did; Red almost burned herself, causing Chloe to hold her back. ‘’Please do not burn yourself,’’ she said seriously. ‘’No injuries during the sleepover.’’

‘’Only during? But injuries after the sleepover are allowed?’’

‘’Red.’’

‘’Chloe.’’

‘’Please be careful.’’

‘’I always am.’’

‘’That is simply not true.’’

Red smirked. ‘’You know me too well. Come on, princess. We have to go be hostesses for our friends.’’

And so they went on their way to their dorm. The girls spent the rest of the evening eating the cupcakes, talking about their classmates and looking forward to Castlecoming.

After a while, it was time to go to bed. At least, Bridget had decided that it was, because they had to get their ‘beauty sleep for tomorrow, guys!’. The rest accepted this; Ella, because she knew how much her friend cared about Castlecoming, and Red and Chloe because they were actually tired.

Ella and Bridget had sat on Chloe’s bed the entire evening, so they took that one, meaning Chloe would sleep in Red’s bed again. For the second night in a row. This thought made Red a bit nervous, especially after her conversation with Ella. To Ella’s credit, the girl had indeed not said anything about it, or made any comments to tease Red. Unbeknownst to her, Bridget had also not said a word, despite wanting to share it with Ella more than anything. The girl was really not good at keeping secrets, but she did anyway. She just made a new friend, and she wasn’t about to jeopardize that by sharing this before Chloe was ready to.

Once the girls got settled, Ella and Bridget seemed to fall asleep quite easily. Red and Chloe, however, were both too distracted. By Castlecoming and the impending prank, for a little bit, but mostly by each other.

They kept a bit of distance, for as much as that was possible while sharing a bed. Red kept tossing and turning, unable to find a position in which she was comfortable. She’d fallen asleep so quickly yesterday, when she’d been close to Chloe, and it took her all self-restraint she had to not hug the other girl again.

Chloe, meanwhile, was thinking the same thing. Red was so close to her, but the distance was killing her.

After Red turning around for the tenth time, now on her side and facing Chloe, she whispered: ‘’Can’t sleep either?’’

‘’Nope,’’ Red whispered as softly as she could, not wanting to wake the others. ‘’Stressed about tomorrow.’’

Chloe sighed. ‘’Me too.’’ And there was the whole ‘possibly feeling a bit more than just a friendship’ thing. But she would keep that one to herself.

‘’I can’t believe we just have to watch and do nothing.’’

‘’Maybe you don’t have to,’’ Chloe offered. ‘’I could go and see what happens. I get it if you don’t want to see it.’’

Red shook her head. ‘’No. No way. We’re doing this together, or not at all.’’

‘’Okay,’’ Chloe said. She carefully grabbed Red’s hand; nothing weird, they did that all the time. This was totally normal. ‘’I’m there for you, okay? We’ll go together and we’re going to fix this. Together.’’

Red got a bit closer – or did she just imagine that? Chloe wasn’t sure anymore – and smiled at her. ‘’Deal.’’ The comfort of Chloe’s hand holding hers was enough for her to finally feel a bit more at ease. ‘’Good night, Chlo.’’ She carefully rubbed her thumb on Chloe’s hand, to let her know she was okay with it – and that she didn’t want Chloe to let go.

Chloe got goosebumps at the touch. ‘’Good night, Red,’’ she whispered.

After that, Red stopped tossing and turning and both girls fell asleep. The next morning, they woke up still in the same position, holding hands under the covers.

Okay, Red thought. I’m fucked. I’m absolutely, beyond fucked.

At the same time, Chloe thought something else. She may not know what she was feeling, exactly, but she knew this: she would not let Red alone for a single minute today. If she had to witness what was about to happen to her mother, Chloe would be right there with her, no matter what. Like they promised; they’d do it together, or not at all.

Chapter Text

The day went by way too quickly. Knowing what was about to happen, wanting to make the day last as long as possible before it did, just made time seem to move faster. Before they knew it, it was time to get ready for Castlecoming.

The four girls had spent most of the day together, hanging out and enjoying their free time. Now, Ella joined Bridget in her room, so they could get ready together. Red and Chloe went back to their dorm to do the same.

Red got nervous about seeing Chloe in her dress again, deciding that she wouldn’t be staring this time. Chloe vowed to herself to do the same after Red put her suit on.

Both girls failed quite desperately.

It started when Chloe called out to her, asking her to zip her up. Red had been in the bathroom doing her hair, so she hadn’t seen Chloe in the full outfit yet. Besides the dress, she also borrowed shoes from Bridget and put her hair up, with some of her curls intentionally hanging loosely besides her face.

Red came out of the bathroom and – damn. Chloe looked even better than yesterday.

‘’Sure,’’ she said in a high-pitched voice. She coughed, trying to get her voice back to its normal octave. ‘’Turn around, I’ll zip it up for you.’’

And so she did. And she managed to actually do it, instead of just stare at her. How proud she should be of herself.

‘’Thanks,’’ Chloe said. ‘’So, what do you think?’’ She twirled around for Red.

‘’I mean, I think I gave it away yesterday,’’ Red teased. Against her better judgement, she grabbed Chloe’s hand and made her spin around once more. She couldn’t help herself.

‘’Yeah. But maybe I’d like to hear you say it again.’’ After her spin, she almost tripped – so much for trying to be confident in those damn heels – and had to grab Red to keep stable. Red grabbed her as well, to keep her from falling.

Red, holding Chloe’s elbows in her hand while Chloe held her by her waist, swallowed. ‘’Fine. You’re still beautiful, princess.’’

Chloe smiled at her. And dammit, Red could get lost in those eyes. She had no time for this.

‘’Come on, you should get your outfit on too. Ella and Bridget might be waiting for us already.’’ Just like usual, Red was just slightly late. Also, Chloe got extremely nervous holding Red like that, and needed an out before she did something embarrassing. Like almost trip again.

Red nodded. She already had the pants on, just the blouse and jacket were left. She took her shirt off and started buttoning the blouse, not noticing Chloe blushing and turning around to avoid staring at her.

After she got everything on, she said: ‘’All done. What do you think?’’ If Chloe would make her say it again, she could very well do the same thing to her.

Chloe turned around and saw her, jaw dropping open a bit. ‘’Well, you… still look gorgeous, too, Your Majesty.’’

Red stepped a bit closer to her. ‘’Your Majesty?’’ she said teasingly. ‘’Are we escalating from calling each other ‘princess’? I was just starting to like that nickname.’’

Why? Chloe thought. Why did Red have to do this? As if looking like that wasn’t enough, she had to get even closer to her and tease her like that. At this rate, she would have to throw herself out of the Ferris wheel to escape these feelings.

Because, yes, they were feelings. Chloe knew that. Of course Chloe knew that. But knowing something and wanting to admit it were two different things entirely.

Somebody knocked at their door, causing both girls to startle. Red walked over to open the door, which showed Ella and Bridget behind it. ‘’We were wondering where you guys were,’’ Bridget said.

‘’Red was late again,’’ Chloe said. ‘’But we’re ready to go.’’

‘’I was done, like, a minute after you,’’ Red countered. ‘’Don’t blame me when you’re almost just as bad.’’

‘’It’s the ‘almost’ that makes the difference,’’ Chloe said. ‘’Anyway, let’s go! I want to see this dance.’’

‘’Alright, my dear friends,’’ Bridget said, right before they went outside. Since the weather was good, the festivities were held outside on the school grounds. ‘’Are you guys ready to see Castlecoming in all its glory?’’

Red and Chloe both nodded, both holding in a nervous breath. No going back now.

‘’Good!’’ Bridget said. ‘’Then let’s go.’’ She threw the doors open, walking outside with a skip in her step, with Ella by her side. Red and Chloe followed, after sharing one last look. No words were needed; they knew what was about to happen.

Red would finally find out what happened to her mother. And then she’d have to see the consequences she’d been living with her entire life.

Chapter Text

Red’s senses were overwhelmed the minute she stepped outside, although she had to admit it looked beautiful.

The first thing she noticed was the massive Ferris wheel, on the left side of the terrain. She couldn’t wait to go on it; Chloe may be scared of heights, but Red loved the thrill of them.

In the middle, a large dance floor was created, lit up by massive strings of lights hung from all the lampposts surrounding it. On the right side was a large bar and some tables and chairs. Shame they didn’t have alcohol; Red felt like she could use a drink or two right about now.

Across from them, the orchestra was set up, already playing. Nobody was dancing yet, as people were just starting to arrive. They were on the early side, but Bridget was so excited to go that the rest of them didn’t mind their early arrival.

‘’The rest of the carnival is behind the Ferris wheel,’’ Bridget said. ‘’They have some fun games over there.’’

‘’Shall we go check it out?’’ Chloe said. ‘’People aren’t really dancing yet, anyway.’’

They went over there. The bright colours of all the booths made them stand out against the dark sky, and strings of light were hung above them too, to light the path up.

The girls first played a simple game, where they had to throw over some cans using a small ball. Chloe adorably missed every time, causing Red to grin. ‘’I’m better with a sword,’’ Chloe said. ‘’If this were fencing, I’d totally beat you.’’

‘’Yeah,’’ Red said slowly, walking past her and taking a ball. ‘’But it’s not.’’ She threw it and managed to get all the cans to fall in one try. ‘’Better luck next time,’’ she whispered in Chloe’s ear, after which she walked away.

Chloe blushed, even more so when she saw Ella and Bridget smirking at them from a small distance. ‘’Let’s try something else,’’ Bridget suggested.

‘’Something that will bruise your ego less,’’ Ella added with a smile.

‘’Or something that will bruise Red’s instead,’’ Chloe mumbled.

‘’Oh, nothing can. It’s one of the best things about me.’’

‘’How did you even hear me?’’

‘’I have amazing hearing when it comes to insults.’’

‘’Clearly not, or your ego would’ve shattered long ago.’’

‘’Stop it, princess. Just take the loss.’’

Chloe shook her head. ‘’Let’s try… anything else.’’

They settled on a game where they had to shoot balloons with a bow and arrow. Chloe sucked at this a little less, which was good. But the best part was that Red sucked at it, too.

‘’Ha!’’ Chloe exclaimed. ‘’See? Even you can’t do this.’’

Red glared at her before trying again – and still failing. ‘’You know what? Let’s check out the Ferris wheel.

This made Chloe’s face fall. ‘’Yeah, maybe you guy can do that without me.’’

‘’No, you have to come with!’’ Bridget said. ‘’It’s so much fun. It’s so beautiful from up there.’’

‘’And it’s really not as high as it seems now,’’ Ella said. ‘’Promise.’’

Despite their encouraging words, Chloe was mostly still looking at Red, who stepped closer to her. ‘’We’ll be there,’’ Red said. ‘’It’ll be fun. And if it sucks, you can be mad at me after.’’

Chloe thought for a bit, and then nodded. ‘’Fine. But only if I can be mad at you. Without that, the deal is gone.’’

Red laughed. ‘’Deal.’’

They went to stand in line. The Ferris wheel had many carts, all having enough space for about four people, which was perfect.

But just before the girls could enter, Charming showed up.

‘’Ella!’’ he said. ‘’You did come.’’

Ella immediately got nervous. ‘’Charming! Hey. Yeah, I, uh… well, the girls convinced me.’’

Bridget nodded. ‘’We’re very persuasive.’’

Charming smiled. ‘’Would you maybe want to go on the Ferris wheel together?’’

Ella was about to say no, which all girls could feel. ‘’Of course she does,’’ Bridget intervened. At Ella’s glare, she said: ‘’We can go together later, El. We have all night.’’

Ella looked from them to Charming, who was – in line with his name – looking at her with his good smile. He held out his hand, which Ella slowly took. ‘’Go,’’ Chloe whispered. ‘’We’ll see you later.’’

They let Ella and Charming get on the first cart. Then, when it was about to be their turn, Bridget suddenly backtracked. ‘’I think Jasmine needs me for something,’’ she said, which was clearly a lie. Jasmine was nowhere to be seen. ‘’I should go to her.’’ She winked at Chloe, who had to work hard to keep in a groan. Way to be subtle, Bridget. Please never play matchmaker again.

Red just looked confused. Good. Better confused than aware of what Bridget was trying to do.

Before the girls could ask more questions, Bridget wandered off, leaving Red and Chloe in front of the open cart. Someone behind them coughed, clearly getting impatient. ‘’Let’s just go in,’’ Red said. ‘’Before they get pissed at us.’’

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded. ‘’Okay.’’

They sat in the cart across from each other. The carts were small, so their knees were almost touching. As soon as the wheel started moving and their cart got off the ground, Chloe leaned forward and grabbed Red’s knee with her arm. ‘’Sorry,’’ she said immediately after. ‘’Didn’t expect it to shake this much.’’

‘’If we sit still, it shouldn’t be too bad,’’ Red said. She slowly leaned forward as well, carefully taking Chloe’s hands in hers. ‘’Just focus on me.’’

If her aim was to calm Chloe’s nerves, that was the worst possible option. As soon as Chloe looked in her eyes, her heart started racing even more. Why did Red have to be this gorgeous, looking at her with those eyes?

‘’You okay?’’ Red asked, apparently noticing her nerves. At least Chloe could pretend it was all because of the cart getting higher and higher, and not because of the girl across from her.

When Chloe didn’t answer, Red decided to sit next to her instead of across. The small distance between them was still too much, and she started to feel bad about making Chloe go in the Ferris wheel with her. She was clearly scared.

‘’What are you doing?’’ Chloe asked.

‘’Making sure you don’t scare yourself to death,’’ Red answered, slowly standing up and sitting herself on Chloe’s left side. ‘’I got you. Just lean against me.’’

Chloe did so. Red put an arm around her shoulder, brushing her thumb against her collarbone, giving Chloe shivers. ‘’Are you cold?’’ Red asked. ‘’Wait.’’ She let Chloe go again, just for a second, while she took off her suit jacket and put it on Chloe instead. ‘’Here. Wouldn’t want you to freeze so high up,’’ she joked. After that, she put her arm around Chloe once again, who leaned into her more.

Dammit, Red, she thought. You’re making it so, so much worse by being so nice. But she was warmer now, and leaning against her did calm her nerves, so she couldn’t blame her for actually making it better.

Chloe put her left hand on Red’s right leg and sighed, leaning into the other girl. Red’s heart went crazy at that. ‘’Better?’’ she asked.

Chloe looked at her and nodded. ‘’Thank you.’’ She wanted to ask something, but wasn’t sure how, or even what exactly.

‘’What is it?’’ Red asked, noticing her hesitance.

‘’Just… since when are you so… nice?’’

Red blinked, not expecting this question. ‘’What do you mean?’’

‘’When we first met, you didn’t exactly like me, and now you’re comforting me, giving me your jacket. I just didn’t exactly expect this of you when we first met.’’

Red smiled a bit. ‘’Me neither, princess. But I guess you grew on me a little.’’

‘’Really?’’ Chloe smiled.

‘’Yeah, obviously. You think I go around offering my jacket to just anyone? That’s a special privilege reserved just for you.’’ She had a shimmer in her eyes when she said that.

And in that moment, all Chloe wanted to do was kiss her. Red’s arm around her, her hand on Red’s leg, and them looking into each other’s eyes when the Ferris wheel was just reaching its highest point was almost too much for her. Her heart was racing so much she was scared it might actually explode out of her chest.

Was Red leaning in closer to her, or was she just imagining that? Or was Chloe leaning in to her?

Whatever it was, Chloe had no time to figure out. Because the yelling and fearful screams from below were distracting them, pulling them apart from each other out of shock.

Chapter Text

‘’Oh, no,’’ Chloe said softly. ‘’The prank. It must be happening now.’’

Red felt like she got punched in the stomach. Why had they let Bridget go alone?

‘’We need to get there,’’ she said, trying to look over the edge of the cart. ‘’Now.’’

‘’Red,’’ Chloe said. ‘’You know we can’t do anything, right?’’

Red didn’t respond.

‘’Red?’’ Chloe pleaded. ‘’You remember the plan, right? We can’t change it now.’’

‘’I know,’’ she said, her heart sinking to her chest. ‘’I know. But we should at least be there to see what happens more closely.’’ We should’ve been there from the start, she thought.

It would still take a few minutes for them to get down, so they tried to see what was happening from the cart. They were a bit too far away to see specifics, but the higher angle did help them get an idea of what was going on.

The orchestra had stopped playing, most of the members walking off the stage and towards the ruckus. People on the dance floor had stopped moving, looking over to a few people in the middle of it. Even people who’d been walking around the carnival now went towards the dance floor, trying to see what was happening. Red squinted, but couldn’t see who the people in the middle were. She only recognized Bridget’s pink hair, right in the centre of it all.

‘’Look,’’ she said while turning around to get Chloe’s attention. ‘’It’s Bridget.’’

‘’Where?’’ Chloe asked, trying to look in the same direction.

‘’Right there, on the- wait.’’ In the second Red had turned around, Bridget seemed to have disappeared. Her pink hair was nowhere to be found all of a sudden. ‘’Bridget was just there, in the middle of the dance floor. Where the hell did she go?’’

They were slowly nearing the bottom. Whoever was operating the Ferris wheel stopped letting new people on and got everybody out as quickly as they could.

Ella and Charming got out just before them and waited for them, looking nervous. ‘’What is going on?’’ Red yelled when they were nearing the ground. The operator tried to open the cart’s door for them, but Red jumped over it before they could. ‘’Did you see anything? I think Bridget was in the middle of whatever’s going on.’’

Chloe, who did wait for the door, came after her. Ella waited for her to join and then went towards the dance floor, the rest of them following. ‘’Not clearly. Let’s go.’’

‘’I think Bridget was there,’’ Red said. ‘’But I don’t know what’s happening either.’’

They ran over, although Charming didn’t exactly seem excited to go towards the chaos instead of the other direction. But he knew better than to argue with them.

They heard another scream, making them hesitate for a second before continuing on. They now saw that Uliana and her gang stood in a circle. Morgie was looking worried, but the rest was fine. Almost like they were entertained.

‘’What the hell is going on?’’ Ella demanded, pushing Hook over to make her way into the circle. ‘’Where’s Bridget?’’

‘’Calm down, darling,’’ Uliana laughed. ‘’Your friend’s right here.’’

They looked down. In the middle of the circle, where Bridget had stood, was… still Bridget. But also not Bridget at all.

It was horrifying.

She was lying on the floor, screaming in pain. Her limbs had transformed into tentacles, her pink hair was gone and her face was slowly transforming as well.

Chloe stood next to Red and saw tears begin to appear in her eyes. Red turned towards Uliana. ‘’What the hell did you do?!’’ she screamed. ‘’Turn her back!’’

‘’No,’’ Uliana said matter-of-factly. ‘’She’ll turn back when she experienced what I did. Let her turn into a monster first.’’

‘’This is nothing like what happened to you!’’ Red yelled. ‘’That was an accident. This is clearly not.’’

‘’Think I care?’’

‘’You fucking should.’’ Chloe held Red back, since she was honestly scared she’d attack her. They shouldn’t make the situation even worse – even if she desperately wanted to follow Red’s lead and make Uliana regret this.

‘’Help!’’ Bridget screamed, the sound distorted.

‘’Do something!’’ Red yelled. ‘’This is enough!’’

Nobody did anything. Why did nobody do anything? It seemed like the whole school had now gathered on the dance floor, watching them, and nobody moved.

All of a sudden, Bridget turned around, any semblance to her human form disappearing. What was left now was a squid. She’d stopped yelling in pain, at least, and Red hoped it would be over soon.

‘’Bridget?’’ she whispered.

‘’Red,’’ Chloe said.

Red didn’t react.

‘’Red, something’s happening.’’

‘’What?’’ She looked at Chloe, seeing a worried look on her face.

Uliana had stopped laughing, her brows furrowing. ‘’Wait.’’

The tentacles were slowly growing. They were on the floor, moving around, and seemed to get longer by the second.

‘’Hell no.’’ Charming took a step back. ‘’Ella, let’s go.’’

‘’What?’’ Ella said. ‘’This is my friend.’’

‘’This is bad news,’’ he said. ‘’Let’s get out while we can.’’

‘’What are you talking about?’’

Just as Charming wanted to respond, one of Bridget’s tentacles reached out to grab Morgie’s ankle. He looked terrified and screamed when she pulled on it. He fell on the floor, but she then lifted him up.

Meanwhile, not just the tentacles were growing, but the squid as a whole. Everyone had to take a few steps back. Morgie was still held by his ankle, now turned upside down. ‘’Guys!’’ he yelled. ‘’Uliana! Hook! Help me!’’

‘’Oh, fuck this,’’ Hades said, starting to walk off. However, another tentacle stopped him, wrapping around his throat. He started to choke.

Chloe had held Red’s arm for the past minute or so, to keep her from interfering. There was nothing they could do, and though it pained her, they had to keep the promise they’d made: only observing.

The squid – Bridget – turned bigger and bigger. Uliana looked panicked. ‘’This… shouldn’t happen,’’ she yelled. ‘’Maleficent! Do something!’’ Maleficent, meanwhile, was trying to get the tentacles off of Hades, while Hook was trying to do the same for Morgie.

The tentacles lifted up and threw both Hades and Morgie away. People around them had started to get more panicked, but now some of them screamed and started running away. The orchestra had now left as well, fleeing towards the carnival.

Within a few seconds, the squid had grown until it was taller than any of the bystanders. If it hadn’t been her mother – and now her friend – Red would’ve been disgusted. Instead, she just felt awful. This did in no way compare to what Uliana had experienced. She had still had most of her own features after consuming the feathers. This? This was not Bridget. She had completely transformed.

The tentacles kept slowly moving around, and everyone stepped back even more. Then, the massive squid stopped moving – until all of its tentacles went toward Uliana, all at once.

Everyone yelled and the people who were left on the dance floor were now all trying to get away as quickly as they could. Throughout all the chaos and screaming, Red could see Charming trying to get away. He pulled Ella with him. She looked back at Bridget one last time, but then ran away, not looking back.

Uliana was screaming loudest of all. One tentacle was around her throat, some around her limbs and one around her waist to hold her up. She was held above the floor, floating over them.

Red only looked on in terror.

The squid made a horrific noise. It was like Bridget was still inside, still crying for help, but the sound was not human.

‘’Guys!’’ Uliana yelled. ‘’Hook? Morgie?’’ But all her friends had run as well.

Chloe saw the tentacles moving again, now in their direction. She pulled on Red’s arm. ‘’Go. Now.’’

Red shook her head, but Chloe put all her body weight into dragging her with her. ‘’She’s going towards us, Red. Come! Now!’’

One tentacle quickly moved in their direction. They managed to jump over it when it tried to get to their feet, and after that, they kept running until they were at a safe distance.

Now, only Bridget and Uliana were there, still in the middle of the dance floor.

Then, with one final shriek, all tentacles went towards Uliana again.

The last thing Red heard was a snap and the sound of a body hitting the floor. Then everything went black before her eyes.

Chapter Text

When Red woke up the next day, she felt a hand in hers. She smiled; that had to be Chloe. For a few seconds, she just laid there, relaxed and safe. Then she opened her eyes. She wanted to see her Chloe. Talking to her had easily become her favourite part of the morning – and afternoon, evening, or just the whole day in general.

‘’Chlo?’’ she mumbled, followed by yawn. She felt Chloe squeeze her hand tightly and saw the girl sit on a chair next to her bed.

This wasn’t their dorm, was it? Everything was white, and she could see more beds around.

Chloe came closer to her, and though Red would not easily say this about anyone – especially her – she looked like an absolute mess.

She was still wearing her dress and Red’s jacket, like she had the night before. But her hair was a mess, in a messy bun with several sweaty strands clinging to her face. The worst were her eyes. She had massive bags under them, and her eyes themselves looked… sad. That was the best way to describe it.

And all of a sudden, the whole night came back to her.

And Red just wept until she fell asleep again.

Hours later, she woke up again, Chloe still sitting next to her. She looked like she was asleep too, but as soon as Red tried to sit up, she reacted. ‘’Stay down for a bit,’’ she said, her voice hoarse. ‘’Drink some water first.’’

Red didn’t protest, instead drinking from the glass Chloe was holding for her. She leaned back on her pillow after that.

‘’What happened?’’ she asked, staring at the ceiling.

Chloe swallowed, unsure what to say. ‘’What do you remember?’’

‘’The last thing I saw was Uliana’s body being thrown on the floor. Then I passed out, I think.’’

Chloe nodded. ‘’You did.’’

‘’What happened after?’’

Chloe’s eyes filled with tears. For the first time since they’d gotten here – the sick bay, Red learned later – she wasn’t holding Red’s hand. She couldn’t bear to touch her. Or look at her, really. She felt too guilty to do so.

‘’Merlin eventually showed up,’’ Chloe said, voice emotionless. ‘’He… used some spell to get Bridget back to normal.’’

‘’Where is she?’’

‘’I don’t know, I haven’t seen her.’’ A tear left her eye. She stared at the wall instead of at Red. ‘’No one has. She’s okay physically, I think, but mentally… she’s not good.’’

‘’Chloe?’’ Red had a bad feeling that Chloe was leaving something out of the story.

Chloe still wouldn’t look at her.

‘’Chlo?’’ she said, starting to get scared. ‘’What is it? Did she hurt someone? Where’s Uliana?’’

Chloe clenched her jaw. ‘’Uliana… she’s dead.’’

Red got pale and felt like she was about to throw up. ‘’Dead.’’

Chloe nodded. ‘’The, uhm…’’ Her voice went high and she coughed, trying to keep her emotions under control. She’d had the chance to process this since it happened – not that it had helped – but Red was hearing this for the first time. She had to stay strong.

She tried again. ‘’From what I’ve gathered, Uliana and her gang tried to get revenge by executing their original plan. There was a half-eaten cupcake on the floor next to Bridget.’’

‘’But we stopped that when we… you know… and the prank didn’t happen that time. What did they do?’’

Chloe nodded to a bed a few rows over. ‘’Morgie’s over there. He’s feeling so guilt-ridden, he spent all night crying and yelling. It was hard to listen to. After a while, Hook tried to calm him down and I overheard them talking when they thought everyone was asleep.’’

And so Chloe told Red everything. Red struggled to remember everything, but she got the gist of it.

Uliana, Hook, Hades and Maleficent had broken into Merlin’s office.

Morgie had kept watch outside.

They took the book with them instead of trying to open it in the office.

They opened it and got frozen, but the effects wore off before Castlecoming.

They made the cupcake.

They executed the prank.

In a fit of rage, Bridget killed Uliana, snapping her neck.

Merlin was too late to stop it.

And nobody else had bothered to try.

‘’So the only reason we stopped the prank in the other timeline,’’ Red whispered, ‘’was because we happened to be in the office? And they didn’t take the book with them, instead opening it immediately to… what, to taunt us?’’ It all felt so stupid, so trivial. Such a small detail that could so immensely change history.

Chloe nodded. ‘’From what I’ve understood, yes.’’

Red closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see anything or anyone right now. She didn’t want to feel.

So this is what made her mother into a monster. None of it was her fault. She’d lived the rest of her life in pain after this.

And suddenly, Red understood. She understood why her mother treated her the way she did. After the pain she’d had to endure. The sounds she’d heard Bridget make last night still played in her head. That was pure fear, pain, panic. Sadness. All of it combined.

She might never forgive her mother for the way she treated her while growing up. Being in pain was no excuse for inflicting it on her child as well. But for the first time, Red understood.

‘’I need some sleep,’’ she said.

‘’Okay,’’ Chloe said. Red heard a chair scrape and Chloe walk away. For the first time in weeks, she didn’t want Chloe to comfort her. She didn’t want anything except sleep and forget.

Chloe, meanwhile, went outside. It was almost seven in the evening, and she’d been sitting by Red’s bed ever since last night. She walked around until she was somewhere she was sure nobody could see or hear her.

She let her body sink against a wall and sat down, her head in her knees. And there, she bawled her eyes out. She never should’ve suggested they’d go back in time to see what happened. She knew the prank would be painful to watch, but not like this. And now Red had to live through her mother’s worst moment.

This had all gone wrong. All because she wanted to save her mom. They never should’ve gone back in time for a second time.

Chloe ran her hands through her hair. She cried for what was either ten minutes or ten hours, her feeling of time passing all messed up. After that, she pulled herself together and went back inside.

She sat herself down next to Red’s bed again. She would just have to keep it together for now. That was the least she could do for Red.

She heard soft sniffling. It wasn’t Red; it was a few beds over.

She could see Morgie lying on his side, away from her, his body shaking. She didn’t have it in her to feel sorry for him right now. This all could’ve been avoided if he tried to stop his friends from doing this.

Instead, Chloe just sat there. She couldn’t sleep and she didn’t want to eat. She kept feeling sick after hearing the snap of Uliana’s neck. She just stared ahead. She may not be of much use, but she’d promised Red to always be there for her. So she’d stay here for as long as she had to, looking over her friend.

Chapter Text

The next afternoon, Red was allowed to leave the sick bay, after having eaten something. She and Chloe went to their dorm, where she immediately got back in bed.

They hadn’t really spoken since last night. Neither of them knew what to say. They didn’t want to be alone, so though they spent their time in silence, they were usually right next to each other.

The only words they’d spoken were small things, like ‘’Drink some water’’ or ‘’I’m going for a walk’’. Just like when they got to Auradon Prep in their own time, Chloe felt the need to go outside and calm herself by going on long walks. She tried to stay by Red’s side as much as possible, but when she felt like she couldn’t take it anymore, she went outside to walk around or cry without Red seeing. Now, as Red went to bed, she decided to do the same. ‘’I’m going outside for a bit,’’ she said. ‘’Unless you need me for anything?’’

Red lifted her head off the bed and looked at her, then shook her head. ‘’No,’’ she said, her voice soft. ‘’I think I’ll just go to sleep again.’’ She had felt tired for the past day and a half, and only ate when somebody from the sick bay – or sometimes Chloe – told her to. All she could do was sleep.

‘’Alright,’’ Chloe said. ‘’I’ll wake you up later for dinner.’’

Red nodded and tried to smile at her. She couldn’t. She felt so awful that she could hardly look at Chloe; Chloe made her feel better and she didn’t deserve to feel better.

But she also didn’t want to hurt Chloe.

She might be asleep for most of the day, but she could tell that Chloe’s eyes were red every time she came back from a walk. They had never acted so distant towards one another, but Red didn’t know how to go back to before. Not yet, at least. Maybe they just needed time.

She hoped so.

Chloe went outside, trying to turn her thoughts off for a bit. She felt exhausted herself, but unlike Red, she wasn’t able to sleep. They had to figure out their next steps. She would rather go back in time to permanently fix everything as soon as they could, but Red was in no condition for that now. She might have to wait another day or two.

Not that they had much time. Since the year was almost at its end anyway, Merlin had decided to send everyone home for the year. They gave everyone a few days to travel home and leave the school, so they couldn’t stay for long.

Merlin had shared that announcement yhe day after Castlecoming, and many students left as soon as they could. Some stayed for a memorial service for Uliana, but left right after that. Even Hook, Hades and Maleficent had left; only Morgie was left. He was still in the sick bay when Red left it earlier today. He was in some kind of shock and had to remain under observation.

Chloe had heard rumours that Bridget had already been sent back to Wonderland, but nobody knew for sure. She hadn’t been seen since Castlecoming. Maybe that was better; Chloe knew that neither her nor Red would be able to handle seeing her.

So Chloe just walked around the school, hardly seeing anybody since most people had left at this point. From a distance, she thought she could see Merlin wandering around as well. She felt bad for him; apparently, someone from Uliana’s gang had locked him in his office before the prank. It took him ages to find his key, and by the time he’d gotten out and was able to go supervise Castlecoming, it was already way too late. For the past couple of days, he’d hardly been seen, but even from a distance she could tell he wasn’t doing too well.

If she could get Red to travel back in time again, the solution should be easy. Now that they knew for sure how the prank happened and knew it had in fact been their interference in Merlin’s office that caused the prank to not go through, they had to do what they did before. And if they didn’t visit Ella at home and Chloe didn’t break the vase, her parents should be able to fall in love at Castlecoming.

Despite how much it hurt her, she just had to wait until Red was ready. Then they could try again.

She just hoped this time wouldn’t be for nothing.

As promised, she went back to their dorm after her walk, but not before going by the cafeteria to pick up some dinner. Normally, you weren’t allowed to take food from there to the dorms, but all rules at school seemed to have been thrown out the window. Nobody was really there to enforce them, anyway; some of the teachers had left too, at this point.

Chloe filled two plates and started to make her way to their dorm, climbing up the stairs. The quietness around the school was eerie, but at least she didn’t have to talk to anyone.

For the first time in two days, Red was actually awake when she walked in and saw her. ‘’Hey,’’ the redhead said, stifling a yawn. ‘’Can we talk?’’

‘’Of course,’’ Chloe said, handing one of the plates to Red. ‘’I brought you this,’’ she added. ‘’You haven’t eaten much, so it might help.’’

‘’Thanks,’’ Red said. While Chloe was away, she’d been thinking. She kept replaying the events of Castlecoming in her head, mixed with the image of Chloe clearly having cried every single time she saw her. And when she couldn’t handle that image anymore, she decided it was enough. If sleeping didn’t do the trick anymore to get the emotions away, then she’d have to do the second best thing: actually deal with them.

What fun that would be.

‘’What did you want to talk about?’’ Chloe asked as she sat on her bed, taking a bite of the lukewarm hamburger on her plate. Maybe this is why they couldn’t take food away from the cafeteria; the long trip to their dorm hadn’t made the quality any better.

‘’I think we should go back in time and fix it,’’ Red answered. ‘’Again.’’

Chloe nodded. ‘’I’ve been thinking the same thing, actually. We know what to do now, right? Break in to Merlin’s office, make sure Uliana and the rest get detention, and make sure Ella doesn’t get grounded so she can fall in love with my father.’’

Red agreed. ‘’Sounds easy enough,’’ she said. ‘’Which is good, because I’m done with this. All of this.’’

‘’Done with what?’’ Chloe asked fearfully, scared ‘all of this’ included her, and their friendship, their… whatever they were. She didn’t want it to end. But after all of this, she would understand Red not wanting to see her anymore. Their first adventure had still seemed somewhat fun and exciting; this one was just devastating.

‘’Time travel,’’ Red said, carefully taking a bite of one of the potatoes on her plate. Her expression showed she enjoyed the food even less than Chloe did. ‘’Trying to save everyone. It’s a lot. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I just want to go to our own time, go to Auradon Prep and attend our boring classes.’’

‘’Our?’’ Chloe asked.

‘’Well, yeah. I need you. I suck at Math and someone needs to explain it to me.’’ Red smirked a bit, and Chloe’s heart lit up. This was the closest thing to a smile she’d seen on her since Castlecoming.

It made her smile in return. ‘’Me too,’’ she said. ‘’I mean, I don’t suck at Math too, but… you know. I just want to go back to a quiet, normal life.’’ As long as you’ll be there with me, she thought.

‘’Alright. Then how about we finish this questionable meal and go back again?’’ Red said. ‘’I think I’ve slept enough for about a week.’’

Chloe had not even slept enough for a single night, but she could fix that later. First, they had to save their families. Again. ‘’Deal.’’ Then she realized, ‘’We’re about to live through the same two days for the third time now. It’s starting to get boring at this point.’’

Red nodded, then said: ‘’How would you feel about, uhm… not spending as much time with Ella and Bridget at this point?’’

Chloe thought, then said: ‘’Maybe that’s better. I’m exhausted, and the more time we spend with them, the bigger the chance we’ll accidentally mess up again. I wouldn’t want to knock over another vase or something, since apparently that was the biggest problem last time.’’

‘’Of course it’d be you sucking at cleaning that was the only issue.’’ This thought actually made Red laugh. ‘’Imagine. We’ve been through a literal coup, breaking and entering, stealing and several deaths. And it was that one stupid vase that was the problem.’’

This made Chloe laugh as well. ‘’It all feels stupid when it comes down to it, doesn’t it? That such a small thing can have such a huge impact.’’

This applied to them more than she realized. In fact, what she would see as one small thing – her laughing at this – would actually have quite the impact – Red realizing yet again how much she cared for her.

Once they finished their dinner and were about to take the pocket watch to try again, Red walked over to Chloe’s bed and stood in front of her, Chloe still sitting down. Without a word, she gave the other girl the biggest hug she could muster. She’d missed their touches. Even if it was just two days, it seemed like longer.

Chloe hugged her back and didn’t let go, so Red didn’t either. ‘’I’m sorry I’ve been so distant,’’ she said. ‘’I just…’’ She couldn’t find the words.

‘’I know,’’ Chloe mumbled, her face buried in Red’s shoulder. ‘’After seeing what we did… you really don’t have to apologise. Plus, I’ve been distant too. It was a lot to process.’’

Eventually, they let go and Red looked at her. ‘’It was,’’ she said. ‘’For both of us. But we’re still in this together, right?’’

This was all Chloe needed to hear. ‘’Of course we are. We’re not giving up until we’re sitting in that boring Math class together, with you refusing to pay attention and annoying the hell out of me.’’

Red smiled. ‘’And you bringing me coffee every morning.’’

‘’Yeah, I should really start charging for that.’’

‘’Hey!’’

Chloe smiled at her disappointed face. ‘’Kidding, princess. You know I love our morning routine.’’

‘’Good. Because I was just starting to like you as a neighbour.’’

‘’Starting to? You already do, just admit it.’’

‘’You wish.’’ Red grabbed the pocket watch from where she hit it under her bed. ‘’Okay, are you ready?’’

Chloe held onto Red tightly again – for the sole purpose of not being separated while travelling through time, of course – and nodded. ‘’Ready.’’

And so they went, again.

And again.

And again.

Chapter Text

Attempt 1:

Dear diary,

I’ve decided to start writing everything down. As it turns out, time travel is a more delicate matter than either Red or I thought. So I’m starting with the first time we tried to go back in time, up until the most recent attempt, to keep track of what we’ve tried so far.

So, during attempt 1, we managed to stop the prank by breaking into Merlin’s office and defeating the owls, after which Uliana and the rest of her gang showed up to take the book. They got frozen, causing Merlin to find them and give them detention.

However, I broke the vase at Ella’s house, because of which she couldn’t go to Castlecoming (CC for short; my hand is already tired from all the writing. Let it be known, Red, that this is what happens when you haven’t gone to class and taken notes in so long.) This meant that she and my dad didn’t fall in love there, leading to her using love potions to get him to fall for her and get away from her awful family.

Attempt 2:

Dear diary,

This is the attempt where we did nothing, to observe the original timeline and see the prank play out during CC, with as little interference as possible. It was painful to watch, to say the least, but it did give us valuable information.

Attempt 3:

Dear diary,

We are now on our third attempt, which should be the last! We’ll see how it goes. I can’t wait to go back to school and just enjoy our normal life. The plan is to stop the prank from happening, in the same way as during our first attempt, but to avoid breaking the vase so Ella can go to CC.

Edit: it didn’t work.

After CC, Bridget and Ella apparently had a falling out. Ella and Charming fell in love and spent all their time together, so focused on their little honeymoon phase, that she forgot all about her friend. Bridget’s loneliness caused her to feel like nobody cared about her, which got worse as she and Ella started to fight. She definitely turned out less murderous than in the original timeline, but she still isn’t a good mom to Red.

We decided to go back and try again.

Attempt 4:

Dear diary,

In this attempt, just like attempt 3, we stopped the prank and avoided the vase breaking (and therefore Ella being grounded). After seeing what happened in attempt 3, with Bridget and Ella falling out, we tried to get more involved to fix their relationship before we left. However, Ella being scared Bridget would feel lonely after she and Charming got together caused her to reject him during CC.

This was good for their friendship, but because of it, Ella never escaped her home life. She remained there for the rest of her life, never married and never had children.

So, conclusion, it didn’t work. It’s weird to think I don’t even exist in this timeline. But I suppose it’s better not to dwell. After all, we already have a plan for our next try.

Attempt 5:

Dear diary,

This time, you know the drill: stopped the prank, didn’t break the vase. But this time, we stayed longer after CC, to be there for Bridget while she navigated their changing friendship and make sure she felt less alone. After a few weeks, we thought she’d be able to handle it, so we told her we unfortunately had to transfer back.

Bridget didn’t handle it well when we left her. She started fighting with Ella, like in attempt 3, so… yeah, same result here.

We’re going to try something different next time.

Don’t tell Red, but I’m starting to feel desperate.

Attempt 6:

Dear diary,

We let the prank happen and talked to Bridget afterwards, to see if we could do anything to stop her from turning into the ruthless Queen of Hearts after it.

It didn’t work. It was awful to see her in that condition. She was shaking the entire time, her face stained with tears. She looked so scared.

Red has stopped talking again. I recommended she keep her own diary, but she didn’t seem too enthusiastic. She’s resting, so I’ll start making a new plan while she sleeps. Tomorrow, we try again.

Attempt 7:

Dear diary,

We let the prank happen again, but got Ella to interfere. It was too late, and this caused Charming to run off without her, so same old story: it didn’t help.

Attempt 8:

Dear diary,

This time, we stopped the prank by never letting Uliana eat the feathers in the first place. However, Ella and Bridget still got into a fight like in previous attempts, so this didn’t work either.

Attempt 9:

Dear diary,

We stopped the prank and gave Charming love potions so he’d stay with Ella no matter what. No result.

Attempt 10:

Dear diary,

We stopped the prank and gave Ella love potions so she’d stay with Charming no matter what. No result.

Attempt 11:

We stopped the prank and gave both Ella and Charming love potions so they’d stay with each other no matter what. They never have kids. No result.

Attempt 12:

Dear diary,

- Stopped the prank
- Broke the vase but tried to get Ella and Charming together after CC
- Didn’t work

Attempt X:

Dear diary,

I don’t know what to try anymore.

Chapter Text

Dear diary,

Chloe all but forced me to start writing to myself, to process my emotions. But what’s there to process? It seems we’re royally fucked no matter what we try. (See, Chloe? Royalty pun? Don’t pretend it didn’t make you smile.)

Anyway, I don’t know what to do anymore. I can tell Chloe worries about me; I try to eat and sleep and smile, but I can’t really do those things anymore when I worry about her too. She acts like there are no bags under her eyes, or like she isn’t up all night writing in her own diary, trying to think of new plans.

We’ve had about, what, 10 attempts now? (12. Chloe just informed me it’s 12. That’s… a lot.)

Nothing has worked so far. What if Maddox was right when he warned me about messing with time? That stupid pocket watch. Some days I just want to throw the damn thing away, give up this whole mission. We could just go back to the original timeline. This is a fool’s errand, anyway, and that way at least Chloe gets to have her real family who loves her.

She misses her mom.

I can tell.

I can’t tell if I miss mine or not. I suppose I miss knowing what I can expect. It’s scary, returning to the present every time with no idea of what’s about to happen, how our family treats us, or if we’re even supposed to exist in that timeline.

I would be happy just staying in the past at this point. I can stay with Bridget and Ella, make sure the prank never happens, and keep everyone happy after that. But I won’t stay without Chloe, and she won’t go without me, and she needs to get back to her normal life. Quite the conundrum we’ve gotten ourselves into, huh?

I just made Chloe promise to never read my diary. She says writing about your feelings is healthy and all that crap, and that it should be a private space. Which is good. Because now I can write the truth.

I’m not sure what we are now.

I don’t know how long it’s been. Some attempts only took two days, some four or five (I think) and one was a lot longer, a few weeks. So I do know that it’s been a while.

It’s surprisingly exhausting, reliving the same couple of days again and again. So we just spend a lot of time together. We don’t always talk, sometimes we just sit there.

So, we just got out of attempt 12. It was quite similar to attempt 3, in the sense that I had a similar conversation with Ella in this one. She asked me if Chloe and me were together. And this time, I admitted to her right away that there might be something there. I just don’t know what.

I’ve been thinking about when we were in the Ferris wheel together. I keep thinking about it, in fact. In the moment, it seemed like something might be happening, like our faces were getting closer. But now, some time later, I don’t remember if that was actually happening or if it was just my imagination.

I might not ever find out. As it turns out, constantly travelling through time and living on a massive lack of sleep is not great for romance.

Although we have been sleeping in the same bed for the past week or so.

I don’t know why, exactly, but Chloe was upset a few nights ago. I think she had a nightmare or something. She woke me up, so I distracted her with my wonderful sense of humour, and I told her to come over for a hug. After that, we both just fell asleep. Since that, she just gets in my bed automatically. With everything going on, I think we both just want each other close. I don’t feel safe if I don’t have her in my eyesight. (Plus, we’re currently in a timeline where Chloe isn’t supposed to exist, so she wasn’t assigned a dorm. She’s been crashing with me. Although we’ve been sleeping in the same room and same bed every night, even having different rooms.)

I told Ella some of that. She told me Chloe definitely felt the same way. But how do I know for sure?

I can’t exactly tell her. What if she doesn’t feel the same? This whole thing is already way too complicated; something like this would just make it worse.

I don’t even know if things are still the same as during our moment in the Ferris wheel. That was before a whole load of crap. We’re not as distant as after seeing the prank take place, at least; those days were rough for both of us. But we’re both clearly not doing great. Maybe I should do something to cheer her up. That might help. I’ll do something nice for her when I get the chance.

But first, since Chloe promised she won’t read my diary, I’ll have to share the royalty pun out loud.

Edit: It made her laugh.

Chapter Text

In the middle of the night, Red woke up from a dream. She almost jumped up and shook Chloe, who was lying next to her, awake. ‘’Chlo!’’

The other girl just groaned.

‘’Chlo, wake up. I might have an idea.’’

Chloe had been lying on her side and turned around to glare at Red. ‘’I will kill you.’’

‘’Feel free to try.’’

Chloe groaned again.

‘’Okay, let’s skip the discussion of who’d win in a fight – we both know it’s me anyway. I actually do have an idea.’’

‘’One that couldn’t wait until at least after sunrise?’’

Red smiled. Sleepy Chloe was adorable, her tired eyes almost closing every few seconds. But most of all, she was grumpy when she was tired. Which, fine, was also adorable.

‘’I was scared I’d forget if I fell asleep.’’

Chloe sat up and leaned against the headboard, to avoid falling asleep. ‘’Okay, fine. Tell me. If it’s not a good idea, though, I’ll still consider killing you.’’ She yawned, then added: ‘’Once I have the energy for that.’’

‘’I had a dream about back home, about the moment Maddox gave me the time machine. When he warned me about the ‘fabric of time’ and all that. And then I thought, why don’t we go talk to him?’’

‘’Talk to Maddox? So go to Wonderland?’’

‘’Yes. He made it, he should know better than anyone how to operate it. So maybe he can see something we’re missing, right? If we tell him everything we tried, he might be able to see what’s going wrong every time.’’

Chloe considered it. Going all the way to Wonderland was quite a trip, and the idea of that made her tired mind even more exhausted. But then again, she didn’t know what else they could try at this point. Neither girl did. They’d tried everything they could think of, but it seemed like the mission was doomed. Nothing seemed to work. She didn’t know if implying to him that they’d been messing with the timeline would somehow mess something up even more, but she was willing to try anything at this point.

So she nodded. ‘’It seems like our best bet,’’ she said. ‘’Let’s go tomorrow.’’

‘’Great!’’

‘’Also, Red?’’

‘’Yeah?’’

‘’Wake me up again and I will personally make you regret it.’’

‘’Would love to see you try. Good night, Chlo.’’

The next morning – or technically the same morning, but at a more decent hour – the girls woke up and discussed their plan further. Under normal circumstances – ‘normal’ being their own timeline, although it had been so long since they were actually in it, they might not be able to call it that anymore – they wouldn’t get into Wonderland. However, in the one they were in right now – Timeline 12, as they’d started calling it to keep track of the many ones they’d now lived in – that shouldn’t be a problem. After all, they’d stopped the prank. The problem with this timeline was that Chloe and her brother didn’t exist and her parents weren’t together, but Bridget should be fine. Meaning she should be happy to let her daughter come home for a few days, and have a friend tag along.

‘’I have to say,’’ Red said, ‘’it feels good that something’s actually working out. Like, we don’t even have to go back in time for this plan.’’

‘’How low our standards have gotten that ‘not travelling in time’ feels like a luxury,’’ Chloe answered, making Red laugh.

Despite everything, the girls still managed to get each other through it.

And so they went on their way.

They were at the school in what was technically their own time, but with the alterations of Timeline 12. Chloe may not exist in this timeline, but Red definitely did, so she easily arranged for somebody to bring them to Wonderland. In this timeline, the rabbit hole wasn’t boarded up, since the Queen of Hearts was happy to stay in contact with the kingdom of Auradon. This made this part of the plan a whole lot easier for them.

Which was good. The girls needed something easy.

After arranging transport, a surprise was waiting for them. A car was waiting for them outside the school, as expected. The person standing next to it, however, was less expected.

‘’Mom,’’ Red said breathlessly. ‘’Good to see you.’’

Chloe stood next to Red, who seemed unable to move. Luckily, she didn’t have to, since her mother was already walking her way.

‘’Red!’’ she said. ‘’Oh, how good to see you, my dear.’’ Bridget gave her a massive hug, which Red returned. ‘’I’ve missed you,’’ Bridget added.

‘’I’ve missed you too,’’ Red said softly. She looked back at Chloe, eyes a little wet. Chloe smiled at her. She knew Red must be feeling conflicted, but she should try to enjoy this moment. Through all their time-travelling and realizing their several attempts failed, they didn’t exactly get to spend time with adult Bridget, either the evil or sweet version of her. They might not be finished with their mission yet, but she should at least be able to enjoy this while she could.

After hugging Red, Bridget walked over to Chloe. ‘’Hi! You must be Chloe. Wonderful to meet you.’’ Unexpectedly, she wrapped Chloe up in a hug too, although this one was a bit shorter. This was quite far removed from the Queen of Hearts she’d originally met.

‘’Nice to meet you too!’’ Chloe said. She wasn’t quite sure how to act, but then she remembered that this was the Bridge they’d met at Merlin Academy. That made her feel a bit more familiar, even if she still looked similar to the Queen of Hearts. ‘’Thank you so much for letting me come over for the weekend,’’ she added.

‘’Oh, it’s my pleasure, dear! I love when Red has friends over. I can’t wait to show you around Wonderland. It’s really a wonderful place.’’

‘’I can’t wait to see it.’’

The three of them entered the car and went on their way. Once they got to the rabbit hole, Bridget turned around and told Chloe that this part might be a bit weird. Before she could react, they went in.

It was like a tunnel, except… it rotated? The car basically made a 360 degree turn while they were in there. Luckily, it was a short trip through the rabbit hole, but by the time they were out, Chloe was a bit pale.

‘’Chlo?’’ Red asked. ‘’You okay?’’

Chloe nodded. Without noticing, she had grabbed the chair in front of her – the one Red was sitting in – by the headrest for some stability.

Red laughed a bit. ‘’You’ll get used to it.’’

‘’I really hope I won’t have to.’’

Bridget laughed sweetly. ‘’Don’t worry, dear, the first time is always a bit woozy. It’ll wear off in a minute.’’ In front of them, a large gate was opened, after which they drove the car through it. Bridget carefully parked it right in front of the castle.

‘’Well, girls,’’ she said, and stepped out of the car. ‘’We’re here.’’

Chapter Text

A part of Chloe was scared that something would still go wrong, since the last time they went to visit one of their homes for the weekend, everything pretty much went to shit. She wanted to be hopeful, but this became more difficult for her with each new attempt.

Luckily, this time, nobody got locked in a room. So that was nice.

Instead, Bridget offered to give Chloe a small tour through the castle. Just as she wanted to accept, Red cut in, saying: ‘’Actually, we’re kind of tired from classes and the trip here. Would you mind if we just hung out in my room?’’

Bridget seemed a bit disappointed, but nodded nonetheless. ‘’Of course!’’ she said, forcing a smile upon herself. ‘’I’ll just see you girls at dinner, then. I’ll make sure to ask the cook to prepare something nice for us. We’ll probably eat in about an hour.’’

The girls went upstairs, Red a bit quiet.

‘’You okay?’’

‘’Yeah, it’s just weird being back here. It seems different than I remember it, somehow.’’

‘’It is different,’’ Chloe reminded her. ‘’Your mom is different, at least. But that’s good, right?’’

‘’Of course,’’ Red said quickly. ‘’Just… again, weird. I’ve never been welcomed by her like that.’’

‘’Hey, I get that it might take some getting used to,’’ Chloe said. ‘’But you’ll have plenty of time for that later, after we fix all of this.’’

‘’Yeah. I guess so. Anyway, let’s go. I’ll show you my room.’’

They walked a route that was familiar to Red – only to end up in a room that was not.

‘’Wait, what the hell?’’ she mumbled. She’d held the door open for Chloe, who walked in before her. ‘’This is not my room.’’

‘’What do you mean?’’ Chloe asked, her brows furrowed in confusion as she turned around to face Red. ‘’Did we enter the wrong room?’’

‘’No, my room used to be in this exact location, and the room itself is the same. But the contents aren’t.’’

Everything looked totally different than Red remembered. ‘’Everything was red, and now it’s more…’’

‘’Pink,’’ Chloe finished for her. ‘’Like young Bridget.’’

‘’Yep. Guess the me in this timeline wasn’t as big a fan of the colour red as I was.’’ She sat down on her bed and sighed. ‘’This is so weird. I don’t even know who I’m supposed to be in this timeline.’’

Chloe sat down next to her and grabbed her hand. ‘’You’re supposed to be exactly who you are,’’ she tried to reassure her friend. ‘’You’re Red, Princess of Wonderland, and Bridget is your mother. No matter who she is now, you’re still you. The differences in the timeline might change the versions of our parents, but not us.’’

Chloe smiled at her. ‘’Yeah, I guess you’re right.’’

‘’I often am.’’

‘’Shut up and give me a hug.’’

Chloe laughed and did as she was told. ‘’Look at you becoming a touchy-feely person. I take back what I just said, you have changed.’’

‘’Hey! Then I’m taking the hug back.’’ Out of protest, but still with a smile on her face, Red let go of Chloe.

‘’You can’t. You already received it.’’

‘’You’re starting to annoy me, Charming.’’

‘’Then why do you keep hanging out with me?’’

‘’Out of pure circumstance,’’ Red said. ‘’Nothing else.’’

Chloe just kept smiling at her. ‘’You’re not very convincing.’’

‘’No, I’m not.’’ Red laughed. ‘’I’m losing my touch.’’

‘’Maybe you’re finally accepting that I care about you?’’

The girls stared at each other for a beat. Red, getting a bit insecure by the intense level of eye contact, did what she did best and cracked a joke before the moment could become too intense for her. ‘’No, I really don’t think that’s it,’’ she said dryly. Both girls laughed.

‘’Whatever. Let’s just go walk around. I want to see more of this castle of yours.’’

During their walk, they didn’t speak much, but it was a comfortable silence. Red wanted to share more of her home with Chloe, but she didn’t exactly have fun stories that came with it. So they just walked through the castle and the royal plaza – which didn’t contain a massive banner of her mom in this timeline, thankfully.

When it was time for dinner, one of the guards came over to them. Chloe once again got a bit anxious, but as opposed to when they went to her home, the guard let them walk on their own this time. She had to stop being so on edge; they were safe here.

It’s just that it was hard to truly feel safe after everything they went through.

During their dinner, Bridget asked them all about their lives at school. It was difficult to answer her questions, since they hadn’t exactly had a regular attendance lately, but they managed to improvise. Red was still a bit uncomfortable, but if Bridget picked up on that, she didn’t show it.

When they finished their dinner, Bridget offered to take the girls to get dessert. ‘’Maybe the ice cream place right around the corner, where we went all the time when you were younger,’’ she said to Red. ‘’Do you remember?’’

Red’s face fell a bit. ‘’Yeah, I remember,’’ she lied. ‘’It was so good. But I’m actually a bit stuffed from dinner.’’

Bridget’s smile slowly faltered. ‘’Of course, dear,’’ she said. ‘’You girls just go hang out again.’’ She stood up and walked out of the dining room. ‘’Let me know if you need anything!’’ she said over her shoulder.

‘’Red?’’ Chloe asked. ‘’You don’t want to spend time with her? I understand it’s difficult, but…’’

‘’You don’t,’’ Red said calmly. ‘’No offense, Chlo, but… you grew up with a loving mom. For you, a different version of her being distant to you was the exception, not the rule. So I’m sorry, because I know you mean well, but what you’re saying isn’t true. You don’t know what it’s like. And I’m glad that you don’t, because it means you haven’t been raised like me, but it’s the truth.’’

Chloe let the words sink in.

Red was right. She was raised with enormous privilege; not just the privilege of being born a royal, but being born with loving parents. The past months had been hard, but before that, she always had a good bond with her parents, especially her mom.

So, instead of defending herself, she just said: ‘’I’m sorry. You’re right.’’

Red grabbed her hand. ‘’Thanks.’’

‘’For apologizing? You don’t need to thank me for that.’’

‘’For understanding.’’

‘’I just wish you could’ve had a better childhood,’’ Chloe said. ‘’If I had the power, I’d change Bridget before everything went down and send you right back to your birth, so you could have the childhood you deserve.’’

Red squeezed her hand and gave her a bit of a sad smile. ‘’I wish. But then I might’ve never met you, or maybe we would’ve never become friends.’’

‘’As if that is worth your childhood.’’

‘’Maybe it is.’’ Red hardly noticed that she said that out loud.

Chloe didn’t know how to respond to that. Did Red just say she might be as important as- no, Chloe, of course she didn’t mean that.

Red let go of her hand, feeling the weight of her words sinking in.

‘’Come on,’’ she said as she stood up. ‘’Follow me.’’

‘’Follow you where?’’

‘’Just come with me.’’

So Chloe followed.

Chapter Text

The girls walked up a whole bunch of stairs, after which Chloe was slightly out of breath. (Okay, she was severely out of breath, but that was irrelevant.)

‘’Care to tell me where we’re going?’’

‘’I won’t give anything away, except that it’s my favourite place in Wonderland.’’

‘’Okay, that does sound intriguing.’’

After a few more stairs – seriously, how high up did this castle go? – they arrived at a small hallway and a door.

‘’Okay, it’s right here. But I want it to be a surprise. So close your eyes.’’

‘’This far up? You’re crazy.’’

‘’There’s no chance of falling. Come on, I’ll hold you as you walk.’’ Red stood next to Chloe and linked their arms together. ‘’Just close your eyes.’’

‘’Okay. But this place better be amazing.’’

‘’Oh, it is. Trust me.’’

After checking whether Chloe’s eyes were closed, Red opened the door for them. ‘’Okay, walk forward a few steps.’’

Side by side, they walked through the door. ‘’A few more steps… perfect. Okay. Open your eyes.’’

Chloe did, and breathlessly took in the view. ‘’Wow,’’ she said softly. ‘’I can see why this is your favourite place.’’

Red smiled. They were standing on a small balcony, all the way at the top of the castle. ‘’This is the highest spot in all of Wonderland,’’ she told Chloe. ‘’I went here when I wanted a bit of distance from everything. Nobody else ever came here, so it was like my safe place. I came here most nights, actually.’’

‘’And you showed it to me?’’

‘’Well, yeah. I wanted to show it to you. I mean, look at that view.’’

It was really beautiful from up here. They could see all around; the castle, the houses surrounding it, the forest. It was already dark outside, but the stars lit up the sky well enough for them to still look around.

‘’The view is amazing,’’ Chloe said. She gripped the railing. ‘’A bit high for my taste, but it’s really gorgeous.’’

‘’Are you doing okay?’’ Red asked. She stood a bit closer to Chloe, putting a hand on her back.

‘’I am. The view is definitely worth it.’’ Chloe looked around. Red just looked at Chloe. She could blame it on her having seen this view a thousand times already, but she knew that wasn’t true.

They stood in silence for a bit, Red’s hand still on Chloe’s back, enjoying the view. After a few minutes of silence, Red spoke up. She’d been wanting to say something for a while, and after they would speak to Maddox and try to change the timeline again, who knew what would happen. Their mission might almost be over, after all this time. And she needed to say something before it was.

‘’I’m so glad that I met you,’’ she said softly.

Chloe turned to look at her. ‘’You are?’’ she asked in a hopeful voice.

Red nodded. ‘’I am. You’re…’’ She felt tears start to form a little bit. She thought Chloe saw too, because the other girl immediately held her hand. ‘’Ugh, okay, I’m going to try that whole ‘sharing your emotions’ thing that you seem to be so big on. Unfortunately, I suck at it.’’

Chloe laughed softly. ‘’That’s okay,’’ she said. ‘’You can take your time. I’ll listen.’’

Red nodded nervously. ‘’Good, okay.’’ She sighed deeply. She had to say this now, or she might never. ‘’You’re such a good person, Chlo. I mean, look at what happened to me just by being friends with you. I was distant, unable to open up to anybody, and rude. But then I met you.’’ She smiled.

Tears started to form in Chloe’s eyes as well, but she was smiling.

‘’You changed me for the better,’’ Red continued. ‘’I care about you. So much. And you’ve been here for me since the moment we met. You saw me for who I was and you accepted me. And I’m… rambling. Sorry.’’

Chloe said nothing, but just smiled at her. She had a feeling Red wasn’t done yet, and she didn’t want to interrupt now that she finally opened up.

‘’What I’m trying to say is, I’ve never felt safe in my life before I met you, except when I was alone on this very balcony, where nobody would find me. But you changed that. You changed me. And I’m so grateful for that. I don’t know what I would do without you.’’

‘’I feel the same way,’’ Chloe said. ‘’I thought I knew what it meant to be brave, to be good, but you showed me what it really means. It means not being afraid to take risks, to not be perfect all the time, to just be… real. Nothing about our situation is perfect, and that scares me, but it’s less scary with you here. Even on a… very high balcony, in a timeline where I’m not even supposed to exist, you still make me feel like we’ll be okay.’’

They looked at each other for a second.

‘’There’s one final thing I haven’t said yet,’’ Red said breathlessly as she took a step closer to Chloe.

‘’And what’s that?’’

‘’That I’ve wanted to kiss you ever since the Ferris wheel.’’

Chloe took a step closer, their faces almost touching. ‘’I guess I should share something too, then.’’

‘’And what’s that?’’ Red asked nervously.

‘’That I’ve wanted to kiss you since way before that.’’

That was the only thing Red needed to hear. She closed the distance between them and pulled Chloe closer as she kissed her.

Her heart started pounding in her chest and she hardly knew what was happening, but whatever it was, it felt right.

After a few seconds, they pulled back a little bit and stared at each other. Red smiled carefully, using her hand to put a strand of Chloe’s hair behind her ear and caress her cheek. She felt like her heartbeat was too high to be anything close to healthy. But she didn’t worry about that for too long, because Chloe pulled in to kiss her again.

Why did they wait so long to do this? She felt so… natural, kissing Chloe and holding her like this.

After a while, they pulled back again, having to catch their breath. Chloe smiled nervously. ‘’Look at you,’’ she said, looking lovingly at Red. ‘’Talking about your emotions.’’

‘’Don’t make it weird.’’

Chloe laughed. ‘’But it’d be so easy to bully you with this.’’

‘’Not if I do this.’’ Red leaned in again.

For the rest of the evening, the girls stood on the balcony, wrapped up in each other. Saving the timeline was a problem for tomorrow; for now, they just wanted to enjoy this feeling, both of them feeling truly safe and happy for the first time in a while.

Chapter Text

The next morning, the girls woke up next to each other, more giddy then they’d ever been.

Red hated the word ‘giddy’ – but it was really the only way to describe how she was feeling in this moment.

After last night, sharing their first kiss, the girls stayed up most of the night talking and cuddling in Red’s bed. She was tired as hell, but none of that mattered.

What mattered was the blue-haired girl lying next to her, cuddled up in her arms and looking up at her.

‘’Morning,’’ Chloe yawned, stretching her arms before wrapping them around Red and closing her eyes again.

‘’Good morning, princess,’’ Red smiled. Chloe still looked adorable as ever in the morning, but now, she was finally able to truly take her in without it being weird. ‘’Going to sleep again?’’

‘’No,’’ Chloe mumbled against Red’s chest. ‘’But it’s too early.’’

‘’It’s like ten in the morning.’’

‘’Exactly. Too early.’’

‘’When during this whole mission have you taken over my sleep schedule? You know, the one you always said was horribly inconsistent?’’

Chloe smiled a bit. ‘’Somewhere along the tenth attempt? Who knows.’’

‘’Well, luckily for you,’’ Red said, ‘’we can go visit Maddox today and talk to him. Maybe we can put this all behind us.’’

‘’Not all of it, hopefully.’’ Chloe opened her eyes and looked at Red.

‘’Oh, don’t worry, princess. You’re not going anywhere,’’ Red said as the kissed Chloe’s forehead. ‘’But it’d be nice to stop time-travelling for a bit. I don’t even remember what year we’re in right now.’’

‘’Agreed. I could use a bit of peace and quiet.’’

‘’Then I’m probably the wrong person to hang out with.’’

Chloe giggled. ‘’Maybe you’re the exception.’’

‘’Hopefully.’’

They stayed there for another few minutes, until Red suggested to get up. ‘’The sooner we fix the timeline, the sooner we can enjoy our quiet, normal life,’’ she said.

Reluctantly, Chloe nodded and slowly got up. ‘’Alright. Let’s go save the timeline again.’’

After getting up and eating some breakfast – it was just the two of them; Bridget apparently did have a normal schedule and had gotten up way before them – they made their way to Maddox Hatter’s place. Both of them got nervous when they were almost there, so they held each other’s hand and tried to remain hopeful. Maddox invented the machine, so he knew more about it than anybody. If there was a way to fix this – and there had to be – he’d by the one to know.

Red knocked on the door, which opened after a few seconds. ‘’Red!’’ Maddox exclaimed, excitedly. ‘’How have you been? How’s Auradon Prep?’’ He gave her a brief hug and saw Chloe standing right behind her. ‘’And who’s your friend? Come on in, come on in.’’

While they entered and sat down on a couch Maddox lead them towards, Red introduced Chloe and said that they’d come home for the weekend. To show Chloe around Wonderland and to have some time away from school. He seemed to believe them.

One of the things they’d discussed the night before was how they would handle their conversation with Maddox. The conclusion was that Red would take the lead and be honest about the situation. It didn’t really matter if they told him the truth about everything they did, since they’d go back in time and change things anyway, meaning he wouldn’t remember a thing.

So, Red started talking, while Maddox was just walking over with a teapot and some cups. ‘’We need to ask you something important.’’

‘’Okay,’’ Maddox said. He sat down and poured the tea, giving them both a cup. The steam was still coming off of it. ‘’Tell me. What did you do?’’

‘’How do you know it’s something we did?’’ Chloe asked.

‘’Maybe not ‘you’, plural,’’ he answered. ‘’But definitely Red. She only asks me for things if she did something stupid.’’

‘’Well, this time, it actually was both of us,’’ Chloe said.

‘’That’s… new. Okay, lay it on me.’’

‘’Okay. Have you ever made a time machine?’’

Maddox’s mouth opened, not answering just yet. He stood up in silence, walked into a different room and came back holding the pocket watch. ‘’You’re not Red,’’ he said after sitting back down. ‘’Or at least not the one I know. Because she doesn’t know.’’ He put the pocket watch on the table, next to the teapot. ‘’I’m assuming you’re referring to this?’’

Red got her own pocket watch from her pocket and put it on the table next to her teacup. ‘’You catch on quickly. You’re right. You gave this to me, in a different timeline. Or I kind of stole it, after you showed it to me.’’

He sighed. ‘’And you used it.’’

‘’Yes. More than once.’’

‘’What did I – or the other version of me – say to you when he showed it to you?’’

‘’Something about altering the fabric of time. That it could lead to… ‘unpredictable consequences’, I think you said.’’

Maddox nodded. ‘’Nice to hear that no version of you ever listens to any version of me. Alright, what exactly is your question? What happened? I’m going to need the details.’’

The girls explained everything they’d gone through in the last months, about going back every time until both of their mothers were okay. About halfway through their story, Maddox’s face fell a bit. It didn’t get better the longer they went on.

‘’We feel like we’ve tried everything,’’ Chloe concluded their story. ‘’So we were hoping you might know something, since you invented the machine in the first place.’’

‘’What do you think?’’ Red asked him.

Maddox got up. ‘’I think we’ll need a bit more tea.’’

‘’I haven’t finished this cup yet.’’

‘’It might be cold by now. Let me make more.’’ He disappeared into his kitchen for a minute or two, emerging with a fresh pot.

‘’Maddox?’’ Red asked. He avoided eye contact. ‘’Maddox. What is it? What do you know? Is it bad?’’

‘’It’s… not good.’’ He sat down and finally looked at them again. ‘’Ever since I started making the time machine, I’ve been researching time travel and its consequences. And everything lead to the same conclusion.’’

‘’Which is?’’ Red asked, grabbing Chloe’s hand in her nerves.

‘’Some things are written in the stars, Red.’’

‘’What the hell does that mean?’’

‘’An energy can never truly die. In your story, in every version of it you’ve just told me, someone wound up getting hurt. And that hurt resulted in their behaviour towards someone else. Either the Queen of Hearts is evil and treats you the way she did when this version of you grew up,’’ – he pointed at Red – ‘’or Queen Charming does whatever she needs to do to get away from her life, therefore hurting her husband, her daughter, or maybe both.’’

‘’I don’t get it,’’ Red said, getting confused.

‘’There’s no way out,’’ Chloe whispered.

‘’What?’’

‘’Your friend is right,’’ Maddox said. ‘’I’m really sorry, girls, but it seems to be cemented into your lives that someone gets hurt from what happens in your mothers’ time at school. It changes depending on what you do in the past, but the hurt lives on in somebody.’’

‘’So we have to choose,’’ Red said slowly.

Chloe shook her head. ‘’That can’t be true.’’

‘’It is,’’ Red said. ‘’I mean, it has to be, right? We’ve tried twelve times, Chloe. Twelve. And every single time, somebody got hurt and changed for the worse.’’

Maddox nodded. ‘’I truly am sorry to have to tell you this. I wish things were different, but we can’t change everything we want. We can change the direction of the hurt, but it cannot cease to exist entirely. And I did warn you about unpredictable consequences, did I not? You might not see all of them immediately, but small changes can have great impact. You could change a timeline and stay in it for years, only to then realize that you made a mistake you didn’t expect. Time travel, in any form, is incredibly dangerous.’’

The girls stood up. ‘’I need a minute,’’ Chloe said. ‘’I’ll see you outside, okay?’’

Red nodded and watched as Chloe nodded to Maddox and left the room.

Maddox stood up as well and sighed. ‘’Red…’’

‘’I know, I know, you’re sorry. It’s not your fault. It’s just… not the best thing to hear after trying to fix it so many times.’’

‘’You did what you could, Red.’’

‘’I did. But it wasn’t enough.’’

‘’But you tried. Just remember that you tried.’’

She said goodbye to him, grabbed her pocket watch and went after Chloe, who was waiting outside of the door. ‘’Ready to go?’’ she asked, her eyes sad.

Red nodded. ‘’Let’s walk.’’

The girls went back towards the castle. Once they were out of earshot from anyone else walking outside, Red said: ‘’Okay, we did the best we could. It wasn’t meant to be. So let’s just go back in time.’’

‘’Okay, which timeline was the least bad?’’

‘’Actually… I was thinking we go back to the original one.’’

‘’What?’’ Chloe looked at her.

‘’We could-‘’

‘’No, I heard you. But why would we do that? Your mother was awful to you.’’

‘’Is it better to go to a timeline where your mom doesn’t seem to give a shit about you? Or one like this, where you don’t even exist?’’

‘’Yes, actually.’’

‘’What are you talking about, Chlo?’’

‘’You would seriously give up a chance for a good mother for me?’’

‘’You just basically offered to do the same thing.’’

‘’That’s different.’’

‘’How?’’

‘’I had a good childhood, Red. I have those memories. If that’s where it ends, I can live with that.’’

‘’No, you can’t. And you don’t have to.’’

Chloe felt herself getting angry. ‘’No. Listen to me. We are not doing this. You deserve-‘’

‘’I don’t deserve a mom who loves me any more or less than you do, so please don’t even imply that.’’ Red started to raise her voice. ‘’We are doing this.’’

‘’We are not doing anything until we talk about this.’’

‘’We’re talking about it, you just don’t agree.’’

‘’Because I can’t let you sacrifice your own mother for mine!’’

‘’Chloe-‘’

‘’No.’’ She took a deep breath. ‘’You know what? This was a mistake. All of it. You’re still as stubborn as the day we met, and still as incapable of accepting anybody caring about you.’’

‘’And why do you think that is? I grew up without anybody who gave a shit!’’

‘’I know, but you have people who care about you now.’’ Chloe took a breath and added, more softly: ‘’You have me.’’

‘’I know. And I care about you too. But that’s exactly why I can’t let you sacrifice your own happiness for mine.’’

Chloe was silent at that.

‘’Please, Chlo. I can’t let you do this.’’

‘’I need to be alone for a moment.’’

‘’Chlo?’’

‘’I’ll come find you later, okay? I just need some time.’’

Red nodded, not wanting to force a conversation on her right now.

Chloe walked off, leaving Red alone in the middle of the street, staring after her.

Chapter Text

Chloe walked into the forest near the castle. She needed to cool off before the situation got out of hand.

How could Red so easily suggest giving up her chance of having a mother who loved her for Chloe? Did she care so little about herself?

Or did she just care so much about Chloe?

Either way, it wasn’t healthy, her being willing to throw away a chance at happiness so easily. She couldn’t let Red do this.

She just had to figure out a way to fix it.

After wandering into the forest, she took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Chloe had never been one to get angry easily. In fact, she was a huge advocate for talking things out calmly instead of raising voices or getting mad. But now she’d found herself getting angry with Red. She just didn’t understand why Red would want to go back to their original timeline.

She thought back to what she said to Red just now. That this was a mistake, ‘all of it’. Why on earth had she said that? Despite all they’d been through in the last months, she wasn’t sure she would take it back. And she definitely didn’t want to take back her and Red’s friendship – although it seemed to be much more now.

She just wanted Red to be happy. Why did it have to be so hard for her to make that happen?

‘’Are you alright, dear?’’

Chloe jumped at the voice, immediately ready to defend herself, automatically putting her hand where her sword would’ve been. The one that she’d left in Red’s room, assuming she wouldn’t need it here. But when she turned around and saw Bridget walking towards her, she sighed, relieved.

‘’Sorry to scare you,’’ Bridget added with a laugh as she got closer to her. ‘’I just saw you going into the woods all alone, and you seemed upset. I wanted to make sure you were doing alright.’’

‘’That’s kind of you,’’ Chloe said. ‘’It’s just… well, it’s a long story.’’

‘’How about I walk with you for a bit? You can tell your long story. Or we can walk in silence. Whatever you prefer.’’

Chloe smiled at her. The woman standing in front of her now might be Red’s mother, but she also saw the teenager that she’d gotten to know during their time – or times – at Merlin Academy. Her kind-hearted nature, her wanting to take care of others.

How awful that she changed so much. That she experienced such pain that she couldn’t help but change, when in an alternate timeline, she could still be this way. She could still care so much and be so kind, even to someone she barely knew.

‘’I’d like that,’’ she answered truthfully. Bridget started to walk deeper into the forest, Chloe by her side.

‘’I love walking around here,’’ Bridget said. ‘’The forest can be so peaceful. Especially when the rest of the world is filled with chaos.’’

Chloe nodded. ‘’I love walking around Auradon’s campus as well. I usually go on morning walks, to calm my head for a bit before the day starts. I even got Red to come with me a few times.’’

Bridget laughed at that. ‘’My daughter, being active in the morning? That’s a first.’’

They kept on walking. After a few minutes of silence, Chloe started talking. She might not be able to share the full story, but this was still a version of the Bridget she’d befriended. Maybe she’d have some advice for her. And if not, at least she could get it off her chest.

‘’What do you do if someone you care about wants to sacrifice something to make you happy? When you can’t both have what you want, so she offers to give up her happiness for you without a second thought?’’

Bridget looked at her for a second, then answered: ‘’That’s a tough situation. I’m assuming this is about my daughter?’’

Chloe hesitated. ‘’It…’’

‘’It’s alright, dear. You don’t need to share the details with me. Red will come talk to me about something when and if she’s ready, so I’m not one to pry. But I do know her. And I know that she has a great heart, and is also one of the most stubborn people you’ll ever meet.’’

Chloe smiled at that. ‘’That’s… pretty much exactly how I’d describe her. And yes, it is about her. We’re in quite a tough situation, and the only way out of it is by making a choice. Either something that will make her happy, or me. There’s no way to have both.’’

‘’Well, that is incredibly difficult. For both of you. You said she immediately offered to give up her own thing for yours?’’

Chloe nodded. ‘’Without even thinking about it.’’

‘’That sounds like my daughter to me. She knows what she wants, and she goes after it.’’

‘’I don’t want her to sacrifice this for me. I can’t let her do that.’’

‘’Well, what’s the alternative? You sacrificing something for her?’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’And would you be willing to do that?’’

‘’Of course. But she won’t let me.’’

‘’So how is that any different?’’ Bridget didn’t sound judgmental while saying this; in fact, she sounded really understanding.

Unfortunately, Chloe didn’t have an answer.

Bridget stopped walking and turned around to face her. ‘’Look, it’s easy to want to sacrifice things for the ones we care about, and it’s easy to get frustrated when they won’t let us. But it’s a lot harder to accept when somebody else is the one to sacrifice something for you.’’

Chloe sighed. ‘’Why does it have to be so hard?’’

‘’Well, think about it from your own perspective. Why do you want to do this for her?’’

‘’Because I really care about her. And more than anything, I just want her to be happy.’’

‘’I bet that she would give the same answer if she was asked this question.’’

Chloe thought on that for a second, and realized Bridget was probably right in saying that. ‘’But I can’t let her do that for me.’’

‘’Why not?’’

‘’Because I… I… I don’t know. Because we’ve been through a lot, her especially, and I just want her to be happy.’’

‘’What if she could still be happy, even after sacrificing whatever it is?’’

‘’I don’t know if she could be. What if she regrets it? Or starts to resent me for it?’’

‘’I think,’’ Bridget said slowly, putting a hand on Chloe’s shoulder, ‘’what you’re really wondering is… what if she doesn’t care about you as much as you care about her? You seem to be willing to do this for her, but can’t imagine her wanting to do the same. It’s incredibly difficult to realize that some people might go through as much effort for you as you would for them, but once you realize that, life will be much easier. I promise.’’

Chloe sighed. ‘’How do I know that for sure?’’

‘’She offered, didn’t she? Without a second thought, you said?’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’Well, then I think she means it. Something as big as this sounds like it is, she wouldn’t offer to do that if she didn’t mean it.’’

‘’Do you really think so?’’

‘’I really do. Just try to trust her. If you mean it when you say something, why wouldn’t she?’’

They kept walking around for a bit, while Chloe tried to think. Maybe Bridget was right. But one thing she knew for sure.

‘’I’m going to talk to her about it.’’

Bridget smiled at her. ‘’Good. Communication is important. Just try to share with her what you just did with me, and be honest about what you feel. That’s the biggest thing.’’

Once they walked out of the forest and towards the castle, Chloe gave her a brief hug. ‘’Thank you so much for hearing me out.’’

‘’Anytime, dear. Anytime.’’

Chapter Text

Once she’d gathered her thoughts, Chloe immediately knew where she would find Red. So after climbing the insane amount of stairs for the second day in a row – and then catching her breath, not wanting to be all sweaty and out of breath for this conversation – stepped outside onto the balcony.

Where they’d kissed yesterday. Before their first fight today. It seemed a lot could happen in a day.

‘’Chloe,’’ Red said, turning around to see her walk through the door. ‘’Are you… okay?’’

‘’That’s the first thing you say after I yelled at you?’’ Chloe asked softly.

Red hesitated, then said: ‘’Well, yeah? I was worried.’’

Chloe could do nothing but walk over to her and hug her – a hug that Red returned instantly. ‘’I’m sorry for saying those things,’’ Chloe said. ‘’I don’t regret any of it, or think any of it was a mistake. I would go through the past few months again in a heartbeat if it meant I wouldn’t lose you.’’

‘’Really?’’

‘’Really.’’ Chloe slowly let go of the hug, only to softly hold Red’s face in her hands. ‘’I am so sorry, Red. I shouldn’t have gotten so upset with you, and I shouldn’t have said any of that. I got angry because you wanted to sacrifice yourself for me so easily, and I couldn’t see why. But I shouldn’t have reacted like that.’’

Red closed her eyes for a second and put her hands on Chloe’s. Then she opened her eyes again, looking at Chloe. ‘’I’m sorry too. I got angry as well, but I shouldn’t have raised my voice. And I shouldn’t have said it like it was a done deal. We could’ve talked about it instead of me making the decision.’’

Chloe smiled at her. ‘’Thank you for saying that.’’

‘’Thank you for saying that, too. So, can we talk about it? If you’re ready?’’

Chloe nodded. ‘’I am. If you are, too.’’

Red gently caressed her hands. ‘’I am, too.’’

The girls went over to the edge of the balcony, to lean over the railing a bit and enjoy the view, just like last night. ‘’Can I start?’’ Red asked. ‘’I said something quite… heavy, I guess, and I want to explain why.’’ After Chloe nodded, she continued. ‘’The thing is, I grew up the way I did. I have those memories. And even though I wish I could’ve had a better childhood, there’s no changing that now. That is something I need to accept.’’

She took a breath. ‘’I don’t think I like being in a timeline where my mother is nice to me.’’

‘’Why not? Is that not something you wanted?’’

‘’It is. Or it was. The thing is, a good version of my mother just feels strange to me. That isn’t the person I know. She remembers a certain version of me that doesn’t actually exist. A version with a good mother, like the Bridget in this timeline, who was raised differently and therefore is different. But my memories are real to me, despite not being real in this particular timeline or to this particular version of my mom. Those things happened. And being in a timeline where they didn’t… it just reminds me of everything that I missed, and that I can never have. It makes me feel uneasy. I try to be nice to this Bridget, this version of my mom, but I can’t. Because I resent her for something that another version of her did to me. I resent her for something that she doesn’t recall doing, but it wasn’t her. So I don’t know if I can ever have a relationship with her, because the entire thing is based on a version of reality that I never got to experience. And I hate myself for resenting her, because it’s not actually this Bridget’s fault.’’

Chloe grabbed her hand and held it tightly. ‘’All along you thought you wanted a mom who loved you,’’ she said. ‘’And now… it’s not what you thought it would be. I’m so sorry, Red. I really thought it would make you happy.’’

‘’I think I realized something over the last few months.’’

‘’What?’’

‘’I thought that I needed my mother to be better for me to truly be happy. But that’s not true. I do need people in my life, but not her, necessarily. You showed me that.’’ Red stepped a bit closer to Chloe, despite them already being right next to each other. ‘’Because you make me happy. I was scared that I would never experience love because of my mother, but I now know that’s not true. I can still experience love. I’m experiencing it right now.’’

Chloe’s eyes got wide. ‘’Wait. You…?’’

‘’I do,’’ Red answered. ‘’I love you. And I-‘’

She got interrupted by Chloe grabbing her face and pulling her close, kissing her passionately. After a few seconds, she slowly pulled back and said: ‘’I love you, too.’’

‘’You do?’’ Red said, her eyes starting to water a little bit.

Chloe smiled. ‘’I do. Really.’’

‘’Good,’’ Red sighed. ‘’Otherwise, that whole speech would’ve been really awkward.’’

They looked at each other for a few seconds, then burst out into laughter. ‘’Way to have a serious conversation, princess,’’ Chloe laughed.

‘’Hey, I expressed my emotions again. Be proud.’’

Chloe put her arms around Red and kissed her on the cheek. ‘’I am. I really am.’’

They held each other for a few seconds before parting again. ‘’There’s something I haven’t told you,’’ Red said. ‘’About our time at Auradon Prep after our first attempt going back in time.’’

‘’What is it?’’

‘’My mother wrote to me. That was a timeline where she was good, you know? She cared. She wrote to me twice a week. But I never wrote back to her. Actually, I stopped even opening the letters after a while. And ever since that, especially in this timeline, I’ve started to realize… I thought I needed her love to feel whole. But now I know that’s not true. I don’t need her to be happy.’’

Chloe’s eyes started to water now, too. ‘’That’s good. You’re right, you don’t need her to be happy. You can have a wonderful life with her, without her, with any version of her.’’

‘’Exactly. And since I had that realization, I’ve felt… at peace with my decision, I guess. So that’s why I said what I said. I think we should go back to the original timeline. What do you think?’’

‘’When you offered to do that, I got so pissed at you for sacrificing yourself so easily. But then I talked to your mom.’’

‘’Sorry, what?’’ Red seemed genuinely confused at that turn of events. Which was fair.

‘’I ran into her just now, while I was walking through the woods. I vaguely explained the situation to her and she actually really helped me out. She helped me realize something, too.’’

‘’What was it?’’

‘’That I was willing to sacrifice my mom for yours. I meant that, and still do. But while you were offering to do the exact same thing, I didn’t think you actually meant that.’’

‘’That’s… slightly hypocritical.’’

Chloe laughed. ‘’Yep. She made me realize that part, too. We were willing to do the exact same thing for each other, yet I didn’t want you to do something like that for me. Despite me wanting to do that for you.’’ She told Red more about her conversation with Bridget, and how she had convinced Chloe to trust Red.

‘’So do you believe me now?’’ Red asked. ‘’When I say that I’m willing to go back to the original timeline?’’

‘’I do,’’ Chloe said. ‘’I believe you. Because I mean it, too. And I trust you.’’

‘’Okay. That solves our earlier fight, at least.’’

‘’Yeah. Now we just have to figure out what we’re going to do.’’

Red nodded. ‘’I know you want to do the same thing for me, but… I think we should go back to the original timeline. I’ve already lived through that pain of my childhood. It’ll always be with me, no matter what. Those memories won’t go away. But you have memories of a great mom who loves you. I don’t want to let you add bad memories to that.’’

‘’I appreciate that,’’ Chloe said.

‘’Plus, messing with the timeline is dangerous, like Maddox said. Maybe the best timeline is the one where we didn’t mess with anything, and we just let things be the way they should be.’’

‘’I just don’t want to believe that the best timeline is one where your mom is so awful.’’

‘’Me neither. But I think we need to accept that, at this point. Every timeline has a messed up version of one of our mothers. We might as well go with the one that we grew up with and are used to.’’

‘’Maybe. God, I don’t know, Red. It’s a big decision.’’

‘’I know.’’

‘’Can we leave it until tomorrow? I’m exhausted, and I don’t want to rush this.’’

Red nodded. ‘’Sounds good to me. I’m exhausted, too. Fighting with you is no fun at all.’’ She hugged Chloe once again.

‘’So let’s not do that again,’’ Chloe said, hugging her back. ‘’Shall we go have dinner? I’m starving.’’

Red kissed her deeply. She suddenly realized that she’d just told Chloe she loved her, and she’d said it back. In the middle of such a big decision to make, she didn’t fully understand what was happening, but now it hit her. Chloe actually loved her. How on earth did she get so lucky?

She asked Chloe that very question, who laughed and punched her softly in the shoulder. ‘’Are you kidding me? I’m the lucky one.’’

On their way to dinner, they started bickering about which one of them was luckier, both of them advocating for themselves. Red had the biggest smile on her face. They had a huge decision to make, but after making up after their fight, she felt hopeful. It might not be perfect, but they would work something out. Together.

Chapter Text

The next morning, the girls woke up, entangled in one another like they had so often in the last couple of weeks.

But this morning seemed different. Because they had a massive decision to make.

They went to eat breakfast with Bridget, then decided to go on a walk so they could discuss their plan in peace. They went into the forest, just like Chloe had the day before. They discussed the dangers of their plan.

‘’If we do this,’’ Chloe said, ‘’and it’s still an ‘if’ for me, then we need to discuss the elephant in the room.’’

‘’The murdery elephant?’’ Red asked.

‘’If you want to call it that, sure. In the original timeline, your mother staged a coup and had my mom killed. Which is… less than ideal.’’

‘’Thank you for downplaying the murderous tendencies of the Wonderland royals.’’

‘’Yeah, well, one of them kind of caught my eye, so I figured I’d play nice with her.’’

‘’I think you might just have a shot with her,’’ Red grinned at her. ‘’Anyway, about the plan. If we can go back, I can try to steal my mother’s deck of cards beforehand. Last times we went back in time, we always went back to the opening ceremony of the school year, right before the coup happened. So we won’t have a lot of time, but we’ll have some. I’ll try to stop my mom before it happens, and you can make sure your mom doesn’t go up to her to avoid her getting killed.’’

‘’You make it sounds so easy.’’

Red sighed and casually grabbed Chloe’s hand. Although they’d done that many times by now, it still made her heart flutter. ‘’If only it was. But we know exactly what happens, right? That gives us an advantage.’’

‘’I guess that’s true. And if something really goes wrong, I suppose we could try again.’’

‘’Let’s hope we won’t have to. I want this to be the very last time we have to use this stupid pocket watch.’’

‘’Agreed.’’

‘’So,’’ Red started a bit nervously. ‘’Where’s your head at right now? What do you think about… well, you know.’’

‘’The whole ‘sacrificing your mom for mine’ thing? Still not great,’’ Chloe answered with a sigh. ‘’But… I do think you have a point. That maybe the safest way to go is a timeline where we didn’t intervene. It’s like Maddox said, that small changes could have major consequences, even if you don’t see them right away. Even if we choose another timeline to stay in – like this one, where Bridget is still good – something else could happen. We just don’t know.’’

‘’Is it something you can live with?’’

‘’If you sacrifice your mom for mine, you mean?’’

‘’Yeah.’’

Chloe was silent for a few seconds, thinking. Then she said: ‘’I don’t know. I want to say yes, but I think part of me would always feel guilty about you doing something like that. Even if it’s not purely for me, but because of the safety of the whole timeline, it’s still a big thing.’’

‘’Do you think you could get past it?’’

‘’Maybe. If you were certain about it and would have no regrets, then yeah, I think so. But that’s impossible to know – and a lot to put on one person.’’

‘’This whole thing is a lot. And I know I can’t promise that I’ll never feel an ounce of regret about doing this; that’s impossible to know for sure, and I don’t want to make promises to you I might not be able to keep. But please know that if we’re doing this, I’m doing it because I think it’s what’s best. I’m not doing it because I think you want me to, or to please you, or anything like that. It’s the best outcome for everyone.’’ Red put a hand on Chloe’s back, pulling her a bit closer. ‘’I mean, I’d be lying if I said that seeing you happy with your family is not a massive bonus. But I’m not sacrificing something only because I care about you. That’s just one of my reasons.’’

Chloe sighed and leaned into Red, putting her head on her shoulder. ‘’If you’re absolutely sure of that…’’

Red kissed her forehead. ‘’I am,’’ she said. ‘’That part I can promise you.’’

‘’Alright.’’ Chloe backed away a little bit, to look into Red’s eyes as she said the next part. ‘’Then… I think we should do it. Messing with the timeline has led to so much bad stuff… who knows what might happen if we stay in an alternate timeline permanently. Like Maddox said, it might get even worse.’’

Red smiled sadly. ‘’Okay. How about we do it tonight? So we can have some time to still think about it, before we decide for sure?’’

‘’Okay.’’ Chloe leaned back against her. ‘’If there’s any part of you that doesn’t want to do it after all, or if you’re just hesitating, please tell me, okay?’’

‘’I will.’’

‘’Okay,’’ Chloe said again before kissing her softly. ‘’Tonight it is, then.’’

She might never be 100 percent sure about this, but it was a risk they would have to take. Plus, she wanted to take Bridget’s advice to heart. If Red said that this is what she wanted, she’d have to trust her. Without trust, whatever this thing between them was would never work. And Red had proven to be trustworthy in the last couple of months. Throughout everything, Red had been her one constant.

That evening, after dinner, it was – to Chloe’s surprise – Red who brought up getting dessert. ‘’I do miss that ice cream place,’’ she said, referring to the one Bridget had mentioned earlier.

Bridget immediately perked up. ‘’It would be nice to spend some time together before you girls return to school.’’

Right, it was Sunday. Normally, they’d have to return to Auradon Prep tonight to make it in time for classes tomorrow. Time travel was actually not great for keeping track of time, it seemed. Every day seemed to blend together.

So the three of them walked towards the ice cream shop near the castle and then wandered around, enjoying the nice evening weather. They spoke more about school, about Wonderland, and about Bridget’s life here with Red being at school. It was clear that she missed her daughter. Maybe Red was right, Chloe thought. Maybe it wasn’t fair to her either, loving a daughter that wasn’t really hers in this timeline. She tried so hard, but it wouldn’t be enough to make up for the sins of another version of her.

After they returned to the castle, Chloe could feel Red hesitate a little bit. So, after forcing herself to yawn just a bit too loud, she said: ‘’I think I’m going to go grab my things. It’s getting late already, and we still need to get on our way. I’ll see you upstairs, Red. And thank you for the ice cream.’’ She directed this last bit to Bridget, who smiled and said: ‘’Of course, dear.’’

Chloe went on her way, leaving Red and Bridget alone. Red sighed deeply. This would probably be the last time she’d see her mother in this way. She couldn’t get into things, but she had to say something.

But Bridget said something first. ‘’So, this Chloe girl,’’ she smiled. ‘’You two seem very close.’’

‘’Oh,’’ Red said with a light blush. ‘’Yeah. Yeah, we became really close at school. She’s the best.’’

‘’If you don’t mind me asking… if she just a friend, or a bit more?’’

Dammit. How did everyone always know? Was she really that obvious? Sometimes, she felt like she couldn’t keep her eyes off of Chloe, so she probably was.

She remembered how kind Bridget had been in the past. If this was still the same version of her as back then, she wouldn’t respond badly to this. She couldn’t.

So Red admitted, ‘’I think she’s more. We haven’t really… defined anything, I guess, but there’s definitely something.’’

Bridget’s smile got even wider. ‘’I thought so. She’s wonderful, that girl. She seems so caring.’’ She stepped closer to Red and hugged her, which Red carefully reciprocated. ‘’Does she make you happy?’’

‘’She does. She’s… she’s just so amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy.’’

‘’Then I’m happy for you, dear. You two seem like a good match. Invite her over anytime, alright? She’s always welcome in Wonderland.’’

‘’Thanks, mom,’’ she said, sniffling a bit. ‘’I’m going to pack my things, okay?’’

Bridget nodded. ‘’Of course. I’ll drive you to school in a bit.’’

Red went upstairs to her room, where Chloe was already waiting for her. ‘’How did it go?’’ she asked, a bit concerned.

Red smiled at her. ‘’Really well, actually. She asked me if we were a thing.’’

Chloe’s mouth hung open. ‘’Are we that obvious?’’

‘’Apparently, yes. This isn’t the first time someone asked me…’’ It was halfway through that sentence that Red realized that she’d never mentioned this to Chloe. Her conversations with Ella happened before she kissed Chloe, and after that she truly didn’t think about it.

‘’Excuse me, what?’’ Chloe laughed. ‘’Who asked you before?’’

‘’Teenage Ella. In two different timelines, actually.’’

Chloe looked partly amused, partly horrified at that. ‘’You’re kidding. She knew?’’

‘’Yeah. Me staring at you in that Castlecoming dress seemed to give it away.’’

‘’I got the same question from Bridget, right before Castlecoming.’’

Now it was Red’s turn to look horrified. ‘’Did our moms know before we did?’’

Chloe, who’d been sitting on the bed, grabbed Red’s hand and pulled her closer. ‘’I guess they did. Damn, we did not hide it well, did we?’’

‘’Not at all.’’ Red sat on the bed next to her and kissed her on the cheek. ‘’But Ella did help me admit my feelings to myself, so I’d say it’s a good thing.’’

‘’Never thought my mom could help you with that.’’

‘’I never thought mine would help you.’’

‘’So, what did you tell her?’’

‘’Hmm?’’

‘’What did you tell your mom? When she asked me if we were a thing?’’

‘’Oh! I admitted to her that there was… something… undefined…’’ Her voice trailed off, realizing they’d never really had a conversation about this.

‘’And what did she say?’’

Red smiled. ‘’That we seem like a good match. She really likes you.’’

‘’So we got her approval?’’

‘’In several timelines, it seems. I’d say that’s a good sign.’’

‘’Good. How about we define it, then?’’ Chloe, although she was nervous, had a slight smirk saying this.

Red’s heart started pounding in her chest. ‘’Well, I made the first move the last two times. I think it’s your turn, princess.’’

Chloe smiled. ‘’Alright, Your Royal Highness. Would you do me the honour of being my girlfriend?’’

Red’s smile felt too wide for her face, but she couldn’t contain herself. ‘’I would love to,’’ she said before kissing Chloe. Somehow, every kiss seemed better than the last. She kept wondering why they hadn’t been doing this the whole time. Then again, if it hadn’t taken them this long, it might not have felt this good.

For the next couple of minutes, the two of them couldn’t stop kissing and smiling at each other in between. Red couldn’t believe how happy this girl made her. It seemed impossible.

And yet, here she was.

After a while, they both knew it was time. Red grabbed the pocket watch.

‘’I’m going to ask you this once more,’’ Chloe said seriously. ‘’And whatever you say, I’ll believe you. Are you sure about this?’’

Red nodded. ‘’I’ve accepted it. I’m glad I got to have a final moment with Bridget just now, and to know that this version of her accepts me for who I am. Somehow, it does help to know she’s capable of love somewhere deep down. But I don’t need more than this. At least this is one nice memory to add to the bad ones, but I’m good. I’m ready to go back.’’

‘’Alright. Then we’re doing this.’’ Chloe sighed. ‘’Whatever happens in a bit, just know that I love you. And I’m there for you. Always.’’

‘’I love you too, Chlo. And we can do this. No matter what. I’ll be okay as long as I’ll have you.’’

‘’Good. Then you’ll be just fine.’’ Chloe kissed her and wrapped her in a hug. ‘’Let’s go.’’

And, for hopefully the last time, they used the pocket watch to go back to the past.

Chapter Text

The girls reappeared at Merlin Academy in the past. To get back to the original timeline, they’d just have to stay out of the way and not intervene at all, to make sure everything happened like it originally had. Basically, they didn’t need to exist in this timeline at all for things to happen the way they did.

‘’Well, this was the shortest and easiest bit of time travel I think we’ve ever experienced,’’ Red said. ‘’Care to go again?’’

Chloe smiled at her. It wasn’t a full smile, and she still looked a bit hesitant. But she said: ‘’I think it’s time.’’

‘’Time travel joke. Nice.’’ Red held onto Chloe once more while also holding the pocket watch, and kissed her. ‘’Off we go.’’

The girls disappeared from Merlin Academy and got to Auradon Prep, just in time for the opening ceremony to start.

Or so Red thought.

But when she opened her eyes, after realizing she no longer felt Chloe holding her, she saw nobody.

Maybe she appeared a bit further away? She looked around her, trying to find her girlfriend’s signature blue curls in the crowd. But she saw nothing.

Starting to panic, she walked around the courtyard. She had to be close, right? Where the hell else could she be?

What worried her even more was that she didn’t see Ella anywhere, either. If Chloe had to be at the opening ceremony, Ella would be here too.

But neither of them were. Meaning… what, exactly? Chloe didn’t exist here?

People started sitting down for the opening ceremony, Bridget included. Luckily for her, Bridget didn’t quite seem to care where she was. And so Red did what felt most logical to her.

She snuck out of the courtyard, took her mother’s red car – the staff were clearly too frightened of the Wonderland royal family to deny her, and the fact that she seemed both angry and on the verge of tears probably helped with that – and drove to Wonderland.

She’d never actually driven a car before, but she was a quick study, and Maddox had once explained the basics to her. So after a few rough starts, she got on her way. Despite having the pocket watch in her hand, she had no time to lose. Time to find Maddox, so he could help her figure out what the fuck was going on.

After a quick, reckless drive, a spin through the rabbit hole and her managing to park the car without completely totalling it, she arrived at Maddox’ place. She banged on the door, yelling: ‘’Maddox! I need you!’’

The ruckus caused him to hear her loud and clear, and within a matter of seconds, he opened the door for her. She nearly pushed him aside to enter. ‘’I need you,’’ she said, nearly hyperventilating. ‘’Please. I don’t know what to do.’’

‘’Red?’’ He looked incredibly worried. ‘’Take a breath, then tell me what happened.’’

‘’I don’t have time to take a breath!’’ she cried. ‘’She’s gone!’’

‘’Who’s gone? Your mom?’’

‘’No. Chloe. Chloe is… I don’t know where she is. Or when.’’

His worried expression mixed with a stern one. ‘’So you did take the pocket watch.’’

‘’Please,’’ she cried. ‘’Save the speech for later, okay? I know I fucked up. But I need to get her back.’’

Maddox carefully pushed her down on the couch and sat next to her. The urgency of the situation even stopped him from making tea first. ‘’Tell me what happened. Then, I can try to help you fix it.’’

Red tried to tell him what they did as quickly as she could, but the complexity of their last few months made it hard to be coherent. Somehow, with some questions from Maddox, she managed to get through the whole thing.

‘’So she didn’t appear next to you when you got back here?’’ he asked.

‘’No. And her mom was nowhere to be found, either. So somehow, we messed with the timeline again. Except it wasn’t me, because I was here.’’

‘’So you think Chloe did something?’’

‘’Maybe? Something changed in the past, right?’’

‘’Then maybe she stayed there.’’ He had a thoughtful expression in his eyes. ‘’Do you remember what I told you when I first showed the pocket watch to you?’’

‘’Save me the stress and just tell me, please.’’

‘’I told you how it works. You don’t just set a time and go for it, but it takes you to the moment in time that can give you what your heart wants most. So far, the pocket watch has worked for both of you, because it seems your goals were aligned. You both wanted to save your mothers.’’

‘’But our goals are still aligned,’’ Red countered. ‘’We made a plan. We both agreed.’’

‘’You did. And she agreed, yes, but was it truly what she wanted?’’

Red thought on that for a few seconds. ‘’She… she was more hesitant about it. She was worried about me, and… well, everything.’’

‘’Then perhaps that’s why she didn’t travel with you this time. The pocket watch could sense that her heart wasn’t in it.’’

Red frowned. ‘’But then where did she go? If I went to this time, because my heart wanted it or whatever… what time is she in now? Is it possible for the pocket watch to send two people to two different times at once?’’

Maddox opened his mouth, but closed it again. ‘’I…’’ he said after a brief silence. ‘’I don’t know.’’

‘’What? How could you not know? You made the damn thing!’’

‘’Time travel is tricky, Red! I made the pocket watch with the intention of it being used by a single person, not two. So far, it’s worked for you, since your heart and Chloe’s had the same intentions. But if part of her held back this time, I don’t know what the consequences of that are.’’

Red put her head in her hands. ‘’So she could be in any timeline by now? And any time?’’

‘’Well, maybe not any. Like you said, her mother wasn’t at the opening ceremony, right? So something changed in the past.’’

‘’So we know she’s not in this time,’’ Red said slowly. ‘’She has to be somewhere before where we are now, then. Except that doesn’t narrow it down all that much.’’

‘’Time for some research, then.’’ He stood up.

‘’What exactly will we be researching?’’

‘’Well, Chloe and Ella are both royals. There’s plenty of books on that. If they do exist in this timeline as royals, we’ll find it somewhere. That might give us a clue on what happened. I’ll go to the library and take care of that.’’

‘’And what will I do?’’

‘’Well, your mother’s still in Auradon, right? Probably trying to stage a coup as we speak?’’

‘’How does that help us?’’

‘’By her being gone, probably for a while. Knowing her, I don’t expect her to stop her plans just because her daughter ran off – no offense.’’

‘’Oh, none taken. You’re absolutely right.’’

‘’Okay. So I’ll find some books on royal histories and whatnot, and you’ll go to your castle to look at your mother’s things.’’

‘’Again, what do you expect me to find in there?’’

‘’I don’t know, Red, but this thing has gone on long enough. She might have something that can help you. She’s the Queen, after all. If there’s anything that I can’t find in the library or in my own stash, she might have it.’’

Red stood up as well and nodded. ‘’Alright. We’ll meet back here after we’re done, okay?’’

‘’See you then.’’

Chapter Text

Despite Red’s skillset regarding breaking and entering, she’d never broken into her mother’s room before. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, or was scared too. It was just that her mother never left the castle, so she never got the opportunity to.

Until now.

At least the coup was good for one thing. The Queen of Hearts was gone, and had taken most of the guards with her, not expecting any attack on Wonderland to take place. Not when she was the one doing the attacking.

Red crouched in front of the door, to be able to see the lock. After a short stop in her own room, where she kept some hairpins, she was able to open the door with relative ease. After a brief effort, she heard a click.

‘’Alright, Bridget,’’ she mumbled to herself. ‘’What are you hiding?’’

The room seemed normal. As expected, red was most frequently used in its colour scheme. A massive bed stood in the middle of the room, but other than that, a desk and a closet, there wasn’t much. Apparently, adult Bridget was a lot more minimalistic than her younger counterpart.

Although there was a bookcase next to the desk. Might as well start there.

Red went through the books and folders. There was a big, old-looking book on the laws of Wonderland, its history, its animals – Red smiled seeing a Jabberwocky on the front of it, remembering her first conversation with Chloe – and some folders with financial information on it. She knew her mother ruled Wonderland, of course, but she really didn’t see her doing all of this financial stuff. Another reason for her to not want to be queen.

The lower part of the bookcase consisted of two drawers, both of which contained some more books. Red, growing more frustrated by the second, kicked the bookcase out of frustration. She had to find Chloe, and none of this was helping her- wait.

As she kicked the bookcase, she heard something fall. She sat on her knees and then put her head down until she could see underneath it.

She could see a single notebook, seemingly filled to the brim. The first thing she noticed was its colour: bright pink. Not something current-day Bridget would use. It seemed to have been taped to the bottom of the bookcase, so it was clearly something she didn’t want anybody to find.

Tough luck for her.

The notebook itself didn’t have a lock, so she opened it on the first page and started reading. After seeing the words ‘Dear diary’, her mouth fell open. She checked the date, and her suspicions were confirmed. This was a diary that Bridget kept during her time at Merlin Academy. The first entry was about how excited she was to start the new school year and see her friend Ella again. This had to be the year the prank took place.

Red took the diary with her and put everything else back before leaving the room. No sense in staying here longer than she had to, in case a random guard caught her. Instead, she went back to her own room and sat on her bed to study the diary in more detail.

Most entries weren’t too interesting, with Bridget mostly detailing both her excitement and nerves for all kinds of things. There were some entries about Ella, though, that made it clear how close they were.

Red didn’t read everything as focused, since she was getting impatient. The longer she was here, the more stressed out she got about Chloe’s wellbeing. She just hoped Chloe was somewhere safe and that she wasn’t all alone. She hoped Chloe would know that Red would come back for her, just as soon as she could figure out how.

The last entry was one on the day Castlecoming took place. This one, Red did read very carefully. These were her mother’s last words before having the worst thing in her life happen to her.

Her eyes grew wider as they flew across the lines, each word written so carefully in former Bridget’s detailed, cursive handwriting. Once she was done, she browsed through the diary once more, rereading some of the things she’d just skipped or hardly read.

Shit. How on earth did she miss this?

She took the diary with her and all but ran over to Maddox and knocked on his door. He opened the door, a stacks of books still in his hand, and let her in.

‘’I found something out,’’ he said. ‘’The royal family of Cinderellasburg still exists, but Ella and King Charming only had one child. A son, called Chad. I fear Chloe doesn’t exist in this timeline. Although it does confirm our suspicions that she must be in the past, having changed something.’’

Red sat down and ran her hands through her hair. ‘’I found something out, too,’’ she said. ‘’But I don’t know if I’m happy I did or if it’ll just complicate things further.’’

‘’What is it?’’ Maddox asked, putting away some of the books he’d been holding.

Red opened the diary on the last written page, and started reading the relevant parts out loud for him.

Dear diary,

Today, it’s finally here: Castlecoming. I’ve been looking forward to this for so long. Ella and I are going together, and I just know it’s going to be the best night of my life. I’ve been to Castlecoming before, but never with anybody else.

I just hope I don’t mess it up.

What if I mess it up? Will Ella still like me? What if she doesn’t feel the same?

But I promised myself that this would be the night I tell her. I can’t chicken out now. If Charming comes along, I’m not going to get in the way of them; if this happens, I want it to be because she chooses me, not because she can’t have him.

‘’After reading this entry, I went back to some of the other things I read. She never explicitly said it, so I didn’t put the pieces together at first. And then, I thought back to my time at Merlin Academy. All the time Bridget and Ella spent together, the way they cared for each other. The way this Bridget reacted to Ella leaving her at Castlecoming… it all makes sense now.’’ She put the book away. ‘’Bridget was in love with Ella.’’

‘’Are there any entries after this one?’’ he asked. ‘’Showing how she felt afterwards?’’

‘’No, she stopped writing after Castlecoming. Does this change anything?’’ she asked him. ‘’For what we do next?’’

Maddox looked at the diary, a serious look on his face. Then he turned to Red, saying: ‘’Yes. In fact… this changes everything.’’

Chapter Text

‘’Okay, what do we do now?’’ Red asked. ‘’How does this change things, exactly?’’

Maddox started pacing through the room. ‘’I can’t believe I didn’t see this – or me in the other timeline, I guess, when you told him. In the past, someone always got hurt because of what happened, and everything can be traced back to Bridget and Ella. The problems always started with them. You’ve tried to fix it by fixing other circumstances surrounding them, like the prank or Ella getting grounded, as you explained. But it always comes down to the two of them.’’

‘’What do you mean?’’

‘’If Bridget was in love with Ella, that explains why so many timelines went wrong. Even the ones where the prank took place, right? You mentioned one where the prank didn’t happen, but Bridget and Ella had a falling out?’’

Red nodded. ‘’Several, actually. Some where she was lonely after Ella and Charming got together.’’

‘’So their relationship is the main problem. Even if the prank doesn’t take place, things still go wrong between them. That means the prank, although immensely cruel, might not be the main problem to fix.’’

‘’It was them,’’ Red said. ‘’All this time, we tried to fix the prank and Ella’s relationship with Charming, so both mine and Chloe’s mom would be happy. But it was never that which we had to fix?’’

‘’If I’m interpreting this correctly – and I really think I am – then yes. That which causes the pain was not what you thought it was.’’

‘’But you told me in another timeline that pain cannot cease to exist, it can only be redirected. So even if we know what causes the pain, then doesn’t that mean we still can’t fix it?’’

‘’Normally, yes. But this is different.’’

‘’Care to explain how exactly?’’

‘’Because this is about love, Red! Love changes everything. The prank was about getting hurt, and cruelty. Ella and Charming’s issues were about the absence of love, or jealousy, or loneliness. But this… this is about the abundance of love, Red. That is another thing, entirely, and not actually a problem. Not unless it isn’t addressed.’’

She realized what he was saying. ‘’So if we get them to address it… things can be fixed?’’

‘’I believe so, yes. We’ve been handling this problem all wrong. We just need to get Bridget and Ella to talk about their feelings!’’

Her mouth fell open. ‘’You’re saying I travelled through time more times than I can count, because my mother cannot communicate her feelings?!’’

‘’Don’t look too bitter about it. Love it what caused this mess, and love can get you out of it. Or is love not the reason you’ve been so frantic about finding this Chloe girl of yours?’’

‘’God, this again,’’ she mumbled. ‘’Yes, I’m in love with her. We’re together, actually. But I don’t have time to discuss my dating life with you, Maddox! Not now.’’

‘’I’m not here to gossip, either, Red,’’ he said. ‘’I’m serious. If you and Chloe didn’t meet and fall in love, then you wouldn’t be in this situation now, meaning you’d never know about Bridget’s true feelings, meaning you wouldn’t be trying to fix it.’’

‘’So is this some sort of ‘love conquers all’ speech?’’

‘’I suppose it might be.’’

‘’When did my life become so sappy?’’ she groaned. ‘’And more importantly, what do we do? How do I get back to Chloe? And how do we get Bridget to talk to Ella?’’

‘’Well, you still have the pocket watch, right?’’

‘’Of course. I haven’t let that thing out of my sight.’’

‘’Good. Then use it.’’

‘’But I don’t know where it’ll take me.’’

‘’I do. After hearing you talk about Chloe, I did some thinking. And you truly love her, yes?’’

She nodded. ‘’More than I ever thought I could,’’ she answered truthfully.

‘’Then the pocket watch should take you right to her.’’

‘’It takes you to the moment in time that can give you what your heart wants most,’’ she said softly. ‘’Of course. Maddox, you’re a genius. The pocket watch will take me to wherever she is.’’

He nodded. ‘’I think it will. And once it does, you and your girlfriend can figure out next steps, alright? But remember what you just learned.’’

She gave him a quick hug. ‘’No matter what happens in the past, I hope you never change, Mads.’’

His eyes seemed a bit teary when they let go. ‘’I hope the same of you, princess,’’ he said. ‘’I hope to see you soon. And take Chloe with you for a visit, okay? I need to know you’re both alright. Even if it’s a different version of me you’ll be visiting.’’

‘’I will, I promise. I’ll be back on your doorstep before you know it. Any version of you will always be my friend.’’ She took the pocket watch and looked at Maddox one final time. ‘’Time to get her back.’’

Chapter Text

While holding the pocket watch, she repeated the words ‘the moment in time that can give you what your heart wants most’ in her head, almost like a mantra. If Maddox was right – and she truly hoped he was – the pocket would take her to wherever Chloe was. Please, please let him be right.

When she felt her feet on solid ground again, she opened her eyes and saw Chloe’s staring back at her. They looked slightly panicked, but softened at the sight of Red.

‘’Red!’’ Chloe exclaimed. ‘’What just happened? You just disappeared for a few seconds. I didn’t know what happened, but-’’

Red interrupted her by giving her a massive hug, starting to cry after a few seconds. Chloe put her arms around Red’s back, slowly caressing her shoulder. ‘’Honey, what happened? Are you okay?’’

‘’I thought I lost you,’’ Red cried. ‘’I… I didn’t know where you were. Chlo, I was so scared.’’

Chloe hugged her even tighter. ‘’I don’t know what happened, but I’m here. I’m okay. I’m still here, okay? I’m not going anywhere.’’

For a few minutes, they just held each other, with Chloe reassuring Red every now and then. When Red calmed a bit, she pulled away to dry her tears and saw Chloe looking worried.

She took Chloe’s hand and led them to a bench a few metres away, needing to sit down for a second. Luckily, the courtyard was empty by now.

‘’When we tried to use the pocket watch, I travelled through time,’’ Red explained. ‘’I went to our own time, right before the coup. But I didn’t see you, or Ella, anywhere.’’ She then told her how she’d ran off to Wonderland and met up with Maddox, who helped her get back to Chloe.

Chloe rubbed her thumb over Red’s hand. ‘’I saw you disappear, but you came back within a few seconds. They were some of the scariest seconds of my life, though. I didn’t know where you went, so I assumed something went wrong with the pocket watch. I thought maybe it broke. How long were you gone?’’

‘’Definitely more than a few seconds. A few hours, I think. Although I lost track of time.’’

‘’How exactly did you get back?’’ Chloe put an arm around Red, allowing her to lean into her.

‘’It all went back to something Maddox told me when he first showed me the pocket watch, about how it worked. It doesn’t send you to a time you choose, but-’’

‘’What your heart wants,’’ Chloe finished her sentence. ‘’I remember you telling me that.’’

‘’Exactly. And since I just wanted to get back to you, it led me right back here.’’

Chloe stared at her for a few seconds, then kissed her. ‘’I love you so much,’’ she whispered.

‘’I love you, too,’’ Red whispered back. ‘’More than you know. I’m so glad you’re okay.’’

‘’I’m glad you’re okay.’’ They kept holding on to each other, not wanting to let each other go ever again after what just happened.

‘’I also learned something else,’’ Red said. She started telling Chloe about Bridget’s diary entries, and the realization she’d come to.

‘’So… our mothers were in love?’’ Chloe said. ‘’That’s… unexpected.’’

‘’Well, mine was in love with yours. I’m not sure how Ella felt, though. But maybe that’s not even the point. Maybe the most important thing is that we get Bridget to confess her feelings. Like you taught me, it’s better to let it out than keep it all bottled up, right? So maybe, even if Ella doesn’t feel the same way, just talking about it will change things for the better.’’

‘’Okay. So we need to get Bridget to talk to Ella about her feelings. That’s it?’’

‘’I think so.’’

‘’Okay. That seems doable. I mean, they helped us talk about our feelings in other timelines, right? Maybe we can do the same for them, or at least for Bridget.’’

Red nodded. ‘’The talking part should be doable, for sure. What I’m more worried about is what will happen after that.’’

Chloe fell silent.

‘’Chlo?’’

‘’I’m just thinking. Let’s say our mothers do fall in love and end up together…’’

‘’Then neither one of us will exist in our own time,’’ Red ended her sentence.

‘’So then… what’ll happen to us?’’ Chloe asked nervously.

‘’I don’t know. I hadn’t thought that far ahead, to be honest. It’s been quite the day.’’

They heard the bell ring. ‘’Shit. Okay, let’s save the rest of this plan for tonight, okay? If we want to make it in time for class to meet Ella and Bridget, we’ll need to go now. Which we’ll need to do to get a friendship with them, and make sure Bridget admits to her feelings and everything.’’

Red stood up, holding Chloe’s hand and helping her up as well. ‘’Okay. But you need to do one thing for me.’’

‘’Of course. What is it?’’

‘’Somehow keep me awake. The adrenaline is wearing off and I’m seriously starting to get tired.’’

Chloe laughed and kissed her on the cheek. ‘’I’ll do my best. Now, let’s go take the exact same class for about the thirteenth time.’’

‘’Can’t wait.’’

Chapter Text

Just like they had many times before, they’d spent the day with Bridget and Ella, already starting to form a friendship with them. And, as promised, Chloe tried to keep Red awake throughout the day.

She really tried.

But when Red almost fell asleep during dinner, starting to lean against Chloe’s shoulder with her eyes closing every few seconds, causing Ella and Bridget to laugh, Chloe decided it was enough for today. They excused themselves and went up to their dorm, where they immediately got into bed. Forming a plan would have to wait.

Instead, Red took a well-deserved nap while cuddled against Chloe, who was reading a book in the meantime. Despite all of their time in the past, she actually hadn’t gotten around to reading a lot, but she got her hands on a book about the history of the area surrounding the school. It was actually quite interesting.

Red woke up about two hours later, with a loud yawn, and stretched. ‘’Damn,’’ she said. ‘’I needed that.’’ She looked up at Chloe and smiled. ‘’Hi.’’

‘’Hi as well.’’ Chloe put the book away and kissed Red on the forehead, after which Red sat down next to her.

‘’Okay,’’ Red said. ‘’So…’’

‘’So,’’ Chloe said.

‘’What do we do?’’ Red asked slowly, uncertainly. ‘’I mean, we need to fix the timeline and we finally know how to do that, after so many attempts. But that might mean we won’t exist in our own time.’’

‘’So just when we thought we might save our mothers… we can. But we’ll lose them in the process.’’

‘’Possibly.’’

Both girls sighed. ‘’I mean, we won’t fully lose them,’’ Red said. ‘’They’ll still exist.’’

‘’But they won’t be our parents anymore. And who knows what’ll happen to my dad.’’

‘’But we don’t know if Ella feels the same. If she doesn’t, and therefore doesn’t get together with Bridget, then we might still exist. Your dad might still be your dad, and we could both get our mothers.’’

‘’And the only way to find out what’ll happen is by just doing it and seeing what happens.’’

‘’So how do we get ourselves out of this?’’ When Chloe didn’t have an answer either, Red sighed and leaned against her again. ‘’There is no way out of this, is there?’’

‘’This time, I really don’t think there is,’’ Chloe admitted, although it pained her to say it.

‘’So, what? We finally make both our moms happy, only to lose them because of it?’’

‘’I guess that’s the sacrifice we’d have to make. Remember what Maddox said about pain?’’

Red looked at her with sad eyes. ‘’Yeah. But he also said that this was different, because of love and stuff. So shouldn’t we be able to eliminate the pain, then?’’

‘’Maybe there’s a version of this where our moms are both, happy. And we are, too.’’

‘’The only time where all of us have been happy was in this time, before the prank took place.’’

Chloe nodded, then looked thoughtful for a second. Then, after suddenly jumping up, she exclaimed: ‘’That’s it!’’

‘’What is it?’’ Red sat up as well, looking confused. ‘’You kinda lost me there.’’

Chloe stepped out of bed, starting to pace around it. ‘’Okay, let me ask you this. What do you want?’’

‘’Is that a serious question?’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’Okay.’’ Red thought for a second. ‘’I guess, in an ideal world… I’d have you by my side, most of all. And your mother would be good. And my mother would not be a tyrant. But I thought I wanted her to be a loving mom before, and look how that turned out.’’

‘’Yeah, that didn’t end up great. So what you want is a good version of Bridget, but you don’t want that version to be your mother?’’

‘’Basically.’’

‘’And what I want is for you and my parents to be okay.’’

Red got more confused. ‘’Of course, Chlo, but I thought we figured out there was no way for us to have all that.’’

‘’I think there is. Right here. Or… now, I suppose.’’

‘’Wait, you don’t mean…’’

‘’I do.’’

Red stepped out of the bed as well, following Chloe’s pacing around the room. ‘’You’re suggesting we stay here? In this time?’’

‘’Yes. Think about it. Things were always good in this timeline as long as we were here, but as soon as we left, things went to shit. Maybe the pocket watch always meant for us to stay here. Plus, you want your mother to be good, but you don’t want her as an actual parental figure, since that was… well, not good for you. If we stay here, you can have young Bridget as a friend and you’ll never have to see her turn evil.’’

‘’I guess that part makes sense. But what about you, Chlo? Your parents mean so much to you.’’

‘’They do. And I want to see them happy, obviously. But if Ella and Bridget were meant to fall in love to stop a whole load of bad things, then who am I to stop that? They could be happy together. And as for my dad… it won’t be the same, of course, but he’s still here. I won’t lose him.’’

‘’You’ll lose the way he was as a father.’’

‘’Yes. But that’ll happen anyway, even if we go back to our own time. At least this way, I’d still see him.’’

‘’But we’re not meant to exist here.’’ Before Chloe could even answer that, Red already countered her own argument, saying: ‘’Although I guess we’re not to exist in our own time anymore, either.’’

‘’Exactly. So does it really matter if we’re here or there? Then,’’ she corrected herself. All this talk of times and timelines would never get easier.

Red took a few minutes to think it through. Chloe, seemingly recognizing she needed some time to think, stopped pacing through the room and instead looked out the window, over Merlin Academy.

Once Red made up her mind, she joined her at the window. ‘’It did go through my head once, you know,’’ she said.

‘’Hmm?’’

‘’Staying here.’’

‘’Really? When?’’

‘’After we both lost our minds and you forced me to keep a diary,’’ Red smiled. ‘’I even wrote it down, I think. At that point, part of me wanted to stay in the past, but I still wanted to get you back to your normal life. And I didn’t want to stay without you. And I figured you wouldn’t leave without me, at that point.’’

Chloe held her hand. ‘’You’re right. No way in hell I would’ve left you here.’’

‘’But this is different. We could stay here together.’’

‘’We could. I think I want to.’’

‘’I guess it seems to be good to be true. We can finally get everything we wanted. Or most of it, at least.’’

‘’We’ll lose some things, too. But we’ve been spending so much time here already, more than in our own time. Part of me feels like this is home, already.’’

‘’Honestly, the only thing I’ll miss about our own time is Maddox. He was a great friend. And I promised him I’d be back.’’

‘’I’ll miss my brother. He’s kind of a jerk sometimes, but… he’s still family. And I’ll miss having my mom and dad together. But Ella and Bridget… I can kind of see it, you know. I mean, it’s our moms, so it feels strange. But at the same time, it makes total sense to me.’’

‘’They went through so much, in so many timelines. Maybe it’s time to let them be happy.’’

‘’And how about ourselves? We deserve some happiness, too, right?’’

Red looked into Chloe’s eyes. ‘’I mean, I’ve been feeling some happiness for quite some time now, princess.’’

Chloe smiled brightly at her. ‘’Me too, Your Royal Highness. But how about we make that a more permanent thing? We could actually settle down here, instead of travelling through time again and again.’’

‘’I’m willing to stay here if you are.’’

‘’Are you sure? It’s a big decision, Red. We can take some more time.’’

‘’How about we stay for a few days and stop the prank from happening? And get Bridget to confess her feelings?’’

‘’And then we decide for sure.’’

Red nodded. ‘’Exactly. But no matter what we decide, if we stay or go, I think we need to get Bridget to talk. Her feelings were what all the timelines and issues went back to.’’

‘’Okay. So we do what we did before, stopping the prank for good, but we get her to talk about her feelings. To us, and then to Bridget. We can do that. We’re pretty much feelings experts at this point, right?’’

Red laughed. ‘’I mean, ‘expert’ might be one step too far, but sure. We can do this.’’

‘’Well, I think you’ve been doing quite well lately. A few months ago, the only emotion you could express was annoyance.’’

‘’Annoyance is a very important emotion to express.’’

‘’Oh, absolutely. But I’m glad your range has grown.’’ She kissed Red softly. ‘’Alright, time to get our moms to fall in love.’’

‘’That will never stop being a strange thought.’’

Chapter Text

In the two remaining days before Castlecoming, Red and Chloe spent every waking moment with Bridget and Ella. Just like in previous timelines, they became close friends quite fast, making the next part of their plan a bit easier.

After stopping the prank – which had felt like such a challenge some time ago, but they could now do in their sleep – and Chloe remarking that she truly never wanted to break into an office again, it was time for them to put on the charm. They tried to wait for things to happen naturally, not wanting to force anything and mess it up, but they didn’t have too much time. So, just like in a previous attempt, it was Red who eventually suggested a sleepover. An idea which both Bridget and Ella gracefully and enthusiastically accepted.

Red felt like an idiot for not seeing it before, but now that she paid more attention, she saw the looks Bridget gave Ella. It wasn’t just Red and Chloe gaping at one another during the dress fitting. It wasn’t just Red and Chloe sitting next to each other any chance they got. It wasn’t just Red and Chloe immediately sharing a bed when they got the opportunity to.

She’d been so busy with their plans, and her own feelings for Chloe, that she somehow missed how obvious it was. Bridget asking Ella to Castlecoming – as ‘friends’, sure, but that was clearly a lie – just being one of many examples. Bridget was sweet to everyone, so maybe that was why it was less noticeable, but Red could see it now. Bridget smiled at the whole school, but she looked at Ella like she was the sun.

She just hoped Ella felt the same way. It would break Bridget’s heart if she didn’t.

Ella, being less obvious with her emotions than Bridget, was not as easy to read. Even Chloe, who knew even a young version of her mother quite well, wasn’t sure. ‘’It could really go either way,’’ she said. ‘’She can be very expressive, but also not at all. If she likes Bridget, but wasn’t sure if Bridget likes her back, it wouldn’t surprise me if she kept quiet.’’

During the sleepover, they tried to do everything as similarly as possible, which seemed to work. So after dropping their clothes off at their room, Red went back in the direction of Bridget’s room while Chloe waited for a bit, just like last time. And just like last time, she ran into Ella on the way there.

Unlike last time, she was planning on doing the interrogating. In the meantime, Chloe would go to Bridget’s room and talk to her. They had no idea how it had ever happened that they had such conversations with the other person’s mom, but it worked before, so why change it now?

‘’So,’’ Red said. ‘’Can I ask you something?’’

Since Red and Chloe had made it clear they were together from their first day here – not that they wouldn’t have caught on otherwise – there was no need for Ella to ask her this. Time to turn it around.

‘’Sure,’’ Ella said. ‘’What is it?’’

‘’Okay, this may be completely out of bounds, in which case, just let me know. But I wanted to ask about you and Bridget.’’

‘’What about it?’’ Ella seemed a bit confused, but still open to whatever the question would be.

‘’How long have you two known each other?’’

Ella smiled a bit at that. ‘’Oh, ages. Feels like ages, at least. I met her on my first day here, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. I can’t imagine what it’d be like without her here.’’

‘’Yeah, you two seem really close.’’

‘’For sure.’’

‘’I was wondering if you two were… maybe… slightly more than friends?’’

Ella looked at her, astounded. She grew a slight blush on her face. ‘’Oh, I, uh… we… well…’’

Gotcha.

Red smirked. ‘’Anything you want to tell your new friend?’’

‘’Please don’t be annoying about this.’’

‘’No promises.’’

‘’Fine. Maybe I thought about it, once or twice. But nothing ever happened, and I doubt she feels the same, so no. We’re not more than friends.’’

‘’But you’ve thought about it?’’

‘’I mean… look at her! She’s gorgeous. And really kind. I just love spending time with her.’’

‘’I don’t blame you, I get it. She’s awesome. So why haven’t you made a move?’’

‘’Because she’s my best friend, Red. I mean, how did you feel when you made a move on Chloe?’’

Red sighed. ‘’Okay, fair point. I was absolutely terrified. But look at how it turned out!’’

Ella leaned against the wall for a second, looking at the ceiling. ‘’It turned out great for you guys. But I don’t know how Bridget feels.’’

Red wanted more than anything to tell her how Bridget felt, but she didn’t want to take that moment away from her. She should hear it from Bridget herself, not from her. So she just said: ‘’You never know if you don’t try.’’

Meanwhile, Chloe was just arriving at Bridget’s room, wanting to have a similar conversation. Her goal was a bit different. Red wanted to just find out how Ella felt; Chloe, however, had the task of convincing Bridget to actually talk about her feelings. Something that could immensely change all of their futures.

No pressure.

Luckily, Bridget was kind as always, so it actually felt like a bit less pressure. Chloe started to casually ask her about her and Ella’s friendship, wanting to ease into the situation. However, halfway through her second question, Bridget interrupted her and said: ‘’I need to tell you something.’’

Chloe, confused but slightly hopeful, nodded and sat down on the bed. ‘’Okay, tell me anything. What’s on your mind?’’

Bridget, still holding a bunch of aprons in her hand, walked over towards Chloe. ‘’Okay, if I tell you, I need you to promise to not tell Ella.’’

‘’Of course. I won’t share anything with her if you don’t want me to.’’

‘’Good.’’ Bridget took a deep breath – which she needed, but afterwards, she started rambling. ‘’Okay. So, I’ve known Ella for a while now, and we’ve become close, really close, actually, and I really care about her, like anyone cares about a friend, I guess, except I think maybe it’s a bit more than just as a friend, because I think about her all the time and I miss her when she’s not around and I want to tell her but I don’t know how.’’ She took a deep breath again. ‘’Thoughts?’’

Chloe stared at her in awe. ‘’Yes, I’m thinking you just said a whole lot of words.’’

Bridget giggled. ‘’Sorry about that. I get nervous, sometimes. And then I’m not great with my words.’’

‘’That’s okay. Red sucks at words sometimes, too,’’ she added with a smile. ‘’It might take her some more time to get to what she means, but when she does, I know that it means a lot.’’

‘’See? That’s what I want. Someone to talk about me that way.’’ She sighed. ‘’I mean, not just someone.’’

‘’Yeah, sounds you kind of have a person in mind.’’

‘’What do I do with all of this? We’re really close friends. She’s my only real friend, actually. Other than you and Red, of course, but that’s still new.’’

‘’I get it, it’s really scary. I felt the same way before Red and I admitted our feelings.’’

‘’How did that go with you guys?’’

Leaving out the time-travelling details, Chloe told her how Red had started to tell her how much she cared about her, and how their first kiss had happened. Bridget stared at her in awe. ‘’So,’’ she concluded, ‘’I understand that it’s terrifying. I was really scared, too. If Red hadn’t made a move then, I don’t know when something would’ve happened. But it can be so beautiful once you do. And maybe she feels the same way, but she’s too scared to say it, too. You’ll never truly know unless you tell her.’’

‘’You really think I should?’’

‘’It’s up to you what you do, of course. But if you want my opinion? Yeah, I’d go for it. Better to know than to forever wonder what would’ve happened if only you spoke up.’’

Bridget slowly nodded her head. ‘’Maybe you’re right. It has been driving me a bit crazy that I haven’t been able to tell her this. I usually tell her everything, you know, so keeping this a secret from her didn’t feel right.’’

‘’Then maybe it’s time to reveal the secret. You could do it at Castlecoming,’’ she suggested.

‘’Do you think that’s a good idea?’’

‘’Yeah. Weren’t you talking about how nice and romantic everything there was the other day?’’

‘’You’re right, it is. It might be a good moment.’’

‘’Exactly.’’

They both jumped up after the door opened, revealing Ella and Red inside. ‘’We come bearing butter,’’ Red smirked.

As they walked inside, Bridget smiled at Chloe, mouthing ‘thank you’ to her. Chloe smiled back. Finally, things were going according to plan.

Chapter Text

Before they knew it, it was almost time to go to Castlecoming again. When they were alone to get dressed, Red and Chloe filled each other in on their respective conversations.

‘’Wait,’’ Chloe said enthusiastically. ‘’So Ella likes her back?’’

‘’It definitely seems like it, yes. And Bridget is going to talk to her tonight?’’

‘’She didn’t seem 100 percent sure yet, but she’s thinking about it. If we keep pushing them in the right direction a little bit, I think there’s a good chance.’’

Red sighed, relieved, and walked over to Chloe, who was looking at her hair in the mirror. Red hugged her from behind, putting her head on her shoulder and kissing her cheek. ‘’I can’t believe we’re finally fixing this. No more time travel for us.’’

Chloe looked at her girlfriend through the mirror and put her hands on Red’s, smiling. ‘’I think I could get used to this, you know?’’

‘’You better. It seems like we’re going to be spending quite some time here.’’

‘’Good. I’ve really grown to love it here. And now Bridget and Ella can finally both be happy, too.’’

‘’You ready to go?’’

‘’Yep. Let’s do this thing.’’

They met Bridget and Ella downstairs, both of whom looked a bit nervous. Chloe smiled at Bridget supportively, which Bridget returned.

Just like last time, they played some games before heading to the Ferris wheel, where Charming showed up again.

‘’Ella!’’ he said. ‘’You did come.’’

‘’Charming! Hey. Yeah, I, uh… well, the girls convinced me.’’

Bridget nodded. ‘’We’re very persuasive.’’

Charming smiled. ‘’Would you maybe want to go on the Ferris wheel together?’’

Just like before, Ella was about to say no. This time, though, Bridget didn’t intervene, so Ella said: ‘’Actually, I think I’m just going to go with the girls.’’

Charming looked disappointed, but nodded. ‘’Alright. You girls have fun,’’ he said before walking away.

When it was almost their turn, Chloe subtly pushed her elbow against Red, nodding towards Bridget and Ella. Red nodded back and spoke up. ‘’Hey, actually, would you guys mind if we split up for a bit?’’

‘’Want to take your girl for a ride on the Ferris wheel?’’ Bridget smiled at her. ‘’Sure, go ahead.’’

‘’Thanks. You guys go first, though. We’ll wait.’’

Ella glared at Red with a panicked expression, seemingly catching on to what she was trying to do. Red just smiled. Nothing like a private moment in the Ferris wheel go get things going.

Bridget and Ella got into a cart, with Red and Chloe getting into the next. ‘’Do you think we’ll hear them from here?’’ Chloe whispered.

‘’Maybe, if we’re quiet. Let’s try.’’

The cart was a bit too far away to hear everything, but as Red and Chloe sat next to each other holding hands, they could hear snippets.

‘’…beautiful up here, isn’t it?’’ That sounded like Bridget.

‘’It is. Thanks for asking me to go… really nice…’’

‘’What’s she saying?’’ Red whispered. Chloe shushed her.

‘’…wanted to talk to you about something.’’

Red held Chloe’s hand more tightly. This might be it. It had to be.

‘’What is it?’’ Ella asked.

‘’…been thinking lately… us…’’

Red subconsciously leaned a bit more over the edge, trying to hear more.

‘’Have you ever thought… might be more?’’

‘’More?’’

‘’Between us. I don’t know if you feel the same, and it’s totally fine if you don’t… I just…’’ Even from here, Red could hear Bridget take a deep breath. ‘’I think I like you. As slightly more than just a friend.’’

It was quiet for a bit. Shit. What if Ella didn’t feel the same, or wasn’t ready to say it?

‘’I think… maybe I feel the same. I’ve thought about it.’’

‘’You have?’’ Bridget’s voice went up about an octave, out of excitement, or surprise – or maybe both.

‘’I have. I just wasn’t sure how you felt.’’

‘’I wasn’t sure how you felt, either.’’

‘’Well, now you do,’’ Ella laughed. ‘’So what now?’’

‘’How about I take you on a date this weekend? Maybe tomorrow? If you’re free?’’

‘I’d like that.’’

‘’Okay. Tomorrow it is, then.’’ Bridget looked up, seeing Red’s face hanging over the edge of the cart. ‘’She said yes! So you guys can stop eavesdropping now!’’

Ella burst out into laughter, followed by Chloe.

‘’Sorry!’’ Red yelled. ‘’But we’re happy for you! See you in a bit!’’

She got back into the cart, where Chloe was on the verge of tears after laughing so hard. ‘’You’re so awful at being subtle,’’ she said.

Red gave her a light push. ‘’Hey! I was out there doing what you’re too scared to do, princess. You should thank me for my service.’’

‘’Thank you for your service.’’

‘’Somehow, that didn’t feel genuine.’’

‘’Oh, stop pouting and come here. I want to finally kiss you in a Ferris wheel.’’

Red smiled. ‘’Well, I’ll happily oblige to that.’’ She sat closer to Chloe and put her hands on her face, slowly pulling her in.

For the rest of the ride, they kissed, cuddled, and enjoyed the view. Both of them felt at ease. Chloe sighed deeply, playing with Red’s hand. ‘’I can’t believe we get to stay here.’’

‘’Me neither. It almost seems too good to be true.’’

‘’Love saves the day, right?’’

‘’It really does.’’ Red hugged Chloe even more tightly than she was doing before. ‘’I love you, Chlo.’’

‘’I love you too, Red.’’

After getting off the Ferris wheel, all four of them hit the dance floor. Red, being an absolute horrendous dancer, had the time of her life. Slow dancing with Chloe, goofing off with Bridget and Ella and enjoying the music.

She spun Chloe around and kissed her again. And again. And again.

Yeah, she could get used to this.

Chapter Text

Dear diary,

It’s been a few weeks since I last wrote to you, so it’s about time to catch you up. A lot has happened.

But at the same time, the past weeks have been really quiet. Isn’t that weird? I think Red and I have gotten so used to chaos and not staying in one place – or time – for too long that this just feels strange. I mean that in the best possible way, though. I love it here. Red does, too. She seems so relaxed since we decided to stay, like a weight has been lifted off of her shoulders. And I suppose it has; it was too much pressure on both of us, everything that’s been happening.

But somehow, we didn’t crack under that pressure. I mean, we almost did, at times. But we always got each other through it.

Red seems like a different person than when I met her, but I think this is who she always was, deep down. Or at least who she wanted to be. She just never got the chance to. But here, with good people around her and being in a safe place, she can finally just be herself.

And holy shit, is that person amazing to be around. (Although she did rub off on me with her swearing, which is a downside. But it’s the only one I’ve found, so I can live with that.)

Anyway, to recap. Bridget and Ella went on their date the day after Castlecoming, and they’ve been going on dates all the time since then. They haven’t made it official yet, but I think that’s only a matter of time. They already know each other so well. They basically skipped all of the standard first date conversation, so it feels like they’ve been dating for months already. They just seem so at ease with one another, it’s wonderful to see.

Most importantly, them seem happy. I know, after all our time-travel adventures, that you never know how long such happiness will last. I’ve been thinking about that a lot. Maybe it’s still the after-effects of… well, everything. But I don’t want to think about everything that could go wrong. I should focus on what could go right. Maybe we’ll all stay together and live happily ever after. Or maybe we won’t. But that won’t change what we are now.

At least, that’s what Red tells me.

I’m glad I can talk to her about these things. To be honest, it’s been tough to adjust to our new lives. I said I love it here, and I mean that, but we went through a lot to get here. It might take us some more time to really get comfortable here, but I know we’ll get there eventually.

Dear diary,

It’s been a few months since Castlecoming. A few weeks back, I asked Chloe if I could go through the part of her diary where she documented all the days. (Apparently, she kept an entire calendar to document how long we were gone exactly. She’s such a nerd; I love her.)

She gave it to me, and I found something out. So I’m taking her out on a date tonight, for a surprise. I can’t wait.

We also decided something. We know we want to stay here for good; we decided that ages ago. But the pocket watch had been weighing on us. We had to hide it from others, so every time Bridget or Ella came by our room to hang out, we got stressed about that. I even kept imagining that Uliana or her friends would somehow break in and take it. If someone found it, the risks were simply too big. We’ve learned firsthand how dangerous time-travel can be. So to make sure that nothing like this happens again, we decided to break it.

We’re in the best possible timeline, so we have no use for it anymore. And by destroying it, we could guarantee that nobody else ever makes the same mistakes we did for months, continuously messing with the timeline. It was the safest option. We broke it last week.

Anyway, time to get ready. I don’t want to be late.

Chloe opened the door after hearing a knock. ‘’Red?’’ she said, surprised to see her girlfriend in front of the door. ‘’Why are you knocking? You’re aware you live here too, right?’’

Red smirked. ‘’I’m very aware, princess. But I’m here to pick you up for our date, actually. This seemed more romantic.’’

Chloe shook her head with a smile. ‘’Little weirdo.’’ She stepped outside with Red.

‘’But a cute little weirdo, right?’’

Chloe kissed her on the cheek. ‘’Yes. The cutest.’’

‘’Good. Then let’s go.’’ Red offered her arm, which Chloe happily took as they walked outside. Chloe didn’t know where they’d be going, exactly, but she was sure Red had something nice planned. She always did. The former Princess of Wonderland was surprisingly good at planning nice things for her.

After a short walk, they ended up in an open spot in the woods surrounding the school. Red had laid out a blanket, some pillows and food before coming over to pick Chloe up. She could also see a box. But, more importantly, a whole bunch of candles surrounded the blanket, giving them enough light.

‘’Red, this looks amazing,’’ she said, turning to face her.

Red smiled. ‘’You haven’t even seen the best part. Come on.’’

They sat down on the blanket, getting comfortable with a whole bunch of pillows and even a blanket that Red brought.

‘’We can see the stars here,’’ Chloe commented. ‘’Wow, it’s a bright sky tonight.’’

‘’We got lucky, it was perfect timing.’’

‘’Perfect timing for what, exactly?’’

Red sat opposite her and grabbed her hands. ‘’Well, I was wondering something, which is why I needed your diary. I did some research, and as it turns out… today’s actually your birthday.’’

‘’What?’’ Chloe looked surprised. ‘’No, that can’t be. My birthday isn’t until-’’

‘’Your normal birthday,’’ Red corrected her. ‘’In this timeline, yes, it still takes a while. But if you start from the date we first travelled through time, and then take all the days we’ve been away until now, we end up on your birthday. So in our own little timeline we’ve created, you actually just turned 17. So…’’ she grabbed the box that was next to her. ‘’Happy actual-birthday, princess.’’

Instead of grabbing the box, Chloe grabbed Red’s face to pull her in for a kiss.

‘’Hey! I’m not the gift, this is.’’

‘’Oh, I’d say you’re quite the gift,’’ Chloe smiled. ‘’Also, I just really wanted to kiss you. I can’t believe you did all of this for me. You’ve turned into quite the romantic.’’

‘’Are you kidding? I should know when my girlfriend’s birthday is. A little bit of warping of timelines is just a slight obstacle.’’

‘’I love you so much, you know?’’

‘’I do, princess. But please open your gift, because now I’m getting nervous.’’

Chloe laughed. ‘’I’m going to love it no matter what, babe. No need to be nervous.’’ But she grabbed the box, anyway, and carefully opened it.

She stared at its contents for a few seconds. ‘’Oh my god, Red. They’re beautiful.’’

In the box were new shoes, similar to the ones her mom had given her. But instead of diamonds, they were encrusted with… wait…

‘’Are those…?’’

‘’Little pieces of time machine? Yes.’’

‘’How on earth…’’

Red laughed at the confusion on her girlfriend’s face. ‘’Well, after we broke the pocket watch, I wasn’t sure what to do with it. It obviously wasn’t functional anymore, but it still looked good, especially the gold. And with your birthday coming up, I wanted to give you something nice. I know you miss your own shoes, but they weren’t the most… durable.’’ Chloe laughed at that. ‘’And Hook’s shoes were a fine replacement, but I did steal them and all. I wanted to give you your own pair. So I figured, you know, why not keep parts of the time machine? It wasn’t all bad. We should remember the good parts.’’

‘’But how did you do this?’’

‘’I want to say ‘with hard work and determination’, but I do not have the skills for this. Bridget knew a guy, so he did it. I just got them back two days ago, just in time for tonight.’’

Chloe carefully put the shoes next to her and hugged her. ‘’Thank you so much,’’ she said. ‘’They’re gorgeous. And I still can’t believe you did all this.’’

‘’It was my pleasure, princess.’’

For the rest of the evening, they ate the snacks Red brought, cuddling under the blanket when it got cold, and watching the stars. At least, she tried watching the stars, but the view of her girlfriend seemed better to her, so she spent most of the evening looking at Red.

‘’I love you,’’ Red whispered when Chloe nearly fell asleep with her head on her chest.

‘’I love you, too.’’ And though she didn’t know what the rest of their lives would bring, she did know this: in this exact moment in time, she was happy. And that was enough.