Chapter Text
Chloe’s pov:
Hearts. Not red skies, lightning, and murderous soldiers descending upon them.
When Chloe and Red arrived back at Auradon Prep after fracturing time itself, the terror Chloe braced for never came. Instead, the Queen of Hearts simply turned around, flicked her deck of cards, and unleashed a wave of music. Suddenly, everyone was happy, everyone was dancing, and bubbly pink hearts floated through the air, making everything absolutely perfect. Chloe's mom was okay. Red's mom was... not a murderous tyrant anymore. And Red? Red looked breathtakingly beautiful as Chloe watched her dance right then and there—carefree in a way Chloe had never seen before.
That very same day, they discovered they were rooming together. Apparently, in this newly rewritten timeline, Red and Chloe have been best friends since forever because their mothers stayed best friends after high school. Eager to keep the tradition alive, Cinderella and Bridget had personally asked the school for them to share a dorm room, and Red and Chloe had been ecstatic to move in together.
It wasn't all perfect, though. That first night came the first nightmare.
Both of them suffered from nightmares on a concurrent basis during those first few weeks, but that first night, Chloe did something she still doesn't quite understand to this day. She woke up to the sound of Red tossing and turning, whimpering in her sleep, obviously distressed. In the few seconds it took for Chloe's midnight grogginess to clear, the noises suddenly stopped. The room turned completely quiet. Too quiet. Red was entirely still… Again, too still.
Chloe hadn't really known what to do. She hadn't known Red for long, but she knew her well enough to recognize that Red would rather implode than ask for help. After a few moments of tense consideration, Chloe raised her hand and tapped against the wall over her bed two times. Just a small knock to let Red know she was awake, hoping the silent message of "I'm awake, we don't have to talk about it, but I'm here if you need me" would somehow go through.
The part Chloe still doesn't understand is why, right after those two taps, her body just moved on its own. She scooted over toward the wall, intentionally leaving an empty space on her mattress, ready to welcome Red if she needed it. But the most surprising thing of it all? Red actually filled it. After a few moments of complete silence, Chloe heard the soft rustle of sheets, followed by the sound of Red hesitantly padding across the floor and slipping into bed next to her.
From that night on, the two taps became their little code. It wasn't just for nightmares; it was for whenever they needed reassurance. When it was Chloe's turn to wake up shaking from a nightmare, Red would tap back. Red isn't exactly good at talking about her feelings, or letting people know when she isn't okay and needs comfort. Chloe prefers not to think too much on why that is, because it's really no surprise. When you are the daughter of someone who used to teach you that love is a weakness and that letting people know you is just a fast track to getting hurt, opening up doesn't come naturally.
So Red started tapping. Two times, just like Chloe did, every single time she felt nervous, overwhelmed, or just needed Chloe in any way. Chloe does the exact same when she needs Red. It feels incredibly grounding to know they just have each other like that.
Lately, the nightmares have faded from a nightly occurrence to a rare anomaly. In fact, Red's actual bed has remained entirely untouched for almost a month now—which is honestly a blessing for Chloe, given the sheer amount of chaos her best friend usually brings with her when she sleeps.
That untidiness is actually another thing making Chloe very happy lately, because it means Red is finally starting to let loose. At the very beginning, Red was so terrified that one wrong move would accidentally bring her old, villainous mother back. Because of that fear, Red behaved almost like she was in the army, rigidly following the strict, military-like rules her old mother had… forced into her. She kept everything so unnaturally tidy that she nearly had a full-blown panic attack one day because her mother was supposed to visit and Chloe's shoes were slightly out of place. Nowadays, Red's bed only remains made for the sole reason that she doesn't sleep in it at all; she just defaults to Chloe's side of the room.
Chloe loves to see Red being herself. She loves how she's starting to let her guard down and smile more genuinely. Chloe loves... okay, enough with the word love. What Chloe means is that she's really happy Red is starting to be her own person without carrying the weight of the entire world on her shoulders—even if this new, unburdened version of Red brings a massive wave of mischief and chaos with her.
Auradon Prep is definitely not exempt from that chaos. A few vibrant graffiti murals now stand proudly on the campus walls, which had predictably landed Red in detention. Or rather, the specific version of "detention" that Pirate Principal Uma applies when it comes to Red. Chloe thinks it's blindingly obvious that Uma has a soft spot for the girl, even if the pirate would never admit it out loud. It is so entertaining to watch how the majority of Uma's punishments seem designed purely to annoy Red, and even more fun to see how well they actually work.
After Red was caught defacing a third wall, Uma forced her to join the school's art club to "redirect all that artistic energy into something useful." Chloe herself had spent weeks trying to convince Red to join a club—just like Chloe had joined Swords and Shields—and Red had stubbornly refused every single time. It was hilarious watching Red complain through an entire dinner about Uma's mandate, only to instantly turn smug, claiming she had already been thinking about joining anyway, so it didn't actually count as a punishment and she was basically running free.
Despite how much Chloe knew Red dreaded the idea at first, the art club has been wonderful for her. Even though Red would never admit it out loud, Chloe knows she is having fun and even making friends. Red wouldn't call them friends, sure, but for Chloe, it is a massive improvement. When they first met, Red had literally threatened Chloe's life and called her annoying in the exact same sentence.
Red's been making so much progress these first months of the school year, and she even willingly accepts whenever Chloe invites her to hang out with her own circle of friends. But Chloe has also noticed that Red doesn't treat any of them the way she treats her. There is a specific, guarded boundary Red keeps with everyone else, a line that completely vanishes the second it's just the two of them. Maybe it's a little selfish of Chloe to be as happy as she is about that exclusivity, and maybe it's a little stupid to feel a fierce swell of pride every single time Red actually shows up to sit in the bleachers during her Swords and Shields practices, but sue her. Red is hers, and she is Red's. She's her best friend.
It's funny to think how far they've come in such a little amount of time. It has only been a couple of months since they met, but for Chloe... her life has completely changed. And of course it has, right? They literally stopped a bloody coup, saved both their moms, traveled through time... Anyone's life would change. But for Chloe, the shift feels deeper. She doesn't quite know how to describe it, but it's different. Having Red in her life is just amazing, and she honestly can't imagine her world any other way now. In this timeline, they're supposed to be best friends who have been inseparable since birth. They're supposed to have grown up together, to be each other's everything.
And Chloe thinks they might as well be. She isn't sure how, in such a short span of time, she has come to care so deeply for another person, but Red just has that permanent, reserved spot in Chloe's heart anyway.
So yeah, lately everything has been good. Not perfect, because Red is still actively trying to get used to her new life—her new sister, her new affectionate mom, and her massive new responsibilities. Thankfully, this version of the Queen of Hearts has absolutely no interest in forcing Red onto the throne anytime soon. Red is still the heir, and she still has duties, but she won't be crowned at eighteen, or even twenty-one. She will be crowned when she's ready.
Chloe suspects that now that Bridget is good and Wonderland is well... wonderful, Red isn't nearly as opposed to the idea of being queen as she was in the previous timeline. They had actually talked about it. It was a conversation Red was fully avoiding with her mother, but Chloe had gently encouraged her to face it. After learning that the official plan in this timeline was for Red to freely live her life until she was ready to take over, it was as if a physical weight had been lifted right off Red's shoulders. And again, Chloe couldn't be happier about it.
What makes Chloe significantly less happy, however, is that even if Red isn't taking the throne anytime soon, that hasn't stopped the Queen of Hearts from starting her schemes regarding... other things.
Because this version of the Queen of Hearts is completely obsessed with love, romance, and happily-ever-afters, she has taken to organizing massive balls in Wonderland almost every two weeks. Again, Red has her royal responsibilities, and these balls are technically meant for meeting Kings and Queens from other realms as a political strategy. Apparently, in this timeline, Cinderellasbourg and Wonderland have always been steadfast allies, but Wonderland is looking to expand its reach, and these grand galas are the perfect icebreaker.
The catch? Those foreign kings and queens usually don't come alone. They bring their heirs, their other children. And casually, conveniently, every single one of them is right around Red's age.
Chloe knows exactly what the Queen is doing. These balls aren't just for diplomacy; they are a disguised parade for Red to meet people and find a suitor. And that is exactly why Chloe doesn't like it—not one single bit—that her best friend is currently dancing with one of them, smiling up at him, and seeming to genuinely have fun.
When Chloe first arrived at the Wonderland castle with her mother tonight, her immediate instinct had been to go and find Red. She'd found her almost immediately, because her eyes had apparently developed an embarrassing Red-locating reflex at some point in the past several months without consulting her, and she had seen her across the ballroom and...
Stopped.
Just stopped. Fully and completely stopped, for several seconds that she will never be acknowledging to another living person, because the second she spotted her, Chloe was hit with a momentary, deeply embarrassing paralysis. Her brain completely short-circuited at the sight of Red in that dress. Curse that temporary glitch, because while Chloe was standing there trying to recover her senses, it gave that random guy enough time to approach Red, strike up a conversation, and invite her out onto the floor.
By now, Chloe has been at the ball for more than ten minutes, and she has yet to even step toward her best friend. It is a little ridiculous how she has spent the vast majority of her night helplessly staring at Red from across the room. But again... how is she supposed to not look? How is anyone supposed to ignore the beautiful, backless black dress Red is wearing? Or the heavy combat boots Red paired it with, making the entire style so breathtakingly, undeniably Red?
Faced with that sight, Chloe had done what any good friend would do: she found a large marble column to lean against at what she'd calculated to be a socially plausible distance, crossed her arms, and began to embarrassingly stare at her gorgeous friend—no, scratch that. She is keeping an eye on her best friend. Yes. Protecting her.
And that is exactly where she has been stuck for the last ten minutes. Her brow furrows into a prominent frown as the prince has the absolute audacity to take Red's hand, lifting it high to spin her around. Red twists gracefully, letting out a clear, ringing laugh that echoes over the music.
Then, mid-spin, Red's eyes sweep across the crowded room and lock directly onto Chloe's.
Chloe's world stops fully. The ambient noise of the ballroom vanishes into thin air. Across the distance, Red's lips curl into a brilliant, knowing smile. She leans in, whispering something brief to the guy that makes him instantly blink and look right over at Chloe.
Before Chloe can even think to untangle her arms or smooth out her scowl, Red is already breaking away from the dance floor, leading the guy, and walking straight toward her.