Chapter Text
One of Pink’s earliest memories is when Max and his father were exiled from Wonderland. Pink remembered grabbing the hem of her mother's dress so tightly her knuckles turned white.
"Please don't send Max away," she'd cried. "He didn't do anything wrong."
The Queen of Hearts never looked down at her.
"A Hatter is a Hatter," she'd said, and just like that Max was gone and she lost her first friend outside of her family.
She remembered Max, Red, and her running through the gardens, playing hide and seek, and throwing tea parties. When their mother would want to spend one on one time with Red and Pink would be feeling lonely, Max would appear by her side and they’d run off to play. Max had understood how Pink felt, being ignored by a parent who favored someone (or something else) more.
“You don’t have to force a smile for me, you know?” Max said as they practiced card tricks in the garden.
Pink looked up at him with a confused crinkle in her brows, “What do you mean? You know I’m always smiling!”
Max gave her a dubious look and poked her between the eyebrows, “Put those away, Princess. You know what I mean, you’re sad Red blew you off to hang out with Chloe Charming alone. I’m just saying that you can just be you.”
Pink stared at her friend in wonder. He always saw right through her and did his best to reassure her even when she didn’t say anything outloud.
The two were thick as thieves until the Queen of Hearts got fed up with Maddox Hatter’s villainous schemes and he and his son were exiled to the Isle of the Lost.
After the banishment of her best friend, Pink poured herself into making those around her happy, especially her sister. She followed Red everywhere even when her sister preferred spending time with Chloe Charming instead, she dedicated herself to being a good princess and spare heir. With time, the ache of losing her friend was made better. However, she never forgot about the one person who made her feel seen and constantly wondered how her friend was doing on the Isle.
When Queen Mal had let down the barrier and the Queen of Hearts invited the Hatters back to Wonderland, Pink hoped to be able to see her childhood friend again. Max would be attending Auradon Prep and Pink made it her mission to reconnect no matter what Red or Chloe said about it. Which is how the second princess of Wonderland came to be skipping around the courtyard on her first day to look for the infamous Max Hatter.
“Where could he be,” Pink mumbled to herself as she stood overlooking the busy field in front of the school. She was all settled in her room, had her locker perfectly decorated, and was now scanning the quad for a black top hat that she heard he wears now.
“Who’re you looking for?” A voice whispered in her ear causing Pink to jump in shock away from her sister who smiled teasingly at her. Red was wearing her favorite bow and a puffy skirt similar to Pink’s own.
“Oh my hearts, Red! Don’t scare me like that,” She exclaimed before leaning towards her sister and whispering, “I'm looking for Max! Have you seen him? What if he doesn't remember us? Red, what if he forgot?”
Pink’s hands twisted together as her words started coming faster, her thoughts racing ahead of her mouth. Before she could spiral any further, Red reached over and took her hand.
“Pink.”
The simple use of her name was enough to pull her back. Red gave her hand a small squeeze, the same reassuring gesture she had used since they were children.
“Breathe. You’re doing the thing again.”
Pink laughed softly, embarrassed. “What thing?”
“The thing where you decide every possible disaster is happening at once before any of them have actually happened,” Red said, stopping her rambling with a fond smile and turning them to face one another. The redhead, used to her little sister getting overexcited when nervous, took exaggerated deep breaths to calm her down.
Pink quickly mimicked her big sister’s movements before speaking again, “You’re right, of course he’ll remember us. Oh, I made him some reunion cookies, you know the ones he loved at tea parties, I’m sure he’s missed them and,”
As Pink began describing her plans once reunited with their childhood friend, the boy in question had spotted the two princesses himself. He was sitting just on the other side of the fountain, just out of sight, but close enough to hear their entire conversation.
When Max was first told about attending Auradon Prep and being allowed back in Wonderland, his first thought was of Princess Pink. He wondered if she even remembered him, being a year younger, she was only 6 when he was banished to the Isle. Pink had truly been his greatest friend. When things were bad on the Isle or his dad ignored him, he would long for how they’d wander around Wonderland together or the tea parties they would have. Hearing the two princesses now answered the question if she remembered. He couldn't help the smile that came over his face as he watched how animated she got.
“Still the same princess,” He mumbled under his breath, gaining the attention of Hazel and the rest of their friend group. The Smees and Felix all leaned around him to see who he’d been watching.
“Whose the same princess?” Hazel asked, her eyes following Max’s towards the princesses of Wonderland before a look of understanding came over her features, “Ahh, those are the Queen of Hearts brats. Didn’t you grow up with them? What were their names Red and Pinky something?”
Max nodded as his eyes took in the changes in their faces. The two of them had certainly grown up, they weren’t kids running around in Wonderland anymore. The thought made his jaw clench as he remembered that they got to stay and he was thrown into the Isle because of his father, “It’s just Pink and yeah until my dad got us thrown into the Isle. I haven’t heard anything about them since.”
“Well Pink sure has been thinking of you. How adorable that she wants to give you some cookies,” Hazel said, leering at Max as she emphasized Pink’s name.
The Smees and Felix all snickered while Max scoffed at them. Before anyone could comment further, a shout drew their attention back to the sisters, “How could you say that?”
“Pink, calm down,” Red said, looking around at all the eyes that were now on them, her brown eyes glaring at Max as they made eye contact before turning back to her sister, “We are in public.”
“But Max was our friend and you knew he was nothing like his Dad,” Pink shouted, pulling her hands away from Red’s, “It’s not his fault that Maddox became a villain! What if our mom was an evil villain, would you want to be judged for simply being her daughter.”
Max forgot how to breathe. No one—not on the Isle, not in Auradon—had ever said those words aloud.
“We were kids, Pink and we haven’t seen him in years. I’ve heard some stuff about how things were on the Isle for the VKs and we are not having this conversation here,” Red said, pulling the two of them back into the school and out of the quad. Before they fully disappeared Max caught the warning look Red shot at him, which was less intimidating due to the bow on the top of her head.
“Damn,” Hazel said before turning her gaze to Max and the rest of their crew with a smirk, “What an entertaining first day. Guess not everything is all love in the Hearts family.”
As the movement of the quad continued as before, Max couldn’t bring himself to join back in with his friends. His mind was too full of Pink’s words.
-💓🎩-
The next day found Max standing at his locker before classes began for the day. He was waiting for his tea to finish steeping when he heard a voice humming a familiar song as they opened the locker next to him. He let out a breath of a laugh as the very princess he was thinking of came to stand beside him and of course she was humming that stupid lullaby about Alice going down the rabbit hole. For a moment he considered staying hidden behind his locker door, a part of him worried about how Pink would think of him now. Sure they were good friends when they were little, but it's been almost a decade since they’d seen each other and a lot had changed. Especially him, but then he remembered the way she’d defended him and this close he could smell the familiar scent of Wonderland on her. She must have maisie daisies perfume on or have some of the flowers in her room for the smell to be so strong. Those were always her favorite flowers in the castle gardens. Besides, their lockers had been placed next to one another so he couldn’t avoid her forever.
With a smirk Max closed his locker to show himself to the princess, “I guess they must still be spreading that awful lullaby around in Wonderland.”
“Oh my hearts, Max! I finally found you,” Pink squealed, turning to him with a smile so bright he had to look away for a second.
“Hey Princess, looks like we’re neighbors,” He said, knocking on his locker. He fought the fond smile as he watched her look from her locker to his and her smile somehow became even bigger than before.
“This is perfect! We get to see each other every day now. Oh Max, I'm so happy you're here”, Pink said as she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him.
Max froze. He couldn't remember the last time someone had hugged him simply because they were happy to see him. Not on the Isle. Not since Wonderland. He kept his arms ramrod straight and tried to fight off the blush on his face. He was thankful that at least his friends weren’t around to see him being hugged, they’d never let him live it down.
“As nice as this is,” He coughed out and gently pried Pink off him, “I have an image to protect here, Princess.”
Pink giggled and brought her hands to her chest, “Sorry, I am just glad to see you. I was worried that you wouldn’t remember me.”
This had been one of her biggest worries since Max had left Wonderland. Everyone around her always seemed to forget she was there or who she was, instead focusing on her sister or what the second princess of Wonderland could do for them. The only ones who ever really saw her were the creatures of Wonderland and Max, but that had been when they were children.
Now it was Max’s turn to laugh and he couldn’t help but say, “I don’t think I could ever forget you, Pink.”
He inwardly cringed as the words left his mouth. He hadn't meant to say that out loud. There went any chance of seeming cool in front of her. If Hazel or his crew heard him, they'd take his VK Card away.
“Really?” She whispered, an adorable blush coming over her face that had everything in Max begging to tease her.
Max smirked and leaned down to be eye to eye with her, “Really. How could I forget the girl who used to chase after the White Rabbit to give him bow ties to wear.”
“Why is that what you remember?” Pink said, covering her face in embarrassment as Max laughed, “He was always wearing the same ones so I thought he’d want to spruce up his look and by the way he still wears them, thank you very much, Hatter.”
“I’m sure he does, Princess,” Max teased before being interrupted by the bell signaling class would start soon, “Looks like that’s our cue.”
Pink sighed in disappointment before grabbing onto Max’s hands to stop him from leaving yet, “Wait, I have cookies for you. You should take them before you go.”
“I heard,” Max said, trying to ignore the disappointment he felt when she pulled away from him.
Pink paused in her pursuit of grabbing the tin of cookies to look back at Max with a confused expression, “Heard?”
“Yeah, I was actually just behind the fountain. Guess Red isn’t my biggest fan?” He shrugged like it was no big deal but Pink could see the sadness in his eyes.
“Oh Max, I’m sorry. Red didn’t mean that, she ju-”
“Don’t apologize,” He said, cutting her off quickly, “It’s a common theme in my life. I am a VK after all.”
He glanced down when he felt a hand touching his bicep. The warmth from before rushed through him as he looked at the perfectly manicured hand of Pink Hearts giving his arm a reassuring squeeze.
“Max, Red was wrong,” Pink insisted as his eyes rose to meet hers, “You weren’t him then and you aren't now. I know it's been a long time since we’ve seen one another, but I know in my heart that you are not your father. I know you’re still good.”
As she spoke, Max felt his heart beating faster as her words rushed over him. He let out a laugh and smirked at the princess, “And how do you figure that?”
She smiled gently at him and gave his arm another squeeze, “It’s your eyes. They’re still kind.”
Max stared at her in shock before letting out a bark of a laugh and shaking his head at her, she really was still the same Pink Hearts.
“Thanks, Princess. Though I think you’re giving me too much credit.” He responded with a wink, “I’m still bad. After all, I play tricks and pranks all the time.”
“If you say so, Hatter,” Pink shrugged and moved back to her locker to hand him the tin of cookies, “but I think I’m going to continue being your friend anyway.”
With those final words, the Wonderland princess turned and began walking down the hallway to her class leaving Max standing there clutching the tin of cookies in his hand and a light heart.
-💓🎩-
As time moved through their first semester at Auradon Prep, Max and Pink found themselves talking each morning at their lockers. She would always greet him the same, a bright smile and some form of baked goods in hand. Max would find some way to tease her and they quickly fell back into their easy friendship. However, both found themselves wishing their conversations didn't have to end when classes began.
The chats evolved into him walking her to class and her inviting him to bake after school. Before either of them realized it, they were spending nearly all of their free time together when they weren't in class or with their friends. Neither of them could pinpoint when friendship became something softer, only that they found themselves seeking one another out throughout the day and feeling disappointed whenever they had to part.
This did not go unnoticed by the people around them, especially by Max's fellow VKs and Pink's sister.
“So you and little Hearts, huh?” Hazel said as Max arrived at their lunch table halfway through the semester. Max gave her a guarded look and glanced at their other friends to gauge their reactions. The Smees were eating while Felix just looked curious as well. It unnerved him to see his friends looking at him with such forced nonchalance. He knew that they didn’t dislike Pink. The Wonderland princess made a point to treat all of them kindly and would force baked goods on his crew when she saw them. That tiny bag of hers carried a lot, including an entire tea set that she whipped out whenever they sat outside. Truly, Hearts family magic was something else.
“What about it?”
Hazel smirked and curled her hook towards him, “So are you guys dating yet or what?”
"No, it's not like that," Max answered automatically before grimacing. Somehow, the words felt wrong coming out of his mouth.
“Are you sure because you certainly spend all your free time trailing after her?” Felix added as the Smees started booing at him. He scoffed and turned his attention back to Hazel once she shushed the twins.
"Okay so let me get this straight. You walk her to class?"
"Yes."
"Bake together?"
"Yes."
"Eat lunch together?"
"Sometimes."
"She made you reunion cookies."
"..."
"She bakes both you and us your favorite tea cakes at least once a week."
"We're childhood friends and she wants to be friends with everyone."
"She carries around the tea blend you like."
"Coincidence."
“You have her favorite tea stored in your locker at all times.”
“I like that blend too.”
"You call her Princess."
"...It's her title."
"You let her wear your jacket last week."
"IT WAS COLD, HAZEL!"
"Hatter, how can you be this dense? I swear you're one of the smartest people I know."
Hazel dragged a hand down her face before gesturing wildly between Max and the empty seat Pink normally occupied whenever she joined them for lunch.
"And when did I become a side character in one of Pink's mushy romance novels?"
“10 gold coins says it takes him another month to figure it out,” Felix replied, ignoring Max completely as he turned to conspire with Hazel.
"End of the week," Hazel immediately replied.
"Two weeks," Squeaky argued.
"Pink figures it out first," Squirmy added.
"NONE OF YOU ARE FUNNY!” Max exclaimed as his friends snickered around them. Despite himself, their teasing had him wondering if they were right.
Across the lunchroom a similar conversation had begun with Pink and Red. She’d been eating in companionable silence with Chloe, Luis, and Robbie when her sister set her tray down directly across from her. Normally she would be eating with Max and their friends but her sister had said she wanted to have lunch with her. Since Pink was never one to turn down bonding time with her beloved sister, she jumped at the chance.
“Pink, we need to talk about Max,” Red said as soon as she sat down, “I've been trying to give you space because I thought maybe you just needed time to figure out how you felt, but now you're together all the time and people keep asking me if you're dating Max Hatter? Seriously, Pink?”
"He is our friend," She defended, hoping her face wasn’t blushing at the mention of dating Max. He was her best friend and definitely didn’t see her that way.
"He was our friend when we were six and seven," Red retorted, pointing her fork at Pink to emphasize her point.
"And?"
Red sighed and gave her an irritated look, "And now he's a VK."
"So?" Pink asked, “and we’re HKs. Those titles only mean we’re the children of a hero or villain.”
"I just don't understand why you still believe in him after all these years."
"Because he was always good to me and he still is now," Pink stated firmly, hoping her words would persuade her sister to see things from her point of view. If only everyone could see Max the way she did. He was funny, kind, and always had his friends back. Sure, he liked to play pranks and occasionally pickpocketed some of the snobbier students, but he never did it to hurt anyone. Most of those kids were rude to begin with anyway.
Red didn't have an answer for that and looked to Chloe and the others for help. Robbie and Luis instantly looked away not wanting to get involved in the sisters' conflict. Chloe had known the Hearts sister her entire life and while she herself also didn’t trust the VKs, she trusted Pink.
“Red, Pink isn't wrong," Chloe said, giving her best friend a placating look.
"You're defending a VK?" Red scoffed, “You? The girl who follows every rule in the handbook?”
"No,” Chloe laughed, "I'm saying Pink knows him better than we do and as long as he’s treating her well, I don’t see the harm in them dating.”
Red opened her mouth to argue, but stopped because that was the part she hated admitting. Pink did know him better than they did and Red had always trusted Pink's heart, even when she didn't understand it.
“Wait a minute now,” Pink said, holding both her hands up, “Max and I aren’t dating.”
“You’re not?” Robbie asked with shock written all over his face, “But you were wearing his jacket last week?”
“I was cold,” Pink said, her cheeks starting to get red when she remembered how nice it felt to be bundled up in his scent.
“And he carries your books for you when he walks you to class?” Luis added.
“He’s a kind person.”
“And you're always smiling at him,” Chloe pointed out.
“She smiles at everyone,” Red snapped, clearly not happy with how this conversation was going.
“He’s my best friend,” Pink said quietly, but the words didn’t feel like enough to describe what he was to her.
-💓🎩-
Those words haunted Pink for the rest of the day as she aimlessly wandered the school grounds.
Why didn't being his best friend feel like enough anymore?
The past two and a half months since she and Max had been reunited had been wonderful. She had her best friend back and had made even more friends, both HK and VK. She learned that the title of VK didn’t really matter when it came to making friends with Max's friends. She and Red had grown closer, even if her sister didn't agree with her choice in friends. Her life was going pretty great.
And yet, something felt different now.
Why had her face gotten so warm when Robbie asked if they were dating?
Why had she spent nearly an hour that morning carefully braiding ribbons into her hair, wondering if Max would notice?
And why had she been smiling about him lending her his jacket for nearly a week?
Max was still her best friend. She was sure of that much.
And those were all normal things you did for your best friend, right?
Best friends walked each other to class.
Best friends shared their favorite desserts and tea blends.
Best friends hugged one another and spent nearly all of their free time together.
...Didn't they?
So why had the thought of him one day calling someone else Princess suddenly made her chest ache?
One day, Max would fall in love.
She had always hoped he would find someone who loved him fiercely. Someone who reminded him every single day that he was more than just Maddox Hatter’s son.
So why did the thought of that someone not being her suddenly make her want to cry?
...
Oh.
Oh.
“Oh my hearts,” Pink whispered, placing a hand against her chest as if she could somehow calm her rapidly beating heart.
She was in love with Max Hatter.
She was in love with her best friend.
And she had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to do about it.
“Gah, this is so frustrating!” she shouted, startling everyone around her.
Every head turned in shock as sweet, gentle Pink Hearts, the girl who rarely raised her voice, randomly screamed before stomping her way inside.
-💓🎩-
As Max made his way to his locker once classes were done that day, his head was full of his friends' words.
He did all those things because Pink was his best friend. That was the obvious answer.
The problem was that he had never done those things for anyone else.
He knew Hazel liked her coffee stronger than tea. He knew Squeaky and Squirmy always fought over the last cookie even though one of them would pretend they didn't want it. He knew Felix would rather lose a game than admit he was bad at something.
He knew his friends because he cared about them (not that he’d ever admit it out loud). He paid attention. He remembered things. That was just who he was. That was how you stayed safe on the Isle.
But Pink?
Pink was different.
He knew which tea blend she reached for when she was stressed. He knew which songs she hummed when she was happy. He knew when her smile was real and when she was forcing one because she didn't want anyone to worry. He knew from the moment he saw her in a room, his entire body would relax, that he was...
Safe.
The thought made him freeze.
No.
He shook his head, almost laughing at himself.
That was ridiculous.
Pink was his best friend.
Except... when had he ever felt this way about a friend before?
When had he started looking for her first in every room?
When did a bad day become one that didn't include Pink?
She wasn't just someone who made him happy.
She was the person who made him feel like he didn't have to be Maddox Hatter's son, or a VK, or someone everyone expected to become a villain.
He could just be Max.
She was home.
Pink was home.
And damn Hazel. She was right.
He was in love with Pink Hearts. Of all people. Pink Hearts. The princess who gave cookies to anyone who would eat them. The girl who had defended him in front of her own family. Pink Hearts loved him.
He was in love with the girl who broke her mother's vase and blamed it on the Jabberwocky.
The realization should have terrified him.
For one impossible second, he let himself believe it.
Pink Hearts loved him.
Not Maddox Hatter's son.
Not a VK.
Not some villain waiting to happen.
She had never asked him to prove he was different.
She just knew.
Him.
Then reality came crashing back.
She deserved more than Max Hatter.
-💓🎩-
"Max?" Pink started as they sat in the quad enjoying tea her mom had sent her from Wonderland after classes a week after she’d had her realization.
She had made up her mind, she was going to tell Max how she felt. Even if he didn't feel the same way, Pink wanted him to know how she felt. He deserved that much. If he didn't want things to change between them, she would happily remain his best friend for the rest of her life. Loving him was never contingent upon him loving her back.
"Yeah?"
"Can I ask you something?" She asked, twisting her hands nervously in her lap. She watched Max eye the motion and lean towards her with a teasing grin.
"That depends. Are you about to make me try another Wonderland dessert that somehow moves or makes me dance for an hour?"
She laughed, fondly remembering the time they had to run after the Smees who couldn’t stop dancing after they tasted one of her experimental desserts, "No."
A pause.
"Everyone keeps asking if we're together."
Max immediately went still.
He had spent the last week wondering if Pink had noticed the same thing he had. He had also spent the last week convincing himself that saying anything would ruin the best thing that had happened to him in years.
"Oh."
"And I realized something."
"What?"
Pink smiled softly, "I don't think I want the answer to be no anymore."
“Pink, are you sure?”
He reached forward and took her hands in his, “You know you don't have to smile like everything's okay if you're hurting, right?”
They both knew the question he was really asking.
Was she choosing him because she loved him, or because she thought he needed saving?
"I know your eyes, Max. They're still kind,” She squeezed his hands, "I don't love you because I think you need saving. I love you because you're you."
For a moment, Max forgot how to breathe. Not because he didn't believe her, but because some part of him still couldn't understand how someone like Pink Hearts could look at him and see something worth loving.
“Pink, I—”
The words caught in his throat.
How was he supposed to explain what she meant to him? How she had been the first person to look at him and see Max instead of the son of Maddox Hatter?
“You don’t have to say anything back,” Pink said, rubbing her thumbs over his knuckles. “Nothing has to change if you don't want it to. I was your best friend long before I was in love with you. I'll still be your best friend no matter what you say next.”
His gaze snapped up to meet hers. His beautiful best friend was looking at him with pain in her eyes, already assuming he was trying to let her down gently.
“Pink, I love you too,” Max said bluntly, not wanting there to be any misunderstandings between them, “I don’t want the answer to be no anymore either.”
Pink giggled and she couldn’t help but wrap her arms around him and pull him into a tight hug.
“I was so scared you were going to stop being my friend,” She said with a watery smile hidden in his neck.
Max's expression softened immediately as he tightened his arms around her. How she had possibly come to that conclusion, he'd never know.
"Never, Princess."
He pulled back just enough to wipe the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.
"You could never lose that," he said softly before his teasing grin slowly returned, "just think of it as adding one word to the front of friend."
Pink blinked at him for a moment before dissolving into giggles.
"My hearts, that was so cheesy, Max."
"And yet it worked."
"No, it didn't."
"You're literally dating me now. I'd say that's a pretty convincing argument."