Chapter Text
After everything that happened in Wonderland with his father and after Pink apologized to Max for what she said while under the influence of Chessy’s words, the young Hatter and the princess became good friends.
But not the kind of friends who just enjoyed spending time with each other sometimes but instead they were the kind of friends who most people said were attached by the hip, that they were always at each other’s side and never left the other alone.
Something that caused everyone around them to think that it was weird to see Pink and Max away from each other, especially because many times in the past they made it clear how much they enjoyed each other’s company.
How they found so many things in common with each other that they couldn’t help themselves from searching the other in every place they were, in any room they entered like the common room of Auradon Prep where Max entered after leaving his last class of the day and where he found the princess of Wonderland pacing in circles and mumbling something under her breath that he didn’t have the chance of hearing because he decided to approach the pink haired girl and to put his hand on her shoulder. Making her jump and grab her chest with her hand before she looked at the young Hatter beside her said to him:
–Max, you scared the hat away from me.
–Sorry, princess. I was just coming back from a class, and I saw you pacing and mumbling. Are you okay? –Max told her, while he smiled at her in the way he always did when they were together and that caused for Pink eyes to soften before she let out a sigh and said:
–I’m going out on a date today. In two hours, to be exact.
But the princess didn’t look excited by the idea of going out with a boy, surely with the blonde boy who Max saw flirting with the pink haired girl for the past week and whose face was the only thing that Maddox’s son felt the need of punching with all his force even if that boy never did anything to him other than to flirt with his best friend.
–You don’t look excited. Are you sure you want to go out with this guy? –Max asked Pink, while he looked at her with a concerned look on his face because even if he wasn’t fond of the boy who flirted shamelessly with the princess of Wonderland, he still wanted Pink to be happy. Truly happy and not in the way she showed the world but in the authentic kind of way.
–I am. I truly am, but I don’t know what I should use for my date. I have a whole wardrove in my dorm and nothing looks good enough to go out with Christian. –Pink told him, while she frowned a little and saw how Max smiled at her before he put his arm around her shoulders and started to guide her out of the common room and towards her dorm.
–Well, you are in luck, princess. Because mother was dressmaker, so I learned a thing or two about dressing for the occasion. –the young Hatter told the pink haired girl, while he looked at her and saw how Pink smiled at him because she was truly grateful for his help.
For having a friend like Max who even if at first wasn’t the easiest person to be around after defeating his father he became someone different, he changed for good and now was the best friend anyone could ask for in the world.
*****
And that made the princess of Wonderland smile, especially when after they arrived to her room and Max began to search for the perfect outfit for her date among the pink and white clothes she had on her wardrove, the boy suddenly stopped what he was doing when he noticed a light purple babydoll dress that stood up from all the bright and light pink dresses that the princess had among her clothes.
It was something that he didn’t expected to find there because he was so used to see Pink in her signature color that it was surprising to see something that wasn’t pink or white among her clothes. It truly was but it wasn’t in a bad way but instead it made a warm sensation appear in his chest because he could picture the princess wearing the dress, wearing it with golden sandals and with her beautiful pink hair in a low ponytail.
–Do you like it? –Pink asked Max, while she smiled at him because the princess knew that purple wasn’t her usual color, but it was his and that was the thing that made her buy the dress in the first place. It was what draw her towards it and made her keep it just so she could have the chance of wearing it one day during a solo outing with the young Hatter who looked at the dress for a few more seconds and then at her before he said:
–It’s…unique.
And then went quiet because he didn’t know how to tell the princess how beautiful she was going to look using his color, how much he dreamed about it and how he felt upset because he knew that the dress was perfect for her date with Christian. The boy who didn’t know the princess as much as Max did but still managed to steal an entire afternoon from him when they should be only his, when he should be the only boy to have Pink’s attention and even her heart.
Because he was in love with the princess, and even if it took him an entire journey through Wonderland and two months of being constantly in her presence to notice that he had feelings for her nothing changed that Red’s little sister wasn’t aware of them and may never will because he refused to let himself be rejected by his best friend and ruin their friendship forever.
–Do you think I should use it? –Pink asked him, while she stood up from her bed and walked towards him just so she could look at the young Hatter and wait for his answer. Wait for a soft smile to appear on his face before he extended the dress to her and said:
–Try it on and we shall see.
Making the princess smile from ear to ear before she finally took the piece of clothing from his hands and moved away just so she could stand behind the screens she had in her dorm and that she usually used to change herself while in the company of her roommate, Melody, who wasn’t there in that moment but wasn’t something that matter because after a few seconds passed Pink finally moved away from behind the screens and stood next to them just so Max could see how she looked in her dress.
That piece of clothing that she bought while thinking about him and the fact that purple was his signature color and it became her favorite after Pink realized that she had feelings for her friend, for the boy who in that moment looked at her as if he was seeing her for the first time and really liked what he was looking at.
Something that only made her cheeks feel warm, a clear sign of her blushing but tried to hide it by looking at the clock on the wall behind her and noticing that she needed to hurry if she wanted to meet Christian at the Beast’s statue on time.
–Do you know how to do a braid? I’m not the best at doing them and I was hoping I could have a different hairstyle for my date. –Pink said, in the moment she returned her eyes back on Max who quickly coughed a little before he said:
–I will do my best.
And saw the princess in front of him smile before she took his hand in hers and guided him to her vanity where Pink quickly sat in front of it before taking the hairbrush from the table and give it to Max who smiled a little before he began to brush her hair.
Her pink curls that were so soft that he couldn’t believe that something as soft as them could even exist in this world or that he was allowed to touch them in that moment where he felt a small pain appear on his chest.
A small discomfort that reminded him that the princess in front of him was preparing for a date with a boy, with someone who wasn’t him even if he truly wanted to be in Christian’s place. Even if Max wanted to tell Pink about his feelings for her, that he was in love with her even if that meant to ruin their friendship forever and lose one of the things that meant the world to him.
But he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t lose Pink.
Not now and not ever.