Chapter Text
A few weeks had passed since the nightmare unfolded beyond the rabbit hole. Just a short time ago, Wonderland had nearly consumed them. It had been weeks since Chloe came face-to-face with parts of herself that she had spent her entire life pretending didn’t exist, parts of her that she had buried deep.
Everyone kept saying she was getting better, that she was safe. Max apologized every time he saw her. She didn’t blame him for manipulating her; once she learned what he had seen, she would have done the same thing.
As she walked through the familiar halls of Auradon Prep towards her potions class, everything seemed normal. Students laughed between classes, but Chloe felt anything but normal.
The whispers followed her everywhere. She could feel the stares before she even looked up. Conversations that had been loud suddenly hushed as she passed by. The students, who had only heard bits and pieces of what happened in Wonderland, suddenly knew everything. They watched her like she was some kind of dangerous creature waiting to break free.
“That’s her, isn’t it?”
“The princess who got controlled by the Hatter’s son?”
“I heard she almost—”
The voices blended until they became nothing more than a painful hum. Chloe tightened her grip around her books, forcing herself to keep walking.
"Don't listen. Don't react. Don't prove them right." She repeated those words over and over. The worst part wasn't that they were afraid of her; it was that a small part of Chloe wondered if they had a reason to be.
She remembered Wonderland, the anger, the fear, and the way the bracelet had made her feel, as if something within her had finally been given permission to emerge.
Even though Max and Red had told her she wasn’t that person anymore, there were moments when Chloe still wondered if that darkness was just waiting for another chance to arise.
As she reached the end of the hallway, she hoped to escape attention. She should have known better. A group of students stepped into her path—three boys who believed they knew her story without ever asking.
The first was Cassian, the son of Ariel and Prince Eric. He was the captain of Auradon Prep’s swim team. His dark hair fell messily over his bright blue eyes, and the confident smirk on his face clearly showed that he was used to getting away with things.
“Well, well,” Cassian said, looking her up and down. “If it isn’t Princess Charming.”
Chloe’s expression hardened. She recognized that tone. It was not filled with curiosity. Or concern. Just entertainment. And she knew she was their target.
Another boy moved behind her, blocking the hallway. Yi Chen, son of Chi Fu. He was in student government. Could remember his position; he had never been on her radar. His posture was relaxed, but the smug look on his face made his intentions clear. “We heard something interesting,” Yi Chen said.
Chloe glanced around. A few students had stopped. Wanting to see if the rumors were true.
Cassian leaned against the lockers. “Apparently Wonderland changed you.”
A third boy stepped forward. Liam. Son of Tarzan and Jane. Unlike Cassian and Yi Chen, he wasn’t smiling. But that somehow made it worse. “We heard you have a dark side,” Liam said.
She took a slow breath and tried to step around Cassian. “Excuse me.”
Before she could react, Yi Chen's hands shot out, grabbing her arms. Her books tumbled from her grasp, hitting the floor. Chloe instinctively froze.
Cassian stepped forward, invading her personal space. He reached out, his fingers brushing under her chin as he tilted her face up to meet his gaze. “Let’s see,” he whispered softly, his breath warm against her skin. “Maybe we can bring her out.”
A flicker of something intense sparked in Chloe’s eyes. It wasn’t fear—no, it was something darker and more chaotic. Cassian observed this shift, a smirk spreading across his lips. “There it is,” he said, as if savoring the moment.
Chloe strained against Yi Chen’s grip, her mind racing as she fought to suppress the turbulent emotions rising within her. A heat coursed through her veins, mingling with a simmering anger and an all-too-familiar pressure building in her chest, threatening to spill over.
Don’t let them see. Don’t let them win.
Cassian tilted his head; a mocking smirk appeared on his lips. “What’s wrong, Princess? Don’t want to reveal that side of you?” He leaned in closer, his voice lowering, “Or is the only person who ever glimpsed the real you that crazy Hatter?”
As he watched her reaction, a satisfied smile crept across Cassian's face. “Oh, so that’s what it is.”
Chloe felt her patience snap. “Do you and Max have something going on between you? Do you actually enjoy being manipulated? A freak in the sheets?”
With a surge of adrenaline, she struck backward, driving her elbow into Yi Chen’s stomach. The unexpected pain made him loosen his grip, and she seized the opportunity to shove Cassian away forcefully. “Fuck off,” she spat.
The hallway was suddenly engulfed in silence.
“Is that any way for a princess to speak?” Cassian taunted, an eyebrow raised in challenge.
“I said fuck off,” she retorted, her voice sharp and cold. It was more than just anger now; it was like ice seeping into her tone. Chloe felt an unsettling shift within her, as though her emotions were a frozen river moving beneath her skin. The memory of the enchanted bracelet pulsed at the edges of her mind, amplifying her darkest feelings, making her feel as if she were transforming into something sharp and dangerous, something that could hurt anyone who dared to come too close.
She looked down at her hands but didn't see the glass she thought was there. Chloe needed to get away before it was too late.
She grabbed her books from the floor, ready to walk away. But Liam stepped in front of her. “So…”
Chloe stopped.
“Is it true?”
Her jaw tightened. “Move.”
Liam raised his hands slightly. “Relax, Princess.”
“We’re just asking what everyone wants to know,” Cassian smirked, finishing Liam’s sentence. “Are you almost as crazy as him?”
Chloe didn’t answer him. She stayed quiet as her eyes lifted to his.
The whispers around them grew louder. She could feel everyone watching. Judging. Waiting. Her breathing became uneven. And then she heard it. That familiar voice. The one she hated. The one that sounded like her own thoughts twisted into something cruel.
Chloe squeezed her eyes shut. No. She wasn’t going back there. She wasn’t that person.
But then Cassian stepped closer again. “Maybe that side of you could show us a good time, like you showed Hatter.”
A few students laughed. Something inside Chloe cracked.
Cassian reached toward her. She didn’t think; her body moved before her mind could catch up. Her hand dropped to her boot, pulling out the dagger she kept there.
The hallway fell silent.
For the first time, Cassian’s confidence vanished. Yi Chen stepped back, and Liam’s expression shifted. Suddenly, they weren’t looking at a rumor; they were facing a terrified girl holding a weapon.
Chloe stared at the dagger, horror washing over her. What am I doing? For a moment, she wasn’t at Auradon Prep; she was back in Wonderland. Back where anger felt safer than pain, back where fear dictated her choices.
Cassian tried to regain his confidence. “You can’t hurt me, Princess.”
Chloe stepped forward, hating that part of herself that wanted to prove him wrong.
“Chloe!” The voice cut through everything.
Max rushed through the crowd and stepped between her and the boys. He grabbed her wrist gently, lowering the dagger away from them. “Hey,” he said softly.
Her eyes flickered toward him. He noticed that look. It was the same look she had when the bracelet corrupted her. “Princess. Eyes on me”
Chloe's breath came in shaky gasps. The shadowy darkness lurking within her hesitated, “Max…” she whispered, her voice trembling.
I’m right here,” he replied.
Her features tightened. “Move.”
“No,” he asserted firmly.
The anger returned. “Move!”
But Max heard what everyone else didn’t. The fear underneath. It wasn’t a command. It was a plea.
“Chloe,” he said quietly. “I know you’re still in there.”
For a moment, neither of them moved. Then Chloe pulled her wrist free. Her eyes filled with panic. She knew she was losing control.
And Max knew it too.
He refused to let her believe that she was someone who only caused pain. So he stepped in front of them. The blade struck his arm.
A sharp sound tore through the hallway as the dagger sliced through the sleeve of his purple trench coat. The fabric ripped, the force of the impact making him stumble backward. For a moment, the world seemed to slow as Max grabbed his arm, his face tightening from the sudden pain.
A small streak of blood appeared against the torn purple fabric.
It wasn’t a serious wound, but it didn’t matter.
Chloe saw it. And everything inside her stopped. The dagger slipped from her fingers and clattered against the floor.
Her eyes didn’t go to the weapon. They didn’t go to the students watching in shock. They didn’t go to the whispers already beginning to spread.
They went straight to Max. Not the rumors. Not the monster everyone thought she was. Him. “Max…”
Her voice cracked. Because she could handle people being afraid of her. She could handle people hating her. But she couldn’t handle hurting the one person who constantly asked if she was okay.
Max looked at her, pain flashing across his face. “Chloe,” he whispered.
The hallway was quiet. No one moved or spoke. The only sounds came from Chloe's uneven breathing and the soft drip of blood on the floor. Max stood protectively in front of her, holding his injured arm. He faced the three boys who had pushed Chloe too far, ready to defend her from them.
For a moment, everyone saw the same thing. Not the rumors. Not the stories they had heard about what happened in Wonderland a few weeks ago. They saw the reality. A girl who had been cornered. A girl who had been pushed until she broke.
And the one person who stepped in front of her before anyone else could get hurt. People were whispering again. Not about Chloe, but about Max. How maybe he is not his father after all.
A teacher’s voice echoed from down the hallway. “What happened here?”
The question broke the spell. Students immediately began moving. A few helped gather Chloe’s fallen books, while others quickly disappeared, no longer wanting to be part of the scene.
“I asked a question.” The teacher looked at Max, then at Cassian, Yi Chen, and Liam.
Cassian opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something—an apology, an explanation, anything. But nothing came out because there was nothing he could say that would erase what he had done.
Max didn’t even look at him. His attention remained on Chloe, focused on the way her fingers trembled as she stared at the dagger lying on the floor.
“Let’s go!” Yi Chen said.
The three boys hurried off.
The teacher watched them leave, then turned her attention back to Chloe and Max. She reached down and picked up the dagger. “Miss Charming.”
Chloe didn’t respond. Max stared at her for a moment before gently placing a hand on her wrist. “Hey…”
She met his gaze and watched him tilt his head toward the teacher. “Oh…”
The teacher stood holding the dagger firmly. “You can pick this up at Principal Uma’s office at the end of the day.”
“I… okay,” Chloe replied.
The teacher studied him for another moment, concern softening her expression as her gaze shifted to Max’s arm. “And you…” She frowned. “You are going to the infirmary.”
Max raised an eyebrow. “I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“I’m aware that I’m bleeding.” His voice came out sharper than he intended, defensive and almost irritated.
The teacher remained completely unfazed. “Please escort Maxwell to the infirmary and have his arm looked at.”
“It’s Max,” he shot back, giving her a flat stare.
The teacher returned his gaze without blinking. “Maxwell.”
He sighed, and she folded her arms. “You’re injured.”
“I noticed.”
“Good. Then you understand why you need medical attention.”
Max looked away, annoyance creeping in. The teacher shook her head before turning to disperse the remaining students. Within moments, the hallway was nearly empty.
Only Chloe and Max remained.
Chloe hadn’t moved. She was still staring at the blood—the blood that marked the spot where everything had almost gone terribly wrong. She had nearly attacked another student.
Max drew in a slow breath. “Come on.” But nothing happened. She didn’t even blink. He softened his voice. “Princess.”
Her eyes slowly lifted to meet his. His expression had completely changed; the anger was gone, replaced by concern. They stood there for several long seconds.
Then, Chloe slowly crouched down, gathering the last of her books against her chest. When she looked back up, Max had already started walking in the opposite direction, away from the infirmary. She stared at him. “…Seriously?”
He kept walking. “I’m fine.”
“You are absolutely not.”
He pretended not to hear her.
Chloe marched after him, reaching forward to grab the collar of his trench coat. “Hey—” Without another word, she pulled. Max stumbled backward.
“…Princess?”
She kept pulling. “You are going.”
He couldn’t help the faint smile that tugged at one corner of his mouth. “So, I guess I finally got your attention.”
Chloe shot him a glare but didn’t reply. She didn’t want to give Max the satisfaction of being right.
They walked together toward the infirmary. Chloe's gaze fell to his sleeve, where the fabric was torn, and blood was seeping through his gloved fingers, despite his efforts to apply pressure to the wound. "I..." Her voice cracked. "I..." She couldn't finish her thought; the weight of guilt was too heavy. If she hadn't grabbed the dagger, and if he hadn't stepped in to help, they wouldn’t be in this mess right now.
“Mrs. Merryweather?” Chloe called as she opened the infirmary door. No answer. She tried again. “Mrs. Merryweather?” Still nothing. The doors swung behind them, and the noise of the hallway disappeared.
Max glanced around. “Guess we’re alone.”
“Max…”
“I’m fine,” he said, almost automatically. Another drop of blood landed on the white tile. Then another. He quickly grabbed a folded towel from a nearby counter and pressed it firmly against the wound. “See?” he said, forcing an easy smile. “It’s not a big deal.”
Chloe stared at him. She wasn’t looking at the blood anymore. She was looking at him. The way he kept pretending nothing hurt. The slight paleness creeping into his face. The faint tremble in his hand. “Max.”
“I’m fine.”
“No.” Her voice was quiet. “You’re not.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but suddenly the room spun around him. Instinctively, he reached out and grasped the edge of the nearby bed to steady himself. He glanced at Chloe, hoping she hadn’t seen his moment of vulnerability or at least trying to convince himself that she hadn’t. But the flicker in her eyes told a different story; she had witnessed every second of his struggle.
“Max…”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay. You were right.”
“Did you just admit I was right?”
He smirked. “Don’t get used to it, Princess.”
“I might frame this moment.”
Max swayed again. This time he didn’t try to hide it. He sat carefully on one of the infirmary beds. He removed his hat and set it gently beside him. Then, with obvious reluctance, he shrugged out of his trench coat. He winced sharply. “…Ow.” Slowly, he rolled up the torn sleeve.
The cut wasn’t deep enough to be life-threatening, but it stretched across the outside of his forearm, angry and ragged where the blade had scraped through. Blood continued to seep from it.
Chloe instinctively looked away. Not because it was gruesome. Because seeing it made the guilt hit even harder.
“Chloe.”
“I’m sorry.” The words escaped before she could stop them. “So…so sorry.”
Max looked at her for a long moment. “You don’t have anything to apologize for.”
“I almost—I could have hurt someone.”
“But you didn’t.”
“I hurt you.”
“You accidentally cut me while I was stopping you from hurting those assholes.”
She looked up. He gave her a gentle smile. Without another word, Chloe walked to one of the cabinets and found the infirmary supplies. Antiseptic. Clean gauze. Bandages.
Her hands still shook as she carried everything back.
Max raised an eyebrow. “You know how to do this?”
“My mom insisted I learn basic first aid.” A faint smile touched her lips. “She said princesses shouldn’t always wait for someone else to fix things.”
She knelt beside him. “May I?”
Max hesitated for only a second before carefully removing the blood-soaked towel.
The sight made Chloe inhale sharply. “I’m sorry,” she whispered again.
“Princess.” She looked up. “It wasn’t your fault.”
She soaked a cloth with antiseptic. “This might sting.”
“I’m from Wonderland. I grew up in the Isle.” A smirk. “I’ve survived worse.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.” She carefully cleaned the cut.
Max’s jaw tightened despite his brave expression. His fingers curled around the edge of the mattress. “See?” he muttered through gritted teeth. “Didn’t even—” She dabbed the deepest part of the cut. He hissed. “…feel…that…”
Chloe couldn’t help smiling. “Liar.”
Once the wound was clean, she gently wrapped fresh gauze around his arm before securing it with a bandage. “There.”
Max looked down. “…Looks better than anything I would’ve done.”
“You would’ve wrapped it with that towel and pretended nothing happened.”
"I feel personally attacked."
"You should." For the first time since everything that had happened in the hallway, Chloe laughed. Her smile lingered for a moment before she looked down, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
She realized she was still kneeling beside the infirmary bed, one hand resting lightly on his bandaged arm. "Oh..." Quickly, she withdrew her hand and started to stand.
"You don't have to stay down there," Max said with a small grin. "I'm not royalty."
She rolled her eyes. "No, you're just impossible."
"So, I've been told."
She rose to her feet, but instead of stepping away, she hesitated. Something about leaving even a few feet of space between them felt... wrong. After a moment, she quietly lowered herself onto the edge of the infirmary bed beside him.
For the first time since Wonderland... since Auradon... since everything... neither of them felt the need to pretend to be anything other than themselves.
"Thank you," Chloe said softly.
Max turned toward her. "You don't have to thank me."
"I do. If you didn’t stop me, I would have hurt someone."
He shook his head. "Don’t worry about it, Charming. I'd do it again."
She frowned. "Max...I mean it. You could've been seriously hurt."
"I knew that."
"Then why?"
He held her gaze without hesitation. "Because you were scared. I saw that look in your eyes and knew."
Slowly... almost without thinking... she shifted a little closer.
Max hesitated before lifting his hand. Very gently, he tucked a loose strand of curly blue hair behind her ear. His fingertips lingered against her cheek.
She looked into his eyes. His usual smirk was gone. Instead, there was something she'd never seen before. Something vulnerable. Without realizing it, she leaned toward him. Max did the same.
The space between them slowly disappeared. Neither spoke. Neither did he want to ruin the moment. Their foreheads were nearly touched. Their noses were only inches apart.
Max's eyes flickered to her lips before returning to her eyes, silently asking a question he wasn't brave enough to put into words.
Chloe didn't pull away. Instead, she closed the remaining distance little by little.
Just one more inch...
The infirmary door swung open.
"There you are!" Hazel's voice rang through the room. She took two steps inside before stopping dead in her tracks. Her eyes darted from Chloe to Max to the almost nonexistent space separating them.
One eyebrow slowly arched. "...Well," she said, unable to hide the grin spreading across her face. "Either I have spectacularly bad timing..."She glanced between them again. "...or spectacularly good timing."
Max and Chloe sprang apart so fast they nearly fell off the infirmary bed. Chloe's cheeks immediately turned scarlet. Max rubbed the back of his neck.
Hazel folded her arms. "I interrupted something, didn't I?"
"No!" Chloe blurted.
"We weren't—" Max started.
"—doing anything," they finished together.
Hazel's grin only widened. "Right."
Chloe covered her face for a second before letting out an embarrassed laugh. "I should..." She stood quickly, smoothing her skirt even though it didn't need it. "I should probably go."
Hazel's expression immediately softened. “Don’t leave on my account, Princess.” She stepped aside, giving Chloe plenty of room to pass. "I heard some dunces were harassing my favorite HK," she said gently. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
Chloe smiled. "I'm okay." Her eyes drifted toward Max one last time. "Thanks to him."
Max smiled back. "See you later, Princess."
She held his gaze for another second before nodding. "See you."
The door clicked shut behind her. Hazel waited exactly two seconds. Then she slowly turned toward Max. Her arms folded across her chest. "So..."
Max groaned. "...Don't."
"Oh, I'm absolutely going to. “She pointed at him. "First..." Her finger shifted toward the door Chloe had just walked through. "...we're discussing whatever that was."
Max buried his face in one hand. "Hazel..."
"Second..." She pointed to his bandaged arm. "...you're going to explain why I heard that three idiots cornered Chloe, you got yourself sliced open playing human shield, and somehow thought bleeding across half the school was an acceptable life choice."
"I can explain."
"I'm counting on it. "She pulled over a chair, spun it around, and sat with her arms resting across the backrest like she was conducting an interrogation. "Start talking."
Max let out the deepest sigh of the day. "...You're never going to let this go, are you?"
Hazel smiled sweetly. "Not until I have every single detail."