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He’s mental.
He’s crazy.
He’s a madman.
That’s what people were saying to Max Hatter’s face about his father, Maddox Hatter. For the entirety of his childhood, these words kept ringing in his ears and, honestly, the line between their words and reality had started to blur a long time ago. Or maybe not, maybe they were the same thing. He wasn’t that sure anymore.
I mean, look at Maddox: Right now he’s walking up and down his hole of a house on the Isle of the Lost, where he was sentenced because of his constant attacks to Wonderland and its people. He’s exceptionally happy today because he perfected his latest invention, thanks to the magic that had entered the barrier when the Fairy Godmother’s daughter had made a hole in it.
Saying Maddox was ecstatic would be an understatement. One could say he was mad about what he called his greatest invention to date, the Oraculum, whatever that meant.
Little 7 year old Max was standing in the middle of the room, a broken teacup in his hands, watching the person he somehow loved the most mumble to himself, for the millionth time, about a pocket watch.
“Tea, dad?” Max held out the teacup.
"The watch, yes…" He muttered while crossing his son’s path and drinking the entirety of the horrible tea of the Isle in one sip, not sparing a glance at his son.
He grabbed a microscope and some gears, placing them on strategic places on the machine.
"And DONE!" He smacked the table with his hands. "Max, dear, step closer, I’ll let you be the first one to look at my Oraculum."
Yes, he had called Max "dear" but there was no love in his tone. When he talked about his Oraculum, however... One would think it was his actual son, not Max. But it was an honour to use the Oraculum even before his literal inventor though, so, was it really that bad?
"Go on, ask it a question." He lifted him so he could take a good look at it.
Max put his little brain to work, then said, "Where is my hat?" The machine started to form an image, the kid didn’t get to see it though because his father not-so-gently let him down.
"Silly kid, I meant ask it impossible stuff, let me show you. What did I see in highschool?"
Max couldn’t see anything except for some bright red and blue flashes, but it must have been good because his father clapped his hands in utter joy.
"It wooooorks. Come see for yourself, you’ll be amazed."
His dad was happy dancing, so Max did so too. He liked seeing him happy, and he wanted to do the best he could to keep him like that.
***
It was a very bad goal for Max to have, he now realises, look what it made him do.
***
Finally in Wonderland now, 16 year old Max was in the living room/laboratory of sorts, helping his father repair some dodo birds while whistling together.
Max had become the spitting image of his idol. Top hats, goggles, purple hair and a trenchcoat, mind sharp as a knife.
He, however, had friends: Hazel Hook, Felix Facilier and Squeaky and Squirmy Smee, his found family he one day needed more than his actual one.
***
The start of the school year started as usual: Arrogant HK’s, annoying princesses and wannabe heroes. The ones relevant right now are (in order): Arrowhead, princesses Strawberry, Blueberry and Cupcake, and Muscle Head.
Something seemed wrong about princess Strawberry and Blueberry. Instead of walking through the crowd with their head high, they seemed almost freaked out. Their usual following (the other three) dared to mess with his group, the Muscle Head specifically.
***
Red extended her hand with fierce determination, not her usual grace.
"Give it back."
Impressive. He gave the card back.
The Hatter put on his best surprised face after the card stopped speaking.
No big deal.
The queen should have seen that coming.
She had the pocket watch and wouldn’t give it to his father them.
She had it coming.
It was fair.
Completely and truly.
***
Chloe wanted to alter the dodo bird’s mechanism and turn it into our spy.
Even more impressive.
Beautiful
"Since when do princess know how to do that?" Max asked, his voice sarcastic with a hint of surprise.
"Not my fault if they don’t."
***
Stupid HK’s. Red dared to begin a fight between Luis and Hazel, of course the pirate won.
***
"He could be in with his father for all we know!"
Pink’s words stung, for some reason. But, why? He was indeed on his father’s side and he was actually proven to be great help so far, so why did it matter?
Right, because he was on his father’s side, and that wouldn’t change, would it?
***
Red came to find him. Red.
Not to annoy him, not to laugh at him, but to comfort him, instead of celebrating with Muscle Head.
And he played along, that’s what happened. Yes. 100%.
He told her what he always said, a truth. He wasn’t his father, no matter how much people liked to compare them. A part of him didn’t even believe in time travel, despite his father’s beliefs and efforts. He didn’t tell her that, of course. He hadn’t even told his father.
Truth be told, he had grown the tiniest bit scared of him and his "obsession" over the years. He had tried to hurt them so many times since the morning, meaning in less that 24 hours! The others thought he was against his father and he had tried to hurt him nonetheless and, a part of him wondered in fear: If he actually was with the other nine teenagers, would he be even more violent and harsh with his magic?
No, he would never be with them. Ever! What did they understand, anyways? He was doing this to earn his father’s approval, the others didn’t have to. Hazel had her brother, Felix his father and sister, the twins each other and their father. The HK’s had grown up in privilege.
He knew no one would agree with him, they just didn’t see his reasons, his needs. Not even his best friends. If the VK’s knew, they would leave him and look st him with pity and hatred. The HK’s had already expressed their opinion. Luis didn’t trust him because of his past, so him being against them all this time would further prove him right. Red and Pink’s mom was being held hostage by his father, there’s no way they liked him, and Pink had made that very clear just moments ago.
Still, Red was here, willingly talking to him saying she believes in him and his father’s good side, and Chloe had never really shared her thoughts. Chloe–
She was slowly beginning to trust the VK’s more and more, Hazel in particular. And who was the person closer to her? Max Hatter.
***
He reminded himself of the plan. Get Red to like him and tell him where the royal vault is located.
Well, some changes needed to be made. Strawberry and Muscle Head were obviously and openly flirting, so he settled for the next best option, Chloe.
Honestly, Red made it easier when she decided to use Chloe as bait to that flower. Even better, a VK had saved her, and a VK noticed how she had wrapped her arms around herself while everyone else celebrated.
He talked to her and tried to relate to her. The best way to do that was to pretend he cared and knew how she felt.
He did know how she felt though, so was he really playing a part?
No, he has to focus on his role.
He had to act like it.
Was he acting like it?
***
He had gotten Hazel to cover for him while he went to "steal" the Oraculum.
He had not expected to find Chessy. She was an expert on messing with other people’s minds, and Max fell for it every time.
She tempted him.
"Do you even know what you are standing for? What he is standing for?"
"Of course I do. He wants the pocket watch."
"To do what?"
"To go to the past."
"And do what, exactly?"
Max hated that he didn’t have an answer to that.
"That’s what I thought. That’s exactly what everyone thinks. Oops, did I say that out loud?"
"We both know the answer to that."
"At least I have the decency to pretend. Could you say the same thing about those nepo babies? They don’t lie about where they stand."
She might have been talking about the others, but Max was sensing some undertone.
Yes, he was lying about being on his father’s side, and yes he may not actually know what happened with his father but–
But…
But… what?
He decided he would use the Oraculum, with caution though. Didn’t want to end up like his father, that would prove everyone right.
Except Chloe, he still didn’t know her thoughts.
He approached the invention.
"What did my father see? And why was it so important?"
***
He stumbled backwards until he hit a table.
No, no, no. No.
Fake.
It was fake, what he had seen, an illusion of some sort. Not because there wasn’t proof, everything his father had said to him had just been proved to be true. It was because his father had never mentioned that other timeline, only that the pocket watch existed and was able to change the past, present and future.
Max, the version of himself he had seen, was happy.
Red had taken it from him.
***
"I’m proud of you."
"I love you."
The words kept ringing in his ears, again and again and again. Tears threatened to make their appearance, but Max was wearing goggles. He was pacing up and down the room, working tirelessly despite the late hour. How long had he been there? Not that long, he thought to himself, it’s still pitch dark.
Onto the next phase of his plan: Find Chloe.
***
It didn’t take him long to find her, she was in the forest, alone, crying. It was an unpleasant sight, for some reason.
She was talking to herself. Do princesses do that? She wasn’t just talking, she was arguing with some imaginary person too. Max quickly hid behind a tree; He could see her, she however couldn’t.
"And to think I defended Red to Hazel! She had been right all along."
Hazel being right wasn’t anything new, so he kept listening. For some reason he didn’t like that she was crying.
"I really am her sidekick, she doesn’t see me as anything more. I should have known better than to trust her, just like her mother in the– in the old timeline." She hesitated because she was used to not talking about it, she saw that she was alone though and went on. "And here I am, helping save her mom. Again. But I’m doing this for her, not for me." She covered her mouth with both hands and let a scream of pain and anger out. It felt good.
So Red had hurt her too. It was a matter of time, really, with how Strawberry had been acting lately. It just made his plan easier.
So why did he not care about it anymore?
"Out of all the people in the world, and it comes from my best friend! The VK’s are more trustworthy, Hazel and the Smees would never, Felix is really good and Max…"
He heard his name and held his breath, as if she could hear it.
"… is a great friend, he cares about his friends. He defended Hazel and she did too. That’s what a real friend does."
Why did he want to hug her?
Her words broke something in him. A real friend.
That’s what she thought of him.
He was kneeling down for so long his legs had started to ache. He stepped on a fallen tree branch. The sound it made sounded like a bomb in the quiet of the night.
Chloe got up in an instant, dagger in hand.
"Who is it? Show yourself, I’m armed!"
Max got out of his hiding spot, hands in the air.
She sighed in relief, "Oh, it’s you." She straightened her shoulders. "What are you doing here? You’ve been gone for hours."
"I wanted to escape for a while but I fell asleep. I suspect you want to do the same." His voice was sarcastic, but it became soft towards the end. He dared to take a few steps closer.
"How much did you hear?"
She got no response and sat down, defeated. "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound–"
"There’s no need to apologise for how you feel, Chloe. Do you want me to leave?"
She felt understood, and by a VK again.
"No, you can stay. We can escape together, if you want my company."
He sat down with her, hummed a response and silence fell between them for a little while.
"What are you escaping from?"
For some reason he felt alright talking to her.
"I, I’m just tired of everyone believing I’m my father. I’ve tried so hard already but it’s never enough, no one–"
"No one sees past your last name?"
"Mhm."
They continued talking the entire night. Max didn’t know what had pushed him to open up but he was glad he did so. They even talked about the old timeline, Chloe decided he deserved to know the full story. For some reason it didn’t hurt with her. He could go as far as to say they flirted. She said she liked his hat and he gave it to her to try it on. It looked better on her, he thought with a smile.
He also held her hand when she talked about her mother’s fate in the other timeline, and they stayed like this for the rest of the night. They fell asleep under a tree, their hands intertwined and Chloe still wearing his hat.
At one point while asleep she must have leaned on him too much, because when Pink and Hazel woke them up while looking for them, Chloe’s head was on his lap.
"Cupcake, shut up!" Hazel cut Pink’s happy squeal off, but there was joy playing in her eyes. She tugged her sleeve and both left, the shorter girl giggling all the way to the cottage.
Max had always been a light sleeper. He had to be one, to survive the Isle, all VK’s had to. Yes, he hadn’t spent a lot of time there but they just so happened to be the years were a child is most affected by its surroundings. So it was no surprise that he woke up when he heard the girls.
His time on the Isle had also forced him to become aware of his surroundings the second he woke up.
The weight of Chloe’s head on his lap just felt… right. He would never admit it to anyone but he absolutely adored it.
Adored her.
His breathing matched hers, his hand had somehow found its way to her back and traced invisible shapes, his eyes took in every detail of her face, the blue curls surrounding it, the way her eyelashes moved as she began to wake up as well.
She was awake, yes, but she didn’t seem ready to lift her head just yet, she was far too comfortable. She shifted her head and faced him, and a fraction of a second later she was sitting upright, saying «sorry» over and over again.
"I’m so sorry I don’t know what I was thinking, I made you sleep outside and bothered you with my problems and–"
"CHLOE! Sorry, I didn’t mean to shout, but stop apologising! You did nothing wrong, I should be the one sorry." He took both her hands in his and tried to reason with her, but she was having none of it. Maybe it was the way she was raised? Because, how could anyone except for his friends want to reassure him?
They were forced to head back to the cottage, even though neither of them really wanted to.
Luis was worried sick when they saw him on the front porch (for Chloe of course, he couldn’t spare a glance at Max), while Pink next to him was glowing and doing little jumps at the sight of them. Hazel was looking the two wanderers up and down, a half smile playing on her lips. She was beginning to warm up to Chloe. Red had ran straight to her the second she saw her and hugged her tightly, whispering apologies that were completely generic, even though her gaze was sincere. She let go of Chloe after what felt like a lifetime and took a step towards the Hatter, asking whether they were okay. Pink responded for him, telling her they were "better than okay" and spilled everything, not able to hold her joy. She even apologized to Max for her words two days ago.
Max and Chloe blushed hard and tried to deny everything but Hazel backed her up. Of all the times VK’s and HK’s could team up. Luis didn’t take it well, while Red and maybe Robbie seemed torn but genuinely happy for both.
The other VK’s liked Chloe too. While they continued their trek to the castle they kept asking her to show off some moves with her dagger, her being humble at the start but giving in shortly after and proudly teaching Hazel moves to copy with her hook.
Max noticed Chloe didn’t approach Red that much, choosing to stick with the VK’s instead and, occasionally, Pink.
Could it be because of her previous generic and awfully awkward apology?
And why did his heart flutter whenever she laughed at one of his jokes and looked at him a for few seconds longer than necessary?
Red glanced their way every now and then but was mostly leading everybody to the palace with Luis, who seemed to have become her second in command.
They eventually reached the royal gardens, not from the main gate, but from a path Red knew, some dusty, old entrance that was covered in vines. Hazel freed the iron of the vines and they all entered the most gigantic and impressive garden Max had ever seen. He couldn’t help but stare at every bush, cut so their leaves formed all sorts of shapes, each bearing red, pink, and white roses.
No, straight to the point. Get your head in the game, Max.
They walked in utter silence, flinching at each and every sound. One of them stepped on a twig, causing everyone to jump, Pink falling on Chloe who fell on Max who caught her by the waist.
Pink giggled at how hard they were blushing then pulled away from each other, even though Max didn’t want to.
"Shhh!" Red demanded and turned her back on them, making Chloe pout.
Max looked around and spotted a huge yellow grin floating just inches over the ground.
Shit.
He needed to tell a Wonderlandian, otherwise this wouldn’t end well, neither for everyone else nor for his reputation.
He took several steps ahead to reach Red and grabbed her wrist, her reacting rapidly and tackling him while planting a punch on his face.
"Aargh!" he couldn’t stop the scream that escaped his lips.
Muscle face just had to be heroic and intervene. He at least had the decency to pull him up, though.
"What was that?!" Red whispered loudly.
"Chessy’s here." Only the redhead was meant to hear it but, luck was never in his favour, meaning that Luis (out of all people!) overhead.
"What do you mean Chessy?! Who is– WOAH"
Dang it.
***
Purple smoke.
A lot of it.
It filled everything. His eyes, nose, all of his senses, then everything went black.
***
Next thing he knew he was shook awake.
He darted up, only to find his friends and crush classmates chained to the floor, all in different stages of waking up except for Red and Chloe, who got up almost immediately but were forced to kneel because of their chains. They were trapped.
Max wasn’t.
A figure started pacing around them, its purple hair, trenchcoat and top hat making it impossible to mistake him.
"Father–"
"Silence!" He turned to face him, a grin that could only be described as mad reaching his ears.
His tone shifted in an instance when he layed his eyes on Red and Chloe, something even more unstable becoming present.
"Princess Hearts, Princess Charming." He bowed mockingly then addressed something behind them.
"Ex Queen of Hearts, Queen Charming." He bowed again.
All ten teenagers looked around, only to find the two queens shoved into a wall, covered by some nasty vines.
His voice now dripped with obsession, impatience and madness.
"The watch!"
"The kids!" Bridget replied just as fiercely.
"Is that a negotiation I’m hearing?" That silenced the sovereign.
"Let us go!" Chloe demanded, trying in vain to escape. She and Red were chained only three feet from him, everyone else in the background.
"Aww," the older Hatter mocked, "You got yourself a fighter, son. Care to do the honours?"
Max was beyond confused.
"What?"
"Stop acting like you aren’t just like me, Max. Go on, make me proud for once."
Ouch.
The boy’s eyes immediately found Hazel’s. She didn’t know what was going on but her look told him not to listen to him.
"What are you talking about?"
"Stop playing dumb, I haven’t got all day! Just put it on her and get me the watch!"
Max’s face was unreadable.
"IN YOUR POCKET!"
He slowly reached for the item he had completely forgotten about with last night’s events, his fingers brushing past his latest invention.
Fuck.
"Fucking DO IT, Max!"
But he would make him proud!
But he would doom everyone.
Doom Chloe.
"NO!" Hazel shouted.
Maddox snapped his fingers and a piece of cloth tied itself around the pirate’s mouth, making her lose consciousness.
"HAZE!" He ran to her as fast as he could, falling on his knees and shaking her limp body violently.
She wasn’t waking up.
The VK’s started screaming at his father for daring to hurt their captain, threatening and cursing at him.
Maddox didn’t even hesitate before snapping his fingers again and sending them off to sleep, just like he had with the brunette.
"Are you crazy?! What did you do to them?!"
"Unimportant. They’re just collateral. They got in our way, son. Tried to stop us. That’s unacceptable and shall be punished."
Max’s thoughts were coming and going so fast he couldn’t keep up with them.
He had hurt his family his only friends in the world, and then claimed they were spare.
There was so much anger inside of him, and it was all directed at the man smiling wickedly in front of him.
Maddox turned to address their audience. "My son here decided to finally use our brilliant mind to its true potential, and created a masterpiece that would guarantee me the pocket watch. I’m proud of you." There was so much fondness in his voice it made Max want to cry.
He always dreamed of the day he would hear his father’s voice say these words, but now that he had he wasn’t sure if he liked it.
The HK’s and the queens around him were waiting, agony across their faces and– was that concern, in Chloe’s eyes?
"Put it on Chloe. Turn her evil. Show them where you stand."
The silence that fell was so loud it made Max want to do just that.
Prove his stance.
Once and for all.
Angry tears made their appearance as he stood up from beside Hazel, his hand gripping the bracelet so hard his knuckles turned white. He took it and brought it to the light, where everyone could see it.
"I am not you, and I never will be." He had meant it when he said it at the rabbit hole and he would prove it just now.
He held the bracelet over his head and prepared to smash it as hard as he could.
***
Red.
A lot of it.
***
The faint music could be heard from afar. The tea party was still in full swing, everyone was still celebrating, life was still going on.
All Max wanted to do was drop off the face of earth or go to sleep, hoping that when he woke up he would realise that the past sixteen years of his life had all been a bad dream.
He was sitting on a bench, all the rose bushes around him seemingly wrong for being so colourful right after his darkest time.
Why were they even celebrating?
What happened that was good enough to celebrate it with the whole kingdom?
The memories of the past few hours were blurry.
All he heard was screams. Every fucking time he dared to close his eyes.
His dad had just died.
His only parent in the world, the only dad he’d ever known, was gone.
Along with the spells.
Along with the smoke.
Along with his madness.
Along with every little hope Max still dared to have.
His dad had just died by the card of the Queen of Hearts herself.
She used the bracelet’s destruction as a distraction and summoned a card.
She used the card to free herself and Cinderella.
She cut everyone’s chains.
She walked towards Maddox.
And sentenced him to death.
Who, Bridget!
Right as the words left her mouth she used that same card to slice through his neck.
Max saw everything.
Everyone who wasn’t unconscious did.
Maddox screamed.
Max screamed.
Red screamed.
Blood stained the floor as head and body separated.
The Queen, that motherfucking killer, had gasped and turned to face Max and her daughters.
"Oh my hearts, what did I just do?!"
And you know what the worst part was?
She looked genuinely terrified.
Red had a panic attack.
She kept muttering how it was all her fault and that she deserved to be punished just as harshly.
Chloe didn’t hesitate before approaching her best friend. Yes, she was mad at her but she was still herself.
The other HK’s walked over to the redhead, wanting to help, but Chloe shut them all out.
Max was several metres behind, still frozen in his tracks, the same moment replaying over and over in his mind.
His eyes weren’t focused on anything in particular and he only realised his hands were shaking like crazy when Hazel grabbed him by the arm and dragged him outside.
The VK’s had followed suit, the only people who ever truly cared about him.
Hazel cornered him into a wall, an arm on either side of him. She knew it was the only way he wouldn’t run off, she’d normally know where to find him but she wasn’t from Wonderland.
There was genuine concern in their eyes, but none of them dared to say anything.
At one point Max slid down the wall, the others moving to sit with him on the ground.
He didn’t cry, just like he wasn’t crying now.
The music had now become background noise, easily ignored by the trainwreck his thoughts were.
He heard footsteps near him but didn’t move.
Only when his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of baby blue did he look.
Chloe was hesitant, standing five paces away and playing with her hands. She locked eyes with him for a moment but quickly looked away.
"Max? Do you– do you want to be left alone?" she whisper, as if she was intruding his sanctuary.
But Max didn’t feel angry at her, he simply felt… empty.
He hummed a response and she hesitantly stepped closer until she was sitting by him.
Both kept looking straight forward, in a maybe comfortable silence, when the bluenette decided to break it.
"I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner, I– I thought it would be better to give you some space."
"You were right." and he added a small "Thanks." His voice was rasp from not speaking in almost three hours.
She didn’t want to end their conversation just now and, honestly, Max didn’t either.
"Why are we even having this party? What are we celebrating?" she voiced his concerns.
He wanted to shake his shoulders but his body was tense. He realised he hadn't respond and hummed.
Chloe seemed to be having a silent debate with herself, but eventually decided to turn her body to face him. She raised an arm and wrapped it around his shoulder in very slow movements, to give him the opportunity to pull away if he wasn’t comfortable with it. He didn’t.
Chloe was desperately trying to find something to keep their conversation going.
"So, a hugger, aren’t we?"
Max didn’t know why he said what he said but he did.
"Only when me or my friends are sad."
That left Chloe wondering. Were they technically hugging right now? And was he doing it because he was sad? I mean, of course he was sad, he had just watched his father get killed, but she still didn’t like it. Didn’t like seeing him sad. In the other hand though she could see through his sarcastic persona and knew that it was just a mask he used to protect himself when he was indeed sad.
The only other option would be that he sensed she was sad and was doing it for her? But that would mean he considered her his friend, and that didn’t sit right with her either. Don’t get her wrong, she’s glad he’s warming up to her but the term "friend" doesn’t feel enough in her eyes, in her heart.
She thought back to last night and it felt too far away. Hell, even that morning felt centuries ago.
How she had woken up and realised her head had been on his lap probably all night.
How she didn’t want to get up for whatever reason even though it went against everything she’d been taught as a princess.
How it had just felt right. Being with him. Sharing her thoughts, her hopes, her regrets. How he had listened to her, maybe the only person to do so in the entirety of their adventure.
And she was thankful. For him.
Max absentmindedly leaned the tiniest bit towards Chloe and placed his hand on top of hers. Once he realised what he had just done every muscle in his body tensed, but the princess wouldn’t let him doubt himself. She took it in her hands and once she did she didn’t let go, and she had just decided that she never would.
***
In the days that would follow, there would be countless discussions and decisions to be made, apologies to be given and even more reasons for Max, Chloe, Red, Bridget and everyone else to lock themselves in their rooms and never see the light of day again, but that last thing just couldn’t happen.
Soon, they would have to go back to school despite their feelings and go on with their lives.
One thing had changed though.
One very important but often unnoticed thing.
Despite their traumatic adventure, the HK’s and the VK’s were now closer than ever. Well, closer than before, that’s for sure.
There was one HK and one VK in particular, however, that didn’t get just close, they were attached on the hip.
Chloe Charming and Max Hatter spent every second they could together, either in the cafeteria, or the school grounds, even in their dorms.
They talked about the past timeline, their parents, the difficulties in their lives, their hobbies, their interests, anything and everything, really, until it got to their feelings.
***
Chloe had just exited the cafeteria and went to her locker to grab her books for History of magic. Max wasn’t with her, for some reason but she couldn’t complain, they had spent all morning and lunch together.
When she opened her locker, something fell to the ground. She picked it up, it was a note:
Charming, Enchanted lake, right after curfew.
–M
Chloe smiled to herself and looked forward to it all day, couldn’t concentrate in class and glanced over at the clock at least a hundred times.
For some reason (she knew the reason very well, she just wouldn’t admit it), she kept rereading the note again and again, her heart fluttering each time. The «i» in Charming had a little heart.
She dressed with extra care that night, which raised Red’s suspicions.
"Going somewhere, Chlo?" She looked up from her sketchbook, whose page was painted completely red and she was now scribbling with a black pen. Not her usual style but that’s how she had been feeling lately.
Her and Red’s relationship had been getting better, Red was trying really hard to let Chloe in and Chloe learnt to accept that she and the redhead couldn’t agree on everything.
"Maybe…" she said slowly while styling her hair in the mirror. Max loved her natural curls.
"Uh-huh…" the heir of Wonderland responded in the same tone, clearly unconvinced.
"Going to see someone special then?"
«Maybe.» the bluenette repeated.
"Let me guess. Does that someone have purple hair and a top hat?"
"Maybe."
"Chloe!"
"Okay, fine, yes it’s Max, we’re going to the enchanted lake, what about it?"
"’What about it?’ Chloe, your crush is taking you to the most romantic spot in Auradon, there’s no way he doesn’t like you! And don’t you dare deny your crush on him!"
"Alright, I do like him, but there’s nothing romantic in the gesture, he sees me as a friend." she handed her the note.
Red threw her a pillow.
"Why did you do that?!"
Red groaned, then smiled and went back to drawing. This time, she flipped to the next page and grabbed two coloured pencils. Blue and purple.
***
Chloe was walking in the forest that led to the lake, when all of a sudden she felt a hand on her shoulder.
Two seconds later Max was lying on his stomach, his hands being held behind his back in Chloe’s iron grip.
"Max!"
She helped him get up.
"Don’t worry princess, I’m just glad you didn’t use your dagger." he pointed to her boot and smiled.
"Sorry…"
"You don’t have to, you know I like it when you do that." his face became the cutest shade of pink.
"You’re blushing." she laughed, but for once he didn’t deny it. He blushed a lot when he was with her, he always tried to hide it through or blame it on the lighting, no matter if it was day or night.
"I thought I'd meet you there."
"Couldn't help myself, I wanted to see you sooner."
Now it was Chloe's turn to become red.
He laced their fingers together and he took her to the lake, making her close her eyes halfway. Chloe trusted him to lead her, she always would.
They fell in comfortable silence for a few minutes.
"Now, open your eyes." Max spoke in a soft voice he only used with her.
Chloe couldn’t help but gasp at the sight. She tried to hold her excitement and practically dragged him towards the picnic blanket and basket.
"Aw, Max you shouldn’t have!"
He blushed again until he met her gaze, those beautiful brown eyes he could get lost in forever. His expression looked liked a man when he falls in love at first sight. He took a deep breath but didn’t look away, he wanted to keep looking at her for the rest of time.
"Chloe, there's something I’ve been meaning to tell you these past couple months."