12Eugene had been debating whether or not he should invite Rapunzel for a couple of weeks now.
"What should I do?" He groaned.
Lance leaned back in his chair, "Just invite her."
"It's not that easy."
Lance studied Eugene for a minute, "Hand me your phone."
Eugene obliged and handed his unlocked phone to Lance. He heard clicking on the phone and then he realized Lance had sent a text. "What did you?!" Eugene snatched his phone back.
Lance rolled his eyes, "Made your life easier."
Eugene opened his text messages to find that Lance had texted Rapunzel. The text message thankfully wasn't anything embarrassing, Lance had simply sent her a link to the event and added 'I'm part of the committee, you should come'. Rapunzel quickly responded, 'I'd love to!' she added a smiley face.
"Lance you genius!" Eugene praised.
Lance stood up and theatrically bowed, "Thank you, my good sir."
The event was for an orphanage, while Eugene wasn't an orphan himself it was still something he was passionate about. They were throwing a gala to raise money for the orphanage. It was open to the public but, the tickets were pricey so not just anyone could go. People understood though, all the money went towards keeping the institution up and running.
He was running around greeting guests when a green gown caught his attention.
"Rapunzel,"
She turned around at the sound of her name.
"Eugene! Hey," Rapunzel pulled him in for a hug, "How's it going so far?"
"Good actually. We hope to pull in enough money for a full year."
She rested her hand on his shoulder and squeezed, "You will."
"Thank you," Eugene quickly changed the subject to keep the conversation going, "So how are you liking the gala?"
"The finger food is delicious, and everyone has been nice," She informed him.
"Good and if anyone is rude to you, tell me so I can kick them out," He joked.
She gently slapped his bicep, "Eugene!"
"I'll catch you around later, I got committee stuff to do."
"Have fun!" She called behind him.
If Eugene would've known how much of a distraction Rapunzel's mere presence was going to be, he wouldn't have invited her. He was struggling to stay focused. He doesn't even remember the dinner or the speech he gave. He anxiously waited for the dancing to start so he could rush off and find her.
The classical music had stopped, and the DJ had taken over, finally. Several guests stood up and made their way to the dance floor.
If it were up to Eugene, he would've started looking for Rapunzel immediately, but he had a role to fulfill and Eugene did not want to look like a lovesick fool.
He killed time. First, he danced one song with his buddies then he went to the bar. That's where Rapunzel found him, "Here you are."
Eugene straightened up, "Rapunzel."
"That's me."
He looked towards the dancefloor and back at Rapunzel, "Want to go somewhere quiet?"
She nodded. Eugene took her hand and led her out of the museum. Eugene handed his key to the valet.
"So where are we going?" Rapunzel asked.
The valet pulled up with Eugene's car, he opened the passenger seat door, "You'll see."
Rapunzel got into his car, "I do love adventures."
Eugene drove them up a mountain, so they'd have a scenic view of the city. "Wow." He heard her whisper.
He smiled to himself and popped his trunk. From his trunk, he pulled out two blankets and made his way to the hood of his car. He laid one of the blankets on the hood.
"You know the view is better from out here," Eugene said from the hood of his car, not taking his eyes away from the city.
He heard a door open and close and huff coming from Rapunzel and she jumped onto the hood, "Yeah you're right."
They sat in silence, admiring the beauty of the city.
"I almost became part of the system," before he could stop, Eugene forced himself to keep talking, "My dad was not in a good place after the divorce, he turned into an alcoholic."
Rapunzel placed a hand on his shoulder and started doing circles with one of her fingers.
"So, CPS was called, and I was placed in a foster home until my dad snapped out of it and got his shit together. That's why the whole orphanage thing is so important to me."
"I think it's a wonderful cause, Eugene."
"Thanks, you'd be the first." While Eugene knew it was his passion, the women he's dated in the past thought it was a waste of time. It was always because he didn't rake in money and it was more of a second job than a hobby.
"I had an abusive babysitter when I was younger and didn't tell my parents," She confessed.
Eugene appreciated the fact that she was opening up after he had. It's as if she were trying to comfort him.
"She turned me into her maid and would verbally abuse me. I'm pretty sure she brain-washed. It wasn't until she burned my scalp from bleaching my hair that my parents fired her."
"Geez, that's terrible, Rapunzel."
Rapunzel took in a long breath in and let out a sigh, "Yeah. She caused some emotional damage. I'm still going to therapy for it."
Eugene wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer
"She killed herself in front of me." Rapunzel whispered, "I convinced my parents to let me say goodbye and went to her house. She got hysterical, blamed everything on me, and threw herself out a window."
Eugene instinctively pulled her into a hug, "It's isn't your fault."
"Yeah," Rapunzel paused before continuing, "It's was just traumatizing and it's hard to move on from, I am making progress though."
They fell into a comfortable silence. Neither of them bothering to move. Eugene didn't mind since she was in his arms, it felt right.
Eugene took this time to fully take in what she had told him. Sure, his childhood had not been the best, but unlike Rapunzel, the damage wasn't severe. While his dad was an alcoholic at that time, not once did he ever beat Eugene.
His mom wasn't there to stop him from entering the foster system, but that wasn't her fault. The state wouldn't let him move in with her.
"Oh! What time is it?" Rapunzel asked.
"Almost 1 am. We should probably get you home." Eugene suggested.
Rapunzel helped him fold the blankets. They made their way back down the mountain, which was a very slow drive since there wasn't that much light to guide their way down.
"Once we get to the bottom, just give me the directions to get there," Eugene told her.
With the streets practically dead they reached her place in no time, she lived in one of those industrial turned apartment buildings. "Nice place," He commented.
"Thanks," Rapunzel was about to step out his car before looking back at him, "Actually, one of these days would you like to come over to my studio sometime and paint?"
Eugene nodded and smiled at her, "I'm not a good painter though."
"You don't have to be a good painter to paint, Eugene," Rapunzel closed his door and walked up the building's door. He drove off once she was inside.
A/N: To the guest that left that waiting in the wings reference, thank you, your comment made me smile. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I decided to have them both have their parents from birth because my babies have gone through enough in canon lol. See ya in the next chapter.