I was awoken by the enticing smell of bacon and eggs and a pleasant sound of something sizzling. Following the sound of sizzles, there was a booming laugh that masked a barely audible giggle.

My eyes slowly fluttered open and I let out a monstrous groan that resembled a pterodactyl gurgling water. I lazily rolled off the couch and looked at the spot my friend slept last night, only to find it empty and displaced by a pillow sitting on a perfectly folded blanket. I could only infer that Rapunzel got up earlier and was the owner of the giggles that came from the kitchen.

My feet sluggishly dragged the rest of my body towards the kitchen while my arms stretched upwards and outwards. My prediction was proved right but someone else was also present along with my Grandpa and friend. My sister sat at the table while Rapunzel and North cooked breakfast. The three of them were currently laughing because it seemed that North spilled some milk on the counter.

"Emma, can you go get Jack and tell him that breakfast is ready?" North commanded as he wiped away the white liquid on the counter.

"There's no need, I'm already up," I said while sitting down next to Emma at the table.

"Nice of you to join us, Sleeping Beauty," Rapunzel teased.

I tiredly simpered at her and slumped further into my seat. "As you can clearly tell, I'm not a morning person."

"Well, as you can clearly tell, I am," she informed in a stately manner and placed a frying pan filled with eggs on the center of the table.

The eggs she had created were not what you'd normally expect from scrambled eggs but a much prominent version of the what you'd normally see. Hers were intermixed with chunks of ham and bacon, and coated with cheddar cheese and pepper. It looked purely divine and mouthwatering and I almost shuddered in joy with the thought of consuming it.

I reached my hand out to sneak a quick bite but Emma's little hands slapped mine away from the food. I gave her a cold glare and slumped back into my seat, groaning.

I groaned even more, but for a completely different reason, when North set down a plate of bacon right in front of me. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were all trying to torture me by showing me delicious food and forcing me to wait.

North took his rightful place at the head of the table while Rapunzel distributed a fair amount of eggs and bacon to each individual. She even poured everyone their own cup of milk and then sat across from Emma and I.

My primal instincts kicked in and I began devouring my food like a starving wolf seeing meat for the first time. My tastebuds were infused with flavor that I didn't know was humanly possible to taste. The melted cheese and ham and bacon chunks brought more savor to the bland eggs that most people have, and I felt extremely lucky to have encountered such a wonderful palatableness.

"Jack! There's a lady present," North scolded.

I almost forgot that Rapunzel was sitting right across from me and I felt my ears heat up for gorging myself in front of her. Her cooking skills left me in a wonderful food-induced daze, and I kinda lost myself there.

"Sorry. Thanks for the meal, Sunshine." I winked at her.

She giggled and waved it off, trying to be humble. I noticed that the plate Emma had set for Rapunzel was completely empty and she sat in her chair watching us eat with a distant imploring look in her eyes. She smiled at us with her usual kind and gentle smile, hoping that no one would catch the wanting she so deeply hid.

"Punzie, are you gonna eat something or just sit there?" I teased.

Her face lit up with shock and joy mixed in together. "I'm allowed to eat?" she asked as though it were impossible to comprehend.

No...

Please, no...

In unison, my grandpa and I's faces fell into deep despair. We exchanged glances and shared the same crestfallen expression. That little witch! How could she do that to Rapunzel? How could she starve her child like that? My hatred for Rapunzel's mom was growing stronger and stronger the more I learned about how she mistreated her daughter.

Emma, being too young to understand what that meant, nodded her head and stared at Rapunzel with puzzlement. She turned to me and gave a look of worriment and I mouthed to her that I'd tell her later.

She looked at the blonde in front of us one more time and smiled warmly. "Of course you can eat, silly. That's all Jack ever does."

Everyone turned their heads to me and tried to hold in their laughter. North was going bright red from stifling his chortles until eventually he couldn't hold it in anymore. Soon after that, Rapunzel began to chuckle and Emma afterwards.

I put my hands up in a way that expressed I was guilty of what was being said about me and smiled coyly. I couldn't deny the truth. "I'm not going to apologize for being hungry," I countered.

Once the mirthful moment was over, Rapunzel began to enjoy her own meal with a satisfied grin. She had a gleaming fulfillment in her jade eyes and she savored each bite like it could be her last. She seemed so happy to be eating, and I couldn't help but feel sick to my stomach. I couldn't even fathom all the horrible things that her mother had done to her and knowing that this went on without anyone realizing was absolutely heart wrenching.

When she finished eating her breakfast, she started gathering up the dirty dishes from everyone but North stopped her. "You made breakfast so Emma and I will get the dishes. Why don't you and Jack go do something together?" North offered.

"No, it's fine really. I'm used to it," she said.

"I insist. You're the guest, you shouldn't have to do any work." North shot me a look as if to say "get her out of here".

I acted immediately. "If you want, we could begin tutoring," I suggested.

She nodded her head and shrugged her shoulders.

Placing a hand on her lower back, I began to lead her up the stairs to my room so we could begin our studying. "We'll be upstairs if you need anything," I told North and Emma.

"Keep the door open," North warned.

I rolled my eyes at his protectiveness. I didn't know if his vigilance was aimed at me or Rapunzel but either way, he should know better than to assume anything bad would happen.

"We will."

I continued to lead Rapunzel up the stairs until we reached my room. She walked in, scanning every little detail about my room for the first time. My bed stood off to the left of the door against the blue painted walls, and across from my bed was my desk area that held my computer and several school books. I had a beanbag shoved into the corner of the my room and some shelves that contained random crap I've collected over the years.

I thanked the heavens that North forced me to clean my room a few days prior to Rapunzel's unexpected coming. It literally looked like a bomb had exploded and left behind a horrifying trash and dirty laundry. I would've been embarrassed beyond belief if she had seen the sickening image.

"I like your room."

"Thanks," I said while grabbing my school supplies.

She continued to walk around and examine the specifics of my room with a curious gleam. Her eyes fell upon a picture on my nightstand and she picked it up with such fragility that it seemed she was holding a newborn baby.

The picture was when when I was about 12 years old and still held a childlike innocence in me. Younger me was wrapped in the loving embrace of a beautiful and gentle lady whose nurturing and calming brown eyes still remained in my mind even years after she was gone. Emma, who was 3 years old at the time, was hoisted up onto a young white-haired man's shoulders that were strong and supportive in every sense of the word. North stood next to the man with a smile that I haven't seen in years. That smile was reserved especially for that man because he had a tremendous amount of pride and love for his son. The picture was taken right before my parents died and I cherished the image with all of my heart.

"Are those your parents?" Rapunzel asked.

I nodded and faintly smiled as I thought about them.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to them?" She seemed curious and timid at the same time. She wanted to know but she was also afraid of offending me.

I gazed a bit more at the captured memory of my parents. "They were vacationing in Alaska and they went ice skating on a lake. The ice was too thin and they both fell in," I said forlornly and emotionlessly.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Rapunzel spoke with a comforting tone. "I don't even know if my birth parents are alive or not," she sadly stated.

"Wait, I thought-"

She shook her head, cutting me short of my sentence. "Gothel's my foster mom. I don't have any information on my real parents."

Once again we fell into a silence that seemed to vacate the depressing atmosphere we created. I had to change the topic or else we'd both be wallowing in self pity, and that's not what we needed right now.

My throat cleared itself and I clapped my hands together to snap us out of our dreary daze. "Do you want to get started on tutoring?"

Her face formed a sad smile and nodded slowly. She and I both took a seat, me on my beanbag and her on the floor, and pulled out our worksheets from the class.

"So what exactly is it that you're struggling with?"

"You're asking the wrong question, Punz."

She looked at me like I was speaking another language.

"The question you should be asking is 'what am I not struggling with?'" I clarified with a smug grin.

She smiled and chuckled under her breath. "Fine, what are you not struggling in?"

"Well, I'd say I'm pretty good at falling asleep in class and shooting spitballs at the back of Peter's head."

Her eyes widened in realization. "That was you?!"

I gave her my signature smirk and wiggled my eyebrows at her. "Guilty as charged. He had it coming. Always complaining about never wanting to grow up and for acting like a child all the time, it was annoying."

"Kinda reminds me of you."

"Maybe. But you have to admit, I'm much more tolerable than him... and way more sexier."

Rapunzel audibly laughed at my comment and her cheeks took a slightly pink color. Hearing her normal laugh stirred a warm tingling throughout my chest and caused my smirk to grow even bigger in canny.

"Well, what is it you want me to help you with?" she laughed once again.

"Vocabulary and reading comprehension. I'm not dyslexic or anything but I just have a hard time understanding what I'm reading."

She nodded understandingly and picked up the worksheet filled with a list of vocabulary terms that were utterly pointless to me. "Then let's get started."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Help me!

I'm dying!

Tell my family I love them!

We've been studying for what seemed like forever and my brain felt like chunky oatmeal. I felt like the insignificant words were swimming around in my head without any real purpose other than to annoy me. They still meant nothing to me and they endlessly lapped around in my head until I wanted to put myself out of misery. My head ached--correction, it was in complete agony from all the reviewing I had done.

I was bored out of my mind too. If boredom could be personified I think it'd take on the form of a soul-sucker brutally taunting the weak-minded souls of this world. As of now, I was the ill-fated victim of this soul-sucker. He did everything in his power to intimidate and weaken me, and it was working with a stellar performance.

While my spirit was being sucked out of me by vocabulary words and infinite studying, Rapunzel acted like this was a normal part of life. She wasn't enthused by the work but she didn't complain either. Rapunzel wasn't one for doing a job halfway. If she had to do something she put her whole heart into it. She's definitely determined, I'll give her that.

"What does amorousness mean?" she quizzed.

I grabbed a fistful of my sparkling white hair and let out a bored and frustrated moan. "I can't do this anymore, Punz. Please stop, or at least get the chloroform and shove the whole bottle down my throat so it's less painful."

"Save your moans for something worthwhile."

She totally set herself up for a sarcastic remark, and it'd be a crime to not say anything. I couldn't resist. I gave her another flash of my trademark smirk and quirked my eyebrows at her. "Oh really? Would you mind demonstrating this 'worthwhile' activity you have in mind?"

Her mouth fell and she gawked at me in disbelief for a moment before flicking my ear. "Jackson Overland Frost!"

I doubled over in a fit of laughter until my sides hurt. She became flustered after that, which only made me laugh harder. "Punz, you're face was priceless."

She lightly shoved me so that I fell backwards onto my beanbag once again. "You're so mean, and... gross."

"Why thank you." I winked at her, causing more of a blush to rise in her cheeks. She makes it so easy to mess with her sometimes. "We need a break or something," I declared.

Before she could fight me on the subject, I had already pulled out my phone and connected it to my bluetooth speaker. I scrolled through my apps until I came across my music. I felt her eyes boring into me with confusion, but I ignored her. After looking through several playlists, I found a song that we could both enjoy. Nothing too exciting but also not too boring, plus it was perfect for diminishing the ignoble effects of studying.

The moment Rapunzel heard the first notes of the song she let out a gasp of excitement. "I love this song!" she exclaimed.

"You've heard this before?"

"Of course!"

I nodded and began to move my body to the fast beat of the song. To spare Rapunzel's ears of my horrid singing, I tried to refrain from belting out into song. I wasn't a bad singer, but I wasn't good either so I thought it best to maintain my voice and continue dancing in my beanbag.

Rapunzel was struggling with the very same thing that I was, except she had a harder time containing herself. She, more often than me, would let a few words sing out and then try to cover it. She kept her volume to a minimum so that I couldn't hear her but I could still see her mouth moving, tapping her pencil to the beat and bobbing her head as well.

"I'm not gonna judge you if you want to sing."

She looked at me with an unconvinced look. "Sure you won't."

"No, I'm serious. You can't be worse than me."

She shook her head disapprovingly.

"What if I sing with you?"

Her shoulders lifted up and fell down to show she wouldn't mind that. "Just to warn you, I haven't really sang in front of anyone other than Merida before."

"That is such a lie. You sang to your 'Flynn Rider pillow' and in front of Hiccup and I when we were stalking you at Merida's sleepover," I retorted.

She narrowed her eyes at me and then proceeded to stick her pink tongue out. "I forgot you guys saw that." I chuckled while she broke her angry expression and swapped it for a beaming one.

In unison, we both took a deep breath and began to harmonize with the song. I was completely amazed by her voice and how it so easily and gracefully flowed through my ears. To say her voice was beautiful would be an understatement and almost an insult. The sounds coming out of her mouth were so captivating that I felt like a sailor put under the alluring spell of a siren. It held a heavenly intonation that could put even the most purest of angels to shame.

I stopped singing with her and let her have a solo-- one that she performed flawlessly. My smirk laced itself with adoration at the beauty of her voice and my eyes refused to leave the source of the angelic sound. I was wonderstruck by the ardor and intensity she put into each word.

Eventually Rapunzel lost herself in a world of melodies and harmonies and musical encounters. There was no hope of bringing her back to the real world and part of me didn't want to. She seemed so carefree and jubilant that it would be wrong for me to return her to the cruel world. I was, however, glad to know that I had been successful in getting her mind off of the trauma from last night.

Rapunzel got up from her spot on the floor and began to make her way towards me with a playful smile on her lips. She reached her hands out and grabbed mine so that she could pull me up from my beanbag. Once I was up, she forced me to dance with her by rocking us back and forth while she held tightly onto my hands. I quickly caught onto her incentives and happily obliged to her demands.

She was the one leading at first, but I regained my man-pride by taking the initiative to lead the dance. I spun her around a couple times and then continued to sway to the upbeat tempo of the song. Every time I'd spin her, she let out a cute giggle and crinkle her nose at me. I found her reactions extremely adorable and made it the sole reason to keep twirling her.

I whirled her around once more but she fumbled over her feet and fell down. Due to the grip she had on my hands, I ended up falling down as well and ended up on top of her. I hadn't noticed at first since we were both laughing so hard, but once I did, my face grew extremely hot and my heart began to pound in my chest like a drummer in a rock band. The proximity between us was the closest we've ever been, yet I couldn't find the will to move. It's not that I couldn't move, but I had no desire to.

Since we were so close to one another, Rapunzel's face consumed my vision and I could better outline the defining features of her face. Her cute little button-nose was lightly scattered with freckles and brought out a sweeter side of her, and her sun-kissed skin reminded me of a nice day out at the beach. As much as our positioning was awkward, I couldn't will myself to distance away from her. I blamed my paralysis on Rapunzel's eyes.

I can't recall ever encountering anything so green and enrapturing in my entire life. I remember, when I was younger, I went on a hike through a very green and luscious forest with my family. The setting back then was truly miraculous; the sunlight peeking out of the branches of the trees and illuminating the trail with a beautiful aura. But nothing from that lovely memory could compare to the allurance in Rapunzel's jade colored orbs. Her intense and captivating oculares transported me to the Emerald City where everything glittered with serenity and purity.

"S-sorry. I'm really clumsy," Rapunzel apologized and laughed some more.

I don't know if it was because of how close we were or because of everything that's led up to this moment, but the moment she spoke, my gaze fell upon her lips. Suddenly they had caught my attention and I couldn't peel my eyes away from them, no matter how hard I tried. I was put into a divine trance from the indulgence lacing her lips and I had to fight back something burning in my chest.

The corners of her mouth were turned upwards and seemed so welcoming, almost like a magnet would pull precious metals towards it. I found myself succumbing to the luring invitation and was now even closer to her than I had ever expected.

Surprisingly, Rapunzel had been leaning her head closer to mine as well, making the space between us even smaller. She parted her perfect lips ever so slightly, tempting me even