This afternoon, I went out on the windowsill. To my surprise, Rapunzel was already there, staring out the window. I had to smile when I saw her, because she just looked so beautiful. Silly, I know. But regardless, she soon noticed me.
"Oh! Um, hey. I didn't see you there, sorry!"
"It's fine. Mind if I stay here?"
"No, not at all," she gave me a small smile. "I was just thinking."
We sat quietly for awhile, but then I asked if she had seen any movies before. She, of course, answered with no, and I asked if she wanted to see Tangled.
"When?"
"Hmm...are you free this afternoon?" I asked. I knew it was a bit of a bad idea, because my joints have been acting up. I'm sure Rapunzel told you about how, back in January-ish, my hip joints got messed up. Well, the problem only resurfaces if I walk way too much. Turns out, since Rapunzel's accident, I've been up through the night a lot more, and because of that, I pace. When I pace,....you get the gist. My joints have been pretty sore, but I haven't let on to it yet. I don't want to worry her, and I was kind of hoping that I wouldn't have any more issues with my joints! Oh, yeah right. Well, today, my joints were especially bad. The idea of walking the whole way across the room, down the hallway, and into the kitchen or living room....it was purely a bad idea. I should've known better, but at the same time, I just wanted to be with my girl. But anyway.
She smiled and nodded. "Yeah! That sounds like fun."
Soo, we headed down to the floor to start our journey.
Unfortunately for me, I landed the wrong way when I jumped down, and I was surprised I was still able to keep my balance.
Riiight. Well, we hardly made it halfway across the room before I lost my balance. When I lost it, I...lost it. I stumbled, and would have fallen if it wouldn't have been for a box. I grabbed onto it with one arm, and Rapunzel gasped.
"A-are you okay? Oh my goodness, what happened?! Are you okay?" she helped me back upright, and gave me a concerned gaze. When I didn't say anything--I was trying to catch my breath, but the pain was just intense enough that I couldn't. "Do you need me to get Tangled Fan?"
I held up a hand, waving off her concern. "N-no...I'm fine." I panted. "I-I should've told you before, but I didn't...want you to worry...I'm sorry. At the beginning of the year, I had an accident and ended up really messing up my hip joints. I usually am fine, but lately, I've been having a hard time sleeping, and when I can't sleep, I usually pace. Walking too much gets this problem fired up, and...."
She gasped again, giving me a look of sheer horror. "Sit down, right now." I started to shake my head, but she gave me that classic and incredibly sour, "do it or I'll MAKE you" look before repeating her request. I sat down, and she sat as well, biting her lip.
"I'm sorry, this is all my fault. You're so pale....what do you want me to do?"
"Nothing...and it's not your fault. Just...gimme a few minutes. If you want to go get Tangled Fan to set up the movie, you can-"
"Excuse me, but I am not leaving you here alone!"
Alrighty then...
"Well, all I'll be doing is sitting here until I feel up to moving,"
"And I'll stay with you as long as it takes. You've been here for me, so now I'm here for you!"
Ah. That was her logic. Okay.
"Well...thank you."
She scooted a bit closer. "How long have your joints been hurting? I know it's because of us going for day-long walks, so don't skirt around it."
"It's not...it's not because of that. And, oh I don't know. A few days...maybe a week?"
She pressed her hand over her mouth. "Ohh..."
"Like I said, don't get upset. I'm sorry, I was really looking forward to watching the movie with you,"
She slid right over beside me, and shook her head. "That's fine! We'll...shoot for tomorrow, maybe? Or the day after. Sometime, I promise! And stop apologizing. That's at least the second time."
I chuckled. "I could say the same to you, you know."
Rolling her eyes, she didn't hide her smile. "At least you must be feeling a tad better, your face isn't as pale...?"
"Yeah....like I said, you could go...I'll be fine."
Instead of saying anything, she silently gave me a smile and left.
Thinking I was alone for the rest of the day after she had left, I eased myself down onto my back. It took some of my weight off my joints, at least, and that helped some. I was kind of melancholy that she had left, but it was far better than her sitting here, watching me be a big baby.
But wait....she wasn't gone!
After awhile, I heard a couple of grumbles, a grunt, and a yelp...so I propped myself up to see...
None other than Rapunzel, trotting back with Tangled Fan's headphones and MP3 player. The cord, which was way too long, trailed behind her and tangled up around her ankles. She tripped, almost fell down...and noticed I was struggling to sit up. I was planning to help her, even if I had to crawl!
"Noo, no-no-no! Stay right there!" she exclaimed...before she dropped the headphones and kicked them my way. They stopped right by my head -- I was getting ready for them to crash into me, but they didn't--and she gave an adorable, triumphant giggle.
I watched quietly as she set the MP3 up, cranked it up to nearly full-blast, and then set it to play.
"There!" she turned to me, her smile waning slightly. "How are you?"
"I'm fine...thanks,"
"I thought we could listen to music. I remember you said you liked to listen to music, soo..."she shrugged and looked over at me before she flopped down onto her back, putting her hands behind her head.
"Thank you...really. It means a lot," I told her.
"So...what songs do you recommend?" she asked, after a few minutes of awkward silence.
As a good song would come on, I would tell her. Most of the songs I pointed out were ones I liked because they reminded me of her, but I didn't point that out.
We stayed like that for hours. I was pretty stiff, unfortunately, by the time I decided that she wasn't going to leave until I was back on the table. As soon as I stood up, I realized just how stiff I was. I stumbled a step and hoped she hadn't seen...but of course, she had.
"Wait a sec, bud," she told me as she shoved the MP3 and headphones out from the middle of the floor.
"I'm fine," I told her repeatedly - and every time, she would say huh-uh or just shake her head, and then that stubborn girl tucked herself under my arm and slid her arms around me.
"You might say you're fine, but you obviously are not. C'mon-"
"I'm fine by myself," I reassured her. "I don't want to stumble and hurt you, or something."
"You won't," she tightened her grip around me, so I put an arm around her and squeezed her shoulders. I figured that she would think that I was just holding onto her for balance, when I was really giving her a one-armed hug...and keeping my balance.
When we got up to the table, she asked where I wanted to go. I told her I'd be fine on the wicker chair, and so she led me over there. I eased myself down onto the chair, and she bit her lip, giving me a concerned look.
"I'm fine, don't worr-"
"I'm not worrying," said the obviously non-worried girl...as she toyed with her hair. Trademark worried Rapunzel move.
"The way you're biting your lip, playing with your hair, and the way your brows are furrowed all tell me you're worried," I pointed out.
She allowed her hands to pounce up on her hips, as she gave me a mock-insulted expression. "Fine, Sherlock. I'm worried."
"C'mere," I patted the box beside me, and she quickly obliged. When she sat down, I risked putting my hands on her shoulders. Oh, wow...I twisted the wrong way to do that, and pain zinged across my hips and up my back. I tried not to grimace, though. "I've done this more than once, I'll be okay. It's really no big problem. If I need Tangled Fan, I'll get her. I don't want you worried, okay?"
"It's....it's not that, entirely. Well, it is, but..oh, never mind!" she muttered, refusing to look me in the eye.
"Then what? Tell--"
"I need to let you get some rest. You will rest up, right? I'll be back later to help you get to your bed,"
"I won't need help--"
"Well, you'll get some, anyway, then. I'll see you later."
Just like that, her mood changed. Her face became unreadable, and I could tell she was guarding something. She quickly fled my side of the table, and I couldn't help but wonder what I'd done.
I'd probably messed up somehow...maybe putting my hands on her shoulders had upset her? Was it when I had put an arm around her when she was helping me back to the table? Did she think I was faking this, just to get her sympathy or something? What had I done? I wanted to just ask her when she came over later --if she did-- but I didn't want to pry.
By eleven PM, I was feeling just a tiny bit better, but my concerns about Rapunzel hadn't ceased. But regardless, I stumbled back to bed and started to smooth the blanket out, leaning up against the bed to do so. That's when I heard Rapunzel calling quietly.
"I'm over here...getting my bed ready," I called, and she rushed to join me behind the cutout.
"How'd you get back here?"
"I walked, silly," I teased her in an attempt to get her to lighten up, since her eyes were filled with concern. When her expression turned darker and her eyes actually filled with tears, I softened. "Hey...I'm sorry. I was just trying to get you to laugh-" I fell short of saying 'hon'. Woops.
She shook her head. "I'm just...I have a lot on my mind and I'm touchy right now. It's fine. Anyway, ah...since you're okay back here, d'ya want me to leave? Sorry, I came a bit too late. I should've--"
"You're just fine. And actually, I'd like it if you stuck around and told me what's wrong," I gingerly sat down on the bed and patted the spot near me.
She started to refuse, but then I gave her an overly-dramatic puppy-dog pout. "Oh, geez, Eugene. If you really...fine. I suppose it'll help to talk,"
"Mmhm!" I gave her an encouraging grin - at least, I hoped so - and she sighed and sat beside me.
"This is so stupid, and I feel bad to keep you up talking, but...I just feel really terrible. If you've been having problems with your joints for 'a few days or a week', it's my fault, because we've been going for such long walks. And I feel horrible because I've been complaining so much to you about Flynn and just everything, and you...you have actual problems, and you never even t-told me!"
Oh, geez. She always had blamed herself...Shoulda known.
"Rapunzel, it is not your fault. It's not the long walks that get to me, it's that combined with, mostly, lack of sleep and pacing when I can't sleep. I'm pretty sure that your problems are actual, legit problems, too, by the way. I didn't tell you, because I don't like to tell anyone about my joint issue. Silly, I know," we both sighed at the same time, and she ducked her head.
"I just...I'm sorry. I should have noticed something was off--"
"Nothing was off for you to notice," I told her, and her eyebrows furrowed.
"You're sure?" she asked.
"I am positive, dear girl--er, um...rather--sorry." I let that one slip out without even thinking. Way to blow it...I was about to just head-slap myself when she giggled, her face burning red.
"It's fine," she blushed an intriguing color of crimson Her neck was red! "Um...so...I-I should let you get some rest. I'll be over in the morning...?"
"Yep...if I'm still asleep, just come and yell in my face, wake me up," I joked, and I finally got that laugh out of her. Thank goodness!
"Okay. Movie tomorrow, maybe? If you're feeling up to it," she got shy at the end of the sentence, ducking her head so her hair covered most of her face like a thick, yellow curtain.
"Sounds great," I told her, resisting the urge to brush the hair out of her face.
Then, she randomly grabbed me into a tight hug. I choked in surprise, but I hugged her back, of course. When she finally pulled away, she didn't look happier -- in fact, she looked even more troubled. That was really concerning...
We exchanged 'good night's, and then she left. And as for me? Well...I gingerly let myself down onto my back, and hoped I would go to sleep before I started worrying.
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