Stuck With You- Part 2

Chapter 11- The Decision

Hey, Varian? You still here, kid?"

Varian blinked awake and looked up, seeing his uncle looking around with the scroll in his hand. He must've dropped it in his sleep. Varian pushed himself up and pulled the scroll out of Hector's hands. He muttered the enchantment and appeared. Hector smiled fondly.

"I was worried you rolled off the side, ha ha." he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. Varian smirked.

"If i went off the edge, Rapunzel would've come tumbling down with me!" They laughed together and, for that moment, Varian felt good again. Then he turned back towards the campsite. "It's kind of funny..." Varian said slowly, "As much as I enjoy being with the group, I loved talking to you. There's no past mistakes between us, so that helps... ha" Varian hugged his arm to his side and kept his eyes on the camp.

"That actually fits really nicely into what I was going to offer!" Hector said happily, coming up to stand next to Varian. He made to put a hand on his shoulder but thought twice and lowered his hand to his side. "I'm guessing you're going to say no but, would you be opposed to me joining your little group?"

Varian's eyes widened and he turned to face Hector with a goofy smile on his face. "Of course not! Come on!" he began to step out, off the ledge, before realizing. "Oh yeah um-"

"Don't worry, kiddo, I'll just take the long way around." he clicked his tongue and the two bearcats shot up from their resting position to go to his side. Varian looked over his shoulder as he rolled up the scroll and vanished.

As he reached the ledge, he saw everyone already beginning to leave. Varina ran to Rapunzel and tapped her shoulder. His hand passed through her and she shivered before turning.

"Oh, Varian!" she whispered. Where were you? She asked, switching to speaking to him telepathically instead.

"Oh I was just hanging out with... someone." She gave him a searching look, but he avoided her eyes. "Oh and, fun little fact, we will have someone joining us." he rushed the last part, not knowing how she was going to react. Unfortunately, that was when Hector and the bearcats arrived.

Shorty and Lance screamed simultaneously, waking Hook Foot, who also screamed. Cass and Eugene pulled out their swords like the responsible adult they were. Varian groaned and put a hand to his face. Rapunzel noticed this and she was able to catch what Varian had said. She swallowed nervously and went up to Hector. There were various calls for her to stop, but she kept walking till she was in front of the man.

Varian? She mouthed to him. He nodded and smiled. Do you trust him, Varian? She asked next, and Varian nodded his head fiercely. Raps smiled and held out her hand.

"Hello! I am Princess Rapunzel, but just Rapunzel is fine.'' She introduced herself. Hector gladly shook hands and introduced himself.

"Greetings, Princess. I am Hector of the Dark Kingdom." Rapunzel's eyes lit up.

"The Dark Kingdom? We're going there right now!" Hector glanced sideways.

"Yeah that's what I figured... anyways" he shook his head as if to physically clear his thoughts, "I have a small request to ask of you and your friends, Princess."

Rapunzel decided to ignore him calling her 'Princess' because of what Adira had explained about their training they went through together as kids.

"Yes?"

"Would it be alright if I joined you on your journey to the Dark Kingdom?" he replied curtly. Varian looked between the two expectantly but stopped when he saw Hector's eyes. There was something new there. It didn't seem like malicious intent, but it could easily become malicious if needed. Rapunzel must've not noticed because she just smiled.

"Of course!" At this point, the entire group had come and joined Raps and Hector.

"Wait, what?!" Cassandra and Eugene said incredulously. Eugene grabbed Rapunzel's shoulders and turned her to face him.

"Blondie, are you sure you slept well last night?" He asked worriedly. Rapunzel rolled her eyes and pulled herself out of his hands, going back to face Hector.

"I say he can come with us. Adira has told us about you and your job to protect the Moonstone, so you can come with us and keep an eye on us!" she explained briskly. Hector nodded.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't impressed, Princess." Varian watched with amusement as the rest of the group tried to convince her not to let him come with them. As they tried again and again, Adira came up to Hector. The air got awkward really quickly. For the rest of the gang, it was fine because they were busy. But Varian would have to watch this happen.

Sitting on a nearby rock, he watched the two grownups trying to convince themselves to act more mature and a princess get bored out of her skull from her friends trying to pressure her into saying no. After what seemed like forever, Raps put her foot down.

By the time they had figured it out, the sun was setting. Cassandra re-lit the fire and everyone went to bed early for the long day ahead of them. All except for Varian and Hector. Varian had questions, and Hector didn't want to sleep.

A/N: I DID IT! THANK GOODNESS OH MY GOSH. I hope you like it and, as I said in the previous section, I am changing my writing style ever so slightly so you may notice some darker themes such as nightmares, insomnia, depression, and betrayal. So if this is still your kinda thing, then great! If not, I'm sorry. Although I am glad you made it all the way here <3

Thank you for reading and I wish you a very good day/night/afternoon/evening/morning!

Love, Coco

p.s. make sure to comment if you see a grammatical error or if you have a suggestion! (just make sure you aren't being an ass about it and we'll be good)