Roses and Hooks /// Harry Hook

Chapter 14: Pirate Princess

Stumbling back, Rose looks at Harry as he watches her. Rose never expected to see him because Audrey never mentioned that he was here. Rose looks at the rest of the group and she sees Uma and Gil in the mix, too. Looking between everyone, Rose starts to laugh as she shakes her head.

"Well, that's a twist I didn't expect." Rose comments to herself as she looks at Mal. "I knew you'd be afraid of me, but to actually see you run to the pirates you hate so much..." Rose starts to cackle insanely.

"No one in Auradon can beat you." Carlos says quietly, and Rose's eyes snap to him.

"Exactly! Why do you think I wanted it that way? Because now I'm number one. No one can challenge me and win. Well, no one in Auradon." Rose says before winking at Harry. Rose sighs before chuckling as she looks at Mal. "You're clever, I'll give you that. Question is, can you beat me?"

"You know I can't." Mal snaps, and Rose sneers at her. "Snap out of it, Rose. Audrey has you under a spell."

"You think I don't know that?!" Rose screams at the girl, and everyone looks at her in either shock or confusion. "You think that I think it's perfectly normal to literally feel nothing but anger and hatred?! I can't even feel the love that I know I have for Harry! I cannot feel anything but rage!" Rose shouts as she kicks the helmet of a destroyed knight, laughing as it bounces around the room loudly.

"Beasty." Harry says, moving between the gang and Rose. Rose looks at him, and though all he can see is anger and madness, he does see the love she has for him very deep below the surface. "Let me break the spell, then."

"What? No!" Rose says as she stumbles back and throws her sword up to keep Harry away from her. "The only reason anything's getting done now is because of the spell. I'm finally getting what I want, and it's because of this stupid spell."

"Did you ever want to kill people?? I'm the killer in our relationship! Not you!!" Harry shouts at her, and Rose glares at him icily.

"What if the roles were reversed, Hook? Tell me that you wouldn't kill the kingdom to get back to me." Rose snaps, waiting for her pirate to say something, but he doesn't. He can't because he knows very well that he'd be doing the same thing she is if Audrey had walked up to him instead of her.

"Guys," Harry says after several long minutes of him and Rose staring each other down. "You guys go find Ben and Audrey. I'll be alright with Rose." Harry tells the gang behind him, and they are quick to leave the couple behind. None of them would be able to help Harry anyway.

"No!" Rose screams as she runs out of the room, trying to stay spelled as long as she can. She doesn't want to feel the pain and heartache from before. She already lost Harry once, and she doesn't want to go through the emotional rollercoaster again. She doesn't want to feel anything but anger because to her, anger is safe.

Harry chases after her, trying to keep up with her as she runs through the castle in an attempt to get away. He knows that she's hurt, and she doesn't want to feel that way again. He knows that she wants nothing more than to be with him, but the minute that everything goes back to normal in Auradon, he'll be sent back to the Isle without her. He doesn't want to lose her again, but he also doesn't want her to lose herself more than she already has.

Rose takes turns left and right in an attempt to lose him, but Harry's faster than she remembers him to be. She races through the many rooms and halls of her family's castle, racing outside into her mother's very large red rose maze. Rose grew up in that maze, so she knows that she can lose him in there, which is why she dives into the maze headfirst.

Harry races into the maze, stumbling to a stop when he can't see Rose anymore. She's somewhere in the large maze, and he doesn't know what exactly to do. He's never been in this maze before, so he has no idea what direction she could have taken.