Chapter Text
“Parent’s Day”, was written in the center of the classroom. Her homeroom teacher, Ms. Fauna was leaning next to the board smiling fondly as her students filed out of the classroom. Red quickly moved out heading straight for her locker. It’s been a whole semester since her and Chloe saved the school. Everything seemed to be the same, nothing has happened since then at least. It’s been so long since the Time Travel mission, yet Red was always paranoid one day she’d wake up and she’d be ruling next to her mom.
The Queen of Hearts in this timeline seemed to be very fond of her daughter, always sending letters by card. Each one of them Red received, whether or not she wanted them, they’d always arrive in the most interesting manner. Some would arrive as just a simple playing card, and of course because it was a Wonderland card, they would verbalize said letters. As of recently however, the cards would transform into her mother’s footmen or provide a show to recite to the young princess her mother’s message.
The hallways were mostly empty since all the classes for the day ended. Since Red was technically a transfer student, her locker was placed closer to Principal Uma’s office for ‘Easy access to someone who will always be there for her.’ Red didn’t mind the proximity, if anything, it was more of an advantage, her locker was placed between the dorms and the gym lockers allowing her to be able to walk Chloe to her Swords and Shields practice. Her friend was nowhere to be found though, since she stormed off right after the announcement of Parent’s Day.
As Red approached her locker, she saw a small playing card taped to the front. She knew it was another letter, but quickly ignored it. This was the fourth letter today and Red was still uneasy about her mother’s newfound affection. Red was not used to this side of her mother, she usually refused to come home during winter break just to avoid her. Now she had no chance in avoiding her anymore, Parent’s Day was fast approaching and would be held at the end of the week.
“Maybe I can fake being sick.” she muttered to herself as she finally moved to open her locker.
“Or maybe you could stick with my family to avoid small talk.” Red slightly flinched at the sudden voice until she turned to see who responded to her idea. Her blue-headed roommate was smiling at her.
“Dammit Chlo, don’t sneak up on me like that.” Red huffed out, turning back to put down her books. Chloe, flustered at the little nickname, the red-head had given her was thankfully covered by her locker door
“ Sorry,” She whispered out, you could almost hear the small giggle she let out as she apologized.
“ I saw you speed walking down the hall after the Parent’s Day announcement and wanted to talk about plans for the event.”
Red closed her locker to face the princess and furrowed her brows. The thing with Chloe is that she is always excited about something, always planning something, always doing something, just so energetic. She was so different from Red, but that’s what Red liked about her. Red probably wouldn’t have gone to half of the events that were held at school if it wasn’t for her blue-headed roommate.
Chloe was also so amiable and was the first person to believe in her. When they went back in time, Chloe told Red that she believed she was a good person. Red had held onto that statement and would lean on it like a crutch when her conscience ever faltered. But she would never admit that to Chloe.
“Plans? What is there to plan?” Staring down at her roommate with an amused look on her face.
“Well– the Swords and Shields team is competing that morning, and I was hoping-” Chloe was cut off by Red.
“I’d love to.” Red spilled out. Clearly filled with enthusiasm. Red smiled to herself thinking; Love? Gods, that was a bit much. As she fought not to cringe at her own statement Chloe was beaming with joy.
“I’m glad to hear you’ll be there. It means a lot to me, Red.” she stated as she was pulling her into a small hug. Red hated physical touch, but let it be since it was Chloe after all.
“Anyways, I’ll meet you at the dorm later, gotta head to practice.” Chloe then jogged off as to not be tardy to her practice. Red walked slowly towards the dorm, picking the card off of her locker so she could see what her mother wanted.
Thankfully, the card wasn’t anything crazy like the last three had been. It was a black and red Jack of Hearts Card. Each card had a meaning, if the card was a number it was probably a small message like a check-in letter or just her mother wanting to make sure she knew she loved her. If it was a card that's a part of the royal flush it meant it was important, of course, if it was a Queen of Hearts Card, she would know it was urgent. But again, thankfully it was just a Jack.
Red was a little nervous to hear the new message, but was a little excited to finally reach the comfort of her own room. Since Auradon promoted expressing individuality, they give you full control on the customization of your dorms. Red and Chloe agreed on combining their styles from the get go. Red kept her signature heart shaped bed with black and red theming with hints of gold. While Chloe’s bed on the opposite side was a simple canopy style bed with her signature blue and white with some silver trimmings. Chloe loved Red’s graffiti murals so she requested that her and Red have matching murals on either side of the room.
The center of the room had Chloe’s personal favorite decoration, a wall filled with pictures of friends and family. Chloe’s pictures mainly consisted of her and her brother, Chad. Red had mainly pictures of her old teacher, Maddox, with an occasional picture of the Queen of Hearts photo bombing the two in the background. Many people may not like dorming, but to Red, her room felt a little bit more like home.
Once she arrived at her dorm she looked down at the card and took a deep breath. Flicking the card, bringing the card to life, allowing the Jack to report his message.
“Good evening princess, the Queen would like you to know that she will be attending your school’s Parent’s Day ceremony and will arrive by sunrise to greet you. She also would hope to expect a full update on how you’ve been once she arrives. The Queen would also like to state that she loves you very much and hopes you are doing well. Have a good day princess.” With that end statement the Jack transformed back into a playing card.
Red grabbed the playing card off the floor and stared at it. Walking over to her bed, she placed the card on her nightstand. Flopping on her bed, she stared up at her ceiling.
The Queen loves you, it's so stupid, by this time, she’s received enough letters that say her mother loved her. It was becoming redundant. She’s sick thinking of it. It didn’t matter if she prayed for this kind of mom for years, it didn’t matter that she would cry at night hoping her mom would wake up and change her mind about her. It never happened, until now. It left an uncomfortable ache in her chest. Knowing how long she waited, how much she craved her mothers kindness. It’s hard accepting she has it now, it’s even harder to realize no one will remember how it used to be. Even if she confided in her old teacher, Maddox, he wouldn’t even know what she’s talking about, and possibly even ask if she was going mad. It was a lot to process, and she had to do it quickly. If she reacted this way every time she heard her mother say she loves her, she wouldn’t last a minute on Parent’s Day, let alone summer break.
“Oh gods Parent’s Day,” Red didn't know how to even start to process what’s about to unfold. She hasn’t seen her mother since orientation. Maybe that was a good thing, but thinking about it now, seeing her mom might be a lot for her, even if it’s just for a few hours. The realization was hitting her hard, harder than what she could handle. Panicking she looked around, the walls were becoming red and closing in. Something weirdly familiar was crushing Red from the inside out. She sat up quickly realizing it felt like she was losing air. Grasping at her chest she tried focusing on breathing as her vision blurred, she hoped for any kind of miracle that this would stop. She tucked her knees in and hugged her legs as tight as she could, making herself as small as possible to stop the world spinning.
Time went by, but Red couldn’t keep track of when and where she was at. Memories and present events were all blending together in her head leaving her in a motionless state. She didn’t realize what was going on until she felt something holding her. An aggressive halt to her thoughts was caused by a soft sensation wrapped around her wrists. For the first time in a while, or however long she’s been stuck like this, Red was actually able to feel herself breathing. It was almost like whiplash realizing she wasn’t stuck in whatever twisted time capsule she was confined in.
It took a few minutes for her to realize that she’s been crying. She blinked hard to bat away the leftover tears from whatever just happened. Focusing on the feeling of whatever held her was slowly but surely grounding her. The more she slowed down the more she realized that she was gripping really aggressively onto her legs. A few shaky breaths and she released herself from her own clutches. At the same time the feeling that was wrapping around her wrists were loosening up too, but were very quickly replaced with slow circles on her back.
It took a bit of time, but Red eventually relaxed her body, allowing her to slowly unfold herself from her original position. Still shaky, she opens her eyes to find that her roommate was staring right at her. Her friend’s face was scrunched up with an extremely worried expression cemented onto her face. Chloe’s expression softened once she realized the taller girl was looking at her. She looked upset, sad, and something else that Red couldn’t quite decipher. Taking in the scene before her, Red let herself unravel in her roommate’s arms.
After 30 minutes of just holding her, Chloe began to hum a little tune to hopefully bring Red back to her. She didn’t want to push her to explain or force a conversation, so resorting to humming a lullaby her mother sang her as a child would be the best option. Red took a long breath and looked up at the princess knight.
“I’m sorry” she finally says.
“There is no need to apologize.” Chloe stated. Red pauses as if Chloe was taking in what she just said.
“I’m sorry you had to see that…”
“Never apologize for being vulnerable with me, I love all of you, even this side of you. I want you to be able to lean on me. I want you to know I care so much about you and that it's okay to fall apart sometimes.” Chloe whispered like it was a secret between the two girls. Love was a strong word, and Chloe seemed very confident in what she had just said to the red-head.
Red stared in awe at the statement, almost like she had just heard Chloe say she killed someone. Chloe looked back at her, seeing the gears slowly turn in Red’s head. Chloe held onto those words for a while, and never knew how to tell Red how much she cared, but now seemed like the right time. It wasn’t the confession Chloe wanted to give, but it’s the one Red needed.
Red hugged Chloe. Red hates physical touch, so this was something. Something Chloe could have never predicted, something she wanted to freeze and stay that way forever.
“Thank you.” Red seemed to get out, muffled by the fact that her face was buried in Chloe’s shoulder.
After a while Red finally broke the contact and leaned back to stare at Chloe. Red had a small smirk forming, causing Chloe to look confused at the girl’s expression.
“So you love me, princess?” Red said it like it was a challenge. Chloe rolled her eyes and giggled, leaning forward she whispered in her ear.
“Oh, more than you could ever know Red.” leaning back she turned away to hide her slight blush forming, hoping Red wouldn’t see how flustered she was after realizing what she said.
Red was almost as bright as her namesake, causing her to turn away as well, but that didn’t stop her from noticing the small blush forming on her roommate’s face.
“Anyways-” Chloe blurted.
“Do you wanna just watch a movie tonight to destress? I know this was a lot for you and I think you need to rest, and though I normally push you to do homework I don’t want to-”
“You're rambling princess. But yes, I’d love that.” Red was amused by the girl’s nervousness, but was appreciative of the girl’s concern for her wellbeing.
Chloe relaxed at Red’s statement, nodding to show she understood. Chloe shifted to move off of Red’s bed to head to her own, but was stopped by someone holding her hand. Looking down, Chloe bit her tongue so that her blush wouldn’t form. She slowly looked back up at Red to figure out what she wanted.
“I know this isn’t like me but, could you,” She paused. “–be next to me, like lay here with me this time. You make me feel better to be honest.” Red trailed off. That last part was a little hard for Chloe to hear but she understood right away. Leaning back into the bed Chloe opened her arms to signal for Red to come closer. Red quickly complied to the silent request and made her way to the blue headed girl. Red rested her head on her chest and wrapped her arms around Chloe’s waist. Opening her laptop, Red put on a movie then allowed herself to soak in the feeling of the blue girl’s arms around her. Focusing on her friend’s heart rate allowed her to slowly drift off to sleep.
“Thanks Chlo… for always helping me.” Red said sleepily.
“Anytime Red.” Chloe whispered to the girl. She smiled looking down at the sleepy girl taking in her features.
Chole began thinking to herself as she watched the rise and fall of Red’s chest. She went through a lot today… I- she needed this. Chloe thought. She sighed, pulling the sleeping girl closer to her. With the mix of warmth coming from Red and the lulling sound of the A/C, she felt herself being pulled into slumber. No one deserves this. Maybe I can take a little edge off by being the best friend I can be. Was the last thing Chloe thought of before allowing sleep to fully take over.