Last chapter. I'm posting now because tomorrow I have company coming over and then it's back to work (vacation time, where did you go?) I hope you all have enjoyed my brief break from reality. I'll miss this… I like living in fairy tales.

And thanks to Robert Southey, Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont, Charles Perrault, and the Brothers Grimm for giving me the inspiration.

Music: 'Everything Will Be Alright' by The Killers, off the album 'Hot Fuss'

"Rose"

She comes back on a Sunday morning in early July.

As she stands in her room, filled with boxes, she can't believe her plan worked. She appealed to her father, called him every day for nearly three months until he threatened to stop paying child support unless her evil mother took her out of the boarding school.

And now she's back, in the evil house that feels only vaguely like home and she can't believe she's here. It doesn't feel real.

Somehow she finds herself outside, turning right at the end of the driveway, her feet following the familiar path to his house. Through the yards, over the fences, everything scarily unchanged, even after two years.

She hasn't seen him in two years.

The house's smaller than she remembers, but she doesn't dwell on it. She doesn't knock on the door, either. She goes around the house and glances into the pool house, but he's not there. She backtracks and heads toward the pier, remembering the diner they used to frequent.

He's there, sitting at a table outside, and she stops dead in her tracks when she sees him. His eyes are older, shadows in them, and his hair is longer than it used to be, shaggy and wild.

And she flashes back to eight years ago, almost exactly, when he fell from her apple tree and it feels like the world has color again. It feels like the world has color and purpose and meaning and life.

Magic.

His eyes are blue and his hair is blonde and she takes an unconscious step forward. She stops, though, when the rest of the world comes back into focus.

His sidekick is there with him, along with the princess, but there's someone else, a girl she vaguely recognizes. Her heart freezes in her chest when she sees the other girl lean into her prince and it's wrong. It's all wrong and she feels like this has to be a trick, a spell, a curse.

The evil enchantress has to have cursed him.

She decides to leave and the minute the thought crosses her mind, his eyes rise and meet hers, almost like he senses her there, even though there's no way he could know. He doesn't move for a minute, just stares at her and she stares back.

It's him that breaks first and he turns to his group and says something and gets up. His eyes go back to her briefly and flick toward the space between two shops and she nods.

She moves through the crowd and keeps her head low and waits for him in the alley, pacing and picking at her nails. She knows she should've thought this through. She looks awful because she hasn't changed from her flight and it's obvious. She wore the blue and white dress for comfort, but now it's wrinkled and slightly dirty from the plane and she knows her hair is a mess and it probably looks like she just ran through a forest, chased down by wolves.

A shadow blocks the entrance to the alley and she looks up to see him, looming, angry and confused and so many other things she can't process right now.

What are you doing here? he asks and she wants to cry because she hasn't heard her prince's voice in nearly a year. Why aren't you… what are you doing here?

I got my mom to let me out, she says and tries to smooth down her hair. My dad, he helped.

Your dad, he says, but it's not a question or a comment. Just a statement of numb disbelief. She doesn't blame him.

So who is she? She wants to hit herself for saying that. She hadn't meant to, but she couldn't help it. And he doesn't ask who she meant, because he knows.

Her name's Marissa. She used to be friends with Summer when they were little. Remember?

Yeah.

They stand in silence and she's not sure what to say next, so she bites her lip and picks at her nails.

You left me, his voice is hard and she looks up at him to see the anger in his eyes. You can't just come back and act like you're some sort of victim. You left me, remember?

I didn't have a choice, she says quietly, hands shaking, because this isn't him. Her prince would never yell at her.

Look, he says, running a hand through his hair. I can't do this right now, I have to get back to my girlfriend. She takes a step back and wonders what the evil enchantress did to him, to make him so cruel. Because she knows he said that to hurt her.

Then go. It's all she can do not to cry, because this isn't how it was supposed to go. She was supposed to come back and he was supposed to be happy and still… want her.

He turns to go, but pauses at the alleyway entrance. I want to talk to you later, he says, voice low and edged with anger. Come to the pool house tonight at seven.

Ok, she manages to get out before he leaves and she's not sure it was a good idea to agree.

But she goes home and dumps out box after box of clothes, looking for something to wear, something that doesn't look stupid or desperate, because he doesn't… want her anymore. He just wants to talk, or yell, or give her something she probably left when she went away.

She settles for a yellow summer dress, hoping the color will soothe him. It's not a ball gown, but it's classy enough for her tastes.

Taylor, where are you going? Her mother's voice stops her in the foyer and she turns to see the evil woman standing there.

Out.

Your father may have convinced me to let you back home, but I am not letting you out of this house. You're going to see the felon, aren't you?

His name's Ryan, mom, she almost whines, but her mother doesn't crack.

You're staying in your room tonight. Go.

She can't argue, so she goes back upstairs and shuts her door. Then she puts on music and waits until she hears her mother go down to the den to have her usual after-dinner vodka. When she's sure her mother's buried in liquor, she opens her window and peers out and smiles when the she sees that the trellis is still there.

She climbs down slowly and starts to walk, unable to take the car because her mother would hear. As she goes, she glances at her watch and realizes she's nearly an hour late, but she forgot her cell phone at home so she can't call. She hurries, though, feet taking the same route they always did.

She makes it to the castle in record time and sneaks around the side of the house and knocks quietly on the pool house door. A noise comes from inside, but no one answers, so she tries the door handle.

He's sitting on his bed, elbows on his knees, head hanging down and she sees a single red rose in his hand. When she shuts the door, he looks up and she lets out a breath at the dead look in his eyes.

Sorry I'm late, she tries, lamely.

I thought you weren't coming, he croaks, voice barely above a whisper.

No, my mom just… and I forgot my cell phone… she isn't sure what she's saying because his hand's moved to his chest, pressing over his heart and he shakes his head slightly.

I thought you weren't coming, he repeats, brows furrowing. She moves over to the bed and drops to her knees in front of him and takes his hands in hers.

I'm sorry, Ryan. It's not enough, but it's all she can manage right now. He looks at her and for a brief moment his eyes are wild and she's suddenly afraid that he's too far gone – that the evil enchantress has turned him into a beast that isn't capable of being human anymore. I'm here now, she tries, bringing his hand up to her face so he can feel her.

I can't do this, he whispers, something indefinable sparking behind his eyes. You'll just leave again.

I won't, she promises, voice rising in desperation. I'm back for the next school year and once I'm eighteen she can't send me away again, Ryan. I'm not leaving.

When you didn't show up, he continues like she hasn't said anything, I thought I was dying…

She closes her eyes and shakes her head. This isn't how it was supposed to go. She was supposed to come back and he was supposed to still be the same boy she fell for. Instead she finds him, brooding and angry, and now she's here.

I love you, Ryan, she whispers and everything stops. Time, her heart, her head. Everything stops for an eternal second and she feels an overwhelming sense of calm. And as time snaps back to normal, she realizes she's never told him that before and she wonders why.

Because she's been in love with him for eight years, since that morning he fell out of her apple tree.

He looks up at her and she watches the anger fade and she watches the pain go away and she watches him transform back into her prince.

I love you, too, he smiles and everything is right with the world.

She doesn't care that it's been two years, she doesn't care that her mother hates him, she doesn't care about the evil enchantress. Nothing matters except that he loves her and she loves him. He stares at her and she smiles back at him and she feels her heart rate speed up.

That for me? she asks, to break the tension. His eyes follow hers to the single rose in his hand and he flushes red and nods. It's beautiful, she murmurs and takes it gently from him, smiling down at it.

Yeah, he whispers back and when she looks up at him, she catches him staring at her.

It's the last straw and she breaks down and lays her head on his knee as he threads his hand into her hair and they sit there in the darkened pool house, with the moonlight streaming through the windows as she cries.

She falls asleep in his arms and she doesn't care that she should go home before her mother realizes she snuck out and she doesn't care that his parents will most likely find them in the morning and she doesn't care that she'll have to explain everything because no one but him knows she's back.

She doesn't care because for the first time in two years, she gets to spend her Sunday with him.

And she doesn't care, because she knows she'll be spending all of her Sundays with him and she thinks that today was a miracle.

And what better time for wishes to come true than a warm Sunday morning?

...and they lived happily ever after...