Joe Mazzello x Fem!reader Tangled A.U.
Warnings : hints of abusive relationships, hints of a bad childhood
Taglist : @mazzell-ro // @speciallyred // @mistiermistshazierdays // @somarsword // @lizgarxo //
series masterlist || main masterlist
(Y/N) didn't know Tim. She didn't know him in the slightest. Why was she trusting him to let her out of this dungeon she grew to call her home?
The answer would have been easy, that he was her only hope. And to some extent, he was. She loved adventures even though she hadn't been on one, not one she could remember, anyway. But after meeting him and serving him some leftover soup (while he awkwardly stood in the corner of the kitchen, rubbing his sore shoulders), she realized how desperate she was. She didn't know who he was, but yet he would be more trustable than her mother.
She was doubtful, of course. What if people like him were the reason her mother locked her up? Were people like him the reason that daughters couldn't sleep at night? Were people like him the reason that people would be deemed as "kind" since the bar seemed so low? She didn't know. But she didn't have anything to lose, and if anything were to happen, then she would finally get a chance to show off her impeccable skill of injuring people with only a frying pan.
She was snapped out of her reverie from a loud sigh at the other end of the table. She saw Tim stretching his arms over his head leisurely, a yawn escaping his lips.
"Well, that was one of the most amazing soups I've had, so thank you for that," he said, his awkwardness from earlier seemed to have gone, or maybe he was just masking it well.
She nodded, and a small "You're welcome" was said. Her mother may have been a monster, but that didn't stop her from teaching the young girl some manners.
Her eyes didn't leave him, neither did his. She did not know what he was thinking, and she didn't want to know. She didn't know how people worked, never having met a person other than her unstable mother. The only person she knew was herself, but can you honestly say that you know yourself if you haven't met company that brings out other parts of you?
She wondered what his life was like. Was he trapped, was he being "protected" from the evils of the worldâor was he a free wanderer?
She didn't know how long she stared at him, but then again he was allowing her to stare at him. "Right, so I will be asking for payback, as I said," she started. He nodded, taking a deep breath. "We should go u-"
"I don't get your deal," he blurted.
"My deal?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Yes, why were you acting so weird about money? And why are you in this tower in the middle of nowhere? Are you a witch?" he asked.
His last sentence was meant to be a joke, and she noticed it as one but she didn't laugh. She didn't want to show any emotions, fearing she would be deemed as weak.
"Well," she started, taking a deep breath herself. Should she really be telling all of this to a person she just met?
"My mother doesn't trust anyone and I think that sort of projected on me. So she gave birth to me and hid me here so I wouldn't be attacked or manipulated. And that's also why I want to go to The Outside and see what she's hiding me from. It can't be that bad right? I see the birds chirping from my window and the grass under the tower every day and it kills me that I can't feel it," she ranted, her hands flinging wildly.
Yes, she wasn't telling him the whole picture, how she would say things to her if she didn't sing the song. And yes, she was also hiding from him the fact that she was born bearing magic.
Seeing that her rant was over, Tim tilted his head. "That's a pretty cool origin story if you ask me," he said, once again trying to make her laugh. He was good at trying, she noticed. Giving in, she laughed a bit, not really getting the joke.
She looked at him again, but this time he was smiling widely, proud of his accomplishment. She felt butterflies in the pit of her stomach, or something like that; she had only read this feeling in books after all.
Too oblivious to notice anything else, she smiled back at him, now giving him the advantage of knowing her better. She figured since she was going to go on an adventure with him, she might as well show him some of her soft side.
He stood up, dragging his chair backward in the process. She looked up at him, now standing up as well. "Shall we go to the outside then, m'lady?" he asked, the smile still on his face.
She nodded, but seeing him head towards the main door, said, "Oh no, that's always locked. I have a rope upstairs though."
He had a wild look in his eyes. "W-we're going to slide down a rope?" he asked.
"Well, yeah, there's no other option, really," she said, pointing to his now broken arrows.
He nodded in affirmation although he still seemed nervous.
Seeing him like this made her pity him, so she held his hand in hers, rubbing what she hoped to be comforting circles on the back of his surprisingly warm hand. She didn't know this only made his heartbeat race up ten times faster, she didn't look at his face as his eyes blew wide open. She just smiled slightly and said, "It's okay, I'm sure nothing bad will happen."
She read people doing this in books. She got all of her "people knowledge" from books.
She let go of his hand, walking towards the stairs, silently telling Tim to follow.
She also didn't see the slightly disappointed look he had when she let go.
"Are you sure this is strong enough?" he asked her, genuinely terrified of this too-thin rope.
She nodded quite assuringly, though he wasn't convinced. "Are you scared of heights?" she asked. Her look wasn't of a person trying to tease him, just a genuine question. She probably wouldn't even know what teasing was, he thought.
So he nodded, trying not to let his heartbeat be audible to her. "Well, aren't you afraid of something?" he asked.
"Not really, I haven't experienced anything to be afraid of it," she said, though she did seem a little uncertain. He decided not to pry.
He made a silent promise in his head that he would give her anything if it meant she wouldn't be afraid.
He didn't really want to do this, though. He did not want to take a random girl somewhere to see the "world", or a small part of it, anyway.
But, she helped him so it was only polite to help her too. And besides, if he wanted to, he could just hand her over to some other people and get rid of yet another responsibility in his life.
He also didn't want to address his feelings.
He slowly looked down from her window, still scared. He took in a huge breath and before he could let it out, he heard her whisper, "Do you want to go first?"
Without thinking, he blurted out a "yes." He mentally berated himself for doing this, guessing spontaneity was probably another thing he carried from his childhood.
He didn't even register the fact that (Y/N) was rubbing circles on his back, as his breathing returned to somewhat normal.
He reached out for the rope, gripping it tightly as he slowly climbed out of the window.
One by one, he dragged his feet down, then his hands, then his feet and so on, only concentrating on his breathing, only looking up at the skies and (Y/N)'s head peeking from the window, and soon enough he could feel the small stream flowing below, as he looked down. Only one more step and he could jump and land on the soft, plush grass.
He could also hear (Y/N) cheer for him from above, and even though her voice was faint, her excitement was visible.
He smiled widely, pumping his fists above him. He looked up and waved her to climb down as well, and even though only her silhouette was visible, he could imagine her nodding.
He stepped aside and soon enough she dragged herself down the same way he did, though her eyes were glued to the ground. She was barefoot, he realized, and made a mental note to buy her good shoes, if he could afford it from his bit of money he had in his bag.
She stayed there, gripping the rope, her knuckles white, as she stared at the ground that was now close to her. He didn't realize how much this meant to her.
Her foot touched the cool grass as he held his breath.
A wide smile emerged on her face, so wide that he could barely see her eyes, but if he could, he was pretty sure they were sparkling. Her smile was contagious, he found himself smiling as well.
Her other foot slowly touched the ground as well, as she looked around her, seeing the beautiful world, and him.
sorry for the extremely late updates, school and other things are weighing down at the moment, but I hope you guys like it!!
also for those of you who have requested us anything, we're so sorry for coming up so late with the fics, we promise we'll try to make up for our absense.
also a huge thank you to @mazzell-ro for helping me!!! thank you, from the bottom of my heart <3
