HOOKED ↝ DESCENDANTS

[22]

"Were you expecting anybody?" Rosalie asked Harry as the sharp sound of a knock rapped against the door of her dorm, looking over from her desk at where the boy lay sprawled across her bed, scrolling through his phone, though Harry simply shook his head in response, causing the girl to furrow her eyebrows in confusion.

"Were you?" he asked, and she shook her head, tentatively crossing the room and pulling open the door to reveal the two figures waiting on the other side.

"SURPRISE!"

"Mom!" Rosalie exclaimed, her eyes quickly darting to where Harry still lay on the bed in the corner of the room, and at her words, the boy's eyes widened in fear as he quickly hopped up from the furniture, straightening out his shirt in an attempt to look more presentable for Rapunzel and Eugene Fitzherbert. "Dad! What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, we just thought that, now that everything's started to quiet down, we'd come take a trip and see what everything looks like, and come surprise you." Rapunzel explained, her long blonde hair braided down her back in an elegant twist, and Eugene looked up, seeing Harry standing behind them.

"I'm sorry," he quickly apologized, his eyes darting back and forth between his daughter and the boy standing behind her. "We didn't realize you had a guest."

"Come on in," Rosalie said to her parents, stepping aside to let them in, and she quickly took Harry's hand, leading the boy over to them. "Mom, Dad, this is Harry Hook. My boyfriend." she explained.

"Ah," they both said, a tad too quickly, clearly being caught off guard at finding one of the new VKs with their daughter.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness." Harry said, bowing his head slightly in an attempt to make a good first impression, but Rapunzel simply shook her head with a small smile, pulling Harry into a hug.

"The pleasure is all ours." she assured him. "Please, call me Rapunzel, and this is my husband, Eugene."

"I always knew Rosalie was just like her mother." Eugene said, shaking Harry's hand, and the young boy chuckled nervously in response. "They both have a thing for bad boys. You know, I was once the most wanted criminal in all of Corona." he bragged, causing Rosalie to roll her eyes in embarrassment.

"Dad," she sighed, and he simply laughed, wrapping an arm around his daughter's shoulders.

"Alright, alright, I'm done." he said, looking back and forth between the two teenagers. "Well, should we all go grab some lunch in town? And you can tell us about all this work you've been doing the past couple weeks?"

"We would love to," Rosalie said, she and Harry following after the King and Queen of Corona out of the room and letting the door shut behind them.

"So what are the reparations like?" Eugene asked as they sat around a table at the Culinary Cabaret in Auradon City, Rosalie digging into her French onion soup while Harry had opted for the Grey Stuff, and soon learned that it was, in fact, delicious.

"They're going well." Harry explained. "Our cleanup crews are making great progress around the Isle, and our construction crews are nearly done with the first set of houses. A lot of families were displaced into tents there, so we've been helping those who have chosen to stay on the island have a place to call home."

Rosalie squeezed Harry's hand softly under the table. Though he hadn't let on to Rosalie's parents that his family had been one displaced into a tent near the wharf, she knew how much the reparation projects meant to him, and how much progress they'd made over the past two and a half weeks thanks to Uma's initiative.

"That sounds wonderful." Rapunzel said with a kind smile. "How is everyone getting settled in Auradon, for those who have chosen to leave the Isle?"

"It's great," he assured her. "Nice to see the sun every day, we didn't get much of that over there with the barrier. Rosalie's been overseeing those who are currently staying in the school dorms, along with Carlos. They've done a wonderful job in making us all feel welcome."

"Well, we are very proud of you, Rosie." Rapunzel said, meeting her daughter's eyes. "You've done a wonderful job helping those on both sides of the barrier, and you're going to make a wonderful queen one day."

Rosalie could feel Harry tense slightly next to her at her mother's words, his eyebrows raising slightly, and Eugene turned to Harry, clapping the young boy on the shoulder.

"And you found yourself a good one, Rosie." Eugene said, nodding approvingly at Harry. "I like this one. He reminds me of a younger me."

After Harry and the Fitzherberts finished lunch, Rapunzel and Eugene bid goodbye to Harry and Rosalie, who were going to do a bit of shopping in town before heading back to Auradon Prep for the night, the King and Queen of Corona off to pay Ben and his parents a visit, both to visit old friends and to ask the king how else the kingdom of Corona could get involved in the merging communities. As soon as they were out of sight, Harry looked back at Rosalie, a nervous look on his face.

"So what did your mum mean?" Harry asked. "When she said you were going to make a great queen?"

"Well, in a few years, I'll inherit my mother's throne." Rosalie explained. "Ben was crowned king a little younger, as he oversees all of Auradon, but for the surrounding kingdoms, we have our coronations a little bit later. I won't be nearly as powerful as Ben is, but I'll at least have a say over Corona, down south."

"Wow," Harry mused, impressed. "You really are full of surprises, aren't you, Fitz?"

"I like to think so." she said with a smile. "You know..." she trailed off. "...I could always use a king by my side, if that was something anyone wanted."

"You mean it?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Of course." she said. "We've still got a few years, but when the time comes, yes."

Harry smiled, leaning down and kissing her quickly before taking her hand in his, a proud smile gracing his face. "If only my father could see me now."