LIKE A FIST IN THE EYE | Ch. 1
[rotbtd // soulmate AU]
āAre you done for the day?ā Rapunzel repeats. āOr do you still have that midterm essay you said Rafiki asked you?ā
ā...Hellās bells. I completely forgot about that!ā Merida shoots up to a sitting position and immediately falls back to her elbows, head spinning as colors flooded her vision. āUgh.ā
āYou need to sleep,ā Rapunzel says sternly as she sits up as well, one hand on Meridaās shoulder. āItās submitted through email tonight, right? Have some rest first.ā
āPunz, I havenāt even started it yet.ā
āYouāll get it done, I know you can! You always do. Iāve seen how you work. But first, you need to rest.ā Rapunzel grabs her hand to steady her when the world wobbles underneath Meridaās feet and checks her wristwatch. āOops, itās almost time already. Iāll meet you back at the apartment?ā
āYeah, sure,ā she almost forgot Rapunzel has an afternoon exam today, at three thirty PM. After putting back her things into her backpack, Merida yawns and waves her away. āGo now. Be brilliant.ā
Rapunzel finally leaves, but not before telling her, āTake a break, Merida! Sleep!ā
Which, heartbreakingly, is something that Merida canāt do. The deadline for Rafikiās essay is nine PM. What she needs to do right now, instead of sleeping, is set up a nice cramming corner in their apartment with a good coffee on her side. A potent one.
Turns out, finding an establishment that could fulfill her request is harder than it sounds.
After being (politely) denied in every mainstream coffee chain around Walt, Merida finds herself defeatedly stepping inside that blasted cafĆ© down the main street, consciousness hanging by a thread. Sheās heard about the place many times before, one of the newer student haunts in town that Rapunzel has mentioned as her cousinsā favorite. But the distance from campus and her initial skepticism with its flowery name has kept Merida away from the establishmentāuntil now.