Tangled - l.s

Chapter 10

"I, uh... didn't know you had it in you back there... it was pretty impressive..."

"I know!" Harry coughed lightly. "I- I know..."

Tommo smiled at him fondly before looking back at the tunnel, shaking his head.

Harry fidgeted for a few minutes to keep himself quiet, but eventually the lack of stimulation was enough to drive him crazy and conversation needed to be made. "So... Tommo... where are you from?"

"Woah woah... sorry, Blondie, I don't do backstories." He turned so he was walking backwards, grinning. "But, I'd love to hear yours. I know the hair is off limits... and... the mom..." He eyed Dusty, who was glaring at him. "And I'm frankly too scared to ask about the frog."

"Chameleon," Harry corrected, holding back Dusty, who was just about ready to charge Tommo.

"Same difference. But really, my question is: if you're so fascinated by the lanterns, why haven't you gone to see them before?

"Um..." Harry looked down, kicking a rock with his foot. "I couldn't."

He frowned softly. "Why not?"

"Mother wouldn't let me. She- she still doesn't know I'm out here. I'm not supposed to be..."

"How old are you?"

"18, why?"

"Your mother controls everything you do? Even if you can go outside?" Tommo shook his head. "That's not right..."

"What do you mean 'it's not right'? She's my mother, she just wants to keep me safe from people who want to hurt me, or worse. All she's ever done is protect me and I betrayed her..."

"She's kept you locked up your entire life, with no one but her and your frog. You can handle yourself, I'm proof! Why would she do that to you?"

"Dusty is a chameleon," Harry said again, starting to get angry. "She hasn't locked me up, she's been keeping me safe, and I can't handle myself, I have no idea what I'm doing out here, I need you and I need her. She's my mother."

"'She's your prison guard' is what it sounds like. You can hold your own, you knocked me out at least three times in the past two hours, and turned an angry mob into a flash mob. You're not helpless. She just wants you to think that, and it's working."

Harry scowled at the ground. He knew his mother was right, but he could tell he wouldn't be able to convince Tommo of the truth. And if he pushed too far Tommo might decide to abandon him out of anger and he couldn't risk that.

"Curly-" He heard someone else walking and whipped around, holding out his lantern like a weapon. "Oh no."

The Grimshaw were there.

Harry turned back. "Who's that?"

"They don't like me." He grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the tunnel, sprinting away from the Grimshaw. Harry followed quickly, eventually passing Tommo and pulling him along. They came to the exit and entered the light. They were in a gorge, with a dam and a water wheel connected to a few miles of scaffolding. The guards came out of the tunnel after the Grimshaw brothers.

"Who's that?" Harry asked Tommo.

"They don't like me either." He tightened his grip on his hand.

Maximus appeared behind the guards.

"Who's that?"

"Let's just assume for the moment that everyone here doesn't like me!"

"I like you!"

"Well- ok then, the majority of people here don't like me!"

"Ok- Here," Harry grunted, shoving his frying pan at Tommo. He looked around, quickly absorbing and analyzing the scenery for any sort of advantage, and found something that could work. Across the chasm, there was another precipice, a safe one that he could potentially reach. He swung his hair and looped it around some scaffolding high above, using it to swing across.

Tommo blinked. "Ok, leave me behind with a frying pan, that's fine."

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Sorry for not uploading yesterday... me and my family were shopping for my brother's college