AURORA GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH HER GODMOTHERS JUST AS THEY ENTERED MANHATTAN. She sighed as he took a moment to relax her mouth, exhausted from the constant speaking and shouting at them to stop fighting and stay focused. She had mouthed apologies to Phillip the entire way, the boy shrugging, not caring too much about it, looking rather uncomfortable without his sunglasses on.

"So..." Phillip began, glancing towards her out the corner of his eye, continuing to drive.

"So, apparently, when I fell into that pool when I had gone missing?" Aurora began, fiddling with Phillip's burner phone, "I had seen...things, and I was confused at first, because since it was a dream pool, I thought maybe I had actually had those dreams? But it turns out Maleficent looked forward and took a version of the future to show me, a version that would get me all confused and...stuff."

"So she can see into the future?" Phillip asked, looking horrified, and Aurora rushed to explain.

"Not exactly," she said, then paused, "Well, sort of, yes. My godmothers can do it too, they're really powerful mutants, you know? So she can see the various outcomes of things, including life, but she can't manipulate them or anything, you know, and she can't control us. But, yes, she showed me a version of my future."

"What did you see?" he asked, turning right and searching for a parking spot, as the two had agreed to meet Peter in Central Park since he'd be given some cover there to change without being caught in another alleyway scuffle on accident, a story he promised to tell at another time.

Aurora froze, eyes wide as she stared forward at the glove compartment. "I don't really want to talk about it?"

Phillip sighed as he pulled into a street parking spot, checking the sides before relaxing, leaning back in his seat. "That's fine. Listen, do you wanna just wait here for a bit, 'cause it's freezing out there, and I'm really not in the mood."

"Sure," she said, watching as he reached into the back seat, grabbing the Thai food that Spider-Man had gotten them, unwrapping the plastic.

The two sat in silence as Phillip ate, Aurora still too afraid to test and see what would happen if she tried to eat, the heater on to keep the boy warm as she found she couldn't feel the cold. She moved so she was leaning against the back of her seat on the side, her entire body turned towards Phillip who was still facing forward, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

She wanted to talk to him, but she had nothing to talk about. Of course, there was his car.

She looked around at the interior of the white car, at the tan pleather seats and the cup holders and other controls she didn't understand, because her godmothers refused to let her learn how to drive. She didn't understand anything about cars, but this seemed important to him, so she figured she could talk about it.

"What kind of a car is this?" she asked, looking towards the backseat and the lower ceiling, then over at him.

"It's a 1993 Ford Mustang," he explained, seeming to light up as he set his food aside, putting it back on the floor of the backseat, "It's an American Classic, apparently, which is pretty cool. My dad's had this since before I was born, and I've wanted this car since I was, like, four."

"Aw, that's nice," Aurora said, unsure as to why she was speaking so softly, "It's nice that your dad finally let you have it."

"Yeah, it was about time," Phillip said, with the kind of bitterness that made Aurora shift uncomfortably, remembering the morning they had which seemed so long ago in the grand scheme of things.

"Peter said you named it," she said, trying to ease into the question that had been eating at her since she had found out who Phillip's father was.

"Yeah, I..." Phillip took a long, steadying breath, "I named him way back when I was, like five, my dad—he promised me that I could have this car, so I named him so everyone knew he was mine. His name's Samson."

"That's a nice name," she said, still soft, and she watched him sigh, settling back against the seat, waiting for the question he knew she had been dying to ask.

Knowing she was caught, she asked, "Your dad is King Candy?"

Phillip sniffed, nodding as he rubbed his eyes. "Yeah. It's a really long story."

Aurora shifted in her seat, unbuckling her seatbelt. "I mean, we have a lot of time. If you want to talk about it."

She watched as Phillip groaned, leaning forward and pressing his forehead against the steering wheel, shaking his head as he laughed mirthlessly. "I've never talked about it before. It's really, really bad, Aurora, you don't even know."

Her stomach lurched at the sound of him calling her by her name, but she tamped it down, focusing on his pained expression and tired eyes. "Just get it out, Phillip. I don't think you should hold it in any more."

The boy took a deep breath, sighing as he leaned back against his seat, his head tilted up towards the ceiling, a hand reaching up towards the ceiling, running over the fabric.

"My mom's a pastry chef at that fancy restaurant over there," he said, pointing towards the large building with bright lights and large windows overlooking Central Park, "She and my dad met in culinary school, and they didn't plan on having me, because they were so busy, but they wanted to keep me, because they figured that they could try to be good parents, and they tried, just—"

He swallowed thickly, fighting back tears, and Aurora was shocked at how quickly it was spiraling despite him barely even starting. She said nothing, however, just watching as he pressed his palms against his eyes before fumbling with his sunglasses, trying to put them on.

"Hey, wait," she said, reaching out to grab them, "Do you need these?"

"I feel better if I have them on," he said, his words choked, and she reached into the plastic bag in the backseat, grabbing the water and handing it to him, watching as he drained half of it in one go.

He coughed, tossing the water bottle into the back and dropping his sunglasses into the cup holder, continuing, "So, you know, I grew up with sweets all the time, 'cause while my mom went to be a pastry chef, my dad wanted to start this business, right? And it's a dream come true for a kid, you get to eat good food all the time, but damn it, I can't—"

He took a sharp breath, shaking his head, "I was still a kid, damn it, and he—my mom worked all the time, and my dad needed someone to test all his sweets, and I'm a kid, so I have to like them, and just—"

Phillip leaned forward as he sobbed, his breathing ragged as his stomach ached and throat closed, and Aurora had no idea what to do, just placing a hand on his shoulder, pulling away when he shot back up, his words coming out too strong as he struggled to keep going.

"He wouldn't stop! He'd just force me to eat all these candies and sweets and he wouldn't let me say no, and I would throw up all the time 'cause my stomach hurt and I had a sore throat all the time, and he promised me-he promised! He promised that when I turned sixteen, if I just kept trying all his candy, he'd give me this car because that's all I ever wanted, and I used to hide inside when I didn't want him to give me the candy, and my mom was so busy so she never noticed, and she was always so tired, so I didn't want to tell her, but it was awful!"

Aurora wrapped her arms around him best as she could as he leaned over the cupholder, trying to steady his breathing. "And, of course, it all paid off 'cause he's famous now, and in the fifth grade we had career day, and everyone wanted me to bring my dad, and I said I didn't want him to come, and everyone got mad 'cause he would've brought all this candy, but I can't even smell chocolate without throwing up, and I had this whole meltdown in front of everyone, and someone made a joke about me being a spoiled brat, and my dad used to call me that all the time whenever I didn't want candy 'cause 'you're a kid, of course you want candy, any kid would lucky to be in your place', so I freaked out some more, and they had to call my mom, and I was taken to therapy, and I don't even know why they got divorced 'cause she still doesn't know!"

Aurora watched as Phillip leaned back against his chair, his head tilted towards the ceiling as his breathing began to slow, his eyes closed, tears still falling, hands fisting the fabric of his shirt, and he looked like a complete mess, his entire body shaking.

She could only stare at him, trying to process all that had been given to her, feeling sick to her stomach as she imagined Phillip, at five years old, hiding from his father because he didn't want to keep trying the candy the man created.

She felt a flare of anger as everything started to make sense, of all the prince jokes everyone would make to Phillip whenever they saw him, of how people used to mock him and ask if everything was to his liking. All because he couldn't handle the thought of his father's work around him.

His father had reached success, but at the expense of his son.

She reached out and carefully took his hand, trying not to wince at how tightly he held it, his other hand coming up to cover his mouth, balled into a fist. He looked sick, like he could smell the chocolate, could taste it, and Aurora didn't know what to do.

"He showed up after career day," Phillip breathed, his eyes still closed, "He came with all this candy to apologize, and he made a joke about how us kids are always embarrassed of our parents, and he showed off that stupid baker's hat that looks like a crown, and he gave me one in front of the class. I threw it at him and hid in the bathroom until he left. He already wasn't living with us at the time, but the chocolate smell was everywhere."

"And your mom doesn't know?" she asked, and Phillip shrugged, shaking his head.

"If she does, she never said anything, we barely talk at all," he said, laughing mirthlessly, "She tries her best, but she never planned on having me, and she never had anyone to help her figure it out, it was just her and my dad. I don't even think she noticed I wasn't home last night."

"Phillip, I'm sorry," she said, because that was all she could find to say.

He sniffed, shrugging as he opened his eyes, trying to give her a smile. "It's fine. Really, I know I'm crying about it, but usually I'm okay."

She sighed, moving so she could sit closer to him, and he reached out to unbuckle his seatbelt, moving so he was pressed up against the door, giving her room to climb over the gearshift and share his seat, leaning her head against his chest, letting him drape an arm over her shoulder, still holding her hand.

They sat there like that for a few minutes, Phillip calming down and Aurora trying to help however she could, thinking positively in hopes that he would feel it, similar to how cats felt it.

"You know," Phillip began, breaking the silence, "If you worst comes to worst, I'll be your boyfriend."

Aurora smiled mirthlessly, letting out a small huff. "Yeah?"

He tilted his cheek to let it rest on the top of her head. "Yeah. I mean, why not, you know? You're sweet, and you're pretty cute, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."

She scoffed, refraining from shaking her head as his cheek was resting on top of it. "Yeah, but do you like me?"

Phillip only hummed, letting go of her hand to twirl a strand of her hair around his finger, shrugging as he did. "I think I could. We've gotten to know each other pretty well, I don't think it's super far fetched, I bet I could like you."

She smiled at that, shifting so she could lean more against him, closing her eyes. "Well, thanks."

Phillip laughed shortly. "Yeah, sure. When we get out of this, remind me to waste some of my dad's money on something ridiculous for you. You like musicals?" She nodded earnestly, smiling at the mention of them. "Okay, we'll go see something together sometime, we'll make a day out of it. Cool?"

"Uh-huh," she chirped, smiling as he wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her close, "Thanks, Phillip."

"No problem, Aurora."

Aurora smiled, a warm feeling spreading through her chest at the sound of her name; if this was what it felt like to have someone call her by her name, she would have told him a long time ago, what with him always waking her up during class.

She paused at that He did always wake her up in class, without fail, even when the curse had gotten so strong of a hold that she would fall asleep during every period, yet he would still manage to get her awake at the end of class, no matter what.

Before she could dwell too far into her thoughts, there was a knock on the window, startling the both of them. Turning to their right, they sighed when they caught sight of Peter who was trying to see inside, his eyes widening at what he saw.

Phillip unlocked the door as Aurora climbed into her own seat, calling back towards Peter, "What took you so long?"

"Sorry, there was a string of robberies on 9th, then I had to—" Peter began, Phillip cutting him off.

"Okay, I don't really want to know. Get in, man, we've only got a few hours left," he sighed, motioning for the boy to buckle up faster, Peter frowning at him through the mirror.

"What'll it take for you to be nice to me?" he demanded, crossing his arms and pouting, Aurora giggling at him through the mirror.

Phillip shrugged, starting the car. "Dude. I'm mean to you, because I like you. It's a friend thing."

Peter paused. "Wait. Wait, we're friends? Like that's a thing, you'll sign off on, we're friends, you said it, Aurora, you heard him—"

"Yeah, I said it, don't make me regret it," Phillip grumbled, glancing over to Aurora who smiled at him, "Don't take it personal, Pete, you're just nice to me, not many people are."

Peter leaned forward, tapping Aurora's shoulder. "Should I be happy or offended?"

Phillip scoffed, pushing his head back, letting him fall into his seat. "You should shut up and let me drive. Let's finish this."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 07.18.18 )

That ending was utter garbage, but I really didn't know how to end it, and this chapter wound up being a lot shorter than anticipated, like I expected it to be around the same length as the last chapter, but I got out what I needed to, even if it was weirdly explained and rushed and like clumped together, like hngggg

Whatever it's written and I can't do much better as of currently, so we're just gonna have to live with it.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!