"Come on, you've never been with anyone other than Hubert?" Hazel asked, rolling her eyes. Her blonde hair was slightly greasy with hair oils, and two distinguishing features that helped her stand out were the fire red and teal blue strands that shot through like lightning. Alex nodded, twirling around in a leather office chair. Hazel smiled tiredly, and the dark half-circles underneath the emerald-green irises said that she was exhausted. "Before you say anything, Alex, I know that I need to sleep at night," she said to the blonde prince before he could open his mouth.

"Are you having more nightmares about the Hook family?" Alex questioned softly. Hazel froze in her seat, clutching her black pen tightly. Some time before she became the Lady of the Court, Uma had kidnapped her and threatened her life if Charity didn't give her Fairy Godmother's magic wand. Luckily, Charity had the idea of creating a wand that would backfire when in use. The plan worked, and they got Hazel back to Auradon safe and sound.

"No," whispered Hazel. "I'm not having nightmares." She was lying through her teeth. There were evenings when Uma's harsh voice haunted her dreams, waking her up. Hazel woke up in absolute terror but didn't scream. Instead, she ended up working on royal documents before she became the Lady of the Court.

"Haze, you have to sleep," said Alex. "I understand that you're terrified, but maybe you need to tell Charity exactly what happened," he offered. Hazel gazed at Alex with an expression that clearly read, "You're crazy." Alex returned the stare with one that read, "You know I'm right." Hazel sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"Okay, I'll tell her later," said Hazel, "if you tell Hubert how the abuse began with your dad." Alex stiffened and started to tap his foot against the carpeted floor. While Hubert knew that Alex has been abused by Kristoff Bjorgman, he didn't know when it began. Hazel knew every detail because Chloe Bjorgman, Iduna Westergaard, and Queen Anna had filled her in. Hubert was one of the few people who didn't know every detail.

"I'll tell him everything," said Alex gruffly. He kept tapping his foot in order to have something to do. Hazel continued working, signing the documents laid out on the desk in front of her. Alex asked, "How did you and Charity begin ... you know ... the intimate part of your relationship?" Hazel looked at Alex. "We treated each other with respect and waited until the other was ready," she answered, adding, "Why?"

"No reason," said Alex, flushing a bit. Hazel smirked at him while she read the papers. Alex stood up and left the room, letting the blonde focus. He walked back to his dorm room, deep in thought. His first time being with a man was one of the best times of his life, and Hubert was gentle with him.

◇♡

Hubert's pen scratched against the piece of paper he was writing on. His brows were furrowed in concentration as he continued his work. This was his last assignment for the day, and then he'd be able to spend time with Alex. Hubert blushed as he remembered their night together. He bit his lip softly, shutting his eyes.

He'd sat there for five minutes or so before someone tapped his shoulder. Hubert opened his eyes and saw Alex sitting next to him. The two kissed, and they hugged each other gently. "I wasn't too hard last night, was I?" Hubert whispered into Alex's ear. Alex shook his head, looking similar to the color of a gala apple, saying, "You weren't. You were a perfect gentleman."

Hubert held Alex close. "How was your talk with Hazel?" he asked, continuing his work. Alex shrugged his shoulders lightly. "She said that she and Charity treated each other with gentleness," answered Alex. Hubert muttered, "That sounds like a very Chazel thing to do."

Alex nodded, tapping his foot again. It'd been a nervous habit of his for years, and he still didn't know how to get rid of it. Hubert noticed that his boyfriend was tense and asked, "What's up, love?" Alex gazed into Hubert's sea green eyes and wondered about how Hubert would react once he told him about the abuse his father put him through. Maybe it'll be better if we're back in our dorm room, thought Alex as he took a deep breath.

"Could we talk in our dorm room after we've finished our homework?" Alex asked softly. Hubert nodded. The two continued working in silence as the librarian was making her rounds, a cart of books in front of her. Alex didn't even finish as he was mesmerized by Hubert's concentrated expression. He turned red once Hubert turned around and locked eyes with him.

"Should we go back to our dorm?" Hubert whispered. Alex nodded, biting his lip. The men packed up their work and walked out of the room. Rushing upstairs, Hubert beat him to their bedroom door. "Beat you this time," smiled Hubert, making Alex grin.

◇♡

"I hate your father with a fiery passion!" Hubert snapped, clenching his fists. Alex sat across from the redhead, waiting patiently. He knew Hubert had a bad temper; that was how he and Anna got along perfectly. "I mean, how dare he treat you like you were less than human! He treated you like a slave from Africa!" Hubert ranted. Upon seeing Alex's confused face, he clarified, "Slaves that were traded back in history were not considered human."

"Ah," said Alex understandingly. His history class had skipped over that part of the book because there had been students whose relatives had been slaves. The teacher refused to read that part of the textbook. Fairy Godmother understood completely. Every history class that had students in the same boat skimmed past that lesson, so hardly anyone knew.

Apparently, Hans refused to do that with Hazel and Hubert when they were growing up. The former ex-prince believed that everyone should know their history, even the rotten parts. Therefore, Hazel and Hubert objected to the fast-forwarding of the lessons. It became a huge debate between the two students and Ben and Mal when they were the rulers of Auradon. In the end, they compromised by saying that students whose relatives were slaves wouldn't be allowed to go to class if it'd been a touchy subject with them.

"Hubert, he's gone now," said Alex. He held Hubert's hand and rubbed circles into his knuckles. Hubert nodded. "I know," said Hubert. The two kissed each other deeply, aware of the same feeling of goosebumps.