Eternity seemed to pass as Will stood there frozen, his eyes locked into a staring contest with Guy. Emotions waged war in him. This was the man who had been one of the Merry Men's worst enemies, but at the same time, this was also the man who was marrying one of Will's closest friends. He pled silently with the other man, begging him not to give Will away. Whereas before, his heart had been pounding in his chest like a galloping horse, it now felt as if it had stopped beating entirely. He breathed as softly as possible, stone-still, unwilling to break eye contact and risk Gisborne giving him up.

The hag's voice grated from across the room, almost making Will jump. She was facing Rapunzel, away from Will, and he caught Rapunzel's panicked gaze locked on him for a brief moment. "Well, Gisborne? Did you find her yet?"

It felt like an eternity before Gisborne opened his mouth and let his deep voice out. "Nobody." He let go of the curtain and even adjusted it a hair to hide Will from sight once more. "We've wasted our time. The Editor will not be pleased."

"There was somebody here," Gothel insisted, her voice tight with exasperation. Will heard her slap Rapunzel, heard the girl's bare feet stumble back in surprise. "If I find out you were hiding someone, you little brat, you will pay. You will pay most dearly." He heard the old woman go back to the window before her footsteps faded. She must have taken Rapunzel's hair to climb back down.

But Gisborne still had not moved. Will peeked around the curtain, and caught Guy's amused face. "Milady." He gave Rapunzel a bow that made the girl blush, before he looked back at Will once more. "Scarlet. You should choose your hiding places with more care." Then he carefully picked up Rapunzel's hair. "May I?"

"Uh—sure," Rapunzel stammered, and watched as Guy swung out the window with her blonde locks. After a moment, she turned back to Will. "I guess it's okay for you to come out now. She's gone."

Will stepped out from behind the curtain all the way, thoroughly confused as he touched where his wound had been. "The Editor," he mused. "It can't be a coincidence that we were just discussing him, and Gisborne goes and drops that hint. He's working for The Editor."

"Yeah, but if he is, then why didn't he give you up?" Rapunzel asked with a frown. "Seems to me that he's playing double agent. That's a really, really bad idea. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes, that's for sure. But maybe he's just a villain with a small soft spot. Who knows?"

"He didn't give me away," Will said. "Normally, I wouldn't be the one arguing for him, but he's changed since he met Rachel. He's not a villain anymore."

"One could argue the old phrase, 'Once a villain, always a villain', but even if he has changed, we can't trust him," Rapunzel answered. "He's working for The Editor. Just because he spared you this time doesn't mean he'll do the same thing next time. You need to be more careful."

"You suggested that hiding spot. You need less books!" Will protested.

"Nonsense. There's no such thing as too many books," Rapunzel said. She strung her hair back up on the hook and motioned to Will. "Come on. If I had any doubts about leaving before, I have no choice now. Once Gothel finds out that I was hiding you here, she'll kill me." She rubbed her cheek. "So we need to go, before she comes back, and we need to find The Editor."

"Find The Editor?" Will repeated, his eyes going wide. "Are you mad? The Editor just wanted to have me chucked out of a tower window!"

"Well, what was your plan before?" Rapunzel asked. "The person with the answers we need is The Editor. Nobody else is really going to know anything."

"My plan ... well ..."

"You didn't have a plan before, did you?" she said reproachfully. "Well, this is the only plan I've got. So either you can go back to Nottingham with your tail between your legs like a kicked puppy, or you can come with me to find some real answers. Honestly, where's your sense of adventure, William?"

"It died a slow and painful death sometime between when I was arrested for murdering a knight to when I got stabbed protecting the man who arrested me for murdering a knight," Will answered, trying not to be irked at her calling him William ... again. "I barely even know you. Why should I trust you to bring me through The Story?"

"First of all, I just saved you from my hag of a fake mother," Rapunzel said. "Second of all, did you really know your Rachel Andric friend before you went traipsing through The Story with her?"

Will blinked. He hadn't really thought about it then. All he'd wanted was to finally find a way to prove himself to the Merry Men, and to his uncle. "No ... I suppose not."

"See? So why am I any different?"

Because she was different. She was outspoken, brazen, and unknown. He didn't know what to think of her. But he shook his head anyway. "You're not. I suppose."

"You suppose a lot. Should we get going, or do you want to suppose a little bit more before we actually get this plan off the ground?"

"Alright, alright! I'm ready! Just—please. Don't bring us to King Arthur's Story. Anywhere but there," Will begged, jumping when she made her hair jump into his arms. This was going to take some getting used to.

Rapunzel pulled on her hair, tying some of it around her waist. Will did the same, Rapunzel tightening the knot and making him gasp with a grin. "I should mention. I have absolutely no control over where my Story doors go. It's never been my strong suit. But it would be complete irony if we ended up there, wouldn't it be?" she added with a laugh, jumping onto the windowsill with an ease that made Will have vertigo.

"I hate irony," Will grumbled, moving over to Rapunzel. "So I just ... climb down?"

"Come here," Rapunzel said, holding out her hand to him. He took it reluctantly and she scooted off the windowsill, back into the tower, as he prepared himself to climb out. Do not look down ... "Something wrong?"

"I—I don't really like this height," Will stammered.

Rapunzel grinned, and he really regretted saying that to her. "There's one way to get down to the ground faster," she told him. His eyes widened, but before he could even say anything, she had given him a firm shove, pushing him over the edge of the windowsill. He yelled in a panic as he fell, her hair unraveling like it had come undone from the hook. After a few seconds, he squeezed his eyes shut, just praying that he would hit the ground and be done with it.

He jerked to a stop. The movement sent waves of pain through him from the still-tender stab wound from Guy, but he hadn't hit the ground and broken all his bones. That was definitely a positive outlook to the situation. Slowly, he opened his eyes, seconds before Rapunzel's hair unknotted itself and dumped him onto the ground. "Ow," he complained, laying there and staring up at the tower for a couple of moments.

It was as he was staring up at the ceiling that he saw Rapunzel jump out the window. Quickly, he scrambled backwards without even standing up, seconds before she gracefully landed where he'd been laying. "You scream like a girl," she said, not even missing a beat as she tugged at her hair. It came falling down from the tower like a golden waterfall.

"Thanks?" Will was mesmerized by her hair. She moved it so easily, so gracefully. He was a little jealous. He'd always felt a bit clumsy. "Your hair is fantastic. But ..."

Rapunzel eyed him. "But?"

"It's going to be a bit hard to disguise yourself if we need to, won't it?"

"Disguise myself?" It sounded as if that entire concept was alien to Rapunzel. "Why would I need to disguise myself when I can do this?" Her hair wrapped around his ankle and jerked it out from under him, sending him sprawling. He hit the crown of his head against the hard dirt and swore violently. "Whoa, whoa. Language!"

"That hurt!" Will complained, rubbing the back of his head as he sat up. "What was that for, anyway?"

"An example. My hair doesn't just magically braid itself," Rapunzel answered, doing that a moment later. It also somehow got shorter in doing so, where it was only a few inches off the ground once she was done. "It's far more useful than that."

"I can tell," Will said. "How exactly did you end up with magic hair?"

"Long story. But right now, we need to go. No use waiting for the grass to grow under our feet, is there?" she retorted, opening a Story door near them both. "So come on! Let's go have our adventure!" Without waiting for him to answer or even move, she had rushed through the door, leaving him alone.

Will looked up at the sky, as if asking for mercy. "What have I gotten myself into?" he asked aloud. Then he followed the girl through the door, into The Story beyond.