Photograph - Nickelback
** In this story Granny Relda had died a couple years ago, but no one can afford it anymore and no one's living in it so the house is going up for foreclosure. **
Look at this photograph,
Everytime I do it makes me laugh
And how did our eyes' get so red
And what the hell is on Joey's head?
Puck slowly walked through the old rickety door of the late Relda Grimm's house. All of the hundreds of piles of books that were scattered around the house were now gone. The furniture, her pictures, and everything that was in the cluttered house was missing. The only thing left were layers of dust and cardboard boxes thrown around the room. Puck's face fell at the sad outcome of the Old Lady's death, he had a slight moment where he felt that he was going to cry, but he shook it off and continued through the house. He sighed and ran up the steps two at a time and straight to his old room. He opened up the door expecting to see the beauty of magical landscape, but it was just any other normal room. They took the magic out. It was gone - all of it. His kangaroo, boxing room, waterfall, ice cream trucks….everything.
And this is where I grew up
I think the present owner fixed it up
I never knew we ever went without
The second floor is hard for sneaking out
He looked around the empty shell of the place that he used to call his home. The memories of his past overtook his mind and he could see the flashbacks of the adventures that first started in the walls of that same house swam before his dazzling green eyes. He shook his head and ran to the nearest window, it was still nestled in between the hallway between Mirror's old room and Sabrina and Daphne's room. He jumped through and crawled across the loose shingles of the roof and dropped to the muddy grass in the back. He popped his wings and flew across the top of the tree's. The fixed town that appeared before his eyes made him smile slightly. It was the best the town had ever seen.
And this is where I went to school
Most of the time I had better things to do
Criminal record says I broke it twice
I must have done it half a thousand times
I wonder if it's too late,
Should I go back and try to graduate?
Life's better then it was back then
If I was then I wouldn't let me in
Oh, oh oh, oh God I…
Puck didn't really have a spot of destination. But somehow he ended up at the double doors to his old high school. He saw the thousands of Everafters and humans entering through the doors and flooding the narrow hallways. He remembered him and Sabrina's light kisses in the early morning on the concrete bench in front of the school when they had started dating. He gave a crooked smile and walked in through the door. He kept going until he saw the doors to the office and walked past the receptionist although she yelled and followed him telling him to stop.
He walked into Principal Snow's office and the receptionist stepped back when Mrs. Snow gave a reassuring smile and waved her away. "Well look at who's back!" Snow said as she leaned back in her chair and propped her legs on the wooden desk. Puck shrugged and leaned back in the chair and put his hands behind his head.
"I thought it was enough time away and thought I'd grace everyone with my presence." He said simply at her and giving her his dazzling smile.
"Well of all places I'm surprised to see you here. You didn't want to come here when you were forced to, let alone on your own will." Snow White joked as she raised a playing eyebrow at the old Trickster King.
"Yeah well I was thinking about coming back and trying to graduate. You know I dropped out my senior year to go with Jake." Puck said with a mischievous smile.
"Oh geez, Puck. I don't think I could handle you in my school. And looking at your record, you barely came to school for the first 4 months you were here anyways." Snow said with a smile as she tapped her pen on the manilla envelopes on her desk. "Looks like Hamstead brought you back into this school more than the buses did."
"Yeah you probably couldn't handle the Trickster King roaming these hallways anyway!" He agreed and laughed as he nodded his head. "Well, I gotta go. Just thought I'd see a familiar face and say hi." Puck said as he got up from the chair and walked out the door.
"Goodbye Puck. Come back more often. The world's great, but nothing beats home. Remember that." Snow pleaded as she watched him walk out the door and through the hallway. He didn't turn around but gave a simple wave with his hand before stuffing them back inside his usual green hoodie.
Every memory of walking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it,
Goodbye, goodbye,
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friends that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it,
Goodbye, goodbye
When Puck walked in through the house, it was darker because of the lack of sunlight that had peeked in through the windows and brightened the house. He rummaged through the boxes he found in the living room until he finally found what he was looking for. He found the huge photo album that had the simple name 'Grimm' written across it in red cursive lettering. He looked at all the members starting with Relda and old grandpa Basil, then Canis, Then Henry and Jake, Then Sabrina and Daphne. He smiled and rubbed the pages that had the pictures of his old friends.
He hadn't really thought about them as much as he should. He hasn't even talked to them, but he had to admit that he hadn't really tried to talk to them either. He saw the memories of him 'Brina and the Marshmellow sneaking out the house all the time. The creaking of sliding backdoor and the heavy slam that the front door had was always the best part of sneaking out to them. He didn't want to think about leaving all the memories this house had to him behind. But he looked at the clock. Tomorrow morning the house would be locked up for good, and it was already 7:00 in the afternoon.
Puck was interrupted by his thoughts when he heard the front door open and close. He stayed very still and heard the creaks and soft patter of feet moving across the floor downstairs. He got up out of his room and crept silently down the stairs and toward the kitchen. He saw her then for the first time in 3 or 4 years. Sabrina Grimm. Her back was to him as she looked through the cabinets lined on the wall.
"Well look at who it is." Puck called out as he leaned against the wall with his arms still folded inside of his pocket. Sabrina Grimm twisted around her long blonde hair twirled as she turned around in such a hurry. He was momentarily stunned by the beauty that he forgot Sabrina Grimm possessed. Her bright blue eyes were bigger but still just as bright and crystal clear. The small freckles laid out against her nose and underneath her eyes only made her blue eyes pop and her pale pink lips look fuller. But he quickly snapped out of it as she began to talk. She slowly smiled a closed lipped smile and raised her eyebrows.
"Robin Puck Goodfellow. It's been a while." Sabrina said as she turned completely around and folded her arms. Silence was spread between the two after that. She widened her eyes and nodded her head towards him. He looked around and scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "You here to see it one last time too?" She asked as lovingly ran her hand along the cream walls of the kitchen.
"Yeah, something like that." He said back as he gestured to the photo album in his hand.
"Well, waddya say we walk down memory lane together?" She asked as she reached her hand towards the photo album and held it in between the two of them.
Remember the old arcade?
Blew every dollar that we ever made
The cops seen us hanging out,
They said somebody went murdered down
We used to listen to the radio
And sing along to every song we wrote.
We said someday we'd find out how it feels
To sing to more than just the steering wheel
Sabrina and Puck were sitting cross legged in Puck's room marveling at all of the old pictures in the album and the memories that came with them.
"Remember the arcade we used to go to every Friday and Saturday night?" Puck asked as he turned to her with a bright smile on his face.
"Of course. We went broke because of that place. You know all the games were rigged so you would spend more money." Sabrina joked as she nodded in pleasure at the wonderful memories.
"Yeah. But then it was always ruined when Gepetto would kick us out for laughing to loud."Puck laughed as he turned the page to the thick and dusty album.
"Then we would drive home and we would sing at the top of our lungs." Sabrina said in between laughter. "God we were sucky singers." She finished as she wiped the slight layer of dust on the pictures.
Kim's the first girl I kissed
I was so nervous that I nearly missed
She's had a couple of kids since then
I haven't seen her since God knows when
Oh, oh, oh, oh God I…
Puck tried to hide the picture of him and Sabrina kissing with his huge hands. But she caught the picture in her periphery image and slapped his hand before he could cover it entirely. "Oh my God!" Sabrina giggled as she eyed the picture. "I didn't even know this existed!." She blushed as she took a closer look at the picture. "Remember when you first kissed me? Like, forreal kissed me. Not that surprise one in your room when we were 11?" She asked as she smiled up at him. Puck loosely hugged his knees as he looked up to the ceiling fan and brought back the earlier memories of them. They were sitting in the backyard and then he just went for it.
"Yeah, I remember." Puck smiled back at her.
"I also remember you being so nervous you almost missed my face completely." Sabrina said before she burst into a fit of laughter so hard that her body rolled out until she was curled up on her side.
"Shut up!" Puck laughed as he lightly shoved her side. "You can't really blame me for being nervous considering the past experiences of me kissing you before that."
"It's okay. That's still my favorite kiss to this day." She blushed as she looked down in embarrassment and quickly flipped the page before Puck could say anything on her secret confession.
Every memory of walking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it,
Goodbye, goodbye,
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friends that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it,
Goodbye, goodbye
I miss that town
I miss those faces
You can't erase
You can't replace it
I miss it now
I can't believe it
So hard to say
So hard to leave it
Both Sabrina and Puck both gave a sad sigh as they looked at the last page of the book and then finally flipped it shut. Puck looked at his watch and grimaced. "It's 10:00." Puck said as he looked up at the crescent moon shining in his room. Sabrina's face fell and sadness filled her eyes, but the face was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. She nodded and stood up and wiped her hands on her butt to remove any dirt and dust left there. Puck followed her act and stood up and faced her. He stood over her a good 5 inches now, he never realized earlier how much he had still grown over the years.
"I bet you'll miss your room, huh?" Sabrina asked as her hands gestured to the small and regular around them. He nodded and looked at the small ceiling with the ceiling fan in the middle.
"I'll miss everything." he agreed as he looked back into her eyes.
"Yeah. They can't ever replace your room. Or the memories in this house. Or the adventures we had." She stated as she dug the tip of her gray and white converse's into the thickness of the carpet.
If I could relive those days,
I know the one thing that would never change…
Puck gave the smallest crooked grin as he looked into her eyes. She stared into his green eyes and gave a small smile back. But then she shook her head and turned away from his eyes and her eyes darted to every single object but Puck's face. Puck grabbed her chin and pulled it back to look at him.
"It's okay." He whispered to her as he gently placed his lips to hers. He was kind of hesitant and waiting for a spot of pain from when she would hit him, or kick him, or slap him. But it never came. But Sabrina did hesitantly put a shaking hand on the back of Puck's neck and pull him into her.
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friends that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it,
Goodbye, goodbye
Sabrina and Puck had parted after only a couple minutes and walked out the front door not touching each other, afraid to make any physical contact actually.
Look at this photograph,
Every time I do it makes me laugh,
Every time I do it makes me…
"Well, that was fun." Sabrina said awkwardly as they stood in the downward slope of the driveway. Puck nodded just as awkwardly and looked at the stars in the sky.
"Oh, um… you haven't seen this picture yet. Thought you'd like to keep it. For memories." Puck shrugged as he reached into his back pants pocket and pulled out a slightly crumpled picture. Sabrina reached for it and looked at the medium sized picture. It was a picture of Sabrina and Puck's wedding day. They stood facing each other. Sabrina looked absolutely stunning, and Puck was without a doubt drop dead gorgeous, it was the perfect picture.
Sabrina didn't know why, the warm night was suddenly extremely chilly and tears pricked at her eyes and fell down her face slowly in tiny little streams. She looked up from the picture and into Puck's face. He was smiling sadly but also giving tiny looks at the picture.
"Now I know how William Charming felt. You sure know how to leave a man at an altar but still manage to make him love you and not feel one ounce of hate towards you, Sabrina Grimm." Puck said as he put a real smile on his face. Sabrina gave a tiny laugh but still continued to cry and then she looked back at the picture. She pressed her lips together and put on hand over her mouth and closed her eyes. Puck went and consumed her in a big hug. He pressed her head to his chest and he rested his chin lightly on her head.
"It's okay, Sabrina." Puck reassured her as he lightly rubbed her back. Sabrina pushed away from Puck's chest quickly and wiped her eyes.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't marry you." Sabrina said as she lightly put the picture into her pocket. Puck shrugged one shoulder and gave another small smile.
"It was a long time ago." He said putting his pants into his pocket. Sabrina nodded but still looked like she wanted to cry.
"I just couldn't love you like I thought I could and… I was afraid of marriage and…I was scared and nervous…." Sabrina sputtered as she tried to reach for Puck but she kept drawing back like she was afraid she would get electrocuted.
"Like I said it's fine Sabrina." Puck said as he slightly tapped her elbow. The air was awkward and tense after that and strong emotions hung over them like a dark rain cloud.
"Well, I gotta go. See ya around sometime…maybe." Puck said as he sprouted his wings and jumped into the air.
"Puck wait!" Sabrina said as she grabbed the end of his jeans pant leg." He stopped in mid air and looked at her quizzically. She opened and closed her mouth a thousand times before she exhaled a little and actually said something.
"I really did never stop loving you, though." She said as she looked into his eyes. She looked like a lost little girl. Puck fell from the 3 feet that he was in the air and hugged Sabrina. She pulled back and kissed him passionately. He kissed back and put his hands on her lower back and the side of her ribcage. She pulled her lips back only centimeters and whispered "I missed you". Then she pulled back entirely and pushed her hair behind her shoulder. She wrote her phone number and address down on Puck's hand and stepped back.
"Don't let it be another 3 years before I see you again okay?" Sabrina said as pulled out her car keys and headed towards the tiny silver Honda parked at the end of the driveway. Puck smiled and waved and jumped into the air. Now all he had to do was fly all the way back to Germany to join Jake. Maybe in a couple weeks he'd take a little time off to go see her again. Just to revisit some old memories.