The breakup happened on a cold winter morning, so cold that one could feel their toes freezing off if they even so much as stepped outside to retrieve their newspaper. Daring had planned on taking her ice skating and then to dinner later that night, but Rosebella had shown up on his doorstep that morning. Seeing his girlfriend of three years show that early in the morning hadn't been an unwelcome sight, but the words that had fallen from her mouth had been.

"We need to talk."

She had given all the classic excuses,the lines that Daring had used on many different girls himself, but he had never planned on using them with her. The ring box sitting in his sock drawer was proof enough of that. Daring had tuned out most of it. He had tuned out the 'it's not you it's me', and the 'I'm a different person that I was in high school', and the 'you'll meet someone that's perfect for you someday'. Then he'd agreed with her when she said that they could still be friends, because he was a coward like that.

How could he still be friends with a woman that he'd planned to marry? He couldn't, it was as simple as that.

That was how Daring found himself stuffed in his penthouse apartment during a freezing cold night when he should have been out ice skating, and going to dinner, and perhaps even proposing to Rosebella Beauty. Daring stared at the blazing fireplace. He was pathetic. Completely and utterly pathetic.

But what else could he be when the love of his life broke up with him on the day that he'd planned on proposing to her?

A knock on the door drew Daring out of his stupor. Sighing, Daring stood up and dragged himself over to answer the door. It was probably one of his siblings. Darling would have found out by now. Daring opened the door to find his best friend forever after, Cerise Hood, standing in front of him, wearing a pair of athletic leggings and a tank top, with her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"Wow," Cerise breathed, "You look like shit."

"Thanks," Daring muttered, holding the door open for Cerise to enter, "What are you doing here?"

"I heard about it from Darling," Cerise said, entering the room and placing a few grocery bags on Daring's kitchen table, "I figured that you hadn't eaten yet." She pulled a few containers out of a bag. "It's takeout. Nothing fancy. And I got some mint chocolate chip ice cream." She pulled out the container of ice cream, and put it in the freezer.

Cerise, of course, was right when she assumed that Daring hadn't eaten anything. The only thing that he'd eaten all day was a piece of toast for breakfast. But Daring wasn't exactly in the mood to eat-whether it be takeout or ice cream.

"I'm not one of your girlfriends," Daring said.

"No," Cerise agreed, "You're my best friend. So, I know you a whole lot better than any of my girlfriends. And I know that you're way too hard on yourself."

"I'm not…" Daring started to protest, but he stopped. He wasn't too hard on himself. Not when it came to this. Maybe he'd done something wrong. Maybe he'd said something wrong. He would have asked Cerise if she knew, but she and Rosebella hadn't spoken more than a few words to each other since the fall semester of their senior year.

Cerise pulled a beer out of his fridge, popped the cap off, and handed it to him along with a container of takeout. To his surprise, Daring took it and the chopsticks that she offered him. His stomach rumbled at the smell. Cerise smiled. "Hungry?"

"Maybe a little," Daring answered.

Cerise popped open her own takeout and jumped on top of his table, taking a seat. "So," she said, "We can talk about our feelings, or we can watch a sappy romance movie like I do with my girlfriends, or we can watch a bloody action flick like I do with my sister."

Daring sighed. "What did you bring?"

"Mostly magical detective flicks from the fifties," Cerise said.

They found themselves watching Cerise's classic detective movies. The two of them sprawled out on Daring's couch like the old friends that they were. Yet despite the comfortable atmosphere and the classic detective flick, Daring found his mind constantly wandering. Why would Rosebella break up with him? Why? What had he ever done to deserve to have his heart broken?

Cerise would know. She had had her heart broken a fair share of times by a couple different chaps. She'd had a few boyfriends, but they had never seemed that serious. There had been that werewolf guy from junior year, and that knight from soon afterwards. Daring hadn't been a fan of either of them. They hadn't deserved her. Not really. At the end of the day neither of them had appreciated Cerise for who she was, wanting her to be someone else-whether it be a wolf or a damsel.

"There's something on your mind," Cerise said, turning the volume down.

Daring laughed bitterly. "My girlfriend just broke up with me. I wonder what could be bothering me."

For a minute neither of them said nothing, the only noise present the dramatic music of a detective solving the crime. "I'm not going to pretend to know what you're going through," Cerise said, "I've never been in a serious relationship with anyone before. But if you want to tell me what happened, I'm here."

Another long moment of silence, and then, "She said that we've both changed since that first epic winter, and the thing is…I found myself agreeing with her. I have changed, but I always thought that it was for the better."

"It was." Cerise grabbed Daring's hand. "You have changed for the better."

"Then why did she break up with me?"

Cerise stared at Daring, and Daring found himself looking away from that knowing silver gaze. "Do you honestly want my opinion, or would you like me to tell you what I'd tell my girlfriends?"

Daring met her eyes. "I want your opinion," he said plainly.

Cerise took a deep breath. "There was nothing left to fix."

"Fix?"

"Yes." Cerise nodded. "Fix. Rosebella likes to fix people. She likes to be a curse breaker. There's nothing wrong with that...but she failed to notice that...well…" Cerise tugged on the bottom of her tank top.

"You're saying that Rosebella broke up with me because I am no longer a narcissistic asshole?"

"Basically?" Cerise let out a nervous laugh. "Wow, that sounds bad."

"Yeah," Daring agreed. It did sound bad, but it made sense. Rosebella liked saving people, and Daring didn't need saving anymore. It wasn't a bad thing, but their relationship had been mostly composed of his reliance upon her. Not the other way around.

Cerise hat tried to tell him that, once upon a time. He'd ignored her. After all, he'd believed that he and Rosebella were true love, that they were meant to be. Not everyone had it as easily as his sister, though. Most people had to just guess, but with Rosebella he hadn't thought that he'd been guessing. Maybe that was why Cerise had a certain animosity towards Rosebella.

"Why did you and Rosebella stop talking?" Daring asked.

Cerise glanced at him, then at their entwined fingers. "Do you want to hear something crazy?" she asked.

"Sure."

"Rosebella thought that I liked you," Cerise said.

"But you do like me."

"As more than a friend, dipshit," Cerise said.

Daring raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah," Cerise said, "I told her that there was nothing between us besides friendship, but she didn't believe me. That...and...well...I...never mind."

Daring nodded, taking a bite of his cold takeout. "Thanks for stopping by," he said, "I was kind of pathetic."

"You still are," Cerise pointed out. She smiled. "But whatever, right? There are other princesses in the kingdom."

"Right," Daring agreed. Cerise turned her attention back to the television screen, and Daring found himself studying her-the lines of her face, the way that her eyes watched the screen intently, her cute little wolf ears that she had hidden for so many years. "Why did Rosebella think that you liked me?"

"Hell if I know," Cerise said without taking her eyes off of the screen.

Daring continued to study her face, Rosebella's words from that morning coming back to him with startling clarity. "I'm not the kind of girl who's drawn to the leader of the pack, and you need someone like that."

Someone like that…

Daring leaned his head on Cerise's shoulder. There would be time later to figure out all of the complicated tricks about relationships. Right now he just wanted to sit there on the couch watching fifties detective movies eating cold takeout and mint chocolate chip ice cream.