I wanted to write something really, really sad and I ended up with this and now I'm upset with myself. More is on the way though, don't worry! I dedicate this to my fellow dexrow shippers on tumblr, you know who you are ;) Anyway, make sure to favorite, follow and leave a review if you want more! ~DiscoBallMind

Chapter 1: Don't Speak

The halls of Ever After High were abuzz with daily student activity. Blondie was filming for her Mirrorcast, Apple was signing autographs for the 3rd time today, and Dexter Charming was rummaging through his locker looking for his Heroics 101 textbook.

"Where is it?" Dexter murmured under his breath as he searched the tiny metal locker high and low. "It couldn't have just disappeared!" He overturned the locker's contents until he finally pulled out a small leather-bound book with gold lettering that proclaimed it was a Heroics textbook. Dexter stood up triumphantly and began praising himself in his head. He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't footsteps approaching from behind.

"Here take this, dork!" A voice behind Dexter yelled, making him almost jumped out of his skin. He turned around quickly and was faced with none other than Sparrow Hood. He was wearing a huge smile and outreached arms. In his hands he held what looked to be a card. It was very crude, but in a cute sort of way.

"What is it?" Dexter questioned cautiously. He considered Sparrow to be one of his friends, but they weren't close; the two hardly saw each other throughout the day.

"It's an invitation! To my birthday party!" He exclaimed with delight. Dexter practically cringed from the loudness of Sparrow's voice, but he accepted the card anyway. Well, it was more like Sparrow shoved the card as quickly as he could into Dexter's hands. He looked over it breifly; it was handmade and the words "Sparrow's Sweet 16" were written across the front in very messy handwriting. Sparrow was eagerly waiting for Dexter to open the invitation, so he flipped it open.

"You're invited to the best Sweet 16 party in forever after!" The card read in childlike handwriting. Dexter looked at it, confused; he wasn't sure if Sparrow or a 6 year old made it.

"Did you make this yourself?" He asked slowly with an eyebrow raised. Sparrow shook his head happily, his smile still plastered onto his face. Dexter had never seen him this happy before and was quite surprised. Sparrow usually tried to keep his "punk-rock-I'm-too-cool-for-you" facade on at all times, but right now he looked like a total dork.

"Sure did!" He exclaimed. "So, you're coming right?" Sparrow questioned quickly. He wanted a huge turnout at his party, so he was inviting practically everyone at Ever After High. But he really wanted Dexter to show up. Dexter was one of the few people at school that was actually friendly to him most of the time. He liked the prince a lot, in more ways than just one.

"Uh, yeah, I'll try to show up." Dexter said somewhat reluctantly. On one hand he found Sparrow a little bit annoying, but on the other he knew Sparrow had a nice side. He slipped the invitation in his pocket just as Lizzie Hearts passed by chatting to Kitty Cheshire about cutting someone's head off or something along those lines. Sparrow saw the pair of girls walking by and pulled out two more invitations from his jacket pocket and he started towards them quickly.

"Kitty! Lizzie! Wait up! I've got something for you guys!" He called after them loudly. Dexter watched him jog away and began to turn around. He was startled yet again at the almost magical appearance of Raven Queen. She was standing before him with a knowing smile and a similar looking and slightly crushed card in her hands.

"He tried to swindle you into coming to his party too, didn't he?" Raven asked. Dexter looked at her blankly for a minute and then he smiled, a small blush coming to his face. To anyone else, it was easy to see that he had a rebelliously huge crush on the daughter of the evil queen, but somehow she was oblivious. He practically went weak at the knees when he saw her. Sometimes he actually did go weak at the knees and completely fall over. It could be pretty embarrassing.

"Yeah, haha, I dunno if I'll go thought. Will you, uh, be there?" He asked awkwardly. Dexter thought maybe there would be a chance that they would possibly be able to attend his party together, but instead she smiled like someone had just told her an absolutely mad joke.

"A party with that dork? No way!" Raven laughed heartily but Dexter shifted uncomfortably. He let out and awkward chuckle and rubbed his arm nervously, trying to smile.

"Yeah, he's a total dork. Nobody would want to go to his party." He looked down at his shoes and laughed falsely again, but his face shifted when he looked back at Raven. Her face was grave, like she'd seen a ghost. Everything seemed to go silent; there was no noise. Except for a small voice that spoke from behind Dexter's back.

"You think I'm a dork?" Sparrow asked softly. He must've come up behind Dexter while he was talking to Raven, because he had not noticed the thief's presence. His face did not hold the usual charm it held, there was no sign of the confidence or cockiness. His eyes were misty, and his cheeks looked hollow. Raven had slunk away quietly, without being noticed, leaving Dexter to face the crushed Sparrow by himself.

Dexter felt his face go red, not even slightly red, but so red it looked like every single last drop of blood in his entire body shot up to his face at the exact same moment. His stomach felt like it was being squeezed by a giant's fist. He couldn't even form words.

"I-I no! What I meant to say was- I- Uh-" The prince tried to say, but it was too late. Sparrow brushed away a tear quickly and shook his head.

"No, you're right Dex, I am a dork. Nobody likes me and nobody is gonna show up to my party." He smiled wide but there were still droplets in the corner's of his eyes. "Thanks for telling me Dexter, now I don't have to waste my time handing out these stupid invitations. Thanks again." He squeezed the remaining invitations until they were nothing but a wrinkled, crumpled mess; not unlike his heart.

He stormed away before Dexter could speak another word. Dexter guiltily flipped open the card again, but this time he noticed something he didn't before: in the bottom left corner of the card was a small message in Sparrow's handwriting that said "I really hope you'll show up Dex! :)"

The prince thought he might get sick right then and there.