Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. Quotes are from Chris Colfer's A Grimm Warning.
1.
"Mr. Bailey, Miss Campbell, will you please come over?" Ms. York asked.
Ms. York's English class was the last class of the day, Bree and Conner stayed behind because Ms. York wanted to talk with them.
Conner was flustered that Bree was standing right next to him. He was afraid that she could feel the heat radiating off him.
"Mr. Bailey, I'm here to talk about your book report on To Kill a Mockingbird."
Conner gulped. "Uh, yeah, I knew I wrote that "One of the saddest parts about this book is that a girl is named Scout" but I honestly felt like that!"
Bree snickered. Conner felt himself turn red for no reason whatsoever. Is she laughing because she thinks I'm ridiculous? Or is she laughing because she thinks I have a sense of humor?
"I- I know that sounded stupid, and I'll try to write about something else, like how people are discriminated, or… or how an innocent man was killed, and probably-"
"Mr. Bailey, you're rambling." Ms. York said. Conner turned even redder, if it was possible.
Shut up! Conner yelled at himself. You just had to make a fool of yourself! Especially in front of Bree! He caught Bree listening to his and Ms. York's conversation with amusement. Stop thinking about Bree too! What is wrong with me!
"Ms. York, I guess… I guess I'll try to write it in a different approach," Conner scratched his head awkwardly. "Honestly, I wasn't trying to be funny!"
"Very well, Mr. Bailey." Ms. York nodded. Then she turned over to Bree. "And Miss Campbell…"
"Oh, here's the work I forgot to submit," Bree smoothly handed over a piece of paper. "Ms. York, I'm terribly sorry."
"It's fine. Just don't do it again."
Conner stared at Bree in awe. It amazed him that she was always so calm, compared to him stuttering and rambling… he felt like an idiot.
She must think I'm an idiot too. Conner thought rather dejectedly.
"Do you mind if you help me move these books to the library?" Ms. York gestured to the pile beside her.
"Not really," Bree said, taking some books.
"Uh, I'll help too." Conner said hastily. He didn't want Bree to see him as a lazy person.
Gosh, just stop doing that! Conner yelled to himself. Why do you care so much about a girl's thoughts? She's just a random girl!
The books were piled up high, so high they nearly couldn't see over them. Conner peered out from his stack to avoid colliding with somebody. Luckily, it was after school and many of the students had left already.
But that didn't stop Conner from performing clumsy antics…
There was something weird about Conner Bailey.
Bree heard that his sister Alex liked to hug books in the library. It puzzled her because she knew Alex was the top student of her grade. She also noticed that Conner had weird outbursts in lessons.
Bree thought Conner was very clumsy because everytime she saw him he either knocked something over or tripped himself. Then he would stand up, face all red, probably because of embarrassment.
She came to the conclusion that he was clumsy because he was nervous, and he was nervous because he was hiding something. Bree was sure the thing he was hiding was about the mystery around the Bailey twins.
Bree was right about Conner hiding something from her, but he wasn't hiding the Land of Stories from her, and he didn't even know what he was hiding…
Conner was thinking about Bree again.
He didn't know why he kept thinking about her, nor did the room get hotter when someone mentioned her. And he certainly didn't know why he felt giddy yet nervous around her. It was strange, and he never felt like that before.
He watched as Bree's ponytail swung back and forth in front of him. He was suddenly compelled to grab the ponytail.
Conner nearly stopped, completely mortified. What am I thinking?! That is so immature! What boy would want to pull a girl's ponytail other than to purposely tease her? This isn't me! What if something entered my brain and controlled my thoughts! Or maybe an alien army invaded my brain! This isn't normal! This isn't- "GYAAAHHH!"
Conner yelled as he somehow tripped over himself and the pile of books went flying.
"Oof!" Conner grunted as he fell on the floor painfully, somewhat resembling a belly flop. Bree spun around and winced. "Whoa. Are you okay?"
Conner could only stare. Bree asked me if I'm okay! Woohoo! Wait, shouldn't I feel severe pain from that fall?
Bree assumed Conner was in shock because he kept staring at her. She kneeled and put her books down. "That looks like a painful fall."
It is! Conner said to himself, but put on a tough face. "No, actually it's not that painful." he said with his face all scrunched up.
A tiny amused smile appeared on Bree's face. It was obvious that Conner was lying.
"Come on," she said, reaching out her hand to him. Before Conner could let himself do or say something stupid, he accepted her hand and pulled himself up. "Umm… thanks, Bree."
"No problem. And now…" Bree trailed off, looking at the books scattered over the floor.
"Ms. York is going to be so mad…" Conner muttered absentmindedly. His mind was in a daze, and his heart was still thumping loudly.
He reached out an arm and flinched. He could feel a bruise on it.
"Do you need the nurse?" Bree asked, concerned.
"Nah, I'm fine." As Conner picked up the books, his inside voice screamed, "Oh my god! I held Bree's hand! Or she held my hand but I don't care about details! But why am I so giddy? He tried hard to keep a large smile from stretching over his face as he picked up the books. He attempted to focus on the books, because he was sure he would do something stupid if he didn't.
Conner was officially the clumsiest person Bree had ever met. He even stumbled a few times when he collected his books. Wow, he must be really shy inside, but I thought he had a lot of friends and was popular, Bree thought.
"So, you're pretty clumsy, aren't you?" Bree asked casually. She looked over at Conner and found him trying to bury his face in his stack of books, face red.
"Huh? Oh, yeah." Conner stammered.
There was silence as they walked to the library. Conner was peeking out from the books cautiously to stop himself from hitting something to cause him even more pain.
Then his eye caught Bree's ponytail again. That stupid ponytail! The cause of all my problems! Conner thought, but he couldn't help but stare at her.
Bree suddenly had a strange feeling, like someone was spying on her. She looked around and saw Conner peeking out bashfully, face flushed. Then she saw what he was looking at.
He was looking at her.
Conner Bailey was staring at me.
A light blush filled Bree's cheeks and she looked away, pretending she hadn't noticed anything. Conner blushed a deeper red. Bree caught me staring at her! No! Now she thinks I'm a creep!
Bree stared at the books in front of her, eyebrows furrowed in thought. Conner was strange. Why was he always so clumsy and nervous? And most importantly, why did he just stare at her?
Maybe he thinks I'm weird, Bree thought. Because I stare at weird people too. He probably thinks I'm weird because I write zombie stories and I dyed my bangs. Bree sighed. Yup, that's probably it.
2.
Bree knew that Conner had a crush on her.
And she knew that she had a crush on him as well.
She had spent a good hour tossing in her bed to stop herself from always thinking about him. After all, she was going on a class trip to Germany with him tomorrow.
I'm spending three days with him. Oh joy. Bree suddenly froze. Wait, I don't even know if I'm being sarcastic now. She sighed, pulling her pillow over her head.
At least I'll have a good chance of knowing more about the mystery about the Bailey twins.
Alex and Conner had suddenly disappeared for a week a couple months back. When Conner came back, Alex was gone. Conner said she transferred to Vermont, but Bree knew there was more to the story.
And she knew because Conner was a seriously bad liar.
Not that she tried to notice. It was just obvious.
Next morning, Bree woke up, extremely sleepy. She hadn't slept much due to excitement. No more annoying sisters! Bree thought gleefully. No more naggy mom telling me to do this and that! I can finally have an adventure! Bree sobered down a bit. Well, it's not an adventure, but it's the closest thing I'll get.
After saying goodbye to her parents, Bree walked in the airport. She wasn't a morning person, and she felt sluggish from the night before.
Just get back to your "cool and calm" state, Bree mused to herself. But it was hard to do so as she was still very sleepy.
She saw the self-proclaimed Book Huggers and groaned. She had been stuck with those annoying girls since kindergarten. Like her, they were also interested in the Bailey twins mystery, but they took things to a further level. Bree witnessed them jotting down something Conner said, eavesdropping on him, and even stalking him on one occasion, all in a very obnoxious fashion. Bree had to stop herself from laughing as she saw the Book Huggers trailing after Conner one day, dressed in thick coats and sunglasses. It would be so obvious if Conner turned around.
She knew that the girls were coming, and she had wondered if she should still go or not, but something told her that she had to go to Germany no matter what. Maybe it was her love of writing linking to visiting the Brothers Grimm's graves. Maybe it was the fact that she was part German made her want to visit the country.
Or maybe it was because Conner was going too.
Bree let out a grunt. She had to stop thinking about him at all costs, which was rather difficult as said boy was just a couple meters away.
She arranged her face in her best passive expression as she walked towards the group, trying to avoid looking at Conner. But she did anyway, out of the corner of her eye, and she saw him staring at her, mouth slightly agape.
Bree quickly looked away. Maybe he's just about to fall asleep so his eyes were fixed on a certain point and by some coincidence that fixed point is me so-
Another voice in her brain interrupted the first one. You're actually rambling in your mind. The voice suddenly sounded suspiciously like one of her sisters. You just can't stop thinking about him, can you?
Voice #1 grunted. Just shut up.
Voice #2 laughed. Denial. You like him. And stop coming up with lame excuses everytime you catch him staring at you.
Voice #1 sighed. Just go away. I don't need you.
As Voice #2 faded away, Bree wondered if it was normal to have two voices arguing in her mind about her feelings for a boy.
Probably not, Bree thought. But then, I'm not exactly normal, am I?
3.
Cramped in a plane with Conner for half a day went as well as expected. She asked him questions, he ignored them, he got flustered, then they both went on their ways.
More like Bree went off to read her murder mystery books and Conner just sat there awkwardly.
But it was kind of difficult to focus on her books when there was a bigger mystery. Her thoughts kept her awake throughout the whole flight and she didn't sleep a wink. So naturally, she was tired and jet-lagged when they arrived in Germany.
But she also felt oddly happy. It was like a piece of her heart belonged to Germany, and when Bree went there she felt complete.
Yet something was bothering her, and she didn't know why.
Jet lag got to my head, Bree thought sleepily when she arrived at her hotel room. She was sharing a room with Mindy and Cindy, and she wouldn't mind if she had a room to herself because those girls were really annoying. Currently, they were having a discussion about the Bailey twins.
"So, do you think Alex really transferred to Vermont?"
"Of course not, Conner is like, obviously hiding something."
"So maybe Alex is a secret agent for something? You know how smart she is."
"That's possible. Bree, what do you think about- hello?"
Bree turned away from the girls, earplugs in both of her ears. Sure, the mystery was interesting, but she probably wasn't going to get any peace if that was the only thing the other girls would discuss.
She walked to the window and leaned out of it, enjoying the scenery. A small smile tugged on the corner of her lips. The gentle breeze brushed past her face. She felt so comfortable here. She bathed in Berlin's presence, and she couldn't hear the Book Huggers' conversation.
Bree looked up, trying to see the cornflower blue sky, only to find herself staring into Conner's bright blue eyes. Oh, I guess he had the same idea as I had, Bree thought. He was leaning out the window and was probably looking out at the city in the same fashion she just did. Their actions were eerily similar.
Awkward pause as they looked at each other. Conner looked pretty freaked out at being caught again. Bree's mind alternated quickly between Wow this is like the hundredth time I've caught him and Oh my gosh, he was looking at me! and Ew, what a creep. Different emotions fought for dominance inside her.
Reacting quickly, Bree laughed and waved at Conner. At least that laugh was genuine, his face was hilarious when he looked like a deer caught in headlights. Conner waved back, although his movements were a bit too stiff to be normal. Then he promptly retreated and shut the window.
Bree chuckled to herself and tried not to think too much about their (mutual) feelings for each other. She was about to bang her head on the nearest wall when she realized she was still leaning out of the window and could have easily lost her balance.
She stepped back into the room, where Mindy and Cindy were still having a discussion. Bree sighed at the sight of them and took one last look at the blue sky outside the window, and retreated back to her dull room.
4.
Bree couldn't believe what she just did.
She just kissed Conner on the cheek.
As in, she kissed her crush on the cheek.
Bree guessed that she was so excited about finding the panpipe in the midst of Mother Goose's many trinkets that she had express her happiness in some way. And because conveniently Conner was beside her, so she kissed him.
See? Nothing romantic in there.
But Bree hadn't been thinking much when she kissed Conner. So she forgot that the poor kid would be paralyzed with her mere presence, let only when she kissed him.
Let's consider it as a miracle that he didn't faint.
After she kissed Conner on the cheek, she quickly dashed out of the vault, afraid that she'll blush and a crack in her passive state would form. But then, it wasn't like cracks hadn't shown already. If Conner wasn't that oblivious he would have seen those crush signs.
Once Bree hurried away, she leaned against the wall, face flushed. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She took a few deep breaths and exhaled through her nose.
But there was this giddiness in the pit of her stomach that refused to go away not matter what Bree insisted.
"Aren't you coming?" Bree asked once she'd calmed herself down.
"Yeah, sorry, be right there!" Conner called back, voice slightly shaky.
The boy was in cloud nine. Of all things that could have happened, his crush kissed him. When he was just starting to act normal around her. He was completely stupefied and in a state of euphoria. Fireworks exploded in his mind and Conner fought back the sudden urge to do a little dance. He couldn't stop smiling, and he was pretty sure he would never feel this ecstatic again. But then he would probably get even more embarrassed around Bree after that, but Conner didn't care.
Get a grip! He scolded himself, and tried his best to wipe that stupid lovesick grin off his face. He got out of the room and locked the door with Bree. The whole process was done in total silence. Not awkward silence, but peaceful silence. Both were too into their own thoughts. But they could feel that spark of electricity buzzing in the air. Something had changed between them.
But nobody dared to acknowledge it.
They walked in silence as they took the lift. It was now beginning to get slightly awkward.
Why my life is so awkward? Conner screamed in his mind. First that awkward plane ride, and now this whole thing! Ugh.
Meanwhile Bree was ranting. What did I just do this is NOT supposed to be one of those romantic run away things we're supposed to save the Land of Fairy Tales or whatever it's called ah help me wait why am I ranting I don't rant. She sighed. I'm insane.
After (attempting) to calm himself down, Conner tried to see Bree's reaction.
Bad mistake.
Really bad mistake.
She saw him, eyes widening slightly.
Conner wanted to kill himself or sink into the floor.
But she blushed.
And Conner was too busy freaking out to notice.
5.
So it had escalated to this.
A month ago Bree's life was fairly normal. The only thing she worried about was how to stop herself from fangirling after Conner before the trip.
Yes, Bree just admitted she was a fangirl. Her life couldn't get any messed up after this.
Now? Oh, nothing special. A huge army would be invading the Land of Stories soon and she and her German friend (whom she had somehow met, lucky coincidence) were going aboard a carriage filled with fairy tale characters they had known all their life but never knew they were real. Including a friendly man-frog, a narcissistic ex-queen, Queen Bo Peep (how did she even become queen in the first place?) and royals like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White.
It was totally normal.
And she forgot to mention that her classmate and his sister were the Fairy Godmother's grandchildren. And they were in charge of a war.
Bree and Emmerich had no choice but to comply, while trying to make sense of the situation. They were about to travel in an enchanted carriage that would go through the land without travelling on the same path twice.
Not only Alex was in charge of commanding troops, she was also a cool fairy.
Meanwhile Conner just looked really apologetic that he'd gotten his friends in danger.
"It's not your fault," Bree had said, trying to comfort him. She managed a weak smile. "I forced you to bring me, didn't I?"
"Well yeah you did." Conner shrugged, trying to make both of them feel better. "You can be very persuasive."
Emmerich stood next to them, looking frightened but also in awe of the royals.
"Take care, Emmerich," Conner smiled and petted Emmerich's head as the younger boy stepped in the carriage and sat next to Froggy.
"I will." Emmerich replied. He perked up. "At least this is going to be an adventure!"
Conner and Bree, outside the carriage, looked at Emmerich.
"I think he doesn't realize the danger of the situation," Conner said, wondering when did he lose his childlike innocence and became the teen he was now. He remembered how long it had took him to realize his father was truly gone and was never coming back.
"Either that or he doesn't want to think about it," Bree said softly. The two made an unspoken promise to protect his innocence. After all, they dragged him into this chaos.
The two looked back at each other, hair fluttering gently in the wind. Suddenly, Bree tackled Conner into a big hug. "Please stay safe," she murmured.
Conner froze, but hugged her back, his face so red that he felt like he was going to explode. The two stayed like this for a while, ignoring the looks everyone else was giving them. Red gave Emmerich a look which said "I feel bad for you, the third wheel".
"Don't worry about me," Conner tried assure her. "I'm used to being in danger." He sincerely hoped she would feel better. Conner hated other people worrying too much about him because it made him feel extremely guilty (if you have to ask why, ask Charlotte).
Conner watched Bree slip into the carriage, wondering why did he feel his heart clench. His eyes followed her blonde ponytail, vaguely remembering once he had been distracted by the same ponytail. Before he shut the door, she turned back for the last time, wanting to catch a glimpse of him. Their eyes met, silently conveying emotions and wishes. Bree had a half-smile on her face, wishing peace and victory for Conner.
The door shut, and Conner still stared at the carriage. Despite the approaching danger, he felt a small smile tug on his lips.
It was the first time they made eye contact without either of them getting flustered.
6.
There were a couple of things Conner thought when Alex gave him his sword during the battle for the Fairy Kingdom.
One, he had the power to kill and injure, although he knew he would be using it to defend. Alex would kill him if otherwise.
Two, that shiny sword looked cool.
Three, and the most dominant of all thoughts, was that he looked like a really dashing knight and could probably use the chance to impress someone (aka. Bree) if he had time.
Call him self-centered, but it's not every day a fourteen-year-old participates in a battle and is granted a sword.
And to be honest, Bree did think he looked cool. Not that he needed to know that. For now, she contented herself with hugging him again.
He immediately called Lester to take them to safety. Bree knew they should be away from the battlegrounds to protect themselves. A small part of her whispered, "It's really nice for him to be so thoughtful…"
Shut up! She retorted. Now is not the time!
"Are you coming?" Bree asked as she waited for Emmerich to climb onto Lester.
He grinned at her, cheeks flushed from the exercise and the heat of battle. "I'll be there soon." He winked. "But don't worry."
Did he just wink at me?
He. Just. Winked.
If Bree could, she would scream. When did he become so bold and...and flirty? He used to be so quiet and clumsy beside her. She flushed and smiled. She was falling for him again, quick and fast. She liked both sides of him, the cute side of him when he kept on rambling next to her, and also the real him, which she'd lately gone to know because of the trip, his creativeness and humour intrigued her. And now his protectiveness. Bree hated to sound like a stupid giggly idiot, but she had really grown fond of the boy.
"Impossible." She managed to reply.
She saw him blush before quickly telling Lester to take off. She felt herself being lifted into the air and she held the princess tightly. The battlefield spanned under her and she saw soldiers fighting with all their might. She even saw the royals fighting. Her eyes scanned around and finally landed back on a certain boy.
Conner was honestly surprised that Bree decided to look back at him. He saw her looking around, but then, their eyes locked.
She turned red, and even in the distance he saw her self consciously tug a strand of hair behind her ear.
And suddenly the irony hit Conner. For once, she didn't catch him staring at her, but he caught her staring at him. His heart started pounding furiously. Does that mean she liked him too?
She could only stare stupidly at him and grin.
He did the same.
As Lester landed on the balcony, Bree finally tore her eyes off Conner. She lifted Princess Hope off her lap and to the ground before she climbed off herself. Emmerich noticed a hint of a smile on her face.
"Why are you smiling?" He asked curiously. "Do you know we're going to win this war?"
"It's none of your business," Bree replied playfully before the noise of gunfire brought her back to reality.
A/N: AH THIS IS SO CLICHÉ whatever. I ship Conner and Bree so much. By the way, do you think Conneree should be the official ship name for them? I cannot think of anything else. And as always, please read and review!
(PS: I drew the cover...*moves away slowly*)