Let's Dance to Joy Division Chapter 1: September, a sisters grimm fanfic

Right, so. Hi, I'm Morgan and I'm here to give you some High School, Non-Magic AU Puckabrina because I can, and I grew up reading this series and high school AUs, so they hold a special place in my heart. I've been working on this project (slowly) since 2014. Thank you to my readers for sticking with me. One day it will be done!

I'll update whenever I get more writing done; each chapter is going to be around 10,000 words so… bear with me here. As of 2/12/17 I've begun going through and heavily editing/changing this fic to reflect the change in my writing style and how I feel it should progress; all errors have thus (hopefully) been fixed and a lot structure-wise has changed. Changes aren't exactly monumental regarding plot or content as of when I'm writing this edit, but I might go through again at a later date and completely rip the story apart. We'll see.

The title is subject to change, though since I'm nearing the… 5 year mark (I think, I've lost track quite honestly) I'll probably just keep it, or maybe make a poll to what I should change it to. Look out for a note about that, if that happens.

Some important notes: Because this was written in 2014, that's when it was set. Sections are dated accordingly. Apologies if this comes across as a bit dated, I'm working off a dating system I don't want to change so… 2014 it is.

Summary: Sabrina is spending her senior year at Ferryport Landing High, and she is less than thrilled about it. To make matters worse, a huge case is cropping up and her detective Grandmother is over the moon to show the girls the family business. Furthermore, the Trickster King just can't seem to leave her alone. Non-Magic AU, Puckabrina.

Enjoy; feedback is highly appreciated!

Chapter One — Into The Unknown (Blackchords)

I see this life through the eyes of others
And on, on this night
I will bide my time

September

Part 1 (Monday, September 8th, 2014) — Sabrina

The first day of Sabrina's senior year at her new school, Ferryport Landing High, was already shaping up to be a massive disaster.

She hadn't even wanted to go to Ferryport Landing in the first place. In fact, she had been looking forward to her senior year at her perfectly normal high school back in Manhattan, where her friends were. It was her senior year, after all; there were so many things she had been looking forward to. Prom, study nights with her friends, maybe actually asking out that cute boy from her math class…

Except none of that mattered now, because instead her parents decided to send her to the possibly the smallest town in existence. Instead of spending her senior year back home, she was in the middle of nowhere. She couldn't imagine a worse scenario.

Her parents thought it would be a "good opportunity to get closer to distant family" and "experience the small town lifestyle, which is very humbling, honey" for both of the Grimm sisters, though Sabrina knew that they were only saying that so they didn't feel bad for sending her away. The last time Sabrina had seen her grandmother, she had been only four years old. Not that she didn't look forward to seeing her granny, but Sabrina wasn't exactly fond of change, especially when it was forced. She liked things to be normal and comfortable and routine. Not dull and unfamiliar, which is exactly what Ferryport Landing was.

Sabrina suspected that her parents also wanted an opportunity to spend some alone time with the youngest child of their family, Basil Jr., who had turned 8 the past year. Being the youngest child, her parents probably felt like he didn't get enough of their attention, especially with the dramatic middle child, Daphne, hogging quite a bit of their attention with her antics. Well, and she had snuck out to a party her friend was hosting just a week before school got out, so that could have something to do with it. They didn't call her the Queen of Sneaks for nothing, but she'd gotten caught anyway and her parents had been furious. She figured they were trying to drill some sense into her.

She had to admit, it was working.

Anyway, Sabrina never slept well in new locations (or in general, really), and it didn't help that they had arrived the night before the first day of school, or the fact that she had inherited her father's old room. She hardly got a wink of sleep, which only made her even more annoyed when her alarm finally did go off. The line for the bathroom was a million years long when she had finally rolled out of bed, and she'd had about ten minutes tops to brush her teeth and shower before she was kicked out by Daphne, who 'really had to pee, honest!'

Lies and slander.

Subsequently, her grandmother had tried to feed her some strange concoction she had made for breakfast, which resembled soup but was bright orange and had floating chunks of what was hopefully just chicken. Whatever it was, it wasn't breakfast. The whole ordeal left Sabrina late for school and with a granola bar she had found at the back of the pantry for breakfast (which had still tasted odd; she wondered how long they had been there, and if she should consider calling poison control).

To top it all off, she had grabbed the wrong lunch on the way out. It was really nice of Granny to prepare her a lunch, but the food she'd seen her prepare was just too weird for Sabrina, so she had made her own normal lunch with things she scrounged together from the cabinets. In her rush, she accidentally took the one Granny made, and there was no going back once she had boarded the bus.

All things considered, Sabrina was proud to crown herself 'grumpiest person in the world' by only 7 in the morning. Or at least, she would be if she wasn't so busy being grumpy.

The bus ride was a nightmare of screaming teenagers. They talked loudly across the bus and on their phones, popped their bubble gum and threw wads of paper at each other. The bus driver did nothing to calm them, and Sabrina sat miserably at the front of the bus, clutching her bag close and batting away any stray papers that came close, sinking down deeper into the blistering upholstery. She missed her mom driving her to school, or walking the 3 blocks when her mother couldn't drive her.

When the bus finally did pull up to the school five minutes late, Sabrina had to sprint to get to her homeroom on time. Once she had dropped into a seat safely near the back of the class, she thought maybe it was over.

It wasn't. Not by a long shot, it seemed.

Her homeroom was as noisy as the bus was, if not more, and the teacher was as old as the school itself; a great combination for ruin and tragedy, at least for Sabrina's ears. Students her age ran around the room and giggled and tossed things at each other as if they were in preschool, and the teacher hardly raised his head. The noise gave her a massive headache, and it was impossible to sit silently and read her book, no matter how hard she tried. It was too hard to tune them out.

Needless to say she had never been happier to hear the bell ring, even if it was shrill and annoying. She almost thought it was the fire alarm.

Her first three classes before lunch were fairly uneventful, though, which she was incredibly thankful for. No one really paid attention to her, and the homework load was light for the first day of school. All she had was some AP Literature reading, a little math, and no astronomy.

Sabrina was honestly starting to feel better as the day progressed. She could understand the material, teachers didn't call on her, and no one gave her any rude looks.

It was nice.

That is, until she got to lunch.

In a desperate attempt to have some normal food for lunch, Sabrina had gotten a Sprite from the vending machines in the cafeteria and then slumped down at the end of one of the lunch tables near the back of the cafeteria, alone. She would have just gone through the lunch line if she wasn't terrified of the gross stuff they were serving; the displays behind the counter looked worse than what Granny made. That, and she didn't have any money except for the crinkly dollar bill from the bottom of her backpack she'd used to get her Sprite.

Grimacing, she pulled out the sandwich her grandmother prepared, along with a fruit that looked like an apple (but purple and softer) and a plastic bag of homemade chips, which was promising except that were blue. There was also a Hershey's kiss, which was a nice sentiment, and also hopefully normal. It was still wrapped, so she had fairly high hopes.

She started with the sandwich. It tasted like peanut butter, chicken, and raspberries. She managed to make it a few bites through before she had to stop, afraid that she might accidentally throw up just from the strange mixing of flavors. On their own weren't terrible, but mixed together between two slices of bread, it was the worst thing she'd ever tasted. At least Daphne would probably enjoy it.

Just as she was about to close in on the fruit, someone sat down in the seat across from her. Glancing up, she locked eyes with a tall boy in a green hoodie that was streaked with dirt and what looked like grass stains. He had mischievous green eyes and a crooked smirk, and his dirty blonde hair curled around his head in a way that made Sabrina think that he never brushed it; it was ridiculously tousled and rather tangled. His teeth looked sharp, almost like fangs, but not quite.

She raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed, and took a bite of the fruit; her face twisted at the taste. It was like avocado, but bad. Swallowing thickly, she frowned at the boy. "What do you want?"

He feigned a look of offense, though his eyes still held their mischievous twinkle. "Can't a guy greet the new girl without getting interrogated? Besides, this is my table and there are no girls allowed, so scram." He made a shooing gesture with his hands, and frowned when she stayed put.

Sabrina rolled her eyes and set down the disgusting fruit. The boy eyed it like it was his prey, and when she slid it away, he snatched it up and took an eager bite. He ate like he was going to die if he didn't finish it within seconds, despite the fact that he had his own tray of food. The sight was not pretty, and reminded her a lot of a violent massacre in the wild. A wolf devouring a rabbit.

Gross.

"I don't see your name on it," Sabrina replied, finally cracking open her soda and taking a swig. Sadly, it did nothing to get rid of the taste of the fruit and the sandwich still lingering in her mouth. It was comforting to have a normal soda, though, especially after… that.

The boy tried to reply with his mouth full as he pointed at the space underneath her brown bag, which was even grosser than watching him eat. Ignoring him, she lifted the bag. Carved into the table were the initials "R.G." followed by "Puck waz here" and "Trickster King 5eva".

"Puck, huh?" she asked. "That's a weird name."

He glared at her and quickly swallowed (mercifully) to retort. "Only my friends call me Puck. You can call me 'your majesty'."

"Fat chance," she muttered under her breath, dropping the paper bag.

"You gonna eat that?" Puck asked, pointing at the abandoned sandwich in front of her. She shook her head and he snatched it up and began tearing into it like a wolf would a deer. Curling her lip in disgust, Sabrina took another swig of her soda, hoping the carbonation would settle her stomach. She was about to get up and when the boy's hand closed around her wrist and tugged gently, keeping her in her place. She scowled at him.

"Wait," he said. His smirk melted into what Sabrina assumed was a genuine smile. She had to admit, he was rather attractive, even with his dirty appearance and repulsive eating habits. He'd probably be cuter if he knew what a washing machine was. "I never did learn your name."

"Sabrina," she replied, yanking her wrist away. "Sabrina Grimm. What happened to wanting me to scram?"

"Grimm, huh?" He ignored her question. The smirk was back full-fledged, as if it had never left. "So, Grimm, you gonna eat those chips or not?"

"You have your own lunch, why don't you eat that instead?" He didn't reply, and only looked up at her with a mouthful of food, smiling around the yellow insides of the fruit she'd abandoned. Shrugging, he stuffed some chips into his already full mouth.

Making a face, she turned away and quickly made her way out of the cafeteria. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling hungry anymore.

Her next class, Theatre, passed by quite uneventfully, if anything shared with 'Puck' could be considered uneventful. The teacher was a passionate individual who rambled needlessly on and on about they play they were presenting at the end of the semester, Romeo and Juliet, and was so caught up in her infatuation with the play that she didn't even bother with roll call, claiming that she would assign grades under their character's name, and determine their progress with their performance and only their performance of their roles. A stupid idea, in Sabrina's opinion. It seemed like an ineffective way to assign grades.

Sabrina was not a fan of that particular Shakespeare play (or Theatre at all, for that matter; signing up for classes so late meant that she got the worst of the elevtives), and was almost relieved when Puck loudly spoke up that they should do his namesake's play instead, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

He was still an idiot, though, even if she agreed with him.

The teacher brushed off his idea, though, only pausing to scoff at the suggestion before returning to responding with a lengthy lecture how great Romeo and Juliet is, going on about how it was the greatest love story the world has seen, and that it was a timeless romance, blah blah blah.

Six people died! Sabrina wanted to shout.

She sighed, sinking into the lumpy auditorium seat at the back of the classroom. Not only would she have to do a play, but it would be with Puck. Her day was just getting worse and worse.

Chemistry went worst of all, the nail in the coffin of an already horrible day. It turned out that she also had the class with Puck. Or "Robin Goodfellow" as the teacher had called out on roll, which Sabrina supposed explained the "R.G." carved into the lunch table. He had haughtily corrected her, though, when she had called out his name. His group of friends laughed and the teacher frowned. At least this teacher seemed less likely to put up with Puck's antics.

It looked like the messy boy was quite popular, and also quite the troublemaker.

"Class, settle down!" The teacher roared over the noise, tapping her meter stick angrily against the chalkboard. "I'll be assigning your lab partners today. Get to know them well, because you'll be working with them for the rest of the year. You will not be allowed to change partners once I have assigned them."

Sabrina crossed her fingers and prayed to every god she could think of that she wouldn't get a stupid lab partner, or someone who didn't pull their weight. Glancing over the room, she saw a girl with thick dark hair and slanted grey eyes place her hand on Puck's arm and lean close to say something. The girl had been announced as "Moth" during role. Sabrina wondered what her parents had been thinking when they named her, though she supposed the name was fitting.

"Let's see…" the teacher said, glancing over the list in front of her. "These will be the partner sets for the year. I expect to not hear any complaints, as there will be no exchanging partners." She glanced over the class threateningly. "Peter and Toby at table one, Natalie and Bella at table two. Moth and Wendell, table three. Drop that glare right now, Moth, or I'll send you to the principal's office. Wendy and Audrey at table four. Puck and Sabrina, table five. Penelope and Cecil, table six."

Sabrina groaned internally as she collected her things and moved to her new seat at table five, trying desperately to hide her annoyance behind a neutral expression. Puck dropped into the seat next to her with a smirk stretched across his lips, and despite it being only the third time she'd seen it, she was already sick of it.

"We meet again, Grimm," he said. "Hope you're good at chemistry, because I have no idea what this class is even about."

Sabrina groaned, this time audibly, just as Moth spoke up from her new seat.

"Mrs. J, I'm sorry but… I don't think I can work well with Wendell," she said, batting her eyelashes dramatically at the scowling teacher. Her voice was high and pitchy, strafing the line between nasally and screechy. She reminded Sabrina a lot of the really mean girls back at her old school. "I just… I really think I should be paired with Puck instead." She sighed, turning away, blinking her eyes as if she was on the verge of tears. At least she wasn't in theatre class; her acting was atrocious.

The teacher sighed, and Sabrina could hear the strain in her voice when she spoke. "What did I say about complaining, Moth? There will be no exchanging partners. Now, please pass these papers around, Peter…"

Moth dropped her forlorn expression and her features twisted into a scowl, which was not flattering at all. Her eyebrows pinched in towards her nose, and she made a small "hmph" sound. She crossed her arms, turning her glare toward Sabrina, as if it was her fault that she had involuntarily gotten paired with Puck instead of Moth. Sabrina averted her gaze as she was handed the stack of papers listing their first homework assignment; a 'get to know your partner' type assignment. The worksheet featured a list of questions like "what is their favorite color" and "what is their plan for once they get out of high school".

Great. Just great.

Fortunately, it was the last class of the day, but unfortunately, the one she was least looking forward to.

P.E.

It's not that she hated exercise or anything. In fact, she was pretty fit and athletic; she'd been active in sports back in Manhattan, and often went on runs to calm herself down when she was upset. She just hated the uniform and her classmates were sluggish and slow, meaning she would probably be the only one really working. Not that she cared; it was pretty typical of high schoolers to slack off in Physical Education. She couldn't exactly blame them, but she wasn't exactly the slacker type.

The uniform was a grey t-shirt with the school's logo on it and the shorts were a hideous shade of yellow. The pair that Sabrina received was a size too small, but when asked her teacher for a larger size, he sneered and told Sabrina that she had to wait a week and then get it from the school store, as what she had received was all they currently had in stock.

Sabrina grumpily changed into the uniform and headed out of the locker room and into the main gym. Students milled about idly talking as the teacher barked instructions at them. They were lazy and only cared about socializing, though, and ignored anything that he had to say. Sabrina likely would have done the same, if she had friends.

Sighing, Sabrina began the ten minute run that they would apparently start every class with, which was no sweat to her. She was five minutes in, passing her classmates as they walked (or 'lightly jogged') and talked, when someone appeared next to her and matched her pace.

She glanced over and frowned.

"Fancy meeting you here," Puck said. He was wearing a male cut of the same uniform, and quite like Sabrina, he had hardly broken a sweat. She was unsure if it was just because he was actually really well built or because he wasn't actually running; she hadn't been paying attention.

"What now?" Sabrina grumbled, completing another lap. She looked away, focusing on the run. The last thing she wanted to deal with at the moment was his antics.

Puck's smirk slipped off his lips and he actually looked genuinely confused for a moment. It didn't last long, another smirk quickly replacing it, but this one was considerably more forced. "I heard that we're playing dodgeball today. My team always goes undefeated. Ready to get your ass kicked, Grimm?"

"More like kissed once I beat you and everyone else into the dirt," she replied coolly before picking up the pace effortlessly and leaving him behind without looking over her shoulder. As much as she wanted to see his gobsmacked expression, she knew better than to look back.

Five minutes later, the shrill sound of a whistle broke Sabrina's concentration and she stopped in her tracks. The ten minute run had been pretty invigorating, and she was ready to kick some serious ass at dodgeball.

"Teams!" The teacher barked out. "Puck and Peter, team captains. Go!"

Puck glared at Peter as the boys stepped out of the lineup to choose teams, and Sabrina recalled that they all had Chemistry together. Peter seemed friendly enough from what she saw in the class before, but Puck was looking at him as if he'd taken Puck's lunch money or something. She wondered idly what Peter did to piss Puck off like that.

Peter picked Sabrina first with a welcoming smile, and Sabrina swore that she saw Puck's glare deepen. If looks could kill, Peter would have already ceased to exist in a puff of smoke. It would have been amusing, were Sabrina not so eager to show Puck up.

And show him up, she would.

Puck went after him, picking Natalie, who was taller than everyone (including the teacher) and pretty heavily muscled. Moth looked displeased that she wasn't Puck's first choice, which was amusing to watch, though being up against her tall and brawny peer provided a bit of a challenge. Nothing she couldn't handle, though.

From then on, the two picked classmates until there were none left. Wendell was last and reluctantly joined Puck's team, who seemed just as displeased.

"Ready?" The teacher called out as the student's got into position, splitting the gym into two halves. Sabrina gripped the rubber ball hard, examining her targets for any sign of weakness. She cast a critical eye over them, feeling quite like a lioness stalking her prey. The thought was entertaining.

A shrill whisle sound echoed through the room, and chaos erupted.

Balls flew in every direction, hitting teens in their stomachs and backs. Wendell got called out almost immediately, as did Moth (who whined and griped and demanded to go to the nurse's office, but eventually just moped on the sidelines). Sabrina got in some great hits on Puck's team, and soon enough it was just the two of them left.

"Well, well, well…" Puck goaded, rolling a ball on the tip of his finger. He flashed Sabrina a cocky grin that made her flare with anger. "So, Grimm, looks like its ju-"

Before he could finish his likely long-winded speech, Sabrina hurled the ball in her hand at him as hard as she could. Caught by surprise, the ball smacked him right in the face and sent him down hard to the gym floor with a loud thud. His hand flew to his face as his nose started to bleed, but he stayed down for a moment, staring up at the ceiling in surprise.

"You were saying?" Sabrina mocked, giving him a smirk of her own and putting a hand on her hip as her team cheered. She had broken his undefeated record. He sat up holding his hand to his nose as blood seeped between his fingers, an incredulous look on his face. He looked absolutely bewildered, gazing at her with intent wonder. She uncomfortably looked away, instead basking in her teammates' cheers, allowing the thrill of the win to work through her.

The teacher blew his whistle to gain the attention of the celebrating students. "Class dismissed!" Victorious, Sabrina bounded off to the locker room without another look, eager to get back into her jeans.

Pleased to be back into clothes that actually fit, Sabrina stopped by her locker to grab her novel for English when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning, she nearly let out an irritated groan, but managed to cover it with a cough.

"Hey," Puck greeted her, raising a hand in greeting, the other holding a bloody tissue to his nose. He seemed almost sheepish, and paused, as if unsure of what to say, before continuing. "Do you wanna work on that chemistry assignment?"

Slightly shocked that Puck actually wanted to do work when he had loudly claimed to be 'highly allergic' to any form of work in Chemistry (much to her dismay), she nodded. At least he was actually offering; she thought she might have had to force him. "Um, yeah, sure. My place or yours?"

"Can we go to yours? My parents are… well." He ended his sentence with a cringe and adjusted his backpack uncomfortably. Sabrina raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. "I can drive us. My car is out front."

"Alright, sure," she said, closing her locker with a light clang of the metal. She hoped Granny wouldn't mind that she was bringing home a dirty wolf of a boy; she'd essentially be bringing back a stray.

Puck led her outside near the back of the student parking lot to an old Impala that looked like it was in pretty good condition, if a bit old. She would never admit it, but she only recognized the model from watching Supernatural, though this was clearly a different year. She ran her hand along the hood as Puck climbed into the driver's seat, idly admiring the structure. Even if she didn't know anything about cars, she could appreciate this one. She slipped into the passenger seat, folding her arms against her chest.

"Nice car," she commented, running a hand through her hair and shaking her head a little, letting it settle over her shoulders. When she glanced up, she caught Puck staring at her with an odd expression on his face, looking as confused as he had in class. He snapped out of it as soon as they locked eyes, directing his gaze out at the street and putting all of his attention towards driving. Was it her imagination, or were his cheeks pink?

She assumed it was the former.

"Thanks. Got it for my sixteenth birthday, though I had to do a lot of work to 'earn' it after that. Totally worth it," he said. He slid a hand along the steering wheel affectionately as they pulled out of the school's parking lot. The car obviously meant a lot to him.

Sabrina smiled, and they fell into silence, letting the soft hum of the radio take over.

"Granny! I'm home!" Sabrina called as she entered the house, kicking off her sneakers and setting them next to the coat stand, where the family's shoes were lined up. Puck followed and did the same, and Sabrina was secretly glad that his grass stained, dirt covered converse weren't going to enter her clean room.

Granny peeked out from the kitchen, a warm smile on her face. "Welcome home, liebling! Oh, and I see you've brought Puck. I'm so glad that you're making friends!" She beamed at Sabrina before disappearing back into the kitchen, the smell of freshly baked goods following her.

Sabrina's mood dropped instantly at the exchange, and she followed after her grandmother curiously. "He's… he's my chemistry partner, Granny." Puck instantly latched onto one of the plates of cookies Granny had made as he followed Sabrina into the kitchen, swiping one and stuffing it in his mouth whole. "How do you know him?"

"Oh, I used to babysit this little one for years! His parents were out quite often. Real party-goers, those two." She chuckled and held out a cookie to her, which Sabrina took begrudgingly. At least it looked like a normal chocolate chip cookie. Looking mortified, Puck quickly intervened before she could talk more about his childhood, or pinch his cheeks, which would have been a sight that Sabrina would happily have paid to see.

"Wow, old lady, it's been years and I'd love to catch up, but Grimm and I have some homework do do, so we better get started on that! Y'know, grades and stuff. Super important." He stepped between the two of them, grabbing Sabrina's arm with one hand and coveting a plate of cookies with the other. Tugging hard, he pulled Sabrina out of the kitchen as Granny waved at them. Sabrina rolled her eyes and yanked her arm out of his grasp, following him up the stairs.

She led him to the last door on the left, the room she'd been given when they'd moved in the night before. Her sister's was right next door. The two walked in and dropped their backpacks by the door.

The room was her old father's room, but Granny had cleared it out in preparation for their arrival, so it was really bare at the moment. She hadn't gotten to unpack anything yet, and she was kind of glad all her belongings were in boxes so that Puck couldn't go through them, even if it was annoying to have all her things disorganized. The room itself was fairly plain, she had unloaded most of her books onto her bookshelf before she had gone to bed the night before, just to give it a bit of a more comfortable environment. A solitary green armchair sat in the corner next to it, draped with a yellow quilt Granny had made Sabrina when she was young, flanked by a floor lamp. A bare desk was shoved up against the wall under the window and framed by white curtains, and a full length mirror rested in the corner near her closet.

The walls were a soft yellow color, and the floors were old wood that creaked underfoot. Her bedspread was patterned purple and white, and the bed itself was a white wood canopy bed with sheer white hangings, nice and big, and arguably more comfortable than her twin bed back in Manhattan. She flopped down onto the bed with a small bounce and set her bag next to her. Puck sunk down next to her, looking around with rapt curiosity, though he said nothing.

Sabrina yanked over her backpack and pulled out the worksheet, a pad of paper, and a blue pen, placing them into her lap. Puck did the same, only his worksheet was wrinkled and stained with something that looked like soda and his green pen was nearly out of ink. She wondered how he managed that within the two hours since they'd received it.

The worksheet was pretty straightforward and simple, and they worked through it together while they devoured the cookies that Granny had made earlier. Sabrina couldn't help but smile and laugh at some of his answers, finding that when Puck wasn't being a complete nuisance, he was actually pretty funny. They fell into a comfortable system; one of them would pose a question from the sheet and answer it, and then the other would answer it as well. Puck would do something stupid or give a dumb answer and Sabrina would snort and shove him.

"Do you like poetry?" Sabrina asked, reading off of the sheet. She thought for a moment and shrugged. "I went through a poetry phase a couple years ago. I still like it a lot, just not as much."

"Really?" Puck asked, raising an eyebrow. He picked up another cookie and took a bite. "I wouldn't have pegged you for the type. Anyway, I actually really like poetry."

"Likewise," she replied, managing to hide her surprise behind the last cookie. Puck was actually shaping up to be an okay guy, if you managed to look past… well, everything else. Particularly the wolfish eating. Mostly that, actually. She wrote down his answer on her paper and they continued on with the worksheet.

When Daphne came home, they had just finished the entire worksheet. They were trying to decide what to do (they couldn't agree – math homework or video games?) when Daphne burst into Sabrina's room with a smile stretched across her face. "'Brina! I made a friend!"

The thirteen year old stopped short once she saw Puck and gaped openly at him in shock, her jaw dropping dramatically. Behind her, a younger girl with auburn hair and brown eyes shyly waved before dropping her gaze to the floor. "Wow Sabrina, you made a friend? I'm really proud of you!"

Sabrina scowled at her sister and crossed her arms defiantly. "Puck and I are not friends! We're just chemistry partners."

"Chemistry, huh?" Daphne winked at her sister and giggled. Sabrina groaned and put her head in her hands while Puck joined Daphne in laughing. Even her friend let out a soft snicker, though she covered her mouth apologetically almost immediately, looking embarrassed.

"Just introduce me to your friend, Daphne," Sabrina sighed.

Daphne nodded and motioned for the girl to step forward, to which she did shyly. Daphne posed by the girl's side, arms wide as if presenting her. "This is Red! We have almost all of our classes together! She's really punk rock."

Sabrina nodded and smiled at Red, and the two girls departed, giggling and whispering together low enough that Sabrina couldn't hear what they were discussing. She was sure that they were talking about Puck, though, about the two of them. Sabrina wasn't sure she wanted to hear.

"Can we play video games now?" Puck interjected, stealing the last half of Sabrina's cookie and letting out a disgusting burp. Sabrina grimaced.

"No. We're going to do our math homework and get it out of the way, okay?"

He grumbled and looked like he wanted to put up a fight, but got out his math book nonetheless. They were in different classes, but they had the same teacher, so the assignment was the same. They worked in silence for a majority of Sabrina's work, and she was nearly done with the assigned work when she heard a low frustrated groan come from Puck's direction.

"What's wrong?" Sabrina asked, scooting closer and looking down at his paper. It was covered in harsh frustrated scribbles. Several answers were crossed out and corrected and crossed out again. He frowned and tossed his pen down angrily into the book sitting in front of him, then slammed it shut on the pen, as if it was the cause of his problems.

"I just don't get math, okay? Now go ahead and make fun of me." He turned his head away, his curls bouncing, and crossed his arms across his chest defensively. As much as Sabrina would love to make fun of him, she couldn't bring herself to get the words out of her mouth. She got as far as opening her mouth before the words died on her tongue.

"I'll help you, alright? Just calm down." She scooted closer again and sat shoulder to shoulder with him. He looked over at her, that confused expression plastered on his face, along with a hint of surprise that Sabrina had passed up a chance to make fun of him. His cheeks were awash with a blush color, darkening his freckles, and Sabrina briefly wondered if maybe he was coming down with something. Nodding slowly, he plucked his pen from the book and they started the first problem on a fresh sheet of paper.

Sabrina helped him through most of the problems and was actually a little proud when he showed progress or grasped a difficult problem (though she wouldn't admit it even on pain of death). She explained everything and watched him work through the problems. And honestly, it wasn't that bad. Even if he looked dirty and a little rugged, Puck actually smelled pretty good. Like the forest and pine, an earthly scent that reminded her of camping. She found that she wasn't miserable, being so close to him.

The revelation was… weird.

Eventually, when Puck was on the same problem as Sabrina, they sat in silence again and worked, Puck asking the occasional question and getting Sabrina to check his answers when he completed questions. Once they had finished, Puck lagging just a bit behind Sabrina, they set their papers aside and headed downstairs to play some celebratory video games. While Sabrina had planned on unpacking after school, she figured she'd have plenty of time to do that later.

Puck flopped onto the couch as Sabrina rifled through the video games. He propped his feet up on the coffee table and Sabrina tossed aside a stray book that had found its way into the game bin, which was minuscule compared to the books strewn about the room and overflowing from the shelves.

"How about Mario Kart?" Sabrina asked, turning to look at him and holding the game up for his approval. He lit up and nodded, so she loaded the game and handed him a controller. A malicious grin replaced his joyful expression, and Sabrina was sure that she was mirroring it. She kicked ass at this game.

They played for a good two hours, shoving each other and leaning forward, calling each other names and taunting each other. To Sabrina, if felt comfortable. Almost like when she used to play this with her friends, in Manhattan. Truth be told, college wasn't the only reason she had dreaded leaving New York City. It was also because it had been all she knew. Now, she had a new home, even if it was only temporary, and that was hard to get used to.

"Yes!" Sabrina cheered as the round ended and announced her as the victor. That win had put her in the lead by a whopping 2 rounds. Puck slumped down and groaned, wailing in remorse and looking as if he was attempting to melt right into the rug.

"It can't be!" he cried, holding his hands to the ceiling, as if accusing some god of his loss. "How could she have beaten me? It's impossible!"

Sabrina was about to make a smart remark in her favor when Granny called them from the kitchen, announcing dinner. The two teenagers raced each other to the dining room, with Puck winning by a landslide, nearly crashing into the table. Granny cried out, scolding the two of them lightly. Puck beamed and Sabrina scowled, slumping into a seat at the end of the dining room table. Puck slipped into the seat next to her just as Daphne and Red came into the room. Daphne sat across from Puck and Red across from Sabrina, with Granny at the head of the table.

"Where's Uncle Jake?" Daphne asked, helping herself to a good portion of mashed sweet potatoes and a gravy that was thick and green. Sabrina made a face and had some of the sweet potatoes and (hopefully) chicken, but refused to have any of the sauce. Puck and Daphne were all about the strange concoctions, but Red held back as well. Sabrina was glad she wasn't the only one.

"He's on a date tonight," Granny said, beaming. "He finally got the courage to ask Briar Rose on a date earlier this morning."

Daphne squealed. They had met Briar the night before when they'd arrived; she was a very sweet lady who owned a coffee shop downtown, and apparently their Uncle had been smitten with her for quite some time. Daphne thought that Briar was like a princess, and Jake wholeheartedly agreed. Sabrina was happy for him, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't hoping it could get her a discount on coffee.

Sabrina tuned out the rest of the conversation, uninterested in gushing about Uncle Jake's dating life or talking about school, instead choosing to think about where she'd put things when she unpacked or the book she was reading. She ate quietly and tried not to look at Puck while he ate. If she did, she'd surely lose her appetite.

Once dinner ended, the four of them did the dishes and packaged leftovers, letting Granny rest in front of the fireplace with one of her many books. Afterwards, Puck retrieved his things from Sabrina's room and slipped on his shoes, pausing on the porch. She stood in the doorway, and the two stared at the welcome mat silently for a few moments, on each side of the threshold. It felt awkward, but Sabrina wasn't really sure why.

"Thanks for helping me with the math," he said finally, rubbing the back of his head. He seemed almost… nervous, which Sabrina found strange; it wasn't like the strange confidence and wild personality he'd shown her earlier in the day.

She shrugged and smiled, a small spike of happiness running through her. Puck actually thanked her. She wasn't sure that he even knew what manners were. Regardless, it felt good to be thanked. "Don't mention it."

He shuffled a little and then held out his phone, not meeting her eyes. Confused, Sabrina took it and looked at it. Her name was typed into the new contact slot, and the line blinked as it waited for a phone number to be typed in.

"For, you know, if I need math help or whatever," he grumbled. Oh, Sabrina thought, her cheeks alighting. She quickly typed in her number and re-read it to make sure it was right before handing his phone back. He smiled a real, genuine smile and then headed off to his car to go home. Sabrina watched him from the porch, leaning on the railing and watching him drive away.

Barely an hour later, Sabrina had finished her reading for English and had just gotten dressed in her pajamas when Daphne once again burst into her room wearing a bright pink nightgown. Sabrina assumed that Red went home. since the girl was nowhere in sight.

"What happened to knocking?" Sabrina asked, though she was unable to stop herself from smiling as her sister flopped down on the bed next to her.

Daphne held up the brush that she had brought with her, ignoring the question as if it hadn't been asked. "Can I?"

Smiling, Sabrina nodded and shifted so that her sister could brush her hair. Daphne ran the brush through Sabrina's long, silky hair with a smile. It was a bit of a tradition between the sisters; they had done this for years. The tension bled from her shoulders, and she tipped her head back slightly.

"Soooo…" Daphne started. "That Puck guy. He's kind of cute, isn't he?"

Sabrina rolled her eyes, even if her sister couldn't see her do so. So that's what this was about. "I guess. He's pretty dirty, though, and really arrogant. Not to mention the fact that he eats like a pig, and seems to think he's a king or something. What's up with that? Like, how is he so popular at school? I just don't get it."

Daphne raised an eyebrow and giggled. "Maybe it's because he's totally hot."

Sabrina blushed, scowling. She was really glad that her sister couldn't see her face right now, or she would never hear the end of it. She could understand why her sister thought so, even if she would never tell her that. "He is not."

Before Daphne could get another word in edgewise, Sabrina's phone chimed twice, playing the generic text tone it was set to. She picked up her phone from where it lay discarded next to her English novel, relieved to be spared more of her sister's invasive questions. The number wasn't entered in her phone and she didn't recognize it, so she opened the message with Daphne peering over her shoulder curiously.

Unknown Number

Hey grimm i forgot to ask, do you want a ride to shcool tomorrow?

or w/e

"Is that Puck?" Daphne squealed. "Oh my gosh, Sabrina, you have to say yes. This is so gravy!"

Sabrina grimaced at her sister's squeak (and at Puck's atrocious spelling). "Fine, whatever," she muttered, sending a quick reply.

Sabrina

Sure.

As she pressed the send button, Daphne poked her hard on the shoulder with the end of the hairbrush. Sabrina winced at the sharp jab and rubbed the spot. "What, that's all you said? Sabrina, that was totally lame!"

Sabrina frowned. "Look, be happy I said yes at all, okay? He's seriously gross. The last shower he had was probably in 2009."

Daphne pouted and climbed off the bed, tossing down the brush on Sabrina's covers with more force than was strictly necessary. It bounced off the bed and hit the floor with a clatter. "Don't be such a snot!"

"I'm not being a snot!" Sabrina exclaimed, shocked that her sister was accusing her of such. Couldn't she tell that he was totally revolting? Did her not wanting to admit attraction to him really warrant a response like this? Though, it was classic Daphne, that was for sure.

"Yes you are," Daphne retorted, sticking her tongue out at Sabrina. She turned on her heel and left the room before Sabrina could argue.

Sighing, Sabrina laid back on her bed. She set her novel and the brush down on the nightstand next to her bed and crawled under the covers. Just before she turned her phone off for the night, it chimed with a response from Puck.

Unknown Number

I'll pick you up at 7

Sabrina allowed herself to a small smile (seeing as no one was around) as she entered Puck's number into her contacts and turned off her phone, setting it face down on top of the novel. Just a few minutes later, she was drifting off, embracing the peaceful lull of sleep.

Part 2 (Monday, September 22nd, 2014) — Puck

When Puck woke up, the first thing he did was attempt to smash his alarm clock into pieces, but all he succeeded in doing was making his fists sting. He groped around in the dark for his old baseball bat, but after wading through mounds of clothes and stepping on what he suspected was a Lego, he gave up and decided to just get on with his day.

Gritting his teeth, he begrudgingly pulled on a faded red Coca-Cola t-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans that may or may not have been clean, but they passed the sniff test, which is all Puck needed to consider them clean. They were one of his favorite pairs, even though they were ripped at the knees and worn. He lazily put on some deodorant and brushed his teeth in the bathroom, which took a total of 5 minutes tops. Thankfully he had showered the night before, because he had no energy or time for that today. He had wasted twenty minutes fruitlessly searching for his bat.

Breakfast was boring, consisting of Puck wolfing down pancakes while his father stared on disapprovingly over the top of his newspaper. When Puck paused to get seconds, his father started speaking, launching into something speech-like that Puck was sure he'd probably already heard a thousand times, so he ignored any words that came out of his old man's mouth and focused on his breakfast. Once he finished, he dumped his dishes in the sink and pulled on a green zip up hoodie (not to be confused with his other green hoodie, that one was his lucky one so he never washed it; what kind of fool didn't have more than one hoodie?) on his way out, shouldering his backpack. Oberon called out after him, yelling "Did you hear me, boy?"

"No!" Puck shouted as the door slammed closed behind him. Surely his brother would be awake now, if he hadn't been already, and he almost felt a little bad that Mustardseed would have to deal with their father's rampaging. He did get the short end of the name stick, after all.

Puck climbed into his car and tossed his backpack in the passenger seat, sighing. He ran a hand through his hair, still messy and tangled from sleep.

Another day, he told himself. Just another day.

Puck pulled up to Sabrina's house just as she shut the front door behind her. They had fallen into a routine by now; Puck arrived at 6:40 sharp (most times) to pick her up. He was a little late today.

Sabrina rarely argued when her family called them friends anymore, maybe because… they were. To some extent. At least, that's what Puck liked to think; he wasn't so sure she'd agree with him, but she'd definitely given up arguing about it. That had to be something, right?

He couldn't help but stare at her while she trudged down the cobblestone path to his car. She looked nice today, even in just a pair of dark jeans, white high-top converse, and a loose grey t-shirt with some band Puck had never heard of on it. She rubbed her arms in the cold air, goosebumps lining her arms; he realized she wasn't wearing a jacket.

"You look cold," Puck commented as she opened the passenger door and shoved Puck's bag onto the floor. She slumped into the seat and sighed, reaching to crank the heat up.

"Yeah, thanks for noticing," she mumbled sarcastically, running a hand through her messy blonde hair. Puck wondered if she had brushed it. It wasn't as messy as his own hair, not by a long shot, but it seemed to be more ruffled than usual. "Elvis slobbered all over my sweatshirts and jackets, even my sweaters, and I didn't have time to wash them before school."

In a split second decision, Puck slipped off his hoodie and held it out to her. "Here. Just make sure not to get it dirty. I mean, I know you like to roll around in mud or whatever it is you do, but please refrain from doing so while wearing the Trickster King's sweatshirt. That would be rude. And also treason."

She glared at him as if she thought he was joking and then examined the green zip up for a moment as if debating whether or not it was worth it. She took it, grumbling a thanks as she slipped it on. Puck swore his heart was going to explode, seeing his hoodie draped over her shoulders. It was one size too big for her, but she seemed happy as she pulled the sleeves over her hands and blew into them to warm them up.

Which freaked him out. A lot. In a seriously major way.

He didn't understand what was happening to him. Was he sick or something? He must be, with the reaction he was having. Why did he feel this way? Surely it was Sabrina's fault (after all, his heart was reacting to the sight of her, therefore her fault), but he still couldn't bring himself to hate her, and he didn't know why. Allergies, maybe?

Why did this… whatever it was, have to be so confusing?

"Puck?" Sabrina called, snapping her fingers in front of his face and bringing him out of his serious thought train. His hands instinctively tightened on the steering wheel as his gaze snapped to her.

"Hmm?"

"You passed the school."

"… Shit."

When they finally made it to school, Sabrina raced off to homeroom with a wave before Puck even got the chance to say goodbye. He knew that they were cutting it close and her homeroom was on the third floor, but still, it put a damper on his mood. Not that it mattered if she said goodbye or anything… He totally didn't care.

Officially grumpy, Puck retrieved his backpack from the floor, locked his car, and headed to his own homeroom class at a sluggish pace, uncaring if he was late or not. He was too caught up in his thoughts to bother putting actual effort into getting to homeroom.

He was a few minutes late, but no one seemed to really notice. The teacher didn't even look up from her computer when he entered. In fact, Puck never really saw her move. He was beginning to suspect that she may be dead, but he didn't care enough to find out.

As soon as he sat down, his friends swarmed around him like flies and Moth took her 'rightful place' (her words, not his) next to him. Sure, after they broke up sophomore year (after dating for what amounted to only four days, started all by her and ended by him) they remained friends, but it was kind of scary (not to mention annoying) how clingy she was. She spent as much time as possible with him, and drove off any girls who even showed a small amount of interest in him. Not that he had an interest in dating, but it sure was an inconvenience. And, well, annoying.

Plus, she wasn't quite his type (if he even had a type; he honestly wasn't sure — girls weren't really something he thought about). He did know, though, that she was just too vicious for him. Sure, she put on a sweet front, but he heard every mean rumors she spread and saw the nasty things she did to other students. She was one of those classic mean girls that snickered as other girls passed.

He wasn't about that life.

"Good morning, Puck," she cooed, placing her hand on his arm like she always did, which never failed to make him uncomfortable. He grunted in acknowledgement and shook her hand off. She looked hurt for a moment before smiling again. This was a common occurrence. A routine, almost. "You're late! What took you so long?"

"Took a wrong turn," he replied shortly, trying to make it obvious that he wasn't really in the mood to chat. Her questions were always so invasive, as well, and he wasn't really prepared to answer them this time. And so many questions, all of them meaningless, just to fill the silence.

"Why?" She asked, leaning closer to him. He leaned away, uncomfortable with her close proximity, and frowned at her again. He drew his shoulders in, tension filled.

"Last time I checked, that was none of your business," he snapped, averting his gaze from her steely grey eyes. They were as sharp as knives.

"Care to check again?" she asked, her voice dropping it's sickly sweet tone, becoming more sinister. He was unperturbed.

"Sure. Hmm…" He pretended to check his phone for the answer. "Oh, would you look at that! Still not your business."

"I bet you were with that new girl again, weren't you? Whatever her name is," she demanded, pointing her finger at him. Her freshly manicured nails were sharp and painted a bright, bloody red, and when she poked his chest accusatory, he felt a small flicker of pain. He stiffened, but didn't move, choosing not to answer.

She clearly already knew the answer. Just hunting for a fight, like she always did. He was sick of it.

She crossed her arms over her designer blouse and glared at him, her lips pulling into a pout. She looked like a fish when she made that face. "So I suppose you were with her yesterday when we were supposed to be hanging out with Jonas and his girlfriend?"

Puck shook his head in a blatant lie, again remaining silent. He was done playing her game, especially when it brought Sabrina into it. Yeah, they had hung out, so what? They'd played more Mario Kart and Granny had made some seriously good macaroni and cheese for dinner.

Plus, he had never agreed to hang out with Jonas, but he wasn't about to argue with her. Either way, Moth seemed to have some delusion that they were still together, or destined, or something, but Puck was his own person and made his own decisions. He didn't like how controlling she was. They were just… different.

"Robin, this is so unlike you! I think that Grimm girl might be a bad influence on you," she scolded in that sickly sweet voice of hers, turning upward into a motherly tone. His free hand shook with anger. "And look at you! Not even wearing a jacket. What's gotten into you lately?"

"What are you, my mother?" he asked sarcastically, sneering and turning away from her a final time, yanking his arm from her grasp. Her nails scraped against his skin, drawing tiny dots of blood. This time she seemed to take the hint and let him rebuff her, though she did huff angrily and stomp off.

He wiped the drops of blood away and leaned back in his seat, tipping his head back to stare at the ugly beige cieling tiles and bright floruecent lights.

Just another day.

The first few classes of the day were pretty uninteresting to Puck, and he spent most of the morning doodling himself as a king, with a crown and wings, in the margins of his papers. Math was a bit better since he actually understood the material for the first time since Sabrina started tutoring him on a nearly daily basis, but English was an absolute drag. The only thing remotely interesting about The Catcher in the Rye was that it caused that one guy to murder that dude from The Beatles… or something.

He also attempted to text Grimm, but didn't go as he hoped it would.

Trickster King

Grimm english is soooo boring can we please ditch?

You can meet me your locker and we can go see a movie instead

Grimm

No.

Trickster King

Pls

Grimm

No.

Puck had sent her a long message consisting of probably at least a hundred pleases (or like, at least 5), but he didn't get a reply, and he spent the rest of class sulking.

By the time lunch rolled around, he was starving. He grabbed some nachos from the lunch line and then made his way to the usual table. Luckily, he didn't have the same lunch as Moth, or she'd probably try to force feed him veggies. Gross.

Once the table was in sight, his heart leapt to his throat. Sabrina sat in the same place as usual, but she still had Puck's jacket on and she had her nose buried in a book while she munched on an apple slice. Her hair cascaded over her shoulder, and when Puck came closer, she looked up and her bright blue eyes met his with a jolt. His nerves exploded with millions of fireworks, but he sank into his seat like she didn't just make his entire nervous system get nervous.

"Hey." Her eyes dropped back down to her book and she flipped the page, reaching for another apple slice. It was such a candid moment that the peace was not lost on Puck, and his bad mood melted away. Moth or not, this made his day.

"What are you reading?" Puck asked, shoving a nacho into his mouth and munching. He wasn't really that interested, as he wasn't a book person, but he just wanted to hear her talk. She lifted the book long enough for him to read the cover before lowering back onto the table. It was some mystery novel, though he didn't recognize the title or the author. "A detective novel, huh?"

"Yup. I love mysteries." She cracked open her soda took a swig, and then the two fell into silence. It was a nice silence; a comfortable silence. Sabrina would turn the page, Puck would belch, she would glare, and so on.

When the bell rang, Sabrina passed Puck her half-finished soda and stood. He disposed of their trash, and together they left the cafeteria and made their way to Theatre.

Theatre was Puck's favorite class. He absolutely loved acting. It was fascinating to him, taking on other characters' personalities and voices and such. Adopting another personality, melding into someone that wasn't a boy with two shitty parents and a stalker ex. He looked forward to it everyday.

The play they were going to put on at the end of the semester? Not so much.

"Today," the teacher called out from the stage. "You will begin practicing for the upcoming performance of Romeo and Juliet. I have assigned the roles to all of you, listed on the main door. Once you have seen which roll you will play, come see me about your script."

The class filed forward eagerly, though Puck hung back a little, not too eager to confront the fact he would indeed be in a production of Shakespeare's worst romance. The class took turns reading from the list and grinning at each other and giggling, running to retrieve their scripts. Several girls groaned and complained that they didn't get the part of Juliet, and wandered off whining to the teacher. When Sabrina stepped up to the sheet and saw her role, she growled and stormed past Puck in a huff. She smelled like lavender.

She must have wanted to be Juliet too, thought Puck.

When he got to the front, he was fairly pleased to see that he had gotten the role of Romeo. One of the lead roles, if not the lead! That made doing the thing worth it. He scanned over the list and spotted Sabrina's name to see who she would be playing and why she was so unhappy about it.

Wait, Puck thought as he paused at her name, eyebrows furrowing. She got the part as Juliet, so why was she upset?

Then, his heart started to race as it clicked. They were playing Romeo and Juliet, which meant that they would have to kiss! Like, lip on lip action! In front of everyone!

Puck was unsure if he should revolt or rejoice at the thought.

He swallowed thickly and headed up to the stage, attempting to stuff all of the rising emotions into his stomach. The teacher handed him his script, with all of the lines for Romeo highlighted, and winked. He sneered at her and looked around, trying to find Sabrina. She sat off to the side on the edge of the stage, scowling down at her script. She looked like she was going to rip it in two any second now, and Puck wouldn't put it past her.

Walking over, Puck dropped down next to her with a thud and smirked, watching triumphantly as her scowl went from her paper to his face. "So, who woulda' thought. Looks like we'll be spending a lot more time together aside from chemistry and math, yeah?"

She glowered at him and punched his shoulder so hard he was sure he'd have a bruise for weeks.

Once Chemistry rolled around, Puck was starting to regret having Sabrina as his partner. Sure, their first few assignments had gone fine with her in charge, but after the big reveal of her part in the play, she had been in a huge grumpy mood (which wasn't that unusual actually, what with his teasing) and refused to talk to him aside from insults and glares, which meant that he'd have to do it by himself.

Really, was he that bad looking? Surely having to kiss him wouldn't be that bad. Of course, he'd never kissed anyone before, so he wouldn't really know.

Time ticked on terribly slow. With Sabrina seething and Moth sending them suspicious looks every five seconds, Puck already had his hands full. But then, the teacher had assigned them to do… something with chemicals and make them bubble or whatever, but he had no idea what he was doing. At all.

He was afraid to ask Sabrina for help lest she bite his head off, and there was no way that he was going to ask the teacher, so he made do and just did what he thought was right. Which, as it turned out, was very, very wrong.

As students evacuated the school and the fire alarm went off, the teacher announced that table five failed the assignment.

Puck swore that he saw the smoke cloud in Sabrina's eyes as she turned to him. She shook her fist at him and whispered, dead quiet, "I'm going to kill you."

He ran in the other direction as fast as his legs would take him and he didn't look back.

The firemen let the students back in the school ten minutes later, just in time for P.E. Puck changed into his uniform as quickly as possible and made way to the gym. When the teacher blew his whistle, Grimm started the ten minute run like the goody-two shoes that she was.

Puck caught up with her, wearing his signature smirk. That always got her going. As he ran alongside her, she turned to glare at him, sensing the impending teasing she was about to get. Puck was still mystified that she didn't seem to fall prey to his whimsies.

"You're really cute when you're angry, you know that?" He said teasingly, wiggling his eyebrows for emphasis.

She socked him in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him. He dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

A good half-hour later he was back from the nurse's office. By then, the class was busy playing dodgeball (again), and as usual, Sabrina was kicking ass and taking names. She was merciless on the court. Students cowered in fear when she closed her hand around a ball. She'd won every single match since the first day.

Puck slumped onto the bleachers to watch the game and wait out the rest of the class, back in his t-shirt and jeans since he was excused from gym for the day due to 'the incident'. He glanced over the game and watched Sabrina practically slaughter the rest of the class. She looked amazing, taking out other kids and hurling balls at the opposing team.

When she was the last one standing (again) and her team cheered, she glanced over and caught his gaze. A small smile flitted across her features before she was hoisted onto the shoulders of her teammates as they marched out to the locker room with the teacher bellowing behind them, demanding that they put her down.

Puck let out a heavy breath, smiling, knowing then that everything was still okay.

Puck found Sabrina as she was leaving the locker room, back in her regular clothing (and his jacket). She didn't look quite as angry as before after giving other students an ass whooping in dodgeball, but she still wasn't a happy camper.

"Can we do your house today, Puck, please?" she asked, running her fingers through her hair in an attempt to brush it out. It wasn't really working. "I really don't feel like dealing with my chipper family right now, plus I am in need desperate need of some normal food. Granny's cooking is driving me nuts."

Puck paused. Sabrina hadn't seen his house yet, and he kind of wanted to keep it that way. He didn't want her to meet his parents, he didn't want her to meet his brother, and he certainly didn't want her to meet Kraven the Deceiver.

Yet…

"Yeah, sure. I guess that's okay," he muttered, frowning. He knew that this was going to be a painful afternoon, but it was worth it to see her smile. And she did, though it was small and brief, at least it was aimed in his direction.

That's all that mattered.

Puck opened the door to his house as silently as possible, attempting to keep his mother from hearing his arrival. Usually, before he started hanging out with Sabrina every day, she would be at the dining table waiting for him when he got home from school. Hopefully she wouldn't be there this time, with no prior warning.

No such luck.

"Robin!" his mother cried, grinning and rushing forward to give him a tight hug. Her sharp nails dug into his shoulders and he cringed, reminded of Moth's nails in homeroom that morning. He caught Sabrina's eye and tried to silently send her a message with his brain.

Run while you still can.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, leaving her open and vulnerable to his mother's attack. It was too late for her. They were doomed.

"Oh, and you've brought a friend!" Titania, Puck's mother, released him and surged forward, capturing Sabrina in a tight hug. Sabrina stared at Puck, bewildered. "You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend."

Mortified, Puck turned beet red. The things he did for Grimm. "She's not my girlfriend, Ma. And you're squeezing the air out of her, let her go."

Titania laughed and shook her head, releasing Sabrina, who sputtered and coughed as the air returned to her lungs. "Don't be silly. She's the girl you hang out with every day, isn't she? Sabrina Grimm? She's practically all you talk about, after all! Nowadays it's all Sabrina this, Grimm that… Come now, dear."

Puck sent his mother a murderous gaze as Sabrina looked up at him, perplexed and seemingly amused. Titania seemed to get the message, though, and she nervously wrung her hands together.

"Oh, what do I know? I've been married since I was 19," she laughed, moving into the kitchen. His heart ached at the underlying self-deprecation in his mother's words, no matter how peeved he was at her. "Run along now, you two. I'm sure you have homework to do. And Robin, your father will be home from work at 4. He had to work late today."

"Who cares?" Puck muttered, grabbing Sabrina's wrist and dragging her to his bedroom. The door was adorned with signs that Puck had made when he was twelve, claiming that there were no girls allowed. Things had certainly changed since then.

Sabrina reluctantly entered his bedroom, her face twisting into the disgusted expression that he was used to as her eyes darted from one corner to the next.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's a mess," Puck said, shutting the door behind him. He picked up his pile of clothes and stuffed them into his closet, successfully clearing about 50% of the mess. At least he didn't have any garbage lying around this time. Probably. Hopefully.

Puck was actually very nervous about having a girl in his room. Sure, Moth had been here before, but they had grown up together and Puck was not the least bit interested in her. This was different. And a little embarrassing.

Sabrina picked up one of the several fairy figurines that were sitting on various surfaces around his room. She examined it, raising an eyebrow in his direction. He shrugged, and she put it back down.

Puck flopped unceremoniously onto his bed and patted the spot next to him. Sabrina half-heartedly sat down next to him and set her bag down. Puck nimbly swept Kraven the Deceiver under one of his pillows and out of sight before Sabrina could see him. If she saw him, he'd never hear the end of it.

"Let's get this over with," Puck said, and Sabrina flashed him a dirty look.

"Agreed."

Two hours later, they had successfully finished all of their homework. Math had been a breeze since Sabrina was there to help, and chemistry had been a little easier (also due to Sabrina's presence) but not by much.

"Finally," Puck cried, tossing his completed homework into his backpack without giving it a second thought. "Freedom!"

Sabrina rolled her eyes at him, but a smile wormed its way across her face anyway. "Can we go for a walk or something? The wretched smell of your room is making me sick to my stomach and I need some fresh air."

It was Puck's turn to roll his eyes, but he nodded nonetheless. "Sure. I have something to show you, anyway."

This piqued her curiosity, as Puck knew it would. "What is it?" she asked, leaning close and attempting to work the information out of him with a hard look. It didn't work, her curiosity surfacing. God, she was cute.

Wait, no. Shut up.

"You'll see." He climbed off of his bed, shoving all thoughts of her appearance out of his mind, and slipped his sneakers back on. "C'mon!"

She followed him eagerly, tugging on her shoes as quickly as she could. Puck snuck out of his room, motioning for Sabrina to do the same. To his surprise, she was far quieter than he was, and he prided himself on being fairly sneaky.

"Why are we sneaking?" Sabrina whispered in his ear as they peered around the corner of the hallway and into the living room. The sliding glass door was in direct view, and Puck's father was nowhere to be found. But more importantly, Puck could feel Sabrina's breath on his ear. It made his mind go blank, and she had to nudge him to get him to think again. His mind rebooted.

"We can't let my dad see us," he said, his cheeks lighting up as if they were on fire. He grabbed her wrist and led her to the sliding glass door and flung it open, shoving her through. "Go, go, go!"

Bewildered, she did as she was told as Puck heard his father call for him. Panicked, Puck exited the house and slammed the sliding glass door behind him. It shuddered and groaned, but luckily it didn't break. It wouldn't be the first time that Puck had smashed it. Or the second. He was definitely glad to not have a repeat of that.

Oberon appeared through the glass, standing in the doorway of the kitchen. His features were contorted into a scowl and he stepped toward the door, intending to open it. Puck knew that if he didn't run right that moment, he'd probably die.

Taking Sabrina's hand in his, Puck bolted for the forest. As they reached the edge of the trees and disappeared within them, Puck could hear the door open and his father bellow for him, but they didn't stop running.

"What the hell was that about?" Sabrina asked a few minutes later, leaning on a tree to get her breath back. Once she noticed that their hands were still intertwined, she snatched hers away with a scowl, plunging it into the hoodie's pocket.

"I didn't want to hear another lecture on how much of a failure I am," Puck muttered, kicking a pebble and watching it skate across the grassy forest floor. A crisp red leaf fell from the branches above and landed on top of it. He stared at it. "Anyway, we're not there yet. The thing I wanted to show you is just up ahead."

Sabrina's scowl melted into a concerned frown mixed with surprise, and she grabbed the back of Puck's t-shirt as he started walking. "Wait a minute. What are you talking about? What do you mean failure?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he snarled, and she released his shirt in surprise at his harsh tone, taking a step back. It was full of contempt and dejection, sorrowful. It sounded pitiful to his own ears. He turned away before she could get another word in, marching off deeper into the forest. She would have no choice but to follow.

The walk was quiet aside from leaves and branches crunching underneath their feet. Puck was grateful that she didn't try to question him anymore, but after that display, he wasn't sure he'd heard the last of it. He was already feeling something weird, a bad feeling that sunk like a stone in his stomach.

Guilt. Shame, maybe.

Ten feet ahead, Puck pushed aside a thick bunch of branches that led into a clearing. In the middle of the clearing sat a large, thick tree. It was about as large around as a car. They were deep in the forest now, and this was the largest tree around, possibly in the entire forest.

"Is this it?" Sabrina asked, looking up at the tree. Nestled in its branches was a large treehouse (or one of them), only this one was much larger in size and was the only one with a small wraparound balcony. It seemed to be the 'hub' of the nearby treehouses that resided in the trees close by. Wooden bridges were strung between the trees, allowing access to all of the houses. There were five houses in total, and only one was missing its bridge.

"Yeah, this is it," Puck said, starting to climb the rope ladder that led up into the middle of the hub. None of the other houses had a rope ladder, only the wooden bridges connecting them to the hub. "This is where my brother and I hung out as a kid. I still do, actually, almost every day."

"Wow," Sabrina said, awestruck. Puck could feel the ladder shift as she began climbing up the behind him. "Is that why you always smell like… forest, I guess? Pine. Whatever."

Puck felt his cheeks warm, thankful that she couldn't see his cheeks darken at the question. She had noticed what he smelled like?

"I guess so," he said, heaving himself onto the wooden floor of the hub. Once Sabrina was at the top of the ladder, he helped her inside and then pulled up the rope to keep intruders out (like his pesky brother). Sabrina stood and dusted pine needles from her jeans, looking around. Puck had once had big plans for this place, but he'd never really put them into action, so the houses were mostly empty and devoid of any furniture, as well as weather worn.

"They look so old," she murmured, running her hand along one of the walls.

"They are," Puck replied, taking a good look around as well. He usually came up here to think or listen to music. Maybe it was time to refurbish them. "We could fix them up. Make them our base."

She turned to him, looking briefly surprised before grinning. "Base for what? Pulling pranks and other shenanigans?"

"My thoughts exactly."

An hour later, they had made a list of materials necessary for the refurbishing of the treehouses and the purposes of each house. They sat together on the large windowsill of the hub, their feet locked together. It had fallen silent between the two teenagers, the only sound being the rustling fall leaves as the wind carded through them.

He felt like a kid again, in some ways, when they had giggled and discussed ideas for pranks. The Trickster King and the Queen of Sneaks were their names, and maybe that was childish, but it felt nice to be able to let go and laugh. Forget the pressures of the world, the weight on his shoulders.

But now they were quiet, simply listening to the sound of nature around them. It was relaxing.

"You never did answer my question," Sabrina murmured. Puck looked up, puzzled, but she wouldn't meet his eyes. Instead, she was staring at her hands, placed in her lap. He didn't remember her asking a question.

"What question?"

"What do you mean by failure?" She raised her head and stared at him, her blue eyes unblinking and mystified, eyebrows drawn together. "Why does your father think that of you and why do you believe it?"

Puck frowned. "Look, Sabrina-"

"No," she said, interrupting him. Her gaze was hard and determined, not that he would expect anything less from Sabrina Grimm. She was so stubborn. "I know what you're going to say. You're going to tell me you don't want to talk about it. Well, we're going to."

Puck turned to look out the window, unable to look her in the eye. If he looked at her, he wouldn't be able to get the words out. "Fine. You want to know so bad? Then I'll tell you. From the time I was four my father told me that I was a huge letdown of a son. A disappointment, and that I'd never 'carry on the family business' or whatever. Not that it mattered anyway, because he's currently running it into the ground. He may care about what he does, but it's not enough. And he certainly doesn't care about me."

It was silent again, but the silence was far from comfortable this time around. It felt awkward, and suffocating, and he took a shaky breath, feeling anxiety swell in his chest. He'd never confronted the issue that was his dad before, much less actually talked about it with someone. His eyes welled with unshed tears.

Sabrina placed her hand on Puck's arm. It felt different from when Moth did it; warmer and good natured, and not at all controlling. It was a hesitant touch, as if she wasn't sure it was wanted or helpful. He found himself leaning into it rather than shaking her off.

"Puck," she whispered under her breath, and he turned her head toward her. She had leaned closer, bringing them only inches apart. "You are not a failure. Sure, you're stupid and arrogant, but you're good at plenty other things. You don't exist to please your father."

He searched her eyes for any sign of a lie, but her eyes told the cold, hard truth, as they always did; Sabrina was a brutally honest person, most times. And it dawned on him. Maybe she was right.

Maybe…

His eyes skimmed down her face to her lips before looking back up. She was still staring at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something. Instead, he began to lean forward just the slightest bit, without thinking. Maybe—

"Puck? Are you up there?" someone called from below the treehouse. Puck froze and then backtracked, jerking away. It was his brother, Mustardseed.

Scowling, he stood and peered down at his brother. "What do you want?"

"Ma says that you need to come in. Dinner's ready."

"I guess that's our cue, huh?" Sabrina said, running her fingers through her hair nervously. She wouldn't look at him, and Puck's heart sank all the way down to his feet, down, down, beneath the tree.

"I guess so," he sighed, slumping.

Maybe not.

Dinner was already an awkward affair, and it had only just begun. Sabrina was delighted at the perfectly normal meal that she was served, thanking Titania so much that the woman turned red and laughed sheepishly until she began to modestly refuse the praise. And she never turned down praise.

Sabrina had taken the seat next to Puck, with Mustardseed between them at the head of the table. Puck sat next to his father and Titania sat across from him. It was the usual set up, despite the fact that Mustardseed typically sat in Sabrina's seat.

Puck hated family dinners.

"So," Oberon grunted, stabbing his meat with his fork. "Why haven't you told us that you had a girlfriend, Robin? You know very well that's not how we raised you, and I am highly disappointed in your lack of communication wi—"

"They aren't dating, honey," Titania stage-whispered, laying her hand on his.

"Well, why not?" he said, turning to look at Puck. "You talk about this girl all the time. I figured you'd be engaged by now."

Puck scowled at his father. Sabrina looked quite pink as well, practically choking on her water.

"Give it a rest Oberon," Puck's mother chided, in an attempt to shut down the conversation.

He grumbled in response, but didn't bring it up again.

After dinner, Sabrina was collecting her things from Puck's room and he was busy doing the dishes when his parents cornered him at the kitchen sink. He should have known not to leave her side; he should have seen this coming.

"We approve!" Titania beamed, bringing her son into another soul-sucking hug. He hissed and squirmed, desperate to escape his mother's clutches, but she managed to lay several loud kisses on his cheeks.

"Of what?" he cried, wondering why approval meant being assailed.

"The girl," Oberon said, frowning. "Quiet, but polite. You need to man up and ask her out already, son."

Puck groaned.

The sun was long gone, having sunk below the horizon far before they left Puck's house. The drive had been quiet, an awkward air between the two of them since the events at Puck's house. Sabrina still wouldn't look him in the eye, and he wasn't sure if it was because of the awkwardness of his family or the awkwardness of how close their faces had gotten. He didn't blame her; it spooked him too.

The music softly playing on the radio was the only sound inside the car, the local radio station crooning a slow song at a low volume. The September moon shone through the windshield and cast light over the two of them, briefly illuminated by Ferryport Landing's few streetlights before plunging deeper into the forest. Her hair gleamed in the soft light.

Puck pulled into the Grimm house's driveway, idling the car. The song ended and a new one started up, "Eighteen" by Pale Waves. He'd heard it before on this station, but he'd never really payed attention to the lyrics.

I was eighteen when I met you
Poured my heart out, spilt all my truth
I finally felt like I could feel for the first time
When I met you

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, huh?" Puck said, staring out the windshield at the small house in front of him. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, then reached over and turned the music off. Silence filled the car.

"I guess so," Sabrina replied, but she didn't move from her seat. He could hear her fidgeting with the strap of her backpack, and felt her eyes on him as he stared intently at the front door of the house. The awkwardness of the silence washed over them, if for but a brief moment. Then, Sabrina leaned over and gave him a small sideways hug with both arms before fleeing from the car and slamming the door shut. She jogged to the house but paused in the doorway to wave.

Puck's face nearly split in half, his smile was so wide. On the way home, he turned the music back on, and then up, up, up.

I could stay by your side all night
Baby, it's just you and me and that's fine

He couldn't sleep.

It was midnight, and he had spent several hours tossing and turning as he attempted to float off to dreamland or whatever. So far, he'd had no luck. All he could think about was Sabrina and her stupid, beautiful face.

Stupid pretty dumb beautiful blue eyes.

Closing his eyes, Puck attempted to go to sleep, only to jump as his phone buzzed from where it sat on his nightstand. Wondering who the hell was texting him at midnight, he quickly grabbed his phone and squinted at the bright screen.

Grimm

I still have your jacket.

Puck blushed at the thought of her curled up with his jacket at midnight, texting him. Without replying, he tossed his phone back onto his nightstand and curled up with Kraven the Deceiver.

It wasn't long before he was dreaming about long blonde hair and startling, intelligent blue eyes.

Move with these eyes, live a life
Untouched by time
I'll be waiting in the wings
I'll be here when you arrive