AN~
Axel Treehorn: Review 1: How is it dating problems if she's happy that way? She's testing the field, looking for the guy she wants to spend the rest of her life with. It's not that I don't LIKE Daphne, it's that I think she needs to grow up and yes, learn a lesson or two about being a hypocrite, but this fic isn't ABOUT that (when did she learn a lesson?). It's about the fact that canonically Daphne dates a LOT of people and I wanted people to remember that. Also the whole in-laws thing ISN'T illegal. I don't know where so many people get that idea.
But mostly I agree with you-Daphne and Mustardseed was cute when it was one of many pairings, but now that it's become the main one I'm annoyed with it.
Review 2: Oh no never ever ever (It's just my working title was DaphnexEverybody and I figured if I said everybody she had to date Puck too). And... Daphne's too nice for Puck? They're total bros! Daphne thinks Puck is the bomb! Are you sure you're not projecting some things onto Daphne that aren't there? She's not really nice. Sweet, yes, but nice? Not so much. And why can't she date everybody? Not long-term, but casual "sure I'll go out for coffee with you" dates? If she's not already dating someone else I bet she'd say yes to all of them because you never know which one MIGHT turn out to be the right guy.
It's the fall of Daphne's seventh grade year when she gets her first really serious boyfriend.
His name is Drew, and he's amazing.
He's friendly, funny, adventurous, and he wants to change the world- just like Daphne.
The only problem is that he doesn't know about Everafters. And so she's constantly keeping that part of her life a secret. He doesn't know where she goes on Saturdays, or who the strange guests in her house are, or why her sister's sort of attached to a boy who travels around the world. He doesn't know anything. And Daphne can't stop thinking about this.
Because she's really genuinely serious about this boy and she wants him to share all of her life, not just the normal parts.
So, one day, she decides to tell him. And because she's not an idiot and doesn't want him to think she's crazy, she brings Puck along.
Puck, though, refuses to be a third wheel on her date. He's recently learned what a third wheel is, and is determined not to be one. Ever. It's why he's visiting this time. Uncle Jake's been set up by a friend, and Puck is pretty sure he'd be very much in the way if he stayed while the two had their date.
So Daphne ropes Sabrina into it. Her sister doesn't want to go, of course- 'a date? With Puck'? But she agrees, because she's never exactly been good at refusing Daphne anything, not when she really wanted it. Unless Sabrina thought it would keep her safe. Then she could get pretty stupid about things.
Plus Daphne suggests that it might not exactly be a date, which helps.
They all meet at a little cafe near Central Park, and they have dinner. It's not too awkward, though Sabrina and Puck aren't getting along too well.
Afterwards, they grab some ice cream and go for a walk in the forest. Daphne's thought about it, and taking Drew to the Golden Egg might be a recourse to get him to believe her.
They stop by the statue and sit there eating their ice cream for a while. Then Daphne takes a deep breath. There's no use putting it off any longer.
"Drew?" she asks. "I... um... I have something I need to tell you. About my family."
Sabrina shoots Daphne a look, and Daphne suddenly gets the idea that glossing over why exactly she needed her sister to come along might not have been the best idea.
Puck, on the other hand, grinned. "All right, are we doing this now?" he asked. "Sweet!"
"What's up?" Drew asks, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion as he looks from Daphne's face to Sabrina's to Puck's and back to Daphne's. He knows this is important, she can see. He cracks a smile. "It can't be anything too bad. My parents collect antiques."
"It's not bad, per se," Daphne says. "It just... weird."
"All right, so what is it?" Drew asks, still smiling.
Daphne takes a deep breath and begins to explain. It hurts her to watch the looks cross Drew's face as she dives further and further into the story, watching him move from confusion to disbelief to suspicion and finally into fear (she can almost hear him thinking, Oh my gosh, this girl is crazy. Her whole family is crazy). But she keeps going. It's too late to back out now.
Once she's done, Drew says, looking from Daphne's face to Puck's, then Sabrina's, and back, circling through them, "This is some kind of sick joke, right? Something you play on new boyfriends?"
Sabrina gives a sardonic laugh and says, "I wish."
"Yeah, right," Drew says, but his voice wavers. He's not sure they're pulling one over on him anymore.
Puck looks at Daphne expectantly. "Can I show him now?" he asks, grinning.
Daphne nods, but she doesn't smile back. This isn't going well.
Puck gives out a whoop and jumps into the air. He doesn't come back down.
Drew stares.
Puck, wings buzzing, does a few cheerful loops, grinning at the expression on Drew's face. Then he picks up Sabrina and does a couple more loops while Daphne's sister hangs on to her ice cream desperately.
Drew is stuttering now, pointing at Puck, going, "W- w- wi-" He finally manages to get out the word "Wires," and then continues, "There have to be wires."
Daphne shakes her head. "You can test it if you want," she offers.
Drew gets up and examines Puck, who obligingly stops doing loops, hovering about six inches off the ground. Sabrina takes the opportunity to escape and sit back on the bench with what's left of her ice cream.
Drew walks around Puck, waving his hands around, examining the air for wires. Finding nothing, he says, "Magnetic shoes. That's how you're doing it."
Puck rolls his eyes. "Dude, this would be a long way to go for a prank. Even for me." But Daphne glares at him, so he kicks off his shoes.
Drew's eyes get almost impossibly wide and he sits down on the path with a thud. "How?" he whispers.
"Magic, bro," Puck says with a grin. "Like she told you."
Drew just sits there, staring at Puck, for several minutes. Puck takes the opportunity to show off. Eventually, though, Drew turns to Daphne, and she can see that he believes her now.
"So... fairy tales are real," he says slowly. "And he's from one. And you're one of these people, too? These... Everafters?"
Daphne nods.
"And they're all still alive 'cause they can live forever?" Drew asks. When Daphne nods again, he gives her a suspicious look. "Just how old are you?" he asks.
"Twelve," Daphne answers promptly.
"But you can live forever," Drew says slowly.
Daphne nods again. "Except I've only been an Everafter for about five years. Remember the bit about the book and the war?"
Drew's eyes clear, then cloud again. "But you're going to live forever."
"Unless someone kills me, yeah," Daphne says. She tries not to think about it. Forever is a long time, and half of her friends are human.
Drew shakes his head, and Daphne notices that the rest of him is shaking, too. "I can't-" he starts, then stops and swallows. "I can't handle this, Daphne. I'm sorry- It can't- I don't-"
Daphne was afraid of this. And now it's happening. She thought he could handle it, hoped he'd even think it was as cool as she did, but he's reacting worse than Sabrina did.
She squeezes back tears and says, "Could you two gives us a minute alone?"
Puck starts to say something, but out of the corner of her eye, Daphne sees Sabrina grab him. The two walk away, and Daphne pulls a small bag of pink dust out of her pocket. She hadn't wanted to use it, but Sabrina had made her be prepared. Drew is still staring at nothing, shaking and stuttering.
Daphne coats her hand in dust and presses it against Drew's face while she kisses his opposite cheek. Then she whispers, "This conversation never happened, Drew. We broke up because you think I'm weird. Goodbye."
She dusts her hands off, walks away without looking back, and tries not to cry.
