Hey everybody! It's me again! Third chapter is here! All rights go to Michael Buckley. R&R please! – May

After that very disturbing meet, I moved aside to let him in.

"Where's Uncle Jake?" I asked.

He seemed to compose himself, "In the dining room."

"What?" I asked, disoriented.

"He used magic to get inside,"

"And why didn't you?" I asked, bewildered.

"Because I wanted someone to go through the trouble of opening the door for me, duh." He replied, as if I were the dense one. I rolled my eyes.

"Drop your bags in your room, it's on the third floor. Come to dinner when you're done. We're waiting." I said.

I made my way to the dining room and let out a frustrated sigh—my chair was gone again. After a few seconds though, it appeared once again. I sat in between Pinocchio and Daphne.

I found that everyone was seated except for Puck. Even Uncle Jake was here, truth be told.

The food was on the table already but no one had touched it yet. Granny Relda had probably threatened them. I stared at it for a little while, trying to figure out what it was.

At first I thought it was rice since it was shaped as it, but then I decided it couldn't be because it was neon green. Then I thought the other item of food was chicken but quickly decided against it because it was black and had something that looked like blue syrup drizzled on it. After a while I gave up playing Guess the Food and leaned back in my chair, enjoying the silence.

It wasn't long before Puck showed up.

He flew down the stairs—don't ask me how his wings fit in the tiny space that is the staircase because I don't even know—and landed in front of the table. Everyone's eyes were trained on him. Well, everyone except for me.

He fidgeted slightly then jumped back a bit when the chair appeared in front of him.

Remember when I said I wasn't watching him? I was lying. If you glance at someone from the corner of your eye most people don't even know you're staring! And no, I was not staring.

When Puck finally sat, Granny put on a full-fledged smile.

"Finally," she said, "A full family dinner once again."

Uncle Jake snorted, "When was the last time we had one? Three years ago? More?"

"I think we should take full advantage of this," Dad said.

"And so we shall. Everyone dig in!" Granny announced.

There was no hesitating. Puck started grabbing food before Granny even finished her sentence. Glad to find out that that hasn't changed. I had stopped staring at him (not that I was) and put my full attention on picking my food to make it look like I had actually ate some of the food I had recently been playing my new-found game with (Guess the Food).

After a while, I felt a pair of eyes on me. I tried to ignore it at first since I didn't want to disrupt the beautiful silence that had filled the room, but after a while it really started to irritate me.

I looked up to find who was staring at me, but was momentarily surprised at who it was. Key word: Momentarily.

It was Puck. He had abandoned his food for a moment and was squinting his eyes at me. I didn't know what surprised me more: His staring, or that he wasn't stuffing his face.

"Will you stop staring at me?" I finally asked.

"I was not staring at you." Puck stated.

"Well would you explain why I found your eyes trained on me?"

"They were not on you. I was just looking around. It's a free country."

"With your lack of knowledge I'm surprised you know what a free country is."

"Are you saying I'm smart?"

"Oh, clearly no. That would be the largest mistake in Everafter history."

"Shut up, Ugly."

"Why would you be staring at something ugly?"

I was vaguely aware of my family's pause in dinner to watch us battle.

"I told you. I. Was. Not .Staring!" Puck yelled.

"You seriously need to stop lying to yourself."

"Hey, hey guys. Stop fighting!" Daphne raised her voice to be heard over Puck and I's increasing volume.

"After three years of being separated I thought you would have stopped bickering. It has become rather tiresome." Pinocchio said dryly.

"I wouldn't have to fight with this sorry excuse of a Fairy if he'd just give me a reason to why he was staring." I said simply. "It's an easy enough thing to do."

Everyone's eyes turned moved to Puck. He seemed disgruntled. The tips of his ears were red.

"For the last time!" Puck said. "I. Was. Not .Staring!"

Uncle Jake intervened, "Hey, 'Brina, lay off him, will you? He just got here."

I huffed but decided to drop the subject. There was a short, slightly awkward silence. Mr. Canis broke it: "Let us start a more peaceful conversation this time, shall we?"

"Yes, let's" Granny regarded.

"Are you excited about moving here, Daph?" Uncle Jake asked.

"Yes!" Daphne said. "When does school start for us?"

"Monday." Uncle Jake said smoothly.

"What?!" I screeched.

Puck let out a short laugh. "Too bad," he said unsympathetically.

"You have to go too." Uncle Jake noted.

"What?!" This time Puck and I had both yelled.

"I thought I was coming with you!" Puck protested.

"Nope," Uncle Jake said, popping the 'P' casually. "It's too dangerous."

"Where do you even have to go exactly?" I questioned.

"On a mission," dad replied.

"I said 'exactly'." I pressed on.

"That is none of your concern." Henry said simply.

"Why not?"

"Why is it so important that you're leaving?" Daphne asked.

Again. I thought bitterly.

"It's just really important, honey," mom explained.

"How long are you leaving for?" Red asked.

"We'll be back around Easter," my mother replied without hesitation.

There was that look on their faces again. The look that said, No More Questions. I hated looks like those.

Mr. Canis entered the room with desserts and I was surprised I hadn't noticed that he had left the room. There was no hesitation before Puck, Daphne, Red and Basil dug in.

"We'll have to train you." Granny stated.

"What do you mean 'train us'? We've been going to self-defense classes for the past three years!" I protested.

"That's not enough, I'm afraid." said Mr. Canis.

"Not enough?" I raised my voice, broadcasting the argument so that now the whole table. "Not enough for what?!"

There was a pregnant pause before my question was answered. "It's not enough for the real world."

The silence that rested on us was uncomfortable. It stretched like a rubber band, trying to find its limit and boundaries before it snapped.

Basil jumped off his chair and said,"I'm done mommy!" with his mouth, nose and cheeks covered in chocolate ice cream.

The chatter increased slowly but surely after Basil's outburst but I stored this conversation in my memory.

Edited. If any mistakes are found, please PM me.