Morning arrived and the Summerdream household was wide awake. Titania was preparing breakfast while Oberon was cleaning up here and there. Puck had finished getting ready for the day and headed downstairs to see what was cooking.

"Something smells good! Mom, what'd you make?"

"Toaster pastries," Titania answered in a near deadpan voice. She wasn't a good cook and she knew it, but that never mattered to Puck. He ate anything that wasn't burnt.

"Cleaning's done!" Oberon announced as he came into the kitchen. "Oh, toaster patries for breakfast? Better than cereal everyday."

Each of them grabbed a plate and sat at the table, but before they could eat, Titania noticed the empty chair across from her.

"I believe we're missing someone. Where's the birthday girl?"

"I thought she was down here!" Oberon exclaimed. "She's not sleeping in. Her room is empty. I checked it when I was cleaning up."

"I assumed she was with you!" Titania told him. "I woke up after you and she wasn't in her room. I thought maybe you two got up around the same time."

"Puck, do you know where your sister is?" Oberon asked.

Puck didn't want to tell his parents about what happened earlier while they were still asleep, but the thought of his sister having gone missing filled him with anxiety and guilt. Veronaville wasn't necessarily dangerous, but that didn't mean it was appropriate for a kid to go wandering off alone.

"Let's call the Capps," Titania suggested. "Maybe she went off to play with Desdemona."

"At this hour?" Oberon questioned. "Desdemona doesn't wake up before noon on the weekends. But I suppose it couldn't hurt to give them a call."

"Mom, Dad, I'll be right back," Puck said. "I'm just going outside. Uh...maybe she's hiding."

"If she is, tell her to come in right now," Oberon told him. "Titania and I are worried."

"Okay." Puck stood up from the table and headed outdoors. The last thing he heard was his mother mention Goneril's name, meaning the Capps had picked up.

Puck wandered over to the small pond in their backyard and anxiously began circling it, letting himself get lost in his thoughts. The events of the early morning before daylight played over and over again in his mind. He felt beside himself with anger, some at Belinda for running off, but much of it at himself. He thought the events over and over, trying to look for some sign he must've missed that should've led him to believe Belinda would do this.

The only thing Puck came up with was her strange silence when he chastised her after preventing her from running away the first time. He'd found that silence unusual for her, but had blown it off as nothing more than her continuing to pitch a tantrum. Had she been hurt so much by what he said? The only times he saw his sister hurt were when people made fun of her being called "Bottom". Nothing else he knew of upset her this way.

"Alright. Thank you, Goneril. We appreciate that," was the final thing Titania said when she got off the phone.

"She's not there?" Oberon asked, already knowing the answer.

Titania shook her head. "Desdemona hasn't seen her at all today. Goneril said she'll call some of the family's other friends and ask. Do you think something happened to her?"

Oberon stood next to Titania and held her. "No, I'm sure she's fine."

"You think?" she asked, holding the hand perched on her shoulder.

Oberon hesitated for a moment, but answered, "Yeah. She'll be okay."

Not content to sit around and wait, Titania wanted to go out herself and look for their daughter. Oberon agreed and they let Puck know they'd be out. Puck wanted to come, but his parents told him to stay in case she came back. Puck agreed without argument and the two left to scour the neighborhood in search of their missing child.

Not long after his parents left, Puck spotted Hermia coming along.

"Hey, sweetie! How are you? I bought a present for your little sister. Where is she?"

"Heck if I know."

"Something the matter?" Hermia asked.

"She ran away and we don't know where she's at," Puck explained in the most deadpan voice Hermia ever heard him speak in.

"I'm so sorry," Hermia said, not sure what else she could say.

"It's my fault she's gone," Puck muttered as he sat in one of the lawn chairs.

"Oh, Puck, don't say that," Hermia told him. "She's your sister. You two are going to fight. That doesn't mean it's your fault she does something like this."

"But last night, she was upset and I didn't really do anything," Puck confessed. "I was mad at her and I was tired and I didn't want to bother anymore."

"What happened exactly?"

Puck retold the events to the best of his memory and explained his suspicion of her quietness as he was taking her back to bed. He also mentioned how she'd been more unruly than usual that day, becoming cross for seemingly no reason than wanting to throw a fit.

"I don't know your sister as well as you," Hermia said after listening to it all, "but I agree that sounds unusual for her. At least, going by what you've told me about her before. Did anybody ask her why she was doing that?"

"No. At this point, we just chalk it up to her being so rambunctious. You know she likes attention."

"I don't know a lot about kids, but maybe something was bugging her," Hermia suggested.

"Like what?" Puck asked. "The only thing that ever bothers her is being called "Bottom" instead of "Belinda"."

"You just said you thought it was weird she stopped arguing back," Hermia reminded him. "Maybe something you said got to her or maybe she thinks you hurt her on purpose. Does she ever talk to anyone? Like confide in someone?"

"Probably Desdemona," Puck guessed. "She doesn't really tell us anything outside of normal kid stuff. She's closest to Mom, but Mom doesn't always get her either."

"Whenever you find her, you should ask her what's wrong. I bet you something's gotten to her."

It was hard for Puck to imagine anything he or their parents did could've made Belinda feel so bad, but he liked that idea better than the thought she ran away only for fun and giggles. He was willing to believe it if that was indeed the case, but the scenario only led to more questions like why she finally cracked now and not earlier.

Hermia kept Puck company while his parents were searching through the neighborhood. A whole hour passed without change until Hermia took notice of something pink in front of Puck's home. They'd gone upstairs because Puck didn't want to be outside anymore and she'd been looking out the window.

"Puck, what does your sister's friend look like?" Hermia asked.

"Blonde pigtails, pink fairy outfit, face paint. Why?"

"She's walking down the street and she's got Bottom. Uh, Belinda, I mean."

"What?!"

"Come, look!"

Puck peered out the window for himself and saw Hermia was correct. Desdemona was holding Belinda's hand and leading her back home.

"But her parents said she hadn't been there!"

"Maybe they went out searching too or she happened to come around."

Puck didn't hear any more because he hurried downstairs to greet the kids. Hermia quickly followed behind him. They met the children right at the door.

"Bottom!" Puck cried as he hugged his sister. "Where did you go? Mom and Dad and I were all worried about you!"

"She didn't go far," Desdemona told him. "She was hanging around the Monty house. Not with the twins. With Mercutio and Tybalt."

"And they didn't call?" Hermia asked.

"They didn't know she was missing. The boys thought she just wandered over to play. They said they would've brought her back if they knew."

"But how did you find her?" Puck asked.

"My mom told me when I woke up and I wanted to look for her, so my big sister, Miranda, came with me to help. We went all the way to the other end and she was outside with the guys."

"Thank you, Desdemona," Puck said. "Where's Miranda?"

"Getting your mom and dad to tell them."

"Well, let's get you back home," Hermia suggested sweetly. "I bet your parents are worried about you going off too."

"Okay!" Desdemona held Hermia's hand and the two walked off together, exchanging goodbyes with Puck as they left.

Once they were out of sight, Puck turned to his attention to his sister. Right then, he felt a flurry of emotions, ranging from anger to fear to worry. He wanted to speak to her, but knew nothing to say that wouldn't possibly make matters worse. He didn't even care she was looking at the floor instead of him. He only wanted to find something to say. However, he didn't have to wrack his brain for much longer because she spoke before he did.

"You're going to yell at me, aren't you?"

"Excuse me?" was all Puck could say in response. He kneeled down to be on her eye level, but instead of waiting for her eyes to meet his, he held up her head to make her look at him. For once, she didn't try to move her eyes away and cooperated. She seemed to have little of an expression on her face, which somehow unsettled Puck.

She said nothing else, so Puck spoke again, doing his best to keep his voice at a normal tone. "No, I'm not going to yell at you. But why did you run away?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"Bottom, don't-" He stopped abruptly when he saw her visibly flinch. "Hey, don't do that." He remembered what Hermia suggested before. Perhaps now was as good a time as any. "What's the matter?"

She retained eye contact with him, but didn't answer.

"Please answer me," Puck implored. "Tell me what's wrong. Even for you, this isn't ordinary. Are you mad at me about last night?"

After a few seconds, she finally replied, "No."

"Do you think I hurt you on purpose?"

"No."

"Then, what is it? What made you so upset, you ran away from home?"

"...I hate you, Puck."

Puck immediately felt angry, but kept calm. "Really? And why is that?"

"Because you hate me."

"W-what? I have never said that to you."

"Why are you such a brat?" she repeated.

"That doesn't mean I hate you. I was angry," Puck explained. "You wouldn't listen to me. I don't hate you. I only wish you weren't so defiant. Is that why you got so quiet? You believed I hated you?"

"Yes."

"I don't hate you," Puck said firmly. "You're my little sister. You won't be little for much longer, but you'll still be my sister. I could never hate you."

"...okay."

Puck wasn't sure she believed him, but he had another question to ask. "So, will you tell me what's wrong? Why were you so out-of-control yesterday?"

She hesitated to answer, so he added," Come on. Tell me now and... and I won't get mad. I promise." She gave him a slightly shocked look, but he assured her again, so after a sigh, she confessed.

"I don't want to be alone. There. I said it."

"What do you mean? You've been asking to stay home by yourself since...whenever!"

"Not on my birthday! I'm scared, alright?"

"To be home alone?"

"To grow up."

"It's not that bad. You just feel weird for a couple of seconds and it's over. Like shots, except it feels weird instead of painful."

"It's still scary."

"Is that what this was all about?" Puck asked, strangely feeling relieved. "All you wanted was us to stay home? Why didn't you ask?"

"Since when do Mom and Dad stay home from work for anything?"

"Well, you got me there. That's why they said you could stay home alone today since all three of us work. But how would acting out solve that problem?"

"I thought they would change their minds," she admitted.

"What if I call in sick and stay home with you?" Puck offered. "Will that make this all better?"

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I love you."

"Okay," she said softly with a skeptical face.

He put his hands on her shoulders. "And listen to me. Don't you ever run away again. We all love you. Got it?"

She nodded her head and allowed Puck to hug her, although after a moment, she hugged him back.