Hiya!

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-Homey :D

Disclaimer: To my great and utter disappointment, I do not own The Sisters Grimm. Although I wish I did.

©HomeschoolGirl 2012, or at least this actual post is. The characters, not so much. But anyway, please don't use this as your own. Thanks!


Moment Nine: Heartache

She woke up with a start.

Puck's t-shirt was soaked through with sweat. Though he'd probably be thrilled. Sabrina stood and pulled it off, then chucked it at the basket in the corner where they kept their dirty clothes until she took them to the Laundromat.

She hurried into the bathroom and stared at her face in the mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot, which was understandable, since she'd been up since two last night. She exhaled and brushed her hair behind her shoulders. Then she turned on the shower and climbed in.

The cold water instantly jolted her awake. She shampooed accordingly and exhaled several times. The dream—more of a nightmare—had been intense. The Scarlet Hand had returned, and in it, they were dragging Puck away. She kept trying to go after him but each time she did, she tripped, and ended up in quicksand. Which sucked.

"Sabrina?" He said, from the other side of the shower curtain.

She jumped. "Puck! Seriously. Don't do that."

She heard him yawn. "Why're you up. It's…like…nine. That's too early."

"Because I had a nightmare," She said, poking her head around the curtain. "Go back to bed please. This is way too weird."

He laughed. "Okay." And then retreated back into their bedroom.

She frowned. Why had he laughed? Nothing about anything was funny.

She understood, though, as soon as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel under her arms. Her hair was brown.

Not again.

"PUCK!" She thundered, charging into their bedroom.

"Yes?" He crowed, smiling at her. He was laying on their bed with his arms behind his head, the picture of ease.

She grabbed a magazine and hit him twice with it. "What? The? Heck?"

"I wondered what you would look like as a brunette." He wrinkled his nose. "The affect is not as charming as I had hoped."

She ran her fingers through her hair. "I can't believe you! You're nineteen, not four!"

"Excuse me, Grimm, but I was playing those sort of pranks when I was thirteen. Four year old children do not have the brain capacity to think up such brilliant schemes."

She hit him again. "This looks horrible!"

"Yeah, it does. I had no idea your skin was such a sickly white. The brown really doesn't go. At all."

That was the last straw. She turned and opened the drawer to her nightstand, rooting through it until she found what she wanted.

"Let's see how you like this," She hissed, uncapping the sharpie.

He frowned. "Hey, now. I've already done that prank before. It's patented."

She ignored him and walked forward. Puck sat up.

"I can't go to Faerie looking like an idiot!"

"You already do everyday!" She exploded.

Then she sprang. There was some shrieking (on Puck's part) and a questionable maliciousness (on her part) but ten seconds later she pulled back and capped the sharpie with an audible snap. "There. It's a masterpiece."

He charged into the bathroom and growled when he saw himself.

"I can't believe you!" He groaned, turning to face her. She giggled.

His new mustache (as Puck had yet to sprout any real facial hair, odd as that was) was a series of slightly obtuse lines scribbled across his upper lip. It had a very creepy look about it.

"It'll come off," She assured him. "In a week or two."

"WHAT?!"

"You did it to me! I merely returned the favor."

"I did no such thing. I dyed your hair brown."

"You did it to me eight years ago."

He walked forward. "That was eight years ago. When I didn't have a job."

She laughed.

He frowned.

Then she lurched forward and kissed him, uncharacteristically giddy.

"Whoa," He mumbled under her mouth, stumbling back.

She smiled at him. "I love you."

He rolled his eyes. "Doesn't everybody?"

She cleared her throat.

"Ugh. Fine. Ditto."

With that she skipped back into the bathroom to resume getting ready.


She was three days late.

At work that day (retail, sadly enough) she had a slightly sick feeling in her stomach. It could only be described as dread (she preferred not to consider the alternative). As soon as her shift ended she hurried to the drugstore down the street and purchased a pregnancy test.

"It's fine," She assured herself, as she walked down the block to their apartment. "It's fine. It's fine it's fine it's fine."

She let herself in. Puck would be home any minute.

She took the white stick out of the box, followed the instructions, and sank down on a toilet to wait. She'd imagined this moment a thousand times, since being with Puck. They were in their late twenties, happily married, ready for a baby—twins, even.

She hadn't imagined being nineteen, in an off-and-on relationship, with such a feeling of hatred toward this whole situation inside of her.

The door opened and Puck walked in, burping loudly.

"Sabrina?"

She went to get him so he wouldn't have a chance to find her.

"Hi," She said, giving him a small wave.

He threw his skateboard to the floor, probably dinging the wood in the process. Then he flopped down onto the couch.

"I argued with Mustardseed all day."

"That's not good." She went and sat down on the end of the couch, lifting his feet to set them on her lap.

"Yeah, well." He picked up the remote and turned the TV on. "How are you?"

"I'm…" She paused, unsure of what she was. The test, which would probably be done by now, would soon determine that.

He looked at her. "Your face is red."

Of course it had to be today, of all days, that he took notice of her.

And of course it had to be today, of all days, that she burst into tears right in front of him. He immediately sat up and reached for her, then paused, as if unsure of what to do. Puck's specialty was not comforting people.

"What's wrong?" He settled for.

"Go look in the bathroom," She whispered, unable to tell him.

He did, with confusion, and came back a moment later carrying the stick.

"Is this—"

She nodded, holding her breath. She dared to glance up at him. He looked frightened. More scared than she had ever seen him.

"What does it say?" She asked, barely above a whisper.

He looked down. "I'm not sure how to read it."

She took it from him and stared at the symbol floating on the gray screen.

"I'm not ready," He continued.

"It doesn't matter. It's negative." She sagged with relief.

He sank down next to her. "It is?"

She leaned against his arm. "Yeah."

He was silent for a long time. Finally, he coughed.

"What would we have done if it had been—you know. Positive."

Her lower lip trembled. "I don't know."

"What if there ever is a positive test?"

She looked up at him. "We'll just have to be really careful."

He buried his face in his hands. "I could never be a dad," He murmured.

"Yes you could," She assured him, rubbing his back.

He shook his head. Then sniffed.

He was crying.

She wasn't sure why.

"I—I think I killed it," He whispered at last, voice choked.

"Puck…" She said.

He buried his head in her lap, sniffing again. "I thought that I didn't want it, when I saw the test. I thought that I would hate it." He looked up at her. "I'm so sorry, Sabrina."

"Puck," She said again. She wiped away one of his tears with her fingers. "That's not how it works. It either is, or it isn't. It doesn't matter if we had wanted this baby. The test would have still been negative."

"Doesn't that mean it's not…alive…if it comes back that way?" He asked.

She shook her head. "No. It means there was never one in the first place."

"Oh." He sat up, tears subsiding. She stared at him, at all the vulnerability in his face. His eyes looked large and afraid, his skin was pale and soft.

She thought that she loved him more than anything in the world.


"Would you come to visit me?"

"Absolutely," Sabrina leaned against the counter. She was having another one of her many chats with Granny Relda. They talked on a weekly basis. "Can I bring Puck?"

"Absolutely. It wouldn't be the same without him." The Old Lady chuckled.

"Dad's still less than thrilled. About him."

"He'll grow on Henry. He'll just have to spend some more time."

"I don't know," Sabrina confided. "It always seems like he tries to be more obnoxious when Dad's around."

"It's all for show."

"Yeah, I guess." She pursed her lips. "Hey—I have an idea. Why don't we come to Ferryport for my birthday?"

"You'd really want to do that?" Granny asked with hope.

"Absolutely. We can see you, and Elvis, and his grandsons, and Mr. Canis, and Red—"

"Okay," The old woman interrupted with a chuckle. "It's a plan, then."

"So I'll see you in a month?"

"Absolutely."

"Okay. I'll talk to you soon."

"I love you."

Sabrina smiled. "I love you, too, Granny."

She hung up.


"Puck, we're going to Granny Relda's," She announced later that day.

He sat up, having been lounging on the couch watching television only moments before. "When?"

"For my birthday. You'll need to let your mom know you won't be in to Faerie."

"Right." He swallowed. "Well—I mean—I could…I could do that."

She swiveled her desk chair around to face him. She was typing emails at the big dinosaur of a computer they had. "What does that mean?"

He ducked his head. "I had kind of…planned something…for your birthday."

She raised her eyebrows. "You did?"

"Yeah."

"And what was that?"

He shrugged. "I was going to take you to Hawaii."

"Hawaii?" She asked with shock.

He nodded. "Wouldn't you rather do that?"

"I don't know. I feel like I should see Granny."

"Darn it," He pouted. "I wanted to swim with sharks."

"Sharks?"

"You know, those fishy things that squeak?"

"I think you mean dolphins."

"Same thing."

"Not really. Actually—"

"Grimm." He looked at her, then sat up, almost earnestly. "Come on. You can see the Old Lady any time. I've already made reservations and—"

"You did?" She asked, shocked.

"Well, yeah. Jake told me I had to."

"Okay, then." She smiled. "We're going to Hawaii!"


"The sunsets here are beautiful," She whispered in his ear.

He toyed with the strings of her bikini top. "Yeah, well."

They were the only ones on the small strip of beach, a result of Puck's insane ability to fly really high and find completely deserted islands.

She propped her head up on her elbow. "Thank you. I love it, here."

"Maybe we'll just have to move."

"Mm," She agreed, knowing full well it would never happen.

He pulled her onto him, kissing her gently.

She forgot about the rest of the world.


They were boarding their flight home when she got the call.

"Hello?" She asked, smiling at Puck. He held her hand.

After two weeks on the beach, she was tan and happy. But glad to be heading home. It would be good to see everybody. And she and Puck were heading to Ferryport in a couple of days to spend a few nights there.

Except they never did.

"Sabrina?" Veronica asked. She sounded out of herself.

Panic immediately set in. Sabrina swallowed. "Mom? What is it?"

"Relda. She…she…"

"Mom." She stopped walking completely. She leaned on Puck for support. He looked at with concern.

"She passed away, sweetie. Just this morning. She's gone."

Sabrina felt herself start to fall. Puck made a quick grab for her and pulled her over to a chair. Then he took the phone.

Veronica must have told him, because a moment later he let out a hurt sound.

"No," He said, voice wavering.

But the answer was yes.


She couldn't bring herself to talk to him the whole flight home. He tried to start a conversation, several times actually, but she never responded.

Her grandmother was dead. He grandmother, whom she would have spent the past two weeks with, if it weren't for Puck.

She knew her reasoning wasn't logical, but she couldn't help being angry.

Veronica was there to meet them when they got off the plane. Sabrina rushed into her arms, bypassing Puck entirely. She sobbed into her mother's shoulder about how it wasn't fair. Veronica silence was agreement enough.


The funeral dawned on a bright, cheerful day. Which gradually turned rainy.

More Everafters showed up to pay their respects than Sabrina would have thought possible. Even ones who had seemed to hate Relda were there.

"I wanted to thank everyone for coming," Daphne said, when the time for the speech came. They'd chosen Granny's burial place in a small patch of sun that filtered through the trees of the woods. A cemetery just didn't seem the right place for her.

Henry had asked Sabrina to speak, too, but she couldn't bear to. Guilt had overtaken her, along with anger. Immense, irrational anger that was directed at Puck—because he was the one responsible for Hawaii.

Even though she had agreed to go.

Daphne swallowed. Her gorgeous brown eyes swam with tears. Sabrina had often wished for her sister's assets—cheerful disposition, endearing quirks, lovability—never before had she not wanted to be in her place. But she was glad, right about then, sandwiched between Veronica and Henry on the pews, that she was not.

"My Granny was an interesting women," She began, after she had collected herself. "She was smart, and brave. She loved us when we didn't deserve to be loved. Um, she took my sister and me…my sister and I…in when I was seven and she was, um, eleven. It's really weird to be here, almost ten years later, talking about her death. Because even though she was old then, and kept getting older, it never seemed—" Her breath caught and she stared down at the grass, blinking rapidly. She looked oddly out of place in the happy forest; all dressed in black and cheerful.

Sabrina wanted to be the one to go up there and finish for her. She just couldn't bring herself to. She knew if she did, she'd start to cry, and she hated people to see her weak. More than anything, that was what she truly loathed. Weakness.

Puck walked up there, almost shyly, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his black pants. He was looking nicer than Sabrina had ever seen him, all fancy in his matching black shirt and black skinny tie. Somber, too.

She'd seen his outfit just that morning, but now, this moment—it was through new eyes. He went to stand next to Daphne. He took her hand.

"I think what Marshmallow is trying to say is that we never expected the Old Lady to kick the bucket."

Henry growled under his breath. Veronica gasped. The rest of the crowd murmured at Puck's blatant insensitivity.

Sabrina felt like she was the only one who knew him. The other woman who had, who had loved him far before anyone else, even his own parents, wasn't there with them anymore.

"She was stubborn as a mule, stupidly so, especially after Wolfie turned her into an Everafter. She could have stopped aging and lived to see her great-grandchildren. But the lady had her beliefs, and I can respect that. Even though she got on my nerves, and forced me to wash, and made me save her ungrateful specimen on more than one occasion, and—"

"Puck," Daphne murmured under her breath.

"Oh, right. Well, as I was saying, she was a total and complete pain."

Henry moved to stand. Sabrina put her hand on his arm to stop him.

"But, um…" Puck swiped a hand beneath his nose. "She was the only person that was nice to me. Ever. And the only one who was brave enough to laugh at me, even when I was being a total snot to her. She really believed in me, that I was good. I still disagree. I'm the trickster king, master of all evil, and she is…was…a certified loon. But her food was good. And so was her heart."

Up went the hand again, this time to his eyes.

"We'll all miss her," He muttered, and made a beeline for his seat.

Daphne gave a sad smile. "That, Puck, we can agree with."

And for some reason, Sabrina started laughing. Then Veronica did. Then Henry did. Then Uncle Jake, and Charming, and Snow White, and their children, and Mr. Canis, and Red, and everybody.


"You did a good job today," Sabrina told Puck as he climbed into bed that night.

"What?" He looked at her. "I thought you were asleep."

She propped her head up on her elbow. It was 2:56 a.m. She'd been tossing and turning. "Well, I'm not."

"Oh." He was tense, like he was about to run, but she put her hand on his arm.

"Puck," She said.

"What?"

"I don't…" She looked down at the bed beneath them. "I don't think we're meant to be."

He exhaled slowly. At last, "Why?"

She wasn't sure herself. She wasn't sure why she was saying this, only that she needed to. She loved him. But she hated him. She needed him. But she wanted to be without him. She wanted him to hold her at the same time she wished he would let go.

She wanted to say all these things. She didn't.

"I don't think we love each other," She said. "Enough."

"I love you, I do." He'd never look half as panicked. He reached forward to take her face in his hands. "I'll tell you more. I'm sorry if I haven't been saying it enough."

She leaned her cheek against his palm and took deep breaths. "I love you, too. So much. But it's…it's not that."

"Then what is it?"

"I need time," She said. "I need time to think."

"I don't. I'll do anything. I want to be with you." He'd never looked half so desperate. He clung to her, as if afraid he would break once she left.

"Puck," She breathed.

He seemed to realize what he was doing. The Trickster King, beginning for the affections of a lowly girl. She could practically see the thought run through his head. He straightened up. He pulled away.

"No, Puck," She murmured, wrapping her arms around him. "Please. Just be with me. Tonight."

She thought for sure he'd say no, get up, walk away forever. But he didn't. He put his arms around her. She settled her head on his chest.

"I love you, Puck," She said. So much it hurts. So much she can't do it anymore.

"I love you, too, Grimm," He muttered.

They fell asleep like that, or at least she did. She couldn't be sure about him.

When she woke he was gone.