"Would you like to go to homecoming with me?"

Cerise stopped, and turned to face the boy walking beside her. "What did you say?"

Hunter sighed. "I was wondering if you would like to go to homecoming with me."

"What about Ashlynn?"

"She's going with Prince," Hunter said with a defeated sigh. "I figured that since you have no one to go with and I have no one to go with we could go together."

Cerise stopped in front of the girls locker room. She hadn't spoken to Romulus since Saturday night, but she had made it very clear that they would not, under any circumstances be going together. It was a bit of a blessing that she had yet to buy a dress. Lizzie had offered to make her one, but Cerise had turned her offer down. She'd already borrowed enough from Lizzie. She didn't need to have her own custom dress from the aspiring designer. That would be too much.

"I wasn't actually planning on going to homecoming," Cerise said.

"Oh. Okay."

"We can hang out instead, if you want," Cerise offered.

Hunter shook his head. "Thanks for the offer," he said, "but I kind of want to go because...you know."

"Ashlynn?"

"Yeah. Ashlynn."

"I still think that it's stupid that you won't just ask her out and make your relationship public," Cerise said.

"It's complicated," Hunter said, "This school is complicated."

Cerise nodded. "I get that." Because she did. She was starting to understand how this school worked, and the only word that could describe it was 'complicated'. "I'll see you on the field."

"See ya," Hunter said, and Cerise entered the locker room.

It was Wednesday afternoon so the locker room wasn't busy. Only a few other girls stood around, gossiping with each other. Cerise opened her locker and started getting dressed in her football gear. Daring had the team working double time getting ready for the homecoming game. The entire week was filled with both morning and afternoon practices.

"I need to talk to you."

Cerise paused in pulling on her pads to find Darling Charming standing in front of her wearing a tank top and a pair of athletic shorts with her hair pulled up in a ponytail. It was unfair how amazing this girl managed to look in workout clothes.

"What do you need to talk about?" Cerise asked. She didn't really talk to the youngest Charming, but she felt like they could be friends.

"It's Ramona," Darling said, and Cerise raised an eyebrow.

"What about Ramona?"

"She keeps disappearing at odd times, and she's stopped showing up to track practice. I'm afraid that she's gotten into something."

Cerise shook her head. "I wouldn't worry about it," she said, "Ramona's a bit different. This is fairly normal for her."

At least, it was normal for post Kansas Ramona. Both of the Hood sisters had dealt with their mother's death differently. Cerise had blamed their dad, but Ramona had refused to. Instead, she had retreated into her room for a full month, only coming out for meals. Grimm's had been good for Ramona, forcing her to socialize and make friends. She had probably just had a bad dream, and this was her way of dealing with it.

"Are you sure?" Darling asked.

"Yeah," Cerise said, "We all deal with our problems differently, this is how Ramona deals with hers."

"Should I ask her if she wants to talk about it?"

"No," Cerise said. The Hood girls had made a pact not to tell anyone about their past or their family. They would talk about it with each other, but not with other people. They simply wouldn't understand it. "I'll ask her about it."

"Good," Darling nodded, and left with a smile. Cerise finished pulling on her pads and joined the team on the field. This was normal for Ramona. After the accident, she'd done the same thing. Cerise wouldn't worry about it. Eventually, she'd stop.

Cerise yanked on her helmet and started doing warm ups.


It was unfair how good Cerise managed to look in her practice uniform.

"What did you say?" Coach Man asked from beside Daring.

Daring's eyes widened. Had he just said that? Had his coach just heard him say that? Please, let this be a bad dream.

"I was just thinking about strategies on how to win the homecoming game," Daring said.

Coach Man nodded suspiciously. "You better be, Charming."

"Don't worry, I am," Daring said as Coach Man headed off towards his office. He leaned back in the bleachers and let out a sigh of relief. There was no doubt that Coach Man had heard him. Thankfully, he'd let it slide.

"Hey, roomie." Daring groaned as Sparrow Hood plopped down next to him. Why wouldn't his roommate leave him alone?

"What do you want, Sparrow?" Daring asked.

"I just thought that you'd like to know that I heard Hunter ask your girlfriend to homecoming."

"She's not my girlfriend," Daring said through his teeth. Everyone except for Sparrow acted like the article didn't ever happen. He was fairly sure that Cerise never saw it, and for that he was thankful. However, Sparrow now only ever referred to Cerise as his girlfriend, and it was irritating.

"If she's not your girlfriend, then why are you admiring how great she looks in her practice uniform?"

God hated Daring. That had to be the answer. There was no other reason why both his coach and his least favorite person on the earth would hear his slip up. "I wasn't..."

"You weren't what? Don't bother denying it, lover boy. I heard every word that came out of your mouth."

Daring wanted to strangle Sparrow. "What do you want?"

"A date to homecoming might be nice," Sparrow said.

"Then go with Duchess."

"Ew," Sparrow said, "Like I said before, she's my best friend. Best friends don't go out with one another. But, since I'm feeling so generous, how about you ask Cerise to homecoming and we call it even?"

"Not happening."

"Why?"

"Because I'm already going with Apple."

"The she-devil?"

"What did you just call her?"

Sparrow shook his head. "Nothing," he said, "Oh, would you look at the time? I have to be going.

Homework, and stuff." He jumped up from the bleachers and scrambled away.

Daring shook his head. What an idiot. What had he called Apple? A she-devil? Apple wasn't the devil. She wasn't anywhere close to the devil.

He needed to buy a red tie.

And Cerise...Daring and Cerise weren't a thing. The entire school was aware of this. Why couldn't Sparrow get the message? So what if he thought that she was attractive? Every member of the male species thought that she was attractive. He sure wasn't alone in that. And if he thought that she was interesting what difference did it make? They would never be an item. Never.

"Hey."

Daring was dragged out of his thoughts to find the very subject of them standing in front of him. He smiled. "Hey."

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm canceling on the whole dance lessons thing," Cerise said, "I'm not going to homecoming anymore."

For some reason, Daring felt his heart sink. "Oh. Okay. Why aren't you going anymore?"

"The guy who I was going with...well," Cerise laughed, "It's actually kind of weird. I saw him...Let's just say that he made it very clear that he didn't like what I had to offer."

"He cheated on you."

Cerise nodded. "Yeah."

"He's an idiot." Daring might have imagined it, but he thought he saw Cerise blush.

"Thanks," she muttered, "Anyways, I thought that you should know. I'll see you in english."

Daring nodded. "See you." He said as he watched Cerise retreat, the setting sun making her tan skin appear golden.

There was no way that Cerise would ever be his girlfriend. He knew too little about her. He didn't know how she got her scars, or who her parents were. She had more secrets than the average GPA student. And that was saying something.


The morning of the homecoming game, Cerise was up before the sun. Dressed in workout shorts and an old shirt, Cerise slipped out of the dorm room and closed the door behind her. Plugging her earbuds into her ears, Cerise escaped down the hallway, heading for the football field.

She hadn't talked to Apple in days, or, more accurately, Apple hadn't talked to her. At first, she hadn't known what it was about. As far as she was concerned, nothing happened to make the other girl stop talking to her. Her friends would have let her keep on believing that, but Cedar was a terrible liar. Apple want talking to her because of her non-date with Daring. Apparently, she thought that Cerise going to an official Charming event with Daring meant that she liked him.

She didn't.

Well, that wasn't true. Cerise liked Daring, and she would be lying if she said that she wasn't attracted to him, but she wasn't in love with him. He was simply attractive, and that was it.

Cerise arrived at the football field and stopped short. Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Shirtless. Cerise shook her head and started jogging around the field.

A second later, Daring fell in line beside her. Cerise glanced at Daring in all of his chiseled, shirtless glory out of the corner of her eye. Yeah, she was definitely attracted to him. She upped her pace and Daring followed suit.

Cerise pulled the earbud out of her left ear. "Couldn't sleep?"

"I can never sleep in on game day," Daring panted.

Cerise nodded and upped her pace once more. This time, she pulled ahead of Daring. Surprised, Cerise glanced back to find him jogging behind her. She stopped, resting her hands on top of her head. "What's taking you so long?" she asked Daring once he finally caught up to her.

Daring walked onto the field and collapsed onto the ground. Cerise took a seat next to him. "I'm no where near as fast as you," Daring said, "That's why you're the running back."

"Are you admitting defeat?" Cerise raised an eyebrow. How very un-Daring-like of him.

Daring grinned. "Never."

"Are you sure? Because that sounded like you were admitting defeat."

"Positive," Daring said, "I could beat you in any sport."

Cerise laughed. "I'll hold you to that, Captain."

Daring nodded and they fell into a comfortable silence. Cerise leaned back in the grass to watch the sun rise. This was perfect. She was sitting in the football field at the school where she was a star football player with a very attractive boy beside her. The only thing that would make it better is if her mom were still alive.

"What happened to your ear?"

And it was ruined. Cerise turned to Daring, prepared to give her typical answer and stopped. The look on Daring's face was not one of malice or curiosity, but one of concern. He honestly cared about what had happened to her. Cerise crossed her legs and tugged on the lobe of her scarred ear.

"I moved around a lot when I was younger," Cerise started, "I didn't really understand why at first, but then I think that I began to. My dad...he was involved with some very unfavorable people. Not good people. But when he fell in love with my mom, he left them.

They didn't exactly like that, so they hunted him. That's why we moved around so much. I was eight, and we were living in Chicago when they finally caught up to us. My dad went to lure them away, and he had my uncle take us to a rendezvous point.

We never made it there. The car was tee boned by some of the people that we were on the run from. The window next to me shattered on impact, nearly severing my ear in two...Mona was rendered unconscious, but I wasn't...I watched from the backseat as two men approached the car door and shot my uncle six times. It was..." Cerise couldn't hold it in anymore, she started crying. She didn't remember that Daring was there until her put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

Cerise shrugged his hand off of her shoulder. "Yeah, well it's all in the past. Right?"

Daring shook his head. The concern written over his face was overwhelming. Cerise picked herself up, brushing invisible grass off of her clothes. "I'll see you in english," Cerise said and she retreated.

Angrily, Cerise brushed the tears off of her face. Why had she told him that? That was a part of her past that she refused to talk about with even her sister. Why would she talk about it with Daring Charming?

What made him so special?


Cerise didn't talk to him for the rest of the day. She didn't talk to him in practice, and whenever he got near her she found something to be busy with. Daring concluded that Cerise needed time, so he would give her time. He could only imagine what it must be like for her.

Daring would be a fool if he thought that any of his experiences would be able to compare to Cerise's. She had watched her uncle be murdered in front of her and feared for her life, Daring's experiences couldn't even compare. Still, she had survived through it all, because Cerise was a survivor. He admired that about her.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" Daring closed his locker to find Dexter standing only a few feet away from him.

"Whatever you need, little bro," Daring said.

Dexter nodded and started walking. Daring fell in line beside him. "I don't think that you should play Cerise tonight," Dexter said.

Daring shook his head. "No can do bro. It's homecoming. We need her to win the game."

"This isn't coming from me," Daring said, "but according to Raven, Cerise isn't doing her best right now. She's a bit distant."

Daring thought that he knew why. "Okay," Daring said, "I'll think about it."

"Thanks," Dexter said, and ran off to find his friends before the game started.

Cerise might not be on her game today, but an off-her-game Cerise was better than an on-his-game Sparrow. Plus, if Cerise was anything like Daring she needed this game to get her mind off of things. Daring entered the locker room and and tossed his bag in his locker. He then headed across the hall into the girls locker room.

"Cerise!" Daring yelled. He turned the corner to find Cerise standing in front of him in just her football pants and a sports bra. Daring's mind ceased functioning at the sight in front of him.

"What do you want?" Cerise asked, her hands on her hips and her face red.

Daring swallowed. Right. He had come he for something. What was it? Oh, that's right. "You're starting," Daring said. With that said, he turned around and left the locker room.

His face was redder than a grape tomato.


They won the game. Cerise grinned as her teammates around her celebrated their victory. They had totally annihilated the other team. They had never stood a chance. Cerise started heading towards the locker room, but stopped when she spied her captain hanging out by the bleachers.

Cerise walked up to him. "Thanks," she said, hoping that Daring would know what she was talking about.

Daring turned away from his fan girls for a moment and nodded. "You looked like you needed it. Are we good?"

Cerise nodded. "Yeah," she said, "We're good."

Daring grinned. "Good."

"Good."

From behind Daring, one freshman girl groaned. "What are they talking about?" she asked loudly.

Cerise laughed. She looked at the younger girl. She probably had a crush on Daring. She probably thought that Cerise was dating Daring too.

"Senior stuff," Cerise said, "don't worry about him. He's all yours." Cerise turned and skipped away, Daring's shouts of protest echoing in her ears.


"You are an idiot."

Daring finished slicking his hair back and sighed. Sparrow needed to stop being so cryptic. "Would you care to tell me why I am an idiot, or will I have to solve this one on my own?"

"Cerise would have gone out with you if you'd asked her," Sparrow said, "And don't start that bullshit on me. I've seen the way that you two look at each other. There's something more there than just friendship."

Daring shook his head and straightened his tie. "I don't see why you care who I do or do not go to homecoming with, Sparrow."

"I just don't want you to make the same mistake that I did," Sparrow said causing Daring to pause. Did Sparrow really just say that he had made a mistake? "Because you're right. You know that? I do like Duchess, and she did like me...last year. Now, she only wants to be friends with me, so I'm stuck in the friend zone. It would be sad to see you in the friend zone too."

Daring shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Sparrow laughed bitterly. "If you want it to be that way then be it. Don't say that I didn't warn you."

Daring shrugged and grabbed his jacket off of the peg it was hanging on. "Whatever." Without a second glance to Sparrow, Daring headed out of his dorm towards Apple's.

Sparrow was just being stupid like usual. That was all that it was. He knew nothing of Daring's relationship with Cerise. They were friends. They got along. And they were attracted to each other. That was it. They would never be romantically involved because...because why?

Daring knocked on Apple's dormitory door. Why was it that he couldn't go out with Cerise? Personally, he couldn't think of one reason why he couldn't. Sure, her dad was involved with some unfavorable people, but he was just an average joe. It wasn't as if her father was Cattivo Wolf or anything.

"Earth to Daring," Cerise's voice rang out in front of him.

Daring blinked to find Cerise standing only a few feet away from him wearing a pair of sweats and a ratty old tee shirt. She looked great.

"Wow," Cerise said, "You look nice. Did Apple pick out the suit?"

"Yes." Daring shook his head. "I mean, no. I picked it out myself. You may find that I have impeccable fashion taste."

"And you're modest too," Cerise said as she opened the door wider for Apple to slip through. "Have fun kids," she said, before she closed the door on their faces.

"Wow," Apple huffed, "That was rude. So, how do I look?" Daring glanced over Apple's red dress that matched perfectly with his red tie.

"You look good," he said, offering his elbow to Apple. She hooked her arm into the crook of his elbow.

"We look perfect," Apple said and they started down the hall.

Daring nodded. They did look perfect. Absolutely fabulously perfect. He glanced at the door behind him. Was Sparrow right? Was he making a mistake?


As soon as Apple was out of the door, Cerise slammed it in his face. Sure, it was rude, but he deserved it for...for looking so perfect and getting her hopes up like some silly little girl. Yeah! That was right.

Cerise gagged at the thought of him and Apple dancing the night away together. She was thankful that she hadn't taken Hunter up on his offer. She didn't want to have to witness that.

Cerise took out her phone and started playing her music on maximum volume. What was wrong with her? She expected to be upset over Romulus, but she'd barely thought about him all week. Instead she had spent the week spilling her heart out to Daring Charming, blushing when he caught her without a shirt on, and laughing at the stupidest of things. Was she flirting with him? No. That couldn't be right. Cerise didn't flirt with boys. At least, she didn't use to.

What was wrong with her?


Author's Note

And thus ends chapter nine of Follow the Rules. So many questions. What is Ramona doing? What will happen to Hunter and Ashlynn? Will Sparrow ever make up with Duchess? And most importantly, will Daring and Cerise ever happen?

The answer to that is, not yet. Though I have to say that Daring's opinion changed a lot in this chapter.

As usual, I would love to hear from you. Also, I have an AO3 now where I will be cross posting several of my stories. My username is WolfRune20855 if you guys want to check me out there.

I'll see you when I see you,

Meg