EDIT: Sky: Re-Added scene skips.
A/N:
Sky: ARUDFIDGHYUDN. Okay quick A/N. Word crashed and I had to re-write a page and a half from memory by myself, the people voting for us for best fic ROCK MY SOCKS, this chapter explains the story title, WOW 35 reviews since chapter 10 went up, my family situation is much better and I'm cheerful, and Ayns passed out before she got a chance to look at the chapter so I hope I didn't screw up English at 2 AM on my own! And YAY PEOPLE DON'T LIKE JEREMY! I hate him.
Special thanks to: msjezzi-bella, Stark X Zoey, FaminaSG, Dramaqueenruling, BoOkLuvEr303, LylaDomae, Schadenfreude62, Alice Starr, dog9girl, minus your plus, grimmgirl, bluejeans12, Hippiegirl321995, no one, Trickster Queen464, silent-entrance, Twilight0, Viva-Musica, KatieTwilight589, princessofodd, Tanglenight, Lara D, Ascaisil, aliceinblack, ZOMBIEfiedCrayons, and A CertainPeanutButterSandwich ^^
Enjoy!
*.*.*.*.*
No Matter What
Chapter Eleven: The Promise
*.*.*.*.*
A few days later, it seemed that Sabrina was her normal self. As normal as she could be, anyway. Except for her sudden cold shoulder towards Puck, she hadn't changed. It wasn't like the time she had been infected by the Goblin's Mirror.
For the entire week, she had been civil and friendly to people, but she hung out with Jeremy a lot, and still refused to tell Puck she loved him. She had even stopped kissing him. As a result, Daphne wasn't talking to her at all, and Kerdy was extremely awkward with them. No one had seen Jeremy and Sabrina kissing, but there were lots of rumors.
Puck tried to act like it wasn't bothering him - even though it clearly was, and anyone who actually knew him could see that. No matter how nonchalant he acted, it was clear that he missed Sabrina telling him that she loved him, and missed kissing her. He didn't prank her, sticking to his word, but he had been getting worried that maybe she had only said the words to stop the pranks. In all the time he'd been a King, he hadn't quite felt such an anxiety before.
And the more bothered by it he got, the more irritating he became to everyone around him.
*.*.*.*.*
Daphne sat on the bed, her homework spread out in front of her as she stared down at it. In second grade she'd been crazy about homework, if only because of she wanted so badly to please Snow. Now that she was in fourth grade, she still tried to do well, but she wasn't quite as focused on it.
And with the recent events surrounding Sabrina… no way was she interested in keeping up with her homework. Not when her sister was acting like such…such an idiot! Daphne couldn't understand what had gotten into her. She couldn't understand why Sabrina was going out on date with Jeremy when Puck was right there. It didn't make any sense.
And the more it didn't make sense, the more upset Daphne had been getting. Currently, Sabrina was out of the house (on her date), and Puck had shut himself up in his room with a refusal to come out. He wouldn't budge on it, either. Not even for food. Being alone in the silence of the house, with her anxiety and her worry, had been more than Daphne could bear. She felt so confused about everything…
In an effort to keep the loneliness from eating at her, and to hopefully take her mind off of things, Daphne had finally called up Kerdy and asked him to come over. She used the homework as an excuse…well, more of a reason, really, because she really couldn't focus on the homework by herself. And since Kerdy was in high school, fourth grade science and history would probably be a piece of cake for him.
When Kerdy arrived, he was let into the house by a solemn and lost-in-thought Jake, who simply went back to muttering about fairy godmothers.
With an eyebrow raised, Kerdy made his way up to Sabrina and Daphne's room, avoiding Elvis and shifting his backpack on the way. "Princess?" he called, not wanting to startle her by just showing up without any announcement to his arrival.
He hadn't been talking with Sabrina or Puck much lately. Not with the awkward funk of being around them...
Daphne looked up at the sound of Kerdy's voice, and she perked up a touch - but only a touch. It was clear that up until that moment, she'd been struggling with loneliness and misery.
"Hi, Kerdy," she said, forcing a smile into place when she saw him. "Thanks for coming over."
He smiled from the doorway, but his smile was troubled. He kept the door open--it was a rule Henry and Veronica had concerning boys being in the girls' room. Walking over, he put his backpack down and placed a hand on her shoulder. "What's on your mind?"
Daphne sighed. "It's that obvious?" she asked. She pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them. "It's Sabrina and Puck, of course. Sabrina's off on a date with that guy, and Puck won't come out of his room."
"Yeah, Jeremy Rodriguez," Kerdy said, adding the cheesiest accent he could. "He may as well be Preence Caspian, bad accent and all."
Daphne clapped her hand over her mouth and stifled a giggle, which ended up making her give a rather undignified snort. Which only made her blush and giggle some more.
When she managed to get herself under control, she said, "Thanks. I needed that, Kerdy."
Kerdy grinned at her, tousling her hair a bit. "Anytime. This'll blow over, you know it will. I don't think anyone else would survive a relationship with either one of them."
"This just seriously mondo-sucks," Daphne said with a heavy sigh. "I can't figure out why Sabrina is acting this way. She and Puck are perfect for each other...why is she doing this?" She looked at Kerdy as if he, in all his high school wisdom, might have the answers.
"Puck's convinced she's under a spell," Kerdy said. "I think it's either that or she's having a crazy meltdown."
"Knowing my sister it could be either." But Daphne perked up a little. "But if it's a spell we can fight it, can't we?"
"Yep. So, do you really need help with your homework, or were you just lonely?" He asked, pulling up a chair and sitting near the bed.
"...sort of a little of both," Daphne admitted. "I haven't been able to concentrate on my homework...and yeah, I guess I've been lonely."
"I figured," Kerdy said. "My brothers are hanging out at the house right now--they come around every once in a while. It's not like they have a lot of places to go, but they give mom and dad space. I guess I realized it's pretty lonely without them, and it made me wonder how you were holding up. How about we do your homework, then head out and get some ice cream or something fun?"
Daphne looked at him, and then a shy smile crept across her face. "Okay," she said with a nod. "I'd like that." She wasn't going to object to hanging out with Kerdy for a while - he was definitely one of her favorite people.
"I'll even let you explain to me again why Prince Caspian wasn't supposed to be so suave," he added the last part with his cheesy accent and a grin.
"Deal!" Daphne grinned back at him. "Just do me a favor and don't do that accent anymore, especially when we get ice cream. You don't want me snorting ice cream, do you?"
"I dunno, you made me snort a hot dog once," Kerdy pointed out. "It might be a nice revenge. At least ice cream melts..." he grimaced at the memory.
Then he paused, looking past Daphne to her dresser, where a piece of string was sticking out of one of the drawers.
"What is it?" Daphne asked, seeing his eyes focusing behind her. She turned, and caught sight of the string.
She flushed a little. "Oh, yeah... I guess maybe it's silly, but I've been holding on to it."
"Is that the same string they were using a year ago when Sabrina was cut off from the world?" Kerdy asked. "I haven't seen that stuff in forever. Sabrina said she threw it out."
"Yeah, she did, but..." Daphne tugged on a bit of her hair. "I sort of pulled it out of the trash can when she wasn't looking."
"You really care about Puck and Sabrina, don't you?" he asked, turning to her. "I wonder if either of them know just how much you think about them."
"I just want my sister to be happy," Daphne said hurriedly. "And Puck makes her happy - I know he does. They may fight a lot, and drive each other crazy, but I really don't think they could be happy with anyone else."
Kerdy got up and headed to the dresser, pulling out the frayed cord. Both pieces were there, still tied, though loosely now. "Hey... Can I borrow this? I think I can get them both to wear it again kinda."
Daphne blinked. "Really?" she asked. "Sure, if you think you can do something with it." She trusted Kerdy with the cord - she knew he understood that it was important to her.
Kerdy turned and grinned at Daphne. "Yeah. I'll think of something."
He understood alright. He knew that to Daphne, those small pieces of frayed string represented a time when Puck and Sabrina completely trusted each other, and would have done anything to stay near each other. With the way they were acting now, especially... Daphne must have been taking it out of whatever box she'd been keeping it in and hoping things would fix themselves.
He walked over to the bed again, putting the cord in his backpack.
Daphne watched him anxiously, right up until the cord went into his backpack safely. "Thanks, Kerdy," she said softly. "I'm really glad you came over."
"To be honest, I had ulterior motives too," he joked, ready to explain 'ulterior' if he had to. Daphne was bright, but every once in a while she still had trouble with a word one of the older kids would use.
Daphne paused, and then frowned. "What's...ulterior?" she asked, right on cue.
With an affectionate grin, Kerdy went into his usual explanations and started to help her with her homework. With Sabrina usually busy dating or arguing with Puck, Kerdy had ended up as Daphne's default dictionary more often than not. And now that Sabrina was dating someone Daphne couldn't stand, which alienated Puck, Daphne was going to Kerdy even more.
He had to wonder if she had any real friends her age. She was certainly popular with the other girls in her class, especially for having one of the most talked about couples in her family. Puck was actually quite a catch to the schoolgirls who only knew him as Robin, and Sabrina was getting to be as lovely as her mother. Combined with the fact that Daphne had a friend in high school, she was a hero to the kids in her class.
But she wasn't their friend. Rather, she didn't have a real friend to confide in or laugh with. It was one of the reasons Kerdy was trying so hard to cheer her up; Kerdy had a huge soft spot for the normally happy little girl.
*.*.*.*.*
Only a few more days after Kerdy had taken the string, Sabrina was acting a little more awkward than normal. Something seemed to be truly bothering her, and she stuck close to Puck. Jeremy was constantly around, but he didn't move closer, just waiting for Sabrina to come to him.
Sabrina paused when school ended that day, looking to Puck. "Hey Puck, can we talk before we go home?" Regardless of their awkward situation, he didn't let her walk home alone. They'd still walked together no matter how annoyed or cold they acted to each other.
Puck stopped walking and turned to look at her. "Talk?" he repeated. He shoved his hands into his pockets for a moment, then pulled them out. "Okay. Where?"
"Just over here," she led him to the benches. "Look... I've been seeing Jeremy a lot more lately. I think I really like him. He's going to go to New York for the summer and he offered to let me come. I already told mom about it."
"Yeah?" Puck shoved his hands back into his pockets, his posture tensing. "All summer?" Everything about him was guarded. If she went to New York for the summer...there was no way that he'd be able to follow.
"I'm sorry Puck. I guess I just had to say it for so long, I didn't realize I didn't mean it," Sabrina muttered, looking away. Her head hurt.
Puck clenched his fists tightly, digging his nails into his palms. "Well, I did," he said angrily. "I meant everything I ever told you, Sabrina." He clenched his jaw, looking away from her for a moment. Then he looked back at her. "Look at me and tell me that you don't love me."
She did more than just look at him sadly. She took his hand too. "I don't love you that way, Puck."
She squeezed his hand once.
Puck yanked his hand back, out of her grip. "Don't," he said tightly. "Just...don't." Hurt and anger showed on his face. Nothing had ever hurt him the way that this did.
She flinched and put her hands in her pockets, not saying anything.
"That guy's no good for you, Sabrina," Puck said. "What kind of guy goes after a girl who's already with someone?" He shook his head angrily. "And I can't believe you're just letting go of this. I trusted you."
Sabrina turned away from him, feeling she'd said everything she'd already had to say. There was no point. All she could think of was the same lame thing. "I'm sorry."
"Whatever," Puck said bitterly, with a definite edge to his voice. He turned on his heel, then extended his wings and launched himself into the air. He wanted to put as much distance between himself and anyone else as quickly as he could. He would not let anyone see his tears. It was hard enough dealing with the fact that he was actually crying, and he cursed the fact that Sabrina really did mean enough to him that he'd react so badly to her rejection.
"Puck..." Sabrina watched him go, then sighed.
She walked off, looking sad, but still a little refreshed. She had a date with Jeremy.
Daphne stood nearby, watching Sabrina with an angry expression on her face. She hadn't heard the exchange between Puck and her sister, but she could tell from Puck's reaction that it couldn't be good.
She had no idea what Sabrina was thinking. How could she break up with Puck? Daphne had never seen her happier than when she'd been with him. Had her sister gone completely crazy? Had Kerdy been completely wrong? Was this something that they wouldn't be able to fix?
No… Daphne had to believe that Sabrina was under a spell. They'd fix everything…
They had to.
*.*.*.*.*
"I really should be getting home, I don't feel very good," Sabrina said when her date with Jeremy had ended. They'd gone out for ice cream and pizza, but like always, he'd been a little too clingy for her liking.
The first day, she'd been so enamored that she hadn't thought any of his actions were too strange. Even with Puck insisting he had her under a spell, she hadn't thought about why she'd reacted so strongly.
But after actually breaking up with Puck, she couldn't banish the fluttery feeling of uneasiness in her belly. And she wasn't sure why she hadn't let Jeremy kiss her since the time Puck had pretty much yanked them apart. Two kisses, and she'd broken up with Puck?
A sharp pain in her head made her dispel the thought. Puck was an Everafter, anyway. She liked the normalcy of a regular boyfriend.
They were walking near a large park with a stone gate surrounding it in the town, and he put his arm in front of her, blocking her in against the stone. "It's early," he purred in his Spanish accent.
She grinned sheepishly, but she shifted uncomfortably. He put his other arm on her other side, holding her there. Another pang of uneasiness hit. Jeremy was such a strange name for a boy with his accent and native language. Then again, she had dated a boy named 'Puck'. Who was she to judge on names?
A scent of cloves and honey rushed to her senses. Jeremy had told her it was his cologne, and at first, she'd loved the smell. Now it made her a little dizzy, though it relaxed her.
"Kiss me. I've been going crazy," Jeremy murmured.
Sabrina swallowed, looking up at him. Before, she would have been all over his face. Now? She just... She wasn't sure she wanted to. He was still dazzling and handsome, and his accent really was nice to listen to… And very few people knew how big of a sucker Sabrina was for foreign languages… But something felt wrong. Really wrong.
He kept moving closer, either unaware of or not caring about her tense posture and obvious discomfort. When she looked away, he grabbed her chin and tilted her head up so she was able to be kissed.
Sabrina stared up at him, tensing even more. Why did it feel so horribly wrong when she had already told herself this was what she wanted?
Because there was only one person she wanted to kiss, and it wasn't Jeremy.
She squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation, a soft whimper leaving. She didn't want to kiss him!
When their lips met, it felt smoother than normal, and much more forceful. It kind of hurt. And kind of smelled more like Puck than Jeremy—like a forest and fresh rain instead of honey and cloves. And... He had no lips? What?
Sabrina opened her eyes in confusion, to see that a hand had been shoved between them, grasping Jeremy's face to shove him away soon, while the back of the hand was pressed tight to her lips. "Mmph?"
Puck then shoved Jeremy's face, and the rest of Jeremy with it, away from Sabrina. "When someone doesn't want to be kissed, it usually means that they don't want to be kissed," he said, glaring at Jeremy.
And it had been obvious to Puck that Sabrina had not wanted to be kissed. He'd gotten a definite uneasy feeling while he'd been flying - he didn't trust Jeremy, period. And it looked like he had good reason not to. And Sabrina didn't need to know that he'd been checking up on her more than once during her date.
"Hey!" Jeremy snapped at Puck. "This is none of your business!"
Sabrina shivered. Then she turned and ran towards her house, ditching both boys. Her head felt dizzy and overwhelmed. The cloves made her taste bile in the back of her throat, and the honey just made it hard to swallow. The lingering scent of Puck, his jungle of a room clinging to his skin and clothes, made it easier for her to focus.
"Sabrina!" Jeremy turned to follow her, but she was a fast runner.
And Puck happened to be fast in his own right - though he remembered, wisely, not to use the wings. He also happened to be very quick with sticking out his foot to trip up Jeremy.
He took off after Sabrina. It didn't matter if he could actually catch her or not before she got home - he lived there, too, he'd catch up eventually.
Jeremy didn't follow them all the way, but as soon as Sabrina got home, she ran up to the room she shared with Daphne and slammed the door shut. She was shaking badly. Puck headed up the stairs, ignoring any questions from anyone else who had just seen Sabrina run up the stairs as top speed.
He stopped outside of the door, and knocked. "Sabrina," he said. She didn't answer, and he scowled. "Grimm, open up!"
"I want to be alone right now," Sabrina said, taking off her jewelry and throwing her hair in a ponytail. She rubbed her own arms, feeling stupid for being her definition of 'dressed up'. She'd even worn a new shirt with lace on the sleeves and collar. Now it felt silly and itchy.
Puck opened his mouth...and then closed it. "All right," he said. This was new territory. She'd...broken up with him, after all. For a moment he'd almost forgotten...
He headed for his room. She'd know where to find him, if she decided she wanted to talk.
After he'd gone, Sabrina moved to sit down on her bed, lying back and taking deep breaths. Any time she tried to sort her thoughts, she got a headache. "I hate cloves," she mumbled.
Turning on her side, she tried not to think about all of the things that had happened lately.
Her hand shifted to cover the other, absently brushing at her knuckles. The motion relaxed her, and she sighed softly. Puck had saved her from the awkward almost-kiss. Had that reminded her of a time when she'd felt for him?
She frowned. Her head hurt again. The ache didn't go away, even when she managed to fall asleep. It wasn't until she awoke again that clarity settled over her, and she realized what she had to do.
*.*.*.*.*
Kerdy hadn't shown up to walk with them the next morning, and Puck had gone on ahead. It was cold, and Sabrina paused near the school.
She touched Daphne's arm. "Daphne?" she asked, to stop her so they could talk.
Daphne swallowed hard. She'd continued the silent treatment - partly because she was upset, and partly because she just didn't know what to say to Sabrina about any of this.
But she stopped and turned to her sister. "Yeah?" she asked.
"I need your help this morning," Sabrina said quietly. "Can you do something for me?"
Daphne looked at her hesitantly...and then nodded. "What is it?" she asked.
Sabrina pulled Daphne a bit closer, explaining the plan to her younger sister. It involved causing a scene near the principal's office so that Sabrina could sneak in.
Daphne was intrigued despite herself, and then nodded to Sabrina. "Right now?" she asked.
"When class starts," Sabrina said. She saw Jeremy, and she ducked behind Daphne a bit. "And we have to hide me from Jeremy right now."
Daphne glanced over, saw Jeremy as well, and immediately went into protective younger sister mode. "Stay behind me while we slip into the building," she said. "We'll lose him in the crowd."
Acting like ninjas, the two girls snuck into the school and to the principal's office. The plan went off without a problem.
*.*.*.*.*
Sabrina wasn't in the first period class when it started, and the teacher looked at Puck as if he'd be able to give an explanation.
Puck was leaning back in his chair, his feet propped up on the desk and his arms crossed over his chest. He looked at the teacher, and raised an eyebrow. "What?" he asked.
"You're usually with that troublemaking Grimm," the teacher said. "Any reason why she isn't here?"
"Not a clue," Puck said. "I got here way before her, obviously." He raised an eyebrow at the teacher...and darted a quick glance over at Sabrina's empty seat.
Where was she?
The intercom suddenly sparked to life, with a bit of feedback first. Then…
"Ow, Daphne don't touch that button," Sabrina said over the intercom. "It's freaking loud--go stand by the door and make sure they can't get in."
They had both snuck in and locked the door, but it had taken a bit to figure out how to use the intercom.
"Oops, sorry," Daphne's voice came, sounding apologetic. There was a pause, and then her voice again, a little fainter. "Over here?"
Puck looked up, staring at the intercom in disbelief. What were those girls up to?
"That's good--jam the door. Okay, now ssh, I need a minute," Sabrina's voice said. And then there was the sound of her taking a deep breath.
"My name is Sabrina Grimm. I'm thirteen, and I've been living in Ferryport Landing for over two years now. Or something," Sabrina said, confirming to people who barley even knew her what was happening.
Puck looked around the room for a moment - everyone's attention seemed to be on the loudspeaker.
Then his attention was on the speaker again, too. He was focused on Sabrina's voice. What the heck was she doing? And why did he still care?
"I've been really confused, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say I was under some kinda crazy spell lately," Sabrina said. "I had a lot of time to think about things, and I realized something this morning. Or last night. It doesn't matter… But I'm here to clear it up once and for all to the entire school and anyone listening. I am completely and totally head over heels in the most embarrassing and mushy way totally in love with the one you know as Robin Goodfellow, though you've probably heard me calling him Puck. He's totally the best prankster and the most amazing person ever, he's always saving my butt, I get -really- jealous whenever girls look at him, I don't think his brother is cuter, and I don't like anyone else. Puck is the most handsome guy ever, and yeah I'm lucky that he likes me at all. I love him and I'll say it as many times as I need to. There's no one else for me, and you can all laugh as much as you want, but I'm lucky as hell to have found love so young, and I can't think of anything else more ego-boosting but still true that I can say about him right now, but I freaking love him, pranks or not! Hear me? I love you, Puck!"
Several students blushed or giggled, and many broke into whispers.
Sabrina herself held the mic for the intercom, looking embarrassed and biting her lip. She hated doing things like that, but there, she'd done it. A confession he could have written himself, all from her own words. Her notorious dislike of PDAs was one of the reasons Puck enjoyed making her advertise so blatantly in the confessions in public.
Daphne stared at Sabrina - and then she broke out into a wide grin, her eyes shining happily. She gave Sabrina her best encouraging nod.
Puck's legs slipped off the desk, and he sat up straight, staring at the intercom with a look of amazement on his face. It was like the last week hadn't happened or mattered at all. He'd had to have been right all along. Sabrina had been under a spell, or Kerdy was right and she'd lost her mind. The important thing was, she was back to her normal self, and she'd just given a damn good confession to make it up to him.
And then he was grinning. He moved to stand up, ignoring the teacher and the rest of the class, and plotting the quickest route to the principal's office.
In her own classroom, Snow's students were trying to figure out why their teacher couldn't stop giggling.
Sabrina swallowed, looking to Daphne. Then she held the mic tighter. "I'm in love with you, Puck. No matter what."
She then turned the intercom off, looking to the window and then back to Daphne. "How do we get out of here before the principal breaks down the door?"
She could hear teachers trying to get through. "I mean, I bet I could take the blame by myself, but I don't know how to sneak you out."
Daphne was staring at the door with wide eyes. "I don't know," she said. "They're all out there..."
There was a tapping on the window, and Daphne turned to look.
Puck grinned at them from the other side, wings out behind him, his expression cocky. He'd decided that the fastest way to the principal's office was through the window.
"Puck!" Sabrina ran to the window, unlatching it and opening it. She didn't even wait for him to come in; she grabbed the front of his shirt, pushed herself up, and kissed him.
Puck wrapped his arms around her, half in the window and half out, as he kissed her back soundly. It was a kiss to make up for the lack of kisses lately, and he had no intention of letting that much time go by between kisses again.
The end result was Puck being pulled in through the window and falling on Sabrina, but she didn't stop kissing him. She was too happy. How could she have let Jeremy near her?
Puck reluctantly broke the kiss in order to breathe, and grinning down at Sabrina. "No matter what, huh?" he asked, repeating her words.
She blushed, looking up at him in embarrassment. "No matter what. And see? I didn't even wear makeup today."
She'd worn plain jeans and a simple blue t-shirt that day, no makeup, hair down.
"You look great," Puck said. He stole another quick kiss. "Now, I think the only way out of this place is through the window, yeah?" He doubted that Daphne could manage the door much longer.
"Well, take Daphne and go, I already said my name and stuff, so they know I did this," Sabrina said. "I'll have to take the punishment." She was blushing even more. He thought she looked great?
"No way, I'm not leaving you!" Daphne protested.
"Everyone heard Daphne's voice, too," Puck said. "Besides, since when do I leave you behind?"
"But then you'd have to explain how you got up here," Sabrina pointed out, kissing him again.
Puck thought about that for a moment after the kiss. "I guess you're right," he said. "All right, you win this one." He took another kiss, then got up and helped her to her feet. "Come on, marshmallow."
"But you'll get detention," Daphne said, looking at Sabrina. She was blushing from the amount of kisses she'd just seen.
"I think I'll live," Sabrina grinned. "Thanks Daphne, I couldn't have done it without you." She smoothed her hair and clothes now that she was standing.
Daphne smiled, and then hugged Sabrina tightly. "I like you and Puck together best." she said.
Sabrina hugged her back. "Me too. Maybe we should look up love potions and crazy spells when we get home, cause I don't know what's been going on with me lately. I'm sorry, Daphne."
"It's okay," Daphne said, "I forgive you." She smiled at her sister, then went to take Puck's hand so that he could get her out.
"If he used a spell on you, he's dead," Puck said cheerfully. Nothing was going to break his good mood. He looked at Sabrina, picking up Daphne. "See you at detention."
"What do you mean see me at detention?" Sabrina asked in confusion. She couldn't stop blushing.
Puck just grinned at her, before disappearing out the window with Daphne. He was feeling the urge to be very annoying to his teachers that day. And what better way to kill time while waiting for Sabrina to be done with detention, than to be there, too?
Sabrina watched him go, then smiled to herself. She had a feeling Puck would be getting in trouble too.
The door burst open, and she held her hands up. "You caught me."
"Where's your sister?" One of the teachers demanded.
"I just pretended she was here--you can ask Mrs. Charming," Sabrina said coolly. "She'll tell you I did stuff like that all the time when my sister was in her class."
Another teacher looked around the room suspiciously. "Why would you pretend that your sister was here?" she asked.
"Creates confusion," Sabrina said simply.
They did not go easy on her. Her parents were called and she ended up with a month of detention with her first period teacher, Mr. Walker. Greeaat. He hated her already.
She didn't get a chance to see anyone for the rest of the day, and when school ended, she was shuffled from the principal's office to Mr. Walker's classroom for her detention.
Puck looked up from his desk, grinning broadly when he saw Sabrina come into the room.
He had systematically annoyed the hell out of every single one of his teachers - twice in some cases - until he had guaranteed himself several detentions. And he had had a heck of a lot of fun doing it.
Sabrina grinned when she saw him, walking over and sitting near enough to touch him.
"Don't fool around," Mr. Walker snapped at them. "Do your homework."
Puck winked at Sabrina, shifting his hand so that it brushed against hers while opening his notebook with his other hand.
She giggled softly and did the same. Then she shrugged. "Whoops. I forgot my books. "Can I look at yours, Puck?"
She scooted closer.
"Sure," Puck said, edging his own seat closer as well, and meeting her halfway. "I brought all of mine."
Sabrina smirked a bit, shifting close enough that their legs touched. "Not allergic to books anymore, eh?" she asked.
"I'm not really paying attention to the books," Puck said with a grin, pressing his leg against hers in response. They'd played footsie before, much to Henry's annoyance or Kerdy's embarrassment. Daphne still remained oblivious to it.
Sabrina grinned. But then her expression became troubled.
'Puck', she wrote on a piece of paper next to his desk. 'Do you think I really was under a spell?'
Puck looked down at the paper, and then picked up his pencil. 'Maybe,' he scrawled. 'You were acting pretty... odd, when you first met him.'
'It was odd,' she wrote, eyes sad. 'Everything felt so normal even when I was saying those lies to you. That's what they were by the way, lies. Shut up. Anyway when he was going to kiss me again, I panicked... I'm glad you were there.'
'Me, too.' He averted his eyes suddenly in embarrassment, glancing towards the window as he wrote the next line. 'You deserve to be treated better than that.' Then he glanced back to see if she was reading or writing a response.
Her cheeks were flushed, and she looked away when she wrote her response. 'I love you.' She added a cute little heart as well.
Puck grinned, then underlined her words, indicating his response was the same. He nudged her leg playfully with his underneath their desks.
He wrote another response. 'If it was a spell, that guy's pixie food.'
Sabrina blushed more, then looked up with a grin.
She paused, then wrote again. 'Ya know I only let him kiss me those two times you saw?'
He raised an eyebrow slightly. 'Really?' Well, that saved him from wondering how many times that creep's lips had been on Sabrina's. Ugh.
'Really,' she wrote. She nudged him once with a grin.
Puck grinned back at her. 'Good. I was gonna have to replace each of those with one of mine, anyway. Now I'll just have to add on some extra.' He paused, tapping his pen on the paper, then added, 'to make up for my withdrawal.'
Sabrina rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. 'I'm just worried. I'm so tired of people influencing me with stuff... I just want to be me. My head hurt so badly last night, but when I woke up this morning everything seemed so clear. I was nervous that it wouldn't work out. Now everything feels perfect. But… Still, what if people are screwing with me? I really just like being me, without the magic or spells.'
'I like you being you,' Puck said. 'We'll figure something out.' He dropped the pen and grabbed her hand, squeezing it once.
Sabrina turned to him.
"No touching you two!" Mr. Walker snapped.
Sabrina scowled, but took her hand back.
Puck rolled his eyes in Mr. Walker's direction. Then he drew a small, quick, very bad picture of Mr. Walker being attacked by pixies, with a question mark next to it.
Sabrina glanced over, then snorted laughter.
She quickly disguised it by breaking into coughs, writing 'I wish XD no.' next to the drawing.
Puck immediately responded with a large frowny face, but he was grinning. It was awesome having Sabrina back to normal.
Sabrina smiled. They continued to chat on paper and with nudges until detention was over.
As soon as they made it outside, she reached out and grasped his hand. The moment her hand was in his, he brushed his thumb over her knuckles.
"Man, I thought we'd never get out of there," Puck said as he held on to her hand in return. "So how long did you get detention for, anyway?"
"A month," Sabrina cringed. "So... Was that embarrassing declaration enough to make up for what I said to you?"
Puck grinned. "Oh yeah," he said. "I know you want me. All that mumbo-jumbo about a normal boyfriend… Pfft. Why go normal when you can have a King? And the declaration? I've got it memorized."
"Are you serious?" She groaned.
"Yep," Puck said. "I haven't decided what I'm going to do with it yet. Maybe write it down and frame it." He looked at her gleefully.
"Why would you do that to me," she complained. But she still smiled at him. "Hey Puck? I meant what I said, you know. The whole thing about loving you no matter what."
"Really?" Puck asked, looking at her and still grinning.
"Yeah, promise," Sabrina said, squeezing his hand once.
An odd look crossed his face, the cocky grin turning more serious. "Ya know… My kind take promises really seriously. I never mentioned it before, but in Faerie, a promise is really binding. It really means something. I've seen humans break promises all the time, that kind of thing never happens in Faerie."
"Really?" Sabrina asked curiously. "I didn't know that." She paused, then looked to him. "I still promise, Puck. I love you no matter what."
She even squeezed his hand once again.
Puck looked at her for several moments, then smirked, cocky. He squeezed her hand once. "I love you no matter what," he echoed. "It's a promise, Grimm."
She stuck her tongue out at him, feeling embarrassed again. "Yep. So if either of us is off swooning over some freak, it's gotta be a spell or blackmail."
"Hey guys!"
Sabrina turned to see Kerdy running up, a smile on his face. She smiled back, feeling a lot better.
"Here," He held out two braided string bracelets to them.
"...Is this..." Sabrina trailed off, looking at the bracelets and blinking. She had stopped wearing the string from when she had been blind, deaf, and mute. So had Puck. She'd thrown them out. Even though it had been over a year, the memory had been so vivid and important to her that any time she saw a similar string, she thought of the one they'd used. But it was no doubt, the same string this time. It was a bit bigger, about half an inch thick now from the intricate braid.
Puck looked at the bracelets in surprise. "You know," he said, recognizing it as well, "I was wondering where that went." He hadn't gotten rid of his knowingly, but he had lost track of it.
"Daphne had it when you two were having your issues. She was really depressed you know. Anyway remember how I said I wasn't Curdy from The Goblin and the Princess fairytale, and how it wasn't real? K well, I'm wrong," Kerdy said. "My mom knows Princess Irenee or however you say her name. She had a ring that was enchanted with magical string to help her find her way home. Mom had some of the string in her jewelry box, and gave it to me. So I cut it in half and put it in each bracelet. I tested it and guess what?" He pulled the bracelets away from each other, then squeezed one of them a little.
A thin, glittery spider silk-thin cord appeared between the two bracelets.
"Woah!" Sabrina said. "Is that real?"
Puck leaned forward, peering at the string between the bracelets. "Now that's interesting," he commented. "So that thing keeps the bracelets connected."
"Not exactly," Kerdy said. "Put your hand through it."
Sabrina put her hand through the glittery thread, which vanished if it didn't catch the light correctly. "Woah, it's not actually there..."
"It leads them to each other," Kerdy said. "If it's possible. But I don't think it's ever been tangible. And we can only see it because the bracelets aren't being worn. I think if you two put these on, you two will be the only ones who can see it."
Puck looked at the bracelets, tilted his head to one side. "Well, all right then," he said, holding out his hand. "Gimme one."
Sabrina bapped him upside the head gently. Then she looked to Kerdy. "Thank you Kerdy."
He grinned, putting one on Sabrina's right wrist, and one on Puck's left wrist. Those were the hands that normally connected.
Puck turned the bracelet idly on his hand. "So...just gotta squeeze it or something, and we're supposed to be able to see the connection?" He experimented, squeezing his bracelet the way that Kerdy had done.
The cord appeared.
Sabrina lifted her wrist to look at it, yelping when it drew Puck closer, their heads nearly bonking. "What?" She reached out and grasped the cord, gasping when she felt it solidly.
Confused, Kerdy moved his hand through the cord. "Huh. I guess you two can feel it."
"And apparently when it shows up it likes us to be together," Puck said, laughing at how quickly their heads had almost hit.
Sabrina squeezed her bracelet, watching the cord vanish.
Then she moved away, squeezed it, and tugged her wrist close when the cord appeared.
It tugged Puck closer again.
"Awesome!" Sabrina said.
"Cool," Puck said. He looked at Sabrina mischievously. "Now whenever I need to find you, I can get you easily."
She looked at him warily. "That works both ways, try and fly away, I have a leash now."
Kerdy couldn't help but laugh.
Now Puck looked just as wary. "Leash?" he repeated. He eyed the bracelet. "Maybe we should, uh, talk about how we're gonna use this."
"One more test," Sabrina said. She walked to Kerdy, standing behind him. She squeezed the bracelet.
The cord went through him, but didn't hurt him. Until she tugged Puck into him and knocked their heads together. "Oh whoops."
"Ow," Kerdy stumbled, rubbing his head. Puck was close to his height.
Puck rubbed his own head, wincing. "So the bracelet doesn't make it able to go through things," he said. "Good to know. Ow." He gave Sabrina his best puppy-dog eyes.
"Sorry," Sabrina grinned sheepishly, moving close and kissing him on the forehead.
Puck's arms wrapped around her waist, and he tugged her closer to him. "Gotcha," he teased.
She blushed, but didn't protest the hug. The previous week felt like a bad, hazy, clove and honey-flavored dream. She didn't want to think about it.
Puck looked at Kerdy. "So, uh...I think I'm supposed to thank you for these," he said.
"Don't worry about it," Kerdy said. "I'm just glad I can help. And I'm glad you two are back together and no longer awkwardly freaking me out."
Sabrina leaned against Puck and closed her eyes, hiding her embarrassed blush. She wanted to go hide somewhere. "We should get home, I'm tired."
Puck nodded. "And I'm getting hungry," he said, his stomach growling to emphasize this.
As they turned to leave, a Spanish accent made Sabrina freeze.
"I don't think so."
She whirled around to see that Jeremy had gotten behind Kerdy, one arm around his neck and the other pinning an arm behind his back.
"Hey!" Kerdy struggled, startled. His eyes had widened; Jeremy was stronger than he looked, and Kerdy felt extremely overpowered.
Puck's eyes widened in surprise. "What the heck do you think you're doing?" he demanded, bristling at the sight of Jeremy. He hadn't had a run in with the other boy all day. While Sabrina's confessions and kisses had calmed him enough to put his annoyance for Jeremy on hold, seeing the other boy (manhandling a friend, no less!) just made him feel rage.
"Don't move," Jeremy said. "Or I will kill him." His eyes glinted ice blue as a smirk curved his lips.
Sabrina gasped, her eyes widening at the color change. She'd never noticed before, how similar Jeremy's eyes were to Klarissa's. She'd hoped the ex-witch would have left her alone after Puck's pranks, so she hadn't even been on her guard. But there was no mistaking now that Jeremy had to be related. Their eyes were almost identical.
"What do you want?" Sabrina asked, her voice even.
His smirk only grew.
*.*.*.*.*
A/N:
Sky: I really hope the flow didn't suck, I got angry when Word closed my file and refused to save it. If you see horrid typos or grammar mistakes, lemme know and I'll fix 'em XD It's almost 3 AM and I had to read it while yawning and saying 'ohcrap I told ZOMBIEfiedCrayons I'd have this up by 2!'
Fun facts: The 'Preence Caspian' reference is to… Well, the movie version of Prince Caspian. For best results, flip hair and try to sound sexy when you say it. It's a crackup, and I couldn't stop making fun of it.
The Goblin and the Princess is a very cute cartoon movie about a princess named Irenee with a magic ring full of… string. And a singing boy named Curdy.
This story gets its title from the "No Matter What" promise, which will be important later on.
No Kerdies were harmed in the making of this chapter :3
Anyway R/R ^^ Luvvies, and thank you for reading!
P.S. Thank you grimmgirl and ZOMBIEfiedCrayons, I have fixed the 'that they' typo! Hopefully... And hopefully there aren't anymore! ^^ Also, Kerdy and Daphne were not necking, people XD Chill out. It's a friendship.
Fail+1. Thank you dog9girl and LylaDomae, I have fixed the 'weak' problem. As for 'queue VS cue'...
Edit: Ayns got owned in the face and now knows it's 'cue'. I'm going with the flow and changing it. ^^;
