By the time Bella, Sabrina, and the rest of her family had arrived at Central Park, Puck was sitting down, absentmindedly drinking a smoothie. He was clad in a ratty hoodie and jeans, a standard beanie squishing his blond curls. He offered a lazy wave when he saw the Grimm family, which caused Basil to run at him, throwing himself against Puck, who looked bewildered at trying to deal with children again. Sabrina covered a smile and jogged over herself.
"Did I forget to mention we want to play soccer?" Sabrina asked, herself clad in athletic shorts and a t-shirt which was tied in a scrunchie at the bottom.
"You look like the stereotype for 'I'm-not-like-other-girls'." Puck mocked, faking his best girly voice.
"At least I'm not going to sweat through my clothes today. Bella, pass!" Sabrina called to the girl who was easily kicking the ball up and down using the sides of her feet to entertain Daphne. The brunette nodded and gave a harsh kick in Sabrina's direction. The blonde bounced the ball with her chest, letting it land in front of her.
"Aren't you special?" Puck rolled his eyes.
"Well, are you going to play with us?" Sabrina quirked her brows.
"I would much rather watch for round one, thank you very much." Puck observed as Basil ran off with the soccer ball, Veronica taking it from him and demonstrating how to dribble the ball around. Relda and Mr. Canis were setting up a blanket a little bit away, but Puck didn't seem to notice them. Jake and Henry were sitting in the grass stretching out as Bella and Daphne headed over.
"Hey Robin." Bella greeted.
"Just call me Puck." Puck waved a dismissive hand.
"Does this mean you'll let Bella join us for lunch now?" Sabrina asked excitedly.
"I'll think about it." Puck begrudged.
"Good enough." Bella shrugged.
"Alright, let's pick teams!" Veronica called, the group of them jogging over to a circle. Jake and Henry were put as team captains. Jake picked Basil and Henry picked Daphne. Then Jake picked Bella and Henry picked Sabrina last.
"I feel so loved." Sabrina rolled her eyes and pushed her hair from her face.
"Prove I made the right decision." Henry responded, earning a light shove from his oldest daughter. Puck could tell just from watching them that they were going easy on Daphne and Basil because whenever it was Bella vs. Sabrina or Jake vs. Henry, they kicked between each other's legs, kicked over shoulders, spun around, side tackled and just about every other play they could think off. In the end, there were four children with green elbows and knees from falling in the grass and two sweaty adults.
"So that's a three to five game." Jake smirked.
"We won! Uncle Jake, Bella and me won!" Basil cheered, jumping up on the bench beside Puck. "Did you see, did you see my slide tackle Puck?"
"Yeah, that was definitely my favorite part." Puck nodded, recalling when Daphne had thought Basil fell and jumped over him, but he just kicked the ball, then cheered that he'd done the move right.
"We'll beat you next time though. Mark my words." Sabrina responded, sticking her tongue out. Basil leaned close to Puck whispering.
"Sabby says that every time we play, but she always loses anyway." Basil giggled, to which Puck snorted into his sleeve, making Sabrina raise an inquisitive brow.
"Anyway, we start round two soon, so are you gonna play or not?" Sabrina quirked her brows invitingly. "You'd get to see my mom play and she's a lot better than my dad or Uncle Jake."
"Hey!" "Not true!" Jake and Henry took offense to those words, causing Puck to chuckle. Veronica was chatting with Relda and Mr. Canis, and when Puck finally looked up and saw them. He was shocked and stared, trying to figure out if they were friends or if they were some sort of family of Sabrina's.
"Hm?" Sabrina noticed the direction Puck was staring in and remembered that he'd never met Relda or Mr. Canis, or so she thought. "Oh, that's my Granny Relda and a family friend, Mr. Canis. We're planning on having a picnic after if you want to join us."
"Sure." Puck agreed, shrugging and trying to not look awkward.
"Okay, so soccer." Sabrina reiterated.
"C'mon Goodfellow, you've got to loosen up sometimes." Bella urged, lightly tapping him on the shoulder with her knuckles. Puck groaned as he looked at the grass before taking physical exercise into slight consideration.
"I guess I'll give it a shot if you're really not going to leave me alone. I'll let you know right now though, Basil could kick my butt at this stuff any day." Puck pointed to the kid hanging off his arm, which made him glow at the compliment. Puck couldn't help but smile slightly when he saw his reaction, which made Sabrina happy that they were getting along so well.
This time, Veronica and Jake were the captains of the two teams. Veronica's team was comprised of Puck, Bella, and Basil whilst Jake's team consisted of Henry, Sabrina, and Daphne. This round seemed to be a bit more structured and everyone was playing a lot more seriously. Veronica was, as Sabrina said, the best soccer player of the group of them. She clearly didn't take it easy, not even on her own children, which made it rough for Sabrina's team.
"Brina, you're not doing well." Bella laughed from across the field.
"Yeah I know, my mom isn't carrying my team." Sabrina responded, shrugging her shoulders.
Meanwhile, Puck was struggling even more than Basil every time someone tried to give him the ball. He would kick it to hard or too soft and end up either running/tripping over it or he would get the ball stolen by people that actually knew how to play the game. So instead, Puck decided to try screwing other people over by attempting to steal the ball. He'd often succeed in kicking people's shins and more often than not, tripping them. This was fine, until he tripped Sabrina and both of them went tumbling to the ground, Sabrina's legs tangling with Puck's left one as well as crushing his left arm.
"Ugh, why do you keep kicking people?" Sabrina complained, rolling onto her back.
"Brina! Are you okay?" Bella jogged over as Sabrina untangled her feet from Puck's and sat up.
"I think I'm done running and falling for right now." Sabrina laughed, glancing at Puck who had covered his eyes with his hand and hadn't moved since Sabrina had knocked into him. "You okay?"
"Yep, I think I'm done playing sports for the next forever." Puck sighed and sat up, though he was certain that his heart was going to explode if he did one more slightly embarrassing thing in front of Sabrina today. He was also very sore from the nothing he'd done every day for a very long time.
"Brina, are you alright? Is anything broken?" Veronica lightly pushed on both her daughter's ankles. "Does your arm hurt?"
"I'm fine mom, I just tripped." Sabrina reassured.
"Are you sure? Nothing broken?" Henry asked, shooting Puck a glare.
"I'm fine, dad." Sabrina responded forcefully. "Can we eat? I'm starving."
"Sure, sweetheart." Henry smiled and helped her to her feet. "Mom, are you ready?"
"I've been ready liebling!" Relda responded, the massive amount of food spanned over most of the blanket that had been set down underneath. Relda's eyes lingered over Puck's figure, piecing together parts of their conversation before and she smiled to herself. The group arranged themselves in a circle, Sabrina being between Puck and Bella, Puck being flocked by Basil and Daphne as the adults conversed.
"So Granny, why did you decide to come visit?" Daphne asked, sitting to Relda's right.
"Oh, I figured it had been long enough since I'd seen my family so I've rented an apartment for a few months to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas and spend time with you all." Relda smiled kindly, moving hair from Daphne's face. "It's been so long since I've seen my beautiful granddaughters, not to mention Basil Junior! He's become so macho!"
"Thank you granny." The children chorused, Sabrina smiling softly to herself, unable to stop herself from recalling a time when Ryder was the one calling her beautiful. What had she done wrong?
"What is this?" Puck picked up something that was orange and green which looked rather strange.
"Mm, it's traditional, give it a try." Relda encouraged.
"Oh, granny you know Bella, but this is my friend Puck. He's an artist." Sabrina explained, smiling and grabbing Puck's arm instinctively, which made the teen boy tense immediately, surprised by the action.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Relda winked discreetly, giving Puck a knowing smile, which made him turn even redder, if that were possible. Puck instead took to shoveling food into his mouth, Sabrina going into a discussion about some class she and Bella shared.
"Puck Puck Puck, look at this!" Basil yanked on Puck's arm, shoving drawings in his face, which were actually pretty good for his age. Basil tried to draw superheroes, which were out of the lines and very clearly drawn with the lines pointing out in every angle.
"Not bad." Puck complimented. "You're definitely on your way to being famous."
"Really? Famous?!" Basil's eyes widened and he ran over to show his parents the drawings he'd done. Puck chuckled as he ran off, Relda making a fuss over how talented he was and how good his artwork was.
"This was fun today." Sabrina commented, leaning her head by Puck's shoulder.
"Could have done with less sunlight and sweat, but sure." Puck responded. "Is this the last sports thing we're going to do or are you making me do worse, Barbie?"
"Barbie was very accomplished in her many fields of work, for one. And secondly, I think it's good for you to get out more. You have more ideas to base your art off." Sabrina defended, giving Puck a superior look. "Besides, I know you had fun."
"Maybe." Puck shrugged.
"Maybe yes?" Sabrina giggled as Puck scowled.
For the rest of the afternoon, the family plus Bella and Puck (who might as well have been family with how often they hung out with the Grimm's) were eating and laughing with each other. Daphne caught Bella up on what she was doing in middle school and Puck watched Sabrina try to teach Basil how to bounce a soccer ball on his knees. Relda doted on Jake and Henry, complimenting Veronica for being able to do all that she does. Mr. Canis merely watched whilst occasionally adding a comment here and there.
"We should pack up and head home." Jake noted how the sun was beginning to dip in the sky and began to roll up the blanket, putting containers and unused plates and silverware into the basket.
"Mom, where's your apartment? We can take you if you want? If only because ours is getting pretty crowded." Henry chuckled as he helped Relda to her feet.
"Oh, Mr. Canis can drive me." Relda waved a dismissive hand.
"What about you?" Sabrina turned to Bella. Remembering that she'd have to go home to Ryder, she'd have to go home to her brother, who'd cheated on her best friend with her girlfriend. Bella seemed to come to the same realization as Sabrina soon after and she looked at her hands.
"I'll . . I'll deal with it." Bella nodded quietly. "Besides, I'd have to see him Monday anyways, it doesn't matter."
"It does matter. And I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind you staying another night." Sabrina offered.
"Brina, I can't stay with you forever. I have to do this." Bella took a deep breath, gave Sabrina, Daphne, and Veronica a hug before she headed off in the direction of her apartment building a few blocks away. Sabrina watched helplessly as Bella walked away. Of course, Sabrina would never force Bella to go home and deal with him, but she couldn't very well avoid Ryder either.
"Grimm, your ugly is showing." Puck commented, drawing her from her thoughts.
"Oh, I'm sure." Sabrina rolled her eyes, facing the curly-headed boy. He had stuffed his hands in his pockets and was now gazing at Sabrina calmly, as opposed to his normal disinterest. "Are you feeling okay?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Puck sneered, scrunching his nose.
"Nothing, I think you're normal again. Anyway I'll see you tomorrow?" Sabrina spoke, trying not to feel awkward because of how Puck was looking at her a moment ago.
"I mean not if you don't want to." Puck smirked at Sabrina's exasperated expression.
"You're unbelievable."
"Thank you dog face." Puck turned on his heel, suddenly, surprising Sabrina as she watched him head off. She could only assume he was going to his car, since he lived far away and he wasn't one for exercise of course. Sabrina returned to follow her family to head back home, she said goodbye to her grandmother and Mr. Canis. The walk home was pretty quiet, save for Daphne's constant chatter about something or other. Sabrina just couldn't focus.
Yes, she had a good day and she was happy to be able to talk to her loved ones and spend time with them. She was happy to run and to eat and to just be her normal self all afternoon, it was great.
But a part of her felt broken.
There were parts of her that felt so lifeless. Now that she wasn't moving, all her senses felt on fire, every fiber of her being felt as though amplified and burned through skin into bone. Heartbreak wasn't the sobbing and screaming that was portrayed in the movies, it wasn't something loud and harsh, it was quiet. Heartbreak was a needle through the heart, it was a quick pain that seemed to be slowly draining the life out of her. The longer it was there, the more painful it was. Sabrina was forced into a freezer and being still made her colder and colder.
"Sabrina?" Veronica paused her daughter at the door of their apartment.
"I think I need to lay down for a while." Sabrina spoke quietly. She didn't want to depress her family by bothering them at all.
"If that's what you want. We're here for you darling." Veronica pressed a kiss to Sabrina's forehead and Sabrina had to force herself not to cry right then and there. Sabrina gave her mom a hug and headed to her room, shutting the door behind her.
Sabrina dressed in her comfiest pajamas and rolled herself in her blankets, listening to Lewis Capaldi songs on repeat. What else was she going to do, it wasn't as though she had much else to look forward to or to accomplish now. It was so depressing that she was letting herself get so worked up over some stupid guy, but he'd succeeded in making her feel as though she wasn't really anything. She wasn't enough to make someone happy.
Puck hated people that were always so stupidly positive all the time. He hated how anyone could go through the worst things in the world and still come up saying stupid cliche things like "It gets better". He thought people like that had to be kidding themselves and had to be going through some sort of warped denial of the truth.
But right now, he, the most cynical person he knew, felt good.
He'd spent a Sunday out in the world, as opposed to sitting in his room trying to come up with more reasons to hate people. Instead of setting up devices to take photographs or try to draw new mutilated art pieces, Puck had spent the day outside play sports of all the detestable things in the world. And he was happy about it.
"Are you feeling okay, sir?" Connie asked, a knowing smile on her face as Puck walked through the door.
"Only cursing the day Grimm walked into my life." Puck responded, unable to wipe the stupid smile off his face. He was so sore from all the times he fell and ran and forced his lungs and muscles to try and keep up, but he was so happy, genuinely happy, that it didn't matter.
"Dinner will be ready in an hour, will you take it in your room?" Connie lifted the broom and dustpan, awaiting Puck's answer.
"I think I'll eat with my family today." Puck nodded to himself before heading up the stairs once more. How in the world could one person make him this happy? It was unreal.
But so was Sabrina Grimm.
Soooo I'm kinda sad writing this chapter because A) all I have is my own experience in relationships to go off, so if it's not realistic, that's because I've literally only dated for a total of 3 months. That's too much information and also an excuse, so I apologize. And B) I didn't know if I should've added more to this chapter because it was pretty short (which for me means under 3,000 words) but I also feel like there's not more to be said.
Tell me what you think~!