Every year, the Moon moves a further 3.82cm from the Earth. Oh no! And now, back to the story . . .

Chapter Fourteen – It Doesn't Hurt

"Are you sure about this?" Helia asked as the black haired specialist was getting ready to escort Flora to their formal dinner. It was Saturday and just over a week since Riven and Musa had their run in with Darcy. Under Nurse Ofelia's orders, Riven was supposed too have had several day of bed rest, but after two days of sleeping, he had gotten bored and decided to sneak out and go have dinner in the mess hall with the rest of the guys. His legs had buckled underneath him twice and had had almost collapsed a further six times before he walked calmly into the mess hall. The look of outrage on his friends' faces from seeing him out of bed made it all worth it, even if he did fall asleep at the table from exhausting himself.

Riven sighed and stared moodily at the cup of tea Helia had given him it to try and relieve the headaches Riven had been suffering from all week. Riven was surprised that this herbal stuff actually worked but despite the fact his headache had lightened, his mood still stayed sour.

"I dunno," Riven admitted, looking at the suit that two weeks ago he had suffered going shopping with Musa and her friends to get for the dinner. It was still on its coat hanger and Riven was making no move to change that. "I guess the best thing I can do for her is to leave her alone."

"I have a feeling she might think differently about that," Helia said, running a brush through his long hair. He had spent the last week trying to convince Riven to talk to Musa, but his roommate was as stubborn as always.

"Look, I'm no good for her," Riven half snapped, lying back down on his bed. "I'm always hurting her."

"You couldn't have know Darcy would – "

"I knew Darcy was hanging around and I didn't tell anyone. It was my relationship with Musa that made Darcy attack her. It was my relationship with Darcy that hurt Musa so much in the past. And it's not always about Darcy. Musa's right, I jerk her back and forward so many times like I'm purposely trying to hurt her. Now I might be wrong, but I don't think that's how you're supposed to treat the people you care about."

"You don't treat her as badly as you think you do. That's just the impression Darcy gave you."

"It wasn't Darcy. Musa said it herself," Riven remarked glumly, draping his arm across his eyes. Thoughts about that night outside the gates of Alfea still kept Riven up at night and no matter how many times his friends reminded him that it was mostly a result of Darcy's manipulation, that harsh exchanged seemed to continue in loops until it was madness in his head.

"She didn't mean it. She was angry and under Darcy's dark magic just like you were that night. I mean, come on, I don't believe everything you say you're going to do to me when we fight."

"It's different."

"How?"

"Because I'm not dating you," Riven spat. Why was Helia being so dense about this? Riven thought he was smart and yet he couldn't grasp the concept that he and Musa weren't meant to be together. All they did was cause each other pain.

"Well, if you were dating me I can tell you I don't think I'd dump you over one mistake. Especially since it was most born out of someone else's manipulations."

"First of all; it's never going to happen between us –"

"Damn," Helia said with immense sarcasm.

" – and what happened with Musa and me is so much more then my latest mistake. It's best if we just end it now," Riven sighed. That would be so much easier if everything didn't remind him of something about her and cause her voice to play in his memories like music to his ears. Or if only he'd be able to stop finding her hairs on his shirts and think about of the soft way her pigtails would brush across his skin. He never realised it before, but somehow everything he owned smelt of her. The faint scent of her perfume on his pillow from the times they would hang out in his room and talk or make-out kept him up at night almost as much as his guilt and nightmarish memories did.

"Riven."

"Back off Helia. I'm doing the smart thing for once."

"Is it the smart thing?"

"Yeah."

"But what does your heart tell you?"

Riven dropped his arm and stared at his friend for a second. "That is the lamest thing I've ever heard you say."

"Well I'm willing to be lame if it means convincing you to get changed. We're leaving soon."

"Are you even listening to me? It's better for Musa if I have nothing to do with her."

"Okay, but someone needs to inform Musa of that fact."

"She'll get over it."

"I'm not so sure about that. Now get dressed or we'll be late."

Riven just covered his face with his pillow and groaned.

Musa looked amazing.

She wore a scarlet dress that Flora had found for her that complemented her greatly. It had spaghetti strings going over her shoulders and an empire cut neckline. The front of the dress reached her knees, but the back part of the skirt fell to the floor. Stella had done a fantastic job on her makeup and Layla had done her hair in a way that not only looked great but reflected Musa's personality. Most of her long hair was loose to cater for the formal theme, but the top half had been pulled into two, spiky buns in the same places Musa normally had her pigtails.

Unfortunately, despite how good she looked, Musa felt miserable.

"I don't think I'm going to go," she told her friends as they put on their finishing touches while waiting for their dates to arrive. Normally she'd totally be up for an exam like this, especially since it involved dancing, but right now she couldn't stand the thought of watching all those happy couples. Even though a week had passed, she hadn't seen or spoken to Riven once and that separation was making her melancholy. Her friends had tried to lighten her mood, but Musa knew there was only one person who could do that and he seemed to be avoiding her.

"You can't pull out now," Tecna objected. "We spent all day getting ready."

"I'm just not in the mood."

"Too bad, you're going," Bloom told her firmly as she fiddled with her hair. The Last Princess of Sparx didn't normally play hardball with her friends but she knew that the worst thing Musa could do was lock herself away in her room and sulk while the rest of them were out enjoying the night. She understood that the musical fairy had had a rough couple of weeks but it was time to break out of that and start enjoying herself again.

"But I don't even have an escort."

"So, don't have one," Stella shrugged, applying another layer of lipstick. "You can be the independent 'I don't need a man' chick who's just up for a good time."

"Hey! How come when I wanted to be that independent 'I don't need a man' chick who's just up for a good time, you still made me find a date?" Layla growled at Stella.

"Because you needed a date."

"That's not an answer."

"So?"

"Just go and have a good time, sweetie," Flora smiled at Musa, ignoring her other two friends. Along with Helia, the Fairy of Nature had secretly been trying to convince Riven to talk to Musa and she knew they were so close to getting him to come tonight.

"No. I'll just get a misadventure for the test. Miss Du Four said I didn't have to take it considering everything that's happened this week," Musa sighed, starting to remove her shoes.

"You've got to go," Flora told with uncharacteristic sternness, placing her hands on Musa's to stop her undoing her shoes.

"Why? What's the point? I don't have a date to do the dancing with or to escort me when I do my entrance so I can't do the test. I just can't do it, that's that. I don't even know why I'm even wearing this stupid dress to begin with."

"You don't need a boy to wear a pretty dress," Bloom told her friend with an encouraging smile.

"Yeah, but I'm sure it doesn't hurt," a new voice said from the doorway. All six girls jumped and spun to see Riven leaning casually in the doorway, his arms folded. At the request of Miss Du Four, the boys had been asked to wear dinner suits instead of their normal school uniforms. The boys didn't seem too thrilled about it, but it did confirm one thing; all guys look great in suits, and Riven was no exception. "Your dates are downstairs."

It was polite, but it was a dismissal nonetheless. After casting a few sly smiles to Musa, the Winx Club made there way out of the room. Most of them grinned warmly at Riven as they passed him, though Layla did have a bit of steel in her eyes.

"Don't you dare hurt her," Tune warned him in a low voice, her umbrella thrust out in front of her like a sword. Riven secretly wanted to squash that pixie like a bug but he knew that wouldn't go down so well, so he simply nodded.

"Good luck," Flora whispered as she brushed passed him and then she closed the door, leaving the two teenagers alone in Musa's room.

I stole the title from a line from 'She's the Man'. I love Shakespeare (my real name is actually the name of one of his most famous female characters), and I love Twelfth Night most of all, and I think Amanda Bynes rocks my socks so that movie was a dream come true. I loved it. TBC.