AN~ Just in case you don't figure it out later and Daphne doesn't, either, the real reason she and Mustardseed can't make it work is because she's kind of judgemental.

Samantha: Sorry it took so long. This summer's been really hectic.

Daphne went the rest of the summer single. It was a nice change, actually. She could spend time with whoever she wanted without feeling like she was gypping someone else. She sort of wondered if she was a bit young to be dating seriously. Sabrina still didn't have a boyfriend, after all.

But then again, that could probably be put down to Puck's unsteady personality. He just wasn't ready for a long-term relationship. And he kept leaving. And sometimes Daphne thought maybe Sabrina wasn't ready for a relationship, either.

That fall, though, when she went back to school, the unthinkable happened. She got a crush on Mustardseed.

Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem. She'd had crushes before. But she'd never had crushes quite this hard that hadn't ended really badly (she didn't think about Drew on purpose around Mustardseed), and even if that hadn't been a big deal, Mustardseed was like a brother to her! Definitely nothing like a boyfriend.

Or at least, that's the way it was supposed to be.

They were really incompatible, on top of that. He was way too serious for her tastes, and he didn't move fast enough for her.

But the real problem was that Daphne was pretty sure Mustardseed would never, ever like her back.

So most of the rest of what she was doing was just trying to talk herself out of it, to rationalize her feelings away.

Daphne had never tried to talk herself out of a crush before (had never wanted to, had always felt like her crushes were great people and might like her back), so she didn't know how hard the task she was setting out for herself actually was. Sabrina could have told her, but she was embarrassed about this crush (it was her sister's almost boyfriend's brother, for goodness sakes! It was like something out of a book!) to talk to Sabrina about it. Or her parents. And she couldn't tell most of her friends.

So she suffered in silence and tried to convince her heart that this was a very bad idea, while at the same time taking every opportunity to go to the Golden Egg (not that that was much different than what she usually did) and spend time with Mustardseed.

She was learning how hard it was to hide a crush, too- another thing she'd never done. It was very hard to keep from giggling at everything Mustardseed said, and to keep most of what she was doing to seem like flirting.

She spent a good portion of her time wishing that this crush would just go away and an equally large portion wishing Mustardseed would ask her out. They weren't all she thought about, of course (she had school and friends and family and she'd started volunteering at an animal shelter on weekends, and occasionally there'd be an important Everafter thing that she could help with), but they took up a lot more of her thought than she was exactly willing to admit.

She even tried going out with another human, a boy named Eric, for a couple weeks, hoping maybe she'd get over Mustardseed if she started seeing someone else. And Eric was a really nice guy.

It didn't work out, though. First off, she still wasn't ready to date another non-Everafter. She didn't want to get hurt like that again. Especially not anytime soon. And she felt like she was betraying herself, Eric, and (ridiculously) Mustardseed. Eric deserved someone who was dating him for him, not to try to fix herself. And she didn't feel right, dating a boy she didn't like like that for more than one or two dates. And Mustardseed...

Well.

She wasn't going to get into that. It was just stupid, the way she was feeling there.

For nearly half of her eighth grade year, Daphne dealt with this in silence.

Then Sabrina figured it out.

She didn't blurt it out in front of everyone, which was a blessing Daphne probably didn't deserve, considering how often she'd spilled her sister's embarrassing secrets in public.

She just waited until they'd left the Golden Egg together, gave her little sister a sly look, and said, "You like Mustardseed, don't you?"

Daphne turned bright red (something that apparently hit women in Veronica's family around the time they hit puberty), and this was enough answer for Sabrina.

The oldest of the Grimm children raised her eyebrows and said, "You'd normally have asked him out by now- what's up?"

Daphne shrugged. "It's different this time, I guess."

Sabrina didn't push it. Daphne reminded herself that she had a wonderful big sister, even if she screwed up royally sometimes.

She did, however, ask, "Do you wan to date him? Like if he liked you back would you do anything about it?"

Daphne hadn't allowed herself to get that far, but now that Sabrina asked, she had to think about it.

And, now that she was thinking about it, she thought the answer was yes. And not just because she really really liked him, but because even though she was pretty sure they were incompatible, she wanted to see if they could do it. If they would make it work.

So, with a little bit of surprise in her voice, Daphne said, "Yeah. I think I would."

But then Sabrina got a look on her face that made Daphne wish she'd said no, an expression that was a cross between thoughtful and a sort of cunning glee. It looked a lot like an expression Puck might wear.

"Please don't," Daphne begged. "Whatever you're planning, just... don't."

Sabrina raised her eyebrows and asked, "If it was me asking, and you thought you could do something that would make me happy in the long run, even if it embarrassed me for a little while, would you do it?"

This was a very, very good point, and almost made Daphne stop in her tracks.

But then again, "I'm not you."

"So, what?" Sabrina asked. "Are you saying I'm more considerate of other people's feelings than you are?" She grinned. "'Cause I'm definitely not." Daphne started to answer, and Sabrina beat her to the punch, adding, "And I'm not nicer, either, so don't try to butter me up, 'cause it won't work."

"Just... please don't?" Daphne asked.

"I make no promises," Sabrina said loftily, and she broke into a run so that Daphne couldn't answer her.

"Hey, wait up, I'm not done with you yet!" Daphne called, starting to run herself.

Sabrina turned around, running backwards for a bit (and still managing not to run into anyone, even on the crowded streets. Daphne wished Veronica's athleticism had gone to her, and not just Sabrina). She called, "Catch me and I'll listen!"

"No fair!" Daphne called, running faster. But she was grinning, too.

Sabrina didn't do anything right away. It was getting to the point where Daphne was starting to think maybe she'd forgotten about it when, one day, as the three of them were talking about an edict Mustardseed wanted to run by Puck (as if Puck would care), Sabrina waited for a break in the conversation, which was full of snacks, and asked, "So, Mustardseed. Your mom trying to set you up with anyone?"

Daphne wanted to sink into the floor. She wouldn't.

Mustardseed blinked at the blonde girl and said "No, that's mainly the father's job in Faerie, and since it worked out so poorly last time, my mother is hesitant to do so to me." He smiled a little and said, "Not that I would react quite so poorly, of course, but we believe that perhaps it is in our people's best interests to let children pick out their own mates."

Well, duh.

Daphne could see Sabrina fighting hard not to roll her eyes at that one (it was something her sister had been working on, but Daphne recognized the look of an eye roll caught seconds before it could happen), and she sympathized. Maybe in some parts of the world they still did arranged marriages, but here... it was just stupid. How could you be in love with someone you only got together with 'cause your parents picked them out for you?

Sabrina got over it quickly, though, and was right back on track to humiliate her little sister. "So are you interested in anyone for yourself or anything?" she asked. "I mean, you're getting older and stuff, so you know, I gotta wonder a bit."

Mustardseed, who had taken a bite out of some kind of cucumber sandwich, finished chewing and swallowed before answering, "I only stayed young out of respect for Puck, but yes, aging has caused me to notice women more, though my duties in Faerie make it difficult for me to pursue it as much as I would like."

Was it Daphne's imagination, or did Mustardseed glance at her for a millisecond when he said that about noticing women? It was probably just wishful thinking.

"So..." Sabrina said, smiling a little and resting her chin on her hands, "Anyone in particular?"

Mustardseed's eyes got very wide and he said hurriedly, "Oh, Sabrina, I'm very fond of you, but I don't think of you in that way. Please don't be offended."

"What?" Sabrina demanded, drawing back with wide eyes. "Oh, no, not me, definitely not me, your brother would kill us both, I mean you're a great guy, but-"

"Oh, thank goodness," Mustardseed said, relaxing- at least as much as Mustardseed ever relaxed.

Sabrina laughed a little, and Daphne stared between them. That was unexpected.

"Why do you ask?" Mustardseed said, after consuming another mini sandwich.

Sabrina swallowed and pointedly did not look at Daphne. "Uh..."

Daphne rolled her eyes. Oh, for goodness sakes! Didn't Sabrina know anything? You had to have something prepared, because they would always ask!

When Sabrina continued to stall, Daphne decided to cut her some slack. Not that she wouldn't give her sister a hard time for this later, but it was sad to see her flounder this much. "She's doing it for me," she said.

Mustardseed looked at her with wide eyes. "What?"

"It's a misguided attempt," Daphne said pointedly, "But she was trying to help, so I guess maybe I'll forgive her for this completely humiliating exchange she put all of us through."

"Are you implying..." Mustardseed asked, his eyes still wide. The plate of sandwiches lay forgotten on the paper-strewn table, seven sandwiches still sitting on it.

Well, this was it. All or nothing. Was she prepared to risk injuring their friendship for a relationship she was ninety percent sure would never work out?

Sure, why not?

"Yeah, I kinda have a thing for you," Daphne admitted, picking at a piece of fuzz on her fluffy armchair and not looking at Mustardseed. Normally she was way better at this (listen to her, talking about normally for crushes when she was only thirteen and three quarters).

There was complete and utter silence in the room.

Crap.

She'd screwed up. She'd ruined their friendship. Now everything would be all awkward and she wouldn't even be able to spend any time with him without him feeling uncomfortable and it would be worse than before and-

Okay, Daphne, calm down.

She looked up at him and said, "It's okay, you don't like me back. I wasn't going to say anything 'cause I figured, but then Sabrina- so yeah. We can just be friends. It's fine."

"What? No!" Mustardseed said hurriedly. "I simply... I was simply processing. I-"

"I'm gonna... I'm gonna step out for a minute," Sabrina said. Daphne and Mustardseed both ignored her.

"You mean it?" Daphne asked, her eyes widening. Could he actually like her back?

Mustardseed nodded. "For quite some time. But you... I assumed- and you're so young, and we're so different, and all those other boys, I thought-"

Daphne stopped his babbling (Mustardseed! Babbling!) by slipping her hand into his. She smiled at him. "It's okay."

He smiled back. They stayed like that for a long time, just holding hands, and Daphne hadn't been so happy since she aced her science exam that she'd been sure she would fail.

But then it stretched a little long and she remembered- "Hey! What do you mean 'I'm so young?' You only look, like, fifteen!"

Mustardseed just squeezed her hand and smiled.

It was amazing.

They dated for about three months without any real problems. The first month, actually, they were too busy being absolutely in ecstasy for Daphne to even think about all the problems she'd gone over in her mind when she first started to like him. She actually talked herself out of thinking they even existed for a little while.

But, as usual, the brain knows a little better than the heart what is a smart decision, and things began to go south once Daphne found out just how long Mustardseed had been letting his parents get away with hurting people. That was their first real fight.

"What do you mean you spent fifty years knowing you should change things?" she demanded. "How could you not do anything for five decades?"

"I'm sorry, I was a little busy trying to keep my family from killing each other to upend the whole system!" Mustardseed said, and he raised his voice, which was rare for him.

"People were being hurt!" Daphne shouted. "And you didn't do anything?"

"What do you expect me to have done?" Mustardseed demanded. "Upend the whole system? Tell my father he was a tyrant? All that would have accomplished would be to get me banished, and then I wouldn't have been able to do anything!"

"It doesn't sound like you did much of anything anyway!"

"At least here I was able to see what needed to be changed after he was gone!"

"Oh, like that makes it better!" Daphne was getting louder and louder now, and she knew this was a problem. He was yelling, too, and Mustardseed never yelled. But how could he have done nothing?

"What would you have had me do?" Mustardseed demanded. "I couldn't have convinced them to change anything! I had no power!"

"You could have talked to people!" Daphne snapped. "You're good at convincing people of stuff! Gotten them to see sense! I know my mom isn't the only one who thought things would have been way better if you all worked together!"

"It wouldn't have done anything!" Mustardseed slammed his hands on the table.

Daphne backed off a little. She looked at Mustardseed sadly and said, "I'm not saying you should have organized a rebellion to overthrow your dad. I just wish you'd done something instead of just saying 'well, it doesn't affect me,' and sitting back to wait for things to change on their own."

"We were afraid," Mustardseed said. "People who went against my father tended to disappear."

"But... for decades. You couldn't have thought he'd do anything to you before Puck got banished."

"He was my father," Mustardseed said. "I was afraid to find out whether or not he would. I wanted to love him."

"Okay," Daphne said softly. She grabbed his hand, because he looked so sad, and he smiled at her.

But she was never quite able to forgive him.

That was what tore their relationship apart, in the end. They held on for another month and a half, because they both really did like each other, but suddenly all of his sedentary habits, everything he did that wasn't perfect, got on Daphne's nerves ten times more. She couldn't stop thinking about how much he hadn't done to help people, and it got in the way of her ability to see what good he was doing now.

One day, Mustardseed had apparently had enough, and as she picked at something else he hadn't done, he exploded with, "If you hate me so much, then why are we even still together?"

"I don't hate you!" Daphne said, drawing back.

"Resent me, then," Musardseed acknowledged.

Daphne thought about his question for a second, seriously, and was very, very sad when she realized that the answer was, "I don't know."

Mustardseed nodded, his face a little pinched. "I thought so," he said.

Daphne wanted to cry. Her face crumpled and she whispered, "I'm sorry."

Mustardseed looked very sad, too, but he was keeping his composure. He said, "We were doomed from the start. I hoped we could make it work, but we're just too different."

Daphne had felt the same way. But at first, things had been so wonderful, she'd hoped it could work. "Do you think-" she swallowed, "do you think we could still be friends? I don't want to lose you. Not completely."

Mustardseed shrugged. "We can try."

"Okay," Daphne agreed. After all, it was better than nothing.

She leaned forward to give him one last hug, but Mustardseed pulled back.

"I think a clean break would be best." For the first time, he looked as heartbroken as she felt. "If we don't, well, I like you enough that I wouldn't be able to move on, and then we might try again. And it wouldn't work."

"It might," Daphne said stubbornly, "Eventually."

Mustardseed shook his head. "We tried. We failed. I'm sorry, Daphne."

Daphne took a deep breath to steady herself and nodded. "Okay, then. Goodbye." And then she left.