AN~ And now this chapter is spellchecked!
The four teens spent the afternoon in quiet enjoyment, listening to Puck's music and playing board games. Around five thirty, Art and Jonas went hom for dinner- Art ruffling Sabrina's hair on the way out, much to her annoyance- and Sabrina and Puck were left alone again.
Puck was humming quietly to the music as it switched to a slower song. He blinked when he realized what was playing and looked up into Sabrina's eyes.
Sabrina looked back. Puck suddenly seemed a lot closer than he'd been a minute ago, and the music much louder. Why was her heart speeding up? Darn him for having such big, gorgeous eyes.
He smirked, all of a sudden, and offered his hand to her. "Want to dance?" He asked.
Sabrina blinked. That had been unexpected.
"I don't know how." She admitted.
Puck shrugged. "It's simple. I'll teach you the box step."
"The what?" Sabrina asked.
"Look, say yes or no." Puck said. "This polite thing isn't going to last much longer, and you might want to take advantage of it while it lasts."
Sabrina quirked a crooked smile and took his hand. "Teach away, buddy."
Puck pulled her up and into the center of the room, where he took her other hand and placed it on his shoulder, putting his on her waist.
"Your hand goes here..." He muttered, "And mine goes there. We hold these two hands. Now, for the box step, what happens is, I step forward, and you step back, since the man leads. That's the first corner of the box."
Sabrina obliged.
"Right, now we both step back and to your... left, that's the second corner of the box. Next, bring your other foot to meet it. Then I step back and you step forward, and that's the third corner, and then we step to my left and back, and then we bring it together. That's the box. All you really have to do is follow me."
Puck continued to make a commentary on what they were doing, eventually switching to 'One two three, one two three,' as Sabrina got good enough that she could look away from her feet long enough to look Puck in the eyes. As soon as she did, though, she tripped, and she went back to looking at their feet.
"I like this song, too" Sabrina said, risking a quick glance away from the floor, which seemed to be tilting if she looked away for much longer than that. "What's it called?"
"The Long and Winding Road." Puck said, the oddest look in his eyes. "It's never been my favorite. It's a litle too sad."
"I like it." Sabrina said, looking back at the floor accusingly as she wobbled. It stayed innocently in place as soon as she looked at it. She cold have sworn it was mocking her. "Some of their other songs are a little- over-happy, I guess. This is more realistic. More melancholy."
"I could give you a CD with it on it." Puck said. "Would you like that?"
"But I could't take your CD!" Sabrina said, making the mistake of looking up into his eyes, which still had that odd expression in them. "You love this stuff!"
"Grimm, I'm a prince." Puck said. "One with a dad that overtaxed people all the time. Rich kind of goes with the territory. I can buy another CD just fine. Besides, if I give you their number one hits CD, then I'll be giving you seconds of songs I have on other albums. Does that make you feel better?"
He removed his hand from her waist to lift her chin with his fingers, since she had once again returned her eyes to the floor. Sabrina gasped at the closeness of their faces, and her mind was suddenly filled with memories of another time they had been that close together, and thoughts of the outcome, and then other thoughts, ones she didn't want. It was all she could do to nod before she pulled away and ran for the door.
She didn't stop running until she reached the room she was staying in. There she spent a good fifteen minutes convincing herself that Puck was disgusting, ugly, annoying, immature, and a freak, not a nice boy who had bought her an energy drink, taught her to dance, and saved her life more times than she could count. Only once she was sure that her heart was in agreement with her head that she did not like Puck did she head to the restaurant for dinner.
"Hey, sugar." Momma said once she'd reached the bar. "You look like someone could knock you over with a feather. What happened?"
Sabrina shook her head. "I don't even want to remember. Can I have some chicken fingers and a Sprite?"
"Sure, sweetheart." Momma said. "But it'll cost you."
"What?" Sabrina gaped.
"You tell me what happened, or you pay me the price on the menu." Momm said calmly, beginning to make Sabrina her food.
"But,,, I haven't got any money." Sabrina said pitifully.
"Then tell me what happened." Momma chuckled.
Sabrina sighed, looking longingly at the chicken fingers, and gave in. "I was hanging out with Puck in his room, and he decided to teah me how to dance, We-"
"Puck knows how to dance?" Momma said. "No wonder you're shocked."
"Right, that's really surprising too, now that I think about it, but that's not really it." Sabrina said, "We were dancing, and talking, and he offered me a CD I liked, and I was looking at the floor and he made me look at him and- yeah." She finished, blushing scarlet. "Can I have my chicken now?"
Momma chuckled. "Well, you paid. Not quite as exciting as I'd hoped, but first love is pretty interesting."
"It's not love." Sabrina muttered. Then she looked up at Momma pleadingly. "Don't tell anyone, please? Enough people think we're dating as it is, and if this got out-"
"My lips are sealed." Momma winked. "But sugar, do you like him?"
"I-" Sabrina stopped. "I don't think so. I was sure yesterday. But now-? Ask me again in a month, all right?"
Momma chuckled. "Sure thing, darling."
Puck walked in a few minutes later, sitting next to Sabrina at the bar, but not really looking at her.
"Coke and a burger, Momma?" He said.
Momma bustled off to make Puck's food, banging pots nad pans and altogether doing a not very tactful job of showing the two that she couldn't hear them.
"I brought the CD." Puck muttered, still not looking at Sabrina. "You mad at me or something?"
"No." Sabrina replied, reaching out to take the disk. "Let's just- not repeat that anytime soon, ok?"
"Fine with me." Puck said. "I told you the nice wouldn't last long. Expect to be pranked thoroughly tomorrow."
"Thanks for the warning." Sabrina said dryly.
"No problem." Puck said.
Momma returned then, and Sabrina left soon afterwards. She spent the rest of the evening trying to figure out if she was happy things were back to normal or upset that nothing had changed.
The rest of the two weeks passed in a flash. As promised, Puck woke Sabrina up the next morning with a prank, and all the mornings that followed, too. Sabrina spent some of her days visiting some of her old haunts with her dad, but the more she saw, the more she realized that she didn't really belong in New York City anymore. She ended up spending most of her time in the Golden Egg, learning how to be a diplomat. It was a lot harder than it looked. In fact, without Mustardseed's help, she was pretty sure she'd have ended up undoing most of the work she'd done with her speech. She met more everafters, contantly reminded that she couldn't judge by appearances, and she began learning to curb her tongue, making so much progress that even Henry commented on it.
"You're not quite as rude anymore." He said.
Sabrina smiled. "I guess I'm recovering. Maybe I'm actually maturing."
"Maybe." Henry said. "We leave tomorrow." He changed the subject. "Are you ready?"
"I am." Sabrina said. "I can't wait to get back home. But I'm not sure if there's a plan to get so many people out of the city without the humans noticing. I hope they have room for us, I'm not sure Puck can carry us both."
"I'm sure they've figured something out." Henry said with a secretive smile.
Sabrina glared at him. "You know what's going to happen, don't you?"
"Just go to bed." Henry said. "You'll find out tomorrow."
Sabrina marched off to her room, muttering, "I hate secrets."
The next moring, true to his word, Henry showed Sabrina to a collection of coach buses.
"We'll seem like a tour or something." Henry said. "No one will notice anything."
"Three buses?" Sabrina asked. "There's seriously that many people here?"
"And the buses will be packed." Art said, walking past with a collection of dufel bags strung over his shoulder, carrying them all easily. "The smallest people might even have to share seats, but we could only fine three people who actually know how to drive these things."
"So... are we keeping the coach buses?" Sabrina asked.
"Yes." Titania said. "I spoke with your friend, the one who wishes to start a school? She said that she would appreciate the buses for her own purposes."
"Oh." Sabrina said, a little cowed by the reminder that everafters quite often threw money around like it grew on trees.
"Everyone!" Mustrdseed's voice distracted her as he shouted from atop the statue, "We've made a seating chart! Now, if your name begins with the letters A through J, please board Bus One. You'll find your name on a seat. please sit there, we've done our best to make sure no one kills anyone else on the bus, and if you sit in a seat not assigned to you, you might end up next to your mortal enemy. If your name begins with the letters K through S, you're on Bus Two. Again, sit in your assigned seat. Anyone else, get on Bus Three. Thank you."
Sabrina moved off with the crowd to find her seat, giving her dad a hug as she did so. She fought her way to the bus, fighting an urge to moo as the throng of people tried to all fit through the doors to the bus at the same time. After what seemed like an hour, but was probably closer to fifteen minutes, Sabrina was finally on the bus and working her way back, trying to find her assigned seat.
"Back here, Grimm!" Puck called, waving a piece of paper at her.
Sabrina smiled at him gratefully and worked her way toward him and the back of the bus. Once she reached the last row, she sat down next to Puck, realizing that she was right next to the bathroom.
"Did you pull some strings to get us here?" She asked him.
'No." Puck said. "I didn't know about the buses. But Mustardseed arranged it, so I figured, who needs to pull strings?"
"True enough." Sabrina said. "I guess it doesn't matter. It'll be nice to not have to move far to go."
"Yup." Puck said.
"Who else is next to us?" She asked.
"Ummm..." Puck checked the signs on the seats. "Mustardseed and Renee."
"Nobody else?" Sabrina asked.
"Nope." Puck said. "I don't think there's room."
"I doubt there's room for the four of us." Sabrina said. "But that's the wonder of bench seats, I guess. You can squeeze extra people on them. Like couches."
"Good thing none of us are fat." Puck said.
"What's that about fat?" Renee asked as she sat down next to Puck.
"Puck was saying he's glad none of us are." Sabrina said, wondering why the fact that Renee was practically sitting in Puck's lap was bothering her.
"Yes." Renee murmured. "You are quite skinny for a human, and Puck and Mustardseed are fairies, and I'm- well- still almost as thin as when I had my escapade."
"True enough." Puck said, scooting over a bit to get Renee off him. "Which means there should be enough room that we don't have to be entirely squished, at least until Mustardseed shows up."
Renee took the hint, sliding over a few millimeters. Sabrina smiled to herself, not quit sure why she was so happy Puck hadn't wanted to be sat upon. She decided then that she was even gladder that Renee hadn't sat between her and Puck. But why did she care? It was too hot to be thinking about stuff like that. It was a good thing coach buses had air conditioning.
Mustardseed appeared a few seconds later, looking frazzled. He sat down in the small space next to Renee, who squeezed closer to Puck to make room for him. Puck in turn moved closer to Sabrina to keep from being molested, and Sabrina found herself shoved between Puck and the wall of the bus, glad that she had picked the window seat.
"That's the last of them." Mustardseed said. "Why did I ever want to be king again?"
"Because you actually care about stuff like that." Puck said. "And you didn't want to see me destroy what little is left of Faerie. Besides, you were doing most of the work anyway."
"While you were off galavanting in nowheresville." Mustardseed said, rolling his eyes.
"I was saving her life!" Puck said, jabbing his thumb towards Sabrina. "And you're about to move to nowheresville!"
"Nowheresville is about to become the hub of everafter activity for the whole world." Sabrina said. "Has been one of them for a couple hundred years, actually. So I'd appreciate it if you stopped badmouthing my home."
"I thought you wanted out." Puck said, raising an eyebrow.
"I did." Sabrina said. "But now I don't."
"You confuse me." Puck said.
"It's my job." Sabrina smiled at him, then turned towards the window.
She stared outside for a while, watching the scenery change gradually from skyscrapers to forests, and only realized she had been asleep when Puck shook her awake to tell her they were stopping for lunch. She looked outside, saw the restaurant, and decided to just go back to sleep. She continued to sleep until they crossed the barrier, the shock of it jolting her awake. She realized she was leaning on Puck's shoulder and sat up quickly, grateful that she, unlike Daphne, didn't drool when she slept.
"Was I asleep long?" Sabrina asked Puck as he rolled his shoulder stiffly.
"Not too long." Puck said, adding under his breath, "Compared to how long I've been alive."
"You could have moved me, you know." Sabrina pointed out.
"And risk waking you up?" Puck asked. "I figured you needed sleep, and I didn't want my head bitten off."
"My mouth's not big enough to bite off your head." Sabrina said.
"That's what you think." Puck sniggered.
"Emphasis on your." Sabrina smiled sweetly. "You're really big headed, you know."
"It is one of my finer features." Puck grinned.
Sabrina rolled her eyes. "How long 'til we get home?"
"About twenty minutes to dropoff." Puck said. "And from there... fifteen home, I think. So, an hour at most, allowing for get-off-the-bus time."
"What time ist it?" Sabrina asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Late." Puck replied. "Almost everyone else is asleep, too."
"Where are they going to stay tonight?"
"Mustardseed leaned across Renee, who was also asleep, to tell say, "Ferryport Landing has a hotel, you know. And many of us have brought our own equivalents of homes in our luggage. We'll set them up in the campground south of the town proper tonight, and meet at your house tomorow to work out the details."
"Sounds good." Sabrina said with a yawn. She blinked. "I must have been more tired than Ithought. I've been asleep all day, and I'm still tired."
"You've had a busy two weeks." Mustardseed said. "You needed to catch up on your rest."
"And we're parking." Puck said, "And the car's waiting for us, so we can get right off and go home."
"Why didn't you two go with Mr. Grimm, by the way?" Mustardseed asked.
"Dad's car is stuffed full of luggage he offered to take for the everafters. The buses only hold so much, and there wasn't any room left over for us." Sabrina said tiredly. "Now, I'm going to sneak off before everyone starts waking up and I have to wait. See you tomorrow."
The others said their goodbyes as Puck and Sabrina left the bus quietly and headed for the old Jalopy. They climbed into the family car, grateful that only Uncle Jake had come to bring them back, and headed back to their own bedrooms to rest up for the next day, which promised to be busy.