AN~ Got this up a lot sooner than I thought I would. By... four days, seeing as it's after midnight.
The Winner of Last Question of the Day: Not soLittle Girl with her epic story of her dad and Ethiopia. I was going to pick a funny one, but that blew my socks off.
New Question of the Day: What's your dream job and why? We're pretending money is not an issue, unless that's the reason for your dream job.
Purpleflower23: It was VERY long. And then there was the sequel. I can certainly do a chapter in Puck's POV, but it probably won't be this one, is that OK?
Not soLittle Girl: Holy wow. That's kind of epic. In a big way.
warisha: Review 1: I write like this 'cause I write too much and read too much. And then after I'm done I go back and edit, 'cause editing is what makes my writing not horrible. Review 2: ^/ / /^ I'm glad you like the Puckabrina slowness. I am still looking for titles. The name probably won't change until the story's complete, but I will totally take your ideas into consideration, 'cause I'm stumped. Review 3: Wow. And I thought my sister dropping my other sister on the head as a baby was bad... Review 4: That's an unsafe bus driver. I disagree with your opinion on Sabrina's shyness (obviously). It is shown repeatedly throughout the books that she is very easily embarassed and doesn't want to be stared at. The only time she's the center of attention is when she loses her temper. Those and other things in the books are signs of an introvert, and introverts tend to be shy.
Terces Society: I love those books! Perhaps your friend has a behavioral food allergy. Like me with red dyes or my sister with... anything.
"Where's Sabrina?" Daphne asked, when it became apparent that everyone in the study group except her sister was present.
"She went home." Art told her, emptying things out of his backpack onto the table. "Saw her with some guy, she said she'd-" he coughed, '-be at home today."
"Oh." Daphne blinked. "Who was-" Art coughed again, and she looked at him, worried. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah." Art nodded, swallowing. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bug. It was some human kid, one of the people staying in your house, I think."
Daphne squealed. "She's making friends! That's so cute!" Then she looked at Art curiously. "Puck said everafters don't get sick."
"Puck exaggerated." Art said, raising his eyebrows at the boy in question. "Fairies have great immune systems, yeah, but we can get sick. So can other everafters. In fact." He told Daphne, looking down at her, "You should probably stay away from me. If I caught it, there's a pretty good chance you will, too."
"I'll take my chances." Daphne said breezily.
Puck, who had been walking over, slammed his backpack onto the table and sat down in an empty chair with a thunk.
"Who put a bee in your bonnet?" Wendell asked, raising his eyebrows.
"I think I know." Bella said, smiling knowingly. "Sabrina was with another boy."
"Oh, shut up." Puck glared.
"Called it!" Bella grinned. "Relax." She told him. "She didn't, like, get another boyfriend while you were gone or something. In fact, she's been moping after you the whole month."
"What do you mean, another boyfriend?" Puck accused. "She's never had a boyfriend."
"Well, there was almost this one guy while we were in the orphanage, but then he got adopted and we never saw him again." Daphne said thoughtfully. "But she means you, Puck."
Puck snorted. "That's a laugh. As if I'd date that."
Everyone around the table gave him skeptical looks. He stared back at them for a minute, then looked down, tracing a design on the table.
"She hasn't said anything about some other guy?" He muttered.
"No." Bella said. "But if you don't move fast, she might."
Puck didn't say anything. There was silence until Art coughed again.
Bella looked over at him, concerned. "That doesn't sound good, Art. Are you sure you're all right?"
Art nodded without saying anything, rubbing his throat.
Bella switched positions so that her knees were on her chair and then leaned over the table to put her hand on Art's forehead. "You're not too warm..." She said. "What are your symptoms?"
"My throat is burning." Art said, making a face. "Other than that, I'm just coughing a lot. I'm fine, seriously."
Bella, looking unconvinced, went to sit back down, much to Wendell's disappointment. "Fine." She said. "But I think you should go see Nurse Spratt."
"If it doesn't clear up in a few days, sure." Art agreed.
"Good." Bella said. "We don't want you out of commission."
Sabrina was having a good time. She hadn't really expected to, so it was a nice surprise. Marcus' friends were a lot nicer than the other human kids she'd met, and most of them seemed to think that what she'd said to Snow was pretty cool.
"Why didn't you act like this before?" One girl, Annie, asked. "You were all... alone."
Sabrina shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I thought you didn't like me or something..."
Annie grinned. "Psh. What's not to like?"
"My thoughts exactly." Marcus said, nudging Sabrina's ribs with his elbow companionably. "You should do this more often."
"Actually..." Sabrina hedged, leaning back against the grass, "I'm already in my own study group, and they kind of need me there, otherwise things get out of hand. Today was an exception."
"Oh." Annie and Marcus, in particular, looked disappointed.
"But you guys could join us." Sabrina offered. "We meet in the library every day after school, and there's always someone to help with something, 'cause there's so many of us."
"Maybe." Annie said. "But they don't seem to like us too much, you know?"
"It's kind of like how I thought you guys didn't like me, actually." Sabrina said. "Show up, get to know them. They're pretty cool, for the most part."
"Sure-" Marcus cut of, looking at his watch. "Wow. That was fast. It's dinner time."
Sabrina stood, dusting herself off. "Well, I'll head back, then. It was nice talking to you."
She headed back to the door to the house, humming cheerfully for a few seconds before she stopped herself. She was Sabrina Grimm. She didn't hum.
"Grimm!" Someone- Puck, obviously. He was the only one who called her Grimm that would be in the house. "What took you so long?"
"I was talking." Sabrina snapped. "What are you doing here?" Puck hadn't gone back in his old room since Granny had given it away.
"The Old Lady sent me to get you for dinner." Puck said angrily. "If you'd come down on your own, I wouldn't have had to be here."
"Well, I'm sorry for throwing off your precious lazy schedule." Sabrina rolled her eyes.
"You should be." Puck grumbled. "So should that guy."
"Who, Marcus?" Sabrina asked.
"Yeah, your precious Marcus." Puck sneered. "Since when are you friends with those people anyway?"
"Since today, actually." Sabrina said. "What have you got against them?"
"They're living in my room!" Puck declared. "And I see this as a definite shifting of sides, Grimm!"
"What, because I made friends with people other than you?" Sabrina snapped. "I should have done it ages ago! It's not like you were really here for the past month and a half!"
"Oh, sure, play the 'I left' card!" Puck glared. "That's not what you were saying last night!"
"That's because last night you weren't being a jerk!" Sabrina half-shouted, stalking off towards the kitchen.
"I'm being a jerk?" Puck asked, incredulous. He grabbed Sabrina's arm, stopping her from leaving. "Who just ditched me for some new guy?"
"What's wrong with Marcus?" Sabrina demanded. "He's nicer than you."
"Oh, is that what you see in him?" Puck asked. "I'll tell all your other new boyfriends that they have to be nice! Hey, everybody! Sabrina only likes nice guys!"
"Boyfriend?" Sabrina asked, incredulous. "What boyfriend? I only started talking to Marcus today! We're not dating! I've never had a boyfriend, and knowing the guys in this town, I never will!"
"Does he know that?" Puck asked, his voice suddenly, dangerously quiet.
"What?" Sabrina's brow furrowed in confusion. "Of course he does. Why would he think we'd be anything other than friends?"
"I've seen the way he looks at you." Puck said darkly. "I know what that look means, Grimm, and it's not friendship."
"Oh?" Sabrina asked, feigning innocence with wide eyes and a pursed mouth. "What's that look, then?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Puck pressed, not lightening up.
"Maybe I do." Sabrina said. "But I'm confused, Mr. 'I Don't Like Girls'. How do you recognize this look, if you've never worn it yourself?"
"Maybe I have." Puck shot back. "How would you know? Just 'cause I'm not interested in you like that doesn't mean I don't like other girls!"
The cutting retort Sabrina had planned dropped from her mind completely, and she swayed a bit on her feet, fighting back tears and beating herself up inside for letting that get to her so badly. She'd known he didn't like her. Known it! So why did this hurt so much, the confirmation of what she already knew?
Maybe it was that before, no matter how much she'd known it, she'd had hope.
But still. So what if Puck didn't like her? She wasn't going to give him the added bonus of knowing that comment had won the argument!
"Fine then." Sabrina said. "Since you care so little, why don't you just get your stupid little upturned nose out of my life and let me deal with my own problems?"
Puck shook his head, smiling grimly. "Oh, no, Grimm, you're not getting rid of me that easy. You'd be dead or raped or something in under a week without me around."
"I survived eleven years and last month on my own just fine!" Sabrina retorted.
"Because Daphne was there to watch your back!" Puck snapped. "What do you think she was doing last month?"
"Making new friends!" Sabrina shouted. "Which is what I was trying to do today! Dammit, Puck, why do you have to ruin everything?"
Now there were tears in her eyes. She brushed the back of her wrist against them roughly, glaring at the shocked expression on his face. "Go ahead, laugh." She challenged. "It's not like you could get any meaner."
Puck's eyes softened. "I just don't want you to get hurt, Grimm." He told her, taking a few tiny steps closer.
"Yeah, well, you do a pretty good job of that on your own." She sniffed.
"I don't mean to." Puck apologized. He'd continued to make those baby steps, and now he wrapped his arm around her tentatively.
Sabrina shrugged him off. As much as she craved his touch, it hurt too much, knowing he didn't want it like she did.
Puck pulled back, hurt.
It was her turn to apologize. How awful was it that she still didn't want to hurt him (now that she was thinking straight), even after what he'd done to her. "Look, just... let me handle it? You might be right, maybe I'll come crawling back to you 'cause he's bad news, but this'll be the first time I've made friends without any help in years. Can you let me? You're being as overprotective as my dad."
"Ooh, that's low." Bella's cheerful voice came from around the corner.
"How long have you been listening?" Sabrina asked, feeling her face heat up.
"A while now." Bella grinned. "Actually, I think the whole house could hear you. The only reason we didn't break it up before now is 'cause it was actually kind of amusing. But you sounded done, and we're hungry. So finish your lovers' spat after dinner, 'kay?"
"We're not." Sabrina said roughly. "Stop it with the dating jokes. They're not funny."
"Fine." Bella said, raising her hands in the air. "Jeesh."
She led the way back into the kitchen, and Sabrina, following her, was suddenly overwhelmed by the scent of fresh french bread, spaghetti, and meatballs. She smiled a little: those had always been her comfort food. Unfortunately, the only empty seats at the crowded table were next to each other, which meant she'd have to sit next to Puck, when all she wanted to do was get away from him before she burst into tears.
She made it through the meal, somehow. But as soon as it was over, she rushed off to her bedroom, ignoring the fact that it was her night for dish duty.
"Sabrina, wait! You forgot your-" Henry called after her.
"Leave it." She heard Veronica's voice as she ran off. "She needs to be alone right now."
"But why?"
Sabrina didn't hear the rest of the conversation, she'd already run to her room and slammed the door behind her, still fighting back tears. She was going to collapse on the bed, but then she remembered that Daphne's friends would be there, so she shoved the window open and climbed outside, ready to bawl her eyes out.
But the tears wouldn't come. So she just sat on the roof, feeling dejected and rejected, thinking that it would be better if she could have a good cry and get it over with.
"Hey." Daphne said, sticking her head out the window.
"Hi." Sabrina muttered, not looking at her sister. "Aren't you going to hang out with your buddies?"
Daphne shook her head, crawling out the window and sitting next to her sister. "You needed me more."
"Well, thanks." Sabrina half-smiled. "Glad to know I'm needy."
Daphne ignored that and sat down under the window next to Sabrina, leaning against her. "What's wrong?" She asked.
Sabrina shook her head. "It's just... arguing with Puck right after he got back... I missed him, you know? And I was hoping we'd be able to get along for another day or two before things went back to... that."
"It was a pretty bad fight." Daphne agreed. "Not loud, exactly, but... mean. In a new way. A grown-up way."
Sabrina nodded. "I don't think I want to grow up, Daphne. Things get more complicated. It was way easier when evil was evil, and it was just you and me against the world. Now there's all these people that I'm not sure how I should feel about, and it's not just punching, it's words."
"You could stop." Daphne offered. "Stay fourteen forever."
Sabrina laughed, hollow and bitter. "I can't." She said. "I have too much left to learn, and it's so much harder to learn when you don't grow up. Look at all the Everafters. They don't change really well, you know?"
"So what are you going to do, then?" Daphne asked.
"Deal with it." Sabrina responded, quoting Puck from last night. "I just wish it didn't hurt so much."
"You two should make up." Daphne said promptly.
Sabrina shook her head. "It's not that easy. We both said stuff that doesn't go away that fast."
"It would if you were dating." Daphne glanced upward at her sister out of the corner of her eyes.
"That would probably make it worse." Sabrina made a face. Oh, how she wished...
"Will you at least talk to him?" Daphne asked. "For me?"
"Maybe." Sabrina said. "Tomorrow."
"What about Bella?" Daphne asked. "Talk to her now."
"Trying to get rid of me, are you?" Sabrina asked, only half joking.
"Trying to keep you from moping for the rest of ever, actually." Daphne said. "You're just not happy when you and Puck aren't making fun of each other."
"I thought that's what we did to get ourselves into this mess." Sabrina pointed out.
"Yeah, but that was mean." Daphne explained. "Normally when you do it, you're both having fun."
Sabrina gave Daphne a skeptical look. "Right. I just love arguing."
"You do." Daphne said simply.
"Fine." Sabrina said, standing. "I'll go talk to Bella." She unfurled her wings and jogged off the edge of the roof, spreading her wings out like a parachute to slow her fall.
Daphne, smiling, headed back into the house.
When Sabrina found Bella, her best friend took one look at her face and followed her onto the porch.
"Wassup?" She asked, sitting on the steps and staring into the woods outside the house, where a few lights flickered, held at a distance by Sabrina's barrier.
Sabrina took a deep, shuddering breath and said, "He told me he doesn't like me."
"Oh, sweetie..." Bella wrapped her arms around Sabrina's shoulders. "I'm sorry. You want to talk about it?"
Sabrina shook her head, but, almost in spite of herself, said, "It feels like I've got no reason to keep trying, like every second I've spent with him was a waste, but I don't want to stop, and I know there's no hope, but I'm still hoping, and I feel so stupid!"
Bella, to her credit, didn't say anything.
"Do you think it'll get better?" Sabrina asked.
"Maybe." Bella said. "Maybe he'll get over whoever it is. Or maybe you can move on, now. It's just a crush, after all. Isn't it?"
Sabrina shrugged. "How do I know? What's the difference between a crush and love?"
"I dunno." Bella shrugged. "Maybe you should try, though. Go boy shopping."
"With who?" Sabrina asked. "You're the only girl I'd do that with, and you're in a relationship."
"Maybe not for much longer." Bella said quietly.
Sabrina sat up straight, hair whipping as she turned her head to stare at her friend. "Come again?"
"I think I'm going to break up with Wendell." Bella said.
"Why?" Sabrina asked. "You're happy together!"
"'Cause I think I like someone else, too." Bella said. "I still like Wendell, don't get me wrong. I like him a lot. But this guy... I like him, too. And I can't keep going out with Wendell unless I'm totally committed to our relationship, so I need to sort through this. It's not fair to anyone if I don't. It's not fair to this guy, 'cause I'm a flirt, and I know it, and I'm trying to stop, but around him I can't, and it's not fair to me 'cause it's just so confusing, and what if I miss out on the right guy? And it's not fair to Wendell, 'cause he deserves a girl who can give him her all."
"That's... wow." Sabrina said. "That's a tough choice. I'm proud of you for making it."
"Thanks." Bella smiled slightly, standing. "Now come on, we've both got some serious talks to have tomorrow, so we'd better get a good night's sleep."