Chapter 12

Live a little

Okay, first off -

princess mh, thank you again for being a supportive friend! :)

And Guest, just so you know, I'm very strongly religious so I can't write any of that stuff. If you don't like my ships, don't read it. I'm not trying to be rude, but I am the author here so you take it as I write it or just don't read it at all. I get your jist because I'm also very possessive about my ships when it comes to reading other fanfics, but I've got an entire story planned out so I can't tweak anything too drastic, like couples.

Thank you, hope you understand. You don't have to read if you don't want to.

There was an awkward silence as Cupid ran off. Dexter stared at Cerise as the brunette calmly seated herself down next to him, while Reece followed suit.

"Well, aren't you scared?" Dexter asked worriedly.

"What more can she do?" Cerise replied, shrugging her shoulders. "She doesn't seem much of a criminal mastermind."

"Cerise, she killed Raven," Reece pointed out. Cerise flinched. "Well, tried to."

But deep down, Cerise was actually nervous. She had seen that crazed look in Cupid's eyes, and it looked all too familiar.

—

Hunter was ready to head back. He was excited to see Ashlynn again, but really sad to leave all the Tasmanian devils, kangaroos, and wombats behind, as well as his new friend, Lollypop.

"Bye, Muffin, Daisy, Fred, Snuffler, Peachy, Mary, Emma, Rachel, Siddhi, Anthony, Sugar, Pizza, Pepper, Ally, Mia, Fanny, Bert, Tomato, Lucas, David, Stephen, Michael, King…"

"Okay, okay," Lollypop laughed as she pushed Hunter into the car. "I think they all know you're leaving now. Say goodbye to Hunter, animals!"

There came a chorus of grunts, snuffles, and snarls. Hunter and Lollypop laughed as they got into the car.

"I'm really going to miss Tasmania," Hunter sighed as he glanced back at the forest.

"Not for long!" Lollypop laughed. "Be glad to leave behind the poisonous snakes, spiders, bushfires, flies, mosquitoes, and the heat…"

Hunter chuckled. "Yeah, but there's all the animals, and my cabin."

Lollypop hummed in agreement. "Don't worry. I'll make sure they facetime you."

The rest of the trip was made in silence. When they reached the airport, Lollypop bade him goodbye and left, back to her cottage. On the plane back to Ever After, Hunter dreamed of wombats, Tasmanian devils, fire, and Ashlynn.

—

Briar and Ashlynn were giggling over some girl talk when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Briar said, and hopped up from her beanbag to open the door. Ashlynn waited patiently and heard some footsteps. Then, Hunter appeared in the doorway.

"Hunter!" Ashlynn shouted and ran up to kiss him. Briar only watched as the couple complimented each other to no end and kept gushing how they missed each other and all that mushy stuff.

"Ashlynn, you look so happy," Hunter observed.

"You're welcome…" Briar laughed. "Who was it that suggested a shopping spree and makeover? Was it not I?"

"It was," Ashlynn beamed. "You two are the best!"

"But I'm slightly better!" Briar called as they laughed. Hopper entered, carrying a briefcase. "Wow, guys. Is it Valentine's Day already?" he joked as he put the case down. "Hunter, guess what? I got a job?"

Hunter grinned at his friends. "Things are looking up after all!"

—

"Things don't seem to be looking up, huh?" Cerise frowned as she got yet another anonymus email. Although it was clearly from Cupid. First, because the sender's email was Cute&PrettyCaCupid . Secondly, because they were a whole bunch of meaningless threats.

Some included I'm going to kill you, You're going to pay, You'll be sorry, Seven days, etc.

The one that she just got read: I'm going to destroy all your relationships until I'm satisfied. Hah. Like Cerise had any relationships right now. She rolled her eyes and blocked Cute&PrettyCaCupid from her email.

—

Madeline was with her dad at the shops. He had insisted on coming with her in case they had any of those tea samples again. Mr. Hatter picked up a bar of chocolate. It was the good kind that you probably ate when you were upset. Or, in Mr. Hatter's case, the kind that you grated with the cheese grater and mixed with your Black tea.

Madeline heaved a watermelon into the shopping trolley, as it tasted magnificent with Ginger and Mint tea. Next, she selected a variety of cheeses to display in her father's Cheese Cabinet.

Mr Hatter calmly checked his watch and jumped so high he hit his head on one of the low-stooping ceiling lights. "My dear daughter, I must go home at once! I think I may have left the hand-towel in the freezer, and who knows what could have happened to it?" And in a rush, he ran out of the store. Maddie knew this was a normal thing he usually did, so she waved goodbye and continued browsing for good food.

When she had finished her shopping, she put it all in the wheelbarrow she had brought along, and continued her way home.

Suddenly, she heard a honking of horns, some colourful language, and a loud bang. Immediately curious, Madeline turned to see a white car upturned on its side.

Leaving the wheelbarrow, Maddie walked to it, having a look. She jumped when a head popped out, followed by a body.

"This is why I failed my driving test…" he mumbled to himself. The boy stood up. "Hello there. I seem to have crashed my car."

"I can see that," Madeline answered. "I am Madeline Hatter, at your service. Car service, in this case. I think I can fix it."

"Humphrey Dumpty," said the boy as Maddie shoved the car back on its wheels.

Madeline nodded. "Nice to meet you." She gave a shout. "Wait! How about I call you Dump, and you call me Hat?"

"Um, no thanks," Humphrey answered, who looked like he didn't want to be calld Dump.

"What about, you call me Mad, and I call you Humph!" she smiled. "Humph is a fun word to say. Although it makes me sound very spoilt and sulky, you know."

"Wait, how about you call me Humphrey, and I call you Madeline?" Humphrey said at last.

"Sure, that sounds like fun!" Maddie answered. "Now, luckily I bought a tool kit today at the shops."

"Why's that?" Humphrey asked.

"Because I'm going to fix your car."

And she did. Humphrey wasn't sure how, but the petite girl screwed, hammered, and replaced bits of metal here and there. Ther came sounds of scraping and banging and clinking, and at last Maddie was done.

"There you go!" she announced proudly with a face streaked in black. "Dear old dad taught me to fix a car when I was twelve! Hopefully he'll teach me how to hack an iPad tomorrow…he promised, you know."

Humphrey stared as Maddie dumped her tool kit back in her wheelbarrow and wheeled away, singing songs about cabbages and kings, and sealing-wax and whether pigs have wings.

"What a woman!" he muttered.

—

Okay, I know it's a short chapter, but I wanted to get it over with. All the boring-ish stuff was crammed into here. I'm glad the story's getting a lot less dark then the previous chapters.

I just was reading through my other chapters and realised that I hadn't given Maddie a second POV yet when everyone's on her fourth or fifth. So here it is. It's halfly Humphrey's POV but there's enough Maddieness to sustain it. So, am I being crazy enough to ship Maddie and Humphrey?

Yes.

Why not? He's an insecure, shy and bumbling dude, and then there's outgoing, friendly, crazy Maddie. So, yeah. Just felt like it!

- Reade :D