A Human’s Guide to Surviving Magical Mishaps

After Pan leaves, Lucy decides to stay the night and just leave for work from here in the morning. I stay up with her watching movies until late, but I have to admit that I don't recall any of it because while I might have been TECHNICALLY awake, my brain shut down not long after dinner. If Lucy hadn't been around, I probably would have gone straight to bed. I wake up early in the morning to see her off to work. She isn't much of a morning person so her getting ready is a huge rush of energy as she frantically prepares for work. She does still manage to find time to throw together some breakfast for us both. She keeps it simple with jam on toast and orange juice but I appreciate the effort anyway. Still, by the time she has everything ready she needs to go so she runs out of the door with her toast hanging from her mouth and a wave in my direction. I'm left sitting at the table with a half eaten plate of toast and a headache. I sort of want to go back to bed, but I've only been awake for a few minutes. I should force myself to stay up, I'm probably just sleepy and it'll pass when I wake up a little more. My dad wanders into the kitchen and I'm actually shocked. I know we live together, but I don't think I've seen him the last couple days at all. I guess I've been sleeping late and going to bed early so I've just totally missed him. He gives me a half hug so I don't have to move out of my chair. "Morning." He grumbles.

"Morning dad." I yawn.

"You've been quiet the last few days. You sick?" he asks, concerned. I shrug.noveldrama

"I don't think so. I'm just making the most of my leave from work and catching up on some sleep." I assure him.

"Oh. Okay, you just look a little pale is all." He comments. I roll my eyes.

"I'm always pale. Besides forget me for a minute, what about you? When's the last time you took a day off?" I demand. Dad looks away guiltily. "Well?" I push. Dad sighs.

"I'll take the weekend off, okay? But I have to go to work today. I have way too much to do AND the mayor is still calling every other hour asking if we've seen any sign of the fae coming to collect their criminals. He's determined to speak to that boy of yours." Dad frowns and I suddenly want to cry again.

"He's not MY anything dad. But you would know that already, wouldn't you?" I bite out the words. Woah, where did that come from? I knew I was a bit annoyed with my dad for that conversation he had with Ashton, but all of a sudden my annoyance has been ramped up to a hundred and I'm ready to throw down. It doesn't take dad long to realise that I must have been eavesdropping on him. He looks like I punched him.

"Kat, honey... He's no good for you. We both know that and obviously so does he. It's been nearly a week and you haven't heard from him. It would never have worked." Dad tries to reason with me but I just stare at him coldly. "Don't you think that should have been my decision? I'm not stupid dad. I know there would be problems. But if I'm willing to deal with them then why is it your business?" I demand. I don't know why I'm so emotional and angry right now. All the points dad made to Ashton are thoughts that I've had myself. All he did was state the obvious. Still, I think I need to walk away from this conversation before I say something I'll really regret. Abandoning my half eaten breakfast, I push away from the table, the chair scraping across the floor in a horrible grating sound.

"I was just trying to protect you from getting hurt." My dad says quietly. I sigh.

"Surely you had to know it was too late for that. Also I have heard from Ashton. He's sent a messenger to see me for the last four nights. He sent payment for my time and so many gifts that I had to send them all back. You're probably right that there's no chance for him and me, but it's not fair for you to blame him and say he's no good for me when you're the one who wanted him to leave." I snap the words at him then storm off to my room. I'm tempted to slam the door, but somehow I think that would only make my outburst seem more childish.

I wait until I hear my dad leave for work before emerging from my room. Honestly now that I've calmed down I feel awful. It was really unfair of me to unload all that on dad. Sure he might have been a little out of line for what he said to Ashton, but it's not like it changed anything. He was going to leave before that conversation and he left after it. He also didn't really say anything that wasn't true. I feel even worse when I head back to the kitchen and realise that he cleaned up my uneaten food and washed my dishes before he left. I'm going to have to apologise to him when he gets home tonight. Maybe I'll make us both dinner. Lucy is working tonight so unless Pan turns up again it should be just the two of us. I don't THINK she will be back, not tonight at least. I told Ashton to give her a break. Actually I told him to stop sending stuff, but that if he wasn't going to stop then to at least give Pan a few days off because the poor thing was in pain. He's too nice a person to ignore that.

Well, if I'm going to make dinner I'm going to need to get some groceries. I shower, get dressed and complete my usual morning routine then with my handbag looped over my arm, I head for the front door. I open it and nearly kick a package off the doorstep. When was that delivered and why didn't the postman knock? Maybe it was when I was in the shower and I just missed it. I grab the package and step back inside to quickly open it before I go. I tear the large yellow envelope open. I can hear a sort of clinking sound inside. What actually is this? I don't remember ordering anything. Maybe dad did and just didn't mention it. I reach into the envelope and a sharp pain has me yanking my hand back out. Ow, what the hell? My finger is bleeding! It's only a tiny cut. I move to the coffee table and tip the contents of the envelope out onto the table. Whatever it was, it's definitely broken now. All that's in the envelope are shards of glass. Did dad order something fragile? And who posts something so delicate in an envelope like that? The random shards do nothing to help me figure out what it actually is. Maybe the envelope will give me a clue? I flip it over and frown when I realise that the address is wrong. It must have been delivered to our house by mistake. I would track the owner down but there's not much point. Whatever was in here is completely ruined anyway. I sweep up the glass and chuck it in the bin, then see about putting a bandaid on my finger. It's not a BAD cut, but it's bleeding a lot. My headache which has been a dull ache all morning suddenly increases to a stabbing pain behind my eyes. Ugh, yeah the groceries can wait. I'm going to take some painkillers and lie down for a little bit longer. I barely manage to kick my shoes off before collapsing into bed and passing out.