𝓟𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓓𝓪𝓶𝓷𝓮𝓭

𝓐𝓷 𝓐𝓾𝓻𝓪𝓭𝓸𝓷𝓲𝓪𝓷 𝓓𝓮𝓶𝓲𝓰𝓸𝓭

"You're really getting a cape? You're not kidding?" Holly laughed on the phone as she walked up to her and Mal's lockers. Mal raised an eyebrow so Holly turned the screen around so that she could see the profile picture of Chad and her grinning at some party they had both attended that Mal was thankfully spared from. "How pretentious are you trying to be? There is no way she is going to- She agreed!?" The girl shook her head with a fond smile than sighed, "You know what go for it. It's a party have fun as long as Ben approves, I don't care what you wear." There was some chatter that Mal couldn't distinguish in the other end, "yeah I know we have study group tomorrow. You know I don't sleep much right I have more than enough time to get everything done." Mal scowled to herself, so that's how she did it. Holly never seemed to be doing work but never seemed to have any and always had free time when there were no events. She was doing her work and night while she and the others were asleep. "Yeah, love you too, talk to you later," she smiled hanging up the phone. "Hayden is coming up behind us remember today is Thursday, meaning you have a lunch date with him that you are supposed to make." 

Mal's eyes blew wide, she had forgotten about the picnic today. Holly barely noticed; she was too busy trying to empty her book bag into her locker. She handed Mal her spell book, which she had used yesterday to do tricks for the kids at pre-prep, "Please let me use the book," Mal begged glancing at Hayden's approaching figure out of the corner of her eye. 

Holly crossed her arms as her gaze fell on her sister, "Mal didn't me and Evie tell you that you needed to stop using it?" She didn't sound angry, but her stance said otherwise.

She sighed and noticed Hayden stopping himself, he always did this when it looked like Holly was mad to give them space to work things out, that's why Holly had positioned herself like that. "I know, I know. I'll stop but I really messed up today please, I need it."

Glancing back at the waiting Hayden, Holly dropped her arms and sighed, Ben had long since dropped the ban his father had placed in magic, "Fine, but this is the last time. You can't keep doing this if you wanna be with him long term." She placed her hands on Mals upper arms, a gentle gesture between the two of them and their brother, the closest they had ever gotten to a hug on the isle and something that still meant the world to them. "It's not good for you. You're gonna run yourself into the ground, you can't keep doing this." She tucks a stand of hair that had come out form Mal's ponytail behind her ear holding back her sneer at the blonde locks, "we can figure this out together, but the magic has to stop after today, okay?" 

Mal nods, understanding her sisters' words, maybe it was better to talk things out with everyone, Hayden had never given her any reason to think he would get mad at her for her little, short cuts but maybe she wouldn't need them if they actually spoke about everything. "Okay after today I'll stop with the magic and talk with Hayden." 

"Thank you," Holly said leaning forward to kiss her forehead. "You can ask Hadie to help you, I have to head over to Ben to get some work done. But if I find out you're still doing this after today, I will ground you both and donate your spell book." 

Their fairy's shoulders slummed, "Wha- Holly that's not fair!" 

"Like Lethe it's not, I am not sacrificing your health because you refused to have a conversation about boundaries and schedules with your boyfriend." 

"It's not like he can see it anyway," she huffed throwing an arm behind her like she hoped they would hit something. She was right, the main reason Hayden couldn't tell how stressed Mal was, was because of her lack of wings. They had been burned off when she was young, but when she was really little stress, and fear would make them molt, a weakness according to Maleficent, so she seared her daughters' wings from her back the same way she had seared off her own. Mal had always been self-conscious about her lack of wings and the scars on her back.