The Inside Story

First Kiss

Katie's POV

The morning was very uncomfortable and awkward. I began speaking to Jacob more in order to find out more about him and my mom's past, how her life used to be before she entered the modern world. The entire group of my friends already knew and they were shocked to say the least, knowing I was the daughter of a Grimm and a fairytale character. I still couldn't wrap my head around it.

"Does Gabriella still insist on lighting a candle next to her bed at night?" Jacob asked as we sipped hot chocolate. It was autumn in Rapunzel's story right now, and we were all dressed accordingly thanks to Selena's magic. I cradled the cup in my hands, rubbing my thumbs over the handle.

"Yeah she does! I've always asked her why she insists on doing it but she's never told me, even with the fire hazard," I replied as I took a sip.

"Well, Gabriella is afraid of the dark that she needs a light on until she falls asleep. It always had to be a candle because that was what her mother used when she was a child, supposedly to ward off darkness," Jacob said.

"Wow, I never knew that. Ja-, Dad," I said as I saw out of the corner of my eye Jacob's smile. "If we make it out of this book after defeating Sierra, are you going to talk to my mom? Because I don't want you to not be in my life."

I had been thinking about this all night, my mom still didn't know her husband was alive and I finally met my dad. She also didn't remember her past as an FC or that her daughter was trying to defeat an evil villain. I didn't want to go home without Jacob being recognized as my dad.

Jacob sighed, grabbing my hand. "Katie, as soon as we get out of this place, I am going to talk to your mother and I will restore her memories. I'm not sure what will happen to me and Gabriella but I know that I'm going to be there for you."

I smiled as I hugged him, I was so glad I was able to hug my dad as many times as I wanted. I guess it was strange how natural this was coming to me considering I thought my dad died several weeks ago and that was the one I loved, yet I was looking forward to getting to know this dad.

Ella came rushing out of her tent, her golden hair tendrils bouncing on her shoulders. She made eye contact with me and ran to me. "Katie, have you seen Alejandro? I need to tell him something."

I shook my head. I hadn't seen him since that talk in the woods last night and I wasn't looking forward to talking to him either. "No, not since last night."

"Okay, I'll talk to you first then. Jacob, do you mind letting me to talk to Katie in private?" Ella pleaded, already sitting down next to me and placing her hand on my shoulder.

"Sure. I can tell this is a girl talk and I am not equipped for this type of talk. Talk to you later, sweetheart," Jacob said as he released my hand, walking away with his mug.

Ella grinned. "Wow, he's already turning into a mushy dad!"

I swatted her arm away from my shoulder, shooting her a playful grin. "Now why do you want to talk about? I could tell from your face that you needed to talk about something urgent."

"Well, there's no easy way to break this to you but...so you know how Alejandro and I were kind of getting to know each other when we sent you away? Sorry about that again," Ella blurted out, pointing her index finger at me as she said sorry.

I nodded, gesturing for her to continue. "Yeah I know, I'm guessing you're becoming good friends?"

Ella chuckled nervously. "You could say that," she said as she ran her hand through her hair. I've come to learn that she does that when she's nervous.