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Chapter Text

It was times like these that Cosmo wished that he had more confidence. He was currently with his head down a toilet in the school’s restroom thanks to Luthor Lex. This bullying had been going on for three years now, and Cosmo was getting sick of it. He couldn’t fathom why Luthor, the entire football team, the cheer squad, and even the math club all loved to pick on him. Cosmo knew that he wasn’t the brightest fairy and that he was a flying natural disaster, but he had never done anything to anyone to warrant this type of treatment. If he were more confident and stood up for himself to these bullies, maybe they’d finally leave him alone.

Luthor finally yanked Cosmo’s head out of the toilet, “Oohhh look at his eyes, they’re all puffy!” Three other fairies on the football team roared with laughter.

Cosmo spat out the toilet water that had gotten into his mouth.

Luthor smirked and pushed Cosmo’s head toward the toilet bowl before letting go. “Until next time, freak.” He and the other football fairies all then poofed out of the restroom as they celebrated.

Indeed it was times like these when Cosmos wished he was confident. He fantasized about different scenarios where he was able to fight back against Luthor. Oh, how he would be able to show him exactly what it was like to be pushed around without being able to get up and defend himself. Cosmo grabbed his wand to dry his face and hair and poofed himself to the bus stop.

Once Cosmo got home, he opened the door and could barely muster the energy to poof up to his room.

After changing out of his school clothes to get into his house clothes, Cosmo crashed onto his bed.

“How’s my Cosmo-lo-lo doing?” Mama Cosma had opened the door and invited herself into Comso’s room.

He didn’t look up at his mother to reply, “I’m alright, Mama.”

“Are you hungry, baby? I’ll whip you up anything you’d like.”

“No thanks, Mama, I’m not hungry right now.”

“Well alright, but just let me know when you are. Okay?”

“Yes, Mama.”

Cosmo turned his back towards the door and fell asleep within a few minutes.

—

A new day, the same miserable feeling forming in Cosmo’s gut. Once he got to school, he took his usual route to try to avoid Luthor. It had worked up until he got to the hallway where his first class was.

“Hey, loser. You ready for another round of swirlies? Oh, or maybe today I can just use you as a football for practice during lunch.”

Cosmo broke into a sweat. No, please. This is the fifth time this week. He then yelped and scrunched up his face before Luthor swung at Cosmo hitting him square in the jaw.

It’s too early for this.

Luthor laughed, “You deserve more than this because you’re a little freak. So much so that it’s because of you, fairies can’t have children anymore. You destroy everything you touch. It’s no wonder your dad isn’t around anymore. He didn’t want to be associated with you.”

Cosmo felt like Luthor had punched him in the gut. “What?” he croaked.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t know. All of Fairy World knows that it was because of you.

No, that can’t be true. Mama would have told me. Right?

Luthor then grabbed a fist of Cosmo’s hair from the back of his head and pushed him down to the floor, walking away in laughter.

The rest of the day Cosmo barely registered anything that had happened. Thankfully for him, Luthor had decided to not torture him some more. For now at least.

Once Cosmo got home, he saw that his mother was in the kitchen and went up to her.

“Mama, can I ask you something?”

“Of course, dear, anything.”

“ …Am I really the reason why fairies are banned from having children?”

Mama Cosma dropped the knife she was using to cut tomatoes and turned to look at her son. “Wherever did you hear such things, dearie?” she asked.

“Mama, please… Just tell me the truth,” Cosmo pleaded.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before answering, “Well… I suppose you were going to find out eventually.” Mama Cosma took a moment before continuing, “Yes. After you blew up nearly half of Fairy World after you were born, the Fairy Council decreed that fairies were forbidden to have any more children. You’re the last one to be born.”

“What about Papa? Did he really leave us because of me?”

Mama Cosma shook her head and went over and put her hands on her son’s shoulders, “No, baby, your father…” She took another deep breath before starting again, “I just want you to know that it’s not your fault. Do you understand me?”

Cosmo nodded his head, “Yes, Mama.”

His mother bit her lower lip and her eyes started to tear up. “When you received your first training wand, you accidentally turned your father into a fly. He then… died shortly after.”

Cosmo’s eyes widened, “R-really?”

Mama Cosma hugged her son, but Cosmo was too much in shock to process what was going on. Luthor’s words from earlier that day started ringing in his head. It’s my fault. Everything is my fault. I shouldn’t be here. Papa isn’t here because of me. I’m so stupid. I destroy everything I touch. I don’t deserve to be here. Why am I like this?

Mama Cosma let her son go and placed a hand on his cheek. “I’m still making dinner, so why don’t you go up to your room and start working on your homework? Okay, baby?”

Cosmo nodded his head, poofed up to his room, and collapsed onto his chair.

This can’t be happening. This is too much for me. I can’t. What am I supposed to do? No, I can't be thinking about this. I need to think about something else.

He got up and started looking around his room, looking for something to distract him. Cosmo started going through his closet but came out empty-handed. He then had an idea and poofed to a different room in the house.

It had been a while since Cosmo was in Schnozmo’s room. It felt so empty, especially since his older brother left home about five years ago. Schnozmo occasionally visits, but it’s always awkward at times because he and Mama Cosma always ignore each other.

Cosmo started looking through his brother’s room hoping that he might’ve left something interesting behind. Then there it was, an old record player. Cosmo had a vague memory of Schnozmo telling him that it had originally belonged to their father. Feeling drawn to it, Cosmo gently picked it up with one hand, and used the other to use his wand and poofed back to his room. It might’ve not seemed like much to anybody else, but to Cosmo, it felt like he had a small piece of his father with him.

“Cosmo, baby, dinner’s ready!”

“I’ll be right there, Mama,” Cosmo replied half-heartedly.

Cosmo wasn’t hungry, but he didn’t want to worry his mother by saying he wasn’t going to eat dinner for the second night in a row. I’ll just try to pretend like I’m eating. Hopefully, Mama won’t pay too close attention.

It did end up working, but Cosmo didn’t want to push his luck too much. Luckily it was a Friday, meaning that he had work the next two days, which also means that his mother wouldn’t be cooking dinner for the both of them since he always brings something from the diner he works at. He really hoped working all weekend would take his mind off of what happened today.

—

Being the daughter of a mafioso wasn’t as grand as some people might romanticize it to be. Wanda grew up never questioning her father, so she never learned to stand up to herself when it came to saying no to her dad.

“So, Sugar Plum, whaddya say?”

Wanda was standing in front of Juandissimo, who had shown up at her house to ask her to be his girlfriend. Wanda didn’t want to date Juandissimo, mainly because she didn’t know him all that well.

“Yes, Juandissimo, I will be your girlfriend,” Wanda replied as she plastered the fakest smile she’d ever given on her face.

Juandissimo smiled, grabbed Wanda’s hand, and kissed it gently, “I will see you tomorrow, Wandita.” He then poofed away with a wink.

Big Daddy put his hand on Wanda’s shoulder and said, “He’s a good guy, Sugar Plum.”

Wanda nodded absent-mindedly. I hope you’re right, Daddy.

“Ahrite I’ll see ya ‘round, Sugar Plum,” her dad said as he poofed away.

“Bye, Big Daddy.”

Wanda poofed into her room, only to find her twin sister, Blonda, there. “What are you doing here, Blonda?” She crossed her arms, waiting for a reply.

“So, how’d it go? Are you and Juandissimo a couple now?” Blonda asked, ignoring her sister’s question.

Wanda sighed, “Yes, we’re a couple now.”

Blonda squealed and rushed over to her sister. “When’s your first date?” she asked excitedly.

“Tomorrow.”

“Do you know where you’re going?”

“No. Though it’ll most likely be to dinner.”

“Wanda, why aren’t you more excited about this?”

Because I don’t like Juandissio like that. I’m only doing this because Big Daddy wants me to, and I don’t want to disappoint him.

“I am! I’m just… a little nervous I guess. He is my first boyfriend after all,” Wanda lied.

Blonda clapped her hands together, “Oh, that’s right! Well don’t worry about it, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about having a boyfriend.”

“Lucky me,” Wanda replied unenthusiastically.

Blonda’s phone then started to ring. “We’ll finish this discussion later,” she said before poofing away.

Wanda took a deep breath and sat on her chair. That was close . She then brought her arm up to look at it and turned it to look at her forearm to reveal the cuts that were just barely healing. There weren’t that many because Wanda was always careful not to do too many, but in her defense, she didn’t expect to be asked out by Juandissimo when her dad had called her down to the living room. If Juandissimo had decided to turn her arm ever so slightly when he kissed her hand…

Wanda shook her head and looked away from her arm while taking another deep breath. She hated doing that to herself, more than anything. Lately, though, it’s been the only source of relief from all of the stress she’s been having. Wanda had no control over what she could do with her own life. Her dad wanted her to do things his way, and he had this big thought-out plan for her life that she didn’t even agree to. She didn’t want to date this random fairy she barely knew, she didn’t want to become a lawyer, she didn’t want her only friends to be picked by her dad. It was all so frustrating. But this… cutting herself gave her some sense of control. It was the one thing she could control. How many cuts she made, how deep they were, how often she did them, and how painful they would be. It helped her.

Biting her lower lip, Wanda opened her desk drawer where she kept a small pair of scissors. She picked them up and contemplated using them again. She had just made a couple of cuts just the other day, but the temptation was there. See, this was the reason why she liked using a small pair of scissors because they didn’t leave a deep enough cut and could be passed off as a simple scratch. The only problem was that the more times she cut into her skin, the more she got bored with the results. She wanted to feel what it was like when there was blood dripping down her arm. Sure, sometimes she used the scissors to cut slightly deep enough for blood to appear, but it was never enough to bring satisfaction.

The reason why she didn’t use razor blades was because the only ones that were in the house belonged to Big Daddy, and she knew that he kept his room under serious protection since he was the boss of the mafia. She also didn’t want to go out to the store to buy some either because she didn’t want anyone giving her any looks, which would lead to asking questions, and she wasn’t the best liar. So the mini scissors will have to do for now. Although, maybe she could start investing in a regular pair of scissors.

“I’ll just buy some some tomorrow,” Wanda muttered to herself as she dug into her skin.

—

Cosmo was about halfway through his shift when he started to feel exhausted. He worked at a diner that wasn’t too far from his home. The only reason why he was working at that diner was because he snuck out while his mother was at the store to apply there. It took a lot of convincing from Cosmo to his mother, but eventually, she gave in and let him keep the job. The sole condition was that he could only work on the weekends during the hours starting at about 8 a.m. and ending usually by 1 p.m.

While Cosmo was on his way to serve food to one of his customers, a co-worker, Sierra, passed by him. She had brown curly hair with blonde highlights pulled up into a ponytail, she wore round glasses, and she had light brown skin. In the corner of his eye, he noticed something about her and did a double-take. It looked like scars all over her arms that were all healed over, but still noticeable. Cosmo didn’t want to stare, so he concentrated on delivering the food.

As soon as he was finished with that, he went over to a different table for a family whose orders he had to take. On his way to the kitchen to leave the order with the cooks, he ended up standing next to Sierra.

“Hi, Sierra,” Cosmo said brightly.

“Hey, Cosmo.”

Cosmo didn’t want to be too obvious, so took a glance at her arms and walked back to the next table he needed to attend to.

Thoughts started racing through his mind. How did she do that? Did she do it herself? Does it hurt? Why did she do it? What does it feel like? What was it for?

So for the rest of his shift, he was buzzing with questions. When it was finally time for Cosmo to clock out, he rushed all the way home.

Once he got home, his mother was waiting for him on the couch.

“How was work, dear?”

“It was alright, Mama. Just the same old routine every weekend,” Cosmo answered anxiously.
“I don’t know why you insist on continuing to work at that dreadful place when you can spend your weekends with your Mama.”

“I like it, Mama.”

Mama Cosma sighed, “Okay, dear. What did you bring for us?”

“Some sandwiches and fries,” Cosmo answered while holding out the two carry-out boxes.

“Just leave them in the fridge, and I’ll heat them up later.”

“Yes, Mama.”

After finally being able to go to his room, Cosmo made a beeline for the computer that was on his desk. He didn’t really know where to start, so he did a simple search, ‘cuts on arms’. The results that came back were all information for hotlines to get help and other kinds of information about self-harming. Cosmo was even more intrigued and started looking some more. He saw the different ways people made cuts on their bodies, what tools they used, and even pictures of the different results. There were a few of those pictures that looked similar to the scars Sierra had on her arms, and Cosmo wondered what had caused her to do it.

After a few more minutes of searching, Cosmo decided to stop in case his mother popped into his room unexpectedly. He didn’t know what he was expecting when he initially started his search, but he learned a lot more than he probably should have.

—

The next day, Cosmo ended up working the same shift as Sierra again. This time though, he kept sneaking glances at her arms every chance he got. He noticed how the scars on the top of her arm were slightly shiny, and the scars on her forearm were bumpy.

Later on at home, Cosmo was thinking about whether or not he should try it. The previous day, he had read about how teenagers usually self-harm because of stress, depression, emotional pain, or anger. Cosmo wondered just how well this type of coping mechanism would work. Having to deal with bullying from Luthor and the rest of the football team, the cheer squad, and the math club. For the past three years, Cosmo had to put up with being a literal punching bag, name-calling, and having all of these horrible pranks be pulled on him to make him feel humiliated.

Cosmo got up from his bed and poofed just outside the bathroom. He knocked in case Mama was in there, and when no answer rang out, he rummaged through the cabinets until he finally found Schnozmo’s razor kit. With shaking hands, Cosmo opened the kit and looked for any spare razor blades. Once he found some, he carefully picked them up and set them aside to put the kit away. After that, he poofed back into his room with the razors in hand and started looking for something to keep the blades safe and hidden.

—

A week had passed, and by some miracle, Luthor hadn’t been as horrible to Cosmo as he usually was. It was almost like he was giving him a bit of a break, at least until Friday rolled around.

It was lunch, and Cosmo was putting his books away in his locker when Luthor and three of his friends came up to him.

“Hey guys, look who’s here. It’s our good friend, Cosmo.”

Cosmo? They never called him Cosmo.

“H-hey guys.”

“Have you heard about the new wand update?”

“The what?”

“The new wand update.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Let me see your wand.”

“My wand? Are you sure?”

“Yea, I’ll give it right back.”

“I-I don’t know.”

“C’mon.”

Cosmo reluctantly gave his wand to Luthor, who then snatched it and used it to levitate trash out of the trash can and guided it to hover over Cosmo. He then let the trash fall on top of him, as a whole hallway of students watched the whole thing unfold.

Cosmo was there, feeling his eyes starting to sting as he was covered in trash. It was degrading.

Luthor threw Cosmo’s wand back at him at his feet and walked away laughing with his friends in tow.

Cosmo picked his wand up and tried to make the trash disappear, but it wouldn’t go. He ended up going to the restroom to clean-up the best he could, and the boys that were in there started laughing at him.

Once Cosmo got home, his mother noticed how Cosmo was covered in stains. “Comso, dear, what happened?”

“I accidentally tripped and fell into a trash can, Mama,” Cosmo lied.

“Aww, baby, come here,” Mama Cosma cooed as she held out her arms for a hug.

After the hug, Cosmo told his mother that he was going to shower and stay in his room for the rest of the day.

—

Thankfully for Cosmo, the next day he had work to take his mind off of what had happened with Luthor. No matter what though, he just kept thinking about how everyone in the hall was laughing at him, and how humiliated he felt.

Then about an hour later Sierra arrived at work, and Cosmo continued sneaking glances at her scars. At one point, she had almost caught him looking for a second too long, but luckily he managed to turn away before she noticed.

Once Cosmo had gotten home, he immediately went to lie down on his bed. He was thinking about Sierra and her scars, and he was thinking about the intense feeling from the stunt Luthor pulled on him. This line of thinking led Cosmo to remember the razor blades that were safely put away.

He got up and walked over to where the blades were hidden and took one out. His heart started pounding as he started thinking about how it would feel if he used it. If Sierra has done it before, then it should be okay. Right? Cosmo went to sit down on his chair, and he took a deep breath. I’m just going to do it once, just to see how it feels. It’ll be okay. He took his work shirt off, and held out his arm to hover the blade over his forearm. I can’t do this. Then the feeling came back. He wasn’t just thinking about what he went through the previous day with the trash and Luthor situation, he was also thinking about how he basically killed his father, and about how he is the sole reason why other fairies weren’t allowed to have children Just think about all of those fairies who were planning on having kids, and now their dreams of becoming a parent ripped away. It was all his fault. So Cosmo closed his eyes and let those feelings churn. Just to see if it’ll work. If it will really take away the pain. And cut into his skin.

The kind of pain he was in was something that he had never experienced before. It felt like his arm was on fire, and it was caused by himself rather than Luthor or any other bully. Cosmo yelped and held onto the wound, which only caused it to hurt more.

He quickly went to his closet, which is where he kept his first aid kit and took out the necessary supplies he needed. He tried cleaning up the wound as best as he could and covered it with a bandage.

Well, that didn’t go the way I’d thought. Did Sierra do this a bunch of times to herself?

After a few minutes of trying to calm down, Cosmo reflected on how the experience went. It felt different than I thought it would, but for a moment it did feel like I forgot all about my problems. Most likely because I was too focused on the physical pain. I’ll try this again another time. I don’t wanna be doing this too many times because I don’t want Mama seeing these bandages. Then again, I can always just wear long sleeves or a sweater.

Cosmo picked up the blade and hovered it over his skin once more, and with a shaky breath and eyes shut tightly, he made another cut right under the first one. Since he was already expecting how it would feel, the second cut didn’t hurt as much as the first one, in fact, it did feel slightly relieving. It still hurt like hell, but Cosmo felt like he was able to breathe easier.

Maybe using this as a stress reliever wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

—

Wanda had been dating Juandissimo for about three months now, but to her, it felt like an eternity. She did try to keep an open mind and tried to really get to know him better so that she could truly feel in love, but it was incredibly difficult. Juandissimo talked about himself more than anything, he always tried to show off his muscles, other women tried getting his attention, and he had this weird obsession with looking at himself in the mirror. Sure, he had those moments when he genuinely did try to make the effort to get to know Wanda more, but it wasn’t as often as she hoped.

It also didn’t help with the way that her dad and sister were acting like this was Wanda’s greatest achievement.

“So Sugar Plum, how’s it goin’ wif Juandissimo,” Big Daddy asks one night during dinner.

Wanda put her fork down. “It’s great, Daddy,” she lied with a fake smile.

Blonda then cut in, “Is he really as dreamy as all the girls say he is?”

“Uhh,” Wanda gave a nervous laugh.

“Of cou’se he is, Butter Cup! Dats why I gives tehm mah blessings ta date.”

“Daddy, may I be excused?” Wanda asked.

“Go ahead, Sugar Plum.”

Wanda grabbed her plate and poofed into the kitchen to leave the dirty dishes in the sink, and then poofed into her room.

She quickly went for the bigger scissors she had ended up purchasing. Wanda flew to sit on her bed and was about to cut into herself before she suddenly stopped. I can’t continue doing this. It’s nearly summer, and I can’t keep wearing long sleeves when it’s super hot out. But I have to. My tolerance is at its limit. Being with Juandissimo is just making it worse.

And without thinking about it, Wanda had begun cutting into herself once more.

—

The next day, Wanda had to look everywhere for her arm warmers from middle school because she had another date with Juandissimo. Luckily, they still fit and she was able to match them with a yellow dress. It was a little uncomfortable, but she was able to manage it.

Juandissimo and Wanda were floating hand-in-hand until Juandissimo stopped in front of a candy shop. He opened the door and said, “After you, mi cariño.”

Wanda was amazed. A candy shop? This was different. How did Juandissimo think to take her here? Has he really paid attention to her while she tried talking to him? She’s mentioned a few times that she absolutely loves chocolate.

“A candy shop?” Wanda asked as she floated in.

“Why, of course. You are as sweet as all of these dulces,”

“Aww, thank you,” Wanda said as she blushed.

“Come, come. You said you like chocolates, sí?”

“Yes, I do. I’m surprised you remembered.”

“Anything for you, Wandita.”

Maybe being with Juandissimo isn’t going to be so bad.

“Juandissimo.” Wanda heard someone sing-song in a shrilly voice.

And just like that, it went back into the cycle of Wanda trying to spend time with Juandissimo, and then something happens to ruin it. She tried not to let it bother her too much, which luckily was easier at the moment because of the chocolates she was standing next to.

When Juandissimo finally went back over to Wanda, they continued their date. After he bought her some chocolates, the couple left the shop and started going towards the park.

Once they got there, Juandissimo poofed up a blanket and a picnic basket.

Wanda was taken aback, “Oh, Juandissimo, this is lovely.” She opened up the box of chocolates and shared some with Juandissimo, along with the sandwiches he had brought. It was the best date they have ever had.

—

At school the next day, Wanda was in a better mood than she usually was. She was the top of her class, she was making her family proud, and she had a wonderful boyfriend.

“Hey Wanda, how was your date last night?” Two of Wanda’s best friends, Melody, caught up to her as she was floating through the hallway along with her other friend, Stella.

“It was anazing! Juandissimo took me to a candy shop to buy some chocolates, and then we went to the park right after and had a picnic.”

“Awww, that’s so romantic,” Cora said as she nudged Wanda.

“I know.”

—

Later at home, Wanda was busy doing her homework when Blonda entered her room.

“So… did you hear the news?” Blonda asked.

“No, what news?”

“I have an audition! Can’t you believe it!”

Wanda smiled at her sister, “That’s great.”

“Right! This could be my big break! I’m going to go practice my lines. Later, Wan.” Blonda poofed out of the room but left behind a little bit of bitterness for Wanda.

Of course, Wanda was happy for her sister, but she couldn’t help but feel envious. Blonda didn’t have to worry about what she could and couldn’t do with her life because Big Daddy decided that only Wanda had to be the one to do everything he expected. While Blonda can go out and pursue her dream of becoming an actress, Wanda has to become a lawyer for her Daddy’s “trash” business. She didn’t want that, she had wanted to become a fairy godparent. She would love to help miserable kids and do everything she can to make them happy. Blonda also has the luxury to slack off in school if she feels like it, but Wanda had to work hard to earn good grades. It was unfair!

Wanda couldn’t concentrate on working on her homework anymore. She reached over for the scissors and started cutting herself again. This time though, she got a little too carried away and accidentally put a little bit of too much pressure causing her to start bleeding.

At first, she was worried because she didn’t mean to cut deep enough to bleed, but then she felt better about it. It was almost like this was what she was missing whenever she would cut herself.

Wanda pushed her homework to the side of her desk so that blood wouldn’t spill on it, and then she braced herself to make another deep cut. It was exhilarating, so Wanda made a few more cuts on her arm and then switched to her other arm before moving up to cut her upper arm.

Seeing the blood come out of her upper arm broke her out of her trance, and she realized what she was doing.

“Oh no. No no no no no no.” Wanda scrambled to get a sweater on to poof herself outside the bathroom door. Once she made sure no one was in there, she entered and went for the first aid kit, locking the door behind her. After getting cleaned up and bandaged, Wanda poofed back into her room, grabbed the scissors, and threw them into her closet.

No more of that for a while. Wanda took a deep breath and decided to get ready for bed. She definitely wasn't going to be able to concentrate on her assignment for the rest of the night.

Well… it looks like those arm warmers are going to have to be a new fashion statement.

Chapter Text

The more Cosmo endured the bullying, the more he picked up on his habit. He wasn’t proud of it, but it did help him feel better. Trying to hide it from Mama Cosma was getting more difficult, especially when Cosmo had been wearing hoodies and sweaters more often.

“Cosmo, dear, isn’t it a bit too hot out for you to be wearing a sweater right now?”

“I just really like this sweater, Mama.”

“I don’t want you to get a heatstroke, so be careful with wearing sweaters like that with this weather.”

“Yes, Mama.”

“Alright dear, you should go now before you miss the bus.”

Cosmo hugged his mother saying, “Love you, Mama.” He then poofed outside the house to wait for the bus.

At the end of the school day, Cosmo was at his locker when Luthor and his usual group of friends went up to him.

“Ain’t it a little hot for you to be wearing that, moron?”

“You’re always wearing that letterman jacket,” Cosmo pointed out.

“That’s different. We’re on the football team, so this is basically our uniform outside the field.”

One of Luthor’s friends then held Cosmo from behind the neck with one hand and managed to take Cosmo’s green sweater off with the other hand.

Cosmo quickly hugged his stomach to hide the fresh cuts from the other day and the older scars from months ago.

“Look at him shivering like a little kitten.”

“Gentleman, what is going on here?” called out a new voice.

Luthor’s eyes widened and he and his friends poofed away, leaving Cosmo’s sweater behind.

It was a teacher, Mr. Fuego, who had happened to walk by the commotion.

Cosmo reached out to pick up his sweater without exposing the scars. “Thanks, Mr. Fuego.”

“Were those boys bothering you, Cosmo?”

“It's fine, they're gone now.”

Mr. Fuego hesitated before replying, “Well… if you need anything, just let me know. Okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

Mr. Fuego nodded and floated past Cosmo.

That was close.

—

“Wanda you've been spending so much time with Juandissimo. We hardly ever hang out anymore,” Wanda’s blue-haired friend, Melody, complained.

“I don't blame you, I would also ditch the two of you if I were dating Juandissimo,” Wanda's other friend pipped up.

“No, you're right, girls,” Wanda said. “I hardly ever see you two anymore. Are you busy this Saturday?”

Melody answered, “Well, I was gonna go ing shopping, but I could wait until Sunday.”

“I don’t have anything planned,” Stella said.

Wanda smiled, “Great! Where should we go?”

“Should we go to the mall?” asked Melody.

Stella raised her brow, “You practically live at the mall.”

“Okay, whatever.”

“What about the Fairy World Diner?” asked Wanda.

“The diner?” Stella and Melody asked in unison.

“Blonda was talking about it the other day.”

Stella replied, “I guess that could be cool. I haven’t been there in a long time.”

Melody agreed.

“Okay. We’ll meet at my place Saturday morning then.”

—

Saturday had finally rolled around, and Wanda and her friends were currently sitting at a booth at the diner waiting to order.

“This place is actually kind of nice,” Stella had observed.

“Yea, we should come here more often,” Melody said.

A voice interrupted them, “ Welcome to Fairy World Diner. My name’s Cosmo and I’ll be your waiter today.”

Wanda looked at Cosmo curiously. He’s kinda cute.

Cosmo interrupted Wanda’s thoughts, “Were you ready to order? Or do you need more time?”

“We’ll order right now. I’ll just have a strawberry sundae,” answered Stella.

Melody went next, “I’ll have a strawberry milkshake.”

“I’ll have a hamburger and a blue raspberry milkshake,” Wanda ordered.

Cosmo wrote their order down on a pad and then collected the girls’ menus.

After Cosmo had left, Melody spoke in a hushed tone, “Doesn’t that guy go to our school?”

Stella nodded, “Yea, I think I’ve seen Luthor push him around.”

“I’ve never seen him before. He’s not new, is he?” asked Wanda.

“Oh, no. He’s been there since freshman year. I remember one time I tried getting to my history class, and there was a big crowd in the hallway. It ended up being Luthor pinning that guy against the lockers.”

That poor guy. Luthor is really strong, I can’t imagine being bullied by him for so long. But why Cosmo? I mean yea he’s not a jock or super popular or anything. But Cosmo seems like a genuinely nice guy. I wonder if I can find him at school on Monday.

“Wanda?” Stella had broken Wanda out of her thoughts.

“Sorry. What were you saying?”

Melody was talking about how Luthor and Cora are most likely going to be Homecoming Fairy King and Queen next school year.

“Oh… yea, they probably will be,” Wanda replied.

Melody put her hand on Wanda’s arm causing Wanda to tense up. It was a good thing that it had been several weeks since she last cut herself, so if they accidentally saw her scars they could be passed off for something she'd come up with if they got to that bridge. “Are you okay, Wanda? You seem distracted.”

“I’m fine! Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Umm…”

Stella cut in, “Is it Juandissimo? You miss him, don’t you?”

Wanda gave a nervous laugh, “Yea, I do.” Honestly, Wanda didn’t know how to feel about Juandissimo. One minute he’ll annoy her because it always felt like he would rather spend time looking in a mirror or flexing his muscles to show off, but then the next minute he’ll do something sweet for Wanda making her believe he cared about her more. Maybe they would be better off as friends. The only problem is that she didn’t want to disappoint her dad.

At that moment, Cosmo had returned with Melody's shake and Stella's sundae. He gave them their desserts and said to Wanda, “I'll be right back with your order.”

She smiled and replied, “Okay.” Then she turned to her friends asking, “You two aren’t going to order any food?”

Stella answered first, “Nah, I saw a picture of the sundae on the menu and really wanted it.”

Melody then replied, “I already ate at home anyway. I didn’t know what kind of food they were gonna have here.”

“At a diner?” Wanda asked.

Melody simply shrugged and took a sip of her milkshake. “Wait, this is actually really good. Wanna try some, Wanda?”

“Okay.” Wanda took a sip and smiled because it was really good.

At that moment, she heard Cosmo floating from behind her. She turned around, smiled at him, and saw him smiling back at her. Then Cosmo accidentally bumped his head on the light fixture, causing him to drop all of Wanda’s food on her.

The weird thing was… Wanda didn’t care. She didn’t care that she was covered in the blue milkshake and pieces from the hamburger. Instead, she smiled at Cosmo because she thought it was cute and funny. Here was a dorky guy who looked like he was trying so hard not to drop the tray with her order, but he ended up not paying attention to where he was flying to and bumped himself. It was adorable.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. I didn’t see the light there. I’m sorry,” Cosmo frantically apologized.

Wanda shook her head, “No, don’t worry about it. It’s fine really, watch.” Wanda then brought her wand out and used magic to get cleaned up. “See it’s okay now,” Wanda assured. She barely noticed that her friends were laughing, and tried to ignore it.

“COSMA WHAT DID YOU DO?!” A voice yelled out.

Cosmo visibly cringed and turned around to see a fairy standing behind him. “It was an accident, I swear!”

Wanda cut in, “It’s okay sir, the mess is already all cleaned up.”

The fairy looked at Cosmo and said, “You’re lucky she’s understanding. There better not be a next time. Got it?”

“Yes, Alfred!” Cosmo nodded vigorously.

After Alfred left Wanda asked Cosmo, “Are you okay?”

“Yea, I’m okay. Sorry again about your food.”

Wanda smiled, “Don’t worry about it.” He’s kinda cute. I’m Wanda, by the way.

“That’s a pretty name!”

Wanda blushed, “Thank you.” Wanda then heard Stella clearing her throat. She turned to look at her friend, who gave her a ‘what are you doing’ look and then she turned to look at Cosmo.

Cosmo then said, “I’ll be back with a replacement for your order.”

“Thanks.”

Once Cosmo left, Wanda sat down again. Melody then asked her, “What was that about?”

“What was what?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb. He was clearly flirting with you.”

Stella then added, “Yea, Wanda. You’re already with Juandissimo. If that guy tries to hit on you again, you have to tell him that you’re taken already.”

“You guys are being dramatic. I doubt that he was flirting with me.”

“Trust us, Wanda, he was,” Melody said.

“Okay, so what if he was. It’s not like he asked me out.”

“Wanda, how can you be saying that? It’s one thing if you were single, but you have Juandissimo.

“Yea, yea, okay you’re right.” But what if I don’t want to be with Juandissimo?

Stella and Melody then started their conversations, leaving Wanda to let her thoughts wander.

After a few minutes, Cosmo came back with Wanda’s order. This time he was careful to set the tray down in front of her.

“Thank you, Cosmo.” Wanda smiled at Cosmo, and he smiled at her back.

“You’re welcome, Wanda.”

After paying for their order, (and Wanda leaving a tip for Cosmo) the girls started walking out of the diner, and Wanda gave one last look behind her shoulder to see Cosmo. She gave a small smile and turned to keep walking forward.

I have to look for him at school on Monday.

—

Once Wanda got home later that day, she decided to ask Blonda about Cosmo. She poofed into her sister’s room, hoping she would be there.

“Blonda, are you in here?”

“Over here!” Blonda was sitting at her vanity, fixing her hair in curlers.

“Hey, Blonda. Do you know who Cosmo is? He goes to our school.”

“Cosmo?” Blonda gave a small snort and turned to look at her twin. “Why?”

“He works at the diner my friends and I went to today. I’d never seen him before, but the girls said he goes to our school.”

“Unfortunately he does. He’s not the brightest.

“Oh… I see.” Yea, like that helps. Maybe asking Blonda about him wasn’t such a good idea. She’ll ask questions. “Okay, then. I’ll see you at dinner.”

Wanda heard her sister about to say something, but she had poofed out before she could hear what.

—

Cosmo was at home lying on his bed, thinking about the interaction he had with Wanda. Mama Cosma had never told him about love, but he knew it was love at first sight.

So later when he and his mother were eating dinner, Cosmo thought to ask her about how she and his father fell in love.

“Mama, how did you and Papa meet?”

His mother froze and looked at her son. “Why do you ask, baby?”

“Well, it’s just that you’ve never talked about it before. I was curious.”

His mother didn’t look convinced. “Don’t worry yourself over that, my little Cosmo-lo-lo.”

Great, so asking Mama about love is out of the question. Who else am I supposed to ask? I don’t have friends to ask about it either. Wait…Schnozmo! I can ask him!

Cosmo finished eating his dinner quickly, then poofed to his bedroom. He got his phone out and dialed his brother’s number. One ring… two rings….

“Hey, Cosmo. How’s it goin’?”

“I wanted to ask you about something.”

“What is it?”

“How did Mama and Papa fall in love?”

Schnozmo didn’t speak for a full minute before asking, “What brought this on?”

Cosmo lowered his voice so his mother couldn’t hear, “I met this girl, and I think I love her.”

“Two words: Don’t tell Mama that.”

“Why not?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, she’s overprotective of you. I bet you asked her how she and Papa fell in love, right? And she didn’t give you a straight answer? That’s why you’re calling me, right?”

“How did you know?”

“You’re forgetting, Cosmo, I lived with Mama and Papa for a few thousand years before you were born. I also saw how Mama would treat you as you were getting older. I know that she’s not gonna talk to you about these kinds of things.”

“So can you, Schnozmo? Please?”

“Of course I will.”

Cosmo smiled brightly, “Thank you Schnozmo!”

“Shhh, keep your voice down or Mama will hear you.”

“Right.”

“So tell me about her, that girl you say you’re in love with.”

“She’s beautiful! Her name is Wanda, and she has pink hair, and she has the voice of an angel.

“She sounds great. When do I get to meet her?” Schnozmo teased.

“I… I don’t know.” Cosmo wasn’t expecting that question

“No, you’re right. It would have to be when Mama’s not home, and she’s hardly ever not home.”

“You still haven’t told me about Mama and Papa.”

“That’s right! Well Mama and Papa met when Mama was in a dance competition, and Papa was one of the assistants for the judges.”

And for the rest of the evening, Cosmo and his brother talked about their parent’s love story and other questions about love, because Cosmo was clueless about all of it.

—

Once Monday rolled around, Wanda was anxious and couldn’t understand why. She decided that instead of eating lunch with her friends and her boyfriend, she would use that time to look for Cosmo. To make sure that they wouldn’t look for her, she told them that she would be busy talking to a teacher during lunch, and they seemed to buy it.

Then when lunch started, Wanda began her search. She checked the cafeteria, the gym, the library, and even the band room. Finally, Wanda was flying in a hallway she had only one class in back when she was a freshman, and that’s when she saw him. She saw Cosmo Sitting up against a locker reading a book.

Wanda could feel her heart beating faster with each step she took closer to Cosmo. She stood in front of him and he didn’t look up.

“Cosmo?”

He looked up and smiled brightly. “Wanda!”

“Hey! I didn’t know you attended this school.”

“I didn’t either!”

Wanda sat down in front of him. “What grade are you in?”

“I’m a junior. What about you?”

“I am too. It’s funny, I’ve never seen you here before.”

“I know right.”

Is it too much if I ask him for his number? The worst thing he can say is ‘no’. “Would it be alright if I have your number?”

Cosmo smiled, “Of course!” He took his phone out and handed it to Wanda, she typed her number in, dialed it, hung up, and saved the contact. She gave the phone back to Cosmo saying, “Here you go.”

Comso took his phone back and put it away saying, “You’re the only person other than my Mama and my brother in my contacts.”

“Really? You don’t have friends?”

Cosmo frowned, “No, my Mama doesn’t let me leave the house except to go to school and work.”

Wanda was bemused. “Why not?” She asked.

“I… I’m not sure.”

The bell rang indicating the end of lunch and Wanda got up and extended her hand to help Cosmo up. “I have to go right now, my class is on the other side of the school. It was nice seeing you, Cosmo.”

“It was nice seeing you too!”

—

After Cosmo finished his homework that evening, he decided to text Wanda. He was ecstatic because he’d never had anyone who wasn’t related to him to talk to. Cosmo lay on his bed, took his phone out, opened the messages app, and started a new message with Wanda.

[5:07 pm Cosmo]: hi wanda!

He anxiously waited for a reply back. Then after about five minutes, he got it.

[5:12 pm Wanda]: Hey!

[5:12 pm Wanda]: What’re you up to?

[5:13 pm Cosmo]: nothing really

[5:13 pm Cosmo]: i just finished my homework

[5:14 pm Wanda]: Lucky

[5:14 pm Wanda]: I’m still working on mine

[5:15 pm Cosmo]: i’m sorry I didn’t know!

[5:15 pm Cosmo]: i can leave you to it

Cosmo felt bad, he didn’t even think to consider that Wanda might be busy.

[5:16 pm Wanda]: No it’s okay!

[5:17 pm Wanda]: I honestly need a break from it right now

[5:18 pm Cosmo]: are you sure?

[5:19 pm Wanda]: Yes!

[5:19 pm Cosmo]: okay!

[5:20 pm Cosmo]: what do you wanna talk about?

It took a few minutes for Wanda to reply.

[5:26 pm Wanda]: I remember you mentioned that your mom doesn't let you leave the house unless it’s for school or work

[5:26 pm Wanda]: You really don’t have any idea why that is?

Cosmo frowned.

[5:27 pm Cosmo]: no i have no idea why

[5:28 pm Cosmo]: my older brother says that Mama is overprotective of me

[5:28 pm Cosmo]: maybe it has something to do that

[5:29 pm Wanda]: Sounds about right

[5:29 pm Wanda]: I can kind of relate to that. My dad controls almost every aspect of my life

[5:30 pm Cosmo]: it’s so unfair right?

[5:31 pm Wanda]: It is!

[5:31 pm Wanda]: I just wish I had the confidence to stand up to my dad and tell him that I don’t want to live the life he wants me to. I just want to do what makes *me* happy

[5:33 pm Cosmo]: yes exactly!

[5:33 pm Cosmo]: at least there’s one thing we have in common

[5:34 pm Wanda]: You’re right

[5:34 pm Wanda]: It’s nice knowing that there’s someone who can understand what I’m going through. Even if they’re slightly different scenarios

[5:35 pm Cosmo]: it is nice

[5:36 pm Wanda]: I’m so sorry Cosmo, I have to go

[5:36 pm Wanda]:I’ll talk to you later!

[5:37 pm Cosmo]: okay!

Cosmo went to sleep that night with a smile on his face for the first time in a long time.

Chapter Text

Over the next few weeks, Cosmo and Wanda started messaging each other daily. Wanda was glad that she finally had a friend she

A. Chose herself, without her dad’s approval.

B. Enjoyed talking to.
(now that’s not to say she didn’t like talking to Melody and Stella, but sometimes it was hard talking to them because of one thing or another)

And C. Really took the time to talk to get to know the real Wanda, and not the Wanda she presented to the world because it was what her dad wanted.

The only downside was that she hardly ever got to see him at school, and it didn’t help that they didn’t have any classes together. Despite this, Wanda was able to slip away a few times from her friends and her boyfriend to hang out with Cosmo during lunch.

The two were sitting at Cosmo’s locker, where they always hang out whenever possible.

“So do you have anything planned during summer break?” Wanda asked.

Cosmo shook his head, “No, not really. I’ll still keep working on the weekends. Unless Mama decides to go somewhere and brings me along.”

“Your mom really doesn’t let you leave the house whenever you want?”

“No,” Cosmo frowned.

“What about your brother?”

“What about him?”

“Does she also not let him leave the house?”

“Ohh. No, he doesn’t live with us anymore. Schnozmo and Mama got into a big fight a couple of years ago, and he left after that.”

Wanda felt embarrassed for bringing the subject up. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

Cosmo smiled, “Don’t be silly. It’s like you said, you didn’t know. It’s okay though, Schnozmo says he’s much happier now.”

“Do you still see him?”

“Every once in a while he’ll come home for a day or two, but he and Mama always ignore each other.”

Wanda nodded in understanding.

“What about you? Are you planning anything for summer break?”

Wanda rolled her eyes. “Ughh, probably just hang out with Juandissimo more often than I already do.”

“Who’s Juandissimo?”

Wanda froze for a few moments. “Oh uhmm… he’s… my boyfriend…”

Cosmo tilted his head and asked, “You have a boyfriend?” Oh

“Yea, but he’s not… I…” She let out a small sigh, “It’s complicated.”

He turned his head back up. “How?”

“If I tell you, you can’t tell anyone. Promise?”

Cosmo smiled brightly, “I promise!” It was the first promise he made, excluding ones with his brother of course.

“Okay,” Wanda nodded. “Well…technically I don’t really want to be with Juandissimo. I’m only dating him because it’s what my dad wants me to do. He wants me to date a guy who will make sure that I have a secure life once I graduate, and he thinks Juandissimo is the perfect guy for that. The problem is that I don’t like Juandissimo like that, I only like him as a friend.”

“Why don’t you tell your dad you don’t want to be with Juandissimo?”

“It’s not that simple, I can’t go against what he wants. He’s depending on me for the family.”

“But if you tell him that you’re not happy, then surely he can understand.”

“Cosmo, do you know who my dad is?”

Cosmo shook his head.

“Have you ever heard of a fairy named Big Daddy?”

Cosmo shook his head again.

“Really?”

“Yea, I’ve never heard of him before.”

“Hmmm… well he’s the owner of a garbage company, but it’s really just a front for his mafia business.”

“Your dad is in the mafia?!” Cosmo was shocked.

“Shhh…”

Cosmo whispered, “Sorry, sorry.”

“Yea, he’s the most dangerous mafioso in Fairy World. So you see, I can’t tell him that I don’t want to do any of the things he’s expecting me to do. I… I can’t stand up to him, he’s too intimidating.”

“Wanda, you have to tell him something. You deserve to be happy and to do things because you want to, not because your dad wants you to.”

Wanda blushed. “Cosmo, that’s sweet, but you don’t know my dad.”

Cosmo also blushed. She called me sweet.

“Okay, how about this? I’ll tell Big Daddy about how I want to live my life differently than he expects me to, and you will tell your mom that you should be able to do whatever you want without having to ask her if she’ll let you.”

“I…I don’t know.”

“It doesn’t have to be today or anything. Just... eventually.”

“I guess I can ask Schnozmo for advice too.”

“Yes! That’s a great idea.”

The bell rang to indicate the end of lunch.

Cosmo got up and extended his hand to help Wanda up. “So when do you wanna hang out again?”

“What about on Friday?”

“Okay!”

“Alright, I’ll see you then,” Wanda said with a smile.

—

After school that day, Wanda was supposed to hang out with Juandissimo at his house. Once they got there, he took Wanda to his room so that they could “work on their homework.”

As Wanda went to sit on Juandissimo’s desk chair, she asked, “Juan, can we just focus on working on homework first today?”

“Claro.” Juandissimo poofed a chair to sit next to Wanda, and they both poofed their homework to start working on it.
After finishing their homework, Wanda became hungry and asked her boyfriend if there were any snacks.

Juandissimo poofed a plate of sliced cucumbers with a bottle of Tajín. The couple started eating, and after a few minutes, Juandissimo broke the silence.

“After this, do you want to go out somewhere?”

“Not really, I’d rather just stay here.”

“But you love going out.”

Wanda shook her head, “No, Juan, you love going out. I’d rather just stay inside.”

“¿Por qué, mi cariño?”

“Because, Juandissimo, you never fully pay attention to us. It’s always one thing or another that you get distracted by, and half the time it’s by your own reflection.” Wanda was so upset, that she lost her appetite and put down the cucumber slice she was holding.

“Wandita, I didn’t know you felt this way.”

You’re joking. Yes you did! I’ve told you this multiple times, and you always forget.

Darn it, I didn’t want to have to break up with him right now, but that conversation I had with Cosmo earlier… if I’m going to stand up to Big Daddy, then I need to start somewhere.

“Juandissimo, I think it would be best if we weren’t together anymore.”

His eyes widened, “Wandita, no. Lo siento.”

“If you truly were sorry, then you would’ve stopped after the first time. I’m sorry Juandissimo, I can’t keep doing this with you. I would still like to be friends with you if you’re okay with it, but I can’t keep dating you. And it’s not just that…” Wanda took a deep breath before continuing. “I only started dating you because it’s what my dad wanted me to do. I’m guessing that dating and eventually marrying you would help me have a ‘secure’ life. I don’t want that though, I just want to live my life the way I want to. It’s not just that though, there are a lot of things my dad wants me to do and I don’t want to. I just haven’t dared to tell him what I want. You know who he is, I love him, but sometimes it can be scary having a dad whose line of work is that dangerous. Today though, I made a promise that I would tell him eventually. I’m sorry you ended up being in the crossfire.”

“No te preocupes. I can’t pretend to understand what you’re going through, but I hope you do get to live the life you want. Even if I’m not a part of it.”

Wanda smiled and placed her hand on Juandissimo’s, “Thank you.”

—

Over the next couple of days, word had spread that Wanda and Juandissimo had broken up. Blonda had started to interrogate her sister as to why she broke things off with him. Wanda didn’t want to say the real reason, so the best excuse she could come up with was that Juandissimo didn’t pay enough attention to her while they went out. Which wasn’t a lie, just not the complete truth.

Even Melody and Stella were asking Wanda about what had happened. Wanda wouldn’t be surprised if one of them ended up trying to ask Juandissimo out though because they were living vicariously through her relationship with him.

By the time Friday rolled around, Wanda was anxiously waiting for lunchtime so that she can finally talk to Cosmo in person again. They did message each other every day, but she wanted to tell him about the news in person.

Once the bell rang for lunch, Wanda poofed to her locker to leave her textbook and then poofed to where Cosmo’s locker was. He was already there, sitting and eating his lunch. She sat down next to him this time and poofed up her own lunch. In between bites, she asked Cosmo about his day, to which he replied that it was alright.

After the two finished eating, Wanda turned to look at Cosmo and said, “I have some news.”

“What is it?”

“I broke up with Juandissimo on Tuesday.”

Cosmo’s eyes widened. “You did?!”

“Yes! It felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders after it was done. And surprisingly Juandissimo was understanding.”

“Have you told your dad yet?”

“No, I’m waiting for the right moment. It’ll have to be soon though, especially since Blonda knows too. I’m actually surprised she hasn’t blabbed to him about it yet, but I won’t be surprised if she tries to blackmail me.”

Cosmo nodded his head.

Then Luthor’s voice called out, “Awww, does the loser finally have a girlfriend.”

Cosmo flinched and Wanda looked up to see Luthor flying in their direction. Curiously, he was alone.

Wanda stood up and floated upwards to Luthor’s level. “What do you want, Luthor?”

“Wanda? What are you doing hanging out with this moron?”

“I’m sorry, since when did I have to run all of my friendships by you?”

“Hey, I’m just saying. Every fairy knows to not be anywhere near him.”

“And yet I hear that you’re always around to torment him. So which is it?”

“Well somebody has to.”

Wanda rolled her eyes, “Just leave.”

“You know, I heard that you and Juandissimo called it quits. Is that why?” Luthor nodded his head towards Cosmo.

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“Don’t tell me you feel bad for him. He doesn’t need your pity friendship. Or are you his bodyguard?”

Bastard

Wanda spoke in a low, threatening voice, “Are you forgetting who my dad is? I can tell him to make you disappear if I wanted to. Now, leave Cosmo and I alone until the end of time. Do you understand?”

Luthor had fear in his eyes and started to back away slowly while shaking. “Y-yes Wanda,” he stuttered before poofing away.

Wanda sighed in relief and went back to sit next to Cosmo again. “Luthor won’t be bothering you anymore, I promise.”

“Why’d you do that?”

“Encourage Luthor to leave you alone?”

Cosmo nodded.

Wanda shrugged. “He shouldn’t be bullying anyone to begin with.”

Cosmo nodded again in understanding. “Thank you.”

Wanda smiled, “Don’t mention it.” She then noticed Cosmo rubbing his forearms as if it was bothering him.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

Cosmo let go quickly. “Yea, I’m fine!”

Wanda recognized that fake smile, it was the same one she would put on whenever someone almost came too close to finding out about her habit. She decided to not push it for now and changed the subject. “If you can go out whenever this summer, where’s the first place you want to go?”

“I’m not sure. You can decide,” Cosmo replied with a big smile.

“Me?”

“Yea we’re gonna hang out, right?”

“You want your first day of complete freedom to be spent with me?”

“Of course!”

“Aww, Cosmo.” That’s so sweet. “Okay, what are some places you’d like to go?”

“I’ve always wanted to try bowling.”

The rest of lunch was spent brainstorming different places the two fairies could hang out once summer beak started in about two weeks.

—

After eating dinner that night, Cosmo decided to call his brother.

“Hey Cosmo? How’ve you been?”

“I wanted to ask for advice on something.”

“Shoot.”

“Do you remember how I was telling you about the girl I like, Wanda?”

“Of course.”

“Well, I wanted to hang out with her during the summer break, but I know that the only time I would be able to leave the house without Mama is to go to work.”

“That's quite a pickle you're in there, Cosmo. Don't worry though, I'll come home tomorrow night, and I'll convince Mama to let you go out.”

“Are you sure? You haven't spoken to Mama since the big fight when you left.”

“Don't worry about it, I've got it all under control. Honestly, this is something I should've done a long time ago.”

Cosmo beamed, “Thank you, Schnozmo. I can't wait to see you tomorrow!”

“Anything for my little bro.”

—

Cosmo spent his entire shift the next day anxiously counting down the hours until his brother would be coming home, and once his shift was done he rushed home.

It still wouldn’t be for another few hours before Schnozmo would arrive, so Cosmo tried to keep his mind busy.

Finally, at around 5 o’clock, he heard a car pull up into the driveway. Cosmo knew that his mother was still downstairs, so he waited by the stairs trying to stay out of sight. He heard Schnozmo unlock the door with his keys and then enter.

“Mama, two words: We need to talk.”

Cosmo risked going down a few steps to see better. Schnozmo was standing at the front door, and his mother was knitting on the sofa.

“As far as I’m concerned, I only have one son. So I don’t know who you’re calling ‘Mama.’”

“And yet you send me all of these messages about how I’m at fault for everything wrong with this family every time you get into one of your moods.”

“Because it is.”

“I’m not here to discuss that. We need to talk about Cosmo.”

“You have no business being concerned about him.”

“Of course I do, he’s my little brother.”

“No, he’s not.”

“I’m not gonna argue with you about this. The point is that Cosmo needs to be able to go out without having to worry about you not letting him. He’s already gonna graduate from high school next year, he needs friends to hang out with outside of school.”

“That’s none of your concern, Schnozmo.”

“Yes, it is! You’re not treating him like a teenager, he’s not a little kid anymore for you to be restricting him from leaving this house. There is a line where yes, you can say ‘no’ to certain places and things, but he just wants to hang out with his friends outside of school. Why won’t you let him?”

Mama Cosma got up from the sofa and started floating closer to her eldest son. “Him interacting with the other fairies won’t do him any good.”

“And how would you know that? You’re not giving him a chance to be out in Fairy World, and saying he goes to school and work doesn’t count.”

“He’s my boy, and I’m protecting him.”

“From what?! There’s nothing for him to be protected from.”

“Don’t you think I hear the whispers whenever I go out to the store, fairies talking about how Cosmo almost destroyed all of Fairy World?”

“They do that because they don’t know how he is today. They’re all basing him off of something he did as a baby. He has better control of his magic now, and you won’t let him prove it to anyone. Believe me, if I could take care of Cosmo, I would’ve taken him with me when I left-”

“Because you don’t actually want to be responsible for him.”

“That’s not the reason. You have to let him make decisions for himself, starting with letting him go out with his friends.”

“He doesn’t have friends.”

“Yes, he does. You would know that if you actually talked to him.”

“COSMO GET DOWN HERE!”

Cosmo flinched and waited for two seconds before poofing downstairs.

“Y-yes, Mama.”

“Schnozmo is saying that you have ‘friends.’ Is this true?”

Cosmo looked over at his brother, who in turn gave him an encouraging nod. “Yes, Mama, I have a friend named Wanda.

“And who is this Wanda girl?”

“Umm… she goes to my school.”

“And what’s her last name?” Mama Cosma asked, losing her patience.

“Fairywinkle.”

Schnozmo and Mama Cosma looked at each other for a quick second before looking back at Cosmo.

Schnozmo asked, “Fairywinkle? As in Big Daddy’s daughter?”

“Yes.”

“Two words: Little brother, how in Fairy World did you manage to befriend a Fairywinkle?”

“She was hanging out with her friends at my work a couple of months ago, and I accidentally threw food all over her, and then we saw each other at school the next week and started to hang out during lunch.”

“You dropped food on her? And she didn’t care?”

“She didn’t care when it happened, she even defended me when Alfred started yelling at me.”

Schnozmo smiled, “Well whattaya know, I’m pretty sure she likes you back.”

“Back??” Mama Cosma cut in. “What does he mean ‘she likes you back,’ Cosmo? Do you like this girl?”

“N-no.”

“I can tell you’re lying. Cosmo, I forbid you from ever interacting with that girl ever again.”

Then Schnozmo cut in, “Two words: That’s exactly my point, Mama. You can’t dictate who he gets to talk to. If he wants to become friends with Wanda and maybe eventually start dating her, he should be able to.”

“And let himself get involved with the mafia or worse, killed by them?”

“That won’t happen, Mama, you’re being dramatic.”

“Am I? The one girl he manages to have a ridiculous crush on, and it’s one who belongs to a family of dangerous fairies.”

“You’re blowing this out of proportion. Just let Cosmo live how he wants to, without your intervention.”

“I won’t allow it.”

Schnozmo’s eye twitched. “I didn’t want it to come down to this, but if you don’t let him, then I’ll take it up with Jorgon. I’ll ask him to fight for custody over Cosmo, and you and I both know that he’ll win.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Two words: Yes. I. Would.”

“FINE!” Mama Cosma shouted. “You may have won this round, Schnozmo, but you will regret it later.”

“Empty threats won’t work on me.”

“I can just tell Cosmo about what you’ve really been up to.”

Schnozmo laughed, “I’d like to see you try.”

Cosmo then asked, “What do you mean, Mama?”

Mama Cosma seemed to calm down a bit as she looked at her youngest son, “Nothing, baby. Go on up to your room. If you absolutely want to stay friends with that Fairywinkle girl then I suppose you can, but I forbid you from ever inviting her into this house. Does that sound fair?”

Cosmo lit up, “Yes, Mama! Thank you, thank you.” He hugged his mother.

Schnozmo went to reach for something in his pocket. “Now wait a minute there, Cosmo, I’ve got something for you.” He dangled a set of keys on his finger, showing them to Cosmo. “I brought you a car as a gift. I won’t give you the keys just yet, I’ll keep them safe with me. I’m gonna be sticking around town for a while so that I can teach you how to drive. We’ll start tomorrow after you get out of work. How’s that sound?”

“Like the best thing in Fairy World!! Thank you, Schnozmo, this means a lot to me!!” Cosmo went to tackle his brother in a hug.”

Schnozmo awkwardly patted Cosmo’s back but couldn’t help to smile, “Don’t mention it, little brother.”

Mama Cosma rolled her eyes.“That’s enough of that, get to your room now, Cosmo.”

“Okay, Mama,” Cosmo said happily and poofed back upstairs. He still stayed hidden at the top of the stairs, after all, he was still curious as to what his brother and mother were going to talk about.

“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Cosmo heard his brother ask.

“Oh shut it Schnozmo. I’m only doing this because you put ideas into his head, and I don’t want him to resent me.”

“And the Mother of the Year Award goes to Mama Cosma.”

“Joke all you want, Schnozmo, but we’ll see who gets the last laugh when Cosmo eventually finds out what you’ve been doing ever since you left. We’ll see how much he adores his big brother after that,” Mama Cosma spat.

It was silent for a few moments.

“Two words, Mama: Stay out of my fucking life.”

Then Cosmo heard his brother poof away. He was confused about the comments his mother was making, but then Cosmo was always confused about things people said sometimes. So he just chalked it up as confusion and poofed into his room to start getting ready for bed.

—

Wanda was eating dinner with her dad and sister when Big Daddy asked the dreaded question.

“Wanda, how’s it goin’ wit Juandissimo?”

Wanda froze, and before she could think of a lie, her sister butted in.

“Daddy, didn’t Wanda tell you? She dumped Juandissimo last week.”

Darn it, Blonda.

“Whattaya mean she dumped Juandissimo?”

“Yea, the whole school is talking about it. She dumped Juan to get with that loser, Cosmo.”

Wanda snapped at her twin, “That is not what happened! At least get your facts straight before you snitch on me!”

Blonda gave a maniacal grin.

“Wanda, why wouldja dump Juandissimo? He was perfect fo’ ya!”

No, Daddy, he wasn’t. I wasn’t happy with him.”

“And what about dis Cosmo fella? Who even is he?”

Once again, Blonda beat her to the punch. “He’s the Cosma boy.”

“The what?”

“Yep. Wanda’s in love with him. Luthor told me all about how the two of them were cuddling together in front of the boy’s locker during lunch.”

Wanda was so angry, she picked up her fork and threw it right at her sister. Blonda used her magic to poof it away, and taunted, “Aww, did I hit a nerve.”

Big Daddy spoke, “Wendy, dat’s enough outta ya. Go to your room.”

Blonda gave one last smile at her twin and poofed to her room.

“Wat’s goin’ on Wanda? Dis ain’t like ya.”

Wanda took a deep breath. “It is, Daddy. I’ve only ever done what you’ve asked me to because I didn’t want to let you down. I dated Juandissimo, I agreed to become a lawyer, and other stuff like that, but I was never happy. I don’t want to be a lawyer, Daddy, I want to become a fairy godparent. I also didn’t want to marry Juandissimo one day. I mean, sure he’s a nice enough guy, but I could never be happy while we were dating. I told him that I’m okay with staying just friends. That also goes for making friends. I’ve had the same friends since I was a child because you won’t allow just anyone to be my friend. They have to be the kids of the people who work for you. The day I met Cosmo was when Melody, Stella, and I went to this diner he so happened to work at, and something just clicked when we started talking. He’s someone I’m not afraid to be myself around without having to worry about anything else. I… I won’t lie and say that I don’t like him, but if we don’t end up as a couple or anything, I still really want him to be my friend. I can’t explain it but he makes me feel like I can finally be myself, the real me.”

Big Daddy took a few moments to process Wanda’s words. “I’m sorry, Sugar Plum, I had no idea you was feelin’ dis way. I’m not happy dat it’s wit the Cosma boy, but I jus’ want you to be happy. That don’t mean you can invite the boy here either, got it?”

Wanda smiled, “Understood, Daddy. Thank you.”

Once Wanda poofed into her room, she noticed that Blonda was already there.

“Despite your attempted sabotage, Daddy is okay with me hanging out with Cosmo. Honestly, Blonda I don’t even know why you care so much as to why I’m friends with him.”

Blonda rolled her eyes, “It’s simple math, people like us don’t mix in with losers like him. I don’t understand why you even had to break up with Juandissimo in the first place.”

“You wouldn’t understand, you’re not the one who was dating him. But you know what, knowing your personality and his personality, you two would be perfect for each other. And I’m saying that sarcastically, so don’t get any ideas of going out and trying to date him.”

“Whatever. I just hope you know that you and Cosmo won’t last.”

And before Wanda could retort, her sister had already poofed out of the room.

Chapter Text

Over the weekend, Wanda had messaged Cosmo to meet for lunch on Monday. So for the rest of the weekend, Cosmo was happy because he could finally be free from his mother’s grasp, his older brother got him a car and was going to start teaching him how to drive, and he was going to tell the good news to Wanda in-person on Monday.

On Monday morning as Cosmo was getting ready for school, he noticed the scars on his right arm. He wasn’t cutting himself as often as when he first started, now it was only whenever Luthor’s bullying got too intense for him. Now that Luthor stopped approaching Cosmo, it didn’t mean that the others stopped either. In fact, he had an inkling that Luthor encouraged the rest of the football team to go harder on him. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and concentrated on how he was excited to tell Wanda about his good news.

Later that day, when lunchtime finally rolled around, Cosmo patiently waited for Wanda for a few minutes before she finally appeared at his locker.

“Hi, Cosmo,” Wanda said as she sat next to him.

“Hi, Wanda! How was your weekend?”

“Well, I do have some good news.”

“I do too! What’s yours?”

“Well on Saturday Blonda ended up telling my dad that I had broken up with Juandissimo, and I was worried that he was going to be mad at me. He technically was at first, but then I explained to him about the stuff that was going through my mind, and he understood. Well… kind of. But anyways, I finally had the courage to stand up to him, and everything turned out okay!”

“Wanda, that’s amazing! I’m so proud of you,” Cosmo expressed with a goofy grin.

Wanda blushed. “Aww thanks, Cosmo.”

“So your dad wasn’t too mad about it?”

“Surprisingly not. I mean… don’t tell Blonda this, but I’ve always been his favorite daughter. So maybe that’s why he wasn’t as upset as he could’ve been.”

“At least it worked out in the end, right?”

Wanda smiled. “Right,” she agreed. “Okay, now tell me about your good news.”

“Okay, now tell me your good news.”

“Well, Schnozmo came home on Saturday and he was able to convince Mama that I should be able to go out of the house and hang out with friends. He also got me a car, and he started giving me driving lessons!”

“You have a car?!”

“Yes!!”

“How is it? Driving?”

“It was a little scary at first, but I think with more practice, I could get the hang of it. It’s really not that bad. Well, maybe that’s because I’ve been practicing in an empty parking lot at the park, but Schnozmo says that I picked up the basics pretty fast.”

“Are you going to start driving me to places?” Wanda joked.

Cosmo’s eyes lit up, “I can if you want! I’ll take you anywhere you want to go!”

Wanda laughed. “Well don’t get too ahead of yourself there, I’m not having you drive me anywhere until you get your license first.”

“Sounds like a deal!”

—

After school, Wanda was waiting with her sister to be picked up by the limo driven by their butler.

The sisters hadn’t spoken since Saturday night, which made it awkward for Wanda. The twins had their fights, sure, but this time it felt different. Wanda couldn’t understand why her sister was so bothered by the Juandissimo ordeal. Well, she could understand why Blonda was upset, she just didn’t understand why it was so important to maintain a certain “image.”

After a few minutes passed by, Juandissimo just so happened to be floating in their direction.

Oh great, right now of all times?

“Wanda, Blonda, how are you two doing?”

Blonda completely changed her demeanor and walked closer to Juandissimo.

“I’ve been fabulous, Juandissimo. I’m about to start rehearsals for a small part in a television show.”

“¡Qué bueno! I can’t wait to see you on screen.” He then turned to look at Wanda. “What about you, Wanda?”

Blonda rolled her eyes and went back to using her phone.

Wanda replied, “I’ve been alright.”

Juandissimo nodded slowly. “I hear that you’re with the Cosma boy. Is that true?”

Blonda’s eyes snapped to the two fairies next to her.

“No, Juandissimo, we’re not together.”

“It’s just that I heard from Luthor-”

“Luthor doesn’t know anything about my life.”

Blonda cut in, “Don’t let her fool you. I know my sister very well, and I can assure you that she was encouraged by that green-haired twit to dump you.”

“Blonda,” Wanda had snapped. She then looked at her ex and took a deep breath. “It wasn’t like that. Cosmo just helped me realize that I shouldn’t have to do things just to make my dad happy, I should do it to make me happy.”

Blonda rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

“No te preocupes. You don’t have to explain yourself.”

He says that, but Wanda noticed a tiny hint of a change with Juandissimo.

At that moment, the limo to pick up the twins pulled up.

“Well, we have to leave now. See you around Juandisimo.”

“Adiós.”

Wanda couldn’t get into the limo any faster. She was hoping to avoid her ex, at least until next school year when all the gossip with Cosmo would hopefully die down.

She didn’t want to admit that the more time she spent with Cosmo, the more she fell for him.

When they finally arrived home, Wanda poofed straight to her room. After changing out of her clothes into her house clothes, she got her homework out and went to her desk to start it. After about twenty minutes into her studies, Wanda went to look for a ruler when she saw the big pair of scissors.

It had been a struggle for Wanda to stop using them, or any scissors at all. She wanted to stop, but something in her mind always egged her on to continue, especially now that she didn’t have to worry about letting her father down anymore. She supposed it was because of how used to it she was, and she did kind of like the feeling of the scissors’ blade gliding across her fair skin.

Wanda had already taken her arm warmers off earlier, so she just had to twist her arm slightly to see the scars and the newish cuts. She rummaged around for the smaller pair of scissors and opened them.

Baby steps. Then dug into her skin.

—

It was already the first day of summer break, and Wanda hadn’t seen Cosmo since the day they told each other about their newfound freedom. She had spent the rest of the school year hanging out with Stella and Melody during lunch as well as after school almost every single day. That day though, Wanda just wanted to stay at home all day to finally relax.

She pulled her phone out and decided to see what Cosmo was up to, and messaged him.

[11:28 am Wanda]: Hey

[11:31 am Cosmo]: hiiii :D

Cosmo had recently learned about emoticons, and frequently used them in his messages.

[11:32 am Wanda]: What are you up to on your first day of summer break?

[11:33 am Cosmo]: schnozmo is taking me somewhere where there’s more cars and stuff so that I can practice driving in a different setting

[11:33 am Cosmo]: he says at the rate i’m going, i can take my drivers test in at least 2 weeks :D

[11:34 am Wanda]: That’s great!

[11:34 am Wanda]: Are you excited?

[11:35 am Cosmo]: yes!!

[11:35 am Cosmo]: i feel ready enough to take it right now but my brother says i should still practice some more :(

[11:36 am Wanda]: Don’t worry too much about it, I’m sure he just wants you to practice as much as you can before taking the test

[11:37 am Cosmo]: i know

[11:37 am Cosmo]: i guess i’m just too excited to get it

[11:38 am Wanda]: No I get that

[11:38 am Wanda]: Maybe you could teach me once you get your license

[11:39 am Cosmo]: it would be an honor :D

—

Over the next couple of weeks, Cosmo and Wanda didn’t see each other because Cosmo was too busy with work and practicing driving. Finally in two weeks, just as Schnozmo had said, Cosmo took his driving test and passed with flying colors.

Cosmo was surprised because he wasn’t used to succeeding in anything, really. It was one of the happiest moments in his life. When he had called Wanda to tell her all about it, so they had made a plan. Cosmo was going to pick Wanda up a few houses down the street from hers, and they were going to go to the very park where Cosmo first started his driving lessons to have a picnic.

So now it was a Wednesday morning, and Cosmo just pulled up in front of the house Wanda had texted him the address of. Wanda was already there, wearing a pastel yellow sundress, white arm warmers, and white sandals.

Cosmo parked the car, got out of his seat, and went around to open the passenger door for Wanda.

“Hi, Wanda. I hope you weren’t waiting too long for me.”

“I didn’t. I had just poofed here as your car was down the road.”

“Okay, good.” Cosmo closed the door after Wanda sat down. He went around to the driver’s side and sat down. As he was starting the car up again Cosmo asked, “How has your day been so far?”

“It’s been fine. Hanging out with you is honestly the highlight.”

Cosmo beamed, “It’s the highlight for me too!”

Once they got to the park, they found an empty table, and Cosmo poofed the picnic basket he put together.

He took the tablecloth out and Wanda helped him set it on the table. Cosmo took the plates out, and then the containers with the food. He had prepared some sandwiches and had a container with fruits, and he took out two water bottles.

“Sorry that it’s simple food. I don’t know how to cook at all, Mama does all the cooking because she doesn’t want me to burn myself with the stove. I hope you like this though.”

Wanda smiled, “It’s perfect, Cosmo.”

As they started eating, Cosmo and Wanda chatted away about their plans for the rest of summer. Afterward, they talked about the most random things, and to Cosmo, it felt like they spent an eternity talking about anything that came to mind.

At one point, Cosmo started feeling too hot because of the summer weather, and without thinking about it he rolled up the sleeves of his button-down long-sleeved shirt. He didn’t realize that his scars were being exposed.

It wasn’t for another few minutes before Wanda noticed it too. “Cosmo, what happened there?” She pointed at his arm.

He looked down and realized that his scars were showing. He flinched and put his hands in his lap to hide the scars. “Umm… n-nothing,” he said in a shaky voice.

“No, that’s not ‘nothing.’ Did you do that to yourself?”

It took a few moments for Cosmo to reply in a small voice. “Y-yes.”

Wanda then took her arm warmers off to reveal that she also had scars.

Cosmo looked at them in confusion, then looked up at Wanda. “You do it too?”

Wanda bit her lower lip before answering, “Yes. I’ve been trying to stop though, it’s just… so difficult.”

He nodded his head. “I get it. I’ve also been trying to stop, but every once in a while I start to feel uncomfortable if I don’t do it. Plus I still kind of use it as an outlet when I get bullied by the football team, the cheerleaders, and the math club.”

It was silent for several moments before Wanda broke the silence. “I’ve been doing it because the pain I would put myself through was the only thing I could control. Now that I am free to live the kind of life I want, I’ve been trying to stop. It’s just so hard sometimes.”

“I have a co-worker who used to do it. I noticed her scars one day, and I was curious as to how it happened. I kinda… looked it up when I got home, and I read about different reasons why people cut themselves. A few days later, Luthor did something that made me feel so humiliated. I went home that day and took out Schnozmo’s old razor kit and used it to cut myself. It felt relieving, so any excuse I could find I would use it to cut myself. I haven’t been doing it as often anymore because Luthor hasn’t bothered me since the day you told him off, but everyone else still bullies me. It’s not as bad as what Luthor used to do, but they’ve been bothering me more often than they used to.”

“Oh, Cosmo, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to bother you with it. I’ve been dealing with it myself.”

Wanda frowned and stayed silent for a few moments before she looked up at Cosmo in the eye. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. Whenever one of us feels like cutting again, call or message to talk about it. We’ll encourage each other to not do it, and we’ll talk about what’s bothering us. Does that sound okay?”

Cosmo thought about it for a few seconds and answered, “Yes.”

“Okay. We can do this.”

Cosmo nodded, then waited a few seconds before changing the subject. “Wanda, while we’re here opening up to each other, there is one thing I want to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Wanda I…” I can tell her. Even if she doesn’t like me back, we can still stay friends. Right? “I like you a lot, and I was wondering if you’d like to be my girlfriend.”

Wanda looked flabbergasted. “Y-you like me?”

Cosmo nodded eagerly. “Ever since the day we met at the diner. You’re so beautiful and kind-hearted. Then when we became friends and I got to know you better, I started to like everything about you, your humor, the way you laugh, and how you absolutely love chocolate and other sweets. I’ve never met anyone with such a sweet tooth. I like the way you brighten whenever you talk about something you love. I can go on for hours really, just talking about all the things I like about you.”

Wanda smiled and extended her arm on the table and made a movement for Cosmo to take her hand, so he reached out and held it.

“I also like you, Cosmo. A lot.You mean so much to me.”

“So you will be my girlfriend?”

“Wanda beamed and squeezed Cosmo’s hand. “Yes, I will be.”