This was the hard bit.  

“Hello Mrs Sutton. I have some good and bad news for you.” 

“Delia and Dani have you come to help?” She turned back to Eve her face torn up into a teachery scowl.  

“You have good news?” 

“Yes Mrs Sutton, I have found the person who gave the curse to your daughter, the thing you may not like is that to cure her he is going to have to touch your daughter.” 

Eve felt like she had placed herself between two charging bulls as the two Mothers locked eyes. There was some kind of silent signal where Eve and Dani were whisked up the stairs to Ruby's room.

Both mothers had crowded in behind Eve and Dani making the room feel incredibly claustrophobic. The murmuring and tutting of two annoyed parents made this a decidedly unromantic moment but apparently that wasn’t enough to stop a desperate teenager. 

Dani leant down to kiss Ruby but Eve grabbed his shoulder. 

“Oh no buddy boy I know how this works and you aren’t getting a free kiss out of this. Touch her hand with your hand then stand back.” It came out as a low growl and with Dani already half petrified of the small Curse-breaker he followed orders stepping smartly behind her before Ruby began to slowly yawn herself awake. 

“You don’t look like a Prince Charming.” Ruby voiced grumpily as she looked up at Eve. 

“I’m not. My name is Eve and I am a Curse-breaker. We have a long conversation between you, Dani and your parents to go through.” 

And it did take an inordinate amount of time. Mrs Sutton wanted to have Dani strung up and murdered. Mrs Sillitoe was a little less heated but did bring up that Ruby had inflicted it upon herself. It was a back and forth of long held barbs that even reached as far as how each of them preferred to trim their petunias or the perfect way to manage a barbeque. After a couple of hours Eve was pretty sure this would be settled outside of a court as both of them started to hit the liquor cabinet and talk about getting a take away together that evening. 

While Eve played at calming both mothers down with cocktails, she had the two teenagers talking off to one side by asking them to go uncurse Aiden. She got an odd look for that from Dani who had not been part of the separate conversation she had managed to wangle in while his Mum was yelling at him. She had told Ruby and her Mum what Aiden had done and asked what they would like to do next. They both had had a chat together away from Eve and when they came back Eve had agreed to what they had asked be done about it. 

When Eve finally got back to the car six hours later, after a whole double family reunion where the tale of Ruby and Dani’s misadventure was already becoming family legend, Aiden was still snoring away. No longer cursed but just still sleeping off the side effects. He hadn’t been under as long as Ruby had so it would take him a bit longer to shake it off as his body still craved the rest it had been handed forcefully. 

--- 

Aiden woke in his own bed to an alarm clock flashing that it was eight in the evening. His body ached in several places as though he had been crammed into a tight space. 

“Oh Aiden, Eve said you would probably wake up about now. I’ve got some dinner saved for you in the fridge and she left you a letter on the table about tomorrow.” 

He moved over picking up the note first, hopefully it would show some concern for him ending up cursed. Well he hoped that would be true but doubted it as he read the tight little scribble on the page. 

Paperwork tomorrow. 

Get yourself to the Curse-be-gone offices behind the church on the high street by 7am. 

Don’t be late. 

Aiden shivered. It was chillingly short and for the first time that week he dreaded getting up the next morning.