Beauty and the Squid

Chapter Ten: Something There

The next morning, Maddie was still tied up near the tree Squilliam had left her on. The wolves had not found her but the cold night had weakened her. When she finally woke up, she saw Mindy standing in front of her, only just finding her in the woods. Mindy untied Maddie from the ropes and took her back to her home which was under a fallen tree. There, Mindy put Maddie down on her bed and prepared some tea to help her get better. Mindy helped her to drink, as she had become too cold to want to do anything, shivering to try and get her body head back to normal. Maddie thanked her for her help. Meanwhile, back at the castle, (Y/N) was by Squidward's bedside, reciting lines from a book she once read.

"'Love can transpose to form and dignity. Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind and therefore...'"

"'And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind'," Squidward finished the sentence

"You know Shakespeare?" (Y/N) asked him

Squidward sat up with a grunt, "I had an expensive education."

"Actually, 'Romeo and Juliet's my favorite play."

Squidward groaned, falling back onto his pillow, "Why is that not a surprise?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Well, all that heartache and pining and..." Squidward shivered in disgust, "So many better things to read."

"Like what?"

Squidward put on a dressing gown and took (Y/N) into the library.

"Well, there are a couple of things in here you could start with," Squidward said walking into the library.

As (Y/N) walked in, she marveled at the giant room filled with books. She had never seen so many in her life. The most she's seen are the small few that were in Pere Robert's little library in the village. Seeing (Y/N)'s reaction, Squidward asked if she was alright. But she couldn't take her eyes off the thousands of books in the room.

"It's wonderful!" (Y/N) finally said

"Yes. I suppose it is," Squidward agreed, "Well, if you like it so much, then it's yours."

(Y/N) looked at Squidward in surprise. This had to have been the first time Squidward was actually kind to her. Squidward gave her a small smile and started to walk away.

"Have you really read every one of these books?" (Y/N) asked him, making Squidward turn back to her.

"What?" Squidward turned back to her, "Well, not all of them. Some of them are in Greek."

(Y/N) giggled, "Was that a joke? Are you making jokes now?"

Squidward hesitated for a moment before giving her a smug look, "Maybe."

(Y/N) chuckled as Squidward began to walk away. Watching Squidward walk away, (Y/N) couldn't help but smile at the now kind Octopus. Not before looking around the library and squeaking in excitement. She knew that, even if she were to stay here forever in place of her mother, she'd never grow bored with all these books to read. Later that afternoon, Squidward and (Y/N) had both picked out books to read while eating their soup. And, instead of talking, they both just read. But they both couldn't help but glance at each other from time to time.

After lunch, the two had been outside, taking a stroll while (Y/N) read her book out loud. On the snowy grounds, the two would just walk while Squidward listened to (Y/N) read. But Squidward stopped when they walked over a bridge. He looked out to the frozen lake with white trees in the distance. He had seen it so many times and yet never admired the beauty of winter, even if it was June. And, as he didn't leave his castle much once he was cursed, he never took notice of the beauty around him.

(Y/N) stopped to take in the scenery too, almost seeming curious about what Squidward was seeing for the first time. But, as Squidward stopped, he asked if (Y/N) could continue the poem. So, (Y/N) continued to read as Squidward looked over the winter wonderland he had on this castle grounds. (Y/N) had been reading 'A Crystal Silence' by 'William Sharp'. And every word in that poem described what Squidward was seeing perfectly. It even described how Squidward was starting to feel. When the poem ended, the two just gazed at each other.

Later, once (Y/N) had dressed into something more appropriate for the weather, she helped to show Squidward how to not scare Philippe. Squidward had startled Philippe the first time he met Maddie so Philippe was still a bit skittish. As Squidward tried to approach, Philippe made a sudden move, startling Squidward slightly. (Y/N) helped by calming Philippe down before helping Squidward. She took his tentacle and gently put it on Philippe's back, showing both that they were harmless. Squidward looked over to (Y/N) who just smiled and left Squidward and Philippe to get acquainted properly.

'There's something sweet and almost kind. But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined and now he's dear and so unsure. I wonder why I didn't see it there before,' (Y/N) sang out loud as she went up the stairs.

Taking some snow from the stairs, (Y/N) made it into a snowball and threw it at Squidward. Squidward looked up at (Y/N) who just laughed at her playful action. With a playful look of anger, Squidward scooped up a big ball of snow and threw it at (Y/N), knocking her down. Squidward laughed to himself as he didn't mean to do that. But he finally felt happy. At dinner, neither of them read and just sat opposite each other.

'She glanced this way I thought I saw and when we touched, she didn't shudder at my hand. No, it can't be. I'll just ignore. But then she's never looked at me that way before,' Squidward said to himself

Squidward walked over with his bowl of soup and sat next to (Y/N) instead of being across the table from her. The two ate together while the castle staff worked to clean the castle up for the first time in years. Meanwhile, the next morning, (Y/N) watched from the ballroom window as Squidward walked and talked with Philippe.

'New, and a bit alarming. Who'd have ever thought that this could be?'

Later, she was in the library with Squidward grabbing a few books to dust off and read.

'True that he's no Prince Charming, but there's something in him That I simply didn't see.'

Squidward walked over with a stack of books. (Y/N) have him two that she had picked from the shelf while the castle staff watched from the sidelines.

'Well, who'd have thought?' Sandy asked

'Well, bless my soul!' Mrs. Puff explained

'Well, who'd have known?' Mr. Krabs asked

'Well, who indeed?' Spongebob said, 'And who'd have guessed they'd come together on their own!'

'It's so peculiar. Wait and see,' Mrs. Puff told everyone

'We'll wait and see a few days more!' The four of them sang, 'There may be something there that wasn't there before.'

"And here's a thought..." Mr. Krabs said as they all started to leave the library, 'Perhaps there's something there that wasn't there before.'

"What, Mama?" Pearl asked

'There may be something there that wasn't there before,' was all Mrs. Puff replied with.

"What is it? What's there?"

"I'll tell you when you're older."

Pearl turned away for a second before turning back to her mother, "Okay, I'm older!"

"Pearl..." Mrs. Puff laughed, "You are a one!"

Everyone left the two to read and bond on their own.