Maggie and drumsticks | unicorns approve
Tags: unicorns, music, magical creatures, romance, friendship, love triangle?
Summary: Maggie mistakenly thinks Barney's lost drumsticks are a gift, creating confusion until Jackie helps convince Barney to let her keep them.
The drum solo was coming to an end. It had been the most challenging part of this performance, but it was worth every second. Barney had practiced for at least two weeks.
"Damn" a stick flew straight into Maggie's hooves as she walked in.
The unicorn girl looked down with narrowed eyes. The name "Barney" was written along the stick in rainbow ink. No one knew why, but all his sticks were signed. Jackie thought that Barney just wanted to give them away to fans with a very important and noble look. Maggie found it cute.
Then another stick landed near her with an angry exclamation, "Dammit!"
"Wow, is this for me?" the girl asked enthusiastically.
Barney, stepping back from the drums, answered, "You can have 'em."
He snorted indifferently towards the drums, sticks, failed performance, and overly happy Maggie.
Meanwhile, Maggie trotted happily toward her instrument, carefully placing Barney’s sticks in her bag when Jackie spoke up again.
"We’ve got only two days left before performing at the city park. We need to rehearse ‘100% Glitter’ once more. Of course, we play it well already, but since we're playing only this song..."
"Only this one? Didn't they allow us to perform the other two songs?" Maggie interrupted him.
Barney rolled his eyes expressively.
"You should've listened instead of staring out the window at birds."
"Maggie, the organizers wrote that there isn't enough time. So we're only doing one song."
"Oh... Well, okay then." She huffed and prepared herself to play. Barney took new sticks and approached the setup while he exchanged glances with Jackie who slung his guitar over his shoulder. A short nod, three dull strikes with the sticks, and the room filled with sounds of their new song.
At home, Maggie sorted through her belongings. Tomorrow was an important day at school, so she needed to prepare for a test. Her attention bounced between memorizing magical definitions, organizing clothes, and something else very important that slipped her mind as soon as she finished. During a break, she managed to take a relaxing shower with scrub and applied a face mask.
Returning to her room, she decided she could easily recall everything she'd studied today. On her way to the desk, however, her gaze fell on the bag lying on the floor. Oh right, I must tidy things up. But at the bottom of the bag, something caught her eye—her heart raced faster and her eyes sparkled brighter than ever. Barney's drumsticks!
How could she forget about these? She quickly retrieved a spare candy from her backpack pocket—it'd been such an emotional rollercoaster; she really needed something sweet now. Today Barney gave her his drumsticks. Signed ones! They were like autographs for fans, except even cooler. Fans might love Barney, but none of them personally know him. Maggie did! And what was merely a trinket in someone else's hands became something much deeper and meaningful in hers.
Her curly head buzzed with ideas: Should she kiss all the spots where Barney touched them? Or drill small holes on the sides and hang them above her bed? That would mean seeing them only before sleep...
She struggled to make a decision but somehow maintained composure. First, she neatly arranged textbooks and notebooks. Then came the album with chords for songs. Only after that did she tuck the drumsticks into a side pouch of her backpack. A little magic ensured they wouldn't fall out. Now she could enjoy having Barney's gift wherever she went—whether at home, school, or practice sessions—these drumsticks would always be with her.
"Hey, you carry Barney's drumsticks everywhere," Jackie commented as he freed himself earlier than Maggie and offered to walk together.
The unicorn girl lit up at being noticed. Her cheeks seemed bigger because of her wide smile.
"Yep! It's my special present. And here's a secret..." Lowering her voice conspiratorially, "...I think it's how he's showing affection towards me."
It was clear how excited she felt. Bouncing slightly as she walked, Jackie searched for appropriate words.
"That's... nice of him if you're so happy about it."
Jackie's white coat visibly tensed inside. Something tightened within him, but her infectious joy prevented him from feeling completely sad. After a few moments, he found strength to smile and continue chatting. They talked about yesterday's bird-watching, their song, school life, and eventually returned to discussing Barney's drumsticks.
Next day, Maggie was twice as cheerful—she scored top marks on her definitions test, and the store had a "two donuts for the price of one" deal. She firmly believed it was all thanks to those drumsticks. What else could bring her such luck?
Jackie smiled warmly for her sake when they walked to rehearsal later.
Barney stopped his friend after finishing. Maggie had already run off—today she had errands to attend, so rehearsal ended early.
"Did you notice she's carrying my drumsticks everywhere? I'm pretty sure she brought them to school too," the black unicorn said nervously, looking around suspiciously, almost as though worried someone might see them talking.
"Yeah, seems like she loves your gift," Jackie chuckled. He wondered whether he'd have to hear everyone talk about this forever.
"Gift? Listen man, I've never given anything to Maggie. Honestly, I think she's acting like some crazy stalker by dragging my stuff everywhere."
But wait, where did she get them?
A reasonable question made Barney pause. Memories of the past couple of days flooded back. At school, they'd attended different classes and kept a distance of at least a meter apart. Yesterday during rehearsal, they barely interacted beyond greetings. Before that…
"Shit, it happened two days ago! When she asked if she could keep them…" Barney frowned, "You didn't see me toss them aside?"
"Well, maybe I was tuning my guitar," Jackie admitted awkwardly.
"This wasn't a gift, dude. Just pure coincidence." The revelation struck Barney suddenly. Maybe he shouldn't let people assume otherwise.
"What are you gonna do?" Jackie asked hesitantly.
"I'll talk to her and get the sticks back," Barney declared gruffly, starting to disassemble his drum kit.
Jackie pondered. If Barney reclaimed the sticks, Maggie would surely feel upset. Sure, she liked Barney, but not obsessively. She wasn’t a fanatic collecting souvenirs and dedicating altars to him. She was simply enthusiastic.
"Wait," Jackie finally spoke up, "Maybe don't?"
"Why not?" Barney stared at him quizzically.
"She's just so happy," Jackie pleaded softly, blushing under his fur, "Please don't take them away."
Now, Barney should have replied sternly, "No, I'll do it anyway, and I couldn't care less." But deep down, he did care. He cared whenever Jackie used that specific expression, asking for something with his gaze alone. And especially when it involved something truly important to him. If something mattered to Jackie, Barney couldn’t possibly remain indifferent.
After a brief hesitation, he relented:
"Fine, whatever. But if she starts doing weird shit with them, I'll confront her. Technically, they're still mine!"
That last remark sounded more confident than necessary, but Jackie grinned at him anyway, which reassured Barney further.
They played the song flawlessly. Even though they were warming up for the main event at the city park, they met fans appreciative of their drum solo.
