A/N: Possible spoilers for Fruit of the Poisonous Tree.
Disclaimer: Once Upon A Time belongs to ABC, not me.
"Emma! I'm late for class! See you tonight, and remember to buy the groceries!"
Mary Margret rushed to the door, pulling on a cardigan and shoving her shoes on at the same time.
"Wait!" Emma called. "You forgot your – " the door slammed shut, " – phone."
Emma stared at the small cellphone, debating whether to run after Mary Margaret. Then she saw the time on the clock and swore. She was late, and she didn't need Regina breathing down her neck about not doing her job. She grabbed Mary Margaret's phone on her way out.
She would return the phone at lunch, she decided.
For the entire morning, Emma found herself swamped with work. For some reason, everyone in Storybrooke decided that they needed to commit some minor infractions or report a so-called crime. Being Graham's deputy was a lot more work than Emma had expected.
She had forgotten all about returning Mary Margaret's phone. It wasn't until it buzzed that Emma remembered about the phone at all.
She picked it up and saw the text message blinking on the screen.
Meet me at the toll bridge in half an hour.
Normally, Emma wouldn't have thought anything of it. Mary Margret's business was her business. But then she saw the sender's name: David Nolan.
What was David doing meeting Mary Margaret? Actually, Emma had her suspicions – before David, Mary Margaret had always been a top-button girl.
Emma's curiosity battled with her respect for her roommate's privacy. In the end, curiosity won, and Emma made her way to the old toll bridge.
She couldn't find David at first, but then she saw him at the far end of the bridge, looking away from her. As he heard her footsteps, he turned towards her, and his expression changed from one of happy expectation to surprise.
"Emma," he said. "Hey. Is Mary Margaret okay?"
"Yeah, she said. "I had her phone, and I want to know what the hell you're doing."
David actually managed to look sheepish, saying, "Look, I know that what we're doing is…wrong, but we really do love each other. She's the only thing that feels real to me."
"David, I know that whatever feelings you guys might have for each other are real, but I've seen enough to know that these things never end nicely. Mary Margaret is my friend, and I do not want to see her hurt when you have to go back to Kathryn."
"But I love her," he protested.
"And that's what makes it all so sad," Emma replied. "Because love or not, you're still married to Kathryn, and sooner or later you're going to have to make a choice."
She left him then, not because she felt uncomfortable, but because she thought he needed time alone to think over what she said.
That night, as Mary Margaret put away the groceries, Emma handed her back the phone after having erased David's text.
"My phone!" Mary Margaret exclaimed. "I've been looking for that all day!" She grabbed it and asked, "Did I get any messages?"
For a second, Emma wondered whether to tell her roommate about her meeting with David, but decided against it. She would wait and see what David did, what choice he would make, and how this all would play out.
"No," she said. "Nothing."
Thanks for reading everyone!
