If I Should Die (Chapter One)
(Full A/N at the bottom!)
**Side note: "Eva" is pronounced Ava in this story - like Snow's mom on the show!**
Eva Jones decided that she didn't like portals. Sure, she'd only been in one of them in her life, but the process had been entirely messed up.
She was supposed to end up just outside of her grandparents' castle - as she was visiting the Enchanted Forest with her mother and father. A few of their friends and family members had ended up moving back to the Enchanted Forest after the Final Battle, so her parents, Emma and Killian, decided it was high time they go visit. More often than not, her grandparents would travel to Storybrooke for a weekend. This time, the Jones family was taking a trip to the Enchanted Forest.
Eva had been excited, until she got into the portal that was supposed to take them there. Her mother had told her that she needed to have a clear picture of where she was going. And Eva thought that she had. She pictured her grandparents castle. And, somehow, her mind had started going other places when she was twirling around, and now she ended up in the middle of a giant patch of land.
She sat up slowly, her hands trailing up to pull on her ponytail - making sure that it was still in tact. She didn't see anyone around - though she could hear the low rumble of something. It sounded like a car engine, but that was impossible, as they were in the Enchanted Forest.
"Hello?" she called out, wondering if there was a person behind that noise.
It was then that she saw it. Coming around the bend of one of the curving roads was a motorcycle. She wasn't sure why, or how, but there was a motorcycle just cruising its way around the Enchanted Forest. It was one of the strangest things that Eva had ever seen. Her eyes trailed the bike, before she saw the boy that was seated atop it. He had dark, unruly hair, kept down by a beanie. He looked smug, maybe even a bit arrogant, but Eva wasn't totally sure about that. He had to be about Eva's age, she would guess, and yet he gave off the presence that he was much older.
"Hey!" she called out, getting his attention. The boy slowed down his motorcycle, coming right in front of her and giving her a look. Now that Eva had him here, she realized that she didn't know what to say. He could have been a murderer after all, and she had just invited him over to kill her.
"Hi," he said, watching her carefully. Eva could feel his eyes on her, but not in some creepy way. It was as though he was observing her. She shifted slightly, blinking hard as she looked at him. "You look lost."
Yep, this was it. Eva was going to die in the Enchanted Forest because she didn't know how to keep her mouth shut. She should have just left herself to her own devices. And, yet, that didn't seem like something that she could do. She wasn't sure what to say here, but she knew that she needed to get something out at least. "Yeah." she said.
A moment of silence passed between the two of them and she cleared her throat awkwardly. She didn't know if there was anything she could say to save herself if he really was going to murder her, so she decided to just tell him her story. After all, maybe the best of the situation would be that he helped her get home. "I'm supposed to be at Snow White's castle?" she said, hoping that he knew where that was and she was actually almost there somehow. That would be...a nice twist on this disaster.
"Well you clearly aren't at Snow White's castle," the boy said, causing Eva to narrow her eyes at him. She didn't know why he had such an attitude with her, but she wasn't dealing with that today. Her life was a bit of a mess right now, and she was stranded in a place that she didn't know. She wasn't going to let some loser with a beanie make her feel worse than she already did. If he wasn't going to help her, that's fine. But he didn't get to make her feel dumber than she already felt.
"Yes, I gathered that from the lack of knights, and the presence of sheep," Eva said, giving him a look and crossing her arms over her chest. Eva didn't usually come up with good comebacks to things, so she was slightly proud of herself for that one. (Even if it was actually kind of terrible, it was good in Eva's mind.)
The raven-haired boy didn't say anything though, instead just sliding off the motorcycle and coming to stand in front of her. This gave Eva a better chance to look him over. As much as she hated to admit it, Eva actually found him kind of cute. In a distant, weird way, anyways. He wasn't like the guys she crushed on back home in Storybrooke.
"I'm Stefan," he said, holding out his hand to her. This was a change from the attitude that he had given her just a few moments ago, causing Eva's nose to scrunch up in confusion. She wasn't used to such conflicting personality traits within a matter of seconds. But she knew that it would be rude to comment on that right now, so she bit her tongue. (Which wasn't hard to do, because the motorcylce-dude still kind of scared her.)
"I'm Eva Jones," she said, taking his hand and biting down on her bottom lip. A beat of silence passed between the two of them - as if neither one of them really knew what to say. Eva shifted a bit, her hands instinctively sliding into the back pockets of the jeans she had been wearing. She let her eyes trail around the patch of land that she was in, before returning to motorcycle-dude's - Stefan's - eyes. "Where am I?"
"Welcome to the Enchanted Forest," he said, watching her for a few moments, and the continuing his speech, "You are on a farm, which doesn't sound like where you want to be right now. So…"
Eva watched him as he walked back over to his motorcycle. Was he really just going to leave her standing here, even though she obviously had no idea what she was doing? She couldn't believe him! Here he was right back to the snobbish attitude that he had had in the beginning.
"Hop on. I'm taking you to Snow White's Castle."
That certainly hadn't been what the blonde was expecting. Maybe Stefan wasn't quite as bad as Eva thought that he was. She watched him for a few moments, before it fully dawned on her what he had just offered. Eva couldn't help the laugh that escaped from her lips as she shook her head. "A motorcycle? Without a helmet? I don't think so…"
Stefan gave her a look, and it just made Eva frown harder. He was looking at her like she was dumb, and she wasn't. She just didn't like the idea of putting herself in so much danger. "Do you really need a helmet?" he asked. When Eva didn't answer, Stefan gave her yet another look. "Do you want a ride or not? I promise I'm not going to run us into a tree. I am a very safe driver."
Eva hated to admit it, but she really didn't have much of a choice here. She could decline his offer, but who knew when someone else would be able to find her and track her down? She didn't have magic like the rest of her family did, so she couldn't do much than wander in this place she'd only read about before. She was as useless as someone standing in the middle of New York City and told to find their way to a small town in Virginia.
So, Eva decided that she needed to suck it up. She was going to have to get on this motorcycle, whether she liked it or not. "Yeah, okay…" she mumbled, walking up to the metal death trap and swinging one of her legs over it. When she got herself comfortable, the most awkward part of the interaction was evident.
Her hands kind of grasped at the air, because she wasn't really sure what to do with them. She was riding a motorcycle with a boy. Their bodies were already so close together and touching, and oh my God. What was she going to do with her hands?
"Hold on," Stefan called out as he started up the bike, and Eva realized that she really didn't have much of a choice now - did she? Her hands when to his waist, wrapping around and pulling herself into him. She could feel the color rising to her cheeks, and she was suddenly grateful that he wasn't facing her and he couldn't see how hard she was blushing right now. Eva never had much time for dating, nor did she have a line of boys waiting outside her door who actually wanted to date her. So this right here? This was the most contact she'd gotten with a boy her age in a really long time.
The bike was loud, so Eva had to shout that they were set to go. As the bike took off, Eva clutched harder to Stefan, a bit scared that she was going to fall off the bike. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts of impending death that she almost didn't hear Stefan.
"So, what are you going to Snow White's Castle for?" he asked her.
"She's my grandmother."
The boy let out a chuckle that Eva couldn't hear. The only way she could tell that he was laughing at all was from the way his body moved when he did it. "Really? You must be so special," he said with a chuckle.
Eva wanted to tell him now. She wasn't special, and she had plenty of evidence to prove that. She came from a family of talented magic users, and she had none. All of her siblings had been born with these awesome powers, so unique to them, and she had gotten nothing. It was like her mother's savior gene had passed right over her. However, before she could tell Stefan all of that, her breath was taken away by the castle looming in front of them.
She had read about this castle, of course, and she'd seen plenty of pictures in her older brother's book. Nothing compared to the real thing. All her life, Eva had been in the middle of a town full of fairytale characters, and yet she never really felt that she was living a fairytale. But seeing this castle made her feel differently. This was something that felt straight out of a Disney movie.
The motorcycle slowed to a stop, and the world became a bit louder again. Eva looked up at Stefan, unwrapping her arms from his waist (somewhat reluctantly).
"Here you are, Princess."
Eva gave him a look, shaking her head as she pulled herself off of the motorcycle. "I'm not a princess. Where I'm from...I'm just a girl."
"Are you sure about that?"
It felt like a rhetorical question, and Eva wasn't really sure if it was something that she should answer. However, the girl didn't like leaving things tied up. "I'm sure. Just ordinary me."
Stefan smiled a bit, not saying anything to her, just staring at her for a moment. Eva felt like she was under inspection again, but it didn't feel as bad now. This guy in a beanie was starting to grow on her, it seemed. She was sure it had something to do with how close their bodies had been a few seconds ago, but she didn't say that out loud. In fact, she was absolutely sure that she would die of embarrassment if that was said out loud.
"Thank you for the ride," she said, knowing she should be getting inside. Her family was probably worried about her, after all. She just couldn't pull herself from the conversation just yet.
"Of course," Stefan said, a smile on his lips. "How long are you going to be here for?"
Eva blushed, and this time he would be able to see the color tint her cheeks. "I don't know. Why?"
Stefan shrugged, and Eva noticed a slight blush coloring his skin as well. "Maybe I'll see you again."
"Maybe you will," Eva said, but then she heard her name being called. When she turned her head back, she saw her family coming down the steps. "I should go. Thank you, again."
Stefan nodded, and started the motorcycle. Before her parents could reach her, Eva's knight in shining armor was just a dot on the horizon.
"Who was that?" Her brother asked.
Eva shook her head. "Just a guy who gave me a ride." she said, but she was still smiling as she turned to see her family.
"Well, let's go inside."
Disclaimer: We do not own Once Upon A Time or any of the canon characters that you may recognize in this story! We do own all the Original Characters mentioned (including the main characters - Stefan and Eva), as well as the plot of the story. Any plagiarism WILL be reported.
Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading the first chapter of If I Should Die! This is a story that we have been working on for a long time, and we are so excited to share it with you guys! If you haven't noticed already, this story is set TWENTY-FIVE years after the Season Six finale! (There is also very little mention of the events in Season Seven, as we acknowledge that that season didn't happen.)
Question of the Chapter! Who is your favorite couple on the show? (Both those that we see on screen - like Killian/Emma - and those that are just for our little fandom hearts - like Emma/Regina!) Ironically, ours is the exact same! We both love the concept of Killian/Belle, due to their connection throughout all of the seasons!
Please don't forget to review - and answer the question in your review! We look forward to hearing from you guys!
Katia and Kim :)
Face Claims of Original Characters:
While it is totally up to you to picture whoever you want as Eva and Stefan (or any other characters mentioned in the story), here are the ones that we picture!
Stefan: Cole Sprouse (2017)
Eva: Lili Reinhart