SO BASICALLY I MISS WRITING THERE'S A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. SEEING GRAHAM IN 1X17 GAVE ME ALL KINDS OF FEELS AND I'M HAVING TROUBLE DEALING WITH THE FACT THAT HIM AND EMMA WERE BOTH IN STORYBROOKE BUT UNABLE TO INTERACT OR ANYTHING. IN THIS, GRAHAM AND EMMA ARE IN AN ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP. I GUESS YOU COULD SAY IT'S CANON EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT GRAHAM NEVER DIED. THE FOUR "RULES" IN THIS STORY ARE FROM SOMEWHERE ON TUMBLR. I CAN'T REMEMBER WHERE I SAW THEM, BUT WHEN I DID, I THOUGHT THEY COULD MAKE AN AWESOME EMMA STORY. AND WHERE THER'S EMMA, GRAHAM USUALLY ISN'T TOO FAR BEHIND. I GUESS YOU COULD SAY IT'S CANON EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT GRAHAM NEVER DIED. THERE'S ALSO THE FACT THAT THE CHARMING FAMILY GOT A NEW HOUSE. SORRY FOR SUCH A LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE. ONTO THE STORY…
ONE LAST THING (SORRY): I DON'T OWN ONCE UPON A TIME. NOW SERIOUSLY, ONTO THE STORY.
Emma trots down the stairs, her blonde locks pulled up into a messy ponytail, wearing a light blue tank top and black shorts. She rubs the last remnants of sleep from her eyes and takes in the empty apartment. Panic fleets through her for a moment, the fear of abandonment bubbling up to the surface. She takes a few deep breaths to calm her racing thoughts, and then she remembers that her parents were taking Henry to the stables and Graham was helping Granny and Ruby put up a new sign on the diner. Emma smiles when her eyes fall on her spot at the table; her breakfast looks like a smiley face, no doubt Mary Margaret's doing, her coffee's already been made to perfection, and there's a single tulip in a small glass vase. Yup, life is good, Emma thinks. As she slides into her chair, she notices a small, folded up piece of paper. She slides it out from under her mug, ignoring the temptation of caffeine for the time being, and unfolds it. She immediately recognizes her boyfriend's handwriting:
you are allowed to terminate toxic relationships
you are allowed to walk away from people who hurt you
you are allowed to be angry and selfish and unforgiving
you don't owe anyone an explanation for taking care of yourself
Emma stares at it, trying to figure out what Graham means. Is he breaking up with her? No, it said I am allowed to end relationships. She then thinks about recent events. Was he referring to Neal? Maybe. She decides definitely. Suddenly, her stomach flutters and she bites her lip as she tucks the little piece of paper into the waistband of her pants, something Emma Swan most definitely doesn't do. She hurries through her breakfast, barely taking time to savor her mother's eggs and bacon before haphazardly running a brush through her hair and changing.
Even after five months of dating, whenever Emma steps into his field of vision, Graham's knees still grow weak. His knees decide to remind him of this from the top step of the ladder he's on. He almost topples over as she rounds the corner. With a slight red tint to his cheeks, he climbs down.
"Hi." He smiles goofily.
"Hey." Emma does the same. "Uh, hi, Ruby, Granny." She nods in their direction.
"Hi." Ruby chirps, her face taking on that of Snow's when Emma told her she was dating Graham. Even Granny is cracking a smile.
"You kids and that True Love crap." The older woman shakes her head, but it is evident in her voice that she's happy for the two.
"Yeah." Emma scoffs because she was saying the same thing five months ago, albeit in a different context. "How's the sign coming?"
"Great." Ruby responds. "Graham's an awesome hanger."
"Until he almost falls of the ladder." The blonde quips.
"You saw that?" His Irish lilt is strong as he scratches the back of his neck.
"Kinda hard to miss." She shrugs and steps closer to him, finally allowing her head to rest against his shoulder. At this, Graham smiles, knowing this is just about as much PDA as he's going to get.
"You know what? The sign's done. Why don't you guys have some breakfast or something on us?" Ruby asks.
"I just ate. Mary –Snow, whoever made me a smiley breakfast, but a hot chocolate sounds good." Emma smiles.
"Oh my Gods, Snow hasn't done that in forever." Ruby gushes, leading her three companions inside the diner. Granny takes back her post of cashier. Graham and Emma sit at the counter, listening to Ruby babble on. "She did a couple times a month for James back home, especially when she was pregnant with you." She pauses to squirt the whipped cream on their beverages. "I wonder why she's in such a good mood?" Ruby ponders out loud as she delivers the drinks, then handing Emma the cinnamon shaker. The blonde shakes on a hefty amount of the orange-brown stuff.
"Well, she and David took Henry to the stables this morning. Maybe getting to ride a horse again?" Emma says.
"Maybe." Graham agrees. "Whatever the reason, I'm just glad she's getting over the Cora thing." At this, the trio's expressions sobers.
"Yeah." Emma says softly.
"You know her heart was turning dark?" Ruby's voice is quiet so as not to allow anyone to overhear their conversation.
"Yeah." It seems to be Emma's word of the day.
"It's not anymore."
"What!?" Discretion never has been the blonde's nature.
"How?" Graham asks.
"She doesn't know, nor does she really care. Although, Blue thinks it has something to do with True Love and maybe being around you."
"Me?" Emma raises an eyebrow, realizing for the first time that her hot chocolate is growing cold. She takes a spoon to the whipped cream.
"You're the product of True Love, Emma. Hers. And you're special, you know that."
"Yeah, yeah." She waves her hand to dismiss her friend's words. "I'm sick of hearing about it." The three sit in silence for a moment, then Leroy opens the door.
"Leroy!" Ruby beams, then bounds over to greet the new arrival.
"So…" Graham casually places his hand on top of hers. "What's on the agenda today?"
"Hmm… it's Saturday. I don't know. Tomorrow's my PJ day and I'm not leaving the house. If Henry isn't done riding by the time we're done here I'd like to go watch him. What about you?"
"I don't know." He rubs his thumb along her fingers. "I feel like we haven't seen each other in forever."
"Well, between Captain Guyliner, Cora, Regina going psycho –again– and Mary Margaret kind of losing it, yeah, it's been a while."
"And Neal." He says.
"There's that, too." Emma agrees with a sigh.
"Hey, look, I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry." Graham's eyes turn concerned in a split second, and he instinctively places a hand on her back.
"No, it's fine." She says firmly.
"Emma…" He cranes his neck to look her in the eye, giving her a look that says 'you can tell me anything'. "I won't be offended if you still have feeling for him, if that's why you're not talking."
"No." She shakes her head. "I don't. Not at all. You're my True Love, you know that. And, you know, I love you, not because it's our destiny or whatever, but because you're you. Am I still upset about what he did? Of course. And I don't like sharing Henry with him –I mean, I'm already kind of sharing him with Regina and that sucks, but Neal is more dangerous in a way because Henry isn't expecting Neal to hurt him…" she trails of to take a breath.
"Emma, Henry'll be fine. I don't think Neal has any intention of leaving him."
"That's what he made me think, too, before he left me!" Thankfully, the only other people in the diner are Ruby, Granny, and Leroy, and all of them have the sense to pretend they didn't hear anything. Emma looks back down at her hot chocolate. "I don't trust him." She says so quietly Graham almost misses it. "I don't want him around. All he does is remind me of my past." Then she turns to him. "I got your note."
"I figured you would."
"Thank you." Surprising both of them, Emma wraps her arms around his neck. Graham holds her close. "I guess I really needed a reminder that I'm allowed to… you know, what you wrote."
"Emma." He pulls back to look at her. "Those are your four rules. I want you to live by them."
"I will." She says, and then becomes acutely aware of the three pairs of eyes staring at them. "You wanna go watch Henry now?"
"Sounds like a plan."
Henry waves at them from on top of his horse.
"Hi, guys!" He beams.
"Hey, Kid." Emma yells back from across the fence. Mary Margaret and David smile at her. "Thanks for the breakfast."
"Did you like it?"
"You know your cooking's always great." Then, while watching Henry, she says, "The smiling eggs and bacon were a nice touch. Thanks."
"I thought you'd get a kick out of it and there was no one around for you to be embarrassed." The brunette explains with a small smile.
"I'm glad you're okay." Emma says, the wind whipping her hair around.
"Emma, I–"
"No, you don't have to explain. Honestly, I don't care about the reasons for you not telling me about it, all I care about is that I'm not gonna lose you." Emma really wishes she could pick when her walls decide to come down because their new house would be a much better location for nearly tackling her mother into a hug than out in the open by Main Street. David meets Graham's eyes over their wives. David mouths, 'What did you say to her?' Graham shakes his head, 'nothing, really'. Because really, those four rules he gave her should not account for this display of affection. Emma pulls back, smoothing her red leather jacket. Henry trots over.
"Guys?" He questions.
"Everything's fine, Kid." The blonde assures him. Though the Emma has regained some of her son's trust, Henry still turns his head to Graham.
"Really, Henry." The co-sheriff nods. "Your mom's just in a good mood."
"Hey!" Emma swats at his chest. "I'm always in a good mood."
"Not always." Mary Margaret mutters under her breath.
"Okay, you know what? I don't like this attack on me. I think me and Henry should just go… do stuff." Despite her words, the barely concealed smile betrays her amusement.
"But Mom, I'm having fun riding." Henry whines.
"Henry, it's twenty five degrees out and you've been outside for two and a half hours. Let's get you warmed up and then later we can come back."
"Okay." The boy sighs.
"I'm just gonna help him off." David meets Henry and the horse in the stall.
"I can't believe it's only 9:30." Mary Margaret says as she checks her cell phone for missed calls.
"I've only been up for half an hour." Emma laughs. "I don't know how you people get up so early."
"Isn't it handy that your father goes to the station first, along with Graham?"
"No, David goes in first because he's my deputy and I get to boss him around." Emma smiles.
"Actually, he's our deputy, co-sheriff." Graham smirks.
"But I'm the one who deputized him!" The blonde cries indignantly. Henry stands off to the side, shaking his head at his family's antics.