Here we go: the first chapter of Between Us. This is going to go through (more or less) the entire first three seasons, and then on past "Common Ground," tracking the relationship between Grace and Henry, along with their relationships with some of the other characters with a fair sprinkling of Red Cricket and Rumbelle mentioned throughout. Enjoy! It would make my day to get reviews and votes on my poll! Thanks!
"Courage and grace is a formidable mixture." - Marlene Dietrich
"Whatchya got, Henry?" Paige asked curiously, dropping down onto the park bench beside her classmate and peering over his shoulder at the book in his lap.
"Just a book that Miss Blanchard gave me last week," Henry said, glancing distractedly at her before returning his gaze to the pages of the open book.
"You're looking at it awfully hard for it to be 'just a book'," Paige pointed out. "How come?"
Henry looked at her out of the corner of his eye, sighing a little as he sized her up, apparently coming to the decision that she was… something – worthy of being trusted with his secret, maybe? – before he asked, "Promise you won't think I'm crazy? 'Cause I mean, I don't usually talk to people about this – I haven't ever talked to anybody about it actually-"
"But that doesn't mean that I'll think you're crazy," Paige pointed out. "Come on, Henry, we're friends, aren't we?"
"A-are we?" he asked in surprise.
"Yeah, I think so. But you don't have to talk to me about it if you don't want to, you know."
At that, Henry turned fully towards her on the bench and looked at her again, just… stared for a second. He wasn't sure why exactly he was willing to tell Paige about his theory, but he was… and when he really thought about it, she was right. If there was anyone in this town that he could actually consider a friend, then Paige was it.
Funny the things you could miss when your concentration was elsewhere… and what you could realize was the truth when somebody pointed it out to you.
"That's alright," Henry stammered. "I, uh, I wanna tell you about it. See," he scooted closer to her and tilted the book towards her so she could get a better view as he explained, "It's, uh, book of… fairytales – but not the way they're normally told – and the thing is…" He looked at her again, a little fear in his eyes as he second-guessed himself. Having just realized that he had an actual friend, he didn't want to turn around and loose her in the same minute.. But she had asked him, and he genuinely wanted to tell her – so, still watching her closely, he did exactly that. "They're a lot like the people in this town."
Even watching her as closely as he was, all he saw in her eyes, in her expression, was a heightened curiosity. She tilted her head to the side, wordlessly asking for more information, and he realized with a rush of relief that she wasn't judging him. She was giving him a chance to share his ideas; she was being a friend to him.
And in that moment, going over his life here, he genuinely wanted to know how he had skipped over her presence in his life. Well, no more, he decided. Now that he realized that he had a friend, he was going to be one too.
Henry wasn't really sure why Paige was the only one in Storybrooke who listened to him, but she was, and the further down this road he went – the more convinced he was of his theory – the more grateful for her he became. She actually believed him, she actually believed in him, and he needed that like nothing else right now. He needed… her to be what she was – what she had become – to him. She was a friend, and he needed that piece of normalcy in his life when he could feel that he was on the edge of something spectacular and terrifying. He needed someone to walk to classes with, to study with, and play at the park with, like any other normal ten-year-old on the planet.
In the months that had passed since he'd told her his theory about his book, they had gotten closer and she had become the nicest constant in his life.
So he took a risk that he was beginning to think wasn't even a risk at all and entrusted her with another secret – another layer to his plans – this one bigger than ever before.
"Henry," she hissed, eyes wide, voice frantic with worry and quiet even though the two of them were alone at his castle. "You can't just… go to Boston by yourself! That's crazy; you'll get hurt!"
"No, I won't," Henry insisted, even more stubborn then she was – and by now she knew it as well as he did. "I'll be fine, I promise. If I can just get Emma to come back with me – to come here and believe in magic – then we can break the curse. Don't you believe me? Isn't that what's most important?"
"Yes, Henry, I do believe you, but no, that isn't what's most important! You staying safe is."
"I live with the Evil Queen," Henry pointed out dryly. "It can't get much worse than that."
She sighed then, still looking at him, worry flooding her face more than ever as she realized that she wasn't going to be able to talk him out of it, and demanded, "Just promise me that you'll be super safe and careful, okay?"
"Okay."
"No, you have to promise."
Henry smiled at her, his one friend, who sometimes became so easily concerned at the slightest things. "Okay," he repeated. "I promise that I'll 'be safe and super careful' – and that I'll come back with the Savior."
Her shoulders fell a little bit, and he realized that he'd just said the wrong thing somehow. But how?! He'd done what she'd asked him to and even used her words exactly!
Confused, he asked a little nervously – because she looked ready to cry, but still, a friend would ask, right? "What?"
"Henry," she said carefully, slowly, like she was trying to get him to understand something important. "Getting the Savior and breaking the curse would be nice, but this life isn't that bad either, is it?"
"Don't you want to see the curse break though?" he asked guardedly, too used to being told that he was just "overly-imaginative" not to get a little on edge at what she was saying.
"Yes, of course! But… the Savior isn't my friend; you are. So… if you have to go, just be careful and come back soon."
Henry smiled in a way that he hoped was comforting as he said, "I will."