Being the acting sheriff, and basically only authority in Storybrooke had taught Charming one thing. Without Snow he never would have been able to even pretend he could run a kingdom. It was a bit chaotic, to say the least. Along with all of that he was handling the fact that even though his daughter seemed to have been born only yesterday, he had a grandson.
Red was a big help in that area. Without the waitress he was pretty sure that he would have drown in it all quite awhile ago.
Being that Red was his wife's best friend, an almost constant staple during their attempts to take back the kingdom, and now a days basically always there, everyone knew Ruby. Well the prince had gotten to know her, quite well, and for being handed one of the worst circumstances to live your life on he had found that Red was quite the cheerful spirit.
So the lack of her spirit had caught Charming's attention. It wasn't necessarily that she was specifically sad, or mopey. It wasn't that she wasn't helping out or involved. Red was probably one of the only people besides he and Henry who was doing something to improve their circumstances. Not just going with it.
It's not that there was something specific to notice. It was just that there was something off about Red.
Charming tried to ignore the feeling. It wasn't like he didn't have bigger problems to deal with than some indeterminate thing being off about the town werewolf.
What made him realize it may be something serious though was when Henry noticed. It was around nine on a school night. Charming wasn't exactly sure when Henry was supposed to go to sleep...
"Do you think Ruby's sad the curse broke?" The question was abrupt, they hadn't even been talking. It tore Charming's attention from the TV screen and whatever child friendly comedy they were watching. He hadn't even considered that option, it seemed everyone was happy to remember who they were.
No one but Red really had a reason not to be.
"Why would you think that?" Charming asked, shifting to look Henry in the eye. The room light by just the flickering of the TV.
"I don't know. She just seems sad lately, and that's the only thing I could think of for why.." The kid had been quite the sleuth in the past few months. "I mean, if there's magic, and if the curse is broken. Doesn't that mean that Ruby goes back to being a werewolf?"
"Yeah..." Charming swallowed thickly. He hadn't even thought much about Red's own personal curse. ".. I guess it does."
–
Henry's insight kept Charming up most of the night. So when he went into the sheriff's station early the next morning. Tired, irritable, and holding onto his coffee like a life line, he definitely didn't want to take any disturbance calls.
This particular disturbance call however grabbed the prince's attention, and nearly knocked the weariness right out of him.
There were almost always patrols along the boundary around the town. Ever since the not so bright experiment with Sneezy. Mostly they were just to prevent accidental crossing.
Today however Charming was extra glad he had set up the patrol.
He took the squad car. It could be nothing, but for some reason Charming felt a pressing importance that he get to the scene of this 'disturbance' very quickly. He didn't flash on the siren even though he wanted to. It would only draw attention to the car, and cause a big deal about something that could be nothing. There was barely anyone on the streets anyway.
The scene was a rather interesting one. Thomas stood front and center of Red's car. Which The brunette leaned on the hood of. It seemed from her body language, and his. That they had been at their stand off for more than a couple minutes.
From a distance Red appeared relaxed, leaning against the cars grill. However as Charming approached he saw the stiffness in her joints. Fingers bent against the hood, the tips pressed flat. Pressed so hard they had turned a bright white.
Irritation was plain in her tone when she spoke to the younger prince, who was standing dangerously close to the marked boundary line. It was filled though, with hints of other things. Pain, and an all over weariness. As if Red had simply given up.
"Thomas, just move. I'll just come back later and wait till no one's looking. You don't have to play the hero."
"I'm not playing, Red. You don't want to go over there. There's no turning back." He took a step closer to the werewolf, and Charming watched her tense a bit more. "You'll forget who you are." He reminded her.
"I know, that's the point." Red gritted out, and Charming detected a hint of a familiar animalistic snarl.
"Thomas." Charming called, finally stepping in. "Why don't you finish your patrol, I want to talk to Red alone."
"James, you're not going to say anything different than he did. Just, just let me be, okay." Red's voice cracked for the first time, and her hand pressed to her mouth. She looked away sharply. Heat rising to her face. She would be damned before she got emotional in front of these two.
"Thomas, please." Charming tilted his head in the direction of the forest, and the other prince grudgingly complied. The former shepherd watched the other man disappear into the wood. A hand coming to rest on the red hood of Red's car.
"Why do you want to forget?" Charming's demeanor did a one eighty as he turned to face the brunette.
"James... I don't want... I didn't want you to get involved." The brunette sighed a hand pressing itself back flat on her hood. Her eyes journeying to the stark contrast of the pale skin of her hand against the bright harsh paint of the car. Anywhere but James. They then went to the asphalt between her feet. The toes of her boots. Then to the painted line of the boundary. Judging the distance between them. She knew if she tried it Charming wouldn't hesitate to drop her. She stood no chance against him. Not during the day, specifically one with no moon in the sky.
"Is it because of, because you're a werewolf?" The prince hesitated, he had always been awkward about the subject.
Red looked up at him so fast she was in danger of getting whiplash. "What?"
"Well, I thought, actually Henry thought... Maybe, it was because, with the curse broken, and the magic..." Charming suddenly seemed unsure. He scratched the back of his neck, fidgeting.
"James, I don't hate being a werewolf. I don't, love it, but it's part of me. I've learned to live with it. I wouldn't be... this person, without it."
"So, why are you here. Why do you want to forget?" Charming slid his hand through his short hair, and crossed his arms over his chest.
"It's-I." The brunette stopped. Breathed. "It's a love thing. I think you would understand." Charming looked up at Red, brow scrunching.
"A love thing?" Charming couldn't hide his smile even in the rather serious moment.
"It's not funny." Red pressed a hand to her face, again feeling the heat rising. That pounding in her ears. Her eyes itched. She did not want to cry. She felt a small strangled noise pushing itself up her throat. She felt panic growing inside of herself. Whenever she thought too much about the prospect of never seeing her again, this is what happened.
"I don't think it is. Just your wording, look Red I'm here. Just tell me. If you haven't noticed I have a bit of an upsetting love thing going on right now too." He laid a hand on her bicep, and instantly felt her tense, defensive. She didn't want to give into his comforting words. They had made a promise, together. It was all she had left...
"How can you do it? How can you handle never knowing if you'll see her again? Them again? I tried not to think about it. I tried to trust that you would fix it." The dam broke, and Red could no longer contain the tears that had been on call since the day Emma went into that portal. "I just don't want to keep going not knowing. I've already lost someone, and I survived that... Just... barely."
Red was glad for the hood of the car behind her because she was sure if it weren't for it she would be curled on the ground. She felt so vulnerable, something she hated more than anything. But now that she'd let it out she couldn't stop. The fear, the ache, the loneliness she'd been battling on her own for the past two weeks. It welled out of her, like blood out of a fresh cut.
Charming was holding her up with a hand on her elbow, shifting between her and the boundary line. Grabbing the other arm at it's joint.
"Red, are you talking about Emma... Are you and Emma?" The facts were slowly processing in his head, but the realization of what she was saying sent him through another hoop.
"Yeah, we are... Were... together..." Red managed through the thick feeling in her throat.
"I'm going to get them back Red. You can't just give up." Charming gave her a little squeeze. As if to emphasize his point.
"You keep saying that but how? What plan do you have? I can't stand not knowing." The brunette brought her arms over her head. Dragging Charming closer as she did so.
Around the two of them the massive forest seemed silent. The only sound Red's small hiccuping sobs. As if even the bugs had fallen silent in the face of her pain.
"I do have a plan. Not a solid one, but I do have one." Charming kept a hold on the werewolf. Hoping to steer her through her meltdown. "You don't have to be alone though. You've got me, and Henry."
This statement seemed to just draw more hiccups out of Red.
"Red?" The syllable came out sounding like a question. The prince shifted, and was caught quite suddenly off guard when Red lashed out.
He had always been surprised at how strong she was. She definitely didn't look it, and catching him by surprise she could easily over power him.
So when the brunette, flailed her arms forward, in some instinctual attempt to get him off of her. The prince went stumbling backward. One hand still gripping a red sleeve clad arm. He managed to spin on his heel and avoid toppling over the bright yellow spray painted line. He threw an arm out for balance, bringing Red forward with him.
The two teetered on the border for one terrifying second.
Then someone fell.
