A/N: Please read and review and let me know what you think of the beginning so far. I would really appreciate it :) As far as the show goes it will very loosely follow it for the most part, but some of the events in the show will be somewhat the same depending on what I decide to do.

Chapter 1

"Henry, I will be right back. Stay in the car," Regina orders as she opens her door.

"Ok," Henry sighs as she gets out and closes her door.

Henry watches her as she makes her way into a shop. Once she is inside, he decides to stare out his window across the street.

He turns his head just in time to see a girl trip, and drop all of the bags she was carrying.

He notices that all of their contents had spilled out as well.

He watches as she frantically picks herself up, and begins picking up the items and putting them back into the bags.

I should go and help her. He thinks as he continues to watch her. She appears to be having a rough time.

Henry turns his attention away from her for a moment to check on his "mother."

She looks to be in a deep conversation, so she shouldn't notice I am gone. I will just have to hurry. He thinks as he opens his car door and gets out.

He looks into the shop one more time to make sure that she isn't coming, and then hurries across the street.

When he reaches the girl, he sees that she is almost done picking up her items, but she is struggling to hold it all and pick up what is left at the same time.

"Need some help?" Henry asks her.

The girl jumps at his voice and looks around before her eyes land on him. He smiles at her.

"Yes, I would really appreciate it," she says and returns his smile.

"My name is Henry. What's yours?" he asks as he bends down and begins to pick up some of the items.

"Clara," she answers as she sets the bags she has already started to refill on the ground to make it easier for him to put the items in. She continues to pick up things as well. "You are the Mayor's son right?" she asks.

"Yeah," Henry replies, "Well she is my adoptive mother."

"Oh," Clara says not really knowing what to say to that.

There are a few minutes of awkward silence.

"All done," Henry says breaking it.

"Thank you so much for your help," Clara says gratefully as she retrieves her five paper bags.

"You're welcome." Henry smiles, "You looked like you needed it."

"You were right," she says with a slight laugh, "This is what happens when you are a klutz."

Henry laughs too, which makes her laugh harder.

"That is a lot of groceries," he states after a few minutes, and after their laughter has died down.

"Well, I have a big family," Clara explains.

"I see," Henry says as he curiously studies the girl in front of him.

He is just about to ask her something when Regina's voice stops him.

"Henry, I thought I told you to stay in the car."

Clara and Henry turn around to see a very displeased Regina.

"I know but…" Henry starts to say but Regina cuts him off.

"Go back to the car Henry. We will discuss this later," Regina orders.

Henry lets out a sigh knowing it would be pointless to argue.

"Goodbye Clara, it was nice meeting you," Henry says and then begins making his way to the car.

"You too," Clara calls hesitantly.

Regina turns and watches Henry as he walks to the car. Once he is inside Regina turns her attention back to Clara.

Clara starts to become nervous.

"What were you doing talking to my son, Miss Shore?" Regina asks as she crosses her arms over her chest.

"Oh, umm, he…" but she doesn't get a chance to explain because Regina continues to talk.

"Just watch yourself, Miss Shore," Regina warns, "You have a nice day," she says and then begins to make her way back to the car.

"You too, Miss Mills," Clara calls very confused about why she had said that.

Clara watches her get into the car and then her eyes travel to the backseat to see Henry waving at her.

She returns the wave along with a small smile and then watches as they drive off.

Once they are out of sight she glances at her watch to see it is 6:20pm.

Crap, I am late for supper and I am also the one who has the food. She thinks as she begins to run to her house, careful not to trip again.

As soon as Regina pulls into the driveway and parks the car, Henry quickly hops out and makes his way to the house.

Once he reaches the front door, he opens it, and hurries inside.

He is just about to make his way to the stairs to his room when Regina's voice stops him.

"Why didn't you stay in the car?" she questions with her arms crossed waiting for an answer.

"Because, when I looked out my window, I saw Clara trip and drop all of her bags and everything inside them spilled out as well. I watched her for a little bit, but it looked like she was having trouble so I decided to help her," Henry explains.

"Well that was very nice of you to help her," Regina says although she is not happy that he did, "Even so, I still do not like you talking to strangers."

"But she is really nice!" Henry protests.

"That doesn't matter. She may seem really nice, but she may not be. It is just dangerous to talk to people you don't know. If I would have been there it would have been different, but I wasn't and you were all by yourself," Regina reasons.

Henry lets out a frustrated sigh and mentally rolls his eyes.

"Sorry I didn't listen," he apologizes halfheartedly.

"It's ok," Regina says uncrossing her arms, "I am going to make dinner. I will call you down when it is done," She says and then makes her way to the kitchen.

As soon as she is out of sight Henry hurries to his room.

Once in his bedroom he closes his door and hops on his bed. He grabs his fairytale book from the drawer of his nightstand and begins flipping through it.

I wonder who Clara could be? He thinks as he flips through stories. She is obviously not Snow White or Cinderella. Hmm could she be Sleeping Beauty? He wonders stopping at that fairytale. Nah, I don't think so. He thinks for a little bit, but dismisses the thought and resumes flipping through the book. I guess I will just have to wait until I learn more about her, although that doesn't mean I can't pick a few stories and start making comparisons.

He continues to flip through the book until Regina calls him for dinner.

"Coming," Henry calls while shutting the book and putting it back into the drawer.

Finally, Clara reaches the building that says, Shore's Pet Shop. It is her family's pet shop and their apartment is right above the store.

Clara looks at her watch and sees it is now 6:45.

"Crap!" she exclaims and digs through her pocket for her keys to the store, while trying to hold on to everything she has.

Finally she finds them and quickly unlocks the door and hurries inside.

Once she is inside she closes the door and makes sure to lock it again.

Once she is done she hurries to the very back of the store to the door that leads to the stairs, to her apartment.

As soon as she reaches the door she flings it open, walks in, slams it shut, and then hurries up the stairs.

She makes it to the door of the apartment in no time and quickly makes her way inside.

"Clara, is that you?" she hears her Dad call as she shuts the door.

"Yes," she replies while beginning to make her way to the kitchen.

"What took you so long?" he questions while walking into the kitchen, "You left at 5."

"I know," she sighs while starting to unpack the groceries, "I had trouble finding everything on the list and then on my way home I tripped, dropped all of the bags, and everything spilled out. Then as I was picking them up the Mayor's son, Henry, walks over and asks if I need help, which I said yes, and he started helping me. After we had finished picking up everything his mother comes over and…" her Dad cuts her off.

"See, this is why I don't like you going anywhere but the apartment and our shop. I should have gone like I had wanted to and not let you talk me out of it like you did," he says a tad angry.

"But, Daddy, you let Clover and Shelly go sometimes too and I just get so bored!" Clara reasons.

"I don't care if you were bored, I still shouldn't have let you go," he says with finality, "Now are you going to help me with supper?" he questions.

"Yes," Clara says although she is still frustrated.

Clara and her Dad have dinner made by 7:30.

"Supper is ready!" Clara calls, informing her sisters.

Once they are all downstairs and seated at the table, they begin to eat.

There isn't much talking and when there was Clara didn't join in. She was still a little upset with her Dad and she was still thinking about what the Mayor had said to her.

You need to stop worrying about it. She thinks to herself. It didn't mean anything. She tries to convince herself. The only reason it bothers you is because of the way she said it, almost like a threat.

Clara is pulled out of her thoughts when she hears her name being said.

She looks and sees that it is only her and her Dad left at the table.

When did everyone leave? She wonders.

"What?" she asks looking at her Dad.

"Are you ok?" You didn't talk the whole time," He asks concerned.

"Yeah, I am fine, just tired," Clara assures him.

He looks at her for a few minutes. "I am sorry for getting upset with you," he apologizes.

"It is fine," Clara says with a small smile.

"It is just…" he starts to say but doesn't finish, "Go ahead and go up to your room, I will clean up," he says while standing up.

"Ok," Clara responds while wondering what he was going to say, if it was what she thinks he was going to say then she has heard the conversation plenty of times.

She gets up from her seat and begins to make her way to her room.

"Love you," her Dad calls.

"Love you too," Clara calls back as she makes it to the stairs that lead upstairs to her room.

Once she is up them, she makes her way to her room and then goes inside and closes the door.

She looks at the clock and sees it is almost 9:00, so she decides to get ready for bed and go to sleep. She has to get up at 7:00 to get ready for work and be at the shop by 8:00 tomorrow. It's been a tiring day, and she thinks it would be nice to get a good night's sleep.