To Find A Home
Disclaimer: No owning by me.
Summary: Emma comes to a realization about her relationship with Archie. Archie/Emma established.
Just like "Defy Expectations" and "Hold Me Through The Night," this continues the idea that Archie and Emma are together, despite the ups and downs that are bound to come to them, given that they live in Storybrooke and have to deal with Regina.
Another plot-bunny that jumped into my brain, so enjoy this further delving into the very adorable relationship between Archie and Emma!
She was slowly ingratiating her way into Storybrooke and it was starting to feel like a comfortable place to live, more so than any other of the major cities that she had lived in previously. Emma didn't know what it was about the town, but she figured it some combination of small town charm, getting a very unexpected job offer and subsequent job promotion (the town hadn't gotten around to holding new elections and named a new sheriff yet), and the fact that her son had pleaded with her to stay. Well, that and she ended up falling in love.
Love was the last thing that she had expected to find in Storybrooke, Maine.
Emma found that she always smiled at the mere mention or thought of one Dr. Archie Hopper. There was something about the man that excited her and made her want to be with him more than she already was. It was hard to figure things out – she was the interim sheriff and he was the one psychologist in town. They had a lot on their respected plates.
Yet, despite their very different schedules, they still managed to find time for one another and, after a while, Emma realized that she was slowly moving into Archie's relatively small house.
Since her arrival in town not too long ago, Emma had rented a room at Granny's, slept in and lived out of her beloved yellow Bug after Granny had kicked her out (Graham's and Regina's shared fault for that one entirely!) of the Bed and Breakfast, was Mary Margaret's roommate, and now she was moving in with Archie. It was a slow process, transferring her basic necessities, clothes, and other random possessions from Mary Margaret's apartment (that never felt like home-like to her, despite Henry's assertions that the brunette, in fact, was her biological mother) to Archie's house. During this time, the house transformed from a solely bachelor pad (with all of the little touches of Archie everywhere) to a cozy and comfortable house of two plus a dog (that reflected both of their personalities well enough).
And, as she walked up the path to the front door, fishing her key to the house from her key ring (that seemed to be getting more and more keys as the weeks went on), Emma realized that she was starting to think of this as her home here. She didn't know when it had started to happen, but this was home.
Slipping her key into the lock, acknowledging the fact that (save for the little light over the door and the lamp sitting on the side table by the door) all of the lights in the house were off and Archie wasn't home, Emma opened the door.
The quick footfalls of a dog met her ears. Emma suppressed a laugh. Ever since she started spending a lot of her evenings here, Archie took to leaving Pongo at the house when he had long afternoons when it simply didn't work for him to bring the Dalmatian with him. On those days, Emma knew that Pongo would be eager to get out into the yard, if she got to the house before Archie did.
Dropping her work bag on the floor by the door, Emma flicked on a few lights, both inside and outside, as Pongo pushed past her, going out into the front yard and sat down, obviously waiting for her. The dog was so well-behaved. Normally, Emma wasn't much of a dog person, but Pongo was an exception for her.
Grabbing his leash (though he really didn't need it, Pongo listened to her as well as he listened to Archie) and a doggie bag, Emma closed the door behind her. It was a quick walk around the block to get Pongo to do his business and for her to clean it up. (She knew better to incur the wrath of Regina when she didn't want to raise the other woman's ire.)
Leaving Pongo in the fenced-in backyard, Emma trudged up to the bedroom and stripped out of her work clothes, dropping her red leather jacket onto the bed as she went and the rest of her clothes into the hamper.
Archie would be home soon enough. She had phoned him before she left the police station and he was finishing up paperwork for the day. It had become something of a routine that they would talk in the evenings, as one or the other (or both) was finishing up for the day, so that they could make plans for dinner, whether it be that they meet for dinner at Granny's Diner or cook dinner together.
Tonight, she had promised that she would make dinner and Emma did not go back on her promises, not when she could help it.
A part of her just wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep for a little while – okay, a good long while – until Archie got home, but her stomach had a very different idea and a different plan for her. It rumbled very loudly and demanded that she fed it and soon, so to the kitchen, she went.
And the kitchen was where Archie found her, not forty-five minutes later, a chicken and pasta dish cooling in the skillet, her head resting on her folded arms, where she had fallen asleep, waiting for him.
Emma lurched into awareness when his hand lightly shook her shoulder. A few strands of hair tumbled into her face as she looked up at him.
"Damn it," she swore, "I didn't mean to fall asleep. I wanted to be awake when you got home."
Archie just smiled at her as he leaned his umbrella against the table and pulled a chair next to her, sitting down and wrapping an arm around her tightly, reaching up to brush the hair away from her face tenderly. He was just so gentle with her. "It's alright, Emma. You've been through a lot recently and you're running yourself ragged, trying to step into Graham's old role. You don't have to apologize for being tired."
He was right. Archie usually was in situations like this.
She had been over-taxing herself. Between dealing with Regina, bonding with Henry, doing her (Graham's) job, and pursuing her blooming relationship with Archie, Emma had had a lot on her plate of late. But, of those things, the one that she hated that she was neglecting and falling asleep at was the one that involved Archie. Lord only knew that she wished that there was more time in the day and that she had more energy, so that she could spend more time with Archie.
That adorable little smile on Archie's face was actually very encouraging. Gently, he took one of her hands in his, lacing their fingers together, and squeezed.
"I'm glad you're home, Archie."
"Me too, Emma. Me too."
Something in the back of Emma's mind registered that she was talking about a home – a real home. A part of her was thinking about the fact that Storybrooke was definitely acquiring a few home-like aspects for her, but Emma knew that, for a bulk of that, she was thinking about how Archie's house – Archie's home – was quickly becoming home to her as well.
Archie's home was becoming her home as well - it was their home.
Absently, Emma watched as Archie set about putting the finishing touches on their dinner – dishing up the food from the skillet, getting them drinks, pulling out silverware and napkins from their respected drawers. He bustled around, busying himself with the few tasks he could. Ordinarily, Emma would try to help out, but she didn't really have the energy to do so at the moment – and besides, it was really nice to watch Archie's habits as he worked around the house. She learned a great deal about watching him.
Like, for example, how he was careful to pair up his socks as soon as they came out of the dryer (Emma was more of the dump-them-into-the-drawer-and-match-them-up-later type), or how he would roll his eyes almost indignantly whenever she piled fruit onto his plate at breakfast (okay, so she didn't really like bananas all too much, but he did), or how he would hum to himself when he was reading over a few files from work (usually strands of old songs that Emma didn't quite recognize).
She might not know what a home was supposed to feel like, but Emma was pretty damn sure that this felt like home to her. With Archie, she felt home.
And that was good for her.
This isn't the longest Archie/Emma story that I've written so far, but it still focuses on Archie and Emma.
As always, I ask you to review to let me know what you thought about this story. I really do appreciate your feedback. I like hearing what your opinions of this story were. Reviews are encouraging and they influence my decision to write future stories.