Henry had thought long and hard about letting Archie know that he was going to skip town, but he decided that wasn't a good idea. No matter how much he liked and trusted Archie, the man was still an adult, and as a whole, the adults in his life didn't believe him when it came to the book. So that meant that if he told Archie, Archie would take the necessary precautions to make sure Henry didn't leave, and that just couldn't happen.

Running into Archie the moment he got back into Storybrooke – with Emma Swan! – didn't do him any favors either, but it was nice to see his friend's calm concern… before facing down the Evil Queen. Then she'd gone and acted all concerned right after he'd explained to Emma how she only pretended to love him, further discrediting his story when he was trying the best he knew how to get the Savior to believe.

Frustrated with how being in Storybrooke was going so far, Henry snapped at her and ran inside, wishing he'd thought to lock the door when Sheriff Graham waltzed in and "checked in on him." The man didn't have children of his own, though, and giving him a hateful glare – once pretending to be asleep didn't work – was enough to send him running to report to the Evil Queen that he was "fine." When the sheriff disappeared, Henry did lock the door behind him, and after Sheriff Graham and Emma left, he ignored his mother's attempts to talk to him from the other side of the door until she gave up. Still steaming, he changed into pajamas and then actually went to bed, getting a few hours of light sleep before he woke up.

After getting ready for the day, Henry flopped down at his computer and sent a quickemail to Paige.

I'm back in town. I found the savior, and I'm safe, but the Evil Queen's being stupid. And Emma doesn't believe me. I'm not going to school today. Meet me at my castle after school? Please? We've got to figure something out.

Yet the adults in his life – Emma, this time! – messed even that plan up. She found him at the castle and dragged him back to the Evil Queen – after she drove him to tears that he didn't want to cry, and proverbially tore his heart out of his chest. Once he was back at his house, he darted past the Evil Queen and up to his room, flopping down on his bed and ignoring the way she came in to glare at him angrily.

Once he was sure that she was gone, he shuffled over to his computer and sat down, typing up another email for Paige.

Emma found me and brought me back to the Evil Queen. We won't be able to meet today. If I'm right about the curse, though, we'll be able to tell tonight. Time should start going again so the time will change at 8:16. I guess that's the only way we'll be able to tell for now until something bigger happens.

A few minutes after school had let out, he received a reply: I'm sorry. It'll be okay. Will I see you at school tomorrow?

Sighing, Henry answered only: Thanks. Yeah. Not like he had much of a choice in the matter.

And with that he stayed up in his room, sulking until 8:15. Staring intently at the clock tower, his mood did a happy one-eighty with the simple jolt of the minute hand. It was working!

Then the Evil Queen had to come along and ruin his happy attitude before he left for school, quizzing him about the book. At least he had plans to find a way to talk to Emma before school. After all, what responsible adult would let a ten-year-old boy walk to the bus alone?

Yet, for all of his trying, she wasn't as quick to believe as he would've liked her to be – at least not consciously – but when he shared these concerns with Paige during lunchtime, she was quick to remind him that sometimes it took grownups awhile to buy into things, especially things like this. So Henry tried his ten-year-old best to be patient with her as he waited for something to click.

But at this point, patience wasn't something that he was entirely well-known for – a fact that was exemplified when he got himself trapped in the mines with Archie – and he'd only been trying to find proof! That had backfired royally, though it had resulted in some meaningful conversation with Archie, the one grownup that he'd trusted in Storybrooke even before Emma came along.

That was the day that he realized – just like the lightning bolt of recognition where Paige was concerned – that not only did he trust Archie, but he had a friend in him – and it had only taken Archie nearly plummeting to his death down that elevator shaft for him to come to that realization. But once again, that realization meant the world to him.

And his spirits were only lifted further when he returned to school the next morning. When he came in, Paige was standing with a group of her friends inside their classroom, but when she spotted him, she darted over and gave him a tight hug.

"I heard about what happened in the mine; I was so worried I almost went to your house to check on you!" In other words, she'd almost broken one of their unspoken rules: Henry could come over to her house, but neither one of them wanted Paige in the presence of the Evil Queen. "Are you okay?"

He nodded quickly, reassuring her with a simple, "Yeah."

And for a few days, he actually was okay… and then things started looking like they were going to get even better. The Savior didn't believe, no, but someone was finally starting to – Sheriff Graham. He just never expected the man to die because of it…