We'll be meeting Regina next chapter :)
"Where were you last night?" her dad asked, again.
Emma crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. She shifted in her seat so her body was angled away from his- hoping he would take the hint. Of course he didn't.
"I don't get it, Em. You used to tell me everything..." he said sadly. Emma swore whenever she was with her father her eyes would roll out of her head. Her phone beeped and she reached to check who it was.
"'Used to' being the prominent part of that sentence." she muttered, smiling at the text Ruby had sent her to meet at the docks later. There was some sort of carnival on and Emma knew Ruby loved them- more than the kids did. She sent a reply promising to do so after she'd finished this stupid interview.
David sighed, reaching out to grab her hand- but Emma pulled away. "You could start again..." he said wistfully, awkwardly taking his hand back to lie on his lap. "Like for starters, why don't you tell me where you were last night?" Emma huffed, keeping her head away from him.
"Keep asking, dad. I'm not telling." He was silent for a moment, shocked that she really hadn't told him yet, but he laughed after the awkward pause, patting her knee, trying to release the tension. She stared at him until he stopped and pulled away.
"Fifteenth time's the charm, Honey." Emma raised her eyebrows, about to comment back when a woman with too red lips and too pink cheeks stumbled over to them, beaming too brightly. Emma winced just looking at the woman, but she wasn't one to judge.
"Hey, Sweetie," Emma grimaced. She hated being patronised. "I'm Kathryn." Ugh. The woman was overly perky. Emma gave the woman a curt smile and ignored her offered hand. Kathryn coughed to clear the tension before David stood to shake her hand warmly.
"Hey Kathryn, it's great to meet you." And then the smile was back- Emma swallowed a gag at the look the woman was giving her father. Gooey eyes. Yuck.
"Mr. Swan, right? We spoke on the phone," Emma swore her teeth were glittering. She squinted to try get a closer look without blinding herself, but Kathryn turned her head back to Emma, effectively stopping her from being able to judge the work done to woman. She then glanced back to David, a pitying look falling over her face. She rested her arm gently on his arm as she spoke softly. "The lift is broken, will your angel be okay on the stairs."
Emma snorted and stood up, pushing between the two and storming towards the stairs. "The angel can walk- and talk for herself- just fine, thanks." Emma shouted behind her as she crashed open the door and ran up the stairs.
David shook his head apologetically at Kathryn. "Sorry, she does this sometimes," he said quickly before running off after her, waving to thank Kathryn for her time.
"Hi, I'm Sidney, it's a pleasure to meet you," the official looking man said, offering his hand to Emma before her father. "You must be David, right?" he joked. Emma glared at him and slumped into her seat, crossing her arms and staring out the window.
She heard her father laugh awkwardly before taking Sidney's hand and again, apologizing for her behaviour. Seriously? If she were sorry, she would say so. She doesn't need someone to do it for her.
"It's great to be here, Mr. Glass. Emma and I are huge fans of the show," David rambled happily. Okay, not a massive lie. Emma and he used to listen to the show all time when she was kid. They would hike up the massive hill at the edge of the forest and have a picnic every Sunday before duelling together with broken sticks. Her mother would berate the two of them for getting their clothing dirty and they would have to stand and hang their heads in shame, before laughing when she turned her back. The radio would be on in the background so her mother would have something to do as she much preferred to be found than to find.
Emma smiled fondly at the memory for a moment before it was wiped from her brain at Sidney's voice.
"Okay, Emma?"
"What's that?" she asked, ignoring her father fidgeting beside her. Sidney smiled at her and repeated what he had just said.
"It's just going to be a casual talk, okay? Be as natural as possible and don't worry, I'll help you through, Emma." She nodded and crossed her arms.
"Wait, how are you going at this?" he moved his hand from the computer to cross his fingers.
"What do you mean, Emma?" she rolled her eyes. He was overusing her name. Must be some stupid psychological thing to boost her ego or something lame.
"Will it be the whole dying girl thing who is a hero really, or have you got something..." Emma thought. "'Original." she mocked.
Sidney sat there, confused by what she was incinuating. "Excuse me?"
Her father smiled at Sidney as he placed his hand on Emma's knee, squeezing slightly in warning. "Ignore that, please Mr. Glass."
Sidney nodded at David before turning back to Emma, smiling again. "I know it's heavy stuff, but let's just try keep it.. upbeat, okay Emma?"
Emma was going to say something before her father squeezed her knee again. She bit her lip to refrain from speaking and merely beamed at Sidney in mock happiness.
He nodded back before pushing a button and speaking into the microphone.
She looked around the small room, sitting further back in her chair. There wasn't much. Computer and radio... stuff along with their chairs and a desk. There were no personal touches, nothing homey. Emma didn't like it much. She looked through the glass window behind Sidney and sighed sadly when she saw a young man appear behind a girl, wrapping arms around her waist and kissing her neck. She subconsciously wrapped her arms around her waist.
"Hello Storybrooke!" His booming voice brought Emma out of her melancholy thoughts. "It's your favourite presenter, Sidney Glass here, happy Saturday! I am delighted to have as my guest in today's studio a brave young lady, Emma Swan. This young woman has been su-" a glance at Emma saw she was not impressed so Sidney quickly changed his wording.
"Living, with leukaemia for the last three years and is here with her father to tell us about it. So, David, tell us... when did you first realise Emma was," he coughed awkwardly. "Sick?"
Emma rolled her eyes and huffed, crossing her arms. Here we go again. He dad would tell the same story again. "Emma was sick. Mommy said it was the flu. I said she was too sick. It's been four years since the diagnosis." Blah blah blah.
She gazed out the window at the people wandering aimlessly below and felt jealous. She saw two girls giggling outside the store, holding some trashy magazine. Probably saw some guy's dick for the first time. And then there was the old man mumbling to himself. Emma watched him carefully. Old people fascinated her. They were all different, unlike teenagers and babies- most fall into a stereotype... but every old person was different. And it was something she would never be, so may as well get the learning done now so she could at least imagine the feeling.
He was about to vanish from her eye line, making her lean forward in her seat to keep watch, but she felt her dad's arm block her stomach. "What?"
"Emma? You okay? You looked like you were about to fall out your chair," Emma glared at him and sank back into her seat.
"I'm fine." She spat out, tightly crossing her arms to her chest. Sidney chuckled awkwardly and captured David's attention again.
"Just distracted by the sunshine, right Emma?" he asked, not waiting for a response. "Now David, was it your decision to end Emma's chemo? Or did the little tiger choose that herself?"
Emma scoffed at his patronising tone and opened her mouth to speak for herself, but David had already spoken- knowing that his daughter would not be too polite in her answer, even though this was a family show.
"Emma decided herself. Her mother and I were supporting her the whole time though of course. The doctors confirmed our worse fears and the chemo was only making her sick. She-" David bit his lip and Emma rolled her eyes, again.
He always got sad thinking about it, despite the fact that was all he ever did. Emma leaned forward in her chair and spoke for him.
"I found out I was sick four years ago and was given chemo. I stopped it last year because I hated feeling so crappy all the time," Sidney nodded, interrupting her to show that he was still in charge of the conversation.
"A big decision for a seventeen year old."
Emma gave him a deadpan look. She'd heard that one too. "Hardly, if you'll forgive me Mr. Glass, but it's my life and I'm the only one who feels like this, you know?" he nodded, opening his mouth. But Emma pressed on, determined not to be interrupted. "So I decided to end it naturally I guess, rather than be sick and helpless and dependent on everyone. I'd hate that. At least now I still have a chance to be a teenager... for a while anyway," she said simply, leaning back and crossing her arms again. David brought his hand to his face, scratching his cheek. His nervous habit. Sidney nodded, continuously smiling at her. "There are things I want to do before I die that I couldn't do if I had chemo."
Sidney perked up shuffling closer to the edge of his seat. "A list you say? Your father never mentioned that."
Emma grinned and moved closer to Sidney, her elbows now on the table as she whispered, albeit loudly, "that's cause he don't know about it."
Sidney's eyebrows raised as he looked at David, who was sat there, dumbstruck. He knew his daughter was blunt and private, but this... a list?
"So your father has no idea?"
Emma smirked at both the men. "Until now? Nope, he had none. But that's because most of it's illegal." She said cockily, as though goading the men. A silence fell over the small room as Emma just grinned at the men. They sat there, processing what Emma had just said, her father stunned by this admittance. Sidney was the first to recover by rustling papers and laughing his infuriating, nervous laugh.
"Well, I'm almost scared to ask," he said politely, chuckling again, humouring her. He opened his mouth, looking ready to close the segment, but Emma was having too much fun now.
"I nearly had sex last night." Emma stated, her face blank. Her father chocked beside her and she hid her smirk. "Although I guess that's not illegal here." Her face changed to a thoughtful expression as she continued, ignoring the looks of horror passing between Sidney and her father. "But he was so crap the guy should be arrested anyway!" Emma cackled and Sidney hastily tried to end the show.
"Well it looks like that's all we have time for, li-" he was stopped when Emma loudly said.
"Drugs are next. Any recommendations?" she said, her face blatantly smug because, after all, who would challenge a cancer kid?
"Well aren't you amusing? I think you'll agree listeners that Emma is one feisty lady ready to take on all the world has to offer. Thank you very much Emma and her father." Sidney said quickly, all in one breath. When Emma opened her mouth Sidney was fast to say, "now the weather."
Emma huffed and jumped from her chair and storming out of the room, leaving her father to try and silently apologize for her behaviour.