Hey! Just fair warning was in an odd mood with this chapter, so apologies about editing and some of the clunky stuff… On and on!

Chapter Two – Belong

"… but you would have to be half-mad to dream me up."

– Mad Hatter, Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Enchanted Forest - Further in the Past

"I do believe that belongs to me…"

Her back stiffened at the unfamiliar voice, sun set was nearing and her father had warned her of the night's dangers. She had just brought the sheep back from pasture, it was not a large flock which meant that grazing cycles did not require Delilah to venture too far from the house and farm. Even though they had more than enough feed at the farm, the winter months were coming and she liked to see the sheep have fresh food and air, before being penned up during the cold season… she didn't mind getting out so much herself to read and think… generally be without her father's constant watch.

Beyond her father, she had only once, upon her venturing outside met the one other person that she would think of as the nearest thing to a true friend that she'd ever had in her life. In almost sixteen years of being alive she had never been anywhere but the farm and the local village, though she always tried to be as pleasant as possible, the villagers tended to keep their interactions with her clipped. Her father said it was because she was like him 'as nonsensical as a bag of common sense…' as he referred to it.

In any case, it was for that very reason that the unknown voice had startled her. It was the reason that she turned so slowly, once she had finally gathered her courage, to meet the jovial, dark green eyes of a young man. He could not have been more than a few years older than her, but standing a head taller than her, arms crossed and self-assured he just seemed so much… much… 'muchier?' Delilah shrugged to herself '… It's almost night, he must be getting cold without a coat…' in spite of the missing garment she had never seen a man so wholly dressed in such a way before…

Of course she had seen waistcoats and scarves before… but never in such a unique fashion or in such contrasting patterns. Red against black and she could see the glint of silver on his some of his fingers … in her village the colours were whites and browns that had once been white. The wool business was a good one and her father had kept her relatively clean clothed and her late mother's books had taught her how to bring colour to a wardrobe… but she had never seen anything as plush looking as what this man was wearing even his common brown and endearingly disheveled hair could not distract from it.

The object that she had picked off of one of the herded sheep and that she was now holding was also something she had seen before, but there was a facet of it that was odd… making it unlike any other hat she had ever seen, let alone held. She looked from the man to the brim that her fingers were toying with, then back up to the man again… "This is yours?" she tried to do the arithmetic. "Isn't it a bit too big?"

"Are you implying my head is too small?" He gaped, feigning at being offended.

Delilah heard the humour in his tone, and planted her feet firmly, "Contrariwise no… perhaps it is just your ears…" his offended expression lightened, with the smile at his lips and in his eyes, Delilah could not resist smiling herself.

"Wind whipped it right off my head" He whistled, uncrossing his arms to make a tumbling motion from his head away from his body "It's a very particular hat."

"For sheep?" she quipped, dropping her hazel gaze to the black hat in her grasp again. What he said next after a spell of silence caused her head to snap up.

"Marry me," he grinned, his smile was soft and sincere, his dark jade eyes flitted over her.

"Wh- what?" she wanted him say he was joking.

But he repeated with the same confident sort of nonchalance "Marry me."

"We just met."

"But I know I know you," he played with one of the more plain rings on his fingers "and by that reckoning you must know me too" the conviction in his voice should have frightened her, and on some level she supposed it did, but overall she found that she was intrigued by what he was saying and doing.

"Are you mad?"

"Can't say I haven't been accused of that… have been accused of worse though…" he tapped his chin, refocusing his gaze on her "Marry me" he pressed again.

"Delilah!" She could hear her father calling, causing the shepherdess to glance in the direction of her home just past the trees behind her. She had not realized how dark it had gotten, Delilah was glad to have had herded all of the sheep into their nightly holding area, before she had gotten distracted.

She backed away from the man's piercing and confident stare, he looked at her as if he knew all that she did not. She shook her head at him. "You are mad…" she professed, unable to keep an amused smile from playing on her mouth as she chucked the hat to him, picked up her shepherd's crook from where she had dropped it and followed her father's voice.

"Maybe… but for only for you" the stranger called calmly, unmoving, as though he was positive that they would meet again.

Storybrooke

Lilia's heart pounded, though she felt something warm trickling through her, the usually unused rational side of her was acting up. She hadn't seen any other cars on this lonely section of road and not many people lived on the edge of the small town, so Lilia had been acquainted with all those who lived by her… the gist of which meant that if she needed it, she knew that help was very far away.

Nevertheless, she pulled the embroidered fabric away from her nose and turned to face the origin of the strangely heartening male voice.

Dark green was staring her down. Lilia had to shake her head, she thought that she had seen something flash in front of her eyes but the image had blinked away before she could get hold of it.

"I'm sorry, didn't mean to startle you…" he spoke, his tone was apologetic.

When she re-centred her hazel sights in the beam of her car's headlights she saw a man that she had never seen before. He was taller than her, wearing a black coat and '… is that an ascot?' as she took in his appearance, she couldn't help but find his smile uneasy, there was something tense, almost angry about it… 'trench coat, ascot, quick to weirdly smile… serial killer Lilia, use your brain, serial killer…' the commonsensical part of her mind was working in overdrive, trying to make up reasons as to why she should find this stranger and his mad grin unnerving. She found that she had to force herself make them up because for some purpose or another she wanted this man, wandering around in the woods, to like her… really and truly like her.

"It… you didn't…" Lilia shakily began, he raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced "All right, so maybe you did, it's just the forest..." she gestured around their general setting as she listed "...middle of the night… stranger …" Lilia nodded at him.

"If it helps…" His expression became somber "You're technically a stranger too," he pointed out, holding the serious expression for a beat before smiling again, "I just moved in up the road…" he stepped towards her reaching out his right hand "Jefferson… "

'That name sounds about as made up as Storybrooke…' her hazel gaze skitted across his face, he was carefully concealing something under that disarming smile, she could have sworn that whatever it was bordering on resent 'serial killer Lilia, serial killer…'

But still she found herself putting her hand out in greeting "Lil… oh" Lilia had accidently held out the hand she had the embroidered cloth clutched in, giving that material over to him instead of the handshake "Isn't that a bit too small for you?" she joked out loud rather than thought to herself as she had meant to do.

He gave a soft chuckle, lovingly rubbing the fabric between his fingers, "A suitcase fell off the roof of my car and I've been walking up and down this road searching for this… It belonged to my daughter…"

'That must be why it smelt so much like a baby… my bab…'

"Why are you smiling like that?" he asked, breaking her away from her thoughts. Lilia opened her mouth to answer, but discovered that the way he was staring at her now, made her tongue go numb. Nothing about his expression was large or overt, it was soft and warm and the first genuinely undisguised look that she had seen from him.

"Just thinking. It's funny, I'd do the same… scour the roadside all night for Paige's baby blanket…" she went on, lost in memories again, "the things from when they're that age… just, I don't know…" Lilia smiled at him "You know?"

"I do" Some of the hardness had returned to his tenor.

She frowned 'belonged… he said belonged… Jesus Lilia! You're so freaking stupid…' She coughed, unsure of what to do with herself now that she had realized her clumsy misstep. Lilia scuffed her shoes against the damp earth under her feet, caught somewhere between apologizing, offering him a ride or saying good-bye.

As though he had known what she was thinking he spoke "Is Paige your daughter?" she looked back up at him, his mouth rising and falling as he tried to keep his smile in place. She replied with a silent nod. "Mine is Grace…"

"Grace…" Lilia muttered, "That's a beautiful name… my mother's name actually…" she offered, hoping that personal piece of information in the cold shadowy glow of her car headlights would provide some kind of comfort.

'He said 'is' this time…' a small weight had been lifted 'not gone for good then, maybe separated… or maybe she's still with him and just doesn't need a baby blanket anymore… '

She coughed again "Paige's in fourth grade, if Grace is in elementary they could…"

"Oh…" he interrupted her "…that's sweet and Grace is that age too, but she… ah, she lives with her mum… so…"

"Oh… right…"

'What the hell kind of social worker are you Lilia? Wake up!'

He broke the silence once more "Forgive my saying so, but you seem a bit young for a daughter that age…" he sounded a common refrain Lilia was used to getting, but he did not seem that much older and had a child Paige's age.

"Hey! That's the pot calling the kettle black or gray or whatever you want it, Mat…" Lilia stuttered a little, unsure where she was going with how she'd been about to address him "…ma- man…" she finished lamely.

His brow furrowed for a moment, to match her own, before his light smile returned. With a comical sigh he asserted "Young love… am I right?"

"I wouldn't know…" she murmured under her breath, staring down at her shoes as she scuffed them against the dirt once more, 'Okay Lilia, don't go back into heavy conversation territory… not when he's nearly gotten you out of it…' fairly certain that he hadn't heard her quiet musing, she sounded out an "Uh-huh." This exchange had been an odd one, "Listen, it's getting late… I'd better get going…" she raised her head to look at him again, "Do you need a ride anywhere or…"

"No- no…" he flashed that same charming smile again, "I have my car parked a bit further back. Thank you though."

"No problem…" Lilia began moving towards her parked car. "It was nice meeting you…"

"Jefferson" he repeated his name for her and held out his hand for her to shake again "Lil was it?"

"Lilia" she grasped his hand. Falling a step or two closer to him when she did, something electric surged from the tips of her fingers down to her toes. Her eyelids fluttered shut 'he smells like… feels like…'

"…home," his voice cut through the buzz in her head, seeming near enough she was sure the sound had rumbled through her.

"Pardon?" jolting herself back to reality, Lilia opened her eyes, fully appreciating how the power balance of who was creepy had shifted. 'He must think I'm more than a few cards short of a full deck…' she noticed that she had stumbled forward, leaving only about a half a foot of space between them. 'Hell, I'll say I'm missing the whole goddamn deck all together…'

"I said 'are you gonna be all right to get home?'" she tipped her head back to look up at him as he spoke "You got a little woozy there…" Another genuine flicker of feeling crossed his face, this time Lilia recognized it as concern.

'Guess that answers whether or not that spark was just me…'

"Yeah…" with some reluctance and a great deal of embarrassment she tugged her hand out of his easy grip, catching slightly on the silver bands around his fingers. "It was... I mean…" she moved back, biting the inside of her cheek "I'm sure we'll see each other around…" his grin widened, Lilia cleared her throat, "I mean it's small town…"

He seemed to be resisting the urge to laugh, opting instead to give his head a small bow "I look forward to it…"

By the time Lilia had gotten home she wasn't hungry for dinner, she told Dom and Paige to eat without her, all she wanted to do was relax and take a hot shower. Under the running water she had checked over the hand she had given Jefferson. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

'What the heck was that?' Prior to Emma's arrival new people in Storybrooke were rare, unlike others Lilia felt no need to view newcomers with suspicion… but something about 'him' unsettled her and she couldn't decide how or in what way.

Even as she slipped into bed, felt Dom's arms wrap around her and snake under her shirt, she could not get the man from the woods out of her mind.

"Ssss…" Dom hissed, yanking his hand out from beneath the over-sized t-shirt that she liked wearing to bed. Lilia had to smile into her pillow, unable to deny her relief.

"Why do you wear that cold thing all the time?"

"It isn't cold…" she muttered, fingering the plain silver band that she wore on a chain around neck, under her clothes, at all times no matter what she was doing or where she was going. In truth she would rather have worn it on her hand, but it only fit on her left ring finger… and she didn't want to cause confusion or hurt Dom… but she couldn't bear to be separated from it either. It had been with her for as long as she could remember… and while Dom always complained of the chill that it gave him, all she ever felt from it was warmth… like with Paige… and now, like with 'him'…

So completely loving the new season, finding it to work better now that it's freer. Again… sorry about the weird mood and awkwardness influencing the chapter.