It was late, far too late, when Emma found herself pacing in the living room of the house she had gotten herself as The Dark One. Henry was fast asleep in his new room upstairs as Hook slept in her bed, their bed, across the hall from him. This had been what she wanted, what she had always secretly wanted on some level, but it didn't feel right. The house was tainted with memories of The Dark One, the things she had done, and it just didn't feel like a home to her. It was nothing more than a house, a roof over her and her son's head as they slept, or as he slept.
It was just past three in the morning when she couldn't take it anymore. She had to get out of the house, away from the memories, so pulling on her favorite jacket she left quietly through the front door. She kept walking without thinking, not really aware of having a destination in mind. That was why she was surprised when she looked up a time later and found herself outside of Archie's house.
She stood there for a few minutes debating with herself about whether she should walk up to the house and knock or not. She really wanted to, a part of her felt like she needed to, but another part told her she had disrupted the man's life enough. She wasn't even sure if he'd answer the door at this time of night.
The decision, however, was made for her as Pongo started barking in the window on the second floor. She watched as a dim light flickered on before Archie stepped into view. She could even tell from the street the instant look of concern that appeared on the man's face before he stepped out of view again only to reappear moments later as he opened his front door.
Archie had made a quick trip home, walking at a faster pace than normal, even ignoring the many greeting he got on his way. Not that he noticed, but it spoke volumes about what kind of man he was and how beloved he was by everybody that as he brushed past them all they felt was concern. They all knew this man and they could tell something was wrong, that something was bothering him greatly. No one knew what to do though, seeing as normally they would go to him and ask his help if they grew concerned about anybody. Instead they exchanged worried glances as he sped by, talking quietly with each other when he was out of sight. Snow and Charming among them promised each other with a look to get to the bottom of it. They considered Archie family and they would not let family suffer alone. First thing the next day they would make sure he was alright.
After walking through his front door Archie had let it all come crashing down on him, surround him as he felt like he was being crushed. He had been fighting these thoughts for far too long, trying to push his emotions down but he had known better, as a therapist he had known better, but he was also still human. He had no doubts in his mind his feelings would never be returned so he had buried them, buried them deep and tried to forget they were there, but they were waiting, waiting for everything to get turned upside down. Somehow, Hook's hand sitting on Emma's shoulder had done just that and now he was facing the consequences. Everything that he had buried was now unearthed and threatening to crush him as they came crashing back down.
It was as he felt his tears winning out for the second time that day that he realised he had fallen to the floor, that his back resting against his front door and that Pongo was at his side. His faithful dog was whining in concern as he started to lick his face. Archie let out a sad laugh as he pushed the dogs face away before petting him. Pulling himself together, at least for now, Archie stood up and went about his nightly routine; letting Pongo out, feeding him and filling his water dish, before sitting down on the couch with his beloved dog beside him, resting his head in his lap. If he had a strong drink in hand tonight, unlike most nights, it wasn't like anyone else was around to notice, though he thought Pongo did give him a look.
He had gone to bed rather than refill his cup for a third time but was unable to find sleep, far too many thoughts fighting for his attention, thoughts he had neglected for far too long. That was why he was so quick to respond when Pongo seemed to suddenly appear at his window barking down at the street.
He thought for a moment he had fallen asleep as he looked down on the form of Emma standing in front of his house but just as quickly he registered her body language, the look he could imagine was on her face, so without thought he was racing down the stairs to open the door to her.
Trying to keep a distance for his own sake he addressed her in a professional tone, "Ms. Swan, what can I do for you?" He was still feeling the effects of his drinking earlier and hoped she wouldn't notice but he was fairly sure he had slurred his question a little.
As she took halting steps toward the door Emma took in a lot. She noticed the slurring, not completely sure at first if it was because he had been drinking or sleeping, but as she got closer she could smell a faint whiff of alcohol on Archie, which gave her pause, he was not the drinking type, he only drank to celebrate or when something was really wrong, like when he had told Henry what Regina forced him to. She also realised as she got closer he was completely alert, so despite the fact it was past 3am he had still been awake, which only increased her concern. She also noticed the way Pongo sat at his side nosing his hand while whining in apparent concern.
Before looking up, looking into the man's eyes, Emma took in a deep breath. She had a feeling she wouldn't like what she saw and she was right. There was an immense pain shining through in his eyes that outshone even his obvious concern for her. There was a pain that made even her heart hurt just to see. However, like always, after a few moments he seemed to gather himself and push his own pain away, the concern taking over, though the pain was still there in the back ground.
The last thing she thought about before speaking was his address of her, so trying to lighten the mood she nodded and said, "Dr. Hopper." He only blinked back at her with a concerned frown so she sighed as she looked down at their feet. She started to fidget with her hands as she tried to apologize, "I'm sorry for showing up here so late but I honestly didn't know I was even headed here until I was looking up at your house." She chanced a quick glance up, this time refocusing on his wrinkled dress shirt, the top few buttons undone and tie long since abandoned, before continuing, "I just couldn't sleep. If I'm being honest I haven't been able to sleep for a while now and I just feel so restless at night. As The Dark One I didn't need to sleep and I'd get so antsy at night, and well, I guess I still feel that, even if now I do need to sleep." She took in a sharp breath as she finally looked up into his eyes and told him, "I'm so tired, exhausted all the time, but every time I lie down and try to sleep I can't turn my mind off, and with this new dream, nightmare really, it's only gotten worse."
The concern on Archie's face was palpable as he took a step back and gestured Emma inside. He silently led her into his living room, toward his couch. As she sat he regretted not cleaning up his glass from earlier because Emma looked at it with a frown. Not wanting to answer the question he could see forming in her mind he sat down next to her before gently asking, "What can I do to help, Emma?"
She looked at him with sad and scared eyes as she told him, "Honestly, I don't know." She scrunched up her mouth for a second before quietly adding, "All I know is that I can't talk to anybody else about this, even when I want to. All I know is that when I talk to you it always helps, even if only a little, it helps."
Her eyes were gleaming with the threat of unshed tears again so without thought Archie reached out to comfort her, even if only in a small way. Putting his hand on her elbow he told her in a soothing voice, "If it helps I'm always here to listen, no matter the time of day or night, I'll listen."
Once again he was surprised to find Emma hugging him, though this time she wasn't crying. This time she was simply seeking out comfort for comfort sake. If he hadn't been drinking he probably would have hesitated, would have thought out the ramifications of his actions, but he had been, so without thought he pulled her closer, hugging her tighter as he rested his head on hers. He rested his lips on the top of her head for a fleeting second before whispering, "It's okay, Emma. Everything's going to be okay." They both knew he had no way of knowing that but it still helped.
He felt her slowly relax as her breathing slowed down and evened out. He felt as she leaned into him more and more and he knew the second sleep claimed her. As he felt it start to claim him as well he let his thoughts ghost on the idea that this would hurt come morning. Not just his back from sleeping in such an awkward position on the couch, but in his heart. He knew this would only make things worse for him but he couldn't bring himself to care in the moment. Emma was fast asleep, peacefully asleep in his arms and he couldn't even pretend to think about ruining that, after all she had said how exhausted she was, he knew she truly needed this and so damn any consequences to himself. If it hurt in the morning when she left it was his problem, not hers. Besides, it felt too amazing to have her in his arms to do anything to stop it.