Author: My-Sexy-Meagan

Characters: Emma, August, Jefferson

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my fantasies. If I did own anything Once related it would most definitely be Rumple, but sadly I do not :(

Chapter 8

Emma sat at the table in her mother's apartment staring down at her empty tea cup. She could pretend that everything was okay around her parents and Henry, but when she was by herself she let herself dwell on her lonliness for a little while.

Her despairing thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. She wondered who was at the apartment when her parents were out, and who felt the need to knock on the door and wait for an answer anymore. It seemed that the townspeople took her parents' abode for their old castle where they could welcome themselves into the living room with just a brief introduction before getting down to business.

They'd only been in Storybrooke for less than 72 hours, and were still recuperating. Mulan and Aurora had been settled in and were starting to get used to the modern appliances like electricity and indoor plumbing. Her thoughts occupied her weary mind while her feet carried her to the door. She didn't bother with the peep hole anymore, any person who came to Snow White's apartment would stay there until their problem was resolved or they were told that their problem would have to wait. So even if she ignored the door, whoever it was would most likely just wait until her parents got back.

She opened the door and got a little shock as she saw Jefferson standing in front of her.

"Hello, Emma," he greeted her with a truely genuine smile, at least genuine for Jefferson. It only contained a hint of the madness that lurked at the edges of his conciousness. "I was hoping you'd be in today."

Emma's mind had temporarily shut off at the site of him in front of her door, but now it was in full swing again. He would be here because August was out of the picture. He would want to collect on his promised dates. He still had 3 date nights and 2 coffee dates left, and she had no doubt that he would take full advantage of them now.

"Aren't you going to invite me in? I am a guest, you know." There was the demanding side of Jefferson, but his face softened enough to show Emma that he hand't meant it to sound as rude as it had.

"Sure." She stepped back and he walked in. She shut the door behind him and moved back to the kitchen table. Picking up her mug she took it over to the sink and set it down inside. She leaned against the edge of the sink, bracing herself for the talk that was about to come. She was so tired of putting on a facade for everyone. She wasn't going to do it for the madman. If he really wanted to collect on his dates, she wasn't going to stop him.

"So, I came by to welcome you back. It seems like the town has forgotten their manners. I, for one, am glad that you made it back. Can you tell me how you managed to travel without a portal creater or a magic bean?" He wasn't being snide, but he wasn't genuinely curious either. He wanted to get straight down to business, and Emma could tell.

"Gold. He cast a transportation spell with a hair from my mother and I. Mulan and Aurora came as a side effect." She left it at that. If he wanted details, he would have to wait until she could deal with anything more than her parents and Henry. "I know you've come to collect on your dates. You can schedule them if you want, but I have the right to veto them. Gold needs us, and my parents are still working on a way to get us back. My schedule is kind of full right now, but I won't deny you the dates that I promised you." Emma knew she was being brusque, and even a little hostile, but she was beyond the point of caring.

Jefferson moved around the table to her side. He put his hand over the one she had laid on the kitchen table. His thumb traced soothing circles into her skin. She just looked over his shoulder. She didn't need this right now. He was only trying to get in her pants, and she really wasn't ready to get over Augsut. She always took forever getting over a guy. He'd be lucky if she'd stop mourning for her lost lover in 2 years.

"Emma, please look at me. Ah, that's better. I'm not here to push you too far. I've tried bullying and cowing people into doing things for me, and that's sometimes the best way to handle certain situations. This, however, is not one of them. I'm only here to offer you some support. I can see that you're suffering. That you're putting on a brave face for those that you love and care about." He moved his other hand under her chin when she dropped it from his gaze. "No, look at me. I'm being sincere here. I do have feelings for you, and I will collect on those dates sometime in the future. But right now, I can let you grieve. I know about grief."

Emma gave a little scoff and went to move away from him. His grip tightened on her wrist, and his hand moved down to her shoulder to turn her towards him again.

"I'm not done yet. You may think that I know nothing of grief, but let me tell you a little story. I once had a wife. She was the most gorgeous woman I've ever met, and we fell in love." His eyes took on a distant look and Emma almost pulled away from him again. If he was trying to court her, telling her about his past love wasn't going to help him any. "But we were foolish. Her name was Alice. We were adventurers. We lived happily, going through my hat to many worlds, plundering the riches there. We made many dark deals, but we always got what we wanted. Then we found out that Alice was pregnant. For the first three months Alice and I looted as much as we could, stealing gold and money so we could afford to take care of our child. The last six months we spent getting ready in our world. We bought a nice, homey cottage. We spent days painting the nursery and I even managed to craft a cradle for our child. When Alice had Grace, we decided to give up our lives as world plunderers. Up until then I had been doing special missions for the queen. Gathering items that were important to her. She paid me well, and was quite happy with my services. But when I told her that we were done with our old ways because our daughter had been born, she was very much so displeased. She hounded me, making threats on Alice and Grace's lives. She said she only needed one more thing done. One more errand and I'd be free to live my life with Alice and Grace." Emma was so captivated in his story that she almost didn't notice the sad look in his eyes. His hands began to tremble on her shoulder and her wrist, so Emma turned to face him fully.

"Well, let's just suffice to say that the queen had done what she'd always done best. She tricked us. I lost Alice, and Grace was left with only a father to care for her. I wish so hard every day that I hadn't done it, that I'd just moved my family into another world where the queen wouldn't be able to touch us, but I didn't. I'd thought that everything would work out in the end, but the queen had ruined our happiness. I still grieve for Alice. What we had was the ultimate happiness. But happiness can only be accomplished with some level of obliviousness. The only reason I had to hold on to life was for my beautiful daughter. Then I was tricked once more by the queen. Why I had even decided to take on that last mission, I have no idea. I figured that the queen couldn't possibly take a little girl's father from her, but I assumed wrongly." Jefferson's hands had quit trembling to the point that only small little quivers gave way how he felt. His eyes cleared slowly and he looked at Emma again, and finally saw her. "Yes, I have feelings for you. Yes I'm crazy. Yes, you probably shouldn't trust me, especially after what I did to you and your mother. But I can help you with your grief. I can teach you how to live again. Show you how to not just fake it for the ones you care about. Eventually they'll see through everything. They'll see that you aren't really happy. And that's when problems start. Luckily for me, Grace wasn't old enough to see through my guises and I learned how to go on for her before she was old enough to tell the difference."

Emma couldn't help but stand there and let Jefferson continue to rub circles into her skin. It was nice to feel like someone understood what she was going through. It helped her cope somewhat. To have someone there, a warm body to touch her and understand what was going on, that was what she needed most.

"I can't do anything for you, Jefferson. I can't give you what you want, and you know that you're going to help me get through all of my darkest days." Emma dropped her gaze from his again, and he tipped her chin up once more.

"I don't expect anything in return from you. I just want to help you get back to the person you were before. I miss the person you used to be. I can tell the difference, just from watching you since you've been back." Jefferson looked in her eyes. She felt some kind of connection, even if it wasn't the same type as the one she'd had with August.

His arms felt good wrapping around her. The hug was the first time that she'd let another person touch her so intimately since being sucked through that portal to Fairytale Land. The side of her cheek rested against his collar bone, and she closed her eyes enjoying the feeling of having a heart beating in a chest under her fingers.

They stood there like that for what felt like eternity. Emma only focused on her breath and the heart beating under her fingers. It was a different approach, and one that she thought she could get used to.

A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter is so short, guys. But I appreciate all the love, and the minimal amount of August hate. I'll be finishing this story soon. Hopefully over the Thanksgiving Break we get from school, I'll get a lot of writing done. My early New Year's Goal is to finish this story by December 31st, 2012. Hope it turns out like you guys enjoy. :) Props to the reviews:

scifigirl10: "This is great. I'm interested to see Jefferson get back in the picture! Please continue soon!"

Thanks scifigirl10. I appreciate the Jefferson enthusiasm, but he's in the next few chapters. I promise everyone that Jefferson will have a regular part from Chapter 8 onwards.

ForEver-A-DayDreamer: "Who cares about August where's Jefferson?"

August is very essential to the plot right now, but Jefferson is coming. (Kinky ;) ) And should be in the picture until the end of the story.

Make war not love. war is fun: "cool story so far tho I prefer emma with either jefferson or killian as to me that are the only gorgous guys in the show."

Thank you for the compliment, and I agree with you about Killian and Jefferson being gorgeous, but I would have to include Rumplestiltskin and August in there.

Thanks again to all of you who give me POSITIVE criticism. I really learn what you guys want from it, although I'm pretty sure I'm just the medium for the story to spring forward from. See you again in Chapter 9 :)