"Henry, what were you thinking?"

Those words sounded familiar. They were the same ones Grandpa had used in Regina's magical lair, but that time, the older man had mainly seemed worried for his safety. This time, there was sternness behind his voice that Henry hadn't heard before.

Henry squirmed on the bench outside the principal's office, trying to avoid the drilling gaze of the man kneeling in front of him. "I got mad," he said, shrugging. He knew that wasn't going to cut it, but he was trying to stall for time.

His grandfather folded his arms in front of his chest. "You know fighting is off limits. Why didn't you tell a teacher if you had a problem?"

Henry fingered the lock of hair that partially covered his black eye. "They don't do anything. They just talk to people and give detentions."

"Right," said David, "so you thought you'd take the law into your own hands?"

"He—said I don't have a dad because my mom is a -," said Henry, whispering the last word because he hated to say it so much.

"Does that make her one?" asked his grandfather.

"Huh?"

"I said, does it make her one of those just because a kid said it?"

"No—o," said Henry slowly.

"That's right," said David, "and it doesn't make it right for you to hit somebody, either. Words are just words."

Henry stared at his hands in his lap. "But I have to take care of my mom."

"Kid, do you think Emma cares what anybody says about her?"

"I dunno," said Henry.

"You're smart. Think about it. Emma has a lot more important things to worry about. Besides, you don't have to take care of anybody." David's hand under his chin forced the boy to meet his eyes. "Henry, I know you're used to being on your own a lot, but it's time to start letting somebody else take care of you. Now, I can teach you how to do a lot of things, but for that to work, you need to trust me. If you have a problem, you don't deal with it on your own, you come to me, and we'll work it out together."

Henry had never thought of it that way. Regina's affection and attention had always been doled out on her timetable, never because he needed her. Emma, too, had been too preoccupied to really mother him. He'd never known what it was like to have someone protect him when he needed protecting, and it was hard to believe he had someone now.

"Well?" said David. "What do you say?"

Henry put his arms around his grandfather's neck. He didn't care if he had to serve detention every day for two weeks. His life, he thought, was too good to be true.