Ashley looked up and around at every one staring at her, her hands holding the menu up in front of her. No one said anything, no one moved and Ashley was pretty sure every one was holding their breaths. Granny put her hand on her hip taking notice of how nervous the poor thing was and spoke up. "Do you eat meat darling?" Granny asked Ashley, every one jumped even Regina when Granny spoke, then they all moved their gazes back to Ashley. Ashley nodded and Granny wrote something on her pad,"do you like french fries, and so you like soda?" Granny asked Ashley again. Ashley nodded and Granny again wrote something down on her pad, then looked at every one else around the booth. "For crying out loud you guys, she's just a girl. You want her to be comfortable, quit staring at her like she's about to jump up and run away." Granny growled waving her hands about as she talked. Hook huffed and leaned back further into his seat mumbling under his breath, "yeah because we wouldn't want to see that happen again." Granny smacked the back of his head with her hand clutching her pad and Hook said sorry. Granny went around and took every one's orders which were about the same, cheeseburgers for every one except Regina who wanted a salad.
The booth stayed quiet for a while after Granny left, no one wanted to say or do anything that might make the situation more uncomfortable. The food same, and every one got their plates, but no one really chowed down like they wanted to, instead they watched Ashley. Ashley was on the verge of crying, she felt the eyes digging into her, begging her to do something. Regina ate a bite of her salad and Snow looked over to her when she heard the lettuce crunching as she chewed, giving her a look like she had done something wrong. Regina raised her shoulders and mouthed the word sorry the best she could with out the food falling out of her mouth, as she placed her hand over her mouth and tried to chew more quiet. Emma was frustrated with every one tip toeing around like Ashley was a deer and the smallest noise was going to scare her, so she cleared her throat and started to talk."So..." Every one jumped, even Regina and looked towards Emma. Emma raised her brows in surprise at the reactions and scoffed,"really people, like Granny said, she is just a girl you know. Tonight she'll stay with me and Henry, and after a good night sleep, we can figure out a more permanent solution for her. If that is alright with you Ashley?" Emma questioned her like Ashley had much of a choice. Peter Pan probably knew she was missing and didn't care or he would have been here by now, and other than these people she knew nothing of the world, or no one. Ashley didn't even look up from her food and nodded, Henry saw that something was wrong but just looked back to his mom who smiled and began to eat.
It felt like hours past, and Ashley hadn't eaten anything Granny brought her, except maybe a french fry or two. Emma had Granny wrap up the food and put it in a doggy bag to go, still sitting at the table Emma looked around. Every one had finally started to talk to one another, as they rose from their seats around the table. Emma walked around her friends to the side of the booth where Ashley was sitting, doggy bag in one hand."Come on kid, let's get you into some warm clothes and a nice bed." Ashley looked up to Henry's mom and let out a small smile, scooting her way out of the booth, and getting to her feet she felt a hand on her back as Emma walked with her towards the door. Every one watched still talking to one another, but didn't follow though most of them wanted to they just waved good bye. Henry was hugging Charming and Snow then ran to catch up to his mom and Ashley, walking next to his mom her leaned forward and looked at Ashley. She looked different to him, she didn't look like the happy girl he once saw on the island, the girl who smiled and laughed and told stories. The girl who sang a soft song every night that the camp could hear at night, that even the crickets and birds stayed quiet for. Henry glanced up at his mom and she pursed her lips pulling him in for a hug noticing the girl didn't look happy.
The three of them walked the empty streets, Ashley at Emma's side, Henry glancing over at Ashley every once in a while until they came to an apartment building on the other side town. They walked through the doors, up the stairs, down the long hall way past where Charming and Snow lived to a door right next to theirs. Ashley stayed behind Emma as she unlocked the door to the room, Henry yawning and running inside past his mom when she pushed open the door. Emma paused as she twirled her key in her hands, she turned towards the girl and looked up. Ashley was staring at the ground when Emma cleared her throat and got her attention,"I...I...ummm..." Emma wasn't sure what to say as she leaned against the door frame."Look I know this is a new place for you, I also understand we are complete and total strangers to you." Emma started rambling."But this is our home, this is where my family lives and I am trusting you to respect it, along with my family." Emma had a serious tone to her voice, and wasn't even really looking at Ashley when she spoke."But I can see you're scared, and if you'd like to go back to Mr. Gold's." Ashley cut her off sharply,"NO!" Emma jumped and dropped her keys."I'm sorry." Ashley whispered and knelt picking up her keys and reaching out to hand them back to Emma. "I don't want to go back there, please." Ashley spoke in a hushed tone as Emma reached for the keys.
Emma took the keys and smiled, placing her hand on Ashley's shoulder she rubbed it for a moment."Come on, let's get you inside."Emma said softly and as gentle sounding as she could, as the two walked into the small apartment. Closing the door behind her, she set the food in the kitchen, and then gave Ashley the tour. She showed her the bathroom and where the towels were, she showed her the kitchen and told her to help herself. Emma showed her around the small apartment, then showed her into Emma's room."Ashley you can sleep here tonight and I'll take the couch." Emma almost whispered her words. Henry was just sitting in his room reading, also listening to them walk around to see if Ashley was talking. She didn't but Emma stayed friendly leaving her with clothes to wear for the night, as she said good night and left the room. Ashley sat down on the edge of the bed, it was a small room, one window on the far side of the room. The bed was large, bigger than just one person needed, but it was a soft bed. A long dresser was across from the foot of the bed, with books and random things on top. A table next to the bed had a lamp, and a picture frame that caught Ashley's attention. A beautiful picture of Emma and Henery together at Granny's diner, smiling as they hugged one another. Ashley smiled to herself as she laid back on the bed, pulling the blankets over herself, she stared at the picture. She memorized every detail of the picture from the way they leaned into one another to the light bouncing off the counter top int he back ground until Ashley finally fell asleep.