It was Monday. It was only Monday when things fell apart again. He got off of the bus to find Emma and his grandparents waiting for him. He'd had an uneasy feeling all day after the little "meeting" with Pongo and Red earlier in the day, but nothing could've prepared him for the news that Archie had died, to say nothing of the fact that Emma and the Charmings thought that the Evil Queen had done it!

But what he couldn't figure out is why? Why would she kill him when she had been trying so hard to be better for him. Even after the funeral, he thought about it. Sitting on his grandparents' bed, ignoring the goings on around him – and no less than six concerned messages from Grace on the answering machine – he pondered what might have actually happened – because he truly didn't believe it could be the Evil Queen! She wouldn't murder someone! Not… not after Graham… would she?

He wanted to be brave – courageous, even, like his gramps – in the face of it all, but he couldn't. He wanted to do something for someone else, no matter how small – like give Ruby a hug when he saw her suppress a sob as she left the gathering early – but he couldn't even do that. He was too lost in his own thoughts… and grief over losing one of the few friends he had – maybe even at the Evil Queen's hand – to even answer the phone when Grace called yet again. Instead, he just sat on the bed and listened to Archie's office voicemail over and over. Until Pongo bounded into the room in front of his mom, distracting him from his conversation with Gramps and giving him a reason to smile.

When he left the apartment building with Pongo, he found another surprise waiting for him, apparently in the process of coming to see him.

"Henry!" Grace said, relief obvious in her voice – along with a healthy dose of concern. "Hey… are you okay?"

"Yeah," he answered automatically, tightening his grip on Pongo's leash. But when she gave him a look that peered straight into his heart and soul, seeing the truth anyway, he gave up and told it to her. "No… no, I'm not okay. I miss him like crazy, and it's only been a few days!"

"You'll be alright," she promised, laying a sympathetic hand on her arm and offering gently, "You've still got me… as long as you'll let me be there for you." He frowned, then looked down at his feet guiltily as he realized what she was talking about. "You stopped answering my calls, and all I want is to help, to make sure you're okay. You're my friend and I want that for you all the time, every day… but when you're not okay, part of letting me be a friend is letting me be there for you when things are hard. Promise me you'll let me do that." Her voice was soft as she reminded him, "You're all I have too, remember?"

Henry nodded, saying apologetically, "I'm sorry," and then a firm. "You're right; next time I need help, I'll let you know."

"Even if you just need to talk?" Grace double-checked.

He nodded obediently – and this time he was the one to reach out to hug her. Satisfied, Grace nodded once and smiled before she turned and walked back the way she had come.

Henry went his own way, and after taking Pongo for a walk around the building, he returned to the apartment… where his day just kept up its sudden trend of getting better!

Archie Hopper, alive and well, knocked on the apartment door, and the first moment he could, he sent a text to Grace, informing her of this fact.

But the next morning, he was sending her another text – one he could've never seen coming in a million years: Emma and I are going with Mr. Gold to the airport and on a trip. I'll contact you when we get back.

And indeed he did. He texted her on Emma's phone as soon as possible.

We're back. Remember our promise? Please meet me at Granny's.

He had never needed to talk to someone more in his entire life – and for once he didn't want to talk to Archie; after the craziness of their trip, he genuinely wanted to see Grace again, and soak in the happiness, and even strength, that he'd found her presence alone gave him. So talking to her was, in fact, his top priority when Ruby came, got him, and took him to Granny's. He settled into a booth away from Ruby's listening ears – worthless if she had wolf hearing, but it was the principle, right? – and pulled his sketchpad as he waited for Grace.

There were a lot of reasons that Henry would randomly start drawing – he got artsy a lot when he was alone, actually – but this time he did it to calm his mind down, much as he had when he and Grace had made her flyer. He wanted to have his thoughts well in order when Grace slid into the booth across from him.

But when she came skidding into the diner and saw him, she plunked down beside him, giving him one of her bone-crunching, desperate hugs that wreaked utter havoc on his previously orderly thought processes. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly once she'd unwound her arms from around him.

His sketchpad had gone unnoticed, and he was grateful, considering that he'd started a drawing of Emma and Neal back when they'd been teenagers in love. He didn't want to have to explain that one… but as he slid his sketchpad back into his backpack, he realized that he did want to tell her – he wanted to tell Grace absolutely everything that had happened since he'd last seen her because he was happy and excited… and in some ways afraid.