Regina slammed on her brakes as she once again found herself at Mr. Gold's pawn shop. She stormed in, startling the man.

"And what can I do for you now, your majesty?" the man with the cane asked.

"Can it Gold!" Regina snapped. She slammed the papers down in front of him. "How the hell is this possible?!" her chocolate eyes could ignite a fire at this point.

"Ah, I see you took it upon yourself to figure out the little mystery. You see Regina, the outside world and Storybrooke are vastly different. Including time. In reality, it's only been four years. But here-" he began but Regina cut him off.

"It's been sixteen." she whispered.

"You cursed us all to never age. Yet, Henry was born in the real world. When you brought him to Storybrooke, the curse didn't affect him. He will continue to rapidly age. Until-"

"The curse is broken" Regina finished again. Mr. Gold smiled at how fast she was catching on. "When the curse breaks, Henry will return to his real age." Regina realized as Gold simply nodded.

"After the curse breaks dearie, then everyone will continue to age. Including you." Mr. Gold winked. "But I'm sure you'll use your handy dandy magic to keep yourself youthful."

"And what about Eli?"

"Oh, got to a first name base, have we?" the older man grinned.

"Gold.." Regina huffed in a warning.

"He will age. Just like he did in the outside world. Today is his birthday and it would be outside of Storybrooke. Don't worry, he's legal now." Gold smiled.

"Shut up imp!" Regina growled and snatched the papers up, shoving them in her purse. She stormed out and sped off in her car.

Henry rounded the corner, upset. He couldn't believe Eli had used him. And for what? His mom. Henry grimaced at that thought. That was disgusting. He walked into the kitchen and reluctantly ate the lasagna his mom had made him. He stopped when something crossed his mind. Something he hadn't thought of or seen in years. He stood up and walked to Regina's study. There was his book on the desk.

His fingers traveled the spine of the book before grazing over the gold lettering on the front. He smiled softly as he opened the book. Henry was sure his mom had tossed it since he was so mean to her about it. After multiple sessions with Dr. Hopper, he just decided to give up. It was no use if they were just going to act like he was crazy.

He skimmed over the words, remembering the memories he used to hide this book from his mom. He turned the pages blindlessly until he stopped on one page. He saw Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter. The blanket had Emma written on it in purple lettering with purple ribbon. He shut the book and ran up to his room with it.

The front door opened and shut.

"Henry?" Regina called out. He shoved the book in his bag, jumping into bed, pretending to be asleep.

Regina took her heels off and put her purse on the kitchen table. She walked up the stairs, opening his door, seeing him asleep. She smiled softly to see him fast asleep. She went over, kissing his head before going to her room.

Henry quickly opened his eyes, grabbing his bag and throwing it over his shoulder. His mom was lying about some parts, he knew it. He had to go to the source and ask him, himself. He slowly opened his door and shut it quietly before making his way slowly down the stairs. He noticed her purse and couldn't help himself.

Henry grabbed a paper and unfolded it, reading it over. His mouth dropped as he read the print.

"What the fuck is this?" he whispered to himself. He folded it back up and shoved it into his pocket. He grabbed her phone from the purse and checked the messages. His eyes widened as he saw what she sent Eli.

"I'll see you tomorrow at my office after school big boy ;)"

He knew she was lying. But this was sick. His friend and mom were- he couldn't even finish the thought. He threw her phone back into her purse before sneaking out of the house.

Eli yawned as he moved his hair out of the way, grinning in the mirror at his new tattoo. It was perfect. It was protected by a plastic wrap. He got a replica of what one of his favorite bands had. Ronnie Radke's unbreakable tattoo across the top of his forehead in script. He decided to get it because he had been through hell and back. He was still alive. He didn't know how but he was.

He jumped as he saw a shadow move into his open window. He was about to hit it when he noticed it was Henry.

"Henry, what are-" he was cut off by Henry punching him hard in the jaw. "Fuck! What the hell was that for?" he demanded.

"That's for being with my mom. That's disgusting. Sorry." he apologized. Eli rubbed his jaw and sighed.

"No, I'm sorry." he frowned.

"Look, I need to see your baby blanket. This is serious." he spoke with urgency. Eli just looked at him oddly before opening his duffle bag and tossed it to him. Henry took out his storybook and opened to the page, pointing.

"Look! Eli, this is the same blanket. You need to believe what I'm about to say. You've read this book, yeah?"

"Uh yeah, to calm down. I've read it once or twice." Eli shrugged. "I never noticed that that was the same blanket." he said casually.

"No, Eli. Listen, all of these stories are true." Eli looked at him like he had three heads.

"You on drugs dude?"

"No! You need to pay attention. Everyone had called me crazy, but I'm not. D-Did you have a kid four years ago?" Eli froze at this and nodded slowly. Henry grabbed the papers and showed it to him.

"I can't explain it, I don't know how." Eli's eyes read over the page and his eyes widened.

"What the fuck is this?" Henry sighed.

"I don't know. My mom spent a lot of money to get that. It's got to be real. She wouldn't pay a grand for that." he pointed. Eli slowly let his mind wrap around this.

"Wait, so everything that happened in this book is true?" Henry nodded. Eli began to flip through the book. It made sense. The people in Storybrooke looked exactly like the ones in the book. "So...I'm the kid of Snow White and Prince Charming?" Henry nodded again.

"Yes. Everybody in town is cursed by the Evil Queen." Eli stopped at a picture of the Evil Queen.

"And who in town is Snow White and Prince Charming?"

"Mary Margaret and David." Eli let that sink in and nodded.

"Then who's the Evil Queen?"

"My mom." he looked up at Henry, the two boys making eye contact.

A/N: Bing! Bang! Boom! The boys are gonna get to the bottom of this! Hope this cleared up any questions and hopefully brought forth new ones. I hope you enjoyed!