AN::: There will be warnings added for upcoming chapters at the beginning. The story is beginning to pick up and will soon have the more.. mature content being added.
Mary Margaret was driving her way to the access road when she saw the 'Road Closed' sign. She swore silently under her breath. She should have remembered.
Emma told her that she was going to close it due to the chances of downed tree limbs from the storm, something about needing to be in town and not running around the woods on rescue missions. Oh if only Emma saw her now. Mary Margaret put the car in park then turned off the ignition as she gathered the dove.
"We just have to beat the storm. They shouldn't be much farther." She gathered the bird cage and made her way quickly up the access road. She was farther out from where she found the dove when she heard the flock above her.
"Do you hear that?! That's your flock." Mary Margaret looked over the outcropping and noticed a very large patch of trees that were downed. She sat the bird cage down as she studied the sight before her briefly. There was a large clap of thunder and before Mary Margaret could realize what was happening she was falling down the hill before her. She grabbed a hold of a tree root as she looked down and saw the river rushing below her.
"Here!" Mary Margaret heard above her as a hand reached out and grabbed hers! She would have recognized the voice right away if she wasn't so concerned about the water rushing below her. She looked up and saw that familiar face.
"David!" He was pulling her up a second later. Mary Margaret was grabbed onto his upper arms as he pulled her flush to him.
"You didn't think I'd let you come here alone, did you?" The sincerity in her voice made her want to stay in his arms. Then the fact that he wasn't Emma quickly had her pushing out of those arms and away from him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Thanks." With that she made her way back up the hill to where the dove was still safe in the small cage.
When David realized she was going after the bird, he knew she wasn't going to give up so easily. He didn't understand why she was so determined to help this dove. He wasn't sure if he found it endearing or incredibly stupid.
"I don't think doing this on foot is the best plan!" He yelled over towards her as the rain began to dump on them as if the sky had opened up for the first time in 30 years.
"Emma closed the gate to stop people from getting stuck with any down tree limbs." She responded as she tried to check over the dove while she was getting soaked. Not really the way I had intended to anyway.
"I saw! It's too dangerous. I'm sure she wouldn't be happy if she knew you were out here. It's too late. Come on!" She couldn't argue with that. Emma would be livid if she knew she was out here. The blonde had enough to worry about right now.
She followed David while trying to keep the dove as dry as possible with her coat. It wasn't long before the pair stumbled upon what appears to be an abandoned cabin.
David had gotten them inside and quickly set to getting a fire started. Something about seeing him nursing a fire made something blossom in Mary Margaret's chest. It felt normal and almost like a home she didn't know she was missing. Mary Margaret was caught up in her own thoughts of David that she barely took notice when he turned and started talking to her.
"Whose cabin is this?" David looked at her strangely as he grabbed a blanket that was folded up on an end table. "You sure it's okay for us to be in here?"
David just chuckled as he brought the blanket over to her. "Well you are roommates with the sheriff so I doubt she will arrest us for breaking and entering." Mary Margaret couldn't help but feel guilty immediately for her feelings about the man in front of her resurfacing at the mention of the blonde.
"Here." David attempted to put the blanket over her shoulders but Mary Margaret couldn't let him touch her again. That's how all of this started. She brushed him off and took a step away from him.
"I'm just trying to help." David sighed. He wasn't sure what was going on with the school teacher today and he couldn't help but want to blame himself. "What's going on with you today?"
Mary Margaret couldn't explain it but she had felt comfortable with David from day one. The look of hurt on his face at that very moment is what she would blame the next series of events on in a few hours.
"Today has just been a mess. I was running late this morning. Madam Mayor paid me an unexpected visit that shook me most of the day. Then I come all the way out here to get away from my thoughts and somehow all of this led me back to the person who started them all." The brunette looked away from David and back at the fire at the end of her confession. Her head snapped back when she heard him faintly chuckling beside her.
"What is so funny?" She couldn't understand what he found funny in her little spill.
"I knew you were avoiding me. You didn't come to Granny's." That just perplexed her more.
"I wasn't avoiding you. My shirt got ruined wh-" She stopped herself and quickly regrouped herself. If David caught her slip, he didn't mention it. "I said I was running late and how exactly do you know I didn't go to Granny's?"
"7:15. You are always at Granny's at 7:15." She gave him a look. Mary Margaret wasn't sure if she should be concerned that he knew her schedule or confused as to why she never saw him there. "I know! I know! I sound like a stalker. I just.. I like getting to see you. I was going to say hi a couple of times but.." He looked away from her. "Emma was usually with you and I don't get the feeling she likes me very much ever since-"
"You chose Kathryn?" David winced as he looked back at her. He slowly nodded. He noticed her shiver and then took notice of the very wet and damp scarf clinging to her neck.
"You should dry that over the fire. It could make you sick." He pointed to his own neck to indicate the scarf. Mary Margaret nodded but made no move to remove it.
He took a step closer to her and began to pull the fabric from her as he spoke. "I know that I should love her but… I don't. I have memories of feelings for her but I know I have feelings for you." Mary Margaret began to pull back but he just kept a tight grip on the scarf hanging loosely around her neck.
"David… We can't-" She sighed. David was looking directly into her eyes, almost begging her to just give in. She had to be honest with him. He was honest with her that night at the toll bridge. She had to repay that now. "David, I'm-" She didn't get to finish. David pulled the scarf fully from her neck and glanced down in the process.
"Seeing someone?" He couldn't believe his eyes as he took in the hickey that adored her neck. He had thought that he heard Whale was seeing a nurse now, however it was clear that the mark on her neck was less than a day old.
Mary Margaret nodded as she pulled back to watch his face.
"Whale is seeing a nurse at the hospital. You need to stop seeing him." The look on David's face was extremely serious as he continued to stare at her neck. She didn't know why she didn't correct him but she also wasn't sure why what left her mouth next was her only response.
"You don't get to tell me what to do, David. It's not like you haven't reconnected with your wife. I know about Kathryn." David finally snapped his eyes to her face.
"What about Kathryn?" Mary Margaret sighed. She didn't understand why he was trying to hide it. They were married. They were allowed to have a sex life.
"That she thinks she's pregnant." One look at his face told her all she needed to know. "You didn't know.."
"No.. I.. we aren't… we haven't…" David was back to staring at the fire. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what David was attempting to phrase. Mary Margaret wasn't sure what made her want to know for sure but she couldn't hold herself back from asking.
"You two aren't trying then?" David broke out of his trance and chuckled looking back at her.
"No. Not since I woke up. I mean we tried but…" David blushed slightly. "I couldn't.. Things didn't…"
"Ohh!" Mary Margaret couldn't help it. She felt a strange sense of relief to know that the two hadn't connected in that way. David lightly grabbed her hands.
"She must be just as unhappy as I am attempting to step back into that life. Don't you see what this means?" She didn't and she wished it stayed that way. "We can be together." Mary Margaret didn't get a chance to respond before his lips were firmly on hers.
There were lots of things that happened within the last few hours that Mary Margaret was not proud of. Going for a hike with a bad storm approaching, going back out into said storm with an injured bird, slipping and almost falling off the cliff to name a few. However, the biggest one of them was her very reaction to that unexpected kiss.
Mary Margaret reached up and slipped her hands over David's shoulders as she melted into the kiss. She opened up readily when David swiped his tongue across her bottom lip. It wasn't until David's right hand found its way into her back pocket that she came to her senses.
She pushed him back quickly. She took a look outside and saw the storm was clearing up. She took her chance. Mary Margaret grabbed the cage and quickly left the cabin. Leaving David wonderstruck standing there holding onto that wet scarf with his other hand.
Later that night, Emma got home to a strangely quiet apartment. The only sound coming from the shower. Emma had a brief thought of joining her friend before realizing that it would likely not be as sexy as she would imagine given that she was currently covered in mud from dealing with the craziness of the storm.
Emma made her way over the stove to begin to heat milk to make her and Mary Margaret some hot cocoa. She had just pulled down the mugs when there was a knock at the door. Confused, Emma pulled the milk off the stove before making her way to the door. That confusion only grew when she opened it.
"Hey." David was standing on the other side soaked. He was holding one of her roommate's scarfs in one hand and a small bouquet of flowers in the other.
"Um.. Hey David. What can I do for you tonight?" Emma distantly heard the shower shut off but was more focused on the man in front of her.
"I was actually looking for Mary Margaret." Emma just nodded but made no move to fetch the brunette. He lifted the scarf. "She forgot this when she left the cabin earlier. I was.. Uh.. just returning it."
David wasn't sure why Emma was slightly glaring at him at the moment. One thing he was sure of though was that he really didn't like it pointed at him. He felt strangely small under the blondes gaze.
"Why was she at a cabin with you?" Emma seemed to decide she either didn't want that answer or there was a more pressing one. "Why are you bringing her scarf and flowers? I don't assume she left those as well."
Emma couldn't help the way her heart was pounding in her chest. She didn't want to believe Mary Margaret was seeing David behind her back, especially after last night, but she wasn't sure what else to do with the evidence in front of her.
"No. I bought them on the way here. An apology of sorts." That caught Emma's attention. Her eyebrow rose slightly as she folded her arms across her chest. "She told me she was seeing someone." Emma felt a bit of pride knowing she was that someone. "And then I kissed her. She may have kissed me back but then she bolted and so I just wanted to tell her I was sorry for surprising her like that and that I respect if she's seeing someone else but I would certainly like a shot."
In David's mind, there were a few responses that he expected from Emma. All of them were on the lines of "You kissed my roommate?" or "Aren't you married." He certainly didn't expect what was throwing the blonde about his explanation of earlier events.
"She kissed you back?!" The question came out as a harsh whisper. David wasn't sure what to say so he just nodded slightly. He handed over the items in his hands before taking his leave. He was obviously not going to see Mary Margaret tonight and he had a strange feeling as though he shared more than he should have with her roommate.
"Look, just let her know okay? Good night Emma." He turned and made his way down the steps. Emma just barely shut the door before she heard the woman in question coming out of the bathroom.
"Hey Em! I'm sorry I didn't realize you'd be home so soon. I don't think I left much-" Mary Margaret noticed that the blonde had yet to turn around to face her. "Emma?"
The blonde slowly turned around. Her face set to stone as she held out the items in her hands. Mary Margaret took one glance down before looking back at Emma's face. The brunette looked like she wanted to say something but nothing would come out. Emma's voice was steady when she spoke. Hiding all emotion, though Mary Margaret knew that spoke volumes.
"David brought these for you. Wanted to let you know he is interested since you kissed him back."
"Emma, let me explain."
Up Next:: How is Mary Margaret going to explain the events in the woods to Emma? Is Emma going to run in typical Emma fashion or will we see something different?
** I know that this doesn't have all the fluffy feels of typical Emma and MM fanfics but I felt the need to develop the characters along the story line and what better way to do that than with some angst?**