Chapter 54: Best of the Bad
"Here we are," Mary Margret says, unlocking the door. "Home sweet home."
The two new "residents" of the place take in the apartment. It was small. Extremely small to the point where you could barely navigate around the limited furniture that filled the space. An ugly floral couch sat in the middle of the living room, with a bookshelf against one wall and a tiny TV sitting on an old cardboard box. Next to that was a reading chair, that had seen better days, and a side table with stacks of papers, likely tests from her students that she had yet to mark. To their left was what was supposed to be the kitchen, with a round dining room table pressed in the corner next to the stove and a single chair. Dishes were piled high in the sink and a mop leaned against the counter having been forgotten to be put away. On their right was the bedroom, it was dark but none of them doubted that it was also small.
But what upset both kids the most was how lonely the apartment looked. Another curse had made Snow White a "spinster," lonely and without anyone to share her life with. It seemed like the greatest punishment to the princess to take away her family and leave her all alone. Perhaps it was remnants of her life as a bandit and as an orphan with the deaths of her parents leaving her to fend for herself, or maybe it was that the only way to defeat true love was to isolate those involved.
Fortunately, her seclusion during the curse has ended as she unknowingly has family members within her apartment.
"I know it's not much, but…"
"It's great," Crystal lies. "It will be fine."
"It's safe," Henry adds.
The teacher knows that they are lying and just being polite, but she then rushes to the kitchen.
"Can I make you two some hot cocoa?"
The two look at each other and share a small smile, another piece of familiarity from their real life.
"Yes, please. Can you also add some whipped cream and cinnamon too?" Henry asks. He looks at Crystal with a knowing smile.
Mary Margret looks at the boy in shock, her mouth falls open.
"What did I say?" he asks.
"That's my favourite combination too!"
"Really?" Henry says, attempting to feign ignorance.
"Yes, what an unusual coincidence," she says with a smile.
"Yeah… unusual," the teen says.
"I'll have the same," Crystal adds.
Once Mary Margret leaves the room, Henry sits on the couch, while Crystal sits on a stack of books that had not been put away on the bookshelf. She then drops the duffle bags on the ground next to her, the author doing the same with his backpack. They just stare at each other, speaking without words. While this is a bad situation, at least they're with someone they love, and they can think about their next steps.
The only sound in the kitchen is the teacher making beverages for them… no humming of any kind, something that Henry knew his grandmother loved to do while cooking or doing anything. If he can remember, he'd often hear her humming while grading papers back when he was in her class. It seemed like a tiny thing, but it showed how badly the curse had ruined people's lives. He and Crystal had to start thinking of ways to break the curse before it got any worse.
But how can they break a curse with no magic and no true love? The Black Fairy had taken one of their only resources away and they were stranded. They'd lost their base and Belle, squandering their card to play to convince Rumpelstiltskin to help them. There was a lot of doubt that the Dark One would recognize his own daughter, considering everyone else couldn't, so teaming up with him also seemed like a lost cause. Plus, there was the issue of Emma being released and going back to Boston. They had to stop that from happening too. It was a lot to think about and at 3:00 in the morning.
"Awfully quiet in here," the teacher chirps, coming in with three steaming mugs topped with whipped cream and cinnamon.
"It's been a long day for us," the young woman admits. "But we'll never be able to thank you enough for letting us stay here. I promise we'll start looking for a place of our…"
"Absolutely not," Mary Margret cuts in. "You'll be staying here as long as possible. I don't want either of you to think about leaving until you have a place in a safe neighbourhood and with assistance from the government. That is final."
The two teens look at each other, communicating their thoughts.
"That's fine," Crystal says, taking a sip of her drink.
The trio sits in slightly awkward silence. They do share smiles when they all show off their whipped cream and cinnamon moustaches. A smile was shared between apparent strangers. They sit in silence for a time, but comfortable silence.
After finishing her cocoa, Mary Margret immediately gets up and goes to get her room ready.
"What are you…?" Henry asks.
"You two will be sleeping in my room and I'll sleep on the couch."
"We can't ask you to…" Crystal begins.
"Arguing will not get you anywhere. I have made up my mind and that is final."
A true mother through and through, the young girl thinks to herself.
As she begins moving around to arrange things accordingly, changing the sheets and removing anything that they shouldn't see, like her romance novels or her exotic outfits. The woman pauses realizing that the siblings would probably not want to share a bed… but the only other option is the couch and a… The woman goes into her closet and removes a sleeping bag from the back of it. She had no idea why it was there considering she'd never gone camping in her life. Perhaps it was fate knowing that she'd need it for guests someday. She lays it out parallel to the foot of the bed and adds a pillow to give extra comfort. She also then gathers what she needs to make the couch comfortable for herself. Blankets, pillows and a book.
She wishes that she had a bigger place so she had more to offer these teens… she's not sure why she trusts them so much because they were total strangers and could very well rob her when she went to sleep. However, after they stayed when she asked them to stay and helped her against her former boss rather than running off, she knew that they were good kids, just had been dealt a tough hand. A lot of her students in the school were like that and it broke her heart. At least… at least she's able to help two of them… two can make all the difference.
When she's finished, she calls the kids in.
They stand and examine the tiny space.
"It's not very much and I'm sorry if one of you has to sleep on the floor but…"
"It's just what we need," Crystal says. "Better than a motel and always better than a bridge."
Henry nods, knowing there's not much else they can say to make Snow feel better. It's the best of a bad situation that would soon be righted… they hoped.
"Well, I'm going to turn in. Fortunately, it is a weekend so we can all sleep in," Mary Margret says. "Good night."
"Good night and thank you," Henry whispers.
"If you need anything don't hesitate to wake me."
"We'll keep it in mind," Crystal says. "And thank you so much."
"I'm always happy to help," the former princess smiles, even though it is heavily forced. "Good night, Henry. Good night, Crystal."
"Night," the teens say before the woman shuts the door.
The two stand in silence as they listen to Snow White get herself ready for bed. She cleans up the mugs and then brushes her teeth and so on.
They wait until there's no more commotion before speaking.
"You can take the bed," Crystal offers.
"No, you can," Henry insists.
"How about we rotate? You sleep there tonight and we'll switch tomorrow."
"Sounds like a plan," Henry yawns.
"Speaking of a plan, I know we should be thinking more about our…"
"Operation Nightshade," the young author suggests.
"Very fitting," Crystal nods, happy Henry still hasn't lost his child-like flair for things. "But we need to sleep on it and regroup in the morning."
"Yes," the teen agrees, removing his coat and shoes before Crystal tosses him an old t-shirt from her duffle bag that should work for pyjamas. He changes and washes up, walking past his grandma, who is reading a book by lamplight. However, as he passes, he can see the tears in her eyes, the sadness having been suppressed for so long. His heart shatters and he becomes angry at his great-grandmother for casting this hell upon his family. He climbs into the bed with a burning rage. When Crystal returns to the room and turns out the light, she settles into the sleeping bag and whispers in the dark:
"I wish I had my magic so we could have some decent supplies."
"I know," Henry responds, turning over in the bed, which squeaks.
They let exhaustion get the better of them and say nothing else to each other.
As Crystal turns over, her hand brushes against something under the bed. It's flat and glossy. She pulls it out and knows just by feeling that it's a photo of some kind. She uses her phone light to shine some light on the photo. It's of a baby, newborn from the looks of it, she flips it over and her heart stops.
There's a single word written on the back… a name that changed everything…
Neal