Ruby walked over two steaming mugs of hot chocolate with cinnamon sprinkled on top and a stick in each mug for good measure. We both moved our books so she could place our steaming mugs right in front of us. But not too close we couldn't reach around for the small personal peach pie we had her bake.

"Thanks, Ruby!" I said right before I started blowing on my steam.

"Anything else I can get you guys?" She asked.

"I think we'll be good for another thirty minutes or so." Mary Margaret joked.

Book Club night was my favorite night. It only happened once a month, but it was literally the highlight of my social life - or, possibly the entirety of my social life. For one hour a week, I didn't have to try and play a game, like I did all day in high school. We talked for hours about the most recent book we read, ate delicious pie and indulged in our favorite oddity of hot chocolate with cinnamon.

We started divulging our favorite moments in the book. Mary Margaret was a sucker for a good romance, so I knew she was going to absolutely love this book. There's nothing more romantic than a Nicholas Sparks book. She, of course, rambled on for about ten minutes about the complexities of Noah's character. She disagreed with me when I said Allie was a spoiled brat and Noah deserved more. She got so heated. Her face got a little red and her hand balled into a fist. As soon as she noticed it, she put her hands in her lap under the table.

"Simmer down...I take it back." I put my hands in defeat. She laughed, more so at herself than me.

"Uh...hey…" She shifted in her seat uncomfortably and leaned in closer. "There's a leather-clad, bearded fellow looking this way." She whispered.

"Uh, okay ... Wave, I guess?" I said as I took a sip of hot chocolate.

"I don't think he's looking at me." She lowered her head and tried to avoid eye contact.

I turned around in my chair to see what the fuss was about. Sitting at the bar with a helmet lying on the counter was a blast from my past. He had surely grown up since the last time I saw him. He was almost unrecognizable. I got up from my seat and bolted towards him.

"August!" I screeched as I jumped into his arms.

"Hey, kiddo." He twirled me around. I could feel his smile against my cheek.

"You have a beard!" I rubbed my hand against his cheek. He blushed and shuffled his feet.

"Look at you! You have grown at least a foot since the last time I saw you." He measured himself against me. He still had a whole foot on me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked excitedly.

"Are you kidding me, Em? I couldn't miss your birthday. I tried your house first, but no one was home, so I figured this was probably the next best place to look."

Seeing him felt exactly how it always felt whenever August came around. No matter where I was, or who I was with, when August came around I felt at home. He was the only person who knew me before Storybrooke. He knew me as a baby, and then as a kid. We navigated some really tough waters together. When I got adopted he would write me letters every day until I was old enough to start writing back. He visited like twice a year for a while, and then I started hearing less from him. Then I stopped seeing him. It was hard at first, but eventually, it just felt natural. We were living in two separate worlds now.

I took him by the hand and walked him over to the table where Mary Margaret was eagerly sitting.

"August this is Mary Margaret Blanchard."

"Hi August, it's so nice to meet you." She reached over the table and kindly took his hand. August smiled at her, and it was a strange smile to see from him. I couldn't tell why his eyes were twinkling.

"Blanchard... The Ms. Blanchard? As in Emma's third-grade teacher, Ms. Blanchard?" He asked.

"How do you remember that?!" I asked incredulously. He chuckled and nodded.

"Are you in the middle of tutoring or something?" He rubbed the stubble on his chin and smirked.

"No! No, no, no … We started Book Club a while ago. We mostly sit around eating pie and drinking copious amounts of hot chocolate, and occasionally talking about some book we read."

I knew the minute she said the words book club that August was running through a million jokes in his head about what a loser I am. August was the epitome of cool. He knew how to pick locks, steal food, ride a motorcycle, smoke cigarettes, and just about every other illegal thing in the world. He wasn't the book club kind of guy.

"Well, since you're free, and it's the eve of your birthday, do you think you can sneak away?"

"Yeah!" I grabbed my coat and bag. "You don't mind, do you, Mary Margaret?" I asked. August handed me a helmet.

"Well, um, Emma, I'm not sure how good of an idea it is that you get on the back of his motorcycle. I mean, what if Regina finds out?" She whispered timidly.

"I'm not worried. Besides, it's not like she actually cares. I haven't seen her in like six days anyways."

Mary Margaret was clearly uncomfortable, but I ran outside and jumped on the back of his bike. He handed me a helmet. Mary Margaret reluctantly waved goodbye as August kicked off and began speeding down Main Street. We drove around aimlessly for a while. He moved around the corners and curves of the road with ease and speed. After a while, he pulled into the parking lot of the marina. He pulled alongside the dock and turned off the engine. We got off and laid our helmets on the seats of his bike.

He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his jacket and lit one up. August started smoking well before he should have. He was around twelve when I saw him light one up for the first time, but when I tried to smoke one he yelled at me and made me vow that I would never try a cigarette. He was always weird like that. Doing things, but never letting me do them.

"So, how's life, Em?"

"Good! School's good. Friends are okay. Home sucks, but that's nothing new."

"Is Regina still doing the sheriff?" He took a long, deep drag of his cigarette.

I chuckled and shook my head. "No, actually. David Nolan is the new sheriff, and I'm not sure she's his type."

"David Nolan, huh?"

"Yeah. He's nice enough, but he's been an interesting match to Madam Mayor. He might be the only person who doesn't do everything she says."

August flicked the end of his cigarette on the ground. His boot smothered it. August reached around to his traveling bag and pulled out a wrapped gift and handed it to me.

"You didn't have to get me anything," I said, as I took the gift into my hands.

"It's your fifteenth birthday, of course, I had to get you something."

I unraveled the ribbon and started to tear off the paper. My heart soared when I felt the familiar leatherbound book in my hands again.

"I can't believe you still have this!" I ran my fingers over the binding.

"This book is our childhood. I would never let it go." He said.

He leaned closer to me as we started flipping through the pages. Fairytales were the one thing that saved us from the sadness of our reality. As orphans, abandoned by the only people who are supposed to love you, we took to these stories for solace. They were magical, and they gave us hope in a really dark time. I was four before I was adopted, August was twelve, and even after I was adopted things weren't much better. August would call me on the phone at my new house, and he would read these stories aloud to me until I would stop crying. Somewhere along the line, we didn't need the stories anymore, and I hadn't seen the book since.

"Remember this one?" August flipped the pages to the story of Pinocchio.

"How could I forget? It was your favorite. We must have read it at least 200 times." I remembered.

"And this one…" He began flipping the pages again. "This was your favorite."

An illustration of Snow White and Prince Charming adorned the page. This story was my absolute favorite. It made me feel so safe. I never really understood why, but I would ask for him to read this story to me over and over again. He always did, too.

My fingers traced over the delicate pages. They were as worn and battered as they were fourteen years ago. We leaned against his bike and read some of the stories together.

"It's getting pretty late. I should get home before Regina does." I said as I closed the book. "She's going to love hearing that you're in town!" I said sarcastically.

"Before you go, I want to show you your real gift." He took the book from my hands and flipped all the way to the back of the book, and then handed it back to me.

"The Savior" I read aloud. "This is new." I scanned the next few pages quickly.

"It is. We don't have to read it together right now, but maybe tomorrow? I could pick you up once Regina's gone for the day. Take you out for a birthday breakfast?"

"Hell yeah!" I nodded. I was relieved to actually have plans for my birthday. Most birthdays aren't too special. Regina usually worked, so we'd have a cake after dinner and I would get some lavish gift, but that was it.

August and I agreed to an 8:30 am pickup time, and then he sped off down the road. The lights were still all off in the house, which meant Regina was at her office for another late night. I unlocked the front door and grabbed a water from the kitchen before walking upstairs to my bedroom.

I changed into pajamas and pulled out the novel sitting on my bedside table. Mary Margaret picked out this month's novel, which meant there was going to be a strong female lead protagonist who would end up saving some man repeatedly because he was so helpless. It was a theme she subconsciously always gravitated towards. I was only a few pages in when I noticed the gift from August poking out of my backpack on the floor.

I pulled the big leather book out and onto my lap. I flipped to the very last story in the book - the newest addition.

The Savior. A story about how true love can create the lightest, yet strongest person and magic this world has ever seen.

The girl on the front had blonde hair. It was long with waves. She had blue eyes and was just about my height. Her beginning and her middle seemed oddly familiar. It was like I was reading a biography. She was abandoned by her parents, adopted by the Evil Queen, and forced to live a life of loneliness until her destiny overcame and broke the curse. This knot started to form in my stomach, and it was becoming bigger every time I read the story.