My house, my rules
A guest asked for a oneshot of an older teenaged Henry getting into a fight with Emma and deciding to live in his car since she pulls the "my house, my rules" card. Emma uses reverse psychology to get him home, telling him of all the struggles she faced when she had to live out of her car.
Guest: I haven't watched House, I'm afraid, but as it happens someone has already requested something similar to this and it was written a while back :).
Well guys, today's the day. Mid-season finale day! Here's hoping for some mama Snow and daddy Charming! We can ride out the hiatus together. Surprised I haven't had any Christmas requests yet!
"My house, my rules." Henry muttered in an unflattering imitation of his mom. "Well fine then. I won't live in your damn house." Sure, it was really cold outside now, but he had a big heavy jacket and a cosy sleeping bag. He knew he couldn't admit defeat and go to his other mom's house. She would just agree with Emma. So Henry felt like the only way of besting both his moms was to live out of his car until they caved. He had saved up the money and bought it himself. He paid all the bills for it. They couldn't tell him what to do in here.
Of course Emma wasn't happy about Henry being out there alone. Anything could happen to him! The temperature had dipped massively in the last week and she didn't want him losing any fingers or toes from frostbite. She had left him out to stew for a few hours, hoping he'd give in because of the cold or boredom when his phone ran out of charge. Then she remembered that he had a portable charger. Emma couldn't leave him out there all night, it simply wasn't safe. Nor was she giving in though. No, she was going to have Henry decide to come in for himself.
Emma got herself wrapped up and grabbed one of Henry's favourite chocolate bars as bait. She made our way out to the car and tapped on the window. Henry rolled it down.
"Come to apologise?" He spat. Emma chose to ignore his tone.
"No, I haven't, because you're the one in the wrong. I've come to offer you this." Emma said, holding up the Apollo bar. Henry scoffed.
"You think you can lure me back into the house with candy? What am I, six?"
"Well you're sure acting like it." Emma grumbled. "I brought this because unlike you, there was a time once when I didn't have a choice but to live out of my car." She reminded him. Henry fell silent. "Exactly. I remember what it's like. It's boring, it's either too hot or too cold and you're always hungry because you're so bored. So I thought I'd be nice and offer you something to eat. By now you're going to be getting pretty bored, and that means you'll be feeling pretty peckish." Emma held up the Apollo bar again. Henry looked at it longingly. He was getting pretty hungry.
"Oh, pro tip, by the way?" Emma decided to add while she had his attention. "You're gonna wanna get to the laundrette really early tomorrow. When you've gotta wash the clothes you've been in, and slept in, for a few days it's easier if you don't have an audience." Henry's face fell at this. He hadn't thought about the hygiene implications. Maybe he was being a little rash…
"Maybe I did overreact." Henry said sheepishly. Emma relaxed, relieved. Her plan had worked. He was going to come inside.
