Ouch

A guest asked for a oneshot … a read and see story.

Jojo dance/Lucky X: you both referred to this fic as a book, something nobody else has ever done before which makes me slightly suspicious that you're the same person.

"Are you sure that's the best way to get that picture up there?" Snow asked for what felt like the millionth time.

"Uh huh." Emma mumbled with the nail between her teeth as she perched on top of the ladder. The Charmings had recently had a family portrait picture session. Emma was particularly proud of the finished product (she had never had such a picture before) and went straight to nailing it up in her living room. Emma had asked her mom to hold the ladder steady. Something she was now regretting as her mom kept not-so-subtly telling her she didn't think Emma was doing this very safely. Snow sighed. Clearly Emma was doing this, whether or not she was being stupid. She was balancing on top of a wobbly old ladder hammering a heavy frame into a wall without so much as covering her hands or using something to keep her fingers away from the hammer and nail. Snow had even offered to get her a washing peg, but Emma stubbornly refused.

"Well alright, have it your way then." Snow sighed. "But if you hurt yourself, you can think twice before coming crying to me about it."

"Fine." Emma grumbled. No problem, she thought. What reason would she have to go crying to her mom? She wasn't going to hurt herself! Emma took the nail from between her teeth and got the frame in place for it…well, that was heavier to support than Emma had anticipated. She couldn't give up now though. She couldn't let her mom say "I told you so". Biting her lip in concentration, Emma held the nail as steady as possible. She then moved the hammer back and went to bash it against the nail. But she missed…and hit her thumb instead.

"Ouch!" She yelled out. She leapt down the ladder and tossed the frame onto the couch. Snow winced, grateful it didn't smash. Emma would have regretted that. All Emma could focus on now, though, was the pulsing pain coming from her thumb. Her eyes were becoming watery, Snow pretended not to notice. She had tried to warn Emma.

"Stupid hammer!" Emma complained. "Stupid ladder!"

"Or, silly Emma for not listening to advice?" Snow offered. Emma shot her a dreadful look before storming up the stairs. "I'm going to shove a plaster on this. Not that it'll do any damn good! Or that you seem to care! You're just happy you were right!" She yelled behind her. Snow frowned watching her storm off. She knew Emma didn't really mean that, but it still hurt. Of course Snow cared, but Emma had to realise for herself that she had been foolish. Snow sat down on the couch, waiting for Emma to calm down and come back downstairs. But it didn't seem that it was going to happen any time soon. No, Emma kept on crying.

After forty-five minutes of Snow hearing her sniffles from down the stairs, Snow couldn't stand it any longer. She hated hearing Emma cry. She went upstairs to Emma's room and found her sitting on the bed with her blanket on her lap, eyes red and puffy. Emma looked up when she heard her mom come in.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you." Emma said quietly. Snow smiled, coming and sitting beside her.

"It's alright." She said gently. "You were just annoyed at yourself. I get it. You get that temper from me, I'm afraid." Snow nudged Emma gently, picking up her sore hand. "Let's have a look at this then." Snow examined the thumb carefully. She frowned, it was definitely swollen, and probably quite painful, but it didn't look like there would be any lasting damage.

"Nothing a little ice won't fix up." Snow promised, tugging on Emma's hand to get her to stand up. "You'll be right as rain in no time." Snow promised her.

Sure, Snow could have left Emma crying upstairs until she came down of her own accord, but how could any mother leave their child crying like that? Emma might be thirty years old, but Snow still couldn't stand the sound of her crying. She wasn't sure she ever would.