Reminder: This is a season 1 AU. So, Charming didn't yet know the truth regarding his father's passing and all he thought is that he was a drunk.

Chapter Fifteen: Disappointed

Snow practically sped around the town while Charming and August had their eyes peeled out the window for Emma. They had already checked the diner and the library, but had come up empty. She wasn't at the park or the beach either. As they got back into the car in the beach's parking lot, Charming ran his fingers through his hair.

"Where else could she be? Maybe we should go to Regina's."

"I'm pretty sure she would've let us know if Emma had shown up there," Snow pointed out.

August's voice came from the backseat. "I can think of one other place. Emma almost always gravitates to the woods. It's where we…" He trailed off as both heads turned to face him. "It's where we were found."

Snow bit her lip, trying not to think about the possibilities that could've happened with that. "But that was back where you're from."

"She did go to the woods near the edge of town when she had that magical outburst," Charming said. "It's worth a shot."

Snow drove as fast as she could to the town line. As she did though, she seemed to stumble upon some traffic, which was weird. It was getting late, no one would typically be out. She could hear music blasting from somewhere and saw fairy lights were strung across the trees. Pretty much every teen in Storybrooke seemed to be flowing in and out of the wooded area.

"Well," Snow said, pulling the key from the ignition. "I think we've found her."

They got out of the car and walked closer to the scene. Upon seeing adults, some of the teens were starting to disperse.

"You all have 5 minutes to clear out!" Charming shouted, watching them run. "You don't have to go home, but you're definitely not staying here."

August caught sight of a few empty liquor bottles. "Oh no."

Charming saw what he did. "They're far too young to be drinking, but unfortunately…"

"Not that. We have to find Emma, now. If she's been drinking, she could be in trouble."

The group searched through the people evacuating and eventually, they saw those tell-tale blonde curls. Emma was barely conscious and leaning against a tree to support herself. Charming felt his heart fall in his chest, he had never seen her like that before. She looked so defenseless. Though as he walked closer, he could smell why. She had definitely gotten into one of the several tequila bottles he had seen rolling around. He lifted her into his arms, holding her close. It was the first time in 16 years that he had been able to do it and she still seemed so small. For a moment, he felt almost like he was back in the Enchanted Forest…

"Mmm…" A whine escaped Emma's lips.

"Emma, baby," Snow put a hand on her daughter's cheek. "We're going to get you home." She looked back at August, who looked just as nervous as they did. "What did you mean she could be in trouble?"

"Most teens where we're from start having wine or something at dinner, but Emma's instructors always told us not to with her, not until they had finished teaching her about magic. She can get vulnerable and unable to protect herself. She'll be fine now, but if Zelena had shown up…"' August stopped himself, he couldn't even think about it.

Snow sighed, looking up at her husband. "Carry her to the car, she needs to get home and in bed. Something tells me she's going to have a nasty hangover tomorrow."

Charming walked as carefully as he could back to the vehicle. Looking around at the ground, he knew he'd have to call Graham to come clean up the mess. He would help, but he had his daughter to think about. He slid her into the backseat beside her brother and put on her seatbelt. August watched Charming get back up front before turning his glance to Emma. He wasn't surprised at all that she had lied and snuck away to the party, it was something he was surprised she hadn't done sooner. He just kept thinking of the danger she put herself in. They were in a new place, with a fierce enemy who was waiting for the perfect opportunity to pounce.

It reminded him of some of the reckless stunts Emma had pulled after their parents died. She'd disappear in the woods for hours on end, despite the freezing cold weather. She'd try to practice magic far too advance for her. More than once he had found her trying to get onto the roof of the castle "just to see what it was like". Over time, she had somewhat gotten better about it and spent most of her time locked away in her room. August just didn't understand what could possibly be triggering all of it to happen again.

When they got back to the loft, August carried her inside and up the stairs to her room. Pulling back the covers, he settled her down and put them back over her. He let out a sigh and smoothed out the covers.

"You're not going to stop until I have grey hair, are you?" He mumbled. There was no response, she just rolled over and curled up in a fetal position. Even with her eyes shut, she managed to grab hold of her baby blanket and clung it tighter. "Night Ems, I love you." He kissed her forehead and went back downstairs where Snow and Charming were waiting. "I think she'll fall asleep soon."

"Thank you, August, for everything," Snow said.

"It's no problem."

Snow sighed, running a hand over her face. "How did I not realize what she was doing?"

"It's not your fault…this is a very Emma move. Well, not the drinking, but the sneaking out is. Trust me, she's very good at acting like a bandit."

Snow bit her lip and shut her eyes. She could almost hear her husband thinking: Wonder where she gets that from?

"I should probably head home…but call me tomorrow and tell me how she's doing?"

"Of course," Charming replied, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Again, we can't thank you enough. We wouldn't have thought to check there."

"It's no problem."

August exited the loft and Charming leant against the door, looking over at his wife. She was paler than usual, clearly trying to think things over.

"She lied to us."

"I know."

"I just…I mean…" Snow started pacing a bit. "How do we handle this? I know we just got back into her life, but this…this was dangerous. She could've been hurt and we had no clue where she was."

Charming tilted his head a bit, unsure if what he was going to say was the right way of going about it. "I think we have to punish her."

Snow stopped in her tracks for a minute. "You do?"

"Well, she's a little old for a timeout and I don't think a stern lecture is enough for lying and drinking," he said. "Maybe we should ground her."

"Ground her?" Snow repeated, slowly. The words sounded so foreign to her. Charming was right, she was past the age for a time out, but it just seemed to all come so fast. One minute, she was holding that tiny baby in her arms and the next, they were having to come up with a proper punishment for a teenager.

"I know there's not much that she does anyway, but clearly she had the freedom to tonight. I'm thinking 2 weeks. She doesn't go anywhere, she has to stay with us at all times. If we can't be with her, for whatever reason, then we deliver her to August."

"I guess that seems fair." Snow really didn't know, she had never had to do anything like that. She saw a look on her husband's face…was it guilt? "Charming, you know we have to do this."

"I do, that's not it…I just feel bad."

"About what?"

"I feel…disappointed in her. I hate that." Charming let out a sigh. "I feel like I've barely gotten to know her, but I didn't expect this. I didn't think she'd go out and get drunk…I thought she was better than that."

Snow walked closer to him, putting a hand on his chest. "I understand how you feel, I've been thinking the same thing since we found out that she lied. It doesn't change how much we love her."

"Of course not! I just hate this feeling. I don't like being disappointed in her, I don't like not being able to trust her…she's my little girl. Tonight was the first time I held her in 16 years, I felt this mixture of happiness because I missed so much time, but was also reminded why I got to make up for it. I'll probably never get it again."

Snow wrapped her arms around his torso and he pulled her as close as he could, feeling her head rest right where his heart beat. They didn't speak for a while, they just reflected on his words and how true they were. She was still their little girl, she always would be. Even so, they still felt disappointment and worry. It all came with being a parent and they had to get used to it. It wasn't just the fluffy moments.

"I know August said she hadn't drank before, but it worries me," Charming finally broke the silence. "After my father…I know all drinking doesn't stem from it…"

"I think it'd help for her to hear you talk about it," Snow assured him, tipping her head up to look into his eyes. "It was hard enough for me to see her that way, I can't imagine what it was like for you, considering."

"My father just walked out one night and never came back. I already lost Emma once, I won't again," he said, his voice becoming a little firmer.

"We won't lose her, I promise. We'll make her see how serious this is."

Charming nodded, kissing her for a minute. "She's going to feel like shit tomorrow."

"Yeah, I think we'll go easy on her there. First hangovers are never fun."

"Did the dwarves have any good cures?"

Snow smiled. "Nothing that really helped. But, from my Mary Margaret cursed memories I know that aspirin and orange juice go a long way."

"Aspirin?"

"It's medicine, it works better than those herbs Doc used to give us…don't tell him I said that."

Charming chuckled a bit at that. "Oh please, like you could do anything to make them mad at you. If anything, they'd find a way to blame me."

"They love you."

"Now."

It was Snow's turn to laugh as she pulled away from Charming. "I'm going to get things ready for the morning, can you go check on her please?"

Charming nodded and headed up the stairs to Emma's room. She was curled up in bed, her blanket pressed tightly to her chest. He moved closer and bent down so he could push the hair out of her face. The movement caused her to stir a bit and he could tell she wasn't totally asleep yet.

"You really scared me tonight, Princess," he whispered. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you again." He thought of Derek, would he have found Emma sooner? Would he have known that Emma was lying, been able to prevent her from drinking? He tried to push that thought out of his head, he didn't want to compare himself to that guy. Especially after what August had hinted at. "I don't think you're going to be too pleased with your mom and I tomorrow…but I'm just trying to be a good dad here."

Emma's eyes flickered open just a tad and her mouth opened, making Charming think she was going to respond. Instead, she threw up all over his shirt, managing to miss any of the bed. She let out another groan before her head dropped back on the pillow and her eyes shut again. Charming stared down at the vomit and then his daughter.

Well, I guess that's two missed moments made up for…sort of.

Charming headed back down the stairs, removing his shirt as he did. Snow was coming out of the bathroom and looked confused until she sniffed the air.

"Is that…"

"Our daughter threw up on me and then fell asleep." Snow bit her lip to suppress a giggle. "It's funny to you?"

"Well…kinda."

Charming rolled his eyes, but he was smiling a bit himself. "It was after I tried to give a cheesy talk to her, I guess that was her reaction."

"I doubt she was coherent enough to notice. I'm sure we could've gotten her to agree to anything."

"Great, how about no parties or boys until she's 50?"

"50? Really? You think she's going to wait until 50 for boys?"

"August told me that he's managed to keep any at bay for a while now."

Snow shook her head, taking the shirt from him. "Poor girl. Between one older brother and a father, she's going to need a lot of backup."

Emma woke up the following morning with her head feeling like it had been run over by several carriages. Her mouth tasted like vomit and the sun that came through the curtains was far too bright. She brought the covers further over her face and let out a groan. She tried to remember the events of the previous night. There had been a lot of tequila shots and then things got a little fuzzy. Suddenly, she could remember being carried and thinking for a minute that she was back home, that Derek was still alive. That was until she smelt the cologne and realized it was Charming. She hadn't been disappointed, in fact, she was quite relieved. She was far too drunk to do so, but she remembered wanting to hug him and never let go.

The rest of the night came and went in bits and pieces. August had tucked her in, which meant he knew. She was never going to be able to live any of it down. Snow and Charming knew she had lied, they had to. She bit down on her lip, wondering if they were just going to send her to be with August, Geppetto and Jiminy. She wouldn't be able to blame them, she had lied and betrayed their trust.

Carefully, she tried to get out of her bed, despite her aching head and body, only to be met with some difficulty. Suddenly, Snow's voice overtook the room.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Ugh…not so loud." She looked up and saw Charming was there too, holding a glass of juice and two little tablets.

Snow smiled a bit and walked over, helping her lay back down. "That's called a hangover."

"Here," Charming handed over the contents of his hand. "Your mother says this will help."

"What are these?" Emma eyed the aspirin.

"They're tablets that will help your head feel better, they work faster than herbs. You just swallow them."

Emma put the pills into her mouth and swallowed them back with the juice on the first try. "Thanks. I feel like crap."

"That's to be expected. I'll make you some dry toast, it may be all your stomach can handle right now."

Emma nodded, a little confused as to why they were being so nice to her. "About last night…"

"You lied to us, Emma," Snow interrupted, her voice a little low.

"I know. I'm sorry…I just…" Emma chewed on her lip. "I guess I just got excited at the thought of hanging out with kids my age."

"You think we wouldn't let you?"

"I wasn't sure how you'd feel about a party."

"We would've said no to that, but if you really wanted to meet people your own age, we could've helped."

Emma rolled her eyes a bit. "Yeah, because that wouldn't have been embarrassing at all."

"Well it'd be better than going off and getting drunk," Snow pointed out. "Speaking of which, August says you know you're not supposed to drink."

"I never had…I just figured…it wouldn't really do anything…"

"Drinking always does something," Charming said, his voice stern. "Especially if your magic can be effected by it. Do you realize how much danger you put yourself in last night? We didn't know where you were, Zelena could've attacked you and you would've been completely defenseless!"

Emma looked up at him, her mouth ajar. It wasn't just that his yelling was making her headache worse, it was the way he was talking to her. He sounded so much like a dad.

Well, he is your dad, dummy.

She hadn't had someone yell at her like that in a long time. Alise reprimanding her for running off on her birthday didn't count, at least not in her mind. Tears gathered to her eyes, she wasn't sure how she felt in that moment. A part of it felt really good to have that back, someone that cared enough to let her know when she had screwed up.

"I'm sorry," Emma whispered. "I guess I just wasn't thinking."

"No, I don't think you really were," Charming replied, growing softer. "We're very disappointed in you, Emma."

That hit her like a knife to the gut. Just as she had never had anyone to lecture her in a while, it had a bit since she felt like she had disappointed someone too.

"I…I'm sorry," she repeated. "I know that doesn't fix things, but I can leave…you won't have to…"

"Leave? Emma, what makes you think you're leaving our sight again for the near future?"

Emma's mouth opened and then closed again. "I lied to you…you're disappointed.

"Oh sweetie," Snow sat down on her bed, putting a hand on her daughter's face. "That doesn't mean that we don't love you."

Charming sat on the other side of her, rubbing her back. "You're our daughter, that's why we care so much. Yes, you have lost our trust, but you can rebuild it. And no matter what, like your mom said, we'll never stop loving you."

Emma was fighting so hard to keep the tears at bay. She still didn't understand how these people just loved her unconditionally. She had snuck behind their backs, they should hate her, want nothing to do with her. If Zelena had been a threat, she wouldn't be able to fight her. The town would've been screwed, just because she wanted a night of fitting in. They should be so angry with her, but they weren't. She had only experienced that type of unconditional love in one place before…her family.

These two were a part of it now, whether she was ready to fully accept it or not. They had been worried enough to go looking for, to take her home. She hadn't felt so safe and secure in over a year, not since that awful night.

"I really am sorry," she repeated once again.

Snow nodded. "We know you are and we accept your apology. However, things are going to be a little different. You're grounded."

"Grounded?"

"Two weeks. You won't be able to go out with those kids during that time and you're not going to be let out of our sight until we can trust you again."

"So basically…I'm grounded to you two."

Charming chuckled. "Pretty much."

"Can I still see August?"

"Of course you can. He's the one exception to all of this. However, we have to actually witness him picking you up so you can hang out."

Emma sniffled a bit. "That seems fair."

Snow and Charming hadn't expected her to take the punishment so well, but they were starting to realize that the whole thing was overwhelming. Charming bent down to kiss Emma's head and a small smile went across her face. Snow matched it and wiped a tear that had fallen down her cheek.

"I'll go make you some toast, you finish up your juice," she said. She got up, leaving just the father and daughter alone in the room.

Emma took a small sip of her juice. "Did I throw up last night? It feels like I did."

"Just a little bit…on me." He chuckled when her cheeks turned pink. "It's okay, I'm the dad, it's my job."

"Still…that couldn't have been pleasant."

"Not really, but I survived." Charming was quiet for a minute. "There is something else I wanted to talk to you about…this whole drinking thing."

"I won't do it again."

"I know one day you may get to a point where your body can handle it," Charming continued, ignoring what she had said. "You still have to be careful with it."

"I will, I promise." Emma looked into his eyes and could see there was more than that.

"You know both my parents died, right?" Emma nodded. "Well, my dad was a drunk. It came from losing my brother, you see…my story is sort of complicated."

He launched into the whole tale of his mother and father being poor farmers, the deal the king had Rumpelstiltskin make with them to save their farm and how inevitably James died, forcing him to take his place. Emma's eyes were wide by the end of it.

"So, you were a shepherd?"

"For a major chunk of my life."

"Your parents…they lied to you too," she whispered.

Charming bit his lip, he had thought of the two of them being similar in that way. "They couldn't tell me, it was part of the deal."

"You never got to know your brother, though…I'm sorry." She couldn't imagine her life without August or Alise.

"From what I know now, he wasn't the greatest man. At the same time, I think it's due to how he was raised. George was definitely not the ideal father and from what it seems, if there was a mother, she died long ago. I at least still had my mother. She was kind, fair. I may have been poor growing up, but at least I had her."

Emma titled her head a bit. "And your dad?"

Charming sighed. "Like I said, losing my brother was hard on him. It was hard on my mother as well, but he handled his grief differently. Of course, at the time I had no idea why. I just knew that he would go out, get drunk and that was that. One day, he ended up driving our cart drunk and he died." He could feel his daughter's hand cover his own.

"I'm so sorry."

"It was a long time ago," Charming blinked the tears from his eyes. "The point is…drinking can really mess up a person's life. I don't want to see that happen to you."

"It won't."

"Just promise me, when the times comes, you'll be careful."

Emma nodded. "I promise."

"Thank you." Charming kissed her head once more. "How are you feeling?"

"Still pretty crappy. Do I have to stay upstairs all day?"

"Well, you are grounded…"

Emma pouted a bit. "I could rest on the couch, where the movies are."

Charming looked into her big green eyes and felt himself melting a bit. There was no doubt that this girl had him wrapped around her finger already.

"I guess a little wouldn't hurt. Snow should have your toast ready soon."

I hope you all enjoyed this! As always, please let me know what you think and what you want to see. Next chapter includes lots of protective Mama Snow and Daddy Charming, so be prepared for that! Feel free to follow me on my Tumblrs: just-an-outlaw and justanoutlawfanfiction! Until next time, friends. =)