AN: Happy Valentines Day! I decided to post this little mini-series a day early. It's four parts and an epilogue that I'll be posting over the next five nights to celebrate Snowing and Valentines Day. This is a little modern AU I came up with a while ago, so I hope you enjoy. Please review and let me know what you think.
Sweeter Than Fiction
Chapter 1: Heartless
Mary Margaret Blanchard had a fairly good life. She was the daughter of a wealthy businessman, who traveled a lot. She loved her father and knew he loved her, but she knew there were things he did that she wouldn't ever agree with.
After her mother had died, Leopold Blanchard married an old flame, Cora Mills. That had been instant trouble. She had a loving relationship with her step-sister Regina, but Cora had hated her from the moment she laid her cold eyes on the girl.
In their town, Mary Margaret's mother Eva had been beloved and that had always translated to her beautiful daughter, who some even like to refer to as the fairest in all of Storybrooke. Mary Margaret had always tried to follow her mother's example. She tried to be humble and do good for others. Be good and good things would come to you. It was the mantra her mother had always taught her.
She was crushed when her mother died when she was only ten and even more heartbroken when her father moved on less than a year later with a marriage to Cora Mills. The woman was pure evil and though Mary Margaret had no idea why, she had a particular hatred for Eva. Naturally, that translated to Mary Margaret and she tried expressly to avoid her step-mother at all costs.
The years passed and Mary Margaret graduated High School. Her father had pressed her to join the family business, but she refused and enrolled in Storybrooke University to get her teaching degree, much to his and Cora's dismay. They were already plenty ticked at her step-sister's blatant rebellion in buying a bar of all things. They considered it disgraceful, which only delighted Regina all the more. She had purchased the Rabbit Hole and renamed it the Poisoned Apple. Mary Margaret hung out there quite a bit, mostly because neither Leopold nor Cora would ever step foot inside.
Even though she spent as little time at home as possible, she knew things were not good in her father's marriage. Mary Margaret vowed long ago that she'd never marry one for anything less than true love for this very reason. There wasn't any love between them and likely never had been. That's probably why she should have seen trouble coming, given her step-mother's known penchant for evil, but even she had underestimated Cora's hatred of her.
Upon her father's death, his fortune would have gone to her, not that Mary Margaret ever cared for money, especially dirty money. But this would naturally be nullified if her father's death was not natural. In the event of murder at Mary Margaret's hand, then the money would default to Cora.
So when Mary Margaret awoke in the dead of night at three a.m. and found her nightgown covered in blood, a knife in her hand, and the body of her father on her bedroom floor, her blood curdling scream had filled the entire mansion.
"I didn't do this…" she pleaded to her step-mother and Johanna, as they rushed in. Her face was stained with tears and she was shaking, trying to keep the bile down at the site of the gruesome scene on her bedroom floor.
"You're holding the murder weapon, you little retch!" Cora growled, putting on a mask of horror and grief.
"You know I could never do this!" Mary Margaret pleaded, but Cora glared murderously at her.
"Johanna...call the Sheriff…" she ordered. Her eyes widened and she realized exactly what was about to happen.
"Yes ma'am…" Johanna said, as she watched her employer exit the room, which was a mistake that was about to save Mary Margaret's life.
Johanna rushed her to get dressed and packed a few meager things in a bag, before damn near pushing the poor girl out her open window.
"Run my dear...you must run and never stop…" Johanna urged.
"But...she'll fire you…" Mary Margaret warned. Johanna smiled.
"I stay here for you, my dear girl. And I'll be damned if I let that witch frame you for murder and take you from me like your mother was taken. Please...go sweet girl," Johanna pleaded. Mary Margaret sniffed.
"I love you…" she sobbed.
"I love you too...run!" she urged, as she did and never looked back. Once she saw her disappear into the woods, Johanna reluctantly dialed the Sheriff's station so as not to implicate herself. She would offer testimony that Mary Margaret was not capable of this savagery, but she knew Cora would spin a different tale that would ensure she was awarded Leopold's estate, while Mary Margaret would spend her life on the run. Little could either of them know, Mary Margaret's heartless step-mother's actions would lead her to a true love unlike any other...
Ruth hummed to herself, as she collected eggs from the chickens and moved about the barn, tending to her morning chores. She had sent David to the market in town for a few things and he had gone without complaint. He was such a good boy...well more like a good man now.
Raising him without her husband Robert hadn't always been easy. The farm was a lot of work for a woman trying to raise a little boy, but somehow she had managed and David had grown to be a fine young man, handsome too. More than a few of the nearby farm girls had noticed.
But David wasn't interested in marrying for anything less than true love. Ruth didn't blame him, but she wasn't sure if such a thing existed. When she had first married Robert, she believed it did, but then he drank himself into an early grave and Ruth was left with the cold reality that love hadn't been enough for them.
She sighed and sat down on a wooden stool to milk the cows when she saw a pair of eyes in the hay. She jumped up and the girl startled, scrambling to get away.
"Wait...I'm not going to hurt you, dear!" she called. The pixie haired girl stopped and turned back and Ruth was taken aback by the raven haired beauty. She knew this girl. The whole town did.
"You're Mary Margaret Blanchard," she said.
"Please...please don't call the police. I...I didn't kill my father, I swear!" she pleaded, as her eyes pooled with tears.
"Shh...come sit, child. No one is calling the police," Ruth assured.
"It was my step-mother. I can't prove it...but she framed me for the murder. I loved my father," the girl cried, as Ruth hugged her.
"Of course you did," Ruth soothed.
"Cora is evil…she's taken everything from me. I'm sorry I slept in your barn, it was just so cold last night," Mary Margaret apologized.
"There's no need for apologies, but I can't have you sleeping in the barn. That's not a suitable place at all," Ruth said. Mary Margaret's heart sunk.
"I know...I'll be moving on," she promised.
"Oh no child...I meant you should be sleeping some place like my spare room in the house," Ruth corrected.
"You'll...let me stay?" she asked in disbelief.
"I could use some help around here," she replied. Mary Margaret smiled.
"Anything…" she agreed, but then jumped at the sound of a man's voice.
"Mother...I'm back!" David called. Ruth put her hand on Mary Margaret's.
"You have nothing to fear...it's just my son, David," she replied, as he came in carrying a couple bags.
"Sorry it took so long…" the words died on his lips, as he saw they had company. Ruth noticed the captivation between both of them instantly.
"Son...this is Mary Margaret. She'll be staying with us," Ruth announced.
"Okay…" he said in a daze, as his mother took the bags from him. Ruth smiled knowingly.
"Mary...perhaps you can help David tend to the flock," she suggested.
"Sure…" she answered automatically, as she followed the young man out into the field.
She spent the day shadowing him, as he worked with the animals and it was evident what a gift he had with them.
"So it's just you and your Mom?" Mary asked curiously. He nodded.
"My Dad died when I was six," he replied.
"I'm sorry…" she said, biting her bottom lip.
"I'm sorry for your loss too," he replied.
"So you know who I am," she stated. He smiled.
"Storybrooke isn't that big…" he mentioned.
"I didn't kill him...my father," she blurted out.
"I know," he replied. She looked surprised and he smiled.
"Not everyone is so quick to buy the garbage headlines that sell newspapers," he said.
"You believe me?" she asked. He nodded.
"You don't even know me," she said, looking down.
"I know enough. My mother was kind to you. She wouldn't help some killer. Besides...your stepmom seems like a total bitch," he added and she laughed.
"You have no idea,," she agreed, as she stood up, a little too fast and lost her footing on the uneven ground. He caught her in his arms before she could fall and time seemed to stop, as they stared at each other. Before either of them knew what was happening, he was pressing his lips to hers. When their lips parted, they still could not take their eyes off each other. It was the beginning of something wonderful and after her father's murder, Mary Margaret had thought it was a terrible ending for her life. But this...this was the beginning of something new and maybe this beginning could end with a happily ever after...