CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Disclosure

"I hate her!"

Regina's heart clenched in her chest at her son's words, and distress masked over her face at the sight of him in tears. She knew this wasn't going to go well, but she had hoped he would have been a little more understanding of Emma's side of it. Perhaps that was far too much to ask for however, as Henry was only ten years old, and really wasn't emotionally capable of seeing things rationally when he was upset. Emma had barely had time to explain things to him before Henry had fled from the room, finding his mother in the study and flinging himself into her arms, just trying to find a sense of comfort after finding out he had been lied to about something that bore the chance of substantially changing his life.

"No, don't say that," Regina pleaded, kneeling down in front of him to wipe the tears from his dampened cheeks. "You don't hate her, you're just angry with her. And you have every right to feel that way, okay? You're hurt that she lied to you, and that's understandable. But please, honey, don't say that you hate her, because you know Emma loves you more than anything, and if she ever heard you say that it would absolutely devastate her."

"If she loves me, then why did she lie to me!" Henry exclaimed, distraught over Emma's betrayal of his trust, and Regina's eyebrows creased in guilt as she pursed her lips.

"Darling…" she began softly, brushing the hair from his eyes. "Sometimes adults lie to children to protect them. They lie because they love you, and don't want to see you hurt. And I think a part of you knows that, otherwise you never would have forgiven me."

Henry sniffled, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands. "She was supposed to be the good one," he whispered, and his words tore a hole straight through Regina's heart. "She was supposed to be the one who never lies to me. She's the Savior, she's the—!"

"She's human, Henry," Regina tried to explain, hoping how badly her son's words had hurt her didn't show in her expression. "And more than that, she's your mother. Emma didn't know then if Neal even wanted to be in your life. How do you think you would have felt should she have told you the truth, and you wanted to meet him, only to find out he didn't want to meet you?"

Henry bit his bottom lip, but said nothing.

"She lied to you to protect you," Regina told him, using her thumb to wipe away another fallen tear. "And it's understandable that it hurt you, but you must also understand that she didn't do it to be malicious. She just didn't want to disappoint you; she didn't want to see you hurt, like Neal hurt her. Can you understand that?"

Henry's bottom lip trembled and he trapped it between his teeth, trying to calm himself down despite still being very hurt by what had happened. "How did he hurt her?" he asked finally, his voice soft and hesitant.

"Oh, honey," Regina sighed softly, running her hands down his arms in a comforting gesture. "That's something you're going to have to ask Emma. That's her past, okay? And it wouldn't be right if I was the one who shared it with you."

Henry just meekly nodded, and Regina gave him a soft, encouraging smile as the floorboards creaked outside the half open door. Regina knew it was Emma, but didn't acknowledge her right then, as her son's distress took more of a priority.

"Just remember that you have a say in who you want to be in your life, and should you decide you don't want to spend time with your birth father after what Emma tells you, you don't have to. You're certainly not obligated to in any way." Henry nodded again, and Regina gently placed her knuckle under his chin, coaxing his eyes to rise from the floor and meet hers. "But if you do, then that's okay too. Neal may not be mine or Emma's favorite person, but we won't keep you from him if you want to see him."

"Why?" Henry asked quietly, genuinely curious, if not a little suspicious. "You tried to keep me from Emma at first, so why aren't you trying to do that with my dad?"

"Because, honey," Regina answered patiently. "I'm… I'm trying, very hard, to learn from my mistakes. And keeping you from Emma? That was a mistake. All it did was make you resent me, and that's not something Emma or I want to happen this time around."

"Okay," Henry whispered, accepting her answer. He sniffled again, and Regina drew him into a hug, tangling her fingers through her son's hair before kissing him softly on the forehead.

"Do you want to go talk to her?" Regina asked gently, but Henry just shook his head.

"Not right now," he mumbled, holding tight to his mother in his arms. "Can we just… play games for a little?"

Regina's gaze landed on the half open door, her eyes connecting with Emma's as the woman stepped a little further into view, her arms hugging tight to her own form. Regina gave her a soft, apologetic smile, hoping that the blonde would realize that Henry just needed a little time to adjust and forgive, before turning back to her son and softly assuring him, "Of course, honey. Whatever you want."

[x]

Emma tried not to let Henry's reaction to the truth affect her, as she had been expecting something like this to happen, but it was hard. It twisted her insides and the guilt burned a hole in her heart as she remembered the look of complete betrayal on her son's face, and she hated herself for ever making him feel that way.

Emma had really thought she was doing the right thing by telling him that Neal had died, because all the man had done was disappoint and hurt her, and she desperately didn't want the same thing happening to Henry should he have ever wanted to go looking for him. And yeah, maybe the ten years they spent apart allowed Neal to grow into something resembling a decent human being, but Emma hadn't known that before. She could only go off of what she knew, but now she was second guessing her entire decision.

Maybe she should have just sucked it up and told the kid the truth when he asked. Maybe then Henry wouldn't have ever had a reason to look at her like he didn't know if he could ever trust her again. And maybe it was just a temporary reaction, maybe he'd get over it and forgive her, because hey, he seemed to have forgiven Regina after all, but right now? God, it killed Emma inside. She hated it, and it made her feel like a terrible person, a terrible mother.

"Emma?"

The blonde looked up, taking in the concerned expression on Ruby's face as the woman crossed the room to stand in front of her table. "What are you doing here?"

"Brooding," Emma responded, trying to make it sound sarcastic, but the word fell flat, the truth in it winning out regardless of her intentions. Ruby raised her eyebrows.

"Here?" Ruby questioned, motioning with her hands to indicate their current surroundings: The Rabbit Hole, the one damn place in all of Storybrooke that Emma really should not find herself inside of. The brunette cocked her head to the side, this little sympathetic look on her face that Emma found she instantly hated. "You really think that's the best idea?"

"Jesus, does everybody know?" Emma asked, sounding exasperated to try to cover up the fact that her weakness being public knowledge was probably the most embarrassing thing she had ever felt. She tangled her fingers in her hair and slipped further into her seat in the booth, letting out a small sigh. "I just… I don't know, am having an exercise in self-control, or whatever. It's fine."

Really, she just wanted to fucking prove to herself that she wasn't as shitty of a person as she felt right then. Maybe it was dangerous, maybe it was stupid, but Emma had lasted a whole fifteen minutes without getting up to order at the bar, even though her hands were trembling in some kind of psychological throwback to what her body no longer physically craved, but her mind still desperately wanted. Still, she was doing it. And that was what mattered, right?

Apparently not.

"Yeah well, as much fun as watching you brutally torture yourself sounds, how about you hold off on that for a little while and come get some air with me instead?" Ruby suggested, tentatively holding out her hand in offer, as though she was trying to coax something back from off the edge of a building. But maybe that was the equivalent of what she was doing anyhow. "Come on, I haven't seen you in weeks; let's catch up."

Emma hesitated, not sure if the voice screaming in her head not to go was her addiction or her strength just wanting a chance to prove itself.

"Emma," Ruby implored softly, looking so goddamn concerned with her well-being that it filled the blonde with an overwhelming sense of shame. "Please."

Emma bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes shifting to the bar for a moment before deciding that maybe complete masochism wasn't the way to go, and took ahold of Ruby's hand. Even if she could do this, even if she could sit here and prove to herself that there was actually something redeemable about herself, Emma didn't want the people she loved to worry for her; she had had enough of that for one lifetime.

As Emma grabbed her bag off the seat next to her, Ruby gave her a soft smile. The gesture was returned to her as the two women exited the bar, hand in hand. The afternoon sun was bright and harsh, and Emma squinted in the face of it before untangling herself from Ruby and fumbling to get her sunglasses down from off her head. Ruby smirked.

"You smell better, you know."

Emma snorted, pushing her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose. "Thanks, it's this new scent I'm trying called 'sobriety'."

"Yeah well, my nose thanks you for it," Ruby told her, chuckling a little as she leaned against the side of the building, fiddling with the ties on her cloak. "You really have no idea how bad you used to reek. I mean, I love you and all, but it was pretty nauseating."

"Sorry," Emma apologized, averting her gaze as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Her weight shifted between her feet before she shrugged, trying to downplay the severity of it. "Bad decisions, and all that. Shit happens I guess."

"Yeah," Ruby agreed, her tone softer as she looked at her friend in gentle sympathy. She noticed Emma's awkward demeanor whenever her alcoholism was brought up however, and let the topic drop. "So Snow told me you got to wear the famous ruby slippers," Ruby mentioned, her lips turning up into a small smirk at Emma's disgruntled look. "How was that?"

"Awkward," Emma began listing off, slumping against the wall next to her friend. "Draining. Kind of nauseating, and the landing really sucked."

"Oh come on, you didn't think it was cool?" Ruby nudged her with her shoulder, and Emma just shrugged in response.

"Stuff like that is apparently a lot cooler in theory than in practice," she told her. "I mean yeah, it's awesome that you can just click your heels and go anywhere, but the magic it used to make them work took a lot out of me. And besides," Emma scowled, kicking up her foot to have it land on the wall behind her, "because we used those to get back, I had to leave my baby behind and that's just…"

Emma sighed, shaking her head because she knew she sounded stupid. "Okay, I get like, big picture; we were able to get back this way and all that, and that's great and what we wanted, but ugh, Ruby… I just really miss my car."

The sentence came out like a childish whine, but god damnit leaving her car behind really sucked because she loved it more than anything; it was like an extension of who she was. Worse than that though, was that leaving it behind actually caused her and Regina more problems; problems she didn't think Regina had even realized yet and problems Emma didn't know how to fix, but had been thinking about ever since they got back.

"And you know, the worst part about it isn't even that there's a chance that the cops might find it and impound it, since we basically kidnapped Dorothy from DHS and… actually never mind, that's a long story, and not even the point right now," Emma backtracked, waving her hand to dismiss it and move on. "The point is that Regina's Benz is still parked outside the motel room we were staying at before, so as of right now, neither of us have a car."

"And Regina's gonna have to get back somehow, because my parents won't let her stay here forever, but it's not exactly like Storybrooke has a car rental service or anything, so I really don't know how the hell we're gonna manage that right now," Emma finished, sighing heavily as she leaned her head back against the brick wall. She scrunched up her face though, realizing she just went on a little tangent, and turned her head towards Ruby. "Sorry, I didn't mean to just… go off like that. I'm just frustrated. I know you don't care."

"Of course I care; you're my friend, Emma, so if you need to vent, then vent," Ruby told her, looking at her a little strangely, like she didn't understand how Emma could think otherwise. But it wasn't like Regina was this town's favorite person, so why would anyone care what made her life more difficult? But Ruby just asked, "Why doesn't she just buy a used one or something? I think Billy has one he fixed up in his spare time. If you ask, he might sell it for a decent price; to her, probably not, but to you…"

Emma just shook her head and sighed softly. "We don't… I mean, we don't really have the money to spare right now, you know? I mean, my paycheck kind of sucks, and despite what everyone thinks, Regina's funds aren't unlimited. And since she can't sell her house here, that leaves us with a lot less money to buy a new one with, and so buying a new car that we're only gonna use once just to get to our other ones is—"

"Emma," Ruby said shortly, her tone suddenly very serious as her gaze connecting with her friend's. "You're… saying 'we' a lot. You're not planning on leaving with her, are you?"

Shit.

"No, it's just… a habit, I don't know. I'm just trying to help her out, that's all," Emma quickly denied, because oh god, she didn't want that news reaching her parents before she was ready to tell them, and that was preferably after they had figured everything out with their living situations.

"If you say so," Ruby responded, letting it go despite the fact that she still looked skeptical. And Emma didn't like that, because Ruby having thoughts like that might cause her to voice them to other people, and so turned towards the brunette imploringly.

"I swear, Rubes, I'm not—"

"Emma, you're talking about her financials like they affect you," Ruby reminded her, looking her square in the eye with a 'no bullshit' expression. "Everything you said was either 'we' or 'us', so you obviously view this whole situation as your problem as well. And I'm not gonna judge you if you're back with her and want to start over as a family somewhere else, okay? I'm not. But just don't lie to my face about it; I'm your friend and I don't want you to just disappear one day without a word of goodbye, you know? That'd be awful."

"No, it's…" Emma tried, but she just exhaled a frustrated breath and ran her hand through her hair, feeling really guilty. God, why couldn't she just keep her mouth shut? Admitting this wasn't something she wanted to do right now, but she didn't want Ruby to think that she'd do something like that either.

Knowing she had to just be honest, Emma disclosed the truth with a soft sigh, "I swear to god, it wasn't gonna be like that, okay? We just… God, I haven't told my parents yet, and I just didn't want you—"

"So you are leaving then."

Ruby sounded really disappointed, and her tone caused Emma to hang her head, because this shouldn't have had to come about by her friend dragging the truth out of her. "I don't want to," she admitted. "But… Henry, he needs her. He needs his mom, and if Regina can't stay in Storybrooke, then neither can we. I don't like it, she doesn't like it, as this was her home too, but that's just… you know, it's just the way it is. My parents banished her, so what else can we do?"

Ruby pursed her lips, lines of sadness etching across her face at the realization that her friend leaving Storybrooke meant she'd probably never see her again because of the town line. "Maybe they'll reconsider Regina's banishment, should they know they'd be losing you and Henry as well," she suggested, but it didn't sound like she even believed it herself.

Emma really wished that were true, but… "The town would riot."

"Yeah," Ruby murmured, sounding incredibly disheartened. Regina's banishment was her punishment for enacting the curse, and should that be retracted, it wouldn't be received well at all. Nobody wanted Regina here, save Henry and herself.

Ruby looked up at her, her lips pursed in a sad smile before holding out her arms to her. "Come here," she coaxed, before wrapping the blonde up in a tight hug. "I'm really gonna miss you," Ruby whispered, and Emma had to swallow the lump in her throat at the brunette's words. She had never really had friends before, had people that cared, had a home. Storybrooke gave her all of that, and it tore her to shreds inside to have to leave it all behind.

"I'm gonna miss you too," Emma breathed, hating that she had to say goodbye. This whole thing was just so incredibly fucked, and Emma wished it didn't have to happen this way. But Henry, he was… he was the most important thing in the world, to both her and Regina, and they needed to do what was best for him. "I'm really sorry…"

"No, don't be sorry," Ruby told her, untangling herself from Emma's arms to look her in the eyes. "You have to do what's best for your child, I understand that. It just…" She sighed softly. "Well, it just really sucks that this is what that is, is all."

"Yeah," Emma quietly agreed. Trapping her bottom lip between her teeth, she looked down at the ground before requesting, "Look, I'd appreciate it if you didn't—"

"I won't," Ruby promised her before she could finish, knowing exactly what she was going to say. "I won't tell Snow. She might be my friend, but you are too, and besides, I think if anyone's gonna tell her that you're planning on shacking up with the Evil Queen—"

"It's not like that," Emma told her, turning her gaze upwards to once again meet her friend's as she sighed. "We're not… that's not what we're doing. I'm gonna have my own apartment."

"Oh." Ruby creased her brow then, before asking, "Are you… okay with that?"

Emma shrugged. "My idea, really."

"No, I mean… I realize you're just doing this for Henry, but if things aren't any better between you guys, do you really think you should be—?"

"They are," Emma interrupted, the words that tumbled out of her mouth sounding more eager to explain than she actually intended them too. Ruby's eyebrows rose and Emma looked out towards the street, shrugging it off. "I mean, it's not like how it was before. It's not even close. But…" She sighed, shaking her head. "I don't know, it's complicated. Sorry, I just… I don't really wanna talk about Regina right now; all it does is make my head hurt."

Ruby nodded, understanding that. "Alright. But if you ever need an ear…"

"I know," Emma responded, her lips forming into a small smile of gratitude. Ruby was the only one, it seemed, who hadn't judged her relationship with Regina after the curse broke. It was a blessing Emma didn't know she needed until she had it. "Thanks."

Ruby gave her a soft smile in return, then looked down at her watch. "Damn, my shift starts soon, so I should probably…" She inclined her had in the opposite direction. "But hey, we should really try to have a girl's night soon," Ruby continued, before her smile turned a little sad, "you know, before you leave."

"Yeah, sounds good," Emma responded, hoping she sounded more enthusiastic than she felt. As much as she wanted to hang out with Ruby one last time, it was bound to be a pretty depressing night. Saying goodbye was… it just wasn't something Emma really did. She didn't have attachments, and so when she up and left each town for another, it didn't really bother her. But this… this did.

"You need a lift back to Regina's?" Ruby offered, nodding her head towards the parking lot. "Since you're car-less and everything."

"Actually I gotta get down to the pawn shop," Emma responded, motioning to the bag on her shoulder. "Need to drop something off for Gold. But if you don't mind…?" Cause really, walking everywhere was starting to suck.

Ruby chuckled. "Not at all, come on."

As the two women began heading towards the parking lot, Ruby inclined her head towards the bag Emma was holding. "Okay, I have to ask though… what's with the purse? Are you getting girly on me all of a sudden? Because I don't really know what to do with that." Her tone was playful and Emma's face scrunched up in mild protest.

"It's a bag, not a purse, Rubes," Emma defended, rolling her eyes; because please, like she would really carry a purse?

Ruby smirked at her insistence to the contrary as they neared her car. "Uh, hate to break it to you, but what you're holding is a purse; a huge one, sure, but still a purse." She studied it for a moment before suddenly stopping mid-stride, blinking heavily as she practically grabbed it off of Emma's shoulder in near-shock. "Holy— and a wicked expensive one at that. Versace?"

Emma stared at her blankly, not really understanding the magnitude of the brand name. "It's Regina's," she answered instead, because, well, obviously. "She had a ton of them in her closet, so I just grabbed the biggest one and left. What's the big deal? Everything Regina owns is expensive."

"Emma, these bags cost at least two thousand dollars," Ruby revealed, causing Emma's jaw to drop at the information. Apparently there was expensive, and then there was insanity.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

Who the hell would spend two thousand dollars on a goddamn purse? That's just… ridiculously unnecessary.

"Really not," Ruby answered, looking flabbergasted by just the sight of something like that. "You said she had a ton of them? Are they all brand names?"

Emma just held out her hands haplessly, because seriously, did Ruby really expect her to know something like that? Still, Ruby just pointed at the purse and told her, "Well ask her and find out, because if they are, that's the solution to your money problems."

"Solution? Ruby, I'm pretty sure this right here is the entire reason we even have a problem."

"Maybe," Ruby admitted, but shrugged lightly, like it was of no matter. "Still, I'm telling you, if you sell those things on Ebay or something, you could easily buy a used car and not have it cut into your moving funds; vintage stuff like that usually goes for a lot."

Emma raised her eyebrows at that, because yeah, that actually wasn't a bad idea. Though why the hell didn't Regina think of it? She remembered her saying that a lot of her possessions came with the curse, but these didn't, right? They couldn't have, because they didn't exactly look like they were from the early eighties. So if Regina bought them at some point, she had to know exactly how expensive they were, and yet she just… left them behind like they were nothing? Emma knew Regina couldn't bring a lot when she moved the first time, but if she had two thousand dollar purses hanging in her closet, that would have been the first thing she grabbed; cause seriously, goddamn.

Emma tried not to feel bitter about the fact that Regina being well-off caused her to deem something that expensive unimportant, but it was hard. Logically, Emma realized that most of Regina's possessions, her money, were complete bullshit; just something the curse gave her to secure the façade, but even so, the lack of care Regina seemed to have for it all bothered her. Emma had basically straddled the line between poverty and stability for most of her life, had to work for every little thing she had, and Regina just… waved her hand and instantly created a more than comfortable life for herself.

God, it probably was stupid though, to even be jealous of something like that. Emma knew that Regina created the curse solely because she was so terribly unhappy, so of course she would give herself everything to try to achieve that. And could she really blame her? If Emma was in the same position, had the means and the motive, she probably would have too. In the end though, no matter how many expensive things Regina owned, no matter how good she tried to make her life seem, she still ended up feeling empty and alone.

Apparently there was truth to the saying that money couldn't buy happiness, but sometimes the selfish part of Emma just wished she at least had the chance to try.

Fuck it though, it didn't even matter. The important thing was that Emma might actually have a solution for at least one of the problems in her life right in front of her, and that was a good thing, despite how she felt about it coming about.

And that had to count for something.

[x]

The bell above the pawn shop's door chimed as Emma stepped through the threshold, the sound alerting the owner to her presence. Gold looked up at her from across the counter, and a familiar smile crept across his face that had always looked far more creepy than inviting. "Sherriff," he greeted. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Emma didn't answer him. Instead she dug into her bag, pulling out the ruby slippers she had gotten from Dorothy before practically slamming them down on the counter in front of him. But as Gold's eyes filled with greed and he reached for them, Emma immediately slid them away from his grasp. "Not so fast."

Gold's eyes flashed, not enjoying being toyed with. "Need I remind you, dearie, that those belong to me?"

"They belong to Dorothy," Emma corrected, looking at him like he was stupid for even trying to play that card. "Hell, even Elphaba has more of a legitimate claim on them than you do. But I'm willing to give them back to you… in exchange for a favor."

Really, the last thing Emma wanted to do was give Gold back something that had this much power, but in the end, he was the only one who could help put this whole curse thing to rest. And, well, Emma knew first hand that Gold's help didn't come for free, hence the bargaining tool.

"Let me guess," Gold drawled, leaning his arms on the counter as his gaze pierced hers. A smirk began to etch its way across his face, as though this entire interaction amused him, and he continued, "You finally believe that it is, in fact, your precious Queen who was cursed, and nobly wish to save her from another lifetime of unhappiness. Am I wrong?"

Emma's face soured at his tone; she didn't like being mocked, and she enjoyed it even less so when it was regarding her ties to Regina. "Could you do it or not?" she snapped in return, because even if that wasn't what she originally came here to ask, it would be the next step should Regina's fear turn out to be true.

"No."

It was said so simply, so uncaringly that it set Emma's teeth on edge. "What the hell do you mean, no?"

"I could find you a dictionary, if the word puzzles you, dearie."

Emma's furious glare that followed his words made Gold chuckle as he moved to come around the other side of the counter. "A curse cannot be broken by just anyone," he explained. "Only the caster has the power to reverse what it is that they have done, and as it was not I who cursed her, it is out of my hands."

Emma exhaled a frustrated breath, "That can't be the only way—"

"The death of the one who enacted it is, of course, another option," Gold continued. "The curse will die with its caster. Outside of that and True Love's Kiss though, I'm afraid—"

"Wait, what?" Emma questioned, the words that had fallen from the man's mouth perplexing her to no end. "Then the curse theory is out the window, right? Because I've kissed Regina plenty of times since then, and nothing's changed."

"Wrong." Gold told her, before a knowing smirk crossed his face. "Would I be incorrect in assuming that there is trouble in paradise, dearie?" His words were mocking, and Emma shot him a dark look.

"What does that have to do with anything? She's still my True Love, that doesn't just go away—"

"It has to do with everything," Gold answered. "It isn't enough to merely be bound to her; the first curse broke only because you had given the Queen your heart. Am I wrong in assuming you took that from her once you found out the truth?"

Emma pursed her lips into a tight line, guilt and anger and sadness beginning to burn in the pit of her stomach. "I love Regina," she tried to defend, and even though it was true, it still sounded weak and pathetic. The love they held for each other now, it wasn't like it was before. It was broken, tainted.

"You may love her, dearie; but the evidence suggests that you do not truly love her," Gold informed her, as though he were speaking to an ignorant child and it taxed him to do so. "Until you love everything that she is, until she loves everything that you are, True Love's Kiss will not work for you."

Well, great; they were probably fucked then, cause God knows how long it'd take them to work out their issues, and that's if they even could.

Emma sighed heavily, running her fingers through her hair. "Look, even if… even if that's true, that still doesn't rule out the fact that neither of us might even be cursed at all." Gold looked amused by that theory, but Emma snapped, "I'm serious. I don't care how plausible it is, we still don't have proof; and until we have that, there's no use even thinking about breaking a curse that might not even exist in the first place."

"That is why you came then?" Gold asked, looking at her like she had set the bar unbelievably low. And maybe she had, but she had to deal with one thing at a time; and besides, even if she skipped ahead and acted on belief, it wasn't like Gold could help in that area. "You want proof… in exchange for the slippers?"

"If you can give us that, yeah; then we can go from there."

"Then you have yourself a deal, dearie," Gold answered, smiling at her like he had just won some sort of prize. But fuck it, they needed to know, and it wasn't like Regina knew how to test it, otherwise she already would have. "I do hope you realize, however, that I will need access to the Queen's home; it is the only place magic resides."

"That's fine," Emma said, waving that off. Regina wasn't able to leave the house anyway. "Can you do it tomorrow?"

"I'm afraid not," Gold answered, though didn't sound regrettable about that at all. Emma understood why though, even if she was a little surprised by the information, as he continued, "Tomorrow is my day with my son. I could come by Thursday afternoon?"

Emma bit the inside of her cheek. Thursday was the day Regina had scheduled their in-home therapy session with Archie, and she didn't know if she wanted to add this on top of that, because who knew what kind of headspace they would be in after that was finished. "Friday's better," she told him, and Gold nodded his compliance.

"Friday it is then."

"Good. If you come through, then you'll get the slippers," Emma responded, placing them back into her bag before pulling it over her shoulder. Gold inclined his head in acknowledgement, because if nothing else, he did stick to the deals he made, and Emma found herself thankful for that little fact as she turned and headed out of the shop. It at least meant that Gold wouldn't try to fuck them over and just steal the slippers back, which Emma supposed was a small comfort, given everything else.

Because the prospect of knowing, really knowing that one of them was cursed, was making an uncontrollable sense of anxiety brew in the pit of Emma's stomach. She wanted to believe that it wasn't true, but what were the chances of that, really? And even when – no, even if, she reminded herself – they knew for sure, then what? How would they go about finding out who was the one who cast it? If it really was Regina who was cursed, there must have been dozens of people who had reason to.

And if it was her, well… then that actually made it even harder, because the only person Emma knew that had motive was Regina, and if she didn't do it, then Emma didn't even have a list to start with.

Emma forced herself to take a deep breath as she exited the shop however, reminding herself that it was better to focus on one thing at a time; and between now and Friday, she had a whole mess of other things that she had to deal with that really needed her attention first.

TBC…