Chapter 1 New friends
December 1999
Sixteen-year-old Emma Swan sat under a bus shelter shivering against the harsh cold of winter, the warmth from the bus journey that had brought her here already a distant memory as she wistfully watched children trailing along after their parents, all wrapped up in that years winter coats, giggling as they picked up snow in their gloved hands and threw it at each other, neither were luxuries that had been afforded to Emma,
Her coat had already been old, drab, and thin when it had been given to her but at least it fit her properly then, it had long since been several sizes to small and had the addition of a large tear in the side that let the cold air whistle through. Her fingers stuck out of the unevenly cut holes in her gloves which weren't a fashion statement of some kind but rather the work of someone who had cut all the fingers and the two thumbs off of her only pair of gloves in one of the many group homes that she had lived in when she was eleven, of course she hadn't said anything, she couldn't be a grass, her life would have been even more hellish if she had gotten herself lumbered with that label, even a change of home wouldn't have freed her from it, she had seen many kids carrying that label from home to home like a cloud of shame never truly able to move on because other kids moved too and word got about that they weren't to be trusted, so Emma had remained silent and continued to wear those gloves for the past five years , through several different homes and nobody had ever noticed or if they had, they hadn't cared enough to bother to provide her with a new pair and so now she sat alone under the freezing bus shelter thinking about what her next move would be as she desperately tried to blow some warmth into her painfully numb fingers which were left exposed to the merciless elements.
She tried to distract herself from the cold and her growing hunger by watching the people around her, turning her attentions from the warmly wrapped children to the parents that they trailed behind, parents carrying varying sized piles of brightly wrapped parcels as they hurried through the snow which was falling thick and fast, sticking to their lashes and the faux fur on their coats, gloves, hats and scarves, cheeks and noses as pink as their children's where the cold touched them as they moved with haste towards their destinations, calling for their children to hurry up behind them.
Emma tried to guess what might be inside the different sized parcels, she pictured all kinds of extravagant gifts the likes of which would never be meant for her and she all but forgot the cold for a short time.
It was her hunger that brought her back to reality, with it returned the cold, it hit her like a tonne of bricks seeming to seep into her very core, shuddering she reluctantly left her shelter heading further out into the cold, fully exposing herself to the mercy of the elements, the elements had none. Freezing water soaked into her socks making her toes almost as cold as her fingers as her feet sunk into the drifts of snow on the sidewalk leaving a trail of footprints in her wake as it seeped in through the holes in her trainers with every step she took.
Shivering uncontrollably, she entered the first convenience store she came too sighing at the instant relief that the welcoming warmth of the shops heaters provided, it was a shame she thought as made her way to the first aisle of interest to her, that it wouldn't last nearly long enough, far too soon she would be back outside with the cold biting her worse than ever.
Being careful not to draw attention to herself Emma began to casually browse the aisles constantly keeping the security guard in her peripheral with the expertise of someone who had done this many times before, she paused periodically to drop the odd item into her pocket or wherever she could stuff it.
She was almost done when she fumbled, dropping the pot of potato snacks that were headed into the right leg of her jog pants from her still numb fingers with a loud clang,
"Damn it" she cussed as she realised that she had done the one thing that she had been avoiding and caught the security guard's attention, he started to make his way over and she stood in defeat certain that she was abouts to be busted,
"Ahh, you found them" a warm voice suddenly spoke in Emma's ear startling her, "Well? What are you waiting for?" the owner of the voice demanded, holding out a basket with a few things resting at the bottom and waving it under a gawking Emma's nose, "put them in the basket already" the mystery girl laughed,
Emma complied a surprised expression still etched into her features as she raised her eyes from the basket to the face of the person holding it, soulful brown eyes set in a pretty tanned face and framed with dark brown naturally wavey hair with a bobble hat resting securely on top of it like a winter crown, looked back at her, the girl looked about Emma's age, but she had barely had time to silently acknowledge just how pretty the brown eyed brunette was when a deep voice cleared behind her and she realised with stomach dropping horror that the guard was upon them. Wiping her face into as impassive a look as she could achieve Emma slowly turned to face the burly security guard now standing behind her.
"What's going on here then?" the guard boomed suspiciously sending spittle flying straight into Emma's face making her shudder,
"Just shopping sir" the voice of the girl behind Emma rang out extra sickly sweet as she held her basket out for him to see the potato snack that Emma had dropped nestled among the rest of the things that she herself had selected, Emma didn't dare to turn around and look but she felt sure that the brunette was probably batting her eye lashes for all that she was worth, a slight smile graced her lips at the thought and she began to relax a little as the voice behind her spoke again in the same sickly sweet tone,
"We are having a movie night tonight" she said and followed it up with a childish giggle, "we've just stopped by for nibbles"
"That's right" Emma agreed chancing a glance back at brunette and regretting the decision the second that she had done it as she fought the desire to dissolve into laughter at the sight of the ridiculously cheesy grin that adorned the brunettes face,
"Is there a problem?" the brunette asked innocently still holding her basket out toward the guard,
The guard hmphed appearing unconvinced, but apparently not able to find enough basis to substantiate his suspicions enough to warrant further questioning, because he followed up with "I suppose not, now be on with you girls"
"of course, sir" both girls replied sweetly in unison,
The guard turned away heading back to his station while the two girls sighing with relief made their way to the checkout Emma tagging along to keep up the pretence, feeling guilty as she watched the potato chips go through the scanner and into the brunettes bag because she knew that she didn't have the means to pay her back, but of course the brunette knew that, that was a distinct possibility when she had intervened and added them to her shopping to save her new blonde friend from being caught stealing.
Emma took hold of the handles of the carrier bag while the other girl paid and the two headed for the stores exit,
"Wait" the guards voice suddenly boomed behind them, freezing Emma in her tracks just as she stepped out onto the sidewalk, the brunette hot on her heels bumped into her, and both girls looked back at the guard trying to hide the panic in their eyes, fortunately he didn't pay them much attention and his suspicions were not raised again,
"You dropped this" he said gruffly holding the brunettes receipt out to her,
"Thankyou" she replied taking the small piece of paper and hurrying out of the shop after Emma who had moved out of sight of the door quickly ready to drop the bag she was carrying and run should the need arise, she wasn't getting caught now that she was this close to freedom with her ill-gotten gains and her new found ally would have been fine because she had paid for all of the things in the bag Emma reasoned.
She let out a breath that she hadn't even realised that she had been holding when the brunette finally appeared smiling broadly, hooking their arms together as soon as she drew level with Emma so that they looked every bit the pair of best friends that they were portraying as they walked away from the store.
Once they had put enough distance between themselves and the shop the two finally dropped the pretence and dissolved into helpless fits of giggles, "thank you, so much" Emma wheezed out as she fought to contain her laughter, "you did me a solid back there, I totally owe you one" she smiled holding out the bag to its rightful owner,
"it's really no problem" the brunette accepted the bag, beaming the most beautiful smile that Emma had ever seen, "but I believe that this one belongs to you" she said pulling out the potato snack and throwing it over to Emma who caught it deftly in one hand,
"No" Emma replied her ears turning bright red in embarrassment as she held them back out towards the brunette "you paid for them so you should keep them"
"But you wanted them, I don't even like them" The brunette insisted,
"Yeah, but I don't have the money to pay you back for them" Emma admitting turning a deeper shade of red and suddenly appeared to find the hole in the toe of her right trainer extremely interesting,
"Well, it's a good job that I managed to swipe some cash before I ran away then" the brunette laughed "Now are you going to take with you or should I just leave them on the nearest wall or scatter them for the rats and birds" the brunette sassed one hand finding its way to a jutted hip,
"you're a runaway too" Emma asked incredulously, looking the nodding brunette up and down, outwardly she appeared wealthy, she was certainly better dressed for the weather than Emma and her coat looked a lot newer than anything that Emma had ever owned, she would never have guessed that the girl standing in front of her was a runaway,
"I take it that means you are too" she replied, and Emma nodded back, finally dropping the hand holding the potato chips back to her side having realised that she wasn't going to win this battle of wills because she was certain that the stubborn brunette who apparently had a pocketful of cash would abandon the chips without a second thought, whereas she who had no other choice but to steal for food couldn't afford to waste anything.
"Regina" the brunette suddenly introduced herself extending a hand in Emma's direction,
"Emma, Emma Swan" Emma replied accepting the hand briefly, "Well it was lovely being saved by you Regina, but I guess we should both be on our way now" she sighed regretfully not wanting to part ways with Regina but she knew that it would be getting dark soon and she needed to get off of the streets before it did because she might not survive a night outside in this weather.
"Where are you staying" Regina enquired head cocked to one side,
"Dunno yet but I'll find somewhere" Emma shrugged hugging herself for warmth, with the heat from the store and the last of the adrenaline after their lucky escape seeping away the cold had returned at full force and just as Emma had known it would when she had briefly stepped inside it was biting her even harder than it had before.
"Or you could come with me, I know a place we can stay that's more than big enough for the two of us" Regina smiled hopefully,
"Oh no I couldn't possibly impose; you've done so much for me already" Emma insisted reluctantly
"You'd be doing me a favour by keeping me company" Regina wheedled "and you do owe me after all, just call this payback" she watched and waited as the blonde pondered it over a smile slowly spreading across her thin lips,
"Okay" Emma replied excitedly, "but I'm carrying the bag" she insisted taking it back from Regina and dropping the potato snack back inside.
"Fine by me" Regina shrugged leading them to a nearby bus stop.
Using some more of her stolen cash Regina paid for both of their short bus journey, Emma wanted to protest but she fought the urge off when she realised that it would be futile, she had no choice but to accept Regina's offer to pay if she wanted to go with her but in her head, she vowed to pay her back as soon as she could.
Riding the bus with Regina was a very different experience to what riding alone had been, it, Emma quickly decided was altogether a lot more fun riding with her new friend, chatting and giggling so that they appeared to be as carefree as any other couple of teenagers on a bus and for once in her life Emma felt happy and her heart felt lighter.
The twenty minute bus journey seemed to fly by and all to soon the duo were tumbling off of the bus together both in high spirits, Regina led them around the out skirts of a frozen lake passing many holiday homes situated around its shores all of them far grander than anywhere that Emma had ever stayed before, most were empty with their owners preferring to make use of them in the warmer months of spring and summer, but the odd few had golden glows of light flooding through their window's and steady funnels of smoke spiralling from their chimneys.
Finally, they arrived at one of the bigger homes standing in a more secluded area than the others, completely hidden from the view of the roads, with so few people staying here over the Christmas period they had little chance of being caught or so Regina assured Emma.
"Okay, but how do we get in?" Emma asked looking up at the house in awe, silently hoping that Regina wasn't planning on smashing her way in because that would leave evidence of their stay and doing actual criminal damage to a place like this would be noticed immediately and spell big trouble for them both.
"Using these" Regina smiled proudly as she walked over from the front door shaking a set of keys,
"Where did you find them?" Emma asked, amazed, relieved and a little impressed all at the same time,
"Under the big plant pot by the front door" Regina laughed pulling Emma towards the front door and putting the key in the lock, "The rich folks who own these place's always leave a spare set hidden near the front door, makes it easier for them to arrange a for someone to come in to clean and air the place out before they arrive for a holiday" Regina explained
"You sure do know a lot about this stuff" Emma remarked
"I used to live with someone who owns one, this one in fact" Regina shrugged
"So, you used to get to holiday here?" Emma asked in awe as she followed Regina across the threshold taking in the sights and smells when the other girl had turned on the light that now flooded the extravagant entrance hall,
"Oh, they never brought me along" Regina amended quickly "I just heard them on the phone arranging a cleaner before they visited, I always got sent somewhere else before they left" she sighed wistfully "It really is beautiful here isn't it" she said
"It sure is" Emma agreed, a gentle understanding smile easily meeting her eyes.
An awkward silence stretched between them as they both tried to figure out what to say next, it was Regina that finally broke it a few moments later,
"Do you want to explore" she asked, her excitement suddenly rising when Emma smiled and nodded in response, grabbing the blonde by her free hand she pulled her deeper into the house, Emma was only too happy to comply, the bag of snacks that she still held in her other hand banging against her leg as she allowed herself to be pulled along in Regina's wake.
They by passed the sweeping staircase that rose from the centre of the vast entrance hall, splitting into two different directions about halfway up to the second floor, deciding to explore the ground floor first.
The first room they entered was a huge, extravagant lounge, with plush sofas and armchairs, and a beautifully dressed window seat that stretched the entire width of the huge window which overlooked the frozen lake outside,
"It's like a scene from a Christmas movie" Emma breathed as she thought of all the times she had dreamed of a Christmas the likes of which she had seen in the movies that the group homes always insisting on playing for them at this time of year, when she was younger they had filled Emma with hope, she had felt like they were within her reach all she needed was a forever family of her own just like little orphan Annie had and she would have it all, but as she got older and still no such family appeared the dream had gotten further out of her reach until it was so far beyond it that she couldn't even see it anymore, the hope had all but vanished and the movies had become a slap in the face that left a sour taste behind, and Annie which as a little girl had become her favourite film after convincing her that, that was how it worked for everyone like her and quickly turned into the movie that Emma loathed more than any other,
"All we need is a tree and some lights" she finished her thought aloud, Regina nodded and shivered before moving away from the blonde leaving her to her thoughts while she turned her attention to the cold ornate open fire behind her standing proud in the centre of the room,
Emma was still staring out the window when Regina returned to her side slipping her hand back into Emma's and giving it a little squeeze, the warmth from the growing flames now dancing merrily in the fireplace seemed to seep into Emma's very bones, chasing the cold that had previously resided there away and adding to her movie scene illusion.
They stayed there together hand in hand, Regina's head resting on Emma's shoulder as they both watched the snow falling outside of the window, while they soaked up the peace and tranquillity that they had both found in this place of solace.
It was Emma who eventually broke the silence this time, or least her stomach did as it growled loudly eliciting a giggle from her companion,
"What do you say we go find the kitchen next? See if we can't do something about that stomach of yours" Regina smiled
Emma nodded in response and began following at Regina's heels pausing at the door to take one last fleeting glance into the room reluctant to leave its welcoming warm glow and the window with its picturesque view.
As soon as they found the kitchen Emma ditched the bag on the island at its centre and began to pull out all the goods that she had managed to conceal within her clothing before she had almost been caught. A gob smacked Regina watched as more items than seemed possible appeared on the countertop alongside the bulging carrier bag,
"How?" she asked
"Practice I guess" Emma shrugged sheepishly "this isn't my first rodeo" and it probably won't be my last she added in her head sadly.
"Speaking of food" Regina replied trying to steer the conversation into a different direction so as not to embarrass Emma further, "Let's have a look and see if there's anything in these cupboards"
Emma nodded enthusiastically and joined Regina in her search, the first cupboard that Regina opened contained pots and pans while Emma's held cups and glasses, Next Regina revealed the plates and Emma found a jar of expensive coffee, some coffee mate and equally expensive hot chocolate, the latter of which she took down from the cupboard and placed along side the kettle which she filled up and flipped on before taking two cups from the first cupboard that she had looked in and going in search of some teaspoons,
Meanwhile Regina had produced a sealed packet of frosted cereal from another cupboard, "we'll have to eat it dry but the dates still good" she smiled putting it back in the cupboard for later before standing back up to gratefully accept the steaming mug of chocolate that Emma was now handing out to her and taking a sip, a hiss of satisfaction escaping from her lips as the hot liquid slid down her throat warming her insides instantly,
"Let's quickly finish looking in the cupboards then we can take these into the other room and drink them in front of the fire" she said placing the hot drink back on top of a unit,
"I like that plan" Emma smiled joining Regina's rummage through the final cupboards.
They didn't find much which wasn't really unexpected, but they were more than happy at the addition of a few tins of soup, another of beans, a packet of cookies which Emma put on the side ready to open and enjoy with their hot chocolate and a packet of dry pasta,
"At least we'll be able to have a hot meal later" Emma smiled happily as she picked up her drink and followed Regina back into the lounge where they settled on the window seat together dipping cookies into their chocolate, the fire burning warmly behind them as they watched the snow falling outside.
A sudden wide yawn from Regina which triggered another from Emma prompted their decision to resume their exploration of the house, discarding their empty cups on a coffee table that sat in front of one of the sofa's they went back out of the door which led into the entrance hall and began to ascend the grand staircase, as they came to the middle Regina looked at Emma,
"Left, or right?" she asked indicating towards the split in the staircase which they had just reached
"Umm, how about you go left, and I go right, then we can meet in the middle at the top" Emma suggested a mischievous glint in her eye
"Okay" Regina agreed "I'll race you" she added, taking off just as Emma opened her mouth to say the same,
"Hey" Emma called indignantly after her then a split second later she was sprinting up her staircase, meeting Regina in the designated place in the centre of the top landing seconds after the other giggling girl had made it there ahead of her, "no fair" Emma laughed sticking her tongue out at Regina as she clung onto the wooden railing fighting to catch her breath as she too fell into a helpless bout of giggles.
Once they had finally regained their composure and wiped away their tears, they paused to take in the view of the entrance hall below them, the crystals hanging from the lowest part of the huge chandelier that hung from its ceiling dangled down in front of them now that they were on this level and from their angle it looked almost close enough to touch and blocked what would otherwise have been a clear view to the front door.
"Are you ready to carry on exploring?" Regina asked breaking Emma's daze,
"Sure" Emma blinked back to reality and smiled at Regina, "Lead the way"
Emma followed after Regina and they finally began to explore the second floor, each bedroom had a fire place with wood stacked inside them ready to be lit just as the lounge one had, they had, had a quick nosey around the master bedroom with its balcony and adjoining bathroom but felt that it wasn't right for either of them to sleep in there, they were already imposing on somebody else's holiday home, but they felt that they could justify that, It was cold out and they had nowhere else to stay, and eating the sparse amount of food hanging around was okay too, they needed something better than what they had managed to buy and steal in the shop, Regina had been intending to buy more but had felt that paying and leaving as quickly as possible was in their best interest, given the circumstances of their meeting she wanted for them both to get as far away from that shop as quickly as possible before they could arouse any more suspicion, and she had reasoned she still had what was left of the money that she had stolen so they could always go shopping again when Emma didn't have stolen goods stuffed into every available crevice.
Regina had assured Emma that the family who owned this place wouldn't miss the food that they had left anyway, she said that what was left would likely have been taken by the hired help who came in to clean up and stock the cupboards up ahead of the families next visit, but sleeping in the families bedrooms, they couldn't justify that not when there were several guest rooms available instead, besides there was a cold feeling in that room that sent shivers down both of their spines, as they walked alongside the bed grazing their fingertips along the top of the black silk throw that covered the huge four poster bed which dominated the room.
They had come across a bedroom a little further down the landing that looked as though it belonged to a teenage girl, a similar throw covered the oversized bed in this room, but unlike the master bedroom this room exuded warmth and the silk throw was a beautiful shade of purple, it also had an adjoining bathroom though it was much prettier than the master ensuit in Emma's opinion. A half used bar of lavender soap still sat in the soap dish and a large towel covered in pictures of cute black cats hung over the towel rail, Regina thought that it would be okay for Emma to sleep in there if she wanted to, but as much as she liked the room, Emma felt that it just wasn't right for her to stay in it, there was a third room that clearly belonged to someone too because it had a similar throw in emerald green spread across its bed and numerous personalised touches, but the remaining three bedrooms held no personalised affects, the soap and towels in the bathrooms adjoined to these rooms, were new and unused, white towel dressing gowns hung on the back of the doors, these rooms were very generic and almost identical, they were evidently guest rooms, so they chose one each, pulled back the blankets on their beds and lit the fires in the heaths of the fire places.
The shower was like no shower Emma had ever used before, no trickle of either freezing or boiling water came from their heads, these were powerful, and the heat remained consistent the whole time that she stood underneath its continuous flow, the shampoo and conditioner smelled divine, and Emma couldn't remember ever feeling so good as she did when she finally stepped out of it.
She felt a little disheartened by the prospect of slipping back into her dirty clothes now that she felt so fresh, but that discontent was soon replaced by panic when she walked back into her new bedroom to find that her clothes were missing.
Her heart hammered in her ears as she frantically looked around the room certain that she had tossed them onto the chair before taking her shower,
Her eyes found their way to the bed falling on a neatly folded pair of pyjamas on the end of it and what looked a brand-new pair of white cotton knickers, on top of it all sat a piece of paper with what could only be Regina's intricate scrawl printed across it,
I found some pyjamas in a cupboard for us,
You were already in the shower when I knocked, so I left yours here,
And I hope you don't mind but I've taken the liberty of taking your clothes to the washroom,
See you downstairs soon,
Regina
X
Smiling Emma cast the note to one side and slipped into the clean pyjama's before padding out of the room bare footed and heading back to the lounge where she took the empty cups that they had left on the table into the kitchen made them each another drink, grabbed some snacks and ventured back into the lounge settling onto the sofa remote in hand just as Regina walked through the door wearing her own matching set of pyjama's, she offered Emma a warm smile and settled beside her,
"Thanks for the pj's" Emma smiled back moving a little closer to Regina enjoying the feeling being close to her,
"You're welcome" Regina replied picking up her mug and snuggling into Emma with a satisfied sigh.
Pointing the remote at the tv Emma began to flick through the channels searching for a movie to watch, finally settling on one that they both agreed on, they sat there together, fire roaring, Emma's head resting lightly on Regina's whose own head was resting on Emma's shoulder again with a bowl of potato chips resting between them,
"Hey, I thought you didn't like these" Emma laughed when Regina took her third handful of chips from Emma's bowl,
Regina looking a bit sheepish offered small shrug
"I thought that was the only way that I'd get you to take them from me" she explained popping another chip in her mouth,
"it's cool" Emma shrugged "sharing them with you makes me feel better about you, buying them for me" she smiled her hand returning to the bowl and grabbing some more both of their attention returning to the movie. The bowl was empty, and their eyes drooped shut well before it ended, Emma's last coherent thought before she fell asleep was that she had never felt so happy and content in her life as she did in that moment sitting here with Regina, a girl who been a complete stranger to her only a few short hours earlier