Chapter 2

Three's Company

12 p.m. Afternoon

August awoke to strong beams of sunlight reflecting on his face through his curtainless windows. He had fallen asleep on his couch in the living room and his tongue was fuzzy from drinking and his head thick and groggy. He stumbled from the couch, successfully kicking over an empty bottle of Greygoose vodka on his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth and possibly relieve himself of his hangover.

After retching unsuccessfully over the toilet for a solid 10 minutes, he concluded he simply had nothing to part with in his belly and resolved to remedy that matter. He jumped into a scalding hot shower behind a clear shower curtain and let the hot water slide down his aching muscles from sleeping on the uncomfortable couch. He made a mental note to make up his bed tonight and set up his work station at least. He'd been consumed with filling all his bookshelves last night, and let other basic necessities such as kitchen appliances and food fall by the wayside.

He was reminded of that fact when he shuffled into his kitchen in his bare feet with a towel wrapped around his lower body to peer in the fridge. He had neglected to go shopping yet, having opted to visit the liquor store instead for his own private house warming party the night before.

August sighed and rolled his neck to get the kinks out of it. I'll just have to go out for lunch, he concluded and went into the bedroom to get ready. He wore a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to expose his finely haired forearms. He wore faded jeans and a belt and a grey vest hanging open when his look was completed.

He grabbed in hand the handle of a thick, wooden case and hauled it with him as he made his way downstairs and started walking towards a nearby park he'd seen. There were some stone benches under the sun dappled trees that suited his temperament and he settled himself there after he bought a hot dog from a vendor on the side of the road, wooden box at his side.

That was when he spotted Emma the blonde again, and all his hazy memories from the night before came slamming back into him. He remembered in a drunken stupor trying to hang some shelves from the wall in the middle of the night and someone coming to bang just as ferociously on his door. He opened the door to a very frazzled, crazy haired Emma standing before him. His first thought was her robe was incredibly cute on her, and August colored as he sat alone at the park, thinking about their flirtation from the night before. Although August had come to this city specifically in search of The Savior, he had never expected to find Emma so quickly as given as she was to relocating. It was just his luck that she was living with Lily and he was able to find them in the same place.

The last time August saw the pair was years ago. His search for Emma had led him to Emma almost a decade before. He had convinced her no good lover at the time who was proving to be a bad influence to abandon her. He couldn't allow Baelfire to take her to the opposite side of the United States, that would never work. His sources needed him to bring Emma to the realm of Storybrooke and if she got married and started a life with that low life, she would never be happy or stable, or secure. At that, August felt a twinge of guilt when he considered the car keys and money Baelfire had wanted to give her.

August had never claimed to be a saint, he was anything but. He had used the money to launch a world tour and travel to Thailand and try to leave his troubles behind. He wanted to concentrate on writing but wound up immersed in women he paid for sex and bar tabs that spiraled out of control the longer he stayed in that land. He squirreled away the money Baelfire gave him and used it to live on during his efforts to forget how he'd screwed Emma, landing her in prison for the next eleven months. At least he would know where to find her, he had reasoned in his drug filled haze.

After she was released from the penitentiary in Phoenix, there was a brief period in which he lost her and had to go searching once more. He returned late from over seas to discover Emma had already been released months prior to her release date. She had that yellow bug, the meager belongings she had from her time with Neal, and nothing else to her name in the world. She made tracks outside the state and made her way south to Tallahasee somehow.

When August found her again, she was living in a duplex with Lilith the offspring of Maleficent the dragon. In his brief time with The Apprentice, August had been instructed that Lily was an integral part of Emma's fate and that the two should not be separated for any reason. Their friendship assuaged the sorcerer's guilt over having darkened both their lives. At the very least, they could have each other. August promised responsibility of getting both of the girls to Storybrooke, so that they could learn the nature of their true fates. He kept tabs on the two girls who stayed on for quite some time in the sunshine state. It was the longest the two girls stayed in any one place. When they decided to up and leave in the middle of the night one night, August lost them again and spent years looking for them.

Once he'd found this time, the first step to getting the girls to believe in him and accompany him to Storybrooke was to establish a relationship with the both of them. He'd already got his foot in the door with the beautiful blonde, but the deal was he had to get them both to come to Storybrooke with him. When he spotted the couple taking a seat at an intricately carved wooden bench near a stone fountain with ice cream in hand, talking animatedly, he took it upon himself to go and introduce himself to Emma's other half, Lilith.

"Hey August," Emma said as she recognized the tall frame of her mysterious next door neighbor. "Beautiful day out," he said as he approached and came to a stop in front of the couple. "Hey Lily, this is the newest and loudest addition to our apartments, August Booth," Emma said with a smug grin and August reddened at her comment but smiled abashedly. "Oh, so that was you," Lily said with a welcoming grin and August chuckled.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I just got caught up putting a few of my things away," he explained and Lily invited him to sit on the bench near them. "It's okay, we know how that is," she said. "Hi, I'm Lily," she introduced herself as he took a seat and continued, "We do a lot of moving around ourselves." "So where did you come from?" the brunette asked, eyebrow cocked curiously. In one hand she held her chocolate ice cream cone, and her other hand rested in Emma's lap as they held hands.

"Just got back from over seas," he answered casually. "That's pretty wicked," Lily commented, and her attention was captured by the beautiful wooden box August was carrying with him, positioned at his feet. "What's in the box, Handsome?" Lily asked, flirting with her new neighbor as she took a lick from her chocolate ice cream cone. August raised his eyebrows in sexual intrigue and leaned down to pick up the box, putting it in between them as he undid the latch on the front of it. He pulled back the lid to reveal an old, authentic type writer concealed within its depth.

"I don't know if Emma told you," he said, closing the box and fastening the latch back again, "but I'm a writer and my work often times sends me on trips half way across the world." August was purposefully vague about his whereabouts. A fact that did not escape Emma, her brow furrowed curiously and she wondered what he had to gain from being so secretive? "What country did you visit," she started to ask, but August was already standing to excuse himself. "Bit of everywhere, really. If you'll forgive me, I have someplace to be," he briefly said, and dipped his head in goodbye. The girls watched him as he walked away, wooden box in hands, and knew it wouldn't be the last they would see him. Or, at least, they hoped. Emma was incredibly intrigued by the stranger, and Lily agreed he was certainly mysterious.

8:30 pm

Hours later, Emma and Lily were back at home. It was Lily's night off, and Emma was done for the day. They had only met for lunch earlier and Lily was glad to have her beautiful blonde girlfriend back in her arms. They planned on a movie night with pop corn, and Lily had just finished up in the kitchen where she'd been cooking dinner for the two of them. She had just pulled an apple pie out of the oven, intending it for a house warming gift for their new neighbor. She had made angel hair pasta with alfredo and shrimp for her lady and Emma smiled and kissed her on the lips, looping her arms around Lily.

Lily dimmed the lights and lit long candlesticks on the dining room table. She had put out place mats for their meal and they were just sitting down to eat when they heard a loud 'thump' next door and the sound of something crashing. Emma and Lily looked at one another, and Lily suddenly stood up and headed towards their door, recognizing that the crash had come from next door. Emma rolled her eyes and shook her head, disappointed that their noisy neighbor was once again interrupting them and followed her lover out into the hall.

They came to August's front door, and found it unlocked as they let themselves in. August was laying on the floor next to a step ladder, and his living room looked much nicer than the night before. Accompanying the wine red couch, August had black accent pieces of furniture such as a coffee table and entertainment stand that a large flat screen TV was featured in. There was a round table with two chairs in the corner and his book shelves that lined the far wall were almost full, in fact, that seems to have been what August was up to when he took a fall. There was a statue broke into pieces on the ground beside him, and he looked up when the two girls entered.

"Hey, sorry about that," he groaned, picking himself up off the floor. His voice had the tell-tale sign of drinking and Emma's eyes swept the place and found a bottle of Jack not far from the sight of his fall. "Your leg bothering you again," the blonde asked, and August seated himself on the couch with a loud sigh, nodding his head.

His face was screwed up into a pained grimace. "You have no idea," he muttered to himself, knowing that the woman standing in front of him was the only one who could help him. His leg throbbed again, as it had when he was standing on the step ladder, and in his drunken state when he went to clutch at it, he had ended up on the floor and knocked the vase off the shelf as he lost his purchase and fell.

"What happened to your leg?" Lily asked, coming to sit beside August on the couch in concern. Her eyes were round and large with worry and August rubbed his leg tenderly. He didn't like to talk about it, especially since the change could only be seen if you truly believed in magic. He knew if he revealed his bare leg to the girls, they would see no cause for concern so he learned to tell a lie in place of the truth. "It's a degenerative muscle disease," he explained in a low voice, his face turned downward and his eyes averted. He didn't like for others to know he lived in pain. No one could know the real reason for the pain was that his leg was turning to wood below the knee cap.

Only he could fix it. He had been tasked with watching over Emma and ensuring she would go on to save her parents and the entire kingdom. Ever since he had abandoned the Princess as a little boy, his life had been one mistake after the other and he spent years running from the knowledge he'd failed her miserably. Only he had the answers to all their questions and he was finally willing to own up to that fact. He was willing to lead them to their parents salvation now and needed the girls to trust him. Once they believed in him, he could get them both to Storybrooke and get the help he so desperately needed. That was his hope, anyway.

"Is there anything we can get you?" Lily asked, placing her hand on his arm. His lucid blue eyes looked instantly relieved and he asked for a cup of water. "Emma, go get that pie we made him," Lily asked of her girlfriend as she went to get him water and Emma slowly turned on her heel to go fetch the baked treat. While she was in their apartment, she looked back wistfully at their abandoned meal and the melting candles on the glass dining room table. She blew them out with a sigh and brought the pie back to the apartment next door.

When she returned the living room, August was sitting on the couch with his legs stretched across it and Lily was perched on the arm of the chair, about to hand him an ice bag for his leg. While she was gone, Lily had gotten August to talking about where he'd lived before here and his kind of lifestyle. "I'm kind of a lone wolf," he admitted. "I can never shake that wander lust," he told them. "I get bored in one place all the time. Seeing the same people, day in and day out never really interested me." Lily chuckled and slyly teased August, "That doesn't sound very conducive to long term relationships for you, hm?" August rolled his eyes comically at her. "That remains to be seen," he said, a smirk on his dashing face. "What about you girls? How long have you been travelling together?" he asked.

Emma helped herself to the kitchen, from which she could still hear the other two talking in the living room. She went to the white island in the center of the kitchen and started looking for utensils to cut the apple pie with. She found a box on the counter contained the plates he'd yet unpacked and realized how much there still was to put away. "Emma and I go back years, to our teenage years. So tell us something August, where's a guy like you come from originally?"

"I was raised out west. When I was a kid my dad died. Any family Dad once had was long gone with him, so I got placed in a home, and a few after that," he replied. Emma walked back into the room, and went to seat herself at the dining room table in the corner with the pie and some plates, utensils in hand. She recognized the look on Lily's face as she came towards her to get some of the apple pie. She shared a knowing look with her partner and Emma could tell Lily was ready to tell all. Emma thought about the slur in August's voice and the way he put away the liquor and sadly wondered what had happened to him in his time in the system. They all had their own horror stories. "Where was your mother?" Emma asked.

"Never knew her. Dad said that he didn't need her, and left it at that," August replied matter-of-factly. He shrugged his shoulders and Emma's eyes narrowed imperceptibly. "He never told you anything else about her?" Emma pushed, unable to believe any kid looking for answers about their absent parents would be able to 'leave it at that.'

August turned his head to look at her across the room and she was struck yet again by his chiseled jaw and his clear, blue eyes that seemed to look right through her. "She was younger than him, beautiful, and she was a bartender. He said she had a heart like a gypsy, and could never stay in one place. One day, she just decided to give us both up." He said meaningfully, looking at Emma. "Sound familiar?"

Emma stayed quiet as Lily gushed, "We've traveled all over America looking for our parents. Emma and me grew up in the system, too." Normally the girls weren't so forthcoming with details about their lives, but Emma knew Lily well enough to know Augusts' shared experience in the foster care system was enough for Lily to consider him one of their own, part of their own little weird "lost kids" clique.

However, something about their new neighbor was rubbing Emma the wrong way. She was impatient to get back to their apartment, but Lily had already dolled out the pie and they were apparently staying for dessert. She found herself reluctantly admitting, "I was found abandoned on the side of the road one day. I had a family until I was three, then they had one of their own and they sent me back."

Lily, seated at the chair next to her, placed her hand over Emma's and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I was found the same way, abandoned, and a family took me in," she told August. "I was with them until I was fourteen, and then I found Emma," she said, "and my life got brighter. I never felt like anyone cared about me, and I realized the reason when she came into my life. I belonged with her."

"Seems like a dream come true. You two seem very happy together," August remarked from his seat on the couch and never felt more lonely. Here these two girls had each other, and he was on the outside looking in, ready to smash their lives apart if he could just get them to Storybrooke. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell them the truth and get them the hell out of there as quick as possible, and it took considerable restraint not to dump everything on them then and there. He knew that his mission was going to take time and finesse, and he found himself frustrated.

When he was frustrated, charming as the apple pie was, he wanted a drink. "I hope you don't mind, girls, but I'd rather have a drink instead. Help yourself to the bar," he said, gesturing towards it. "As long as you don't mind pouring me some of that Jack there, that is," he added, smiling wolfishly at Emma. Lily went to rinse their dishes, and Emma poured all of them drinks at the bar.

By the end of the night, August could tell that Lily had taken a shine to him. He had his legs stretched out on the couch and Lily was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, back pressed against it for support. She was drinking from her wine glass and Emma collected the glass from her, announcing their imminent departure. They'd been drinking red wine courtesy of August all night while they got to know him. Although Emma seemed suspicious of him most of the evening, August had high hopes for the two ladies as they made their exit.

After 12 am

The two girls stumbled home together, and Lily set to work putting away their abandoned meal from earlier. She felt rather than heard Emma come up behind her, intent on distracting her from her task. Emma had been patiently waiting all night for them to get back to their apartment. Truthfully, she was a little resentful of August for taking up so much of their time. If it were up to her, they would have been in their current position much sooner.

As it was, Emma had cornered her lover against the kitchen counter and trailed kisses down the curve of her neck. Lily tilted her head to give Emma better access and hummed her approval, turning in Emma's arms. They shared a kiss that was playful and cloying, and suddenly Emma was deepening the kiss passionately. She grabbed her lover by the wrist and lead her back to the bedroom, where they left the yellow sheets tangled in the afterglow of their heated love making session.

Truth be told, sex had never been the problem between Lily and Emma. The two of them physically were on par and both held active gym memberships. They liked the same interests and shared the same sense of humor, but differed on one matter entirely. Emma could be trusted, and Lily often bent the rules. The one fundamental aspect of their relationship they lacked was trust, and Emma had come to the realization in recent months that she couldn't overlook the fact that Lily could be a liar. She never trusted Lily completely, and wondered when the next time one of Lily's selfish actions would land her in trouble. She was used to facing the world with Lily by her side, but the truth was, Lily had caused a lot of the hardships she had to endure over the years.

One of the first bad decisions that led to the two teenage girl's separation before they were 15 was when Lily got caught shoplifting. Emma reluctantly decided to flee the city with Lily after her robbery of the chore wheel family, and they managed to relocate to California by riding out of town on a Greyhound bus.

Once they arrived, the two girls were thick as thieves and worked on money making schemes, delighting in all the mischief they got into whenever they were together. It was Lily's first time to go shoplifting on her own one day, and she was apprehended by the police. Social services were called, and Lily just never came back to the house they were squatting in. Emma was left all alone again, and she had forgotten how lonely it was to be on her own.

As winter came, Emma entered a bleak period and barely ate. She would scavenge for food when she had the energy, but mostly tried to avoid being seen. She succeeded until one day that winter she contracted a high fever and passed out in the city park and a kind samaritan passing by called an ambulance. Social services came to wreck her life once more, and that was when she was placed in Sarah Fisher's home. She thought she had finally found someone to love her, and it turned out she only loved her because she was crazy enough to; honestly, spouting about magic, and whatnot.

Emma emancipated herself after she ran from the Fisher home. She stayed in Minnesota for a year after. She started working in a grocery store as a cashier and in her spare time, she posed as a model for university art students to practice on. Occasionally, she went home with one of the university students, but always instituted a "love 'em and leave 'em" policy. She had a string of lovers over the next couple years and bounced from place to place until she ended up in Oregon.

She'd been living there almost a year in a tiny apartment she shared with a girl who had a greasy, tattooed boyfriend. One day, the greasy boyfriend tried to hit on Emma and kiss her, and her roommate came in and assumed the worst. Finding herself kicked out on the streets, Emma decided to skip town and was trying to obtain the method of transportation for her trip when she discovered the sleeping Neal in the backseat of the yellow bug she'd just stolen. Once she met Neal, she discovered the person who would accompany her on her journey and change her life forever.

Emma thought about the souvenir from their time together, and wondered how the baby could be doing. Lily knew nothing about the baby she'd given up in prison. It was a wound too close to her heart to tell, too raw to heal. Emma didn't trust anyone with that information, and was glad that she had opted for a closed adoption. She acted as though it had never happened, and hoped that she would never have to reveal the skeletons in her closet. She wondered if she was keeping such a secret from Lily, what secrets could her lover be keeping from her in turn?

These thoughts helped sleep elude her until late into the night.


A/N: It might be just a little slow in the beginning here, but I'm just fleshing out the background for you. Hang in there, I promise we'll see some wooden swan action in the chapters to come. Have patience :)