Chapter 6
Reconciliations
After stepping out of her yellow bug, Emma stretched her neck languidly and leaned against the door tiredly. Her neck was killing her since she'd been crammed in the bug on a stake out yet again. This time, her reward for all her efforts paid off and she had been able to turn in a successful roll of film cataloging some cheating husband's affairs to his very unhappy wife.
Sometimes, Emma forgot why she got into this business when she had to be all business and professional like while breaking it to them. She hated being the bearer of bad news as she often was in this line of business, but it put food on the table and it was simple enough, finding people. That is, everyone but her own parents were simple enough to find.
Emma collected her wad of cash from the unhappy wife and went on her way. As she was driving, she contemplated the last couple of weeks. Lily and she hadn't seen each other since the morning she left, and Emma was playing elusive and trying to get over her hurt pride. She was despondent that Lily had cheated on her, and wasn't in any rush to forgive her for the time being. As it always turned out, Emma had up walls to keep others out for a reason. Every person she let in ended up hurting her.
She knew the reason Lily had strayed. Lily was frustrated, and thinking of leaving. There had been signs for a while now that were hard to ignore. Part of their shared past together was knowing when Lily was growing tired of staying in one place too long. Lily was the main reason they kept moving around, because she had a penchant for landing herself in trouble. They had left their last place in South Carolina because the brunette got caught embezzling from her cashier job at a retail outlet.
This time was no different. As soon as she knew she wanted to leave, she started doing things to wreck the place they were at. Emma was familiar with her pattern, and upset at her role in it all the time. Lily messed up, and Emma helped her cover her tracks. They went from town to town because they had been trying for many years to find their parents. Lily was consumed with wanderlust and a desire to find them, and Emma was bitter over the time spent looking for people that did not want to be found. She felt lonely and misunderstood, since she no longer shared Lily's passion. Lily still thought their parents were worth looking for, and Emma didn't.
Emma parked her car and rode the elevator up to her floor, passing August's door. It had been a couple days since her last encounter with her neighbor, and she found she was avoiding him. She hated that he had a point. Their last interaction had planted a seed of doubt in her, and it was somehow blooming into hope.
Maybe he was right, maybe she didn't need to be mad at her missing parents. Perhaps something was preventing them from looking for her. She slid her key into the lock, and when she opened her front door she found Lily already waiting for her inside.
"Hey," Lily called casually, unperturbed by the fact they hadn't so much as spoke in over a week. She was sitting on the couch wearing jeans and a low, v-necked black t-shirt. Her hair looked greasy and unwashed, and there were dark circles under her eyes. She clearly hadn't taken a shine to their time apart.
"Hey... what are you doing here?" Emma asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously, and her tone came across sharper than she intended. "What are you up to?" she asked. She knew this part all too well; Lily had come back to make a case for herself, and Emma was powerless but to listen. Lily was always emotionally manipulating her, and this time, she was going to get her way once more.
"You're certainly playing hard to get," the brunette said and hefted herself off the couch. "Can't I just come for a visit?" she asked coyly, walking up to her ex-girlfriend, her eyes calculating as they stared the blonde down. "Because I missed you?" she asked, leaning in to kiss her ex. Emma stepped back, and clenched her hands into fists. "Lily, I've missed you, too, but I can't see you right now," she said, her voice trembling. She couldn't trust Lily, she never could.
Lily looked as if she'd been slapped. "Emma, after all we've been through, how can you say that?" she asked tremulously, her eyes starting to shine with unshed tears. Emma's heart was breaking, but she couldn't afford to place it in this woman's hands any longer. "I know you're just going to make us leave," Emma said, and she went towards the dining room table to take a seat. Lily followed her and sat across from her, knowing it would make Emma feel more comfortable.
"Emma, that's just it, this place is tired," the brunette said excitedly. "Why do you wanna stay here anyway? What's keeping us here?" she asked beseechingly. "You said that home is a place you just miss when you leave, and what are you going to miss here?" Lily asked. She barreled on. "August told me about a man who could help us," she said, and Emma's gaze was immediately guarded.
"C'mon, let's just try this one last time," she said. She went to take Emma's hands in her own, and Emma reluctantly found herself returning Lily's clammy embrace this time. "You actually believe in that?" Emma asked, her voice accusatory. "I have to, Emma. We haven't had any hints in forever, and we have to follow this one or you know we'll regret it."
What she meant was she would regret it. "I'm going to go with August," the brunette said. As Emma looked across the table at her ex, she was seized with a sudden panic that the woman should leave her entirely. She and Lily had such a long history, had always been there for each other no matter how manipulative their relationship turned at times.
She knew Lily didn't really like the girl she'd slept with while they were away, it was just her selfish way of putting a sour taste in Emma's mouth and instilling a desire to leave the place. Lily somehow always had faith that Emma would forgive her and they'd make up, and Emma was starting to see why. If August and Lily left without her, she would miss them more than anything. In fact, avoiding them so long was probably part of the reason she'd been so blue.
She was starting to see that with or without her, Lily was determined to go with August and find their parents. She couldn't afford to be kept from her desperately sought answers any longer, and Emma saw that she was holding her back from leaving. And if they were leaving, she would just have to go with them. She didn't want to forgive Lily entirely, and she had no hope that they would actually find their parents, but she figured she would at least try for their sake. "Where? When are you guys going?" she found herself asking.
Lily smiled a triumphant smile, knowing she'd won this battle. Emma might not have forgiven her, but at least she was willing to come along! "I don't know when, honestly," the brunette admitted and pursed her lips. "We'd have to talk to August," she said. "He's the one who knows where to find this man," she explained, and Emma's brow wrinkled in disbelief. She wasn't about to believe in some strung out story about a fairy tale land, but a man that could help wasn't so far fetched. "You're right, there's nothing keeping me here," Emma finally said with a defeated sigh. "We'll talk to August."
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ONCE * UPON * A * TIME * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Yet, Emma stalled. She and Lily went about their lives again, Lily back in place at their apartment. However, something had changed between them and Emma still wasn't willing to forgive Lily, or go with her anywhere for the time being. She was procrastinating going to speak with August because of the sour parting of their last encounter and he was starting to sweat the state of affairs they'd left things in as her birthday drew nearer.
The pair had spent days ducking each other in the hall ways avoiding each other, the blonde none more so determinedly than the writer. They both thought it was dangerous to meet. Emma was afraid of what he might try and tell her, and he was afraid of how Emma might make him feel.
He had discovered the two women were back together a couple days past. August was sitting at an outdoor cafe, and Emma and Lily walked past him to go dine inside the restaurant. They didn't notice him since he was wearing dark sunglasses and concentrating on typing on his novel under a sun canopy, quiet, brooding, and unobtrusive.
He watched through the glass window front as the two women took a seat in a booth, their faces and hands animated as they talked and felt his stomach churn with anxiety, want, and untapped need. He felt protective and possessive over the Savior and was willing to wreck her life again if that is what it truly took to get her to Storybrooke.
Thankfully, that need not happen. Lily came to him one afternoon while Emma was at work. She looked like she had a bone to pick with him if the steely look in her eye was anything to go by. "Emma told me everything," she accused. She took a step into August's apartment and he looked expectantly at her. "Told you everything about what?" he innocently asked, his eyes wide and blue.
"She said you told her about the man, too. She told me she's willing to go and see him," she said, relaying the news to the writer and August could have cried so intense was his relief. He'd been puzzling for the past few days how he was supposed to convince the Savior to come with him when she wasn't speaking to him, and furthermore didn't believe him. Lily was proving more useful than he ever thought she'd turn out to be. If Lily believed in him, maybe all hope was not lost.
"Don't get too excited," she said. She took a step closer to August, getting in his personal space and he involuntarily took a step back. "She also told me about your date," she said, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "I trust you to take us to this man, but what are you gonna do to convince Emma? What are you planning for her?"
August knew how to read between the lines. "Lily, you've got nothing to worry about me," he lied. "I'm just a guy trying to find his mom, and I thought that's what you were trying to do, too," he said. "Well, keep your hands off Emma," Lily threatened. "You can take us this man, but that's it. I don't need you distracting her or getting in our way," she said. "Wouldn't dream of it," he quipped and Lily rolled her eyes. "Anyway, when should I tell her we're leaving? I told her I'd ask you," she said.
"It's going to take a little more time," August observed, looking at his calendar on the wall. Emma's birthday was just two days away. First things first, he thought to himself. And he hatched a plan to get back into the good graces of his lady, Emma the Princess, and his Savior.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ONCE * UPON * A * TIME * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Emma returned home that night after an intense kick boxing class, jacket thrown haphazardly around her shoulders which were sticky with sweat. Her hair was up in a disheveled high pony tail and Emma was on her cell phone with her blue tooth attached to her ear. She was listening to a song called Long Jacket, Short Skirt and she was lucky she was mindful of her feet as she danced along to the tune, because at the last minute she saw a bouquet of white fully bloomed roses laying at the foot of her apartment door.
She bent down to the pick the flowers up, pressing them close to her face to inhale their perfume. She smiled and cast a furtive glance around, secretly hoping to see the man she suspected might be responsible. She looked deeper into the rose bouquet once she unlocked her apartment and made her way inside, and discovered herself alone. Lily had already left for work. Emma reached into the bouquet to pluck out a type written note stuck inside.
'Give me another chance.'
-From the desk and stationery of A.W.B.'
Emma smiled a full, wide smile and went to put the beautiful flowers in a vase of water. Her birthday was just the day after tomorrow, and she was secretly glad that August had made the first move of getting back into her life. She was willing to extend her forgiveness, but in return she asked for something to trust and believe in. What truth was he really concealing from her about her parents? She sensed he knew more than he was willing to say. She vowed she would get the truth out of August one way or another. This was her chance.
Shortly after a hot shower, Emma had fixed her hair and was brushing on some extra rouge before she headed over to August's place. It was just her luck that when she arrived and he opened the door, he'd been expecting her. He looked relaxed, and well, simply good enough to eat.
If Emma were honest, things had not gone back to normal with Lily once she'd returned because of her very real attraction to the man that lived right next door. She would never admit it, but the stubble on his strong jaw was as stimulating as ever. He wore a dark purple button down shirt that contrasted against his skin and black pants with black dress shoes.
"Emma," August said in greeting, dipping his head cordially. Emma had changed into a green backless dress with strappy heels and let her long golden hair hang loose down her back. The dress made the color of her eyes stand out, and her eyes absolutely smoldered at him. They hadn't traded any words for many weeks, and almost didn't know how to start with one another. "Come inside for a drink?" August offered, figuring, Baby steps.
Emma accepted his invitation and stepped inside the threshold, demurely perching on his writing chair so as not to be seated on the couch with him. August merely made his way to the bar at the corner and started mixing himself a white russian, ignoring taking a seat altogether. "So how have you been, Emma?" he asked, trying to break the ice.
"Oh, I don't know, pretty fuckin' pissed at you still," she nonchalantly said and accepted the white russian he made for her. August raised his eyebrows, ready to meet the challenge. "I just don't see how you can toy with a person's emotions like that," she said, hurt and distrust still evident in her voice. But he could also sense doubt, a little hope behind her thin veneer of acting tough peeking through. She hoped he could really deliver on his promise to lead her to her parents, despite her best efforts not to believe in him. She truly was in luck, because that was the one thing August absolutely intended to do.
"Look, Emma," he started, but she cut him off. "No! August, what can you possibly say to make this any better? You give a person hope, and don't you know how dangerous that is?" she asked tearfully. She was starting to grow hysterical almost at the thought of being kept from her parents a second longer if this man truly knew something, which she suspected he did. "What do you really know August?" she pleaded for information.
August sighed and calmly grasped Emma by the shoulders, trying to soothe her frazzled nerves unsuccessfully. She shrugged him off and August cursed under his breath. "Okay... Emma, if you don't want to believe me about the magic-" "August, not this crap again, I swear to God!"
August held his hands up defensively. "Okay, okay, Emma, let me finish! That's not what I'm getting at," he hurried on to say, "What I'm saying is even if magic isn't real, I do know how we can find your parents. There's a man that lives in a town called Storybrooke in Maine that can lead us to them. And I would love nothing more than to take you him... but we can't go yet." He hung his head at his last words as Emma reacted as he predicted, wild eyed and demanding to be taken to this man who could help her unravel the mystery that was her birth.
"Listen honey," August told her. "You may not believe it, but the story book says that you can't save them until your twenty-eighth birthday." Emma looked incredulously at him, "Save who?" August explained, "Your parents are waiting for you to save them. They all are." Emma still looked disbelievingly at him. "It's all in the book. Read it for yourself," he said, shrugging helplessly. It was up to her now if she was going to believe in him and let him take her to this Storybrooke. All he could was offer her his services.
A/N: Oh no! A wedge has been driven between the girls. Will Emma forgive Lily, or will August find a way in? Find out soon.
