Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time.
Emma requested an AU prompt. Ruth finds a homeless Mary Margaret on her farm and takes her in. She meets Ruth's son David and sparks fly. This is AU - no magic so Storybrooke is just a normal town. I hope I did this justice for you!
If you have a prompt you'd like to see, please leave it in a review and I'll see what I can come up with. Also, I will do sequels so if you'd like a sequel to any existing prompt, I'm open to that too!
Once Upon a Snowing
Queen Bitch
Ruth hummed to herself, as she collected eggs from the chickens and moved about the barn, tending to her morning chores. She had sent David to the market in town for a few things and he had gone without complaint. He was such a good boy...well more like good man now.
Raising him without her husband Robert hadn't always been easy. The farm was a lot of work for a woman trying to raise a little boy, but somehow she had managed and David had grown to be a fine young man, handsome too. More than a few of the nearby farm girls had noticed.
But David wasn't interested in marrying for anything less than true love. Ruth didn't blame him, but she wasn't sure if such a thing existed. When she had first married Robert, she believed it did, but then he drank himself into an early grave and Ruth was left with the cold reality that love hadn't been enough for them.
She sighed and sat down on a wooden stool to milk the cows when she saw a pair of eyes in the hay. She jumped up and the girl startled, scrambling to get away.
"Wait...I'm not going to hurt you, dear!" she called. The pixie haired girl stopped and turned back and Ruth was taken aback by the raven haired beauty. She knew this girl. The whole town did.
"You're Mary Margaret Blanchard," she said.
"Please...please don't call the police. I...I didn't kill my father, I swear!" she pleaded, as her eyes pooled with tears.
"Shh...come sit, child. No one is calling the police," Ruth assured.
"It was my step-mother. I can't prove it...but she framed me for the murder. I loved my father," the girl cried, as Ruth hugged her.
"Of course you did," Ruth soothed.
"Regina is evil…she's taken everything from me. I'm sorry I slept in your barn, it was just so cold last night," Mary Margaret apologized.
"There's no need for apologies, but I can't have you sleeping in the barn. That's not a suitable place at all," Ruth said. Mary Margaret's heart sunk.
"I know...I'll be moving on," she promised.
"Oh no child...I meant you should be sleeping some place like my spare room in the house," Ruth corrected.
"You'll...let me stay?" she asked in disbelief.
"I could use some help around here," she replied. Mary Margaret smiled.
"Anything…" she agreed, but then jumped at the sound of a man's voice.
"Mother...I'm back!" David called. Ruth put her hand on Mary Margaret's.
"You have nothing to fear...it's just my son, David," she replied, as he came in carrying a couple bags.
"Sorry it took so long…" the words died on his lips, as he saw they had company. Ruth noticed the captivation between both of them instantly.
"Son...this is Mary Margaret. She'll be staying with us," Ruth announced.
"Okay…" he said in a daze, as his mother took the bags from him. Ruth smiled knowingly.
"Mary...perhaps you can help David tend to the flock," she suggested.
"Sure…" she answered automatically, as she followed the young man out into the field.
She spent the day shadowing him, as he worked with the animals and it was evident what a gift he had with them.
"So it's just you and your Mom?" Mary asked curiously. He nodded.
"My Dad died when I was six," he replied.
"I'm sorry…" she said, biting her bottom lip.
"I'm sorry for your loss too," he replied.
"So you know who I am," she stated. He smiled.
"Storybrooke's not that big…" he mentioned.
"I didn't kill him...my father," she blurted out.
"I know," he replied. She looked surprised and he smiled.
"Not everyone is so quick to buy the garbage headlines that sells newspapers," he said.
"You believe me?" she asked. He nodded.
"You don't even know me," she said, looking down.
"I know enough. My mother was kind to you. She wouldn't help some killer. Besides...your stepmom seems like a total bitch," he added and she laughed.
"More like Queen bitch," she corrected, as stood up, a little too fast and lost her footing on the uneven ground. He caught her in his arms before she could fall and time seemed to stop, as they stared at each other. Before either of them knew what was happening, he was pressing his lips to hers. When their lips parted, they still could not take their eyes off each other. It was the beginning of something wonderful and after her father's murder, Mary had thought it was a terrible ending for her life. But this...this was the beginning of something new and maybe this beginning could end with a happily ever after...