"Can I see it?"

"No."

"Come on Celeste, just let me see him!"

"I said no Merida…..its private."

"Come on…..maybe I might recognize the guy." She had a point. Sitting on a small bench right outside of Granny's diner, Celeste nodded silently and pulled the picture of Killian out of her pocket. A week ago, the young girl would have never allowed herself to share this secret with anyone. Yet somehow, her best friend had realized that something was a bit different and soon was invited to share in the quest to find her father. Handing the picture over to Merida, the redhead snatched it up right away and took a few seconds to look at it.

"So this is daddy huh," she said with pursed lips as she held up the picture close to Celeste's face. Before too long a large smile broke out on her face, "Yeah, you know I kind of see it. Also, now I know why you never have to worry about buying an eyebrow pencil."

"Shut up," Celeste laughed, her cheeks turning red as her hand reached out to take the picture away and look back at Merida. If it were possible, the girls had become even closer after Celeste shared her little secret, it was like some sort of mission between the girls to figure out the best way to find and meet this Killian Jones. Celeste couldn't even imagine trying to keep another secret from her friend, but she also knew that she didn't want Merida to know about her situation with Eric. She didn't need her to worry.

"Well, I can always see if mom or dad know him. You know…I really hope you find him." Again the two girls had found themselves in one of those awkward silent moments and they seemed to be happening a lot lately. One or the either would say something and then they'd just find themselves smiling stupidly at one another before turning away to awkwardly laugh it all off.

"It would be nice to find him, but right now it'd be better if we go inside and order something. I'm starving." She hadn't even planned on it, but she quickly held out her hand for Merida to grab. Normally they'd pull apart quickly after one helped the other up, but this time was different. Through the small outdoors area and into the diner they continued to hold onto each other, not like a couple but one would be able to tell that they didn't want to lose each other. As soon as they walked in, Red was waving them down to a couple bar stools near the front by her. The girls always tried to come in on Saturdays for the brunch that Granny's served and eventually they became weekend regulars for the young waitress.

"The usual ladies?"

"Yes please," Celeste smiled and handed the two small menus back to Red to place at another chair. Red quickly smiled and went about making to cups of hot tea for the girls before turning back to face them.

"How's your step-dad doing Celeste?" Red was the only one who had a hint of what was going on at home. About six months ago during one of Eric's hunting sprees Celeste had run out of food at home and began eating at the diner for every meal two days in a row. One day, she realized after she had eaten that she didn't have any money to pay and begged Red and her grandmother to forgive her. She explained that her father was struggling to make ends meet and was immediately forgiven for the mistake. After that one time, Red told her that she could always count on a meal if things ever got tough at home. Sure she hadn't told them the whole truth, but she didn't feel like she had lied about it either.

"He's uh he's gone to see if Robin Hood and his men need any help in the hunting business. Said something about offering to sell them some gear for a little extra cash." The quick nod silently told Celeste not to worry about paying for the meal and thank goodness too because she had no cash to spare right now.

"Eric's not home?" Merida's eyebrows shot up in question and Celeste nodded while silently praying for her cup of tea to get done faster. The more distractions around the less she had to talk about it.

"Uh yeah….he-he's been looking for a better job. It's just for a couple days though, he called Jefferson to let him know I'd be out there by myself and Jefferson offered to let me stay with him. I'm going to clean the house up a bit and then head over to spend some time with Grace." She felt bad lying to the girl, but she couldn't come clean about this. The town had just gotten done with all of the curses and drama and Celeste didn't need anymore. After all, she had gone this long without any help and she wasn't going to stop now.

Before any more questions could be asked, Red slid two very large plates in front of the girls. Each of them had a few of the same things with one or two differences, depending on what the girls liked. Celeste looked down at two very large and warm waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon, and two slices of wheat toast and quickly began to dig in. It was mornings like this one that she loved the most; she felt like everything was going right.

"Hey maybe Red knows him!" Good feelings gone.

"Merida," Celeste hissed between bites of her waffle. She almost felt bad when Merida flushed red and turned back to her food, but this had been a secret between the girls.

"Knows who Celeste? Ohhhh is this a new guy I need to know about? You know, I really shouldn't be giving you dating advice." Now it was Celeste's turn to blush and nearly choke on her food. As she tried to choke down the last bits of bacon, she tried to think of a way to explain this supposed new "guy".

"No Red, he's uh well…he's my biological father and I just…I don't know. I just want to meet him."

"Okay…well I know pretty much the whole town. I can help you out if you want. What's his name?"

"KILLIAN," shouted Merida and grabbed her plate so she could scoot one seat further away from Celeste. Celeste was too busy shooting Merida the "I will kill you with your own bow" look to notice the shocked expression on Red's face. Finally turning to face the waitress, Celeste felt very nervous. "Is that a bad thing," she whispered and hoped that Red would tell her that everything was okay.

"Oh no…..it's just that I never really thought of Killian as the fatherly type. Celeste, if he really is your father then you might want to go about this gently okay?" Biting her lip, it seemed as if Red was trying to make some big decision but Celeste couldn't tell what it was. Whatever it was, Red must have finally made a choice because soon she was grabbing a large notepad and pen and scribbling down something that Celeste couldn't see from her chair.

"I know him," Red muttered as she quickly tore off the paper that she had been writing on and handed it to Celeste. "Lucky for you, he's not too far away. He actually has a small apartment just down the block in the same building as the Charmings. If you need an excuse to get in tell him that I sent you with a couple cups of hot cocoa." Celeste nodded and carefully took the piece of paper before nodding at Merida that it was time to leave.

"Thanks Red! Hey just put it on my dad's tab yeah," Merida said, trying to make their leaving less awkward. Red quickly smiled and nodded to the girls as they left the diner. Celeste looked down at the name of the apartment building and immediately knew where to go, but when she tried to get herself to move in that direction it just wasn't happening. She would arrive at the apartment and finally see him…..then what? He could laugh in her face or he could sit down with her and talk about the next step. What would that next step be? What if it didn't include him at all because he didn't actually want her? Did he even know her?

"I can't do this," she said between gasps of air. Celeste stood next to the white fence that surrounded Granny's and clung to it for life support while her eyes let loose to a group of tears, "Merida what if he hates me. Mom didn't even tell me why he had never met me…..maybe he doesn't want to meet me." She hadn't even begun to sob again when she felt herself being wrapped up in a hug from Merida.

"Here's what's going to happen Celeste," she heard Merida whisper into her ear, "We are going to find the sperm donor's apartment, we are going to knock on his door, you are going to explain what's going on and we'll see what happens from there." Celeste nodded numbly along with what Merida said, half pretending to listen and half clinging onto her best friend's words as if they were some new holy book. "No matter what, you and I are going to leave and we'll either celebrate with ice cream or we'll use the ice cream to make us feel better," Celeste could feel herself being gently turned to face Merida's now stern looking face, "You're not alone in this Celeste. I promise."