Chapter 9
Seven weeks. That's how long Emma had been back in Boston. Seven weeks passed without any word from Henry, Graham, Mary Margaret, or David. Not a single call, text, or email. It was kind of strange. She'd thought that they'd come banging down her door in no time, demanding to know why she'd left. (Well except for Graham. She figured she'd hurt him enough to keep him away permanently.) But no, they'd actually respected her wishes.
Emma tried to go back to her old life as a bail bondsman. But it wasn't easy. She'd forgotten how, well, lonely it'd been. How lonely she'd been. For several months in Storybrooke, she'd actually had friends and a place that she called home. Her apartment in Boston, while it was nice and had a great view, was too empty. She missed the cozy apartment she'd shared with Mary Margaret. She missed so many things about Storybrooke. Henry, Granny's, Red, her job as sheriff, Mary Margaret (before the curse was broken), and even her conflicts with Regina.
Above all, she missed Graham. It was a new feeling, actually missing people. Her whole life, she'd been such a loner she could count one hand how many people she'd truly cared for. Over the years, so called friends had faded away with promises to call or write but of course never did. So eventually Emma built up those walls that didn't let anyone in. She began to keep to herself. There had only been one other person to break down those walls surrounding her heart. But he'd ended up breaking her heart almost beyond repair. And from then on she'd vowed to never let anyone get that close to her again.
Mary Margaret and Henry had almost managed to break down those walls. (Well, and him too but she promised herself that she wouldn't think about him anymore.) Ironically, the first person she'd truly considered her best friend had been her mother, only she hadn't known it at the time.
Emma felt the slightest hint of guilt about leaving Henry behind. She knew her son would be crushed, especially because he had this hope that they could all become a happy family now that the curse was broken. She'd wanted that too, but it was just too painful to think about. About how her parents had abandoned her. Had they truly wanted to give her the best life possible, or were they just doing the "right thing" by sacrificing their newborn daughters just to save others? It was a question that made Emma's head spin with confusion.
She wanted to believe that her parents truly loved her. After all, it was what every foster kid wanted. Based on the multitude of times they'd tried to bond with her despite her insistent refusal, she could tell that they did. Or at least felt bad for what they'd done to her life. For a second, she almost regretted leaving Storybrooke so abruptly. Maybe if she'd stayed they could have worked things out.
No. Emma shook her head, ridding herself of these thoughts. Thinking about the past would only bring misery and above all, regret, two feelings she'd promised herself long ago that she would never allow herself to feel. Two feelings that she'd long banished from her emotional vocabulary.
She would just have to tell herself that she made the right choice, even if it sure as hell didn't feel that way right now.
~The New Normal~
After another long day at work, Emma went back to her empty apartment. Even though it was almost two months ago, she still found herself missing Mary Margaret's. The way there was always laughter and music there, and the delicious smells of her former roommate's cooking. It didn't help that Emma was a terrible cook.
She sighed as she opened the fridge. It was empty, save for a moldy looking yogurt and some butter. Hardly suitable material for dinner. She would just go straight to bed but she'd hardly eaten anything all day. Great. Time to go grocery shopping, something she particularly hated. Maybe it had something to do with all the families that were there together, while she was always alone.
Luckily, the store was mostly empty. Good. The one thing she hated more than seeing happy families together while she was alone was standing in seemingly endless lines. She quickly gathered a few staples. Bread, milk, eggs, bananas. That only left cereal. Emma quickly located the last box of her favorite cereal, which had to be on the tallest shelf in the damned store. Great. As if this day couldn't get any worse. She was reaching, stretching, straining on her tip toes to reach that box when suddenly another hand grabbed it.
Her anger instantly intensified. Who the fuck did they think they were, grabbing that box that was rightfully hers? She turned around, fully ready to bitch them out. That was when she saw who it was.
Neal.
Author's note: Don't you just love it when a ch ends with a cliffhanger? :P