Author's note: Since the last ch was so short, here's another one.

Chapter 14

Two weeks. That's how long Emma had been staying in Storybrooke (for the second time). Two weeks and she still hadn't left. It was quite an accomplishment for her. She'd thought that she'd be forced to leave again after a day or two, but she found herself actually enjoying her parent's company.

She, Mary Margaret, and David (she kept calling them that because calling her parents Snow White and Prince James would just be weird) had agreed to just be friends for now. It was the best solution for everyone, since they'd started out as friends before the curse was broken and it would just be awkward for them to start parenting her. Of course, that didn't stop Mary Margaret from trying to feed Emma whenever she could, and for David to try and make her wear a coat. But this didn't bother Emma as much as she'd thought it would.

She'd explained why she'd left, and her parents had understood. They'd apologized profusely for everything and surprisingly Emma had forgiven them. Of course, this hadn't changed the fact that their actions had caused her to be alone all her life, but they were trying to make up for it. And so in a weird way, Emma was ok with it. At least they were making an effort. It was more than she could say for her old foster parents, even ones that she'd lived with for more than five years. Everyone in Storybrooke had welcomed her back warmly, saying how much they'd missed her. Emma was amazed at how much she'd grown to love this town and its inhabitants.

There was only one thing that bugged her now. After she went back to Storybrooke, she'd taken over her old job as sheriff, which she'd enjoyed more than she'd ever liked being a bail bondsman. David had taken over the job in her absence (he explained something about how it would let him help more people or whatever) but was thankfully more than willing to give it back to her. But there was the matter of Graham, who David had hired as deputy.

According to her family, after Emma had rejected Graham and left town, Graham had retreated back into a shell, only talking to people for work and spent more time drinking then necessary. In short, Emma had crushed him.

He barely spoke to her, or even looked at her at work. She'd tried to apologize and explain, but he'd ignored her. The one time she did catch his eye, all she saw was emptiness and abandonment. It was the same look that had been in her eye all those years ago in jail.

She didn't know it would hurt this much to be ignored by him. Just the mere sight of Graham made her heart squeeze with longing and regret. She hadn't realized how much she'd truly loved him. She'd been wrong to reject him. There was about a thousand if only's that came into play here. If only she hadn't slapped him. If only she hadn't rejected him. If only she'd let him in. If only, if only, if only.

But that was in the past. Graham was in the past. She'd vowed not to think about that anymore. From now on, her main focus would be getting to know her family, which was the reason she'd gone back.

Author's note: More filler to tie up loose ends, so now the story can focus on Emma/Graham.