A/N: Hey, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Quick thanks go to red lighting, miley-avril and the three anonymous reviewers for reviewing the last chapter! Let me know what you guys think of this one!

Dance with Somebody

Emma sighed as she checked her reflection in the mirror for the fifth time. Why she had to do it, she didn't know. The whole notion of the idea was just ridiculous. If she'd had it her way, she would have dismissed the idea and refused to attend the party, but Graham and Henry had twisted her arm and she'd found herself telling her parents that she'd be there.

She thought back to the day she'd begun to suspect that Snow and James were plotting something.

It had been about two weeks before when she'd come down to breakfast only to find them whispering quickly. The moment they saw her, both of them stopped and looked up from the closeted position they had been sat in, heads inclined to one another.

"Emma!" Snow said with obvious surprise. "I thought you were going to have a lie in."

"Got a call at the station," she replied, grabbing her coat off the hook by the door before dashing over to the table and stealing a piece of toast off James' plate.

"Do you want me to come with you?" James asked, standing up from his stool. Since the episode with the beanstalk, James had become something like Emma's deputy at the station.

Emma shook her head in reply. "Graham was the one who phoned me. He's already there."

It had been only a week later when her parents had confronted her about what they'd planned, sitting her down on the sofa.

"Emma," Snow said slowly, prepared for how reluctant she knew Emma would be. However, the tone of her voice just reminded Emma of Henry when he was trying to get her to buy him something. "Could we talk to you about something?"

"I guess," she responded, dropping the newspaper she'd picked up on her way home onto the coffee table.

"There's a tradition we had back in the Enchanted Forest," James began. "On a princess' eighteenth birthday-"

"-Oh no, I know where this is going-" Emma interrupted before being cut off by Snow.

"-Before you say anything, please just let us finish."

"But I know what you're going to say and the answer is no. No I will not get engaged or have an arranged marriage!" Emma crossed her arms and stared straight ahead, determined not to give in her argument.

But when Snow and James both burst out laughing, she had to look at them.

"We don't want you to have an arranged marriage. We never would have made you," James said, still chuckling slightly. "We were trying to tell you about the ball we've organised for you."

"Ball?" Emma asked in horror. They hadn't, had they? Did they honestly expect her to wear a ball gown? And where the heck was she going to get a ball gown from?

"Just think about it," Snow told her softly. "You've missed out on so much. Ella and I used to love a good ball. You'd have had one in your honour for your eighteenth birthday party and your father and I would still like you to have one in your honour."

Thought about it, Emma had. She was still thinking about it. Her parents had invited the whole town. Even Rumplestiltskin would be there. And Eric and Ariel, they were coming. Thinking about it was positively terrifying.

Gathering her courage for what would probably be an evening perpetuated by awkward conversations and encounters, Emma slid her feet into her red patent shoes and grabbed her clutch bag off the bed, rifling through it briefly to make sure she had everything.

As she left the bedroom and walked down the stairs, someone knocked at the door. She already knew who it would be. Henry had left with his grandparents earlier, looking adorable in suit, to set up the town hall for the party. It could only be Graham wanting to escort her.

As she opened the door, Graham's eyes went wide and a low whistle came from his mouth.

"Emma…you-you look incredible," he stammered, staring at her curves in the red, body-con dress she'd dug out for the occasion.

"Thanks," Emma muttered.

Proffering her his arm, Graham stepped to the side to allow Emma out the door of the apartment she was still sharing with her parents and son. Emma took his arm with a small smile. Since the storm two days before, she'd gotten used to having him around again. She found she was getting used to a lot of things. Her parents for one. It wasn't perfect, but at least she could call them by their real names now. She was getting better and better at remembering everyone's real identities – having Graham or James with her at the station helped on that front.

As they walked to the town hall, Emma couldn't help looking for the damage caused by the storm, but there was none which was confusing as the day before there had still been broken fences, downed telephone poles and fallen trees – the whole shebang.

Noticing her looking, Graham told her, "Your parents asked the fairies to clear it all up – even managed to procure some fairy dust from somewhere. I don't think they wanted anything to ruin your night."

When they arrived at the town hall, they weren't the first attendants nor were they the last. Emma could hear I Wanna Dance With Somebody blaring out through some speakers, and as they entered coming in sight of the party guests and the red, blue and yellow light reflecting off the disco ball hanging from the ceiling, Emma couldn't help but be reminded of a crappy high school reunion.

Voicing the thought to Graham, he replied curtly, "Be nice. They've put a lot of thought and effort into this and this world has limited resources. After all, we're in the middle of nowhere and we can't leave the town still."

"Mom! Mom!" Henry called, running over and almost slipping on the polished wooden floor. "I did the streamers! Do you like it?"

Steadying him, Emma looked at the multi-coloured paper curled and hanging behind the buffet table and answered, "The streamers look great, Henry!"

"Emma, you made it!" someone squealed before enveloping her in a hug from behind. Seeing the wine red nail varnish on the hands around her shoulders, Emma knew it could only be Red.

"Yep, I did," she laughed, turning and smiling at her.

"Let's dance, Mom!" Henry said excitedly, grabbing Emma's hands and pulling her out further into the room away from the door. Graham stood with Snow and James, laughing at Henry trying unsuccessfully to twirl Emma only to have Emma stop him and twirl him instead.

Emma shot them all a look.

Deciding to save her, Graham stepped forwards. "Mind if I cut in?"

Henry beamed at Graham and let go of Emma's hands, charging over to Snow and into her arms.

"Thanks, he kept stepping on my toes," Emma murmured as Graham slid his hands around her waist.

As they shuffled around underneath the glitter ball, Emma noticed James getting onto one knee and holding his hand out to Snow. The next time she looked, they were both whirling expertly around the room, seemingly in competition with Ella and Thomas. Ella grinned and waved at her as they danced past.

"This is completely crazy," Emma muttered.

"Really? This is the first ball-slash-party I've ever been to… Aren't they all like this?" Graham asked as Grumpy went to ask Nova to dance, looking almost bashful and then relieved as she half-jumped, half-flew into his arms.

As the song faded, Emma looked over to the DJ station set up in the corner, noticing Jiminy on the disks.

"Do you want a drink?" Graham asked, letting go of her waist.

"Sure," she replied, walking with him to the buffet table where various alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages were being distributed by Sleepy. Despite nodding off every few seconds, the stock of drinks had already been severely depleted, except for the cider, of course, which everyone appeared to be avoiding as though Sneezy had gotten too close to it.

Emma had just received a plastic cup filled with beer when someone backed into her, sending it slopping over her arm and feet.

"Emma!" August exclaimed. "I'm sorry we didn't see you," he continued, gesturing to himself and Red.

"Sorry who are you?" Graham asked.

"Oh, Graham, Pinocchio. Pinocchio, Graham," Emma said, introducing them. For a moment she worried that it would be awkward. She'd never discussed it with August, but he had to know something of her feelings for Graham. And though she felt like the relationship she had with August was that of a brother and sister, she wasn't sure if he felt the same.

"Hi…"

Emma winced. Graham was clearly on his guard around August.

"Call me August," Pinocchio replied, slinging an arm around Red's shoulders as she swayed and knocked into him. "I prefer it."

"August, let's dance again," Red said, shooting Emma a giddy, drunken grin. "And you can tell me about lemurs too!"

Emma relaxed slightly. It looked like Red and August were hooking up.

"Gotta go," August muttered as he left with Red, flashing them both a smile and raised eyebrows.

"Emma, did you see-"

"-Uh huh," Emma replied, cutting off her mother, still looking at August and Red hugging and dancing. "Never saw that coming."

"I did," Ella stated, surprising them all as they hadn't seen her approaching. "Red's had a bit of a crush for a while," she explained.

Snow and Ella began gossiping about their friend and August, the two of them happy that she might have found love again after the tragedy with Peter.

When Jiminy slowed the music, playing a ballad, Graham took Emma's drink from her hands and placed it on the table behind them before leading her back into the dancing. He pulled her close and kissed her cheek.

Surprisingly, Emma enjoyed herself that night. No-one bothered her whilst she was dancing with Graham. And it wasn't awkward at all.

Reunion (Chapter 2) – Same day as the breaking of the curse

Witch hunt chapter (Chapter 12) – Same day as the breaking of the curse

Parents together (Chapter 6) – 1 day later

Wooden Man (Chapter 8) – 2 days later

The Big Bad Wolf (Chapter 4) – 2 days later

Up Goes the Beanstalk (Chapter 7) – 1 week later

Hiking trip (Chapter 9) – 1 and ½ weeks late

Huntsman (Chapter 3) – 2 weeks later

Storming (Chapter 1) – 1 month later

Dance with Somebody (Chapter 11) – 1 month later

Dreaming (Chapter 5) – 5 weeks later

A Fairy Dust Mystery (Chapter 10) – 5 weeks later

A/N: Thanks also go to the anonymous reviewer who asked to see August and Graham meet. I hope you guys liked this chapter. Leave a review if you've got time because I'd love to know what you thought.

Thanks for reading!

Much love, SabreDae

xxxxxx