T/W: Small mention of abuse and self-harm.
Regina's sitting at her desk, writing notes while listening to Mrs Blanchard when Emmett comes waltzing into class. The unbuttoned, red plaid shirt he'd been wearing earlier has been covered by an opened, well-worn, black leather jacket. It has two red streaks across the chest carrying on round the biceps before stopping. His well fitting, black jeans were almost worn through at the knees. His hands gripping the strap of a green-grey messenger bag he also didn't have before. She'd noticed that both of his hands are taped up around the knuckles - almost like a boxer - when he'd offered his hand to shake in the library but now there seems to be a bit of red marring the previously white bandage on his right.
"Sorry I'm late," he says with his small, almost constant, public smile, as Mary Margaret turns towards him. Her eyes flick down to his knuckles and Regina sees a brief pained look cross her features but she quickly schools her features.
"Just take your seat, please," she says while motioning to his seat, middle row by the window. As he passes where she's leaning against the front of her desk, she stops him to whisper, "We'll talk after class."
Emmett just nods before continuing to his seat. His smile grows wider and genuine when he spots Regina at the desk behind his. He puts his bag on the floor and gives her a wink as he slips out of his jacket before placing it on the back of his chair. The blond sits down at an angle, leaning back against the wall under the window before draping an arm over the back of his chair and looking back at Regina over his shoulder.
"Are you stalking me?" he whispers.
She simply lifts a delicate finger to her lips shushing him before pointing to the front of the room. He chuckles quietly before turning back to rest his head on his hand and look out the window.
She isn't sure how to feel about Emmett. He is handsome and funny, defiantly less gormless than most of the boys in Storybrooke, but while he is charming - if not a bit cocky - she is taken. Though, thinking of Daniel now mostly hurts. She loves him but the new distance between them is already painful and it's only been a half a week. He'd been there for the worst week of her life. He'd held her as she'd cried and had whispered comforting words to her. Now she's had to leave him behind and move back with her mother who'd forced her back to school early because her 'moping around the house is distracting'.
Regina had been told by the principle that her teachers had been enlightened to her situation in case she needs to leave during class or required extra time on assignments. She isn't sure whether starting back at school this early is the best for her but she's also not sure she could've taken being alone with her thoughts any longer. Hopefully Daniel's visit this weekend will cheer her up.
The rest of the lesson flies by quicker than normal for Emmett. He usually does listen to the teacher as he stares out the window, he really does, but his mind keeps going back to his dream last night. He only really remembers part of it but it brought back the memories it'd been based on.
And they'd hit him pretty hard.
The only things he remembers from the dream is the feeling of being weak and the pain of his arm breaking. The memories the dream had surfaced filled in the gaps.
The tight, bruising grips on his upper arms.
The shaking when his legs were lifted off the ground.
The whoosh of air passed his ears as the ground came closer.
He shakes his head loose of the memories as the bell rings for lunch. Then pushes a smile to his lips and turns back to the beautiful brunette behind him. He watches her gather her things into her bag before asking, "So, who are the friends you gotta says 'hi' too?"
"Just some people I'm not sure I want to continue being friends with," she says barely taking notice of what leaves her mouth as green eyes focus on her deep brown ones.
"Oh?"
She sighs realising what she's said. "It's nothing. I just wasn't particularly nice to most people here and my 'friends' may have encouraged my old behaviour. I want to be different this time."
"Well, my friends are nice, blow off whoever the bastards are and hang out with us."
"I've told you I'll think about it," she says allowing a small smile to grace her lips. She lifts her bag over her shoulder and moves to leave but stops when Emmett's hand catches her eye again. She gestures to it and says, "You need to change your bandage."
His head snaps down before quickly moving his other hand over it. He forces his lips to curl up at the sided but it doesn't quite meet his usual standards of a fake smile and looks back up at her. "Ah, thanks. See ya later."
"Maybe," she says as she walks away. She feels his eyes on her and she can't help but put more sway in her hips than normal. She stops the sway halfway when her mind falls back to Daniel and the guilt from her flirting with Emmett at the library earlier comes back full force. She sighs to herself as she lowers her head.
The last of the students making plans for lunch and after school leave and Emmett is left alone with a disappointed looking foster mother. He'd seen that look on her face many times but it's only really started bothering him lately. He'd mostly gotten anger from his other foster parents before and the rare disappointment was followed by a new home.
But with Mary Margaret and David, there's a strange sadness after it and an attempt to help with whatever made him do wrong.
They seem to actually care about him and he's only managed to believe and understand that recently. And though he still gets in trouble, it's not because he's trying to be sent back before the genuinely nice couple can reject him, it's because he can't help himself. He has a short temper in certain situation and with certain people. He finds it's best to avoid those, which generally involves skipping class.
Though, sometimes, he's just busy chatting someone up to notices the bell's gone off.
"Where were you this morning?"
"I went for a run," he replies. He immediately sees the disappointment vanish and worry take its place.
"Nightmare?" Mary Margaret asks as she walks to his desk and kneels beside Emmett who simply nods his answer. There's no point in lying, she knows him too well and she's seen him at his worst. "Why didn't you wake us up? You know you can."
"I just wanted to forget about it."
She reaches for his hand when she remembers the spots of blood seeping through the bandage she'd seen when he first walked into class. "Do you have any more?" she asks. He nods and retrieves a box from his bag as Mary Margaret carefully removes the soiled tape and cotton pad under it. "I thought the running stopped you doing this."
He flashes her a smile as he hands over the box and says, "A wall gave me a dirty look. Had to teach it a lesson."
She stops removing stuff from the first aid box and looks him dead in the eye. "Emmett, stop making jokes. This is serious." His smile vanishes and she starts gently wrapping his hand back up.
"I… It was a bad one. I couldn't get it out of my head."
"You can't keep doing this. You've already broken your hand; I don't want to see you in that much pain again."
"I'm sorry."
She finishes with his hand and places a soft kiss on top of the new tape. He's had many foster mothers over the years, even an adoptive mother, but he's never felt as much motherly love from all of them combined as he does now. It's a strange feel; he's not quite sure how to deal with it yet.
"We got you that punching bag and the gym membership for a reason, please use them."
"The bag's too loud and I didn't want to wake you."
"The gym's open 24/7, you have no excuse. Now," she says standing up a smile forming back on her face, "Go eat your lunch before it's over."
He puts his things back into his bag before slipping his jacket on and places the strap on his shoulder as he walks to the door. "Thank you," he says before he walks through the doorway, not stopping for a reply.
He's come a long way with both of his foster parents since their first encounter.
Emmett looks out the window but doesn't really see the trees as they rush passed. He's on his way to a new home. New family. New strangers. The sound of his social worker humming along to the radio in the driver's seat next to him didn't help drown out his thoughts.
He doesn't want to live in a stupid, small town. He'd begged Ingrid to find somewhere in a city. Somewhere he could just blend in. He's been moved to small towns before and he stood out like a sore thumb. Being the new kid in a city school is just something that happens. In a small town school, however, it becomes an event where gossipers invent back stories to rival Spanish soap operas.
"It's a really nice place, Emmett," the blonde woman says knocking him out of his thoughts. "Mary Margaret and David are probably the nicest people I've ever had the privilege to talk to." The 'whatever you say' look she receives encourages her to continue. "You know I wouldn't place you somewhere I didn't think you'd like."
It was true. Ever since his previous social worker had been fired for taking bribes to ignore abuse and Ingrid had come along the only reasons for him being sent back were caused by him. The last place couldn't deal with his constant fighting with another kid under their care, the last fight resulting in a broken nose for the other boy and bruised ribs for him.
"They could ride unicorns and shit rainbows for all I care; I want to live in a city. I want to live with August."
Ingrid just sighs and places a hand on his shoulder, making brief eye contact before turning back to the road. "I would love for August to be able to take you but he can't look after you. He doesn't have a job and he's only a year older than you are. Emmett, I really think this place will be good for you. The Nolan's haven't fostered anyone before so I'm begging you please make the experience nice for them. They're genuinely nice people and I think they can help you."
Emmett just goes back to looking out the window. The trees make way for buildings too short for his liking and he realises just how small this place actually is. They make it to, what he guesses is, the centre of town in several minutes before turning off the high street, making a couple more turns, and stopping outside an apartment building. At least that's somewhat familiar, he thinks.
He spots a couple waiting outside the main door perking up when they see the minivan stop. They do look nice enough. Their smiles actually grow when they see him exit the car, swinging a travel bag onto his shoulder. They start to move closer as Emmett grabs his big main bag out of the trunk.
He stops when he notices the badge on the man's belt.
"Oh, hell no." He turns to Ingrid and whisper-shouts, "You didn't tell me he was a cop." The couple stops walking when they see the slightly angry look on Emmett's face.
"Yes, I did, Emmett. David's the sheriff here and Mary Margaret's at teacher at the high school you'll be attending. Do you listening when I speak?"
"Great, now they'll know if I get in trouble wherever I am."
"Then don't get into trouble," Ingrid says with a smile, nudging him forward. As much work as Emmett is she really loves him. If she had the time to look after a teenager, she probably would have adopted him by now. He has a persistent sense of humour that can't be stopped no matter what horrors he's had to live through. She just wishes he would open up more and talk about his experiences so someone can help him. Instead, he hides behind a false smile and his wit. No matter how much she loves his humour, it hurts to see him hiding behind it while in pain.
They meet the Nolan's where the couple had stopped halfway down the apartment building's path.
"Hi, Emmett," the man says, holding out his hand. "I'm David and this is my wife Mary Margaret. It's nice to finally meet you." Emmett grips the offered hand and hides a wince of pain from his constantly bruised knuckles. They were, as normal, taped up. David notices the bandages and the tight look on the young man's face and pulls back his hand as if he'd just touch a burning stove. "Sorry," he says.
"It's fine." Emmett waves him off with a well practised, easy smile. He isn't sure how he is going to get them to send him back yet but he has to play nice in front of Ingrid or risk an annoying telling off. "It's nice to meet you. Ingrid's told me lots about you both," he smirks up at the blonde woman who simply rolls her eyes.
"Which he didn't listen to, so please, tell him about both of yourselves; he'd much rather hear it from the source, wouldn't you Emmett?" she returns with her own smirk as Emmett playfully narrows his eyes slightly at her.
"Why don't we do that while we show you around?"
"Let me-" David says, reaching for the boy's bigger bag. Emmett moves away from the man sharply, his grip on the strap of his bag tightening. David cautiously pulls his hand back with a look of surprise. He turns to his wife before looking at Ingrid. The blonde woman gives him a small apologetic smile, trying to reassure him he hasn't done anything wrong. She places a hand on Emmett's shoulder and they watch him stiffen slightly at the touch.
"Come on, Emmett," Ingrid says, squeezing his shoulder. "Let's go see your new room."
The walk towards the building is awkward but when they start up the stairs, Mary Margaret begins talking about herself and her husband. Emmett gets to hear their jobs again and what they normally do on weekends. Apparently, there's a diner in on Main Street with the best pancakes ever. He just nods and tries not to yawn. He doesn't see why he has to learn anything about them or this town if they're going to send him back in a month or two like everyone else.
They make it through the door and it's smaller than Emmett had guessed.
Mary Margaret notices the worried look that crosses his features and places a hand on his shoulder. He flinches away and immediately looks down ashamed. He hates looking weak. Hates feeling it. She drops her hand to her side before saying, "Ah, we got a friend to put some walls up for the bedrooms to give us all some privacy. David, why don't you?" She motions towards the stairs.
They walk up to the second bedroom leaving Mary Margaret and Ingrid to talk in the kitchen. Emmett's surprised by the size of the room, he looks around with a kind of awe. One double bed. One wardrobe. One kid?
"So, this is all mine? No sharing?"
"Yep, all yours," David says with a smile. "We left the new wall bare so you can pick a colour for it. I'll take you to the hardware store whenever you want to choose."
"Can I put up posters and move stuff around?"
"Of course you can, you can do whatever you want. It's your room. Just try not to break anything." The older blond man watches with a smile as Emmett looks around the room. "I'll leave you to put your stuff away."
Emmett waits for the door to shut before dropping his bags and falling onto his new bed. He sighs, 'another family, another dollar. I just wish I got the money'.
AN: Don't expect new chapters to be regularly added this close together or be this long. I'm very lazy and procrastination is a hobby of mine.