Emma enters the diner, still feeling uneasy, waiting for things to come crashing down over their heads, as they are bound to do, sooner or later.
She breathes a sigh of relief when she spots David and Mary Margaret sitting in a booth. Without thinking, she walks up to them. When she stops in front of their table, she suddenly realizes that they might not even recognize her. Well, it's too late to turn back now. Thankfully, Mary Margaret turns around and smiles at her.
"Emma! Good to see you're back. How was your trip?"
For a split second, Emma is overwhelmed by relief, until she recognizes something weird in Mary Margaret's tone. It's casual, like she's addressing a friend. The hope she felt only a second ago crumbles to bits. She stares at the two of them, swallowing around a newly-formed lump in her throat. Hook comes to her rescue, walking up next to her. David breaks into a huge grin when he sees him.
"Killian! Thank God you're back! Wanna meet up tonight? I recorded all the games while you were gone."
Mary Margaret gives him a slap on the arm. "Will you let the two of them arrive before you drag him back into your sports obsession?
David looks chagrined, but apparently is not to be deterred. "Tomorrow night, then?", he asks, his voice hopeful.
Hook looks at him with a dumbfounded expression. "Um, sure, mate."
"Great." David looks down at Hook's attire, his eyes narrowing. "Dude, what's with the outfit?"
"Cosplay", Emma non-explains and gently shoves Hook away from her parents' table.
Henry waves from the corner booth, trying to get their attention. While they walk over, Hook leans in and whispers, "What just happened?" Emma just shrugs, still processing the fact that her parents have once again lost their memories.
When they sit down, Henry narrows his eyes and Emma knows he's getting suspicious. And she still doesn't have the faintest idea where they live. Why does everything always have to be so complicated? New York may have been a lie, but at least things were simple there. Straightforward. Her real life is always so messy.
She orders a hot chocolate with cinnamon and plans her next move. How can she ask Henry for their address without looking like she's lost her mind? She has a sudden inspiration, which borders on full-blown insanity. It's such a long shot that she actually doesn't have any real hope of it succeeding. She takes out her phone and looks at the saved locations on her map app. And there it is. Home. Just like that. How can an effing curse add information on my phone?" Emma feels a hysterical giggle threatening to spill out of her and barely manages to contain it.
After they've finished their drinks, they pile back into the car, waving to David and Mary Margaret on the way out.
"I thought you were hungry." Henry's voice is neutral.
"Sorry?"
"You wanted to stop by Granny's because you were hungry and than you just had a hot chocolate." He raises one eyebrow, saying, without words, I know something is up, and I'm gonna find out what it is.
Damn him and his superhuman perceptiveness. Where did he get that from anyway?
"I wasn't hungry after all", she mumbles, clearly not convincing anybody.
She uses her phone to find the way home, trying not to let Henry see that she needs a guide to their own place.
When they reach the house, she stops in the street instead of pulling into the driveway, because this simply cannot be the right address. The house is beautiful, a dream in blue and white, with an amazing front porch. And a white picket fence, for God's sake.
Henry is looking at her again and she quickly pulls into the driveway. They get out of the car again, Hook and Henry grabbing the luggage from the small compartment. It's almost getting dark now. Emma approaches the front door carefully. There are three big numbers on the door, seven one zero. Emma panics when she realizes that she doesn't have a key to this place. Taking another long shot, she reaches into her pocket. And just like the address in her phone, a set of house keys has magically appeared in her pocket. She's never gonna get used to this.
She tries very hard not to stare at them too long. Instead she tries the one she hopes is the key to the front door. Turns out it isn't. She glances over at Henry who is engrossed in his phone. Or pretends to be engrossed in his phone. She quickly tries the next key and thankfully this one fits.
She enters, then stops short. The place is just as beautiful on the inside, a big open space, with a great kitchen and a nice corner table. Everything, the furniture, the decoration, it's all unknown to her and yet it is strangely familiar. If she imagines herself decorating a house, this is what it would look like. There's a stairway leading up and a locked door to what she assumes must be the basement.
Henry walks right up the stairs, taking his bag with him. The second he's out of sight, Emma crumbles into one of the chairs, putting her head in her hands.
"Why couldn't things have been simple for once?", she mumbles through her hands.
When there's no reply, she lifts her head, to see Hook inspecting the place. The centre piece of the living room is a large painting of a beautiful ship sailing into the sunset. Hook is looking at it with a strange expression on his face, almost like yearning. She thinks he probably just wants to be back on his ship, and do some pillaging and plundering or whatever it is he used to do in the old days.
Emma sighs and gets up. Never a boring day in her life. Well, in her real life, that is. She walks up the stairs, Hook following close behind. The house is huge. Besides Henry's room, which thankfully has an adorable sign with his name on the door, sparing them the awkwardness of having to explain to Henry why they are exploring their own damn house, they find two bathrooms, the master bedroom and an additional guest bedroom.
Emma looks at the massive bed in the master bedroom, worrying her bottom lip. She turns to say something to Hook and realizes he's not there. It's a little creepy how quickly she got used to him following her around everywhere. She goes to look for him and finds him in the guest bedroom, putting his long coat down on the chair in the corner.
"What are you doing?"
"I thought it best for me to take this chamber and leave the master bedroom to you, Swan. Unless you want me to join you in the bed?" He wiggles his eyebrows at her suggestively.
Emma bites her lip again, then meets his eyes. "Actually, yes."
She's captivated for a moment by the different expressions flashing over his face, before he settles back into flirting mode. "I knew you'd come around sooner or later. I've been told I'm hard to resist."
She gives him a look. "Not like that. I just think it's best if we don't draw any attention to us while we're trying to figure out what's going on. So it's best if we act like we are under the curse like everybody else."
"You want to pretend to be married?" The flirtatious tone is gone now, actual shock shining through his words.
"Don't you think that's the best course of action?"
He's quiet for a moment, clearly mulling this over. Emma is surprised at his hesitation, she would have thought he'd jump at the idea of pretending to be together. Maybe he's just not into playing house.
After a moment, he nods. "Yes, it's probably best if we don't show our hand yet by making it public knowledge that we are somebody else than who we appear to be. But I don't think that requires us to share a bed."
Emma feels a weird stab of hurt at his words, which doesn't make any sense. It's not like she wants him in her bed. It's just for Henry's sake.
"I don't want Henry to get worried. He's already suspicious. If you sleep in the guest bedroom, he'll think our marriage is in trouble. I don't want him to have to go through that."
She looks at him questioningly and he sighs, then nods his agreement.