…Three years ago…

It had only been a full year of the Pawn Shop being opened that Henry already found himself with his hands full. The shop no longer had the feeling of foreboding like it once had with Mr. Gold. With Henry running the shop and taking the helm the Pawn Shop's new line of work involved the business of fairly exchanging goods and products for magical services at reasonable prices. Realizing and loving his new career path Henry felt the need to be taken more seriously and decided to make it professional. By taking a page from his grandfather's book, Henry decided to dress up like his grandfather and went to work every day doing just that. Within a reasonable amount of time he was able to see to each appointment from the sign-up sheet and for the most part Storybrooke resumed its near tranquility.

Most people were curious about entering the shop while others just needed help deciding what it was that would make them happy thinking that Henry's magic was the cure. Each case was different and the circumstances involved as to how each item found itself inside the shop had an even more interesting tale of its own. One by one Henry would listen to the tales of his grandfather's dark deeds. Each story he heard was more interesting than the next on how his grandfather had acquired the item of question. Depending on the circumstance, it was Henry's job to decide whether or not to return the item or items of question back to the original owner.

However generous as Henry was, there were also times where even his generosity had its limits. As kind and understanding as he was, he knew as guardian that he had to remain vigilant to his grandfather's more dangerous and mysterious items. Due to those unusual circumstances and out of safety for himself and others not every item left the shop. There were even items from people who felt superstitious, thinking that by taking back their items it would somehow magically undo whatever deal Rumplestiltskin had originally made between them.

Henry did notice and appreciate Belle's contribution in organizing and categorizing every object in his grandfather's shop, but he knew that even with all the labels and information there it was just the curse's attempt at legitimizing Rumplestiltskin's possessions from their world. Seeing that everything was not as it appeared to be, Henry occasionally recruited Regina's help to identify those unknown items.

Rumplestiltskin knew the story of every object in the shop. However, Rumplestiltskin was also a secretive and methodical man which, unfortunately for Henry meant that nothing in the shop was authentically labeled. Due to the curse's magic, everything labeled in the shop was all an illusion. For example, Henry came across a tea set. On the index card of the tea set it said simply, 'China Tea Set: $45'. When Henry asked Regina if she knew of its significance she simply smirked and said that it was his grandfather's prized set and that it held significant memories between Mr. Gold and Belle.

After all that effort of returning the chipped cup to him those many years ago, it was surprising for Regina to see the tea set still there. As significant as she knew the items were to him, she found it curious that Mr. Gold never brought the dishware with him when he moved. As she thought about it some more, she realized that leaving the set behind was Gold's serious attempt at starting a new life with his family and that perhaps his motives for leaving everything behind was so that he'd no longer be reminded of the hideous and cruel person he once was. It was understandable and Regina understood why. Gold was ridding himself of the person he didn't want to be for his daughter. When he moved, he legitimately wanted to forget this life of magic and to start over with his family. So in her mind, Regina dropped the matter and never thought upon the curious subject again.

Eventually Henry did find gaps of time to read his grandfather's magical books to take notes. If he wasn't categorizing the items entering and leaving the shop or dealing with a client, he was studying. Suddenly the door opened and a woman with brilliant red hair walked excitedly up to the counter.

"Hi! Is Belle around?"

Henry looked up from the book he was reading and stared curiously at the stranger. For a moment he didn't recognize her, but then it clicked. "Wait. Are you… Ariel?"

"Yes! That's my name," said Ariel, looking just as curiously back at the young man, "Have we met before?"

"Um, no," said Henry as he closed the book in front of him. "But… most people don't typically come into my shop with wet hair and… the seashells do kind of give you away."

"What's wrong with the seashells?" said Ariel as she quickly looked down at her revealing outfit. "These shells are in fashion where I come from."

"I would imagine so," said Henry smiling at her. Wanting to get off the subject of dress attire, he moved on with the conversation, "Belle is no longer living in Storybrooke. She moved away with her family. My name is Henry. I run this shop now."

"She moved? Oh!" said Ariel with a disappointed look on her face. But before she could be bothered or saddened by the news she immediately jumped straight to the reason why she was there. "Well perhaps you can help me identify some of these items," she said as she dug through the contents of her bag, unearthing random items onto the counter next to them. "You see, I travel to many realms and I come across many, many things along the way. The last time I was here, Belle was like my own personal tour guide in Storybrooke. She was super kind and very helpful with everything. She even took the time to help reunite me with my Eric! I'm actually out traversing different lands to surprise him with a gift, but the only problem is, I don't know what any of it is. I was so hoping she was here to help me out again."

"I can help you," offered Henry as he made his way around the counter to greet Ariel face to face. "What do you need help identifying?" asked Henry as they both looked at the menagerie of items she had strewn across the counter.

Ariel picked up the first item, "What's this hook thing? Is this what you use for hooks to catch fish?"

"It's a clothes hanger actually."

"Oh."

"You see," Henry said as he demonstrated, "You take off an article of clothing…" He took his suit jacket off and then hung it on the hanger, "and then you hang it over the hanger… like that."

"How about this one?" asked Ariel as she handed over the next object to Henry.

"This is a harmonica. It's a musical instrument. You blow into it like this," said Henry as he puffed out an unsettling note. Ariel immediately covered her ears over the repugnant sound and asked as she handed him a strap of some sort, "And this?"

"It's a belt. I've got one on right now. See?" said Henry as he lifted a portion of his suit's vest to reveal a similar looking belt.

"And how about this?" asked Ariel as she handed him a stone with a small stick protruding out of it.

"Well this… this is unusual," said Henry as he peered closer at the questionable object. Upon closer inspection he realized that the stick was actually a pen and that it had somehow fused itself with the rock. "Where did you find this?" asked Henry as he tried to pry the pen from the rock.

"I found it at the bottom of a lake here in Storybrooke. Did you know there's a whole bunch of interesting stuff down there?"

"Is there?"

"Did you even know that Storybrooke has a lake?" Ariel asked, but Henry ignored the question as he suddenly pulled the pen from the rock. "So what is it?" she asked.

"It's an antique dipping pen. Sadly, with the construction sites scattered around Storybrooke some cement probably dripped off from one of the trucks and fell onto some junk," Henry theorized.

"How did it get in the lake?" the mermaid wondered.

"I'm not sure…" pondered Henry.

Suddenly the door to the shop opened and Emma called out to the mermaid, "There you are!"

"Oh! Hi again," said Ariel nonchalantly toward Emma, "I told you I knew where I was. I don't need assistance anymore."

"Hi mom," said Henry.

"Mom?" said Ariel confused.

"Mom, what's going on?" Henry asked his mother.

"Ariel took a dip in the lake and when she emerged she scared some of the residents here. I was just getting some statements from the witnesses and when I went to question her she disappeared."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause a fuss," said Ariel as she quickly gathered the items that were on the counter and stuffed them back in her satchel.

"It's alright. Just… come see me at the Sheriff's station next time you decide to come back to Storybrooke. Or, at least for some more clothes to put on so you don't look so conspicuous."

"I will! Thank you!" said Ariel spiritedly to Emma as she made her way to exit the Pawn Shop. She stopped at the door and spun around on her feet, looking up at Henry, "And thank you for helping me identify my stuff."

"You're welcome. It was my pleasure," said Henry with a smile.

Seeing that she had overstayed her welcome, Ariel left the Pawn Shop. Once the mermaid left, Emma turned to her son and asked, "So, why did she come into the shop?"

"Ariel knew Belle had worked here a long time ago and was hoping to see her," he said. Realizing that he still had the pen in his hands he placed it inside his coat pocket. "She had some items in her purse that she wanted to potentially give Eric as a surprise gift, but didn't know what any of it was. So I helped her out."

"Oh," said Emma understanding the full story.

"Yep." For a moment they both stood there in awkward silence gawking at each other. Henry looked on at his mother expectantly as he stood there rocking back and forth on his heels. It was obvious to Henry that there was something else on his mother's mind that she was hesitant to say but was unsure how to say it. "Was there anything else?" Henry asked, breaking the awkward silence.

Emma blurted, "What are your plans after work? Say, around dinner time?"

Henry blinked curiously at the random question. It was odd for Henry to see his mother fidget and appear nervous over a question like that, which made him suspicious. He knew his mother was up to something, but since he didn't know what the hidden agenda was he decided to let the plan unfurl as he honestly replied, "I was going to get something at Granny's and then read some more—"

"That still counts as working, Henry. You need to go out! You need to socialize."

"I do socialize! I talk to every person that comes into the shop."

"No, I mean you need to let loose and hang out with friends. I mean, when was the last time you hung out with a friend that wasn't someone in your family?"

Henry was stumped. He honestly couldn't remember, hence the awkward silence that now fell on his end.

"My point exactly," continued Emma, "Go to Tony's Restaurant tonight at seven o'clock. Dress… well, you can just wear your work clothes there. You did always look dashing in a suit."

Emma backed away from Henry and turned to leave the shop. Before she completely left the shop he called out to his mother, "And who exactly am I suppose to meet at the restaurant?"

Emma grinned mischievously back as she replied, "Your blind date."

… …

Henry sat at a table by himself in Tony's Restaurant waiting on his intended blind date. He sat there nervously wondering who the possible person could be. Would the person be wonderful? Would the person be annoying? Ugly? Gorgeous?

He was on time. In fact, he was early. It was 6:48. His leg shook beneath the table as he thought through all the possible people he knew that was about the same age as him in town. Who was brave enough to date the Mayor and Sheriff's son? Henry found himself nervous even for his date. Why would Emma do this? Was it out of love? No. It was because of the undeniable truth that he was often times alone. Not that he minded being alone. He kind of enjoyed the solitude. However, the truth was he didn't have much of a social life outside of work, let alone a love life.

As far as he knew, he was friends with everybody in town, but none that he really hung out with. He had to admit, from a mother's perspective it did seem a bit disconcerting to not see her son socialize normally. As Henry thought upon the circumstances that led to his current situation, he realized that he never allowed any time for friends. At least until now, when his own mother interceded on his behalf.

He felt the pen within his coat pocket. Seeing that he had some time to kill before his date arrived, he withdrew it from the pocket and inspected it more clearly. There wasn't anything significant about it. Though, the way that it felt beneath his fingers seemed to warm at his touch, like it had been held in his hands for hours. But he figured that since he had been carrying around the pen inside his coat, the pen was only warm because of his body's heat.

As he tilted the pen back and forth in the light, he noticed the pen's silver tip which was glowing unusually. He inspected the pen's shaft closely and detected peculiar groves etched into the walnut handle, but they were far too small to see in the candle's light to make out what they were. To Henry, they all seemed like a series of dashes, lines and dots. He placed the pen in his hand and pretended to write on the cloth table when he noticed a dark ink drop emit from the tip.

Was he seeing things? Where was the ink coming from?

He picked the pen back up and looked at it more closely. Part of him wished that he was back at the shop to look at it more thoroughly with one of the magnifying lenses, when suddenly a young woman coughed next to him to grab his attention.

"That's a beautiful pen," said the mysterious woman.

Henry looked up and when his eyes refocused he recognized the beautiful woman immediately. To the woman with gorgeous dirty blonde hair wearing a flattering black pencil skirt and white top he replied, "Grace! I mean, Paige, or..er…" said Henry throwing the pen back inside his jacket pocket to stand up and greet his old schoolmate.

"Whichever is fine. I'm very open-minded," she replied with a smile.

"Are you my blind date?" Henry asked hesitantly.

"I am, actually," Paige said nervously.

"Allow me," Henry said as he made his way around the table to pull out her chair. As she sat down, Henry ransacked his brain to think of something to say. "So… how did Emma put you up to this?"

Paige let out a nervous chuckle and looked down bashfully. "I was the one who set this up, actually."

"You did?"

Paige nodded and said, "Well, uh, you see… I'm taking psychology courses online." She looked back up at Henry and with more confidence continued, "In lieu of my father being known as that horrible nick-name, 'The Mad Hatter', I felt it my obligation to discourage the name calling and help him out with his issues. Ever since the curse broke in Storybrooke, I've been living with both my adopted Storybrooke family as well as my father. Whenever I left to go back to my Storybrooke family, it left him so heartbroken. I can still remember hearing the tenants around my father's apartment whisper cruel words about him whenever I left. He would go through bouts of depression and anxiety, fearing that I would never come back to him. I had to ask Dr. Hopper for help and he recommended exposure therapy. After years of patience, diligence and therapy I was finally able to ease my father's fear and his radical behavior decreased. As a result my father's doing exceptionally well right now. I found the whole process and experience so helpful and rewarding that I decided that psychology was what I wanted to pursue after high school."

"Oh, I see… I'm just another psychology case for you."

"Oh no! I'm sorry, that came out all wrong! That's not what I was trying to imply at all," Paige exclaimed as she placed an embarrassed hand over her face. "I went to the Sheriff's station to ask Emma for statistics and data for one of my research papers for school and had inquired how you were doing. After the town hall meeting about the Transportation Charter and all, I hadn't seen you in a while and wondered if you were dating anybody. Your mom was really excited over the notion, and then one thing led to another… and here we are."

Henry nodded at Paige rehashing the story. When she was done telling her story he waited; waiting for the inevitable question that usually came about when meeting any citizen in Storybrooke. When the brief silence was beginning to turn awkward he asked, "So… you're not going to ask me about the watch?"

"No."

"No?"

"I believe your announcement at the meeting to help everybody was sincere. I trust that when you find it, you'll do the right thing."

Henry smiled at her. His heart swelled with pride by her confidence and belief in him. "How you're going to do it," she continued as she shrugged her shoulders, "however will be quite the feat. That's some magic trick you're going to perform if you think you're going to try to find everybody's happy ending."

"I don't think I can. I believe I can."

"Either way it's quite the endeavor. And you think belief will be enough?"

"I hope so and besides, it's all I've got."

"Perhaps, that's all you really need," Paige said as she placed a caring hand over Henry's on the table. Henry looked down at her hand, but before he could make up his mind on how he felt the server came by to take their order.

"Good evening, my name is Andrea and I'll be your server this evening. What shall we be having to drink tonight?"

"I'll take the sparkling cider," requested Paige.

"And you sir?" asked the waiter.

"I'll… uh," said Henry looking frantically down at the menu. Henry immediately regretted not having taken the time before Paige's arrival to gander at the menu.

"Why don't you have the same thing I'm having? The cider here is actually quite refreshing."

"There are apples in it."

"Are you allergic to apples?"

"No, it's uh… well, it's a sort of family superstition."

"Oh, yeah. Snow White. I'm sorry, I forgot."

"No, no. It's alright," Henry looked down at the menu and still couldn't decide on what it was that he wanted. The waiter stood there patiently waiting for him to decide. He looked over at Paige and realized that it was just a superstition after all and quickly changed his mind, "You know, I'll have a sparkling cider too."

"Very good, sir," said the waiter. "It'll be just a few moments on your drinks."

When the waiter left, Paige questioned, "What about your superstition?"

"Tonight's about doing something different. Embracing change. Confronting your fear. Exposure therapy. I'll be honest, I was a bit apprehensive about this whole blind date thing."

"Yeah?"

"I normally go to work, meet with different clients, eat something at Granny's, study something from my grandfather's library and then head home. I was nervous because… I was afraid for the person who braved the task of asking me out on a date."

"Why is that so scary?"

"Because of who my parents are… and who I'm related to for that matter."

"You mean, the Charmings, Emma, Regina, Mr. Gold…"

Henry nodded.

"I'm not afraid of your family," said Paige confidently.

"No?"

Paige shook her head. "Look at my father. People thought he was crazy. Who am I to judge a person based off of who they're related to? Besides, I'm not on a date with them. I'm on a date with you."

Henry smiled as he took advantage of the menu before him to decide on what to eat. Paige took a page from Henry and did the same with her own. Every so often, Henry caught himself casually looking up curiously from his menu to see Paige looking studiously down on hers and admiring the way she looked this evening. The waiter came back with their drinks and they both ordered from the menus.

"I'll take the Chicken Marsala," ordered Henry.

"And I'll have the Eggplant Parmesan," said Paige giving the waiter her order and relinquishing her menu. "I love the cuisine of this land."

"I wouldn't know what food from the Enchanted Forest would taste like to know the difference. Though, I do love Granny's burgers," replied Henry with a smile. Paige beamed back at him as she fidgeted with her wine glass filled with sparkling juice. Henry asked curiously, "So you wanted to go out on a date with me?"

Paige nodded sheepishly. "I always wanted to, but you were always so busy trying to find everybody's happiness that I wasn't sure how to even ask you. I was actually kind of afraid of being rejected."

"Rejected?"

"Well, surprisingly enough, I had this irrational fear that you would laugh at my face."

"I would never do that. Not to anybody."

"I know. That's why it was an irrational fear, but I confronted it."

"As did I when I actually showed up for this date."

Their food finally arrived and they continued their small talk throughout the meal. For the time being they forgot about their fears and their weird family ties to one another and they talked about the past. They exchanged funny stories and reminisced on memories they had while at school together. When their meals had been completely devoured, Henry asked for the check.

"I can help out with the bill," offered Paige. Henry waved his hand and shook his head, refusing her offer. "Please, this date was my idea," she said adamantly.

"No. I insist. Emma was right. I needed this. Tonight was wonderful. Thank you."

Paige couldn't take no for answer and negotiated, "Alright Mr. Pawnbroker. Here's the deal, you pay for dinner and I'll tip the waiter." It didn't really sound like a deal, more like what was inevitably going to happen. Henry rolled his eyes as he raised an eyebrow at her. "It's only fair," she said as she raised her own eyebrow at him.

"Alright, but only if I can get your number."

"Sure," she said gladly. "Where's that pen you were staring at earlier?"

"Oh," said Henry surprised. He withdrew the pen from his coat pocket and became hesitant to hand it over. He stared at it and then looked over at Paige. As he handled it in front of Paige, he shared his observations, "It's a strange pen. It has curious etchings all along the handle that I can't make out. I'm not even sure if it'll wor-"

But before Henry could finish his sentence, Paige snatched the pen from his hands. She took one of the available clean napkins at the base of her drink and attempted to write, but nothing was coming out. "Oh! It's a dipping pen. Of course it wouldn't work. I need ink."

She handed the pen back to Henry and as soon as he held it within his hands droplets of ink began dripping on the table. "Now that is strange," observed Paige.

Curious, Henry took the same napkin Paige attempted to write on and was able to write his name and number effortlessly and without ink. He stared at his number intensely for a few moments, but suddenly realized that she was waiting on him. He looked up and apologized, "I'm sorry. Let me write your number down while this pen still works."

He wrote her number down and tore off the portions that they needed and handed his number over to her. Henry placed the pen and her number back in his suit jacket. In Henry's mind, the mysterious writing instrument definitely warranted more investigation. He slipped the curious pen into his pocket stylus-up to prevent any more mysterious ink to bleed onto his jacket and pulled out his wallet. They both left their money on the table as agreed upon and walked out of the restaurant together.

When they turned and faced each other, Paige was the first to speak, "Thank you for a lovely dinner, Henry."

"Thank you to you as well," he replied with a small smile.

Before Henry knew what was happening, Paige smoothly came closer and kissed him gently on his cheek. "Don't be a stranger to the world outside your Pawnshop. Give me a call sometime."

Henry's small smile immediately turned into a blushing grin.

"I will," promised Henry as she got into her car. As Henry watched her drive away from the restaurant, he delicately touched the spot on his cheek where her kiss still lingered.

Sorry about the long week between postings. Last week was a long busy week for me and I just struggled writing. But! I wanted to thank you guys who reviewed the last chapter. You guys are my heroes. As always, thank you Imusicluver23, NatalieMosherRumbelle, Montreat11, Grace5231973 and ladybugsmomma for reviewing. You all are just simply the best.