PLEASE READ: So I've decided to change the timeline of this story a bit. It was originally one month from the break up to the present, but I've decided that's not really long enough for everything to have developed. So I'm changing it to two and a half months. It does make sense, I promise. And it doesn't affect the story that much. I will change it in the previous chapters ASAP.

Warning: Some bad language in this chapter.

Chapter 6

"Are you sure about this, Snow?" asked David. Snow, David and Regina were all standing outside an unfamiliar house in Storybrooke. Snow said she had a plan of what would happen with Emma once she got released, but David wasn't sure that it would go down well.

"Why exactly have I been dragged here, Snow?" drawled Regina, unimpressed.

Snow turned to face the two. "Well, Emma gets released soon. And I know she said she didn't want us to be around her, but I'm not going to stand for that. She's my daughter; I will not let her deal with this alone. She needs us. So, we're all going to live in this house with her, including Henry, until she gets better. That includes you, Regina."

Regina's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. "I–I beg your pardon?" she coughed out. "I hardly think this is a good idea. And as for me living here? No. I won't do it. Emma doesn't want me around right now, for good reason I might add. I will not upset her further by agreeing to this," she waved her hand towards the house, "which is no doubt going to be against her will. You cannot make me. This idea is absurd."

Snow rolled her eyes. "Well I'm sorry, but you don't really have a choice. Emma needs all of us around, and she needs to face what is happening to her. That includes you. You did have a hand in all of this, so you owe it to her to try and make amends. Emma will not like this, I know, but she needs it. She needs her family now more than ever. I'm not going to stand by while she suffers."

Regina sighed and buried her head in her hands. She knew it wouldn't help to try and dissuade Snow; she was clearly in full on mother mode right now. She wasn't going to be talked out of this idea, however crazy it was. And that meant that eventually, Regina would give in. She knew she would. She didn't want Emma to suffer any more and she planned to try and make peace with her. But she figured Emma was going to be pissed off when she found out about it.

She looked back up at Snow and David. "I have a question before I agree to this. I don't understand why you're being calm all of a sudden, Snow. I ruined your daughter's happiness, remember? Why do you even want me here?"

"Believe it or not, Regina, but I think having you here will help Emma face her problems. I still haven't forgiven you for what you did, but I'm willing to look past it for the moment in the name of Emma's happiness. She cannot heal if you two don't resolve your issues. I don't mean in getting back together, I just mean in making peace once and for all. She has to deal with this; we have to deal with this. So you're staying here, alright?"

Regina opened and closed her mouth a few times, eventually realising it was futile to argue. "Fine," she breathed. "I'll stay."

Snow smiled in victory. "Excellent. Well, this house is up for rent, and I've already sorted all the paperwork. Everything can be done efficiently if you are determined enough. I figured we'd rent it for a few months and all stay in it. It's quite big, so everyone can have their own bedroom and there's plenty of space so we won't be in each other's hair all the time. It's a perfect arrangement."

Regina arched her brow at the word 'perfect', but let it slide. The upcoming months were going to be extremely difficult. Emma would probably be extremely angry with her, and she didn't know how to even start trying to apologise. Everything had gone disastrously wrong in the past few months, and it would no doubt take a long time to fix.

Snow's voice interrupted her musings. "Well, I'm off to tell Whale of the plan and take Henry to see Emma. I'll talk to you later with the finer details." She spun on her heel and went back to her car, David hurrying in her wake. Regina merely stood, slightly dumbstruck as she observed the house and thought about the months to come.

It was a ridiculous and crazy idea, of that she was certain.

But would it work?

"I don't care where I go," said Emma. "I just want to get the fuck out of here."

Whale raised an eyebrow. "Fine. But you may not like what is in store for you when you leave."

Emma sighed and lay back on her pillows. "What is it, Whale? I can handle it."

"Well, your parents have come up with a…somewhat unusual arrangement. While they know you don't want to see them for now, they have thought of something where you do have to see them, despite my instructions. They have insisted that you, them, Henry and Regina all move temporarily into a house together."

Emma laughed coldly. "Funny. Really funny. Did anyone ever tell you that you should have been a comedian?"

Whale suppressed a scowl. "I'm not joking, Emma."

At this, Emma sat bolt upright, shooting him a full on glare. "You're serious? No. I will not do that. I'm pretty sure that's the opposite of what I asked. I will not spend time in a house with my parents and my ex-girlfriend. I won't fucking do it. I'm pretty sure the stress would send me over the edge."

Whale sighed. "I know about your past, Emma. I know that there was no one to give a damn. And I know you don't want to be around the people in question right now. But the situation's different. There are people who do give a damn about you. So let them. Let them care for you and look out for you and be there for you. For once, let people help you. Let them in."

Emma hardened her gaze. She was clearly not impressed. "Oh, right. I'm sorry, I was just being blind. Of course. It's that easy! God, do you hear yourself? I did let them in: all of them. Regina broke my fucking heart and my parents are going to replace me. I'm being abandoned for about the billionth time. So don't blame me if I don't want to let people in. You have no idea what I've been through, alright? So don't you dare judge me, Whale. Don't. You. Dare."

She put all of her contempt and hatred into her glare. The room dropped about ten degrees. Emma didn't say any more, she just let her eyes speak for her. The silence was deafening.

Whale shifted uncomfortably on his feet. Emma was pretty intimidating when she was angry. He had only felt this afraid in front of a handful of people, the top person on that list being Regina. Emma was far more easy-going and generally pleasant, but she could be forceful, scary and frightening when she wanted to be. And if looks could kill right now, Whale would be six feet under.

"Ok, look. You're an adult, so you can't be forced into anything. If you want to live alone right now, no one can stop you. All I'm saying is that your parents will find a way into your life. You can't shut them out forever. They will find a way in, whether you like it or not. If you choose to live with them all, then you can at least do it on your own terms. You can have more of a say in when and how they will be in your life. Please consider it." Whale finished speaking and nearly ran out the door in his haste to get away from Emma's gaze.

Emma smirked. She knew she could scare people with a look. It was a fortunate trait she had. And right now, Whale was scared shitless.

The knock on the door startled Emma slightly. She looked up and found Henry standing shyly beside it, looking unsure as to whether he should enter.

Although Emma felt internal panic and fear, she masked it on her face as she smiled at her son. "Henry! You're here! It's great to see you."

Henry's face broke out into relief as he abandoned his reserve and ran into the room, hugging Emma tightly. Emma felt the tears from his eyes on her arm but she didn't comment, she merely stroked his hair as he hugged her.

"I–I missed you, Ma," he said, his voice slightly muffled.

"I missed you too Henry," Emma whispered. He pulled out of the hug and just looked at her intently, like he was trying to commit every feature to memory.

"Have you heard about grandma's living plan?"

Emma swallowed hard. "Yes I have kid. I haven't made a decision yet though."

He nodded, and averted his eyes from hers as he spoke. "I know you don't like it, Ma. But I think you should do it. I just want you to be ok, and I think having your family around will help you. I know you and Mom aren't together anymore, but I think it's better if we're all around and we're all there." He looked at her finally, and there was such hope in his eyes that Emma found she couldn't refuse him.

She stroked his cheek, sad that he had to bear such a burden because of her. "Okay kid, I'll accept it. We'll all live together for a while. It's not going to be easy, but it might be the best way. I'm not really okay with your Mom being there, but I guess I don't have a choice. They said they could release me tomorrow, so I guess we'll all move into this house your grandma has found then."

Henry's face lit up with a bright smile and Emma felt her heart break. She loved Henry so much, and she felt so guilty about almost leaving him. She didn't want to upset him, but she truly believed he would be better off without her. For the moment however, she clung onto his affection, not knowing if it would eventually disappear.

Henry stayed for over an hour, chatting about the last few days but leaving out any mention of what had happened. Whale eventually came in and told Henry that his visiting time was up. He left after giving Emma a final tight hug, and happily reminded her that he'd be there the next day to take her home. She watched him go with tears pricking at her eyes.

Whenever Emma was with Henry, she was reminded of how innocent he really was. True, he'd seen his fair share of horrors as Storybrooke seemed to be constantly under threat, but he'd borne it pretty well. He'd always had people who loved him and took care of him. He'd never felt truly abandoned, even considering what Emma had done. He always had a light about him that brightened the lives of whoever he was with.

Emma felt almost dirty when she was around him. She felt so in contrast to his lightness. She'd lived a life with no one to care for her. She'd never had a proper home, everyone she'd ever got close to had left her, and she'd never felt enough for anyone. Before she found her parents, she'd always felt like she'd been born inherently bad, because she couldn't find any other reason that her parents would have abandoned her on a highway. She'd always felt like not enough and not worth it when she was sent from foster home to foster home. And she'd felt completely broken and worthless when Neal had left her, pregnant and alone.

No one had ever stuck around for her. When she'd found her family she thought that it was the beginning of a whole new life, the beginning of her happiness. And for a time it was. But then her mother got pregnant and it was all Snow could talk about. She was so excited at the opportunity to raise a child. Emma knew she could not compare. How could she? Her parents hadn't raised her. They didn't know her at all. She was the same age as them. She recognised being replaced and abandoned as soon as she saw it, and she saw it in her parents' eyes as they talked about their future baby.

Then there was Regina. Emma finally thought she had a chance at love with her. They understood each other. They were both broken and damaged, and through time they had started to heal each other. Emma thought that it was the salvation of her heart. After so many years of carefully constructed walls, Emma let them down for Regina. She became vulnerable and exposed for the first time in forever, and once again she got burned. She allowed herself to be happy and it got thrown in her face.

So Emma had realised that maybe she wasn't meant to be happy. She was continually abandoned and her happiness was never quite within reach. She felt like this had been her last chance, and now it was gone. She had received the message. She would never get true happiness, she would never feel true love. Maybe all she was meant to do was break the curse and nothing more. But that didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

Emma really didn't want to live in that house with her parents and Regina. She didn't want to have to face them, their questions and their pitying eyes. She didn't want to see them acting like they understood, because they would never understand. No one would grasp how she really felt. No one could understand her pain.

But she was going to live with them. She was going to endure it all. She was mostly doing it for Henry; she felt so awful at being the cause of his pain that she wanted to try and alleviate his burden, at least for a while. Even if he eventually left her too, at least she could say she tried to do something to make him happy. She could look back on her life and regard this moment as something good, something done for someone else other than herself.

Emma knew she would never be happy, but she hoped that one day her pain might lessen.

"Emma…it's time to go. They're waiting."

Emma nodded. She stood up off the hospital bed, dressed in her usual clothes. She hugged her red leather jacket around her for some grounding. She was beyond terrified at what was going to happen. She almost wanted to call the whole arrangement off, but she knew she had to go through with it, if only for Henry.

She nervously followed Whale out of the hospital room and down various corridors into the waiting room, by the entrance. There was only Henry and David waiting for her, which made her relax immediately. She had feared her mother standing there with a balloon or something. This was much better and much more low key.

"Ma!" Henry cried before giving her another strong hug. Emma gratefully relaxed into it, thankful that he was going to be around. It was hard knowing what sadness she had brought upon him, but the kid didn't question her about it. He just moved forward. He didn't pity her, he just let it be.

Emma avoided David's gaze as they walked out the hospital. He didn't attempt to talk to her; he knew she needed some space. So he just walked by her silently, and drove the truck to the house they were going to live in without question.

As they drew up outside the house, Emma contemplated it with a gulp. It was a nice, serene house with grey brick walls covered in ivy. It wasn't imposing, it was just…normal. And somewhere that wasn't her parent's apartment or Mifflin St. For that, Emma was grateful. She got out of the truck and held onto Henry's hand tightly, nervous at what she was about to enter into.

David unlocked the door and all three stepped inside. Emma smelt fresh coffee and something else delicious cooking. Before she could ask any questions, David cleared his throat nervously. "Dinner will be in about half an hour. I can show you your room if you'd like?"

Emma nodded. They went upstairs and David led her to the second room on the right. He stood around awkwardly for a moment and then decided to go back to the kitchen, muttering something about 'caffeine'. Henry went to his own room, leaving Emma to open the door alone. She peeked round the door and found a large, pleasant room. The walls were a beautiful blue that exuded a sense of calmness. Her window faced out of the back of the house and Emma could see a large garden.

There was the usual furniture in the room, along with the few items that Emma owned. She ran her hands over her baby blanket, feeling calmer with every minute. She lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, taking everything in. The house was nice. It was somewhere different, and it made Emma feel much more calm and at peace already. She decided it was going well for now, although she had yet to encounter the two people whom she didn't want to see at all right now.

She was going to have to face her mother and Regina soon. She couldn't not talk to them now. That wouldn't help anyone, and it would make everything extremely awkward. She sighed as she looked at her watch; the half hour was up. Emma reluctantly got up off her bed and carefully made her way downstairs. She heard voices in one room and walked in to find herself in the kitchen. Her parents were in deep discussion, Henry was drinking something, and Regina was dishing out dinner.

At the sight of them all, Emma suddenly felt a hot wave of anger coursing through her. They were all standing there looking so content and normal, not seeming to care that it was partly their fault she was in this state. She was pretty much having a breakdown, and they all had it so easy. Their minds didn't feed them destructive and self-loathing thoughts every day of the week. They didn't constantly worry that they weren't enough. They didn't know they were never meant to be happy.

"Emma!" said Snow, suddenly noticing her daughter at the door. "We're just about to eat, would you like a drink? We have lemonade…"

Emma didn't hear a word of what she said over the sound of her own heart breaking.