.
Tessa grabbed a six-pack of regular coke from the fridge in the kitchen before kicking the fridge door shut. She grabbed a box of store-bought cookies from the counter, peanut butter from the cabinet and the half a loaf of bread left by the toaster. As she headed back towards the stairs, Henry burst through the front door. She jumped in surprise.
"My castle was torn down! Mom called it a safety hazard but she just wanted it gone! And my book's gone!" He cried. Then he saw what was in her arms and gave her a suspicious look.
"What are you doing?" He asked. She nodded towards the top of the stairs, readjusting the load in her arms.
"Walk with me." She told him. She didn't speak until they were about halfway up the staircase.
"I am restocking my mini-fridge. I'm running low on food." Henry looked at her strangely again.
"Why are you trying to live out of your bedroom?" She grimaced. He'd caught onto what she'd been doing.
"I'm avoiding mom."
"Why?"
"Because I accused her of murder and apparently that really angers people. Who knew? Okay, bye now." She ducked into her room and shut the door in his face. He pushed it open impatiently and went to sit on her bed as she restocked her mini-fridge.
"What am I going to do about my book?" He asked. She sighed, sitting down on the floor.
"Write down what you remember. You've read the book a thousand times. You should know it by heart by now."
That night, Tessa went into Granny's Diner. She saw Henry sitting at one of the tables, scribbling something down in a notebook. She went over to Ruby at the counter.
"Could I have a-?" She started to ask.
"A regular coke with two or four ice cubes because you hate odd numbers. Got it. Coming right up." Ruby interrupted. Tessa grinned.
"You know me so well." She walked over to Henry and slid into the seat beside him. She saw he was writing down all the characters from his book. She nudged him.
"You forgot me." She pretended to sound hurt. He rolled his eyes and added the name 'Contessa' to the list. Ruby came over and handed Tessa her coke.
"Thanks, Rue." Ruby nodded and walked away as Granny called her back to the counter. In the booth in front of Tessa and Henry's, a man that Tessa hadn't seen before looked at Henry.
"What'cha working on?" He asked.
"No time to talk. I got to write it all down before I forget."
"Yeah, I hate it when great ideas slip away from me."
"They're not my ideas. They're stories from a book I lost." The man got up and moved to the seat in front of Tessa and Henry.
"Must be one heck of a book. What's it about?"
"Stuff." Henry told him without looking up.
"Sounds exciting." He said sarcastically. Before Henry could reply, Tessa spoke to him.
"I'm Tessa Mills." She introduced herself, sticking a hand across the table. He shook her hand.
"August Booth. Nice to meet you. Any relation to the mayor?"
"I'm her daughter."
"Ah… Well, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"What are you doing in Storybrooke?" Henry asked, looking up and staring at August. Tessa elbowed him.
"Henry!"
"Oh, no, I heard you don't have many visitors here. That question was sure to pop up sooner or later. I'm a writer." August explained.
"You can write anywhere. What are you really doing here?" August leaned in to whisper to the two of them.
"Stuff." He stood up to leave.
"Good luck with the stories."
Regina walked into Tessa's room, not bothering to knock. Tessa rolled off her bed, landing on her feet with the bed in between them.
"Intruder alert!" She cried. Regina rolled her eyes without humor.
"I know you blame me for Graham's death and… And well, I realize now it's how you're dealing with your grief because you learned about Graham and I being together before all of that happened. Can I take you somewhere with Henry?" Regina asked. Tessa hesitantly grabbed her jacket.
"Suuure…" She stretched out the word. Regina led her out of the room.
Kids were yelling with excitement as they played on the playground Regina had put up. It was shaped like a castle. Henry was standing off to the side. Regina had left him with Tessa, who was supposed to watch him. She was sitting on the brick wall separating the playground from the road. Henry came over to her, holding a walkie talkie and looking upset. She patted the wall beside her and he sat down, swinging his legs over the side.
"What's the matter, kiddo?"
"Emma said that she can't be around me for a while." He told her, turning the walkie talkie over in his hands.
"Well, I'm sorry. Would a fist bump make you feel better?" She asked, offering up her fist. He gave her a fist bump.
"That was a lazy fist bump." She told him. She sighed and pushed him with her shoulder. He pushed her back.
"It'll be okay, baby brother. Your amazing big sister will take care of it because she is just that awesome." She assured him. He pushed her again, laughing.
"Seriously, though, it'll be alright. Go play in your new and improved castle." She told him. He stood up and ran off. She watched him go and then looked around for something to do. Suddenly a small stick hit the back of her head. She whirled around. Henry grinned at her with the band of children behind him.
"Get her!" She jumped up and ran from the horde of children that were laughing and chasing her.
"This is so not fair!" She screamed as she climbed up the slide to escape. Of course, that didn't stop them from hunting her down and she was laughing too hard to really try to get them to.