Gold

{20}

I WAS sitting in the diner with Emma, worrying about Mary Margaret, when none other than Mary Margaret herself walked in.

I nudged Emma, who looked up too. "Hello everyone! If I could just have everyone's attention please.." Mary Margaret said and I scoffed when everyone continued talking loudly.

"Hey! Everyone shut the hell up!" I yelled and Emma and everyone else in the restaurant jumped from the sudden volume. I felt satisfied when they didn't begin to talk again though.

Mary Margaret sent me a grateful look and I grinned at her. "I'm sorry to interrupt your morning but I just want to remind everyone that a very special occasion is upon us. Miners Day." Mary Margaret said and Emma and I exchanged a confused glance.

I'd never heard of it, so I assumed it was a Storybrooke thing. "As always, The Nuns of Storybrooke are hoping that everyone will get involved and will help sell their exquisite candles. All we need are a few energetic volunteers. So who wants to join me?" Mary Margaret asked with a smile.

I glanced around as everyone started to talk again, basically ignoring her. I felt myself become very angry, so I slammed my chair back and stood up. "I'll volunteer!" I said very loudly, ignoring the eye rolls people sent me.

I walked up to Mary Margaret who smiled at me. "Thank you." She whispered as Leroy, the meanest person in this town, stalked towards us. "Leroy, you want to volunteer?" Mary Margaret asked in surprise.

"I wanna leave, sister. You're blocking the door." Leroy said and I glared at him. "Of course." Mary Margaret said and moved out of his way. I stayed there for half a second and glared at him before hesitantly moving aside.

"You know, if you wanted to help, it could be a really-"

"Oh, yeah, right. What a team we'd make. Town harlot, town drunk." Leroy said. "Don't be an asshole!" I said angrily, immediately coming to her defense. Leroy glared at me for a second before turning back to Mary Margaret.

"The only person in this town people like less than me is you. If you're coming to me, you're screwed." Leroy said and shoved past me to get through the door.

I was sure my eyes were glowing right now, because that's how angry I was.

Mary Margaret fought back tears again and opened the door. I exchanged helpless glance with Emma, who stood up and came to me. "Come on. Let's make sure she's okay." I told her and she nodded.

We caught up with Mary Margaret. "Hey, mind if we join you?" Emma asked and Mary Margaret shook her head.

"So what the hell is Miners Day and why are you beating yourself up over it?" Emma asked. "It's an annual holiday, celebrating an old tradition. The nuns used to make candles and trade them with the miners for coal." Mary Margaret explained to us.

"Coal? In Maine? If they were mining for lobster, I'd understand." Emma joked and I chuckled. "Look, I don't know. Now they use it as a fundraiser. It's an amazing party. Everyone loves it." Mary Margaret told us.

"It doesn't seem like everyone loves it." Emma said and I nodded. "Those people in the diner were being total assholes." I added and Emma nodded. "It's not Miners Day, it's me. Last week, I had 10 volunteers. This week they all dropped out." Mary Margaret told us.

I shook my head at the stupidity of this town. "You think this is about what happened with David?" Emma said in surprise. It had three days since David and Mary Margaret called it off, and two weeks since I'd talked to Gold last.

I'd seen him in the street a few times, but we never met each other's eyes. We were better off avoiding each other. "Oh I know it is. A few of them told me as much. I've never been a home wrecker before." Mary Margaret said sadly.