Deputy Swan

Chapter Twenty-One

She grips the steering wheel extra tight and glances over at his little body slumped against the door. He was so excited to see her but then something shifted upon his face, a storm brewing right in front of her very eyes and he's been actively avoiding her now.

Without a second thought, Emma ushered him into her car and headed back to Storybrooke. She has tried several times to call Regina but her phone must be on silent because each one has gone unanswered.

"How the heck did you make it all the way here without anyone stopping you and dragging you to the nearest police station?" She scoffs in disbelief, attempting to make small talk. He huffs a sound of annoyance through his nose and proceeds to glare out the window. "Alright...well, why come all this way to see me, if you won't even talk to me?"

"Because I thought you cared but clearly you don't," he mumbles under his breath, shifting in his seat like maybe he can become one with the door and not have to speak to her anymore.

"I do care, Henry," she softly vows. She peeks out of her peripheral and her heart sinks when she notices a wobble in his chin. "Did something happen at home?"

"I hate when they fight," he angrily admits, swiping a tear from his cheek. "I thought...it's better when he's not around. She's better."

Emma's stomach turns in disgust, her fingers curling even tighter around the steering wheel as fear pricks at the back of her neck.

"Henry, did...did something happen?" She investigates, needing to know if Graham laid a hand on Regina but she doesn't want to blatantly ask Henry that and ruin his idea of his father. "Is your mom okay?"

"She's...sad," he quietly says, using his sleeve to clean his dripping nose. "And like...sometimes my dad grabs her and it scares me. I don't like how rough he is with her and I just don't get why he would come back into our house if they are divorced."

He bites down rather hard on the inside of her lip, desperately trying to keep her emotions in check because Henry doesn't know the truth behind everything.

"I-I think your mom was just trying to be nice and help him get better after his accident."

He sighs heavily, his head thumping against the window and fogging up the glass. "I know and I really thought things would be different this time around, you know? Because he missed us. But like, I don't know...they got into a really big fight and I just needed to find you because I know you'll protect my mom."

"Why didn't you go to Aunt Ruby's?" She nervously asks while her heart leaps merrily around in her chest at the idea of Henry coming to her first.

God, she's a sucker for this kid already.

"Aunt Ruby is busy a lot and she would just make me wait at the restaurant until it closed and then drive me back or call my mom to come get me. She never gets in the middle of my mom and dad but you," he shrugs, unsure of what he wants to say next. "Well you, I thought cared but maybe I was wrong about everything."

Emma furrows her brows, a pout forming unknown to her as she glances at the small human in her passenger seat.

"What do you mean you are wrong about everything? Henry, I do care about your well-being and your mom's, I promise-"

"I thought you did. You begged her not to leave you," he angrily whirls around in his seat, eyes soaked in tears and a scowl on his face and fuck, he looks just like Regina. "I heard everything. I heard you beg her not to end your relationship and I heard her tell you to leave and then I heard her cry for hours in the kitchen after you left."

Her chest hurts, her eyes expanding to their fullest potential because Regina will kill her if she finds out that Henry was listening to their conversation the night they broke up.