Once Upon a Time in Storybrooke - OUAT DR

Chapter 12 - A Thorny Day

In the weeks that followed, I found myself spending a lot more time exploring the different trails and the woods around Storybrooke. August actually became a frequent companion on these hikes, since he was often also out in the woods trying to find "inspiration" for his book and was one of my only friends who was free during the day. He told stories, but rarely did they ever feel true. He was still a bit of a mystery, if one was to be honest, which I tended to be more often than not.

It was on one of these hikes that August and I stumbled across a wishing well in the middle of the woods. I remembered seeing something in one of the brochures about a historic old wishing well somewhere off the trail. I walked over to it, reading the placard, and August asked if I believed in such a thing. "Why not?" I had countered, and he'd pulled up a bucket of water and we both drank. He asked about Henry's missing book, and I weighed whether or not to say anything, but he'd overheard enough that he knew most things, so I just confirmed or denied the things he had heard. 

He asked what I thought of it all, and I admitted that there were a lot of parallels around town, and could see where Henry would have gotten the inspiration for the imaginative tale. And part of me almost wished it was real, if for no other reason than to bring some magic back into the world. He asked what I would do if it were all true, and I just laughed, explaining I didn't even have a part in Henry's story, so it wouldn't matter, but I didn't believe it, of course. 

Who could believe such a thing, after all?

I met up with Emma and Mary Margaret at Granny's for lunch the day before Valentine's Day. Well, more like we all ran into one another but still. Mary Margaret gave Emma updates about Henry and how he was doing, since Emma was still banned from seeing Henry by Regina, and gave encouragement that this separation wouldn't be forever. 

Ashley – Cinderella according to Henry's book, which was still missing – came in with her baby. She had gotten to keep the baby and had moved in with her boyfriend, getting their own little apartment. She stayed home with the baby while Sean worked at the Cannery by the docks.  Granny took the baby, always happy to entertain the little ones, while Ashley pulled up a chair and updated us on how everything was going. Listening to her complain about her boyfriend having to work on Valentine's Day almost made me gag – but Ruby sauntered up and invited all of us out for a Galentines night out. Emma bailed immediately and made it damn near impossible for Mary Margaret or me to decline so we both begrudgingly accepted the invitation.

I couldn't help but notice that David was perched up in the booth next to our table, holding the same book Mary Margaret had off to the side of her plate. I also couldn't help but notice the looks shared between Mary and David but chose to keep my thoughts to myself, waiting for her to admit to whatever was going on between them. Emma got a call from the station and had to go and I followed not long thereafter to head to work and my daily walk about town.

Later that day Emma came over to the apartment (more like she was there when I got back from my walk already watching Netflix and helping herself to some of my bagel bites). We hung out for the evening and she ended up crashing at my place, explaining that Mary Margaret had wanted some alone time to clean the apartment - a lie, we both agreed - and Emma had figured she could crash on my couch. Obviously, I was fine with it, and honestly glad she felt close enough to me to pop over unannounced and know she could depend on me. It showed just how much she trusted me. 

The next morning we had breakfast - toaster strudels and coffee - before going off to work for the day. We had talked about our lives, our pasts, and I had a lot more Emma lore to add to my memory banks. Work was dragging on but I found myself engrossed in the articles I was scanning in, seeing the price per paper going down the older the papers were. The articles were all generic, some of them not even making complete sense, and some of the stories recycled from later copies. The more papers I scanned, the more papers I read, the more questions I had.

Nothing, none of this, made any sense. It was a bit maddening. 

That night we were at the bar having drinks "with the girls" when Ruby ditched us to talk to some random guys up at the bar. Ashley once again was complaining about Sean having to work and it was going to absolutely drive me insane. She sounded incredibly childish and ungrateful. Sean was working all those hours so Ashley could be a full-time mom and spend time with the baby she didn't think she was going to get to keep. And wasn't she like 19? What was she even doing being allowed to drink at the bar? What was happening right now? Why did nobody else find it strange?

I later found out that there was something about the municipality and how small the town was and the legal drinking age was 18 in Storybrooke considering they didn't have a large population of young people. The townspeople voted on it and it had been that way for as long as anyone could remember.

I convinced Mary Margaret to come out and dance with me – just one dance to let loose and try to enjoy the night – and it was fun. We went back to the table when Sean showed up with a bouquet of roses and proposed to Ashley right there in the small town bar. How Romantic. After all that complaining she got everything she wanted after all.

Mary Margaret and I left, Ruby happily off doing her own thing, Ashley off with Sean in what was left of his break from work. I noticed David as we were walking down the sidewalk and excused myself, telling Mary I'd be just a phone call away if she needed me. 

As I walked home, I couldn't stop thinking about why I seemed so bitter. I'd never cared about Valentine's Day, but after watching Ashley get engaged and Mary Margaret walk off with David I couldn't help but feel....lonely. I didn't have anyone to love, or know what "true love" even was, and it was a harsh realization to have. I decided to sit on the front balcony wrapped in a blanket with a cup of coffee as I watched the town below and pondered the loneliness I hadn't let myself feel up until now.

Does true love exist? If so, why hadn't I found it yet? And what is it about this town, these people, that have drawn me in so much? Who was August, why was he really here? Why did he seem to carry a secret only he knows but we all should know?

I started wondering if I could have true love – a dangerous thought to have, I reminded myself. Love, what I had thought had been love, had burned me badly in the past and I wasn't sure my heart had recovered from the extent of those burns. If there really was such a thing as true love, I would feel it upon sight – I may not fully understand it, but I would feel it, and I would know. And more importantly, he would feel it too. If such a thing existed, of course.

Which it might. I hoped it did.