It's Complicated

Chapter 8

Henry steps out of the room, and brings the dialing phone to his ear. Before even the second ring, Emma picks up.

"Kid?" She asks, voice tired and maybe a little watery. Henry tries not to think about the fact that she was probably crying all by herself back at the apartment.

"Hey, Ma. I'm letting you know that I've bought tickets home for us. I can give you yours," he answers, closing his eyes and toys with the buttons on his jacket while he awaits her response.

"You did that? Oh, Henry..." She speaks quietly through the phone, sounding almost disappointed. He bristles.

"I had no other choice, okay?" He defends, annoyed. He knows that she can admit that he's right, and he's about to be extremely irritated if she puts this on him. There was no way in hell that he would stay on vacation with this going on. He hears her let out a long sigh on the other line, crackling in the silence that followed. Finally, she spoke.

"I just..don't think I can be around your mom right now, Kid." It's breathy, defeated, and it makes Henry's heart crumble a little because she sounds nothing like the brave, fearless, warrior he always knew her to be.

He swallows hard before he replies. "No I...there's separate flights." He explains, forcing the words out like they have a bitter taste. Something about the dramatic separation of a once so tightly knit little family makes his dry eyes prick.

"Henry, I think you should go with your mom." She says this as though it pains her as well, as if she's sacrificing something.

"Are you sure--?" He asks, pacing up and down the hall now, legs moving faster and faster with each lap.

"She's gonna need you." This time, she says it so quietly that he strains to hear it.

"What about you?" He asks in spite of himself, trying to remember that he was so angry with her, but can no longer find it in himself to give her hell.

"Don't worry about me."

"I always do," he admits, finally slowing his pace to slump against a wall with his phone still pressed up against his face.

"I know," she replies, and a long silence stretches, though he can hear her breathing on the other line.

"I'll go with her," he caves finally. He imagines Emma on the plane in his mind's eye, drowning her sorrows with a beer. He hopes that she won't buy too much alcohol, and voices this concern. She just laughs, (it's a hollow sound, nowhere near as joyful and full as life as the ones he's used to) and tells him to just email her the ticket. They end the call on a somewhat awkward note, and he stands in the hallway for awhile until he returns to his mother's room.

She looks up expectantly from her packing, and Henry almost smiles when he sees how she's tidied up where they'd slept nearly impeccably. When he's been quiet for too long, she raises a dark eyebrow in question.

"Oh, uh, I'm just gonna send her ticket to her," he supplies, gesturing to his phone. "Also I'm...coming with you." He tacks on, purposely leaving Emma out of the equation. He's not sure how Regina would react to his other mother's concern, and wants to avoid as much damage as he can. 

She gives him a watery smile, and he shifts uncomfortably when he remembers something. Shit. "My bags..they're at the apartment," he says, pulling a grimace. "Will you be okay to stay here while I go get them? Our flight's not until one."

She nods with a half-smile, but when she sees Henry hesitate she speaks. "Go, Sweetheart. I'll be here. Just be back in time for us to get a taxi."

He nods quickly, then sprints out the door. Before long, he finds himself back at the apartment gate. For a moment, he's struck by a strong wave of nostalgia, thinking back to when he was a kid living here with Emma without hardly a care in the world besides beating his high score in a video game. No curses, no magic, no crazy family tree, no life-threatening circumstances....