𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐕𝐄 ★ 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 ¹

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟎

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────── ★★★ ──────

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟎
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄

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𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑...

Everly was woken up from her deep sleep by Henry jumping on top of her then they rolled off the bed and landed on the floor in a tangled clump of sheets. Once they managed to get out of the blankets, the blonde girl sent the young boy a playful glare before he jumped to his feet and raced out of her room. She quickly followed his actions and chased after him through the small hallway and into the living room to join Emma and begin their day.

Once they reached their destination, the Mills boy grabbed the watering can from its place next to the kitchen sink and went to tend to the plants. While he took care of the greenery, Everly grabbed some plates and three sets of silverware from the cabinets before setting the table for the breakfast Emma was making.

As soon as the food was ready, the young blonde helped the woman fill the plates with food and returned them to the table then sat down next to a smiling Henry. Not a moment passed when Emma returns with three mugs in her hands before she placed a hot chocolate in front of Henry and a white hot chocolate in front of Everly. While the girl went to take a sip of her hot drink, her eyes watched Henry as he stared at the drink in front of him before he looked up at Emma with a smile on his face.

"Mom, you forgot something."

"Right. Cinnamon," Emma said with a matching smile on her face before going back to the kitchen to grab Henry's obsession. While they waited for the blonde woman to return, Everly found herself impatiently messing with the leather bracelets on her wrist as the sound of Henry's stomach rumbling mixed with the music that surrounds them.

"Where did you get those anyway?" Henry asked as he pointed to the twin bracelets she was wearing, causing Everly to stop fiddling with them before she just stared at the pieces of jewelry.

After a moment of studying the leather bracelet with the white feather charm, the blonde girl took her hand away from it before looking back up at Henry with a smile. "I don't remember. Whoever gave it to me must not have been that important."

As soon as Everly finished her response, Emma came back with her own hot chocolate in one hand and the cinnamon in the other before handing the spice to her son. Henry quickly sprinkled the cinnamon on his drink before doing the same to his mothers then they all picked up our drinks and clinked them together then took a sip of them. Just as they put our mugs down to start eating, the sound of someone banging on the door filled their ears, causing them all to stop what they were doing to look in the direction of the noise.

"Someone coming over?" Henry asked as he looked from Emma to Everly and back again with a confused look on his face before he took another sip of his drink.

"No," Emma responded just as another bang came from the front door, this one much harder and more urgent than the last. As soon as the banging stopped, the two blondes exchanged a look before the elder of the two took the napkin off her lap and placed it on the table before getting to her feet. "Henry, wait here."

After sending his mother a nod, Henry began to dig into his breakfast while Everly's eyes followed Emma as she made her way around the dining table and towards the front door. The blue-eyed girl's curiosity quickly got the better of her as she placed her napkin on the table like Emma did before getting to her feet.

"Mom said to wait here."

"She said for you to wait here," the girl related, causing a scoff to escape Henry's lips before he returned to eating his food while she made her way towards the front door.

Just as Everly reached the end of the small hall that led to the entrance of their apartment, Emma opened the front door to reveal a raven-haired man with piercing blue eyes with a blonde boy around the younger blonde's age at his side.

"Swan, at last," the man said as a huge smile formed on his face before he took a step to enter the apartment.

"Do I know you?" Emma questioned while putting a hand out to stop the man from entering.

"Look, I need your help. Something's happened, something terrible. Your family is in trouble."

"My family's right here. Who are you?"

"An old friend. And I know you can't remember me, but...I can make you."

Confusion made its way through Everly before she watched the man rush toward Emma and pull her in for a kiss. Her mouth dropped slightly at the sight of a stranger kissing the blonde woman before her eyes landed on the boy. The uncertainty within her returned and snuffed out the shock when his smile and playful gleam in his eyes seemed almost familiar. The next thing anyone knew, Emma kneed the man who was still kissing her in the crotch before pushing him out the door and back into the hall.

"What are you doing?!" she practically shouted as the man let out a groan while leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the hall.

"A long shot. I had to try," he told her as he stood up to his full height and turned his body to face her once again, "I was hoping you felt as I did."

"All you're gonna feel is the handcuffs when I call the cops."

"Look, I know this seems crazy, but you have to listen to me. You have to-"

Whatever the man was trying to say was cut off by Emma slamming the door in his face before she turned to face the younger blonde with confusion in her eyes. When Everly simply shrugs at her in response, the Swan woman let out a long sigh before walking past the younger girl and back to the table to sit with Henry. After staring at the closed door for a moment longer, trying to figure out why that boy looked so familiar, the blue-eyed girl turned around and made her way back to the dining room to join her family.

"Who was that?" Henry asked them as soon as they sat back down at the table, making Everly look over at Emma to see her staring back at her with wide eyes.

"No idea," the woman answered him as the young girl took a sip of her drink, "someone must've left the door open downstairs. Come on, let's eat."

"Things just got interesting around here," Everly muttered quietly under her breath so only she could hear it before digging into the food in front of her.

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