Runaway- CaptainSwan AU

• Chapter 30 •

"I am not going in there, and there is no way you can make me!"

They were at the mall, and all Emma had accomplished so far was complaining that it was too big and that everything was too expensive. After all, she saw no reason to be there. Her closet and drawers were filled to the brim with all kinds of clothing, courtesy of Alice, and she wasn't in need of anything that had been shoved in her face so far.

Malls were a new and strange thing to Emma. Who knew so much useless crap could exist in one place?

As a kid, Emma always envied the girls who went on weekly trips to the mall with their friends. It was just another reminder of how lonely she was. But now, actually being there? She wished she could go back to waiting at the foster home for the girls to come back with a potential soft pretzel for her.

To add to her misery, Regina refused to even let her buy a soft pretzel- the one thing she actually found to be a good use of money. Apparently, she was 'a Mills, and a bit more refined,' and wouldn't be letting Emma get anything below the highest quality.

Emma being Emma, the last place she was about to go into was the most expensive, high-end shop in the whole building. Which, unfortunately, just so happened to be exactly where Regina and Ashley were trying to drag her.

"Guys, I'm not going in there! It's bad enough you dragged me into Victoria's Secret! I don't have any money to spend, I don't want anything from there, and I sure as hell am not letting you get me anything. So if you want to go in there, be my guest. I'm waiting out here," Emma insisted.

Ashley and Regina rolled their eyes, grabbed an arm each, and dragged her into the store.

Emma groaned with laughter as they forced her in, tucking in the shirt they'd pulled out of place and adjusting her leather jacket.

"You are not leaving this place until you let us buy you something, so go pick," Ashley said, reapplying her lip gloss. She offered Emma an innocent smile, then ran away with a squeal at the sight of a sale. Emma laughed, not even close to understanding how shopping for clothes was supposed to be fun. She turned to Regina with a pout, hoping she wouldn't make her do this.

"Well? You heard the woman, go find something!" Regina said, completely seriously, and shooed her off.

Emma raised her hands in defeat and began to weave herself through the ridiculous maze that was this store. The number of clothing racks was just ridiculous. How was anybody supposed to get around this place? There were so many options to choose from, it was almost overwhelming.

Scratch that- it was definitely overwhelming. She could barely see her own clothes in the sea of the store's wide array of blouses, dresses, jeans, and fabrics she didn't even know the name of.

This was hopeless.

Or... maybe not. Something had caught her eye.

It wasn't clothing, but it was definitely worth looking at. A necklace.

The chain was silver- the nice kind, not the one with little loops of metal that connect. On it was a pendant with a swan engraved on it.

"Oh... wow..." Emma breathed, tracing her finger over the glass case that held it. "Excuse me, miss?" she called, getting the attention of the clerk nearby. "Can I see this necklace, please?" she requested.

The clerk gave her a strange look.

"You gonna buy it, hun?" the woman asked, doubtful and suspicious.

"Uh... I don't know yet, that's why I want to see it," Emma replied. That seemed pretty obvious.

"Look, I have a lot of high profile customers in here, alright hun? I don't have time for this," the clerk scoffed, turning to walk away.