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KAELYN DREADED returning to Storybrooke as they docked from the sky. She dreaded the applause and the heroes being praised, she dreaded being perceived, the stories that would be told about her. She knew, as she stepped off the Jolly Roger and back onto solid ground, that none of the applause or celebration was for her.
She only watched as the reunions happened. Henry was widely embraced by everyone in town, and hugs went around friends. Belle and Rumple reunited, and Kaelyn could only wallow in her bitterness of how on earth he had been the one out of the three of them to get even a remnant of a happy ending.
Regina, Kaelyn noted, also remained alone, standing awkwardly by the ship as everyone embraced. Kaelyn decided she didn't like such a fate, and instead slipped between the crowds of people – which was easy given how people naturally moved away from her out of fear.
The streets of Storybrooke felt like a lifetime away, too mundane, too dull. She hated it, she hated the way everyone stared at her, covered in dirt and blood, hair frizzy and dry, eyes sunken. She hated the way she felt heavy again, trapped in the tiny town, surrounded by people she mutually disliked.
As Kaelyn entered the diner, Ruby shot her a small smile, but the shorter brunette couldn't manage to return anything except a defeated look, as she climbed the stairs to her room. It hadn't changed, of course it hadn't. So why did she want it to have changed?
Such questions played on her mind as she showered, properly, for the first time in however long she'd been gone. She wasn't sure, and she hadn't asked anyone in town, but it had felt like months on the island. Blood and dirt stained the floor of the shower, draining in colours of rust and anguish.
The hot water fogged her senses, throat tightening as she felt frustratingly mundane. God, she hated it here. Her reflection stared back at her, looking as bitter and twisted as it always did, but for a second she wished it didn't.
Her bed felt like a cloud as she sunk into it, weary and alone. The only pop of colour in her vision was the new bunch of flowers in a cup of water on her chest of drawers. It was quiet. Some voices came from outside, and she faintly heard the diner begin to fill up, but for the most part she napped in relative peace.
Until there was a knock on her door. Kaelyn slammed her head under her pillow, refusing to be acknowledged, but the knocking became more incessant, until she hissed out something akin to 'fuck' and got up.
Her oversized shirt just covered her modesty as she opened the door a crack to see if the person dragging her out of bed was worth her attention or deserved to have it slammed in their face. Considering it was the person who offered her a home, the latter wasn't an option.
Kaelyn sighed and opened the door properly to come face-to-face with Granny, who was looking at her in the stern way she always did. Kaelyn had to hand it to her, she'd always seemed one of the people in Storybrooke least afraid of her.
