𝑶𝑪𝑬𝑨𝑵 𝑬𝒀𝑬𝑺 - Rumplestiltskin [1]

THIRTY ONE

31|NEW ROOMMATE

Bella buried her face into her thick scarf as she and her two roommates walked down the streets of Storybrooke, the crisp air getting colder as Autumn grew stronger. Orange leaves danced at their feet, whisking down the almost empty street.

"Is he okay? David." Mary Margaret asked with concern to the Sheriff, worried about the man who's wife had suddenly gone missing. Missing straight after Mary Margaret ended their relationship.

"Oh, yeah. He's a little shaken up, but he's headed home. He's fine." Emma informed her friend reassuringly.

"Any word from Kathryn?" Bella spoke up, jumping when she heard an owl hooting in the distance. The dark had always scared her for as long as she remembered.

"Nothing new." The Sheriff said grimly to the pair.

"Did you check with Boston again?" Mary kept questioning, worried about the safety of the wife to the man she had become mistress to.

"She's not there, Mary Margaret." Emma sighed, knowing how shaken up the teacher had become from this.

"So we have no idea what happened to her?" Bella sighed, linking arms with her worried friend.

"All we know is that she found out about you two, gave you a well-deserved slap and then disappeared." Mary Margaret slowed her pace at Emma's wording.

"Well-deserved?" She quoted back, stopping in her step causing the other two to follow. "Do you really believe that?"

"No." The pair answered immediately, not wanting to upset Mary Margaret. "I'm just preparing you for what everyone else is gonna think. You two are gonna look bad until we figure the truth out."

"You mean David?" Mary Margaret asked upset. "The people are going to think, in order to be free with me, he..."

"Some are." Bella confirmed with a nod, boring her bottom lip with concern. "And he is not doing himself any favours."

"So if there's anything you could think of to pin his whereabouts that night." Emma added, desperate to find any information from her roommate.

"He wasn't with me. We really are through." Mary Margaret said as if she was being accused.

"Sorry, no. Don't need a ride." The overheard Ruby saying causing the three to look up as they started walking down the street again.

"It's awfully cold out here." A random man replied, his back to the three women who quickly approached them.

"I'm fine, really." The waitress stated again, clearly wanting the man to leave her alone.

"I can carry your bag. Where are you headed?" It was then as they got closer did Bella stifle a laugh as she saw Dr. Whales face.

"Dr. Whale?" Mary Margaret greeted the man.

"Mary Margaret. Emma. Bella. Hello there." Dr. Whale smiled at them, seeming surprised and annoyed they interrupted his terrible flirting. "I was just having a talk with Ruby here, but I should go."

"Yeah. Yeah, you should." Emma said harshly to the awkward man.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Whaley boy." Bella patted his shoulder as he walked away. "I love that crazy man sometimes."

"Was he bothering you?" Mary Margaret asked Ruby while glancing at the man walking away.

"The day I can't handle a letch is the day I leave town." Ruby scoffed, laughing with Bella at the desperate man. "Which this is, I guess."

"You're leaving?"

"I had a fight with Granny, quit my job." She explained to them as they stared at her with shock.

"You quit?" Bella gasped, not wanting to believe her favourite waitress will not be serving her anymore. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know." Ruby chuckled. "Away."

"Yeah, well, buses out of town don't really happen. And you might want a destination first." Emma inputted. Bella stared down at her ring, distracted by how the small gem shined in the darkness, lit by the dim street light.

"Hey, if you need a place to figure things out, you could always come home with us." Mary Margaret offered the homeless woman with Bella's approval and Emma shooting her a strange look.

"Yeah. Just for a little while." Emma stammered, directly the last part at Mary Margaret.

"Come on." Bella linked arms with her dear friend and dragged her back to their apartment leaving Emma and Mary Margaret to grab her bags. "Want to get drunk? I'm actually not working tomorrow I just said that to piss off Whale."

"That sounds like a plan." The doctor let Ruby stay in her room, the pair sharing her large luxury bed and large closet space.

They rested on the sofa, legs crossed as Ruby painted Bella's nails bright red as they drank from a bottle of wine and gossiped about the townspeople.