New Romantics: Once upon a time fanfic

Twelve

When I get home I see Henry sitting at the dining room table.

"How did it go?" I ask him as I sit down next to him.

"He wasn't there." Henry says as closes his school book.

"What do you mean he wasn't there?" I ask. "Like he woke up and they sent him home?."

"They can't find him." He says

"That's impossible."

"Not in this town."

I want to say something but I think back to the conversation I had with Elijah.

Henry's not going to stop believing in this anytime soon and he's not going to stop trying to prove it.

"Do you think this has something to do with the book?" I ask him.

"I think I know where he's going," He says as he pulls the book out of his bag. "Mary Margaret was reading to him their story."

He flicks through the book to find a page of Snow White and Prince Charming standing on a bridge.

I don't recognise it from anywhere around town.

"So where is he?"

"In the forest."

"We're not going into the woods," I tell him. "Graham will probably find him soon."

"They won't know where he's going," He says. "We can help."

"We should stay out of this one," I tell him as I try to ignore the look on his face. "You've done enough by waking him up."

"I haven't," He says. "If we can help someone why shouldn't we?"

"It's not our job to."

"If you don't want to do it for him," Henry says. "Can you do it for me?"

"That's not fair," I say. "You know I'm only saying no to protect you."

"You're starting to act like mom." Henry says sadly.

"I'm not."

"You are." He tells me

"Fine," I say defeated. "I'll go with you."

***

There's no way we're going to find anybody out here, it's just trees for miles.

"We should be there soon." Henry says as points the flashlight around the forest.

"Where in the middle of nowhere." I say as the twigs under my feet snap.

We both stay silent until eventually we hear voices coming from in front of us.

"I hear Emma," Henry says as he walks towards her.

Emma and Mary Margret spot us straight away.

"What are you two doing here?" Emma asks.

"Ask Henry." I say, not wanting to be anymore involved in this.

They don't say anything but look at him to answer.

"We know where he is," Henry says as he begins walking again.

"You need to go home," Emma says as she follows him.

"We did not come all the way out here for you to send us back," I tell her as I walk beside them.

"Your mom is going to kill me," Emma says, a completely serious look on her face.

"You'll be fine." I tell her.

Which isn't entirely true. I wouldn't put it past my mother.

"Do you think he's alright," Mary Margaret whispers to Emma.

"He's been gone a few hours," Emma replies quietly. "I don't know."

I look over to Henry to see if he's paying attention but he's too busy looking around to see if we've found the place.

When I notice Graham walking ahead I decide to go and talk to him.

"You shouldn't be here." He says as I approach him.

"Henry wouldn't stop asking me,
I tell him. "If I didn't come with him you know he would have just come himself."

"Does he think this has something to do with his book?"

"He thinks everything is."

"As long as he stays out of trouble there's no harm in it," Graham tells me. "But you can't leave town or try to join missing person investigations."

"Nothing bad has happened yet." I say to him.

"Yet." He says.

I don't say anything to that, I know that I should probably stop Henry but if I try to I know he'll only go by himself.

After a while of silence Mary Margret spots him lying in the water under a bridge, he looks extremely pale as if he's been there a while.

As everyone rushes over to get him I notice Henry staring at the scene.

"Don't look at this," I tell him as I pull him in for a hug.

Graham sends for an ambulance for him and Mary Margret decides to try and help him.

Without me noticing Emma made her way up to stand next to Henry and me.

"He'll be alright." Emma says.

I don't know how much I believe her.

When Mary Margaret tries cpr it looks like it doesn't work at first but after a long moment his eyes begin to open and he says something I can't hear.

"She saved him." I hear Henry say as he turns around.

***

When we arrive at the hospital there's a woman waiting with my mother. I've never seen her around town before.

When my mother introduces her she tells us it's the man's, David Nolan's wife Kathryn.