mettle. henry mills au

viii. alone

henry (granny's diner ☕︎)
i sat alone in an unoccupied booth in the ever-so-famous storybrooke restaurant, granny's diner, waiting for her. i took a sip of my cinnamon-topped hot cocoa when the i heard the main door open. i glanced up to see my best friend averting a gaze in my direction. she looked confused. i stood up to try to confront jess, but i knew i should leave her alone; that's what i've been doing the past few months anyways. it's what she wanted (or at least that's what i thought).
third person point of view
as jess sat in one of the center stools with her arms leaning on the counter in front of her, her best friend, henry, had studied her; the way she walked in; the perplexed emotion showing on her face; the fact that she avoided his stare. a girl wearing a black muscle shirt underneath an olive green jacket with jeans with holes cut at the knees paired with high top converse walked in through the sole door of granny's diner and to the booth that henry was seated at. before she had the chance to sit down, henry stood up with his hands out getting ready to embrace her in a tight hug. jess could see what was happening behind her in the reflection of a metal napkin holder. the girl stepped back, which alerted henry that something was not right.
"henry, we need to talk." she said. the girl didn't have anything against henry, except the fact that she knew about his dating past. month after month, girl after girl; she didn't want to be one of them.
"yeah, sure, is everything alright?" henry replied. he thought that she was the one; her amiable personality brightened his day.
jess overheard their conversation, well, sort of, okay, she was eavesdropping. jess heard the girl, whatever her name was, mutter something to henry. all was silent until she heard footsteps that led outside of the restaurant combined with a quiet sobbing. when she turned around, henry was gone, and the girl took a seat in the booth henry was once sitting in.
time skip (a few hours later)
henry quietly sat in bed playing a video game on his new ps4. he couldn't play the video games like he used to; each level was harder the second time he tried to overrule it. he soon gave up and decided to take a nap. as he was about to, henry spotted his phone laying next to him on his bed. he remembered the times he had with jess, before he even thought about violet, actually, and the way she shunned him at the restaurant. henry grabbed his phone, and reluctantly, texted jess. henry scanned through the endless number of messages sent by jess.he realized how much he missed her.
the loneliness spread from jess to henry, but the tables were turned. that night, jess understood the way of surviving alone again, like she did in the enchanted forest, but henry felt the opposite, like he wasn't able to live without the attention of others, more importantly, his best friend. as said, the tables have turned, and that night, henry was the one sending the text messages, and jess was the one reading through them.
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when one chapter is as long as a short essay
me
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