Forbidden Fairytale

f o u r

It took Bailey a moment to shed the sleep from her body, the stream of light that slipped between the crack in the curtains, casting down upon her. Bailey let out a low groan, rubbing the remainder of sleep from her eyes. The feel of the unfamiliar sheets beneath her hand, made her rise from her pillow, allowing her eyes to travel around the room she'd been staying in.

Tucked away in her wardrobe, held the clothes she'd bought throughout the past couple of days. Belle had her working alongside her in the library - not that Bailey thought she needed the help - but she knew she was doing it as a good deed. Allowing Bailey the chance to earn money of her own, Ruby had been more than helpful too, showing her around the town. Introducing her to all of the people Ruby thought worthy of her attention. It was only when Bailey locked eyes with two women that looked oddly familiar, that a lump crawled into her throat.

The women from the portal. The brunette struggled shaking the strangers from her mind, grateful that they'd managed to come through safely as she had. But there was no sign of the leather coated man, nor the oddly dressed woman. The thought causing a sickly feeling to settle in her stomach. If they were stuck on the other side, she was sure it would've been her fault. A slight prod from her blue eyed friend hauled her from getting too lost in her thoughts.

It was hard to miss the look of concern that made its way across Ruby's expression, noticing the lack of Bailey's presence in their conversation.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

The question was simple, and yet Bailey struggled to answer. Psychically, she was perfect.

The brunette released a almost silent sigh, avoiding the blue eyes that were practically boring a hole in her skull. It was only when she felt the warmth of her friend's hand slip into hers, that she was forced to meet Ruby's eyes. A bundle of nerves rose in her chest, part of her afraid that Ruby would pry but all she was greeted with was a soft, patient smile.

"I hope you're a fan of ice cream." As the words fell from her lips, Bailey's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The look on her face raised a hearty laugh to escape from the raven haired girls lips, "I don't know why I bother to ask, I should've figured you'd have no idea what I'm talking about."

With a knowing smirk, and an eye roll the brunette shook her head lightly at her friend, "Hey. It's not my fault I never had the chance to try these strangely wonderful things. I wish I'd been stuck here, it would be far from a curse for me."

Ruby didn't bother to protest, her years tucked away in the world without magic kept her safe from the wolf that hid within. It haunted her the things that she was capable of, all she ever wanted was to be free. The sweet sound of Bailey's faint humming of an old tune she knew long ago, broke the brunette's trail of thoughts. It was a song all mothers surrounding the enchanted kingdom would sing to their child, a soft tune to lull your child to sleep during stormy nights.

A gentle laugh slipped past the young wolf's cherry lips, nostalgia washing over her, "I haven't heard that in a really long time."

Bailey chuckled alongside the slightly older woman, playfully bumping into her. "Of course you haven't, I have no doubt the Evil Queen ripped that from your memories too."

Ruby rolled her eyes, a smile following quickly after. "Regina, her name is Regina."

Bailey wriggled her eyebrows at the name, "Someone's determined to make me learn her name, hm?"

"Shut up, I'm merely teaching you the new world ways." Ruby grumbled, releasing Bailey's hand and reaching up to tug her long hair into a ponytail. An action Bailey found herself entranced in. "You can't walk up to Archie and say hey Jiminy cricket, how are you? It's weird."