Troubled Water

3. friend

friend : a person who you like and enjoy being with : : a person who helps or supports someone or something (such as a cause or charity)

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"Hey! I didn't know you were here." Red said as she got to Emma and sat next to her.

"Yeah, I just needed to get away for a while." Enma replied.

"Did something happen?" Red asked and got a muffin out of her basket. "Here." she added and gave it to her friend.

"Oh, thanks! And well... I just-" she stopped, and thought for a second. Should she tell her about the stealing? Maybe not. "You remember what I told you about my mom and the man she loves?"

"The shephered, your father?" she asked.

"Yeah. Well he's back in the village. My mom is so happy and I am happy for her because all my life, I've seen her sad and well... depressed because she's always missed him. She never loved anyone else. But I don't know how I should react, I don't know what to think, because he's my father but never was here for me." Emma explained, but at the same time, got everything off her chest. She sighed.

"Maybe, just... give it time?" Red suggested. "You'll have to meet him, to get to know him. You'll see if you like him or not. Maybe you could still think he's a good person, but... not your father, since he never was there for you."

"Yeah." she said. "I don't even know if he's just passing by or he's staying in the village. I guess I got scared a little too fast. So, how was your day?"

"Violet, Beatrice and Florence are still hating me for no reason and there's the thing with Peter, but... aside from that it was good." Red answered.  "I went to the stream with Peter after school."

"Oh, how did it go?" Emma asked with a grin.

"It was nice, I had fun and I forgot about those three girls teasing me, but I'm his friend." she said. "Not anything more."

"He'll come to his senses and realise how great you are and what he's missing right now." Emma told her.

"Yeah." Red said with a little laugh. "Hey, my Granny has a really big delivery to make tomorrow, would you help me out? My Granny will pay you."

"Of course I will!" Emma said.

* * *

"So here are the deliveries you need to do. There's a few in town, the rest are in the village." Red said as she gave Emma a paper with the names adresses of the customers. "And here's what you deliver." she said as she gave her a basket. "Everything good?" she asked.

"Yes." Emma said with a smile.

"I'll see you later, then!" Red said and the both left in different directions.

Emma delivered Granny's baked goods for a while, following the list. Everything went well, until she got to town. She read the name of the next customer on the list

Jones

Could it be him, Lieutenant Jones? Maybe not, she thought. There was no reason to stress about that. She kept walking until she reached the street and then the house. She knocked on the door and it only took a few seconds for the door to open.

"Hi Re- You're not Red." the man said. "What are you doing here?" he asked after he recognized her.

"Uh, helping out a friend. R-Red's my friend." Emma stuttered. "Here's what you ordered." she then added and gave him the pastries.

"Thanks." Killian said as he took them.

"Have a nice day!" Emma said and turned on her heels to leave.

"Wait!" he said and she stopped. "Take this." he added.

She turned around and saw the few half-pennys he was holding in her hand. She was tempted to refuse, but she knew she needed all she could get for her and her mother.

"Thanks." she said with a smile.

"Welcome." he replied, also with a grin.

"Why do you do that?" she then asked him after hesitsting for a second.

"Do what?"

"Being nice with me, helping me..." Emma said.

"Well, someone has to help, right?" he replied.

"Yeah." she said. "Thank you again, Killian."

"Have a good day, Emma." he replied and then closed the door. Emma got back to the street, keeping the smile on her face.

Hi! First author note :p
I hope you like the story so far! xx
I just wanted to say that for Red's story, it's a lot based on the book Red's Untold Tale, but you don't need to read it to understand. I basically just took the names from the book :p
Tell me what you think of the story so far! :) Also, thank you so much for reading xx
• believe__inmagic •