Miles To Go

Chapter One

Author's Notes: This was posted a few years ago on fanfiction.net. It is not beta'd and I haven't found the time to sit down and go through it yet, so please bear with any typos/grammatical errors you may stumble upon as this is a massive story and it was one of my first for this fandom. For those who have read this before, I hope you read it again someday, and for those who have yet to read it, I hope the length doesn't put you off in any way.

Enjoy :)

Emma Swan laughed as she chased her best friend down the maze of streets, dodging oblivious pedestrians as she tried to catch up to her quick-footed friend. Their first summer after graduating high school had started just hours ago and with promises of a party a few blocks from the apartment building the two had grown up in, Emma knew that this summer would be filled with nothing but amazing memories she'd remember for the rest of her life.

"Ruby, wait up!" Emma yelled out as she almost lost sight of the tall, thin brunette up ahead. "Come on, Rubes!"

"It's not my fault you're not keeping up, Em!" Ruby laughed as she slowed her steady pace and came to a complete stop at the corner. "We're gonna be late for the party!"

Emma panted heavily as she finally caught up to her best friend. "It's barely seven! I've gone to enough parties with you, Ruby Lucas, to know that no respectable party kicks off until at least ten."

Ruby slung an arm around Emma's shoulders and laughed. "This party we're going to just isn't any party," she said, beaming her dazzling smile at Emma before the crosswalk changed and she guided Emma across the busy street. "Jefferson invited me to this party and you just know it is going to be absolutely crazy there tonight!"

"What?" Emma recoiled from the grip Ruby tried to keep on her. "Ruby, is this the same Jefferson who is a senior at Columbus University? The same one who played you at the last party of his you were invited to?"

"He apologized."

Emma rolled her eyes. "I'm sure he did."

"Come on, Em!" Ruby pleaded as she held on to her arm, refusing to let her turn around and go home. "I really don't want to go to this party alone. Besides," Ruby said, flashing her dazzling smile at Emma again, knowing she wouldn't be able to refuse, "you promised me you'd come tonight, no matter what..."

With a heavy sigh, Emma gave in, completely unable to come up with a plausible excuse to back out of their plans now. At least this time if Ruby was played by the charming university senior, she'd be right there to defend her best friend at all costs. Besides, she'd been more than curious to know just who this Jefferson was and what had Ruby so enamoured about him. It wouldn't be the first party on the Columbia campus either of them had been invited to, but it was the first they were going to together as adults, no longer high school students, but full-fledged adults.

Emma let out a surprised squeal as Ruby grabbed her hand and led her in the opposite direction of the campus. She wasn't too familiar with Manhattan and the subway ride from the Bronx had only made her a tad bit more nervous than excited about the party even before she knew exactly where they were going. As they stopped at a corner, waiting to cross, Emma looked down at her clothes and frowned.

"I can't go there like this!"

"Why?" Ruby asked, barely casting a glance at her. "You look fine, Emma."

Emma pulled a face as she pointedly waved at her own body. She wore cut off shorts that were rather short, exposing more thigh that she was used to and a tight black tank top that Ruby convinced her to wear and the flannel long sleeve shirt she tied around her hips was almost customary for her throughout the last year of school. She knew she would stand out in the crowd at the party like a sore thumb, no doubt already hearing lingering comments about how she didn't belong and not just because she was only eighteen years old.