Saving Snow // The Wolf Among Us (SnowXBigby)

Part 21: I'm Giving Up

Nerissa stopped outside the Woodlands. She shook her head to herself. Why am I here? He's got enough on his plate. I should just leave him to get on with it. I'm sure I'm the last person he'll want to see.

She turned to leave, when a familiar voice stopped her.

"Nerissa?"

Holly approached Nerissa with an expression of confusion and relief.

"Thank God," she said with a deep sigh. "Look, I could really use your help."

"What for?" Nerissa asked anxiously.

"It's Bigby. He's lost it - but this time not in an angry way. Please. You might be able to talk to him." Holly sounded oddly pleading.

"I'm not so sure about that ..."

"Please!" Holly looked so desperate that Nerissa found herself swallowing and letting Holly lead her hurriedly through the Woodlands.

"Thank you," she said with a heavy sigh as they walked. Nerissa couldn't help detecting the stress in her voice.

"What's - um - wrong with him?" she wondered timidly.

"He's just ... broken down. At the verge of just giving up. I've ... I've never seen him like it before." Holly closed her eyes for a second with a sad expression.

Nerissa didn't understand how that had anything to do with her.

"What exactly can I do?" she asked.

"He's close to you, right? I've seen you two. He could really do with a friend and I saw you and ... I'm just desperate for him to get back on feet."

"But -" Nerissa was about to explain her schemes, her mistakes and Bigby's hatred of her, but Holly was already marching Nerissa down the business office.

"Bigby," Holly said quietly as Nerissa awkwardly stood beside her. Bigby sat silently at Snow White's desk with his hands on his head and his eyes shut. They slightly opened at Holly's voice, revealing a tint of wild yellow. A warning shiver ran down Nerissa's spine.

"I don't think I should be here," she whispered to Holly, but Holly wasn't listening.

"Bigby," she said again. "Look, I bought someone who can help us. We just need to get this done and find Snow. Sitting here isn't changing anything."

Slowly, Bigby looked up, his expression tight and stressed. His eyes went past Holly to Nerissa, and that's when they darkened. With an abrupt crash, he got up, almost knocking over Snow's desk in the process. "What is she doing here?!" he roared.

Holly was horrified and took a step back. She gaped at Nerissa. "Who, Nerissa? What -"

"Get her out of my fucking sight right now!" Bigby bellowed, his crimson eyes not leaving Nerissa's face.

Gren and Woody came rushing into the office.

"What's going on?" Woody thundered.

Nerissa took a deep breath. He was livid. It was all her fault. She had messed up, she knew. She was fully aware of how screwed up her intentions became; it was what happened when she met people who cared about her. She always ruined it. But Bigby had been different. But he wasn't in love with her, no matter how desperate Nerissa could be. He was in love with Snow. Maybe I should just accept that.

"Okay, look, I have no idea what the hell has happened between you two," Holly said in a rush, "and to be honest, I couldn't give a shit. All that matters right now is finding Snow. And Bigby, to do that, you need to get your head together. Now." She said it with such force that Bigby felt his tense shoulders drop and he looked away from Nerissa with the briefest of snarls.

"Thank you," Holly said. She looked at Nerissa with an unreadable expression. Her mind clearly stated, What has she done to make him react like that when he saw her?

"I'm going to go," Nerissa said, biting her lip anxiously. "I've caused enough trouble." She cast a sad, regretful look at Bigby. "I'm sorry," was her last words before she went, and although she said it quietly, he still heard. He didn't care though.

Holly waited as soon as the door closed behind Nerissa. Then she turned to stare at Bigby.

"What?" Bigby snapped at her.

"What the fuck is going on?" Gren whined.

"What do you mean, what? Why was you so mad at her? What had she done? Surely it must've had been bad!" Holly snapped back.

"It's nothing, all right?" Bigby grumbled. He went to sit back down heavily at Snow White's desk and went through all the notes on top of it, cursing under his breath.

There was a long, distant silence between the four of them. Then -

Holly, Gren, and Woody all turned around as the door opened and Jack came sloping in. He looked awful: his eyes bloodshot, his face pale, his breath reeking of alcahol.

"Jack! Where the hell have you been?" Holly exclaimed irritably.

"You missed a hell of lot, buddy," Gren sighed.

"Oh yeah?" Jack mumbled. "Like what?"

"Well, Alice escaping, for one."

Jack couldn't help tensing at her name and his shoulders slumped into further grief. The minute he woke up to find the bed empty with only a goodbye letter from Alice plunged him into an overflowing pit of depression. The others didn't even bother to notice though, even though they knew. The subject about it was already closed and there was only one coherent thing to think about: Snow.

"We have no evidence," Bigby said raggedly. "No clues. Nothing. The only witness we had has now fucking escaped to God knows where ..."

"So we go find her!" Holly said, slamming her fist down on the desk. "Use your nose, Bigby, for God's sakes. We track her down!"

"Yeah," Jack said, suddenly suspiciously eager. "I think we should find her."

The four of them gave him annoyed glances and he shut up quick. They then looked at Bigby expectantly. After long a second of hesitation Holly's every last bit of patience snapped.

"Fine," she said coldly. "Be like that. Don't even bother trying to save Snow. Just sit here and waste a way. You'll see if I give a shit."

She walked away angrily. Woody glanced back worriedly at Bigby, who had his eyes back closed, before he and Gren trotted after her.

uuugghhhhhhh school :( whyyy? Why can't the weeks go slower? WHY MUST IT END D: XD