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Emma ignored the slight throbbing from her eyebrow to stare at Graham as he turned around. Graham, with his stupid out of place accent and curly hair, who turned down Regina and in some roundabout way, chose her. Graham was a different kind of man from what she was used to. He was honorable and sincere and nothing she was used to, and he was choosing her. She could feel her lips pull into a gentle smile that she had only ever used for Henry.
Her thoughts must have been visible on her face because Graham paused when he turned to face her. "What?"
Emma didn't reply verbally, instead she pushed off the desk and took the two steps needed to bring her closer to him. Graham's brown eyes watched her the entire time, all of his attention focused on her with the intensity of the huntsman he had believed himself to be. She let her breath out in a gust of air before putting her hands on his arms, above his elbows. His hands, warm and firm, went instantly to her waist. As she closed the distance between them her hands slid to his shoulders, and she could feel warmth spreading through her body at the paces were she and Graham were touching. As she kissed Graham, that warmth spread until she felt like she would explode. She was overcome with a sense of right as she kissed Graham and for once in her life since Neal, she believed she could find true love.
It was as this thought passed through her head that she felt the warmth grow almost unbearable. She ignored it as best she could as she and Graham kissed again. But it was with the touch of their lips that something literally did explode from her. Both she and Graham gasped and flew back as a wave of silver and gold exploded from her and kept going and going, eventually leaving the station to presumably cover the town. Emma turned to Graham in a panic and he seemed just as shocked but for a different reason. His hands had flown up to his heart he had been so convinced was missing.
Emma swallowed nervously and managed to find her voice. "Graham?"
When Graham turned to face her she noticed a change. It was small, subtle, but it was there. A certain lightness to his face and a kind of sense of self that she had never seen on his face before. "I remember." He said with wide eyes. He exhaled deeply and seemed to remember something because his hands clenched onto his shirt above his clothes. "My heart," he whispered breathlessly. A single tear fell down his face as he laughed.
Emma, still freaked over the wave of something that flew from her, took a step towards him. "Graham? What just happened?"
Graham turned his attention back to her and he closed the space between them. His hands raised to cup her face, his fingers stroking the skin of her jaw and cheek. That warmth started again but it was so soothing that she leaned into his touch. "Emma. Emma. Thank you. You saved my heart, Emma."
Before she could say anything Graham kissed her. This one was different then their previous ones. Their first kiss had been rough and urgent, Graham desperate to feel something. Their second had been soft and warm, interrupted by the explosion of whatever that wave had been. This one was full of heat and passion and it was so easy to lose herself in him. It was only the thought of that wave that had her pulling back.
"Graham," she gasped, trying to regain her focus. She grabbed his hands from where they had slid to her neck and pulled them away. She immediately missed the warmth of him and didn't let go of his hands. Graham pulled back and shifted their hands so he was holding hers, stroking any skin he could reach. "Graham, what just happened? What was that?"
Graham looked around them as if the wave might reappear. She could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he thought it through before his eyes widened. He looked at her in something she could only describe as awe. "You broke the curse."
Realization struck her and all the feelings of warmth and right left her as a cold wave of fury descended over her. Emma pulled away from Graham and glared at him. "Are you serious? You're going on about that stupid thing again? I thought we just proved that you had your heart and that Regina hadn't stolen it? That the whole thing wasn't real."
Graham reached for her, grabbing her wrist as she tried to avoid him. "If the curse wasn't real, how do you explain that wave of magic that came from you? How do you explain the wolf I saw in my dreams turning out to be real?" Graham grabbed hold of Emma's shoulders as she tried to pull away. "Emma, the curse was real, magic is real. I was the huntsman tasked to kill Snow White, your mother, Mary Margaret. Regina is the Evil Queen that sent us here and stole my heart."
Emma was frozen in shock, staring at Graham. Her little lying detector trick let her know that he believed everything he was saying but it couldn't be true. Magic just wasn't real. As if sensing her rising inner turmoil his grip softened and his hands rubbed soothingly over her arms, the warmth spreading through her body again making her want to just lean into him. "Emma, I know this must be almost impossible for you to believe, but if you don't believe in magic or the curse, believe in me. You saved my heart, probably seconds before it was crushed by Regina."
Finally reaching her limit, Emma pulled away from Graham, backing away and shaking her head when he reached out for her. She turned to leave, snatching up her jacket as she went. She put it on as she put up her walls. "I can't believe this Graham. Talk to me when you're making sense."
Graham took a step towards her, pleading with his eyes for her to stay and listen. "Emma, please, wait."
She ignored Graham as she stalked out of the station to her bug. Thankfully, Graham didn't come after her but as she pulled her keys out of her pocket she heard a huff of air and a small growl. Startled, she dropped her keys, turning around and freezing at the sight of the silver wolf with one red eye and one black. Slowly, not taking her eyes off the wolf, she reached down for her keys. When the wolf did nothing but stare at her she slowly relaxed.
Switching her keys to her left hand, she held her right up and slowly reached for the wolf. The wolf didn't react as her hand moved towards him but he did lean into her hand as she touched the rough fur on top of its head and moved towards its ears. Emma ran her fingers through the soft fur behind the wolf's ears as she stared into its mismatched eyes. There was a strange intelligence in those eyes and she had a nagging itch in the back of her mind that she had seen them before, briefly.
Recognition slowly registered in her mind as she remembered her first night in town and the wolf that had been in the middle of the road that made her crash and end up staying in town. She breathed out through her nose slowly. "So you're the one who made me crash. I almost think it was a conspiracy to keep me in town."
The wolf only blinked as Emma stood and unlocked her car. When she turned around, the wolf was at the station door, presumably waiting for Graham. Not wanting to see him, she quickly hopped into her car and left for Mary Margaret's, and something resembling sanity. Before she left the sight of the station, she peaked in her rear view mirror, seeing Graham's silhouette and the wolf's in the light of the open door. He was staring at her as she was leaving.
She almost turned around. She wanted to believe him so much, wanted to believe he wasn't crazy, but come on, magic? That didn't exist in real life, no matter how much she might wish it did. She shivered, missing the warmth that she had felt when Graham touched her.
It was then that she actually looked around. Even if it was almost midnight, over half the town must have been outside. She drove slowly, looking cautiously around as people were staring at her car, and essentially her, in that same awed look she had seen on Graham's face. "Okay," she muttered to herself, forcing herself to keep on driving.
She kept driving until she turned on Mary Margaret's street, jumping when she saw said woman and David Nolan kissing right out in front of everybody. They pulled apart as she pulled up beside them and as she climbed out of her car, Mary Margaret practically flew at her.
Emma's arms flew up automatically but her arms only rested on Mary Margaret's sides while her's were practically crushing her. Emma was frozen, surprised at the uncharacteristic show of affection. She looked over Mary Margaret's shoulder at David and she was equally surprised at the look on his face as he stared at her. A little unnerved, she addressed the woman in her arms. "...Mary Margaret?"
Said woman finally let go of Emma and pulled back but she stayed within arms length of her. Emma noticed the same change in Mary Margaret that she had noticed in Graham and a look back at David showed the same thing. Mary Margaret was definitely more confident and sure of herself and David was the same.
"Emma, you did it!" Mary Margaret grinned.
Annoyance rushed through her as she registered what Mary Margaret said. What the hell was going on today? Was this some kind of joke with her as the punch line or something? Was the whole town in on it or just everyone she was regularly interacting with?
Something of her thoughts must have shown on her face because Mary Margaret's grin slowly faded and she stepped back. "You don't...? But you broke it, how could you have broken the curse of you don't - "
Emma didn't let Mary Margaret finish that sentence. Just hearing the word 'curse' again today after everything that has happened snapped her already frayed nerves. "Enough! I'm sick and tired of people telling me about fairy tale characters, and saviours, and curses, and magic! It doesn't exist! Are all of you just playing some stupid trick on me? Because I can tell you right now that it's not funny. Talk to me when you've all decided to live in reality." Emma turned away and made to stalk back to her car to go to Granny's and get a room when her arm was grabbed and she was pulled around. She hid her surprise at seeing David and the expression of anger, relief, confusion, and sadness he had all over his face. Instead, she held onto her fury and glared up at him. "Let. Go. Of. Me."
David almost seemed ready to comply but he glanced over her shoulder and whatever he saw hardened him because his eyes and jaw hardened. He turned back to her and stared her down. "No. Not until you come inside and listen to us."
"No way in hell." Emma snapped as she tried to pull her arm out of David's grasp but his hold was too tight no matter how she pulled. It didn't help that he brought his other hand up to grab her other arm to hold her still. As helplessness started welling up inside her, so did desperation and she was contemplating bringing her knee up to hit him where it hurts when Mary Margaret's hand landed on her shoulder. She snapped her head around to look at her only to immediately drop her eyes from her face. Mary Margaret's expression was so full of pain that it hurt her to see it. All of her struggling died down and she stilled.
"Please, Emma." Mary Margaret's whisper of her name was so full of pain and hope that Emma turned to look at her. Tears were welling up in her eyes and Emma couldn't force herself to look away no matter how much she wanted to. "What do we need to do to prove to you that everything is real? Just look around, look at us. We're different, everyone is different, can't you see it? Something happened today that started with you and Graham and whatever it was, you broke the curse."
Emma desperately grasped onto anything to try and beat down the part of her that was starting to believe. "Graham was feverish and hallucinating and that wave of whatever it was I saw after I kissed him was a trick of the light or I was sick too, or...something. Anything. Because magic is. Not. Real."
Something she said must have meant something because David let go of her and stared between her and Mary Margaret in shock. Mary Margaret was the same. "This happened after you kissed Graham?"
Emma stepped back, desperate to put space between her and them. "Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" She crossed her arms defensively and tried to block out the memory of the kiss and saw Mary Margaret mouth something at David, who nodded back. She tried to read her lips but it was hard to focus when all she wanted to do was get away. It was then that she remembered who Mary Margaret was 'supposed' to be and annoyance flared up sharp and powerful within her. "True love's kiss? Is that what you're going to start on next? You've got to be kidding me!"
Emma pulled her keys back out of her pocket and practically ran to her car. She ignored David and Mary Margaret's yells and drove off as fast as she could. She had no idea where she would go. If Ruby and Granny were going to go with the same trick than she wouldn't be able to handle it and she didn't know anyone else in this town well enough to go to them. At this point she was prepared to park in the woods and sleep in her car. Mind made up, she turned her car for Granny's hoping beyond hope that something there would make sense.
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Graham watched Emma leave the station in shock. He knew she wouldn't be receptive of him right now. Whatever it was that had broken the curse, she still didn't believe in magic and going after her right now would only drive her away.
His thoughts turned to just how the curse had been broken. Emma had kissed him. From everything he knew about magic, true love's kiss was the only thing that would have been able to break the curse. And since Emma had kissed him that meant he was...they were...each others, "True love." Graham said to himself softly in realization.
He frowned. He had barely known Emma for more than a few months, how could she be his true love? Plus, he had kissed Emma earlier and nothing had happened then. He started pacing as he tried to figure out what happened. He kissed Emma and nothing, but she initiated a kiss and broke the curse? Maybe she had to kiss someone and not be kissed? He shook his head, denying it from what he knew of when Snow White and the Prince kissed.
He believed they may have the potential to have what Snow White and David do. While he had been cursed with not feeling anything here, when he had been near Emma was when he felt something. For whatever it was between them to affect him when his heart was missing, it had to be strong.
The sound of claws on the door tore him from his thoughts and he froze mid step. Realizing who it must be he ran to open the door, kneeling to hug his brother and friend. The familiarity of his heat and fur soothed him. He pulled back, looking into the mismatched eyes that had haunted his dreams. "Thank you. You helped me believe I wasn't completely crazy today."
The sound of a car pulling away had him standing up. He looked through the darkness to see Emma's yellow bug pulling away. He closed his eyes and sighed. Breaking the curse would have woken most everybody up and Emma still didn't believe in magic. She would just get angry and scared by everyone, especially her parents.
He barely had to think about it before he was turning on his heel to grab his coat. He had to somehow prove to her that everything was real before she was pushed too far. He might not be in love with Emma right now but magic stepped in for a reason. He was taking that reason to be that he and Emma could have a happily ever after like her parents. He believed magic stepped in tonight because he was seconds away from having his heart crushed by Regina.
He turned to Kane after he had grabbed the keys to his cruiser. He rolled his eyes as he recognized the body language and expression in his eyes. "Yes, you are always right." He couldn't keep the smile from playing on his lips as he knelt down in front of him again. "You knew from the moment she first came here, didn't you? I remember her saying something about a wolf in the middle of the road the night she tried to leave town." His brother dipped his head in a small nod. He sighed again. "Any ideas on how to get her to believe in magic? In everything?"
He got his answer when the wolf turned and pawed open the door. He followed him to his car and Graham opened the door for him to climb in before moving to the drivers side. "Just tell me when to turn."
Graham turned when Kane would growl but after only three turns he knew where he was headed. He almost smacked himself for not thinking of it. He himself had gone to Henry to get answers. He would get the book and then he would figure the rest out as it came.
He noticed Regina wasn't home and figured she was pissed off or hiding or both at the fact that the curse had been broken and she wasn't able to get rid of him. He decided to make this as quick as possible to avoid Regina.
His brother climbed out behind him and stayed with him as he walked up to the front door and rang the bell. He did it a few times to make sure Henry woke up. He waited with surprising patience for Henry to get up and get downstairs. When the tired eleven year old opened the front door, he frowned. "Sheriff Graham? What are you doing here?" Then Henry noticed the wolf by his side and his eyes widened and a grin broke out on his face. "You remembered?! So you are the huntsman? Is that your wolf?"
Graham glanced behind him to make sure there was no sign of Regina before turning to Henry with a small grin. He had always liked the boy and hung out with him on occasion before. His endless questions, insight, and intelligence made him easy and fun to be around. "Yes Henry. I need you to listen to me. I need the book and you need to leave and find Mary Margaret." He didn't actually think Regina would intentionally hurt Henry, but better to be safe than sorry.
Henry turned and ran up the stairs to his room. Graham followed after sharing a look with Kane. He would howl if he heard or saw Regina coming. Upstairs, Henry pulled the book out and handed it to him before running to his closet to change into more suitable clothing. "The curse is broken, isn't it? That's why you want me to get out of here, but why do you need the book?"
Graham was so glad he had already told Henry he had kissed Emma. It saved a lot of the initial awkwardness of the topic. "When Emma kissed me, she broke the curse."
Henry popped out of his closet yanking a jacket on. "Wait, true loves kiss? You guys have barely known each other for more than a few weeks."
Graham secured his grip on the book. "Regina was about to crush my heart. I think magic interfered because, well, while we may not be in love, we could be, just like Snow White and the Prince. The problem is Emma still doesn't believe. Something tells me I need this to help make her."
Henry stared at him for a moment and Graham realized he was appraising him. He hoped he would pass whatever test Henry had because if Henry didn't want him, then being Emma would be so much harder. Finally, Henry nodded. "You'll be good for her. I can tell that she's been hurt and has a problem letting people in but I think you're almost there."
Relief filled him as he realized he had Henry's blessing. "Come on, we need to leave."
Henry nodded and they both quickly left the house. Kane went with Henry without question, guarding the boy as he went to Snow's house. Graham looked down at the book in his hands. "Please let this work."
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Emma was relieved that Granny and Ruby were acting normally. When she had stormed in and asked as calmly as she could for a room, they had only hesitated a little bit, which she took to be surprise at her sudden entrance, before they gave her the room she had gotten when she first came to Storybrooke. She had been too happy to finally find someone that was acting normal that she missed the look passed between the two women.
Wanting to just fall asleep and forget everything going on wasn't happening with how tightly she was wound up so she just laid on the bed. Her phone went off but she ignored it, just as she had ever since she left Mary Margaret's house.
She kept feeling anticipation, like she was waiting for something to happen. She ignored the warmth that started tingling on her body as her thoughts traitorous lay whispered, Graham. She shook her head violently, rolling onto her side so her back was facing the door.
No matter what happened, she did not love Graham. She had only known the guy for a month or two and while there was certainly attraction, there was no love. When kissing Graham earlier she had believed they had the potential to love each other. She didn't want to sound romance novel cliche, but since coming to this little town she had felt a spark between them. That had been the whole reason she had let him in just enough for her to believe that he could be the one.
She sighed, curling into herself. His words after that weird trick of the light had shot down that hope hard. She furiously beat down the part of her that was longing for him to show up, to not let her walk away.
Trying to stop the direction her thoughts were taking she turned on the stereo on he clock to a random station. She tried her best to clear her mind anywhere thing but the music. She must have started dozing at one point because the next thing she was aware of was a knock on her door.
She blinked blearily, before figuring it must be Ruby or Granny. She turned on the lamp to illuminate the room. A glance at the clock showed it was around one in the morning, thirty minutes since she had laid down. The knock sounded again and she realized she had been lying there for a while. She shoved herself up calling, "Just a minute," to the door.
When she opened the door she froze at the sight of Graham. His face was determined and he showed no sign of leaving anytime soon. She wasn't ready for this, not so soon a free everything had fallen apart. She started to slam the door but he caught it with one hand. She was a little insulted at the fact that when using her full weight she could barely make the door budge but it was thrown from her mind as she saw what was in his other hand.
She glared at Graham, ignoring the slight tug inside of her at the sight of the stupid fairy tale book. "Leave," she snapped.
Graham shoved his way through the door and she had to back up or risk getting hit. He shut the door behind him and suddenly her motel room seemed impossibly small. The familiar heat was leeching off of his body towards her and she fisted her hands at her sides to keep from reaching out to him. He sat the book down on the bed and stepped closer. It wasn't in her nature to back down so she didn't back away, not that she could really go anywhere if she did.
He didn't stop until there were mere inches between them. The heat coming from his body was seeping into her, making it hard to stay tense and defensive. She wanted to just lean into him. Her nails had dug grooves incoherent palms by now and she could feel a prick as a few broke the skin. Graham's head lowered as he stared into her eyes. "I will not leave you or let you run away. You need to listen to me and to believe what I'm saying is the truth. Do you trust me, Emma?"
She started at that, eyes widening. No one since Neal had ever asked her that. She hadn't let anyone close enough. She wouldn't make it if someone did what Neal did to her, that's why she had built her wall so high and so hard. The only people to even begin to get past them were Henry, Mary Margaret, and Graham.
She thought about everything she knew about Graham. He listened to her and understood her better then Neal had in just a few weeks. He helped give her a reason to stay in Storybrooke, gave her a job, gave her roots to put down in one place for the first time in her life. The reason she had been so upset about him lying about going to Regina's wasn't because he had been with her - okay, she admitted to herself that was part of it - but because he had lied to her, betrayed the trust she had already given him. Betrayed, but then he had chosen her over Regina. It had been the first time someonehad chosen her over someone else.
She closed her eyes as she breathed out, "Yes."
Emma felt the heat grow more intense as Graham put both of his hands on her arms. She opened her eyes and stared at him. "All I ask of you right now is to listen to me with an open mind." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, relaxing into him as she nodded.
She could see the relief on his face as he guided her to sit on the bed. He sat down beside her and grabbed the book. She held back any annoyance, she had agreed to listen to him. Graham hesitantly looked back at her, as if worried she would run off. "Have you ever actually read any of this?"
"Not really."
Graham set the book on her lap and placed her hands on it. As she touched it, the tug she had felt when she first opened the door came back. "Emma, none of us practice magic, so we have no proof but our words, but everything in this book is real. Use your trick, has anything I've said been a lie?"
Emma tried her best to hold her anger at bay. "No, but-"
Graham interrupted her. "Emma, what expiration do you have for what happened after you kissed me? A trick of the light? That's weak and you know it. How do you explain the wolf from my dreams being real, the connection that Mary Margaret and David have?"
She had started shaking her head halfway through his little rant. "Because magic can't be real."
"You said can't that time." Graham noted. She tried to pull her hands off the book but Graham's hands held her's still. "Emma, why can't you believe in magic?" She shook her head, refusing to answer. She was drained and she just wanted this conversation to be over. "Emma, I know you've been hurt, and badly, but you can't let that cause you to shut everything good out."
She knew he was going to kiss her and she didn't stop it. Only, as their lips touched, her hands touching the book started two burn and images flashed in her mind. She gasped, pulling back from Graham. She yanked her hands away from the book. She looked up at Graham and his eyes were wide with realization.
"Emma, trust me, okay?" He said disparately.
Before she could react, graham had snatch the book and opened it. He started flipping through pages until he stopped on one that had a picture of a man holding a knife in front of his face, hiding most of his features. He slid closer to her until their knees were overlapping and placed the book on her lap. He held his left hand open and she realized the choice he was giving her. She admitted she was curious But what those images had been, they had been to quick to make any sense of, but therein had been fear that had had her yanking her hands away. She shoved the fear away, curiosity winning out. Graham gently grabbed her hand and placed it on the pages. He intertwined their fingers tightly and his free hand came up to her face. She stared at him as he softly stroked her cheek. His hand slid around to cup her neck and gently pull her forward.
This time when their lips met, Graham deepened it, not letting her pull away when their hands burned and images flashed through her mind at a speed to fast for her to follow. As her mouth opened under his and their tongues met the images slowed down until she could see Graham, only he was in different clothes and hunting in the woods with the wolf. She could feel her resolve cracking, not having any explanation for what was happening other than magic.
She kissed Graham back fiercely as she watched everything happening. She watched him be summoned to a large castle and brought before a different Regina, with longer hair and colder eyes. She saw him don a guard uniform and walk in the woods with a different Mary Margaret, sadder, but more confident, like the change she had seen in the friend she knew. She watched her shove Graham to the ground and run and Graham follow after shedding the armor. Watched Graham read the letter she had written and let her go, killing a deer and taking its heart to Regina in her place. Graham's fingers threaded through her hair as she watched his heart get ripped out by Regina.
Air finally became too much of a necessity and they broke apart, gasping. Graham's hand stayed in her hair and he let go of the hand holding the book, bringing it up to cup her cheek. She grabbed both of his arms, shocked beyond belief, but believing that what she just saw was true. There was no other rational explanation. "I believe," she gasped softly.
Graham shoved the book to the other side of the bed and crushed her to him. "Thank god. I swear you are the most stubborn woman I've ever met."
Emma relaxed against Graham for a minute, trying to take everything in. So Mary Margaret - Snow, she reminded herself to try and call her, it was too soon for mom - was her mother and David her father. Regina really was the Evil Queen, Ruby was Red Riding Hood and Granny was Granny. Mr. Gold was probably Rumpelstiltskin. Graham was the Huntsman. A thought suddenly ran through her head and she pulled back to look at Graham straight on. "The kiss, I don't love you so how was that possible?"
Graham looked thoughtful. "I have a theory but I need to know what you were thinking about when you kissed me."
Emma wracked her brain, trying to remember what she had been thinking about. With everything that had happened since then it took a minute. "I had been thinking that you were different than the kind of men I was used to, that kissing you felt right and that I could possibly love you."
Graham smiled, giving a quick kiss to her lips. "I'm not in love with you but I think that magic could tell we were meant for each other, and with Regina having my heart and being seconds away from crushing it, stepped in to do what was necessary to save me and everyone else."
Emma accepted the explanation, figuring Graham was a little more knowledgeable about magic than she was. Then the part about Regina registered in her mind and she fisted her hands in Graham's jacket. She wasn't naive enough to think he would have lived and she was grateful she hadn't had to watch him die right in front of her. Graham held her to him, probably knowing where her thoughts were gone.
She was surprised by a sudden jaw-cracking yawn. Graham laughed and she could feel heat crawl across her cheeks. "Send a text to Mary Margaret to let her know you'll talk to her tomorrow, I sent Henry to her when I got the book from him. It's been a long day." Graham suddenly looked hesitant and she knew what he was thinking.
She reached for the book and set it on the floor. She threw off her jacket and tugged off her boots and socks, leaving her Ina tank top and jeans. She gave a pointed look to Graham and he smiled gratefully, taking off his jacket, shoes, and shirt until he was just in his jeans.
She took the chance to look at him. Wield his muscles weren't overly defined, he was clearly strong. His waist was narrow and his shoulders broad. His chest was clean, no hair except a light dusting going down to his navel. He was slim, more like a swimmer. She caught herself staring a little and looked up to see him smiling a smug smile. To keep him from saying anything she leaned forward and kissed him passionately. Magic had declared them bound to each other, and that meant she was as much his as he was hers.
She pushed him back until he was laying on the bed and she was straddling him. Her hands went to his bare shoulders and his came up to settle on her waist. As their mouths opened she ran her fingers down his chest, lightly scratching with her nails at random points. Graham growled and slid his hand up to tangle in her hair again. As they broke apart for air he rolled so she was under him, supporting himself by one knee between her legs and his arms on either side of her head.
He kissed her again but this one was more gentle, sweeter and her pounding heart started calming down. He pulled back to rest his forehead against hers. "You're exhausted and we have a busy day tomorrow. And you still need to text Mary Margaret." Emma huffed, but conceded to his reasons. She was exhausted and while she was no stranger to one night stands, Graham was real and he was going to stay and she wanted it to be something special with him. She reached for her jacket and dug her phone out while Graham laid down at her side, pulling the blanket out from under them. She saw she had three missed calls, all from Mary Margaret and sent her a text telling her she would talk to her tomorrow.
She put the phone down and rolled over to look at Graham. He was laying on his side watching her with calm, happy eyes. She had never seen him look so at peace or so happy and she almost couldn't believe that it was her that had put that expression on his face. She scooted over to curl up next to his heat, pressing a light kiss to his lips before tucking her head under his chin and tangling their legs together. His right arm stretched out under her head and she could feel his fingers paying with the ends of her hair. His left arm settled as a comfortable weight at her hip and she pressed her hands between them.
She had never just laid with anybody, enjoying their presence. She could feel herself and Graham calming, breathing syncing as they relaxed and wound down from the stress of the day. She knew that tomorrow would bring a lot more but she was glad to have Graham by her side for it now.
A thought popped up in her mind and she slowly reached up to the swan pendant around her neck. She ran her thumb over the familiar design before slowly reaching up to unclassified the necklace. She was aware of Graham watching her through half lidded eyes but she didn't pay attention, instead setting the necklace down on the table.