Lonely Hearts Fall The Hardest *Henry Mills Love Story*

Chapter Six ❤️❤️❤️

"Mabel and rumpy Mabel and rumpy you used to love me you used love me"

"You know me I know you"

"You feed the madness and it feeds on you"

"You were taken away on that day"

"She took my Mabel away, she locks me up in a cage"

"I kept you safe I kept you warm, but she was too fast for me to warn"

The endless rambling, repeating, and rhyming of nonsensical things has left Nora dizzy with annoyance. She has told him at least a billion times her name was Nora not Mable. She had tried to tell him that she had never met him before and he must have her confused with someone else. She had come to a point now where she didn't know what she wanted more; to kill him, or to be killed herself. He had just started up again and Nora couldn't take it.

"SHUT UP!" She screams. "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Rumple made a sound between a whine and a laugh and Nora almost bursted out into tears. Sitting on the steps, head leaned against the wood, she just wanted to go back to her crappy apartment in New York, at least Henry had been there. She wondered what he was doing and how he was doing. She wished she could tell them everything she knew, though it wasn't much. Nora wished a lot of things but none of her wishes ever came true and she had given up on that a long time ago.

Rumple starts moving around in his cage, Nora looks up half-heartedly. She was tired, really tired. She watches him as he stands up and blows the lock off his cage with magic. Squealing, Nora hops up. She had been a little afraid of him before, but outside of his cage there was no telling what this lunatic could do. He turns to her, most of the crazy gone from his eyes.

"Come Mable, the voices are quiet. We must escape." Nora shakes her head fervently as she approaches her.

"I'm not going anywhere with you! Are you crazy!?" She laughs humorlessly. "Never mind that, obviously you are." He stumbles closer grabbing on to Nora's arm. She screams and tries to wrench away from him.

"WE MUST GO, MABLE!" He yells, trying to pick her up. She screams again and thrashes around.

"LET GO OF ME!" She yells the sleeve of her shirt tearing as she tries so get away from him. She kicks him and stomach and he drops her like a sack, cursing under his breath. He goes to say something else, his eyes desperate and pleading but Nora just separates herself from him, hiding underneath the stairs.

"Mabel, dear,I can't lose you again." Nora claps her hands over her ears.

"I DON'T KNOW YOU! NOW IF YOU WANT ZELENA TO CATCH YOU AND BE PUNISHED THATS YOU! SHE WANTS TO KILL ME! I'M EXPENDABLE! SO IM SURE AS HELL NOT RUNNING AWAY WHEN I'M SURELY GOING TO BE CAUGHT AND KILLED!" Rumple babbles under his breath as he leaves her, climbing the steps hurriedly. Dust rattles down on to her, as she lets out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding. Her head leans back onto the wall behind her and she lets silence and darkness settle over the cellar. Nora knows it won't be long until Zelena comes looking for him, so she grabs a wooden plank, but stays hidden under the steps. She just know feels the bruises rising from where the man grabbed her and the scrates on her arms and neck. Her shirt is torn in a few places from the struggle and her hair and eyes wild. She probably didn't smell the best due to not showering for days.

A part of Nora wants to take off, see how far she can make it before Zelena catches her and kills her slowly. But her mind and fear roots her to her perch under the steps. Seconds blend to minutes, minutes to hours, but she really has no clue how much time passes before she hears talking outside, and tenses. There are several people outside. Though she doesn't recognize Zelena's voice it doesn't mean she's safe. Squatting underneath the steps, ready to pounce, she hears the cellar doors open and feet start to descend them. When they walk on the steps over her, Nora involuntarily flinched. She tightens her grip on the wood and when they start talking she slips out from under the steps. They turn on the light and out of fear the only thing Nora can do is pull the wood behind her head and smack it against the tall dark haired man's head, who is dressed in a long leather jacket. He curses his accent rolling off his tongue like Honey.