ᴘᴇʀꜱᴇᴘʜᴏɴᴇ | once upon a time [ EDITING ]

- ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇʀ ɪɴ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏʙʀᴏᴏᴋᴇ.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Emma, Emma Swan. Is she around here somewhere?" The elderly woman and the brunette stop with what they're doing and eye each other. It was as if they were in silent conversation with each other. "Oh, well.. she's not here right now," the brunette explains. She crosses her arms, wearing her defensive pose as a shield against the stranger in Storybrooke. "But we can call someone who might know more about her whereabouts, if you'd like," the granny adds.

Presley nods. "Yeah, please, if you would." "Sure. Take a seat while Re.. Ruby here will phone someone. Would you like something to eat or drink while you wait?" The elderly woman sends the brunette off to get the phone and turns back. She was a little warmer when offering her something while she waits than when Presley first entered the diner. "You wouldn't happen to have pomegranate juice, would you," the blonde teen asks with half a smile.

The granny shakes her head. "No, sorry. Can I get anything else for you?" The teen reaches out for one of the menus and flips through the pages. "A hot coco with cinnamon sounds nice. And can I get a slice of apple pie as well?" Presley hands back the menu to the elderly lady. The woman waves her hand over the pretty full diner. "Take a seat somewhere and we'll bring your order shortly." The teenager mutters a 'thank you' and heads towards a booth besides a window. Quietly she slides onto the seat and waits for her order, blocking all the distrustful stares she received.

"How did she even cross the town line," Red asks her Granny when she enters the diner's kitchen. "I have no clue. Any word from Charming yet?" The girl glances at the old fashioned phone in her hand. "No, it's still going off. I guess he is busy with finding ways to get to Snow and Emma. Speaking of which, can't we just tell her that Emma is gone?"

"And explain she is in the Enchanted Forest with her mother, who is Snow White? What are you, insane?" Red bites her lip and looks down. It had irritated her that her grandmother thought her to be stupid, but she keeps her opinion to herself and waits for Prince Charming to pick up the phone. After perhaps half a minute he picks up. "David." She sighs deeply, happy he finally accepted the call, and puts the call on speaker. "Charming, it's Red. We need you here at the diner, quick." David catches up on his friend's worried tone and places his hands in his hips, halting on the sidewalk. Henry stops too and looks at his grandfather with raised eyebrows. "Is there something wrong," he asks calmly, though there was an undertone of worry.

"Maybe, we're not sure yet," Red answers honestly and she glances towards her grandmother. Charming glances at his grandson and tells him to wait for a moment. He walks away turns his back to Henry. "And what does that mean?" "Someone arrived a few minutes ago at the diner looking for Emma. A girl, I guess a teenager, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Does that ring a bell?" Charming shakes his head and mumbles a soft no.

"What do we need to say, Charming," Granny asks. "I'll be heading in your way and talk to this.. stranger." The prince ends the call and looks at his grandson, who was waiting a few steps ahead with perked eyes. The curious boy had obviously been trying to listen in to his phone call. "Change of plan, kid. We have to make a detour to Granny's." Henry raises his eyebrows questioningly. "Is there something going on?" "Perhaps, Henry. Anyway, let's go."

Charming and Henry arrived a few minutes later, just as Presley received her hot chocolate with cinnamon and a slice of Granny's apple pie. "Thank you," she mutters to the server named Ruby. "No problem," the girl responds as she tries to sound as cheery as usual. Unfortunately it didn't seem to get across. Presley grabs the little fork and digs in while her other hand was furiously typing away on her phone.