Dark Red|| Rumpelstiltskin

Chapter 1

"Jiminy Cricket!" Henry responds. "Right. The lying thing. Thought your nose grew a little bit." Emma responds, albeit a little dryly. "He's not Pinocchio," I speak up, leaning back into the seat in amusement. "'Course he's not. 'Cause, that would be ridiculous. Who're you supposed to be, Peter?"

I tilt my head to the side, "Aster Red."

"Okay, who's Aster Red? Cause I'm not sure what you've read, but he's never been mentioned before." Emma starts.

"Have you ever heard of Rose Red?" At the nod of her head, I continued, "Well, you very well can't name a boy Rose, so Aster was the second-best choice."

"But in every story, Rose or Aster or whatever their name is a girl." I gave her a look, "Well, perhaps they just misgendered me." I reply in a slightly mocking tone. Pulling out my phone, I text Gina.

—— ——

Regina

Reid: I found Henry, heading to your place right now.

Regina: Thank God, be here as quickly as possible.

——  ——

And with that, we buckle in and she drives off.

———————

As we walk toward the front door, Henry starts to plead. "Please don't take me back there." Emma turns back for a second, "I have to. I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you."

Henry sighs "I don't have parents. I just have a mom, and she's evil." We all stop walking as we turn to look at Henry, "Your mom's not evil Henry." I say, my voice sounding a bit emotional.

Henry proceeds with his point of view on his mother though. "She is. She doesn't love me; she only pretends to."

Emma squats so she's face-to-face with him, "Kid. I'm sure that's not true." Suddenly, the door opens to reveal Regina and Graham.

"Henry? Uh! Henry!" She cries before she runs out and hugs him. "Are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?" She questions, glancing at us before putting all her attention on her son.

"I found my real mom!" Henry exclaims before running off into the house. "You're Henry's birth mother?" Gina asks Emma.

"We're gonna go check on Henry to make sure he's okay." I quietly state before grabbing Graham's hand and pulling him inside.

We walk up the stairs before stopping in front of Henry's room. "I think it would be best if you go in alone, Peter. Henry's more likely to tell the truth to you instead of me." I give a nod before entering the room.

"Henry," I say, walking over and sitting on the bed, "You had a lot of people worried today." His head peaks up from underneath the swaddle he was lying in. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to find my mom," He answers.
"Henry, you didn't have to go all by yourself, you could have just asked me and I would have taken you."

"But you can't leave, bad things will happen." He responds, sounding despondent. "We could have figured something out, Henry. The next time you ever want to leave town, come talk to me about it. I don't ever want to feel like you have to run away again."