Posters and Polaroids

Missing Love

~Luke's POV~

After a day of recording, I was exceedingly tired. None of us felt like talking since our voices were so worn out, so I just took another PopTart and a glass of milk from the kitchen, and headed to my room, grabbing the laptop as I went. I didn't feel like doing much of anything, so after debating with myself for a moment, I clicked the camera icon at the corner of the screen. Immediately, the feed popped up, and I settled more comfortably in bed.

The first thing I saw was the chocolate-haired woman wearing nothing but boxers and a cheery blue bra-thing. I swear my eyebrows shot straight to my hairline. Well then, I thought to myself. Boxers? She was tickling the strawberry-blonde woman, who was at least wearing real clothes. They were both on the ground, the brunette laughing and the blonde squealing. Should I turn it off? Did this count as 'inappropriate'?

My curiosity won out, though I kept the mouse poised over the exit button in case anything else came off. Soon they separated, both panting. They started talking about food, and my stomach grumbled. I took a few bites of my PopTart to satisfy it, and was just washing it down with a gulp of milk when the brunette danced back into view. She danced more she walked, I noticed.

I also noticed that she had put a shirt on, so I deemed it safe to move the mouse from the exit button. They were watching something on a laptop, and I found a little settings panel that allowed me to turn the camera minimally this way and that, so I managed to get it so I could see what was on their screen. The words Once Upon A Time showed, bright against a dark forest. Well, this should be interesting.

And it was. I had no clue what was going on, having never even heard of the show before, but some curse was broken and some kid came back to life and, towards the end, several people found their 'true loves'. I was starting to fall asleep, though, having finished the PopTart and milk a while ago and then just laying here for nearly an hour. Just as I had closed my eyes, lulled into the darkness by the heavy silence in the room, the one of them spoke.

"I miss love." Peeling my eyes open, I sat up. It was the brunette who had spoken, evidently, because the blonde asked, "What do you mean?" "I mean, I know my family loves me, and that you do." She spared a smile, then continued. "You'd have to, to put up with me. But I miss the other kind of love." The blonde nodded, seeming to understand. I sure didn't, though. The other kind of love?

"Like at the end, when Mr. Gold kissed Belle. He's not a romantic character, he only does things to benefit himself." "Well," The blonde woman interrupted, "Mr. Gold isn't romantic, but he is very loving. All the terrible things he does are to help the ones he loves, like his son and Belle." The brunette nodded. "Yeah. But you also see what I mean. I want that."

That? She wanted a kiss? Where was she going with this? Maybe it was because I was so sleepy, but I didn't understand what she was trying to say. "I want that love, where you feel safe in their arms. A kiss wouldn't be amiss either." She grinned, laying her head against the wall. I adjusted the camera to see her face, and saw a terrible wistfulness written across her face that tore at my heart. "I miss being loved. Being the most important thing in their world."

She laughed, and it sounded a little choked. "That sounds so selfish, gosh. I just miss having someone, you know?" The blonde nodded and wrapped her arms around her. Just before she buried her head in the other woman's hair, I saw a tear slip down her cheek. Suddenly, my throat felt tight, and I couldn't swallow. "I miss having someone tell me goodnight every night, and taking me out to try new things, and feeling lucky for every bit of myself that I show them. Someone who loves me the way Mr. Gold loves Belle."

She laughed again, wetly. "Sounds pretty silly, huh? Wanting that fairy-tale love, that happily ever after?" "Oh, no, Fern, I don't think that's silly at all." So Fern was her name.. It suited her, I thought. Ferns were wild and lovely, but not in your face, like roses; they were ancient and quiet and hard to grow. "If anyone deserves a happily ever after, it's you. You've rescued people time and again." She ran her hand over Fern's long hair, soothingly. "You're every bit a hero as they are, Fern."

My eyes were starting to burn. I blamed it on looking at a screen for too long, but it was really because of what was happening on the screen. I didn't even know these women, hadn't even known they existed until yesterday, but their sadness pulled at my heartstrings, viciously. I just wanted to crawl through the screen and put my arms around Fern, soothe away all her hurts, make her laugh until she forgot to cry.

The urge was so great, I woke up fully. My hand shaking a little, I clicked exit. But the image of Fern crying in the arms of the blonde woman was burned into my mind. Even as I set the laptop aside and pulled the covers over me, I couldn't rid myself of it. And as I lay there in the dark, I made a promise to myself.

I would make sure she found her knight in shining armor.

-Fern's POV-

In the mirror, a girl with messy brown hair stared back at me. She had tear tracks down her cheeks, and her eyes were puffy. Somehow she seemed.. Smaller, than I was.

A little frustrated about the sudden and uncontrollable crying, I scrubbed my face viciously with cold water to erase the evidence. "Fern? You doing okay?" Tillie asked from the bedroom.  I laughed, a little hollowly. "I'm just dandy. Nothing like crying your eyes out to make you feel better about life." I felt arms wrap around my waist, and a head rest on my shoulder. "Oh, Fern, it's gonna be alright. Like you told me, you just haven't found one that can keep up yet. You'll find them, one day."

I turned around, wrapping my arms tightly around her waist. "But, Tillie, what if I don't?" I whispered, fear tightening my chest. She looked up into my eyes, "I love you." She grinned. "And you know how high my standards are!" I chuckled, just a bit. "That's true. You are the pickiest little munchkin I know." She tweaked me in the side, hard, for the munchkin comment, and I laughed, for real this time.

"Let's go get some food, Tillie. I'm starving." She blinked at me, confused. "Um, Fern, you know it's only like 4pm." "Since when did the time of day ever stop you from eating?" With a laugh, I pulled her to the closet so I  could throw on a shirt that didn't gape, and slipped into my favorite boots. "Where do you want to go?" She asked me, slipping on her tennis shoes. I smiled. "Let's just wander. We haven't done that in a while."

More than 2 hours later, we were sitting at an outdoor café, digging into our heaping plates of spaghetti. "This may be my new favorite café, Fern. This stuff is delicious!" Tillie exclaimed, mouth full. I laughed. "This spaghetti is pretty amazing.." I took another bite, unable to get enough of the perfection. "And the meatballs are to die for!" After I finished chewing, I set my fork down and watched a young couple walking, hand in hand, down the street. Watching them, I realized something:

I didn't need a fairy-tale happily ever after; I just needed someone to love me, flaws and all.