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CHAPTER TWENTY
LEAN ON ME
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TERESA HOLMES HAD NEVER CRIED SO MUCH THAN SHE HAS OVER THE LAST FEW HOURS. All her life she had wished for her mother to come back to her, and when her wish was finally granted, her mother was once again ripped from her.
Only this time, she would never see her again. Ingrid, her beautiful mother with the soft white hair, piercing ice-blue eyes and soft smile, was dead -- ripped forever from Teresa's life, leaving her struck with grief.
After leaving her friends in the road, she had went to the apartment and gathered her bow and arrow, where she then went to the wood, the one place she felt at home. A place she needed to be as she grieved. Though, the people of Storybrooke -- mainly her friends -- felt they needed to find her and help her through her grieving process. So far, no success.
Teresa pulled back the string of her bow and without aiming, released it. The arrow soared through the air until hitting her target: a lone squirrel on the woods floor.
Teresa walked over with a blank expression on her face and picked up the squrriel. She pulled her arrow from its limp body and placed it with her others; she would clean it later.
When Teresa got back to the spot in the woods that she's been hiding at, she started a fire and began cooking up the squrriel for dinner. She had no intent to go back to the apartment any time soon. It has only been a few hours, afterall, nearly almost dark.
It was as she was turning the squirrel meat over that she heard a noise. It was a twig snapping, alerting her someone was walking within in the woods.
She whipped around and found Henry Mills standing with his hands up in surrender. He seemed relieved to have found her, as a smile pulled quickly onto his lips.
"Hi," he greeted, dropping his raised hands.
Teresa didn't reply and instead turned around so she could continue cooking her dinner. Henry watched her in silence for a moment before breaking said silence.
"We've been looking for you. Everyone's worried." Teresa didn't respond, eyes watching the fire dance.
Henry sighed and sat himself down beside her. "Why did you run off like that?"
Teresa whipped her head towards him, a dangerous look in her eye that made Henry tense up. "Did you really just ask me that?"
Henry gulped. The look in her eyes made him incredibly nervous; his hands felt clammy. He rubbed them on his jeans before apologizing, "Sorry."
"Can't you people just let me grieve on my own?" Teresa grumbled.
"Have you met my grandparents?" Henry smirked. "They only want to help. We all want to help."
"I don't need anyone's help." Her voice was stern, but Henry wasn't going to leave. He would be damned if he was going to let her grieve one. Everybody needs someone in a time of sorrow.
"Why?"
Teresa was speechless. Why? She honestly didn't know why. All Teresa knew was that her mother was dead and that she wanted to be alone. She didn't know why she wanted to grieve alone though. Perhaps because after she lost her mother she was alone, until she met Snow and Ruby.
Henry sighed and reached forward, grabbing her hand which held the stick that was cooking the squirrel. "I know you're upset about your mom, and I'm sorry you lost her, but no one should be alone."
That was when Teresa lost herself.
Every emotion that had been pent up her entire life spilled out in hot tears and loud, hiccup-like, sobs.
Henry's eyes widened, having not expected her to breakdown. She seemed like someone who would build walls and never show emotion, yet here she was, the Teresa Holmes, crying her heart out in the middle of the woods. In front of someone. And him of all people. He didn't know if he should feel honored or not, to see the great archer like this.
Teresa turned to Henry and burried her head into his chest, letting all her tears soak into his shirt. She balled his shirt into her fists as he wrapped his arms around her. He placed his cheek against the top of her head and rubbed his hand up and down her back in order to calm her down, though he knew it would be a while before she calmed down. It seemed she had been keeping this all in for quite some time.
Teresa's sobs died down to silent tears and shaky breaths. What seemed like hours later, was merely twenty minutes later. She could feel his steady heartbeat against her left ear as her head rested on his chest, and it made her calm. His heartbeat was quite soothing.
With a sniffle, she lifted her head from his chest. Henry frowned at the state of her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and were still leaking silent tears. Her nose was red and her cheeks flushed. She looked...broken.
Henry reached forward and used his thumb to wipe away her tears, causing Teresa to blink at him in shock. Henry blushed and pulled away his hand, turning his gaze to the flames that had now burnt the squrriel to a crisp.
"Sorry," he apologized.
Teresa cleared her throat and wiped face of any tears that Henry had missed. "Me too." Henry gave her a confused look. "For crying on your shirt."
Henry looked down at his chest and found it stained with her tears. He found himself not minding one bit. "It's fine, they're only tears." He met her gaze and bit the inside of his cheek. "Are you okay?"
She shook her head, sniffling. "No." Her voice cracked. "I feel...empty."
"It'll get better. I still miss my dad, and always will, but my family being there for me has helped." Teresa met his gaze. "All you need is someone to be there for you."
They held each other's gaze for the longest time before Teresa smiled. Henry returned her smile with one of his own.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." Henry then jumped to his feet and looked down, watching as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion by his actions. He smiled and reached his hand out for her to take. "Come on."
"Where are we going?" Teresa asked.
"To eat a proper meal at Granny's. Come on, I'll even buy us hot cocoa."
She stared at him in confusion. "What's hot cocoa?"
"Just come on," he chuckled. She took his hands, allowing him to pull her onto her feet. As she grabbed her bow, Henry kicked out the fire.
➳
After some walking, the pair had made it to Granny's where they walked through the door, hand-in-hand. They hadn't even realized they were holding hands until Ruby smirked and winked in her direction.
Teresa looked down and blushed when she seen her hand in Henry's. She let go, causing Henry to frown, but he quickly hid it before she would notice. His hand now felt cold without hers.
Teresa followed Henry to one of the empty booths where they then sat down across from each other. Ruby soon showed up, still wearing the same smirk.
"Glad to see Henry found you okay," she said. Her smirk then dropped and was replaced with a concerned look. "Are you okay?"
"No," Teresa replied, honestly. She gave her friend a sad smile. "But I will be."
Ruby nodded, and knowing Teresa, that was the end of that conversation. She knew her friend was never one to share her feelings so she wasn't going to push her to talk about it. Besides, she could tell Teresa had been crying, and seeing her holding hands with Henry told her that she had someone supporting her right now. Ruby couldn't be more grateful for Henry Mills.
"What can I get you to eat?" Ruby asked, placing two menus down in front of them.
Teresa stared at the food in confusion, having no idea what any of it meant. "Umm..."
"Two cheese burgers and cocoas, please," Henry answered them.
"Coming right up."
It wasn't much later that Ruby returned with their food. Placing the cocoas down, she made sure to say that she included cinnamon on them. "With cinnamon, just the way you like it."
"Thanks, Ruby," Henry said, giving his much older friend a smile. She returned it before leaving their table, throwing another wink towards Teresa, who sent her a playful glare in return, making Ruby chuckle.
Teresa smiled and turned back to Henry. "Now let's see what the big deal is about this cocoa."
Teresa picked up the mug and took a sip, immediately regretting it as the hot beverage burned her tongue. She pulled the cup away and held her mouth, coughing.
Henry laughed. "It's called hot cocoa for a reason."
"You couldn't have warned me?" Teresa snapped, wiping her tongue on her sleeve as if it would help her the tingling sensation left on her tongue.
"I would have, but you kind of took the sip rather fast."
"Excuses, excuses, Mills."
Henry grinned before taking a small, slow sip of his own cocoa, his favorite drink in the world.
Teresa chuckled as he placed the mug onto the table. "You got some..." she pointed to her lip.
Henry picked up his napkin and wiped the whip cream off of his upper lip while blushing. "Thanks," he mumbled.
"You're welcome."
The two shared a nice meal after that with occasional laughs shared and stories told. During their meal, Ruby had called Snow and informed her that Teresa and Henry were at Granny's and to not come, that Henry seemed to be supporting Teresa since he knew what the grief of losing a parent felt like. Elsa and Anna had sighed in relief over the phone, relieved to hear that she was okay.
Ruby would occasionally glance over at them as she worked, and could see the happiness between the two teenagers as they talked and laughed. It made her smile. She wished she had someone who could make her smile like that, or just be happy like that.
A/N: I absolutely LOVED writing this chapter!!!! I seriously need a ship name for Henry and Tereda...any ideas?