. . . . . ╰──╮✰ ✰ ✰ ╭──╯ . . . . .

‎‧₊˚✧ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱɪx✧˚₊‧

‎‧₊˚✧ᴛʜᴇ ꜱʜᴇᴘʜᴇʀᴅ✧˚₊‧

______

"If You Love Someone, They Leave You

But If You Don't Love Someone, They Leave You Too

So, Your Choice Isn't Between Loving And Losing

But Only Between Loving And Not Loving."

______

The Nolan house was abuzz with activity. Today, David had finally returned home. So many people had come to welcome him home. David's memories still hadn't fully returned, but Kathryn was doing her best to return them. David still felt out of place in life right now. Henry had a theory why, which he immediately shared with Emma and Angie in a corner.

"You know why he doesn't remember? Because the curse hasn't started working on him yet."

"Henry," Emma said gently. "David has amnesia."

"Which is preventing the curse from replacing his fairy tale story with fake memories."

Angie sighed. "Right, because everyone here has fake stories that prevent them from remembering who they really are. Including me."

"Right, and now is our chance to help him. We just have to get him to remember that he's-"

"He's Prince Charming," Emma replied sarcastically. Henry, bless him, didn't pick up on the sarcasm and continued talking.

"We just have to jog his memory by getting him and Ms. Blanchard together."

Angie was still a little confused. Sometimes, Henry made a little sense. And then other times, she wanted to admit him to an insane asylum for the weird assumptions he made. She took a sip of beer as she asked, "Didn't we just try that?"

"And it woke him up," Henry reminded her.

David walked over and interrupted their conversation. "Hey. You're the ones who saved me, right?"

"That's us," Angie said with a small smile.

"And, uh, you're also the only ones I know here," David admitted awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

"You can hide with us," Emma joked.

"Fantastic," David replied after taking some food from a tray. "Thank you."

Henry cut right to the chase. "So, have you ever used a sword?"

Angie flicked him on the back of the head. David chuckled. "I'm sorry?" His demeanor suddenly changed. "Emma? Angie? You guys live with Mary Margaret, right? You know if she's coming tonight?"

"No," Angie replied. "I don't think she could make it."

"Oh."

As David walked away, likely to look for another place to hide, Angie closed her hand around the silver coin in her pocket. She still couldn't shake the feeling that she and David had met before. However, her brain couldn't think of any place she could have met him. Again, a hot flash embraced her spine as she watched him. Maybe she was imagining it, but she could have sworn that the pace of her heart quickened when he was talking to them.

—

Watching David chase sheep around the field was way funnier than Angelica had originally thought. He had to flap his arms around and twirl a staff. If there was any way that Angelica could preserve the moment, she totally would.

"Get 'em, Sheep Whisperer!" Angelica called out from her spot on top of the fence.

David gave her a look as he chased a sheep towards the enclosure. "You gonna help or are you just gonna sit there like a princess?"

Angelica rolled her eyes. "I'm far from a princess, David." Still, Angelica jumped down from the top of the fence and opened the gate for the sheep to go in. She shut the gate quickly after, ensuring that the wooly creatures didn't escape. After completing her duty, Angelica climbed back on the fence.

David set his staff next to the gate before climbing on the fence after her. Angelica instinctively scooted a few inches closer to him. David did the same, wrapping an arm around her. David had always treated her like a little sister from the moment they met. That didn't change the fact that Angelica wanted to be so much more than that.

She didn't know how to describe the feeling she had around him. But it wasn't a feeling that one felt around siblings. Angelica had no way to tell if he felt the same. They weren't kids anymore. Something would happen soon, Angelica was sure of it.

"Nice work out there today, Sheep Whisperer," Angelica joked.

David shook his head in amusement. "You say that every day."

"Does it ever stop being true?" Angelica questioned.

David fell silent and smiled to himself. "Thank you."

"No problem."

David looked like he had something on his mind. Finally he spoke. "I've been thinking. It's probably time for me to find love."

The record player in Angelica's head screeched to a halt. "Huh?"

"You know what I mean. I want to fall in love someday. Maybe together, me and her can provide for you and my mom. And we can all live at a beach where we don't have to do farmwork every day."

Angelica could only look at the grass. "A beach is nice, I guess."

"An, what's wrong?"

"Well," Angelica said with a sigh. "You can't have it all."

"Perhaps he can," a voice interrupted. The two turned around to see a man standing on their lawn with Ruth, David's mother. His face was filthy and he looked like a toad/man hybrid. "I've got a story for you kids. Be glad you're sitting down."

—

The man's name was Rumplestiltskin. He said it after the third time Angelica called him 'Hey, you.' The man told them a story. David had a twin brother. His name was James. Emphasis on 'was'. Ruth gave James away to the king, who couldn't birth a child with his wife. He had recently been killed. David, overwhelmed by the news, pulled Ruth and Angelica into a family meeting.

"A twin brother?" David questioned his mother. "And you gave him to that man?"

"We were poor," Ruth explained. "Barely surviving. And he came along with an offer. One of you for the farm."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"The deal forbade us from ever speaking of it. Your father regretted the decision the minute that man took your brother. He carried the guilt with him to his grave."

Rumplestiltskin cut in. "Hate to interrupt this tender moment. Time is of the essence."

"Mother, wait in the house while we deal with this." Ruth looked as if she was ready to argue, but Angelica was able to convince her to go inside. The second she was out of earshot, David turned to Rumplestiltskin. "What do you want from me?"

"Oh, not me, dear. The king. He needs a prince to slay a dragon."

"He's not a dragon slayer," Angelica cut in.

Rumplestiltskin turned to her. "No, but his brother was." He turned back to David. "This new found kinship will be your salvation. Simply play the part. The king's knights will take care of everything else. All you must do is deliver the dragon's head to Midas."

"What's in it for you?" David questioned.

"What's in it for me is my business. You should be asking yourself what's in it for you. You do this, your poor mother and this little one, well, the king is going to make sure they never want for anything ever again. Your farm will be saved, and you, should you survive, you shall come home the conquering hero! Now don't tell me you don't want that."

Angelica gripped David's arm. "Please tell me that you're not seriously considering this."

David sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Oh, everyone has a choice, dearie," Rumplestiltskin said with a smirk. "Just make sure it's the right one."

—

Emma and Angie returned home from the party to find Mary Margaret in the kitchen, roughly doing dishes. Angie put her purse down before exclaiming, "You might want to ease up on the dish abuse or that Brillo Pad's going to press charges."

Mary Margaret glanced at Angie, not acknowledging the joke. "The dishes were just piling up."

"This have anything to do with David stopping by?" Emma asked. "We saw him sulking away as I pulled up."

"We just, um, he just..."

"Yeah, we know what you both just. And you did the right thing."

Mary Margaret put the dishes down. "He made a pretty compelling case."

"He's still married," Angie reminded her roomate.

"What do I do?" Mary Margaret wondered desperately.

"You need to stop cleaning and have a drink," Emma told her. Angie nodded and pointed at Emma. Emma retrieved a bottle of liquor and poured some out for the three of them. "Here's the thing. I don't know a lot about relationships, other than having many that failed. But generally speaking, if you think something you want to do is wrong, it is. So, you gotta stay strong, and he has to figure out his life."

—

Angie brought in a box of things to the sheriff's station. Emma was already inside with Graham, who had a box of donuts. Angie raised her eyebrow at him. Graham sheepishly shrugged. "Sometimes the cliches are true."

Angie placed the box of things on her new desk before peering at the box. "Is there a strawberry in there?" Emma pointed out one that she had already put on a napkin for Angie. Angie smiled and instantly took a bite of the donut. Emma then turned to Graham.

"Okay. What do you want?"

Graham grimaced. "Remember when I said no night shifts? I need Emma to work tonight. Just this once.

"Why?" Angie asked through a mouthful of donut.

"I volunteer at an animal shelter, and the supervisor is sick, and someone needs to feed the dogs."

Emma sighed. "Very lucky you brought a bear claw." Emma took the desert from the box and bit in.

Mary Margaret then rushed in, looking conflicted. "Ladies, can I talk to you for a minute?"

All three of them looked straight at Graham. Graham quickly got up. "I'll just go patrol my office." He left immediately after.

"Thanks," Emma called after him. 

Mary Margaret couldn't hold in her excitement. "He left his wife! David! He left her! He left Kathryn!"

"Whoa! Slow down," Angie ordered, needing a second to process the information. Mary Margaret didn't listen.

"He did it for me. He wants me to be with him. He wants me to meet him tonight."

"That's-" Angie tried again but was cut off again.

"I mean, I'm trying so hard to be strong, but he just keeps coming. I mean, how do I stop it? You know, how do I let him down? What would you do?"

"I'd go," Emma suggested.

Mary Margaret was shook. "What?"

"Well, he left her," Emma explained. "It's one thing to say that he wants you, but it's another to actually make a choice, and now he has. That's all you can ask for."

"Given her new friendship with Kathryn, I don't think Regina would be happy," Mary Margaret admitted.

Angie took another bite of her donut. "All the more reason to do it."

Mary Margaret sunk into a chair. "Good lord. Is this really happening?"

"You tell us," Emma said, leaning back in her chair.

—

Angelica was separating some grain when she noticed a horse approaching the farm. She was concerned at first, but got excited when she noticed who was on the back of the horse. David approached Ruth first. Angelica couldn't tell what they were talking about, but Ruth looked saddened. Ruth then pointed in the direction of Angelica.

Angelica opened the gate and ran to David. "You're back! You slayed the dragon!" She was about to hug him, but he pulled away quickly. "David? What's wrong?"

"I'm not here to stay," David told her. "A situation has arisen. King Midas wishes for me to marry his daughter, Abigail. I can't say no."

Angelica's mood dropped. "Why not?"

"The king threatened to kill both of you if I didn't."

Angelica felt tears forming in her eyes. "No! You can't do this! I'll never see you again!"

"I'm sorry," David said. "I wish there was another way."

"Yes there is. You can run away with me. We can stay together and we can-"

"Ange," David stopped her. "We can't do that. Plus, that's a thing couples do and we're not a-"

Angelica cut him off by grabbing him by his collar and pulling him into a kiss. Angelica had dreamed of kissing David for years, but it was nothing like she had imagined. There was no spark like she had expected. There was no true love magic like in the stories. There was only awkwardness, as Angelica realized that David wasn't kissing her back.

Immediately after this realization, Angelica stopped and let him go. She caressed the side of his face. "David-"

"Angelica, I don't feel for you that way," David said, ripping himself away from her.

Angelica felt a range of emotions. Sadness, disbelief, embarrassment. But one took over. Rage. "And you feel for her that way?"

"I-" David cut himself off and reconsidered his words. "I don't feel, whatever it is I should feel, from Abigail. But I've never felt it from you either. And I could never be with a thief."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Angelica, you aren't the best person. You never did work, you tried to rob me. You're the epitome of deceit. You're no Angel."

Angelica held back tears as a current of heat spread across her back. Her cheeks flushed as she folded her arms. "I guess that's that, then."

David looked at the ground. "I guess so."

—

Angie was sitting in the living room reading City of Bones when Emma stormed inside. Angie sat up and placed her book on the table. "Hey. I thought you had the night shift?"

Emma slammed her purse on the table. "I did. But I ended it after I found Graham leaving Regina's house."

Angie furrowed her brows. "I thought he was volunteering."

"So did I."

"What was he doing at...oh." Angie realized she understood exactly what Graham was doing at Regina's house. And it wasn't volunteering. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Emma shook her head. Mary Margaret came in next. She looked a little less angry than Emma, but still dejected. Angie sighed. "What happened?"

Mary Margaret lowered her head. "David got his memories back. He's staying with Kathryn."

Angie patted the seats next to her. Emma took one and Mary Margaret took the other. They both leaned on Angie, who wrapped her arms around both of them.

"Love sucks," Emma complained.

"Ain't that the truth," Mary Margaret agreed, fingering her green ring.

"And you guys wonder why I like being alone."

—

Rumplestiltskin was in his castle when there was a loud tap at the door. Luckily, he was in a good mood, so he decided to open the door. The second he unbolted the lock, a woman barged into his entryway. The woman had long dark hair and brown eyes. Rumplestiltskin almost didn't recognize her. This was Angelica, the girl from the farm. However, the light in her eyes was gone. It was replaced with darkness, something Rumplestiltskin enjoyed seeing.

"Miss Angelica. Pleasure to see you again."

"Let's cut to the chase," Angelica said, tossing her satchel and cloak onto a nearby chair. "I'm here to talk business."

"Oh," Rumplestiltskin was exhilarated. "What kind of business?"

"I'd like to make a deal."

Rumplestiltskin smiled. "Now you're speaking my language, Miss Angelica."

"Not Angelica. Doesn't seem fair, since David's made it clear I'm not an Angel."

Rumplestiltskin changed his smile into a smirk. "No, you most certainly are not."

The woman decided on a new name almost instantly. "I think from now on, I'll be known as Lilith."

Rumplestiltskin nodded in approval. "Well then, Miss Lilith. Shall we make a deal?"

Lilith's only response was a smirk that was equally as evil as her name.