It's Complicated

Chapter 11

AN: new AMAZING cover by justacabbitch ! FOLLOW HER Y'ALL ^view it closer above.

-ONE YEAR AND A HALF LATER-

A year can change a lot of things: circumstances, feelings, appearances. Henry is entirely familiar with the concept, Lord knows how much happened in over a year in his childhood, due to this magical godforsaken town. What Henry hadn't known though, is that a year can reverse things back, to how they used to be.

When he was younger, he was more than used to being shuffled between his mothers for the holidays; Regina for Halloween, Emma for Thanksgiving, Regina again for Christmas, going back and forth each break, then the next year switching it up. It was an easy routine, in the sense that it was easy to remember and seemingly fair to each party involved, but it really pulled him apart at the seams. He remembers clearly the first year they spent Christmas together. It was amazing, unlike any other holiday he had experienced, and everything was perfect. Since then, breaks for him had been remarkably improved, and leaving college to go back home for them was an exciting and happy experience. But now?

Henry is driving home, more carefully than normal due to the ice coating the streets. He glances to the side and sees the "Welcome to Storybrooke" looming into view, and sighs audibly. Ever since that vacation, that stupid damn vacation that sent the shit to the fan, things fell back into the painstaking, back-and-forth old routine. It's been a year since the incident, and then another half after the next summer, and now it's Regina's turn to have him for Christmas. Which is fine, it's all fine, it's not like he doesn't necessarily want to go over for the holiday that was still one of his favorites, but after being spoiled with having a whole, seemingly complete family, having it ripped from him is taking its toll.

And yes, he can take most of the blame. In fact, he feels much more guilty than he lets anyone on. If he hadn't set up that vacation....
Yes, he knows that that part wasn't his fault. But he knew, he knew that they were falling in love for many, many years, and he knew that taking them on an emotional vacation where it was nearly impossible for them not to share a bed would give them just the push they needed. Turns out it worked, but backfired horribly, blowing up in each of their faces. He's known the whole time that a relationship between the two strong women would be a messy thing, but he wasn't expecting one night and one vacation of his planning to ruin everything they had.

Now it's been a year and a half since the incident, and nothing is fixed. In fact, it's worse. There are grudges held between the family that you can physically feel when certain people are in the room together, namely; Emma and Regina, or Emma and Snow, just to mention a few. He's not sure if Emma ever forgave Snow for spilling her secret and as a result nearly getting raped by a pirate, but then again, it did take Regina decades.

But even though Regina had acted like nothing was wrong and that she was perfectly fine that day when her purse was found on the sidewalk, Henry knows something must have happened. Because from that day on, nothing was the same.

He pulls into his mother's driveway for the first time in awhile and exits the car with purpose. He knows that there's only one thing that can fix this entire mess, and that's facing it head-on. It was time to get the family together for a holiday, and what better time than Christmas? A slightly devious smirk plays on Henry's lips. Operation Dealing With Shit is on.

---

"Mom?" Henry announces his presence, voice echoing throughout the cathedral-like foyer. He waits a moment, drumming his fingers on his suitcase, before she comes out of the kitchen, greeting him with a smile while drying her hands on a dish towel.