"IT'S MY FAULT. It was the wolf", Ruby sighed deeply and ran her hands across her face, as she sat in a cell at the station, where she had on more than one occasion insisted on being guilty for the death of an innocent man. Whereas Wilma failed to see this, or even comprehend the fact that her friend could turn out to be a murderer. Or something else.

"Are you a werewolf?", Wilma chuckled as she lifted her boots onto the desk and turned to face Ruby, who stared back with the most serious expression, which caused Wilma's eyes to widen and her jaw to drop. "Wait— Seriously? Because's that's... awesome", she gasped, surprisingly happy about this unexpected discovery, which caused David to chuckle, but Ruby didn't seem too amused. Looking down, the woman seemed to be struggling with plenty of guilt, and it made Wilma to feel bad for the girl, especially because she believed that even with her flipside, Ruby wouldn't be capable of killing someone.

"Don't worry, Ruby. I strongly support the idea of you being innocent. But you know, this kinda explains why Granny's cake is so supernaturally delicious", Wilma pointed out, waving her finger in the air, and again, David chuckled but Ruby did the opposite and lowered her head. But even if she chose to feel guilt and disgust towards herself, Wilhelmina had already set her mind on proving her otherwise, and from the look of confidence on David's face, she could gather that he was up to the same thing.

Ruby sighed, and looked back up. "You can't tell anyone outside Storybrooke, Wilma. Please", the woman begged, and Wilma nodded in agreement, vowing her silence.

"Don't worry", the brunette smiled, "I'm a bit of a lone wolf, to be honest. No pun intended", directing a wink to Ruby, who finally managed to stifle out some giggles. Truthfully, Wilma could never betray her like that, turn her back on a friend, even if they hadn't known each other for very long. It was true, though, Wilma didn't have friends or people to talk to and share this juicy secret with, but even if she did, she wouldn't spill the beans. She was trust-worthy, and even more importantly, she was kind and a good friend, even if she lacked in that department. But having no friends had only pushed Wilma into making sure she was a good one.

And also, she really liked werewolves.

Before she could offer Ruby any more consolation and comforting words, David showed up by Wilma's side and offered the woman a thick, fancy book she willingly took, yet lifted a confused eyebrow at the Sheriff. Once Upon a Time, the cover said, but it didn't stop Wilma from turning over to David. "What's this?", she questioned curiously as she opened the cover and skimmed over a couple of pages to find lots of beautifully written text and even more stunningly drawn pictures. And yes, she recognized them as fairytales, but she still wasn't sure why David was giving it to her.

"Call it, uh, homework. Now that you know about Ruby, you're kind of... in this stuff. Not in that stuff, but the truth is, Storybrooke is a lot more than you think it is", David explained, resting against the wall and giving a meaningful look to Wilma, who showed a surprised face before glancing down. And after flicking over a few more times, she found another familiar story, with a wolf. And a girl with a red cloak.

Eyes widening, Wilma looked back up at David, and then glanced at Ruby. "Is Ruby— Are you Red Riding Hood? Are you guys fairytale characters?", the girl put the pieces together, and once Ruby had nodded, she turned back to David, who couldn't help but smile slightly at the quick realization Wilma had made.

"You have quite the imagination, Wilma", David pointed out, and the woman shrugged lightly as she continued to observe the book in her hands, which felt a lot more valuable now — now that she knew what it was really about.

"I've read these stories a million times. And on top of that, I've spent a lot of years watching TV. It's always felt kind of lame to admit, but now that I know you're actual fictional characters, I no longer feel stupid when I say I've always been open to believing. You know, supernatural stuff. Magic. All that", Wilma continued, and David nodded, just about to say something but before he could, a man appeared by the doorway and David no longer seemed so warm and cuddly. As the Sheriff strode to the man with angry steps, Wilma looked over to Ruby with a sigh.

"I'm guessing that's a character I'll hate."

———

WILMA BELIEVED IN whatever she had discovered, but the truth was, it was quite overwhelming nonetheless — to find out that her new friend was Red Riding Hood and the Sheriff was a fairytale character too, as was everyone else, so she did need some time to handle all the new information. To Wilhelmina, this meant going back to where she was staying and hiding underneath a blanket as she began to read the book David had given her, doing homework as he had suggested, while the man proceeded to look for the real killer with Granny's assistance.

  It didn't take Wilma long to put together the pieces and figure out that David was Prince Charming, which explained the literal charm he was oozing with, and she couldn't help but smile slightly at the thought. But after reading the epic story of how Charming and Snow White met — which was probably the most adorable one Wilma had come across — the woman headed out to take a breath and collect her thoughts. She needed the fresh air.

  Just hours ago, Wilma had lived in the belief that she had discovered a lovely little town to kick off her fresh start in, but now she knew the truth. And the burning question in her mind was if this new discovery about the residents of Storybrooke and the stories behind them all, was a great, lucky one, or something that should drive Wilma away. Her initial thought was how awesome it was, but she imagined it came with many dangers too — sharing the town with the Evil Queen, who had brought the people there with a curse in the first place. Therefore, there was a small voice of sense in the back of Wilma's mind, forcing her to consider leaving the town behind and finding somewhere else to settle.

  But there was also a bigger part, that was reassuring that it was going to be okay, that it was going to be worth Wilma's time and the struggles she would probably find herself in at some point, and even if she kept telling herself that she was still thinking about it, she already knew what her decision was. She knew where she was going to sleep tonight. And it wasn't out of Storybrooke.

  Wilma's stroll in the dark night was interrupted when she heard lots of angry yells and one above all, provoking the rest of them, and the woman pulled her hands out of her trench coat's pockets and approached the small crowd of people to find out what was going on. And when she saw the man leading the mob, Spencer, the same one that had threatened the Sheriff— David— Charming, at the station, Wilma knew it wasn't anything good. Therefore, she took out her phone and picked the number David had given her in case of emergencies — which included the need for some company, but right now, it was an actual emergency.

  "David, hi", Wilma breathed out when the man answered, "there's this... mob, with freaking torches. That guy who threatened you, he's in the lead and— I think they want Ruby. Or well, the wolf", she explained with worry shining in her eyes as she observed the hostile crowd and proceeded to chew on the inner side of her cheek. Once David had promised to come there right away, Wilma let out a relieved sigh and hung up the call, before sneaking amidst the angry mob and looking around in case Ruby happened to be present — which she was, but not like Wilma had expected her to be.

  "Oh, bloody hell", Wilma whispered when she spotted a dark wolf growling a few feet away from the people, "that is awesome."

———

WILMA'S INTENTION WASN'T to shove her nose into other people's business and enter herself into things she wasn't actually a part of, which was why she had disappeared to Granny's once David had arrived and helped Ruby with finding control and strength over the wolf. Sure, Ruby was her friend, or at least becoming one, but Wilma would be out of her depth to even try and pretend that she was an expert or that she had earned her right to tell anyone what to do and take control of the situation. So she let the Sheriff, or Prince, do that whilst she disappeared into the diner with the storybook in hand and found herself getting lost in the stories once again.

  She wanted to help, she wanted to be kind and brave, but she didn't want to be a liability or come on too strong. Which was why she sat alone in the quiet diner, flicking over the pages she actually quite enjoyed reading and humming a Nirvana song to fill the eerie silence keeping her company.

  The silence in the diner was eventually broken by the familiar ding of the bell to inform Wilma of the arrival of someone new. "Wilma!", she then heard Ruby's voice, and the woman turned around to find the werewolf rushing towards her, so she did the same. Wilma jumped up and met Ruby in the middle where they wrapped arms around each other and engaged in a warm, tight hug, which kind of surprised the both of them, but when Wilma thought about it, she decided it was the right thing to do. Not only was she wonderfully happy that Ruby was okay and safe, but she felt like the woman had deserved and needed it terribly.

  "You're okay?", Wilma lifted an eyebrow, and Ruby nodded, much to her relief.

  "Yeah, don't worry about me. David helped me. The wolf no longer controls me, I control it", Ruby spoke proudly, causing Wilma to feel the same emotion. "But are you okay? I mean, this is a lot to handle. How are you not freaking out? How do you believe so easily?", the girl sighed, eyes wide and frantically looking for any signs of distress from Wilma's face, only to find none. Instead, there was peace, compassion, perhaps even happiness dancing on her features — thanks to Ruby, who was officially Wilma's first friend in Storybrooke.

  "Because I love it", Wilma shrugged, offering a simple response. "I grew up with this stuff. I get that it's not so easy or dreamy as the movies or books make it seem, but this is kind of awesome. And you're my friend, Ruby, I trust you. I think I might even like Storybrooke a bit more now", she smiled, which made the other girl do the same, just a tad wider.

  It was all true — Wilma didn't feel scared or like she should hop into her Corvette and speed away. She came to the town for a fresh start, to turn over a new leaf, to find something new, and that she did. Perhaps it wasn't exactly what she had expected — perhaps it was even better. Nevertheless, she was there to stay, and even if the revelation of the day would have scared away most people, Wilma felt only more drawn to Storybrooke and its people. Perhaps, she had even found the right place to be, the one she was destined to be in. Even if she wasn't a fairytale character, but she was a believer.

  Smiling, Ruby let go of Wilma before rushing to the back of the diner. "This calls for cake!", she declared, and Wilhelmina couldn't help but agree wholeheartedly. With a chuckle, the woman seated herself by the counter and patiently waited for Ruby to return with the cake, and as she did, the bell above the door rang as someone entered, and that someone happened to be none other but Prince Charming himself.

  "Prince Pretty Face!", Wilma greeted the man, who stifled a chuckle and shook his head at the nickname.

  "I wanted to thank you. For, you know, understanding. When new people come to Storybrooke, we have to be wary, because they're not all like you. For example, Albert Spencer, who isn't even new, but a jerk anyway", David explained, sighing deeply as he sat down next to Wilma, shooting a careful smile at the woman, who did the same in return.

  "Right. What happened to him?", Wilma questioned, just as Ruby returned with pieces of cake she gave out for the three of them to munch on as they discussed the rest of the evening, which Wilma had willingly missed out on. And just for the sake of the conversation, the woman attempted to hold back her excitement due to the piece of absolutely heavenly chocolate cake she tried to carefully nibble on.

  David sighed heavily, and it was enough to convince Wilma that whatever had went down, it hadn't been ideal. "We caught him. But not before he destroyed whatever little chance I had to travel into the Enchanted Forest and bring back my wife and daughter. Now they're stuck there, and I'm stuck here", the man explained wearily, clearly frustrated, but Wilma didn't blame him. She would be too, if she was in his position — if she even had family to yearn after, but for her, it was too late. The same couldn't be said for David, though, which was why Wilma decided to bring up something she was used to relying on — optimism, hope.

  "Don't worry. I promise, we'll get your family back", Wilma spoke softly, placing a hand atop David's and flashing a smile at the man, only to receive a confused look in return.

  "You mean you'll help?", he asked, as if it was so surprising. But if he just knew Wilma a bit better, he would know otherwise.

  Wilma chuckled, glancing down at the cake she had mostly devoured already. "You said it yourself, I'm in this now", she pointed out, before adding, "besides, Charming without his Snow sounds just unacceptable, doesn't it?"

»»»

hm, this may seem a bit rushed, i think — but i promise that i have great things headed your way and once i get into it, this will start rolling more smoothly (:

hope you like it (and wilma) though!! x