Emma loved living with Mary Margaret and David, but when she and Henry were both there, along with the two owners of the house and Neal, it was crowded, to say the least. And she could never find time alone.

So Emma Swan decided to buy her first apartment. The only other time she had lived in an apartment of her own was during the year she and Henry lived in New York, and she hadn't actually bought that one. Regina's magic had done that. Other than that, Emma had mostly just rented some rundown apartment for a couple months before moving again.

When she proposed the idea to her parents, their first instinct was to say no. But after thinking it through, they agreed that it would probably be easier if Emma had her own apartment. Plus, that gave her a home of her own in Storybrooke, which would make it even harder for her to leave, if she ever decided she wanted to do that again.

So while Henry was with Belle at the library, Emma decided to look for an apartment. She toured three before she found the perfect one. It was only a short walk from Mary Margaret and David's, and you could see the Jolly Roger sitting at the docks from one of the windows. It had two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. Henry could sleep in the second bedroom whenever he stayed at Emma's house, or anyone else could use it if Henry was staying with Mary Margaret and David or Regina.

It took about a week for Emma to completely move in to her new apartment. After she did, it was hard to adjust to not having Neal waking up in the middle of the night and not having her parents to make breakfast for when she made breakfast.

But it was also a relief to have her own space. She could invite Killian over whenever she wanted and she felt like she was permanently connected to Storybrooke. And her memories of Storybrooke were real, unlike the ones of New York.

So Emma decided that getting an apartment of her own was a good idea. An apartment in a town she was finally willing to call home.
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I just put up another fan fiction, The New Curse, that is Once Upon a Time and has an actual plot line, so if you want to check it out, you can.