#cricketiisms

Archie was frozen a moment, taken back by her outburst even as he expected her behavior to be erratic. That knowledge didn’t make anything easier.

“I’m-…I’m not asking you for anything else, Cherise. Did I say something to make you feel that I was?”

Maybe if he could get her to articulate her thoughts she wouldn’t feel a need to lash out. It was the best he could hope for.

Henry had decided he was finally ready to learn to ride his bike without training wheels. He wanted to be the first in his class to do so. And, there would be no better teacher in Storybrooke than Archie. He was the one who’d helped Henry pick out his bike, while his mom watched and didn’t seem to have any idea which one was the coolest.

So, Henry pulled his bike into Archie’s driveway, jumping off and, after making sure it wasn’t going to roll backward into the street, he ran up to the door, ringing the doorbell.

He stood, grinning as he waited for the door to open. It seemed like an eternity, but as soon as it was Henry started talking, too excited to hold it in. “Archie! I thought today you could teach me how to ride my bike without the training wheels! Can you, can you?” he asked, eyes shining brightly because he already knew the answer would probably be yes, and Henry couldn’t wait to learn.