we don't have any

Oh! That was surprising. “His...his name is Fundamental, right? I saw it on the, uhm, collar? I don’t think that’s named a collar. What’s it named? That thingy ‘round his head attached to the reigns?” Ava asked as he smiled and walked towards her. She might as well ask a couple of questions while she was here.

He almost sighed when he heard the all too familiar voice of Ava call his name. At the back of his mind he wondered if he could just keep walking and she’d give up. But nope, she caught up with him. He turned to face her and plastered a false smile on his face as he listened to her fire off various questions concerning her brother.

When she finally finished talking he took a deep breath. “Nicholas is with one of the nurses. He’s doing perfectly fine. His internship is going well, so to speak. He’s giving it his all and yes I had to help him take someone’s blood pressure,” he answered. “Will that be all Miss Zimmer?”

Well, he seemed annoyed by her mere presence! She grinned up at him. Perhaps it was because of that one time she’d stolen a cup of jello. It wasn’t her fault though; for hospital food, it’d been pretty good and she’d been hungry, back then. “Nah,” She replied and went in for a quick hug. “Thank you.”

“No, no I don’t think I can let you go thinking so badly of yourself. You know I used to have a lot of negative energy as well; my parents died when  I was young and I grew up in a society I hated so I found other ways to express myself. “ He handed the girl his bow and smiled. “With your eye I think you would be quite proficient.”

I want to be free of you. Because you’re always there, in my head; I think about you a lot, my heart thinks about you a lot too and I don’t wanna. I wanna leave town, start anew somewhere else; pretend this place doesn’t exist. Pretend these people would be finished chapters of the story that is my life.

    “ Never? “ he gasped, his free hand to his heart. “ Well that will not do. Not at all. “ When asked if he’d teach her, he gave his head a quick nod. “ Of course I will. I’ve not had anyone to go riding with for some time. I could use the company myself.” and he thought, maybe this would help her get out of her own head . Find something to focus on and find some joy in it. If this wasn’t going to be the thing that doesn’t Graham wasn’t going to give up on trying to help her.       “ Did you connect with any of the horses? Might be a place to start, see who will be the one to give you less of a hassle. “

At his display of theatrics, she smiled. It was small and brittle as if it could be stolen away by the wind or by bad memories at any moment in time, but it was here for a moment and it was real.

This was why she liked him, this was why she trusted him. There were few adults in Storybrooke Ava trusted. But he was, and would ever remain, one of them whether he knew he held that honor or not. “Well---” said the blonde. “---there was this Shetland Pony, a mare, named Weirdo. But I’m much too big to ride on her. I just pet her. Or give her carrots.” Ava nodded her head resolutely.