Into the Woods || Jefferson and Paige
Paige was at a complete loss in the moment. Her first instinct was to call out for help, but who would even be out at this time of night? Just a foolish girl with impulse control and a possibly broken ankle. Maybe it would even be hours until somebody managed to stumble upon her; she could try getting up again, maybe hobbling towards.. whatever direction town could be in.
Before another thought could pass through her mind, something– no, someone was rushing towards her. Fear overrode her senses for a moment, until a voice uttered out from the figure. Still tense, she swallowed thickly, fingers curling into the ground as she tried to form an answer, “I.. I don’t know. My ankle, it’s..” Again she tried putting pressure on it, whimpering as the pain swelled, “It.. might be sprained, or something?” Looking up into the person’s face, she squinted, trying to form their features in the dim light of the moon. “… I was just going for a walk,”
Jefferson nodded, his hands shakily gripping onto his knees as he assessed the situation. Town was too far away, especially if she’d injured her foot. The only other option that seemed doable was to take her back to the mansion, but he had doubts. A strange man taking a young girl back to his house, it certainly didn’t look good but then again he wasn’t one to care what other people thought. He couldn’t exactly leave her to get help, and he couldn’t call for help. The range out in the woods was next to nothing, and even if he did get a signal on his mobile, Jefferson was more than certain that they’d get lost.
“Grace, you need to let me take a look at your leg, okay?” The name slipped out before he could stop himself, but he didn't do anything to correct it. That was her name after all. The name he and her mother had given her, and he was certainly not going to let Regina win this whole game of hers by calling her anything but Grace. “Your guardians let you out so late?” Yes, he used the word ‘guardians.’ He couldn’t bare to call them anything else, not in front of her.








