Note: The second and third paragraphs depicts a panic attack where Red feels guilty over not seeing her mother, so skip that if you need to.

As the sun started to sink into the horizon, Red became acquainted with the ins and outs of Snow's housekeeping. Most of the arduous work came from preparing meals and any other afternoon work, as the dwarves clean up after their dishes and any mess during the evening. Once Snow settled down on the living room couch with a large book-Red assumed it was akin to the encyclopedias that her neighbour Ms. Mandy loved reading to her-Red was walking into the living room. Maybe I should ask Snow to lend me one of the books, maybe with the one that Grandma liked, Red mused, before feeling a sense of emptiness, then storm.

She was already thinking of Grandma in the past tense, and it felt like a nightmare but also horribly real. At the edges of Red's comfort in the cottage was guilt, and it was seeping into the centre. Red was too busy running away on a whimsy to even tell Mom about her mother dying at the hands of a feral wolf, she was that selfish, why did Snow house such an ungrateful girl? Her eyes started to blur, and her chest tightened in a familiar way, did the cottage start to shrink? She gripped onto the doorframe, but the sweat in her hands must have let it slip. She started to wobble, was that Snow screaming? It didn't matter, the bells were fading...

Just before she could crumple on the floor, she found herself almost floating, before looking up and seeing Doc holding her shoulders just above the ground. "Are you feeling sick? Help me carry her!" Doc and the one Ruby remembered as Bashful carried her hands and feet towards the couch as Snow brought cold water and a cloth in the case of fever. Red started to feel uneasy, her fainting has never happened for years.

Once Red started to see and hear more clearly, she was lying on the couch that Snow was on originally. It took a second, but she worked up the strength to address her outburst. "Thanks so much for the help, but I have something to ask."

Snow's eyebrows furrowed, in a way that shows she was worried out of her mind. "What do you need, Ruby?"

Red knew what she needed to say, but that didn't stop the little waver in her voice when it came down to it. "I need to find my way back to Amberton Village, because my mom must be worried out of her mind. She may not even know about what happened to Grandma." 

Snow nodded. "We can do that once it reaches daybreak, my housemates leave at that time." The maiden with the curly hair glanced at her brown slippers. Red wondered if she was deliberating on something, and was confused. Red barged into her house, shouldn't she feel even a little bit of relief?

Red heard twinkling, and knew that Snow was speaking softly. "Will you come to visit?" 

What? Even when the logical part of Red's brain wasn't shocked, as she did seem to enjoy speaking to someone, the rest of Red could not handle that Snow not only didn't feel happy that she was going back, but asking her to visit. Red gets to see her mom again and Snow wants her to visit. Red nodded in reply. Maybe she could be bold about what she wanted to ask. "Could you escort me tomorrow? Mom could see that I'm okay, and maybe that would alleviate her worries?" Red didn't add that she was afraid that she would panic like earlier that day, but Snow didn't seem to mind.

Instead, Snow looked at Red with shock, but also sparkles in her eyes. Maybe she wasn't expecting it either?

Once Red goes back to the room that Snow had her stay in that night, she could barely sleep. Tomorrow was the day to face what has happened a few days earlier. Except she would not be alone, and that was a blessing that she was still incredulous of.