Well, must be the end of the world if I'm posting something. Anyone with author alerts, I'm sorry but this is all I want to write about lately. Hopefully I'll get to post something later on those unfinished stories. *Hides under newly fixed computer*

Alright to business, love this show… so much so that I've written about eight stories that are just sitting on my computer. So I thought, why not share? Not sure how I'm going to link the stories just yet but be on the lookout for more.

As always, I don't own the characters. Also I'm going with Neal is Balefire. This applies to all chapters and thus I won't say it again.

Chapter One

Let me pour you a glass of red
To get your mind off the things I said
I'd say sorry, you know I would
But my pride tastes too damn good

Honey Come Home – Elenowen

"Um excuse me" a man with messy brown hair and the same color eyes entered the police station, interrupting Snow and James who were leaning against his desk deep in conversation. He wore jeans and a black tee shirt and jacket, and looked almost nervous as his hand went through his hair further messing it.

Snow had brought him and Emma lunch and had been trying to convince her husband to keep an eye on Emma when the man walked in.

Instantly they turned suspicious eyes to him, not recognizing him at all.

"Can I help you?" James asked standing, his hands going to his waist defensively.

The man moved father into the station, glancing around almost nervously "Um yeah I was wondering if there was an Emma Swan around? I was told I would find her here"

James glanced back at Snow who shook her head telling him she had no idea who he was.

"What do you want with Emma?" he asked suspiciously, kicking into father mode.

"I came to find her, we… she's an old friend. She's not in trouble is she?" He glanced around again as if looking for her in one of the cells.

"Why would she be in trouble?" James asked but before the man could answer Emma appeared through the door. "Here she is now" He said motioning behind him.

Emma gave a confused look to her father, before the man turned around and she stopped dead in her tracks.

He said her name, a hint of feeling still there, taking a few steps towards her. Emma suddenly spurred into motion moved closer towards him, bringing her fist back in one fluid motion and hitting him as hard as she could in the face knocking him down.

Surprised, he went to the ground. She clutched her hand, pacing above him but she felt a little better. "Alright I deserved that" he said slowly getting up. Once he was fully up in front of her again he tried to say more. "Emma please let me explain"

With all the grief and sadness that he had caused her, setting her up, leaving her pregnant in jail, having to give up her baby, it was all too much and she hit him again and he grunted stumbeling. This time though she heard a faint crack and knew her hand was definitely broken now.

"Son of a" she cried out and now James and Snow were by her side. "I deserved that one too" he muttered.

"What the hell are you doing here Neal?" she snarled at him, glaring as he stood up straight though leaning against the desk.

He wiped a bit of blood from his mouth, breathing heavily. "I came to find you… to apologize and explain"

"Get out" she snapped, still clutching her hand to her stomach. She had barely noticed her father at her elbow or her mother trying to get a look at her hand, but he did. She found them, good he thought.

"Em please, I just wanted to do what was best for you, you know I would never want to leave you" he said sincerely, looking straight at her, hoping she would remember the promise he had once made to her gazing at the stars from the hood of the bug.

Without another word she turned on her heel and started walking away, leaving her parents and Neal startled. "Where are you going?" he called.

"Hospital" she muttered under her breath, Snow at her side giving her a worried look, while James kept Neal there with only a glare.

Emma took keys out of her pocket, frowning when they saw they were for the bug. She would have rather the Sherriff's car but had no intention of going back for them now.

Just as she was about to put the key in the driver's side door, Snow grabbed them from her "I'll drive you." Snow could see the anger radiating from her daughter, but she stood up straighter her eyes narrowing in preparation for the fight she knew was coming.

"Now really isn't the time for the parenting crap alright" she reached for the keys but Snow pulled them out of reach.

"Just get in the car Emma" They both glared at each other, each waiting for the other to back down, each just as stubborn as the last.

"Fine" Emma said moving around the car and throwing herself in before shutting the door. She didn't want to deal with Neal continuing their fight outside.

As Snow drove she watched her daughter out of the corner of her eye, holding her hand but looking straight ahead.

"Can you move your fingers?" She asked to no response.

"Alright fine if you're not going to talk to me, you'll just have to listen. I'm going to assume that was Henry's biological father by the way you broke your hand on his face"

Emma turned to look out the window, not wanting to see the look of disappointment on her mother's face. "Yep"

Sighing, Snow pulled into a parking spot outside the hospital. "and you don't want to talk about it"

"Nope" Emma opened her door, and quickly started into the hospital, Snow following behind her.

Three hours and a cast later, Snow and Emma left the hospital, Emma not even bothering to try for the driver's seat. Arriving home, Henry ran to his mother the second she had opened the door.

"Emma what happened to your hand? Did you break it?" He asked hugging her. She held onto him a little longer than usual, closing her eyes.

"Yes it's broken, it should be healed in a few weeks" she said finally letting him go.

"Was it my mom?" he asked concerned, but she shook her head. "No, it wasn't your mom" It was your dad, she thought bitterly. Henry looked confused but Snow saved her the explaining by ushering Henry to bed.

"Your mom's tired, how about I go put you to bed and read you a story, and she can tell you about it tomorrow"

He looked conflicted, but finally gave in giving his mom another hug. "Goodnight mom, I hope your hand feels better tomorrow"

"Thanks kid, goodnight… I love you" she whispered holding him tight.

"Love you too" he bound to his and Emma's room with Snow.

As soon as he was gone, Emma slumped down on one of the barstools, putting her head down on her un-casted arm, the other laying uselessly on the table.

James stood on the other side, unsure of how to help his daughter. "He's in a holding cell for the night down at the station" James offered. He didn't mention that the man had barely put up a fight, accepting charges of disturbing the peace. He had no clue who the man was but it was clear that he had hurt his daughter and that was all it took to set James off. He didn't risk his life to save his baby girl for some loser to come by and break her heart.

"You didn't have to do that, he's not dangerous" She said picking up her head to look at him.

James eyes twinkled a little "yeah well I felt maybe he deserved it anyways"

Their relationship had never really been that strong, Emma only knowing him as the man Mary Margaret was in love with, the man who had smashed her heart to pieces over and over again.

Nevertheless, Emma wanted nothing more at this moment than to be in her father's arms.

Maybe it was that desire he saw in her eyes, or maybe he just saw the devastated helpless expression and acted accordingly, because the next moment he had come round the counter and was holding her tight.

She didn't know when it was she had started crying, her head buried into his shoulder, her arms clutching her stomach.

James rubbed her back, softly telling her it would be alright. When she had given him that look with her mother's green eyes, the one Snow gave him when she was on the verge of breaking down; he had acted without caring how Emma would respond. Now he was glad he did. He kissed the top of her head, his hand going to her hair as the tears kept falling.

Snow came in at some point, stopping as she saw her husband holding her crying daughter. She locked eyes with James from across the room, and he gave her a worried look. A "what do we do?" look.

Emma must have felt Snow's presence as her crying stopped and she pulled away, wiping her tears. James got her a tissue, and Snow finally entered the room.

"I…" Emma started, embarrassed for breaking down like she did. She had no idea what to say to James as she looked at him shyly.

"It's okay" he repeated once more, a small smile on his face. Snow busied herself with making cocoa for them, trying her best not to look at Emma. It had been great to watch her husband and daughter finally bond, but at the same time she longed for the same openness Mary Margaret had shared with her. As her mother she had shut her out time and again, save for a handful of moments in the forest and it killed her.

James continued to stroke his daughter's hair as they both watched Snow pour three cups of hot chocolate, adding whipped cream, and cinnamon to two. She turned handing cups to James and Emma, finally looking at her for the first time that night, her heart breaking for her daughter. "Thanks" she muttered taking it from her.

They sat around the island, drinking cocoa in silence.

"How's your hand?" Snow asked, gently touching the white cast.

"It feels better now, still achy though" she answered, her voice raspy from crying. They stared at each other for a moment, before Emma nodded signaling she was ready to talk but giving a nervous glance in her father's direction.

Snow gave him a look too and he instantly understood.

Standing up he put his now empty cup in the sink. "I'll let you two talk, goodnight" He kissed his wife on the cheek first and placed and hand on Emma's shoulder for a moment giving her a nod.

Once he was gone Emma fiddled with her mug, unsure of what to say "I'm sorry for earlier" she started.

Snow nodded, taking her good hand in her own. "Do you want to talk about it now?"

Emma nodded, though sighing. This was going to be painful, maybe for both of them. "Are you sure you're ready to hear it?"

Snow only nodded, a lump forming in her throat. She hadn't expected Emma to want to explain, but she wasn't going to stop her now.

"I was… seventeen, out of the foster system and living on my own. I uh…" She stopped looking down at the counter "I stole a car, the bug actually. The only problem was that it was already stolen, by the man sleeping in the back seat" Snow squeezed her hand gently to get her to go on. "He took me for a drink, and a couple weeks later we were going out, living basically in the back of that car…" Now came the hard part.

"We… we had no money, no job or place to live. He didn't have any family either" Snow's hand squeezed Emma's tighter just as she thought she would. Emma had been choosing her words carefully making sure her mother wouldn't blame herself for the predicament Emma had found herself in, wanting to spare her any extra pain. "We got by stealing from convenience stores for a while, then one day he asked if I wanted to make a real life with him, get jobs and maybe an apartment or a house somewhere. I… I loved him" Emma said again looking down. For some reason it was important for her mother to know that.

"That never happened. He found out the police were after him for stealing these expensive watches and was going to take off to Canada. He didn't want me to go with him because he didn't want me to get in trouble" she laughed dryly at this. "I offered to get the watches he had hidden at a train station, so he could sell them and get enough money for use to go to escape together. I did, and was waiting for him to come back with the money with one of the watches on me when the next thing I know a cop is arresting me for possession of stolen goods" she stopped, tears coming to her eyes again.

"Neal turned me in, told them I stole the watches. I only got a year since I was still seventeen, but a month later I found out I was pregnant. I never heard from him again after that night until today"

Snow waited a while before speaking. "Now I can see why you didn't tell Henry the truth about him"

Emma nodded putting her head in her hand. "I don't even know what I'm going to tell him tomorrow, this is going to kill him. I have to do it before he finds out some other way though."

"At this point, all you can tell him is the truth" Snow said softly.

Emma gave a small laugh "what that his mother's a thief and his father left me to take the fall for him? He thinks he's dead, not to mention a hero. He's going to hate me"

"He won't hate you; he'll understand why you lied to him. As for being a thief, he doesn't seem to mind his grandmother being one, he's going to look up to you regardless Emma"

Emma nodded at first, and then slowly she comprehended what her mother had just said. "What do you mean he doesn't mind his grandmother being one?"

Snow straightened, giving her a strange look. "You haven't read Henry's book at all have you?"

"I skimmed it" Emma admitted eying her.

"How do you think I met your father? And before you say it, no I wasn't singing into some wishing well"

Emma smirked. "right"

"Read it again, you might find it interesting" Snow said tapping her daughter's hand. She wasn't going to give away that she too had been all alone, stealing to get buy. They were more alike than she had ever wanted. Patting the top of Emma's hand she stood.

"Get some sleep; you must be exhausted after everything today. We'll figure out everything in the morning. And don't worry about Neal, I doubt James well even let him near you after tonight"

"Yeah" Emma muttered but standing up she quickly hugged Snow who was taken by surprise but hugged her daughter back all the same.

Reviews as always are appreciated, though I apologize in advance if there's no response. Take new chapters as my thank yous.