So, I was watching the season 3 finale and this idea popped into my head at the part where Emma and Neal had coffee in the amusement park. I got thinking about what they did with the bug and this was born. Hope you enjoy it! Comments are appreciated and I am taking requests for other stories.
He was different. He was like her. Emma had known Neal for less than 24 hours, but she instantly knew that he was not like the rest. He was like her- came from a messed up life and was just running to forget, running to leave it all behind. He understood what it was like to be alone. To have no one.
But he watched out for her. That day when she stole the car- He helped her. In some ways he was still helping himself because he stole the car first, but if he tried he could've just gotten her in trouble. And he opened himself up to her that night. He offered her a place to sleep that night in a motel room he was crashing in.
Now two things united them: being left alone and a yellow bug. After they had left the abandoned amusement park the night before to go to his motel room he had told her they could discuss the arrangement of the car the next morning. So here Emma sat on a park bench with a complete stranger who was one of the first people she connected with in years discussing the arrangement of a car they both stole. She couldn't help but laugh at the circumstances.
"I stole it last" Emma spoke up. "So, technically it's mine."
Neal gave her his smirk that continued to make her smile. "That may be true, but I technically still have the keys. "
"You could be nice and give me them."
"You could be nice and stop stealing people's cars."
"You stole it first."
Neal' s hand shot up. "Hey, we're talking about you here. No need to get all defensive. "
Emma looked down, trying to suppress a grin, but failing. He caught a glimpse of her and offered a new idea. "What if we share it?"
"Share it? You sound like we're five."
"Emma, I'm serious. We clearly get along and connected last night. So, why don't we team up. "
"Team up? You're talking like we're superheroes or something. Normal people don't 'team up'. Emma retorted. She wasn't opposed to the idea of being with Neal, but the idea of trusting him scared her. Her entire life she had told herself that no one cared and she couldn't trust anyone. Why should he be any different?
"We're not superheroes because we stole a car. " Emma laughed involuntarily, shaking her head at him. "Emma, please listen to me. I want to help you. "
"Why?" Emma's distrust of people finally shone through. She could see he was taken back a bit by her bold question, but it didn't stop him from answering her.
"I care about you Emma. We're a lot alike you know. Abandoned and alone-but that's why I think we can help each other. "
Emma shifted uncomfortably. "No one's ever helped me before."
"So, why not let me?"
"Because every time I open myself up, I get hurt." Emma confessed.
"Their fault. Emma, I know what it's like to get hurt. I wouldn't put you through what I've gone through. That's one of the benefits of being friends with another lost kid- they understand, so they won't put you through what they've been through."
"Lost kids, really?" Emma laughed.
"What?" He questioned, him quirky smile returning again and his eyes lighting up.
"Just reminds me of the lost boys from the Peter Pan stories." She explained.
Neal nodded for a moment, but didn't laugh as he had earlier. This took her off guard, but when she opened her mouth to speak, he cut her off. "Maybe that's what we are then-lost boys looking for a home."
"I thought the lost boys were happy. In case you haven't noticed, we are not the happiest bunch I've met." She joked at him, recalling the childhood movie she had watched time and time again in group homes. She had always longed to go to Neverland and be with other smiling kids who never wanted to grow up. For Emma, growing up meant being alone and fending for herself in the brutal world, and being a happy world were time stopped seemed like a better alternative.
"Maybe they were" Neal said slowly. "But maybe they were still just lost kids with a hole in their heart who were hoping someone could love them. Maybe they were happy because they found someone like them."
"You think we could be happy?This isn't Neverland"
"I know it's not." He laughed, but the light previously in his eyes still had not returned. "But maybe we don't need it to be. What do ya say?" He extended his hand out to her.
She stared at it. Something told her she could trust him, that he wasn't lieing. He seemed genuine. Neal purely understood her fears and her hurts-He had experienced them to. He knew what it was like to be abandoned, to be alone, to be unloved. If she couldn't trust another lost kid, who could she trust. He probably had the same fears as her. The fear of someone walking out yet again and leaving him more broken then when they had met. But he had faith that she wouldn't hurt him. That she wouldn't put him through what she had gone through. Could she reciprocate those feeling? There was only one way to find out.
Emma put out her hand and grabbed his.
She looked up at Neal and saw a twinkle in his eye, brighter then she had seen it since they had met the previous day. She couldn't help but smile and allow herself to feel happy. The emotion was foreign to her, but she liked it. She could get used to this.
Neal stood up, still grasping her hand and led her away from the bench and towards the yellow bug. "Well, come on fellow lost boy, our journey awaits."