So, this was a prompt submitted to the Tumblr: swanfireprompts (not my Tumblr, just a cool place for people to submit in prompts for others to write). I played around for it a bit in my head, but I finally landed on a way to ride it.

Prompt: Rumbelle want to go out for a nice dinner, so they leave toddler!Gideon with his older brother Neal. Neal takes him out of ice cream where they bump into his high school sweetheart Emma Swan. It's awkward, especially when Gideon starts telling Emma all about how Neal is still in love with her.

This was something I put on AO3 but forgot to put on here until I got a prompt for a follow up, so I'll be uploading both today.

Neal's attempt at "flying the nest", had him landing with a thud. After graduating from college with a degree in graphic design, he didn't assume that it would be easy to get an amazing job, but he did at least think he'd get an internship. Even if it paid next to nothing, that would be okay in his mind. However, he had been turned down for each and every single one. He had ended up back at home, working as a barista for the café inside his step-mother's bookstore. Every day, he was looking for work and had managed to do a few freelance things, but overall, his return back home had been a disappointing one.

It wasn't that he didn't like his family, in fact it was great. Until he was 15, it had been just him and his dad. His mother took off when he was born and was never to be seen since. Belle was the closest thing he ever had to a mom. His father married her 2 short years after they met and they welcomed Gideon a couple of years later. When his little brother began to learn to speak, Neal began calling Belle "Mama" to help the process and it just stuck. The household was loving and great, Gideon was adorable.

The issue was more so the town. Neal had never exactly had an excess of friends, it wasn't something that bothered him, but having only your parents and toddler brother to hang out with, could be lonely. His friends from high school hadn't returned home. Lily was still finishing up nursing school in Boston while August had opted out of college and traveled the world, he had his own blog to document his experiences. Neal himself had gone to school in California, so all of his friends from there were either on the opposite coast or sprinkled out over the country. There was only one person he knew very well that still lived in town and he had yet to see her.

Emma Nolan had been his best friend since they were babies. Their fathers had an odd friendship that no one really seemed to understand. While Ewan Gold was the ruthless landlord for many of the shops along with running a few of his own, David Nolan was the sheriff of the town and was known for his charm. Despite their clashing personalities, they were very close. It meant that while Gold would work, Neal went home with Emma after school. They played together and would occasionally argue-though they always made up.

Then it became the story old as time. They were dating by the time they were in their sophomore year and it was really like nothing at all had changed. He loved her, he always had. But, like most high school romances, it fizzled out the summer after they graduated. Emma wanted to stay close to home, she was very close with both of her parents and couldn't imagine venturing far. She understood why Neal needed to go. At the same time, they weren't going to ruin what they had with long distance, so it just ended. He hadn't seen Emma since. With her father now retired, they spent their holidays and summers on vacation. It bothered him, he never stopped loving her.

He had gone so far to question Belle if she had any insight on her and what she was doing after college. It wasn't that she was much of a gossip, but she often heard things. She said that Emma was working at the same school that her mother taught at, interning as a guidance counselor while she completed her degree.

"You still love her, don't you?" Belle asked after a lull in their conversation. The two had been standing in the middle of the kitchen, cleaning up the lunch dishes. It was his day off and she had one of her managers handling things so she could spend more time with her boys.

"Mama!"

"Well?" Belle cocked her brow, giving off the look that she often did: I know you better than you know yourself.

"Maybe," Neal admitted, knowing there was no use in lying. Not to mention, Gideon was sitting on the floor a few feet away, playing with some of his toy cars. He would normally side with Belle to get him to tell the truth, even if he didn't understand what the truth was.

"I knew it." She shook her head. "I always thought it was silly that you broke up."

"We were going to be on opposite sides of the country," Neal argued. "Long distance never works."

"So, you say."

"Can we change the subject, please?"

"Fine. Your father and I want to go out tonight, any chance you could watch Gideon?"

"Sure." Neal didn't mind watching his little brother. It was better than going over his near empty resume a million times and then watching reruns of Law and Order on Netflix.

That night, Gold and Belle left for their dinner out, after giving Neal a million instructions, as if he had never watched him before. The two ate hot dogs and fries (one of the few things that the older brother knew how to cook) and there were plans to watch a movie. However, Neal could tell that Gideon was getting restless. It had rained all day, which meant he had been cooped up inside all day. The skies had since cleared up and what with it being just the beginning of fall, it was still light out pretty late and the weather was warm.

"Do you want to go get some ice cream?" Neal asked.

Gideon instantly stopped pouting and jumped out of his seat. "Yeah!"

Neal chuckled at the sudden mood change. "Alright, come on. I'll get your shoes on and we can go."

Their house wasn't far from the shop, so they made the walk. Gideon insisted on jumping in each and every puddle on the way there. Neal had a sneaky suspicion that Belle was not going to be pleased with the state of his sneakers but at least they weren't his nice ones.

"Just do your best not to splash me, bud," Neal said with a smile.

"'Kay Nealy," Gideon replied, though with his next jump, he got some droplets on his older brother's jeans.

Having a little brother so much younger had been weird at first for Neal. He had been an only child his whole life and never expected to gain a sibling. Well, that was until his dad started dating Belle. She was a little younger than him, actually she was only 13 years older than Neal. It didn't matter to anyone. At first Belle said that she would've been fine with no children. However, both were singing a different tune when Neal was in his freshman year of college. Gideon came along not much later. Neal felt a little guilty that he had only been around during holidays and summer breaks, but he seemed to make up for lost time in the short time since he graduated. Gideon was a good kid, he adapted quickly.

Once they arrived at the shop, Neal put in their orders and tried to keep Gideon entertained while they waited. It was no easy task; the toddler knew ice cream was on the horizon and was growing impatient. Neal finally relented and challenged Gideon into who could sing his favorite song the best.

"Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are…" Neal began as quietly as he could, not really sure how it was going to look, a grown man singing a nursery rhyme in the middle of an ice cream shop.

"Wow, quite the difference from Yaz," a familiar voice came behind him. Neal's eyes widened, he knew exactly who that was. Slowly, he turned around to take her in, smiling a bit.

"Hey stranger."

Emma hadn't changed too much since he had last seen her. She was a little skinnier and it appeared she had given up trying to straighten her hair, her natural curls were showing. Another thing she had given up, her big glasses. Even so, her green eyes had that familiar twinkle that went so well with her trademark smirk. He didn't miss the little keychain that hung off a necklace around her neck. It was one he had given her when she got her license. She had loved it so much, she insisted on wearing it. Growing up, she had made him watch The Swan Princess so many times, that it was one that had the aforementioned bird on it. He was so caught up in the fact that she still wore it, that she missed the next part of what she said.

"I'm sorry, what?" He asked, his eyes going back up to hers.

"I was just saying, you got a kid now or something?"

"Huh?" Neal glanced down at Gideon, who was staring up at both of them, confused. "Oh, no. Um, this is my little brother, Gideon…"

"I know," Emma said. "I've seen him with your parents sometimes. Just messing with you." She laughed, a little awkwardly. Neither of them had ever been good in these types of situations.

"You're Emma?" Gideon asked. He had seen her before, but he didn't really know her too well. It wasn't often she came around with David anymore. She had no reason when Neal wasn't there.

"Yes," she gave him a smile. "I know your mama and papa."

"Oh." Gideon was quiet for a moment, as his brother grabbed the ice creams from Ingrid and took a bite of his own. "Neal's in love with you."

Neal nearly choked on the frozen chocolate that was making its way down his throat. Emma's cheeks flushed pink as she looked between the two Gold brothers.

"Gideon…I…I…" Neal stammered over his words, feeling like an idiot.

"Mama said you did."

Neal wanted more than anything for the floor to open up beneath him and suck him inside. As if the situation wasn't bad enough, he now feared Emma would find him more pathetic for talking to Belle about the issue.

"Well…" Neal handed over the cup to his brother. "We should really get going…it'll be Gideon's bedtime soon and all…"

They started to walk away and Neal contemplated if it was possible for him to physically kick himself. His one chance to at least become friends with Emma again and it had been so awkward.

"Neal…wait." He turned back around to face her.

"Yeah?"

"Do you babysit Gideon often?"

"No, just a one time thing. The parents wanted a date night."

"Oh…well I'm going to be going to be at Granny's tomorrow night, around 7. If you want to join me."

Neal paused, unsure if she was being serious, until she gave him a sincere smile, letting him know that she was. "I'll be there."

Hope you all enjoyed. As I said, I got this prompt from the swanfireprompts blog, but I do take prompts on my own Tumblrs. My main account is just-an-outlaw and the one I use to promote my fanfiction stuff is justanoutlawfanfiction. Feel free to send ones into either of those.