Here's the next chapter! Please enjoy and if you can, I would love to hear what you think! Reviews make me smile.

CHAPTER 2

"What the bloody hell is that, Swan?" Hook exclaimed as he squinted at the large dark half circle in front of them.

"What does it look like?" Emma asked sarcastically. "It's a tunnel."

"And we're going through it?" He asked uneasily as he leaned back in his seat.

"You bet," she said and just to give him a hard time, she punched on the gas as the neared closer.

Hook flinched in his seat. "You're doing that on purpose."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said innocently but shared a little smirk with Henry in the rearview mirror.

Henry leaned forward and grabbled the back of Hook's seat. "You have no trouble going through a magic portal, but you're worried about a tunnel?"

Hook turned to give him a look. "You sound like your father," he retorted and then flinched when stonewalls of the tunnel enveloped the car. He glanced up to see glowing lights…electricity as he recalled…flicker by as the yellow bug continued its way. "How long is this tunnel?"

"Not too long…we'll be out before you know it."

"I don't think so," Henry said as he gestured up ahead.

"Uh-oh," Emma murmured as she saw the long line of bright red brake lights up ahead.

"Uh-oh…what's uh-oh…why are we stopping?" Hook turned to see other cars stopping behind them, beside them…surrounding them. "What the bloody hell is going on?"

"It's called a traffic jam," Emma sighed as she turned off the car to save gas. "Looks like a wreck up ahead…I see some ambulance and cop lights." She looked over at Hook and gave him a sympathetic smile. "Might as well get comfortable, we're not going anywhere for awhile."

"Brilliant," Hook said sarcastically as he kept looking around as he fidgeted in his seat.

Emma studied him with amusement for a moment before realization dawned on her. Panicked eyes, heavy breathing, constant squirming. "Hook," she finally said as her brows furrowed. "Are you…claustrophobic?"

He whipped his head around. "What?"

"Claustrophobic," she repeated as she touched his arm. "It means someone who is afraid of enclosed spaces."

Hook rolled his eyes. "Bloody hell, Swan, I know what it means…we may come from different worlds, but last I checked we speak the same language."

"Right." She removed her hand and shared a quick look with Henry before staring straight ahead. "Sorry."

There was a long beats of uncomfortable silence before Hook finally sighed as he closed his eyes. "I suppose I am…in a way." He turned met her eyes. "I have moments where I feel…caged, trapped…it's not a pleasant experience."

"What caused it?" When he lifted a brow, she simply shrugged. "Most people are afraid of something due to a traumatic experience of some kind…especially fears like claustrophobia, fear of heights, spiders…"

"Arachnophobia," Hook said with a nod. "I know it well…Smee had a bad case of it."

Emma lifted her brows. "Seriously?"

"Hmm," he said with a nod. "I found out when a member of my crew decided it would be funny to put a gigantic spider in his bed while he slept…poor Smee about had a heart attack."

"Your crewmember sounds like a real jerk."

Hook chuckled softly. "My sentiments exactly, love…which is why I made him walk the plank."

Henry's eyes widened. "You did?"

"Never liked the bloody git in the first place…and never really trusted him." He gave a little shrug. "I was just waiting for an opportunity to get rid of him and that was a good enough reason for me. I can tolerate a bit of razzing between mates, I can even tolerate a decent fistfight, but I what I won't tolerate is some bloody coward who uses someone's fear for a laugh…so…I let the mermaids handle him."

"Cool!" Henry exclaimed.

Hook lifted a brow. "Cool?"

"It's slang, for awesome," Emma explained with a smile. "Or brilliant…neat…excellent."

"Ah," he said with a nod and then grinned at Henry. "Then I suppose it was, lad…it was very cool…and it was a good thing I did it, because I later found it he was actually trying to plan a mutiny against me. He was also an idiot."

Henry smiled as he leaned a bit forward in his seat, resting his elbows on Hook and Emma's chair. "So, did something happen to you? To make you…claustrophobic?"

Leather squeaked as Hook shifted in his chair towards Emma and Henry. "Aye…when I was just a young boy…shortly after my father left."

"What happened?" he asked eagerly.

"Henry…Hook might not want to talk about…"

"No, it's all right," he assured her but sent her a quick smile of appreciation. "I haven't told anyone this story, you two might as well be the first…I just had a big row with my older brother. This may surprise you, but I was a bit of a…troublemaker as a child."

"Nooo…you?" Emma mocked with wide, sarcastic eyes. "I don't believe it."

He gave her a little sneer, which only made her smile. "Anyway…we had a row and I ran off…said some pretty horrible things and told him I wasn't coming back. I wasn't serious, of course, but I at least wanted him to think I was."

He had to take a moment as the memories came rushing back. He hadn't thought about that night in over three hundred years and it seemed a bit more difficult than he imagined. "It was dark…possibly the worst night to run away since not a single star was out and the moon was nothing but a sliver…could barely see my own hand in front of my face. I wanted to turn back, but the stubbornness in me kept me going." He cleared his throat as he fiddled with his ear. "When I finally decided I had gone far enough, I was about to turn around when I fell…it was so dark that I didn't even see it, but…it was an abandoned well."

"You fell into a well?" Emma whispered as her heart went out to him. "That's awful."

"Aye…but I was lucky. The drop wasn't deep enough to cause me any damage…I might have tweaked my ankle, but nothing serious…but it was deep enough that I couldn't get out. It was fairly narrow, so I didn't have a lot of room…I propped my feet on the edges out of the water, if I didn't I'm sure I would have gotten frostbite…the water was bloody freezing."

"How long were you down there?" Henry asked.

"It felt like days, but I was found around midmorning the following day."

"Did you cry?"

"Henry," Emma said disapprovingly.

"It's all right, Swan…it's a good question." He turned his attention completely to Henry. "I didn't cry for the longest time…I wanted to, but…I held it in because I wanted to be brave and strong. But then I remembered what my brother told me once when he caught me crying and sensed my embarrassment. He said, 'Killy…crying doesn't make you weak or a coward…it simply makes you human.' And he was right…so I cried because I was scared…I cried because I thought no one would find me…and I cried because I thought I'd never see my brother again."

Emma let out a soft sigh as she rested her cheek against the leather of her seat. "But you did see him again."

His eyes shifted back to her. "Aye…I did…because he heard me crying…then he yelled out my name. At first, I thought I was hallucinating, but I heard it again…louder and stronger and so I called out his name and there he was…looking down at me from the top."

"I bet he was relived to find you."

"He was…I thought he was going to get mad at me again, but once I was up he just hugged me…told me it was going to be okay. Needless to say, I changed my tune after that day, but…those few hours in that well definitely come back and haunt me from time to time."

"Well that's…oh god." Emma jolted in her seat as she stared at him with wide eyes. "Oh god."

"What's the matter?" he asked when she covered her mouth with her hands. "Swan?"

"I locked you in a small dark closest," she muffled under her hands.

Henry winced as he looked at his mom. "That's right, you did…oops."

Hook laughed as he shook his head. "It's all right, Emma."

"No it's not…it must have been horrible for you…I remember the size of that closet."

"Well…it was a tad unpleasant, I'll admit…but Emma…what were you suppose to do? I had just stabbed Rumple with my poisonous hook…not one of my best moments."

"But if I had known…"

"But you didn't…there's no point in beating yourself up about it, love…I've been in worse situations." He thought about the long drive to Storybrooke gagged and tied up in the dark and suppressed a shudder. "Believe me."

"I shouldn't have left you."

His shoulders dropped as he shook his head. "Emma…don't…you did what you had to do…it's what you always do and one of the many things I love about you."

She felt her heart flutter in her chest at his words. He didn't exactly say, I love you, but it was close enough to sent her heart racing. "Hook," she said as she took a moment to swallow the lump in her throat. "Thank you…for sharing that part of your life with us…I know it wasn't easy."

He smiled softly. "Easier than I thought, actually…but you're welcome."

"Mom."

"Hmm?" she murmured, never breaking contact with Hook's intense blue eyes.

"We're moving."

"What?" She looked over at Henry who gestured towards the road. "Oh! We're moving." She quickly turned on the car and shifted into gear. "Let's get you out of this tunnel."

"Excellent idea, love," he said with a wink.