AN: I know everyone doesn't like Neal, but he ships SQ here if that makes you feel any better. If not, just skip this chapter.

The first person who told Emma there had to be something romantic going on between her and Regina was Neal.

The conversation took place in the woods after Neal had been found. They talked about the missing year, she telling him about New York and confessing what a fiasco her relationship with Walsh ended up being, and him listening to her every word. They laughed about how crazy their lives were with with flying monkey boyfriends and minions of Peter Pan granddads. They were on the same page until Neal brought up a question she hadn't been expecting.

"I care about you, Emma. I just want you to be happy. Even if it isn't with me…"

"We were happy, once," she replied with a smile. Neal saying that meant a lot to her. She was glad they were on such good terms again.

"We never found Tallahassee... Speaking of happy, I guess Regina really managed to give you and Henry happy memories and a good life, huh?"

"Yeah," she replied, noticing Neal had more to say.

"I just have to ask… after seeing you guys say goodbye at the town line… What's the deal with you and Regina?" Neal had his smug face on, which made her confused.

"What do you mean what's going on?"

"You were a couple, right?" Neal dropped casually as they kept walking further into the woods. "Stupid of me and Hook to keep fighting over you when your heart was obviously somewhere else."

She tripped on her own foot right then, which was an accomplishment even for her. Regina and her? That was ridiculous. Or not that ridiculous. She may have entertained the idea of the other woman between her sheets when she had first arrived in Storybrooke, and there had been… something there behind all the quarreling. Later, Regina had given her good memories, and when they had been on their stakeout, she had felt like the looks Regina gave her could've melted ice.

Still, she assumed that was the way good friends looked at each other. That had been her experience with another friend of hers from her teenage years that reminded her of Regina. Why would this situation be any different?

"Or not…" Neal laughed as he reached out to her and helped her back up. "There has to be something between you two, though."

She brushed off some dirt from her jeans and glowered at Neal.

"Come on, Emma. Aren't we friends now? Tell me."

"Yeah," she muttered, but still refused to smile back as she started walking again. "I guess we are."

"So, what's the deal? I've seen you in love before, and this doesn't look much different, even though you hide it better now. Seriously, Hook and I must've looked like idiots in Neverland, pining after you all the while you were pining after someone else. Neither of us ever stood a chance," he chuckled.

Pining? Neal was taking it too far. "Hey! I don't pine. And Regina certainly doesn't, either. She's all about co-parenting and being friends and stuff, and that's totally cool."

Neal laughed at that. "That really doesn't sound like you're happy with the situation. That's totally cool. So co-parenting and being friends is not all there is, right?"

She was quickly growing irritated of Neal's attitude. "Okay, Neal, let's just quit this. There's a weird mark on your hand, and we need to find your dad, so there's more important stuff to do."

Neal raised his hands in surrender, but his face was still too amused for her liking. "Okay, okay, as you wish."

"Thank you," she replied.

"You better invite me to the wedding, though," he added with a chuckle and a wink.

"Hey! Neal, come on," she rolled her eyes. If she was honest with herself, it wasn't that the thought of marrying Regina was unwelcome. It was probably too welcome. She planned on taking Henry back to the safety of New York and she didn't need her mind to run rampant with reasons to stay.

Her phone interrupted their conversation, and Belle informed her of what she had found. After that, there wasn't anything to laugh about for a long while.