Disclaimer: Again - Emma Swan, Neal Cassidy and the other unwanted person do not belong to me.

Chapter 2: Confrontation

"What am I doing wrong?" Neal Cassidy muttered, looking at his own face staring at him from the mirror.

True, Tamara had never been much of a sex enthusiast, which was perhaps the biggest of her very few flaws. From day one, it had always been a war to get into the woman's pants, and for some reason, she never seemed to have as much fun as him when he finally managed to get the action going.

Now that they were in Storybrooke, things had officially gone downhill. The only special treat he had managed to get from Tamara for days had been a half-ass handjob that ended up with her smiling kindly as he apologized for his mess.

"My God… I have had better days…" he whispered, trying to remember since when having an orgasm was a crime as he lifted the toilet seat. "And here I am… alone… again…" he continued, fishing his semi-erect cock from inside his boxers. "History of my life…"

He slid his hand up and down his shaft, after letting out a sigh.

What was he doing wrong, really? Why was Tamara growing cold? It couldn't be because of that silly breakfast, could it, the first day she was in town and met Emma?

Emma…

He let his mind wonder for a brief moment, and before he knew he was jacking off with far too much enthusiasm.

'Oh, please, get a grip!' his conscience yelled, as images of Emma danced before his eyes.

He took a long, deep breath, shaking his head as he tried to make his ex disappear.

Eventually, she did. Unfortunately, so did some of his erection.

"Oh, come on…" he groaned.

He looked at the ceiling, still stroking himself, but feeling he was actually fighting a losing battle as more conflicted thoughts crowded his mind.

It would make sense, though. He remembered her comments after that. It was as if he had been caught cheating. How ridiculous, really. Why would she even think that? Emma Swan was past. They had been in love, yes. They had planned to start a family together, yes. She was the best sex of his life? Hell yeah. Did he wish they would get back together? Oh y-

"NO!" he said, his voice a little too loud and angry for a man who was simply trying to get off. "I have no feelings for Emma Swan!" he hissed, closing his eyes and trying not to see her in his mind again, trying not to remember when she had broken into his room earlier that day.

'Do I look like a jealous ex to you?' she had asked.

'Damn right you do…' he had thought in response, just to beat himself mentally for actually feeling so happy about that idea. What the hell was he thinking? She couldn't be jealous of him, she hated him! She wanted him out of her life, she was over him, she had told him so that day in Manhattan. But why was she looking at him like that? Why was she acting like that? Why was she giving him hope, if there was no hope? Why was he even happy there might be a chance… he was engaged, for Christ's sake!

And why… why… why couldn't he stop thinking about Emma Swan?

"Oh, Emma…" he moaned, knowing his long awaited orgasm was finally near as his hand moved up and down his painfully hard cock with even more speed. "What do you want from me?"

Behind the curtains, Emma's heart skipped a beat.

He was thinking of her.

She swallowed a lump in her throat, trying to understand what her feelings were doing. Ever since that day in Manhattan, by the way, her feelings had done nothing but give her a hard time. Being with Neal hurt so much that she felt like screaming. Every single moment by his side was a reminder of everything they could have been, but weren't, because he had listened to Pinocchio and walked out on her. She had gone to jail because of him. Given birth to their son in jail because of him. He had screwed up. Then, when they finally met each other again after eleven years, he was engaged.

They were just not meant to be.

And yet, there was something about that man that she couldn't resist… Near him, the walls around her heart were nothing but sand, and he was this wave of the ocean that kept coming and going, swiping away all the hurt and leaving her with nothing but hope…

Apparently, Neal Cassidy was the injury inflicted on her broken heart… and also the only way to heal it.

A particularly loud moan broke her reverie, and Emma sneaked another peek through the curtains. A heat wave swept through her body as he saw the muscles of his body clench and unclench as he cried – or rather, moaned – his release.

Poor thing. From what she remembered, he used to be much louder than that when he reached his climax. But then, she supposed it was not as if he wanted to be heard by the woman waiting for him in bed.

'Goddammit, Neal… Why does everything have to be so complicated?' she thought, suddenly feeling bad for the man as he let out a defeated sigh. Everything was wrong. She was the one who should be waiting in that bed.

If she was, he would never have to finish himself off in the bathroom.

She watched as he wiped his hand in his thigh, and then removed his boxers and walked towards the shower.

'Oh fuck!' her mind screamed in panic. 'Fuck!'

She remained glued to the wall, and tried to think about what she would do when Neal finally pulled back the curtains. She could only hope he would not scre-

"AAAAHHH!"

She tried to shush him when they were finally face to face, doing her best not to laugh at his shocked expression as he reached out for a towel to cover himself.

In a matter of seconds, the door opened again, and Neal had just closed the curtains to hide Emma from sight when Tamara entered the bathroom.

"What happened?" she asked, her eyes darting around in search of something unusual.

"N-Nothing," Neal muttered, finding it extremely hard to think on his feet after having an orgasm and less than a minute later, spotting Emma Swan inside his bathtub.

'Fully dressed, unfortunately,' his mind insisted on pointing out.

"So why did you scream?"

Tamara's voice brought him back to reality.

"I… I think I saw a gecko… in the bathtub," he muttered.

"A gecko?" she asked, reaching out to pull the curtains.

"No!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide as he grabbed her by the arms and led her out of the bathroom. "I'll deal with it. You go back to bed and rest."

As he closed the door behind him, Emma slowly pulled back the curtains.

"Neal..." she whispered. "It's not what you're thinking."

"Emma… Are you… are you insane?" he whispered back, walking towards the bathtub with the towel now firmly wrapped around his waist.

"I can explain."

"You can? How, what… What the hell are you doing here?"

"Neal… You have to believe me, there is something wrong going on…"

"No, God, no, not this again…"

He rubbed his eyes and sat at the edge of the bathtub, and Emma did the same, but making sure she was sheltered by the curtains.

"This afternoon, I-"

"Emma," he said at last, after taking a long breath. "I don't know what is going on, but I have to tell you something," he continued, staring into his ex's eyes, and trying not to choke on any of the words that were about to leave his mouth. "The woman you are so intent on accusing is the woman I'm about to get married to. She loves me and I trust her. The more you keep on trying to find something to use against her, the more I believe there is something wrong with you, and not with her."

Emma's lips trembled at his little lecture. She felt her eyes well up with tears, tears of anger, for him treating her like she was the maniac in the whole story.

"So I am begging you to stop, because I want us to be friends, I do, but I can't let you go on with this insanity. If you were right, you would have already found what you are looking for."

She snorted, trying to bite back the urge to call him names and breathing deeply to calm down her nerves.

"If there is one thing you know about me, Neal, is that I never stop until I find what I'm looking for," she replied, her voice slightly shaky with the remnants of anger still circulating in her body. "The only reason I got you into this was because I didn't want you to get hurt in the process."

It was his turn to snort.

"Really?" he whispered. "You don't want me to get hurt? This is why you want me to believe I am nothing but a pawn in the hands of the woman I got engaged to? That she has no feelings for me whatsoever? Is this how you don't mean to hurt me?"

Emma had to shake her head and let out a defeated sigh.

"Do you really need to believe it that so much, Neal?"

"What?"

"That Tamara has feelings for you?" she asked quietly, looking into his eyes. "Are you that desperate?"

She saw his eyes lose any vestige of amusement that had threatened to spark on them instants before. They were suddenly very dark, and bleak.

"You have to leave," he said, his voice a throaty whisper as he stood up.

"Before I do," Emma said, climbing out of the bathtub as silently as she could, "I just want to tell you we'll be holding a Council, and I would like you to come."

"No thanks," he answered, without looking at her.

"Neal, please."

"I'm not interested," he whispered, raising his eyebrows.

"Hey… hey," she said, grabbing his arm and forcing him to look at her. "Sorry about what I said, ok? I didn't mean to be cruel."

She bit her lower lip when it started to tremble again, and continued.

"How about this. Will you take a dare?"

Neal finally raised his eyes to hers. Damn that woman for knowing him so well.

"What dare?"

"If I am wrong about Tamara, then you don't have to go to the Council. You don't have to do anything, really, and you still get me to apologize to you both in front of Henry. Now, if I am right… you go to the Council… wearing a dress."

He chuckled, shaking his head as she shrugged.

"Just think about it. It is fair, isn't it? If Tamara is really the woman you think she is, you lose nothing. Now, if she isn't, you pay the price for not having trusted me."

"You want me to wear a dress in front of my son?"

"I'm sure he would find it hilarious," she said, with a sly smile curling her lips. "Boy has my sense of humor."

"He has your sense of humor?" Neal winced. "Let's hope, then, that he doesn't have your sense of direction. One ailment is enough."

"Oh, so funny. I am literally bursting with internal laughter at your joke."

"When is the Council?"

"In two days. And since you think I am the crazy one here… Chances are high that you will walk away with your dignity intact."

Neal stared into her eyes for a long moment. He really couldn't understand what his life had become. Now they were cracking jokes at each other, a mere minute after he had literally brought tears to her eyes in his defense of Tamara. He had to recognize that Emma's intuition had always impressed him, even though he would never, ever admit he believed in her "lie detector" thing. But seriously, there was no way she could be right this time. There was no way Tamara was pulling such a stunt on him.

"Deal," he whispered, outstretching his arm.

As she shook his hand, Emma tried her best not to smile. He would lose, and he would be wearing a dress. Oh, the sweet taste of revenge! Two days. Two days, and he would know what it was like to feel like an idiot.

'Yes, Neal… You shall be punished,' her mind whispered in victory.

"Now let's get you out of here, shall we?" he said, scratching his head after letting out a sigh.

"What's the plan?"

"I'll distract Tamara… and then you'll just sneak out."

"You'll 'distract' her?"

"Yup."

"How?" she asked, although she feared she knew the answer.

"Emma… let's just… get this over and done with, ok?" he replied, not really willing to go into further detail. What he was about to do was likely to put even more strain on his relationship with Tamara, but he would find a way to make up for it afterwards.

And so, he left the bathroom, leaving the door open so that Emma, who was hiding behind it, could take her cue as to when it would be safe to come outside.

After letting the towel wrapped around his waist fall to the floor, he slowly climbed into bed and hugged Tamara from behind, nuzzling her hair as he pressed his body against hers.

"Neal… What are you doing?" he heard her sleepy voice ask.

"I'm sorry, honey…" he whispered, catching her earlobe between his teeth. "I really tried to finish off without you… but I just can't." His eyes then moved to the bathroom door, and caught Emma looking at him with a disgusted expression on her face. "I need you."

"Neal..." Tamara groaned, trying to move her body away from his.

"Please."

He moved his eyes away from Emma's when Tamara let out a sigh and finally allowed him to roll her on her back. He positioned himself between her legs and smiled, making sure to cover her face with his shoulder so that she wouldn't see Emma sneaking out of the bathroom.

And then, Emma stopped, her gaze transfixed as she looked at the nightstand, making Neal's heartbeat race as panic flooded his bloodstream. If Tamara looked up, he would be ruined.

He pressed his fiancee's head further down the pillow with his shoulder.

"Neal!" she shrieked. "My head!"

"Sorry, honey…" he whispered, apologetically, as Emma crawled towards the door with Tamara's cell phone firmly secured in her hand. "Maybe you should be on top?"

As Tamara straddled him, he caught another glimpse of his ex, now ready to leave the room as she silently turned the doorknob.

And then, again, she stopped, looking behind her shoulder as Tamara took off her pajama top.

And she stayed, looking at him with a very unhappy face.

'GO!' he mouthed, in the split second Tamara looked the other way to get rid of her clothes.

But Emma stayed. And she kept looking.

Tamara lowered her mouth to his neck, and now he had literally no choice but to look at the woman standing by the door.

She would not go away until he stopped what he was doing.

'Not a jealous ex my ass!' his mind snarled.

"Honey, stop, stop," he said, and when his eyes met Emma's, he realized she was smiling.

"What?" Tamara exclaimed with a very confused expression on her face.

"I… I just… It's not right, you're tired, I don't … like… really," he tripped on his own words as he gently pushed his fiancée away from his lap, realizing that even if he wanted to go through with it, getting an erection under those circumstances would be virtually impossible.

"Why do you keep looking at the door?" Tamara asked, finally turning her head around as she put on the pajama top she had just taken off, still slightly distraught at the latest developments.

Luckily for him, Emma Swan was finally gone.