A/N: Trigger Warning: Self harm. This chapter is longer and more of a hurt/comfort genre.

It was the first night Emma felt comfortable sleeping next to Neal. He rested on his side on the backseat, as did she. They fit together like two spoons, though their arms were wrapped around each other's and their legs were intertwined. He joked that, although this was called spooning, it was a feeling a real spoon would never have the pleasure to experience. Neal removed his right hand from the twisted knot of their own body parts that had grown in front of them. Neither had "snuggled" with anyone in quite awhile; it was possible they were a bit rusty. He brushed her cheek with the back of his warm hand. Somehow, she felt strangely at home with him. She didn't know whether it was because of his sunny demeanor or his soothing hugs, but she did know that things were starting to no longer be so dark when she was with him. He leaned over to kiss her neck and collarbones. She smiled and reached for his hand, sliding her fingers through the crevices between his. The summer air made the bug stuffier than usual, so she only wore her above-the-knee, sleeveless floral dress, and her glasses were thrown haphazardly somewhere on the floor. He wore his usual: a stained, nearly gray undershirt and ripped jeans. His bare arm, which gave her a surprising sense of safety and security, brushed against hers. Neal felt something rough against his wrist and looked down. Scabs. In the shape of perfectly formed lines, on her arm. He all but gasped when he noticed.

"Emma..." he breathed. She repositioned her entire body in order to face him. She felt a squirming in her abdomen, praying to a God she didn't even believe in that he hadn't noticed her cuts.

"Neal," she breathed back, trying her hardest to be playful and cute and not give anything away. But it felt like someone was digging a knife into her stomach as her heart pulsed so hard and loud that she grew worried he could hear it.

"Are you... are those..." he took her thin left wrist in his large hands. "Emma..." he whispered. She gulped as every fear she had became real. Emma Swan, mind you, was not one to share her emotions with anyone. She never had been. But she was struggling, and she felt like she'd hit rock bottom. Cutting was her last resort, and although she wished it hadn't, she had taken it up. "Oh, Emma," Neal held her head close to his chest in a tight hug. "Please, please never hurt yourself." He murmured softly into her hair.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "I'm sorry." A fat tear fell down her cheek. She was unaware that they were even filling her eyes.

"Oh, Emma," he repeated. These were the only words he could think of. He was incapable of processing why such an attractive, alluring, downright angelic creature could not see herself the way he did. He stroked her thick blonde hair. His stomach convulsed as his heart fell through the earth. "I'm sorry, so so sorry... You mean the world to me, I can't... I can't figure out how... how you— you don't even know, how pretty you are, you don't know that you're the reason I wake up every morning, you don't even know that you light up a room when you walk in it... no, you could light up an entire country because you're just so beautiful when you walk and talk and it's just so unfair that you have no idea— and 'cause I don't tell you, it's my fault..." Emma's jaw dropped. "You don't deserve—"

"Neal, no. No! No, it's not your fault, it's not your fault!" she claimed softly, her voice breaking. "You're the light of my life, if anything, you're the reason it rarely happens, okay? I was just upset, thinking about my past... it was stupid. But it is not your fault." she explained, taking his face in her hands. "Just please understand that." He nodded and held her face, using his thumbs to wipe away her tears.

"You don't deserve to dislike yourself." Neal noted,

"Thank you." Emma answered.

"You're welcome." Neal responded. "Can you make me a promise, my angel?"

She offered a weak smile. "Yes."

"Please promise me you will never ever ever ever ever ever ever hurt yourself ever again."

"Yes."

"Now, can I tell you a secret?"

"What?"

"I like you a lot." Neal stated. Emma giggled, and simply replied,

"And I you." before she pecked his nose and drifted off to a deep sleep.