A/N Now announcing chapter 28! So I got a lot of love for the last few chapters I've posted and I'm so thankful for that. I hope you all love this one just as much. I may be posting them less often though for a couple of weeks so don't freak if you don't hear from me for a while. Okay get on with the reading and reviewing and favoriting and following. X' s and O' s you all rock!

Just an hour before dawn Emma woke up again. Her eyes fluttered open slowly as she let out a quiet yawn. Emma lifted her eyes up to see Hook still fast sleep. His back was propped up against a tree and his right arm was wrapped lazily around Emma's waist. Emma's eyes shifted down to his shirt and landed on little round stains where she had been crying. He had held her in his arms until she finally stopped crying and fell asleep. 'He'll probably want to talk about that' Emma thought with a sigh, softly touching the tear stains on his shirt.

Emma lightly grabbed his right hand and gently set it on the ground. Then she slowly stood up and made her way back to where her things were set up. She didn't want to be there when Hook woke up and she definitely didn't want to here what the crew would have to say if they saw her lying in his arms. Oh, the amount of gossip that would start! Emma didn't even want to think about it.

She sat down on top of her blanket and looked around at the crew. Then she turned her attention toward the sky, the sun would be up soon. Emma sighed and then lied down and closed her eyes. 'At least I can make it look like I'm sleeping.' She thought.

...

Thud! Hook woke up to an apple being dropped on his head. He looked up to see a little blue bird flying towards its nest. Hook smiled slightly then looked up at the sky, the sun was almost all the way up now. He looked down, expecting to see Emma. But she was gone. He looked across the clearing to see her lying down where she had set up her things earlier. As though the events of hours earlier hadn't happened at all.

...

The crew woke up not long after Hook. They had little food left by now but there were also some berries they picked up along the way. Emma sat alone as they ate breakfast. When Graham came over and asked what was wrong she just put on a fake smile and said "nothing" in order to get him to leave. He simply shrugged it off and went back to Hook who no doubt stared at her the entire time. Emma tried her best not to look over at him. The last thing she needed was that awkward moment you get when two peoples eyes meat but they don't know whether to look away or not.

As soon as breakfast was over the crew got started on the path again. If they chose not to take a break in the afternoon they could get to the next town before sundown.

As they walked Emma stayed in the back of the crowd, not wanting to risk bumping into Hook. Plus he couldn't stare at her if she was behind him. 'I should've never gone to him last night, what a stupid thing to do!' She thought. Of course now it was to late, his questions were inevitable. "Why were you crying, Swan?" That would be his first question. A question that she didn't want to answer, but one she would have to... eventually.

...

"Graham." Hook called as he waved Graham over to him.

"Yes captain?" Graham asked.

Hook picked up his speed a bit and Graham did the same to keep up. Then Hook looked over his shoulder. When he was sure he was out of earshot he began to speak.

"Emma came to me last night," he started in a whisper. "She asked if she could sleep next to me. It was clear that something was on her mind but I didn't want to upset her by asking so I said yes. We feel asleep and then not to long later I woke up and she was crying. And I mean really crying."

"Really? I've never thought Emma would be the crying type..." Graham said, a lie considering he had already seen her in tears. "Are you sure it wasn't just a nightmare?"

"If it had been a nightmare she might have cried for awhile and then told me about the dream. But Emma cried for more then ten minutes and when I woke up this morning she was gone and she's been avoiding me all morning. It's like she's... ashamed of it... people aren't ashamed of nightmares." Hook said.

"Well then, something must be bothering her." Graham said after taking a minute to think about it. "I think the best thing you can do is ask her."

"As do I, but I feel she will get upset if I do."

"Captain, there must be a part of her that wants to talk to you about it... Why else would she have gone to you last night? She's probably just worried that you won't listen if she does try to talk to you. Show her that you care, that you're willing to listen."

Hook didn't know what to say. He was quiet for awhile as he thought about it. Maybe Graham was right. Maybe he just needed to ask her. He turned and looked over his shoulder at Emma who was far behind them. She was looking down, something clearly on her mind. Hook turned back to Graham and have him a single nod.

"I'll talk to her."

...

Later that day the crew sat down for lunch. They all gathered around waiting for Hook to explain some more of their plan as two of the men finished preparing the meals. Emma stood off to the side by herself, she couldn't be near Hook right now which also meant she couldn't be near Graham. As they all waited Emma could hear some of the men talking, well gossiping was probably a better word for it. She listened carefully, trying to figure out what exactly was being said about her or anyone for that matter. Emma heard one of the men say her name but before she could hear anything else Hook cleared his throat earning him the attention of everyone.

"We'll be entering the nearby town tomorrow morning and we'll move from there to the next town by next week. So as not to look suspicious, seeing as there are other parties lurking through these woods, I plan on splitting I'll into smaller gangs. So can Daniel, Jacob, and William please come here." The three men stepped up and Hook spoke to them privately then turned back to the crew. He listed off three men that would go with Daniel, then three men to go with Jacob and four men to go with William. "And then I'll take Nathaniel, Graham and of course our princess." Hook looked Emma dead in the eye when he mentioned her and Emma quickly turned away.

As soon as he finished talking they began to eat their meals. Emma settled for sitting with Jacob, Nathaniel and a couple of other men. She sat with her back towards Graham and Hook, if only to attempt at ignoring them, not that it was much use when they were sitting so close.

"So, it would appear you and I will be spending some time together your highness." Nathaniel said very seriously. He was a tall, tough sort of man with short blonde hair, dark brown eyes, a piercing in one of his ears and many tattoos. Emma could see why Hook had chosen him to come with their group, he was like a soldier and probably one of the most loyal to Hook.

"So it would seem. Please, just call me Emma, I can't stand formality." Emma said in her 'princess voice' as she liked to call it, which she used often around the crew simply because they still saw her as a proper princess.

"Swan?" Hook called, he was across the way now standing next to some other men.

'Oh no, here it is,' Emma thought, 'he wants to talk about last night.' Emma ignored him and looked down at her food as if she hadn't heard anything.

"Swan?" He tried again, now everyone was aware that he was trying to get her attention. "Princess!"

Emma bit her lip, he was annoyed now, he wouldn't have called her that otherwise. Emma stood up and turned to one of the men.

"Did you say there was a small stream close by, I need to wash my hands." Emma said very princess like.

"Aye, just over there," the man pointed to the trees on his right and Emma smiled, heading off before he could tell her that Hook wanted to talk to her.

Emma walked quickly, ignoring the stares that the men were giving her. None of them would have dared to ignore Hook when he wanted them, let alone three times. But then again none of them had spent the night before crying in Hooks arms, so Emma decided she was justified.

...

Hook watched as Emma blatantly ignore him in front of his crew. He clenched his jaw and glared at her as she walked away, trying to decide what to do. If he went after her he would appear desperate in front of his men, yet of he let her go he would seem week. However it wasn't his careful decision making that really led to the choice he made in the end. No, he was driven only by the fact that seeing Emma walk away from him like that made him extremely angry. So, of course he really had no choice but to chase after her.

Hook walked past the crew who has grown more or less silent. They were all watching intently. A few of the men made snide comments. 'Trouble in paradise' one of the men whispered and Hook shot him a sharp glare, shutting him right up.

When he finally caught up to Emma she was kneeling down, washing her hands in a stream. Hook grabbed her arm and pulled her up, spinning her around to face him at the same time.

"Ow, let go of me!" Emma said through gritted teeth and to her surprise Hook let go.

"What the bloody hell was that about?" He asked nodding his head back towards the clearing.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Emma said quietly.

"Oh, 'you don't know what I'm talking about'?" Hook said imitating her voice then continuing in anger "Have you gone deaf and blind as well? I was very clearly talking to you!"

"Yes, and I was 'very clearly' ignoring you. Now if you'll excuse me," Emma began to push past Hook but he grabbed her waist to stop her. Emma thought about telling him to let go of her but there was really no use.

"Oh, no you don't." He had calmed down a bit now and was speaking much softer. "What happened last night Emma? Why were you crying?"

"Hook I-" but Hook interrupted her before she could continue.

"Do not call me that Emma, you're only using that name so that it's easier to shut me out but I won't allow it." Emma looked down out of shame because she knew he was right about that.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't want to talk about this. At least not now or I might start crying again and I really don't want to do that here." Emma said quietly, tears beginning to sting the backs of her eyes. "Please, can we just go back to the crew and finish this later?"

Hook let go of her and nodded his head and Emma smiled gratefully. She walked past him and Hook began to follow her back towards the crew. Just before they reached everyone Hook leaned in to whisper in Emma's ear.

"I want to talk later, only because I care." His voice was kind and Emma had to work to ignore the fuzzy feeling it gave her. She simply nodded then went back to where she had been before.