Haunting him
justanoutlaw asked for a oneshot of… *6x12 spoilers!* Emma finding Charming instead of Killian after his hallucinations. He flips out at her, but then apologises. Combined with the guest who asked for a oneshot of Charming not waking Snow because he wants to find out what happened to his dad. Emma confronts him because she wants her mom and he won't tell her why he's still awake.
I have seen the latest episode! What a shocker ending, ay?!
Charming could feel his whole world spinning. He felt like he was going to pass out, or throw up, or maybe even both. He knew this wasn't real. It couldn't be, could it? No, his father died years ago. This was just because he wasn't sleeping. But he couldn't sleep. Not yet. He couldn't wake Snow to this. He couldn't disappoint her like this. He was Emma's father. He was meant to protect her from anyone that might hurt her. Now Gideon was in town and threatening to kill her. Until he was stopped, Charming couldn't wake Snow. Now with all this mystery surrounding the almost ghostly presence of his father, Charming knew he couldn't wake Snow. He had to sort this out. How could he sleep when there was clearly something he didn't know? There was so much going on in his head that Charming didn't even notice that he'd fallen to the ground. It was only when a familiar voice called out to him that he even vaguely came to his senses.
"Dad!" Charming looked up groggily. Emma was running towards him. She tried to help him up, but Charming jerked back. He could get himself up. He looked after her, not the other way around. Emma frowned at the reaction, but didn't otherwise react. She realised he must be exhausted. It was time for him to tag in her mom.
"Dad…you haven't swapped with mom since before I went to the Wish World. Maybe it's time you swapped…"
"I'm fine." Charming snapped. "I've still got things I need to do." Emma sighed. He was clearly over-tired.
"I get that, I do. I know this whole situation sucks. I haven't even gotten to see mom since I came back to tell her I love her like I did with you." Emma subtly hinted she wanted to talk to her mom too. "But whatever you need to do, you can do after some sleep. You need to rest, dad. I don't know what's going on, but I know you're hiding something from me-"
"I'm not going to get a lecture from anyone about hiding things from their family, but especially you after everything you've kept from us lately." Charming snapped. Emma was taken aback. Her mouth fell open slightly. She didn't know how to respond. She took a step backwards, eyes becoming a little watery. Charming felt like he'd been punched in the gut. He'd hurt Emma. How could he have been so stupid?
"Emma, baby, I'm so sorry." He said, quickly taking her hand before she could run away. Charming knew Emma, and knew that's what she wanted to do. "You're right, I'm tired, but that's no excuse for snapping at you like that. I really am so sorry."
"It's fine." Emma said quietly. "I get it." Charming still felt dreadful. He wrapped an arm around Emma's shoulders. "Maybe it is time to get some sleep." He admitted. "Come on, let's go home." He still desperately wanted to find out what was going on with his dad, but Emma was right, sleep needed to come first.
