Coulrophobia
A guest asked for a oneshot of Charming having a fear of clowns and never telling anyone. A circus comes to town and Neal really wants to go, so Snow arranges for her and Charming to take him. A clown approaches them and Charming freaks out. Neal hugs him and tells him it's just a clown, that he will protect his dad if anything happens.
He had come so close to getting away with this. Emma was meant to be taking Neal to the fair set up by some of the jesters and other entertainers from the Enchanted Forest when she took her own kids. But little Eira had fallen ill, so Emma wasn't able to take her two (with Henry being at college). Dewey had decided he would just go with his friend and their parents, but none of Neal's friends were really going. So Snow decided she and Charming would take Neal, much to Charming's dismay. Not that he didn't love spending time with both Snow and Neal, it wasn't even the whole fair he was dreading. It was just the clowns. Ever since Charming's own mother had taken him to a little fair that strolled into their village, and a clown had brought little David onto the stage and played a joke on him, he had developed an irrational fear of clowns. One he had never mentioned to Snow. Who wants to admit they're frightened of ordinary people with a bit of makeup on? So Charming decided to tough it out.
He was doing well too. They made it into the little arena where the show would take place. He knew to expect some clowns, but he figured that, as long as he was left well enough alone, he would be ok. Besides, Neal was watching all around him with an expression of pure joy. Seeing that made feeling a little uncomfortable worth it for Charming. Charming was so busy looking at Neal smiling, that he wasn't looking ahead of him. He managed to bump into someone. He turned back around to apologise, when he realised who he had bumped into. He gasped and took a couple of steps back. He gulped. The clown he had just bumped into gave an exaggerated laugh.
"Sorry! Didn't mean to spook ya!" Charming didn't respond. His mouth had suddenly gone very dry.
"Charming?" Snow asked, beginning to get concerned. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Are you alright?" Charming nodded vaguely.
"Yeah." He croaked before clearing his throat. "Yeah, I'm alright. Let's just get some seats." Charming scurried past the clown, keeping his head down. Snow frowned, she hadn't known he was scared, or else she would never have asked him to come today. Neal too didn't like seeing his daddy frightened. He ran in front of him, and wrapped his arms around him.
"Don't worry daddy, it was just a clown." Neal tried to reassure his father. "If anything did happen, I would protect you." He promised him. Snow placed her hand over her heart, in awe at how adorable her son was. Charming was also deeply touched by Neal's actions. He bent down and returned the hug.
"Thanks buddy." Charming said, gently squeezing him. "We'll always stick together, huh?" Charming asked. Neal nodded into his father's shoulder. Whenever danger was afoot, he would always have his daddy's back.
