Forever alone?
A guest asked for a oneshot of Neal getting stood up by his prom date. He starts to feel like a loser and gets very down with himself. Charming talks with him while they are at the movies together, waiting for the film to start. Neal tells him he's worried he'll never find true love like his parents.
JRocks: That seems like it's veering off into season 7 territory.
He just felt so bummed. He had really liked Zoe. He thought she really liked him. Turns out he was wrong, and in doing so, he managed to make a fool of himself in front of the whole school by asking her to the prom. She laughed in his face. She couldn't even be gentle about it. She made it very clear she had just rejected him. How could he go to prom at all now? Not only would he be a loser without a date, but everyone would know why he had no date. Yeah, there was no way he was showing his face at school tonight. Seeing how miserable Neal was, Charming instead suggested that the pair of them had a guys' night out seeing the new action movie Neal wanted to see. He didn't want him moping around the house all night feeling sorry for himself. He thought this was a better option. He could still see how upset Neal was as they sat in their seats, waiting for the adverts to come on.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up over this." Charming said gently, squeezing his son's shoulder. "There are plenty more fish in the sea. You'll see. You're still young, Neal. You've got plenty of time to find the right girl for you…"
"Yeah, but what if I don't?" Neal sighed, sounding defeated as he flicked a piece of popcorn from one side of the bucket to the other. Charming waited, he could tell Neal had more to say. "What if…what if I never find anyone? What if I end up alone? What if I never find true love like you and mom?" He asked, not meeting his dad's eye. Charming smiled sadly.
"I can remember having a very similar conversation with my mother when I was around your age." He told Neal. "I remember feeling just as scared and lonely as you do right now. I cannot make a guarantee you're gonna find the one Neal, but I can say you've got a darn good shot. Any girl would be lucky to have you." Charming assured his son. Neal just scoffed at him. "Hey, don't put yourself down like that." Charming told him gently. "I can say that if you're looking too hard, you'll miss her. You've gotta wait. When the right girl is with you, you'll know." Charming promised him. Neal nodded glumly. Charming wished he could snap Neal out of this, but he knew it was just a phase he had to go through. He'd make it through alright in the end.
