Chapter 2

It's been about 2 weeks since Mary Margaret officially became Emma's foster mother. She walked inside after a day of teaching, she was pretty exhausted. "I'm home!"

"Hey Mare." Emma said bouncing down the stairs. "You look exhausted." She said. "Wanna go to Granny's? I'm hungry and like I said, you look exhausted."

Mary Margaret smiled. "You're amazing." She told her. "Let's go."

XXX

They've been at Granny's for a while now and after eating supper, they got some cake for desert.

"How was school sweetie?" Mary Margaret asked her foster daughter. "Anything interesting happen today?"

Emma shrugged. "It was school. I brought my math grade up a bit though." She said with a hint of a smile. "How about you? How are the fourth graders?" She asked her.

Mary sighed. "There are these two kids- Ava and Nicholas- they're great kids, but they lost their mother a few years back." She sighed. "They moved in with their father a few weeks ago and now they're acting out. It's just a little tiring." She said sighing.

Emma's back was facing the door to the diner and she didn't give it a second thought when the bell above the door rung.

"I'm sure it'll pass." Emma said. "Their dad just needs to show them that he loves them. They need attention. I went through a phase when I was younger, only I didn't have anyone…" She trailed off. "The point is, they need to know that they're loves and cared for." Emma said. Mary Margaret was about to say something when someone came towards them. Emma looked over and she clenched her fists at the person she saw.

"Emma." He said.

She shook her head. "You need to leave." She whispered. "I don't want you here, I don't want you anywhere near me."

"Just… Please, hear me out Em." He begged. "Let me explain."

Emma grabbed the plate that was in front of her and stood up. "You don't wanna leave? Fine, don't." She said and threw the cake in his face. "I'll leave." She said and stormed out.

"Emma!" Mary Margaret called after her, then turned to the guy that was now covered in cake. "Who are you?"

He sighed. "I'm the guy that broke her heart." He sighed. Mary Margaret pulled out her wallet to pay for the food so she could go after Emma. "Don't worry about it." He sighed. "I got it."

Mary Margaret ran out and couldn't find Emma, she decided to head back to the loft to see if she went there. She was relieved when she found Emma asleep in her bed upstairs. "Emma." She said and watched as Emma's eyes fluttered open. "I've been looking for you all night."

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I just needed to get out of there."

Mary Margaret stroked the hair out of Emma's face. "That's okay. Is he the father?"

Emma nodded and became teary eyed. "What am I gonna do?" She croaked out. "He doesn't know. I have to tell him. I don't know how." She cried. "I'm sorry." She said, quickly wiping her tears away.

"Nothing to be sorry for. Maybe you should get some rest. Go back to sleep, there's no school tomorrow, we can just stay in and hang out tomorrow. Sound good?" Mary Margaret asked.

Emma nodded. "We can… talk too. I can maybe tell you a bit about what happened with Neal… maybe."

XXX

Emma sighed, sitting next to her foster mother on the couch. "He stole some watches." Emma said out of nowhere. Mary Margaret was shocked, but didn't want to say anything. "I offered to help him get away with it. When I got the watches from the locker, he told me to keep them and meet him someplace at 9 pm sharp." She sighed. "He never showed. But the cops sure did. And guess who had $20,000 worth of watches in her purse- that's right… me! He set me up, framed me for a crime he commited. I spent two months in jail, until the police got a letter from Neal- I guess he felt bad- confessing to the frame job, I guess there was proof that I wasn't involved in it and they let me go."

"Oh sweetie." Mary Margaret pulled her into a hug. They were having a moment, but they were rudely interrupted by a rapid knocking at the door.

"I'll get it." Emma told her. She got up and looked out the peephole, she groaned loudly. "How does he know where we live?" She asked annoyed. "I'm just gonna… talk to him in the hall."

"If you need me, you know where I am."

Emma smiled. "Thanks Mare." Emma stepped into the hallway outside the loft. "What?" She hissed.

"Give me 5 minutes to explain. Ems… please."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "5 minutes. That's all."

"I was on my way to set up a meeting with the fencer..."

2 Months Ago

Neal was walking down the street, on the way to meet a fencer he knows to set up a meeting to get the watches fenced. He felt someone following him, so he broke out into a run, eventually the man caught up to him.

"I'm not a cop! My name's August." The man told Neal.

Neal gave him a wary look. "Alright August, if you're not a cop, who are you? You've got 2 minutes."

"Think of me as… Emma's guardian angel."

Neal scoffed. "Guardian angel? I'd say you've been doing a pretty crap job."

August held his hand up in defense. "I've been looking for her for the past 2 year. Now I finally find her and she's helping you steal watches? Tell me again, who's doin' the crap job?"

"I'm the best thing that's ever happened to her! 2 year? Where were you the rest of her life? Huh?" Neal asked angrily.

"I'm not perfect! This world; full of temptations. Turns out, I'm not too great at saying no. I'm not built that way. But I'm here now."

Neal shook his head. "Who are you?"

"We were in the same home as kids. I thought she'd be safe inside the system, but now that she's out… back then, I promised I would take care of her."

Neal stepped forward. "We promised to take care of eachother."

"You love her." August suddenly realized. "Good. That means you have to do right by her."

"That's what I'm trying to do."

"Then leave her."

Neal shook his head. "She has a destiny. And you… this life. You're gonna keep her from it."

Present Time…

"So… you left because some guy said that you're no good for me?" Emma scoffed. "You were all I had Neal! I loved you!"

He sighed. "Emma. He knew about my past… my father. He knew things."

"What does any of that have to do with me? Huh? Your father has nothing to do with me!"

He groaned. "It has everything to do with you Emma! I left you so you could fulfill your destiny. It was all planned out."

"You're talking nonsense Neal. I don't wanna hear any more of it." She turned around and was about to go inside the loft.

He gently grabbed her hand. "Please Ems. I love you."

Emma spun around and punched him square in the jaw. "Son of a… ouch!" She yelled shaking her hand vigorously. "You lost the right to tell me that you love me and to call me Ems, when you sent me and our unborn child to prison!" She screamed and went back in the loft, slamming the door behind her- leaving Neal in utter shock. "Oh my God. I just told him I was pregnant." She said to herself.

"Emma are you- What happened to your hand?"

Emma smiled sheepishly. "I lost my temper." She admitted.

Mary Margaret smiled. "I'll get some ice." She went into the kitchen "It looks like it hurts." She said coming back with ice.

"It does. Like a b-… like a lot." She corrected, causing Mary Margaret to chuckle. Emma sighed. "He's probably still out there. I sort of threw the pregnancy at him in a fit of rage." She admitted. "Did you hear? I think all of storybrooke heard it, if we're being honest."

"I heard." She went over to the door and looked out the peephole. She laughed. Emma raised an eyebrow. "I think you broke his nose."

XXX

Emma was working the end of her shift at Granny's the next day, Neal was there, but he wasn't causing any problems or trying to talk to her at all… not yet at least. She watched him tense up when Mr. Gold walked in and sat next to him.

Emma walked over to him to take his order. "Hi, I'm Emma. I'll be-"

"Emma." He breathed out. The memories came over him all at once. "What a lovely name." He said.

She was a little weirded out, but didn't say anything. "Uh… thanks." She said. "What can I get you?"

"Just a coffee to-go." He said. A few minutes later Emma came back with his coffee. "Thanks dearie."

That blew the lid for Neal, he followed Mr. Gold out of the shop. Emma knew that look in his eye. He looked angry. Betrayed, hurt.

She looked over at the clock, luckily her shift just ended. "Ruby. I'm headed out! See you tomorrow." She ran out and saw Neal pinning Mr. Gold up to a wall.

"You don't recognize me do you?" She heard Neal ask. "I can imagine why! You haven't seen me since I was 14!" He screamed. "I was 14 papa!" Emma's eyes widened.

"Bae?" Mr. Gold asked.

Neal shook his head. "That's not my name anymore! I begged you! I begged you to come with me! You promised! You're a coward! A coward!"

"Baelfire. I tried! I tried to come after you! I promise Bae."

Neal chuckled darkly. "Promise? A promise from you means nothing to me! Not even a deal means anything anymore!"

Neal looked as if he was going to punch him, but instead punched the brick wall behind Mr. Gold. That's when Emma ran over to where they could see her. "Neal!" She yelled. She grabbed his arm and led him into Granny's- using the back wall, of course- to clean his hand. "So... that's your father?" She asked.

"Yeah."

Emma nodded. "You're an idiot." She said. "You could've broken your hand." She sighed. "WHy didn't he recognize you?"

"I've changed a lot." He said. "I look different than I did at 14." He told her. It was quiet for a few minutes, while Emma tended to Neal's nearly broken hand. "You're pregnant." He said. "With like… a baby?" He asked. "I mean… obviously with a baby, but… wow."

"Yeah."

He sighed. "Emma, I didn't know you were in prison until right before the letter. I swear Emma." He told her.

She was getting teary eyed again, but refused to make eye contact with him, he didn't need to know that she was crying.

"August… he must've..." He trailed off. "I shouldn't have left. You know that I never would've left if I'd known. You know that right?" She only nodded, not trusting herself to speak. "I'm gonna fight for you Em, I'm gonna earn your trust back. I don't know how, but I will."

Emma nodded, but in the process, a tear fell from her face and lander in Neal's hand. He reached his other hand up and wiped a few tears away. She backed up. "Don't." She whispered. "I need to… I need to get home." She spun around and was gone before Neal could protest.

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