Here's another update! It may take me longer from now on since school's started again, but I'll try to keep the updates as regular as possible. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy, and please remember to review if you've got anything to say! =]

Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT

Chapter 11: Confessions

Emma couldn't stop thinking about something that Anna had said, and now she was curious about it as well. Neal had told her that Hook would back off, for Henry's sake. But with everything that had happened the last few weeks; the flirting, the small touches, the eye contact. It either seemed that Hook wasn't actually backing off and Neal had lied to her, or he simply had no self-restraint. To be honest, Emma was hoping it was a combination of the two options.

She decided that she needed to talk to Neal. If he had been lying to her, she wanted to know why. No matter what his excuse was, it was completely unfair of him. She was mainly annoyed because what he had said had made her turn into a walking case study of 'wanting what you can't have'. Because if she was being truthful, she really wanted Hook. More than she originally thought. Her encounter with him the other day had sent her thoughts in many different directions. Especially the part where he had mentioned what he had said to her in the echo caves in Neverland. Hearing him say to her, once again, without any hesitation whatsoever how he felt about her then and still did was music to her ears. She just needed to find a way to tell him too.

Emma made the decision to go find Neal. She needed him to explain his actions before she made any rash decisions. As she made her way over to Granny's hotel, she tried to decide the best way to start this conversation. She didn't want Neal to know why she was so upset over the fact that he lied to her about Hook. She didn't want him to know how she felt about Hook. No matter what he had done to her in the past, she didn't want to hurt him now.

As she braced herself to knock on the door of his hotel room, she was surprised when it opened before she could place her knuckles against it. Neal was surprised to see her too, apparentely, and had to regain his balance after he nearly bumped into her.

"Uhm, Emma! What – what are you doing here?"

"I was hoping to talk to you actually. You got a minute?"

Neal looked around into the hallway, sighed, and stepped aside to let her in.

"I can't stay too long though. I'm meeting Henry for lunch in a little bit."

"Oh. Oh, okay. No, that's great. This shouldn't take too long anyway."

After a few seconds of silence, which consisted of Emma trying to find the right words to begin, Neal seemed to get a little impatient.

"So…" he said, clearly trying to get the conversation started. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Emma took a deep breath, and braced herself for what was to come.

"I just… I've been thinking about something you said. A few weeks ago."

"Okay, and you're only asking me about it now?" Neal smiled that smile that he did when he was slightly confused, and Emma had to take another deep breath.

"Yeah, sorry. It's just, it was something you said about Hook."

"And what did I say about Hook?"

"Well, you mentioned a conversation the two of you had. About me."

"Keep going." Neal said, clearly curious about where this was going.

"You said that he was going to, you know, back off. From me?" She phrased it like a question so that her statement would seem more innocent than it actually was.

"Yes, Emma, what about it? What's going on?"

Before she could stop herself, she blurted out the main thing that had been on her mind.

"Why did you lie to me about that?"

Neal looked taken aback by her question. It was obvious he wasn't expecting it. He laughed that humorless, shy laugh of his that he did whenever he didn't know how to answer someone.

"What makes you say I lied to you about this, Emma?"

"I just, I ran into him a couple of times the last few weeks. And it definitely didn't seem like he was backing off."

"How would you know the difference?"

"Oh please, like I don't know when a guy is flirting with me? What is wrong with you? Why would you lie to me about something like this?"

Neal fired back with a question of his own. "How do you know that he isn't backing off?"

"Because yesterday he basically reminded me of what he said to me in the echo caves! Don't look so surprised Neal, you were there! You heard what he said." Emma could feel her anger bubbling up inside of her, and she dearly hoped that she could keep herself in control. The last time she had really lost it was because of Regina.

"Yeah, you're right. I heard what he said. And you know what? It hurt when he said that to you. I'm sorry Emma, but it did."

This was exactly what she had been trying to avoid. She didn't want to hurt Neal, but didn't he realize that he was unintentionally hurting her too?

"I know it did. And I'm sorry about that. But Neal, I thought you were dead! I thought I'd lost you. And I was upset. And I know I hurt you by kissing Hook. But that doesn't mean you had the right to lie to me about how he was feeling about me. You know that."

Neal clearly felt like he was being attacked, and took on the defensive side.

"Is this about Tamara? Are you still upset that I didn't tell you about her?"

Emma felt herself fuming again at the mention of Tamara.

"Of course this isn't about her! Neal, she's gone, she played us all, it's over. And no, I'm not really sorry about what happened to her because she kidnapped my son. OUR son. So whatever this might be about, this is not about Tamara. I can't believe you would even go there!"

"Then what is this about? I don't get it, why are you so mad at me all of a sudden?"

"Because you had no right to keep that from me!"

"Why does it matter? It's Hook, okay? The guy who's been looking for revenge for over half of his life, who stole my mother and abandoned me at some point in his life! Why do you care so much?"

Emma, surprised by his outburst, had to regain her composure before answering. Neal noticed, and immediately understood what her hesitation meant.

"Wait a minute. Do you – do you – like him?"

"I – I, no! That's not the point!"

"Yes, you do! That's why you're so mad at me. So if you had known, would you have made your second move, Emma? Is that what this is all about? You're mad at me that you couldn't let yourself go after him sooner?"

"That's not fair."Emma whispered, suddenly feeling slightly helpless.

"No, this isn't fair. It isn't fair for you to blame me for whatever emotional mess you've got yourself in. I'm sorry that I lied to you, okay? But you can't blame me for this! You just can't. You want the truth? I said that to you because I was still fighting for you too. I told you I would, when we were back in Neverland. I told you that I would fight for you too. And I'm sorry that I went to such lengths to try and win you over. But I had to, because I love you. If you don't love me anymore, just say so!"

Emma, trying to think of the best way to answer his confession, sharply turned her head when she heard the door knock against the wall. She gasped in surprise as she saw Henry standing there, shaking slightly in his place. She looked at Neal, who also looked at a loss for words.

"How much did you hear?" Emma asked Henry quietly, walking over to him.

"Enough."

Henry ran out of the hotel room before either of his parents could say something to comfort him. Feeling awful about what her son had just heard, she looked over at Neal one last time.

"Go. He needs his mother right now."

She smiled a small smile of thanks at him, and he nodded back. Giving him one last glance before she walked out the door, she ran out after her son, knowing exactly where she'd find him.

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She found him sitting on the beach, staring out at the water, holding his Once Upon A Time book in his hands against his chest. Her heart broke for him. She felt so bad about having him hear that discussion between his parents. She understood how he felt. When she was younger she had wanted nothing more than to meet her parents. She could guess that Henry wanted nothing more than to see his parents get back together.

"Hey kid, mind if I sit with you?"

He shrugged, trying to act nonchalantly, but she could see how hard he was gripping the book to his chest. His knuckles were turning white because of it.

"So… how much did you actually hear?"

"Are you and dad ever getting back together?"

Emma sighed, and put a hand on her son's leg. She decided that honesty was the best way to go here.

"Honestly, Henry, I can't tell you that for sure. But right now, no, it looks like we won't."

"But why not? You were getting along so well in Neverland. When you were working together to try and save me. What happened? Did he do something?"

"No, kid, he didn't do anything. Sometimes people just grow apart. They might still love each other, but in a different way."

"How many different kinds of love are there?"

Emma chuckled at Henry's curiosity. "Loads. Too many to count."

Henry looked like he was seriously pondering her answer. Emma was just glad that he was accepting what she was telling him.

"So why were you and dad talking about Captain Hook?"

"That's… a long story."

"Do you like him the way you used to like dad?"

Emma was completely taken aback at her son's answer. Sometimes he really surprised her with how intuitive and perceptive he was.

"I don't know. Maybe." Even though she had decided to tell her son the truth, she decided that he didn't need the whole truth. Not just yet anyway. But she was curious about one thing.

"What do you think about Captain Hook? Do you like him?"

Henry seemed to ponder the best response before he answered.

"Yeah, he's pretty cool. I know he helped you save me. And he let me sleep in captain's quarters."

Emma smiled, silently thanking a higher power that Henry was okay with Hook. "So you think he's pretty cool, huh?"

Henry finally looked at his mother and smiled. "Yeah." He gave her a look that was saying something more, but she couldn't quite figure out what that was.

"I'm sorry, Henry. About everything."

"I know you are, mom."

She smiled at her son, and put an arm around his shoulders. He leaned against her and they watched the waves come and go for the rest of the afternoon.

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I'm sorry there's no Hook in this chapter, but we're getting closer to the moment we've all been waiting for! Just a little longer ;) Has anyone else been having problems with the fanfiction website and getting error messages?