It started the first time Emma had fallen asleep in the Bug. Neal had stayed awake, keeping an eye out for any cops or other thieves that might want to hurt them. He'd thought he'd drawn the short stick, having to stay up late with only his thoughts for company was not his idea of a good time, but then he'd noticed small movements from Emma that had given him pause. Years on the run from people out to hurt him had made him tuned to motions like that being more than they appeared.
At first, they'd been relatively easy to write off as just Emma shifting in her sleep, but then the movements became more than just twists, they became jerks, and her face had twisted into one of discomfort - whether or not it was physical pain or a bad dream he didn't know, and he didn't care, as his hand reached out to rest on her shoulder, trying to tell her silently that it was okay, that he was there, and that she was - relatively speaking - safe.
She had stilled a that, her breath evening out as she fell into a calmer sleep, and he smiled weakly, glad he could be of some help in calming her down.
If they were really going to be stuck together, they needed to learn to take care of each other.
Though part of him couldn't help but wonder what she'd gone through that made her have such violent jerking motions.
As his eyes turned back to the night sky above him, he let out a small sigh. Perhaps one day, she would feel comfortable telling him.
Emma wasn't sure when Neal had started noticing her nervous jerks when she had bad dreams, but honestly, she didn't care. It was a level of comfort that Emma had never felt in her life, but feeling Neal's hand on her as a reminder of what they had, and how they trusted each other (which she wasn't sure when that happened either, but it was good for both their sakes to trust each other).
So, she'd started returning the favor. Whenever she had enough spare change, she'd show up to their meeting spots with a little extra food, a bagel or a donut that was close to going stale that bakeries were more than happy to get rid of for a good discount. It felt like she had to pay him back for the comfort he brought her, and he loved baked goods (bready confections always seemed to give him a sense of childlike wonder she would expect from a kid watching fireworks for the first time), so why not?
It was pretty late when she got back to the bug, parked safe and sound in an abandoned parking lot behind a closed-down business, a bag of nearly-stale bagels in her hand, and she noticed Neal asleep in the passenger seat of the Bug.
Carefully, she opened and shut the door, keeping as quiet as she could, and he didn't stir. He must not have gotten a lot of sleep the night before if he was able to sleep through her opening and closing the annoyingly squeaky door.
She sat in silence, sipping at her hot chocolate and chewing a bear claw, when she saw him twitch out of the corner of her eye. She brushed it off, at first, thinking he was just stretching out in his sleep to get comfortable, but then she saw his face, twisted into fear.
"Neal?" she murmured. When the only answer she got was a fearful sound, she set her bear claw on the dashboard, safely on a napkin, and reached over again. "Neal, wake up, it's me, it's Emma!"
Finally, he jerked awake, staring up at her with wide, brown eyes. "Emma? Shit - sorry, I hope I didn't wake you."
She shook her head. "No, I just got back… are you okay?"
He nodded and swept his hair back. In the dim light above the car, she could see a few beads of sweat on his forehead. "Fine. Just a bad dream."
"You want to talk about it?"
He shook his head. "Not really."
Emma nodded in understanding and pushed her bag of goodies toward him. "Hungry?"
Neal reached in, grabbing a blueberry bagel out of the bag. "Thanks."
"I got a couple water bottles too. Figured we could use some new ones."
He nodded, slowly chewing his bagel with one hand, the other resting against the armrest.
Emma let out a small sigh and rested her hand against his, a comfortable silence settling between the two.