They mean always
A guest asked for a oneshot of Snowing saying that they'll always be there for her and Emma saying that they weren't when she was a child. Set in AU not long after Neal was born.
They were smothering her. Yet, at the same time whenever she saw them with the baby Emma felt like he was all they cared about. It was a strange mix of emotions for Emma to have to deal with. It eventually led to her exploding. It had been a particularly hard day at the station. It seemed everyone that came in was there purely to have a go at Emma. Of course Charming had butt in to defend her but that just irritated Emma- she could fight her own battles. Then to make it worse, as soon as Emma got home she found him having a hushed conversation with Snow. Emma was fuming- she knew they were talking about her. She decided to ignore it- there was no point in creating an argument. When they spotted her sitting on the couch they came through. Emma couldn't help the surge of jealousy when she saw Neal in her mother's arms. She hated herself for it- but she couldn't help it.
"Emma?" Charming said, trying to get her attention. Emma gave one hopeful attempt at ignoring them. She really had to get her own place. "Emma, please, we want to talk to you." Emma sighed, slowly moving her eyes to look at them both. "I know you've had a bad day. We just don't want you bottling it all up. We just want to make sure that you know we're always going to be here for you…" There was that phrase again. Emma had heard it so many times over the last couple of weeks and it always left a bitter taste in her mouth. She snorted in disbelief.
"Really?" She asked.
"Emma, what's wrong?" Charming asked. Emma seemed to be furious with the pair of them.
"You want to know what's wrong? Fine, I'll tell you! You keep saying that you'll always be there for me, but you weren't, were you? You stuck me through a wardrobe that abandoned me at the side of a road. From that moment on I was on my own!" Charming went to speak but Snow squeezed his hand, signalling for him to let Emma speak. She needed this release. "Were you there when I cried myself to sleep? Were you there when I wondered why I was so terrible I'd been given up at birth? Were you there when I was hit for breathing too loud? Parents days, holidays, birthdays, prom, bad breakups and beatings you weren't there to help me with any of it! You used me to break this damn curse. Then you had the baby you plan to raise. That's the end of the story for me, I ain't no fairy tale. You've never been there for me before so don't act like you care now." Emma snapped. She couldn't take it anymore. The tears were building up and she was not going to let them see her cry. She stormed out of the house and into her car. She needed time to think.
"Should we go after her?" Charming asked, worried Emma might get hurt whilst she was so vulnerable. Snow shook her head.
"No, that'd just make things worse. Let her have her space. Emma will come back when she's ready."
Emma would come back in a couple of hours. Things wouldn't be easy for a couple of days, but gradually, the relationship would build and Emma would realise they had to put her through that wardrobe. And from now on, they really would always be there.