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Noel asked for a oneshot of Neal going to apologise to Emma about something he did that upset her. He hears her venting to Hook saying "Neal's my parents' favourite and they don't love me!" It makes him really sad so he goes to their parents and asks why they feel that way about Emma. It shocks them and they reassure him that they do love her. When Emma comes home they question her about what she said.

Neal felt bad for what had happened. He shouldn't have asked so many questions, should have been a little more understanding. He just didn't get what was so bad about the foster system. There were kids in Storybrooke who were fostered and they didn't seem so unhappy. Why did Emma get so mad whenever someone brought her time in the system up? His parents had told Emma he hadn't meant to upset her, but she still seemed angry. She had stormed out and they all knew where she was heading. Whenever Emma got any negative emotion she headed to the docks to find Hook. When Neal knew his parents weren't looking he snuck out to find her and apologise. He didn't like making Emma angry or sad. Siblings weren't meant to fight.

It didn't take long for Neal to come across his sister and her boyfriend. They were indeed at the docks, sitting watching the horizon. But before Neal could speak to Emma, he caught the end of what she was saying:

"…Neal's my parents' favourite and they don't love me!" The words struck through the little boy like a bullet. He could feel tears stinging his eyes as he turned and fled for home.

His parents were pulling their shoes on in the hall as he came crashing through the door.

"There you are!" Snow said, sounding relieved. "When we saw you weren't anywhere in the house we got worried…Neal have you been crying?" Snow and Charming just noticed the redness around their son's eyes.

"Why don't you love Emma like me?" He questioned them. Snow and Charming were both taken aback by this, where had that come from?

"Neal, what on Earth would make you think that?" Charming asked, crouching down to be eye level with Neal.

"Emma." He said in a quiet voice. "I found her with Hook. She said that I'm your favourite and you don't love her." Both Snow and Charming shook their heads, hurt that Emma would think that.

"Neal, we promise you that is not true." Snow said, placing a hand on her son's shoulder. "We love you and Emma equally. She's just upset right now, she didn't mean that. And I'm certain she wouldn't have said it at all if she knew you were listening." Neal nodded, still feeling guilty. He didn't want Emma thinking their parents loved him more.

"Buddy why don't you go up and play in your room?" Charming suggested, knowing both that Neal needed some space and that he wouldn't want to be around when Emma eventually came home. Neal nodded glumly, heading up.

It was a long wait for the parents as they watched the clock waiting for Emma to return. It took her three hours, but she did eventually shuffle in. Snow and Charming were waiting for her in the living room. Emma looked like she was just going to ignore them, but this had to be sorted.

"Neal isn't our favourite and we most certainly love you, Emma Swan." Charming said simply. Emma froze on the spot.

"How do you know I said that?" She said quietly. "Were you spying on me?" Snow shook her head.

"No of course we weren't." She said. "Neal snuck out to apologise to you and overheard you telling that to Hook. And Emma your father is right; it couldn't be further from the truth. We love you both equally. We were just trying to keep the peace. We spoke to Neal after you left about questions he shouldn't ask, but having stormed out you never heard that. We would never favour one of you over the other." Emma scoffed and left the room. Both parents knew there was no point in going after her: they just had to give her space and hope she came to the realisation by herself.