David and Mary Margaret headed back to their room, and crawled into bed. After a few minutes of silence, Mary Margaret spoke.
"Why? Why did this have to happen to Emma? She doesn't deserve this." She cried.
"I never should have pushed her towards Neal." David said. "I was so worried about keeping her away from Hook, that I didn't even think..."
Mary Margaret turned to face her husband. "This isn't your fault, David. You didn't know. He never gave us any reason to suspect he would hurt Emma."
"I saw the bruises, Mary Margaret. That should have been proof. I knew something wasn't right. I shouldn't have let it go that easily. I should have pushed harder."
"Don't do that, David. We can't play the what if game. We can't go back and change things. All we can do is move on."
David sighed. "I know. But he hurt her so bad. It's not even just the physical abuse. We had just started to break through those walls of hers, and he went and..."
"I know."
"She flinched." David croaked. "When I hugged her, she flinched and then went stiff. She hasn't done that in a long time. She's never flinched. It was like she thought I was going to..."
"Emma knows you would never hurt her." Mary Margaret reassured him. "She's been through a lot, and it was instinct. She knows we would never hurt her."
"I know." David admitted. "But it shouldn't be instinct. What he did to her...what he did to that little boy...there's no excuse for it. If he steps foot in Storybrooke, I'm going to kill him."
Mary Margaret gave her husband a small smile. "You'll have to get in line, because I wouldn't mind shooting him with an arrow or two myself."
"Oliver's a good kid." David said, changing the subject. "He reminds me a lot of Emma."
"Me too." Mary Margaret agreed. "He has her eyes. He has her smile. Him and Parker are the one good thing that came out of all of this."
"He blames himself." David said.
"Oliver?"
David nodded. "He says he left his toys on the floor, and that's why Neal got mad. From what I gathered, he went after Oliver and Emma tried to stop him. That's when he..." David took a deep breath. "He tried to ch...choke her. He p...pushed her down the stairs. Oliver saw it all."
"Oh, David!" Mary Margaret cried.
"He thought he wasn't brave, because he didn't stop him."
"But he's just a kid." Mary Margaret cried.
"I told him it wasn't his fault. You should have seen the way he kept looking towards the living room. It was like he thought Neal was going to hurt Emma if he wasn't there."
"That poor child. He never should have had to go through that. Him or Emma!" Mary Margaret stated. "David, do you think Emma will be okay? Do...do you think she'll get through this?"
"She's strong." David said firmly. "It may not be easy, but she isn't alone. She's going to make it through this. She's going to be okay."
"I hope so." Mary Margaret whispered. "I really hope so."
YOU ARE READING
Broken OUAT
FanfictionNeal doesn't die and Emma chooses him, but he isn't the man she fell in love with. He becomes abusive and talks Emma into leaving town with him. Years later Emma returns, but she isn't the same person she was when she left. She's broken, and it's up...
