"Hey, buddy!" Neal smiled when he saw Henry walk into the lobby of Granny's bed and breakfast. Neal got up from his seat next to Dream, hugging Henry. "How are you?" Neal asked, pulling away from him.
"I'm good. I brought this. I thought you could tell me and Dream what it was really like over there." Henry said, holding out his storybook.
"Sounds great." Neal smiled, taking the book when Emma walked over as Dream stood up to hug her baby brother. "I tell you what, why don't you run into the diner, with Dream, of course, and get us four hot cocoas, and we'll dive in," Neal said, handing Henry some money from his pocket.
Dream and Henry started to head towards the lobby that led to Granny's diner. "I'm gonna have to take a rain check on that. I need to get down to the station to take care of some things." Emma said, turning to head out of the door; she walked in with Henry. "Can it wait? There's a couple of things I wanna talk to you about." Neal said when Emma stopped, turning to look. "Tamara went to my place to get some of her stuff..." Neal started to say.
"Okay..."
"Well, her bags were in the storage room, but Hook wasn't," Neal said, scratching his brow. "Lucky," Emma said, furrowing her brows, when she glanced back, seeing that Dream and Henry had already left for the diner. "Yeah, but now he's out there," Neal said, finally voicing his concern on the matter.
"I'm not sure how much more trouble he can cause anyway. Dream has a protection on her heart now--"
"What does my sister have to do with that?" Neal asked, but Emma just sighed, not sure how to tell Neal that his little sister got her heart literally stolen from the stab-happy pirate. "Anyway... The second thing I wanna talk to you about is the reason Tamara was getting her stuff is that she's on her way here." Neal said, rubbing his temple before looking at Emma.
"Here? As in Storybrooke?" Emma asked, with her eyes widened in fear.
"Yeah. She should be here at Granny's any minute now." Neal said, moving over to look out the window. "What are you thinking?" Emma asked him, making Neal turn to face her. "What do you mean?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at her concern. "I mean, what are you gonna tell her when she sees a giant or a werewolf run past her down Main Street? Between Greg Mendell, our food-obsessed tourist, and now your fiancee, this town is turning into a theme park." Emma scolded him as Neal paced a bit.
"Maybe I didn't think it all the way through. I'm sorry. I just... I need her." Neal sighed when he looked up at Emma. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it to--" He said, making Emma scoff a bit.
"You don't need to apologize to me. I'm not the one you're lying to." Emma said, making Neal sigh to himself.
"Who's lying?" He asked her.
"Does she know who you really are and where you're really from?" Emma asked him when Neal just stayed quiet, looking down at his shoes. "Take my advice, don't let her find out on her own. Tell her the truth. Tell her everything." Emma said when Neal sighed, trying to think of what to say, but his phone vibrated.
"That's her. She's ten minutes away... Why don't you stay and get to know her?" Neal asked, walking back over to the window as Emma followed. "I really should be going." Emma sighed, not liking the idea. "I know, but we're all connected... Now, it might be nice for you two to talk. Just stay and say hello. She's bringing bagels." Neal said, making Emma sigh.
A little bit later, Emma, Henry, Neal, Tamara, and Dream sat in silence, drinking hot cocoas and bagels. "So, how did you guys meet?" Henry spoke up, breaking the silence, while he sat between his dad and sister. Neal, who was in the middle of eating his bagel, let out a chuckle while Tamara looked at him since she was also eating. Dream and Tamara also seemed to notice Emma jerk up her head to look at Neal. "Um... Well, I was super late to work, rushing like crazy, guzzling my giant coffee, when this guy crashed into me." Tamara started to chuckle when she nudged Neal, making him smile at her. "Hot coffee soaked my blouse. There was no time to change, so Neal gave me his scarf to hide the stains. And he said I could keep it or call him if I wanted to return it." Tamara smiled when Henry and Dream smiled at the story, while Emma just took a sip of her coffee.
"Sounds so romantic, Neal." Dream teased, making Neal chuckle as he glanced at his sister.
"I decided to call, and, well, we've been together ever since." Tamara smiled, looking at Neal. "Sounds like fate," Emma added, trying to put a smile on her face. Emma went to take another bite of her bagel when Neal looked at her. "I've gotta drop Henry off with his grandpa. Thanks for the bagel." Emma said when she got up with Henry.
"It was nice meeting you, Tamara." Henry smiled, still holding his half-eaten bagel.
"You, too." Tamara smiled when she held her cocoa up to take a drink.
"Here you go, man," Neal said, grabbing Henry's book from behind the couch when he offered it to Henry. "Why don't you hold on to that?" Henry suggested when Neal smiled at him. "Okay. See you." Neal smiled as Henry walked around with Emma.
"See you later," Henry said as they walked out, and Dream stood up.
"He doesn't just let anyone hold onto that book." Dream spoke up, making Tamara and Neal chuckle at her. "Well, I have to go. Gotta meet my mom at her office. It was nice meeting you, Tamara." Dream smiled when she got up, grabbing her bag to walk out. "Nice meeting you, too, Dream." Tamara smiled at her. "Bye, little sis." Neal smiled when they watched her walk out.
Once the door shut, Tamara looked at Neal, who sat the book on the coffee table. "Henry seems like a really great kid. And Dream seems like a really nice girl. You two could pass as twins." Tamara said, letting out a soft chuckle when she scratched her nose. "Yeah?" Neal chuckled at her comment. "Henry even has your spirit," Tamara added, smiling as Neal turned to look at her.
"You think?" Neal asked when Tamara smiled, moving closer to him. "Yeah." She smiled at him.
"There's something I need to tell you." He said when she just stayed quiet, listening in. "Here's the thing, I'm not from here..." He said, watching her furrow her brows. "I'm from a place called the Enchanted Forest. I'm being serious. Here, go ahead." He said as she remained quiet while he placed the book on her lap. She opened up the book and saw pictures and stories inside.
"These are fairy tales." Tamara finally spoke up when she looked at Neal, unsure what to feel about this.
"And they're real, all right? They're more than real. They're history. They're my history. See this little boy?" Neal asked, seeing as the book was opened to a picture of him before he left his father. "That's me." He said calmly, pointing at the picture.
"What are you doing?" Tamara asked with no expression on her face.
"I'm trying to be honest with you." Neal tried to say when Tamara turned from no emotion to irritate and hurt when she slammed the book shut. She threw it into Neal's lap, standing up. "If you wanted to be honest, you would tell me what this is really about. Cute blonde who was just here? Mother of your child?" Tamara said, standing up as she looked at Neal.
"Emma?" He asked, sounding confused.
"I'm not a fool, Neal. I saw the way you two look at each other." Tamara continued to scold him, sounding hurt. "It's not like that." Neal fought when Tamara started to tear up. "I think it is. I think it's why you wanted to hide under the table when Henry asked how we met. You didn't want her to hear the story. If you want to be with her, Neal, you could've told me instead of making up crap to force me away--" Tamara ranted when Neal sat the book on the couch, standing up.
"I don't want to force you away..." He tried to say to her.
"Here's the thing, Neal. When you're ready to be honest with me about yourself and your feelings, then come find me." Tamara said, putting on her coat as she stormed out of the lobby.
~season 2, episode 18: "Selfless, Brave, and True"~
~1464 words~