An entire night of sleep in her own bed with actual blankets and warm food in her stomach had worked a miracle. Emma felt miles better physically. Her stomach was in knots, though. She’d missed the lunch that Neal had invited her to because of a break in at the docks that turned out to be a certain red-hatted pirates assistant turning human again. Henry wanted to stay with Neal tonight instead of coming home. And her parents had told her that they were going to get a room at the inn for a couple of nights. She knew they’d gotten the cure from Gold, now they were apparently going forward with the plan for a new baby. All in all, as much as she’d enjoyed being back, it was certainly not any easier than it had been before.
She got up from the chair and paced a few steps before she grabbed her jacket and hat. She left the station, heading for the inn. Simple conversation, simple conversation. Sorry, had work, Henry. It would be easy enough. After all, she had a job. It’s not like they were still living together in the car, he probably had a job, too. Of course he was here instead of in Manhattan. What did he even do? She pushed the thoughts aside, knocking on the door to his room. Sorry, work, Henry. Wait, cell phones were a thing. She remembered it after she’d knocked, she could have called instead of coming by. Too late now.
If Neal was honest with himself, being stood up by Emma had been a bit of a blow to the ego for him. He’d had every intention of leaving her alone if she wouldn’t show up to the lunch date he had invited her to, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he’d hoped—-no, he’d almost been confident she would show up. For once in his life, he’d been wrong about Emma. And that’s when he realized that too many years had passed for him to accurately estimate her reactions anymore. That realization wasn’t exactly painless, either.
He’d held up his end of the bargain; even when Henry wanted to spend time with him, he didn’t linger on Emma’s doorstep when he came to pick him up. In fact, this time around, he’d let Henry come to his place in stead. The boy was old and independent enough to not need an escort from Emma’s apartment to Neal’s room at the Inn, and things had gone just fine. That way he didn’t have to confront Emma with his presence anymore, either.
While his son was sound asleep, Neal switched on the tv with every intention of having a quiet night in and he’d been idly watching some documentary or another for a good fifteen minutes when a knock at the door brought him back to his senses. Who would be at his door at this hour? He checked his phone before he got up to head towards the door—no missed calls. Needless to say, he was more than a little surprised to find Emma standing in the hallway in front of his door.
“Hey—what’s up?”
Various thoughts ran through his mind then. Had something happened? Henry was supposed to stay over at his place for the night, but had she gotten second thoughts about that plan? He really couldn’t think of a reason why she would show up on his doorstep after having missed their appointment at the diner.
