[ ∲ — The offered bite remained suspended in air when he did not take it, though she caught glimpses of new emotions in his eyes. She had always been good at reading people, especially Neal, after knowing him for so long. So, when he spoke, she nodded her head in understanding, dropping both her gaze and settled her fork into her plate.
Silence soon followed, lips curling in. Lids lowering to a half-mast over her hazel hues. The words felt heavy in her mind, lips pressed together. There was not a lot of heavy consideration going on, before her eyes flitted up to meet his with a small smile on her lips. “Yeah, well, technically, it is yours too,” she murmured. Scraping up some food onto her fork once more, she looked up at him.
“Last I checked, Henry is your son. So, that makes you part of the family, doesn’t it?” A shrug soon followed, trying to lighten the mood with some humor, “I mean, I think it does. I’m new to family and all.”
The confirmation coming from Emma about how he was technically part of their family brought a half-smile of hesitation to his features. While on one hand, he was flattered by her remark, on the other hand he felt uncomfortable at the idea of simply intruding their family gathering. What if the Charmings didn’t want him there? And what if Emma was only inviting him because Henry had urged her to, in stead of on her own accord? —No, she wasn’t like that. She was strong of will enough to give Henry a firm no if she was really all that opposed to him coming to have dinner with them.
Producing a sigh, he shifted his position on the bed and averted his gaze from her for the briefest of moments in order to gather his thoughts and line up the advantages and disadvantages of having dinner with Emma, Henry and the Charmings. When eventually, he couldn’t come to just one conclusion, he turned back to her to re-engage in their conversation about it.
“Well, yeah—but I didn’t think you and your folks’d want me there. It’s not like I’ve been around for very long, isn’t it gonna be awkward?”
