{ Dreamshade }

•Chapter 81•

Killian set down his cup on the table. He laughed as he turned to Pan. "I believe I owe you an apology, mate." He said. Pan set his drink down as well and turned to the pirate. "For what?" He questioned. The pirate patted the boy's back gently. "I had no idea you could handle alcohol this well, boy." He chuckled. Pan smiled and joined in on the laughter. Some of the Lost Boys had already passed out by the amount of alcohol in their system. Some were still standing but had trouble keeping their heads up straight. Pan already felt his regret boiling up inside of him. Every single one of these boys would be whining and complaining in a couple of hours. But they were celebrating tonight! Pan laughed as three Lost Boys tripped over their own feet. "I didn't know you could laugh." Killian said. Pan frowned at him. "I laugh." he replied. Killian glanced over his shoulder. "Where's Y/n?" He asked. Pan pointed towards the dark jungle with his finger. "Where's Felix?" Killian added. Pan shrugged. "I think they could both use a drink." Killian admitted, "Especially Felix. He's a tense boy." He said. Pan nodded. "Y/n can't get drunk, though." He tells him. The pirate furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh, there was this one time, when Y/n got drunk, she started doing these weird things." Pan started. Killian frowned at the Lost Boy. "And by weird things, you mean-" He said. "She started to dance, take off her clothes, and kissing trees." Pan answered. Killian hissed as he took a sip of his drink again. "She's never having anything besides water ever again." He said. Pan chuckled in response.

Back in Storybrooke, Neal was making his way towards his father's pawn shop. "You in a hurry?" He suddenly heard behind him. He stopped and turned around. Emma was walking up to him. She had placed her hands in the pockets of her red jacket as she approached him. "Not really." He answered. "Great," Emma replied. She inhaled deeply before she exhaled again. She sounded exhausted. Her eyes seemed slightly red and puffy. Neal took a step closer to her. "Can we talk?" Emma asked him. "Have you been crying?" He questioned. The blonde woman completely ignored his question and continued. "Hook came to me the other day." She tells. Neal furrowed his eyebrows. "He's back already?" He questioned. Emma nodded and looked down at her feet for a few seconds. She almost didn't dare to look him straight in the eyes. She couldn't keep this a secret from him. But did she want to tell him? She wasn't sure if she wanted. "He told me he loved me." She added. The man in front of her became silent. "What?" He said. "He said he was in love with me." Emma repeated, "He said that every time we would get together someone would come between us." She added. Neal held up his hand and shook his head. "Wait," He said, "Are you in love with him?" He asked. Emma didn't answer that question. She wasn't sure. She cared more about her son and the rest of her family then anything. She wasn't ready to have a relationship. Not right now. Not with him. Right? "Are you in love with him?" Neal repeated. "No." Emma answered. "I don't believe you." He said. "I am not in love with him." The blonde woman said sternly.

Neal looked at her closely. He noticed a little spark of hope in her eyes. He had seen it before. He saw it years ago when they were partners in crime. Back when they were in love. "Do you still love me?" He asked quietly. Emma bites down on the inside of her cheek. She wasn't sure. Why was she forced to make these decisions? To answer these questions? "I don't know." She said. Neal shook his head slightly. "It looks like you do." He replied. Emma sighed and turned away. "It was wrong of me to come here. And talk to you about this. I'm sorry." She said. Neal grabbed her arm before she could walk away. He looked into her eyes. "Are you still in love with me?" He asked her. "Neal-" She started. "Emma, tell me the truth. Are you still in love with me?" Neal asked quietly. Killian had asked her the same question. Yes, deep down, she was still madly in love with him. She had always been in love with him. Neal was someone who understood her. He always knew exactly what to say. Killian was right. Neal would always come between them as long as she didn't admit it. Emma felt real things towards Killian. She truly did. But she loved Neal. She carefully pulled her arm out of his tight grip. "I can't." She added. And with that she walked off. Neal wanted to go after her, but he didn't have time for that now. He wanted to. He wondered off towards his father's shop. When he pushed open the door, there was no one inside. Not even Rumpelstiltskin himself. "Dad?" He called out. He walked past the counter and into the back office of the shop. His eyes widened at the sight in front of him. But he was nowhere to be found. "Papa?" Neal called out again. But no one responded. Where could he be?

Meanwhile, deep in the jungle, Felix stood by the edge of the water. He looked down to see Y/n struggling against the mermaid. He pulled his cloak off his shoulders and dove straight into the lake. With a dagger in his hand, he sawm towards Y/n. The mermaid was screaming at the Lost Girl. Her scream hurt his ears. He swam as fast as he could. The mermaid noticed the blonde swimming towards him. And so did Y/n. She screamed the blonde's name. She didn't care for the air that came out of her mouth. The mermaid removed one of her hands that was on Y/n's arm and reached out to Felix. As she removed her hand from Y/n's arm, her nails scratched her skin, leaving an ugly mark. She didn't notice. She was too occupied with Felix as he slowly got closer to the two girls. Y/n took this opportunity to kick the mermaid, as hard as she could, now that she was distracted. The mermaid let go of the Lost Girl and let out another scream. Felix came up behind the mermaid and slid her throat, using all the power he had. Blood spread through the water. The mermaid grabbed onto Felix's leg. But he kicked her off and swam off as quickly as he could. Felix reached out to Y/n and helped her swim back up to the surface. Y/n coughed loudly, water coming out of her mouth, when her head came above the water. The two of them pulled their bodies out of the lake. Felix reached out to her. "Are you okay?" He asked her. Y/n nodded as she continued to cough up water. The black spots in her vision slowly started to fade away. She turned her head to look at Felix. "Are you?" She questioned. Felix nodded and pulled the Lost Girl closer to him. He embraced her tightly. "I thought you were gone." He whispered to her. She rested her face in the crook of his neck. "I'm okay." She assured him. He reached out to the dry cloak he had dropped on the ground moments before. He wrapped it around her shoulders to keep her warm. "I hate mermaids." She said. Her voice slightly trembling because of the cold breeze passing by. Felix chuckled and held her closely. "Me too." He replied.