Broken OUAT

Chapter 1 - Leaving Storybrooke

Smack. Emma landed in a heap on the floor, her hand going to her cheek where Neal had just slapped her.

"You're worthless, Emma." He spat.

Emma wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry, so she stood up and put on a brave face. Neal slapped her again before grabbing her roughly by the arm.

"If you tell ANYONE about this..."

"You'll kill me?"

Neal grinned. "No. I know you, Emma. Your life doesn't matter that much to you. I'll kill your parents."

Emma's face hardened. "You leave them out of this."

"Only if you do." He retorted.

Emma watched as he stormed out of the house, and only then did she allow herself to cry.

Emma and Neal had been back together for almost a year now, and he had been abusing her for the past six months. Emma had thought about leaving him several times, but he would come home with flowers or chocolate, telling her how sorry he was and how he promised he would change. He had even promised to go see Archie, but he never did.

Emma looked at the clock and realized she was going to be late for work. She rushed into the bathroom and splashed some cool water on her tear streaked face, before reaching for the makeup. She couldn't let anyone see.

When Emma walked into the sherif station fifteen minutes later, her father was already there. He looked up from his desk and smiled.

"Good morning, Em."

Emma forced a smile. "Good morning." She went to her desk and sat down.

Emma was sifting through a pile of paperwork when she felt her father's eyes on her. She turned to see a concerned look on his face.

"Emma, is everything okay?"

"Yes!" Emma replied a little too quickly. "Why?"

David frowned. He seemed to be having a battle with himself on whether or not he should say something. In the end, he decided he would.

"What happened?"

Emma tried not to panic. "W...what do you mean?"

David sighed. "The bruise on your face, Emma. What happened?"

Emma paled. She must have missed a spot when she was covering the bruises. She tried to think up a good excuse, and quickly. When Emma was a child, she made excuses all the time. She always fell or ran into something. That was what Emma's foster parents always told her to say, and her teachers always believed her. If they didn't, it never showed. Emma knew her father wasn't her old teachers. He was likely to see right through her lies.

"Emma?"

"I ran into the dresser." She began. "I was sleepwalking."

The moment the words came out of her mouth, Emma knew they were stupid. She had never sleepwalked in her life.

David frowned. "Emma, you don't sleepwalk."

Emma swallowed the lump in her throat before looking away. "Not that you've seen. It's something I always did as a kid, and just recently started doing again. It's a bit embarrassing actually." She said the last part with a small chuckle, hoping that this would ease her father's worries.

"So you were sleepwalking, and you hit your face?" He asked disbelievingly. "Last week you tripped down the stairs..."

"You think I'm lying?" Emma was starting to get defensive, just as she used to when she was a child.

"I didn't say that, Emma. It's just...are you sure everything is okay?"

"Of course it is." Emma lied.

"If it weren't, you'd tell me? You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Emma wanted so badly to tell him, but she couldn't. It was embarrassing for one. Then there was Neal's threat. Emma knew her parents could take care of themselves and that Neal probably wouldn't even carry out his threat, but she couldn't take that chance. There was a time when she never believed he would hit her. He had changed.

"Of course I do." Emma smiled.

David looked as if he wanted to say something else, but he didn't.

That night, Neal came home with flowers and chocolate. He apologized over and over, telling Emma that he didn't mean any of it.

"My dad saw the bruise." Emma whispered.

Neal paled. "What? I thought you covered them up."

"I do, but I must have missed a spot. I told him I got it while sleepwalking."

"Did he buy it?"

Emma shrugged. "He seemed a bit suspicious, but I think I might have convinced him. I don't know how much longer I can play it off as accidents, Neal. This has to stop."

Neal ran a hand over his face. "I know, and it will."

The abuse didn't stop, and Mary Margaret was becoming suspicious as well. Emma had backed out on their dinner plans three times over the past couple weeks, and that wasn't like her.

Then one day Neal came to Emma.

"I think we should leave Storybrooke."

Emma's mouth dropped open. "L...leave?"

Neal took Emma's hands. "I can't handle being in this town. As long as I'm around my father...I think if I leave, things will get better. We could go Tallahassee."

"Tallahassee? Neal, that was years ago. I don't want to go to Tallahassee." Emma argued.

"New York then." Neal suggested. "We can go anywhere you want, just not here."

"But my family is here. My parents are here."

Neal snorted. "The parents who abandoned you. The parents who shipped you off through a wardrobe."

Emma pulled away from Neal. "They didn't have a choice." She defended.

"They always had a choice, Emma. They could have chose you, but they didn't. They don't care about you, not really. They have a new kid now. Just like my father did with Belle."

Emma could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks. "That's not true. Besides, Henry is here."

"So we take Henry with us."

"We can't. He wouldn't want to leave Regina. She's his mom."

Neal was growing angry. "You'd be his mom if you hadn't abandoned him."

"You LEFT me. You let me take the blame." Emma cried.

Slap.

"Do NOT talk to me like that." Neal seethed. "We're leaving. We'll visit Henry, and he can come stay with us whenever he wants."

In the end, Emma agreed to leave Storybrooke. Her family didn't take it well, especially Henry. Emma promised that she would visit often and promised to call. But she couldn't help the sinking feeling as they drove over the town line, that she would never see her family or this town again.