A/N: Here is the first chapter to the sequel of 'A Day In Manhattan'! I hope you enjoy!

Emma didn't even need an alarm clock to wake her up that morning. The whole night she had been in and out of sleep, her mind racing with thoughts of the previous day. Conflicting thoughts of wanting to be angry at Neal, wanting to hate him but seeing the way he was with Henry gave her unwanted feelings that she thought had died a long time ago. For eleven years she was convinced he was a no good thief who didn't give a crap about anyone but himself. From where she stood he got her to steal his stolen watches and then he ran away with them, sending her to prison for what he did, his only consolation prize being the bug and the swan keychain and of course, unknowingly, Henry.

Learning he was Baelfire put a whole other spin on things. It didn't change the fact that he left her and at first it only made her angrier because her whole life had been fashioned around the curse, and Baelfire was just another part of that.

She kept thinking about it though, and how much Baelfire didn't actually want to meet his father again, how he wanted to escape all traces of magic and she was the product of the purest magic there was. She typically didn't believe in all of that stuff but maybe Neal was right, maybe it was destiny or fate or whatever that brought them together. It was Henry who brought her to Storybrooke to break the curse and if she and Neal had never met, had never created Henry, there would be no way for her to get to Storybrooke. Fate was cruel, she decided. To have her meet Neal, fall in love with him only to have him break her heart so she could fulfill her destiny as the savior. And perhaps, for that reason, it wasn't all Neal's fault.

That was where her conflict lied however, because she blamed him for eleven years and she could not let that go so easily.

She let out a heavy sigh and rolled over to look at the clock. It was a quarter to seven and she knew she had to wake Henry up to meet Neal at seven thirty. The boy was currently sound asleep beside her, curled up into his pillow with a serene little smile on his face.

Emma knew there was no going back at this point. Henry loved Neal with all his heart and there would be no use trying to separate them.

She rolled back over to face him, watched him sleep for a minute and then quietly reached over to brush the hair away from his forehead. Henry twitched in his sleep but didn't awaken, only snugged further into the pillow.

Emma smiled at him softly and then picked herself out of bed, deciding to let him sleep for a little bit longer.

She stretched out her tired muscles and tried to blink away the sleep from her eyes. She grabbed an outfit for the day and was about to head to the bathroom to take a shower when a low knock sounded at the door.

"You've got to be kidding." Emma muttered, groaning as she placed her clothes down on the bathroom counter and then moved toward the front door.

"Neal, seriously, it's not even-oh." She paused as she opened the door and standing on the other side was not Neal but his father. She shifted awkwardly, suddenly realizing that she was in her night clothes in front of Rumplestiltskin. "Gold, uh, what are you doing here?"

The older man didn't even seem to notice her state of dress or if he did, he certainly didn't care. He stood in his usual fashion, upright but leaning on his cane for support, his face stern but there was a little bit of vulnerability in his eyes.

"Good morning, Miss Swan." He greeted easily. "I came to ask a favor."

Emma raised her brow and crossed her arms over her chest. "I got your boy to talk to you, our deal is done."

"No, no." He shook his hand. "It's not that. It's," He sighed and paused for a moment. Emma stared at him incredulously, was the infamous deal maker actually hesitant to make a deal? "I overheard you talking last night with Baelfire and I know he's meeting you and Henry here for breakfast."

Emma leaned against the doorway and blinked at him. "Are you...asking for an invitation?"

Gold looked up at her and she can honestly say she never thought she'd see such a desperate, pleading look in his eyes. "I just want to get to know him again."

Emma frowned. "He doesn't want you there."

Gold visibly winced and shut his eyes for a moment. "I know, I know. But..."

She cut him off gently. "Look, if you want to gain your son's trust back you have to let him come to you. Barging in on his life when he doesn't want you is not going to help you, its just going to make it worse. He wants to spend time with Henry and if you show up down there it'll ruin that for him. He's angry, Gold. It's going to take some time before he learns to forgive."

Gold let out a sigh and looked down as he fidgeted with his cane.

"I know you want time with your son but Neal wants time with his and right now...your relationship with him can't interfere with his relationship with Henry."

He stood there quietly for a few seconds and then his brow furrowed as he looked back up at her curiously. "Do you love him, Miss Swan?"

Emma blinked in confusion. "Henry? Of course I-"

"Not Henry." Gold was quick to correct. "Baelfire." Emma's eyes widened and her breath caught in her chest. Gold raised his brow in question, his eyes imploring hers. "Do you love my son?"

Emma gripped onto the door in shock and suddenly found it very hard to breathe. If she didn't know any better she could very well assume that Gold was reading her mind or perhaps even worse, she was wearing her conflicted feelings on her sleeve. And if Gold could see them, maybe Neal could too. "I..." She squeaked. Could she lie to Gold's face? Was it even lying? She had no idea how she felt especially about Neal.

"Well," Gold continued at her silence, "You certainly do care about him a lot if you are protecting him from me."

The words hit her like a freight train and if she wasn't already holding onto the door she might have stumbled.

He let out a breath and shook his head slowly. "I should be angry that you are trying to keep him from me but you've taken care of him and you still are and for that I'm grateful and will honor your wishes. And please tell him I will honor his as well." He stared at her, waiting until she finally gave a little nod that she'd heard and understood what he said. Then he nodded and hobbled back to his room.

Emma watched him go, her eyes wide and then she quickly stepped back into the room, shutting the door. She covered her mouth with her hands and backed up against the door then closing her eyes, she slid down to the ground, bringing her knees up to her chest.

She let out a shuddering breath as she buried her head between her knees, thinking about all that Gold had said.

Was she protecting Neal? Yes she supposed she was but it wasn't because she loved him. She knew what it felt like to be in his position, to hate your parents for abandoning you. She empathized with Baelfire but she didn't love Neal. She couldn't love Neal.

Emma sat there, wrestling with herself for a few minutes and then eventually lifted her head and ran her fingers though her hair. This trip was becoming way too emotionally damaging for her liking.

She finally got herself up off the floor and dragged herself into the shower. She lost herself under the hot water for a lot longer than she expected and when she got out, realized she only had ten minutes to wake up Henry and get him downstairs to meet Neal.

She quickly got dressed and threw her wet hair up in a towel and then went to the bedroom. She leaned over the bed and gently shook Henry awake. "Henry, hey kid, you gotta get up."

Henry let out a sleepy moan and rolled onto his back, his eyes fluttering opened as he looked up at his mother. "What time is it?" He mumbled sleepily.

"It's seven twenty, you have to meet Neal in ten minutes."

Henry was instantly awake at the mention of his father and in the past few weeks Henry had been living with her, she swore she never saw him get out of bed so quickly.

He was speeding around the room, nearly tripping over his feet as he grabbed clothes from his suitcase. "Woah, kid! I said ten minutes, not two minutes! We're going downstairs not across the city."

Henry froze, a bunch of his clothes in his arms and he smiled sheepishly over at her. Emma chuckled and smiled fondly, walking over to him to help him sort out his clothes. "Here." She handed him a clean shirt and pants. "Go get dressed and don't kill yourself doing it."

Henry grinned and ran off to the bathroom. He returned a few minutes later all nice and dressed and cleaned up. "Do I look okay?" He asked.

Emma smiled and walked over to him. His constant attempt to impress his father was adorable. She reached over and brushed a few strands of his hair down. "You look great, kid."

Henry beamed happily and looked at the clock. "We still have four minutes. Can we go downstairs and wait for him there?"

"Of course." Emma answered, touching his cheek affectionately. "Just give me one more minute." She walked over to the mirror near the bed, grabbing her brush along the way. She ran the towel over her head once more to get any remaining droplets off and ran her brush through her hair and then quickly threw it up in a ponytail. She grabbed her boots and pulled them on before walking back over to an eager Henry. "Alright let's go." She slipped her arm around his shoulders, grabbed her bag on the way out and walked with Henry down to the lobby.

They both took a seat on one of the couches, Henry tapping his foot anxiously as he stared at the front door, watching everyone who passed.

It was only two minutes past seven thirty when the automatic doors hissed open and Neal walked in, instantly spotting the two waiting for him. Henry hopped off the couch and ran over to him with a grin.

"Hey Dad."

Neal still felt a thrill every time he heard Henry call him that and the odd expression on his face must have alerted Henry.

"You don't mind that I call you dad, right? I can call you Neal...or Baelfire..."

"No." Neal reacted quickly to his given name but then quickly cleared his throat and smiled. "No," He said again more softly, "Dad is fine."

Henry lit up and Neal grinned back. "So how are you this morning, Henry?"

"Good." Henry answered. "Hungry."

Neal chuckled. "Yeah, me too."

Emma stood near the couch, her eyes slightly wide as she watched Neal and Henry. Since the moment Neal entered the lobby, she felt her chest tighten. The conversation she had with his father just a half hour ago returning to the forefront of her mind. And not only that but Neal was dressed in a beautiful charcoal gray three piece suit, his hair neatly styled, and looking so much more professional than she'd ever seen him. Granted, she'd only seen him in the old clothes he'd stolen and what he was wearing the last few days which was more casual but he certainly did clean up nice.

She finally took a deep breath and casually strolled over to them, planting a small smile, friendly smile on her lips. "Good morning." She greeted.

Neal turned his attention to her and his face dropped slightly as he took her in.

"What?" She narrowed her eyes curiously as he stared at her.

He swallowed thickly and pointed to her head. "Your uh, your hair is up."

"Yeah..." She shook her head slowly and then she realized. All she needed was her glasses and she'd be his Emma. She almost never wore her hair down when she was with Neal. For Neal, seeing her with her hair up again must have brought back those memories.

She inhaled sharply and tried to shrug it off. "I don't like my hair down when its wet."

A small, sad smile crossed his lips. "Because it gets in your face and you don't like the feeling of wet hair." He said softly and her eyes widened. Those were the exact words she'd said to him one night, when they snuck into a motel and took a shower and he tried to convince her to leave her hair down.

She swallowed. "It's itchy." She whispered, echoing her words from long ago.

Neal smiled at her and Henry looked between his parents, observing the intense, nostalgic look they shared and a small, knowing smile tugged at his lips.

Emma took a breath and shook her head, breaking Neal's gaze. "Um, let's go eat." She motioned towards the dining area and started to walk in that direction.

Neal let out a soft sigh and looked down at Henry and the little boy shrugged. Neal smirked and wrapped his arm around Henry's shoulder and they followed Emma.

There were a few people sitting around at tables, mostly business men in the city for work and they grabbed a table close to the buffet table.

They all grabbed a plate and their food of choice and sat down at the small table.

"Got enough syrup there, kid?" Emma asked in amusement as Henry poured the syrup onto his pancakes.

"I like syrup." He shrugged innocently before placing the bottle back in the center of the table. Neal chuckled as he grabbed the bottle and dropped a little on top of his. "You sure do have a sweet tooth, don't you?"

Henry nodded enthusiastically, stuffing a piece of pancake in his mouth. Neal laughed and took a bite of his own while Emma shook her head.

Seeing Henry was fully engrossed in his meal and too occupied to talk to Neal, Emma summoned up her courage and decided to make conversation.

"So, where do you work?" She asked Neal.

Neal swallowed what was in his mouth and placed down his fork to talk to her. "I work at a bank."

Her brow rose and she smirked. "You? Work with money?"

He chuckled softly, looking down for a moment. "I've cleaned up my act, Emma. I'm not that guy anymore. I haven't been since..." He trailed off, giving her a pointed look and her face fell, knowing exactly when.

She nodded softly and pushed her fork at her eggs. "So they just let you in?"

"I had to work my way up to my position." He explained. "But I've been there for a couple years and they seem to like me." He smirked.

Emma rolled her eyes slightly and brought her fork up to her mouth to take a bite. "Well," she said after she swallowed, "I'm happy for you, really."

"Thank you." He smiled softly and she nodded curtly before returning to her breakfast.

Neal watched them both quietly as they ate their meals. Just as he had told Henry he had done a lot of thinking of whether he wanted to move to Storybrooke. He had created a life for himself in Manhattan, though not much of one. His job at the bank was the first steady one he had in pretty much ever but that was the only thing holding him to Manhattan. He had made a couple friends but none that would truly miss him if he moved. And if he did he could possibly have this everyday, having breakfast with Henry and Emma, laughing as the kid drowned himself in syrup. He missed eleven years, how could he just let it go before he really had the chance to enjoy it?

He could deal with his father being around. Now that he had found him again whether he stayed in Manhattan, moved to Maine or moved to Africa, his father knew he was out there and attempt to contact him no matter what. Was costing a relationship with his son really worth it just so he didn't have to see his father every day? One came with the other and he had to accept both or give up both. And being around his father was a bit more of an attractive option than leaving Henry.

Henry finished his plate and hopped off the chair to get some more and Emma called after him, warning him not to get too much. Neal smiled to himself as he watched Henry run off and Emma smirk to herself. He could have had this...a life with her, a life with Henry, all of them together. But he gave it up...well, he could not make that mistake again.

Rumplestiltskin or no, Neal had to be with his son. He would not miss this chance to be in his life. Neal was going to Storybrooke.

He smiled as Henry came to sit back down, a few eggs and two pieces of bacon and a few slices of oranges on his plate.

"You've got some appetite there, kid." Neal remarked and Henry grinned as he grabbed a piece of bacon.

"Yeah." Emma muttered, shaking her head. "And he's going to have an upset stomach later and be complaining all day."

"Am not!" Henry insisted as he took a bite.

Neal smirked and leaned over to Henry. "Why don't you give your mom a break huh? I think you know she knows whats best." He raised his brow pointedly and Henry bit his lips as he looked down at the plate full of food. The little boy sighed and grabbed one orange slice off the plate before pushing it to the center of the table and putting the orange in his mouth.

"Good boy." Neal smiled at him, patting his arm before sitting back up. He looked over to see Emma staring at him in slight awe and he smiled in confusion.

"What?"

She let out a breath as she shook her head. "I can never get him to do that."

Neal chuckled softly as he looked over to Henry who was sucking the last bit of juice out of his orange, then caught his parents staring at him and took it out of his mouth and grinned.

Yes, Neal thought, there was no way he was giving this up.