Neal Cassidy didn't have the best home life. His mother, Milah, was bitter half of the time and drunk the rest. She resented his father so much that he felt the need to leave. Neal bounced between two unhappy houses.

His father was a teacher which was very inconvenient for Neal. He was always hearing rumours about his father's "conquests". Most of the school believed that Mr. Gold was sneaking around with Will Scarlett's girlfriend, Belle. Neal hated the fact that his friend had to deal with those lies but the worst part was the fact that his father never protested against the remarks. Some people might see his strategy as ignorance is bliss. But Neal knew the truth. He was a coward.

Although he wasn't the biggest fan of his mother, one of his closest friends, Killian, definitely was. He constantly flirted with her, probably just to make Neal uncomfortable. It did.

Neal and Killian sat together at Neals just talking about everything that was happening in their lives.

"Graham's dead, Regina is on house arrest, Jack's missing, James is out of his mind worrying about her, our group is falling apart." Neal sighed. Killian took a swig out of his flask which Neal knew contained rum despite the fact that Killian told him it was Coke.

"I saw you talking to Emma earlier." Killian slurred completely ignoring Neal's statement. In Killian's defence it was all he could think about the entire day.

"Uh yeah. You were rude to her and she was upset." Neal reasoned.

"I called dibs. We all agreed." Killian spat, his drunkenness making him aggressive.

"She's not an object. She can date whoever she wants. And after today that's me." Neal stated, getting annoyed with his friend. Killian always acted as if he was perfect and no other guy came close. Now Neal got the girl and Killian couldn't handle the fact that Emma didn't choose him.

"Oh, I'm sure. In your dreams mate." Killian scoffed. He couldn't believe what Neal was implying.

"I'll have you know she agreed to go out with me." Neal countered, his anger boiling.

"Only because I'm not an option," Killian smirked triumphantly.

"I don't think that was ever the problem. She wasn't very interested when you were throwing yourself at her." Neal mimicked Killian's previous expression.

"You know what I'm going to win her over and you're going to be left alone as you should be."

"You have a girlfriend!" Neal shouted now furious with Killian's behaviour.

"We broke up!" Killian yelled. Neal's eyes widened. He and Tink had been together for 3 years. Even though he constantly flirted with other girls neither of them broke it off. Everyone thought they would be together forever. Them breaking up showed how serious about her he really was.

Neal calmed down.

"Fine. We both like the same girl." He sighed.

"May the best man win. Sorry, bud." Killian stood up.

"I'll be sure to tell her you said hi on our date tonight," Neal stated proudly as he shoved Killian out of his house.

Neal wasn't going to let Killian take this girl away from him. He really liked her and she deserved a lot better than his alcoholic friend.

Minutes later Neal's mother Milah came in with none other than Killian at her side.

"Neal your friend is here." She told him. Neal rolled his eyes.

"Actually Ms.Cassidy, I'm here for you," Killian smirked flirtatiously at Neal's mother and Neal knew he was just doing it to make him angry. Milah smiled giggling like a schoolgirl at the teen's advances.

"Mom I've got a date tonight so I won't be home until late. Don't wait up." Neal stared at Killian during the last part to emphasize what he meant. Killian gritted his teeth but it shifted to a smirk as an idea popped into his head.

"Ms. Cassidy I don't think it is a good idea to let your son go out tonight. After the accidents that have been happening lately, we all need to be more careful." Milah turned to her son, a thoughtful look cast upon her face. Killian who was behind her back now was filled with glee as Milah contemplated the suggestion.

"Killian is right Darling, maybe you should wait until its daytime." Milah smiled gently. Killian stuck his tongue out at Neal childishly.

"He's not right. He's drunk." Neal scoffed. Milah whipped around to see her son's best friend with a flask peeking out of his coat pocket.

"Killian Jones you better not have brought any alcohol into this house." She scolded her eyes resting on the silver flask.

"Well my dear, I would never do such a thing in the presence of a lady such as yourself." Milah blushed which disgusted and irritated Neal.

"I'm going tonight mom and if you don't support it I'll go stay with dad." This shocked both Milah and Killian as they knew how much Neal despised his father after everything that had happened between them.

"Neal-"

"Killian get out. Nothing you say or do is going to keep me from going on my date tonight." Neal was angry. He was tired of Killian getting everything. This time Killian wasn't going to ruin his date with the prettiest girl in Storybrooke.

"You're going to let a girl come between us?" Killian asked shocked by Neal's anger.

"You did that when you acted like I had no shot. A real friend would've tried to be happy for me." Neal argued frustrated that Killian was again trying to make him the bad guy.

"A real friend wouldn't have asked out the girl that I love!" Killian protested.

"Maybe I love her too!" Neal shouted.

"Boys!" Milah shouted breaking up their argument. "You have both just met this girl. That is not love."

"What would you know about love?" Neal questioned bitterly. Neal ran to his room and locked the door. Killian left swearing to himself that he wouldn't talk to Neal until he apologized. Milah stood alone in her kitchen, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Neal picked Emma up at her house. As soon as he saw her he got flustered and nervous. Emma looked even more beautiful than she usually did which, he didn't even know was possible. She was wearing dark jeans and a black shirt with her signature red leather jacket. Her blond hair was curled in perfect ringlets and her simple makeup enhanced her already gorgeous features. She was wearing black boots with no heel, which made him relieved as she wouldn't be taller than him.

Neal hopped out of the car and opened the door for her. Emma took the time to take in his appearance. He was wearing dark jeans and a graphic tee, paired with a brown suede jacket. His hair was styled neatly and she could tell he put effort into looking good for their date. She didn't know how much he sacrificed to go out with her though. His friendship with Killian was being held together by a thread and his relationship with his mom wasn't doing so well either. The duffle bag in the back was a dreadful reminder that he would be staying with his father. As much as he didn't want to be around his mom, he wasn't sure that staying at his dad's was any better. 

"Such a gentleman. " Emma giggled smiling as Neal moved his hand away from the door, grazing her waist. The slight touch sent sparks through Neal but Emma felt nothing. But she wasn't one to hope for fairytales.

"I didn't even know you could drive." Emma laughed climbing into the passenger seat. Neal made his way to the driver's side and got in. 

"I'm 17!" He groaned while still laughing. Neal was always made fun of for being shorter than the rest of his friends. He had grown used to it and sometimes joined in on the fun.

"Is this your car?" Emma asked leaning back into the cushy seats. It was a yellow Volkswagen beetle, her dream car.

"Maybe it's better if we don't talk about it." Neal turned his head away from Emma focusing everything on the road.

"A man of mystery. Interesting." Emma studied Neal. The lines in his head as he thought. She wondered what was going on in his head. A part of her wondered if he was thinking of her.

"So I have the perfect place in mind if you don't mind breaking a few rules." Neal hoped she would agree.

"Why not? Let's live on the wild side for tonight." Emma smiled to herself and for the first time in a while, let all of her worries drift away into the night.

Neal smiled at her answer and drove towards the town line. He drove them a little way outside of town and pulled up to a carnival. Emma was confused. There was nothing to do. The carnival was shut down.

"What are we doing here?" She asked as they approached a wire fence.

"Going to the carnival." Neal smiled with a hint of a smirk playing on his lips.

"Neal the carnival is shut down! Plus the gate is locked. Let's just go." Emma sighed, disappointed by Neal's plans.

"Emma just trust me. Nothing is ever locked." He winked. "Do you have a hairpin?" Neal asked holding out his hand to her. She furrowed her eyebrows but pulled a bobby pin out of her hair and placed it into Neal's open palm. He turned to the gate and twisted it around before the lock clicked open. He pushed on to the gate until it flew open. "After you." He gestured his hand and Emma entered the carnival grounds.

"Okay, so we're in. Now what?" Emma felt bad for being so negative but, she didn't see the method to his madness.

"Follow me milady." Emma rolled her eyes and Neal dragged her up to the swings. He sat down and she sat across from him. "Okay now stay right there. I'll be back."

Neal ran back to the car while Emma sat back on the swings getting lost in her thoughts. When he returned he was carrying something. As he got closer Emma could see that it was a tub of ice cream and two spoons.

"I talked to your mother at the parlour and she told me cookie dough was your favourite kind." This put an instant smile on Emma's face. Not only did he get her favourite kind, but he also put in the effort to talk to Ingrid and learn what she liked.

"Thanks." Emma smiled widely while Neal popped the lid off of the top.

"Bon appetite." He handed her a spoon and she immediately dug in.

"So how did you find this place?" Emma asked looking around.

"I ran away from home a couple of years back and found this place. I come here whenever I need to think or just, get away from everything."

"What could you possibly want to run away from? You have a family!"

"A mom who hates me because I'm related to my father. A father who gets accused for sleeping with students and hasn't denied the rumours because he's a coward. A coward who abandoned me." Emma was shocked. Sure she knew not every family was perfect, but she had assumed that other people were better off than she was.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I get it. It's like the grass is greener on the other side. You never realized that others have problems too." Neal shrugged. Emma opened her mouth to protest but realized she was right.

"I just thought that having a family would make everything ok." Emma always thought of herself as an orphan. She was a foster kid always bouncing through the system. For her, nothing was ever permanent. Even though Ingrid had adopted her, it was hard to believe she wouldn't undo it. Especially with all the trouble that seemed to follow her around.

"Maybe. But only if you have a real family. A family is built on love, not blood. Ingrid clearly loves you and wants to be your mom. You're lucky she chose you. My 'family' got stuck with me. They don't love me." Neal bit his lip holding in his emotions. Emma reached over and clutched his hand.

"I guess we're more alike than I thought." She smiled genuinely and he returned the expression. Emma stared into his eyes and studied them. She noticed something in them that she had only seen when she looked in the mirror. Neal was lost. Just like her. It was the first time she didn't feel completely alone. She finally had someone who understood what her life was like even if their situations were different.

"I guess so." Neal squeezed Emma's hand gently.

They finished off the tub of ice cream before heading off for a walk. Their hands remained intertwined the entire time as they spoke about everything and nothing. The night was perfect.

"We should probably head home." Emma sighed staring at the ground as they strolled around the rides.

"Yeah probably." They stopped walking and Neal smiled at her. He had an urge to kiss her but he was nervous. He shoved his nerves aside and started leaning in. Emma got the hint and decided to lean in as well. That was until something behind his head caught her eye. As soon as Emma saw what it was she shrieked.

There was a spike on the roof of the swings where Emma and Neal had been sitting less than an hour ago. A spike like that usually wouldn't be so terrifying but what caught Emma off guard was the body skewered by the spike.

Neal turned around and was horrified. Emma was speechless.

"I'll call 911." Emma nodded and left Neal so he could call. She made her way towards the body and started climbing. She made her way to the top and managed to get on the roof. As she got closer the identity became more clear. Emma backed away stumbling at the edge resulting in her tumbling off the roof. She held on with the tips of her fingers but she slipped. Emma braced herself for the fall but it never came. I stead she landed in the arms of her date. "Emma, what were you thinking?" He asked looking from her to the top of the ride.

"I-I had t-to know." She stuttered. "I-I know wh-who it i-is." Tears started to pour from her eyes.

"Shhhh it's okay." He pulled her into his arms. He wanted to know who it was but at this point, Emma was more important. The firemen arrived and climbed up, with a ladder, retrieving the body from the roof. Emma and Neal both knew they would be in trouble for trespassing but it wasn't their main concern. The body came down and Neal finally knew who it was

James Nolan.