Gold

{53}

I watched as Regina attempted to train Emma once again. She was trying to get Emma to light a fire with her magic. They'd been bickering the entire time, but anyone could tell it was just a front for their flirting.

"Focus. Concentrate." Regina told her.

"It's kind of hard to concentrate when you're talking in my ear." Emma snapped.

"Isn't that where you'd like me to be?"

Emma flushed, then rolled her eyes.

I made eye contact with Hook, who beckoned me over. Snow and Charming joined me.

"We need to talk. Pan paid me a visit. He, uh, he told me that Neal is alive, and that he's on this very island."

Shock rooted me in place. Baelfire was alive? I had to tell Rumple. If he knew that Bae was alive, maybe he would be willing to not sacrifice himself.

If he knew he could have a second chance with Bae.

"Emma saw him. He was shot. He fell through a portal. No one could survive that." Snow protested.

"Well, he did, and now he's here. He said he took him from this very camp while we were off in his cave." Hook told her, then looked at Charming and I.

I guessed he wanted to see if we believed Pan. I was scared to. If I believed him and told Rumple that Bae was alive, it would be devastating if it turned out to be some sort of trick. It would destroy Rumple.

"How can we believe anything Pan says?" Snow asked, looking doubtful.

"And why would he tell you? What does he hope to gain?" Charming asked suspiciously.

"Who knows why he does anything? He had his reasons, but it's a sure bet they're not good ones."

I looked down at the ground beneath us, studying it. I saw it then, the signs of a struggle. Bae had been taken from this campsite.

"He's telling the truth. Look, the scuff marks. Someone was here while we were gone." I told them.

"We have to tell Emma." Snow said instantly, which Charming and Hook shared a look at.

"No, no, no. She already lost Neal once. And if this is a game, we can't put her through that again." Charming said.

"He's right. Either way, telling her is what Pan wants, which is why we shouldn't do it." Hook added, looking at Snow and I.

I didn't think we should lie to Emma, but I also didn't want her to get hurt. If it was to spare her feelings, I'd lie a million times over.

"You want to find him without letting her know?" Snow asked Hook.

"Why hurt her unnecessarily?"

"I've never lied to her before."

There she goes again, the usual overly righteous Snow speech. This island was making me so much more resentful than usual, and it was throwing me off balance.

Ever since we'd landed on the shores, I'd felt the anger and darkness waiting for a release. I seemed to be inching towards snapping every day, and it was worrying me. What if I hurt someone I loved?

"You're not lying. You're just keeping a secret until confirmation." Hook reassured her.

"Secrets always seem to keep us from the people we really care about."

Was I imagining the way Snow eyed me when she said that? Was I imagining the way she seemed wary of me now? Skirted around me as if I was a time bomb, destined to blow up, but never Knowing when?