Yup, SK, I believe you have it exactly right!
It is really deep …and yet simple… and all about the two of them. She pushed/ goaded him almost to the point of mocking him to get him to tell her, and he pushed back. I don’t believe that Hook is ready to trust Emma’ s emotions (or his own, completely) to handle just exactly how much he has given up from the moment he got back to EF and through the following year ~just to be by her side again. I think he also knows she is a bit scared of how deep those emotions could run. That is why his remark about her heart being able to be broken was HUGE . It was a very bluntly honest reminder to her that she has a great capacity to love because she has a great capacity to FEEL. And he is there .
***Always in search of a good flock***