Scared to tell
Daniël wanted to tell Emma a lot of times, but he felt guilty because Emma pictured him as this perfect guy and he was scared that she would leave him if she found out. Her friends seemed like they had their lives all figured out and they would disapprove of their relationship if they heard about his past. That’s why he didn’t want to tell them and he pretended to be this perfect guy who could never do anything wrong.
He stopped hanging out with his friends because they were a bad influence on him and he was dying to start over and start somewhere new. When Emma got pregnant, it felt like a fresh start and he felt it was necessary to move somewhere new. Although his minor crimes were already a long time behind him, he didn’t want anything to happen to his baby so he chose to be safe rather than sorry.