I needed some holiday AU fluff after my heart was ripped out by Sunday's episode
Emma groaned and bunched her pillow around her ears. Some drunken asshole was walking past her window singing Christmas carols again. From the sound of his (now familiar) voice it was the same drunken asshole. Emma couldn't take it anymore, it was the week before finals and she was burnt out from all the final papers and projects due this week on top of her job at the local diner and she needed some shut eye goddamn it. She angrily threw back her covers and stomped over to her window and opened it with a bang.
"Shut the fuck up!," she yelled down interrupting his rendition of "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" that he only knew half the words to. From her room on the fourth floor she could see his dark hair and lean build stop and look up at her.
"Well someone isn't having a holly jolly Christmas are they?" he shouted back.
"I would be if I could get some fucking sleep!"
"But who needs sleep when it's Christmas?" he laughed.
"It won't be Christmas for like 3 weeks man, now both of you shut up!" another voice shouted from another window. The drunk guy laughed and stumbled away thankfully no longer singing. Emma closed her window and got back into bed trying to get some sleep before she had the breakfast shift at the diner.
The next morning Emma was busy serving trays of bacon, eggs, and coffee to hungry customers when she saw a dark haired guy in sunglasses slump into a seat at the counter. He held his forehead in his hands and looked like he was trying to shut out the world, Emma saw the tell tale signs of a hangover and went over to try to take his order.
"Hi, I'm Emma can I get you anything?" she asked. He didn't look up at her keeping his eyes on the counter in front of him as if in a trance. "Sir?" she tried again.
"Oh sorry, um a coffee and something with a lot of grease please," he said with a lilting accent, shaking himself out of his stupor and looking up at her. Emma took note of the chiseled jaw and dark scruff that covered it.
"One coffee and a Granny's Grand Slam coming up," she said moving behind the counter to get him a mug and poured him some coffee. She then took his ticket over to the window, they might as well change the name of the breakfast into Granny's Hangover Cure because it worked miracles. Emma hadn't seen anyone come in with one that didn't leave with it gone. The old woman must have some sort of magic in her grease.
"So who's the cutie at the end of the counter?" Emma's friend and coworker Ruby asked her bumping her elbow and winking suggestively.
"You're ridiculous, he's just your usual hungover guy with sunglasses and a leather jacket. Ruby we live in a college town, we see about a hundred hungover guys at breakfast all the time," Emma said.
"Yeah but none who look like that. Just look at that jaw, it could cut glass," Ruby said gesturing to Emma's customer. Emma appreciated the view, she wasn't blind the guy was pretty gorgeous, but she wasn't about to chat up an extremely hungover customer.
"Order up! One Grand Slam!" Granny said ringing the bell, Emma turned and grabbed the tray off the kitchen window.
"Just try to make some conversation, Lord knows you need it," Ruby said before giving her a little push. Emma looked back and stuck her tongue out at her childishly.
"All right one Granny's Grand Slam and can I get you more coffee?" she asked as she place the plate heaping with an egg and cheddar omelette, bacon, hash-browns, and a short stack of pancakes in front of him.
"Yes please and could I also get a large glass of water? The inside of my mouth feels like its coated in sand," he said picking up his fork and starting in on his hash browns.
"Sure," Emma replied as she refilled his coffee and filled a glass with water, "So, rough night?"
"You could definitely say that," he said before taking a huge gulp of water "Now that's much better," he sighed turning back to his food. Emma smiled before going back to work waiting her other tables full of groups friends and families, Ruby turned up the music which was on some radio station playing 24 hour Christmas music. Emma groaned internally, it wasn't that she hated Christmas and the holiday season but after spending so many of them alone with no family or friends she didn't get the same amount of good cheer that everyone else got. She grabbed empty plates and checks off of emptying tables as the breakfast rush started dying down when she noticed her very hungover customer still at the counter nursing his enormous grease sponge of a meal.
"Do you need any more coffee or water?" she asked.
"Just more water please, do people really eat all of this in one sitting?" he asked gesturing to his half eaten meal.
"Sometimes but it's okay to admit defeat. Do you want me to box it up for you?"
"No, thank you. I think I'll be good on food for at least a couple of days," he smiled at her "I'm Killian by the way, Killian Jones" he extended his hand and Emma shook it noticing he had taken off his sunglasses and more importantly how blue his eyes were.
"Emma," she said quickly grabbing his plate and going back to the kitchen only to almost run into Ruby.
"Okay you have to admit that is one hot piece of man, do you see his face? Do you see Emma?" Ruby asked enthusiastically. Emma rolled her eyes at her and scraped the uneaten food into the garbage before placing it with the other dirty dishes.
"You have a boyfriend Ruby, remember Victor? I think so can close your mouth now," she said.
"Just because I have a boyfriend doesn't mean I don't have eyes Emma, besides this one's all yours, go get 'em! I'll cover anyone who comes in," Ruby said trying to push Emma out of the kitchen.
"Wait woah woah there, I can't just talk to him, I'm not dating anyone right now, I'm focusing on school," Emma said planting her feet firmly into the floor.
"Emma come on, just talk to him! I know that after everything that happened with Neal you're not into dating right now, but just try talking to him," Ruby said and Emma paused. It's true that ever since Neal had dumped her right on her ass right before they were supposed to move in together, leaving her with 2 weeks to try to find a place to live before classes started, she swore off dating but that had been months ago.
"Fine, I'll talk to him," she said before pushing open the door out into the dining room. She smoothed the front of her uniform red skirt and walked over to him. He was still sitting in his spot, looking at something on his phone but he looked up as she approached and smiled. Wait she knew that smile from somewhere, was he in one of her classes? No she'd remember a face like that, then "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" came on the speakers and it clicked.
"You!" she said loudly causing him to look affronted.
"Me?" he asked pointing to himself.
"You're Drunk Christmas Carol Guy!"
"Oh, yeah I guess I am, you're the girl who shouted at me aren't you?" he asked looking closely.
"Yeah, sounds like you've been having a good couple of nights," she said. He looked sheepishly at the counter.
"Yeah my mates have insisted on getting me out and about to blow off steam this week," he said.
"And that includes loud Christmas caroling in the middle of the night?"
"Apparently," he laughed, "But I'm sorry for waking you up," he said looking in her eyes.
"Thanks, your version of "Jingle Bells" isn't half bad, I'm sure it sounds great when you remember all the words" she said smiling.
"Let me make it up to you, maybe a cup of coffee to make up for all the lack of sleep I caused?" he asked her scratching behind his ear.
Emma thought for a moment, on the one hand she wasn't sure she was ready for this and on the other hand Killian was pretty great looking and how much harm could one cup of coffee do?
"Okay, sounds great," she said and saw his smile widen. She rung up his meal and he left her a good tip and his phone number and the message "Give me a ring!- K" on the back of his receipt. Emma went back to her apartment and took out the receipt from her pocket. She flopped down on her bed trying to figure out what exactly she wanted to do, go out for coffee with him or add him to that list of cute guys and flirtations that would never go any where. Emma sighed and dialed his number, holding her breath.