A/N: This idea came to me and I had to write it down. I know it's been done but what the hey. This does mean I'll have two stories going at once so if you choose to follow this please be patient with me :)

Disclaimer: I do not own ouat

Chapter 1: Love Is An Open Door

Emma Swan rolled up into a parking lot in her little, yellow bug a few minutes walk away from her brand new dormitory. Putting the car into park, she leaned her head back against the seat, taking a deep, calming breath. Here she was at last; Misthaven College, Maine, time to take the next step in her life. The chiming of her phone signalled an incoming text from her boyfriend Neal. Hey babe, c u in 30 x. Thank god. Knowing that Neal would be here soon made her infinitely calmer. They'd started dating fresh out of high school so had only been together for a couple of months but it was good. They ended up choosing to go to the same college, much to Neal's dad's, Robert Gold's, dismay, who believed his son shouldn't be going to a less esteemed school and so had made a point of paying for the wealthiest dorm here on the opposite side of campus.

Funnily enough it was the 'Gold Halls' in honour of the Rumplestiltskin fairytale. All of the buildings had names linking in some way to Grimm's fiction, but come on, the school is called Misthaven, on the edge of a town called Storybrooke, hidden away by a nature reserve known as the Enchanted Forest. Emma's dorm was called Arendelle with a snowflake insignia hanging over the door and she was trying to mentally prepare herself for the avalanche (pun not intended) of Frozen related jokes that were bound to come from this. Pulling her bags from the trunk, Emma raised her chin and strode into the building. It was a unisex dorm so several boys cast appreciative glances to her tight black jeans, knee high boots, tank top and fire engine red, fitted leather jacket. Confident in the knowledge that she was spoken for but her ass still looked good, Emma dug in her pockets to find the slip that would direct her to her new abode for the foreseeable future.

The corridor was split down the middle to try and create some degree of gender separation, with the boys on the right and the girls on the left. She followed the odd numbers to room 27 and pushed open the door with nervous excitement. It was typical college style, plain walls, two single beds, a couple of desks with the keys to room on them, shelving space and drawers for storage. Emma eased her stuff onto the ground in front of the right bed and fell back with a content sigh; home sweet home. Not wanting to take up all of the space with her unpacking before her room mate arrived, she was content to lie back and wait in patience; not that she was waiting for long.

Within two minutes, there was a rhythmic tapping on the door frame followed by a child like, "Emma...Do you wanna build a snowman?" Sitting up, she squealed and ran to hug her new room mate and good friend Mary Margaret Blanchard. "Please don't start with the puns already M&M, I think it's going to end up causing me physical pain and permanent emotional trauma." Mary Margaret just gave her a solemn look and sang, "Conceal don't feel, don't let them know." Good god this was going to be a struggle. With a giggle at the ridiculousness of it all, they set about furnishing and straightening up the new room, each adding their own personal touches: a hand made quilt and pot plant for Mary Margaret and a music dock and band posters for Emma. In many ways they were polar opposites, but you know what they say about opposites attracting. They balanced each other out perfectly on the scale of sweet to bad ass, rarely fighting unless it was over style (note the great war of floral versus leather 2012)

Working together in harmony, they completed their task quickly and efficiently bringing the space to life with colour and lived in qualities. They stepped back to admire the finished product when another sounded only this time it was less musical. "Who is it?" called Emma, "Only the bestest brother and boyfriend in the whole entire world...obviously boyfriend not applying to you Ems but to...you know what never mind," replied a male voice on the other side. Shaking her head Emma stepped forward, but Mary Margaret yanked her back, not one to miss a moment, "No! Don't let him in, don't let him see," she was cut off by the door opening itself and the appearance of David Nolan. Being Mary Margaret's perfect other half, he gasped dramatically pointing at the door and the wall behind them, "The window is open, so's that door." Somebody please have mercy. David enveloped them both in a giant bear hug making them all laugh with joy over the reunion. "Nice place you've got here girls, mines not done yet but I've left my room mate to finish up while I checked in here."

Intrigue sparked in Emma's mind. She was really hoping that David had a nice person to bunk with because she'd probably end up spending a fair amount of time with them considering how tight knit their group was and how eager her brother would be to welcome him. If he was awful she would most likely kill the guy. She cleared her throat, "Speaking of, what's the guy like; does he seem okay?"

"Well he's a bit of a fixer upper- pun most definitely intended -but I don't see any problems with him. I even think that he may pass all your tests Emma." As if, "Seriously David, I need to know if I'm gonna beat him up at some point."

"Well that would make for a charming reunion love," said an accented voice that warmed Emma's heart. She looked towards the open door, smiling widely. Killian.

~E&k~

Emma was walking through the corridors trying to go unnoticed by keeping her head down, eyes glued firmly on the floor in front of her. Was it too much to ask to have a quiet first day at her new high school? Of course it was. There was always one dick head who had to ruin everything and he did this by purposely slamming into her so that she and her books fell to the ground. Emma tried to get up, but he just shoved her down again laughing. Readying herself for a fight, Emma made another move to stand when two other boys got in front of her. Both were tall with broad shoulders, one was sandy blonde, contrasting nicely with his inky black companion. "Now that is no way to treat a young lady Smith, you should know better," said one, "Aye, I agree mate. You do appear to have crossed the line and I believe apologies are now in order," said the other in a lilted voice. Her heroes stepped aside to reveal a now sheepish looking bully who muttered a hurried apology and then dashing away, leaving a few members of the crowd chuckling.

The two boys turned and bent down to help her up and gather her books. Upon further inspection, she discovered they both had blue eyes but one like the sky and the other like the sea. "Are you okay lass?" said tall, dark and Irish. She managed a nod and a muttered thank you that made them both smile at her warmly, "Good, good. Well I'm Killian Jones and this is my best mate David Nolan, we're more than happy to be of service."

"Swan, Emma Swan," she offered with as much confidence as she could muster. "Well Swan," said Killian, "We could be honoured to escort you to the cafeteria and all have lunch together, right Dave?" The blonde one, David, nodded and took up place on her right, while Killian took the left and they walked on as a unit.

That first lunch break had been truly horrific, she felt bad but a bit happy as well that they stood by their word and ditched their friends (it was obvious she'd been rescued by the most popular boys in the year) and sat by her in semi uneasy silence. They were persistent though, every lunch they ate by her side until she was just as loud and laughing as they were. Eventually their group expanded to include Mary Margaret, her friends Ruby and Regina along with two other guys, Will and Jefferson who would all be at Misthaven to. Sometimes the alpha personalities clashed, but they always made it through with some good jokes, witty banter and ever present sass. They were the only people who knew about Emma being in a bad home with unloving foster parents. When they first discovered the bruises, they had all rallied and David had quickly convinced his mother Ruth to help which she did by adopting Emma. Within a year, she had a loving family, people she could speak to freely and a best friend in Killian Jones.

He never failed to make her smile, got her into all of the music that she now adored and was always there whenever she needed him. That was until the incident. Killian's parents were divorced and he moved state side with his brother Liam and his mother. Two years before they were set to graduate high school, Killian's father got very ill and the family went home to Ireland to deal with it. They stayed in contact over Skype and Facebook, never losing contact but Mary Margaret had become her new closest friend after the night she spent holding Emma while she sobbed over Killian's departure. He'd said goodbye with one last hug, a kiss to the forehead and a " Remember me always Swan." She hadn't seen him in person for a solid two and a bit years; until today.

~E&K~

"Killian," she breathed before running across the short distance and launching herself into his arms with her hands locked behind his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist to keep him from disappearing. Killian laughed, the sound reverberating through her chest, so deep, so rich, so Killian, that it brought tears to her eyes. "I missed you too Swan," he murmured into her hair, holding on just as tightly. Mary Margaret and David stood by, arms around each other, trying not to shed their own tears over their friends. Emma didn't seem set to let him go just yet, so he waved at the other couple over her shoulder with a smile and trade mark wink that made them laugh. "Hey Swan, if you're going to cry or something don't be afraid to...let it go."

Great; another one she thought with a sigh of exasperation. She was about to tell him where he could stick his Frozen puns, when there was a loud shout and she felt herself being forcefully ripped from Killian. The day had taken a decisively bad turn when she landed heavily on her ass, pain shooting up her spine. Rubbing her backside she looked up to see who had interrupted her overdue hug with her best friend, and was met with the angry glare of Neal.

Bloody hell.

Author's Note: So there is chapter 1 for anyone who bothers to read it. I would like to point out all of my knowledge of American schooling comes from books and tv being from the UK myself so please forgive any mistakes. Coming up in chapter 2: out come of that last cliff hanger.