A/N This is the second entry in the series, What She Wants - From Here to There' .
This is almost 'What She Wants' from Killian's POV, but I wanted to expand it a little to include Liam and Emma, as this is just the first of the little snapshots I am planning for this series. I hope the generous souls who were so kind about the first story in this series, enjoy this one, too.
Killian Jones had been looking forward to starting school in America. Unfortunately the bullies were just as adept at their villainous arts of torture and humiliation in the good old U.S. of A, as they were in Ireland. His first three weeks in the quaint looking Storybrooke school, saw him slinking home every day, head down, feet dragging, wearing a hang dog, exhausted expression.
The only bright lights in Killian's days had been his friendship with August and Victor, and the occasional sighting of the exquisite and, as far as he was concerned, absolutely unattainable, Emma Nolan. He tried not to stalk her, content to gaze adoringly from afar . . . usually from beside the trash cans in the school lunch room as he picked wilted spinach from down his shirt where Neal or Walsh had shoved it. Jones, the younger, was prepared to suffer every swirley, every shove, every humiliation heaped upon him by the nerd-hating jocks of Storybrooke High, if it meant he could get even the occasional glimpse of Emma's lovely face.
The day he moved into Emma's class was the first time he witnessed the glory of Emma's smile, up close. For one magnificent moment in time, he thought she was smiling at him because she was attracted to him. Her lovely hazel eyes shifted to green and her pupils dilated as they held his. Warm, lush thoughts coated his brain in spangles as if his head was filled with some sort of fizzy drink that reflected the light in rainbow prisms. Abruptly, his sense of inferiority pulled his eyes from hers. He ran a hand through his hair as he looked down at the text book in her hand. He didn't dare raise his eyes to hers again in that lesson, lest he see the same contempt from her as he did from everyone else, except August and Victor.
He tripped over his own feet when Emma asked if she could join him for lunch as they were leaving the classroom. She had to repeat herself after she helped him up. Killian's mouth had hung open and his heart was screaming for him to say 'yes' . . or to speak any words at all. Over her shoulder in the distance he could see Neal and Walsh watching with narrowed eyes and flexing fists. Not wanting Emma to witness his imminent humiliation of the day, all he could manage was a squeaked, 'gotta run', and then he was off. His feet pounded on the tiled floor as he ran for the relative safety of the library.
He had taken off so fast, he had completely missed the unhappy expression on Emma's face. She was not pleased that her first attempt to actually get a boy a to spend time with her for something other than a school project, had resulted in a flat refusal and a hasty exit by the object of her interest. The feelings that had erupted in her were so strong that she failed to see how he hadn't immediately reciprocated. She'd seen the interest in his eyes. Knew that, he too, had caught his breath as their gazes had melded. It had taken her totally by surprise, but a lack of preparedness was not something to get the best of Emma Nolan. It was only the beginning as far as she was concerned. She couldn't wait to again experience the wonderful timbre of his voice and that sinuous accent that went in through her ears, curled around her heart and sent certain other places to tingling.
In the ensuing four days, Emma observed and worked on her target with all the finesse of a seasoned CIA operative. She took full advantage of Killian sitting next to her. At every possible opportunity she would brush his knuckles or his wrist under the pretence of losing her grip on the heavy text book they shared. Whenever their skin touched, hers tingled with electricity and his breath caught and the red would creep into the tips of his adorable elf-like ears.
Once or twice Killian seemed to gain enough courage to look her in the eye and the world would go hazy for both of them. This tender moment was always interrupted by either Walsh or Neal kicking Killian's chair out from under him and his world went hazy for another reason.
Killian's older brother, Liam, who was in his first year at Storybrooke College studying business, sat at the opposite end of the social scale. His tall, athletic form coupled with his handsome face, exotic accent and outgoing nature, had already collected him a considerable social circle.
Their mother, the lithe and lovely, Caroline, was forever remarking to friends how proud she was to have raised her boys right. There had been no end of bad examples in their rough home town. Just one of the reasons they had migrated across the pond. Under the careful guidance of their parents, her boys had grown to be kind, generous souls and, despite the age difference, were extraordinarily close .
Their father, Brennan, was a tough, wiry, man who had built his fishing business from scratch. He was immensely proud of everything he had achieved and regularly gave the credit for it to his stalwart wife. He was generous but firm with his fleet captains and playful and loving with his family; however neither he nor Caroline, had a lot of time to spend with either son, as taking over the small fleet virtually hoovered up all their time. Fully understanding of the stresses on his parents, Liam had easily stepped up his attention to his little brother, such as checking Killian was finding his feet in his new life.
Liam had not missed the air of defeat that had settled on his beloved little brother since he had begun his sojourn in the academic halls of Storybrooke. Having seen that Killian had not pulled out of his funk on his own, Liam had decided to talk to him and find out what was going on. He knew that Killian was supposed to be meeting August at Granny's to work on one of their joint school projects. The intention was to use the slightly joking but concerned approach to find out if there was a real problem that needed to be addressed. Killian was usually quiet, but never so depressed.
Liam was totally unprepared for the Killian that came home that day. His serious little brother wore a dreamy expression, complete with doe eyes and huge smile.
"I love, America," Killian offered, as he dropped his backpack, and failed to notice that he missed the kitchen table by several feet. His backpack hit the floor with a thud, but Killian just drifted over to the fridge as if he hadn't heard it.
"Really?" Liam asked, eyebrow raised. "You've been moping around the house like a ghoul for three weeks. What's changed?"
"Emma. Gorgeous, stunning, brilliant, Emma Nolan," Killian said. "She asked me to the school dance." He actually sighed. "Me, Liam. She asked me!"
"The beauteous, Emma, sounds like quite the go-getter. Ask out a lot of boys, does she?" Liam asked, trying to keep his tone as neutral as positive.
Killian's blissful expression dimmed considerably and began to turn suspicious. "Actually, August said she never dates. Nearly every guy in school wants her, but she won't give them the time of day. I didn't think she even knew I existed until she smiled at me when I moved into her class four day ago."
Liam walked over and hit Killian upside the back of the head. "So this goddess smiles at you, and you do nothing about it? You're a Jones! You should have got off your sorry arse and asked the girl out, not leave all the work to her!"
"I never thought she'd say yes! Not to me," Killian said. He opened the fridge and took out a soda, then blew air up into his glasses to clear his lenses that had fogged up. "She has all the popular guys after her. The type of guy that you were when you were my age. Besides, it's probably just . . .," Killian stopped mid sentence and all the joy dropped off his face. He ducked his head and he shuffled his feet nervously.
"What?" Liam prodded.
"A joke, or a dare, or a bet. A girl like her never looks at someone like me unless there's something behind it," Killian said, bitterly. "How could I be so stupid?"
"Not every girl is like Milah, little brother. You have the Jones looks, well, you're growing into them, and the Jones charm that gets issued at birth! Use them." Liam said, by way of encouragement. "Although, it would help if you'd wear the contacts instead of those binoculars. And seriously? Who let you out of the house with a pocket protector?" He grabbed the offending article from his brother's shirt and mangled it in the garbage disposal. "I see you with one of those again and guess what goes in the disposal, next!"
"You could have taken my pen out before you trashed it," Killian protested.
"Anything else I need to trash?" Liam asked. He narrowed his eyes and studied his brother. "You're not using those ridiculous sock suspenders, are you? If you are, then I'll disown you." He bent over intent on lifting up one of Killian's pant legs, but his brother skittered away.
"No, I'm not. Leave off," Killian snapped, indignantly, and pulled his jumper down to make sure his brother didn't see the suspenders holding up his trousers.
"Alright, then. Like I said, there's no reason you shouldn't have all the girls panting after you," Liam assured him.
"I don't want all the girls. I only want, Emma," Killian affirmed. "She's perfect." He refrained from sighing, but it was a close run thing.
Liam burst out laughing and earned a scowl from Killian. "Oh, you do have it bad. You are worth her time, Killian. I know high school can be rough. Lord knows you had a hard time back home, and I know you've had a hard time settling in here, but if this Emma is the one you want, then you have to fight for her. Even if you have to fight that damned inferiority complex that miserable cow, Milah, left you with, as well." He put his hands on Killian's shoulders and looked earnestly into his eyes. "I want you to be happy. You deserve it. If this Emma is as brilliant as you say, then she should be smart enough to see what a catch you are."
Killian nodded but it was clear he wasn't really buying what Liam was selling.
"If August is right, sounds like you might be one of the first guys she's ever dated. Serious about her schoolwork, is she?" Liam asked, trying another approach, and it seemed to spark the right response as the dreamy expression returned to Killian's visage.
"Yes. She's very serious about getting into a good college," Killian said.
"Well, there you go. Doesn't sound like any kind of nefarious purpose behind her asking you out. Doesn't sound like she's the type. More like she's so dazzled by the Jones blue eyes that she just couldn't resist you," Liam said with a chuckle. Killian rolled his 'Jones blue eyes'
"Lecture over, for now," Liam said and pulled his brother into a hug.
Killian looked over Liam's shoulder at the garbage disposal. Big brother didn't need to know about the other four pocket protectors he had upstairs. Hmmm, perhaps the jaunty blue plaid one, tomorrow.