Killian Jones had been in love with Emma Swan since before he could remember.

Which meant he'd been working at this job for far too long. Storybrooke Paper Company was supposed to be a temporary thing. He was supposed to sell some paper, save up, and get out. But it had been three long years and here he was, still at the same desk, with the same crabby deskmate.

In love with the same - engaged - receptionist.

Killian started at SPC shortly before the engagement. Emma had been the first person to greet him - natural, with a title like receptionist and a desk by the front door. But then she'd been essentially the only person to greet him, aside from his overzealous, well-meaning boss, Regina.

"You must be the new salesman I ordered," she'd said drily. "They didn't charge me for international shipping, so that's a plus at least!" Regina had cocked one eyebrow at him, waiting for him to acknowledge her joke about his accent.

"Ah yeah, they must have thrown that in for free," Killian had managed, before heading for his desk and catching Emma's eye on the way.

It had happened so naturally that Killian couldn't even remember thinking about walking to her desk. He'd just done it. He'd walked over, leaned over casually, stuffed a few M&Ms from her jar into his mouth, and asked,

"Is she always like that?"

"Pretty much, yeah. She used to be more stern and serious, but this past year, she's started trying to lighten up a bit. Sometimes it works and other times...well, you see."

They'd talked about what else he could expect from his co-workers, to the point where they really couldn't continue the conversation at reception, what with listening ears constantly...listening, so she'd invited him to lunch at an Italian place down the street.

"To welcome you to...whatever this place ends up being for you."

During their hour-long lunch break, Killian had learned that Mary Margaret, from accounting, was straight-laced and no-nonsense, but she had a soft spot for Killian's very own deskmate, David. David, of course, had no inkling of Mary Margaret's feelings for him. Emma's theory was that that was why he was so nasty all the time: he loved her back, but they were both too blind to see it.

He also learned that Emma was beautiful, funny, had the greatest smile he'd ever seen, and the most beautiful eyes to match. He learned that they both preferred the literary versions of anything to the film versions, that they both loved chicken parmesan and sweet potato fries, and that he would do anything to make her laugh this way all the time.

They'd gotten seats at the bar instead of a table, and they'd slowly gravitated towards each other, stools moving closer with every joke, and suddenly, right before he reached into his wallet to pay and maybe make a comment about a second date, she'd dropped the bomb.

"Oh, I should get these leftovers boxed for my boyfriend. His name's Neal, he works in the warehouse. You'll meet him soon enough."

Three long, endless years and one proposal - but no wedding, Killian hastily added to himself - and he was still here. Still gossiping with the receptionist, still leaning over her desk casually to stuff candy into his mouth.

"Are you going to Mary Margaret's bird party tonight?" she asked him.

"Wait, this party is for a bird? I thought it was for, like, a kid she'd never told us about or something. Surely you're joking."

"Killian. I would never joke about something as serious as a bird party. This is Archie's 3rd birthday party we're talking about."

Killian laughed, which made Emma laugh. Which made Killian's heart soar. Until the light caught off of her diamond ring and he - and his heart - crashed back down to earth.

"I do have another proposition for you though, love." It was out of his mouth before he could stop it. He wasn't one for pet names, especially for his just friends, but he found himself slipping into that one with ease. Oops.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Her green eyes glinted with excitement - she likely expected some type of prank for David, or a revenge plan for Regina, who'd just had them waste exactly 3 hours in the conference room for a meeting about...what was it about? Regina's time-wasting meetings all blended together after a while, and Killian mostly spent his time in them laughing with Emma.

"A few of us are going out for drinks, thought maybe you'd like to come."

"Oh, yeah actually, that sounds nice! I'll ask Neal if he's okay with it."

Killian bit back a groan, nodded, and headed back to his desk.

It hadn't taken long for Killian to meet Neal, as Emma had promised. He'd come barreling in that very afternoon, only a few short hours after Killian's heart had been crushed by learning of his existence.

"You ready yet, babe? I wanna get home in time for the game."

"It's 4:45, Neal."

"Yeah, so? Hey, Gina, you're cool with Emma leaving early today, right?"

Killian turned quickly to look into the office behind him. He caught the dark flash in Regina's eyes before she grinned and agreed.

"Sure, it's been a long day, she's worked hard. We'll see you tomorrow, Emma!"

"You know she hates that nickname, Neal," she'd whispered on her way out, with a quick wave to Killian. "It was nice meeting you today!"

"You, too," but she was already gone.

Since then, Killian had tried to bond with Neal, hoping maybe he could somehow understand the relationship. Because, for the life of him, he couldn't. Where Emma was smart and creative and fun, Neal was brash and rude and just sort of boring. He never listened when Emma spoke, never supported her in her endeavors. And Killian knew this because Emma came to him to talk instead. They had a standing lunch date in the kitchen, where she'd tell him all about all of her problems - or the problems of the people on the trashy reality TV she watched.

The fact that he could so easily click with this woman, while her fiance would barely say three words to him made no sense. Killian knew he could be a bit standoffish on his bad days, but overall, he thought he was a pretty good guy. He'd had a rough go of it for a while, but he tried his best not to let it affect his daily interactions with people. He didn't know about Neal's past - didn't really want to - but he suspected that they had a bit in common, and that Neal was a version of who he could have been if he'd let the demons take him over.

Which is to say that Neal was always miserable, despite being engaged to one of the most beautiful women Killian had ever seen, and Killian did his best to keep his spirits up, despite the fact that the woman he was in love with was engaged to a total douche.

Because Killian was the person Emma went to with her problems, he knew that Neal regularly objected to workplace outings. Emma wasn't exactly a social butterfly, preferring to keep to her quiet corner of the office most of the time, but she liked to get to know people. She liked going out with her co-workers, she'd told Killian, because she had to see the business side of them, and she wanted to know what they were like when they let loose, even a little bit. But Neal was a hermit, to borrow Emma's word, and he didn't care about his own co-workers downstairs in the warehouse, nevermind Emma's co-workers up here in the land of fluorescent lights and candy jars and copy machines.

He already knew she wasn't going tonight, even before he heard her cell phone buzz and saw the disappointed look on her face.

Damn Neal.