She runs past his book shop every morning. He is still trying to pluck of the courage to say hello.

The Courage of Saying Hello:

One day, he, Killian Jones, would finally gather the courage to say hello to the graceful and beautiful blonde that ran past his shop every day. He would always be in the process of unlocking the doors when she ran past him, the same time each day without fail. She always wore black leggings, Nike trainers, and depending on the temperature, a tank or a short-sleeved shirt. Her hair was always tied back in a messy ponytail, and her cheeks tinged slightly pink from the exercise, but no matter how red she became, he still thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on.

And Killian knew he was not in her league. Why a stunning blonde would even look twice at him with his geeky glasses, didn't make sense to him, but every morning, their eyes would meet and she would offer a friendly smile as she listened away to whatever was playing over the headphones of her iPod.

She always ran alone, and never once did she look unfit. In fact, she looked as though she could run for miles, and Killian guessed she probably could. He himself could probably only manage a couple of hundred metres, before feeling he need to sit down and not move for the rest of the day.

Today was Monday.

Killian awoke at six am to his alarm clock going off, reached over and grabbed his glasses, before climbing out of his warm sheets to begin the day. After a quick shower and making sure he was presentable for the day, he popped a couple pieces of toast in the toaster, buttered them, grabbed his car keys and left his house for the day, until he would return at four pm that evening.

He loved his job as book shop owner. He was more than happy to start at seven am, organize his stock for the day and officially open his doors at eight for the public. And at three-thirty he would close until the next day, and return home to eat a small dinner by himself and watch the nightly news, before reading a book in bed.

His co-worker, William Smee was less enthusiastic about his job. The small and stout man was lazy, and didn't get any jobs done. Killian had no choice but to fire him the other day, when Smee had tried to steal a book, from his own workplace as well. So, until Killian could find someone else to work in his shop, he was a one-man team, and even he would admit that it was stressful.

He arrived at the shop at one minute to seven, and any moment now, the blonde would be running down the pavement and past his shop, offering Killian her warm friendly smile, which also helped his day to start off good. Only this time, she didn't come. He entered the shop, a takeaway coffee in his hand, feeling slightly down, and for the next half an hour, he kept watch in hopes she would jog past, but she didn't.

His day didn't seem as good after that. He found that he was struggling with the stock-take without Smee, and to top it off, he'd had a couple of teenagers try to shove books down their pants. He'd scolded them and threatened he'd phone the police next time if they tried it again, and then he went back to his job.

It was getting close to closing time when the sound of his little bell above the door chimed, and he quickly exited his small little office to see who was in his shop, and to his upmost surprise, the same blonde was running her fingers along the spines of a couple of books. He told himself to get it together, before he slowly walked over, hoping that his facial expression looked confident.

"Is there anything I can help you with, lass?" He asked, his voice thankfully calm.

She turned to smile at him, and her eyes were as green as a forest.

"I was just wondering if you had anything on Swan mythology." She asked, her voice sounding like it could un-freeze a frozen heart.

Killian smiled and nodded. "Mythology is just in this section, lass. I have a couple of books here…"

"I'm…" She stuttered slightly. "I'm actually not here to buy a book. That was a lie."

Killian raised an eye-brow and she gave out a soft laugh. "You're not?"

Emma shook her head. "I'm actually here to apologize for being rude the last few months. I look at you every morning, and I've never stopped to say hi. I didn't want you to think I was being rude."

Killian's eyes widened behind his glasses, and he knew that he looked like an idiot, just standing there with his mouth open. Finally, he managed to compose himself.

"You don't have to apologize lass. You don't know me…"

"My name's Emma, not lass." She said with a cocky grin.

"Emma." Her name felt natural coming from his mouth, and his lips curled into a small smile at the sound of it. "Well, Emma, I never took you for being rude. I thought you may have found me rude for not saying anything either."

Emma laughed. "No. I've dealt with rude, and rude people don't give me friendly smiles in the morning."

Killian scratched behind his ear nervously. "I know we've only just really met, but I finish work in half hour, do you want to maybe grab a coffee?"

"I'd love too."

….

She liked him. She knew she did. Emma Swan liked a man she had never spoken to, and didn't even know his name. All she knew was that he was handsome, wore cute glasses and owned a bookshop. And that he had a really nice, warm smile. Emma was gutted when her alarm clock hadn't gone off that Monday morning and she had missed her morning run, and missed her chance at seeing him, and then, Emma had decided she needed to man up and say hello.

And she had, and now here she was, sitting in a small diner, opposite him, (Killian his name), with a steaming mug of coffee in front of her.

"So what do you do for a living, Emma?" He asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"I'm a personal trainer. My afternoon client cancelled. Just found out that she was expecting a baby, so I decided I would come, and well..." She blushed. "Finally actually speak to you."

Killian chuckled, playing with the handle of his mug. "You beat me to it. I was planning to say hello to you next time we saw one another. I've been trying to convince myself to do so for a couple of weeks."

"Really? Well, I'm glad to hear that." Emma responded. "I was worried that you would think I was a complete nutcase and that I'd have to change my running route."

"Not a chance in hell. If anything, it was always refreshing seeing a beautiful woman with a lovely smile every morning."

Emma smirked. "Flirting are we?"

"Aye. Don't make me blush though. I've never really done this kind of thing before…" He trailed off slightly, as though he was embarrassed.

"Neither have I." Emma admitted, giving him a reassuring smile. "So even if you do something wrong, I wouldn't know anyway."

"So, I don't know if this is wrong then…" Killian began. "But would you like to see a movie this weekend."

"I'd love too."

And she smiled her beautiful smile at him, and from that moment, that beautiful smile became his solely.

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