6 years ago

Killian followed his friend inside the house and into the living room, where he dropped his bag next to the sofa before letting himself fall onto the cushions.

"I'm sick of having to spend the better half of the day in this depressing building!" he declared.

David laughed and walked into the adjoining kitchen to get them some soda. "I'm well aware; you're complaining every day. It's just a few more years until graduation and then you can leave the school and this town behind you if you want."

"That day cannot come soon enough."

David returned and handed Killian his drink. "Let's get started with our homework. I want to be done with it."

Killian shook his head. "Later, I can't focus on anything school-related right now. How about we play some video game first?" Seeing how his friend was hesitating, Killian laughed. "Alright, alright, homework first. We wouldn't want to risk your perfect grades."

The two friends moved into the kitchen to get started with their tasks, as had become their habit during the five years since Killian's family had moved into a house down the street of where ten-year-old David and his family lived. Despite or maybe because of their differences they had become friends rather quickly.

Whereas David was the type of guy who was sticking to the rules, who was studying hard to receive good grades and who was appearing to be rather serious, Killian was carefree. He didn't mind bending the rules if necessary and he preferred cramming the information needed for a test the day before the exam. Since his grades were just as good as David's no one was complaining about that though. Well, except David occasionally.

After finishing their homework, they returned into the living room and settled in front of the TV to play some games. That's where David's little sister found them, when she finally arrived at home.

"You're late," David greeted her in a stern voice, pausing their game.

Emma shrugged. "I had practice."

"That ended over an hour ago."

She rolled her eyes. "I stayed longer because I wasn't happy with my performance in the competition last weekend."

While David considered her answer, she plunked down on Killian's other side.

"Weren't you supposed to cook dinner tonight? Mom will be home soon," Emma asked and looked at her big brother.

"Oh right!" David said and hurried to get into the kitchen and prepare their meal.

"I really don't get why you hang out with him," Emma remarked to Killian, who wordlessly held out the controller to her to take over her brother's game.

"Oh come on, he's not that bad," Killian defended his friend and chuckled.

"Try living with him," Emma replied dryly.

Killian glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and he didn't miss the frown on her face. It was something he had noticed quite often when he was spending time with both siblings. With twelve years she was three years younger than her brother and his friend and she seemed to feel the need to compete with David, their mother's 'perfect child', as she had remarked to Killian, when David once again had been at the top of his class. For some reason Killian couldn't see, Emma appeared to feel lacking. He knew that she didn't have many friends, because she didn't get along with kids her own age. She had even been kicked off both the soccer and basketball team by the age of nine, because she had declared her teammates idiots who shouldn't be allowed to play these games until they had learned not to trip over their own feet. Since then she seemed to have found her calling in track and field, where she could rely mostly on herself.

"Gotcha!" she called out and turned toward him with a bright smile.

Killian couldn't help but smile back at her despite having lost the game. Emma's smiles were rare, but to Killian they were all the more precious because of that. He intended to make her smile as often as possible.

Today

Killian wasn't paying much attention to the movie playing. Instead his eyes were trained on the woman whose head was resting on his shoulders, her dark curls tickling his skin.

Sometimes he still found it hard to believe that Milah had agreed to that first date almost four months earlier and even harder to believe that she would repeat that experience after he was sure his nervousness had made him act like a total fool that first night. But here they were now and this beautiful, strong woman was snuggling even more into his side, her arm wrapped around his waist. It always felt just so right to be with her, as if it had been supposed to be that way from the very first time he had laid his eyes on her.

"You know it's kind of distracting when you stare at me like that, right?" she murmured, her eyes still fixed on the TV.

Killian chuckled and pressed his lips against the side of her head. "Just let me enjoy the view."

She sighed, but Killian noticed how the corners of her lips moved upwards.

When the movie was over, Killian was reluctant to move, knowing that it was probably time for him to go back home. He would have spent the night, but Milah had an important appointment early the next morning and insisted that she wouldn't get the sleep she needed if he was sharing the bed with her.

Finally she straightened up with a sigh. "I believe you should head home or this might turn into another almost sleepless night."

Killian grinned. "I still can't see what's wrong with that." He leaned closer to her and gently pressed his lips against hers. "But if the lady insists, I will take my leave."

Milah walked him to the door, where he kissed her goodnight.

"Let me know how the interview went. And maybe I can see you tomorrow evening?"

She smiled, her arms still wrapped around his neck. "Maybe."

Killian kissed her once more and then left the apartment to drive home.

He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this happy. During the past few years he had been through his fair share of bad times, the worst certainly being the passing of his mother. But it seemed like things were finally taking a turn for the better.

It was already quite late, when Killian arrived at home and he decided not to bother turning on the TV or spend another hour or two busying himself in his apartment. Instead he got ready for bed and was just about to head into his bedroom after brushing his teeth, when he heard someone knock on the door.

Thinking that it was probably one of his neighbors, he walked to the door and pulled it open without checking who was standing outside. Whatever words of greeting he had in mind for his visitor disappeared however, when he saw the blonde woman in front of him.

"Hey Killian," she said and nervously stroked a lock of her hair out of her face.

10 months ago

The ringing of his phone tore him from his sleep. Killian groaned and turned around, not wanting to leave his bed and walk across the room to answer the call.

When the noise stopped a moment later he sighed and pulled the covers a little higher, determined to make use of every minute of sleep he could get before his alarm went off. But his plans were thwarted, when his phone started ringing again. Cursing he climbed out of bed and walked toward his phone, intent to tell whoever it was to go to hell after interrupting his already short enough night.

But part of that anger vanished when he read the familiar name of his caller.´

"Hey Dave, what's…"

"Have you heard from her?" David interrupted him, sounding alarmed.

"Heard from whom?" Killian asked back, although he already had a good guess. There was only one person who managed to make David sound that worried.

"Emma," his friend confirmed. "She's gone."

Killian tensed. "What?"

"She is gone! Some of her stuff is missing and no one has the slightest idea where she is or has seen her in the last two days. I was hoping…" David didn't finish the sentence and Killian could practically feel how uncomfortable he was.

"I haven't seen her since my last visit home," he answered honestly, feeling almost as uncomfortable as David likely was. That last stay with David's family had certainly left him more confused than he would like to admit.

There was a moment of silence during which neither of the two friends knew what to say.

Finally David cleared his throat. "Well, if she contacts you…"

"I'll let you know right away."

"Thanks, Killian."

"She'll come home soon, mate. You know her."

David laughed dryly. "So do you and you can't tell me you believe your own words."

He ended the call without another word, leaving Killian alone with his worries. Yeah, he did know her. And he likely knew more about her than her brother did in some regards.

Killian searched his contacts for her name and pressed the call icon. It went straight to voicemail.

"Where are you, Emma? Your brother just called and…" Killian paused and took a deep breath. "Just let me know that you're alright, love. Please." And without thinking about it he added: "I miss you."