AN: This is just a short AU story based on the song "Why Ya Wanna" by Jana Kramer
Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time
Part I
Out of all of the places in this little town
Yeah you had to come walking in here and sit down
I'm hiding and hoping, my face ain't too red
Since we've been over been trying like crazy to get you out of my head
"Why Ya Wanna" Jana Kramer
Three Years Earlier
Sheriff Emma Swan shut the door to their apartment with a small snick of the latch, "Killian?" She called out. She was met with an eery silence as she unclipped her gun from her belt and slid her badge off, dropping both into a drawer by the front door before she toed off her boots and hung her leather jacket on the hook. Winter was fast approaching in the small town of Storybrooke, Maine. It was a time of year she'd only just begun to love when she'd met Killian five years ago. She loved it because she finally had someone. Five years ago when together they fled Tallahassee, Florida after meeting in a convenience store chasing the same guy they both wanted the payout on to make a new life. They'd bought a map of the United States and drunkenly chose Maine. Somehow they'd wound up in this small town where she was now the Sheriff (after the previous sheriff's untimely death), and he captained a fishing ship (a childhood dream of his).
Moving further into the apartment she frowned at the chilliness in the air, usually he would've turned the heat up at this point. It was then that she realized his car had been in the parking lot, so if he wasn't home he walked somewhere, "Killian?" She called out again. Turning to the kitchen she stopped short. Two suitcases were sitting next to him and he sat at the table, his flask of rum loosely held between his fingers. "Killian?"
He glanced up at her and an apologetic smile graced his lips. He was leaving her. Just like everyone else. Just like Neal. Just like her parents. Just like every foster family. He was leaving her. She felt her stomach drop. "I was wondering when you'd be able to tear yourself away from the office." His Irish accent was thick, a sign that he'd either made his way through a good portion of the flask or that he was holding back tears. The only other times when it was that thick was when they were making love or he was just waking up from sleep. Clearly the latter two were not viable explanations.
She bit her lip. They'd been having that fight a lot lately. He'd been upset by her long hours, and even when David Nolan came on as a deputy and he hoped she'd work less, she still seemed to live at the station. "David's on call tonight. I thought we could order in. It'd be more fun to bail on Ruby and Victor and Mary Margaret and David, besides it's not like David or Victor can drink tonight since they're both on call." Her eyes flicked to his luggage, "You have somewhere else to be, though, it seems."
He screwed the cap on his flask and nodded, standing, "I can't do this anymore."
Emma willed the tears back, "Can't do what?" She whispered.
"I can't be your wife."
She sucked in a harsh breath at his harsh words. He said it like it was a bad thing. "What?"
"I can't keep coming home from work and not have you here, I can't keep waking up in the middle of the night and find you gone, I can't keep worrying about you getting hurt,"
"Killian," Emma dropped to her knees in front of him, grabbing his hands, "this is Storybrooke, Maine. There isn't anyone dangerous here. They're all just a bunch of nuisances who like to cause trouble at inconvenient hours."
"I got an offer." He blurted out.
Emma's eyes widened, "An offer? A job offer?"
He nodded, "Down in Boston. I've already accepted it."
She rocked back onto the heels of her feet, "And you didn't feel like you should discuss it with me first? You didn't feel like maybe I might want to go with you?"
"You're not going with me. Your life is here." He reached up and carded his hand through her hair. "Your home is here. You finally found it, Swan. You shouldn't lose it."
Pushing his hand away she stood up and screamed at him, "Are you that much of a fucking moron, Jones?" She took a ragged breath, "My home is with you. It's not a place. It's a person. It's in your heart." She sighed and felt like pulling her hair out, "I thought this was finally figured out. We've been together for five years, and it hasn't always been pretty, but these last two have been fucking amazing. I thought we finally figured it out."
Killian stood abruptly, "I'm sure I'll see you someday, Swan." He pressed a kiss to her forehead, pocketed his flask and picked up his two bags.
Her feet were glued to the floorboards for a good fifteen minutes. Her eyes were focused on the apartment key on the kitchen table. Picking it up, she shoved in into her pockets, turned, grabbed her coat and boots and trudged down to the street, tugging everything on as she stumbled into the chilly night. Her eyes landed on the now vacant parking spot.
He was actually gone.
OUAT
"Em!" Ruby called from behind the countertop at Granny's just as Emma walked in, "I thought you and your sexy captain had plans to stay in tonight?" She winked, "Which was why you were not planning on joining Victor, Mary Margaret, David and me tonight." She paused, "Wait, why are you here and not with your sexy captain?" Emma opened her mouth to speak, but in typical Ruby fashion, the woman just kept talking, "Or do you need some whipped cream or chocolate for your night in?" She winked as Emma sat down. Without saying a word, Emma placed Killian's key on the countertop, "What's that?"
"Killian's key." Emma whispered.
"Why do you have Killian's key?" Ruby asked as she eyed the key like it was a snake about to bite her.
"Because when I got home today he had his bags packed." Ruby's mouth opened, but no sound came out so Emma continued, "He left for Boston. To take a new job." She put her head in her hands, "And I had no fucking clue it was coming."
"I'm texting Mary Margaret. We're having a girls night." Ruby slipped her phone out of her pocket.
"Just please not at my place. I can't, I just can't go back there." Emma looked up and she knew she looked like that lost little girl that Killian met in Tallahassee five years ago, not like the strong, independent sheriff she'd become. Because he left her.
He really left her.
Present Day
Emma gently rubbed her hand over the back of her neck as she tossed her pad and pen on the countertop at Granny's. She'd just written a whole slew of tickets and David was wrangling the troublemakers into jail cells at that moment. Ruby chuckled as she sat the already made hot chocolate in front of her, "Rough day at the office?"
Emma groaned, "Just a break in and scuffle at the library. The idiot stole a book he could've just checked out. Belle clocked him and Gold tried to shoot him. What a waste of my time." She rolled her eyes at the thought of Will Scarlett, Storybrooke's own petty thief and miscreant, Mr. Gold, the town's unlikeable owner, and Belle, his girlfriend everyone liked.
Ruby leaned over and grinned, "Just a fabulous day in the life of the sheriff of small town Storybrooke." She winked playfully.
Emma rolled her eyes, "Well at list I'm not wrestling drug addicts or murders to the ground on a normal basis, which is exactly what I'd be doing if I," Emma swallowed hard and didn't complete her thought. It was still hard even three years later to talk about it.
"That's not all you'd be doing if you moved to Boston." Ruby grimaced. Three years later Ruby still maintained that if she talked about it enough and hated him enough she'd be able to finally move on.
"Can we not discuss him today?" Emma moaned to her best friend. "Honestly, he is all you've wanted to talk about for the past four days. He left three years ago. That ship has long since sailed."
Ruby's eyes moved to the door as it opened and the bells above it jingled, "Interesting choice of words." Ruby nodded behind Emma, pushing herself off the countertop to go check on Leroy.
Emma turned and her eyes narrowed at the sight in front of her.
Speak of the devil and he doth appear.
OUAT
XOXO
MAS
