Disclaimer: I don't have any affiliation with OUAT or any of the actors/characters.
Summary: AU time! No fairytale characters, just them. Killian's there, runs a bar. On New Years Eve, Ms. Swan has nothing to do after Mary Margaret goes home to spend a fun night with her fiance David. Emma stays behind and strikes up a chat with the bartender. But midnight's coming up fast, and what're people supposed to do at midnight on New Years Eve? Kiss, of course!
Emma's vivid green eyes scanned the dark, hushed bar for any sign of anyone she knew. Within just seconds of looking up from her almost empty beer mug she knew that hope was futile. The bar was almost empty. There was just a few couples at the tables. They were all smiling and happy; the complete opposite of Emma's sour mood. It'd been a stupid idea to start off with. Emma's best friend in the world, Mary Margaret -or M&M-, had begged Emma to leave work for once in a blue moon and come out with herself and her fiance, David. After much nagging and pestering, Emma had given up to her ebony haired friend and agreed to go out for the night. The night had been utterly miserable. Emma had been the biggest third wheel of all time. She'd sat in the booth all night with a cold beer in hand as she sat across from David and M&M, watching them tenderly kiss and hug all evening. Emma loved her two friends to death, but it was awkward with her just sitting there watching as David had his tongue in M&M's mouth. That's where Emma drew the line. Finally at around 11PM, a slightly tipsy M&M giggled to Emma that her and David were going to head back to the apartment and celebrate New Years together there. Alone. Emma had feigned choking at that. She was not interested in her friends' sex lives.
And that was how Emma Swan ended up alone, in a bar on New Years Eve. She heaved a heavy, miserable sigh before she got up and walked over to the bar. She set her glass down and leaned against the clean, dark wood of the bar. She kept her bored eyes on the clean counter. "Beer please." she muttered as she tapped her long fingers on the shining bar top in a random pattern. She was lost in her despondent thoughts, wondering how life had come to this, spending New Years in a crappy bar of all places.
"And what's got a pretty lass like you down?" a strong, male voice suddenly broke her thoughts. At first Emma thought it was some drunk next to her that was trying to hit on her and start off the New Year by bedding someone. But a quick glance to the side informed that it was not a drunkard. "In front of you, love." chuckled the voice. It was Irish. That much Emma could tell. She looked up at the bartender and frowned slightly. It'd been a young female with auburn hair when they arrived. This bartender was new. There must've been a shift change while Emma was drowning in her own sorrows. She raised her eyebrows and let her eyes flicker over the newcomer. He looked just a little older than her. Tall, rugged looking. He looked more like he belonged on a construction site or...a ship. He had messy hair and bright, shining blue eyes. Bluer than the sea. Emma had no idea why she was noticing that. She just shook her head and arched one eyebrow, her face slipping into an incredulous expression.
"I don't think I'm going to become one of those people who pours their heart out to the bartender before blowing their brains out." her voice came out a bit colder and more sarcastic than she intended and the man let out a laugh.
"Well aren't you an honest one?" he drawled in that accent of his. He took Emma's cup from her and filled it again before sliding it back across the counter to her. "So what's troubling you, lass? I'm going to venture a guess and say that it's...boyfriend troubles...?"
Emma scoffed. "No boyfriend to have troubles with." she retorted without even thinking. She blinked and felt slightly shocked that she'd answered him just like that. Emma rarely ever opened up to anyone. The man raised his eyebrows and seemed unable to help the charming smirk that slid easily onto his face.
"And how does a beautiful, charming lass like you not have a boyfriend?" his smooth, rich voice came out as sounding mocking to Emma and she had to force herself not to get up and walk right out the door. She had no idea why she wasn't leaving right now, but something told her to stay.
"Are you hitting on me?"
"Perhaps." the bartender said mysteriously, drawing out the last 'a' in the word. Emma couldn't believe him and shook her head slowly.
"Are you really that desperate enough to hit on me when you don't even know me?" she inquired scathingly. She couldn't fight back the miniscule smile that twitched at the corner of her lips. The man gasped and brought his hand over his heart and pretended to be mortally wounded. Emma fought back a laugh at the man's dramatics.
"My darling, you wound my pride greatly." he gasped sarcastically. Emma rolled her bright eyes and shook her head as she took a sip of her chilly beer. "No, love, I'm not desperate. Do I really look like I'm desperate?" he said smoothly. Emma almost choked on her beer in an attempt to hold back an incredulous laugh.
"Vain one, aren't you?" she muttered after getting herself recomposed. The man shrugged his broad shoulders and leaned against the counter.
"Some have called me that." Emma just shook her head again at his words and tucked a sandy blond curl behind her ear.
"So are you really going to keep hitting on me when you don't even know my name?"
"Emma. Your name is Emma." he sounded extremely smug and proud of himself. Emma swallowed her sip of beer and looked at him with a disbelieving look plastered on her face. How...?
"How did you know that?" she queried in a sharp, suspicious voice. She'd never met this man in her life. How the hell did he know her name. The man just rolled his cerulean eyes and the trademark smirk reappeared on his face.
"You've been here since before my shift started, love. Your little black haired friend called your name." Emma didn't know if the beer was starting to affect her, but his voice started to sound richer and sweeter, almost alluring. Of course it was because of the alcohol.
"If you know my name, why do you keep using my name?" she inquired. The man grinned and leaned across the bar and into Emma's personal space.
"Oh what, would you rather I use your name, Emma?" her name came out almost like a purr and Emma was shocked and quickly turned red as a tomato before she began sputtering. Killian couldn't help but laugh at her as he shook his head and pulled back away from her. He grabbed a dirty glass from underneath the bar and a towel, slowly cleaning it out. He let Emma collect herself and kept an innocent expression. Emma swallowed hard, embarrassed at her reaction.
"You know my name, so what's your name?" she asked sharply, tapping her fingers against her glass. The man gave her an alluring smile as he set the glass down and pulled out two shot glasses and poured out two drinks.
"My name would be Killian." he said absentmindedly as he topped off the shot glasses and handed one to Emma. "On the house." he informed her in a low voice, winking secretively at her. Now...here's to a new year." Emma scoffed at that toast and shook her head.
"May it be better than the previous." she muttered sarcastically. She clinked her shot glass against Killian's and proceeded to down it in one swallow as Killian did the same. Emma shuddered when the alcohol hit her like a brick wall while Killian remained unaffected. She took a deep breath and collected herself. She was about to say goodbye and just call it a night when Killian stopped her.
"Oh don't tell me that you're leaving me so soon, love." he chuckled teasingly. Emma rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that night and slowly turned around to face Killian. He gave her a little pout. "It's almost midnight. Don't I get a kiss?" he appealed mockingly. Emma narrowed her eyes at him.
"Now why the hell would I kiss you?" she scoffed. Killian shook his head in amusement.
"Oh don't worry, Emma, you're an open book. You're lonely." Emma opened her mouth to argue with him, but he held his finger up to her lips and shushed her. "Oh no, it's my time to talk." he chuckled darkly as he leaned in close to her. "I saw how you looked at your two friends today. You want something like that. You desire to be loved, but your fear of abandonment gets in the way." his voice lowered to a soft, deep tone and Emma found herself listening raptly.
"How do you know that?" she breathed out in a barely audible whisper. Killian's lips twitched into a smile as his blue eyes darted down to the necklace around her neck.
"The necklace. You said you didn't have a boyfriend, but it's obviously a gift. So he must've left you since you kept the necklace. You keep it as a reminder. A reminder not to trust. You had your heart broken." he murmured. It was two minutes to midnight. "Takes a broken heart to know one." Emma was stunned. She didn't want to pull away, but at the same time she so desperately wanted to.
"Don't. Don't do this." she breathed out. "I don't want to do this again." she said stubbornly, moving to pull away. Killian grabbed her wrist to stop her and pulled her back against the bar.
"Try something new, love. It's called trust." he muttered before he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers exactly as it chimed midnight, fulfilling the tradition of getting good luck from a kiss at the very beginning of the year.
A/N: I really REALLY don't like this, but I wrote it for a friend...message me on tumblr if you have any requests: