Hey! This is a idea I've been having for awhile, so hopefully you will like it. Slow burn AU, but swanqueen is of course end game. Please leave some love if you read it :)
It was Friday night and Emma had just finished her shift. Finally! Now she was in the back, getting changed before she will enter the stage and sing. It was probably the only perk she got for working as a bartender at this godforsaken place.
Emma still remembered how happy she'd been when her boss Killian, had offered her the opportunity to sing there on Friday and Saturday nights after he had overhead her having a conversation with Ruby.
The only catch had been that she'd had to do it free of charge, but the last thing Emma cared about was the money. Well at least when it came to her love for music. Emma would sell her soul to the devil if she needed, just to be able to keep playing her guitar. And being on stage was like living her dream. It also was the the only time she actually felt alive.
Emma had always dreamed and would probably always dream of the day when she would be able to work as a professional musician. But she was fairly certain it would never happen. And that broke her heart.
Emma worked a job as a bartender and she despised the work in general, mostly because she wasn't cut out to be a bartender.
Not to mention how incredibly tired she was of all the drunk ass men who frequented the bar. They were always hitting on her, trying to touch her and spilling out disgusting comments toward her. They were simply being obnoxious assholes, but what did she expect? It was a bikers club after all.
It wasn't like Emma hadn't tried to get another job, but it seemed as impossible as so much else seemed to be for her. So, it wasn't like she'd had that much of a choice either. Her grades from school weren't that great either, which didn't make things any easier...
"You ready Ems?" Ruby asked suddenly with a gentle smile, and that made the blonde snap back to reality.
"Yeah I think so," Emma chuckled as she let her finger trail over the strings of her guitar.
Emma took a deep breath before she walked up on the stage. She felt how her heart almost started to beat for the first time that week. She wasn't only existing right now. She was living.
The blonde sat down on her chair and gesturedfor Ruby to turn on the spotlight. The redhead nodded in response and as soon as the light touched Emma's skin, the crowd started to cheer.
This one's for you daddy. As always Emma thought to herself as she started to play.
Ruby was her roommate, along with Ruby's girlfriend Belle. The three of them rented a house just a few miles out of town. It wasn't anything big or fancy but they had fallen in love with it as soon as they had seen it. It had just been… perfect!
Ruby and Belle had been Emma's best friends for years, so living together like they did, felt natural. The two of them had also been a couple for as long as Emma could remember. They were the complete opposite of each other, but in some way they just clicked. Emma was happy for them, she really was.
But she was also a bit jealous. Why? Well, Emma also wanted someone to call her own, but love had never worked out for her. And she had started to think it never would, which had made her give up on finding someone.
That meant it was just Emma and her guitar against the world. And she was determined they would conquer it, one string at a time.
Ruby was also a bartender at the Biker club, but she didn't have the kind of problems Emma had. Oh no. She had the mouth of a furious tiger and the strength of a bear, so nobody dared to even look at her funny. Emma wished she was more like that, but she wasn't. She was more like Belle, Ruby's girlfriend.
Belle worked as a waitress at one of the town's best restaurants and she didn't have to serve slobs like this, and made so much more money as well. She probably made more tips than Emma and Ruby earned each month.
Which meant that, where Belle worked though, Emma and Ruby didn't even have enough money to buy one small appetizer.
Despite that though, Belle wasn't some kind of a snob. She was the type of person who never flaunted her money, had a big heart and was a true friend, who always made sure she saw Emma perform.
Emma let her fingers brush against the guitar once more and closed her eyes for a second, picturing her dad, David, in front of her. This particular guitar had been his favorite one and Emma remembered how much she'd wanted to play on it as a kid, but never got the chance.
Emma's father had died in a tragic car accident when Emma had been just 10 years old, and her mother had done the best she could to give Emma a good childhood, even if the money had been almost non existent after David's death.
Emma's father had been a professional musician and this Fender in particular, that Emma had kept in memory of him, had always been his favorite one, even if he had owned more guitars than Emma could even remember.
Unfortunately, her mother Mary had been forced to sell them, one by one, just to be able to pay the mortgage on the house, to prevent she and her daughter from ending up on the streets.
Emma had never cared that much about money, but boy had she been happy when her mother kept that Fender for her. It had been much to Emma's surprise though, since it was the one Mary had been offered the most money for.
But Emma's mother knew how much her daughter loved that guitar and it had simply been too precious to the both of them to lose.
Emma's mother wanted to keep the memory of David alive, and loved the fact that her daughter was a musician. Mary truly treasured the memories of when David had taught Emma to play the guitar, with the small girl in his lap.
So Mary and Emma's uncle James always made sure they came to see her perform. It had been a tradition for years. And Mary would never miss one of Emma's performances, and the blonde remembered all those times when her mother showed up with both a fever and headaches.
"Oh darling you were amazing tonight," Mary grinned as she hugged her daughter.
"Mom, you know you say that every time, right?" Emma chuckled and opened the beer Ruby brought her.
"I think what your mother meant to say was that you just keep getting better and better Ems," Belle winked.
"Your father would have been so proud," James added and Emma almost jumped up in his arms, like she had always done as a kid. The man just laughed and ruffled her hair.
"You think so?"
"I know so," James smiled. "So what do you say girls, how about we celebrate yet another successful show, huh?"
Emma's uncle James always bought them food after they had seen Emma sing and made sure they got home safe to their house.
Unfortunately both her uncle and mother lived a couple of hours away so Emma didn't see them as much as she wished she could, and she was so grateful that they came to see her at least once a week. It had been something they had done for years now.
Belle's parents lived in the city and they visited sometimes, but often, Belle visited them. They were a bit too snobby to be out in the country and preferred their penthouse in the city. They adored Ruby though and always bugged them about when they were gonna get married, even if the girls weren't any older than 23.
Ruby didn't have any relatives at all. She had been raised by her grandmother, who had tragically passed away from cancer for a couple of years ago. It was still a rough spot for the redhead as she refused to talk about it.
This time Emma had made sure she'd had a few days off of work after this show, so she had gone home with her mother and uncle after dropping Ruby and Belle off at their house.
Emma loved being at her mother's place since the whole house was a reminder of her dear old father. But it was also painful in a way because she missed him so much.
The house had been renovated throughout the years, but David's music room was kept untouched. The walls were still filled with pictures of all his performances, pictures of them all together and some of just Emma and him. She had absolutely adored her father and he had been the one who had encouraged her to start playing the guitar. Emma just wished he could have heard her now.
"Emma dear, where are.." Mary stopped mid sentence when she saw her daughter sitting in David's music room. She was listening on some of his records and met her mother's eyes.
The older woman walked up to her daughter and sat down on the couch next to her. Emma laid her head on her mother's shoulder and she swung her arm around her.
"I miss him too Emma," she said carefully.
"I just wish he was still here you know?" the blonde stuttered, almost sounding like she had as a kid, that night she and her mother had gotten the call about David's horrendous accident.
It still sent shivers down Emma's spine even if she had been only a kid, thinking about that night. She would never forget losing him… her hero...
David had been on his way back home from one of his usual gigs, but he hadn't a chance to see the black ice on the road before it was too late. He had skidded off the side of the road and crashed into a truck.
The ambulance personnel had told them he had probably died immediately, and they had guessed it was a small comfort.
Mary's grip around her daughter tightened and she reached for her phone, then pressed play. She still had the voice message left that David had left that night.
"Hi darling, it's just me. I wanted to tell you that I just finished the gig. Hope you're asleep as well as Emma, even if she probably isn't.
She would have loved being with me tonight, seeing all different kinds of artists and all the guitars. She would have been in heaven. Anyway. Just called to say I'm gonna be heading home soon. I love you. See you guys in a couple of hours. Rock on."
"Rock on," Emma repeated and snuggled closer to her mother. David had never came home that night and they missed him so terribly. And even if neither of them said it out loud, they both still waited for him to pull up in the driveway..
Another shiver shot down Emma's spine as she remembered that'd it had been planned from the beginning, that Mary should have gone with David that night. The plans had changed though, when the babysitter canceled at the last minute, which meant Mary had to stay home. That was something Emma was thankful for today. And after the accident, Emma and her mother had only grown closer to each other.
By lunch uncle James had pulled up his big car in the driveway.
"Uncle!" Emma said with a smile, as the back doors to the car flew open and James's two kids, Elsa and Philip, practically jumped out and ran up to her.
"Emma!" they both squealed and attacked her with hugs, making the blonde fall backwards. She just laughed as she kissed her niece and nephew as they both continued to hug her.
"Hi you little rascals," she grinned when she finally sat up again with both kids at her sides. They loved her and she loved them.
"Kids behave," James wife Anna sighed and gave Emma a hug.
"Yeah you know what happens if you accidentally break that old guitar of hers," James chuckled. Emma shrugged as he grabbed the guitar and brought it with him inside.
"James, Anna. Welcome," Mary smiled and hugged them both when they came inside the kitchen. "Aren't the kids with you?" she added a bit confused and looked around.
"They are out in the back with Emma. Where else would they be?" James chuckled as he put down the guitar on the couch nearest to the kitchen.
"They have been talking non stop about her since we told them she was here visiting."
"Oh yeah, what was I thinking," Mary laughed and put on the coffee maker.
"It's good to have her home huh?" James asked as he started to pour the coffee. Mary offered him a crooked smile.
"Oh, I wish I could have her around all the time," Mary chuckled, but they quickly changed the subject. It wasn't know by more than the three in the room, that Mary had been pregnant when David had died and the stress and heartbreak had made her have a miscarriage.
"10!" Emma shouted. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," a smirk began to form on her lips as she found the giggling siblings behind a tree. She attacked them with a hug and they all fell down on the ground.
"You're the best," Philip said with a smile. Emma ruffled his hair and was amazed by how much of herself she saw in her nephew's eyes. She knew she had been as social and crazy as him as a kid. Elsa was a little more withdrawn and Emma was certain this was how Belle had been as a kid.
Emma loved kids and always had. She was sad that she never had gotten a little brother or sister, but was happy her uncle had two kids. She adored them as much as they adored her. And she spoiled them rotten.
"They do really love Emma," James chuckled as his wife nodded in agreement. Mary chose to not answer, she only looked out the window again, because she was so sad in a way. Mostly because Emma lived a lonely life, even if she she did have her friends.
"Urgh, when is Emma supposed to come home?" Ruby mumbled and received a glare from her girlfriend.
"Am I that boring to hang out with hmm?" Belle teased and Ruby met her eyes.
"I didn't mean it like that!" Ruby huffed.
"I know baby, I'm just teasing you," Belle grinned and placed a kiss on her forehead.
"The house is just so quiet without her you know? And I don't have anyone to play guitar hero with either!"
"Rubes, you always lose when you play against her. And then you get grumpy. So now you tell me you're grumpy because you don't have her to play against?" Belle frowned.
"Precisely!"
"You're weird." Belle chuckled. "I'll go fix us some food, okay? Maybe that will cheer you up."
As the day turned into evening, Emma waved goodbye to her uncle and his family as they pulled out from the driveway. Her mother disappeared into the kitchen to start with dinner while Emma went upstairs to her old room.
As she opened the door, it almost felt like she opened the door to her past. She saw the pictures she had on her walls and suddenly she saw a picture of Lily. It was like her heart stopped for a second, and Emma sat down on her bed, feeling the anxiety crawl under her skin.
Lily had been the one, her soul mate or, well, at least that was what Emma had thought. She opened the photo album that laid on her nightstand and flipped through it. It felt like she was being stung by thousands of knives at once, because most of the pictures were of her and Lily.
Lily had played her. Used her. And left Emma in a million pieces and it had taken her years to recover from. But she would never trust anyone again like that. Never.
"Fuck you," Emma mumbled as she closed the photo album and laid down on her old bed. She felt how the tears stung in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall down. She had cried too many tears for Lily, and she didn't deserve them. She didn't even deserve to be in Emma's thoughts.
With a groan Emma reached for her guitar and as she started to play one of her songs, she disappeared into her own little bubble, where she was safe.
Mary stood just outside the door and listened to her daughter and it brought tears to her eyes. It wasn't often this old house felt like a home, because it was so quiet these days, but when Emma was visiting, it came to life.
One string at the time.