Well, Modern AU, here we go! It'll be angsty, it will probably be irregularly updated, but I'm looking forward to this...

Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time or any lyrics used.

With her sweetened breath, and her tongue so mean

She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene

- Angel of Small Death & The Codeine Scene, Hozier

Killian Jones ties his boat to the dock and steps carefully onto the boardwalk. The brisk night air bites at his fingers as he makes his way towards the storefronts which line the docks. Only one still has its dim lights on at this time of night; Killian pushes open the door to the familiar café and orders a coffee. He pays with a smile, returning his wallet to his back pocket before taking his usual seat. As he thinks to himself how strange the place looks while it's so empty, he hears the door open and looks up, wondering who else would be around here this late. His eyes briefly meet those of the girl who enters before he looks back down into his coffee, momentarily startled by them. They're tired eyes; lonely. When he glances back up, thankful that she is no longer looking his way, he is also surprised to see that she is his age, maybe younger. He is even more surprised to find, a moment later, her hands placing another mug across the table from him.

"Hi," she says. Killian's eyes trail up from her hands to her face, and looking at her properly for the first time he finds that she's quite pretty. He smiles easily at her.

"Hey," he replies. He takes a sip of his coffee, the mug warming his stiff fingers. "What brings you out here?" The girl shrugs.

"The scenery? I don't know, I don't have much else to do," she explains. "What about you?"

"Sailing," he answers. "I'm trying out the sea at night, now that I can." She nods as if in understanding, making the gentle curls at the end of her blonde hair bob slightly.

"You finished school?" Killian chuckles.

"That obvious?" he asks. "I thought I passed for older." The girl smiles slightly, but he senses it's insincere.

"Twenty at a stretch," she says, her eyes tracing over his face and briefly over his figure. Killian lets his own eyes fall, feeling a slight warmth in his cheeks from her gaze.

"Yeah, I'm finished school," he tells her. "Moved into my own place last week. What about you?" She laughs quietly, and it's a hollow sound.

"I don't have time for school," she says.

"I'm sorry I wasted my time on it, to be honest," he replies.

"You're the first person I've met who thinks my way." She brings her mug to her lips, which have a slight sheen on them like she's been wearing lipgloss that has now since faded, and he watches her bring her tongue over her upper lip to lick off the froth left there before he speaks again.

"I'm glad," he says, smiling. She returns her mug to the table and rests her arms on it, leaning slightly towards him. He notices that despite the time of year, she is wearing only a crumpled, sleeveless shirt.

"So what do you want to do?" she asks, and he is confused for a moment as to what she means. She seems to sense this and adds, "Do you want to study, or do you have other plans, or what?"

"I've always wanted to travel," he finds himself telling her. "Just see the world, sail as far as I can and stop whenever and wherever I like." Killian looks down at his hands once he has said this, feeling foolish. "I mean, I know it's ridiculous, I couldn't get far in my boat and it's not a way to earn money, it's just - " She cuts him off before he can continue repeating the criticism he's always been met with when expressing his desire to travel.

"A dream," she finishes. He nods, somewhat sadly.

"Aye. Just a dream."

They sit then in a comfortable silence as they finish their drinks, the warmth of the café close around them as the docks remain in untouched darkness outside. When Killian sets his empty mug down on the table, he is not yet ready to leave the company of the girl sitting across from him. Fortunately, it would seem she feels similarly, as she also pauses before setting her mug down and meeting his eyes. It is clear from her demeanour, her slow glance back at him as she leaves the café, that she is inviting him to follow. There is a small part of him telling him that he shouldn't, but it is drowned out by the way she moves; by the way she doesn't look back once she's out the door to see if he is coming.

He is seconds behind her, the chill of the night hitting him full force as he steps outside. It is difficult to make out anything in the darkness, but she is the only source of movement, and the moonlight makes her hair glow faintly. When she stops walking and turns to him, he jams his hands into his pockets, suddenly nervous and acutely feeling the winter. He wonders, for the first time, what he is doing.

Killian barely has time to finish this thought before she has pulled him into the shadows of an alley, one even the starlight does not reach. He was expecting something like this from the beginning, although he is not quite sure why, and so he is not surprised when her clammy hands wrap around his neck, nor when her warm lips meet his. She tastes like over sugared coffee and loss, and it makes him want to kiss her harder. So he does, his hands moving to her hair as hers make their way to his waist. It is too deep too fast; fast enough for him to know that it is a one-time thing. Her mouth is demanding and her fingers are burning, and it is easy to forget that they are strangers; stuck in pitch blackness in the middle of nowhere.

When she pulls away, he can see nothing, and their heavy breaths are the only sounds filling the night. She rests her head on his shoulder in what he senses is a moment of weakness; in that moment, he sees a lost girl. She kisses him once more, quickly and softly before she is gone.

It is not until he is back in his apartment that Killian realises his wallet is missing, and that he never got her name.