CHAPTER ONE.

Emma Swan never felt shittier.

Her foster family had only ever taken in toddlers or infants before….so they didn't exactly know how to deal with a 14 year old. Plus , Emma had to go,because she understood the couple had no choice but to comply with their toddler. So here she was,stuck at some random amusement park restaurant called "The pirate's diner". She considered this particular name to be very…."inspired and unique". Surely, no one has ever thought of that name for a pirate-themed diner before.

Besides feeling very much of embarrassed,a random 17 year old waiter was constantly checking her out and hitting on her. Wonderful,she thought to herself. Of course,it didn't bother her that he was very handsome,however, he wasn't very much of a gentleman. Even if his eyes were a deep blue and he had dimples,he was still a jackass. She didn't care very much until she returned in the system. After her current foster family kind of got bored of her, Emma got sent right back to the orphanage.

And there he was, the blue-eyed waiter. He introduced himself and, to no real surprise, started hitting on Emma right away. That's how she met Killian Jones:the professional player and arsehole. Well, at least that's what she thought of him back then. It didn't matter very much though because just one year later he got to just walk out of the orphanage,while Emma was stuck there until she turned 18. Well, she ran away at 16 anyway,but that's not the point. She absolutely forgot about Killian Jones anyway and just moved on with her life.

There was this guy named Neal,a lot of heartbreak, a baby that she kept,even though she didn't intend to at first and not a lot of money. Her life wasn't a sweet one,but at least she had Henry.

At first,she couldn't even look at him. He cried and reminded her of the heartbreaker that was his father. She thought the little guy could only bring her pain and suffering,because all he would do was:he was going to be a sad reminder for her. But then the doctor asked her if she wanted to hold him. She looked at the baby in his arms and all she could do was instantly fall in love with the little human that was a part of her now. She held him, got a closer look at the guy and changed her mind:she was NOT going to give up on him like his father did to her. She promised him to always love and protect him, and because he was going to be her little prince,she named him Henry.

Henry was growing up fast,but he was a good kid. He slept often and was almost impossible to wake up,was barely even fussy and ate whatever she fed him. Because he was this blessing of a kid,Emma got to go to college and graduated by 22. Henry and a degree: that's all Emma had. Even if she had a degree,no one would hire her,saying that she was just another unexperienced single mom who cared for nothing but herself. In the end, she just gave up on finding a job that she would enjoy having and started working as a waiter during the weekdays and as a librarian during the weekend. Two shitty jobs that paid next to nothing, but at least together they could pay for some decent meals. Emma and Henry were doing just fine on their own,that is, until her landlord kicked them out because sometimes Henry would cry and that would "disturb the neighbours". She was 23 at the time and Henry was 1.

That's when Emma decided they should probably move in a smaller apartment building,one still close to work but one in which the inhabitants are not soulless people who are disturbed by a hungry baby. So she moved in a bulding in New York that was owned by a lovely couple named David and Mary Margret Nolan. They were only three or four years older than her, but she got attached to them and they were almost like the family she never had. Almost.

At first,she wasn't going to open up to them about her past,even if they got close fast. She had her walls and they were very,very high. But one night David was coming to get the rent and found her on the stairs,crying, with Henry in her arms. The boy was sleeping, and she was weeping softly,so she wouldn't wake the kid up.
"Shit.",David cursed under his breath and went up to Emma. He whispered,"Hey now,hey,Emma,what's wrong?"

Emma just looked at him and said with tears in her eyes;"I just got fired. From both jobs. Just because Henry had a cold and I asked for a few days off,so I could take care of him,you know? And now I don't have ANY money at all, I can absolutely not afford rent, my fridge is empty and believe me when I tell you, so is my stomach. I can still afford some food for Henry,but even that won't be for long. Oh and did I forget to tell you that no one wants to hire me, even if I worked my ass off to get a degree, because they think that because I'm a single mom I'm ultimatly a slut too? Yeah,I'm sorry for the rambling, but right now my point is I sold almost all of my furniture and Henry's stroller and I still have nothing to pay rent with." She stopped for a moment so she could catch her breath, sighed and then continued:" So feel free to kick me out and sell the rest of my furniture too,because I have nowhere to take it anyway." She swallowed thickly and stood up, Henry still sleeping safe and sound in her arms. At this point,Emma's eyes were overflowing with tears.

"Emma,stop." David said quickly and stood up so he would be almost on eye-level with Emma, but he was taller than her."We're not kicking anyone out and nobody is starving to death or selling your furniture. You know,Mary Margret just told me she saw an ad online where you can publish your CV and say something about yourself and you will either be hired as a waiter,as a barista or as something else in the domain you're good in. Until you figure that part out, you can live here without paying rent. Let's just say your house is on the house until you get a job." He winks and then speaks up once again." And if you need any money, we would be happy to help you with anything you need."

Emma's eyes were wide. She never thought someone would ever care for her this much. She thanked David and as soon they were in her apartment and Henry was sleeping in his crib, she gave David a tight hug. As she was crying,she said:"Thank you. You don't possibly understand how much this means to me".

Ever since that night, Mary Margret comes to visit her almost daily and cooks them something to eat. Of course,Emma found a job in the meantime and worked about 7 hours a day as a waiter in a pirate themed restaurant called " The pirate's diner". She didn't notice it at first,but after a while she remembered that was where she met an idiotic teenager named Killian Jones. She can still see him in his head, with those deep blue eyes and his sweet,sweet dimples. Oh yeah, and his arsehole-like behavior.

One day,as she's taking down the order of some happy looking family, she hears someone call her name. At first,she doesn't know where it came from, but as she looks around,she notices that the new sous-chef ,the one who called her, actually looks quite familiar. Confused ,she looked at the name tag pinned to his uniform: "Killian J". She freezes.

She looks at his nametag once again and then at his piercing blue eyes." Well,shit. If it isn't the one and only professional jackass:Killian Hit-on-girls-like-there-is-no-tomorrow Jones."
"Nice to see you too,Swan",Killian says with a flirty smirk on his face. "I see you have not changed your views on me, even though we both can see that I am even more devilishly handsome than before."
"Whatever rocks your boat,Killian."Emma rolls her eyes and turns away. She turns her head one last time before going to another table and adds:"Actually,I have a question for you."

"Aye? And what would that be,love?You plan on taking me out?"he asks,peeling back a smile.
"Actually,I wanted to ask you if you are always this stupid or if this is just a special occasion."Emma turns her back to him as she knows his jaw fell open and walks away. In her head, she knows she can't ignore him forever,since they now both work in this stupid place, but at least she can try. The only reason she wants to ignore him is that he is so handsome,that if she wasn't careful she would fall for him in a heartbeat. And look where that got her the last time.

Meanwhile,Killian would like to casually jump off a bridge. He fucked up. Real bad. And he knows that. The only thing he has been doing since Milah's death has been sleeping with a multitude of women without feeling anything for them. He has just been trying to fill this void, but deep down he knows,acting like a jackass won't solve anything. And act like a jackass he just did. And he did it in front of Emma fricking Swan. What has she been up to?,he wonders as she turns her back away. Doesn't matter anyway,because he just ruined his chance with her. Well, that, and the fact that she is rather beautiful in the present day. He always thought of her as beautiful but forgot her almost instantly when he left the orphanage. That was eight years ago though and in the meantime he lost everything.

She doesn't seem too happy either,considering she is working as a waitress at a pirate themed restaurant in an amusement park. But she's different,somehow. Even if Killian's first thought was to get her in bed, the moment she opened her mouth and called him Killian Hit-on-girls-like-there-is-no-tomorrow Jones he knew she was absolutely not going to fall for his bullshit. And that,ladies and gentleman, is what made Emma Swan different from the other hot blondes Killian ever met. Plus, the fact that he knew her since she was 14 made a huge difference too.

Little did he know Emma was different because she considered herself far,far too broken to be loved by anyone but three people:Mary Margret,David and Henry.

That night,Emma came home,thanked Mary Margret for looking after Henry while she was gone and crashed onto her bed. She then rocked Henry to sleep, and turned the water in the tub on,thinking that she could take a hot bath before going to sleep. Anyway, it was Friday, so it wasn't like she was going to work tomorrow,but she felt she needed to relax before going to sleep. She was mostly stressed out because of Killian Jones and his existence.

How on earth was he still working at that freaking restaurant after ,what, eight or nine years. Good god,at least he doesn't appear to be doing much better than her at this point. Then she steps in a puddle. Shit,shit,shit. The bath is overflowing. And because her life is just that awesome, she almost knows for a fact that somebody living beneath her has water dripping from the ceiling.

And then she hears a knock at the door. "Okay,amazing. Let's face a grumpy neighbor,shall we?",she thinks to herself while walking towards the front door to open it. And just like that,standing at her door with an angry but surprised expression, is the one and only Killian Jones.

"Wonderful"she thinks to herself again."Just .Wonderful. "