Author's Note: First multichapter Captain Swan fic :) Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or any of its characters. I am not looking to make a profit off of this.
If she focused hard enough on the stacks of essays she needed to mark, it was easier to ignore the figure standing in the entrance to her office, staring her down with unbearable intensity. Emma wasn't sure exactly when the tension between her and her fiancé had started, but recently it had gotten worse, to the point that Walsh felt it necessary to visit her at work in some hope of convincing her to talk about their problems. What he didn't seem to realize, though, was that his attempts to fix them were only making the situation worse. He was making it harder for Emma to focus on anything but their conflict, and it was affecting her teaching, leading to the stacks of essays she needed to mark. Some of them were from three weeks ago, and she felt bad, considering it was no secret at Storybrooke University that Emma Swan was one of the fastest marking professors.
A loud cough from the door had Emma look up, frustration written all over her face. He was still leaning against the door frame, watching her with furrowed brows and lips pressed in a thin line. She absently wondered how he was even pulling off skipping work to come see her, but shoved the thought aside almost immediately. He was Walsh. Everyone loved him, especially his boss at work. She scowled, trying to forget that too.
"I have work to do, Walsh. Can't you wait until later?" she asked, her tone harsher than she had intended. He shrugged, tilting his head to the side.
"Come on, Ems. You've been staying at Ruby's every evening since the fight. When are we ever going to have time to talk about it?" he replied, pushing himself upright off the wall and taking a step towards her. Emma tensed up, wrapping her arms around her middle. As she did so, a glint of metal around her finger caught her eye and she blinked, looking back up at him.
"I just need some more time. Please? I promise. Tomorrow we'll talk. I really need to grade these though," she nodded at the papers on her desk, then gave him her most pleading expression. After a moment, as he seemed to think about it, Walsh finally nodded. He looked defeated.
"Tomorrow. Okay."
"I love you," she said quickly, trying to reassure him. Her fiancé nodded, mumbling a reply before turning and walking out of her office, closing the door a bit more forcefully than was necessary. Emma had only couple of minutes to collapse back in her chair, brushing her hair back behind her ears and trying to relax, before there was a knock at her door. Taking a moment to compose herself, she stood and walked to the door. Upon opening it, she found herself face to face with one of her students.
"Killian. Can I help you?" she asked, regarding the senior with a weary glance. He didn't seem to notice her mental exasperation, or if he did, he didn't show it. Instead, he merely shrugged.
"I was just wondering if you got my email? I sent it yesterday, and I never got a response..." he said, his voice trailing off. Emma followed his gaze to her desk, and let out a short sigh.
"Your email... about the extension, right? Yes, I did get it. I'm so sorry. I meant to reply," she ran her hand through her hair, mentally cursing. It wasn't the first student email she had forgotten about since the fight with Walsh. Killian shook his head, though.
"It's fine, Dr. Swan. Really. I was actually coming to let you know I didn't need it anymore. I made good progress on my paper today, and I'm going to be finished it by tomorrow," he said quickly. Emma arched an eyebrow, surprised. He was a good student, but if she remembered his email correctly, he had had a perfectly good reason for wanting an extension. She was impressed he had managed to pull everything together.
"Is that so? Well, good job. If something happens, though, consider yourself granted an extension until Friday. A favour, since I never replied in the first place," she said, walking back to her desk and sitting down. Killian grinned, running his fingers through the hair on the back of his head and causing it to be more ruffled than usual.
"Thanks," he said, turning around to leave. "See you in class tomorrow," he tossed over his shoulder. Emma nodded, grabbing the first essay from the stack from three weeks ago.
"See you," she replied, reaching for a pen. It was time to start marking.
"-And when you're finally finished that marking, you've got to help me pick out something for my date with Victor-"
Emma had learned how to tune out her best friend's ramblings. It was why they were good roommates - Ruby could babble on about whatever she wanted, and Emma could hum and nod along, without getting too distracted from whatever it was she was trying to do at the moment. After working all afternoon and then bringing a stack of papers home with her to her friend's apartment, she was finally almost finished marking one class, at least. There were only two more papers in the stack.
Her friend hadn't stopped talking since she had stepped through the door and kicked off her comfortable teaching shoes, as Ruby affectionately called them. The babbling had continued as Emma had peeled off her business attire and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a black tank top. Then she had settled on the couch, pen and essay in hand as she did her work. She still had to prepare her lectures for the next day, although she knew she could probably figure out her afternoon lecture over her lunch break. It was the morning lecture she was worried about. That would take some work. And with the stress of Walsh lately...
"Ruby?" she spoke suddenly, interrupting her friend mid-sentence. The other woman stopped pacing, staring at her blankly. Emma rarely spoke while she was working, unless it was a quiet exclamation at some student's stupidity.
After a long silence, Ruby finally nodded. "Yeah?"
"Did Walsh call today?" Emma rubbed her temples, setting the paper she had been marking aside. Her friend shrugged and shook her head.
"Nah. I wouldn't have answered, though, you know that."
"He came to the university again today."
Ruby's expression could best be described as murder.
"You told him you needed time. What part of that doesn't he understand?!" she exclaimed, walking towards Emma and sinking onto the couch beside her. Before she could react, the other woman had her wrapped in a tight hug.
"I dunno, I mean... do you think I'm being too harsh on him? We're engaged, after all. Maybe I should just talk it out with him. Forgive him," she mumbled, sitting stiffly in Ruby's arms. After a moment, her friend released her and looked at her curiously.
"He hurt you. You have every right to want your space until you figure things out."
"But that's the thing... I've wanted my space for a while now, and I think I'm pushing him away. We spent so much on this wedding already-"
Ruby cut in. "You have two more months to figure things out. You can afford to take another few days to yourself to figure out how you feel and how you want to move forward." She gently knocked Emma's shoulder with her own. "And hey. I'm here for you, girl. You know that, yeah?"
Emma forced a small smile. "Yeah, I know. Thanks, Ruby."
"Any time, Duckie."
Emma managed a small giggle at the affectionate nickname, born in their childhood when Emma had been convinced no one would want to adopt her. It had been only a month after Ruby started using the nickname that her then-foster parents had adopted her.
"I should finish this marking. And then I have to prep for tomorrow. Remind me again why I agreed to teach Milton after Walt left?" She was dead serious. Ruby laughed, standing up and putting her hands on her hips.
"Because you're a good person and Regina was in a bind. It's not like anyone else was gonna teach it," she replied, matter-of-fact. Emma sighed, picking up her pen again.
"At least Belle's taking it in September," she muttered, picturing the young Ph.D. student. She was one of the brightest minds Emma had encountered since she started teaching at Storybrooke. Belle lived and breathed literature, particularly older literature. Emma, on the other hand, couldn't wait to get back to teaching her specialty - children's literature, starting with a course on Fairy Tales in September.
"I don't even know what I'm gonna teach on tomorrow." She groaned, leaning back. Ruby arched an eyebrow. "I mean, I know. Books eleven and twelve of Paradise Lost. But I've got nothing on them."
"Here's a thought. Shoot Belle an email. I'm sure she's got oodles of info you could use," Ruby commented, brushing her fingers through her hair and walking over to the mirror by the door. "It's worth a shot, no?"
Emma thought about it for a moment. The other woman had a point. "Where's my laptop?" She sat up straight, looking around. "Where is it?" She stood up, scanning the room and trying to remember where she left it.
"Kitchen table, my spot might I add," Ruby said over her shoulder as she pulled her tank top off over her head. "I'm going to try on something for my date. And you owe me an opinion after the fantastic advice I just gave you."
Emma laughed, stepping over a pile of books on the floor (hers, since Ruby's belongings took up most of the decent storage space in the apartment). When she reached the table, she opened her laptop and quickly typed up an email, sending it to Belle's student account. Hopefully she would see it and reply before Emma's class started the next morning. Without a second thought, she brought her laptop back to the couch (nearly tripping over her pile of books in the process) and set it beside her, looking up just in time to see her roommate step out of her bedroom wearing an impossibly tight halter top and sleek, leather pants. Her eyes widened as she took in the look.
"Whadya think?" Ruby asked, adjusting the bright red top. Emma nodded slowly.
"It'll definitely catch his attention," she said just as slowly. Ruby beamed at her.
"Exactly what I was going for! Perfect! Kay, so, Victor'll be here in a bit, and if I get lucky, I might actually be spending the night at his place. So don't wait up for me, kay?" she chirped, turning around midsentence and walking into the bathroom, presumably to do her hair and makeup. Emma nodded, shaking her head before picking up her pen once more. She had two more papers to mark, she could do this. And then she would have time to figure out how she was going to teach the end of Paradise Lost to her students, unless Belle got back to her in time.
Once she finished the second last paper, she picked up the final paper from her stack and stared at the name on the top. Killian Jones. Absently, she wondered how he was doing, after being reminded of the problems he was facing earlier in the day. Things were rough for the young man, and he was getting close to graduating. He needed excellent grades if he wanted to get into a Master of Arts program, which he did want, as he had confided in her last semester. She started to read his paper, frowning as she finished the introduction. It wasn't the writing style she had grown to recognize from him over the past two years as he had been in several of her classes. It was sloppy, and disjointed. It made her wonder just how long the issues he had described in his email had been going on.
She finished his paper and frowned, shaking her head and making a note to talk to him when she had the chance. Something was wrong with Killian, and she needed to figure it out before he handed in his final paper for that class. Part of her wished she had caught this earlier, so she could help him before the Milton paper was due, but unfortunately she had been caught up in her own problems.
Setting his paper aside, she looked up to see her friend stepping out of the bathroom, now sporting bright smoky eyeshadow, fake lashes, and bright red lipstick to match her outfit. Her hair was sleek and shiny, and she was smirking at Emma.
"Very nice," she said, nodding her approval. Ruby clapped her hands once before the doorbell rang. Both women giggled together for a moment, and then Ruby opened the door. Emma smirked to herself at Victor's response to his date's outfit, and when the two were gone, Ruby once again reminding Emma not to wait up for her, Emma relaxed back on the couch. Her cell rang, and she checked it, frowning deeply when she saw Walsh's name. After declining the call and turning off her phone without listening to the voicemail, she turned to her laptop.
There was a reply from Belle, along with a document containing all of her notes from the end of Paradise Lost. Emma was impressed, as she read through the notes. She would have to thank Belle profusely. All thoughts of buying a massive gift for the Ph.D. candidate were erased, however, as an email and instant message popped up from Walsh, almost exactly at the same time. Both were asking her why she didn't answer his call.
She had the grace to not slam her laptop shut, but she didn't open it again for the rest of the night. Instead, she spent an hour reading poetry, gave up, found Ruby's alcohol stash, and finally collapsed on her bed close to midnight.
Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she stretched lightly under her duvet. It was a strangely comfortable morning for Emma, even if she did have to leave for the university in an hour. At the same time, however, something felt wrong. There was too much light in her bedroom, and Circle of Life wasn't blasting in her ears.
Emma sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes, and glanced over at her clock.
Her whole body tensed.
She jumped out of the bed, kicking off her pajama pants.
It was 9:30am. She had missed her 8am alarm.
"Shit!"
