Flutter

Summary: Emma Swan is a 21-year-old college student working as a barista to pay her bills. Killian Jones is the 28 year-old owner of a billion-dollar hotel firm. They had to meet. Two-shot. [AU, CS]

Chapter 1

"Your small non-fat latte is ready, ma'am." Emma called out, placing the beverage on the bar. Sighing slightly, she pushed a lock of a blonde hair out her eyes. She wasn't even supposed to be working the closing shift, but Anna was feeling sick, so Emma stepped in. Truth be told, she did need the money.

"Hey Emma?" Ruby began, fumbling slightly with the milk bags as she brought them in from the back, "Want to close up earlier and head home?"

"And risk Regina skinning both of us alive?" Emma replied with a raised eyebrow, privately wondering if her friend had gone mad.

"She's mellowed out a lot since she started dating Robin." Ruby countered, a sly smirk appearing on her face. "Besides, she'll never know, that lady was probably our last customer."

Ruby did have a point, Emma mused as she wiped down the bar and re-stocked the espresso beans. Regina would probably never find out and it was only 20 minutes till closing. "I do have that economics exam on Wednesday." Emma stated, slowly turning around to look at her friend who was positively bursting with happiness. "I'll finish up here, you clean the back and we're out in 10 minutes."

Getting to work, she rapidly began sterilizing everything in arm's reach. She was so focused on her work that she didn't hear the door open, didn't hear someone walk towards her, didn't hear anything until the person in question stood before her and spoke, "Hello, love."

Emma flinched so violently that the syrup bottle that she was refilling went flying out of her hands, landing squarely in the sink. Silently mumbling a quick thank you for small miracles, she looked up to meet the bluest eyes she had ever seen. Thickly swallowing, she pulled away and found herself face to face with one of the most handsome men she had ever seen. He was quite tall and slim, with short black messy hair covering his head. A scruffy beard covered his face and his teeth were a pearly white. Pull it together Swan, she mentally told herself. "Can I help you?"

"I was wondering if you were still open," the man replied, a British accent seeping into his voice, "could use a caffeine fix."

"Latte, macchiato, espresso?" Emma responded, firing off a list of beverages, desperately trying to not to appear as flustered as she was currently feeling.

"A double shot of espresso please, darling. Much appreciated." The customer replied, leaning against the bar, effortlessly looking completely at ease with himself.

Nodding in response, Emma pressed the button to pour the espresso shots. Feeling acutely aware of the man's eyes on her, she fixed her gaze upon the steady stream of espresso that was making its way into the small cup. Carefully placing a lid upon the drink when it ready, she handed it to the man. "That will be $2.50."

"Thank you, love." The man said kindly, taking a sip of the hot drink, and smiling in happiness. "This is an excellent drink. You have a talent when it comes to making espresso based drinks."

"It's not that difficult," Emma began; making the mistake of looking right into the man's beautiful eyes again, and promptly forgetting the rest of her sentence.

Smiling widely at her, the man placed a bill in front of her and made his way to the door, calling out, "Have a good evening love, keep the change."

"Who was that?" Ruby exclaimed, her jaw practically hitting the floor, as she watched the man get into his car and drive away.

"I have absolutely no idea." Emma told her friend, thrilled that her voice had returned to a normal, functioning status.

"He was totally into you." Ruby said, smiling from ear to ear, engulfing Emma in a huge hug. Pulling away, she continued, "And what's even better, you were into him."

"Not even, Ruby." Emma stated, fixing her friend with an incredulous look, willing the brunette to end the conversation. "You know what happened with Neal. I can't afford to let something like that happen again, least of all drag Henry into in the middle of everything."

"Henry is three years old, Emma. You wouldn't have him meet anyone that you are not comfortable with. You're an excellent mother and always do right by him." Ruby smiled, pulling Emma into another hug.

"Well, perhaps." Emma mumbled, her voice muffled by Ruby's long hair. "It's not like I'll ever see him again."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Ruby laughed, sliding over the bill with an attached slip of paper that Emma failed to notice when the customer paid her. "First of all, he left you a $20 bill for a double espresso. And second of all, check this out: 'Thank you again. Hope to see you another time. – Killian.' Emma, he's totally coming back. How did you not notice this piece of paper, let alone him writing out a message on it?"

"I was trying not to look directly at him, Ruby." Emma answered, rolling her eyes, "Those baby blues are something else. Also, if you haven't noticed, it's 10pm, which means we've wasted all this time talking about him. So much for leaving early."

"Killian. His name is Killian. And you're into him and he's coming back. This is awesome." Ruby squealed, running to the back of the store before Emma had a chance to respond.

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Turning the key as quietly as she could, Emma entered the darkened house. Making her way through the dark, she entered Henry's blue bedroom and smiled to herself. Her son was curled up in his bed, his Once Upon A Time book clutched firmly to his chest as he slept. Walking over to him, she placed a soft kiss on his forehead. Smiling to herself as his nose twitched in his sleep, she padded out of the room and closed the door. Entering the kitchen, she was momentarily blinded by the bright kitchen lights, and smiled gratefully at Elsa, who was waiting with a cup of hot cocoa with cinnamon. Sighing to herself, she fell into the seat and took a sip of the drink: warmth immediately encompassed her entire body and she felt herself relax. Turning to face her roommate, Emma asked, "How was Henry?"

"He was great today." Elsa responded, as she began to prepare herself a cup of iced herbal tea, "Your mom called, so that made his day. She and your dad are doing well, they miss you."

"How did you know…" Emma began, before she stopped herself. Of course Elsa knew that Emma would ask about her parents. Elsa had been her roommate since freshman year, back when Emma had just moved New York with her son, leaving her little town of Storybrooke behind. Emma was slightly concerned that Henry wouldn't take to Elsa, since the little boy had only ever known the citizens of her hometown. But once again, Henry had surprised her and was completely taken with Elsa, especially loving their trips to Central Park to build snowmen during the winter.

"Earth to Emma?" Elsa questioned, snapping Emma out of her musings. "Where's your head tonight?"

"Just a long day." Emma replied, draining the remnants of the hot cocoa. "Thanks again. I'm going to try to get some studying in."

"Don't work too hard." Elsa smiled at the other blonde, as the door quietly closed behind her.

Face freshly washed and teeth brushed, Emma closed the door to her room. Adjacent to Henry's, the room was a soft beige color. Emma's bed and dresser were across from the window and her desk was directly in front of it. Turning on the lamp, she opened up her economics textbook, and began to read. Emma was able to concentrate for about an hour before she felt herself tiring out. Hoping that she would be able to make some headway on Sunday, Emma flipped off the lamp and crawled into bed. Tossing and turning for what seemed like hours, she finally fell asleep, blue eyes slipping in and out of her dreams.

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"Hi Regina!" Henry yelled, running up to Emma's boss, who was one of his favorite people in New York, the next afternoon and jumping into her arms. Regina caught the little boy and spun him around in circles, smiling as he laughed loudly. "I get to stay with you?"

"Yes Henry," Regina smiled, now bouncing him and down in her arms, "you get to spend the whole day with me while your Mommy works here. Would you like to go to the zoo?"

"Please!" Henry squealed, now more excited than ever, causing Emma to slightly shake her head and laugh. "Bye Mommy! Love you!"

Placing Henry down on the ground, Regina made her way to the back to collect her jacket. Shrugging in on, she turned to Emma, "Thank you for letting me take him for the day."

"It's no problem, Regina." Emma stated, throwing on her apron for her shift. "I'm glad that Henry will have a fun Saturday, he deserves days like this."

"That he does, Emma, that he does. Good luck today." Regina replied, turning on her heel, scooping up Henry and walking out of the door.

"So," Ruby smirked, the second Regina left, "do you think that Killian will be back today?"

"Really Ruby?" Emma asked, rolling her eyes at the brunette. "You're still going on about this?"

"Obviously." Ruby deadpanned and not missing a beat, she continued, "I saw it, Emma, there were sparks. It's effecting you, even today, I can see it in your eyes."

"You saw nothing." Emma scowled, trying to school her features into an impassive look. "Either way, he doesn't know when I work, so he wouldn't know when to show up."

"So you do want him to show up?" Ruby exclaimed, her eyes gleaming with excitement, as she wiped down the pastry case.

"I'm going to help this customer that is walking up the street now, Ruby." Emma proclaimed rather loudly, effectively ending the conversation.

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The day was almost over and Emma was ashamed to admit that she would always glance up through her lashes whenever dark-haired men walked into the café, silently checking to see if it was Killian. A very real and logical part of her mind was firmly against the idea of wanting to see the man. But a tiny, romantic, very illogical part of her mind was completely on board to see him: what could go wrong? Well, a fair bit actually. He could be like Neal and completely abandon her when she informed him on her pregnancy, taking off to Boston. But, this man did not seem like Neal. And truly, there was only one way to figure it out. Groaning, she walked towards the back, pushed open the door and said, "Alright Ruby, you win."

"Excellent." Ruby responded, hanging up the phone. "That was Regina, she said that Henry had a great day, ate his dinner, and went to bed early. Apparently the penguin enclosure was his favorite exhibit, although I personally prefer the wolf exhibit. She'll stay over until Elsa returns from work. Now, what was I right about?"

"Killian." Emma mumbled, bracing herself for Ruby's reaction, "I do want to see him again."

"Yes!" Ruby screamed, shooting up from her seat, her body practically vibrating with excitement. "This is awesome. Okay, so if he doesn't come today, then we'll have to let Anna and Kristoff know to give him your schedule when he does visit."

"Alright, relax." Emma smiled, briefly wondering how Ruby managed to speak that quickly. "This might not even happen, so just take it easy."

"Yes, yes." Ruby patronized, rolling her eyes at the blonde. "Don't even go there. He's going to come into the café, you'll see."

"Sorry ladies," a male voice interrupted their conversation, "who is going to come into the café?"

Whipping around, Emma came face to face with him. Well, this is embarrassing, good job Swan. Ignoring Ruby's very obvious squeal of glee, she walked over to the cash register, looked into his beautiful eyes and asked, "What can I get for you?"

"Same as yesterday love. It was such a good double shot of espresso, I had to return for another. I also brought my mate, Victor. He's a bit of a caffeine addict, or connoisseur, as he likes to call himself. He also apparently takes a while to park a car." Killian smirked, placing another $20 bill in front of Emma and walking towards the bar. "No change. So, since you know my name, I feel as though it is common courtesy to learn yours."

"It's Emma." Emma replied, as she began to prepare his espresso. "Same drink for your friend by the way?"

"Yes, thank you." Killian replied before turning his head as the door opened. "Were you practicing for a driving test, Victor?"

"Excuse me for wanting to properly park the car, Killian." Victor retorted, before smiling at Emma. "I heard you make the best espresso."

"She does." Ruby replied, appearing out of the thin air, her eyes trained onto Victor. "But I make the best chocolate tarts. Interested?"

"Sure." Victor replied, smiling widely at Ruby as he walked over to her.

"I think Victor is ignoring you." Emma laughed, as she placed the two cups in front of Killian who shook his head, as if such an occurrence was normal.

"Such is life, Emma." Killian stated, slowly drinking his espresso. "Although I must say, I would rather have him ignore me, than you."

"You don't say?" Emma stated, peeking over to watch as Ruby got her flirt on with Victor.

"I do say." Killian replied, smiling widely at Emma, who gave a small smile in return. "Care to join me for dinner tomorrow night?"

He doesn't beat around the bush at all, Emma mused. Looking again into his baby blues, she answered, "Okay."

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Hey guys! This is my first OUAT story. I hope that you all like it. I'm thinking of doing a two-shot, unless you guys like it, then I can expand on the story! Who's excited for March 1st? I cannot wait. Till next time!

PS. I did take a few liberties, such as making Emma's last name Swan, even though Mary Margaret and David are her parents in this story. So for all intents and purpose, the whole family's last name is Swan.