The sweat started to sting her eyes as she headed towards her dressing room. She was exhausted. In total throughout the entire week she had managed to squeeze in around 20 hours sleep in total. Her schedule had been insane with her album release date growing closer by the day. Interviews, press conferences, promotional concerts, it had all taken it out of her. She slumped onto her sofa, kicked off her heels and just sat there appreciating this one moment of peace.

"Emma?" The door swung open as Ruby, her assistant, came strolling into the room. Seriously? Couldn't she have one minute of peace?

"What?"

"We need to go. Like now. You're going to be late for the party."

Her brain barely processed what she said. Party? What party could she possibly have to…?

"Oh crap!" Emma shot up from her seat and quickly changed into the first and most sparkly dress she saw. It was her launch party. Everyone was going to be there and she would never live it down if she was late to her own party. She shoved her feet back in to her shoes and grabbed her purse.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" She ran past Ruby headed straight for the back exit, avoiding as many cameras as possible.

By the time her SUV pulled up outside the bar she was 'fashionably late' or to ordinary people just over 30 minutes late. The engine was barely off before the press were surrounding the car, her driver and security guard came around the car to her side before opening the door just enough for her to slip out gracefully. She was bombarded with questions on both her professional and private life, she was used to it that was until he came up. And he always did.

"Was your split from Neal mutual?"

Her heart beat faster at the mention of his name. It had been over 3 months and she still wasn't used to him being gone. She swooped past the press and up the steps into the bar. She walked onto the small circular stage in the centre of the entrance hall for the more civilised photographers. Once they were all satisfied she headed for the massive double doors behind which 200 people ranging from label representatives to other artists to her closest friends. The doormen gave her the grand double door entrance and she glided in to a massive round of applause and people cheering and shouting her name. Ruby caught up to her.

"Go get a drink, I officially give you the night off. Tonight you are a friend not my assistant." Ruby's face lit up at her words. She knew Ruby would want to drink and flirt and socialise and she wouldn't be able to if she was trying to control the press all night.

"Thank-you! Thank-you! Thank-you!" She hugged her and turned off her phone and tablet. She didn't even see which crowd Ruby blended into.

The music was blaring loud and it was almost 11pm meaning her first live performance of her new album. She had been greeting people all night and she was exhausted. Thankfully, she had grown so used to heels now that her feet didn't kill anymore, in fact she could barely feel them. She started heading up to the stage.

"Hey everybody! Are you all having a good time?" She was met with cheers and raised glasses.

"I want to thank you all so much for being here tonight, it really means so much to me. And so, to show my appreciation I thought I would sing you a song from the new album, how about that?" Again, the crowd raised their glasses and cheered as her lead guitarist kicked off the song.

The crowd erupted as she stepped down from the stage. They disbanded back into their groups for idle chat and she milled around trying to kick up a decent conversation. Her brain told her to keep talking but the conversations grew even duller and she knew if she was going to get through the night she would need a drink.

Her elbows rested on the bar as she ordered her drink and ran her hands through her hair.

"Emma Swan." Her head jolted up. She knew that voice. It was a statement rather than a question. She would know that accent anywhere. She slowly turned her head.

"Killian Jones." She met him with the same level of confidence as he had her. Her eyes swam over his lean, muscled body accented perfectly in a grey shirt rolled up to his elbows with a dark grey waistcoat and skinny grey trousers. She couldn't deny he was attractive. If only he wasn't a total prick.

"How are you, love?" She hated his confidence and that bloody smirk he gave her every time something came out of his mouth. She saw his eyes glaze over her body, she knew her dress showed off her legs and cleavage perfectly and with her 7" glitter heels, she knew she looked good, evidently so did he.

"Why do you care and why are you here?"

"You wound me, darling. I am merely here to support a fellow artist. And, I am genuinely interested in how you are although judging by the double scotch you just ordered I don't think it's necessary."

"Well, if I am going to be spending another second with you…" She downed her drink in one and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She looked straight into his eyes which now seemed to have darkened, although it was probably just the lights.

"Now, now is my company really that bad?" She gave him a look that quite clearly gave him an answer. "Congratulations by the way that was quite a performance up there."

"Thank-you." She said it bluntly, maybe more than she had originally intended.

"You certainly do have a pair of lungs on you, Swan." She glared at him, he knew she hated it when he called her that. Three years ago they had been at the same label, both just starting out. They were both due to open for the label's most well-known star, Regina Mills, this was their big break. However, Regina decided to bring in an opening act of her own who also happened to be her boyfriend. The label had to cut one of them and they chose Killian. Ever since then, he had called her Swan, she assumed he hated her enough that he couldn't even call her by her first name. She didn't understand why he hated her that much when he had scored an even bigger show not a month later. She was snapped from her thoughts by Killian, a lot closer now, talking to the bartender.

"Two Scotch on the Rocks please, good sir." Urgh. He was such a dork when he wanted to be.

"Seriously?"

"What? Can't a guy buy a colleague a drink these days?"

"Okay, first of all it's an open bar and I'm paying the bill so technically I'm buying you a drink and second, colleagues? We were colleagues until Regina's concert then you ran off pouting because you lost out on the slot. So no, you can't." She walked off and didn't turn back. She wasn't going to let Killian Jones ruin her night. And as it turned out he didn't need to.

The conversations had grown even duller than before, if that was possible. She took a quick glance around the room searching for anyone of interest. The party was in full swing and most people were either by the bar or on the dance floor. She turned to the back of the hall searching out Ruby or anyone who she could hold a decent conversation with. Suddenly, the room came alive with chatter and whispers and she could hear the photographers shooting away. Obviously someone pretty important had just arrived. She put on a beaming smile, hopefully for what would be the last time tonight and turned to face the entrance.

Her heart skipped a beat. She felt weak at the knees. She felt a supportive arm around her and saw a flash of red in the corner of her eye, Ruby, but her focus never left the walkway.

Neal.