Killian Jones is standing in front of his best friend Emma Swan's apartment door. He received a text from her about an hour ago telling him to come over right away. Knowing Emma had a date earlier that evening Killian is pretty sure he knows why he is being summoned. Most people knock when they visit someone, but not Emma and Killian. They have been friends for years. Ever since Emma moved to Boston.
Killian had moved there a year before Emma had from England. One thing they both have in common is that neither has ever stayed in one place very long. Emma having grown up in the foster system led her to have a nomadic life. As for Killian his Mother dying when he was seven was when his life life became more like a Gypsy's. After his Mother's death Killian's Father couldn't seem to keep a job. They moved from Ireland to England and went city to city looking for work. His Father took off when he was sixteen and it is lucky he had his older brother Liam to care for him.
Killian moved to the states after the third anniversary of his girlfriend Milah's death. His Brother and Sister in-law told him he needed to move on. Start over fresh. After doing some research he found an opening at the Boston PD. He had only been an officer for London Metropolitan Police for two years, but he knew being a cop was what he was meant to be. People have always said Killian Jones has a good heart. Even though he did start to go down the wrong path after his Father left. Meeting a friend in need of serious help set him back on the path he was always suppose to be on.
Will Scarlett turned to alcohol after his girlfriend and first love broke his heart. The men first met when a mutual 'friend' introduced them. They were both asked to take something that did not belong to that 'friend'. When Killian saw how bad off Will really was his good heart convinced him to take the drunken thief in and help him dry out. Both Will and Killian decided they needed to find some other way to make money. Will laughed his ass off when Killian told him he was going to join the Royal Navy like his Brother. When he stopped laughing at his poor misguided friend Will told him he needed to be his own man. That there are other ways to be a hero. The idea of joining the police academy was a joke at first, but the idea really grew on Killian.
When he moved to Boston and joined the PD things fell into place in his life. His new partner David Nolan became a good friend. David's wife Mary Margret always makes sure he is eating well. His life really felt complete until a beautiful blonde in a red leather jacket stormed into the precinct one night. He and David were working the night shift when this tough and loud angel walked in. She was dragging a man twice her size behind her who was protesting and she was telling him to shut up. Killian and Emma bonded right away.
Since Emma got out of prison when she was eighteen she moved all over the country. First she went in search of her ex Neal. She went to where she last saw him before he set her up to take the fall for his crime. Then she tried Canada and Florida. One day after she had some how made it up north east a bounty hunter showed up to take her in. In all fairness she did violate parole. That didn't mean she had plans of going back to Arizona. The older woman saw something in Emma. Saw herself in Emma. She also helped inspire Emma to make her own fate. She didn't have to be that lost and lonely orphan anymore. So she trained and got her license to be a bounty hunter herself. Emma tried to settle in a couple of places before she got the offer in Boston.
August Booth use to work as a bounty hunter himself in New York. That's where Emma met him. They were chasing the same skip and Emma caught him. August was impressed, so when he opened his own bail bonds business he wanted to hire the best to work for him. Emma likes her job and her boss, but she still wasn't sure how long she would stay until the day she met Killian Jones.
She never felt anyone truly understood her until they met. She is an open book to him. They have a lot in common. Even the fact they both have a sarcastic comment for any occasion. Not only did she gain a best friend that day, but also a married couple. David and Mary Margret became her friends as well. Mary Margret is a combination of Mother and Sister to Emma. Since she has never had either their friendship in something Emma has some to treasure. David can be over protective sometimes, but she secretly loves it. It's not a secret to Killian, but of course Emma never keeps secrets from her BFF. They have come to lean on each other in all situations. Which is why Killian is taking out his key to let himself into Emma's apartment.
When he walks through the door he doesn't see her. He expected her to be on the couch drinking hot chocolate. "Emma!" He calls. A bang of a cabinet door sounds from her bedroom. Soon the blonde walks out wearing her flannel PJs wiping her makeup off. "Well, the flannel and text tell me the date didn't go well." He raises an eyebrow at her and smirks. Emma rolls her eyes and heads to the kitchen on the other side of her living room. "I can't decide if this one was a hot chocolate or a rum kind of date if that tells you anything." Killian walks over to the couch and pats the seat next to him. "Rum, and bring two glasses." Emma does just that and sits down next to her friend. "What was the Chaps name again?" Emma hands him a glass and snorts a little. "Walsh." Nodding Killian asks. "How did you meet this Walsh?" Emma falls into Killian's side with her head landing on his shoulder. "He had info I needed on a skip. I mean he seemed okay. A little weird, but nice. Mary Margret and Ruby have been bugging me to start dating again for a while after the whole Graham thing."
Graham had been a fellow cop that David had introduced to Emma. They dated for a few months before Graham got the job as sheriff in a small town he applied for before Emma. He asked her to come with him but she wasn't ready for that kind of commitment. She hasn't been on a date since.
"I figured a furniture guy seemed safe enough. Maybe even a little boring, but a safe choice for my first time dipping my toe back in." Killian moves to put his arm around her. "All right my curiosity has been peaked. What happened with Walsh?" After taking a big gulp of her rum Emma starts her story. "I met him at the restaurant and it was a nice place. I didn't feel over dressed in the black leather dress. He even had nice manners. I really thought it was going well. I was feeling a little nervous and you know how I love to eat when I'm nervous." Killian nods. "Well, I wanted an ice cream sundae, and even though they didn't have those Walsh some how convinced them to make me one. Nice, right?" Again Killian nodded. "It was all going great until he decided he could share his darkest secret with me." The memory made Emma shudder. "What was his secret? And who tells someone their darkest secret on a first date?" He asks. "I know! Apparently his secret is that he bat shit crazy. He told me that is he the 'Great Wizard of Oz'." Killian burst out laughing. Emma is not laughing along. "I'm not done. It gets worse." He looks up at her. "How can it possible get worse?" Pinching the bridge of her nose Emma continues to relate her crazy tale to her friend.
Killian isn't sure if he should be laughing at his friends pain, but he can't help it. There are tears forming in his eyes. Emma is glaring at him, but at the same time trying to fight back her own laughter. When he finally calms down Killian asks. "So, let me get this straight the Wicked Witch of the West turned him into a flying monkey to do her bidding?" Emma nods. "How does he explain the fact he is not a simian?" Rolling her eyes with a little huff Emma says. "He is under cover for the witch. He is watching her enemy." That makes Killian's joking mood somber.
"Emma, please tell me this crazy man is not stalking someone?" She shrugs. "Love, someone could be in danger. Did he mention any names?" Emma pours herself another drink. "I didn't get many details after that. He was crazy. I just wanted out of there. Now you know why I texted you. Date from Hell with a crazy man." She looks over and sees her best friend rubbing his perfect ginger scruff. That is a sure sign he is now in cop mode. "You're suppose to be my best friend right now not Officer Jones. Hey, are you listening to me?" Emma snaps her fingers in his face.
Snapping back to the situation at hand Killian turns to Emma. "Sorry Love, it comes with the job. Protect is part of the description. I will look into it tomorrow for sure, but you have my undivided attention. How did you leave things? You don't think he will stalk you next do you?" Suddenly he is very concerned for his friend. He doesn't know what he would do if anything ever happened to Emma.
"I'm smarter then that. Give me some credit. I told him I didn't want to distract him from his mission, so it would be better if we didn't date. He seemed okay with that. I will be looking over my shoulder more." That brought a lot of relief to Killian. "That's my girl. Those street smarts always keep you safe. You don't need me at all. I'm just a pretty face to you." He teases. As always she rolls her eyes at his giant ego. "You know you are the only one who calls you pretty, right?" In fake protest Killian defends himself. "That is not true. Just the other day I was accused of being just another pretty face by one of the new officers. I proved there is more to me then my devilish good looks. I grabbed his prep before he could take chase. Wanker." Emma laughs.
"Alright, to make me feel better you can either go buy me at lot of junk food or you can tell me about the worst date you had. Your choice." She smiles a 'you have to do my bidding' smile at him. He knows he has to do her bidding because he has been helpless to this woman for as long as he has known her. There is a very small part of dashing officer that knows if she ever said she wanted him he would be hers in a heartbeat. He loves her so much he will be whatever she wants him to be. He will do whatever she wants him to do. That is the way it has been since they have known each other and that is the way it is always will be. All Killian wants is for Emma to have all the happiness she missed in her life before him. Her hearts desire is all he wants. Killian wouldn't mind if he was her hearts desire, but best friend will do.
Laughing Killian pulls Emma closer to him. "Well, since I'm so comfortable and don't feel like leaving this apartment I guess I will share my story with you." Emma smiles even bigger. "Good, but I expect a bear claw and coffee tomorrow on your way to work." Shaking his head at his best friend Killian searches his mind for a good story to tell.
"Well, I guess since you told me of your date with a fictional character I shall tell you about my date with Tinkerbell." Emma quickly whips around to look at him with a disbelieving look. "Shut up, you are making that up." She smacks him in the stomach playfully. He shakes his head and puts his hand over his heart. "I swear to you Emma Swan on our friendship I am not making this up. Her name is really Belle Green, but since she was blonde and a pixie of a woman people gave her the nickname Tinkerbell. She embraced the name. Trust me if you met her you would see it fit her personality perfectly." Giving him the once over Emma determines he is in fact telling her the truth. "Well, how did you meet Tinkerbell? And how am I just hearing about this?" Killian gets a far off look for a moment. It is the same look he gets anytime he thinks of Milah. Emma takes his hand in hers. He looks down at their joined hands getting strength from her touch.
"I met her a week before I met Milah. In fact my date with Tink made me believe the right person was out there waiting for me. I was in a bar with Will. Well, it was more like I was in a bar babysitting Will." Emma nods knowing his friends history with alcohol abuse. "She was a waitress there. She wasn't our server yet she kept coming by and smiling at us. Will dared me to ask for her number. I did and we made plans for dinner." Turning her head Emma looks up at him. "This all seems pretty normal so far except the Tinkerbell thing. I'm starting to feel cheated here. This better get crazy soon, Jones." Killian chuckles at her impatient behavior.
"Alright I will skip ahead to the date. First, I let her choose where we went. As you know I am always a gentlemen." He waited for the eye roll from Emma before he continues his tale. "She chose dinner and a trip to her favorite museum." Emma groans. "Still not crazy or weird." Killian smirks. "Ask me what her favorite museum in London was." She sits up and faces him. Pretending to be very interested in his story she says. "Please Killian Jones tell me what was Tinkerbell's favorite museum in all of London? I have to know right now. I might just die here on the spot if I don't know." For her dramatic performance Emma earns a kiss to the forehead. "Clowns Gallery-Muesum."
Emma blinks a few times then her face twist into a disgusted expression. "Please tell me your fairy did not have a thing for creepy clowns." He shakes his head. "Far worse I'm afraid, Love. She was working as a waitress to pay for clown school or college. Whatever it is they call it." She covers her face and shakes her head. "No, no, no. You went on a date with a clown fairy. How awful Killian. I am so sorry. You poor thing." She drops her hands and hugs her friend. She then kisses his cheek. If he knew he would get this response from her he would have told the story years ago. "I would ask how you ditched her after finding out this creepy fact, but I know you better then that. You stayed the whole date didn't you?" He nods and adds. "I even gave her a kiss good night."
Her jaw drops. "You kissed the creepy clown fairy?!" You see Emma has a great fear of clowns as do most people. She can not rap her head around the idea of anyone even getting close enough to a clown to kiss it. Knowing what a big sweetheart her friend is it shouldn't surprise her, but A Clown! Killian laughs. "She was a sweet lass. Yes, I was creeped out by her love of all things clown. That museum gave me nightmares, but everyone has their weird things. You know I do as well." Shaking her head and waving her hands back and forth Emma disagrees. "You have an unhealthy love of boats and pirates. That is nothing compared to loving clowns." Just the thought of clowns makes Emma reach for her tumbler of rum. She takes a couple of sips. Sitting back she thinks about his story for a moment.
She turns to him. "How did your date with Tink make you realize the right person was waiting out there for you?" Killian reaches for his rum as well. He drains his glass and sits back. "She may have been a clown fairy as you put it, but she seemed to know a lot about love. She believed in soulmates and true love in fact. At the end of the evening she looked at me and said 'Killian you are one of the sweetest men I have ever met, but you are not my soulmate. There is someone waiting for you to find her and it's not me. I hope you find her.' And that Ms. Swan is when I kissed her." Emma is not the emotional type, but she is fighting back tears at the moment. Knowing he met Milah a week later and also knowing how much he loved her broke Emma's heart. Killian Jones is such a wonderful man who deserves to live a happy life with his soulmate. It breaks her heart that he will never have that since he lost her long ago. She reaches over cupping his face in her hand. Lightly rubbing the scar on his cheek, one of her favorite things about his beautiful face she says. "I'm so sorry."
Killian leans into her touch a little confused, but he enjoys her touch to much to move. "Why are you sorry darling? It wasn't the best date I ever had, but it gave me hope that I would find love someday." She blinks back a few tears and sniffs. "Because you met your soulmate and then lost her." Killian gives her his most gorgeous smile. His Swan has a big heart that she rarely let people see. It makes his heart swell that not only does she let him see it, but she has let him in it. He takes the hand that is resting on his face and kisses her palm. Then he takes her other hand so he can hold them both in his tender but strong grip.
"I will always grieve for my Milah, I loved her very much. She made my life better in so many ways, but she was not my soulmate. If there is such a thing. For a long time I thought I could never love again after loving her so much. But one day I realized that loving her and being loved by her taught me how to love. If your heart can be broken Emma then that means it still works. I assure you mine is working just fine. My heart has healed and I hope my soulmate will someday love me just as much as I love her." As always his beautiful words overwhelmed her, it takes a moment for her to truly process what he just said.
She looks into his amazing blue eyes. "Are you trying to tell me you met someone?" He reaches up to run a piece of her golden hair through his fingers. "Not recently. It's been a few years." Emma is a smart woman and is very good at reading people. But there is no way her best friend, the most wonderful man God has ever created is implying he is in love with her. She is Emma Swan the lost girl that has been abandoned more times then she has been loved. In fact only one person has ever claimed to love her and he betrayed her in the end.
When Emma met Killian Jones she thought he was too good to be true. As much as she pretends to disagree with him, he is always a gentlemen. Always opening doors and pulling out chairs. She has lost count of all the times he has given her his jacket to wear when she has gotten cold. He has the biggest heart of anyone she has ever known. Not with just his friends and family, but when he is at his job as well. She has seen him help so many people. Victims of crimes or people who are in a bad place in their lives and need support. The way he takes care of her and is always there for her still amazes her.
The day they met she was sure he was going to hit on her like a lot of the other officers she dealt with. But he was so impressed with the way she handled her skip he just wanted to know about her and her job. They went to get drinks the next day and he just wanted to get to know her. He showed that he respected her and what she did for a living. He called her a colleague because she was helping him get the scum off the streets. Men normally reacted in two different ways to her chosen profession. Either they feel like she is a challenge and can break the strong woman. Or they are majorly turned off.
There has not been a day in their friendship that she has not been grateful for him. To think such a wonderful person could love her, to think of her as his soulmate is just crazy to Emma. She wants to cry. She wants it to be true. She wants him to grab her and kiss her until they can't breath. This isn't the movies and she knows this isn't how her life works. Emma knows she is lucky just to be his buddy and pal. Emma Swan could never be the love of someones life let alone a man like Killian Jones.
Killian knows Emma needs time to process what he is trying to tell her. He has no idea why he decided now was the time to do it. But God it seemed like the perfect time to reveal his true feelings to her. It is a risk. A great risk. Emma Swan has walls bigger then the one in China. She tends to run when her feelings get to much for her. But there was no way he was going to lie to her about loving someone else. No matter the risk he was facing by telling her his feelings the thought of her thinking he could love anyone else other then her was far worse. The lack of love in Emma's life is what breaks Killian's heart. He will never understand how anyone could not love her.
The parents who left her on the side of the road. The adoptive parents who gave her back. All the foster and group homes. Neal Cassidy. How could these people not love his Emma? Sometimes when he watches her laugh and truly be herself he thinks about the fact she has been through all this heart break in her life. Yet she is still so strong and vibrant. In his option that makes her even more lovable.
"Emma?" She looks up at him and shakes her head. "Love, I have no doubt you know what I am trying to say. I also know you are trying to deny it. So, I will say it plainly. I am in love with you and have been for a long time. If there is such a thing as soulmates and true love then Emma Swan you are mine. Sometimes I do believe that God made us just for each other. You know your friendship is the most important thing in the world to me. If it is your wish to not change a thing between us I will respect your wishes. You know that. But for some reason tonight I could not go on with out you knowing how much I love you."
A tear slips down Emma's cheek. After a few cute little sniffs she laughs. "I hate that everything you says sounds like some classic British novel. How am I suppose to compete with that? Words have always been more your thing then mine. I'm more of a take action kind of girl." She grabs ahold of his shirt and pulls him closer to her. When her lips touch his Killian believes for a moment it is all a dream. After all he has had this dream plenty of times. Once her tongue peeks out to run along his bottom lip he knows this is not a dream.
He pulls her into his arms and his hand goes into the blonde hair he loves to touch so much. When they pull away Emma is biting her lip and Killian is grinning like an idiot. An idiot in love with his best friend. "I'm in love with you too by the way. You know if you didn't figure it out from the kiss." He places a gentle kiss to her lips. "And you said you weren't good with words." They both laugh until their lips meet again. The next morning Killian buys Emma her bear claw and coffee as they both head off to work together. If there is such a thing as soulmates and true love then Emma Swan and Killian Jones have found their happy ending in each other.
Notes:
The Clown Gallery-Museum in London is a real place. When I was writing the story I was trying to think of some place weird she would want to go. I know nothing about London so I googled it. The clown museum popped up and I hate clowns. So perfect!
