I do not own OUAT, any of its cast and/ or characters, nor it's plot. If I did then I'd be very proud of myself right now as I think season seven is better than I thought it would be. It's very good actually! Also, just so you know, I literally have no bloody idea what I'm even doing, I just know I had an idea and I want to follow through. *Insert shrug here*
Freedom
3rd Person
Emma sighs as she ties the ribbons of her apron around her back, tying it into a knot as she chews her gum in time with the sound of the music playing quietly from the speakers.
It's her first day as a waitress at Granny's diner in the small town she drove to, with a sweet little name she wouldn't have ever seen herself living in. The town is called Storybrooke; it's a quaint, small, unsuspecting town where nothing ever happens.
That is exactly what she needed. A break from the constant bad news and disharmony that follows her around like a bad smell.
She's only twenty-four years old, this shouldn't still be happening. By this time in her life she should at least have a better job then the first one offered to her. However, a week ago when she'd moved to town with nothing but ten dollars in her pocket and Granny was the only one to offer her a job and a free room for as long as she worked there, Emma was hardly in the position to say no.
Slowly and quietly, acting like a mouse trying to hide, Emma steps out from the bathroom in her new uniform. She woke up a little late and didn't want to be late so she got dressed at work, her other clothes in her (falling to pieces) handbag that's in the cupboard.
The second that Granny spots her, she's handed a tray and a pad with a pen on top and is instructed to go to the man in the booth and ask him what he'd like.
She makes her way over quickly, plastering a smile on her face as she greets the customer. "Hi, I'm Emma, are you ready to order yet or do you need a minute?"
The man in question glances up at her, smiling kindly. "I'm just waiting for my girlfriend to come, but I'll have some coffee please?" He offers her his hand. "I'm David Nolan, I work at the animal shelter down the street but I meet my girlfriend for lunch so you'll be seeing a lot of me."
Emma takes his hand gently and gives it a gentle shake before taking her hand back. "Emma Swan, this is my first day so I'm sorry if I screw it up. How would you like your coffee?" She asks, jotting it down on her fresh pad neatly, doing her best handwriting.
"Just black is fine, thank you, Emma." He smiles, and she can tell he's probably quite friendly to everyone just by the look in his eyes. He had the look of someone who wants to be her friend, and she doesn't think she'd be the best choice in one so she just nods and quickly rushes off to grab him some coffee.
By the time she comes back, there's a dark-haired woman with a pixie cut, who smiles like a crazy lady at the sight of her. "Hi, I'm Mary Margaret!" She greets happily, taking Emma's hand and shaking it. "David tells me you're a new waitress here, and I just wanted to let you know that if you ever need a tour guide or any help or anything…we're here."
Emma nods slowly, offering her a small smile to be polite. "Thanks. I'm Emma." She states simply, before coughing once and plastering on what she's now calling her 'waitress smile'. "What can I get you?"
After David and Mary Margaret have ordered and she'd served a few other people, getting only one persons order wrong and it was because she forgot to put milk in his tea, but he was decent about it so she doesn't think she messed up too badly.
If she did that in New York, someone might have slapped her or demanded a refund. She's just glad he smiled instead of glared.
She's four hours into her shift when the dinner rush comes, and she's quite happy to say she didn't ruin anyone's order, no one yelled at her and to top it off, she hasn't fallen over once yet.
Emma places down a plate in front of a young girl with a small smile. "One lasagna and one coke. Is that all?" She asks her and her parents, who shake their heads, thanking her as Emma walks away.
She's never had so many people in her life thank her for food. When she was a waitress in New York; most people ignored her or glared when she tried to be polite. Emma Swan is hardly a polite person, but when she wants to keep her job she most definitely is.
A waitress comes down sick last minute and although Emma is already exhausted from working since lunch, she needs all the money she can get so she volunteers to do the night shift too. The diner stays open until three am most days, so she anticipates having to do her fair share of night shifts.
She doesn't mind, night shifts help keep the nightmares away, if only for a few hours. And Granny usually lets the person who did the night shift have the next morning off, and they'd start work in the late afternoon.
At one am, when all but three people are still eating, Emma finally admits to herself that she probably shouldn't have started doing a night shift she knows she'll regret.
However, someone walks in as she's ringing up someone's bill on the till, so she doesn't see until she passes the person their change after they pay her. With a quiet huff, Emma tightens her apron and makes her way over to her mystery guest.
"Hi, I'm Emma, I'll be your waitress for tonight, what can I get you?" She plasters on her waitress smile, vowing to give it a better name later.
The person in question is staring intently out of the window, his thumb pressing into his chin, looking like he's deep in thought. "Sir?" She tries again. "Excuse me? Are you okay?" She gently taps her nails on the table to get his attention and his head snaps her way immediately.
And holy hell is she not disappointed at the sight of him.
Whoever the hell he is, he's hot.
He's got these huge blue eyes that she's pretty sure at the same color of the ocean on a good day when the water is calm and everything looks gorgeous out in the sea. Though they may look amazing because he has dark eyeliner around his eyes, giving off a rock star vibe she's very much into. He has dark brown hair that's messed up as if he's been running his hands through it a lot, which falls over his forehead perfectly like he freaking placed it there. His lips seem to somehow be the perfect shade of pink, as if he's used some of her raspberry lip balm, and they're parted slightly as he breathes in and out slowly, his light shading of stubble on his face only making him look ten times hotter then he probably is (she hopes).
From her position over him, she can see he's wearing a pair of tight fitted jeans, one of his legs bent at an odd ankle allowing her to see, and a black leather jacket that squeaks a little with his movements, which probably isn't great on the leather booths in Granny's.
It's not until she's been staring for a few seconds that she finally snaps out of it, and he raises an eyebrow, somehow his eyes looking both concerned and miffed as to what she's staring at him for.
"Hi." She lets out in a little breath, her pen falling from her pad to the floor without her noticing. He seems to, and as he leans down to pick it up for her, she can't help but let out her little intake of breath when his head is dangerously close to her thigh, and she knows she's going to hell when she gets the image in her head of him hoisting her on the table and burying his head between her thighs.
"You dropped this, love." He offers her the pen and she coughs once, quickly taking it with her hands a little shaky, her cheeks becoming fire engine red as she realizes he probably thinks she's an idiot now.
"Thank you." She offers him a smile, a genuine one, something she hasn't done in…years probably. "I'm Emma…"
"Killian, Killian Jones." He offers her his hand gently, and she can't help but notice he's offered her the one furthest from her, while the other remains still in his lap, covered over by his sleeve and a glove, but his other hand is bare.
"Nice to meet you." She shakes his hand gently. "C-Can I get you anything?"
"Just a Venti Americano, with a tiny drop of cream, please, lass, I'm doing the night shift tonight, like yourself." He shrugs and takes his hand back from her gently.
Emma nods and excuses herself after asking how he'd like it, bringing him back his coffee quickly. "If you'd like more cream, just let me know." She says softly, and he nods slowly.
"Actually, it's pretty perfect, thanks. No one else can ever get it right, but somehow you managed it just fine." He smiles at her, and she grins at the fact she managed to do it right, always nervous that people won't be happy. "You looked really nervous for a moment there, lass, is today your first day?"
She nods quickly, scratching her arm just so she can look at something other than his handsome freaking face. "Yeah, kind of. I used to be a waitress in New York…" She shrugs, looking around. "Surprisingly, this place is nicer."
"Granny is very efficient, I hope you enjoy it."
"Thanks. I'm in the process of a career change, but since I just moved here…about a week ago, I figured I needed more than ten whole dollars in my pocket."
"I came here with five." He jokes softly, but she knows there's a little truth.
Behind every joke is a hidden truth that no one wants to say.
"Well, it's nice to know someone managed to rebuild their life…what do you do now?" She asks curiously as she begins to wipe down the table near him, still within ear and eyeshot of him, but she wants to look busy instead of just standing around talking.
"I'm a doctor, hence the night shift." He shrugs. "I have to start work in an hour, so I thought a few…gallons of coffee might help me out."
She laughs softly and nods slowly. "A doctor? That's kind of cool. What's your main practice?" She asks softly, leaning on the table she just cleaned, now interested in knowing more about him.
"Emergency medicine and I used to be in pediatrics." He tells her softly, shrugging. "I work in the Emergency section of the hospital." He explains. "But before that, I worked in the children's section, hence the pediatrics."
"That sounds both interesting and sad."
"Because it is." He states simply, not giving up any more information, seemingly quiet about his work like he doesn't tell very many people and he's not sure how to.
"Well…I best get back to my job, I can't get fired on the first day." She jokes softly and slowly walks away, biting her lip softly.
She goes about her business as usual, and half an hour later when she comes back to retrieve Killian's bill from his table where she'd left it, he's already gone, with ten dollar note (for a five dollar bill), but there's also a little piece of paper with another ten in it.
Some company for your ten dollars – Killian
She smiles and pockets the ten dollars for her in her pocket, fighting her huge ass grin at how she barely knows the guy and she can tell he's probably a huge dork.
Emma turns and puts the other ten in the till before going back to work, a small smile on her face remaining until the end of her shift.
Emma groans as she kicks off her shoes somewhere in her tiny room that Granny's allowing her to stay in for free; her feet sore and her heels are cracked from how long she's been up and about.
Although she enjoyed her first day, and she didn't mess it up like she thought she would, she's still in pain from how long she's been working. She's sort of dreading the next day as she'd volunteered to go in the next morning instead of the afternoon, and for some reason, she's given herself the afternoon off before volunteering to do the night shift again.
She's probably crazy, but she hopes that she'll get to see Killian again. He seemed like her, willing to talk but not enough for someone to truly get to know him.
Maybe this town has something to offer after all despite her reservations about picking to live in the first town she saw a sign for.
The people seem okay, they all seem friendly (except for that rather short, bearded man who she saw yelling at a lamppost when on her way home) and she's somehow managed to meet three people who don't want to make her throw up her breakfast.
All in all, she thinks that's a good day's work.
It could be worse; she could be in New York still, worrying about going home and tiptoeing around in case-
No, she won't let him creep into her thoughts and ruin her again. She can't. He's done it too many times to her.
She won't let him win again, not when she can finally see some hope.
With a sigh and a shake of her head, Emma gently turns the radio on low as she pulls up her shirt, already dreading falling asleep and she isn't even changed yet.
'Turn down the lights, turn down the bed, turn down these voices inside my head…lay down with me, tell me no lies…just hold me close, don't patronize."
Emma sighs and sits on the edge of her bed, listening to the soothing voice on the radio, biting her lip softly as she softly sings back, her knees curling up to her chest like a child. "Cause I can't make you love me if you don't." She sings softly along as she pulls off her bra, quickly replacing it with her pajama top, a small voice in her head telling her it's not safe.
She groans and switches off the radio, the song only making her upset, and she can't help the mental picture of Killian Jones in her head, and wonders if he's got the radio on, but she supposes he wouldn't if he's working. Unless he's on a break, which isn't impossible to think, the nurses may have the radio and he's listening to-
God, she needs to stop. She can't get hooked on men she barely knows.
Not again. She can't just…fall again.
She made a promise to herself that she'd never let anyone get that close to her again; never fall for anyone again, and never let anyone close to her. It'll just be her from now on, she doesn't need anyone else, and there's no use in trying.
With a sigh, Emma remembers her promise. She vowed not to fall in love again.
So she won't.
Ack so this is kind of short, but it will get longer as time goes on. Obviously, this was more of a setup chapter then a full-length kind of thing where we get loads of descriptions, loads of dialogue, loads of everything on earth that I remember to write in. :) But I am wondering if anyone knows what song Emma was just listening to, and by who...cause I know in my head exactly who I want to sing it, but I just wondered if you guys know who I meant.
Anyway, please leave me lovely reviews/comments/ follows/favorites. They are my muse, and I absolutely loved waking up this morning to see so so many lovely comments on loads of different fics. So thank you!
