It was not hard to pack his belongings into two checked bags and a small carryon. Paying the extra baggage fee was cheaper than driving from Dallas to Los Angeles, anyway. Writing for a living had always made him restless and instilled a need to be able to pick up his life and move at any moment if he needed. Although running isn't something he had done much in the past, he was more thankful than ever for his lack of material possessions.

Looking back on the past three years, he really shouldn't have been surprised at the way last night's events transpired. He was infatuated with her the second he saw her in the University's library his senior year of college. He knew he had to be closer to her. Picking up his laptop, he moved to a table next to her, not quite ready to make a fool out of himself with the words that would tumble out of his mouth awkwardly. For someone who is known for his witty writing and quick retorts, he is always at an incredible loss of words when she is in the vicinity.

He came back to the same table at the library the next day, and she was there again. They worked like this in silence, a mere five feet from one another, for the remainder of the semester. During finals week, he finally worked up the nerve to bring her a cup of coffee. When he put it down next to her, her smile was as glorious as he had imagined it would be.

At that moment, though, he realized he needed to tone down the infatuation he had fallen into and actually get to know the wonder of a woman who he sat next to for a whopping ten weeks without exchanging a word.

To no one's surprise, they became friends quickly.

When Killian's roommate, David, decided to move out at the end of winter term, he asked if she needed somewhere to live.

"Dumb question, I know, it's the middle of the school year," his hand moved to scratch behind his newly reddened ear while he looked away.

"Actually, I don't have anywhere to be once the term ends. I've been looking for a while now," a slight blush appeared on her cheeks and he wondered where she had been sleeping.

He found out a few weeks later she had been couch surfing and sleeping in her car.

The next five months went by in a blur, and he found himself walking across a stage to receive the most expensive piece of paper he had ever owned. And the hardest he had ever worked for a damn piece of paper that says he had an extensive knowledge of literature and creative writing.

It has been over a year since that day. He had a fight with Emma more than once about getting a "real job" and "growing the fuck up" when the electricity had been turned off one too many times. Really, he mused, she wasn't wrong. His writing gigs were always a hit or miss type of operation. He had a column in the local newspaper once a week, and he worked on and off at a coffee shop around the corner. It wasn't that he didn't make money, and more of that he didn't make money consistently. It was time for him to "grow the fuck up."

Leaving the apartment in the early hours of the morning without a note hadn't felt very grown up to him. And he almost felt bad. But as he watched the sun rise out of the large airport windows, he couldn't quite bring himself to care enough to feel really guilty. It was her suggestion. His phone was off and packed away in one of his bags. Maybe I'll change the number, he thought as they called his group to board the plane. No, that would be childish. She wasn't in the wrong to reject him so thoroughly. And the problem wasn't even her. It was him. He had put his life on hold for someone who was just a friend. He had been holding onto the chance of almost for too long.

It was time to move on.

Last night, a rushed email to his friend Robin confirmed that he would have a place to sleep at least for a month or so. Robin worked for a major recording studio and had a few leads on bands that needed help putting their thoughts into words.

Sometimes he would get words and phrases stuck in his head like songs. Repeating over and over until he thought he would go insane if he couldn't write it down. In the airport, he had the word "almost" stuck in his head. Almost had her… almost loved her…


So, to be honest, I mostly just started publishing this for my friends to read. I never imagined more than two people would be following this! THANKS! I hope you like it as much as I do. I was going to try to space out chapters and publish once a week or so, but then I got excited. The story title and most of the concepts come from the song "Almost" by Bowling for Soup. :)