18 months later

"Henry, come on. Your making me late!" Emma shouted up the stairs. She had her coat on, her shoes on and her cream handbag in one hand and her car keys in her other hand. She waited for her son to respond before she crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. It was one of those mornings. "5. 4." She called out. "3, 2." She could now hear the pitter-patter of footsteps upstairs as her son ran across the floorboards. As she got to two, she saw her son, standing at the top of the stairs, his brown hair sticking up in all different directions and his rucksack open. Emma knew the countdown would work. It always does. Emma had never actually reached zero before, so she was unsure what she would do if she ever did.

"I'm coming." The 8 year old said as he came down the stairs. Once he got two steps from the bottom, he dropped his rucksack so he could fix his hair. It rolled down the last few steps, tipping the contents of his bag out and on the floor.

"Henry," Emma scolded as his books, water bottle, lunch box and pencil case fell to the ground. His pencil case wasn't fully shut so his pens and pencils dropped out and were rolling on the floor too. "I haven't got time for this. I've got a very important meeting this morning and we're already late. Pick up your things and let's go." Emma started walking towards the kitchen, leaving the little boy to pick up his bag. She ran her hands through her hair as she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, she took a sip before screwing the lid back on tight into place. She then tipped the bottle upside down to check it wasn't going to leak and then placed it upright in her handbag.

"Have you got another part mom?" Henry asked as he walked into the room, his hair still sticking up but this time, his bag was closed and was on his back, his shoes were on and he looked like he was ready for the school day ahead.

"I'm hoping so kid. Come on, let's get you to school."

Emma loaded her son into her little yellow bug. It was a good car, the reliability of it fading, however it still got her from point A to B. As Emma drove in the direction of Henry's school, she knew something was on his mind. She looked over and ruffled his hair as she came to a set of traffic lights.

"Okay. Spit it out." She said as she waited for the lights to change to green.

"Nothing's wrong." He said and put his chin in his hand which was resting on the window.

"Henry Swan. I can see it on your face. Talk." She said as the light turned green. She put the car in gear and started moving. She'd always had an easy relationship with Henry. Being a single parent gives you that special bond between parent and child. It was just her and her son, and Emma liked that. From the first moment Emma laid eyes on her son, she'd never experienced love like it. He was overwhelmingly perfect in every sense of the word. She'd been there through it all; every scrape, every cut, every sickness, the bad dreams, everything.

"It's just" Henry started and then looked over at his mom. "If you get the role, you'll be leaving me again." Emma's mouth fell open, but then she quickly shut it. He'd never admitted anything like this before and it surprised Emma. She knew that her son missed her when she went away, but he also loved that she was an actress and that he got to go all over the world with her.

"Henry, you know why I have to leave you, right?"

"I know." Henry sighed. "You don't want to keep moving me around. You want me settled."

"Exactly. You love school, you've got great friends." Emma said but she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt rush through her body. She didn't want to move him around like she was at his age. Every time she had to say goodbye to her son when she went away, she always felt that same rush of guilt. She shouldn't be leaving her child behind, but what else could she do? She'd already built a successful career in the acting industry. She'd finally found something that gave her a sense of accomplishment in life. And she needed to pay the bills. And it wasn't like she was leaving Henry to fend for himself, he always stayed with Mary Margaret and David; Emma's two best friends who also happened to be married. "You've never said anything about me going away to work before. Do you not like staying with Mary Margaret and David?" Emma asked.

"No, I love staying with them." Henry said. "But Miss French said that they want to do a 'bring your parent to school day' and if you're working, then you won't be able to come."

"Henry, I'm not the only parent that works. They'll be a lot of kids in your class whose parents won't be able to come."

"But their parents won't be out of the state." Henry muttered and turned to face the window again. As Emma pulled to a halt outside his school, Henry silently grabbed his bag and opened the door.

"We'll talk about this later, okay?" Emma asked, knowing she wouldn't get an answer from her son. "David will be here to pick you up, I'm not sure how long my meeting will last." Henry nodded.

"I love you mom." He said as he swung his bag onto his back.

"I love you too kid." Henry closed the door and Emma pulled the car back onto the road. She did the same routine most weeks. Who knew that an actor needed to go to so many meeting's?

However, today wasn't just a normal meeting. Today she was meeting with Mulan, a director who had offered Emma a role in her latest film. Emma knew she hadn't quite landed the role yet. She needed to meet with the director first and talk about the project, but Emma was excited nethertheless. She'd practically got this role in the bag, unless something drastic happened.

As she drove, Emma couldn't help but think back to the conversation she had with Henry that morning. She knew that as he was getting older, he was becoming more aware that his dad wasn't around and that she was the only parent he had. In recent months, he'd started asking questions about him. Not the big questions like why he wasn't around, but things like how he and Emma met or what was he like. Emma knew that eventually she'd have to tell him the full story, but for now, she wanted her child to be just that, a child.

She found a car parking space right outside the doors of office that Emma had been told to go to. It was a high-rise office building, the kind with revolving doors at the foot. Emma got out of her car, grabbed her handbag which contained her notebook and then locked the door to her bug. It was at this moment when he phone started to ring. As she pulled her phone out of her bag, she looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Mary Margaret calling.

"Hey, shouldn't you be at school?" She answered and leaned against her car. She was early so she could afford to spend a couple of minutes on the phone to one of her best friends.

"Yeah well I've got a sick bug or something. A lot of the kids are sick too so I must have caught it off them. The school have got cover for me so I can at least take today off."

"I'll try and get out of my meeting early so I can pick Henry up. If you're sick, the last thing you want is to be looking after him. Lie in bed, eat some soup and then get some rest."

"No, no, Emma, honestly. We don't mind having him. Plus the only thing that will make me feel better right now is seeing Henry."

"Only if you don't mind M." Emma said and looked at her watch. 10:55am.

"Of course not. David was talking about taking him to the park later."

"Oh he'll love that. Look, I've got to go. Meetings and all that."

"You're seriously a workaholic Emma" Mary Margaret chuckled. "You should take a break. Relax or something."

"it's fine. I've got a good feeling about this project."

"Then go kick some ass" Mary Margaret replied and then the women said their goodbye's. Emma dropped her phone back into her bag and took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

As she walked into the building, she couldn't help but feel like she was out of her league. This is the first time a director had come to her for a role, not the other way around. She was still new to this but as she walked to the front desk and greeted the receptionist, she couldn't help but feel a wave of excitement rush through her body.

"My name is Emma Swan. I have a meeting a 11 o'clock with Mulan," She stated and tapped her fingers on the desk, anxiously waiting for a response. The receptionist flashed her a small smile that reassured Emma.

"Perfect. Right Miss Swan. You need to go through the double doors over there" she pointed to her left to a set of doors. "You then need to go to the elevator and up to the 12th floor. Another receptionist will be there to take you through."

"Thank you." Emma said and started following the directions. Through the double doors. Elevator. 12th floor.

"Miss Swan?" The next receptionist was there to greet her as the doors the elevator opened on the 12th floor.

"Yes, that's me." Emma said and walked out from the confines of the elevator.

"This way." The receptionist then started walking down the hall, taking a right and then the second left before knocking on a door.

"Come in" the voice from inside the room shouted. The receptionist opened the door for her and gave her a sweet smile as Emma stepped inside.

"Ah you must be Emma. It's a pleasure to meet you." Mulan stood from behind her desk and stuck out for hand for Emma to shake.

"The pleasure is all mine." Mulan gestured towards one of the empty seats on Emma's side of the desk. She sat down, linking her hands together and then rested them upon her lap.

"So this film" Mulan started.

"Oh yes." Emma said as she reached into her handbag and took her notebook and a pen out. She opened it to the next clean page and rested it on her lap, ready and waiting to take notes down.

"Yes right. You'll be playing a young mother of two, her name is Claire."

"Claire's a pretty name" Emma said and wrote it down. Claire. Mother of two.

"She's had a rough time in recent years. 3 months after her daughter was born, Claire's husband was murdered."

"Oh wow." Emma said. Murdered husband.

"And ever since then, Claire has put her children first and hasn't taken a moment for herself. She's afraid to love after what happened with her husband." Emma nodded. Afraid to love.

"Well, that's understandable. After having her love ripped away from her in an instant, it's obviously going to affect her."

"Exactly." Mulan said and smiled. "Anyway, she meets a man and she finally lets herself feel again. Believe me, its takes some time. She's still not over her husband's death but this man makes her feel alive again after so long of feeling dead. She resists at first. Claire believes that if she opens her heart again, it will only end in heartbreak."

"And she's thinking of her children too."

"A mother always puts her children first."

"Exactly" Emma smiled and thought of her and Henry.

"She's a strong woman. Puts everyone else before herself. But she's still heartbroken. It's as if she's buried the pain for so long." Mulan stopped talking and watched Emma take notes "Do you have children Emma?" Mulan asked, generally interested. Emma looked up from her notebook at this sudden change of topic from the film to her personal life. Mulan quickly noticed Emma's shock and then said "I can see it on your face."

"Well, yes I do. I have a son."

"How old is he?"

"8." Emma simply said, but she took a moment to smile at how quick her son was growing up.

"And what does he think about you being an actress?"

"He's a smart kid, so he knows it makes me happy. But I think he's becoming more aware as he's getting older that when I get roles and it's during the school term, I have to leave him behind. It's hard, on both of us."

"Emma, if you decide to do this film, and I'm really hoping you do, we'll be shooting up in Canada. So that might be hard on you and your boy." Emma nodded. She knew that it was inevitable that sooner or later, one of her roles would take her out of the country. "But I'm an understanding director. Most of the crew have families at home too. Unless we absolutely need to, we won't be filming on weekends. That would give you time to visit your son then."

Emma and Mulan chatted for hours. They talked about everything from their past projects, the film and what Emma would bring to the movie. The next time that Emma looked at the clock, it was closing in on 3 o'clock. Mulan glanced over at the clock on the wall and then checked that time against her watch.

"Hmm. Your co-star was due here half an hour ago."

"Oh you've cast him already?" Emma asked and checked the time on her watch too.

As Mulan opened her mouth to answer, she was cut off by a knock on the door. She looked over at Emma as she said "come in."

The door opened slowly and in walked the one and only Killian Jones. Emma's face dropped in an instant. 18 months later and she still hadn't forgot that night at the awards show. She also hadn't forgot the rumours that went on for months afterwards about if they were dating. But in that time since she'd last seen this man, it looked like he hadn't aged a day. His hair, still untamed as it was. His stubble, still at a similar length. And his cockiness still hadn't changed, as the first words that came out of his mouth were "Afternoon. Am I late?"

Emma turned back in her seat to face Mulan as Killian strolled over and sat down in the empty seat next to her.

"Emma Swan, meet Killian Jones. He'll be your love interest in the film." Mulan flashed a smile at her, obviously unaware of the past between them both. Well the whole world was blissfully unaware. The argument between them before the awards had luckily stayed under wraps.

"Swan, nice to see you again." Killian said as he leant back in his chair.

"Oh you two know each other?" Mulan asked and looked between them.

"We've met once." Emma said and glanced over at him. As Killian opened his mouth to reply to Emma, there was another knock on the door. Mulan looked over questioningly as the door opened to reveal the receptionist that led Emma to the door nearly 4 hours prior.

"Excuse me Mulan, but your 4 o'clock appointment is waiting."

"He's early." Mulan muttered and looked from Emma to Killian. "I'm sorry but we're going to have to cut this meeting short. Killian, we'll arrange to meet again in the coming weeks." Emma and Killian both stood up from their seats. Mulan shook his hand first before turning to Emma. "Emma, it was lovely to meet you. Please let me know if you have any questions. But we'll need to answer about the film within the week." She shook Emma's hand next.

"I'll be in touch" Emma said and grabbed her bag from the floor and then walking out of the meeting room with Killian hot on her trail.

"Swan, wait." Killian said and chased her down the numerous identical corridors until she found the elevator.

"I told you not to call me that."

"Oh for God's sake it was ages ago. Come on." Normally, Emma would agree. She would turn over a new page and that would be that. But in this instance, with this man, all the stubbornness in the entire world seemed attracted to her.

Emma walked into the elevator with him behind her. The doors closed and then there was silence. She could feel his gaze on her before she turned her head and saw it for herself. Then the familiar 'ding' of the elevator rang aloud, indicated that they had reached their destination. As Emma walked out and into the foyer, she heard Killian shout her name.

"Emma." He said, willing for her to turn around one last time.

"What do you want?" She twirled around to face him.

"I want to talk." He said and thrust his hands in his trouser pockets.

"Then talk." Emma said copying his actions. They were in the middle of a crowded foyer, with people going about their day minding their own business. But Emma couldn't help but feel exactly the same as she did 18 months prior. She felt angry but she didn't even understand why. Yes the man was a dick. And yes she was frustrated at the months of rumours afterwards. But were those two reasons enough to stay angry at him? However, standing there with him in the foyer, she could still smell the alcohol on his breath from what she presumed was his previous night activities. And in that moment, Emma had made the decision that he was still the cocky bastard that she'd first encountered 18 months ago.

"What can I say to make you forgive me for our last meeting?"

"I've already forgiven you."

"Right the way that your starring my down right now begs to differ." Emma turned back around and started walking out the building.

"Swan." He called after her.

"Jones." She said and continued walking, back through the doors, back to her yellow car and on her way, leaving him alone outside of the building. Emma felt overwhelmed. 'What had just happened' was the question that was constantly on a loop in her mind. She realised that she was a bit of a bitch to him and she probably should have heard him out.

It was as if Emma was on autopilot. She didn't even know she'd arrived safely at Mary Margaret and David's house until she stopped the car and turned her engine off. She sat there for a few moments, completely oblivious that Henry had come outside and was now approaching her car. The 'tap, tap, tap' on the window awoke her from her daydream and brought her attention back down to the present. Emma smiled at her son and then got out of the car, grabbing her bag in the process.

"Hey Kid." Emma said, she bent down so that she was crouching and then took her son into her arms. "Did you have a good day?" She asked and placed a kiss on the top of his head.

"Mmmhmmm" Henry mumbled and then Emma noticed David standing on the porch.

"Hey, make sure you've got all your things in your bag, alright?" Emma said as Henry walked back up to house. As walked onto the porch, David ruffled his hair before he disappeared inside.

"How's Mary Margaret? Emma asked as she reached the steps leading up to the house.

"She's resting." David replied and held the door open for Emma. It was a typical American style house with green lawn on the front and a garage attached to the side.

As she stepped into the warmth of the house, Mary Margaret came down the stairs, still in her night clothes and dressing gown with fluffy slippers on her feet.

"Emma, how did your meeting go?" Mary Margaret inquired. Emma didn't even need to say anything, but she gave Mary Margaret the 'look.'

"That bad huh?" David said and closed the door.

"It wasn't bad. The director was amazing and the role is perfect. It's just" Emma trailed off.

"What happened?" Mary Margaret walked down the last of the stairs and stood at the bottom. Emma looked between her two friends before sighing.

"Killian Jones is my co-star."

"As in Douchebag Killian Jones?" Mary Margaret clarified.

"The same one."

"Wait, the man that you had that big fight with at that award show last year?" David asked and looked between Mary Margaret and Emma for an answer.

"Okay no. I didn't fight with anyone. We had an argument and that was it." Emma said and stuffed her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. "And I may have carried that argument on today."

"What do you mean?" Mary Margaret asked. She looked at Emma who's gaze had drifted to the floor before saying "Oh Emma."

"I wasn't that hard on him."

"Oh I beg to differ. I've been on the wrong side of you when your pissed off, and believe me, your kind of scary Ems." David replied and shrugged his shoulders.

"You never know Emma, maybe he's changed. It's been nearly 2 years." Mary Margaret was always one to put a positive spin on life. Whatever situation they were in, she'd always find a way to take something positive out of it.

"I highly doubt that. He was still a cocky jerk."

"Well then, see it as a challenge." David suggested. "You've always had an easy ride when it comes to other actors you've worked with. Maybe it'll be good for you to work with someone who you don't necessarily get along with."

"That would be fine but he's my love interest. You have to trust to person your working with so that you can bring out the best in each other."

"What's your heart saying Emma?" Mary Margaret looked at her waiting for an answer. Henry then walked into the room with his bag on his back and his shoes on, ready to go home.

"My heart is saying I feel like pizza tonight. What about you kid?" Emma changed the topic and held onto Henry's hand.

"Can we get Mario's?" Henry questioned and looked up at his mom.

"Mario's it is." Emma smiled back at him. "What do you say to Mary Margaret and David?"

"Thank you for having me." Henry said and gave them both a hug goodbye.

"It was our pleasure Henry." David smiled at the boy.

"Feel better soon, M." Emma said as her and Henry walked out of the house.

"Just think about it Emma." Mary Margaret replied, changing the subject back to 'you know who.' Emma nodded in reply and turned around, walking back to her little yellow car with her son.

That evening, Emma and Henry sat by the TV, eating Mario's pizza, the best (in their opinion) in LA. She then took him up to bed, read him a story and gave him a kiss goodnight. Emma then came downstairs, opened her laptop and typed the words 'Killian Jones' into the search engine.

Right then Jones. What's your story?


Right. I've been completely overwhelmed by all your amazing responses from the prologue. Honestly, I wasn't expecting a reaction like that. So I've decided to spoil you all and upload early.

I've awful at proof reading my own work, so please ignore any mistakes. I wanted to get this up as soon as possible for you all as a lot of you wanted an update. So here you go :) I started writing this chapter thinking it was going in one direction, turns out it ended up in a completely different place.

It's going to take a few chapters to actually set the scene for this story. Think of it as a TV Show... sometimes it takes a couple of episodes before it takes shape. So give this time.

Please let me know what you think of this chapter. Should Emma have forgiven him by now? What did you think of little Henry? Is Emma right to be leaving him behind? And what about Killian? Why do you think he is the way he is? Let me know your general thoughts as well. I love hearing them and what you think is going to happen next. Reading your reviews makes me so happy.

See you soon, Jess :)