Emma Swan was going home. She had everything she owned packed up in her Volkswagon beetle and she was on her way to the small town just north of Boston to see her family. Okay, so technically, they weren't her family but that didn't matter. In her heart, they were her family and in about two hours, she'd see them again.
She took a deep breath and smiled.
When David had called and told her that his department needed another detective, she'd thrown caution to the wind, sold everything that wouldn't fit into her car and handed in her resignation to her Captain.
She was going home.
And, even if she didn't get the detective job, she would stay and find something else. She could always be a bail bondsperson or a private detective or – it didn't matter what (she'd wait tables if she had to). She'd work out the details later.
None of that mattered right now, because she was going home and nothing had ever felt so right. She'd missed David and Mary Margaret so much.
And Killian.
She was going to see Killian again. Nerves ate at her stomach over it but they were outweighed by the utter certainty that she had finally figured out where her home was. Home was where her family was. And Killian was part of that family. Sure, he was a flirt and was probably juggling a dozen women just like he had back in college but he was still part of her family. And he was her best friend, or at least he had been, and she was determined to renew that friendship even if it killed her.
She admitted to herself that while she'd missed Mary Margaret and David, the ache in her chest was in large part due to him. He was the reason she had to go home. Just as he was the reason she'd been scared to for so long.
She gripped the wheel a little tighter as she rubbed her hands on the column. It didn't matter that she'd been madly in love with him for years. She could do this. He was her friend, first and foremost, and she needed him back. Of course, there was a chance that he didn't want to see her, she thought as doubt worked through her gut.
She hadn't heard from him once since she'd left (and coward that she was, she'd never called him, either) and when she'd invited him for Christmas, along with Mary Margaret and David, he'd declined the invitation. She still remembered the sinking feeling she'd gotten when Mary Margaret told her he wasn't coming. She'd spent the entire holiday tangled up on the inside, scared that she'd lost him forever but David insisted that he had to work. The business he started was keeping him very busy and he'd added an extra night tour during the holiday season to view the Christmas lights from the water.
So, she'd had to rely on the casual information she got about him from Mary Margaret for the past two years. She never outright asked about him but her heart would always flutter when he came up in conversation… Like when he and David took Mary Margaret out for her birthday (he got her a top-of-the-line food processor) or how he'd helped her when her car broke down on the expressway (he gave her his car and told her to go home while waited in the pouring rain for the tow truck).
It still made her heart flip every time Mary Margaret so much as mentioned his name, dreading the day that she would casually mention something about a woman. Not that she ever had (thank god). Emma didn't know what she would do if she found out that he had settled down with someone… unlikely as it was. He'd never, in all the time she'd known him, had a full-on relationship. He'd had plenty of offers, she was sure. It was almost comical, the number of women who threw themselves at him.
That face of his… the bright blue eyes and jet black hair. His image floated into her mind and with it came a mix of fear and excitement but beneath that there was a warmth that she craved more of. That wasn't all she craved, either, she thought with a fresh flash of panic.
Get ahold of yourself, Emma. You can do this. You managed to make it through an entire year of school being around him constantly without making total fool of yourself. Well, at least not too much of a fool.
There had been that one time. The night before she'd been set to leave for Chicago. The four of them had gone out for one last hoorah and she'd had a little too much to drink and, well, who could blame her, right? David and Mary Margaret had left but Emma hadn't wanted to waste a moment of her last night with Killian, so they'd stayed to play another game of pool. She had just finished congratulating herself on keeping her hormones under control when he'd looked at her with those intense blue eyes and told her he would miss her with such sincerity and, really, what was she supposed to do?
K&EK&EK&E
"I can't believe you're really leaving, Swan," he said quietly, and even though the music was too loud and the people around them were shouting, somehow she heard him clearly.
"I can't believe you bought a boat company," she countered and leaned back against the pool table, pool cue in hand and crossing her legs at her ankles.
He chuckled. "It's not a boat company, it's a chartering business for tourists. Liam would have loved it. He always wanted to work near the water and you can't get closer than being on it every day."
"You'll be great at it," she told him and meant it, "I'm so happy for you, Killian."
"I'll give you a free tour when you come back to visit," he told her.
"It's a date," she said and winced at her choice of words but quickly recovered, adding, "but what about this place?" motioning vaguely with her hand at the bar they were in, "I mean you've worked here for the past two years. There won't be nearly as many unattached, willing females down at the dock. Don't you think you'll miss it?"
He shook his head at her, smiling as he deposited his pool cue on the rack, "You mean the glamorous occupation of pouring spirits into glasses for drunk co-eds? No, I'm sure I won't. But I'll tell you what I will miss…"
"And what's that?" she asked, keeping her voice light even as he stepped into her personal space.
"I'll miss you," he said softly.
Their eyes met and held for a moment and Emma's heartrate spiked at the intensity in his gaze. Alcohol was buzzing through her system, the euphoria of the night overriding her common sense. It could be months before she'd see him again. She was leaving, moving halfway across the country, and this was her last night with him for who knew how long.
His gaze darted to her lips for a split second and the butterflies in her stomach sprang to life at his intent. Just this once, she told herself. She was leaving tomorrow, but before she did, she could at least take this one memory with her. He reached out and took the pool cue from her and laid it on the table behind her, his body brushing up against hers as he did so and her breath caught. When he met her eyes again, she could see his resolve as he leaned toward her. She closed her eyes in anticipation, but before his lips met hers, someone called his name.
The spell between them was broken and she heard him huff out a frustrated breath before he stepped back and turned to the brunette with the impressive amount of cleavage who was approaching him.
Emma looked away from the two of them and occupied herself by rolling a pool ball under her hand, listening as the girl asked him if he could give her a ride home. To his credit, he flushed, extricated himself from her quickly and sent her away disappointed.
Emma schooled her features and lifted an eyebrow, "You don't have to send her away on my account," she told him propping her hip up on the table and turning to push one of the left over balls from their game (that she had won, by the way) into one of the pockets. "I don't want to get in the way of - "
"It's not like…" Killian breathed a sigh of frustration before he looked back at her, stepping up to stand in front of her and cage her in, "Tonight is about us, Swan. It's about us enjoying the little time we have left," his hand rose to her cheek as his voice softened again and he continued, pinning her with his eyes, "I'm going to miss you. It won't be the same without you here."
His eyes had darted to her mouth again while he spoke and his face was getting slowly closer. Mesmerized, Emma whispered softly, "You'll still have Mary Margaret and David. It won't really be that different."
She'd tried to keep her voice steady but she heard it quiver under his heated gaze. She needed to stop him, push him back, but her curiosity, mixed with rum and the proximity of his body, was too distracting. Hadn't she always wondered? Hadn't she always dreamed about this? Killian Jones, who could have any woman he wanted, was looking at her the way she'd always wanted him to.He'd even turned down another woman to stay with her.
"Mary Margret and David may be like family to me," he said, his eyes completely focused on her lips now as his forehead landed up against her own and she closed her eyes to revel in the feeling. "But what am I going to do without you, love?"
She tried to respond, she really did, but she couldn't think of a word to say, especially when he brushed his nose against hers affectionately and moved his other hand to her hip.
"What will I do without you, Emma?" he whispered almost to himself, the tone of his voice ragged, his accent thick with emotion. Her skin tingled at the sound. His face was so close that she could feel his breath against her lips, his forehead pressed lightly into hers as he slid his hand around to the back of her neck, kneading lightly.
Then his lips brushed against hers in a caress so soft she might have missed it if she wasn't so completely focused on him. She moved her own hand up to his cheek and returned the kiss, rubbing her lips across his in nearly the same way but with slightly more pressure. She heard his quick intake of breath an instant before his mouth claimed hers fully, one hand anchoring in her hair and the other wrapping around her waist to pull her body into his.