As intrigued as Killian was by the blonde bartender who went by Swan, he didn't overstay his welcome. When she left to go out back, he realized that he'd struck a real nerve and thought it best if he just went back to his hotel room and called it a night.
His original intent had been to charm his way into her bed, but he hadn't counted on her not having a clue who he was. He hadn't considered that she'd resist his advances and not even tell him her first name. It would have been easy to just tell her who he was. That usually worked, but he got the feeling that she wouldn't care. She was too guarded, too put off by him being so obvious about being interested in her. It completely changed his intentions. Now, he just wanted to figure her out.
A few days later, after a long morning of rehearsing, Killian found himself free for a couple hours and decided to pay a visit to that bar again. It was the afternoon, so he didn't know if she would be there, but even if she wasn't, someone had to know the Swan girl and when she worked again.
The sign outside said they weren't open yet, but he tried the door anyway. Unlocked. It wasn't like he could drink this early anyway since he had to be back at work later. Lucky for him, that guy who'd been working the previous night was there again, so he walked straight up to him. "Hey, mate, can I ask you a question?"
Victor was busy stacking glasses and tumblers when he heard a voice and turned around, surprised because no one was supposed to be there. "You can't be in…" he trailed off when he saw who it was. "Oh, it's you. From the other night. The guy who left Swan the twenty-dollar tip."
Damn it, did he really have to call her Swan? Did no one call her by her first name?
"Yeah, it's me. I was just wondering when she works next." Did he sound creepy? He realized he probably did as he asked his question, but it was already out of his mouth before he could come up with a better way to ask.
Normally, Victor wouldn't just be giving out information on Emma freely, but he was determined to get her to go out with this guy at least once. "She only works on the weekends, so she won't be back until Friday. Why?"
Killian didn't answer right away, just stood there looking like an idiot and scratching the back of his neck. "Uh…I just feel like we left things on a bad note. Wanted to apologize." That sounded normal, right?
"I can tell you where to find her tonight, if you're interested," Victor offered, and the expression on the guy's face was all he needed to know that he was interested. "She works at Granny's. It's a restaurant a couple blocks from here."
Another bit of information to add to his memory bank about her. She worked two jobs, neither of which seemed very rewarding to him, but what did he know? "Did she say anything the other night?"
"About you? Not really. She looked surprised that you left her that tip, but she didn't seem to want to talk about you after that." Victor knew he'd been right in thinking this guy was interested in Emma. He would have just given him her number right then, but just knowing he'd show up at Granny's was good enough. Emma would probably have a heart attack.
"Well…thanks." Now, Killian just felt awkward, unsure of how to end this conversation about the Swan girl, so he just started to head for the door, and Victor let him go, unable to help chuckling at the hilarity of the situation after he left.
He could have easily called Emma to warn her about the surprise that would be waiting for her that night, but he chose not to. It needed to be a surprise or else she'd find some way to avoid him.
Emma had put the incident with Killian behind her after telling August about it. She didn't know if she'd see him again, but it would be better if she didn't. He wasn't a familiar face, so she knew he didn't live in the town and was probably just passing through. Usually, she could handle herself fairly well with men, but there was just something about Killian that pulled her in, and that scared the hell out of her. Not to mention, she'd let her guard down when he'd mentioned her parents. So much for acting tough.
The restaurant felt like a safe haven, somewhere where she didn't think she'd run into Killian, and she wasn't even thinking about him period as she came out of the kitchen after dropping off an order. "You've got to be fucking kidding me," she muttered under her breath, ripping off her name tag and shoving it in the front of the half apron tied around her waist.
Of course he was sitting in her section, by himself in the corner. There was no way it was a coincidence. What were the odds? How did he know she worked there? Just when she was starting to forget about him, he showed up, and she had no choice but to take his order once again.
She didn't miss the huge smile on his face when he saw her walking over, and she wished she could smile in return, but she just rolled her eyes. "Please tell me this is a coincidence and that you didn't intentionally show up here to see me."
"Sorry, love. I did come here to see you. Your friend from the bar told me you worked here." Killian figured honesty was the best policy. For that question, anyway.
"Great." Oh, she was going to kill Victor when she saw him next. "Why exactly are you here? What do you want?"
"For starters, a glass of water. I still have to look over the menu," he replied, like he wasn't being a jackass and avoiding the real meaning of her question.
Unfortunately, Emma had no choice but to go get him the water because she had other tables to attend to and couldn't just stand there talking to him all night and trying to figure out what his deal was.
She didn't come back for ten minutes, purposely, because she wanted to make sure all her other tables, who were actually there because they wanted to be there and not just to annoy her, were taken care of and had everything they needed first.
"Okay, so are you going to answer my question yet?" Emma asked as she set the glass of water down on the table, letting a straw drop beside it.
"What question was that again?" He adopted a confused expression, like he was trying to remember, even though he clearly knew exactly what she wanted to know.
Emma sighed. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here."
"I already told you, I wanted to see you. We can talk more when your shift is over, which is in an hour according to the lovely lady who directed me toward this table."
Looking over her shoulder, even though she didn't have to to know who it was, she saw Ruby standing at the podium where the hostess stood and waited for people to walk in to seat them. "So you're going to sit here and wait for me to get off work?"
"Yes, but I'm going to eat. I'm a paying customer, so you can't kick me out."
"Right. Well, I don't think we have anything to talk about, but what do you want to eat?" He didn't answer right away, so she just stared at him, urging him to say something with the way her eyes widened slightly.
"You're not going to write it down?"
Was he just fucking with her or was he serious? Emma fought the urge to roll her eyes again. "I don't need to write it down. Just tell me what you want." It had been years since she had to write down orders. It didn't matter what someone wanted to throw at her, she could remember it.
"Grilled cheese."
"You thought I would need to write down grilled cheese?" Okay, she rolled her eyes again.
"I just thought that was what waitresses did," Killian replied with a small shrug of his shoulders.
He really was beginning to be the most annoying person she'd ever met, but without another word, she went to put in his stupid grilled cheese order because that meant she could ignore him for a while. It was, however, hard to ignore the feeling of his eyes on her every time she stepped out of the kitchen. She never looked at him, but she just knew he was staring at her, watching her take orders, refill drinks, and bring everyone their food but him.
Ruby waved her over at one point, and Emma was just glad she didn't yell out her name. She was doing a good job of keeping it a secret, and the last thing she wanted was for someone she worked with to yell it out.
"What's up?" Emma asked, pretending that she didn't already know.
"What's up is that there's an insanely hot guy with an Irish accent sitting over there, and he's totally into you!" Ruby was way too excited about this.
"He is not into me," Emma insisted, and she didn't know if it was for Ruby benefit or her own. "He likes annoying me. I haven't figured out what his angle is yet, but I will."
"Emma, he asked me to sit him in your section, and he's been staring at you all night. You must be blind if you can't see that he likes you."
"He can't like me if he doesn't know me. He knows nothing about me, not even my first name, which if you tell him it, I will kill you. I already have to kill Victor for telling him I work here." She knew Ruby was just as bad as Victor, though. They'd both be conspiring together that night about how to make this work, she was sure of it.
"You'll be thanking Victor once the two of you are living happily ever after."
"Happily ever after? Lord." Emma hated that phrase. There was no happily ever after for her. She had thought she would have that once, and it had been ripped out from under her. She never wanted to make the mistake of expecting to have one again. "I have to get back to work."
"Yes, you do because that handsome devil is waiting for his food!" Ruby noticed that Killian hadn't taken his eyes off of Emma the whole time that she'd been standing there, and it made her smirk at her friend before she walked away.
Emma could only groan in frustration before going back to the kitchen to get the grilled cheese that had to be waiting there by now for her to pick up. It was. Back to the dreaded corner table. She even picked up a pitcher of water to refill his glass since that would keep her from having to make two trips.
Without saying a word, she slid the plate onto the table and then picked up his glass and poured water to the brim before giving it back and turning to leave. She heard him thank her, but she didn't acknowledge him, just kept going until she disappeared into the kitchen.
She honestly couldn't figure out why the hell she was so on edge around him, but it was driving her crazy. Obviously, she felt some sort of connection to him or she would have easily been able to dismiss him. She wouldn't be thinking about him, and she certainly wouldn't be nervous about the fact that he wanted to talk to her when her shift was over.
Her thoughts were so all over the place that she almost ran into Ruby on her way back out onto the floor.
"Oh, hey! Just who I was looking for." Ruby was all smiles, and Emma looked at her like she better watch whatever she was about to say. "I gave your man the bill because he had to leave all of a sudden, but he said to tell you he's sorry he couldn't stay and talk."
"First of all, he's not my man. Second, it's good that he's gone. I didn't want to talk to him." Even as she said it, she knew it was a lie. She was curious, but she couldn't show it. She had to make those feelings go away.
"You're ridiculous. Live a little!"
"You and Victor are too much alike, you know that?"
Emma pushed past her friend and out to the now empty table to take the empty plate and cup away, and she almost dropped them both when she noticed the tip Killian left. A crisp fifty dollar bill, folded once, just laying there for her. She just stared at it, unable to comprehend that that was a tip. There was no way he could have left that on purpose. It had to be a mistake, but she took it anyway, intent on giving it back to him when she next saw him, and she had no doubt that she would see him again.
"He what? A fifty?" August asked, shock written all over his face.
"Yes, he left me a fifty dollar tip for a glass of water and grilled cheese. There's no way he meant to do that." Emma was speaking quietly because Henry was in his room, probably eavesdropping.
"Even if it was a mistake, who cares? Now you have fifty bucks in your pocket."
"I have to give it back to him. I can't keep it, are you nuts?"
"If it was anyone else who left it, would you feel like you had to give it back?" August questioned.
Emma opened her mouth to answer, but then she closed it because she'd already lied to herself enough that night. Of course she'd keep it if anyone else left it, but if it was truly a nice gesture on his part to leave her that generous of a tip, she couldn't accept it. It would be like accepting that she, for lack of a better term, 'had a thing' for him, too.
"Exactly," August added when Emma didn't say anything. "Just keep it and be happy about it."
"Easy for you to say." But she would let him think that she was keeping it for now because she didn't want to talk about it anymore.
The rest of the week, Emma spent every minute she was at work waiting for Killian to walk in, but he never did. She told herself she just wanted to give him back the money that was burning a hole in her pocket, but she knew there was more to it than that. He'd shown an interest in her, and even though she'd been quite rude to him most of the time, she sort of maybe wanted him to keep coming around. The more she pushed, the more she hoped he'd keep pushing back.
Maybe that was it, though? Maybe he thought she wasn't worth it, and now she'd never see him again. It shouldn't have bothered her as much as it did, but she'd let herself start wondering about him, and now she couldn't stop. It didn't matter that she'd only actually talked to him briefly for two days; somehow he had wormed his way into her head.
She'd given up after Thursday, deciding that she'd take Henry out to dinner Saturday when she was off from both jobs with that fifty, and that would be that.
Killian hadn't forgotten about Emma at all. In fact, he thought about showing up at the restaurant the next night, adding another apology for leaving so abruptly to his growing list, but he didn't have the time, so he made up his mind that he'd see her again Friday at the bar because that Victor guy had confirmed she'd be working. He wondered why that guy had his first name on his name tag but Swan didn't.
When Friday came, he forced himself not to go before midnight like the week before. It had been a relatively low key atmosphere by then, and even if there were still a lot of people crowded around, at least he wouldn't have long to wait for her to be done so that they could actually have a conversation for once that didn't involve her running off after a few sentences.
That Friday was definitely busy when Emma came in, but it thankfully started to slow down by the time midnight rolled around, and she finally got a minute to lean against the bar and watch for someone wanting another round. Most of the stragglers still around were dispersed at the tables with orders of fries, so the waiter on duty would just bring drink orders up if there were any.
"Alright, so spill. I've been waiting all night for you to bring up that Irish guy." Victor had been eagerly waiting for some down time to ask Emma about Killian.
"I'm sure Ruby filled you in," Emma replied, not thrilled that she hadn't been able to avoid talk of Killian.
"She did, but she said you haven't told her if you've seen him since that night."
"I haven't. He hasn't come back to the restaurant, so maybe he finally realized that there was no point in following me around to my multitude of jobs?"
Victor started laughing, covering his mouth with one hand in an attempt to hide it.
"What the hell is so funny?" she asked, irritated but not following his eyes.
"Hello, lass. Long time no see," Emma heard from behind her, and her eyes instantly widened at Victor, who was still laughing his ass off.
Composing herself, she turned around and actually gave him somewhat of a smile for once, her hands bracing the bar in front of her. "What can I get you?"
"I'm not drinking tonight, so just a coke, if you don't mind."
"Yeah, sure." Was it obvious that she was making an effort to be nicer?
When she brought the coke back, she decided she'd just let him say whatever it was he'd come there to say because she wasn't really sure what she wanted to say to him besides that she couldn't accept his tip from the other night.
"Listen, I came to the restaurant with the intention of apologizing for my behavior the first time we met. I was attracted to you and acting stupid, as men usually do, and somewhere along the way I upset you. So I do apologize." The look of sincerity on his face made Emma even more speechless than she had been before, and she couldn't believe he actually remembered that he had upset her with that comment about her parents. She had tried not to give too much indication of it at the time, but he was more perceptive than she thought.
"Uh…no, it was fine. I'm used to it." She was referring to men being men and acting stupid.
"You shouldn't have to be used to it."
Okay, now she was starting to feel her defenses kicking in, telling her to stop being nice and start pushing him away again. "Look-"
"No, wait. I'm not finished. I'm also apologizing for running out at the restaurant before getting the chance to talk with you. I got a work call, and I had to leave."
"Speaking of which, here." She pulled the fifty dollar bill out and set it in front of him. "I don't think you meant to leave this, and I've been wanting to give it back to you." Finally, she could put her mind at ease about that.
Killian looked at her like she was crazy before sliding it back to her side of the bar. "Of course I meant to leave it."
"You meant to leave me fifty dollars as a tip for a meal that barely cost five?" she asked, skepticism evident in her voice as she pushed it back toward him.
"Yeah, I did, so take it." He pushed it back, his hand every so slightly touching hers in the process, sending a jolt through them both. It was the first time they'd had any actual contact, and it only confirmed that they really did have something between them, regardless of how little they knew each other.
Emma wasn't going to argue about it because she wasn't going to get anywhere, so she stuffed it back in her pocket, reminding herself that now she really could take Henry out to dinner. "Thanks, I guess." Her hand still burned from where his fingers had touched her, and she could feel herself losing the battle of keeping up that tough girl shield.
"I, uh, noticed a lot of people in this town walk everywhere. What about you?" It seemed like a totally random question, but he had a reason for it.
"Yeah, I don't have a car."
"Let me walk you home then, Swan."
Emma didn't even know what to think at that point. He wanted to walk her home? Really? He still didn't even know her first name! She knew she was taking a long time to answer, but she just couldn't figure out what was going on. And then, finally making a decision, she looked him in the eyes and said, "My name's Emma."
Killian looked at her, clearly surprised that she'd come out with her name, but before he could say anything, she left him sitting there alone, and all he could do was smile and wait for her to return. Emma Swan. What a lovely name.
She couldn't believe she'd basically agreed to let him walk her home. She hadn't said yes, but she'd told him her name, and that was pretty much a concession. Emma knew she was going against her gut, which told her it was a bad idea - that she shouldn't be showing this man where she lived - but she wanted to find out what he was doing in town. She already knew why he wouldn't leave her alone; he came out and said he found her attractive, and she would be lying if she said she didn't find him attractive, too.
Maybe August, and Victor, and Ruby were all right. She was no fun. Even Henry probably thought she needed to go out and meet someone. It was worth it just to appease her friends. Victor was already teasing her in the back room after they turned on the closed sign outside and finished putting everything away for the night.
"I can't believe he's walking you home! What made you say yes?"
"Technically, I never said yes. I just kind of insinuated that I didn't mind." Emma was glad she didn't have to see Ruby until Monday because she was going to absolutely freak out when she found out, which would be as soon as Victor got home.
"He's actually been sitting out there and waiting for you for hours. That's impressive."
"Okay, okay. I should go then, right?" Emma left her name tag and picked up her jacket, ignoring the look on Victor's face. "Stop looking at me like that!"
"You don't even know what I'm looking at you like."
"Trust me, I do. And I know you're thinking about gossiping with your girlfriend as soon as you leave here."
"Maybe, but she'd kill me if I didn't."
"I still want to kill you for telling him where else I worked. I mean, really? What made you think that was a good idea?" Emma was glad now that he had, but she could still act like it pissed her off.
"What's happening tonight is what made me think it was a good idea. I knew you'd give in to him eventually."
"Nothing is happening tonight! This conversation is over." Emma couldn't hide the smile pulling at her lips as she said goodbye to Victor and walked back out to meet Killian, who was standing by the door and patiently waiting for her. They hadn't talked since she told him her name because she'd kept herself busy on the other side of the bar.
It was hard not to stare at him. In those dark jeans and open flannel with a v-neck underneath that showed off a bit of his chest, he looked good. She looked away as soon as he made eye contact, feeling a bit embarrassed, but he didn't say anything about catching her staring.
"So why exactly do you want to walk me home?" Emma asked, breaking the silence as they walked outside into the night. "Trying to be a gentleman now?"
Killian looked down at her, that smirk making her heart stutter. "Darling, I'm always a gentleman."
That damn accent of his was going to be the death of her. "That still doesn't answer my question."
"It's late. You shouldn't be walking by yourself at this time of night."
"Oh, really? Is has nothing to do with you finding me attractive?" Yes, she would call him out on that.
He, of course, was still smirking, but he didn't answer right away, so she knew she took him off guard. "It might have something to do with that."
"Well, I don't know what you think is gonna happen, but all you're doing is walking me home. And then going back to wherever you're staying." Emma at least felt better after making that clear, though she was still feeling weird about the whole thing.
"I don't think anything is going to happen, love. I just want to make sure you get home safe."
"Where are you from anyway? I know you don't live here or I would have seen you before. What are you doing here?"
Killian knew that question was going to come up eventually, and he wasn't nearly as ready for it as he thought he'd be. He could tell her the truth. It was the perfect opportunity to do so, but even as he thought the words in his head, his mouth wouldn't say them. She was treating him like she should, being cautious, not giving him an easy time. Most women didn't care that they didn't know him because he had money, and he did take advantage of that from time to time because it was all he could get. Now, he had someone walking beside him who could possibly get to know the real him.
"I'm working on a movie set in the city." Not a complete lie. "I do lighting and boring stuff like that." That was a lie. "I wanted to stay somewhere more quiet, though, so I'm staying here in your little town."
"It doesn't sound so boring." Compared to what she had to do for a living. It was her own fault, though. She could have finished high school, could have at least tried to go to college, but instead, she shacked up with Neal Cassady and got pregnant. So much for that fairytale life.
Instead of going into detail about a job he didn't actually do, Killian turned the focus back to her. "What's your story?"
"My story? We don't have time for that." And even if they did, she wouldn't tell him. She may be letting him flirt and walk her home, but she wasn't going to divulge the details of her pathetic past to him.
"Maybe not tonight, but if you let me take you out sometime, then we'd have plenty of time." He knew her first name now, so it was appropriate to ask for a date, right?
"I don't think so. You seem…nice, maybe, but I don't really ever have time for myself. I'm busy working and…" Emma almost said 'and she had to spend time with her son,' but she caught herself.
"And what?" Killian hadn't missed her saying he was maybe nice, but he was more interested in what she wasn't saying.
"Nothing, okay? I'm just busy."
They were approaching her apartment, so she thought she was finally done with him for the night, but he decided to make things even more complicated for her.
"Tell you what." Killian stopped walking, and she stopped, too. "Give me your phone."
"My phone? Are you crazy?" He just kept coming up with more things to surprise her with.
"Just hand it over. I'm not going to steal it."
Against her better judgement, as usual when it came to him, she handed over her phone, watching as he put his number in for her before handing it back. He didn't call or text himself, so he didn't have her number. He was leaving it all up to her to contact him, apparently.
"If you find yourself suddenly available, give me a call." Killian flashed her a smile that made her knees weak, but she just slipped her phone back into her jeans.
"Don't count on it." Hey, she had to be honest. Just because she had his number didn't mean she would call him tomorrow. "This is my place, so…"
"It was nice seeing you again, Emma." The way her name flowed from his lips for the first time made her pause and just look at him for a moment, really look at him. No matter how hard she tried to find something in his eyes that would lead her to believe he was just messing with her, all she could see was sincerity.
"Yeah, you, too." She didn't say his name in order to keep it from sounding so personal and then just watched him walk away with his hands in his pockets.
That night Emma laid in bed and stared at the new name in her phone, wondering if she should delete it, but in the end, she didn't. He made it sound like he was going to leave her alone unless she wanted to see him, so if she got rid of the number, then she lost her only way of finding him. In that moment, she didn't think she'd ever call him, but she wasn't ruling it out.
For now, she was only going to worry about spending her entire Saturday with her son and buying him dinner with that fifty that was still tucked away in her jeans.
AN: Wow! Thanks for all the follows. I'm glad you're enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it.