Her eyes blinked a couple of times as she tried to absorb the fact that the annoying man who flirted with her that same morning was now standing behind the bar, in her bar.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Her voice came out shocked, which needless to say, she was.

"Well lass, the fact that I'm standing behind the counter means that I work here, didn't you know that?" Emma rolled her eyes at his sassy comment, and let out a groan of annoyance.

"No need to sound too excited to see me." He added as he saw her reaction, clearly wanting to push her buttons a bit more.

Ass.

"Yeah well, with the day that I had I could've passed seeing a arrogant guy like you" She quipped back, quickly looking at the time on her watch, hoping that her friend will get here soon.

"If you had such a horrible day, let me offer you a drink lass." His hand grabbed a glass whilst the other fetch a liquor bottle and filled the glass with an amber liquid. Emma eyed the barman and the drink he was handing her, and was a bit skeptical about accepting it.

"Sorry, but I don't take drinks from strangers."

"Well, if that's what's holding you back on accepting a mere drink from a devilishly handsome barman, let me introduce myself." He took her hand in his and leanned forward his eyes never leaving hers. "Killian Jones." His breath danced above the skin of her hand, her eyes transfixed on his face, as he closed the space between her hand and his lips, and pressed a soft and warm kiss on her delicate hand.

The contact of his lips on her hand, made her stomach flip over and over. She felt her cheeks warm up, and she couldn't be more grateful for the dim lighting of the place since she had a feeling that he would rub it in if he saw her all flustered. He had finally leaned back a bit, taking the warmth of his body with him, but his hand kept his hold on hers. She finally snapped out of the spell he had put her under and drew back her hand and tried to put as much distance as she could between them.

"I'm still not taking it, Jones." She grabbed her phone and her purse and was ready to leave to take another seat when suddenly she saw and heard a brunette with red lips yellling her name as she walkied towards her, waving her hand.

"You're already here. Oh and I see that you've already met Killian." Ruby said quite excitedly as her gaze shifted between her and him.

"I guess I did." Emma tried to avoid eye contact with Killian, since she was half expecting him to give her his usual smirk, especially now that he knew her name, since Ruby yelled it loud enough for the whole bar to know it.

"Emma and I were just getting to know each other, weren't we love?" She damned him for saying her name and make it sound so wonderful, but then she looked at him as he winker at her yet again and she then went back into being fully annoyed by him. She glared at him and then turned her attention to her friend, now wanting to get as far from him as she could.

"So Ruby, do you want to go sit in a booth? I think we're going to be a bit more comfortable than sitting at the bar." And as far away from Killian, she finished in her head.

"Sure. See you later Killian." They both turned around and were ready to go when Killian called her out again, and she inwardly groaned as she turned her head to look at him yet again.

"Don't forget to come back for that drink I owe you." She forced a smile and then walked towards the booth in which Ruby was already waiting for her. Emma couldn't pinpoint what it was, but there was something about Killian that made her uncomfortable, as if despite all of his flirting there was a genuine caring man underneath.

"What the hell was that back there?" Her friend exclaimed the moment she sat down,

"What was what?" She replied as she feigned ignorance, and settled her coat and purse next to her.

"Don't play dumb, you and Killian. You guys know each other?"

"Yes. No." Ruby looked at her a bit confused with her answer, and Emma sighed before going into more details.

"I met him this morning when I went to get my morning coffee. He cut the line in front of me, and I got pissed and then he started flirting with me and I got more pissed." Ruby couldn't stop laughing at her story as she imagined how the scene played out which irritated her, a bit.

"Killian can be a big flirt, but I think he likes you."

"Yeah, I got that. How do you know him?

Ruby was about to tell her when they got interrupted by the waitress. They both gave their order, a pint of beer each. When the waitress left the table, she turned her attention back to her friend with an eyebrow raised as she waited for an answer to her question. The brunette looked up at her with a huge smile.

"Two weeks ago, I was working at the restaurant and I met this guy Victor. And we kind of hit it off and went in a couple of date since then. Last week end, I went out and joined him and a couple of his friends and met Killian. He's Victor's best friend." Her eyes were shining and sparkling as she talked about the new man in her life.

"You like this guy a lot don't you?" Ruby blushed as her grin grew wider and nodded.

The waitress camre back with their orders, and they both paid for their drinks and cheered before taking a sip. The cold beer made it's way down her throat and it was exactly what Emma needed and she felt her day slowly brushing off her shoulders, feeling lighter.

"Anything new with you?" Asked Ruby as she settled her pint back on the coaster.

"Not much. Work is demanding as usual, but going well in spite of it. I still love what I do." She replied casually as she took another sip, knowing what was going to be asked next, the reason why she wanted to see her friend.

"How are things with Neal?" The brunette asked with prudence, knowing it was a delicate subject lately.

Emma licked the foam that had settled on her upper lip after her latest sip, and sighed defeated.

"Not good, uh?" Her friend looked at her with a concerned look, her hand going to squeeze hers in a reassuring matter, to let her know that she was there for her.

"No. I feel like I don't exist for him anymore, and when I do, he is always in a awful mood. It's like there's this huge, thick brick wall between us constantly. It has been weeks now since we have had sex, and the last time we did, it was more to scratch an itch than making love." Tears started to prickle the corner of her eyes, overwhelmed by the state of her relationship with Neal.

"Do you still love him?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know what you want to do?" Ruby inquired.

"I don't know." Emma's hand went to wipe the tears that were threatening to roll down her cheeks. She then looked around the bar, as she tried to chase those tears away, her glance going across the counter and settled her gaze on Killian as he poured a pitcher of beer. He raised his head and looked towards her as if he knew she was looking at him. She doesn't know why, but she smiled at him, one he returned. She couldn't explain why or how, but that small act consoled her in a unexplicable manner.