The rain continued to pour down, soaking him to the bone. He had been waiting for hours for Emma to show up, but she was still lost to the world. At least their buyer was willing to pay for half of the watches they had stolen instead of just ditching the whole deal.
Killian checked his own crappy watch again - it was after midnight - and finally decided it was time to at least take some shelter. There was a 24-hour diner nearby and he could easily keep an eye on the alley if he sat at a table by the window.
He looked at his phone one more time to make sure he hadn't made a mistake, thinking perhaps she didn't get the three messages he left her yesterday. He checked his "Recent Calls" list just in case - all three went through and all three were to her cell number. He hadn't made a mistake so there was no way she didn't get at least one of them. Despite that, he tried again with his call going straight to voicemail.
"Emma, it's me. I hope you got my messages that our first buyer tipped off the cops. That's why the new drop was tonight. That's why I'm here tonight wondering where you are." He took a deep breath, trying to hide the desperation in his voice. "I'll wait for you at the diner. Please call me."
Once inside, his clothes began to dry off and he warmed himself with three cups of hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon. It wasn't a manly drink like coffee, but it was something that Emma got him hooked on and it was soothing tonight.
Midnight turned into 3 a.m. and then the sun began to rise, turning the last of the rain clouds pink in the early light. He hadn't slept all night, staring at that alley, waiting for her. Instead, she had abandoned him. It wasn't the first time Killian had to deal with being left behind, but it still stung, especially when it was someone he had truly fallen in love with.
He pulled the envelope of cash from the inside pocket of his black leather coat. She had taken their yellow Beetle with her so he couldn't drive across the country, but there was enough for him to buy a train ticket to New York. It was about time he stopped running from one place to the next. It was time for him to take up his brother's offer of a job and a home. After all, Liam was all he had left. He was also the only one who wouldn't abandon him - not like she did to him tonight.
He paid the bill and left for the train station, thankful that the rain had at least stopped. Before he started the walk, he took one last look at the alley, hoping to see some evidence she was there. But just like him, it was empty.
Killian slammed the front door behind him as he walked quickly down the stairs and headed for his car. Then he heard the door open again and her voice call out.
"Jones!"
He had to keep moving. He couldn't turn around. He couldn't look at her.
"Jones, stop!"
"No!" he yelled back without turning around.
"Jones! Are you just going to abandon me like you did last time?"
Maybe he was going to stop after all.
Killian spun on his heel, his body full of rage and his voice full of anger. "Me? Abandon you?" he asked incredulously. "That's pretty bloody ridiculous coming from you considering you were the one who abandoned me!" he yelled, pointing violently at his chest.
But Emma just rolled her eyes at him - something he once found endearing but was currently finding infuriating. "What are you talking about?" she asked, folding her arms over her chest.
"I stood there for hours in the pouring rain waiting for you!" he yelled. "I sat at that stupid diner until the sun rose hoping I was wrong about you. But you left me, Swan! You couldn't even have the courtesy to say goodbye!"
Emma just scoffed. "You're thinking of someone else, Jones."
"Am I?"
"Yes, you are!" she retorted. "It wasn't raining the night I tried to sell those watches."
Killian gave her a bitter look. "You have got to be bloody kidding me," he said. "It was a Friday and it was raining and I was drenched waiting for you."
"No," Emma replied slowly. "It was a Thursday and it wasn't raining."
"Why were you there on Thursday? I called you and told you not to go that night because the cops were going to show up!"
And then it hit him like a sledgehammer to his chest as Emma stared at him, her face starting to take on a deep look of realization.
"Emma, did you get my messages?" She just continued to stare at him. "I left three messages on your phone! Did you get them?"
She blinked and took a deep breath. "The company turned my phone off because we couldn't pay the bill. We were going to use the money to fix that, remember?"
How could he have forgotten? How could he get so mad that she never showed without thinking about the simple fact that of course her phone didn't work?
Killian staggered on his feet. "What happened to you?"
Emma gave him a sad smile and shrugged her shoulders. "The cops showed up."
He started to back away from her, tripping over himself as if he had downed an entire bottle of rum. The ground became sand and his feet kept sinking into it with every step. He finally was able to focus on a white car parked on the street, which he quickly grabbed for before sitting down next to it.
Killian could feel her presence as she sat down next to him on the sidewalk and a silence fell over them as they both tried to process this new life-altering information. All this time, he had blamed her. All this time, he thought she had left him without a word. All this time, he had forgotten about the overdue bill that was the difference between holding on to her and having her disappear from his life.
It was finally Killian who was able to take in enough air to breathe and break the tension. "What happened after that, Swan?"
Emma scoffed. "They gave me probation," she said quietly. "I guess the judge showed me some leniency because I was pregnant. But I didn't have a job or … you know."
Killian tried to push down the physical pain he was beginning to feel in his core. "You had no one," he said sadly, swallowing down the sick feeling in his throat. "Is that why you put Henry up for adoption?"
Emma nodded quietly in response.
"So is he …"
"He's your son."
The pain became physically overwhelming. Killian rolled forward on to his knees, then crawled the five feet to the mayor's hedge and puked.
He didn't know how long he had been in that state, but his stomach finally began to feel better after throwing up the entire contents of his dinner at McDonald's with Henry. He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder and her warm voice in his ear.
"Come sit back here and I'll get you some water."
He slowly made his way back to the white car and Emma grabbed a bottle of water from the back seat for him. He took a few sips, swishing it around in his mouth before spitting it into the gutter. Then he finally looked at what he had done with a clear head and let out a quiet laugh.
"Brilliant," he said, a smirk on his face. "I haven't even been here an hour and I've already made a lasting impression by throwing up in the mayor's yard."
Emma laughed quietly next to him. "Don't worry, I've wanted to do that for awhile now," she said, taking a breath to collect her thoughts. "So where did you drive here from?"
"Upstate New York."
Emma hesitated before lowering her eyes. "Listen, it's late and it's a long drive back so why don't you stay with me?"
Killian turned his head towards her and raised an eyebrow in her direction. "Really?" he asked sarcastically. "I don't know if that's the best idea."
"No, I mean it," she responded quickly. "I mean, you would have to take the couch and I have a roommate, but you need some rest." She paused and he could tell she was trying to find the right words. "I think we have some things to talk about and it might be better after we both get some sleep."
Killian swallowed, his head still spinning with all this strangeness that came to light in his short time in this small nowhere town in Maine. "Yea," he said, taking another sip of water. The feeling in his legs began to return as he stood up before extending his hand to Emma. "I'll follow you?"
"Sure," she said, taking his hand as he helped her off the sidewalk. "Which car is yours?"
"I'm just up here," he said, pointing to the old black Volkswagen Beetle he bought a few years ago and fixed up with his brother.
"Really?" she replied.
"I liked the car," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Is yours any better?"
Her hand gestured towards the white car he had been leaning against, which he now realized had the word "Sheriff" emblazoned on it in capital gold letters.
"You have got to be kidding me, Swan," he said, rolling his head back to stare up at the sky.
"If you can't beat 'em and all that," she said, giving him a half-hearted smile. "Let me just tell Henry and Regina that we're leaving."
He took a drink of water and dug his keys out of the pocket of his jeans. "Just don't tell the mayor about that whole … you know."
She nodded and he watched her walk back to the house, her blonde hair catching the night breeze. Then he climbed into his car, hoping a few moments alone would help him sort out what he felt right now. It didn't.