'Mary Margret, you are a life safer.' Emma sighs as she opens the door to her neighbour, who is holding 5 stacked trays of freshly baked brownies precariously in her arms.
Emma takes them off her and puts them on the kitchen counter with the 5 other trays she had baked, nodding for Mary Margret to follow her inside.
'I love baking and I love helping people so the pleasure was all mine.' She smiles, and Emma shakes her head slightly at how kind this woman is.
'But I was also wondering if you could help me out with something too?' She adds hesitantly. Emma raises her eyebrows questioningly and Mary Margret's cheeks flush with embarrassment. They had only known each other for a couple of weeks and despite being fast friends both of them were quite new to having a friend in their lives.
'Okay, you know the guy I see every morning at Granny's?' Mary Margret says quietly, and Emma scoffs.
'Right of course you do. Well we were talking yesterday morning and he invited me to this…thing he's having on Saturday. I'm not exactly sure what it is but it's at his house and honestly I've never been to one of those 'group gatherings at people's houses' things before and all his friends are going to be there and I'm sort of nervous and I was wondering if you could come with me?' The woman rambles and practically trips over her own words until she gets to her point.
Emma's eyes widen in surprise. That was not the help she expected Mary Margret to need.
'Sure, I guess. As long as I give Henry money for pizza so he doesn't burn the apartment down while I'm gone it should be fine.' She answers, trying to keep the slight awkwardness at bay. Mary Margret sighs with relief and Emma smiles.
'Great, thank you. And you never know, maybe David has some cute veterinarian friends you will hit it off with.' Mary Margret grins, and Emma rolls her eyes.
'I am definitely not going to scope out potential partners, but thank you for the not so subtle push back into the dating world.' She teases, and the other woman laughs softly.
'You did say you wanted a fresh start here, and your crush on the supermarket guy is hardly going anywhere is it?' Emma freezes at the mention of her ridiculous yet somehow ever present crush on Killian. She tells herself that it doesn't really count because it's not like she met him at a bar or coffee shop or some other meet-cute like in the movies.
'Well it's kind of awkward to flirt with a guy I see when I do my groceries. Besides, I barely know him. It's a lot easier to just not get involved.' Emma wiggles onto the chair at the kitchen counter before looking over at Mary Margret, who his frowning at her with her arms crossed.
'If happiness was easy we'd all have it. But it's not, because we have to work for it. Opening up is difficult but the payoff is worth it, trust me.' She softens when Emma bites her lip and she walks over to her.
'I know I haven't known you that long but I really want you to be happy. Isn't that what friends are for?' Emma knows she's means it hypothetically but she moves to hug the other woman, surprising both of them. Emma smiles when she feels Mary Margret's arms around her, and she laughs before stepping back.
'I'm sorry, I got all emotional back there.' She shrugs, and Mary Margret laughs with her.
'See, emotions aren't all that bad.' She teases. Emma rolls her eyes jokingly and prepares two mugs for coffee. She's never had a friend like this before, and feels like something clicks into place in her life now that she has this friendship.
Killian ruffles his wet hair with a towel before pulling his work shirt on. It's Friday (finally) and after an unnecessarily long shower where he pondered over what to do, he has finally decided to ask the blonde woman out (along with her name of course).
He doesn't know what he will say to her or what will happen but he's decided that he's tired of being stuck in this rut of work and bed. He also made a decision to finally sort through the boxes of his brother's things this weekend. He knows they weigh him down every time he sees those company boxes and he finally needs to deal with it head on.
He puts on a small amount of cologne and brushes his fingers through his hair before leaving for work, anticipation building in his chest.
'Hey, Killian. I'm glad I caught you.' He hears, and it's his neighbour again.
'Hey, David.' He nods as he locks his door.
'So it's sort of last minute but I'm having this party at mine tomorrow night if you wanted to come?' David asks, and Killian frowns. Apart from a few hellos in the hall and lobby he barely knows this guy, let alone go to his party with a bunch of other people he doesn't know.
'I'm not sure what time I'll finish work but I could drop by at some point, sure.' He answers despite having no intention to actually show up.
'Great. It's actually not really a party. There's this woman-'
'Of course.' Killian cuts in with a chuckle. David joins in before sighing.
'Exactly. Well I hesitated when I went to ask her out and somehow I invited her to my non-existent party Saturday night, so if you can drop by that would great and definitely make me look less of an idiot.' David says, and Killian smiles. Perhaps it was his current predicament with the blonde woman that made him sympathetic towards this man's attempt to date but he actually considered going for a moment.
'She's also bringing a friend so it won't be a total guy-fest, I promise.' David adds and Killian laughs. He tells him he will try to come and he finds himself actually meaning it as he leaves for work. He definitely needs to take control of his life again and that includes making friends and taking chances.
He gets to work and heads to his checkout, hoping the woman hadn't come before his shift started. He waits for any sign of her, trying to look casual as he scans the aisles for her blonde hair. He sits back in his chair, realizing he's verging on creepy and sighs at himself. He honestly doesn't know how he went from being a complete ladies' man to a nervous wreck at the thought of this woman.
He sees her in his peripheral vision and he smiles reflexively. Her hair is pinned up messily with some of her curls falling down around her face. She's wearing black jeans with a white sweater instead of her usual red jacket and he likes the softer look on her just as much.
He hears her laugh distantly and he realizes she's on the phone. She seems so happy and relaxed and his desire to know her intensifies. She's a light he needs in his life and he watches her until she disappears into the next aisle, smiling as she speaks into the phone.
A customer comes to his checkout and he serves them with a ridiculous grin on his face despite himself. The customer pays and carries their bags away and he turns to look for her. His heart sinks when he sees her at the third checkout down from his. It's the first time in a month that she hasn't come to him and he feels deflated.
Killian had prepared himself for the moment he would talk to her, he hadn't prepared for not speaking to her at all. He looks away when he sees her leave to avoid the awkward eye contact. He wants to run after her and just blurt out everything he had practiced saying to her but he doesn't. He will keep it to himself, at least until next Friday.
'Are you sure you're going to be okay?' Emma asks for the millionth time that night.
'Duh, I'm 12, not 8.' Henry replies and Emma exhales nervously. The only time she left Henry alone at night was when she worked late shifts and he was already in bed by the time she was gone. She couldn't remember the last time she went out socially and it worried her.
'Okay, well I've ordered the pizza and it should be here in 15. Call me if anything is wrong, okay?' Emma says, standing in front of the TV so that he pays attention to her. He sighs and nods, and she smiles weakly.
'I'll see you later, love you.' She tells him before kissing his forehead and grabbing her purse from the table. She locks the door behind her and knocks on Mary Margret's. She's glad she decided to go casual when she sees Mary Margret in a simple black skirt and white shirt.
'Oh thank God, you went casual too.' Mary Margret sighs as she closes her own front door.
'Yeah I didn't like the idea of turning up to a room full of strangers wearing heels and a dress.' Emma laughs as they walk down the hall. They take Mary Margret's car (which Emma is glad about considering she'll probably need some drinks to get through the night) and drive to the address David texted earlier.
'I didn't see him today.' She says out of the blue, glad that it's dark out so her face is somewhat hidden in the car.
'I went to another checkout. He was busy and I thought I would look stupid waiting for him. I was going to ask him out but I guess I chickened out instead.' Emma continues, looking straight ahead at the back of the car in front of them.
'That's okay. You made the decision to act and that's the important thing.' Mary Margret says wisely from the driver's seat, but Emma frowns at her.
'Yeah but I didn't actually act on it so the decision making part is irrelevant.' She argues, but Mary Margret just shakes her head.
'The hardest thing is accepting that something needs to change. You accepted that you have feelings for him and want to do something about it. Maybe you didn't today but that's okay.'
'What are you, some kind of wise old grandma in a 30 year old school teacher's body?' Emma scoffs, and Mary Margret laughs.
'I'll take that as a compliment.' She smiles, and Emma smiles too.
They soon reach the apartment complex and park in the first space they see before making their way up to the fourth floor (David texted ahead to say the elevator was broken and Emma scowled at it when the entered the building).
Mary Margret knocks on the door while Emma hangs awkwardly back. David (she presumes) answers the door with a big smile and her awkwardness increases. The two of them are grinning at each other and Emma is now certain she will need alcohol to cope with the lovebirds.
David welcomes them in and gestures vaguely where each room is before offering them a drink. Emma gladly accepts a rum and soda before slipping away when David and Mary Margret begin making eyes at each other again.
She walks through the apartment with mild confusion as she hears a group of people talking about euthanizing a dog (a rather cheerful party topic) when she remembers David is a vet. She grimaces before finding the lounge area. There seems to be a group discussion going on about politics and she's about to turn back and leave when she notices the person sitting in the armchair in the corner of the room. Her mouth falls open at the sight of the guy from the supermarket.
He's wearing a black shirt instead of his usual blue uniform and his hair is a little messier than his combed over appearance for work. He is even more attractive like this and she finds herself staring. She pulls her eyes away and leaves the room, downing the rest of her drink before heading back to the kitchen for another.
The last time she had it this bad for a guy was when she was 17 and ended up pregnant in jail. She has a small amount of straight rum this time before exhaling.
Emma hears a familiar laugh and she looks over at Mary Margret, who is holding onto David's arm and giggling ridiculously at whatever he is saying. They look happy and entirely wrapped in each other and she suddenly feels jealous. She remembers what Mary Margret said earlier about having to work for happiness and she realizes she has the power to make that stab of jealousy she feels disappear.
She walks back to the lounge, her heart beating erratically when she sees him again. He lifts his eyes to look at her in the doorway and her stomach drops when their eyes meet, a smile curving his lips when he recognizes her.
A/N: Thanks so much for all the follows, favorites and reviews! And now we're finally at the point where they get to see each other outside of the supermarket :P