Thanks for reading/reviewing/following/favoriting, and without further ado, here's the new chapter.

Emma wakes up before 6 a.m. and there a minute when she's still not aware of everything that had happened, when she doesn't remember that she's pregnant and that Neal is leaving, that Killian is in a hospital and more hurt than he'd ever been.

And then everything hits her at once and her eyes open, the contours of Killian's living room looking too harsh in the gray light of dawn.

Emma throws off the blanket and sits up, stretching until her stomach rebels and she has to run to the bathroom to throw up. It appears that the morning sickness is here to stay and Emma splashes her face with cold water, sitting on the edge of the bathtub until she's certain it's gone.

Since Killian's fridge is practically empty, Emma goes to the market and fills it up, already worrying about finances. She still doesn't know what to tell Gold because if she admits she's pregnant he's going to tell Neal, but if she doesn't tell him she's going to have to leave the company and it's going to leave her broke even before the baby is born; she's got some savings, but not enough to tide them over until she finds somebody else to dance for.

Still, she can't think about any of that while Killian is in hospital because her thoughts keep getting jumbled; she can't deal with it alone and she needs Killian more than ever, but he's got enough on his plate as it is; if she wants him to help her, first she has to help him.

The only trouble is, she doesn't know how to help him, because much like her feet, his hands were his livelihood and music was to him what dancing is to her; she can't even imagine being without it, and Killian is going to have to learn.

All she can do is be there for him, so after lunch she does the dishes, vacuums the living room, stalls for as long as she can and then finally goes back to the hospital.

Emma spends an hour waiting for her blood-work to come back and then gets a final confirmation that she is indeed pregnant. After that, there are no reasons left for her to stay away from Killian, so she goes up on the third floor and knocks on Killian's door, slipping inside before he's got a chance to say anything, his eyes following her as she crosses the room to his bed.

"Hey", Emma says softly and drops her bag on the chair before taking off her jacket and sitting next to him.

"You're not supposed to sit on the bed", Killian says, tilting his head to the side, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

Emma raises her eyebrows at him and remains where she is. An awkward silence settles over them and they just look at each other for a while, their eyes saying more than words could.

"I'm sorry", they finally speak at the same time, and Emma shakes her head vehemently.

"You didn't do anything wrong. It's my fault; I should've said something, prepared you-"

"There's nothing you could've said that would've prepared me for seeing that my hand is gone", Killian says, his voice breaking a little on the word hand.

"I'm still sorry I hadn't tried", Emma says, her eyes drawn to his remaining hand; they have removed his rings and it looks strangely naked without them.

"Did you make yourself comfortable at my place? And please don't tell me you're sleeping on the couch", Killian tries to change the subject but Emma would have none of it.

"The couch is fine", she says and shakes her head when he tries to argue that it's ridiculous for her to sleep on the couch when his bed is empty. "Was the police here earlier? Did you tell them that it was Gold?"

"I don't want to talk about it", Killian says and turns his head away, which brings his stump into his line of vision. He closes his eyes and grits his teeth, Emma's heart sinking in her chest.

"Are you in pain? Do you need-"

"What I need is for you to drop it", he says and Emma feels helpless and quite a bit hurt.

"You lost your hand, Killian. It's not something that's just going to go away if you don't talk about it", she tells him and tries to reach for his hand, but the look in his eyes stops her.

"I talked to the police about my hand. Then I talked to a psychiatrist about how losing my hand makes me feel, and the only thing that got me through those conversations was your promise to come back, so can you not try to force me to repeat all that for the third time today?" He asks her, his voice faltering and his eyes shining with tears.

"Okay", Emma says and he nods to himself then pats her knee and asks her what she's going to tell Gold.

The place he touched is burning and the heat is surging through her veins, so Emma gets up and starts pacing in front of his bed, telling herself it's just the pregnancy hormones.

"I don't know. I was kinda hoping you'd help me figure it out", she tells him, then cracks open a window and sticks her head out to cool her flushed cheeks.

"You can tell him that you're taking a break from dancing because his son broke your heart", Killian suggests and Emma realizes that she hadn't really thought about Neal since last night, all her thoughts focused either on Killian or the baby.

"Gold won't buy that", Emma says and drops in the chair, scooting closer to him and resting her elbow on his bed.

"What do you mean?"

"Ballet is freedom, and an escape, so if my heart is broken, that only means I'm going to want to dance more, not less", Emma explains and Killian thinks about that for a moment, then shrugs.

"That might be true for Gold, but you can convince him that it's not true for you", Killian says and she wonders if his music was an escape too, or if he couldn't stand it after bad break-ups.

She's not going to ask him because she knows that the subjects of music and his hand are closely linked, and there's no talking about one without talking about the other.

"If I tell Gold that, I have to go on a break immediately", Emma says, panic creeping into her voice because while she was coming to terms with not performing for at least six months, she had always thought she'd go to classes for as long as her baby bump would allow her.

"I think you should", Killian says softly and the concern in his eyes is something so new to her that she almost doesn't recognize it.

"Why?" She asks him even though she's fairly certain she already knows what's he going to say.

"Because Gold is dangerous, and I'm afraid of what he might do if he finds out that you didn't tell Neal about the baby", Killian says and a shiver runs down Emma's spine.

"I think that Neal jumped on that opportunity so fast because he really wanted to get away from his father", Emma tells him, hating how uncertain she sounds.

"If he'd rather lose the woman he supposedly loves just to get away from his daddy's shadow, then he doesn't deserve you anyway", Killian says and Emma gives him a faint smile he returns, and it instantly makes her feel better.

"Would you face your father for a woman?"

Killian and his father haven't been talking for years because Killian had chosen music over the career his father had in mind for him; they had a big row over it and his father had kicked him out and disinherited him.

"I would face much worse than my father for the right woman", Killian answers her and at first she thinks he's talking about Milah and she tries to figure out how to tell him that Milah doesn't feel the same about him, but there's something in his eyes that completely throws her for a loop and she's not sure of anything anymore.

"I can still do the classes at home and stay in shape", Emma says faintly but she had already reached a decision; the most important thing to her is the safety of her baby, not ballet. "But what am I gonna do about the money?"

"You've got savings, and I'm pretty sure there are a lot of companies that are going to want you", Killian says and it's the moment Emma begins to wonder if what her and Killian have goes beyond friendship, and they just never gave it a chance to turn into something more.

"How much is a lot?" Emma asks and he chuckles to himself, brushing a lock of hair away from her forehead.

"If they are smart, all of them", he tells her and it feels incredible to have somebody believe in her like that.

She never knew what she was missing because she never had that before.

Days pass and Emma still hasn't said anything about Milah, but since Killian doesn't bring her up, Emma doesn't either. She also hasn't been going to classes, but she's still trying to figure out how to convince Gold that her giving up ballet for a while is Neal's fault.

At the end of Killian's first week in hospital Emma looks up from their Scrabble board to see Milah standing in the doorway and staring at Killian's stump. Emma jumps to her feet and manages to get her attention before Killian notices, then glances at him with a raised eyebrow, waiting to see if he wants to talk to Milah.

Emma is relieved that she had come to talk to him, but she's got no qualms about physically kicking her out of his room if he says so.

"Give us a minute", Killian says and Emma nods, takes her bag from the chair and gives Milah a warning look on her way out the door, praying that she doesn't break Killian any more than he already is.

If she's anything like her husband and step-son, Killian is screwed, and Emma is too because his sadness is weighting her down more than she'd admit, more than it should if she only loves him like a friend.

Emma gives them fifteen minutes and returns with coffee for Killian and hot chocolate for herself, but Milah is already gone. Killian's eyes are closed but she's not fooled, so she drops on the bed next to him and tells him that she brought coffee.

"One sugar?" He asks and opens one eye, making Emma chuckle and nod because she'd know how he takes his coffee even if somebody woke her in the middle of the night.

"What happened?" Emma asks as she hands him the cup, looking at his face as he takes a careful sip; the bruises are slowly fading and he's not wincing every time he raises an eyebrow at her anymore.

"Apparently, Gold told her she's never going to dance again if she keeps seeing me", Killian says and to Emma's surprise, he doesn't look too shaken up about it.

"And you're okay with that?" Emma asks him tentatively and he shrugs.

"It's better than the alternative", he says, his face falling a little.

"Which is?" Emma asks even though she's dreading his answer.

"I was just her boy toy, and now that the toy is broken, she doesn't want it anymore", he says and glances at his stump before taking another sip of coffee.

"She doesn't deserve you either way", Emma tells him and waits for him to meet her eyes, hoping he can see the truth in them; any woman would be lucky to have him, hand or no hand.

"We're quite a pair, aren't we?" He asks her, his voice so gentle that Emma can help but smile, feeling an incredible rush of affection for him.

"We are", she says and they enjoy their drinks in comfortable silence.

Emma hails a cab and checks her phone; there are five missed calls from Gold and her stomach turns at the thought that he's onto her, but then she realizes she had missed three days of classes and he's probably calling to tell her she can't do that.

The truth is that Emma hadn't stopped dancing; she's just doing it in Killian's apartment instead of the studio; luckily, his living room has unpolished hardwood floors that are perfect for her, she's using his radiator as a makeshift barre because it's just the right height for her, and she's fairly certain Killian won't mind that she had moved his furniture around a bit.

Gold answers immediately and the first thing he asks her is if she's replacing Neal with Killian so quickly.

"Excuse me?" Emma huffs, rightful indignation making her voice uncharacteristically high.

"You heard me, Miss Swan. You've missed six classes and you're staying in our poor ex-pianist's apartment. It's not really hard to put two and two together. What I don't understand is why you would rather hold his only hand in the hospital than dance."

"It's none of your business whose hand I'm holding because your son made sure it's not his", Emma says, realizing that she'd be looking for a new company right about now even if she wasn't pregnant because she wouldn't be able to stand to look at Gold's smug face after what he did to Killian.

"It is my business if it's impacting your performance, Miss Swan. You have until next week to either come back to class or find a new job", Gold tells her and hangs up, and Emma drops down on the piano bench, opens the lid and traces her fingers along the keys.

Killian is coming home next week and he's still avoiding any kind of talk about his hand. In fact, he's still avoiding looking at his stump if he can, and it's making her dread the day he walks in this room and sees the piano she's sitting behind.

Both of their lives have fallen apart, pretty soon they are going to be broke because neither can do what they were born to do, but all Emma feels when she thinks about the future is a sort of wild hope unfolding inside her and leaving her completely breathless. She doesn't know how she knows it, but she's certain that as long as they are together, they are going to help each other through and they are both going to be okay.

Emma closes the lid of the piano and puts on some music, spends the next forty-five minutes at the barre and then dances around the room for another hour. Most of the jumps are out because there's just not enough space even with the rearranged furniture, but she can do plenty of turns and it's better than nothing.

She feels strong and confident, and she smiles when she remembers Killian's words; I'm pretty sure there are a lot of companies that are going to want you.

"I hope you're right", Emma says softly and goes to make herself dinner, still wearing her pointe shoes.

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