"Stop, stop, stop, stop. What are you doing? Listen to me, no pressure here, lass. You don't have to get angry because this isn't sounding like you wanted to, okay? Why don't we take a break to relax and then keep recording?" Killian reassured the musicians from the Control Room, he could feel the tension building up. The day had started a little messed up, the guitarist had arrived late and the keyboard kept making a buzzing noise in the sound.

At least he was thankful to change the band, this one at least said hello when they entered to studio. He groaned inwardly when he remembered that The Janos were coming back this afternoon to record some last minute changes. Only thinking about it he wanted to lay in a fetal position and throw a tantrum till they went away. And maybe one hot blonde can comfort you a voice in his head said. He face palmed himself for the stupid thought.

It had been a week since he last saw her, he went to the park almost every day in the hopes to tease her, but she didn't appear. Not one pretty blonde hair of her head showed.

Killian sighted, it's not like he was obsessed. He was intrigued by Emma; there was something in her eyes that were begging him to dig more about the topic. The way she could be so forward one minute, but when Robin touched her she flinched a little. He hadn't been able to turn off the protective spark that flinch ignited. It was stupid to feel protective of someone you just met –especially if you loved to tease that someone– but he couldn't help it, as he also couldn't help the loud ringing in his head that screamed that he should turn off his feelings. Killian was aware he couldn't, he had been down that path and it had been comforting being numb, but the darkness that had brought to his heart was heavy on his shoulders sometimes. That was a bottom he didn't want to hit anytime soon.

"Emma" he whispered to himself while he tried to figure out the image he had of her.

"BOOOOOO!" Robin screamed behind him, nearly giving him a heart attack, Killian jumped off his chair in astonishment and Robin was already crying of laughter. That bastard.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? You nearly killed me, you son of a bitch" Killian told him. He grabbed a pillow of the sofa nearby and started hitting Robin with it.

"Okay, okay, stop. Killian, stop. Parley, par-fucking-ley, bro." Robin screamed.

Killian started laughing maniatically and then helped Robin get up.

"You need to mess with someone of you size, twat." He said and playfully touched his closed fist to Robin's chin as if hitting him.

Robin snorted, "I was messing with someone shorter" he said and stood up straight, he was taller than Killian, but just a few inchies.

Killian glared at him. "What did you wanted, Robin?" he asked.

"Nothing I was just coming here to tell you Emma is coming this afternoon, we're cleaning up a bit in the studios, so if you have anything to throw away, do it now, Killy." Killian stood in place, watching his friend while still processing the information that Emma was coming.

"Okay" he replied and scratched behind his ear, still thinking.

"Got a problem with that?" Robin asked and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Why the hell would I have a problem with her coming over?" Killian said and started organizing things, he didn't have that much of a mess, so he just gathered a few papers in the mini-desk and put his guitar on the far corner of the room.

"I don't know. She's cool, bro, don't scare her too much." Robin smirked at his statement.

"Ha, ha. It's not me who's gonna scare her, it's you ugly face, twat" Killian said and Robin was about to reply when the band came back, greeting him. Killian smiled at his friend, and Robin pointed at him with his finger as if saying "this isn't over".

"Okay guys, playtime is over, let's make a record." He said going back to work and forgetting about certain Swan that was coming later.

After finishing his lunch, he walked back to the studio. A headache already forming with only thought to cope with The Janos again.

As he entered the building, he heard laughter, his eyes looking off the floor he saw Emma talking animatedly with Ariel, Eric and Robin.

"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in." Killian say and Emma's smile deflated in her face. "Robin, you better call the zoo, we have a Swan on the loose." He smiled at her.

Emma's lips twitched a bit in the corners but didn't smile. "You really are a smug bastard, did you know that?" she asked.

"I believe it's one of my most lovely qualities." He replied, oh, he had missed teasing her.

Emma rolled her eyes. "I seriously don't know how you people cope with him" She told Ariel, Eric and Robin.

"I don't know either, I guess you get used to it." Eric answered and Ariel punched him lightly in his shoulder.

"Don't be like that. Killian is a wonderful person" Ariel told Eric.

"Ah, Ariel, you give me way too much credit, sweetheart" Killian said and kissed Ariel in the cheek.

A few seconds later, Tamara stormed into the studio followed by her bandmates. Only stopping to glare at Killian.
"Come on, sound guy, we have work to do." She said and kept walking.

"Wow she's really something" Emma said as soon as they were gone into the studio.

Killian sighted and rubbed his hands over his face and hair, pulling at it a little.

"I know, I've been trying really hard not to kill them for several weeks now." He said.

"Oh, you mean you haven charmed the floor off her feet? I wonder why she wouldn't fall for you irresistible charms" Emma's voice dripped with sarcasm.

He smiled at her. "Careful, there, Princess, jealousy is a horrible thing, besides you know I have eyes only for you."

"Oh please, you're disgusting. Go away" She said.

Killian laughed, "Don't miss me too much, Swan. And Ariel, would you please be so kind of bringing me the ribbon microphone as I set things up?" he asked.

"Sure." Ariel smiled at him.

"Thanks, sweetie" he said and boomped her nose lightly before leaving. Looking at Emma, one last time, whose eyes were opened a little wider than normal, as if surprised.

He winked at her and the angry glare was back instantly.

"Give me a little more bass on the mix, I can't hear it enough" said the bassist, Greg, grabbing one of the sides of his headphones.

"A little 'please' would be just fine, mate." Killian said in a whisper as he moved the console to give the musician what he wanted and get on with it. He didn't sit back down, he stood with both hands on the table, head down.

Sometimes he hated the job, this times were little, but when he did, he wanted to storm out of the studio and never look back, buy a boat and stay in the ocean the rest of his life. But then he would touch his guitar, not even play it, grab it, see it… and every bit of frustration dissipated. With his guitar he felt whole again, as if his heart and head weren't in the poor state he knew they actually were. He felt himself again once he let his feelings flow with the chords, his body filling with new energy.

Killian stayed like that a few more minutes, moving the little dust of the console with his index finger, till a knock on the door startled him.

"Swan, I didn't hear you come in." he says, looking at Emma still with her hand hovering by the open door.

"Sorry, I'm just here to take a few photos of you working and photos of the machines." She explained herself. Killian looked through the glass that separated them from the ultra-annoying band that was playing oblivious to the conversation in the control room.

"Sure, I'd tell you to take photos from my best profile, but I'm beautiful both ways." He smirks and winks at her and Emma rolls her eyes.

"And modest." She said as she eyed her surroundings the only way a photographer would. Killian started feeling a little self-conscious under her glare.

"Can you…" she hesitated a little "Can you stand the way you were when I entered the room?" Emma finished.

"Wanna take a picture of my backside, love?" he asked rising an eyebrow. She didn't reply, she just stared at him blankly until he dropped the issue. He chuckled at her expression.

"Okay, okay. I'll pose for you." He turned around and put his hands in the table again, his head dropping a little, as he watched between his lashes at the band, discussing something on the other side of the glass. He hear the sound of photos being taken and felt her moving across the room, as if looking for a better angle.

"You can move now if you like." Emma said somewhere on his back, and as much as he'd like to tease her or talk to her, he had work to do and a band that seemed to argue more heatedly by the minute.

"Excuse me, love…" Killian said to Emma and pushed the talkback button so the band would hear him. "What's going on?"

"This asshole can't hit his cue right" Tamara yelled and her voice resonated through the speakers. "And it's making it impossible to sing, you would've heard it if you were doing your job." She said, now staring angrily at Killian, apparently they hadn't been so oblivious to Emma entering the control room. He turned his hands into fists as he controlled his anger a little bit.

"I was doing my job, it's not my fault your guitarist can't hit a cue, princess. So don't yell at me, yell at him. I have nothing to do with it." He said hitting the talkback button angrily on the console.

"Yeah, sure, because smiling at a hot blonde is working. Please, don't bullshit me, sound boy, we pay you and this crappy studio to make our record, the least you can do is work." Tamara crossed her arms across her chest.

"That's it, I've had it…" Killian said and started walking towards the door that joined the rooms, hoping to yell at her a little but was interrupted. Emma gripped his bicep, holding him in place.

"They're not worth it." She said, he looked at her through the hazy red clouds that were blurring his vision and then closed his eyes trying to calm himself. His nostrils flared with a deep breath, as he tried to gain some control, anchoring himself on the hand Emma still had on his arm.

"Besides, she's right" a voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked at her with narrowed eyes, if she wanted to play, this was so not to the time, Killian thought. "I am a hot blonde" Emma grinned at him mischievously.

Killian felt himself start shaking but from laughter and not anger, and Emma let go of his arm.

"I think she might be a little blind, so don't take the compliment too seriously, lass." He said and smiled sideways.

"Ah, the asshole is back." Emma stated matter-of-factly. Killian went back to the console and talked to the band. "I'll go get Robin if you want to finish the job with him." He didn't even wait for their reply, he turned around to face Emma again.

"See, that's where you're wrong, I'm not an asshole, a douchebag perhaps. And I really do believe Tamara is a little blind, because hot blonde doesn't even begin to cover you" Killian said and smirked playfully, he pinched her chin as she blushed slightly, he then turned around and went to search for Robin, feeling accomplished to ruffle up the feathers of the Swan.

Robin had managed to calm the band as Killian went outside to relax, still a little on edge from the discussion. He wished he still smoked, he could use a cigarette right now.

Killian felt confused about the oddly comforting green eyes that managed to calm him in his rage. He had been prepared to unleash hell in that studio, but she stopped him… and most importantly he had let her. That was what confused him the most, he could count the people in with one hand that had that effect on him, hell, even Milah failed to do it most of the time.

Milah. His heart made a flip inside his chest, he put a hand over it as if trying to calm it.

"Are you all right?" Emma asked suddenly beside him.

"Okay that's twice in a day you sneak up on me, are you a wizard?" he asked her smiling, but not looking at her.

"Nah, I just learned from a young age to be quiet" Emma said simply, he turned around to see her and her eyes were surprised as if she had said too much.

"Yeah, sorry about earlier, my anger got a little out of control." Killian admitted, now standing in front of her. He noticed her taking a small step back from him.

"Its okay."

He just couldn't help the spark of anger the bloomed in his brain. "I'm not going to bite you, you know?" He told her crossing his arms across his chest.

She narrowed her eyes in his direction. He was simply pissed off, this was not his day. He felt frustrated, he needed release, his hand twitching at the necessity to grab his guitar and forget the world as it often the world forgotten him.

"Maybe I just don't really like you." She told him, defensiveness making her words a little sharp. Her calming green eyes were now getting colder by the minute, and he regretted it, but he was stupid and he was angry for God knows what.

"Or maybe you really like me and that's the real problem. I see you, Swan, you're something of a open book." He told her, invading her personal space. She didn't back off, of course, she was fierce.

"You don't know shit about me, Guitar boy." Her nickname for him dripped acid and he started feeling it in the tip of his fingers, as if it was real. "Don't' pretend to know me and what I want or feel. I won't fall for your stupid charms, pal. You're not my type."

He grabbed her forearm. What was wrong with him? He knew he shouldn't be pushing her, Emma's eye were burning with a thousand fires as she tried to remove her arm from his grip.

"Are you sure of that, princess?" He asked her. The alarms in the back of his mind going off loudly as he closed the distances between their faces, and stopping just a breath away from her lips. He looked at her eyes and she tried once again to get herself free. "You pulse and pupils say otherwise" He told her and smirked with mischief and let go of her. The warm of her body against his leaving him as she took several steps back.

"You're an asshole, Jones." Emma told him a little breathless but with anger-filled words as she entered the studio again.

He knew he had fucked up, he felt like an idiot just after Emma entered the studio again. He had placed his head on the wall to control his uneven breathing. Killian had pushed her too far, searching for some kind of reaction he didn't even know. He didn't know what he expected of her, maybe he just wanted the fight, the rush. He just wanted to feel something, he guessed.

Sometimes he had this low days where his expression would cloud and not even Robin could help him get his head out of his sorry ass for a while. There are some scars that don't close ever, that time helping proverb was pure bullshit, he thought.

After coming back to the studio, Swan was nowhere to be seen. She had left, Robin told him. Of course she had left, he had been an enormous asshole and when he told Robin he agreed… he really was an asshole, even if Robin's eyes were filled with the pity that Killian hated so much.

The rest of the week went by and every day the guilt of how he had treated her ate him more, she was no one, but she hadn't deserve that. She hadn't deserve his stupid rage.

He also had spent most of his week in three different spots… the studio, then the park –secretly hoping to see her and apologize… she never showed– and the gym, blowing off some steam and hopefully some guilt too.

It was Saturday when he was entering the studio and she was there, talking animatedly with Ariel. His heart skipped a beat when he saw her, his chest heavy with a weight that had her name printed on it. He walked slowly towards the girls on the desk, as if to not scare them, well… to not scare her. He felt uneasy around her once again, he was terrible at apologizing, even if he had made countless speeches in his brain, repeating every scenario possible.

"Hi Ariel" He told the redhead with a small smile. And then turned to face her… "Hi… Emma"

She was completely still in front of him, frozen just like her eyes. He suddenly felt cold around his weighted chest and put a hand in it to try to combat the sudden chill he felt.

"Umm, Swan, lass… can I talk to you for a minute?" He watched Ariel quickly and continued. "Alone?"

Emma watched him through narrowed eyes. "Whatever…" She started walking towards the exit and he followed her after leaving his guitar with Ariel, who gave him a soft smile.

"What do you want?" Emma asked him, her arms crossed across her chest, obviously in a defensive demeanour.

Killian stood in front of her with his hands in his front pocket jeans, giving her the space he knew she needed, obviously, he was sure that if he even thought about getting closer to her, she would kick him where it hurt the most.

Cleaning his throat he gathered his thoughts. "I wanted to apologize." He looked at her, silently begging her to see his honesty. "I was an asshole the other day, I was angry and it got a little bit out of control and I.."

"A little bit out of control?" She cut him, taking a step closer to him, her face turning angrier. "You manhandled me, invaded my personal space and started speaking as if you knew me at all. You were an asshole all right, Jones." Emma said.

He grimaced at her little speech. "I know, that's why I wanted to apologize. This days were torture, I felt like the worst human around and I didn't even know how to contact you to apologize. I went to the park every day in the hopes to find you…" He said, affording a little step closer to her. He just couldn't help it, he wanted her to relieve the weight in his chest. "I am really really sorry, I don't know what went through my mind that day. You're right, I don't know you and I shouldn't have made a prejudgement. I was so stupid and I'm so sorry. I know we didn't start our acquaintance right, but I'd like to start over. See? Emma I'd like to be your friend. Please." That wasn't how he had imagined any of his speeches ending, he didn't know where that had come from, but as soon as the words left his mouth he knew he meant it. He really wanted to get to know Emma better.

She watched him carefully, he felt so little as she looked right through him even if he was indeed taller and was right now towering over her. The coldness in Emma's eyes melted a little and he felt himself breath finally.

"I don't know, Jones. I'll have to think about it." She said and turned around to go back to Ariel and only then, when she stepped away he realised they had been so close, their chest only a few centimetres away.

He really hoped she would think about it… and finally come to forgive him.

Killian spent the rest of the day working with an old band, he was friend with Jefferson, the singer and most importantly he was the godfather of his daughter, Grace. The little blonde was adorable and had every member of the band and the studio drooling after her, Killian specially.

Every time the band recorded, Grace would come and spend the day with them, even participating in a few records singing with her father. Killian was awfully fond of the little one, even if he didn't get to see her much since he left for Boston.

He was tickling Grace in the couch when Ariel entered the room after a few knocks.

"Hey Ariel, everything all right?" Killian asked looking at her.

"Auntie Ariel!" Grace said and ran toward the redhead, jumping in her arms.

"Hello Grace! Awww, I missed your beautiful golden locks." Ariel told the girl in her arms, and Killian had no doubt she would definitely make a great mother someday "Hey, Killian, everything is just fine. I just came to give you this Emma left for you before I leave." Killian instantly stood up and grabbed the brown envelope Ariel handed him. He didn't open it right away, instead, he waited until Ariel left.

He sat on the couch again just beside Grace and started opening the envelope slowly, when he took out the content, he laid there looking at it. It was a picture of Emma… she was smiling at the camera. He then realised she was standing in the bridge of the park where they met, her hip against the stony railing of it. She was beautiful. Killian turned around the picture and there was a note sticked to it.

Now that you have my photo you can return the favour, guitar boy.

E-

He started laughing like an idiot, she was a bloody genius. The weight of his chest leaving him completely.

"Aunt Killy, who is that girl? She's very pretty" Grace said next to him, pointing at the picture Killian had in his hands. He put his arm on Grace shoulders, bringing her closer to him.

"She is, isn't she? Not prettier than you, tho" Killian told her and Grace giggled next to him. "This, Grace, is Emma… a friend of mine." He told her and smiled at the thought, the clouds that sometimes surrounded him vanishing completely.