Back from another con and off to another this weekend!

As the door to Killian's suite clicked shut behind her, Emma's nerves ramped up.

"Can I get you a drink?" he asked, letting go of her hand to make his way over to the refrigerator.

"Yes, please," Emma called back.

"Anything in particular?"

"As long as it's got alcohol in it, it's all good," she laughed, swallowing down her worries.

One part of her head was screaming at her to leave before things fully got out of hand. The other part was telling her to sit down and enjoy herself. Emma was getting a headache from it all.

"Here." Killian jerked her out of her thoughts by handing her a glass of cola and something before he indicated the sofas she was standing by. "You can sit, you know," he teased.

Emma took a huge gulp from her drink, appreciating the burn of the whiskey as it slid down her throat, before she sat down on the sofa. Killian dropped down in the seat next to her, close enough that she could feel the heat from his thigh, but not close enough to be touching.

"You can relax," he chuckled. "I didn't invite you here with expectations of sex. I just thought that, maybe, it would be nice to get to know each other a little better. In person."

Emma tried her hardest to relax back into the sofa. She really did. But being so close to Killian was making her brain foggy. Or maybe that was the alcohol? "What did you want to know?" she asked.

"Well, tell me about yourself. How did you end up as a town's sheriff?"

"Wow. Talk about starting heavy," she murmured. Killian looked as if he was about to say something else, so she carried on. "I um… the old sheriff, before he died, he found me in the woods in town when I was a teenager. I'd run away from a group home and just didn't stop running that time. He found me in this old abandoned cabin, and kept bringing me food and supplies. Never really pushed me to come back to town or to tell him what I'd been running from until I was ready. When I mentioned being bored to him one day, he asked me to come back to the station. Told me that he needed a secretary to help with the paperwork and he'd pay me to do it. Enough to get a place of my own that didn't leak water every time it rained. I kinda went from there."

Killian let Emma's words hang between them for a moment. She'd revealed so much about herself with that one answer, and he wasn't really sure where to go from there.

"How about you?" she asked, taking another sip from her drink. "How did you get into acting?"

"You're telling me you don't already know?" he asked, with a chuckle.

"No, I do. But I'd rather hear it from you."

Killian was happy to launch into his own story about his love for acting, and his days at drama school. Emma laughed in all the right places, and sighed a little dreamily when he revealed that he'd studied in France for a while, and was fluent in the language.

"Sounds like you had a great upbringing," she noted, accepting another drink, and relaxing a little more, as Killian finished telling a story about his brother's own venture into the acting world.

"I did. I got lucky." He took a risk with his next words and said, "I'm sorry yours wasn't as good."

"It's okay," Emma assured him. "I've long since accepted what happened. Can't change my past so might as well focus on making the most of my future."

"That's an excellent mindset to have," he complimented. "Do you mind if I ask what happened for you to end up in a group home? You don't have to tell me," he rushed to add, wanting her to know that she was under no pressure to open up to him.

"Abandoned as a baby," Emma stated, a little bitterly. "I was three days old when I was found at the side of a road in the middle of nowhere."

"Shit." Killian scrubbed his hand roughly over his face. He couldn't imagine growing up knowing that his parents hadn't wanted him, let alone that they literally cared so little they would leave their baby to die on an abandoned road. "I'm so sorry, Emma."

"Hey, it's not your fault," Emma assured him. "Nothing to be sorry about."

"Have you ever tried tracking them down to get some answers?"

"Nope and I don't want to." It was something Emma had only considered once before in her life. "If they couldn't even care enough to leave me somewhere safe, why should I care enough to hear their reasoning?"

Killian reached for Emma's hand before he really knew what he was doing. The moment he made contact with her she drew in a deep breath, electricity coursing through her veins and sending her heart into overdrive.

He waited until her eyes met his before he moved slowly, cupping her face gently with his free hand and leaning in to press his lips to hers. Emma was expecting the kiss this time, so instead of freezing under his touch, she moved with him, letting her lips lightly brush against his and bringing her free hand up to rest gently against his shoulder.

Killian pulled back after a moment, using his thumb to stroke soothing circles into Emma's jaw, as he waited for her eyes to flutter open again. When they did, he was smiling softly back at her.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered into the small space between them. "How has nobody snapped you up yet?"

The words were like a cold bucket of ice to Emma's overheated brain and she jumped away, knocking her drink over in the process.

"Emma?" Killian asked, standing slowly. "Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?"

"No… Yes… Maybe?" She threw her hands up in frustration and began pacing the length of the room.

"What's wrong?" he asked, patiently. "What did I do?"

Emma huffed out a sigh before dropping back down into a seat a little further away from him.

"I'm sorry," she choked out, her eyes already beginning to fill with tears. "I'm so sorry."

"What for?" Killian asked, panicking a little at the sight of a crying woman in his hotel suite. "Emma, you're not making any sense." He approached her carefully, like he would a terrified puppy, before crouching before her. "If you don't want this… If you don't want me… I'll understand."

"I do," she cried, letting the first of her tears fall. "I do want you and that's the problem."

"Why is it a problem?" he asked, bringing his hand up to brush away her tears.

The question only made the them fall harder, as Emma wrestled with her morals. Killian gave her as much time as she needed to calm herself.

When she finally found her composure, and her words, he wished she hadn't.

"I have a fiancé."

"Excuse me?" He wasn't sure he'd heard her properly.

"I'm engaged," she explained.

Killian pulled his hand away from her face like it had been burned. Which only made Emma's tears fall harder and faster.

"I'm sorry, Killian..."

He didn't let her finish her sentence, instead cutting her off with a harsh laugh. "You're sorry?" he asked. "What for? For leading on me? For playing with me? For using me? Which one?" The sharpness of his tone caught Emma off guard and she dashed away her tears with an angry fist.

"I wasn't playing you," she began.

"Really?" he interrupted. "So… what were you doing then? One last fling before the big day? Or was it a way to make some extra cash? Sell your story to the tabloids about how I stole you away from the man you love?"

This time Killian was the one who was pacing and as much as Emma wanted to approach him, his entire demeanor was screaming to leave him be.

"It's not like that," she tried explaining. "I promise. I never intended for this to happen."

"And why should I believe that?" he screamed, whirling on her. "You had every opportunity to tell me the truth, Emma. So, what the hell was this?"

"I didn't expect this." Her own voice had risen with her hurt and anger. She had to do something to make him understand. "I never thought you'd be interested in me. Why the hell would I tell some random guy that I was engaged if I didn't expect anything to happen between us?"

"Did the fact that I sought you out not in anyway suggest that this was going somewhere?" Killian snarled. "You could have told me then. You should have told me then."

He dropped back down onto the sofa, fisting his hair in his hands. Emma had never seen him look so tired or defeated before. She let the silence linger for a few seconds, before she quietly stood up and made her way over to him. He gave her no signs of having heard her approach until she reached out for him. The moment her hand landed on his forearm, Killian pulled away, fire once again shining in his eyes.

"Get. Out," he snapped down at her.

"Killian, please," Emma begged.

"Get out," he repeated, much more calmly. The tone scared Emma more than his anger had done.

"Please, Killian. Just let me explain."

"No. You had your chance and you blew it. Get. Out. Emma."

He stood up suddenly, making Emma drop back onto her bottom to avoid him, as he paced over to the windows of his suite. He said nothing more as she stood, gathering her bag and jacket, while tears fell down her face.

It was only as she reached for the door handle that he finally turned to face her, and for one small moment, she hoped that he'd changed his mind.

"I can't stop you attending Vegas con if you've already booked, but don't bother with any more conventions after that. I don't ever want to see you again," he told her. "I'll have security remove you if I see you there."

Emma nodded her agreement, swallowing back her sobs as she pulled open the door and slipped out. The click of it closing behind her seemed to echo through the empty hall, as she made her way back down to the elevator.

It was only when she finally managed to push through her own room door, the tears having made it much harder to get into, that she finally let it all out. She dropped her bag onto the floor, sliding her back down the door to curl into herself as she cried for everything that she'd just lost in that moment.

I'm so sorry for the angst. But it was needed. Please don't hate me.

Thanks for reading.