Killian had just gotten home and was talking with Liam about their days when the familiar beep signifying a text went off on his phone. It was a message from Emma saying that she had fun and was stopping by the pool tomorrow. He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face, and was only brought back into the conversation when Liam cleared his throat.

"Sorry, Liam. What did you say?" Killian shook his head, as if erasing something from an etch-a-sketch, and turned all of his attention back to his brother.

"I was talking about one of my navy buddies, but whatever has got that smile on your face is something I'd much rather talk about." Liam leaned back in his chair. "Who've you been texting?"

"It's nobody," Killian lied, causing Liam to roll his eyes.

"So, it's a girl," Liam said, teasing his little brother. "Who is she?"

Killian was going to deny it again before sinking in his chair. Liam would keep bothering him until he told him, so Killian finally gave in. "It's the girl I tutor. Her name's Emma."

"Emma," Liam repeated. "And I assume you like this girl?"

Killian shrugged, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. "I mean, I wouldn't say she's unattractive…"

Liam patted his brother's back. "Well, go for it, then! You're a handsome lad. I'm sure she'd be interested."

"It's more complex than just going for it. She has a boyfriend, and her boyfriend is one of my least favorite people in the world."

Killian thought that would have been enough of an excuse for anyone else, but Liam gestured with his hand. "Please continue."

Killian groaned before picking up where he left off. "Plus, I don't even have time to think about having a girlfriend in general. Don't you remember my swim meet yesterday? I did terribly because I haven't been practicing as much as I should. Can you imagine if I added in a girlfriend to my three jobs, school, and extracurriculars?" Killian pouted, thinking about how stressful his life had become just over a couple of weeks.

"Killian, you won all of your races. That doesn't sound terrible to me."

"I didn't win by much, and if things keep going in this direction, I'm going to lose going to state, again. I'm not going to jeopardize that just to go after a girl who already has a boyfriend." Killian looked back down at his phone, a sadness overcoming his heart. "It's just a crush, anyway. I'm always around the same eight girls in my classes, and she's just something new."

"Are you done with your excuses?" Liam asked.

"They're not excuses, they're facts!

Killian was about to stand up when he felt his brother stop him. "Killian, listen to me," he pleaded, and Killian turned around to look at him. "Why are you giving up so easily? I've never seen you step down from a challenge."

"I'm not you, Liam. I can't just make any girl fall in love with me by smiling at them." Killian looked at his brother before shaking his head. "This isn't some math problem or swim meet and I just have to work harder to achieve the goal. It's an infatuation that will roll over soon enough."

"You're right. You're not me. You're better than me. You have such a bright future, such a great personality. I just have a hard time believing that you couldn't get this girl to fall for you."

Killian groaned at his comment. "I'm going to Harvard in the fall, and she's just hoping to get into the University of Maine, and that's if I can get her grade up. Those schools aren't even in the same state! I literally have a crush on I girl I won't see ever again after August. I'd only be taking her away from her life for a few months. Then I'll go and meet a college girl and Emma will be the last thing on my mind."

"Or she could still be the only thing on your mind, and the college women would just be a distraction. Long distance relationships work!"

"Yeah, for couples like her and Walsh that will have dated for two years in high school. What's going to happen when we're tempted by others and can't easily see one another? And all of this is hypothetical! I have no clue how she feels about me." Killian started rubbing the screen on his iPhone and frowned. "It's better this way."

"Being upset about a girl doesn't seem "better this way". To me, it seems like you just aren't willing to go for it, and a man unwilling to fight for what he wants gets what he deserves."

"But…"

"Listen, look what happened when you thought you got accepted to Harvard and didn't think you could go because of money. What did you do? You fought back! You got some jobs and started saving. Why is this any different?"

Killian became defeated after hearing his brother's words. "Because being with Emma is not something I'm willing to fight for, and so this is exactly what I deserve." Killian stood up, shaking his head no at his brother, finally deciding to end this conversation. "Good talking to you, but I have to get to bed because I have to get to work early in the morning."

Liam reached over and tugged on his hand. "Killian…"

"Goodnight, brother." He ripped his hand from Liam's grip and walked up to his room, shutting the door behind him and falling onto the bed.

Emma Swan wasn't a challenge he just stepped down from. It was useless to pursue a girl who had a long-term boyfriend. It's merely a crush that he just has to work through, nothing more. It didn't matter what his brother or his friends said – he is just her tutor. He was being paid to be around her, and she was forced to come.

He looked down at his phone again to see her text. Well, at least he'll see her for a little bit tomorrow morning, and maybe he could even convince her to do another session on Sunday.

It was then when he realized that he was fighting for her, without even knowing it. Inviting her out with his friends and plotting extra tutoring sessions? That's not something one does unless they're fighting for another person.

Killian placed his phone down on his nightstand and shifted onto his back, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes until all he saw was black.

He was thoroughly and utterly screwed.

After Mary Margaret dropped her back home, Emma casually walked into the kitchen on Saturday morning to find Marian making breakfast and Robin reading something on his computer. "Are you taking Roland to the pool this morning?" she asked.

"Yeah. We're leaving at 9:30. Did you want to join us?" Marian offered as she started buttering two pieces of toast before turning to Emma.

"Sure," Emma said, raising her shoulders slightly and attempting to brush it off as anything other than she had nothing better to do.

Robin looked up from his computer "Don't you want to hang out with Walsh or your friends? It's the first weekend you're not grounded."

Emma didn't really want to talk about her love life with her foster parents. It was always an awkward subject for her, unless it was good news, but Robin gave her a look that said he wouldn't stop pursuing the topic unless she talked. "I was just with the girls last night, and I realized I missed hanging out with you guys after last weekend."

Marian gave her a curious glance, and Emma saw her mind ticking. "Why are you avoiding Walsh? You've been acting odd about him ever since your anniversary dinner."

Emma sat in an empty chair and crossed her arms, a frown on his face. "It's complicated. I don't really want to talk about it."

Marian and Robin seemed to respect what she said because they both went back to doing what they were doing before Emma came in. Emma sat in her chair, twirling her thumbs, when she asked, as blasé as possible, "Don't you think Roland should sign up for swimming lessons?"

Marian paused cutting some fruit to turn to Emma. "He goes to the pool nearly every Saturday morning and he hasn't had a problem. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I've just been thinking how, being shuffled from foster home to foster home, I've never learned how to swim. I think it might be smart to get Roland in some swimming lessons before he ends up like me."

Marian began placing all the cooked food onto a plate. "I suppose that it could be a good idea. Do you know even know when lessons are?"

"There's a five-year-old class on Wednesdays at 5:30 at the community center." Emma replied, a little too quickly and a little too rehearsed. "It would be perfect for Roland, don't you think?" she added.

Marian frowned. "I don't think we'd be able to get him there every week, and Robin has been working so late on Wednesdays lately, and I can't guarantee I'm available because of my own schedule."

"I could bring him?" Emma said, a little too quickly. "You know, on the days neither of you could make it."

Marian turned to look at Emma. "I couldn't ask you to do that. You already have your tutoring sessions on Wednesday afternoons. How would you have time to take Roland to swim practice, too, if you have your own homework to do?"

Emma shifted in her chair, carefully thinking her answer. "I wouldn't swim with the class. I could just bring my homework along and do it while he's in class."

Marian thought about it for a second. "That's a really big commitment, Emma, and I don't know why you'd even want to."

Emma shrugged and said, "Like I said. I never learned, and I don't want Roland to have the same disadvantage as I did."

Marian turned to her husband. "What do you think? I agree with Emma that it might be good for him."

"I think so, too. We'll have to look into it and see if he could even get into the class," Robin said as he turned back to his computer.

Emma smiled before turning to exit the kitchen. "I'm going to unpack my bag before breakfast. I'll see you in a little bit."

It had been an impulse to ask Marian and Robin if Roland wants swim lessons, and she really didn't known why she did it, anyway. It was probably because Killian had just mentioned something last night, and it was completely true that she had never learned herself.

It was definitely not because she was weirdly intrigued by her tutor, wanting to anything and everything to get to know him more.

Killian waited and waited for Emma to come to the pool. Open swim began at 8:00 and ended at 3:30, so he knew that it could be a long while before she actually strolled in with her brother and foster mother.

It was at 9:40 when Emma strolled in, and Killian sat up higher in his chair. He smiled at her when she looked in his direction. She waved and gave a small smile back. Her family found two empty chairs across from him, and the little boy was eager to get in the water because he threw his shirt on the ground and jumped in right away, causing the water to splash Emma.

After the family got settled, Emma said something to the older woman and started walking around the perimeter of the pool until she was right next to his chair. "Hey, Killian," she said, running her hand through her hair.

"Hey, Swan. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were stalking me," Killian joked, and Emma stood still. If he didn't know better, he would have thought that she blushed at his comment, but instead she just shrugged.

"Well, it's a good thing you know better, then, isn't it?" Emma smiled as she turned back to the pool, her eyesight on Roland splashing around. "So, I talked to my parents about signing up for swimming lessons, and they said they're looking into it. Would your Wednesday class even have enough room for him?"

Her green eyes turned back to him, and Killian knew that he would kick out the whole class if it meant Emma's brother could come. "I believe we have an open spot. I'd have to talk to my director, but I don't think it should be a problem. Just have your mom call and sign him up."

Killian suddenly saw two kids arguing in the pool. He blew his whistle. "No fighting," he yelled, and the two boys turned towards him before swimming in the opposite direction.

"You'll find any reason to use that thing, won't you?" she teased, and Killian dismissed her comment.

"If I have it, might as well use it."

The two went into a comfortable silence as Killian watched over the pool. "Thanks again for coming last night. Everyone really liked you two."

"It seemed like Ruby certainly liked Victor," Emma joked, causing Killian to laugh.

"She was all he could talk about for the rest of the night!" he replied, knowing that the other thing Victor insisted on talking about was Killian's crush on Emma.

"I'm sure she'll keep bugging me until we all hang out again."

Killian turned towards Emma, his heart beating fast because the opportunity finally arrived. "Well, would you like to have a study group? You, Victor, Ruby, and me? We could go over your material from last week, and watch as the two lovebirds flirt all night."

Emma nodded with excitement. "Oh, god, it'll be fun to see Ruby try to study with Victor right next to her!"

"Victor's not going to be any better!" Killian replied, his body firing up because this could actually be happening.

"Does 5:00 at the library sound good? We could get one of those study rooms like last weekend and then we'll be able to talk." Emma suggested, and Killian couldn't quite tell if there was a hint of eagerness in her voice.

"Sounds great. I'll text Victor and you text Ruby and we'll see you then."

"Awesome," Emma said as she pointed to her family. "I should probably be getting back. See you tomorrow."

"Bye, Swan."

He waved, and Emma started to run back to her side of the pool.

"Once a cocky bastard, always a cocky bastard", Killian thought to himself as he blew his whistle and yelled, "No running!" to Emma.

Emma stopped in her place and turned towards Killian, shaking her head at him. Even from the far distance, he could see her roll her eyes.

Yes, he would find any excuse to use his whistle.

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