I apologise in advance for any mistakes in this one. I couldn't stop tinkering with it.
When Killian's plane finally touched down in New York, he was buzzing with excitement to get back to Emma. He knew that she was busy attending an important dinner meeting her agent had arranged for her, but that didn't bother him one bit. Her career was about to take off in a big way, so he knew that these kinds of networking events were important for her to attend. He would happily let himself into her apartment, unpack, and set himself up with a new Netflix binge, while she was doing her thing.
When he finally pushed open the door to her place, Killian was surprised to find himself struck with an overwhelming sense of home. Emma's apartment was such a huge reflection of her own personality. It was bright and colorful, with little touches all around that showed her likes and interests.
Killian dropped his bag to the wall just inside the door, as he took in the array of pictures that covered her hallway. Many of the images featured himself, and had been taken in the almost-decade long friendship they had shared. Each one had been positioned perfectly in bold and unusual frames, that didn't match at all, yet seemed absolutely perfect for Emma's home.
She had more pictures on windowsills, shelves, and on the rest of the walls of her home. Killian chuckled a little as he realized the black and white prints in her kitchen were shots he had taken when they'd been in Monte Carlo a few years back, for the annual Television festival it hosted. It looked like Emma had chosen a few of her favorite images, added a black and white filter to them, and had used them as her feature for the room.
He'd been completed captivated by the different sights they had been blessed to see that week, so naturally, he'd taken far too many pictures of them. Emma had surprised him with a digital camera the second day of their trip, after he'd complained about filling the memory on his phone so quickly. Killian had loved being able to experiment with all the different features it had to offer, and at one point, Emma had joked that if his acting career ever failed, he should consider taking up photography instead. But, when they'd returned to LA, Milah hadn't been too impressed with his newfound hobby, and Killian had ended up placing the camera into a draw in his desk (at her insistence), and had completely forgotten about it.
As he stood in Emma's home, for the first time in years, he wished he'd thought to bring the camera with him to New York. He knew that Emma would never discourage him from following his passions, even if she thought they were ridiculous, as Milah had done that day, so many years ago.
As he continued his way through the apartment, Killian found small trinkets from Emma's various different trips around the world. Some of the statues he recognized from her previous home in Los Angeles, and some were clearly much newer, from her more recent excursions. He knew his best friend well enough to know that each one would have a fascinating story behind its purchase, and he couldn't wait to hear why she'd picked the ones she had.
Emma had left a small note for him on the kitchen counter, welcoming him to the Big Apple, and inviting him to make himself comfortable in the spare bedroom. She'd told him to go ahead and explore his new home for the next few days, and to help himself to anything he needed in the kitchen. So, Killian wasn't surprised to pull open the fridge to find it stocked with some of his favorite brands of soft drinks and beers, or to find the best cuts of meat waiting for cooking, in the perfect sizes for the two of them to share. Emma had always been the better cook in their friendship, and it looked like she was planning to spoil him while he was staying.
It didn't take him long to find the bedroom Emma had made up for him. Killian quickly unpacked his belongings, hanging up the suit he'd brought with him for the premier, in the small closet the room had, before he switched his shirts and jeans to the set of drawers in the corner. There were yet more pictures and knickknacks in the room, most of which featured either himself, or trinkets from outings the two of them had been on together, over the last decade. He smiled fondly as he picked up a goofy shot of himself with Emma, pulling faces for the camera, at what appeared to be a wrap party, a few years back.
He hadn't even thought about framing some of the thousands of pictures the two of them had taken together, for his own home. While Milah had often framed plenty in their old place, they were all either of family members, or of the two of them together. There were never any of Killian with his friends, and certainly never any that featured Emma. But, now that he was in her home, he knew it was something he needed to do. There was no way he would be able to sulk around his house with those kinds of memories hanging on his walls, reminding him of just how lucky he had been in his lifetime. Killian sat the picture back down gently, offering it one last smile, before he decided to investigate the rest of his best friend's apartment.
There was a large bathroom at the very end of the hall, that looked like it was rarely used. Killian's heart warmed when he realized that Emma had set a fresh toothbrush, and his preferred brands of toothpaste and mouthwash, on the counter ready for his stay.
Opposite his own room was a small office, that he'd seen plenty of times before, when he'd Skyped with Emma. What he hadn't noticed during those calls, were the many pictures she had framed behind her desk, on the wall. As Killian took the time to look over each one, he quickly realized that his best friend had framed one of each of the official portraits they had taken together, at every official event they had been required to attend by the network. Buried in the middle was even one that he had defaced, when slightly buzzed during an autograph session. He had signed the picture at Emma's urging, with a much dirtier inscription than what he usually wrote for his fans.
Killian hadn't ever expected her to keep the autograph, let alone frame it.
The more he explored of Emma's apartment, the more he was starting to realize that he hadn't truly known just how sentimental his friend was, until he'd seen the inside of her new home.
He dropped down into the plush looking leather chair behind her desk, and allowed himself a moment to imagine Emma working away at it, when she had some free time. There were scribbles on a note pad to his left, that made absolutely no sense to him, and a few funky looking pens in a cup beside her monitor, no doubt gifted to Emma by her nephew.
A few scripts were piled up on the bookcase to his left, so Killian took a moment to pull them out and thumb through each one. It didn't surprise him at all to see the Spielberg script on top, but the small neon-pink Post-it stuck to it, made him pause. Emma had written only ten word on to it, but those ten words conveyed just how wonderful of a friend she truly was.
Remember to ask Spielberg to sign a copy for Killian.
He slipped the script over to one side, once again amazed at her generosity, as he looked through the one below it.
It only took him a moment to find the scenes Emma had highlighted inside of it, and even less time to recall the part she had told him about. Her next project, before the Spielberg movie, was another small role - this time, in a DC adaptation. Killian continued thumbing through, reading the parts intended for Emma, before he slid it aside, to read in full at a later date. He was a little bit of a nerd himself, and he knew the character Emma had been asked to play. It was just a shame the script didn't offer her a larger focus, because he had no doubts that his best friend would kill that role.
Underneath that was a slightly more dog-eared script, that Killian quickly recognized as his very first episode with the show. He laughed as he flicked through the pages, reading Emma's small notes on how to interact with the 'new guy', and all of the odd quirks he had brought to the role, that she would need to play off. Emma's notes might have been detailed and thorough, but it hadn't taken the two of them long to settle into an easy routine. One that allowed them both to bounce off each other's energy on set. It was something that Killian hadn't managed to find since Emma had left the show.
And he was starting to wonder if he ever would ever find it again.
The final script in the pile wasn't familiar to him at all. He racked his brain, trying to think of every role Emma had mentioned to him in recent months, but came up blank.
When his eyes finally landed on the small words printed just under the much larger title, his mind helpfully supplied him with a hazy recollection of a drunken conversation in his own home, not so long ago.
"Absent without Leave"
Written by
Emma Swan.
The very last scene here, in Emma's office, was one of the first ones I got down for this story. It may seem like a small moment, but I'm hoping you'll understand why in a few weeks' time.
Thanks for reading.