Without a Word
Chapter 24: Graduation
The bleachers were filled to the brim. The football field was covered in a sea of blue and gold, Storybrooke High's colors. Photographers took pictures of every moment, loud music was coming from the school's band. Parents, siblings and friends were cheering and clapping for the seniors who were patiently waiting for the ceremony to begin.
The principal, Mr. Gold, stood on the small stage, wearing a black suit. He watched the seniors waving to their family in the bleachers. It took him a few minutes before the seniors finally settled down and sat in their chairs so he could start with his speech.
"Good evening graduating seniors, parents, family, friends and teachers. Welcome to the celebration of the accomplishments from the seniors this year." Everyone clapped and cheered at Mr. Gold's words.
"Most of you graduates are heading off to universities and colleges. Even though having a college education is very important these days, it's not enough. It's important that you keep dreaming and set goals for yourself. Reach higher, the highest you can in life. Be happy and enjoy every moment you have in your life because life is short. It's important to make mistakes. So make interesting and amazing mistakes, break the rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. It has been an honor to have every single one of you here, at Storybrooke High. But every chapter comes to an end and it's now up to you to create a whole new chapter. Good luck everyone."
When Mr. Gold finished his speech, everyone clapped. Killian stood up and went up on the stage. He was asked to give a small speech as well, being not only the captain of the football team but also having a great report card made him the perfect candidate to give a speech as well. Emma had been asked to give a speech as well but she declined the offer. She still wasn't comfortable to speak in front of strangers, let alone a whole group of people.
"Hello, everyone." Killian started his speech and looked at Emma who gave him a small smile and a wink. "Today is an important day for all the seniors of Storybrooke High. Today is the day we'll finally be treated like adults. I know most of you won't remember tomorrow what I've said today so I'll keep it short. Enjoy your time of freedom before college and university. Spend your time with friends and family and don't forget our amazing 6 years at this school where we've learned so much. I wish everyone a lot of luck in the future, don't give up on life if you hit a hard spot; count on your friends and family and help them if they need it. Good luck everyone!"
The crowed clapped as Killian finished his speech. Emma was smiling so hard, her mouth was starting to hurt. "You did so great." Emma said to Killian when he sat back down next to Emma.
"Thank you, love. Couldn't have done it without you." Killian said, tracing his thumb over her cheek.
Emma blushed at his compliment, leaning into his touch. "I don't know what I would have done without you this year. I have so many things to thank you for."
"You don't have to thank me for anything, my love." Killian said in earnest, looking lovingly into Emma's eyes.
Emma wanted to reply but was cut off by Mr. Gold. "Now we'll go on with the ceremony. When I call your name, please step forward to collect your high school diploma. Abbey Lee." Everyone clapped as the students went to the stage one by one to collect their diploma. When it was Killian's turn to get his diploma, Emma was smiling and cheering loudly for her boyfriend. Killian smiled back at Emma, getting his degree from Mr. Gold before standing on the side with the other graduates.
After 24 other students were called on the stage, it was finally Emma's turn. Her hands were shaking as she walked towards Mr. Gold, nervous to be at the center of attention.
"Well done, Emma. You have a bright future ahead of you." Mr. Gold complemented her before shaking Emma's hand and handing over her diploma.
"Thank you, sir." Emma blushed at the compliment. She walked in Killian's direction, wanting to be near him as the rest of the students' names were getting called as well. Emma was proud of all her friends who succeeded to graduate as well. It would be a summer to remember. They had planned to hang out later that evening, to celebrate their official last day as a senior before they would all enjoy their summer vacation.
Emma and Killian had planned a road trip on the Jolly Roger, going from one port to another and spending a lot of time together on the small boat. Killian had planned the whole thing, booking a place at a lot of different ports so they could see a lot of different places during their free summer. Emma was really excited to spend so much time with her boyfriend.
"We are so proud of you guys." Mary Margret said, pulling Emma into a tight hug. She pulled Killian into a hug as well as soon as she released Emma from the tight hold.
"Thank you." Emma said, getting a hug from David as well. Liam was next, also telling the both of them how proud he was before hugging them.
"Are you guys going to the senior's party tonight?" Ruby asked the happy couple once their guardians were out of sight.
"I don't know. The last party wasn't really my scene, to be honest." Emma said with a shrug.
"You'll love this party! I promise. Please, Emma. For me?" Ruby gave her best puppy eyes, and just like so many times before, Emma couldn't say no to her.
"Fine, I'll go. But if I don't like it, I'm leaving immediately." Emma reasoned, hoping she would have a bit of fun this time.
"Do you mind going to a party?" Emma asked Killian who was laughing as Ruby did a happy dance.
"I would be honored to join you, Swan." Killian said, leaning down so he could kiss Emma's soft lips. Once their lips touched, they were lost in each other. They didn't even notice Ruby with a wolfish grin on her face, taking a picture of the two of them kissing. Emma heard the click from a phone, she pulled away from Killian with a sigh. Emma looked around to see what the click sound was about, her eyes landed on Ruby. She was still smirking, with her phone still angled at the happy couple.
"Don't you have anything better to do than taking pictures of kissing people?" Emma asked jokingly while she rolled her eyes.
"Do you want to see it?" Ruby asked, already looking for the photo in her gallery.
"Of course I want to see it!" Emma said with a small laugh. She stood next to Ruby as the picture showed up on the small screen.
"See how cute this one is?!" Ruby said excited, showing the picture to Killian as well who stood with the two girls uncomfortably.
"Alright, I'm going to get ready for the party. I'll see the both of you in a few hours!" With that, Ruby ran off so she could get ready at home.
"Do you want to do something else first before getting ready? I don't think I'll need 4 hours to get ready for a party." Emma said with a laugh, taking Killian's hand and looking up at him.
"What do you want to do?" Killian asked, returning Emma's gaze.
"I thought we could finish up packing and taking everything to the Jolly so we won't have to do that tomorrow morning. That way, we can sleep in if we decide to stay out late at the party." Emma thought and Killian nodded at Emma's idea.
"Good thinking. Are we going to your place first?" Killian asked.
Emma shrugged her shoulders, it didn't really matter where they would go first. "Sure, why not. Other than clothes, a few books, some make-up and other small things, I don't really need anything to bring with me."
They took Killian's car and made their way to Emma's place. Mary Margret and David were already home, greeting Emma and Killian who just walked through the door.
"What are you guys doing here already? I thought you would be celebrating with the rest of the seniors." Mary Margret asked, wondering why the kids were already home.
"We are going to the graduating party later tonight. We were planning to go pack everything for our trip since the party doesn't start until a few hours from now." Emma explained, already walking towards the stairs with Killian right behind her.
"No funny business." Mary Margret said teasingly. Emma decided not to reply so she just rolled her eyes at the comment.
When they reached Emma's room, Killian sat down on Emma's bed while Emma was packing some of her clothes in the open suitcase on the floor.
It took her half an hour to pack all her clothes, Killian was scrolling on his social media accounts in the meantime, happy to just hang around Emma while she was taking everything for their trip.
He was excited and nervous for their trip. Liam had taken him on trips with the Jolly for years now, letting him sail often by himself as well. He knew how to tend to the Jolly but it would be the first time he went sailing without his brother, and with his girlfriend. He hoped everything would be alright as they started their trip tomorrow afternoon.
He was brought out of his thoughts as Emma sat beside him on the bed.
"What are you thinking about?" Emma said softly, she finished packing and had set the suitcase close to the door so they could bring it to the Jolly after Killian had packed his belongings as well.
"You're probably going to laugh with what I'm going to say." Killian said, taking Emma's hand.
Emma bumped her shoulder with Killian's. "I promise not to laugh."
"I'm just nervous for our trip." Killian started, Emma looked up at him with a confused expression so Killian explained what he was talking about. "It's the first time I'm going on a trip with the Jolly without Liam. What if something happens when we're out on the sea? I don't want to risk your safety."
"I trust you, Killian. I know you're a great sailor, you were born with the sea in your blood. Now you just have to trust in yourself and your skills. Nothing's going to happen to us." Emma tried to calm him, she knew Killian was an amazing sailor so they had nothing to worry about.
"Thank you, love. For believing in me." Killian and Emma both leaned in as their lips touched, a knock on the door made them jump apart.
"Are you guys staying for dinner before heading to the party?" Mary Margret asked after slowly opening the door and covering her eyes with her hands.
"Mary Margret, we're not naked." Emma said with a laugh.
"Oh." Mary Margret uncovered her eyes. "Better safe than sorry, right?"
"To answer your question, sure we'll stay for dinner." Emma said with a smile.
"Okay, see you lovebirds downstairs in 10 minutes." Mary Margret said, closing the door behind her again.
"We'll eat dinner and then head to your place so you could pack everything before going to the party?" Emma asked.
"Sure, good plan. Maybe you could get ready now? So we could leave immediately for the party from my place without having to stop by again." Killian offered.
"Fine by me, come on. I think dinner will be ready soon." They stood up and walked towards the kitchen where Mary Margret was putting everything on the table.
"Wait, Mary Margret. We'll set the table, you already cooked for us." Emma took the plates from Mary Margret hands and started putting everything on the table with Killian.
After the table was set, they sat down it the chairs, talking softly to each other as Mary Margret was finishing up with the cooking. David came into the kitchen not much later, giving his wife a kiss before sitting down opposite to Emma. Mary Margret placed all the food she had made on the table.
"Dig in, kids." Mary Margret said.
"We're hardly kids anymore, Mary Margret." Emma laughed, grabbing her fork so she could take a bite from the delicious food in front of her.
"You look great, Emma." David complimented his foster daughter, not really sure why she had some make up on and one of her best dresses. "Are you going somewhere?"
"Yeah, Killian and I are going to a party later. We're going to his place first so he could pack his things for our trip." Emma explained before taking another bite from the food in front of her.
"A party? Are you sure you don't want to do anything else?" David was going into his protective father modus, not liking the idea of Emma going to a party.
"I'm sure I'll be fine, David. Killian will be there with me, he'll keep me safe." Emma reasoned. It could be annoying to have a foster dad who is also the town's sheriff. He was always so overprotective.
"Just send me a text every hour then. Alright?" David reasoned as well.
Emma had to keep in her smile. "Fine, I'll text you."
After they finished their food, Killian and Emma left to head to Killian's place. Killian had quickly packed up all his clothes, putting the suitcase near the front door so everything was set for the next day.
"Ready to go?" Killian asked when he had other clothes on for the party.
"Yeah, let's go before the party is over." Emma joked.
XXX
They arrived and could already hear the music from the outside. Killian parked the car close by, lucky to find a parking spot so close to the house.
"Are you ready to go inside?" Killian asked as they stood in front of the house, their hands intertwined.
"Sure, I hope this party is better than the last one." Emma replied nervously.
"Don't be nervous, love. If you don't like it here then we'll go somewhere quieter. No harm done." Killian squeezed Emma's hand as they walked towards the front door.
As they walked into the room, they saw some people dancing with a drink in their hands. Luckily there weren't hormonal seniors who were dry humping each other, making the atmosphere more peaceful.
"It looks like it won't be a crazy party after all." Killian said jokingly, guiding Emma to the table with some snacks and drinks on it. "You want some of those?" Killian pointed to some delicious looking brownies. Emma's eyes twinkled with excitement at the look of those brownies and she looked up at Killian. He smiled knowingly after looking at Emma. He grabbed a small plate to put the brownies on for both of them as Emma grabbed them a bottle of coke each.
They both took a bite from their brownie and Emma couldn't help but moan as the brownie hit her taste buds.
"If you keep doing that, we might need to find a room, love." Killian winked teasingly, making Emma blush.
"I can't help it. It tastes so good!" Emma replied with a shrug.
"I know, love." Killian said, finishing his brownie as well.
They watched some couples shuffling on the dance floor as a slow song came up. "Do you want to dance, milady?" Killian asked, bowing jokingly before Emma.
"Of course, my lord. A lady like me wouldn't want anything else." Emma replied jokingly as well, taking Killian's offered hand. Another slow song came up. Killian placed his hands on Emma's waist, keeping her close to him. Emma's hands circled around Killian's neck as she nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck. She sighed contently, enjoying their closeness.
"I love this." Emma said with another sigh.
"What, love?" Killian asked, rubbing Emma's waist softly.
"Us, dancing together." Emma looked up so she could place a soft kiss on Killian's lips as they continued to dance around.
"Get a room, you two!" They heard someone yell and the chuckled as they realized it was Ruby who shouted at them.
"Jealous?" Emma asked teasingly as Ruby stood beside her now.
"As if." Ruby replied with a smirk of her own. She took Victor's hand and they too were enjoying their time together.
Their night consisted in dancing with each other and talking animatedly with their friends, knowing they wouldn't see each other for a while. Emma and Killian said their goodbyes to all of their friends. They had decided to get some rest on the Jolly Roger before going home again to get their suitcases and say their goodbyes to their families.
"I enjoyed myself today." Emma said, snuggling closer to Killian as they laid together on the small bed.
"Me too. I can't wait for our adventure to start tomorrow." Killian said, softly stroking Emma's hair.
Emma yawned. "Me neither, I'm sure we're going to have a great time."
"Sleep now, love. We'll talk later." Killian said, kissing Emma's head again as he closed his eyes and let sleep take over.
XXX
A/N: I'm so happy I could update this chapter. :p I didn't have the time to reread this chapter so I really hope everything makes sense :p I still have 4 chapters planned :p I hope I'll be able to focus more on my other stories as well (I'm hoping to get those finished before the end of the school year but I already know it won't be possible, haha. I already have another great idea in mind but I'm going to wait until I'm almost finished with my other stories before writing it… It sucks that I don't have enough time to write out every idea that comes in mind. Anyway, thank you everyone for reading and voting! I love getting your opinions about this chapter so don't be shy to leave a comment behind :p See you soon for the next chapter :D