Killian Jones never asked to be in the spotlight. He was thrust into it only two years ago, when he was just walking down the streets of New York City and had come across a casting director. Apparently, he had 'the look' she was looking for, for some random new show that she was hired to cast. Killian had been down on his luck, so he said yes, unknowingly changing his entire life.

Needless to say, Killian got the part as one of the lead guys in this new show, which was a modern reinterpretation of Peter Pan, which he played James Hook. After the pilot episode had broken records upon records, he was shot into Hollywood stardom. He couldn't go down the block from his shoddy studio apartment in the Bronx without being bombarded by crazed fans. He had resorted to his brother picking up groceries for him and when he couldn't do it, Killian would toss on a hoodie and leave the hood up so he wouldn't be recognized.

But over the years, he had grown used to the life that he had been shoved into. Being chased down by fans and paparazzi was just something he saw as a part of the life. He couldn't keep hiding himself away-that wasn't a way to live. So he embraced it. He signed autographs, allowed the paparazzi to follow him, and he bought himself an Upper West Side apartment with a doorman. He didn't like that he no longer had any privacy, but the money sure helped.

Especially since he was almost homeless when luck fell on his doorstep.

But, even with all of the fame and money that he had, he just wanted one thing, the same thing that he had looked for his entire life: his soul mate.

Killian was a hopeless romantic. Even after all of the pain and despair he had been through with Milah, he still wanted to find the one for him. The one that would allow him to see the colors of the world, instead of the dull grays. He wanted to see the colors of the ocean and of the forests, the colors of spring and autumn, and the colors of the eyes of his true love.

He always imagined she would have green eyes.

The same color his mother had, according to Liam.

So when the paparazzi knocked over a woman while they were barraging him on the sidewalk as he walked through his old neighborhood, he never expected that when she looked up at him as he helped her off of the dirty ground, that the very first color he would see would be green.

He could see the jade of her eyes, the gold of her flowing hair, the pink of her plump lips. He didn't know how he knew the colors-maybe his mind had been hardwired to know the colors of his soul mate. And now, he could see everything: the yellow of the sun, the bright blue of the sky, the gray of the sidewalk. God, he felt so alive in this moment, now that he had found the one he was meant to be with.

But in just the second he looked into her eyes, he saw walls slam up to keep him out.

She ran away before he could even introduce himself to her, even if he was sure that she knew who he was.

Killian stood from the sidewalk, the paparazzi continuing to shoot pictures of him. "Wait, love!"

But she continued to run away, back the way she came. Of all the times he imagined of how he would meet his soul mate, this was not one of the scenarios he thought of. Killian looked down at the sidewalk and saw a paisley wallet that the woman must've dropped when she fell and that she had forgotten about in her haste to get away from him. He picked up the wallet from the ground and as he stood, he looked at the clear pocket facing him, which held her driver's license.

Emma Swan.

Her name was Emma Swan.

Killian had only seen her for a second before she ran off, but God did that name fit that beautiful woman.

"Killian! Over here!" The paparazzi called to him and in that moment, Killian just couldn't deal with them. He had just met his soul mate and she ran-ran-away. He looked over the driver's license again, seeing that she didn't live all too far from here, but he didn't know what to do with it.

He wanted to see her again. He already felt the need to see her again. But he saw the panic in her eyes when she saw the colors too. She was probably bloody terrified. Killian didn't know if he should go to the apartment listed on the license or if he should just send someone to give it back to her. If she was truly that scared of this-of him-then he couldn't bear the thought of scaring her again by showing up at her door.

He needed to talk to Liam. Liam would know what to do.

Killian began to march away, fishing his phone from his pocket from the skinny jeans his publicist insisted that he started wearing, and the paparazzi continued to follow him. The yelling and shouting continued as the phone began to ring over the line.

Killian looked over his shoulder and shouted, "Fuck off!" as he continued down the street. He knew he wouldn't hear the end of it from his publicist, but he really couldn't give a shit about it. He just met his soul mate and she ran.

"What is it, little brother?" Liam asked, grumbling over the line.

Killian rolled his eyes. "I need to talk to you. Are you at your apartment?"

Liam sighed. "Yes, but do I have to remind you that I have a newborn baby and I haven't slept a lick since she was born?"

"You'll take a nap after I'm done," Killian responded as he raised his hand to hail a cab (wow, they were a ghastly yellow). "I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Fine, you prat," Liam groaned. "But we need to be quiet. The baby and Jenny are asleep."

"Of course. See you soon, brother," Killian said as he slid into the cab and told him Liam's address.

As the cabbie drove through the busy streets during lunchtime, Killian took the time to just stare at every little thing he drove by. He could see the red, yellow and green of the traffic lights, the black of the business suits of people passing by, and the browns of the apartment buildings. He had no idea that this was what he was missing, that this was exactly what Liam had been seeing ever since he met his soul mate when he was seventeen years old.

When Liam met Jenny, it was his first day of high school in America. Killian was just a wee lad-only seven years old-and they had only just moved to America to live with their aunt after their mother's untimely passing. Well, not quite untimely, since she had gotten sick only a year after Killian was born. Killian still remembered when Liam came home from school that day, picking him up and twirling around excitedly with Killian in his arms. He told Killian and their Aunt Elizabeth all about the girl that made him see colors: her flaming red hair, her intense green eyes, the little freckles across her nose and cheeks.

It was that day, when they looked over pictures of their mother, that Liam said that her eyes were green.

And that was the day that Killian began imagining what his soul mate would look like.

The cab pulled up to the curb outside of the tall apartment building that Liam lived in with his wife and newborn daughter. Killian tossed cash at the cabbie and hurriedly walked up the front steps 'cause he just needed his brother's advice right now. He wanted to see this Emma Swan again-needed to see her-but God she was full of pure panic when she saw the colors after looking at him.

Killian didn't waste any time walking into the apartment building, ignoring all the long stares and the hushed whispers of whoever was in the front atrium. Normally, he'd be fine with it-he actually kinda liked it-but right now, he just was not in the mood. He repeatedly pressed the up button for the elevators before someone asked him for a picture or an autograph, which he knew would be coming after glancing over at a group of teenage girls who were giggling incessantly.

Thankfully, the elevator doors swung open after the hundredth time of Killian pressing the button. He didn't waste any time stepping into the elevator and pressing the button for the third floor. Killian paced the floor of the elevator as it slowly made its way up the shaft, figuring out how the hell he was going to explain to his brother that he met his true love and she ran away.

Killian sighed as he exited the elevator when the doors swung open. He took slow and steady steps toward the apartment door, trying to gather his scrambled thoughts. The only sounds in the hallway as he walked along the hardwood floors were the clacking of his boots and his slow breathing. Fuck, he had no idea how to even ask Liam for his advice. Killian took a deep breath before he stopped in front of apartment 305 and turned the knob, walking into the unlocked apartment.

"Is that my famous brother?" Liam called from the open kitchen to the left of the front door. Liam looked up and saw Killian, who was standing awkwardly by the door. Liam furrowed his eyebrows as he stood up straight by the sink, where he was washing dishes. "What's wrong?"

Killian took three long strides over to his brother and gripped him in a tight hug. After a short moment of Liam being completely surprised by the sudden show of affection, Liam returned the hug, patting him on the back.

"What's wrong?" Killian heard Jenny's familiar voice from the hallway, which led to the two bedrooms of the apartment.

Killian released Liam and looked over his shoulder to see the frizzy hair Jenny always had whenever she slept. But now he could see the auburn waves and the green eyes Liam was so fond of the very first day they met. But her green eyes paled in comparison to the jade ones of Emma Swan. Killian looked back to his brother, whose eyebrows were still furrowed in concern.

"I can see," Killian said and Liam's eyebrows shot up. "I can see the colors now."

"Holy shit," Jenny and Liam said at the same time (wow they really were soul mates).

"Wait, when?" Liam asked, clasping his hand on Killian's shoulder in excitement.

"Not a minute before I called you," Killian responded and let out a breath as he looked down at the tiled flooring of the kitchen.

"But that's not why you're here," Jenny spoke up as she walked over to the kitchen to stand beside Killian. She had seen Killian through every awkward moment in his life and every painful moment. Jenny was always the person he turned to for advice if Liam didn't know what to say. "Something happened."

Killian sighed as he leaned against the granite counters behind him, crossing his arms over his chest. "The fucking paparazzi pushed her over. So, I helped her up. As soon as she saw me, she just bolted."

"Hmmm," Liam mumbled as he leaned against the island across from Killian, resting his palms on the island counter. "Maybe it was because it was you. You are very famous, Killy."

Killian rolled his eyes at the dumb nickname. "Oh, bugger off, you git."

"Chill, you two," Jenny said, placing her hands on her hips. "God, it's like you two are some old married couple." Jenny looked over at Killian, a stray curl falling over her pale face. "Why did she run?"

Killian shrugged as he looked back down at the tiles. "All I know is that when she saw me, I saw her panic. She was absolutely terrified. I could see it in her eyes. God, she had the most bloody gorgeous jade eyes."

"Well, how do we find her?" Liam asked, matching Killian's stance and crossing his arms over his chest.

Killian sighed as he reached into his back pocket, fishing out the wallet Emma had dropped. "When she fell, she dropped this." Killian held the wallet up for Jenny and Liam to see, looking back up from the tiles. "And in her haste to get away, she didn't grab it."

"Well, what the bloody hell are you here for, then?" Liam griped, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Because she was bloody terrified when she saw me!" Killian said exasperatedly, continuing to hold the wallet in his hand. "I don't want to scare my damn soul mate by showing up at her apartment!"

Jenny sighed, pushing her hair out of her face, taking the wallet from Killian's hands to look it over. "Killian, you should go see her." Killian opened his mouth to argue, but Jenny held up her perfectly polished hand, looking at her brother-in-law. "I know she panicked. I know she was scared. But I was too. I was so scared when I met Liam. I don't think he ever told you this, but when we met each other in class, I actually ran out of the classroom and into the girl's bathroom. He came after me and we talked."

Killian had never heard that part of the story. Liam always made their meet cute out to be something straight out of a fairytale. Killian glanced over at Liam, who nodded subtly at him. Jenny was telling the truth.

"Killian, you have to see her," Jenny continued and Killian looked back at his sister-in-law. "Not only to return her wallet, but you also need to see her because you two have to talk about this. This part is the most important part of finding your soul mate. You gotta talk things out."

Killian took a deep breath as he looked up at the ceiling, sealing his fate. "Okay. Okay. I will. I'll go tonight."

Oh my God.

Oh my fucking God.

Emma couldn't believe this. She couldn't believe anything right now. There was no way she had just found her soul mate and it was fucking Killian Jones. Nope, that didn't happen. Holy fucking shit, it did.

And Emma did what she did best: she ran. From the time she first could, she ran from every single problem she faced: she ran from abusive foster parents, she ran from the cops whenever she committed a crime, she ran after what Neal had done to her. So, needless to say, she ran from her soul mate, someone she just couldn't face. Not now, not ever.

As she continued to run down the busy sidewalk, she suddenly realized that she had lost her wallet. Emma remembered dropping it when the paparazzi knocked her over and in her haste to get the fuck away from Killian Jones, she must've left it behind.

Well, now she had to waste time cancelling everything in that wallet and buying a new one and God she did not have the time nor money for this.

Because of this stupid new revelation, Emma couldn't get a cab to get back to her apartment, which was the only place she wanted to be right now so she could scream and yell and cry to her heart's content because why did this have to happen to her. Emma gathered her thoughts as she ran, ignoring judgmental looks from passers-by, and realized that she needed to call one of her friends. She wasn't about to call Mary Margaret or Ruby; they'd just be excited and cheerful and not understand why Emma was so upset about this.

But then Emma remembered the perfect person to call.

Emma stopped running for the first time in what felt like hours as she grabbed her cell phone from her front pocket. She dialed the familiar number and just prayed that her friend wasn't working. And her prayers were answered when Henry picked up the phone after the third ring.

"Hey, Emma," Henry said cheerily.

"Henry," Emma said, her voice breaking on the last syllable.

Emma heard the creaking of Henry's mattress in the background. "What's wrong?"

"I need you to come get me," Emma responded, feeling the breakdown coming, full speed ahead.

"Where are you?" Henry asked and Emma could hear her shuffling around for his shoes.

Emma looked around at the buildings around her for addresses. She finally found one at a building across the street from her and she told Henry the address and to just hurry. Henry hung up without another word and promised that he would be there in five minutes. Henry's relaxing voice helped Emma take soothing breaths and rethink about what the hell she was supposed to do now that she found 'The One,' especially since he was a fucking celebrity who had millions of girls following him around and would kill Emma the moment it was revealed that she was his soul mate.

God, her friends were gonna have a laugh about this.

And God, how was she gonna explain this to anybody?

As Emma waited for Henry to be her knight in shining armor, she looked at everyone around her; she looked at those hailing cabs, walking while on their phone, those who were completely unaware that the entire world was different to one of them. They were in their own worlds and had no idea that Emma was having an existential crisis over something that any one of them would've been happy to have. Emma Swan wasn't supposed to have a soul mate-she spent her entire life believing that she was better off alone, being told that she was better off alone-and there she was, seeing the colors that the world offered, all because of a chance encounter with Killian fucking Jones.

God, what was her life?

"Emma!" Henry's voice called out from the busy street.

Emma twisted her head to the left and saw Henry's red Prius, standing out against the black town cars and obnoxiously yellow taxis. Emma rushed over to the car, pushing her way through the pedestrians who were in her way, and sliding into the passenger seat of the car. She could tell that Henry wanted to ask her about what the hell was happening, but he was polite enough to not ask Emma just yet about what triggered her break.

"Just take me home," Emma whispered, feeling the tears beginning to build behind her eyes as she propped her elbows on her knees and dropped her face into her hands.

"Okay," Henry said simply, swiftly turning the car back into the traffic filling the Bronx streets.

God, with this traffic, Emma knew they wouldn't make it home for at least a half hour, even if she didn't live all that far from here. Emma knew she wouldn't be able to hold herself together for that long, given that her tears were already beginning to spill over, trailing down her cheeks as she sniffled into the quiet car.

"Emma, talk to me," Henry said soothingly, glancing over at Emma with his big brown eyes.

Emma sniffled again and looked over to one of her closest friends, a guy that she had befriended during one of the worst periods in her life and had remained there when so many others left. "Henry, the cabs are yellow."

At first Henry furrowed his eyebrows at the strange statement. But then he realized what she was saying-she was naming colors. "Holy shit."

Emma nibbled on her bottom lip as she looked out the windshield, staring at the slow-moving traffic. "The cabs are yellow, the town cars are black, your hair is brown, your car is red and-" Emma dropped her head back into her hands, scratching her scalp with her long fingernails. Emma took a deep breath and continued. "He had the bluest eyes."

"Do I even need to ask about what happened afterwards?" Henry asked and Emma laughed wryly. Henry knew Emma better than she knew herself. Henry smiled wryly at her as he finally turned right at the intersection, narrowly missing an idiot pedestrian who decided to step into the street. "Idiot. Okay so you ran. Did you at least talk to him?"

Emma relaxed back in the seat and wiped away her tears. "No. I just ran."

"What happened?" Henry asked eagerly. For as long as Emma had known Henry, he had been obsessed with the aspect of soul mates, always wondering when he would meet his. He's one of Emma's few friends that still could see black and white-a group that Emma had gladly been a part of.

Emma sighed. "I fell over and he helped me up. When I looked up, that's when everything changed." Emma's voice grew wistful as she said, "The very first color I saw was blue, with flecks of silver. God, just how I imagined oceans would look."

"What's his name?" Henry asked as he turned right again at the next intersection.

Emma felt her face flush as she looked down at her lap. "Well…that is-uh-complicated."

"Soul mates aren't complicated."

Emma rolled her eyes at Henry's simple statement. If anything, soul mates were the definition of complicated.

"Yeah, Mulan would disagree with that," Emma responded as she looked back out the windshield, bringing up her friend who had a soul mate who already had one of her own.

"So, what's his name?" Henry asked again, glancing over for just a moment. God, Emma could see the excitement in his eyes. Henry was toning it down for her sake, since he knew all too well about how this was seriously throwing Emma for a loop.

"You aren't going to believe me," Emma replied, chipping at her already-chipped fingernail polish.

Henry furrowed his eyebrows as he continued to drive down the street. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Just-I'll explain everything when we get back to my apartment, where I can rightfully break down sobbing, alright?" Emma snapped, running her fingers through her hair.

Emma could tell that Henry wanted to respond with something, but she was thankful that he held his tongue. Emma knew that it probably was going to be something along the lines of 'you should be happy' or 'this is so exciting and you shouldn't be scared of it.' But Henry knew that she had heard all of those lines before: from Ruby, from Mary Margaret, and even from himself.

Emma sighed in relief when Henry pulled into a parking spot on the street, reserved for the apartment building they both lived in. Emma walked briskly beside Henry, already beginning to feel the tears welling in her eyes again and just needing to get into her apartment right fucking now. She never imagined as a little girl that when she first met her soul mate, that she would run away and want to sob her eyes out.

But that was before Emma was taught the cruel reality of the world.

As Henry and Emma stepped into the elevator, she could feel tears beginning to spill over onto her cheeks. God, she could feel the break coming, but these elevators were notorious of being incredibly slow and she was not about to start crying in a fucking elevator, especially since there was an elderly woman standing in front of her.

Henry reached for Emma's hand, slowly stroking his thumb against Emma's hand to try to keep her calm. Emma began taking slow and deep breaths as the elevator crawled up to the eighth floor, where Emma resided. When the doors swung open, Emma had to wait a moment as the elderly woman in front of her walked slowly onto the floor and Emma had to bite her lip to focus on not allowing a sob to come out.

Today was just not her day.

Once the woman finally exited the elevator, thankfully turning to the left instead of the right, Emma almost ran off of the lift, her eyesight blurring with her unshed tears. Emma could hear Henry following her closely, to the point where he almost ran into her when Emma had to stop at her apartment door, number 815. It took her a moment longer than it usually took to slip her key into the lock and flip the tumblers, but her eyesight was blurring more and more as the seconds ticked by.

Finally, Emma got the key into the lock and unlocked the deadbolt. She immediately swung the door open, pulling her key out of the lock, and marched down the long hallway that led to her bathroom and small studio apartment, allowing the tears to finally trail down her cheeks. Emma tried to suppress the sob that wanted to come out, but she couldn't do it. She didn't have the strength to hold it back anymore.

And so she wept.

And wept.

And wept.

Henry pulled Emma into his arms and stroked her back, not even saying a single word, just allowing Emma to cry and cry and cry onto his shoulder. Emma was thankful that Henry wasn't trying to assure her that everything was okay and that everything would work out; she just needed to cry for a while. And besides, Emma knew that it wouldn't be alright. Even if this was something Emma had always wanted, she was too terrified to reach out and grab it, even if it was helping her up from rock bottom.

Emma's crying slowed, so she pulled away from Henry, wiping her now sore eyes free from the tears. Henry looked down at Emma with the most pitiful expression and Emma rolled her eyes.

"Don't fucking look at me like that, Henry," Emma grumbled out, perching herself on the corner of her bed.

Henry sighed and ran his fingers through his shaggy hair, looking over at Emma. "You know this is supposed to be a good thing, right?"

Emma rolled her eyes again, not even caring that it made her eyes hurt even more. "I don't see it that way and you know that."

"If you would just open your eyes-"

"Don't fucking start with that, Henry," Emma snapped, looking up at her worrisome friend. "You know how I feel about this soul mate bull shit."

"Yes, I know," Henry responded, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning forward just an inch. "I know that you get jealous whenever you see Ruby or Mary Margaret with Victor or David. I know that as much as you want to deny it, you want it more than anything else in this entire world. You are just too scared to go for it because of your past."

Emma clenched her jaw and dropped her gaze to the floor, unable to continue to look at Henry's intense gaze any longer. "Because it won't work. Just like how it didn't work with Neal. Just like how it didn't work with the families I was sent to. It never works."

"Emma Swan, this is your soul mate!" Henry exclaimed and Emma looked back up at him, who now had his hands perched on his hips. "It will work out because the universe has made it that way! It has to work out."

"Life isn't that simple, Henry," Emma said simply, rubbing her tired eyes. "I know it better than most. It won't work because that's how life fucking is."

Emma had been taught that time and time again. Every time she was sent to a new family, she held onto an inkling of hope that she would stay there, that they'd be different. But it was always quickly dashed by an abusive foster father or the parents just simply not caring about her, only wanting the monthly check for looking after her. She'd learned after the fifth house she was bounced out of that life didn't care that she was eight or alone or that all she wanted was a family-life just didn't care about her. Life told her that nobody cared for her, other than the few friends she had, and that she didn't deserve the unwavering love of a soul mate.

Life told her that she didn't deserve a soul mate. And after Neal, Emma completely believed it.

This time, Henry rolled his eyes. "You only think it won't work out because you don't believe."

"God, you are just as bad at Mary Margaret," Emma mumbled, sighing deeply. "I'm done talking about this with you because you clearly don't get it."

Henry sighed. "Fine. At least tell me who the guy was."

Emma nibbled on her bottom lip as she looked up at her friend. "Well…uh-well-"

"Don't you dare say 'it's complicated' again," Henry interrupted, holding a finger to Emma's face.

Emma sighed and decided that she couldn't keep it a secret forever. She mumbled out, "Killian Jones."

"What did you say?" Henry asked, genuinely meaning it since Emma said the name under her breath.

Emma cleared her throat and looked up at Henry. "Killian Jones."

Henry's jaw dropped. He didn't say a single thing for at least a minute, during which Emma shifted uncomfortably on her bed. Henry just kept staring at her, narrowing his eyes as if he was trying to discern if it was the truth or a lie.

"I can't tell if you're messing with me or not," Henry finally said, his eyes remaining narrowed.

Emma opened her mouth to assure Henry that her soul mate was indeed the man she had dreams of at night and was strewn all across the tabloids, but she was interrupted by a knock on her front door. Emma furrowed her eyebrows as she glanced up at Henry, who seemed just as curious. Emma took a deep breath as she slowly raised herself from the bed, walking toward the archway that led to the long hallway and turned right to walk down the hall. Emma itched the back of her head as she walked, wondering who the hell it could be. She didn't have plans and she didn't have work until five, so she knew it couldn't have been her boss (which had happened before-after a particularly rough night of drinking and having an eight am shift).

But when she turned the knob and opened the door, she really should've been expecting it.

God, today really wasn't her day.