A/N: IM REALLY SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT. MY MUSE SUCKS, IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED. BUT HERE'S A 12,235 WORD CHAPTER. Also, I outlined the rest of this story and it looks like there will be four more chapters and then an epilogue. Enjoy!
Killian woke up to the loud chiming of his alarm, waking him up at 8:30 in the damn morning. He had never been a morning person, but it was important that he talked to Regina this morning. Killian wanted Emma to come to the wedding, but he had to make sure that Emma would be safe if she attended the wedding. He agreed that it was too soon for them to go public with the news that they were soulmates and now, Killian just had to work on making sure that Emma wouldn't be forced into going public about it.
He sighed as he quickly got ready for the day. He took a shower to wash away the grime from his late night work out, which he did after he woke up from his nap on the couch. Killian had been worn out from his shenanigans with Emma and trying to keep his self-control in check that he just passed out only a minute or two after he spoke with Regina. But once he woke up, Killian went down the street to his 24-hour gym and ran on the treadmill until his libido was back to normal.
After his shower, Killian quickly dressed and walked out to his kitchen to eat breakfast. As he ate a bowl of cereal (Lucky Charms, of course), his thoughts drifted to Emma. He dreamed of her last night (as he always did) and he was still haunted by how she felt against him the day before. Killian knew it was far too early to be having these thoughts, but he still remembered how her lips tasted and how her moans sounded and how her teeth felt against his neck. He had to get himself under control before he met with Regina, so Killian tried as hard as he could to calm his mind by thinking about the script for his upcoming episode.
It was an hour later and Killian walked into the offices of Mills Communications, his hands holding a container of apple turnovers. Killian knew that Regina would see through his gesture immediately, but it did help ease her temper just a bit. He smiled and nodded at the redhead behind the main desk as he took a seat in the waiting area. He knew from experience that Regina meant ten sharp and that if he arrived early, she'd probably tear his head off. So Killian relaxed in the comfortable leather seats in the entry way, drumming his fingers against the plastic container.
"How are you today, Mr. Jones?" The redhead, Lena, asked, batting her eyelashes at him.
"I'm well. Just waiting for my appointment with Ms. Mills," Killian replied simply, reclining in the chair to grab his phone from his pocket, where it had vibrated.
He pulled his phone from his pocket as Lena asked, "How's filming?"
Killian smiled as he looked up at Lena. "Very good."
He looked back to his phone and saw that it was a text from Emma. He opened the message and smiled when he saw a picture of one of the hundreds of posters plastered across New York City, advertising for the new season of Never Landing. It showed him and Peter standing face to face in their fighting attire, with the premiere date across the bottom.
Do I need to be jealous? Because it looks like you and peter are up to more than just fighting ;)
Killian snorted because that exact same thought had gone through his and Jeremy's mind as they shot the pictures. Jeremy, the twenty-year-old lad who played Peter on the show, made kissing noises behind the scenes and it took them far too long to finish the shoot because Killian continuously broke into laughter.
Of course not, love. What would happen to him and Tink then?
And as soon as he sent off the message, he realized that at the end of the previous season, Tink and Peter were not an item. He dropped his head against the back of the chair because of course he just gave her a bloody spoiler.
What do you mean? In the season finale, tink caught him with wendy at his apartment when she was going to surprise him by coming home early from LA and she stormed out before peter could explain that wendy was there to talk about the upcoming fight with Michael.
Killian sighed and began typing a response, but then his phone vibrated in his hands again.
KILLIAN, DO PETER AND TINK GET TOGETHER?!
Killian mentally groaned because he was a fucking idiot.
KILLIAN JONES, YOU TELL ME NOW. MY ENTIRE LIFE DEPENDS ON THIS.
Killian sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose and he just hoped that Emma would be able to keep the spoiler a secret from Ruby and Mary Margaret.
They get together, Emma. But you cannot tell ANYBODY. Even MM and ruby. I will be murdered if word got out.
I promise I won't tell anybody, but damn this just made my day.
Glad to be of service.
Killian put his cell phone back into his pocket, noticing from the time on his cell phone that it's ten. He groaned as he stood up, his knees cracking as he began walking around the main desk and back toward Regina's office, in the far back of the floor. The office was relatively dead, being that it was a Saturday morning. There were a few workers in their cubicles, bent over their computers and coffees. Killian's hands tightened around the plastic container as he walked past the last few of the cubicles and stood in front of Regina's large office door. He took a deep breath and gently knocked on the oak, hearing a stern 'come in' only a few seconds later.
Killian stepped into the office and shut the door behind him, seeing Regina sitting behind her desk as she typed away at something on her computer. She glanced over at him, noticed the apple turnovers in his hands, and a little smirk spread on her lips. Killian was finally able to breathe because Regina smiling was usually a good sign.
"Apple turnovers, Jones?" Regina asked as she loudly hit the 'enter' key and swiveled in her chair to face Killian. "Trying to butter me up?"
Killian smiled toothlessly as he stepped toward the desk and took a seat in one of the two leather chairs in front of Regina's desk. He slid the container onto Regina's desk, past her nameplate and the glass apple sitting just behind her computer. Regina crossed her arms over the desk after she tucked a piece of her hair back into her long black hair.
"So what is it?" Regina asked, uncrossing her arms and bringing the container closer to her, eyeing the turnovers through the plastic. "You couldn't explain this to me over the phone yesterday? Did you just want to see my face so badly, Jones?"
Killian chuckled under his breath and scratched the spot behind his ear. "Well, it's something I should tell you face to face."
"As long as you aren't bringing that singer you were spotted with two months ago-Ursula, or whatever her name was-I'll be fine," Regina responded, looking back up at Killian with her eyes narrowed. "This isn't about her, right?"
Killian shook his head because he had honestly completely forgotten about Ursula until Regina mentioned her. His entire world revolved around Emma now. He didn't need to think about other women.
"It isn't about her."
"Good. Now who the hell are you bringing to my wedding?"
Killian straightened up in his chair and thought that he might as well just get to the point. "Her name is Emma Swan."
Regina furrowed her eyebrows. "I've never heard of her."
"Well, she isn't an actress or singer or one of my 'model sluts,' so you wouldn't have heard of her."
Regina smirked again for just a moment, then leaned forward on her desk. "Well, who is she then?"
"My soulmate."
Regina's eyebrows shot up. "Your soulmate?"
Killian nodded, folding his hands together in his lap. "Yes."
"Well I have to say that I didn't see that one coming," Regina told Killian, shifting in her chair. "So why couldn't you tell me this on the phone yesterday?"
Killian sighed and reached to scratch the back of his neck. "Emma would like to go, but she has some worries."
"About what?"
Killian let out a deep breath as his hands folded together again. "I don't expect you to change anything for your wedding to fit our needs, of course, but Emma isn't exactly ready to go public with the news yet."
Regina nodded silently and Killian continued on. "We only met just over a month ago. And we still need some time just to ourselves before the entire world knows about us. Emma is a waitress at a diner and a lounge singer during the weekends and to say that she is self-conscious about this is an understatement."
"What is it that you need help with?" Regina asked and Killian was honestly surprised that this was going so well.
Killian resituated himself in his chair and crossed his legs at the knees. "We just need to know if there will be some sort of privacy where we won't have to worry about our status being leaked to the world."
Regina nodded again. "To tell you the truth, you are not the only guest who has expressed concern over their privacy. With how the media is clamoring over my wedding, it's understandable. There will obviously be paparazzi trying to get in and sneak some shots. Even if my guests had no problem with those nuisances, I was not about to ruin my wedding day because of those fucking dogs."
Regina relaxed back in her chair, but continuing to sit up straight against the leather of her office chair. "So, I have already set up a security detail around the property that will be there for the entire day. From three hours before the wedding until three hours after the reception, no paparazzi will be able to set foot on the property. If they do, they will get taken down and be arrested for trespassing."
Regina cleared her throat and drank from her red thermos for a moment. Killian took the empty moment to calm his heart because she was helping them and he couldn't be happier that everything was falling into place.
For once in his life.
"The wedding photographer and everyone who will be working at the wedding-waiters, waitresses, caterer, the band, all of them-have signed NDAs," Regina explained and Killian raised his eyebrows for a moment because Regina was very serious about the privacy of her guests. "If any of them talk about the guests or their dates or anything, I can have them sued."
"What about your guests? They'll all see me with Emma and I can't have her be in disguise or anything."
Regina smirked. "My guests understand the importance of privacy. The only ones I would honestly worry about are my cousins. Since they aren't in show business, they don't exactly understand the need to keep things secret. But I've been planning to have a talk with them, since you aren't the only guest who wants to keep something secret. And well, if they decide to go against what I say, they'll just have to deal with me."
Damn.
Killian let out a deep breath and smiled as he looked across at Regina. "I'll talk to Emma tonight and I'll let you know how she feels."
Regina nodded and turned toward her computer. "Call me before eight. I have dinner with Robin and his son tonight and I don't want to be interrupted."
Killian nodded in understanding and swiftly stood from his chair. He pulled his phone from his pocket as he began to slowly walk to the door, noticing that Liam had texted him during his conversation with Regina.
"Oh and Killian?" Regina called just before Killian exited the office. He furrowed his eyebrows and turned back around to face Regina, confused because Regina never used his first name. "Congratulations."
Killian smiled, his heart warming at the simple statement, and he marched out of the office to head to Liam's for their Saturday lunch.
"I talked with Regina."
"What did she say?"
"Apparently she already has everything under control. All workers have signed NDAs and there's a security detail, so no paparazzi are getting into the party. And she'll be having a talk with her nosy cousins about not taking pictures of the guests."
"Aren't you worried about the cousins?"
"Not at all. They'll have to deal with Regina's wrath if they break their promise. That's a heavy punishment and nobody wants to face that."
"So is this happening then?"
"That's why I called. I just want to make sure you want to do this before I give Regina our word. You don't have to come if you don't want-"
"Killian, like I said yesterday, I want to come. I was just nervous. But it sounds like the Evil Queen has got everything under control. I want to go to the wedding."
"Alright. I'll call her now. In three weeks, we'll be attending the wedding of Regina Mills and Robin Locksley."
"Now comes the time for me to panic about what I'm wearing."
"I'm sure you'll still be the most beautiful woman there."
"Kiss ass."
"And it's a glorious ass to kiss."
"See you later?"
"Of course."
The week blew by quickly with Emma and Killian swamped with work and trying to sneak in short meetings with each other. Emma had dashed down Killian's attempt to visit her at the diner during one of his lunch breaks from filming, since she knew the crowd there and knew that they'd go crazy if a celebrity like Killian came strolling in.
And they'd go even more insane over the fact that he was Emma's soulmate.
They found time in the dark of the night to see each other, after the lounge closed and their drunken clientele staggered their way home. More often than not, Killian would crash at Emma's place, curling around Emma's back and pulling her close against him. It was in these moments that Emma allowed herself to face the fact that she was falling in love with him.
With how his throat would catch with a snore against her neck. With how he would wake up with his hair all disheveled and lines against his cheek from the pillow. With how his voice would be an octave deeper and he would brush a kiss against her cheek as he would leave to return to his apartment.
Especially with how he looked at her like she was absolutely everything, even though she was a lowly commoner to his royalty.
She would shake those thoughts away as soon as Killian left her apartment, urging herself to forget about that because she couldn't already be in love with the man. It had been a month and a half and that was not enough time to get to know someone. Especially someone who had his name up in lights and probably had more secrets than Emma. She would take a shower to help wash away the thoughts and would get ready for work, keeping herself busy to keep the thoughts at bay.
And that routine worked for Emma every day. That is, until Friday came and she sat in the bathroom to get ready for dinner at Mary Margaret and David's place, with Killian sitting on her bed just outside. As she looked at herself in the mirror-with only one cat-eye finished-she was reminded that he was meeting her friends that evening.
The friends whom she called family.
Emma planted her hands on either side of the sink and took deep breaths, keeping her eyes even with the matching stare in the mirror. God, she was falling in love with that man and she still had all of these fears about everything. She was afraid of the fame tearing them apart and of crazed fans sending her death threats and what if he grew tired of her and of supporting her-
"You alright in there, Swan?" Killian's voice called from just outside the door and Emma jumped, looking over at the door.
Emma cleared her throat and looked back at herself in the mirror. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"
"It's been almost twenty minutes. I was growing worried."
Emma's heart pounded and she smiled softly at herself. He cared, more truly and deeply than anybody ever had.
Everything will be fine, Emma told herself.
(She hoped it would be.)
"Makeup and hair takes a little while, Killian. Just give me a little longer," Emma replied and shook off her worries, leaning closer to the mirror as she held up her liquid eyeliner.
And true to her word, it took just a few minutes longer for Emma to exit the bathroom with her makeup bag in hand and her hair perfectly curled over her shoulders. She typically didn't dress up for these dinners, but it was their first one in a month and a half and she was introducing Killian to David and Victor. So Emma decided that she should at least try for once.
"Wow," Killian stated simply from the corner of Emma's bed, where he sat patiently with a gray zip-up hoodie in his arms.
Emma snorted as she walked over to her dresser and placed her makeup bag beside the television. "I'm not even dressed yet, Killian."
"You still look stunning, Emma," Killian responded and Emma could feel a blush rising on her cheeks.
"Well now it's time for you to shut your eyes while I get dressed," Emma murmured as she opened a drawer of her dresser and pulled out a thin white tank top and a pair of her favorite jeans.
"Of course," Killian replied and Emma heard the plop as Killian relaxed back on her bed.
Emma didn't turn around to check to see if he was actually covering his eyes (at this point, Emma didn't even care 'cause her libido was so high that a strong wind could probably cause her to come at this point). She stripped off her diner clothes and kicked them into the corner of the room, and then tugged on the clothes she had laid out for dinner. Once Emma had the tank top on, she told Killian that he was allowed to look again. Emma walked over to the closet as Killian sat up on the bed and she heard Killian murmur 'bloody hell' under his breath.
Emma looked over at him with the closet door open and raised her eyebrows. "What?"
"Please tell me you are not wearing only that scrap of clothing you call a shirt?"
Emma snorted and looked down and she suddenly realized Killian's issue with the shirt. He could clearly see the outline of her black lace bra through the thin white fabric. While it was quite fun playing with him, Emma knew that dinner was starting in a half hour and now was not the time to tease him.
"Please. David would have a conniption." Emma turned back around to grab a flannel shirt from the closet, which she shrugged on quickly and buttoned up the shirt up to the third button. "I wasn't kidding when I said he was like a father. Once during college, I allowed Ruby to dress me up for a party our sophomore year and she chose this red tube dress and David nearly had an aneurysm when he saw me in it. He threw a hoodie and sweatpants at me."
"I'm sure that was a sight to see," Killian said and Emma turned around, arranging her hair over the shirt again.
"Down boy," Emma taunted with a smile as she walked over to him, patting his shoulder. "We have to go soon and being late with sex hair would not make a good impression on David."
"What about Victor?"
Emma snorted and stepped away, going back to find her tall black boots in the corner of her closet. "He'd just give you a high five and ask you how it was."
Killian raised an eyebrow as he stood from the bed, shrugging his hoodie on. "Really?"
"Oh yeah. He and Ruby were definitely meant to be together, that's for sure."
Emma zipped her boots up and as she stood back up from the floor, Killian moved to stand in front of her. As she stood in her studio apartment, Emma was hypnotized by Killian's eyes (as she had been ever since she first saw him on TV) and was just so unable to believe that he was the one that the universe chose to be completely hers.
"Thank you for coming," Emma murmured softly, curling her hands in the soft material of his sweatshirt.
Killian smiled softly at Emma and gently ran his fingers down her cheek. "Of course, love. I wouldn't have missed it for the world."
Emma subconsciously leaned into his touch, chasing his hand as it began to fall away. Seeing Emma's want to be touched, Killian curled his hand to cup her cheek and his fingers tangled in the stray hairs from her curls.
"But still," Emma continued, looking up into his eyes and shocked-as always-to see the love and devotion behind them. "It means a lot to me that you're here for this. You may not be able to meet my parents, but my friends are like family to me."
Killian nodded. "I understand. I'll be on my best behavior tonight. I promise."
Emma smiled at him and leaned further into his touch. "Thank you."
Killian leaned in and pressed a gentle, soft kiss against her lips. Emma sighed against him and opened her lips just a bit, her hands tightening in the fabric of the sweatshirt. And just like every time they kissed, Emma's lips burned and tingled from the pressure of his lips against hers and it was something that Emma wanted to keep implanted in her memories for the rest of her life.
(Dear God, she was in deep with this man.)
"We should go," Killian murmured against Emma's lips, his hand moving down to thumb at the dent in her chin.
Emma nodded and pressed her forehead against his for just a moment. "I know. Before things get a little heavy."
Emma cleared her throat and pulled away, mentally shaking her head as she walked to the kitchen to grab the cherry pie Mary Margaret had asked her to make for the night (or pick up from the nearby grocery store because Emma did not have time to bake pie). When she returned with the container in her hands, Killian had his hood up and a six pack of beer in his hand. He had insisted on bringing something to the dinner that night, even though Emma reminded him quickly that two of the six people there were pregnant. He had let out a defeated sigh, but Emma told him that David and Victor would greatly appreciate the beer anyways.
The two of them walked down to the street together, tight against each other's sides. Emma dared to reach down between them and wrap her hand around Killian's, his hand a warm cradle around Emma's forever chilled skin. She glanced over at him and noticed Killian smiling under the shadow of his hood. It was during these moments in public that Emma felt safe displaying affection-with his face hidden and nobody aware of the fact that she was walking with American royalty.
"You're so cold," Killian murmured under his breath as they stood on the curb with Killian's hand in the air, the six pack swinging with the effort.
"You haven't noticed?" Emma asked as a cab slowly pulled to the curb in front of them.
"To be fair," Killian began and reluctantly let go of Emma's hand to open the car door to allow Emma in first, "most times we've touched, I've been rather distracted."
Emma rolled her eyes because he was such an ass but he was completely right. Emma slid into the cab and rested the pie on her lap while Killian joined her in the backseat. She stated the address to the driver, who quickly drove off toward the destination. Killian and Emma fell into a silence, mainly because Killian was nervous about talking loudly in public-in case a fan overheard him and recognized his voice. But as the driver pulled away from the curb, Emma reached for Killian's hand again and linked her fingers through the gaps between his. His thumb stroked her hand as the driver drove through the intricate city blocks and weaved around sluggish city buses.
Emma allowed herself to become lost in the warmth of Killian's hand and the warmth that he provides to her life. Things would have been vastly different if she hadn't run into him that day-if she had chosen to turn left instead of right outside of that Target. What if she had crossed the street and walked far away from the crowd of paparazzi nearby? What if they had met months, maybe years later?
They were soulmates-she was sure that someday, no matter what, they would've found each other. But how would she have reacted if it had taken another year or two for them to meet? Would she have been more open to him sooner, the pain of Neal's departure no longer a stinging wound in her heart? Or would she have run away, always the lost girl who was never wanted nor loved?
Would Killian have been just as patient, or would he have left like so many before him?
(Something told Emma that he would always wait for her.)
"We're here, love," Killian murmured quietly and Emma was jerked from her thoughts, turning her head to the right to see the bright lights of Mary Margaret and David's apartment building, standing out against the slowly darkening sky.
Killian tossed the money to the cab driver (which they had previously agreed on that they would swap turns on who pays) and he stepped out of the car. He offered a hand to Emma as she slid to the edge of the car and Emma graciously took it, stepping onto the curb and keeping the pie even in her free hand. Her hand remained in his as they walked into the apartment and took the stairs up to the second story. Emma dragged Killian down the hall after they reached the second floor and they walked to the very far side of the hallway, where apartment 103 was placed with a giant oak door. Emma glanced over at Killian and rubbed her thumb against Killian's hand. Killian looked over at her and smiled politely, raising their joined hands and pressing a kiss against the back of Emma's hand.
"Ready?" Emma asked, exhaling shakily because David had to like him and everything would fall apart if he didn't-
"Of course."
Emma turned the door knob and entered the large apartment, seeing Ruby holding a full wine glass while talking with Victor in the front room. Ruby immediately turned around to the noise of the door opening and a wide smile spread across her face as she hurried to her friend and wrapped Emma in a tight hug.
"I was wondering when you two would get here," Ruby said to Emma as she pulled away and took a hearty sip from her wine glass.
"Ruby, you are literally eight months pregnant. What are you doing with the wine?"
"Oh calm down, Ems. It's just grape juice," Ruby replied as she took another sip and stepped over to give Killian a tight hug, which appeared to have caught him by surprise. "And it's great to see you again, Killian. It seems like you get more attractive every time I see you."
"And to you as well," Killian spoke while a blush tinged the tips of his ears and held up the beer when Ruby pulled away. "I couldn't come empty-handed, although I must admit that I forgot that you and Mary Margaret wouldn't be able to drink."
"We'll just drink enough for the both of them. And I'll take that," Victor spoke up, not even fazed by the fact that a TV star was standing just a foot in front of him, and took the case from Killian's hand. "I'm Victor, Ruby's husband."
"I suspect you know who I am," Killian said as he shook Victor's offered hand firmly.
Victor smiled and laughed, wrapping an arm around Ruby's waist and tugging her closely. "This one can't keep a secret to save her life. And, well, you're kinda famous."
"Hey!" Ruby exclaimed and elbowed Victor in the side, to which he laughed at. "I didn't tell Granny, did I?"
"You better not have," Emma stated and moved the pie into her other hand. "I don't want to deal with her wrath if she finds out about it and I didn't tell her."
"You better tell her soon. She's gonna want to grill him and you know it," Ruby said and took another drink of her grape juice.
"Speaking of grilling," Emma said as she sighed and began to step around Ruby while looking over at Killian, "I need to talk to David before he has the chance to interrogate you." Emma placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder, covered by a red cable-knit sweater, and leaned over to her ear. "And for the love of God, take it easy on him."
Victor snorted as Emma pulled away from the group with the pie in her hands. "I don't think Ruby has that setting."
Emma chuckled under her breath as she hears Ruby smack Victor's shoulder with the back of her hand. But Emma left them be as she walked around the TV stand propped against the wall that was shared with the kitchen and turned quickly through the archway that was immediately around the corner. Emma slid the pie's container onto a nearby counter and turned to the right to walk through the small kitchen and step into the dining room, where David and Mary Margaret were setting up the table. They were laughing at something that had just been said between the two of them and Mary Margaret's hand fell to her slowly growing baby bump as she noticed Emma enter the room.
"Oh you're here!" Mary Margaret spoke excitedly and hurried from the opposite end of the table to hug Emma. Emma's hands fell on Mary Margaret's back, feeling the soft chiffon of her emerald button-down and smelling the overwhelming stench of that perfume David got her (that Emma secretly hated, but she wasn't about to tell that to a pregnant woman who was full of hormones). "When did you get here?"
"Like two minutes ago," Emma responded and Mary Margaret pulled away to allow David to hug Emma. "Killian's in the living room with Ruby and Victor."
"You're sure that was a good idea?" Mary Margaret asked with a gentle smile spreading on her lips.
Emma snorted as she pulled away from David and ran her hands over her now-wrinkly shirt. "I told them to play nice."
"I don't think they even know what that means," David murmured while chuckling and Mary Margaret laughed as she moved back to the opposite end of the table to finish setting up the plates and silverware for dinner. "Let's hope they don't scare Killian off."
Emma rolled her eyes as she tucked her hands into her back pockets. "Killian can hold his own against them. It's you that I'm worried about."
David gasped and placed his hand on his chest, as if he was shocked that Emma was so worried about him. "Me?"
"David, for once in the eight years that I've known you, can you just not interrogate the guy that I'm seeing?" Emma asked (or pleaded, really). "He's a good guy and doesn't treat me like dirt. I just really care about him and he cares about me, so can you at least try to not freak him out?"
"Do you think I'd honestly do that, Emma?" David asked and with how the mirth faded from his eyes after Emma spoke, she could tell that he genuinely did not mean any harm. "Emma, he's your soulmate. I'm not going to ruin that for you just because I'm protective of you. Since you like him, I'll like him. I promise."
"Like you liked Neal?"
"Neal was a completely different story," David explained, placing his hands on Emma's shoulders. "You loved him, but I just got a weird vibe from him. He was always kinda dodgy and he said 'dude' way too much. Guy was a stoner, Ems."
"Yeah well, Killian isn't Neal, so no interrogating."
Killian wasn't Neal.
Emma smiled internally because he wasn't Neal. And with how David's face lit up and how Mary Margaret looked like she was about to start crying, they noticed what Emma said too. And with how Emma had been stuck on Neal's betrayal for the past three years, avoiding love and all that it meant, it meant everything to them that she was admitting that Killian wasn't Neal.
David smiled simply and nodded. "No interrogating." David allowed his hands to fall from Emma's shoulders and Emma let out a deep breath. "But Emma, if this guy is a Steelers fan, we're gonna have some problems."
Emma rolled her eyes because of course David found all Steelers fans to be "morally bankrupt," as he told Neal during the first few years they dated. Emma suspected that that was one of the reasons that he didn't like Neal; Neal was a huge Steelers fan.
"Now I'm gonna go back to Killian before Ruby traumatizes him with some story about me from college-"
"Like the one about how you puked in the middle of the 300-person lecture hall the day after your 21st birthday?"
Emma felt her face burn and she quickly hurried out of the dining room with David laughing in the background and Mary Margaret smacking him on the shoulder. She was preparing herself to see Killian hurrying out of the front door because Ruby really did not know how to keep her mouth shut and she would totally tell him that story and he probably wouldn't even be able to look at her the same way ever again-
"And she just bleeeggghhh all over her desk and there was this collective gasp from the entire lecture hall and I was mortified, let me tell you, and I had told her that morning to not go to her eight am lecture because she was so hungover but she clearly doesn't listen to me and-"
"Ruby!" Emma hissed when she walked into the living room and of course David had to be right and Ruby had to be telling that God-forsaken story and God this was horrifying-
"What?" Ruby asked as she looked at Emma from where Ruby sat on the sofa next to Victor, while Killian sat on the loveseat beside the sofa and listened intently. "He wanted to hear about some of your stories, so I was just merely obliging."
"So you choose the most embarrassing one?!"
"Um duh," Ruby replied, as if her choice was completely obvious. "He's hearing the worst of your stories now so when something just as bad happens, he won't be scared."
Emma threw her head back to stare at the ceiling because this was not happening. They hadn't been there ten minutes and Ruby was already embarrassing the hell out of her and she just wanted to curl into a ball and never come out again-
"Oh it's alright, love. I have my fair share of embarrassing stories as well," Killian stated and Emma dropped her head back down to look at him, to see the way he was smiling at her and his eyes twinkling with adoration.
She was already so deep with this man.
"Actually," Killian began saying, crossing his legs at the knees while relaxing against the leather loveseat, "our first table read for Never Landing actually ended almost exactly the same way."
Ruby gasped and wiggled excitedly on the couch, while Victor laughed next to her and said, "I've got to hear about this."
Killian turned to Ruby and Victor and began speaking animatedly about how the night before his first table read for the fresh new show he had just been cast in, his older brother decided that it would be a great idea to celebrate by going on a bar crawl and getting him "absolutely bloody pissed." And as Killian told the story, Emma sat beside him on the loveseat, just completely struck by him because he noticed how embarrassed she was by the story and decided to tell his own embarrassing story.
God, he actually cared and it didn't scare her and she just wanted to kiss those lips and taste his laughter on her tongue, not caring about who was around because there was no reason to hide around her friends-
"Well the table is set," Mary Margaret spoke from the archway that led into the kitchen, with David standing beside her. "Are you all ready for dinner?"
Ruby groaned loudly as she stood from the couch, with the assistance of Victor because her pregnant belly was getting out of control. "Oh yeah. I'm starving."
Emma quickly stood and dragged Killian up with her, her hand tight around his. She walked with him over to Mary Margaret and David and she took a deep breath as she took note of David's stance, his arms crossed over his chest and his jaw set.
"Hello, Mary Margaret," Killian greeted her friend and quickly leaned in to press a kiss to her cheek. "You look radiant tonight."
"And you look very handsome," Mary Margaret replied as Killian leaned back. She leaned toward David and pressed a hand to his upper arm. "And this is David."
"David, this is Killian," Emma spoke, her voice weak and God she really shouldn't be so nervous because David promised he'd take it easy on Killian but she just couldn't help it at this point.
Killian stepped forward and offered his hand while saying, "It's nice to meet you, David."
And for one miserable moment that felt like an eternity, David just stared at Killian, as if he was sizing him up for some sort of competition. Emma's heart pounded because what the hell was he doing and she could almost feel Killian's nerves skyrocket because David just wasn't making any motion to shake Killian's hand-
"Nice to meet you too, Killian Jones," David finally said after what felt like hours of just silence. He reached for Killian's hand and firmly shook it, letting go after a second or two. "Now, Killian Jones, who's your favorite football team?"
Jesus Christ, he was already going to do this? He couldn't just let it be for another twenty minutes or something? And Emma didn't even warn Killian about how David was very religious about his New York Giants and this was going to end poorly-
"New York Giants, of course," Killian responded and Emma's heart damn near exploded out of her chest.
A wide smile spread across David's face, nearly reaching his ears, and clapped a hand on Killian's shoulder while letting out a laugh. "I think we're going to get along just fine, Killian Jones."
Oh Jesus.
For the next few hours, they all sat around the large dining table at Mary Margaret and David's apartment, eating and laughing together as if they were a large family. Mary Margaret made a dinner fit for an army (one thing she learned from Granny when she, Emma, and Ruby had spent a long winter break during their senior year of college), a large pot roast with salad and roasted potatoes for sides. The dishes were passed around the table, each person taking what they wanted from the serving platters and immediately digging in.
Killian seemed to be overjoyed by Mary Margaret's dinner, eagerly eating everything that was sat in front of him. Emma laughed to herself as she watched Killian shovel pot roast and steamed carrots into his mouth. He caught her staring at him (of course he did) and a blush traveled up to the tips of his ears while he scratched the spot behind his ear.
"I suppose I should be just a little bit more elegant?" Killian muttered to Emma quietly, leaning over his chair to speak into her ear.
Emma huffed out a silent laugh and smiled, turning her head to look at Killian. "Just a little bit. It looks like you haven't eaten in a week."
"With my workout schedule, it feels like it's been that long."
"What is your workout schedule like?" Victor asked curiously from directly across Killian, slicing into the meat with his knife and fork. "To keep in shape like that for such a huge TV show, how do you do it?"
"A lot of discipline and also a very large calorie intake," Killian replied simply, stabbing a potato with his fork and quickly shoveling it into his mouth. "I've been slacking a bit on my workouts recently, to be honest."
Emma stared down at her plate because it was not news to her that she was the reason that Killian had been neglecting his workout duties as of recently. And it seemed as though Ruby knew that very fact as well because she snickered from across the table and Emma looked up to see Ruby raising her eyebrows and sipping from her grape juice in the wine glass.
"Oh I bet you have," Ruby murmured into the glass and Emma reached her feet under the table to quickly stomp on Ruby's foot.
Which naturally Ruby dodged.
(Fucking wolf senses.)
"Ruby!" Mary Margaret hissed at her spot beside Ruby and Emma, sitting at the head of the table. "Not appropriate."
"Jesus, you two," Emma grumbled, her face turning a bright red as she looked up at her two closest friends. She loved them to death, but dear God they would probably cause her to die prematurely just from embarrassment.
"Yeah I'm with Emma," David added on, at the opposite head of the table and beside Killian and Victor. "Let's not talk about that."
"Agreed," Killian murmured under his breath to Emma because even though he and David were getting along magnificently, he didn't want to tempt the man into strangling him to death for something that has yet to actually happen.
"How about you two tell the story of how you met?" Ruby asked as she placed her glass back down and reached over the table to put more potatoes onto her plate.
"You guys already know the story," Emma replied.
"Not me and Victor," David interjected, folding his hands over his now-full stomach. "What's the story?"
And Emma smiled as she recounted the story to David and Victor, butterflies fluttering in her stomach like they did whenever she just saw Killian. Their hands wrapped together in between the arm rests of the dining chairs and her heart swelled because she never thought she would have this life, with a soul mate at her side and surrounded by her family. Killian smiled at her as his thumb rubbed against her hand, as if he knew what was going through her mind.
(And he probably did.)
(After all, she was an open book to him.)
"How completely in character of Emma," Victor stated and Ruby smacked his shoulder, leading him to let out a loud 'ow.' "Damn. Sorry."
"How about you and Ruby tell your story?" Emma asked, raising an eyebrow at Ruby.
"Easy. I cut my hand on some broken glass at Granny's diner and I went to the ER and he was my doctor."
Emma smiled as she quickly remembered the story of how Ruby cut her hand. "Ah ah ah. You're forgetting a part. You got cut because you fell while serving a glass of water and cut your hand when you landed on the broken glass. And you fell because you were-"
"Checking out the new waiter," Ruby muttered under her breath and sipped on her grape juice again.
"How completely in character of Ruby," David murmured and sipped on his bottle of beer (from Killian's six pack that he brought along).
"What about a story from you and Mary Margaret, mate?" Killian spoke up at last, his hand continuing to hold Emma's.
"Oh our meeting was as plain as it comes," David replied, twirling the beer bottle in his hand. "But our engagement was quite the story."
Emma's heart lurched at the memory because to this day, it still hurt to think about the circumstances surrounding their engagement. But David and Mary Margaret met eyes and she knew that they were going to launch into the story. Emma's hand tightened within Killian's and he squeezed back, the warmth of his hand flowing through her hand and toward her heart, where it settled as David opened his mouth to speak.
"It was the year after we graduated from college. We were living together in this small studio apartment a few blocks from here"-to which Ruby, Emma, and Mary Margaret laughed at because they had some fantastic memories at that apartment-"but it didn't matter because we were at least together.
"There was this ring that I had been saving up for at least a year and I had finally gotten it," David continued, his eyes darting up to meet Mary Margaret's from across the table. "And when I got home that night, I was gonna propose. But my mom called me and she was sick at the time and she wanted me to come see her, so I packed a bag and kissed Mary Margaret good bye and flew to my mom's beach house in the Bahamas. While I was there, which was only for a week, I had my phone off because it would've been too expensive to use it anyways so I just kept it off. And when I got home, that when I saw all of the voicemails that I had. Turned out that Mary Margaret had fallen into a coma the day after I left and the hospital had been trying to get ahold of me the entire time."
David sighed and Emma's hand tightened in Killian's because even though everything ended up perfectly well in the end, Emma hated remembering the time that she almost lost a friend that she called a sister. "The doctors were completely flabbergasted and had no idea what caused or if she would even wake up. All they could do was monitor her and keep her comfortable. Once I got the voicemails, I drove straight to the hospital and they showed me where she was. And I was just terrified because she was wired up to all of these things, just asleep and nobody knew why.
"I stood there, looking at her and just afraid because I didn't know what was going to happen. She was my soul mate and she was in a coma that no one could figure out. And she had this huge thing covering her mouth to help her breath, in case something happened. And I just couldn't stop myself from leaning over and kissing her forehead."
"And I woke up while he kissed me," Mary Margaret spoke as she stood from her dining chair, walking around the table to slip into David's lap. "He didn't waste another minute before pulling the ring out of his pocket and asking me to marry him. The doctors were completely confused and chalked it all up to magic. We called it our True Love's Kiss."
"And we got married a year later," David continued with a smile, looking up at Mary Margaret and moving his hand to rest over her growing baby bump. "And we're starting a family and I didn't think I'd have this because I thought I would never see her again."
Mary Margaret ducked her head and kissed David, which honestly grew a little out of hand quite quickly with Mary Margaret moaning against David's mouth-
"Hey hey hey. This is like watching my parents kiss," Emma whined, laughing gently to hide the thickness in her throat. Mary Margaret and David pulled apart, while Mary Margaret turned bright red.
"Have you seen your parents? Watching them kiss was probably actually traumatizing," Ruby joked and Emma kicked her from underneath the table.
"And thank you Mary Margaret and David for making me feel inadequate as a soul mate," Victor teased, patting Mary Margaret's arm.
"Hey, it's not our fault you proposed with a prescription pad," David teased Victor while running his hand down Mary Margaret's cheek.
Emma snickered under her breath because that was a story which Ruby had complained about for months following her engagement. The idea was cute, but Ruby was more of a hot-air-balloon-and-fireworks kind of girl. In the end, Ruby was happy that she was engaged (of course), but it took her some time to get over "will you marry me?" on a prescription pad.
"Is this how most of your gatherings are?" Killian asked quietly as he leaned over to whisper in Emma's ear.
"Not exactly," Emma responded with a smile. "We're missing a vulgar comment from Ruby, a statement about hope or optimism from Mary Margaret, some sort of fatherly lecture from David, and David threatening you if you break my heart."
"Well we already got the vulgar comment-"
Emma snorted and shook her head at Killian. "Oh no. That was tame. You'll know when it's the vulgar comment because there will be a collective groan from everybody and Victor covering his face."
"Who's ready for Emma's cherry pie?" Mary Margaret asked the group as she began to stand from David's lap.
"Oh I'm sure Killian has had a bite or two of that," Ruby spoke and there was a simultaneous groan from the group. David muttered to himself about how he didn't want to hear that and Mary Margaret walked around the table to smack Ruby's shoulder.
Emma dropped her face into her hand, matching Victor's pose from across the table, and Killian leaned over to her again. "Was that the vulgar comment?"
"Oh yeah."
"Figured as much."
Emma stood from her chair and Killian quickly joined her, running his hand along her lower back as they began to walk toward the kitchen, where everyone else had already gone. Even with layers of clothes blocking her skin from his touch, Emma could feel the electricity sparking. It was as if her body was coming alive just from the small touch of his hand against her lower back.
A half hour or so later, Emma helped David carry in the dirty plates from their dessert. She left Killian in the living room with Mary Margaret, Ruby, and Victor, and she was hoping that it wouldn't be a mistake. She wished that Ruby had already had enough of embarrassing her that night and that Ruby would finally just let her be. But Killian still hadn't run out of the apartment screaming, so Emma figured that things were going relatively well.
There was a clatter against the counter when David returned from the dining room with a pile of plates, silverware, and glasses, placing them on the laminate countertop. "Go on back to the living room. I'll clean up."
"No, no, no," Emma replied quickly, taking a dirty plate from the pile and turning on the water to begin cleaning. "You and Mary Margaret cooked. Let me clean."
"How about you wash and I'll put them into the dishwasher?"
Emma sighed and gave in. "Sure."
David smiled and moved to the side to open the dishwasher while Emma began washing the dishes, tuning out the quiet chatter coming from the living room.
"I like him," David told Emma as she handed him the first clean plate. "He seems like a good guy."
Emma nodded as she scrubbed a sponge against the next plate. "He is."
"And he obviously cares about you," David continued. "You should see the way he looks at you."
Emma's heart pounded because she wasn't clueless about the way Killian looked at her. She had caught him every once in a while, staring at her like she was the only light in his life. It would make her stomach erupt in butterflies and tears spring to her eyes because nobody ever looked at her in that way. None of her endless foster families, not Diane, and not even Neal.
"Shit, even the way you look at him. It's meant to be."
"Not all soul mates work out, David," Emma told David as she handed off the plate. "Look at my parents. Diane makes my dad's life hell and they're soul mates."
"Don't say that. You two will work out. You love him, right?"
Emma let out a deep breath and nibbled on her bottom lip. She didn't know if she loved him. She knew that she cared more about him than she had about anyone else in a long time and that she was definitely falling in love with him. But Emma didn't know if she was in love yet. There was still an insecurity looming over Emma's head, telling her that it wouldn't last and that 'soul mates' didn't always mean forever and that he'd eventually tire of her.
No, loving him would give him the power to completely shatter her heart.
Emma shrugged wordlessly and David sighed as she handed him another plate. "Emma, don't do that. Don't start doing that silent thing when I know you're overthinking everything. Do you love him?"
"I don't know," Emma hissed out and dropped the sponge into the sink, where the final plate rests, along with the glasses and silverware. "I don't know if I do. It's only been a month and a half at this point."
David raised his eyebrows as he took the somewhat-cleaned plate from the dirty water in the sink and put it into the dishwasher. "Sounds like you're panicking."
Emma huffed and began furiously washing off the glasses and silverware. "David, I'm not dealing with your shit right now."
David sighed and took the handful of silverware from Emma's hands and put it into the dishwasher. "Fine. But you know if you do love him and he breaks your heart, I'll castrate him myself."
Emma snorted as she put the glasses on the top tier of the dishwasher. "Oh really?"
David nodded as he shut the dishwasher and turned the dial for it to begin running. "Yep. I'll cut off his balls, shove them down his throat, cut off his dick, and then beat him to death with it."
Emma raised her eyebrows and leaned against the counter behind her. "Nice to know you have my back."
David placed his hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Always will."
And that's when Emma heard it. Her very own singing voice, singing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." Sonofabitch.
Emma hurriedly marched out of the kitchen and into the living room, turning to see her friends and Killian blasting her old Youtube from the television, thanks to the laptop that was hooked up to the TV. She watched as her little eighteen-year-old self sang on the stage of the largest lecture hall at NYU. Emma almost couldn't bear watching it, but when she looked over at Killian, he seemed to be completely entranced by her singing.
Once the song ended, Emma placed her hands on her hips and stared at Mary Margaret, Ruby, and Victor. "What the hell are you guys doing?"
"Showing Killian some of your old Youtube channel," Ruby replied immediately, sliding her empty wine glass onto the nearby end table. "He did say that he enjoyed hearing you sing."
Emma sighed because of course Killian said that, which did not embarrass him in the slightest as he met Emma's gaze and smirked. "Well, if you're gonna show him some songs, choose the good ones, at least."
Emma walked over to the loveseat, where Killian was sitting. He scooted over just a little bit for Emma to sit down beside him. Emma stole the wireless keyboard and mouse from Ruby's hands and quickly scrolled through the other videos she had posted all those years ago. She hadn't put one up ever since Neal left and Emma had honestly completely forgotten about the channel.
But with how Killian smiled whenever she sang, she couldn't deny him this.
They spent the next hour just looking through the videos on the channel and Emma really had forgotten about how many videos she had posted in five years. A great many of them featured Ruby and Mary Margaret singing background for her (surprisingly, Mary Margaret really was quite the rapper), and a few random friends from college that she had lost touch with over the years.
Whenever Emma glanced over at Killian, all she could see was his smile. She wrapped her hand around his as they sat together on the couch, watching her old awkward singing videos. Emma groaned when her bang phase came on the screen in the form of at least twenty videos and Killian tugged her close, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pressing a kiss to her temple. It made her happy to see that he seemed to be gaining some sort of pleasure out of her pain.
Soon, midway through the video of Emma singing "If I Were A Boy," she dug her face into Killian's shoulder because she didn't think she could handle any more embarrassment. Killian chuckled under his breath and ran his hand over Emma's shoulder.
"They aren't bad, Emma," Killian murmured into Emma's hair. "You're very talented."
"It's like my past is coming back and punching me in the face," Emma groaned out.
"It's a blessing that you haven't seen the home videos of me when puberty hit," Killian replied, chuckling again. "That was a rough time."
"But do they exist?" Emma asked, sitting back up to look at Killian with raised eyebrows.
Killian gently laughed under his breath as he scratched behind his ear. "I shouldn't have told you that."
"Probably not," Emma snickered out.
And just like that, her past came back to haunt her.
"Hey, Ems! How about you sing me a song?"
Emma froze and jerked to look at the television screen, seeing his face across the screen. Everybody looked over at Emma, gauging her reaction. Even Killian could sense that something was wrong as he looked at her struggling to hold back tears.
"Oh come on, Neal. I'm tired. I had a long day-"
"Please?"
Emma watched her twenty-three year old self crawl into bed beside Neal and he turned his camera to aim it down at them, recording Emma as she began to sing "Halo." Her entire body was shaking because she hadn't thought deeply about Neal since at least a month ago and now, he was right in front of her.
The video called back memories of breakfast in bed and giggling as he tickled her senseless. She remembered jumping into his arms after they were officially graduates from college and celebrating all night long in their small apartment (where Emma still lived). She remembered how he liked his coffee black and how he would snore like a fucking freight train.
She remembered the heart-stabbing pain when he left her that night three years ago.
Emma didn't waste another moment before hurrying off the couch and rushing down the hall, going into Mary Margaret and David's bedroom and throwing the door closed behind her. She ignored Mary Margaret's calls of her name and locked the door as soon as it shut, needing her privacy because her past had to come back and punch her in the face, just as she joked with Killian not two minutes earlier. Whenever she thought she was happy and perfectly content, life had to knock her to the ground and kick her in the ribs.
There, she collapsed on the bench in front of Mary Margaret and David's bed, dropped her head into her hands, and cried.
The room was silent and Killian's thoughts were pounding in his head. He didn't know who the man was on the television, whose face was frozen in a smile on the screen when Ruby hastily paused the video after Emma's exit. But he recognized the look on her face as one that he's had many a time, whenever something reminded him of Milah. She was haunted by this ghost of her past, just like Killian was.
"Well shit," Victor muttered under his breath as he brought his beer bottle up to his lips.
"Emma," David said as he walked down the hallway, disappearing into the shadows as he stopped at the door. Killian couldn't hear exactly what he was saying, but it sounded like David was trying to get Emma to open the door, to come back out and act as if nothing had happened.
But Killian understood her pain and her panic and knew that acting as if it never happened would not solve anything.
Killian stood from the couch and ran his hands over his jeans as he walked down the hall, placing his hand on David's shoulder and nodding at him.
"She locked the door. I don't think she wants to talk to anybody," David told Killian.
"Give me a moment," Killian replied and David nodded silently, returning back to the living room and leaving Killian in the dark hallway.
Killian cleared his throat and stepped closer to the door, hearing Emma's sobs through the thick wood. His heart wrenched because he didn't like hearing her cry like that. He didn't want her to be in pain.
"Emma, love, I'm not going to tell you to open the door or to come back out because I know you're upset," Killian began saying, taking a deep breath. "All I'm going to say is that I understand. I may not know who that man is, but I can see that he's causing you pain and I want you to know that I understand what you're feeling. And that if you ever feel like talking, I'm right here. And I'm not leaving."
The crying had subsided and Killian wondered what was going on on the other side of that door. But as soon as he thought that, he heard the click of the doorknob turning and unlocking. He looked as the door cracked open and he took that as a sign for him to come into the bedroom. Killian stepped into the room and shut the door behind him, staring down at Emma, with tear tracks down her cheeks.
He didn't waste a moment before wrapping Emma in his arms and pulling her close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as she sighed deeply in his arms. They just stood there for what seemed like hours, just swaying to a silent tune and listening to the bustling city outside of the building.
"I'm sorry about that," Emma muttered into his shoulder.
"Don't worry about it, love," Killian replied, tightening his arms around her. "Like I said before, I understand. You don't have to explain it to me."
"But I want to, Killian," Emma said as she pulled away and took a deep breath, crossing her arms over her chest as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. "His name was Neal. We started dating my sophomore year of college and I fell head over heels in love with him."
Emma moved back and sat down on the edge of the bench in front of the bed, Killian moving forward with each of her steps backward. She took another deep breath and Killian noticed how her arms tightened around herself. "We were happy. Even though we weren't soul mates, we loved each other. Or…at least I loved him."
And Killian understood. Soul mates weren't an easy guarantee to happiness. Even though the phenomenon was relatively rare, there were still many documented soul mate couples who don't stay together. Whether it be irreconcilable differences or some sort of betray of trust, not all soul mates remain together.
And with the soul mate thing not being a guarantee and even remaining with said soul mate an even worse possibility, many people just settle with those they fall in love with, not caring on whether or not they were soul mates. Killian had that with Milah and it seemed as though Emma had that with Neal. Killian would not fault Emma for falling in love with a man who wasn't her soul mate, especially since Killian had done the exact same thing with Milah. But his heart still twinged with jealousy at the thought of Emma with another man.
But she was happy with Neal, so Killian could not be angry.
"We lived together after we graduated. For a year," Emma continued, sighing. "And I thought we were happy. But the night after that stupid video was filmed, Neal went out for a pack of cigarettes and never came back."
Emma sighed again as she stood up, her toes brushing Killian's as she stepped forward. She kept her head down as she continued speaking. "I didn't hear from him for two weeks. Two weeks. I thought he had fucking died or something ridiculous. After the third day, I called the cops to file a missing person's report. But they quickly called that off when they saw his bank statement, seeing that Neal was perfectly alive and buying food and clothes all over Mt. Vernon." Emma shrugged, defeated. "I just figured he had grown tired of me, just like everyone else in my life had.
"But then after those two weeks, I get a postcard. A fucking postcard. From Tallahassee. And all it said was 'sorry. Met my soul mate. Don't hate me.' Three years and all I got was a fucking postcard."
If Killian ever had the displeasure of meeting Neal, he was going to punch the ponce right in the teeth.
"The man who I loved up and left me the moment he met his soul mate. So I thought 'hmm I probably just don't deserve to have anybody so let's not even try anymore,'" Emma continued, wrenching her hand through her loose curls. "And that's why I ran the first time I met you, because I didn't want this because I thought it would all fall apart. My parents are soul mates and my mother is this controlling bitch toward my father, who doesn't deserve that. They'd be better off not being together, so I thought that's how it would be between the two of us."
Emma's chin began to quiver and Killian just wanted to hold her close again, to shield her from her pain. But he knew that she was not done, so all he did was take her hands in his and rub his thumbs across her skin.
"But it didn't turn out that way and everything's better than I expected and I was actually happy until that fucking video came back into my life and it just reminded me that I can't always be happy-"
"Emma," Killian said as he moved his hands to cup her face, running his thumbs against the apples of her cheeks, "you can be happy. You helped me accept my past and use it to grow. You helped me not be haunted by Milah's ghost. So, I'm here to help you and to tell you that Neal is a bloody wanker and I'd gladly punch him in the family jewels if I ever met him."
Emma laughed and it was such a glorious sound to him that Killian couldn't stop himself from leaning down and kissing her. Her laughter turned into a moan as his tongue swiped across her lower lip and she reciprocated in kind, her hands twisting around the fabric of his hoodie and pulling him closer to her. They stood there together, kissing each other as their breathing grew heavy, and it felt as though they were meant to be together. That they wouldn't be just some other couple that didn't make it.
Killian was determined to make sure that they would make it, as long as Emma wanted him.
"Can we go home?" Emma asked against her lips, her voice hoarse.
Killian nodded because he did not trust his voice and wrapped his hand around Emma's to tug her out of the room. They didn't spend long saying their goodbyes-Killian only shaking hands with Victor and David as Emma hugged Mary Margaret and Ruby. He could see the concern on their faces, watching Emma as if she was a cannon loaded for fire. He didn't appreciate how they were treating her like she was a bomb, treading lightly around her in case she decided to explode. Emma had demons in her past, just like anybody else in the world, and he wanted to keep her safe from them.
Killian protectively put his arm over Emma's shoulders and she waved goodbye as David opened the apartment door for them, giving Killian one last stern look before they left. It didn't take them long to catch a cab and return back to Emma's apartment with Killian's hood drawn tight around his head. Emma kept tight hold of his hand in between her cold ones as they entered the apartment building and traveled their way up to her apartment. There was only silence between them, words not needing to be spoken after Emma's confession to Killian. He knew that she was still vulnerable and that she would be until she accepted the fact that Neal happened and that he had no control over her life anymore.
Killian still had that problem with Milah to this day.
But it became gradually easier to handle with Emma at his side.
And he hoped that he could ease Emma's trouble with his constant presence.
They entered Emma's apartment and not a moment after Emma flipped the deadbolt to lock her door, Emma jumped into Killian's arms and kissed him, as though it would be the last thing she ever did. Although Killian knew that this was Emma's way of deterring the conversation, he couldn't stop himself from wrapping his hands tightly around her thighs to keep her up and from carrying her over to the bed that they shared.
Killian placed Emma on the bed and hovered over her, continuing to kiss her as she wrapped her legs around his hips. Killian dropped from his hands down to his elbows just to be closer to Emma, his hips dropping against Emma's core and he reveled in how Emma sharply inhaled and pressed herself closer. Emma swept her tongue against his and he groaned and he was losing this battle with his self-control.
But then Emma's lips tightened against his and that's when he heard it.
A sniffle.
Killian pulled back and saw tear tracks down Emma's cheeks. "Oh Emma."
He moved off of Emma and pulled her into his arms, stroking her hair and pressing kisses against the skin he could reach. She sniffled against his shoulder as she gripped his hoodie tightly in her hands and he wished he could take away all her pain. It physically pained Killian when he saw her cry and suffer over an ex-boyfriend who hurt her in ways that Killian couldn't imagine.
Milah did not choose to leave Killian. Neal chose to leave Emma without a word. And Killian could not understand the pain that must accompany that knowledge.
"Could you sing for me?" Emma asked, her voice muffled against his shirt.
"Of course," Killian responded at once. And it didn't take him long to figure out what song he wanted to sing for her.
Killian cleared his throat and began to sing "You And Me" by Lifehouse as he held Emma tightly in his arms, keeping her safe from the darkness in her mind. His soft voice carried throughout the small apartment and Emma's sniffles slowly faded away as he sang. She began to hum along under her breath as Killian sang the lyrics of one of his favorite songs and Killian smiled because his Emma was back.
(At least for now.)
Something about you now
I can't quite figure out
Everything she does is beautiful
Everything she does is right
'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do, nothing to lose
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off of you
And as the song slowly drifted to a close, Emma's face pulled away from Killian's shoulder and she looked up at him with watery eyes.
"Did you mean it?" Emma asked simply. "The song? Did you mean it?"
"Every word."
Emma smiled politely and Killian pressed a small peck to her lips, pulling her closer to him and slowly falling asleep with his arms around her.