Twenty five
Emma blushed again, uncontrollably, because of those three words. His voice was so close to her ear, it drove her crazy. She could even feel his breath softly brushing against her neck. How could one endure that?! Emma averted her eyes, the blood rushing to her cheeks. Killian chuckled lightly from her reaction and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
"Blushing already, Emma? So cute..."
"You're the one making me like this!" She protested shyly.
"Then I must be doing something right because you look adorable that way."
Emma tried to push him away a little, knowing she would never be able to regain her composure otherwise. He smiled and stopped with the kisses, though, he clearly had no intention of letting go of her hand. Instead, he took a step back and observed her from head to toe with a pleased look. He even raised his arm, gesturing for her to slowly spin.
"You are truly beautiful tonight."
Emma smiled at him and took a step closer again.
"You, too. I love the beard." She whispered, brushing her fingers against the little spikes on his chin.
"I'll remember that," He said and kissed her fingers as soon as they were close enough to his lips. "... Come."
Still holding her hand, Killian took her to the table and helped her to take her seat like a gentleman. She took her arms out of the sleeves of her coat, still allowing it to rest on her shoulders. Next to them, a small brazier was burning, slowly warming p the air around them, but it wasn't enough. Killian grabbed a blanket from out of nowhere, laying it over her legs.
Despite the cold, Emma was loving everything. There were having a candlelit dinner on the deck of a boat mid December... She did not even realise that the ship had started moving, but they were slowly getting farther and farther away from the port. They were headed towards the vast sea, leaving Storybrooke's city lights behind them. Emma wondered if they had a set destination. Either way, she was just overwhelmed by everything so far. Even some of the most romantic movies she had watched with Blue never had something similar! It was something out of a fairy tale, and she felt like she might wake up any minute.
But she was very much awake when Killian opened up a bottle of french Champagne. God, Emma hoped there weren't too many alcoholic beverages planned since she didn't have any experience with it. All she had ever had was a few beers bought by some of the nicer regular customers in the pub she use to work in, and she didn't really care for the taste. Now she was being served a glass of Champagne, probably very expensive, too. However, Killian purposely only gave her a half glass compared to what he poured into his own, making her feel a bit better knowing that he knew she couldn't drink too much.
Killian raised his glass, and they clinked the crystal together before both taking a sip. It was surprising better than she had expected. A bit sweet, and she could feel the fizzing bubbles dancing on her tongue.
"So, how was your first day?"
"It was great! I loved it. The restaurant is amazing, and the team are really nice, too."
Emma started telling him about how her day went, from her arrival at La Rose de L'Aaube, to the end of the service, so happy to be sharing her day with him. She told him about the service, how she helped as much as she could, how the service went, and even about a few memorable customers. Killian's eyes didn't leave hers throughout her whole story, not even for a second. He smiled when she did, asked about details from time to time, and frowned a bit when she told him about Daniels questions.
"So, I take it you want to continue then?"
"Of course! Graham said I could keep working there as a busser for now."
"And then? What do you want to do?"
Her goal? She'd never really of any professional perspectives before... Not that she could dream about any from Robert's dirty bar she used to work in, anyway. But she guessed she could start if it was to be her first real job! Emma thought for a few seconds, but her answer was suddenly crystal clear to her.
"I want to learn the ropes about the catering business."
"Cooking?"
"Not just that. How to cook, make menus, plan things, manage the staff, handle customers, and oversee it all. When I was really young, with my dad, I dreamed of having my own restaurant someday. If I can still try..."
Emma realised he was smiling, making her cheeks redden once again.
"What?"
"... You remind me of my mother."
Wow. That was the first time he ever mentioned their mother to her. She waited a bit to let him speak, and he let out a sigh with a gentle smile. He placed his hand over hers, slowly drawing circles with his thumb.
"She was always a dreamer. Despite her sickness. She missed France a lot, so she wanted to have her own restaurant to serve French cuisine there. The flavours of her childhood. We loved her cooking... Graham gave his restaurant her name."
"You mean La Rose de L'Aube?"
He nodded.
"It means the Dawn Rose, literally, but another word for Dawn in french is Aurore, our mothers name. Roses were her favourite flowers. Graham was really close to her and inherited her passion for cooking."
That explained why he was the one in charge of all of the restaurants owned by the clan, though they are not all french.
"What was she like? Your mum?" Emma asked, earning a soft smile from him before he spoke again.
"She was the sweetest person you could think of. She always saw the good in anyone, a real pacifist at heart. Everyone in the pack loved her. And she was truly beautiful, too. Dark brunette, with greeny grey eyes and pale skin. Her eyes had a much lighter shade of green as yours though. She had very feminine traits and always looked young. Graham inherited the grey shade of her eyes, but Peter is the one who most looks like her."
Which must have meant Killian took after their father... Emma wondered what their childhood was like with such parents. Their dad probably wasn't so violent in the beginning, like Peter had said. What kind of bother was Killian to Graham and Peter?
"Peter said you were studying together?"
Emma gave him a nod, and told him about all the books she'd go through at the apartment, and how she somehow started taking Peters homework. She was twenty one now, after all. Not going to school was really something that bothered her for a long time.
"Don't you want to take classes?" Asked Killian.
"Maybe private lessons... Just do I could get a diploma. But I don't really feel like attending a school now, since that would be too awkward."
"You can think about it, Emma."
She nodded, but she still wasn't too confidently about the idea.
A young waiter suddenly appeared to serve the appetisers. Killian went with a fill french menu to please her. Emma wondered if chef Robin participated? Some of the dishes did look familiar. Either way, it was delicious. They talked about more trivial matters for a while as they ate.
After a while, Emma noticed that the boat had actually stopped, and the view was amazing. They were a few miles away from the coast, and more importantly, they had the most incredible view over Storybrooke's night lights. It was breathtaking. Below the starry night sky, all the skyscrapers assemble, shining with colourful lights and neons. Yet, they were far from the noise of the city, and the normally lively scenery looked so peaceful, with the soft ambience of waves and piano in the background.
Emma took a moment to just stare at it. Her city.
Killian noticed that she had stopped eating, and followed her gaze. How did he feel, as the silent king of their modern realm? No title, yet the most feared werewolf in town. Sometimes Emma forgot he was not just her fated mate or an Alpha.
He was Killian Black, the most powerful man and wolf of Storybrooke.
For so long, she thought she wasn't a good match for him, that they were to different. She had no idea about her alpha potential or her heritage. If she really was a Royal, then it turned out she might be much more useful than she thought to him. And she wanted to be. Unlike their mother, who was powerless, she didn't want to leave him to fight on his own. The brother sent through so many hardships already, and who knew what was next? They lived in a dangerous world.
"Killian?"
"Hm?"
"What happened with your father?"
Killian turned to her with a frown. He probably never thought she would ask. For a while, he remained silent, and Emma wondered if he would answer her question at all. He possibly wouldn't. She'd heard the Black brothers story from others, but she didn't believe that it was something they would spread themselves.
Killian sighed and started talking while looking out towards the city.
"Our father was never able to handle his Alpha compulsions. Alphas are born to dominate. We have strong fighter instincts and don't react well to orders. But that also means we experience stronger urges to fight and are more prone to violence. My father was such a man. If he was annoyed, he would hit. If he was bored, he would hit..."
He stopped for a minute while the waiter took their empty plates from the table. When he resumed talking, his hand found its way into Emma's again, though his eyes were still fixated toward somewhere in the city.
"Addicted to all the violence. It might have been okay if he was only fighting vampires or rogues, but he just didn't know when to stop. He killed ruthlessly, even members of the pack. No one could stop him, because he was way to strong. He even beat up some of his closest friends, even the Beta. Even us. His sons were alphas, so why shouldn't he fight them, too?!34 were just kids, but it made no difference. Anything that upset him was a good enough reason to hit us."
"What about your mother? Was she around to protect you guys?"
"No, she was already at the hospital at that point. We never said a thing, but she knew. That made her worse. She couldn't endure being powerless, but her sickness was... Anyway, she couldn't do anything for us. We had to endure it for years, tiptoe around him or wait for it to pass when he used his fists. I still have so many memories of when he suddenly got crazy and hit anything around him... Even his own children. 'Werewolves are fighters' he always said. He almost killed me several times. He sent Graham to the hospital once, and I had to carry my brother on my back all the way there. He broke Peters arm when he was just six. I hated that man so much, Emma, you have no idea. Just the thought of being of the same blood as him made me want to puke. But we were too young to fight back. And so Graham and I started training. As time went on, we stopped taking the hits and started hitting him back."
Emma couldn't imagine what kind of life they had growing up. They were only children! It was a miracle all three of them got to where they were with that kind of story behind them.
"What about Peter?" She asked, and Killian shuck his head.
"He was too young. Maybe twelve or thirteen? He wanted to fight, too, but we did t what we could to keep him out of it. Gray and I knew how it would end, and we didn't want Peter to be in the middle of the mess, too. I didn't even want Graham to be part of it, but of course he didn't listen. And so we trained and we waited. We waited for an opportunity to kill him."
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Thank you for reading!
Oooo a little more back story on Killian and the brothers. Don't worry, there is much more to come!
Also, apologies as always for any typos/spelling mistakes! I have a new keyboard for my iPad and honestly I can say I haven't used an actual keyboard in about 5 years! So I'm still getting use to it lol.
Let me know what you think! I promise to have the next chapter up ASAP!
