Title: A Life of It
Author: Roguie etc…
Part: 15/?
Fandom: Once Upon a Time
Characters: Emma/Killian
World: AU Modern
Rating: T
Warnings: Child abuse, bullying, mentions of potential molestation, all the bad things you'd expect to find in a poorly executed foster care system.
Spoilers: It's AU, so not likely.
Summary: Everywhere she was sent, he was there, her savior, the boy with blue eyes. He should have meant nothing to her, just another person that had to leave, but he meant everything. Against all odds, he kept coming back.
Disclaimer: OuaT is not mine, if it were, tackle hugs and sweet kisses would be our norm. Also, there would be way more, *cough*, sword practice scenes between our Captain and his Swan.
A/N: Just a little bit of time passing for our sweet two, because they deserve a few thousand words of happiness. This is a bit of pure, unadulterated fluff, because my muse rolls like that occasionally. LOL! I'm not sure if I'll get another part out today – not saying I won't, I'm just not sure – purely because I think the next part is going to be the last we see of 15 year old Emma and 18 year old Killian – I have plans for the end of the school year for them and I'd like to keep the flow moving forward. Personally, I'd like to get as much of this story finished as possible by Sunday before my boss gets back and her presence sends my muse running for her private tree house again. LOL! Just the potential of her popping into the store can kill anyone's muse on sight… I'll have to start leaving her at home again before there's bloodshed. :/ LOL.
A/N2: The last few parts have been thrown up unedited, obviously – I will go back and edit this once it's all complete – unfortunately because I'm doing this from work I don't really have the time available to write *and* read – just bear with me briefly and I'll re-edit the final product. Enjoy!
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The first day of their last year of school was interesting. With Killian held back a year from the time he spent in juvenile hall, and Emma having been pushed up through grade school while managing to pass her courses even while distracted by Neal, they were pleasantly surprised to compare schedules and find they shared many of the same classes. They laughed together about both being some level of freak; Emma would graduate at sixteen, Killian would graduate at nineteen, Ruby would be the only normal one to graduate just before her eighteenth birthday.
The first few weeks of school proved to be uncomfortable. Neal didn't return to class for his senior year. Word around campus was that his father received an offer that he couldn't turn down and the entire family moved across state. Word that trickled down from August was that Neal's finger prints had been found all over the stash that he'd been hiding in her bedroom. He was currently under house arrest, waiting for a court date where he would be tried as an adult.
August arrived at David and Mary Margaret's two weeks before school to give them the update on Neal. He also brought with him an envelope addressed to Emma.
"The Cassidy kid gave this to me when I stopped in on his deposition. Emma is officially cleared of all charges; the kid is taking the fall for it all, as he should."
Mary Margaret had looked up at him with wide eyes as she took the envelope, sighing softly. "What would make a boy do that? He could have ruined her life."
August shrugged. "From what I heard of his statement, his father had found his stash the summer before and threatened to send the kid off to military school. Kid went clean for a while but when school started back up, the money flow was too much of a temptation for him. When Emma was transferred to their home, it was an easy thing to use the cubby hole in the back of her closet to store his product since his father wouldn't be searching her room and he could come and go without suspicion as he was romantically interested in her."
Mary Margaret shuddered softly. "You'd think his father would have something to say about that. I mean, in that situation he was practically her brother."
August shook his head slowly. "From what I gather that was his holding point on her. She wanted family so bad that when he pushed the brother cause on her, she crumbled and let him do whatever he wanted to keep him close."
"Oh, my poor girl!" Her eyes watered, and August shifted uncomfortably.
"Yes, well, all's well that ends well, and all of that." He packed up what was left of his papers and reached out for her hand. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Nolan. Perhaps we'll cross paths again under more pleasant circumstances."
David appeared from the back of the house, walking up to August and handing over the business card for the house. "There is a good likelihood that we'll have need of your services again, Mr. Booth, considering the type of home we run. Would you be open to remaining on retainer for the house?"
August inclined his head, taking the card and shaking David's hand. "No retainer, but give me a call the next time you need me. I'll be around."
"Thank you!" Mary Margaret called quietly, moving to stand next to David and resting her head against his arm. "For everything."
August nodded and left the house, leaving the couple looking down at the envelope in Mary Margaret's hand. "Do you think we should give it to her?"
"I think it's not really our business whether she wants to hear from him or not; ultimately it is her decision."
"She's doing so well!"
David nodded. "And she'll continue to do well, whether she stays with us or moves on to a more conventional home. It's still her choice."
He kissed the side of her head before leaving her with the envelope, not surprised when she moved upstairs and set the envelope on Emma's dresser.
Weeks later the envelope continued to sit in the same place, unopened. Maybe one day Emma would care what Neal had to say for himself, but for the moment, she was just looking forward to experiencing her last year of school settled and content for the first time that she could remember.
The group she'd once passed time with now avoided her. Victor tried crawling back to Killian once it became apparent that Neal wouldn't be returning; unfortunately for Victor, Killian was less than forgiving. The only one in their little group that had any sort of a soft spot for their old friend was Ruby. She allowed him to tag along with her, keeping him slightly behind and off to the side, but it was a position he was used to keeping. They didn't directly involve him in conversation, but eventually he began joining in on his own. It wasn't the most comfortable of settings for him, but he stuck it out, taking what they gave him until he'd be able to earn his place back in their lives.
Eventually, the gossip calmed down, leaving Killian and Emma to settle into a normal routine. They sat together in four out of six classes, they shared their lunches – crossing his cafeteria purchased meal with her home packed Mary Margaret special, and at the end of every day she walked him down to the marina, holding his hand, enjoying the feeling of just existing, together.
When Halloween came around that year, Killian unabashedly dressed up as a pirate, every second of Emma's laughter worth the mocking he took from his friends. He wore the long leather duster and black leather pants with pride, he decorated himself in huge costume rings and necklaces, he left his shirt half opened, and had belted a decorative rapier onto his side. The only thing he was missing was the eye patch and pirate's hat, but when she questioned it, he merely smirked and told her being a pirate wasn't about the hat or the ship, it was all about the attitude. Still, he conceded to wrapping his scarred hand in leather strips, making it look for all the world as if he'd lost it in battle.
She refused to dress up as a princess for him, no matter how much he begged. Not even the offer to let her play with his sword convinced her to put on the silky pink dress he'd brought to her house that morning. She did, however, concede when he insisted on placing a tiara in her hair that morning. If asked, that concession had nothing to do with his gentle hands running over her scalp, fingers separating strands of hair as he pulled out the braid she'd hastily pulled together that morning. He eased every single one of her long curls out of their binding, letting her hair flow down her back, fingers massaging her scalp with gentle insistence as he caught her hooded eyes in the mirror and smiled back at her softly. Unable to help himself, he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her bare shoulder before slipping the tiara into her hair and stepping away.
"I wish it were real, Princess," he said softly, extending a hand to help her to her feet.
"As long as you're real, nothing else matters." She flushed pink but held his eyes, watching his lips curve in a sweet, self depreciating grin before he pulled her into his chest, stealing a soft kiss.
"Sure you don't want to play with my sword?" He raised an eyebrow, earning himself a punch to the chest, both of them jumping when a throat cleared in the hallway.
"School. Now." David's disapproving gaze layered over Killian who had the good grace to flush, his smirk falling off his face in a heartbeat as he stepped away from Emma immediately. "Just be grateful I don't confiscate your… sword."
Satisfied the threat hit home as Killian paled visibly, David turned on his heel and stomped back down the stairs, grumbling under his breath.
"He's just being over protective. I'm sure your… sword… is perfectly safe," Emma giggled, pushing Killian through her bedroom door.
"I wouldn't count on that, sweetheart; I believe your foster father means to unman.. err, disarm me."
"And don't forget it," David growled, holding the door open for them, staring Killian down as the boy squeezed past him to freedom.
Emma couldn't stop the giggles that escaped her as the door slammed shut behind them. "He's so dramatic."
"He cares about you, pretty girl, so I'm okay with dramatics."
Killian took the teasing through the day with good grace, playing the part of pirate brilliantly. At lunch he hopped onto Emma's table, struggling to balance as the flimsy piece of wood threatened to tip, losing himself in her laughter as he pulled his sword from its sheath and arced it around him, drawing the attention of half the school as he joked. She blushed and giggled as he mockingly attacked Victor, rescuing Emma from her lunch, throwing her over his shoulder and dashing into the school to the sound of laughter and applause from his audience as she shrieked. He took her half hearted beating, her little fists bouncing off his chest when he deposited her at the door to her next class, one of the only few they didn't have together.
"You're really too good at playing this pirate thing," she giggled as he stole kiss after kiss from her, losing himself in the softness of her lips.
"Can't be that good if you're giggling while I kiss you," he growled against her lips, stealing another taste of her mouth before moving his lips across her jaw and down to her neck, finding that sweet little place between her shoulder and her throat that stole away her breath and rewarded him with a soft little moan of pleasure. He gasped against her, his eyes rolling back in his head as he dragged his tongue across her throat. "Oh, god," he rumbled, pressing his tongue to the flutter of her pulse, "Do that again!"
Just as Emma was melting against him, the warning bell rang, freezing Killian in place as he groaned softly with disappointment.
"Always with the interruptions," he grumbled as he reluctantly pulled away from her, his chest puffing with pride as he took in her flushed cheeks, slightly swollen lips, and sweet little panting breaths that made her chest rise and fall under her little pink tank top in the most delicious way.
"This is gonna make trig suck," she murmured quietly, leaning forward for one last sweet little kiss before opening the door to her class.
"Wanna skip?" he grinned at her, lifting an eyebrow in invitation.
"Yeah, and then David really will confiscate your sword," she giggled, pushing on his chest to force him into the hallway before disappearing into her class.
Killian sighed happily as he watched the door close behind her and turned to head to his biology class. As of that afternoon, the sound of Emma's laughter was no longer his favorite sound in the world; that right had been given to that sweet little moan of pleasure he'd coaxed from her lips, and he would do absolutely anything to make her repeat that sound, over and over.
He got absolutely nothing accomplished in class for the rest of the afternoon, far too preoccupied by his mind replaying that little sound until every cell that made up his body screamed at him to go to her, and make it fast.
By the time class let out, he was practically vibrating in his seat; his long coat trailed behind him when he bolted out of the classroom at the sound of the bell, making it to her class in record time. She barely had a chance to squeak out a startled, "Wha?!" before she found herself being pulled down the hall by a determined Killian. Once they reached the school doors she burst out laughing, shaking her head, her small fist beating on his arm as he pulled her to freedom.
"Killian! Stop! We still have gym!" she gasped out between barks of laughter.
"Not today, pretty girl," he growled, pulling her across the parking lot to where his new-to-him Jeep sat waiting.
Her laughter was lost in the press of his lips against hers, thoughts of gym quickly abandoned as her body quickly melted against his, trapped between the press of his hips and the cool metal of his prized vehicle. He gasped, she giggled, and the hour flew past without either of them noticing until the parking lot flooded with more teenagers eager to head home.
Killian bowed with a flourish at the first round of whistling and hooting that came from a group of boys as they walked past, bringing a fresh blush to Emma's cheeks as she giggled behind him, but for all his piratey antics, neither of them regretted a second of that day; it had been worth it.
For the first time in a very long time, everything was right in their world, and no one was looming around the corner to snatch it all away.
~~~TBC~~~
Remember, much like magic, all muses come with a price. This muse's price is that little review box down below. Please don't make her chase you for payment, it seems such a bloody awful waste of her time, wouldn't you agree?
