I agree with all of you that Emma should forgive Killian, but it doesn't mean that the angst ends when she does. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!
Emma opens her eyes and tries to figure out what awoke her, then remembers that Killian had slept on the couch and makes her way into the living room.
"Killian?" She whispers and taps the couch, but the blankets are empty and Killian's pillow is cold.
"I didn't leave", he says from behind her and Emma jumps a little, turning toward the kitchen doorway and pressing the pillow to her chest.
"What are you doing?" She asks timidly, feeling ridiculously shy because she's still wearing her pajamas and it's been forever since anybody had seen her without a bra.
"I'm making you breakfast", Killian says and walks back into the kitchen, leaving her to follow or go change while he finishes cooking.
Emma goes into the kitchen and sits at the table, smiling when Killian sets a cup of coffee in front of her a moment later.
"Thank you", she says and smiles up in his general direction, thinking how she would give almost everything to be able to see him cook.
It must be quite a sight.
"I hope you don't mind me snooping around your cupboards."
"As long as you put everything where it was, it's fine", Emma tells him and he clears his throat, fumbling for words because of course he didn't. "Relax, Killian. You'll just help me clean up later."
"You don't cook often, do you, lass?"
"Try almost never", she tells him and listens to the sound of something sizzling in a pan.
"Why not?"
Emma lifts her eyebrows and waits for him to come to the logical conclusion.
"Because you don't like doing the dishes?" Killian sounds amused and Emma frowns because he really doesn't get it.
"Killian, I'm blind."
"And I have just one hand. Your point?" He asks and Emma takes a sip of her coffee because she's not in the mood for this. "Swan?"
"It's not the same and you know it."
"Never said it was", he tells her softly and puts a plate in front of her.
"You're way too chipper so early in the morning. What time is it?" Emma asks as Killian slips a fork in her hand.
"Seven o'clock", he announces and hands her the bread before she can ask for it.
"Oh wow this is incredible", Emma says after tasting Killian's omelet and she can feel the warmth of his smile even in the dark.
"I borrowed the eggs from your neighbor, so try to be friendly next time you run into her on the stairs."
"How am I supposed to recognize her?" Emma asks, then feels bad for being so testy. "Sorry. I'm not a morning person."
"Are you going to call your mother?"
"I just told you that I'm not a morning person and you ask me that?!"
"Listen, love", Killian says and sits on the other chair, his hand resting on her forearm sending a shiver down her spine because he still smells like the ocean and she's still not wearing a bra. "Your mom won't care that you're blind."
"You can't know that."
"I might not, but you do", he tells her and Emma frowns, taking another bite of her omelet.
"What are you talking about?"
"I don't want to presume, but it seems like you've forgiven me for lying about my hand", he says and Emma narrows her eyes at him because between the news about her mother, telling Killian about Neal, and waking up to him making her breakfast, she had completely forgotten that she's supposed to be mad at him.
"I haven't forgiven you yet", she says and turns in her chair, her hand resting on his shoulder. "But I know what you're trying to say."
"Give your mum a chance, love", he says and Emma slides her hand down his left arm, feeling him go still and ignoring it because she needs to do this before they can move on.
"Maybe I will", she tells him and takes his fake hand in both of hers, then asks him what had happened to him.
"It's a long story", he whispers but doesn't attempt to pull away, and she counts that as a small victory.
"We have fifteen minutes", she tells him with a smile but all that answers her is dead silence. "I can't forgive you until you tell me."
"You don't know what you're asking", he says and brushes her hair behind her ear, his thumb smoothing over her cheek and tracing the line of her jaw.
"I do know, Killian. I told you about my car accident and it felt awful thinking about it, but today I'm glad I did", she tells him and slides her fingers into his hair, hoping that her touch will offer him enough comfort to delve into his memories.
"As you know, I was in a gang", Killian begins his tale and Emma nods, slipping her hand under the sleeve of his shirt and pressing her palm against the inside of his elbow because she wants him to feel her touch. "My brother tried to get me out so many times but I kept coming back, but that time he was adamant. He confronted the gang leader and punched him in the face, shouting at him for trying to ruin my life."
"That was incredibly brave."
"It was incredibly stupid", Killian says, his voice breaking, and Emma gets up from her seat and slides on his lap, both her arms wrapping around his neck.
"He was trying to help you."
"I guess he didn't know what else to do. The gang leader was angrier than I'd ever seen him before, and Liam had realized it, but it was too late", Killian says, his voice barely above a whisper, and Emma kisses his temple, bracing herself for whatever comes next.
She thinks she knows what he's going to tell her, but his burden is going to be easier to bear if he shares it with her so she doesn't stop him.
"He made Liam watch them cut off my hand, and then he made me watch them kill my brother", Killian tells her and hearing him say it in a broken voice makes it all a hundred times worse.
"I am so sorry, Killian", Emma whispers and smoothes her thumbs over Killian's cheeks, anticipating tears, but he doesn't shed a single one.
"He should've killed me too instead of dumping me in a ditch to bleed out", Killian says darkly and Emma knows exactly how that feels.
She had spent an hour stuck in a car in complete dark waiting for Neal to get help.
Help arrived, but he never did come back.
"What happened to the gang leader?"
"I testified against him and he got a life sentence, but I was forced to leave Liverpool and advised never to return", Killian says and rests his head on her shoulder, his arms a little too tight around her waist, but she doesn't tell him that.
"Who says you can't go home?" She asks him, rubbing his back and trying to take his pain and made it lessen like he did for her last night.
"Are you a Bon Jovi fan, lass?"
"I might be", she smiles at the teasing note in his voice and drops a kiss on his nose.
"You definitely are", he says and she's fairly certain that she can hear a smile in his voice.
"There's nothing wrong with Bon Jovi."
"Never said there was", he murmurs and cups her cheek in his hand, his lips a breath away from hers. "Am I forgiven now, love?"
"You are", Emma says and presses her lips against his, hoping that if she forgives him, her mother is going to forgive her too.
Killian walks toward his shop with Emma's small hand nestled in his, and he dreads the moment they reach their destination and she goes on to work because he has studiously avoided thinking about the day he had lost Liam and he doesn't know what will happen once he's alone with those thoughts again.
"Do you want me to stay?" Emma asks because he's still not letting go of her and she's going to be late to work if she doesn't leave now, so Killian makes a conscious effort to release her.
"I'm alright, lass", he lies and it's astounding how she can give him a disapproving look without being able to really look at him. "I will be alright."
"I'll stop by on my lunch hour", she promises and stands on tiptoes to give him a kiss, but he pulls her back by the hand when she tries to walk away.
"You don't have to do that."
"Didn't they tell you that you're not supposed to argue with a blind person?" Emma asks with a wry smile and he pokes her hip with his fake hand, wordlessly proving a point.
"Stay where you are for a second longer", he says and quickly unlocks the door of the shop, leans around them and grabs the first flower his fingers encounter. "Have a nice day, love."
"What is it? Doesn't smell like anything."
"It's a red tulip."
"Feels silky. Thank you", Emma says and gives him a peck on the cheek before finally walking away.
Killian goes into his shop only after she rounds the corner.
The morning drags by slowly and none of the bouquets he tries making amount to anything because his stump is throbbing and because he can't seem to stop thinking about Liam.
His brother would probably laugh if he could see Killian now, wrestling with flowers and ruining the blooms in his efforts to tie their stems together.
Killian wouldn't even mind it because it would mean that Liam was alive, that Killian still had a big brother.
"Bloody Hell", he says just as the door opens and he looks up to find Milah boldly entering his shop, her dark hair resting on one shoulder, her eyes looking clearer and brighter than he'd ever seen them before.
"Is that any way to greet the love of your life?" She asks and Killian is pretty sure that his jaw is going to hit the floor any second now.
He briefly wonders if this is a dream, but he dismisses that possibility because dreams that feature Milah are always nightmares, and this doesn't seem like one.
"Nice little shop you have", Milah says and Killian sleepwalks toward her, then stops abruptly because her being here can mean only one thing.
She's clean and she came back thinking that they can just pick up where they left off as if nothing had happened.
"You should really say something already."
"It's been seven years", Killian says hollowly, flashing back to the worst days of his life and remembering how high she'd been the last time he'd seen her.
"Yes, Killian, I know", she tells him softly and slides her finger over the petals of a white rose. "You're not easy to find."
"Why are you here?"
"As I recall, you gave me an ultimatum. Stop doing drugs and we can be together", she tells him as if he could ever forget that.
"I gave you that ultimatum and you laughed before leaving my hospital room", he says and takes a step back when she tries to come closer.
"You expected me to make a decision right that second", she says and Killian looks at her steadily because he's slowly realizing that he doesn't feel anything at all for her.
Not anymore.
"I did, and you made the wrong one", Killian says and goes back to his workbench, turning his back on her and hoping against hope that she's just going to go away.
Today has been the first day when he'd gotten what he really wanted when Emma had forgiven him and gave him a second chance, so he guesses this is just a way for the universe to stay balanced.
"But I'm here now", she tells him, her heels beating a loud staccato against the hardwood floor. "I came back for you."
"I'm sorry", he says and turns around to face her, but crosses his arms in front of his chest because the last thing he needs is her getting the wrong idea.
Emma is his future, and Milah is nothing but an unwelcome ghost from his past.
It's almost poetic that she would turn up today of all days.
"Try and tell me you don't love me anymore, because I won't believe you."
"You were my first love, Milah-", Killian starts to say but gets interrupted when he notices Emma standing in the doorway, her eyes wide, her gaze focused somewhere behind him.
"I called mom and we're having lunch, and I wanted you to come along, but I can tell that you're busy, so…", Emma says quickly, words tumbling over one another while Milah looks between them with a stunned expression that Killian doesn't have time for right now.
"Swan, wait", he exclaims and makes his way to the door but Emma is already walking away while Milah stays in his shop and gives him a stubborn look, making it clear that she doesn't intend to leave peacefully so that he can lock up.
"Bloody Hell", Killian says with feeling and returns inside, barely restraining himself from kicking the first bowl of flowers he comes across.
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