AN: Here it is! Hope you like it! Reviews are always most welcome and appreciated! - Steph
Chapter 5
2006
It's a chilly October night in Dublin and Emma, Mary Margaret, and David are out at a Halloween themed party held by one of their classmates. It was a last minute invite and Mary Margaret basically coerced Emma into her costume. She was dressed as Tinkerbell and she hated every aspect of it. Except the wings, Emma rather liked the wings.
"He won't stop looking at you, Em!" Mary Margaret says excitedly, smiling at Emma over her red cup. She was talking about Killian or William. Frankly, Emma still hadn't been able to catch his name correctly. He's another student in the Study Abroad program. Emma can accept the fact that he's attractive, extremely so. His hair jet-black, eyes a piercing light blue with a mischievous glint in them, taller than Emma, and had an accent that made all of the female, and some male, American abroad students melt. Emma sneaks a look at him and he winks back at her, making Emma whip her head away from him and towards the conversation.
"He should. He's making me uncomfortable. I hate this stupid costume." She was never one for frills growing up, and the bright green petticoat under her matching lime-green tutu was bringing her over to the edge of murdering someone.
"Oh, come on! He's so cute. You should go talk to him and stop it you look adorable." Emma shakes her head and downs the rest of the orange juice and vodka she was drinking in one gulp.
"David, tell your girlfriend to be quiet." Emma knew she'd get Mary Margaret to shut up (or at least quit bothering her) once she said this. David and Mary Margaret weren't dating, but it was obvious that they held some feelings for each other.
"Emma for the last time we're not dating, the ever lovely Kathryn is waiting for her prince charming back in New York." Kathryn was David's current girlfriend and she was not happy that he was over here in Dublin with Mary Margaret and Emma. In fact, every night David had to spend exactly ten minute's worth of roaming cellular cost talking to Kathryn and ensuring his affection for her while denying his ever-growing love for Mary Margaret. David is silent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with their exchange. Emma can tell that he's growing restless and tired of Kathryn and that one of these days she's getting the cut.
"I'm going to get another drink. Do you guys want anything?" Emma says changing topics.
"Oh, get me another one of these jungle juice thingies!" Mary Margaret perks up. Emma warns her to be careful with those, knowing that Mary Margaret was close to her inebriation limit, but Mary Margaret just shook her head and waved her arms at her, telling her that she's fine and that she can take care of herself.
The drink table is crowded and it takes Emma a couple of minutes to reach the front of it. When she does, the same piercing blue eyes that were staring at her earlier meet her.
"What can I get you, love?" he asks her, a snarky smile gracing his face.
"Nothing I can't get myself." Emma responds, bending to get a beer and another red cup of the pink colored alcohol concoction that Mary Margaret is drinking.
"I'm receiving some very hostile vibes from you, Tinkerbell." He tells her, incredibly amused.
"You're very intuitive. Congratulations." Emma's voice drips with sarcasm.
"Well if I can't get you a drink, can I at least know your name?" She looks up and meets his intense gaze. She feels her breath hitch and is taken back by how close his face is to hers.
"Maybe." She says with a sniff, pushing up her thick glasses up to the bridge of her nose.
"Maybe? How can I persuade that 'maybe' to turn into a 'yes'?" He's coy, rounding around the table and standing closer to her. With his hook, he pushes back a strand of hair behind her ear.
"You can't. I was taught not to give my name to strange men I haven't met." Emma tells him simply, rolling her eyes and stepping away from him.
"Oh, well if meeting me is the case. The name is Killian Jones, but most people tonight have taken to call me by my more colorful moniker—Hook." He responds, waving the fake hook coming out of his left sleeve at her. This makes Emma smile slightly.
"A name, just a name, Tinkerbell." He pleads loudly as she makes to turn away from the table and walk back to David and Mary Margaret.
"Emma." She tells him, a small smile on her face, "Emma Swan."
She turns her back to him and starts to make her way over to Mary Margaret and David.
"You're beautiful, Emma Swan." He calls after her.
"I'm smart, too." She responds cheekily and walks away from him, shaking her head, leaving a stunned Killian standing with a lopsided grin on his face.
Emma walks back to find David gone and Mary Margaret being chatted up by a tall, dirty blonde guy in pants that are definitely too tight for him. When Emma approaches, Mary Margaret completely disregards the fact that the guy was in the middle of a sentence and goes up to her.
"Finally! What took you so long?"
"Just got caught up at the table. Where's David?"
"Out talking with his Ice Queen." Mary Margaret rolls her eyes and takes a sip. She motions to somewhere behind Emma and gives Emma a knowing grin.
"So, how was talking with your sexy pirate?" Mary Margaret asks, a giddy grin smiling up at Emma.
"So, how was telling David to own up to the fact that he kissed you five nights ago?" Emma tells her before bringing the top of her beer bottle against her lips. She sneaks a look at Killian and finds him in an animated conversation with a shorter, plumper guy wearing a knitted red cap. Emma quickly averts her gaze when his eyes meet hers.
"That's not fair! That's not even in the same category Emma." Mary Margaret huffs, bringing Emma back to reality.
"Well it's much more important than me talking to Killian Jones." Emma responds earnestly.
"He has a name!" At the mention of his name, the slightly inebriated Mary Margaret gasps and claps her hands excitedly.
"Yes, but that's not important. I'd rather we talk about you, Mags."
"Well I don't want to talk about me or David. I want to talk about you and the fact that that beautiful man has his eyes set on you."
"He has not." Emma says quietly. She'd rather run, she'd rather make herself believe that no one has the remotest interest in her than to open herself up to hope.
"Emma, you have to open up!" Mary Margaret stomps her foot, not the first time she reminds Emma of a stubborn toddler.
"Last time I opened up, things didn't exactly turn out well." Emma shakes her head sadly.
"Not every guy is going to be like Neal, you know." Mary Margaret's hand is cupping the side of Emma's face, big hopeful blue eyes meeting her terrified green.
"I know that…I'm just not ready. I'm just not." Emma responds softly, small, the voice of a terrified child.
"I think you should give it a shot. Promise me you'll think about it." Mary Margaret drops her hand and takes Emma's in her own. Her voice is encouraging, almost maternal.
"I don't know…"
"Promise, Emma."
"Fine, I promise."
"Emma Swan!" Killian's voice booms behind her. Emma turns towards him, her eyes wide open. It's a good three hours later and the party shows no signs of dwindling down.
"Yes?" She responded carefully, feeling the gaze of more than one person around her on her and an intense sense of discomfort enveloping her.
"I've had a wonderful idea." He sways over to her, looking more and more like a pirate than ever. He even holds a bottle of rum on his right hand.
"Enlighten me." She says, not being able to help the smile creeping into her face.
"How's about you and I have a romantic night on the town, say next Friday?" He asks flirtatiously, a wide and satisfied grin plastered on his face.
"I'd say you're drunk and not possibly serious." Emma scoffs.
"Oh, I'm not serious? Emma Swan, I'm incredibly serious."
"Prove it." Emma says defiantly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"As you wish." Killian thrusts the bottle of rum onto her to hold on to and next thing Emma knows he's standing on a couch towering over the entire party. "Oi, Smee! Turn that music down!"
Oh, no. Emma thinks as the music comes to an abrupt halt and all eyes turn to Killian. She turns her head back to Mary Margaret whose mouth is open wide.
"Can I have your attention, please?" Killian starts loudly, "this beautiful woman over here does not believe that I am serious about wanting to take her out on a date."
"Killian get down!" Emma hisses.
"I'm afraid I cannot get down until you agree to going out with me, Swan." He smiles apologetically at her, like all of this is out of his control. She could kill him.
"Fine! Just get down!" she says.
"I'm sorry? I couldn't quite hear that." She's definitely going to kill him.
"Yes. I'll go out with you!" Emma says loudly. Killian grins and jumps down, but not before motioning to have the music turned up again.
"I'm going to kill you." She tells him.
"Promises, promises, Swan."
2014
In her office, Emma cannot stop staring at the picture of her, Mary Margaret, and David back at a stupid costume party in Ireland. Memories had brought her back to that night, the night she met Killian for the first time. She remembers Mary Margaret getting sick quickly after Killian asked her out and David rushing to her rescue. He brought her back home that night and took care of her. Mary Margaret insisted Emma keep hanging out with Killian. Emma guesses it worked out well for the both of them, Killian had walked her back to her dorm and Mary Margaret passed out leaning against David.
Speaking of Killian, Emma hasn't seen him for a little more than two weeks. He's messaged her a couple of times and she's responded. She appreciates that nothing he says alludes to the night of Mary Margaret's and David's wedding. He asks her how she's been and sends her funny pictures. He never asks her to meet up or constantly smothers her with incessant messages. They've kept their conversations cordial, short, and infrequent. Emma hadn't had a chance to figure out if she was going to tell Walsh or not, given that he hasn't been home either. When Emma arrived from Storybrooke, the apartment was as empty and dark as it had ever been. With no Mary Margaret and no David to keep her company outside of work, Emma has just turned all her focus on her job. Royal Communications Media was finally signing a merger with a small advertising firm today and all heads of department had to be present at the meeting. Regina Mills, the CEO, had sent out the memo weeks ago but Emma had almost forgotten about it, her mind having been fogged by Killian, Walsh, and a general unshakeable feeling of unhappiness.
Emma walks down to the elevators and heads down to the company meeting room. Royal Communications Media was a conglomerate company that specialized on every outlet of media communications, marketing, advertising, publicity, digital and print media. You name it, they had it. Today, however, they were acquiring a small, albeit highly profitable with high profile clients, local advertising firm and naming a new creative director.
Emma sits in her usual chair and just twirls her rings slowly, as the other heads of department chatted their way about figures, demographics, and the importance of the right font. The only time she pays attention is when one of the assistants asks her what she'd like to drink and places her usual everything bagel and cream cheese in front of her. Emma mutters a thank you and becomes completely engrossed in slathering the right amount of cream cheese on her bagel. During this time, the meeting has begun and Regina talks about the decision about the merger and shows the prolonged statistics of assured success that the company can expect due to this acquisition.
The meeting goes on forever, or so it seems. Emma hasn't been paying attention at all. She is seated in the far back of the room, strategically closer to the exit. She's been playing a candy crushing game on her phone for about ten minutes when a message from Killian pops up on her screen.
You know, you should really be paying more attention. This is fascinating stuff.
Emma's eyes open wide as she slowly lifts her head up and starts to take a look around the room, frantically trying to find him in the darkened room. When she does, she realizes Killian has been seating next to Regina the entire time. He seems like he's looking intently at the figures on the screen, but the smirk on his face says otherwise. Emma wonders how long had he been sitting there and more importantly why was he sitting there. Suddenly the entire room lights up, marking the end of the presentation. Emma squints and blinks her eyes slowly so as to get accustomed to the brighter room. When her eyes have finally adjusted, she sees that Regina has stood up again and is facing them.
"We are so happy to be able to include these amazing figures and clients into the Royal Media Communications' family. And it is my pleasure to introduce you all to Killian Jones, our new creative director for Jolly Roger Advertising." Oh, Emma thinks, that's why.
Regina motions to him and he stands up. Emma tries to ignore the jolt her stomach does at the sight of him. He looks around confidently at the room, and sets his eyes not on the back of the wall like Regina usually does, but directly onto Emma's eyes.
"Thank you, Regina. It is honestly such a pleasure to be on board such a magnificent company and I cannot wait to work with you all. This is an incredible opportunity, thank you." Emma hasn't noticed that she had been holding her breath the entire time he spoke to her. Well, to be fair it was to the entire room, but that's a nuance. The meeting is over then and most of the group gathers around Killian to shake his hand and introduce themselves to him. Emma, however, decides to slip out and waits outside. The room dissipates quickly until finally, Killian walks out.
"Ah, Swan. I was starting to feel disappointed that you hadn't come to introduce yourself." He tells her, grinning widely. Emma doesn't want to think about the uneasiness that has set camp in her stomach, nor does she want to think about how incredibly handsome he looks in his tailored navy blue suit.
"What are you doing here?" she blurts out and she wishes she didn't sound like such a frantic spaz.
"Same as you, naturally. I work here now." He responds calmly, a hint of humor in his tone.
"In the company I work at?" She hisses incredulously.
"To be fair, I didn't know you worked here, love." He smiles at her and Emma wishes her heart would calm down.
"Yeah, okay." Emma scoffs and rolls her eyes.
"Emma, relax." He says and places one of his hands on her shoulder, making Emma have an instant reminder of how good his touch felt on her bare skin. "I didn't come here to sweep you off your feet or anything of the sort. This was an incredible opportunity and I took it. As simple as that." He gives her a rueful smile and drops his hand from her shoulder.
Emma wonders if his heart is racing just as fast as hers is, if he can feel the heat radiating from her stomach. She wants to desperately talk about that night. Hell, she wouldn't even mind recreating that night. She wonders if he feels the same as her, just as lonely, just as terrified, just as desperate. He must, she concludes, because all of a sudden she can feel that he's inched closer to her, that his gaze lingered a millisecond too long on her lips, and when her eyes met him they were wide and all those feelings were clearly sketched in them.
"We should have lunch." He said quietly and she nods.
"Or dinner." She offers, standing up on her tiptoes. "I think it's time we talked." Killian nods.
"You think your husband can spare you?" His fingers lightly graze hers.
"I honestly don't think he'd notice." She says before turning away and walking down the corridor and catching the elevator up to her floor. Killian had said that he wasn't here to sweep her off her feet, and she's fine with that, but she can't shake the feeling that that's already happened, that she had already dug her own grave, and that there was nothing stopping her from going further down the rabbit hole.