Guess what? I'm back! Hopefully I will be able to post more frequently now, but I make no promises.

Thank you, every single one of you that reviewed, followed or favorited this story. Even though it doesn't really look like it, this story and your feedback really mean a lot to me.

I hope you like it.

And, of course, it wouldn't have been possible without the help of my lovely beta, Breathless Ivory.

Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time.

Why did he have to be so damn stubborn? Emma couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh. It made her angry how he could stay completely impassive and unaffected through their whole affair, but when she finally decided to get out, that was when he decided to be involved. Well, screw him.

"Fine, then I'll leave." The blonde shrugged, pushing herself away from the kitchen island with every intent of grabbing her jacket and heading for the door. She didn't care about leaving him alone in her apartment—he would leave eventually.

She had absolutely no idea where to go. Besides being furious with Ruby for leaving her alone with Killian and going to Robin on her own, she was just plain tired. Tired of fighting what she felt for Killian, tired of avoiding him, but mostly just tired of pretending to be someone she was not. She had never been afraid of showing who she was before. If anything, she was sometimes too honest. Sure, she didn't open up to just anyone or throw her secrets at the first guy that walked by, but she didn't hide herself either.

And it was that exhaustion that made her stop in her tracks. It was exhaustion that made her turn around and let him see the real Emma Swan for the first time in months. Not only the one who was madly in love with him, but the one who was not afraid to admit it because she knew she could get over him. She was strong.

"You want to know why I ran? Why I can do this," she gestured between them, "anymore?" She was gripping her red leather jacket tightly, needing something to draw her strength from.

Killian, for his part, looked surprised to see her turn around and finally willing to give him some answers, but contrary to her expectation he stayed silent. He didn't call her out on it, but simply crossed his arms over his chest and nodded for her to continue.

"I think I want more. Just having fun isn't enough for me anymore." Okay, so maybe she wasn't ready to tell him just how deep her feelings for him ran, but it was a start and she couldn't help feeling a bit proud of herself.

The shock was evident on Killian's face, but there was also something Emma wasn't expecting to see: disappointment and regret. Of all the emotions Emma was preparing herself to see on his face, disappointment was certainly not one of them. Was he disappointed in her? Was he disappointed to hear it? Was he regretting asking? Was he regretting ever sleeping with her? Why was there no annoyance evident?

Running his fingers through his hair, Killian rounded the kitchen island and came to stand a few feet away from Emma. Despite feeling embarrassed and very vulnerable, the blonde somehow managed to maintain eye-contact with him.

"I can't give you more. You know that, don't you?" he asked, his voice sounding almost sad.

Emma wasn't used to this side of Killian. She was used to the calm, almost stoic Killian or the passionate, demanding Killian, not sad Killian. This was all new to her, and she realized she didn't like it at all.

"I know," her voice was quiet and shaky. She felt so small.

Clearing her throat, she raised her chin a bit and hoped she at least seemed collected, even if she didn't feel that way at all. "I know, Jones. That's why I can't do this anymore. I need to forget about us and I can't do that if we're still sleeping together. Mary Margaret is setting me up with this guy and I can't start dating if I'm sleeping with someone else." At the thought of her dating other guys his eyes darkened, but Emma knew it was just his possessive side bubbling on the surface. "You'll find a new girl to fool around with in no time, you'll see."

"For what it's worth, I hope we can remain friends. I know that's something you have to say, but I mean it, Swan. We were friends before anything happened, I don't want us to drift apart now. I - I care about you, I just can't offer you what you deserve. I'm sorry for that, lass." Emma was taken aback by his words. She had never seen him that open before. She knew his intentions were good, but his words didn't make her feel any better.

Feeling the tears pooling in her eyes, she forced herself to look away. Why on earth did she have to fall in love with him? With someone who could never love her back? "I really think you should go."

Her eyes were glued to the floor, but she could hear him heave a weary sigh. Without a word, he pulled her closer, and just as Emma's heart was about to skip a beat, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and headed towards the door.

Before closing the door behind him, he hesitated, making Emma meet his eyes again. "I'll see you around?" At his words, Emma nodded, but they both knew that wasn't likely to happen often. From now on, everything would be different whether they liked it or not.

Despite wanting to run to Robin and selfishly distract herself with his problems, Emma knew that Killian was more than likely on his way there right now. Instead, she decided to wait for Ruby's inevitable call. However, that unfortunately left her alone with just her thoughts and nothing to do. She contemplated on calling Mary Margaret, but she knew her pixie-haired friend would demand she talk about it, and that would make the whole purpose of trying to forget about the entire affair pointless.

She would have loved to run back to the gym and take her stress out on one of the sturdy punching bags, but her shoulder still hurt pretty badly and she couldn't risk a serious injury right now. So, instead of dealing with everything like a normally-functioning human would do, Emma decided it was time to scrub the whole apartment clean.

When she was finished with rearranging her closet and boxing the clothes she didn't wear anymore for Red Cross, she moved onto the en-suite adjoining her bedroom, cleaned her bedroom and changed the sheets on her bed. It wasn't until she was in the middle of vacuuming her living room that she felt her phone vibrating in her pants. Instinctively, Emma knew it had to be Ruby. She whipped her phone out and, without even checking the caller ID, answered right away.

"Ruby? Talk to me."

"Emma...I know something not very great must have happened between you and Killian because he's not in the best mood right now, but I think you should come down here anyway. Robin is...he's not taking this thing with Marian and Roland very well. When Regina found out, she freaked and left the appartment and she's not answering any of our calls. We could really use your help right now. I think you're the only one Robin will listen to." Ruby was rarely serious, that's just how she was, but right now she sounded worried. Emma knew better than to ignore her sister's words.

"I'll be there in half an hour at most," Emma promised and hung up.

Well. So much for avoiding Killian.

The moment Emma let herself into Robin's apartment, she stopped dead in her tracks. The sight was definitely not something she was expecting to see, and her blood boiled the moment her eyes met the woman standing by the window overlooking the Central Park.

"What the hell is she doing here?" she seethed, asking no one in particular. Of course some logical part of her brain understood why Marian, the woman responsible for this mess, would be there, but she ignored it in favor of causing a scene.

"Oh, Emma!" Ruby cried out and pushed herself from the kitchen counter, running towards her sister. "I'm so glad you're here." The raven-haired woman wrapped her arms around Emma, and the blonde returned the hug absently, still waiting for an answer.

"Emma-" Marian began, trying her best to look innocent. However, thanks to her super power, Emma could see the lie coming from a mile away.

"Why are you here?" she asked as calmly as she could, not caring if she was being rude. The brunette was starting to speak again, but Emma raised her hand to silence her. "No, you know what? I don't care. You've made a big mess just by showing up here and now you need to get the hell out of here and let us try to fix it." Her voice was strict and left no place for argument.

Marian seemed to think over her words for a moment, before she nodded and raised her chin slightly. Gone was the innocent façade, and she was back to the spoiled little rich girl Emma was used to. "Fine. I'll leave for now. It's not like I'll get Robin to listen to me right now anyway. Tell Robin he knows where to find me when he comes to his senses." And with that, she stormed passed Ruby, who was still holding on to Emma, and slammed the door behind her.

The room fell silent for a few moments as Emma tried to process everything that had just happened. She had never known it was possible to physically hate a person so much. It seemed like Marian knew the exact right time to strike - as if she had been planning to come and mess up Robin's life just as he found his happiness again. That woman was a snake with nothing better to do than to destroy other people's lives.

Well, Emma definitely wasn't going to let that happen again. Robin deserved so much better and so did Roland. If the little boy really was Robin's, Emma would do everything in her power to get him away from Marian's evil clutches.

"Not to disturb your plotting, but I think you should check up on Robin now. He's pretty out of it, if you ask me." And just like that, the bubble of silence was broken. Blinking a few times in confusion, Emma realized for the first time since she entered the apartment that there was another person in the room. It was Killian's deep voice that shook her out of her daze.

Clearing her throat, she nodded slightly and let go of her sister. "Um, yeah...you're right. Where is he?" she asked, not looking directly at him. It was awkward enough as it was.

"He's upstairs."

After making sure Ruby didn't need her to stay for a while longer, she climbed the stairs and walked towards the bedroom. She was pretty sure that's where she'd find her brother, and she wasn't wrong. Her heart broke slightly upon seeing Robin sitting on the bottom of the bed with his elbows on his thighs, looking defeated. His shoulders were slumped, his head between his hands and his eyes looking at the wall in front of him.

With a heavy sigh, she sat down next to him on the bed and rested her head on his shoulder, trying to find the words of assurance or comfort or anything really. But her mind was as blank as the wall they were facing.

"This sucks," were the words she decided on in the end, knowing there wasn't really much else to say.

Robin shook his head slightly and fell back on the bed with a sigh. "Yeah, no shit."

Emma joined him, putting her arm behind her head. "What are you going to do?"

"I have absolutely no idea."

"What does she even want, though?"

Another tired sigh. "She says she wants to move to New York. She says she wants Roland to have a father," he let out with a snort.

"And you believe her?" Emma turned her head to the side and studied her brother's face.

He looked years older than the last time she had seen him. There were so many emotions written all over his face she had trouble understanding them all. Again the anger towards Maria bubbled in her veins, but she tried to calm herself down. Getting upset right now wouldn't help this situation at all.

"No, I don't. But I have no idea what she really wants. Hell, I don't even know if this kid is really mine to begin with."

"And what if he is? You know I'm the last person to trust anything that bitch says, but what if she really is telling the truth? What will you do than?"

"If Roland really is mine...then I will do anything I can to be there for him, you know that..."

"But?"

He stayed silent for a few moments. "But...I finally found someone who makes me happy Emma. I know you don't like Regina, but she makes me so happy. And we were just starting our lives together. I don't want to lose her. I love her."

Now it was Emma's turn to be silent. She knew where he was coming from. She had seen how happy Regina has made him, even though she was the last one to admit it out loud. And all she ever wished for her brother was for him to be happy. So she silently decided that she would do anything she could to help Regina understand and most importantly - stay. "Yeah, I know."

It turned out Roland really was Robin's son. It also turned out he was a very sweet little boy who loved Emma's hot chocolate, played with dinosaurs and picked his nose when no one was watching. And it just so happened that Marian's big scheme was to dump the adorable three-year-old with his father and disappear without a word.

So, for the past three months, their lives had mostly revolved around the happily oblivious three-year-old. Suddenly having a kid was a major change in all of their lives - especially Robin's. Thankfully, Regina had come home not even a day after Marian left and promised Robin to try to get used to the idea of him having a child.

Even though Emma hated to admit it, Regina turned out to be very maternal and an excellent mother to Roland. But it had only been three months and things could always change.

Between Robin and Regina, and Ruby and Emma, they somehow managed to balance taking care of the little one and staying sane. Since Ruby was the only one of them without a stable job, she volunteered to stay in New York and look after Roland when Robin and Regina were at work, and Emma offered to take him on every other weekend, so that the exhausted new parents could get some free time. Curiously enough, even though he claimed he didn't like children, Killian watched Robin on quite a few occasions and the three-year-old couldn't stop talking about all the fun stuff his Uncle Killian had shown him.

Emma was thankful for Killian's help, especially since it wasn't really his burden to carry. It wasn't exactly hers either, but she was still family and he technically wasn't.

"You look pretty, Aunt Emma," A small voice drew Emma out of her thoughts, making her turn around and smile at the slightly flustered boy who was sitting on her bed with paper and crayons scattered around him.

Inspecting herself in the long mirror again, she couldn't help but to agree with her nephew. Her black jeans hugged her legs and her butt like a glove and the white sleeveless shirt she was wearing showed just enough of her curves. She wore ankle-boots and just a few touches of make up to bring out her eyes. She paired her outfit with a pair of silver earrings and the bracelet Ruby had gotten her for her birthday last year. And she had to admit she looked good.

Walking towards her nephew, whose arms were up in the air and waiting excitedly for her to pick him up, she spun him around and laughed at the sound of his adorable shrieking. "Thank you, my little monkey! You don't look bad yourself," she said, gently throwing him back on the bed and tickling him until tears of laughter pooled in his eyes.

Slightly panting, she rolled on the bed next to him, still smiling widely. She didn't care if she wrinkled her clothes or smudged her make up. Playing with Roland and seeing him happy was far more important to her than what her date - a man Mary Margaret had set her up with - thought of her.

Once the smiling child calmed down, he sat up in bed and held up a paper, looking at Emma with his innocent, wide eyes. "I made this for you." He said, his cheeks tainted red from laughing and from feeling a little shy as he waited for her to take the drawing from him.

"Really?" Emma played along, her eyes wide with excitement. She inspected his masterpiece, not having the slightest clue of what the picture was supposed to represent, but still offering him the brightest smile. "Oh my, Roland, this is amazing! It's beautiful! Thank you," she said enthusiastically and jumped off the bed.

"Come on," She held out her hand for him to take. "Let's put this somewhere where everyone can see."

With a wide smile and sparkling eyes, Roland climbed off the bed and took her hand, following her out of her bedroom and to the kitchen, where she sat him on the counter. Searching her drawers for a magnet, she pinned the picture on the fridge. "Perfect! Now everyone can see it."

The blonde turned back to the little boy, but the happiness in his eyes was gone and there was a small pout on his lower lip. "Hey, monkey, what's wrong?" she asked gently, brushing a lock of his hair from his face.

"Do you really like my drawing?" he asked with sad eyes. "Mommy always said they were silly." Emma felt like her heart broke in half as she stared into her nephew's watery eyes.

Rage bubbled to the surface at the thought of Marian and her horrible parenting skills, but she took a deep breathe, closed her eyes for a second, and calmed down.

Taking Roland's tiny head in her palms, she bent down a little so she was his height and brushed the tear that escaped his eyes with her thumb. "I don't know why your mommy didn't like your drawings, buddy, but I seriously love it. In fact, I love it so much I'll make you a deal, okay? You'll draw me more pictures and I'll make sure that cookie jar you've been stealing cookies from is never empty. Deal?"

Sadness long forgotten, Roland wrapped his hands around her neck and giggled. "Deal, Aunt Emma!"

"Good boy," she winked at him and ruffled his hair.

Thank you for reading!