(A/N: Okay, the late update wasn't my fault, okay?! It was FanFiction's. FF was flipping out yesterday + today and I couldn't login, couldn't type a word for this, only reach the front page of the website. I didn't really check to see if, you know, you could read a story or something, since I was freaked out and irritated, in no way in the mood for reading anything except my damn story. No matter how many times I tried to reload to finally login, it was if it was like, "FUCK OFF MJO, NO WRITING FOR TODAY!" And I ended up having to watch shite on YT fro the rest of that day - not to say that's a bad thing of course. I just really wanted to accomplish something today. I tried my other computer too, to see if it was just laptop that was going cray-cray.
Nope.
Seriously.
I just randomly reloaded the login today and it finally worked (and so I fist-pumped the air and danced around my house for like fifteen minutes). Thank GAWDDDD. Tell me if this happened to you too. We can wallow in self-pity together. ;p;)
Warnings: Swearing, oh no, what a surprise! Haha, NO.
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't ask.
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...
The snow made small grinding noises under his soft boot-clad feet, a strangely comfortable noise for Killian during snowy days.
Sometimes he would just focus on that sound. His thoughts ran elsewhere when he heard that soothing sound. He was glad it had distracted him from the slip from before.
Honestly, it wasn't a normal occurrence for his friend to be excited like she had been before. Maybe it'd been that she hadn't been out in the snow with so many competitive players like she had before, and it made her feel homely, like she really belonged, and she loved it. There was always the wonderful moments that you just want to live in forever, keep in your heart. Walking home alone wasn't one of them.
Killian closed the door behind here, the little snowflakes trailing in quickly behind him in kind. He leaned against the door, only to find that his scarf was stuck in between the door. It tugged on his neck tightly when he attempted to wriggle out of it out of her restraints, only strangling him further. He coughed in pain and figured that being lazy would do him no good if it was going to kill him - literally. He reached up to his neck and grasped the woolly material in his fist tightly and ripped it off his neck.
Killian gasped and wheezed, silently cursing his bad luck. He opened his front door. "Bloody thing..." He hissed. There was a rip in the fabric where it was squished between the door. He could bet that it was because he tugged so hard on it.
And he reeeeeeeally liked that scarf! He wasn't even joking any more!
Emma'd gotten him that one too...
It was all around disappointing. The only person who he knew could fix scarves and clothes was...
Killian sighed sadly. Ariel. It wasn't like he couldn't just go over to a professional to fix it in a shop or something of the sort, but... maybe he wanted an excuse to talk to Ariel anyway?
Killian sighed, walking over to his soft, leather couch to go sit and think in. He'd been so idiotic, yelling at her, acting so furious and annoyed.
Acting. That was what it was. He had no reason to be mad, all he really felt was retractiveness towards the subject - it was something he'd rather not remember, or wish he didn't in the first place.
He felt compelled to yell at her, though, because what else would Emma think if he didn't? That he was okay with her keeping that secret? That he... perhaps... liked the kiss? He wouldn't want her to know or think any of the kind. But... she was trying to stop him from yelling too... Had he gone, possibly, too far? A surge of regret hit Killian, and suddenly he had the urge to go outside again. Scarf in hand, he unlocked the door once more, and opened it.
"Uhm... Hi?"
...To find a bunch of people standing there.
In front of him were, surprisingly, Emma's friends from the snowball fight. They seemed to have mixed expressions on their faces... remorse? Or guilt? He dropped his encouraging smile to stare at them with wonder, cocking his head. "What's wrong, guys? Is something the matter?"
Ruby scratched her arm nervously, while Mary Margeret and Archie coughed awkwardly. Regina looked down to cover up a roll of the eyes, and mumbled something inaudible, Elsa, next to her, nudging her shoulder hard with her own with an annoyed look on her face. Regina gave her a deathly glare, but sighed and looked Killian in the eyes for once.
"We're... sorry. UghthiswassohardtosayIhateyouElsa" The last part was barely detectable in a low murmur.
"You're sorry?" He raised his eyebrow in surprise. It eventually morphed into a little smirk. "Oh, I get it now."
The entire group sighed in unison, as if they just let out all their worries in the world. Anna spoke up, almost wheezing in relief. "Oh thank God, we're so glad you understand. I mean, it was so hard to keep in, you know? Secrets are hard for me to keep, too!"
"The struggle is real," Mumbled Hans sarcastically. He turned to Killian. "But, yeah, thanks for making it easier for us."
"...You're all sorry that you sucked so bad at the snowball fight today!"
Silence. They all stared at him with utter shock of his misunderstanding. "W-What?!" Regina asked, part angry, part dumbfounded. "Y-You think that THAT'S the reason why we all apologized?!"
"Yeah...?"
"I don't EVER apologise unless i'm serious! Do you even know me?!" Robin held her back to stop her from pouncing. He looked up apologetically to Killian. "Sorry, mate. She's not usually like this."
"Yes, I AM!" She screamed. Robin smiled nervously. Killian turned his attention to the rest of the group. "Okay, so it's not about that, what's your apology all about?"
"We're sorry that we didn't tell you about the kiss on New Years." Mary Margeret said.
Killian was shocked into muteness for a few seconds. Then his face was inquisitive. "But... you guys had nothing to do with it!" They turned their eyes away from him shamefully. He could tell from the looks in their eyes that... perhaps they weren't letting on as much as they should. "...Right?"
Elsa sighed. "We helped make it happen Made her drunk, set up the dare, even the party itself was really for you guys." Anna looked over his shoulder to avoid his gaze. "Shippers can go too far sometimes and... we all agreed! You, Emma... It needed to happen. It didn't work out and we heard about Ariel. It wasn't her fault, you know? She's so guilty now and I don't think she's gotten out of her house at all since then. She missed all our calls, and locked even Eric out. He's about to call the police to get her out of there."
"W-What?" His eyes widened in horror. "Fuuuck. Look, it doesn't matter anymore, it's fine, I forgive you guys. Where's Emma?"
Archie shook his head in disapproval and held onto his arm before he decided to run. "Now's not the time to be worrying about her right now, we have to-" Killian cut him off hurriedly. "No, that's not what I meant. Does she know about this?"
"Y-Yes. Why?" David asked uneasily. He could tell that he was thinking the same thing as he was. "We apologised before coming here."
"Did she take it fine?"
"Yes. Definitely." He nodded his head affirmatively, Killian sighing in relief. "Good."
Mary Margeret looked at him seriously. "We wouldn't forgive ourselves if we didn't tell you guys sooner or later. It just... wasn't our place to say it first. It was Ariel's."
"She knew that she couldn't not tell you." Regina spoke softly, having recovered from her bad temper from earlier. "We told her we could do it, but she did it anyways. She told us it would be fine, that being less of a coward was one of the greatest achievements she could accomplish. No more hiding. No more lying. Just honesty."
Killian sighed regretfully. "She was right, and I was an idiot for yelling at her. I never thought of how she would feel, the stupid arse I am. Dammit, I need to apologise." He broke free of Archie's grip and ran to David's huge car, the man himself tossing him the keys. He nodded thanks. As soon as his hand touched the door handle, his phone in his pocket rang. He reached into his pocket with surprise, answering his phone to stop the vibrating and music coming from his device.
"Hello?"
Emma's friends listened in to as much as they could, but could only hear Killian's response. This disappointed them, but you know, beggars can't be choosers. And damn did they exaggerate that problem.
"Emma? Yeah, I'm on my way to Ariel's place to apologise, your friends explained to me what happened. ...Yeah. Traffic's pretty bad?" A loud yelling was heard on the other side of the call, making him take the phone away from his ear for the time being, flinching and squeezing one of his eyes shut until she stopped. He coughed awkwardly.
"Uh, right. So can I pick you up? We can talk later, yeah?" This time a calm reply came, making him sigh in relief. "'Kay. Bye." Killian shut off his phone and put away, turning back to the group of people still standing near his door. Mary Margeret shut the door politely.
"Thanks guys for telling me. Want me to give a few of you a ride?"
They shook their heads, smiling. Archie spoke up. "Nah, we're fine." Killian nodded understandingly. "Alright, just making sure. Be safe."
Regina rolled her eyes, but her smile gave her away. "Obviously. Now... go and get your girlfriend, okay?" It was Killian's turn to roll his eyes. "Whatever." And so he shut the door, waved them farewell and drove off.
The group sighed in unison. Anna looked around at everyone innocently.
"Now... How are we going to get home?"
Everyone groaned in response.
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...
Killian found Emma walking towards the entrance to the highway, so he parked as near as he could to it in the emergency/extra lane. He could already see the seemingly millions of card jammed into multiple lanes, and damn did he feel sorry for all those people in those cars. He could hear loud screaming and yelling even from so far away to move and shit.
Emma entered his car to Killian's right, sighing. "I got my car towed out just in time. I'm one lucky fucker."
"Haha, indeed." They drove for a while in silence, since Ariel's house was so far away. But then Killian felt obligated to talk to her about... anything. "I'm so stupid for yelling at her," he sighed regretfully. "It's all my fault that she closed herself off."
Emma patted his shoulder to make him look at her. "Hey, it wasn't your fault. You were just defending yourself and it was her decision to let her guilt get the better of her. Though I can't really say that, either. I yelled at her too, remember?"
"Yeah, but not as loud as I did! Her neighbours probably wanted to call the police or something!"
"We should stop trying to place the blame on ourselves and Ariel. There's no purpose."
"..Yeah."
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...
The apology was long and desperate, already filled with pleas for forgiveness when she wouldn't open the door. Ariel tried to tell herself to not shed a tear, but one escaped after another, leading to her downfall. Then they all sat together in peace at her dining table in peace, quietly sipping hot beverages. They all needed a break from the loud, bustling, sad, angry world they all lived in. They finally found themselves calmly apologising. Forgiveness came, and hugs were given. Warm, homely one - the ones they adored so much.
Ariel was a coward no longer.
They noted her apology as pure bravery, making Ariel blush the colour of her hair. They laughed, and requested seconds of their one-there drinks. Ending up staying there for the night, her house was now bustling with noise though there were only three people there. Three turned into four as Ariel finally called her husband back in and Emma and Killian watched as their reunion was even better to behold than their petty apology cycle.
They couldn't deny that that was something they both wanted.
Some things couldn't be put into words, could they?
Oh, what do I mean by that, you ask?
Well, you'll just have to find out later, won't you? I can't give everything away! Wait, I wasn't supposed to write this here? What's that? A/N?
Haha, you folks are crazy.
The story? Oh, er, right, hehe.
And Killian didn't know how or why, but suddenly four turned into seven, seven to ten, and abruptly did the party start.
Oh, and yes, it was far better than the last one. So it seemed, at least. Music playing loud and food flying everywhere, but no liquor. Certainly no drunk people at that party, thank god. And suffice to say was it one of the best nights of their lives.
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...
(A/N: That's it for now! The way I go from good moment to bad moment can be pretty weird, but hey, so is life. I try to make this as realistic as possible, as the world we live in today is always unexpected, and feelings and days can dip accordingly. I pray you understand. I say this before writing the next chapter, which is bound to mess with your feels and give you memories of S3. MUWAHAAHAHAHAHAHA~!)
Stay awesome until the next update of...
~ Looking After You ~