3."Please, don't leave."
Captain Swan, 3b divergence
Neal was gone.
Again.
It was too much. Too much to understand, too much to process.
The pain, the guilt, the unbearable guilt of not saying the things she wanted to say. The she'd made peace with it, with him, with what had happened. But that it was over, that no matter how hard he tried and fought for her, she had moved on. In her previous life and in her fake life, in both lives she had moved on from him. She was done with that part of her life and she had no intention to rekindle it.
And now he'd never known. And everyone will go on thinking that she had loved him more than what she'd actually did.
She sighed as she drawn her shot and sank back on the couch in the common area of the Inn. Her eyes focus on the sofa chair in front of her, losing herself in her thoughts.
Footsteps took her out of her daze and she looked up to see Killian coming her way.
"Apologies, lass. I didn't mean to interrupt you." He said slowly, his hand running through his hair, his eyes filled with sadness and concern. "I-I leave you to it, Swan." He whispered before rushing to his room.
"Please don't leave." She said abruptly and he froze on the spot. He turned around slowly, a confused look on his face. She hugged herself suddenly feeling a cold sinking deep in her bones.
He was by her side in an instant, invading her personal space, kneeling in front of her.
"Swan…" He whispered and she threw herself in his arms, breathing heavily. He embraced her tightly, his hook on her back, his hand caressing her hair as he breathed her in, his heat and steadiness calming her down.
"I'm here, Emma."
I'll always be here, my love.