Author's Note: Thank for for the warm reception to this story so far! I hope you enjoy chapter 2 :)

"Shit!"

Emma bolted out of her bed, reaching for her phone while simultaneously attempting to pull her tank top over her head. There was no way she was going to get to the university in time for her class; it took her 40 minutes to drive there, and as she caught sight of herself in a mirror, she knew she had to shower. Her hair was tangled and messy, and she had forgotten to wash off her makeup the previous night.

"Ruby!" she yelled, running into the bathroom and turning on the shower. No answer. Her friend was probably still at Victor's apartment. After shooting a panicked text to Ruby, Emma stepped into the shower and washed her hair in record time. She checked her phone when she stepped out. 9:40. Her class started in twenty minutes. A text arrived from Ruby, a single word showing on her lock screen - ~Belle.~

Emma's eyes widened. Ruby was right. She was entirely right. Thankfully, Emma and Belle had exchanged numbers at the beginning of the year, both being close in age. She quickly dialed Belle's number and set the phone on speakerphone, starting to get dressed while it rang.

"Please pick up, please..." she muttered. Almost immediately, she heard Belle's voice.

"Hello?"

"Belle! Yes, hi! Are you on campus right now?" Emma blurted out, fighting with her pants. Belle replied, sounding confused.

"Yes, I am... Emma? Is everything alright? Did you get the notes I sent you last night?"

Once she was dressed, Emma checked the clock again. 9:43. "I did, yes. Listen, Belle. I have another huge favour to ask you, and if you do this for me you'll be saving my ass. I overslept this morning, and I'm still at home, and I have a class in fifteen. I'm not going to make it... could you go and be a guest speaker or something. Just talk about book eleven of Paradise Lost. I promise I'll be there by 10:30 and you'll be off the hook. Promise," she babbled, her eye on the clock. She could almost hear Belle frowning on the other end.

"I..."

Emma didn't give her a chance to continue. "I'm gonna make this up to you. For the notes and this class. Please, I need you right now."

"Okay. You'll be there for 10:30? I'll do it. What room are you in?"

Relieved, Emma rambled off all the information Belle needed to survive lecturing to her students.

"You are absolutely the best! Thanks, so much," she said, glancing at the clock again. Belle, polite as she was, said a quick 'you're welcome' before hanging up. As soon as Emma was off the phone, she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. 9:48. A text arrived from Ruby, and she replied.

~Good call. Asked Belle. All good. Leaving to campus now.~

Ruby's reply was almost instantaneous. ~Don't break any laws to get there faster. Drive safe.~

Emma rolled her eyes. ~I'll get there as fast as legally possible.~

~Best of luck. Love you 3~

~Thanks Red. How was the date with Victor? ;)~

~I'll tell you when you aren't frantically trying to get to work, Duckie~

Emma laughed, pulling on her jacket and picking up her bag with everything she needed for the day at work. A second later, one final text came in from her friend.

~Victor's amazing in bed~

She started laughing harder as she left the apartment, locking it behind her and racing down to the parking lot. Ruby had been kind enough to let Emma use her spot while her own car was being fixed (she had tried to convince her to stop using her grandmother's old car, but Ruby was determined to use it to the bitter end). She climbed into her yellow bug, setting her bag on the floor on the passenger side and starting the car.

The next 35 minutes were the most stressful minutes of her life.

She had never left her apartment this late, and apparently there were several Storybrookians who commuted around this time. It was a surprise to her, but then again, the universe seemed determined to hate her. Maybe it was just the day. She pushed the speed limit the entire drive, and when she got closer to the university, she decided to take a shortcut through some residential streets to avoid the traffic on the main roads. Somehow, she made it to campus, parking in a one hour limit zone outside the building she taught in instead of spending the time to go to the staff parking lot. There would be time to move her car after her class. She grabbed her bag and practically flew into the building and up the stairs.

A half second later, she decided against going to her office first. Instead, she slowed to a brisk walk, heading down the hall towards the classroom. Halfway down the hall, however, she paused. Killian Jones was sitting on a bench, clearly not in class. Emma blinked.

"Hey. I'm pretty sure you have a 10am class on Thursdays," she said, walking over to him. The young man looked up, startled, and tugged an earbud out of his ear.

"Dr. Swan... this isn't..." he paused, his brow furrowed in confusion as he locked eyes with her. "Why aren't you teaching?"

Emma bit her lip. "I asked you first."

"I just needed some time to myself," he replied, relaxing back against the wall and turning his head to the side. Somehow, she knew there was more to it. It probably had to do with his poor performance on his other paper.

"It's getting close to the end of the semester. You should be in class. Is your paper finished? You said you'd have it for today," she said, resisting the urge to put her hands on her hips. Killian merely shrugged.

"Something came up. I'm going to have to take you up on your offer of an extension to tomorrow," he mumbled. Emma frowned, but a quick glance at the clock put an end to her questions.

"I have to get to class, but you should come see me this afternoon. I have to ask you about your American Lit paper," she said, turning and starting to walk off. Before she had fully turned, however, she saw him grow pale and nervous. For the second time in less than 24 hours, she wondered what was going on with him. It wasn't like the senior to skip class, or perform poorly on an essay.

All thoughts of Killian vanished from her mind as she reached the classroom and opened the door. All heads turned, including Belle's, and the PH.D. candidate smiled warmly.

"Right on schedule," Belle said sweetly, stepping away from the podium. Emma walked forward, turning to face the board once she was next to Belle.

"We just finished book eleven, and were starting book twelve," the brunette whispered, offering Emma another smile. Emma grinned back.

"I'm going to repay you for this. Thank you so much," she whispered back. Belle nodded, her cheeks going lightly pink. Emma turned back to her students.

"Let's give Miss French our thanks," she said, as the class started applauding politely. Belle gave a half-bow, heading out of the room as Emma resumed teaching. She didn't catch her breath fully until the class was almost over.

Killian was nowhere to be seen once the class was let out and Emma had left the room. She trusted him to come see her, though. In the past two years that she had known him, he had proven to be a reliable student. After moving her car to the proper lot and returning to the building, she walked up to her office.

Someone was standing outside her office, and it wasn't the person she had been hoping to see. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"Before you kick me out again, to be fair you did promise me a conversation," Walsh said quickly, before she could react. Emma dragged her eyes over her fiancé, taking into account his curly hair, messier than usual, the dark circles under his eyes, and his clothes, dishevelled as they were, and let out a long sigh.

"I didn't mean here. I have work to do," she muttered, clutching her bag against her stomach as a sort of barrier between them. Walsh took a step forward, reaching towards her.

"Ems, please... I just want to talk. You've been avoiding me for almost three weeks now..." he said softly, pain evident in both his voice and his facial expression. Emma glanced around, seeing a student walking down the hall, and sighed once more. She pulled her key out of her bag and unlocked her office door, stepping inside and pulling Walsh by the wrist behind her, then locked the door.

"You have half an hour, then I need to prepare for my 1pm class," she said, leaning back against her desk and arching her brow at him. Walsh seemed to relax for a moment, happy he finally had her attention.

"Thank you," he breathed, as she set her bag down beside her, on the desk. She shrugged.

"What kind of fiancée do you think I am? Like you said, it's been three weeks, I think I'm ready to hear your explanation now," she replied as she pulled out her hair tie and shook her hair free. Walsh was nibbling on his lower lip, deep in thought, and Emma frowned. "Tick tock, Walsh."

"Alright, fine. Zelena wanted me to stay later at work so we could finish a project," he started, holding his hands behind his back.

"Sure. A project," Emma started, but stopped talking as her fiancé shook his head rapidly.

"That's exactly what it was. I know you don't believe me-"

"Of course I don't. I was at her dinner party with you. I saw the way your boss was looking at you," she cut in, pain over the memories of that evening rushing back to her. The dreadful woman's gaze had been positively lustful as she had watched Walsh, and Emma had walked in on the two standing rather close in the alcove at the end of her hall. Walsh insisted that nothing had happened, but Emma knew better. If she had never walked in, she was sure Zelena would have convinced the man to do more than merely brush off her thinly veiled advances.

"I stopped, though. I didn't let her do anything. You were the one who blew it out of proportion," he tried to protest, making Emma cross her arms across her middle.

"I didn't blow it out of proportion. Zelena wanted you, probably still wants you, and you weren't doing anything to stop her. You just let her leer at you and invite you to stay late after work, and what was I supposed to think? Not to mention the texts she sent you," she struck back, narrowing her eyes. Walsh couldn't possibly talk his way out of this, and the Zelena issue was only the tip of the iceberg. There were more, unspoken issues between them, and she was positive neither of them really understood everything. And yet, they were still engaged with two months left until their wedding. She had no idea what she was thinking.

"I've asked Dorothy to stay as well whenever Zelena tells me to stay!" Walsh exclaimed suddenly, breaking her train of thought. She laughed bitterly.

"Great, two relatively attractive women and you alone in the office at night. Just perfect. What am I supposed to think?" she repeated herself, starting to catch herself getting too emotional. To drive the hatchet in further, before he could react, she added, "You know it's hard for me, after what Neal did to me in college." Was it necessary? Probably not. Harsh? Definitely. But she wanted him to understand why it was such a huge deal for her.

Walsh was thrown off guard for a moment, staring blankly at her before he collected himself and took a step towards her.

"Emma... you know I'm nothing like Neal. I would never cheat on you. I love you, you know that. You have to trust me. If it'll make you feel better, I'll tell Dorothy not to bother, and ask Archie instead. I want to make this work between us..." he trailed off, reaching out his hand. Emma stared at the offered hand and slowly extended her own, pushing off the desk and moving towards him.

"Prove to me that there's nothing with you and Zelena," she said softly, letting him pull her into his arms. Walsh nodded and kissed the side of her head.

"I can do that. Promise."

For the rest of the half hour Emma had promised Walsh, the pair made plans to have dinner on the weekend and she promised to consider moving back into the apartment they had shared before the fight. Before he left, Emma even graced him with a chaste kiss on the lips to seal their tentative truce.

"I'll see you on Saturday, I guess. Have a good class. What are you doing tomorrow?" he asked, stroking her hair back behind her ears. Emma shrugged.

"Ruby wants to take me to a movie. She knows a theatre that offers a discount on Fridays, believe it or not," she said, smiling. Walsh grinned.

"How lucky. Enjoy that, then," he said, starting to step away. Emma nodded, walking behind him to the door. They kissed once more, and then Walsh opened the door and left down the hall. Emma closed her door once he disappeared around a corner, and leaned against it for a moment. Had that really just happened? She was still trying to process. Had she forgiven him? Not yet. He still had to prove himself. But at least he was willing to try, to stand up to his boss. That was good, right?

When she returned to her office after her afternoon lecture, she resumed grading, finishing it all. It wasn't until she locked her office at 5pm and made it to her bug before she realized something. Killian had never visited her office.

"Please stop looking like you're judging me," she pleaded to ears unwilling to hear her out. Ruby stood across the room from her, hands on her hips and an incendiary look on her face.

"Hard to do that when I'm judging you. Whatever happened to, oh, I don't know, the fact that he hurt you?" her temporary roommate grumbled. Emma let out a long sigh.

"Look, I'm giving him a chance. That's all. If he ruins it, then he ruins it and I'll call off the engagement. But for now, at least he's making an effort," she said, stepping towards her friend. Ruby sighed, giving it an over-dramatic flair.

"Fine. I trust you. But I'm going to the restaurant with you on Saturday and sitting in a booth nearby so I can keep an eye on him." She nodded, grinning. "That way, if he tries anything on you, then I can step in and finally get a chance to show him a piece of my mind."

Emma laughed. "I'm sure he's been living in absolute fear of coming face to face with you since the fight," she said, running her fingers through her hair. "Now do I look alright? Elsa and I are going out."

Ruby took one long look over Emma's hair and outfit and tutted, disappearing into her room and returning with one of her glittery tops. "Here, try this on."

To please her friend, Emma pulled off the shirt she was wearing and tried on Ruby's blue top, grimacing as she turned to the mirror. "I'm not sure. It screams single and ready to mingle, to me," she said slowly. Ruby sighed.

"Oh, fine, wear your top. I wish I could come with you girls… damn night shifts," she complained, putting her best pout on. Emma nudged her with her elbow.

"Next time, we'll make sure we plan for your night off. But I haven't seen Elsa in forever and—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, have fun. I'll be expecting texts, especially if you meet a hot guuuuuy," Ruby wiggled her eyebrows at Emma, making her double over with laughter. When she could breathe again, she held up her left hand.

"No guy will come on to me when they see this," she said. Ruby merely shrugged, muttering something about missing out before catching sight of the clock.

"Oh, I've gotta go! Don't get too drunk!" she exclaimed, quickly gathering what she needed for work and heading out the door. Emma closed it behind her and grinned, getting ready for her girl's night out with Elsa.

There seemed to be a problem outside the bar as Emma and Elsa arrived. It was odd, since as per Elsa's request, this was one of the classier bars in the area, and in the few years that Emma had been frequenting it with her other best friend, there had never been a problem. And yet, someone was in the process of being kicked out, for what, Emma couldn't figure out. Elsa tutted under her breath while Emma watched carefully, both women remaining where they were for the moment. Finally, the very clearly drunk man turned away and started stumbling away, letting out loud profanities. Something about his voice sounded familiar, and as the man came closer to the two friends, Emma finally figured it out.

"Elsa, that's one of my students," she whispered. Elsa turned to her, arching an eyebrow.

"Really? Is he going to be okay?" she whispered back. Classic Elsa, ever the concerned one. Emma wasn't sure, though.

"I don't know… it's hard to say with him," she replied. She was about to say more, but was rudely interrupted.

"Dr. Swan, what are you doing here?" Killian slurred, his Irish accent more obvious. Emma frowned, and beside her, Elsa crossed her arms over her middle.

"Believe it or not, professors have a life outside of teaching. Are you going to be alright? Need a ride home?" she asked, her concern for him growing with each passing second. Killian seemed confused for a moment before he shook his head rapidly.

"No, I'm fine," he mumbled, stumbling back. "Don't think I'm gonna have my essay in tomorrow," he added, looking down at the ground. She almost didn't catch what he said, and then he was gone, stumbling off in the opposite direction. Emma gaped after him, half tempted to follow and drag him back to her bug, to get him home safely. But he was an adult, and she had no idea where he lived.

"I… don't know what I should do…" she said softly, turning to Elsa. Her friend looked as concerned as she felt, and the white haired woman didn't even know Killian.

"Maybe try talking to him when he's sober?" Elsa offered. Emma frowned.

"I guess I'll try…" she said softly, "but for now, let's go try and have some fun."

Elsa agreed, and the pair entered the bar, although their night was far more subdued than she had initially wanted it to be. Her thoughts kept drifting to Killian, wondering how bad things had gotten for him that he was spiraling so far.

She needed to do something before he self-destructed.