Going over the events of two nights ago again, she had managed to put in order the list of bad things that had happened. First came the fact that the restaurant that her 'date' had agreed to meet her at was a near hour drive from her apartment, causing her to pay the baby sitter double for being later than she expected. Next was the wine stain on her dress that she was already quite familiar with, and knew wouldn't be coming out ever. Emma really did like that dress.
And lastly was a certain unexpected interference by one Killian Jones.
Or maybe that was at the top of her list of good things that happened that night. Just after catching the guy of course. She couldn't make up her mind on how she quite felt about their encounter a few night ago, it had certainly been different than the last few times she had seen him.
It was as though seeing him out of the school setting had freed them both from the lingering awkwardness. It also of course freed them both from the constant reminder that it was wrong as she had nearly kissed him, multiple times. Self control was proving to be hard around him.
But regardless of that certain matter, it had been almost, fun. He had been in a good mood, and she couldn't deny it was nice to pay him back a bit. It was only fair really, that she was so blindsided by his job that he be just as surprised by hers. She tried to ignore the logical portion of her brain that told her he had been acting jealous of the idea of her on a date, but it apparently didn't feel like keeping quite at the moment.
She sighed, deciding that contemplating her complex relationship with Henry's teacher wasn't going to do her any good for the day. She stood up from the kitchen table and walked her coffee mug to the sink where she made busy for a moment cleaning it until she was left with nothing to do.
Henry was gone at school for the day, she had yet to find a new perp to track down, and the fridge was fully stocked. She was graciously saved having to think of something to do by the sound of her phone ringing. She picked it up from where it sat on the counter, seeing it was Mary Margaret, and answered.
"Hey" She said walking over and plopping down onto the sofa.
"How'd the set up go the other night? Did you get him?" Her friends always overly eager voice rang through the phone. She smiled to herself even if she found her enthusiasm sometimes a bit much, she still appreciated it. Or at least made an effort to.
"Of course." She replied, purposefully leaving out the fact that she had a little bit of help in the process.
"Emma Swan always gets her man." Mary Margaret said, causing her to chuckle.
"So what's up? Why'd you call?"
"A friend can't just call another friend to see how their fake date with a hardened criminal went?"
"Nope. Especially not you. You only call when you want something." She heard an annoyed sounding sigh from the other line, but other than that silence.
"You may be right." She rolled her eyes.
"Come on then, out with it."
"Keep in mind you owe me from the other week when I watched Henry so that you could go on a last minute stake out. And I'm usually not one to keep track so closely of the favors people owe me, I just like doing things to be nice and friendly, and because it's the right thing to do and-"
"Mary Margaret," She said interrupting the now babbling women. "What is it?"
"I need you to be a chaperone for the school field trip to the zoo on Thursday." She groaned, letting her head fall back against the couch cushion. She could now understand why Mary Margaret hadn't wanted to ask.
It wasn't that Emma didn't want to be involved with Henry's schooling experience, it was more that she loathed things like that, and that Henry never voiced any real interest in having her tag along. She had a few times when he first started in kindergarten, but she got the feeling that Henry hadn't had that much fun, and she certainly didn't.
Not to mention that now it wouldn't just be chaperoning a group of fifth graders. It would be chaperoning a group of fifth graders with their extremely handsome British teacher that seemed hell bent on trying to kill her. Or seduce her.
She was family certain at this point they were the same things. Being friends with him was significantly more difficult than she had hoped, and she had only encounter him once since their agreement had taken place.
"Mary Margaret" She started.
"I know, I know." She interrupted her before she could interject further. "But being on the school board now I have to be able to help out. We just had someone drop out at the last minute and you're the only one I know on such a short basis that qualifies for the job." She snorted.
"What are the qualifications? As long as your not a murderer or pervert you're good to go?" She heard a loaded silence that told her she wasn't impressed.
"It's actually that they're a parent of a student that attends Storybrooke Elementary, and while I'm not sure it actually says anywhere that you're not a murdered, I'm sure it's preferred." She smiled a little before sighing, knowing that she couldn't refuse. Even if she didn't owe Mary Margaret a favor, she still would have a hard time saying no to her friend.
"Fine, I'll do it." She heard a sort of excited laugh from the other end of the phone that already had her regretting her decision.
"Thanks Emma you're the best! I'll text you the details later but really all you have to do it be at the school by 7!"
"Sounds great." She said.
"See you then!" She wished Mary Margaret a good day before hanging up the phone and sinking even further down into the couch.
It's not a big deal. She told herself over and over, they were friends now. They had handed the other night fine, and like adults.
Maybe like adults who were flirty with each other, and with thinly veiled sexual innuendoes, and unresolved sexual tension, and almost kisses but, she could control herself. She just hoped the same could be said of him.
Tuesday and Wednesday passed with a vengeance, propelling her into Thursday by the sound of her alarm clock before she was strictly ready for it. The morning passed quickly as she started her daily battle of getting Henry out of bed, fed, and ready for school before time was up and in the process got herself ready to. Mary Margaret hadn't said anything about what to wear so she kept it simple. Choosing a pair of jeans, a white sweater, and a tan leather jacket.
Henry was miraculously ready to go and waiting for her when she got out of her room. The drive to school was filled with excited chatter as Henry talked about which animals he was most excited to see - Cobras for the record. She didn't tell him that she wasn't so certain the zoo would actually have cobras, some things aren't worth mentioning. She was however surprised to find that Henry seemed happy she was coming. She hadn't expected him to be upset, but neutral really. She shrugged it off though, stranger things had happened.
Yeah like sleeping with your sons teacher she thought to herself, but found herself smiling. Before she might have cringed at the thought, but now it seemed almost funny. But then as she pulled into the school parking lot and parked the car, the concept grew less and less funny as she was about to be faced with spending the entire day with said teacher.
Mary Margaret had told her that she would be paired with another parent from Henry's class, that apparently even chaperones used the buddy system. And if she knew Killian, she had a feeling she wouldn't exactly be paired with a parent for the day.
They walked into the school, feeling a buzz of excitement take over the hallways as they got closer and closer to Henry's class. The entire school wasn't going, just grades 3-5, but it was still enough to send the entire school into a mad dash to get things done. Teachers, students, and apparent parents alike kept on anxiously darting around making sure everyone had what they needed, and that they were prepared.
Finally entering Killian's classroom Henry almost immediately left her side to go and talk to his friends, leaving her to fend for herself. She hovered by the door not really sure where she was supposed to go or do, but she saw a few other parents standing around the room, making her feel more comfortable in her place.
She tried not to look for him, really, she might not have tried that hard, but she did put an actual effort into not scanning the room until she found him. But, well, she really didn't try that hard.
He was easy to spot, standing leaning against his desk, talking animatedly to one of the children fathers, chuckling at something the man said.
His eyes suddenly darted up, as if feeling her gaze on him and meet her eyes, his face instantly brightening. She smiled at him, knowing that if the were going to get through the day polite was the best way to go. And if that meant ignoring the conclusion to their last meeting, than that was fine with her. She was actually fairly anxious to pretend that it never happened. He shook hands with the man he was talking to before heading in her direction.
"Swan!" He said excitedly, stopping in front of her. "I was a little surprised to see your name on the field trip list." She rolled her eyes but smiled.
"It wasn't really by choice. I owed a friend a favor."
"Ah I see, being blackmailed into school activities?"
"Something like that." She responded smiling at him again. See? She said to herself, this is easy.
Her internal monologue was interrupted as Mary Margaret suddenly came bursting into the room, putting on quite a sight searching frantically for Killian. Emma smothered a smile from forming at the expense her friends appearance. She had paired a classic one of her dresses with a school spirited bright yellow Storybrooke Elementary T-shirt. An interesting look indeed.
Mary Margaret sighed finding him and smiled at Emma as she came over to the two of them.
"Mr. Jones, Emma!" She exclaimed coming closer to them. "Glad to see you two have meet." She could feel, physically feel Killian holding back a joke but he apparently thought better of it as he remained silent.
"Mrs. Nolan." He said greeting her politely. "I didn't know you two knew each other Ms. Swan?" He questioned looked back and forth between the two of them a bit confused.
"The previously mentioned blackmailer." Emma said, causing Killian to smile, and Mary Margaret to look at her like she had gone a bit crazy.
"Well then I guess I owe Mrs. Nolan a thank you for granting me such lovely company today." She rolled her eyes, not missing the strange look that Mary Margaret gave her.
"Any excuse to have Emma socialize." She gave her a sarcastic smile, but still felt there was something Mary Margaret wasn't saying.
"I just stopped by to say that you're bus is ready! You're on bus 11, and you can head out whenever you're ready." She smiled.
"Wonderful, thank you. I'll wrangle everyone together and have us out in a few minutes."
"Great! See you guys there!" She said turning to go, waving as she went but not before giving Emma another look. She frowned wondering what that was about.
"How do you know Mrs. Nolan?" Killian asked, cocking his head at her. Truthfully she hadn't known that the two of them knew each other, suddenly very grateful she hadn't told Mary Margaret she was 'seeing' anyone. Mary Margaret somehow had a knack for figuring things out, she probably would have pieced the facts together had she known.
"We've known each other for years, ever since I moved to Storybrooke really." He could tell there was more to the story, but sensing it was a heavy topic thankfully just let it go.
He turned to the classroom, telling everyone that they should start heading to the bus and went to put on his jacket and put his phone in his pocket.
"Mom!" Henry said, racing up to her, his backpack hanging off his shoulder. She smiled at him fixing the strap before responding.
"You excited kid? The animals, a day off school, the zoo?"
"Yeah! And you being here!" She smiled, glad to see he was happy to have her.
"Can I sit with Brian on the bus?" Her smiled faltered a bit, having assumed that Henry would sit with her on the thirty minute ride over, but she recovered quickly.
"Sure kid."
"Thanks mom!" He said racing off, before giving her a chance to respond.
"If you wanted to sit with me Swan all you had to do was ask. No need to use the lad as an excuse." She startled a bit at him creeping up on him but in response only raised an eyebrow, knowing that no matter what she said he would sit next to her on the bus. She wouldn't have put it past him to have bribed Henry to sit with someone else so that he could sit next to her.
"Let's get going then shall we?" He said, clapping his hands together to get the rooms attention and then proceeded to lead the group out of the classroom and towards the busses waiting for them outside.
It wasn't until he turned around to look at her from the front of the group and smiled at her, a genuine happy smile, that she realized just how much trouble she was in.
Not to her surprise, he did sit with her on the bus. But surprisingly enough it passed without incident. No overly sexual comments were made, no mentions of their past, it could almost be considered nice.
If she hadn't kept on seeing the way he was looking at her.
A soft smile kept on spreading across his handsome face, causing a crinkle to form around his eyes, the blue in them slightly brighter when he looked at her, a far away gaze in them.
She knew that look, had seen it only a few times in her life directed at her, but she knew it all too well. The fact that he was Henry's teacher be damned, she didn't want that look anywhere near her. He may seem nice, and wonderful, but the other shoe -the one that wasn't her son's teacher -was bound to drop at some point. And it would be much bigger than an unlikely coincidence. Of this she was certain. Which is how she suddenly found herself wanting to stay as far away from Killian Jones as possible.
It wasn't until all the kids from all the busses and grades were off the bus and into the zoo -a task that took an infuriating amount of time -that they were divided into smaller groups within each class and grade level.
The kids in Henry's class were divided into groups alphabetically, while the chaperones were assigned at random. Or not so random in her case.
"It seems you're stuck with me for the rest of the day Swan." He said coming up to her after the last two parents had been grouped together with each other, leaving only her and him.
She couldn't think of anything to say that didn't sound rude, so instead she simply smiled, moving away from him to make sure their group of ten children -which included Henry -was all ready to go and asked where they all wanted to go first.
After deciding that everyone wanted to see the giraffes as their first stop, they took off, Emma and Killian following behind their group making sure they were still heading in the right direction.
She could see him looking at her from the corner of her eye, taking quick glances every now and then. Trying to be inconspicuous, but failing.
"Have," He started, clearing his throat and lowering it a bit as to not be overheard by overly eager children. "Have I done something to upset you Emma?" He asked looking at her fully this time, deciding to stop taking small looks instead.
"Nope." She responded, only realizing how fake that sounded with the over enunciated 'p'. She flinched not knowing what to say. She couldn't exactly tell him she was upset because she thought that he liked her. She rolled her eyes at herself internally thinking it sounded ridiculous, but she stood firm in her beliefs. She didn't need, and certainly didn't want anyone else in her life.
"Emma if this is about the other night…"
"It's not. Really Killian, it's fine." She sighed, seeing his confused and slightly hurt face. "Let's just get through today, okay?" He nodded.
"You know you certainly don't seem like you enjoy the zoo much." She shrugged, avoiding his gaze as they grew closer to the giraffes fields.
"I never really went much as a kid." As a foster child, no one ever wanted to take her to the zoo, or anywhere for that matter. A fun day at the zoo -school day or otherwise -was something she had never gotten the chance to do.
"Did you parents have something against zoos? Everyone goes to the zoo."
"Not when you don't have any parents to take you." She said, shaking her head even as she said it, not meaning to be so open with him. She didn't know why it always happened like this, he seemed to just bring out the more honest side of her.
Something she found growling more infuriating every time she was around him.
"Emma I'm sorry, I didn't mean,"
"No problem." She said walking away from him as they reached the giraffes and joining Henry and some of his friends to watch the animals run around. She chatted with Henry for a few minutes who was more than excited to see the animals, asking if they could get one for a pet. She chuckled shaking her head.
"I don't think it would fit in the apartment kid."
"I guess you're right." He responded frowning, before going back to starring at them with a smile on his face. She could suffer through this day, she thought to herself, for Henry. To see that look on his face, she could deal with Killian trying to break through with her.
She didn't even notice him coming to stand next to her until he was leaning up against the fence railing too close to her for her liking. She watched as Henry walked away, following his friends who had moved further down to get a better look at one of the animals.
"Well Swan if you've seldom been to the zoo, then I say we take advantage of this opportunity." She raised an eyebrow in question.
"How do you feel about making today the best day anyone has ever had at the zoo ever?" He smiled such a boyish smile that she couldn't help but return it, feeling the bad mood slowly start to melt off of her. Even if her reservations remained, today she could be his friends. Tomorrow was another story.
"That's a pretty big claim to make."
"Oh but Swan, you and I both know that I exceed expectations." He winked at her causing a faint blush to cross her cheeks, that she blamed on the chilly wind.
And that's how it all started.
First it was him doing impressions of all of the different animals they saw, not stopping until she was laughing every single time. Then it was insisting that they see the tigers next because they were her favorite, even if the kid weren't so opposed to the idea in the first place. Then during their lunch break he snuck off while all of the kids ate their lunch box lunches and bought her cotton candy. To which she rolled her eyes but begrudgingly ate, swatting his hand away irritatedly when he stole pieces of it.
When they finally made their way to the snake exhibit, Henry was beyond himself, pulling on her hand and dragging her all over the place abandoning the group all together until he found the Cobra's cage.
Watching him standing there with his face basically pressed on the glass starring at the giant snake with such admiration in his eyes she wondered when he had developed such a thing for snakes.
"Did you know that Cobras can spray their venom over six feet at a predator?" Killian said, coming up behind them with the rest of the group that quickly spread out in the room filled with various reptiles and snakes.
"Really?" Henry said turning to face him with wide amazed eyes.
"Indeed lad, vicious creatures." To which Henry responded with a smile.
"Cool." He said turning back to continue watching his apparent new friend.
"When did you become such a snake expert?" He brought his hand to his chest at her words, faking hurt.
"Swan, you wound me. I'm an intellect, an educator." She let out a very ungraceful snort, not missing the way his lips twitched up when she did so.
"To fifth graders." He smiled shyly, dropping his gaze to the floor as he scratched behind his ear.
"I may have a habit of watching the animal planet when I can't sleep." She chuckled at that, thinking that it fit him.
"I tend to stick to the infomercials." She said causing his eyes to be drawn to her again.
"There's just something about someone trying so desperately to sell you something that they're willing to make gigantic idiot of themselves at 3 in the morning that gets to me."
He laughed at that, smiling too nicely at her again.
"I'll have to try it sometime." She nodded.
"You'll thank me for it."
"I have no doubt."
The last hour of the trip passed much in the same manor, passing so quickly that Emma didn't even realize it was over until she was back on the bus with Killian, sitting by themselves in the front row of seats.
He was being oddly quite, after checking that everyone was on board and telling the driver they were good to go when the rest of the school was, he had sat down beside her in the aisle seat fixing her with a smile before getting presumably lost in his thoughts.
"For the record," She said, watching as he looked up at her, the last parts of a day dream fading from his eyes. "I had a really great time today, so thanks." She smiled shyly.
"It was my pleasure Swan. Though I did notice you didn't say it was the best zoo day anyone has ever had ever. Did I disappoint?" She chuckled.
"Like I said, pretty big shoes to fill." A wicked look crossed his face and she knew she had made a mistake.
"If there's ever anything you want me to fill love -"
"Don't" She said, hitting his arm, "Finish that sentence." He laughed rubbing his arm to which she rolled her eyes.
Maybe being friends with Killian Jones really wasn't so bad, she thought to herself.
As long as they stayed only friends.
If she was being honest she had been expecting the knock on the door that night. It was only a matter of time really.
Emma opened the door to a very serious looking Mary Margaret standing there. Having gotten rid of her yellow school shirt and instead just wore her pastel blue peter pan collar dress, hands on her hips, lips a bright shade of pink, still managing to look threatening.
"Mary Margaret," She said, stepping to the side and motioning with her hand for her to enter. "Come on in. Henry just went to bed so let's talk in the living room?" She said nothing, instead sweeping into the apartment like she owned the place and walking into the living room, settling herself into one of the two armchair.
She watched her as she walked into the room and sat down in the middle of the sofa meeting Mary Margaret's gaze, but not saying anything. They both stayed like that for a minute, caught in the middle of a very weird tension driven starring contest until eventually Mary Margaret spoke.
"You and Killian know each other." She said, voice level and even saying it like the fact that it was and rather than a question.
"Yes, we went on the field trip today remember? You were there." She fixed her with an unamused expression and Emma sighed. She should have known that the look Mary Margaret had given her in Killian's classroom had meant this. She just hadn't been thinking clearly at the time. Something that keeps on happening in Killian's presence.
"We slept together." She said said, deciding to just put it out there.
"What?!" Mary Margaret nearly screamed, earning a glare from Emma who was worried about the sleeping henry just a few doors down.
"With the children there and everything Emma? When did you manage to sneak off?"
"What? Not today." She said shaking her head. "About a month or two ago we meet at a bar and it happened, and then it happened again, and again. And again." She blushed at the look Mary Margaret was giving her.
"And then I went to parent teacher conference night at Henry's school and imagine my surprise when his teacher is Killian, the guy I've been having casual sex with for the past few weeks." She groaned at hearing it out loud, sinking lower into the couch.
"Emma," Mary Margaret, standing from the chair and instead came over to sit down next to her on the sofa, placing her hand on her arm. "You didn't know."
"I know, but it's just so wrong. And now I keep on running into him, at school and out of school and it's just-" She waved her hand around in front of her face not knowing how to describe how strange the entire situation was.
"Do you have feelings for him?" She asked quietly and tentatively, as if afraid for her answer -or more accurately her reaction to the question.
"What? No." She said, jerking away from her grasp and straightening out on the sofa. Mary Margaret simply gave her a look that told her she certainly didn't believe what she was saying.
"Look, it really was just sex, which I know you don't approve of. But it was good, what we had going it worked. And then this all happened and we've had to spend actual time together now, and I -I don't know. I think if things weren't the way that they were, I could like him."
She admitted, the first time she had even begun to acknowledge that it could be true. And maybe today had proved that, maybe just being with him, spending time together had been enough to make her see that he was someone she could like.
"Emma, I know you think it's wrong, and given the circumstance I don't necessarily disagree. But, if you have feelings for him and he does for you then it's not wrong. He's Henry's fifth grade teacher Emma, it's not like they have enough real grades for it to make a difference on how Mr. Jones would treat him." She shrugged, supposing she was right. She's be lying if she said she hadn't had thought about it herself.
"I can't though Mary Margaret, and not just because of Henry."
"Not everyone is Neal." She said, grabbing her hands and making her look at her.
"Or Graham, or Walsh." She countered, continuing the list of her romantic failures.
"Emma if you think that there's something there, it's worth exploring." Emma stood up, wrenching her hands away from her friends, suddenly angry at her.
"I never said there was anything there Mary Margaret. I said that I could have feelings for him, If I wasn't so messed up, and he wasn't so him, and things weren't like they were. I said I could Mary Margaret, not that I did."
Mary Margaret, visibly flinched at her words, but as she nodded silently and made her way towards the door it was clear she got the picture. Killian was not a subject she wanted to discuss.
"Emma I didn't mean to upset you. I just want you to be happy." She smiled at he friend, letting her know she was forgiven.
"I am happy. And I don't need a hot British school teacher to change that."
"So you do think he's hot!" Mary Margaret said as if she had just won a point for the 'Emma likes Killian' tally board she was likely to make when she got home. She only rolled her eyes.
"I said I don't like him, not that I'm blind." The sound of Mary Margaret's laughs followed her around as she closed the door and washed up for bed, all the while replaying the days and nights event over and over in her head. All the while chanting a mantra in her head, thinking that if she said it enough times it would become true.
I don't like him. She repeated to herself, willing herself to comply with her wish.
I don't like him. She said again, turning off the light and lying down in bed. It was only when her head hit the pillow did she acknowledge the voice of doubt in her head telling her that maybe she did.
So now they've both admitted (kind of) that they like each other (kind of)! Its progress! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and let me know what you think! Reviews make me happy and motivated!
Also friendly reminder that this story is inspired by and named after the song 'Make You Better' by The Decemberists and if you haven't listened to it, you should. ( watch?v=Xq76aQRmbQA)
Also while I realize I haven't been quite as fast about posting new chapters as I would like (sorry!) each chapter has been significantly longer than the last, so hopefully that makes up for it! Again, hope you enjoyed!