Chapter Four
It's not the light that wakes Emma up, even though it pours through the room, spilling out onto the floor. It's not the birds chirping, though they're loud enough to wake the whole street. And it's not the heat, though the room is stifling in the summer morning.
It's the continuous vibrations of her phone against the beside table. Still half asleep, she reaches blindly for it, fumbling on the surface. Eventually she manages to grab it, swipes it, and brings it up to her ear. It's warm.
"Mmm… 'lo?"
"Emma fucking Swan, where the fuck are you?" booms Grumpy from the other end of the line. She jumps, but it does the job - it wakes her up.
She sits up, pulling the covers with her, wrapping them around her chest. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about how you haven't shown up for work and you were supposed to film an hour ago. Now we're so behind. We need you now. Where are you?" His voice trembles with anger and Emma trembles with it.
"I- uh-" Her eyes find the clock on the bedside table. It's 9:00. She's three hours late for work. Shit. "I am so sorry."
"Are you at home?"
"Yeah, I slept in?" She's not sure what else to say. She knows he won't believe anything else she says though as soon as the words leave her mouth, she can think of a million other excuses. She could be sick, she could have a family emergency with Henry. Her car could have broken down. The possibilities are endless.
"Thought so." His words are still cutting. They make Emma wince. "Killian with you?"
Emma looks over at Killian's form. He's laid on his front, giving her full view of his back, his head is turned away from her, the covers hardly covering him - except where it counts. She's surprised he hasn't woken up due to Grumpy's shouting, but he's dead to the world.
"Uh… no?"
"Don't lie to me. I saw the paper this morning - you were out on a date last night. Do me a favour and save the fucking for when you're off, okay?"
She hears Belle's gasp of, "Leroy! You can't say that!" from the other end of the line.
Emma opens her mouth to speak but he's still going at it. "I can say what I like. It's like working with teenagers."
"You can't speak to them like that," Belle continues, her voice muffled. "What they do outside of work is none of your bus-"
"It is if it's holding us up." To Emma, he spits, "Get ready. Have showers, do whatever. Just get here within the hour, for God's sake."
He hangs up without saying goodbye and Emma is left to stare at the phone with a slightly open mouth. She throws it across the bed, frightened it might bite her. Or worse, in case Grumpy rings again. She shakes her head, trying to shake away the embarrassment, but it doesn't work.
"Killian," she says, horrified.
He doesn't move; he doesn't even make a noise.
"Killian."
Silence.
She throws a cushion at his head. "Killian, get up. God's sake."
Like a statue coming to life, he groans. "Good morning to you too," he murmurs into the pillow, his voice thick with sleep. She watches as he uses his arms to hitch himself up, the muscles in his back quivering as he does so.
He turns to face her. His mouth is faintly stained with her lipstick, as is his neck and his shoulder. She touches her fingertips to her own mouth, knowing she probably mirrors him.
"You need to get up," she says.
"But I'm exhausted."
"Killian-"
"Shh, I'm blissfully happy. I could melt into the bed. I could never move again. In fact, I think I might not." He closes his eyes. "Why aren't you? Last night was-"
"I don't care. Get up."
"You're killing my buzz."
She throws another pillow at his head. "This isn't a joke. Look at the time."
His eyes travel lazily from her face to the clock beside her. His eyes widen when he takes in the time. He sits up, the bed groaning underneath him. His eyes flicker from the clock to her face.
"Bloody hell," he hisses.
"Grumpy just called me. He's going to destroy us."
"No… no, he won't." He runs a hand through his hair, which is already sticking up in all directions. "Because we'll tell him that there was a family emergency. Your boy- he was throwing up all night. You were up with him. I was… uh, helping."
She gives him a look. "And you honestly think he'll believe that? We just have to get ready and get there as soon as possible. They're already running super behind because of us." Her heart is pounding in her chest. "I need a shower."
She gets up, pulling the covers around her, wrapping them around herself like a bath sheet. It's not that she's shy of her body - she never has been - but she's shy of him looking at her body, as strange as it seems.
Killian gets up too. Without the covers, he stands, stretching, completely naked. Why are you so relaxed, she wants to scream at him. Any other time, it would be fine. Today, it's infuriating.
"Okay, let's go." He follows her.
She turns, placing a hand on his chest. "Hang on, what?"
"Come on, love, be sensible. We need to shower together to save time. Simple."
Just like that, he walks past her into the bathroom and turns the shower on. Shaking her head, she follows him. As it turns out, they take even longer.
By the time they get on set everyone has stopped for a break. The majority of actors are in the cafeteria. Emma spots the usual suspects sat at a big rectangle table in the middle of the room. They're chatting between each other, eating apples, stuffing sandwiches in their mouths, sipping on coffees.
She notices a few actors she doesn't recognise sat on another table. They're making polite conversation, but not talking how her table usually talks. She just has time to see a woman with half black, half white hair and a man with a whole load of stubble before her eyes fly back to her table.
Will turns around and looks right at Emma and Killian as they cross the room.
"Whaaaaaay-" he shouts, loud enough for the whole set to hear. "They've arrived!"
Everyone turns to face them. Emma's face flames but she flips her hair over her shoulder and holds her chin up high. The whole table claps and cheers, banging their feet on the floor and their hands on the table as they approach.
"Alright," Killian snaps as he slides into a chair. Emma follows suit. "Alright, enough. We're avoiding Grumpy."
"Yeah, you don't want to face Grumpy," Elsa says before taking a sip of water. She watches Emma with amused eyes. "He's going to skin you alive."
"I don't doubt it," Emma says.
"Not you, Emma. Killian. You're his favourite and he thinks Killian has corrupted you enough." She smirks. "And after this morning…"
"Speaking of this morning," Robin snorts. "How was your date?"
"It was grand, thanks," Killian says, with as much dignity as he can muster. "I had pasta, Emma had ribs."
"But what did you have for dessert?" he chortles.
"Something you haven't had for a long time, mate."
That shuts him up. Robin takes a bite of his apple, throws Killian a glare and leans back in his seat. Emma's lips twitch into a smile. The whole journey to set, her heart was pounding. Now she's here, she can relax a little bit. Her shoulders begin to untense, even more so when Killian drapes an arm around her and kisses her forehead.
They run into Grumpy when filming. Emma's surprised when he doesn't say anything, but then she realises why. Isaac stands near him, trailing him, watching his every move with that weird, cat-like grin.
They're in the throne room. Emma's hair is already weighing her down, thanks to the amount of product Ariel put into it.
Killian looks dashing in his costume. She loves it when he's wearing his full king-ly outfit, complete with the long jacket and golden embroidery. He looks so handsome. She wonders if she can convince him to steal it, if just for one night.
Grumpy is in the midst of talking to Will, who has a scene with Killian in a minute. Their heads are bowed together, muttering quickly and quietly, which is a first for Grumpy. Isaac resides near them, hanging on their every word.
Emma narrows her eyes as she watches him. She turns to Killian to comment on him, only to find his eyes are on Isaac too. They're also narrowed, dark with mistrust. That's when Isaac turns his head and looks directly at them. Emma doesn't look away. Isaac does.
After Grumpy finishes talking to Will, he makes his way over to them. Here we go, thinks Emma. She braces herself for whatever lecture he's about to give, ready to apologise and promise to never be late again, meaning it.
But he doesn't lecture them. He just looks between them.
"You guys ready?" he asks. "You remember what you have to do for this scene?"
"Yeah."
"Aye," says Killian. When Grumpy turns away, Killian grabs his arm. "Listen, I'm-"
Grumpy waves him away. "Don't worry about it, brother. We filmed another scene in your place. You can make it up tomorrow."
Killian releases his arm, his face mirroring the surprise on Emma's. That face quickly darkens when he sees Isaac walking towards them, his feet hardly touching the floor. He comes up a stop between them and looks between their faces, still wearing that smile.
"Good morning. I haven't had a chance to speak to you yet, but you're Emma Swan, aren't you?"
She frowns. "Yeah…"
"I thought I'd come over and say hello. I'm trying to speak to each person individually, but I've been looking forward to meeting you the most, Miss Swan. You're even more beautiful in person."
Her skin crawls. "Thanks…"
He clasps his hands together. "I look forward to working with you."
"Yeah, me too," Though she's still frowning.
She looks at Killian, wondering if Isaac is going to mention him at all, or even look at him. When it becomes apparent he won't, Killian holds out his hand.
"Killian Jones," he says. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I know who you are." His face remains expressionless as he shakes his hand. "You're the one who was late yesterday during my introduction."
"Ah, about that-" He scratches the back of his neck.
"A misunderstanding, I'm sure." He gives an icy smile. "The same misunderstanding as this morning, I take it, when you were three hours late for work?"
Killian gives an awkward laugh. "What can I say-"
"I hope you know, Mr. Jones that I don't appreciate laziness, not when I'm in charge. I expect everyone to work to a schedule. Call me… demanding, but I guess being a writer had taught me how to properly utilize deadlines."
For once, Killian is stuck on what to say. He frowns at him, staring. Isaac stares back with beetle-like eyes. It's unforgiving.
"A-actually," Emma begins, looking between the two men. "I was late too. It was my fault, actually. Don't blame Killian for this."
"Yeah," says Grumpy. Emma hadn't even realised he was behind them until he steps into view beside Killian, patting him on the back. "Killian is never late. He's always early, in fact. Am I right, brother?" There's an awkward silence where no-one says anything. "He's one of our best actors, in professionalism and performance."
Isaac's cold eyes move from Grumpy to Killian. "That remains to be seen." He turns on his heel and walks off, over to Will who's in the midst of going through his lines.
Emma, Killian and Grumpy all look at each other.
Emma doesn't meet any of the new actors until later in the day, during a break from a scene. She stands in the cafeteria line, browsing the menu, pulling her lower lip between her teeth. She doesn't really want a hot meal - she's too warm, especially in her costume.
Maybe a sandwich will do. It's a shame they don't serve ice lollies.
"Can you recommend anything?" comes a male voice from beside her.
Emma turns to see a man with dark hair and a dusting of stubble looking up at the menu. He folds his arms and looks back down at her, raising his eyebrows.
"I'd say don't get the soup. Especially the carrot soup. It's bland."
"Noted." When they say nothing else, he holds out a hand. "Sorry, my name's August. I've just joined the cast. Today's my first day."
Emma shakes his hand. "It's nice to meet you, August. I'm Emma."
"Emma Swan, I know." His eyes seem to twinkle. He reminds her of Killian a little bit. "I don't say that to be a creep. I mean, everyone who is anyone knows who you are."
She folds her arms. "You're a fan, huh?"
"A huge fan. It was a dream came true when I realised I got the part."
They move along in the line, Emma becoming increasingly aware that she hasn't decided what she wants. "And what part is that?"
"I'm playing a prince from a rival kingdom." He grabs a muffin from the counter.
"A prince?" She didn't realise that there were going to be any new princes, or rival kingdoms, and she's read all the scripts. At her stumped expression he says, "You haven't received the new scripts yet?"
She shakes her head.
"You'll get them. I guess I got mine early because I had to audition." He shakes his head. "Man, those auditions are tough. What's the name of that director? The short one? Angry?"
"Leroy. Though we call him Grumpy." She smiles. "He's alright."
They move along the line and suddenly Emma is faced with the serving lady(?) and no idea what she wants. She picks a sandwich off the menu and orders a bottle of water. She pays quickly.
"I'll see you around, August," she says, with a smile.
"Sure. Judging by the scripts, I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other."
She doesn't ask him what he means by that, but is hurried along as he pays. She makes her way over to the table. It's only Graham there at the moment, everyone else in the middle of the scenes. Killian has a long one with Elsa where they'll be confronting each other on the feelings of the king's death.
Graham is dressed in costume too - old servant rags.
"Who's that?" he asks, as Emma sits next to him.
She tucks herself in. "August. He's one of the new actors, apparently. He's a fan."
"He looks a bit like Killian."
"You think?"
"He has his… aesthetic."
Emma chuckles. "I bet Killian won't like that."
"Did he say who he was playing?"
"A prince."
"A prince?" Graham looks just as confused as Emma did, the space between his eyebrows dimpling as he frowns. "Since when do we have other princes?"
"It's a rival kingdom. He said that apparently we're gonna be having a lot of scenes together." She lowers her voice as she meets Graham's eyes. "What do you think that means?"
"No idea. But I'll tell you what, Emma. I have a bad feeling about this."
Emma bites into her sandwich, trying to push down bad feelings of her own.
Whooo! A regular update for once! What do you think?