Killian
Bloody bastard, Killian thinks as he glares at his computer screen. Amidst the blue lights of twitter is a dark photo, taken inside a bar. Emma and August sit ridiculously close together, their cheeks pressed close, light in their eyes. Emma looks happier than he's seen her in a while; happier with August than she does when she's with him.
Bastard, bastard, bastard.
He knows he shouldn't torture himself, but that's exactly what he can't help but do. After all, he did deliberately stalk Emma and August's social media all night, waiting for evidence of their time together. But this isn't a new thing. He's had the bastard on tweet alert since he first joined the show.
His eyes cast over the picture again and his insides curl.
The caption: "Emma and I. Drinks. Bar. All alone. :("
And just why are they so alone? Unless he'd heard Emma wrong, and he seriously doubted he had, the whole cast was there. Well, near enough. What happened to them? He knows that Elsa was there, but had to be dragged into work. She'd texted him earlier, complaining about the injustice of it all. Maybe that's what happened to the others as well. But it still gives him a bad feeling, especially when Elsa mentioned that it was Isaac who demanded her presence. It's almost as if Isaac planned for Emma and August to end up alone.
Now that's mad. He's fairly sure Isaac and August aren't in one big conspiracy together. He's more than sure there isn't a conspiracy to get Emma and August together.
But… is he?
Because if he looks at the cold hard facts, Isaac hates Killian. Isaac has done his damned best to give him as little screen time as possible. Although Grumpy has been endlessly fighting Killian's corner, Isaac has mostly succeeded.
He leans back on the sofa, running his fingertips along his lips in thought.
Maybe he is going mad. After all, Emma invited him tonight, did she not? It was Killian who decided to turn her down, and he's not entirely sure why he did. He tells himself it's because he didn't want to be in the company of August, but a small part of him disagrees. It whispers to him that he likes the jealousy. At the moment, jealousy is all he has. Like his hatred for Gold he feels that, without it, there's nothing to keep him grounded.
Killian's hand squeezes the glass of rum as he scrolls down the comments. He's already done it a million times before, but new ones keep popping up every second. At least, ever since Emma retweeted it. Some of them are amusing, but others…
Well, they weigh his heart down.
'They should be a couple', one comment says.
'They look like a couple,' says another one.
Killian clutches his drink harder, the glass slipping against his hand. He has to take a deep breath to calm himself. He waits for the rational side to take over and after a moment, it does. It tells him that August and Emma can't possibly be a couple, regardless of what the fans think. For one simple reason. Emma is not a cheater. Emma would never hurt him like that. He can trust her. And he does.
It's August he doesn't trust. The bastard probably suggested the selfie.
Bastard, bastard, bastard.
Get a hold of yourself, Killian, he hisses at himself. He manages it when he comes across a reply to the person who'd tweeted that August and Emma look like a couple.
'C'mon. Emma is with Killian.'
But the commenter is ruthless. 'Um you don't know that.'
'They are.'
'Sorry. but. they're not'.
Killian has the wild urge to send this girl a reply. 'Actually, we are a couple. I can photograph the spare toothbrush she has in my bathroom actually, or the piles of clothes I keep for her in my drawer.'
This girl is adamant. 'They are.'
'How do u know tho?'
'Um. The mirror basically confirmed it. And they go to each other's houses all the time. And they are always hanging out'.
'They're good friends and you can't trust anything the mirror says.'
True, thinks Killian, with a small smile. The Mirror happened to publish the article that told him Emma was pregnant. He was a fool when he decided to trust that pile of bloody rubbish. He wouldn't make that mistake again.
But that wasn't to say it was wrong about everything. He allows himself another smile. That is, until, he sees another tweet, something about how they would make a good couple again, and his insides go cold.
He shuts the laptop and downs the rest of his drink. He'll deal with his feelings in the morning.
But as it turns out, Killian is not the best at dealing with his feelings. They somehow manage to bleed into his filming— into what little scenes he has. Grumpy stops him halfway through a scene with Elsa, where Alexander is admitting his mistrust of Rose to Elizabeth. It's more than uncomfortable; it seems to mirror his own feelings.
"Take five, Killian," Grumpy tells him. He shoots a look over to where Emma and August sit talking, heads bowed, and then turns back to Killian. "I think you need it."
The rest of the week is equally as awful. That is until he gets a call from his agent, who tells him that he's booked on the Teddy Norman show for Friday. He immediately begins to feel the flutter of excitement in his stomach at the thought. He hasn't done an interview for ages and unlike most actors, he loves them, especially if there's an audience. He feeds off the energy. And, for some strange reason, it makes him feel like he can be himself. No-one judges him; in fact, everyone laughs with him. The thought puts a smile on his face for the rest of his day.
He even manages to talk to Emma without it feeling forced. She's in the cafeteria. Usually August's presence would put him off, but today it doesn't. He runs over to Emma, sweeping her off her feet, and twirling her. She squeals, commanding he put her down.
"If the lady insists," he murmurs and puts her down, only to pull her close and plant a kiss on her lips. She kisses him back, smiling.
"Alright, alright!" Will calls from the sidelines. He looks up at them with an expression of disgust on his face. "It's bad enough we can hear you making out in your trailer; don't bring it to lunch."
Before Killian can properly flush at the comment, or deny everything, Graham piques up. "You only hear them because you're the one who has your ear pressed against the door."
Everyone laughs, including Emma and Killian.
Will scratches the back of his ear. "I resent that."
Killian turns back to Emma and gives her another kiss, ignoring the people watching. August, he's happy to see, has turned away, arms folded.
"Easy there, tiger," Emma murmurs. Her cheeks are pink, but she's smiling. "We've got company."
"I know, love. I just miss you."
"Does that mean you're back to your usual self?"
He leans in and growls in her ear. "Why don't you come to mine tonight and see for yourself?"
She moves away, grinning. "I might have to take you up on that offer."
Killian chuckles and presses another, quick kiss to her lips.
"Get a room!" Will yells.
Everyone laughs again and Killian laughs with them. It's amazing how one little thing can make or break a day. It's silly, how happy he is after hearing about the Teddy Norman show, but it reminds him that he's not invisible. In the last few weeks he's felt like he'd fallen off the face of the earth. Being on the Teddy Norman show reminds him that he's important; that he matters. He's still a significant character.
"Hey, Emma?" August calls as Killian settles himself in a seat, throwing an arm around Emma.
"Yeah?"
"Did you see some of the tweets in reply to our selfie?"
"I didn't. Why?"
He chuckles, rubbing his chin in an embarrassed sort of way. "Most people think we're a couple now. How insane is that? Especially when you two are clearly a couple. You're a dream team." He chuckles again. "Mental, isn't it?"
"That it is," Killian growls. "But it must be because of your scenes on the show. Some of the fans have a hard time separating reality from fiction." He resists the urge to add some of the actors too, thinking that might be a childish quip.
He senses Emma's gaze on him and he turns to see her frowning in concern. He offers her a smile but it feels forced and she must notice, because her eyebrows knit together. There's a pause. He's about to tell her everything's alright when she speaks.
"I think we should tell everyone."
He raises an eyebrow. "Tell everyone what?"
"That we're together." His eyes widen and she continues, with a shrug. "I mean, we've been together for a while now, and everyone pretty much knows anyway. I can't tweet anything without your name being mentioned."
"That's true," Killian murmurs. Only recently he'd retweeted a song lyric, something to do with love, and he was flooded with tweets. Only one stuck out in his head. It came in various forms but the message was the same; is this about Emma?
"And even though it's fun to watch them fight…" she says, with a curl of her lips. "I think they should know."
"I'm not sure they'll be able to take it. They'll probably explode with glee." Killian tries to keep his voice cool, even though he's fairly sure he's about to explode with glee himself. He'd never considered the fact that Emma might want to tell people, that she might want to make it official.
See? Nothing to worry about. He's a fool. He and Emma are strong.
"Well, love. I think that's a—"
"Awful idea," says August. They both look at him. His expression is unreadable. "C'mon guys, do the math. If you tell people that you're together, then sure, the fans will be happy, but the media will have a field day. You won't be able to walk out of your houses without being swamped by paparazzi. I'm sorry, Emma—" He gives her a tragic look. "I just thought I'd tell you. I know how much you hate the media."
Emma's face drops. She draws her lower lip in between her teeth. "I hadn't thought about that."
No, Killian thinks. He stops himself before he can glare at August.
"It'll be like that at first, of course, but I believe it'll be better in the long run. After all, the media seem obsessed with working out whether we are, in fact, together. They've seen us on dates. Yes, they may have seen us go to each other's houses, but that doesn't mean a thing. We could just be really good friends for all they know. We've both stated that we are. If we tell them the truth then they won't have to follow us around to find out; they'll already know."
Emma mulls this over, her eyes glassing in that way they always do when she's thinking. August opens his mouth and closes it again. Killian half expects him to stand up and bellow, "Don't listen to him, Emma!" but he decides to remain silent. Then Emma finally speaks.
"You're right."
Killian sighs in relief. He pulls out his phone before she can change her mind. "Shall I tell them or shall you?"
"No," she says.
His heart jolts. "Emma—"
"We shouldn't tell them on Twitter. We should wait." She gives him a firm nod of the head. He's about to object when— "Until Friday, when we're on the Teddy Norman show."
"You're on the Teddy Norman show?"
"I am." She aims a smile at him. "David rang me and told me this morning. We've got this Friday's slot, which would be a perfect time to say something. Then it comes from us. No doubt we'll probably be asked about our relationship anyway, if last time's anything to go on."
Killian's chest swells. "Love—" He pulls her closer.
"Don't kiss again!" Will shouts from across the table.
Killian rolls his eyes. "Alright.,' and releases her. Emma manages an eye roll as well.
August claps his hands together. "So it's a date."
Killian turns to him. "What?"
"Don't you know?" August grins wide, showing all his teeth. "I'm on the show Friday too. I can't wait. It's going to be fun, isn't it?"
Killian has to fight to keep the smile on his face.
The days seem to drag by, especially since he spends them watching August's and Emma's kissing scenes. At least they're just kissing scenes— for now. But Killian doesn't want to think about that.
By the time Wednesday comes around, he's trapped in his own bubble of excitement. Only a few more days until his interview. He loves the excitement that interviews bring. Friday won't be any exception.
He can't stop himself from tweeting:
'Catch myself and Emma Friday on the Teddy Norman show, 9PM! I have a big announcement to make; you won't want to miss it.'
He knows he shouldn't have posted the tweet, or mentioned that there was an announcement, but he couldn't help himself. He exercised some restraint. Originally the tweet read we have a big announcement, but he changed it, thinking it might be too obvious.
He takes satisfaction in deliberately missing out August's name. He doesn't see it coming when August does the same thing:
'Catch Emma Swan and I on the Teddy Norman show this Friday! You're not gonna wanna miss it.'
Despite Emma's reassurances that everyone will know the situation by Friday, Killian feels a stab of rage. August's tweet makes it seem like they're vying for the same woman, which couldn't be further from the truth.
Emma is Killian's. No, she doesn't belong to him but in the romantic sense, in the partner sense, Emma is Killian's. Friday will prove it.
"You may think you're winning now, mate," Killian mutters to his screen. "But you'll lose."
He feels like an idiot for saying so. There is no competition.
And he even starts to believe it. That is until he picks up the next set of scripts. He reads them over coffee at his kitchen table. At first it sounds promising. He's in the scripts a lot more than he has been in recently. That is until he reaches the end of the first one, and comes across a scene that makes his stomach flip.
Alexander walking in on Emma and August making love. He knew it was going to happen eventually, but it still feels like a blow. He puts his head in his hands, hating himself, wondering if he'll ever stop feeling like this.
Hey guys, I know it's been a while, but thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this one! I don't know about you, but I kinda wish Killian would punch August in the face.