A/N: So we have a bit of a time jump here, hope you'd enjoy.
Chapter 21 – 3 years, 8 months, 4 days
It was on Killian's twenty eighth birthday when the strangest thing happened.
He was just about to leave work as he stepped out of his office and walked down the station's halls, and he could have sworn that he had felt a gentle breeze caressing his face.
In all the four years he had been working at the Boston police department he had never felt anything like it, a strong feeling in the pit of his stomach telling him that his life was about to change.
His hand reached into the pocket of his leather jacket, fingering the velvet ring box, thinking that the strange feeling must had something to do with his evening plans.
But then he stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes fell on her and everything became a blur.
Emma.
He hadn't dared say her name for years, not even in his own mind.
He felt as though all the air had been sucked out of his lungs. She was absolutely breathtaking, even more beautiful than he had remembered.
He really didn't want to remember.
She was leaning against the front desk wearing a smoking hot tight pink dress that was just asking to be ripped off, the heels making her gorgeous legs look even longer, and her long luxuriant golden hair falling in waves around her shoulders.
Bloody hell. What was she doing there? Why now? Why ever?
He had looked for her for almost two years, eventually coming to terms with the fact that she just didn't want to be found.
Didn't want to be found by him.
And against his heart's desire he decided to do his best and try to forget about her.
It had been almost impossible as his heart had been relentless, filling his mind with thoughts about her, about her beautiful smile, her sparkling green eyes, her rolling laughter.
He had missed her so much, and it ached, every second like pure torture.
He had spent many nights lying awake wishing that she'd come back to him.
But she never did. At least not until that moment.
He walked the last steps as he approached the front desk, where Emma had been chatting with the lady officer on the shift. They were talking about the guy who tried to skip bail that Emma had just brought in, and the officer laughed when Emma referred to her dress as a way to lure any scumbag out of his hiding place.
"Of all the stations in the world you had to walk into mine?" He joked when the twenty two year old Emma turned to face him, a big beautiful smile revealing her perfect white teeth.
Ah, that smile...
He hadn't seen her smile for years, at least nowhere other than in his dreams.
The years had definitely done her some good. She seemed different, more mature, strong and confident.
…
Fuck. She felt so nervous and insecure. As if she hadn't changed one bit and she was the same seventeen year old that he had met almost five years ago.
She took a moment to appreciate his looks.
And damn he looked good.
He was wearing a button up dress shirt in navy blue with a contrast inner collar and placket that made her hands itch with the need to unbutton it and reveal more of his chest hair. The shirt was tucked into a pair of dark skinny jeans, and even though she couldn't see she just knew that they were hugging his ass perfectly. His dark thick hair was combed as usual to one side and the lapels of his leather jacket were just begging for her to grab them and pull his body to hers.
God she missed him so much.
Over the years, the thought of picking up the phone and call him had crossed her mind countless of times, same as the thought of showing up at his door, but she had always been quick to dismiss the idea, always excusing, saying to herself that it was bad timing, that she needed more time to get a hold on her life, to be financially independent, to prove to him and herself that she was capable of being his equal.
And in those extremely tough days, when she had been on the verge of falling apart, she wouldn't deny that she had thought of running to him, asking of him to take her under his wing, and even though she had known that he would have done it in a heartbeat, she couldn't bring herself to take that leap, knowing deep down that she had had to make it on her own.
In her mind it had been the only way to really empower herself, to take control of her life, to become strong and independent.
And she had. She had finally found something that she was good at doing and actually paid her rent. She had finally had a home, well sort of, if she considered a one bedroom apartment in Boston a home.
For her, being able to pay for a one bedroom had been beyond her wildest dreams. There were days when she had settled for living anywhere that hadn't been her car. And when she had finally done it, when she had finally been able to meet the income requirements and get her own place she couldn't have been more proud of herself. But unfortunately the feeling hadn't lasted long as soon after she realized that the four walls were just not enough, they didn't feel as what she had expected a home to feel like, she felt that something had been severely missing.
Him.
So there she was, staring into his mesmerizing blue eyes, blinking a few times as she was sure they have gotten even bluer over the years.
Were they really always that blue?
She felt her heart pounding so hard in her chest that she was sure everyone around her was able to hear "Long time" She managed to let out of her mouth as she smiled nervously.
"Yeah" He replied as he smiled back "How long has it been? Three and a half years?"
Three years, eight months and four days.
She knew exactly how long but she just nodded and murmured 'yeah' as her eyes wandered around the station before they fixed on him again "Killian, can we – " She was just about to ask when two uniformed officers suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"When are we leaving birthday boy?" One of them, a tall dark blue eyed man, asked teasingly.
"Why don't I just meet you guys there?" Killian replied shortly.
"We wouldn't want you to wait for miss late-is-my-middle-name alone on your birthday"
"You're just slandering cause she didn't give you the time of day" Killian shot back and Emma raised her brow in wonder as it was obvious that there was some rivalry going on there.
"You just beat me to the punch, right Smee?" The blue eyed officer turned to the officer beside him.
"Right" Smee nodded.
"Smee" Killian scolded in disappointment.
"Sorry captain"
"Captain?" Emma asked intrigued, a playful smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
"Long story" Killian replied, shaking his head.
"Actually not that long" The handsome blue eyed officer cut in "Birthday boy here was the captain of the debate team in high school"
"Debate team ha?" She quirked an eyebrow "Why I am not surprised?" She gave Killian a playful smile and Killian scratched behind his ear as he averted his gaze and suppressed a smile.
"So what do we have here?" The officer said, approaching Emma as his eyes skimmed over her body shamelessly "Is she your birthday present?" He asked Killian "When was it that Belle got so liberated?"
"She" Emma cut in "Has a mouth"
And who the fuck was Belle?
"I like you already" The officer smirked as Killian fought the urge to roll his eyes "And what would be she's name?"
"Emma Swan" She reached her hand for a shake, seemingly unaffected by the heavy flirting.
"You're Emma Emma?" Smee asked in surprise and Killian shot him a glare, grateful that nobody seemed to notice.
"I'm August" The blue eyed officer said slowly as he took Emma's hand into a shake "August W Booth"
"Really? With the middle initial?" She laughed as a petite brunette suddenly stepped through the station door.
"Hey, sorry I'm late" The accented brunette said in an apologetic tone, the sharp clicking sound of her six inch heels filling the space as she made a beeline for Killian, a huge smile spread across her face "Happy birthday" She said as she wrapped one arm around his neck, pulling him down to her lips. He turned his head so her kiss landed on his cheek, and she smiled and rubbed her lipstick off his cheek as he smiled in slight embarrassment, his eyes flickering everywhere, eventually landing on Emma who averted her gaze from the happy couple.
Oh dear god. What was she thinking coming there? Did she really think he would sit and wait for her all those years?
She just couldn't get out of there fast enough. She turned to the lady officer behind the desk and asked "Are we all done here?" She looked at the officer who handed her some papers.
"Yeah" The officer replied "I just need you to sign these"
"Great thanks" Emma replied as she hurried to sign the papers.
"Marian, aren't you joining us?" August asked the lady officer who was behind the desk.
"Not tonight, I gotta get back to my boy" Marian replied as she waited for Emma to finish signing the papers.
"And how about you Emma?" August asked as Emma's hand stilled on the pen.
Fuck. She needed to find an excuse. Fast.
"I eh – " Emma began saying before she turned around "I had a really long day"
"That's okay, we're just having a drink to celebrate this idiot's birthday and then these two love birds are taking flight anyway" August replied before he turned to the brunette "Belle, what is it exactly that you've got planned for our boy here?"
"Actually Killian planned the evening" Belle said on a smile as Emma caught a glimpse of her features for the first time.
Damn she was a beauty. And with Killian by her side they looked as if they were a power couple that had just descended on the red carpet. And they even had matching striking blue eyes. Jesus. They'd probably make the cutest blue eyed babies to ever live the planet.
She felt her stomach turning upside down and her strength ebbing away as if she were going to swoon.
She leaned back against the desk in a desperate attempt to support her feet that threatened to betray her body as she forced a smile towards the group of people that kept on talking, getting immersed in her own thoughts she barely listened until something had caught her attention and her ears pricked up.
"I wanted to give you something as special as the bracelet you gave me" Belle said as she smiled lovingly at Killian.
Bracelet? What the hell?
Unable to hide her interest Emma's eyes were immediately drawn towards Belle's wrist.
A bracelet was bad enough. What was it? Like his thing or something? But if he had given Belle the exact same bracelet as hers then she was sure to die on the spot.
Luckily it was a different bracelet, no less beautiful, but not as special.
"I'll give you your present at home" Belle said playfully as Emma fought the urge to roll her eyes.
Oh dear god here we go again. It was bad enough to come to knowledge that he was in a relationship, now she also knew that they had been living together, and to top all of that she couldn't take the image of Belle's sexy lingerie out of her head.
Little did she know that belle wasn't that type of girl, and that it wasn't the present that she had prepared for him, but it didn't stop Emma's mind from running wild with tormenting thoughts of them having sex, again and again and again, all over the apartment.
Fuck. Even in the bed that she and Killian had had sex.
But then again, what was she thinking? That he hadn't had sex for more than four years? Stupid her.
She was losing it, feeling completely done with the whole weird painful situation as she couldn't wait to flee for her life while she still had some dignity left.
"Are we going to leave this place or what?" August suddenly asked and the group began to move towards the door "Coming Emma?"
Emma opened her mouth to decline as Smee cut in "Yeah you really should come" He said, gaining another glare from Killian.
"Yes please come with us, the more the merrier, and it is just around the corner" Belle said in a friendly manner as she smiled at Emma.
…
Great. Now they were all against him.
All eyes were on Killian waiting for him to convince his friend to join them, his hand reached to rub his chin before he said "Well it is my birthday so you can't really say no"
They locked eyes for a moment as Emma studied the sincerity of his invitation, unable to tell, she finally relented as she made her way to the door as well.
Fuck. How on earth he was going to survive that?
Being in her presence for the past half an hour had been torture enough as he barely managed to hold himself back from leering at her, and now watching her walk in that dress he wished that someone would just pluck his eyes out.
When they arrived at the bar he thanked god that the torture of watching the way her hips had swayed from side to side with each step that she had taken was finally over.
They joined a table of a few fellow officers that had already been there, and to his misfortune, faith intervened and he got to sit across from Emma, who sat next to no other than his precious Belle.
God what was wrong with him?
He had this beautiful amazing girlfriend for over ten months now, and he had planned to propose that evening over dinner, telling her that her yes would be the best present that she could ever give him for his birthday, but now he couldn't get a certain blonde out of his head, and the fact that that blonde was sitting in front of him didn't help as he had to conduct a brutal battle against his eyes that couldn't help but to be drawn to her.
A glance to her lips when she had talked or smiled filled his head with thoughts of bruising them with his, kissing them again and again, invading her mouth with his tongue, tasting the martini she had ordered on his tongue, letting go of her mouth for just a second so he could hear her pant and beg for more.
The adorable freckles on her cheeks made him want to run his thumb over them, and the exposed skin of her neck and shoulder screamed for his mouth to devour it, picturing his hand slowly sliding the strap of her dress off her shoulder.
The dress neckline revealed just enough of her cleavage for him to imagine her soft breasts pressed against his chest, how his eyes would lock with her sparkling green ones and he would slowly slip inside of her, watching her eyes fluttering shut and her mouth opening to moan out his name.
Bloody hell. He really needed to get a grip on himself.
What he needed was to get out of there. Fast.
...
For her, sitting across from him hadn't been that bad. It had actually felt kind of nice being close to him again, to be able to see him smile when the entire table, she included, held their glasses before they drank in his honor.
But afterwards he suddenly excused himself from the table and she just hoped that it wasn't because of something she had said or done.
Belle picked up a conversation with her, so the two women found themselves delving into a long chat.
Damn she liked her. Why did she have to be so nice?
Belle took a real interest in Emma's life as a bail bonds person, so Emma opened up a little and told her about it. She then told Emma about her job at the city library and about the animal shelter she had been volunteering at over the weekends, which caused Emma to blink heavily, thinking that Killian really deserved someone as kindhearted as her.
"Ready to go love?" His soft husky voice suddenly came from behind as both women turned around.
No way. Did she just turn around?
Her eyes met his for a brief moment before her head whipped back as she stared at her glass, then closed her eyes, cursing herself inwardly, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her whole.
What was she thinking? She wasn't his love. Not anymore anyway.
Belle got up, nestling herself under his arm as the couple were ready to part from everyone, who wished goodnight, happy birthday and more of the sort.
"Goodnight Emma" Belle said kindly and she had no other choice than to turn around again, her heart sinking in her chest even more to the sight of Belle's head resting against Killian's chest "It was nice meeting you"
"You too" Emma said, her voice coming out too small for her liking, making her clear her throat before she added "Goodnight"
"Goodnight" Killian said softly as they locked eyes for a brief moment before he and Belle turned to leave and Emma turned back to her drink, gulping down the rest of it in one go as she licked her lips.
Fuck. It tasted lonely as hell.
She got up and ran her hands over her dress, smoothing invisible wrinkles and pulling down the hem of her skirt, she then ran her fingers through her hair, fluffing it before she picked up the toothpick out of her glass and popped the olive into her mouth, ready to call it a night thinking that she had really messed this one up.
But it wasn't over. Not just yet.
.
.
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As always thank you all so much for reading / following / favoriting and of course reviewing!
I wish you all a Happy New Year!
See you in 2015 ;)