Apologies for the late update uni is slowly killing me.
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Chapter 19
The hot droplets of water roll off Killian's body as he stands underneath the shower, his head bowed down so the warm water hits his scalp, soothing him and slowly peeling off all the exhaustion of the day.
He had spent the entire day at the mine amidst the freezing cold and once his manager had told him about the impending snowstorm coming, they'd rushed to get back to the city.
Killian had absolutely no cell reception - the area of the mine being secluded and the bad weather making the signal weak even once he reached his hotel.
He cranks the shower a bit more to the warmer side as he turned around, letting the pressure of the water hit his back and he yearns for a massage like the one Emma had given him once he'd massaged her feet and she'd insisted upon returning the favor.
Of course the memories of the enjoyable activities that followed the massage flood his mind and Killian feels himself growing hard. He remembers Emma's soft skin, pink lips, and emerald eyes and shut his eyes, taking himself in his hand as he stroked himself gently.
He remembers the way she had surprised him one morning, barging in into his shower stall and hugging him from behind, her body pressed to his. He had turned around and backed her onto the tiles behind her, hitching her leg around his waist as he grinded into her. But she had other plans as she had pushed him slightly, dropping down to her knees and taking him in her mouth without any warning.
Killian started pumping his length, remembering how she had sucked him into oblivion until his knuckles were painfully white and buried inside her wet hair, her name falling from his mouth amidst his grunts.
Within moments, with the flashes of Emma in his head, Killian fell over the edge with her name whispered like a prayer.
He dries himself and ties the towel around his waist, walking to the bed in his room as he searches for his cellphone to call his girlfriend. He'd been thinking about her a lot the entire day (more than usual that is), and smiles to himself as just how stupidly he must be in love with her that they'd been apart for four days and he missed her terribly.
He picked his cell phone to call but cursed once he saw the 'No Signal' sign.
Once his room service arrives with an excellent bowl of pasta, the server informs him of a warning being issued for everyone to stay inside due to the snowstorm and that the signal is almost as good as nothing in this weather.
Killian orders a beer late at night once he couldn't sleep. He was sipping it whilst reading The Chamber of Secrets. Emma had lent him hers, or rather brought all seven to his apartment and kept repeating "how could you not have read these?" until Killian caved and gave it a shot. And he didn't regret it – the books were mighty fine.
He was at the part where Ron gets a howler from his mother yelling at him about driving their father's car when he heard pounding on his door and he opened it.
"What in the bloody hell, Mr. Smee. Do you realize what tim-" Killian starts to yell but was cut-off by the man in front of him.
"Sir, you have to see this" Mr. Smee stumbles inside and turns once Killian shuts the door.
"Another story with Shira?" Killian rolls his eyes, snatching the magazine from him.
But as his gaze lands on the trashy magazine, his face falls and he freezes, unable to move a muscle as his body stills in shock.
He stares at pictures of him and Emma together, along with quite a few words saying "raunchy affair", "sexy secretary", "private meetings" and other demeaning things written about their relationship which was basically toned down to nothing but a scandalous affair between a boss and an employee which was all about sex and money.
"Next page, sir" Mr. Smee spoke softly and at this point there was nothing worse that could be so Killian turns the page.
And how wrong was he.
Emma's mug shot along with a description of her criminal past and betraying boyfriend and abandoned son stare back at him. The magazine left Killian's hands and fell to the floor as he felt nothing in his body – he didn't even realize how or when he'd gotten to the bed and sat on the edge, his face in his hands.
He couldn't even imagine what she must be going through – the past she had waited so long to tell him, to finally trust him enough to tell him, was now known to everyone.
"I need to call Emma" he finally spoke, standing up in a hurry and grabbing his cell-phone. The 'No Signal' sign was still there and Killian cursed quite loudly, throwing his cell phone on the bed.
"Mr. Smee we're leaving right now"
"Sir" he hesitates, "We can't. The roads are covered with snow and the clean-up isn't going to start until the storm stops. Even the flights from here have been delayed"
"Find a bloody way" Killian closes in on Smee, "Dig the snow out if you have to but find a bloody way"
/
Emma goes straight to her kitchen once she reaches her house, cutting what seemed like the millionth call she was getting rom David. Her phone had vibrated furiously the entire way back from Walmart - Ruby, Mary Margaret, David, Mulan and even Victor continuously calling her as she ignored them and they met her voice-mail.
She still had no contact with Killian – he didn't call her and she was definitely not calling him as all the anger inside of her was directed towards him coming into her life and messing it all up. Before he came into her life and swept her off her feet, she was fine, granted she was unhappy and lonely, but at least the world didn't know about her deep buried secrets.
Emma isn't even sure how she's going to look at him or think about him without the picture of her past splashed all over a stupid magazine for the world to see and judge betraying her thoughts.
The urge to just run erupts in her again – it appears once in a while when she sits in the corner and watches everyone be at such an ease with their family, their home, while she gallops all alone in the corner with no family and essentially no home. Once she let herself be with Killian, to love him, the urge had disappeared and she was no longer in the corner all alone but with Killian by her side.
She pats her cheeks a couple of times, trying to regain control – not having cried this hard since September when it was her son's birthday.
She picks the first wine bottle she could find and opens it, taking a few big gulps down and letting the liquor burn her throat.
How could you abandon your baby?
The question had been playing in a continuous loop in her head and it's been eating her alive as really how could she? At that time Emma was young and naïve and heartbroken and thought she was giving her kid his best shot, but what if she wasn't? What if her son also has the same fate as hers and is unable to ever find a home?
She heads to her couch, slumping down on it as she kicks her heels off and lies down. The answering machine on the side of her couch blinks the red light, indicating that she has messages.
How could you abandon you baby?
Emma gulped down almost one-fourth of her wine in one swig.
/
Emma woke up with a start once she heard her front door being opened. She looked down at her shirt that was all red from the wine she spilled over herself. She tried to get up to sit and winced as her head pounded. The sun was still out so she couldn't have passed out for too long.
Her vision closed in on three figures running to her – Ruby, Mary Margaret and David. She had totally forgotten about the stupid emergency key she gave them or else she'd lock the lock which can only be opened from inside.
"Oh god Emma!" Mary Margaret suddenly kneeled beside her, as David moved the empty wine bottle away from the couch. Ruby had disappeared to the kitchen and came back with a wet cloth.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there today Emma" David kneeled beside his wife, taking one of Emma's hand in his own as he tapped it lightly.
"I don't want to talk to you guys right now, please. I need to figure this out on my own" Emma snapped, jerking her hand away from David.
"Honey, you need to let people in, to let them help you" Mary Margaret spoke, her motherly instincts kicking in as they do a lot. And as much as Emma appreciates them most of the time, right now its just a stab to her heart as she realizes that she herself is technically a mother – just that she gave her child up and has no idea how or where he is.
"Stop! Just leave me alone. Not a single one of you knows how I feel okay? I'm just alone and pathetic and now the entire world knows it! I'm nothing but an orphan" Emma yelled, brushing her hair back as she stares at all of her friends staring back at her dumbfounded.
Finally Mary Margaret spoke, "Emma" she said and brought her hand down to her chin to lift her head up, "Emma you're with us. You're our family – don't you ever think you're alone"
Emma blinked furiously a couple of times – a trick she learned at far too young of an age to keep the tears away but once she looks up at Mary Margaret's face and sees the tears rolling down her cheeks, she breaks down and allows her and David to envelop her.
/
Killian's cell phone signal finally returns.
It was still snowing heavily outside, the ground all covered in white and the new snow just piling over it, making it useless to initiate any cleaning processes yet.
The second the signal bars came on he called Emma, cursing as he found her voicemail. Of course she bloody well won't talk to me.
He cut the call and tried again, and again, and again. But every time it went to Emma's voicemail.
"Emma" he spoke softly after the beep sounded, "My love, I'm extremely sorry for what happened. I know you must be going through hell right now, but Swan just please let me talk to you. I'll fix this, I'll sue bloody TMZ and the person who slipped this information, Emma I'll do anything. But please, please, please love, just talk to me. You're not alone. I lo-" he pauses, breathing hard as he whispers, "I know how I feel about you Emma, and I know you feel the same way about me too, so please, let's face this, together"
He cut the call once the beep cut him off, running his hand through his hair and wishing to the Gods that Emma heard his voicemail and would call him soon.
Emma had put her cell phone on silent and face down on the table so she couldn't see who was calling her. She'd caught Elsa calling her and as much as she appreciated it, and was genuinely touched, she ignored it and turned her phone around. She could see the blinking red light indicating voicemails, which she assumed were from her friends from before they decided to break in her house and maybe from Elsa.
/
Mary Margaret and Ruby had spent the next day at Emma's house, both of them taking a "sick" day from work as they tried to take her mind off things by watching Disney movies with her, doing her nails, and just talking about anything other than their love lives.
Sometimes it worked - Emma got too engaged when Buzz saved Woody from the airport, when she couldn't decide between painting her nails dark blue or violet, and when they had a long winded discussion on whether skim milk is better than 2% or not.
But here and there, Emma's mind always drifted off to the amazing five months she's spent being Killian's girlfriend, and the amazing (almost) year she's spent as friends with him. She smiled slightly remembering the way his face looked when he smiled – the dimple in his cheek, his too blue eyes shining (Emma could get lost looking into them), the way his cheeks tinged pink, and his hand came up to scratch behind his ear.
But every time she thought about how much she loves Killian, the image of her mug-shot and How could you abandon your baby? play in a loop in her head and she just can't.
/
Emma wakes up moments before her alarm goes off, missing the way she had grown accustomed to waking up with a warm body pressed against her back and an arm resting over her breasts.
She checks her phone to see any follow up from David – she'd texted him last night once she'd made Ruby and Mary Margaret leave – informing him that she's taking the job Kathryn offered her.
She'd called Kathryn in the evening, unsure of whether she would still want her after her controversial past and negative publicity but the woman had been firm and unfazed by it, dropping a comment about how unreliable these trashy magazines are and that all her firm cares about is the work Emma has done as a lawyer.
David had texted her back saying that Jones Consolidated requires a one month notice, but since David is Emma's boss, he'll pardon it. He even offered to make sure to pack her stuff and send it to her house, but she refused.
She was going to go to the office herself and do it.
A couple of ill-mannered comments do not faze Emma Swan.
/
Killian sat with his eyes glued to his TV screen as the news reporter had finally announced the storm moving towards Western Canada, therefore assuring that the snow would stop by the end of the day.
After asking his manager, he learned that the snow cleaning process would start immediately once there was no snowfall for an hour, and by morning the streets should be good to go.
Killian had ordered Mr. Smee to be ready at 8 a.m. to leave for the airport.
He was going to go figure this out with Emma.
/
The second Emma pushed the glass door open, she felt as if she was back in high-school. Emma being the new girl in every school of a small town was usually met with some hostility – her "take no shit" attitude and her inability to really be friends with anyone making her the weirdo and easy for others to pick on her (obviously some of them got punched if they really ticked her off).
Emma wore what she called her power outfit, the one she saved for very important meetings – a tight black skirt and blazer with a white shirt underneath which she bought from Armani and spent almost a month's salary on them. Her black Loubitons stilettos and her Micheal Korrs purse resting at the crook of her elbow.
She straightened her spine and looked straight ahead, absolutely no emotions on her face. A couple of them had looked at her and smirked at their friends, Janice had rolled her eyes, but Emma ignored them. It wasn't as bad as before really, most of them had just stared at her maybe finally realizing that it was none of their business and that they were all adults here.
Emma went straight to her office where David was already there, two boxes on her desk.
"Hey" he said, "I didn't you were coming so early. Did anyone say anything to you?" he said a bit aggressively.
"Nothing I can't handle" Emma tilted her head and scanned her room, "You packed for me?"
"Oh, just what I knew you'd take. You should pack everyth- I just didn't want you to stay here for too long with these people" David said softly, his cheeks turning red.
Emma walked towards him and rested her head on his shoulder and gave his arm a squeeze, "Thanks David"
"Of course. I'm just gonna miss you here Emma" he rested his head on top of hers.
"Me too"
/
Once Emma packed everything, David and Barry left to deposit the boxes in her bug after Barry had hugged her endlessly and apologized on behalf of the asshole employees.
Emma turned around to look at her office room one last time before she took a deep breath and turned. Her gaze lingered towards Killian's office – the memories of sneaking in there everyday and almost every hour making her sigh. They were the exact reason she has to deal with all this shit now.
Emma heads towards the exit, ignoring her former colleagues but is surprised once she finds her name being called out – not Mrs. Jones or slut or hot criminal. She turns around tentatively, cursing herself as she should just leave.
One of the assistants she used to work frequently with walked towards her, his cheeks red and fumbling on his words, "Hey, I'm sorry how we reacted. We were total dicks and so sorry Emma" he stretched a hand towards her and she took it, her eyebrows ticked up in surprised as she offered him a genuine smile.
Soon after, more people followed his lead, coming up to Emma and apologizing for their shitty behaviour and wishing her luck with her new job. Some even tried to stop her from leaving, ignoring Killian's name from the conversation, as they were smart enough to understand they shouldn't bring it up. A few employees had ignored her completely, rolling their eyes whenever someone apologized to Emma.
"You're a brave girl" the older stern woman whispered in her ear as she hugged her, "Don't let anyone get to you Emma. Keep your head high"
By the time Emma left, she was almost teary eyed as pretty much everyone had apologized for behaving like middle school children and had wished her the best of luck for her future.
/
In the parking lot, Emma hugs David and Barry and promises to come over for dinner at David and Mary Margaret's. She waves at them as the elevator doors shut close and she turns.
And freezes.
It's Killian.
And he looks wrecked – his hair completely disheveled as if he ran his hand through them a lot, dark circles under his eyes. He is wearing a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and jeans – an attire he reserves for the weekends and not a work day.
"Emma" he whispers, taking a step towards her.
/
I know, I know, bad ending but I promise next update should be faster since I wanna see their conversation as well!
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