A/N: So… it's literally been months! So many months… that I wrote and completed a whole different cs mc au.

The amount of stress this fic put on me was incredible. The writer's block was a level I'd never experienced before.

This is a short chapter, but I'm happy that it's at least written! I feel bad that I made my former readers wait so long. Especially when there wasn't much much that I wanted to tell in the story at the time of the last update. Hopefully, I can finish this up within… 2 chapters. And without months in-between!

He wanted to hurt him. Not in the way that Neal had hurt Emma. That was an emotional and mental bruise. No. Killian wanted to get his hands on him and cause him physical pain. Make him hurt in ways that couldn't quite measure up to her pain, but it would still be worth it.

There was a change in her. He noticed it. She had to know of it herself.

Emma sat there on his couch, curled up in one corner. The phone laid on the armrest, just as her elbow did, and she was focused on whatever was on that screen. Whatever was on there? Killian knew what she was looking at.

She was never this quiet person. She was never the person who had kept things in. Besides her feelings for him for so long.

So maybe… maybe this was the same thing. Maybe her feelings for him had caused her to step away from their reality.

Killian stood off to the side of her, watching her perhaps a little too closely. Not that she seemed to notice. It was the phone that held her attention.

"We could do a movie."

He'd offered because… he didn't want her to just sit there on that couch with nothing but her phone to keep her company.

"Hm?" She barely looked up from the phone. "What?"

Distant. And that had a way of hurting him.

Killian dropped down on the couch next to her, quickly wrapping an arm over her folded legs and pushing himself closer over her.

"A movie," he whispered next to her ear. "Do you want to go see one?"

"Um…" She laid her chin in her open palm and leaned against the armrest. "No. No, I don't feel up to it. I'd rather… just stay here."

Tone and actions matched. She looked deflated when she answered.

"Is that okay with you?" Her eyes turned up towards him.

It was hard not to despise Neal just a little bit more at that moment.

"That's fine," he murmured close to her. "If that's what you want."

Emma nodded, and turned her attention back to the phone.

He already knew what would be on that screen, but he forced himself to ask anyway.

"What are you doing?"

Emma lifted a shoulder up in what could be considered a shrug.

"Apartment listings," she muttered. She sat up suddenly, moving him with her in the process. "Look at this one."

The phone was shoved into his lap as she turned her body fully into him.

It wasn't as if he had been making great progress with her when it came to living together. The proof of that was right in her hand.

The apartment and listing looked… as if it was going to be a hard sale to talk her out of.

"The price is reasonable," Emma began to list off. "The area is nice. The rooms aren't cramped. The kitchen looks beautiful. So does the view." She looked up at him. "What do you think?"

Killian held in his sigh. "It looks nice."

When he thought she would have smiled, she didn't. Her mouth became a firm line and, instead, she gave a small nod.

"I think so, too." She moved away then, moving back into her original curled-up position against the armrest. "I think I'm going to go look at this one."

He didn't know exactly what it was. If it was her need to keep everything in or if it was her need to push forward in the way that she was.

Killian shook his head, his eyes blinking over her.

"Emma, I hate what this is doing to you." It was a mutter with even a harder shake of his head. "It makes me want to… go over there and… bash his freaking head in."

That's what did it. She turned back towards him. For a moment, she only looked at him. Watched him silently as whatever thoughts ran through her mind.

"I hate what this is doing to you," Emma told him with a roll of her eyes.

It made him frown. Her words only confused him.

"What is this doing to me?"

Her head turned just slightly, and her eyes looked sad. "It's turning you into somebody that you're not."

"Which is?"

Killian wanted to blame that saddened look on Neal. Emma's sadness was because of him.

This time, Emma sat up straight. She turned her attention fully back on him.

"The villain," she said quietly.

Her choice of words in how to describe him….

"And you are not the villain in this, Killian," she continued. "None of this is your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. Which is why your sudden anger with Neal?" Emma shook her head. "That isn't like you. You're not the volatile sort who wants to go bash his friend's- ex or not- face in just because he doesn't like his actions."

And…

All he could do was blink at her.

She was right. Emma was right.

"You're not a villain either, Emma." It was a soft whisper because… damn, she had put things in a perspective that he had not thought to.

"No, not a villain." Emma's frown was back. "I'm just the one that broke someone's heart. I fell in love with someone else, and what was the cost?"

Killian was slow to reach his hand out. He let it slip over her lap before he tangled his fingers with hers.

"I understand." It was soft. He didn't want it to sound as reflective as he felt. Would she…

"I don't regret it."

And maybe that was exactly what he was thinking….

Killian looked back up at her. To see a smile, as small as it was, on her face was the reason he could smile as well.

"Do you ever doubt that, Emma?"

She was quick to shake her head. "Not for a second."

A softening. For the first time since he'd sought her out while she sat there.

"This is going to hang over our heads for a long time, isn't it?"

"It doesn't have to ruin us."

Because that was the real question: were they strong enough to get past the negative things that had brought them together…

"You're right."

"So…" Emma's fingers tightened around his as she pulled his hand closer into her lap.

She left it like that…

"What?" Killian looked at her with a raised brow.

She rolled her eyes. Again. This time, the smile was even bigger.

"So you're done thinking about getting revenge on Neal?" she asked lightly.

Because he wasn't the villain here.

Who was?

"Do you think he thinks of me that way?" Killian asked her softly. He was curious to know her thoughts. "He wants you back. He is willing to forgive you. So… you're not the bad person here. Do you think he thinks that I am?"

Emma sighed, leaning her body into his and laying her head on his shoulder.

They didn't talk about it always. Sometimes. But when they did, there was so much that surrounded the topic of how they came to be. Apparently, none of them were over it just yet.

"If he does…" And she sighed again. "It's only because he's hurt. It's the farthest thing from the truth."

Killian smoothed his hand down over the blonde hair at the top of her head and then laid his cheek there. She was… everything to him. He hoped that she understood that.

It was her text notification going off as the phone sat on the armrest that made him slip his eyes that way. And as she slipped her hand out to reach for it, without moving from his shoulder, it brought his mind back to her previous activity.

"Ruby," Emma murmured as she looked at the phone.

She was looking for somewhere to call home. Or was she trying to run away from them? Maybe some of both. But… when it was like this- when they were like this- didn't it prove that they had made the right choices?

"Emma?"

She was busy with returning the text.

"Hm?"

"I… don't want you to go," he whispered quietly.

Her head was slow to come up, slow to look at him.

"I want us to really do this, Emma." Killian knew he was putting his heart out there for her to do whatever the hell she wanted to do with it. "I want us to live together. I want you to feel like it's the right thing for us. So you stop leaving your things at Ruby's or in storage. And stop looking for a new apartment. I want this…what we have."

And his heart was right there for her to do whatever she wanted.

Her eyes were slightly wide, her mouth curve in what he would call a smile.

"I want you forever, Killian Jones."

It wasn't exactly an answer, he noted to himself as she lifted her mouth to his.

Her kiss was soft and sweet. Was it really his forever?

He was going to choose to believe that.

"Hey, Killian."

Ariel's voice was soft, sweet, and bubbly. When he smiled, it was because he immediately thought of Emma's interpretation of her. It was not that she wasn't a good woman. She just could never be the right woman. Not for him.

His was of the fiery sort. A woman who went after what she wanted, no matter the cost, and got it.

His smile grew even more as he typed in another code into the computer that he was working on.

"Hi, Ariel. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well." She, herself, was all smiles as she walked over to the desk he sat at. "How are you doing?"

Killian looked up at her, the smile still plastered to his face.

"I'm doing well, too."

Was it a bit awkward? Well… no… Their dating had been brief and almost non-existent. It wasn't anything to be awkward over.

"That's good to hear."

Killian only gave a single nod before he turned his attention back to his job. The fact that she stayed by his side was no bother.

"Was there something that you needed though?" He shrugged as his fingers paused over the keyboard. "Something that I can help you with?"

"No. There was just a loll in work. I saw that you were down here. So…"

He looked up to see her own bit of a shrug.

"Ah! Doing a little bit of hiding out!" An eyebrow shot up as her threw her another smile. "Sounds like an awesome plan."

Ariel bit down on her lip, and she even had the nerve to blush. Her cheeks reddened a slightly lighter shade than her hair and she gave another shrug.

"Sounded good to me, too."

Killian watched her for a moment longer, taking in the woman that he had spent time with on a personal level. Not a lot of time, but some.

She was… a sweetheart. He could appreciate that in her. But…

Looking at her continued to make him think of Emma. To think of how perfect she was for him. Made him think of how much he loved her. Made him appreciative of having her in his life.

"What?" Ariel asked it with a laugh. "What are you thinking about?"

Maybe it had been longer than a moment. Maybe…

Killian shook his head. "Nothing. I wasn't thinking about anything."

"Liar." She whispered it.

He turned back once again towards the computer.

"I was… thinking about someone." A smile spread across his face. "I was only thinking about her."

She gasped- a soft gasp.

"You met someone, didn't you?"

He hadn't told anyone at work. Why would he tell anyone at work? It had been an affair. It started out that way, at least.

He didn't vocalize an answer, but…

"You look like you're in love, and that's all I'm going to say about it."

Ariel reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. A light touch that only lasted a moment.

"I guess we'll leave it at that then," Killian murmured. She was the blusher, not him.

"I can change the subject!"

"What's on your mind now?" He looked up at her again.

"Work-related news," she said with another shrug.

"Yeah?"

"Did you hear anything about the expansion deal in Maine?"

It was sort of old news. Not only had it been a two-year plan, it had only been up and running for the past six months.

"What about it?"

"They're looking to transplant some of our team up there," Ariel said. "I'm not for sure if it's a permanent deal or not. Or what all positions they want to fill."

"Transplanting?" Killian fingers stopped once again from completing the new code sequence. "Are… are you thinking about leaving?" The question made him turn his attention fully back towards her.

"It was a thought," she told him. "It's not that far. The pay is going to be a little bit better. But I don't know." She lifted her own eyebrow. "Could you see yourself leaving? I mean, moving for the company?"

"And… have a fresh start?"

It had his mind racing in fact. A fresh start.

"Maybe I could see that."

She shared a shy smile with him. "Even with this budding relationship that you've started at some point?"

Would she go?

Would she?

It was a thought. A thought that…

"What's a fresh start without having the right person at your side?"

It was never going to be the same. Not with the three of them. There was too much history. Too much hurt. Too many feelings in general. The encounters over the past few weeks had proven that, hadn't it? And all those had done was… create more and more pain.

The fact that Neal still had feelings for Emma didn't help anything or anyone. The wounds were going to be hard to heal. And he needed them to heal. Emma needed them to heal. He wanted Neal to heal, but maybe that was going to be a harder path to travel on.

"Who did you talk about it with?" Killian asked her. "Management? Human Resources?"

"I… didn't really think… that you'd be interested," Ariel said slowly. The disbelief was evident on her face.

"Yeah, well… it's something to think about."

He'd have to talk to Emma about it. He would have to get her to see that the change could be good for them?

Would she do it? Would she?

"Definitely something to think about."