I am so glad that you all liked this story so far. Thank you everyone who followed, faved or reviewed!
Elaine O'Roake: Killian did not meet Liam and Elsa that very day and so they had no idea that he was in that area at the same time as Emma or that he could be her soul mate. In fact, Liam doesn't even know that Killian found his soul mate. So I hope this clears your doubts. And thanks for reviewing!
ii. take my hand and show me forever
Killian Jones believed in soul mates.
Well, at least he used to before the whole Milah debacle. He met Milah when he 19. She was a spitfire. She was bold, lively and fierce. Her entire being used to glow with curiosity and the thirst of adventure. Sure, she was older than him (being a senior at the university he attended) but that did not matter much to Killian. He was in love with her. He was truly happy with her. She was his stars, his moon and his entire universe. When his soul mark did not start to darken and fill out when he met and fell in love with her, he was a bit disappointed. But somehow he believed that it would start filling because there was no chance in hell that a woman he loved so dearly wasn't his soul mate.
All those dreams were shattered when he found her in their bed fucking her History professor like her bloody life depended on it. And just like that he realized that the past four years of his life were nothing but an elaborate joke. She did not even have the decency to apologize. All she did when he confronted her was laugh in his face and ask him if he really thought he could make her happy. She basically told him that he was just an alibi for her supposed affair with her History professor.
And because of that, Killian Jones was absolutely done with this whole soul mates business. Or he was done with it before his ponce of an elder brother ("Bigger brother, Killy!") Liam found his. That made him reconsider his whole "I don't believe in soul mates" philosophy. Because the lass unfortunate enough to be his brother's soul mate was amazing.
Elsa Arendelle was smart, brilliant, beautiful and an absolute expert in keeping his brother's huge ego in check. Liam met her in the hobby art class that Killian enrolled him in as his birthday gift. The way Liam was raving about the beautiful sassy blonde who sat beside him in the class made it more obvious that she was his soul mate than the darkened lines of his soul mark. And when Killian met her after a week of hearing his brother talk about her, he knew that Elsa was as smitten (if not more) as Liam was. So, yes Killian Jones started believing in soul mates again.
Well, technically, he still believed in them but he did not believe that he had a soul mate.
Which is exactly why the sudden burning sensation in his left wrist after an intense eye contact with the beautiful blonde with emerald eyes left him speechless and terrified. He was swept away by the crowd of fellow Bostonians before he could talk to her and by the time he had untangled himself from the crowd she was long gone. He looked at his swan soul mark only to find its outlines dark and clear.
He could not believe his luck. Twenty-five years of living in London and all he is awarded with is heartbreak and abandonment. And now, after spending only two bloody months in Boston and he managed to not only find his soul mate but also lose her.
Bloody buggering hell! How am I supposed to find a blonde in all of Boston and not go crazy? he thought before shaking his head and making his way back to his office. His entire day was spent mixing up thoughts of various shipping orders and the beautiful blonde goddess who had somehow managed to weasel her way into his heart in the four hours since they had glanced at each other.
After leaving the office, he made his way to the library to pick Belle up on his way to the Rabbit Hole for a strong drink. On his way inside, a very distracted blonde managed to make him almost lose his balance. He was ready to rain the wrath of hell on her before he recognized that said blonde was his soul mate. Unfortunately, she was so distracted that she did not even realize that she had managed to tip his world around the axis again. He ran after her but once again she was lost due to the faceless crowd of Boston.
Dejectedly he made his way inside to greet Belle.
"What has got you in such a sad mood?" Belle said as she made her way out of the reception desk and gathered her belongings.
"I found my soul mate and then lost sight of her because of the bloody crowd twice."
"You what?! You found your soul mate and lost sight of her due to the crowd twice?"
"Yes, Lady French, I believe that is exactly what I just said. And all that in five hours. Bloody hell."
"Oh Killian, I am so sorry. Tell me how exactly this all happened."
"If it's alright with you, I would like to tell this particular story at the bar. I do not wish to repeat it again."
"That is completely understandable. Let me just call Tink and tell her that we are on our way." Belle said before patting his shoulder soothingly.
The duo made their way to the Rabbit Hole where Tink, Jefferson and Will were already seated with Killian and Belle's drinks in front of their seats.
"Okay Killian spill. Belle said that you were sad because of soul mates stuff. It has been a while since you talked about Milah so what is this all about." Tink said as soon as they were within hearing distance.
Killian made his way to his seat and slammed back the rum his friends had so graciously ordered before even acknowledging Tink's question. Tink was the only one from the group who knew exactly how Killian was immediately after the Milah debacle. She was the one who brought his drunken ass to his apartment from whichever bar he had decided to drown his sorrows in. The only reason he relocated to Boston was because Liam was there and because Tink made the move three months before him. With both Liam and Tink gone, there was nothing left in London for Killian other than the ghosts of heartbreak and his naivety.
"Hello to you too, Tink."
"Yeah yeah. We get it. You want to wallow. But how about you do that after you tell us what Belle meant with that soul mates comment." Jefferson said while flagging down the waiter to ask for refills.
"Guys, back off. Seriously. Give him a bit of space to gather his thoughts before attacking him with questions." Belle glared at the other three occupants of their table.
"Oh we are so sorry, Mom." Will retorted.
Killian just observed the banter before sighing and telling them to just shut the buggering hell up. He proceeded to dish out all the details of what exactly transpired between him and his lovely soul mate.
After a moment of silence and everyone staring at him as if he had grown two heads, Killian had had enough, "Oh for fuck's sake, will you four just say something?"
Will was the first one to respond, "Oi mate, seems to me that you are in wee bit of trouble here, innit?"
"Gosh Killian, this is just…just wow. You saw her twice?"
"Yes, Tink. Why would I lie about that?"
"I don't-"
Jefferson interrupted whatever she was going to say and said, "Well what are going to do about this, mate?"
"What am I going to do about this? What even is there to do about this, Jeff? Clearly, the universe just wants to taunt me. I mean, I personally would not be surprised if my mysterious soul mate decided to just spontaneously move to Australia tomorrow!"
Belle looked sad because of his outburst before running her hand on his shoulder in a soothing manner and saying, "well you cannot just give up hope. You found her twice in five hours. Accidentally. I am pretty sure you can find her again if you really wanted to."
Tink, Jefferson and Will agreed with Belle.
"Oh okay fine, you bilge rats. I will do everything I can to find her."
They all cheered.
"You might want to stop talking like a pirate then, mate. Wouldn't want the future missus to die because you annoyed the life outta her, uh?" Will quipped.
"Shut up, you wanker." Killian retorted.
The conversation flowed from there on but Killian was lost in thought.
A man unwilling to fight for what he wants, deserves what he gets, he thought, I will find you mystery girl. Oh lord, Liam would be so happy to know that his brother found his soul mate. Ha.
He was so lost in his own thoughts and the conversation around him that he failed to notice the object of his affections tending the bar being equally lost in thought.
And for the first time in a long while, Killian Jones had hope that maybe he would finally get his happy ending.