A/N: New multichapter romantic CaptainSwan fic, with a twist of angst and old regrets making it hard for them both to reconnect, when they meet in some very unexpected circumstances. Starting out with a prologue, setting the scene for this. The prologue is 100% inspired by the song "Driver's License" by Olivia Rodrigo and especially the first verse: (the rest of the plot came rolling in as I kept returning to this idea)
I got my driver's license last week
Just like we always talked about
'Cause you were so excited for me
To finally drive up to your house
But today, I drove through the suburbs
Crying 'cause you weren't around
And the chorus:
I know we weren't perfect
But I've never felt this way for no one
And I just can imagine
How you could be so okay
Now that I'm gone?
Guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me
'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street
Yeah, you said forever, now I drive alone past your street
So yeah Killian became a singer in this story, and Emma well you'll see in the first chapter after the epilogue *wink*
Prologue"Mom, I'm driving over to Killian's." Emma stuck her head into the kitchen, her mother was in the process of baking a pie.
"Do be careful." Her mother stopped working and looked at her daughter with the best mom stare Emma had ever seen.
"Seriously?" Emma rolled her eyes. "I'm literally driving three miles into the woods and back, what could go wrong?"
"You've only had your driver's license for three days darling," her mother said, sighing before looking pointedly at Emma. "I know you wanted to be able to drive out to your friend on your own and not rely on us or him to pick you up."
"Yeah, and I haven't heard a word from him the past few days." Emma jiggled her car keys nervously, eager to get on the road.
"I'm sure he's just been busy with his music stuff." Her mother waved her flour-covered hands in the air.
Emma picked up the note of slight disapproval in her mother's voice, she knew her parents had always seen Killian as a bit of a rebel. He had barely graduated from high school, always playing his guitar, earning a little extra money doing gigs in local pubs and small clubs. Emma herself still had two years before she finished high school, and the 10th-grade exams were just a few months away.
"I'll drive safely," Emma promised, not really bothering to go into a dialogue with her mother about the life choices Killian had made in the past eight months since he finished school.
Grabbing her red leather jacket Emma walked outside, to her yellow bug, parked on the driveway. She'd bought and paid for it by herself. Smoothing her hand over the bonnet she smiled. The little yellow Volkswagen was hers. Buttercup might be a bit rusty in certain places but the engine ran as smoothly as could be expected from a vintage car. Killian had laughed at her choice of name for her vehicle but she'd slapped his arm and huffed, "Don't mock my wheels, Jones, next week I'll drive out to you for a change."
"Can't wait, love." His British lilt was more prominent when he said the last word. Emma rolled her eyes but she loved moments like these with Killian. He had stumbled into her life when he was twelve and started in her school. News traveled fast about the British brothers who moved to town with their mother, the older brother just starting high school.
Emma drove through Storybrooke. Three miles down the coast she turned into the gravel road leading to the small cabin Killian shared with his brother. Ever since their mother passed away two years ago they'd managed on their own. While Liam had been old enough to be a guardian for his brother, something changed in Killian when his mother died, burying himself in his music even more.
When she rounded the last bend in the road, it surprised her to see a black Cadillac parked in front of the cabin. This certainly wasn't Killian's truck. Emma stopped at the edge of the clearing and got out of the car and walked cautiously towards the cabin. When the door opened, she jumped but then sighed when she saw the telltale limp on the man walking down the steps.
"Mr. Gold, what are you doing out here?" Emma knew he was the owner of the cabin but Killian had assured her he was a fair landlord. "Collecting rent early?"
"Ah, Miss Nolan here to see your friend?"
Emma sighed, the downside of living in a fairly small town was that everyone knew everyone else's business. "Yeah."
"I'm afraid you just missed him by a few days." Gold said, opening the car door glancing over his shoulder. A look of fake pity plastered over his face.
"What do you mean?" Emma stepped forward, her eyes scanning the cabin frantically. "Where did they go?"
"England I suppose, they rambled about a dead father or something." Gold shrugged and slipped into the vehicle. Before he closed the door, he made a fake gasp. "This was taped to the front door when I came out here to check up on my property." He slipped out an envelope from his pocket. "I believe this is for you."
Emma rushed over and snatched the letter out of Gold's hands, mumbling "That is private."
"Don't worry, dearie. I don't have any interest in sappy teenage love letters." He chuckled as his own assumed joke and with a final, "Have a nice day," closed the car door and started the engine. Before pulling out he rolled down the window, "Ah Miss Nolan might I remind you that you're on my property, please be kind to remove yourself as soon as possible." With those words, he revved the engine, and in a tail of dust and gravel, he drove out of sight.
Emma looked down at the letter in her hand. Her fingers shook as she slipped it open. In a daze she stumbled over to sit on the steps leading to the tiny front porch where Killian and she had spent many evenings enjoying the stars above while he tinkered with his guitar, testing new lyrics, singing songs of the future.
Dear Emma,
I'm so very sorry you'll find out about my departure like this, but the time was urgent. Our bastard father died and left a trail of legal stuff behind that we need to take care of. I lost my phone the other day when Liam and I went fishing, which explains my lack of communication. I wanted to go to your place before we left, but Liam (the git) found it quite urgent that we left the very next day and scored a last-minute deal on tickets to England.
I'll keep in touch once I reach England and find a new phone, I don't want to lose my "Forever Girl."
Killian
Emma read the short note with a lump forming in her throat, closing her eyes she could almost hear the lyrics of his latest song,
The stars in your eyes
will forever shine in my heart
My forever girl
be mine, forever and ever.
Happiest moments together
drinking cheap wine
My forever girl
be mine, forever and ever.
Watching the stars above
falling into your eyes
My forever girl
be mine, forever and ever.
I want that forever love
I see shining inside you
My forever girl
be mine, forever and ever.
The lyrics had still been a bit rough around the edges but the music was so profound and the lyrics had given her hope that he might, just might, have shared the same feelings she'd felt blooming inside the past years. Growing into her teenage years with Killian at her side she had been lost at fourteen, when he, sixteen years old, had kissed her cheek and declared that she would forever be his forever girl.
Tears trickled down Emma's cheeks as she re-read the letter, her heart broke, only held together by the tiny promise from him to keep in touch.
In a daze, she found her way back home, her world a little less bright and her mother's worried glances shared with her father had Emma on edge that evening.
When her mother asked, Emma had broken down and said that Killian had left to go to England with his brother. Her mother held her close and rubbed gentle circles over her back, just like she'd done when Emma had been a little girl. But even that couldn't diminish how hurt Emma was right now.
A/N: the horrible attempt at writing lyrics for a song is solely on my own account. Hope you enjoy this, I have chapter 1 and 2 written and sent to beta reader, (HUGE THANKS TO Jonesfandomfanatic for beta reading this.) Still don't fully know how long this will be, let me know what you think and if there's any suggestions I'll be happy to hear them.