A/N: next chapter, things are moving along a bit more smoothly for Emma, still some uncertainties, but hope you like how I set this chapter up. FYI the fantasy book Emma is currently struggling with is a projection of my own struggle with a fantasy idea I want to write. Though my book hasn't been made into a movie, I wish, I haven't even got a book published yet. Letting Emma live out my dream.
Thank you Jonesfandomfanatic for helping me beta read this, always a huge help.
There will be more chapters to come fairly soon as I had a binge-writing session yesterday and wrote a lot of words to this one and my CSSNS fic.
ENJOY.
Chapter 7Killian inhaled the aroma of the hotel's coffee, it wasn't the best but it did the trick of waking him up.
"Did anyone hear from Graham last night?" Alice asked as she slipped into her seat after having visited the breakfast buffet.
"I texted him when he wasn't in his room," Will said, stuffing his face with a slice of pancake.
"Bet he went home with the scriptwriter," Kristoff said with a shrug, making them all chuckle knowingly.
"Killian, are you okay?" Elsa asked and placed a hand on his arm.
Killian looked at her with a small smile, "Aye, just a bit knackered after our trip around town." He glared over at Will who'd insisted they bar-hopped to three different locations before calling it a night.
"What happened with you and Emma?" Will asked, resting his chin in his folded hands in feigned interest.
"Nothing, we talked, and that's it."
"You sure that was all you did?" Anna asked, looking up from her phone, her eyebrows waggled. She pointed at the screen. "Your Facebook fan page is going nuts over a photo some fan shared last night."
"What?" Killian's heart dropped into his stomach.
"Hmm." Anna nodded with a smug smile, then pouted her lips making a fake kissing sound. "Sure you didn't smooch the girl out in the hallway."
This caused several raunchy catcalls from his bandmates, while Killian groaned into his hands. "Bloody hell."
When he finally looked around everyone had their phones out and scrolled through the social media pages. Elsa showed him her screen and sure enough, it showed a very clear image of him and Emma kissing. The number of comments on the picture was astounding.
"So?" Anna asked.
"It was nothing." Killian waved them off.
"Sure looks like something," Will mumbled around another bite of his food.
"Can you guys just leave it?" Killian grumbled into his coffee, sending them all a hard glare.
Anne seemed eager to ask something but Kristoff leaned closer and whispered something into her ear, making her nod.
They finished the rest of the meal while speaking of the coming weeks, where they would find time to catch up in the studio. His next official appearance wouldn't be until the movie's premiere day.
One by one his bandmates slipped out of the restaurant, leaving him with a pat on the back and some random encouraging words.
Soon it was only him and Elsa left behind and she seemed eager to stick around and Killian knew she would try to talk about the picture.
"So how close are you with Emma Swan?" She'd pushed her used plate and empty mug to the center of the round table, and shifted in her seat so she was turned towards him.
"Bloody hell, can't you just…"
"Listen, I saw you guys dancing last night. I've never seen you look so freaking happy while dancing with anyone in public." She jabbed his shoulder making him winch. "So spill it."
"We have a sort of history, and yet that history is as dull as watching the grass grow."
"So nothing has ever happened between you guys in the past?" she asked, curious to find out more.
"I was too foolish to realize what I had back then, and as you know I left to go deal with my father's death." Killian rubbed his hands over his face. "I was foolish to let her go back then."
"And now?"
"What do you mean?" He scratched behind his ear.
"Do you want something to happen now?"
"Aye, I might, but the lass ran out on me last night. I'm not sure what she wants."
"She got spooked?" Elsa asked.
"Hmm." Killian nodded.
"Give her some time to find her feet with this. It's got to be strange meeting up with you again under these circumstances. You're the lead star in a movie based on a book she wrote."
"Aye."
"And to be fair that role was sort of written for you wasn't it?"
"What do you mean?" Killian asked, confused by what his friend was suggesting.
"Come on, a dark broody singer with his guitar, falling for a girl he thinks is out of his league."
"Her parents ain't no mob boss power couple." Killian winced at the thought, he'd only met the Nolans a few times at social functions in their little hometown.
"Well, the story had to have a better outcome than her own story." Elsa tilted her head giving him a small smirk.
"Bloody hell, I never gave it that much thought." He grimaced, shocked that he'd not noticed this fact sooner. "Thanks for setting that idea into the back of my mind."
"You're welcome." Elsa rested her head on her hand, waggling her eyebrows. "So the kiss…"
"She ran, mumbling about it being a one-time thing." He shrugged. "But we're meeting for coffee on Wednesday, so she hasn't run off completely."
"There's still hope then." Elsa rubbed her hand over his, leaving it wrapped around his wrist while she spoke. "We all want you to be happy, you know that right?"
"Aye, thank you." He twisted his hand around and wrapped his hand around hers giving a little squeeze.
"You're welcome." Elsa rose from her seat and gave him a farewell hug. "I'll leave you to your musings and go find my sister, we're going shopping later."
"Have fun." Killian watched his singer walk out of the restaurant, pushing through a small group of people looking intently in his direction. Sometimes it was a curse being famous like he was here in the States. He ignored the group and finished his coffee before he slipped out of one of the side doors. While finding his way to his hotel room he sent a text to Emma:
I'm sorry about the picture.
As he unlocked his door, a reply came from Emma:
What picture?
Killian groaned, kicking the door shut, and slumped back on his bed.
I guess you haven't been online? Well, one of the giggling girls you walked past last night took a picture of you and me, kissing.
In a matter of seconds, his phone rang, and he picked up.
"How did that happen?" Her shrill voice sounded through the phone.
"Bloody hell, I'm sorry lass, but my fans are a bit nuts with stuff like that. There are several incidents where I've had to deal with pictures of me in a rather compromising situation." He cringed as he recalled the pictures of him partly losing his swim trunks at the beach giving all his fans a nice view of his backside.
"Well, I'm not used to that sort of stuff happening to me." She jostled her phone around. "Where is the photo?"
"On one of the band's fan pages on Facebook," he told her.
Emma was silent for several moments and he imagined she was searching through the pages to find the images. "Shit, shit, that is just not happening."
"I'm sorry, love, I should have been more careful."
Emma hummed in response before whispering, "Well I was the one initiating the kiss."
"Aye, and I never complained."
"Will this be an issue with the movie coming out?" Emma asked him.
"I don't know. The fans and paparazzi photos are all part of the game. So I imagine Mills Movies won't cause too much of a fuss over this. It's not as if we were doing anything illegal."
"I guess."
"Look, let's talk more about this when we meet for coffee in a few days. I should imagine things have settled down a bit by then."
"I hope so."
"I'll let you know if something else comes up."
"Thank you."
"See you Wednesday."
"Yeah." Her voice still sounded a little off-kilter but he hoped she would see that this photo was not the end of the world for her or him. All he really hoped for was for them to find some sort of common ground again. One that would hopefully include more kissing.
Smoothing her finger over the edge of her phone Emma glanced at the entrance to the little coffee shop Killian had sent the address for. Her stomach was in knots, not because she would be face to face with her old friend, whom she kissed only a few days ago, but because of what Ruby had sent a link for only minutes before. She knew she should ignore it, knowing how social media would twist every picture taken, but how could she be sure?
The bell above the door jingled and this time it was her dark-haired friend, who'd haunted her dreams for the past few days. Her lips still felt the pressure of his against her skin.
Killian beamed when he spotted her sitting in a corner booth, in a few long strides he was at the table. "I'm sorry I'm late, the parking was a bit crazy."
Emma waved him off. "It's okay, I've not ordered anything yet." She tried not to openly stare at how his shirt stretched over his chest as he sat down.
"So…" Killian shifted the menu on the table between his fingers.
"Yeah…" Emma bit her lip unsure how to broach the subject she wanted to speak to him about.
"How are you?" Killian looked into her eyes, his blue orbs finding their way behind her carefully built walls.
"Okay, I guess."
"Oh?" Killian questioned, worried about the uncertainty in her tone.
"I mean it's been crazy with the movie-making these past few months. And all the hubbub going on around the fact that one of my books is being made into a movie. Kinda puts my next book under a lot of pressure."
"Tell me about that next book of yours." Killian leaned forward resting his elbows on the table.
Emma sighed in relief. This she could talk about, her writing and what inspired her, and what she wanted to do next. So she spoke about the new fantasy story she was working on, and how many obstacles she still had to find a way across. "It's much harder writing fantasy when all you've written so far are rom-com or romantic suspense."
"The idea sounds marvelous, I hope you get it done one day." Killian reached out and took one of her fidgeting hands in his, making her jump. "Sorry didn't mean to spook you."
"I just… the thing is…" She glanced down at her phone, "Ruby sent me a link to a picture just now."
"Oh?"
"I'm not a big social media junkie so all my social media posts are mainly done by my boss Belle, and I've never spent much time looking up stuff about people. Like famous people, you know, like… you." She looked down at their still clasped hands, her skin prickled all the way up her arm at the contact.
"You are a rare one of a kind, just as I always knew you." Killian gave her a big smile.
"Thanks, I guess."
"So what was in that picture?"
"Uh? Oh yeah, it was you and that blond singer from your band…"
"Elsa?"
"Yeah, I think they took it in the hotel restaurant where you're staying?"
"Aye, I had breakfast with the band the other day, and Elsa and I spoke a bit once everyone else had cleared off."
"You looked kinda chummy and the fans have a theory about you…" She looked down and smoothed her fingers over her phone.
"Can I see that picture?" He sounded a little strained, his brow pinched together.
Emma pulled her lips between her teeth before she relented and unlocked her phone, pushing the device toward him.
"Bloody hell, they certainly know how to capture me at the right moment of things."
Emma nodded in agreement and recalled the image of Elsa leaning close to Killian while holding his hand and in the next they had hugged before the singer had left.
"Their theory is that you seem to have a fondness for blondes." Emma rolled her eyes, she knew it was growing to be something much bigger in her head.
"Only one blonde." He pushed her phone toward her again and caught her eyes. "You." A gentle smile spread over his face as he lifted an eyebrow that shouldn't have caused her stomach to do crazy loops.
"Hmm." She tapped her finger on her phone. "So that picture is not…"
"Hell, no!" He reached out for her hand. "That picture was taken in a moment between two friends. Emma, you have to believe me, everyone in my band is practically my family." He rubbed over his face with his other hand. "Elsa is the proverbial mother figure to us all. They'd all seen the picture of you and me kissing so she wanted to know how I was dealing with it all."
"How are you dealing with it?" Emma tilted her head, glancing down at their still clasped hands, the heat emanating from him warmed her skin.
"I'm trying to start something with my old friend, without having the entire world watching my every step."
"That can be a little tricky." Emma mused, pursing her lips, glancing out of the window at the people rushing by the little coffee shop. No one paid notice to them, at least not now. "Will it ever be normal?"
"What?"
"The whole getting recognized on the street?"
"In time you get used to it." Killian shrugged his shoulders.
"Hmm."
"If your books keep being made into movies, your face will become well known too." His fingers smoothed over her knuckles, she'd almost forgotten that he was still holding her hand.
"I guess."
"So Emma Nolan, will you go out with me?"
Emma sucked in a breath of air at his bold question. Shaking her head she took in his cocky laid-back attitude, as he waggled his eyebrows.
"Perhaps. If you'll let me arrange the first date?"
"As you wish." He did a small bow of his head as he lifted her hand closer to his mouth. Her breath hitched in her throat when his lips touched her skin, sending sparks shooting up her arms.
Killian offered to go order, so she asked, "Can you make sure they give my cocoa a sprinkle of cinnamon?"
"Still having cinnamon on your cocoa?" He chuckled and walked to the counter.
Emma rested her chin on her folded hands as she watched him request their order. Then casually speak with another customer who clearly had recognized him and Killian spent some extra time talking with his fan. She sure hoped that she could get used to being in the spotlight next to Killian. Her walls had been sky-high for so long, but perhaps all it took was her old friend to return to her life to have them knocked to the ground.