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kmomof4 · 9 months

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Into the Light: A New Fic for @cssns

It's FINALLY my date for posting this year's CSSNS fic!!!!! I'm so excited to share it with all of you!!!

This fic is inspired by the 1987 movie, The Lost Boys, starring Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric, Dianne Wiest, and Edward Herrmann.

I may have written it, but there are several lovely ladies who were instrumental in getting this fic to you, the reader. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to @jrob64 and @snowbellewells for beta duties and helping me decide on a title, @hollyethecurious for helping me brainstorm, @zaharadessert, @stahlop, and @grimmswan for their contributions in the early planning and writing phases.

And finally, ALLLLLL the love and long distance internet hugs to @motherkatereloyshipper for the AWESOME and INCREDIBLE artwork she made to accompany the fic!!! I could stare it for HOURS!!!

Summary: The move to Storybrooke, Maine might have been intended as the beginning of a new life for Killian Jones and his older siblings Liam and Belle, but there's a darkness over the town that threatens the small family's happiness, as well as the girl and small boy Killian has taken a liking to from his school. Killian is determined to help Emma and Henry get out of the situation they are in, but those dark forces in and around the town have another plan altogether.

Rating: T for non graphic violence and subject matter. There is a suggestive scene in ch2, but I don't think it crosses a line. If you have any questions, feel free to DM me.

Words: 9,800 of approx. 16,500.

Tags: Vampires, Inspired by The Lost Boys, CSSNS23

On ao3

Ch2 on Tumblr

Tagging the usuals. Please let me know if you'd like to be added or removed.

@teamhook @winterbaby89 @xarandomdreamx @undercaffinatednightmare @the-darkdragonfly @superchocovian @pirateprincessofpizza @tiganasummertree @anmylica @cosette141 @jonesfandomfanatic @ultraluckycatnd @jennjenn615 @allons-y-to-hogwarts-713 @kymbersmith-90 @booksteaandtoomuchtv @wistfulcynic @mie779 @lfh1226-linda @aprilqueen84 @whimsicallyenchantedrose @pirateherokillian @elfiola @ilovemesomekillianjones @justanother-unluckysoul @poptart-cat-78 @myfearless-love @goforlaunchcee @searchingwardrobes @gingerpolyglot @gingerchangeling @djlbg @cocohook38 @cs-rylie @thisonesatellite @donteattheappleshook @deckerstarblanche @veryverynotgoodwrites @wefoundloveunderthelight @fleurdepetite @alexa-fangirl-forever

Under the cut, unless Tumblr ate it.

Ch. 1 A Shadow on the Future

Liam Jones opened the front door of the house he and his family would soon be calling home. He turned around to see his younger siblings, Belle and Killian, hefting the suitcases they’d carted along on their cross country journey, the moving truck right behind them. Turning back toward the house, he entered and looked around approvingly. It was the first time he’d actually seen the house in person, and while it might not have been the smartest thing he could’ve done- buying a house, sight unseen- it looked like it was going to be more than adequate for the needs of his family.

Liam pointed off to the left as Belle and Killian came in.

“Bedrooms are back that way,” he said. “Belle, you can have the master so you can have your own bathroom. Killian and I can share.”

“What?!” Killian exclaimed. “I’m not sharing a bedroom with you!”

Liam shot him an unamused look. “Bathroom, brother. We’ll share a bathroom.”

“Oh,” he said, looking a little sheepish.

“Are you sure, Liam?” Belle asked. “You’re the one who bought the house. You should have the biggest bedroom.”

Liam chuckled. “I’m sure. Trying to get you to hurry in the morning when we’re all trying to get out the door is a futile endeavor, so this way Killian and I won’t have to.”

Belle rolled her eyes, but the corner of her lip twitched upward slightly as she turned to head down the hallway. Killian followed her until he disappeared from Liam’s sight into the first bedroom he came to. Liam hoped his youngest sibling liked the house he’d bought and would be able to put the past year behind him and find happiness in their new home.

It was hard enough for Liam to survive the last seven months, as they waited for Belle to graduate with her teaching degree and find a job so they could all move away from the cursed town that had taken so much away from them. First, both of their parents died, leaving Liam, barely a man himself, with custody of his two younger siblings. Belle had been just about to graduate high school, and Killian was just entering his teens. Belle started college and excelled, while Killian navigated the difficult teen years with two siblings too caught up in their own grief and then individual lives to see him struggling to keep his head above water.

Killian had always been smaller than most of his peers and so was the target of bullies throughout his high school years. That led to his involvement in underage drinking and drugs before Liam realized what was going on with his little brother and got him the help he needed to get clean and sober the summer before his junior year in high school.

It wasn’t until Killian discovered his new girlfriend cheating last fall and then Liam’s longtime girlfriend passed away suddenly in January, that the family decided to move away from California as soon as Belle graduated and found a job. Liam had experience working on fishing boats and the docks and wanted to stay in that field, so when Belle started sending out her resumé, she focused on coastal towns. It took a couple of months after she graduated, but she finally settled on a small private school in Storybrooke, Maine.

The compensation and benefits were outstanding for someone just out of college, and Killian could enroll for his senior year of high school at only half the regular tuition rate. Liam was able to secure work on the docks in the small town. Given their location in southern California, everything from applying for jobs, to interviews, to buying the house, had been done remotely through the magic of technology. This was the first time any of them had stepped foot in the quaint hamlet they would now call home, but Liam was hopeful this was the beginning of a new life for them all.

Liam moved toward the remaining bedroom to drop off his own suitcase before coming back out to direct the movers where to put everything. Belle’s first day of work was almost a week and a half away with the first day of school the Monday after that, and Liam wanted to have everything unpacked and settled by then. Even if she wasn’t the oldest, Belle was still the lady of the house, and he knew she’d have a lot to say about where everything was placed once it was unpacked.

By the end of the day, everyone was pleasantly sore and exhausted as they sat down around the kitchen table to devour the pizzas Liam had ordered.

“We got a lot done today, guys,” Liam said, around a mouthful of supreme pizza. Belle shot him a disapproving look.

“You’re worse than Killian, Liam,” she said. “Don’t speak with your mouth full.”

Liam and Killian shot each other an amused smirk. It was always fun to tease their sister.

“I don’t think we’ll have any trouble getting everything unpacked before you and I have to be at work next Monday,” he continued after swallowing.

“I don’t think so either,” Belle agreed. “My first full day is a week from Monday, but since I’ve never met the headmaster in person, I thought I’d go by and meet him sometime next week. Just to introduce myself and look around a bit.”

“That sounds like a good idea. What about you, Killian?” he asked. “What are you going to do with yourself once you’re all unpacked?”

Killian shrugged. “I should have everything unpacked and set up tomorrow, then I can help Belle in the kitchen. But I was kinda thinking about looking for a job. I still have a couple of weeks before school starts, and once it does, I can work two or three nights during the week and on the weekends.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Killian?” Liam asked. “I don’t want you to be overwhelmed between school and work.”

Killian shrugged again. “If it gets to be too much, I’ll cut back on hours or quit.”

“If you’re sure,” Liam murmured. Belle nodded in agreement, placing her hand on Killian’s forearm and squeezing it gently in support.

“This is the start of a new life for us,” Belle said, a bright smile on her face. “And I have no doubt we’ll be very happy here.”

“I hope so,” Killian murmured. He tried to muster up a smile to match his sister’s, but doubted he succeeded. It wasn’t that he was against this move, far from it, but he had to admit to being slightly intimidated coming into a small school in a small town where everyone had probably known each other all their lives. Keeping to himself and staying busy with a job and schoolwork meant he wouldn’t have much time for a social life, and right now, that was just fine with him. He could find his footing in the school, get the lay of the land, then try to make some friends. He’d never had many, too small and too nerdy to really fit in with all the cliques back home. But maybe he could find some here. He’d filled out a lot the past year, and if the attention he’d gotten from the female portion of the population after he’d broken up with Tink last fall was any indication, he wasn’t bad looking, either.

Once the pizzas were gone, everyone retired to their respective beds. They were all too tired to even think about getting the TV set up, much less anything else. They’d gotten all the beds assembled with sheets and blankets on them, ready for their occupants, the internet up and running, and all the computers set up and online. They also had all the furniture in place in all the rooms. All they needed to do was unpack the rest of the boxes and settle everything in their places.

It was going to be a very long and busy week.

~*~*~

The Wednesday after the family arrived in town, Belle visited St. James Academy, the small private school where she would be teaching a class of seventeen first graders in a week-and-a-half. The lights were off in the wide hallways, creating a shadowed and somnolent atmosphere in the seemingly deserted building. Before seeking out the main offices and Mr. Robert Gold, the headmaster, she decided to walk along the halls and familiarize herself with the layout of the school. She found the lunchroom, gymnasium, and bathrooms before turning the corner and finding the elementary school classrooms.

Storybrooke was a small town, and the school reflected that with only one classroom per grade until the high school years. High school sports were big in the tiny hamlet and once kids hit junior high, the lack of a sports program at St. James Academy meant the steady withdrawal of students until there just weren’t enough to justify individual classes for the different grades. The 9th through 12th graders at the school attended all the same classes together, and there were a total of thirteen students. Killian was one of only three who would actually be graduating in the spring.

Belle found her classroom without any problem as each room had a placard outside with the grade level. She opened the door and was pleased to find that it was a spacious, well-lit room. The back wall contained three very large windows that let in an abundance of natural light. She walked in, absolutely charmed. There was a reading corner with small bookshelves filled with books for not only her young students to read themselves, but also classic chapter books for her to read aloud to them. She saw The Hobbit, The Chronicles of Narnia, and the Little House series, among others. She could already picture a bright yellow rug with large throw pillows and bean bags for her students to lie on as they got lost in the fantastical worlds Belle knew were contained within the books she saw.

The sound of a clearing throat drew her attention back to the door of her classroom. She turned and saw an older, slight man, his two hands on top of a cane held in front of him standing in the shadows of the hallway. His hair was straight, light and on the thin side, coming to his shoulders. He was impeccably dressed in a gray three piece suit that made his dark eyes even more striking.

“May I help you, Miss?” he asked. His voice had a slight musical quality that Belle felt herself drawn to. She moved back toward the door and him.

“Mr. Gold?” she asked, extending her hand toward him as she approached. It was an educated guess on her part, having never laid eyes on her new boss. The application and interview process had been completely blind with the final interview only an audio call instead of a video conference.

He appeared startled, then the corner of his lips lifted in a small smile as he reached his own hand toward her.

“Yes, my dear,” he replied. “I’m the headmaster here at St. James Academy.”

“I’m Belle Jones, your new first grade teacher.”

He propped his cane in the door frame and took her hand in both of his, his smile widening to show his dazzling white teeth. As soon as his hands closed over hers, Belle felt almost an electrical current shoot up her arm. Her eyes met his, and she let out a small gasp. Something in his gaze captured her attention completely, and she couldn’t look away. His eyes were like bottomless pools that drew her in, inviting her to let go and surrender. Belle could feel herself sinking, her muscles relaxing, a sort of wooziness taking over her mind that she was helpless to resist. Yet, at almost the same time, something deep down inside her rose up from within, almost a compulsion to back up and put some distance between herself and the man in front of her.

She shook her head slightly, breaking his spellbinding gaze and backed up a step into her classroom again. He immediately released her hand, remaining in the shadowed hallway.

“It is wonderful to finally meet you, Miss Jones,” he said. “I see you found your classroom. How do you like it?”

“It’s wonderful,” she said, sincerely. “But please, call me Belle.” She smiled at him, and when she did, his eyes seemed to dance with glee. She averted her gaze slightly, feeling that wooziness start to creep back up again.

“I’m so glad you like it… Belle.” The musical quality was back in his voice, and her heart rate ticked up in response. The way he said her name made her think of a sommelier tasting a new wine before approving it. “And if I’m to call you Belle, then I must insist you call me Robert.”

Belle’s cheeks heated slightly and she averted her eyes again.

“Robert,” she parroted.

“Well,” he said after a slight pause, “I’ll leave you to look around your room for a bit. If you need anything or have any questions, I’ll be in my office just down the hall. If not, I’ll see you on Monday.” He picked up his cane in one hand and held his other hand out to her again. She placed her own hand in his, and he raised it to his lips with a slight bow. The moment he brushed his lips along her knuckles, another shock raced up her arm, leaving a tingling sensation in its wake. Belle nodded as he let go of her hand and walked away, his shoes and cane clicking on the tile floor.

Belle turned back to her room, walked over to her desk, and sat down behind it. A happy smile lit up her face as she looked around her classroom. Her first classroom. Yes, she was sure this was the beginning of a new life for the Jones family, and that they would be very happy here.

~*~*~

The bell above the door of Any Given Sundae rang as a small group entered the ice cream shop where Killian had easily found a job the week after his family moved into their new home. School hadn’t yet started, so Killian was thrilled to be working a good number of hours. He was amazed at the traffic the small shop got. Sure, it was August, but everything he’d observed about Storybrooke was completely belied by the amount of people on the boardwalk every night. Where did they all come from?

He looked at the group coming in and noticed a gorgeous blonde behind the three men in front, and a small boy almost hiding behind her. Something about them made Killian sit up and take notice, and it wasn’t the girl’s stunning beauty. The men had a swagger that put Killian’s teeth on edge. He had known people like that back home and they almost always meant trouble. Turning his attention back to the blonde and little boy, he could clearly see the nerves rolling off of her, and while he expected a kid to be excited to be getting ice cream and leading the way into the shop, the little boy with her looked to be trying to disappear. Killian narrowed his eyes as the group approached, quite sure something was wrong here.

The one who seemed to be the leader stepped up to the counter, a sarcastic smirk on his face. He was entirely unremarkable in his appearance- brown hair and brown eyes, a mustache and goatee, a little huskier than his very thin companions, and just a little shorter than Killian himself.

“Haven’t seen you around here before,” he said, looking down into the cooler at all the ice cream flavors offered. “You new in town?”

“What’s it to you?” Killian shot back, his agitation at the perceived situation before him making him unable to greet the customers with the normal friendly welcome. He took a deep breath and tried again. “Apologies. May I help you with some ice cream?” He cut his eyes toward the girl and smiled. She looked to be about his age. Her smile back at him was shy. Killian opened the cooler and scooped out a generous helping of his favorite flavor.

He handed the ice cream cone to her with an attempt at a wink that made her blush and smile wider. She took the cone and looked down at the boy still trying to hide behind her.

“Want some rum raisin, Henry?” When Henry shook his head, she shrugged and took a long lick of it herself. Her smirk was mischievous as she looked back at Killian. “Rum Raisin and Rocky Road are my favorites. How did you know?”

Killian waggled his eyebrows at her. “I knew a woman as beautiful as you would have excellent taste, so I shared my personal favorite.” He turned his attention to Henry. “And what can I get for you, young man?”

The boy’s eyes cut toward the man who’d first spoken to Killian. It was impossible to miss the stormy visage on the man’s face, so Killian ignored him completely and focused on Henry.

“Can I have Cookies and Cream, please?”

“Of course, you may,” Killian said, handing him a cone. The boy’s smile was blinding, and Killian couldn’t help but smile back.

“What can I get for you gentlemen?” Killian asked, finally turning his attention to the other three.

“Butter Pecan for me,” the first man said, his brows still furrowed angrily.

“Chocolate for me,” the second man said. He looked to be the youngest of the three. He had light brown hair, a baby face, and was a little shorter than the leader. He didn’t look much older than Killian.

“Chocolate Chip,” the third man said. He was several inches taller than the other two men and skinny as a rail. He had a long scar down the side of his face that gave him a dangerous look.

Killian handed out the ice cream and collected the money. The girl and Henry were the first ones out the door, the blonde throwing a soft smile over her shoulder as she exited the shop.

The leader either couldn’t or didn’t bother trying to hide the anger on his face as the door shut behind her. He turned back to Killian and leaned over the counter as far as he could as the other two men moved toward the door, smirks firmly on their faces that sent a chill down Killian’s spine.

“I expect I’ll be seeing you around… Killian,” he said, his eyes flicking down to where Killian’s nametag was affixed to his uniform shirt. Killian couldn’t help the shudder that overcame him at the look on the man’s face. It was assessing and chilling at the same time. If eyes were the windows to the soul, Killian wasn’t sure this guy had one. But there wasn’t a thing he could do. Just hope the group wouldn’t come back anytime soon. Or at least, the three men.

With a smirk that matched his male companions, the man turned and walked out into the night.

~*~*~

Killian entered the front door of St. James Academy the following Monday morning and was greeted with a veritable cacophony from all the younger students, high on the excitement inherent in the first day of school. Before heading toward the high school wing, he decided to find Belle’s classroom and say hi. It only took him a minute to find it, and when he peeked his head in, he saw his sister in her element, surrounded by a crowd of munchkins. She looked so happy and excited to be there, Killian couldn’t help his own grin breaking over his face.

“Hi, Belle,” he called. Her smile got even wider when she turned to him.

“Hi, Killian,” she said, coming toward him. As soon as she reached the door, she gathered him in a tight hug. “Ready for today?”

“As I’ll ever be,” he answered. “What about you?”

Belle always had a lovely smile, but her face positively glowed with happiness at his question. “As I’ll ever be,” she echoed. “Why don’t you meet me here after school and we’ll go get some ice cream to celebrate our first day?”

Killian grinned. “Sounds good to me. Maybe Liam can meet us, too.”

Belle’s eyes cut to someone standing behind him, and her smile became just a bit softer as Killian turned around and got ready to head toward his classes. There was a man standing behind him, one hand on a cane, the other held out toward him. His dark eyes glittered and his skin was pale, almost sickly looking.

“Good morning, Belle. This must be your brother, Killian,” he said. Killian took the man’s hand and shook it, a tingle shooting up his arm at the contact. “I personally know all my students, and your face is new here today,” he explained. “Plus your blue eyes and the shape of your chins are remarkably similar.”

Belle laughed lightly. “Yes, Robert. This is my younger brother, Killian. Killian, Robert Gold, the headmaster.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Gold,” Killian said, releasing the man’s hand and trying not to shake some feeling back into it. Mr. Gold’s eyes were a bit disconcerting, and that, combined with the tingle up his arm when they shook hands, left Killian feeling very ill at ease in the man’s presence.

“Excuse me,” a small voice said behind Mr. Gold. The three of them looked down to see a small brown haired boy that Killian recognized as Henry from Any Given Sundae the other night.

“Hi, Henry,” he said before his eyes caught the gaze of the young woman behind him. A huge grin split his face.

She wore sunglasses, but there was no doubt it was the same girl who accompanied Henry and the three men last week when he was working.

Henry looked up at him and smiled, his hand lifting in a shy wave.

“Henry Mills?” Belle asked. Henry nodded. “I’m so happy to meet you,” she said, a huge welcoming smile on her face. “I’m Miss Jones, your teacher. I see you’ve already met my younger brother, Killian.”

Henry nodded vigorously. “Yes, ma’am. Emma and I got ice cream last week, and Killian helped us.”

Killian found it curious that Henry didn’t mention the three men he’d been with.

“Emma?” he asked, holding his hand out for her to shake. “I’m Killian. Killian Jones,” he said with a little bow. “I’m Henry’s teacher’s younger brother.” He felt a bit silly basically repeating everything Belle and Mr. Gold had just said, that he was sure she heard, but he was knocked off-kilter just enough at her presence that he couldn’t think of anything else to say. She smiled and shook his hand, but didn’t take her sunglasses off.

“It’s nice to meet you, Killian,” she said. She looked nervously at Mr. Gold and then at Belle. “I’m Emma Swan, Henry’s sister. We live in the same foster home,” Emma explained. “I’m a senior and will be bringing Henry and picking him up every day. If he has any issues, you can let me know.”

“Oh, I see,” Belle said with a nod. “It’s very nice to meet you, Emma. Come on in, Henry, and find your seat. You’ll see Emma after school.” She gestured toward the boy and laid her arm across his shoulders as he entered her room. “I’ll see you later, Killian.” She gave them all a brief nod and turned back toward her room.

Killian was delighted to discover that Emma was also a senior at the school. That meant they’d have all of the same classes. He turned to her with a wide smile on his face.

“I’m a senior, too,” he said a little shyly. “May I walk you to class?”

Emma smiled at him and nodded. As they walked away from Belle’s classroom, Killian couldn’t help thinking that their future in Storybrooke was going to be a good one.

Mr. Gold watched them walk away down the hall toward the high school classrooms. A hint of a smile curved the corner of his lips as he turned toward his office.

~*~*~

The first week of school flew by and before Killian knew it, it was Friday morning. He couldn’t wipe the grin off his face as he sat down next to Emma in their classroom.

“Did you get the Pre Cal homework done?” he asked.

She let out a huge yawn before speaking. “I did, but there was one I couldn’t get no matter how many times I went back.” She pulled out her notebook and opened it up to the homework due this morning. “This one,” she said, pointing.

Math was Killian’s favorite subject, so he looked at Emma’s paper and immediately saw where she’d gone wrong in her calculations. He pulled out his homework and let her compare.

“Ugh,” she groaned, once she figured it out. “I feel so stupid.”

“Don’t,” Killian encouraged her. “Sometimes we get so caught up in it, it’s impossible to see our mistakes without a second pair of eyes. Now that you know what you did wrong, you’ll do fine on the quiz.”

“I hope so,” she murmured. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Killian put his math homework away and got out his Anatomy and Physiology notebook. He cut his eyes toward Emma, a worried frown on his face. She looked just as tired this morning as she had all week. He obviously didn’t know her very well, but they’d struck up a quick friendship since Monday- sitting next to each other in class, exchanging phone numbers, and helping each other with homework. Judging from some of the time stamps on their texts, he knew she had trouble sleeping at night. And then when she’d invariably fall asleep in their morning classes, the academically challenging classes at that, he couldn’t help but worry about her. So far, it hadn’t seemed to hamper her, but Killian knew she couldn’t sleep through her morning classes and expect to graduate next spring.

Once their morning classes were over, and Emma looked a bit more awake, they headed down to the lunch room.

“So what are your plans this weekend?” Killian asked.

Emma shrugged as they sat down to eat. “Oh, the usual. Hang out at the boardwalk. Study for the history test Tuesday.” She looked him full in the face, something in the depths of her eyes that Killian couldn’t quite define. “There’s a beach party I’m going to tonight. Would you like to come?”

Killian’s brow furrowed. Her “usual” meant she’d be with those three guys who’d come into the store with her last week. He wasn’t sure he wanted to attend anything where those three were around.

Emma placed her hand on his arm. “I’d really like you to come,” she said, cutting her eyes to the side slightly.

Since his stint in rehab, Killian had no trouble reading people. It was a gift he had developed during his time there that enabled him to see more under the surface rather than taking situations and people at face value. That ability had served him very well in the last year. But the mixed signals he was getting from Emma were really throwing him off. Her words and actions told him she really wanted him to come with her, but her eyes and the tension in her body told another story. She seemed almost fearful, and given the vibes those men had thrown off last week, Killian could definitely see why. He couldn’t abide leaving Emma in a situation like that, not without trying to help her.

“Are those three guys you were with last week gonna be there?” he asked.

“It’s Neal’s party, the one who asked if you were new in town, so, yeah, they’ll all be there. And a few others too. There’ll be a bonfire on the beach, food, drinks, and music.” Her green eyes met his, and he was helpless to look away. He could get lost in them forever and he’d die happy.

“Sure,” he agreed. “I’ll be glad to come. What time?”

“Meet me at the ice cream shop as soon as the sun sets.”

“Alright, Emma.”

After that there was very little conversation as they hurriedly finished their lunch.

~*~*~

That evening, Killian stood outside Any Given Sundae waiting for Emma.

“Killian!” He heard his name and turned toward the sound, away from the beach. Henry belted down the boardwalk toward him, Emma walking at a more sedate pace behind the child. Killian was barely able to brace himself before Henry jumped in his arms.

“Henry!” he cried, surprised. “What are you doing here? How was your first week of school?”

“I’m coming too,” Henry said. Killian turned quizzical eyes on Emma as she approached. He wasn’t sure a beach party with teens and adults was a good place for Henry to be. “School was great!” he exclaimed. “Miss Jones is so nice. We have math and art and reading. We sing songs and have lots of fun.”

“I’m so glad you had a good week, Henry,” he told the boy. “Belle, I mean, Miss Jones, is having a great time as your teacher, too. She says you’re so smart, but should maybe be going to bed at night a little earlier so you’re not so tired in the morning,” he said, bopping Henry on the nose, making him giggle. Killian hated to think of such a small boy not having the kind of care he needed to make sure he was getting a good night's sleep every night. As Emma finally approached, Killian caught her eye and was reminded of her own sleeping habits.

Emma sighed as she ran her fingers through Henry’s brown hair. “He’s almost as bad as I am about sleeping,” she bemoaned. “I do make him turn out the lights at 11 though. He’s just a night owl, like me.”

Killian nodded. “Belle said he’s obviously very tired in the morning and has fallen asleep every day after lunch when she reads aloud to the class.”

“Yeah,” Emma agreed. “Then he’ll usually take about another hour or two nap when we get home from school.”

Emma started walking toward the beach, Killian still carrying Henry. He still wasn’t sure it was a good idea for the little boy to come to the party, but from the hints he’d gotten about their home life, he had a feeling that Emma was the only one who really cared for him and he couldn’t really blame her for wanting to bring him along. Maybe there’d be something there for him to enjoy, beach games or something like that. Killian felt good carrying Henry in his arms. As shy as he’d been that first time they met and then Monday too, it made Killian’s heart swell in his chest that he’d seemed to not only win Emma’s trust, but Henry’s as well.

The boardwalk was packed to the gills. As small as the town was, and especially now that school was in session, Killian was amazed at how all the town’s residents seemed to come out of the woodwork and descend on the entertainment venue. There was a movie theater, plenty of places to eat, an arcade, and a small amusement park with carnival rides at the end.

They descended the steps from the boardwalk to the beach and started heading north. After trekking along the beach for about ten minutes, they came to a good sized cottage. It was set back quite a ways from the water, but was just as far from the boardwalk, as well, giving it a sense of privacy from all the activity. It was an easy walk from the house to the boardwalk if the residents wanted to avail themselves of all the distractions offered there.

They entered the house to find it almost empty. There was a young man in the kitchen, raiding the refrigerator. He stood up when the door closed behind the three of them. He had olive skin and jet black hair and a nervousness about him that instantly put Killian on alert.

“Hi, Emma,” he said. “Who’s this?”

“This is Killian, Rufio,” she introduced. “He’s in my class at school and new in town, so I invited him tonight.”

“Nice to meet you, man,” Rufio said, lifting his chin in his direction.

“You, too,” Killian nodded. He put Henry down and watched him scamper away.

“Don’t worry about him,” Emma whispered to him. “He spends most of his time in the gameroom where the PS5 is.”

“Gotcha.” Emma led him into the kitchen where there was an assortment of food on the counter. They both filled their plates and then went out the back of the house to where the bonfire on the beach had just been lit. There were about twenty folks out there, dancing to the music or just sitting on the large logs that served as chairs for the gathering.

“There you are, Ems.” The man who’d done all the talking when the group came into the ice cream shop last week before school started approached them. “Who’s this?” He turned his dark eyes on Killian, and he felt a shiver of unease work its way down his spine. It was very similar to the feeling the group left him with the other night, and there wasn’t a doubt in Killian’s mind that this guy knew very well who he was. He glanced at Emma, who looked at the man with a puzzled expression on her face.

“Killian Jones,” he introduced himself, swallowing his nerves and holding his hand out in front of him. “I’m in Emma’s class at school.”

“Ah, yes, Any Given Sundae, right?” he asked, shaking his hand. Killian nodded. “Glad you could come tonight,” he said, the look in his eyes belying his words. There was a challenge in them, a distaste and arrogance that made Killian’s temper bristle. The man put his arm around Emma’s shoulders, and he could almost see her fold in on herself- her head bowed slightly, shoulders hunched, eyes darting around restlessly, not landing on anything for more than a moment.

The man motioned to a couple of others near the fire that Killian couldn’t see well in the dark. A moment later, the other two from the ice cream shop joined them.

“I’m Neal, this is Peter, and this is Felix,” Neal finally introduced himself and his companions. When he turned back to Killian, any animosity there’d been earlier was completely gone. It was almost like he was putting on a show for someone. Peter and Felix’s smiles were similar. “We live here in the house, and you’re welcome to come hang out or visit anytime.”

Killian’s eyes darted to Emma, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze, just ratcheting up the tension inside him that much more. If Neal and the other men were going to put on a show, two could play at that game, Killian decided, plastering a smile on his own face.

“Thanks, man. I might take you up on that.” There was no way in hell he was going to leave Emma, or Henry either, behind with these men. She obviously felt trapped by Neal for some reason, and as long as she remained a part of this group, then Killian would too, doing what he could to protect her and help her escape.

As the night wore on, Killian really did have a good time. He was introduced to too many people to keep track of, most of them older, but Rufio, whom he’d met earlier, and a couple of others were a little younger than himself and Emma. The food was good and he did get to spend a little one-on-one time with Emma when Neal, Peter and Felix disappeared for a while.

As the party and the bonfire were winding down, the only people left were himself, Emma, the hosts, and Henry, who’d come outside a little while earlier. He sat on the sand, his head laying in Emma’s lap as she stroked his hair soothingly.

“I need to be getting Henry home,” Emma said quietly. “He needs his sleep.”

Neal laughed derisively. “He’s fine, Ems. Let’s have one more drink,” he proposed, holding up an oddly shaped bottle. “A welcome to Storybrooke drink for Killian.” The cunning look he shot around the group was mirrored by the other two men and set Killian’s teeth on edge.

“Oh, that’s not necessary,” Killian protested. “I don’t drink. I’ve had a problem with it in the past. Before I moved here,” he explained.

Felix snorted. “Awwww, can someone not hold their liquor?” he taunted.

Neal shot a warning glance at Felix before looking at Killian. “Ignore him. It’s not alcohol,” he assured him. That cunning look passed between the men again. “It’s our own special brew. You have my word, you can’t get drunk on it.”

He turned to Emma, who sat in between him and Neal. He knew Neal was telling the truth, but there was definitely more to the situation than met the eye and he wanted to try and see what Emma thought about it.

Neal spoke again. “Emma had some earlier this summer. It’s a bit of an initiation into the group. It will make you one of us.” Neal’s dark eyes almost glowed as he handed Killian the bottle. He reached out and took it in his hand, unable to look away from Neal’s gaze.

He barely heard Emma’s whispered words. “You don’t have to. It’s blood.”

Killian snorted, quite certain he’d misheard her. “Yeah, right.” He lifted the bottle to his lips and took a long swig, his surroundings starting to spin. He tipped his head back- Emma, his other companions, and the beach all disappearing- and felt himself falling, falling, falling, until he landed on his bed.

It felt like only moments later that Killian opened his eyes. The light streaming in his room was that of late afternoon. Killian blinked and shielded his eyes from the bright, direct sunlight. He could barely see anything. His head was spinning and pounding like he hadn’t felt since he dried up in rehab over a year ago. He was still dressed in his clothes from the night before and his mouth had a metallic taste in it that was making his stomach protest mightily. He sat up slowly, mindful of his rolling stomach. Whatever it was he’d drunk the night before at the bonfire, had done quite a number on his system. He put his feet on the floor and his head in his hands. The darkness there was a profound relief, and the dizziness and pounding headache were suddenly gone. The nausea was even greatly diminished. He buried his eyes in the corner of one elbow as he sought the pull string that would close the blinds covering his window with his other hand. As soon as he found it, he closed them and looked up. It was dark enough in the room that the pounding in his head was still kept at bay.

He rose from the bed and moved to the door of his room, cracking it open. The hallway was dark, and he could hear someone in the kitchen, but that was all. He shut the door again and gathered some clean clothes. He had work this evening, and he hoped a hot shower and maybe some scrambled eggs would make him feel well enough to be able to go.

About thirty minutes later, Killian came out of his bedroom ready for work. Belle was in the kitchen, getting the ingredients together for supper. She jumped slightly when Killian entered.

“There you are!” she exclaimed. “Take those sunglasses off, Killian,” she admonished him lightly. “You’re in the house. You don’t need them.”

“I’ve got a terrible headache, Belle,” Killian said, grabbing her attention. “Would you mind just scrambling me some eggs? I’ve got to leave for work in a few minutes.”

Her brow furrowed in concern. “Are you sure you’re up to working tonight, Killian?” she asked, getting the eggs out. “You were out so late last night and you’ve slept all day and now you have this headache.” She moved toward him and placed her hand against his forehead. “You don’t feel warm, though. You didn’t do anything last night you shouldn’t have, did you?”

He knew exactly where her thoughts had gone and he couldn’t really blame her, not with how he was feeling. “I’m not sick,” he assured her. “I was at a beach party last night with Emma and no, I didn’t drink any alcohol and there weren’t any drugs around, that I know of. I promise. I just need something to eat to settle my stomach and take the edge off of the headache. I’m fine to work.”

“If you’re sure,” she said, her voice skeptical in the extreme. “But you come straight home after work and get a good night’s sleep tonight.”

“I will, Belle. Thank you.”

As soon as she set the eggs before him, he dug in. They really did make him feel better. His headache was abated and the nausea was gone.

“Thanks, Belle,” he said, rising and kissing her on the cheek. “That was exactly what I needed. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Have a good shift, Killian.”

~*~*~

Killian sat down next to Emma on Monday and immediately put his head down in his arms on the desk.

“You look like I feel,” she said, a wan smile on her face.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” he mumbled into his arms. “I’ve hardly slept this weekend. Since the party Friday night, I slept almost all day Saturday, worked Saturday night, didn’t fall asleep until sometime after four, slept until about ten, then couldn’t sleep last night.” He groaned. “How am I supposed to stay awake and concentrate all day?”

Emma put her hand on his arm in sympathy. “I know how you feel,” she commiserated.

“Belle almost made me stay home today, but with the history test tomorrow and Pre Cal test Wednesday, I couldn’t afford to miss.” He raised his head and looked at her. “We’re gonna have to keep each other awake today,” he told her, smiling tiredly.

“Deal,” she said.

That afternoon, they left school together, Henry in between them holding both their hands. Killian shut his eyes as they emerged into the light.

“Man, I forgot how bright that sun is outside the building,” he bemoaned, reaching into his shirt pocket for his sunglasses. Once he got them on, he could open his eyes fully. Turning to Emma, he saw she had hers on as well. Henry squinted against the sunlight.

“You need sunglasses, too, huh, Henry?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” he said.

As they approached their cars in the parking lot, Killian looked at Emma. “Would you guys like to come to my house to study?” he asked shyly, scratching behind his ear in nervousness.

Neal had made it quite obvious at the party that he and Emma were together, even if she didn’t seem to be as enamored of him as he was possessive of her. Killian couldn’t deny how he felt about Emma, but he didn’t want to be seen by anyone as trying to steal her away from Neal. As friendly as he’d been at the party, Killian didn’t trust Neal as far as he could throw him and didn’t want to ruffle any feathers until either he was certain Emma and Henry were safe, or he could get them away from Neal and the others completely.

“We could study for the history and Pre Cal tests while Henry takes a nap,” he continued.

Emma looked down at Henry, catching him in the middle of a huge yawn. “What do you think, Henry?” she asked. “Want to go over to Killian’s?”

The poor kid was obviously exhausted, but he grinned anyway, nodding his assent.

“You can follow me,” Killian said. “It’s not far.”

Emma smirked as she opened the door to her yellow bug for Henry to climb in the back. “It’s Storybrooke, Killian. Nothing is far.”

Killian huffed out a chuckle and grinned. “Point taken.”

The rest of the week continued much the same way. Killian was unable to fall asleep until the wee hours of the morning and spent the morning hours at school struggling to stay awake and concentrate, exactly the way Emma did. He did everything he could to keep his difficulties away from Belle and Liam, but Belle was very observant and by Friday afternoon, Killian knew that she suspected something was up with him.

He lay in his bed with the blinds closed feigning sleep when he heard Belle come in the front door. It was only a few moments later that she knocked on his door and cracked it open.

“Killian,” she called softly. “I know you’re not asleep,” she continued after a brief pause. “You snore, loudly, when you’re really asleep.” He could hear the smirk in her tone of voice, so he turned over and faced the door.

“Excuse you,” he groused. “I do not snore.”

“You do,” Belle insisted, coming into the room and sitting on the end of the bed. She looked at him, her eyes full of concern, and Killian cut his eyes away from her. “What’s going on, Killian?” she asked. “Archie stopped me after school today and told me that you’ve been much less attentive in your classes this week than you were last week. That you didn’t participate as much and looked to be having trouble staying awake.”

Killian sat up on his bed and rubbed his eyes. “I don’t know, Belle. All last weekend and this week, I haven’t been able to sleep at night. No matter how tired I am, or what time I go to bed, I toss and turn until almost dawn. And then the alarm goes off at seven.”

“You can’t keep that up, Killian,” she said. “Maybe if you took a sleeping aid.”

“I don’t want to do that unless I absolutely have to,” he said. “I’m off work this weekend, so I don’t have to worry about being up early until Monday. Let me try to get caught up on sleep this weekend- even if I’m sleeping during the day- and see how next week goes. We don’t have any tests until Thursday, so if I need to take a sleeping aid Wednesday night, I will.”

Belle pressed her lips into a thin line, but nodded her acquiescence and rose to leave. “What are you doing tonight?” she asked from the door.

“I was going to take a short nap then meet Emma and Henry at the boardwalk in a few hours. We were going to take him to the amusement park.”

“Ok,” she said. “Robert asked me out…”

Killian sat up abruptly. “The headmaster?” he interrupted.

Belle nodded. “He’s taking me to dinner.”

Killian’s brows furrowed. Belle was a grown woman, but Gold had to be nearly twice her age, and he couldn’t help a small shudder of distaste at the much older man pursuing his sister.

“You like him then?” he asked.

“He’s handsome,” she began, “and he’s been very kind to me. Yes, I do like him.”

Killian swallowed his objection. “Ok. As long as you do. But if he hurts you, I don’t care who he is, he’ll have to answer to me.”

Belle smiled indulgently and came back over to his bed. She leaned down and hugged him tightly.

“Thanks, Killian. I’m sure that knowledge will keep him in line.” She released him and moved back toward the door. “Have fun tonight. I’ll see you later.” With those words, she left him to sleep for a little while.

Later that night, Killian, Emma, and Henry arrived at the amusement park. He did his best to ignore the plethora of MISSING posters covering every available surface along the boardwalk, including one featuring the face of the boy he’d met last weekend at the beach party, Rufio. How a town as small as Storybrooke could have this many missing people was a complete mystery to him. It was very unsettling, but he figured as long as they stayed together and in the well-lit areas of the boardwalk and amusement park, they wouldn’t have to worry.

It was the first time Killian had been there, and he couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he and Emma followed Henry who ran from ride to ride, so excited to be there. They ate dinner from a Mexican food truck near the entrance and then indulged in all the carnival food offered inside the park.

It really was a tiny amusement park with only ten rides offered. Henry loved them all, and they all rode them multiple times. Henry sat between them on the ferris wheel, but Killian was able to extend his arm along the back of the seat they rode in, lightly touching Emma’s shoulders. He brushed his fingers through her golden hair, and she turned to him with a soft smile on her face at the action. Killian’s heart rate picked up a little bit and he smiled in return.

After a couple of hours amusing themselves with the rides and games offered at the park, they decided to leave and see what else there was to do. They walked along sharing a Rocky Road cone when Neal, Felix, and Peter suddenly appeared, slinking out of the darkness underneath the boardwalk.

“There you are, babe,” Neal said, sidling up to her and putting his arm around her shoulders.

Just like last Friday, Emma seemed to shrink in on herself at the action. Henry took Killian’s hand, and he looked down, surprised. The discomfort on the boy’s face was real, so Killian squeezed his hand gently in reassurance. The child looked up, his brown eyes meeting his own, and Killian caught his breath at the absolute trust he saw in the boy’s gaze. Killian smiled, recommitting himself to being a part of this group until he could get Emma and Henry out of it.

“Come on,” Neal urged. “I want to show you guys something.”

They followed Neal to the other end of the boardwalk until they came to a fancy restaurant. Killian looked in the front window and was shocked to see Belle and Mr. Gold on their date. He looked ahead at Neal, who’d let Emma go, as he opened the door. Emma wasted no time falling back to join him and Henry at the back of the group.

“What are we doing here?” Killian asked, coming to a stop before entering. “Emma, Henry, and I have already eaten, so why don’t we just catch up with you later?”

Neal exchanged smirks with Peter and Felix before directing his attention to Killian. “Oh, we’re not here to eat. We just need to pay an old friend a visit.”

His emphasis on the word ‘friend’ told Killian something was up, and he might be well served to see what it was. He moved toward where Neal still stood, holding the door open for them.

Once inside, Neal moved to the front of the group and began to lead the way through the restaurant. Killian’s eyes immediately moved to Belle and her date, and it only took a moment for him to realize that was exactly where they were heading.

As Neal approached, Mr. Gold turned and saw them. He stood immediately and moved closer to Belle on the other side of the table, partially shielding her from view.

“I thought I told you to leave me alone.” Killian was at the back of the group, but he could clearly hear Gold growl the words at Neal.

“Oh, we’re not here for you, old man,” he said, his hand held out to Belle. She hesitated before placing her hand in his, but when she finally did, he lifted it to his lips. Killian couldn’t actually see Neal’s face as he spoke, but he knew exactly the look his countenance sported from the tone of his voice. A wide smile. Lifeless eyes. Soulless. Depraved. It made Killian want to throw up. He clenched his fists, almost shaking in his desire to forcefully get Neal away from his sister. But he wasn’t going to make a scene while she was on her date.

“Just wanted to share a little advice with the lady.” He lowered her hand and tilted his head toward Gold. “You want to watch out for that one. Things are not always what they seem.”

Neal released Belle’s hand and turned around to leave. Before he could turn and follow, Gold caught Killian’s eyes.

“This isn’t the kind of group you want to be hanging around, Mr. Jones,” he advised. “Miss Swan and Henry either. They can only lead you down the wrong path.” Belle turned alarmed eyes on Killian before they landed on Henry. But she didn’t speak. Killian wrapped his arm protectively around Henry’s chest and drew him closer as they started to turn away from the table, trying to assure Belle with his eyes that he’d keep Henry safe.

Once they were outside the restaurant again, Neal, Peter, and Felix were obviously in high spirits, laughing and high-fiving one another. Killian really didn’t see why they were so elated, so he just hung back with Emma and Henry. A few moments later, the three men turned their attention to them.

“Ok,” Neal said, clapping his hands together. “I think it’s time for Killian to fully join our crew. Whadda ya say, boys?” Felix and Peter loudly agreed, but Emma looked absolutely panicked and brought Henry in front of her, almost as a shield.

“I have to get Henry home,” Emma insisted. She turned to Killian and placed a hand on his arm. Pure, unadulterated fear swirled in her eyes. Whatever was happening here, Emma didn’t want to be involved, and she didn’t want him involved, either.

“Yeah, whatever, Ems,” Neal said before grabbing her around the waist and hauling her to him. Killian turned away as Neal kissed her, focussing his attention on Henry.

“I’ll see you later, Henry. Ok?” he asked, kneeling down in front of the boy. Henry nodded and took Emma’s hand when she made her way to them. She looked down at Henry, not meeting Killian’s eyes.

Her whisper just reached his ears as he turned toward the other three men. “I’m sorry. Be safe. Please.” He turned his head to answer her, but she was already walking away with Henry further down the boardwalk. He turned back to the others, their eyes almost glowing under the lights.

Felix moved toward him and draped his arm over Killian’s shoulders.

“Come on, man,” he said. “We’re gonna show you a really good time.” Peter got on the other side of him, and they all started walking towards the stairs down to the beach. Once they reached the sand, they started running toward the cottage in the distance, whooping and hollering, their arms outstretched. Running on the sand was hard, and Killian was having a difficult time keeping up when suddenly all three of them disappeared. Killian put on a burst of speed to catch up with them, when he was grabbed and pulled behind the rocks surrounding a secluded inlet of the ocean.

It all happened too fast for Killian to even cry out, but when he looked at the others, Neal slammed his hand over his mouth before what he was seeing could even be translated by his brain. All three men had changed. They were still recognizable, but their smiles were now dominated by long and wickedly sharp fangs, and their eyes had become translucent, their irises now a faded gold nearly matching the whites of their eyes and almost eclipsing their tiny pupils, making them look like some sort of monster. But that was exactly what they were. Three vampires looked at him hungrily, and Killian was completely helpless before them.

He was pulled along by Felix to the other side of the inlet to see a small group of six or seven people splashing around in the water. The three vampires descended upon their unsuspecting prey and made short work of every single person there. Their screams were short lived- drowned out by the sound of the ocean, and then abruptly cut off as the monsters began to feast.

He recognized the metallic smell on the air from the wholesale slaughter happening just a few feet away as the same taste in his mouth when he woke last Saturday after drinking whatever Neal had given him. Emma had been telling him the truth. It was blood he had been given that night. Killian thrust his hand into his mouth to smother his own screams that begged for release, only to taste his own blood from where his fangs pierced the skin of his hand. Pulling his hand from his mouth, he stared, horrified, at the blood dripping down his arm.

It seemed only moments later that the three of them stood before him once again, completely covered with the blood and gore of their victims. Killian looked to where they had all been, to see nothing but the calm water of the inlet, no trace of the massacre that had just occurred.

“You are one of us now, Killian,” Neal said, licking his lips. “And you must feed. The sooner you make your first kill, the better. For the longer you wait, the stronger the bloodlust will become, until you have no control over it at all. And then,” he shrugged, a slight smile lifting the corner of his lips, “who knows what might happen?”

Killian knew to what, or rather to whom, Neal was referring. If he didn’t make his first kill soon, he’d lose control and hurt someone he loved- Emma, Belle, Henry, or Liam. A wave of nausea came over him, and he turned away vomiting up everything he’d consumed earlier. As soon as he was finished, he ran, ran, ran, back to the boardwalk, through the throngs of people until he made it to his car. He tore out of the parking lot and raced home, locking himself in his bedroom.

He curled up in the middle of his bed, sobbing uncontrollably, waiting for sleep to claim him, knowing it was an impossible hope.

~*~*~

Thank you for reading and reblogging!! I'd love to hear what you think!! The final chapter will be up on Friday!

#cssns23 #into the light #krystal writes #art by motherkatereloyshipper

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snowbellewells · 7 months

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"Carolina Moon" update {Chapter Two}

Hello Friends! Here we are at last with the next chapter of my @cssns23 fic!! I sincerely never meant to keep everyone waiting so long; real life got really hectic there for a bit, and I had to focus on the job that pays the bills in the few hours that were left over! Anyway, I hope that you'll forgive me and enjoy this update. If it's any sort of consolation, it nearly doubles the length of the story so far...

Also, this story is now moving into M-rated territory. After talking with a few fandom friends and readers, this seems like the way to go to be on the safe side and let everyone know what they're reading upfront. I don't know that I find my love scenes half as spicy as others I've read, but there is one for sure in this chapter, and it will not be the last before all is said and done. I hope that doesn't turn anyone away from reading, but I would rather someone know before starting than be bothered by it after the fact.

**As always, thank you SO MUCH to @eastwesthomeisbest for this beautiful cover art to go along with the story, and to @xarandomdreamx for her thoughtful beta reading comments, suggestions, and encouragement.**

Can be read from the beginning HERE on Tumblr or HERE on AO3

Summary: Emma Swan has returned to the town she grew up in, and the past that has haunted her no matter where she has run. She seeks answers and peace at last. Despite the years that have passed, some things haven't changed very much in Storybrooke, South Carolina, and one of those things is Killian Jones. He never forgot the gangly girl with the world on her shoulders and pain in her eyes, but will he finally be able to slip past her defenses and help her find the answers she seeks?

Chapter Two: Secrets Beneath the Surface

By the time Killian got back home to the family home that afternoon, he could already hear their housekeeper Johanna scolding Ruby from the kitchen, as soon as he crossed the threshold. “Well, what else was you expectin’ Miss Sassy Britches, sashayin’ all over town the way you do? Didja think that would make you a lot of friends ‘mongst the other young ladies?”

Killian kicked off his shoes in the mud room, well aware that the older woman who had practically raised he and Ruby - more so than either of their parents had done - would turn on him next if he tracked up her clean floors. Making his way quietly along the well-worn path to the kitchen at the back of the house, he could practically hear his sister huff and sputter indignantly at Johanna’s rebuke and picture all too well the way she’d roll her eyes and pout, before grumpily going to Johanna’s side and taking up whatever chore the woman had no doubt bid her to help with before their little spat had begun.

It was a rhythm as old as Killian could remember, since almost the first afternoon Johanna Bishop had appeared in their kitchen - cooking, cleaning, puttering and tending to all the essential but seemingly unworthy, household chores his mother simply couldn’t be bothered with. If - as the Jones children had grown - those chores also came to include bandaging scraped knees, soothing hurt feelings, listening to whispered wishes, and cuddling and correcting where needed, well, that had fallen naturally under her purview as well. Even more so when the three children had become just two.

Stopping in the open doorway, Killian leaned against the jamb for a moment, trying to keep his chuckling to himself as he watched his tall, leggy sibling with brilliant red streaks running through her dark hair frowning in deep concentration next to the short, rather round Johanna, trying diligently to match the rosy-cheeked, twinkling-eyed matron’s deft and graceful speed at coring and slicing apples, and failing miserably. He must have made some involuntary noise, however, because both women looked up at him in surprise.

Johanna’s bright eyes smiled at him as her cheeks crinkled with the welcoming grin he could always look forward to, no matter how long he had been gone, whenever he returned. Ruby stuck her tongue out at him when he smirked at her efforts, arching an eyebrow as if to question what in the world she was trying to do.

“Oh? Think you can do better, do you?” she challenged, flipping a discarded peel his way, before Johanna hushed her, not about to have food flying on her watch, just before Mrs. Jones’ formal dinner was expected in the dining room; as formally as it had been expected every night for years.

They all quieted for a moment at that remembrance, none of them necessarily wanting to summon the lady of the house any sooner than necessary - though that feeling went unspoken. Johanna’s nimble fingers flew over her task, the knife flashing with ease, and Killian noticed that Ruby’s movements gained confidence as well the longer she worked at it.

Giving a bit of a playful bow in flirtatious chivalry, he greeted them with, “How can I help, Miss Johanna?” and his most charming grin.

“Oh Sugar,” she demurred, “you don’t need to do nothin’ but pull up a chair and tell me ‘bout your day. Things are almost ready in here.”

Pausing to put a hand on her hip, Ruby mock glared at him, before turning to the older woman in challenge. “And why are you always nagging me, and then turning around and acting just sweet as sugar to Killian? I suppose he’s your favorite now, too?”

Ruby’s question was largely put-on sass, that melted into an unconvinced, “Uh huh, sure,” when Johanna blithely assured her that “Sweetness is as sweetness does.” All the same, Killian could see the doubt underneath her churlishness, and the longing in his sister’s expression, not wanting this one person she depended on, no matter how much they snipe at each other, to dismiss her as everyone else did. Honestly, Killian thought to himself with a guilty pang, he had written her off and disregarded her many times himself over the years. He hadn’t done it to be cruel, more out of his own survival instincts and desire to avoid conflict. Where he had withdrawn into his own thoughts, focused on achieving goals, meeting the standards set for him, making up for what had been lost, even if he ran himself ragged in the attempt, Ruby had instead completely cut herself free from all boundaries and expectations, going wild, or at least appearing so to the untrained eye. The moment she had gotten the chance, she’d fled Storybrooke on the back of her boyfriend’s Harley - eloping and not returning to Storybrooke until she had seen her fill of everywhere else. She played at nonchalance - as if nothing bothered her or could even penetrate the perfectly painted-on armor their mother had taught her to apply so well long ago.

She hadn’t really been back home that long, but Killian found himself wanting to get to know Ruby all over again, to bridge the gap that had grown between them over the years while they each attempted to weather the hurt and neglect in their own ways. The simplest method for doing that seemed to be in joining the easy banter between Ruby and Johanna, so he waggled both eyebrows at her, both in playful challenge and as an annoyance to his ‘little’ sister, then he circled the island easily to pull Johanna into a side-hug and plant a smacking kiss on the older woman’s cheek before nettling Ruby with, “Hear that? I’m sweetness itself. Maybe you should try a little sweetness sometimes and see how far it gets you.”

Johanna’s softly weathered cheeks crinkled with well-worn laugh lines, even as she rolled her eyes and shooed him away - but not before he snatched a sugar and cinnamon-dusted slice of apple from the pie crust she was crimping, causing Ruby’s eyes to narrow at him further in playful indignation. “You just hush now with all that, Killian Jones,” their housekeeper scolded. “Your sister has more than enough sweetness to share when she takes the notion - you just don’t give her any more reasons to be sour.” And though the woman who had been with their family for as long as Killian could remember, imbuing their kitchen with a warmth and comfort that the rest of the pristine, stately old home notably lacked, was warning him with her words, she also winked at him slyly - letting him know that she was glad he’d joined their fun, and that she was still nettling Ruby a bit herself.

Shaking out her mane of dark hair with a dramatic flounce, and planting her red-lacquer nailed hands on her hips, Ruby fixed them both with a fiery look. “Just the two of you know, plenty of people find me a delight to be around. Maybe I should take myself off somewhere I’m appreciated.” Turning on her heel with all the precision and purpose of a high fashion runway model rather than the demure Southern debutante their mother had hoped for, she stalked toward the doorway which led from the kitchen back into the hall, only to turn around before she left with a retort on her tongue when Johanna called after her.

“You tell that nice Dr. Hunter hello for me, Ruby Jean. You should bring him round here for a nice, home cooked meal sometime. That sweet young man needs a little meat on his bones.”

“But - I didn’t - why do you think- ?” Ruby spluttered indignantly, never finishing any of the attempted comebacks and finally just snapping her mouth closed and shaking her head with vigorous agitation.

Killian would have been laughing at her plight if he hadn’t been so wide-eyed and flummoxed himself by their housekeeper’s words. Oh, he’d known alright that his best friend since grade school had been nursing a painfully awkward silent crush on his remaining sibling, pretty much since puberty. What he’d never realized or noticed as Ruby had chewed up and spit out a first husband and teased and strung along countless other men since, was that maybe she was aware of Graham’s feelings - possibly even returned them.

“And you,” she turned from squinting at Johanna as if sizing her up to point an accusing finger at Killian, “don’t just think you can come in here and take over the one room in this place where I can actually breathe, just because you’re the family’s perfect prince and entitled to whatever you want.”

Killian jerked back at the sharp edge to her voice until he looked for a moment at the tensed pain of her features behind the dangerously flashing brown eyes. She was hurting - aching, in fact - at the idea that her one ally in her own home might also turn to the heir, her big brother, as well.

He had always known she snapped and hissed partly out of pain; he felt it too. They all did. He missed Rose awfully - more than he would have ever imagined - but to have shared the womb with her? To have been joined with her from birth and then suddenly find her gone? He couldn’t imagine that. And maybe he hadn’t really wanted to see just how much turmoil hid beneath his sister’s vexing habit of picking fights and pretending he drove her crazy, or how much loneliness was painted over with her vivacious bombshell facade. At any rate, he didn’t pick an angle and fight back at her as he normally would have, instead he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, giving a slight dip of the chin and a tentative smile. “Aye, Ru… Well do I know you and Johanna are the undisputed queens of this domain. I only wanted to join you for a moment.”

She huffed as if not knowing quite what to make of his earnest admission, then with a shrug of her shoulders and one more toss of her head, she merely replied, “Whatever you say,” and was gone. But he hadn’t missed that small half smile tilting up one corner of her mouth, or the spark of hope in her eyes. Maybe they weren’t as far removed from each other as he had feared.

Johanna turned and tilted her head up to look at him knowingly before patting him on the cheek and affirming, “You’re a good boy, Killian. You always have been. And you’ve grown into a fine man. Just don’t you give up on that sassy sister of yours, you hear? She needs us more than she’d like to own. Much like Miss Emma, I’ll wager.”

Killian smiled at the older woman warmly before nodding in agreement and scoffing lightly at her uncanny prediction, knowing she had him there and he couldn’t even argue. “You’ve always seen a lot more than we realize, haven’t you?”

She was the one to wink knowingly at him this time. “You’d better believe it,” she retorted. “That’s part of my charm.”

Chuckling and shaking his head, Killian wasn’t about to challenge her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Not half an hour later, at Hunter Veterinary Clinic on the outskirts of town, Graham was closing up for the evening when he heard the bell on the door jangle, signaling someone’s arrival. He was puttering around in the back, making sure that the surgery was cleaned and sterilized for the following morning, and that the mother golden retriever and her unexpected litter of mixed breed pups he’d delivered in a tense, last minute c-section that afternoon were settled in the kennel area for the night, and he had been certain they (he and the dogs) were the only ones still there. He knew that Grace, his summer assistant while she was home from college, was normally careful to be sure the sign was off and the door closed and locked when she left, but maybe she’d forgotten something.

“I’m in back!” he called out distractedly, still running over his mental checklist of closing chores to accomplish as he awaited an answer. “But we’re closed for the evening. Is this an emergenc– “

The door from the waiting room and lobby swung open while he was still speaking, only to reveal a vision that made him choke on the end of his words and nearly swallow his own tongue as well. Graham knew he had flushed all over almost instantaneously at the sight before him, a sweat that was part embarrassment and part lustful attraction breaking out across his skin. His eyes were wide as he shook his head in stunned disbelief, drinking in the temptation of Ruby Jones posing seductively where she leaned against the doorframe and watched him knowingly.

When several silent moments had ticked by, the heat and tension in the room between them only climbing higher, Ruby finally quirked a dark, artfully sculpted brow and smirked at him, those full red lips glistening in a lure so effective Graham could think of nothing but grabbing her, pulling her close, and capturing them with his own until his need was sated. And she knew it too - she always had. Pushing off from the wall and slinking toward him purposefully on blood red kitten heels, she began to unknot the belt of the trench coat cinched at her waist as she fairly purred her response. “Well, you see, Doctor Hunter, it is an emergency. I’m burning up with fever - one only you can break.”

By then, she stood directly in front of him, where he had backed up against the stainless steel surgical table and was clenching and releasing his hands into tight fists, straining mightily to keep himself from grabbing her and clutching much too tightly. Ruby Jones was nothing if not untamed; a wild bird that ventured close, playfully allowing the observer to think he could hold her. But he knew she would flit off and leave him behind again if he made the wrong move. Instead, Graham watched her intently, muscle working in his jaw as her graceful fingers danced across his chest and shoulders, tracing over muscle and skin, inflaming him with her touch as she went. Tilting her head to one side, Ruby shamelessly licked her lip before grinning broadly. “What’s the matter, Hunter? Cat got your tongue?” She snorted at her own little joke. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

Bringing her hands to the lapels of the coat she wore, now loosened and unbelted, Ruby parted the fabric on either side and allowed the garment to fall to the floor at their feet. Pleased amusement flooded her veins at Graham’s bulging eyes and gaping mouth. Completely bare beneath the thin jacket, she’d felt a thrill running through her since leaving the house in search of him, and the power sizzling along her nerve endings, where she usually felt as though she were careening out of control, was genuinely intoxicating.

Poor Graham couldn’t seem to move and managed only to hoarsely croak out, “Ruby, w-what are you…? Someone could… could walk in here and see… This is a place of business! You can’t just…” He swallowed hard, and her eyes tracked the reflexive movement of his Adam’s apple with ravenous intent.

“Are you sure about that, Doc?” she teased seductively, clicking the ‘c’ with her tongue exaggeratedly, despite his eyes already being glued to her lips - and every other part of her on display before him. Voice low and throaty, cajoling him to take what he very clearly wanted - what she wanted too - she added, “I’m pretty sure I can actually. I’m standing right here waiting. What are you going to do about it?”

His handsome face reflected his inner conflict for several long moments, and Ruby fought not to hold her breath in worried anticipation. She didn’t care that much if he accepted her offer, she tried to tell herself, but deep down she was well aware of how much of a lie that was. Brow furrowed, Graham struggled to resist her manfully, but it was a lost battle even before he began. He had never been able to deny her; they both knew it, and today would not be any different. At last, with a growl of mingled frustration and lust, he lurched forward, his dexterous, long-fingered hands gripped her hips and pulled them into his own roughly before practically devouring her mouth with an almost maddened groan of arousal.

Sinking into his clutches, Ruby thrilled at his loss of control, all synapses firing and the blood boiling in her arteries as he finally gave her exactly what she wanted. Clinging to his bicep to stay upright as her knees went weak, Ruby plunged her other hand into his hair, mussing the honey-coloured curls he’d never outgrown between her fingers and pulling them tightly in response to his ardent desire and how he was further igniting her own.

Desperate by then, Graham was long past caring who might have seen her walk in past closing, what small town rumors might get started, whether or not Ruby was simply using him again to have a little fun and forget the past that nipped at her heels, and how he knew it would chip away another small piece of his soul when they finished and she wouldn’t stay in his arms. Whirling to push her back against the exam table in the center of the room, earning him an enthusiastic moan from deep in Ruby’s throat, even muffled by his own lips over hers. Sweeping a hand over the cool, hard surface with reckless abandon, Graham cleared it to easily lift her onto the tabletop and soon had her spread out on it, frantically working to strip out of his lab coat and remove his shirt, even as her grasping hands fumbled for the button and zipper of of his pants to free him to her touch.

Writhing against him, Ruby grinned up at him wolfishly, her cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling, every bit the goddess he’d never been able to deny a thing: the dessert from his sack lunch, the use of his first car, and every inch of his body and corner of his heart. She wrapped her long legs around his trim hips, demandingly pulling him closer still, before he thrust forward and finally sunk into her willing body, welcomed home once more.

Leaning over her as he moved, Graham captured her nipple between his teeth, his scruff abrading the sensitive skin around it as he did and stealing her breath when he bit down just at the edge of too much. He captured both her hands, twining their fingers together and pressing them to the steel surface on either side of her head. Setting the rhythm they both craved, feeling the rightness of what he had missed echoing through his body as they moved together, Graham forced himself to take the moment he had; enjoy it, love her enough so that she would feel it, despite refusing to see what they could have always, and not let himself think of what came after.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Killian had just left the kitchen, still contemplating his relationship with his sister and the things Johanna had told him, when he was brought up short by the regal, silent appearance of his mother, Cora Jones, the once-belle of Storybrooke, in the hall nearby, studying him with an icy assessment which made him feel distinctly like she had heard all they had said and could read his mind beside. Forcing himself not to startle or recoil physically like some teenager caught sneaking out past curfew (he had actually never been caught at that in his youth, though by the time he’d had a license and places to run, the dangers parents fear for their children at night had long since struck and the damage been done) Killian gave his mother a nod of respectful deference, smiling at her carefully and waited, knowing there must be something she intended to say.

Cora’s bearing was still poised and correct, standing straight enough to appear taller than her actual height, her chin tilted rather haughtily. Even in the comfort of her own home, before no one but her eldest child, her skirt and jacket ensemble was impeccably tailored and she had not a hair out of place, her makeup flawless. Her eyes had lost none of their shrewdness as she moved nearer to her golden years. And Killian couldn’t help wondering with a blend of bitter sadness if she would allow anything about them to be golden or fulfilling. His mother retained all of the clout and reputation she had held in her prime, but her sharp edges had only grown harder and more jagged with the loss of, first her favored child, and then her husband, to his own grief and poor choices.

He was right of course. A moment later Cora’s clear, measured voice reached his ears with unmistakable authority; as always, she meant what she said and expected to be obeyed. Though his mother had never been especially warm or effusive, Killian had always known she was pleased with him, proud that he was living up to the Jones family name as she saw fit. Things he really had no power or control over - his natural good looks, athleticism, intellect, and so on - were only to be expected, and so, when he excelled in school, made the papers and the Homecoming court, and earned a college scholarship, or when the other mothers in her social circle all enviously wanted their daughters to catch his eye, well then Killian was merely behaving as he ought and garnering just the sort of attention she had hoped he would. He had grown up following in his father’s footsteps, learning all he could about running their small shipping business and how to manage all that would one day be his.

Killian had never rebelled or railed against the expectations, the assumption that he would blindly follow along on the path laid out for him, until recently. He had made several changes to modernize and streamline the business - almost two years ago now - and things had been tense between he and his mother as a result. Cora did not welcome change in any arena, not unless it was on her orders, and though she deeply resented her husband’s gradual decline and eventual abandonment at his death, she did not see why Killian needed to upgrade what had always worked well for Brennan. She had gone as far as threatening to withdraw her shares from the operation until Killian’s changes had doubled - then tripled - their profits, word of mouth bringing in a steady stream of new clients and renewed raves from established ones at their company’s efficiency and success. There was no arguing with such hard evidence, and so Cora had grudgingly relented, but she had not forgotten.

However, even at a glance, Killian could see that the bone she meant to pick with him would not be resolved with patience and time. He gritted his teeth against offering a harsh warning for her to save her breath. He knew before she spoke a word what she wanted to discuss, but this time she would find him every bit as unyielding as she was herself.

Without further preamble, Cora leveled her accusation. “You’re renting that cabin on the marsh to her, aren’t you? Despite what she’s done, and knowing how it would displease me, you’ve let that Swan girl waltz right back into our lives and invited her to make herself at home. I simply cannot understand it, Killian.” Her words were clipped out distinctly, but as cold and pointed as chips of ice. “Do you not remember what associating with the likes of her cost your sister? Or are you looking for a reason to spite me? I hardly think I have done anything to merit such hurtful defiance.”

She waited, seeming to have all the time in the world for her son’s reply, but Killian was still tempted to stare back, challenging her silently, waiting to speak until he discovered whether the pristine veneer she presented to her family right along with the rest of the world would crack and show some human feeling underneath. In the end though, Killian couldn’t hold out forever; she was still his mother, and despite his frustration, the manners she had pressed into him from birth would not allow it. Not only that, but he knew what she had suffered, the pain and loss she had endured - just as he had. It might have made her brittle and untouchable, but he always had the hope somehow that things might thaw between them yet.

With a sigh, he released the answer on a low breath, still meeting her eyes to let her know both his resolve and that he was hardly ashamed of his choices. “You clearly already know that I am, Mother. Though you might not believe this, it was not a decision made to hurt anyone - least of all you. Emma Swan is moving back into town. She needed a place to stay, and ours was available to rent. Honestly, I was glad to have it, to do something to help her out after how horribly we treated her years ago.”

He meant every word, but, as he had expected, her eyes widened with indignance, her voice finally losing its polished control. “What we did to her?!” Cora Jones spluttered, clearly appalled and faintly trembling in her righteous anger. “It was she who took our sweet angel from us. If we had kept Rose away from her… If she hadn’t crept out to meet that vagabond child…. Rose would still be here!”

Killian had heard this argument many times, yet the unfairness of it never ceased to stoke his own temper. Fighting to remain calm, he tried to reason with his mother, to speak in a tone that still remained civil - tightly wound as it was and on the knife’s edge of tipping over. “You know as well as I do that Ms. Swan is not Rose’s killer. There was never any chance of that. She was thirteen years old, still a child just like Rose, and Rose was her only friend in the world. She was as devastated as we were.”

Cora could not have appeared any more injured or insulted if he had drawn back his hand to strike her. “No one has suffered as we have,” she hissed, eyes flashing dangerously, “certainly not that little she-devil! How dare you even suggest it?” She took a seething step closer, appearing as taken by emotion as Killian had seen her through the smooth, proper mask in years. “You mark my words, Killian,” she continued distinctly, eyes boring into him like pinpricks through his skin, “you may have control of this family’s land, the business, all the executive decisions your father left to you as intended, but I do not condone you allowing that woman to live on our property. Not even for a second, do you hear me? There is something not right about her - always has been - and you will live to regret letting her back into our world. Rose must be rolling over in her grave at the very thought - “

Flinching away so abruptly that his mother’s words were cut off and they both stood, breathing harshly in the horrible silence, Killian finally shook his head sadly and broke eye contact. He turned to leave, at last seeing with regrettable finality that Cora Jones would never change her mind, not for anyone or anything, no matter how much time passed. At the door, he looked back at her, his eyes betraying the strange mix of pity and bitterness she had stirred up in him anew. “You’re the one who should feel regret. Rose was good and kind, the best of us all. It would break her heart to know you’ve spent all these years holding a grudge and nurturing hatred against the person she considered another sister. I am finally thinking about what Rose would have wanted. Then maybe we can all let her rest in peace.”

That final admonition voiced, Killian was out the door in the next instant, letting it slam behind him exactly as he had been reprimanded against all his life. Even as one part of him cringed, he also felt a thrill of petty satisfaction too, knowing it made Cora crazy for such noisy outward shows of temper and bad breeding to be on display. Hurrying down the wide front steps to his truck, Killian gripped his keys in hand tightly, not at all sure where he was going, only that any place seemed preferable at that moment.

His cell went off, just as he reached the driver’s side door. Fishing it out as he settled into his seat, Killian pulled the door closed behind him and answered to find Graham on the other end of the line. Too relieved to turn his energy to something - anything - else but the argument he had left behind, Killian didn’t dwell long on why Graham sounded out of breath, cagey, and awkward as he explained how he had planned to meet Emma at the end of the work day, take her to dinner, and then go with her out to the cabin and help her make sure she at least had enough unpacking done to settle in there for the night. It turned out something had come up, and would Killian mind going to meet Emma instead?

While a part of him wasn’t at all sure how fond Emma would be of the development, he couldn’t deny the way his insides leapt at the opportunity to see Emma Swan again and spend some more time with her. Especially if it kept him away from the lit powder keg his home had just become.

“Not sure how Emma’s going to feel about that,” Killian quipped to his buddy lightly, “but I’ll do it. I’m heading her way right now.”

Graham’s relieved thanks made Killian smile as they said goodbye, wondering vaguely what had his friend all tangled up in knots, but he couldn’t dwell on it long. What almost felt like happy anticipation was creeping up on him, and whatever else might be pressing on him, Killian was simply glad to have an excuse to be near Emma Swan.

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Some three hours later, Killian’s arms and back ached from lifting heavy boxes and moving them around to various counters and display tables for unpacking, his cheeks ached from grinning and laughing like he hadn’t done in ages, and he knew his eyes must look a bit dazed, mesmerized in Emma’s presence as she breathed some sort of magic into the air around her and onto him, bringing the previously empty and nondescript space to life. She didn’t seem to keep much of the warmth and humor for herself, however, Killian noted painfully, but it was easily felt standing next to her, and his fingers itched to grasp her, to pull her in and hold her tight, give back to her some of the warmth he had felt since he’d walked into her new little shop - particularly welcome after the chill of his encounters with his own family just before he’d arrived.

Thankfully, Emma hadn’t seemed averse to his visit and offer of help, to be followed by dinner in his friend’s stead. She was possibly a little hesitant and uncertain of why he wanted to help out and spend time with her, but it did his conscience good to see that she seemed willing to at least see how the evening went.

After the initial bit of awkwardness upon his arrival, Killian had assured Emma that she should put him to work. Once she had done so, they’d had their hands full and the conversation had begun to flow between them. She was incredibly knowledgeable - not that Killian was surprised, she had always been smart and eager to learn, one of many things she and Rose had shared in common - but he’d never been able to hear her really speak unabashedly about something she loved. Not only did she have an engaging and eclectic collection of art and photography by several known artists, but she also had numerous pieces of her own photography available for purchase as well. When Emma began talking about how she had captured some of the shots, and what she hoped they conveyed, Killian simply couldn’t look away from her features that had come to life with enthusiasm, her eyes alight. It was enchanting; he could think of no other word for it. His lips curved upward irresistibly, without his really even noticing it until she paused, cocking her head curiously before asking, “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Startling from the reverie he’d slipped into on the rise and fall of her words, Killian smiled back at her, shaking his head slowly in amazement. “Just marveling at you, honestly. You’re brilliant, Emma.”

“Hardly,” she retorted, making a dismissive noise and waving off his praise, though the pleased blush on her cheeks unmistakably belied her words.

“No, truly… You’ve got a real gift.”

Emma shrugged noncommittally, but didn’t argue with him further, instead she merely studied the photograph on the countertop in front of her, matted but still in need of framing. A wry, wistful tone slipped into her voice as she spoke then, more quietly than she had before, “Well, that’s at least one instance when my added sight is a pleasant benefit.”

Killian’s eyes widened, his attention even more fully captured than it had been, curious as to what she might say next. Emma rarely - if ever - offered to comment on her visions and the things she knew because of them voluntarily. He bit his lip to keep from speaking, from verbally nudging her to continue. Instead he watched, waiting hopefully, breath held, for her to do so if she chose.

Looking up, Emma caught his eyes, but the soul-searching expression pierced right through his chest. “It’s as if the person or animal or place in front of the camera tells me the story it wants to share.” Shaking her head helplessly after that admission, she chuckled at herself before adding, “Yeah, I know that sounds completely crazy.”

“Not at all, Swan,” he breathes, the nickname sliding from his lips naturally and without thought, neither of them reacting to it - almost as if he had never called her anything else. “It’s just like I said… amazing.”

For several minutes, no more words were spoken, the quiet stretching comfortably between them as the shadows of evening lengthened outside the big front window. It was nearly seven-thirty, well past time for dinner, and they both laughed when his stomach rumbled loudly, breaking the spell between them. “What say you, Swan? Time to find some sustenance?”

Eyes glimmering with a mysterious sort of humor, she hedged, “Would you be willing to take a rain check? It’s been a packed couple of days, and I’m hoping to open in a couple more. I’m exhausted, and really just need to make it an early night.”

Considering her words for a moment, Killian studied her before acquiescing, hoping she wasn’t putting him off when it felt like they’d gotten so much closer over the course of the evening. “Fair enough,” he assented before playfully adding, “but I’ll hold you to that rain check. Unless you’re afraid of finding me even more irresistible after a few libations.” He waggled his heavy dark brows at her devilishly until Emma was laughing out loud at his antics.

Only a few minutes later they were ready to go, Emma locking the door of her shop behind them and Killian following her gallantly to her VW. Turning to look up at him where they stood facing each other on the sidewalk, Emma added, “I really would be glad to go to dinner another time, Killian. It’s been a nice evening, and - to be blunt - I could use a few friends. Just so we’re clear that’s all it is.”

Killian felt a tightening in his chest at her proclamation, disappointment clenching in his gut and alerting him that he had already allowed himself to want so much more. “You’ve already decided that, have you?” he responded, fighting to keep his voice light.

She held his gaze, expression mournful, knowing, and more than a little haunted. “It’s for the best really. Trust me on that. You don’t want to get too close to me. Eventually, I’m too much for anyone to deal with. It gets messy. I’m just sparing us both a lot of hurt in the long run.”

He hummed low in his throat, the deep vibration of the sound almost physically palpable to her as he leaned closer, gauging her reaction with a knowing glimmer in his eye. “You say that now, Swan. And that’s fine, I can be incredibly patient. But I see that there could be so much more between us.”

“Do you indeed?” she queried in an equally teasing measure, his response allowing her to drop the wary seriousness she had spoken with before and banter back with him in return, almost irresistibly.

“Have a gander for yourself if you doubt me,” he offered, holding her gaze, an open expression seeming to lay himself bare before her. “I am an open book to you… just as you are to me.”

Emma caught her breath, helpless but to stare back into his eyes as he asked. Guard down, walls lowered, there was a flash behind her eyes of bare limbs moving in unison, heavy pants of exertion, whispered endearments in a familiar timbre, and a shattered cry of completion in a voice sounding much like her own.

Blinking free and pulling away with a gasp, she knew what she’d seen, and flushed from the roots of her hair outward. “What was that?” she whispered, almost to herself, even as she knew exactly what she had witnessed. Never had she experienced such a glimpse of something so pleasurable it left her quivering with unquenched need.

“I think you know,” Killian replied with a roguish smirk, though his voice was gentle, almost hiding the slight hurt that swam in the crystal blue of his eyes at the distance she still tried to keep between them. “Possibly the dessert we could enjoy if you let a nice dinner for us progress to its natural conclusion?”

Nodding, she regained her equilibrium at last and reached out to pat him on the shoulder with a sort of playful camaraderie. “Hmm… well, maybe you’d better keep those thoughts to yourself for now,” she taunted. Still, as she settled into the driver’s seat and waved to him while backing away from the curb and pulling onto the street, Killian could see a deep and fragile longing behind her practical nonchalance. She wanted, just as he did; that closeness and heat and belonging, but she wouldn’t allow it for herself. She didn’t trust that anything good could last - and why would she, after all that she had survived already? Possibly she had waited so long to be loved, to feel wanted, that when it was placed before her, she denied what was being offered. While that might have worked for most, he wasn’t going to stay at a careful distance. Not when he could see the loneliness and yearning in her, as clearly as he could see it in his own mirror each morning. He would keep coming back, closer and closer each time, until maybe they could both find what they had been living without for so long.

Tagging: @cssns @kmomof4 @jennjenn615 @searchingwardrobes @laschatzi @whimsicallyenchantedrose @jrob64 @apiratewhopines @stahlop @teamhook @revanmeetra87 @bluewildcatfanatic @wefoundloveunderthelight @eastwesthomeisbest @xarandomdreamx @sotangledupinit @justanother-unluckysoul @booksteaandtoomuchtv @kazoosandfannypacks @anmylica @motherkatereloyshipper @jonesfandomfanatic @elizabeethan @the-darkdragonfly @donteattheappleshook @xsajx @lfh1226-linda @winterbaby89 @hollyethecurious @darkcolinodonorgasm @resident-of-storybrooke @drowned-dreamer @optomisticgirl @tiganasummertree @spartanguard @therooksshiningknight @gingerchangeling @gingerpolyglot @blackwidownat2814 @blowmiakisscolin @let-it-raines @bdevereaux @caught-in-the-filter

#cssns23 #cs au mc #cs ff #carolina moon #chapter two

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cssns · 8 months

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WOW!!!!!! Can you believe it? We're done and it's time for the CSSNS23 Roundup!!!

Before we get started, I need to recognize and thank my team of mods, @winterbaby89 @jrob64 @stahlop and @ultraluckycatnd, without whom this event wouldn't have happened this summer! Please join me in giving them all the long distance internet group hugs!!!!

And NOWWWWWWWW... Here we GOOOOO!!!!! Under the cut, unless Tumblr ate it.

@hufflepuffinstorybrooke opened us up this year on July 1 with a wonderful soulmates OS called If You're Lucky, Love Leaves Scars, that I was privileged to make artwork for. The fic left me in tears and melting at the same time!

On July 3, @teamhook posted the first chapter of her fic The Last Witch Hunter, inspired by the Vin Diesel movie of the same name. Only one ch so far, but I'm absolutely captivated and eagerly awaiting more! Very intriguing artwork by herself.

@spartanguard dropped her Killian's evil twin MC on July 5, Sons of Love and Death, with artwork by herself. That artwork, of two incredibly handsome guys shouldn't be as chilling as it is, but IT IS... The fic is completely written and she's been updating weekly, so we're on ch9 of 13. Just sayin, but I'm about ready to use a certain dagger on a certain evil twin.

July 7 @goforlaunchcee posted Smoke and Mirrors, a HOOT of a ghost story, with such lovely artwork by @piinfeathers that perfectly captures CS in this fic. Three chapters are up so far, and I can't wait for more!!!

July 10, @killiansprincss posted her OS A Court of Vines and Shadow inspired by A Court of Thorns and Roses, with absolutely gorgeous artwork by @hollyethecurious. I was not familiar with the source material, so I was completely surprised and delighted with this fic!!!

@athenascarlet posted her merman Killian OS on July 13, The Merman with a wonderful visual on Tumblr 😏 Just a regular night between a sheriff and her merman pirate... Would love to see more of this, but it's staying a OS... for now, she says...

Also on July 13, @anmylica posted the first chapter of Fly With the Black Swan with amazing artwork by @zaharadessert. We have two chs of ten up so far, and I'm sitting on pins and needles waiting for more!!!!

On July 15, @whatevenisthisbloganymore posted the first chapter of Forest View Apartments, a ghost story that has the questions swirling through my mind and eagerly awaiting the next installment! Amazing artwork by @undercaffinatednightmare!

Speaking of @undercaffinatednightmare, real life has been very rude lately and has left her unable to post her two planned fics for this summer, but she has managed to make the artwork for them both that you can find here and here! I love her writing so much and I know whenever RL lets up, both these fics are going to be wonderful!!! *EDITED* The first of her fics, A Charming Curse, has now posted and it promises to be FUN!!!

July 19, @deckerstarblanche posted An Offer She Can't Refuse, with more lovely artwork by @undercaffinatednightmare. Emily only planned two chs for this very hot and sexy Omegaverse fic, but she took it in a very angsty direction in the final scene of ch2, and so has now promised that she'll come back and add one more ch to give us all the happy ending we deserve!

July 22, @zaharadessert posted a very hot demon Killian OS, Sacrificial Lamb that made bloodthirsty Krystal VERY happy. I was once again privileged to make artwork for the fic, with an assist by @motherkatereloyshipper who was responsible for the Emma edit I used.

July 23, @mie779 posted the first chapter of Finding Caldera: The Hidden World of Dragons, with just lovely artwork by @undercaffinatednightmare. The adventure of this fic is just wonderful! We're on ch9 and nearing the end!

On July 25, it was my turn to post for the event! Into the Light was inspired by the 1987 movie The Lost Boys, my very first introduction to vampires and it has never left me! Incredible artwork was created by @motherkatereloyshipper that still just leaves me staring at it slack jawed!

@hollyethecurious posted the first chapter of The Law of Surprise on July 28. Now complete in three parts, this beautiful BEAUTIFUL but also heartbreaking fic was inspired by the law of surprise from The Witcher. Breathtaking artwork was provided by @eastwesthomeisbest and can be found here, here, and here.

@xarandomdreamx posted her CS Practical Magic AU A Crystalline Knowledge of Love and Magic on July 30. Beautiful artwork by @hollyethecurious. Only one chapter so far and my heart is so broken for Emma and Elsa but also completely in love with the story!!!!

Rounding out July, @caught-in-the-filter posted original artwork featuring ghost Emma and vampire Killian that was absolutely CHILLING!!!!

@snowbellewells started Aug off on the 2nd with an incredible one shot, Deluge! Gorgeous artwork by @eastwesthomeisbest. I am so hopeful that Marta will eventually write more of this wonderfully intriguing fic!!!

Then, @eastwesthomeisbest was so inspired by Marta's fic, she made her own original art in the same vein as the art she made for the fic. Absolutely breathtaking!!!

On Aug 8, @booksteaandtoomuchtv posted the Prologue and ch1 of Witchy Woman. I have sooooo been waiting for this fic and so far, four chs in, it is hitting ALL my buttons! Artwork coming soon from @cocohook38.

On Aug 10, @cs-rylie posted The Journal, a seriously SCARY fic, only 3 chs in, inspired by Native American legend. Artwork by me, again with a much needed assist from @motherkatereloyshipper who was responsible for Milah and the journal itself.

@iamstartraveller776 posted her new fic, To Cleave Destiny on Aug 13. Featuring Demon Killian, just this Prologue has me on the edge of my seat!!! Artwork coming soon from @cocohook38.

@exhaustedpirate posted Parent for Hire on Aug 14. A Mandalorian inspired fic, Caro has melted my Captain Cobra heart so many times already, only four chs in. She also did moodboards to accompany each ch that you can find on each of the Tumblr ch posts x x x and I was also privileged to make a banner for the fic.

On Aug 16, @grimmswan posted the first chs of TWO fabulous fics!!! Dracula in Storybrooke comes from the woefully underutilized Land of Untold Stories arc, and Love Bites (But So Do I) is a supernatural adventure of vampire Emma and werewolf Killian. Artwork coming soon from @cocohook38.

On Aug 18, @snowbellewells posted her second fic of the event, Carolina Moon. A fic inspired by the Nora Roberts novel of the same name, my heart is already, only two chs in, broken for Emma and on the edge of my seat waiting for more! Beautiful artwork again done by @eastwesthomeisbest!

@jrob64 posted Saying Goodbye and Moving On on Aug 20, a DESPERATELY NEEDED and ABSOLUTELY PERFECT fix-it fic from the Underworld arc. I was again privileged to make artwork for it, and I'm just gonna have to accept that I almost can't make picsets anymore without the aid of @motherkatereloyshipper. For this one, she was again responsible for ghost Milah.

Aug 22, @padfootprongslet posted the Prologue for Like Our Love (Falling Down and Over Again). A Mr. and Mrs. Smith inspired fic, my heart was absolutely SHATTERED in this first ch and I can't wait for more! I was again privileged to make a picset for this with @motherkatereloyshipper coming in the clutch entwining the rings.

On Aug 24, @jonesfandomfanatic posted Stolen From Time. Now complete in three parts, this fic was absolutely BRILLIANT!!! @motherkatereloyshipper made a beautiful video to accompany it.

Our final fic by @wyntereyez will post in the next few days. She’s dealing with a hurricane at the moment, so she’s excused! Artwork by spartanguard. Can't wait! *EDITED* the fic and art are both now posted!!! I melted at Kait’s artwork, and I cackled and melted repeatedly reading the fic!!!! AND I am BEYOND EXCITED that Jamie has more to come in this universe, because I NEEEEEEEEEEEED it!!!!!

That's it everyone! Please enjoy all these FABULOUS fics and artworks and be sure to give the authors and artists all the love they deserve!!!

#cssns23 roundup #cssns23 #roundup #event roundup

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kmomof4 · 10 months

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It’s TIME!!!!! CSSNS23 IS HERE!!!!

@hufflepuffinstorybrooke opens us up this year with her wonderful fic, If You’re Lucky, Love Leaves Scars. Here is the artwork I was privileged to make for her as her artist. She about brought me to tears reading about young Emma and Killian and their soulmate connection! But enough about that… go read her fic and give her all the love she deserves!!!

#cssns23 #fanart for fanfic #art by krystal #if you’re lucky love leaves scars #hufflepuffinstorybrooke

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cssns · 11 months

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Let's keep the ball rolling with our amazing artists. Please help us welcome @piinfeathers to CSSNS23!

What’s your Tumblr?

@piinfeathers on tumblr, stephsketched everywhere else, plus just steph is also good!

How long have you been in the CS/OUAT fandom?

since 2021

When did you start shipping Captain Swan?

literally the second killian jones started getting it baaad for emma swan in season two. by neverland i was totally hooked

What drew you to this event?

this is my second year doing this event and it's definitely my favourite! i just love seeing emma and hook in fantasy settings, it suits them so well

What inspired your topic?

unfortunately i'm probably not doing personal art this year, unless something magical happens you never know!

For our artists: What kind of art do you like to do? Picsets, painting, digital, etc? Feel free to give as much info as you like.

i'm a digital artist and work mostly with an illustrative/cartoony style thanks to my background in animation. i love trying to capture emma and killian with a sort of fun and soft energy that feels like they're in their own animated movie

What are you looking forward to most about participating in this event?

i just love seeing everyone's work! having a new short snippet of captain swan as werewolves or faeries to look forward to every day is a highlight of my summer <3

I absolutely adore Steph's artwork and I know she's going to do amazing work for @goforlaunchcee's story, dropping on July 7th. Please drop by her page to say hi and welcome her to the event!

#GTKM #CSSNS23 #piinfeathers #gtkm interview

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snowbellewells · 8 months

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CSSNS23 MC "Carolina Moon" {Chapter One}

Oh goodness, it's nearing the end of Friday, but I've managed to make my weekly deadline. Here's the first full chapter of my @cssns23 fic after last week's prologue, and I hope those of you who have started this journey with me will enjoy the new addition.

Thanks once again to @eastwesthomeisbest for the gorgeous cover art!! (She's actually created a second one for me, but I'm waiting until a little later in the story to unveil it, so keep your eyes peeled for that!) And thanks too for @xarandomdreamx who was a wonder beta help with some details and questions I had and typos I'd made.

This story is also available on AO3 HERE

Chapter One: Old Friends and Old Scars

As Emma Swan rolled slowly onto the main street of Storybrooke, a strange sense of warmly comforting deja vu enveloped her. Though more than a bit of relief to the nervous tremors which had been shivering through her limbs and turning her fingers white where she clutched the steering wheel, it also surprised her. So much pain and so many awful memories resided here, and she’d intended to shed them permanently when she left this place behind her. Sure, she had returned of her own free will, but it was reluctant at best; she had no one and nowhere else to go.

The moment she’d turned 18, the very second she could escape from the living nightmare she had borne, and which continued to follow her, Emma had left Storybrooke in the hot summer dust rolling behind the wheels of the first bus out of town she could afford. No one had ever fully believed she wasn’t to blame - at least in part - for the shocking crime that had rocked the small, sleepy community that summer when they were 13. Nevermind if Emma often felt it had broken her as much as anyone, or if it made no sense for her to destroy the one relationship that had bolstered her constantly and provided the only safe haven she had ever known; once people believed a thing, it was hard to convince them otherwise. Her foster father had certainly assumed her guilt. Claiming she shamed him and cost him business from townsfolk who blamed her strangeness on her “raising”, he’d beaten her bloody for that and countless other faults, enough that the skin of her back bore permanent scars. She’d barely graduated high school when she could bear it no longer; deciding she would rather go hungry and sleep on the streets if she had to than to take any more abuse, she had finally seen her chance and flown.

If it hadn’t been for Rose - for their giggled secrets at their swimming hole hideout and the sleepovers in Rose’s pretty floral and ruffled room with a bookcase on each wall and their shelves still overflowing and spilling onto the floor - she would have never found a moment’s peace or been able to close her eyes to sleep for even one night here and there. Rose had been everything a best friend should be: steady, loyal, wickedly funny and smart, but with a kind heart able to see the best in a person, even to her own fault. Just as the thought had plagued her back then, Emma couldn’t help thinking even now as she pulled into a parking space outside the empty shop front she had rented, ‘Too bad in the end that trusting nature, that desire to help, was what probably got her –’

Thump, thump. Startling with a jerk after barely turning off the keys in the ignition, she’d been so lost in years past and her reminiscence of those sweet brown eyes that had always only ever seen her as she’d hoped to be - as family - Emma swung over to look out the passenger window and found possibly the only other face in the world that might be glad to see her; a beaming, grown-up and adorably pleased Graham Humbert waved at her enthusiastically through the glass. Shaking her head, Emma gathered her simple, small purse, keys, and phone, as she slid out of her vehicle, slamming the door behind her, and greeted him with a hug that warmed her to her bones, despite how she usually avoided physical contact.

Her smile was somewhat chagrined and tentative as she offered an awkward little shrug with her soft, “Hey there, Stranger,” upon pulling back from the embrace.

Her former foster brother was having none of it; in two long strides, he’d pulled her to the sidewalk before a second tight bear hug nearly lifted her off her feet. “Stranger is right!” he exclaimed, squeezing her affectionately before stepping back to hold her at arm’s length, eyes sparkling with humor as he took her in, much as she was doing with him. Clearly he wasn’t going to let the fact that she had vanished for nearly two decades, failed to keep in touch, and then only looked him up when she needed a favor, stand in the way of their former bond. “Look at you, Emma! It’s so good to see you!”

Objectively, Emma knew his warm welcome was probably more than she deserved. And, while she was being objective, as she took Graham in quickly from head to toe, she could also see that most women would be melting into a puddle at his feet with the way the gawky 14-year-old she remembered had changed. Though hardly musclebound, she could feel the wiry strength in his long, lean build as he held her upper arms in his hands. His honey-colored curls were as tousled and riotous as ever, but it worked for him in a much less innocent way now that it matched a perfectly trimmed scruff over an attractively chiseled jawline. And those large, guileless eyes of his were still twin pools a person could willingly drown in. She was actually quite thankful suddenly that he still felt more like a brother to her; that sort of entanglement was the last kind of trouble she needed. She had more than enough problems already, and had probably only invited more by returning to Storybrooke after successfully making a clean break.

Despite all that though, his welcome and happiness to see her were contagious, and she could feel the wider, more genuine smile stretching her own lips pleasantly. For all her reservations and worry about coming back, it felt good to see a friendly face, to know that someone was glad to see her. It had been much too long since she’d felt that sort of appreciation and understanding, even from those she spoke to and worked with every day. Boston was too large and bustling a city, and she was too much of a no-nonsense loner for her to have made anything more than a few work acquaintances. She’d been a great asset for the detetives she’d worked with, but as soon as she had made a mistake… That poor little boy’s pale, cold face flashed into her mind for an instant, before she jerked back to the present with a gasp, but it was enough to make her fail at passing it off as playful surprise when Graham looked at her curiously.

“Alright there?” he asked, as astute as ever. He dipped his head slightly to be more eye-to-eye with her despite his height advantage and attempted to search her face. He had always read her better than she was really comfortable with, but Emma was grown now, a professional, and well-practiced at her poker face, much better at pulling the shutter down over welling emotions than she’d been as a teen. Not to mention that after the betrayal she’d suffered from the man she had partnered with in Boston, it was much harder for anyone to read the emotions she chose not to display. Going into a bullpen full of people who saw her as a fake, a failure, or a liability, while the person who had benefited most from her insight and success so many times before had laid all the blame at her feet and turned away, had finally taught her for good how to shield against any and all who might get too close, and to wear the facade that showed she couldn’t even be bothered to care.

Giving a little scoff, she pasted on a teasing smile and replied, “Oh yeah, fine,” as she waved a hand dismissively. “Just a little scattered from driving for so long - and glad to see you again. I am surprised you’re still a single small town vet though. Look at you, Hunter! You ought to be on The Bachelor or something, or one of those hunky men with animals calendars. How do you not have a gaggle of ladies trailing along behind you, or a ring on that finger yet?”

As expected, her soft-spoken friend blushed to the roots of his hair, coloring his cheeks even under his dark stubble and spreading down his neck into his collar. It took the focus off her as she had hoped, diverting his concern and curiosity. “Hardly,” he mumbled, shaking his head and avoiding her gaze. In fact, Emma almost felt badly for deflecting. Had she touched a true nerve of insecurity? Could Graham really be unaware of the catch he had grown into since she’d seen him last? Or was he interested in someone in particular who had made him doubt himself? Or not returned his interest? She forcibly closed off the probing train of thought before her added sight began to pick up things Graham didn’t intend to show her. The physical contact along with his gentle, open warmth would have made it all too easy, even if accidental.

Emma couldn’t really imagine too many available young ladies who wouldn’t jump at the chance to warm the bed of her model attractive long-lost friend, especially seeing as he was also one of the best people she had ever known. He’d clammed up so suddenly though, brushing off her playful compliments and going painfully quiet, that she hurried to change the subject and smooth things over. “So, this is the place, huh?” she prompted, gesturing toward the storefront before them, the sign proudly proclaiming it was no longer on the market. “There wasn’t any trouble finalizing the paperwork?”

Graham shook his head easily, brushing off any lingering concerns she’d had about putting him out or causing him unnecessary stress and effort. She could only assume he was busy at his veterinary practice. Graham had always been smart, capable, and particularly in tune with animals of all varieties, even when they were young. And Storybrooke was still largely agricultural, rural with homes spread out between wide fields, rivers, woods and country roads. Nearly all would have farm animals, pets, or both, and Graham’s practice would be the only place in the county for folks to take their livestock if they didn’t want to travel a distance. He’d been kind enough to take time out of his schedule to help her scout locations in the town square to rent before her arrival, and so she at least had a shop ready and waiting for her to fill now that she was in town.

“Really?” she sought to confirm once more, rooting in her purse and trying to offer him something for his efforts - money that he predictably pushed back toward her with equal determination.

“Really, Emma. I’m serious. It was nothing.”

“If you say so,” she consented, sticking the twenties back into her bag, then taking the heavy, old-fashioned key he offered her and moving to unlock the door of her new shop.

“I do,” he reiterated. “It was as simple as stopping in to see Mary Margaret at the bank, asking to see the leases for places that were available to rent on Main, and then picking the best one out for you. She was thrilled to see the space in use and by someone she knows, likes, and can trust to take care of it, no less. Smooth as butter,” he added with a playful grin.

Shaking her head at his antics, Emma turned the key in the lock and pushed open the door to the empty, waiting space in which she was sure she would come to spend the bulk of her time. It might be a horrible idea to come back here and attempt to set up a business and make a living in a town people had been glad to see her leave. But in truth, it was time she returned. Trying to start over in another place with another life had ended up breaking her in all new ways, and it was time she stopped. Maybe she needed to have answers at last before her past could ever be laid to rest. And she wasn’t sure what else she could do with herself to earn a living. Her gift - or her curse, as it had more often felt to her - was inescapable. She’d tried to hide it, ignore the visions, shut out the way they flooded her and overwhelmed her senses since she was small, as far back as she could remember, but it had never worked. At least when she was working with the police in Boston, she could comfort herself with the knowledge that her solitary pain was doing some good. Though she wouldn’t be locating missing people or tracking down fleeing suspects, her instincts for reading people and situations, her vision and eye for details, even beyond what her second sight gave her, had granted her the ability to take stunning photographs - and to know when she saw truly gifted work done by others. She might not get as much business as she would in the city, but Storybrooke did have a tourist season where framed landscape shots might sell quite nicely, and there were still plenty of moneyed society ladies she had no doubt who would want family portraits taken or framed pieces to decorate their homes. She was counting on it being enough to keep a small, tasteful gallery afloat.

It wasn’t long before Graham’s lunch hour neared its end, and he had to be getting back to his practice for the afternoon. Laughing over the fact that there wasn’t anything more exciting on his schedule than an elderly basset hound who belonged to the local diner owner getting his annual vaccinations, Graham still admitted that the formidable Widow Lucas would not be happy if she and her beloved pet were stood up. Promising to come back afterwards and take her for a homecoming dinner, he saw himself out with a broad, jovial grin and a wave, leaving Emma warmed pleasantly by his welcome and smiling back in spite of herself, no matter how unfamiliar the expression had been in her life recently.

Once alone, Emma found the light switch, sat her purse on the long front counter, and located a broom in the corner to begin tidying up a bit, just making the space her own. However, she hadn’t been at it long before the bell over the entry rang, and she turned to see more at least vaguely familiar faces.

One of them was clearly David Nolan, all-American hometown golden boy, who had been a couple years ahead of her in school, though she remembered him well for being genuinely kind and decent to all, not just his fellow athletes and others in the popular crowd. She could even vividly remember one instance in her junior year when he had turned a corner into the hall where Storybrooke’s queen bee Regina Mills and her coterie of followers had cornered her to mock and shame her for her ripped, shabby second hand clothes and ugly glasses, which they’d taken, claiming they were trying to help her look less like a dog, and were passing them around their vicious circle just out of her reach. Even with her general tough exterior, Emma had been near either breaking into tears or socking Regina in the mouth, and was more than a little in awe when the captain of the football team had calmly walked up, plucked her glasses from one of the wide-eyed, staring minions, offered to take her books, and then proceeded to happily walk her to her next class as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to do. She wasn’t at all surprised in looking at him as an adult to see that his broad shouldered form had changed very little other than with the addition of slight weathering and more laugh lines to his face. Nor was she at all shocked to note that he wore a sheriff’s badge on his chest; it seemed just the sort of job such an upstanding and protective type would decide to do.

The second visitor took her a moment longer to place, and when she did, Emma’s eyes popped wider in surprise. Where once a spindly, messy-haired runt - for lack of a better term - had stood, she now saw a confident, fit, and filled out Walsh Ozman. His khakis and dress shirt were fashionable and well-tailored, showing off a still-trim physique, but with more muscled arms and torso and a more commanding posture. His brown hair was also more neat and closely trimmed, giving him an altogether more polished and capable air. Clearly this was someone who had worked almost as hard as she had to change himself and put the person he once was in the rearview mirror.

Still, despite the change in his appearance and the genuinely welcoming smile he offered as he stepped forward to shake her hand, Emma was no less flabbergasted to hear him say, “Emma Swan! It’s been a long time. As Mayor of Storybrooke, let me be one of the first to say it’s good to welcome you back again.”

Emma knew she was gaping rudely, like a fish out of water, before she nodded in agreement and offered her hand to shake in return.

But the third person in the little welcoming committee was the one who pulled most at her attention, even though she was fighting valiantly not to let her gaze pause and linger longingly on his handsomely dark features. Her body’s reaction to his presence - even as he hung back behind his two friends wordlessly - was undeniable. Emma shuddered involuntarily. She flushed hot all over, only to then be swept by cold chills in turn. Killian Jones. No matter how many years she had been away, his face was one that could not be forgotten.

Killian Jones, brother of the best friend she had ever known, the soul sister she had loved and lost, and now as an adult he was scion of their family’s considerable land and legacy, seemingly even more far removed from who she was and what she’d come from than he had been in their youth. He had always been there on the periphery - even at fourteen, busy with trying to please and impress his father, and much too preoccupied with his own friends and teenaged concerns to pay much mind to his little sister and her pitiable friend. All the same, while they might not have spoken a lot or spent any real time together, Emma had always been aware of his presence. The easy explanation would be his rumpled, natural good looks - which had only improved with maturity, she noted - but deep down, Emma knew it was more than that. An almost electrical current had always traveled across her skin when he was in the same room. Though quieter and easier to hide, it was as intense and powerful as any of her visions. And even more compelling, there had always been something so real, so solid, about Killian Jones that reassured her. Even back when she could barely speak to him or meet his eye, even as she understood that it was most probably due to the sturdiness of who he was and the life he lived in contrast to the tenuous uncertainty that made up her everyday existence.

She had almost allowed herself to see a hint of understanding, of empathy, when she had caught his eyes in unguarded moments back then. When Rose would tell her every so often about something a beloved older sibling would do, like when ‘Killy’ had helped her with her math homework, or when she reminisced about her older brother being the one to finally help her master riding her bike without training wheels, Emma had listened raptly, easily hearing the affection behind the sisterly griping about him being a know-it-all, and knowing inside that her sense about Killian was right.

None of that made her any less tongue-tied or ill at ease as he stepped forward to greet her though. The pull that she had always felt between them, even after all the years and miles, still existed, was stronger than ever, and it was the last thing she needed. She could only remind herself forcefully, while she tried to give an unconcerned smile to him as he dipped his head and arched an eyebrow before murmuring, “Swan, at long last, we meet again,” in that slow-honey accent, that she wasn’t about to let some handsome charmer derail all the progress she’d made - not again.

“Jones,” she replied, inwardly cheering at how steady her voice sounded while her insides were quivering. Her lips quirked with a reciprocally teasing expression. She wanted to say more, to seem as at home and easy in her own skin as he did standing there, but that had never been her way, and no further words escaped her tight throat.

As if sensing the weighted import in the air and reading it all too clearly, David broke in then, explaining cheerfully how Graham had told them at their last poker night that she was moving back, and how Killian - whose family owned the simple cabin she was renting - had let slip when she was due to arrive, and that they had all come to say hello, catch up, and offer help with any carrying and moving chores she might need. Grateful for the conversation shift - and someone else to focus on - Emma thanked them all for the welcome and their offer to help. “I’m hardly sure what I need yet though,” she added ruefully, “Most of my stock hasn’t arrived, and what has should still be boxed up in the back room.”

David nodded his understanding and said, “That makes sense. Just let us know if something comes up, alright?”

Emma nodded, playfully patting his bicep and grinning broadly. It felt so much less weighted to banter with him than with Jones as she joked. “Oh, I’ll definitely take a raincheck on making use of you guys and all your manly muscles.”

“Especially now that I have some to offer,” Walsh put in with a self-deprecating chuckle. The affable look on his face and the way he good naturedly bore Killian and David’s agreement with his statement and jibing laughter amazed Emma all over again. The defensive, unpleasant spoilsport she remembered, who had seemed to hate trailing in his friends’ shadows, but been unwilling to give up the association with them at the same time, was utterly gone from the adult Walsh Ozman she saw before her. And he was well-known and well-liked enough to be voted Mayor. The little niggling of hope it gave her for how much people could change was impossible to mistake.

As the three men turned to file out, Emma began to gaze around the oen shop space in earnest, anxious to get a feel for it and determine how she might set things up. However, she paused, turning back to the door to see Killian hesitating on the threshold, looking back at her intently as if torn between whether or not he should speak. His buddies had moved on down the sidewalk. She could see them through the large front display window, but Killian seemed in no hurry to follow.

Raising both brows in curious prompting, Emma tried to wait patiently, all the while hoping he wasn’t about to contradict David’s words, tell her she wasn’t welcome in Storybrooke, that his family didn’t need her there dredging up buried memories and poorly healed wounds. It might cripple her to hear those words from the lips of her last fragile connection to Rose, but she would face it head on all the same. Even with the fear of his dreaded rebuff, she couldn’t pull her eyes away from his.

When his warm, low voice rasped out what was on his mind at last, she was stunned instead of devastated by the words that washed over her. “It really is good to see you, Swan. It’s been too long…” He dropped his eyes to the smooth wood floor and the scuffed toes of his work boots, wetting his lips with a distracting swipe of his tongue before continuing. “You suffered a loss too - just as I did, or my family did - but you weren’t allowed the sympathy, the support, the fair shake you should have been. It wasn’t right… or fair… and I - I’ve hoped… so many times over the years that I would be able to tell you h-how sorry I am for that…”

Her breath stopped, piling up like a logjam in her chest, and tears started abruptly in her eyes as she bit her lip to hold in an involuntary sob. She shook her head - it wasn’t his fault! - and tried to respond, only to again find that no words would come and she continued to simply stare. Grasping for enough control to hold herself together, she took one wobbling step closer, wanting to offer some sort of comfort or thanks, before fumbling to a halt again.

It was so much more than what he had managed to get out, Killian found himself thinking. More and more went racing through his brain without finding voice to leave his mouth. Though his father had slowly pulled away from them after Rose’s loss - withdrawing in his despair and impotence to bring his darling back, abdicating his role as father to two surviving children and leader of their family, until he eventually drank himself to death - his mother had steeped in her bitterness and her stiff, proper gentility. She was convinced that her angelic youngest’s friendship with that undeserving child and her sneaking away to the woods the night she died, was completely Emma’s fault. She had never felt Emma Swan was a suitable companion for Rose, had barely tolerated Emma’s entering the house beyond the front hall when she visited, and hated the thought of their family being associated with the one which had fostered the strangely silent and unnerving young girl. Ruby had never had much in common with her twin, but had followed their mother in disliking Emma once Rose was gone. Killian had always suspected it was partly out of guilt, partly out of jealousy that Rose had found a sister of the spirit in her friend that she’d never had with her sibling, and maybe partly because it was the only way Ruby knew to lash out against their parents. Though she looked just like Rose, and had tried for years to be exactly what they wanted, she couldn’t ever live up to the child they had lost. Rose would be forever perfect in memory, and neither she nor Killian could hold a candle to her.

None of that blame belonged on Emma Swan’s conscience though, and it never had. His family had been wrong in working behind the scenes to turn public opinion against her foster father - wreck of a man though he was. Emma’s life had only become worse for the remainder of her school years. Killian didn’t know all the details, but it had to have done so. She didn’t even have a place to gain a few hours’ respite, nor Rose to listen to and understand her. He still hated himself for saying nothing, and not being old enough to find a way to do something, when he’d seen how she’d limped up their front walk that horribly normal-seeming morning just after dawn. The welts up the back of her legs and clearly carrying on over her back beneath her frayed shorts and faded top left her barely able to stand up straight, holding herself stiffly as she choked out her fear that something had happened to Rose and she needed to take them to her. He’d nearly swallowed his own tongue when his father had gripped her by the shoulders and shaken her harshly, demanding to know what she was talking about. She’d let out this shrill little keening noise like a wounded animal, but hadn’t fled. She’d merely stared back into Brennan Jones’s face dully, her voice flat once she’d gotten her breath back - he knew now from probably having the painful remnants of a beating torn back open by his father’s thoughtless actions - and repeated, “She went to our spot last night - out by the pond. We were supposed to meet at midnight. I c-couldn’t…. I wasn’t able to get there…But someone else was. I can show you, but we need to go to her.”

The chill that had run down his spine at her words, and the broken, lifeless expression in her eyes as she spoke them, had never truly left Killian. The shock that had taken him over, and the nightmarish blur of chaos the rest of that day and the days that followed had become, had kept him from realizing at first just how much Emma too must have been suffering, how badly she had been hurt as well, though she’d survived when Rose did not, how badly all of them had failed her.

Granted, his family had never been the same after that. His father had commissioned a marble statue, a graceful, peaceful likeness of Rose which still watched over those quiet waters his child had once adored, but locked himself away from his surviving family behind a stony silence which was every bit as cold and impenetrable. His mother had proclaimed Emma Swan was never to be spoken of in their house again, and it was as though the one link he could have maintained to Rose ceased to exist. With every year that passed, his mother seemed to grow colder, more brittle, more correct, and more distant from the two children who still needed whatever love she might have found to offer them. Ruby had simpered and sashayed, charmed half the boys in the county while winning pageant titles and talent shows, until she finally decided that no accomplishment would ever crown her as her lost sister. She’d then given up, thrown caution to the wind, lived for her own thrills and pleasure until she had eloped and run off with Pete Lupino mere weeks shy of finishing high school. He still didn’t know - wasn’t sure he wanted to know - where all she had been, what she’d done, and whom she had done it with, before she’d blown back into town three years ago, taken up residence in her childhood bedroom, and proceeded to set their mother’s teeth on edge at every turn, still seeking some relief from the ghosts that haunted her.

Be that as it may, they’d still had each other, if they had been willing to see it. Emma had never possessed a family, very few friends, or even a safe place to call home. Without Rose, she must have felt completely adrift and even more at the mercy of the forces which shaped and buffetted her life. Killian couldn’t undo what had already been done, but he had vowed long ago - had even accepted that it might well be part of him ever managing to find some peace - that if Fate presented him with a chance to make things up to her, to set some of his family’s wrongs right, he wouldn’t hesitate to do just that.

His mind circled back to the present when Emma shook her head emphatically, her mouth opening and closing without emitting audible words, but finally curving into a trembling smile. “That’s - I - thank you…” she finally managed softly. “But it wasn’t your fault. I know how it looked, and what your parents - hell, what half the town thought… You don’t need to apologize.”

“But I do!” Killian cut her off quickly, not meaning to keep her from speaking, but needing her to know this truth at least. “I knew… I’ve always known! You had nothing to do with what happened! It wasn’t your fault. There wasn’t anything you could have done. I don’t know what else people might have put on you, or what you might have put on yourself, but Rose wouldn’t have wanted any of that - would have told us all off if she could have seen the way you were treated. You were her best friend, and she wanted to meet you that night. The only- ” and there his words did choke up on him, emotion threatening to overcome his intentions. “The only good thing that did happen that night was that you didn’t make it out there, or that monster would have killed you too.”

Emma sighed, shaking her head sadly, and turning to lean her hip against the high counter next to her, running her hand over its polished surface and avoiding his eyes. “I’m not sure how good that was, really,” she whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear, and possibly meant only for herself. “If I could have changed places with her, let her somehow be here now, alive and well, I would have.”

He took two long strides across the room and stood right in front of her, dipping his head to peer into her face, refusing to let her avoid his stare. “Don’t say that,” he pled fervently. “I’ve thought the same thing more often than I can count, but it won’t do any good… it won’t bring her back.”

Stunned and almost entranced as she watched his throat work, Emma wasn’t sure what to make of him at that moment, the intensity radiating off of him enough to singe her skin. He was standing so close she could see the way the cerulean depths of his eyes swirled with his stormy emotion, and she wanted to lean on him, to believe he cared as deeply as it seemed, no matter how undeserved or nonsensical it might appear. It was impossible, but to think that he might actually care whether she stayed or went, or what happened to her next, was bolstering and revelatory. It had been all too rare in her life, and for a moment Emma just wanted to breathe in that feeling.

There was little else to be said, but eventually Killian backed up slightly, offered her a crooked smile, and tried to ease them back onto more normal footing. “Well, talk about making things awkward, eh?” he chuffed, shaking his head and clearly laughing at his own expense. “I didn’t mean to seem quite that intense, but… it needed to be said.”

Emma merely stared back at him, allowing one more real, unforced smile to break through. “Most of my life is awkward,” she shrugged. “Try being able to see people’s thoughts and intentions without meaning to and without warning. It isn’t a great way to make friends.”

He snorted a surprised sort of laugh through his nose at the unexpected retort, and she joined him, easing some of their lingering discomfort. He proceeded to make sure that she had the key to the cabin rental for when she’d head home that night, assured her that she should call if there were any problems or she needed anything, and then he finally left her to her planning and unpacking, his heart feeling some small bit lighter. It was only a start, but it was a beginning step he’d needed to take for a long time, and he already felt better for it.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Across the street, just around the corner and out of sight, another watched and waited, knowing his time at last had come. There was a heady mix of anticipation and rage swelling within as he peered across the quiet Main Street. Her lithe, enticing form moved in and out of view frustratingly often as she explored the space and as the bright sun cast a glare off the window glass from the distance and angle at which he stood. There was nothing for it though; he had enough of his wits about him not to venture any closer, even with the evening shadows beginning to gather.

So the little swan had at last come home to roost, back where she belonged. She had escaped him then, and he’d made do with half the set, the pair who were meant to be his. But now that voice inside him, the one which had always guided him, cackled and rose with renewed hunger. At last he would finish it; all would be as it should. He had waited, oh so patiently, always knowing his time would come. He’d hunted when he needed to, but it had never been quite right - not since the first time all those years ago. Just a bit longer, he’d bide his time. She wouldn’t see him coming. No one ever had, and even she, with her strange, sad, knowing eyes, would be none the wiser until it was too late. Until he had finally brought it all full circle and made Emma Swan his own.

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