At the ringing of her cell phone from on top of the laundry basket, Emma only peeked through the shower curtain to glance at it. There was no way that she was going to drip her way over to the opposite side of the room to answer the phone that was more than likely unimportant. Instead, she dipped her shampoo-covered head into the steady stream of hot water.
It was only seconds after the ringing had stopped that it had begun again.
Someone was being persistent…
Emma groaned, but refused to let it bother her more than that. She had to get ready for work. She didn't have time for whoever it was. And how important could it be when anyone who knew her schedule knew what she would be doing at this time of morning?
So she ignored that ring as well. And when, not five minutes later the phone rang again, she dismissed it once more. Was fifteen minutes too much to ask of time for herself? She didn't think so.
When Emma finally ended her shower, in which she was only a bit annoyed with because of the constant attempts at interrupting her, she wrapped herself up in her towel and quickly stepped out.
Bending her head over, she haphazardly rubbed a drying towel over her wet head. Her steps were slow, walking over to the hamper for her phone.
The banging of one of a door from outside the bathroom is what stopped her in her tracks. Her head popped up at the sound, catching her off guard.
Neal wasn't home. He wouldn't be home from work before she was already gone. So who the hell had caused that bang?
She wasn't scared, just a bit more than curious.
Emma couldn't hear anything beyond that initial loud shutting of the door. It sounded as if it had been near the bathroom. Maybe the bedroom…
With only a hint of hesitation, she wrapped her hand around the knob and pulled. The cool rush of air hit her still damp body sending a chill throughout. And then she thought she heard footsteps. The sound was coming from their bedroom.
Had Neal gotten home early?
Emma moved with soft steps against the carpeted floor, heading towards where the sound was coming from. She could feel the beat of her heart speed up. She knew the doors had been locked, so there was no way someone should have been able to get in. And they lived on the second floor, so a window wasn't optional.
When she peaked inside the bedroom, she saw the tall form still padding across the room. And then her heart wasn't beating out of her chest because of fear of a stranger. It was racing because she knew…
"Killian?"
He turned quickly around to face her. "Emma."
Eyes blinking, she lifted her shoulder in a, hopefully, nonchalant shrug. "Um… abusing the privilege of spare apartment key holder?"
What was he doing here? Other than the obvious…
"Actually, I'm living up to the responsibilities of the spare apartment key holder," he countered with a shrug of his own.
She felt her heart begin to pound. She became all too aware in the moment that she was only in a towel and her still-dripping hair clinging all over her. Not that he seemed to notice. Nope, not at all. Sometimes she wondered if he ever noticed anything singularly about her being a vital and beautiful and attractive woman, and not just the girlfriend of his best friend. Because it never escaped her mind that he was a sexy and engaging and gorgeous specimen of the male species.
Killian had the nerve to grin sheepishly at her. She almost melted with the way his fingers raced up to scratch a spot on his ear. If he didn't notice that she was all woman, never let it be said that she didn't notice that he was all man.
"Ah… Neal called you." Killian's eyes squinted on her for just a moment. "Ems, I'm sorry." It then must have dawned on him what he had walked in on. He turned around. He turned away from her. A modicum of decency she supposed. "I called you, too."
Emma's arm wrapped around her front, holding the towel closer to her. She couldn't take her eyes off of his back. She could make out the muscles there from under the thin T-shirt as he swung his arms in front of him.
"But I didn't get an answer," Killian continued. And it made Emma realize just how fast she had forgotten what he had said. "Neither did Neal."
Her mouth fell open, and she looked behind her towards the bathroom. She had not had the chance to even look at the phone.
"Oh, I didn't see that," she murmured. She turned back towards him. "I mean, I heard the phone. It was in the bathroom with me. But I was in the shower. It wasn't close really. And I didn't want to…" Emma stopped, feeling the need to stop herself before her babbling became noticeable even to him.
"Neal asked me to stop by," Killian told her. He looked over his shoulder.
Oh, he was probably waiting for her to move to actually try to cover herself and obtain some type of dignity…
Emma moved toward the bed where her robe lay waiting for her.
"Um…" Neal, right. "What did Neal send you over here for?"
She slid her arms into the robe as she looked back at him. The wet towel pooled to the floor at her feet. Her attention was focused on him though. She watched with peaked interest as he began to move closer to Neal's side of the room.
"He locked his keys in his car," Killian said with a slight laugh. "When he couldn't get you then he asked for me to come over and grab his spare key."
Emma tightened the sash of her robe around her waist as she watched him. He seemed to know exactly where the spare key was held in Neal's dresser.
It was such an odd predicament to be in, Emma thought as she stared at his back. She had known Killian almost as long as she had known Neal. Being best friends and all, it had not been out of the ordinary for them all to get together sometimes. But the fact that Emma had been attracted to him nearly that entire time didn't help her situation. She loved Neal. He would always hold a special part of her heart. But Killian…
Emma licked her lips at just the thought of him in such close proximity to her. It was just the two of them.
It wasn't just the physical attraction. And maybe it was a little wrong on her part to admit that she was probably more physically attracted to her boyfriend's best friend than she was her actual boyfriend. But it was more than that. It was the size of his heart that had drawn her in. It had been his sense of humor and his quick wit. And it had been the way- at any given moment- he could open himself up wide and let her see a side of himself he tried to keep hidden away.
Killian and Neal had some similar qualities. And that was good when you were best friends. But there were many things that distinguish the two as different. And, unfortunately, those differences seemed to draw Emma a little in the wrong direction.
"Ah… Ems. Are you decent?"
Her eyebrows raised at his peculiar question. "What?"
Killian chuckled at that. "Are you decent? I know I barged in on you and all…"
"Oh. Oh!" Emma felt her cheeks flame hot and she tugged tighter on her robe around her. "Um… yeah. You can turn around."
She heard rather than saw the dresser drawer open, and the jingle of the spare car key on its ring.
When he turned around, her gaze became transfixed on his eyes.
Emma loved everything about his look. He was just tall enough that if she stood up on tiptoe, the height difference would make for a delicious kiss. And if she wore heels, then their lips would only be mere inches apart. His deep blue eyes were encased by long and dark lashes. She liked how thick his eyebrows were. But Emma couldn't decide what was more enticing. Was it that silky-looking black hair that curled just so slightly over his forehead or was it that thick red-hued beard that she imagined was rough and coarse that would feel best under her skin?
God! It was like Killian looked right through her. It was like he never noticed how her body responded to every part of his. Emma was standing there, completely naked underneath the bathrobe. And he never gave an inkling that that fact enticed him even the tiniest bit.
"I'm sorry, Emma," Killian told her with a frown.
Emma shook her head. "For?"'
He shrugged again. "For barging in like this. Neal said you were probably getting ready for work. Since you didn't answer the phone, it was going to be likely that you wouldn't have had the time to run down to his job and bring him the key. So it was important that the best friend swooped in to save the day."
"It's no problem," she assured him with another shake of her head. "That's what best friends are for, right? And that's what you have the key for."
Killian nodded then.
Emma stared up at him. Because she thought it was her imagination going wild that made her see something in his eyes. Something quick and fleeting.
"I… should get going," Killian murmured. "Neal gets off of work soon. And you need to get dressed."
Yes, because she was naked underneath that robe. And she was very aware of that nakedness.
He moved then.
It was a tumultuous and very difficult thing to live with. Emma wished more than anything that Killian would not walk right past her and ignore the ache that was building inside of her for him.
He didn't know. Killian walked right past her. He didn't see the utter despair that consumed her completely.
"Killian?" His name left her mouth as a murmur just as he was behind her.
"Yeah?"
She knew that he considered her a friend. She knew that he respected the relationship she had with Neal. She knew that he believed that she was a really good for him as well. And Emma also knew that Killian Jones had never looked at her with anything that contradicted those facts.
And, with a heavy sadness in her heart for a man who had been a part of her life for years now, it stopped her from acting on that impulse to bare herself in that moment.
Emma turned to look at him. She buried all thoughts and feelings down deep because… there was no other possible acceptable solution.
"Um… thanks for saving me a trip down to Neal's job," she murmured. She couldn't meet his eyes because those feelings weren't buried deep enough just yet.
"My pleasure."
Emma heard the buzz of Killian's phone from somewhere on him. She watched as she pulled it from his pants pocket.
"And that's Neal texting me now." His laugh was small. "He wanted to make sure I got in okay. You're still not answering your phone. Ems… Emma." And his hand came to lightly tug on one end of her sash. "I have to get out of here."
His grasp of her robe didn't mean anything to him, but it took every fiber in her being to accept that it was only a friendly gesture.
"Yeah." She cleared her throat quietly, looking away from him. "So go."
Killian moved then, heading back to the bedroom door.
"I'll talk to you later. See you, Emma."
"Yeah, see you later, Killian."
Emma looked back up and she watched as he disappeared out of the bedroom.
It was her issue, and no one else's. The fact that he made her heart race by just a simple touch of fabric that moved just barely against her skin was only known by her. The fact that it was a secret best kept to herself only made her feelings of loneliness grow.
Moving towards the bedroom door herself, she heard the click of their front door closing.
Killian was gone.
A smile broke across Emma's face. It was her burden and her burden alone.
If she was honest with herself- and sometimes it was really hard to be that honest with herself- she was falling quite hard for her boyfriend's best friend. A best friend whose friendship had spanned years before she had known either of them. A best friend who wouldn't usually give her a second glance. At least not the way she would like.
And, damn, no matter how wrong she knew it was, Emma still wished that he would look at her the way she needed him to. Because if he did, all bets would be off.
Yes, she loved Neal Cassidy. She wouldn't have stayed all this time if she had not loved him.
But, she believed with everything in her heart, that loving Killian Jones would be all the more fulfilling.