Emma Swan crossed her arms and took a step back. "No. No, not a chance. Not gonna happen. Absolutely not. Just NO."

Why had she ever agreed to take this project? Why had she let Mary Margaret and Ruby talk her into it? Even just reading the script gave her a bad feeling about all of it—it was an interesting story concept but it hit way too close to home. And if that wasn't bad enough, now they'd finished the casting and the producer, Regina Mills had just broken the news to her.

Well, they were just going to have to work on recasting a few roles because there was no way in hell she was going to act opposite Killian Jones.

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

Two weeks before

Emma Swan pushed open the door of the trendy coffee shop across from her apartment complex and scanned the room until she caught sight of her agent enthusiastically flagging her down.

Emma grinned. There was absolutely nothing subtle about Ruby Lucas, but she was also one of the kindest, most supportive people Emma had ever met, and Emma considered her one of her very best friends.

Emma grinned as she started toward the booth in the back where Ruby and their other best friend (and Emma's brand new sister-in-law) Mary Margaret Nolan sat sipping at large mugs of fragrant, steaming liquid.

"Hey guys; how's it going?" she asked as she slid into the booth next to Mary Margaret.

Ruby slid a mug across the table toward her. "We went ahead and ordered you a hot cocoa."

"With cinnamon," Mary Margaret added.

"Thanks," Emma said warily. These two only had her order ready for her when they were trying to butter her up for something. "So what's going on?"

Ruby gave her an exaggerated innocent look. "Going on? Why do you think something's going on? Can't a couple of friends make a nice gesture toward their other friend?"

Emma shot her a skeptical look, and Ruby sighed.

"Fine," she said dramatically. "We did want to ask you something, but it's not a bad thing. It's actually business, and an amazing opportunity."

Emma looked back and forth from one eager face to the other. "Why do I get the impression I'm really not going to like this amazing opportunity?"

"Oh you are, Emma!" Mary Margaret said. "It's just…well, with your past and background, it might be a little…difficult."

"Well that sounds ominous."

Ruby slid a booklet across the table to her, and Emma looked at it curiously, reading the bold title written across the top: Taking Back Neverland.

"What's this?" she asked, absently flipping through it.

"This, Emma," Ruby said, "is your big break. This is the newest Regina Mills picture, and I got you an audition for the female lead!"

Emma looked up in surprise. Ruby got her an audition for a Regina Mills film? And a lead role at that? That was…amazing. Emma had gotten into theater back in high school when she'd been placed with Ruth Nolan, the best foster mother any kid could want.

In a lot of ways she owed her life to her foster family. She'd been seventeen, angry with the world, and well on her way to completely throwing away her life. Ruth had seen something in Emma, something no one else had ever taken the time to see. She'd been unfailingly patient with Emma, and when Emma was finally at a place where she trusted the older woman enough to listen to her, Ruth had made the suggestion that Emma try her hand at acting.

"Just think about it, Emma," she'd said. "On the stage…well, you'll have the opportunity to work through your anger in a productive way. You can channel those emotions you don't know what to do with into compelling performances. Performances that will bring joy and entertainment and meaning to who knows how many people out there."

And the little community theater had opened up a whole new world for Emma. She found her niche, her place to shine. Through her acting she could become anything or anyone she wanted. And when people started coming up to her and telling her how much her performance had touched them, how it had helped them work through issues similar to the character she was playing, it felt like her life had meaning and purpose once again.

Emma had met Ruby and Mary Margaret in college when they all roomed together during freshman year. It had been a bit of an adjustment at first; they were all so wildly different—Ruby over-the-top and a bit of a party animal, Mary Margaret wholesome, motherly, so full of hope it was disgusting sometimes, and Emma still a bit stand-offish with sky-high walls. Somehow they'd worked through those difficult weeks of adjustment, and they'd been inseparable ever since.

Just out of college, Ruby had become Emma's agent, and promptly landed her commercials and tiny "extra" parts in low budget movies and TV shows.

But it was a couple of years later that Emma landed the role that made her a household name. She'd been cast as the lead in a prime time television show called "Welcome to Storybrooke". She played a tough, no-nonsense bail bondswoman who teamed up with a small-town sheriff to solve crimes no one else could solve.

The show had had a good run, lasting five seasons, and Emma had loved every minute of it. She got along great with her co-star, Graham Humbert, and they had so much fun working together, Emma almost couldn't call it work at all. There had, of course, been all kinds of rumors and tabloid stories that the two of them, who had eventually (and inevitably) become on-screen lovers, had been an item in real life as well.

She couldn't deny she found Graham handsome, and she liked him a good deal, but that was all there was to it. They'd gone on a date or two, more out of curiosity to see if there was anything to all the hype than anything else, but neither of them had felt any great stirring of passion, and so they remained just good friends.

But amazing though her run on "Welcome to Storybrooke" had been, all good things come to an end, and for the last year…short of little bit pieces here and there…Emma had been out of work. Ruby had been burning the midnight oil for months trying to find Emma that big, break-out roll that would solidify her place in Hollywood forever.

A leading role in a Regina Mills film would most definitely do that.

"Wow," Emma said, looking around at both the women currently beaming at her. "I don't know what to say. This is incredible!"

"Yeah," Mary Margaret said, "and that's not even the best part! David and I just got cast in the film! If you get the part we'll play…get this…your brother and sister-in-law. Talk about art imitating life, right?"

"I gotta say," Emma said with a quick shake of her head. "It all sounds like a dream come true, so why the whole buttering me up thing? What's the other shoe that's going to drop?"

Ruby and Mary Margaret shared a significant look. "It's just…" Mary Margaret said, putting a comforting hand on Emma's arm. "Well, the main character…Anna Swan (yeah she even has the same last name as you! Is that a sign or what?) Anyway, her story has some…similarities to your own, and I can see where it might dredge up a few rough memories."

"Okay…." Emma said. "What exactly does that mean?"

"You see," Ruby said, "the whole premise of the film is that Anna Swan was a busy professional who…who suddenly meets the little boy she'd given up for adoption years ago."

Emma sucked in a long, shocked breath as the memories slammed into her. No! No, no, no, no, no. That was not a moment from her past she wanted to dredge up. What were they thinking?

"It all works out well," Mary Margaret hastened to reassure. "The boy gets kidnapped and taken to Neverland, but Anna goes after him, and well, she not only saves him—with the help of her brother and sister-in-law and her love interest, Captain Hook—but she finds healing in her relationship with her son."

Emma got quickly to her feet, her head spinning. "Guys…" she said faintly. "Look, thanks for the opportunity and everything, but I can't do this."

She prepared to do what she did best—run—when Ruby got to her feet, the script in her hand. "Emma, I know how rough…that…time in your life was, but please. Just think about it. Read the script. Just don't make a snap decision. Please?"

Emma stood still for long moments, fighting within herself, but finally nodded, taking the script from Ruby. "Fine. I'll read the script, but that's all."

"That's all I ask," Ruby said.

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

Present day

Emma had read the script—and it spoke to her in a way nothing had in years, maybe ever. Despite the pain (visions of giving birth chained to a hospital bed, not even allowing herself a glimpse of her baby boy as the nurse took him away, danced through her mind), she knew she had to give this film a shot.

And so she'd gone to the audition…and had been hired on the spot.

She'd come in to the studio this morning for a chemistry test with the actor they wanted to cast as her love interest. It was only when she got here and was five minutes away from said chemistry test that Regina had given her the name of said actor.

"Not going to happen," Emma reiterated. "You're just going to have to look for a new actor, because this—me acting opposite Killian Jones—is not going to happen."

Regina sighed in exasperation and rolled her eyes dramatically. "Miss Swan stop with the theatrics. It's acting for heaven's sake! You don't have to fall in love with the guy, just act like you have. You are aware of the difference between acting and real life aren't you?"

Emma groaned. "Obviously. But even if I don't 'have to fall in love with him', I'll have to spend long hours with him. Not exactly wanting to spend several weeks of my life constantly sick to my stomach."

Killian Jones had a reputation a mile long that preceded him. He was your quintessential ladies' man; a different woman on his arm every night. He drank too much, flirted too much, and had such a bloated opinion of himself it was a miracle he and his ego could even fit through the studio door. She knew the smooth talking "I'm God's gift to women" type, and she didn't want anything to do with him.

"Well invest in Pepto, then," Regina said in her firm, no-nonsense voice, "because here's the deal. Killian Jones is big. Really big. You have no idea what a coup it was for us to get him. So if any actor's role is going to be recast, it's going to be yours. Understood?"

Emma closed her eyes, mentally praying for patience. After a couple of deep, cleansing breaths, she opened her eyes once again. "Fine. You've made your point. Let's get this stupid chemistry test over with."

"That's more like it," Regina said with a nod. "Oh, and you may want to wipe that sour scowl from your face before the test. You're supposed to be acting like you're falling in love, remember?"

"How could I forget?"

Regina opened the door to the set where the test was to take place and motioned Emma forward. Emma set her shoulders and walked in.

"Hello, love; my name's Killian Jones."

Emma looked up into open, friendly cerulean blue eyes situated in the most handsome face she'd ever seen. As she took his warm, firm hand, and shook it once, as she breathlessly answered "I'm Emma Swan", as he smiled gently, almost shyly, Emma realized she might just be in serious, serious trouble.

Notes:

-As stated in the summary, I originally posted this story in my Fluffy Friday collections, so if it seems familiar—that's probably why. I've got four chapters currently written, so I plan to post one each day. After that, updates will come every Friday.

-When I decided to try my hand at an "actors who 'hate' each other but end up cast as love interests" AU, I had a feeling it was going to be more than a one shot—and so it will be. Kind of like with "The Wedding Date", I'll need far more than 2000 words to set things up and get these two from "We can't stand each other" to...wherever they'll end up. :-) (At present, I'm planning 8 chapters and an epilogue.)

-Full disclosure: I don't know all that much about the whole casting/acting/movie making process, so if you do and you want to give me suggestions I would certainly be open to them!

-Up next: Part 2!