AN: I'm not sure how I feel about that summary, BUT it was the best thing that I could come up with to summarize the entire story. This first chapter is mostly background on Emma with the beginnings of some Emma/Killian interaction. I needed to get it out of the way before the real fun could begin. Also, I gave it an M rating for language and the eventual sexual scenes that will happen. Enjoy!

"Thanks, August. I really appreciate it," Emma said as she came back out into the living room after saying goodbye to Henry, who was playing video games in his room.

"After ten years of this, you can probably stop thanking me, Emma. I don't mind at all. You know that." She always thanked him, and August always told her that it was no trouble. Because it wasn't. He loved the kid.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll be back around two, one if we're not busy." She grabbed her keys and mentally went though her checklist of everything she needed before going to work. It seemed she had everything, so she hurried toward the door, not wanting to be late.

"Have fun!" August called after her.

Fun. Yeah, she'd have tons of fun.

The bar was Emma's second job, and she only worked there on the weekends during the evening. She didn't think she could handle any more than that, though. Regina, her boss, was a tough person to work for, always complaining and yelling at her for no reason. Really, Emma had no idea what it was, but Regina did not like to be nice to her. Or anyone. She only put up with it because she needed the extra money.

How did Emma Swan get in this position? Her less than spectacular life started from the moment she was born and abandoned on the side of a highway. She was thrown into the foster system and passed from family to family after turning three, and the only consistent thing in her life growing up had been August.

August was like her big brother; he was a few years older than her and always looked after her, even when they weren't together. He always knew where she was, what family it was this year, and he always showed up to see her. Emma honestly didn't know what she would have done without him. He told her he would make sure that when she turned eighteen, he'd already have a job and a place for her to come and stay with him, and that would have been a perfect way to celebrate her newfound adulthood…except she went and fucked up.

Neal. Neal was the reason that her life changed. When she first met him, she thought he was the one. He made her feel beautiful and special, and she was spending inordinate amounts of time with him while August was off getting a degree because he had been smart enough to stay in school. Neal was like her, though. He had no real home to go to, no real purpose in mind for himself, and Emma loved that. Finally, someone she could relate to. They slept in his car or in motel rooms, and when they needed food, they stole it because neither of them had a job or money. August was always telling her to leave the guy and come stay with him, get a job, start making something of herself, but she told him she already found what she wanted.

Looking back, Emma knew that was a stupid way to live. She wished she could have realized that before she got pregnant. It scared the shit out of her when she found out for sure, having taken multiple tests that were only further confirmed by her late period. She hid it for weeks, too afraid of how Neal would react to the news. He made it clear that all he wanted was to play things by ear and go where he wanted. He told Emma he loved her, but he never talked about settling down or actually trying to make a life for the two of them, and that worried her. That was the life that she had wanted, too, but if she was pregnant, she couldn't have that anymore. They couldn't have that anymore.

Neal was the first person to love her, besides August, but he didn't count - he was her brother. Emma gave Neal all of herself. She was completely devoted to him, completely crazy about him, and she thought that maybe, just maybe he would be happy about the news because he loved her, too.

Boy, was she wrong.

The day she told him was the last day that she saw him. He went ballistic, telling her that she needed to take care of it because they couldn't raise a child. She tried to argue that they could if they were together, but he wasn't having any of it, and they went to sleep angry for the first time in their entire relationship. When Emma woke up the next morning, Neal was gone, and Emma was stranded in a motel room that was hours away from the only person she had left. August.

As usual, August saved the day. He came and picked her up and consoled her while she cried over losing Neal, and he didn't judge her for being pregnant. He told her that they'd figure it out, and whether she wanted to keep it or not, he'd support her.

Emma decided to keep the baby, naming it Henry. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that there a person growing inside of her who would love her unconditionally, someone she could take care of and be there for. How could she give that up? How could she put that baby into a system that had screwed her over so much?

It was hard at first, but she lived with August for the first two years of Henry's life before finally getting a place of her own, and that was where she remained now. It wasn't the most impressive apartment, and it was certainly small, but it was home.

The only reason she could even afford it was because of her main job working at Granny's Bar and Grille, which she owed entirely to Ruby. Ruby's grandma owned the place, and Ruby was kind of like the secondhand man in the business. Emma's resume was shit, and she knew it, but Ruby knew she just needed someone to give her a chance, and Emma hadn't proved her wrong. She worked twice as hard as any other waitress and walked out with hundreds of dollars in tips every night. Those tips were her livelihood because her hourly rate was not something to be proud of.

The bar had been something August had talked her into because he knew she was still struggling financially and was too damn proud to accept any money from him. He offered numerous times, but she always refused, so he had suggested applying at the bar when he noticed a 'help wanted' sign in the window one day. It had luckily worked out, and she enjoyed the atmosphere, despite her annoying boss.

The other bartender who was always there with her on the weekends was Victor, Ruby's boyfriend thanks to Emma. Ruby and Victor were the only friends Emma had besides August, and she liked it that way. With Henry, she didn't have time for any other friends, and she didn't want to have to make time because those days when she got to spend more than an hour with her son in one sitting were precious, precious days.

It killed her to have to work so much, but she didn't want him to ever feel like they were in trouble. She always put aside what she needed for the bills, and the rest went to Henry for what he needed for school or what he wanted to eat or even just if he wanted a new video game. It was the least she could do for how often she was working and leaving him with August. Henry understood, though, and he never gave any indication that he was unhappy.

"Emma, Regina's going to kill you," Victor said as soon as Emma walked in the doors.

"Why? What the hell could I have done in the two seconds I've been in here?" Emma asked incredulously, groaning as she stuffed her jacket and purse into her little cubby in the break room.

"She thought you were working last night so she only scheduled me, and you didn't answer your phone when she called you. I tried calling, too, but-"

"Last night, I worked at the restaurant. She fucking knows that. It was a Thursday. I haven't worked on a Thursday in years. I didn't answer because I wasn't available."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Let's just get out there before she comes in here screaming."

Emma rolled her eyes, putting her name badge on her plain black t-shirt. Swan it read. She'd been given the choice of either her first or last name, and she'd chosen her last.

One of the reasons she liked working the late weekend shifts at the bar was because of the tips. Drunken men who had a thing for blondes tended to leave quite generous tips, and she was more than happy to collect them for putting up with the remarks she received as well.

"You take the left tonight?" Victor suggested, seeing that there were men on that side, while the right was predominantly women. They always split it up this way.

"Yeah, fine with me."

The first couple hours always went fast because people were constantly coming in, and she was constantly moving. As it grew later, the same group usually hung around, and she was just refilling drinks unless some stragglers stumbled in, and they were at that point in the night now. It was almost midnight, but you wouldn't know it from inside the establishment.

"So how was your anniversary picnic in the park with Ruby yesterday?" Emma asked as they cleaned glasses out in the little sink that was on one of the sides of the middle area of the almost circular bar. It was easier to clean during down time so they wouldn't have to do it all at the end of their shift when all they wanted was to go home.

"It was nice. She liked the chocolate covered strawberries, so thanks for the tip."

"I knew she would." Emma was no longer a relationship kind of girl, but she was more than happy to help out her friends with theirs.

"Hey, tall, dark, and handsome just walked through the door." Victor nodded over toward the empty seat the man that had just come in was about to take. "Go get 'em."

Emma looked up, watching the man sit down and look around for a bartender. For some reason she couldn't explain, her mouth went a bit dry at the sight of him, and she averted her eyes to clean her hands on a towel before walking over to him.

"What can I get you?" Emma asked, ignoring the pang of desire that shot through her at the way his eyebrow went up as he read her name tag. He was way too attractive to be there that late in the evening. Usually, the crowd was a lot less pleasing to look at as the night wore down because the good looking guys had already found their prey for the night and taken off.

"Swan?" he questioned. "Is that your first name?"

Dear lord, he had an Irish accent, and Emma couldn't keep from looking slightly surprised at his voice. "Uh, no, it's not my first name," she said like it should have been obvious, like she got that question all the time, and like it was annoying that he'd even asked. There, that was more like her.

"Then what is your first name?"

Why the hell was he asking her that? "How about you tell me what you want to drink?"

"A glass of whiskey will be fine, love."

And then he smirked. Smirked. Emma just looked at him for a moment, trying to figure out what game he was playing at here, but then she gave up and went to get him his drink.

"Here, just yell when you want a refill." Emma slid the glass to him and turned to go back to helping Victor, but the guy just wouldn't let her go.

"I could yell, or you could just sit here with me until that time comes."

"I don't think that's in my job description, so…" She shrugged, being sarcastically sorry.

He looked at her like he couldn't believe she was able to resist him or something, and it made her furious because she was trying very hard to not think about how attractive he was and how much she liked listening to him talk.

"Killian," he said, holding his hand out for her to shake.

Emma knew he wanted her first name, but she wasn't going to give it to him. She didn't like men who came into the bar knowing her first name, even if they were that good looking. "Great. Thanks for the introduction." She shook his hand and then actually managed to walk away, keeping her back turned to him as she began drying the glasses Victor had set aside.

"He likes you. Take advantage of that." Ugh. Victor.

"I am so not in the mood to flirt tonight, and he keeps asking me for my name."

"Would it really kill you to tell him your name? I bet he leaves you at least a ten."

"At this point, I don't care what he leaves me. I just want him to hurry up and finish his drink so he can get out of here." Emma didn't know why he was messing with her head so much, but she didn't want that. She didn't have room for anyone else in her life, and he was asking too many questions for her liking.

"Ha! Good one. He's going to have at least three before he leaves, trust me."

"Not helping, Victor."

Then, she heard it again. That accent.

"Hey, Swan! Glass is empty."

"Better get going, Swan," Victor teased, elbowing her lightly.

Audibly groaning, Emma set down the towel and glass she was holding, grabbing the whiskey bottle on the way over. She poured Killian's drink right in front of him, setting the bottle under the bar so she wouldn't have to walk over and get it when he inevitably asked for another refill. Instead of stomping away after, she stuck around, knowing that some sort of comment would be made.

"You know, I've never had someone as pretty as you pour me a drink before."

"Keep that up, and you never will again." What was wrong with her? Why was she being so rude to him? Well, he was blatantly hitting on her, but she was used to that. It happened all the time there. The difference was that she was actually attracted to him and could easily have been flirting right back. Her instinct was to put those walls up and act like a bitch so he'd go away.

It didn't help that he was smirking and raising that damn eyebrow again.

"Come now, lass, it was a compliment. Didn't your parents teach you how to say thank you?" Killian meant it teasingly, knowing she was just giving him a hard time, but the look on her face made him feel bad for saying it. What about what he said would make her look so hurt?

Emma visibly tensed up at the mention of her parents, looking down at the floor for a moment before telling herself that she needed to pull it together. It all happened very quickly, and she didn't think he would notice the slight change in her facial expression, but he did. When she looked back up at him, his eyes were questioning, and the smirk was no longer there.

"Thank you," was all she said before actually walking away this time, whispering to Victor on her way out that she needed some air. If she was lucky, when she came back inside, the Irish man would be gone.

Surprisingly, he was, and all that was left where he'd been sitting was a twenty-dollar bill to cover his drinks and a tip.

"That's for you," Victor told her when she turned to go to the register. "He already paid for the drinks while you were gone. I knew he'd leave you a nice tip."

"Oh…" Emma didn't question it, just slipped the bill in her pocket along with the other tips she'd received that night. None of them had been that generous.

"I knew he liked you. You should have gotten his number."

"When will you and Ruby quit trying to get me to go out on a date? I don't have time for another man in my life. Henry's all I need."

"You need to have some fun, Emma. You stress yourself out over work, and you never take any time for yourself." Victor and Ruby were always setting her up on blind dates, and either Emma wouldn't show up for them, or she would but then never call the guy again.

"We have movie and game night once a week, isn't that me having fun and taking time for myself?"

Their weekly 'family' night was always fun, and Henry enjoyed having everyone together, which is why Emma agreed to it in the first place.

"I mean fun outside of all of us. Meet someone new. Like that guy." He nodded over toward where Killian had been sitting. "If he ever comes back, I'm giving him your number."

"Like hell!" Emma would kill Victor if he ever did that again. He'd tried it before, and Emma had grabbed the slip of paper just in time.

The rest of the night went by quickly, as Emma was in a daze the whole time thinking about Killian and then trying to figure out why she was thinking about him. It was a never-ending cycle, and she was so relieved when her shift was over and she could go home.

Little did she know that this whole cycle with him was just beginning.