A/N: I wanted to wish the happiest of birthdays to o-u-a-timer. Mona, you are an amazing person and I am so happy to have met you. You are definitely my writing soulmate 3. Thank you so much for always being there for me. Love ya, chica!
This story was meant to be a quick one-shot to celebrate a wonderful friend's birthday. I quickly found out that to do it justice, it needed to be multi-chapter. As of now, I have one chapter written...so it will likely be a bit before the next chapter is posted as I HAVE to get ahead in my writing (I normally don't post until I have five chapters written).
Also, it wouldn't be a fic from me without a good amount of angst. I will say that is will not be near the amount that was seen in Sometimes It Hurts though, if you read that one.
Anyway, enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own OUAT or it's characters.
Sighing in frustration, Emma shifted her fingers through her hair. The bright red numbers from the clock on the stove were mocking her, reminding her of how late it really was. Yet, there she stood in the kitchen, making popcorn, and preparing to watch a movie despite the hour. Good thing she didn't have to work tomorrow. David had graciously given her the day off after she'd spent the last three days staking out a suspect's house and successfully apprehending him earlier that day.
The only problem was now she couldn't sleep. She was either too hyped up from the chase or too lonely, but either way she had laid her head down on the pillow and sleep had refused to come. Which was why she'd decided to start a movie when it was nearly midnight. At the beep of the microwave, Emma opened the door and pulled the bag of popcorn out. After pouring the popcorn in the bowl, she made her way to the living room.
Settling into the couch, she wrapped her extra soft fleece blanket, the very same one Killian had gotten her for christmas, around her and wondered briefly if any of her friends would be awake at this ungodly hour. Mary-Margaret and David were most certainly asleep since having a newborn was not the easiest thing in the word. Killian was out of town, but he would be sleeping as well. Ruby and Liam were a different story though. Ruby's bar didn't close for another two hours and Liam always helped her close when he was in town on leave.
Emma shook her head and glanced around the living room. Perhaps, she was lonely. All of her friends were paired up and, given her recent break up with Walsh, she was left the odd woman out. She bit her lip. She didn't want to think of Walsh, of his high expectations, of his failed marriage proposal, or of his final words to her. You're incapable of love, Emma. That's what happens when you grow up the way you did.
She could feel the heat rising to her face. Screw him! What did he know? She knew how to love. She loved her adoptive mom. She loved her friends. She loved a lot of people. She just didn't love him and, just like Killian had told her on the phone the other night, that was okay. Wiggling to get comfortable, Emma pulled her blanket up further. She grabbed the popcorn and pressed play on Pirates of the Caribbean.
The previews had only just ended when a knock rang out through the cottage from the front door. Jumping in response, the popcorn spilled out of the bowl and onto the ground. Her eyes narrowed as she let out an irritated sigh. Who the hell could be at her house in the middle of the night? Placing her bowl on the table, she shoved her blanket off and made her way to the door.
Once there, she peeked into the peephole, but only saw a mass of dark hair. Clicking the deadbolt, she turned the handle and opened the door. Her eyebrows furrowed as her eyes filled with surprise. In front of her stood Killian Jones. His cheeks were flushed, his hair a disheveled mess, and his eyes were blazing with anger. In his arms, wrapped in an anchor blanket, was little Nathaniel, Killian's eleven month old son, who looked to be fast asleep.
"Killian?" Her hand pressed against the door jamb.
His eyes met hers and as his hold tightened on Nate. "I'm sorry, Emma." His voice was hard, as if he were trying to keep his emotions in check. "We… Well, we didn't have anywhere else to go."
"What happened?" Emma asked with soft eyes and a tilt of her head.
He was sitting next to her on her couch, Nate was wrapped in his blanket asleep on his chest. He'd been tempted to allow Emma to put Nate in her spare bedroom to get some sleep as soon as she'd invited them in, but the idea of letting go of his son was not one he was ready to entertain at the moment. His gaze drifted from Emma to his little lad. Nate was undisturbed by the fact that he wasn't in his bedroom at this late hour, he'd fallen back asleep in the car on the way to Emma's and had thankfully stayed that way.
He lifted his head, his eyes meeting Emma's before swallowing hard. How the bloody hell was he to explain what happened when he wasn't entirely sure himself? How was he supposed to talk when it felt like his very heart was being ripped from his chest? How was he…. Emma placed her hand on his knee and the contact pulled him from his thoughts.
"You know you can tell me anything, Killian." Her words were a soft murmur in an otherwise silent room.
He bit the inside of his cheek. He knew he could tell her anything, he'd been able to do so since the day they'd met on the playground after Emma had officially been adopted, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was… How do you tell your best friend that your life was falling apart? Bloody hell, where would he even start? He could feel the tears prick the corner of his eyes and his jaw clenched. How do you tell someone that your wife...
He took a deep breath and unconsciously patted his son's back. "I…" His head shook, one hand curling into a fist. "When…" His his heart clenched as he squeezed his eyes shut. "Milah…" His hand ran the length of Nate's back as his lad shifted slightly. He took another deep, calming breath and opened his eyes. "Milah cheated on me." His voice quivered as he finally whispered the words.
Emma's eyes widened, her lips fell open in surprise. "What?" Her voice was full of shock, of disbelief at his words.
His features crumpled at the thought of having to repeat himself. Didn't she see that he was barely holding on, barely keeping his emotions in check? Didn't she she that...
Her hand reached out to cover his, her eyes sympathetic as they met his gaze. "I'm so sorry, Killian. I can't believe...You don't deserve that."
His eyes fell to the floor as he shook his head dejectedly. "I don't?" He let out a small sigh. "I mean you know we've had problems as of late." His shoulders fell. "Perhaps, if I had listened more or if I had stayed home or if…."
Gentle pressure on his hand had him drawing his gaze back to meet Emma's. Her head swayed slowly from side to side as her lips pursed slightly. "No, Killian. Don't do that. Don't put all of the blame on yourself. It was Milah's choice to do this, her's alone."
He tightened his hold on Nate causing his lad to cuddle more into his chest. Dropping his nose into his lad's too long hair, he breathed in his scent. It may have been Milah's choice, but that didn't mean he didn't have a hand in it as well. It took two for a marriage to succeed and it took two for it to fail. What he didn't understand was why his marriage was failing. When he'd left for New York to meet with his publisher he thought they were okay, he thought they had agreed to work on their problems. He thought….
His eyes hardened. It didn't bloody matter what he thought. Milah hadn't thought the same. If she had, he wouldn't have come home to a screaming lad and his wife fucking Robert Gold in their bed. His stomach twisted as he thought about the two of them wrapped in the sheets, in the same sheets he'd bought Milah as an anniversary gift. She didn't even have the decency to hide her dalliance when he'd found her.
"Hey…" Picking up on his turmoil, Emma squeezed his hand once more. "You have every right to be upset…"
"Upset?!" His voice was harsh, but he tried to keep it low since Nate was still asleep. "Emma..." His heart clenched violently as tears formed in his eyes. "I don't know which way is up and which way is down. One minute I feel like falling to my knees and in the next, I feel like balling my hands into fists and breaking something. " He could feel the despair settle in his chest. "And right now? Right now I don't know what to do. I'm lost." Finally, the tears fell.
Emma reached out, cupped his cheek, and wiped a tear with her thumb. He turned and pressed his face further into her hand, taking comfort in the warmth of her, of his best friend.
"Right now, you don't have to do anything." She lowered her hand and gave him an encouraging smile. "All you have to do is focus on being the best father you can for Natey Matey."
The use of his lad's nickname caused the corners of his mouth to lift slightly. He looked down at his beautiful sleeping lad, his head full of dark hair peeking out from his blanket. He could do that, he could focus on his son, on his Nate. But the thought of returning to that house, of returning to the place where his wife had…
"I can't go back to that house, Emma." His voice broke as his arms tightened around Nate.
For the first time that night Emma gave him a real true 'Emma Swan' smile and he felt the pain in his chest loosen just slightly. "Well, that part is easy. You two stay with me."
Asking him to stay was an easy decision. Afterall, he was her best friend and he needed her. What he was going through was something that wasn't going to be easy. He needed to be with someone who cared about him, with someone who loved him. Since Liam was only in town one weekend a month on leave, he didn't even have a place in town anymore. More often than not Liam ended up staying with Ruby in her apartment above the bar, which wasn't really an option for Killian considering Nate was with him. No, staying with her was the easiest option.
But, from the wide, shocked eyes on Killian's face, she knew it wasn't going to be easy convincing him of that.
"Emma." He shook his head. "I can't ask you to take on a grown man and an eleven month old."
She rolled her eyes. Take him on? Hadn't she been doing that since she was six and Nate, Nate was a cinnamon roll. He was the happiest child she'd ever encountered. Plus, she wanted to do this… she wanted to help him.
"Killian, really?" She waved her hand in the air. "You're my best friend and I have the room. It's nothing."
His eyes fell to Nate and she could almost anticipate what he would say next. "Having an almost toddler in the house is not exactly easy, lass. Milah hated it when…"
His words trailed off and she felt her heart break for him. How could Milah do something like this? Killian had been completely devoted to her since they met in college. She could remember how excited he'd been when he'd called and told her about meeting Milah, how in love they appeared every time she saw them together. The fact that Milah had cheated on him, on her best friend, shocked her. He didn't deserve this, no one ever deserved this.
"Hey." Her voice was gentle as she reached over and lifted his chin to meet her gaze. "Remember when we were kids and we promised to always be there for each other?" He nodded his head, a small smile forming on his lips. "This is my way of keeping that promise. Stay here. Please."
She laid her hand back in her lap and watched as his eyes scanned her face before falling to the floor. When he finally he looked up at her, his eyes sad and defeated, a small, true smile graced his lips.
"Okay." He whispered while shifting Nate against his chest. "Okay, we'll stay with you."
She grinned. Standing up from her place on the couch, she held her hand out for Killian to grasp. Wasting no time, his arm reached out to meet hers. Their fingers entwined and she turned to walk him up the steps to his room. Right before they made it to the stairs, Killian tugged her hand causing her to turn. As soon as she was facing him, he enveloped her with his free arm and pinned Nate in between the two of them.
"I cannot thank you enough for this, Emma." The words were said into her hair as she wrapped her arms around him. "You are bloody amazing."
She felt his body shake as he finally succumbed to the pain raging inside of him. One of her hands found the back of his head while the other ran the the length of his back in comfort. She could feel the tears prick her eyes as she thought about what he was going through. She wished there was some way to take the pain away, but there wasn't. All she could do was assure him that he wasn't alone.
"I'm here, Killian. I'm not going anywhere. I've got you, I've got you both."
Thank you for reading!