Captain Swan One-Shots

Second Chance, Part 13

Her worried - and overprotective - brother cut her off: "Belle, love, what's the matter?"

"It's okay, Killian. I'll be fine," she tried to reassure him - only for him to refute.

"You're not okay. I can see you're upset."

Before she could form a response, he shot a glare toward their father.

"Did you bloody have something to do with this?"

"It's not his fault," Belle placated - but her words fell on deaf ears.

Brennan then told him, "We only talked about your brother and Belle's mother - surely you can see why she's emotional."

Killian eyed him for several long moments. He then turned to his sister and asked, "Is that really what happened?"

She nodded. She then explained, "I only talked about how I wished I could have known Liam, and I wondered what my mother would have thought about...all of this," gesturing with her hands.

She took a deep breath before she continued, "I just sometimes wish things could be different."

"Aye, love, I feel the same way - I don't think I can describe how much I miss my brother," Killian said as he sank back down in his chair. He then took a deep breath and surmised, "I know thinking about those damn what ifs and living in the past isn't conducive, but that doesn't mean it isn't bloody unfair."

He then sipped on his coffee before biting into a glazed donut. He then let out another deep breath and ran his hand over his face.

Belle sat quietly - her face a plethora of emotions. Her eyes flitted downward as she ran her fingers along the rim of the mug.

Brennan regarded the two of them for a moment considering what he could possibly do or say. He then exhaled deeply and empathized, "I understand that this is hard for you - I miss them, too, "his voice cracking a bit, "And Alice as well. Like you two, I hold so many memories that I sometimes wish to relive."

Killian scoffed. "You mean before you abandoned all of us? Of course, you didn't do that to my mother, but you still stomped on her memory by purposefully leaving the sons she would have given everything to stay with."

"Maybe you shouldn't..." Belle tried to placate her brother - only for him to ball his fist.

"Shouldn't what? Tell the bloody truth?" he seethed.

He then pinched the bridge of his nose and spoke, "Look, I'm trying so bloody hard to slowly let you in my life, but I can't sit here and listen to you go on about how much you miss our family," gesturing between himself and Belle.

She let out a sigh before she offered, "I don't think he meant anything by it - he was only trying to be sympathetic."

"When he's the bloody reason we were miserable?" Killian argued, gesturing wildly.

"Killian, if you only listen..." Brennan tried to reason - only for his son to interrupt.

"Listen to what, pray tell?"

Brennan only sighed before Belle spoke, "Killian, I know how hard this is - believe me, I do - but dredging up all of this isn't going to help us."

"Neither is acting like either one of us actually knows how to let him back into our lives - or if it's even what we want," he refuted, slamming his finger against the table.

Brennan ran his fingers through his dark hair and lamented, "I was afraid this would happen."

Killian clenched his jaw and readied himself to argue when Belle told him, "Give him a chance to explain."