The Orphans

Past and Present

Emma glanced at her boyfriend, a smile plastered on their face. They've been dating for several years, and were happy with taking their relationship slowly. Emma had had a bad childhood, with being left on the side of the road as a child to nearly being caught for stealing. Killian had lost both of his parents as a young child and had also been placed in the foster system. Both had crap childhoods, but all of that changed when they met each other.

-

It was October 22nd, and Emma turned seventeen that day. Ever since she'd been released from the foster system, Emma had had a hard time surviving. Fortunately, it was 8:00 and she had a cup of coffee to wake her up and prepare herself for work. She'd found a job at an Arby's a few months back.

She was turning the corner from the alleyway she was in, and looked down at her hands for a moment. By the time she looked back up, it was too late for her to get out of the way. A man that was slightly taller than her collided into her and they both jumped back as the burning coffee splashed onto their clothes. Emma sighed.

"Really?" She stared at her soaking, white shirt before silently thanking the coffee for not getting on her red jacket. Before she was aware of what was going on, a set of hands and paper towels were pressed against her shirt.

"I am so sorry, love," she heard a man with a hint of an irish accent say. Emma looked up to say that it was her fault, but lost her breath when she saw his face. He had black hair and deep, ocean blue eyes. Realizing how embarrassing she must look, she quickly recuperated herself.

"No, no it was my fault. I should've been watching where I was going." The man laughed before holding out his hands.

"Killian Jones." She took his hands and they shook. "Emma Swan."

"It was my fault, though," Killian said, dropping his hand back at his side. "I was too busy studying my feet to notice you." He smiled in a friendly way. "Why don't you let me buy you another coffee? I have some money to spare."

Emma shook her head. "No, thank you. I really should be going. I have to get to work."

A slight frown appeared on his face. "Oh... alright. How about some other time, then?"

She stared into his eyes, losing herself in them. "Yeah, sure. You'll find me?"

He flashed her a devilish grin. "Always."

-

Today the two were on a quest to find an apartment to stay in while they searched for places to work. Something led them to a town called Storybrooke, Maine. Luckily for them, this town had an inn, unlike the past few towns they drove through. Killian looked at her.

"Shall we park here," he gestured towards a place called Granny's Diner. "And then drive around back after we eat dinner?"

They glanced at the clocktower, seeing that it was 7:30. Dinnertime. Emma nodded and he turned around and parked. Emma unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the yellow door to the bug before slamming it shut. The duo locked arms and walked inside, welcoming the smell of food.

People stared at the two in shock, which Emma found weird. She sat down at a booth in the corner to the left of the entrance, aware of the gazes burning into her back. Killian returned the favor, his eyes narrowed in confusion, as though he was trying to figure out why they were being stared at.

After what felt like a long time, she felt the burning sensation leave and heard feet walking towards the couple. She smiled at the waitress before becoming confused once more. The waitress had stopped in her tracks and her jaw dropped open, at a loss for words. She recuperated herself and took the final few steps towards the booth. Emma spoke up.

"Uh, hi..." she said, searching for a name tag and found it, "Ruby. Can I have a hot cocoa and a grilled cheese?"

Ruby stumbled over her words. "Oh-um-yeah. I just-we thought..." she trailed off, bewilderment lingering in her voice. The red and brown haired women turned towards Killian blinking rapidly and writing down Emma's order. "And you would like..."

His eyes widened and he quickly scanned the menu. "I'll take some rum and a kale salad." As she turned and starting walking away, he called out, "Thank you!"

The instant she was out of hearing distance, he turned towards her. "What the hell was that about?" Emma felt relieved.

"You noticed it, too?" She didn't give him a chance to respond. "I'm not sure, but I'd swear she looked like she saw a ghost. And of someone she knew, too."

She turned around and stared at the women. She was talking to another worker, and they kept throwing uncertain glances towards Killian and Emma.

Bewildered beyond belief, they talked about how they met again, laughing at how silly they'd been.

-

A week had passed, and Emma was disappointed that she hadn't seen this Killian Jones ever since their run in. Especially since she'd been looking for him every day. Just as she was about to give up hope and head to work, she heard his voice.

"Swan!" She turned and laughed when she saw him literally sprinting down the street. She jogged to meet him a quarter of the way. Emma smiled.

"Jones," she said, winking. Her mood brightened even more when he groaned and threw his head back.

"That sounds so weird," he protested. However, his grinned his devilish grin once more. "So are you gonna let me buy you a coffee today," he asked, pointing at her empty hands. Now it was Emma's turn to laugh.

"Sure."

-

Emma laughed as he twiddled his fingers. He only ever did this when he was embarrassed. She eagerly waited for him to confess whatever it was he was about to say, raising her eyebrows.

"Remember how you had told me that you'd been looking for me after we first met?" He smiled sadly."I'd been looking for you, too, and as you know, my birthday was a few weeks earlier. The thing was, On my birthday that year, I actually made a wish. I wished that I'd meet someone like me. That I'd be able to become friends with someone. As you l so know, I was never great at making friends. I was a loner."

Emma instantly reached across the table and grabbed his hands. "Hey. You aren't that scared seventeen year old you were when we met. Neither of us are."

The smile remained plastered on his face, and he looked down at their hands. holding them together. "I know. But when I met you, my whole life changed. I thought that there was a chance we could become friends-which we did. After we parted ways that first day, I realized that I wanted to go straight after you and console with you. I turned around, but you were already gone." His smile disappeared and he laced their fingers together.

"The moral is that I never want to lose you, love. Not after all I went through as I child. I can't lose you, too."

Now it was Emma's turn to reassure him. "And you won't. Trust me. We're survivors."

Before either could continue the conversation, Ruby came back with their food. Emma stared at the cocoa and turned towards the waitress.

"Sorry to be picky, but I don't like cinnamon on my hot cocoa."

Ruby immediately apologized. "I am so sorry, please forgive me. Almost everyone in town loves hot cocoa with cinnamon. It's a habit to add it at this point." She smiled at Emma brightly. "I'll get you a new one."

After she returned, they ate their dinner in silence, payed, and drove around to the inn. Emma walked inside to get a room while Killian grabbed their belongings from the trunk of the bug. They were given a square view, and the room number was three.

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