Leather Goddess | captain swan au

chapter 13

yay i introduce Killian's parents in this chapter! enjoy!
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Why was he so nervous? He shouldn't be nervous at all. Emma was the one that should have been nervous, but she'd been cool as a cucumber. Killian sat on a bench in the hallway, tapping his feet and intermittently praying.

He'd hoped Regina could be here so he wouldn't have to wait by himself, but Regina had a class she couldn't miss. "Hey," he heard from the end of the hallway.

"Robin," Killian said, grinning. "Hey, man." He stood up, hugging Regina's longtime boyfriend. "Did Regina send you?"

"Of course not," Robin said, and then laughed. "Well, she mentioned that you'd be here. And that you'd probably be freaking out. And that you'd be waiting alone..."

Killian nodded. "Sounds like Regina."

"How long has she been in there?" Robin asked him, sitting on the bench beside him.

"About ten minutes," Killian told him. He winced. "Does it take that long? Do you think something happened? Maybe we should open the door a little and check?"

"Dude, calm down," Robin told him. "They'll talk a little first, get to know each other. Then Emma will show what she can do and it'll be time to leave." He smiled. "Who's doing it?"

"Some woman named Zelena?"

Robin's smile faded. "Oh. Oh dear."

"What?" Killian said, freaking out. "What's wrong with her?"

"No, I'm sure it will be okay," Robin told him, his smile now too bright.

"You're lying," Killian accused, narrowing his eyes.

Robin shrugged. "It's just that Zelena is a little...well, she can be a little...harsh?"

"Harsh? Like mean?"

"Eh...something like that."

"If you came down here to make me feel better, you're doing a shitty job," Killian told him, watching the door Emma had gone in.

Robin laughed a little. "Sorry. Are we still hanging out with Graham this weekend?" He said changing the subject.

Killian shrugged. "I'm not sure, Graham's been spending a lot of time with Belle."

"Good for him. I haven't been in the dorm lately and I've been wanting to ask you if you've heard anything from the medical schools you applied to?"

"Yeah," Killian said, looking down a little. "I got in to UK..."

"UK? Like...the Ukraine?"

Killian narrowed his eyes at his friend. "The University of Kentucky."

"Might as well be in the Ukraine," Robin mumbled. "Are you going?"

"I don't know," Killian told him. "I was really excited about it, but then...well, now there's Emma. She's not going to want to live in Kentucky, especially if she gets in to NYFA."

"Maybe she will," Robin told him. "What about the other places you've applied?"

Killian lifted his hands. "Still waiting."

"It's Columbia, right? That you're trying to get into?"

"Yeah," Killian said, grinning. "Crazy, right? A wee lad from Ireland trying to get into Columbia."

"I think it's a great story," Robin told him.

"I just hope it isn't a story," Killian said quietly.

Robin clapped him on the shoulder. "It'll work out. Have you talked to father lately?"

Killian shook his head. "Not on purpose."

"Killian..."

"I know, okay? I know he loves me. I know he's a good guy. I knew he didn't mean to hurt me. He did, though."

Robin nodded. "I guess it would."

Killian had been walking up the steps from his room when he'd overheard his mom and step father talking in the kitchen. He'd heard his name, so he stopped to listen.

"I'm not saying he's not smart, Colette," Connor, his step father, had been saying. "I'm just saying that he's not getting into a good school if he keeps going the way he's going."

"I think he can get into any school he wants to," Colette had said.

"Not with his grades. Not with his attitude."

"What's wrong with his attitude?"

"You can tell he doesn't care about anything but the next party."

"That's not true," Colette had said.

"It is." Killian heard Connor opening the fridge. "He'll expect me to get him into a good school and I don't know that I want to be a part of that."

Killian had stood in the stairway, shocked. He knew Connor loved him, but the man didn't seem to think much of his character. "I won't ask you for anything," he'd said, coming into the kitchen.

"Killian!" Colette had exclaimed, horrified.

"I'm going to get into college by myself. I'm going to be a doctor."

Connor sighed. "Killian..."

"No, it's fine," Killian told him. "I don't need anything from you."

And that had been it. His relationship with his stepdad had been strained since, but Killian had done everything he'd said he would in that kitchen.

"Maybe you should think of it like this," Robin was saying. "You didn't have a direction until that moment. Now you do. You've been here, in New York, for four years. You've made friends, had fun, met Emma. You might not have done any of those things if you hadn't heard what Connor was thinking."

"I've thought of that," Killian admitted. "I don't know, man. I'll think about it."

"Well, I'm sure your mother can't wait to meet Emma," Robin told him.

"Really?" Killian asked, smiling.

Robin nodded. "You should invite them over. Or take Emma there. It really would be nice. You really deserve the break."

"I might, although I'm not sure if Emma would agree on flying to Ireland just to meet my mother," Killian told him, wondering if Emma would even want to meet Colette Jones-Kelly.

The door opened and Emma walked out with a woman next to her. "Hey," Killian said, standing up and smiling anxiously.

"My, he is handsome," the woman said, grinning up at him. "Zelena," she said, holding out her hand. As Killian shook it, she looked at Robin. "Hello Robin."

Robin nodded, swallowing nervously. "Hello Ms. Zelena"

"So, how did it go?" Killian asked, holding Emma's hand.

"Oh, I think our little Swan here is definitely NYFA material," Zelena said.

"Really?" Killian asked, his voice cracking. "I knew you could do it, love."

Emma grinned. "Zelena has promised to teach me everything she knows."

"Which is a lot," Zelena told them all. "Now I must be going. Try not to celebrate too hard."

Killian watched her walk off, and then looked at Emma. "Is that really it? You're really in?"

Emma giggled, putting her arms around him. "I think so," she said. She looked at Robin. "Is it?"

Robin nodded, still a little dumbstruck. "Yes, if Zelena wants you, you're in."

"Then I'm in!" Emma said, bouncing.

Not that Killian had had any doubt. He hadn't been nervous at all.