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Chapter 13

Three Years Later...

A few years after she finished high school, Emma had kept her promise. She went back to the Jones home to see if Liam or Elsa knew where Killian was. She had used as much time as she could to muster up the courage to return and see them. Emma was surprised to see that the house still looked the exact same way it did when she left. She knocked on the door. The sounds of kids running around put a smile to her face. The door swung open and a slightly older looking Elsa came into view.

"E-Emma?" She asked in disbelief.

"Mrs. Jones." Emma nodded. Elsa brought her in for a bone crushing hug.

"Where have you been? We've been so worried! Killian- he's been trying to find you!"

"He has?"

"I told you. He loves you!"

"I just never thought he would still be looking for me."

"The last thing I heard was that he ended up in Hollywood, California. He started a music career."

"That's wonderful. I guess I should be going. Do you think you could say hi to Liam for me?"

Elsa smiled that same warm smile she had from years ago. "I definitely will. Now go find Killian."

Emma nodded and ran to her yellow Volkswagen Beetle. She pulled out of the driveway and started her trek to Hollywood, California.

Killian had a tough time concentrating. He was trying to write a new song, but he had a bad case of writer's block. He threw his pencil down and groaned in frustration. He looked to the side of the room and saw Emma's notebook. He had kept it all these years. He was careful with it so he wouldn't rip the pages as he lifted it off the stand and placed it in his lap. He opened the cover and the note she had written to him fell into his lap. He had never read her story. He promised himself he wouldn't. He was saving that for her. She was going to be the one to read her story to him. But he had written her songs. Every song he wrote was for her. He hoped that she listened to them. That somehow, she knew. But he couldn't be sure. He wasn't sure of anything these days. It was times like these when he really missed her. When he wanted to turn back time and hold her in his arms. He would make sure she never ran away in the first place.

Killian lived in a regular sized house. He thought he didn't need a large space. He was by himself. He had a spacious kitchen, a decent sized living room and dining room. He had his bedroom with an attached bathroom and a guest room. His music room was in the basement, that had his records hung on the wall, and he had a keyboard, a drums set, and three guitars. The entire room was soundproof. He occasionally had a one night stand, but he found that all the girls were blonde with curly hair. He had tried many times to get into an actual relationship, but all the girls were after his money, or were only looking for a fling.

Two days later, he was coming back from the recording studio. He was dead tired and wanted nothing more than to take a hot shower and go to bed. He made some tea to soothe his throat and looked out the window. The sun was starting to set, and the sky was painted in colors of pink, orange, and red. He watched as a yellow Volkswagen pulled up in front of his house. He sat up straighter as it stopped, and the person inside got out. His heart stopped when he saw that the woman had blonde, curly hair. She looked down at a piece of paper and looked back at the house. His phone vibrated and he put his tea down and grabbed his phone. It was a text from Elsa.

'Surprise!'

The woman was out of his sight when he looked back up. But then, his doorbell rang.

Three Days Earlier...

Emma had enough money saved up to set a road trip out to California. She had to find Killian. Elsa had given her his address. That night at the motel, Emma looked into it, and it was a normal looking house. Definitely not a home that the celebrities lived in in the movies. She printed out a picture and went to bed. For the first time in years, she had hope in her chest. Hope that she was going to find the boy who had stolen her heart from the very beginning, and also hope that he wasn't seeing anyone.

The next morning, she got up early and packed her bug and she was on the road.

Present Day...

She pulled up in front of the house and got out of her car. She swore she saw the curtains move in the front window, but she figured that it was just her eyes playing tricks on her considering she was both excited and nervous.

Would he remember her? Was he going to be occupied with another woman? She debated turning around and just finding a career that she actually enjoyed. She ignored all of those voices in her head and ran up the steps. Her finger hovered over the doorbell button for a few seconds. It wouldn't be too late to turn around now, but once she pressed it, she couldn't run. Again, ignoring all of the negative voices in her head, she slammed her finger onto the button. At first there was no movement inside, then then the door swung open, and she was met with the bright blue eyes she had fallen in love with when they first met.

"Swan?"

She smiled. "Killian."