Ghost Story

Chapter 19

That night, Emma had a nightmare. She dreamt that the body Killian was using rejected him, and he was dying all over again. The dream had felt so real, and it scared her. She hadn't had a dream since the night Killian had taken over the body. When he told her he was going to come to life to be with her.

When Killian's aunt had gotten him a phone, they had traded phone numbers. She grabbed her phone and texted him, wanting to know if he was okay or not. Even though it was three in the morning, she knew that he would wake up, and wouldn't hesitate to answer her back.

But he didn't.

One text message turned into two and then three and then four. After ten unread messages, she gave up and called him instead. Her heart was in her throat as her fear continued to grow. She had to know if he was okay.

"Hello?" He asked groggily. "Swan, it's three in the morning. Even though I love to hear your angelic voice, I was sleeping, and you should be too. We have school in the morning."

"Thank God you're okay," Emma whispered, on the verge of tears now. "I-I-I had a dream that you were dying all over again, a-and that you were going t-to leave me."

"Oh no, no, love." He was suddenly more alert now. "I'm not going anywhere. I can promise you that."

"I really wish you were here right now."

"I know, me too."

Emma laid back down on her pillows. "I guess I'll let you go back to sleep now."

"No, stay on the phone with me. I'll hang up after you've gone to sleep." All she heard when she drifted off to sleep, was the sound of his breathing.

In the morning, the sound of her alarm clock blaring woke her up. Emma looked down to her phone and saw that the call had ended hours ago. She shrugged it off and got ready for school. Mary Margaret and David were downstairs, and Emma quickly joined them, eager to see Killian at school. After eating a quick breakfast, Emma and Mary Margaret went to school together. Emma found Anna, Elsa, Chris, Ruby, and Graham sitting together. Upon entering the cafeteria where everyone was eating breakfast, two arms wrapped around her. She giggled when she smelled Killian's cologne. He spun around with her in his arms, and every noise and every person in the room vanished. All each of them could see was each other.

"Good morning, my love!" He said happily, and leaned in to kiss her cheek. He reached over on the nearest table and handed her a paper cup. "I knew you liked hot chocolate with cinnamon, so I bought you some." He scratched nervously behind his ear. "I didn't know if you liked coffee and how you liked it, so I just got you something that I knew you'd like."

"It's perfect, Killian." She took the cup and took a sip, and hummed at the taste. "It's not hard to impress me." He let out a breath of relief. Killian opened his mouth, ready to say something, but was cut off by another person.

"Really? Cause whatever I did, you never seemed to be happy with."

Emma groaned. "Go away, Neal!" She could feel Killian tensing up beside her.

"Why are you with this ass anyway? He ignored you! I would never do that."

"I can kick your arse if you'd like. I am much stronger than you," Killian taunted with a sarcastic smile.

"He's violent too! Aren't you afraid of getting hurt? Come on, Emma, get back together with me. You can be with someone your own age."

"No one likes you!" Emma shouted and her head fell back.

Neal stepped up to her and grabbed her hands. "Please." There were tears in his eyes, and bags under them. "I haven't slept in two months. I know I screwed up. I was so wrong. I love you."

Emma gasped as Neal was suddenly thrown backwards. She looked up and Killian had his fists clenched tightly. Neal looked up and wiped the blood from his lip. Students stood up and circled around them. "Don't touch her!" Killian said, darkly.

"Says who?" Neal taunted. Neal had been held back a year, and was sixteen years old. He was also tall for his age, and was only about an inch shorter than Killian was.

"Says her boyfriend."

"I think she can speak for herself."

"I think she likes having a guy who's older than her. I have experience with females. I know how to treat her like the princess she is."

"I know what girls like!"

Killian laughed. He crossed his arms over his chest. "You're mom doesn't count."

The cafeteria fell silent as steam seemed to come out of Neal's ears as his face turned bright red. "Before I fucked up, Emma loved me. Her heart belonged to me. I made her happy."

"Well, now I'm the one who makes her happy." Neal glanced to his left out of the corner of his eye, but then had to do a double take. Killian looked over to, finally noticing that Emma was gone.

"Cmon, boys. Break it up," a teacher said and pushed through the crowd. "Take your seats!" The woman yelled. The crowd immediately began to disperse and break up. "Are we going to have a problem here?" She asked as calm as calm could be.

"No, ma'am," Killian said. Neal nodded in agreement.

She smiled. "That's what I like to hear. Take your seats."

The boys nodded and Killian walked to Emma's friends where Robin and Regina were sitting close to them. "Did you see where Emma went?" He asked them.

Everyone shook their heads. "Give her a few minutes by herself. She has never liked being the center of attention," Ruby explained. "You guys fighting over her couldn't have been very easy for her to handle." Killian nodded in understanding. He placed his backpack on the floor beside him and ran his hand over his face, wondering just how badly he screwed things up.