Mismatch Lovers

Chapter 20

*Emma's POV*

Monday marked the start of spring break, two quiet weeks to just spend time with Killian. I woke up before him for once, still tucked safely into his embrace. It always made me smile when I started my day like this, feeling so safe and just... so blindly happy the moment I woke up. I loved the possessive way he held me, and the way he'd instinctively bring me closer if I moved too much. No one in my life had ever made me feel so wanted, let alone needed or even loved, and I treasured every moment of it.

After a while I decided I had to get up, my boyfriend being the furnace he was and making me sweat under the heavy comforter. I slid out of his arms slowly so I wouldn't wake him, wandering upstairs in just his tshirt to see about making him some breakfast. I was in front of the stove making pancakes when I heard the distinct sound of someone cocking a rifle, familiar from years of abusive foster homes.

"Who are you?" I heard an accent similar to Killian's say angrily, putting my hands up and slowly turning around. He vaguely looked like Killian, marking him as his older brother, but I knew he was still having trouble with his memory so I was honestly terrified. "And what are you doing in my house?"

"I'm, uhm," I swallowed hard, trying to be calm and stop the tremble in my voice. "My name's Emma, I'm Killian's girlfriend. I was just making breakfast for you and him."

"Killian doesn't have a girlfriend," he snapped at me and I jumped, backing up into the hot stove when he stepped closer with the barrel of his rifle in my face. "They broke up months ago so I know you're lying. I'm only going to ask you one more time." He stepped even closer, the stove now severely burning my back. "Who the hell are you?"

"Liam!" I heard Killian yell just before I saw him grab the gun to pull it away from me. "What the bloody hell are you doing?! I told you Emma was going to move in with us, why are you trying to kill her?!"

"I-I'm sorry, I forgot!" he said now horrified, letting Killian take the gun and put it on the counter before looking at me. "I'm so sorry, I still forget things sometimes with new people and-"

"Are you alright, love?" Killian asked me much more calmly than he'd spoken to Liam, cutting into his brother's rambling. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No, I'm fine," I said, trying to bite back the pain in my voice as I finally got to step away from the stove and turn it off. "I'm just going to have to start breakfast over, no big deal."

"No, you're in pain," he stopped me and I sucked in a breath when he put his hand on the small of my back where the stove hit me, making his eyebrows pull together even more. "Swan, talk to me. What is it?"

"That's just, uhm, where the stove ended up," I told him quietly and his eyes widened. "But it's fine, really. It doesn't hurt that bad."

"It clearly hurts that bad if you're flinching when I touch you," He sighed, clearly frustrated. "Come back downstairs and I'll look at it, yeah?"

"If it'll make you feel better," I agreed, glancing back at a very shaken Liam before going downstairs with Killian and just laying on the bed on my stomach. He sat next to me and gingerly lifted my borrowed shirt to expose almost my entire back but said nothing. "How bad is it?"

"Pretty bad," he admitted hesitantly, going to the bathroom and coming back with a few things. "This is really deep, why didn't you move, love? It had to be extraordinarily painful standing there like that."

"In my experience it's usually best not to make sudden movements when someone is pointing a gun at you," I said, whimpering a bit and squeezing my eyes shut when he started to lightly wipe what I assumed was blood off my back. "There's a reason I have those scars on my stomach."

"Someone shot you?" he asked in shock, suddenly stopping his movements on my back.

"Once," I confirmed, looking at him over my shoulder to see even more concern on his face. "If you're done with my back I can show you if you want."

"Just a minute," he said, sounding even more upset now but going back to playing doctor. He smeared some kind of cream on my back that stung at first but soon made it go numb, covering it with a large bandage before helping me roll over. "Now that that's taken care of... Who shot you?"

"One of my foster parents when I was maybe fourteen," I said as I lifted my shirt to show him the entry and exit wounds on my left side and he lay next to me on his side. He'd seen them before, of course, but I had a feeling he'd been too shy to ask. "I missed my bus so I got home late. He threatened me and I tried to run. It ended up going straight through."

"Oh," he choked out, now staring at the scars that adorned my abdomen and thighs. "W-w-what about a-a-all the o-o-other o-ones?"

"Mostly just foster parents being pissed off that one of their meal tickets wasn't scared of them," I shrugged a bit, not really hurt about it now that I was here with him. "Though there are a few from the time one of the guys in the group home tried to take advantage of me and the people who tried to attack me when I'd run away. Key word there, tried."

"My Emma's too strong for that," he tried to smile but it didn't touch his eyes, soon falling as his hand slid over my stomach. "I can't believe anyone would hurt you... I-it's like seeing an angel and deciding to shoot it down. It's awful."

"It's in the past," I said simply, giggling and running my fingers through his hair when he moved to kiss all over my stomach and every scar. "Killian, it's okay. It really doesn't bother me anymore."

"It bothers me," he said against my skin, resting his head on my bare stomach and looking up at me. "How could it not bother you?"

"Because it got me here," I half smiled and his eyes soften as I toyed with his messy hair. "If each of those things hadn't happened I might not have ended in this town and I never would have met you. I don't regret a single thing I did because it gave me you. I'd take it all a thousand times if it meant I still got to be right here with you."

I saw him swallow before quickly sitting up to cover my lips with his in the sweetest kiss. We kept it slow, my hand on his cheek and his covering the ragged scars on my side. It was like our first kisses only better, still soft and tender, but now with so much love it made my heart ache.

"I love you so much," he whispered against my lips. He went to pull me closer but panicked when I winced. "Shit! I-I-I'm s-s-s-so s-s-sorry! I-I-I d-d-didn't-"

"Its okay," I tried not to laugh but failed, moving over so I was laying on top of him, my entire body over his. "There we go, problem solved. Just breathe, babe."

"That works," he smirked a bit though I could see the anxiety still in his eyes, his hands settling higher on my waist than usual. "Can we just start this morning over? It's so much more fun just being in bed with you."

"Come here," I smiled, moving my hair to one side as I closed the gap between our lips. The kiss slowly grew deeper and he sighed as he relaxed into it, his hands drifting down to pull my knees up so I was straddling him. I took the not so subtle hint, pulling off my borrowed shirt as he moved to a sitting position against the headboard with me in his lap and quickly grabbing him back to me.

I'm feeling fluffy, so fair warning there will probably be more chapters of straight fluff because its fun. And to be honest, there's too much drama in my life right now, I need the fluff. Please don't forget to vote and comment any thoughts or suggestions! Later, loves!