When They Met

Chapter 3

After their homework was done, Emma and Killian watched tv until Liam came back from work. They exchanged phone numbers before she left. At first, Emma was a little reluctant to leave, but she finally walked out the door. Killian watched her walk down the street and kept his eyes locked onto the road long after she was out of sight. Liam made a quick dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup and they sat down at the dinning table to eat.

"How was school today, little brother?" Liam asked.

"Good." Killian quickly said. "E-Emma st-stood up to J-Jefferson."

"Good. That boy needs a punch in the face. But I want you to do it."

The younger Jones shrugged. "I-I-I don't think th-that will h-ha-happen."

"How is Emma treating you?"

"She's n-nice."

"That's good to hear."

-----

The next day at school, Killian met Emma in the cafeteria. She had a wore a black sweat jacket with black leggings and a blue shirt. Killian had settled for a white t-shirt and gray shorts with his sneakers. The first thing that he noticed was that Emma had a black eye. She sat down and covered her face with her hands and groaned. She put her arms on the table and let her head fall.

"Y-you okay?" Killian asked.

"Just tired."

"W-w-what about y-your eye?"

"I fell on my way home yesterday. I'm okay."

Killian nodded and they sat in silence until their other friends showed up. Emma let herself fall into a light sleep while they waited for the bell to go off. When it did, she sat up with a yawn and walked with Killian to homeroom. He didn't buy her story about tripping and falling and getting the black eye. He wasn't sure how she got it, but he would find out. They sat in the back of the classroom and he pulled out his notebook and his pen.

'How did you get the black eye? And the truth, Swan. Please.' He flung the note onto her desk, but refused to watch her write out her response.

He opened it after it was flung back onto his desk. 'I fell.'

'Bullshit.'

'It's the truth, Killian!'

'You are something of an open book.'

'Am I?'

'Quite. The truth. I'm not going to judge you for it.'

'I don't want to talk about it. Please, just drop it.'

Killian looked over at her and she had a pleading look on her face, begging him to drop the subject. He nodded, but promised himself that he would revisit this sooner or later. He had a suspicion that someone was abusing her in her home, but he couldn't be sure. He didn't want to assume anything either. Emma was the first girl that he had really talked to, besides his friend's girlfriends of course, and he didn't want to get her mad at him over something that wasn't true.

After school, the bus ride back to Killian's house was quiet as it had been the previous day. He noticed that she hadn't talked to him as much. Could it be because of how she got the black eye that was bothering her? He had too many questions running around in his head, but he couldn't ask them. While he didn't talk about her eye at all, he couldn't let it go.

After they got back to his house, Emma disappeared into the bathroom while Killian went to sit down on the couch to start his homework. When Emma came out, her black eye was almost non-existent. Killian guessed that she had covered it with more makeup. She walked to the corner of the living room where a grand piano sat. She ran her hand over the back of it and looked over to him.

"Do you play?" She asked.

"S-sometimes." Killian told her. "D-d-do you w-want m-me to show y-you?"

"Yes!" She shouted excitedly, making him chuckle. He pushed his books aside and sat down at the bench. Killian started playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. "That was amazing! Can you play anything more complicated?" He nodded and played Chasing Cars. Emma recognized it immediately. She hummed along as he pressed the keys. When he fumbled on the notes, he stopped and stood up while growling in frustration. "Why'd you stop?"

"I-I-I mess-messed up." He ran his hand through his hair, then pushed his glasses up back into place. "S-Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Killian. It was good. You just need to practice to get it right. Practice makes perfect. Come sit down and try it again." He nodded and sat down at the bench again. Emma stood over him from behind as his hands flew across the keys. She watched as he pressed each key that continued on the song. When he fumbled with the keys again, she put her hands on his shoulders, and instead of stopping, he continued playing. When he finished the song, Emma applauded and he turned around and looked up at her. His cheeks tinted pink. "You are really talented."

"Th-thank y-you."

"Maybe you can teach me how to play one day."

"I-I-I ha-have to ge-get good f-first."

"You already are good." Emma sat down on the bench next to him and stared deep into his eyes while smiling at him. "I, uh, probably couldn't even do something simple like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star like you."

He spun around and motioned for her to do the same. He grabbed her right hand and placed it on the keyboard. "P-point." He told her. Emma did as she was told and he pressed her fingers down on each key. She smiled as she realized he was showing her how to play the song on the piano. "Y-you can d-do it o-on an-any part o-of the piano. J-just p-press the right k-keys."

Emma looked up when the small tune came to an end and smiled. "Thank you."

"P-practice m-makes p-p-perfect." He smiled back.

The front door opened and Emma stood up from the bench while Killian pulled away. Liam smirked at them in the doorway. "Am I interrupting something?" He asked with a smirk.

"No." Killian said sternly, making his older brother chuckle.

"Emma, would you like to stay for dinner?" Liam asked. "I'm making chicken."

"As wonderful as that sounds, I have to go. Thank you for the offer though." She told him. She turned to Killian and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow." She didn't miss the way his cheek warmed under her lips. But, she was forced to pull away and grab her bag and walk out the door.

"What's that? Killian has an admirer!" Liam teased.

"Sh-shut up!"

Liam rolled his eyes and dug in his bag before tossing Killian a box. "There are the contacts you asked for, little brother. Just let me know when you are starting to run out so I can get you more."

"I-I think y-you mean young-younger br-brother."

"Whatever, Killian." Liam chuckled and went into the kitchen.