When They Met

Chapter 5

"Surprise." He quickly said, as to not stutter. Just because he had a new look, didn't mean that he was a whole new person. He sat down next to Emma and she just stared at him with her mouth to the floor. "D-David p-picked the cl-clothes." He explained.

Killian wore a black shirt and a black leather jacket and dark jeans. He had a skull and crossbones and sword necklace. He had a faint dusting of hair on his face. But, the biggest thing that Emma noticed was that he didn't have his glasses.

"You look good." She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Why'd you change your whole style?"

He shrugged. "J-just thought o-of a ch-change."

"You didn't need to change. You were good how you were."

"P-people o-only saw a-a nerd-nerdy geek. A-a-all I ha-have t-to do is get r-rid of this b-bloody s-stutter."

"I think it's cute." She smiled warmly at him and the bell rang.

-----

When lunchtime rolled around, everyone was talking about the change of Killian's clothes. He certainly was the talk of the school.

Emma didn't like it.

Girls were noticing him and flirting with him, and it made her uncomfortable to watch.

No. She was not jealous.

How could she be?

Killian was cute already, and then he went and made those changes about himself? While the glasses made him look dorky, it was a good kind of dorky. Without them, he looked more like a man. But that certainly wasn't a bad thing. She glanced over at him and he was laughing to something David or Robin had said, and she smiled. Regina kicked her under the table, and she looked over to her.

"What?" Emma asked.

"Go ask him out." Regina said.

"I can't just ask him out! He would never say yes to me."

"Have you seen the yearning looks and doey eyes? He wants to ask you out too, but he's afraid you'll reject him. Why do you think he went through all this trouble to look different? He wants to impress you."

"I don't think so, Regina."

"Emma, you go to his house everyday after school. Take him back to your house. I'm sure your parents will love him."

"I don't know, Regina. He just looks so happy without me. I won't be around much longer anyway. I don't want to break his heart."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I- um, it's nothing."

"No it's not nothing, Emma. Tell me. I won't tell anyone. I'm good at keeping secrets."

Emma sighed and looked down to her partly eaten chicken sandwich. "I'm an orphan. When I turn eighteen, I get kicked out of the system. That's in a few months."

"Move in with Killian. I'm sure Liam wouldn't mind."

"It's not that easy."

"Sure it is! Just move in with him and you'll fall madly in love and his stutter will go away."

"I don't think that a speech disorder will go away at the drop of a hat."

"He needs a constant. More than one. Liam is his first, and you can be his second."

Emma opened her mouth to say something, but someone sat down in the seat next to hers. She looked over and Jefferson leaned over the table, close to Emma's face while he had a smirk on his lips.

"So, I'm having a party this weekend, Emma. You wanna come? You can bring whoever you'd like." He said.

"Yeah. I'll go." She said with a smile, but then her face turned blank. "Get out of here."

"I'll see you Saturday." He winked and walked away.

"Jeff's parties always get out of hand. The cops are almost always called, but his parents keep letting him have them." Regina said, bringing Emma back to reality.

"We could all use a break from school."

Another person sat down next to her and Emma groaned aloud. "Jefferson, I thought I told you-" She cut herself off as she turned and saw Killian. Her cheeks turned red. "Sorry, Killian. I thought you were Jefferson."

"Th-that's okay. W-what did h-he want?" Killian asked.

"He's having a party this weekend and invited me and whoever I wanted. So, if Liam asks, we have plans Saturday."

"Y-y-you w-want me t-to go?"

"Of course I do! You're my friend."

"I-I've never b-been to a p-p-party."

"Neither have I. We'll wing it." Killian smiled and got up and went back to his seat at the end of the table.

"See? He was totally flirting with you."

"Knock it off, Regina, it isn't going to happen."

-----

After school, Killian went into his house with Emma right behind him. She went straight over to the piano and sat down. He gave her a confused look, and she patted the empty space of the bench beside her.

"Play Chasing Cars for me." He chuckled and sat down. He put his hands on the keyboard and started playing the notes. As he played Emma noticed his concentration. He was determined not to mess up. When he finished the song, she saw the triumphant smile on his face. "Have you been practicing?"

"M-m-maybe." He said, scratching behind his ear as he looked down to the ground.

"It sounds wonderful."

"Want t-to p-play vid-video games? I-I know that-that it's weird, b-but do y-you w-want to?"

"I'd love to." They both got up and he hooked the game controls up to the game console and they started playing Mario Kart.

Liam came home an hour or so later, but neither of the teenagers noticed because they were so focused on the game. They played for two more hours, and finally stopped when Liam announced that dinner was done. He apologized for it being so late, and Emma glanced at the clock. Her heart stopped once she realized it was 7:00. Way past the time she was supposed to be home. She rushed to the foyer and grabbed her bag and phone. Killian watched as she rushed around to get all of her stuff.

"S-Swan?" He asked, capturing her attention. "W-what's wrong?"

"I-I have to go. I'm going to get killed." She mumbled the last part.

"You don't want to stay for dinner?" Liam asked, coming into the room.

"I can't. Thanks for the offer though." She put her hands on Killian's shoulders and leaned on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "See you tomorrow." She walked out the door without another word.

Killian and Liam sat down at the dinner table. "Well, that was weird." Liam said, digging into the plateful of hamburger helper.

"Sh-shit!" Killian shouted. "Em-Emma forgot h-her j-jacket."

"You can give it to her tomorrow." Liam staid quickly, brushing it off. "Eat, little brother." Killian glared at his older brother and Liam just laughed. But, he did as he was told and dug into his food as well.