Captain Swan - The Writings On The Wall

No Strings

Emma went into work the day after Christmas, a wide smile plastered to her face. The day before, she and Killian had spent the morning with her family and then spent the rest of the day at the agency, watching the children open presents and helping the other counselers make them a turkey dinner with all of the fixings. And afterwards, they went their separate places to sleep, which was fine. She was willing to try this relationship thing with the person she loved more than this world. She was terrified as hell, but she was willing to try.

She was afraid that if she gave her whole heart that she would lose him like her mother had lost her husband. Since the day David died, Emma wanted to be strong for her, she wanted to be there for her, but she only felt the hurt that Mary Margaret had felt. She just chose not to show it. She decided to shut it out along with other emotions; love, hatred, anger. She decided to keep it all inside and if she felt those things, she pushed people away. She didn't want to go through what her mother did and made a promise a long time ago that she would always guard her heart, but recently decided that Killian was her only exception. She didn't want to push him away anymore, he was just too important to her, so she would try... for him. Emma headed to the locker room to change when she saw the person she had been trying to avoid since the Christmas party.

"Emma, please, can I talk to you about that kiss?" Neal asked her as he approached, blocking her way to door.

Emma sighed and decided to just put an end to this right now.

"Look, Neal, I was upset that night, okay? The kiss meant absolutely nothing. I don't like you, in fact I despise you. The only reason you're working here is because your father paid your way though medical school and made you become a doctor. You don't care about children, you're only here for the money."

Neal gave her an offended look as he replied. "So if you hate me so much, then why did you ask me to leave with you that night?"

"I told you, I was upset, so just let it go."

Emma tried to maneuver her way through the door, but he moved to block her.

"You're a little cock tease, you know that? Do you always go around kissing guys and offering to sleep with them when you're upset?"

Emma tried to ignore him as she made another attempt to get past him.

"Neal, please just get out of my way."

"Is there a problem here?"

The sound of the familiar voice caught both of their attentions and Neal quickly stepped away as Killian approached them.

"Not at all. I was just leaving," Neal said sharply, but before he turned to leave, he continued. "Maybe you should tell your little friend here that she shouldn't be such a little cocktease."

Emma stepped up to him, holding a death glare, her blood boiling. "Maybe you should learn to take no for an answer."

"Whatever, Emma. It's your loss, not mine."

Neal turned and left as Killian stood in front of her. "What was that all about, love?"

Emma looked down as she let out a sigh. "I kissed him on the night of the Christmas party. I was upset when I saw that picture on my phone and I asked him to leave with me. The kiss meant nothing, Killian. I promise. And then I realized I didn't want to lose you and I ran out of the party and went to your place." She looked up again into his eyes as they looked back at her. She expected him to be angry, to be hurt, but he wasn't. He knew about Neal, had seen him in the halls when he came to visit but he never saw him as a threat. He knew that Emma wasn't the least bit interested in the guy.