Perched a Few Feet Above the Water

Chapter 8

Thanks a million to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed the story! You have no idea how much it means to me. And to all the guests readers and reviewers, I can't respond to you individually but i see your reviews and i truly appreciate them too. Because i haven't said this before, I'd also like to thank the CS Writers Hub for all the sprinting they've done with me, and to my betas for the wonderful work they do :) They are the reason I manage to update regularly.

Disclaimer: Characters not mine!

Knock knock knock.

He was so nervous he could barely breath.

He was sure he had made the right decision, coming to see her, but he may have gotten a bit too ahead of himself. For starters, it was almost 10pm on a weekday, what if she was asleep? What if he was disturbing her? It was too late to turn back now. So he lifted his fist to the door once more.

Knock knock knock.

It was difficult, what with Liam asleep in one arm, his other hand holding their hot chocolates, with cinnamon as per Ruby's advice, and Liam's - heavy - bag slung across his shoulder, but he somehow made it work. He really hoped she opened the door soon, at least before his arms gave out.

"Swan, please," he whispered to himself, in the hopes that his plea wouldn't go unanswered.

Not a moment later did he hear the locks jiggle from the other side of the door. He stood up a little straighter and braced himself for what he was about to face.

The door swung open to reveal a slightly shell-shocked Emma, mouth agape, eyes filled with a mixture of awe and confusion.

"Swan," came his breathless whisper of relief. He didn't realize how much he'd actually missed her until this moment.

Emma said nothing. Not a word. Not even a peep. She just maintained her frozen stance and trance-like gaze.

"Emma, love, I hope we've not come at a bad time. The lad and I thought maybe you could use some hot cocoa?" Killian tried.

It was like she came back to life at the mention of Liam. Suddenly she moved to let him in, and reached for the sleeping boy in his arms. "Please, let me take him, your arms must be just about ready to fall off right now." The sound of her voice melted his heart. It was all he could do to not just kiss her then and there. So with a small smile, he relinquished his hold on Liam and followed her into her living space.

"I'll just tuck him in," she said. Then, her face abruptly morphed into that of horror and humiliation. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to be presumptuous. I just thought he'd be more comfortable there, but that was silly, of course you'd want him where you could see him. Not that you wouldn't be able to see him there it's jus-"

"Woah woah, calm down, lass. Breathe." Killian put the containers down and moved to rest his hands on her shoulders. "Of course it'd be alright if you set him down in your room, darling. He'd definitely be more comfortable, and I don't need to be staring at him all the time, not when I know he's safe here." He gave her his best encouraging smile, a soft kiss on the cheek and sent her off in the direction of what he assumed to be her room.

While she was fussing over his boy, he took the time to look around her house. It saddened him to say there wasn't much to admire, just one framed picture of herself, Granny Lucas and a tall woman with red streaks in her espresso colored hair.

He didn't even hear her come up behind him. "That's Ruby." He startled at her sudden appearance. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I didn't realize I was being so quiet," she explained sheepishly. "That's me, Granny, and Ruby," she repeated once more and pointed at the woman he was just contemplating.