A Never Event [Teacher/Student]

Chapter Twenty - Battered and Bruised

By Saturday afternoon, Emerys was done lounging about the house.
Her dad had been in his office all day working on some PTA stuff and her mom was working late.
The girl found herself staring dead-eye at the TV as she lazily flipped through the channels, coming to no conclusion on her mission to find something even remotely interesting to watch.
"Fuck it..." She sighed heavily as she got up and went upstairs.
She got dressed, threw her overnight bag over her shoulder, ran back downstairs and – with a quick 'going out, bye dad!' – left the house.

Killian had remained in his bed for most of the day, feeling rather sorry for himself.
He knew that, if the cuts and bruises on his arms, knuckles, and chest were anything to go by, his face would look a wreck. But he was too nervous to look.
When the doorbell's ring echoed through the otherwise empty house, he looked over to his alarm clock, seeing that it was almost two in the afternoon.
Killian groaned, his hands finding his face to rub them, but instead feeling a shock of pain run through the bridge of his nose and behind his eyes.
"Fuck..." He mumbled, gently wiping the sleep from his lids.
The doorbell sounded again, causing him to sit up in bed for the first time that day.

After putting on some boxers and sweatpants, Killian made his way downstairs and had only just pulled the t shirt down his front when he opened the door, revealing Emerys.
Her expression went from an awkward 'I know you said you were busy, but I was losing my mind' smile, to one of worry and shock.
"Oh my God!" She gasped, instantly moving forward and cupping his face. "Killian, what happened to you?"
"I thought I told you I was busy, Em..." He sighed, pulling away from her grasp.
"I know, but I was bored so I came here to keep you company and now I'm glad I did. What the hell happened to you?" She asked, closing the door behind her.
Killian huffed as he turned around, moving towards the kitchen without answering her.
"Killian. Talk to me." She said a little more stern than before.
Something in Killian grew dark. He didn't know why he was feeling like this, only that he was and he was going to pay for it big time, later.
"You should've bloody listened to me when I told you not to come over this weekend!" He snapped, turning around to face her, but not quite looking at her face.
Emerys stopped in her tracks. Never had she seen Killian like this before and it was freaking her out.
"Killian, I-"
"I told you to stay away for this exact reason. Don't you think you should spend some time with your parents for once? Since, you know, you've barely seen them since you fucking moved here. Parents don't last forever, Emerys. Believe me, I should know. Or why don't you go and bug Regina and Zelena or Ruby for all I care." Killian's face was beginning to grow hot. He felt the blood boil under his skin as it made its way from his neck to his brain. "Why do you always have to be round here?"
Emerys didn't know what to do or think. She simply stood there with her lips parted in shock, the blood in her own face draining to God knows where.
Her eyes began to fill with hot, salty tears.
"If... If that's how you feel..." She practically squeaked, her anxiety sending her thoughts racing at a million miles an hour round her head. "I'm sorry I'm such a burden..."
Quickly, she made her exit. As soon as the front door slammed, making Killian jump a little, he felt horrible. He knew he shouldn't have snapped at her like that and he knew he didn't mean it. The worst part of it all is that he hadn't heard the anxiety in her voice like that since her first few weeks at Storybrooke High.
He knew he'd royally fucked up.

Emerys found herself wondering the town until she was pulled out of her thoughts by a familiar voice.
"Hello little mouse." Liam smiled.
She realised she'd walked all the way to the edge of town, right to Liam's bar.
"Oh... Hey Liam." She replied, quietly.
"Whatever's the matter?" The older brother frowned, walking over to the girl.
"Killian's mad at me..." She mumbled.
"I find that hard to believe." Liam gave her a kind smile. "How about I let you inside, just this once, and I'll get you a drink. Nothing alcoholic, mind."
Emerys only nodded as Liam took her shoulder and led her into the bar.
She took a seat on one of the bar stools and waited as Liam poured her a glass of Cola and himself a glass of whiskey.
"So." He said, sipping his drink. "Tell me everything."
Emerys was thankful that it was only early, so the music wasn't turned up and was only background noise and there weren't too many people in.
"I was bored out of my mind at home, so I texted Killian, like always. He said he was busy with grading papers all weekend and I just wanted to keep him company, you know? So I went over and that's when I saw all these cuts and bruises on his face and arms. I asked him about them but he just got all defensive and yelled at me to leave and shouted stuff like 'why do you have to be here all the fucking time?'... So I just decided to take a walk and that's how I ended up here." She explained.
Liam took a few seconds to process the information.
"Well..." He started. "I don't think he's mad at you."
Emerys simply stared at him, blankly.
"Go on..." She sighed.
"He's mad at himself. Probably for getting into a fight which, for the record, he hasn't done for quite some years. And right now I'll wager he's feeling even worse for being a massive dick to you. I say let him fester in his self-hatred for a little while. He'll come to realise that he's made a colossal fuck up and come running to you, falling to his knees, begging you to forgive him. You mark my words, little mouse. He loves you more than I thought he was capable. He won't be so stupid as to fuck the best thing he has going for himself."
Emerys chuckled humourlessly, sipping her coke from the straw.
"He fucking better." She grumbled.

Killian was, indeed, festering in self-hatred.
He had been sat on his kitchen floor, leaning against the breakfast bar with a bottle of rum in his hand pretty much since Emerys left.
He felt awful about what he said to her and he hadn't meant a word.
All he could do in that moment was wonder whether he should text an apology or just leave her to cool off.
Either way, he was screwed.
He saw his reflection in the now half empty bottle, finally seeing the true extent of the damage Jake had inflicted.
Both of his eyes were blackened with bruises, his lip was cut - which explained why every sip of rum stung like a bitch – there was a cut and bruise on the bridge of his nose and there was still remanence of dirt from the woodland floor where they had fought on his forehead.
Killian was pulled from his thoughts by his phone vibrating in the pocket of his sweatpants.
Liam's caller ID popped up as soon as he pulled his phone out.
He sighed heavily, sliding his thumb across the screen.
"Not a good time, brother." He mumbled.
"So I heard." Liam replied. "A little mouse told me that you've been a bit of a clusterfuck."
"Did she now..." Killian huffed. "Well, she'll be happy to know that she's right."
"You've really buried yourself deep in this one, brother. She doesn't know whether to feel sympathy for you or just be done with you. She seems to think that she's a burden to you and you deserve better. Now, I know the girl has anxiety, but I don't think it's just that making her think those things. What did you say to her to fuck her up that bad?" Liam asked with a stern tone.
Killian rubbed his face with his free hand, then remembered the hard way that his face was hurting.
"I may or may not have made her feel bad for always being round my house and that she should spend more time with her parents because she basically hasn't since she moved here, making sure to remind her that we're orphans and that, alternatively, she could go see her school friends for all I cared..." The younger brother groaned, hearing his mistakes said out loud made him feel even worse than the alcohol-inducing headache creeping through his skull.
"Wow." Liam said, making the sarcasm clear in his voice. "She really didn't do your outburst justice. That is the most horrible, vindictive, dickish thing I have ever heard come out of you, Killian. And what were you thinking bringing mum and dad's deaths into this? You're an idiot and I hope she breaks up with you to teach you a lesson. For a teacher, you're not being the brightest of sparks right now, brother."
Before Killian could get a word in, Liam hung up the phone.
He knew his brother was right.
And he definitely thought Emerys should break up with him.
"She deserves better than me..." He whispered to himself, taking another swig from the rum.