#go to sleep to suppress my memories as much as humanly possible

[heckahecker]

me walking into my interview first thing in the morning immediately after getting a rejection over the phone the night before and feeling like I’m the most unemployable person on planet earth:

[nomolosk]

Snapshots (AU Yeah August 2020)

read on AO3:

Day 5- Bed Sharing

Marinette sighed wearily. First the embarrassment at work, then the time travel, and… had there been an akuma battle? She couldn’t even remember at this point. It had been a long day, that’s all. And of course it just had to be the day before the Small Business Convention. It was something Marinette had been looking forward to, and she had the setup and layout of her booth all planned out. She’d even rented a hotel room in the same hotel that was hosting it, just so she wouldn’t run into unexpected morning traffic, and thus be running late and more anxious than usual.

Now, she just had to gather everything up and-

Marinette paused, her eye caught by Tikki. The little kwami was zipping from flower pot to flower pot, a sure sign that she was upset about something.

“Tikki?” Marinette asked, going over to the window where Tikki’s little garden grew. “What’s wrong?”

Tikki paused briefly and then zipped around Marinette in a tightening spiral before landing in Marinette’s cupped hands.

“I… I don’t know,” she said plaintively. “Something is wrong, but… but I don’t know what it is! I just have a bad feeling.”

“Hm,” Marinette said, frowning. Things didn’t usually affect Tikki unless they were immediate dangers. “Do you think we ought to go out patrolling? We’re not on the schedule for tonight, though, and Chat might ask questions if he sees us.”

Tikki squirmed a little, back to hovering back and forth, though slower than before. “I… no.”

“Are you sure?”

“No… no, this is,” Tikki stopped, frustrated. “If I had even a little bit of an idea on what to look for, I’d say yes, but I don’t.” She gave her whole body a shake and came up with an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry about it. You are Ladybug after all! Whatever is wrong, I’m sure we’ll catch on in time to do something about it. And in the meantime, you have that convention to go to tomorrow!”

Marinette smiled back. She was still worried, of course- it had been years since Tikki’s reassurances could wipe the existence of a problem entirely from her mind- but she trusted the kwami and appreciated her faith in her. And they had managed to defeat all the akumas (and other villains) sent against them to date.

----

Marinette snuggled into the hotel blankets, utterly exhausted. Her parents had helped her get everything packed into their delivery van and even agreed to let her drive it to the hotel so she’d have everything she needed to set up right there in the morning. Still, it had been a very long day. After taking a bath to relax, Marinette eagerly went to bed, secure that she’d done everything humanly possible to prepare for the morning.

----

Adrien sighed heavily as he accepted the hotel room key card from the desk clerk. This Small Business Convention wasn’t his idea of fun, but Father was insisting he spend the whole day there, as Gabriel’s representative, checking out any competition, and making as many business friends as possible. Gabriel might be a big name in fashion, but it was the ‘little people’ as Gabriel called them, who made everything run smoothly- caterers, professional launderers, and etc. And obviously Gabriel himself was far too important to ever stoop to paying attention to the ‘little people.’

Still, at least he’d managed to convince Father to spring for a hotel room- after the last minute photoshoot that had run far too late, not to mention the patrol he’d had to rush through, he wanted to actually sleep in for once and not face judgement from either Father or Nathalie. Both of them would have expected him to wake up extra early and arrive before the convention even opened, but Adrien knew that it would be better for him to arrive a little later, when the vendors would be warmed-up from interacting with a few other people first.

He let himself into his room, not bothering to turn on the lights. He didn’t have any luggage except a dress bag that he fumbled into the small closet he’d seen as he opened the room door, moving mostly by feel. Sighing again, he moved further into the room, toeing his shoes off. As soon as he felt the tell tale press of the bed against his lower legs, he flung himself onto the bed… only to get a sharp blow to the face, along with a decidedly feminine shriek in his ear. Rolling off the lump under the covers and back to his feet, he tried to regain his bearings. 

“What?” he said. “Who are you? What are you doing in my room?” The shock of it all sent adrenaline shooting through his system, waking him back up instantly.

“Your room? This is my room, thank you very much!” came the indignant reply. 

By now Adrien’s eyes had adjusted to the relative darkness in the room, helped along by the little sliver of light coming in from under the curtains over the window. The room wasn’t large- just big enough for a double bed, the bedside table and a small table and chair. There was a TV mounted to the wall opposite the bed, but nothing under it.

Adrien reached over and turned on the lamp. Sleepy blue eyes glared and squinted back at him. The girl- woman- sat up in bed. Now that the lights were on, Adrien could see other signs of her habitation- shoes on the floor, a purse sitting in the chair by the window, a portfolio and small overnight bag sitting on the table itself.

“I- I’m so sorry,” he said, beginning to feel foolish. “I just checked in, and this is the room they gave me.”

“Well this is my room,” the woman grumped, folding her arms across her chest. “Now, if you don’t leave, I’m calling the front desk, and then the police.” Adrien noted she already had her cellphone in her hand, still plugged into the charging cable that was likewise plugged into the USB socket on the base of the lamp.

Adrien held his hands up. “No, no, I’ll leave, don’t worry.”

He quickly moved past the bed, scooping his shoes up and had already pulled the room door open when he remembered the dress bag. “Sorry,” he muttered again, as he opened the closet door and grabbed it. She’d already turned the lamp back off. He thought about wishing her a good night, but figured he’d already ruined it for her and that would just be rubbing it in. So instead he just left.

Back at the front desk, the attendant was defensive, though Adrien suspected he was trying to come across as incensed on his behalf.

“There shouldn’t be anyone in that room,” he muttered, typing on his keyboard. “There!” he said in triumph. “The last guest in that room checked out this morning, and while that room was reserved for someone else for tonight, they never checked in. So of course, it should have been free for you.” He sighed in irritation and Adrien suppressed his own sigh. “I really don’t know how this happened.”

“Look, I just need a different room for the night, okay? It’s really late,” he said, trying to hurry the process along. But the attendant was now on a mission- he called the night manager out of her office. When that individual had been apprised of the situation, she looked briefly thunderous, and then smoothed out her expression with professional ease.

“I’m so sorry for this Mr. Agreste. I know our hotel doesn’t usually cater to the upper class, and I’d really have liked your first impression to be a much better one than this. We’ll get a new room for you, but in the meantime, please come with me. I can’t undo this bad first impression, but hopefully I can show you how we deal with freeloaders who bypass our security.”

“No, really, that’s not necessary,” Adrien tried to say, but she just swept past him to the elevators. Perhaps if Adrien had been less tired, he would have put up more of a fight, but as it was, his early training in shutting-up and coming-along asserted itself. 

So it was that he found himself back outside the fateful hotel room door, with the night manager knocking loudly on it. At- he checked his watch and cringed- nearly 2 am. Whoever was in that room was not going to have fond memories of their brief encounter with Adrien Agreste.

----

Marinette had just gotten over her previous irritation and gone back to sleep when there was a sudden pounding on her door. She jerked up, groaning. The pounding came again, and she was just about to slide out of bed when she heard the magnetic lock disengaging and the door opened and the lights came on.

“Alright you, up, up, up! You can’t stay here.” 

Marinette stared blearily at a middle-aged woman in a hotel uniform. “What?”

“You’re not supposed to be in here, this room is let to someone else. Now, we won’t press charges if you leave willingly, but I am prepared to call the police if you try to force the issue.”

Unbelievable. That jerk from earlier must have gone down to the front desk and complained. 

“I paid for this room,” Marinette insisted. “I checked in at 9, and I’ve been asleep since 10:30.”

“This room has been unbooked since the last guest checked out this morning.”

Marinette rubbed her forehead. It was way too early in the morning to deal with this. “Look, you want to see my reservation? Fine. Sure.” She got out of bed and walked over to her purse, pulling out the receipt the desk clerk had given her, along with the little paper packet with her room keys. “I reserved a room last month under the name Dupain-Cheng, and as you can see, I checked in around 9 pm.”

She handed the receipt to the woman, who reluctantly took them. She studied the paper minutely before checking and double checking the room number written on the keycard packet. Then she sighed heavily and uttered a begrudging apology. Marinette took her things back and stowed them in her purse before following the woman to the door, getting a good look at the sheepish-looking guy standing in the hallway.

He certainly bore some resemblance to the man who had unceremoniously dropped on top of her earlier, but she’d been too recently asleep to really recognize him. Still, given his expression, it seemed likely that he was the same one. Marinette glared at him, before starting to shut the door in his face.

She just caught the beginning of the woman’s apology to him- which sounded much more sincere than the one she’d received. 

“Again, I’m so sorry for the mix-up Mr. Agreste, something must have-”

The shutting door cut off the rest of what she was saying, but Marinette’s mind suddenly went into full-time panic mode. Gabriel Agreste was a big name in fashion circles- circles she was trying to break into, in her own small way- and now she’d inadvertently caused him considerable inconvenience and even threatened to call the police on him! Of course, she had been justified to do so, but still…

Groaning, Marinette put her ear to the door to see if they were still outside. But she heard nothing, so she cautiously opened the door and, seeing no one, slipped the Do Not Disturb sign onto the outer door knob before closing the door again and engaging the chain-lock. Hopefully that would assure no more interruptions until her alarm went off. But given that she’d just made an enemy out of Gabriel Agreste, she rather doubted she would be getting any more sleep that night.

Still, she flicked the lights off and stumbled back to bed, falling face first into her pillow and trying vainly to regain some semblance of the sleepiness she’d felt just a little while ago.

@auyeahaugust

[hyunnie-bunches]

Bloodsuckers VI

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

Genre: Supernatural AU

Pairing: Vampire!Baekhyun x Vampire!Reader

Word Count: 1195

A/N: This chapter is such filler bullshit, I am so sorry. I promise I’ll have some real content for the next one.

Tags: @marimsun

———————————————————————————————————————————————

[Y/N’s POV]

Baekhyun leaves me on the ground and begins to pack the bodies into the trunk of the car. There might still be security camera footage but at least the lack of evidence would help somewhat. It doesn’t take long for my new body to heal itself. What felt like gut-wrenching pain fades to a dull throb within a matter of minutes, and my head clears enough to get up and attempt helping. My help is unneeded, however. Baekhyun has already dumped the cooling bodies into the trunk and is waiting expectantly for me to get in so we can leave.

The car ride is unnervingly silent. I can see the gears moving in Baekhyun’s head through the small crease in his brows and the downward tilt of his lips. Not wanting to aggravate him further, I keep my mouth shut as well, even though there are a million questions swirling in my head. It is only after he has burnt the bodies in what feels like the middle of nowhere, and continue driving south and away from his house, that I finally start speaking.

“Are we not going back?”

“No. We can’t stay in that town. We’d be too easily traceable.” His words are clipped, sentences to the point.

I give a tiny nod that he can’t see. “So where are we going?”

“Away.”

It is obvious that he doesn’t want to talk. And knowing him and his unwavering stubbornness, there was nothing that would make him talk either. Deciding that this was not a battle worth fighting, I go back to being silent. The sun sinks lower and lower in the sky and dips under the horizon but Baekhyun doesn’t pause his driving, stopping once only to refuel on gas. Before I know it, the low light of the half-moon and the quiet hum of the engine have me slipping into an exhausted sleep.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

[Baekhyun’s POV]

Careless.

Driving through the darkening sky, that’s the word that I find myself coming back to. I had been so, so, careless. What had I been thinking, taking Y/N out like that? She was too new, too young to be put in a situation like that. Familiar hot lashes of anger spike in me again. At her? At myself? At the world? I didn’t know.

I should’ve made sure the location was safe, run the networks to see if there were rumors of hunters in town, been more alert when we were out. I should’ve not gotten so carried away that I didn’t notice the hunters until it was too late. My hands clench over the steering wheel.

Stupid. Foolish. Careless.

A rational part of me knew that this was not my fault. These things happened. You had run-ins with hunters or local authorities or other, stronger vampire clans, and you moved. If you were lucky and nothing drastic happened, you still had to move every few years, or people grow too suspicious. It was a cyclical process and it was an inevitable one, but it still bothered me to simply abandon everything I had known for the past three years.

“You’re too sentimental.” The cold, hard voice flashes through my mind. A phantom tingle flares up on my cheek to mind me of the accompanying slap that went along with that statement.

I shake my head to come back to the present. Over. It was over now. I was here. And he was not. I would be okay.

My eyes flash towards the sleeping form to my right. Y/N was leaning against the window with a hand tucked under her chin. Mouth slightly ajar, she looked like the epitome of peace. Jealously mingled with relief in my chest. At least there was this. She was okay. And I, too, would be okay.

I let out a deep sigh through my nose and train my eyes of the infinite stretch of the road ahead of me, preparing for the long ride ahead.

————————————————————————————————————————————

[Y/N’s POV]

I awake to the smell of fresh coffee and the pain of a nasty neck cramp. Blinking my eyes against the light, I realize that I had somehow managed to sleep the entire night away.

“Rise and shine.” Baekhyun’s voice trickles in from the open door of the driver’s side. The underlying tension in his voice puts me on edge. I reach forward to grab the cup of coffee he offers me. After a cursory look out the window, I ask, “Where are we?”

“Two hours north of Nashville.” He says casually.

I furrow my brows. “Nashville, Tennessee?”

He only gives me a small nod. Unsure of how to react to having moved halfway across the country in a day, I simply take a sip of my coffee and attempt to process my thoughts.

Baekhyun fiddles with his phone then turns it towards me to show the local newspaper from the town in South Dakota we had abruptly left yesterday. “They found the security camera footage.” His voice sounds resigned. “It hasn’t made national news yet, but there are some concerns since part of the footage…is...well, humanly inexplicable.” Me. Us, maybe. But definitely me. I was too fast, too strong, too lethal. I suppress a groan as Baekhyun continues. “I think it’s best for us to go as far away as possible. I know of a cabin in the woods around here that is in a pretty secluded spot. We can stay there until the heat dies down.”

He chugs the last of his coffee and starts the car up again.

“I’m sorry,” I say in a small voice. His head snaps towards me, but I keep my gaze from meeting his. “I should’ve never insisted-“

“Y/N…” He hesitates, then says hesitantly, “It wasn’t your fault. Don’t blame yourself.” He pauses again. “Maybe it was for the best. Being in a no-name place like this…It gives us the freedom to make mistakes without drawing as much attention.” He pauses once again. His words seem to take more and more effort the longer he went on speaking. “Once we’re…settled in…I’d like to start you on a…training program, if you will…I think that might…help…with controlling your abilities.”

“How did you learn?” The question seemed like an innocent one, but the way Baekhyun’s body tenses up immediately makes me regret asking it.

“I was-It was not the most normal circumstances under which I was turned and trained.”

A part of me wants to press more, to seek answers to this enigma who sits in front me - a man so different from the monster I thought I had sought out weeks - or was it months? - ago. But a larger part of me knows that this is not the time for driving down memory lane, especially since the path seems dark and bumpy. So I just give another nod and say, “Well, I appreciate the offer. You-“ I swallow because the next words seem to be stuck in my throat. “you didn’t - don’t - have to stay with me, or help me. So,” I clear my throat, “thank you.”

He shrugs and revs the engine. “We’re on the run. Might as well have some company, right?”

[until-theend-oftheline]

Second Chances - Part 7: Wakanda

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: Mention of mild control, mention of coma, implied sex   

Square Filled: Exile (U1) for @buckybarnesbingo and Waking Up Together (Marvel Fandom) for @goodthingshappenbingo

Word Count: 2300ish 

A/N: This series is done for @thorne93 and heavily inspired by two songs by The Chainsmokers which is This Feeling and Paris. Please go listen to them since even if I don’t reference them specifically they heavily decided the mood and plot of this fic. 

This series is rated Mature. 

Betaed by: @jewels2876 - thank you hun!

***My fics are not to be saved nor posted on any other sites without my express written permission.***

Second Chances Masterlist

Wakanda, 2016

Wakanda was an absolutely gorgeous country but you had barely left the hospital for the past day since you got here. T’Challa’s medical team had been ready the minute the jet had landed and Bucky had been rushed inside, closely followed by you telling the senior doctor everything you had done. 

After a quick examination, Bucky had been deemed to be in recovery and all you could do was to wait. Which was what you were doing, sitting in a chair next to his hospital bed holding his hand. 

Steve had been coming and going, as he was planning a return to the States. A few of his friends had been imprisoned during their last mission and Steve was dead set on getting them out. He was a loyal man and you had to say, that even if you had started off on the wrong foot, you greatly admired him. You had no problem seeing how he was Bucky’s best friend. They were a lot alike in many ways, though Bucky seemed to possess a great deal more patience than the Captain. 

You didn’t though. You wanted Bucky to be awake. You needed to see those beautiful blue eyes of his again. To feel his arm around you and his soft lips against yours. But you were so very tired from the pressure and drama of the past few days. You were a doctor, yes, but a soldier you were not and you had no desire to become one. It had been a lot on your mind and body so, much against your will, you had fallen asleep with your head resting against the side of the armchair and Bucky’s hand securely captured in yours. 

Bucky felt the light of the bright room start to fill his vision as he slowly stirred. The beeping of the machine next to him pulled him rather violently out of his slumber. The sound reminded him of HYDRA and the times he had woken up strapped to a table or a chair. He wasn’t on a table. He was in a bed and he wasn’t strapped down. 

But the room was white, the sound of machines surrounded him and his heart was hammering as he looked panicked around. At first, he didn’t hear anything but the machines, not until you moved sitting down on the bed in front of him, and putting yourself directly in his line of vision. 

“Bucky. Hey. It’s me. Y/N. You’re safe,” you spoke calmly, placing your hands on his thighs. You kept speaking until you saw the panic start to leave his eyes and his breathing began to even out. 

“Hi. Welcome back baby,” you felt the tears start to stream down your cheeks but you didn’t care. You threw your arms around Bucky’s neck as he reached out for you. You buried your face in his neck and sobbed as he wrapped his arm around you, holding you closely against his chest. 

“Shh, it’s okay Doc. I’m here sweetheart. I’m okay,” Bucky spoke softly, closing his eyes as he breathe you in. He hadn’t been sure he would ever see you again when he ran from the police and Steve in Romania. He sure as hell hadn’t thought he would survive to hold you again when Tony Stark had kept coming at him. 

You slowly pulled back, letting Bucky dry the tears around from your eyes and you gave him a small smile. “I thought I lost you.”

“You didn’t,” Bucky smiled, tugging the hair away from your face before looking around again. “We’re not in France anymore are we?”

“No. Wakanda. King T’Challa offered us asylum. Steve… I’ll get someone to get him,” you suddenly remembered, moving to get off the bed, but Bucky moved quicker. He wrapped his hand around your arm, pulling you back down. 

“Not so fast,” Bucky muttered, leaning in pressing his lips against yours and you instantly relaxed into him. You wrapped your arms around his neck, and Bucky pulled you as close as humanly possible and he still didn’t feel like it was close enough. 

You giggled as Bucky broke the kiss, only to kiss his way from your cheek, down your jaw, and to your neck. 

“I missed you,” he sighed, burying his face in your neck, and you ran your fingers through his hair. 

“I missed you too,” you turned your head kissing the side of his head. “You need to rest though and I need to get Steve before he comes back in here and yells at me for not telling him you’re up.”

Bucky chuckled, giving you a small squeeze before releasing you and lying back down obediently. 

“You stood up to him huh?” he asked with a grin, making you wiggle your nose at him. 

“I did,” you grinned, kissing his cheek before getting up in search of the second super soldier.

***

As the days passed Bucky kept getting stronger physically but he was in a bad headspace. He quickly began withdrawing himself from you. It hurt but you understood. 

It had been two years since Bucky hadn’t been in control of his own mind and a week ago someone had listed a few words stealing his free will from him yet again. He was as quiet as he had been on your first few weeks on the run. He returned your affections but he didn’t initiate them anymore. Bucky was hurting and it was breaking your heart. 

Bucky was sitting on the balcony of the apartment you had temporarily been offered close to the hospital. Princess Shuri was working on a new arm for Bucky, as well as a way for him to keep control over his mind. The first didn’t seem to interest Bucky all that much and the second was a slow process. 

He had been sitting out there for hours and you weren’t sure what to do. You were pacing the floor, going back and forth between reading and getting drinks from the kitchen. You felt absolutely helpless and you hated it. 

You jumped when the doorbell rang after having been deep in your own thoughts. Bucky, on the other hand, didn’t flinch and you sighed deeply. 

“I’ll get it you called,” without waiting for an answer you headed for the front door only to find Steve on the other side. He was a frequent guest and you smiled, welcoming him with a hug. He shared your worries about Bucky, which meant the two of you quickly had grown closer. 

“How is he?” Steve asked as he released you only to have Bucky yell back from the balcony. 

“He can hear you.”

“Grumpy,” you mouthed to Steve who suppressed a laugh as the two of you headed out to Bucky. The two men hugged before the three of you sat down. Bucky surprised you by reaching out to give your hand a squeeze as you passed him. For some reason, that little display of affection worried you more than it calmed you.

“What’s that?” Steve nodded towards the little box that stood in front of Bucky. You had no idea how he had managed to keep that, but you also had no clue how he had found a lot of the things inside it. Somethings were better not to question you learned. 

“Memories,” Bucky smiled, pulling an old photograph from the 1940s out of the box and showed Steve. 

“No way! That was the day before we stormed the beach. I was sure you’d sleep through the entire mission with how long you danced with that nurse,” Steve remembered, and Bucky placed a solid kick to his shine as he passed the picture to you. 

“Really Steve!”

You laughed taking the picture with a shrug. “That’s alright. I can’t really be jealous of people you flirted with when I wasn’t born yet.”

“And she made it worse,” Bucky grumbled, as both you and Steve laughed. You looked at the picture of a group of men. Steve was easy to stop and next to him was Bucky. His hair was a lot shorter then and he was clean shaven but aside from that, he hadn’t changed much.

“You were cute,” you smiled at Bucky before passing the picture back to him with one hand and tugging his long hair with the other, “I prefer the long hair though.”

Your eyes widened as you saw the small piece of candle hiding in the box. You quickly reached out snatching it before Bucky could react.

“Is that from Paris?” you asked, and Bucky nodded, looking a bit shy. 

“It was the first night you told me you loved me. I couldn’t carry around pictures of you in case…” Bucky trailed out. “I wanted a memory.”

You smiled putting back the candle and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Who knew you were such a sap,” you teased. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Bucky replied before taking a breath. “Which is why I talked to T’Challa. I’m going back into cryo.”

“What?” your eyes widen and you stared at him as you felt the panic start to overtake you. Cryo wasn’t unsafe. He had gone under a lot of time. It wasn’t a guarantee he was to wake up again. 

Bucky looked at Steve who was frowning but seemed to be more patiently waiting for an explanation than you. So he turned to face you, trying to take your hand in his but you pulled away. 

“It’s not safe Bucky. You just woke up a few days ago from a coma,” you rambled, “and why would you do that to yourself? You're safe here…”

“But you’re not,” Bucky interrupted you. “Neither of you. No one here is safe from me. I can’t trust my own mind and until the princess finds a way to get what they put in my head out I can’t be awake.”

“Are you sure about this pal? You don’t have too. No one here will try and control you,” Steve tried to reason but Bucky just shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter. I already spoke to T’Challa. It’s happening tomorrow,” Bucky informed you, leaving no room for discussion and you felt the tears spring from your eyes as you stood up abruptly and ran from the room. 

Bucky closed his eyes as he let you leave and when Steve raised from his chair to go after you, Bucky reached out to stop him. He knew you. He knew were gonna come back on your own. You just needed a moment to process what he had just told you. 

“Let her go. She’ll come back after you've left,” Bucky assured Steve who sat down again, still looking at the door you disappeared through. 

“Steve, I love her,” Bucky blurted, and Steve’s attention instantly returned to his friend. “This is hard on her. I need you to look after her while I’m under.” Bucky looked over at his friend meeting his eyes and Steve placed a hand on Bucky’s shoulder. 

“I’ll keep her safe. She’ll be waiting for you when you get better. We both will,” Steve promised and Bucky smiled gratefully before looking back out into the horizon. He wished he didn’t have to do this, but he also couldn’t risk anyone else ever getting hurt because of him. 

***

You stood next to Steve as you watched the doctors prep Bucky for his cryo-sleep. It had been an emotional day yesterday. You had yelled at him, cried against him and made love to him all before the sun came up. You had promised him you would wait for him as long as it took and that you would always love him. Bucky had promised you it wouldn’t be forever and that you’d start a life together when he was back. 

Steve gave Bucky a hug and you kissed him softly before he was placed in the chamber. Steve asked him for the fifth time if he was sure about this and Bucky patiently said he was. When the glass froze over you turned around, clinging to Steve and burying your face against his chest. He held you as you cried. He followed you home and stayed with you for dinner. You shared stories of Bucky and he sat with you on the balcony that night as you absentmindedly played with the ring you wore in a necklace around your neck. 

“Where did you get that?” Steve suddenly said, reaching over taking the ring between his fingers and you frowned a little confused. 

“Bucky gave it to me the week before you showed in Romania,” you answered him honestly. 

“I wonder where he got that,” Steve wondered out loud and you looked down at the ring with a shrug. 

“I don’t know. It looks kinda antique,” you looked up in surprise when Steve started laughing. 

“Well, I guess it is. It was his mother’s ring,” Steve chuckled and your jaw dropped. 

“It was… Does this mean I’m engaged and didn’t even know it?” You glared at Steve since the culprit wasn’t around to take the heat. Steve just laughed even harder at your reaction and you opened and closed your mouth in confusion before mumbling. “I’m going to kill him.”

“Let’s hope you get that done before he kills me for sorta proposing for him,” Steve grinned, and you rolled your eyes, before breaking into laughter along with Steve. For the first time in forever, you had a family. Even if Bucky was going to be asleep for a while, he had made sure you weren’t alone and you knew you were never going to be again. 

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[killiancygnus]

Serendipitous Melody 15/?

Summary: Everyone has dreams. You might dream of becoming an astronaut or teacher, or you might want to become a doctor and save as many lives you can. Emma Swan’s childhood dream was being a singer. But with life getting in the way and never finding the courage to overcome her fears, she never had a chance to follow it. That is until a little push from her friends lead her to cash on an opportunity; and, who knows, she might even get more than what she’d wished for.

Rated: T

Word count: ~5.7k

A/N:   *waves* Hello! I’m still on holiday yes but I managed to finish this chapeter and I just couln’t wait 10 more days to update, but I know you won’t complain! I won’t say anyhting else about this chapter though. I’ll just leave you to it and wait not so patiently for your reactions :)

Thanks to the wonderful and lovely @the-reason-to-sail-home for betaing this beast, as always, to all the CS Writers’ Hub ladies for all the sprints and brainstorming sessions.

Tagging some friends: @villains-happy-ending, @stardusted-nymph, @allisonchameron, @kmomof4, @hencethebravery, @katie-dub, @captainwiley, @irishswanff, @thejollypirate, @dassala, @imhookedonaswan, @ofshipsandswans, @legendofthephoenixcs , @mahstatins and @londonsbridge

If you want to be tagged too let me know :)

(Emma and Killian’s song is You Will Find Me by Alex & Sierra).

Links: Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9- Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 12 - Chapter 13 - Chapter 14 / AO3

Emma didn’t know how much time had passed since she told her friends she would meet them at the studio’s hall, but judging by the silence that stretched along the corridors, everyone must’ve already gone home. Honestly, she felt so light and dizzy from all the kisses shared with Killian, she wasn’t even sure her feet actually touching the floor, nevermind going in the right direction. Her legs were moving on their own, all she could think about were the butterflies that she was sure wouldn’t stop flying around her stomach anytime soon, and how soft his lips felt against hers. She could still feel the burn of each of his kisses on her skin and the ghost of his touch upon her hips.

Eventually, she managed to get to the hall, only stopping for a second in front of the lift’s mirrored doors to fix her hair a little to not look like she had just been making out pinned up against a wall. After she was satisfied with the result, she headed towards what seemed like Mary Margaret sitting on a couch.

“Hey,” she said, wincing at how dazed and breathless she sounded.

At the sound of her voice Mary Margaret quickly stood up and turned around to face her. “Emma! You look a bit flushed, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she brushed her off. “I’m sorry for making you wait so long but I met Killian on the way here and we… talked,” she said hoping her friend wouldn’t hear the lie that escaped her lips, “for quite a bit.”

The bright smile that Mary Margaret gave her when Emma mentioned Killian was so hopeful and knowing that clearly she had sensed that something was up. “Oh, it’s okay,” she chirped, far too excited for Emma’s liking. There was no normal reason for her to be so ecstatic, especially after such a long day.

“Where’s everyone?” Emma asked as they grabbed their things to leave the studio.

“Leroy called in sick so David had to go to the station for the night shift. Ruby instead met another finalist - Victor I think he was called. Anyway, they talked for a while and then, since you hadn’t showed up yet, she accepted his offer to have a drink with him and left.”

“He really didn’t need me to introduce him to her then,” she muttered amused as they walked in the chilly night up to her car, “Why didn’t you get David bring you home? I mean I was nowhere to be seen and it was pretty late.”

“I could have yeah,” Mary Margaret started, “but then you would have been alone.”

“Thank you,” Emma smiled softly, reaching for her car keys, “Come on, hop in.”

After leaving Mary Margaret home, Emma headed back to her apartment, looking forward to collapse on the bed and sleep for as long as humanly possible. But truth be told, she could still feel the fire of excitement burning in her veins.

She had seen the looks her friend gave her both at the studios and during the drive back home, but honestly, she couldn’t have cared less of what scenarios Mary Margaret was imagining in her head. Not tonight, no. Tonight she was just happy, and that’s how she wanted to fall asleep, for once: happy. Happy for getting to the final, happy for fixing things with Killian, and possibly making them even better. And he was a fucking good kisser too. Unbelievably and unfairly so.

And with that thought, the memory of the comfort of his arms around her and of the way his kisses felt on her skin, she fell asleep, a big smile curving up her lips.

It wasn’t early when Emma woke up with the sound of her phone vibrating on her night table, but according on her body, yes, it really was too early to function. Groaning, she reached for her phone keeping her eyes closed, only for then opening them and be blinded by the light of the screen. After giving a few moments for her sight to adjust, she saw on top of the notifications list a message from Killian just reading “Open the door ;)”. Suppressing a yawn, she got up and sleepily wobbled towards her apartment’s door. Although her mind was still fuzzy for having been just woken up, she felt the excitement build up in a nice frizzy warmth in her stomach.

What was he up to? She hadn’t heard either the buzz of the intercom nor the soft thuds of someone knocking at the door. Either she had been sound asleep, or he simply didn’t do either of those things. Was he waiting for her behind that door? Or did he maybe just leave her something on the threshold to find?

All her questions were answered when, opening the door, she found the corridor completely empty. Or so she thought until she lowered her gaze. On the floor there was a coffee cup next to a light brownish bag with a post-it attached on it and a single red rose balanced on top. Smiling, Emma crouched down and took a better look. The cup was still pretty warm, meaning she must have missed him only for a few minutes. Moving the rose aside, she picked up the drink and took a sip of what surprisingly (or maybe not) she found it out being her favourite latte. After putting the cup back down, she then moved to inspect the bag. First she took a quick peek inside, finding a huge bearclaw waiting for her, and then she took a better look at the bright yellow post-it stuck on it. Carefully, she peeled it off and picked up the rose, bringing it to her nose as she read. On the small post-it, written with a sharpie in that unfairly elegant handwriting of his, there was just a simple sentence, the black ink standing out against the yellow paper, saying:

Good morning, love! - KJ

If someone had to walk out of their apartment in that exact moment, they would have found her sitting on her heels on the threshold smiling like a loon. But honestly, she couldn’t care less. That was probably the nicest and sweetest thing someone, even just potentially, romantically involved with her had ever done. No, scratch that. It was the nicest and sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her.

Picking everything up, she stood up and kicked the door closed behind her. After putting the rose in a vase and eating her breakfast, she dialed quickly Killian’s number on her phone. She held it against her hear, not so patiently waiting for him to answer.

“Hello, love,” Killian’s soft voice ringed in her ears only moments later.

“Hey,” she said softly, and then babbled, “I just, you know, wanted to thank you for the coffee. And the bearclaw… And the rose.”

Killian giggled quietly. “It was my pleasure,” he said, “After all, if I couldn’t take you out for dinner tonight because of this stupid meeting Regina demanded me to go to, the least I could do was to - hopefully - make your day a little better by offering you caffeine, sugar and a flower.”

“Are you asking me out for dinner?” Emma laughed.

“And if I were? What would you say?” He asked so tentatively that she could basically hear him scratch the back of his neck, “Just, you know -”

Emma smiled widely as he talked. “I’d say I’d love to,” she interrupted him.

“Oh good. You are in luck then, my lady, because I already know the perfect place for our second date.”

“Second?” Emma frowned.

“Of course,” he hummed in amusement, “I’m sure your friend Mrs Nolan has already planned out our first one for tomorrow evening. Too bad Ruby and David will be there too…”

Emma chuckled. “First, she isn’t technically Mrs. Nolan yet,” she started, “And second, for as much as I think she would like that, I don’t think that was in her plans. So, I’m sorry buddy, but it seems like you still have to organize an impressive first date, since you were so adamant to.”

“Oh, Swan,” he replied, his voice dropping by an octave, sending a shiver down her spine, “you will be impressed indeed.”

As soon as Emma stepped inside her friends’ apartment it was clear Mary Margaret had outdone herself. Apparently the prospect of having a worldwide famous celebrity dining with them had put both her and Ruby in a frenzy. On the table there were a couple of candles Emma swore she had never seen before, not even at Christmas or New Year’s Eve, which created a nice contrast between lights and shadows on the light green spread. The smells coming from the kitchen, where the plates of food were piling up on the counter, were delicious. And judging from what was resting on the small coffee table, Ruby must had nagged her gran until she let her bring some appetizers from the diner. Everyone was also more dressed up than usual. Even David had put on one of his famous plaid shirts to go on with his dark washed jeans instead of a more comfortable t-shirt.

As expected, Killian knocked at the (soon-to-be) Nolan’s door at seven sharp, with a bottle of wine in hand. If Ruby hadn’t been so anxious about showing up late and if Emma didn’t have to walk there earlier to calm everyone down, he would have definitely been the first to arrive. Seeing the color leaving Ruby’s face, Emma was the first to greet him. He was just wearing jeans a blue shirt whose first two buttons were of course left open, but damn did he look good. That shirt really did enhance the color of his eyes which had never looked bluer, but they also had never looked so nervous before. He had admitted to her the previous night that he was a bit afraid her friends wouldn’t like him, and even though she consciously knew there wouldn’t be such a problem, as she told him multiple times, she couldn’t help worrying about the whole thing herself too.

“Hello, love,” he said sheepishly. He looked so cute that she wanted to kiss all of his worries away, but she couldn’t because they had decided to wait to tell their friends. Hell, they didn’t even know what they were doing, except that they kissed and were soon going on a date, what would possibly be there to tell? Anyway, pretending nothing ever happened was probably for the best, considering that everyone except Emma felt obviously weird about having dinner with Killian Jones.

After the beginning awkwardness and long silences Emma at first, and then Mary Margaret, tried to break with small talk, they sat down at the table, with Killian sandwiched between a no more trembling Ruby and Emma.

“So, Killian,” Mary Margaret started, passing the meat to her fiancé, “I’d ask what you do but…”

“Yeah that’s not a question I frequently get asked,” he chuckled, “But again, aside from interviews most of the time I just get ‘Can I have a picture with you?’ or ‘Could I get an autograph?’”

“Not everyone falls for your charms, though,” Emma observed with a smug smile on her lips.

“What can I say? You were an exception, Swan. But it looks like you are quite fond of me now,” he said wiggling his eyebrows as he passed her some vegetables.

Emma glanced at him, as if to give him a warning but then something switched when he just looked at her back with both playfulness and softness written in his eyes, and her lips curved up in a gentle smile.

“That I am.”

They were so engrossed in each other for a few seconds, that none of them noticed the curious look Ruby shared with Mary Margaret.

“Do you ever get used to people recognising you everywhere?” Mary Margaret’s voice startled them.

“Oh. Uhm,” Killian hesitated, sending a brief glance in apologise at Emma again before answering, “You never really get used to it, but it gets easier with time.”

“You sound British,” David commented, giving him the very same look Emma had seen on his face whenever she assisted at one of his interrogations. “How come you moved all the way here?”

“David…” Mary Margaret started, putting her hand on his tight as if to tell him to shut up.

She must had noticed that the question had made Killian more than uneasy, just like Emma who, at the sound of the air catching in his throat, straightened her back, tense. She had never thought of asking him why he moved to America. Actually, she had never asked him about his life before fame and then Milah at all. She just knew that life had never been easy on him, but that was it.

“My mother died that I was just a child,” Killian said after taking a deep breath, “My father started drinking, leaving me and my brother alone. One day, he just left us, out of the blue. Luckily Liam was old enough take me in custody at the time. Soon after I finished college, though, I realised that I had nothing left there in Ireland. I packed my things and moved across the ocean.”

An uncomfortable silence followed. By the time he had finished talking, Killian’s voice didn’t sound as fazed as it was at the beginning, but his hand was clenched so tight in a fist under the table that his knuckles had turned white. Emma was sure there was more to the story, but now was not the time to ask. Although, she couldn’t help but being a tiny bit upset by the fact that he kept hidden from her such a huge part of his life.

“I’m sorry,” Ruby spoke first, “That must have been tough. Don’t you miss Liam, though?”

Emma internally cringed as she saw Killian emptying what little was left of wine in his glass in a gulp before replying.

“I do. Very much.”

The way his voice broke made an alarm going off in Emma’s head. How much she could be hurt or angry didn’t matter anymore. The last time she’d heard him like this was moments before he told her what happened to Milah. A more optimistic part of her hoped that his brother would still be in the UK, alive, maybe married, with 2.5 children and living in a white picket fence house, but deep down she knew that wasn’t the case, that that small part of her would be soon disillusioned.

“I bet he’s proud of you,” Mary Margaret chimed in, not knowing that Emma was cursing at her in her head from the other side of the table, “Isn’t he?”

“I don’t know. He died many years ago.”

And that was it. The terrible truth no one was expecting apart from Emma was out, bringing with it a second, long, uncomfortable silence. Were they alone, she would have hold him, but they weren’t, and they were also trying to be discreet about their relationship, whatever were it be. So, Emma reached for the hand on his tight, still closed in a fist, and squeezed it willing his eyes to meet hers. As soon as he lifted his gaze, she gave him a tight lipped smile, hoping he would understand that it was her way to tell him she was sorry and she’d be there for him, no matter what.

Giving her a small smile, he squeezed her hand back and then turned to the others, finally breaking the silence by casually changing subject, “Anyway, I know very little of how you guys met from what Emma told me so I’d like to hear the story from you.”

Getting his intent, Ruby started talking right away, soon joined by both Mary Margaret and David.

The rest of the night passed quickly without any other accidents. With time and alcohol (well, mostly alcohol) Ruby eased up and started being her usual self. David instead stopped giving Killian such an hard time, probably feeling guilty about bringing up the subject of his childhood earlier.

The only one who acted strangely was Emma. Sometimes during the conversation she would zone out and she had never really relaxed after the revelation, her posture stiff and tense. She didn’t want to feel like this, but she did. It hurt more than she thought the fact that Killian shared so much of his past with a couple of strangers, but didn’t confide in her. She had told him everything - well, mostly everything. Why didn’t he tell her his story? Was it because he didn’t trust her enough? Or was it just because that night she told him about her childhood she jumped on him before he could say anything? Whatever his reason was, she could feel his gaze burning on her skin for the rest of the evening.

By the time they had to get home, outside it was pouring down rain. Because of course the only time she walked to David and Mary Margaret, without bringing an umbrella, it had to rain so much that she had to accept Killian’s offer to accompany her home. Not that she didn’t want to spend some time alone with him, but she still was upset about what happened.

For the whole time they just stayed in silence, focusing on the road and listening to the regular patting of the rain against the car. Then, when he stopped right in front of her apartment building’s door, Killian broke the silence.

“I’m sorry,” he said, watching a surprised frown appear on Emma’s face.

A question was already forming on her lips, but he interrupted her before she could make a sound. “I’m sorry,” he repeated, “You shouldn’t have had to find out about Liam like this. I have wanted to tell you for a while but I couldn’t find neither the courage nor the right time to bring it up.”

Emma just stared at him, too stunned to reassure him everything will be alright.

“I know you’re upset, I can tell, and you have every right to be. But I just -”

“Hey, it’s okay,” she reassured him, stroking his arm gently, “You’re right. I am a bit upset. I couldn’t help worry you didn’t trust me enough to tell me, but there’s nothing to forgive. I can imagine how hard it might be to share something like that.”

“Of course I trust you, Emma,” he said almost offended by the thought, tucking a stray lock that escaped her ponytail behind her ear before caressing softly her cheek with a couple of fingers. “I lo - you are…” he whispered, luckily too quietly for Emma to notice his slip. “You are my person, Emma.”

“I know,” she breathed out, feeling the butterflies coming back to life in her stomach, “I’ll tell you what. If you are up to, you can tell me about Liam on our date. But if you don’t want to it’ll be for another time, no hard feelings. What do you say?”

Killian looked at her in disbelief. “You still want to go on a date with me?”

“Yeah. I was promised a hell of a date, after all. How could I say no to that?”

“Honestly, knowing what’s in store for you on Thursday night, I wouldn’t know,” Killian teased her back.

Emma closed the space between them, a set of matching grins still on their lips. “Thank you for the lift,” she uttered, her lips barely touching his.

“It was a pleasure.”

Emma smiled softly before pressing gently her lips on his in a small peck. “Goodnight, Killian.”

“Goodnight, love,” he whispered as he watched Emma get out of the car, closing the door behind her and rushing inside the building.

Emma had just finished stuffing things inside her clutch when Killian knocked at her door.

She had been freaking out about what to wear for days (yeah I really am ridiculous, I know). But she couldn’t help it, she was far too excited to keep her cool. The cryptic message Killian sent her that morning hadn’t been helpful either. He just told her to wear something comfy and warm, but he didn’t want to tell her where he would take her, no matter what. So, still wanting to dress to impress, she put on a red plaid short dress she once bought during sales only to leave it in the wardrobe for ages, with black tights and her favourite lace up heeled boots.

Apparently neither of them were ready when she opened the door, though. Killian just openly gasped as his eyes took her in, mouth hanging slightly open, whereas Emma’s breath caught in her throat as her cheeks turned pink under his gaze. He wore those black skinny jeans that Emma knew did wonders to his bottom, a matching black vest on top of a shirt, masterly left unbuttoned to show necklace and little chest hair and a leather jacket to complete the outfit.

“You look…” He breathed out, stunned.

Emma smiled smugly. “I know. You too.”

Killian flashed her a knowing grin. “Shall we go?”

Emma nodded and followed him to the lift and then to his car, where he held the door for her to get in (“I’m always a gentleman, love”).

“Now will you tell me where are we going?” she asked him again for the umpteenth time in the last forty-eight hours, but he just smiled and told her to wait and see.

He took her to a small deserted beach. He spread out a blanket on the shore on top of which he put the picnic basket he had prepared. As the sun disappeared behind the horizon, they sat on the blanket, putting their shoes aside and ate, the sound of the waves breaking the shore the only thing they could hear aside their voices.

“Did you make all of this? Because those small quiches are amazing.” Emma asked before taking a bite of an onion ring.

“I - Yes, just the mini quiches and sandwiches,” he blushed, “I know how much you love onion rings and spring rolls but I assumed it was better for me to buy them.”

“Ugh, this so not fair!” Emma whined, “You sing, you cook…Seriously is there anything you can’t do?”

Killian laughed and winked at her. “Why, love, wouldn’t you like to find out exactly all the things I can do?”

“Perhaps I would,” she teased him, licking her lips.

When Killian grunted her name in warning, Emma giggled.

“Anyway, where did you learn how to cook?”

Killian set his plate aside and laid down. Sensing that it was somehow connected to what she had found out the other night, she mimicked him, moving basket and plates away so that she could lay next to him. They watched the stars beginning to appear in the darkening sky for a while, letting the sound of the ocean lull them.

“After my mother passed away, my father started drinking, as you know. He was never home, and when he was, we soon learned not to cross him whatsoever. Liam was barely sixteen at the time, and he already had to take care of his little brother. There was so much he could cook, though, so I soon had to learn to. As it happens, I managed to make something more than edible and different from the usual frozen meals pretty soon, so keeping us well fed became my priority at home,” he said keeping his eyes fixed on the sky above them.

Not wanting to interrupt him, Emma nuzzled closer to his body and let him continue.

“After our father abandoned us, cooking became for me a way to thank Liam for everything he had done and still was doing for me. So I started experimenting, wanting to be better for him. My childhood superhero was my brother,” he laughed quietly, “What kind of teenager would say that?”

“A wise one who had to grow up too fast. And maybe one who hadn’t read enough ironman comics,” Emma muttered, lighting up when she noticed a small smile curving up his lips, softening the hard lines that had fallen on his face.

“True,” he chuckled, but his face fell again when he continued, just a little though, “I was more into music back then, and when I finally got into college I didn’t have much free time for superheroes. Liam had joined the Navy that year, and so to get by and pay the bills, I started working in a bar. Sometimes, though, the money I’d get wasn’t enough, so on my free nights, I would still get to work and sing there. And it worked. That is, until I finished my studies. A few months after getting my degree, in fact, I got a call in the middle of the night saying that they were so sorry but my brother died in action trying to save - and succeeding in doing so - the life of another officer.

“I packed everything and left for America a few weeks later. I was a mess. A part time barista, part time dockworker and singer wannabe in order to pay the rent for the dump I called home, who spent the free time he had watching TV and getting drunk. And that’s how Regina found me and made me who I am now,” he concluded with a shudder.

Emma was speechless. For the little that he had shared a few days ago she knew he had had a rough childhood, but she didn’t think it would have been so bad. They were quite the pair.

“I’m sorry,” she said gently, bringing her hand up on his heart and resting her head on his shoulder, “You shouldn’t have had to go through all of that.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, his voice resounding right in her ear but also so far away, “No one should. You included.”

They stayed like that, laying on the beach surrounded by the stillness of nature for what felt like hours.

“Did you know that Liam taught me to sail?” Killian asked, breaking the silence first, “I should take you sometime. If you want to, of course.”

“I’d love that,” Emma nodded against his chest, “I’ve always loved the sea. It’s so calming.”

“Me too,” he agreed, “Looking at the stars too. It has always made me feel the very same drop in the stomach you can feel before going onstage.”

“That doesn’t feel very pleasant.”

Killian chuckled. “It can be unpleasant that’s true, but it isn’t when it’s just the pure anticipation and excitement of the unknown. Like look,” he said pointing at a spot over their heads, “You see that big cross those five stars make in the sky? That’s the Swan, the Cygnus constellation. You see that lighter line in the sky passing through it? That’s a ray of the Milky Way. Millions and millions of stars, shining above us. Endless possibilities.”

Emma’s gaze followed his finger and listened to his voice, as she got lost the the beauty above her. “You are a nerdy weirdo,” she laughed when he stopped babbling.

“Aye,” he smiled, tilting her chin up to face him, their lips so close they could feel each other’s breath on their skin, “But you love me for it.”

Emma’s lips met his instantly, and so they stayed, sharing a gentle, time-stopping kiss by the ocean.

That was it. The day of the final had come. Killian couldn’t believe in a few hours everything would be over. After all, he had fun doing this show. However, he was most of all excited to see Emma’s reaction at the surprise she didn’t know he had for her. It had taken a lot of convincing from his part for making it possible to happen and now all he needed was Emma’s consent to give it the green light.

He was backstage, all dressed in leather and wearing eyeliner like the swashbuckling pirate he had to interpret tonight, waiting with Emma to be called onstage for their (hopefully not) last performance together and of this first part of the night. He quickly glanced at her to check for any sign of distress, but he found none. She was frowning in concentration and she was nervously playing with her nails, but aside from that she seemed pretty calm and relaxed. Good, that was good. It seemed like he probably was more nervous than her.

Hearing Belle’s voice starting to resound back again inside the arena, Killian took Emma’s hand in his and left a kiss on her forehead before walking onstage as soon as they heard their names being announced.

They entered the theater in the dark, reaching their position on the opposite ends of the stage following the small fluorescent dots on the floor. Moments later, the music started playing and Emma’s voice resounded in the room as a spotlight illuminated her. She walked around the left side of the stage in a tentative dance, her steps quiet, skin on the dark stage, and her long white dress flowing in the air.

She was ethereal. A fairytale princess, alone, wandering in search of her long lost lover. Said lover being a pirate, in particular, who as his princess, never stopped trying to find her back again. That was the story they were trying to tell.

As the refrain approached, she reached a rope falling from the roof and she slowly began swinging around him. Once the refrain came to an end, she sat on the floor cueing the light to illuminate the other part of the stage as Killian started to sing.

He was up on a ship’s deck, at the helm, steering and searching around, looking for his Swan princess. When he finally saw her, he rushed to reach her.

You leave me room for my imperfections When I’m a mess then you jump right in If I drift in the wrong direction You turn the tide and you calm the wind

After the two lovers found each other back again, the song came to an end, lights fading to black as Emma and Killian were lost in a tight embrace. As the audience cheered for them, Killian took advantage of the darkness to leave a kiss on the top of Emma’s head before letting Belle take the control of the stage and show.

The wait was excruciating. The boy band that sang right after them to let people send their votes, definitely made all the girls in the audience go wild, but Killian had never been very fond of those guys. It felt like ages when, finally, they exited the stage to leave the space for Belle, followed by Emma, Merida, Philip and Victor.

After putting a stop to the voting, Belle said, “I know you guys must be really nervous right now, so I’m not going to ask you to talk if you don’t want to, but I can definitely bug your coaches. Is there anything you want to say to your pupils?”

“I do,” Ariel started, “I was talking with Tink before when the talented artists backstage were getting our makeup done, and we both agreed that when we decided to take this job, we never thought we would find such talented singers. These guys here are definitely much better than we were when we started.”

“You are being humble Ariel,” Robin chimed in with a smile, “What she’s trying to say, though, and I think we all agree on, is that no matter what this first stint of votes decides, no matter who the two of you who will battle for the victory later tonight will be, all of you should be proud of what you have achieved. You are all winners tonight.”

A round of applause followed Robin’s words. As it died down Belle asked, looking at Tink and Killian, “Do you want to add anything?”

Killian glanced Tink, wanting to let her go first in case. When she shaked her head, Killian spoke up, glancing tentatively at the envelope that Belle had just received, “Actually yes, I have a little something I wanted to tell Emma before getting any results, if we have time.”

“Please, do.”

“You know I think you are a bloody talented singer, Swan. I probably should have reminded you that more often, that’s true, but I really do think you are exceptional no matter what will be written inside that envelope,” he said, taking a deep breath before continuing, “And that’s the reason I wanted to tell you that, if you are up to, there are a couple of songs in the new album I am currently writing that would sound great in your voice.”

The audience screeched. His friends sitting next to him looked at him as if he had just grown another head, except Tink, whose expression clearly said “I told you so”. But he didn’t care. All he cared about was Emma, and the way her face changed from the initial confusion to pure shock.

“I - I don’t know what to say,” she stuttered as her eyes watered with tears she didn’t want to cry, “Thank you.”

“Oh, come here,” he said softly, standing up and running up on the stage to hug her.

Emma embraced him tightly, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. “I just…,” she started, but no more words would leave her mouth.

“I know.”

By the time Killian went back to his chair, the excitement had died down, only to be replaced by a tense silence. Belle slowly opened the envelope in her hand and glanced at what was written on it with an enviable poker face.

“Merida Dunbrooke,” she said after a theatrical long pause, “I’m sorry, but your adventure on Enchanted finishes here.”

After quick hugs and kisses were shared, silence fell back again as everyone anxiously waited to know who would really get a chance to win later on that night.

“And the last finalist, who unfortunately has to leave the competition is,” Belle announced,stopping to take another nerve wracking pause in the sake of suspense.

Seriously, damn her and whoever told her to do this, Killian nervously thought. He was quite sure Emma would win the competition, but all the waiting was making him doubt of his hunch.

Finally, Belle lifted her gaze to the camera and finally voiced those last two words. “Emma Swan.”