Runaway- CaptainSwan AU

• Chapter 16 •

The door suddenly seemed ten times larger. It loomed over her, haunting her like the doors in horror movies.

Emma leaned back against the wall as she sat on the floor of the basement, staring at the dust particles that danced in the light that shined through the cracks of the door. Emma was jealous of them. They teased her, flowing freely without a care in the world. She wished she could be like that. Free of all the things that weighed down on her.

Emma glanced back up at the door. It teased her, too. Glared at her as she tried to gather the courage to go upstairs. It was humiliating. She hated that Killian had seen her at her lowest. She hated that she had been caught by his mother that way. She hated that she couldn't control her emotions enough to do the one thing humans don't even have to think to do: breathe.

It couldn't get much worse than this. That was the only thing that gave Emma the energy to get up and drag herself up the stairs to the door, followed by a solid five minutes of her just staring at the doorknob.

Just open it, goddamnit, it's not that hard.

It was freaking hard.

Her hand shook as she gripped the handle and slowly pushed the door open.

Get ahold of yourself, Emma.

She pushed the door all the way open, and was immediately overwhelmed by the most wonderful smell that had ever wafted up her nose.

Food.

Since she'd been hiding out in Killian's basement, he'd been sneaking her as much food as he could without making it obvious that food was going missing from the fridge and pantry. If Emma was being honest, she hadn't had a real, home-made meal in... in years. Many years. She'd been living off scraps and leftovers her whole life.

Now, her senses were overwhelmed by the various aromas that filled the kitchen as Emma walked in. The second thing she was met with were smiles. Two wonderful smiles, though Emma could easily pick her favorite.

"Glad to see you decided to join us," Alice greeted warmly, giving Emma  a welcoming smile.

Emma smiled back.

"I'm going to set up a bedroom for you upstairs, should you choose to use it, alright?" Alice said, making her way upstairs.

"Come eat, love," Killian beckoned, motioning toward the seat beside him. Emma timidly walked over to him and took the seat, blushing at the way he was looking at her. Killian offered her a mug of cocoa which she gladly accepted to warm her hands.

"What?" Emma asked after a few moments. He was still looking at her.

The truth was, while Emma had been down in the basement, Killian had taken the opportunity to explain everything to his mother. He explained her situation as an orphan, her home life with the Barkleys, how she was living on the streets until he took her in.

And now all he could thing about was how damn strong the girl sitting across from him was. He was just... amazed beyond measure. While the walls she put up definitely kept much more than heartbreak away from her heart, Killian could see and understand why she'd built them up. Why it was so hard for her to be vulnerable.