CSRT Snippet
Hereâs a snippet for you to enjoy from @awkwardnessandbaseballâs CSRT work in progress!
Killian hoped the invitation would be a sign of good things to come â his bad luck streak coming to an end, or something.
When Emma Swan sat down across from him at lunch â despite having switched to the opposite hour â he started to believe his luck was, in fact, turning around.
âFeels a little bit like our kids are growing up and getting married, doesnât it?â She was holding up an envelope much like the one heâd found on his desk that morning. âI mean, we made this happen. Feels like we created something there.â
âWe did, Swan. We created just a little bit of magic.â He couldnât look at her, instead focusing on the frozen dinner before him â heâd gotten lazy with cooking sinceâŚeverything that had happened. âTrue love and all that.â
âAre you going, do you think?â
âOf course. I do look absolutely dashing in a tux, I canât pass up that opportunity.â He chanced a glance at her, wiggling his eyebrows in jest, but his chest ached immediately in response and his eyes shot back down to the plastic dish of chicken and pasta that was quickly growing cold.
âWe could go, you know, together.â
The world froze for a moment. Killianâs co-workers stopped moving, stopped talking. The copier stopped mid-print job. The refrigeratorâs constant hum was silenced. The clock ceased its ticking.
âTogether?â And everything was moving again. His eyes met hers and he ignored the ache.
âYeah,â she was flustered suddenly, her tell-tale bright red flush coloring her cheeks, âyou know, as friends. We set them up together, we should watch them get married together.â
Ah.
âYeah, Swan, thatâd be great.â He thought for a moment. âWhat are you doing on lunch right now?â
âOh, I umâŚI asked Regina to give me my old time back.â
âAny particular reason?â
âI just missedâŚeating lunch at noon.â
âWell, the kitchen hasnât been the same without you.â He hadnât stopped looking at her, even though sheâd looked away ages ago. The ache in his chest was growing but he continued to ignore it.
Youâre hardly even a man anymore. Milahâs voice was in his head suddenly.
âIâve got to go,â he threw his barely eaten lunch in the trash, practically running through the doors and down the stairs and out into the fresh air.
Not like youâd ever really be able to please her anyway.
He jogged around the side of the building, all the way around the back, feeling his heart breaking in half as he reached the back, by the dumpsters, where he could hide while he caught his breath.
As friends, it was Emmaâs voice in his head now.
He wasnât good enough for Emma. Heâd always known that, but now it was smacking him in the face. That heâd had the audacity to believe he could win herâŚ.
He pulled himself together and forced himself to walk back into the building, back up the stairs, back through the doors. He forced himself to keep working as though everything was fine. He forced himself to go straight home after work, instead of stopping by the liquor store for the first time since heâd met with Cora Mills. He forced himself to eat dinner, since heâd tossed out his lunch. He forced himself to lie down in his bed.
But he couldnât force himself to fall asleep.
Like this snippet? Reblog with your thoughts in the tags to let the author know what you think!














