You Could Just Say Thank You

Chapter 1.

It has been a week or two since Killian had settled in Storybrooke. He didn't feel very much at home yet, though. Of course, he had the Jolly Roger, which was his home - which is why he was determined to live there, instead of getting a house or an apartment - but he felt a little lonely in this town. He vaguely knew most people, but he hadn't befriended anyone. No one seemed very interested in befriending him, anyway. Not that he wasn't used to that. People had never really shown interest in being friends with a one-handed pirate. And he'd never really cared until now.

Before he settled here, all Killian had wanted was to pirate the lands and seek vengeance for his lost hand - and more importantly, his lost love. That was until he ended up in this quiet little town, with the friendly blonde sheriff. Sheriff Emma Swan... Bloody hell, he couldn't even find the words to describe that woman, but something about her, and just the calming feeling of this town, made him change his mind about his vengeance. Now he just wanted to settle down and try to have an easy, happy life. Swan had offered to show him around town, to help him if he ever needed anything, but he always reclined. And why? He had no clue.

The idea of having at least one friend here was nice, but something was holding him back from opening up to Emma. Maybe it was fear. Fear that if he'd get too close to her, he'd lose her like he lost his brother and his first love. It was ridiculous, and he knew that, but he still couldn't push the thought away. Even though those tragedies had happened ages ago, the pain had never fully gone away.

Killian let out a deep sigh before taking a sip of rum from his flask, his nightly thoughts consisting of those horrible events, and then the beautiful blonde woman who hadn't left his thoughts since he came here. Her face was the last thing on his mind when he fell asleep, his rest interrupted by the occasional nightmare, as usual. He woke up by the sun shining through the windows of his cabin, from which he had a magnificent view of the sea, something he would never grow tired of.

After taking a long shower and getting dressed, Killian went above deck, planning to have breakfast at Granny's. Yet, when he was about to leave, he saw some sort of small vehicle on board of his ship. He rose his eyebrow and took a closer look, taking the note he found in the basket attached to the front of the two-wheeled vehicle.

'Killian,

I know you told me you didn't need any help, but I see you walking from the docks to the town every day and thought this would be useful for you. You'll quite possible hurt yourself if you use it without knowing how it works, though, so I added some instructions at the bottom of this note. See you around.

Emma Swan'

A/N: So that's the first chapter of this fanfic! I know it's very short, but that's just because it's a brief introduction to the rest of the story. The rest of the chapters will be longer, promise! This is my first time writing a fanfiction, so please do leave comments to let me know what you think. Feedback is always more than welcome. I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it!
I've already written the next chapter, so chapter 2 will be up very soon.

PS. Credits to my lovely friend jensfairytail for the cover of this story! :)

~ Suzanne