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kmomof4 · 4 months

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Destination Dream Weddings, Driving Disasters, & Dented Derrieres: A Fic Collaboration Between @kmomof4 @snowbellewells @whimsicallyenchantedrose and @jrob64

Ready for Ch3, y'all? Here we go! In today's installment, we are heading to Savannah for sightseeing and the bachelor and bachelorette parties!!

Rating: T

Words: 3700 of approx 21k

On ao3 and ff.net

Under the cut, unless Tumblr ate it.

The second full day of their vacation dawned bright and sunny without a cloud in the sky. It was a gorgeous day, and Emma found herself looking forward to their planned excursion in Savannah. She donned a breezy, sleeveless, white sundress sprinkled with yellow sunflowers and her favorite pair of comfortable strappy white sandals.

While normally one to simply toss clothing options into her suitcase, she’d needed to put a little more effort into packing on this trip with all their scheduled adventures, and today’s outfit was no exception. They planned to spend a fair amount of time walking around Savannah today, and then she and Ruby had organized a bachelorette party for tonight. Given the itinerary, she’d needed an outfit casual enough for a stroll through the city and yet dressy enough for a night out with the girls.

“You look tantalizing enough to tempt a man to stay home and have his wicked way with you, Swan,” Killian said, coming up behind her in the living room, wrapping his arms around her middle and nosing at her hair, before placing a not-quite-chaste kiss at the base of her neck.

She shivered in response. When he used that tone of voice, all low and gravelly and full of sin, she nearly forgot her own name.

“What, and miss out on Savannah?” she asked, her voice far from steady.

“I’ve no doubt Savannah has many charms, Love,” he said, still peppering her with kisses, “but she couldn’t possibly hold a candle to you.”

“Oi! Get a room you two!” Will said, opening the cottage door and breezing in.

“They already have one,” Regina said with an eye roll as she came into the room where they were all gathered, “and if we have to wait for them to make use of it, we’ll never get to Savannah, and I, for one, am looking forward to touring the cemetery.”

“That’s not creepy at all,” Emma said under her breath.

“It’s actually not creepy at all!” Belle said, standing close enough to her friend that she heard exactly what was said. “The cemeteries there are so old, there’s so much history! It’s fascinating.”

“I’m interested in taking a stroll along the river, getting a gander at the establishments and riverboats,” Liam said.

“I’d like to walk through the squares under the shade of all of those big, beautiful live oaks,” Mary Margaret said. “I wonder why they’re called live oaks?”

“It’s because they are semi-deciduous,” Graham said. “They never lose all of their leaves. There’s also a bit about the Spanish moss that clings to them–which is neither Spanish, nor moss, by the way. It got its name because…”

“Let’s save the botany lectures for the road,” Regina said dismissively. “It’s an hour and a half drive, and if we wait for everyone to share all their collective knowledge, we’ll never get there.”

“Regina, did you just call us smart?” Will asked.

“You’re the exception that proves the rule,” she snarked.

With only one day to spend in Savannah, they knew they couldn’t possibly see everything they hoped to see, and so they planned on splitting up - Emma, Killian, Elsa and Liam taking the riverwalk, Regina, Robin, Roland, Belle and Will touring Bonaventure Cemetery, and Graham, Ruby, Mary Margaret and David strolling through the various squares and touring the shopping district.

With their plans made, they headed to their respective cars for the drive north.

Two hours later, Emma and Killian walked hand in hand down the sidewalk overlooking the river. It was a beautiful day, quite mild for Savannah in July and with a refreshing light breeze.

“So, you’re having dinner at The Melting Pot, right?” Killian asked.

Emma nodded. “Then Ruby found something for dessert that she’s refused to tell even me.”

“Any idea what it might be?” he asked.

“Nope,” Emma chuckled. “Knowing Ruby, it’ll be as risqué as she can possibly get by with and still remain within Mary Margaret’s requirements.”

“Was Ruby particularly disappointed with her stipulation against strippers?” he asked with a grin.

Emma laughed. “Actually, it was the opposite. She just shrugged and said it’s no big deal. She’ll have Graham give her a strip tease when she gets home.”

Killian laughed. “And I’d assume the man in question went quite vermillion at that?”

“Naturally.”

“Killian, look at that,” Liam said, gesturing to the row of shops and restaurants across the street. “Who in their right mind would choose to name their establishment The Broken Keel?”

Killian shook his head derisively, “Bloody fools, that’s who.”

“So, I take it you aren’t interested in going there for lunch?” Elsa asked slyly.

“No!” both men shouted emphatically, causing the women to go off into peals of laughter.

The foursome continued their walk, enjoying the company and the sights of the historic district, the men particularly interested in the majestic river boats docked and awaiting passengers, and the women more interested in the shops and sculptures.

Emma had been fascinated listening to an old man with a long, white beard play his saxophone as he sat on a bench near the river. From the alleyway behind came the sound of a man singing, clapping, and tapping his feet. The city was so vibrant and alive and full of joie de vivre.

She turned around to comment about it to Killian, but her boyfriend was nowhere to be found.

“Looks like we lost your brother,” she commented to Liam. “Let’s hope he didn’t fall in the river.”

Liam laughed and then gave her a look she couldn’t interpret. “I believe he headed toward the riverboats to make some inquiries.”

“Inquiries about what?” she asked.

Liam merely shrugged and then determinedly changed the subject.

Suspicious. Very suspicious.

But then Killian was rejoining their group and they were off again, and Emma put the strange incident from her mind.

~*~*~

As the day settled into evening, the men and women met up again to head to their respective bachelor and bachelorette parties. While the men had reservations for a dinner at the historic Pirate’s House, Ruby announced the locations of the bachelorette party with a mischievous look in her eye.

“First, Emma made dinner reservations for us at The Melting Pot. But no dessert,” she continued, shaking her finger at them all as they ooo-ed and ahhh-ed over Emma’s choice. “I found somewhere else for that. It’s this amazing place called Better Than Sex - A Dessert Restaurant. Who doesn’t like their cake with a spicy dose of innuendo?”

Mary Margaret groaned…although if the dessert was as good as all that, she wouldn’t complain about their plans for the night. After taking a few moments to say goodbye to their men, the ladies made their way to The Melting Pot.

After their delicious and rather entertaining meal, they walked down the street to the dessert bar. Ruby had reserved a table for a private party, and as soon as the ladies arrived, their friendly, smiling waiter led them up to a room with red walls, plush carpeting, opulent chandeliers and gauzy white curtains covering the windows and ceiling. The room was dimly lit by flickering candles that lined a long banquet table, the chandeliers being more for ambiance than illumination. The smooth jazz music issuing from the sound system completed the atmosphere, and Mary Margaret rather felt as though they were having dessert in a very fancy boudoir.

“Are you ladies celebrating anything in particular tonight?” the server asked, glancing around the group.

“It’s her bachelorette party!” Ruby announced, pointing one exquisitely manicured finger in Mary Margaret’s direction. “She’s gonna tie the knot the day after tomorrow!”

“Congratulations!” the server beamed, “and might I say, you’ve come to the right place. I’m not just saying this; these desserts are to die for. I’ll give you a chance to look over the menu.”

“Order anything you want,” Belle said to Mary Margaret, as soon as the waiter withdrew. “It’s on us; we’re all pitching in.”

Mary Margaret took a sip of the water sitting before her place setting just as she began to peruse the selections, and she almost spit out the sip she’d taken.

“Oh my! These dessert names are…quite something,” Elsa said with a little chuckle.

“That’s one way to put it,” Mary Margaret agreed with a smile and a shake of her head. The selections on offer had spicy names such as “Pound Town”, “Berry Bondage”, “Naughty by Nature”, “Man Flowers” and “Peanut Butter Perversion.” The descriptions themselves were so steamy they wouldn’t have been out of place on the pages of one of those bodice ripper novels with a half-naked Adonis on the cover.

After some deliberation, she decided to go with the titillatingly-named Hot Sex in Savannah. “Your wildest fantasies have come true!” the menu read. “Georgia peaches have gotten frisky with a little bourbon, pecans, and roasted habanero to reproduce a smokin’ good time. As if you weren’t already having a ball, we’ve added a friend for you to flirt with...... a tickle of our house-made bacon ice cream.”

“What’s everyone getting?” Ruby asked. “I decided to go with the ‘Between My Red Velvet Sheets Cheesecake’.”

After a little discussion, everyone made their selections. Regina ordered the ‘Missionary Crisp’--an apple and cake-like confection. Emma opted for the ‘Morning After’ to no one’s surprise–it, after all, consisted of a chocolate and brie grilled cheese. Elsa chose the ‘Perfect Partner’, essentially a sundae made from vanilla bean ice cream and white chocolate. Belle rounded out the order with the very suggestively titled ‘Caress My Carrot’, perhaps the most decadent slice of carrot cake ever baked.

The restaurant was so very committed to its naughty puns, it had a note at the bottom of the menu that said 'and no suggestive dessert is truly complete without an equally racy cocktail'. They ordered such colorful drinks as ‘Midnight Vixen’, ‘Love Potion 69’, ‘Minty Moaner’, ‘Tingly-Tini’ and ‘Peanut-Tration’.

Mary Margaret noticed that Elsa was discreetly perusing the section almost tamely-labeled ‘for virgins.’

“So….you’re foregoing the alcohol tonight, I see,” Mary Margaret said, drawing out the first word meaningfully.

“I’ve never found a cocktail I really like,” Elsa said, studiously avoiding her friend’s gaze, a small, secret smile on her lips. “And besides, we need someone to be the designated driver.”

Mary Margaret wasn’t buying that for a moment, but before she could dig deeper to find out whether the secret hunch she’d carried since overhearing Elsa and Liam’s conversation was correct, their food and drinks arrived, and with that, all other thoughts were forgotten.

For long minutes after their desserts were served, the only sounds to be heard were soft exclamations, hums of satisfaction, and moans of ecstasy. There was no doubt about it, Mary Margaret decided. These desserts did not oversell themselves. How they’d managed to turn what was essentially a peach cobbler into such a rich, decadent, and spicy explosion of flavor on her tongue was beyond her.

“So what did you think?” Ruby asked. “Did it live up to its name?”

Mary Margaret thought for a moment. “It was good. It was very good,” she repeated, “but better than sex?” She shook her head with a smug smile. “Not a chance.”

“I did not need to hear that,” Emma muttered.

But in the end, all the ladies had to agree.

~*~*~

The men emerged from their vehicles in the parking lot of The Pirate’s House, the world famous restaurant housed in one of Savannah’s oldest buildings. The structure, only a block from the riverfront, was originally built in 1734 - a year after the town’s founding - as the quarters for the keeper of the Trustees’ Garden, the first public agricultural experimental garden in America. By the early 1750’s, Savannah was a vibrant and thriving port city and The Herb House, as it had been named, was converted into an inn that attracted sailors and pirates alike. Legend said the infamous Captain Flint actually died inside the historic building.

“And perhaps, lingers still,” Killian intoned, his eyebrows waggling in intrigue at little Roland, whose eyes resembled round saucers.

“Really?” His high pitched screech made the men chuckle. “Is it haunted, Papa? Are we gonna see a ghost?” His voice got impossibly higher as he all but jumped up and down grabbing the hem of Robin’s shirt. “ARE WE GONNA SEE THE GHOST OF CAPTAIN FLINT, PAPA?”

“Not quite, Roland,” Robin explained. “Uncle Killian doesn’t quite have his facts straight.”

“Oi!” Killian protested.

“Captain Flint wasn’t a real pirate,” Robin continued, as if Killian hadn’t spoken at all. “He wasn’t even a real man. He’s a character in the story of Treasure Island written by Robert Louis Stevenson back in the 1880’s.”

“Wowwww,” Roland breathed. “So when you and Uncle Liam were little?” he asked, innocently. Loud guffaws burst out of Killian and Will alike, with Graham and David able to contain their mirth a little better, hiding their laughter behind their hands, their eyes dancing in amusement. Liam snorted and shook his head.

“We’re not that old,” Robin chuckled, ruffling Roland’s curls, “But it is said that The Pirate’s House inspired Stevenson to write it, using a fictional Captain Flint to set the story in motion.”

The men and little boy stepped onto the porch and through the door of the establishment to be greeted by the hostess. The exterior was gray wooden clapboard with light blue shutters over very weathered red brick, but when they stepped inside, the dark wood paneling, low wooden ceilings, and various piratical accoutrements scattered around were enough to make one feel as if he really had stepped back in time a couple hundred years.

In the corner across from the door, a life-sized carved wooden pirate stood sentry at the crossroads between the bar (for Thirsty Pirates, according to the small sign above the hostess station pointing left), restaurant (for Hungry Pirates, according to another sign pointing to the right), and the stairs leading up to the second story where the gift shop could be found.

Roland was beside himself and begged Robin to take his picture with the statue who could only be Captain Flint before being let loose in the gift shop to find pirate toys to play with back at the cottage. Robin waved the others on, telling them they’d catch up in a few minutes.

It only took Roland about ten minutes to fully outfit himself with a plastic sword and hook, a pirate hat, and an eye patch, as well as a door hanger with the Jolly Roger flag on it and the caption NO TRESPASSING PIRATE’S TERRITORY. The men all laughed and cheered when he and Robin made their appearance at the table.

“Arrrrrrr, me hearties!” Roland growled, jumping out from around the corner as Robin made his way to an empty seat. He prowled around the table, swinging the sword this way and that until his father admonished him to be careful not to hit anyone or anything with it. Once he was seated, David showed him the kids’ menu and helped him pick his meal of the Frozen Rainbow- a very fruity frozen drink- and Bold Billy Bones, which consisted of fried shrimp and special Pirate’s House fries.

Once all their orders were placed and their waiter withdrew, a female pirate approached. She had long strawberry blonde hair and wore a bright red long-sleeved blouse underneath a leather vest and tight leather pants.

“Ah ha!” she gasped, focusing on Roland at the other end of the table. “It be the villainous Captain Hook.”

Roland didn’t miss a beat. He jumped to his feet, brandishing his sword and challenged the female pirate to a duel. She drew her own blade, and they proceeded to cross swords for just a few seconds, the men whooping and hollering encouragement to Roland before the lady was disarmed. She smiled proudly at the boy and declared him a master swordsman to have defeated the most famous female pirate of all time, Anne Bonny.

She offered to show Roland around the Pirate’s House, and Will jumped up and took Roland by the hand to go see some of the historical artifacts and the rum cellar, stating that he was sure Belle would be interested to hear about it.

While Will and Roland were gone, their drinks arrived. The pirate theme was pervasive throughout the restaurant, and the guys had had a great time choosing their respective drinks. First, they ordered two Diplomatico Rum Flights to share between them all. Well, David and Robin as the designated drivers didn’t indulge in the rum flights but focused on a single cocktail for the evening. David had the Savannah Tea while Robin chose the Savannah Storm. Killian had trouble choosing between Pirate’s Pleasure and Release the Kraken, but finally settled on Pirate’s Pleasure when Liam chose the Kraken. But once the drinks were delivered and Liam offered Killian a sip, he opted for the Kraken as well to accompany his meal. Graham chose the Raspberry Mojito because it reminded him of Ruby, and Will ordered the Skull Crusher in a souvenir skull mug.

A few minutes later, Anne Bonny, Will, and Roland returned to the table, Will sporting quite a goose egg on his forehead over his right eye.

“What happened to you?” David asked loudly. Roland ran to Robin talking a mile a minute.

“Uncle Will was going down the stairs to the rum cellar and was telling me to watch my step and didn’t see the… the…”

“The bloody roof of the cellar, or floor we’re walking on, whatever,” Will interrupted.

“Yeah, what Uncle Will said,” Roland said, turning back to Robin and continuing his monologue with hardly a breath in between. “And bam, Uncle Will hit his head and then fell on his bottom on the stairs and bump-bump-bumped down to the bottom,” he said, with appropriate sound effects included. “The first step was really big, and Pirate Anne was holding my hand so I didn’t fall, and Uncle Will turned back around just in time to hit his head. He says his noggin is fine, but his butt is sore. Again.” It didn’t take much imagination for the men to realize that those were the exact words out of Will’s mouth when the accident happened, and they all broke into loud laughter.

Will sat down - slowly and carefully - and immediately took a sip of his drink, waving aside the skeptical look Killian shot him.

“I’m fine, Mate,” he said. “But look at the skull! How cool is that?”

“And it’s not even cracked like yours, Mate!” Graham cackled.

The other men all laughed as Will grumbled under his breath before taking another sip.

Roland proceeded to recount all the history and things they’d seen and experienced during their private tour, with Anne Bonny staying at the table to fill in details that Roland missed.

“There was definitely something weird over in the corner of the rum cellar,” Will interjected when Roland was telling them about the giant Jolly Roger flag down there and how there were chains suspended from the ceiling that just started swinging all on their own. “Where the tunnels led down to the river,” Will continued. “Just like an electrical current, felt kind of odd. Not cold, but odd. I don’t know if it was a ghost or not…”

“Of course, it was, Uncle Will!” Roland interrupted. “Captain Flint,” he said, attempting to make his voice low and gravelly. “He died here, remember? It had to be his ghost.”

Everyone laughed good naturedly, then Anne spoke. “No, not Captain Flint, me bucko,” she said, her rich Irish brogue dripping from every word, a mischievous smile on her face, “but perhaps the Rowdy Ghost who usually haunts the Captain’s Room next door. Ee’s been known to follow patrons down to the rum cellar and play tricks on ‘em. Now this room that y’ere in is haunted by the Friendly Ghost. It’s a bit of a misnomer. Ee’s not exactly friendly, but more of a prankster. Ee’ll switch drinks around, steal food, that sort of thing.”

Just then, their meals arrived. Once everyone was served and beginning to dig into the delicious looking and smelling banquet, Liam announced loudly, “Well, I don’t believe in ghosts.”

No sooner had the words left his lips when his plate of parmesan crusted tilapia flipped over, depositing his meal on the surface of the table, the upended plate landing on top. There was stunned silence for a moment before Killian spoke up, hoping to diffuse a potentially traumatic occurrence for the precocious and brave, but still very small, boy in their midst.

“That’ll teach you to say you don’t believe in ghosts inside a clearly haunted house, big brother,” he teased. Roland’s eyes were still as huge as saucers, his mouth hanging open slightly, but he laughed when everyone else did as Liam turned as red as a ripe tomato. Robin shot Killian a grateful look, and Anne grabbed Liam’s plate.

“Aye,” Anne agreed, “It’s never wise to express disbelief in the resident spirits in a haunted house. I’ll just fetch ye a new plate, Sir.”

Once his replacement dinner arrived, Liam joined the rest of them in enjoying the excellent repast. No more ghostly incidents occurred, much to Robin’s relief, and by the end of the meal Roland was yawning nearly every thirty seconds.

Anne appeared again as they were all rising from the table. “Ah, me bucko, I see that ye have cleared yere plate of Bold Billy Bones’ fried shrimp and special fries. And your Tiny Tim dessert as well! Ye’ve earned a trip to Billy’s treasure chest in the lobby.” That got Roland’s attention quickly, and he perked up and took her outstretched hand, following her through the restaurant until they emerged in the lobby. He hadn’t noticed it when they came in, but there in the corner was a real wooden treasure chest filled to the brim with lollipops.

“Can I have one, Papa? Can I?” Roland begged.

“Sure,” Robin agreed, an indulgent smile on his face.

After Roland picked his treat, they all emerged into the night, piled into their vehicles and went to pick up their ladies for the drive home to the cottages.

~*~*~

Notes

As with previous chapters, most of what we had our characters do in this chapter was taken from our actual adventures.

We met Giennie for the day in Savannah and she took us on a tour of one of the very old cemeteries (although our excursion was in Colonial Park Cemetery. We didn’t have time to tour Bonaventure Cemetery like Regina and Robin did). We also drove around some of the squares with the magnificent live oaks and Spanish moss.

With a little bit of time to kill before our reservations for the evening, we took a walk by the river and saw many of the same sights Emma, Killian, Liam and Elsa saw– The Broken Keel, street performers, river boats and memorial sculptures.

We did indeed eat at The Melting Pot, but our dinner was on the way to our rental on the first day of vacation rather than during our primary Savannah day. Unlike the ladies in our story, we opted for the full 5 course celebration rather than the cheese and meat courses alone.

Better Than Sex: A Dessert Restaurant is an actual Savannah restaurant, and while we discussed going, it wouldn’t fit in our schedule. The descriptions of the private party room as well as the names and descriptions of the desserts and cocktails were taken from the restaurant’s website. When we were planning this fic, we had fun choosing desserts and cocktails for the characters.

The Pirate House is also a Savannah restaurant, but this one we did visit. Our evening involved not only dinner at The Pirate House but a haunted tour of the city beforehand and a tour of the (now rum-less) rum cellar. Our table was in the Herb House, which is the oldest part of the restaurant, built in the 18th century. Our waiter was not, in fact, Anne Bonny - historical female pirate - but she made a nice addition to our story. Was she really there? Was she a ghost? Was she a waitress in costume? I guess we’ll never know. The large first step and the low entrance to the rum cellar were real. As we descended the stairs, we immediately knew Will had to crack his cranium one more time as a callback to last year’s fic in addition to denting his derriere. Again. We were also told stories about the ghosts that haunt the Pirate House–from floating orbs to the ghosts named in the story. None of us had any kind of paranormal experience – although one of the guys in our tour group tried to trick our guide into thinking there was – by setting some chains in motion when the guide told us they sometimes move on their own.

Up next on Thursday: Big moments for all of our couples! The most significant being David and Mary Margaret’s wedding, of course – but there are several other secrets revealed, as well as a life-changing moment aboard a riverboat.

~*~*~

Thank you for reading and sharing! We'll be back with our final ch on Thursday!

#destination dream weddings driving disasters & dented derrieres #vacay fic #collab fic #krystal writes #snowbellewells #jrob64 #whimsicallyenchantedrose #art by joni

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snowbellewells · 2 years

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Self Promo Sunday: “One Little Ray of Hope”

This week I’m re-running my @csss20 gift fic: “One Little Ray of Hope” (originally written for my giftee @let-it-raines) I was genuinely nervous writing this one because I adored Raines’ writing so much. But she was truly kind about sweet about having me as her Santa, and I thought this one would be fun to look back at this week...

There are two part to it. I’ve linked Part Two at the end of this first part, and the story can also be found on AO3 if that is your preference. Enjoy - and Merry Christmas Eve!

Summary: The Enchanted Forest under the Evil Queen's reign may be a dark and dangerous place, but at a lowly tavern one wintry night, a captain and a serving girl still keep a welcome spark alive.

“One Little Ray of Hope”

by: @snowbellewells

Though the fire in the stone hearth was blazing merrily, the lights from their lamps battled the dark sky and frigid wind blasting flurries of snow outside their windows, and the jovial voices of many of their regulars mingled on the air to make things cozy inside the little inn and tavern, Emma Swan still shivered at the winter's chill. There, was some hint of frost that wouldn't go away, forming small icy crystals inside her chest - one particular voice that always stood out from the rest to her ears, was missing. She cursed herself for noticing, cursed him for being so unmistakable, and slammed an empty tankard onto her tray as she cleared the just-vacated table more violently than she had meant to.

Naturally Ruby would be passing by just then, on her way to wait on some exuberant new arrivals, and she playfully arched one of her dark brows with a teasing smirk. "Looks like someone's a little frustrated this evening."

From over her shoulder, where Emma hadn't even realized anyone was nearby, Tink tittered with a playful little giggle to Ruby, "Well, you know, we do seem to be short some of Emma's favorite guests this evening…" pirate was not her special anything. Honestly, she was just tired, overworked, overheated, and ready for some fresh air away from the evening crowd. It didn't have anything to do with the fact that Captain Killian Jones, with his unfairly blue eyes and his stomach-flipping accent wasn't here pestering her and getting in her way. What did she care if his farewell to her before he set sail nearly two months' back was that he would return in time for the Yuletide festivities? False hope and nonsense, all of it anyway…

And yet… tomorrow was Christmas day, her traitorous mind whispered as she plunked her heavy tray of dishes on the counter where the Widow Lucas - the proprietor of their inn, and 'Granny' to all of them - was serving up orders and Ashley was doing dishes as fast as she could to serve warm bread and hearty stew on them once more. Again, her approach was none too gentle, as she huffed out a breath of air and pushed her hair from her face impatiently.

"Careful there, my girl. Any dishes you break will be comin' from your pay," the widow threatened idly. Granny put on a tough front - one had to in a rough and tumble harbor town - and she meant business if she had to bring out her crossbow from where she kept it close to hand beneath the counter, but she was a soft heart beneath the necessary bluster and hard shell. She loved all "her girls" and most of her patrons dearly, wanting them to know they were welcome and cared for in her inn - and while many like she and her granddaughter had little in the way of blood-related family, she aimed to give them a feeling of home in her place.

Emma smiled slightly, acknowledging Granny's words without comment, despite knowing the older woman would do no such thing. She unloaded the dirtied tankards and bowls more carefully into the soapy water for Ashley and forced herself to draw a couple of deep breaths as Granny loaded her up with the next order.

Just as Emma moved to lift the tray and move off again, Granny placed her own hand over Emma's kindly, keeping her there until Emma met her eyes. "Don't let Ruby irk you. She means no harm," was the quietly offered advice, to which Emma nodded sagely, already knowing as much. It was only when Granny winked and added, "Of course, if you're awaiting some handsome sailor, I wager he'll be here soon," that Emma let out an exasperated huff and spun away to the sound of her boss and pseudo-grandmother's laughter at her back. Shaking her head, she seethed, 'Everyone thinks I'm waiting for Jones…. Well, I'm not!'

The night went on without much further interruption; the snow fell in continued flakes, swirled and eddied by the window and pilling up on the windowsills. Inside their crowded tavern, however, the cozy warmth continued to rise right along with the songs and laughter of those gathered within. Soon Emma found her face flushed, cheeks pinked from the heat and close quarters. Even as the gathered crowd began to dwindle, slowly trickling out the door and homeward in twos and threes, as she, Ruby, Tink, and Ashley began to wipe down empty tables and see to storing up leftover food and seeing drinks stoppered and sealed for the night. Granny had gone upstairs nearly an hour before as the midnight hour had come and gone, claiming her old bones needed the rest, and Mulan, who did not appear the musical type, but who had once confessed when more than a bit tipsy on dwarf mead that her parents had seen that she was learn all sorts of marriageable skills in the hopes of seeing her matched with a smart, dashing husband before she had left home to make her own way - had switched from plunking out bawdy sea shanties and reels for the gathered revelers and lighting begun pecking out chords to a few softer and slower Yuletide carols as a background accompaniment to the cleaning and the quieter murmurs of those who still lingered in conversation over their last drinks.

Not long after, Ruby silently slipped out the kitchen exit in back with the solemn huntsman who came every night to break bread and drink not at all, other than to drink in her presence and bask in her company, had stood and followed her like a silent shade as she beckoned from the doorway. Ashley had headed upstairs herself for some rest in her own apartments, as had Tink, saying the last town gazette's gossip section was calling her name. Mulan had paused at the door before heading to her own house a couple streets over, telling Emma she would make rounds of the block first, to see that all stragglers had gone home, and no trouble was lingering about them before she left.

Emma thanked the beautiful warrior sincerely, knowing that it was no more or less than the other woman did every night, determined that these friends who took her and all others at face value, welcoming all lost and weary travelers without trying to change them were safe and secure. She would see no harm come to the Widow Lucas and her adopted "sisters" on her watch; Emma knew Mulan took that charge upon herself as a sworn duty. The rest of them would never have put such weight on her shoulders, but each one of them also slept easier knowing Mulan was nearby. The slim build, shining curtain of silky black hair and delicate features could have long ago earned Mulan the hand of any prince, pirate, or nobleman who laid eyes on her, but those physical attributes all deceptively hid her strength, speed, and core of deadly steel if anyone threatened harm to those she loved.

"We'll be alright," Emma assured again, as Mulan bid her goodnight. "Everyone was in good spirits this evening. No fights, no trouble. Please rest easy once you get home. I can't imagine anything should happen until we see you again tomorrow."

"As you say," the raven-haired woman replied simply, and with a slight dip of her head in a bow, she turned and slipped into the night with such soundless agility and grace that she seemed to melt into the darkness - unseen in mere seconds.

Closing the door at last, Emma latched it securely, making certain the tavern and rooms above were locked properly for the night. She then began to move about the large, open main room, blowing out the candles still left aglow on scattered tabletops and snuffing out the wall sconces as well as she made a final pass around the main space. At last her final chores were complete, one last lit candle in her hand as she stood before the front window, looking down the moonlit street toward the docks for a moment longer. Captain Jones and his crew had yet to be seen in town, and while she could tell the others she didn't care - could even tell herself that in the light of day - here alone in the silent frosty night, Emma couldn't help wondering where he might be, and if he were well.

"Jones, if you're out there," she murmured, hoping only the snow and ice and the Christmas star would hear her, "Take care or yourself… and be safe 'til we meet again."

She had crossed the darkened room, placed her hand on the stair rail and was on the first step up to the second floor, when she heard the lightest rapping at the side door into the alley. Pausing there, Emma held her breath, listening uncertainly for the knock again, hardly daring to hope. She only had her candle in hand, the shadows long around her. Were Ruby and her huntsman still outside keeping each other warm despite the winter's chill? Could there be a prowler who had lain in wait until their self-appointed guardian had left for the night, or might it be the visitor she had been promised? The face she had looked for in anticipation every time the inn's door had opened to welcome a new patron that night? She would deny it to anyone, but those dark brows arched up into his windswept hair in challenge or jest, over eyes as blue as his beloved ocean, had been sorely missed; she had hoped to see him home again for Christmas more than she wanted to allow herself.

She drew nearer to the side entrance, not wishing to give any her presence if the person on the other side bore ill intent, but straining to hear all the same; seeking some sign she was right and to confirm the feeling she had about who awaited on the other side. Gathering her courage, Emma reached for the fireplace poker beside the large stone hearth. Its embers were now dead for the night, but only a short while ago it had been blazing hotly, heating the entire space. She was not some frightened child at any rate; she'd hold her own against any intruder if the opened door led to a nasty surprise.

Sure enough, the rapping came again, more firmly and with the added hushed entreaty, "Swan? Are you still about, Lass? Emma Swan! It's Captain Jones if you're still about and wish to see your sailor!"

Her concerns brushed aside at the tones of that voice she could not mistake, Emma let the metal of her makeshift weapon clatter against the stone as it dropped from her fingers. With an exuberant little cry, she was at the door and lifting the latch in a second. The candle in her hand flickered and nearly went out with the stunned breath that left her upon glimpsing his handsome form once again after so long away.

To his credit, Jones didn't tease; instead looking rather stunned himself as his gaze appeared busy drinking her in as well. Soon, he slipped inside out of the blustery chill and, seeing that her hand holding lighted taper was shaking considerably, he took it from her with care and reached to light the nearest sconce, casting their immediate surroundings with enough warm glow by which to see.

Finally, she regained enough of her faculties to speak, and Emma stuttered, "It seemed you were not coming, Captain. Ruby mocked me all day for my foul temper and Tink joined in of course to say it was due to my missing and certain pirate and his crew. The busybodies!" she scoffed. But then she reached across the space between hem to catch his hand. "I did worry you might have been arrested, or hurt, or wrecked…or lost…any number of things. Or perhaps I gave you no clear assurance, and instead you had moved on, not to return."

Killian shook his head just barely, looking troubled that she could even think he would abandon or fail her so easily. "Hardly Lass," he stated fervently, a sort of fiery glow in his eyes she had not seen before. I did say I would return by Yuletide, did I not? A pirate I might be, but I still have my honor. It would take more than the increased vigilance of the Evil Queen and her forces to keep me away."

Emma sucked in a worried breath at the cause of his delay. They all hoped to keep far under the notice of the usurper monarch - as cold and cruel as she was darkly attractive, she would end a life as easily as snapping her fingers, and at the slightest provocation, real or imagined. Life had been all the harder and more fraught with danger since Regina had wrested the crown from her kind and gentle stepdaughter Snow White, the rightful heir to the crown. If Killian were wanted by Queen Regina and had snuck back into her borders only to keep his promise, Emma could not bear to consider what would happen if he were discovered.

Now was the moment of truth, before anymore needless time slipped past. It was time she told him what she had realized while no teasing friends or rowdy onlookers were listening in. "I missed you," she finally managed to croak out around the lump in her throat. "Thank you… Killian…for keeping your word."

He dipped his head to look into her eyes where she had dropped her gaze to her feet. A strong, calloused hand, warm and gentle in its intent, tipped her chin back up to stare into his searching gaze. "Of course, Swan - Emma. All I could have wished for this holiday was…" he paused, his tongue darting out to wet his lips nervously and a hand coming up to worry the spot behind his ear - gesture she had long ago noticed signified nervousness. But he plunged on determinedly, "was to see you again, to see you and give you this."

Pulling a small pouch from some inner pocket of his long leather jacket, he held it out to her with sparkling eyes, appearing almost boyish for a moment in his eagerness to see her open his gift, and whispering "Happy Christmas, Emma," as he placed it in her upturned palm.

Emma's mouth formed a surprised "O", having not expected or hoped for anything more than his safe return. Opening the ties, she tilted the soft material until the item within spilled out in her hand. Holding up a long, golden chain with an exquisite stone of lovely pale green, near to jade in color, swinging from it, she was enchanted by the pendant he had brought her. "Oh, it's gorgeous," she breathed, rather stunned at how nice the piece of jewelry was. She wore (or even owned, to be honest) little of such finery.

"It's sea glass," Killian explained, taking the piece back in nimble fingers when she offered it, then turned, lifting her long hair so he could place the chain around her neck and fasten it for her. "Though sailors believe sea glass is good luck, that it keeps the wearer safe, and I would always wish you to be so, I knew it had to be yours because of the color. It reminded me vividly of your eyes…" Though the necklace was secured, his fingers still grazed featherlight along her skin, causing prickles of awareness to course throughout her body, and his own voice had turned decidedly husky.

At last, Emma turned to face him once more, breaking the trance between them, but needing to thank him, and for him to see how touched she was by his gift, even if her voice was breathless and her words trembled with emotion. "I don't know what to say. You shouldn't have, but I adore it all the same. I'll treasure it, Killian. Truly." And without further hesitation or pausing to think and second guess, Emma threw her arms around him, squeezing him tightly to her. "Thank you," she whispered against his chest, breathing in the salty, spicy essence of him and nuzzling against his chest. She realized with a force that almost knocked her off her feet that she never wanted to let go.

She felt Killian Jones' fingers thread through her hair, stroking gently, reverently as they stood there wrapped up in each other, swaying slightly in the candle glow and the howl of the wind outside. Emma felt they might indeed stay that way forever, and that neither of them would mind at all, until more rapid knocking interrupted their silent moment. The door handle rattled urgently, and she heard a nervous voice she recognized as Killian's first mate's speaking in hurried words. "Cap'n, you told me to summon you when an hour had gone. I've already seen one patrol of black guard go by. If they notice the Jolly in the harbor…"

"Aye, Smee," he gritted out, stopping the anxious flow of words. "Head back and make ready to sail. I'll follow in a moment."

He sighed as he turned back to Emma, tracing his thumb over the apple of her cheek and pausing to caress the dimple in her chin as he cradled her face in his hand.

"You have to go," she acknowledged reluctantly; hating it, but understanding and wanting to see him safe, just as he did her. Her words were wistful, wishing he could stay there with her - or that she could run away with him - but it was too much, too quickly, no matter how she dreaded being parted again so soon.

"I must, for now," he affirmed, the regret lacing every syllable of his words. "But I hope that now you know I will return."

She nodded mutely, her mind trying to memorize every detail of his face, his voice, his touch, until she could see him again. "And I will be here waiting for you," she promised with equal intent.

Bending slightly, Killian brushed his lips against her cheek, his stubble tickling her skin and again making her shiver at the sensation. It was the lightest and most gallant of kisses, and yet it only served to make her burn for more - for him to take her in his arms, for those firm lips to kiss her everywhere, for him to take her to her own apartments, or back to his cabin. It would keep her burning for however long they might be kept apart.

As he had to leave, heading out again into the dark night, Emma stood at the door watching until the very second his vanished from her sight, no longer able to deny how anxiously she would await his return.

On to Part Two...

Tagging a few who might enjoy.... @jennjenn615 @kmomof4 @searchingwardrobes @whimsicallyenchantedrose @laschatzi @jrob64 @apiratewhopines @anmylica @sotangledupinit @elizabeethan @donteattheappleshook @the-darkdragonfly @teamhook @revanmeetra87 @spartanguard @therooksshiningknight @optomisticgirl @tiganasummertree @scientificapricot @tomeandflickcorner @thislassishooked @ilovemesomekillianjones @resident-of-storybrooke @ineffablecolors @xsajx @darkcolinodonorgasm @winterbaby89 @gingerchangeling @gingerpolyglot @hollyethecurious @linda8084 @lfh1226-linda @xarandomdreamx @kazoosandfannypacks @booksteaandtoomuchtv @bluewildcatfanatic

#self promo sunday #cs ff #cs enchanted forest au #cs holiday two shot #pirate killian #wench emma (sort of?)#csss20 gift fic

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fundielicious-simblr · 10 months

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Harvestfest 🌲🍁🥧

(3rd Person POV)

Harvestfest is here again, with hordes of people descending on Newcrest (and like 5 in Brindelton bay) for a weekend of extreme family time. This post will be on the 'non heir' families that spawned from gen 2, so basically everyone from Danielle down to Harley. Thanks to my new and improved character pages, you should be able to figure out who they are and what their stories are that have led them to this point. I'll be posting them in reverse order so we'll start at the bottom and work our way to the top, so the 'heir + heir-ish' families (Allan, Branden, and Claire's) will have their own posts.

●🌲🍁🥧 ●

[L-R: James Lee (16), Cara (46), and Fletcher (47) Collins; Harley (44) and Gabriel (46) Barnard; Archie (11)(Front), Grayson (44) , Keira (42), and Matthew Collins (16)]

These are the Collins and Barnard Families. They had initially planned to travel to a cabin in the woods for a scenic harvestfest weekend, but conflicting work schedules meant that they put that plan on the backburner. They gathered at Fletcher and Cara's house for their grand meal, before heading to church for the evening service.

[F] Life has found a steady rhythm for Fletcher, Cara, and James Lee, Fletcher continues to work for the Newcrest Police Department, Cara continues her work as a Head of Fundraising and Marketing for the Newcrest Conservative Party. Their son James Lee goes to a top ranking private christian high school in the district, and is enjoying spending his time at after school activities and volunteering at various church ministries.

[G] Grayson continues his work as a doctor at Newcrest General Hospital, looking after patients as well as travelling round to speak and/or attend different conferences. He also speaks at various events, usually for various pro-life organisations and at political events. His wife Keira currently works part time at Newcrest General as a nurse whilst she finishes homeschooling their youngest son Archie, who goes to a co-op. When Archie goes to high school then Keira shall resume working full time at the hospital. Matthew attends the same high school as his cousin James Lee, and the two are thick as thieves, with James Lee feeling like a brother more than a cousin.

[H] Harley and her husband Gabriel continue to live and work in San Myshuno, Gabriel continues teaching at San Myshuno Culinary Academy and Harley still works as Editor in Chief for Myshuno Madness Magazine. The couple vacation regularly to see their family as well as to visit different parts of the country and the world. They enjoy spending time with their many siblings, nieces, and nephews at various times of the year.

L-R: Ava Grace (17), Ruby Rae (19), Rory (19), Elaine (50), Taylor (51), Amelia (14), and Kyra (26) & Tyler (28) Shearer

Life continues on for the Godwin household, Amelia is now a teenager and is working her way through high school at her homeschool co-op. Ava Grace is almost done with highschool and is exploring her options for further education, she also plays on the volleyball team of the christian school that Kyra teaches at. Ruby Rae is a year into nursing school, she commutes to university so that she can save money. She hasn't decided what kind of nurse she wants to be yet, but she's firm in her desire to help people, her aunt Kiera has been helpful in the process of applying and attending nursing school. Rory is also in university

Kyra and her husband Tyler are enjoying married life, they both live and work close to both their families so they both often enough. They're working towards buying a house before expanding their family, right now they're just enjoying being married which they're very thankful for.

L-R: Sebastian (55), Danielle (53), Gabriella (16), Emma (20) & James (21)

The Hunt households are thankful for time together, with James and Emma in Henley-on-Bagley as missionaries they don't get to be together as often. Gabriella is in high school, homeschooled by Danielle, and has not begun thinking about what she wants to do next. She often helps out at her dad's vet clinic, so she considering veterinary nursing as one of her options but she's in no rush. James and Emma moved on Henley-on-Bagley to be missionaries to help grow a church there and they are enjoying their time. They spend their days sharing the Gospel to those who live in town and in the wider area, as well as assisting at church services when needed. They've not had children yet, but are open to any that the Lord will send them. Danielle continues to homeschool Gabriella, and when she's not homeschooling her then she's working on baked goods to sell at various farmers markets or working at the bakery. Sebastian continues to run his veterinary clinic, and he's recently partnered with a veterinary school and will now be training those who make it to their clinical rotations.

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justanoutlawfic · 2 years

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Swanfire Month Day 19 | What would they do for the holidays?

Emma and Neal are not sappy people, but even they have some fun on Valentine's Day. They exchange novelty gifts, though he does give her sunflowers and brings heart-shaped bagels in the morning. They get the kids out of the house and spend the night in, avoiding the hysteria. He makes them heart-shaped pizzas. Then they spend the night enjoying...donuts. Yeah, donuts.

Halloween is their true specialty. They go all out, decorating their little beach house in all the decor they can find. Forgoing matchy costumes, Emma opts for something nerdy, Neal goes full-on horror. They don't hesitate to dress up the bug either. The night of, they take the kids trick-or-treating then head home for a movie marathon and enjoy Halloween-themed treats.

Thanksgiving is not a huge deal, both to them and Storybrooke as it isn't a thing where they're from. Still, her parents look for any reason to celebrate. So, there's a huge potluck at Granny's every year. Emma grew up watching the Charlie Brown special, so she recreates that special meal: toast, pretzel sticks, popcorn, and jelly beans. They watch the parade, and the special in question, and enjoy the day stuffing themselves. And turns out Emma's fake story about Neal isn't all a lie. He loves Pumpkin pie.

Christmas is a very big deal in the Swan-Cassidy household. Once Neal finds out about "Elf on the Shelf", it's over. He and Henry find a cool setup every day, even if Tallie is too young to even get it. They make Star Wars Christmas cookies to bring over to Snow and David's. Henry spends Christmas morning with Regina, so Neal and Emma exchange gifts, watch Tallie open hers and watch their favorite movie "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation". In the afternoon, they head to her parents' house where everyone (Rumple, Belle, Regina, Henry, Ruby, Granny, etc) gathers for a huge dinner.

#swanfire month 2022 #swanfire #swanthief #swan thief #emma swan #neal cassidy #ouat #once upon a time

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stahlop · 3 years

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The Night We Met

Summary:

Ever since Emma and Neal started dating, his roommate, Killian, has always been a jerk. But now that Emma and Neal have broken up, will she see Killian in a different light? Especially when she finds out the truth about why he's always hated her?

Rated M

Also on A03

Happy belated birthday @mariakov81! I have finally finished your birthday fic. I hope you enjoy this college/enemies to lovers/miscommunication au.

Thank you @ultraluckycatnd for being my beta on this one.

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“Ruby, I’m tired, I really don’t want to go to this party,” Emma whined as Ruby walked through her door.

“Too bad,” Ruby trilled at her. “You promised. You’ve been working like a dog. And besides, maybe you’ll get yourself laid tonight.” She smiled her wolfish grin at her.

“Ruby, I don’t need to get laid. I’m perfectly fine!” Emma huffed and settled herself back down into the couch cushions.

“Emma,” Ruby said, sitting next to her on their overly plush couch. She threw back her red tinged, brown locks, and grabbed Emma’s hands from where she’d had her arms crossed over her chest in indignation. “You have not been with anyone since you and Neal broke up. Not even a one-night stand or a rebound to get over him. I know he hurt you..”

“He fucking cheated on me for half of our three year relationship, Ruby!” Emma said, pulling her hands back and willing the tears that pricked her eyes not to fall. She wasn’t going to get upset about fucking Neal again. “Thank goodness I always insisted on condoms even though I was on birth control. Who knows what kinds of diseases he could’ve picked up.” The memory of finding Neal with another woman in their bed was seared into her memory. The fact that he’d apparently been cheating on her with multiple women over the course of their relationship made her feel like the biggest failure on the planet. But Emma always got left, always, so she really shouldn’t have been too surprised.

“I know what you’re thinking, Emma Swan, and it’s not true. You did not deserve this.” Emma raised her eyes to look at her roommate. How the hell could she always read her mind? “I know you,” Ruby said as if she had, in fact, read her mind. “I’ve known you since we were 15 and Granny took you in off the streets, fed you, and never let you leave.” Emma smiled at the memory. As a 15-year-old foster kid runaway, Emma had tried to take some food from Ruby’s grandmother’s diner dumpsters, but had been caught by Granny herself. Emma had thought she would call the cops on her, as had been her experience, but instead, she called 15-year-old Ruby down from the apartment over the diner and together, they had made what Emma had constituted as a feast (really just grilled cheese, steamed broccoli, onion rings, a hot chocolate with whipped cream, and a piece of cherry pie for dessert). Emma had made to leave as they’d done their good deed for the day, but they insisted on Emma staying in their spare room (and with a stern warning from Granny that if anything were missing in the morning, she would hunt her down). And somehow, Emma had fought the urge to run, and eventually, Granny ended up getting permission to foster her, and she had never left. Now she and Ruby were finishing up their senior year of college and Emma did not need her foster sister to try and convince her to go to some end of the year college house party.

“Look, Neal was a raging douche. I’m just sorry he had to break your heart for you to see it. But it’s been six months, Emma. It’s time to end the wallowing and come out!” Ruby gave her a stern look and Emma knew she was done for. She could never say no to that look, and Ruby knew it.

“Fine!” Emma practically bolted off the couch. “But don’t expect me to have any fun,” she warned as she headed off to her bedroom to change.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Ruby said, waving her hand behind her as she went through the door of her own room.

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Emma sighed a breath of relief as she sat down in the recently vacated spot on the couch. There was a couple making out on the other end of the couch, but as long as they didn’t invade her space, she wasn’t too worried about them. She’d been making the rounds with Ruby for the past hour and the heels that she’d picked out to wear were not being kind to her feet whatsoever.

She had just grabbed her phone out of her wristlet, flicked her blonde hair back behind her, and was just about to check the time when she heard his voice.

“Fancy seeing you here, Swan.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she knew more would be coming. “This doesn’t really seem like your scene,” the heavily accented, British voice continued on.

“And what exactly is my scene, Jones?” Emma didn’t even look up from her phone, just opened it up and started to scroll through Instagram so that she didn’t have to actually speak to him. She groaned when she felt the couch dip next to her. She glanced past him to where the couple had been making out just seconds ago, but it seemed as if they’d decided to take their activities to someplace more private.

“Aren’t you usually at bars or at Neal’s place?” Emma wasn’t sure if he was asking a genuine question, or if he just didn’t have a good zinger for her (which was pretty much his thing). But it was obvious from his answer that he didn’t know some important information.

“Neal and I broke up,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant and not like her heart was still breaking six months later. It wasn’t even Neal she was upset about, it was the being lied to and cheated on part that still got her upset. That she had put her heart out there and Neal had essentially stomped all over it, making her feel like that lost girl all over again. She looked over at him expecting to see an ‘I told you so’ smirk on his face, but instead, he looked rather upset.

“I’m sorry, Swan,” he said, a solemn expression washing over his face. “I truly am. I know how happy you two were.” Emma almost burst out laughing.

“Are you mocking me, Killian?” She wasn’t angry, just confused. “Because I seem to recall you not liking me at all when Neal and I were dating. Considering you were his roommate for most of the time we were together, I rarely ever saw you. And when I did you showed your disdain toward me pretty flagrantly.” Great. Now she was all riled up again. The last thing she needed tonight was to get into an argument with Killian Jones who had been the bane of her existence when she and Neal were together.

The expression on his face morphed from concern to pure anger after her little outburst. “I don’t even know why I try with you, Swan.” He pushed himself up off the couch and started to walk off before he stopped sharply, turned around, and came back over to her.

“I don’t know what I ever did for you to be so combative towards me, but now that you're not with Neal I don’t have to put up with it anymore. Go screw yourself!” Emma watched in shock as he stalked away from her and started up the stairs. The few people who were in the room with her all had looks of disbelief on their faces at the scene that had just transpired. Emma felt her whole body start to flush in embarrassment before she realized that she hadn’t done anything wrong.

Who the fuck does he think he is? she thought, her embarrassment now turning to anger. She and Killian had always had an antagonistic relationship. They had never gotten along. Well, technically, that wasn’t true. She’d actually met him before Neal as they’d had a class together sophomore year, but they’d only made small talk at that point. They’d flirted a bit and she’d thought he’d been interested, but then Neal had asked her out instead and Killian had made it clear that not only had he not been interested (what with the girlfriend Neal told her he had), but that he really didn’t like her at all. Every time she’d go over to their apartment, no matter what she said, he retorted back with some kind of insult or sarcastic comment. It had almost been a relief when he’d moved out a year and a half into her and Neal’s relationship.

“You try with me?” she asked incredulously, running after him up the stairs and trying not to knock over any of the, most likely, drunk people who were congregating there. Killian turned around toward her, his blue eyes flashing angrily at her. He looked like he was going to say something back to her, but then his whole body deflated with a resigned sigh that said ‘Great, I guess we’re doing this.’ And before Emma could even comprehend what was happening, he’d grabbed her arm and pulled her into an empty bedroom right off the stairs, locking the door behind them.

“Did you know?” she asked before he could get a word in.

“Know what, Swan?” Killian asked as if this whole thing was an inconvenience for him, even though he was the one who dragged her into the room.

Emma let out an exasperated sigh. “That Neal was cheating on me?” Killian’s eyes went wide for a split second before he tried to cover it up with a look of disbelief, but that was enough for Emma to see that, yes, he indeed knew that Neal had been cheating on her.

“Wow,” Emma said, trying to blink back the tears that had started pricking her eyes, all the fight leaving her body. “I knew you hated me, but I never expected you to sit idly by while Neal cheated on me.” She sank down on the bed and proceeded to use the heel of her hand to try and stop the tears from actually falling. She glanced a look at Killian, expecting to see him gloating or a mirthful smile gracing his lips, but instead, he looked absolutely crestfallen.

“I had my suspicions,” he began, running his hands through his hair, making it stand straight up and yet still making him look devilishly handsome, not that Emma was noticing. Nope. She was too upset to notice how Killian looked. “I confronted Neal about it and he told me to mind my own business. That’s why I moved out. I may be a bit of a scoundrel, Swan, but it’s bad form to cheat.” He made a move to sit down next to her on the bed, pausing to silently ask permission before she nodded yes and the bed dipped next to her.

“Why didn’t you tell me you even suspected?” Emma asked. She was staring at the god awful bedspread they were sitting on. It looked like it was denim with rhinestones all over it. How could that be comfortable to sleep on? She felt the bed shake and saw Killian scratching behind his ear, a nervous tell she’d noticed over the years. She wondered why he was nervous talking to her right now.

“Honestly, Swan, I figured you wouldn’t believe me. I mean,” he paused for a moment as if he were going to reveal some big unspoken truth between them, “you did choose him over me. I didn’t want to come off as jealous and petty.” She nodded as if that made sense, but then realized it made no sense.

Jealous and petty?

Chose Neal over him?

“What the hell are you talking about, Killian?” The sadness that she’d been feeling was replaced by utter confusion.

Killian took a deep breath as if he couldn’t believe they were going to discuss this. “Look, I know you always felt a bit uncomfortable about me being Neal’s roommate, since you rejected me so grandly. I guess that’s why I was always so sarcastic toward you -”

“No, seriously, Killian,” she said, cutting him off, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. When did I reject you?” She’d turned to face him now. She was sure her face had the most puzzled expression on it since this conversation had taken a turn. Killian’s eyes searched hers as if looking for the prank she was playing on him, but when he couldn’t, he continued talking.

“That night in the bar. You rejected me and chose Neal,” he said matter-of-factly.

“I know I keep saying this, Jones, but what the hell are you talking about? I never even spoke to you the night Neal and I got together in the bar. How could I have rejected you?” God, had she drank more than she thought that this whole conversation with Killian made no sense whatsoever? Killian let out a huff of frustration.

“I was perfectly happy never to bring this up, since you never did, but I guess we’re finally going to have this out. That night. At the bar. I thought we were flirting. It seemed like we were flirting.”

They had been flirting. She’d been waiting for her friends at a table by herself when she’d noticed Killian Jones from her biology class sitting with Neal at a table across the room. They’d practically been eye fucking each other from their perspective tables when Neal had walked over to her table and surprised her by asking her out instead.

“You had a girlfriend!” Emma said, accusingly. And now she was back to being angry. She jumped up from the bed, intent on leaving the room. Why the hell did he feel the need to rehash all this from three years ago? She’d felt humiliated when Neal had told her Killian had a girlfriend. She must have completely imagined the flirting that she thought he’d been reciprocating.

“What are you going on about, Swan?” he asked. Apparently it was Killian’s turn to be confused. He was wearing the most perplexed look on his face that Emma had ever seen.

“Your girlfriend, Mia, or Mina, or whatever. You were dating her when Neal and I started seeing each other, so you couldn’t have been flirting with me!” Emma was exhausted from this whole exchange. She knew she shouldn’t have let Ruby convince her to come out tonight. And here she was only, she checked the digital alarm clock sitting on the nightstand, one hour into the party and she was already fighting with Jones. And she wasn’t even sure what they were fighting about this time. Just that she felt like she was reliving one of the more embarrassing interactions she’d had with him.

Killian sat there looking shell shocked. “Milah?” he asked incredulously. Emma shrugged. “Neal’s cousin? I never dated her. I met her at a party, once. The party you came to as Neal’s girlfriend for the first time. Whatever gave you the idea I was dating her?”

Emma furrowed her brow, trying to recall that night three years ago. “Neal told me you were,” she said slowly. Killian scrunched his face in a look of confusion. He headed back over to the bed and sat down. He looked like he was thinking about something and Emma started to feel like an intruder in the room. She was about to suggest she head back to the party when he patted the spot next to him.

“Come sit, Swan. I feel like we need to clear the air about a few things.” The solemn look on his face was enough for Emma to follow his instructions. After she’d settled herself on a patch of the bedspread that did not contain rhinestones trying to puncture her through her jeans, Killian began to speak. “Let me see if I have the order of events correct from that night in the bar. You and I were flirting.” Emma attempted to interrupt him by reminding him that she was flirting, but she’d obviously misinterpreted his intentions, but he put his pointer finger to her lips to stop her. “Sh Sh Shush. It’s storytime,” he said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“So, you and I were flirting, or, at least, I was flirting. I was flirting with you in our bio class at school and I couldn’t believe my luck that you were sitting there at that all ages college bar flirting with me. But, I wasn’t as confident back then, so when Neal offered to be my wingman and kind of feel you out about your feelings for me, I jumped on the opportunity. I sat there watching the conversation from my table. I watched you smile at him and then look over at me and my heart practically soared out of my chest that you might be agreeing to pursue something with me. And then your face fell and you looked over at me again, but this time with a little more scorn in it, and then you and Neal just kept talking and talking, and the longer I sat there the more I felt like the biggest fool just sitting there. I could tell your affections had shifted. And then Neal came back over to me after you’d finished talking and told me how you’d really been flirting with him and that you’d agreed to go on a date with him, and better luck next time.” Killian hadn’t looked at her throughout the entire part of his story, probably afraid to see her reaction to it. Probably afraid that she would be mocking him in some way since that’s what their relationship had been since she’d been with Neal, and now she understood why.

“But, that’s not what happened,” Emma said with an anguished cry. Killian’s face snapped up toward hers so fast she thought he might have hurt something. “I was flirting with you. I’d been crushing on you so hard. And then you were in the bar. I wanted to come over and talk with you, but I didn’t want to lose the table I was saving for my friends. When Neal came over, I thought maybe you’d sent him instead. But then he told me that you hadn’t been flirting, that I must have misinterpreted. That you had been with your girlfriend, Milah, for a while now, and could I possibly consider getting to know him and go out on a date with him instead. And I felt like the biggest fool,” she said repeating his words back to him, “but Neal was cute and nice and I thought, why not. And then he brought me to that party and Milah was all over you and that just confirmed to me that everything I thought had been happening between us was just in my head, so I agreed to be Neal’s girlfriend that night.” A thought struck her and she gasped.

“That’s why you’ve been so mean to me? You thought I rejected you for Neal?” She felt horrible now, knowing the truth.

“Aye,” he said, scratching that area behind his ear again. “I admit, I didn’t deal with my feelings about being rejected that well. And the fact that you never said anything about it perturbed me too.”

“He played us both. He was supposed to be your friend and instead he screwed you for a girl.” Emma had thought she’d been pissed at Neal when she’d discovered he’d been cheating, but now she was angrier than she’d ever thought she could be. Neal was the worst of the worst. And to top it all off, he had stopped whatever could have potentially happened between her and Killian from happening.

“It was part of why I moved out. Besides suspecting him of cheating on the most glorious woman I’d ever laid eyes on, I just couldn’t see you two together anymore. It hurt too much.” He gave a shy smile which looked odd on his ruggish face.

“Ugh! Neal is the biggest asshole ever. What the hell did I ever see in him?” Emma asked.

“You see what you want to see when you’re in love,” Killian answered. Emma bit her lip, replaying everything she’d just learned. The last three years had been built on a lie. Neal was the biggest asshole to the tenth degree and Killian was sitting here looking at her as if she hung the moon.

Killian was looking like a man in love.

Emma had thought he was cute back in their freshman year when he’d still had lanky limbs that didn’t seem to fit his body and could barely grow facial hair. And now here he was sitting in front her, his body lean and muscular, beautiful scruff covering the lower half of his face, and a thatch of chest hair sitting exposed from where he’d unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt (something she always had complained to Neal about when she thought she hated him, but she’d really always wanted to run her fingers through it). She looked up into his eyes and noticed that they were practically black. Only a sliver of blue iris ringed the outside of the pupil. Emma could feel her heart starting to pound in her chest. She’d hated him until only mere minutes ago, hadn’t she? Until the revelation of Neal’s manipulation had come to light. Or had she simply been masking her feelings by engaging in his hateful banter? It only took a split second for her to decide what to do.

She grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt and hauled his lips to hers. If Killian seemed surprised by this turn of events, he didn’t show it all, as he immediately started kissing her back. His scruff on her chin felt delightful, his lips were soft on hers, and his hand had threaded its way into her hair and the slight pull felt amazing. She ran her hands through his hair and reveled at how soft it felt. She broke the kiss for a moment to get some air, their foreheads resting against each other, both of them panting.

“That was…” he began.

“Long overdue,” Emma finished before she went in for another kiss. But Killian stopped her before her lips could reach his. Her heart was pounding in her ears, but for a totally different reason than it was before. She couldn’t have possibly misread the situation again.

“You don’t want me anymore,” she stated softly, pulling away from him before she could embarrass herself any further. But he wouldn’t let her out of his grip.

“On the contrary, I want you very much.” Emma bit her lip and couldn’t stop the smile that overcame her lips. “I just…” he huffed, most likely trying to find the right words to say what he wanted without offending her. “We’ve spent the last three years believing we hated each other, and I just want to make sure this isn’t a one time thing, because I never hated you, Emma.” The sound of her name, and not Swan, did things to her that she never knew just a voice could do. She gently cupped his face in her hand and gave a chaste kiss to his cheek.

“Killian, I fully intend for this to be more than a one time thing. So please, just kiss me again?” And with that, he surged forward and gave in to her request.

This kiss was nothing like the last one. This one was full of want, passion, and love (yes, love; Emma may have still loathed him earlier tonight, but she would be the first to admit that there was a thin line between love and hate, and it had now been crossed).

Killian started peppering her jaw with kisses, finding a particular spot right before her ear which made her moan with pure lust. “Swan,” he growled into her ear, his breath making her whole body shiver, “you can’t even imagine how long I’ve wanted to hear you make those noises because of me.” He bit down on her ear lobe, soothing it with his tongue as she made another obscene noise that in all her time with Neal she’d never heard herself make. “Do you know what it does to a man when the object of his desire is getting off by someone else in the next room with thin walls? It was absolute torture.” He moved back down her jaw, kissing her lips again before moving to the other side.

“In all honesty, you mostly heard me faking it,” Emma laughed. She honestly never knew it could feel this good and they were only kissing.

Killian pulled away from the ear he’d been sucking on and faced her with a troubled look. “Please tell me my former prick of a roommate gave you some orgasms during your tenure together?” Emma almost laughed at the level of concern on his face, but she knew he was being serious so she held it in.

“I mean, he gave me some,” she shrugged. “But he was the only guy I’d ever been with, so I don’t really have a lot to compare him to.” Killian looked even more insulted at that statement.

“Swan,” Killian said, grabbing her hands. “You are a goddess and I’ll show you how you should be worshipped properly.” He punctuated this statement with another bruising kiss.

Emma sat slack jawed at his words. Never had anyone spoken to her like Killian did. Like she was worthy of being ‘worshipped’ as he’d put it. So she just nodded in agreement.

“Emma --”

“Killian --”

They both gave a small laugh having spoken at the same time.

“Emma, I just want you to know that no matter what happens tonight, I want to be whatever you want us to be. Whatever we become is as much up to you as it is to me.” So much more romantic than Neal’s ‘So I wanna if you wanna,’ Emma thought.

“Are you trying to make sure I’m okay with this, Killian? Because I am. I liked you back before Neal, and I thought I’d been wrong about you being this nice guy, but I still always had a thing for you, even when we were... mortal enemies.” More laughter emanated from them. “But I want this. I really want this.” She took her free hand and moved a piece of hair that was dangling over his eye away. “And I want to explore what could’ve been if He Who Shall Not Be Named hadn’t interfered for his own selfish reasons.” They both smiled at that. Emma could see his blue eyes twinkling. She thought he was going to kiss her again, but he let go of her hand and got up off the bed and motioned for her to do the same. Emma was confused until he began turning the bed down for them to get more comfortable.

“Oh, so now you’re a gentleman?” she asked jokingly.

“I’m always a gentleman,” he replied back. And then he grabbed her hand and pulled her in for a kiss. “But right now, I want to tear off this ridiculous comforter,” Killian ripped it off the bed revealing the normal looking sheets underneath, “so I can get you into that bed, tear off all your clothes, and hear you scream my name.” He growled into her ear as he tongued it. His voice went straight to her clit and she swore she might come from his voice alone.

Killian moved her hair off her shoulder as his lips began their assault on it. Emma had never been so glad she’d chosen the off-the-shoulder top she was wearing for the party that night. She started to unbutton her blouse to move things along, but Killian swatted her hands away.

“No, Swan. I will not have you ruining my fun by having you undress yourself. I intend to unwrap you myself. I’ve waited too long for this to be a quick fuck.” Emma shivered at his words. Never in a million years would she have thought Killian would have been a dirty talker. And she never realized that it would turn her on so much.

His scruff was scratching her neck in the best way as his lips went back to her neck. Her hands went to the thatch of hair peeking out from the top of his shirt and Emma decided that if she wasn’t allowed to unbutton her top, she could certainly start unbuttoning his. The chest hair was something she’d always wanted to run her fingers through. With every button she opened, more and more hair was revealed. She ran her fingers through it as Killian moved back to her mouth.

“Please, Killian,” she begged as she got to the last button on his shirt. He removed his arms from the sleeves while still keeping his lips on hers, although she could feel him smile as she begged. He continued to unbutton her blouse with his deft fingers and discarded her shirt onto the floor.

“Better?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow in the sexiest way she’d ever seen.��

“Not even close,” she panted. The black, strapless lace bra she was wearing felt too constricting, and as much as Killian had wanted to ‘unwrap’ her himself, she reached behind her back to unhook the offending material. The eyebrow raised again as he stepped back to see what she had done, but then his eyes widened when he saw what was underneath her bra.

“You’re absolutely stunning, Emma,” Killian whispered in awe and before she could say anything back, he started kissing her again. This time, Emma pulled him down onto the bed with her. They found a comfortable position with her on her back and him between her thighs. His lips seemed to be everywhere: lips, jaw, neck, collarbone. He was kissing a path down to her breasts and she was rubbing her jeans against the large bulge she could feel through his.

“Someone is impatient,” he smirked into the top of her breast before his teeth clamped down over her nipple.

“Fuck, Killian!” she said as he immediately laved his tongue over the now peaked nipple. The smirk returned.

“All in good time.” He moved over to the other nipple and repeated the same movements with his teeth and tongue. Emma had never felt these feelings before. Neal had barely done any foreplay, and Emma, having not been that experienced, just figured that was normal. Now she was mentally berating herself for missing out on this the past few years. But she needed to stop thinking about Neal when she had Killian’s mouth heading south. His tongue dipped into her navel and Emma swore she was going to come before he even got her jeans off. She never knew someone’s tongue could feel that erotic on her skin.

“Is this okay?” Killian asked as his fingers came up to the button on her jeans. Emma could only nod, her mouth not seeming to work. He popped the button and Emma lifted up her ass so Killian could slide her jeans and underwear down (just plain cotton which she was highly regretting right now; at least she’d had the forethought to shave before the party). He continued to kiss down her body as her jeans slid off, leaving her completely nude. For the first time that night, Emma began to feel self conscious about the position she was in. She and Killian had hated each other up until an hour ago, was it really prudent of her to sleep with him already? Maybe they should slow things down. She was just about to voice this when his tongue made contact with her clit and all rational thought went out the window.

“Oh, God!” she screamed and her hands involuntarily went to his lucious, brown locks and pulled him even closer.

“Killian will do,” he said, smiling into her. “So wet for me, Swan.” He began licking her like a man possessed and Emma had never been this crazed from oral sex in her life. She was pretty much fucking his face and Killian seemed to be enjoying it. He sucked her clit between his lips and Emma knew she was so close. Killian took his pointer and middle fingers and slipped them into her wet heat, thrusting them back and forth until he finally found the spot that would make her come undone. “Come for me, Swan,” he growled in a commanding tone. He gave one final suck and her body exploded.

Emma knew she was mumbling nonsensical words as Killian continued to lick and pump his fingers more slowly now, bringing her down from her high. Never in all her life, not by her own hand or any other boy’s (because that’s what they all were, boys) had she ever had an orgasm so strong. Emma was vaguely aware that Killian was now kissing back up her body: a small nip to her hip, his tongue licking a stripe up the side of her stomach, his teeth grazing the side of her breast. His hand was still in between her legs easing her down from her intense orgasm.

“Oh my fucking God, Killian!” she panted out, her heart still beating frantically in her chest.

“Sounds like you enjoyed that.” He smirked. That smirk always used to annoy her, but now it was the sexiest thing Emma had ever seen. She grabbed Killian by the hair and crashed her lips onto his. She could taste her essence on his lips and it was intoxicating. Emma never thought she would be turned on by that. She was learning a lot about herself tonight. Like the fact that she was completely nude and Killian was still half dressed.

“Lose the pants, Killian.” She’d found her way to the tip of his pointed ear. Another thing she’d always found annoying about him and now she found hot as fuck.

“As the lady wishes.” He stood up and began to unbutton his pants as Emma started stroking his chest hair. He was wearing a pair of black boxer briefs underneath that did nothing to hide his erection and for the first time, Emma realized that all the sexual innuendos he’d dropped over the years were not because he was compensating for something. He could really back up everything.

“Fuck, Killian!” Emma breathed out as he pulled his boxer briefs down to meet his pants that were at his knees. Emma knelt down to pull them off the rest of the way, Killian watching her intensely, and found herself eye to ….cock. He was so much bigger than Neal, and it was nicer looking, what with the manscaping he’d obviously done. Neal had just been a hairy mess. But Killian, well, Emma never thought she’d describe a man’s penis as beautiful, but that’s what this was. She gently brushed her thumb over the tip, a hiss emanating from Killian’s lips as he sat back on the bed. She wrapped her small hand around it and looked up at him. “Is this okay?” She echoed back his words from before, and just as she had, he nodded, too much in awe that this was actually happening.

Emma pumped him up and down slowly, her thumb grazing the tip each time. His shaft was velvety smooth under her touch. She was gearing herself up to lick him; it was not something she had particularly enjoyed doing for Neal. Killian must have sensed her hesitation because the next thing she knew, he was hauling her up into his lap. She immediately became wetter the moment his cock rubbed against her already damp folds.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, love.” He brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear before kissing her again. “Besides, if you put your mouth on me, I’d probably finish there and I want to feel you around me.” Emma could feel her cheeks redden, but then started rubbing herself against him. The noise Killian made was probably the most amazing noise she’d ever heard and she doubled her efforts rubbing against him just to hear him make it again.

“One moment,” he said, maneuvering himself to grab his pants. He quickly pulled out his wallet and grabbed the foil-wrapped condom from inside, then deposited his wallet back in his pants before dropping them back on the floor. Emma was busy giving sloppy kisses along the column of his neck when she heard the foil rip, and she lifted up slightly so his cock stood in between them looking red and angry. Emma had never seen an erection look so hard. She plucked the condom from his hand and pulled it down herself (and honestly, she never thought putting a condom on could be so damn sexy).

“Ready, Swan?” he asked. Emma didn’t even give a verbal answer. She grabbed his cock, lifted herself over it, and slowly sank down on him, adjusting to his length and girth.

“Fuck!” she moaned when he was finally seated completely within her. Killian kissed her passionately, his tongue plunging into the depth of her mouth and tangling with hers. She tugged on his lower lip with her teeth, and she could swear she felt him get even harder inside her.

“You need to move, Swan,” he bit out. Emma lifted herself up, and slammed back down on him. God, she’d never felt so full in her life. She never wanted this feeling to end. She continued to fuck herself on him, her hands on his shoulders to lift herself up higher, his hands under her ass to do the same. She’d never fucked anyone like this before. Neal had always insisted on missionary style, which Emma was now realizing was probably the only way he could get off. This position felt fucking amazing and she was pissed at herself for never trying it before. But she needed something more.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” she screamed as his hand moved from her ass to in between them and made contact with her clit. That was exactly what she needed. He continued to rub it as hard as he could. It was too much, yet not enough. She was almost there.

“Let go, Emma. I promise I’ll catch you.” And that was all it took. Emma lifted up off him completely and had the most fucking intense orgasm she’d ever had in her life. Even more powerful than the one he’d brought her to before. Everything seemed to go black and then next thing she knew, Killian had turned them over so she was on her back and he thrust himself back inside her.

Emma didn’t even get to contemplate how fast he’d changed their position when another orgasm rocked her due to the angle of his cock inside her and a well placed thumb on her already swollen clit. “Killian!” she screamed, her voice starting to feel hoarse from all the screaming she’d been doing. He rode her out until she finally felt him still and he grunted, emptying himself into the condom.

Killian collapsed on top of her. He was heavy, but Emma decided she didn’t really mind. She liked the way he felt. With Neal, she’d just wanted him off of her right away, mainly because he’d fall asleep almost instantaneously and then she’d be trapped beneath him. Almost as if he was reading her mind, Killian rolled off of her. Emma immediately missed the warmth of him, but he quickly took off the condom, wrapped it in some tissues from the box on the nightstand, and threw it away in the garbage can. Then he pulled her into him so their foreheads were touching, and Emma thought it was the sweetest thing anyone had done for her after sex. She kissed him, a short and sweet kiss, just to let him know that this wasn’t just sex. She hoped that it conveyed what she was too afraid to say. But then, she decided to say it anyway.

“Killian,” she began, “would you like to go out on a date...or something?” she mumbled, her confidence waning after she mentioned the word date.

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you out?” Killian teased as a wide smile graced his handsome face. She blushed. After everything they’d just done and she blushed when he teased her. She had it bad. “Yes, Emma, I would be honored to go out with you. But please let me plan the date,” he said earnestly. How could she resist when he had the puppy dog face going. She kissed him in agreement.

“And now, love,” he said hesitantly, “I think you and I should get out of this bed, considering it doesn’t belong to either of us. And who knows how many other people have used this bed for this exact same purpose.” That made Emma jump up almost immediately. God, she hoped whoever's house this was they washed the sheets before they’d made the bed.

They quickly got their clothes back on (and Emma didn’t even want to think about the mess her hair probably was), and Emma pulled her phone from the back pocket of her jeans that had been discarded, noticing there were a few text messages from Ruby.

“Shit! Ruby’s been trying to get a hold of me. She wanted to leave half an hour ago.” She frantically started texting Ruby to tell her where she was, but Killian took the phone from her hand and deleted the text.

“Tell her you’ve gone home with someone and you’ll see her in the morning.” Emma looked at him quizzically.

“Am I going home with someone?” Killian’s cheeks went red all the way to the tips of his elfin ears and his hand went to the back of his neck.

“Only if the lady would like to.”

Emma debated making him even more nervous, but couldn’t contain herself. “The lady would like to, Killian,” she said, giving a small smile. He took her hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing the knuckles and Emma thought she might melt on the spot. How could she have ever hated him? Oh right, her jerk ex. She quickly sent a text off to Ruby.

He unlocked the door and they stepped out into the, thankfully, empty hallway. They could still hear the party going on downstairs, and lots of moaning coming from the other rooms in the hall. They both gave each other slightly embarrassed grins.

“Come, love, let’s take this somewhere more private,” Killian said smugly; Emma nodded in agreement and they headed down the stairs… and ran smack into Neal.

He looked, if Emma was being honest, like crap. His hair was disheveled, and not in the way Killian’s was looking because of her pulling on it during sex, and there were bags under his eyes, like he hadn’t been sleeping.

“Emma!” Neal said, his face lighting up. “Boy, am I ever glad to see you.”

“Can’t say the feeling’s mutual,” Emma snapped. The euphoria she had just experienced with Killian was quickly fading into revulsion. She gave Killian’s fingers a quick squeeze so he knew she was not going to let Neal ruin their night. He gave her a squeeze back in understanding.

“Oh, come on Ems, don’t be like that,” he said, flashing that grin that always used to make her weak in the knees. Now it just made her want to vomit. What the hell did she ever see in him? Had she really been that desperate to be loved? Neal reached out to grab her hand and Emma could see the confusion when he realized one hand was occupied, and then the look of realization when he finally noticed Killian standing beside her.

“What the hell is this?” Neal asked angrily, like he had any reason to be angry. “You making a move on my girl, man? I thought we were friends!” Emma actually burst out laughing at that remark. Both Neal and Killian looked at her bewildered.

“First off, Neal,” she said, giving him a fierce push against his chest, her laughter giving way to irritation, “I’m no longer your girl. I haven’t been your girl in six months. And,” she gave him another push, “you were cheating on me for half of our relationship, so I really haven’t been your girl in a long time.”

“Ems, I can explain…”

“No, you can’t explain, Neal. And even if you could, I don’t want to hear it. And as for Killian being your friend,” she gave a glance to Killian and gave him a huge smile before returning her look toward Neal, “friends don’t steal the girl their other friend is interested in and then lie to both of them about it for years.” Another push. Neal’s face went practically white. “Yeah, we figured some things out tonight about the night we met.” She scowled at him to let him know that she meant business.

“I..” But Emma was done with this.

“I don’t want to hear it, Neal.” And with that, she walked past Neal, her hand in Killian’s to really make her point that she was no longer his.

“Your loss, mate,” Killian said with a smirk and gave a salute as Emma pulled him along. They ran out the front door into the cool spring air. When they made it to Killian’s car (a Chevelle that Emma remembered he rebuilt himself) they stopped to catch their breath. Emma could feel Killian’s eyes on her, silently watching her to see her reaction.

“Emma, I’d understand if we’ve moved too fast and you want to slow things down,” Killian said quickly. It’s as if he’s afraid that if he doesn’t say it fast enough, she’ll say something to end what has barely begun between them. Emma gets it. She walked over to him. He’s busily looking anywhere but at her, while scratching that spot behind his ear. It’s utterly adorable.

“Killian?” She’s standing directly in front of him and the surprise look on his face when he finally does look at her is priceless. “I don’t want this to be a one time thing. And I definitely don’t want to slow things down.” And with that declaration, she grabbed his face, pulled his lips to hers, and kissed him with everything she had in her. It took Killian a moment to catch up with her, his lips finally kissing hers back after a slight gasp of surprise into her mouth that made her smile, almost giggle even.

They finally separated and got into Killian’s car, both of them quietly contemplating, with anticipation, what the future held for them as they drove silently back to his apartment.

In the morning, Emma expected to feel the urge to run, to feel they moved too fast. But she doesn’t feel any of that. He pulled her in tight in his half asleep state, making her feel safe as she cuddled into his chest, and Emma wondered how she ever could have hated him the way she thought she did.

Tag List: (Let me know if you want to be added or removed)

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#happy birthday mariakov81 #csau #cs college au #cs au #past swanfire #enemies to lovers

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jrob64 · 2 years

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One Thrill Ride Leads to Another - Chapter 5 (Home Again)

I lied. This isn’t the final chapter. There will be an epilogue, which will hopefully be ready to post next Sunday.

For this chapter, I owe a big thank you to @wellhellotragic who, along with my beta @hookedmom, helped me with information about the Boston airport. I also owe thanks to @kmomof4 for her beta and plotting skills.

Story Summary: While working at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Killian Jones meets Emma Swan, slips his name and number into her phone, and later sends her a text asking her out. His snap decision could lead to her blocking his number, or to an adventure much more thrilling than a ride on a roller coaster.

Rating: M (for smut in Chapters 4 & 5)

Words (Chapter 5): 10,361

Catch up on Tumblr: Ch1 Ch2 Ch3 Ch4

Also on ffn and Ao3

*********

Killian’s fuzzy mind began to register a very pleasurable sensation as he emerged from sleep the next morning. When he realized what it was, he awoke with a gasp.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Emma grinned, stroking her hand along his already hard cock. “Although, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything very sleepy about this head,” she added, giving it a squeeze.

“Holy hell, Emma,” he groaned, his voice gruff and low.

“What? You don’t like being woken up this way?” she asked with feigned innocence.

Killian growled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to himself. It was when her bare skin met his that he realized she had already removed her shirt. “Mmmm, eager this morning, are we, Swan?”

His gravelly voice in her ear raised goosebumps on her skin. “I just thought it was about time you got…up,” she teased with another squeeze, which earned her several seconds of having his scruffy chin rubbed over the sensitive flesh on her throat and along her collarbone.

He loved hearing her giggles, but was determined to coax other sounds out of her, so he started soothing the reddened skin with his tongue and lips. It didn’t take long to get the effect he wanted, as her laughter turned to moans and gasps.

Her hands moved up his back to tangle in his sleep-mussed hair. “Killian,” she breathed.

“Yes, Love?” he asked against the hollow of her throat.

“I love you.”

He immediately stopped what he was doing and pushed himself up to look into her face. Her eyes held a hint of hesitance, as if she was wondering if he had changed his mind about her overnight. He leaned in to kiss her, pulling back after a few seconds to whisper against her lips, “I love you, too, Emma.” Then he crushed his mouth to hers, tongue begging for entrance, which she granted at once.

Killian rolled onto his back, taking her with him. Her knees came to rest on either side of his hips, positioning her core directly over his stiffened cock, twin groans coming from their mouths.

Emma found the friction her body was craving by rubbing her nipples against the hair on his chest and grinding her center down on him, all the while continuing to kiss him deeply. His hands reached around to grab her ass, squeezing and caressing it, which pushed her neediness even higher.

When he began rutting against her, she panted into his mouth, “Make love to me, Killian.”

His hooded eyes looked into hers, his pupils so dark with desire she could barely see the blue surrounding them. “Are you ready?” he asked. She nodded and to verify her answer, he shifted to bring his hand between them, feeling how soaked her panties were. “Aye, Sweetheart. You are very ready.”

“I…I dreamed about you,” she admitted almost shyly. “I dreamed you were…we were…making love and, when I woke up, I was…so wet.”

“Well,” he chuckled lowly, “let’s make your dream come true, shall we?”

Emma disposed of her underwear while he retrieved a condom from the drawer. She took it from him to open the package, allowing him time to remove his sleep pants. When he held out his hand to take the condom back, she shook her head. “Let me.”

The look in her eyes made him swallow hard, knowing without a doubt that she intended to be in control. “As you wish,” he agreed, watching the smile stretch across her face.

“Put your hands above your head,” she commanded, straddling his thighs after he complied. She looked up at him through her lashes, then wrapped her hand around his shaft, slowly stroking him without breaking eye contact.

Killian pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, his breathing fast and shallow as he felt Emma’s hand move over him. Her smirk told him she knew she had him completely under her spell, and he found he didn’t mind at all.

When she swiped her thumb over his slit, she felt a bead of moisture leaking out. As her hand moved back down toward his base, she bent forward, placed her lips over his tip and sucked, while her tongue darted out to taste him.

“Fucking hell, Swan,” he ground out, his eyes closing in pleasure.

“Want me to stop?” she asked playfully.

He lifted his head off the pillow to look at her. “Do you want to stop?”

Emma’s heart melted a little at his question. In the short time she had known him, she noticed he always put her needs and wants before his own. He claimed to be a gentleman, and had yet to show her any evidence to the contrary. In answer to his question, she wrapped her mouth around him again, letting her tongue trail up the vein on the underside of him.

If her intent was to wreck him, Killian knew she was well on her way. His cock was aching and he could hardly wait to be inside her hot, tight sheath, but as long as she was enjoying what she was doing, he would allow himself to enjoy it, too.

She encouraged him to spread his legs and she knelt between them, continuing to stroke him with her hand, while she ran her tongue over his balls. His muttered curses and moans of her name had her smiling, but her core was getting wetter by the second and she didn’t want to tip him over the edge without getting to feel his steel shaft inside her body.

Sitting up, her eyes scanned over his form, taking in his hands gripping the headboard, his mouth open and huffing out short gasps, and his eyes tightly closed. She moved to straddle his hips, sliding one hand up his chest to pinch his nipple. He jerked in response, opening his eyes, which were hazy with desire.

Emma slid her slick core over his cock and he repositioned his hands on her hips to guide her. After several passes, he gripped her tighter, stilling her movement. “Emma, please…I need…”

“Yeah,” she said breathlessly, “so do I.” She scooted back far enough to roll the condom into place, then lined herself up and sank down around him. When he was fully seated, they both closed their eyes and took a deep breath, trying to get themselves under some semblance of control.

“Killian, I…I…don’t think I can move,” she panted.

“Do you want me on top?”

She nodded her head furiously, the ends of her hair tickling his chest. “Okay, Love, let me just…” He tugged her down against him and rolled over, momentarily slipping out. Her responding gasp and groan had him scrambling to get back inside of her as quickly as possible.

Once he plunged back into her and their fingers intertwined above her head, he brushed his lips against hers before whispering, “Tell me how you want it, Emma.”

Her eyes opened and he was nearly floored by the feelings he saw in the emerald depths. “Fast,” she uttered, “and hard. Make me see stars, Babe.”

Grinning, he kissed her again. “Aye, Love. I think I can do that.” Lifting her hips, he pushed himself up on his knees, and grabbed a pillow to shove underneath her. Her legs wrapped around him and she locked her ankles behind his back.

Killian set a fast pace, driving into her over and over, mesmerized by her bouncing breasts and the way she was panting out his name, while her head thrashed back and forth. When her hands started plucking at her nipples, the sight drove him wild.

He felt her walls begin to tighten around him, so he reached down to rub her sensitive nub. She cried out his name, her legs gripping him as her body spasmed. Gritting his teeth to push through it, he gave her a moment, then began thrusting again, her throbbing channel beckoning him to join her in pure bliss.

She had no time to come down from the high of her first orgasm before she was well on her way to another, thanks to Killian continuing to pound into her. He was obviously taking her request very seriously and she had no doubt she would see stars popping behind her closed eyelids soon.

Emma raked her nails down his back and started pushing her pelvis up to meet his on every thrust. “Harder,” she ordered. “Killian, fuck me harder!”

His arms slid under her to grip her shoulders from underneath and he slammed into her, his words punctuating each thrust. “Come on…Emma! Come…again…for me! Please come!”

The stars burst behind her eyelids as she climaxed, coming with a shudder and shout, triggering his orgasm, too. His ragged breaths were hot on the skin of her throat and his hips continued to rut against hers, adding a little extra pressure to her clit each time.

“Killiannnn,” she whined, and he wondered if she had at least one more left in her.

Swiveling his hips, he ground into her, sucking her nipple into his mouth at the same time. Her legs tightening around him and her moaning gasps gave him the answer he wanted. He felt her hands gripping his hair and sucked harder, while his hand found her other breast and squeezed, pinching the nipple between his finger and thumb. Releasing her with a pop, he growled, “One more time, Sweetheart. Come for me one more time.”

Helpless to do anything but obey, her body shuddered again mightily. “Yes! Yes, Killian! Fuck yes!”

This time, he let her come down slowly, softly stroking her skin and pressing sweet kisses to her throat and collarbone. He remained inside of her, unwilling to vacate her throbbing walls just yet.

When her eyes finally opened, they were met by gorgeous blue ones, his brows raised high on his forehead as he asked, “Are you alright, Love?”

“Mmmhmmm,” she hummed, a smile curling her lips. “That was…amazing.”

“You’re amazing, and I’m the one lucky enough to love you…and be loved by you.”

Her fingers slid lazily through his sweaty strands of hair, sweeping them back off his forehead. “I really hate that we only have a few hours left before I have to leave you,” she sighed.

He kissed her forehead before pulling out of her with a groan and shifting to lay beside her, propped up on his elbow. “Let’s not think about that, right now. Let’s just focus on the time we have together until then, yeah?”

Her smile still held a hint of sadness, but she nodded. “Okay. I guess we should probably get cleaned up and eat some breakfast.”

Killian plucked his phone off the bedside table to check the time. “It’s only eight-thirty. After all of our physical activities yesterday, I thought you would sleep in later,” he said with a wink.

“I told you I was dreaming about my hot, sexy boyfriend. I had to wake up to see if it was all just a dream or if you really existed.”

“You doubted I was real?”

A flush crept up her throat into her cheeks. “Well, you have to admit this whole thing is a little hard to believe. I mean, I’ve hardly dated in years, and now after only three days, I’m in love with a fantastic guy who just gave me three orgasms!”

His laughter rang through the room, before he snuggled close to her, tangling his legs with hers and smirking, “Well, if you need me to prove again that I’m quite real…”

She tugged lightly on his chest hair and when he yelped, she grinned. “I think that proves it.”

“You’re lucky I love you, Swan,” he said, trying and failing to look stern as he rubbed the spot on his chest.

She stretched up to kiss him. “Yeah, I am,” she whispered.

*********

Not wanting to miss a single minute of the time they had left with each other, they showered together, then sat on the couch after breakfast to finish their coffee, chatting comfortably. They took turns asking numerous questions about their likes and dislikes, places they had traveled, their high school and college days, and a variety of other subjects to get to know one another better. After a couple of hours, it made the attraction between them even stronger.

“Where do you plan to live when you move to Boston?” Emma asked. “With your brother or your uncle?”

“Uncle Nemo is getting quite temperamental and set in his ways as he ages. That’s why Liam moved out a few months after I went to college. They argued quite frequently and Liam didn’t want their relationship to be ruined because of it, so I’m not even considering that option. Liam’s apartment isn’t very big and he recently started dating a librarian named Belle. I don’t want to be in their way, if you know what I mean,” Killian said with a wink. Twisting strands of her hair around his finger, he added, “I can hardly wait to introduce you to him.”

Emma was quiet for several seconds. When she spoke again, he could hear the hesitance in her voice. “What if he doesn’t like me?”

He kissed her temple. “What’s not to like?”

“I’m serious, Killian. He probably has high expectations for who you date, and I’m sure a girl without a family, raised in the foster system, wouldn’t meet them.”

He shifted on the sofa to look at her. “Nobody has the right to judge you for circumstances beyond your control, Love, least of all another orphan who would have been in the same situation, if it weren’t for Uncle Nemo.” He saw her beginning to say something else and hurried to reassure her. “But if Liam somehow finds a reason not to approve of you, it won’t matter to me. I love you and nothing is going to change that. I will always put you first.”

“I wouldn’t want to come between you and your brother.”

“Sweetheart, you’re worrying for nothing. Liam wants me to be happy and when he sees that I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life, he’s going to love you. Not as much as I do, but he’ll still love you.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Cradling her face between his hands, he kissed her tenderly before whispering, “I know I am.”

Emma sighed contentedly, her forehead pressed to his. “So if you’re not planning to live with Nemo or Liam, where are you going to live?” she asked quietly.

“Graham and I have been looking at some apartments online.”

“The two of you plan to keep living together?”

“Aye. We get along well and it’s much more affordable that way.”

“Do you mind showing me the ones you’re considering? Maybe I can go see them in person, then FaceTime you so you could see how they look.”

“That would be great, Love.” He crossed the room to collect his laptop off the small desk in the corner and took it back to the couch, where he opened it and searched for a map of South Boston.

Emma pointed out the block where her apartment was located and they discovered it was six blocks away from Liam’s place. Then he brought up his bookmarks and they began looking at the possibilities. She was pleased to see that most of them were within walking distance of her building.

He sent the links for the five most promising options to her phone so she could set up appointments to see them after she returned home. Next, they ordered some Chinese food to be delivered. By the time the food arrived and they ate, it was nearing twelve-thirty. Their time together was winding down.

He stretched out on the couch and pulled her down on top of him, wrapping his arms around her belly. “Emma?” he murmured, rubbing his chin back and forth against the crown of her head.

“Hmm?”

“Will you…can I…make love to you one more time before I take you back to the hotel and pick up Graham?”

Just hearing him say the words had her heart pounding in her chest. Turning over and kneeling between his legs, she flung her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. When she finally ended it, she murmured, “In case you’re not sure, that was a yes.”

He grinned and pressed his lips to hers again. “I figured that out, Love.” Dropping his right leg off the edge of the sofa, he nudged her with his left and she scrambled to stand up, tugging him up behind her.

“Well,” she said, with a glimmer of mischief in her eyes, “we’ve christened the bedroom, living room and bathroom. Should we try the kitchen this time?”

His brows shot up and his mouth opened in surprise, before his expression morphed into a sly smirk. “Is that a challenge? Because I love a challenge.”

She laughed. “Ruby told me she and Graham were trying to have sex on every surface in the hotel room and wanted to know how many rooms we christened Tuesday night. I know she’s going to ask me once she finds out we… did it….”

“Ah, so how about the kitchen counter then?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

“Seems a bit unsanitary to have sex where you prepare food, doesn’t it?” she giggled.

He grinned. “Perhaps I’d like a reminder of you everywhere in this apartment.”

“So you’re saying when you’re mixing up pancakes beside the stove, you’ll be picturing me sitting there naked?” she asked with a smirk.

He put his hands on her hips and tugged her to him. “Naked, clothed, wearing that tantalizing swimsuit - doesn’t matter. I’ll be thinking about you non-stop, until I finally have you in my arms again.”

She sighed happily, his words melting her. “Come on,” she said, taking his hand, “let’s skip the kitchen. I’d rather be comfortable in your bed.”

Following her willingly, he said, “That’s fine with me. I’m hoping your scent will stay on my sheets until I’m ready to move.”

She wrinkled her nose as she looked at him. “You don’t plan to wash your bedding for a month?”

“Don’t judge me, Swan. I’ll risk being a bit unhygienic if I can go to bed and be surrounded by your fragrance.”

Stopping in her tracks, she turned to face him and ran her hands up his chest. “God, I love you so much.”

He hoisted her up into his arms and she wrapped her legs around him. Just before fusing his mouth to hers, he whispered, “I love you too, Emma,” then carried her into his room to show her just how much.

*********

It was a quiet ride to the hotel, Emma and Killian both lost in their thoughts. She kept her hand on his thigh as he drove and he squeezed her fingers reassuringly from time to time. When they were a few blocks away, she called Ruby to let her know of her arrival and could hear the melancholy in her friend’s usually upbeat tone.

The other couple met them in the lobby and Graham excused himself to go to the restroom before leaving for work. Emma noticed Ruby’s lip trembling and put her arm around her.

“How am I going to survive almost two months without him?” the brunette asked sadly.

Emma had never seen her roommate so miserable. “I know, Rubes, but once he moves, you two will be together again…and I’ll have to invest in a good pair of noise-canceling headphones.”

Her attempt at a joke earned her a chuckle from Killian and a slight smile from Ruby. “Until then, I’ll have to be the one using the headphones,” she said. “You are not gonna convince me that after all the touchy-feely stuff you guys had going on yesterday, you didn’t go back to his apartment and bang each other’s brains out.”

Emma’s cheeks filled with color as Killian scratched vigorously behind his ear. Ruby observed them for a few seconds before exclaiming, “Ha! I knew it! I knew you couldn’t go back home without having some hot, steamy sex with this stud muffin!”

“Jeez, Ruby, can you say it a little louder?” Emma hissed. “I’m not sure M’s and David heard you in Boston!”

Ruby was laughing when Graham came back. “Feeling better, Red?” he asked, slipping his arms around her from behind.

“I’m still devastated to leave you, but finding out these two lovebirds did the deed last night…”

“Ruby! Cut it out!” Emma commanded, her face turning an even deeper shade of red.

Graham’s laughter was cut short when Killian checked the time on his phone. “We need to leave in a couple of minutes, mate.” The other man groaned and buried his face in his girlfriend’s neck. “I’ll wait for you out by the car,” Killian continued. “Have a safe trip, Ruby.”

Taking Emma’s hand, he led the way through the hotel doors to the parking lot. When they reached the car, he pulled her into his arms. She was taking deep breaths, and he could tell she was trying not to cry. “Four weeks, Love. Less than thirty days. We can do this, and then we never have to be apart again.”

“I’m going to…m-miss you so much,” she choked out.

“I know, and I’ll miss you, too, but I’ll call and text every chance I get. We’ll make it work.”

She placed her hands on both sides of his face and looked into his eyes. “You won’t put your number in anyone else’s phone, will you?” she asked, trying for some levity.

His eyes, filled with honesty and love, bore into hers. “That was a one time thing, Emma. There’s only one woman I’ve ever wanted to meet so desperately that I would stoop to doing such a thing.”

“I know,” she rushed to assure him. “I…I was just teasing. I trust you, Killian.”

His lips sought hers, attempting to pour all his feelings into the kiss. She returned it with just as much ardor, her arms moving around his back to tighten her hold on him. When he finally pulled away, his lips trailed down her throat, then back up behind her ear, where he murmured, “I love you, Emma.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered, blinking back tears.

Gathering all his willpower, he gripped her arms and put some space between them. “Text me when you get to the airport, okay? And then before you board and after you land.”

“I will.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Graham exiting the hotel. “I better let you go, so you can get to work.”

“No, don’t. Don’t ever let me go.”

She managed a tiny smile. “I won’t. I promise. I…I’ll talk to you soon.” She leaned in for one more kiss, then turned and walked away.

Killian watched her go, stopping to say goodbye to Graham, who squeezed her hand before continuing toward the car. “Ready to go?” he asked Killian, who was still staring at the hotel door where Emma had disappeared.

“No. Remind me again why we can’t move to Boston right now?”

“We don’t have an apartment there yet, Phillip is counting on us to finish out his lease, we’ve been hired to work for a few more weeks…”

Killian sighed and unlocked the car, sliding into the driver’s seat dejectedly, while Graham did the same on the passenger side. “Those are all logical reasons, but I feel like my heart is on its way to Boston without me.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Graham commiserated.

*********

Emma and Ruby packed in relative silence, but Emma could hear her friend sniffling as she shoved clothes into her suitcase. She didn’t know what to say to help her feel better, because she knew nothing Ruby could say would make her heart feel any less heavy.

They loaded their luggage onto a rolling cart from the lobby and double checked the room to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything, before taking the elevator downstairs. Just as the doors opened and they began wheeling the cart out, the Uber app on Ruby’s phone dinged to notify them that their car had arrived.

When they got to the airport, they went through the motions of checking in. As soon as they reached their boarding gate area, Emma pulled out her phone and texted Killian, not really expecting a response, since he was working.

E: Made it to the airport. I miss you already.

Much to her surprise, the reply bubbles popped up within a few seconds.

K: I miss you too.

E: Aren’t you working?

K: Coaster is down and mechanics are working on it. I only have a minute while they fix it.

E: Enough time to tell you I love you.

K: I love you too. Have a safe flight. Gotta go.

Emma sent three heart emojis, then locked her phone, slouched in her seat, and dropped her head against the top of the chair. Looking to her right, she could see Ruby wiping her eyes with a crumpled tissue. She didn’t think she had ever seen her friend cry as much as she had today in the entirety of the five years she’d known her.

Reaching over, she took Ruby’s hand and twined their fingers together. “Hey, we had a great vacation. We need to think about all the happy memories we have from it. It’s not like we’ll never see them again. Think about how happy you’ll be when Graham moves to Boston.”

“I…know,” Ruby sniffed, “but I…I just can’t right now. I know you think I’m crazy, but I honestly think I’m in love with him. He’s my soulmate.”

“I don’t think you’re crazy,” Emma responded. “I…I told Killian that, too.”

Ruby turned red eyes toward her. “That he’s your soulmate?”

Emma shook her head slightly. “No, that I love him.”

It was a testimony to how sad Ruby was that she didn’t make some sort of obnoxiously loud noise. “You guys belong together,” she stated simply.

“So do you and Graham. I’ve never seen you as happy as you are when you’re with him. He seems like a great guy, Rubes.”

“He really is,” she sighed. “I feel like we were in Vegas instead of Florida, because I believe I hit the jackpot.”

Emma felt a grin tugging at the corners of her lips. She knew the next few weeks would test their new relationships, but she was confident her feelings for Killian were just going to deepen with each passing day.

Pulling out her phone again, she scrolled through the pictures from their vacation, chose one Ruby had taken of her and Killian at Raglan Road, and set it as her lock screen.

*********

The direct flight was uneventful and when they landed 3 hours later, Emma and Ruby collected their luggage as quickly as they could and ordered an Uber. While they waited, they texted their boyfriends.

E: Plane just landed. Waiting on Uber now.

She tried not to be disappointed when she didn’t get an immediate answer. Killian was working, after all.

Their driver was maneuvering through the streets of Boston by the time she got a response. As soon as she felt her phone buzz in her hand, she opened her messages, a smile crossing her lips as she read what he sent.

K: Wish it was bringing you TO me instead of AWAY from me, but glad you made it back safely. Sorry I didn’t answer sooner. On my break now, only two more hours of work. Can I call you when I get home?

E: You better! LOL!

K: I promise I will. Can’t wait to hear your voice.

E: Gotta go. Getting close to our apartment. Talk to you soon.

K: Okay Love.

*********

“Whew! I love being on vacation, but I hate the before and after part of it!” Ruby exclaimed once they wrangled their luggage into their apartment.

“Ugh, I know what you mean,” Emma agreed, collapsing into a chair. “I guess we should let M’s know we made it home.”

“You do that, while I tell Granny the same thing. You know how she worries when I travel.”

Emma nodded. “Uh-huh. Tell her I said hi.” Ruby’s grandmother had raised her, and she considered Emma and Mary Margaret her granddaughters, too. She ran a diner in a town not far from the University of Maine, and all of them worked for her during their college summers.

When their calls were made, they placed one more for takeout, then Emma concentrated on unpacking, while Ruby took a shower to clean off the ‘airplane stink’. After they ate, Emma helped clean up the dinner mess, then showered and put on her pajama shorts and the Aerosmith shirt she had stuffed into her duffle bag when Killian wasn’t looking. She thought it was only fair for her to keep a shirt that smelled like him, if he got to sleep on sheets containing her scent .

It was only nine o’clock when she bid Ruby goodnight, her friend gave her a knowing smirk. “Going to bed pretty early, aren’t you? Planning on having phone sex with your hot boyfriend?”

“No,” Emma stated emphatically. “I’m just wiped out and want to get comfortable.”

“Well, that’s too bad. Hope you don’t mind if I do when Graham calls. Just hearing his sexy voice is probably going to give me an orgasm.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Do whatever you want, just try to keep it down.”

“I make no promises,” Ruby grinned.

Shaking her head, Emma went into her bedroom and closed the door. She checked the time on her phone and saw that Killian should have gotten off work ten minutes ago. Allowing him time to get to the locker room, meet Graham and drive home, she figured it would be at least another half hour before he called.

She sighed and climbed into bed, picking up a book from her bedside table. Her phone dinged with a notification before she finished reading one paragraph, and she eagerly checked it.

K: On our way to the car. Be home in twenty minutes. Love you.

E: Drive carefully. Love you too.

Her attempts to read were in vain because she was checking the time every couple of minutes. She finally gave up and scrolled through her social media feeds instead.

When her phone screen finally showed an incoming Facetime call from Killian, she hastily swiped the Instagram app away and hit the green ‘accept’ button. “Hey, Babe.”

His face appeared onscreen, his striking good looks making the breath whoosh out of her. “Hello, Beautiful.”

“I have a confession to make,” she said.

“Most women do,” he joked.

She tilted her phone so he could see the shirt she was wearing. “I’m a thief.”

He chuckled. “I was wondering where that went! I find that I don’t mind being in love with a thief. Besides, it looks much better on you than it does on me.”

They talked for an hour-and-a-half, and in the moments when conversation lagged, they were content just to look at each other. When Emma began stifling yawns behind her hand, Killian reluctantly admitted it was time to end the call.

“Is it okay if I call you tomorrow morning before you go to work?” Emma asked.

“Sweetheart, you never have to ask if it’s okay to call me. I’ll take every opportunity possible to hear your lovely voice and see your gorgeous face.”

She blushed at his statement before replying, “The same goes for me - call anytime. If I can’t take the call at that moment, I’ll send you a text. I’ve got unlimited everything.”

“So do I.” He took in her drooping eyelids and said, “Sleep well, my love. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

“I’m sure I won’t sleep as well as I did last night, when I was in your arms, but hopefully I’ll dream about you. Goodnight, Killian. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Emma. Goodnight.”

Both of them waited another few seconds before Emma finally touched the button to end the call. Then she placed her phone on the nightstand, turned off the light and rolled onto her left side. Remembering how wonderful it felt having Killian’s arm wrapped around her the night before, she heaved a deep sigh. Despite being exhausted from her day of travel, it took nearly two hours of tossing and turning before she was finally able to fall asleep.

*********

Ruby and Emma returned to work the next week, making it a little more difficult to find time to talk to the guys, but they managed to squeeze in every minute they could. Emma set up appointments to see the five apartments she and Killian had discussed, Ruby accompanying her for two of them, when she was able to work it into her schedule.

She toured the fourth one on Thursday, FaceTiming Killian while the realtor was in the other room looking up answers to some questions Emma asked.

“I’m pretty impressed with this one, Babe. It has windows that let in a lot of light, plenty of closet space, a great walk-in shower and is only a block away from my building. What do you think?”

“It seems to be the best one so far,” he agreed. “The rent is a little higher than the others, but Graham and I would be able to afford it. Does it appear to be well maintained? Is it in a good neighborhood?”

She was just getting ready to respond, when a tall man with curly brown hair walked through the open door into the living room where she was standing. He looked around a bit, then extended his hand toward her. “You must be the realtor. Ashley, is it?” he asked in an accented voice.

Emma shook her head. “No, I’m not the realtor. I’m here looking at the apartment for my boyfriend.”

The man adjusted his stance, straightening to his full height and crossing his arms over his chest. “Oh? Well, I have an appointment with Ashley because I’m very interested in this apartment for my brother.”

Emma’s eyes narrowed as she took in his ocean blue eyes and noticed his ears were similarly shaped to Killian’s. Recognizing his Irish accent, she began to put two and two together. “Your brother wouldn’t happen to be Killian Jones, would it?” she asked.

His mouth dropped open in surprise. “How…how do you…”

Emma held up her phone and turned it so the man could see it. “Killian, do you know this guy?”

His deep laugh came through the device as a wide smile stretched across Liam’s face. “Aye, that’s my git of an older brother,” Killian confirmed.

Liam looked back at her. “Ah, so you must be Emma Swan, the lass my brother has been telling me about for the past week,” he said, stepping closer to her.

She smiled warmly. “Yeah, I am. It’s very nice to meet you, Liam.” She held out her hand, but he pulled her into a hug instead.

Hearing a small cough, they separated and turned to see the realtor, who had just returned from the kitchen. “This must be your boyfriend,” she said smiling, offering him her hand to shake.

“No, actually. We just met,” Emma said. “He’s my boyfriend’s brother.”

“Liam Jones,” he introduced himself. “I think I must be your next appointment.”

Ashley looked confused. “And…and you both came to look at this apartment on the same day…without knowing the other was going to be here?” she asked.

“Aye. Quite a coincidence, isn’t it?” Liam chuckled.

“We’ve been experiencing a lot of those lately, haven’t we, Killian?” Emma said, turning the phone back toward herself.

“You can say that again,” he laughed.

Ashley’s surprised look slowly turned back into that of a woman ready to talk business. “So, what are your thoughts about the apartment?”

“We’ll take it,” three voices chorused back at her.

*********

The closer it got to the second week of August, the more excited Emma became; but if she was being completely honest with herself, she was a little nervous, too. Her conversations with Killian allowed her to get to know him even better and she knew the same was true for him. She was just hoping nothing he learned made him rethink their relationship.

She hadn’t seen Liam since that day at the apartment, but was relieved to learn that he was flying down to Florida to drive back with Killian. Getting all of his belongings in his car wouldn’t be difficult because he sold or threw out almost all of the furnishings he used while in college; he and Emma planned to go shopping once he got home. In the meantime, he was going to sleep on an air mattress and use a card table and chairs, until he was able to buy what was needed.

Their month apart was drawing to a close and Emma could hardly wait to be in his arms again.

*********

The first Friday in August, Killian battled heavy traffic to pick up Liam at the airport. When his brother emerged with his carry-on bag, Killian greeted him with a hug and led him to the lot where he parked his car.

Once they were away from the congestion around the airport, Liam began asking questions about Emma. Killian had already endured the berating Liam gave him over the phone upon finding out how he met her; being told it was ‘bad form’ and that he should be ashamed of himself. Killian had expected as much and would have been shocked if he hadn’t received that treatment from his older brother. After he calmed down and listened to Killian’s reasons, Liam was a little more understanding, especially when he heard the happiness in his brother’s voice - a happiness he hadn’t heard since before their mother’s death.

Liam had been curious about some things ever since he met Emma, but his brother had a maddening habit of giving him short, succinct answers over the phone. He hoped Killian would be more open with him in person. “So, tell me more about this lass who seems to have captured your heart, little brother.”

Killian side-eyed him. “Please don’t call me that in front of Emma. You know how much I hate it.” Liam chuckled, causing Killian to huff out an exasperated breath before asking, “What do you want to know?”

“Does her family live in Boston? What does she do for a living? Have you fallen in love with her?”

Killian brought his car to a stop at a red light and glanced over toward the passenger seat. “She was raised in the foster system after her parents failed to take adequate care of her.” Liam’s face showed a flash of surprise, before he gave a slight nod of understanding. “To answer your second question, she’s a sports writer for a couple of college websites. As for the last one, yes. Head over heels.”

The light turned green and Killian focused his attention back on the road, so he missed Liam’s broad grin, evidence of how happy he was for his younger brother.

*********

The brothers planned to make the trip over a two day period since it was nearly a twenty-one hour drive from Orlando to Boston, but the more miles they drove, the more anxious Killian was to get there. It was after midnight before Liam finally convinced him to pull into a roadside rest area just outside New York City to get a few hours of sleep. After waking up, they stopped for an early breakfast at an all-night diner and were back on the road by six-thirty.

Emma wasn’t expecting Killian to arrive until late Sunday afternoon, so when her phone buzzed with a text at 10:45, she figured he was letting her know how much longer it would be until they arrived. What she saw instead almost made her drop the phone.

K: I’m here. Outside your building. Can you bring down the key to my new place?

Her screech of “Ohmigod!” brought Ruby running out of her bedroom.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, her eyes wide with alarm.

“Killian is here! He’s outside!” Emma shouted, turning around in a circle as she tried to decide what to do first.

“He is? Well why are you still inside then?”

“I haven’t taken a shower yet, I’m still in my pajamas, my hair is a mess…” Emma babbled.

“The man has seen you with morning bedhead, all wet and completely naked. He’s not gonna care.”

“But I’m not even wearing a bra!”

“So? He’ll just be taking it off later anyway,” At Emma’s despairing look, she grabbed a sweatshirt off the back of the couch and tossed it to her. “Fine, put this on.”

“Thanks,” Emma mumbled from inside the hoodie.

“Now get out there!” Ruby said, pushing her friend toward the door. As it slammed shut behind her, Ruby muttered, “Guess she didn’t realize she’s not wearing any shoes,” then moved to the window to watch the reunion of the couple.

*********

Liam leaned against a lamp post, yawning as he waited for Emma to emerge from the building. His brother was pacing back and forth like a caged tiger and Liam was chuckling at his obvious impatience to see his girlfriend for the first time in a month.

Killian sang her praises all the way home and by the time they arrived, there wasn’t a doubt in Liam’s mind that the woman had his brother wrapped right around her lovely finger. All he had ever wanted for Killian was for him to be happy; Emma seemed to be instrumental in making that wish come true.

*********

Killian felt like it took ages until the door of the building opened and Emma came bursting through, her hair thrown up in a disheveled bun, barefoot and wearing a pair of pink sleep shorts and lime green hoodie with a picture of Tinkerbell. Despite the fact he was bleary eyed from having just driven nearly 1300 miles, he was astounded once again by her beauty.

He hurried down the sidewalk and caught her as she launched herself at him, jumping into his arms and peppering his face with kisses. He cupped the back of her head and guided it until her lips connected with his, then proceeded to kiss her with all the pent-up passion from the past thirty days.

“God, I missed you,” she panted into his mouth.

“I told…you, Love…Killian…will do,” he quipped between small kisses to her cheeks and forehead.

“You’re an idiot,” she laughed, her words filled with pure joy.

“But you still love me,” he smirked.

“Yeah,” she said on an exhale, “I do.”

He tightened his hold on her and buried his face in the crease of her neck, breathing her in. “I missed you so much, Sweetheart. That was the longest trip of my life. All I could think about was seeing your gorgeous face again.”

“I look terrible…”

“That’s an absolute lie,” he interrupted. “You’re the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.”

“I haven’t even taken a shower or anything. How did you get here so soon?”

“We practically drove straight through, instead of staying in a hotel last night. We only pulled over at a rest stop and slept in the car for a few hours.”

“If he had his way, we would have kept going,” Liam said, stepping up beside the couple, “but we had both driven for several long hours through hellish traffic and needed the rest.”

“Hi, Liam,” Emma greeted, keeping her arm around her boyfriend’s waist as she turned to face his brother. “Thanks for helping him drive back.”

“Your ears must have been burning for the last twenty-eight hours because my li-” a glance at Killian had him quickly rethinking his words, “um, younger brother talked about you non-stop the entire way back.”

Emma turned her face up to Killian’s, her smile both bright and smug. “Is that so?”

“No, it is not,” he defended with a twinkle in his eye. “I didn’t say anything while I was sleeping.”

“Don’t believe him, Lass,” Liam said, trying and failing to suppress a smile. “He talked in his sleep.”

Emma laughed as Killian grumbled good naturedly, unable to be upset while he held the woman he loved in his arms.

“Are you ready to go to your new apartment, Brother?” Liam asked. “I’d like to get everything unloaded, so I can go home and collapse into bed.”

Killian looked down at Emma. “As soon as I get everything into the apartment and take Liam home, I’ll be back. It should only take about an hour.”

“Okay, I guess I can survive that long without you,” she sighed dramatically. “That will give me time to get a shower and look a little more presentable.”

They were so wrapped up in each other, they hadn’t noticed Ruby coming out of the building. “Hey, handsome,” she said, tapping Killian on the shoulder. “If you’re moving into your apartment today, this might come in handy.” She gave him the key Emma had left on their kitchen counter.

“Oh, yeah,” Emma said, her face getting red. “I guess I forgot to grab it before I came downstairs.”

“And you must be big bro Liam,” Ruby said, approaching him with a toothy grin. “I’m Ruby Lucas, Emma’s roommate.”

“Ah, yes. Killian has told me about you. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He reached forward to shake her hand.

“Don’t believe everything you hear. I’m probably far worse than the stories he told,” she said, making Liam laugh.

Killian released Emma and moved to pull Ruby into a hug. “Graham said to give you this, and to tell you he misses you madly. His words, not mine.”

“Ugh, I miss him so fucking much,” she moaned into his shoulder. “I can’t believe I have to wait another three weeks to see him.”

“He’s chomping at the bit to be here with you. At least he’ll be flying back instead of driving,” Killian said, releasing her.

“Yeah,” she sighed, “but it’s still gonna seem like forever.”

“I understand that completely,” he sympathized, turning his eyes toward Emma again.

“You better get going. I think Liam is about to fall asleep on his feet,” she said. “Let me know when you get back and I’ll come over.” She ran her hands up his chest and pushed to her tiptoes to give him another kiss.

He watched the girls go back into their apartment building, before turning to start down the sidewalk towards his own place, catching Liam’s smirk along the way and choosing to ignore it.

*********

Forty minutes later, Emma got his text, and was out the door before she even finished reading it. When she reached the top of the stairs on Killian’s floor, he was waiting outside his apartment and immediately went to embrace her. He steered them inside and kicked the door shut behind them.

“Do you…do you like the apartment?” Emma asked as he trailed kisses down the side of her throat.

“It’s great, Love,” he assured her, continuing his pleasurable path. “Thanks for helping me choose the right one.”

“Well,” she said, pushing away from him far enough to look into his face, “I have very good taste.”

“Just in apartments?” he grinned knowingly.

“Oh, definitely in men, too.” She pecked his lips and gave him a beaming smile. Looking around the room, she saw a card table leaning against a wall with two chairs folded up beside it, and a single, large box sitting in the middle of the floor. “Is this all your stuff?”

“I have a couple boxes in the kitchen and two in the bedroom, along with my clothes and shoes, of course. I don’t own that much.”

“Yeah, I don’t either. When you grow up with few possessions, you find out you don’t need much.” His arms tightened around her at her statement and he brushed a kiss across her temple. “Do you want me to help you unpack?”

“Actually, I could really use some sleep first. Will you…would you mind staying with me?”

“Why, Killian Jones - are you asking me to sleep with you?” she teased. He tried to wink seductively, but she could see the weariness in his eyes, so she hurried to reassure him, “Don’t worry, Babe, I know you’re tired, so I won’t attack you…yet.”

“Let me get a few hours of sleep, then you can have your wicked way with me, Swan.”

Giggling, she took his hand and led him toward the bedrooms. Peeking into the one across from the bathroom, she saw it was empty and continued on to the one at the end of the hall. “I guess this is yours?”

“Aye,” he affirmed. “The window in here faces your building.”

Her heart thumped a little harder knowing he took that into consideration when choosing his room, especially since the other one was more spacious.

There were two more cardboard boxes in the corner and a deflated air mattress in the middle of the floor with a pump sitting beside it. “I see you haven’t blown up your bed yet,” she observed.

He sighed. “Yeah, I forgot about that. Let me just…”

“Why don’t you take a quick shower, while I take care of it? I’m assuming you didn’t get one this morning since you didn’t stay at a hotel.”

“No, I didn’t. That would be great. Thanks, Love.” He went over to one of the boxes, opened the flaps and dug around for a few seconds until he located a bottle of body wash and a towel. Then he unzipped one of his suitcases to find shorts and underwear.

Emma watched him go out the door, then began the task of filling the mattress with air. She located some sheets, a blanket and his pillow and proceeded to make his bed once it was finished inflating. She also draped a second blanket over the curtain rod to darken the room a bit.

While searching for the bedding, she melted a little upon finding a framed picture of the two of them at the waterpark, especially considering the lack of photos she noticed in his Florida apartment.

When he stepped into the bedroom after his shower, he eyed the queen size air bed. “That looks like heaven right now,” he said. “I think the exhaustion is starting to set in.”

She moved to him, unable to keep her eyes and hands off of his body. Wiping away a drop of water that was making its way down his neck, she said, “Let’s get some sleep, then.”

“Emma, you really don’t have to stay if you have other things planned…”

“The only plans I had were pacing the floor and checking the clock five thousand times until you got here,” she informed him. “You saved me the trouble of doing that, so now I’m free for the day. And truthfully, I barely slept last night knowing I was going to be seeing you in just a few hours, so I could use a nap.”

She linked their fingers and crossed the room with him in tow, dropping down onto the mattress when she reached it. Carefully moving over on the wobbly bed, she made room for him and he gratefully joined her. Gathering her into his arms, they shared a lazy kiss, then she pulled up the sheet and blanket to cover them both, snuggling into his chest. “I’m so glad you’re here, Killian. I love you.”

He yawned, exhaling an “I love you, too,” and was asleep within minutes, happily holding the woman of his dreams once again.

*********

It was late afternoon when they slowly emerged from the best sleep either of them had had since she left Orlando. Emma’s eyes blinked open first, realizing the two of them had barely moved, which she attributed to a combination of finally being in each other’s arms again and sheer exhaustion.

She studied his handsome face, still relaxed in sleep. Lifting her left hand, she traced his sideburn with her finger, then ran it over the faint scar on his right cheek. She wondered how he got it and made a mental note to ask him. She loved that they still had so much to discover about each other and would be able to do just that, now that they were back together for good.

Contemplating the implication of those two words - for good - she found they didn’t scare her at all. In fact, her heart raced with excitement just thinking about being with him every day, and hopefully, just as many nights. She was so caught up in her musings, she missed the change in his breathing that signified his waking.

Her fingers were absently sifting through the fringes of the hair at the base of his neck when he opened his eyes. She was staring off into space with a faraway look, a smile curving her delectable lips. He took a few seconds to just appreciate being with her again, before he spoke. “What are you thinking about, Sweetheart?” he asked, his voice low and rough with sleep.

Her smile widened as her eyes met his. “How happy I am that you’re here. It’s like a dream, and I don’t ever want to wake up.”

He leaned in to kiss her, then wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair. “I love you,” he rasped into her ear.

She worked her hands up his back to squeeze his shoulders, pressing her lips to his left one at the same time. “I could get used to taking naps with you in the middle of the day.”

“I know what you mean. I guess I need to have you in my arms to sleep well.”

She giggled, “I am more than okay with that, but right now, I’m not interested in sleep.”

“No?”

“Not at all.”

He looked at her with a playful glint in his eyes. “So, I’m guessing you want to help me unpack, right?”

She kissed up his neck and sucked his earlobe into her mouth. “Nuh-uh.”

“You, uh, you want to show me around the neighborhood?”

“Nope.”

Her touch was distracting him in all the best ways, but he continued to tease. “Are…are you hungry? Do you want to get something to eat?”

“Oh, I’m hungry, alright,” she purred, “but not for food.” Her hand snaked between them to reach into his shorts, finding his semi-hard cock and giving it a firm squeeze. “Now this can definitely satisfy my hunger.”

His hands found their way inside her T-shirt, tickling up her sides and lifting the cups of her bra above her breasts. “Well, I would never want you to be unsatisfied, my love.”

Their foreplay lasted several minutes as they rediscovered each other’s body - the places that made them moan with pleasure and whine with need. When they were finally ready and aching with desire, Killian cursed and started to climb off the mattress.

“Wh-where are you going,” Emma asked breathlessly, her hands clutching at him.

“To try to find a condom. I have no idea where I put them when I packed,” he said disgustedly.

“Hey, don’t worry about it…”

“I’m not going to be careless just because…”

“No, Killian, listen. I…I went to my doctor and got birth control. We’re covered.”

He glanced back at her over his shoulder. “Yeah?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Now get back here and finish what you started,” she demanded.

“If the lady insists,” he smirked, climbing on top of her.

They made love passionately, their ecstasy pushed higher than ever before since they were able to feel each other without any barriers between them. When they were thoroughly sated, Killian withdrew and rolled to the side, promptly slipping off the edge of the air mattress.

In between her giggles, Emma heard him grumble, “I’m buying a bed as soon as humanly possible.”

*********

Emma didn’t have any games to cover on Wednesday, so they arranged to meet at a furniture store a few blocks away from their apartments after Killian returned from finalizing his class schedule at BU.

As soon as she entered Wizard of Oak, she was approached by a man dressed in a brown three-piece suit. “How may I help you today, lovely lady? My name is Walsh Ozman and I’m the owner of this magnificent store. I’m sure I’ll be able to meet all your needs.” He moved closer, his eyelids halfway closed in what he must have thought was a sexy expression, but only served to make Emma uncomfortable.

Emma eyed him unamusedly and with a bit of wariness as she moved away from him. “Oh…Ozman…Wizard of Oak, I get it. Cute.”

“Why, thank you,” he beamed, completely missing her sarcasm. “Now, what may I show you today?”

“I, uh, I really just want to look around until my boyfriend gets here, if that’s okay,” she said, trying to get rid of the skeevy salesman.

She caught a brief flash of disappointment across his face, before he schooled his features and replied, “Yes, of course. I’ll be available whenever you need me.”

“Which will be never,” Emma muttered under her breath, as he slinked away.

She browsed for a few minutes, until Killian came rushing in the door and gave her a kiss. “Sorry, Love. I couldn’t find a parking spot.” Quickly scanning the store, he pointed towards the back and said, “I’m going to the restroom. I’ll be right back.”

He was returning when he walked by two salesmen who were chatting with each other and caught part of their conversation. “...sure has a nice ass on her, though. I’d like to get a piece of that.”

Turning his head slightly, Killian was able to see it was a man with shaggy brown hair in a brown suit making the crude remarks. He followed the man’s line of vision and realized the woman he was talking about could only be Emma, since she was the only customer at the front of the store.

Killian saw red, his fists clenching, but realized it wasn’t worth getting charged with assault to punch the guy. Using every ounce of self-restraint he could muster, he continued walking to where Emma was examining a tall chest of drawers.

Putting his arm around her, he leaned in and kissed behind her ear, then whispered, “I’m not buying anything from this store. One of the salesmen was saying lewd things about you and we either have to leave or I’m going to shut his mouth with my fist.”

His protectiveness made her heart swell with love. No one had ever been willing to fight for her before.

“The one in the ugly brown suit?” she asked.

“Aye, that’s the one.”

“He was trying to flirt with me when I first got here.”

Killian looked over his shoulder and saw the man approaching them. “Here he comes. Let’s go before we have to talk to him.”

Taking her hand, he brought it to his lips for a kiss, then wrapping an arm around her waist, they walked out the door, leaving a frowning Walsh in their wake.

*********

Over the next couple of weeks, Emma and Killian established a routine of sorts. His classes and subsequent assignments kept him busy most days and two evenings during the week, and she was occupied attending sporting events for work. They compared schedules every day to see when they were free to spend time together. Sometimes they met for lunch or he would bring her dinner while she was covering a game. Many nights were spent at his apartment, unless they had early morning plans. Waking up in each other’s arms was too cozy and a very big temptation to engage in activities that were certain to make them late.

They were aware that once Graham arrived in Boston, it might take some creativity to make everything work with two couples, two apartments, and four different schedules. They couldn’t help but be excited for the other couple to reunite, though.

On Saturday morning, three weeks after Killian returned to Boston, he, Emma and Ruby took the Blue Line to the airport to meet her wolfman. She could hardly contain herself on the train as she chattered on and on, full of anxious energy.

Once they arrived at Airport Station, they rode a Massport shuttle bus to the terminal and waited in the arrivals lounge. It was another twenty minutes before Ruby received the text from Graham that he was off the plane and on his way to baggage claim. As soon as he entered the lounge, wrangling two large rolling bags with a carry-on slung over his shoulder, Ruby ran to him, shouting his name. He dropped everything to catch her as she leapt into his arms, tears of happiness pouring down her face, while he tried to kiss each one away.

Emma and Killian smiled at the reunited lovers, completely understanding the feelings the other couple was having at that moment and grateful they were there to witness it.

*********

The following Saturday, Killian and Graham, along with their girlfriends, hosted a party in their newly furnished apartment. It was a small gathering with David, Mary Margaret, Liam, Belle, and a few other friends.

As the evening wore on, Emma found herself sitting on her boyfriend’s lap in the comfortable recliner they had chosen together. He was engaged in conversation with David, giving her an opportunity to look around the living room. Her heart was full seeing all the people she cared about most in one room. Her one wish growing up was to have a family, and even if it wasn’t in the conventional sense, now she did. Laying her head on Killian’s shoulder, she sighed.

“Everything alright, Love?” he murmured into her ear, before placing a kiss beneath it.

“Yeah,” she replied, turning to brush her lips against his. “Everything is perfect.”

*********

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the epilogue!

Tagging: @xsajx @hookedmom @kymbersmith-90 @kmomof4 @lassluna @pirateherokillian @teamhook @stahlop @elizabeethan @whimsicallyenchantedrose @resident-of-storybrooke @therooksshiningknight @jennjenn615 @lfh1226-linda @ilovemesomekillianjones @killianswannn @stories-enchanted @eleveneitherway @withheartfulloflove @kday426 @lyssapup27 @swanlovato @djlbg @kristi555 @laschatzi @xarandomdreamx @lkles08 @wyntereyez @bubblegum1425 @xhookswenchx @yasbio2015 @tiganasummertree @winterbaby89 @wefoundloveunderthelight @hollyethecurious @let-it-raines @jonesfandomfanatic @searchingwardrobes @dreamingdreamsalways @oncechicagolove @andiirivera @gingerchangeling @everything-person @klynn-stormz @qualitycoffeethings @vampcoffeegyrl23 @enchanted-swans @ohmakemeahercules @donteattheappleshook @bluewildcatfanatic @the-darkdragonfly @demisexualemmaswan @lavenderbudd @grimmswan @spartanguard @flslp87 @ultraluckycatnd @thisonesatellite @captainswan21 @zaharadessert @mariakov81 @snowbellewells @xouatxcs @kiwistreetswan @batana54 @nadine200179 @probalicious17 @courtorderedcake @julesep3026 @jackieorioncat @whatthehell102082 @jarienn972 @sthonour @linda8084 @pirateprincesslena @daxx04 @winterbythesea @artistic-writer @cocohook38 @captainswan4life85 @molly958 @kingofmyheart14 @badwolfreturns @itsfridaysomewhere@fallingforthecaptain @onceratheart18 @strangestarlighttree @omgmarvelousmorgan @justanother-unluckysoul @mrs-potato-but-likes-tomato @anothersworld @deckerstarblanche @purplehawkcaptain @superchocovian @k-leemac @citygirlscowboy @laughterandbooks @sotangledupinit @apiratewhopines @huntressandlioness1 @cosette141 @gingerpolyglot @motherkatereloyshipper @cs-rylie

#csff #one thrill ride leads to another #CS modern AU #jrob64 #chapter 5 #update #cs fanfiction #cs fanfic #ouat captain swan fanfic #captain swan fan fiction #CS fic #captain swan ff #cs smut and fluff #amusement park workers #emma and ruby on vacation

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idreamofplaid · 3 years

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They Belong to Us Now

Follower Celebration and Writing Challenge ❤️

Hosted by @girl-next-door-writes and @idreamofplaid

We thought a great way to celebrate reaching follower milestones recently. Emma @girl-next-door-writes is celebrating 2750 followers and Robin @idreamofplaid is celebrating 3000. We thought a great way to mark this event in our Tumblr lives would be to reclaim our boys. The “official” writers are done with them. They belong to us now. They always did and always will, but now it’s up to us to continue their story.

This is how it works.

Each fic much center around Sam or Dean or Both.

All fics should take place after 15 x 20.

Reader inserts, OFCs/OMCs, and any pairings or ships you wish to write are fine with the exceptions of Sam/Lucifer, Sam/Ruby, Dean/Amara, or Dean/Alastair presented in a romantic way.

Go wild with the angst, smut, and fluff. The angsty elements should be resolved by the end of the fic, so our boys get the happy ending they deserve.

There will be thirty spots for this challenge and three types of fics you may choose to write. They are:

Afterlife

Time Travel (Fix It)

AU (Jack has been busy creating new worlds.)

For the afterlife choice, create Sam and/or Dean’s heaven. What have they been doing? Where have they been doing it? Who have they been doing it with? These fics will center on their lives in heaven. (This could have an AU element.) Ex: Sam and/or Dean can vacation from heaven to a different earth.

For the time travel fics, send the boys backward or forward in time. This will involve going to earth or some version of it to make something right. They could go back to a case they worked, or some point in their lives, and change the outcome. They could also go forward in time to fix something that has gone wrong.

For the AU fics, choose one of the following AUs. (This type of fic could possibly overlap with afterlife or time travel depending on what you have in mind.)

AU Worlds

1.Coffee Shop @fangirlextraordinaire

2. Neighbors @jensengirl83

3. Workmates @waywardbaby

4.Treasure Hunter

5. Secret Society @witchygagirl

6. Our World 2021 @peridottea91

7. Victorian

8. Castle

9. Desert Island @crashdevlin

10. Utopia

Once you’ve chosen the type of fic you’re writing, Afterlife, Time Travel, or AU, then choose one of the writing prompts below for your fic.

Writing Prompts

“I love you, please don’t go.”

“Maybe,sometimes, I’m not so proud of who I am.”

“You have about five seconds to explain what the hell is going on.”

“I want to be the one who makes you laugh, not cry.”

“Right,okay, I love you. There, happy?”

“How did you survive until now?” @jensengirl83

“I see. And what qualifies you to offer this advice?” @fangirlxwritesx67

“Take notes, sweetheart.”

“This is where you impress me, right?”

“Take the long way around.”

“I choose Vodka.” @waywardbaby

“Take off your shirt.”

“What the hell did you do to my car?”

“You don’t have to pretend anything with me.”

“Having somebody help you doesn’t mean that you fail, it just means that you’re not in it alone.” @witchygagirl

“If you die, I’m going to kill you.”

“You hear that? That’s the sound of my awesomeness.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the adult?”

“What the hell were you thinking?” @peridottea91

“Sorry I’m protective over the things I love.”

“You meant too much to me.” @kickingitwithkirk

“Sit still, for the love of all that is Holy.” @awesomesusiebstuff

“I won’t let anyone hurt you, you’re safe with me.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“You don’t hate me, quit lying to yourself.” @crashdevlin

“How could you ask me that?”

“That was unexpected.” @thoughtslikeaminefield

“It’s not that easy.”

“Can’t you stay a little longer?”

“Stay here tonight.”

Deadline for all fics is July 27st. If you need an extension, let us know. We will understand. Life is unusual and unpredictable.

Minimum 500 words and please use the Keep Reading Tab.

Send an Ask with your choices to @girl-next-door-writes or @idreamofplaid along with any questions you may have. Thank you for all the amazing support you’ve given us, and we’re looking forward to all the new adventures of Sam and Dean!

Tagging a few people who may be interested: @fangirlxwritesx67 @waywardbaby @deanwinchesterswitch @lovealways-j @thinkinghardhardlythinking @sams-sass @evansrogerskitten @atc74 @calaofnoldor @dean-winchesters-bacon @deanwanddamons @writethelifeyouwant @flamencodiva @peridottea91 @waywardnerd67 @there-must-be-a-lock @thoughtslikeaminefield @tumbler-tidbits @princessmisery666 @mariekoukie6661 @crashdevlin @idabbleincrazy @kickingitwithkirk @sorenmarie87 @mrswhozeewhatsis @stunudo @ladywinchester1967

#they belong to us now #spn never dies #writing challenge #follower celebration

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kmomof4 · 1 year

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Cave Cruises, Cabin Capers, & Cracked Craniums A fic collaboration between @kmomof4, @jrob64, @snowbellewells, and @whimsicallyenchantedrose

What happens when four fanfiction writer fandom friends go on vacation together? A fic collaboration, of course! We knew from the start we wanted to have a collab sprint involved in our vacay, but it wasn’t until we were in the thick of it that we decided we wanted our story to essentially be a fanfic version of our trip itself. Sadly we did not meet any hot pirates, but it was a lot of fun all the same. All of the pictures in the post were taken by one of us on the trip and the cabin in the picset above is where we stayed.

Shoutout to @motherkatereloyshipper for her manip of the Lost Boys Cave sign at the beginning of the fic! You’re the best, babe!

This is a long one y’all, over 16k, so be sure you have snacks and drinks to enjoy while you read!

Summary: When Emma Swan and her friends go on their annual girls’ vacation, they meet a group of guys who seem to keep turning up in the same places. Pranks, yearning looks and romance ensue.

Rating: T for some strong language and a suggestive hot tub scene.

On ao3

Under the cut, unless Tumblr ate it.

A collaborative story by @snowbellewells, @whimsicallyenchantedrose, @kmomof4 and @jrob64, based on our very own girls’ trip (without the guys, sadly)

Emma Swan and her girlfriends–Mary Margaret Blanchard, Ruby Lucas, Regina Mills, Belle French, and Elsa Arendelle–were on the first day of their yearly, week-long girls trip. The friends had been vacationing together since they’d graduated college three years before and all went their separate ways–some to graduate school, others to their chosen career fields. Regina had just graduated from Harvard Law School at the top of her class, and she had job offers in Chicago and Knoxville, so the friends made plans to help her decide on a location by booking this year's trip to Kentucky and eastern Tennessee. The group met in Bowling Green, Kentucky for the Lost Boys Cave tour, and later that day, they would drive to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to the cabin they’d rented for the week. Not only was it near one of Regina’s possible job locations, but Ruby’s grandmother – “Granny” to them all – ran a diner and lived in Pigeon Forge as well.

Regina had been born and raised in New York City and was already complaining that the fresh pine smell in the air was getting to her.

“How much farther is it to this cave that we apparently have to see?” she groused. “My feet hurt already. I didn’t sign up for blisters.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “If you’d taken my suggestion to actually break in your new tennis shoes beforehand, you wouldn’t have that problem.”

Regina was on the verge of what Emma was sure would be an excessive amount of snark, when they heard footsteps approaching them on the walking path.

“Good morning, ladies,” an accented voice said from behind them. Emma turned around and nearly lost her breath at the handsome man who had spoken to them.

His deep blue eyes sparkled in the morning light, and the slight smirk and raised eyebrow on his face sent her heart racing. He had artfully tousled black hair and trimmed scruff the same color, with just a hint of ginger peeking through that became noticeable when the sun filtered through the leaf canopy over the path where they all walked.

A chorus of good morning resounded in response to Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome’s cheerful greeting, but Emma couldn’t find it within herself to speak to him. His good looks left her completely speechless.

“Are you ladies joining the 11 o’clock tour?” he asked.

Emma nodded– still completely tongue tied– while Mary Margaret answered in the affirmative for all of them.

“Wonderful!” he exclaimed exuberantly. “You’re with me then.”

He was walking beside Emma by this time and turned toward her, waggling his eyebrows. “Cat got your tongue, Lass?”

Emma could feel the blush spreading down to her neck as she tried once more to force her mouth to work properly. She wet her lips and took a deep breath, determined to say something.

“Lass?” she asked saucily. “You fall through a time portal or something? What century are you from anyway?” She cocked her head at him challengingly as she lobbed the verbal ball back into his court. She was a bit surprised to find herself anxiously awaiting his reply.

That blatantly expressive eyebrow of his practically leapt into his hairline, and a smirk slid over his mouth at her sassy response. “Let me assure you, Love, though there is nothing wrong with speaking as a proper, dashing gentleman of old, I’m from the same time as yourself, and as you can clearly see, I have quite the youthful glow.”

Someone should register those blue eyes of his as deadly weapons, Emma thought to herself. She was suddenly aware that all of her friends were beginning to take much too curious an interest in their verbal jousting match, so she moved away from him with a rather dry, “Not your love, Buddy.”

He chuckled knowingly but did back up a step. “As you wish then, Darling. Perhaps you will grant me your name instead, so I shall know what I may call you?”

“Her name’s Emma, Handsome,” Ruby interjected, a bit too eagerly in Emma’s opinion. “I’m Ruby. This is Regina, Mary Margaret, Elsa, and Belle.” She gestured to herself and each of her other friends in turn. “And what may we call you? And when? Oh, and how often?”

The man in front of them grinned before answering, “Killian Jones, at your service, ladies.” He gave a small bow and directed a wink at Emma.

Ruby saw it, but she was pleasantly distracted when a tall, curly-headed guy with scruff defining his strong jawline joined them on the path. His eyes quickly took her in as well, before turning his attention to Killian with the message he had come to deliver, “Liam and I’ve got the other boat.”

“Thanks, Graham,” Killian said to the newcomer.

“The other boat?” Ruby asked. “There are two boats?”

“It depends on the size of the group,” Graham answered, a soft smile touching his lips as his eyes lingered on hers.

“How big does the group have to be?” she asked, propping her hand on her hip. “Because I can go flag down some cars on the road, if necessary.”

“Oh, I don’t think that will be a problem, Love,” Killian said as they crossed the footbridge and reached the assigned meeting place, noting the large group of people waiting for them.

Emma leaned back against a large rock and enjoyed the view as Killian greeted the gathered groups–people hailing from Florida, Michigan, Colorado and even California–and began his spiel about the caves, the local ecosystem, and legends and lore of the area. He was good at his job, and it was clear he loved it.

“Be sure to stop me with any questions you have,” he finished.

Ruby groaned. “You have no idea what you’re asking, Killian. Mary Margaret is a school teacher and will definitely take you up on that.”

He gave her a good-natured smile, before turning his charm back to Emma as they began walking toward the cave. “And what about you, Love? Do you have any questions for me?”

“Depends,” she answered with a smirk, “do they have to be about caves?”

He leaned in and gave her a saucy wink. “You may ask me as many questions as you like…perhaps over a few libations after the tour.”

Emma wished very much she had a witty comeback for that, but his low drawling voice, combined with the flirtatious wink left her not only speechless, but unable to remember what words even were.

He gave her a knowing grin, before turning back to the group as a whole.

“To your left, here, you’ll see what we call the Blue Hole,” he said, gesturing toward a small, round body of dark blue water. “Legend has it that if you dive too deeply within its depths, Peter Pan will grab you and drag you to Neverland. It was deterrent enough to keep the locals from exploring it.”

Elsa scoffed. “Neverland? Isn’t that supposed to be a place of wonder and magic? Why would anyone be afraid of someone like Peter Pan?”

“The child is a bloody demon,” Killian answered, completely serious. “I wouldn’t test him.”

After passing beside the Lost River–called such, because no one knew where it began–they finally reached the cave itself. Two other men waited for them, and Killian promptly introduced them as his older brother Liam, and Will Scarlet.

“Some of you will have the honor of riding with Graham Humbert and myself,” Liam explained, “while the rest will be in the nearly-as-capable hands of Will and my little brother.”

“I think you mean ‘younger’ brother,” Killian muttered under his breath.

Mary Margaret turned to those in their group. “Any preferences about which boat we take?”

Ruby grinned broadly. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I know which one I’m choosing. Graham’s hot, and I certainly wouldn’t mind spending a little extra time with him.” She tossed the woman next to her a knowing look. “And from the way Elsa’s eyeing that new guy, Liam, I’m guessing she wants to join me.”

The woman in question blushed a pretty pink, but didn’t contradict her.

“I’ll stick with Killian,” Belle said. “He seems quite knowledgeable, not to mention more than a little smitten with our Emma.”

Emma rolled her eyes and shrugged. “He’s a shameless flirk,” she asserted, her countenance turning confused the moment the word was out of her mouth.

“A what?” Elsa asked.

Emma waved her hands around aimlessly. “Oh, I meant to say a flirty jerk,” she explained, “but what’s the harm in having a little fun? After all, this is a vacation.”

Regina groaned, stepping next to Ruby and Elsa. “No thanks. If I have to spend a twenty minute boat ride with Captain Guyliner, with his yearning looks and doe-y eyes, I may vomit.”

Mary Margaret, for her part, took her place beside Emma for no real reason other than balancing out their group.

With the seating arrangements made, it was time to step into the boats docked side by side at the entrance of the cave. Emma took Killian’s hand as he helped her in. The moment her hand touched his, it was as if sparks went up between them. Emma gasped, pulling her hand back and meeting his equally startled eyes. For a moment neither moved, eyes locked, chemistry sizzling between them.

“Oi! What’s the hold up?” Killian’s co-guide, Will, complained.

It broke the spell, and Killian stepped back, scratching at a spot behind his ear. “Right, if you will, please take your seat.”

After Killian and Will helped the rest of the passengers onto their boat, Killian leaned over to tie the rope mooring back to the dock and Emma blatantly stared at his backside. The man was entirely too hot for anyone’s good. He glanced back as he finished and caught her staring.

“Like what you see, Love?” he asked with a saucy grin.

“You better believe it,” she tossed right back at him.

Killian laughed heartily as he hopped up onto the raised platform between the two rows of seats in the boat. “If you liked that, you’ll love this. Here is the part where I practice for my next job–as a runway model.”

Emma snorted a laugh as he walked, exaggerating his movements as though he were modeling the latest in haute couture, complete with sound effects.

“If you’ll look to the ceiling directly behind me,” Killian said, a moment later as the boat began to slowly glide through the cloudy water, “you will find our first attraction, the Wishing Stone.”

“Oh, that sounds mysterious and magical!” Mary Margaret said. “Why is it called that?”

Killian gave her a grin, having expected the question. As Ruby had warned, she had, indeed peppered him with a steady stream of questions throughout the entirety of the tour to that point. “Because if you don’t duck your head, you’ll wish you had.”

Emma groaned at the corny joke, but obediently ducked her head, turning it toward the back of the boat, where Will seemed to be so intent on something he was saying to Belle that he’d missed his co-guide’s warning. One second he was talking, and gesturing animatedly, and then, with a crack, his head came in contact with the low hanging cave ceiling.

“Bloody hell,” the man exclaimed, as he tumbled backwards and landed with a tremendous splash in the shallow water behind them.

“Oh, for the love of…” Killian said, shaking his head in disgust. “Would someone in the back kindly give my git of a co-guide a hand up?”

Always eager to help no matter the circumstances, Belle offered a very soggy Will assistance as he climbed back in the vessel. The man gave her a grateful smile. Belle returned it hesitantly before turning determinedly away from him. Emma gave her a sympathetic smile. Belle had only recently gone through a very painful breakup, and feelings or flirtations of any kind were the last things she wanted right now.

The boat tour lasted around a quarter of an hour, Killian and Will each pointing out structures of interest.

“If you notice,” Will said at one point, directing his flashlight to the ceiling, “the occasional floods that pass through this area tend to leave the ceilings smooth, but we’ve got a few baby stalagmites forming up ahead.”

“I think you mean stalactites,” Belle answered. “Stalactites hold tight to the ceiling, while you might trip over a stalagmite at your feet.”

Will tossed her a delighted smile. “Right you are, my sweet! When I cracked my cranium I must have lost my good sense.”

Emma saw Killian roll his eyes and mutter. “Said as though he ever had any to begin with.”

When the tour came to an end, Will and Killian hopped onto the docks, secured the boat, and began helping their passengers out. First on, Emma was the last off, and when she took Killian’s hand, it was like before, but this time even more. It was as though an electric current ran through her at the touch and she audibly gasped, her eyes fixed on his. She couldn’t look away, not as she stepped up onto the edge of the boat, nor when she stepped toward the dock. Her foot landed on a rope, and with a pop, it twisted to the side and she fell on the ground with a quick curse.

He was at her side in a moment.

“Emma. Love, are you okay?” he asked, reaching to steady her.

“I’m fine,” she bit out, feeling the intense embarrassment of her tumble far more than the pain of the sprain. “Just…don’t hover,” she said, waving her arms about. “Let me up!”

“Nonsense, Emma, you must let me attend to your injury,” he said, hand on her shoulder holding her still. “Allow me to wrap it for you.” He called for Will to bring him the first aid kit from the boat.

Emma shivered at the thought of his hands on her, even for something as innocuous as wrapping a sprained ankle. She should refuse; she really should, but it was, after all, a bit of a hike back to her car, and she knew her twisted joint could use the extra support.

“Fine, just hurry up with it,” she grumbled. “Mary Margaret has our vacation planned out to the minute, and she’d give me hell for messing with her precious itinerary.”

He laughed. “I think you'll find my ministrations to be both quick and efficient.”

Quick and efficient they might have been, but Emma felt every second of it with a swoop of her stomach as Killian gently cradled her foot on his lap, carefully removing her sock and shoe, and then expertly wound a long bandage around her foot and ankle, before restoring her footwear.

The swoop intensified as he offered to fetch a golf cart and drive her back to the car. These were dangerous waters she was treading in, and she’d best put a stop to it. The flirtatious rogue, she could deal with. The sweet, genuine man, she couldn’t.“Thanks for the offer, but it’s just a little sprain,” she said, a bit more harshly than she’d intended. “I can hobble back to the car on my own.”

He looked as though he wanted to protest further, but the expression on her face must have deterred him. He took a quick step back and glanced aside. “As you wish.”

“Thanks though,” she said, not wishing to give him the impression she was upset with him. “You know, for the tour and everything.”

He sketched an exaggerated courtly bow, “It was my very great pleasure, Love. And should you ever find yourself in the area again, feel free to look me up.”

While she couldn’t say the idea wasn’t tempting, Emma merely gave him a quick smile and then limped over to her friends who were waiting for her. No point in getting her hopes up. After all, once she left the park, she’d never see Killian Jones again.

************

Once they arrived at the cabin and unpacked all their belongings, the ladies made a trip into town to buy groceries they’d need for the week. Emma’s ankle was still very tender, but she wasn’t willing to be left behind, just to sit and be bored while the rest of them were gone. So she promised Mary Margaret and Elsa, the designated moms of the friend group, she’d use a motorized scooter to do her part of the shopping.

When they pulled into a parking space at the local market, Belle ran in to collect a scooter for Emma, who felt herself both blushing and scowling despite being touched by Belle’s thoughtfulness. She knew that the way she was beginning to hobble unsteadily to deal with the pain in her ankle would require her to use the scooter, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. It made her feel either ancient or like she was blowing a minor sprain completely out of proportion. “Thanks,” she muttered dryly, with a sidelong glance at Belle’s smiling face. “This is so embarrassing.”

“Now, enough of that,” Elsa broke in matter-of-factly, taking Emma by the elbow with little ceremony and guiding her right up to the scooter and into its seat. “You just sit yourself down and stop worrying over how it might look. The sooner we get what we need, the sooner we can be back and you can get off that ankle to elevate and ice it.”

There was no comeback to offer for such sensible reasoning, so Emma nodded, zipped her lips, and steered toward the door, the rest of the ladies following in her wake. They paused only briefly in the chilled grocery air to organize who would grab what and where they would reconvene in twenty minutes. Once each had their short list, they split up to complete their mission.

Emma grabbed most of the dairy essentials she had been assigned quite easily, then motored over to the ice cream freezer to finish up. She could nearly taste the creamy, chocolatey Rocky Road melting on her tongue already, and she was leaning in the case to grab the last carton of it off the shelf before she even noticed there was anyone else nearby. In fact, she wouldn’t have noticed at all if the carton hadn’t been taken from her grasp by another hand grabbing it at exactly the same moment she’d intended to lift it herself.

“Hey, that was mine!” she accused, darting a withering glare to the left at the interloper, only to find their unfairly sexy tour guide from earlier in the day.

Wearing an all-too-smug expression, Killian Jones nodded in greeting with a lazy, crooked grin that Emma wanted to punch - or kiss - off of his face. “Are you sure about that, Lass? It would appear that the Rocky Road is in my possession.”

“Only because you took it out of my hands!” she argued. “And what are you even doing here, anyway? Are you following me now? Crippling me at the start of my vacation wasn’t enough?!?”

Tilting his head to look at her, Killian kept his mouth shut. Even if her assessment was completely unfair, he rarely got himself in trouble for things he didn’t say. Instead, he waited a moment, thinking she might calm down and take back her accusation. When Emma crossed her arms over her chest in a huff and instead looked as though she might happily run him over with the scooter she rode, he realized that was not about to happen. Perhaps a bit of well-placed smolder would be in order?

“Come now, Darling,” he soothed, lowering his voice and purposefully allowing the lilt in his words to become more pronounced. “You know as well as I that your unfortunate fall at the cave was no fault of mine. And I did patch you up as best I could, did I not?”

“Don’t you bat those pretty eyes at me,” she warned in a defensive snarl. “I’m not about to fall for that. And I believe I’ve already told you that I’m hardly your anything - lass, love, darling or otherwise.”

“Very well, Emma,” he enunciated the name ridiculously. “And to answer your earlier query, no, I am not following you. We’re on our way to a vacation rental, and are picking up groceries before we get there. And if I’d known how much you abhor my company, and that you were such a vexatious lass, I wouldn’t have even flirted with you.”

“Well, if I had known you were such a self-righteous prick, I wouldn’t have flirted back,” she snarked, unable to help the little flare of regret that curled in her gut at Killian’s statement of finding her so difficult he would not have even engaged with her had he known. It was the one chink in her armor, ever since she was a child - too guarded, too prickly, too much. It had always been the same when she found herself alone again. Quickly, she shook that regret away and focused back on the current challenge standing before her.

“You want to talk about a self-righteous prick, that would be my brother.”

“Huh?” Emma asked dumbly, not quite following his logic.

Killian gestured down the row nearest them to where the tall, curly-haired captain of the other tour boat–Jones’ older brother, she remembered now–was reaching up to the very highest shelf in the cereal aisle, where Elsa had been trying to grasp a box of her favorite cereal that had toppled over and fallen hopelessly out of her reach. The little tableau took only seconds, but was unarguably sweet, and the bright adoration that lit up Elsa’s face as she turned to thank the elder Jones brother, gave her aspect a stunning beauty the likes of which Emma had never seen from her friend before. When Liam offered what almost looked like the smallest of formal bows to Elsa before continuing on his way, Emma looked back to Killian with a grin, and added, “What, you’re both stuffy and old-fashioned beyond belief?”

He seemed to sense that the mood had shifted and allowed a gentler smile to cross his lips as well. “Aye, something like that, I suppose.”

They had begun to move back toward the front of the store side-by-side, almost without consciously realizing what they were doing. Emma was more than a bit flabbergasted when they reached the front of the market and Killian easily plunked the ice cream into the basket of her cart.

She looked up at him from her seat, surprised and ready to argue again, only to find him looking back at her with a softness that warmed her, even as it discomforted her at the same time. “While it can hardly be deemed my fault that I am so devilishly handsome you couldn’t keep your eyes off me and tripped out of your tour boat, I am always a gentleman. The Rocky Road is yours, Emma.”

Floundering for a moment, and out of her depth, Emma finally settled on a simple, Thank you, before coyly adding, “Maybe you would enjoy something like Rum Raisin more anyway.”

“Think nothing of it,” Killian offered gallantly, and moved to saunter back toward his brother and his group of friends. However, just before he turned away, the more proper facade slipped once more as he teased, “And as a matter of fact, I prefer my rum undiluted…and shared with you, if you’d allow it.” Then, with a wink and a waggle of his eyebrows, he was walking away.

By the time Emma, Mary Margaret, Elsa, and Regina were loading their purchases into the back of Mary Margaret’s Traverse, Emma was getting worried about the state her ice cream would be in when they got back to the cabin. She wondered how Ruby and Belle could have both gotten held up in their shopping when Ruby emerged through the doors of the grocery into the parking lot, walking close enough to Killian’s friend Graham for her arm to brush against his with each step.

The lean muscles of his forearms were on full display as he carried both his own purchases and Ruby’s, and she looked up at him with her red-painted lips curved into a satisfied smile. She clearly appreciated his chivalric efforts as Graham placed the meats and cheeses Ruby had been assigned to gather in the back with the girls’ other shopping bags and stood back to his full height. His eyes already gazed at her with puppy-dog devotion as Ruby allowed her fingernails to trace over his shoulder and down his bicep. What most might not see beyond the overt flirtatiousness – they hadn’t known her as long or as well as Emma had – was just how over the moon the striking brunette already was for this scruffy gentleman as well.

They finally heard Belle coming to join them even before they saw her come through the exit. She was carrying a plastic bag with the condiments and spices she’d had on her list, but she was also brandishing a jar of Polaner All Fruit in her free hand and ranting with her intense librarian’s dedication to facts about just why she had indeed needed to purchase the pricier topping.

“...and it’s all natural, lower sugar, and has a purer taste,” she was saying. Will nodded along with utmost attention, even as the mischievous gleam in his eye could only remind their audience of a junior high boy on the playground who lived to tug on the ponytail of the girl he liked. “Not to mention the fact that the company grows and harvests their berries organically, and that the glass jar is recyclable and more environmentally friendly than plastic.”

“Oi, right ya are,” Will exclaimed, clearly not about to set her off any further. “I only asked if ya needed to buy the ritziest jelly on the shelf. Clearly ya do, so I’ll not say anymore about it.”

Belle startled visibly when they arrived at the Traverse, their friends’chuckles finally registering through her lecture of Will. “Oh, hey guys,” she added almost dazedly with a flattering pink staining the apples of her cheeks.

“Hey yourself,” Ruby simpered with a wolfish grin, “looks like you might have found a rather large extra during your shopping.”

Will’s burst of guffawing laughter set them all off again, and Belle couldn’t help but join in, even at her own expense, before they were all finally on their way to the cabin at last.

*********

Emma was out on the deck enjoying the cool night breeze. She sat in a two person glider, ice on her ankle, after returning to the cabin following the grocery run. It was so quiet and peaceful, Emma could feel her eyelids drooping. It had been a very long day, after all.

Suddenly, the pleasant silence was broken by the slamming of a car door and a familiar voice reaching her ears from the parking area of the cabin next door.

No. Way. She thought, rising from the glider and hobbling to the railing. Looking down, she saw the unmistakable backside of Killian Jones as he reached into the back of a black SUV for a suitcase. As soon as he set it on the ground, Emma backed away from the railing, hoping against hope it was dark enough that if he were to turn around and look up, he wouldn’t see her.

He reached back in, and Emma returned to the railing just to get another glimpse of him. She’d deny it to her dying breath to anyone who asked, but she wasn’t enough of a self deluding fool to lie to herself. The man was breathtakingly handsome and the thought of living right next door to him for an entire week was enough to send her pulse into overdrive.

She hobbled back into the house, drawing everyone’s attention as soon as she came in the door.

“Killian Jones is next door!” she exclaimed. There was a chorus of Whats, but Emma didn’t miss the way Ruby, Elsa, and Belle all either lit up or blushed furiously, realizing immediately that their respective guys were probably going to be at the same cabin. Mary Margaret was just suggesting they go next door and say hi, when she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Regina was closest, so she opened the door to find a tall, huskily built man with light brown hair and a mustache and closely trimmed scruff on his jawline. Regina’s heart rate picked up, but she quickly schooled her features. It wouldn’t do to swoon at the feet of a stranger.

“May I help you?” she asked. His smile lit up his face when his eyes landed on her. Yep, it was a good thing she could slip into her queen persona-–an affectionate nickname the girls had given her back in college and that she’d continued to hone during law school–at the drop of a hat.

The man stepped into the room with his hand held out in front of him. Regina looked down her nose at the offering, her eyebrows raised nearly to her hairline. He cleared his throat and dropped his hand, his gaze going around the room.

“Good evening, ladies,” he said, congenially. “I’m Robin Locksley, owner of Sherwood Forest Resort and I just wanted to say welcome and to see if everything was in order for you.”

“Oh, yes, Mr. Locksley,” Mary Margaret said enthusiastically.

“Please, please,” he interrupted. “Call me Robin.”

“Of course, Robin,” she replied. “I’m Mary Margaret.” She then continued introductions around the room, motioning to each of the ladies in turn.

Robin nodded to each one before coming forward and shaking their hands. He greeted Regina last, and with a mischievous smirk on his face, he lifted her hand to his lips. “Milady,” he murmured before brushing them across her knuckles.

Regina couldn’t help the way her heart thundered in her chest at his boldness, but she’d be damned if she let him see it. She lifted her chin slightly and raised a single eyebrow at him, a move that would have lesser men shaking in their boots, but didn’t seem to phase him at all, his smirk widening just a bit.

“If I can help you with anything,” he said, his gaze still firmly on Regina, “please don’t hesitate to ask. My cabin is the one on the other side of your neighbors.” He pointed to where they knew the guys were staying.

“Thank you so much, Robin,” Mary Margaret replied. “We certainly will. We were just going to go next door and say hi. We met the guys staying there this morning at the Lost Boys Cave Tour in Bowling Green before driving here this afternoon.”

“Did you really?” Robin asked, his eyebrows rising in surprise. “What a small world. They’re all friends of mine. Liam and I were college roommates, so I’ve known Killian since he was a teenager. Graham and Will work with them at the cave and so a few years back, they started joining Liam and Killian when they’d come here for a visit a couple of times a year.”

“Wow!” Ruby exclaimed. “A small world, indeed. Tell me, Robin,” she continued, glancing at Belle and Elsa before she spoke, “Are all the guys single?”

Robin smirked again and his eyes twinkled. “I am unaware of any romantic attachments for any of them.”

Ruby’s grin was brighter than the sun at his words. He bowed his head slightly and gave a small two fingered salute as he wished them a good evening and departed.

As soon as he was gone, Mary Margaret shot Regina a serious look.

“There’s that wall again, Regina,” she said, shaking her head slightly.

Regina’s head whipped around so quickly, she was surprised her neck didn’t crack.

“What are you talking about?”

Mary Margaret came over to her friend and put an arm around her shoulders. Regina stiffened but didn’t pull away.

“That wall you put up to keep out pain,” Mary Margaret continued, “can also keep out possibilities.” Regina scoffed. “He was very handsome and obviously interested in you.”

“He smells like forest,” Regina said. “If you think he’s so handsome, why don’t you go after him?”

“Because he didn’t look twice at me,” she replied, exasperation coloring her words. “Just keep it in mind, please, Regina,” she urged her friend. “I know you have a wonderful future ahead of you no matter where you decide to go, but love is a part of all happiness, and Pigeon Forge is less than an hour from Knoxville.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “That would probably be a strike in the Knoxville column instead of a plus, just so you know.”

Mary Margaret squeezed her shoulder. “Promise me you won’t rule it out altogether, Regina. Just see what happens.” Their friends around the room were nodding and voicing their own agreement to Mary Margaret’s words. “But for now, let’s go next door and say hi.”

She let Regina go and led the way out the door and across to the cabin next door. Once they were all on the porch, Emma being helped by Belle and Elsa, Mary Margaret knocked firmly on the door.

It was opened by a tall, well-built blonde man who immediately stole Mary Margaret’s breath.

“Uh… I’m so sorry…” she stammered, looking around at her friends, her eyes wide like a deer in the headlights. “We were… ah…”

“What she means to say,” Ruby interjected, when it became clear Mary Margaret was at a complete loss for words, “is we were looking for Killian and Graham.”

The man smiled and Mary Margaret was afraid her knees would buckle. He opened the door wider, inviting them all in. “Of course,” he said. “I’m David Nolan and I don’t believe we’ve met…” he trailed away, his eyes never leaving Mary Margaret’s as he offered her his hand.

“Mary Margaret Blanchard,” she breathed, putting her hand in his to shake it.

“Lovely to meet you, Mary Margaret.” He turned to the other ladies still standing on the porch. “Please come in.”

The ladies filed in to see all the other men they’d already met around the room. Liam was in the kitchen and when he turned toward the door, his blue eyes immediately softened when they landed on Elsa. Graham and Robin rose from their seats in the living room at the entrance of the ladies, with Will remaining in his seat and looking at the others with a confused look on his face. Graham smacked him on the side of the head, jerking his own head toward the women at the door. Will scrambled to his feet as Killian came down the stairs to a much fuller room than what he’d left a few minutes before.

Everyone squirmed a bit in the awkward silence, until Ruby sauntered over to Graham and looped her arm through his.

“Is this a small world or what?” she asked. Her question broke the ice and all the men invited the ladies to take a seat. Regina remembered Mary Margaret’s words but wouldn’t meet Robin’s eyes when she moved to sit down at the bar separating the kitchen area from the rest of the room. Killian couldn’t take his eyes off of Emma as he approached her.

“Here, Emma,” he said, his hand hovering by her elbow, “let me help you to a chair.”

“I don’t need help,” she insisted, hobbling toward the nearest armchair. Once she was seated, she couldn’t suppress the sigh of relief from being off of her ankle.

“May I bring you an ice pack to put on your ankle?” he asked.

Emma sighed resignedly. She knew she was being short with him, but she just couldn’t get past the embarrassment of the accident in the first place, and then his conciliatory actions at the grocery store earlier. She knew she needed to try a little harder with him, even if it was annoying her in the extreme to have to do so.

“That would be great. Thank you, Killian.”

Once everyone was settled, conversation flowed naturally among the friends. The connection between the men was more fully explained and when David told them he was the booking manager for Sherwood Forest Resort, Mary Margaret exclaimed excitedly, “I thought your voice sounded familiar! You’re the one I talked to when I booked the cabin!” David grinned.

“Where’s Roland tonight, Robin?” Liam asked. “That’s Robin’s five year old son,” he explained to the ladies.

“He spent the day swimming and nearly fell asleep in his spaghetti tonight,” Robin explained, glancing at Regina to gauge her reaction. “I put him to bed before coming over to meet and welcome the ladies to Sherwood Forest.”

“So will we get a chance to meet him and your wife sometime this week?” Regina asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

The light dimmed a bit in Robin’s eyes. “Actually, I’ve been a widower since Roland was just a few months old.”

The girls murmured words of sympathy, but Belle couldn’t mask her shock. “You left a small child asleep in the house all by himself?”

“This is a gated community, my dear,” he assured her, “if you’ll remember from when you arrived this evening. He is also a very heavy sleeper. A tornado siren a mile away won’t wake him.” He pulled out his phone, tapped an app and displayed the screen, which showed a grainy picture of a room with a dark-haired boy sleeping in the bed. “But just in case, I use this app if I’m called away at night for some reason. He can talk to me and he can hear me through it, too.” He looked across the room at the clock hanging on the wall. “But it has been about twenty minutes since I put him to bed, so I’d better be heading back,” he said, rising from his seat.

Everyone took that as the signal that the evening was drawing to an end. The ladies all rose and bid the men goodnight. Emma couldn’t hide her smirk at the longing looks between Ruby and Graham, Elsa and Liam, Mary Margaret and David, and even Belle and Will, though she was a little more circumspect than him. She had a feeling this was going to be a fun week.

*********

“Good morning, Granny,” Ruby greeted, giving her grandmother a tight squeeze upon entering her diner.

“ ‘Bout time you graced me with your presence,” the old woman grumbled, though they could clearly hear the affection in her voice. “Couldn’t bother to come see me when you got into town yesterday?”

“We were otherwise occupied,” Ruby replied, glancing around at her companions, who looked a bit sheepish at the admonishment from their beloved matriarch.

Mary Margaret hugged Granny. “We’re sorry. We were busy unpacking, deciding on sleeping arrangements, and getting groceries,” she apologized.

“And meeting our annoying neighbors,” Emma added, limping over to take her turn for a hug.

“What did you do to yourself?” Granny asked, concern coloring her normally stern exterior.

Emma shrugged. “Just twisted my ankle on the cave tour. It’s nothing.”

The rest of the girls shared a hug with Ruby’s grandmother and settled in at a table close to Granny’s famous breakfast buffet. They were just placing their drink orders, when they heard several boisterous and familiar voices coming from the entryway of the restaurant.

Emma looked over her shoulder to check out the commotion. “You’ve got to be freaking kidding me,” she groaned.

The others turned to see the group of men and a little boy they assumed to be Roland waiting at the hostess stand. Ruby gave a squeal of happiness, while Elsa and Mary Margaret sported soft smiles.

Regina rolled her eyes. “Are they stalking us? There are literally dozens of restaurants that serve breakfast around here.”

“None as good as Granny’s, though,” Ruby said, her eyes lighting up as Graham looked up and noticed her.

As the ladies watched, Granny greeted each man with a hug and picked Roland up for an affectionate squeeze, kissing him on his dimpled cheek.

“Wait a minute,” Belle said, a puzzled tone to her voice. “How does Granny know them?”

“Liam did say they come here a couple of times a year to visit Robin,” Elsa said. “Maybe they make a habit of eating at Granny’s.”

David approached their table, his eyes trained on Mary Margaret. “Good morning, ladies. Mind if I join you?” he asked, reaching for a nearby chair.

As Mary Margaret gave her approval, Ruby jumped up. “You can have my seat. I’ll sit with Graham. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“As if he has a choice,” Emma muttered.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Will grinned, stepping to the end of the table to scan the occupants, his eyes settling on Belle.

“Granny is Ruby’s grandmother,” she explained.

Will’s thick brows shot up. “As in Granny of Granny’s Diner?”

“Can’t put anything past you, can we?” Regina snarked. “Why are you here?”

“Robin discovered this place when he inherited the resort from his parents many years ago, and he recommends it to all of his guests. We eat here every time we visit. Granny loves us,” Will proclaimed.

“I honestly thought she had better judgment than that,” Emma said.

“Hello, Love,” Killian greeted her, as the rest of the men said their hellos. “Excuse me. I meant, hello, Emma.”

Despite her admonishments to the contrary, Emma found she really didn’t mind him calling her his love, but she wasn’t quite ready to admit it to him. “Hi, Killian. Sleep well?” she asked, mentally facepalming over such a trite question.

He smirked, seeming to read her mind. “Aye, in spite of sleeping alone, and having to listen to Will’s snores coming through the wall.”

She covered her giggle with her hand, then pushed her chair away from the table. “I’m going to the buffet before all of you get there and demolish it.”

He stepped aside to let her pass, brushing the small of her back with his hand as she did. Trying not to shiver at his touch, she threw him a small smile and proceeded to the buffet.

When everyone’s plates were full and they were eating, Granny busied herself keeping everyone’s drinks filled and directing the busboys to clear the tables of dirty plates. Carefully watching the people at both tables over the top of her glasses, she made several observations. She had known Robin’s friends for nearly a decade, and Ruby’s group of friends for almost as long, so she was good at reading all of them. What she saw made her heart swell with happiness. Some of them may be fighting it, but she could see some interesting developments going on.

Ruby sat as close to Graham as possible without actually being in his lap. Granny had witnessed her granddaughter’s interest in many boys and young men as she raised her, but she was confident that she had never seen a more smitten look on the brunette’s face before. Ruby looked at Graham as though he’d hung every celestial body in the Heavenly realms, and Granny was very pleased to see it. The sandy haired Irishman was always such a gentleman and made Granny’s own heart speed up a bit when he looked at her with those deep blue eyes and curled his accent smoothly around every word he spoke.

The old woman smiled, sensing the bubble of mutual attraction surrounding David and Mary Margaret. Ever since he came to work for Robin three years ago, Granny had been trying to set him up with her favorite waitresses, to no avail. Now, she could see why. If he had been waiting for his soulmate, he seemed to have found her in Mary Margaret, whose sparkling green eyes looked adoringly at the handsome man beside her.

Granny saw much the same look on the faces of Liam and Elsa. Both of them were the oldest sibling in their family and tended to be quite serious and responsible, allowing little time for romance. Judging by their side-eye glances and shared smiles, Granny was sure they would be able to find the time now.

Something whizzed by her line of sight and Granny looked over to see Will getting ready to throw another chunk of potato in Belle’s direction. Marching over to him, Granny whacked him on the back of the head. “Go pick it up and find a better way to flirt,” she demanded.

“Me poor head,” he groaned, rubbing it as he stood up to do as he was told.

Granny shook her head fondly, taking in the shy smile Belle gave Will when he bent to pick up the potato which had landed behind her chair. They chatted for a while and Granny was pleased to hear Belle’s genuine laugh again. Granny never liked the man who previously dated the auburn-haired beauty. He treated her shabbily, and Granny wasn’t at all unhappy when she finally broke it off with him, although she knew Belle was heartbroken. Perhaps Will, in his own clumsy but endearing way, could help mend her heart.

When she was refilling Regina’s mug of coffee, Granny caught the glance she was slyly sending Robin’s way. “He’s a good man, that one,” she said quietly.

Regina quickly averted her eyes and straightened in her seat. “I’m sure he is, but he’s not my type. I’m not into mountain men.”

“Scoff all you like, Miss Priss, but you’re not gonna meet a better man than Robin Locksley, I can guarantee you that. He’s a hard worker and a good father, and I don’t think I’m stepping out of line by saying that he seems more than a little interested in you.”

Regina folded her hands on the placemat in front of her, her expression giving away nothing, but her cheeks reddening. “I don’t even know where I’m going to end up living.”

“Well, I’d say Robin would be in the pros column for taking the job in Knoxville,” Granny said, then moved on to refill Emma’s coffee. “And what about you, young lady?” she asked.

“What about me?” Emma questioned, her brows drawing together quizzically.

“Don’t think I haven’t seen those looks you’ve been giving Killian Jones, and that he’s giving back to you. It’s a wonder this place hasn’t gone up in flames from the heat of ‘em.”

Emma blushed furiously. “There’s nothing between me and Killian.”

“Huh, never known ya to lie to me before,” Granny harrumphed. “You wanna look me in the eye and try that again?”

Slumping in her seat, Emma chewed on her bottom lip, before quietly admitting, “Maybe I am just…a little attracted to him.”

“If that’s a little, I’m interested to see what’s a lot,” the old woman chuckled.

Leaving the ladies’ table, she passed by the men’s, ruffling Roland’s curls along the way.

The little boy turned to grin at her, then popped up out of his seat. “I’m gonna get another pancake, Papa,” he declared. Robin started to rise from his seat to help him. “I can get it, I’m five now,” Roland told him proudly.

Robin kept a protective eye on his son, even though there were few patrons in the diner besides the two tables of cabin neighbors. Roland was just tall enough to reach the tongs in the tray of pancakes, standing on his tiptoes to grab one and put it on his plate. His father held his breath as Roland dipped the ladle into the syrup and dripped it across the edge of the buffet to pour it on his pancake, turning to give Robin a gap toothed grin when he succeeded.

After breathing a sigh of relief, Robin’s eyes drifted to the other side of the buffet to see Regina filling a plate with apple slices. She returned the tongs and started to walk back to her seat, when she stopped in her tracks. Roland was peeking around the end of the buffet at her and Robin felt a lump in his throat when the lovely, raven-haired woman smiled sweetly at his son and bent down to say something to him. Then she stood up and looked his way, giving him a demure smile before walking past him.

Roland carefully carried his plate back to the table, dimples flashing. “Guess what that pretty lady just said to me,” he beamed.

“What did she say?” Robin asked.

The little boy puffed out his chest proudly. “She said I must be a very big boy to be able to get my own food, and I am, right, Papa?”

Robin put his arm around his son’s shoulder and kissed the top of his head. “Yes, you are and you’re growing up far too fast.”

“That’s right, Rolly Polly,” Will said, reaching across the table to pinch his cheek. “Yer practically ready to start datin’!”

Roland’s giggle drew Belle’s attention and she smiled softly at the exchange between the flirty Brit and the adorable little boy.

From her spot by the drink counter, Granny’s gaze swept over the group of people seated at the two tables and she folded her arms across her chest, a smug smile on her face.

********

Later that same afternoon, just about the time to begin fixing dinner, David called the rest of the guys into their shared kitchen, where he and Robin stood waiting until all of them had gathered. When the other five men were scattered around the room and listening, David began earnestly, his eagerness all too clear, to explain their plan.

“Guys, I know this is a retreat where we plan to spend time together and reconnect each year. Life isn’t easy, and real friendships are few and far between. I’m not denying the importance of that at all, but Rob and I, well,” he said, glancing at his friend and boss, “we’re more than a bit anxious to see if the lovely ladies next door might fit into our lives beyond this week… and….well, I guess we’re trying to see how the rest of you feel about including them in our cookout tonight for instance.”

“Or if they might be game for taking a stab at the escape room on the Island when we go at the end of the week,” Robin added helpfully.

Graham didn’t immediately speak, but he flushed from the top of his head to where his skin was hidden by the collar of his shirt. Killian realized from where he stood to Graham’s right that the other man appeared to have a rather interesting bruise just nearly, but not quite, hidden by the material where his neck met his shoulder. Shaking his head in defeat, he knew that was one definite vote for Dave and Rob’s suggestion.

Will’s cheeky grin and enthusiastic agreement with their proposal was no surprise either. “Sounds great, lads! Wish I’d thought of it meself!”

Even Liam, who could be standoffish and whom Killian had thought would be at least one other person in his corner, seemed uncharacteristically in favor of the idea. “That does seem like a good and neighborly suggestion. In fact, it’s about late enough to get the fire started, and then I’ll go next door and see if they’re interested in joining us for hot dogs and s’mores.”

All of them, except Killian, were in agreement, and their short meeting was adjourned. It wasn’t that he disliked any of the ladies in the adjacent cabin, and his heart thrilled at the prospect of seeing–and flirting with–Emma again, but he wasn’t at all sure his attentions were welcomed. He wasn’t the sort to force himself on a lady, not when she clearly had her reasons for remaining aloof. However, he was grossly outvoted and it seemed this joining of their groups was happening, whether he climbed onboard or not.

*********

Some minutes later, Elsa wandered across the grass behind her and her friends’ cabin as it sloped into the adjoining space occupied by the men they kept running into. She could see the broad-shouldered elder Jones brother just starting preparation for a bonfire, and though she wasn’t at all sure it was wise, Elsa quickened her step to reach him and offer him a hand. Though she could never be as outspoken or as wildly enthusiastic as Ruby, there couldn’t be anything wrong with offering her assistance. That was what she told herself anyway as she drew near enough to capture the intriguing man’s attention.

“Why, hello, Lass,” Liam greeted heartily, straightening to swipe his forearm across his damp brow and offer her a twinkling smile. “Pleasant surprise seeing you here.”

Elsa felt the grin that stretched across her lips in return, surprised by how easy he was to speak to, despite his powerful manner and imposing stature. None of the usual tongue-tied uncertainty seemed to trouble her in Liam’s company, and it was a genuine relief to experience. “I was enjoying the view out here and taking in the evening air when I saw you. Can I help?”

Undoubtedly he would have been just fine on his own, but Liam happily showed her how he was making a domed bed of the small kindling to start the fire effectively, and as Elsa carried on from where he left off, Liam made three trips back and forth up the gentle rise to the back of their cabin, where already cut firewood was stacked, bringing enough back to keep what would hopefully be a cozy blaze for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows going all evening.

Once the fire was truly started, Elsa found herself hesitating five minutes, then fifteen, and eventually half an hour, before going to tell the rest of the girls that they were welcome to join the guys’ cookout if they wished. She was entirely too comfortable there on the log beside Liam, feeling his leg and hip pressed against hers, and enjoying the rise and fall of his voice as he spoke about his and Killian’s upbringing, how they had both come to live in America, how he’d met and ended up rooming with Robin in college, and hilarious stories from his time working the cave boating tours.

It was only once the other guys began to make their way out to the now-crackling bonfire with roasting sticks, hot dogs, buns, and fixings, that she finally stood and went to see if she could find her own cabin mates. She could almost envision how that would go anyway–Ruby would be there before she could get the invitation out, Mary Margaret practically skipping after her with her besotted heart eyes glowing, Belle would join readily enough as well, surely anxious to educate Will Scarlet on some aspect of camping, outdoor cooking, or hot dog manufacturing of which he was unaware. Emma and Regina would trail along, trying stubbornly not to seem overeager. Regina would probably try to claim she didn’t want her clothes to smell of woodsmoke, and Emma would swear she was only joining in because she wasn’t about to turn down melty chocolate and marshmallow sandwiched in cinnamon-y goodness.

Finishing the evening some hours later, Elsa looked around the fire in the starlight at the relaxed and happy faces of her dearest friends, and the attentive gazes each of them was drawing from a handsome and worthy man, and she couldn’t feel anything but gratitude. She would never have thought that two days into their annual girls’ trip she would be leaning her head on the shoulder of a handsome tour guide whose voice was tickling the fine hairs near her ear as he whispered added commentary to the rousing ghost story Will was regaling the group with. That sensation combined with his arm going round her sent shivers skittering all the way down to her toes in the most pleasant of ways. If this was what being a bit more forward got her, she would have to make more of a habit of it.

*********

On their third day of the trip, various members of their groups paired off to accomplish different things they had hoped to see and do. Liam, Killian, and David helped Robin with some simple cabin maintenance jobs against his protests, as a sort of thank you for his providing them such a perfect place to stay virtually free of charge. Graham had been willingly pulled along with Ruby as she went shopping for clothes and souvenirs along the main drag of the tourist town, and Will had just as happily tagged along with Belle as she set out to fully explore the “Original” Book Warehouse.

Mary Margaret and Regina were upstairs on the cabin’s second story deck, taking in the fresh air and the view as they caught up with each other. Emma was the only one essentially stuck inside as she didn’t really feel like limping along and slowing down any of the others as they made their excursions. She was sitting in a chair in the main living room of the cabin, ankle propped up on a footstool, distractedly perusing the same magazine page repeatedly. They had left the door open between the room and the deck so that she could call out to Mary Margaret and Regina occasionally, and they to her, and so that she could at least enjoy the mountain breeze and feel part of the conversation, but it had been fairly quiet from her friends for several minutes, and Emma could admit that she was feeling bored and sorry for herself.

Just then there was a startling sound of wings beating, and Emma ducked instinctively even as she felt the sensation of something swooping wildly over her head. To her dismayed surprise, a frantic bird had flown in from outside and was now sailing from one corner of the room to another in a confused effort to find its way back to freedom. Emma almost jumped up and made for another room, before remembering the swollen ankle hampering her and screeching in alarm as the bird sailed right over her head once more.

“Out! Get Out!” she yelled, flailing, trying to steer the winged creature back the way it had come.

By the time Mary Margaret and Regina came in from outdoors, Emma had managed to stand and was hopping on one foot as she tried to reach for the broom propped in the corner to swipe at their uninvited guest. Moments later, they heard the front door below fly open and heavy footsteps came pounding up the stairs as David barrelled into sight, having heard Emma’s cries from down on the drive between their houses.

He grasped the situation more quickly than the rest of them had, taking in Mary Margaret’s pleading, “Oh Emma, don’t hurt it! It’s confused and it’s only a baby!” Regina standing in one corner, slightly behind the coat rack and out of the bird’s range, watching the mayhem with a bemused expression, and Emma swiping a broom around ineffectually as off-balance as she was, trying to herd a terrified warbler toward the open door while yelling at her friend, “Enough! I don’t want it taking a crap on my head!”

Thankfully, the jostled songbird finally lit on a bear figurine atop the mantle. With it no longer fluttering over their heads, the ladies calmed down significantly, and David stepped over Emma’s dropped magazine and displaced chair cushion to carefully snatch the bird with practiced stealth, pinning its wings to its sides without harming them, before it could take off again. It wasn’t the first misguided creature he’d removed from someone’s rental in the time he’d worked with Robin, and it wouldn’t be the last, he thought wryly as he opened his hands outside the door, letting the bird make its escape.

He’d never received such a pleasant reward for his efforts though, he thought, as he turned back around to see Mary Margaret Blanchard gazing up at him as if he had given her the stars from the sky. Emma offered him a sheepish thanks and flopped back into the chair she had vacated with a winded thump, while Regina brought the pillow to her and helped her resituate her foot, but David really only had eyes for the tiny pixie haired beauty before him, her sweet smile wrapping him all up in knots and ever more tightly around her little finger.

“Thank you,” she murmured, coming to stand so close in front of him that she had to tilt her head up to look him in the face, the tips of her cute little canvas flats touching the toes of his scuffed work boots. “My hero, as well as that poor little bird’s.”

Just then, with her twinkling green eyes drinking him in like that, David really did feel like he could take on the world.

************

The following morning was pretty quiet. Both guys’ and gals’ groups were cooking their own breakfasts and lunches that day and staying around their cabins; there was plenty to see right within the Sherwood Forest Resort. Graham had gotten Robin’s advice on the best scenic hiking trails, which he was anxious to show Ruby. Robin was taking Roland down to the pool on their premises, and David, Mary Margaret, and even Regina, were tagging along with them to take a dip and do some sunbathing.

Belle, meanwhile, was having a bit of quiet time to herself. She loved her friends and looked forward to the time they spent together each year, but she was also dying to make use of the gorgeous view of the Smokies outside the huge window in her room to curl up for just an hour or two with a good book. She had thrown so much of herself into her failed relationship, that when it fell apart, it felt like her whole world went with it.

She set her book down unopened, suddenly realizing that she hadn’t thought about Robert once this week. Maybe, just maybe, she was finally starting to heal…and a lot of it was courtesy of Will Scarlet. There was no doubt he could try her patience with the best of them, but he was honest and funny and there was a genuinely sweet side to him. She never would have thought it when they first met at the beginning of the week, but she honestly thought he was a man who could be depended upon.

Her musings were interrupted by the sound of rustling leaves and something that sounded like a grunt of exertion. Belle froze. Someone or something was climbing the tall tree that stood just outside her second story bedroom window. What should she do? Should she call for help? Should she hide?

No. She had always read stories of heroes facing their fears to defeat the villains. It was about time she did the same. Looking around, she grabbed the first weapon-like item she could find–a large, bronze candlestick that sat on the mantle above her room’s fireplace.

“Alright, Lumiere,” she muttered, “let’s put the fear of God into whoever is trying to break into our room.”

Taking one more deep breath, she opened the blinds and took a look outside. She was greeted with none other than Will Scarlet smiling like an idiot as he dangled…something from his outstretched hand.

Belle looked closer and saw what appeared to be the wriggling body of a big, hairy spider, just before he dropped it on her window sill. Screaming bloody murder, she jumped back, feeling as though she was about to faint. If there was one thing in the entire world she could not stand, it was a spider. With their eight legs and multiple eyes, their affinity for biting and trapping their prey in their webs, they were more than scary. They were terrifying.

“Hey, Belle,” Will said from the other side of the window. “I didn’t mean anything by it; it was just a harmless prank. I’m sorry I scared you! I’m sorry I–AAAAGH!”

Belle rushed to the window, her heart nearly stopping for an entirely different reason as she saw Will lose his grip on the tree branch and go plummeting to the ground, landing with a thud.

Belle screamed again.

“What? What is it? What happened?” Emma demanded rushing into the room, looking around as though she was expecting an intruder.

“It’s…it’s Will!” Belle said, gesturing to the window.

“It’s…what?” Emma asked.

Belle looked out the window again and breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Will groan and get to his feet, rubbing the back of his head. Immediate crisis averted, Belle’s heart rate went back to normal, and her senses returned. In a few short sentences, she told Emma the entire story–from hearing the noise, to seeing Will dangling the spider (which she could now see was just a very convincing fake), to Will plummeting from his perch.

Emma’s face darkened as she heard the tale, and when it was at an end, she scooped the fake spider into her hands and marched out of the room muttering something under her breath about shoving it down Will’s throat.

Belle watched as Emma confronted the prankster. “What the hell were you thinking?” she asked. “She’s terrified of spiders. Like, hyperventilating, fainting terrified. I get that you like her, but stop acting like a fifth grader!”

She growled once more, and then slapped him upside the head.

“Ow!” he complained. “Lay off the noggin!”

“Why?” she retorted. “From the way you act, I’d swear there’s nothing in it anyway!”

Belle grinned, as Will stalked back to his cabin, muttering under his breath all the way and Emma shook her head and went back inside.

An hour later, there was a knock at the girls’ cabin door. Belle opened it to find a single, thornless, red rose accompanied by a small note card that said simply ‘Belle, I’m sorry I’m an idiot. Will’

*********

On the fourth day of their vacation, Emma ventured out onto the front walk about midmorning, finally feeling her ankle was strong enough to take a short stroll and enjoy the gorgeous weather they’d been having all week. She could still feel a twinge of the sprain, but she was tired of being cooped up, and she wanted to enjoy at least a little of the trip before it was over.

Before she could get started, Regina came out.

“Where are you going?”

“I thought I’d take a short walk. You want to join me?” she asked.

Regina looked torn, and it wasn’t hard for Emma to guess what she was thinking. It was clear to all the ladies in their group that Regina really liked Robin, but she’d been essentially raised by a series of nannies and sitters because her rich parents couldn’t be bothered to actually be parents for their only child, or to spend any amount of time with her, and so she’d learned early in her life to keep her heart well protected from those who could hurt her. It had taken years for Emma and the others to get behind that formidable exterior she showed most of the world, to really get to know and love the woman underneath. And now, not knowing where she was going to end up beginning her career, she didn’t want to open herself up to possible heartbreak with the handsome owner of the resort.

Emma smiled, looped her arm through Regina’s, and pulled her along.

“Come on,” she cajoled. “Getting outside will do you some good, too.”

Regina rolled her eyes and acquiesced. They started walking down the hill toward the resort pool until they could see Robin’s cabin. As they got closer, they could see him around the corner on his knees, his hands buried in the dirt of a flower bed. Regina stopped and Emma stopped with her, her heart hurting at the anxiety on the face of her friend.

Emma took her hand. “Regina,” she said quietly, “I know you’re apprehensive, and don’t want to get attached, but we’ve gotten to know him a little bit this week and you have Granny’s endorsement as well. You should spend some time with him and just see. Even if you don’t end up in Knoxville, you can keep in touch with him and take things slow, just to see where it might lead. Life is unpredictable, and you have so many years ahead of you, you shouldn’t close the door on an opportunity like this when it could lead to something truly wonderful.”

Emma watched her friend and could see the indecision in her eyes. But then her gaze turned cunning and a slow smile lifted the corner of her lips.

“Alright,” she said. “I’ll go say hi and see about spending some time with him, but only if you promise to do the same with Killian.”

Emma pressed her lips together in a thin line. She’d walked right into that one and no mistake. There was nothing for it though, so Emma nodded.

“Fine,” she said.

Regina nodded with a self-satisfied smile and walked over to where Robin still dug in the dirt. As she got closer, she noticed Roland on the other side of him copying everything he was doing.

Regina’s smile turned genuine when Roland looked up and saw her.

“Hi, Miss Gina!” he exclaimed excitedly.

“Hi there,” she replied. “What are you guys doing?”

“We’re planting begonias,” Roland said proudly. “Want to help us?” Robin sat back on his haunches and beamed up at her.

Regina’s cheeks heated. “Oh, I really shouldn’t…” she began.

“But, why not?” Roland asked at the same time as his father said “You’d be more than welcome.”

Regina cut her eyes to Robin and smiled shyly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Are you sure? I don’t know anything about plants.”

Robin’s grin softened a bit and he patted the ground next to him. “There’s nothing to it. Here, let me show you.”

Regina knelt next to Robin and thought about Emma’s and Mary Margaret’s words at the beginning of the week. Growing things took time and effort and at the end, you had a lovely flowering plant that brought beauty, happiness, and joy. Perhaps she was ready to invest some time and effort into a relationship. She had nothing to lose and everything to gain–perhaps love and true happiness with someone who wouldn’t leave her. Regina turned to Robin and gave him a real and happy smile as she joined them in their gardening.

Emma watched as Regina knelt next to Robin and smiled to herself. She had a really good feeling about them, and the job opportunity in Knoxville. She only hoped that Regina would follow where her heart was clearly leading.

Emma turned around and pondered whether she wanted to continue walking down to where the pool and playgrounds were located at the resort entrance, or if she wanted to meander up the drive a ways and see if there were any different views further up the road, when she caught a glimpse of a figure sitting alone in one of the Adirondack chairs which lined the guys’ front porch. It was Killian, looking pensive as he cradled a coffee mug and stared out at the hilltop and sky panorama before him.

Emma nearly turned in the other direction, not wanting to disturb him if he wished to be alone, but then reconsidered. First of all, she’d just made a promise to Regina. Secondly, she’d given Jones an awfully hard time this whole week. And now he looked rather lonely and as though he might welcome some company. Tentatively, she moved toward the boys’ cabin, greeting him quietly when she reached the first step. “Morning, neighbor.”

With a little start, Killian turned away from his perusal of the sky, to meet her gaze and return her smile with one of his own. The crooked curve of it sent ribbons of awareness curling inside her, all the more disarming because he seemed less aware of its power in the stark morning light. “Permission to join you?” she asked playfully, as if asking a captain to board his ship.

The jest seemed to work as she had hoped, the blue of Killian’s eyes twinkling as he nodded and gestured to the seat next to him, “Permission granted.”

Settling in next to him, they both enjoyed the comfortable quiet for a few moments more. However, Emma couldn’t stay that way for long; she was too aware of his presence beside her, his very nearness feeling as though it tingled along her nerve endings deliciously. If her physical reaction to him wasn’t quite so visceral, she wouldn’t have been fighting so hard to shut down all the attempts at genuine friendship he had offered her these last few days. Finally, she drew in a deep breath and gave voice to her swirling thoughts. “Hey, Killian? You’ve probably figured out by now that I’m not exactly very trusting, or even especially welcoming to people I don’t know all that well. I know you didn’t intend for me to get hurt at the end of the boat tour, and you were only trying to help me as much as I would let you afterwards. I was enjoying the flirtation we had going, and I was embarrassed–badly.” She sighed, looking down at her fingers twisted together in her lap. “I didn’t handle it very well, needless to say. But that wasn’t your fault. I think I’ve been taking my disappointment out on you, and I’m sorry. I hope you can forgive me.”

A moment later, Killian’s hand reached over to cover her own warmly, giving it a gentle squeeze as she looked up only to be captured in his overwhelming gaze. “Emma,” he said her name as though savoring each letter of it on his tongue, “no apologies are necessary. We all have our stories and scars, and the beginnings that have made us who we are. Perhaps, if you’ll allow me, I may know more of yours in time.” He paused briefly, eyebrow quirking as if asking permission to go on, not wanting to push too far against the barriers of their newfound truce. “I’m only glad to know I haven’t turned your opinion against me permanently.”

Emma’s grin spread across her face of its own accord, her happiness suddenly infectious and spreading out to engulf her completely. Returning the pressure of his hand on hers, she replied. “I think we understand each other perfectly.”

***********

That evening the two groups gathered at the gentlemen’s cabin for a loudly competitive game night. The next day would see them exploring the shops and attractions of The Island before their planned attempt at the escape room. Several pleasant hours flew by before Elsa found that as much as she was enjoying the company, she could hardly keep her eyes open any longer.

Bidding those still playing a ‘good night’ and telling the rest of her cabinmates she would see them in the morning, Elsa stood and gathered her things to head across the lawn and to her own bed. She didn’t mind at all, however, when Liam stood as well and followed her to the door. “Are you sure you don’t need an escort in the dark, Milady?” he murmured slightly, pressing a close mouthed kiss to her temple.

Elsa savored the press of his lips and the cozy glow of comfort that came with them, but she couldn’t help snickering at his question all the same. “I think I should be alright,” she returned, wrapping her arms around his solid torso for a moment in a parting embrace. “It can’t be more than 15 feet over to our cabin.”

“All the same, flick the porch light once you’re safely in the door, and I’ll flick the light over here in return.” The protective elder brother was showing through again, but she found his concern endearing all the same, and it warmed her heart knowing her safety and well-being were at the forefront of his mind.

Once she had reached the porch, signaled Liam, and gone inside, Elsa made her way slowly across the main room, tidying up things which had gathered on the table and counter, and moving over to the door onto their deck to be sure it was locked. Before she could do so, she heard a noise that caught her attention. She also thought she saw a flicker of light, though she didn’t know who would be out there. She didn’t remember who had left the other cabin before her; she’d really been too sleepy to take much note. But now she was grumpy, tired, and just wanted to make sure things were secure for the night, so when she heard a sort of low groan followed by a breathy giggle, things finally clicked into place in her mind, and she wasn’t feeling a lot of patience for the couple she now realized must be out there making use of the cabin’s hot tub.

Swinging the door open, Elsa stepped out onto the deck, thankfully very barely lit by the moonlight and a single candle, with a stern look and her other hand on her hip. Sure enough, there was a wet and entangled Ruby and Graham in the tub, Graham’s eyes darting around everywhere to avoid meeting hers and Ruby grinning back at her unapologetically. Elsa wasn’t sure if Graham was flushed from the heat of the tub, their activities, or embarrassment at being caught, but the poor guy looked mortified by her presence. Ruby just looked like she wanted to devour him whole. Elsa found herself relieved more than anything, that though it wasn’t much, she could still see the vibrant red ties of her friend’s string bikini showing beneath the dark hair streaming down her back.

“Look, I’m too exhausted for this,” Elsa admonished, slicing her hand through the air to halt the words when Ruby started to interrupt. “You need to take that somewhere else, because others would still like to use this hot tub–for less amorous purposes.”

Ruby just grinned at her shamelessly before quipping, “That’s what the filter’s for. We’ll be done in a little while. Now go away.”

Growling in consternation, Elsa threw up her hands and left them to it. She was not about to lose sleep, or the pleasant buzz she’d been feeling after her goodnight from Liam, over those two and their shenanigans. Ruby was a big girl and could take care of herself. Elsa just hoped Graham would survive.

**********

The day for the escape room had finally arrived. Everyone was up early to eat breakfast before going to The Island on the Pigeon Forge strip. The large entertainment venue was home to amusement park rides, hotels, shopping–lots of shopping–food, and The Escape Game–an escape room that Ruby had found online during the planning phase of the trip. Although the girls hadn’t made definite plans to go, when the guys had mentioned their plans earlier in the week, it was an easy decision to team up.

Instead of all the ladies in one car and all the men in another, Ruby and Mary Margaret suggested that the couples pair off–three in one car and three in the other. Belle and Elsa agreed, so when they all got outside to the vehicles, David, Ruby and Graham, and Robin and Regina all rode in Mary Margaret’s SUV and Elsa, Emma and Killian, and Will and Belle rode in Liam’s Expedition.

The cabins were quite a ways up the side of a mountain and the grade going down into town was steep enough and had enough blind curves that they both followed the 25 mph speed limit and kept a safe distance between them. After Mary Margaret, leading the way, went around a sharp curve and disappeared from sight, a wild turkey suddenly took off flying, only about ten feet away from Liam’s vehicle. Elsa and Emma both screamed at the bird’s proximity, but Liam kept his head and the SUV under control.

It was only a few seconds later that he caught up to Mary Margaret who had stopped in the middle of the road.

“What’s going on?” he asked, turning and looking at Elsa riding shotgun.

“That’s a bear!” exclaimed Will, pointing in between the front seats excitedly.

Sure enough, from where he sat, Liam could just see a black bear climbing up the embankment on the side of the road and into the trees. It took a moment for him to close his mouth and start following Mary Margaret again, who’d started moving as soon as the bear was safely off the road.

Once they all met up in The Island’s parking area and started making their way to the escape room, everyone was talking over each other trying to discuss the bear and wild turkey sighting.

“You must have been driving too fast, Mary Margaret,” Elsa scolded lightly. “The turkey took off and almost hit us after you’d already passed it.” She looked up at Liam next to her and the adoring gaze on the face of her friend made Emma’s heart happy. “But Liam didn’t startle at all; he kept the Expedition completely under control.” Liam preened under her praise.

“I never would have expected to see a live bear,” Mary Margaret said excitedly.

“I didn’t expect to see any bear asses on this trip,” Regina snarked.

David waved his hand around in a dismissive gesture. “You get used to them when you live up here. Not that we see them often, but that’s why we keep locks on the outdoor trash bins to keep the bears out of them.”

By this time, they were at the escape room. They entered the rather nondescript lobby and were welcomed by the attendant.

“What’s the name, please?”

“Jones,” Liam said, stepping up to the counter. “Party of twelve for ‘The Heist’, please.”

“I have you right here, Mr. Jones,” the attendant said.

Once the entire group had signed their waivers, they were ushered to the back and into a decently sized room lined with replicas of famous paintings.

Ruby’s eyes widened comically as she took in the decor. Her background in art had her immediately recognizing every painting in the room. “This is gonna be so great,” she whispered to Graham.

With everyone now gathered in the room, they all turned back to the door. The attendant explained what would happen next and the rules of the escape room. Belle was relieved that if they got stuck, they could ask for help as many times as necessary with no penalty. Will waggled his eyebrows flirtatiously at her.

“We’ll be out of here in no time, me lass,” he declared. “As brilliant as you are, we’ll set the record for the shortest escape time ever.” Belle rolled her eyes at him but could still feel the heat on her cheeks at his praise and belief in her, something that had been in very short supply in her previous relationship.

The attendant left them and they all turned their attention to the screen above the door.

“Hello, Team!” The screen was filled with the face of a man with wire frame glasses and curly red hair. He looked around anxiously for a moment before staring back at the screen at them again. “I only have a few moments to brief you on your assignment. The bypass signal we’re using to speak to you is only good for ninety seconds.” He took a breath and looked around before speaking again. “You’re in the outer office of Dr. George Spencer. Known to most of the world as an art historian and philanthropist, we know the truth. He is nothing more than a black market art thief. He has stolen a priceless Monet from the Louvre. He is out of his office at the moment speaking at a nearby college and will return in exactly one hour. You must be out of his office when he arrives back. Collect the clues and solve the riddles to find the priceless painting. Good luck, Team.”

The screen faded to black and everyone looked at each other. Liam and Elsa, Graham and Ruby immediately moved to the paintings lining the walls of the room looking for clues.

Killian noticed the door they needed to get through had two small cutout doors in it near the top and bottom. They were both locked. The top door had a padlock on it, while the bottom had a combination lock. Suddenly he heard a clattering sound near the entry door. Emma stood in front of a marble bust in the corner, staring down at the floor dumbly.

“What happened, Emma?” he asked, as everyone else’s attention also turned to her.

She bent down and picked up a small, gold metal box from the floor, holding it up for them all to see. “I turned the bust and this fell out,” she explained, popping off the lid to find a key inside.

He took the key from her and moved to the padlocked door. It was a perfect fit and the lock popped right open.

“Well done, Love,” he praised, his smile lighting up his blue eyes as he opened the small door. Emma felt a surge of satisfaction inside and smiled back. From where she was standing, she could see something hanging down in front of the small door they’d just opened, inside the second room, but she ignored it for the moment.

Meanwhile, Mary Margaret was busy checking the frames of the paintings for clues when she gave a little squeak. “It opens!” she exclaimed, swinging the framed painting away from the wall.

“OW!” Will shouted, as the painting connected with his head. Everyone in the room burst into laughter, while Belle tried to soothe him.

“Your head certainly has taken a beating this week,” she said, trying to suppress a laugh herself.

“Look, there’s a numbered keypad here,” David said, “to open this safe.” He pointed to the spot on the wall revealed when the painting was moved.

“Try these numbers,” Graham called out. “7-1-4-3.”

David punched them in and a green light flashed. Mary Margaret twisted a black knob and pulled open the door of the safe. “A mirror!” she cried, holding the object aloft.

Emma took the mirror from her and put her hand through the small upper door to see if she could see anything obviously important in the other room.

“How did you figure out the numbers?” Belle asked Graham.

“We followed the clues on the description of the paintings,” Ruby explained, “and we were able to find hidden numbers in them.”

“There’s more numbers on the back of this door,” Emma cried out.

“Let’s hear them, Love,” Killian called from where he knelt below her, ready to put the numbers into the combination lock on the other small locked door.

While Emma and Killian were working on the combination lock, Will was crawling around on the floor, his nose nearly touching the baseboard.

“What the hell are you doing?” Regina asked, after stepping backwards and almost falling over him, only Robin’s quick reflexes and strong arms keeping her from hitting the floor.

“I’m looking for clues, what do you think I’m doing?”

“I think you’re being an idiot. Now get up before you make someone else crack their cranium.”

Emma was adjusting the mirror to see the numbers better. “8-3-6-4.” Killian entered the combination and the lock opened. He reached up and took the mirror from Emma. Angling it toward the door, he could see arrows on the backside of it pointing up toward some sort of button near the door jam.

“The cane inside the upper door, will it reach the button?” Killian asked.

“I’m not sure,” Emma answered.

“Try it,” he suggested.

“I can’t see what I’m doing,” she said. Everyone’s eyes were on her and she was beginning to get frustrated.

“Would you like for me to try, Lass?” Liam asked.

“Yeah,” she said, “your arms are longer.” She stepped aside and let Liam reach through the door.

“Hold that mirror still for me, Emma,” he said, trying to maneuver the cane to hit the button. He finally did and the way he was leaning against the door caused it to open suddenly, nearly making him fall to the floor.

Everyone cheered and rushed into the other room. It was a little bit larger with a huge bookshelf opposite the door. On it were various knick knacks in addition to books stacked artfully on the various shelves. On the wall now behind the open door, hung a terribly faded world map. To the right of the door they’d just entered was a work table with an in-progress Scrabble game board on it. Over the game board on the wall hung a wooden elephant head.

As soon as they had a good look around the room, Belle glanced up at the video screen over the door and announced, “We have forty-two minutes left.” The couples split up to begin scouring the room for clues, calling out directions to one another as they found them.

Robin lifted a scarf out of a bowl, revealing two puzzle pieces, which he held up. “Anyone else find more pieces to the puzzle?”

Soon, Robin and Regina were busy trying to assemble the numerous pieces handed to them. Meanwhile the other couples split off and began gathering different clues from around the room — from elephant tusks, to stone tablets, books, and keys. They solved several puzzles, but it seemed each answered riddle revealed another question to unravel.

Time was ticking away when they got a small fountain on the bookcase flowing which caused the bookcase to slide to the side, revealing a much smaller room containing the Monet painting. A loud cheer went up from the group until the bars in front of the painting deflated their exuberance a bit.

With only fifteen minutes left on the clock, they were getting desperate. Regina noticed there were lasers near the bars and started tracing where they landed within the office. Belle and Will had found a makeup mirror on a pedestal earlier in their searches, so she took the mirror and set it down on a ledge angling it to another mirror hanging on the wall, which directed the laser back to the painting. The word FAKE was emblazoned in the corner of the painting behind the bars.

Regina huffed out an exasperated exhale. “Are we ever going to get out of here?”

She felt Robin grab her arm and spin her toward him, planting a firm kiss on her lips that was completely unexpected. It only lasted a moment, but that moment was enough to thoroughly steal her breath away. He pulled back and stared into her eyes before he spoke.

“That was a stroke of brilliance, Darling,” he said. “Of course we’re going to get out of here, and we’re one step closer thanks to you.”

Regina felt her cheeks heat at his praise. The friends in this room were the only ones who’d ever believed in her like that and she could hardly believe this man that she’d met only five days ago thought that highly of her, too. She didn’t know what to say in the face of such affirmation, so she grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him to her for a passionate kiss, much longer than the first.

“Oi,” called Will, “stop with the smoochin’. We have a Monet to find. The real one!”

Elsa suddenly noticed a small drawer on the book shelf that popped out slightly with the angling of the mirrors. She pulled the drawer open and found a small and very heavy magnet. She held it up with a questioning look on her face.

“Anyone have an idea of what to do with this?” she asked.

“Here!” Will called. He was crouched down next to the bookcase, fingering a small indentation that looked like it was just big enough to hold the magnet. Elsa handed it to him and he put it in the opening. He could feel the magnetic attraction take hold, so he grabbed the end of the magnet and pulled. A full panel opened on the side of the bookcase revealing a hole just big enough for a hand to reach in.

Will knelt on the floor and reached inside, his face scrunched up in concentration. “Don’t get your arm stuck,” Belle advised.

“Aha!” he shouted triumphantly, pulling out a rolled canvas. “It’s the real Monet!”

“Or rather, a replica of the real Monet,” Mary Margaret corrected.

“What do we do with it?” Elsa asked, watching as Will handed it to Belle, who unrolled it and held it up.

“Hey, there are numbers on it!” David shouted, drawing attention to the four bold, black numbers written on the back.

“There’s only one keypad we haven’t used yet,” Emma pointed out. “In the other room.”

They all quickly made their way back to the first room and Emma punched the numbers into the keypad. As soon as she did, the original entry door swung open and the clock on the screen came to a stop with 8 minutes and 15 seconds left.

As the group celebrated with high fives and hugs, Killian turned toward Emma, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against him. “I don’t mean to upset you, Emma, but I think we make quite the team.”

“With some help from our friends,” she grinned, enjoying the feeling of being in his arms.

“And one hard-headed git,” he added.

She giggled and leaned in closer until they were nose-to-nose. “And by the way, I’m not upset at all, but…” She paused, her tongue darting out to lick her lips.

“But what, Love?” he asked, searching her eyes.

“But I really want you to kiss me right now.”

His smile lit up his face, before he whispered, “As you wish,” and pressed his lips to hers.

*********

Granny wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand and blew out a tired sigh as the last of the breakfast rush crowd finally left. It had been a long day already, and it wasn’t even noon yet.

The bell above the door chimed again, and Granny bit back a curse–until she saw who it was filing into her diner two-by-two and looking extremely happy together.

Ruby led the way, her arm around Graham’s waist and so close to him it was almost obscene. They were followed by Mary Margaret and David, holding hands and looking as though they didn’t realize there was anyone else in the world. Elsa and Liam followed along, shooting each other shy, smitten glances. Will spoke animatedly about something outrageous, judging by the way Belle rolled her eyes and playfully smacked him in the back of the head. Granny noted the librarian couldn’t keep the smile from her face. Granny’s smile grew yet wider when she saw Regina and Robin walking together, little Roland holding Regina’s other hand, his dimples in full view as he smiled happily. Last of all came Emma and Killian, her head on his shoulder, his arm around her waist.

“Table for twelve,” Ruby said with a broad smile.

“Thirteen!” Roland piped up.

“Coming right up!” Granny said, grabbing a stack of menus and waving the group to follow her. The urge to say I knew it! was strong, but Granny was wise enough to refrain from saying it. It was satisfaction enough just to see how happy everyone was.

The future looked bright for Ruby and her friends, and Granny couldn’t wait to watch that future unfold.

The End!

Notes: You made it!!!! We hope you enjoyed reading our not-so-little story!! Below are the real-life adventures on which our story was built.

–Our first stop was in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The park in question was called Lost River Cave rather than Lost Boys Cave. And yes, we met our tour guide (not hard on the eyes, but no Killian!) as we were making our way to our meeting place for the tour.

--Krystal, rather than Mary Margaret, was the one who became known for asking all the questions.

–The Blue Hole was a real thing–only the legend was that it was bottomless rather than that it led to Neverland.

–Yes, our female tour guide really did a runway walk down the center of our boat.

–The Wishing Stone was real, and we had to duck when going under it, but Will’s mishap was entirely fictionalized.

–The guide in our boat did point out the difference between stalactites and stalagmites, although she didn’t mix them up.

–Jen was the one who made an itinerary–although it wasn’t scheduled to the minute and it did end up being rather flexible.

–No twisted ankles, cracked craniums, or any other injury occurred on our vacation, thankfully.

–Our venture to the supermarket was completely ordinary. Maybe if we’d purchased ice cream, it would have gotten more exciting.

–Yes, our cabin truly was in a place called Sherwood Forest Resort. There were no sightings of Robin Hood, though.

–We never met our neighbors, although we certainly HEARD them on the last night we were there. They chose to pretend the resort’s nightly noise ordinance wasn’t a thing.

–‘Granny's’ was based on a pancake house we visited on our first full day in Pigeon Forge. The potato flinging incident was real–although completely accidental on Marta’s part. And an adorable little boy did peek at Joni around the end of the buffet, although it was his freckles and not his dimples which were so cute!

–No birds flew in through our open door–although the bird landing on the bear figurine’s head was an homage to a storefront we saw on the main strip. Three large bear statues, one with a bird atop its head, stood over a “Jesus saves!” sign. It was so random and ridiculous that it became a running joke all week. Likely Marta is still giggling about it!

-The wild turkey and black bear incident really happened, but as we were all in the same vehicle, we all got a front row seat to the resident wildlife.

–Our free day at the cabin was spent entirely in writing this story. We had no Will character show up to play pranks.

–We did, indeed, have a hot tub, but no one made any use of it, and certainly not the kind of use Ruby and Graham did, lol.

–Finally, the escape room scene was based on our own experience on the first full day of our time in Pigeon Forge, and it was indeed called ‘The Heist’. The clues, descriptions and puzzles are accurate to what we did in our own escape room (which Joni found to be the best part of the vacation). We made it out with 6:05 to spare!

Can you figure out why the group in our story had 8 minutes, 15 seconds left?

–There might be more to come in this universe. Some of the other attractions we enjoyed in Pigeon Forge we know would also be enjoyed by these characters, so they might get written sometime in the future.

#vacay fic #fic collab #cave cruises cabin capers & cracked craniums #krystal writes #art by krystal

39 notes · View notes

pynkhues · 3 years

Note

Brio 45 and 81

Thanks, anon!

This fic is set in my Center & Circumference universe, but you don't have to have read that to read this. Just know that they've been together a little while, but are as cagey as ever, haha.

(Tiiiiny spoilers for the last part of To Face Unafraid, but just little ones)

45 floating on your back in water + 81 cloudless summer sky

“Playa del Amor,” he hums, and Beth’s neck twists back just enough to see Rio grin. “What? You rather I take you to Cabo?”

“I don’t want you to take me anywhere,” she replies easily, a practiced retort that Rio knows as well as she does at this point, and when he breathes out a laugh, Beth drums the point home, reaching for their closet door. “If - - when - - we go on a vacation, we’ll go together.”

He seems pleased at least by the when – something even she can admit is the result of a lot of wearing down – his Cheshire Cat grin smoothing out into something both exasperated and affection as he rolls onto his side in their bed. The movement is enough for the sheets to dip lower, to reveal the perfect V of his groin, the space where his happy trail thickens, and it’s like the sun sparks through the window to greet the sight, the warm light leaving him summer skinned and glowing, and she hates that she wets her lips. Hates that he clocks it (because of course he does), and she makes sure he sees her roll her eyes when his grin turns into a smirk.

“Anyway,” she says, standing up a little straighter and turning back around to open their walk-in closet door. “We don’t have time right now. Not with the new deal Mick’s set up, and definitely not with the kids still a month off summer break.”

He doesn’t reply to that, but Beth knows the kids really don’t factor into this particular vacation plan. Or they do, of course they do, but only in the sense of who’s going to take them while he and her drink tequila on his cousin’s catamaran in Mexico. Which - -

Beth huffs, flicking through a few of her sundresses, trying to find something that’s not going to be too suffocating in the June heat, more irritable than she should be. The conversation is one they’ve been circling since Christmas though, when he’d surprised her with a trip away – not for him and her, but instead one for her, Ruby and Annie.

The weight of it had been lost in the chaos with Judith and his (- - her) family, but when the three of them had had their feet up in front of the fire at the ski lodge, mulled wine sloshing about their heads as Annie and Ruby giggled their way through old memories, it had been more than gratitude she’d felt. More than happiness, more than - -

God.

She doesn’t know, just more, and she’d gotten home and Rio had been there, reading glasses on as he’d tapped through accounts on his laptop, glitter on his neck from where he’d helped Emma get ready for her ballet recital dress rehearsal, and she’d straddled his hips before she’d even taken her shoes off, and she’d said - -

Well.

She hadn’t really said anything.

But she thinks by that evening he’d felt it too.

Even more so when he’d pressed swollen lips to hers and said next time, it’s you and me, yeah?

“The deal’s practically done, and ain’t there camp and shit?”

Beth rolls her eyes, reaching for one of her looser black sundresses, and she can hear more than see Rio scoot across the bed to drop his head off the edge of it, an angle she knows he likes just because he can see her better, or rather, see up the back of her robe when she bends over.

(Another gift, she thinks, briefly amused again. Although this one really was a gift for him given it barely covers her ass when she’s standing, let alone doing anything else.)

“Yes, I know where Cabo is.”

He snorts, and Beth turns around to walk back out of the closet, feeling the silk of her robe slip just a little, just enough she can feel it drag sweat back across her chest, and god, if it’s already this hot, she’s not looking forward to their air con bill for the quarter. She strides across the room to hook the coat hanger over the door of their en suite, before starting back to grab some clean panties, a bra, feeling Rio’s gaze on her every step of the way, and it’s silly, the way maybe she pushes her chest out just a little, points her toes to elongate her legs, the way her gaze darts, just to make sure he’s noticed.

(He has.

God, when does the spark she feels at that dim?)

“Ain’t talking about Cabo,” he tells her, voice a little lower. He’s still resting long on his side, head off the bed, tilted back just so, hands low enough on his belly his pinkies brush the thickening hair, feel the bristle of it that Beth’s all too familiar with, and she yanks open the dresser drawer. “Talkin’ about Playa del Amor. It’s on the Islas Marietas.”

And at least that checks out with the catamaran.

“On an island?” she asks anyway, fingers groping between satin, lace, cotton, and when Rio hums, low, warm, she decides lace.

“It’s a beach inside a cave, only there’s this big-ass hole in the roof. You gotta sail over from Puerto Vallarta, then swim down through this tunnel until it all opens up on this place. People call it the Hidden Beach, but that ain’t its name.”

She grabs out a bra, closing the drawers and turning back to move across the room, only to pause, the weight of his words sinking into the moment. She still can’t speak Spanish exactly, but she’s been picking things up, partially through the osmosis of being in a - - whatever with Rio, and partially because maybe she downloaded DuoLingo to her phone last year. Keeps it in a hidden folder, just in case Rio sees it one day and teases her, because there’s something in it, something fragile in the thought of learning for him, because it is for him, no matter how much she tells herself it would be good and useful to learn otherwise.

Still, she thinks, gaze darting back to his, watching him watch her, his gaze drifting from her face to where her robe reveals more cleavage than she’d usually choose to (again, a gift for him) and she thinks she can own this much at least.

“Playa del Amor. Well, playa means beach.”

He hums a low, drawling sound of affirmation, and Beth’s toes curl a little beneath her, her chest heaves, cheeks flush, and she wants to close the distance between them, wants to keep it, wants to straddle him like she did when she got home from that last vacation, god, like she did last night, but there’s too much in the words, resting thick and pregnant in their translation. Her pulse is in her ears, the thrum of her restless, wasting, wanting heart, and she swallows thick, looks away, and it’s only then that Rio speaks, his voice soft, gentle.

“Just meant it feels right. Place like that for us. Fuckin’ you on the Hidden Beach.”

And at least that feels right, feels normal, and Beth rolls her eyes, starts back towards the bathroom, but she steps deliberately sideways, puts herself in arms reach so that Rio grabs the knot on her robe, positioning her over him until she’s sitting on his face, and the first hot breath at her cunt has her dripping and god, at least this has always been easy.

Later, hidden and safe at work, she looks it up.

Playa del Amor.

Finds herself scrolling through pictures of floods of sunlight, staring as yawning earth reveals a perfect curl of sand, a tongue of vivid blue ocean. An oasis among relentless rock, a cradle of paradise hidden beneath clambering earth, gnarled tree roots, tangling, opportunistic weeds; protected by it too, from the wild tide of the Pacific.

Dreams of braving that ocean, sinking into it, facing the darkened tunnels that lead to the light. The cold of shadowed waters before breaking into the heat.

It’s too easy to see herself there then. Feel herself there. Drifting on her back, sun-warmed water gentle at her back while her chest, cheeks, thighs pink under the glare. Too easy to hear distant seagull calls, lick salt from her lips, feel sand at her toes, to see Rio swimming out to meet her, his body long, strong, ocean parting to take him.

In her head, he doesn’t kiss her, he touches her – her hands, breasts, back, face. Especially her face – fingers tracing her lips, her cheek, brushing her wet hair back, and Beth thinks:

Playa del Amor.

She thinks:

Beach of Love.

Send me a sensory prompt (Good Girls, The Umbrella Academy or Succession)

Also hi, hello, I'm doing a thing where I try to do a prompt fill ficlet every day. You can read yesterday's here.

#we'll see how long i last with this daily fill thing haha #but i have over 100 prompts in my inbox right now and i really want to get through some of them #and it's fun as a creative exercise!#obviously 95% of these are brio prompts so am v welcome of non-brio / tua / succession prompts rn #this was a nice one to write though #i miss C&C when i'm not writing ittttt #and it's been a while #anyway #i hope this hits the spot anon :-)#beth x rio #the center and circumference #fic asks #my fic #gg fic #nbc good girls #welcome to my ama

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swanqueensalad · 3 years

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Ooh this so is your niche, and I'm here for it😄 So, got any headcanons about travelling/vacations? Town line is gone, Swan-Mills family can do what their hearts desire...😊

ooooohhh this is a good one!!! thank you my dude! as always, i got very carried away, but y'all know this about me by now ;)

i think at first, after everything settles down, they would be kind of tentative to leave storybrooke, because it finally feels safe there. but with some encouraging (*cough* whining) from their son, emma and regina would definitely be up for some trips!

i can see henry suggesting the idea of a family vacation, and though at first emma and regina are unsure and super over-protective, it becomes swan-mills family tradition to go away at least once a year, and they take turns to choose where they go (as long as the others do agree of course)

i think regina, once she gets over the initial anxiety of leaving storybrooke, would really want to travel and see the world! not only is she a huge nerd, she went straight from being very sheltered by an oppressive mother to locked up by her husband to being a queen with constant duties and a war to fight - she has never had the time or agency to just explore and adventure before, and it gives her a sense of freedom she's always wanted

so regina's choices of location are more cultural/historic, or else just natural wonders. she wants to go to historic cities in europe, barcelona and rome and so on.

she drags emma and henry to all the ruins and galleries and museums and they goof around while regina reads all the guides and info. sometimes emma is abandoned because henry has inherited regina's nerd traits and starts rattling off facts too

(emma is secretly very okay with this, because seeing regina so enthralled is adorable, and henry is also super cute when he's being a nerd. she loves watching them discuss stuff and get excited together, running around all the sites)

regina's ultimate destination though? PARIS. regina mills is the paris of people.

she gets emma to go with her for a weekend, just the two of them, and drags her around the louvre and they have lil romantic walks by the seine and emma gets super bored when regina drags her around all the designer boutiques and perfume stores, but it's worth it to be able to take her out to fancy dinners and see how happy she is

regina is also the admin queen. she books flights, reviews hotels and places to eat, and most importantly pACKS. she makes many lists and packs everything they could possibly need very neatly.

meanwhile, emma shoves some clothes and a phone charger into a suitcase the night before. this gives regina untold stress and anxiety, but somehow it always works out okay.

when it's emma's turn to pick locations, she's pretty easygoing but prefers fun, adventure and activity-packed things. (i can imagine any days outs foster homes took her on as a kid were pretty boring, low budget stuff) so she wants to go hiking and snorkelling and tasting weird food!

henry pretends not to be enthusiastic bc he is a moody teenager, but the minute he gets out there and emma takes him to the events, he's a little kid again

this is where it's regina's turn to get dragged along and put up with them. she is often reluctant to try stuff and will suggest she just stay on the beach or read by the pool while emma and henry go trekking or scuba diving or whatever, and sometimes she will, but occasionally emma and henry will both be giving her the puppy face and she's like fine whatever and actually ends up enjoying herself

between these proper holidays abroad, they often will do little road trips to new york or to the national parks for a few days! emma is roadtrip playlist maker extraordinaire, henry makes up increasingly ridiculous driving games that become classic traditions, and regina rations out the snacks because she knows if she didn't they'd be gone in the first hour

i also want the three of them to get invited on holiday with snow and david just bc i think it would be cute and funny. imagine! and imagine the weird lie about how they're related they'd have to tell the people at the hotel - one time, henry yells 'grandpa!' in the pool when david splashes him and emma is like 'oh yes. a fun cool inside joke between my son and his... uncle? yeah, that's my brother!'

bonus: not sure how in character this one actually is, but imagine how funny a storybrooke-gang girls trip to vegas would be (i mean emma, regina, snow, ruby, belle, zelena etc all just checking into a showy hotel and having a weekend away to blow off some steam! emma would get super competitive, the living legend that is drunk snow would return, zelena would probably book them in to see magic mike without telling anyone lmao)

#thanks for this one my good dude!!!#so much fun!!#and feels good to be back on my niche again #swan queen headcanon queen is back in business bitches ;)))#swan mills family #swan queen headcanons #swan mills charming family #emma swan #regina mills #henry swan mills #snowing

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let-it-raines · 4 years

Text

What a Lie We’re In (1/3)

All Emma was doing was trying to be nice. Her roommate didn’t have anywhere to go, so she invited him home for the holidays. She thought it would be fine and Killian would be a good buffer for a week at home with her parents. That is until her ex-boyfriend showed up, and while she was freaking out, Killian told him they were dating.

That would have been fine except her parents overheard it.

(A Christmas Fake Dating AU)

Rating: Mature

a/n: What? A holiday fake dating story? So original, you say? No one has ever done it before? Especially not me. lol. Forget all of that, and let’s jump into this trope-a-palooza of a holiday story!

Big thank you to @resident-of-storybrooke for reading over this and convincing me that I still know how to write ❤️

ao3: | HERE |

-/-

“Did you eat all of my candy?”

Emma opens another cabinet, looking inside to the wine glasses and tumblers, before closing it. She’s been keeping her bag of candy in the cabinet where they keep their plates and bowls, hidden at the very top behind some reusable water bottles. Killian is a healthy eater, always stocking the fridge with fruits and vegetables and food she doesn’t think is actually real food, so she didn’t think she had to hide her junk food that well.

Hide it, yes. Hide it well, no.

Until now.

“What was that, love?”

Emma slams another cabinet closed and turns to look at Killian. He’s walking out of the bathroom, chest still damp, and only has a white towel wrapped around his waist. When he first moved into the apartment six months ago after Ruby abandoned Emma to go live with Dorothy (live with, get married to, same thing), Emma was taken aback by the lack of clothes wearing Killian partakes in. He’s an attractive man. She’s not blind. He goes to the gym as often as she does, but mostly, he spends a lot of time doing heavy lifting at his job as a contractor since he apparently likes to be hands-on, literally. His body is toned, and the son of the bitch knows it. He also knows he’s got the face to be able to get away with a lot of…well, a lot.

At first, it was all disconcerting, but now, he could walk around with his dick out and Emma wouldn’t care.

What she cares about is where her candy is. That’s the real priority. But she knows Killian will try to use his lack of clothes to distract her. Never worked in the past, not gonna work now, bud.

“My candy,” Emma repeats. “Where is it?”

He wipes behind his ear with the small towel in his hand. “I wouldn’t touch the stuff. You don’t like the good candy.”

“Well, my good candy has been moved, and we’re the only two people who live here.”

Emma places her hands on her hips, staring him down hoping he will somehow be intimidated by her stare and fess up to everything. He won’t be, but Emma can try. They both have their tactics.

Killian clicks his tongue. “What about the fellow you brought home last week?”

“Do you mean the plumber?”

“Was that who he was?”

“You know I don’t bring guys back here.” Emma moves from the counter and opens the fridge, taking out a handful of grapes from the fridge. She probably needs to eat some of them and not candy anyway. As she pops one into her mouth, that’s when it clicks. “Your girlfriend ate my candy, didn’t she?”

He scoffs and keeps drying his hair, but she sees the way he scratches his ear. Gotcha, Jones. “I don’t believe I have a girlfriend.”

“What? Tink break up with you because you wouldn’t let her eat dessert on your dates? Wait, I heard it. Don’t make it dirty.” Killian walks toward her, getting in her space, and she knows him well enough to know he wants her to flinch, to move, to stop her line of questioning. That’s exactly why she doesn’t want to. Emma pops another grape in her mouth. “Did you eat my candy? Was it your way of wallowing? It’s okay if you did. I’ll take another bag for payment.”

“For your information, Swan,” he whispers as he places his hand on her hip, “we are no longer seeing each other, but it was mutual. She did, however, eat your candy when she was last here. If you really want to know, we used it to – ”

“Stop,” Emma groans, pushing him away and running to the other side of the kitchen. “Nope. Don’t take that any further. Some things should be left private.”

His head tilts back as he laughs, the underside of his jaw black with stubble, and then he’s reaching into the cabinet above the fridge and tossing her the bag of sweets.

Oh.

“I hid it after Will and Rob found it while we were playing cards last night. Will nearly went through all your milk duds before I realized what was happening.” He raises his brow. “You have something you want to say to me?”

Emma knows what he’s aiming for, and she isn’t going to give it to him.

“Yeah,” Emma says, “you need a thicker towel. I don’t think you want people seeing you when you look like…that.” She nods her head down and then picks up a handful of Kit Kats. “I gotta go to work.”

“Off to die inside at your cubicle, love?”

“Oh, you know it.”

Emma grabs her purse and unlocks the door only to hear Killian speak. “It’s December. How do you still have Halloween candy leftover?”

Emma shrugs. “I bought one bag to pass out to kids, two bags for me.”

“Bloody brilliant.”

“I do what I can. See you tonight. I’ll try not to wake you up from your nap when I come in.”

“That would be the least you could do.”

Emma rolls her eyes, but then she’s officially walking out the door of her apartment and down toward the elevator, a Kit Kat bar hanging out of the side of her mouth.

The thing about Killian Jones is that he’s simple to her.

He likes his friends, his job, his rum, and his women. There’s not much else to him, and Emma is okay with that. While her last roommate was her best friend, this one doesn’t have to be. He can just be a guy who pays the bills so she can keep living in a nice place and who, on occasion, talks shit about other people with her while they binge watch TV.

That’s all she needs.

And all and all, Killian Jones is a…fine roommate. Yeah, fine is an accurate way to describe him at least eighty percent of the time.

Even if she does get annoyed when he brings his dates home. But that’s only because it’s always on the nights she plans on going to bed early, and the noise of other people being around keeps her from catching up on sleep.

Emma is not one to mess around on sleep.

But yeah, he’s fine. Annoying as hell over half the time, but he’s fine in the small dosages she sees him in. He works odd hours, isn’t always on the job, and she is stuck with regular hours in her office. There’s not a lot of glory in working HR for a small engineering company, but that’s what happens when you make dumbass decisions like Emma did. She’s lucky she has a stable job. She’ll try not to complain too much about it.

That’s what she tells herself every morning when she sits in her car and stares at the drab brick building.

Money. She has to make money.

And hey, she gets almost an entire week off for Christmas next week, and that’s fucking incredible, even if she does have to spend it in her hometown with her parents and their Hallmark-like attitude toward the holiday and the events it puts on. Her mom is a teacher at the elementary school and produces the Christmas play every year while her dad is a vet and outfits all his patients in little holiday bandanas and bows. He even has a tree in his office decorated with bone ornaments.

It’s…a lot. But it’s family, and as Emma stares at this building that’s sucking the life out of her, she can’t wait to have a change of pace and some home-cooked meals, even if there are as many downsides as upsides to going home. Her Kit Kat bars aren’t giving her the nutrients she knows she needs.

Being an adult is not all it’s cracked up to be sometimes, especially when going home for the holidays is seen as more of a burden than a gift with a fancy bow on top. It’s more like that turkey that dries up and falls to pieces in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

Well, that and the squirrel crashing every decoration in the house.

Happy holidays.

-/-

“Nah, mate, I don’t have any plans.”

Emma quietly puts her keys down on the table next to her front door, laying her purse down with it, and she kicks her boots off until they topple over each other and lay in the middle of the hallway. She can hear Killian talking, and it gets even louder when she walks into the kitchen and turns on the coffee maker.

“No, no, well, you know, I rarely do anything, not since Liam.” There’s a pause as the coffee begins to percolate and Emma grabs another Kit Kat from her bag. “I went home with Milah once, but that was years ago…no, mate, it’s alright. I don’t mind staying here by myself…yeah, I think Emma is going home to her parents.”

And that’s when she realizes what Killian is talking about.

Christmas plans.

He doesn’t have any. Emma didn’t know that. She didn’t really bother to ask. She doesn’t bother to ask much of Killian. She picks up pieces here and there, as she’s sure he does to her, but they mind their own business.

He doesn’t have a family to go home to? She knows he’s originally from England, but still. There must be someone.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Killian says. “I promise if I need anything, I’ll let you know. Alright, bye Scarlet.”

The coffee finishes, and Emma picks the pot up and starts pouring, filling her large mug halfway before getting hazelnut creamer out of the fridge and making the coffee drinkable. Killian joins her in the kitchen and perches himself on one of their stools.

“Good day at work?” he asks.

“Eh, it was a day. You?”

He shrugs. “The same. I’m finishing up on this house tomorrow, hopefully, so tomorrow will be a good day.”

Emma nods and sips on her coffee as Killian taps his fingers on the counter, the rhythm the same as the song he usually hums when cooking. “So, when are you heading for Storybrooke?” he asks.

“Monday after work.” Killian nods and keeps tapping his fingers, and Emma, stupidly opens her mouth because despite what her exes have told her, she does apparently have a heart. “If you don’t have any plans and have off work, you’re welcome to come with me. My parents are always thrilled to welcome more people. Just be prepared, it’s like a Hallmark movie up there.”

His eyes widen, the blue lighting up, and his upper lip starts to quiver, laughter very obviously waiting to break through. Dammit, why the hell did she decide to be nice? This is going to give him all of the wrong ideas.

“Why, Swan,” he smirks, leaning forward and resting his chin in his propped-up hand, “are you inviting me home for the holidays with you? You’ve been harboring a crush this entire time, haven’t you? I can’t say I’m surprised. I see the way you look at me when I finish up in the bathroom. Don’t be ashamed of it. Most women find me attractive.”

Emma flicks Killian’s forehead, and really, he should be thrilled she didn’t dump her hot coffee on his lap like she wanted to.

“I was just trying to be nice. You didn’t have to be an asshole about it.” Emma rolls her eyes and turns on her heels to walk away. She is going to her room. She doesn’t have to put up with his shit. “Forget I even offered.”

“Wait, wait, Swan.” Emma’s shoulders tense, and she doesn’t turn around. “Are you serious about your offer?”

“I mean, it would have some conditions in that you are a slightly less obnoxious version of yourself, but yeah, if you don’t have anywhere else to go, you can come home with me.”

“I’d like that.” Emma twists around, trying to size him up, and for once, everything seems genuine. “I have a condition as well.”

Idiot. “What could your condition possibly be?”

He winks, and she already knows this is going to have her eyes rolling so far into the back of her head they get stuck there. “Don’t go falling in love with me.”

What a cheesy ass sarcastic line.

“In your dreams, Jones.”

What the hell has she gotten herself into? This is absolutely the last time she lets her conscience guilt her into doing something nice. Emma was already going to be miserable, but now she’s miserable with a buffer.

At least her mom will be happy getting to go into hostess mode.

-/-

In the days leading up to them leaving for Storybrooke, Emma convinces herself Killian is going to back out of the trip. He’ll realize this is awkward and not a good idea. They live together, sure, but they don’t actually know each other. They’re not close friends.

But Killian never backs out. Instead he asks her things like what the weather is like there, if her parents drink wine, if he needs to bring his own bedding. He asks a million questions a day, and they continue when they’re in her bug making the drive from Boston to Storybrooke. He wants to know what her parents do for a living, what their hobbies are, pretty much everything someone needs to know when they’re about to spend half a week in the house of strangers.

Strangers who don’t actually know they’re having someone stay at their house to awkwardly sit on the sidelines as Emma’s family celebrates the holidays and has their usual holiday arguments.

Yeah, Emma didn’t ever tell her parents Killian was coming. She knows her mom well enough to know the moment Emma mentioned bringing someone home, her mom would have stopped listening before Emma could explain that it was just her roommate. It would have been this whole big thing, and Emma knows she can handle explaining it better in person when she can snap her mom out of getting excited about nothing.

Plus, who doesn’t want a Christmas surprise?

(Emma doesn’t.)

After Killian stops being one of those obnoxious kids who never stops asking questions, they sit in relative silence for the car ride, music entertaining them, and little by little, cities fade away and more trees pop up, evergreen forests surrounding them. It’s always the sign for Emma that she’s leaving her life and going back to her old one.

That and the “Welcome to Storybrooke” sign.

Everything about the town is the same. The buildings are small and kind of dingy downtown, and when she passes Granny’s, she bets those onion rings are the same too. God, she hopes they are. This is probably the only thing that can get her through this week. She should have texted Ruby and made sure her grandmother hadn’t changed any of the recipes. If she had, Emma definitely would have stayed home.

People walk down the sidewalk all bundled up in their coats and scarves, saying hello and chatting with others they pass. It’s the opposite of Boston where Emma can go her entire day without having to say hello to someone, and a little shiver runs down her spine at the thought. She needs to get out of here as soon as possible and to the isolation of her parents’ farmhouse, even if that presents her a new set of problems.

Storybrooke, Maine is, decidedly, not Emma’s favorite place for a hell of a lot of different reasons.

Killian, though, seems to be taking it all in with the wonder and confusion of someone who has never lived in a small town like this and who is a bit shell-shocked.

Get used to it, buddy.

“Oh, hey, one more thing,” Emma sighs as she pulls up to her parents’ street a few minutes later. “My real last name is Nolan. I changed it after high school, so my parents’ names are Nolan. The whole ‘Swan’ thing is a sticky situation for them even though it’s my mom’s maiden name.”

Killian’s eyes narrow, and she has definitely shared too much about herself now. “Am I allowed to ask or…”

“No. just try not to call me ‘Swan’ around them.”

“Whatever your heart desires, love.”

Emma slows down as the road turns from paved to loose gravel leading up to their driveway. There are several cars parked alongside it, and either they now own extra cars or her parents have friends over. Great. Just what she needed. Other people around when she’s coming home and surprising her parents with a guest. At least Killian will likely be that buffer she keeps hoping he’ll be.

They get out of her car, and Emma pops the trunk for them to get their bags. Killian grabs the bigger ones despite her arguing with him about it, but she’s fine to just carry her purse and the bag with presents. Emma closes the trunk, slamming it shut, and squares her shoulders.

This is fine. This is all fine.

Until ten steps later, it’s not.

Her parents have this incredible wraparound porch with swings and rocking chairs, and sitting in one of them is Neal Cassidy.

What the hell?

She doesn’t…she can’t…why is he here? He has no right to be here, no business being here, and seeing his face makes her want to vomit.

It makes her want to cry, too, but Emma can’t give him the satisfaction.

Instead, she’d like to sink into the dirt and never emerge again.

“Shit,” Emma mumbles, stopping and turning toward Killian who is looking down at her with an arched brow. “Shit, shit, shit.”

“What is it?”

God, she can’t believe she has to tell this to him. It’s too many pieces of her past in too short a period of time. This isn’t something she ever wanted to talk about again and certainly not to Killian. She was really hoping she never had to see Neal’s face again.

Honestly, she never considered it to be a possibility.

If only.

“That guy sitting on my porch is an ex of mine. And I’m talking about a bad ex, not one of those who you can be friends with afterward.”

“What the bloody hell is he doing here then?” Killian looks over her head to look at Neal, but Emma grabs his hand and yanks on it until he looks at her. “What?”

“Don’t look at him,” she hisses. “I don’t know what he’s doing here, but I’m sure it has something to do with my parents. Just…I don’t know what to do.”

“Do we need to turn around?”

“No, no, that’s pathetic. Just…maybe he’s going to leave soon, and it’ll be a quick hello and then I never have to see his face again. Let’s get it over with.”

“If you’re sure, Sw – Emma.”

“I’m sure.”

She’s not sure at all. Mostly, she wants to take Killian’s suggestion and run far, far away.

Once more, Emma braces her shoulders, and she moves forward. If she stops and thinks too much, she’ll chicken out. It’s how she is. If she thinks about something for too long, it ruins every bit of courage she has. Now isn’t the moment for that when this week is one that makes her need courage.

Maybe, Emma realizes, she didn’t invite Killian here just to be nice. Maybe she needed that buffer to keep her old demons at bay, even if just barely, and that was her motivation all along.

That really makes her asshole of the year. Well, after Neal. She hasn’t seen him in years, but he still gets the asshole of the year award.

Neal sees her before she can get to the front steps. He rises from the rocking chair and moves toward her. He looks older now. He was always older than her, but she can actually see it now. There’s gray in his beard and more lines on his forehead. His features are similar, but she swears there’s an eeriness to his eyes and a lie to his smile. Maybe those were always there, but Emma imagines she was blind to it all when she loved him.

Amazing how opening her eyes to love blinded her to so much else.

“Emma? Is that you?”

No, jackass, it’s some other blonde woman walking into her parents house.

“Hi, Neal.” She forces a smile that she knows is awkward, but he was never good at reading her enough to know the difference between a real smile and a fake one. “What are you doing here?”

“You’ve just seen me for the first time in half a decade, and your first question is what I’m doing here? Nice to see you too, Ems.”

It’s illegal to murder, Emma, she reminds herself. You don’t want to end up in jail because of him.

“It’s my parents’ house. I’m supposed to be here. You’re not. So, again, what are you doing here?”

He shrugs and ignores her. “Who’s this?”

Emma turns to Killian who is staring ahead, his jaw clenched, and he speaks before she gets a chance to. “Killian Jones,” he begins, dropping a bag and reaching forward to shake Neal’s hand, “Emma’s boyfriend.”

Emma nearly chokes on her own air and possibly her own lungs and whatever else is down there, and she’s stuck. Her brain and her feet and especially her mouth are all stuck. What the hell is he doing?

“Emma’s boyfriend,” Neal repeats, his voice incredulous like the fact that she could have a boyfriend is ludicrous to him. “Really?”

“For awhile now,” Killian lies. Wow. Has he always been this good of a liar? “It’s nice to meet you, but I think Emma and I need to get inside and put our stuff away. It’s been a long drive.”

Neal nods, but Emma catches his eyes glance over at her. What was that? “I understand. I need to get my fiancée from inside, but then we’ll be on our way.”

Fiancée?

Neal has a fiancée? Who is in her parents’ house?

What kind of upside down hell has she walked into and how does she reverse time and get back to the place where things are normal?

“Nice seeing you,” Emma lies, but Neal is already walking inside, leaving the door slightly ajar behind him as if it’s his house to go into. She quickly turns to Killian and hopes her face conveys the “what the hell” look she’s going for. And in case it doesn’t, she hisses, “what the fuck was that?”

“Forgive me, love, but you obviously didn’t want to see that man, and I figured there wouldn’t be any harm in saying that. You weren’t planning on ever seeing him again, aye?”

“Not if I can help it.”

“So what’s the harm in him thinking you have a devilishly handsome new boyfriend?”

Emma rolls her eyes, ready to take the piss out of him, when her mother comes running out the front door.

“Emma, you brought a boyfriend home?”

Well, that’s the harm, Jones.

-/-

Emma tries explaining to her parents that Killian isn’t really her boyfriend, that he’s just her roommate who came home with her because he doesn’t have any family, but she never really gets the chance with Neal still hanging around. That would be mortifying, so she rolls with it, hoping that she can clear it all up sooner rather than later.

But Neal never seems to leave.

His fiancée, Tamara, apparently teaches with Emma’s mom, and from the looks of it, they’re great friends. She can’t imagine any other reason why her parents would let Neal Cassidy in their house, but then again, they have always been great at doing the exact opposite of what’s good for her. It’s torture, and as the night goes on, it seems like it’s never going to end.

When are they going to leave?

When can she stop listening to Killian falsify their life?

She’s got to say that he’s fantastic at taking truths and turning them into lies. According to him, they met when he became her roommate (true) and got to know each other as friends first (eh, a half-truth). Then, slowly, feelings started to develop in the little moments, and they decided to give their relationship a chance (unequivocally false).

He’s got this uncanny ability to make everything feel…not ridiculous. She doesn’t know the word she’s searching for, but she’s sure as hell that Killian could find it and incorporate it into a story to make everyone here think they’re in love.

Emma has no clue how they’re going to get out of this without her parents being heartbroken because Emma can see the hope and happiness in her mom’s eyes. She’s over the moon. Her dad, however, doesn’t seem to be.

Of course this is how it goes. Her mom is thrilled because she’s not a spinster, and her dad is upset because she’s not a spinster.

“So what do you do, Killian?” he asks. “You need a roommate apparently.”

“Dad,” Emma hisses, wanting to sink into the couch, especially because she knows she’s the one who needs the roommate and not Killian. “Don’t.”

“What? I’m not allowed to ask about the man who my daughter is dating?”

“You are, but you’re not allowed to interrogate him.”

Killian places his hand over Emma’s on her thigh, and God, this really is the worst night. Why do people have to go home to family on the holidays? At least she didn’t automatically flinch at the feeling of Killian’s hand on hers.

“I’m a contractor,” Killian tells her dad. “I used to work with my brother. It’s his business, but I’m the head on projects now. It’s hard and unpredictable sometimes when my job is to make it predictable, but it’s good work. There’s a lot of good new housing popping up in the neighborhoods outside of Boston. Beautiful new construction.”

“What happened to your brother?” her mom asks.

Killian’s hand tightens over hers while his other hand scratches behind his ear. “Liam passed last year. Car accident.”

Mary Margaret places her hands over her chest while Neal and Tamara look at each other, obviously ready to go. Emma, meanwhile, tries not to act shocked. She should know this. She should know that he had a brother who died. She’s heard him talk about Liam before, but she thought…she thought he was alive, just that he lived really, really far away or something like that.

“I’m so sorry, Killian,” Mary Margaret sighs.

“Thank you, Ms. Nolan.”

Silence falls in the room, and it feels like a lot of her time in high school when she got caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing. At least now she can have alcohol or drive away. One or the other, though, obviously.

Or she can go back to that sinking into the ground thing. That seemed like a good idea.

“Oh, would you look at the time,” Tamara sighs with a clap of her hands. “Honey, we need to go.”

“Won’t you stay for dinner?” Mary Margaret asks.

What the hell, Mom?

“We really have to go,” Tamara insists. “It was nice seeing you guys, though.”

“Oh, it was wonderful seeing you, sweetie. Good luck in New York. You’re going to be great at your new job.” Mary Margaret hugs Tamara. “Nice seeing you as well, Neal. You’ll fit right in, but I know your dad will miss you.”

Emma is so busy trying to take in all of this brand new information that she doesn’t hear the rest of the conversation. Through blurred vision, she sees her mom hug Neal, and yeah, Emma wants to go home. She wants to go back to her apartment where she doesn’t have to put up with this kind of shit.

Where there’s no Neal and his fiancée and especially where her mom isn’t hugging her asshole of an ex and treating him like he’s a good person.

There’s a squeeze on her hand and suddenly, Killian’s fingers are wrapping around hers. That’s when everything snaps back, and she realizes Neal is telling her goodbye.

“Yeah, bye,” Emma mutters, putting on that fake smile again.

“Maybe we could go for lunch while I’m still in town,” he suggests.

Emma bites her tongue to keep from scoffing, but she can’t help the words that come out of her mouth. “Yeah, that’s not happening. Have fun in New York.”

Neal looks like a wounded puppy when Emma manages to look at him, but she doesn’t care. He shouldn’t have had the audacity to ask her in the first place, not after everything he’s done.

Happy holidays to them all.

“Emma,” Mary Margaret hisses as soon as the front door has shut and Neal and Tamara are gone, “that was so rude of you! You can go to lunch with Neal.”

“Oh my God, Mom,” Emma groans, letting go of Killian’s hand and standing up. “I am twenty-eight years old. I’m not going to go to lunch with the man who ruined my life because you don’t like being rude. Just…let’s eat dinner, and you guys can tell me what we have planned for this week. Killian is thrilled to go to the play. I told him all about it.”

“Emma, I still don’t think – ”

“Come on, Mary Margaret,” David sighs as he claps his hand on her shoulder. “Let’s get these two dinner. They had a long drive, and I’m sure they’re starving. You like ham, Jones?”

“Love it,” Killian says as he stands from the couch. “Can I help with anything?”

“You can get a wine bottle from the rack.”

They’re all going to need it. Or at least Emma is going to.

Dinner is, well, awkward, which Emma expected, but she expected the usual awkwardness of having dinner with her parents after going a year without seeing them. This is an entire other level. Killian tries to ease it. He’s put on his most charming smile, his accent coming through thicker with each story he tells, and while her Dad seems put out, her mom is every bit as charmed by him as Emma would expect.

That makes it all fine and good until Emma’s reminded that her parents think Killian is her boyfriend, and his place would go down in flames if she told the truth now.

As much as she would like to spite her mom, that is the last thing she needs.

“So, Killian, you can stay in Emma’s room,” her mom says as they finish up dinner. “I’d have you stay in the guest room, but it’s currently filled with props and costumes for the play. But you're both adults. Who are we to keep you apart at night?”

“The couch would be fine,” Killian insists, holding his hands up.

“Nonsense, you are a guest here. You need to be comfortable. Let’s get you all settled and ready for bed.”

It’s almost like she’s in a trance as her mom guides them up the stairs to Emma’s old room. She vaguely hears her tell stories of different pictures hung on the wall by the staircase, but she doesn’t really notice. Instead, she hangs back with her dad who does not look thrilled at the whole situation.

For some reason that offends Emma. As far as her dad knows, she’s brought a man home for Christmas. A man who she loves enough to bring home, which is not all sunshine and roses for her. Once again, she’s jealous of the people who go home for the holidays and know it’s going to be a happy time.

“You know, you don’t have to act like I’m sixteen,” she tells her dad. “I live with this man. I think it’s okay for us to share a bedroom here for the week.”

“What makes you think I’m not happy about this. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

Emma stops at the landing and turns to her Dad, crossing her arms over her chest and staring him down. Or up. She forgot how much taller her dad is than her.

“Try a little harder to make that believable.”

David laughs and leans forward to kiss her forehead. “Welcome home, kid. I’m glad you and Killian are here.”

-/-

Tag list (You can be taken off or added at any time): @qualitycoffeethings @marrtinski @klynn-stormz @scarletslippers @elizabeethan @jrob64 @snowbellewells @therealstartraveller776 @thejollyroger-writer @inth-trees @galaxyzxstark @galadriel26 @idristardis @karenfrommisthaven @teamhook @spartanguard @searchingwardrobes @jamif @shireness-says @ultimiflos @onepunintendid @bluewildcatfanatic @superchocovian @killianswannn @carpedzem @captainkillianswanjones @mayquita @mariakov81 @jennjenn615 @onceuponaprincessworld @a-faekindagirl @scientificapricot @xellewoods @ultraluckycatnd @stahlop @kmomof4 @tiganasummertree @singersdd @tornadoamy @cluttermind @lfh1226-linda @andiirivera @itsfabianadocarmo @captain-emmajones @ilovemesomekillianjones @capthamm

#what a lie we're in #cs fic #cs ff #cs fanfic #cs fanfiction #captain swan fic #captain swan ff #captain swan fanfic #captain swan fanfiction #captain swan

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ao3feed-supercorp · 3 years

Text

The Bastard of Camelot

by ProcrastinationHobby

Post-reveal, Lena needs her distance from Kara. What better than a vacation in a different universe where Luthors and Supergirl are fictional? Weird things begin happening to Lena in Storybrooke however. People look at her weirdly, she gets strange flashbacks to memories she's not sure are real and why do people continue to call her Morganna?

Words: 2898, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Once Upon a Time (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F

Characters: Lena Luthor, Evil Queen | Regina Mills, Emma Swan, Wicked Witch of the West | Zelena, Red Riding Hood | Ruby, Samantha "Sam" Arias, Henry Mills (Once Upon a Time), Kara Danvers

Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan

Additional Tags: After Lena finds out Kara is Supergirl, Post-Season 4, Lena Luthor needs a vacation, Lena Luthor-centric, Lena Luthor has magic, Lena Luthor is Regina Mills sister, Lena Luthor is Morganna, Lena Luthor Has a Crush on Kara Danvers, Evil Queen | Regina Mills & Wicked Witch of the West | Zelena Friendship, Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard Being an Asshole, everyone is bad with feelings, Someone get these women therapy, Cora Mills slander

from AO3 works tagged 'Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor' https://ift.tt/3axN7YT via IFTTT https://ift.tt/3axN7YT

#supercorp #Kara x Lena #Kara Danvers x Lena Luthor #karlena

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wefoundloveunderthelight · 3 years

Text

Void of Extinction by GleefullyCaptainSwan

Chapter 8/9

Or on FF

Stacy's Tortured Crew: @teamhook @kmomof4 @stahlop @lfh1226-linda @ilovemesomekillianjones @itsfabianadocarmo @mariakov81 @qualitycoffeethings @zaharadessert @jrob64 @jonesfandomfanatic @natascha-ronin @tiganasummertree @xarandomdreamx @therooksshiningknight @batana54 @superchocovian @onceratheart18 @ultraluckycatnd @snowbellewells @karlyfr13s @the-darkdragonfly @xsajx @deckerstarblanche @jonesfandomfanatic

Chapter 8: Confrontation

“Just give it to me straight, Ruby, don’t go making up tales now.” The dark-haired woman chuckled defiantly from her spot on the bed in the corner of the room, the plastic walls separating her from the rest of the occupants in the room.

“It’s not good, Mum.” Ruby said softly. “It started spreading the moment it got in your blood stream. The doctors said it matches the data they have on file for J2.”

“So that’s it then.” The woman nodded resolutely before turning her attention to Emma. “Did the message make it to Merlin?”

Emma bit her lip, and her eyes met his for a moment before turning back to Mary Margaret. “Not all of it.”

“Enough?”

Emma shook her head. “I think so, I don’t know.”

“Where’s Will?”

Killian took Emma’s hand when he heard her loud exhale, knowing that the tears would be coming shortly after. “He’s next door. He uh…” She sniffled and the woman sat up in her bed.

“J2.” Ruby responded softly.

“Dammit.” The demure woman cursed. Killian sighed and pulled Emma against his chest. “So, what’s next?”

“Mum, you need to rest.” Ruby demanded.

“Oh, don’t give me that crap, Red. You know I don’t rest.”

“I contacted David.” Killian said suddenly, causing all the eyes in the room to turn toward him.

“What?” Emma asked horrified. “Why would you do that?”

Killian gestured toward the woman in the bed. “It’s his wife, he deserves to know.”

“Killian.” Mary Margaret spoke softly. “Did he…did he say anything?”

“He’s confused, doesn’t understand why you were there. I didn’t tell him much, just not to trust Regina, things aren’t what they seem, J2.” He added quietly at the end.

“He must be so angry.”

“He’s a good cop, if I know David, he’ll do some digging, figure things out.”

“You could have put him in danger.” Ruby exclaimed.

“Compared to what? We aren’t exactly on vacation here, love! We need help on the outside, Dave’s a good man.”

“He’s right. My husband followed the Mayor’s lead because he believed in what she was doing, but things have changed, she’s not who he thought she was, he’ll follow the leads, do what he thinks is right.”

In his pocket, his communicator beeped. Killian held up his hand and pulled it from his jacket. “We need to talk.” David’s voice boomed in his ear. “Now.”

“Speak of the devil, we were just talking about you.” He said light heartedly, hoping to set the man at ease.

“You aren’t listening to me. We need to meet. I want to see my wife; I have information you all need to see.”

“I can come to you…”

“No, no deals. I come to you.” He demanded and Killian sent a worrying glance in the woman’s direction as she stared at him in the bed.

Covering the device with his hand he talked softly. “He wants to come here; says he has information we need to hear.”

“No way, it’s a trap, he’s not just going to walk in here, no questions asked.”

“He’s worried about his wife.” Killian said honestly in response to Ruby.

“Go get him, follow our protocols.” Mary Margaret demanded of the dark-haired woman who opened her mouth to protest and then stormed out of the room.

“We’re sending one of ours to the wall. Meet her there and follow her rules or else you don’t come, Mate.”

“Fine.” He paused. “Can you tell my wife…” Killian glanced at the woman on the bed, her face pale. “Tell her that I love her.”

“Aye, Mate.” The line went dead. “He’ll meet her at the wall.”

“Thank you.” She said with a nod.

“He said to tell you that he loves you.” The woman smiled sadly as Killian took his leave from the room, Emma following him closely behind. The moment she stepped from the room; she entered the one directly beside it that held the critically ill, Will Scarlet. She nodded to him, and he watched as she closed the door behind her. He wasn’t sure how they were going to get through all of this, he only hoped that whatever David needed to speak to them about didn’t bring about more sorrow and despair.

~*~

“There’s my girl.” Will said weakly when she entered the room.

“Hey.” Emma breathed nervously. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got stabbed and injected with a plague there’s no cure for.”

Emma frowned in anger. “That’s not funny.”

He coughed. “I ‘spose not, but what else you gonna do?”

“I hate you.”

“You love me, don’t even try to deny it.”

“What are we going to do?” She cried.

“Don’t cry Emmie.”

“I can’t lose you.”

“Oi, I’m too cranky to die, I’m gonna be around long enough to embarrass Henry when he dates his first lass, or watch you marry that gent out there that can’t keep his bloody hands off ya.” Emma couldn’t stop her laughter no matter how much she just wanted to cry. “So, what’s the plan?” He asked, as she sat down in the chair across the room.

“Ruby left to bring David here, he says he has something we need to see; I don’t know. I can’t help but feel like it’s a trap, but Killian trusts him.”

“Not like we have any other brilliant plans, eh. I guess we work with what we got.” He coughed again, blood forming at the ends of his mouth as he wiped it away with his hand. “Hey, I’m fine. Really.” He tried to reassure her.

“You know I can tell when you’re lying.” She teased as the door beside her opened and Killian stepped into the room, announcing David’s arrival.

“Good, give ‘er someone else to harass.” Will joked as she stood from her seat.

“I’ll be back soon.” She promised, trying to smile as she left the room. When the door shut, Killian stopped her by placing a hand on her forearm.

“Are you alright love?”

“Of course, I’m not. My best friend is dying, I have no idea if the message I sent reached Merlin, if all of this has been for nothing, and I am honestly running out of reasons to have even a sliver of hope.” His finger brushed against her forehead, the tickle of her hair tingling against her skin.

“If the message didn’t go through, we’ll find another way,” He laced her fingers with hers, “together. But you don’t give up, not my Emma.”

A warm feeling filled her heart as his blue eyes stared back at her. She wanted to curl into his arms and believe that there was still a chance for them to win, but knowing Will was laying behind the door, dying a slow painful death, overtook any feelings of hope that tried to grow roots within her.

Killian wrapped her in his arms, and Emma melted against him, enjoying the moment of stillness and peace they had been afforded. On the other end of the hall, she heard a commotion and the sea of people parted as Ruby waked through the center. Emma withdrew from Killian and motioned to the end of the hall.

David strode toward them, a look of apprehension in his eyes as he settled them on Killian. “Where’s my wife?” He demanded as he reached them.

Killian and Emma exchanged a glance. “We need to talk, Mate.”

“I’ll talk after you take me to my wife.”

“Aye, this way.” He turned and opened the door, leading David into the room that housed Mary Margaret.

Emma stood at the back of the room as the man hesitantly approached his wife, a look of fear in his eyes. “Why would you do this?” His voice was shaking as he spoke.

“David…” She paused, as if she were rethinking her response. “I did what I thought was right.”

He hung his head. “Perhaps you were right.” He turned and looked at Killian. “I had questions.” Reaching into his jacket he pulled out a folder. “Things weren’t making sense. So, I did some digging.”

“Gold?”

“I followed the money. It all leads back to him, all the transactions into the Mayor’s office, research money for the Gold Collective, military operations. Money that shouldn’t be there, man.”

Killian glanced at Emma. “It’s all Hive.”

“That’s not all I found.” He almost whispered. “I saw the message to Merlin.” He turned and looked at Emma. “Of course, I had to do a search on Emma Swan. Grew up outside the walls of Storybrooke, came to town at age 14, lived on the streets for a few years until you found your payday in Neal Cassidy.”

Emma grunted. “Trust me, I didn’t want his money.”

“Did he know about your run in with J2?” Everyone turned and looked at her.

“No. His father was so interested in testing people, his search for answers seemed to have nothing to do with wanting to help people. I couldn’t trust anyone.”

“When did you know you were sick?” David asked.

“I got sick when I was 16, I had a place on the docks where others gathered at night to stay warm. A few of them got sick that winter, they didn’t last more than a few days before they were pulled from the streets, their bodies drained of life. When the fever came, I resigned myself to death. I got picked up in a sweep, they took me to a hospital for treatment. But after a few days I got better. The doctors started asking questions, I got nervous, so I ran.”

“Your blood work is in the system.” David said, opening the folder in his hands. “It was housed in one of Regina’s databases, looks like Gold flagged the information about 4 months ago.”

“That was right after I took off.”

“That’s not all they found. See I thought finding someone who had survived J2, a plague with zero cure, was a miracle, but imagine my surprise when I found you aren’t the only one.”

Emma shook her head. “There’s someone else who survived?”

David looked at Killian. “Did you know?”

“Know what, Mate?”

David handed him the folder and Killian stared at the pages in front of him. He flipped the page in his hand, his eyes wide. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

“What is it?” Emma asked.

“Medical records.” David answered. “Killian’s medical records, to be more specific. His bloodwork shows he had J2.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, the only time I’ve ever even been sick was when I was young. That was years before the plague.”

David turned back toward his wife, “Don’t you get it. They both carry the gene that can fight off J2.”

“What good does that do?” Killian asked.

“I don’t know, but we need to find out. Maybe they can use your blood somehow to save my wife, to save everyone.” He turned back to her, a look of desperation on his face. “Maybe if we take your blood and Killian’s blood, maybe together, together it means something.”

She paused, staring at the man in front of her and then looking at Killian. “Henry.” She said suddenly.

“He’s sleeping, love.” Killian responded.

“No, Henry is the key.” She rushed to the door and then turned back to look at Killian. “I know I said we needed to talk, and this is really not the way I wanted to do this, but…” He narrowed his eyes. “Henry isn’t Neal’s. He’s yours.” She blurted out.

“What?”

“I…I didn’t know, not until he was born. I thought he was Neal’s. We had been apart for a month when I found out, but I was so stressed out, I wasn’t thinking. When he came early, I thought it was because of the stress, but then I held him, and he opened those beautiful blue eyes, and I knew, I knew he was yours.”

“Henry’s my son?” His voice cracked and tears sprung in her eyes, she stepped back toward him and pressed her hand to his cheek.

“Henry has your blood and mine. What if…” His eyes sparkled as he stared at her. “What if he has been the answer this whole time?”

Suddenly Killian’s entire face crumbled in anger, he reached forward and grabbed Emma, pulling her toward him as she tried to understand what was happening. Then she heard a voice that made her entire body tense.

“Hello, dearie.”

~*~

Killian didn’t have a moment to deconstruct the information he had learned from Emma before Gold and his son appeared in the open door. Killian had only seconds to react, pulling Emma toward him, protecting her from the man who had caused all of her fear.

“And where is that grandson of mine?”

“You stay the hell away from him.” Emma yelled and Neal stepped toward her.

“You took him away from me.” He reached out, touching her hair as she slapped his hand away from her face. Before he could react, Neal’s fist had drawn back and made contact with Emma’s cheek. Killian stepped forward, grabbing Neal by the collar, and yanking him toward him. The man cowered for a moment before Killian heard the click of a gun and Emma’s shrill. Killian could see Gold standing next to Emma, a gun to her head. He released Neal reluctantly, holding his hands in front of him.

“Just saying, a gentleman never strikes a lady, perhaps you should have raised him with better manners.” He said with a shrug, looking over at Neal with disdain.

“Children have always been such a disappointment.” The man growled and Neal stumbled backward to step away from the group. “So, let’s change that today. Where’s the boy?” Killian glared at the man, no one in the room saying a word. “Regina.” He called out and the woman appeared in the doorway. “Bring me the brat.”

Emma shrilled as the woman left the room, setting off to search for their son.

Their son.

His son.

He had a son with Emma. He couldn’t think about that right now, right now they just needed to survive.

He caught David’s eye as the man stood on the other side of the room. Nodding his head, he stepped closer to the door as David reached behind himself, pulling the gun he always kept at his back. Things moved suddenly the moment the gun came into view. Gold twisted quickly and Emma used her shoulder to shove the older man to the ground at the exact moment that Killian rushed Neal.

The two men crashed through the open-door frame into the hallway. Killian used the man’s surprise to his advantage, punching him square in the nose before he could get his bearings.

“Killian…” He looked up to see Ruby at the other end of the hall.

“Save Henry.” He screamed, continuing his assault against the man on the ground in front of him. Ruby ran down the hall toward the rooms where Henry was sleeping. Neal watched as she ran, a sudden kick to the side causing him to lose his balance as Neal scrambled away from him.

Killian took one look into the room, watching Emma rushing at Gold, as David was shoved into the wall. He had to trust that they would be ok, he needed to get to Henry before Neal. Standing up he gave chase after the man as he ran in the direction that Ruby had disappeared.

When he reached Henry’s room, the door was open. Ducking into the room, he rushed to the bed to find it empty. Turning around he saw Ruby laying on the ground behind the door. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he lifted her off the ground as her eyes flew open. “Henry.” She exhaled.

“Where’s Henry?”

“Neal…he took him.” Killian leaned her against the wall. “Go, I’m fine. I’m right behind you.”

Killian rushed back into the hall, looking up and down to determine which way Neal would have gone. He heard a clattering at one end of the hall and ran quickly after it. He pushed through the door of the stairwell and began climbing, praying with each step that he would find his son at the top.

When he breached the door, the light flooded his eyes as he rushed into the room, the water swirling through the boat dock. He spotted movement near the boat and yelled.

“Neal.”

The man stilled his movement, spinning around with the boy in his arms.

~*~

The cane came crashing down against her arm and Emma grabbed ahold of the wooden stick, yanking it forward as the man tumbled to the ground beside her. Emma took advantage of his imbalance and climbed onto his chest, holding the wooden cane against his neck, pressing it harder as the man struggled to breathe.

“Emma.” David sent her a warning from his spot on the floor on the other side of the room as he recovered from his previous entanglement with Gold.

“He can’t live.” She cried. “He’s too dangerous.”

She felt his hand on her shoulder. “That’s not for us to decide.”

Emma slowed her breathing, trying to rationalize the need to remove Gold from the playing field with her need to make him pay for everything he had caused.

“He’s not worth it, Emma.” David warned softly beside her.

“He’s dangerous.” She cried, watching as the man’s eyes widened in fear below her.

“Your son needs you.” Emma flinched, relaxing her grip on the cane as the man slowly lost consciousness. She threw the cane to the ground, falling back against the wall beside her.

“Go.” She said turning toward him. “Go find Killian and Henry.”

The man nodded, turned toward his wife, and then left the room.

“All of this, because of one man.” Mary Margaret said from her bed. “Because of greed.” She said angrily.

“I’m so sorry.” Emma said as the tears fell from her face. “You don’t deserve to die.”

“Don’t you worry about me. I have faith and so should you.”

“How can you be so positive at a time like this.” She said with a laugh, wiping her face with her hands.

“I don’t know, I guess I don’t feel like giving up just yet.”

Emma smiled, she appreciated the optimism of the woman, even if she didn’t share it. Suddenly the wind was knocked out of her, a blinding pain hitting her like a lightning bolt against her back. Before she could react she was lying face down on the cold cement, a foot pressing against her head.

“Neal said you were smart, but I think he was just blinded by a pretty face. That boy of mine is not a good judge of character.”

Emma gulped for air, choking in muffled gasps. She swung her arms, trying to grasp the man behind her, if she could just get ahold of a leg of his pants, or even a shoe. Her vision was blurring, sparkles of light flashing behind her eyes as she began to lose her fight to breathe. Her hand dropped to the ground beside her, a crashing sound vibrating in her ears.

Suddenly her airway opened, she choked, sucking in breath as her lungs filled with air. Beside her a wooden cane with a brass top fell to the ground. Emma rolled onto her back, looking up at the silhouette above her, she blinked her eyes, trying to focus as a hand was extended to her.

“I’m up here doing all this work while you take a nap, eh?”

Emma grabbed Will’s hand and pulled herself up, wrapping her arms around him. “You’re supposed to be resting.” She said with a laugh.

“And miss all the bloody fun?” Will teased before coughing. “Now go.” He gestured to the open door.

“I can’t leave him.”

“I think Mum and I can keep an eye on him while you save the world this time.”

“We’re going to fix this.” Emma said, looking between Mary Margaret and Will.

“Go Emma, find your boy.” The woman demanded and Emma ran out the door.

~*~

Killian stared nervously at Neal as he dangled Henry over the water. “Put the kid down, Mate. He’s innocent. You want to hurt someone, come at me.”

“You know I tried to do this the easy way, all you had to do was go on with your new life. But you just couldn’t stay away, could you?”

Henry’s face was red, the loud cries echoing in the hollow corners of the room. “Come on Neal.”

“Don’t!” He shouted. “You took everything away from me. Emma. My kid…”

“He was never yours to begin with.” Killian growled, which caused the man to twitch angrily, and Killian immediately regretted taunting him. “Please.” His voice cracked. “Just don’t hurt him.” He begged.

There was a loud crash behind him, causing Neal to step backwards closer to the water. Killian kept his eyes on the small bundle in the man’s arms, desperate to reach the child and pull him to safety. Suddenly Regina crashed through the crates behind him, landing on her back on the ground. David came rushing out after her, diving against the crumbled form.

Killian used the distraction to rush toward Neal who looked up right before he reached him. A smile grew on his face as he dangled the boy over the water, a menacing look on his face. Killian’s heart raced as his feet tripped closer to the man just as he released the boy into the dark waters below them.

“No!” Killian screamed as the bundled child fell into the icy water and sunk below the surface. He didn’t stop as he rushed past Neal, pushing him away from the edge and diving headfirst into the murky depths below.

#void of extinction #stacy's fics #killian jones #emma swan #captain swan fics #captain swan au #captain swan modern au #captainswan

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