#it's SO INTERESTING. anyway i love this message. ruby coded honestly.

[crimeronan]

Honestly I'm starting to feel bad for Nova. I know she's the worst and I'm a Devin stan first so she should probably kill herself for everyone's sake. But she's also so pathetic I kinda want to give her a hug?

HELP. FAVE MESSAGE EVER. THE PROPAGANDA IS WORKING 💕🥰👏👍☺️🙏

[lassluna]

Its a brand new day, (it's never too late to start) 1/2

All Killian Jones wants is to survive this February as painlessly as possible. Hopefully without telling his best friend he loves her. That would be a disaster.

It’s made all the more difficult when he gains the attention of a secret admirer.

AN: Thank you so much @csrolereversal​ for hosting this wonderful event yet again! I am so happy to be a part of it. Thank you @allons-y-to-hogwarts-713​ for making such a beautiful pic set as well as being a beta reader to this story. It was so fun working with you.

 FFn Ao3

“0815?” 

The door doesn’t open. Killian curses under his breath, scrolling through his text messages. The landlord had sent him the new code, but he was sparse on details on how to get it to actually work.

“#0815?”

Nope. 

Killina sighs loudly, glancing at his watch, knowing that he was going to be late if he doesn’t open this bloody door. He takes a drink of coffee to settle his nerves. 

Empty. Bloody perfect.

“#815.” He’s about to start pounding his head on the door. His brother always said he was hard headed, perhaps he can just break the door down. 

Why the hell would anyone prefer this bloody contraption rather than a key like a normal bloody person?

He wonders how much he’ll get fined for breaking down his own door to his own shop. It’s far too early for these shenanigans and he is already out of coffee. 

“Wow, when Belle told me you hated the new key system she wasn’t kidding,” says a voice behind him. He sighs loudly, face pressed to the door.

He typically loves to see her face in the mornings, but today was already putting him in a foul mood. He didn’t want to say something he’d regret to her of all people.

“Good morning Swan,” he says rather annoyed, because the only thing worse than being locked out of his own bloody coffee shop, was if someone was watching him struggle to open the damn thing. “Not to say I don’t love to see your face so early in the morning, but why are you here?” He says, catching a glimpse at the blonde leaning against her car.

“I was in the neighborhood,” she responds. There was something in her voice that warned him she was up to no good. Most likely plotting to get a free cup of coffee. She always gets free cups of coffee.

“You’re always in the neighborhood when I’m on staff Swan.” She shrugs, approaching him with an unusual spring in her step and a smile. “Aren’t you awfully cheerful,” he notes. Typically Emma Swan doesn’t function at 6 a.m without at least 3 cups of his mocha latte with cinnamon, free coffee or no.

He should know, after being best friends with someone for 3 years, he’s pretty much an expert in Emma Swan.

They’d met on one of her cases, him at a bar next to a man who was hitting on anything in a skirt. She’d sat beside the man in a very pretty skirt. He’d said something offensive to her and had his hand up her dress.

Killian had tried to defend her when Emma Swan made it clear that she didn’t need anyone defending her. She’d hauled the man off to jail at that very spot.

She’d thanked him right after, for coming to her aid even if she didn’t need it. For a moment it seemed like maybe, something could happen.

But it didn’t. She showed up at his coffee shop Bean Around the World the next morning and he offered her a free cup, they’d been friends ever since. 

Just friends and nothing more.

Except for the fact that he was in love with her, of course.

“Couldn’t miss seeing you grumpy, Mr. Early Bird,” she teases. “Besides it’s the first day of the New Year!” She steps in front of him and eyes the electronic lock.

“It’s the 6th.”

“New Year doesn’t start until Monday, Killian,” she says, and within a moment she has the damn door open and is just smiling like she’s so damn proud of herself for breaking into his shop. “Come on, I need my hot chocolate like now.”

Killian rolls his eyes. “Is this a robbery?”

“Absolutely; Give me your coffee or I’ll lock the door again.” He’s helpless but to cater to her demands. So, he starts up the little cafe while Emma rummages through the lending library Belle, his manager set up in the back of the shop. 

Before long, the machines are warming up, and he has a tall travel mug of Emma’s special mocha latte ready. Judging by her running boots, he has a feeling she’s going to need to be on the move. He decides to throw in a bear claw for good measure.

“For my favorite former thief,” he says, bringing it to her table. Killian glances at his watch, they had a few minutes before he had to officially open.

“I’m the only former thief you know,” Emma points out. She takes a sip of the drink and a big bite out of the pastry. “Have you done anything for your New Year’s Resolution?” She asks. 

It catches Killian by surprise, this is the first year Emma had so much as mentioned New Year’s Resolutions, she’d mentioned wanting to make one when they watched the ball drop together at her apartment drinking too much champaign and eating all of the Christmas cookies Liam had sent them.

She’d thought it was just her drunken sugar rush talking, but here she was mentioning it again. He shakes his head.

“What was yours again?” She asks. 

Telling the woman I love that I do in fact love her.

“Learn a new language,” he replies. “But after what Henry told me about the Duolingo bird, I don’t exactly trust it,” he admits.

“Henry has an active imagination,” Emma agrees. 

She too is fond of the boy that comes into the coffee shop after school. His mom is a lawyer in the plaza and so he often spends a bit of time here reading and doing his homework. 

“What was yours?” Killian asks. She looks at him, meets his eyes in a very intentional gesture. It feels oddly intimate.

“Trying something new,” she admits with a soft smile, one that brings a sense of warmth to his bones. It makes Killian desperately want to kiss her.

But he doesn’t, because that would ruin everything.

“So something besides your mocha hot chocolate?” He assumes quickly, looking away before he does something he regrets.

“Uh...yeah” she says just as quickly. “New coffee orders sounds just up my alley,” she says, shoving what’s left of her pastry into her mouth and downing the rest of her coffee. 

“Great, I’ll have something new and interesting waiting for you next time you show up!” He announces happily. He’d hounded Emma in the past about expanding her horizons, but she was a stubborn one. 

“Sounds like a plan,” Emma agrees before quickly exiting the shop.

It leaves Killian with an odd feeling like he missed something.

// 

Belle shows up to the shop a quarter before 3, smiling brightly as she clocks in. 

“Good Morning, boss,” she says, putting her apron on. The apron was unnecessary since managers weren’t usually the one behind the coffee machines, that she left with some of the younger baristas working.

“Belle, you don’t have to call me boss.” Not that his words matter since she always ignores it anyway. 

“So I didn’t see the door broken so I assume you got in ok, Boss?” He nods.

“Of course I did. I told you it would be fine, didn't I?” He insists.

“Emma opened the door didn’t she?”

“Why did the new landlord replace the bloody lock anyway?” He says in annoyance. “The old one was working fine!”

Except for the way the key kept getting stuck, and the door would sometimes lock when it wasn’t supposed to. They’ve had some awkward moments getting locked out in the middle of a delivery. So it needed an upgrade, it didn’t mean they had to make it robotic.

“It might be because he kinda hates you,” Belle retorts. “And he knows you don’t do well with computer systems.”

Killian grumbles in agreement under his breath. The bloody monkey who’d bought the strip mall last year always did have a thing against him. He was always coming up with some new idea to make everything more difficult. Only reason they hadn’t been evicted was because the leasing contract had been airtight thanks to Regina Mills. The best contract lawyer in town, considering she had the very same contract he knew it was good.

Besides, she definitely wanted to keep her favorite coffee place and after school stomping ground of her only child.

 “I’ll call him and see if we can’t get a better system in place,” Belle assures him. “Maybe he’ll think I’ll agree to a date if he stops being so annoying.”

“Ruby would have a bone to pick with him if you did,” he supplies with a smirk. “What would I do without you?” She shrugs happily.

“You can return the favor by coming to my Valentines Day party,” she tells him with a pointed glance. It doesn’t surprise him, Belle has been talking about throwing this party for months. He just had no desire to attend, Belle was his friend, and had it been for any other holiday he’d definitely be in attendance.

Valentine's Day, however, he had no desire to be surrounded with happy couples basking in their joy. Perhaps he was a scrooge, but it would just be too much for him.

It would tempt him too much into saying something he’d regret to Emma.

“Come on Killian!” Belle insists. “You don’t have to bring a date, you can just be there, get drunk, and eat lots of candy.”

“As tempting as that offer sounds, I’ll pass. Good luck with your party, and your shift. I’ll be back tomorrow,” he tells her.

He can hear Belle call out a response, but it’s lost in the sound of people in the small cafe.

//

Killian is exhausted when he gets home. He desperately wants a shower. He smells like a dark roast espresso. He’s so tired that he nearly misses it, but the bright color catches his eye. 

It's a bright red shimmer bag with golden hearts all over. Inside was a large white mug. It had “Be Happy” written in black and gold font. He picks it up gently, both confused by its presence and knowing that it’s for him. Why else would it be outside his door? He looks around quizzically, as if something else in the empty hallway could give away the purpose for this gift.

There was nothing.

He scratches behind his ear nervously before returning inside with his mug. Honestly he’s not too sure what to do with it. He considers putting it in his cupboard with the rest of his coffee mugs, but that feels odd considering he didn’t even know if he should keep it.

Emma always mentioned how vacant his mug cupboard was considering his occupation. He always seemed to leave his at work and they wind up mixed in with the rest of the ones at work. The first time it happened, Henry had tweeted about it. Now it’s become a game his regulars play: collect all the pictures of Jone’s coffee mugs.

It definitely drummed up business, but at the cost of having but three mugs of his own. (All of which were Emma’s)

 It made Killian think that maybe....

But he quickly swept the thought away. 

Emma certainly didn’t leave this here for him, she’d have just brought over another mug if she thought he was lacking. Something like this...it reeked of someone with romantic intentions, how else explain the golden heart wrappings?

And Emma certainly didn’t have romantic interests in them, it was simply impossible.

Emma Swan was a woman who took what she wanted, so if she fancied him, he is sure he would know by now. 

Then again, he thinks, Emma Swan being the tough bad ass Bail bonds person she was never liked discussing feelings or emotions. She told him bits and pieces about her past, but her feelings and emotions behind it remained closely guarded.

She was a woman who kept her emotional cards close to her chest. She’d spent a very long time getting over her issues over being abandoned as an infant, even longer getting over her ex abandoning her and framing her for a crime she didn’t commit. 

She was brave and strong, but was also terrified of being abandoned. 

If it’s not Emma, Killian wonders who could have possibly left this mysterious present behind. 

Belle maybe? Only her apartment was the opposite direction of his, and it seemed out of character for her to leave it rather than give it to him directly. Especially since she secretly had a girlfriend. 

There were a couple neighbors who always smiled when he looked their way, but one was married and the other was carrying her fiance’s child. They both seemed unlikely but not impossible.

 There was always Granny, owner of the diner across from his cafe with her obvious flirting, he didn’t often visit the diner, but he always enjoyed the occasional waffle when he was a bit hungover. Every time he visited she would shamelessly flirt with him, but she was very direct. Also, he had a hunch it was just to make her granddaughter, Ruby, uncomfortable.

(Vengeance for Ruby’s refusal to introduce her grandmother to her secret girlfriend he supposed)

He considered asking Emma her opinion, she was an avid investigator after all, but something occurs to him.  

He doesn’t want to give Emma the wrong impression. The last time he’d shown interest in someone else, Emma had started to pull away. He hadn’t understood it at first, but Emma was trying to give him space to date, to be happy without getting in the way, which was absolutely absurd. She was his best friend and would continue to be for as long as she’d have him. No relationship would change that.

           The last thing Killian wants is to make that happen again. So a decision is made, he isn’t going to tell Emma, he’s just going to hope that someone made a mistake, or that it was a one time thing. 

Perhaps the mysterious gift giver was just someone in the apartment complex that had left it at someone’s door at random.

//

It was not random. A few days later he finds a teddy bear with a rose in the same spot outside his door.

//

“Good Morning, Swan,” Killian greets sarcastically leaning against the bloody immovable door. 

The new code he’d tried to set up still wasn’t working, he’d finally run out of mugs (except for the mystery one of course), and there was another gift left this morning.

He could hear her car pull into one of the staff parking spots. The unreasonable caffeine deprived part of his mind told him she was here to laugh at his inability to open doors, remember his coffee mugs, or find secret admirers. 

Not that Emma was aware of that last bit.

“Just wanted to make sure you got in ok, and maybe catch up.” she assures him. “No coffee?” She asks. He shakes his head.

“Didn’t have a clean mug,” he admits. “I left mine here yesterday.” 

Well he did have a clean mug, but Emma would notice a new mug. 

“Oh,” she replies a bit disappointed. “Well...you really need new mugs,” she says, moving towards the door. “And to stop leaving yours at work. I think the collection has reached 15 at this point.” She reminds him.

He knows she’s right. He also can’t help but be annoyed with how easily Emma opens the door. “How the hell do you do that?” Killian asks. He’s convinced the landlord programmed it so that he couldn’t open it but anyone else could with ease just to make him insane.

“Magic.” She says with a grin. He disappears into the darkness of the cafe as he does his usual opening procedures, but he doesn't forget to make Emma her beverage. Her new beverage. He needed to pick something Emma would like, but still push her outside her comfort zone.

He decides to start her off with something in her ball park.

“White mocha latte,” Killian announces. She’s on her phone and looks stunned by the drink put in front of her. “You wanted to try something new, right?” Suddenly he feels very nervous and regrets just not bringing her her favorite beverage.

“Yup,” Emma says sternly. “Of course.” She takes a big sip. “It’s great, super sweet,” she confirms.

“It’s popular with the caffeine lovers but coffee haters,” he confirms. 

“Right ok,” she says, sipping on it some more. “Are you on for Netflix tonight?” she asks. 

Killian nods. 

He’d almost forgotten about it. Netflix with Emma was the highlight of his week, they usually got pizza or chinese and picked something at random and just watched it all night long. 

Belle used to ask him if anything happened between them on these late night platonic dates, but it never did. Nothing worth mentioning after all.

Which was fine. It was great even. They were best friends.

Last week they’d had to skip it when Emma got called away on an assignment, but this time would be fine. 

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”