#in the meantime enjoy the early reveal as chapter four is going... nowhere actually (just a would-be father-son moment)

[lunarfeat21]

The Sparkling reveal! (only headshots cuz I feel drained)

They have names, I'll do their full references once I recovered from a burnout.

[seriouslyhooked]

Wedded Bliss and Asterisks (A Modern CS AU) Part 8/?

Emma Swan is an enemy of love who just happens to be an up and coming wedding dress designer. She’s convinced that a fairytale kind of romance is nowhere in her future but when she meets Killian Jones, whose magazine is covering the opening of her new boutique, things change. Suddenly Emma finds herself drawing up new plans for her life, ones that seem to all be leading towards her own form of wedded bliss. Rated M.

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven. Also on FF Here.

A/N: Hello everyone! So I thought I was maybe going to go back to a once a week timetable for this fic, but this update kind of just wrote itself today. It follows another date for Emma and Killian and a bit more CS centric storytelling. It also teases the M rating which will likely be fully earned sometime in the next few chapters. I hope you all enjoy, and thank so you much for reading!

There was a time not very long ago when the thought of holding someone’s hand through the streets of New York City would have put Emma’s hair on edge. Aside from parents corralling their children safely through the busy city blocks and teenagers who didn’t know any better about the harsh realities of love, Emma saw those people who walked hand in hand out in public as ridiculous. This city was hectic, the streets bustling with people and everyone who walked in pairs like that always seemed to move just a little slower than the natural flow of movement dictated. Yet here she was, partaking in such a display herself and loving every second of it.

Emma was a big enough person to admit when she was wrong, and though she had no plans of being one of those people who practically mauled their significant others in a subway car or pulled them into a dark alley for something so not appropriate given the grime of the surroundings, she couldn’t help but revel in this tiny little act. Holding Killian’s hand as he led her to whatever thoughtful surprise he had in store was lovely, and Emma found herself smiling and taking more joy in the otherwise ordinary day because of it.

“Something on your mind, Swan?” Killian’s voice sounded just beside her ear and Emma shivered at the gravel in his tone before glancing back at him.

Killian totally knew what she was thinking or at least that her general merriment in this moment stemmed from him, but still he asked, and Emma wanted to reply but she got a little lost in those captivating eyes of his. They were filled with so much yearning and genuine interest, and Emma couldn’t help but be transported to last night at his apartment. They’d had dinner (which was admittedly fantastic) and a few glasses of wine, but what they’d both really wanted was to take things past the simple goodnight kisses they’d shared for days now.

Emma remembered the feel of Killian’s skin against hers, scorching her through to her core, and the way the hard lines of his body had been molded to hers so perfectly but he’d still held back, citing her earlier hesitations. He was a complete and utter gentleman, taking her home and kissing her goodbye at her door, and Emma was… frustrated. That same feeling of needing more still lingered now, but as his stare turned softer and his hopeful smile returned, Emma realized she could be patient a little longer. And in the meantime they had today, and whatever this date Killian had orchestrated to keep them occupied.

“Just trying to figure out where you’re taking me. When you asked me out for the day, I wasn’t exactly expecting Brooklyn.”

Emma’s smile grew when Killian laughed at her joke and she was tempted to say that she wasn’t expecting him either. Even with everything that had happened, and all the time they’d managed to share together this week, Emma was still taken aback by just how important he was becoming to her. After years of never really letting any man in, Killian was here, and he was beginning to feel like a permanent fixture. When good things happened or annoyances popped up at work or in other areas of her life, Emma wanted to share them not only with her friends but Killian too.

And that was easily the most powerful part of this thing they had going. Emma was attracted him, yes. She could honestly say she’d never felt a need for someone as strong as this before, but underneath the sex appeal was a person she admired and who she saw pieces of herself in. They might not share the same story, but there were similarities, and everywhere Emma looked there were more signs pointing her in Killian’s direction. It was early still, but by now there should be some sort of red flags if something was truly amiss and there weren’t any. He wasn’t perfect or without flaw and neither was she, but by all accounts they were turning out to be pretty perfect for each other.

“If I told you that, love, it would ruin the surprise.”

Emma appreciated Killian’s dedication to giving her moments like this even if part of her craved answers. At the end of the day adventures like this were fun and though she’d had a lot of fun in recent years thanks to her friends, it was really liberating to find that with someone else. Killian wasn’t just going through the motions with some sort of goal in mind. He wanted to share things with her and to give her opportunities to do things differently this time. Emma noticed that drive in him since she first admitted she was feeling out of her element. She didn’t date, at least not seriously, and when she did it was the typical dinner or drinks and then something casual. But this relationship was anything but.

Despite being further out of Manhattan than Emma was used to, she did recognize where she was and she actually anticipated where they were headed a little before arriving, but she was still excited by their destination. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden was one of the prettiest places in the city, and on a day like today, with the sun peaking out between sparse white clouds and the temperature mild enough to not be overbearing, it was a picturesque place to be.

“You know, as far as ways to start a Saturday go, this is pretty up there on my list of enjoyable thing.” Killian grinned at Emma’s words but he took her by surprise when he pulled her past the garden and to a bakery just across the way.

“I’m glad to hear that, Swan. But I think we might both enjoy it a little more with something to tide us over.”

Emma should have known he would never stop at ‘something’ and not only did the café have breakfast already waiting for them, but cocoa made just the way she wanted it. When Emma asked him about organizing all of this Killian played it off, saying that sometimes things just worked out, but in an off moment when he had to take a call about a last minute printing problem, Emma asked their waitress for the truth.

“Oh he definitely called us,” the young girl confessed easily. “He said the woman he was doing all of this for was ‘too important to let slip away’ and my boss totally ate that up. She’s been talking about it all morning actually. Also good call on the cocoa. Who knew cinnamon could taste that good?”

Emma let out a light laugh at that as the waitress moved away and she let it sink in that Killian had said something so revealing to a complete stranger. It was one thing for him to organize sweet things like this for her, but for him to do it thinking that it was a requirement for her staying interested – well that didn’t sit as well with Emma. She loved all of this, despite her original anxieties about feeling so much so soon, but it wasn’t necessary. What Emma wanted more than romantic gestures and well-planned dates was the man behind them, the one who was staring at her through the window now with a boyish smile and something far stronger than simple interest in his eyes.

Killian was only out there on the phone for another minute or so. He’d been gone for barely anytime at all, and Emma didn’t hold any resentment for him taking the call. He had a lot on his plate professionally, and he had the futures and successes of a lot of people in his hands. Emma could understand the pressure that came from that, and there was no doubt when Killian strolled back in seeking her out again that he would have rather been with her. Still he apologized as he moved into the booth beside her.

“Sorry about that, love. I swore I wouldn’t take a call, but they always manage to make it sound like the whole damn magazine will crumble if I don’t answer right then and there.”

Emma didn’t even respond to his apology with words. Instead she decided to show him how she felt, breaking yet another rule about public displays of affection as they sat there in their little corner still plenty visible to the rest of the place. The kiss took it to the line of decency and then tarried there a little, hungry in the back and forth between them, but when they came up for air, Emma wasn’t the least bit sorry. She had a hell of man with her right now, and if anyone had a problem with her kissing him senseless they could damn well deal with.

“Not that I would ever complain about a kiss from you, love…” Killian said, still blinking away some of that lust in his eyes as his hands remained on her, holding her close in their booth, “but what, might I ask, was the reason behind that one?”

“Just showing you how much I appreciate all of this, and that I’m not going anywhere. Not when I could be here with you.” Killian looked absolutely thrilled, and the joy on his face was infectious but a moment later it gave way to realization and the tiniest bit of frustration.

“Bloody hell! Someone told you what I said on the phone.” Emma grinned and pulled him in closer again so he was a whisper away from another kiss.

“Maybe, but that doesn’t change the way I feel.” Killian’s hand came to cup her cheek, his eyes tracing over her expression like he was trying to memorize this moment just like she was.

“Good. And I intend to show you why you never should.” Killian followed up that beautiful promise with another kiss, and though it was over too soon, Emma knew that everything to come was simply on hold.

They set back off to the botanical garden when breakfast was finished and when they got there, Emma took a little pleasure in a surprise of her own for Killian. What he didn’t realize was that while this was an incredibly thoughtful date that would be filled with people watching, gorgeous springtime blossoms, and quiet corners in a city filled with noise, this wasn’t a new spot for Emma. She was actually a member here, and made her way to the garden a lot especially during the warmer months. She was here so much actually, that the woman at the ticket counter named Ella recognized her and greeted her accordingly.

“Oh Emma! I was wondering if you’d come by this weekend.”

Since early on in Emma’s coming to visit here she and Ella had developed a nice, friendly relationship. Every time she came Ella asked her about her designs, and Emma replied with inquiries of her own about Ella’s family or the night classes she was taking. It wasn’t a friendship per se, but a kinship and a shared appreciation of lazy weekends and pretty flowers.

“Hey, Ella. I didn’t know I would be,” Emma looked to Killian who was struck speechless and she grinned at Ella. “But I’m glad to be here.”

“How could you not be?” Ella asked and Emma heard Killian clear his throat and run a hand through his hair. She was so tempted to watch him get a little flustered, but Emma focused instead on Ella after only brief introductions between her and Killian.

“How are things with you? How’s Alexandra?” Ella beamed at the mention of her daughter.

“She’s beautiful and wonderful and driving me crazy. You know the usual,” Ella said as she printed off the member passes for Emma and Killian for the day and handed them through the teller window. “She still has that sketch you did of her with the flower crown. She actually brought it to her show and tell at preschool, and told the whole class she was a fairy. So thanks for that.”

“No problem. Next time you bring her here I’ll draw her another,” Emma promised, meaning every word.

Alexandra was a very sweet kid with mild-manners and a big imagination. She was easy to please and no trouble at all to watch the couple of times Ella had asked for help. In fact, Alexandra was one of the first kids Emma really ever had contact with who made her see that maybe the whole ‘having it all’ and raising a family thing wouldn’t be so bad. She snuck another look to Killian, wondering what his thoughts on kids were only to shake the thought away. It was way too soon to be thinking that way, but Emma couldn’t help wondering what it might be like to see Killian with kids. She bet he would make a great Dad.

With the line growing behind them, Emma and Killian quickly said goodbye to Ella and headed into the garden. Now that they were here, Emma wanted to see if Killian had any particular plans. She didn’t want to step on any toes, or at least not any more than she had by already being a member here, and she awaited his thoughts on where they should start.

“So where do we go from here?” Emma asked.

“I feel I should be asking you that, love. It seems you have a vast knowledge of this place,” Killian said with a good-humored smile on his face. Emma relaxed and gave him her honest opinions.

“Well it kind of depends what you’re looking for. If you want exotic plants then there’s the pavilion. Or if you want to see the most people there’s the kids’ garden. They let the little one’s farm sometimes, and there’s always at least one toddler who falls in the mud and proceeds to wreak havoc on everything.” Killian laughed at Emma’s words, and she felt that happy sound gathering in her chest and filling her with more excitement of her own.

“As lovely as both those ideas sound, I had a slightly different idea in mind. The rose garden is rather remarkable, if memory serves, and just a little more private.” Killian offered that last part with the same smooth silkiness she had come to expect from him and it washed over Emma leaving her warmed through and a little off kilter. She leaned into him slightly before steadying herself enough to answer him.

“That’s my favorite place here,” Emma confessed and Killian beamed at that.

“Is it love?” He asked as they both started walking in that direction still hand in hand.

“Yeah. It’s only open part of the year, and most of the sketches I keep from my times out here stem from those roses.”

“I wish I’d had the foresight to ask you to bring your sketch pad. It’s a shame to miss you drawing.”

Emma knew Killian meant the words. Every time he saw her in action he was a man transfixed, and she was always curious as to why. Killian had a gift too after all. His words were his weapon while hers was her pencil, but both art forms took a lot of skill. Yet every time her designing was even so much as mentioned, the same look of awe came to Killian’s face, as if he couldn’t understand how she did it. He made it seem like dreaming up a dress was something magical instead of an ordinary pastime and career.

“What made you think to come here?” Emma asked, assuming he’d just stumbled upon it somewhere online or from one of his employees.

“I had a meeting in this neighborhood about a month ago and it finished early. I found myself with an hour to kill and I ended up here since it was an unseasonably warm afternoon.” Emma could see from the expression on his face that there was something more he wasn’t telling her.

“And…?” He looked to her then, searching for an indication to how she would react to whatever he was thinking.

“And the whole time I was here I thought about inviting a most intriguing woman I’d seen on the train to come back with me sometime. She was always sketching and I thought a place like this might be right for her, thus making it right for me too.”

A deep rush of happiness swam through Emma’s veins at the thought of Killian scoping this place out and thinking of her even all those weeks back. It was so like him, to see something amazing or beautiful or out of the common way and want to share it with her. She appreciated that so much, but she also found herself wishing he’d asked her back then. Lord knew she would have said yes, or would she have? Come to think of it, Emma didn’t know. Would she have been ready for him a month ago? Was she even ready for him and for all that he was offering now?

Yes! her gut said instinctively, and Emma smiled as the worry that should have come failed to manifest. She was comfortable with this, and she loved the idea that Killian had wanted a day like this for them. If she were more honest with herself back then, she would have likely been thinking along the same lines.

“And is it?” Emma asked. Killian took Emma’s hand in his and ran his thumb across her knuckles lightly.

“I’m beginning to find that every place is right when you’re there, Swan.”

Despite her internal struggle not to blush, Emma was pretty sure she turned a shade of pink at his words. They were just so much, and her whole body was sent into overdrive because of it. Everything she knew, everything her past had shown her about affairs of the heart never prepared her for a moment like this or a guy like Killian. Standing here, in the height of the late spring bloom in one of her favorite places in the world, she felt untouchable and yet so vulnerable. Nothing could hurt her, but the trust she was giving to Killian was so unlike her. It was completely natural and a show of epic bravery all at once, and Emma found herself giving way to it and letting herself just accept that things could really be this good.

A few steps later they entered the circle of roses, and everywhere one looked there were blooms in varying shades of pinks and reds. The bushes were all varying species, and each placard wove a tapestry of science and lore. There were long, drawn out names and then details about where each rose fit in the flower family and where they originally came from. Some were favored by distant royals, while others were wild and so a little less well kempt. They all had their own claims to splendor though, and as always, they sparked that need in Emma to move a pen across a page and try to capture something so effortlessly beautiful.

“So what do you think?” Emma asked when her eyes finally tore away from the sight before her, finding that Killian’s eyes were already on hers. The look in his eyes made her think that they’d never left her face the whole time.

“Stunning in every way.”  

Emma was ready at that point to say goodbye to all of this and drag him away from the fray of people, but Killian had other ideas and in the end they were for the best. The two of them spent the rest of the day meandering through this wooded section of the city and talking, finding out everything and nothing about each other at the same time. It was easy, often funny, and transformative, and any nerves that once plagued Emma about giving too much away too quickly were now all gone. For the magic of this place Emma had long thought of as hers was strong, and sided resolutely in favor of letting in love, no matter how scary that might be.

………………

“I still can’t believe you said that to Mrs. Hubbard,” Emma said hours later as they sat there together on her couch having just finished a movie Killian honestly hadn’t paid a lick of attention to. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t completely wrapped up in Emma the whole time, and now he could drop the pretense of thinking of anything but her.

“What was it about my comments that offended you so?” Killian asked.

“Um everything? Or nothing? I don’t know I still just can’t believe you said it,” Emma replied, shaking her head even as her fingers trailed along his chest, leaving zings of awareness in their wake. He felt like a livewire right now, having had Emma in his arms all evening, but he wouldn’t move from this spot for anything.

“I merely told the woman a little bit about our outing today. Was it meant to be a secret?” Killian was fully teasing her at this point and they both knew it, but damn if it wasn’t a brilliant high to have Emma bantering with him in this playful way.

“No but there’s a difference between saying we went and saw some flowers and then explored Brooklyn and telling her we – how did you say it again?” The question Emma offered was less for him and more for her to try and get his phrasing exactly correct, but Killian couldn’t keep quiet.

“You’re frustrated for something you can’t even recall at this point, love.” Killian’s purposeful humor seemed to spark the memory for Emma.

“Oh right I remember. You said we ‘made a map of bright spots in a normally cold and standoffish city.’” Killian smiled, appreciating that she remembered it.

“I meant every word I said to her.”

“I know, and I loved them. There’s a reason you’re a writer, but saying that to Mrs. Hubbard is like saying that to my friends. They hear my new, admittedly charming boyfriend saying romantic stuff like that and they jump fifty steps ahead. And you know who faces all those questions the next morning? Me.”

Killian heard everything Emma was saying, but his mind and his heart were caught on one particular part of her little tirade. She’d referred to him as her boyfriend, and though it wasn’t as permanent a title as he might like, it did hint to a few things he so desperately wanted: exclusivity and access to Emma that a casual date couldn’t ever procure. And hell if that wasn’t bloody fantastic in his book.

“What?” Emma asked, no doubt confused at the look on his face.

“You called me your boyfriend.” Killian watched as Emma thought back and then turned red, her eyes casting away from his thanks to her embarrassment.

“Yeah. I mean, we haven’t said anything, but I just assumed that’s where this is heading…” Emma’s words trailed off as Killian tilted her chin back up so her eyes would meet his.

“You assumed correctly love. That’s the next logical step, and I’d like the chance to take it and many more with you. Whenever you’re ready.”

Emma bit her lip at that, and Killian could see so many things swirling in her eyes. He would kill to have more insight into exactly what she was thinking, but he was also still too happy from the turn of the tides in his favor to push further. When Emma was willing to fully let him in, she would. All he had to do was wait, and he would wait every day for the rest of his days if that was what Emma wished, crazy as that sounded.

“I think this is a good start. For now.”

Her soft smile in that instant spoke to a more youthful innocence. It was the same one Emma shared with him sometimes when she truly couldn’t believe that things were turning out so brilliantly. It carried none of the cynicism or pain of past experience, and every day more of them were coming. Slowly they were washing away the pieces of whatever past mistakes had harmed her heart, and one day Killian hoped Emma would know that despite any scars or losses she may have faced, he was a sure thing. As long as he was wanted he would be here always for her.

Killian couldn’t be sure which one of them moved first, but in a second their lips had found each other’s and that same heat was back between them. There was this elevating feeling knowing for sure that they were in this together and on the same page, and the taste of Emma on his tongue was heaven-sent, designed to drive him mad and keep his already barely tamed need for her flaring back to life. She was all lush curves against him, and his hands roamed of their own volition, mapping out over the thin layer of her clothes the body he intended to know intimately very soon.

“It’s getting late, love, and much as I’d like to continue this…” At the moment Killian was going to pull back Emma’s fingers held on tighter to his shirt.

“Stay.”

Killian couldn’t rightly express how powerful it was to hear Emma ask for that. Lord knew there was nothing he’d like more than to be here with Emma, but her worried at his ability to walk the line anymore. Emma was a constant temptation, and he could see her own resistance to the terms they’d set diminishing. That only fueled him on more to be honest, watching the fire in her eyes that came when his hands were on her. He wanted everything with Emma, wanted to show her just how good things could be between them, but he needed it to be right. This needed to be handled correctly or he ran the risk of losing her, which simply wasn’t an option.

“I won’t try and have my way with you if you stay, I promise. Your reputation can remain just as spotless as before.” Emma’s mirthful words pulled Killian back from the fray of his battling thoughts and he grinned in the face of her sensuous smile.

“It’s not just you I worry about, Swan.” Her eyes widened at that but she played it cool, and God if that didn’t just make him want her more.

“If I promise to protect you from yourself will that help?” Killian smiled at the way she said it, as if it would be some monumental feat, and honestly in some ways it would.

“Perhaps…” Killian replied, but his breath caught slightly as Emma’s hand moved underneath his shirt, meeting his already sensitive skin. “Although it doesn’t seem you’re inclined to keep us in check, love.”

“I have a new idea. Call it a compromise: we can have something now, and save the main event for another time.”

The thought of such a scheme was tempting and immediately Killian’s mind raced through every way he could technically have Emma without fully claiming her body as his. He was already hard and not making any attempts to hide that from his Swan, but the tension in his muscles grew tighter the more he let his mind wander. There were a million places to start, and the end result would all be Emma’s pleasure, which was a tantalizing finish line as far as Killian was concerned.

“I like the way you think, love. But I have terms,” he said.

Emma smiled triumphantly, no doubt loving that she’d gotten what she wanted. Her smile shifted slightly to a look of wanting however when his hands moved up her thigh under the light yellow dress she was wearing. All day long she’d looked like sunlight in human form and he craved the chance to do this, and to sample even a fraction of the magnificence he knew Emma had to offer. He took her mouth again with his and right when she was starting to get too riled up he pulled away, moving down her jaw to her neck, and finding one spot in particular that sent a delicious shiver through her body.

“Name them,” Killian grinned against her neck and nipped lightly before responding.

“If at any point it’s too much, you tell me Emma. That part is non negotiable.” Emma nodded.

“I think I can handle it.” Killian reasoned that she could. If anything he was the one who was so far out of his bloody depths he could barely think straight.

“And our clothes stay on.” He felt her resistance immediately to that one and Killian took that moment to touch her through the gossamer thin layer separating his fingers from her sex. She jumped slightly and then practically purred at the caress. “I know it’s not ideal, love, but I promise to give you what you want. I’ll take the edge off as I know you need me to, but think of this as a precaution. Insurance that we won’t get carried away.”

“We could still get carried away with our clothes on. It just wouldn’t be as fun,” Emma said, knowing the effect her words would have on him. Killian growled out that she was a siren and playing with fire, and she licked her lips, daring him to say to hell with it and just take it all now.

“That’s my rule, Swan. Take it or leave it.” She looked liable to barter some more until his other hand grazed over her breast, hitting her sensitive peak at the same time his thumb circled her clit.

“Take it. Definitely take it,” she said, arching closer as his fingers dipped past the flimsy piece of cotton between them. “But I still say this would be a whole lot better naked.”

“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t dreamed of such a moment, Emma. Truth be told it’s been on my mind rather a lot.” There was no escaping the confidence in Emma’s eyes and that sureness of her own sexiness only added to the rasp in his voice. “But the clothes have to stay on or our tactful negotiations go out the window. When I have you I want nothing between us and that means more than clothes. I want the article done, your worries erased, and every last doubt you have gone so that you know we’re really in this and that there will be no turning back.”

Emma considered his proposal for a moment and the depths of his promises for the future, making him stew in the prospect of her surpassing him. If she declined his terms and continued to push him for more, he would never deny her, there was no way that he could, but Killian pleaded with her silently to let him have this. He’d give her the release she wanted and that he was so desperate to grant her, but it had to be on his terms, in this way, or he’d fail at this element he’d promised not only to himself but to Emma as well.

“Deal,” she finally said, pulling him back down for another kiss as his fingers sought to give her that satisfaction she craved.

Emma was strung so tight, no doubt from the need that had sparked between them almost since the start, but Killian never expected her pleasure to be so easily given. She had never been more open to him then she was now, and he had never felt more accomplished in his life than when he heard her breathy moans and whispered pleas for more. When Emma shattered finally and gave way to her release, Killian felt a surge of pride. He’d done that for her, and he was going to see that look of ecstasy on her face every damn day the rest of his life more than once.

“Okay you were right. This is pretty good considering,” Emma said, coming back down from her high with a glow and a flush on her cheeks that made her impossibly more beautiful.

“Pretty good? We’ll see about that, Swan.”

He was just about to send her soaring for the second time with the right amount of attention at her neck, sex, and breasts when her hand moved to unbutton his jeans and he gritted his teeth. Just the simple anticipation of her hand on his cock had his whole body throbbing and when she slipped inside to grasp him he uttered her name a fair amount of curses. Then he caught Emma’s eyes and saw the way she loved having equal control over his desires as he had over hers.

“You didn’t think you’d be the only one having a some fun tonight did you?”

“I’d have despaired if I were.”

That was all the challenge that Emma seemed to need, and both of them were racing to the precipice together. It was invigorating, and honestly nothing had ever felt so right, but when they both came down again from their almost teenage-like foreplay, Killian heard the sweet sound of Emma’s laughter and knew this was actually perfection. Whatever was on her mind, whatever had caused that melodic, soul-reviving sound he was grateful for really and truly.

“Something amusing to you, love?” Emma nodded.

“It’s just that I spent most of the day feeling like a kid again and this kind of sums that up perfectly. I can’t remember the last time I stopped at second base, but here we are.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.”

Emma beamed at him and kissed him once more before they both got themselves more in order for the evening. It was a bit of dance to get situated, but regardless of the fact that it was out of the ordinary, and despite the fact that his deep and constant need for Emma hadn’t really been sated, Killian couldn’t think of a happier turn of events. Holding Emma in his arms in her bed with the prospect of a night spent by her side was a gift pure and simple, even if he was still too wrapped in her to even think of sleeping.

“Killian?” Emma asked quietly sometime later.

“Yes, Emma?”

“I’m glad you stayed.”

“As am I, and not just because we have this moment right here.” Emma smiled and the haziness of impending sleep and lingering satisfaction that clung to her jade colored eyes soothed something in him. Killian immediately knew that he would never know real comfort again without having Emma beside him and happy as she was right now.

“Oh yeah?” she asked and Killian nodded.

“You were worried before about facing Mrs. Hubbard’s questions in the morning alone. Now you won’t have to.” Emma smiled warmly at that and pressed a kiss to his lips.

“No, I guess I won’t.”

With that the two of them both gave way to the quiet, and as expected it was a rather miraculous night. But Killian’s final thought as he followed Emma into a deep slumber hours later was that he wanted to be sure Emma never had to face any trials alone again. For his place was here with her, and it always, always would be.

Post-Note: So there we have it. In case any of you have missed it from this or any other story of mine you’ve read, I am a sucker for flowers. Love me some flowers always and this seemed like a good way to incorporate some. Also this bit of a slow burn has been killing me a little, but I am hoping the pay off will be that much sweeter in those big moments (like when the article is published) because of it. I want to thank you all so much for the support you’ve thrown my way. I’d love to hear what you thought of the chapter and where you think things are going next (though it’s probably obvious since all you have to do is follow the fluff). Thank you all so so much for reading and I hope you have a great rest of your day!