So this story is based on a prompt a received on tumblr a month ago. Emma and Killian meet through an online dating site.

*A big thanks to oncertwice for editing it!

Enjoy!


"Stop it! I really don't want to do this!" I pleaded as I was trying to grab the laptop from my roommate.

"Nope! I'm sending it!" answered Ruby as she got up with the computer and ran towards the bathroom. I got up and ran behind her trying to get ahead of her but it was no use since she got to the bathroom door before me and locked it so I couldn't reach her.

I started to bang on the door, the only way I could protest my refusal of her stupid idea. "Open the door, Ruby!"

A couple of seconds later, she opened the door, laptop closed, trapped between her crossed arms and her chest. She had a huge, victorious grin as she walked past me to go sit back on the couch as if nothing had happened. I followed her and sat next to her, defeated.

"Why are you doing this to me? I don't need to have a profile on a stupid online dating site." I told her in an exasperated tone as I turned my head to look at her.

"I beg to differ. You have been single for way too long—ever since Neal left—and you need to go out there and meet some new people. It might help you get laid, you know!"

"If I needed to get laid I could just go to bar, have a drink and bring home a random guy." Any excuse is good; I really needed Ruby to delete that account.

"And spend your life having one-night stands? I don't think so. You need to find yourself a guy that can take care of you."

"So an online dating site is your answer? Do you know how many creeps go on there, guys who ask inappropriate questions, and some of them just want to get into your pants? Those ads are fake, you don't find true love there." I vociferated.

Ruby was considering what I just said to her; with the look she had on her face I thought that I might have convinced her to delete the account.

"Well, maybe for the most part, but if you filter the guys who come and talk to you, you might find a decent guy." I rolled my eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. She is never going to back down from this is she?

"Okay fine! I'll try it for 2 weeks and that's it—after that I delete the account." I said. That will shut her up. She started to jump with excitement on her seat with a huge smile.

"Deal! But," Ruby added as she pointed her index finger up. "I'm managing your account, because if you're the one in charge of it, I know you are going to delete it before the two weeks is over."

I threw my head back on the back of the couch with a frustrated sigh. "I hate you."

"No, you don't. And you know I will find you the perfect guy." She said has she laid her head on my shoulders.


It has been a couple of days now that Ruby had signed me up on this dating site, and every day when I came back home, she would show me endless profiles of guys who responded to mine. Tonight we decided that we should open a bottle of red wine, put on our pyjamas and take a look at the bachelors. We both sat on the couch with a blanket covering us, and Ruby had her old white MacBook resting on her covered lap and we sat there laughing at some of the profiles and gawking at some of the pictures wondering if they were using their real pictures or fake ones.

I was having so much fun that I forgot why we were doing this until Ruby reminded me the reason why we were looking through those profiles.

"What about this one? He's cute." Asked Ruby. I leaned towards the screen and squinted my eyes so I could read the small characters under his picture. I looked up at Ruby with a slightly repulsed look.

"Seriously? This guy? No thank you." I leaned back to resume my previous position and took a sip from my glass.

"Why not? He's seems nice and he's good looking." Ruby looked at me with a confused look, trying to understand my disapproval.

"He may be cute, but he seems boring as fuck. He wrote that he likes to stay home, enjoy a calm night reading a good book and that he likes romantic candlelit dinners. It seems so generic, and not what I'm looking for in a man."

"What? You do that!" She exclaimed as she was holding her glass of wine, with her index finger unfolded and pointed accusingly at me. "You love staying closed up in this apartment reading a good book!"

"Yeah I do, but I don't want to read that on a profile, plus the rest of his profile feels cheesy."

Ruby closed her eyes and sighed. She still had her eyes closed when she started talking again. "So what kind of guy are you even looking for? Because at this rate I am never going to find someone who can live up to your expectations before these two weeks are up." She finally opens her eyes and looked at me with pleading eyes.

"I don't know." I answered her with a shrug. "I need a confident man, but not cocky, who likes adventure, who challenges me, who is smart, lets me make my own decisions and doesn't take shit from anybody, you know—a man."

"Ugh, you're signing me up for failure aren't you?" exhaled Ruby as she rubbed her eyes.

"Well you are the one who signed me up for this ridiculous site. Deal with it!" I told her with a smirk.

We both decided that we had seen enough profiles for the night. Ruby closed her laptop and we curled ourselves up with the blanket and decided to start rewatching the first season of F.R.I.E.N.D.S., for the millionth time, while finishing our bottle of wine. If her search for the perfect man for me continues like this, I might be able to get to the end of these two weeks without finding anyone and everything will go back to normal.


It was Friday, and I was particularly happy that the first week had come to an end. I went by the liquor store after work to buy myself a bottle of wine since I planned on drinking and lying on my couch while watching a movie, so I could finally forget this horrible week. But those plans soon vanished when I got home.

The moment I entered my apartment Ruby jumped in front of me with a huge smile and her excited look frightened me. She was up to something and I had a feeling that I wasn't going to like it.

"What's going on? Why are you smiling like the Cheshire cat?" I asked her with a worried frown as I dropped my bag on the floor.

"You're going on a date tonight!" Ruby answered bursting in excitement.

"I'm doing what now?" I asked, startled.

"I found you the perfect guy, and he's free tonight so you two are going on a date! So I went through your wardrobe and I chose an outfit for you." She blurted as she took my arm and dragged me into my room, leaving no time to protest.

I looked at her open-mouthed, still trying to wrap my head around the idea when she went to my bed to get the clothes that were lying there. My roommate took the thin white fabric of the top she choose and dropped it on top of my chest to see what it would like. "Perfect." She exclaimed. "Go take a shower and put these on and I'll be back in a sec." she said as she pointed out the clothes that were on my bed. The moment she left my room I looked around and saw my drawers open, clothes hanging out, and my bed had clothes scattered all over it in a mess. Ruby came back into my room with her make-up kit, a brush and her curling iron.

She landed her eyes on me, and, realizing that I still didn't change my clothes, dropped her things on the bed with a puzzled look.

"Why aren't you in the shower? You're meeting him in two hours."

"Look Ruby, thanks for all of this, but I'm not going out on this date. I'm tired, I had a shitty week and all I want to do is lie on the couch drinking and watching TV." I started to walk towards the door when Ruby blocked my way.

"Oh no! You are going on date whether you like or not. You told me I had two weeks to find you someone on that site and I did, so you are going to hold your end of the bargain and go to take a shower so I can get you all ready for your date. Got it?" Ruby barked in her most menacing voice, and with the look she was giving me I knew that there was no way out. Why do I always yield to her stupid demands?

" Fine, but if this doesn't work, you leave me and my love life alone. I don't care if there is still one week to our deal, it is over!"

"Fine. Now go take your shower." She said as she pushed me out of my room.

When I entered the bathroom, I started disrobing myself and I turned the handle that turned the water on and waited for it to be the right temperature before entering the tub. Standing under the stream of warm water, I told myself that I should give Ruby a break, and that this might not be that bad. I mean, if the guy is a total loser, I'm never going to see him again and that stupid profile is going to be deleted. I finished washing myself and got out of the shower to dry myself off. When I was finally dry, I put on my robe and went to join Ruby in my room.


I'm going to kill her. I have been waiting for fifteen minutes in front of this place I've never heard of—and it looked shady—and this Killian guy still hasn't showed up. She refused to show me a picture of him, wanting to be a surprise when I met him, but now I was getting really annoyed by his description. Tall, dark brown hair, scruff and blue eyes. It was such a simple description that as every guy passed next to me, I squinted my eyes so I could have a better look at them. Five minutes, I told myself. Five minutes and I'm out of here.

I looked at my watch for the twentieth time and saw that his time had run out, so I decided to leave. Just when I was about to walk towards the subway, I heard a lilted voice next to me.

"Emma? Emma Swan?"

I turned to look at the man who seemed to know my name. I was face to face with a man that matched Ruby's description of my date, but she didn't mention that he was going to be extremely attractive. He was wearing a dark pair of blue jeans that fit him just perfectly, a grey shirt with V neckline, which exposed a good amount of his chest hair, with his necklaces resting in the middle, and on top of his shirt he wore a black vest. His dark brown hair was tousled as if he just came out of bed, scruff defining his strong jawline and those stunning blue eyes were too good to be real. I realised that I had been checking him out, mouth agape; I shook my head so I in hopes of regaining my poise.

"Um, yeah that's me. You must be Killian?"

"Indeed I am. Nice to meet you Emma." I stood there smiling shyly at him, not knowing how we should greet one another. A handshake? A hug? One seemed to formal and the other one too familiar. Before I could make up my mind, he leaned in towards me so he could greet me with a kiss on the cheek. I was overwhelmed by his invasion of my personal space and my senses were on fire. I felt myself blush when I felt his lips touch my skin, the light scratch of his stubble on my cheek, his hand on my arm and that manly smell exuding from him. When there was a reasonable space between us, I cleared my throat and looked up to him.

"So what made you want me to join you here?" I asked him as I tucked my hands on the back pockets of my jeans.

"Well, judging by your profile I didn't think you were the type of lass who would fancy a nice diner at a restaurant. So, I opted for something more fun."

"So you think you know the type of girl I am?" I looked at him with doubtful eyes, one eyebrow raised.

"I have an idea, but I would like to find out." He responded with a smirk as he put his hand on the small of my back and guided me into this shady building with no sign whatsoever.

We entered the building and there was a counter with a plastic window surrounding it, and inside of it there was a rack with coats hanging from them. There was a woman sitting in the glass box, and she looked absolutely bored. We went up to her, and I left my leather jacket at the coat check as Killian paid the fee and took the piece of paper with the numbers and gave it to me.

I was getting nervous because I had no idea what he had in mind, or where we were and there was no sign to give me hint of what this place was. We walked through this small corridor before taking the escalator that took us to the basement. As the moving staircase dragged us lower I could hear some loud banging, laughter, and music. When we finally reached the basement I saw a huge room filled with a least twenty pool tables, two bars at each end of the room, and on the other side of where we standing there was a huge neon blue and pink sign with the word Bowling. I started smiling, feeling the relief of knowing what this place was, and I was kind of happy that he thought that this might be a good place for a date.

Killian turned so he could face me. "So what do you feel like doing love? Pool or bowling?"

"To be honest, I've never played bowling except on the Wii, and my skills concerning pool are embarrassingly bad." I answered him, laughing at my poor abilities.

"Fair enough. What do you say we start with bowling? Maybe you have a hidden talent."

"Doubt it, but, sure why not?"

As we walked towards the bowling area I couldn't thank Ruby enough for picking up a comfortable outfit for tonight, a nice pair of skinny black jeans and a white silk top that wasn't too revealing and, of course, a pair of red pumps. We arrived at the counter to go rent a pair of bowling shoes, and we went to find our alley after putting them on. Until now, Killian and I haven't really talked that much, both feeling a little bit uneasy being on a date that is the result of online dating site. I sat down on the small couch that was just for us, and looked around the place while Killian went to grab us some drinks. The place was filled with colourful lights, the lanes were slightly obscured and there was black light that made the markings on the bowling alley pop.

Killian finally came back to our bench with a pitcher of beer, and poured both us a glass of it. We toasted awkwardly before chugging a good amount of it. I really needed it to settle my nerves.

"Do you want to start?" asked Killian as he dropped his glass on the little table in front of us.

"Um, I think it's better if you do, since I really don't know how to do this."

"Don't worry I'll show you, but I can go first if you want."

He stood up, and went to pick one of the balls. He placed himself in front of the lane with the ball inches from his face, he started taking a few steps before bending one of his legs forward and his arm holding the ball swinging back and then forward as he released the ball. During all that time I couldn't stop looking at his body, his lean muscles, his biceps flexing as he was holding the bowling ball, and I didn't even have the time to see if he had knocked over any of the pins. He turned around with a smirk, and made sign with his hand so that I'd join him.

"Come here, love. I'll show you how to throw the ball."

I stood up and walked over to where he was standing, in front of all the bowling balls.

"So every ball has a different weight, and you have to adjust your strength when you throw it. Let's have you start with this one." He grabbed one with the number 10 and came to stand really close to me. "You put your thumb in this hole, and your index and middle finger here." He took his fingers out of the holes and gave me the ball. I put my fingers the way he instructed me and realized that the ball was a lot heavier that I thought it was going to be. He grabbed me by the waist and dragged me in front of the lane and he moved to stand behind me, still holding me by the waist. "You have to try and aim at the center of the lane; you can see on the floor that there are some arrows to help you aim. Whatever you do, don't cross the line here, or the pins that are knocked down won't count." I felt his breath down my neck as he was speaking and I could feel a shiver go down my back.

"Okay, but how do I throw this?" I asked, trying to sound unaffected by his closeness.

"Well you put your arm in front of you…" He said with his mouth close to my ear and his hand grabbed my arm and placed it in front of me the same way he did earlier. "Concentrate, and then you take a couple of steps to give you a swing…" He started to push me lightly so I could take those few steps, his hands never leaving me. "And now, you swing your arm back and release the ball." He stepped back, leaving me some space to swing the ball. It reached the wooden floor with a loud bang and rolled over slightly to

the side before knocking two pins on the far right. I turned around with a jump and huge smile, proud that I was able to knock at least two pins over. Killian looked at me with one of his smirks and I jumped into his arms, still exhilarated by my success.

We played for an hour, and I got better the more we played. I was having a lot of fun with Killian, teasing each other when one of us missed one of the pins or made a funny move while throwing the ball. When we finished playing we went to play a round of pool. We both sucked at it, but we were having too much to care, the alcohol certainly helped in that respect. While playing pool we got to know each other more. I learned that he was born in Ireland, that he had a brother in the Navy, and the way he talked about him it showed how much he admired him. He's the co-owner of an Irish pub downtown with one his friends. He told me that he signed up to this site because of his friends; due to all the teasing he had to endure for not having been in a relationship in a long time.

We decided to call it a night a little bit after midnight. He insisted on walking me home, saying that that is what gentlemen do. Halfway through our walk, I felt his warm hand brush mine and I felt this tingling inside me as a blush spread to my cheeks. I realised how much I liked his company and hoped he was enjoyed mine.

We arrived at my place, and we both stood awkwardly in front of my door, not knowing how to say goodbye. He scratched the back of his ear, and looked at me with a nervous smile. Good, I'm not the only one who feels like a nervous wreck right now.

"So, I had a lovely time tonight." Killian said, breaking the awkward silence.

"Me too." I said, my voice sounding breathy.

"I would really like to see you again, Emma, if you are not against it, of course." He added that last part quickly.

"I would love that." I felt a grin appear on my face and with one of his usual smirks, he seemed happy with my response. Regaining his confidence, he leaned toward me, invading my personal space, and I felt my breath itch.

"Perhaps I can give you a call tomorrow?" He said as he tilted his head.

"Looking forward to it." I answered him, feeling my eyes flutter as his eyes were wandering from my eyes to lips. He was looking at me so intently, as if he was waiting for me to make the decision as to whether or not we would kiss. My eyes landed on his lips, and it only took a second before I decided to close the gap between us and touch his lips with mine. He stood still for moment before he started to respond to my lips, nipping at my bottom lip. My senses were trying to take in everything that was him—his taste, his touch, his smell, and the feel of stubble under my hands. I moved my hands to his hair feeling it slip through my fingers. He moved his hands from my waist to the back of my head, trying to pull me closer.

After a while we parted, both gasping for air, resting our foreheads together. His hands were still in my hair and mine were in his. He leaned his head back so he his gaze was locked with mine. He cleared his throat before speaking, but his voice still sounded raspy.

"I'll see you, Emma."

"Yeah."

I turned around to unlock my door, still feeling dizzy from his touch and lips, and wobbled into my apartment. After closing the door, I leaned my back on it, not capable of removing this huge grin from my face. Ruby must have heard me coming in, because she stood up from her seat on the couch to come and see me.

"So I gather the date went well?" asked Ruby with a smile.

"You have no idea." Was the only thing I said before leaving my spot, grin still in place, and going into my bedroom


The next day, as promised, Killian called.