*** December 8th ***
Emma stretched lazily in her bed, not wanting to move from her mountains of pillows and blankets to face the cold, December morning. She had had a late night; while out drinking with Ruby, Belle, and Elsa she had received a text message from Killian that was all jumbled text and random emoticons.
When she left her friends at the bar to see to her best friend of ten years, she found out that Killian's ex, Milah, had sent him an invitation to her impending wedding.
The kicker? Killian and Milah had only been separated for six months and the wedding was in another three. Nine months after their breakup, Milah was getting married.
Killian was heartbroken, so Emma spent the night letting him cry into her shoulder as they both drank copious amounts of rum.
When she finally got back to her apartment, it was near four in the morning and she was exhausted. And more than slightly inebriated.
Looking at the clock, she saw that it was nearing ten in the morning, meaning she got under six hours of sleep the night before – more sleep than she usually got when she was picking up a bail jumper.
A knock sounded on her bedroom door.
"Mom?" Henry called through the wood. "Killian's at the door and he looks kind of upset. Is it okay if I turn on the stove and make some hot chocolate?"
Emma smiled; her son was so thoughtful. "Yeah, kid," she called back. "Just let me get dressed and I'll be out in a minute."
Her thirteen year old knew that Killian was more to her than just a friend. In fact, Henry might be the only one who knew precisely how she felt about Killian.
Killian was around for every illness, baseball game, bad grade, scraped knee, and movie night that Emma and Henry had since he was three years old. The only people who had been in Henry's life more often were her parents, Mary Margaret and David. Killian had become the father figure that Henry deserved, especially since his father had left before he was even born.
Emma pulled herself from the comfort of the nest that was her bed, stretching and popping the tightened joints in her back. She pulled on her robe and tied it loosely over her tank top and pajama bottoms, too lazy to find a more suitable outfit, and pulled her hair into a messy knot at the top of her head.
She walked out of her room and was immediately greeted by the sight of her son and Killian fighting over a spatula in the kitchen. Fighting her grin, she snuck in behind Killian before jumping at his back, yelling "boo!"
"Bloody hell, Swan!" he cursed, startled into dropping the spatula on the floor.
Henry laughed uproariously.
Emma wrapped her arms around Killian's waist, burying her face in his shoulders and breathing in his scent. "I'm sorry," she said, fighting the laugh that was threatening to come from her throat.
"No you're not," Henry said with a laugh, handing a new spatula to Killian. "Now, can we get breakfast started? I'm starving."
Emma rolled her eyes, letting go of Killian to start pulling the ingredients for French toast out of her fridge and cabinets.
"We were going to make pancakes, mom," Henry said with a slight whine in his voice.
Emma looked at both of the boys in her kitchen with what Killian referred to as the "terrifying mom stare". "The last time you two were in charge of making pancakes, we almost had to call the fire department. So no, we're having French toast."
Killian had to good sense to look at Emma with a sheepish grin before handing over the spatula and moving to get out bacon, potatoes, and eggs to make his breakfast scramble.
Henry, noticing that he was going to get food with no effort on his part, left the kitchen to find their traditional Sunday morning cartoons.
With Henry out of earshot, Emma turned to Killian.
"How are you feeling this morning?" she asked softly, not wanting to draw Henry's attention back to the kitchen. "Henry said that you looked upset when he woke me up this morning."
Rubbing the back of his ear, Killian sighed before answering. "I've been better, to be honest, love," he said sadly. "I spent almost two years of my life with Milah and she decided that it would be a great idea to invite me to her wedding? Not six months after she left me, which is just the cherry on top of the shit sundae."
Emma moved to his side, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. "You know you can always not go to the wedding, Killian," she said. "Don't put yourself through more pain. She's not worth it."
"She sent an invitation to Liam as well."
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh."
"So what are you going to do?" she questioned, pulling away once more to flip the French toast on the griddle.
"Liam's going, for some god-forsaken reason," he grumbled, putting more aggression into scrambling his eggs than was strictly necessary. "He would never let me live it down if I couldn't sit through one wedding."
"But it's your ex-girlfriend."
"Doesn't matter. It's not good form."
"Screw good form," Emma said tightly, pulling the sugary breakfast treat off of the griddle, turning back to her best friend. "You need to do what's best for you. Maybe you can bring someone with you? Show her that you're over her once and for all?"
"Who in the bloody hell would go with me to my ex-girlfriend's wedding, Swan?" he said grumpily.
"I would." The sincerity echoed in her words as she looked Killian in the eyes. "I wouldn't make you sit through that alone, Killian."
"Thank you, Swan," he said softly.
"Mom! Killian!" Henry yelled from the living room. "Where are we on that French toast? I'm starving, here!"
*** December 15th ***
09:37 Do you know what the dress code is for this
09:40 I believe black tie. Why?
09:45 Figures. Need to go get a new dress.
09:48 Figures?
09:52 It figures that she would have a black tie wedding
09:55 Fits her personality perfectly
09:57 She's way too much of a drama queen, K. Maybe it's best that you 2 broke up
10:15 Sorry if I made you mad
10:30 It's fine, Swan.
12:15 Wanna get coffee after work? I'll buy
12:20 Sounds good. Four Kids?
12:22 You know it!
Emma sat waiting in the café area of Four Kids Coffee, hot chocolate in her hands and Killian's mocha sitting in front of her. It had been a rough day at work. The skip she was tailing had managed to evade her at every turn she made and she was starting to get antsy. The hot chocolate in her cup helped to calm those nerves, but seeing Killian would really put her mind at ease.
She didn't know when exactly Killian became her go-to, end of the line, ride or die best friend. All she knew was that she couldn't handle life without him, and that seeing him in pain because his ex-girlfriend is cruel was killing her slowly.
Sometimes, she wondered why Killian was with Milah in the first place. From where Emma was sitting, the woman was never fully committed to the relationship and Killian was venting to her about Milah more often than not. It may have been wrong, but she was secretly glad when that relationship ended because she knew that Killian would be able to move on and find someone that really care about him and wanted to see him happy.
Milah only wanted to see herself happy.
The bell over the door chimed and Emma glanced up from the cup on her hands to see her best friend walking into the coffee house, brushing snow from his shoulders as he stripped the scarf from his neck.
She broke out in a grin when he caught her eye, immediately waving him over to her table.
"The usual?" he questioned as he took off his coat. "Ah, this is why I love you, Swan."
Emma's heart jumped at the words. She would never get used to him telling her that he loved her, especially since she knew it wasn't in the way that she truly wished it to be.
Killian took the seat across from her, kicking his foot up so that it landed in her lap. Emma pushed the foot off with a roll of her eyes, taking another long pull of her hot chocolate.
"I'm sorry about earlier, Killian," she said, not quite meeting his eyes. No matter what she felt about his ex, she hated to see him upset with her.
"It's nothing, lass," he brushed the apology off with a wave of his and a grin. "To be quite honest, when I got to thinking about what you said, I knew that you were right, Milah always had to be the center of attention and have a big deal made about everything. Do you remember when I brought her to the bar to celebrate winning that big case for the firm and she basically-"
"Sat in your lap the entire night, determined to suck your face off? Yeah, I remember," Emma said with a laugh. "That was the same night that Ruby got trashed and tried to hook up with Liam."
"Nothing is ever dull with that lass around, is it?" he asked, chuckling and taking a drink of his mocha. "Damn, that will never not be amazing. Are you sure you don't want a drink?"
Emma shook her head at the cup tilted her way, raising her hot chocolate in return. "Cinnamon," she said simply. "Anyway, are you sure that this is going to be black tie?"
Killian nodded. "I checked the invitation before I came here. I marked you down for chicken on the response card, by the way. I figured you wouldn't want the salmon."
Emma wrinkled her nose. "I hate fish," she grumbled, "so thanks for that. Now what am I going to wear? I'm assuming that everyone will be in tuxedos and floor length ball gowns?"
Killian rubbed behind his ear, pondering the situation. "What about that red dress that you wore to your parents' anniversary party in July? You looked stunning in that."
Her heart was racing; surely he didn't mean that in the way that she wanted.
"Killian," she said shaking her head with a slight laugh, "not only is that dress knee length and looks like it belongs at someone's high school prom, but Ruby spilled vodka soda all over it and ruined the front of it. Remember?"
"Not really," he said honestly. "Milah had just broken up with me and I was pretty drunk myself."
"Sorry. I forgot about that."
"Not your fault lass. It wasn't one of my best moments."
"I think I was worried about keeping Henry from seeing his Aunt Ruby completely hammered."
Killian laughed, but there was still a slightly lost look on his face that broke Emma's heart to see.
"So what are you going to do about your dress problem?" he asked, shaking his head and turning back to his coffee.
"How do you feel about going dress shopping with me?"
*** December 21st ***
"I don't think going dress shopping this close to the holiday was your best idea, lass," Killian grumbled.
The streets of Boston was bustling with last-minute shoppers – mothers tugging along screaming children, young couples hanging off of each other as they browsed from shop to shop, elderly couples holding hands sweetly as they walked slowly down the sidewalk. It was almost picture perfect; the only issue being Killian glowering at everyone and everything that they passed.
"What's gotten into you today, Killian?" Emma asked, coming to a stop in front of him and grabbing his hand so that she could hold his attention. "Why are you acting like someone took the bottle of rum from your apartment and dumped it on the street?"
Killian just scowled, pulling his hand from hers and stomping into the boutique that was closest to them.
Emma raced after him, pulling him to a stop once more. "If you didn't want to do this today, why did you come?" she asked, hurt by his behavior.
"Because you need a bloody dress," he snapped, not meeting her eyes.
Emma dropped his arm as if burned her. "I don't know what got into you today, but I'm not doing this with you. Call me when you pull the stick out of your ass," she said, turning from him and walking away.
She heard him calling after her as she walked away, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of turning around.
*** December 22nd ***
Emma woke with a pounding headache. After her incident with Killian the day before, she had dropped Henry off with her parents and proceeded to drink her evening away while eating Chunky Monkey and watching sappy chick flicks, ignoring every text and phone call that she received from the man.
A knock sounded at her bedroom door and she groaned.
"Killian, if that's you I swear to God I will kick your ass," she threatened, not bothering to move from her mountain of bedclothes.
The door opened and Mary Margaret walked in with a sad smile on her face. "Not Killian, sweetheart," she said softly. "David and Henry went to see a hockey game. Do you want to talk about this?"
"Mama…" Emma cried, tears coming to her eyes as she sat up, holding her arms out for Mary Margaret to step into them.
Without hesitation, Mary Margaret walked over to the bed and curled into her daughter's side, smoothing the hair out of her face with a gentle touch. "What happened, baby?" she asked, turning Emma's face to hers.
Emma curled further into her mother's side, tears falling down her face as she tried to compose herself. Mary Margaret stroked her hair and rubbed small circles on her back.
"You know, Emma," her mother began. "Your father and I had to fight for each other and you so much that I thought that I would never get my happy ending. When we lost our home and had to give you up for your best chance in the world, it broke my heart. I could barely get through a day without reliving the guilt that I felt."
"Mama, you did what you had to do," Emma said quietly, drying her tears on her sleeve. "And besides, you never really left me. Yeah, I was fostered for a while, but you were there for me that entire time while you got on your feet."
"That didn't stop us from almost losing you again when the Swans adopted you," Mary Margaret said sadly. "I lost my heart that day, you know. I only got it back when you left for college and came back to us."
Emma stayed curled up in her mother's side for a long time before she finally decided to open up about what happened.
"Yesterday, Killian and I were supposed to go dress shopping," she started.
"Whatever for?" her mother asked, eyebrows furrowing. "Am I missing something?"
"Killian's ex Milah is getting married," Emma explained, "and I offered to go with him so that he wouldn't drink away his misery."
"Oh, Emma," Mary Margaret sighed, understanding immediately. "He doesn't know, does he?"
Emma shook her head, burying her face in her hands. "He'll never know, now."
"What happened?"
"Killian was acting like a giant grump the entire time we were out yesterday. He was being a complete asshole and I have no idea what I did to bring that on."
"Emma, honey, I highly doubt you did anything," Mary Margaret said, pulling back to look her daughter in the eyes. "Did you try asking him?"
Rolling her eyes, Emma pulled away from her mother.
"Okay, stupid question," Mary Margaret conceded. "What happened then?"
"I told him to call me when he got the stick out of his ass and left," Emma said bluntly. "Mama, I don't know what to do."
"Has he called you?"
Emma sheepishly rubbed the back of her head where her hair was standing up slightly.
Mary Margaret sighed before pulling herself and her daughter out of the bed. "Okay, so I want you to get in the shower and be presentable; we're going to go out and get you that dress."
*** December 25th ***
Emma and Henry sat in the living room with mugs of hot chocolate as they passed presents to each other and laughed about some of the things they had gotten as jokes from their friends. They spent every Christmas this way – curled up on the floor in front of the tree, still in their pajamas with Elvis's Christmas album playing softly in the background.
The only thing missing was Killian acting as Santa.
She knew that Henry was aware of the tension between her and Killian. He was the one she actually begged to make the phone call to her best friend, asking him not to come over on Christmas Day because they were going to Emma's grandparents instead. Yes, she knew that her son was disappointed in her, but she didn't think that she could handle being around him so fresh after their fight.
"Mom, this one's from Aunt Ruby," Henry said as he passed her a thin, rectangular box.
"I think I'll open this one later, kid," she said with a laugh. "I'm guessing that Aunt Ruby didn't intend for this to be opened in front of young eyes."
Henry rolled said eyes as he reached for his hot chocolate. "I'm thirteen, mom, not-"
He was cut off by a soft knock on the door. Furrowing his brows, he got up to answer it.
Emma strained her ears to hear the conversation at the door; she had a bad feeling in her gut about their caller.
"Merry Christmas, Swan," she heard Killian say softly from behind her.
Damn it.
She turned around and forced a smile on her face, meeting his gaze. "Merry Christmas, Jones."
The look of pain that crossed his face didn't go unnoticed by Henry or Emma. The three waited in the awkward silence for a few minutes before Killian broke Emma's stare by reaching into the large cloth bag he was carrying.
"I hope you don't mind," he started, "but I brought-"
"Presents!" Henry yelled with glee. He grabbed Killian's hand and pulled him into the living room, forcing him to sit on the floor in his usual spot as Santa Claus.
Killian took the hint with a smile and began pulling packages from the bag. "Henry, this one's yours," he said, handing over a large, square box.
Henry wasted no time in tearing off the carefully wrapped paper, revealing a large LEGO pirate ship. "Cool! Thanks, Killian! I love it!"
A real grin finally found its way onto Emma's face. She loved seeing her son so happy.
Killian caught her eye and gave her a shy smile. Emma quickly broke the gaze to look at her son, but could still feel Killian's eyes on her. They had to talk. Sooner rather than later.
"Hey kid?" Emma said, trying to be heard over the demolition of the box that Henry's LEGO set came in. His head shot up, meeting her eyes while still trying to rip apart his prize. "Do you mind taking that into your room? I need to talk to Killian for a minute."
Understanding, Henry took the half demolished box out of the room, stopping briefly in the kitchen.
"If you took more than three cookies before breakfast, Henry Swan, I swear I will take video games away for the rest of the day!" she called, teasing.
Killian laughed and cleared his throat, drawing her eyes back to him.
"Hey," he said softly.
"Hey," she gave him a small smile. "Listen –"
"Swan, let me talk. Please?" he interrupted. "I was a right arse the other day and I feel terrible about it. I have no excuse to give other than a long, painful talk with Liam earlier in the day that set me on edge. I shouldn't have taken it out on you, but I did, and I feel terrible about it. Do you think you could forgive me?"
There was no mistaking the longing and pain in his voice. He truly did feel terrible. Smiling, she reached out and took his hand firmly in both of hers.
"The day I don't forgive you, Killian Jones, is the day that I am dead and buried."
"Hopefully that won't be for a very long time," he teased, stroking the tops of her hands lightly with his free ones. "Thank you, love. I didn't mean to hurt you that way. I bloody well feel awful about it."
Emma shook her head with a grin. "You won't when you hear that you don't have to go dress shopping with me now." He looked confused and slightly worried, so she continued. "Mom went with me the day after I got mad at you. I have the dress already hanging in my closet."
Killian grinned, pulling his hand from hers so that he could dig in his Santa bag. "That is good news, love," he teased. "Now, do you think I could give you your present?"
Emma bounced up and down in her seat like a small child. "Yes!" she said excitedly.
He passed her a small box, wrapped neatly in gold and silver paper that didn't last more than thirty seconds before it was ripped to shreds by Emma's fingers.
"Oh," she said softly as she opened the jewelry box to reveal three thin, silver bangles. They were those bracelets that you bought to stack – Alex and Ani – and he found her three different patterns. One was a swan hanging gracefully, one was a scarab beetle with a small orange stone sitting in the center, and one was an anchor that was made to look like it was wrapped in rope. "Killian, these are beautiful. Thank you so much."
He grabbed her left wrist and pulled it towards him, gesturing for the box that the bracelets came in. Carefully, he slid them over her hand to sit on her wrist, his thumb running over the back of her hand as he met her eyes.
"Merry Christmas, Emma," he said quietly.
"Merry Christmas, Killian," she said, breaking the gaze to look back at her wrist. Man, she was so screwed.
*** March 8th ***
The months flew by quickly with Emma falling more and more in love with her best friend every day. It seemed as if he was still trying to make up for their fight even though she had long ago forgiven him. Without realizing it, the two began spending more and more time together, with Killian picking up Henry on the nights that Emma had to work late so that David and Mary Margaret wouldn't have to drive into Boston from their suburb to take him home.
It was sweet, it was domestic, and it was scaring Emma how much she loved Killian.
Before they knew it, the night of the wedding arrived.
Emma had taken Henry to her mom and dad's earlier that day and recruited Ruby, Elsa, and Belle to help her get ready for the wedding. Killian would be picking her up at four thirty and she only had three hours to look absolutely perfect.
Ruby was in charge of doing Emma's makeup – sultry and smoky, Ruby made Emma look like she had just crossed over a runway and was ready to step up for her red carpet debut.
Belle was in charge of doing Emma's hair – she took the long blonde hair, twisted and curled and pinned and sprayed until it was forced into an unmovable updo fit for a princess.
Elsa was in charge of convincing Emma that she needed to finally tell Killian how she felt and was meeting more than a little resistance from the woman.
"I don't know why you're being so stubborn," Elsa said as she helped Emma into the mermaid style dress that Mary Margaret had said would bring Killian to his knees.
"I don't know," Emma said sarcastically, "maybe it's because he's my best friend and telling him that I'm in love with him could ruin our relationship forever?"
Elsa rolled her eyes and Ruby snorted from her place on the bed.
"You know that boy's in love with you, right?" Ruby asked, laughing. "The only thing that would get ruined by you telling him how you feel is your sheets when you get him into your bed after the wedding."
Belle groaned, slapping Ruby's arm lightly. "Don't listen to her, Emma," she said. "Though she is right about Killian being in love with you. You can see it every time you do anything. The man practically glows."
"Do you really think so?" Emma asked. "I can't risk being wrong about this, guys. There's too much on the line here."
A knock on the door interrupted whatever Elsa was about to say – apparently it was four thirty already. Emma's eyes widened as she shooed her friends out of her bedroom so that she could do the final checks on her appearance. She heard Elsa answer the door with Ruby and Belle giggling in the background. She was ready for this.
She walked out of her room, her eyes immediately drawn to the sight of Killian in a tuxedo.
"Wow, Swan," he said, his jaw dropping slightly. "I mean, Emma, you look absolutely stunning tonight."
She grinned. She and her mother had picked out a strapless, mermaid style dress in a rich emerald green that Mary Margaret claimed would bring out her eyes magnificently, and it looked like her mother had told Killian what color he ought to wear so that they were matched.
His eyes were drawn to her wrist where the three slim bracelets he had given her for Christmas were resting. Seeing them, he grinned and walked towards her.
"Shall me, m'lady?" he asked, holding out his arm for her to hold on to.
"We shall, good sir," she teased in return, grabbing his arm and turning around to mouth thank you at her friends before walking out the door on the arm of the man she loved.
They walked in companionable silence out to the car, shyly sharing brief brushes of their hands together and small, private smiles meant only for the two of them. Emma knew that her friends were right – she had to tell Killian tonight, but now was not the right time, so as they slid in the car, she laced her fingers through his right hand and just grinned at the confused look on his face.
***After the wedding***
"Halfway through, Emma," Killian sighed in relief, relaxing into his assigned seat at the reception with a glass of rum held securely in his hand. "If we can get through the rest of tonight, I will never have to deal with this bloody woman again."
Emma just smiled into her glass of champagne, knowing that if all went well, he would have someone much better suited to call his at his side for as long as he would take her.
The evening passed quickly, much to the relief of Emma. The bride and groom made their entrance, the speeches were made, the food was eaten, and the cake was cut. Milah had thrown the bouquet and her new husband had thrown the garter.
The strum of Led Zeppelin's Thank You filled the reception hall and Emma smiled when Killian caught her eyes and grabbed her hand, pulling her to the floor to dance.
"I know you love this son, Swan," he teased, "even if you abhor dancing."
"I don't hate dancing," she countered. It earned her a raised eyebrow. "At least not when it's with you."
Killian's eyes softened at the admission and he spun her around as the song wore on.
"Killian, I have to tell you something," she started, only to find him shaking his head.
"I think I need to say something first, Emma," he interrupted. "Something that I've been holding back for months now because I was too afraid to ruin what we have together. I'm in love with you, Emma Swan. I don't know how it happened, or maybe I do, but I do know that I can't live without you, that my heart almost stopped when you walked away from me that day in the boutique, that I never want to go a day without seeing your smile or you arguing with Henry about how much sugar he eats. I'm so in love with you, Emma, that it hurts and I am so happy to be getting it out now."
Emma felt her eyes filling up with tears as he spilled his heart out to her. When he finished, she was too choked up to speak, so she did the next best thing.
She kissed him.
It was like a live wire where their lips met, and once Killian realized what was happening and reciprocated, his lips moving seductively against hers, she knew that she would never be able to get enough of this man.
They broke apart, foreheads resting together and both of them panting slightly, their dancing completely stopped.
"I love you too, Killian Jones," Emma said against his lips. "I think I have from the moment I met you, and I always will."
He captured her lips with his once more, and Emma knew that he felt exactly the same way she did.
Maybe Ruby was right – the only thing that was getting ruined tonight were her sheets. And for that, she couldn't be happier.
The End.