Prompt: on an adventure somewhere and have to share a bed for the night, i know its been done but i just love this trope so much! Please! I will love u forever!

So this is post s3 finale, but AU because CS goes to the Enchanted Forest on some kind of quest, we'll say they found a portal via a new hat for Jefferson or something…idk…I'm taking liberties here okay? This is unbeta'd so all mistakes are my own. If someone would like to beta it that would be great, I really have no idea how to go about doing that kinda stuff, still sorta new to this whole thing. Also I really suck at coming up with names… sorry…

Disclaimer: I am not fortunate enough to own these lovely characters.


It's been over almost a week since they'd gotten a decent night's sleep and Killian can feel the weariness deep in his bones. As much as they both enjoy the thrill of adventure it is quite exhausting to spend all day tramping through forests in search of the things they crossed realms to find, never mind being back in the ruins of the Enchanted Forest, with all the work Snow and David did to repair the destruction from the first curse ruined by the casting of their curse. A safe warm place to rest for the night is as hard to come by as a meal of more than berries and squirrel. They have had to make due with taking turns sleeping by the fire, the hard ground and cold air making those already short hours of sleep feel even shorter.

Finding the small cabin in the middle of a clearing alongside a freshwater stream was a blessing all on its own, going inside and finding an almost full pantry of dried fruits and grains, linens and supplies, a large stock of firewood and best of all a large bed with a mattress made of feathers was a miracle neither of them had dared even hope for. The fine layer of dust covering all the surfaces inside the small dwelling reassured the pair that they won't have to worry about the owner returning to the place any time soon and decided to take a few days off to rest and stock up for the rest of their journey.

After taking inventory of their remaining supplies and figuring out what they could take from the cabin's stocks, Emma and Killian sat down to their first real meal in over a week. Neither had wanted to cook, both so exhausted they felt they could barely stand without falling asleep right on the spot, but they knew the sustenance of a good meal was very much needed.

As soon as she finished eating Emma headed over to the bed and started on the process of removing her corset, while Killian made a fire in the hearth. Once the fire was made he made sure the door was secure and grabbed some of the blankets to make a bed for himself on the floor. Before he could settle down however, Emma grabbed what he had selected for blankets and laid them out on the bed insisting that there was room enough for the two of them and this might be the only chance they would have to sleep in a proper bed for the duration of their trip so there was no way he would be spending the night on the floor.

So he followed her under the covers with her on the side against the wall and him closest to the door in case someone should try to enter the cabin during the night. She fell asleep almost immediately, laying on her side facing away from him, her legs curled up to her chest and arm under the folded blanket she was using as a pillow. He lay on his back staring at the ceiling, legs crossed at the ankle and right arm folded under his head. He had taken his hook off for the night but left the brace on, not quite comfortable sharing that particular part of himself with her just yet. He had suddenly found himself wide awake and glanced over to the reason why sleep was evading him. Her golden hair fanned out on the pillow, shining in the dim light of the moon making its way in the window, her quiet breathing the only sound in the small room. He wanted to reach out to her, to pull her into his side, to bury his face in her hair and breathe in the scent that could only be described as something distinctly Emma. He wasn't normally one for the sort of intimacy of cuddling, the lurking bits of villainous pirate captain in him preferring another kind of intimacy altogether. But Emma brought out pieces of himself he'd thought long gone. Pieces of himself he'd never let himself even dream of being satisfied, of being possible in all his 300 and some odd years. But laying here with this woman by his side, this woman he loves more than life itself, he allows those pieces to start reappearing in his heart, not fully, mind you, he knew as much as she may care for him, his feelings weren't reciprocated completely, might never be.

So he let himself want to hold her and caress her, want to cherish her and make sure she knew just how loved she was. But he wouldn't allow certain dreams of a shared home and promises bound by rings and small beds down the hall filled with children that will be perfect combinations of themselves. He doesn't allow himself to picture them. How maybe they will have her golden hair with his blue eyes, or her beautiful green eyes and his hair, will she pass down the chin she shares with her mother, the dimpled chin he loved to caress with his thumb during those few kisses they have shared so far. Perhaps she will pass on her family's love for the confectionery drink they are always sharing and her love for sweet sugary foods. He doesn't allow himself to picture or to hope that this might one day be his life, because he is entirely at her command and he knows her well enough to know she may never want that kind of life. That kind of simple domesticity that he suddenly craves. She may never want to marry, might be too repulsed by the idea now that she almost married a simian, may never want another child since she has Henry, and Henry would be enough for him if he's all she wants. So he doesn't let those images of little bare feet padding through their home making their way to him with screams of "daddy's home" to stay in his mind. He doesn't want to hope for that life and to one day find out he's the only one with those dreams. He loves her and he loves Henry and they would be more than enough. So he pushes those visions from his mind and focuses on the grooves in the wood of the ceiling above him and listens to the steady rhythm of her breathing. A few moments later and the bed moves as she shifts in her sleep drawing his attention to her once more as she's turning towards him with a quiet sigh, one arm tucking underneath the pillow, the other landing across his chest, hand coming to a rest above his heart, almost as if she knew even in her sleep that that is where she resided, for now and for all eternity. He wraps his arm around her and holds her to him, his hand resting on her arm capturing a strand of her hair and twirling it between his fingers watching the way the light from the fire and the window made the golden strands glow. She drew in a deep breath and curled further into his side, one of her legs entwining with his and as her warm exhale ghosted over his neck and exposed hairs on his chest, and with the soft warm skin of her hand resting above his heart he finally felt relaxed enough to sleep.