So, I had a funny experience while I was shopping and this was requested as a result. Just a fluffy AU with no purpose but to make you smile.

…

A Corny Tale

…

The nail polish on her thumb is flaking off, but she keeps the nail firmly between her teeth in an attempt to quiet the giggles that are threatening to burst free of her. She's been standing in front of the tinned fruit far too long for it to not be obvious that she's watching the only other person in the aisle, but she is getting a decent amount of entertainment from it, so she stays facing the shelves and trying to make it look like she is contemplating the finer things in life – like whether pineapple out of a tin would taste better in syrup or in juice.

He crosses her path again, apologising for once again stepping in front of her, and she swears she hears him muttering under his breath, his questions to himself leading her to believe that he's trying to find tinned corn. If she's not mistaken, that would actually be a few aisles over, but she can't just start talking to a random stranger. Can she?

All her friends tell her that meeting a guy in the supermarket isn't that bad a way to do it. It's just that she's never found the tinned fruit section to be all that sexy. Even if the man is, she thinks appreciatively. She'd only caught glimpses, because staring at the guy blatantly might be a little weird, but he definitely ticks a lot of boxes in appearance. And the whole searching for canned corn thing is endearing really…

Her hand drops from her mouth when his footsteps become quiet and she looks up to see that he's no longer in the aisle. It seems completely silly that she'd feel a sense of loss, but he had brightened an otherwise dull day, so it kind of just sucks that he's now gone.

She reaches out, grabbing the tinned pineapple (in juice) and turning to walk towards the checkout. But then she hears footsteps again and she looks up to see that it's the corn man back again with a vengeance. He marches towards where she is standing, eyes trained on every inch of shelving that he passes until he is right next to her. It seems that he hadn't noticed her watching until this moment because when he slowly comes to realise that there is, in fact, another person in the aisle, his eyes widen comically and his mouth opens and closes while he flounders for words.

After a second, though, he seems to admit defeat – to the tinned corn and to making a good first impression on her – sighing loudly and shaking his head. "I fucking hate shopping," he says, making her laugh. And all she can think is that there had better not be any of her flaked nail polish in between her teeth.

…

She spies him at the register, placing his items one by one on the counter, canned corn still missing from his shopping. Feeling bad for the poor guy, she goes to aisle five and picks up a tin of the yellow vegetable, marching up to the register and slipping it in with his groceries.

His eyes widen again and she finds that blue is fast becoming her favourite colour.

"Where the bloody hell was that?"

She thumbs over her shoulder, "Aisle five."

His head drops in utter defeat, his voice barely above a whisper when a quiet, "Fuck," drops from his lips.

But, moments later, he straightens up again, holding out a hand, "Killian Jones."

She takes it, "Emma Swan."

The steady beep of his groceries being scanned catches his attention and Emma knows their time is drawing to an end. So, as their introductions fade, she turns back to her neglected basket of food. But then Killian is speaking to her and it takes a moment to hear what he's saying.

"I'd really love to cook for you some time?"

It's probably crazy, but she thinks there could be a spark there. "Hmm, I don't know. I'm not the biggest fan of tinned corn…" she teases, glancing up at him with mirth in her gaze.

He simply shrugs, places his hand on the tin of corn and slides it away from the register, "Couldn't find the blasted stuff anyway."

She laughs and then the lady behind the counter clears her throat, "That'll be 37.80."

Emma raises that thumb nail of hers to her teeth again, biting to stop the laughter threatening to bubble over as she watches Killian being caught completely off guard and fumbling for his wallet to pay for his shopping. He seems sweet, she thinks. Cocky and sweet and a tiny bit dangerous – a combination she should definitely run from. Except that she doesn't want to run from him.

He waits for her outside the supermarket, holding out a piece of paper between his fingers as she finds her way out. "My number and my address. Don't be a stranger, lass."

She smiles, accepting the slip of paper. Then, reaching into her shopping bag, she pulls out something for him – a tin of corn, "And a little something for you."

He inclines his head, "Oh you shouldn't have."

She slips it into his bag with a grin, "I know. It's nasty stuff. But I figured that for the amount of time you spent looking for it, you might actually need it."

He reaches up to scratch the back of his neck, ears reddening at the beautiful woman who is being too kind to him. "Aye lass," he agrees, "thank you."

…

It'll be months down the track, as they lay in bed, deeply sated and completely breathless, when he finally admits to her that he hates canned corn.

But that he bloody loves her.

And she will smile and kiss him slowly and tell him she always knew.

…

Thoughts?