A/N: For all you shipmates who enjoy a hopeless romantic, book dork Killian Jones making Emma swoon with his flowery words - or in this case, a brilliant author's words he borrowed to recite Emma's secretly favourite novel (in my mind, that is.)
If you know how downright obsessed with P&P I am and how I go crazy with all my Captain Darcy headcanons, you can imagine what a joy this was to write. Your reviews and comments or general flailing over how perfect our ship is are, as always, very much appreciated and encouraged :) xxx
"We are all fools in love"
(aka the one where Killian reads Pride and Prejudice)
"Swaaaaaan!"
He came in with all the momentum of a ship gliding over the water at full speed with the wind blowing strong on its sails (and she really had to break out of the habit of associating everything about him with his ship now that the Jolly was back, lest she would never hear the end of the nautical innuendos), bursting through the door to the loft. He just barely managed to avoid a full frontal collision with David and Mary Margaret, who were about to take the baby prince out for a walk along the shore.
"I have something, or rather, some things to tell you which are of the utmost importance and urgency."
Her parents shared a look between themselves before Mary Margaret gave her the cheekiest wink-and-grin combination and gracefully sidestepped Killian to stand by the front door, holding it open so David could take the stroller out.
"I guess we'll just take that as our cue to let you two talk in private this time," David said, smiling sheepishly at Emma and rolling the stroller to the door. He stopped just beside Killian to give him a curt nod, which was clearly a warning of the break my daughter's heart and I'll hunt you down through all the seven seas to kill you with my bare hands variety. She already knew what Killian's response to David's overprotective dad tendencies would be, and was not surprised in the least to see him simply clapping her father in the shoulder with an incredibly smug smile on his lips.
"No need to worry, mate. I've got her."
She watched as her dad still stared into Killian's eyes for a few moments more, as if he needed to make sure the pirate had nothing but the noblest intentions before leaving the two of them alone in the loft.
"So, what's gotten into you now?" She asked as soon as her parents left, barely managing to hide her impatience as a nervous fluttering began to take place in her stomach. There was something about his purposeful strides and the brilliant grin on his face as he got closer to where she was standing, leaning against the counter that separated the kitchen area from the living room with a mug cradled in both her hands, always seemed to have that effect on her.
She noticed his right hand was tucked inside his jacket where she could definitely distinguish a rectangular bulge, which he was doing a poor attempt at covering with his left arm thrown over it, hugging his own front.
"I've read that book you confessed being your favourite to me the other day and I must say, I find myself truly baffled, Swan," he said, letting his hooked arm fall to his side as he produced a battered paperback edition of Pride and Prejudice from his jacket, his fingers holding the book open in a few pages of his choice. "This Mr. Darcy you seem to admire so is a sodding bastard! I'll tell you, he's one of the most conceited, rude and self-centred men I've ever had the displeasure of reading about, and I've no idea how the other characters could even do so much as to call him a gentleman."
"But Killian-"
"Ah-ah," Killian cut her off, holding his hook up and offering her that devastating smile of his as he shook the book in his other hand. "But that only was my impression of him until I was about halfway through the story, of course," he added, earning himself an instant eye roll. He wouldn't be Killian Jones if he missed a single opportunity of riling her up.
Emma let out a small sigh of relief before she could check herself, and she had no clue why it seemed to be so important for her that he liked the book she spend the best part of her younger years obsessing over, but it just was. And she found she couldn't be happier when he started telling her, in such detail that she knew he had to have read it at least twice over, how he enjoyed discovering he was deceived by Elizabeth's prejudiced views of Darcy from the start, and that the man was in fact, every bit the gentleman and the hero Emma had made him sound like a few days prior when they were discussing his character development during their evening stroll on the docks.
She thought she as close as she could get to revealing the giddy mess his comments had made her turn into, only on the inside of course, but she soon realised she was wrong in that respect. He had walked into the apartment with a purpose to his step, and it seemed he had made it his mission to make her swoon with his romantic side showing an unrestrained enthusiasm over her favourite novel.
"Now, I found a few quotes here that spoke to me in particular, Swan." The smile that came along with his words was a mixture of bashful and sweet - a rare one, she noted - and she swallowed hard knowing there was way more to this than mere excitement over a book. "I'd like to share them with you, if that's okay?"
It was all she could do nod at him and have the wise idea of placing the mug on the granite counter beside her, just in case she would suddenly go weak at the knees like he seemed to make her feel almost effortlessly.
Killian cast one last yearning look at her before opening the book on the first section he had marked with his forefinger between the pages, the depth of feeling she found in his bottomless azure eyes making her feel shaky and weak all the way down to her bones, as if she was just seconds away from passing out, and mighty powerful at the same time, like not even the strongest blast of light magic she had conjured to-date had made her feel.
She watched him clear his throat twice as a lovely shade of pink came over his cheeks, his hook coming up to scratch that nervous spot behind his ear before his voice finally found its way out of his windpipe. "Such I was, from eight to eight and twenty - or in my case for well over three hundred years, as you so enjoy reminding me - and such I might still have been but for you, dearest, loveliest - Emma." His eyes lifted from the page to meet hers for the briefest of seconds before he averted his gaze back to the book with a shy smile tugging lightly at the corners of his mouth. "What do I not owe you! You taught me a lesson, hard indeed at first, but most advantageous. By you, I was properly humbled - and saved from a life that had been given up to darkness and hollowness," he added in a voice much lower than before, and she wondered if he could hear her racing heart pounding against her ribcage with every new word that tumbled from his lips.
"I quite like this one, too, Swan," he quickly added before she could even think of something to say, his tone becoming slightly more shaky, and it was a good thing he kept his eyes trained on the page this time otherwise he would have seen her features crumpling into an expression of overwhelming emotion. "For just like Elizabeth, you taught me some of your own philosophy. You showed me forgiveness for the worst of my deeds, such as I never dared hope for. Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure - is that not how the line goes?"
He seemed to struggle to find the correct page between his fingers amidst his now visible nervousness and Emma let out a little giggle, never having thought she would find a clumsy pirate would this endearing.
"Bloody hell, I can't find the exact page now, but my point remains. Emma, you taught me to let go of the past and focus on what's most important: who we are in the present, who we chose to become. And because of that, because of you," he hurried along the pages until he finally found the next one he was looking for, if the victorious smile rising on his face was anything to go by, "I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve."
Emma was fighting hard to keep the tears welling up in her eyes at bay despite the turmoil of emotions swirling beneath her breastbone, and judging by the way his voice had started to break near his last words, he was far from unaffected either.
"And lastly, there's a few quotes by your beloved Darcy that I couldn't forbear from saying to you, Swan." His eyes finally found hers, and he swallowed hard when he saw her quivering bottom lip and the red rims around her irises. With her nod of approval he let out a shaky breath and steeled himself before turning over to the last page he had marked, his visibly crinkled pinky slipping from between the pages near the end of the book as he shuffled his feet for a few more moments before speaking again.
"I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun," he said, raising his head to briefly search her face for any of the usual signs of panic she usually let show during grand demonstrations of affection.
On finding none, however, he gathered the courage to take a few steps towards her and lay the book down on the counter beside her forgotten mug of hot cocoa with cinnamon. He took her hand in his as a watery smile stretched his lips wide before he recited the next words from memory, his eyes never leaving hers.
"You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."
Emma's breath got stuck in her throat and she felt his hand tightening around hers. She merely blinked at him for a few seconds before finding her voice again.
"Killian..."
His name fell from her lips in a whisper so low she wasn't even sure he had heard until his thumb started running circles in the back of her hand and his smile shifted from euphoric to tranquil, peaceful.
"What- what are you saying?" She asked, still breathless and unbelieving.
He shrugged and protected his eyes from her all-seeing emeralds, choosing to stare at their interlinked hands instead.
"Nothing, Swan. I'm merely telling you my favourite quotes from your favourite book, that's all," he said, his obviously feigned nonchalance making his current performance even less believable than the failed blacksmith act he tried to pull on her when they first met.
Killian chanced a look into her eyes then, feeling his heart finally start beating again when she beamed at him in response. Smiling back at her with unutterable relief, he let his left arm find its way home to rest on her lower back as he placed a tender kiss to the top of her forehead.
She released his hand and threw her arms around his neck, letting him breath her in while she did the very same thing, laying her head in her favourite resting place - the junction between his neck and shoulder where his scent was at its strongest and she could let herself get high on him for as long as she wished.
It was hardly his fault when one or two tears rolled down his cheeks to fall into her hair after he felt her leaving a trail of kisses on his neck and the words that followed - me too.