Yes, there are one billion fake dating fics out there, but I just love them, so, why not try writing on myself, right? (Story as always also on my tumblr and ao3) Hope you like it! 3

Grabbing her mail she entered the apartment building. Emma had been living here for quite some time now, the neighborhood wasn't bad. Also her friends David and Mary Margaret lived not far, so she could go over for dinner from time to time. Although, David was actually more of a brother to her, he was quite protective. And even though she acted annoyed by it, she secretly loved it. Having someone care for her is something she wasn't used to, growing up in the foster system.

She saw the doors of the elevator starting to close so she called out to whoever was in there.

"Could you hold it open?" Emma hurried towards the elevator and saw a hand holding the doors open. Entering she saw a man standing there. And not just a man, one hell of a man, dark hair, blue eyes. Probably the most handsome face she had ever seen.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, love." Oh great, an accent. As if he wasn't already perfect enough.

Trying to distract herself she opened her mail. Big mistake. As soon as she read the fist lines of the letter, or actually invitation, her face went completely pale. She must look as if she saw a ghost (and in a way she did, a ghost of her past). Apparently the handsome stranger noticed as well.

"Are you alright, lass?" Emma snapped out of her thoughts and looked up into those amazing blue eyes that were full of concern.

"Oh, um, yeah. I'm fine." She gave him a short smile before focusing back on the envelope in her hands. Why is this elevator taking so long?

"Are you sure? Because you don't look fine. Actually you look like someone just told you the world is going to end." Mr British accent came a step closer.

"Well, apparently it will. In two weeks to be exact. On my asshole of an ex's wedding." Why was she telling him all this again?

"Oh wow. Well one thing's for sure, you have to go." Emma turned to look at him raising her eyebrows "Seeing your reaction I assume that the break up was not initiated by you. So if he is so stupid to dump a beautiful woman like you, and then has the nerves to invite you to his wedding, you have to show him what he's missing."

Emma was stunned to silence. First of all, how could he read her so well? And why did he even care? Normally you get into an elevator, wait until it stops and never see the people from in there again. But here he was giving her advice regarding her ex boyfriend. Also, did he call her beautiful? Emma blushed at that part, opening her mouth and closing it again without saying a word.

The man saw how startled she was and held out his hand "Sorry, where are my manners? Killian Jones." Emma eyed him for a moment before shaking his hand.

"Emma. Emma Swan." Killian smiled at her and she could swear her knees were abut to give in. How did he do that?

"So, what's your plan?" He raised an eyebrow at her while walking out of the elevator. Apparently he lived on the same floor as her. How had she never seen him before? Because she was certain she didn't, she would have remembered a man like that.

"My plan?" Emma followed him out.

"Yeah, your plan to show him what he's missing. I'd suggest showing up with your boyfriend and making him jealous." Killian looked at her and there seemed to be a question in his eyes.

"Oh yes, I'm sure Neal – my ex – will be very impressed if I show up with my vibrat- I don't have a boyfriend is what I'm trying to say." Oh great, now he thought she was a total weirdo. Thank god she caught herself before finishing that sentence, but judging by his chuckle he got what she had been about to say. Just great. As if him laughing wasn't already bad enough, Emma started blushing now as well. And the idiot noticed and smirked at her.

"Well, if you want, I'll offer my services."

"What?!" Now she was really confused. Emma realized they were standing in front of her apartment when he fished his own keys out of his pocket. Oh, so he was her new neighbor that had only moved in a few days ago.

"Looks like you're in need of a fake boyfriend. And, considering myself a gentleman, I'll offer my services to help a damsel in distress." Was he serious?

"I'm not a damsel in distress. Also, gentleman, huh?" Emma crossed her arms in front of her.

"I'm always a gentleman" Killian leaned closer towards her.

"Why? Why would you want to help me? You don't even know me." Emma furrowed her brows at him.

"Well, first of all, looks like we are neighbors and wouldn't hurt to make a good impression, right? Also it would be bad form to not a help a lady." With that Killian winked at her. Was she seriously considering to have a total stranger play her fake boyfriend just to piss off Neal? Looking at her very handsome, charming, smug, polite neighbor, hell yeah she was. Emma bit her lip and eyed him carefully. Screw it.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah. See you around." Emma started to turn towards her door.

"See you around, Swan."

She's going to cancel it. She's going to walk over there and tell him it was a stupid idea. These things never end well and she barely knew him. He could be a murderer for all she knew. He's not. They had met a few times in the hallway and she had been over at his place one time to discuss the details of their fake relationship ("You have to make it convincing, Swan."). He had been as charming and...trustworthy the entire time. Wow, trusting someone you barely know, that's a new one. Emma knew he was a good guy, the fact that he was willing to help a stranger by playing her fake boyfriend proved that even more.

But still, sitting there on her bed, staring at her closet, she was getting cold feet. What if Neal saw through the whole act after two minutes? Having to admit you brought a fake boyfriend was even more embarrassing than going there alone. Get a grip. You can do this.

Emma got up from her bed and stood in front of her closet. She picked a tight red dress, it was elegant and appropriate for the occasion, but still hugged her curves in a way hat she knew made her look fantastic. Curling her hair and putting on just a bit of make up she left her apartment, grabbing her purse and a jacket on the way out. Emma took a deep breath before knocking on his door.

She was not prepared for the sight that was awaiting her on the other side. She had been drooling over his looks in his normal clothes, but he looked devilishly handsome, not to say dashing in his suit. But he didn't seem to notice her staring apparently, he was too focused on looking at her from the bottom to the top, his mouth agape.

Suddenly he snapped out of his haze and looked her in they eye, smiling at her.

"Are you ready, Swan?" Killian offered her his arm.

"As ready as I'll always be." Emma sneaked her arm around his and they started walking towards the elevator.

There was a bit of awkward silence in the car at first, but he broke it rather quickly and from there one they had alight conversation, talking about their lives, how he came to the USA, discussing their plans for the day once more. They stopped talking when they arrived at the location of the wedding. Swallowing hard Emma looked over at Killian. "Maybe we should just-"

"It'll be alright, love. You're going to go in there, smile and make him feel sorry for ever leaving you."

"But I don't want him back!"

"That's not what I was saying, just that I can see that he did more than just break up with you." Emma stared at him. How did he read her so well? "So, whatever he did, make him pay for it, Swan. So, now we're going in there and he'll see that you're way better without him anyway, alright?" Killian gave her a reassuring smile and lightly squeezed her hand. When did he start holding my hand?

"Alright." Emma nodded and smiled back. Killian got out of the car and opened the door for her.

"I know how to open a door." Emma rolled her eyes at him as she got out.

"Oh, I'm sure of that, love. But like I said, gentleman." He winked at her and closed the door after she got out. She felt him putting his left hand on her back as they entered the building. It was quite crowded, there were people everywhere. And to be honest, she knew almost none of them. She was grateful for that, because people close to her would know she didn't have a boyfriend. Emma shifted a bit closer to Killian when she saw some people eyeing them. His arm sneaked around her waist and she should probably feel a bit uncomfortable having an almost stranger putting his arm around her waist, but she really wasn't. And that's what really scared her.

Those thoughts drifted from her mind when she saw him again after such a long time. There he was, Neal, talking to god knows who. Emma could see the moment he saw her in the crowd. Thankfully she looked away before he caught her looking at him. She went to stand in front of Killian, her back towards the approaching Neal.

"Okay, he's coming over." Emma lowered her voice so the people around her couldn't hear it.

"I know." Killian replied, his arm still around her waist, while he was throwing a glance over her shoulder.

"How do you know? You don't know what he looks like."

"Well, I'm just guessing it's the guy walking over here who has a look on his face that pretty much screams "My totally hot ex girlfriend just showed up at my wedding with a way hotter guy."" Killian winked at her and she couldn't stop the laugh from escaping her throat. (She tried to ignore his compliment, she really did. She blushed anyway.)

"Emma?" She prepared herself one last time before turning around and facing the man who was responsible for the worst time of her life.

"Neal. Hey. Congratulations." She sounded colder than intended, she had actually been going for the sarcastic friendly tone, but she wasn't sorry.

"Yeah, thanks. Um...who is this?" Neal motioned towards Killian.

"Oh yeah, Neal this is Killian. Killian, Neal. The groom." She would not give him the satisfaction of calling him her ex boyfriend. She could see anger in Neal's eyes, even more so when Killian's arm tightened around her waist, drawing her closer towards him.

"Mate." Killian held out his hand towards Neal who shook it with a slight scowl. He was obviously trying to make Killian uncomfortable by almost trying to break his hand, but her "boyfriend" just smiled.

"Well, I'm happy for you two." But the look on Neal's face and the way he said it made it clear he wasn't.

"Thanks, mate. We're happy, too." With that Killian leaned down and placed a lingering kiss on her cheek. The look her gave her afterwards was so lovingly, if she didn't know he was acting she would have believed he was looking at the love of his life.

"Yeah, well I gotta go now. See you around." With that he turned around and left them there. Emma turned towards Killian and hugged him. She didn't even think about it before her arms were around his neck and her face buried in his shoulder. Oh, god. Why am I hugging him. He must think I'm weird. This is only acting. He's just being polite. But before she could think about it further or step back she felt his arms tighten around her, pulling her even closer, if possible. She may not know him very well, but...she felt comfortable. His arms around her, it felt like they had done it a million times already. No, no, no, no, no. I can't have feelings for him. I barely know him. He's my neighbor and this is just fake dating.

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I think he believed it!" Emma pulled back and looked at him, a grin on her face.

"You think? Did you see the look on his face? He was definitely pissed, if not even jealous." Killian smiled back at her, one hand still at her waist. It has to be authentic after all.

The wedding was quite...boring. His bride, what was her name again? Trish? Tracy? Tanya? No, Tamara! That's it. She was probably the most arrogant looking person she had ever seen. The food was okay, it wasn't delicious, but she didn't have to puke either, so that's not so bad.

But it was after dinner that things seemed to go down.

"Um, Swan, don't look over now, but Neal is staring." They were sitting at their table together with four other people, although those four were dancing at the moment.

"That's good, isn't it? It means the plan is working." Emma turned towards him and saw him throw a short look over her shoulder in Neal's direction.

"Not really, love. He doesn't look pissed or mad, he looks sceptical. Like he doesn't believe our story." Emma's eyes widened at his statement. Maybe it was due to the lack of affection they had showed during dinner. Damn it.

"What are we going to do?" She hissed at him.

"He's walking over. Don't kill me, love."

Emma was about to ask "What?" but before she even had the chance to open her mouth, it was otherwise occupied. Killian had leaned down and placed his lips on hers. Emma stilled for a moment, her entire body froze. We have not planned this. What am I supposed to do? …His lips are really soft and… Oh, screw it!

Emma sneaked her arms around his neck and returned the kiss with everything she had. The second she kissed him back his arms came around her waist drawing her closer. One of his hands sneaked up and cradled the back of her head while the other one stayed at her waist.

She had never felt like this during a kiss. Those cliché sparks you read about in books, they were true. Emma felt as if her entire body was on fire. She had long forgotten Neal and the fact that all of this was just some fake dating to show him off. Because this was so much more.

She didn't want to stop. She never wanted to stop. But they started to get carried away, so when his mouth opened to deepen the kiss, she pulled back. As much as she wanted to continue, this was still a wedding. And not theirs. Their faces were still mere inches away from each other.

"So, is he gone?" Emma still hadn't caught her breath.

"Is who gone, love?" Killian was still panting a bit.

"Neal." Who else? But then she heard him Killian chuckle and she looked up at him.

"He was never there." That startled her and she drew back even more to look at him.

"Wait, what?"

"I, uh, may have just said that because I really wanted to kiss you and I was convinced you would have slapped me if I had just did it without a reason." His hand left her waist and scratched behind his ear.

Emma could see that he tried to avert her gaze so she took a leap of faith. "I wouldn't have slapped you." Okay that may not have been a declaration of love but it was more than she would usually admit.

Killian looked into her eyes again, and she could see a hopeful glint there.

"Really?" While cocky, flirty, charming Killian was breathtaking, it was this Killian, the insecure, open one that made her heart melt.

"Really." And with that she leaned forward again and this time she didn't give a damn that this wasn't just public, but a wedding. She didn't care what people would think. Emma was happy.

It may not be love just yet, but there was something with Killian she had never felt before. Something deeper. Emma knew, if anyone, then he was the one to break down her walls and make her feel loved and loving again.

And that's exactly what she told him one year later at their own wedding after they shared a kiss over the table like the first time.

She was home.

Did you like it? Yes, no? I'd love to know your opinion. Thanks for reading! 3