Pairing: Emma/August

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Once Upon a Time or Ray LaMontagne

A/N: This took a ridiculously long time for me to write. It's also pretty different for me stylistically, but I like how it turned out. The title comes from "Hold You In My Arms" by Ray LaMontagne. It strangely fits the story perfectly so go listen to it. And as always, thanks to snarkysweetness for the encouragement.

She shouldn't be here. She should be in her apartment, in her bed. It's late. There's no light spilling between the cracks in the doorframe and she shouldn't be supporting herself against the jamb, shouldn't be raising her fist to knock. But she does firmly, three times. She can't go back to her apartment. Laying there in the dark alone and jumping at every noise was too much for her to handle. So she came here. And she knocked. And she waited.

August opened the door groggily. He wore only a pair of flannel pajama pants and Emma couldn't help but glance several times down at his bare upper body while he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. But now was not the time to notice his toned arms and abs nor was it the time to need to resist the urge to run her hands across the smattering of hair on his chest. Now was not the time to admit to herself that she was maybe more than just a little attracted to him.

"Emma?"

"I'm sorry to wake you… can I come in?"

"Yeah, of course."

She stepped into the darkened room and paced nervously around as he closed the door quietly.

"Emma, what's going on?"

"Can I… stay with you tonight?"

"What? Why?"

"I can't be alone, I can't…" she dissolved into a trembling mess, using the desk for support. She'd gotten through Mary Margaret's arraignment and the rest of the day without focusing on the their kidnapping, but when she lay down to sleep, all she could see were the cold eyes of the crazed man who held them captive, the man who drugged her and held a gun to her head.

August took her by the shoulders firmly and made her look at him. "Emma, what is wrong?"

"Please just let me stay here…"

"Of course you can stay, but you have to tell me why."

"Okay… you can't speak a word of this to anyone, do you understand? I need to know I can trust you."

"You can always trust me."

After August guided her to the bed and sat her down, Emma recounted the events of the previous night and managed to keep it mostly together… until the part where Jefferson miraculously got away. Tears began to flow before she knew they were coming, and August wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his chest.

"You have to get a warrant for his arrest, Emma. You can't let him stay on the loose."

"But if I do, then everyone will find out about Mary Margaret escaping, she'll have more charges laid against her and on top of all that, everyone will assume that she's guilty! I can't do that to her!" She choked on a sob and looked up at him pleadingly. "And the worst part is that he knows that I can't do anything about it."

He looked at her pensively for a moment, trying to process weight of her words. "Then I want you to stay here until this whole mess is sorted out. If he's been watching you since you came to town and has a telescope pointed directly at your office, then he probably knows where you live, too. We'll deal with him after Mary Margaret's acquittal."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. As long as you don't mind a little drool."

She laughed and gazed up at him. "I don't mind."

"Okay, then," he affirmed softly and studied her face as he wiped the streaks of tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. "Let's get to bed, then, huh?"

"Wait, I didn't bring anything to wear…"

"Just sleep in your underwear tonight," he said with a shrug.

"August!"

"Calm down, I promise not to look. And I will also try not to touch you, but to be honest, it's gonna be hard in this little bed."

Emma deliberated a minute before agreeing. She made him turn around while she removed her jeans and crawled under the covers. He slipped in after and they spent several minutes trying to find a position that suited them both. They finally settled on their sides, with Emma facing the wall and August at her back. He seemed unsure of where to put his arm, so she grabbed his hand and pulled it around her midsection.

"Just try not to get frisky."

"Never…" he whispered behind her, "Goodnight, Emma."

In any other state of mind, this might have caused her stomach to flutter, but as she was already half asleep, his voice only carried her deeper into unconsciousness.

Waking well rested but stiff, it took her a second to remember where she was. She was in the same position in which she'd fallen asleep, the only differences now were that her back had been pulled flush to August's chest and his face was nestled in the crook of her neck. Although she knew that getting up to go home and change before heading to work should be her top priority, she allowed herself to lie contentedly in his arms until he began to stir.

She didn't think to ask him to close his eyes this time, and after she finished pulling her jeans up and buttoning the fly, she turned to find him staring up at her with a smirk on his face.

"What?"

"Nothing." The intensity of his gaze should have alarmed her. But instead his eyes were soft and warm and dazzlingly blue in the morning sunlight. "Do you want to go down and get some breakfast?"

"Sure."