This story was written for darkswanjones on Tumblr for the 2015 Captain Swan Secret Santa!

Back when she was only thirteen, Emma figured that college was never going to happen for her. Or anything really—the foster system had this weird effect on her, where she couldn't see any future besides always being miserable.

But then David and Mary Margaret had adopted her. And, well, having a teacher for a mom and a cop for a dad did what no foster family, no scared straight program, and no well-meaning social worker had been able to do before. Emma went from assuming she would drop out of high school and live on the streets, to making honor roll every semester without fail and getting into every college she applied to. She'd spent the summer dreaming of what her college experience would be like, and all the awesome stuff she was going to learn.

Emma Swan was going to kick ass in college, become a successful doctor, and make her parents proud as hell. And so far, one semester in, college was going pretty well.

She'd lucked out and gotten the sweetest, kindest roommate: Belle French. Belle was just as hardworking as Emma was, and while their interests diverged pretty significantly (Emma was studying biology and Belle was double-majoring in English and history), they had a great time studying together.

They didn't just study, of course. They'd get together with other people in the dorm and hang out, or they'd go to the dining hall together, or go to the movies or shopping. And occasionally (I mean, this was college, Emma reminded herself) they'd go to some parties. It was at one of those parties, halfway through the semester, that Belle met this guy, he's just so incredibly sweet. Emma still hadn't met the guy—Will—but Belle seemed happy, her grades stayed the same, and she and Emma still spent tons of time together. Emma was happy for her friend, and it was really fun to stay up late some nights and giggle a little bit over boys.

Classes were going well, too. It was too soon to take some of the cooler, higher level biology classes, so most of Emma's courses were ones that fulfilled general requirements. Calculus wasn't riveting, but it was easier to understand than it had been her senior year; creative writing had the best professor and easy-but-fun assignments; and she and Belle were in the same European history course, which was really cool.

And then there was introductory biology.

This was supposed to be the course that Emma was excited about. After all—biology! Her favorite subject!

But it kind of sucked. Because intro biology was required for pre-med students and biology majors, the course was huge and had to be held in a giant lecture hall. Unlike her other classes, it was hard to go up and talk to the professor, who seemed a little distant, like he didn't even really want to be there.

Lab was better, but it came with its own complications. This was college, so of course seats weren't assigned. But according to the teaching fellow, whoever they were sitting with would be their lab partner for the whole semester. Emma didn't have any friends in her lab section, and was now stuck with the person who had opted to sit next to her, probably because he didn't know anyone either.

She wasn't sure if being stuck with Killian Jones was a good thing or a bad thing.

He seemed pretty absent-minded during lab; she kept having to wait for him to move on to the next part of each experiment or activity. That left her doing more work, almost having to direct him and get him back on task (the teaching fellow spent most of his time on his phone, barely supervising the class). It wouldn't have bothered her so much that she was doing more of the work, except that she'd been able to sneak looks at Killian's post-lab assignment grades when they were handed back. He was doing just as well—and sometimes better—on his assignments as she was! That didn't make any sense at all.

But it was hard to really hate him for it. He was incredibly charming and almost obscenely handsome. She knew he was just playing her—what an easy way to get your lab partner to do your work for you!—but it was very difficult not to fall for the act. Gorgeous blue eyes, hair that was always just the right amount of messy, and facial hair that made it clear he was a junior, not a freshman … and just to make it all worse, a British accent.

Emma was only human. And so, when the teaching fellow would direct them to get started on their experiment, and he'd look at her with those beautiful eyes and that winning smile, she'd find herself setting up the experiment alone and walking him through it. Nothing would ever happen between them, of course, but she couldn't help the little shiver that would run through her body every time he'd grin at her.

With only a couple weeks left in the semester, Killian had to leave early from lab, citing a bad migraine. He did seem to be in a lot of pain, and besides, it was actually easier for Emma to finish the experiment on her own. She tried to ignore the fact that her heart started beating a little faster when he asked for her phone number, saying he'd get in touch about going over what he missed. Sure enough, a couple days later, early on a Saturday morning, she had a text message waiting for her: hey its killian. are you free today to go over lab stuff? i can come to you, ill bring your choice of snack food

its too early for onion rings, she texted back, but ill trust your judgment. She almost forgot to send him her dorm info so he would actually know where to go.

"Who's that?" Belle asked.

"Killian—lab partner." She'd complained about him a little bit to Belle over the course of the semester, but beyond that, hadn't talked about him much. Belle simply nodded, and it was then that Emma realized her roommate was entirely dressed and putting what looked like the finishing touches on her hair and make-up. "Uh, where are you off to?"

Belle blushed. "Will apparently has something really romantic planned—it's our one month anniversary."

"That's really sweet!"

"Isn't it? Anyway, I'll probably be gone the whole day. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Killian's coming by to go over some lab stuff, so you'd be bored anyway."

That caught Belle's attention; Emma cringed as soon as the words left her mouth. "Oh? Is this, like, a date?"

"No!"

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

"Seriously."

"You said he was cute, right?"

Emma struggled to answer. She didn't want to lie, especially because it would just convince Belle even more that there was a thing going on, but she was reluctant to admit the truth and pour even more gasoline on this particular fire. But her silence apparently was enough of an answer for her roommate. "Oh wow, he is cute then?"

"It's not even relevant," Emma argued. "Yes, he's cute. But no, this is not a date. He's my lab partner."

Belle finished pulling on her snow boots and winter coat; she looked like the most twee Modcloth model ever as she donned a hat. "Cute boy coming over to study biology? Emma Swan, you couldn't have a more cliched situation."

"Don't you have a date to get to?" Emma grumbled.

"Yes." Belle beamed. "I'll probably be back before dinner—dining hall?"

"Sure."

And with that, Belle was off.

Emma double-checked the time—9:47am. There was no indication from Killian about when he'd be showing up, but given how early he was already up on a weekend, she didn't want to be caught unawares. And while she definitely was not about to go on a date, like her roommate was, she didn't want to look like a slob. She quickly brushed out her hair and did her eye makeup—just so she'd look more awake, of course. And hey, so what if the pair of jeans she randomly grabbed were her tightest pair of skinnies? It was totally random.

By the time there was a knock on her door around 10:30am, she'd had time to straighten up the room a bit. She'd even cleared off part of her desk and dragged Belle's desk chair over, reasoning that it would make it abundantly clear that this was all about school work and most certainly not a date.

She opened the door to find Killian, covered in melting snow and holding up a slightly greasy paper bag. "Morning, Swan." His eyes widened slightly, and he grinned. "What are you all dressed up for?"

"I'm not," she replied, trying to will her face not to turn red. "What is that?"

"Why, your preferred snack food, of course. Now, are you going to invite me in?"

"Uh, sure." He was dripping all over the floor as he shoved the bag into her hands. She was nearly assaulted by the scent of onion rings. "Seriously? It's still breakfast time. Where did you even get these?"

"Surely you've been to Granny's." He shook off his jacket and hung it up on the back of Belle's desk chair.

"Is that near campus?" When she and Belle were sick of the dining hall, they usually walked out to the local city square, which was chock full of great places to eat. It wasn't that far of a walk, and besides, most of the establishments closer to campus looked like little greasy holes in the wall, designed to cater to students who didn't mind eating mediocre pizza or Chinese food that could hardly be called such.

"Aye, it's just a short distance from the life sciences building. And lucky you, they serve onion rings all day."

"Well, thanks."

"Shall we get started?" He sounded a little impatient. Maybe he had a girlfriend, and that was why he wanted to get together so early on a Saturday. Then he could be finished with biology stuff early and have the rest of the day to spend with her.

"Yeah, sure." Emma grabbed her lab manual and opened it to the module he'd missed.

Halfway through explaining bacterial transformation, she realized something. "Uh, you did read the lab, right?"

"Huh?"

"You just seem like you don't know what I'm talking about."

The look on his face was pretty amusing; it was a cross between frustration and embarrassment. "I looked at it."

"You 'looked' at it," she repeated, disbelieving.

"I've got a ton of reading on my plate for international relations," he said defensively. "So I don't always have time to read the lab."

"That explains a lot," she admitted. "But you really should read it. It takes fifteen minutes—seriously! And there are these questions before each lab that make it really easy to know what you were supposed to get out of it." She flipped to the page in the lab manual, showing her neatly printed answers to the four pre-lab questions. "It'll really help during the lab."

"Very well, love. I'll take your advice. Perhaps you and I could read through next week's lab together once we're done with this module?"

"I, uh …" Calling her "love" wasn't new, but it always caused her to lose her train of thought for a few moments. "Wait, you want to do the post-lab assignment now?"

"Aye. When did you plan on doing it?"

"Thursday morning."

"Hours before the deadline?" He chuckled. "Risk taker, you are."

"It doesn't take that long to do."

"I'm impressed that you're able to do it last minute and still get an A." Her face flushed, and he raised an eyebrow. "Ah, perhaps you're not doing so well on your post-labs?"

"Maybe," she said slowly.

He laughed, this time a big, real laugh, not just an amused chuckle. "Well, darling, we do make quite the pair! I come to class unprepared, and you rush through your assignments. Perhaps we can help each other out."

She couldn't help but laugh, too, which helped quell her embarrassment about her work ethic. "Yeah, okay. Do you have time?"

"I've all the time in the world." And he flashed her that same grin that he'd used to get her to do his bidding, and she felt like she was melting a little.

Several hours and a bunch of onion rings later, they were done. "I'll admit, I think Thursday will go much better now that I understand what we'll be doing," Killian said. "My apologies that you've had to carry my sorry arse all semester. Bad form on my behalf, I'm afraid; I should know better as an upperclassman."

"Yeah, but you'd think that someone as desperate to go to medical school as I am wouldn't leave her work till the last minute," Emma replied. "Thanks for helping me get my ass into gear, upperclassman. And thanks for the onion rings."

"Did they meet your expectations?"

"I can admit that maybe I should have given the diner a chance. But I do have three and a half more years to fix that problem. And the whole 'getting my work done at the last minute' problem."

"You should have seen me my first year. I was so overwhelmed by the reading I had for my first international relations course, I may have hidden in the library in tears one night. It's taken me a while to figure out how to manage the workload."

"You're an international relations major?"

"Aye."

"So what are you doing in intro bio?"

"I needed a science course, and this was the only one I thought I could pass that happened to fit my schedule. It's been much more interesting than I'd expected."

"Yeah, I've enjoyed taking some non-science and math courses. Like, I really love creative writing and history. It's too bad med schools don't care."

"Even so, you only get one chance at college. You might as well take something fun."

"I wish I could have that attitude."

"Why can't you?"

She froze a bit; this wasn't something she could just talk about, especially not with some guy she sort of had the hots for. "College … uh, it wasn't always something that was a possibility for me. So I feel like I need to be pretty serious about it."

He nodded. "I know what you mean."

"You do?"

He blushed. "I grew up in a group home before my brother was old enough to be my legal guardian. Until I was fifteen, I just assumed I'd end up in the nick or something."

"Me, too!"

"You're joking."

"I'm not. Seriously! Well, I don't have a brother. I got adopted."

"That's fantastic."

"Yeah, by a teacher and a cop."

He laughed. "I can see how that would set you on the straight and narrow."

"Totally. Wow, I didn't think there was anyone else like me here."

"Neither did I. Cheers, love." He grabbed his soda he'd gotten from the vending machine and tapped it against her bottle of water. She hastily grabbed it and took a graceless gulp.

"Thanks for letting me come over, Swan."

She felt her face flush. "Well, we had to go over the lab."

"Aye, but I mean …" He scratched the back of his ear. "I had a nice time."

"Me, too." And she had enjoyed it, even though they'd been getting work done. She was about to suggest that they do this again next week when her phone rang, with Belle's ringtone. "Oh, sorry—let me get that. Hey, what's up?"

"So can you believe it? I guess I'm staying at Will's tonight."

"What are you talking about? How's your date?"

"Emma Swan, have you checked your phone or email at all today?"

"Uh, no, not until you called just now. Why?"

"Just look outside."

"Why?"

"Just do it!" The call ended.

Emma looked at Killian and shrugged before standing up and moving towards the window. She moved aside the shade, expecting to have the late afternoon light spill into the room. And it probably would have, if not for the snow covering the entire window. "Holy shit!"

Killian leapt up. "How is that possible?" He fumbled for his own cell phone. "Bloody hell. 'University emergency alert. Due to blizzard conditions, students should stay in their dorms. Any students in academic buildings or off campus should call emergency services. Stand by until further notice.'"

"You've got to be kidding."

"Well, this is New England."

"I'm from Maine! I've never seen a blizzard this bad before."

"Neither have I," he said thoughtfully. "I knew it was going to be snowing all day, but this is rather absurd. My shoes are going to be soaked just trying to get back to my dorm."

A pang of disappointment ran through her; even with the announcement, he was going to leave? "You're seriously going to try to get back to your dorm in that?"

His ears turned pink. "It's bad form to impose on a lady. I don't want to wear out my welcome."

She rolled her eyes; this was the same shit he pulled when he wanted her to deal with all the hard work in lab (although hadn't they established that he wasn't doing it on purpose? Hadn't they established that he was going to stop?). "Look, you won't be able to walk five minutes in that mess, and I'm not going to be a bad person and ask you to. You can stay here, and we'll hang out till the storm passes."

"And if the storm doesn't pass until tomorrow?"

She gulped. "Give me a second." She called Belle. "Okay, so you're staying at Will's tonight?"

"Yeah, I'm going to have to. We've actually been here since after breakfast; we were waiting for the snow to pass to get lunch, which obviously never happened."

"Will his roommate mind?"

"His roommate isn't here, actually. But Will said he'd be cool with me staying, and that he wasn't having me braving this storm just to preserve his roommate's feelings. Besides, we're capable of sleeping in a bed together without traumatizing anyone."

"That was one time, and you weren't even supposed to come back that night!"

"Right, well, anyway, I'll be fine. Will you be all right on your own?"

"Actually, that's why I was calling. Killian's still here."

"Ooh!"

"No!" She hoped it wasn't obvious to Killian the way in which the conversation was turning.

"Were you studying biology?" Belle asked suggestively.

"If the university doesn't give us the all clear by tonight, is it okay if he stays over?" she continued, ignoring the comment.

"I'll sleep on the floor," Killian volunteered loudly.

"He can sleep in my bed," Belle said in response. "But if you two hook up, please do it in your bed."

"You're a great roommate," Emma replied through slightly clenched teeth. "I'll talk to you later." She turned to Killian. "You're free to sleep in her bed, actually, Mr Gentleman." He looked pleased at the nickname. "So, do you want to do more homework? I'm honestly a little tired of it."

"As am I," he agreed. "If we're stuck here, I suggest we determine a course of action regarding accommodations, and then enact it."

"What?"

"We should figure out a dinner plan, and activities for the rest of the evening."

"Oh. Well, we have a microwave."

He grinned widely. "Bravo! A rule breaker!"

She blushed. "Well, I used to break every rule I could. These days, I just break ones that are stupid."

"Aye, likewise. I didn't ever sneak a microwave into my dorm room, but if you think I haven't had a stash of alcohol in my room since freshman year, you'd be incorrect. So what's on the menu?"

"Easy Mac and instant noodles, gourmet college fare."

"Brilliant. I'm fond of instant noodles myself. And now, entertainment: is there a particular show you're binge-watching?"

"Sort of; my roommate and I watch an episode of Downton Abbey almost every night."

"Well, I won't disrupt that tradition. Anything else you're watching?"

"Not really."

"Have you seen Veronica Mars?"

"No, what's that about?"

"Oh, Swan." Her heart leapt again. "Let me fire up my laptop. You're going to thank me."

Six hours and several cups of instant noodles later, Emma found herself sitting on her bed nervously clinging to Killian, who'd draped an arm around her. The show wasn't scary exactly, but she was both nervous and excited as the plot thickened, and the latest reveal—that someone had been targeting Veronica and threatening to kill her—had her entirely freaked out. Killian had simply chuckled and said, "It's okay, love," before putting his arm protectively around her; since then, her nerves had been mostly due to the situation.

It was a little strange. Before today, he'd just been her lab partner, whose good looks and charm made her swoon (just a little). Now, she was kind of dying for him to just turn the show off, climb on top of her, and kiss her within an inch of her life. God, and he smelled so good, it was criminal.

Her phone rang. "Hey, how're you two holding up?"

"We're fine," Belle replied. "Have you checked the alerts at all?"

Emma's stomach dropped; if the blizzard had ended, Killian would go home, and this really cool (and really weird) day would be over. "No, we've been watching TV."

"Is that what you kids are calling it?"

"Very funny. What's up?"

"The storm's starting to end, but we're supposed to stay put unless it's necessary. Will's roommate let him know he wasn't coming back tonight, though, so I'm still going to stay here. Killian can stay if he wants."

"Thanks, I'll let him know." Relief washed over her, but it was only temporary; what if Killian decided to leave anyway? "I'll talk to you later?"

"I hope not," Belle said. "I hope your mouth is otherwise occupied."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously, because I seriously hope that you hook up tonight."

Emma quickly glanced at Killian, but he was too busy texting to be eavesdropping. "I might kill you, you know. My dad's a cop, so I know how to get away with it."

"Fine, fine. I'll call you tomorrow. I hope you score." And she hung up before Emma could protest.

A quick check of the university alert confirmed what Belle had said: students were advised to stay put, but it was a little safer to leave their dorms if they needed to. Emma gulped nervously. "So, if you have to, it sounds like you can go back to your own room, but my roommate isn't coming back, and it's probably safer if you just stay, as planned."

"I appreciate it, love, and I'll take you up on the offer." But he looked really pissed.

"Is something wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing, just my bloody wanker of a roommate."

"Yeah, my roommate's a little irritating right now, too."

"How so?"

She squirmed a little. "Uh, she's just teasing me about having a boy in the room."

He snorted. "Aye, my roommate is cracking jokes about sleepovers."

"If you need to go back and give him a punch to the face, I won't be offended."

"Better not," he admitted. "His girlfriend is there, and I'd prefer not to walk in on anything."

"Ugh, yeah. Luckily, my roommate and her boyfriend are always at his place, but his roommate walked in on them once, and was apparently really irritated."

"I can attest to how irritating it is! There are certain sights I could have lived my life without seeing, and Will Scarlet's bare arse was one of them."

"Yeah, that's—wait. Will Scarlet?"

"Aye, you know him?"

"You've got to be joking." She quickly pulled out her phone.

"Is everything okay?" Belle asked when she picked up. "Or are you butt-dialing me?"

"When were you planning on telling me that your boyfriend was Killian's roommate?"

She could hear Belle cringe over the phone. "Uh … later?"

"Seriously?!" Killian was now frantically texting.

"Well, look, it was Will's idea! He thought it would be easier to nudge you both in the right direction if you thought we didn't know the other person!"

"That makes no sense!"

"Really? So you're saying that if I'd told you all about Killian, and what a great guy he was, you'd have gone for it?"

"That's really—look, it's none of your business, okay? Ugh!" She hung up. "I can't believe they did that!"

"I'm going to tear him a new one. Bloody idiot! He says it was for my own good; what could that possibly mean?"

"Belle said they were trying to 'nudge us in the right direction.' What the hell is she talking about?"

He frowned and sighed. "I think we both know, but I suppose I'll be a gentleman and save you the embarrassment. I've had a crush on you all semester and Will's been harassing me to just ask you out already."

"What?"

"I honestly thought you knew," he continued. "I mean, all day today at least, you were acting as though you knew. Otherwise, I wouldn't have risked putting my arm around you. It's all right, Swan; I don't want you to feel any pressure. If you'd like, I've no problem with heading back to my own room; I won't even kick Belle out."

"No—no, it's … " Her mind was whirling. He had a crush on her? "So all those smiles and batting eyelashes and calling me 'love' and stuff, that's actually real?"

"Why do you think I smile at you so much during lab?"

"To butter me up so I'll get all the work done?" she suggested weakly.

"I think," he said slowly, "that I've managed to establish that I genuinely had no idea I was taking advantage of you in lab. My flirting had a different ulterior motive: to convince you to date me."

"Oh."

"But I see that I've been mistaken." He held up his hands. "It's really fine, love. Rest assured, I can easily behave as though nothing's changed." He slid off the bed and made his way to his now dry shoes.

"No, it worked," she managed to squeak out.

"What?"

"It worked. The convincing me to date you thing."

"Oh, thank God." He dropped his shoes back to the floor and rushed back to the bed. Within moments, he was back next to her with his arms around her and his lips on hers.

At noon on Sunday, Emma reluctantly pulled on her snow boots and her puffy winter jacket, and she and Killian made their way to Granny's diner; it wasn't as close to her dorm as the nearest dining hall, but it was only another couple of minutes of walking, and it was halfway between her dorm and his. And besides, the onion rings the day before had been great.

They were even more delicious fresh out of the deep fryer, especially when served with grilled cheese and a vanilla shake. Lunch was on Killian, who cited his gentlemanly ways (and the fact that he'd assisted in depleting her supply of instant noodles). For a first date (which they'd agreed that it was), it was really enjoyable … until Belle and Will showed up.

"Well, well, well," Belle said, looking entirely too pleased with herself. "And how was your night, Emma?"

"It was really shitty," Emma lied, keeping a straight face. "Killian's treating me to lunch as an apology for imposing on me last night."

"And Emma has agreed that she'll remain civil in lab," Killian chimed in, equally serious and irritated. "If I'd known just how unpleasant she was outside of class, I might have happily chosen to fail the assignment I went to her for help with."

"You're joking," Will announced, but he looked a little unsure of himself.

"Yeah, you're lying," Belle agree, also sounding a little unconvinced of her own words.

"Do I look like I'm lying?" Emma asked. "Anyway, we're finishing up here. This has already been the longest lunch of my life. Belle, I'll see you when you get back?"

"Uh, yeah." Belle cringed. "Well, sorry."

"Whatever," Killian muttered before taking a sip of coffee. "I'm going to pay the check," he added, before brusquely standing and heading to the cash register.

"Sorry!" Belle said again as Will sheepishly directed her to a booth several feet away from the one Emma and Killian occupied.

Moments later, the bill was paid, and Emma and Killian left the diner (glaring one last time at their conspiring roommates). It was gorgeous out, with everything covered in several feet of snow, and although Emma knew she was probably going to slip and fall as she walked back to her dorm, she appreciated the way the blank slate of snow made her feel about the whole weekend.

"So, may I kiss you, or would you like our roommates to labor under the misapprehension that we're sworn enemies?"

"You'd better kiss me, Mr Gentleman."

"As you wish, my lady."

They broke their kiss once they heard Belle's shout of glee and Will's shout of indignation; they waved happily to their roommates before heading in opposite directions.

Emma couldn't wait for biology lab on Thursday.

I hope you enjoyed the story! I'd love to hear what you think.

I am no longer posting stories to FFnet. For new stories, check out my page on AO3 (same username, phiralovesloki; there's a link in my profile as well).