Emma Swan is not a neighbourly person. Usually this simply means that she doesn't make small talk in the hallway, doesn't bake cookies for new residents and most certainly doesn't take care of any misplaced mail, except in the way of shoving it under the right door when it has been shoved under hers.
Her Irish neighbour, however, is a whole different story. Emma Swan is extremely non-neighbourly when it comes to Killian Jones.
Her official story is that they share a wall and thus he is the asshole who keeps her awake every other night with the help of his newest conquest (Emma snorts at the phrase because she is confident that those women are nothing if not easy to conquer).
The actual story may or may not have to do with the fact that the first time Emma laid eyes on Killian Jones she decided that for once she would just have to throw away her 'no sex with anyone she may run into ever again' rule. And then he showed no interest at all.
/
It is 9pm and she is just about to unlock her door, plop down on her couch, order some pizza and re-watch The Avengers, when she hears it.
Emma is used to all kinds of sounds coming from the apartment next to hers and has, despite her best efforts, been growing more and more curious at the sex-silence that has fallen over it in the last month or so. So there's a possibility that her first thought runs along the lines of 'Here we go again' (and it doesn't sound bitter at all in her head, thank you very much).
But then she hears it again. And no, this is most definitely not a in-the-throes-of-passion sound, or even a human sound for that matter. It is a bark. And, excuse her for taking a moment to figure that out but she is very well aware of the no-pets policy in their apartment building. Thus her second thought is 'Got ya!'
It is a very smug and not-well-meaning Emma Swan that knocks on Killian Jones's door. Is she about to channel her most bitchy side? Yes. Does she have a reason to? … not exactly. Doesn't that make her feel guilty? Not yet, will probably later that night.
That's what she believes until he opens the door.
Oh, yeah, did she mention that Killian Jones was absolutely gorgeous and totally obnoxious with a frustrating side of adorable at times? No? Oh, well. The moment in question makes a good example. He is barefoot, his shirt is completely unbuttoned, his hair is disheveled and his cheeks are adorably flushed. And as if that isn't enough, he is looking like he just ate the entire cookie jar before dinner and is trying very, very hard to hide it. It is… well, absolutely precious is what it is, and Emma curses herself because she knows the minute she sees him that she will never bring herself to rattle him out.
Of course, he doesn't need to know that.
"Swan!" his voice is overly cheerful and just on this side of squeaky and she has to do her damnest to keep a straight face. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"The newest soundtrack you have going on," she replies, voice as hard as she can make it, while keeping her grin at bay. "I was just getting used to the 'filming a low budget porn movie in my apartment' one."
He has the nerve to look shocked and the decency to look horrified and terribly embarrassed right after.
"I… ummm. What could you possibly mean, I-"
He is interrupted by a loud, crystal clear bark from somewhere inside his home and Emma almost feels bad, seeing the way his shoulders sag, his eyes squeezed shut and his head thrown back in a perfect personification of a 'God, why me?!' moment. She knows, she has had lots of those.
"I think I mean that," she says, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Please, just let me explain!" his arms come up and he gives the most pleading and desperate look she has seen on a person's face (and she puts people in jail for a living!).
Emma tries to think of every hour of sleep she has lost because of Killian Jones's sexcapades and every time she has had to put up with him flirting with Tink from the sixth floor in the elevator right in front of her. She manages to keep her face emotionless and lifts a threatening eyebrow.
Killian just seems relieved that she is not storming directly to the landlord.
"Right," he runs a hand through his hair, cringing slightly when another bark accompanies his words. "So last week I go to this shelter with my mate David because he and his fiancé decided to get a dog."
Emma just hums, urging him to get to the point.
"So he gets this lovely little golden retriever and everything's good, right? Wrong."
Her lips twitch at the note of exasperation in his voice and she can't do a thing to stop it. Fortunately he seems too worried about convincing her not to get him evicted to notice.
"We are on our way out when I spot this three-legged black Labrador and I turn to David and he is like, urging me to go and saying he'd barely convinced his girlfriend to get a dog with no special needs and… maybe I overreacted a bit at that but…" Killian scratches behind his ear and looks at his feet like he expects her to scold him or maybe laugh at him. "I mean, that's exactly what everybody would say, you know? And nobody will ever adopt him! And Dave has good form and his girl is lovely and even they… I just…"
He sighs, dropping his arms at his sides and finally looking her in the eye with a mixture of defeat and defiance.
"I couldn't leave him behind."
It is the single most beautiful speech Emma has ever heard. Nervous ticks and self-exasperation included. And she isn't sure if that says more about him or her but she really, really doesn't care in that moment because she has never wanted to kiss Killian Jones more than she does right now. And she has wanted to kiss him plenty.
"Can I pet him?"
For a second he looks like he doesn't understand the language she is speaking and then his baby blues widen with surprise and relief and his smile lights up the whole damn hallway. He moves to the side, sweeping his hand in an inviting gesture.
"I knew you had a heart of gold, Swan," he grins at her as she enters his apartment for the very first time and she rolls her eyes and does not blush.
His apartment is shockingly tidy and organized and makes her mind immediately flash back to the absolute mess she left in her bedroom this morning. His place is the picture of neatness except for the fact that 'Dog living here!' is written all over it. One of his sneakers is in the middle of the living room, in a very non-dry state, and there are toys that she is pretty sure are not for Killian's benefit, strewn all around. In the corner sits the kind of dog bed that she would've gladly slept in a few years back.
"You really went all out," she whistles lowly, looking around for what she is now sure is a terribly spoiled dog.
Just then something jumps out of the door to her left, where she assumes Killian's bedroom is (not that she cares about the position of his bedroom), and his pet emerges, not at all what she expected.
He's a grown dog, not the puppy she imagined. Aside from a front left paw, he is missing half an ear and looks like he has just recently been introduced to the concept of food. The dog also happens to have what she is positive are a pair of boxer shorts in his mouth and he freezes in what looks like pure terror the second he spots her.
Killian kneels down.
"Come here, lad," he calls gently and his voice does funny things to her heart strings. "Emma's our neighbour. No need to be scared. Isn't she a lovely lady to have close by?"
Emma's eyes snap down to Killian's dark head and a number of comments run through her brain, most of them connected to the fact that he has never seemed to find her all that lovely before (not that she has given him much reason to).
But she is prevented from voicing any of them, her attention snatched back by the dog that hobbles, slightly hesitantly, towards Killian, keeping a wary eye on her the whole time. Emma kneels down next to the brunet to make herself seems less threatening.
"Come on, Hook. Come here."
"You named your dog after a Disney pirate?"
"What's wrong with that?" Killian asks, somewhat defensively as the dog finally reaches him and releases his boxers in favour of licking his outstretched hand.
"You could've at least gone for a Disney animal."
"Such as?" he turns to her with a raised eyebrow, amusement sparkling in his eyes.
"I don't know," huffs Emma, reaching tentatively to smooth her hand over the black fur. "Pongo, Scar, Stitch."
"Pongo is a Dalmatian. You don't name a Lab after a bloody Dalmatian. And Scar is a villain," he says with obvious disgust.
"And Hook isn't?" she asks incredulously.
"I prefer misunderstood anti-hero," Killian says with a seriousness that she finds objectively ridiculous and subjectively completely understandable.
Emma takes her Disney quite seriously too. Which is why she prods further.
"And Stitch?"
"Have to admit I didn't think of that one," says Killian, looking down at the dog in his arms. "Would've worked as well, I guess. But he is a pirate through and through. Believe me, no drawer has been left unplundered."
Emma laughs at that, eyeing the ruffled boxers on the floor beside them. Iron Man boxers. This man is just too much.
"You gotta soundproof your apartment," she states as she gets to her feet.
Killian rises too, the dog's one front paw still in his hand and his muzzle in the other and seemingly quite happy to stay there (Emma can't say she blames him).
"I…" she can tell he will be scratching his ear, if he had a free hand. "I'm sorry about the… soundtrack. But it shouldn't be a problem anymore."
Emma frowns for a second before she remembers and tries not to blush for bringing that up earlier.
"I meant it because of Hook. You know, it case somebody else hears the barking."
"Mrs. Collins on the other side is almost deaf so as long as we stay on your good side, I think we should be fine," he says, looking down at the dog as if to check if he agrees. "Right, captain?"
Definitely too much.
"I'm not gonna tell," she says immediately, already ashamed that the thought even crossed her mind earlier. "As long as I can pet him from time to time."
"You are most welcome at any time, love," he replies sincerely and she has heard him use the pet name numerous times but never on her and she is convinced that it is stupid of her to think that it sounds somewhat different now.
"I think it's… it's great. That you took him in," she swallows and makes it a point to maintain eye-contact and then the need to crack a joke overpowers her and she can't think of anything else and- "But, you know, I'm sure you could use the soundproofing."
And then she cringes because she really didn't mean to make him uncomfortable again and now he looks like he is looking for an excuse and he really doesn't have to explain himself to her and-
"I'm sorry about that, by the way."
T he dog starts wiggling in his grasp and she tries not to laugh at the way his hand reaches behind his ear the second it is free again.
"It's really not going to be a problem anymore. I was just… going through a phase…"
"A 'being male' phase?" she can't help but sound skeptical.
"A 'finding out my girlfriend of two years has been married with a child the whole time and looked at me just as her fuck-toy' phase," he responds honestly but without bite and Emma feels like the shittiest person in all of New York for the second time this evening.
"Oh," she stares dumbly at him, her view of the guy crumpling under the pressure of the last half an hour before her very eyes. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright," he shrugs. "I guess you can say I got it out of my system."
"Right. Good for you," Emma doesn't know if she is offended or grateful that he didn't ask for her assistance with that. "I should probably go."
"Of course. Let me," Killian gestures towards the door before looking back at Hook. "No goodbye for our gracious neighbour?"
The dog seems to consider her for a moment before moving closer to sniff at her jeans-clad leg and give it a little lick before moving back towards one of his numerous toys.
"I'll take that as approval," she chuckles.
"You should."
He walks her to the door and Emma finds herself both reluctant to leave and unsure what to say. He saves her from having to come up with anything.
"Emma."
She turns around, eyes a bit wide at the sound of her name on his lips. His very nice, very full lips.
"After… all that," he waves his hand back towards the inside of his apartment and his face is a devastating combination of sheepish and hopeful. "Do you think I might be able to talk you into having dinner with me? Sometime."
"I thought you weren't looking for random hook-ups anymore," she blurs out before she can stop herself.
"I'm not," he says sincerely, his eyes open and bright and just on this side of vulnerable, just enough to make her breath catch.
And if she was alone in the safety of her own bedroom, Emma might have been able to convince herself that she was being ridiculous again. But she is not. She is standing in front of Killian Jones and she can read it all in his blue, blue eyes.
The idiot didn't hit on her not because he thought she wasn't good enough but because he thought she was too good.
Emma swallows the lump in her throat. First time for everything.
It isn't until his hesitant smile starts to fall that she realizes she has been silent, stunned, for too long and he is about to retract his offer or, worse - apologize.
"I-" he starts and she runs to salvage the situation with a zeal she hasn't felt in forever.
"We can have a picnic. Take Hook with us and… you know..."
She bites her lip, trying to hold her smile until he has said yes. Which he does. Quite eagerly. And if the bark from the recesses of his apartment is any indication, Hook approves of their plan.