Emma had been feeling better than ever these past few days. Defeating Gideon had been one thing, but all the worry, pain, and suffering that had come along with the threat of her impending death evaporating into thin air along with Gideon that night was something entirely different. The painful tension that had been building in her neck had disappeared, her and Killian had finally begun actually enjoying their life as a couple in their now newly furnished home, Henry was beginning to focus back on school and him and Killian had been spending a lot of time bonding over movies and sailing which never failed to make Emma's heart flutter with love, and the town no longer seemed to be in any immediate danger, at least for a little while.

There was one thing that continuously clouded her mind, a constant reminder of how her life would never be as simple as she hoped. Emma's parents were still enchanted by the shared sleeping curse and even after all their never ending nights spent at the Storybrooke library reading every book imaginable, they still had not figured out a way to break it. She knew they were both becoming less and less hopeful with each passing day, even her efforts at mimicking her mother's infamous speeches about hope and faith were rendering useless. To her surprise though, her dad had been in better moods these past two days than he had been for the past several weeks. Emma was curious about what had happened to make him so hopeful again, and she had a gut feeling it had to do with Killian since both of them had been spending rather a lot of time together, but she was just relieved that her dad was acting like his old self again.

Emma's racing thoughts were interrupted by Killian wrapping his arms around her waist and hugging her from behind. He nuzzled her neck, "You seem distracted, luv." Emma smiled to herself when she realized that he was utterly right, as she had been scrubbing the same spot for an abnormal amount of time, "I feel bad for that bloody pot," Killian scoffed.

She placed the pot back in the sink and leaned back, letting her weight fall back on him, "I was just thinking about my parents…and how hard it's been for them lately," she sighed and turned around to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Although Killian was smiling down at Emma, his eyes were troublesome and heavy, "Hey," she said softly and cupped his face with her hand, gently brushing her thumb over his cheek, "What's been going on with you lately?"

He shook his head reassuringly, "Nothing, luv."

Emma narrowed her eyes apprehensively, "Are you sure?"

Killian pulled her closer and kissed her, making Emma smile against his lips, "Okay," she sighed, "But if we keep this up, we're never going to make it to the movies, and I'm sure Henry would not be too happy about that."

He laughed and pecked her lips once again, "Go on and get ready, I'll finish up down here," he signaled towards the pile of dishes in the sink.

As Emma hurried up the stairs, she was incapable of shaking off the feeling that there was something going on with Killian, but she decided to not push it. After all, she was sure he would come to her if anything was actually wrong.

After a quick shower, Emma had settled for a comfortable outfit that was made up of her favorite stretchy black jeans, black boots, and a black and white stripped sweater, decided on wearing no makeup, and she threw her hair up in a high ponytail. She was about to head downstairs but realized that her phone was nowhere to be found. She remembered having it last night during dinner, but in between play wrestling with Killian afterwards which had lead to sex, she had forgotten where she had placed it.

"Crap," Emma muttered to herself as she searched every inch of her and Killian's bedroom. Killian's nightstand was the only place left to look and even though she did not have a clue why her phone would be in there since she never touched his nightstand, it did not hurt to take a look. Emma's face became as white as paper as she pulled out a little black box from the drawer, her pulse racing so fast she could feel it radiating throughout her body. She felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach making her feel both nauseous and light-headed. She then had to sit on the bed as her knees had become too weak to hold up the weight of her body, and she slowly opened the box revealing a ring with a simple band and a beautiful diamond. Emma covered her mouth with her free hand and tears began streaming down her face.

"Emma, sweetheart, we're going to b-," Killian stopped in his tracks when he pushed the bedroom door open and saw what Emma was holding.

"Killian," she whispered but could not take her eyes off the ring.

Killian could feel a knot starting to form in the back of his throat, "You…uh, you weren't supposed to see that yet," he walked over to her side and sat down on the bed next to her.

Emma handed him the box and wiped her tears away with the back of her sweater's sleeve. Unable to form a coherent sentence, she just stayed quiet trying to blink away any more tears.

"Oh, luv," Killian turned his body and faced her, gently resting his hook on her thigh and tucking the strand of hair that had fallen over her face behind her ear, "This is not how I wanted this to go," he sighed.

She cleared her throat, "So, um, you were actually planning to propose?"

Killian offered her a kind smile and nodded, "It's alright if you're not ready to-"

Emma cut him off enthusiastically, "I am."

He was taken aback by her abrupt response and although he wanted to kiss every inch of her face, scream with excitement, and cry from happiness, a part of him knew he could not do any of that unless he came clean.

"Listen, Swan," he took a deep breath, "You were right before, about there being something going on."

She eyed him suspiciously, "Okay…"

"Your father has been having a hard time lately," He started.

Emma nodded, "Yeah, because of the sleeping curse."

He shook his head, "Not just that. He's recently found out that his father's death wasn't a drunken accident, and for the past few days, he and I have been trying to figure out what exactly happened to him."

Emma seemed utterly baffled trying to keep up with all this new information, "Wait, what? Why am I just now finding out about this?"

Killian continued, "David didn't want to tell you because he didn't want to worry you. Especially after what happened with Gideon just a few short nights ago. I'll leave the logistics to him since it's his story to tell, but I was helping him, which is why I couldn't let you go into the shed the other day."

Her mouth formed into a small circle, realization suddenly hitting her.

"Because he was in there getting some ingredients for a spell that lead us to the truth behind his father's death," Killian paused to catch his breath.

"Really?" Emma crossed her arms in front of her chest noticeably becoming increasingly upset, "So what you said about Archie and about sharing your feelings, that was a," her voice broke, "Was that a lie?"

He knew giving her time to process everything was not going to make things any easier so he kept going, "No, it wasn't. Swan, I did go see Archie. I went to see him because before I started helping your father, he referred to me as a pirate," he struggled to continue, "And that affected me more than I thought it would. I have worked so hard to become a man deserving of your love, a man that's worthy of you and of this beautiful life we've created together, and I'm still a pirate, I'm not denying that, but a good pirate, or at least a pirate who's trying to be good, and David calling me a pirate…the look in his eyes when he said it…made me realize that maybe he still didn't think I was good enough for you. And well," he scoffed, "I was already planning to ask him for his blessing, and so I…panicked. But that's all in the past now, and it's not important anymore. I know I should have told you what was going on, and I felt horrible about having to keep it from you, but your father needed my help, luv, and even though, at first, I was doing it mostly to gain his approval, it ended up becoming so much more than that. He wasn't doing well, Emma, he wasn't getting enough sleep because he refused to trade in with Snow, and when we ended up finding out that his father was actually murdered, and that he died fighting for his family," Killian's eyes began to water remembering just how hurt David had been, "Well, he wanted revenge. He wanted to kill the man who murdered his father."

"His father…his father was murdered? And dad wanted to kill someone?" Emma's mind was going at a thousand miles per hour trying to piece everything together. Killian simply nodded, tears threatening to make their presence known.

She knew that she should be angry, not only because Killian had kept a secret even after they had promised each other that they would not do so ever again, but also because she wished they had asked her for help, but that anger was overpowered by sadness, and surprisingly, a feeling of understanding. She knew how important it was for her dad to come to terms with his father's story, and although she wished they would not have kept it from her, Killian helping and being there for her dad when she could not, made it incredibly hard for her to be angry with him.

"I understand," She said softly, letting her arms drop, "You should have told me. You both should have. I get why you didn't though. But, Killian, I still don't understand what this has to do with, um," she points to the small black box that was now resting on the bed, in between the both of them, "That."

Killian looked down at the floor, unable to make eye contact with her, "That's," he took a deep breath, "That's not all of it, Emma."

She raised an eyebrow, signaling him to explain further.

"While trying to figure out what had happened to his father, David and I asked August for help because at some point, David's father had come in contact with August…well, not August, but Pinocchio," he shook his head, "You know what I mean. Anyway, they met each other back on Pleasure Island, and again, David will explain this all to you once you two get to talking, I don't want to overstep on his story, but while talking to August, he admitted to ripping out pages from the book from being on Pleasure Island because he's not proud of his time spent there, but promised he'd search for them and give them to us, since it could include important information about David's father's last few days."

She became more perplexed with each passing minute, "Killian, I don't-"

"I did it, Emma," he could not keep it inside anymore, a single tear staining his cheek, followed by a dozen more.

Emma had never seen Killian like this before; it was as if he had been keeping this secret bottled up inside for all these days, allowing it to build up and gain strength, and he blew up out of nowhere. She wanted to comfort him more than anything else, but was frozen from disbelief, "What do you mean?"

"I was the one who killed his father," he sobbed, "I…August gave me the-I didn't know it was him, but I recognized him as soon as I saw his face on those bloody pages, Emma," he was trying and failing to catch his breath.

She leaned closer to him, "Hey," she wrapped one arm around his back pulling him close, "Breathe. Explain what's happening."

"That night, I ran into two of King George's knights at an old alleyway. They were surrounded by carts full of gold, the most gold I had seen in my whole life, and they had a prisoner. He was tied up to one of the carts and the knights were to execute him in change for compensation, but I did instead. I murdered him and the two knights. I murdered him in cold blood and took the gold," he pulled away from Emma, not allowing her to touch him, "I killed David's father, your grandfather, and I don't know what to do. I was the one who helped him find his much sought after answers, I was the one who helped him fight his need for vengeance, he approved of me, he gave me his blessing to ask for your hand in marriage," he covered his face with his hand, bawling silently, "I…this is not something I can recover from. Not when it comes to hurting your family."

Emma's heart ached for the fractured man sitting next to her, a mere shell of the mighty man he used to be. She pulled his hand away and turned his face to meet her gaze, wiping his tears away with her thumb, "Did you know it was my dad's father before August gave you those pages?"

Killian sniffled and shook his head, "No," he whispered almost inaudibly, "I would have said something, I wouldn't have let him on, helping him find answers when really, it was me, his answer was in front of him the whole time."

She pulled him into a tight hug, letting him rest his head on her shoulder, his tears soaking her neck, "Killian…that murder, although a lot more personal and, well," she sighed thinking about her dad, "Complicated, was still done by the person who you used to be. You're not that person anymore. You've proven that to everyone, and to me, countless of times."

Killian's chest felt tight. He knew this was one of the worst things he could have ever done. He could not stomach the thought of hurting Emma or her family in way, and the idea of David, who he admired almost as much as he admired Emma herself, finding out about his foul and unfathomable actions, made every hair on his body stand up.

He attempted to take a deep breath, "He's never going to forgive me, Emma, and I can't blame him. He's no longer going to give me his blessing to ask you to marry me, he's neve-"

Emma squirmed abruptly so that he would sit up and look at her, "Woah, hey, I know you probably feel like you're in between a rock and a hard place right now, but I promise you that we'll figure out a way to tell my dad. It'll be difficult, there's no way around that, but we'll get through it, okay? Together."

The only thing he could manage was a weak nod.

She shifted her position so she was now completely facing him, "And Killian," she waited until his eyes met hers and handed him the little black box, offering him a shy smile, "In case you still want to ask."

Even through all the pain and sorrow, Killian's eyes glistened, as if a spark of hope had just awoken his soul, "Emma Swan," he took the box in his hand and opened it using his hook, so precisely that it was as if he had rehearsed it a million times before, "I have loved you since I first laid my eyes on you, and I will love you until my last breath. You are my one true love, my best friend, my partner, my forever," his eyes brimmed with tears, "I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else. Will you make me the luckiest man in the world by marrying me?" He could hardly finish asking the question without his lips trembling.

Emma's heart was pounding so hard against her chest and she was suddenly utterly glad she was sitting down, "Nothing," tears began streaming down her face as her voice began to quiver, "Nothing would make me happier. Yes, yes," she giggled nervously, wiping her tears away, "Yes!"

In that precise moment, it was just the two of them and nothing else mattered. Killian's worries and fears left his mind and body, lifting some of the guilt from his conscious and allowing some room for pure joy. Killian quickly realized that Emma saying yes to his proposal was the one thing he needed to get him through anything.

He let out a relieved laugh, tears now making their way down his face and neck. Killian set the box on the bed and gently removed the ring, sliding it on Emma's left ring finger and brought her hand up to meet his lips, placing a soft kiss on the top of her hand, "I love you so much, my Emma," he grinned.

She could feel herself become flushed and butterflies starting to creep into the pit of her stomach, "I love you so much," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck as he placed his hand and hook tenderly on her thighs, and gave him a peck on the lips.

They rested their foreheads together, lips merely brushing, "And I love you so much," he whispered and kissed her again, this time more passionately, not stopping to take a breath until they could hardly think straight anymore.

Killian's phone ringing made them pull away from each other's embrace, both entirely out of breath. He pulled it out from his jacket pocket and wiped his lips before checking.

Henry: Hey, mom's not answering her phone. Movie started 10 minutes ago and you guys are still not here!

"It's Henry," He said, still trying to breathe normally.

"Shit," Emma muttered, but she let out a laugh, "We should probably go, and then," she gave him another tender peck on the lips before standing up, "We'll talk more about this."

Killian sighed and grabbed Emma's hand before she could walk away, "Swan."

She giggled as she turned around to look at him, "Something wrong?"

His posture instantaneously became rigid, "We need to go talk to your father. Right now. I can't be fully happy about our engagement until I settle things with him, and I want nothing more than to be happy about this right now."

Emma's grin was briefly replaced by an apprehensive expression, but quickly realized Killian needed her to be the strong one right now, he needed to believe everything was going to be okay, so she smiled encouragingly and pulled on his hand, "Let's go do this."