"I told you we can't keep doing this anymore!" she laughed as he clambered through the window. Even as the words left her lips a smile crept across her face, betraying her and weakening her protests. "You're going to get caught! If I remember correctly David threatened to shoot you in the face the last time you and he were in the apartment together."
"Ah but we've been in the apartment together several times since and he hasn't shot me."
Emma cocked her eyebrow, "And the fact that he doesn't know you're here..."
"Has no bearing whatsoever on the situation," Killian finished with a wolfish grin as he righted himself and dusted off his coat. "C'mere you."
He slid his Hook deftly through one of her belt loops and pulled her flush against him. A small breathless laugh escaped her lips as his fingers wound themselves into her hair. She closed her eyes as his thumb gently brushed back and fourth against her cheek, making her sigh with contentment. She leaned into his touch and brought her forehead forward until it was resting against his own. They stood like that for a moment, needing nothing else except the peace that closeness brought them.
She leaned back slowly, reluctant to break the contact. "In spite of everything I've seen, it still doesn't seem real sometimes. I grew up with all of this, my mother, my father, these people and their lands, with you, being just...stories." She let out a quick huff of air, allowing herself to feel overwhelmed with it all for a moment. "I mean, you're not supposed to be real, let alone standing here, holding me. It's just..."
"Magical?" he offered with a small smirk.
She glared at him, wanting him to be serious for just a moment, and smacked him in exasperation on the shoulder.
"Ow! What was what fo-", he complained before she clapped a hand over his mouth to silence him. He'd been louder than he meant to, and it wouldn't do to have her parents barging in to find him standing in the middle of her bedroom under cover of night. She looked towards the door, and flicked her gaze to the ceiling above, holding her breath to better hear any signs of movement from the other occupants of the apartment. After a few moments had passed, she breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to face him.
Her hand still covered his mouth, and he looked so utterly comical with one eyebrow cocked at her overcautious behavior that she couldn't stop herself from letting out a bark of laughter. She sputtered, trying to catch her breath and calm herself before anyone else heard her outburst. Hook was chuckling merrily too, a spark of laugher making his blue eyes dance with glee.
He pulled her into an embrace, both still shaking with laughter, just as the door slammed open.
The loud bang and the sudden burst of light that flooded into the dark room stunned them both, and they stood blinking into the brightness trying to make out the intruder.
Their eyes had yet to adjust when David's voice rang out, loud and clear, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY DAUGHTER'S ROOM?"
"Charming, let's just let her handle this," came Snow's quiet voice from behind his hulking form. "Emma's perfectly capable of making her own decis-".
"Get. Out. Now." breathed Charming, a menacing edge to his voice, halting after each word to take in a heavy breath.
"Listen," said Hook, sliding his most charming smile into place, "Mate-"
"A resounding crack filled the room as Charming's fist connected with the side of Hook's face.
"MATE?!" yelled Charming, "THAT'S MY BABY GIRL YOU'VE GOT YOUR HANDS ON, AND YOU CALL ME MATE?!"
"ENOUGH!" yelled Emma, cutting over the end of her father's words. "This is bull! I'm thirty years old damnit and I'm more than allowed to have a boy in my room if I want to!" She paused for a second, a look of bewilderment crossing her features and obscuring her anger for a moment, "God I can't believe this argument is actually happening right now." Her gaze flickered back up to her parents, finding her mother's eyes. "Will you take him back upstairs, please?"
A knowing smile passed Snow's lips, "C'mon, Charming," she sighed. "Emma will show Killian the way out," she threw a meaningful look at Emma, "And we'll discuss this in the morning."
"But he...I just...Mary Margaret we can't ju-".
"We can just David. Let's go."
"But I-".
"Now David Charming!"
He hesitated briefly, weighing his options carefully, "Yes dear..." he said finally.
Snow placed a hand at the small of his back and patted him reassuringly. She turned and looked back at Emma, her eyes shifting briefly to Hook before looking back at her daughter with raised eyebrows.
Emma slowly released a breath she hadn't realized she's been holding. She turned to look at Hook, wincing when she saw a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth. "You're hurt," she said, her voice distraught.
"I'm fine love," Hook consoled her, pulling her close and stroking her hair to comfort her. "We both knew your father hated me. This is just another bump on that particular road," he chuckled half-heartedly.
Emma gave him a small laugh, trying to smile for his benefit. He lifted his thumb and brushed a tear from the corner of her eye. "Don't fret love," he whispered, "love always wins out in the end." He pressed a soft kiss to her lips, then turned on his heel and left the room. She watched him from her door as he crossed the living room, opened the front door, and turned to offer her a wink and a grin before shutting the door behind him.
She closed her bedroom door quietly and went to the window through which he had came just moments before. She perched on the window seat and looked up at the inky black sky. It was dotted with stars; she found the brightest one and looked to the right. That was where it had truly began for them, she thought, allowing herself a small smile as the memories washed over her. She closed her eyes, wishing upon that very star that Killian was right, that it would all come right in the end.
She opened her eyes and looked down on the darkened street, she spied his shape moving towards the harbor. Suddenly he stopped, and, as if feeling her eyes upon him, turned and looked to her window. He grinned when he saw her there, that self assured smirk that she had come to love so much, and turned again to go to his ship. As she watched him disappear into the night, she knew that he was right, that whatever obstacles they faced, they would face them together. She had found him, and he had come back for her, and they would be there for each other through everything. Always.