Emma felt the first warm rays of the sun move their way across her pillow and slowly drifted to a conscious state. She smiled to herself, luxuriating in the peaceful stillness that she had come to appreciate so well after arriving back from Neverland. It was a little over a month ago that the ragtag group of triumphant heroes returned to the sleepy Maine town with Henry – and a few unexpected others - in tow. Within that month, David and Mary Margaret moved to their own home and left the Loft to Emma, happy to have each other healthy, safe and sound (thanks to Rumplestiltskin's healing elixir); Regina and Emma had come to a fair agreement as to how to "share" their son; Neal had accepted Emma's avowal of moving on from him (not without a little protesting, but the presence of Tinkerbell in Storybrooke seemed to be helping him "cope"); and Emma, well… Emma had made her choice, to the surprise of no one.
Emma opened her eyes to glance at the clock on her nightstand, and then jumped out of bed. Crap! She had slept longer than she had meant to; she was supposed to be at Granny's diner for a breakfast date, and she only had half an hour to shower, dress and drive over. She strode into her bathroom and turned on the water as she stepped in, gritting her teeth against the icy blast, and waiting for the temperature to adjust to her liking. Emma hurriedly shampooed her hair with her (now) favorite coconut scented shampoo, and conditioned it, impatiently scrubbing to rinse it all out properly. She wouldn't have time to dry and curl her hair as she had planned, but it WAS only breakfast….
She stepped out of the shower chuckling to herself. She knew very well that it was never "only" breakfast, or "ONLY" coffee, or "ONLY" whatever excuse Killian had contrived to meet up with her. She brushed her teeth and quickly dressed in her black jeans and favorite black shirt (when had black become her favorite color!?) and grabbed her boots to run out the door, she paused long enough to check her reflection in the mirror. She still marveled at the new look of hope and happiness reflected in her eyes now; a look that even 5 weeks ago she would have never thought possible.
As Emma closed the door and locked it, she felt rather than heard someone behind her, watching. She frowned, turning quickly, her survival instincts immediately setting in. Her face cleared, breaking into a surprised smile as she took in the waiting figure of her suitor – Killian Jones. Her breath hitched a little as he stood up, coming toward her to lift her hand to his lips, never taking his eyes from hers.
"Hey," she murmured as he pulled her closer to embrace her warmly, "I thought you said to meet you at Granny's. I'm not THAT late, am I?"
"No, love, not at all. I just decided that I couldn't wait to see you, and I thought it would more pleasant to drive over with you," Killian's blue eyes twinkled mischievously down at her. She had been teaching him to drive over the past week, and he was an apt pupil, eager to learn the ways of their world. He was fascinated by all the modern technology; particularly by the motorized vehicles. He was not, however, keen on the television; it gave him headaches, he claimed. Emma privately thought that he didn't care for watching TV because as she was finding out, Killian Jones was not one to sit around mindlessly. Fine with her; she wasn't much for sitting in front of the TV, either. She found that she would much rather be doing other things with her time, especially if it involved him.
Emma was beginning to find out many surprising things about herself that she never knew before; Killian was definitely having an impact on her. Emma had discovered a love of cooking, for one thing. It was something she had rarely bothered to give much thought to before coming to Storybrooke and having her life turned upside down. Now, however, between having a son to take care of and having a stable and very secure relationship developing, Emma was beginning to feel almost domestic.
As they reached the yellow bug, Killian, ever the gentleman, opened the driver's side door for her with a slight bow and a "Mi'lady." His devilishly charming smile letting her know that he was very aware of the effect he had on her. "Thank you," she returned, almost primly, ducking her head shyly. Part of her still could not get used to the feeling of being treated like she was such a treasure, though she WAS warming up to it. She had actually considered asking him to move in with her when David and Mary Margaret had moved out, but Killian made it clear that he would court her "properly", as he put it. Emma found that she rather liked this idea; it made her feel… special.
As Killian rounded the front of the car to get into the passenger side, two things happened simultaneously that would be seared on Emma's mind for a very long time: She watched Hook glance up sharply with a frown on his face, immediately followed by the sound of a gunshot being fired.
Killian was down. Emma screamed.