Feverish

(Because I am the perfect husband I am and my wife is the best I will get my head out of the gutter and give you something fluffy with sick!Emma and say hello to some Lieutenant Duckling AU.)

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Everything felt hot. Too hot. She was burning up.

Fever was the worst.

As a young girl her parents used to take care of her - especially her father, she had always been more of a daddy's girl and though she truly loved her mother it had always been the king's soothing voice that lulled her to sleep. Her mother had taken her temperature herself because when there was one thing Snow was it was a little bit too caring, not that Emma really minded when she was sick - it meant hot tea and sometimes even chocolate and how could she dislike that.

But now, as a young woman at the age of nine-teen years her parents were back in the palace while she was stuck in the middle of the ocean on the Jewel of the Realms with a terrible fever.

Captain Liam Jones - who was a good friend of her father - had offered her his cabin and now she was resting on the small bunk in it, wrapped in all the blankets they had been able to find and she was only resisting the urge to throw of the blankets because of the one person who was sitting on the bunk beside her.

The princess shot the young man another death glare as he leaned forward and took something from the ground.

"Is that a bowl of soup?" she asked.

Her voice was hoarse, her throat sore and it hurt so badly to speak.

"It is," the raven haired lieutenant replied, arching an eyebrow at her, a small smile on his lips. "And if you don't want me to feed you I suggest you sit up, princess."

Emma groaned, rolling her green eyes, but sitting up none the less, leaning against the closest beam near the captain's quarters.

The blankets slipped down a bit but Emma could only appreciate the cool air on her too hot skin for merely a second before she felt one of Killian's hands reaching for the covers and tugging her back in.

The beautiful princess groaned once more.

"You are worse than my mother, Jones," she complained, grimacing when the pain in her throat became almost unbearable.

She reached for the bowl and to her surprise he let her take it, allowing her to spoon the soup herself.

It was a bit too salty but it was warm and something to eat and she was so lost in eating it that she forgot all about the lieutenant sitting on the bunk.

When she finally looked up from the bowl in her hands she found his blue eyes fixed on her and she arched an eyebrow at the way he was staring at her.

"What?" she muttered. "Something on my face?"

The lieutenant smiled at that, one of his hands coming to brush a stray strand of blond hair out of her face.

"Nothing, princess," he smiled and she couldn't stop the blush that crept up her cheeks and colored them in a lovely shade of pink. "You're just really sweaty."

Emma's face fell and she shoved him slightly, causing him to fall forward until he caught himself, silent laughter shaking his body.

"You're an asshole," she grumbled.

"I'm not, love," he replied, taking the bowl of soup from her, his fingers brushing over hers purposefully, lingering just a little bit longer than necessary on hers.

She watched him with a frown as he got up and placed the bowl on the table in the room before he turned back to her, his fingers reaching out towards her again before he stopped himself from touching her.

"Seriously, what's wrong?" she asked, looking up at him, her sight a bit blurry, her body still burning hot.

"Just not used to see you so weak," he replied with a shrug.

"I'm still myself, you know, it's just a fever."

He huffed out a breath, a smile on his lips.

"Oh, I can hear that, princess. I just hope you get well soon, we will arrive the day after tomorrow and I am pretty sure as much as your parents love my brother they won't forgive him for getting his little girl sick."

She smirked at that.

"As far as I recall it, it was his brother who got her sick," she replied and he arched an eyebrow at her.

"You insisted on taking a bath in that awfully cold lake," he smirked.

"You are the reason I didn't get out sooner."

"Maybe you shouldn't have tempted me to join you."

"Maybe you should have stayed out of the water then."

He chuckled.

"You are really hard to resist, princess."

She smiled at that.

"Or you are just terribly bad at withstanding."

"Only when it comes to you."

This time he didn't withdraw his hand, instead he cupped her face and she leaned into his touch, her eyes closing as she felt his lips pressed against her forehead.

"Get some rest, princess."

He helped her to lie back down, tugging her in carefully.

As he turned to leave her hand reached out from underneath the covers, her fingers wrapping around his, holding him right there.

"Killian," she whispered and he looked over his shoulder, back to her. "I still think we should do it more often," she mumbled.

He turned around in surprise but she couldn't see his face, her eyes already shut.

"What do you mean?" he asked with a frown.

"Spending time together. Not... Not just like a few days ago, in the lake. I just mean... More often, you know... I really like being around you," she mumbled, her voice growing weaker and weaker.

She was asleep before he could answer her, that was why she didn't feel the kiss he pressed to the corner of her mouth, nor hear his whispered words.

"And I really like you."