He was behind the reception desk cataloging the returned books when he saw her. She was a blur of yellow and red streaming down the stairs leading from the second floor and out the door of the library, her boots leaving a quiet patter on the wooden steps, her arms piled with books, a backpack falling off one red leather clad shoulder, blonde hair flying in her wake. He hadn't caught a glimpse of her face and he couldn't understand why it was exactly that she managed to leave such an impression on him but he couldn't stop thinking of her for the rest of the day, seeing her in the people and colors in the Boston streets on his short walk back to his apartment.

The next time he saw her it was two days later and he was leaving the study group room he and his friends Robin, David, and Belle had used to prepare for their Lit final. He was the last to leave the room and was shutting the lights and locking the door behind them when he saw the vibrant red of her jacket out the corner of his eye. She was sitting sideways in one of the reading chairs, her legs draped over one of the armrests, a huge book and notebook in her lap and thick framed reading glasses perched on her nose. Her hair was thrown back in a ponytail, with some of the curls resting over her shoulder, her bright red jacket laying atop the chair beside her, effectively keeping people from sitting there. He didn't know what it was about her that captivated him but before he could figure it out Robin called over to him asking if he was ready to go. He turned back to finish locking the door and followed the group out of the library, not daring to look in her direction as he passed in fear she had looked up when Robin spoke and would catch him staring.

It wasn't until he was seated next to her in his history class a month later that Killian first spoke to her. He hadn't seen her again after that day in the library and after finishing his finals he had gone home to London to visit with his brother Liam during the break between semesters. It was the first day of classes and the class he had been dreading most. A mandatory history class taught by the one teacher that he couldn't stand, Mr. Gold. Killian had taken a class taught by him freshman year and immediately felt an intense dislike for the man. Not that it wasn't unwarranted; Gold had a reputation among the students for being ruthless and a complete hardass, and while Killian was a good student; he always did his work and was in every class on time (which was Gold's biggest rule – that no one can be even a minute late to class or they will be locked out) he and Gold just never saw eye to eye. So needless to say he was not looking forward to another semester of dealing with the teacher and had found a seat in the back where he could, hopefully, make it through the semester without wanting to run the man through with a sword (he knew his brother would roll his eyes and scoff at such dramatic thoughts but he wanted to take all precautions.) He had just sat down and was turning on his laptop when a flash of very familiar blonde curls caught his attention. He looked up to see her, his siren, the woman he hadn't been able to get out of his mind from a month prior pull out the seat beside him even though there were plenty of others available. She was even more beautiful up close. Her long blonde hair looking golden and soft even in the harsh lights of the classroom, bright green eyes so much like the color of the sea that he wanted to just drown in them, and beautiful pink lips curled up into a small smile.

"Is this seat taken?" And of course her voice would be so melodic and beautiful. He should have known likening her to a siren would be correct.

"Ah, no. It's all yours, love." He smiled at her as she sat and turned back to his laptop, letting her get settled while cursing himself for not being able to come up with anything more to say.

Thankfully she beat him to it with her name on her lips and her hand stretching across the small space between them. Ah, right, he thought to himself, that would be a good thing to say. Unfortunately their professor chose that moment to walk into the room and call the class to order, so he placed his hand in hers, loving the feel of her soft hand in his, and settled for a whispered, "Killian Jones." she smiled in response and they both turned to face their teacher as he started going over the syllabus. Killian was glad he had already looked the syllabus over online before class because he couldn't get his mind off his neighbor, Emma Swan.

Over the next few weeks Killian and Emma grew closer, bonding over their mutual dislike of their professor, similar interests; they both had the same favorite show, favorite type of music, and a strong love for the sea, and even their dislikes; they couldn't agree on favorite books or movies, and had several heated discussions about favorite sports teams; Emma always stayed loyal to the Boston teams, while Killian was happy to side with whichever team was doing best that year. As they grew closer they told each other the things they had never told anyone before, the things they didn't even like to think about. The things that made them who they are. They spoke of their pasts and the dreams of the future, their hopes and failures and their families, or more accurately the lack thereof. They were both orphans and found a deep understanding of what lay in each others souls even though their stories were different. She was abandoned at birth and had no family to speak of while he had both his parents until age 8, when his mother fell ill and passed away and his father, so stricken by grief, turned to drink until even his own sons were too much for him and decided taking off in the middle of the night was his best course of action, leaving young Killian in the hands of his then 16 year old brother, Liam. They both knew what it felt like to be abandoned, to have their heartbroken and how to guard themselves against future heartaches. They were also both very familiar with walling themselves off from the world, and maybe that's why it was so easy for them to them to understand the other. They were true kindred spirits.

Over the next year they told each other everything, but he never told her he loved her. And now looking at her standing there in a beautiful soft blue dress, the likes of which he had never seen her in before, and wringing her hands with what he could tell was nervous anticipation he realized he might never get the chance.

He swallowed down the words that always seemed to be at the tip of his tongue and lifted his gaze to meet hers. He knew he couldn't hide the feelings brewing like a fierce summer storm behind his eyes, but he hoped she couldn't read them. "You look stunning, love. He won't know what hit him."

She gave him a small smile and ran her hands down the front of her dress, smoothing out invisible wrinkles He walked towards her and took one of her hands in his own, smiled at her, and as gently as he could asked "why are you so nervous, Swan? It's only a date, and I'm sure it will go well."

"It's just… I don't… I don't do this. I don't date, you know that. I've never actually been on a date before. What if I mess everything up? Oh god I'm gonna mess everything up I can't do this. Where's my phone I need -"

"Breathe Swan, everything is going to be fine." he put one hand on her shoulder and the other under her chin and gently lifted her face, forcing her to bring her eyes to meet his rather than the ground. "Graham likes you, you like him, that's all that matters. It's a first date, it's not supposed to be perfect. Just go out, relax and have a good time. Don't worry about messing things up, I guarantee you that even if you somehow managed it, Graham won't even care. Besides he's going out with you, I'm sure he already feels like the luckiest lad in all of Boston."

She took a deep breath, nodded and smiled and he could see in her eyes that what he said had worked, she looked much more relaxed. Just then a loud knock sounded against the solid wood of her apartment door. Killian squeezed her hand before letting go and moving to open the door for her.

"Mate" He greeted kindly, "Emma will be right out" While he felt jealousy towards the man for being the one to take Emma on a date, he and Graham were friends, had been for the past two years ever since they were put together as roommates as freshmen and he didn't want to let this come between them. So he opened the door and moved to let him into the apartment, but before he could say another word Emma appeared next to him with her coat on, and with a wave and smile she was gone, walking down the hall towards the elevators with her hand tucked into Graham's elbow. It felt strange, watching her walk away with another man and wishing it was himself she was going on that date with. But all he really cared about was her happiness so as long as she was happy he was… well, not happy, exactly, but he was ok. He was her best friend, and she was his, and if that was all they would ever be, well he would find a way to live with that.

The next day they were relaxing on the couch in his apartment eating popcorn, sipping beer and watching a movie they had seen a hundred times before when he worked up the courage to ask how the date went.

"It went well, we had a great time -"

"Oh, good, I'm glad. You deserve to be happy, Emma."

"I am happy. But not with Graham. We decided to just stay friends. It just… I don't think it was going to work out between us."

"Why's that?"

"Well probably because I couldn't stop thinking of this other guy I know and it really isn't fair to be on a date with Graham but have my mind on someone else."

He couldn't think of what to say, she didn't mean… she couldn't possibly be talking about him? But if the way she was looking at him was any indication… he opened his mouth to say something, anything, but all that came out was a hoarse "oh?" he cleared his throat, tried again, "I mean, uh, who… who was that?" smooth, Jones, real smooth he thought, while reaching up to scratch behind his ear, he knew it was his nervous habit, but he just needed something to do with his hand. He didn't dare get his hopes up and yet…

"You."

He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, he felt like he was dreaming but she was smiling and her hand was suddenly in his own, her palm warm against his, and she was leaning closer and he found himself meeting her halfway without even having to think about it, and then they were kissing. It was slow and sweet and her lips were as soft as he'd always imagined and they spoke silent words of love in the pressure against his, in the grip of her fingers still twined with his and in the shared breath they took before they met again. Their second kiss more insistent and speaking of the passion that had lain dormant between them for so long. They kept their hands clasped but let their free hands explore, running along backs and shoulders, and feeling the movement and strain of their muscles through their clothing, tangling in hair and scraping along scalps to pull the other ever closer.

After a moment they pulled apart and rested their foreheads together while they caught their breath. He opened his eyes to see hers still closed, a slight pink hue on her cheeks, lips swollen and red and thought he had never seen a more beautiful sight. She opened her eyes then and took her bottom lip in between her teeth, which was enough invitation for him to kiss her again. They spent the rest of the movie just kissing and reveling in this newfound closeness. It felt like too soon that he was kissing her goodbye at his door as she had to head back to her apartment to get ready for an early class the next morning.

He took a deep breath, hid the rose behind his back, raised his free hand and rapped a quick knock on the door. He was nervous, he knew he shouldn't be, it was just Emma, his Emma, his best friend, the love of his life. This date could possibly make or break their entire relationship. Yeah, no pressure there.

He could hear her heels clicking across the wood floor a second before the door was opened and everything else just fell away. Nothing else mattered but her. She was beautiful. Not that that fact in and of itself was in any way surprising. She was always beautiful, but there was just something about her tonight where her beauty surpassed everything else in existence. Her hair was falling over her shoulders in the soft curls he loved so much, making his fingers itch to tangle themselves in the long strands. Her dress was a light pink that was fitted on her torso but fell loosely around her knees, swaying gently with her every movement, the heels on her feet the same color as her skin and making her height even with his.

"Hi" she greeted him, with a smile that took his breath away.

"Hello, Love" he handed over the rose and watched her smell the flower.

"Are you nervous?" he asked as she brought it to the kitchen to put it in a glass of water.

She looked over to him, a twinkle in her eye and a smile gracing her lips "Nope."

"Oh? Why not? You're always nervous on dates." He asked as she walked back over to him and wrapping her arms around him.

"You love me, I love you. That's all that matters. What's there to be nervous about?" she said with a smile and leaned into him, kissing him chastely.

He pulled back, tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear before letting his hand trace down her arm to tangle his fingers with hers. A thousand thoughts were racing through his head as he led her down the street and to the docks and the boat he had rented for their date but he knew she was right. Whatever lay ahead of them, whether it be this night or whatever their future held, all that mattered was each other and the love they shared.