Bubbly Schemes
So my laptop was alright, then it died again, meaning the next chapter will be a while, so I'm going to tide you lot over with a nice deleted scene.
Takes place in chapter 17, around the same time Rose is at CeCe's.
"Here you go, love," he passed Emma a glass of wine as she sat peacefully in the bubbles.
She sipped, "Thanks." She massaged her temples, "God I'm glad I finally got him."
"I told you not to give up," he beamed at her, "I've yet to see you fail."
"Yeah, but at what cost?" she complained.
His eyebrows drew together, "What's troubling you?"
"Turns at staying hunched over a computer isn't the best thing for your neck," she groaned. "I'm just glad I didn't wear heels. The jerk was fast!"
Wordlessly, he left the bathroom, hearing Emma's protest. He returned with a chair and positioned it behind Emma. Her eyes followed him as he removed his prosthetic and brace, seating himself on the chair
"Killian, wh-" she began, but promptly stopped when his hand began steadily massaging her neck. "Oh! Perfect, thanks."
"You're welcome, love."
They sat in silence for a moment until Emma began to talk.
"So I had an interesting talk with Rose today."
"Oh?" he asked, focusing on the task at hand.
"Yeah," she paused, "So, do you know anything - besides what she's mentioned - about what happened in Boston?"
Now she'd piqued his interest, "I don't. Why, what did she say?"
Her shoulders jerked, clearly about to shrug, but stopped halfway through the motion, probably remembering that she was being massaged. "She was just asking me about heartbreak and how you move on to let someone in…" she paused, and he could imagine her licking her lips, "how I let you in."
He was sure his heart skipped a beat at that. It amazed him to no end that this amazing woman let down her walls for him. "I'm glad you did," he told her.
"Me too," she whispered, so gentle that he almost didn't hear.
Deciding to veer away from emotions he knew Emma was too tired for (despite his desire to know what she answered), he questioned, "Did she say anything else?"
Emma shook her head as best she could, "No, but she still seemed really miserable so… I told her why CeCe has been particularly bitchy lately."
He quirked a brow, "Oh? I thought it was because-"
"Of Michelle? Yeah, mostly, but there are some issues with her family as well," she explained, "I'll tell you later."
Silence filled the air, only broken occasionally by her light moans when he hit a knot in her muscles. After kneading out a particularly large knot she spoke again, "Y'know, now that Michelle and CeCe are broken up we can continue with Operation Sugar Rose."
"Operation Sugar Rose?"
"Well, now we have an official name for it," she groaned as he found another knot, "It should sound more...sophisticated."
He force back a laugh, "And meddling in our friend's loves lives is sophisticated, Swan?"
"Shut up," she growled, "Just keep on melting my muscles."
He chuckled, "I've always suspected you only keep me around to be your personal servant."
"Damn, you found me out!" she giggled.
"Ah, lucky for you I'm too comfortable here to run away from your tyranny," he meant it as a joke, but by her momentarily silence he knew she heard his unspoken promise: 'I'm not going to leave you'.
When she spoke again, a playfulness snuck into her voice, "Good. Because I've got some other uses of that hand of yours in mind."
Dropping a kiss to her shoulder, he smirked against her skin, "I look forward to it."
