He didn't know it was possible to feel so many varied emotions all at once until this very moment. Shock, guilt, awe, love, and a tiny flicker of hope, flickering to life amidst it all at the sound of that one word spilling unexpectedly from her lips. Girlfriend. Emma Swan had just introduced herself as his bloody girlfriend.

Her hand curling around his elbow tugs him out of his stupor, her slightly widened eyes and hopeful smile witling the varied emotions down to one, awe. He is simply in awe of her. With a slight shake of his head, he returns her smile and watches her shoulders relax in obvious relief at his reaction to her deceit.

"You two must be exhausted. Let's get out of here and to the car, shall we?"

Flinching slightly at the sound of Brennan's voice, he schools his features into what he hopes is something resembling cordial before regarding the man in front of him. This is infinitely harder than he imagined and he has never been more thankful to feel the weight of Emma's hand and for the knowledge that she will be there when he inevitably falls apart.

"Aye, lead the way."

Brennan's hesitant smile brightens as he shifts his attention to Emma and Killian watches as he bows slightly before offering to take her bag. Killian can see now where his flirting gene has originated. The tiny smile he allows to crack his façade helps to break a bit of the tension that has been sitting like a dead weight on his shoulders. One step at a time, that's how he's going to get through this.

With Emma's bag in tow, Brennan begins to lead them towards the parking lot, leaving just enough distance for Killian to whisper in Emma's ear.

"Do you have any idea how amazing you are, Swan?"

"God, I'm so relieved that you're not mad."

"Not possible, love."

"Good. Do you think we can pull this off?"

Brennan chooses that moment to look back at them and Killian realizes what the man must see, the two of them tucked close together, Emma's arm securely wrapped around his elbow with her lips practically touching his ear.

"Aye, I think we're already off to a brilliant start."

/

They're only a few miles into their journey to Brennan's home when Emma's eyes begin to droop. Using his newfound boyfriend status to both of their advantage, he pulls her in with his arm around her shoulder, offering his own for a place to rest her head. Her initial resistance fades quickly as her sleepy brain catches on and she's soon tucked into his side, her soft breaths caressing his neck a both welcome and distracting sensation.

"I take it Emma didn't get much sleep on the plane?"

Killian catches Brennan's eye from the rearview mirror, but quickly looks away, redirecting his focus to the busy London streets passing by outside his window.

"I'm not the best flyer, unfortunately. She stayed awake with me until my meds knocked me out."

"I'm not fond of air travel either. I guess that's one thing we have in common."

He has to grip the armrest to help quell the anger from building at that statement. Finding he has anything in common with this man is not something he wishes to hear, not now, not yet, perhaps never.

"I guess…"

A welcome silence descends after that and he shifts his attention back to the woman in his arms and how natural it feels for her to be exactly where she is, how easy they have managed to settle into this charade. He knows that for his part it's because there is no real faking involved, only regret that when this trip is over he'll be faced with having to let go and go back to how things were before. That thought has him pulling her in a fraction tighter, a move she reciprocates in her sleep as her nose comes to rest fully against his neck. Leaning his head on the top of hers, he lets his eyes fall to a close, content for a moment to just live in this fantasy bubble he knows could break with one wrong move.

Unsure of how much time has passed when he opens his eyes again, he wakes to Brennan's deep voice from where he's turned to face them from the front seat, a somewhat wistful smile adorning his lips.

"We're here. I'll get the bags if you want to wake up Sleeping Beauty, there. Charlie's probably home from university by now and will be eager to meet you both."

Nervously excited at the prospect of finally meeting his brother, Killian nods and attempts to clear the sleep from his brain as he takes in Emma, still completely passed out and clinging to him as if he's her favorite teddy bear (the ratty one that's missing an eye that she hides beneath her pillow). Shifting slightly, he leans far enough back so that he can press a light kiss to her forehead and smiles when he sees her nose begin to twitch, a telltale sign that she's on the verge of waking up.

"Emma, love…time to join the world of the living."

Her eyelids slowly flutter open at the same time as she begins to stretch, the inward curving of her spine managing to press her even closer to his side and mangle his brain to absolute mush. Gods, she has no idea the effect she has on him. When she finally full wakes there is a sudden realization from them both just how tangled up they are. With her hand still gripping his waist and her head mere inches from his, there seems to be an ever-tightening thread keeping either of them from pulling back. His heart begins to speed up when she leans even closer and is off to the races at the sight of the tip of her tongue sliding out to wet her lips. When those lips are suddenly pressing tentatively against his, he realizes he must still be asleep, as there is no way on earth that that this is actually happening. Taking full advantage of his dream, he leans in to the kiss, his palm finding her cheek as he loses himself in the wondrous feel of her mouth moving sweetly against his. Her hand comes up to mirror his, holding him in place as she slowly leans back, releasing his lips entirely too soon with what he swears feels like reluctance.

He opens his eyes to find hers searching his, a deep blush flushing her cheeks and nose and the bottom lip he was so recently cherishing caught delicately between her teeth. She releases her lip on a deep breath before clearing her throat, her voice soft and somewhat trembling when she finally speaks.

"I thought we should probably get our first one of those out of the way without prying eyes. It wouldn't be good if we looked like a couple who's never kissed before."

He's too shell shocked to form any sort of response, but manages a semblance of a smile as she all too quickly disentangles herself and scrambles from the car. Running his hands over his face, he tries to find the strength to move further, but fails miserably. She may be able to pretend that what just occurred was merely a bit of necessary practice, but he cannot. He'll be damned if that kiss wasn't real, not just for him, but for her, too.

That flicker of hope he felt earlier, it's threatening to turn into a roaring fire.

/


A/N: Thank you so much for the enthusiastic response to this Holiday story! Apologies for the shorter chapter, but I wanted to get things moving along with these two oblivious lovebirds before Christmas. I had hoped to have this entire fic complete by the end of this week, but it's turning out to be a bit longer than I anticipated. Aiming to have it concluded before the New Year! Wishing everyone who celebrates a very Merry Christmas! Stay tuned for an update hopefully this weekend. :)