Emma inhaled deeply as she stood on the driveway, awaiting the arrival of the Camp Storybrooke bus full of kids. She took the moment to bask in the quietness that enveloped the camp as the sun began its descent across the baby blue sky. This was the first week of the summer with the 11 to 14 year olds and she knew she'd have her hands full with the young teenagers, who could get pretty crazy. Children you could tire out and put to bed, but preteens were definitely a challenge.

However, Emma wasn't able to fully appreciate the peaceful moment as she was feeling fidgety, replaying the prior night's events in her mind over and over. What had she been thinking? She had invited a man, basically a stranger (at least, that was what she had to keep reminding herself) to keep his stuff at her place as long as he needed. And they both knew she had really meant it. The thing that was bothering Emma the most was that while in her head, she could rationalize it as an incredibly stupid idea, but her gut told her that she didn't mind in the slightest. For some reason, she could never get the two to agree.

She heard the rumble of wheels on gravel and turned to see the large, bright yellow vehicle bumping down the path. A blaring honk shook her out of her thoughts, followed by Killian on the speaker at the front of the bus.

"And on your left, you'll see the lovely Swan. Everybody, give Emma a wave!" Killian exclaimed as he pulled through the gate, giving her a cheeky grin through the window. Emma rolled her eyes and waved up at the kids who had crammed to the left side of the bus to greet her. She saw their smiles and how their eyes grew wide when they realized they were finally there.

The team of councilors made their way over from the cabins to start off the week with their new clan mates. Emma spotted Henry following Archie over with a definite bounce in his step. At last, there were kids his age that he could hang out with and she suspected that he was eager to start another week of fun.

As the councilors were sorting out their clans, Emma stole a glance over at Killian, who was helping a young girl find her group. The bags under his eyes had disappeared and there was no longer a solemn expression for him to try and conceal. Emma only realized a smile had crept on her face when he looked right up at her and gave her a small one of his own, before pointing at her and sending the girl over. Emma felt a rush of heat course through her and turned abruptly away, hating the effect one smile of his had on her. She was grateful when the young brunette came up to her and handed her a sheet, forcing Emma to come back to reality (not that she'd ever strayed, please) and focus on her job.

She checked over the camper's paper, letting her eyes skim over the schedule she had forgotten to check for that week. She scanned the time and activities columns, then headed straight for the one indicating with which clan the Swans would be pairing up each day.

Crocodiles. Of freaking course. What she didn't know was how they'd managed to be paired up with her Swans every single day because Emma was positive she would have remembered reading that at the beginning of the summer when she'd skimmed the general plan.

Then it hit her. Who else would have thought it hilarious to mess with her? Emma did her best to feel annoyed that Killian had somehow managed to switch up the groups, but the giddiness she was trying to ignore simmering in the pit of her stomach was making that quite the challenge. Nonetheless, she proceeded with organizing her clan and when she caught Killian smirking in her direction (he damn well knew she'd just found out about the changes), she scowled.

Like their website states, Camp Storybrooke is a place where the kids "learn and play in the outdoors and make new friends with whom they'll forever share fond memories". That was really code for "we're sticking your kids in one big group so they're easier to look after". It also worked incredibly well with the teenagers who had an abundance of energy and could hang out with kids their age all day.

For the activities, they always mixed a boys clan and a girls clan so they weren't separated by gender the whole week. This meant Emma was stuck with Killian, who'd reverted back to his charming, impish self.

On the campers' first full day, Killian organized a soccer game on the grass field before lunch. ("It's soccer, Killian." "I bloody refuse to call it that, Swan. It's football.") Emma, never having been a fan of the sport, reluctantly agreed to referee the game.

After the teams were made, the ball was placed at the half and the game began. Shortly after the kickoff, Killian jogged over to where Emma was standing near the sidelines, gazing up at the fluffy clouds (she was clearly not a very committed ref).

"Oi! Swan! If you're refereeing, you can't simply daydream." Killian appeared beside her and she snapped her head down to immediately scan the field.

"I am watching! Nothing's happened so far though, it's kind of boring," she admitted with an airy tone, knowing this would aggravate Killian, who loved the sport.

"Maybe I'll make it interesting then. Want me to go trip some little kids?" he joked. Emma thought she might as well use some of the power he had granted her. She could throw him out of the game, right?

"Ha! I'm the referee, don't think I'm taking my eyes off you for a second."

"I would despair if you did," Killian shot right back, his tongue darting out to his lips before he took off down the field. Damn him. She hated when he got the last word.

The game went on and more councilors brought their groups to join in the fun. Pretty soon, it had turned into a councilors versus campers game. In the dying minutes of the game, Killian dribbled the ball beautifully up the middle, lay it off to the outside, got the ball back and wound up to take a shot. Emma watched Killian shoot as if it was in slow motion, but it all happened too fast. He didn't see the small ditch he was about to step in and he was greatly off balance from shooting which caused him to fall at an awkward angle onto his left wrist. While he did score a goal, he landed in a crumpled heap on the ground as his team celebrated behind him. It took everyone a second or two, but they soon realized he was in serious pain.

Emma had been the first one to notice and was already making her way onto the field when she told Elsa to run and grab a first aid kit from the hall. "Idiot," she muttered to herself as she wove her way around the players to get to him. He was writhing in pain when she reached him, but was trying his best not to show it.

"Hey beautiful," he winced as he cradled his arm and tried to stand up. Emma ignored his comment and grabbed his good arm to help him up. "I suppose I'll be taking a breather, then," he notified his team, trying to pull off a smile which greatly resembled a grimace. She told everyone to keep playing and reassured them that he'd be fine. She guided him off to the sidelines where Elsa had placed the first aid kit and they sat down on the grass.

Without saying anything, she took out a bandage and some tape which would keep his wrist in place temporarily. At least it didn't look like too serious of a sprain. She shifted to sit in front of him, placed her hand under his elbow and took his wounded hand in hers. Emma couldn't help the butterflies that blossomed in her stomach at the contact. His hand was warm and slightly calloused, rough against her soft skin, but it felt like their hands fit. It felt right, and Emma needed space. After placing it in a position she deemed okay, she rummaged through the kit long enough to try to erase the tingling in her hand. She found some scissors and finished up her taping job.

"Thank you, Emma," Killian said as they stood at the sidelines. She nodded in response and smiled before turning her head back to the game. She felt Killian shift closer, their arms barely brushing, but lighting sparks between them. He turned towards her and his breath tickled her ear.

"How about that goal, Swan. Don't you think it deserves some type of... reward?" His voice was a husky whisper.

"You're ridiculous!" Emma snorted.

"Come on, Swan," he persisted. Emma tore her eyes away from the busy game and faced Killian. His eyes flickered to her lips and back up. "No compensation?"

"Please, you couldn't handle it," Emma replied.

"Perhaps you are the one who couldn't handle it," he retorted.

Emma held his gaze, his eyes glinting with mischief as they swayed ever so slowly towards each other. Suddenly, Emma brought her arms up and carded her fingers through his raven hair until they rested at the nape of his neck, toying with the soft hair there. Her forehead was barely touching his and their noses were nearly bumping. Her breath mixed with his as she opened her mouth slightly.

"Not going to happen," she breathed.

With that, she all but leaped away from him, not noticing his shell-shocked look. She went and blew the whistle indicating the end of the game, still breathing heavily from what she just did.

Her eyes are like sparkling emeralds when she's in the sun..

Why did I just do that?

And her hair is so golden..

What was I thinking?

She was very, very close...

Are his eyes really that blue?

Gods, I'm screwed.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Both Killian and Emma simply went through the motions of putting food on their plates for lunch, completely preoccupied with the thoughts racing through their heads. Emma didn't even notice when she helped herself to some lasagna. She hates lasagna.

Killian was obviously in a similar state. He nearly sat down with the Stallions until David cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows questioningly. Killian flushed and muttered an apology before clambering over to his own clan.

This was the day that they would be taking the preteens on an out-trip, a small overnight hike into the Enchanted Forest where the boys would stay in one big tent and the girls in another with their councilors. Killian, having never been on one before, was nervous at the prospect of having to look after 8 boys in a tent for a night, but Henry had reassured him that with Archie's help, everything would be fine.

He went over the brief packing list with the Crocodiles at his table and he saw other councilors doing the same thing. Henry piped up and asked him to bring his guitar to play music at the campfire. As much as he didn't want to carry yet another thing on the hike, he agreed, unable to deny the boy his wish.

At the end of lunch, everyone went to retrieve their backpacks before meeting with the clan they were accompanying on the field. He hesitantly made his way over to Emma, who raised her eyebrows in disbelief when she saw the guitar slung across his shoulder. Killian gave her a small wink before turning his attention to the mass of campers looking at him expectantly, ready to start their adventure. And Killian would be lying if he said he didn't catch a glimpse of Emma's flustered glare out of the corner of his eye as she turned to face them as well.

"... and that's it! Just stay behind the councilors who are leading and stay in front of the ones bringing up the rear," Emma explained to the kids at the mouth of the forest. She had gone over a few major rules for the outing and now they were itching to go. She waved Elsa on, indicating that she could take the lead and start the hike.

"I've got the back!" she called up to her, letting the Crocodiles and Swans stream past her.

"As do I," Killian notified Archie, allowing him to enter the forest. Emma did her best not to roll her eyes.

The hike was not a rigorous one, and they sang songs and played games along the way. They made plenty of stops, inspecting various mushrooms and strange looking trees. They took water breaks and munched on Granny's special trail mix (although Emma wasn't sure what was so special about it other than the fact that the ratio of Smarties to nuts was extremely close).

Henry had fallen back to hike with Emma and Killian and jumped swiftly over the roots protruding on the path. A few meters up and around the corner from where Emma and Killian were slowly making their way down the path, Henry spotted an eagle perched high in a tree.

"You guys!" he cried as quietly as possible, not wanting to scare the bird away. "It's an eagle! Come quick!"
Emma craned her neck to try and see it and jogged lightly to where Henry's voice sounded. With her eyes searching the trees, she didn't see her foot land directly behind a root and the next thing she knew, the ground was flying up at her.

Bracing herself for the impact, she was surprised when it never came. Instead, a strong pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist and shoulders and brought her gently back up. She gripped the muscular biceps to further stabilize herself. When she regained her balance, her mind caught up with her and she realized how Killian saving her from falling had brought them into extremely close proximity of each other. He didn't want to let go until he was certain she was stable, and she would never admit how good the familiarity of his arms felt.

"You alright there, Swan?" he asked, loosening his grip ever so slightly. Emma nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment.

"What's taking you guys so long? The eagle flew... oh!" Henry rounded the corner and stopped in his tracks at the scene before him. "I'll.. uh.. you.." he flustered.

Emma shoved Killian away, putting as much distance as possible between them. "We weren't... um..."

"Emma tripped, lad, over that root and lost her balance. I caught her before she fell and was merely helping her regain her stability," Killian pulled off effortlessly.

"Okay," Henry said with a smirk, as if that didn't validate their intimate position. "Well, come on!" He took off down the path once more, leaving Emma and Killian to follow him, looking anywhere but each other.

For dinner, they had sandwiches and guzzled on their water. They played a few games of camouflage and tag in the forest before packing up their bags once again and continuing their trek. As they wove their way through the forest, Killian pulled out a long piece of thin rope and began to make knots to pass the time. Emma was mesmerized by the way his fingers flew across it with ease. She wondered if he missed his days in the navy academy.

"What's that one called?" she asked him softly as they hiked. It was the fourth or fifth knot he'd made. Killian snapped his head up, surprised that she had noticed what he was working on.

"It's, um," he began, unsure of himself all of a sudden. "It's called a monkey fist knot." He handed her the ball of rope and she twirled it gently in her hands, admiring his work. She gave him a smile of encouragement and handed it back.

"What's it used for?" she wondered, interested in discovering yet another layer of the man beside her.

"It's mainly used for decoration or as a weight to throw a rope more easily," he explained with a far away look in his eye. "My brother taught me how to do it."

The pair slowly plodded down the path silently as the birds chirped in the trees around them. They could hear the voices of the kids wafting through the air from a short distance in front of them, but made no sudden effort to catch up just yet. It was a nice, quiet moment between them; something that was all too rare during the week when they were busy.

"Do you miss him?" Emma softly broke the peaceful silence. Killian looked up at her, his face suddenly raw with emotion. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about..."

"No, it's alright, Swan." His voice was tight. "It was a long time ago," he spoke into the ground. "His name was Liam. He was everything to me. My mother died when I was quite young and our father abandoned us shortly after, so Liam brought me up as best he could. He gave up his whole future and enrolled in the navy so that I could join him one day and be brought up somewhere other than streets. Not only was he my big brother, he was my hero." As he tried to go on, he felt his voice lodge in his throat. Killian glanced at Emma and saw nothing but compassion and patience. He took a deep breath before finishing his story. "When I was 17, I got the news that he had died in battle and I moved here as soon as possible after that. I ran away from ever having to face what had happened. I was trying to believe it hadn't." He hung his head as the memories of the pain washed over him, and they slowed to a stop.

"Hey," she whispered soothingly as she placed her hand tenderly on his arm. His haunted eyes met hers and slowly, the fight seemed to drain out of them, washing away the pain. "Tha.."

"Emma?" a voice shot out. "Killian?" A boy raced towards them, oblivious to the heavy moment he'd just shattered. "Elsa sent me to find you guys, she said something about a... actually I forget. She just wanted me to get you." Emma gave Killian a quick, torn look before turning back to the boy, placing a smile on her face.

"Alright, then!" she said to the kid who looked eager to get back to his friends. "Let's go." With their conversation still up in the air, Killian and Emma meandered down the path to meet up with the group.

The campfire on the out-trip was one of Emma's favourite times of the week. It was a time where the kids had settled down enough that Emma could really enjoy herself without playing the babysitter. The dim lighting and warmth from the fire provided a cozy atmosphere that lulled them into a sense of peace and safety deep within the forest.

Killian captured everyone's attention with his riveting ghost stories, the accent and dropping of his voice making them twice as eerie. He also brought out his guitar to teach them some camp songs.

Seeing him from across the fire, Emma had to admit that he was an amazing addition to the Camp Storybrooke team and that they'd be crazy not to offer him a permanent position. If he found somewhere to stay in town, where most of the councilors lived during the year, he'd be close enough to come up if needed. Maybe he could come visit during the spring and winter breaks. Or maybe even on weekends. Emma shook those thoughts from her head. It wasn't like she was planning on seeing him other than for work, so she didn't care how close he lived. It would be nice for Henry to see him. Yeah, for Henry.

As Elsa told a story of her own, Killian took a moment to look around the campfire. He saw the light in each of the kids' eyes and was glad that he could contribute to providing them with this special, happy moment he knew they were too young to fully appreciate. Killian appreciated it though.

He eventually let his gaze fall on Emma. The dancing flames caused her hair to flicker between shades of blonde and the flecks of gold in her eyes to shimmer to the surface. He could tell that she was caught in the moment of the campfire as well.

Slowly, her eyes wandered around the circle before resting on his. Usually, they had many silent conversations when their eyes locked, always trying to read the other person and decipher what was hidden deep beneath the surface, but this one was different. Neither Killian nor Emma were thinking too hard and allowed themselves to simply be wrapped up in each others' gaze. They weren't looking for answers or thinking of consequences, and they weren't too proud to let the other one in on this tranquil moment.

The fire died down as a yawn made its way around the circle of exhausted campers. Emma looked at Elsa, who nodded, before announcing that it was time to get a good night's rest. She told the Swans to go to their tent and get ready, assuring them that her and Elsa would join them shortly. Archie and Killian sent their clan ahead as well. The four councilors, tired after a long day of hiking with the kids, sat around the fire for a little while longer.

"Archie," Elsa suddenly spoke. "Do you think you could come help me with... um... something?"

"Sure," Archie replied, always happy to lend a hand. "What do you need help..."

Without letting him finish, Elsa left the fire pit area and headed through the trees, but not before Emma caught the smirk spreading itself across Elsa's face. Emma felt the heat rise on her cheeks as she realized her and Killian would be alone in a moment. Well, that was subtle. Emma was going to kill her one day.

Killian and Emma watched Archie disappear after Elsa before turning back towards the fire. Seeing as they were on opposite sides of the circle, the space between them was almost pleading to be taken care of. Then, Emma remembered the conversation she had had with Killian on their hike that had never truly been resolved. Cautiously, Emma stood up and went and sat down beside Killian, who kept his eyes focused on the flames. She could feel a warmth make its way through her, and it wasn't just from the fire.

"Thank you for telling me about your brother," she said as they stared into the flames together. "He seemed like a good man."

"Aye," Killian agreed softly. "I strive everyday to be better, to be like him."

Emma knew how hard it was for him to be vulnerable, and to trust her enough to let her in on this part of his life he kept so well hidden. While she was deeply touched, she found herself unsurprised by the level of caring that had managed to come between them. With each of them revealing things about themselves, it made it less scary to tell the other person. This was when Emma usually ran, so why wasn't she running? In fact, why did it feel like she was doing the opposite?

She felt Killian look up at her, and she fixed her eyes on his. An overwhelming sense of déjà vu washed over her when she realized how close they had gotten. Unsure of how long had passed, she noticed him faintly leaning in, and for some reason, she wasn't backing up. She heard his breath hitch, his face just centimeters from hers and all coherent thoughts flew out of her head. Her eyes fluttered shut and she let herself lean...

Snap! A twig broke behind them and they jumped to their feet, torn out of something neither of them would bring up any time soon. A second later, a small girl appeared and informed Emma that she had forgotten her sleeping bag.

"Okay, I'll come see what I can do," she replied at lightning speed, her heart still pounding out of her chest. She gave Killian a fleeting smile before taking off through the trees. She could hardly control her feet that wanted to sprint all the way back to her tent that was plenty far away from the boys.

Emma entered the tent and closed the zipper behind her. She closed her eyes and breathed heavily for a second before acknowledging the company she was in. When she opened her eyes, she found 8 pairs staring back at her. She spotted Elsa pretending to sleep in the corner. Emma opened her mouth to tell them to get some sleep when...

"Are you and Killian dating?"

"How long have you guys been together?"

"Have you guys kissed?"

"Are you married?"

Emma wished she could just crawl into her sleeping bag and try not to think about what had just happened, but clearly her campers had other ideas. They continued to bombard her with questions about Killian, no matter how many times Emma denied everything. Boy, was she going to kill Elsa.