"You okay?"

"Yea."

Emma nods gently, but he can tell she's only telling him half the truth. Her cheek is freezing against his and as he buries a smile into the crook of her neck, she almost slips out of his grasp.

"Let's get her home," David says from behind her and he is more than happy to oblige her father's request.

Sweeping her up in his arms, Killian gently carries her down the icy wall, leaving his companion to deal with the distressed stranger in a blue dress.

"Hang in there, love," he whispers in her ear as he takes advantage of his position to breathe in the smell of her shampoo. It reminds him of the vanilla beans he loved to pilfer from trading ships after the Jolly Roger dragged them in.

Emma shivers in his arms and he realizes that holding her tightly to him won't be enough to warm her up. But he pulls her closer anyway until he reaches the sheriff's cruiser that she often shares with her father.

"Emma, love?" he asks. "Are you still with me?"

"I'm here," he replies faintly.

"I'm going to put you down for a moment. Do you think you have enough strength to lean against the car?"

He can feel her nod against his shoulder before he gently puts her feet on the ground. She plants her feet next to the car, her arms wrapping around her torso to try and keep herself from getting even colder. For the first time since she was trapped in the ice, Killian can see her clearly. Emma's lips are blue with blotches of red trying to peek through. The same goes for her cheeks. Her fingers are an icy white color - or at least that's what he can gather from his quick glance at them since they won't stay still. She's shaking, but her hands seem to be rattling more than the rest of her body.

Killian grasps his hook and unlocks it from its brace before placing it on the hood of the car. After 300 years, he's learned its the better option than ripping the lining of his leather coat - again. He grabs the sleeve with his free hand and pulls it off before shrugging his only hand out of the other one. Then he maneuvers the coat to drape it over her shoulders, hoping the extra leather will warm her quicker.

"Here you go, lass," he says. "Can you slide your arms into the sleeves for me?"

She does as she's told and despite the fact that she's wearing her own leather jacket, there is still plenty of room for her arms to slide smoothly into the sleeves. She lets out a sigh of relief, her shoulders immediately beginning to drain themselves of the stress from her ordeal.

"Thank you," she says, giving him a weak smile.

He smiles back and then opens the car door for her, helping her slide into the back seat of the cruiser. The door closes easily as he turns to see David and Elsa walking towards him.

"What is this?" Elsa says, staring at the unfamiliar contraption.

Killian smiles. Unlike most of the people in this town, he remembers the shellshock of seeing new things in this modern world. "Let's call it a horseless carriage," he explains as he grabs his hook off the hood of the car, snapping it back into place.

"Shall we?" he asks, quickly directing the stranger in blue to the passenger side of the car where he opens the door and helps her in. Then he climbs in the seat behind her, his arms instinctively wrapping around his leather coat that he has bundled Emma up in.

"Are we all set?" David asks, taking a quick peek in the back seat through his rearview mirror.

"Let's go," Killian replies.

David quickly swings the car around before turning on the flashing lights on top of the vehicle. Apparently, there are advantages to being the sheriff. But no matter how fast he drives, Killian is still anxious. He needs to get Emma home, needs to get her somewhere warmer than the backseat of this car.

Luckily, it doesn't take long before they arrive back at her apartment. Killian quickly opens his door and runs over to Emma's side of the car to get her out. He's about to sweep her up again, but she insists on interrupting his romantic gesture. Even when she's in distress, she's stubborn.

"I can walk on my own now," she insists.

"Let me at least help," Killian says, taking her arm and placing it around his neck before grabbing her waist to give her some extra support.

The first person to greet them at the door is Henry, who immediately grabs his mother's other arm to help Killian get her into a chair. Mary Margaret takes a quick glance and heads for her closet to get an armload full of blankets while Killian grabs a space heater to put at her feet.

"It's OK, mom," Henry says as Mary Margaret starts draping blankets over her shoulders. "We're going to get you warmer."

Emma simply nods as her shaking body finally starts to steady itself under the weight of two leather coats and several bedspreads.

"Don't worry, lad," Killian says. "She's definitely doing better. At least the color is coming back to her lips so that's a good sign, no?"

Oh, bloody hell. He looks up to see her parents staring at him. He could've mentioned her cheeks or her fingers or some other chaste body part. But no, he had to make reference to her lips in front of her parents. David gives him a serious stare before Henry thankfully jumps in, innocently unaware of the pirate's comment.

"Do you want hot chocolate?" he asks Emma.

"With cinnamon."

The boy smiles down at his mother. "I could never forget it," he says, giving her a quick squeeze before heading off to the kitchen.

After that, the night is a bit of a blur to Killian. He knows Henry brought Emma some hot chocolate. He knows that at some point David drove Elsa to Granny's to get her a room until they could sort out the issue with her sister. He knows Mary Margaret excused herself at least twice to tend to her son's crying. And during all that, he knows he never left Emma's side. His arm feels so natural around her shoulders, his hand gently brushing over her back to soothe her as the warmth returns to her body.

He opens his eyes after a few hours, his neck stiff from sitting in the same chair with Emma leaning against him. Henry lets out a quiet snore from the couch before turning over to snuggle back into the pillows. He can tell Emma is awake, a groan escaping her lips as she too realizes the pain in her muscles from not only her ordeal in the ice cave but also falling asleep leaning awkwardly on Killian's shoulder.

"What time is it?" she asks quietly.

"It's late, love," he whispers. "Do you have enough strength to get up the stairs yet?"

"Yea," she replies, giving him a reassuring smile that he actually believes. He stands up slowly, gently peeling the blankets off Emma's shoulders. Then he brushes his hand over her cheek to make sure she's at least warmed up a bit compared to the cold skin he felt on his face when he finally pulled her into his arms. But now, his hand feels warm against her soft skin, giving him hope that the worst is behind them.

"Come on, Swan. Time for you to get some rest in your own bed."

She wraps her arm around his neck and he hauls her out of the chair before directing her to the stairway up to her loft. The stairs are a bit steep, but she manages to climb them well with both hands holding on to the rails as Killian stands behind her to catch her if she begins to falter.

As soon as she gets to her bed, she collapses on it with a small groan escaping her lips.

"I know how heavy my coat is if you want me to help you take it off."

"No!" she says, immediately grabbing the lapels and pulling it tightly around her. "I mean, no. I just … I'm still cold."

Killian gives her a bemused smile. "If you say so, love." With him, she's an open book and right now, that book is telling the story of a woman who isn't as cold as she insists. He surely won't object if she wants to keep herself cocooned in his jacket a little while longer - no matter what her excuse is. If she wants to fight him for his coat, he will be more than happy to let her win. He'll tease her about it another time.

Killian takes off his boots and unlocks his hook from its brace. He normally would sleep without both of them, but he's still not ready to allow Emma to see all of him in that way - even if he did give up his ship for her.

He walks over to the bed, unzipping Emma's boots and pulling them off her feet. Unlike his coat, she doesn't object to him taking her shoes off. Then he lies down next to her, trying not to disturb her in the hopes that she's already slumbering again. The mattress feels so much better under his back after sitting in that chair for so long that he almost falls asleep immediately.

Almost.

"Killian?" she mutters from beside him.

"Yes, love?"

"You noticed I was getting warmer because of my lips?"

He thought she may have missed his remark in all the confusion, but she didn't and it makes him smile from his spot beside her. "Does that surprise you?"

Emma laughs quietly beside him. "Go to sleep, pirate."

"As you wish, m'lady," he says tenderly, rolling onto his side to brush his lips lightly against her forehead.

She responds by snuggling deeper into his coat and he can see a smile teasing her lips even in the darkness of her room. She made him seriously worry about her and has practically stolen his beloved leather coat. But as he drifts off to sleep, he can't help but admit that it makes him happy to have this woman in control of his heart.