Emma paces up and down by the front door and shakes out her hands anxiously.

'Mom, are you scared?' Henry asks when he leaves his bedroom and notices her strange behaviour. She stops pacing and laughs shakily.

'No I'm not scared, just a little nervous I guess. Are you sure you're okay with me going kid? Because if you're not I can just cancel-'

'Mom stop using me as an excuse to chicken out.' Henry tells her with a shake of his head. Her eyes widen before she sighs and leans against the door.

'You're right, I am. I just haven't been on a date in a very long time.' She says it more to herself than her son but he nods and folds his arms as if he understands perfectly despite only being 12 and (to her knowledge anyway) has never been on a date.

'I just want you to be happy, and as long as he isn't like Walsh I'm happy too.' Emma flinches at the mention of her last relationship. Henry had been 9 at the time and it was the first serious relationship she had had since he was born. Emma had always been careful about who she brought home to meet her son and she truly believed Walsh was a good guy, but clearly that hadn't been the case.

A knock on the door behind her jolts her as she gasps before looking to Henry.

'Go Mom, have fun.' He encourages her with a smile, and she smiles weakly back before scrambling for her handbag and straightening out her dress. She opens the door and is only vaguely aware of the fact that her mouth hangs open.

Killian is wearing black leather pants and a jacket with a black shirt underneath, his top three buttons undone casually. His hair is slightly messy like the last time she saw him and she just wants to run her fingers through it.

'Hi.' She says breathlessly, glad to see he looks equally lost for words.

'You look so beautiful.' He says quietly, a smile curving his lips up as he looks over her light pink dress, bare legs and heels.

'Thanks. You look pretty good yourself.' She replies. She hears a cough from behind and cringes. Right, her son was still very much in the same room and listening to every word.

'Um, Killian this is my son Henry. Henry, this is Killian.' She says awkwardly, gesturing between the two as an attempt to introduce them. Killian smiles and extends his hand out to Henry, who is sporting his quirked eyebrow of judgement but extends his own hand in politeness.

'I've heard great things about you, lad. Your mother loves you very much.' Killian says genuinely, and Emma watches her son closely as his eyes narrow before he nods.

'And I love her just as much.' Emma knows it's her son's way of warning Killian not to hurt his mom and despite a semi-threat from a 12 year old not exactly being intimidating Killian nods like he knows exactly what Henry means.

'Okay, the lasagna is in the oven and should be ready in 10. Please remember to turn it off so that there is still an apartment for me to come back to tonight.' Emma tells Henry as she kisses his forehead and ruffles his hair teasingly.

'Yeah, yeah I got it. Have fun you guys.' Henry says, and she gives him a grateful smile before shutting the door and locking it behind her.

'Henry is exactly how I imagined a child of yours to be.' Killian laughs as they leave the apartment building and head towards his car.

'In what way?' She asks curiously as he opens the passenger door for her.

'Well he's definitely a little spitfire.' Killian answers with a grin as he leans against the door like some kind of model. Her cheeks warm and she looks down at her hands in her lap while he climbs into the driver's seat beside her. She doesn't like telling men that she has a child because their mind usually goes to two places; she's looking for a substitute father for her child or she's just an 'easy, bangable' soccer mom.

Killian seems to have respect for both her and her child and it eases some of her anxiety about going on this date.

'So where are you taking me? We're going in the opposite direction to the supermarket so that's a good sign.' She jokes when they start driving, allowing herself to glance over at Killian a few more times now that it is darker on the roads. He laughs softly and she finds the sound relaxing.

'Patience has never been your strong suit has it, Swan?' He asks with wiggle of his eyebrow. It's the first time he (or anyone) has called her by her last name and she actually quite likes it.

'Oh I can be patient, Jones. I just like to know where I'm going when I get into a car with a handsome man I barely know.' She realizes she complimented him without intending to but she leaves it; it's obvious she's attracted to him anyway.

'We're almost there, surely you can relinquish control for 5 more minutes?' Killian teases, and she rolls her eyes. He doesn't say anything about her compliment but she notices the way he dips his head down modestly.

Emma looks out the window and notices that they are on the main road heading outside of town. She frowns but otherwise says nothing. She shivers involuntarily, wishing she had brought a jacket when Killian silently puts the heater on for her. He probably would have offered his own jacket if he hadn't been driving and the thought makes her feel like a teenager again.

Just as she begins to relax she notices a building at the side of the road and Killian turns in to the parking lot. She smiles when she recognises the stringed white lights of the Italian restaurant she saw when she drove into town for the first time.

'How did you know I wanted to come here?' She asks in amazement as she takes off her seatbelt.

'You mentioned it the other night, which clearly you can't remember doing so.' He chuckles, and she bites her lip in embarrassment briefly (maybe she had more rum than she thought). He exits the car and quickly moves to open her door before she can. She's not usually bothered about the whole chivalry idea of men opening doors and taking hands and waiting on women but with Killian it feels natural, like he wants to do it for her and not because it's expected of him.

They walk side by side up to the restaurant and are greeted by a smiling waiter with a large moustache and an accent, both of which are probably fake but it makes Emma smile anyway. He takes them to a table in the far corner, away from the two other couples dining there already (she isn't sure but she assumes by the wink and shared smiles between Killian and the waiter that he reserved this table specifically).

She settles into her seat and looks around the restaurant in admiration. It's quiet and calm and she's glad she finally has the chance to eat here. Their table is near a trellis with faux but beautiful flowers around it with white fairy lights tangled in between. The music is soft and relaxing and there is a gentle buzz from the staff and other customers that's strangely comforting.

'Do you like it?' Killian asks, pulling her back to reality.

'Yes it's beautiful. Henry doesn't really like fancy restaurants so we don't eat out a lot.' She laughs as she looks over the menu.

'So is it just you and Henry then?' Killian asks casually as he looks over his own menu. She takes a drink of the tap water beside her before answering.

'If it wasn't do you think I would be on a date with you right now?' Emma asks teasingly.

'I didn't mean it like that. I meant-'

'I know what you meant, and yes, it is just me and Henry. I was a foster kid, never knew my real parents and never had any siblings. Henry is my family.' She says nonchalantly. She doesn't want to beat around the tragic bush that is her childhood but after his message about his brother a few days ago she knows he isn't a stranger to family issues either.

'There's one perk to that right? No awkward Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings with everyone arguing and kids screaming and relatives you hate asking about your professional and romantic life like they have a right to know your business.' Killian says with a shrug.

'Are you speaking from experience of such gatherings?' Emma replies. This is a conversation she truly despises but talking to him about it seems surprisingly easy.

'Actually no. My father left when I was 10 and my mother died soon after. Liam, my brother, took care of me after that. He was my only family, until he passed away after a car accident 7 months ago.' Killian glances down at his menu and her heart aches for him.

She reaches for his hand across the table automatically and he flinches before looking up at her.

'It's why I'm working at the supermarket. Turns out Liam's management role in our company was a lot harder than he made it look. No one wanted to do business with the younger 'playboy' brother after he was gone and the company fell apart.' Killian's laugh lacks humour and she squeezes his hand.

'I'm so sorry about your brother.' She offers quietly. He smiles weakly at her before sighing and shaking his head.

'I did not intend for our first date to start so intensely.' Killian exhales and Emma raises her eyebrows.

'First date?'

'A man can hope.'

They share a smile as the waiter comes over to take their orders and Emma relaxes. Somehow it's reassuring to know that they aren't skirting around the sensitive issues, even if that has always been her favorite technique to protect herself.

'And I chased his ass down the street and slammed his head against the wheel of his car.' Emma laughs before finishing off her glass of wine. They both finished their desserts 20 minutes ago but the conversation is stilling flowing and he doesn't want it to end.

She's beautiful like this (she's beautiful in every way) with her cheeks rosy and her eyes sparkling. She's only had one glass of wine and he's reassured to know that she isn't drinking to get through the night like she did at the party.

'So compared to that 'date' how does this one fair?' Killian replies with a raised eyebrow.

'Hmm, considering this one is actually real I'm going to have to say that it's an improvement. And the company isn't too bad this time either.' Emma grins. He smiles at her comment and fiddles with the edge of his napkin on the table.

'I was going to ask you on a date last Friday. I'd planned out this whole thing in my head that I would say to you but you didn't come to my checkout and I just hoped I would see you next Friday.' He doesn't know why he tells her this. He got the chance to talk to her and now they're on a date but he feels the need to let her know.

'I was actually going to ask you out the same day too.' Emma admits, and he looks up at her in surprise. Her bashful smile is enough to tell him it's the truth and warmth floods his chest. That was the day she had her hair pinned up and was wearing the white sweater that made him want to wrap his arms around her. He was about to ask her why she didn't but stopped himself; it didn't really matter now after all.

Killian pays the bill (Emma frowns at him when he insists before her lips curve upwards) and they slowly walk back to his car, both full but satisfied after their food.

'So I told you about my last date, what about yours?' Emma asks once he starts the engine. The conversation had started as a joke but he can tell that she is genuinely curious.

'Technically yours wasn't a date, it was an uncover ruse to catch the guy.' He points out, and she groans.

'Okay you got me there.' Emma laughs lightly before it turns into a sigh and she shifts in the passenger seat beside him.

'My last real date was about 3 years ago. We'd been dating for about 8 months at this point and we went to my favorite restaurant in the city. We were talking about Henry's science project at school and I said something about my kid growing up so quickly and suddenly he was down on one knee proposing. He said that we could start a new future together and that I could have the chance to raise another child 'right' this time. Of course that made me angry and I ran out of the restaurant and we argued on the street. He told me that I should be grateful for all that he had done for me and that I was lucky because women like me don't meet guys like him. Needless to say I broke up with him after that. I had always tried to be careful about who I invited into Henry's life and this guy had confirmed exactly why I needed to worry.'

There is a moment of silence after Emma stops talking. He felt anger boil inside him as she spoke, gripping harder onto the steering wheel as she described this jerk that she used to date.

'He sounds like a bloody arsehole to me.' He replies quietly, causing Emma to burst out laughing. He glances over at her and she's grinning and shaking her head.

'Yes, well I definitely had a string of expletives I referred to him with for a while, none quite as endearingly British as that though.' She cradles her handbag in her lap and he can tell that despite her laughter she finds it difficult to talk about her previous relationship.

'I'm sorry, bringing up my ex is like breaking one of the first date rules or something.' Emma continues apologetically.

'I've never been one for the rules anyway, lass.' Killian replies softly. She looks over at him gratefully and he glances at her before looking back at the dark road ahead.

'My last date was about 8 months ago. I wasn't in a relationship with her, it was just one date. She was sweet, attractive, funny and just my type. And I felt nothing. We saw a movie and went out for dinner afterwards and she did most of the talking. We said goodnight, went our separate ways and I never saw her again.' He turns into the street of her apartment complex as he finishes talking and he feels disappointment when he realizes their date is about to end.

'At least it was a clean cut getaway.' Emma says with a shrug.

He parks the car and fiddles with his keys as he stops the engine. He hears Emma take off her seatbelt and he does the same.

'I'll walk you up.' He says nervously and to his relief she smiles.

They make their way to her apartment on the third floor as Emma jokes about Mary Margret probably watching through her peephole. She sighs when they reach her door and she gets out her keys. He sees her hesitate and his stomach flips with anticipation.

'I had a really great time tonight.' She says quietly. He moves closer to her (blocking the view from her neighbour's door, just in case) and smiles at her.

'I did too. I never expected to end up sharing cheesecake with a customer.' She laughs at his bad attempt at humour and the sound makes him restless with desire. Her red lips are curved up in a smile and her lashes are fluttering, hiding her green eyes as she looks down. He's barely taken his eyes off of her all night, but she looks the most beautiful now that he is so close to her.

Her hair falls across her face and he automatically moves to push it back, his fingers running through the blonde curl as he hooks it behind her ear. Emma looks up then and her lips are still slightly parted as he hand lingers at the side of her face. He doesn't think, he just moves naturally and his lips are finally on hers. She responds immediately, her arm coming around his waist and her hand pressing his body into her. His own arm rests at her hip and he dares to pull her even closer.

He can smell her sweet perfume and feel the heat of her body and the taste of her lips and she's so intoxicating. Her lips leave his too soon but she stays pressed against him, exhaling with a shaky breath.

'Goodnight, Killian.' She whispers, and he feels the lack of her warmth straight away when she moves to unlock her door.

'Goodnight, Emma.' He replies, exhaling when she smiles before shutting the door. His lips still tingle from touching hers and he can't stop thinking about the little noises she made and the way she held on to him as he makes his way home. He goes to bed with thoughts of the beautiful blonde and how it is entirely possible that a person can be the silver lining to a bad situation.

A/N: So I actually wrote 3 different versions of this chapter before I changed it to this and I have no idea why I was so indecisive but I hope it was enjoyable anyway! Thanks for the follows, favorites and reviews, they really keep me motivated when I get creatively frustrated :P