Emma was completely calm about the fact that 2 hours from now Killian Jones was going to pick her up to go to London. Completely calm, not walking around of her hotel room, not checking the backpack she was taking over a hundred times, or her hair… definitely and completely calm. As if.

"Oh, come on, Emma. You are friends, right? And you say you feel nothing, you should be good. Right?" Ruby said over the phone.

"Yeah, I know. It's just that last night threw me off a little bit. I really don't want this to be awkward, Ruby. I like him… as my friend that is." Emma said.

"Of course… as a friend." Ruby deadpanned. "As I said, you should be fine. And if it's awkward you can always fuck and get over it."

"WHAT?! No, no way. Are you crazy? What? No. You are crazy." Emma said and tugged off her sweater, suddenly the hotel room seemed smaller and hotter.

"Oh, come on, you're both big babies now. You can take a one night stand just to break the tension, you know? Oh… you can't see me but I'm winking at you, by the way." Ruby said and Emma could the brunette's smile through the phone. She sighed loudly.

"Ruby, that's not gonna happen, because you don't fuck friends. Besides, I have a date with Graham." Emma said and smiled at the thought of him, he had asked her so adorably to go out yesterday. Now, that's a one night stand Emma wanted to have.

"I didn't have a chance to see Graham, so I'm sticking with the other Irish Sex-God." Ruby answered.
"What's you problem with him? I can introduce you to him if you like Jones so much." Emma sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"If I didn't know you better I'd say you are jealous, Emma. I don't know, Emms, I just have a feeling about him." Her friend said and Emma sat on the feet of the bed, playing with some threads on the sheets.

"What do you mean?" she asked, a little afraid of the answer as she sometimes felt the same way Ruby felt, even though she tried horribly hard to repress it.

"I think he's good for you, Emma Swan. He's outside of your comfort zone, and it's time you live a little." Ruby answered. Emma let herself fall on the bed.

"I know but… Ruby, I can't take a chance that we're wrong about him. I just… can't." Emma said. Feeling her heart clench at the thought of letting him in.

"Oh, Emma… not every guy is like-" Ruby started.

"Don't say his name. I know. But I'm comfortable with my single status and I enjoy his friendship, why try to wreck things?" she said. Emma was tired sometimes of people trying to make her find a guy and settle down even for a while. What was wrong with being single? Nothing. She was completely content with how she was now; she had a nice job and projects that were slowly coming to life. Why add drama?

"Okay. If you really believe that I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, dear Emma." Ruby replied.

"Thanks, Ruby."

"Hoes before bros, right?" Ruby laughed, she said that all the time.

"Hoes before bros, indeed, Ruby." Emma replied.

Emma's cell phone ringed and she picked up without looking who it was.

"Hello?"

"Swan, I'm got off work a little earlier, I'll be there in ten. Is that fine?" Killian asked. "Aye, aye, Captain" She replied with seriousness.

"Very well, then, sailor. I'll expect you to be up in deck in ten minutes. Savvy?" he said. Emma knew Killian loved playing pirate; he could go hours mocking her with pirate-like manners.

"Okay, stop, I'll be there. Now go away." Emma said.

"Okay, okay, fine. Jesus, you and your cock-blocking manners towards my astonishing pirate performance. You shouldn't piss off your guide, Swan. It's not only bad form, but a risk for your well-being."

"Oh, scary. Bye, bye Jones." She said and hung up before he could reply.

Emma gathered her backpack and all the papers she needed, she had already reserved a hotel room so when they got there they wouldn't have to do an impromptu scavenger hunt.

When she got to the hall, she saw Killian talking with one of the receptionists, the girl was obviously flirting, leaning forward showing as much cleavage as the uniform could allow. Killian was no different, also leaning forward with his smirk plastered on his face and biting his bottom lip sometimes. The temptation was just too strong.

"Killy, there you are! Oh, hello Clara. How are you? I see you've met my friend Killian here. Are you ready to go, Killy?" Emma interrupted and put a hand on Killian's bicep secretly winking at him before turning once more towards the receptionist. "Oh, Clara, you have no idea, he came all the way from London looking for me because he wants to propose to his boyfriend Robin, isn't that adorable?" Emma said, grinning at Clara as she felt Killian's posture froze. Clara leaned back, arranging her uniform with a polite yet stunned smile on her face.

"Oh, that's amazingly sweet of you, Killian." She said. Killian scratched behind his ear and smiled a bit.

"Yeah, I know. What can I say? My only regret is that I can't make Emma here settle down, stop leaving the crazy life, you know. One guy a night, it's definitely not healthy." Killian pouted at Emma, with a glint of mischief on his eyes that screamed Game On.

"We've both had our share of weekly one-night stands, Killy." Emma pinched his cheek and his eyes burned her. She grinned at him. "Okay, big guy, we gotta go now, we have a proposal to plan." She pulled Killian by the arm towards the exit door. "Bye, Clara." She managed to say and bursted into laughter when they were outside.

"What is wrong with you?" Killian asked even as he was laughing too.

"It was just too tempting, I couldn't help myself." Emma bursted laughing again, wiping tears from her eyes and was just calming herself when Killian dropped her over his shoulder.

"Ugh, Jones, not again, put me down." She said and Killian started poking her on her side. "STOP THAT!"

"You cock-blocked me, Swan. Twice today." He swatted her lightly on the ass and she gasped, hitting his back with her fists before he let her go. "Ouch, you vicious little creature." Killian massaged his back.

"That's for invading my personal space… again. You don't learn, do you?" Emma crossed her arms across her chest and lifted an eyebrow. Killian closed the space between them, Emma's breath getting caught on her throat at the closeness and he leaned down to grab her backpack that was next to her on the ground.

"Nope, never learn." He grinned at her and kissed her cheek. Emma scoffed and rolled her eyes, bringing down to a normal pace her erratic heartbeat.

They waited a cab that would take them to the ferry that would take them to England, and then they would take a train to London, they would arrive around midnight to the hotel and she was glad she had made reservations.

As they arrived to the ferry, Emma went directly to the outside part of the ship, two days of the week she had been near the sea and she loved it, she felt so free. Emma closed her eyes and gripped the railing sighing; they didn't talk for a few minutes, enjoying the sound of the water below them.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Killian said looking at the water with a small smile on his face.

"It really is. I could get use to this view, don't you think?" she replied. Killian looked at her for a few seconds before looking back to the water.

"Yes, me too." He said.

They spent one hour outside, enjoying the sun and making small talk.

"Shit" Emma heard Killian said and pinch the bridge of his nose. "Shit."

"What's wrong, Jones?" she asked frowning. Killian looked to the water below before answering.

"Okay, don't look now. I said don't look, Swan. Jesus. There's an… ex of mine here, not an ex, more like a one night stand that didn't understand that it was just a one night stand." Killian grimaced and passed a hand through his hair.

"Ouch, I hate it when that happens." Emma looked around subtly and there was a blonde looking in Killian's direction, only looking wasn't exactly what she was doing, by the strength of her glare Emma was surprised Killian didn't have a hole on his skull by now. She chuckled and stared at the floor, she had had a couple of guys asking her on a second date or wanting more than sex, and she always rejected them without thinking.

"Do you trust me?" Killian asked suddenly, touching her arm softly, not taking his eyes from hers.

"Not really." Emma replied instantly, there was no necessity in lying to him, Killian could take it and if he couldn't then he wasn't who she thought he was. Killian grinned at her approvingly and she lifted and eyebrow.

"Just play along and don't kick me later, okay?" He said.

"Jones, what are you -?" Emma never finished because Killian's lips touched her. Emma's body froze at first, trying to process what was happening. Killian put a hand on the back of her neck pressing her closer against him, their lips just touching but then he nipped at Emma's bottom lip and her body responded on her own accord as her mind was trying to remember what they were talking about before. Emma kissed him back slowly, her hands gripping the material of the flannel on his sides as she bit his bottom lip a little bit rougher than she intended before passing her tongue along it to soften the sting. Killian took advantage and deepened the kiss turning his head to the side¸ his tongue playing with Emma's for dominance. The electricity running through her veins made her heart beat uncontrollably. When Emma's mind catched up to the situation she broke the kiss but didn't step back, she took account of the way her hands had clutched the collar of his flannel. Killian's lips were a bit swollen from the kiss and his breathing was faster than normal, she could feel his breath on her face and closed her eyes a second to regain control of her mind and focus. When she looked back at him her face was expressionless.

"Don't ever do that again or I'll have to cut your manhood and feed it to the wolves, get it?" She said looking at him intently, letting her grip on him go slowly and trying to arrange his clothes a little. There was no use for her to slap him or make a scene, because she was sure the blonde must have watched them and Emma was sure any scene she could make would be nothing against the one that woman could do. Drama free life. She should get that tattooed.

Killian grinned at her. "Come on, love. Now, that wasn't so bad, huh?" he passed a finger over his bottom lip and smirked. "I did tell everyone you were a biter; I can't say that I complain, tho." Emma fought the blush creeping to her cheeks as she glared venomously at him. She looked around the ferry and there were no signs of the blonde.

"She's gone, Jones. You so owe me a drink after that." She said and the speakers of the ship communicated they were arriving.

"I do. And thanks, if you ever want to bite someone again, you know where to find me" Killian winked at her and signalled to the exit of the ferry where people were starting to gather. She threw a last glance to the water, wondering if she had made the right decision coming here at all.

It was a little past midnight when they got to the Hotel, Emma was tired from the train, her back screaming for a bed to lay on. Killian next to her looks positively exhausted, his hair dishevelled and dark circles under his eyes. He looked cute like that, even if she was still quite angry because of what had happened earlier.

"Swan, you're staring." He said matter-of-factly as they entered the hotel hall.

"It's just that you look like shit." She replied with the same tone.

"Oh, I'm sorry my looks don't quite please your considerate altruistic holy ass, your Highness." Killian smiled charmingly at her and she grinned mockingly at him.

"Don't make me bite you again." She said.

"Oh, please, go ahead. Just know that I like to fight back." He raised an eyebrow at her challengingly and Emma snorted.

"Please, you couldn't handle it." She said and kept walking towards the reception desk when Killian stood in front of her suddenly.

"Perhaps you're the one who couldn't handle it." Killian answered her smirking and kept walking. Emma sighed and rubbed her eyes with her hand, he was tired but he still had the energy to piss her off. What have you gotten into, Swan?

"Hi, I've made a reservation for two rooms yesterday. My name is Emma Swan." She told the guy behind the desk.

"Sure, let me check, Emma." He said and smiled warmly at Emma; she heard Killian snort softly behind her and turned around with a confused look on her face. He wasn't even looking at her. "Uhm… Miss Emma, I think there might've been a confusion, you reserved one room only, with the king size bed." The receptionist guy said and Emma felt her eyes open wide.
"You scoundrel, already wanting to get to me to your bed." Killian said on her ear, she pushed him away.

"Shut up, Jones. No, I'm sorry, there must be some kind of mistake, I reserved two separated bedrooms" Emma emphasized the word separated. "Can we change that? Or I don't know?..." Emma begged him

"I'm sorry, but all the other rooms are taken, this is the only one. I believe tomorrow there might be some hotel rooms free by noon, but tonight we just have that one bedroom. I'm sorry." He concluded.

"But…" Emma started and was cut by Killian's hand on her shoulder.

"Swan, can I talk to you for a little bit?" he said. Emma hesitated at first, but he didn't have his usual mocking expression on him.

"Yeah. We'll be right back." She told the reception boy.

"What's wrong?" she asked as they were farther away from the desk.

"Swan, I'm tired. I know that you're tired. Why don't we just take the room for tonight and tomorrow we change it?" He sighed and passed a hand through his hair, messing it up even more. "Look, we're both grown-ups and we're friends. Besides, you listened to him, it's a king sized bed, we won't even have to be near each other whilst we sleep. I promise I won't touch that feathery body of yours, Emma." The way he said her name confused her. Emma used her lie detector on him and it didn't even blink, he was right, they were both tired from the journey and the long day, he had been working all day in the studio.

The fact that they had kissed didn't mean they were ever going to do that again, Emma didn't want anything to do with anybody, especially if that anybody was her… friend. She could do this, even if her body tensed at the thought of being near him in the strangely intimate task that was sleeping, even more so because she found it rather difficult even lying by herself to sleep. Emma took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose briefly.

"Okay, but you touch me and you're dead. You hear me?" She said and not expecting an answer from him, walked right back to the desk to order the keys to the room.

They arrived to the hotel room and as soon as Killian saw the bed, he slumped face first on it and groaned.

"I'm gonna marry this bed." He said and Emma snorted, leaving her things on one of the chairs and starting to take out her pajama, which consisted on an old tshirt and pajama shorts and headed to the bathroom, Killian still lying in the same position.

She changed clothes and freshened a little before returning, Killian was already changed… or half changed as he was only wearing pajama pants and wasn't wearing a tshirt. Emma stopped walking as she saw him, the breath catching on her throat, fire starting from the pit of her stomach in all directions. She recovered herself and kept walking to her backpack, leaving her folded clothes over it.

"Aren't you gonna use a t-shirt?" she asked nonchalantly not looking at him.

"Well, if you're gonna use those shorts and show off those beautiful legs I can sleep bare chested." Killian said standing up and winking at her as he turned around to glare at him, wanting to cover herself with something.

"Asshole" She said and narrowed her eyes at him, his grin growing wider. "You better not touch me or I will kick you out of the bed and you'll sleep on the floor."

She woke up warm. Emma shifted to get closer to the source of heat against her, still asleep. It took her about ten seconds to realise what was happening and freeze in place as she gathered information about her surroundings. An arm was hugged tightly over her waist and she realised she was holding the hand that belonged to that arm, as if unconsciously making sure they wouldn't let go. The source of heat cuddling with her had his –bare– chest against her back. The source of heat suddenly sighed and Emma realised she was not the only one awake.

"On the scale from 1 to 10, how much are you freaking out, Swan?" he asked in a whisper, Emma closed her eyes at the feeling of his voice near her ear, her heart was beating out of control and she was fighting the rising panic.

"It depends on whether you did this awake or asleep." She said a little breathless.

"And what makes you think this was all my doing?" He said and moved a little his hand to make her notice the way she was holding onto it, she immediately let it go. Killian sighed and laid on his back beside her, his warm leaving her and Emma had to use every ounce of her self-control not to moan at that loss. "I woke up and we were in that position. I don't even remember moving, Swan." His voice gave nothing away, but she could feel the stillness of his body mirroring hers.

"In that case I'm a solid 6" she answered his question and sighed, moving to sit on the bed, not yet looking at him. The truth that was haunting her was that she felt well rested, she had slept better than she had in months, the only way of feeling this rested for her was to exhaust herself or take sleeping pills.

Emma finally turned to look at him and catched him looking at her, his arm in her direction as he had attempted to reach for her and had regretted it last minute. He looked positively ravished, his hair in every direction and his eyes a little hooded from sleep. He smiled softly at her and Emma looked away, his gaze too heavy for her to hold.

"Nothing happened, and it doesn't matter because today they will change us to another room with single beds, hopefully." She said and got up, ignoring the way his smile faltered a little.

"Aw, not a cuddler I take it, Swan?" He said and put his hand behind his head, smirking at her.

"Not if I can help it." She replied getting clothes from her backpack. "Now get changed, tour guide, you have a job accomplish." She told him smirking before heading to the bathroom.

The rest of the day was amazing, Emma took tons of photos. They first went to the centre of London, visiting the London eye, looking at the Big Ben and the Westminster cathedral, passing by Trafalgar square and then eating on Piccadilly Circus. Killian was an amazing guide, to her surprise. He knew a lot of tales and historical facts about the places as he walked her through London. She took the liberty of taking several pictures of him too, using Killian as his living model, when she felt the photo needed a person, she would tell him to stand where she needed him. He would goof around and make silly face, ruining a few photos before regaining seriousness and doing what she asked, the accident from this morning completely forgotten.

They had walked past a couple of guys playing the guitar, they stayed watching them and Killian singed along whispering the words as he smiled. One of the guys playing asked him to join them and Killian looked at Emma as if asking her if he could, which surprised her a little, she smiled softly and nodded, he kissed her cheek and she glared at him mumbling something about personal space. Killian got closer to the performers and asked if they had an extra guitar or something, they had a ukulele. Soon Killian was jamming along the street performers, making more people pay attention to them. They were great, Emma thought as she smiled at Killian's performance. She admired the way he moved and easily showed himself to other people, she couldn't do it. She hated being the centre of attention.

They walked through London till it was dark and they found a simple restaurant to have dinner, eating fish and chips, just because if you were in London you had to at least once eat fish and chips, Killian insisted.

When they reached the hotel, Emma headed to the desk to retrieve the new keys of their new bedroom, convincing herself that what she felt when they told her they had their new room was complete and utter relief, nothing more… but as Emma laid alone on her double bed, her mind working rapidly and insomnia taking over, she started feeling a weird nostalgia towards the good sleep she had had yesterday, hoping to sleep like that too, but apparently it was not going to happen. She would never admit it, not even to herself, but she missed Killian's warmth but mostly she missed a good night sleep so badly, she was not used to sleeping like that naturally and she almost felt like weeping as her insomnia mocked her, a hint of hysteria rising over her. Almost two hours after, she was exhausted but couldn't find peace to sleep, she dammed Killian to hell for making her miss sleeping. Really, all she wanted was to sleep, was that so much to ask?

"Killian?" she whispered to see if he was still awake, her mind disconnecting from her body and self-control. She was done with this shit.

"Yes?" she felt him whisper back, and she stopped. What was he doing awake? Was he suffering as she was? Emma closed her eyes to gain the strength to stop the next words that escaped her mouth, but the tiredness was a strong pull.

"Killian… I'm… I'm cold." She said so softly Emma was wondering if he had heard her, she hated the shyness and the hint of neediness of her voice, but she was beyond caring fully, tonight she just wanted to sleep. She knew Killian knew it was a lie, she wasn't cold, she just didn't want to accept the fact that she needed him with her. Emma was about to ask if he was asleep when she heard him get up, and next thing Emma knew the side of her bed behind her sunk down under his weight, she forgot how to breath for the next seconds as he crawled next to her and slowly accommodated his body to hers, Emma could feel his arm hesitate as he pulled it over her waist, they sighed in unison at the contact. Emma pressed herself closer to him, his chest against her back and touched her hand to his, not gripping it like she had yesterday, but touching it. Killian's thumb softly caressed her hand.

It didn't take long to find the peace they both were searching for and sleep.

The next morning she woke up alone in bed, Emma looked around trying to search for the missing person in the room and she found him on the balcony, both hands on the railing looking outside. Emma let her still semi-asleep- self enjoy the view of his lean back muscles and arms, remembering the strong hold that embraced her last night, she felt her cheek flush, this was all kinds of wrong and she knew it but the thing was that the longer she got to know him, the less she cared about it. They were finding the balance in their relationship where they gently took what they wanted from each other and never talked about it after that had happened. Emma found herself relaxing, this dynamic turned easy to her, actions and desires she could manage, they were easy and predictable, feelings were twisted creatures that ringed dissonant on her ears.

Killian turned around to her and smiled when he saw her awake.

"Hello Beautiful, ready for another adventurous day?" He asked and Emma stood up from bed, getting a high five from him.

Yes, Emma could totally handle this relationship.

Emma accommodated her red dress, looking back at her form on the mirror, her hair fell softly in waves around her, the dress hugged her curves like she liked it, Ruby would say she was dressed to impress and she was right, she had in about an hour her date with Graham. She wasn't nervous in the slightest, after all this could have just one ending and that included Emma returning to Boston with no links towards him, just a one night stand and nothing more. Feeling more than pleased with herself she took her purse and the bag with Killian's misplaced t-shirt, she had found it on her backpack when they came back to Dublin, and was supposed to go to the Studio to give it back before heading to the restaurant where she was meeting Graham.

When she got to the studio Ariel was, as usual, behind her desk and her eyes grew wider as she saw Emma.

"Wow, you look gorgeous Emma! You meeting Graham or trying to give him a heart attack?" Ariel smiled back at her and Emma giggled at the compliment.

"Just meeting him and before that I have to give this back to your annoying boss, where is he?" She asked and Ariel pointed the corridor

"Studio A, Emms."

Emma knocked on the door of the studio and heard a muffled "Come in" from the other side, she opened the door and Killian was looking at the musicians from the control room.

"I'm delivering your missing t-shirt." She said and left the bag on the side of the couch, when she looked at him he was staring at her with wide eyes and his mouth was a little open. She frowned. "What? What's wrong?" she asked and looked down to herself and didn't find anything wrong.

"Wrong? That's what's wrong." He said and pointed at the dress. "That's sinfully wrong, who are you trying to kill?" he said and she raised an eyebrow smirking at him.

"Graham. You like it?" She said and turned quickly on her place, with her hands on her hips. Killian's expression darkened little.

"Graham? Really? You are dating him? I don't approve, love, your ass looks extremely gorgeous in that and he doesn't deserve an ass like that." He replied crossing his arms across his chest before telling the musicians to take five, Emma could see a few of the ogling at her from the other side of the glass.

"If I didn't know you any better I'd say you sound jealous, captain." She said teasing him. Killian laughed.

"Me? Jealous of that poor guy? Yeah, sure. I'm far more handsome and charming. I'm just saying I don't like him for you, lass… for you or that amazing backside of yours" He winked at her and got closer, taking her hand before making her turn around. "Yep, he's definitely not worth that ass's time." His expression sobered. "You look ravishing, Swan." Killian smirked and sat on the couch, her stomach doing a flip inside her.

"I'm still going to date him and hopefully get me some. Don't sound like a big brother." She said, he was having the same reaction David would have. She rolled her eyes as she thought about it.

"Are you kidding me? You can't sleep with him!" Killian said and looked at her as she had just said she was thinking about killing kitties.

"Excuse me? Why not?" she asked him, getting angrier.

"Because… because just no. He's…" Killian seemed to struggle to find words. "I don't trust him." He finished and she snorted.
"Well, you don't have to trust him." She replied.
"Yes, I do. Aren't we friends?" Killian asked and she sighed.

"I guess, but I'm still going out with him, Jones." She said and looked at him right in the eye, they might be friends but she decided what to do with her life.

"Fine." He said simply and raised his hands as he silently told her he gave up.

"Great, I'll see you later, Jones." She walked out and went to her date.

The night was great; they went to a restaurant and chatted while they ate. Graham ogled at her as he first saw her, and she felt like saying "mission accomplished". His hand rested low on her back as they entered the restaurant and she dammed her brain for linking that action to Killian's comments.

Graham was refreshing and a complete gentleman, much different to Killian's personality, Graham was calmer and his innuendos were more innocent. Emma relaxed as she took often the lead of the date, he was a handsome man and surely, when they walked to the park, somehow they ended sitting on a bench and immersed on a mild make out session. Something on the back of Emma's head told her she hadn't feel like this with Killian, that this kiss didn't make her burn inside out. She shut out her brain and asked Graham if he wanted to come to her hotel with her, trying to erase any thoughts of blue eyes from her mind. Fucking bastard.

Graham gently declined even though his eyes were filled with lust she felt something was off about them and she couldn't understand what.

As Emma entered her hotel room she understood the emotion behind Graham eyes and was extremely confused to find it was nostalgia… of what, she wouldn't know. She laid on her bed, the cold of it making her heart clench, it had been two says since they had come back from London and she had sleep horribly both nights, her body ached from the lack of sleep and she dammed Killian to hell all over again for destroying the little sleep she usually had.

Damn Killian freaking Jones and his calming presence.