CS Genre: Rival bakers/enemies to lovers/online dating au

Note: This story was first published as part of my Fluffy Fridays series

6 months later

Killian looked across the small, red and white checked table at his girlfriend. His heart turned over, overwhelmed with love and gratitude that he'd had six incredible months with this woman. He could no longer envision his life without her in it, and he didn't want to.

It had been the best half year of his life.

Not that things were always perfect. They were human after all. They had their disagreements and fights. They had their flaws. They each had quirks that drove the other crazy.

But none of that mattered. Not in the grand scheme of things. The happy moments, the moments of joy and passion, the moments of comfort and friendly companionship far outweighed everything else.

A day without seeing Emma felt like a wasted day.

And so, he'd taken her to the little, upscale Italian restaurant on the edge of town to celebrate their anniversary.

"What?" she asked with a grin, bringing him out of his reveries.

He smiled gently at her, reaching across the table to link their fingers, needing to touch her, to be connected, even in this small way. "I was merely thinking about how much I love you, and how beautiful you look tonight."

And she did. She wore a light pink, sleeveless, tea-length dress, and her hair was piled on top of her head in an elegant high pony tail. She was like the sun, so beautiful that he scarcely could look at her without being overwhelmed.

She colored delicately at his compliments, and gave the hand holding hers a slight squeeze. "Thanks. And you look…"

He gave her a cocky grin. "I know."

She laughed, shaking her head at his antics. He hoped he would still be able to make her laugh like that when they were old and gray.

"So, shall I order us drinks?" he asked.

"No," she said, grinning and looking down bashfully.

Killian leaned back in his seat and gave her the smoldering look he knew would lead to far more enjoyable activities were then not in a public place. "What, Swan, are you afraid you'd find me even more irresistible after a few libations?"

She laughed. "No, I just wanted to stay clear headed tonight."

He cocked his head, sobering. There was definite nervousness in her voice. "Is something the matter, love?"

Emma took a deep breath and then shot him another smile. "As a matter of fact there is."

"Aye, and what might the problem be?"

"The problem," she said, smoothing her thumb over his hand, "is that six months ago we made a bet. Loser of the baking contest had to fulfill the winner's terms."

"Aye, so we did," Killian said with a smile. "And if I recall correctly, you provided me with the kiss I asked…about a thousand times over, if not more."

"True," she said, "and if you play your cards right, there will be about a million more repeats over the next six or seven decades."

"Brilliant," he said, "so what's the problem?"

"The problem," Emma said, mock seriousness in her voice, "is that we tied in that contest, and you've yet to fulfill my terms."

"True," Killian agreed with a nod, "but I can't very well be blamed, as you've as yet failed to set terms."

"Well," Emma said, the nerves rising up once again in her voice, "I finally know what I want those terms to be."

"Aye? Let's hear them."

She took a deep breath, looking down for a moment before meeting his eyes. "As the penalty for not winning the contest", she said, "I want you to marry me."

Killian's heart stuttered and then raced. Had he heard her correctly? Had she just…?

"I thought I was the one who was supposed to ask you that," he said with a grin.

She laughed nervously. "Figures you'd be old fashioned. You like to dress up like a 300 year old pirate, after all."

He laughed, and then brought their joined hands to his lips, tenderly kissing the back of her hand, never breaking eye contact with her. "Emma Swan, I will happily, eagerly accept your terms."

The smile that broke across her face was like the sunrise. She leaned across the table and kissed him long and hard, her free hand coming up to cup the back of his head. They broke free for a moment, resting foreheads against each other, and then Killian drew her back for a second kiss, unable to help himself.

The world fell away when they kissed like this. No one, nothing else existed but him and her and this cocoon of true love they'd built for themselves. It didn't matter how many times he kissed Emma, every time felt fresh, new, like all in his life was finally in perfect alignment.

They broke apart when a stuffy waiter, dressed in a tuxedo and tails tutted disapprovingly. "Would sir and madam like to order tonight?"

Killian laughed. "I think we might need another moment. You see my incredible girlfriend just proposed to me and we're deliriously happy."

"Congratulations," the waiter said, dead pan. "Do hail me when you've had a chance to look over the menu."

With a stiff, formal bow, the waiter departed, and Killian laughed again, turning back toward his girlfriend, (no, fiancée!) But when his eyes met hers the laugh died on his lips. She was no longer smiling, no longer looking like a euphoric newly-engaged woman. She looked troubled.

Had she changed her mind already?

"Swan, what's the matter?" he asked, reaching over so both hands held hers.

"Killian," she said, "this is what you want, right? I didn't meant to, I don't know, pressure you or anything. Don't feel like I'm telling you you have to marry me because of our stupid bet. I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. If this isn't what you want…"

He cut her off with a long, hearty laugh, loud enough to make the people at the table next to them shoot him a startled look. "Not what I want?" he said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. "Swan you must be jesting. I love you more than anything in this world, and I'm fairly certain I've wanted to marry you since the moment you pulled your gun on me back in Gold's shop all those months ago. I'd have proposed right away if I thought you'd have me. I've only held back because I wanted to make sure it was what you wanted."

She surged across the table and gave him another long kiss, before taking her seat. "I love you too," she said finally, a single tear making its way down her cheek. "And I want to spend every day of the rest of my life with you."

"With that," Killian said, "we are in complete accord."

They kissed again, this one slower, softer, more tender. When Killian pulled away, he smiled gently at her. He was fairly certain, after this night, the smile wouldn't leave his face for at least a week.

"Now that that's settled," he said, "perhaps we'd best peruse these menus before our waiter tosses us out of this fine establishment."

She laughed, picking up her menu.

"Sounds good," Emma said. "We'll order, and then over dinner we can debate whether to serve my Elegant Dutch Apple Pie or your Apple Harvest Cake at our wedding reception."

The End!

Emma's (i.e. my Aunt Linda's) Elegant Dutch Apple Pie

1 (8 inch) unbaked pie shell ½ cup flour

¾ cup of sugar ½ stick of butter

3 cups sliced tart apples, peeled 6 tbsp sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

Combine ¾ cup sugar, apples and cinnamon. Place over low heat in a heavy pan. When juice forms, increase heat to moderate and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is about half done. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, place the pie shell in an 8 in. pie plate and crimp the edges as desired. Pour cooked fruit into the shell. Combine flour, butter and 6 tbsp of sugar and sprinkle over the apples. Bake 375 degrees for 45 minutes until fruit is tender and pie shell is lightly browned.

Killian's (i.e. my grandma's) Apple Harvest Cake

1 ¼ cups oil 1 tsp baking soda

2 cups sugar 3 cups flour

3 eggs 3 cups apples, peeled and chopped

1 tsp salt 1 cup walnuts, chopped

Beat oil, sugar and eggs. Ad rest of ingredients and mix well. Dough will be very stiff. Pour into a well-greased angel food cake pan or bundt pan. Bake 300 degrees for 1 ½ hours.

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk

½ cup butter 1 tsp vanilla

Cook on low heat until full boil, stirring continuously. Cool and then beat until almost stiff. Pour over warm cake.