so thanks for the reviews, this chap is especially written for those who were nice enough to leave me one..

chapter 8: Full time Addiction

Stage 4: Drug Addiction and Dependency
Physical dependence on a drug is often intertwined with addiction. Characteristics of dependence and drug addiction include withdrawal symptoms and compulsive use of the drug despite severe negative consequences to his or her relationships, physical and mental health, personal finances, job security and criminal record.

-Taken from "the four stages of drug addiction" by Casa Palmera Staff-

Aurora took a deep breath, and another, and yet another.

Why was Killian always right?, here she was for one single moment enjoying the morning, after having the best sleep she ever had in years, even if it was only three hours, and he had to come and ruin it with reality, the reality where she had responsibilities..and things to do.

She had to admit his side of life looked appealing, who wouldn't be attracted by the life Killian Jones led, forever in the sea so vast, not having to watch after nobody but himself, and possibly his crew, doing what he wanted and sailing away leaving strange locations to see even more world mysteries.

Yes it was attractive, but not something that appealed to her.

Her reality while so different from his, was a reality she loved, if only she could make him see what it was she loved so much about being in one place.

Then she had an idea, it was crazy, and looking at Hook in the steering wheel of the yacht, he probably would say no, but he had shared this part of him with her, and she wanted, no needed, to share a part of her with him. So at last she spoke, summoning the nonchalance she didn't feel.

"last night was a Friday night, as far as uncle Midas is concerned I can do what I wish as long as it isn't a school night" she said pretending to be confident "And I'm a model citizen, I think my reputation can take a little gossip"

"exhibiting the pirate spirit darling, that's a first" he was nervous, thinking that maybe he had miscalculated, and Aurora did want to be with him alone in his ship after all, devil take him, one thing was for him to like her but another thing was for her to like him back... so far her resistance to his charm and her utter disdain for him had been what was keeping him in check.

Hook resisted the need to look for liquor and down a a bottle in one sitting, he didn't debauch virgins, he didn't debauch virgins, he didn't debauch virgins, he reminded himself over and over, "I am trying not to judge you Hook, you showed me the sea, and tough I don't love it, I still think it's beautiful, take this small show of dis-inhibition as a offering of gratitude"

if this was how she showed her gratitude he wondered how she would react if he showed her, some more "beautiful" things he knew, but no, that thought would have to wait "I don't need you gratitude princess, don't waste it on me"

"Nevertheless, I'm still grateful" Aurora shrugged her shoulders and turned away looking at the fast approaching shore, "I now understand why you love the sea so much" she said against the whipping wind "your kind of freedom is very attractive"

"But I'm guessing it still doesn't appeal to you am I right princess?" Hook rolled his eyes, funny how in daylight, he could see her emotions play right across her face, something he didn't get much at night. "you would rather have the desert, or in this case, dry land" the pirate said stopping the boat right at the side of the pier.

"I told you, you would never understand why I love land so much" replied the princess deciding it was now or never, she took a deep breath and tried to channel her inner Mulan, or Red, or inner Killian "Now come on, I believe I owe you a free breakfast" she said motioning with her head downtown's direction once her feet where firmly set on the solid wooden planks of the pier

Killian was puzzled at her sudden invitation, the sunrise must have mellowed her royal highness quite a bit, he expected her to walk away and not look back, instead she was intentionally risking his company on broad daylight "I didn't realize you considered a ride in the Phoenix that cheap" Hook said jumping off board with agility and landing next to her "next time I'll make sure you know the million dollar fee"

"You can refuse if you want it's not like I am overly eager, but..." the princess trailed off not knowing what to say "Ruby makes, the best cappuccinos" was all it occurred to her and feeling like a very dorky person, she started walking away before he could catch her red face.

"I? refuse the company of a beautiful lady such as you?, whoever heard of something more outrageous dear Aurie" Killian mocked with his hand to his heart jogging swiftly to catch up with her

"Aurie? My name is not Aurie you idiot pirate" the princess said in outrage, disliking the sound of the silly nickname

"Ohh but now it is, Last night I thought Aurora was too much of an effort to pronounce so I decided to rechristened you" Hook said matter-of-factly, eying her up and down, black turtleneck and black wrinkled jeans, any other woman in her place would be looking like a mess after sleeping in a wind blown deck, but not this princess, this one managed to look perfectly beautiful in a wild kind of way, and Hook wasn't sure why she hadn't looked more appealing than she did at the moment to him.

"Don't call me that, I have a name and it isn't Aurie it's Aurora..Au Ro Ra," she said enunciating the syllables making gestures with her hands "I don't go around calling you Killie do I?"

Hook chuckled "I actually do have a fondness for that nickname, reminds me when I was just a tadpole taking on my first sail"

"arghhh you are impossible!" the princess grunted stalking away from him "if you ever call me that again..." she threatened feebly

"you'll what?" Killian asked raising an eyebrow knowing she wasn't the kind that made due with physical violence

"forget it, let's go to Grannys for a decent breakfast before I change my mind"

Killian chuckled, bye the mellowed Aurora, welcome back princess haughty "now I have a question" Hook said once again catching up to her as easy as a fox "surely even I can afford to be curious lass, what brought this sudden show of benevolence on?"

"I just thought it would be the right thing to do" Hook raised an eyebrow to let her know he knew she was lying but this time instead of glaring, Aurora surprised him by laughing "And, I had this insane idea you would coöperate, I don't even know why I tried"

Surprised Hook sent her one of his heart-thieving cocky grins "do tell"

"Well, I figured, since you showed me why you love the sea so much, I could show you why I love dry land in return" then she laughed again, looking at him from her peripheral vision "see I told you it was insane Hook"

"it is, there is no way I would understand why anybody would chose this" he motioned to the deserted streets of a still sleeping Storybrooke "over that" he made a motion with his head in the pier's direction.

"I wish you would let me show you" She said smiling sadly, her eyes dropping to the ground and her shoulders sagging in defeat.

he was about to retort, but then he saw her shiver in the morning air and cursed himself, remembering how tired and cold she had looked the previous night, he in his selfishness, had all but forced her on deck, admittedly she had enjoyed it in the end, but still, he owed her a bit of complacency, if not for her, then at least to ease his own conscience "Fine, don't look at me with that face Aurie, let's say for today that I'll humor you, would that make the princess happy?"

"Really Kill?, I swear I didn't think you would agree" then her smile was back with full porcelain force and Killian didn't even bother to point out her new nickname for him lacked finesse, because in that moment, Aurora's dainty little hand had reached out and wrapped itself around his,gently tugging him in the direction of Granny's dinner.

Her hand spent the rest of the day wrapped around his, and he didn't complain, not when it gave him an excuse to glare at any single male that stepped in a five foot radius of her person, she spent her Saturday tugging him along places he had already seen in Storybrooke, like an exited child showing off a room full of toys, well as exited as a girl raised to be a royal could get, but in her case, Aurora had the saving grace of matching her tour with insightful comments.

People in town had stared, some even had outright approached the princess and asked (some politely others rudely) why she was spending her time with common riffraff like him, but Aurora had been so happy by the fact she had Killian's attention that she hadn't for once, cared much about tarnishing her perfect princess image, she had been kind to all who approached her, and smiled while she talked even when Killian could see they made her very uncomfortable.

"He's my friend" was all she had said, like it explained the theory of universal magic, and yet like a spell, that was all it had taken for people to leave him alone. Like if her word alone was credential enough.

Walking by Aurora's side in Storybrooke was something altogether new for Killian, certainly nothing he had ever experienced before in his life as a pirate, he was normally used to people either staring in awe at him, running away in fear, or walking away discreetly mumbling under their breath, such was the privilege of a life and reputation carved with blood in history books and whispered stories.

But this was different, with Aurora, everybody that looked in their direction seemed to smile politely, townsfolk walked up to the pair and striked up conversations with her out of the blue like if it where the most natural thing in the world to have their unofficial princess in the company of a murderous womanizing cad, the people didn't even ignore him, he could see that each person that approached Aurora made a conscious effort to include a nice word about him, or at least a polite greeting.

In the street people waved or saluted at Aurora, the men usually with some sort of respectful distance and the women usually with enthusiasm, the princess dragged him to the farmers market first, after stopping by at her house for a decent shower and a change of clothes (a nicety she had extended to him too once she was done, which surprised him considering he was being invited in to the very house he had treated to break into the night before), at it surprised him to know she was actually one of those royals that seemed to always have something to do. She even dragged him to a flower shop, on a Saturday ("Mulan's wedding" she had told him with her usual pride), then there was the post office, town's hall, dentist, pharmacy, hospital, supermarket, clothes boutique, surprisingly her schedule was so well organized even for a weekend that at each place, there was an attendant both expecting her and with a bit of conversation to distract her, from Regina's receptionist at town's hall, to Moe French in the flower shop, Aurora was always treated with civility, and Hook since he was "escorting her around" (according to the gossip mill), was extended the same level of common courtesy.

And it wasn't as if she ignored the strangers (they where strangers to him) that came up to her to nosey-ly inquire about her business, Aurora just had the gift of deftly changing the subject and directing it away from her and in her interlocutor's direction, so in the eyes of whoever she was speaking to it seemed like she just cared an awful lot about him or her, and not that in fact she was just avoiding having to speak of herself. Aurora made people around her feel important (even if to him, they where not), but even then he could see it was all part of a façade, maybe he wouldn't have noticed, had he known her less, but Killian had come to learn trough his nightly conversations with the princess that sometimes, she resented having to be smiling all the time.

Storybrooke seemed to be a different place than he remembered with Aurora at his side, dare he say, it looked like..nicer?, with friendly waving from strangers and even a few uncalled for gifts from ladies that stopped Aurora to talk before going on their merry way, He supposed this was how it felt to be accepted in hindsight, to be loved by a community, and he could understand more or less, what was so appealing about it.

After all, if standing next to her felt like standing next to a human lighthouse in the middle of fishing season, he couldn't imagine what it must feel like to live a life like that every single day. Around her, people smiled, where friendly and where genuinely caring, it was incredible, unlike anything he had felt before, because Aurora's world wasn't dark, her world was... sunny, and basking in that ever present sunlight made him want to stay a while longer, because in his world, where greed, deceit, thievery and lies, dictated both life and death, he had never been anywhere close to this, to what Aurora had given him to taste.

She had been right, there was freedom in staying, but only if you lived in her world of sunlight.

By the time it was evening, he knew that Tiana's restaurant was everything for her and her husband, that Hazel's mother wanted to send her to a boarding school in Paris to get her away from Ryder and that Moe French was suffering from a heart disease because of his high cholesterol.

"I know it must sound boring for you" Aurora said noticing his lost in the distance expression "But it's not" she sighed realizing he wasn't any closer to seeing things trough her eyes, "Storybrooke is my home, it's the home of so many good people, I don't expect you to see why I love it here, but at least tell me you have learned something"

"Today I learned that you know entirely too much gossip, entirely too much maps, and entirely too much people" he didn't want to tell her he did see it, he did see what she was talking about, it would be too dangerous.

looking up to the sky Aurora sighed, squeezing his hand "come before sunset I want to to show you something"

Curious, Killian followed her, ignoring the waves and strange looks they got as Aurora made her way to the back of Storybrooke's iconic library "Princess, not that I'm opposing to a back ally tryst but where are you taking me exactly love?"

"do you ever think of something that isn't sex? You womanizing cad" Aurora hissed rolling her eyes.

Killian chuckled "Do I ever?"

"Hush now, come on, this is going to be great" she whispered opening a hidden back door that led to the firescape exit of the clock tower, still holding his hand she kept going forward.

"the clock tower stairs?, I don't know if you have heard darling but I don't exactly have good memories of this place, why revisit old memories?" Hook said nervous remembering when Greg and Tamara had held him hostage as he followed the ex-sleeping beauty into the inner workings of the town's clock. "Some old bitties held me hostage someplace near"

"why am I not surprised?" Aurora laughed climbing up the harder part of the stairs "but don't worry according to Belle, they scrubbed the bloodstains off the railing sometime after the war with shadow"

"ahh yes, messy business I heard, poor lady, having to suffer all that havoc just above her precious library" he followed her climbing one step at a time, cursing his lack of hand that made him unable to react if she slipped "does the croc's missus by chance know you are sneaking me in to the clock tower this eve?"

Aurora gave him a look that said "what do you think?" when they reached the front of the railing that was just in-front of the clock's glass, she continued on rolling her eyes at a very puzzled pirate.

"I thought this was where you wanted to take me, you know, the front of the clock" Hook said matter of factly "now you got me in a pickle, should I be wary of your murder tendencies today of all days?" he joked to lighten the mood, really not knowing what the heck the princess wanted to show him.

"come on it's only a little bit higher" She motioned to a set of stairs that was set aside behind some clockwork "there, see that window up in the ceiling?" standing at the base of the small set of stairs, he could see that there was indeed a window in the top of the dome-like ceiling of the clock tower, and since there was space for two in the stairs, she smiled in excitement "this is what I wanted to show you" the two climbed up the last set of stairs and Aurora opened the dust clogged window, for him to see.

"it's a nice view, I can see my boat from here" Hook said nodding, reaching out and opening the glass panes wider, watching the whole town from the vantage point they had at the top of Storybrooke's clock tower "you know what would make it even better?" he asked peeking down the window to observe a support banister made of wood in the border of the dome "if there wasn't any window at all"

"Hook,..Pirate...Captain" Aurora stuttered when she watched him reach up and as deftly as he had on his ship climb up on the window to let himself out "Killian!" she hissed at last "what the magic you think you are doing?"

"getting a better view, now come on princess, don't be a spoil sport" He chuckled and almost like an acrobat he balanced his legs and body out of the window in the ceiling leaving a shocked Aurora frozen in the stairs...

ten minutes later he poked his head back into the clock tower to find her glaring at him "aren't you coming up?, the view is really nice up here"

"and fall to my death? No thank you I'd rather stay put"

"there's a banister in here, it's not like it is possible to fall, not without a conscious effort at least love" he winked and extended his good hand trough the window "come on, I'll give you a hand up" the princess looked at his hand warily, her heart saying one thing and her head another, but then he had to go and smile, that heart-melting-soul-damning smile of his "Aurora, I promise, you'll be okay"

And lord she was a goner, because, even when she should be keeping her heart away from him, she couldn't help but feel he was sincere, and that he really would protect her, like he had done the night on his boat, so against her better judgment, once again she took his hand. "thank you" she said when her dainty hand enclosed his.

And for a moment that was it, the moment her eyes met his, as he helped her out of the window and into the rooftop, that was when she knew she somehow had fallen for him, for his smile, and the tenderness he seemed to only show her lately, her heart stuttered a bit, and in that split second, her legs faltered "careful love" Hook whispered pulling her up to his chest seeing her feet had almost slipped down the dome "we don't want you to hurt yourself", Hook felt Aurora's heartbeat accelerate, this time tough the organ wasn't actively beating in his hand like it had been last time, but he felt it in his chest, because he had Aurora held tightly to him, her response made him smile.

"do you like the view?" was the first thing Aurora could whisper once she looked away from his eyes, carefully untangling herself from him, she tried to settle in the white banister on the dome.

Hook smiled, but went along "aye lass, it's a view like no other" the evening was getting colder and Hook knew it meant the sun was setting, "this place is the highest vantage point in Storybrooke isn't it?" he could see every building from where they sat, it the top of the dome, from the docs to town's hall, everything was in plain sight.

Aurora nodded, "this town doesn't have many tall buildings, I like to watch Storybrooke, whenever I feel discouraged, I come here" she confided closing her eyes "I like to feel, that I can watch over the people I care about, seeing everything from here...makes me feel batter about everything else"

"I can see the appeal" Hook muttered under his breath, watching the people below on the streets, all minding their own business, but knowing each other's at the same time "I can understand why you like it here in dry land you know"

"you can?" Aurora hadn't expected this, but the pirate nodded

"I'd forgotten how it feels, when one has a place to belong" he spoke with remorse, and even a little sadness "people here, they treat you with care, and you return the feeling...you know that if you ever need anything, you will never be alone, because you trust them" then he looked at her, that rare honesty in his eyes that made Aurora inch closer to him so that their arms touched "that's your brand of freedom isn't it?, the joy of knowing you can trust others" and in an uncharacteristically intimate move Killian put his arm around Aurora and brought her closer to his chest.

"it isn't easy, but at least...it's better than living in the darkness of my own regrets" She whispered burying herself deeper into his chest instead of away, and he caressed her hair calmly because it wasn't just her who had felt happy to walk around town with him, he had felt it too, she made him feel accepted, and even a little respected by the usual townsfolk that wouldn't ever give him the time of the day had she not been present, with her, he had felt what it would be to be just Killian.

And he understood.

He understood now why she had left her kingdom in the enchanted forest in favor of starting over in Storybrooke, had he not wanted the same thing after just a day of living without the shadow of his dark reputation?, she had wanted to start over somewhere people saw her for herself, she had wanted people to see her with clean eyes, with the pair of eyes she saw HIM with each night, eyes that didn't care for his sins or good deeds, eyes that tried to ignore who he was (most of the time), and focused on who he IS...

Yes Killian Jones could say he understood freedom trough the princess's eyes, she had shown him a piece of her that was as personal as showing her the sea had been for him, he who had shown her the salty air and endless glitter of dawn on deck, was coming to see eye to eye with her also. She understood that part of him he never shared.

maybe this was why he kissed her.

It started slow, like most kisses, Killian's arm had been holding her so protectively against his chest, that all he needed to do to reach her light porcelain lips was just to bend his head a little and tilt Aurora's head up.

It was by no means a furious fiery kiss, well not at first at least, at first it was just a taste, two people tasting each other's strengths and inhibitions, just tasting, for flavor, for scent, taking in what the other had with a slow savoring breath, then of course, Aurora's tongue peeked out timidly, grazing his lips, with inexperience causing him to come undone.

because after tasting her lips Killian had to stop himself and let her breathe "I'm not going to say I'm sorry" he whispered out of breath, looking at her face, beautifully pink from their kiss,

What he hadn't expected was for her to nod "Good, don't you ever" and tangle her hands in his hair to pull him back to her.

The second kiss, well that one, was the one that was fiery, it was everything a princess's kiss ought to be not, it was hungry, greedy and rest assured very lustful, no wonder he has so many women in his list, thought Aurora feeling his tongue invade her mouth, oh my, wow, if he kisses like that, what else can the pirate do well?..

Killian's thoughts where not far from Aurora's in that train, since after one taste of his mouth he was left wondering how in the world he was going to keep behaving during their nightly meetings, hell, he had a dirtier mind than her, there was no way he would ever be able to associate the words "innocent" and "Aurora" ever again, not when she kissed like a bloody siren, did she even know her lips tasted like heaven?.

"We need to stop" Aurora said breathless at last after..well... a little too many kisses "we need to stop" she said again calming down her rapidly beating heart, she separated her face from him and buried it into his chest saying it once again "we need to stop"

"Who are you trying to convince love?, me or you?" Killian chuckled bringing his arms around her and whispering into her ear, not really upset she had stopped, in truth, he was pretty sure that if it weren't for HER self-control, he would have pretty much persuaded her to be a little less..innocent, in the open clock tower ceiling.

"Me, me, mostly me...and then you.." Aurora admitted, not ready to look at him in the eye, gosh, she behaved like a common maid, "I'm beyond redemption now" she cried in guilt but didn't lift her head from his chest or separate herself from him.

"if you ask me, the you that's beyond redemption is very, very" he lowered his tone to a hungry growl "tempting" he felt her head sink a little more into his chest almost as if she where berating herself "do you regret the kiss?" he challenged in good humor

Why was he so happy about it? Aurora thought "of course not, I liked it so much it's sacrilegious" she said muffling a snort

"scared the senses out of you too huh?"

"Do we need to talk about it Killian?" the princess begged finally lifting her head from his chest, looking at him with confused grey eyes because this was the first time she had done something like this.. kissed someone...like this..behaved so.. insane

"Do we have to talk about what?, that thing where we are miles above the ground on a secluded spot nobody will be able to find us?, or that we have lives down there that are waiting for us as soon we manage to climb back down...or are you referring to the fact we just kissed?...a lot" he listed smirking at her discomfort "going to have to be more specific Aurora love"

"all of it, mostly the third one" she whispered trying to settle her head on his shoulder.

Killian just kissed the top of her head tenderly, understanding more or less her inner turmoil and feeling bad for having made fun of it "no, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to"

"it's just that.. I like it here and we where talking, but you are a pirate and I'm a princess and..." she tried to explain

"shh shh, it's okay, it's okay" he cut her off tenderly taking her hand into his, "I understand, when we return to our lives, we'll figure it out, right now...you can just be Aurora and I can just be Killian, no taglines attached" Killian offered kissing their intertwined hands "would you like that lass?"

Aurora nodded "just for now, I think being Killian and Aurora...is enough" and turning tilting her head back up she met him halfway for another kiss.

funny note about elemental symbolism: Killian's version of freedom is in the sea (aka water/ oceans) and Aurora's version of freedom is in dry land (aka earth/sand dunes) ...so for their first kiss I chose somewhere high up, (the clock tower dome) to represent the sky, in their case, the element air, it felt fitting that for the kiss, they met halfway, neither in his territory, nor in hers...because the sky is everywhere, both in sea and land.

anyway who else likes tender hearted Killian?, now please review because so far I worked my ass off for that first kiss... seriously I didn't know if it would fit in well with this scene but it does...yay for me