As each day passed, it became more and more apparent to Emma that Storybrooke is where she belonged. Her relationship with Henry was growing and becoming much better. She was starting to feel closer to him, and Regina had been kind enough to encourage their relationship. In fact, Henry's mothers were actually getting along as they both tried to make sure that he was getting the best he could out of life. Plus, she was making friends in Storybrooke, and she couldn't remember when she was this close to this many people.

And of course, there was Killian. Who knew that her roommate would become more than that? She hadn't been this close to a man since Neal. And unlike her previous disastrous relationship, this one was good. Really good. They would split their time between sleeping in his room or hers. And when Henry stayed over at night, Killian was respectful enough to make sure Henry would find him asleep on the couch in the morning. Her son didn't have to know the truth just yet.

Of course, all of this was clouded by those little pieces of paper that would nag her during random moments. Sometimes when she was out drinking at night with the girls, she'd turn to Mary Margaret and her thoughts immediately snapped to her scrawled handwriting. My parents are David and Mary Margaret. Or she would be sitting on the couch watching television with Killian, his blue eyes sparkling, and she could imagine that piece of paper she had hidden in the back of the drawer in her nightstand. I love Killian Jones.

She had actually once again believed all of those could be possible until she tested them. One night as she was tucking Henry into Killian's bed, she kissed him on the forehead. Kiss him, break curse. But as she expected, nothing happened.

And so she was able to push those thoughts further out of her mind and replaced them with new things.

A few weeks after they became more than friends, Killian invited Emma to the Jones brothers' Thanksgiving. It didn't take her long to realize why they had been so successful with their dinner nights on the deck of the Jolly Roger. Emma watched Liam, Ruby and her grandmother move around the kitchen in an orchestrated dance as they cooked the turkey and side dishes while Killian set the most amazing Thanksgiving dinner table she had ever seen. He was like a male Martha Stewart with his centerpieces made with fall leaves and holders for each person's name at their seat at the table.

After seeing her sit there in awe of all of it, he finally put her to work by having her open the wine.

"Try to earn your dinner, Swan," he said with a smirk before kissing her on the lips.

Ruby let out a wolf whistle from the kitchen in response while Liam stared at them. Emma and Killian figured it would be best to not tell anyone about their relationship just yet - and then Killian couldn't help himself with a public display of affection.

"When exactly did this start?" Liam asked.

Killian gave him a big smile. "Right after you moved out."

"So I guess you owe me then, little brother."

"Younger."

Liam rolled his eyes in response. "I think it's only fair that you do the dishes tonight seeing as how you seemed to take full advantage of me moving out of our apartment."

Killian just scoffed. "I was going to do the dishes tonight anyway."

Emma smiled and leaned over, pecking him on the cheek. "I promise to help."

"And I promise to eat all this food if you all don't stop talking," Granny yelled from the kitchen.

They spent three hours sitting at the table eating and drinking before Killian and Emma quickly did the dishes so they could get home to work off some of that dinner with other enjoyable activities. Emma went to bed very content from the food, the friends, and the man who fell asleep next to her.

A month later, she woke up tangled up in her sheets with Killian as the snow gently fell outside on Christmas morning. It was just the two of them in the apartment that morning exchanging gifts that they left under a little two-foot-tall tree on the coffee table. He bought her a keychain that was shaped like a swan - "So you won't forget your keys again." She gave him a mug from the little pawn shop on Main St. She loved the bark of laughter he let out when he pulled it out of the box and saw the word "Captain" on it.

"Liam is going to be so mad when he sees that I have one of these and he doesn't!" he said triumphantly.

That night, they all ended up at Regina's home for dinner and drinks, sitting around the fireplace after Emma and Regina had tucked Henry into bed, surrounded by all his new toys. The warmth in the room wasn't just from the fire but also from the people there. Emma couldn't help but smile. Regina and Robin seemed like a great pair, and he was so good with Henry. Liam and Ruby helped serve up some amazing dessert, working together so easily. And sure, Mary Margaret and David weren't Emma's parents, but she didn't mind pretending that they could've been related. She wouldn't have minded having a family like this.

And when they got home and Killian pulled her close to steal a kiss under the mistletoe he had strategically hung up in their apartment, she didn't mind that either.

Things were going good. Her life was what she had always hoped but never expected it would become. She had friends, family, a man she loved. Life was pretty great.

So when Killian came bounding into the living room one Saturday afternoon in January with a big smile on his face, she couldn't help but smile back.

"You seem rather chipper this afternoon," she said, walking over to kiss him.

He pulled away and gave her a big cheesy grin. "I think you know why, Swan," he said, patting the pocket of his leather coat. "I cleaned out my coat like you asked."

"To find the grocery receipt so I could return that crazy cereal Henry talked you into buying."

His smile only got bigger. "You know that's not it," he added.

Emma actually had no idea, but he was happy, which made her happy, and that was all that counted. Killian stared at her a little longer before giving her another kiss and finally pulling himself away, the smile not leaving his lips.

"I'm headed to the Rabbit Hole to see Liam," he explained. "One of Robin's guys is sick so he's lending a hand tonight."

Emma scoffed. "Will I get a call from David later about giving you a ride home?"

"No need to be catty, Swan," he admonished. "I will be well behaved, and the bartender said he won't over serve me for your sake."

"Make sure you thank Liam for me then," she said with a smile.

"I will!" he said cheerfully and headed out the door. "Don't wait up, love!"

Emma smiled and curled up on the couch with a glass of wine and the television remote. As per house rules, she had 24 hours to clear off some of her shows from the DVR while still making sure Killian's Black Sails episode were saved for them to watch together later. And considering she had no idea what Killian was trying to allude to earlier about his coat, it was best to just distract herself with mindless television. She would figure out what he meant by all of that later.

xxx xxx xxx

The Coat Incident, as Emma started to think of it, seemed to creep more and more into her interactions with Killian, and she couldn't figure out what exactly was going on.

A few days after the first run-in with him and that stupid coat, he surprised her with a romantic dinner at the Italian place down by the docks, making a point to wear the leather motorcycle jacket. Then there was the night she came home from a long day at the station to find him wearing the coat with his leather pirate pants and boots - and nothing else. Just his bare chest under her fingers as he swept her off to his room where they stayed all night without getting much sleep.

But then things began to rapidly change.

"Hey, I'm going out with the girls tonight," Emma announced on Friday as she grabbed her red jacket off the hook by the door.

"The girls?" Killian asked, a look of worry on his face.

Emma stared at him. "Yea, remember? I told you I was going to the Rabbit Hole with them."

His jaw twitched. It was a tick that would appear whenever he was starting to get emotional - either nervous or sad or angry. Emma couldn't tell what it was tonight.

"Killian?" she asked. "Is something going on?"

He shook his head, his stern look quickly replaced by a lopsided smile. "Of course not, love. Why would something be going on?" He walked over and gave her a peck on her forehead. "Have a good time tonight, Swan."

But she didn't have that much fun, worrying about what was on Killian's mind. And she had a right to worry. What started as just a little issue was getting worse. Over the weekend, his sour mood became even more apparent and by Monday night, he was in a full-on funk. There were nights when they slept alone and it was no big deal. Sometimes Emma had an early start at the station or Killian had a late night on the Jolly Roger with his brother. It wasn't unusual occasionally. But that night, when Emma asked Killian which bed they should sleep in, he just shrugged.

"I think I'm going to spend the night alone, Emma," he said with a depressing tone.

He pushed himself off the couch, not even looking at her or giving her a kiss goodnight before sulking off to his bed.

The next morning was more of the same. A quick hand off of some fresh coffee in a travel mug and a "See ya later," before he shuffled into the bathroom, leaving Emma alone in the kitchen with no explanation about what was going on.

Then there was the night when Emma came home to find him in his room alone, watching television by himself.

"Hi," she said as she leaned against the door frame.

"Hey," he mumbled without looking up at her.

"No dinner? Because usually you have dinner for me," Emma said in a light tone - or at least the lightest she could manage under the circumstances.

But Killian just shrugged and stared at the television.

That was it. Emma had it. She crossed her arms and changed her tone damn quick. "You want to tell me what's going on?"

That got Killian's attention and he finally looked up at her, a grim look still on his face. "Maybe I should ask the same question to you," he replied bitterly.

"Well, you can ask, but I won't have an answer for you, because I have no idea what's bugging you."

He stood and took two quick strides to get so close he was uncomfortably invading her personal space. "Really, Swan?" he spat out. "You have no idea what would be bothering me?"

She put her hands on her hips and stood her ground. "I have no idea."

His jaw flexed like it did when he got mad, and he stepped back towards the television stand, opening a drawer on the bottom and pulling out a piece of paper. He held up the little piece and stared at her.

"You want to tell me what this is about?" he asked bitterly.

She took a step forward to reach for it, and as soon as her fingers brushed the paper, she froze. It was green with a jagged edge along one side and a spot for Granny to put the total for someone's bill at the bottom. Emma slowly grabbed it from Killian's grasp, her hand trembling as she pulled it closer.

Please don't have anything on the back, please don't have anything on the back, she thought.

She flipped it over and saw her own handwriting. If she wasn't so in shock, she probably would've dropped it on the floor. But instead, she stared at it.

"Emma!"

Her head snapped up from the paper to see Killian's intense blue eyes on her.

"What?"

"I asked you if you wanted to explain this," he said.

"I- I can't," she stammered.

"You can't?" he asked incredulously. "That's your handwriting, isn't it?"

Emma started at the paper. Dammit, it was her handwriting, but she didn't remember writing that.

"I-"

"You what, Emma?"

She looked up at him, the fire in his eyes getting darker. She hated what she was about to do next, hated what she was about to say, but it was the only way to figure out what the hell was going on.

"I have to go."

She stormed out of his bedroom and quickly headed into hers, her hand flying to the drawer of her nightstand. Emma knew exactly where she had stashed what she was looking for and quickly grabbed the papers, stuffing them in the coat pocket she had originally found them. She added Killian's piece of paper as well.

"Emma, where you going?"

She didn't say a word, just grabbed her keys with her swan keychain off the kitchen counter where she had left them.

"Emma!"

She couldn't listen to him. She knew she was hurting him, but she just couldn't tell him yet. And to be honest, she couldn't admit it to herself. So like she had done most of her life, she ran.

The cold air was the perfect balm to her hot skin as she climbed in her car and sped away. But after driving only a block, she pulled over to the curb and put her trusty yellow bug in park.

Emma took a deep breath, steeling herself for what was to come. She slowly reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out the pieces of paper. The first one on top was the full diner check she had apparently written on the back of even though she had no recollection of doing so.

"I belong in Storybrooke/

My parents are Mary Margaret and David/

Henry is my son/

Kiss him, break curse"

She gently set it aside in the passenger seat and focused on the two other pieces of paper in her hand. The green on the diner checks was a little duller under the street lights, but the jagged edges on them were still clear. The tear on Emma's part of her check fit neatly together with the tear on the piece Killian had given her. Her hands trembled as she turned the top half over, the half that she had found in her coat pocket all those months ago.

"I love Killian Jones"

Then she turned over the second half, the half in her handwriting that she had supposedly written for Killian.

"Emma Swan loves you"