A/N: I am so sorry this took so long to put up! I've been out of town for the past week and a half, and I had no wifi. I meant to post last Thursday before I left, but clearly I did not. To compensate, I'll post two chapters this week!
Hopefully amidst all of the angst, there's a handful of fluff in this chapter. I tried making it fluffy, anyways. Now we're really in the home stretch, and I just want to thank you guys again for all of your support! You guys are the reason I keep writing this, why I keep posting. I love each and every one of you!
While I wrote this, I listened to 'Best Day Of My Life' by American Authors, 'Come With Me Now' by the Kongos, & 'Counting Stars' by OneRepublic. I have to say, this is probably the one chapter where I listened to all upbeat music! Enjoy!
Emma smiled as she leaned on the doorframe, watching Killian take advantage of his Saturday morning. The morning of his birthday.
Killian was sound asleep, sprawled out all over his bed. His arm hung off the edge, his mouth open and emitting a quiet snore. Emma didn't want to wake him, but it was nearing eleven, and she had something special planned for him tonight that she needed to get him out of the house for.
"Killian, it's almost eleven." Emma finally said, walking slowly to the bed. She shook his arm gently, ceasing his snoring and causing him to stir a little.
"Eleven?" He mumbled.
"Yeah, and it's a very special day." Emma whispered with a smile, brushing some of his hair back.
"Mm?"
"Please tell me you didn't forget your own birthday."
"It appears I have." He smiled, yawning and sitting up.
"Well, happy birthday, Killian." Emma grinned, pressing her lips to his gently.
"Thank you, love."
"I made breakfast, too, if you're hungry. Don't get too excited—it's coffee and toast."
"It sounds lovely." Killian chuckled, pressing a quick kiss to her lips, "I'll be down in a few."
Emma smiled and started walking towards the door before Killian called her name again.
"I forgot one more kiss." Killian grinned, blowing her a kiss. Emma laughed and pretended to catch it and press it to her own lips.
"Thank you." She smiled, blowing one back and walking down the stairs, still laughing a little.
Emma only waited for a few minutes before Killian was hurrying down the stairs, dressed in casual clothing.
"What are you doing, love?" Killian asked, startling Emma as she searched through the cabinet.
"I wasn't trying to be nosy, but you two have a lot of weird mugs."
"Like what?" Killian smiled, walking to her and standing just behind her.
"Central Perk?" Emma laughed, holding it up, then another, "And 'Damn Fine Cup of Coffee'? I actually really like that one."
"You're welcome to use whatever one you want." Killian chuckled.
"'World's Okayest Brother'?" Emma laughed, tossing her head back, "What does that even mean?"
"I'm the okayest brother ever!" Killian grinned.
"I'm just going to pretend like I understand that." Emma smiled, pressing a kiss to his lips and moving to the coffee maker with her new mug.
"You like that one, huh?" Killian grinned, leaning on the counter beside her.
"I do." Emma smiled, pouring herself some coffee.
"It suits you, Swan."
"Now, there's a retired nickname." Emma spoke with raised brows.
"I like it." Killian smiled as he watched her pour him a mug, "It doesn't get as much mileage as it should."
"Maybe it's like that for a reason." Emma grinned, sauntering past him and heading for the couch. Killian hurried behind her, rushing in front of her to sit on the couch first. He wasn't careful when he sat down, causing his coffee to spill all over himself.
"Ah, fuck!" He exclaimed, standing up and shaking off some of the coffee.
"Oh, Killian!" Emma shouted, running into the kitchen and grabbing the paper towels, "Don't move too much!"
"Okay." He sighed. Emma hurried back, tearing some paper towels off and handing them to him.
"I'm sorry this isn't a great start to your birthday." Emma sighed, offering a small smile.
"It's alright, love. It was my fault." Killian replied, drying off his arms.
"Here, lift up your arms." Emma said, and Killian followed. She gently tugged the shirt over his head, smiling at his bare chest.
"I'm going to go get a new shirt." Killian said, his lips splitting into a grin when he noticed Emma's smile, "Or, you know, not."
She set her hands on his waist, fighting the urge to run her hands over his chest. Killian seemed to read her mind, smirking as he took her hands and set them on his torso. Emma could feel each taut muscle in his abdomen, making her heart race.
"Mm, what a lovely birthday." He smirked, taking a step closer, wreaking of coffee. He tangled his fingers in Emma's tresses, bringing their lips together in a single movement.
"Go get a new shirt, you idiot." Emma giggled, shoving him away.
"I prefer 'you sexy, handsome'—"
"Go." Emma laughed shoving him harder. He tossed his head back with a laugh as he ascended the stairs. Emma rolled her eyes with a smile, bending down and cleaning up the small mess he made.
After a few moments, Killian's feet hurried down the stairs, causing Emma to look over the back of the couch.
"Emma, David just asked if I wanted to go hang out, so I'll be back later!"
"Where are you two going?" She smiled.
"Don't know, he won't tell me." Killian laughed, walking to the couch to press a quick kiss to Emma's lips before hurrying out the door.
As soon as he shut the door, Emma whipped out her phone and called Mary Margaret.
"Killian left, you ready?" Emma asked.
"Yep! I'm just down the street!" Mary exclaimed.
"Okay, I'll start getting the stuff out." Emma smiled and hung up, hurrying into the kitchen, her socks slipping as she bumped against the counter. She squatted down in front of the cabinet she'd been putting decorations in for the past week, carefully tugging the packages out of their places and setting them up on the counter. There was a knock at the door, causing Emma to stand up and nearly hit her head on the counter.
"Come in!" Emma shouted. The door opened, and Mary hurried into the kitchen.
"Oh, Emma, Killian is going to love this!" Mary squealed.
"Well, wait until he sees my present." Emma sighed with a smile, leaning on the counter, "He's been trying to Skype with Liam a lot lately, but every time he does, it ends up going out on him. So, this week, in between being at work and when Killian was out of the house, I worked out most of the kinks, so I think he should be able to talk to him for a while."
"Oh, Emma!" Mary smiled, her hand over her heart, "He will love that so much."
"I'm hoping he will." Emma said, "I didn't really have enough money to buy him something nice, so—"
"Emma, he'll love it." Mary grinned.
"You think?"
"Yes, I do." Mary smiled, "Now, let's start getting these decorations done before the boys come back!"
Emma giggled, taking some of the streamers from the pile of decorations.
After most of the day had passed, Mary and Emma were finishing up. Midway through Emma setting up some of the food, Mary Margaret's phone started ringing, causing her to nearly drop the platter she was carrying.
"Hey, David!" Mary smiled, putting the phone on speaker phone.
"Hey, baby." David spoke lovingly, and Emma rolled her eyes with a smile to Mary, "So, there's a problem."
"Uh-oh. What kind of problem?"
"I don't know how much longer I can keep him out of the house. He's actually waiting for me right now—I told him I had to go to the bathroom."
"Okay, well, just keep him away for another thirty minutes—that should be enough time, I think." Mary shrugged.
"Yeah, thirty minutes should be enough." Emma added.
"Okay, I'll try. I'll text you if I can't." David said.
"Sounds perfect! I love you!"
"I love you, too, Mary." David spoke sweetly before hanging up.
"We'd better start picking up the pace." Emma sighed, "I haven't even started setting up the Skype thing on the TV yet."
"You go do that, I'll finish doing the food." Mary replied, causing Emma to nod.
"Okay." Emma said, hurrying into the living room and turning on the TV, then her laptop. She tapped a few keys, then smiled when the TV started showing what she was doing on her laptop. Upon opening up Skype, she was able to find that Liam was online. She clicked his name, waiting for it to pop up on her screen.
"Emma?" Liam's pixelated face asked with a smile.
"Hey!" She grinned, waving, "So, I think I've got this worked out!"
"Awesome!" He smiled, "This is the best present you could have gotten him, Emma."
"I hope so."
"Seriously, don't worry about this, Emma. He'll love that you've done all of this for you." Liam assured her.
"Thanks. I think he'll like seeing you."
"I hope he does." Liam chuckled, "How've you been, Swan? Holding down the fort?"
"Sort of." Emma smiled, rubbing the back of her neck, "Killian really misses you."
"I know. Just keep telling him I'll be back at the end of summer." Liam replied, "That's all you can do."
"Emma, they're almost here!" Mary exclaimed, "David just texted me!"
"Shit. Liam, we'll call you later, okay?"
"Sure thing. I've got nothing going on tonight." Liam smiled just before Emma disconnected. The door opened as she turned off the TV and shut her laptop, and she hurried to the door to greet Killian.
"Happy birthday!" Emma and Mary exclaimed as they hurried to the door. She let Mary hug him first, then smiled when he pulled her close as well.
"You've done too much." He whispered, causing Emma to tug away with a smile.
"Do you like it?" Emma asked, smiling as she and Mary gestured to what they did.
"I love it." He chuckled.
"Do you see now why I was trying to keep you out of the house?" David laughed, earning a playful shove as the group walked to the kitchen.
"Seriously, you guys went way too far." Killian chuckled, "I love it."
"Well, we figured that your birthday should be a good one." Emma shrugged.
"Emma really should take more credit for this than either of us." David said.
"Oh, no—"
"Seriously, she orchestrated all of this. Nearly all of the decorations and stuff were hers, the whole idea was hers—and I think it turned out lovely." Mary smiled.
"Killian, I can't take all of the credit. Mary and David helped a lot, too. I couldn't have pulled all of this off without them." Emma said.
"Enough taking the blame—I'm starving." Killian teased, causing everyone to laugh.
The group spent the rest of the evening snacking, sharing all kinds of stories ranging from school gossip to childhood memories. Later in the night, Emma suggested that he opened his gifts.
"Mary, David, you two can go first." Emma smiled, and Mary grinned, handing Killian a box.
"It's not a lot, but hopefully something you'll enjoy." David grinned. Killian's smile grew as he began tearing through the sparkly wrapping paper (that was clearly Mary's doing). There was a shirtbox under all the paper, causing Killian to bring it to his ear and shake it, raising a brow.
"Just open it." David laughed.
Killian smiled to him before carefully opening the box. In it was a white shirt with a navy anchor on it.
"Ah!" He laughed, holding it up, "This is great!"
"We saw it and knew how much you'd like it." Mary grinned.
"I love it." Killian smiled, trying to fold the shirt and placing it back into the box, "Thank you both."
"Of course." David smiled.
"Emma's turn!" Mary grinned, causing Emma to blush as she stood up.
"Okay, so it's not really a material thing, but I think you'll still enjoy it. If you could, close your eyes." She smiled, taking his hand and dragging him to the TV. Emma quickly typed in her password for Skype and clicked on Liam's name.
"What are we—"
"Happy birthday, Killy!" Liam's voice exclaimed, causing Killian's eyes to shoot open. He laughed as he saw his brother on the TV, covering his mouth with his hand.
"Liam!" He exclaimed, "Wait—it's actually working now?"
"Yeah!" Liam chuckled, "Your girl, Swan, has been working on it all week!"
Killian turned to Emma, as if to verify, only to get a shrug in return.
"How was your birthday, Killy?"
"It was really good. My beautiful Emma woke me up, then David took me out go-karting and other shenanigans may or may not have happened. And, when I was gone, Emma and Mary Margaret made some delicious food! I'd say it's been a pretty good day!" Killian chuckled.
Emma loved seeing that smile on his face.
"I'd say! That sounds awesome." Liam smiled.
"It was. And, now I'm talking to you!" Killian laughed, "It's been pretty great."
"Oh, hey, I have a present for you, too!" Liam grinned, "Go check the coat closet, on the very top shelf. Sorry it isn't wrapped—I'm not really good at it, and Emma wasn't around when I got it."
Killian bolted to the closet, grabbing the box from the top and hurrying back over. He quickly opened it, only to see Liam's old, leather jacket inside.
"Liam, I can't take this—"
"You know you've envied that jacket since I bought it. I thought you'd want something special to both of us."
"You're the best, Liam." Killian grinned.
"Are you gonna try it on?" David asked, causing Killian to chuckle and nod. He handed the box to Emma and slipped into the jacket seamlessly, making him smile.
"How does it look, brother?" Killian smiled.
"Fits you perfectly. You look like a million bucks." Liam chuckled.
"Yeah, I think so, too." Killian smirked.
"Ha—" Liam's sentence was cut short when he whipped his head to talk to someone off-screen, "Sorry, Kill, I've gotta go. I'll talk to you soon, okay? Happy birthday!"
"Thanks, Liam. Talk to you soon." Killian spoke with a half-smile as Liam disconnected.
After about another hour, Mary and David left, wishing Killian a happy birthday a few more times before leaving. Once they were gone, Emma and Killian laid on the couch, curled up together under a blanket.
"Your present was the best, Emma." Killian whispered.
"Oh, hush." Emma said, "I couldn't even get you something material."
"You didn't need to. What you did was more than enough." Killian smiled.
"I'm glad you think so." Emma replied softly, pressing a kiss to his neck.
"Humble, Swan." Killian grinned, "You're far too humble."
"Am I?" Emma smiled, tugging away enough to see his teasing expression.
"Yes." He grinned, gently touching his nose to hers, "Can I tell you something, love?"
"Of course. You know you can tell me anything." Emma smiled, "But, if you're lying, I'll catch it."
Killian chuckled at that, rubbing his nose against hers once more. For a few seconds she closed her eyes as his scruff rubbed gently against the sensitive skin of her chin, only opening them again when Killian spoke.
"I love you, Emma Swan." He whispered. Emma's breath hitched in her throat at the words. She met his eyes, the blue eyes she felt like she'd known for years, searching for any kind of lie. She turned up empty-handed.
"I love you, too, Killian." She breathed, huddling closer to his warmth.
"Yeah?"
"I do." Emma nodded, her lips splitting into a smile as Killian tugged her closer.
"I'm certainly glad to hear that, love."
"You know, probably six months ago, I would have slapped you for saying that."
"You would have slapped anyone for even uttering it around you." Killian teased, making Emma laugh.
"True, very true." Emma smiled, tugging away a little to see Killian's shining blue eyes, "You know what's amazing?"
"What?"
"Your eyes."
"Hm?"
"Your eyes. They change colors."
"They're blue, love."
"I know, I know," Emma smiled as she flicked his nose, "But, they change shades."
"Do they?"
"Yeah. Sometimes, they're really dark, like a tempestuous sea—"
"Such vocabulary." Killian spoke with a false gasp, causing Emma to whack the side of his head.
"I'm trying to be romantic for once."
"And how's that working out for you, love?"
Emma shot him a glare with tight lips, causing him to bite his lip in an attempt to not laugh—which failed miserably.
"I'm sorry, love," He smiled, recomposing himself, "Continue."
"I hate you."
"I don't believe that's what you said a few moments ago."
Emma rolled her eyes and started shifting, as if she was going to get off the couch. Killian gently grabbed her wrist, tugging her back.
"I'm sorry, love. I promise I'll let you continue." Killian swore, "Now, about my eyes…"
Emma blinked a few times, then met Killian's eyes again.
"Like, right now, they're shining, they're clear. Almost transparent." Emma sighed, moving her hand to brush some of his thick hair back, then settling her hand on the side of his face, "Other times, they're simply blue. I don't know. Is it weird for me to notice this?"
"No, I actually find it quite charming, dear." Killian smiled, leaning forward to press his lips to hers, not once, but twice, before tugging away.
"Is it okay-?"
"Love, we need to stop asking each other that question." Killian chuckled, "We just said we love each other—we should be able to say whatever we want to each other, and expect that it's okay."
"Okay." Emma smiled, "I love you."
"I love you, too, Emma." Killian whispered, leaning his head forward as his hand tangled in Emma's hair. Their lips met, opening and closing on each other. Emma tilted her head to accompany him, her hand squeezing his shoulder.
"Shall we take this upstairs?" Killian suggested against her lips, to which Emma nodded. He moved his hands to her back before sitting up and rising off the couch. Emma clung to him, wrapping her legs around his torso and holding on tightly.
"You remind me of one of those small monkeys." Killian smiled as he carried her up the stairs.
"Thanks?" Emma giggled, "Killing the mood a bit."
"You're a very sexy little monkey." Killian purred into her ear, making Emma laugh harder.
"Not helping." She laughed.
"This should be fun, then." Killian smirked, laying her on the bed and perching himself over her body. He set a hand on each side of her head, smirking down to her.
"Isn't it always fun?" Emma grinned, reaching up and peeling Killian's jacket off.
"It sure is, love." Killian purred, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her lips. A lovely birthday, indeed, he thought with a mischievous grin.
