A/N: So finally after six months of working on this story we are at the promised land so to speak. This AU I started about a romantically skeptical wedding dress designer gets the wedding it deserves today and I am so glad this moment is here at last. It will bring the cute and the smuffy and all my usual wedding elements in one fluff-filled installment. I hope you all enjoy and thank you so much for all your support through this journey!

In all the time Emma had been building her career on the foundations of new love and breathtaking weddings, she'd never really taken to the details or the planning.

Emma's vision for what would make a perfect ceremony simply didn't match up to what most of her clients wanted. Big crowds would never be her thing and while there were picturesque churches and venues all across this city, Emma had always thought that a wedding outdoors was the way to go. A cool breeze on a sunny day with blue skies was her ideal for when she was exchanging her vows, and when she closed her eyes and allowed herself to picture a ceremony she was always standing out in nature with a pleasing sort of quiet all around.

That of course was easier said than done given their location in the city. Arguably Emma and Killian could have made this a destination wedding outside of the metropolitan limits, but that kind of hassle coordinated in just a few month's time seemed an impossible feat, so Emma had resigned herself to something beautiful indoors. She needn't have bothered though, for Mary Margaret and the rest of her friends had achieved the impossible, supplying Emma with a picture perfect place she'd always loved but never imagined could be used for her special day.

"I still can't believe you guys managed to shut down the gardens for the whole day just for me," Emma said from her spot under a great, pitched, white tent where she and her friends had been getting ready. It was a ways away from the actual processions, which would be held in the rose garden, but this patch was beautiful too with its fall perennials blooming up in the last mild wave of heat before the autumn chill would come.

"We would do so much more, Emma. You know that," Mary Margaret promised as she came to stand beside her, her eyes filling with tears yet again though they'd been misty all day since they'd first arrived.

"I do," Emma agreed nodding and taking her friend's hand in hers. "It just… it feels like a fairytale or something. I almost can't believe it's real."

"Pinch yourself," Elsa said gleefully from where she was fixing the last bit of her golden hair into the long, elegant braid she'd decided on. "I've been doing a lot of that these days, scared it's all just some wonderful dream."

Emma laughed at Elsa's suggestion, loving that her friend was so happy with everything going on in her world too, but then she yelped a bit when she felt a sharp stinging prick. It was from Ruby who'd snuck up on her from behind to get in on some of the fun and no doubt make a witty, sarcastically inclined joke.

"This is real, Emma, but if you need continued reminders they can be provided. It'll just be a little strange to explain to Killian when your wedding night comes why you're black and blue all over."

The mere mention of her wedding night to Killian made Emma's blood hum and her spirits lift even higher than they already were. She wanted to get there so bad, and part of her wanted to just be man and wife all ready. At the end of the day, that union was what she wanted more than everything else, and if they'd just had a quickie wedding at City Hall that would have been fine by her. Emma would still be married to the man she loved and that was what she wanted. But then there was also the part of her that realized just how lucky she was to have a day like this one and that counseled her to take in every tiny detail. Emma wanted to remember all of this to carry with her always, and she knew before so much as setting a foot in the direction of that aisle that this would always and forever be one of the best days of her life.

"Speaking of Killian, I'm kind of shocked we haven't seen him," Elsa said looking around as if he'd pop up somewhere.

The thought of that made Emma laugh, seeing as she'd born witness to Mary Margaret's not half-hearted threats of Killian breaking with tradition. It had been made very clear that should Killian break protocol there would be a problem, and though Mary Margaret was small and from the outside not terribly scary, Killian had the good sense not to mess with Emma's feisty and opinionated friend.

"Oh you have in a way," Mary Margaret said. "All these flowers? They're from him."

"They are?" Emma asked, not having realized that was the case. She'd loved them the second she entered the tent, immediately adoring how these ones were more wild and vibrantly colored than any of the ones she and Mary Margaret had chosen for the bouquets or the ceremony itself, but Emma also knew Mary Margaret and she thought her friend would love splurging on these beautiful blossoms to keep Emma's spirits up as she was pampered and readied for the ceremony ahead.

"Yeah, didn't you see the note?" Mary Margaret asked and then she looked to the central bouquet and there, clear as day, was a letter in an envelope with Emma's name on it in Killian's scrawl.

"That's my bad," Elsa admitted a little guiltily. "When we were walking in here I distracted everyone with croissants, remember?"

"How could we forget?" Ruby asked, running her hand along her stomach and across the stunning full-length dress she was donning. "You got any more of those lying around somewhere?"

"I might," Elsa stated primly. "But you have to promise no more mishaps. You nearly ruined your dress last time and all for the sake of chocolate. Emma's dresses are way too beautiful to be risked that way, staining it would be downright criminal.

Emma absentmindedly smiled at the compliment of the work she'd done on the gowns in the very limited down time she had at the shop, recalling how each friend had a slight difference in style so they wouldn't feel so uniform. They were done in a soft, rose-kissed bellflower color that was at once elegant and still vivid enough to convey the sense of romance Emma wanted and each dress symbolized the personalities of Elsa, Mary Margaret, or Ruby in some tangible way and was then highlighted even more by the arrangement of white and pink flowers that tied each friends' hair back. Curled and styled to perfection, they all of them looked sleek and pristine enough for a photo shoot, but the flowers imbued just a touch of wildness and magic to the feel, just as the arrangement of flowers holding Emma's hair did in their purely ivory shade.

But truth be told thoughts of flowers and dresses couldn't hold a candle to the crisp white envelope in her hand, and soon everything else faded away as Emma fixated on her note, which was more than welcome after a full day of being apart from her husband to be. Eagerly she devoured every word, feeling their thoughtfulness and caring as she did, and allowing that sense of peace and rightness that always came with Killian to infiltrate her heart and make an already wonderful day that much more lovely.

My Dearest Emma,

To say that I am ready for this perfect day is an understatement. Truth is I have been hoping it would come for so long I've lost count of just how much waiting there has been, but knowing that the wait is nearly over means everything to me.

Today you and I will stand up in front of our loved ones and our friends, exchanging our vows and sealing this love that we've found together in a way that can never be broken. I fully intend to make use of this opportunity we have today, Emma, and there are plenty more promises to come, ones you deserve to hear and feel and be certain of every day for the rest of our days. But for now I will simply say this: everything I have and everything I am is yours, and it has been since I first saw you as a stranger on the train.

Perhaps I didn't realize it in full then, and maybe the visions of making you my wife and putting my ring on your finger hadn't bloomed completely all those months ago, but I was halfway in love by our first date, and the rest of this journey – the rest of this blissful fall – has been the best thing to ever happen to me. You, Emma Swan, are the best thing in the world and I will love you always without question and I can hardly wait until the moment comes when I get to say 'I do.'

Holding that note close to her chest when the words were read with tender love and the utmost care, Emma felt the tears prickling at her eyes. Her heart was so full in the face of Killian's professions, and though he'd made these sentiments known many times before, their power was in no way diluted. Instead, between Killian's clear and unyielding love and the almost tangible magic of their surroundings and the general aura of today, Emma felt like she was floating through this picture perfect moment that was almost too good to be true.

"What do you think he wrote to her this time?" Elsa asked in the background, though Emma didn't look up to where her friend was not so quietly trying to get answers.

"What he always writes – something wonderful that makes him the one person in the world Emma could ever happily marry," Ruby said, sure of both Killian's goodness and his rightness for Emma. That certainty was touching too, gracing the already happy buzz inside Emma's heart with just a bit more joy and that was it, the tears were falling, and Emma couldn't avoid her friends anymore, looking up at them with a big smile on her face.

"How the heck did I become this person?" Emma asked half mocking and half serious in her inquiry as her friends all came over to circle around her. "I always thought the whole crying on your wedding day thing was so cliché…"

"That's because you were a cynic, and if Granny's take on life can be trusted it's the cynics who fall hardest in the end," Ruby attested and Emma laughed, totally believing that to be true because she was living proof of such a theory.

In the years leading up to the moment she met Killian, Emma had never actively engaged with the idea that she would fit this script. She wasn't looking for a wedding or marriage or someone to complete her, and she didn't fit the mold of what so many other people seemed to want. She'd always denied that she was lonely or that she needed any kind of man in her life at all for more than a one night stand, and love, nice as it may seem in stories of old, was just a way of losing all that she'd worked for and then losing herself too. What Emma desired more than anything was to be her own person and find her own path on no one else's terms but her own. She'd craved independence for her peace of mind, and the only exceptions she allowed were her friends who all understood that she would be there for them always but that she had to remain true to herself no matter what.

What she hadn't realized though was that loving someone, or really loving the right person, didn't have to change that. She could still be the Emma that she wanted to be with Killian and somehow she could be more too because Killian saw her as more and showed her day in and day out that she was the most important person in the world to him. With that consistency and earned trust in someone who was there for her and who would stay no matter what, Emma had come into her own, and the last barriers between her and really understanding herself and what she needed had been conquered. Now Emma could honestly say that she was walking down the aisle with no fears or qualms or worries, and though she might not be able to see the future exactly, she had faith that wherever life may take them, she and Killian would be more than all right.

"I never could have gotten here if it hadn't been for you guys," Emma whispered to her friends, watching as each of them accepted that thought and knowing that they'd heard it from her before. But though they might think they understood, Emma didn't think anyone ever could. Unless they had grown up in the same way as Emma, with that constantly gnawing feeling of having no one who cared and no one to turn to, they couldn't truly comprehend what finding family meant, and before romance had stepped into her world Emma had found family with the three best friends anyone could ever have.

"None of us would be where we are without you either, Emma. We needed you just as much as you needed us," Mary Margaret promised while taking Emma's hand in hers as Elsa took the other.

"And we always will, Emma. No matter what happens, we will always have each other."

Emma laughed more to let out the bubbling sense of emotion gripping at her than at any humor and she looked across to Ruby who was still standing there with a teasing smirk in typical form. That was for the best though to be honest, because if they all indulged in much more of this, they were all going to fall into that state of sappiness Emma pretended to dread but clearly didn't mind so much. Nevertheless she wanted to uphold at least some of her reputation and when Ruby cracked a joke, it helped tremendously in that effort.

"So is this the part where we pinky swear to always be best friends?" Ruby asked, playfully. "Because I was kind of hoping we could be that adventurous, bad ass friend group that has a way more hard core means of cementing our bond."

"Where the heck did you get the idea that we're totally 'bad ass?" Mary Margaret asked through her happy tears. "Two weekends ago we watched a marathon of Judy Garland movies and there wasn't a dry eye in my living room, so you need to reevaluate."

"Touché," Ruby said knowing when she was beat and finally giving in and coming to join them, pulling all of them in for a hug. "All right fine, we can have one minute – maybe two - of this mushy stuff and then we're getting Emma married. Deal?"

The friends all agreed that it was to be so before laughing together and embracing each other in a slightly weepy way. After all emotions were high, and today was a big day, but the most prevalent feeling Emma gathered from her circle of chosen sisters was support and hope, hope that she would find everything she was looking for with Killian, and that she'd continue on this path where she chose love and reaped the happy benefits of that choice each and every day.

"I hate to break up this moment, my dears," a voice that Emma recognized as Mrs. Hubbard's called from across the tent, pulling all of their attention in that direction. "But it's time to get this show on the road. Emma's got an awfully handsome and wildly impatient man out there waiting for her, and I think you've got sixty seconds at most before he comes and carries her down the aisle herself."

"That sounds about right," Ruby said at Mrs. Hubbard's words, and Emma found herself grinning and laughing again at the summary of where they were as her friends all pulled back and grabbed their bouquets readying themselves for the march down the aisle.

In that moment all of it became even more real to Emma. She could feel herself standing at the precipice of this next big step and after a life spent mostly believing that love just wasn't going to be in the cards for her she was ready to prove her past suspicions wrong. As such she took her own bushel of flowers in hand, thinking to herself that there should have been something like nerves in the picture right now, but there weren't any. There was no sense of questioning, only the real and vibrant feeling that this was about to be one of the happiest moments of her whole life.

"Are you ready, Emma?" Mary Margaret asked, pulling Emma from the daydreams of what it would be like to walk down that aisle and tie herself to Killian forever, and without any kind of hesitation Emma nodded.

"Definitely," she affirmed and with that there was one final hug between the friends before they were descending through the greenery in their single file line to arrive at the rose garden.

The march itself, though winding at the start, wasn't very long, but there was time for Emma to imagine so much about what it would be like and how Killian would look waiting for her at the end of the line. The Universe couldn't have granted them a prettier day for a ceremony like this, and as someone who had seen so much of Mary Margaret's gift for creating an atmosphere, Emma could only fantasize about how fantastic it would be, but her dreams never could have given the real thing justice and at the sight of the start of the official procession, Emma was amazed, taking in the splendor of Mary Margaret's imagination for a brief time before the pinnacle moment came, the one where Emma was finally in view of her fiancé, and the rest of the world faded away.

In that instance, while gazing upon a man who was not just handsome and loyal and loving, but kind and thoughtful and sexy all at once, Emma felt in one of those all too rare ways that this was a moment she was destined to face. Walking down this aisle to Killian with their loved ones looking on felt like her spectacular fate, and it also felt like a critical spot in the tapestry of her story over all. Everything that had come before this, good, bad, and in between played a role in who she was right now in this flash of time. She was the product of the life she had lived, and in many ways the woman who made it to the end of that flower petal covered walk way and took Killian's hand in hers had been shaped so much by the love of this man and the friends in her life who had all shown her that she was so much stronger than she knew, and that she deserved to be this happy.

"God your perfect," Killian whispered to Emma, breaking that charge between them slightly and causing Emma to laugh. She wondered if he even realized he'd said that aloud, but in those crystal clear blue eyes of his there was nothing like regret, only a love so strong it commanded to be embraced fully and forever.

"Good thing you're marrying me then," she teased back, and while the grin Killian sported at her sass was enough reward to have Emma cherishing that tiny display of wit, the kiss he stole that broke with custom and expectation was even better. It was quick and fleeting, but its impact was pure, and as Killian pulled back and whispered that he loved her before looking to their justice of the peace, Emma felt more tears stinging her eyes.

The ceremony, gorgeous and expertly crafted together as it was, was both intimate and moving and there were more than a few times when Emma felt the beauty of the most important parts of her life all being tied together. Her best friends in the world were all standing there beside her cheering her on (or rather happily and mostly quietly weeping about this lovely union), while other friends sat throughout the crowd, filling the space around them all with well wishes and hope as Emma took that final leap of faith and went through every motion just to promise to the man that she loved that she would be his and he would be hers all the days of their lives.

"Today Emma and Killian have chosen to prepare their own vows. Killian, would you like to start?" The officiate asked, and with a nod that never dared to break the eye contact between him and Emma, Killian indicated that he would.

"Emma – before I met you I was living a life I thought I wanted, one that I fought hard for, but that ultimately wasn't everything I hoped. I fancied myself content with work, with friends, and with the idea of success I carried with me always, but what I didn't realize was that none of that mattered, at least not nearly as much as love. The world was black and white to me, and I was right there with it, going through the motions but lacking that spark of something that makes life truly all it can be."

As Killian said the words, gifting them to Emma in front of a sea of people who loved them, Emma felt them reverberating through her. They were so relatable, a real expression of how similar they were, and how, crazy as it was, they had lived very similar lives. All the drive and determination and the boundless work ethic was something they shared, but that dedication at the expense of a real love life had also made this that much more of a risk for them. Both Emma and Killian had had to change a little bit to really let their relationship thrive, but it had been worth it, and Emma knew she felt just as Killian did, that she would never go back to that old life for anything.

"Then I met you, and though it took some time for me to make my move, you brought me the magic my life had been missing without even trying. You were the light in a universe I hadn't realized was dark, and the color when I needed it most. In you I have found so much, Emma, and I've learned even more about what it means to love and be loved and how success is more than the business you build or the people you impress."

"Amen, brother," Liam proclaimed from behind, and though Killian and Emma's eyes never wandered from each others, there was a rumbling of laughter that emanated all around them that both of them shared in as well.

"The truth is the best thing I've ever done in my life is love you, Emma Swan, and I vow to always love you, to have and to hold you, all the days of my life and ever after. I promise to build toward that life you want – the life we both want – a little bit more every day until we have everything and more. And whatever happens, whatever life may deem fit to throw in our way, I want you to know there is nothing I wouldn't do to see you happy, and there is no trial or test we can't withstand now that we have each other."

It would have taken a stone cold heart to resist the pull of those vows, and Emma had anything but a hardened heart now. As such, she could feel the tears streaming down her face, but they were eased away as Killian's hand came to cup her cheek and brushed them gently. In his blue eyes there was all the love in the world and an element of truth that could not be denied in any way, and the peace and hope that came with their expression melded so beautifully with the exhilaration Emma was experiencing knowing that this was actually happening and that she wasn't going to wake up to it all having been some marvelous dream. This was really her life, and it had never ever been better than it was in this moment.

"Hot foreign guy," Emma whispered. The slip of words must have been incredibly random because they had Killian's brow furrowing and confusion reading all over his face, but when she realized what she'd said Emma laughed before shaking her head and continuing on. "There was a time, back when you were just a stranger on the train, when you were once only known to me as hot foreign guy."

"Let me guess," Killian said as a smile warmed his face and his hands came to take hers again. "Ruby had a hand in that particular moniker."

"Guilty as charged," Ruby said, causing Emma, Killian, and the rest of the crowd of attendees to laugh yet again.

"Yes. Before I knew you, Killian, you were just a man, a man I was scared to know or approach or classify as anything but 'hot' because with my track record I needed things tidy and clean and neat. It was the only way I knew to protect myself and keep myself from getting hurt, and with everyone else it always worked, until you. I tried to make you small in a way because even then I knew there was a risk: my gut was telling me that there was more to you than the attraction I was feeling and that… well it was pretty freaking scary.

"I had no proof of that of course, there was no evidence that you could be the one to heal the heartache of my past, but somehow I knew. I knew that you were different, and when the timing was right and we really met and got to know one another you proved me right while blowing away everything I thought I knew about love altogether. I wasn't ready for you, Killian, and in some ways I still feel like that. I can't believe we're really here and that love like this can be real because life always taught me otherwise, but you show me every day that it can be and that what we've found, rare and amazing as it is, is the best thing in the world and the surest way to the purest kind of happiness a person can have."

The look in her very soon to be husband's eyes told Emma so much of what he was thinking, and as raw and exposed yet still willing and hopeful as she felt, Killian was just the same. It was beautiful to see and to know that as she said these words he was hearing her in just the way she needed to be heard. With Killian there was no judgment, there was just an understanding of who she was that was more intimate and thorough than anyone else in the world, and a love that wasn't going to dull in any way come what may.

"I love you, Killian Jones. I love you with my whole heart and once upon a time that would have been enough to have me running, but now I'm stronger than I was and I'm surer in myself and what I want because I have you. You've given me freedom from my past like nothing else ever could and you've shown me that I am enough and that I always was and always will be. I'll never be able to thank you enough for that, but I do promise to love you forever and to always chose love for this day and the rest of my days, no matter what comes."

It was so incredibly hard when all of that was said not to just pull in her man for a kiss to seal the deal after laying out her vows, but somehow both Emma and Killian resisted. Yet no sooner had they uttered those two fateful words, 'I do,' then that kiss was had and their union was cemented there in front of all the people they loved. And though it might have been called a little too heated for the audience, and a little more risqué than the run of the mill wedding embrace, Emma didn't care. Because at the end of the day it was perfect and more than befitting of a happy couple who loved as truly as they did, and who always would, forever more.

….

In the aftermath of a wedding ceremony that Killian could only describe as perfection itself, the tangible high of fully belonging to Emma was still more than present in every way.

Killian had spent the last few hours here at their reception mingling amongst their family and friends and feeling the real joy that came when so many people were invested in him and Emma and in their love's success. But easily the best part of all of it was Emma herself, and Killian knew that if all of this had happened with just the two of them and none of the accompanying fanfare he'd have felt just as much. What was most gripping about today was the union they'd formed and the promises they'd made to stand together now and always, and the rest of it lovely and awe inspiring as it might be, was just a bonus for what mattered most.

"There have been more than a couple of times tonight when I've thought to myself 'I need to stop smiling so much,'" Emma confessed, pulling Killian's thoughts from where they'd wandered back to where she was now tucked into his arms as they danced in the middle of the ballroom where their reception was being held. "But then I look at you and at least I know I've got company in the whole over the top happiness thing."

"Well, my love, this 'thing' as you've so eloquently put it isn't going anywhere any time soon. I've a sneaking suspicion we're in for quite a time of similar feelings."

At his words, Emma melted further into his embrace, her smile warming all the more and making him feel totally complete. It was tantalizing and amazing and a more entrancing feeling Killian did not know, but there was this thought in the back of his mind that had been there all day: all of this was a moment in time he'd remember forever, but it was hardly over, and half of the anticipation of the wedding wouldn't even manifest until they finally got out of this place and back home for the night. Tomorrow they'd be leaving on their honeymoon, but tonight… well Killian planned to remember each part of tonight with just as vivid detail as he would everything that had come so far.

"Thoughts like that will get you into trouble, Killian," a voice that proved to be Liam's said from beside him and Emma, and though the arrival of his brother halted Killian and Emma's dancing, she didn't step out of his arms and Killian didn't dare to put any more space between them. "Much as you might like to, you can't just run off from all this, at least not yet."

"Definitely not," Elsa agreed from her spot alongside Liam. "We've still got cake to eat and then there's the pres- I mean, um, you know… more toasts and stuff."

"Aye, the toasts and stuff," Liam parroted a bit unevenly, casting a bemused expression at the woman he loved in what was hardly a look of censure despite her nearly giving away a crucial secret.

"Speaking of cake, now might not be such a bad time to have some, don't you think Els?" Emma asked, sneaking a sly look at Killian and conveying to him in that moment that this was purposeful. With her fleeting glance Emma essentially made it known that she was eager for cake not for the treat itself but for the fact that it would be getting the show on the road, and it did Killian's heart good to know that as lost in yearning for more privacy with Emma as he had been all evening, Emma was just as eager to get onto that part of the night too.

"Totally. But I might need some help… that thing weighs almost as much as me," Elsa said, feigning as if she wouldn't have an army of helpers from the staff hired tonight as she batted her eyelashes at Killian's brother.

"I'm at your service, love, as you well know," Liam promised, and Killian and Emma watched as Emma's friend giggled happily before pulling Liam down for a quick kiss and leading him presumably to wherever the cake was waiting in the wings.

"So what do you think the present Elsa was clearly not suppose to be talking about could be?" Emma asked when Elsa and Liam were out of earshot on their way to the ivory colored confectionary monstrosity Elsa had created for this special day.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see, my love," Killian said casually, but despite his belief that he had a good poker face without any real tells, Emma saw through him immediately, looking a little accusatory though still happy at the same time.

"You're totally in on it!" she cried out poking a finger into his chest as she let out a low and throaty chuckle, sending a flutter through Killian's heart and sparking a grin at his lips he couldn't contain.

"Perhaps, but you'll enjoy this, Emma, I promise you that."

And in the end that claim from Killian was proven to be true, for no sooner had the two of them cut the cake swiftly brought forth by Elsa and her staff, sharing the first bites together before the rest of the party had their share, then the moment of truth for the gift came and Emma discovered what had been done.

After weeks of planning and a fair amount of maneuvering on the parts of both Killian and Emma's friends at Bliss, they'd managed to secure a honeymoon for Emma that wasn't just the week away from the all the noise of the city they'd first planned, but three weeks spent visiting three separate places Emma had always wanted to see since she was a girl and that Killian was more than willing to show her. Together they'd be jetting off to France, Italy, and finally England, and though it would mean a fair bit more travel, Killian knew it was what Emma needed and that it'd give her not just the reprieve she required from her continuously hard work at the shop, but also adventures she'd been denied so far in life that he wanted her to have desperately.

"Wait, I don't understand. This isn't – I mean – I thought – we can't go away for three weeks… can we?" Emma asked, her eyes turning to Killian showing her need for answers but also that almost childish sense of wonder that they might actually be able to do this given the busy nature of their lives.

"You can and you will," Ruby proclaimed firmly. "It's all arranged, Emma. We're going to hold down the fort at the boutique while Will and Belle cover at the magazine for Killian. Meanwhile you're going to go on that European adventure you've always talked about but never went on with your hot, foreign husband in what can only be described as the most romantic of getaways. There's even a castle involved and you're staying in it, princess."

"There's a castle?!" Emma asked, her eyes jumping back to Killian's and they were wide with shock and more of that exuberant sense of delight.

"Well technically it's a rather large villa but -," Killian's words were interrupted before he could set the record straight.

"It's a castle!" all of Emma's friends affirmed and then Emma was barking out a laugh and biting her lip before breaking into a smile and aiming it at him.

"I'd ask you how you did this, but it doesn't matter. I love it, and I love you."

Before Killian could say anything himself Emma was pulling him down for a kiss there in front of everyone, and though it was hardly the first they'd shared as husband and wife in front of this crowd today, there was whooping and hollering and cheering all the same. It was likely all out mayhem from what Killian knew about the loved ones they'd invited today and how frequently they'd all enjoyed the open bar, but he barely heard it because he was too wrapped up in Emma and too bloody glad for her approval of this rather risky gift (three weeks was almost an eternity in Emma's estimations when it came to work) to pay it any mind. Instead he allowed himself to feel this glorious moment with the woman he loved, and then found himself wishing they could have so much more when it was over.

"What do you say we get out of here for a little while?" Emma asked, her voice dipping low and her fingertips tracing a soft line along his neck that had Killian's blood pumping and body tightening. Then she licked her lips and he was damn near hopeless, finding it harder and harder to resist her always successful attempts at seduction.

"From my estimations there's still about two more hours of festivities, my love. I've been told multiple times by Mary Margaret herself that us leaving this building any time before midnight simply isn't an option."

"Do you trust me?" Emma asked, her green eyes lit up with humor along with that mix of love and need that shone so brightly all evening long.

"Without question," he replied instinctively and Emma beamed up at him before taking a look around the room and finding that many of their friends had returned to dancing or retreated back to the wedding party table, lost in their own worlds and conversations. Then when the coast was clear as it would be given the wandering eyes of the room, Emma made her move, and the two of them hustled out of the space with as little attention as they could procure as the two honorees of this reception.

Once outside of the ballroom itself, the sounds of music and party going were far more subdued than they had been inside, and the farther they walked, the quieter it became. It was a peaceful quiet too, one that allowed Killian to hear the thumping of his own heart that was still racing from the highs of the day, but the best part was the feeling of Emma's hand in his, leading him through the corridors and up to an elevator away from the public eye that led somewhere Killian knew not, but that he couldn't wait to see.

"I gather that my wife has had a plan this whole time," Killian stated smoothly, pulling Emma back against him as the elevator doors closed, his lips coming to graze against her ear and eliciting a tiny shiver that he could feel through the fine fabric of her gown.

"Consider it a gift for both of us," Emma quipped easily and Killian found himself chuckling as his hands traced lightly across her waist.

"Couldn't stand the thought of waiting so long to get me alone, love?" Killian flirted and Emma rolled her eyes, but Killian saw through it and he felt the way her hand clutched his just a little tighter and the way her pulse fluttered against where his thumb ran against her wrist.

"I just figured that the all of five minutes we had together in the limo from the park to here wouldn't be enough, and if my memory serves, I was right about that."

The mention of their drive from the botanical gardens to here immediately sparked heated memories for Killian. In his mind he replayed that impassioned exchange as if he were living it right now and not exiting the elevator on one of the tallest floors of the hotel. Those precious few minutes hadn't been nearly enough to satisfy his craving to have and claim his lovely bride, but it had been rather enlightening, and between the kisses and the teasing they'd both partaken in Killian learned some critical things, one of which was that Emma's dress wasn't just stunning but practical as well. His lovely and ever brilliant wife had actually designed this piece of wearable art in a way so that he could have easy access to her without tearing the garment from her body, and since she was too beautiful for Killian to even think about restraining his desire now that he had her alone, that was a godsend to both him and the dress itself.

"Nothing short of a lifetime with you will ever be enough, my love," Killian whispered, taking Emma's hand and raising it to his lips as they finally made it to the door of their destination and Emma hummed out a happy sound before slipping a keycard from where it had been hidden in her dress and opening the room to them.

"Good thing that's what we spent today signing up for then," Emma said as she pulled Killian in by the front of his shirt before he closed the door behind her and boxed her in against the hard wood. "But in the meantime we have this. Mary Margaret may or may not have given me the same scolding about leaving the premises too, but I figured technically this is a loophole since we're still in the building."

"You're a bloody genius, Swan, you know that?" Killian asked, not bothering to look around a room he was sure was immaculate, but only caring about reveling in the pleasure of having Emma for a wife after all this time dreaming of when this day would come.

Emma laughed at Killian's praise before running her hands up along his body lovingly, and when the melodic sound of her happiness faded, there was still every trace of it along her gorgeous features that made her look young and carefree. Though she was dressed in a stunning gown that was formal and elegant and every bit befitting of royalty itself, Emma had never looked more open and unguarded. The joy in her expression was tangible, and it so keenly matched Killian's own sense of elation, that it was impossible for his own smile not to grow wider.

"So you're still going to call me that now, even though I'm legally Emma Jones now?" Emma teased, and Killian growled low in his throat, loving the sound of his surname attached to her. Perhaps it was a tad bit possessive of him, but he didn't care. It meant the world to know Emma had chosen him, and that even if her name in the public sphere would continue on as Swan so as to preserve the brand she'd steadfastly created, she was still his wife who'd loved him enough to take on the family Jones and to secure that someday the family they made together would share that name too.

"Always."

With that promise, the thin line they'd both been walking of control seemed to snap and they were both in motion, arching together as close as could be for more kisses as their hands roamed and their hips sought out each others. It was heaven itself to have Emma in his arms like this and away from prying eyes, but in some ways it was also agony, for the one thing Killian wanted most was to take his time with her. This was their wedding night, and he wanted his woman to feel ravished and cherished in the way she deserved. Emma was a goddess amongst mere mortals, the best part of his world, and truly his everything, and Killian had always found that his best way of making her see and feel that was showing her, but right now he couldn't illuminate his love for her the way he might like. After all there was still a party full of people downstairs waiting for them, and at most they probably had twenty minutes that they could afford to be gone before a search party was called and everyone noticed the prolonged absence of the happy couple.

"I know what you're thinking," Emma murmured as they came up for air, her breathing ragged with the passion between them and her eyes now darker with that undeniable sense of wanting that Killian too felt. "Tonight when we're home again we can have everything, but right now I just need you, Killian."

Even after all this time it was amazing to hear words like that from Emma, and the truth was they overwhelmed him even more now than they had at the start of their relationship. Yes, it had been a gift each and every time he took a new step towards trust and love and forever with her, but tonight, when everything had been said and an understanding had been reached in front of each other and God and everyone they loved, Emma's words were even more powerful. Somehow, someway, this woman who held Killian's whole heart in her hands had found fit to love him too and to want him back just as fiercely as he wanted her, and Killian would never deny her anything, not when in his heart of hearts he wanted all the same things and in the same ways.

"As you wish."

Those three little words sealed their fates so to speak, and as Emma worked tirelessly to free the buttons of his dress shirt so her fingers could graze against the searing heat of his skin, Killian made quick work of utilizing the cuts in her dress to reveal her to him. What he found though stunned him and had his mouth watering too, for Emma in a wedding gown was one thing, but Emma in tiny white scraps of lace put on only for the purpose of being peeled off by him was something else all together.

"Killian," Emma whimpered when his fingers grazed through the thin cut of her already soaked panties. "We don't have time for teasing."

"No teasing, love," Killian ground out as her hands came to unzip his pants. "Just have to get you ready."

"I'm ready now. Totally, totally ready," Emma claimed as Killian knelt down before her, pulling one of her legs to come over his shoulder to open her up to him as his hands came up to do something less than gentlemanly that couldn't be avoided. With one strong tug he tore the lace from her body, revealing her waiting sex and sending his hunger into full affect as he did, and then he looked back up at his waiting bride to see if she'd refuse him, but the unabashed desire in her eyes and the flush against her creamy skin said he'd find nothing like resistance and that was all the encouragement Killian needed.

As soon as his mouth was on her all thoughts of wanting something else evaporated from Emma's mind and from Killian's too, and as had often happened before Killian felt himself growing more and more addicted to making her writhe beneath him. Every sigh and moan and movement to get him closer turned him on, and Killian was unrelenting until the last possible moment when he knew that just one last swirl of his tongue against her clit would send her spiraling. Only then did he pull back, carrying Emma from where she'd been to the massive couch the room provided and releasing himself from the confines of his slacks to take his bride.

"I know what we promised today, Emma," Killian said as he thrust inside her fully, almost losing track of everything when they groaned from the blinding pleasure at once. "God knows I know, but I need to hear it again, love."

"I love you, Killian, and I'm yours forever," Emma replied as her eyes met his, understanding already what he'd needed though he hadn't had the wherewithal to put it into words himself. It was a testament to their connection and the bond they had to each other, and Killian vowed the same things between kissing her as they both rode that blissful high to total completion.

When relief finally did come it was fantastic and sublime, shattering that tension of ever growing need and easing the ache for a little while, but after they'd taken a few moments to come down from their peaks, Killian knew it wasn't nearly enough. What he wanted right now was to whisk this miraculous woman back to their home and make love to her a hundred ways before jetting off on their honeymoon and having her all over Europe, but that couldn't happen, not without disappointing their friends and by extension disappointing Emma too.

"I have an idea for how we make it through the next two hours," Emma whispered, smiling against him and bringing an immediate smirk to Killian's lips as well.

"And how is that, Swan?" he asked, pulling back to look at her and brushing away some fallen strands of her golden hair that had fallen out of place.

"We keep telling ourselves that we've got three whole weeks to make up for it with no interruptions from our meddling friends, and no responsibilities to get in the way."

"Damn I love the sound of that," Killian confirmed as he pulled Emma up to stand against him. "I love it almost as much as I love you, Mrs. Jones."

And with that and a few final kisses, Emma and Killian headed back downstairs to dance and laugh and celebrate the joining of their lives with the people that they loved, knowing that they had years and years ahead of them to linger in this joy and to build a real and lasting happily ever after side by side.

Post-Note: So hopefully you guys will have enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it, and though it's bittersweet because the end of this lovely fic is coming shortly (there's just an epilogue or perhaps two left I am sorry to say), I feel I've matched my standards of going out with the happiest of endings and so much fluff it's almost criminal. Anyway thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a lovely rest of your day!