She had no clue what could be this important. Pulling her aside during a celebration at Granny's wasn't like him. No, if Killian had something to share with her, it waited until the privacy of their home. This, therefore, had to be substantial and earth-ending.

Please don't let it be another villain, she wishfully pleaded. I need one day to recover.

He tucked them into a visible corner of the diner, private enough to share a secret but public enough not to arouse suspicions.

"What's up?" Emma asked as casually as possible.

Killian took her hand in his. "Do you know what today is, Swan?"

She scrunched her face up in thought. "I think it's a Saturday."

His chuckle, while meaning she was incorrect, softened the blow. "Yes, but that not what I meant." He looked down at their joined hands, squeezed them as if to give him a reality check, and took a deep breath. "It's been a year to the day since I found you and the lad in New York."

Her brows raised, Emma said disbelievingly, "A year?" Killian nodded. "Wow."

Flashpoints of the past year circled through her mind's eye. "That went by quick."

"Indeed it did," he sighed. Still looking down, he said, "And I thought that, since we've been so close for a year, I'd ask to court you." He met her gaze then. "Properly."

Emma couldn't help the smile that spread on her face. He was extremely nervous, she could tell, and he'd be able to read the utter innecessity she found in his question. So, she bit her bottom lip.

"Killian, I hate to break it to you, but you're a little bit late to the game. When he tilted his head in confusion like a lost little puppy, she giggled and wrapped her arms around his waist. "We've kind of been dating, courting, whatever you want to call it." She leaned into him. "Just friends don't usually live together and sleep together."

Understanding finally crossed his face. "I should hope not," he muttered. He kissed her temple. "I don't want to share you with Robin or anyone."

Emma laughed outright, throwing her head back in joy. "No," she assured him. "I'm all yours."

He smiled genuinely at that. "Then marry me."

The mood changed so quickly it gave her whiplash. Her eyes widened, her heart sped, and her breathing hitched. She leaned back to see his open eyes, straight past any joke he was trying to pull off.

There wasn't any.

"Are you serious?" she asked, her voice a bit strangled.

He nodded. "Swan, I want to be the one you come home to every day, the shoulder you seek when you're upset, the first person you share unbridled hoy with. I want to grow older with you, have children with you, wake up to the tangles in your hair and sleep in your eyes. The year in the Enchanted Forest was a year missing you I never want to go through again. I know you are mine and I yours and I want everyone in every realm to know it too." Killian took her hand in his once more. Looking into her slightly bewildered jade eyes, he repeated himself. "Emma Swan, will you do me the honor f becoming my wife?"

She stood there for a minute, mind racing, until she came to the only answer she was ever going to give.

"You know, it's customary for the proposer to get down on his knee."

"Will it change your answer if I do?"

Emma shook her head. "I thought, since you're going to be stick with me for the rest of your life, you might want to start learning the traditions of this realm."

His entire countenance perked up. "I'll learn whatever you're willing to teach me if it means your mine."

Their foreheads came together sweetly, noses just short of touching. "Is that a yes, love?" he asked, his eyebrow cocked. Emma nodded and the both smiled. "Good," he replied, causing her to smile even wider.

Hand in hand, he led her back to the crowded din of the diner. "Pardon, everyone!" he shouted. "If I could please have your attention."

Emma pulled his arm to get his. "What the hell are you doing?" she hissed.

Killian smirked. "Everyone in every realm," he echoed his proposal.

When Granny's had quieted down, Killian tugged Emma into his side. She buried her face in his shoulder, too embarrassed for words. "Sorry to interrupt your merrymaking," he said, "but I just wanted to inform you all of something." He glanced at the woman under his arm. "One year ago today, I traveled to New York via magic bean in search of our Savior. And when I found her, she had no recollection of anything I spoke of and, well, let's say gave me quite the rude greeting."

Emma dug deeper into his embrace as everyone else chuckled at her past actions. Killian just held her closer. "Much has happened in the past year, but there is only one thing that matters to me. Last year, I asked if she remembered me and she vehemently said no. This year, I asked her to marry me and she thankfully said yes."

The crowd cheered, ecstatic that their Savior finally found her own happy ending. Her parents and brother came to congratulate them, the first of an entire evening where, no matter if they spoke to different people, they were always together.

a/n: why do proposals always make me so happy and sad to write? whyyyy i love them wahh

(im a little bt hungover and this cheese quesdilla is doing woinders to my head :)))))