When Emma's alarm sounded the next morning, it took her a moment to realize that something wasn't quite right. She reached out to silence her phone, and then dropped her hand down to cover the heavy arm that was wrapped around her waist.

"What time is it?" Jones mumbled from behind her, as he pressed himself in closer.

It was early, and Emma knew that she needed to get up. She had to open the coffee shop that morning, and she also needed to sneak her boyfriend out of the apartment before Ruby woke up.

But there was something about the warmth of his body, as it was pressed into her own, that left her feeling comforted and content in a way that Emma had never felt before.

"Early," she whispered back. "We have a moment, though."

Jones hummed his acknowledgement of her statement, before pulling Emma back into his embrace.

She hadn't realized that she'd fallen back to sleep until the gentle scratch of stubble against her neck roused her from her dreams, along with a soft whisper of, "It's time to get up, Beautiful."

Emma took a moment to gently pull herself out of her slumber, before twisting carefully in Jones's arms. The bed wasn't terribly big, so they'd spent most of the night pressed together.

But it hadn't been awkward in any way.

"What time is it?" she asked him, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair. It looked a little messier than usual, but he still looked like he was ready to model her bedsheets there and then.

"Ten past four," he whispered softly, as he bent his head to brush his lips to hers. "I remember you saying you usually got up at four to get ready for work on Sundays, so I didn't want to leave you too long."

"Thanks." As much as Emma hated the idea of leaving the warmth and comfort of her bed, especially when Jones was sharing it with her, she appreciated that he wasn't letting her sleep late. Betty trusted her to open the shop on Sunday mornings, so the last thing Emma wanted to do was betray that trust her boss had placed in her. "I should um… I should go and shower."

Jones nodded his understanding and lifted his arm from her waist, to let Emma slide off the bed. When she turned back to face him, he seemed to sense the worry that was filling her mind, as he added, "I'll be here when you're done."

Emma gathered up all of the things that she'd need to get ready for her day, sending Jones and her bed one last lingering look, before slipping out of the room to pad over to the bathroom. It was weird to shower and dress for the day knowing that her boyfriend was back in her bedroom, waiting for her to finish. A large part of Emma wanted to go back and drag him into the room with her. The shower wasn't terribly big, but she was certain they could find a way to make it work. While another part of her just wanted to curl up in his arms and forget all of her responsibilities for the rest of the weekend. She'd missed the feeling of comfort that his presence managed to infuse her with. And now that she had it back, Emma didn't want to let it go again.

When she finally made it back to her bedroom, refreshed from the shower and dressed in clean clothes, it was to find Jones straightening up from the night before.

"I can do that when I get home from work," she scolded gently.

"I know. I just thought I'd make things a little easier for you when you do," he explained, as he made his way over to where she was standing. "Can I walk you to work this morning?"

"Don't you wanna go home and get some proper sleep?"

"I actually slept pretty well last night," he teased. "I know you've probably been doing this for years without me, but I don't like the thought of you walking alone this early in the morning."

Emma wanted to protest that she had been making that walk for years without him to escort her there, and without any problems. But having someone other than Ruby in her life who actually cared enough to want to make sure she was safe, was still rather new to her. So instead of being annoyed by Jones's concern, Emma's heart swelled that little bit more at hearing how much he cared.

"Okay," she agreed. "If you wanna stick around when we get there, we could always have some breakfast together before the shop opens?"

"That sounds like a wonderful plan to me."

"There's um… I left a fresh toothbrush in the bathroom for you, if you wanted to use it?" she offered softly. When she'd pulled it out of the cabinet after brushing her own teeth that morning, it had seemed like the kind thing to do. Nobody enjoyed that yucky feeling first thing in the morning, before brushing.

But actually making the offer to him, seemed like a much bigger deal. Because they both knew that while the toothbrush probably wouldn't live in Emma's bathroom next to her own, it would live in her bedroom, tucked away in a protective case for the next time Jones ended up spending the night at her apartment.

That one small toothbrush had gone from being a kind gesture, to a promise of what was to come.


Sneaking Jones out of the apartment was more nerve-wracking than Emma thought it would be. Even though she knew it would be a few hours until Ruby woke up, and that her friend had slept through demolition work in the past, she was still paranoid that Ruby would choose that day to wake a little earlier, and decide to say goodbye to her friend before she left for work.

Emma finally breathed a sigh of relief as they turned the corner on her street, headed for the coffee shop. Jones must have sensed her relaxing slightly, as he waited until that moment to slip his hand into hers, holding it tightly as they made the familiar walk to Emma's place of work.

"So... will I get to see you on Wednesday?" he asked after a moment.

"If you still want to," she chuckled. "Sorry we never got our picnic date last week."

"Don't be," Killian told her. "It was my fault. But maybe I could make it up to you?" When Emma turned questioning eyes up his way, his confidence faltered for a minute. "I thought that as I've now seen your place, perhaps you might like to see mine?" he suggested. "I could cook for us? Or we could order takeout?"

"That would be nice," she agreed. "I bet your couch is much more comfortable than ours is."

Killian shrugged his shoulders a little in response. It was his own way of saying he was pretty sure it would be, but that he didn't want to voice that opinion and hurt Emma's feelings. She and Ruby had done well, considering their limited income, and he didn't want to say anything that would offend the girls. After all, he'd been in their position before.


It didn't take long for the two of them to arrive at the darkened coffee shop, without any signs of trouble at all. If she had been with anyone else, Emma would have gloated that she knew everything would be fine. But the comfort of Jones's hand in her own, stopped her from doing so. She would gladly let him walk her to work every day of her life, if that was what he wished to do.

While Emma moved to deactivate the alarm, Killian flicked the lock on the door once more, knowing that the shop wasn't due to open for at least another ninety minutes.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked, as he watched her make her way around the building, switching on ovens to preheat, and lights as she went along. It was clearly a routine she was familiar with.

"Uh… it's up to you," Emma called back over her shoulder, as she hung her bag in the small closet and grabbed a clean apron. "What would you like to eat? I can make us up something sweet, but it's gonna take me a while. If you'd rather have something savoury, then I can always get started on these first batches of muffin mixes while you run down the road? There's a small café there that do a wonderful breakfast."

"I'll go and get us something to eat," he chuckled, when she emerged from the back room once more. The last thing he wanted to do was make Emma's morning more difficult for her. "Is there anything you don't eat?"

"Whole tomatoes," Emma grimaced. "I never understood the idea of putting tomatoes in breakfast foods. Why would you ruin something good like bacon with fruit?"

Killian chuckled at her adorable little rant, as he leaned in to brush his lips sweetly to hers. "Okay. No tomatoes. I'll be back soon."


While Jones was grabbing them both something to eat, Emma got to work setting the coffee machine up for the day by changing the filter and adding more beans to the tank. When she was finished there, she headed back to the kitchen to begin preparing her first set of mixes for the morning.

Betty always closed slightly earlier on Sundays, so Emma was only expected to prepare roughly a third of their usual sweet treats for the day. As the muffin mixtures were being made, she baked-off sweet pastries that had been prepared in advance. She'd been working the early shift Sunday mornings long enough to know that when the oven beeped to signal the pastries were done, it would be the perfect time to pull them out to cool down, and replace them with her first batch of muffins.

By the time Jones returned to the shop, the building smelled wonderfully of coconut and vanilla.

"I hope this is okay," he worried, as he sat Emma's meal onto their usual table, in the spot that she always took, before he pulled out his own.

"As long as there's no tomatoes, it will be wonderful," she assured him. Emma sat two large mugs of coffee down between them, prepared exactly the way they each liked their drinks, before she took her own seat. The moment she opened the lid on her Styrofoam container, the enticing scent of bacon and eggs wafted her way. "Oh, that smells heavenly," she moaned.

Jones shifted a little awkwardly in his seat at the sound of it, and distracted himself from the carnal thoughts trying to creep into his mind, by cutting into his food. He gave them both a moment just to savour those wonderfully greasy flavours, washed down by the bitterness of the coffee, before he spoke again.

"I um… I've been thinking. Is there um… Are there any experiences in the city that you've always wanted to enjoy, but have never had the chance to?" he asked quietly.

Emma frowned a little as she replied, "Dozens. Why?"

"Well… don't get me wrong, I've loved the dates we've had so far," he began carefully. "In fact, I'm pretty sure they're some of the best dates I've been on in recent years. But I keep thinking about how you said that you've been careful with your money, so as not to end up in a place where you're forced to go without again. And while I completely commend you for doing that, and absolutely think it was the right thing to do, I hate the thought of you missing out. So, if you'll let me, I'd kinda like to give you some of those experiences you've missed out on. If anyone in this city deserves them Emma, it's you."

Emma took a moment to think over Jones's offer. Normally she would object to the idea of a man believing that he could provide experiences she was missing out on, just because of her status in life. But she could tell that Jones wasn't trying to undermine her in any way. And he wasn't trying to flaunt his more extravagant lifestyle, as a way to try and impress her. He was genuinely offering her the chance to experience some of the incredible opportunities New York City had to offer. And the more that Emma thought about it, the more she realised that some of those experiences she'd always wanted, could be made so much better with him by her side.

"Maybe we could trade off?" she suggested. "I mean, things like tickets to the ballet, opera and theatre are a little out of my league right now. But I've always wanted to do the carriage rides in Central Park. Or skating at Rockefeller's Center. Oh, we could climb the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State building. That sort of thing."

"You know, I've never done any of that stuff either," Jones mused quietly. "They always seemed like activities that would be appreciated more with someone by your side, than on your own. So I never really bothered with them. But if you're up for it, I could book us tickets for the theatre next weekend?"

"You have yourself another date, Jones."


When Betty arrived later that morning to begin her day, she was greeted by the sight of her youngest employee, sat at one of the tables in her shop. Emma had been joined by one of their best customers, and the two of them were laughing together as they enjoyed what looked to be a stone-cold breakfast.

Gloria had called her the night before, to explain to her friend what had happened between Emma and Dr. Jones. She'd told Betty that she had hope the young couple would soon reconcile, after Emma had extended an olive branch to her beau. So as Betty called out a cheery hello to each of them, while she made her way through to the back office, she pulled out her phone to place a quick call to her best friend.

Because there was absolutely no way this news could wait until she saw Gloria again on Monday morning.


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