"Do you mind if I join you!" Belle asked, startling Emma out of her daze as she handed the other woman another glass of wine.
"Of course not."
Belle took a moment to arrange herself comfortably on the swinging seat that Emma had claimed the moment she'd entered their back yard, before she turned to look at what had caught the other woman's attention.
She wasn't at all surprised to see Emma's eyes glued to the spot where Killian was standing. While the two friends had separated a couple of times during the evening to have conversations with different people, they always seemed hyper-aware of where the other person was. Belle had to admit she was a little jealous of the relationship they shared. Even if she lived forever, she wasn't sure she'd ever find a friend who cherished and loved her the way that Emma and Killian loved each other.
"He seems happy," she noted, as the two women watched Killian toss his head back and laugh freely at something her husband had just said. "I wasn't entirely sure he'd get along well with Will's friends, but I guess a love for sports is all you really need."
Emma snorted out her own laugh and then pulled her legs up to tuck underneath herself, taking extra care to make sure the heels of her sandals wouldn't snag the fabric on the cushions. "Yeah, that tends to be his go-to subject whenever he meets somebody new. I remember him trying it on me all those years ago. I'm glad it's finally working for him."
"Me too," was all Belle said, as she tried to picture a nervous Killian approaching Emma for the very first time. It didn't seem at all possible that there had been a point in history where Emma Swan and Killian Jones weren't the best of friends.
Belle gently kicked off from the ground to set the seat moving again and then relaxed back into the cushions. "I get the feeling that he doesn't have a lot of friends around here. At least not -" She cut herself off abruptly and Emma finally pulled her eyes away from her best friend's relaxed form to fix the other woman with a questioning stare.
"Don't be mad," Belle began, and Emma's brow climbed a little higher, "But I kind of asked around about him when I first joined the show. I just wanted to know what kind of person I'd be working with, you know? Some of the older crew members seemed to imply that he used to be more outgoing and friendly before…"
"Before the divorce," Emma finished for her, nodding her head in agreement. "Yeah. Milah took a lot more from him than just the money and property she demanded."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."
"It's fine," Emma assured her. "Killian doesn't like talking about it but it doesn't do us any good to just ignore it either." She finished the last of her drink and then leaned over to set the empty glass down on the table beside their gently rocking seat. "I'm glad he has you on set now. He used to love his job, even after I left the show. I can't tell you what it's been like to see that enthusiasm for work return to him again. For a while, it looked like Milah had taken that from him too."
"I'm really happy to be working with him. He's the best costar I've ever had." Belle giggled a little as she added, "Although, don't tell any of my former costars I've said that. I'll never get work in this town again."
Emma laughed along with her before promising that Belle's secret would remain safe with her.
"So, uh… what about you?" Belle eventually asked. "I mean, I know that you and Killian are pretty inseparable now that you've been reunited, but do you have many friends in the city?"
Emma sat in silence for a moment as she thought the question through. She'd made plenty of friends while she'd been in New York City, but when she'd returned to LA, she hadn't been in a hurry to reach out to any of the former friends she'd left behind. The more she thought about it, the more Emma began to realize that it was because most of those people still had ties to Killian's ex-wife. And she had absolutely no desire to mingle with people who blamed her best friend for the end of his marriage.
"I guess Milah took something from me too," she finally stated. Her eyes flicked back over to where Killian was standing, and like she'd called his name, her best friend lifted his head to meet her gaze. He offered Emma a small smile, the kind she recognized as being the one he reserved just for her, before he turned his attention back to the conversation happening around him.
"Well… if you'll have me, I happen to be in the market for new friends in this city," Belle teased gently. "Especially female friends. I need someone to go shopping with me that'll tell me what actually looks good on me. Not just, 'you look lovely, Dear.'"
Emma snorted out a harsh laugh as her mind drifted back to a conversation she had shared with her best friend a few hours earlier. "I asked Killian to help me pick something to wear tonight. He completely ignored the items hanging on the door and chose a maxi dress instead. As you can tell, I put it back in the closet and just sent pictures of the two things I liked best to his sister-in-law for her advice."
Belle giggled at the mental image of poor Killian pulling something completely random from Emma's closet, thinking he'd done his part to help his friend. "Do you still have the pictures?" she asked, sliding a little closer to Emma on the swinging bench.
The other woman pulled her bag out from where she'd wedged it between the arm of the seat and her left thigh, then quickly flicked to the message thread she and Anna shared. "It was between these two," she explained, handing the device over.
Belle took a moment just to zoom in on the black and white polka dot dress that was in picture one, before she flicked to the image of the floral playsuit Emma was wearing that evening. "Well, if the dress looks better on you than it does on the hanger, like this playsuit does, it would have been a tough choice. But I think you guys made the right call. The dress is pretty but thisjust screams summer fun."
"Thanks," Emma said. "I've been looking for an excuse to wear it ever since I bought it - so thank you for giving me one."
"Oh, I can throw a different kind of party every weekend if you need those kinds of excuses," Belle teased "But I might need to dive through your closet myself. I really don't have as many decent dresses as I probably should have, and some of the stores around here really intimidate me."
"Well, if you have nothing to do on Saturday, we could always grab some coffee and then I could show you some of my favorite stores? Killian was planning to head back to the gym after being force-fed my mother's rich food for the holidays, and my only plans for the day were to clean the house and maybe read a little. I can do both of those things on Sunday."
"I'd love that," Belle enthused.
Her smile was so bright and radiant at that moment, Emma couldn't help but return it.
"You looked like you had fun tonight," Killian remarked, as he made his way outside with a bottle of wine in one hand, and two glasses dangling from the other.
After staying for food and fireworks with Will, Belle and their friends, the two of them had made their escape, citing early set calls as their reason for it. It wasn't exactly a lie. Emma would be up at dawn the next morning to make it across the city on time to begin her first day of shooting. But for some reason, as they'd watched Will set off dozens and dozens of beautiful pyrotechnics, they'd both felt themselves craving a moment of quiet intimacy together.
"I did. Will and Belle are good people."
"Yes, they are," Killian agreed. He popped the cork on the bottle in his hand and then poured two glasses of their favorite vintage. After handing one to Emma, he settled himself comfortably into the corner of the bench she'd picked, and his best friend wasted no time in arranging herself between his legs.
Neither of them said anything as they sipped at their drinks and watched the fireworks that continued to explode across the dark sky. Occasionally, Emma's fingers would draw nonsensical patterns over Killian's thighs or arms, and he would lean down to brush a kiss to the top of her head or her cheeks. But words weren't necessary to explain how they were feeling. They'd always been good at communicating non-verbally, and that skill had only seemed to improve now that their relationship had changed.
"Do you think you'll be here this time next year?" Killian wondered, as he poured the last of the bottle into their glasses. Even though he'd only whispered the question, it seemed overly loud in the silence that had settled between them.
"I'd like to be," was all Emma said, but it was all Killian needed to hear. She could have cited work as her reason for needing to stay, or she could have made an excuse to head back to New York. But instead, Emma had told him exactly what he'd wanted to hear – that she was planning to stay for as long as he'd have her.
"I'd like you to be here too. This house will always be your home, Emma."
She tilted her head back to brush her lips softly along Killian's jaw before settling back into the comfort of his arms.
When Emma had first left LA, she'd been desperate for a change - not just in her professional life, but also in her personal one. She'd spent most of her career with one television network, and she'd spent most of those years pining for a man she thought she'd never have. The move to New York had seemed like the perfect opportunity to clear her mind so that she could refocus back on the goals she'd always had for herself. She'd been glad to see LA fade into the distance as her plane had taken off, and she hadn't planned to return for several months. But now that she was back, Emma was starting to wonder why she'd ever left.
She reached for her glass once more to take another sip and when she settled back into the cradle of Killian's legs, his hands came up to gently massage her head.
"Mmmmm, that's good," she mumbled. The wine and the silence had already done a pretty good job of relaxing her, but Killian's magical fingers seemed determined to put her to sleep.
"Whenever we did press days and your stylist braided your hair, you always used to complain that the braids would give you a headache," Killian explained. "I know you haven't been wearing them that long tonight, but I figured this might help to ease the tension a little."
"It does."
Emma shifted forwards to give Killian more space to work with. She allowed her eyes to drift shut as the sounds of the fireworks exploding in the distance, and the gentle scratching and soft pulling of Killian's fingers, lulled her to sleep.
She wouldn't remember the time he took to gently unravel each piece of hair, smoothing his fingers through it as he went so that his friend wouldn't wake with it in a tangled mess the next morning. She also wouldn't remember the way he slipped out from behind her and eased his arms underneath her body to gently lift her from the bench. And Emma certainly wouldn't remember the way he lovingly undressed her that night, before gently tucking the sheets around her as he curled his body in behind her own. But she thought she might have remembered him whispering, "Sleep well, my love," when she finally woke at six am, to the blaring sound of her alarm.
Emma's look here is based on Jen's look for the Sicario: Day of the Soldado movie premiere in June 2018.
Thanks for reading and reviewing.
For those of you who don't know, I'm going through some difficult times personally at the moment both with my health and in my private life, so I'm afraid updates will remain sporadic for the time being because I just don't have the time or energy to dedicate to my fandom life right now.