Emma hummed quietly to herself as she continued browsing through the rack of dresses in front of her. They were all beautiful, of course, and perfect for her figure, but they were all lacking that wow factor she knew would drive her fiancé crazy.

"Anything?" the sales assistant asked hopefully, clearly sensing her commission slipping away.

"Do you have anything a little… different?" Emma asked, flicking through the last of the garments. "Something that will blow my partner's mind?"

"Uh…" The sales assistant's face went blank as she attempted to recall the rest of their inventory, hoping there would be something to Miss Swan's taste hidden somewhere in the store. She was, after all, their best customer.

And then it hit her.

"Oh! We had a delivery this morning!" she exclaimed excitedly. "It hasn't been sorted and added to the system yet, but I know Mrs. Abernathy won't mind if I raid it for you. Wait right here."

Emma nodded her head as the young woman dashed towards the stockroom just behind the office at the back of the store.

While she waited, Emma took a moment to browse through the different purses and shoes that had been added to the range since her last visit. She'd never really considered herself much of a fashionista before, but her transition to life as a vampire had given her plenty of time to explore new interests. After a few days spent browsing every article Vogue Magazine had ever published, she'd come away with an appreciation for fine designs and elegant detailing. Killian had been more than happy to support his mate's new passion when he'd realized the benefits it brought to his own existence.

It was while she was appreciating the stitching on a purse made from the finest Italian leather that she sensed it. For the first time since she'd made the change from human to vampire, Emma felt fingers of unease crawl their way down her spine to settle close to her gut.

Her head turned rapidly from left to right, lingering a little longer over the windows and doors in the empty store as she attempted to pinpoint the reason for her tension. But aside from the employees in the back of the building, the rest of the store was just as empty as it had been when she'd first stepped into it.

"Miss Swan?"

Emma turned far too quickly for a human, startling the young woman standing opposite her who was clinging tightly to a few black hangers.

"Sorry. Daydreaming," she lied, as she plastered a fake smile on her face, hoping to ease the woman's fears. "Did you find anything?" she prompted, when the sales assistant stood in awkward silence for a beat too long.

"Um – yes, I, uh – I think so," she stammered out, as she pulled her eyes away from Emma to focus on the dresses she had with her.

Emma heard the young woman's heart rate calm a little, and she made a note to keep her as focused on fashion as she possibly could.

"I, uh – I think this might be what you're looking for," the assistant said, carefully freeing something made from peach tulle.

"Really?"

Emma was sure her face gave away her hesitation to agree, but in her defense, she wasn't sure even Beyonce would be able to pull off that color.

"Trust me, Miss Swan," the assistant begged, "Mr. Jones will love it, and it will look wonderful with your coloring."

Emma half-heartedly nodded her head and followed the assistant to one of the changing rooms at the very back of the store. The assistant handed her the dress, and with a small amount of reluctance, Emma hung it up to get a good look at it.

She could see why the assistant had chosen this particular gown. While it was a little longer than she'd had in mind, the thin straps and the illusion paneling around the ribs and back of the dress screamed sexy. It was the perfect gown to wear for dinner and a night spent at London's famed Royal Opera House that would still leave her fiancé desperate for a moment or two alone with her.

"Does it come in any other colors?" she called out, kicking off her boots and wiggling her pants down her thighs.

"Sorry, no, Miss Swan. This is a one-of-a-kind piece."

Emma sighed to herself as she considered the dress again. If it had been in black or blue or even red, she knew she would have purchased it without hesitation – but the peachy orange just didn't feel like her.

"Try it on," the sales assistant begged. "I promise it will look much better on you than it will on the hanger. Mr. Jones will love it."

Emma wasn't sure she agreed, but she still unbuttoned her shirt and hung it on a free hook before reaching back to pop the clasp on her bra. When she was finally standing in only her panties and socks, she gently eased the dress off the hanger and pulled down the zip. She considered her options for a brief moment before she finally decided to step into the gown instead of trying to pull it over her head.

As Emma carefully wiggled the fabric up her legs and over her hips, she had to admit that it felt better on her than she thought it would. There was a silk skirt hidden inside the gown that clung to her upper thighs and hips, sculpting her body in a way that she knew Killian would love, while the layers of peach tulle left the dress looking soft and floaty. With the gentlest of touches, Emma slipped her arms through the thin straps and positioned them carefully on her shoulders before reaching back to tug the zipper closed. Brushing her hands down her form to remove any wrinkles, she finally turned to look at herself in the mirror, expecting to see some sort of trashy traffic cone staring back at her.

"Oh," she breathed, her eyes drifting from her bust down to her hips and legs, then back up again.

"I knew you'd like it," the sales assistant whispered through the door, and Emma smiled to herself as she twisted this way and that to get a complete look at the gown.

It certainly wasn't something she'd have purchased without encouragement, but now that she had it on, she couldn't wait for Killian to see her in it.

Emma gave her reflection another look over before she quickly changed out of the gown and slid open the bolt on the door. The sales assistant on the other side jumped a little at the noise, so Emma hurried to distract her.

"You were right, Lilly. This is definitely what I was looking for. I'll take it."

"Of course, Miss Swan. Just this way," Lilly instructed, as she gestured for Emma to follow her over to the cash register, where she busied herself with processing the sale.

Emma made sure to leave the poor girl a large tip and a wide smile before exiting the store that day, hoping the next time she visited, Lilly would feel a little more at ease in her presence.

"You're late!"

"Only by a couple of minutes," Emma defended, as she slid into her seat. "I couldn't get parked anywhere close by. Soccer fans in this town are insane."

"I believe 'passionate' is the word you're looking for," Zelena chuckled, "And you kind of get used to it after a while. Ask Killian to take you to a match one day. It's oddly compelling stuff."

"Yeah, I don't think sport is really either of our things. We'll stick with the opera and the ballet."

"Don't write it off," Zelena chided. "You have an eternity now, Emma. That's plenty of time to enjoy both the ballet and the Champions League."

Emma giggled as she nodded her agreement and shifted a little in her seat to make herself more comfortable.

"The usual?" Zelena asked, swirling the last of her drink around her mug, then downing it all in one gulp.

"Please."

Zelena hummed her agreement as she pushed herself to her feet and meandered her way towards the counter. Neither woman needed coffee to get them through their days anymore, but every once in a while, they would meet up again in whatever city they were visiting and grab a drink - like normal people did. It was a comforting ritual and one that made them feel more human than they had since their change.

It was as she was gazing around the bustling outdoor dining area that Emma felt it again. Flames of unease were licking their way up her spine, lodging themselves in her throat.

Emma took a moment just to ground herself before she carefully turned her head to the left and then to the right. There were plenty of people around he, enjoying the warm summer evening, doing a little shopping, and excitedly discussing the upcoming soccer game that evening. She could make out each of their heartbeats, pattering away with their own unique songs. When she inhaled deeply, she could pick out each of their scents, some covered by artificial fragrances and others enhanced by the heat and excitement of the moment. There were only two vampires in the area, of that she was certain – but now, Emma was convinced that she wasn't imagining what was happening to her.

"Everything okay?" Zelena asked, as she took her seat once again. Emma hadn't even seen her place the coffees down onto the table.

"Yeah, I, uh – Zelena, do you ever have these… these moments? Ones where you feel like you're being watched?"

"I'm fabulous," Zelena chuckled, tossing her long red hair over her shoulder. "It's only natural for people to stare."

"Not like that," Emma sighed. "This… this feels different. It feels… it's almost sinister."

Zelena's entire demeanor changed instantly. Emma watched as her friend's eyes darted left and right, carefully and quickly taking stock of their surroundings and who was occupying them. After a long few seconds of silence, the redhead finally relaxed back into her seat.

"There's only you and I here, Emma."

"I know," Emma agreed, because she couldn't sense any other vampires close by either. But that hadn't been enough to shake off the feeling that someone – or something – was watching her.

"Humans aren't a threat to us anymore," Zelena whispered, leaning across the table so they wouldn't be overheard. "You don't need to worry about them."

"I'm not," Emma rushed to assure her. She didn't know how she knew it, but she was certain that whatever was causing those feelings to rise inside of her was not human – and the moment that thought solidified in her mind, the unease churning in her stomach became a tsunami of fear.

"I – forget it," she finally said, because she knew her friend wouldn't understand. She didn't really understand it herself, so how could she possibly expect anyone else to appreciate how she was feeling at that moment? "It's probably just an overreaction. Killian said it can take a while for things to settle after your change. It's probably just my body still adapting to this new existence."

Zelena considered the idea for a short moment before she nodded her head in agreement and then shrugged aside the issue to launch into a speech about her new job and how much she was enjoying working in healthcare this time.

Emma smiled and nodded her head in all of the right places that evening, but it wasn't until she had her front door locked behind her, and her mate curled up beside her on the sofa, that she felt the tsunami inside of her calm once more.

Emma killed the engine, pulled the keys from the ignition, then reached out to flip down her visor. Zelena had assured her at length that the typical literary trope of vampires never changing wasn't exactly true, but it had still taken her three attempts to walk into the salon that morning. Now that the stylist had finished, she was pretty happy with the results. She couldn't remember the last time she'd worn her hair so short, and a few years ago, she never would have considered it. But as she checked her reflection over in the small mirror built into her visor, Emma liked what she saw staring back at her. She just hoped that Killian would too.

Giving herself a mental shake, she reached for the handle and tugged on it gently.

The instant she stepped out of her car, Emma felt it again! A cloak of unease that settled itself over her shoulders to hang like a lead weight.

She took her time using all her senses to scan the area around her for the source of her unease. But, once again, Emma couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. There were a few humans on the next street, chuckling together over a shared secret. The usual families were in the homes around her own – there wasn't even an unexpected visitor between them. And yet, Emma could not shake the feeling that she was being watched.

Keeping her head held high, she pressed the familiar button on her key fob to lock the car, then forced herself to take measured steps up the sidewalk towards her front door. She and Killian had only owned the house for a couple of months, and she didn't want to have to move because a human had caught her acting suspiciously.

Emma was shocked to see her hand shaking as she reached for the door handle and gave it a sharp twist to open it. Once she'd crossed the threshold to her house, however, that cloak of unease around her shoulders lifted instantly as the familiar warmth and comfort of her home – and her mate! – filled her senses.

"Hi, Love. How was your –" Killian cut himself off abruptly as he got his first good look at his fiancée.

For a moment, Emma thought it was her hair that had floored him, but then he spoke again.

"What's happened? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," she lied, because how could she explain to him what was happening to her when she couldn't even explain it to herself?

"It's clearly not nothing, Love. You look shaken – and that's not an easy thing to do to a vampire. What's happened, Emma?"

"I…" she paused for a moment, sinking back against the wooden frame of the door as she allowed her mind to try and piece together everything that had happened over the past few weeks. "I think someone's been following me."

Emma had expected Killian to dismiss her fears in a way similar to how Zelena had earlier that month, but instead, her fiancé's face fell with his concern as he took two large steps forward.

"Following you? Who? Where? When?"

"I, uh… I don't know. It just – it keeps happening, Killian. It's like I can feel eyes on me, but there's nobody there. I've checked. I did everything you taught me to do. I scan my surroundings. I take note of what should be there, so I know when something out of the ordinary is about to happen, and I just can't find anyone. I know that sounds crazy. I can hear how crazy I sound right now. I just – I'm scared, Killian. I've never felt this way before – not even as a human."

Killian took another couple of steps forward so that he could wrap his mate up in his arms.

"Hey, it's okay," he soothed, "I don't think you sound crazy, Emma."

She pulled back a little to fix him with a disbelieving stare, and Killian bent down to press a kiss to her forehead.

"I don't think you're crazy," he reiterated. "I don't. I…"

Emma fought her way out of his arms when she realized that Killian had been unnaturally still and silent for far too long.

"What?" she asked, and he seemed to startle out of whatever daze he'd been lost in.

"I… I think I know who's been following you. I just need to make a quick call."

Killian was gone from the room before Emma could open her mouth to utter the only word bouncing around her mind – "Who?"

"Okay. What about this one?"

Emma held her arms out wide as she twirled neatly on her toes, showing off the black dress she was wearing.

"You look beautiful, Love," Killian said, for the eighteenth time that hour.

"You're not even looking!"

He didn't need to lift his head to know that his mate had actually stomped her foot with her frustration. Killian had felt the way the carpet had vibrated underneath his seat. Swallowing down the sigh building in his throat, he carefully folded up the newspaper he'd been reading and set it down on the table beside him.

"Emma, Love, you've tried on nearly twenty dresses this evening. All of them look perfect on you, and no matter what I say, it doesn't actually seem to make a difference. So will you please just come and sit down and tell me what it is that's really bothering you before you end up trashing your entire closet?"

Emma's frown remained firmly fixed in place for all of three seconds before it crumbled, taking her resolve with it. She kicked off the heels she was wearing and made her way over to Killian's side as fast as she could, curling up on his lap in his open arms.

"What if he doesn't like me?" she eventually mumbled, as she fiddled with the spare button sewn inside the jacket he was wearing.

Killian froze underneath her for a brief instant before he relaxed again. "Why wouldn't he like you, Emma? You're my mate. Just that fact alone has already earned you some serious brownie points."

"But what if he thinks I'm not good enough for you? He's known you virtually all of your life, Killian. He knows you better than I do. What if he doesn't approve of me… of us?"

Killian tightened his arms around her in a hug that he knew would be bone-crushing had Emma still been human. "Nobody knows me better than you do, Love. You're my mate. How could they? And I promise you have nothing to worry about. He's been looking forward to meeting you ever since I emailed to say that I thought I'd found you all those years ago. That's why he was having you followed. He just wanted to know more about you. All you have to do is be yourself, and I know he will adore you."

Emma pulled back to meet his gaze for a moment, and Killian willed her to see the sincerity behind it. The instant that she did, he leaned in to brush his lips softly over her own before she slipped from his lap.

"Okay. Let me get changed, and then we can go."

"Seriously? How much clothing did you bring, Emma?" Killian asked, reaching for his discarded paper again.

"Just one more," she promised, as she grabbed something from the closet and darted back into the bathroom, all before he had opened the first page.

Killian was grateful for his vampire strength that evening. Without it, he was sure Emma would have crushed his hand with how tightly she was holding it.

"It's gonna be okay," he whispered, running his thumb over the back of her knuckles as he guided her through familiar corridors.

"Maybe I should have gone for the red dress," she whispered back. "I feel a little clichéd now I'm here."

"You're not gonna be the only person here today wearing black," Killian soothed, as his gaze dropped down the one-shouldered velvet jumpsuit Emma had finally settled on for the evening. He was pretty sure that even if everyone else in the room had opted for an all-black ensemble, his mate would stand out amongst them all. Emma looked truly radiant, even with the fear so clearly etched on her face.

"But I wouldn't mind seeing the orange dress again sometime soon," he added quickly, hoping to lighten the mood a little.

Emma snorted out a small laugh, and Killian gave himself a mental pat on the back for making her smile.

"So you were paying attention?" she asked.

"I always pay attention to you, Love." He raised her hand to his lips and brushed a soft kiss over the place where her pulse would have been racing, if she'd still been human, and Emma's iron-clad grip on his hand relented ever-so-slightly.

The final turn left them facing a long corridor with only one set of double doors at the end, flanked on either side by imposing-looking vampires dressed in black suits and white shirts.

Emma's grip on Killian's hand tightened once more, and he paused his stride briefly just to allow her to gather her strength before he continued moving, making his way confidently down the hallway.

"Marcus, Steven," he greeted, nodding his head in the direction of each of the vampires when he finally came within touching distance of them both.

The answering greeting of "Killian" came only from Steven as his partner reached out to open one of the doors for them, then stepped back into his position.

"Ready, Love?" Killian asked, giving Emma's hand a gentle squeeze as he turned to his fiancée once more.

Emma's face was screaming at him that she was most definitely not ready for what was waiting for them both on the other side of that door. Then, before his very eyes, Killian watched as she schooled her features into a more neutral look, raised her head to meet his gaze, and nodded it once firmly.

Killian returned her nod with one of his own before gesturing for her to step into the room ahead of him.

He was proud of Emma for the way she kept her head held high and her steps even and measured while she made her way into the office with him following close behind. He could tell that she was dying to twist her head this way and that to try and take in as much of her surroundings as she possibly could, but Emma restrained herself instead, keeping her eyes fully focused on the desk before her and the man sitting behind it.

It was only when the door snicked shut behind them that the older gentleman in the room finally raised his head to face the newcomers – and before Emma had even realized it, the look on his face had shifted from mild annoyance to a beatific smile.

"Killian," he greeted, moving around the antique desk to pull the younger vampire into a hug far quicker than Emma had ever seen any vampire move before. "It's so good to see you again, my son."

"You too, Father," Killian replied, his own smile doing its best to match the one his father figure wore.

The two men gazed warmly at each other for a long second before Killian's eyes slid over to Emma's form, and the other man's quickly followed.

"Father, may I introduce you to my mate, Emma Swan?" he offered.

Emma tried to make her smile seem as natural and joyful as Killian's, but it was hard to do when she remembered just how well the older man had managed to have her tailed.

"Emma," he repeated, taking a step to his left and reaching for her hands. "It is so good to finally see you. My son's words did your beauty no justice."

"Th… thank you," Emma stammered out, because she hadn't been expecting those to be the first words she heard from Killian's father that evening!

"I am so sorry for all the confusion and worry we caused you last month," the older vampire continued. "I merely wished to know more about the woman who had finally captured this one's heart. I never meant to cause you any alarm."

"It's uh – it's fine, Mr. Dracula. Killian explained the misunderstanding. All is forgiven."

"Please, you are to be my daughter. Call me Nicholas."

Emma's look here is based on Jen's look for Seth Rogen's Hilarity For Charity event on 24th March 2018

Thanks for reading and reviewing.