Happily Ever After (ch. 2)

CS Genre: rival bakers/enemies to lovers/secret identity au

After finishing breakfast, Emma headed back up to her loft bedroom to finish getting ready for the day ahead. Not that she was going to take any special pains with her appearance for the festival. Knowing Killian, he'd probably assume she'd gotten dressed up for him.

He was handsome, for sure, but she wasn't about to stroke his ego…or anything else about him.

Emma groaned as she gathered up a clean pair of jeans and a white tank and headed for the bathroom David had installed just off her bedroom. Why was it Killian was always around? Yeah, he and David were best friends, but jeez! Their bromance was out of control.

And okay, maybe Killian wasn't the worst person she'd ever met. He could be genuinely charming and surprisingly helpful when he wanted to be, but just when she felt like maybe she could tolerate him, he'd make some ridiculous, over the top innuendo and she'd remember why it was she loathed the very ground he walked on.

At least she only had to put up with him for the day. She'd endure the afternoon then beat him to a bloody pulp at the baking contest, and then the evening... Well, the evening was for her.

For her and The Captain.

Emma felt a thrill of excitement run through her as she toweled off after her shower, donned her clothes, and tossed on a bit of mascara and blush. Tonight she was going to the masquerade ball with The Captain and it was going to be, quite possibly, the most romantic night of her life. She couldn't believe she was even thinking like this, but there was no other way to describe it. She'd fallen in love.

Only problem was, she'd never before met the guy.

Not long after moving into the loft with the Nolans, Mary Margaret had started hinting that Emma needed a love life.

"Emma, I hate to see you spending a Saturday night alone," Mary Margaret had fussed while putting the finishing touches on her make up in preparation for her date night with David. "I know you haven't had the best luck with men, but trust me; there's someone out there for you. Someone who will make you as happy as David makes me."

Emma looked up from her book and gave her sister in law a skeptical look. "I know you're all hope and rainbow kisses and unicorn stickers about everything, and that's great, Mary Margaret, really. I'm happy you and David found each other, but I kind of think you found the last good guy out there."

Mary Margaret tutted, dropping down onto the chair across from Emma, rubbing her, as yet, almost non-existent baby bump. "That's ridiculous, Emma," Mary Margaret said.

"Is it, though?" Emma asked, putting the marker in her book, placing it on the coffee table and facing Mary Margaret. "I've tried the whole dating thing a few times, if you'll recall. I did a stint in jail after Neal framed me for his petty theft, and then Walsh, well you know how that ended. He picked the wrong woman to try to physically assault, that's for sure, but my experience with both of them taught me an important lesson: A happy ending isn't in the cards for me. At least a happy ending of the white picket fence, doting husband, perfect couple of kids variety."

Mary Margaret looked like she was about to cry and Emma mentally kicked herself for being the cause of it. Mary Margaret had had a tough time of it in the last few months with the early stages of pregnancy. Her morning sickness had been off the charts, and her mood swings…well, that woman could cry at the drop of a hat. Luckily, entering her second trimester seemed to have evened things out a little, but she was still a bit more sensitive than normal.

"Don't worry about me," Emma said gently. "I'm fine; I promise. Love just isn't for everyone. I've got you and David and in a few months that little bun in your oven to dote over. Besides, I've been out of the dating game long enough I wouldn't even know how to begin."

"I'm glad you asked!" Mary Margaret said, jumping up, grabbing her phone from the kitchen island and then sitting beside Emma on the couch. "Turns out, I have the perfect solution for you!"

She hadn't asked, but…maybe it would be easier to just humor her perky sister in law. Emma sighed. "I'm almost certain I'm going to regret this, but what exactly is this perfect solution you've got for me?"

Mary Margaret tapped on her phone for a moment, and then turned it so Emma could see. "I heard about it in the teacher's lounge the other day. It's this new online dating app. It's still getting off the ground, but it's already got rave reviews. Why don't you try it? Make yourself a profile!"

Emma glanced at the screen. The homepage showed the drawing of a magnificent fairy tale castle, surrounded by roses and flowers and stars. "Happily Ever After" was written across the top in big, curvy letters, the "I" in happily dotted with a heart.

Emma couldn't have come up with something cheesier if she'd tried. "Really?"

"Okay, I know it's a little corny, but it works," Mary Margaret insisted. "Remember Ariel? She teaches biology and coaches the swim team? She met this guy Eric on Happily Ever After, and if I'm not mistaken, wedding bells will soon be pealing for those two. Jasmine Sharin, the social studies teacher, has also been on the site and she has her first date with this cute guy named Aladdin this weekend. They're both happier than I've ever seen them."

To say Emma remained skeptical was a massive understatement, but she could see how much this meant to Mary Margaret. It was really kind of sweet how much her brother's wife was invested in her finding happiness.

Emma sighed. "Look, I don't have high hopes, but if it'd make you happy, I guess I could make a profile."

Mary Margaret surged forward and exuberantly hugged her. "That's great, Emma! And who knows; maybe you'll meet your own Prince Charming on the app. Stranger things have happened!"

Emma rolled her eyes good naturedly. "Alright, alright, I've already agreed to try the stupid thing. Get going or you'll be late meeting David at the restaurant, and I know how crabby he gets when he has to wait on his food."

With one last hug, Mary Margaret had gotten up, and laughing stepped through the door.

That evening Emma had dutifully installed the Happily Ever After app on her phone and created a profile. There was no way of knowing what kind of crazies might be on the site, so she'd made the decision to keep her info general. No name, no specific location, no outside contact information.

She'd simply be "The Swan" from Maine. She'd found a photo of a swan to use as her profile photo. Satisfied she'd done what she could, she'd clicked out of the app and gone to bed.

Two days later, Emma'd logged onto Happily Ever After and found, to her surprise, that she had a message in her inbox. Curious, she clicked on the little red blinking envelope at the top of her screen.

The icon that greeted her made her snort with laughter. The guy called himself "The Captain" and his icon was a picture of cartoon Captain Hook, waxed moustache, perm and all. Even more curious now, she perused the short message.

Dear Swan,

I'm rather new at this online dating thing so I have no idea what one is meant to write in their opening message. Suffice it to say I found your profile intriguing. I'd like to begin corresponding with you if you're amenable.

Sincerely,

The Captain.

Emma smiled, kind of liking the oddly formal language. There wasn't much to learn about the guy from this first message, and for all she knew he was a serial killer, but as long as she kept her "no identifying info" rule in place, there was no reason not to at least shoot him a note back.

Dear "The Captain"

Nice to "meet" you. And yeah, this is awkward, isn't it? Lol! So, I should probably tell you right off the bat that I'm super concerned about privacy and all of that. My rule is no identifying information—even name—until we're both totally comfortable with each other.

Still, I found your profile interesting too. Just who are you, other than a cartoon villain?

The Swan

And so had begun a beautiful online friendship. "The Captain" had been nothing but a gentleman from the first, agreeing to and scrupulously abiding by her "no info" rule, asking her about her day, offering her advice and consolation when she'd had a bad day, making her laugh, offering her little bits and pieces of his life.

Fact is, though she'd never met the guy in person, still didn't know what he even looked like, Emma was falling for him. Hard.

A couple weeks ago, Emma was lying awake in her bed smiling like a loon after a two hour chat session with The Captain, and she suddenly realized they'd reached a crossroads. Caution was good and necessary; there were a lot of crazies out there; but caution only took you so far. She and The Captain had been talking for months, but if their relationship was going to progress to something real and lasting, they were going to have to meet.

Emma knew he'd been wanting to meet her for quite some time but he'd left it up to her, let her decide when she was comfortable.

She didn't know if she'd ever be comfortable, but it was time. It was way past time. So, before she could lose her nerve, she shot him a quick text and then held her breath waiting for his reply.

10:35 pm So, there's this fall festival thing in a little town in Maine called Storybrooke. It ends with a big masquerade ball in the evening. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go and meet me there? If you don't want to, it's not a big deal, but *shrug* just thought I'd ask.

It had taken him all of fifteen seconds to reply.

10:35 pm Of bloody course I'd like to meet you there! Just tell me when and where.

And so here it was, the day of the fall festival and masquerade ball. The day she finally met The Captain. The butterflies danced the cha cha in her stomach as she thought about it. What would he be like? Would he like her? Oh gods, how was she going to deal with it if he was disappointed when he met her in person?

For a moment Emma toyed with the idea of texting him and calling the whole thing off, but instead she took a long, deep breath and blew it out slowly.

She was no coward, and she was done letting Neal and Walsh ruin her dating life. Whatever else came of today, she was going to meet The Captain, and she was going to give him a chance. With a determined nod of her head, she picked up her phone, opened the app and shot The Captain a text.

11:07 am Well today is the day! Is it weird that I'm both really excited and really nervous about meeting you in person? Don't forget; I'll be wearing the swan mask.

And with that, she tossed her phone in her jeans pocket and headed for the stairs. Time to get this show on the road.

Notes:

-But who in the world could The Captain be?! Hahahaha! Maybe the better question is, what will Emma's reaction be when she realizes just who her secret Internet man is? Stay tuned, all will be revealed in due course.

-Up next: We meet Killian in present time.