While my other story "Lost and Found" gives me absolute hell, here is a oneshot (possibly a two-shot) that takes place during the CS movie, right after David and Killian save Emma, and Snow turns back from a bug into a person. :)

~cosette141

Killian felt himself breathe out in relief.

He watched Emma do the same, however much he could still see the tracks of tears still wet on her cheek from when she'd hugged Snow.

They'd actually succeeded.

They'd put Emma's parents back on the right track.

Thank the gods.

Not only that, but the emotional ride regarding Emma's safety was finally over, worse than any storm Killian's ever sailed. Both from being captive of the queen, and the potential danger of her fading from existence.

Something that had bloody chilled him to the bone when Emma had mentioned it.

So, he found himself just watching her, watched her compose herself, wiping the last of her tears away, and he bloody reveled in the fact that she was all right.

"Well," came David's voice, as he walked over to them, sounding as tired as Killian felt. "Glad that's over and everyone's all right."

"Aye," agreed Killian heavily, to which David raised a brow.

Emma cleared her throat, and Killian realized his faux-paux. "He, um," she said awkwardly, "spent a lot of his life at sea…"

David looked at Emma. "So, he married into royalty then?"

A warm chill slipped down Killian's spine, and he watched heat color Emma's cheeks even in the darkness of the night.

David looked between them, a little confused at their nearly identical reactions, and Killian tried, "I… ah…"

Bloody hell, he's a pirate. He should be a better liar than this.

It seemed that being in Emma's presence has made him a worse one, and he didn't exactly know how to feel about that.

"Yeah," said Emma, catching him the same way she did when he couldn't come up with a bloody name for himself at the ball.

"Well, that's quite the story," said David with a little chuckle. He looked at Emma's hand, then lifted a brow to Killian. "Where's the ring?"

Killian's entire body was tense as a rock. "Ah… the ring?" he echoed, looking at Emma, who shared his nerves.

"Um…" began Emma, touching her own finger, and Killian watched the wheels turn in her head.

"I'd gotten her one, of course," said Killian smoothly, "however, she had her eyes set on yours." said Killian with a grin, looking at Emma, who gave him an incredulous look. With a shrug, Killian smiled something positively shit-eating. "How was I to disappoint her?"

David's brows shot up. "Wait… so you wanted to steal my engagement ring to use as your own?! That's why you took it?" At Killian and Emma's silent confirmation of the ridiculous story, he said, "Why?!"

Emma hesitated, then looking from Killian to David, a little grin at her lips, she said, "I… um, I guess that I thought it was romantic?"

Killian hid his own grin, catching her meaning.

David gaped at her, then shook his head saying, "Stealing an engagement ring? Doesn't sound very romantic to me."

Emma and Killian exchanged a look.

"Well, to each his own, I guess," he said with a laugh, but sobered to say, "And I mean that literally, though. If you would, you know, refrain from stealing any other things from me." His wary gaze landed on Emma.

Killian grinned. "She, ah, has some… how would you put it?" Eyes shifting to Emma— "She's got some pirate in her." He grinned deeper at Emma's deadpanned glare. "But I'll be sure to keep her on the straight and narrow."

Killian could practically feel Emma's glare burning into him.

David hesitated, like he was wondering whether or not to say something. He looked between them, and then to Killian, said, "If you don't mind my asking, married-man to soon-to-be-married-man… how did you know she was the one?"

Killian felt himself stiffen.

He nearly felt the air shift as Emma tensed beside him as well.

"Ah…" began Killian, doing his best to avoid Emma's gaze. Killian felt his chest twist with the fact that he had an answer for that. Yet as much as he'd like to say it, he and Emma, to his painful disappointment, still weren't… anything. Sometimes, he wondered if she even considered him a friend at this point, as she clearly didn't consider him anything otherwise.

She didn't even bloody call him by his name.

It was only in New York, when she'd said his name to Henry, that he felt something that had been broken inside him heal.

He didn't even know she remembered it.

But she uses it as seldom as she can, so the excitement at hearing it never stayed long.

He was still Hook to her, and he was still…

He didn't know what he was to her.

Yet…

That goodbye they shared last year, at the townline, when they'd thought they'd never see each other again…

"There won't be a day that goes by that I won't think of you."

"Good."

That look in her eyes, that flick of them to his lips, of him finally seeing a glimpse of what looked like care for him—

Only to flash forward to giving her memories back in New York, like he'd shattered her happiness with his mere presence.

Where had that look that had been in her eyes gone?

He didn't flatter himself with the idea that Emma had saved his life when Zelena had drowned him solely for him; she'd have probably done the same if it was bloody Leroy drowned and dying. She was a hero; saving him then proved nothing of any feelings she had for him.

He simply had no bloody idea where she stood with him.

But when they'd watched Snow 'die', only hours ago, he'd acted instinctively; he'd grabbed her, pulled her to his chest.

And she let him.

She'd more than that, she'd nearly melted into him.

Like she belonged there.

But, as it always is with Emma, the moment was over soon enough, and she'd pulled away, leaving Killian to wonder if she'd simply needed someone to hold in that moment… rather than specifically him.

All in all, he'd been wrong earlier.

This… this adventure in the past hadn't been the rockiest storm he'd ever sailed.

Pursuing Emma Swan was.

However, it was a storm he'd die trying to make it through.

He found himself staring at Emma and David, who were both waiting for his response, David like he was waiting on the key to the Universe, and Emma…

…Emma with something utterly unreadable in her eyes.

"Charming!"

Killian could have collapsed with relief.

Snow's voice called softly from the other side of camp as she joined them again, with the nameless woman Emma had saved.

Seeming to forget his own question, bloody thankfully, David rolled his eyes at the name as he turned. "Yes?"

Snow smiled at him, something mischievous and exciting, and Killian suddenly saw a glimpse of Emma in her. "I told you, it suits you." At David's shaking head, she winced a little. "It's not safe to travel outside at this time at night; we should make camp and continue in the morning."

"I don't think I could travel even if we wanted to, I'm beat," said David. With a sigh, he looked around the clearing, and said, "All right. Let's stay close, then."

Snow, David and the woman each picked up a different spot in the clearing to make a space to lay.

Killian and Emma both walked to the opposite side of the clearing, and Emma took the headband out of her hair and threw it on the ground before sitting. He could see her shiver a little, and try to pull the ratty cloak around her.

Without a word, Killian shrugged out of his coat—wishing he still had his leather one, and wondering how the bloody hell he was going to get it back—and held it out to her.

Emma looked at it with confusion. "What are you—?"

"You'll be warmer," was all he said, and he watched surprise jump into her eyes, and something touched color her cheeks.

He tried to swallow the rise of emotions, of the little spurt of joy that he managed to make her feel such a way.

Emma stared at it for a second, then with a mumble of, "Thanks," she took off the cloak, laid it on the ground like a blanket and then accepted his jacket. She slipped her arms in, and Killian couldn't help thinking how adorable she looked in the oversized clothing.

Killian removed the sword from his belt. He then moved to walk a few feet away to find his own space in the clearing, when she said— "Hoo—Charles."

He paused, looking at her.

Emma looked over to where David was still getting comfortable, and she bit her lip, standing to approach Killian, and whispered, "They, um… they think we're married."

A rush down his spine. He swallowed. "Aye…" he said softly. "What of it?"

Emma bit her lip. Harder. She looked so… uncomfortable.

"What, love?" he prompted gently.

Emma forced it out— "Married people, y'know… sleep together." Her eyes widened a fraction at the same time Killian lost feeling in his entire body. "Next to each other," she amended quickly. "You know, like, not apart, together…"

Killian stared at her in shock.

Was she suggesting what he thought she was suggesting…?

Because this was Emma, and because he couldn't believe his own ears, he confirmed slowly, "You… you want me to… sleep beside you?"

Red tinted her skin even in the moonlight. "I mean, they think we're married, and we don't want to give them any reason to think we're lying about that, or about other things—they might look into us and screw up the future again and—it's just for the cover," she tumbled out all in one breath.

It took every ounce of strength Killian had not to smile at the idea. "Of course," he said instead, composed, meeting her forced indifference on the subject.

Emma let out a breath, nodding, and with a slight hesitation, laid down on the cloak.

And Killian, after lying his sword against a tree next to them, very, very, slowly laid down beside her.

She was watching him carefully, and he was incredibly aware of the fact.

So, he left a few inches of space between them, lying on his back, folding his arm behind his head. And he shut his eyes, every single nerve in his body alight with the fact that he could feel her inches away from him.

And suddenly, startling him, he felt her move closer.

His eyes snapped open, to see her having closed the distance between them, and felt her lay her head on his shoulder.

His entire body went rigid, and he stopped breathing for a moment.

Emma seemed to feel it, and it made her tense, like she misread his reaction, and thought she was making him uncomfortable.

The problem, however, was that she was making him more comfortable than he's ever been in his life, and he wasn't sure he could handle giving in and enjoying the moment if it was just going to be ripped away in the morning, when she no longer had a reason to be so close to him.

The same way he was always Hook to her, unless she had to call him Killian in front of her lad.

And he didn't think she knew just how heartbreaking it was for him to hear her switch back every time.

"Just, um," said Emma awkwardly, "for the… cover." And, hesitating, a touch of that shyness— "And… you're more comfortable than the ground."

It made Killian smile, though, because he's never heard her quite so shy, and it was a side of her he liked to see for a change. It felt more like her. "Quite all right." he said softly.

They were both quiet for a moment, Killian fully aware of every one of the few places she and he were touching. As seconds ticked by, they both seemed to relax a bit, muscles loosening one after another. And Killian shut his eyes, breathing in the scent of her hair, trying to memorize the feel of her, trying to imagine what it would be like to do this with her every single night.

And deciding that he was going to enjoy this bloody moment for all it was worth, even if she breaks his heart again in the morning.

She was bloody worth it.

"Goodnight, Emma." he whispered, voice velvety soft in a way he reserved for such a moment. And for such a person.

Emma seemed to tense a little more, as if she heard the depth of tenderness in his voice. He felt her hesitate, then whisper, "Night."

He didn't quite miss the hesitation at the end of the word, where his name should go.

But she also didn't call him Hook, and it gave him a little hope at the fact that she'd thought about what to call him.

Though, perhaps she could have been wondering if to call him Charles.

He sighed.

Silence descended over the five of them over the next while, and soft snoring was heard across the clearing from David.

Killian, however, was still awake, basking in the moment he never wanted to end.

He'd thought Emma had fallen asleep already, so when she spoke, he jumped a little.

"Hook?"

Ignoring the pang at her speaking his moniker, Killian peered down at her. She'd tilted her head to look at him, eyes sparkling a little with moonlight, and with something else he couldn't read.

"All right, Swan?" he murmured, heart jumping at the thought she wasn't.

"Yeah," she whispered. She swallowed, hesitating again, then said, "I just, um, didn't get a chance to… thank you."

His brows lifted, and he tilted his head to look at her more fully. "For what?" he asked.

Another hesitation, then her voice dipped even quieter. "For… coming back for me."

The words were so quiet he barely heard them.

Yet, the way she said it suggested something that physically hurt him. Turning toward her even more, he asked, "You thought I wouldn't?"

Something dark passed through her eyes and they fell from his gaze.

And it reminded him of the same look in her eyes that had been there in Neverland, right after they'd found Baelfire alive.

Pain.

Killian had cared for Bae a great deal, would always be sad to think him gone, but he would never forgive how he had shattered Emma.

Killian had picked up their story in bits and pieces from what he's overheard, and knew at the very least that Bae had left her to take blame for his crime and she spent nearly a year in a brig.

And he suddenly realized just where she'd been trapped all night.

A bloody brig.

"Emma," he said seriously, unable to keep the hurt out of his voice. However, it was hurt for her. "After… after everything we've been through, you thought I'd leave you?"
At the little flinch, she sure did.

His chest hurt.

All this time, he'd thought perhaps he'd misread her, that she perhaps didn't care for him the way he cared for her. She'd seemed nearly more—how did she once describe it?—"prickly" as of late. He'd thought it was a bad sign, that she was simply no longer interested in him at all.

But right here in her eyes, was the culprit of her behavior.

And what led her to believe he wouldn't come back for her tonight.

She was bloody terrified.

When she didn't say anything, though her eyes said plenty, Killian said, gently yet a firm as his care for her, "Emma, I would never leave you." Attempting to tread carefully, but still deliver words she needed to hear, he said, "I care about you a great deal, Emma." Understatement of the bloody century. He saw her eyes widen a fraction at his words, words that usually went unspoken. "No matter what we…" He didn't finish the words, but he knew she heard them anyway, and they were the first time he's spoken such words aloud since Neverland. And it killed him, still, knowing they may never become anything more than what they were. But his promise was as sure as his care for her. "I will always be here for you," he whispered.

Her eyes were on his, a sort of desperate look as she searched them.

But he knew despite the truth she found in them, it was trust she was looking for, and she couldn't find it there.

But she swallowed, hesitated, then gave him the tiniest smile he's ever seen.

He settled himself back, and he felt her lay her head back down over his shoulder, letting herself get a little more comfortable than she was before, her hand tentatively coming to rest on his chest.

He froze.

He was as still as he could be, terrified to push her. No matter how bloody much he wanted to wrap his arms around her and pull her closer.

However, after a moment, with the tiniest heat of courage, Killian ever so slowly let his hand fall gently to her shoulder. His breath was caught in his chest with the reflex to pull it back in case he's gone too far.

Her muscles jumped a little at his touch, and so did his heart.

But before he could pull away, he felt her relax.

Almost even more than she had been.

She let him hold her, and he watched her eyes fall shut.

And he felt himself relax as well, a little smile at his lips.

She was bloody lying with him.

He couldn't quite believe it.

Nor how bloody right it felt.

He shut his eyes, relishing in the feel of her against him, and of the hope in his chest.

And just before he drifted off, he heard two words that lit warmth in him like the brightest flame of a firelight.

"Goodnight, Killian."