Emma Swan shut the door behind her, closed her eyes and leant back against it, knowing she was royally screwed. She had just returned from her first date with Hook, no...Killian, She now realised that she was this close to falling head over heels in love with him.

And it wasn't as though she hadn't been aware before tonight how much she had grown to care for him or trust him or the fact that she was incredibly attracted to him. But, this was different. She now knew she felt for him in a way she had never felt for anyone else before, not even Neal. Finally understanding the her relationship with Henry's father had been nothing much more than the excitement of first love and teenage hormones, at least compared to what she was feeling now for Killian.

Yep! She was SO screwed!

And then there was that kiss goodnight...

"So, how was it?"

Her Mother's voice interrupted her thoughts as she snapped her eyes open and realised her parents were sat watching her. "You guys are still awake," she said awkwardly.

Mary Margaret chuckled. "We want to hear everything about the date."

"Just for the record," her Dad cut in, "some of us don't want to hear...everything."

Mary Margaret ignored her husband and continued to enthusiastically question Emma. "How was the restaurant? Did you go anywhere after? Was there a good-night kiss?"

David pulled a face. "That, for instance, is one of the things I don't want to know about."

Emma sighed. She wasn't in the mood to discuss her date with anyone. Not because it hadn't been good, quite the opposite. She just wanted to keep her delightful evening to herself for now. "I really need to get my own place," she mumbled to herself as she headed towards the stairs. "Good night, guys," she called as she made her way up to her room.

Her Mom sighed happily. "She seems happy."

"I guess he really has changed." David, begrudgingly, accepted.

Emma rolled her eyes "I can hear you guys!" she called back down. It was hard not to with no walls to her room. With a shake of her head at the absurdity of it all, she reached down to slip her heels off before sitting down at her dressing table.

Leaning closer towards the mirror to remove her make up, she suddenly noticed her rather kiss swollen lips. She dropped the package of wipes she'd just picked up and ran her fingers lightly across her lips and returned to her thoughts that her mother had interrupted. That kiss goodnight...damn she didn't think she'd ever been kissed like that and there was no way you could forget a kiss like that!

It had been heated and passionate and yet soft and loving at the same time. His lips had completely consumed her and pulled her in as he'd wrapped his arms around her, causing her to momentarily lose all sense of reality. All she'd been aware of in the moment was him, his taste and his smell. He was most certainly a very experienced kisser or perhaps he just had a natural talent for it, but it had certainly been rather mind blowing. Not that she was going to tell him that because she had every intention of stealing many more of those!

As she rested her chin in her hand, leaning on the dressing table, just staring unseeing at her reflection in the mirror, her mind began to wander to an even more intimate place. If Killian was that gifted with kissing, what would he be like between the sheets? She'd already had a taste of those soft, full, skilled lips and she could only imagine how good they would feel upon her skin in other areas.

No doubt he would be rather proud and conceited about his sexual prowess, but he was also patient, so she didn't doubt that he would be thorough and giving. He seemed to be the kind of man who loved with his entire heart once he allowed himself to. She gave an involuntary shiver as she imagined the scene and his hands running over her body. For now, at least, he had both of his hands, though she wasn't sure whether this was a permanent fate or not. But, even if he only had the one hand, she was acutely aware of how adept he was with it and the things he could achieve, she had no qualms about that. Besides, that hook might be interesting to play with, she smirked to herself at the thought

Not to mention that the pirate obviously had an amazing body, he was physically fit and well toned. The tease of all that chest hair peeking out from his clothes was captivating and she craved to see what the rest of him looked like under all that leather, was he just as hairy elsewhere?

But, she wasn't ready to go that far with him just yet. She didn't want to leap into bed with him as though he was nothing more than a one night conquest, someone to scratch her itch. If she was going to do this with him, have some kind of relationship, then she was going to do it properly and take her time. She had never really done the whole dating thing and the slow burn of getting to know someone with anyone else.

Well, okay, there had been Walsh and they had dated for a few months, but somehow she kept forgetting he had even existed in her life. That time she had spent in New York felt almost like a dream. She now knew that nothing in that relationship had been real or genuine, besides her misconstrued feelings. Whereas feelings between her and Killian were very real and totally genuine, not to mention reciprocated and she found that she truly wanted the entire dating experience with him. Somehow she knew he was worth it, that he was going to be different.

And when they did fall into bed together, because it would inevitably happen as those building desires grew between them until they could do nothing but give in, she was quite sure there would be fireworks. There was a sense that they would work just as well together in bed as they did in any crisis and somehow she was sure he'd be a good lover and do anything to bring her pleasure.

Her parents were still shuffling around downstairs, getting ready for bed and seeing to the baby. Emma flushed, realising that here she was fantasising about having sex with Killian with her parents just downstairs! She shook her head to dislodge the images and glanced across at the single bed in the corner, it was usually Henry's, but tonight Elsa was currently sleeping in it. Emma felt rather relieved that Henry was staying at Regina's tonight. It wouldn't do for him to wake and see his mom sat there mooning over some guy she'd just had a date with.

With a sigh, she picked up the wipes again and began to rub her make up off. She really was going to have to look into finding her own place. Things were getting a little crowded since her baby brother had arrived, it was amazing how much stuff a tiny person needed and how far it spread so easily. Not to mention it would be nice to be able to sleep through the night without the cries of a newborn waking her.

And she wasn't going to deny that the added bonus of having her own space and privacy to invite Killian back to would be nice.

With her face now free of make up, Emma took out her earrings and let her hair down from the ponytail, tying it into a messy knot whilst she got undressed and pulled her pajamas on. Once settled under the sheets, she replayed the evening in her mind, smiling to herself as she did.

It had all been...almost perfect. From the moment he'd picked her up, freshly dressed in this realms fashion, which had been a delightful surprise and looked incredibly handsome on him. And she wouldn't admit to anyone that she was quite enjoying the view without his great Pirate coat in the way – the man certainly had a fine ass! The restaurant had been a nice surprise too, having half expected him to have taken her to Granny's. It was a place she hadn't even discovered herself during her time in town and the food had been delicious. He had been the perfect gentleman all night, besides the little incident with the damn thief, but she could even understand that.

And that goodnight kiss certainly hadn't been their first kiss of the night, she remembered as her thumb traced her lips again with a secret smile.

After enjoying a leisurely meal of good food and even better company, they had finally decided to leave the restaurant when they realised they were the last patrons in the building and the staff were wanting to finish and go home. Both of them had lost track of time since they were having such a good time and had lost themselves in each other.

Killian had paid the bill, without her even knowing and then offered her his hand. "Might I persuade you to take a walk with me?" he asked politely as they left the restaurant together.

"You might," she gave him a smile. "After all, I'm in no hurry to return to an apartment full of people."

"Shall we?" he asked, gesturing towards the harbour.

Emma nodded and gripped his hand tighter, willing to walk with him anywhere right now simply to prolong their evening together. He steered them past the harbour until they were walking along parallel to the beach, it was dark, but Emma felt perfectly safe with him and she was certainly capable of protecting the both of them if needs be.

"Is this what it would have been like? If we were dating in the Enchanted Forest? Walking out together?" she asked him curiously. It seemed such an innocent thing to do.

Killian chuckled. "Honestly love, if we were living in the Enchanted Forest I am absolutely certain that neither Prince Charming nor Princess Snow would allow a pirate to court their only daughter." He gave her a wry smile.

"Hmm, then perhaps their daughter would have rebelled and ran off with the pirate?" she suggested, teasingly.

Killian looked at her and grinned. "I do believe she just might."

The pair of them laughed as they continued on, until Emma stumbled slightly.

Killian's arm went around her waist, holding her steady. "Are you all right, love?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah," Emma sighed. "Just, new shoes," she grimaced and glared down at the offending items. "Maybe we can sit a moment?" she asked, nodding towards a nearby bench.

"Aye," he agreed and helped her limp towards it.

Once sat down, she reached for her foot and rubbed her ankle, hoping the new shoes were not going to give her a blister – that was the last thing she needed when she had snow beasts and monsters to chase down.

"Is it all right?" he asked her.

"I'll be fine," she assured him.

"Good," he smiled and wrapped an arm around her. "You're freezing, Swan!" he suddenly gasped.

"Yeah, kind of stupid of me not to bring a jacket," she rolled her eyes. "We are in Maine, after all, with a snow queen running around town."

Killian began to take off his jacket.

"Oh, no, you don't have to...oh..." she huffed when he didn't listen to her and slipped the jacket onto her shoulders.

"I'm not having you getting cold, love." he replied.

"Well, thank you," she smiled and slipped her arms into the sleeves. The jacket still held his warmth and she revelled in it for a moment. Despite the fact the jacket was obviously new and smelt very strongly of new leather, she could still detect his own scent on it.

"You're welcome," he smiled as she looked up at him.

Eyes met for a moment and then hers flicked down towards his lips as they leant closer and shared a soft, tender kiss as arms entwined around one another.

"Hmm..." Emma breathed as they parted, her forehead still pressed against his. "And that would be why we would have had chaperones in the Enchanted Forest."

"I don't have any experience with that, but I always thought them to be killjoys." He grinned as he pecked her lips once more and then moved back, his arm still around her shoulders as he tugged her in a little tighter, rubbing his hand up and down her upper arm.

"Really? No experience?" she asked. "You had no dates back there?" she asked, finding that rather hard to believe.

"My lifestyle didn't exactly lend much opportunity to dating, as you call it."

"But, what about before you were a pirate? Weren't you in the navy?"

"Aye," he nodded. "But, I was still in service on a ship until I was about 18 and we weren't granted much free time. Besides, no one wanted to date the poor, lower class sailors who smelled of fish guts most of the time," he shrugged with an apologetic grimace. "After I joined the Navy, we were occasionally expected to attend balls for some nobility and such. But...any dalliance experienced there could hardly be classed as courting a young lady."

Emma nodded, understanding what he was suggesting. Those experiences had basically consisted of one night stands, perhaps a quick fumble in a darkened corner or even just a stolen kiss in the moonlight. The sailors probably never saw the woman again after the evening. "So, is this your first date then?" she asked with a grin.

He gave her a rather offended look. "I can assure you I have spent an enjoyable evening out for a quiet dinner with a woman before on numerous occasions. Not all the women I met were merely conquests – there was just no chance to form a relationship when I was shipped out so often. Not that any of them were all that special to me, until now." He smiled at her.

She returned his soft smile and leant in to kiss him again. "Good answer," she smiled, stroking his cheek with her thumb.

He chuckled and stole another tender kiss. "Do you wish to carry on, or should I walk you home?" he asked, waving his hand towards the path in front of them.

"We can continue. I'll be fine, I loosened the strap of my shoe," she told him.

He nodded and got to his feet before holding out his hand to help her up. And then he gallantly offered her his arm. Emma giggled, a sound she rarely made, as she looped her arm around his and they continued on with their after dinner walk.

Emma suddenly realised she was laying on her back in bed with a huge, dopey grin on her face. She shook herself – what the hell had happened to her? She'd never behaved like this after a date. Normally she was grateful to get home, take a shower and forget the evening. And here she was, reliving every moment in her head.

But despite how happy and mushy she was feeling right now, there was a tiny part inside of her that was still afraid. Opening herself up to anyone had always been a huge deal to her and something that did not happen easily or very often. In her experience, everyone had let her down or left her, so she'd built those walls to protect herself, keeping everyone at arms length to avoid the hurt.

Yet, Killian was doing a great job of slowly, patiently, breaking down those walls and earning her trust. She was letting him in, allowing him to know her, willingly telling him secrets and stories from her past that she hadn't shared with anyone before, not even her parents. She was actually opening herself up to the possibility of love.

She had learned to never trust anyone because no one ever kept their promises. But then Henry had come into her life and she had grown to trust him. She had trusted Mary Margaret as her friend before either of them had known they were family and now she trusted both of her parents to always have her best interests at heart. And then there was Killian. It had taken some time with him. The only reason she had tried so hard to shun him and had ignored his advances for so long was because it scared her how vulnerable she felt around him and how attracted she felt towards him, physically and emotionally. She had tried to deny her growing feelings for him to herself. But the truth was, she now trusted him more than anyone in her life.

And that terrified her. The thought that if she let down her guard, he could truly hurt her. She might become too attached to him, really fall for him and then it was possible he would leave her. Whether that was willingly or not, it would crush her. She was afraid of making a mistake here and she knew she was opening herself up not only to a chance of love, but to the chance of getting her heart broken.

And yet, somehow, she knew he was worth the risk. She knew he was that special kind of someone who didn't come around too often. And for him, for his love and a chance to love him, she was going to give this a real try and see where it went. For once she was willing to jump in blind and just let things happen.

As she settled down in bed, burrowing under the covers and thought of his smile, she grinned again to herself. She was already looking forward to their second date.

And another of those goodnight kisses.