It seemed appropriate to post this first, as I've just gotten back from my first Once Convention of the year!
"So, how does yours look?" Ashley asked, clutching her photo op to her chest like a lifeline.
Emma handed over her first picture with Killian. It was the only one she'd picked up so far, and she was hoping Ashley would be too distracted to remember the other two.
"Oh that's so much better than mine," she sighed. "How did you get him to hug you so tightly?"
"Just lucky, I guess." Emma hoped her blush would just be written off as her reaction to the photo in her hands.
"Damn. I have to run to make my last op," Ashley noted. "Will you be around after?"
"Sure, I can wait for you."
Emma waited until Ashley had left the room to scan the table once more for the last of her photo ops. She loved her first picture. Ashley was right; Killian had been hugging her much tighter than he had anyone else, and they both looked happy, smiling widely for the camera.
The second picture she found almost made her drop the first. Emma was turned to the side, so her expression wasn't clearly seen, but Killian was not. The look on his face as he watched the handcuffs dangle from her finger was the perfect mixture of adorable and sexy. Something only he seemed to be able to pull of.
The third and final photo took her a little longer to spot, but she was so happy when she did. She was once more smiling widely for the camera, but the look on Killian's face was deadly. He'd managed to arch one eyebrow perfectly, looking somehow satisfied at the idea of being caught and incredibly dangerous in those handcuffs too.
Emma had no idea how he managed to say so much without saying an actual word.
"Those were great," one of the volunteers complimented.
"Thanks," Emma smiled, blushing slightly at the thought of someone else seeing them.
"How did you find the courage to ask for those poses?" she continued.
"Um… he suggested them," Emma replied, her blush deepening as she watched the volunteer's jaw drop.
"Well, you're a lucky lady."
Ashley and Emma met once more that day, to eat dinner together before separating for the night. Ashley wanted to attend the evening concert and Emma just wanted to get back to her room and sleep a little. The adrenaline that had been working it's way through her body all day was wearing off, and she suddenly found herself exhausted.
A small part of her was hoping that she would run in to Killian Jones again on her way back, but she hadn't seen him at all outside of the convention this time. So instead, she showered and made herself comfortable in bed. After firing off a message to Ruby, and then one to Neal, she turned on a rerun of Friends to fall asleep to.
On Sunday, Emma and Ashley had a relaxing day, as they only had autographs left for the afternoon. Emma had splashed out on a fancy poster for signing. She might not be able to hang it as soon as she got home, but she was going to hang it eventually, no matter what Neal said.
The day seemed to drag, both girls hyper aware that they would get their final time with Killian that afternoon during his panel, and then at his autograph session. It seemed like the rest of the attendees were feeling the same way, as there was a noticeable shift in the atmosphere in the room when the MC took to the stage before Killian's panel.
Ashley and Emma let out appreciative groans when he took to the stage. Killian looked positively sinful in dark jeans and a royal purple shirt.
"Good afternoon," he began, making himself comfortable on stage. "Have you all had a good weekend?"
While the chorus of yeses came from the crowd, Killian used the time to scan it. It didn't take him long for his eyes to settle on Emma.
"I've had a brilliant one," he announced. "I finally got my chance to try a real pair of handcuffs during yesterday's photo op session." As the cacophony of cat calls and whistles rang out amongst the crowd, Killian winked in Emma's direction. Thankfully, everyone seemed far too distracted by what he'd actually said to pay any attention to what he was doing.
"God, I would kill to have that man chained up for my use," Ashley whispered.
"Me too," Emma agreed, hoping her blush wasn't giving her away.
When the crowd finally settled down, Killian began taking their questions, once again answering each as thoroughly as he could, without giving away too many spoilers for the upcoming episodes. Emma was touched at how much time he gave to each of the fans who waited in line to ask him something. He really did seem to love the events just as much as the fans did.
When his time came to a close, the room let out a simultaneous groan as Killian said goodbye, and was quickly whisked away to his final autograph session of the weekend.
"Ugh, I can't believe it's almost time to go home," Ashley moaned, as they gathered their bags to make a quick stop at the bathroom, before joining the queue for their autographs. "I don't wanna leave."
"It gets worse," Emma added. "Con-crash is real and it sucks. I hate knowing that Tuesday morning I need to go back to work."
"You're going back for Tuesday? I won't be back at work now until next week," Ashley commiserated. "I feel for you."
Emma wasn't quite as successful that time at making sure they were last for Killian's autograph. She wasn't too upset, though. She knew he wouldn't have much time, with it being the last event of the day. So instead, she and Ashley waited patiently for their turn, exchanging details to keep in touch with each other after the event.
Ashley once again took the lead when it was their turn and Emma watched as she approached Killian's bench and slid her photo op down for him to sign. They exchanged a few words but before Emma fully had time to compose herself, she was being pushed in Killian's direction.
"Ah, Emma," he smiled up at her. "Let's see how they came out this time?" Emma had only planned to get her poster signed, so she sat it down to pull out her folder and the photo ops she had tucked safely inside of it.
While she did that, Killian took his time unrolling her poster and browsing what everyone else had written on it for her. He chuckled at a few of the messages he saw, before he bent his head to scribble his own, and finished it with his autograph. By the time he'd finished, Emma had her three photo ops in hand.
Killian took them from her carefully, his fingers lightly brushing over her own. The first one he saw was the picture of their hug, and he smiled down at it, before picking up his pen to scribble another message onto it. Emma saw as his handler leaned over to whisper something to him, probably about how Emma had only purchased the one autograph, but Killian simply waved her away before handing the picture back to Emma.
The next one was the second they had taken, with the cuffs dangling from Emma's finger between the two of them. Like last time, he pulled out his phone to take a quick shot of it, before once again bending his head to autograph the picture.
The final image, the one of him wearing the cuffs, with Emma in his arms, seemed to be his favourite, as he lingered over it much longer than any of the others. Again, he took a quick picture with his phone, before signing the photo and handing it back to Emma.
The entire moment had only lasted a few minutes, at most, but they had felt like the longest of her life.
"It was nice to see you again, Emma," he told her, finally making eye contact - and Emma's knees went weak. "Maybe I'll see you in Vegas?"
"Yeah," she agreed. "Yeah, you will."
She left before anything else could be said.
That night, Ashley and Emma headed out for one last meal, before Ashley would have to drive back home. Emma was going to miss her friend. Much like Regina and Belle, she'd grown quite close to Ashley over the three days they had known each other. She made sure to promise to keep in touch, and the girls even spoke of meeting at the Vancouver event later in the year. One that Regina and Belle had expressed interest in attending too. Emma just knew that Ashley would love them both.
When they said goodbye, Emma decided to grab one last drink before heading back to her hotel for the final night. She was a little disappointed not to have gotten any time with Killian away from the event, but she knew that the chance of it happening again would be slim. The first convention was nothing more than a series of lucky flukes.
Thankfully, the walk back was quick enough and she soon found herself sprinting through the hotel lobby to catch the elevator that was heading up, just before the doors closed. She slipped inside, hitting the button for her floor, before resting her weight against the back wall and dropping her eyes shut.
"We really should stop meeting like this."
The voice from her right had her eyes springing wide open, as she turned ever so slightly to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. She'd had a few drinks with dinner, after all.
"Maybe this is our thing," she suggested, taking in his relaxed posture. He'd got the leg closest to hers bent up, so his foot was resting on the back wall, making him look the picture of casual elegance.
"I can see the headlines now – Killian Jones's torrid love affair in elevators all over North America."
Emma choked on air at his words. "You want a torrid love affair?"
"Oh God, no," he rushed to reassure her. "Sorry, that came out all wrong. I mean, I'm kind of attracted to you. I thought you knew that. But I'm not propositioning you for sex in an elevator."
"Shame," Emma mumbled, too quietly to be heard. Her mind was stuck on images of what sex in an elevator with him would be like.
Hot, she decided. It would probably be the best sex of her life.
"I've scared you now, haven't I?" Killian sighed, dropping his head back against the wall of the elevator.
"No, you haven't," Emma managed to choke out. "I… um." God she really needed another drink for this. "I like you too. Obviously. It's why I spend all this money. I mean, I'm really only here to see you…"
Emma's ramblings stopped suddenly as Killian moved, backing her into the wall of the elevator before he dropped his lips down to meet hers. For a long moment, she was frozen under his hands, her brain not yet working fast enough to process what was happening to her.
Killian pulled back just as suddenly as he'd moved, very aware that Emma was non-responsive underneath his hands.
"Oh God, I'm so sorry," he apologised. "I completely read this wrong." The doors slid open, marking the arrival on Emma's floor but she made no move to leave.
"You didn't," she finally croaked out. "I just… I can't believe you kissed me. I mean, I've dreamed about kissing you. They're very good dreams. But I never thought it would actually happen."
"Was it a terrible kiss?" he asked, looking more unsure of himself than Emma had ever seen him look before.
"Best of my life," she admitted, a little breathlessly, running her fingers gently over her lips.
Killian chuckled in embarrassment, bringing his right hand up to scratch behind his ear. When the elevator doors slid open once more, this time on his floor, he hooked his thumb behind himself and asked, "Do you, um… do you maybe wanna come in for a while?"
Emma knew she should refuse.
She should say goodbye and go back to her own room for the night.
Instead, she found herself nodding her agreement.
"Yeah. I'd like that," she told him, smiling up sweetly at him.
Killian nodded his head once before lacing his fingers with Emma's and leading her out of the small elevator, down the hall to his suite.
Thank you for reading.