"So, are we gonna talk about it?" David asked the next morning, as he sat a mug of coffee in front of his Sheriff. A mug of coffee that would rival Granny's own blend.

"Talk about what?"

David sighed as he pulled out one of the uncomfortable chairs on the other side of Emma's desk, and attempted to make himself as comfortable as he possibly could in it. He knew Emma well enough to know that pulling personal information out of her was as painful as pulling teeth. But he also cared enough to try.

"The boyfriend?" he asked softly.

"What's there to talk about? I have one. He's very sweet." Emma raised her eyes to offer him a tight smile, before she focused them back on the reports on her screen.

"Well, we could start with his name?" David suggested. "You told us over dinner it was John. And now it's Killian? So… which one is it?"

"I told you," Emma sighed, "It's both. His name is Killian John. He just uses his middle name for correspondence some times."

"Okay. Well, that aside, how about we talk about the coffee machine?"

"What about the coffee machine?" Emma asked, her irritation growing by the second. "You use it more than I do."

David groaned as he scrubbed a hand over his face. The conversation was going exactly as well as he'd thought it would. "It's worth like two thousand dollars, Emma. I Googled it. And he sent enough coffee to keep us going for months. Who the hell are you dating that can afford to drop two grand on a coffee machine?"

"He has a good job."

"What kind of good job allows people to drop that on a coffee machine, and requires the use of two different names?" David pushed. At the look of annoyance that flashed over Emma's face, he rushed on to add, "Look, Ems… you're like a sister to me. I just wanna make sure you're not getting yourself involved with someone bad for you, that's all."

"You mean like how you all let me get involved with Neal?" she snapped back. Emma knew that was an unfair comment to make. She knew she'd been pigheaded and stubborn, when it came to her ex. She hadn't listened to any of the warnings people had offered her. Her decision to date Neal was all on her. But she didn't like the way David was questioning Killian. Killian was a good man, with even better intentions.

"That's not the same thing and you know it," David shot back. "It's just… you were with Neal for so long, Ems. And then, all of a sudden, you're not. Which is not a bad thing. We'd all been hoping you'd wake up to his ways before you signed the marriage license. But now you're suddenly in this new relationship and nobody knows who this guy is, or where he's from. He's sending you expensive gifts and taking you on trips… Surely you can see why I'm worried?"

Emma's ire melted away at the genuine look of concern on her friend's face. David was right, he and Mary-Margret were the closest Emma would ever come to having siblings. And she hated having to lie to the two of them. She just knew that without having Killian physically stood beside her, there was very little chance of her friends believing her when she explained who he was, and how they had met.

But Emma trusted David. And she wanted to offer him something to help reassure him that she was in a good place, in her life.

"His name really is Killian John," she began. "Killian John Jones. He's um… I met him one weekend while I was away. When Neal and I were still together."

David's brows rose high on his forehead as Emma's news started to sink in. He'd known about Neal's wandering hands and eyes. But he would never have expected Emma to cheat on her fiancé.

"I didn't cheat on Neal. Well… not fully. We didn't sleep together while I was still engaged," she assured her friend, having guessed where his mind had gone. "But I did kiss him. And I um, I definitely fell hard for him. It just… it didn't go so well. I didn't want to be that person. The one who had one guy in one state, and another in another. So, I told Killian the truth. And he kicked me out." Emma turned her eyes down to her lap, where she was fiddling with the hem of her sweater. Even knowing what she did now, she still wasn't proud of how her relationship with Killian had begun. And that moment of rejection in New Jersey still stung more than she could ever have imagined it would.

"I ended things with Neal after that. I told him about what I'd done, and he told me it was fine, because we all make mistakes."

"Fucking idiot," David muttered, and Emma snorted her agreement.

"Ruby um… she'd met Killian before. And she saw what his rejection did to me. So, she arranged for us to meet again and talk things through. I got a chance to explain to him what had happened, and why I'd kept Neal from him." Emma lifted her eyes to meet David's briefly, before she carried on. "Killian had thought I was just playing him. That's why he'd reacted the way he did. And once everything was out in the open, we were able to work things out. We're giving this long-distance relationship thing a go because… because honestly, I don't think I could ever imagine myself with anyone else," she admitted quietly.

David's smile was bright and warm at Emma's words, and she blushed a little under its intensity. "That's good, Ems. That's… really good. I'm glad he makes you feel that way. You deserve that. It was all we wanted for you, when you were with Neal. But it was obvious that idiot wasn't ever gonna make it happen."

Emma nodded her agreement, as she pondered over just how much more to tell David. In the end, she decided that showing him the man who had captured her heart might be more reassuring, than trying to avoid more of her deputy's questions.

"This is Killian," she explained, pulling up a picture he had taken of the two of them together, before he'd left Storybrooke.

She handed her phone over to David, and he took a moment to take in the man that was featured in the picture, before his eyes landed on Emma. David had never seen her looking so happy and carefree before. Emma's effortless and easy smile made his friend look all the more beautiful, in the moment that had been captured.

"You look happy," was all he said though, knowing that Emma wouldn't appreciate his mushy sentiments.

"I am," she assured him. "I mean, I'd be happier if he didn't live in Canada, but we can work around that."

"Canada?" David asked, as he slid the phone back over the desk. "Jesus, Ems. You really know how to pick them."

"Yeah, I do," she agreed, with a chuckle. "But Killian's a good guy, David. He's not Neal. You don't have to worry about him, or me."

"Hey Man, how's it going?" Robin asked, as he took his seat next to Killian, while the crew worked on the reset. Robin had taken the start of the week off, to celebrate his wife's birthday, and had managed to miss most of his best friend's moping. Of course, the rest of the cast hadn't, and Robin had been informed by multiple sources that Killian hadn't been in the best of moods.

"How is it is physically possible to ship Hook with the floor?" Killian wondered, as his fingers flew over the screen of his phone.

"I um… what?"

"Apparently there's this thing online, about Hook and the floor. I'm just wondering how that works," Killian continued, completely oblivious to his friend's confusion. "I mean, is it some kind of weird fetish? Do people actually fall in love with floors? I've read those stories about people who claim to be in love with inanimate objects, but I always assumed they were either jokes, or mentally unstable."

"Have you been drinking?" Robin demanded, as he leaned over to attempt to sniff his friend's breath.

"What? No," Killian scoffed, pushing him away. "I was just told about this whole Captain Floor thing, and someone sent me some links… now I'm a little confused."

"If it's a fandom thing then I'm always confused," Robin snorted. "It's best not to question that kind of stuff." Killian seemed to nod his agreement with his friend's suggestion, and quickly pocketed his phone, before Robin asked, "So… how was your weekend? I hear you've not been in the best of moods this week."

"Of course you have. Nobody here can ever keep shit to themselves," Killian grumbled, as he pushed out of his chair. He had nowhere to be, but that urge to run back to Emma was building again, and he needed to walk that off, before he followed through on it. His credit card company had already called to ask why he kept booking flights to Maine, and then cancelling them, less than an hour later.

"Hey. We're just worried about you," Robin argued. "What's going on with you, Killian?"

"I just… I spent the weekend with Emma," he finally admitted, flopping back down into his seat like the hormonal teenager he felt, in that moment. "I miss her."

"So… go and see her when you finish work?"

"Thank you, Einstein," Killian snapped. "Of course, I hadn't thought of that." When Robin raised a brow at his outburst, Killian explained, "She lives in Maine. It's a seven-hour flight, and then another four hours by car, to get from her tiny little town to the nearest airport."

"Well, how the hell was I supposed to know that?" If his friend had been more open about the woman he was dating, Robin would have already known this stuff. "So, it's a long distance kinda thing?"

"Yeah," Killian admitted. "And it's not as easy, or romantic, as the movies make it look."

"Sorry mate," Robin offered. "How'd you guys meet anyway? I didn't realize you spent time in Maine."

"We met at a hotel," Killian deflected. His best friend didn't need to know that it was for a convention weekend, just yet.

"Very classy," Robin snorted. "Well… I hope you get to see her again soon."

"Yeah. Me too," Killian mumbled sadly, as the director started calling them back to set.

He pulled his phone out one final time, to check for Emma's reply. But there were no new notifications on his lock screen.

Emma was pulling a late shift at the station when Leroy's bombshell finally detonated in Storybrooke, three days after he had dropped it.

"So, you had a date?"

She finished the page she had been working on, before she turned her attention up to the man who was now lingering in her office doorway.

"Yeah, I did."

"First date?" he asked.

"No," she sighed. "We've been seeing each other for a few weeks now."

"Was it him?" he demanded, as he inched closer to her desk.

"Does it really matter?" Emma finally snapped, as she slammed her pen down on the desk. "Things between us are over, Neal. Do you really care about who it is that I'm dating?"

"Of course it matters," he barked back. "I wanna know if this guy you were flaunting all over town is the same guy you decided to kiss while you were away on one of your stupid convention weekends."

"I'm not flaunting anybody around town," she sighed. "He came to visit, and we ran into Granny at the diner, Marco when we went out for dinner, and Leroy after dinner. That is not anybody's definition of flaunting."

"It's flaunting when you do it in my town," Neal countered. "Do you have any idea how humiliating that is?"

"Gee, let me think?" Emma's leg bounced restlessly under the desk with her frustration. Things had been going so well for her recently. She should have known that Killian's visit in town would end up causing some kind of drama. (Not that she would ever have asked him to leave). "It couldn't be any more humiliating than finding out the whole town knew your fiancé was running around kissing other women, while you were engaged, but didn't think you'd have the balls to actually kick him out of your life, could it?"

"That's not the same."

"How is that not the same?" Emma demanded. "At least the only person to actually see us kissing was Leroy, and not half the fucking town. At least we were broken up when I was caught kissing another man. So tell me, Neal, how is this not the same?"

"Because people were expecting us to get back together," he fired back. "You've made me look stupid now."

"If you were expecting us to get back together and pandered to their expectations, then you've made yourself look stupid," she snarled. "I made it perfectly clear that things between us were over, Neal. Now… I'm done with this conversation. I'd like to go home and call my boyfriend. So unless you wanna spend the night in a cell, I'd suggest you get the hell out of my office."

Neal looked like he wanted to protest, but Emma's entire stance was radiating that she was over his bullshit. So instead, he sneered a final, "This isn't over," at her, before he turned on his heels and stormed out of the station. He made sure to slam every door along the way, acting like the petulant child Emma knew him to be.

She took a few moments to allow the silence of the empty building to calm her a little. Once her hands had stopped shaking with her anger, she finally began her ritual of closing down the station for the evening.

"Well, hello Captain," Emma purred, as he answered her call later that evening. Her boyfriend looked absolutely exhausted, but all of that leather and eyeliner was making her thighs clench in anticipation.

Killian had forgone the promise of calling Emma when he made it back to Vancouver, and instead, had opted to Facetime her. He had wanted to see his girlfriend again, even if it had only been thirteen hours since they had said goodbye. He'd given her a tour of his apartment that evening, and finally crashed with only a few hours left to sleep, before he'd need to be on set. Emma felt awful for keeping him up for so long, but she knew that he would have it no other way.

Since then, they'd settled into an easy routine. They'd send dozens of messages throughout the day, detailing the small things that had happened in their lives since they'd last spoken, that they thought the other would find interesting. Every evening they'd make time for a video call, even if it was only for a few moments, just to see each other again.

It didn't compare to being in the same room, but being able to see each other's face was making the distance between the two of them that much more bearable.

"Evening, Sheriff." He winked for added effect and Emma once again cursed the miles keeping the two of them apart. Somehow, Killian managed to look even better as her beloved Captain Hook that evening than he did on the show, every week. "How was your day?"

"It started well enough," Emma chuckled. "I got this meet and greet for a really handsome actor I like. I here he's a dab hand at taking a selfie," she teased. "But, it kind of ended on a low note."

"Well, I wanna hear all about this handsome actor," Killian assured her, "But first, I wanna know what happened to put that despondent look on your face."

"Neal came to see me at work," she whispered quietly.

"Are you okay? What did he say?" For a guy dressed entirely in leather, and wearing eyeliner, Killian managed to pull of concerned and serious really well, in that moment. Emma was half worried he'd book the next flight over, just to make sure Neal hadn't hurt her.

"He was just angry about you, I guess. He kind of accused me of humiliating him, in front of the whole town."

"Oh, like the way the entire town knew he was cheating on you?" Killian scoffed. "Please. He's probably just pissed that you're moving on, and he's now gotta face the fact that he lost the best thing to ever happen to him."

Emma chuckled a little over the line and Killian turned startled eyes her way. He had been expecting Neal to confront her ever since Emma had mentioned his reaction in the diner, Monday morning. He'd also been expecting the arsehole to upset his girlfriend.

He had not been expecting laughter.

"Sorry," she snorted, the look on his face only making her laugh harder. "It's just, that was exactly what I said to him. I love that we're on the same page here."

"Of course we are," Killian chuckled. "That's what happens when you're in a healthy and loving relationship."

Emma sobered immediately at his words. She hadn't thought of things that way before. She was starting to realize that her relationship with Neal hadn't been the most healthy in her life, but given her upbringing, Emma didn't have any examples of a loving relationship to compare it to. Now that she had Killian in her life, setting a fine standard for what healthy and loving was, Emma could see just how much she had missed out on. How much she had deprived herself of, while she had been blinded by her loyalty to Neal.

"Yeah. I guess it is," she agreed.

Killian left a comfortable silence hanging between them for a moment, to allow Emma some time to absorb his words, before he finally asked, "Now… tell me about this actor. Handsome, did you say?"

Emma giggled once more as she sank down onto her bed, to make herself more comfortable. Ruby was making them both dinner, but she didn't want to be that person. The one who gushed over her boyfriend, and flaunted her love life over the phone, while ignoring her friend who was sat in the same room.

"Devastatingly handsome," she confirmed. "Like… unnaturally handsome. It really isn't fair to the male population. He sets such high standards for the rest of them to meet." Emma watched with some satisfaction as a blush began climbing its way up Killian's throat, covering his cheeks and turning the tops of his ears bright red at her compliment. "I managed to snag one of his meet and greets for the Chicago weekend. It was tough though. I've never been in such a nerve-wracking auction before. eBay's gonna be a real disappointment from now on."

Killian laughed a little at her excitement. Seeing Emma happy never failed to make him smile. "And, how much did that set you back?" he asked, genuinely curious. He knew that the meet and greets were auctioned off. But he'd never gone looking to see how much they went for. He had a feeling he'd be horrified if he did.

Emma blushed a little herself, as she mumbled some kind of reply, too low and too fast for him to make sense of.

"I'm sorry. I didn't quite catch that," he teased.

"You're really popular, okay?" she defended hotly. "And I kinda got caught up in the bidding."

"Seriously, Emma. How much did you pay?" he asked, his curiosity growing by the second.

"Eight hundred," she whispered, hoping that the line wouldn't be clear enough for Killian to hear her.

"I'm sorry, I could have sworn you just said that you paid eight-hundred dollars for a meet and greet with me." When she nodded her agreement, Killian scrubbed a harsh hand over his face. "Jesus Christ, for those prices I should be offering lap dances," he remarked. "I told you not to waste your money on me, Emma. We will literally be seeing each other outside of the event. One-on-one. Naked. You didn't need to spend that for half-an-hour with me, in a room with ten other people."

"I wanted to," she assured him. "I enjoy the events, Killian. Every aspect of them. Not just being with you. This is one area I haven't had a chance to explore yet. And now I will. I hear you don't tend to sell for less than what I paid anyway, so I got a good deal."

Killian wanted to protest some more. He wanted to insist that Emma should stop spending the money she'd worked so hard for, and saved for years, on him. She didn't need to spend money to see him. Hell, Killian would spend that money on her behalf, if it meant getting to hold her in his arms once more. But, he also knew, deep down, that if the situation had been reversed, he would gladly have paid whatever was being asked, to spend time with her. Complaining too much would just make him a hypocrite, so instead, he changed the subject.

"Okay, when are you flying into Chicago?" he asked. "I'm gonna see if I can finish early for the week and meet you there, before your friend arrives."

Emma was a little surprised to pull open her front door, half-an-hour before the new Fairytales episode was due to air, to find Mary-Margaret stood on the other side of it, with a bottle of wine in hand.

"Can I join you ladies?" she asked.

"Of course." Emma pulled the door open a little wider, and gestured for her friend to come in. "Is everything okay?" Mary-Margaret usually called before she visited anyone. Turning up unannounced on the doorstep was something she deemed rude.

"I just needed a night away. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not," Emma assured her. "Sit down and I'll grab you a drink. Are you still breastfeeding?"

Mary-Margaret nodded her head, so she made sure to grab some of the sparkling apple juice her friend loved, before heading back through to the lounge.

"Okay. What's up?" Ruby asked, getting straight to the point as usual. They both knew something had to have happened for their friend to show up unannounced, so late on a Sunday evening.

"Leo's cutting another tooth, and this one seems worse than the last," their friend explained. "He's in so much discomfort, and nothing I'm doing seems to be helping." Ruby shimmied her way across the sofa to wrap a comforting arm around her friend's shoulders, as she watched Mary-Margret's eyes fill with tears. "I just feel like such a bad mom for not being able to help my son."

"You're not a bad mom," Ruby scoffed. "You're doing all you can."

Emma nodded her agreement. "Hell, if there's anyone in this town who can assure you that you're not a bad mother, it's me," she added.

"David told me to get out for a little, just to clear my head. And I couldn't think of anywhere else to go."

"You're always welcome here," Emma assured her. "We're getting ready to watch Fairytales, if you wanna join us?"

"Is that guy who plays Captain Hook still in it?" she asked, reaching up to brush away her tears. Logically, Mary-Margret knew that she was overreacting. But the hormones still rushing through her body often left her close to tears at the smallest of problems. And seeing her son wail in agony was not a small problem.

"Oh yeah," Ruby chuckled. "Why do you think we still watch it?" She watched as Emma opened the bottle of wine their friend had brought with her, pouring out two glasses, before she topped up Mary-Margret's own glass of sparkling juice. There was a comfortable silence in the room while Emma flicked on the television, making sure it was on the right channel, before Ruby suddenly added, "Did you know we'd met him?"

"Pardon?" Mary-Margret asked, as Emma shot her friend a look of warning.

"Emma and I have met Killian Jones," she explained easily. "We went to a couple of the conventions for the show, and he was there."

"When did this happen?"

"A few months ago. Show her the pictures," Ruby encouraged.

"Wanna help me get them?" Emma hissed back at her.

As soon as the two of them were far enough away, Emma turned to ask, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Cheering our friend up," Ruby replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"By telling her about Killian?"

"No. By telling her we have met him at a convention. Look, Ems, I know you don't like lying to her, and she enjoys the show. So, why not be honest about some of it? People go to these events all the time. Nobody will have expected the two of you to have fallen in love. Why not share this part of your life with her? You don't need to tell her it's Killian you're dating. But I bet she'd appreciate knowing some of those stories we've heard in panels. And if it'll take her mind off Leo and his pain for a few moments, surely it's worth it?"

"I guess," Emma reluctantly agreed. She couldn't imagine Mary-Margret telling David about their adventures, and even if she did, she was sure David wouldn't make the connection between her Killian, and the one who played a pirate every week on television. "But don't you dare take her those handcuff photo ops."

"Oh, God no," Ruby agreed. "That would be far too obvious. I'd be willing to bet a month's worth of tips that the photographer knows you guys are fucking, after taking those."

"We were not fucking when those pictures were taken," Emma argued.

"No… that's next year's poses." Her friend threw a cheeky wink over her shoulder.

"I can't believe you've both met that man," Mary-Margret sighed, as Emma switched off their television. She wanted to declare than in less than a week's time, she'd have met him again. But she knew that was a little too much information. "Is he as good looking in person as he is on screen?"

"Better," Ruby teased. "And that accent is just heavenly. I need to see if I can convince Victor to learn how to do one. For when we're alone."

"Ruby," Emma scolded, looking thoroughly disgusted by the information her friend had just revealed about her sex life. Emma loved her boyfriend's natural accent. But the thought of Ruby planning to use it in her own relationship, with the town doctor (of all people), was a little disturbing.

"I'm just teasing," she assured her friend. "What are you doing?"

"Tweeting about the episode." It was the same thing Emma did every Sunday evening, after the show had aired. Killian didn't follow her on his official social media accounts, because he knew that would draw too much attention to her. But she knew that he was aware of her handle. And he quite often liked the comments she made about the show, after it had aired. (Along with a few random others to throw people off). It was a tradition that always left Emma squealing a little internally. This time last year, the fangirl inside of her had never imagined she'd be noticed by her idol, on Twitter.

Sometimes, everything about their relationship still felt a little surreal to her.

"Can I come with you next time?" Mary-Margret interrupted softly, and both women turned to face her.

"Come with us where?"

"To a convention. I'd love to meet Killian Jones. I bet he's just dreamy. And if you two are there, I'm sure I'll have a wonderful time. I mean, I enjoy the show. So, why not?"

Emma and Ruby shared a quick look behind their friend's back, that clearly said Emma needed to be the one to handle this, before she sighed and turned to face her friend.

"There's only one left this year," she began. She didn't want to get into the specifics, because Mary-Margret was far too perceptive for her own good. "But, we were thinking about doing Vancouver next year, if you wanted to join us?" Belle, Regina and Ashley had already booked their tickets for the weekend, so Emma knew that she would be able to sort something out for Mary-Margret and Ruby, should they want to join the group.

"Oh, that sounds perfect," her friend gushed. "When is it? I'll pencil it in now. Do you think Granny would mind watching Leo while David works?"

"Granny will never object to watching Leo," Ruby chuckled. "You have nothing to worry about there."

Emma fiddled with her phone to pull up the dates for the weakened in Vancouver, to pass along to Mary-Margret, but paused at the notification that flashed over the top of her screen.

"What are you smiling at?" Ruby asked knowingly.

"Killian Jones liked my tweet."

As a small note, Killian's reaction here to the price of his meet and greets is based on another actor's reaction to finding out how much his meet and greets sell for (they normally always go for over $1,000). It was a moment I won't forget.

Next chapter, we're heading to Chicago.

For my wonderful guest reviewer, I just wanted to let you know that I did some research on the last chapter while I was writing it, and apparently, according to Emma in the episode The Price of Gold she says Boston is 4 hours away from Storybrooke. So I used that time for this piece to stick as close to canon in that respect as I could. But I thought it was a little odd too.

Big thanks to all of the wonderful guest reviewers, Whitney1278, Alexa and Luna for all of the sweet reviews I couldn't reply to.

Thanks for reading.