Sorry this one is a little later posting than planned. I triggered another episode with my illness and wanted to take some time off from fandom to recover.

I hope this update was worth waiting for.

Emma giggled as she felt the familiar scratch and burn of stubble against her tummy.

"It's not nice to laugh," Killian pouted.

"Sorry." She bit down on her lip to stifle the rest that wanted to spill out, but the laughter dancing behind her eyes couldn't be masked. "It's just… your eyeliner ran while you slept."

Killian grumbled as he pulled himself up to look around the room for a mirror. He really didn't want to have to leave the bed to find one. But he knew that if he wanted their morning to be memorable for all the right reasons, he'd need to clean himself up first.

Emma slipped out from under his arms and padded through to the bathroom, returning with a small black bag before he had the chance to complain. "Here," she offered, handing him a compact mirror.

He groaned when he realized why she had been laughing. Killian's eyeliner hadn't just run, it had been completely destroyed. He looked a little like Alice Cooper, only without the long, shaggy hair.

"Here," she offered again, holding out a small cotton pad that had been dampened slightly. "It's makeup remover. It should take it all off. Just wipe, don't scrub."

Killian followed her instructions while frowning down at his own reflection in the mirror, until his face was finally streak-free. "Better?" he asked, arching a brow in her direction.

"Much," Emma confirmed.

"Good. Because I believe I was just about to have breakfast." He winked salaciously at her before diving in her direction, to push her back against the bed.

Emma giggled once more as she felt him wiggle her nightgown up her thighs, while he shimmied his way back down her body. "I um… I have to meet Belle soon," she warned. "We don't have time for foreplay."

"Tell her you got held up in traffic," Killian mumbled, as he began pressing kisses to her upper thighs. "Tell her you went out for a run." His kisses turned to playful nips, soothed by the long and confident strokes of his tongue. "Or tell her you were being fucked by your boyfriend. But whatever you do, don't you dare leave this bed."

"Belle! I'm so sorry I'm late," Emma greeted, as she made her way over to the seat that had been reserved for her, next to her friend. "I went for a run this morning and completely lost track of time."

Belle was already stood and ready to pull Emma into her arms, by the time she made it to her seat. "It's okay," she assured her friend. "We've all been there. How are you, Emma?"

"I'm good," she chuckled. "I'm really good. How about you? How's Boston?"

As the girls took their seats together in the hall, ready for the start of their weekend, they caught up on everything that had happened in their lives since the last time they had seen each other. While they had made a good effort to keep in touch since the very first event they had attended together, Belle's schedule never quite seemed to line up well enough with Emma's to allow them to meet in person again.

Until Emma had brought up her trip to Chicago.

Belle had been given the weekend off work after covering for one of her colleagues earlier in the month, and had made the snap decision to join her friend in the Windy City. As much as Emma knew it would limit the time she could spend with Killian that weekend, she was happy to have her friend by her side once more. Conventions were fun, but they were even better when you were surrounded by people that you loved, just as much as the show you were there to celebrate.

"So, Ruby tells me there have been some pretty big changes in your life since we last met," Belle coaxed.

Emma sighed as she made herself more comfortable in her seat. The hotels really needed to start investing in more comfortable chairs, for events that required people to sit for long periods of time. And Ruby really needed to learn to keep her mouth shut.

"Yeah," she began awkwardly. "I um… I split up with my fiancé."

Belle clearly wasn't expecting that, as she reached out to offer her friend some comfort. "Holy shit, Emma. I thought she meant you'd started dating someone new. Not that you'd broken up with a guy. I'm so sorry."

"Oh it's nothing to be sorry about," Emma assured her. "It turns out he'd been cheating on me for a while. So I'm definitely better off without him." Belle didn't look like she believed her, but Emma could understand that. The end of a relationship was normally something to mourn, not something that should be celebrated. "I've met someone else. Someone better."

"You have?" she asked, her excitement returning once more. "This must have been what Ruby was talking about."

"Yeah," Emma chuckled. "Ruby wasn't Neal's biggest fan, so she's happy to see I've moved on from him." A thought suddenly occurred to her and Emma turned devious eyes towards her friend. "Did Ruby tell you about her own love life?"

"She mentioned something about seeing the town doctor?"

"Did she tell you he tried hitting on me before they started dating?" Emma giggled.

"No! Go on."

Emma filled the rest of their wait by telling Belle all about Ruby's new relationship, and it's rather rocky beginning. She hadn't expected this thing between her friend and the town doctor to last as long as it had. Whale had a reputation in town for sleeping his way through the female population, and as much as Emma loved her friend, Ruby's wasn't much better. She'd honestly expected them to part ways after a few satisfying nights together, only to exchange awkward greetings at Granny's as a result of that.

But Emma had been wrong.

For the first time in her life, Ruby had found someone that made her gush and giggle like a teenager, and Emma couldn't be happy for her. Her best friend deserved to be loved. She deserved to feel the way that Killian made Emma feel, every single day. And if that love was coming from Dr. Whale, then Emma would gladly continue to support their relationship.

The morning passed by rather quickly.

Between the panels, while they waited for their next guest to take to the stage, Emma would message Killian. He was apparently making the most of his free time and enjoying the facilities the hotel had to offer, if the picture he'd sent her of himself in a face mask was anything to judge by.

A handful of new guests had been booked for the weekend that Emma had not yet had the pleasure of meeting. Their stage talks helped to keep her mind off her handsome boyfriend, eagerly waiting for her to return. She felt awful for leaving Killian alone all day, but Emma also knew that she would have felt much worse if she'd blown-off her friend that morning. Belle had gone to so much trouble to see her once again, and she wanted to make the most of their limited time together.

The girls both had a photo op booked with one of the new guests before they broke for lunch. While Emma normally limited her convention spending to everything related to Killian, she had decided to branch out a little this time, given how many events she had attended. The show held a great deal of meaning to her, and not just because she was currently dating its lead actor. The connection it had to classic fairytales still offered her all of the comfort her old book had given to her, as a child. And since it had been on the air, she'd used the show as an escape from the troubles and monotony of her life on more occasions than she would care to admit.

Emma wanted to use the conventions as a way to make special memories of something that meant so much to her.

(She would also be lying if she didn't admit that she was secretly hoping showing Killian her photo ops later that evening would result in some incredibly hot and jealous sex.

Emma would have to be insane not to want that).

The photo op itself, however, was a little awkward for her. She was so used to Killian taking the lead that when it came to asking for a pose, she was at a complete loss for words. For some reason, talking had come easier around him, even if it had been painfully awkward in the beginning. Eventually she settled for just asking the poor guy for a quick hug. Emma hoped like hell that she had managed to smile for the picture, before she practically sprinted out of the room to wait for Belle.

When she finally took her seat an hour later, around one of the small tables in the restaurant that the two of them had found for lunch, she had to fight back the urge that was screaming at her to call her boyfriend. Emma didn't realize just how difficult it would be to have him so close, and not be by his side. But she didn't want to leave Belle alone for long periods of time either. Emma wasn't the kind of girl who forgot about her friends just because she had a new man in her life. So instead, she sent him a quick message to let him know how the day was going, and what she was doing, while Belle was using the restroom.

For the rest of their lunch, Emma gave her friend her full and undivided attention.

When they returned to the hotel once more, bellies full of chicken salad sandwiches and a shared portion of sweet potato fries, they separated briefly. Emma had booked another couple of photo ops with some of the cast she had met before, and Belle wanted to use that time to head back to her room in the hotel to freshen up.

It was the perfect opportunity for Emma to finally place a quick call to her boyfriend.

"Hey Beautiful," he greeted, not even allowing a full ring to pass before he answered her call.

"Missing me already?" she teased.

"I missed you the moment the door closed behind you." Killian's tone rang with sincerity, and it left Emma swallowing back the urge to make up some kind of excuse that would allow her to run straight back to him, once more. "Are you having a good day?" he asked, completely unaware of her internal struggle.

"I am, yeah. I wish you were here with me, but Belle and I have been having fun. We even have a few photo ops to show for our time."

"Photo ops?" he asked, as his tone hardened a little. "Who with?"

Emma giggled as she pictured Killian's face in that moment. It was a damned shame she couldn't risk switching to Facetime, because she already knew his eyes would have darkened a little at the thought of one of his male costars getting their hands on her.

"Just Charlie so far. But I'm now about to go for Jake and Amy's when we finish here."

Killian grumbled something unintelligible down the line and Emma had to bite her tongue to hold in her laughter. She couldn't wait to see his face when she actually showed him the pictures. Deep down she knew that he had nothing to worry about, and she was certain that Killian knew it too. Emma was also pretty positive that he'd already worked out how arousing she found his reaction, and would play up that possessive streak a little just to elicit a response from her. But she couldn't bring herself to be mad at him for that. Emma knew that if their situations were reversed, she would do exactly the same thing for him.

"Do you and your friend have plans for this evening?" he asked eventually, changing the subject.

"Not that I'm aware of. I was planning to tell Belle that my boyfriend had flown out with me, and that I wanted to get back to you. Why?"

"I was hoping you'd let me take you out for dinner. Your friend is more than welcome to join us, if you don't want to leave her out," he offered.

Emma's heart warmed a little at just how sweet her boyfriend was. She knew that Killian would undoubtedly rather it be just the two of them that evening. If he was feeling anywhere near as close to how she currently was, he would rather their night be spent in private, locked away in bed together, rather than socializing with other people. And she suspected that he would probably not be entirely comfortable with the idea of a fellow fan knowing about their relationship just yet either. But she loved him a little more for being willing to trust her judgement call on the situation. Because Emma also knew that Killian would never complain if she took him up on his offer, and invited Belle to join them for dinner that evening.

(Unlike Neal, who used to flat out refuse to go anywhere if Ruby was planning to join them for the occasion).

"That's a really sweet offer, but I selfishly kind of want you to myself tonight. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not," he assured her. "I did consider room service and a strict no clothing policy for the evening. But I want to take you out and spoil you a little. You deserve that. So I've made us a reservation, if that's okay?"

"That's fine," she chuckled. "We can implement the strict no clothing policy tomorrow night."

"Woah, someone has big plans for their weekend," snorted an oddly familiar voice to her left.

Emma lifted her head slowly as her face flamed bright red. Of course she'd be the one person in the hotel to discuss her sex life on the phone, whilst waiting to be called for a photo op. And of course, that would just happen to be the exact moment one of the actors decided to stroll down the same hall, headed for the green room.

"Oh God. Kill me now," she mumbled quietly, as the people around her laughed a little at the situation.

"What's wrong?" Killian asked, having picked up on her embarrassment.

"I um… I probably shouldn't have said that in a busy hallway," she muttered. Emma recognized one of the women from their row in the main hall stood a few feet away. She just hoped that her antics wouldn't result in her being known as the weird fangirl for the rest of the weekend.

Killian didn't seem to pick up on her utter mortification as he laughed heartily down the line. "You're adorable," he told her. "I'll let you go and get cozy with more of my co-stars. Make sure they treat you well. Call me when you're done for the day?"

"I will do. I love you." Emma stopped herself just before she could speak his name, well aware that in her current setting, it would definitely give her the reputation as the crazy obsessive fangirl that weekend.

"I love you more, Sweetheart. Have fun."

"How were they?" Belle asked, as Emma slipped back into her seat, ready for the final few panels of the day.

"Both really sweet," she assured her friend. "Jake remembered me from my slip up in the hallway, so that was a little embarrassing. But definitely money well spent."

"Why? What happened in the hallway?"

Emma stared down at the toes of her boots as her face flamed once more at the memory of the incident. "I um… I was on the phone to my boyfriend when he was passing through the hall, and he may have heard me agreeing to a naked bed party at that moment in time," she mumbled.

Poor Belle looked like she was doing her best to hold back her giggles by the time Emma had finished speaking. But she was struggling to contain them. "I'm so sad I missed that," she snorted. "But I um… I can't wait to see the ops when you get them back. I'd say I'm starting to regret spending all of my money on Killian Jones, but I'm really not."

Emma chuckled into her drink as she raised it for a brief toast of agreement. She knew all too well how that felt.

"Would you mind if I skipped the karaoke party this evening?" Belle asked softly, after a moment.

"Of course not," Emma assured her. "Is everything okay?"

"My head is killing me," she admitted sheepishly. "I didn't wanna say anything to ruin the day, but the thought of my hotel bed and a dark room is really appealing right now."

Emma leaned in to offer her friend an awkward side-hug. She hated that Belle was feeling a little under the weather on a weekend that was supposed to be fun for her. And she hated even more that her friend had felt the need to hide how she was feeling. "Did you take anything for it yet," she asked.

"Yeah, while I was waiting for you to get back. It's probably due to a lack of sleep. Don't worry about me."

"Of course I'm gonna worry about you," Emma scoffed. "You're my friend. That's what friends do."

Belle dropped her head down to rest against Emma's shoulder for a moment, just soaking up the comfort her friend was offering, while the hall around them began to fill. By the time their MC took to the stage once more her smile was back in place, with her excitement for the end of the day taking over her discomfort.

Emma added a few new autographs to her poster that afternoon, as well as picking up some headshots to add to her collection. Because of the pass type she always opted to purchase she was building up quite an assortment that she didn't really need. She had considered just not getting the autographs included in her pass, but after sleeping on it for a while, Emma had come up with a plan for all of her spares. She knew that some of her online friends would never get the chance to attend a convention of their own, and would never be able to build up their own collection of autographs. So she had started putting aside all of her spares, ready to mail out to the people that she knew would appreciate them the most, at the end of the year.

Belle and Emma eventually parted ways in the lobby of the hotel, with a promise to meet for coffee the following morning, before the first panel of the day. Emma practically skipped out to the taxi rank in her excitement to get back to Killian. She fired off a quick message to let him know that she was on her way back, before pulling out her photo ops to have a quick browse over.

While the first one with Charlie had been a little awkward, the ones with Jake and Amy had been much easier. Emma was incredibly happy with how they had turned out. (Although she suspected that this would only lead to her spending even more money at conventions in the future).

By the time the taxi pulled up to the entrance of her hotel, Emma was practically vibrating with her excitement for the night ahead. She didn't much care where Killian had made reservations for the two of them. All that mattered to her was being able to spend the night with the man she loved.

But as she pushed open the door to their hotel suite all conscious thought fled her mind, as her jaw dropped in awe.

"Hey, Sweetheart," Killian greeted, as he made his way over to her side to pull her into his arms for a kiss. "How was your day?"

"Fine," Emma eventually croaked out. "It was fine. You um… you look… Wow."

Killian stepped back to look down at himself, before turning his full focus back to his girlfriend. She was wearing a similar look on her face to the one she had worn the night they'd first met. He kind of loved that even though she knew him better, and far more intimately now than she had done then, he still had the ability to stun her into fangirl mode.

"Do you like the suit?" he teased.

Emma's eyes dropped down to his legs to take in the way his charcoal grey pants fitted him perfectly, before flicking back up to the black shirt he was wearing. It was unbuttoned at the top, as usual, giving her an enticing peak at his chest hair. Her gaze then slid over to the matching charcoal grey jacket that was stretched perfectly over the muscles she knew that were hidden in his torso.

He looked like one of her dirtiest dreams come to life.

"Fuck yeah," she breathed out dreamily.

Killian couldn't control his laughter as he pulled her back into his arms to offer her the sweetest of kisses. "I kinda love that I can still inspire this reaction in you," he told her, brushing his nose sweetly against her own.

"I don't think you'll ever stop making me feel like a horny fangirl when you wear a suit that well," she admitted, before pulling back a little startled. "Wait. Where are we going tonight that requires you to look that good?"

"Just a small restaurant someone recommended to me. I thought that it might be nice to dress up for the occasion?"

Emma cocked a brow in her boyfriend's direction as she asked, "Nice to dress up for the occasion, or mandatory to dress up for the occasion?" She knew that the latter would mean that they were off to somewhere far more special than Killian was letting on.

"A little of both." He shrugged adorably and Emma found that it was simply impossible to be mad at him when he did so, whilst wearing that suit.

"What time is our reservation?" she worried. She didn't think she looked too bad, but Emma knew that she didn't look anywhere near good enough for the kind of restaurant she assumed that he'd booked for the night. After spending all day at the convention, she was really hoping there would be time to shower before they left the hotel.

"Eight," he chuckled. "Go and shower. We have plenty of time. I just thought I'd get mine in before you got back, so we didn't end up running late."

"You know, I think that was a subtle dig at how long it takes me to get ready," she called over her shoulder, already headed for the bathroom. "But we don't have enough time for me to chew you out for it right now."

"I'll be sure to remind you to do so when we get back."

"Is this too much?" Emma asked, as she finally left the bathroom over an hour later.

With Ruby's help, she'd managed to order a few new dresses for the weekend, just in case Killian had wanted to leave the hotel. Emma had packed them all, hoping that she would have every situation covered. But now, as she stood in the middle of their suite waiting for her boyfriend to speak, she wasn't so sure she had.

"Killian?" she asked, finally looking up in an attempt to catch his eyes. But his seemed to be glued to her legs. "Killian!"

"Yes?" he asked, shaking his head a little to clear his mind. He knew that if he didn't, they wouldn't be leaving the hotel room at all that evening.

"Is it too much?" Emma asked nervously.

"For the entire male population to handle? Yeah. Definitely. But for the occasion? Not at all. You look incredible, Emma."

She blushed a little under his praise as she looked down at herself one final time.

Of all the things she'd bought since Killian's surprise visit to Storybrooke, this was perhaps her favorite. The moment Emma had seen the online advert for it, she had fallen in love with its unusual design. At first glance, she'd thought it to simply be a black strapless gown, with a grey velvet panel along the left side, that had been embellished with black cotton stitching. But as she scrolled through the images the website had provided, she quickly realized that there was more to the design than she had originally thought. The top was completely detached from the rest of the dress at the front. An almost triangular shaped piece of fabric covered her upper chest, but had small cutouts that left the balls of her shoulders completely bare. At the back, it was clear to see that the two pieces of fabric were connected, where it buttoned just between her shoulder blades. But the dress left her entire lower back completely bare beneath them.

Emma had suspected that Killian would enjoy that feature, given the reaction he'd had to the last backless dress she'd worn in Vegas.

As Chicago was starting to cool a little, she's added a pair of dark stockings to keep her legs warm, and the black velvet pumps she'd only ever worn around Killian.

"Thanks. I um… I should get a jacket and then we can go?"

"Yeah. Sooner rather than later," he agreed. Killian eyes were once more dropping down to her legs, completely entranced by the length of them. "Are those stockings or tights?"

Emma sent him a cheeky wink as she turned to grab her coat, and smiled to herself in satisfaction when she heard him groan low and long from behind her.

"You're turning me into a horny fanboy for you, Emma Swan," he warned. Killian waited just long enough for the coat to slide over her shoulders before he pulled her back into his arms.

Emma's jaw dropped once more when Killian pushed open the door to the restaurant for her to enter through. She had expected that he would pick somewhere fancy for the occasion, knowing that the chances of them being spotted together would be slim that way. But she hadn't expected him to pick one of the best known restaurants in the country for their date.

"Wow. This is incredible," she mumbled, as she turned to take it all in.

"I told you that you deserved to be spoiled." He chuckled as he eased her jacket off her shoulders, before he turned to greet the maître d, giving the man his name for their reservation.

The couple were led up to the first-floor gallery, that only contained a handful of tables set for parties of two or four. Most of them had already been filled for the evening, their diners already enjoying glasses of wine while they waited for their food to be served. The table that Killian had reserved for the two of them was tucked into a corner, offering them a little more privacy for their date.

"This is our wine list," the maître d explained, as he handed over a small booklet for Killian to flick through. "I'll leave you to browse through it. Your server will be over shortly to get a bottle out to you, while you wait. Dinner is served on the hour."

"This is so fancy," Emma whispered. "And expensive too. You really didn't need to go to all of this trouble for tonight, Killian."

"You deserve to be spoiled, Sweetheart. Let me do that for you?" he begged. "Now… is there anything in particular that you fancy?" he asked, sliding round to one of the free seats at their table, that would put him in touching distance of his beautiful girlfriend.

"You," Emma muttered, far too quietly for him to hear, as she slid her own seat a little closer to his. Killian wrapped his arm around her shoulders, as she bent her head to study the wine list. "You do know that I know nothing about wine, right? I just buy the brand back home that tastes the best for less than ten dollars a bottle."

Killian giggled into her shoulder as he pressed a kiss to the skin revealed there by her dress. "How about we let the server pick for us and just go with it?"

"That sounds like a fantastic plan," she declared, snapping the list shut.

"I love you," Emma mumbled sleepily as she pulled herself in closer.

"I love you too, Sweetheart," Killian chuckled, dropping a kiss into her hair.

After satisfying one type of hunger with an eighteen-course meal, the two of them had returned to their hotel suite to satisfy another kind. Killian was pretty sure Emma's heels had left their mark on his lower back, but they were marks he would wear with pride, given the way he'd made her scream his name just hours earlier. He smiled to himself as he felt the silky smoothness of her legs rub against his own, while she slept on. Emma had crashed as soon as he'd pulled her into his arms, with her stockings and suspender belt still in place. Killian hadn't known where to start removing them for her, so he'd left them both in place, hoping they wouldn't be too uncomfortable for her to sleep in.

But sleep was still eluding him.

His mind was racing as he looked down at the beautiful woman resting in his arms. Killian knew that their relationship was moving fast, even as the distance between the two of them forced them to slow down. And he knew that some of the people in his life probably wouldn't understand how he was feeling right now. How it was even possible to love someone so intensely, after only knowing them for such a short period of time.

But Killian knew that the more time he spent with Emma, the less he wanted to let her go. He might have been the one to reassure her about her own fears, the last time they were together, but he realized in that moment that they needed to have a serious conversation about their future soon. And more importantly, where it should be spent. Because there was no way he would make it through the upcoming months with them only spending the odd weekend together.

Killian reached for his phone to check the time, before pulling up the pictures he had taken that evening to flick through again. He hadn't said much to his family about his new relationship, because he would much rather explain how he'd met Emma to them in person, than over the phone. But as he flipped through images of the two of them together, interspersed with random pictures of food that looked like works of art, he found himself sorting out a few to attach to a message to his mother.

He was tired of hiding Emma away, like some kind of dirty secret. She deserved better than that. As much as he wanted to protect her, he also wanted the whole world to know just how much she meant to him.

Which was why, at a little after midnight, Killian found himself composing a quick post on Instagram, after he'd sent his message to his mother. He knew that it would probably result in a few awkward questions during his panels that weekend. But it didn't stop him. He selected a couple of images of the most creative dishes that they'd been lucky to sample that evening, before attaching one of himself and Emma to the post.

Emma had been laughing at his failed attempts to take some decent pictures of the two of them together. As a result, he'd managed to capture one of her head turned into his neck, her face almost completely hidden by his own, as he had leaned into her embrace.

It was the perfect picture to share with his followers.

One that showed just how happy he was, now that she was a part of his life. But one that also left her virtually unrecognizable to anyone who didn't know that seductive curve of her neck, as intimately as he did.

We had a wonderful evening at #Alinea, sampling some true masterpieces. But now, I need some sleep in preparation for #FTChi. Hope to see some of you there tomorrow.

Emma's look here is based on Jen's look for the Oz Comic-Con Fan Dinner in 2014.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.