Are you still with me guys? This story is slowly coming to an end. Even Cathy finished her beta job at Awake and Alive. I am going to prepare the rest of the chapters and put them on my drafts so I don't forget posting weekly, because sometimes I am really out of this word and I forget posting when I should. So we should be done with it in the next five weeks.
We are getting really really close to finding out what happened with Milah. Her story starts... Now. Enjoy!
The next morning, Killian woke up determined to ask Emma out on a date. He knew it was probably not the best time for a date, but after everything that had happened with them in the last few days he felt, deep inside his heart, that he should plan a night out just for the two of them.
The only problem was that he had no way of contacting her privately. Perhaps it was time for him to procure one of those little boxes Emma and her son used to talk to each other when they were apart. He took into consideration going to her parents' apartment, but he knew he couldn't ask her on a date while her parents were there, firstly because they were still keeping everything a secret and secondly because David would, most likely, kill him. He could also wait a few more hours and then go to the sheriff's station to look for her, but he was too excited to wait that long.
The only other person who knew about him and Emma was Milah. Killian saw her using the same device Emma and Henry had used, so he decided to go to her and ask her if she had any way to contact Emma.
He knew Milah was staying at Granny's inn so Killian grabbed his coat and started to walk towards the inn. When he entered the building, Ruby was at the front desk, reading a book.
"Morning, Hook," she saluted him when he was in front of her.
"Morning, lass," he nodded at her and then started to climb the stairs.
At the middle of the stairs, he remembered that he didn't know which room Milah was staying in. He went back downstairs to Ruby and asked her where he could find Milah.
"Her room is 514. Why?"
"I need to ask her something. Do you know if she is there?"
"I haven't seen her this morning, so yes, she probably is still in her room," Ruby answered with a smile.
"Thank you," Killian nodded at Ruby and then started to climb the stairs again.
When he was in front of room 514, he started to knock. He knocked softly twice and then waited for an answer, but nothing came. He knocked again, harder this time, but he still didn't get an answer. He pressed his ear to the door, but there was no sound coming from inside. He also tried to open the door but it was locked. Finally understanding that Milah probably wasn't there, he dropped his shoulders, let out a deep breath, and started to walk down the stairs again.
"Any luck, Hook?" Ruby asked him when he was back in the hallway.
"Afraid not. She is not there," Killian said with regret in his voice.
"Huh. Maybe she left earlier. She does that sometimes, going to the beach or in the forest to clear her mind," Ruby explained him.
"I see," Killian said, starting to think of another way to contact Emma.
Ruby probably saw the hard look on his face because she closed her book and looked at him again, more serious this time. "Can I help you with anything?"
"Do you know how I can send a message to Emma?" Killian asked, hoping that she would be able to help him.
"I can send her one," Ruby said with a big smile on her face.
"Really?" Killian asked, suddenly feeling very relieved.
"Of course," she said, taking out the small device from her pocket. "What do you want me to write?"
"Just ask her to come to my ship in 15-20 minutes?"
"Of course," she said and then started to tap something on the screen of her box. "Done, Captain," Ruby said with a smile.
"So fast?" Killian asked amazed.
Instead of answering him, Ruby started to laugh. "Yes, Captain. So fast. You should ask Emma to explain how a phone works."
"Phone?"
"This," she said showing him the machine, "is called a phone. You should have one if you are going to stay in this town." Then she looked at him from head to toe. "You should also change your clothes."
"What's wrong with them?"
"They are very… Enchanted Forest," she said, starting to laugh again.
Her phone made a sound and Ruby looked at it and then smiled at him. "Emma said she will be there."
"Thank you very much, Ruby."
"You are very welcome," she said with a smile.
Killian nodded at her and then prepared to leave when he heard his name being called from behind him. He turned and looked back at Ruby.
"If you ever need a change of look and you don't want to ask someone else, you can come to me," Ruby said with a wink.
Killian smiled at her, thanked her for her offer, and then left to go back to his ship to wait for Emma and prepare his heart and soul for what he was going to ask her.
At the loft, the first thing Emma did when she woke up that morning was to check her messages to see if Milah answered the message she sent last night. But again, there was no answer from her. She looked at Henry but he was still asleep, so she got out of bed, took a quick shower, got ready for the day, and then left the room.
As she started to walk down the stairs, she could already hear David and Mary Margaret talking in the kitchen, but they stopped as soon as she entered the room.
"Morning," she told them.
"Morning, Emma!" David welcomed her.
"Hello, sweetheart," Mary Margaret said with a soft smile on her face.
Emma smiled at her too and then went towards the coffee maker to pour a cup for herself. The only problem was that the machine was empty. She looked at David and Mary Margaret and saw that they both had cups of coffee in front of them.
"No coffee left?" she asked.
"Oh, sorry!" Mary Margaret said. "I didn't know if you were going to have breakfast with us."
"Why wouldn't I?" Emma asked confused.
"Well, I heard that you had breakfast with Hook the other day and I-," she stopped, not finishing her sentence.
Emma looked at David, since he was the only one who knew that she had breakfast with Hook, but he shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
"You what? How do you even know about that?" Emma asked her, suddenly more confused than before.
"Ruby told me."
"Damn it," Emma said under her breath.
"You two seem close since we came back from Neverland," Mary Margaret said, taking another sip from her cup.
"We're friends," Emma said, rolling her eyes.
"Just friends?" Mary Margaret asked with an eyebrow raised.
"What is this, Mary Margaret?" Emma asked intrigued, putting down the empty cup.
"Where did you sleep the other night?" Mary Margaret asked her again, ignoring Emma's question.
"At Granny's," Emma answered quickly.
"Are you sure?"
"Mary Margaret," Emma said with a threatening voice.
"Emma," Mary Margaret said, not letting her finish her sentence. "I know you weren't there. I talked to Ruby."
"Ruby should learn how to shut her mouth."
"She actually didn't say anything. She just said that you didn't go back to the inn that night and that you ordered dinner on Hook's ship."
"So what are you trying to get with this?" Emma snapped at her.
"Did you sleep at Hook's?" Mary Margaret asked directly.
"Okay, this is something I don't want to hear," David said, taking his cup and standing up from the table.
"Emma?" Mary Margaret said when Emma didn't answer.
"Yes!" Emma finally snapped at her again. "Yes, I slept on his ship. So what?"
"Are you two together?"
"Mary Margaret, that's not really any of your business," Emma tried to make her stop.
When Mary Margaret prepared to say something else, Emma's phone rang in her pocket, letting her know that she had a new message. She took her phone out, hoping that it was an answer from Milah but in fact, it was a message from Ruby.
Ruby LUCAS: Your boyfriend is here. He asked me to send you a message to tell you that he will be waiting for you to meet him on his ship in 15-20 minutes.
Emma rolled her eyes at the words "your boyfriend" because Ruby didn't really know what was going on between them. She was just teasing Emma, but if only she knew the truth! Emma typed an answer to Ruby and then put the phone back in her pocket.
"I have to go," Emma told Mary Margaret.
"Where are you going?" Mary Margaret said as Emma started to walk out of the room.
"To talk to Hook."
"About?" Mary Margaret asked intrigued
"About Milah," Emma answered, not bothering to give Mary Margaret another reason.
"Emma, I'm sorry if I pushed you too much."
"We'll talk later," Emma said taking her jacket. She looked at David who was on the couch and started to speak to him. "David, I'll see you at the station?" Emma asked. Instead of answering her, David nodded in answer to her previous question.
After that, Emma left the apartment without another look back. She still hadn't had coffee and her stomach was screaming for some food, but both the coffee and the food would have to wait.
Jumping into her car, Emma started to wonder what Killian wanted to talk to her about and how he got the idea of asking Ruby to text her.
She drove the small distance between the loft and the docks trying to calm down her thoughts. On one hand, she knew she had to talk to Ruby and tell her to stop talking about her and Hook with Mary Margaret or Henry. On the other hand, she had to find a way to stop Mary Margaret from asking about what was going on between her and Hook. Emma herself didn't know how to answer her own questions about what was happening between her and Hook. Having Mary Margaret ask those things every day wasn't helping her much.
On top of everything, she had to worry about Milah, who still hadn't answered her message.
When Emma arrived at the docks, she parked her car in what had started to be her usual spot and got out of the car. Emma started to walk towards the Jolly and knew, by the fact that the plank was down, that Killian was already waiting for her.
"I heard you were waiting for me," Emma said, when she was on the deck. Killian was also there, his back turned to her.
Killian turned to face her with a smile. "I thought perhaps you changed your mind."
"Sorry," Emma said, starting to walk towards him. "Mary Margaret thought it was a good idea to start attacking me with questions," she said going closer to him.
"Everything okay?" Killian asked, his eyebrows coming together in worry.
"Yes. I just need to talk to Ruby and tell her to stop telling my family about what I am doing."
Killian looked at her with a confused look and an eyebrow raised. Emma looked at him and saw how cute his face looked in that moment. Then she realized that he was waiting for an explanation.
"She told Henry and Mary Margaret about us," she said letting out a sigh. "Well actually, she told Henry that we had breakfast together and she told Mary Margaret that we had breakfast, and that I didn't sleep at the inn the other night. She also told her that I had asked Ruby to bring food here," Emma finished, rolling her eyes.
"Henry knows? And your mother?"
"Actually, Mary Margaret doesn't know any more than that, because I didn't tell her anything besides the fact that I slept here. But Henry knows the whole story," she explained, moving her hands from between them.
"And?" Killian asked tentatively.
"Henry is surprisingly okay with everything,"
"Really?"
"Yeah. He said that he is happy for me."
"That's good," Killian said, smiling at her. Then he looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Is it not?"
"No! I mean yes! It's good. It just surprised me that he's okay with this after everything that has happened."
"You expected him to not be okay?"
"Henry wanted me and Neal to be together," Emma said while shrugging her shoulders.
"Oh," was all Killian said.
"But hey! It doesn't matter now. We are here and so is Henry and he is okay with this," she said moving a finger between them. "And he was actually excited when he found out that we're True Love."
"I am glad to hear that," Killian said, smiling genuinely at her.
"Anyway," Emma said, remembering the fact that Killian was the one who asked her to come to the ship. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
"Oh, yes," he said, taking a step back and starting to scratch behind his left ear with his hook.
She could see from the way he started to turn red that he wanted to ask her something but he was shy. Huh. Shy. Killian Jones was actually shy in front of her. That's a new one.
"Killian?"
"Yes."
"What is going on?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"I wanted to…," he said, opening his mouth, but not a single word came out.
"Yes?"
"I wanted to ask you out. On a date, I mean," he finished, letting out a deep breath.
"You what?"
"It's okay if you don't want to. I just thought that maybe after the other night we could-" but Killian didn't finish his sentence, because Emma grabbed him by the lapels of his coat and smashed her lips to his.
The kiss wasn't a hungry one, it was different from all the other kisses they had shared and that was a thing that actually surprised Emma. With him, every new kiss was different than the others and she was starting to wonder how that was even possible.
They broke the kiss when they started to need air, but neither of them stepped back. Emma pressed her forehead to his and smiled.
"Is that a yes?" Killian asked with a smile on his face.
"Yes. That's a yes."
"Good," he said, taking a step back. "How about tonight?"
"You have everything planned already?"
"No, but I know what I want to do," he said with a smirk.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked with narrowed eyes.
"Nowhere in town, Swan. We don't want people to know we are on a date, right?"
"Right. But I want you to come and pick me up from the loft."
"You sure you want your parents to know that you are going on a date with me?"
"Mary Margaret already suspects something is up and David was there this morning too. I'm going to tell them that we have a date. They don't have to know about the rest."
"Good. Pick you up at 8?" Killian asked her.
"Sure," Emma answered with a smile.
"Okay, Swan. I'll see you then."
"Yeah." With another quick kiss on the lips, Emma left the ship and went back to her car.
When she was back in the car, she remembered that she still had to talk to him about Milah and what Regina said yesterday. She realized, though, that that should wait. They deserved a night just for them. Besides, Milah still hadn't answered her message, so there was nothing Emma could do.
Instead of going back to the loft, Emma went to the station. She knew David was going to be there, and she hoped that he wasn't as curious as Mary Margaret was about what she did in her free time.
When she entered the building, she saw David was at his desk, typing something at the computer. On her desk was a white box that smelled sinfully good.
"What is that?" she asked him, pointing towards the box.
"Bear claw," David answered, smiling at her.
"What's the ocassion?" Emma asked, looking at him with narrowed eyes.
David looked at her with a soft expression on his face and instead of offering an answer to her question, he answered with another question "Can't I give you sweets?"
Emma looked at him trying to smile. "Of course you can."
Emma sat down in her office and took a bite from the bear claw. She looked at David to see he was looking back at her. She raised an eyebrow in question and waited for his answer.
"So," David started. "How went things with Hook?"
"We talked," Emma simply answered, continuing to eat her bear claw.
"About his ex?" David asked again.
"Not really," Emma said letting out a sigh. "But we will have to talk about that as well. Soon."
"What does she want, anyway?" David asked, leaning back in his chair.
"She wants to find out why she is still alive and she asked me if I could help. I asked Regina to look in her books and she couldn't find anything, so now we have to find answers somewhere else," Emma explained.
"Is Hook okay with her being here?"
"Why wouldn't he be?"
"I don't know," David answered, shrugging his shoulders. Yet, the look on his face was telling another story.
"Yeah right," Emma said, still looking at him with narrowed eyes.
They sat in silence for a few minutes until David broke it when he started to talk again."Hey, will you have dinner with us tonight?"
"Actually," Emma said, making a grimace. "I can't."
"Oh?" David said, raising his eyebrows at her.
"If I tell you, you have to promise you will not use your sword or gun."
"Why would I?" David asked suddenly suspicious.
Emma closed her eyes, let out a deep breath and then started to speak. "Because Hook asked me out."
"He did what?!" David almost yelled at her words.
"David," Emma said rolling her eyes and not being in the mood to argue with him.
"You are going out with him?" "David asked again, even more intrigued.
"I am," Emma said, nodding.
"Like, on a date?"
"Yes, it's a date," Emma snapped at him. "Come on. You were there this morning when I admitted that I slept on his ship."
David just raised his shoulders. "He has many rooms on that ship."
"David," Emma said, letting out a sigh.
"Emma, are you two together? And please don't lie to me. I promise I won't tell Mary Margaret," David said seriously.
"Yes, we are." Emma confirmed.
"And?" David tried to push her to reveal more.
Emma shook her head at him. "And that's all I am telling you. We're together and we have a date tonight."
"Okay," David said. "So, Milah?" he quickly changed the subject.
"What about her?"
"What else do you know about her?" David asked. "Besides being Hook's and Gold's ex and Henry's grandmother?"
"Gold killed her after he became the Dark One and found her and Hook together. She shouldn't be alive but somehow she is, and she wants to know why. She… appeared in this world, I think, 28 years ago, when the curse brought you all here," Emma explained Milah's story for the millionth time that week.
"And where has she been all this time?"
"Traveling? Trying to find out why she is still alive."
"Does she know about Henry?" David asked with narrowed eyes.
"She does and she wanted to meet him," Emma said, nodding at him. "They actually met yesterday."
"How was Henry?"
"Really excited to find out about her and to get to meet her."
Right as she finished talking about Henry, they heard the door of the station opening, followed by the sound of steps walking on the hard floor of the building. Soon enough her son, followed by Belle, appeared in front of them.
"Hi Mom! Hi Grandpa!" Henry announced when he was in the same room.
"Henry, Belle! What are you doing here?" Emma asked, genuinely surprised by their presence.
"I've been talking to Belle about Milah," Henry said, looking at Emma.
"Henry!" Emma couldn't stop the annoyance from creeping into her voice anymore.
"You said I could!" Henry said as if he did nothing bad.
"Yes, but not this early!"
"It's okay Emma, don't worry," Belle tried to assure Emma. She looked at Belle and smiled at her thankfully. "Besides, Milah is my friend and I've been trying to help her since she came here."
"What did you two talk about?" Emma asked Henry.
"I asked Belle if she could ask Rumple to help us about Milah."
Emma looked at Belle, knowing very well what feelings her True Love held towards his ex-wife. Catching Emma's eyes, Belle looked at her and nodded slowly. "It's okay, Emma. I will try and talk to him."
"We have to talk to Milah first. See if she agrees to let him help."
"Leave that to me and Ruby," Belle said with a wink.
"Good. Because I don't really have time today," Emma said with a small smile on her face, thinking about her date.
"Oh?" came from both Henry and Belle at the same time.
"I have a date," was all she said.
"With Hook? Cool!" Henry said excitedly.
"Are you two together?" Belle asked softly.
"We are," Emma answered.
"Congratulations," Belle said, although Emma could see on her face how surprised she was by the fact that Emma and Killian were together.
"Mom, Belle said she will talk to Grandpa today and then with Milah. And Regina asked me if I wanted to spend the day with her. Are you okay with that?"
"Sure, why not."
"And spend the night at her house?" Emma just nodded at him. She couldn't see any reason why Henry wouldn't be able to spend the night at Regina's, especially if she might not spend the night at the loft herself.
"Cool! Thank you!"
"I should leave and go talk to Rumple," Belle said.
Emma nodded at her with a grateful smile. "Thank you for doing this, Belle."
"Always."
"May I go as well?" Henry asked after Belle left the station.
"Sure. Please take care."
"Okay. Bye mom! Bye Grandpa!" Henry said, while turning to start walking towards the station's exit.
Emma looked at David and he was looking at her with an eyebrow raised.
"What?" Emma asked him.
"Henry is helping?"
"He really wanted to help and he came up with the idea of talking to Gold and asking him for help."
"Doesn't Gold hate his ex-wife?"
"He does, but Henry believes that if he and Belle team up, Gold will help."
"You have to admit, Henry is a very hopeful person."
"Takes after his grandparents," Emma said softly, but not softly enough since David heard her anyway. He just smiled at Emma but didn't say anything else.
For the next four hours Emma and David worked together at the station, sorting the remaining files that were left behind when they went to Neverland.
When the clock turned 5:00, Emma couldn't help but get nervous at the thought of the date she would be going on in just a few more hours. She had no idea what they were going to do, just that it wasn't in the city. They couldn't leave the town, though, because the barrier was still there, so he was either taking her out to the woods or out in the middle of the ocean. Knowing Killian, he was taking her out on his ship most likely.
"You know, if you want to leave earlier, you can do it," David sayed, probably being able to see how nervous Emma was.
"It's okay," she said, turning her attention back to her PC.
"Don't you want to get ready for your date?" David asked and Emma could hear a small trace of surprise in his voice.
"I still have time."
"Emma, I'm serious. You can go home," David said serious.
Emma looked at him and then again at the clock. She still didn't know what to wear and now she had exactly three hours to get ready.
"Okay," she said, letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Are you okay with being alone for one more hour?"
"Of course. Nothing will happen if I stay alone one more hour," David said with a smile. "Go and get ready for your date, kiddo."
"Thank you," Emma said with a grateful smile.
She rose from her chair, took her things and with a kiss on the cheek from David, she left the station. She jumped into her bug and started to drive towards the loft.
When she arrived at the loft, Mary Margaret was in the kitchen, most likely making dinner.
"Emma!" she said, stopping when she saw her. "You're home early."
"Yeah, I have to get ready for something."
"Oh, what is that?" Mary Margaret asked surprised.
"I have a date," Emma said. "With Hook," she felt the need to add.
"Really?" Mary Margaret asked, her eyebrows rising as she spoke.
"Yeah," Emma said, and then started to walk towards the stairs that led to her room.
When she reached the first step, she heard Mary Margaret talking behind her.
"Emma, I'm sorry about this morning."
Emma turned to look at her. "It's okay."
"Are you and Hook together?" Mary Margaret asked. Emma rolled her eyes at the question and her mother probably saw that because she immediately added, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I was just thinking about everything and..."
"Stop," Emma stopped her. "Yes. I am with Hook. We've been together for a few days and before you ask, yes, I am perfectly sure of this."
"But what about Neal?" Mary Margaret asked out of nowhere.
"What about him?" Emma asked, confused, not being sure what her dead ex-boyfriend had to do with this.
"Isn't a bit too soon for you to be with someone?"
"What?!" Emma yelled at her, angry about what she had just heard. "Look, I've been over Neal for about 10 years. He is dead and even if he was alive, I wouldn't have been with him. Okay?" Emma said. "Now excuse me, I have to get ready for my date."
Ignoring the guilty look on Mary Margaret's face, Emma left the kitchen and went to her room to get ready. She was angry for what Mary Margaret insinuated and she thought that a hot shower would help her relax. She jumped into the shower and let the hot water droplets fall on her body. She was right. The hot water of the shower both calmed her enough so she could forget what her mother had said and got her to be excited again about the date.
When she got out of the shower she put a towel around her and went back to her room. Emma put on a matching set of sexy underwear and bra since she was almost positive on how this night would end, and then she stood in front of the closet, trying to decide on something to wear. The weather outside was pretty good, hot enough for the beginning of autumn, but if she was right and Killian was taking her out in the ocean, then a dress would not be enough. In the end, she chose a gray blouse with long sleeves, black jeans and a brown leather jacket.
While she was trying to arrange her hair in a high ponytail, she heard a knock at the door.
"Yes?" she said and waited for the door to open, revealing Mary Margaret's face.
"You look amazing," Mary Margaret said while entering her room.
"Thanks," Emma said, turning back to the mirror to do her hair.
"Emma, I'm sorry for what I said."
"It was, first of all, rude," Emma started. "But I forgive you."
"Thank you," her mother said, coming closer to her. "Do you need any help?"
"I'm so nervous, it seems like I can't even do a ponytail now," Emma said, letting go of her hair, to fall free on her back.
"I can help with that," Mary Margaret said, waiting for Emma's approval.
Emma nodded, looking at her mother in the mirror and watched as Mary Margaret took the brush in her hand and started to comb Emma's hair again. Emma closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the feeling of someone doing her hair for the first time ever.
She stayed like that until she felt Mary Margaret's hands stop working in her hair. She opened her eyes and looked in the mirror. Mary Margaret made a beautiful, perfect ponytail.
Emma smiled at Mary Margaret. "Thank you."
"You look beautiful," Mary Margaret told her.
"Thanks."
"Do you know where you're going?" her mother asked, genuinely curious.
Emma shook her head. "I have no idea. I'm guessing somewhere on the water."
"I'm sure it will be romantic no matter where he takes you," Mary Margaret said with a smile.
Emma wanted to respond to her but as she opened her mouth, they heard a knock at the front door.
"He's here," Mary Margaret said with an even bigger smile on her face. "I'm going to go let him in."
Emma smiled at her and nodded. Mary Margaret left Emma's room and went to open the door for Killian. Emma took one more look at herself in the mirror then took her phone, put it in her pocket, and then left the room.
Emma walked down the stairs, ready to met Killian, but she had to stop herself in the middle on the stairs when she saw him. He was wearing modern clothes, from head to toe. He had completely new clothes, but what topped off the look was the jacket. He looked really, really good in that new black leather jacket. Even the usual eyeliner looked to be far less than the amount she was used to seeing on him. Realizing that she should probably, she started to walk down the stairs again.
"You look amazing, Emma," he told her as soon as she was in front of him.
"You look.. good too," she said, not being able to get out more words or be more eloquent. Instead, she continued to stare at him.
"Shall we?" Killian asked, offering her his hand.
Emma took it with a smile and with another shy smile to Mary Margaret, they left the apartment. She expected them to jump in her car as soon as they were out of the building but instead Killian told her that they could walk the distance to the place of the date. Emma agreed and they started to walk down the road, hand in hand in silence.
After a few minutes of walking, Emma recognized the road as the one that led to the docks and she actually smiled when she saw the Jolly in front of her. Only they didn't stop when they were in front of it; they continued to walk.
"We're not going on the Jolly?" Emma asked when they passed the big ship.
"No?" Killian asked with a smirk.
"Then where?"
"You'll see," Killian said with a wink.
They continued to walk for a bit, and in the end Emma realized that they were heading towards the beach. Suddenly, she was even more excited.
They started to walk in the sand and soon enough, Killian was taking her towards the part of the beach with rocks on in. Killian stopped in front of a circle of rocks and then turned to her.
"I found this place today and I knew that it would be perfect. I hope you'll like it as well."
Killian turned her around and she was face to face with a nice picnic arranged on the sand; right there, under the stars.
"How did you do all this?" Emma asked, looking stunned at the image in front of her. "And when did you have time to set it all up?" she added, this time looking at him.
"I had help," Killian said, taking Emma's hand in his and making them both sit on the blanket.
"Who?"
"Ruby," Killian said, raising his shoulders and smiling at her.
"Is Ruby the person behind your new clothes as well?"
Killian nodded at her, still smiling. "I thought perhaps it was time for a change."
"Everything is gorgeous," Emma said, looking into his eyes.
"Are you talking about the picnic or my clothes?"
"Can it be both?" Emma teasingly asked.
"Of course."
She smiled at him as he continued to smile at her. She opened her mouth to say something, but he stopped her by raising his hand.
"I have more prepared for us," he said, grabbing the basket that was close to their blanket.
"Granny?"
"Yes. Ruby was happy to help me with this too," he said opening the basket and looking inside. "She also said that this is going to win your heart," he said, taking out a paper cup. He gave it to her and Emma smelled it. It was hot chocolate with cinnamon.
"Well, Ruby was right," Emma said.
"It seems like she was right with many other things," Killian said with an eyebrow raised.
"Was this her idea?"
"The picnic?" Emma just nodded at him. "Half of it. I wanted to show you the stars and she said that a picnic on the beach would be perfect. I would have taken you out on the water."
Emma smiled at him, thinking about how she was almost right about his idea of where he was taking her out. "I like this," she said, not realizing at first that she had spoken out loud. When she saw Killian's big smile on his face, though, she realized what she had said. Instead of answering her, Killian took another paper cup from his basket.
The rest of the night went very well. They ate the food Killian bought from Granny's and he even surprised Emma by having one of her favourite pies. They tried to drink the wine that Ruby had hid in the basket, but soon enough, they ditched it for his flask of rum.
They also talked and laughed, Emma listened to Killian tell her stories from his old pirate life and in return, Emma told him about her bail bondsperson days. She smiled when Killian told her that she was like a pirate before she came to Storybrooke and that it did not surprise him that she had such a job.
As the hours passed and the night was growing around them, the stars became more clear above them. Killian told Emma that the stars in this realm were different, just like the stars from Neverland and the Enchanted Forest were different, but that he was still able to recognize most of the constellations. He showed her the Cygnus and told her that it looked like a swan. He then told her a story about how in the Enchanted Forest, swans were important birds for sailors. Apparently, the flowing flight of the swans reminded many sailors of the gentle and victorious floating of the ships.
Of course the night didn't pass without any action between them. They couldn't stop kissing, which surprised Emma, because she was never the kind of person to be affectionate, especially during a date. She hadn't been on many dates in her life; Neal never took her on a real date and after Neal, she hated the idea of going on a date with someone. She mostly had one night stands or a few dates that ended up being a one time thing. But with Hook, it was different in a good way. She liked being with him, spending some alone time with him and she would be the biggest liar on the planet if she said she didn't enjoy kissing him.
For example now, as Emma's hand was on his chest and he was slowly spreading her on the blanket beneath him.
The kiss started as soon as Killian finished telling her how beautiful she was and how happy he was that she agreed to this date. Emma couldn't stop herself and she literally jumped on him, taking the lapels of his new jacket in her hands and kissing him with all of the power she had in herself. She started the kiss hard and hungry but Killian had something else in mind. He slowed down the kiss, making Emma slow down as well. The kiss went from fast and hungry to soft and full of emotions; emotions that Emma knew what they meant, but wasn't ready to tell him yet. She knew that she was falling for him, harder and harder with each minute they spent together and she knew that it would have been like this even if the True Love's Kiss hadn't have happened.
They were close to throwing caution to the wind right there on the beach, to make love under the stars.
"Do you want to go back to the ship?" Killian interrupted the kiss to ask her.
"No," Emma answered in a whisper. She was now fully spread on the blanket and he was on top of her.
"Are you sure?"
"I want to do this here. Now," she said with a desperate tone in her voice.
Emma didn't wait for his answer. Instead she pulled his head back down and started to kiss him again. In the meantime, their hands were busy exploring each other. Emma's hands were traveling on his back and under his jacket and shirt. She was thankful for the new clothes, since it was much simpler now to find his skin. At the same time, Killian was moving his good hand under her blouse. She felt his fingers on her belly, travelling up and down on her skin, first towards her breasts and then down again, towards the hem of her jeans.
Emma closed her eyes and let out a moan as Killian moved his lips from hers to the base of her neck, at the same time pushing her hips up to bring them closer to his.
Just as Emma was ready to take off Killian's jacket, her phone started to ring in her pocket. She decided to ignore it. It was past midnight and whoever it was most likely didn't need anything important. Emma and Killian continued to kiss, ignoring the phone that was still ringing in her pocket. After almost a full minute, the phone stopped ringing and Emma let out a happy sigh. She continued to pull off Killian's jacket while he was still kissing her neck.
Emma felt Killian's head lift up so she opened her eyes and looked him in the eyes. His eyes were full of emotions that made Emma's heart skip a few times and she knew that half of those emotions were mirrored in her own eyes as well. He brought his head down and pressed his lips to hers, at the same time trying to pull up Emma's blouse with just one hand.
But they were interrupted again by Emma's phone that started to ring for the second time.
Killian groaned and let his head drop onto Emma's shoulder. Emma didn't want to stop what they were doing so she put her hands in his hair and pulled his head back towards her. The phone didn't stop, however, and Killian refused to kiss her.
"You should answer it," he said.
"I don't."
"Could be your son."
"Henry is sleeping at this hour."
"Your parents?"
"They know I'm with you." As Emma finished her sentence, her phone stopped ringing. With a thankful smile, she looked into Killian's eyes and spoke again. "Kiss me."
He was still on top of Emma so with a smirk, he pressed his lips to hers again. He didn't get to move a lot, though, because Emma's phone rang once again.
Both Emma and Killian let out loud groans. Killian dropped on the blanket, onto his back, looking towards the sky. At the same time, Emma tried to catch her breath and searched for her phone. When she finally found it in her pocket, she took it out and looked at the person who had been. It was Ruby. Emma let out a deep sigh and answered Ruby's call.
"What?!" Emma half snapped, half yelled at Ruby.
"Emma, I know you are on your date," Ruby said frantically in the phone. "But something happened," Ruby's voice broke.
"Ruby, what's going on?" Emma said, starting to worry at the frantic tone of Ruby's voice.
"Milah…," Ruby stopped and Emma could tell that Ruby was trying to find her words. "I found her and she's surrounded by this thing. I don't know. It looks like blood Emma, but it's not blood. I don't know what's going on, but she's not moving!" Ruby explained, her voice getting more panicked with each word.
At her words, Emma scrambled to her knees and looked at Killian. He looked at her and probably understood that something was wrong because he was by her side in seconds.
"Where are you Ruby?"
"Inside Marina's Garage."
"We'll be there in a few minutes," Emma told Ruby "Call for an ambulance, Ruby," Emma said, finishing the phone call.
"What's going on?" Killian asked as soon as Emma put the phone down.
"Something happened to Milah," Emma explained. "Ruby found her and there is something around her. Ruby said it looks like blood," Emma finished, watching Killian's face for any reaction.
Killian made big eyes at Emma's words and jumped to his feet. "We have to go then," he said, holding out his hand to Emma so she could stand too.
"We have to," Emma agreed. "Let's go," Emma nodded at him.
Despite the urgency, neither of them moved. They were standing there, hand in hand, not moving or talking. Yet, Emma decided that she should say something.
"I'm sorry our date ended like this."
"There are going to be more dates like this one," Killian promised her.
Emma got closer to him and pressed her lips to his, softly, just for a few moments. "Let's go and see what's going on with Milah."