A/N: This was one of my favorite ones to write! That being said, I've hit the end of my pre-written stuff, so send in your requests if you've got them! If you want me to expand into a kind of sequel to one of the previous parts, let me know as well. Feedback is appreciated!
Prompt: Their second date is an unusual - and unexpected - one. (AU)
"The fire alarm is going off, we need to go," Ruby informs her dryly, wearing panties and a shirt, her pants hanging over her arm. Her hair is still wet from her shower, sticking to her face as Emma pokes her head out from the shower, recognizing the blaring sound.
Emma curses, switching off the water, goosebumps breaking across her flesh as the air goes from painfully hot to dreadfully cold. She reaches out and grasps a large towel, enough to hide the fact that she wasn't wearing anything underneath. Ruby grabs her bag, recognizing that Emma needs to focus on not losing a boob while they walk quickly from the bathroom in the gym to the front door. It's a full time job, trying to keep herself from flashing the people around them. "Which dumbass from the cafeteria burned their food enough that they had to call the fire department again?"
"Dunno, wish they would stop though, the fire department is going to think I'm a nudist in training and none of them are my taste," she laughs, her shirt rising some in the back as she adjusts their bags on her shoulder. "I'm starting to think we should go to a different gym."
"You're the one paying for it," Emma reminds her grimly, knowing that her friends invite her along as a guest. "But this is the cheapest one in the town."
"True and I really enjoy taking Mulan's classes," Ruby muses, smiling brightly at the teenager who holds the door open for them. He stares blatantly at the towel covering Emma's chest, a flush on his face, and she glares at him in response, tightening her grip to keep the breeze from lifting her towel.
"Stop laughing," she hisses, nudging Ruby, who shakes with silent laughter.
Ruby shakes her head, biting her lip, chortling as she says, "Hopefully no one calls the police department, David might have a heart attack at seeing his practical sister naked."
Emma groans because she knows that David would cause a scene in his attempt to shield her. He's just that type of person and when she hears sirens, even louder than the fire alarm that still rings in her ears, she ducks behind Ruby just in case it's him.
It isn't.
It's far worse than that because she recognizes the person that hops down from the fire truck, his striking blue eyes looking over everyone for injuries while the rest of his crew investigate the fire.
She ducks her head more, shivering when her hair drips water down her back. "Isn't that the dude you went on a blind date with?" Ruby mutters, frowning at him as she tries to place his face.
"Yes," she hisses back. About a week ago, Anna invited her to The Rabbit Hole under the ruse of planning for Elsa's bachelorette party, but instead she wound up on an evening long date with Elsa's future brother-in-law, Killian Jones. She isn't sure where Anna got the idea, nor does she ask even if she has a suspicious idea that Mary Margaret is involved, but Emma had fun. Things ended the next morning, with neither calling and planning for another date, busy with life and other obligations, despite the fact that Emma looks at her phone often in her sparse spare time.
So here she is, hiding from his sight, freezing cold in her flip flops and towel, while Ruby stares so hard at him that he can't help but feel her gaze. He lifts his head, looking right at them. "Stop getting his attention," Emma says sharply, but Ruby waves enthusiastically. "Ruby!" Too late, he sees her wave and, after he tilts his head, notices that Emma is standing behind her.
He studies her, his eyes roaming over her form, flashing dark blue in the light, but when somebody shouts from inside, he hurries in without saying a word, muttering something under his breath.
Emma wants to leave. Really, her fingers are getting numb, from holding the towel so tightly and from the cold that pierces her bones. Ruby smiles and pulls Emma's hair back into a ponytail, tying it back to keep it from dripping anymore, but makes no move to leave. She says, "I'm obligated as a trainer to see if my job will burn to the ground."
"At least give me the car keys then," Emma replies impatiently, wishing her bug wasn't at Michael's for repairs.
"No way, you'll just leave without me!"
"I wouldn't do that."
"You've done it before."
"That was in my car, I was late for work, and you agreed," she protests, but Ruby ignores her, humming under her breath. Emma counts how long it takes the fire department to put out the flames in the kitchen area of the gym, the crowd dwindling at the lack of information until it's only a few of them still standing, and she's on her third attempt when she spots a figure coming to the door, a person over his shoulder. A paramedic standing outside rushes to get the door.
Emma watches, losing track of seconds, as Killian deposits the man gently on a stretcher waiting for him, frowning as he wipes sweat from his brow. Slowly, the rest of his co-workers leave the gym, all wearing identical expressions of annoyances.
"Reckon you lot should go home, no bloody use going inside," says some skinny dude, wiping his face as he stares them all down. He locks eyes with Ruby and, this surprises Emma, sneers at her.
"Oh, please, we're going to do this again, Will? I remember our last date ending the same way," Ruby complains loudly, stepping away from Emma to stomp over to him.
The man, Will, snorts and his accent thickens with the rest of his words as he meets up with her halfway. "Aye, if you think we should, it's all about what you want anyhow." The two of them walk a little bit away, their voices a furious whisper too low for Emma to hear.
She blushes when people look from the two of them to Emma like she'll have the answer. They stare more when they realize she's only wearing a towel. Emma is pretty positive the entirety of her face resembles a tomato and as she always done when she faces outside of her normal realm, she glares at them. Most flinch, looking back at Will and Ruby, but Killian laughs, walking towards her.
"Hello, love." He rakes over her form again briefly, tongue swiping across his lips in a way that makes Emma twitch, before looking her in the eye, his eyes a brilliant blue, darkened with attraction.
"Hey," she mumbles. She looks away from him, settling her poker face. "So what happened in there?"
"Ah, a series of unfortunate events involving that damn microwave that ends with that one knocking himself unconscious," he replies, his face torn between laughter and annoyance before settling on the former, a smile on his lips. "Is there we talk about the weather as well? I thought we got passed that last week."
She retorts, "Well, what do you want to talk about?"
She expects him to look her over, but she gives him another point when his eyes stay on her own. "I can think of a few things, but none that are appropriate in public," he says cheekily while she deducts that point she just gave him, trying not to laugh.
"Funnily enough, I can't think of what those could be as I slowly freeze to death," she replies dryly. He frowns, the humor vanishing from his face as he spots the goosebumps on her skin and the chattering of her teeth.
Then, he demands, "The hell are you doing standing around in a towel? With wet hair? Are you trying to get pneumonia?"
"It's for this survival show called I Was In The Shower When The Fire Alarm Went Off And Couldn't Get Dressed Without Revealing Myself."
He blinks at that, lips twitching slightly until concern drowns out the rest. "Why didn't you just... duck into an alley or a store or something to put on clothes?"
"..." She blinks rapidly, glances at the bag containing her clothes, and then at the towel around her body. "...You know, that would have been a good idea about half an hour ago. Except the alley part, that's a dumb idea, but a store would be smart."
He sighs in exasperation. "Well, come on, let's not catch your death out here." When she looks over at Will and Ruby, still in furious whispers, he rolls his eyes, pick up both bags, walks over to them, speaks briefly, then sets Ruby's bag on the floor by her feet. Then he goes over to another co-workers, speaks for a little bit longer, and returns to Emma with a faint grin. "If it's alright, I'll take you home after you get changed?"
She considers arguing, a knee jerk reaction to everything, and backing away, another knee jerk reaction to situations with people she might like, but she fights the feeling off as she had vowed to do after their date last week. "Okay," she replies, blinking from her thoughts just in time to catch the fear on his face change to joy.
They turn to walk, but she shivers as wind whips her face and he shrugs off his coat, placing it around her shoulders. "Sorry if it smells like smoke, but it's better than that," he apologizes while she sighs. It does smell like smoke, only faintly, but it's warm and beneath that she can smell him. Spicy and strong and, like the coat, warm - the last two aren't scents, but they make sense in her head.
She shakes herself and replies to him, keeping her face neutral. "It's fine although won't you get in trouble for wandering off with me?"
"Ah, not really, my shift ended two hours ago."
"What were you doing here then?"
"Well, I was just hanging out..." He says uncomfortably, scratching behind his ear. She knows that's a lie, but doesn't press and he changes the subject, a grin forming on his face. He's attractive doing nothing, but as she stares at him, she admits that he's even more so when he's smiling. "Happy I did though, otherwise I wouldn't have seen you again, I wasn't sure you were going to call me back."
"I was," she says quickly because he looking at her, a question in his statement. "Work just kept me busy, is all." It sounds weak in her ears, an excuse that she uses whenever she's not interested in somebody, but for once, it's the truth. Being deputy meant that Emma was often roped into things when the Sheriff was away - and he was, quite often, as Christmas rapidly approaches and a string of robberies start up at the same time that Graham has to go to Boston for some conference.
"Well, no big deal now, we're here now," he replies after a long moment of looking at her, studying her, before he seems content with what he found. "I imagine I could have called too, I did have your number, but I couldn't ever find the words... and I can't believe I just said that, I didn't mean to," he fumbles, scratching his ear again.
She smiles because he's achingly different when he drops the act, the one with innuendos, to be the real him, the one she glimpsed on their date. "I couldn't either," she admits because he looks uncomfortable at his slip and when he looks at her from the corner of his eye, open affection in his gaze, she stops in her tracks. It was the kind of look that Emma has run from her entire life.
It's too soon, right? It's far too soon for that look to make her heart race, far too soon for her to enjoy those words, and that panics her more than the words themselves.
"Emma?" He asks, worry on his face, snapping her from her racing thoughts. "Are you alright?"
She blinks and smiles. He frowns. "I'm fine, sorry, lost in thought."
"I... okay," he says after a minute, still frowning, but not pushing her anymore than she pushed him earlier. He gestures to the pharmacy, stopping them from walking further. "Well, there's a bathroom if you want to get changed in there?"
She nods and he reaches for the door, pushing it open for her to walk ahead of him. If the short man operating the cash register thinks they are an odd couple, he doesn't say anything, but Emma feels his eyes on her back as she walks to the bathrooms. "I'll just be a minute," she says as she takes her bag, holding her towel with one hand.
She locks the door behind her, placing his jacket on the hook hanging there, and changes clothes quickly. It's something of a relief to be wearing underwear and, slightly less so, a bra, especially as she pulls on jeans and a black tank-top, shoving her towel into the bag and zipping it up again.
"Feel better?" He asks when she steps out again, her bag on her shoulder and his jacket over her arm. She offers it back, but he shakes his head. "It's a bit of a walk to my car, I think you'll want it."
"You don't need it?"
"I'm wearing a long sleeved shirt," he points out, tugging on the black shirt that clings to him like a second like Emma hasn't been ogling a few minutes ago. She pats herself on the back mentally for managing to hide it as she pulls his jacket on with a shrug.
She won't complain, she likes the way it smells still.
They leave the pharmacy and now that she's wearing clothes, Emma finds that her emotions are so much easier to think about without panicking. She notices that he offers to take her bag for her (she declines, she can carry it) and she notices that he looks at her frequently like he doesn't quite believe she's walking next to him. Most of all, she notices that when he smiles, a genuine one that makes his eyes lighten, her stomach seems to do strange little flips.
While it seems to take ages to reach the pharmacy, the even longer distance to his car and then to her place seems to happen in the blink of an eye. Somewhere between their debate about Will and Ruby and the newest marvel movie, he's opening the passenger seat to his midnight blue truck for her. They are talking about their week on the ride there and by the time Emma is done detailing the ridiculousness of David asking multiple questions about their date last week, he's pulling to a stop outside her house, a faint grin on his face.
"We've been driving around your house for a good ten minutes now, love, I probably shouldn't steal your company any longer tonight," he says as he puts his truck in park and climbs out, intent on getting her door for her. She lets him, more because she fights her disappoint at their time being over with the knowledge that she enjoys his company.
She doesn't want it to end with that date a week ago.
"Stealing my company implies I had other plans tonight," she points out as he opens the door.
"No hot date tonight?" He jokes, helping her out.
"Nope," she says, grinning faintly, walking up the steps. "I'm still recovering from my last one with this guy I know."
"Is he dashing?" He questions.
"Hmm," she pretends to think about it. "He thinks so."
They are at her door by this point and he turns to face her. "And yourself? What do you think?"
"I might need more convincing," she says simply.
He grins hesitantly and his next question doesn't surprise her. "Does that mean we'll go on another date?"
She considers pondering with it to mess with him, but he's rocking on his heels as he waits for her response and she doesn't have the heart to make him think she'll say no. "I think that's a good idea," she says, smiling.
For his credit, he doesn't whoop when she says so, but the way his eyes light up and the way his smile widens conveys the feeling enough. Then, because she really can't stand to have his lips taunt her anymore, she leans forward, their noses brushing, and kisses him. His hands fall to her waist gently as he responds to her kiss with equal fervor. She thinks that her heart might thump out of her chest, that her stomach might drop out of her bottom when he pulls her closer, thumbs brushing beneath her shirt and caressing the flesh of her sides.
She pulls back, breathless, and opens her eyes. His open in the same moment, a dark blue that reminds her of the ocean, and he smiles at her, lips taunting her once more, but she controls herself, smiling back.
His voice is as breathless as she feels as he says, "Is that how you always kiss at the end of a second date?"
"Is this a second date?"
"Just a little bit, we did much of the important things like talking and kissing," he replies, smirking.
"True," she muses. "This isn't a traditional second date though."
"Aye, we'll have to make it up for the third one then." He kisses her again, but it lasts less than a second, just a caress that makes her bite her lip. "I would encourage more kissing, but I'm afraid I have work tomorrow."
"I do too..." She clears her throat and steps back, putting space between them because she wants nothing more to kiss him again. "So... I'll call you tomorrow?"
"Aye, I would like that, I'll see you soon," he seems unable to resist her, kissing her again. She laughs, shoving him back gently and he grins, stepping back from her, eyes dancing with affection once more. She enjoys the feeling, the want to run less and less the longer she stares at his retreating form. "See you soon, Emma."
"Bye, Killian." She waits by the door until he gets inside his truck and he waits until she's inside before leaving. She pauses until the sound of his truck disappears, her fingers pressing against her lips for a long, long minute, and she finds herself grateful that some dumbass burned their food.