So I'm sorry this update took a while, but I needed to figure out where I wanted to head with this story, and also, and thankfully, I just finished with exams today. I'm excited to start writing again! I hope you guys like this chapter, and if you've got any ideas or suggestions I'd love to hear them =] Thanks to all who are following this story!

Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT

Chapter 15: Conversation

It was strange for Emma to be in this position. She was sitting at the kitchen table in the loft, staring at her steaming cup of coffee in front of her that she'd only made for herself to pass the time. The apartment was empty; Henry was at school, Mary Margaret was too, and David was out with the dwarves, trying to sort out one magical situation or another. She had taken advantage of the peace and quiet and called Killian to meet her here. She smiled as she remembered how that phone call had gone; he'd never used a phone before coming to Storybrooke, and there had been a whole lot of awkwardness and confusion before her invitation got through to him. Once he understood, however, she could practically feel his beaming smile radiating through the phone, and she couldn't help but giggle. She, Emma Swan, had giggled. She couldn't remember a single time that she had ever giggled in her life, and secretely, she was frustrated that he had that much of effect on her.

As the minutes on the clock passed by as slowly as they would have if she was writing an exam, she became exceedingly nervous as his impending arrival came closer. It wasn't that she didn't think it was a good idea; in fact, she was dying to see him, but what would they do? They hadn't actually seen each other in two days since their encounter at Granny's Inn. To be honest, she could barely remember the last proper conversation she'd had with him. She rememberd a lot of flirting, a lot of banter, but never an actual conversation. Emma wondered if talking to Killian properly would be as easy as kissing him. Doubt creeped into her thoughts. She hadn't even told her friends or her family yet; not even Anna! She had decided to wait until she was sure that this thing with Hook was actually going somewhere. What was the point of getting everyone all worked up if she couldn't even talk to him normally?

She jumped slightly when she heard the knock on the door. Standing up and smoothing out her shirt, a nervous habbit Emma had recentely developed, she strode towards the door, already feeling the butterflies flitting around in her stomach. She opened the door, trying to keep her face as straight as possible, but seeing him there, looking as irritatingly handsome as he always did, an enormous smile broke out onto her face. Killian reciprocated, grabbed her by the arms, and gently nudged her back inside the apartment. Once the door was closed, he pushed her up against it, and as she revelled in his closeness against her body, she didn't even have time to catch a breath before his lips crashed against hers. She met his kiss with an urgency of her own, slightly moaning as he pushed her up against the door even more with his leg, and each of them lost themselves in the physical sensation before coming back to their senses.

Killian pulled away from the kiss first, and Emma groaned slightly at the loss of contact. He chuckled to himself, and rested his forehead agains hers; a small gesture of affection that she had already come to appreciate.

"Good morning, love."

"Morning,' she said breathily, her head still spinning from his previous kisses.

"I haven't seen you in two days." He said, souding rather dissappointed.

Emma placed one last quick kiss on his lips as she apologized.

"I know, I'm sorry,' she said, untangling herself from his grasp and walking towards the kitchen. 'Can I be honest?"

"Of course you can, Emma. You don't even need to ask." He winked at her, and she could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks.

"Honestly? I was a little nervous. I mean, don't get me wrong, our…encounter at the Inn was great, and that – that thing that just happened was great as well. I guess I just wasn't sure how this would play out."

Hook followed her into the kitchen area and stood facing her from the opposite side of the counter.

"Well first of all, I wouldn't call what just happened between us a 'thing'. I'd rather call it…a passionate physical expression of affection. And second of all, Emma, you're not the only one here who's nervous." As he said that last sentence, he looked awkwardly down at the countertop, awaiting her reaction. Surprisingly enough, she snorted rather unattractively.

"I make you nervous? You, Captain Hook, who's sailed through different lands for I don't know how many years, and I make you nervous? You must be joking."

His expressive features took on a more serious note as she looked at him with a slightly stunned expression.

"Yes, Emma Swan, you make me nervous. You know I wasn't lying when I confessed my secret to you in the echo caves. You really are the only other woman I've ever truly cared for, and that makes me nervous. Possibly because I've forgotten what it's like to be with a woman that I actually want to be with, or perhaps it has something to do with the fact that you are one of the only people in this land or the next that can beat me at my own game. I don't know. But whatever it is about you, believe it or not, you do have the ability to ignite my nerves."

Emma looked at him, still slightly stunned by his sudden confession.

"I – I don't really know what to say right now."

"Well, that's the first time I've ever encountered this problem. Shall we have a drink to celebrate?"

She rolled her eyes at him, but she actually loved that he could be sarcastic and playfull around her. It made her feel more at ease when she was with him.

"Do you want something to drink?" She asked, for lack of a better conversation topic.

"Actually, I think I'd like to hear some more about how I make you nervous. I've elaborated on that topic now, it's only fair if you do so in return." He looked up at her through his eyelashes, and the smoldering look in his eyes almost made her jump him right then and there. But she kept her cool; she would not be the first one to make another move at physical contact. She'd already told him that he made her nervous, he didn't also need to know that she could barely contain herself when she was around him.

"I don't really know what it is. Maybe it's the fact that being around you makes me feel more alive somehow; as much as I hated you in the beginning, you seemed to make my life interesting. I guess I never really had a person who did that for me."

He smiled, more to himself than towards her.

"Perhaps it also has something to do with the fact that I am, indeed, devillishly handsome."

She rolled her eyes at him again. "Well, it's great to know that your self-esteem knows no bounds."

"You're avoiding the question."

"You didn't really ask me one."

"Fine, I'll rephrase it for you. Do you think I'm devillishly handsome?"

She took her time to answer his query, knowing it would drive Killian mad. She took a good long look at him; Emma had never really allowed herself to do this before because she had been worried that it would have been too obvious. That didn't really matter anymore now, since he already knew exactly what she was feeling. She took in his dark, full hair that was now slightly dishevelled from their earlier greeting; his bright, blue eyes that seemed to drink her in whenever she looked into them; his sharp cheekbones, the soft dark stubble that surrounded his lips which were ridiculously good at kissing hers. She wasn't sure that she should let her eyes travel further down, because she knew that he would be wearing that low cut vest of his, and she also knew that if she saw that small teasing of his chest she would probably lose the little self-control that she had at the moment. It had occurred to her before that she'd never really seen him wearing anything other than his pirate outfit, which she thought looked a hell of a lot like the one she had first met him in back in the Enchanted Forest. Smiling to herself, she made a mental note to sometime ask him about his clothes. If he was staying here, he may as well buy something a little less…conspicuous.

Noticing the small tug at the corner of her lips, he looked at her expectantly, obviously waiting for an answer. She was enjoying the fact that he really seemed to be waiting for her to confirm whether or not she thought he was handsome. Surely, he would have figured that out by now.

"I'll get back to you on that."

"Excuse me?" He asked, obviously flabbergasted. Emma was pretty sure that no woman had ever had the decency not to tell him whether they thought he was handsome. She was convinced that his ego could be taken down a few notches.

"All in good time, darling,' Emma said, purposely using one of his own terms of endearment against him, 'All in good time."

He sighed a great big sigh, and Emma honestly laughed out loud. Her laughter irritated him even more, and, apparentely feeling utterly defeated, he sat down at the kitchen table.

"So returning to my own earlier question, would you like something to drink? I can make you tea, or coffee…" She trailed off, not sure of what other drinks they had in the house.

"You know, Emma, when I got into this with you, I didn't realize you'd be such a tease."

As he avoided her simple question in the hopes that it would annoy her so much that she would just tell him what he wanted to hear, Emma decided to make him some tea. As she put the kettle on, she became lost in thought as the familiar sound of the boiling water filled the kitchen area. In fact, she had spaced out so much that she hadn't even heard Killian come up behind her and was slightly startled as he put his arms around her waist from behind. She leaned into his chest, and a shiver ran up her spine as he brushed her hair away and placed a feather-light kiss to the back of her neck.

"This is good," He murmured against her ear, nuzzling his nose against the crook of her neck.

"What is?" She asked, not really listening as she felt his hot breath tickle her skin.

"This. Us."

She nodded in agreement, not wanting to break the moment with words that wouldn't really add any value to what he was saying.

"You know, you're still like an open book to me," he said, as he turned her around in his arms so that she was facing him.

"Oh yeah? In what way?" She said, challengingly, slightly worried about what he was going to say next.

"Whenever I touch you I can feel goosebumps rising up all over your skin. It's not so much your face that's an open book to me now; your whole body reacts when I'm around you."

Annoyed at herself for giving so much away, she returned her attention to the kettle, of which the water was almost done boiling.

"I didn't mean that as an insult, Emma. Some might find it a good sign that your body reacts to mine the way it does."

"Some might find it a sign of weakness."

"Now, now, Miss Swan, after all we've been through, I'm not going to let you put those emotional barriers of yours back up just when I've started to break through them."

For the second time that morning, she was at a loss for words. She turned back towards him, and as he welcomed the gesture she buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms tightly around his torso. She figured that if he could already read her so well, and if he truly was willing to fight to get through to her, she could make this work for herself. For them. Because if she was honest, she hadn't felt as safe, strong and secure as she did right in that moment for a long time.

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Hope you guys liked it! =)