It feels like her world exploded.
In some ways it did.
Emma was walking back up the steps to the town hall when everything happened. She had some unfinished business with Jones and needed to see him. Unfortunately, she turned around at the sound of gunfire and twisted her ankle on her high heels. She fell down the stairs, injuring her ankle further and hitting her head. Everything after that was a huge blur.
Time slowed down and sped up at the same time. Leroy was the one who found her, but he can't stand blood. August handled the paramedics. The only question Emma asked was if Mary Margaret was okay.
Repeatedly.
She watches the world unfold around her in the aftermath. Mulan speeds by, mumbling something under her breath. Emma reaches out for her friend.
The paramedics keep talking back and forth. The terms are things Emma has heard a thousand times on TV.
Blunt force trauma.
Possible concussion.
Subdermal hemotoma.
Severely fractured ankle.
Emma would give just about anything for an IV drip of pain medication and a hand to hold. She might punch the next person who shines a flashlight in her eye too.
She closes her eyes and hears the most beautiful announcement ever.
"He's with her. Killian Jones at special request of President Nolan."
Killian's here. He's safe. He can update her on what's going on.
The doors are closed for barely a moment when the ambulance takes off.
Killian smiles down at Emma. She can see the strain around his mouth, his eyes. She must look even worse than she feels.
"You gave everyone quite a scare, lass."
Emma groans as someone prods her injured ankle.
"She'll need an x-ray after her MRI."
Emma feels a slight pressure on her hand. She squeezes it and feels Killian's hands, warm and comforting, surrounding hers. Tears prick at the corners of her eyes. She blinks rapidly to clear them away, hoping Jones doesn't notice. She's already feeling so weak, so vulnerable in front of him. The bright lights of the ambulance hurt her eyes. She closes them hoping the pain stops soon.
Things had been weird the last few weeks. Emma attributed to this to her awkward beyond all reason talk with Killian. She felt awful about having to yell at him, but it was necessary. Her interactions with him were lessening her ability to do her job. She had to distance herself, keep him at an arm's length.
Emma was frustrated with herself for being upset that Killian was heeding her warning. He had stopped joking around with her. He was all business. He no longer followed her to her office after briefings. He no longer stopped by just to chat or get lunch. He no longer gave her those heart stopping smiles when she walked up to the podium. He was following her orders perfectly and Emma hated every minute of it.
Killian didn't glare at her or look angry. He just looked blank. He was so neutral about Emma and it was killing her heart each time. She missed their little interactions. They made the bad days suck a little less.
The strangest part was that Jones had a new best friend: David Nolan.
The two had lunch at least once a week. Jones covered most of the First Husband's special events if he could. His pieces were still very objective, but they were usually positive. They were the journalistic equivalent of constructive criticism.
She began her press conference like all others, but this one was different. Emma got to announce that they were looking for ways to improve the foster care system and adoption. There wasn't any specific plan or bill yet, but Emma was excited just the same.
Until she called on Killian.
"Given your background, will you be consulting on this issue?"
Emma's heart stopped. Was he seriously bringing up the fact that she was in foster care in the middle of a press briefing? That would've been a low blow coming from even the most blood thirsty of reporters. His carefully neutral expression gave no indication of his intent with the question. Was this some way of proving to everyone that they weren't as friendly as they thought?
"I haven't been asked."
Jones nodded before he scribbled something in his notebook.
Emma took a breath to stabilize herself before the next question.
"Abigail."
"If they aren't considering you, will they have any consultants who did social work or specialized in Family Law?"
Emma felt her face flush at her jump to conclusions. Jones had been referring to her time as a social worker, not her time in the system or her giving up a baby for adoption. It annoyed her that she let her personal feelings cloud her ability to do her job. She wouldn't have made that assumption if anyone else had asked that. Well, maybe Abigail.
Emma wrapped up the briefing and hastened toward her office. She sank into her chair and tried to sort out her feelings.
She had never felt this out of control before. It seemed like she had absolutely no way of filtering out her feelings or dealing with them in an appropriate way. Jones was under her skin and she had no way of making it stop. Having to maintain a professional relationship with someone she was so attracted to was getting to her.
It was hard to be so close to someone she wanted, but was unable to have.
It would've been easier if Killian himself prevented her. He was so open to them being together that it made her resolve to stay away much harder to maintain.
A knock at the door interrupted Emma from her thoughts.
Aurora stood there with a small piece of paper in her hands. She dropped the paper on Emma's desk.
"I couldn't say no. He looked so distraught."
Emma picked up the paper and read it.
Swan,
I didn't know. Please believe me.
-KJ
She slammed her head onto the desk. Things would be so much easier if he were a total asshole.
"I equal parts envy you immensely and wouldn't want to be in your position at all," Aurora commented as she exited the office.
"You're zero help. I'm telling your boss."
Emma's eyes flutter open. Her limbs are heavy. It's a struggle just to wipe the drool from her face. Her mind is running slowly. It takes a moment for her to process that she's in a hospital room.
She smiles at the sleeping brunette in the chair next to her. A soft, snoring noise is coming from their direction. A phone rings, causing the sleeping figure to bolt upright in her chair.
"Morning Sleeping Beauty," Emma croaks. Her throat feels like she hasn't had water in weeks.
Aurora tries to scowl, but she can't stop the smile from spreading across her face.
"Same to you. It's good to see you awake."
Aurora answers her phone. From the conversation with Mulan, Emma learns that David was also shot. He had surgery and was now stable. The bullet hit somewhere through his shoulder. All of the other injured people had cuts, bruises, and head injuries. No one else required surgery. They still hadn't caught the people responsible, but Mary Margaret had issued a rather vehement statement to the press.
Apparently, Emma had a clean MRI. She didn't remember having an MRI, but she would take Aurora's word for it. She had a broken leg, which they had put a cast on. That accounted for the heavy painkillers Emma could feel weighing her down.
"I have to call the nurse in to check on you now that you're up. She hates me so it's better for you if I go get some coffee."
Aurora hits the call button for the nurse.
"It's good to see you up, Ems."
Emma tries to remember what all happened last night, but she has trouble getting past the fuzzy feeling in her head. Her eyelids are so heavy and all she wants to do is go back to sleep.
The nurse, Zelena, comes in just as Emma starts to doze off. She is awful. She keeps expecting Emma to do things without being asked. She also is complaining about Aurora and her other visitors being in at all hours.
Emma desperately wants to ask if Killian was one of those visitors, but she doesn't dare.
Aurora returns with juice boxes for both of them. Emma would kill for some coffee, but she isn't allowed to have any.
In between phone calls to Mulan, Aurora keeps Emma busy until the doctors discharge her in the afternoon. Their conversation is light, but Emma can tell there's something that Aurora isn't telling her.
"Knock knock," Killian said through the open door.
"You know you could've just actually knocked?" Emma teased.
Killian's polite smile morphed into one of those ridiculously alluring smirks she'd been missing the last month or so.
Damn him.
Emma was trying to become 'professionally friendly' with Killian again, but it was hard to maintain professionalism when he smiled like that.
"I was meeting with the First Husband when President Nolan asked me to drop this off with you. She said it was sealed so she trusted it in the hands of a reporter."
Knowing Mary Margaret there was nothing of importance in that envelope. It was probably a stack of copy paper or an old issue of Cosmo. She had better things to worry about, but she seemed strangely preoccupied with getting them together.
"Well, I have to get back to the paper."
Emma cringed at how their interactions could turn on a dime from positive to awkward.
"Wait."
Killian stopped at the door, waiting for Emma to continue.
"I just got some Thai food delivered for lunch. Wanna join me?"
Killian's answering smile was more brilliant than the sun. Emma knew she was a goner in that moment. She may not give in that day, but she eventually would.
The lunch was light and fun. They traded stories back and forth. He had a lot of funny insights into his fellow reporters. As they were cleaning up Emma decided to ask the question that had been bugging her for months.
"Why aren't you in England?"
Killian frowned at Emma. She snapped her mouth shut.
"I'm so sorry. That was intrusive."
Emma kept cleaning and refused to look at Jones.
"There was this woman named Milah," he whispered.
Emma whipped her head around. She took in how distant he looked.
"I was very young and I thought I was in love. My brother had just died and I was in a really bad place. It turned out Milah was married to my boss. She liked the idea of messing around with one of his employees. He found out and had me transferred to America. Then he had me fired because of misconduct once I was here. I was friends with someone at another American paper and they hired me."
Jones studied the room making certain it was back in order. He paused in the doorway with his back still to Emma.
"I asked her to come with me. She wouldn't. I told her I would quit and stay in England if she left him. She told me she never loved me. If anyone understands your hesitation over a workplace romance, it's me. I think you're worth the risk though."
Killian left the room with all of his cards on the table. Despite her feelings, Emma wasn't sure she could keep from clutching hers to her chest.
Emma's skin is crawling with the need to get out of the hospital by the time she's allowed to leave. They help her dress in the clothes Aurora got from Emma's home at some point last night. She has to wear a skirt because of the giant cast on her leg, but she is comforted by the tank top and red leather jacket Aurora grabbed.
Aurora wheels Emma out of the room. She stops to let the Secret Service agent know that they are leaving for good.
"Can we pop by David's room?" Emma asks around a yawn.
Aurora smiles. "I was planning on it."
"Boston and Power Nap are on their way to Charming's room."
Emma snorts at David's code name. It gets her every time. Aurora was notorious for falling asleep in strange places so Mulan's nickname for her became her code name. It took the women moments to make it to David's room, considering it was right across the way.
Emma smiles as she sees David. He is sitting up in bed, laughing. One arm is in a sling. A large bandage is visible under the strap.
"Emma, Aurora join the party!"
The women talk with David and Leroy for a couple of minutes. David seems to be doing well for someone with a bullet wound. The shooter still hasn't been identified, but his sprits still are high. Aurora's phone beeps to announce that she has a new text.
"Our ride is downstairs," she tells the room.
Aurora wheels Emma to the elevator. A Secret Service agent follows them and updates his colleagues over the radio. Emma revels in the feel of sunshine on her face when they exit the hospital. She had only been conscious for eight or so hours, but she felt herself going stir crazy.
Aurora waves at a person leaning against a dark sedan. Emma's heart flutters a little as she realizes who it is.
Killian. Her Jones.
He smiles tentatively at her and waves. He looks good in jeans, a t-shirt, and leather jacket. Emma isn't sure whether she prefers this to his usual suits for work.
Emma frowns and twists around to face Aurora.
"Why didn't you tell me he was here?"
Aurora shrugs innocently. "You didn't ask."
Emma interprets that as 'I was waiting for you to stop being a stubborn ass and ask me yourself.'
"Are you my ride?" Emma asks Killian.
"Only if you want me to be," he replies.
Emma thinks for a moment about how badly she wanted to see him and set things right last night.
"Of course."
Killian takes Emma's crutches and puts them in the trunk. He then offers his hands to Emma to assist her transfer from the wheelchair to the backseat of the car. It's a little tricky with her cast, but they manage. Emma nearly tangles her good foot up on a duffel bag on the floor. Killian joins Emma in the backseat.
"You should buckle up. Last thing you need is another trip to the hospital," Killian points out as the driver starts up the car.
Emma does so then turns back toward Killian. He is doing a great job of looking nonchalant, but the slight crease between his eyebrows tells a different story.
"I have a really embarrassing question. Were you actually there last night or was it my meds?"
A flicker of something shot across Killian's face. "I was in the ambulance with you. After you had the MRI they kicked me out."
"What'd you do?"
Killian snorted. "I didn't do anything. You kept telling me that someone was going to realize I was a reporter and kick me out."
Emma made a face. "Did I really do that?"
"Yes. You also told them that I was a 'sheep in wolf pants' and that you didn't care."
"I did not!"
"You really did. I'm not sure what you meant by it, but you did."
Emma looks over Killian. He seems much more relaxed than he did at first. He has spread out more. The ankle of one leg is balanced on the knee of the other and his arm is across the back of the seat.
"What's with the bag?" Emma points to the duffel she nearly reinjured herself on earlier.
"August is letting me stay with him for a little while."
Emma arched an eyebrow. "He lives in the same building I do."
"Strange coincidence," Killian teases.
"It isn't though, is it?"
Killian tilts his head to one side. "It is, thoughI was chosen as your minder for the next couple of hours because of that. I'm to make sure you take your pills and feed you until Ruby gets out of work. She'll be staying the night on your couch."
"Seriously?"
Killian shrugs. "Leroy's orders."
"What are we ordering for dinner?"
"Ordering? I was going to make you grilled cheese and heat up some soup. The doctor told Aurora you needed something that would be easy on your stomach. I already have the ingredients over at August's place and bookmarked how-to guides on my phone."
Emma laughs. "Why pick grilled cheese if you don't know how to make it?"
"I Googled 'what do sick people eat' and that's what Google told me to make you."
Emma's heart twinges. He's being so thoughtful.
"I'll supervise. Between the two of us we should be able to keep the kitchen from burning down."
"It passed!"
Ruby jumped up and down. As Mary Margaret's personal aide, she had little to do with the actual passing of the healthcare reform bill. She knew how big of a win it was for their administration.
Emma stood there as she was wrapped up in a big hug. Ruby was hugging her so tightly that she started seeing spots. Emma swayed in her spot as she was let go.
"It never gets old," a voice behind Emma mused.
"It never will," Emma responded.
August Booth was one of her favorite coworkers. He had been hired on during the campaign at Emma's suggestion. He had met Emma initially while they were both in the same group home as kids. Both ended up at Boston College and were reunited there.
"Ready to do the press parade? I hear I'm giving comments to Jefferson. I'll trade you unless you've got that new girl. Leroy is talking to Abigail."
Emma shrugged. "For once I think it's all up to you guys to talk to them. I'm going to have some cookies then go home."
Mulan walked by looking flustered.
"Has anyone seen my wayward assistant?"
August laughed. "She's probably off celebrating. She had to help me with Astrid's termination papers today. Cut her some slack."
Mulan snorted. "I would but she told me to meet her out here."
Aurora came out of the hallway near Emma's office. She neatly dodged several intoxicated people and managed to barely avoid a spilled glass of wine.
"Emma, there's a call you should take in your office. August, Jefferson should be in your office. Mulan, come with me."
"Sometimes you're too competent, you know that? They both have assistants," Mulan teased.
Emma smiled as she went to her office. Her coworkers seemed really dysfunctional, but somehow they made it work. She had never had a real family growing up, but she really felt like that was what they were. In the beginning that idea had made Emma uncomfortable, but she was starting to like it.
Emma released her hair from the bun she had it in. She ran her fingers through her hair. It was the end of the day and she was taking a phone call in her office. She might as well be comfortable doing it. Emma fluffed her hair as she walked through the door. She stopped in her tracks as she noticed the figure on her couch.
Killian Jones was curled up, asleep on her couch. Emma had no idea how long he had been there. She gently shook him awake.
"Hey. You gotta wake up."
Jones' eyes fluttered open. He stared at Emma blearily before realizing who she was.
"Mmm Swan. What're you doing here?"
"In my office? I'm working."
Jones looked around, then flushed. "I'm so sorry. It's been a very long day. Aurora told me I could wait for Mulan here."
He stood up quickly, nearly knocking Emma over.
"I'm sure she did," Emma murmured, mentally cursing her interfering friend.
"So how'd the vote go?"
A smile broke across Emma's face. "We won."
Killian puts his hands on Emma's shoulders. Emma thought he might hug her, but she could pinpoint the exact moment he stopped. His hands remained though.
"I knew you would. I've yet to see you fail," he whispered happily.
Emma looked up in his eyes. She would later blame what happened on the high of the win or the fact that it had been a while. The truth was that she wanted to, plain and simple.
Emma tilted her head up and pulled Killian forward by the lapels of his jacket. Her hands crushed the fabric, wrinkling it. She didn't care though.
Killian was still at first, but soon matched Emma's fervor. One of his hands tangled in her hair. The other curled around her back, pulling her flush against him. He walked them backward until his back was up against the wall. Despite being the one trapped, he plundered Emma's mouth like a pirate searching for treasure. Emma fought back in kind by nipping at his bottom lip with her teeth. She enjoyed every groan she caused.
The blood in Emma's veins sang with adrenaline. Every inch of her body cried out for more.
Killian trailed his mouth down Emma's neck. She could feel him smile after each moan he elicited. Emma's hold on him tightened.
He pulled back suddenly and rested his forehead against Emma's.
"You can't imagine how badly I've wanted this." He pressed his lips lightly to Emma's temple, her cheek, her lips. "Wanted you."
Emma felt reality crash back down. She remembered every reason this was a bad idea. She took a deep breath to steady her sudden onset of nerves.
"I think this has to be a one-time thing."
Every part of Killian's body stilled. "I don't understand."
Guilt churned in Emma's stomach as she took a step back. "We can't be in an open relationship. We can't have a secret relationship. There is no third option."
Killian leaned heavily against the wall. He scrubbed both hands over his face.
"I got a job offer yesterday for an adjunct professor position. They're looking for someone to teach some seminars on newspaper journalism. I told them I'd think about it. It's why I couldn't sleep last night."
"You can't jeopardize your career for me. I won't let you," Emma stated.
Killian's jaw muscles tightened in annoyance. "I'd still have a job and I'd have you. What more could I want?"
"You'd resent me. You'd hate me. Not at first, but eventually."
Killian stared at her a moment. He tilted his head, analyzing her expression.
"What has you so scared?"
Emma furrowed her brow. "I really don't know."
She could hear Killian slide down the wall as she left her office. The image of him sitting there so broken made her find August. She sent him to her office to take care of Killian.
Then, she went to find Ruby so they could get drunk and Mulan to prevent the two of them from doing something stupid.
Emma taps her fingers on the table. Killian left a few minutes ago to get the cheese, soup, and bread for dinner. It was hard just sitting around waiting. Emma was used to having so much to do that she could barely breathe. It was unnerving to be this bored.
Killian manages to enter the apartment despite all the things he is juggling. With some direction he manages to find Emma's frying pan and saucepan.
"Okay so this site says to heat the pan to medium and wait for it to heat up."
Killian gets the butter out of the fridge and butters the outer side of several pieces. He puts the contents of the tomato soup can in the saucepan and added the requisite amount of milk. After some quick work Killian makes several slightly burnt sandwiches and some decent soup.
Emma takes a small bite of her sandwich. "It's not half bad."
"Thanks."
"You're no Julia Child, but it's surprisingly tasty."
Killian stirs his soup, stalling for a moment. "When are you allowed back to work?"
Emma thinks it over. She wasn't given an explicit date for when she would be better.
"I'll probably go back Thursday. I can't wash my hair because of the stiches for two days so I'm definitely not going back before then. I should be off of the strong narcotics by then too. The last thing I need is some sort of drug scandal about how I was under the influence during a briefing."
Killian nods, clearly thinking about something else. He's devoting more attention to his food than he is Emma.
"That's soon."
"What about you? Are you just taking some time off right now?"
Killian winces at the question. The action reminds Emma of the contents of their last conversation, the one she left her coworkers in hopes of finishing.
"So you're really leaving the paper?"
"I am."
"So-"
Killian interrupts before Emma can finish her sentence. "I am bloody terrified about my new job and I really don't want to stress you out by talking about yours. Can we just table this discussion for another time?"
"Will you at least tell me if it's a good move for you careerwise?"
Killian shakes his head. "I wouldn't be so nervous otherwise. I still have trouble believing that they hired me."
Killian starts cleaning up the empty plates and tidying up the kitchen. Emma hobbles into the living room and curls up at one end of her couch. Instead of joining her on the couch, Killian sits down in the large armchair to Emma's left.
"You can lie down. I'll be fine over here."
A part of Emma wants him to sit down with her. It's a larger part than she'd care to admit. To curb that line of thinking Emma picks up the remote and turns on the TV. She lands on some cooking competition show. She gets them all confused, but she enjoys them anyway.
It doesn't take long for Emma to fall asleep. She can feel her eyelids growing heavy. It gets harder to keep them open. They stay closed seconds longer with each blink. When she finally stops resisting she feels the weight of a blanket on her.
Emma was setting up the pressroom for the town hall meeting when Abigail dropped the bomb.
"So what do you think of Jones' replacement?"
Emma's heart stopped.
Replacement?
That would mean he was leaving.
Her brain started to short circuit thinking about their last conversation. Had he gone and taken that job he was talking about? What was he thinking?
"I didn't know," Emma whispered.
Abigail swore. "I didn't realize. He introduced her like that to all of us. That's got to be a good thing, right? Then you two can go off and get married and be disgustingly happy."
Emma narrowed her eyes at Abigail. "What do you know?"
Abigail throws her hands up in surrender. "Seriously, not a thing. I figured he told you ahead of time."
Emma spotted Killian and a perky blonde across the room. "Gotta go."
"I'm rooting for you!" Abigail called out.
As Emma approached the blonde waved quite emphatically. Killian looked around to figure out why his partner had suddenly stopped listening to him. He gulped when he saw Emma with murder in her eyes.
"Hi, I'm Ermentrude Bell, but everyone calls me Tink. I already know you're Emma Swan. It's hard to be a political journalist in this city and not recognize your face."
Killian shot Tink a look.
"You know I think I'm going to go over there to talk with those people I don't know who don't want to evaporate me with their minds."
Tink scurried across the room to a group of other reporters. Emma and Killian both watched her leave before turning back to each other.
"When were you going to tell me?" Emma demanded.
Killian held up his hands. "I swear I was going to, but last minute the paper wanted Tink to come and cover this. I would've told you earlier if I had known she would be here."
His eyes pleaded with Emma to believe him. It irked her that she did.
"Fine you didn't mean to spring it on me, but what's going on? Did you get fired? Did you quit?"
Mulan and Leroy entered the room looking for Emma. It would be moments before they were upon them.
"I owe you a very long explanation, but I don't think now is the time or place to do it."
The weariness in his voice caught Emma off guard. She was expecting him to be more combative since she was angry.
"This isn't over," she warned and turned to walk away.
Killian caught her arm before she could leave. "I would never lie to you or keep something from you without a damn good reason. I'll tell you everything tonight. Just trust me."
Emma's little vacation left her well rested, but she was ready to be back at work. Her apartment was a revolving door of her well-meaning, but overly protective loved ones. Ruby, Mulan, Leroy, August, and Aurora all visited at some point. Some brought food. Some brought movies. Leroy brought flash drives of work documents, which wasn't surprising. Killian had stopped by the night before, but Emma had already gone to sleep. He left a short note under her door so she would know he was thinking about her.
Emma runs her fingers through her hair again. It was so nice to have it clean again. All of the dried blood hadn't been entirely removed when she was in the hospital. It was really gross.
Other people start filtering into the office. Many of them poked their heads in to tell Emma that they had missed her. The sentiment was nice, but Emma is ready for normal. She's tired of feeling like people treating her like she's made of glass.
"Knock knock."
Killian stands in the doorway with a bar of chocolate. Emma smiles widely and waves him in.
"You don't have to knock, you know?"
Killian closes the doors and shuts the blinds.
"This is a peace offering. I need you to not be mad at me."
Emma raised an eyebrow. "No good conversation ever started that way."
Killian blew out a breath quickly. "I wanted to tell you as soon as it happened, but I didn't know if it would happen. There was a chance it wouldn't. Then I was going to tell you as soon as it was official, but I didn't have time. Then you were in the hospital and it seemed like the wrong time."
"That made zero sense."
"Rip it off like a bandaid, right?" Killian muttered to himself.
Emma's face wrinkled in confusion. "Sure?"
"I work for David."
Killian waits a minute for that to sink in. Emma's mind whirs. She thinks she understands what he means, but she can't ask.
"I work for David Nolan. August hired me to replace Astrid. We were talking the day she got fired. He joked that they should hire me. I talked to David. He actually did hire me, but they had to wait a couple of weeks for my background check. I assume it's because I only became a citizen in the last two years. I didn't want to tell you in case it fell through. Then everything went to hell."
Emma stills. She can hear the blood pounding in her ears.
"I see."
Killian draws in a ragged breath. "I just wanted to wait until the right time to tell you, but there was no right time. Especially because it wasn't just 'hey I work with you now' it was 'we can be together if you still want that.'"
Emma feels everything around her shatter. She is having trouble piecing together what just happened. There's so much anger coursing through her veins, but it's tempered by something stronger.
Joy.
Emma's phone starts ringing. She stares at it. Finally her assistant uses the intercom.
"Sorry to interrupt, but the senior staff meeting is in five."
Emma apologizes as she gathers her notes and crutches. "We'll talk later."
Killian looks utterly defeated. "Yeah , sure."
The look is hard to forget as Emma sits through her meeting. Mary Margaret opens by telling Emma that she has another day to catch up in office before dealing with the press. This news is very well received. Killian's curveball is making it hard for Emma to concentrate on work. She jots down notes as people talk, but she retains absolutely nothing from the meeting.
Killian told her why he waited, but Emma can't help but feel there's something more. Then it dawns on her. He thought she would still reject him. Given how hard she pushed him away at times, Emma didn't blame him for thinking that.
Emma picked up her phone and called her assistant. "Can you get Killian Jones in my office ASAP?"
Either Killian was very close by or he practically ran to Emma's office. His panting makes Emma think it was probably the latter.
"You summoned me."
All of Emma's hard won confidence started to fade. She feels her nerves start to act up.
"What's on your schedule for tonight?"
Killian's brow furrows. "Nothing past seven. Do you need me to do something?"
"I was thinking dinner," Emma hedged.
A smirk tugs at the corner of Killian's mouth. "You called me all the way down here to ask me on a date?"
"I do have a bum leg. Also, my office has a door unlike yours," Emma trailed off with the wave of a hand.
Killian shuts the aforementioned door and walks toward Emma's desk. He moves around the side so he's standing next to her desk chair. He looks down at her with a cheeky grin.
"You were expecting a kiss?"
"I was hoping there'd be some kissing," Emma clarified.
"I'd be happy to oblige."
Killian leans over Emma, grabbing onto the armrests to steady himself. Emma sighs almost as soon as their lips touch. This kiss is less hurried than the other one they shared. That one was all about experiencing as much as they could before reality crashed down. This kiss was a promise. It was a declaration of all the things they were both feeling. Killian reaches one hand up to hold onto the side of Emma's neck. His thumb stroking the soft skin there causes shivers to rain down Emma's back.
All too soon Killian pulls back. "This is probably bad form for my third day on the job."
Emma pulls out her phone and sets a timer on it. "Five more minutes?"
Emma barely gets the words out before Killian dives back in.
And when the timer goes off they set it for another five minutes.
And it's done! This chapter was a beast. Sections expanded wildly as I was writing them. I hope you all enjoyed it.
Leave me a review if you'd like. I try to respond to them all and answer questions if you ask them :)
As a note it may seem like Emma gets sprung from the hospital early, but stitches and a cast are not things you have to stay multiple days for. Also, she was asleep or mostly asleep for most of her procedures and hospital visit.