Emma woke the next morning to the smell of fresh coffee and a voice speaking softly in the next room. As she shifted and stretched, she suddenly realized she was naked. With a frown, she looked around the room, and as she took in the antiques in the back room of Mr Gold's shop, everything suddenly came flowing back; Gold bringing her here, them kissing on the bed, and then them having sex on the bed. Emma groaned and flopped back on the pillows, tossing her arm over her eyes in a vain attempt to block out the memories of Gold's lips on her skin.

"Ah, good, you're awake," Mr Gold's voice interrupted her thoughts and she bolted up in bed, completely forgetting that she was naked. Gold raised an eyebrow at her, and she quickly pulled the sheets up around herself.

"What- why are you in here?" she snapped, mostly out of embarrassment.

Gold laughed at her as he came in and sat a cup of coffee down on the table. "Well, this is my shop, dearie."

Emma ignored him and picked up the coffee. It was hot and rich and smooth, the perfect drink.

Gold sat on the edge of the bed, suddenly looking a bit nervous. "I ah, took the liberty of getting some clothes for you. They are in the bag there," he motioned towards a large blue bag that sat on a desk in the corner.

Emma eyed him over the mug. "You brought me some clothes?"

"Yes well, I couldn't go get some from your apartment now, could I?"

"I could have worn my clothes from yesterday," she muttered, pointing to where her clothes had fallen the night before. Except they weren't there anymore.

"I took your clothes to the dry-cleaners Now, I suggest you get dressed and we can talk over breakfast." Gold stood and walked out the door, not looking back.

Right then, Emma thought. Back to business, I guess. She crawled out of bed and grabbed the bag of clothes Gold had brought for her. Crossing back to the bed, she tipped the contents out and spread them across the covers. There was a white singlet, a green plaid over-top and a pair of black skinny jeans. Pulling everything on, she tied her hair into a ponytail and out the door, pausing on her way to grab her red jacket off the back of the door.

She found Mr Gold leaning against one of his counters, examining something, a bag from Grannies sat at the end of the counter. He looked up when she came in and smiled. "It looks good, Ms Swan."

Emma glanced down at herself and shrugged. "Yeah, I like it," she smiled back at him and walked over to the bag of food. "Now, back to the main question. Why did you bring me here?"

Gold sighed and placed the item he was examining back under the counter. "Like I said, dearie, I need you for something."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Yes, but what? You never said."

"Oh, I know," Gold replied as he reached into the bag and pulled out a bagel.

Emma bit into the croissant she'd pulled out and stared him down. When he didn't elaborate, she moved onto her next question. "Why me?"

"Because you are the best person for the job."

"Ah, so you have a job for me? Is that it?" Emma guessed.

"Well, yes and no," Gold replied evasively.

Emma let out a groan of frustration. He was doing it again, avoiding answering her properly, and she was pretty sure he was doing it just to be a dick. "What sort of job?"

A small smile played over Gold's lips as he started on his bagel.

Yup, defiantly being a dick, Emma thought. Well, two can play at this game. "So, was this just you looking for a one night stand?"

The question seemed to catch Gold off guard and his eyes shot up to hers. "No. No, that's not what this is."

Emma bit her lip to hold back her grin. She was going to enjoy this. "Of course it's not," she said in a disbelieving tone.

"It wasn't that. I just-"

"Right, because you wouldn't have given me this if it was," she cut in, gesturing to her clothes.

"Exactly. It wasn't a one night stand, Emma."

She cocked an eyebrow at him calling her by her first name, but continued. "So you want to do this again, then?"

"Yes," Gold answered quickly. "No. Uh, I mean, yes I would like to, but no that's not what this is. That is, I didn't bring you here for just that. Not that I didn't enjoy it..." he trailed off, staring down at his food.

Emma started laughing then and he looked back up at her, startled. She noticed that his cheeks were slightly flushed and laughed more.

"Sorry," she laughed. "You're cute when you get flustered." The smile dropped off her face suddenly, had she really just said he was cute?

Gold smiled back at her, letting the comment pass, and she relaxed again. After a moment, she asked "Why am I really here?"

This time, Gold didn't try to avoid the question, but he didn't look happy about answering it either. "Well, I brought you here to ask a favor of you."

Emma looked at him curiously, waiting for him to continue. He did so with a sigh. "Look, I know we don't exactly get on, but I figured you don't hate me as much as everyone else here does. They can't seem to get past the fact that I'm Rumpelstiltskin."

"I don't hate you," Emma confirmed. "I may not like you at times, but I certainly don't hate you." She left out the fact that she thought she might be falling for him, just a bit. "What kind of favor?"

"Don't worry, dearie. It's nothing dangerous."

Emma laughed. She was pretty sure getting involved with Mr Gold in any kind of way was dangerous. "Well, what is it?" she pressed.

Gold was silent for a moment, staring past her. "Well, every year there is a dance held in the Town Hall, a mayor's ball, and everyone goes," he said, without looking at her.

"Okay," Emma nodded, unsure of where this was going.

"Would you like to go with me?"

A/N: Oh man, you can tell it's getting late when you start writing in the voice of The Doctor instead of Mr Gold... Anyway, I bet you all think you know where this is going? Ha, you have no idea! I mean, Emma says yes, but other than that... -laughs evilly-