A/N: okay, so here's the next chapter from Emma's POV. I tried to finish this up sooner but Musie kept adding things and cackling. Not sure whether that's a bad or a good thing yet. And just to warn you, this chapter turned out way longer than I originally intended, but every time I tried to edit, musie added more paragraphs than I took out.
Hope y'all like it
Thanks to all who have reviewed/favorited/followed these little tales of mine.
Disclaimer: Do I own OUAT? Does Killian run around wearing nothing but his Hook? Answers to both questions are sadly - no.
Emma tried, she really did, but nothing that her mother was saying was the least bit comprehensible to her at the moment. She knew it was rude to just tilt her head and nod, occasionally straightening her head and raising her eyebrows as a change of pace, but she figured it was better than saying "sorry Mom for not paying attention to what you're saying, but I just played a dirty trick on Captain Hook and I'm waiting for him to retaliate. And since part of the fun in our relationship involves one upsmanship, I can't wait to see what he comes up with."
Crap, so much in that little thought bubble was so wrong she didn't know where to start.
Dirty trick? Sounds like innuendo the pirate would spew, and in this case he'd be maddeningly close to the truth.
One upsmanship? What kind of sick twisted relationship involves besting each other?
Relationship? Okay, let's not go there.
Comes? Dammit Emma, you've been hanging around Killian for too long.
She was also trying really really hard not to keep glancing at the bathroom door, and trying not to blush at the thoughts of what was going on in there. She was fighting a losing battle when it came….when it concerned his near to intimidating bulge. And okay, when he was parading around in his birthday suit, she did look a couple of times. Well, maybe more than a couple of times, but it was just a glance really, just to sate her curiosity. And those glances made it really, really hard….difficult not to stare. So, now she knew that the pirate had a full package, and considering that the man was already gorgeous and cocky (argh! What was with her brain and these word choices?!) the remaining question that her dirty mind kept asking her was whether he was a sprinter or a marathon man.
"Is he?" Her mother asked, the look on Mary Margaret's face telling Emma that the jig was up, and that she knew Emma's attentions were elsewhere.
"Is who what?" Emma grinned innocently, hoping that the tingling feeling across her cheeks didn't mean that she was blushing like a naked tomato.
"Hook," replied Mary Margaret, an amused look on her face. "Is he coming?"
"Uh..." Emma's brain seemed to have stalled before she gave herself a mental slap in the head. Her mother's question was completely innocent. Mary Margaret was just inquiring if Hook was joining them for dinner. That's it. Nothing more. Christsake Emma get your mind out of the gutter!
"Apologies for me not being here to greet you upon your arrival, your Majesties," announced Killian, bounding out of the bathroom. "It's good to see you all again. I take it that you, the Prince and the lad are well?"
"We are, thank you for asking," Mary Margaret replied pleasantly. "And how do you fare Captain?"
"I am in excellent spirits your highness." He grinned, giving Emma a wink.
"I can see that you're becoming accustomed to this realms fashions." Snow quirked her eyebrows, subtly referring to the "birthday suit" incident.
"Ah, Emma has been invaluable in assisting me in those matters," Killin grinned and waggled hid eyebrows at Emma playfully. "She purchased the cotton trousers and tunic for me."
"They're called sweatpants and its a Henley shirt not a tunic Jones." She grumbled, though the upwards curl of her lips betrayed her true mood.
"I keep forgetting. Whatever would I do without you Swan?" He teased, placing a hand at the small of her back.
"Learn to keep your hands to yourself?" Charming shot back, edging closer to his daughter and shooting a glare at the pirate.
"David..." Snow cautioned him, sending an apologetic look to Emma. Whenever she and Charming had dinner with their daughter it was usually at the house she now shares with her husband, or at Granny's. This was the first dinner that Emma had invited Snow and Charming to, so it was obvious that if her husband ruined it by picking a fight with Emma's roommate...friend...whatever he was, he would definitely be answering to Queen Snow.
"S'alright Milady," shrugged Killian, taking a half step away from Emma. "The Prince is just protective of his daughter. She is fortunate to have such caring parents."
"Are you okay Captain?" Henry piped up, eyes aglow with fasciation, curiousity, and admiration as it does every time he is around Killian. "You don't usually agree with Gramps."
"I am quite well lad," he smiled genuinely at the boy. "And while its true that I do usually enjoy engaging your grandfather in a war of wit, since your mother has strived to make this dinner special, I've decided to be on my best behaviour."
"Really?" Emma sputtered, Mary Margaret grinned, and Charming scoffed at the same time.
"In..teresting," Henry remarked rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger while drawing the word out slowly, mischief twinkling in his hazel eyes. "And the reason you two are dressed like a couple? You're both wearing dark coloured sweatpants, your shirt matches mom's eyes, and her shirt matches yours."
Killian and Emma looked over to each other, and sure enough, Henry was right. Before she could say anything and potentially make things more awkward, Killian of all people saves the day.
"Mere coincidence lad," he said amusedly. "I don't have much in the way of this realms garbs, just what your mum so graciously purchased for me. As for your mum, she was quite busy before you arrived-getting dinner prepared, and as she wanted to at least look presentable for her family she ran to her room to change. Perhaps she failed to take note of her choice in color. Besides, I happen to think that the color blue looks marvellous on her."
"Right..." Henry smirked, knowing something was up. Looks like maybe the kid inherited her lie detecting abilities. Aw crap.
"And what were you doing while my daughter was preparing dinner?" Asked David suspiciously.
Emma gulped and winced, bracing herself for whatever Killian was about to reveal to her parents about what he was doing just moments before they arrived. She also couldn't help but wonder what the chances are of a random portal opening up beneath her.
"I was trying to stay out of her way and not muck up the undoubtedly amazing meal she has created," Killian replied to her surprise. He had the perfect opportunity to embarrass her and goad her parents but he didn't take it. Who the hell was this man and what has he done with Captain Hook?
"It's just Spaghetti," she couldn't help but blush. "And how do you know that it isn't going to be the worst thing you ever tasted."
Mischief flashed in Hook's eyes and she braced herself for some obscene comment from the Captain, more yelling from her father and maybe a punch or two.
"Since when have you been less than triumphant over something you set your mind to accomplishing lass?" He chuckled, and her blush deepened. "You've slain a dragon, broken a dark curse, fought ogres, charmed a giant, and bested me. You're a marvel love, and I'll keep telling you until you believe it."
She suddenly found herself lost in the intensity of his blue eyes, the walls that protected her for so long crumbling under his gaze. Part of her wanted to shove him away, just long enough to patch up those walls, maybe reinforce them with a few more slabs of concrete and steel plating. The other part just wanted those walls of hers to come down, knowing that as much as they kept her safe, they also kept her alone. Before she could decide what to do either way, she heard her father clear his throat and she suddenly remembered that she and the pirate had company.
"Dinner smells absolutely mouthwatering love," Killian beamed at her, quickly changing the subject. "Shall we feast?"
"I just have to get the food to the table." Replied Emma. "Why don't you all take a seat?"
She watched as the took their places at the table, David at the head of the table, Mary Margaret at his right side. Henry tried to take a seat beside his grandmother so that Killian could sit beside Emma, but his grandfather wanted none of that and suggested that the boy sit on the seat to the left of him. Killian merely raised an eyebrow, chuckled and sat beside Henry. No argument, no inflammatory innuendo, not even a sarcastic comment about their seating arrangement. The man was up to something.
"Hey Jones, I know you only have one, but could you gimme a hand in the kitchen?" Emma snarked, hoping to get a Hook like response out of the Pirate.
"As always Princess, I live to serve." Killian replied instead, chuckling before hurrying after her.
Once in the kitchen, Emma knew that she had to be careful. Usually, she loved living in an open plan loft, the feeling of airiness and space it gave, but then again, privacy was a trade off. She wanted to find out what Hook was up to, but the question was, how does she confront him without accidentally letting her parents know what she's been up to? Her options for speaking to him in private were scarce; there was either her bedroom (and she could see her father exploding in happiness over that), the washroom (which would have been challenging to explain why in the hell she needed to speak to him in there), or out the front door (a little less awkward, but weird nonetheless if K...Hook, Hook was to end up having dinner with them anyways). Whichever she chose, she would still have to explain the need for a one on one chat with the pirate who was doing nothing but acting like the perfect boyfriend...gentleman! Not boyfriend, gentleman! What the hell was wrong with her brain tonight?
"What are you up to Jones?" She hissed loud enough for him to hear, as she grabbed an oven mitt and took the garlic bread out of the oven while Killian grabbed the bread basket and serving bowl.
"You're the one who requested my assistance, remember Princess?" He reminded her with an amused rumble of his deep rich voice, passing the serving bowl to her, his hook gently snagging her oven mitt so that he could set it aside for her.
"And you're the one not acting like himself." She retorted, filling the bowl with spaghetti and nodding towards the other side of the kitchen.
"Whatever do you mean lass?" he grinned, understanding the gesture and pulling the already prepared salad out of the fridge.
"Seriously? You trying to get along with my parents, you've been incredibly polite, haven't said one dirty or innuendo laden comment, and haven't alluded to what happened before my parents showed up at all," she huffed, wondering in what twisted universe would a man be scolded for behaving like the ideal boyfriend? Oh no...no no no her brain did not just go there again!
"This is some sort of weird payback for what I did to you earlier, isnt it? I'm on you!" She scowled before catching her little Freudian slip. "I mean, I'm on to you."
"To be honest, I prefer your previous statement," he chuckled deeply, leaning slightly towards her. "Perhaps after dinner once your lad is in bed and you parents are gone we can explore that claim."
"There he is," she laughed, shaking her head. "The Captain Hook that I know and..."
"And what love?" He asked, and once more she found herself mesmerized by the earnestly in his eyes.
She couldn't tell who leaned towards who at this point, all she knew was they were drifting towards each other, like the surf to the shore, just a whisper apart as they breathed each other in. She could feel her eyes closing, her heart doing gold medal worthy gymnastics in anticipation of the moment his lips met hers-
"Sweetheart, everything okay in there?" Charming called out, his voice barely masking his irritation. "Kinda getting hungry over here."
"Be there in just a sec David," she sighed as Killian stepped back, thankful for the lack of walls in her apartment, but at the same time cursing them as well.
Emma took the spaghetti with her to the table, knowing that Hook would get the salad and the garlic bread. When she got there, she noticed that Henry had taken her seat, leaving a vacant spot between Henry and her father, and one beside her mother.
She raised her eyebrows at David, who shrugged sheepishly, saying that he hardly ever gets to sit beside her. Emma also noticed that she was seated directly in front of Mary Margaret, as if to prevent any games of footsie between her and Hook. As if she would even consider doing something like that.
"Course you would love." Declared a suspiciously British voice in her head.
"Emma, this looks delicious!" Mary Margaret congratulated her.
"Great job on dinner mom," beamed Henry, giving her a smile that made her feel like she had just won a Pulitzer. "Um, do we have any Parmesan cheese?"
"Yeah, it's in the fridge," she replied, getting up to retrieve it.
"I'll get it," Killian answered, swiftly heading towards the kitchen.
"Thanks," Emma called out. "It's on the door shelves, the container with the red top."
He waved his hand casually to acknowledge that he heard her instructions. She stared after him for a second longer, noting that the rear view of him was pretty spectacular. His broad shoulders tapering to his narrow waist, his fantastic rear end-
"Emma, is there something you want to tell us?" Asked Snow slowly, as if she was approaching a cornered animal.
"Noooo...why do you ask?" Scoffed Emma, trying to get Killian-Hook damnit-out of her head. She tried to tell herself that not to think about their almost kiss just a moment ago. She had almost succeeded in shoving those thoughts into the same iron clad lock box that she stores all of her more pleasant imaginings of the Captain, when out jumped her recollections of what happened moments before her family knocked on the door. She felt her breath shortening, her skin flushing as she remembered being so close to him, the way he reacted to her seduction, his eyes darkening from cerulean blue to rich sapphire, his toned body dripping with the kind of pheromones that make you want to rip his shirt open and-
"You're doing it again." Her mother said wryly, trying to mask the amused look on her face.
"Doing what?" She grumbled, annoyed both that her mind had been slithering towards the gutter again and that she was caught by her mother. She once again shoved thoughts of Killian into that mental lock box of hers and slammed it shut.
"Letting your mind wander," Snow smirked. "And from the way you're blushing, I really don't want to know what you were thinking about."
"But I can guess who you were thinking about!" Teased Henry happily. He hadn't been subtle about his hopes that Emma would get closer to a certain pirate, going so far as to ask that when Killian and Emma got married could he use the title of Pirate Prince Henry.
"Henry..." she growled in warning. The kid was too perceptive for her comfort.
"Yeah, like you're not making it obvious mom," he retorted. "Why don't you just admit that you like-"
"Parmesan!" Killian announced, handing the cheese over to Henry. "I take it that the cheese is an to accompany the pasta? May I have some after you're finished with it? I admit that I have never had such a delicacy before and I am eager to try spaghetti."
They made small talk as they ate, until Killian began regaling them with tales of his adventures of the high seas. He would pause every time he came to a part of the tale that was not fit for the ears of a child, seeming to choose his words carefully. Henry was absolutely enthralled, Snow listened in amusement, and even her father the prince found himself immersed in Killian's storytelling. She couldn't help but think that this was the best family dinner that they ever had. And when a voice in her head told her that this, that with a fairy tale prince and princess, a boy who she loved and couldn't be more proud of, and a Pirate Captain who was a questionable villain but shaping up to be a pretty awesome good guy, she had finally found what she had searched her whole life for-home.
She quickly squashed those overly sentimental thoughts.
"...and since that incident with Smee and Timmins, I have never been able to look at nectarines in the same way." Killian finished, rousing Emma from her musings and leaving Mary Margaret, David and Henry in stitches.
"Neither will I." Agreed the prince, a look of amused distaste on his face.
"I'm glad that I like watermelons better." Added Henry.
"If watermelons were involved lad, that would make for a completely different, and far more unpleasant ending to the tale," Killian laughed, and the rest of them joined in.
Seeing that the serving bowls were empty, Emma asked everyone if they wanted more food.
"Oh god sweetheart thank you, but I really should stop at fourths," chuckled David, patting his still flat belly. "It was amazing though. Now that I know how good you are at cooking,I'm going to expect more dinner invitations."
"I agree Emma, that was a wonderful meal," sighed her mother proudly. "Ooh, we could make it a regular family dinner! On Sundays, we'll either have it here or at our house."
"We'll, I hope you really like spaghetti because I only know how to make that. And Tacos," Emma mock pouted, even though deep down she liked the thought of family dinners. "And chicken fingers, but that's about it."
"Those are my favorite foods!" Exclaimed Henry excitedly.
"What about you Captain, have you any culinary skills?" Mary Margaret asked.
"I know my way around a galley," Killian shrugged. "I'm sure that I could concoct something palatable for you all."
"Really? How are you supposed to make dinner when you tried to 'slay' the stove last week?" Scoffed David.
"Just because you can make a decent pancake doesn't make you a culinary expert David," she pointed out, feeling oddly defensive of the pirate. After all, he was behaving and for some reason her father was being unusually snarky. "And with a little help I'm sure he'd make a fantastic Sunday dinner. Maybe even better than you Dad."
She might have overstated just a little bit, and judging from the raised eyebrow Killian was shooting her way he would agree with her.
"Ooh Gramps, sounds like mom just issued you and Killian a challenge!" Declared Henry, slapping his hands together in anticipation. "So what to you say? You and Killian in a kitchen cook off, winner gets...um...dinner made for them by the loser for a whole week! And they get to choose the Tuesday night movie for the next 3 movie nights!"
"So now, we're having Sunday night dinners and Tuesday night movies Kid?" Asked Emma, slightly amused and yet a little anxious. Not only did the whole family togetherness thing take some getting used to, but Henry was clearly including Killian in the festivities and she wasn't sure how she felt about that, let alone what his opinions on that were.
"Hey Henry," David began, and it seemed as though his thoughts mirrored his daughter's. "I'm not sure about-"
"Challenge accepted!" Nodded Killian decisively.
"Can we invite Regina too?" asked Henry eagerly. "She can be one of the judges."
Ordinarily, the thought of having to be in the same room as Henry's adoptive mother made her want to hit something repeatedly-preferably Regina's face, but Henry did love her, and Regina loved Henry and she was really making an attempt to be a better person for their son. Emma could at least show her that she supported her efforts.
"Sure, why not kid?" she grinned at him, drawing a questioning look from Killian and Charming while Snow looked on her proudly. "The more the merrier, right?"
"Awesome! I'll call her after dinner!" beamed Henry. "Thanks mom."
She smiled warmly at her son, marvelling how amazing her kid was, and how she learned so much from him about forgiveness and acceptance. She was already more proud of her son than she had every right to be, especially since he was raised by a supposedly evil queen and still turned out to be the boy Emma adored. She threw an arm around his shoulder and pulled her to him, planting a kiss on his head. She looked up to realize that Killian had been watching them with a strange look on his face. It was, dare she say-rather wistful. When he noticed that he had her attention, he surprised her with a full genuine smile aimed right at her. A smile full of awe and wonder that made her blush.
What the hell was wrong with her?
"Hey Em, not to sound like a greedy pig, but is there dessert to go with that amazing dinner?" her father asked, interrupting the moment.
"Um…" she grimaced. Emma was more of a store bought dessert girl rather than a follower of Betty Crocker.
"We have brownies from Granny's!" Killian piped in.
Oh here it comes, she thought. This was the part where he embarrasses her about the whole seduction thing. She's been waiting practically the whole night for him to start acting like a jerk that it was almost a relief when he finally did.
"Emma mentioned that," Snow added. "She makes the best brownies!"
"Emma love, can you go get them while Henry and I clear off the table?" asked Killian. She searched his eyes for any mischief or ulterior motive, and practically growled when she found none. Her mother offered to help, but when Killian politely turned her down she excused herself to go to the ladies room. With a huff, Emma headed to her room to retrieve the promised delicacy. Suddenly, Henry asked why she was storing the dessert in her room.
Rooted temporarily to the stairs, she racked her brain for some sort of believable lie to tell her family about why she would possibly keep brownies in her bedroom and why Killian would know about it.
"She kept them there so that I wouldn't eat them all before dinner," Killian explained smoothly. "Emma says I have 'impulse control issues,' whatever that means."
"It means that you can't stop yourself from doing things you know that you shouldn't," Emma played along, shooting him a thankful look. "Like ruining your dinner with dessert."
She turned her head to see his reaction, knowing that she practically invited him to issue a salacious comment. With an amused look, he opened his mouth only to promptly close it, shaking his head.
Chuckling, she hopped up the rest of the steps, half expecting a mess when she got to her room, remembering how furious Killian was when she cuffed him to her bed. Surprisingly enough, the room was in good condition, and the bed was just slightly askew. She found herself staring at the bed, remembering how Killian looked on it, the lust and want in his eyes as he captured her gaze. It was a good thing she invited her parents over because if she didn't have the threat of them showing up, she might have just given up her little revenge and given in to him. Shaking her head of the thoughts that made her go red from head to toe, she found the aforementioned brownies on the nightstand. Emma was about to leave the room when she decided to bring the rum as well. Her parents new house was in walking distance, so she didn't have to worry about them driving home.
She headed down the stairs to find her pirate on the floor, nursing his jaw while David flexed his fist and Snow stood between them.
"What the hell happened?" Emma sighed loudly, tossing the bag of brownies on the table and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Your father and I were just clarifying a few things, that's all lass." replied Killian, getting up and standing beside her.
"Usually clarification involves talking, not hitting!" Emma retorted, fighting the urge to inspect his jaw and make sure that her father didn't hurt him too badly.
"Emma, Killian was being honest with us," Snow said soothingly. "It just so happened that your father overreacted, right Charming?"
Her tone of voice brooked no argument, and neither did the glare that she gave her husband. She was kinda in awe of how with just a look her mother and that tone her mother was able to get David to apologize to Killian. Wait….did her mother just call him Killian.
"All is forgiven Highness," shrugged Killian as if it were no big deal. "And I completely understand."
"Understand what?" huffed Emma. "Nobody answered my question, what the hell happened and where is Henry?"
"Henry is doing the dishes," replied Killian. "And I told your parents what was going on….with us."
"You did WHAT?" Emma screeched, shock and embarrassment across her face.
"I had to love," he cringed at her tone of voice. "Your parents were asking questions, and wouldn't wait until you returned from your room. Emma, your mother found…your…dress?"
The last word was said with a slight lilt, as if he didn't know what else to call it. Of course, it wasn't as if they had Victoria's Secret in the Enchanted Forest.
"Oh God…" Emma muttered, hiding her face in her hands, praying to whatever deity was listening that a portal would open up right underneath her feet. With her luck though, it would probably take her and Killian and they would be stuck somewhere, together, all alone….
"Emma, I'm sorry," her mother apologized. "I noticed a piece of a red cloth sticking out of the hamper. I got curious and took a closer look and I realized it was made of rayon and I thought that I should tell you that you never put rayon in the laundry, it would ruin the material. And then I was going to just check the label to make sure that it was made of rayon and not some wash and wear material, so I opened the hamper and I found the…dress."
"I can't believe you went through my dirty clothes," she gritted, not bothering to fight it when she felt the curve of a hook rubbing soothing circles down her back.
"Honey, you're an adult now. What you do and whom you choose to do it with is your decision," reassured Snow.
"Mom!" exclaimed Emma, her head jerking up, looking around to make sure Henry wasn't in earshot. This conversation was embarrassing enough, she didn't want to traumatize her son with the idea that she and the pirate were doing…it. Because that was all it was, an idea not a reality. A really distracting idea...
"I didn't mean-" gasped Snow, her hand flying to her mouth as if she could put the words back into her mouth and unsay them.
"Oh God," muttered the prince. "Honey, did you have to put that thought in my head?"
"I'll bet that this isn't quite what you imagined when you planned dinner with your parents, was it love?" Killian asked, literally biting his lip to stop himself from laughing. Of course, that just made Emma's glue themselves to his soft, sensuous, tasty lips.
The sound of Snow stifling a giggle broke the spell and soon, the dam burst and Killian, Snow and David were laughing hysterically. At first Emma wasn't sure if she wanted to thank her mother or growl at her, but eventually joined in the laughter. It was true, that night didn't happen at all the way she thought it would.
"It's late, we should go," Snow declared once she was able to calm herself down.
"What about the brownies?" pouted David.
"You can take them home with you Sire," Killian offered, handing him the whole bag. "We can always get some more later."
"Thanks…Jones." David replied, sounding surprisingly less irritated with the pirate than he was when the prince had arrived for dinner.
"You don't have to worry about our approval, no matter what happens, no matter what you do your father and I love you very much and we'll never stop loving you."
"Uh, thanks mom." Emma muttered, her heart warming at Snow's words even though pranking a pirate didn't exactly warrant them.
Henry finished the dishes in time to join Killian and Emma as they bid good night to her parents. Afterwards, she and Killian put away the dishes and she informed Henry that it was time for bed. For once, he didn't protest or try to bargain for more time. Instead, he ran to Killian and wrapped his arms around the surprised pirate. It didn't take long before Killian affectionately returned the embrace.
"I heard what you said Killian, I'm grateful that my mom and I have you. And I'm glad you two are finally together." Henry whispered, letting go of them and running to his room to get ready for bed.
"We're finally what?" muttered a confused Emma, repeating what Henry said to herself and realize that somewhere along the way she had missed a very important piece of information.
"What the hell did you say to my family?" Emma fumed, trying to figure out how the hell this evening backfired so badly on her.
"Well love, I might have told the prince, princess and Henry that you and I were in the beginning stages of a romance, that you and I were simply mad for each other, and that we were trying to introduce the idea of their future son in law being a pirate by having a sweet little family dinner."
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Emma growled.
"I might have told-" he began to repeat with a smirk on his face.
"I heard what you said, I just can't believe that you actually told them that and they bought it." She hissed.
"I can be rather convincing." He purred, laughing when Emma rolled her eyes at him.
"Your parents just want to see you happy Swan," he grinned, his voice sounding entirely too reasonable. "They love you and would never interfere with a relationship that brings you joy."
"Argh, you idiot!" Emma grumbled, her fist clenching, begging to hit the pirate but knowing that he would take it as a sign of victory, managed to restrain herself. "Why the hell would you drag them into this?"
"You're the one who involved them into your oh so tempting scheme love. I merely took advantage of the situation that was presented to me." He pointed out, reading the agitation that was practically vibrating throughout her body. Oh, he had a fair number of ideas as to how to utilize her pent up frustration in the most pleasurable of ways, but he knew that claiming Emma would take a fair bit of time and patience. Good thing he had plenty of both.
"You helped you know, staring at me when I walked away, constantly blushing whenever I happened to look upon you, and of course-the dress. The discovery of that garment by your mother was actually quite serendipitous." he smirked, remembering the look on Snow's face upon leaving the bathroom. "After that, all I had to do was admit all that they already thought was going on."
"So that's what it was all about," she hissed, feeling slightly hurt for reasons she really didn't want to look too closely at. "You acting like a gentleman, getting along with my mom and dad, being sweet to me..."
She said those last few words in a whisper, not intending to say them at all. Emma was pissed off, mainly at herself for enjoying the evening so much, for hoping that it wasn't the last time she would have such an evening, for starting to admit to herself that maybe she wanted more between her and Killian.
"And it was all just payback." She finished, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice. "Congratulations, you've bested me."
"It wasn't acting love," Killian said quietly, moving a half step closer to her and reaching out for her hand. "Earlier today, you gave me a taste of what it would be like to be with you; to see an open, playful and sexy as all hell side of you. And I wanted you to have a taste of what could happen between us as well. I wanted you to see that I could be different for you, that as fun as it is to antagonize your father, it's more important for me to see you enjoying your time with your family, and for me to be a part of that. I can't promise that I'll always be on my best behaviour, but for you I'd try."
"You can cut the perfect boyfriend act," she muttered, attempting to yank her hand out of his grip, trying desperately to shore up her walls, only to find them crumbing to dust instead under the tender sincerity of his gaze. "After all, you've already, somehow, managed to convince my son, my mother and my father that we are together. And now they believe that they have to be supportive of us if they want me to be happy. Do you have any idea what it's going to take to prove to them that you and I aren't actually together?"
"Much more than it'll take to prove to you that we actually are." he smirked before yanking her to him, and crashing his lips against hers.