A/N: Holy wow! This is it! The last main chapter of the fic! Thursday's chapter is the epilogue, and it's just as long as one of the normal chapters because I have no self control. Enjoy!
Honestly, he could be standing in the same spot for hours or days, all he knows is that time passes and he's unable to move from the spot where Emma told him all in one swoop that she loves him, loves him, and that she's leaving.
True, they hadn't talked about what came next or what happens after camp ended but he had honestly thought…
Thought what, you dumb wanker? That you'd not only get the best thing that's ever happened to you, but that you'd also get to keep it?
He's not even fully aware of Liam coming back until his brother's hand is on his shoulder and Liam's face is right up there in his own repeating his name with a worried look on his face.
"What's happened?"
"She's leaving, she… I've got to stop her." As if moving in slow motion, Killian wills his body to move towards the door. He has to get to her cabin. He has to stop her.
"Why is she leaving? Killian, wait. Why is she leaving?"
"She didn't – she didn't say. Just told me she was leaving, and that she loved me. I have to stop her."
"Killian, you can't go there. Something must've happened with the owners, and if that's the case, you need to not be in the middle of it. I'm going to try to head this off and make sure they don't eject you, or both of us," Liam says, grabbing his phone and checking the phone numbers by the door.
"A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets," Killian says before Liam can even start punching in numbers, and his brother stops in his tracks. It's a motto they've always stuck by in their lives, from when they were younger and onward. It's what Liam tried to tell Killian day after day after his accident, trying to inspire some kind of action in him.
"Ah, of course. Go figure you finally start fighting back at the exact moment we shouldn't." There's no malice behind the words, and Liam is smiling when he turns back to Killian.
"We could get kicked out," Killian reminds him.
"Aye, we could."
"I wouldn't risk our time here for someone I saw as loot," Killian reiterates, just in case Liam still thinks this is a roll in the sheets for him.
"Little brother, I knew it wasn't the night you came back from that dance performance. You already loved her, even if you didn't want to admit it yet. It was all over your face when I saw you walking down the steps towards us."
"Bloody hell." He thinks about refuting it, but really, what's the point when even he knows it's the truth?
"Go on then," Liam says, gesturing to the door with a nod of his head.
Killian gives him a tight smile and moves to leave the cabin, but it's at that exact moment that Henry walks up with a cheery smile on his face.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Jones. I have a message from the owners that they're on their way. I was already on this side of camp so they asked me to confirm you were at your cabin and they'll be here shortly. Can I run to the lodge to fetch you lunch or anything while you wait?"
His stomach drops. Not only is he not prepared for this confrontation, he's worried that the longer he's delayed, the likelihood Emma will be gone, and he needs to get to her now.
"That's not… no. Thanks, Henry. Did they specify we both had to be here?"
"They didn't really say? Just said to say they'd be dropping by. Is everything okay, Mr. Jones?"
"It's fine, lad. Thank you." He waves the young man off, turning and heading back into the cabin with a defeated look on his face.
"I have no doubt you could take them on your own, Killian. But I'd rather be by your side for it. Otherwise, I'd go stall her until you could get there. We both know they're looking for you."
"Aye," Killian sighs out, his hand twitching as he longs to pour himself a drink. It's through sheer will that he doesn't, but he does grab a bottle of water out of the fridge and chug half of it down before the knock sounds on the door.
He stands far from the door when the Nolans walk in, what with their mixed expressions. The wife, Snow, has a grim smile that looks like pity and disappointment all rolled into one. David, however, looks like he's looking at the guy that was sleeping with his sister/dance instructor. He swallows hard, trying to stand straight and instill confidence into the situation.
"It's so nice to officially meet you, even under these circumstances," Snow says, holding out her hand to Liam first, and then Killian. He shakes her hand, trying to keep his expression as guarded as possible. "I'm sure you know why we're here. I just wanted to say that for the moment, we're not sending you out of camp. I am, as I'm sure my husband will agree, an eternal optimist. I like to believe there's good in everyone, and that every mistake deserves a second chance. That said," she starts, but David is the one that finishes it.
"That said, if we find any more of your conduct has overstepped the boundaries we set at this camp, then you will be asked to leave."
Snow gives her husband an obvious look before giving the Jones brothers a smile a little brighter than when they entered. "We can see by our scheduling records that the summer has been quite productive and enjoyable."
"Maybe a little too enjoyable."
"David! Ignore him, please. It's been a rough day for us, as you might imagine. What I meant to say was that it looks like the summer activities have been beneficial for you both and we're glad you decided to spend your summer here. We also hope you'll join us for the events we have planned for the final day before you leave." With a look he can only call encouraging, Snow reaches for David's hand and (even though it takes an extra pull) leads him from the cabin.
That's it. No final axe, sure, but certainly no invitation back for the following summer. He hears their cart pull away from the cabin and waits, looking to Liam to see that his brother still supports his decision.
"Go, quickly. See if you can catch her. If it means we leave tonight, so be it."
He has to wait until their cart turns to the right, heading back into the camp proper before he dashes out, sprinting as if his life depends on it. For the length of the run across the camp grounds, he has hope that Emma will still be there. That he can catch her before she leaves to go wherever she's going. For goodness sake, he doesn't even have her phone number. Why didn't he get that at some point? He has photos of them together, but not a contact spot for her.
His hopefulness dries up when he gets to the cabin, however. The door is locked up tight, and he can even feel that it's empty. He knocks anyway, hoping for her to come to the door, hoping to see her in one of his t-shirts with a smile on her face and happiness in her eyes. He gives it another minute before he gives up, wandering back down the path to the dance studio and taking a chance that it's unlocked.
It is, but here, too, there's emptiness lingering. There's an envelope on top of the stereo addressed to Ruby, but he doesn't touch it. Just slumps down to sit by the mirrors where he and Emma regularly sat to each their meals. He sits and collects his thoughts, his breath from the frenzied search, his emotions…
"Shit, she's really gone, isn't she?"
He peels open his eyes to see Ruby moving up the stairs. He gestures to the stereo to the envelope and she moves swiftly to grab it. Killian closes his eyes again, listening to the sounds of Ruby ripping the paper open, then her quiet curses as she reads whatever was left behind. When she's read the contents and grabbed the keyring Killian is very familiar with, she walks over and settles beside him.
"Maybe she just went to Storybrooke to cool off. I heard they only suspended her from the rest of camp but that she was still supposed to dance in the closing night performances."
"Lass, you and I both know she wouldn't accept that."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll still call Granny later and see if she checked in. Just in case. You okay?"
"Not really."
Ruby just nods at this, leaning her head against the mirror behind her as she regards the empty space. "I haven't had to experience camp without Emma since Neal happened. Did she tell you how they found out?"
He shakes his head, because bloody hell, she hadn't even fully explained that they did. They only talked briefly about the bad stuff, Neal and Milah's passing included. But even with the sparse details, Killian knows that Emma regards that as a summer of regret. "I can't imagine being here without her."
She reaches over, squeezing his forearm once before her hand drops back to the floor. They sit in silence for a while after that, neither caring much about the time that passes when they both feel the absence of Emma in the room.
When he gets back to his cabin, Liam is sitting on the front steps just waiting. Despite seeing how Killian's whole stature sags, he still rises and asks. "Well?"
"She was already gone."
"Killian," Liam starts, a sigh heavy on the name. "I am sorry. Maybe we can ask the other instructor if she has Emma's number. Or even Tink – from what I'm to understand they've been friendly before."
"If she wanted to keep in touch with me, she would've made it possible. Let's just… get through the summer. We've paid for this. Might as well try to make the best of it."
"I can-"
"Thank you, Liam. But no. I'll try harder tomorrow, but for today, I'm going back to bed."
He doesn't hear Liam's response to that, moving on auto-pilot through the cabin and into his room, shutting the door firmly behind himself.
For the next couple days, the best way to describe his behavior is "moping."
He stays far from the main lodge, mostly because he doesn't want to interact with anyone else. But also because he fears that he'll catch David, who has a tendency to mingle there during meals when he has the time, and that he'll get the absolute shite kicked out of him for sleeping with the man's sister.
Just at the thought, his heart pangs painfully. He's not heard from Emma at all. Ruby let him know that she never checked into her grandmother's bed and breakfast, which means she went all the way home to Boston. He hasn't asked Ruby for Emma's phone number, though Ruby swears she left his in a voicemail she left the day after Emma's departure. If she wanted to be in contact with him, she would've made that effort. He's decided to respect her wishes and just push through the last of camp like it began, like he told Liam.
Except, every time he tries to pour himself a drink, he stops. He stops, he stares at it, and – inevitably, although Old Killian would've screamed murder at it – he pours the drink down the drain. It takes him a while but he finds his flask, and as a security blanket of sorts, he slips it into his pockets. As he sits by the water or hides in his room, he pulls it out and holds it, remembering that at the start of all of this he was heading quickly down the path of an alcoholic. And now, he's sure he could have a drink with his brother, or take a shot on a night out, but he has no desire to return to who he was when he arrived at Camp Hope.
As if to materialize everything that the summer beheld, Killian finds a permanent marker in one of the drawers and scribbles a few words on the outside. If he could say it to Emma, he would, but this will have to do.
He finds himself back at the dance studio just a handful of days before the final activities. It's not empty this time; Ruby is already there looking frustrated and tired.
"Sorry, love. Send me away if you wish but I just…"
"No, no. Stay. I'm just… I can't get anything to work. I don't like the way it looks by myself." With a huff of agitation, Ruby turns down the music and goes for her towel and water bottle.
He has no response so he sits down on the top step, angled to face into the room while Ruby resets everything.
"I'm sick of working on this," she declares after another minute, chucking her towel to the floor and dejectedly coming to sit by him. "How're you holding up?"
"Poorly."
"Yeah. Same." She's silent for a couple minutes, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her chin on top of them. "Hey, you wanna dance?"
Killian chuckles, a soft thing barely under his breath, but still there. A couple months ago, the very thought scared him beyond reason. Now, his body almost misses the movements. He'd noticed marked improvement in his fitness because of the dance lessons, and he hasn't felt this good in ages.
"Aye. Sure. You've can work with this?" He gestures to his prosthetic.
"Yep!" She bounces up, going to pull up the song he and Emma practiced to so many, many times. As he's done so many times, he goes over to the one storage cupboard and finds the shoes designated for practicing. He changes into them and starts stretching, following the routines he didn't realize he'd grown fond of until this moment. He places his empty flask on the floor by the mirrors before standing and facing Ruby who's just finishing her own stretches.
It feels different dancing with Ruby. She's taller than Emma, her body a different shape, and Ruby doesn't have the built in knowledge of how to handle Killian's prosthetic, but she adapts when necessary. It's similar and yet entirely different, but by the end of the dance they're both at least smiling again.
"You miss her a lot?" Ruby asks, going and fetching two fresh bottles of water for them as the next song starts playing.
"More than I might be able to put into words," he divulges.
"You should dance with me at the final show."
"Lass that's-"
"A great idea. Think of how it would look to David and Snow if they could see what Emma actually did in the time you spent together. You're practically the embodiment of the whole damn camp motto right now."
Killian still hedges, because dancing for some faceless audience is one thing, but dancing for the camp feels like a beast of a different nature.
"You don't have to wear the costume. Just throw on something that looks good and you can change into your performance shoes before we dance. I have them stashed with the other gear in here. They were uh, left behind. I finally went and packed everything up."
He looks at her, then. And he sees her missing her friend as much as he misses the woman he fell in love with despite never expecting to. He sighs, his shoulders sagging in defeat. "Fine. I suppose it'll be nice to have something to show for the whole thing, aye?"
"That's the spirit! Come back tomorrow and we'll run it again, just to be safe."
After agreeing on a time, he changes back into his shoes and heads out, slightly lighter than when he entered just a short bit ago.
He doesn't notice the absence of his flask, having grown so accustomed to not carrying it anyway. But Ruby flips it over and over again in her hands, a plan quickly developing as Killian's form disappears down the walkway.
-x-
After another salty day at the studio, Emma returns to an apartment that is just as lonely as she is. The drive home was quiet, the apartment has been quiet, her phone has been (mostly) quiet, and she hates all of it. She could've gone to Granny's and stayed until the closing weekend was over, but she couldn't be that close to something she didn't even know she wanted without being able to have it.
It was one part self-preservation and one part running away.
Not only did she go all the way home, she forgot to even give her number to Killian. What was supposed to be the first thing she did one night ended up being a complete oversight. And sure, she can tell Ruby to give it to him, but she's dodged all of her friend's calls and texts lately. There are at least three unopened voicemails on her phone. She's mostly trying to just lay low until everything blows over.
Unfortunately, she's doing a poor job of coping. The day after she got back, she contacted Graham and let him know she'd be taking back her studio space, and contacted a few of her regular clients that might be ready to start lessons again.
She's started the list of everything that will need to be done to prepare for the job in Portland but she hasn't acted on any of it. All of her plans now feel in limbo. The whole point of taking on the Portland job was to be closer to her brother and sister-in-law. Will they even want her close now? Sure, they're family, but what comes next?
Rather than deal with the headache of it all, she decides that she'll wait for Ruby to come home so they can handle it all together.
When she gets home from her lesson of the day, she changes immediately into a t-shirt she really didn't mean to steal from Killian and sleep shorts before collapsing onto the couch. His shirt is the only thing she's really unpacked, leaving everything else in her massive suitcase, or spilling out of it as it seems to be doing.
Her performance dress is hanging from the coatrack, left there from when she hauled everything inside after she got in. She hasn't pulled the garment bag off of it, because this time she knows it's her dress; she has no reason to hope that Killian will show up with the bag and that knowing smile he loved to give her when he appeared late at night, waiting to be invited in.
Maybe she should get ahold of Ruby. Even if the cell reception at camp isn't too great, it's as easy as using a process of telephone with Granny.
She feels lost and confused, the most she's been since she stumbled back home after Neal's betrayal, hoping to every god that would listen that her family would accept her back with open arms. And it feels like that all over again. Because all she wants is for Snow and David to forgive her, but given their start, she can't get over her anger. They were barely legal when that happened, and Ruth had actual reason to be upset with them because it was still a camp intended for young adults and children.
Camp Hope as it stands now is decidedly less innocent. That much can be said from staff dances alone, but also by the fact that condoms are on the grocery kiosk list. Guests are always sleeping together. They're adults; they're allowed to have whatever fun they choose. It's not like she and Killian were having sex out in the open. The fact that Keith got a picture of Killian leaving her cabin meant he had to be pretty far off the path to the studio. He always left before the sun was even up, which makes the whole thing even worse.
Yet, despite those facts adding up, David and Snow don't see anything wrong with Keith's peeping Tom activities, but at the fact that she was having a completely consensual relationship with a grown man out of the public eye of the camp.
She realizes belatedly that she's absolutely destroying the take-out menu she'd picked up off the kitchen counter before going to the couch and throws the scraps onto the coffee table. Lifting one of the pillows, she screams into it as hard as she can, hoping it'll help loosen up the rage that's built up again.
This issue isn't over. Even if she doesn't get to see Killian again – as it seems clear as day that it would only cause more problems if she kept seeing him after what happened – then she and David are going to have this out in whatever way they have to. She can only promise to stay calm as long as she can.
Fuck takeout, she decides, and goes to throw one of their frozen bagels into the toaster.
As it toasts away, all she can think about is Killian. She misses him. She didn't know it was possible to miss someone so much after knowing them that short a period of time. She buries her face in her hands while she waits, contemplating all her options, until she realizes that several minutes have passed and she doesn't smell even a hint of toasty goodness.
She looks up, glaring at the toaster before ripping the cord from the wall and prying her still-frozen bagel from its clutches.
What happens next is entirely out of her control and in no way her fault, or so she will tell Ruby when she surveys the toaster guts scattered across the counter and floor. In the end, the toaster, the bagel, and her dignity all end up in the trash and she ends up soaking in a bath.
The day of final performances, she has every intention of hibernating in her apartment, but the buzzer calls to her instead, and she's letting up someone to hand her an overnight delivery. She smiles at Ruby's handwriting, wondering what she thought was too vital to wait just a few more days.
When she opens the box, there's an envelope waiting on top of something small that's wrapped in tissue paper. Again, the handwriting is Ruby's. She tears it open, scanning the words on the page.
Emma –
I don't know the full story, because David only scowls when I ask and Snow is avoiding me, but I sure do miss you already. When you didn't show at Granny's, I figured you stuck to your word and went all the way back to Boston. I kept stumbling across this cute guy, though, and I may have gotten him to agree to dance with me for the final number. He's a good egg, this one. I swiped this from him. Thought you might find it interesting. Say hi to Cap and Thor for me. Miss you bunches!
Ruby
With a half-smile, she sets Ruby's letter to the side and pulls out the tissue paper. Almost immediately, she can recognize it by shape, but she takes care to unwrap it, letting the paper fall to the table as she turns his flask over in her hands. Unlike the first time she saw it, it's completely empty and dry, and there's a message scrawled on the side.
I miss you more than I'll ever miss drinking.
There's even a little swan outline done in the same quick strokes beneath the words, and she finds herself breathing hard. The words wash through her, effectively bringing back every single moment they spent together, not only in her cabin but all the time they spent practicing. They weren't some quick, one-time thing. They were a carefully cultivated partnership that developed over the course of several weeks, probably too many hours, and countless displays of trust and honesty.
She shakes her head, carefully setting the flask down on the table as she considers it. As if she really had a choice.
Without more than a second of hesitation, she stands from the couch and heads to her room, immediately grabbing her overnight bag and the essentials to last for a couple days, just in case. She sends a quick text to her neighbor to watch over the fish once again and grabs the garment bag off the coat rack on her way out the door.
The entire way, the whole four hours, she practices what she's going to say when she gets there. She's still repeating it when she pulls into her usual spot. She grabs her bags and heads to her cabin, not really surprised when she finds her keys hidden in a potted plant next to the door. She changes quickly, thankful that she did manage to shower today even if all she does is pull her hair into a ponytail. After a little makeup and one last check in the mirror, she nods at herself and walks to the main lodge, her performance shoes swinging from her hand.
This late in the day and this late in the summer, everyone who's left is already likely at the lodge for the final camp ceremonies. She looks up to the placard that hangs above the doorway, thinking of everything Ruth did to create this camp and how it brought her right to this moment. Inside, she gets the same feeling she always does at the end of a summer. She doesn't know most of the people in the room; most of them never would've come to try dancing or didn't have time. Despite that, this crowd is her family. This camp is her home. And no matter what happens next, those two things will never change.
It takes a few minutes of scanning the room to find him, but there's Killian in one of the corner seats at a table with Liam. He's dejectedly pushing around the food on his plate, his expression far away and his left arm tucked under the table in what she now knows is a move of self-preservation. It takes some careful maneuvering between the tables until she can get to him, but she ignores everything and everyone else in her path until she's able to stop right in front of him. His shock is palpable, but his smile is suddenly blinding, and he takes her hand when she offers it to him.
If he's unsure about her course, then he doesn't try to stop her, even when it becomes clear as day that she's heading straight for the stage where David has just stepped up and is describing everything the camp attendees have done and learned during their stays, whether it was for the whole summer or shorter bursts of time. He trails off when he sees her, his expression turning not to anger (like she almost feared he might be) but to bemusement when he sees Killian behind her.
They make their way up, and Emma makes sure to wave to the audience when David introduces them before he puts the mic back on the stand and moves towards her.
"I have a couple things I want to say," Emma tells him plainly before he can say a word. He tilts his head to the side, considering her request (demand, really), and then grabs the microphone. With her free hand, Emma takes it from him, which is something she never would've done on any other occasion. Dance in front of thousands of strangers? Yes. Talk to them? Hell nope. What's more surprising, David clears way for her to let her take center stage.
"Um, hi. I'm Emma. Many of you know me as one of the dance instructors. But I'm also a long-term camp resident. I've been coming here since I was fifteen, and it's the best and only consistent thing I've ever had in my life." She looks at David after she says this, so that he knows without a doubt. Then she looks at Killian, who is still reassuringly holding her hand and standing by her side despite the fact that she just dragged him up here.
"It's all right," he mouths, nodding in encouragement as if he already knows what she's about to say.
"The night I met Killian, he was so drunk he couldn't even stand on his own without support. He also threw up on me, but I'm just saying that because I think it finally makes us even." He throws back his head and laughs at that, his eyes shining with mirth. "I asked for his help when I needed a dance partner willing and able to learn a professional routine, and he was there. He sobered up entirely without me even asking, and he danced better than any other student I've ever had before."
Looking out at the room, she sees faces she recognizes from their years of attendance, and new faces entirely. She takes a quick breath before continuing. "Ruth created this place as a way for people to connect and find themselves. That's exactly what happened. And yeah, sure, maybe trying to sneak a relationship behind your brother's back is a bad idea. And no, there shouldn't be rampant sex between anyone here, but we're adults. This is a natural progression of something becoming a relationship. This is the purest example of two people connecting over a very respectable length of time before this became something more." The last part is directed, again, at her brother with her finger raised to make the point. This is everything she should've said to them in their cabin that day.
"I found myself," Emma says, more to David and Snow than the audience. "And I know that's something you've always wanted for me. And Killian," she says, turning to look at him. "He found himself, too. And I know the rules, and we went about this in a way that you don't approve, but this is one time I have to punch back and remind you that this is what healing looks like. This place is the closest thing to a fairy godmother most of us are ever going to find. Maybe I can't convince you with words, so maybe I can show you that this is what Camp Hope is all about."
When she holds out the microphone, it takes just a second before David takes it from her. He and Snow both smile in a way she knows all too well, clearing the stage as Emma moves to the sound tech with her song choice. She'd set her shoes down on the edge of the stage when they walked up so she goes to retrieve those, relieved when Killian sits down next to her in the wings to slip on his, as well.
"Quite the speech, Swan."
"Yeah, well, I finally had something to say." She gets up when her shoes are secured, standing directly in front of him and waiting until he's done and looking at her again. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he says immediately, and the way the words sound makes her smile brightly. "Shall we?"
Instead of answering, she takes his hand again and moves to the center of the stage. This is the most relaxed she's ever been when preparing to perform. When the music starts, they move easily, even with Killian in dark jeans. He throws her little flirtatious smiles as he twirls her, as they come back into their hold and dance the steps they painstakingly worked on day after day. His expression, while he's still concentrating, morph into the affection she began to recognize somewhere around the time he was laying on a table to have his chest hair waxed off for her.
As their dance ends, the whole audience erupts in applause, and they bow before she pulls him down for a kiss. The staff, she realizes, are cheering the loudest at that, and when she breaks away even David and Snow can't contain their mirth. David shakes his head, but his smile never falters and he's clapping right along with the rest of the crowd.
When Emma and Killian leave the stage, David and Snow are right there waiting for them. Snow embraces her, hugging her tightly as David joins in. His hand comes up to cradle the back of her head and she sinks into the touch.
"We're sorry we didn't try harder to talk to you about all of this. We've held onto these rules for so long, but I think it's clear that it's time to reevaluate them and accept that sometimes, the enrichment our guests and staff are here for might not happen the way we expect."
"And we'd like you to help us outline the new guidelines for next summer, if you would," David says. "Also, Keith has been banned for repeated violations of sexual harassment, after further investigation. Turns out he was creeping outside a lot of women's cabins and taking pictures. That's something we should've looking into a lot harder before even talking to you. It was practically dawn when that picture was taken."
"We can talk about all of this later. And I have some good news, too. I'm moving to Portland, so we'll have plenty of time to look at those guidelines together. For now, go close down the summer."
There's more hugging, of course – she didn't expect to give them such news without that kind of reaction. But then she urges them out to keep the show moving along.
By the end of the night, Ruby manages to pull Emma onto the stage with her, the two easily falling into one of their routines and earning a standing ovation from the crowd. As the show moves on to something more interactive, Ruby makes sure to pull her aside and give her a big hug.
"I had a feeling that would work," she says, her eyes as knowing as ever. "He doesn't realize I sent the flask. Probably forgot he even left it at the studio when I told him he should perform with me tonight. I had a very strong suspicion he wouldn't be dancing with me."
"That was a lucky move. Thanks for leaving the keys for me."
"Again, I had a hunch."
"It was a good hunch," she tells her friend, holding her hands in her own before giving her a tight hug. "By the way, we need a new toaster."
Ruby's still laughing as Emma makes her way back through the crowd to where Killian and Liam are chatting. He readily hugs her, kissing the side of her head in an easy move and grinning down at her when he's done.
"So, better than Europe?" she asks, applying gentle pressure with her hand at his waist to start him moving.
"Much. Liam, I hope you'll excuse us. I'll see you in the morning."
Liam halts them briefly to give Emma a hug, a whispered speech of "If you hurt my brother…" in her ear that leaves her smiling because he is such an older brother. And then they're off, weaving their way through the people to find the exit.
It's just after midnight when they make it back to Emma's cabin, leaving before many of the other campers and happy for the distractions so they can slip away unnoticed. Even so, Killian kisses her long and slow outside the door to her cabin without fear of anyone saying anything to them.
He doesn't sneak out in the morning, either.