Hey you guys. Thank you so much for the reviews. They really do motivate me to update as soon as possible for you guys. And because I got such a welcoming response to the last chapter, I wrote this short one to follow it. Two in one night? ITS CRAAAAYYYYZZZAAAAY 3 thanks again you guys. Please review some more and let me know what you think. Enjoy

Chapter Four: You Had Me At Hello

Emma sighed, heavy with relief as the sounds outside the door stopped, footsteps following the silence until there was nothing to be heard.

"See, he left. Everything is fine, sweetheart." he assured her, running his hand and the curve of his hook up her arms, warming her shivering body.

"I hate this." she whispered, turning around in his arms until they wrapped around her again, holding her protectively. She pressed her forehead to his chest, looking down at their feet. "I hate feeling afraid. I've never been afraid of anything in my life." she said with a dry laugh. "I've always found it a rather useless emotion. Being afraid of something meant that you had no control over your emotions. And I told myself a long time ago I would never lose control."

"You may think this to be a load of pirate twaddle but don't you think that perhaps locking away your emotions entirely is just as painful as losing control over them once in a while." he said cautiously, attempting to be honest while still trying his best not to scare her into retreating within herself again.

"I suppose that's true. All this time, I never let myself get close to anyone but that doesn't mean I haven't missed it. I have. And then you and I went up on that damn beanstalk." she said with a small grin, looking up at him with her chin against his chest.

"Aye." he urged her to continue, pushing a chuck of blonde waves out of her eyes to fall back over her shoulders. His blue eyes pierced her dark ones as he waited for her to find the words.

"It changed everything. I felt it the moment it happened. They way I was with you, it was like..." she gathered her thoughts. "It was like I didn't have to think or act any different then what came natural to me. It was as if I was alone when I was with you because that's how comfortable I was being around you. And I knew you were trouble." she said, poking his chest before pressing up on her toes to kiss his lips with the love she couldn't let herself verbally voice again.

"Yet you continued to push me away, Swan. Tell me, why was that?" he questioned, pecking her lips once more before leading her into her room, shutting the door quietly behind them. He stood by the threshold as he watched her crawl over her bed, sliding under the covers as her eyes immediately showed their exhaustion.

She cupped her hand over her mouth as she yawned silently, rolling over on her side to face the empty space in the bed. "You have my permission to get in bed, Captain." she teased weakly, tucking her hands under her head as she closed her eyes.

"As you wish." he whispered, removing his jacket and boots before laying on top of the covers beside her. He turned on his side to face her, stoking her soft cheek with his fingertips, earning a content moan from her sleepy form.

"You never answered my inquiry, love. Why did you push me away even after you felt those things on our journey for the trinket?" he asked, reaching over to turn off her bedside lamp, covering the room in darkness before closing his eyes himself.

"Because I knew I could love you. And it terrified me." she admitted, reaching across the sheets until she found his hand. She laced her fingers with his and brought it to her lips, kissing his fingers gratefully before laying their entwined hands between their bodies.

"Rest easy tonight, Swan. No one is going to hurt you tonight." he whispered, removing his hand from hers once she was asleep and tracing his fingertips over her bruised cheek and down to her bitten neck.

"He wont come near you or your boy." he finished, wrapping his arm around her until her sleeping form was resting safely against his chest in his embrace. Only when she was protectively against him did he let himself fall into a peaceful sleep beside her.

:D