Here we go! I had to split it into three parts just to keep the lengths consistent. Hope ya'll don't mind!

Get Your Heart Racing

"Act natural, love." Killian whispered into her ear.

"I am." Emma fought back in a sing-song voice, fake smile plastered on her face. He had his arm wrapped around her as they walked into the ranch where they would get their horseback riding lesson. Their couples horseback riding lesson.

"Hi. I'm your instructor, Ingrid." A forty-something woman walked up to them. "You must be the happy couple." She smiled.

"Aye." Killian said, pulling Emma closer, to which she just gave Ingrid a smile.

"How cute." She commented. "Let's go and get you two set up, shall we?" She led them to the stables where another instructor was helping a couple with their horse. "This is Sydney. He is the instructor of the other couple today. You guys will all be riding together."

A girl, probably around Emma's age, came around from the other side of the horse to introduce herself. "Aurora. Over there is my boyfriend Philip."

"Emma. This is Killian."

"Nice to meet you both." She said sweetly, before returning back to her boyfriend to get on their horse.

"Relax, Swan." Killian whispered to her once again. She nodded and he grabbed her hand and led her to where Ingrid was waiting for them. She explained the process of getting on the horse and what they would be doing for the day. Just a nice gallop in the meadow. Sounded easy enough. Indrid motioned for the two of them to mount their horse, Buttercup. Killian got on first and Emma sat behind him.

"Emma, dear, you need to hold on to Killian so you won't fall off." Ingrid explained, laughing at the silly mistake.

"Oh, right." Emma muttered. She wrapped her arms around Killian lightly, not wanting to squeeze him. He turned around and gave her a reassuring look that let her know it was alight. She readjusted herself, arms wrapped firmly around his waist, her chin resting gently at his shoulder.

"Good." Ingrid told them as she took the reins and led them out to the meadow where Philip, Aurora and Sydney were waiting. They started out slow, the instructors taking the reins and walking with the horses following at a steady pace. It was calming, just a slow stroll.

"You alright, Swan?" Killian quietly asked her.

"Yeah." She answered. "This is nice. Thank you." He smiled and turned slightly so he could kiss the side of her head. She blushed, not having expected that. Philip must have caught a glimpse of them because when Killian turned back around to face the front, he started talking to them.

"So, how long you two been together?" He asked them from the other horse.

"About two years." Killian answered. Emma decided she would let him do more of the talking today. He was good with words.

"How nice." Aurora said in her sweet voice. "We have only been together for six months. Were you two highschool sweethearts?"

Highschool sweethearts. Emma mentally laughed at the term. Everyone in high school had told them like they acted a couple, but they always shrugged off the comment. They were friends. Best friends, but that was it. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Aye, we were. Since the eleventh grade. I was bloody slow about asking her out. Took me three years." Killian told the other two, giving Emma an endearing look as he did so.

"That's so sweet. Do you two go to the same college now?" Aurora asked.

"No." Emma finally piped in. "I am down here at Boston University and he is up at school in Portland. We spend long weekends together though."

"There not enough though." Killian added. "The distance is torture."

"I bet." Philip said. "Emma, I haven't seen you around campus. We are both sophomores at Boston."

"Really? I am a freshman."

"We will have to see each other during the semester!" Aurora told them, resting her head on Philip's shoulder.

"Yeah." Emma told them genuinely. "That would be great."

There was a silence for a few moments. Aurora whispered something into Philip's ear and the couple was laughing. They were happy. Emma hoped that she could be like that with someone one day. Completely ridiculous and completely in love.

The rest of the afternoon went on without a hitch. They continued to ride in the meadow, talking about school and life and everything in between. Philip was a business major while Aurora was studying education. Killian told them what Portland was like, both the city and his school where he was studying marine biology. Emma told them about her major of sociology with the hopes of being a social worker. She did not tell them her reasons for choosing the major, though. When she mentioned that she wanted to help children find homes she felt Killian place one of his hands on hers where they were still wrapped around his waist.

When they finished riding, they returned to the stables, thanked Ingrid and Sydney for their services and left the ranch. The couples walked out together, Aurora insistent on keeping in contact with the other two. "We have to see each other again, especially since we know that we are at the same school." Emma and Killian agreed, promising to try and have dinner as a group the next time Killian came to town.

The couples said their goodbyes and Emma and Killian got into her yellow bug and drove off. There was an awkward silence for most of the ride. They would comment that the day was enjoyable or that the other couple was very nice or say something about how great the facility was, but there was no real conversation. Emma was almost disappointed as she drove, wishing they could act like a couple for a little bit longer. She liked how it felt, liked how he held her, how he looked at her. Even if it was fake, Emma like it. A lot.

But he did not like it. That was the problem. And he was too good a friend to mess things up with. Emma could not stand to lose him because she had said something that he misconstrued as being in the heat of the moment with him not returning those feelings. So, in result, she needed to keep her feeling quiet. She would get over him eventually. It had been hard the past few months being away from him. She had hoped it would make things easier, make it easier to forget him, but it did the opposite. She missed him more than words could express and seeing him again made her realize that those feelings had never left and probably had only gotten stronger with their time apart.

Emma thought about making some joke and getting them to talk like they normally did. To just forget about what had happened today and move on. But something in her gut told her things would be different now. She did not like that feeling.

Up next: Part 3 of Get your Heart Racing

Please review! It makes me so very happy. Hope you enjoyed!