Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or its characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own enjoyment.
A few hours later, Killian finally stirred. He moaned and groggily opened his eyes to find Emma smirking at him.
"You talk in your sleep when you're sick," she said, her lips twitching.
"And what did I say?" he asked, his voice sounding more like it normally did and far less nasally. The cold medicine might have tasted awful, but Killian sure felt a whole lot better.
"You thought… I was Milah," the blonde answered softly. Kilian's eyes were swimming with panic and guilt, and he was about to stutter an apology and try to salvage the situation when she held a hand up. "It's okay."
"Emma, I‒ I'm so sorry," he said, seemingly ignoring her reassurances. "I‒"
"Killian," she said, softly but firmly, "It's okay. Honey, you're sick, your body isn't used to cold medicine, so it's understandable that you're very out of it."
The pet name fell out of her mouth so naturally she almost missed it, but Killian clearly didn't. For a split second, Emma was mortified. She'd never been the pet-namey type, simply because in her foster families, most of the parents didn't get along, so she hadn't heard pet names growing up. Even when she and Neal were together ‒and with Walsh‒ she rarely used them.
But with Killian, they somehow felt… right.
"'Honey'?" he quirked up an eyebrow. Oh, he was definitely feeling better.
"Would you prefer 'asshole'?"
"Skipping out on work you two?" David said from the doorway with an annoyed look. Killian and Emma both jumped, causing the younger man to smirk.
"Dad!" the blonde hissed. "What are you doing here?"
"Checking on you guys," he said. Once he was sure they were both fully clothed, he entered the room. "Neither of you were answering your phones."
Emma looked down at the phone in her hand, and she felt her face heat up. "It was on airplane mode… Killian must have accidentally put it on yesterday, and I didn't notice. And he was sleeping."
"Sorry to worry you," Killian added. "I don't feel quite as much like I am about to keel over."
"Well I'm glad you're both feeling better. Your mother figured you must be starving, so she had me bring Granny's over. I set the food downstairs whenever you're ready."
"Thank you," Emma said, untangling herself from the sheets. She pulled David in for a hug. He clearly wasn't expecting it, but was happy nonetheless. Turning to Killian, she said, "Do you want me to bring lunch up here?"
"It's alright, love. I'll come downstairs."
They walked David to the door, and Emma watched his car disappear down the street from the window. With a sigh, she sat herself across from Killian and dug into her grilled cheese.
"I love you," Emma said as she took a bite.
"And I you," he replied, his nose scrunched up in thought.
"You look confused," she said.
"No, I just… you only say that when we're parting or during particularly emotional times. Are you breaking up with me for your grilled cheese?"
It took Emma a moment to get it, but then she laughed.
"No, no," she waved her hand dismissively, "I just, I don't know. I do love you, so much. And sometimes I feel like I don't say it enough, or express it enough." She shrugged, then continued. "I mean, I'm not particularly romantic. I would never set up a candlelit dinner with rose petals on the floor for us. And I called you 'honey', and it just felt so natural and right. And I don't think I'll do it a lot, because to be honest it does sound kind of awkward coming out of my mouth, but… I realized it was the first time I'd ever said something like that to you, in all this time that I've loved you ‒granted for most of it I tried to deny it‒ and you've always been so open and honest about how you feel about me, I've never doubted the way you feel. And then I think about all the times you didn't know and second guessed my feelings ‒once you actually thought I had any‒ and even then you had doubts. I guess my point is that I love you, and please never doubt that. I may not express it all the time, but it's there. It's always there."
She paused for a moment, then nodded to herself. Seemingly content with everything she'd said, she looked up over to him. Killian, for his part, was doing his best to stifle chuckles.
"If this was a few months ago, you'd be yelling at me for finding this funny," he said.
"And now I'm just wondering what the hell you think is so funny," she said, giving him a look.
"Loving you during those trying times may not have been easy, but it was ‒and is‒ absolutely worth it. That's what I want you to never doubt."
"So… you're not bothered because you're a romantic and I'm not?"
"What? Emma, don't be ridiculous. You may not see the value of romance, but you appreciate me and my words anyway. You might prefer a picnic on the Jolly rather than the rose petal candlelit dinner, and that's fine with me. Romance and love are very different things, as I've learned over my many years. For you, love is simple and it's enough; you don't need all the fancy fixings. When you love someone, you love with your body and your soul. You, Emma Swan, may not be a romantic, but you are a lover. And your love cannot be bought with good looks and pretty words, which is why it took you an unusually long amount of time to fall in love with the devilishly handsome pirate that is me."
Emma opened and closed her mouth once, twice, three times. That man could be so infuriatingly full of himself.
But she also found it infuriatingly attractive.
And endearing.
At her inability to form words, Killian simply chuckled and reached out to caress her cheek. She found herself leaning into his warm touch and smiled up at him through her lashes.
"I love you," she said.
He knew she'd never been more serious in her life
"Let's get married," she added.
Well that, that Killian wasn't so sure she was completely serious about.
"That's bad form, proposing to a man high on cold medicine," he teased.
"Cold meds or no cold meds, I know what your answer would be," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and straddling him.
"Bloody hell, yes you do," he muttered.
"Because you," she said, pushing him backwards and locking her arms to keep from completely landing on top of him ‒and Killian curses that teasing smirk and golden hair that surrounds her like a halo‒ "are an open book."
And God, this is everything Killian never knew he wanted and never thought he deserved. Lazy mornings playing hooky with his Swan where the weight of the world was lifted off her shoulders for just a while.
All he could say around the lump in his throat was, "I'm glad you never listen and that you're bloody impossible."
Because if she hadn't gone to the Underworld to save him…
"I'm glad you chose to have a future," she said softly, cutting off wherever his mind was headed. She leaned down and kissed him tenderly.
Killian suddenly flipped them, eliciting a squeak from his Swan.
"We're quite the pair, aren't we?" he smirked, relishing in the way she squirmed underneath him, desperate to unpin her hands from his to gain some sort of control. "One too stubborn to give up on the one who was hellbent on giving up."
"Underworld-bent…" It was one word, but it was their undoing. Killian collapsed into a fit of giggles next to Emma, who was borderline screaming in amusement. "Maybe we're still a little high…" she said once they finally calmed down.
"Thanks for ruining the moment, Swan," he teased.
"You never answered my question," she said softly after a beat.
"Yes, I'll marry you," he said, pulling her in for a kiss. "On one condition."
"Anything."
"We leave 'till death do us part' out of our vows."