Chapter 16

Hook lay fully dressed in the hotel bed, mentally reliving the events of the past several hours. Ava had gone to bed long ago, tucked in with Cinnamon, but he'd lain awake. He couldn't believe that he'd actually pulled this off. It had been almost...easy. He'd been expecting a taciturn, closed off Emma, but instead she'd been surprisingly pleasant. Much more easygoing than usual.

Just then, Ava gave a little snort and rolled over. Of course. He realized. It was Ava that had got her to relax, that had helped her feel comfortable. Well he was perfectly fine with playing the Ava card as long as it got him to Emma.

He already missed their banter, but he figured that that would come once they got to know each other a little better. Or rather when she got to know him better, as he already knew her better than she knew herself.

He smiled as he reached over to flick off the light, already looking forward to what tomorrow would bring.

Emma sat on the couch, staring absentmindedly at the glowing screen of her TV. For the past several months she'd been obsessed with Peter Pan, even going as far as to buy the DVD just so she could watch it again and again. She'd been weirdly fascinated with Captain Hook, the ugly old codfish of all people, and had to suppress shudders when Peter Pan came strutting on screen. Twice she'd even had the urge to kiss Hook.

Her heart was pounding, and she kept staring at the clock. After she'd gotten home last night she'd texted Killian to come over at around 11:30. As time crept closer to 11:30, she felt her palms start to sweat. She was unable to sit still, dashing up repeatedly to clean something or put something away. Which was ridiculous, since she always kept her apartment spotless and relatively sparse.

Several times it occurred to her that maybe she was nervous because she actually liked him. In the past the people she'd dated, well she wouldn't call them dates. More like meaningless sex. Except with Killian she'd actually felt a little connection, a little spark.

She waved away that notion; she barely knew the guy so how could she like him? But maybe that was why she'd so impulsively accepted his dinner invitation and invited him and his daughter over.

It's just because of his daughter. She rationalized. Ava's just really cute. That's why I invited them over. For Ava.

Right? There was no way she liked Killian. No way in freaking hell.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, causing Emma's heart rate to skyrocket even more.

Oh no. She thought wildly. Did I remember to buy cheese? You can't have grilled cheese without cheese! But her fifteenth inspection of the fridge told her that she had in fact remembered cheese.

As she walked towards the door, her hand reached up to comb through her hair, and then stopped herself when she realized what she was doing. I shouldn't care what I look like. She mentally scolded herself.

Emma was momentarily taken aback when she opened the door, greeted by the sight of Killian and Ava. Her eyes immediately zeroed in on him. Even in a simple pair of dark jeans and a black t-shirt he was easily the most attractive man she'd ever seen.

"Umm.." Emma blinked, her throat suddenly dry. Get ahold of yourself! "H-hi.."

Killian smirked as if he knew of the effect he was having on her. "Hello, love." As he smiled lazily, Emma could swear her heart had stopped.

Smug bastard.

"Hi Emma!" Ava waved from where she was standing next to her father.

"Hey." Emma said distractedly, her mind suddenly blank as she noticed the way his shirt showcased his very well defined arm muscles. She was surely gaping at him like an idiot but she couldn't bring herself to stop. His eyes. The black did wonders to highlight the deep blue color.

"Aren't you going to invite us in?" He asked, snapping her out of her trance.

"Oh! Right." She stepped backwards, looking away in attempt to hide her surely flaming cheeks. Since when had someone had that effect on her? "Come on in."

They followed her into the apartment and she closed the door behind them. "Food should be ready in a bit." She grabbed the remote and turned to a random kid's channel.

"Sesame Street!" Ava cried as Elmo came onto the screen.

"Make yourself comfortable." Emma said as she gestured to the couch. "I'll just be right back." She headed to the kitchen, intending to use her feel minutes alone to compose herself

"I'll help." Killian started to follow her.

"No I got it." Emma started to say, but he interrupted.

"You found my daughter's bear and saved me from what would've been undoubtedly been a very embarrassing night. The least you can do is to let me help prepare our meal." As he spoke, he stepped closer and closer, that smug grin still on his face, his eyes glittering playfully.

She shrugged, hoping to hide her quaking nerve. "Ok. If you insist."

"That's a good lass." He replied, setting a large grocery bag onto the counter.

"What's that?" Emma nodded at the bag.

"I brought chips." He pulled out a large bag of Barbecue Lays. "I thought they would go well with the grilled cheese."

"You're damn right about that!" Emma exclaimed. In fact, she'd been planning to go out and buy them but she'd forgotten. "I always have grilled cheese with Barbecue Lays. How'd you know?"

He smiled knowingly. "I'm quite perceptive."

"Sure." She said dryly. "Sure." Emma smiled at the large bag. "But seriously, thanks!"

He nodded. "No problem."

Emma started rooting through her cabinets. "Um, can you get the cheese and butter out of the fridge?"

"Sure." There was the telltale sucking sound of the fridge opening and then loud shuffling. "Bloody hell, lass." Killian looked up at her, amusement written over his face. "You could do with a little reorganizing. It looks like a storm blew through in there."

"Yeah, well." Emma replied. "Too much work. Besides I never keep much in there."

"Aye, I can see that." He commented as he bumped against the fridge door, closing it. "Where do you want these?"

"Just set them on the counter." Emma instructed. When she turned around to grab the butter, she frowned. "Umm, what is this doing here?" She held up the powdered sugar.

"Oh." Killian reached up and scratched his head awkwardly. "Well, I just figured you might need it."

"How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That powdered sugar's my secret ingredient for the perfect grilled cheese. Figured that out on accident." Emma's eyes were wide with amazement. "Nobody I know does that. Except for me."

"Well maybe I just read your mind."

"Uh huh. I'm sure you did."

"Looks like that's one more thing we have in common, because I do the same as well." Killian winked. "An old friend taught me that particular little trick." He said, staring meaningfully at her for a moment.

For the strangest reason, Emma felt as if he was referring to her. "I'll bet they were pretty amazing, then."

"Aye. That they were." He slowly reached his hand inside the bag of powdered sugar, dipping a finger in.

"Hey!" Emma reached over and smacked his arm. "Don't contaminate it."

"Oh, come on." He responded, licking his finger slowly, his eyes still on hers. "Lighten up."

In response, Emma smacked his arm again, rolling her eyes before turning back to the stove. A little while later, she was setting a plate full of grilled cheeses on the table while Killian emptied the bag of chips into a large bowl.

"Do you want some juice, Ava?"

The little girl looked over and nodded.

Emma turned to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of grape juice, reaching into the cabinet for a cup. It was only until she was setting the cup full of purple liquid when she realized what she'd done. "Oh. Wait. I probably should've asked what kind of juice you wanted. You ok with grape juice?"

"I like gwape juice!" Ava grabbed the cup and took a large swig, grinning happily.

"Aye, that's her favorite." Killian added.

Emma blinked, surprised. "Oh, um. Ok. That's good." Weird. It was like she'd acted on autopilot or something, like she'd inherently known what type of juice Ava liked best.

They sat down to eat, Ava propped up on a stack of couch cushions. She'd placed her bear next to her plate on the table, facing everyone so it looked as though he was part of the group. It was so cute Emma wanted to take a picture.

"So...what do you think?" She asked as she watched Ava take a large, sticky bite out of the sandwich. "Is it the best thing you've ever tasted?"

Ava nodded emphatically, her messy curls bouncing wildly. "Yummy!"

"Told ya." Emma smiled triumphantly as she reached for a handful of chips. "Powdered sugar does wonders." She opened her sandwich and began arranging the Lays inside. "What?" She said, upon catching Killian's amused smile.

"Does it really taste good like that?"

"Uh, duh." Emma's voice oozed sarcasm. "Try it." She nudged the bowl of chips closer to him. "Really, it's good."

"I have no doubt." He smirked but did so anyway. "The food in this world is so weird."

"This world, huh?" She frowned. "You make it sound as though you're from the Enchanted Forest or something."

Something changed in his expression, though it was so fast she couldn't get a read on it. "Something like that."

There was something weird about the way she was staring at her. Suddenly uneasy, Emma turned to Ava. "So, you're in...what? Preschool?"

The toddler nodded. "Yeah!"

"Yeah? What's that like?"

"Fun!"

"Fun, huh? What do you do?"

"I draw pictures."

"Right." Emma nodded. "Like the one you gave me." She gestured at the fridge, where it hung right in the middle, in a place of honor. "You're a really good artist."

Ava beamed. "I like to draw." Crumbs were splattered across her face and the front of her sweatshirt.

"Really? Well as you can see my fridge looks a little empty. Do you want to draw me something else?"

"Kay!" Came the cheery response.

Soon enough, lunch was finished. "Want to watch a movie while your dad and I clean up?" Emma suggested.

Ava nodded as she tucked her bear under one arm again. "Okay." She slid off her seat.

"Come on." Emma took the little girl's hand and led her to the couch. "Hmm. I don't have many kid's movies. Except for this, of course." She held up Peter Pan. "How do you feel about this?"

Ava nodded, wide eyed. "Peeta Pan!"

Emma laughed. "You like this movie too, huh?" She settled Ava on the couch, covering her with a throw she kept on the couch. "Me too. It's one of my favorites. I watch it all the time. Who's your favorite character?"

"Tink."

Emma wrinkled her nose. "Really? You like Tinkerbell?"

"Yeah. She's nice."

"Ehh. Not really. She's a bit of a pathetic little jealous bit…" Emma stopped herself upon realizing who she was talking to. She chuckled nervously. "Don't like her."

"Nuh-uh." Ava nodded violently. "She's nice. She's my friend."

"Oh so you know this Tinkerbell?"

"Yeah. I like her."

"Oh, wow. You really have a sense of imagination don't you?" Emma commented as she stood up.

Ava, having no idea what she'd just said, nodded, her eyes already focused on the movie.

"Oh, hey you really don't have to do that." Emma protested as she saw Killian turning on the faucet, sponge already in hand.

"It's fine." He responded.

"Really. You're a guest. I can't make you do the dishes."

"Relax. I'm doing them because I want to."

Emma wrinkled her nose. "Who wants to do the dishes?"

"A gentleman."

"Not the ones I've met."

"Well, perhaps, Emma." He stopped and looked at her, his eyes seriously. "You've been interacting with the wrong ones. They don't sound much like gentlemen to me."

"Really?" She placed her hands on her hips. "And I suppose you're telling me that you're a perfect gentleman?"

"Aye. A good man should happily do things for a lady. It's a fundamental rule."

"Where'd you get that from? Because in case you haven't noticed that doesn't exist in this world."

"And that," He began, turning back to the sink. "Is a real shame. Because all women deserve to be treated like so. Especially ones like yourself."

She blinked, already feeling her face turning red. Damn, what was it about Killian and his ability to make her blush? To hide her face she grabbed the rest of the dishes from the table.

"Your daughter sure has a sense of imagination."

"How so?"

"Well, for one thing, she has this idea that Tinkerbell is really nice."

"And your issue with that is…?" He turned around, raising an eyebrow.

"Is that Tinkerbell isn't nice."

"And how would you know that?"

"Oh, come on." Emma protested. "Not you too!"

"Not what?"

"You can't seriously think that Tinkerbell's nice. I've seen this movie like a thousand times and each time I watch all I see is a pathetic little fairy who is so hung up on Peter Pan that she almost gets a whole bunch of people killed. Jealous bitch."

"Wow." Killian whistled. "You really don't like her do you?"

"No. I can't stand girls like that."

He smirked. "It's just a movie, love."

"It's more than that. It's what it represents, telling little girls that it's ok to be so completely obsessed with a guy that they can't see the truth."

"The truth about…?"

"Her little crush! For one thing, Peter Pan's a bit of a jerk. Toying with Tink and Wendy like that. But it's not just that. Tink shouldn't let Peter Pan make her so upset that she's blinded by her rage. That's weak and sickening, to show a girl whose entire world revolves around a guy. Not to mention wrong. Girls should be stronger than that." Emma ranted.

"You would know, wouldn't you?"

She stared strangely at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He turned away. "Nothing."

"No." She touched his arm. "Tell me. Tell me what you think you know about me?"

"Not think. I can read you like an open book, lass. I can tell that you've been abandoned by someone you cared very deeply about, which is why you're finding faults in a children's movie. It reminds you too much of yourself."

A hard knot began to form in the pit of her stomach. He was edging too close to the truth for comfort. How did he even know that? Was it that obvious? Emma looked away. "You're wrong."

He smiled. "Am I?"

Author's note: Any thoughts before you go?