Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews! Couldn't concentrate on hw, so y'all get a new ch instead.

"Whew, that's the last of them." Emma said as she struggled to close the trunk. "God, I'm exhausted." She sank against the car, pressing her palms against her eyes.

"I must say, I am enjoying these new clothes. Much more comfortable."

"Told ya." She smirked. "Come on. We have a long drive back and I don't wanna hit traffic."

Suddenly, a loud growl filled the air. Emma looked at him in surprise. "Was that you?"

He shrugged. "What can I say? Shopping is more exhausting than I thought. Hence the miserable look on the other men's faces in the store."

"You didn't even do anything! I carried the bags out and I found all the clothes! All you had to do was try them on." She protested.

"That's still work."

She rolled her eyes. "Sure. Sure it is." She looked at her watch. "Well, it's almost 5, and we'll probably just be stuck in traffic now. Why don't we go get something to eat?"

"McDonalds?" Hook wrinkled his nose. "What the bloody hell is that?"

"Food." Emma answered simply. "I'm not its biggest fan either, having had it way too many times with…" She stopped abruptly. "But it's fast and simple. It'll have to do."

She had been on the verge of revealing something, Hook was dead sure. The only question was, how would he get her to spill?

He followed her inside the brightly lit building, where he stopped and stared at the shiny benches and sticky looking kids. "Well this is…interesting." His voice dripped with sarcasm. Just then, he spied a toddler sporting a paper pirate hat and a plastic hook.

"That's not very realistic." He observed, picking up the toy and staring critically at it. The toddler took one look at Hook and promptly burst into tears.

"Just go find a seat! And don't talk to anyone!" She hissed, turning to smile apologetically at the kid's parents, who were throwing her dirty looks. "Sorry, he's off his meds today."

She quickly stepped up to the counter and ordered, and within minutes arrived at the table Hook had chosen with a tray full of steaming food. "Here. Eat up."

"What is this?" Hook said, a bemused look on his face as he held up a French fry to the light. "Some kind of grain?"

"Not exactly. It's a French fry." Emma said. "It's a potato but sliced up in tiny pieces and deep fried…oh, you know what? Just eat it."

Hook still looked uncertain. "People actually eat this?"

"Yes." She gritted her teeth. "Just eat it. People are staring."

He shrugged. "I've lived through worse." And with that, plopped it into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully. "Well, it's not bad. A little dry though."

"Try this." She shoved a packet of ketchup across the table towards him.

"Much better."

"Here." Emma handed him a burger. "Meat and a bun. Please tell me you recognize meat and bread."

"Well, not in this form, but yes love I do know what meat and bread is. I'm a pirate, not a complete idiot." He replied.

"I'll beg to differ." Emma muttered.

"Funny." Hook said. "If I recall, you were quite out of your element in the Enchanted Forest."

"I…at least I didn't make a big fuss over everything!" She sputtered.

"Yes, you did." He replied. "Practically refused to eat anything."

"Well, the food there was weird! I mean, chimera? Who the hell eats that?"

"Everybody, love. Everybody. And I could say the same about your food." He cocked his head to the side. "Ah, can't argue with that can ya?"

"Whatever. Just eat your burger. We have a long drive."

"Aw, crap." Emma groaned. "We're almost out of gas."

"So?" Hook said from the passenger's seat, where he was polishing his hook. "Get some more."

She shot him a look. "That's what I'm doing, Sherlock."

Luckily, there was a gas station open not far. Emma hopped out of the car. "I'll be right back. Stay here and don't touch anything."

"Well sorry to disappoint, lass, but I do believe I'm touching the seat."

"Real mature." She fired back.

Emma was back moments later, only to be greeted by an empty car. "Really?!" She leaned against the door in frustration. Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed. She wanted to go look for him, but she couldn't just ditch her car. A gnawing feeling began growing in the pit of Emma's stomach. Three times she contemplated just driving off and leaving him, but she couldn't bring herself to do that.

Then there was a rap on the window, and she looked up to see Hook standing outside.

"What the hell?!" She screeched, slamming the door to the car. "The one thing I told you to do was stay in the car! And that's the one thing you couldn't do, wasn't it?" She ranted, pacing around the empty gas station. "God! I knew this was a mistake! It's like you can't follow instructions! Just keep quiet, don't draw attention to yourself, and you do the exact opposite! All freaking day! Do you have any idea how frustrating it is? To always have to cover for you? And it's not like you're making it easier! I wasted my entire day, helping you, and this is how you repay me? By disappearing?!"

There was a long, tense silence.

"Well, if I'd known how angry you would've been, I certainly never would've left to get these." He held up his hand.

And that's when she noticed the two cups of coffee delicately balanced in his good hand "What?"

"Coffee. You do like that, don't you?"

She blinked. "Y-yes but…" And then it dawned on her. "You left to get me coffee?"

"You know, for an incredibly smart woman, you are remarkably slow."

"How did you get the money to…?" Emma shook her head. "Never mind, I don't wanna know."

"Are you gonna take it?" He held it up. "It's rather hot."

She took one of the cups, suddenly feeling shy. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. That was out of line."

"But everything that you said, it was correct. I did make things harder for you. And I'm sorry." Hook started.

"No…" Emma protested. "Look, I get it. You're out of your element here. I should've been more patient."

"Nah. I've given you plenty of reasons to abandon me." He pointed out. "But you haven't. So…thank you."

Suddenly, without warning, Emma reached up and kissed him on the cheek. And then froze. She didn't know who was more shocked: Hook or herself.

"What was that for?" He asked.

"Thanks for the coffee. It was really sweet. And for what it's worth, it wasn't a waste of time. I had fun."

I had fun. Emma didn't know what surprised her more: the kiss or the fact that she actually meant what she'd said.

Author's note: Awwwwww. I thought the coffee was exceptionally sweet. What do y'all think?