Chapter 5: Back to Basics

Emma unlocked her office Monday morning, feeling lighter than she had in years. Killian had breakfast with her Saturday Morning since he had clients most of Saturday. Sunday, they met for a beer and watched the hockey game on tv, although they didn't really watch the game, they were more interested in talking to each other. He told her about his time in the Navy and about Liam, she told him about her parents and about school. She hadn't really talked much about August. It's not a subject she really wanted to talk about yet, but she knew she would have too eventually. She felt her phone buzz and she looked down at her screen while her work computer started to come to life.

Killian: Good morning, beautiful! Have a good day

Emma: You too, thank you for this weekend.

Emma returned to grabbing her items for her morning meeting. Regia greeted her team and started going into the event breakdown for the next few months. Since it was the winter, they didn't have many weddings, mostly city and museum events. Emma took notes and listened intently, even though her mind was other places at the moment. She still couldn't believe what happened over the weekend. She found Killian again; she learned the truth and now they were trying to move forward. There was a lot to do still, but Emma felt like a part of her had started to heal.

The meeting ended and Emma headed back to her office, and about two minutes later was joined by Belle. Emma looked up at her friend and smiled.

"Hi B! How was your weekend?"

Belle sat in the chair across from Emma's desk and started gushing over her weekend with Will. He had taken Belle to a seaside bed and breakfast in Connecticut, taken her sailing and they tried a few different restaurants.

"And the grey stuff at this restaurant we went to on Sunday was to die for! It was a dessert, I don't know what it was, but it was so good!"

Emma laughed, "Sounds like you had a wonderful time!"

"It was very nice," Belle looked at Emma with a raised eyebrow, "And what did you do? You seem awfully smiley today."

Emma tried to hide her smile and failed miserably. "I went to the shop." Belle squealed as Emma stood to shut the door of her office. "Shhh! People can hear you."

Belle giggled but tried to contain her excitement. "Sorry, but tell me everything!"

Emma sat back down and filled Belle in on dinner, arguing, breakfast and the rest of the weekend. Belle had such a large smile on her face Emma thought her face was going to split in half.

"So where does this leave you two now?" Belle asked

"Back to basics. We're going to get our friendship back on track and see what happens."

"Doesn't sound like you'll be there for very long from what you are telling me."

Emma sighed, "I don't know, there's a lot we have to work through. Alot of trust that needs to be rebuilt."

"When do you see him next?"

"I don't know, we haven't really talked about it much."

"I have an idea." Belle had a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Uh-oh, do I want to know?"

"You should text him and see if he wants to have dinner at your place and watch a movie this week, but you should ask him in a very not Emma way, call him dude or bro or something like that just to see what he says."

Emma could no longer control her giggles, "He would hate that."

Belle smiled, "But would he say no?"

"Probably not."

Belle left her office so the two of them could get back to work. Emma mulled over what Belle said to do as she read her emails.

Killian was working on a tattoo on a long-time client. Anton was a large biker, who had almost all exclusively nautical tattoos done. Some were done by him, some were done elsewhere but that Killian had fixed. Anton and Killian were in conversation over the weekend and how Emma came back into his life.

"Wait a minute," Anton blurted, "This is the Emma, the one you told me about that you grew up with?"

Killian paused his work a moment to wipe down Antons's tattoo, "Aye mate, one in the same."

"So, how's that back-to-basics idea working for you?"

Killian groaned, focusing back to his work, "Bloody difficult. When she came into the shop all I wanted to do was kiss her, but I am the one who broke her trust." He took a moment to wipe the tattoo down again. "I don't want to push her." Killian felt his watch buzz on his wrist, and he took a second to look at the message. Anton watched his friend raise his eyebrow almost to his hairline as he read the screen.

Emma: Hey there buddy ol' pal! If you are free this week, I would like to have you over for dinner and maybe a movie night? Let me know!

Killian shook his head and chuckled, "Well, Emma just called me buddy ol' pal."

Anton started wheezing in a fit of laughter.

"Mate, hold still, I can't tattoo you when you are chortling."

"I'm sorry." Anton giggled. "But you had that coming with your back to basics."

Killian shook his head and finished his friend's session. Maybe he was right, maybe he was being a little ridiculous. But Emma was important to him, and he didn't want to push her right out of his life again, he didn't think his heart could handle it. Killian cleaned up his station and checked his upcoming schedule to see how to respond to that stubborn blonde clouding his mind.

Emma was working on a report when she heard her phone vibrate on her desk. She flipped over her phone and saw a message from Killian on her screen.

Killian: Swan, buddy ol' pal? You wound me.

She could not contain her giggle coming out, she had a feeling he wouldn't like that very much. Another message immediately came in.

Killian: To answer your question, I am free on Wednesday evening as well as Friday and I would be happy to join you, as long as you never, EVER call me that again.

Emma tried to hide the smile on her face. She opted for Wednesday, because if she was honest with herself, she didn't want to wait almost a week to see him again. This back to basics was very, very, difficult. She wanted to kiss him and hold him close like she did when he left for basic training. She missed their closeness, even when they would watch movies, and Emma would keep her head in his lap, and he played with her hair. It scared her how easily it was to fall back into things with him, but he had always been her person. She picked up her phone to respond to Killian.

Emma: Wednesday sounds great. You bring the movies, and I'll make dinner. See you then dude!

Killian: Ughh Swan, you are killing me. I'll see you then.

Emma set her phone back down and smiled, turning her attention back to her report.

Killian stopped on his way to Emma's apartment on Wednesday night to get her flowers, just because they were friends at the moment, didn't mean he couldn't be a gentleman. He got a bouquet of roses and buttercups, gathering up his movie case and headed to Emma's apartment. She didn't live very far from him, but far enough he needed to drive. He parked his truck and headed up to her place. Knocking on the door, he was met with a beautiful smile as she held the door open. She was wearing black yoga pants and an oversized hoodie, his hoodie, and her hair in a messy bun.

"Hi Killian." She smiled.

He was wearing jeans, his old red converse, a black hoodie and his leather jacket. This man could be dressed in a burlap sack and would still take her breath away.

"Buddy ol' pal?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Emma giggled covering her face with her sleeved hand. "I thought that would get your attention. Actually, it was my coworker's idea." She pulled Killian in by his elbow and shut the door.

"Cute Swan, real cute." He handed her the flowers he had to his side, "These are for you."

Emma looked down at the flowers and smiled, "Friendship flowers? Such a gentleman."

Killian leaned forward, invading her space "I'm always a gentleman."He winked at her and set his movies down on the table.

Emma walked to the kitchen bar and pulled out a vase, placing her flowers in water and bringing them back to the table, setting them directly in the middle. To his surprise, Emma stood on her tiptoes and gave him a small kiss on his cheek, "Thank you Kil."

He smiled at her as she walked back to the kitchen, attending to dinner on the stove. His heart swelled watching her, this plan of his was going to be much harder than he thought.

"What's for dinner, Swan?"

"Tacos." She said with a smile. "I remember you always liked the way I made mine."

"Aye, that would be correct lass."

Killian took a seat at the kitchen bar while Emma worked on dinner. They started talking about their weeks so far, work, and any other subject that came up. Killian ventured into the kitchen to help Emma, working side by side. It felt so domestic, so comfortable, like they had been doing this for years. Emma's thoughts were swirling, they should have been doing his for years, they have wasted so much time, was this back to basics really necessary? It had been less than a week, but she was struggling to keep things in the friend zone. She was still angry with him, but this was almost a new start for them.

They finished making dinner and headed to her table with plates in hand. Conversation was light, some reminiscing over old memories that they shared, reunifying their bond once more.

"How has Liam been?" Emma asked between bites.

"He's good, currently in a submarine in the middle of the pacific."

"Do you hear from him much?"

"Emails mostly right now. He checks in at least once a week." Killian took a sip of his beer and continued. "How are your parents?"

"They are good, retired now so they have been traveling all over."

"Ah, the dream." he sighed dramatically.

Emma smiled at him, "Someday."

They finished dinner and cleaned up the kitchen, grabbing their drinks and popcorn and headed to her couch.

"Sorry my place isn't much bigger." Emma grumbled softly.

"Em, its perfect. Don't even fret about that."

"I only have enough room for one couch so we will have to share."

"And when has that ever stopped us before?"

Emma turned to him and smiled, "Good point."

"And now for movie choices, would you like to start with Smokey and the Bandit or The Princess Bride?"

"The Princess Bride," She stated in an obvious tone.

"Should have known that was coming." He grumbled.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." She playfully quipped.

"Nothing dear." He hollered over his shoulder.

Killian winced at the remark. This was so easy with her, falling back into their flirtatious ways. No fighting, no screaming, just pure happiness and it was easy. He took his seat on one end of the couch and Emma sat at the other. The movie started and they watched sitting somewhat stiffly, stealing a glance at each other now and then. Emma polished off her beer and having a little liquid courage she made a split-second decision.

Fuck it.

Emma scrambled over to Killian and laid her head on his thigh and stretching herself out on the rest of the couch. He raised his arms up immediately, a confused look crossing his brow.

"Swan," He cleared his throat, "What are you doing?"

"Reclaiming my spot." She couldn't see him, but she could feel him smiling at her, relaxing back a little bit more as his hands started to stroke through her hair. It took everything Emma had not to cry. She had missed this so much; she had missed him so much. This other half of her heart that had been missing for years, and they were so close.

The only time Emma moved was when Killian got up to change the movie. They were halfway through the third movie and Emma was almost asleep. He tried to get up so he could leave her to sleep but she grabbed his leg stopping him.

"No," she grumbled sleepily, "Stay."

"Swan, you are almost asleep, and we both have to work tomorrow."

Emma sighed, "I guess you're right. I'll walk you out." She got up and followed him to the door. "Thank you for coming over tonight Killian."

"The pleasure is all mine Em, truly."

They both stood for just a moment, not wanting to move or say goodbye.

"Well, I better go, do you want to do this again on Friday?"

"I would love to."

Killian pulled Emma into a hug and kissed her on top of her head. "Sleep well then love. I'll text you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Killian." He left and she shut the door behind him. Emma leaned against the door letting her head fall back against it. Fuck she thought. I should have kissed him. Back to basics be damned. Emma locked her apartment and headed to bed.

Little did she know Killian stood outside the door until he heard it lock thinking the same thing. He lingered a moment looking back at her door and made a decision then and there.

Fuck it.