This is my first attempt at a story for Once Upon A Time - it picks up right at the end of season 3. But as it's my main goal to show the development of the relationship between Emma and Hook, I left out a few details of the finale... in this version, they haven't brought back neither Marian nor Elsa. There might be some other bumps on the way in future chapters... I hope you enjoy!

The characters, of course, are not mine and belong entirely to their fabulous creators, Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis. I'm just borrowing them.

Chapter 1:

They'd Be Crazy Not To

They'd both completely lost track of time, lost in themselves and their newfound closeness there in the cold of Granny's outdoor patio. They were so enveloped in their own little microcosm that neither of them felt anything except an all-encompassing warmth glowing inside which seemed to heat up the chilly air. Emma had gradually moved in to Hook so closely that she was almost sitting on his lap; he still cradled her head in his hand while her fingers were entangled in his hair at the nape of his neck. They softly swayed back and forth like reeds in the wind while kissing, breaking apart again, caressing each other's face, running gentle fingertips over scruffy jaws, silky cheeks and smiling lips... smiling – happy, unbelieving smiles – and kissing again. Not a single word had been uttered since his plain and simple, yet so mind-blowing, "Aye."

Only a few moments had passed since Emma moved in for that kiss and Hook – after a few seconds of disbelief – had raised his hand to her head and kissed her back, very slowly and carefully at first, then stopping midway like he wanted to make sure that she really, really was accepting this. Embracing it. Or maybe it had been minutes? Hell, as for them, it could have been hours. Nothing, nobody seemed to matter or even exist anymore but them.

In reality, not more than ten minutes had passed since Emma had left the diner to sit down opposite the man she'd been so painfully missing while celebrating inside with the rest of her family. You don't have a home until you just miss it... and suddenly she'd realized that being there with all of her family and friends surrounding her, yet having him nowhere in sight made her feel like a part of her was missing. And for a crazy, dreadful moment she'd feared that he had just gone, left for good this time, tired of chasing… of waiting.

Words could not express the relief she'd felt when a panicky, searching look outside the window revealed Hook's lonesome figure sitting out there on the deserted porch, his fingers playing with his ever-present rum flask on the small round table in front of him, his breath forming little clouds in the chilly air, and his gaze lost somewhere, nowhere. Absurdly enough, despite their successful adventure and their victory over fate and time, he looked like he was thoroughly defeated. Emma had never seen a lonelier man in her life. Her heart had clenched almost painfully, and she'd headed straight for the door, finally letting herself be guided only by her feelings; completely unaware and uncaring of the attentive, curious looks which follower her out of the diner.

All that had mattered in that moment was making him understand that nothing of all this – her, finally accepting where she belonged, where her home was, who she was – would have been possible without him. Maybe he knew that already, but she had to make him understand that now she knew it, too. Yes, Henry had brought her home two years ago, but Hook had been the one to finally make her realize just that. Home. In a way, he'd brought her home, too – twice now. Moreover, he'd helped her defend and save that home countless times, and somewhere along the way he'd become part of that home, too.

Despite Emma's conviction, she'd hesitated for a fraction of a second before leaving the safe harbor of the restaurant and the friends surrounding her. With her hand already on the door handle, cold fingers of doubt seemed to grab a hold of her heart, and she'd thrown another cursory glance at Hook sitting out there alone, a nervous one this time. He'd looked lonely and defeated, yes – but suddenly she hadn't been quite so sure of how he would react to her approach. Granted, he hadn't left, but what if he had indeed grown tired of the chase? Of waiting and hoping for her to change her mind? His words from long ago had reverberated in her head, his voice low and husky and with a touch of cynicism: "... just as I am done... with you." That had been his reaction to her very first display of mistrust towards him when she'd left him in shackles on that beanstalk; the first time she'd willfully disregarded her own instincts. She hadn't dared trust him back then and had done little since to show him how much that had changed.

Sure, Hook was a different man now, too – a man who still knew her better than herself and understood her ever-present fear of being deserted – but when she'd told him in Rumple's vault that she truly wanted to stop running, and that she'd finally understood what it was she'd been seeking all along without so much as mentioning him in the process, not even giving him an inkling of hope that he could be a part of that home, too... had that been one blow too many? Was he done now? If she opened up to him now – would he respectfully decline and walk away? Emma knew that would destroy a part of her forever, and for a moment, her fear of rejection had almost gotten the better of her. She'd even loosened her grip on the door handle a little before her mother's voice had flashed through her mind: "Well, there's only one way to find out..."

So she'd straightened her back, drawn a deep breath and gone out there, completely clueless about what she was going to say to him, but determined to do her best. Each footstep had been weighted by her nerves, but she'd finally done it… crossed a bridge of her own making that led directly into his arms.

She never wanted to be away from home, from him again – and now he knew it.

When they heard someone clearing his throat out of nowhere, it took Emma and Hook a few seconds to come back to earth again. Their lips parted reluctantly, and for a second their stares seemed so interwoven with each other that they weren't able to look anywhere else. But when the little noise was repeated with some urgency, both turned their heads towards the sound. Hook sobered within the blink of an eye when he saw David standing there, not far away from the table where they were seated. Oh bloody hell. He froze like a statue under David's stony gaze.

Emma blushed and let her right hand drop slowly from Hook's face, though she didn't really back away from him. Her father would have to deal with it sooner or later anyway. The silence was a little awkward, but before it could get really uncomfortable David broke it, motioning vaguely towards the couple.

"Can we have a word?" he asked.

Hook was quick to get up from his seat, not before somewhat guiltily, unconsciously running his thumb over his mouth. "Ah, I'll just..."

Much to his and Emma's surprise though, David raised his hand as if to stop him. "No, I meant..." – he nodded towards the man in black – "...with you."

Hook froze in mid-movement – completely taken aback – and raised his eyebrows, his eyes darting to Emma. She returned his anxious, slightly annoyed look with a confused pursing of her lips. Then she looked quickly at David, trying to read her father's expression, and although he wasn't smiling, she knew him well enough to already detect the smile in the corners of his eyes. It surprised her a bit and pleased her immensely at the same time. She still didn't know what he wanted from Hook right now, but she knew he wouldn't knock him out flat. Relieved, Emma turned her eyes to her man again, a very slight smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She shrugged and rose slowly from her seat.

David was still looking questioningly at Hook until the pirate finally found his voice again, even if it sounded somehow a little defeated. "Ah... why, of course, mate." He forced a little unhappy smile and slumped down on the chair again.

Before walking away from him, Emma lightly touched her hand to his shoulder and, giving him an encouraging little smile, bent down to him and whispered in his ear: "Keep smiling, buddy..."

Then she turned around and walked towards the diner. Hook rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue. "Wonderful," he grumbled to himself.

When Emma walked past David she threw him a sheepish little smile and slightly tilted her head as if wanting to ask him to... she didn't even know what, but she guessed it was just what any daughter would've asked from her father when he wanted to "have a word" with her boyfriend, as Regina had called Hook what seemed ages ago. Emma made a mental note never to underestimate Regina's intuition again. David's eyes smiled at her, invisible for Hook though, and he nudged her arm with his elbow and bent his head a little down to her.

"Don't worry," he muttered dryly under his breath, "I'm still a married man."

Emma grinned to herself and made her way into the diner, leaving her pirate to stir in his own juices for a few moments longer.

Hook scratched nervously behind his ear while David slowly approached the small round table and took the seat which had been occupied by Emma just a minute ago, without waiting for a further invite. Hook knew that sooner or later the moment would come when he had to deal with Emma's parents; but really, was it asking too much to revel in his newfound happiness a little longer than ten bloody minutes before having to face the judgment of a jealous, overprotective father? He sighed inwardly and braced himself for a tirade of some sort; after all, he hadn't forgotten the prince's "You won't get my daughter, I'll see to that" and all the other displays of disapproval and mistrust. Surely, David had obviously started to trust him a little more lately, maybe even respect him or, at the very least, acknowledge his efforts to protect Emma. Hadn't he?

Hook hadn't forgotten how the prince had insisted Hook go with his daughter to face the bloody Wicked Witch, even when Emma hadn't wanted to take him. He hadn't shown it much, of course not, but David's curt "Zelena backed you into a corner, you did the best you could" had meant a lot to him. But of course nothing of that was a guarantee that the prince approved of his daughter – the princess – dallying, let alone being amorously involved with someone like him: an outlaw, a varlet, a rapscallion... maybe something like a hero now – although that had never been his aim – but, after all, still nothing but a pirate.

Only now Hook noticed that the other man had been carrying two glasses of beer in his hand. He put one on the table in front of Hook and raised his own in an inviting gesture. Hook wasn't sure what to make of it, but he took the offered glass, raised it and nodded, and both men drank. When they put down the glasses almost simultaneously, David finally spoke. "Quite the day, huh?" he asked almost casually and added, "Or for you even more than one day, I assume?"

Hook was astounded and a little thrown off track that David didn't even address what he'd just witnessed. A little confused, he did what he was best at and tried to play it smooth. "Aye, that it was..."

David cleared his throat. "I want to apologize to you, Hook."

Now, that had been completely unexpected! Hook raised his eyebrows, and underneath them his blue eyes widened in surprise and darted to the prince without his head moving. "Apologize, mate?"

Emma's father nodded. "Maybe I made it a little..." David shrugged "...too hard for you at times." He looked firmly at Hook. "I should have trusted you more... and sooner."

That was even more unexpected. Hook had always respected, even admired to a certain extent, the other man's fierce determination to do everything to fight for his family and to always do the honorable thing; but sometimes he'd felt a tad of self-righteousness shine through, or so it had seemed to him. But here was a man not too proud to admit a mistake and even apologizing for it. That was anything but self-righteous... it was a sign of true grandness.

With a tilt of his head, Hook raised his eyebrows and looked down at his glass. "Well, I admit I might not have always been the shining epitome of honor and trustworthiness that I am now." David turned his eyes down at the table and suppressed a grin at the obvious irony, and Hook waved his hand apologetically. "And sadly, I also have to admit I sided with various villains on a few occasions..." Only the way his fingers thrummed restlessly on his glass betrayed his slight discomfort.

David nodded earnestly and looked him directly in the eyes. "That you did," he agreed. "But I understand that vengeance can be a strong motivator." He shook his head thoughtfully. "I never was the type for that, but by God, if anyone ever killed someone I love..." He saw Hook's eyes darken which gave him a reminder of how dangerous he could actually be and went on quickly: "Anyway, you let go of that when you turned around to offer your ship and your services." For a moment he was distracted and frowned. "Where is your ship, by the way? Still in New York?"

Hook's jaw tightened. "The Jolly Roger is gone."

"Gone?" David echoed, his voice clueless. "How?"

"Ah..." Hook hadn't been prepared for so much heart-to-heart talk. He rubbed his index finger over the scruff on his chin and replied lightly, "That's a story for another time."

David threw him a sly glance. "Maybe by the next campfire we share... Prince Charles?" Hook raised his eyebrows in question, and David added with a grin, "Emma told us everything about your big adventure." Hook grinned back a little sheepishly and scratched behind his ear again, for a moment not sure what to say. He just hoped that Emma's father would understand their little charade had been necessary and had not meant to be sneaky in any way. But David went on with a determined nod: "And I never got to give you credit and thank you for what you've done."

More surprises? "Done?" Hook repeated.

David nodded. "If it wasn't for you, my daughter wouldn't be here." He didn't specify, but thought to himself about the various places Hook had brought her back from and the occasions he had saved her: New York, Neverland, the Enchanted Forest, Rumplestiltskin's vault by encouraging her to open the time portal again... there were so many of them. "Or myself, for all that matters," he added and shook his head. "And Snow and I would never..."

"You would have," Hook interrupted firmly. "If not on the troll bridge, then elsewhere. Some things are meant to be." For a moment, his gaze drifted off, and he saw Emma's green eyes dancing before his – sparkling, soft and vulnerable and finally so happy, speaking to him, directly to his heart.

David tilted his head with a smile. "Sadly, I have to agree with you again... mate."

Hook snorted a little laugh and looked down at the table. "Seems that's becoming a nasty habit..."

For a moment, they just sat there in not exactly uncomfortable silence, then David remarked thoughtfully and with a slightly incredulous shake of his head: "Funny that of all people it was Captain Hook to convince me to wait for the right woman to show up... to believe in True Love." He raised his hands. "No offense."

Hook fidgeted with his flask, still lying useless and untouched on the table. "None taken." He grinned. "I can hardly blame you for saying so, now can I? The old Captain Hook probably wouldn't have." A shadow flew over his scruffy, handsome face when he tilted his head thoughtfully. "He didn't believe in that himself."

David nodded. "I know. I do remember your darkest secret." He looked Hook directly in the eyes, thinking back to the memorable moment in the Echo cave in Neverland when he'd confessed that Emma had opened his heart to love again. Hook shifted a little uncomfortably on his seat as David went on. "And I do remember that prince who would go to the end of the world for his princess... or time." Hook licked his lips and grinned uncharacteristically shyly. David leaned a little forward and continued: "Turns out, he actually did. Face it, pirate... you're a hero in more than one sense." He slapped Hook's leather-clad shoulder. "It's about bloody time you embrace that, mate." He gave a miserable imitation of the other man's typical way of talking, and Hook couldn't help but smirk at him.

After a few moments of amicable silence they both took another swig from their glasses until finally, David got up and motioned towards the restaurant with his head. "Come on, let's go inside. Everyone's asking where you are."

Hook raised a doubtful eyebrow. "Is that so?"

David laughed. "Well, how about… our ladies are waiting."

Hook's ears pricked up. Had he just said our ladies? He decided not to push his luck too far by making some pushy remark – he was surprised at how good this talk had been. So, he simply got up and followed David with a lopsided grin on his face. "Never make a lady wait has always been my motto," he declared, "that would absolutely be bad form."

David rooted to the spot abruptly and turned around to throw an almost icy expression over his shoulder. Hook immediately froze and wished he hadn't said anything. Bloody hell, had that sounded too flippant to Emma's father's ears? It wasn't a secret in any realm that Captain Hook had always been a ladies' man during his many years as a restless farer of the Seven Seas, but it hadn't really been very smart to bring that back to the prince's mind.

David gave him a glare. "Oh, and pirate? Just so you know..." he paused for a moment. "Unless you hurt the princess – and in that case her father would have to run you through –" Hook raised his eyebrows in question again, and David nodded almost curtly as he continued; "...her parents approve." And with that, he turned around again without further ado and entered the diner. A huge grin split Hook's face as he followed him inside, into the light and warmth.

Emma was waiting inside, standing at the counter right near the door. David passed by her without a word with Hook close at his heels. Her father was one thing, but she couldn't believe that Hook wasn't making any move to stop by and offer any explanation either. She stopped him with her hand against his chest and whispered, "Hey! What was that about?"

Hook felt so elated about the turn the evening had taken that he was completely in the mood for teasing once more. So he just looked down at her hand on his chest, threw her a wink and smirked, suddenly all dashing rapscallion again. "And wouldn't you like to know," he replied smoothly, throwing her own words back at her. He sauntered past her, casually yet deliberately brushing his thigh against hers while steering towards the Charmings' table and sitting down opposite Mary Margaret and David without further ado. Emma's disbelieving gaze followed him, open-mouthed, unconsciously drinking in the sight of him as he strutted through the diner like he owned the place. Of course, the long black leather coat prevented her from really seeing anything, but she just loved to watch the way he walked, she always had, with that insolent pirate swagger.

"Emma?" Granny's voice came from behind the counter and woke her from her reverie. "What can I do for you? Cocoa?"

"Hmmm? Ah... yes," she replied absentmindedly, still not able to take her eyes off of Hook's back. That cheeky bastard!

Mary Margaret gave the new arrival at her table a probing, almost severe and even slightly haughty look. Hook had seen that look on many occasions from her, and often rightfully so. He had to admit when he replayed back their various encounters from the past and the innuendos he'd thrown at her, he hadn't exactly given her cause to warm to him. Mary Margaret raised her chin and addressed him directly. "So... you still fancy my daughter, pirate?"

The fairest one of all had never been the one for fair talking, and Hook knew there was no use in trying to be evasive now. His eyebrows twitched, and he tilted his head in that inimitable way of his that was a nod, a shrug and the hint of an old-fashioned bow all in one. It was a yes.

"You might wish you had squashed me when you had the chance," she told him in a challenging tone, but in her eyes there was a surprising hint of softness and mild teasing.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," was his only half-mocking answer.

Mary Margaret nodded slowly. "I always wondered why dreaded pirate Captain Hook wanted me to steal a specific wedding ring, when he simply could've turned me in for the reward or demanded gold for a passage on his ship," she finally said thoughtfully. Hook grinned, scratched behind his ear and looked down for a second in that way of his before looking at her again. She leaned a little forward. "You were on a mission."

He ran his ringed thumb up and down the beer glass and threw her a half-sheepish, half-amused look from under his thick eyebrows, his head slightly tilted down. "Apparently so, love," he replied.

Mary Margaret nodded again and looked at her husband. David smiled, and she turned back to Hook. "Thank you for bringing her back, twice," she finally told him solemnly, motioning her head to Emma who still stood at the counter with her mouth somewhat agape at the sight of her parents and Hook obviously about to get all chatty while she was waiting for her cocoa.

Hook shrugged. "I do assure you my reasons were purely selfish," he answered lightly and stole a glance at Emma from under his long eyelashes, distracted for a moment by the sight of her blonde locks falling down softly over the back of her red leather jacket. Without being aware of it, he moistened his lips and lightly rubbed the tips of his thumb and index finger together, recreating the feeling of running them through her hair when they had kissed outside. Had that been only less than ten minutes ago?

Mary Margaret's eyes followed his gaze, and she smiled almost fondly in a reluctant way when she saw how his scruffy, handsome face shone as he looked at her daughter, like suddenly everything else around him had lost its meaning. How had she never noticed that before? Or, maybe she had noticed it, but misinterpreted it completely – more as the look of a predator looking at his prey. But there was so much more to him, she saw that now. "Of course," she replied with benevolent irony in her voice, "always the pirate."

Hook turned to her again with a grin and tilted his head again in what was his own special way of shrugging. "Afraid so, Milady," he purred and winked at her, like he had done before a few times already, minus the lewdness of course.

This time, instead of rolling her eyes, she just shook her head and looked down at her newborn son sleeping peacefully in her arms. Without looking at Hook, she smiled and quietly replied, "Liar."

He snorted a little laugh and raised his glass to Mary Margaret with a slight bow of his head to which she replied with a very similar gesture. The rest remained unsaid, but he understood anyway what she was trying to say; or, to be more specific, what she was trying to do. Just like David, only a short time ago, she had been very quick to fall into her old pattern of "don't trust the pirate" again at the slightest opportunity, even if she could – and should – have known better, because he had more than proven his loyalty by then. Before their journey to Neverland, he had to admit that he hadn't given her – or anyone else – many reasons to trust him.

But this was nothing more and nothing less than Her Royal Highness Princess Snow White offering her apologies to Captain Hook, the pirate. He'd never cared much about what people thought of him – except for very few people, that is – but he allowed himself to enjoy the appreciation he knew he'd just received. David's words reverberated in his head: her parents approve. As if he had read his thoughts, David grinned at Hook, gave him a barely perceptible nod and emptied his glass in one big gulp.

"You guys... okay?" Emma asked, and he almost jumped, not having noticed she'd finally approached the family table. Family table? He shook his head at himself even as he thought, "I could get used to that". She slid on the seat bench beside him, not before flashing him one of her smiles that had been so very rare until lately. He could – and hopefully would – get used to them, too. Almost casually, she brushed the back of her left hand against his right leg under the table. The light touch made the skin of his leg underneath the black leather tingle, but what thrilled him even more was the ease and naturalness of her move.

"More than okay," David replied before Hook had pulled his wits together enough to answer, which was a remarkable thing by itself. "But I think," – he lightly touched Mary Margaret's shoulder – "we should take your brother home now." His wife nodded, and they both got up from the table.

The goodbye ceremony was over in a few moments, and Emma and Hook were left alone at the table. Immediately, the air seemed filled with the invisible thrum of buzzing electricity. Charged and heavy. She turned to him and saw that he was looking at her expectantly with sparkling, dancing eyes.

Emma swallowed once before jumping to a neutral topic. "Do I have to apologize for my parents?" she asked with a sheepish grin, perfectly well aware that David and Mary Margaret hadn't made it any easier for him than she had; actually, he'd even had a harder time earning their trust than hers, although David had seemed to warm up to him a little earlier than his wife.

"That won't be necessary, love," he told her and leaned a little back, resting his right arm on the back of the seat, his hand hanging down and his knuckles casually, lightly brushing her shoulder. "Although, come to think of it..." a roguish glint appeared in his eyes and he rolled his tongue through his mouth in that very distracting way of his. "Just what exactly would an apology of Your Highness have looked like, Swan?"

She let the hot cocoa swirl in her mug and threw him one of her suggestive smiles from under her long eyelashes. Bloody hell, he would have to get used to those, too. "I guess we'll never find out now..." she told him with feigned regret and took a sip from the aromatic beverage. The melting whipped cream left a trace on her upper lip, and she looked him directly in the eyes while she licked the cream off her lip in a slow tease, enjoying the sight of his jaw almost dropping to the floor.

Hook almost didn't trust his eyes; her barely veiled sensual gesture and her expression and flirty voice almost took his breath away. Granted, she had flirted with him before, but that had always held some sort of it's-not-going-to-happen-anyway-mate attitude, although deep down he'd always known better. But now that things between them had changed, her flirting had come to have a completely different meaning. It was nothing more and nothing less than a promise – a promise that made his head dizzy and his blood boil. Without even noticing, he licked his lips and shifted a little restlessly on that bench.

The boy's voice suddenly woke him from his daydreams. "Find out what?" Henry asked as he walked up to their table and sat on the bench where his grandparents had just been.

"Ah... about the secret ingredient of Granny's lasagna," Emma quickly and smoothly replied, and Hook grinned to himself. His lass had indeed the sneakiness of a true pirate in her.

But Henry wasn't that easily fooled. He rolled his eyes at his mother. "I don't even wanna know," he commented with all the wisdom of his 12 years, and Emma was taken aback. "Mom, is it okay if I spend the night... you now..." He motioned his head to Regina who was standing across the room, leaning against the bar. Robin was at her side, carrying his sleeping son on his arm. The look Regina gave him was definitely... yearning, Emma thought to herself with amusement. She made a mental note to tease the Evil Queen about exactly that.

"Spend the night at your other mom's house?" she suggested with an encouraging smile, and Henry nodded a little hesitantly. Emma put her hands on his shoulders. "Listen, kid, once and for all… it's okay to call her your mom, too, because..." she paused briefly, then nodded – to her son and to herself – "...because that's what she is. And yes, of course it's okay to spend the night there, as long as it's okay with her." She looked over at her former enemy again.

"She said it is," Henry told her eagerly. "And I think Robin and Roland are staying, too."

Emma shrugged. "If that's okay with you, kid?"

"You've got to be kidding me, mom!" Henry exclaimed and jumped up from his seat; Emma raised her eyebrows in question. "I mean, seriously," – he waved his hand at her and Hook in an all-encompassing way – "my mom is dating Captain Hook, and my other mom is making out with Robin Hood!" He laughed. "How cool is that?" Hook suppressed a grin while he watched mother and son interact.

Emma was taken aback. This kid scared the hell out of her sometimes. "Ahm, I..." she started, but Henry had already turned away and was running over to Regina who greeted him with one of those smiles reserved only for him and ruffled his hair. She looked at Emma and gave her a friendly nod; Emma returned the gesture, and then the little group left the diner.

Hook cleared his throat and Emma turned to him again. "The lad seems to approve..." he waved his hand between himself and his Swan in a gesture very similar to Henry's before "...but you'll have to enlighten me, love. What exactly did he mean by... dating?" He raised his eyebrows in question, and his fingers almost casually played with a strand of her hair.

Emma grinned at his confusion that made her handsome, blatantly self-confident, sexy pirate nothing but adorable. It would be fun to introduce him further to modern times. "Ah... yeah, dating... that means... it means that you and me..." He leaned a little forward and looked at her with curious, expectant eyes of a blazing blue that had already seen so much, yet were so clueless sometimes. She scoured her mind for an old-fashioned synonym that her three hundred years old pirate would understand, and then her face lit up and she snapped her fingers. "Courting!" she offered. "Dating means pretty much courting."

"I see..." He nodded thoughtfully and leaned back with a pleased grin into a pose that couldn't be described other than smug. He rested his hook on the enormous silver buckle of his broad leather belt; a gesture that she had secretly always found weirdly sexy. "The lad's right, Swan. You are indeed courting me." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"I'm not!" Emma replied indignantly, but not as fiercely as she had planned. Blushing slightly, she suppressed a grin and slapped his arm with the back of her hand.

"Come on, everyone can see it!" he teased with a nonchalant move of his hand, and she didn't even bother to fight back the happy grin any longer. In fact, she was done suppressing anything, and she had never felt better.

She shook her head and smiled. "Scoundrel," she chastised.

He chuckled and tilted his head, looking down at his hand as it played with the almost empty beer glass. "Aye, that I am," he purred. Emma's gaze followed his, and for a moment she got lost just watching Hook's ringed index finger painting patterns into the condensed moisture on the outside of the glass. Then suddenly, he pushed it away and turned to her. "Come on, Swan," he said. "It's time we take our leave."

A big thank you goes to my beta reader and editor emeraldromance - I'm sure many of you have read her fantastic stories already.

And, furthermore, a special thank you (or, should I say, grazie) to my brainstorm beast and musetta Silvia... sei omicidiale!

Reviews are highly appreciated!