A/N: Just in time for Christmas! Phew! Who knew wrapping presents for the kiddos could take so long? Oh, wait...last year, the year before that... Okay, it takes forever every year. ;) Merry Christmas, for those who celebrate it! And for those that don't, I hope your holidays are wonderful, whatever you celebrate!

If Emma Swan was being honest with herself, two cups of coffee and three hot chocolates was a bit much, no matter how cold the weather was. The newspaper she had spread on the table in front of her was wrinkled from the number of times she had paged through it, attempting to occupy her mind. But if she had been questioned about its contents, Emma wouldn't have been able to vouch for certainty about the day's date, much less current events in Storybrooke. Granny mostly left her alone, however, save to bring her another beverage now and again with a raised eyebrow and a shake of her head-and for that Emma was grateful.

She glanced at her watch, restless. Her break was nearly up, and she would have to return to the station soon to finish out her shift for the evening. Reassuring herself that she had merely been warming herself up and imbibing the caffeine necessary to finish her late shift with David, Emma folded up the newspaper and slid off her stool. It had absolutely nothing to do with the mistletoe hanging above the doorway of the diner. Or the kiss she'd shared with Hook in Neverland. She could stop thinking about it any time she wanted.

She just...didn't.

Catching Granny's eye, she gestured to the wallet she had removed from the pocket of her winter coat, indicating that she was ready to pay. The older woman rang up her beverages at the cash register and Emma removed the appropriate amount of money from her wallet, handing it over with reluctance. How much money had she blown on coffee and hot chocolates the past week, anyway? Her addiction was really getting out of control, she told herself, pocketing the receipt Granny gave her.

Funny how the spike in her caffeine dependency had coincided with Ruby hanging the mistletoe with all the other holiday decorations, she realized with a frown. What a weird coincidence.

Well, I'll cut back tomorrow, she thought, crossing the street outside the diner. And she would take her coffee to go from now on, she resolved, instead of hanging around the diner. There was a ton of paperwork to catch up on since their return from Neverland anyway. Working through a few breaks wouldn't kill her.

Wiping her feet off on the doormat outside the station, Emma walked back inside to finish her shift. It would be a relief to distract herself from idle thoughts . She wasn't really thinking about a certain pirate all that often anyway, she reasoned to herself. And the daydreams she did have were simply a holdover from so many holidays spent alone. If she kept herself busier for a while, they would fade before long.

One week later, as she slumped in a corner booth at the diner, staring at the marshmallows that had long since melted into a sugary foam in her drink, even Emma had to admit that she had a problem. And that problem wasn't caffeine or chocolate, it was Captain Hook.

Screw it, she thought in frustration, glancing at her watch for the third time in twenty minutes. If he wouldn't come to her, she would go him.

She paid her bill and left the diner, walking toward the harbor with long, determined strides. Ignoring the greetings and well-wishes of several Storybrooke residents that she passed along the way, Emma continued toward her destination with the knowledge that she might easily dispel this moment of self-honesty and talk herself out it, if she let herself become distracted by anything else.

Boots echoing on the docks, she took a deep breath, climbed the gangplank, and boarded the ship. She gazed around the vessel and determined that Hook must be belowdecks, inside his cabin. She couldn't blame him. Though it was warmer than it had been for days, the temperatures outside still weren't something anyone in their right mind wanted to linger in.

She lifted her hand to knock on his cabin door and then hesitated. What if he wasn't interested anymore? Was that why she hadn't seen him at all in the past three weeks? Had he given up on her while she'd resisted any admission of her own feelings for him?

Gritting her teeth together, she rapped on his door three times, unwilling to be slave to her own doubts. There was only one way to find out if he still felt the same. And if he had changed his mind, well...at least she would know, and then she really could stop hanging around the damn diner so much during her breaks.

The door opened, and Hook peered out at her with a grin. "Come in," he invited. "Been a while, hasn't it, Swan?"

Emma stepped into his cabin, shutting the door behind her. Inhaling deeply, she searched for the words to explain why she had come here, but Hook saved her the trouble altogether. Sliding his arms around her waist, he drew her forward slightly and kissed her as if his life depended on it. His good hand brushed across her rib cage, traveling higher, until he nestled it in her hair.

Returning his kiss with the fervor of someone who had starved herself of love for over a decade, Emma vaguely wondered why she had waited this long to seek out the pirate on his ship. What a lot of wasted time spent in denial, when she could have been doing this.

When they finally broke apart, they were both breathing so heavily that neither of them could manage a single word at first. Gazing into each other's eyes with intensity, it was Hook who finally broke the silence. "It's about bloody time you dropped by," he breathed, "I was beginning to think it would go to waste."

"What?" Emma replied, trying to collect her thoughts again. "What would go to waste?" He gestured toward the ceiling of his cabin with his hook, and Emma's jaw dropped open. A sprig of mistletoe hung just inside the doorway where he had accosted her. "No way," she choked out. "You planned this? That's why you suddenly disappeared for the past three weeks?"

"Well," he smirked, "they say absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"You-you-" she stuttered, torn between shock and indignation.

"Don't be mad, love," he said earnestly, drawing her close again, and Emma realized he'd never let go of her to begin with. "I couldn't know for certain that it would work. I only hoped...prayed, actually, that you would miss me if I kept to myself for a while." He chuckled. "And the mistletoe was just a bonus, really. I couldn't resist such an intriguing idea once Ruby explained what it was. I took a chance, nothing more. You've been avoiding me since Neverland."

Her anger with the pirate dissipated. It was true. She had done her best to avoid being caught alone with the pirate for months now. At first, it had been of necessity while she took some time to concentrate on Henry and sort out her own feelings. Then it had somehow morphed into an avoidance born out of maintaining the denial of her feelings for Hook. But as Storybrooke had edged into the winter months, and the holiday decorations had been put out around town, she'd started to realize that, amidst her avoidance of the pirate, he had disappeared from her life altogether.

And she'd missed him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I needed some time, and then...then I didn't know how to deal with the feelings I had for you, how to let go of my fears."

"Emma," he said with soft reproach, his face lit with a gentle smile, "you never have to fear my leaving you. I would never intentionally hurt you."

"I know," she answered, "I just needed some time to realize that." She stood on the tips of her toes and locked her arms around his neck. She leaned in to kiss him again, one hand twined through his hair. Hook returned the kiss with eagerness, his arms settling around her waist. The kiss grew deeper, more desperate, and Emma slid her other hand down to his chest, blindly attempting to unfasten the buttons on his vest.

Hook pulled away, his breath unsteady. Emma's eyes opened, and she gazed at him in confusion, thoughts muddled from the hormones surging through her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, love," he said after a moment. "It's just..." He leaned closer and whispered in her ear, "I've a better idea. Why don't you meet me here tomorrow after work. We'll have dinner and wine underneath the stars."

Emma blinked, processing this invitation. She wasn't used to taking things slow anymore. But then, her life had lacked any real romance for years. A series of one-night stands didn't compare, but perhaps she had forgotten that. Maybe she had forgotten the pleasure of anticipation, the thrill of a slow build to sexual release with a man.

"Okay." She swallowed. "But what about rum?"

"Rum, love?"

"Well...yeah," she said with a smile. "That's kind of our thing, isn't it?"

He chuckled. "Aye, that it is. All right, darling, if it's rum you want, it's rum we'll have."

"Good." She leaned in and kissed him softly. "And don't forget the mistletoe."