A little something inspired by that scene in 3x14. Such an amazing episode, I hope I do this some justice.

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If I Gave You the Truth (would you keep it alive?)

…

It only takes her a few hours before she rounds on him again. He's honestly surprised she lasted that long. But then again, she has a responsibility as a mother and he knows how much she wants to protect her son. So once Henry is asleep for the evening, she finds him aboard his ship, shutting the door to the Captain's Quarters behind her as she enters.

"The truth, now."

He huffs out a breath of a chuckle before realising she's serious, sitting up from his reclined position on his bed and meeting her gaze, "Hmm, perhaps it is you who is the demanding one."

Rolling her eyes, she suppresses the urge to bite back at his remark, "You know I can tell when you're lying. I'm giving you a chance here, Hook."

"Ah, back to Hook then?"

The sentence has barely left his mouth before she is correcting herself, "Killian." She wants to give him every reason to give her an answer and, honestly, his name on her lips feels right. Whatever that means.

He smiles, "Come sit, love. Have a drink." Standing and pulling out a chair for her with his hook (which is a move that doesn't get by her), his fingers curl around two pewter steins, offering one to her and uncorking a bottle of his finest rum.

She accepts her drink, unable to stop herself from associating the smell of the spiced alcohol with some kind of weird comfort. They clink their cups and sip while Emma tells herself over and over that she's here to be mad at him, not to get drunk with him.

"You're going to have to tell me at some point, you know?"

"Emma," he warns, "can we not simply enjoy each other's company?"

His eyes are warm, but hold a hint of menace and she sees a part of his pirate persona she hasn't in a long while, "We can. We are."

"Good," he mutters and Emma gets the impression that he knows just how not alone she's leaving this topic of conversation tonight.

In all fairness, she does let him enjoy a good few mouthfuls of his drink before trying a different tactic. Her hand slides across the table, coming to touch against his, tentatively unwrapping his fingers from his stein and linking hers through his.

He frowns slightly at her movements, eyes caught up in the way her thumb brushes his skin, "What are you…"

"Shh," she hushes, "you know what I'm doing."

And he does. With everything inside of his heart, he understands precisely what she is doing, "You trust me, darling?"

Her eyes, which have been resolutely focussed on his hand, finally glance up to meet his, "I want to."

He raises their joined fingers to his lips, pressing kisses across her knuckles and trying to tell himself to not be so concerned by how cold her skin is. She can take care of herself, even if he would prefer that she allow him in past her armour. Still, he wishes he had warmer surrounds for her, a fireplace and blankets.

"You must. I won't hurt you, Emma."

She stills under his simple caresses, unsure how to proceed. There is a definite desire within her to stop questioning him and let him tell her in his own time, but there is also a conflict within her that shouts that she still can't take that chance that she's wrong about him.

"I think I know that."

He smiles knowingly, "But…?"

And she returns the smile, "But I look at you and I see something different to any other person I've ever known in my life. You are unabashedly and completely true to yourself."

His breath tickles her palm as he chuckles and continues kissing his way across her hand, "You're not saying bad things, love."

She pulls her hand away and he frowns. "Hook," she says it deliberately, drawing his attention to her eyes, "I can see it in you, that you're different. But betrayal of my trust makes you just like the others and…" she pauses, blinking and averting her gaze, swallowing hard and Killian knows there are intense emotions at play right now, "And I need you to be the exception to the rule. I just need you to be."

His hand fiddles with his hook restlessly on the tabletop in the absence of hers to touch and his voice is strained as he pleads with her once more, "Emma..."

But her voice cuts over his, "Please, Killian. Please."

And he is powerless, slamming his closed fist down on the table hard enough that their steins jump. "Dammit," he utters, ignoring her slight flinch at his tone, knowing he has lost and must tell her the truth, "I was failing at finding you."

She frowns because she can see the honesty in his statement, but it's completely not what she was expecting. His silence had suggested betrayal, but his words express loyalty. "What?" she breathes.

"I spent a day fooling myself into thinking the hole in my heart could be filled by finding my ship and every day after that trying to find the one thing that could actually fix me. But the realms are interconnected in such a way now that this world is near impossible to find. It was once so easy, Swan, to find my way back to you, but alas, I almost failed you in this instance."

"But you didn't." She realises she's relieved by his confession and a thought crosses her mind, "Why did you try to hide this? It isn't bad."

He sighs, leaning forward in his chair, "Because I saw you in New York, in love," the way he says it is with such disdain. "If you were capable of finding and feeling love for another then, logic would suggest, you are able to love me if you wish it. But as you are still refuting my advances, it simply may be time to admit defeat. I was merely being respectful of your wishes."

Emma frowns at his logic, unsure if she should be mad at him for making assumptions about her heart without more evidence, or if she should be thanking him for giving her the space she needs.

In the end, she leans forward too, reaching out to take his hand again, the movement speaking for her in many ways.

"We need to stick together, okay? We need to be honest with each other." The pirate nods in agreement, his eyes finally clear of the lies Emma had seen earlier. She has to admit, she much prefers when they're on the same page. The realisation of what they are becoming doesn't scare her half as much as she thought it would, instead finding that she's happy to have someone on her side, fighting with her no matter what. It oddly feels how she imagines her parents always feel.

His voice is rough with emotion when he speaks next, "In the spirit of honesty then, I feel I should tell you that I had hoped we would have had more fun by now."

She smiles despite herself, because for all the gentleman that he is, he's also still very much a pirate. Something she finds that she doesn't actually mind as much as she once thought she would.

The battles are still long before them, but clearing the air with this one person makes everything seem that little bit more manageable. She leans in a fraction further, letting their foreheads rest against each other's and, in the end, it feels right to let her lips touch his just briefly.

He gasps and she captures his bottom lip between hers, simple and quick. When she pulls back, they continue drinking like nothing has happened while knowing everything has changed.

There is a promise lingering between them now, something more than a year of longing and pain, something more than distant memory of trust, something tangible and real and true.