A/N: Captain Swan AU. Got struck by inspiration out of the blue. My first Captain Swan fic, let me know how I did! Enjoy!
"Ugh, do I have to Swan?" Killian complained.
"Yes, Jones, you do," Emma sighed, practically shoving him out the car door and yanking her keys out of the ignition. They were an unlikely pair of friends, with striking differences, but they were always able to get past them.
"You know, I'm surprised you haven't already done this," Emma continued.
"I never had to until now!"
"Get over it, Jones, I got my wisdom teeth pulled years ago. Now stop being a wimp." She reached into the backseat to grab a book that would keep her entertained while she waited for him.
"Fine," Killian said, making his way inside the dentist's office building. Emma followed him in, taking a seat in and uncomfortable waiting room chair. It was another ten minutes until they heard his name called.
"Killian Jones?"
Killian scowled, and Emma smirked as he got up to follow the dentist.
"Have fun," she called after him.
"Who is in charge of bringing Mr. Jones home?" the receptionist asked the room. Only a few people were scattered around the room, reading magazines or books. Emma stood up.
"That would be me," she said.
"You can head back to retrieve him. Room 204."
Emma nodded, about to go through the door, when Killian nearly collided with her.
"Emma!" he cried, far too happily. The word came out funny because of the cotton stuffed in his mouth.
"Oh, lord," she said. Yeah, she kind of figured those anesthetics would get to him. The dentist came up behind him and handed her a bottle.
"Pain medication. Give him two every eight hours," he said. "Good luck."
"I'm gonna need it," she said, glancing at her friend, who was grinning at her ridiculously. "Come on, Jones." She grabbed his forearm and dragged him outside.
Once she got him in the car and buckled up, she got in the driver's seat and stopped for a moment. She glanced at Killian and smiled wickedly, taking out her phone and snapping a couple of pictures of the ridiculous smile on his face. With his twinkling eyes and cotton-stuffed cheeks, he resembled a squirrel. She was definitely saving that for future blackmail. Then she drove off.
The drive was silent at first. Killian was playing with her hair with a dazed look on his face. Emma ignored him and kept her eyes on the road.
"Swan?"
"Yeah Jones?"
"Did you know that I'm actually a pirate?"
"I'm sorry, what?" Emma snorted.
"Yes, I'm Captain Hook."
"From Peter Pan?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
"Also, Peter Pan is kind of an asshole."
"Um…okay," Emma nodded. "That's nice, Jones."
"My name is Captain Hook!" he protested.
"Right, sorry. That's nice…Hook," Emma corrected herself, holding back a bit of laughter.
"And you're a princess," Killian continued. "Princess Emma. Preeetty pretty Princess…"
Emma gave him a weird look. "I'm a princess?"
"Of course you are!"
"Right. Of course." She pulled up to the curb in front of her New York apartment, where Killian would be staying the night so she could keep an eye on him.
"And we went on an adventure and I saved you from the bad guy."
"Well that was very noble of you, Captain Hook," Emma smirked, unbuckling herself. Then she reached over and unbuckled Killian as well. "Which bad guy did you save me from?"
"Neal."
Emma froze, staring at him. Neal was her ex-boyfriend – her abusive ex-boyfriend.
She had tried to break it off with Neal dozens of times, but he would never let her. So she kept living a life of threats, secrets, and hidden scars until Killian came along. Barging into her apartment with his uncanny timing, he caught Neal hitting her, who drunk off his ass, and immediately proceeded to punch his lights out and comfort a crying Emma, not after calling the cops of course.
"You saved me from Neal?" she choked out, her voice raspy. She cleared her throat.
"Yes. He tried to take you away from me," Killian replied matter-of-factly, oblivious to his best friend's change in tone. He continued. "Because you are a princess, that is. You were supposed to marry him for the kingdom. But you ran away with me to get away from him. And he kidnapped you so he could have you back but I saved you." He looked at her dreamily and poked her face. She just stared at him.
"Why did you save me?" she asked. "I thought you were a pirate."
"Because I love you," he said casually.
"You love me?" Emma repeated blankly, the words barely coming out as more than a whisper. Her heart picked up pace, and she continued to stare.
"Duh," Killian replied, bopping her on the nose. "Silly goose."
Emma couldn't sleep, it was simple as that. She rubbed her eyes tiredly – she couldn't help it, she just kept tossing and turning, thinking about the things Killian said and what they had meant.
Because I love you echoed in her head again. Four simple words, but they had such an impact on her.
She gave up trying to sleep when she glanced at the clock and realized it was three in the morning. So she laid there for hours, staring at the ceiling, doing nothing but thinking. And finally, she came to terms with why those four words made her heart race so furiously.
"I love him," she said into the quiet of the darkness. "Oh my god, I love him." She repeated the words again, hardly believing them as they came out of her mouth. She grabbed a pillow from beside her and buried her face in it so her loud groan couldn't be heard.
"Stupid heart, stupid feelings," she muttered into the pillow as she finally drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Emma woke up and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast, yawning as she did so. Killian was still on the couch sleeping when she walked in. She took out a few pots and pans and started making scrambled eggs, hoping Killian would be able to eat them with his pained mouth.
A groan from the couch alerted her that he was awake.
"Morning, Jones. How's your mouth?"
"It hurts," he complained, sitting up and stretching. "It hurts a lot."
"Your pain meds are over here on the counter," she said. "You think you can manage to eat some of these eggs?"
"Maybe," he said, getting up and walking over to the counter. "How many did he say to take?"
"Two every eight hours," she said, handing him the pill bottle and pouring him a glass of water. He downed the pills quickly, wincing slightly.
"Yeah, that hurts."
"Tough it out," Emma said, rolling her eyes.
"So, Swan," Killian said, leaning his back against the counter and crossing his arms. "Did I do anything embarrassing yesterday? Loopy on anesthetics?"
"What, is it all a blur to you?" Emma asked, trying to be nonchalant and keep the awkward note out of her voice. However, Killian noticed the slight color creeping into her cheeks. His eyes widened slightly.
"What did I do?" he demanded, standing up straight and uncrossing his arms.
"Nothing."
"You know you can't lie to me, Swan. What did I do, love?"
She sighed. "It wasn't so much what you did as what you said."
"What did I say then?"
"You went on and on about how you were a pirate. You said you were Captain Hook," she told him. He narrowed his eyes.
"You're not telling me everything."
"You also might have mentioned that I was a princess." Emma blushed furiously.
"Darling, when does the embarrassing part happen?"
"I don't know, I thought the Captain Hook thing was pretty far out there…"
"Stop trying to change the subject, Swan."
"You said that I was a princess and you were Captain Hook. And I ran away with you to live a life of adventure and escape my engagement to my fiancé Neal. Then Neal kidnapped me and you rescued me."
"Oh," he said. "I'm sorry, Emma…" He knew that she didn't like to talk about Neal. His hatred for the guy must have come out to play while he was under the influence.
"It's fine," she said quickly, shaking her head.
"Wait, what else did I say?"
Emma stopped what she was doing and looked him in the eye. He was staring down at her, confused and apologetic.
"I asked you why you saved me from him, if you were a pirate," she said, shifting uncomfortably. "And you said, 'Because I love you.'"
His eyes widened and his face reddened.
"Listen, Swan…"
"Killian," she interrupted him. He froze at the use of his name. She had never called him Killian, only Jones.
"Yes, Emma?" he asked quietly.
"I love you too, you idiot," she said, staring at her feet.
A huge smile made its way across his face, utter joy shining in his eyes. He ducked down and kissed her fiercely, his hands cupping her face with gentle care. Emma was caught off guard, but responded with equal intensity after a moment. Her hands threaded in his hair, fingernails running across his scalp.
They pulled back, breathing heavily, and Killian leaned his forehead against Emma's, smiling like she had never seen before.
"You want to repeat that, love?" he asked smugly. She smiled back, biting her lip.
"Shut up and kiss me, Jones."
"As you wish."