"Killian!" Robin waved at his friend from his seat at the Rabbit Hole's bar.

The pirate grinned at the ex-thief and the prince on his left and headed towards them.

"Don't tell me you started drinking without me," he chuckled. "David would be off to serenade her Majesty before I have even managed to 'get my buzz on' as Emma likes to put it."

"One time, Jones!" groaned David. "One time that happened."

"And you can trust me and your lovely wife to always remind you of that one precious time."

"Speaking of lovely ladies," joined Robin with a secretive smirk. "I trust you had a great night."

The man was surprised when his friend replied to his wink with a quick shake of his head.

"Sorry, mate," said Killian with a sigh. "Swan and I don't kiss and tell."

"Really?" Robin furrowed his eyebrows. "Emma doesn't seem like the type to mind sharing with friends."

"Oh, she's not, trust me," muttered Killian, scratching his ear with a sheepish look on his face. "In fact, I believe the wolf girl knows more about some of my appendages than I do."

A groan from David accompanied the end of the pirate's sentence.

"Then what's the big deal?" asked Robin at which Killian rolled his eyes and nodded towards the distressed prince.

"I'm not allowed to talk about any activities that involve me, Emma and any form of physical contact," he recited in a bored tone.

"Oooh," the ex-outlaw started nodding, before he frowned in confusion. "Well, I didn't pick you for a guy who cares what he is and isn't allowed to-"

He cut himself off mid-sentence when he felt the prince's powerful glare on him.

"Yeah, well," Killian leaned his elbows on the bar, eyeing his girlfriend's father. "I'm not. But I am a gentleman and I've never been one to boast here and there about my accomplishments in that particular area. And while everyone shares stories of this nature with his mates over a pint, I tend to agree that our particular situation is a bit… How do you say it? Tricky. And so, I'm willing to spare David."

At Robin's raised eyebrow Killian let a devious smirk slide across his features.

"When it comes only to that particular topic, of course. Rest assured I make up for it in every other possible area."

"Yeah," chimed in the blond. "He's not exaggerating."

"Well," Robin let out a light laugh, deciding that at least a dozen beers separated him from really being 'on the inside' with his new friends and that he was more than ready to start ordering those. "My apologies for the insensitive inquiry then. Let me get the next round."

As Robin headed for the other end of the bar David glanced at his daughter's boyfriend, throwing him a smile.

"Thanks," he said, barely loud enough for Killian to hear, and received a firm nod in answer.

"It's just a bit of a juggling act," continued the prince, an hesitant grin tugging at his lips. "Your best friend being your daughter's boyfriend."

Killian's head shot up at that, eyes wide with shock which slowly turned into reminiscence as he racked his brains. But no, try as he might, he could not remember ever having the honour to be called somebody's best friend. And coming from the man next to him…

"Here you go!" exclaimed Robin as he set two mugs in front of them. "Now! About that serenade."

David's head hit the counter with a loud bang, anticipating his utter humiliation. Yet, for some reason, Killian was rather merciful that night and spared Robin certain half-naked details.

David reached over, trying to catch and tug on his wife's tail. Snow turned around, her black whiskers vibrating with her warning hiss, and the blond let out a deep laugh.

"Glad to see you are already in character," he told her with a grin.

Snow answered with a purr, glancing at herself in the hall mirror one last time and rearranging her cat ears.

"You look… smashing," murmured David, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning forward to nip at her exposed neck. "Bloody smashing."

The brunette rolled her eyes, still amused at his choice of costume. She'd told herself that she wouldn't complain as long as he didn't start saving up for a boat or something.

A knock on the door forced David to reluctantly release his wife. He reached for the doorknob, the grin on his face slipping the second he turned it and saw the people on the other side.

"Alright, guys," started Emma before she had even walked in. "We dropped Neal at-"

Daughter and father stared at each other in shock, both leather-clad, with shining hooks attached to their left hands and wearing a teenage girl's year supply of eyeliner.

"Dad!" Emma threw her arms in the air, waving them around in indignation before settling them on her hips and lifting an unamused eyebrow.

"Well, I must say, I'm truly flattered," smirked Killian before turning to Snow and giving a slight bow. "Your Majesty, no leather pants for you?"

"Nah," replied Snow, gracefully twirling the skirts of her soft grey dress. "I left those to the presidents of your fanclub."

"Emma, I'm sorry but I believe it's perfectly clear which one of us is better suited for the role of a fearsome pirate captain," said David eventually, casting his daughter a half-apologetic, half-triumphant gaze.

The sheriff pursed her lips, debating whether or not to play along for awhile. But Regina was supposed to bring Henry to the Halloween party at the library in half an hour and if they started this, she knew they wouldn't finish it any time soon. Oh, well. With an almost regretful sigh, she pulled out her secret weapon.

"Killian gave me his own hook," she declared with a self-satisfied smirk worthy of the pirate himself and lifted up the metal object for David to inspect, if he so desired.

But her father was too busy gaping at his mate, betrayal written all over his face.

"W-Wh-" he turned to Snow for help but received none. "I… Well, what am I supposed to wear now?"

He threw his hands in the air, his features settling in a pout, and glared at his family.

"Come on, honey," said his wife reassuringly, as if talking to one of the kids at school, and, taking his elbow, steered him towards their bedroom. "I believe you have a Superman t-shirt in the back of your closet."

"Superman is lame," mumbled David petulantly as he followed her.

"Finally found your sword, your highness?" growled Killian as he saw the other man take a seat on the barstool on his right.

David just rolled his eyes and looked the pirate over. His hair was disheveled like he had been raking his fingers through it for days on end, his foot was tapping a nervous rhythm that was already driving the prince insane, there were bags under his eyes instead of eyeliner. And if the lack of eyeliner wasn't enough to make David worry, the way his friend flexed his hand every five seconds and then grabbed and drained his glass certainly did the trick. Killian hadn't drunk like that in quite some time.

"I must say, I expected you days ago, mate," he drawled out, trying for mocking but coming off as just plain exhausted.

"Yeah, well, you weren't my first concern," fired back the blond, making the other man flinch a little at the remainder that he himself hadn't been there for the woman they both loved so much in the last days.

"But seeing as I'm not much into comfort food, I decided to try my luck with buying you a drink. But I see you beat me to it."

David threw the bottle next to Killian's newly refilled glass a half-disapproving glance before signaling the barman to bring him a glass as well and snatching the rum from under the pirate's nose.

"You have a funny way of 'buying' me a drink," muttered the brunet but his thoughts were elsewhere. "Is everything alright?"

"Everybody's fine," replied David, reading the concern on the other's face and deciding to have some mercy and let him know that yes, Emma was fine, physically speaking.

"Aye?" rasped out Killian, suddenly feeling terribly guilty.

His friend, however, hadn't come to attend his pity party and, knocking back his drink, decided to drag him out of it too.

"Yeah, sure," he said, sarcasm starting to creep into his voice. "I mean you are mad at Emma and she is mad at you, which automatically means Henry is mad at you both and probably planning one of his operations as we speak, and the only thing Snow wants more than your head on a platter is for Emma to stop stealing all her ice-cream."

Killian couldn't help the smirk that tugged on his lips as he glanced at his friend.

"Neal's good," said David lightly. "Crawling around as if all of hell is chasing after him."

That even earned the prince an amused snort.

"I hate it when you guys do that," he sighed eventually, running a hand over his eyes and pouring himself another drink.

"I beg your pardon?" exclaimed Killian, snatching back his bottle as soon as the other man had set it down.

"People here have an expression 'between a rock and a hard place'. Heard of it?" receiving a nod, the prince went on. "Well, I'm between a savior and a pirate. Rest assured it's not much better, especially when they are both a bit dense."

"Hey!" exclaimed Killian indignantly before grinning. "I'll have you know your daughter's quite the smart lass."

"Yeah, I know, but you compensate for it."

The pirate grunted in semi-agreement.

"So…" he finally turned to face his friend, scratching nervously at his ear. "You are saying that if I come over with a handful of flower tomorrow night, there's a chance Swan won't throw them back in my face and me down the stairs?"

David hummed under his nose, swirling around in his chair and throwing the pirate a wink before he got up. A hesitant smile started to spread over Killian's face before his friend glanced back at him over his shoulder.

"Don't bring anything with thorns though. Just in case."

"Bloody hell."

"David! I've been looking all over for you," sighed Snow in a mixture of relief and exasperation as she found her husband, kneeling in front of a vending machine.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, tilting his head left and right as if trying to see where the hell his drink had gotten stuck.

"It's alright but I'm afraid I have to go home for a bit. Neal is getting hungry," she said, biting down on her lower lip. "I don't want to leave Emma but I thought that with you and Henry here… David, are you listening to me?"

Snow narrowed her eyes, watching as her husband, the deputy, stuck half his arm up inside the vending machine.

"David!"

"Yes! Yes! I'm listening, Snow!" he said, his voice cracking a bit on her name and while she thought it could be written off as annoyance – it sure as hell didn't sound like it.

"I'm talking to you about your daughter! About your daughter who is barely keeping it together right now. Your daughter who needs her father right now," the brunette ran a shaky hand through her short hair, she realized this was taking its toll on all of them. "Your daughter whose boyfriend is on the operating table right now."

"I KNOW!"

Her husband's sudden roar, accompanied by the sickening sound of his fists slamming against the machine in front of him made her jump back, eyes wide with shock. But as David rested his forehead again the cool metal surface, a heavy sigh leaving his throat, her gaze softened with understanding.

Perhaps she hadn't realized the degree to which this was taking its toll on some of them after all.

Slowly, softly, she took the five steps that separated her from her True Love and laid a hand on his rigid shoulder.

"He's going to be alright," she said, voice both soft and strong and infused with the amount of optimism that only Snow White was capable of.

"I know," muttered the prince but she knew the words did nothing to erase the feeling of helplessness raging inside of him.

His hand twitched and hit its immobile enemy once more but it lacked force and radiated frustration and anxiety and pain in a way that pulled at her heart. Of course he was restless. He couldn't fight this, he couldn't pull out his sword and slice it to pieces, he couldn't do anything but wait.

"Whale was confident he could do it," she reminded him even though she knew the fact that someone else could actually do something was a mixed blessing.

"He'd better," ground out David, causing a brief smile to pull on her lips.

"He's going to be alright," she repeated before taking a deep breath. "But right now? Your daughter needs you."

"I know," he sighed again, finally lifting his head.

But before he could straighten his shoulders all the way and put on his brave face (how she loved that brave face) Snow reached over, putting some more coins in the vending machine.

"I can stay a few more minutes," she said, patting him on the shoulder and starting for the waiting area before she stopped to glance at him over her shoulder once more. "Get it together, mate."

"Gramps, I need some help with my tie!"

Deep breaths. Deep fucking breaths. David had never been one for that 'take a breath, count to ten' crap. But today he was pretty sure that if he didn't actively remind himself to breathe he would forget to do so because, frankly, he had too many other more important things to do.

"Gramps?" Henry's voice caught his attention again and the prince focused on the crumpled, problematic tie hanging limply around his grandson's neck.

"Sorry! I'm starting to think I'm a bit in over my head here," he muttered under his breath before smiling triumphantly. "There you go! All your troubles are behind you."

"Can I help you with anything?"

"Nah, not really. Just…" David looked around before leaning towards Henry and lowering his voice to a whisper. "If you see Snow, maybe try to steer her away from me? I've bumped into her three times for the last hour and each time she somehow comes up with new things for me to do."

Henry laughed, putting his hand on the man's shoulder and nodding with his 'Operation Cobra' face firmly on.

"Got it, Gramps. But I'm afraid I bumped into her too on the way here," said the kid with a sheepish grin.

The prince let out a pitiful moan, rubbing the back of his neck and turning his gaze towards the ceiling as if to ask 'Why? Why me?!'

"What is it?" he asked with a sign of resignation before fixing Henry with a look that spelled ultimate betrayal.

"Well, good news is - you're done with the first one," the boy grinned, pointing at his tie. "The other thing was to go check on mom."

David frowned a little. He hadn't seen his daughter all day. Mostly because she had been surrounded by so many people at all times that he had thought if he too went into her room , they might all suffocate. And then there was the fact that as best man he had decided to leave the bride to everyone else and focus on the groom.

"But I was just-" he started, pointing towards the door behind which he was pretty sure the half of the couple of the day that he was responsible for was having his own issues with his tie.

"I got Killian covered. Trust me."

As much as the prince appreciated Henry's enthusiasm and confidence, eyeing the boy's own tie, he had to disagree.

"Look, Grandma said mom kicked everyone out of her room and she refuses to let them back in," barged on Henry, his eyes beginning to shine with the anxiety he has been trying to hide.

Frowning at this new piece of information, David's thoughts immediately focused on his girl and with one last glance towards the door in front of him he decided that Killian will survive without him for another fifteen minutes. He had done so for over 300 years. So, nodding at his grandson with a reassuring smile, he made his way towards the room that no man had been allowed in today.

"Mom, just give me a few minutes, ok?!" came his daughter's frustrated reply upon his knock on her door.

"It's me," he called out.

There was a slight pause but before the hope inside him had time to blossom Emma's voice cut the air once more.

"Fine. Dad, just give me a few minutes, ok?!"

Despite the way she said it, he knew the sheriff wasn't asking for permission, she was ordering him away. He couldn't help the grin that tugged on his lips at her authoritative voice but the worry churning in his stomach didn't let his smile grow. He had to get inside that room. Suddenly, he realized just how badly he needed to see his little girl.

"Killian had a heart attack," the words were out of his mouth before David could even think about what he was saying and his own eyes grew in shock as he heard them reverberate against the locked door.

The door which flew open so fast he was absolutely sure Emma had used magic. And soon enough the bride herself was standing before him, eyes wild with pure panic.

"Wh-" before Emma could even gasp out her question, her father hurriedly cut her off.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" he exclaimed, raising his arms in defence.

"You're kidding?!" and just like that the panic was replace with fury.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I just needed you to open the door so…" he trailed of helplessly, looking anywhere but at his daughter.

"So you decided to tell me my fiancé was dying?"

It might have been wishful thinking on his part but David was almost sure that Emma's disbelief was so strong she was close to amused. In the next moment, her eyes narrowed dangerously. Alright, maybe amused was a bit of a stretch. But then she moved back into the room, leaving the door open for him to enter, so he decided that she wouldn't be turning him into a toad right this second.

"You alright?" he asked tentatively as he stepped inside.

"Aside from the mini-heart attack I just had?" replied the blonde, throwing him a dirty look. "Peachy."

David walked around the room for a few seconds, hoping that Emma would speak up again, open up to him… something. But the chances of that happening looked close to zero.

"Cold feet?" he asked eventually, trying to sounds as nonchalant as possible while he watched his daughter check her hair in the mirror.

She was beautiful. Absolutely stunning. His little girl. Only she had never been his little girl.

Emma's snort interrupted the melancholy road his thought had started on.

"No," she said, turning around to look at him with an almost awed look on her face and the tiniest grin. "And trust me, that is still quite a shock to me."

David's own lips quirked upwards in response.

"Good. Because that would have put me in quite the position," he said, making Emma's eyebrow rise in question.

"Well, as your father, I would have had to tell you how you just had to say the word and I would help you fight your way out of here and right into Mexico," Emma's giggles interrupted him for a moment. "Or, more likely, help you run Killian out of here and right into Mexico."

At this point Emma was full out laughing and warning him that he would be the one explaining her ruined make-up to Snow.

"But see as your fiancé's best man," continued David with a sly grin. "I guess I would have had to tell you how you would be crazy to let such a dashing fella get away."

"Yeah, I can see that happening," said Emma with a wicked smile, sarcasm dripping off her words.

"If I have to be honest though," David's voice became a little softer as his expression turned serious. "I would have told you how you both would have to be blind, dump and stupid as hell to give up now."

Emma looked down, biting on her lower lip, mouth still turned upwards with the happiness she couldn't, and didn't want to, shake off, before she returned her father's gaze.

"I know," she replied, just as softly, moving forward to wrap David in a tight hug, wedding dress be damned. "Thank you!"

"So you are alright?"

"Yeeesss! I'm not having a wedding!moment, I'm having an Emma!moment. Mom and Ruby were just driving me crazy with all the make-up and hairstyling and not letting me out of their side for longer than it takes to pee. I just…" Emma sighed in exasperation, glancing around a bit guiltily. "I wanted to get rid of them for a bit, ok?"

David let out a laugh, drawing his girl to him for another hug before he kissed her temple and started towards the door.

"Alright, honey. Keep it together, when I come back to get you, you'll be walking down the aisle."

"Are you trying to make me panic?" laughed Emma, giving him a shove.

"Nah," a devious grin appeared on David's face. "See? I'm even going to go drag back your groom and convince him that this isn't 'the worst bloody idea' he's ever had."

"You're hilarious, Dad! And if he did say that, his wedding night will consists of plenty of bologna and being tied up." yelled Emma at the closing door. "And not in a good way!"