A/N: Hi! I'm back from vacation and ready to write again! I really missed you all so I hope at least some of you are pleased that I'm starting a new story. This idea came from Apenforaprincess who sent me a lovely suggestion after The Absence of You ended. I know this isn't exactly what you suggested but I hope it is still enjoyable for you and anyone else who decides to read the story. I'm really excited about it!

Disclaimer: All aspects of Once Upon A Time belongs to ABC and the show's creators, Adam and Eddie.

"Emma, please?" Mary Margaret whined, sliding closer on the couch so she hung off Emma's shoulder like some sort of wet facecloth. Sure, Mary Margaret was a graceful wet facecloth but it was still irritating to Emma who wanted to talk about anything but her non-existent love life.

"I'm quite content with my life the way it is, thanks ever so much." Emma tried to put some space between them, shifting against the couch's arm. She had absolutely no desire to go along with the scheme her best friends had come up. "Help me out, David," she called over her shoulder towards the kitchen.

David came out, shaking his head, blond hair flopping into his eyes at the movement. He handed Emma her tea then raked the hair back into place. "Considering this answer determines whether I sleep on the couch or with my beautiful wife I'm going to have to say no. You're on your own, Emma."

Emma huffed. Of course David would side with Mary Margaret. He had married Mary Margaret two years previously, just after graduating from college. They were so compatible with each other that it sometimes made Emma wonder how she'd even become connected with the two. She wasn't exactly the best at love, which was proudly placed at the top of both Mary Margaret and David's enviable skill lists.

"Traitor!" Emma shot back. David was usually on her side when it came to Mary Margaret playing matchmaker because he was Emma's partner at work and had to spend all day with her. A cranky Emma was no fun. Of course Mary Margaret had never been this insistent before and she may or may not have been lording something over her husband to ensure his compliance.

"Hey, I married her," David answered easily. "It's written in a clause that I agree with her. And anyways, Emma, would it kill you to go on a date every once and a while?"

"Yes," Emma replied petulantly, clearly outnumbered and sensing defeat. She took a sip of her tea and glared at the yellow wall of the Nolan's loft's living room.

She didn't want to date because she didn't want everything that came with a relationship. They were too much work. Too much risk. With a stable job in a career field she loved and friends who kept her from being a complete hermit when she had time off, what more did she need? As long as she was comfortable and safe things really didn't need to change. Emma had spent enough time living in a state of constant flux to have developed a distaste for it.

"Come on Emma! The guy sounds lovely," Mary Margaret wheedled, leaning in closer still.

"Because you can read his personality from a screen name?" Emma drawled, unimpressed. The two had had this argument at least ten times this week, ever since Mary Margaret had spilled the beans on her and Emma's other best friend Ruby's little plan to get Emma back into the dating world. They had created a profile on some online dating site without her knowledge a few months previously and had been searching for a match since then. Apparently they had just recently found one they deemed suitable. Mary Margaret looked sheepish, ducking her head slightly at the comment.

"We'll no, but at least he didn't call himself Modern Day Adonis or something equally as ego stoking." Mary Margaret tilted up the iPad and entered her password to make the screen light up. She scanned the paragraph of whoever she was planning on being Emma's Prince Charming before turning back, eyes aglow. "The guy goes by Atlantic Captain. It says he's a marine biologist working on a fishing trawler, aged 24. Loves the ocean and is looking for a woman just like the sea - a force of nature to be reckoned with but beautiful all the same."

Emma rolled her eyes while Mary Margaret swooned over the passage. Emma saw right through the flowery words. People didn't talk like that anymore- especially not men looking for a hookup online. Mary Margaret seemed to romanticize the idea of online dating but Emma didn't buy the sentiment. It
sounded too much like a passage from the inside of a Hallmark card.

Life wasn't a rom-com. It was cold and hard and anything but fair. People threw you away like trash and never looked back. People served a purpose and then, when said job was done they were as useless as a dirty Kleenex and treated as such. Emma knew that quite well.

"Does he even have a picture?" What did this most likely fictitious person look like? Emma figured the image was probably just a random headshot from last month's GQ.

Mary Margaret looked back at the iPad and cringed. "Well you can't see his face. It is the back of his head, I think. It's out on the ocean." She held up the screen to show Emma.

The back of the man's head was dark and shadowed, hair dishevelled from the ocean wind as he looked out at the water. He wore a bright orange and emerald green rain slicker, the orange hood matching the sky he faced as the sun set. The warm hues of the sky blended together like oil pastels and contrasted with the black churning ocean stretching out in front of him. Emma had to admit- the picture was gorgeous. The complementary sentiment towards Atlantic Captain didn't sit we'll with her.

"That's probably a stock image he got of Google. The guy is probably some wannabe Hugh Hefner looking for some lonely woman to get off on."

"There's one way to find out," Mary Margaret replied cheerfully, ignoring the crudeness of Emma's prior statement. "You've got a date with him on Friday!"

Emma froze, feeling cornered. The urge to fight her way out like a coyote with its leg caught in a bear trap only dampened by the hopeful look on Mary Margaret's face. "What? How?" Emma's voice was breathless as she processed Mary Margaret's words.

"Ruby and I thought he would be a perfect choice so we emailed him a few days ago as you, Sheriff Swan." Emma couldn't even begin too express what she thought of her own screen name, especially since she hadn't earned the title yet, but at this point semantics really weren't at the top of her priority list of things to worry about. "That night he replied saying that he was at sea but they were making a stop for the night in Storybrooke to refuel and he'd love to meet you. He said to meet him at The Harbour Light Restaurant at seven. There will be a reservation under the name of Jones." Mary Margaret passed her a small Post-It note with the same information written across it in Ruby's scratchy handwriting.

Emma sighed and considered the offer as she fiddled with the piece of paper in her hands. If things didn't work out at least the guy was only there for a night before going back out to sea. It wasn't as if she would run into him out on the ocean after the dates do have to make awkward conversation. One night wasn't any form of commitment. Emma could do one night to get her friends off her back. "At least tell me who he thinks I am," Emma said as way of consent.

Mary Margaret squealed happily and launched herself at Emma, enveloping her in a hug while David laughed beside her, completely surprised. Emma wriggled out of her friend's grasp, playing off Mary Margaret's excitement as if her agreeing to go on a date was no big deal. Even though it was. This was the first date Emma had agreed to go on since her second year of college when Neal turned her
life upside down and reminded her that she was never meant to have someone. She didn't exactly share Mary Margaret's excitement at the prospect of potentially repeating that.

"Thank you, Emma!" She reached over and hugged Emma tightly again. "All he knows is that you live in Storybrooke and work as a police officer." Her voice became gentler at Emma's nervous look, which she noticed when she pulled back. "We didn't say anything about your childhood, Emma. That's your story to tell if you deem this guy worthy. We just wanted you to have company again. It's been so long, Emma, and you deserve it. More than anyone."

"You're just saying that because you already found your Prince Charming." She glanced at David, lounging in the chair as he followed the conversation. A smile pulled at his lips and he winked at Emma.

"The world has room for two happy couples." Mary Margaret answered easily, smiling widely at her husband. "You can have our status too."

Emma shrugged, disbelieving. She hoped the movement would pass for one of mild agreement though, to keep from upsetting Mary Margaret. Because that had been news to her.