Emma's footsteps echoed through the hallway as she left the courtroom at a consistent, brisk pace. When she was halfway to the exit, she heard the sound of someone running behind her. She picked up the pace slightly and grimaced.
"Come on, Swan. Don't be like that."
When she realized she could not outpace the man behind her, she swiveled on her left heel and found Killian Jones standing two feet away from her, panting slightly. He had already loosened his tie and undone the top button on his shirt.
"What do you want?"
"I just wanted to say you did well. Is that a crime?"
"Hmm. Let me think about it," Emma responded, tilting her head slightly to the right and looking pensively up and down the man in front of her. She certainly didn't mind the perusal. When she reached his face, she noted that he seemed amused as well. Straightening again, Emma finished, "I'm sure I can find a reason to prosecute you."
"Why, Miss Swan," Killian responded, moving forward slowly, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you just wanted to see me with a pair of handcuffs."
Before Emma gave herself a moment to picture what Killian might do with those, she said, "Good thing you know me then."
With that, she turned back around and headed toward the exit. This time, the footsteps didn't sound behind her.
"Swan," Killian said loudly as Emma continued walking with a confident clack-clack of her heels on the white marble. "It's bad form to walk away from someone in the middle of a conversation. I thought we were getting somewhere."
Emma was glad that she was walking away from Killian. That way, she knew he couldn't see the small smile and slight flush that she felt on her face. Later, she would attribute the flush to the sudden chilly wind that hit her as she left the warm building and faced the winter weather. The smile, however, she couldn't explain – at least not in a way that she liked.
"Do we have to do this?"
"Emma, you don't have to go if you don't want to. I mean – of course I want my best friend and roommate to join me on the outing we have been discussing for weeks, but I won't force you to go."
Emma sighed and picked her head up off the bed that she had flung herself onto only moments earlier. Elsa was leaning against the doorway.
"I know," Emma said, sitting back up. "I've just had a rough day. I'm tired."
Elsa walked across the room and sat on Emma's bed next to her. She picked Emma's hand up off of her thigh and gave it a quick squeeze.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Elsa asked, her blue eyes showing concern.
"It was just that case with that Mr. Gold guy. Ugh. He's so creepy. I just know he stole that golden apple from Regina Mills."
"Did you lose the case?" Elsa asked. After seeing the look on her friend's face, she hugged her and said, "Oh, Emma. I am so sorry. I know you worked hard on this case."
"I would have won too if Mr. Gold hadn't hired Killian. He is just so- so- so-"
"So what?"
"So… good," Emma huffed.
"Well, think of this night as a way to distract yourself. Come on," Elsa said, pulling her friend off the bed. "What are you going to wear tonight? The pink dress?"
"I'll probably go with the black dress, tights, and my red jacket."
"I'm going to wear my blue dress – the one with the long sleeves and beading. Do you think Liam will like it?"
"Of course he will," Emma replied, "He always says you look stunning no matter what you are wearing."
A faint blush spread across Elsa's alabaster skin. She and Liam had been dating for six months. They met at a company mixer and had been together ever since.
Elsa's phone rang suddenly, and she pulled it from her pocket.
"It's Anna. We are leaving at 7:00," Elsa reminded Emma as she left the room to take the call.
Emma paused a moment before following Elsa out of her room. While Elsa remained in their shared living room, Emma instead left the apartment. She had two hours until she had to leave, so she decided to go for a walk to clear her mind. There was one face in particular that she couldn't get out of her head. Yet, when she returned from her walk 30 minutes later, the face was still there. The gorgeous, piercing blue eyes still peeked out of her imagination and seemed to peer into her soul.
A double date. Why in the world had Emma agreed to do this? She sighed as she stepped out of the taxi. She knew why. Elsa had begged her. She had always wanted to go on a double date, but she never had the opportunity to do so.
"A pub?" Emma asked skeptically. "Really?"
"Emma, this will be fun. I promise."
With another sigh, Emma followed her friend through the door, which proclaimed in bold green lettering that the name of the pub was "Neverland." Her eyes took a moment to adjust, but once they did she saw a bar to her right, four booths to her left, and a pool table in front of her. There were only a few people in the pub since it was a Thursday night. She had the sense that this type of pub would be quite popular on weekends. Following Elsa, Emma found herself behind the pool table heading toward two men who were playing darts.
"Seriously?" she heard Liam ask the man next to him when they were only a few steps away, "You could not have been this good at darts the last time I saw you, Killian."
Emma squeaked incredulously, "Killian?"
The dart flew from Killian's hand and hit the wall about one foot to the right of the dartboard. He swung around, and Emma saw her shock at his presence mirrored in his face. Meanwhile, Emma could see Liam bent over laughing out of the corner of her eye.
"A whole foot! Elsa, sweetheart, did you see that?" Liam asked. When his full-bodied laughter turned to mere chuckles, he stood to his full height and gave Elsa a quick kiss. "You look absolutely stunning."
Elsa's cheeks reddened while Killian and Emma continued to stare at each other. It was Killian who finally broke the silence.
"Swan, what are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?"
Liam stepped between the confused pair and pointed to each of them as he said, "Killian, Emma. Emma, this is my brother, Killian, who apparently isn't as good at throwing darts when you are around. The four of us should go out more often if that's a trend."
"Elsa, did you know about this?" Emma asked, spinning to look at her friend.
"I knew his name was Killian, but I didn't know he was your Killian."
"Your Killian, eh?" the man in question said slyly, drawing Emma's attention back to him.
"The only thing you are is a pain in my ass."
"Is that so?" Killian responded cheekily with his right eyebrow raised.
"I take it you two already know each other?" Liam asked.
"Yes. She's only mad because I beat her in a case this morning. That one with Mr. Gold that I was telling you about?" Killian responded.
"Oh right. So this is that Emma?"
Emma looked at the two men as an unspoken knowledge seemed to pass between them. Honestly, how could things have turned out this way? This night was supposed to be her way of forgetting the day – forgetting Killian. Yet, here he was. Apparently, this man was supposed to be her date for the evening.
Deflated, Emma sighed, "I need a moment."
She headed toward the bathroom and heard Elsa's steps behind her.
"Emma, are you alright?" Elsa asked when they were alone.
"Not really. This was supposed to be a fun night," Emma groaned. "What am I supposed to do now? I just – I don't know what to do with him."
"Emma, just because it's Killian doesn't mean you will have a terrible night. Remember, there are four of us here. It's not like you two will be alone."
"I guess. You're lucky you are the best friend in the whole world. Anything less, and I would walk right back out that front door."
Elsa gave her friend a hug and a quick smile before leading her out of the bathroom.
The Jones brothers had gone back to their darts game while the roommates had their talk. When Liam spotted the women, she shouted, "Emma, get over here. I need your help to beat him."
"Be careful what you ask for, Liam," Elsa said, stepping next to her boyfriend. "If you let her stay near the darts board for too long, she will beat both of you."
"Strong words," Killian noted, bringing the dart back down to his side and turning to Emma. "Think you can follow through?"
"You couldn't handle it," Emma said, sauntering toward Killian.
"Perhaps you're the one who couldn't handle it."
Emma put her hand on Killian's right shoulder and slid it down his arm until it reached his hand. She eased the dart from his grip.
"I guess we'll just have to see."
One hour later, it was clear that Emma was the best darts player in the group. She beat Elsa and Liam easily, but Killian had proved a little trickier. Throughout the game, the leader switched numerous times. Killian challenged Emma to a rematch, but before they started Liam insisted that they get some food.
Given the nature of the evening, Liam and Elsa sat on one side of the booth while Killian and Emma found themselves sitting next to each other across from them. Emma tried her best to ignore the heat she felt climbing up the left side of her body. Every time they touched, her skin tingled, and it seemed like they just kept touching on accident. Killian would lean over Emma to get to the pitcher of beer or drop his napkin between them. Granted, the booth was small, but Emma found herself much happier about those brief moments than she supposed she should have been.
When dinner ended, Liam asked the group if they wanted to play pool. Elsa quietly pulled Emma aside before the game and asked her if she wanted the teams to be split by gender. Emma knew Elsa wanted to be on a team with her boyfriend, so she told her she would be fine with being on a team with Killian. Emma even almost convinced herself that that was the reason she was fine with how the teams were divided.
Elsa walked over to Liam, who passed her a pool cue before placing his arm around her and whispering in her ear. Emma sauntered over to her own teammate.
"You ready, Swan? I hope you are as good at pool as you are at darts. We'll win in no time."
"Killian, I have to tell you something," Emma paused and looked down as she felt Killian's eyes search her face. "I'm really bad at pool."
"Oh, no worries, Swan. I can teach you. I thought you were going to say you wanted to switch partners or something."
"I'm fine," Emma said, turning toward the table in order to keep herself from meeting his eyes. She was worried about what she might find in their depths.
"You two ready?" Liam asked.
After a coin toss, Liam made the break. Killian went next. Apparently, he was quite good at billiards. He sunk three striped balls before barely missing the pocket for a fourth. Elsa was able to sink one ball, but no one really knew if it was luck or simply a skill no one knew she had. After scratching on her next shot, though, the other members of the group knew that it had merely been a fluke. Finally, it was Emma's turn. She held the cue like she had seen the others do.
"Want some help, Swan? There is no way you are hitting a ball with that stance," Killian stated.
"I got this," Emma said. She pushed the cue with her right hand. She didn't even make contact. The cue sailed over the top of the ball.
"How about now?" Killian asked as Liam tried to cover his laughs with coughs.
"Fine."
Killian stepped behind Emma, and suddenly her mind went blank. Her back warmed from his body heat, and she felt tingles spread throughout her body.
"So you have to place your right hand here and look right there. Keep your left hand steady."
Emma let Killian move her. She wasn't sure she could have stopped him if she wanted to. The fact was, regardless of all of her previous hatred of him, she couldn't seem to sense that emotion. They were having fun. Their arguments had turned into friendly – and even flirty at times – banter. Emma didn't know what was happening. Perhaps most surprising of all was that when Emma somehow managed to follow Killian's instructions, she actually hit the cue ball, and that ball hit another ball. She didn't manage to get it into a pocket, but she didn't miss the ball completely at least.
Throwing her arms in the air in celebration, Emma swiveled and hugged Killian. He wrapped his arms around her tightly. When the excitement faded, Emma realized what she had done. Then she realized Killian had hugged her back. Her head was pressed against his shoulder, so she slowly lifted it to look at him. Scared to break the silence, she just looked into his eyes. After what could have been two seconds or an eternity, Emma heard Liam clear his throat. Emma quickly backed away from Killian. When she hit the pool table, she swung back around and saw Liam and Elsa looking at her from the other side. Elsa was smiling. Emma moved to her side as Liam prepared to take his next shot.
"What?" Emma finally asked after a few moments.
"Nothing. I just thought you didn't like him."
"I don't."
"Well, if that's how you hug guys you dislike, I must really dislike Liam. Killian is the only guy you ever talk about. I thought you were just too busy to meet anyone else, but clearly I was wrong."
"What are you talking about Elsa?" Emma asked as Liam accidentally hit the cue ball into a pocket. Killian picked up the ball and began planning his next shot.
"You know what I am talking about. You like him," Elsa whispered conspiratorially.
"What?" Emma gasped.
"Emma, don't act like you don't know. You have been staring at him for the entirety of this conversation."
Emma tore her eyes from Killian's arms and said, "I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Of course you don't."
After a few moments of silence, Elsa said, "By the way, I was thinking of going back to Liam's apartment tonight. Would that be alright?"
"Of course. I'll just grab a taxi."
"Wonderful! Thank you," Elsa responded just before she left Emma to take her next shot.
Killian and Emma won the game. Truthfully, Killian won the game for both of them since he rapidly shot the balls into the pockets one after the other. Emma was ecstatic, though, because she managed to sink one ball.
Soon after the game, Liam announced that he was ready to leave. Emma knew it was time to go as well, considering the fact that she had to go to work the next day. Nonetheless, she was sad to see the evening come to a close.
The group headed outside in order to grab taxis. Emma immediately wrapped her arms around herself in the wintery wind.
Killian turned to Emma and asked, "Do you want to wait inside until after Liam and Elsa catch a cab?"
"Sure," Emma responded, knowing there was no point in all four of them waiting out in the cold. "Elsa, want to join us?"
Elsa responded, "I'm fine out here. The cold doesn't bother me."
After giving her friend a quick hug, Emma rushed back inside. She sighed with pleasure as soon as she felt the warmth of the pub.
"Where are you headed, Emma?" Killian asked.
"I'm going back to my apartment in Chelsea."
"Would you care to go together? My apartment is in that direction as well."
"Sure," Emma replied. "As long as you don't mind."
"Not at all."
20 minutes later, Emma and Killian arrived at Emma's apartment. Killian asked the taxi driver to wait a few minutes while he stepped out of the vehicle.
"Truly, you don't need to walk me to my door. You know he will keep running the meter," Emma stated as she walked up the stairs to her apartment.
"What kind of a gentleman would I be if I didn't walk you to your door?"
"I didn't realize you were a gentleman," Emma replied.
"I believe in good form, Swan."
When Emma reached her door, she paused. So many emotions warred in her, and she felt her barriers fortify themselves in response.
"Thank you for walking me to my door. See you at the courthouse."
Emma tried to escape into her apartment, but she heard him quietly say, "Emma?"
She turned back toward him slowly with the door open behind her. She forced herself to lift her eyes to his and saw a softness in them that she had never seen there before.
After a moment, he said, "Thank you for tonight, Swan. Seeing you outside of the courtroom… Something changed… You are different. I want to know you – this you."
Killian took a step forward and brushed his hand through her hair.
"I- I-"
Emma backed away through the door and shut it behind her.
What had she done? It wasn't like she would never see him again, and Killian was right. Something had changed. She wanted him. Everything that she had hated she viewed in a new light. He was an amazing lawyer. He was tenacious. He was funny and sweet and everything she ever wanted. He terrified her, though, because she knew he could hurt her.
All night, Emma tossed and turned as she tried to decide what to do. She could stay safe and regret that choice or face her fear and potentially be hurt.
At 7:30, she got out of bed, having made her decision.
When Emma entered the courthouse at 9:30, she saw Killian outside the courtroom talking with an older man. Killian looked up when Emma was only a few steps away from him. He quickly said goodbye to the man.
"Swan, we need to talk," he said when she had almost reached him.
In response, Emma put her hands on the lapels of Killian's jacket and pulled his mouth to hers. His right hand went to the back of her head while his other hand pressed against her lower back. After a few moments of pure bliss, Emma pulled back slightly so that their foreheads were pressed against each other.
"You wanted to talk?" she murmured.
"Not at all," he replied before bringing his lips back to hers.