Once Upon A Happy Beginning

Chapter Three: Crazy About You

Emma

I look up at Killian's face as he reads from Henry's book. Our book. Our memories and our life. I could listen to him read about us for hours. It's possibly the most entertaining thing I've seen since Henry tried to teach Hook how to work the TV. More relaxing definitely.

I remember the swarms of emotions I felt when I first pulled Hook out of the pile of Cora's victims in the Enchanted Forest safe haven. Pure, complete attraction. I never told him it was then but it was. That man, with his dark hair and his light blue eyes and that eyeliner... I hadn't felt such a raw feeling for a man like that in a long time. I remember being wary of Graham and Neal but with Hook, he just wasn't... I knew he was lying to me for sure, but I hadn't got any other fears about what he could be. Even when he finally told us his name – Captain Hook. The waxed moustached pirate with one hand and a perm that was the great villain of Peter Pan. And I wasn't afraid. Not at all.

Killian looks down at me when he reads the words "I can't take a chance that I'm wrong about you." and asks precisely what I meant. "What do you think, baby? I was crazy about you." He smirks at me, I scoff," Well, not crazy. Just, you, well you had some effect on me that I'd never felt before... you were always The One, Killian. Always."

"Aye."

Every so often we switch so the other person can stop reading, and we tell each other the thrilling tales of our love. From when The Saviour grabbed Captain Hook's collar and pulled him close to kiss him in Neverland to "I always knew there was a little pirate in you!" when I knocked out Marian/Zelena in our time travel adventure. Killian's voice starts to choke up when he reads about what I said to Regina in the alternate universe - about watching the man I loved die without telling him that I did. I can't even get through the part when Killian asked me to stab him with Excalibur without breaking down completely in memory of lying on this very couch just waiting. Waiting for the love of my life to come home, To wake up. And he did, and I married him. I get to spend the rest of forever loving him because that's what he means to me.

"Babe?" I murmur as Killian puts the book down on the coffee table, "Thank you."

"For what?" He asks me. I smile and move myself so I'm curled up in his arm, resting my head against his shoulder.

"For being you. Through everything, you've just been you. You're one of the brightest things that has been in my life for a long time."

"And you for me, love." Killian tightens his arm around me and it's moments like this where I'm glad that this is the man I get to grow old with. "I was thinking something..." He starts, almost cautiously, "We haven't gotten a honeymoon yet but we've done Storybrooke. We've done lots of different realms, but the one place we've never done, is here."

"Here?"

"You know, Land Without Magic?" I'm shocked, to be honest, with all the magic and curses and everything abnormal here just becoming normal, I'd lost touch with the idea that nowhere else has magic. Something that possibly the pre-Killian Emma would be desperate to get back too.

"Yeah... yeah, we should do that. It'd be nice to get away for a bit, where the most dangerous thing that could potentially happen is a car crash."

"Those vessels crash often?"

"Not often. But you know, it can happen. It won't happen to us, I can guarantee that."

"So, it's decided? We get a romantic trip away in your world?"

"We do... On the condition, you let me plan it." I raise my eyebrows at him and peck his lips quickly before I get up and glance at the clock just out of view of my comfy position against my husband. "Killian!" I yell out shocked, "It's almost four!"

"Huh?"

"I have work tomorrow... God, we stayed up for hours... But then tonight has to end..." I ramble on until Killian decides to shut me up with a kiss. 

"Whatever we do now is your choice. You want sleep, we'll have some sleep. You want to stay up and drink buckets of coffee tomorrow, I'll be the one clearing Granny's of coffee beans. It's your choice."

"All I want to know now is how I managed to get so lucky? How I managed to marry you? Everything I said before about not exactly being crazy for you. I take that back; I was crazy for you then, I am now and I always will be." I sigh and press my head against his shoulder, letting Killian stroke my hair curling around the red and black leather. "What made me so privileged to get to be with you?"

"The lad's book is there if you need to find out," My husband teases, and I have never felt happier. 

A Couple Of Hours Later

Killian and I had an incredible night together, we laughed. We joked. Spoke about the important things and spoke about the insignificant things. We'd have the most passionate yet the most seemingly casual sex – going from discussing little things like what colour Whale would dye his hair next and then we'd be tearing each other's clothes off before realising we should be doing something innocent like my dear husband realising that his flask was empty. That was another thing, we drank a lot of rum - making me exceptionally glad for how high our tolerance is. 

We're sitting on on the front steps of the house watching the sunrise, curled up in our blankets with the hot cocoa and cinnamon that I love so much. Killian's arm is draped around my shoulders and I don't think I've ever felt more secure. This is the man that I've spent my whole life trying to find. This man is my soulmate, my true love. 

The song switches on the speaker behind us to Christina Perri's A Thousand Years and Killian takes my empty mug from me and places it on the ground next to me. "May I have this dance, my princess?" He says, extending his hand out for me to take. 

I bundle up the blanket and almost throw it behind me as I accept his offer with my own flirty: "You may, my pirate." Killian pulls me up to my feet and close to him, as he walks us into the garden. I've only danced three times before, each time with Killian – as his friend, his girlfriend and his bride. Now, I get to dance with him as his wife. We sway together gently, Killian treating me as if I'm still the girl he was trying to win over the first time we danced. It's almost as if he hasn't grasped the concept that I was, forever, his. 

He twirls me under his arm and starts singing the chorus softly as I rest my head against his chest. "I have died everyday, waiting for you. Darling, don't, be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years, and I will love you for a thousand more." I can't help but smile at the irony, of the centuries old pirate who was waiting for true love. Me.

As the clock tower chimes seven o'clock, I pull back from him. "I have work. I need to get a shower now."

"So do I."

"I guess I've become more concerned with saving water..." 

"So have I." 

Whatever happened next definitely felt like a blur, I had Killian up against the front door in no time, kissing him as if there was no tomorrow. He pushed open the door and let me kick it shut behind me. My husband lifted me up so that my legs wrapped around his back, everything about real life disappeared and it felt like my wedding day again, only the two of us left in the whole world. Killian carried me too our ensuite and I don't know when and I don't know how quickly but we found ourselves under the streaming shower head and all at once I felt a flurry of emotions. This was Killian Jones. This was Captain Hook. This was the man I loved and the man that I craved. 

Then my alarm clock went off. Time to head back to life, but this time I wouldn't ever be alone. I'd have him there. Every step of the way.