Under Lock and Key #Wattys2016

Chapter 18

"It's nice to see you again, Neal." Killian said as he brought Neal in for a 'bro hug.'

"I can say the same to you, Killian." Neal said and smiled. "You seem.... Happier. What's up?"

Killian looked down at his feet and chuckled. "I met a girl." 'Well, kinda.'

"That's awesome, dude! Do I get to meet her?"

Just then, Emma came bouncing down the stairs. Her curly hair bouncing on her back. She grabbed Killian's hand and smiled at Neal.

"You must be Neal. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Emma." Emma said and shook his hand.

"The pleasure is mine. I wish I could say that Killian talked about you all the time, but he just mentioned you."

"The same goes about you." She kissed Killian's cheek and let go of his hand. "I'll get started on dinner."

Killian followed her into the kitchen and grabbed two beers. He winked at her on the way out.

"Your girlfriend seems nice." Neal said as they sat down.

"Best woman in the world." Killian responded with a smile on his face.

"So, how did you score her and how can I get one?" Neal teased.

"Well, it's a fun story actually. Emma was walking back from the drugstore when it started raining. I asked her if she wanted a ride and I brought her home. She couldn't resist my charms, so I called her the following day. We talked and from then on, it seemed to be love at first sight."

"Typical Jones. Thinking he's a big shot that all the ladies love."

"What can I say? This ones a keeper."

Neal nodded. "She cooks for you, I assume?"

"Sometimes. We mostly do it together."

"Does she clean?"

"Again, we do it together."

"Wow. She cooks and cleans. She's pretty hot too."

Although Killian laughed, he was fuming inside. Even though Neal and him were friends, there were limits.

"Fuck!" They heard from the kitchen. They put their beers down and went to see what was wrong.

Emma stood over the sink with her hand under the running water.

"Are you okay?" Neal asked before Killian could.

"Ah, yeah, I'm fine. I just burnt my hand on the pan." Emma said.

"You're supposed to be cooking food, not your flesh." Neal said with a laugh. He went over to Emma and brought her hand out from the water. "Killian, do you have something for this?"

Killian nodded and grumbled to himself as he went into the bathroom and got some medicine for Emma's hand. When he returned, he was stunned. Neal held her wrist and was looking into her eyes as he blew on the burn.

"Here, love. Let's try this." Killian said and took the cap off the tube of medicine. He lightly smeared it on her hand, careful not to put too much pressure on it. He tore open a bandaid and placed it on her hand.

"Thank you." Emma said.

"You're welcome." Killian and Neal said in unison.

"Good, now get out of my kitchen." Emma said as she pushed the men out.

"She's just like you, Jones. Stubborn and hates to be in distress." Neal said.

"Yep. But I love her for it." Killian said proudly.

"Are you engaged yet?"

"Nope. We've only been together for about two months. I don't think she's ready for that step yet."

"So how is she in bed?"

"That's a personal question, mate." Killian said. All he could see was red now.

"Calm down, I was just joking."

Killian faked a laugh and turned on the television. He finished his beer and went into the kitchen to get another one. He found Emma sitting on the counter staring at the oven, watching the numbers count down on the timer. He walked over to her and stood between her legs.

"What is my beautiful girl up to?" He asked as he kissed her hands that were sitting in her lap.

"Just waiting for the oven to go off."

"Why don't you come and sit with us?"

"It's fine. I should really be doing something else anyway."

"Swan, I told you, you don't have to do that anymore. Come in and sit with us. Grab a cooler or a beer and watch tv with us. Please?"

She sighed. "Fine." He helped her down and grabbed a peach cooler from the fridge.

Neal turned his head as he heard two sets of footsteps come out of the kitchen. "I was wondering when you would come out of there."

Emma smiled in response and sat down on Killian's lap.

"She's my busy little bee." Killian said as he twirled her hair around his fingers.

Emma noticed something off about Neal. He was acting strange. Did he know? She shrugged it off. They watched tv for a few minutes and the timer went off. She quickly stood and went to check on the pizza that was in the oven.

"Careful you don't burn yourself again." She heard Neal say from the doorway.

"I've made pizza before, but thanks for the tip."

"You know, I wanted to tell you that you look amazing. Sure, I don't know what you look like any other time, but you look pretty damn good right now." He said rambling his words together.

Emma giggled and placed the pizza down on a pan. She grabbed the pizza cutter and divided it evenly. "Thank you."

"Killian did good with you. I can tell."

She nodded. "That he did."

Neal came up behind her and reached up in the cupboard to get a plate. His body was against hers as he did so. Her breath caught in her throat. Who the hell did this guy think he was? She stepped away from him.

"Pardon me, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"I-It's okay."

He nodded and dished some pizza for himself. As soon as he left the kitchen, Emma felt like she could breath again. A few seconds after Neal left, Killian walked in. He saw her almost paralyzed state, and walked over to her, placing his hands on her arms.

"You okay, love?" He asked.

"What? I'm fine." She said.

"No, I know when something's wrong."

"No, nothing's wrong. I was just thinking about how much I love you."

"I do that every minute of everyday." He replied with a smirk. He came closer to her and whispered in her ear, "I hope Neal doesn't stay too much longer. I'll have to ravish you right here."

She blushed and giggled. "Don't do that! You're going to get us both in trouble."

"Good." He left a few soft, sucking kisses on her neck, before moving to her lips. "I love you."

"I love you too." She said and watched as he went into the living room again.

It's that time of the day again. The part where you read my long ass authors note, but this is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.

I am getting wrist surgery tomorrow, so I'll be taking a few days off from updating. I'm not sure when I'll be back though. I'll update one last time tomorrow before the surgery.