Ghost Story

Chapter 25

The next morning, Emma woke up in a cold bed. At first, her heart stopped as she realized that something might have happened to Killian, but then the smell of bacon hit her nose. She sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes and went downstairs. Killian was in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. She sat down at the counter and watched him move around the kitchen. He didn't have a shirt on, and his pajama pants hung low on his hips. Emma bit her lip and cleared her throat. He turned around and smiled as soon as he saw her.

"Good morning, Swan." He leaned over and pecked her lips, then returned to the stove.

"Good morning," she yawned.

"I made us breakfast, and then I thought we could take a walk around the park, if you'd like."

"It sounds perfect, it's just that I have no clothes here. I can't really go out into public wearing your clothes, now can I?"

"Why not? You look adorable."

She blushed and he chuckled. "We'd have to go to my house. My parents are probably worried sick about me anyway."

"Fine." He turned around and scooped some eggs onto her plate and put a few pieces of bacon beside them. "You eat, I'm going to get a quick shower." He ran up the stairs without another word. A quick shower was actually twenty minutes long. He came back downstairs with her dress and shoes in his hands. "You ready?"

"Yeah." She walked down to the car with him at her side and they drove to her house. She was happy that her father wasn't home, or else he would have a fit that she was coming home in a boy's clothes. She walked in and snuck upstairs. She changed her clothes and put some makeup on and went back down with Killian's clothes in her hands. She was stopped by Mary Margaret at the bottom of the stairs.

"You're lucky your father isn't here."

"I know, Mom."

"How was the dance?"

"It was fun." Emma didn't want to tell her mother that her and Killian decided to leave early.

"Why did you stay out all night?"

Emma sighed, "I wanted to spend some time with him."

"Sweetie, you see him everyday."

"He's dying, mom." Tears were welling in her eyes again, but she refused to cry.

Mary Margaret was taken back by the information and hugged her daughter. "My poor baby."

"He has cancer, and he decided not to do any treatment. It's his choice. It's just going to make him suffer, and I don't want to put him in any pain. I just want his last few days or months to be special. I want to spend as much time with him as I can before he goes away."

"Emma." Mary Margaret pulled away and wiped the tears off of her daughter's cheeks. "Go. Have fun. And don't worry about your father."

Emma nodded and hugged her mother once again before going outside. Killian was leaning against the car with his cell phone in his hand. He looked up and smiled when he saw her coming back down. "Here's your clothes," she said and held them out for him to take.

"That's okay, love. You can have them." She knew what he meant, even without him having to say it. She nodded and put them in the backseat before getting into the passenger's seat. "How much trouble did you get in with your parents?"

"Not much. My mom now knows about you, so she didn't really yell. My dad wasn't home."

"Good." He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. Sweet gestures like that still brought a smile to her face. Once they got to the park, Killian brought Emma to the cherry blossom trees and laid a blanket out on the grass. He grabbed his phone and took a picture of her when she wasn't looking, and then took one of them together.

"Since when have you been interested in photography?" She asked.

"Since you became my model," he told her with a straight face.

"Really? I don't remember agreeing to that."

"Well, it has started today."

She smiled and brought her lips to his. When he knew she was distracted enough, Killian snapped a picture of them kissing. When they pulled apart, he rested his forehead on hers. He laid her down on the blanket and they looked up at the sky. The sun was shining through the branches of the trees, and the leaves would brush against each other. The wind was picking up as autumn got closer. That also meant that the air was getting colder. Emma brought her arms around herself and shivered. This caught Killian's attention and he sat up and took off his jacket. She tried to refuse it, but he wouldn't let her, and insisted on letting her have it. Eventually, Emma gave in and put her arms in the sleeves, welcoming the warmth that came from the jacket. It smelled like him, and it was a scent that she would never get tired of.

"I'll be right back," he said and got up.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"To get you something." He walked away and Emma watched until she couldn't see him anymore. The wind bit at her cheeks and nose, and she wrapped the jacket tighter around herself. It was a few more minutes until he returned. She smiled when she saw that he had another jacket on, and she figured that he knew she would get cold, and that was why he brought two. But along with the jacket, he held two paper cups in his hands. "Hot chocolate with cinnamon for the lady," he said and bowed mockingly. He handed her the cup and she let the warmth from the cup go to her hands.

"You just keep getting more and more perfect, don't you?"

"Aye, I do. Are you complaining?"

"Absolutely not." She took a sip and as she was distracted again, Killian took another picture. He wanted to savor the happy moments, and he was going to do everything it took to make sure that she wouldn't put her armor back on after he was done.