AN: So this is it - the end! I need to say a huge thanks to everyone who has supported this story in any way - I never expected to get such good feedback for this weird idea that I thought up when listening to a song one day.

Speaking of, a lot of my inspiration for this fic has come from music - in particular "Boston" by the Dresdon Dolls, but also "Push" (MB20) (where the title comes from), Melody Dean (Amanda Palmer), To Live Without It (The Spill Canvas), Because I Want You (Placebo) and more recently Out of the Woods and I Know Places (Taylor Swift).

Epilogue

'What the hell do you mean, you're not there yet?'

Closing her eyes, Emma banged her head back against the headrest, huffing out her breath and swatting her hand across when she heard muffled laughter from beside her. She was in a mixed state of tired and excited, and she fought against the disappointment that started to bring her down far too quickly. It had been a long day at work, their first day on set for the second episode now that the pilot had been picked up, and the excitement of the new job had almost been enough to carry her through the sixteen hour day. Knowing that Killian would finally be here in Atlanta, waiting for her in their new apartment with a smile on his face and his welcoming arms around her had taken her the rest of the way.

'There was a mix up with my luggage at the airport,' came his voice through the phone. 'I'm waiting for a taxi now.'

She sighed heavily, opening her eyes to roll them in Elsa's direction. 'He hasn't even left the airport yet,' she told her in exasperation.

This time Elsa didn't bother to hide her laugh. 'Aw, and after you've been talking about seeing him all day.'

She felt her face warm, but swallowed her protest that she'd only mentioned it once or twice. She normally wasn't the oversharing type, but she'd found a fast friend in Elsa ever since she'd met her when they'd first been cast. She'd been in Atlanta for two weeks now, buying furniture for their new place while he finished up his business for the band in Boston, playing a last string of shows at local venues to support charities in their hometown before they called it quits for the foreseeable future.

Her embarrassment only grew at the pleased sound that came through the phone. 'Oh, you've been talking about me?'

'Shut it,' she said shortly, and he hummed in response but didn't say anything more. Idiot.

'We can pick him up if you like?' Elsa offered.

She was almost tempted to accept the offer, but they were only a few minutes from her apartment and Elsa had had just as long a day as she had; she was unwilling to put her out further since she'd already gone out of her way to give her a lift to and from work. Still, she hesitated, not wanting to make Killian wait any longer than he had to, but the decision was made for her when he spoke again anyway.

'Tell her not to worry about it, love,' he said. 'I'm just getting into a taxi now.'

'Oh, so you heard that one too?' she asked, grinning into the phone.

He laughed. 'Of course, I hear everything. I'll see you at home.'

Home.

Her smile softened as she hung up the phone, ignoring Elsa's knowing look. 'He's already in a taxi. Thanks for the offer, though.'

'I'm be driving past anyway, so it's not a problem,' she said again. 'You can pay me back by having me around when Killian's settled in so I can meet him.'

Elsa let her out at the entrance to her apartment block with a wave and a promise to pick her up at the same time tomorrow, and Emma approached her door with a lot less enthusiasm than she would have before Killian's call.

When she opened the door and stepped inside, however, she realised that maybe it wasn't a terrible thing that he hadn't arrived before her. She thought she'd done a pretty good job on the things that she'd bought for the place so far, buying things similar to those each of them owned so it would feel like home to both of them, and of course there was still a fair amount left to be done. There was a small part of her, however, that worried that he wouldn't like what she'd done, or not like the apartment at all, or that he'd change his mind and not want to move in with her after all -

Stop.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she stepped into the apartment, dropping her bag on the table beside the door and heading straight for the kitchen. Pouring herself a large glass of wine and leaning back against the counter, she drained half of it in an attempt to ease the knot in her stomach.

It was completely ridiculous to be so full of nervous excitement, so why was she? They'd spent most of their time either at his place in Boston or hers in New York when they weren't working, enjoying their version of a proper relationship, so it wasn't as though they weren't used to living with each other, being together. They weren't bored of each other - weren't frustrated with each other - because they still gave each other their own space, and the nature of their jobs meant that it was impossible for them to live in each other's pockets anyway. Even though Killian had stepped back from music, he'd still played a few quiet, solo gigs in bars in Boston and was planning to do the same thing every now and then in Atlanta, and now that he had the time to give to it, his art was able to captivate him for hours at a time.

They were doing great, and she had no intentions at all of letting go of what they'd finally found together. But still, she was nervous. This was a new thing for her - properly living with any kind of partner. Hell, living with anyone at all was different, for more than a few months, anyway. And she had no intention of moving again if she could help it.

What if he didn't like it?

She was on her second glass of wine, curled up on the couch with her feet tucked under her legs to stop them tapping on the ground, when she finally heard a key sliding into the lock. She forced herself to sit still - yes she'd missed him, but he didn't need to know how much, damn it - as the door slowly swung inward.

Killian stepped into the apartment and she felt a little of her tension ease just from seeing him. He looked tired, his hair mussed like he'd been running his fingers through it, dressed in jeans and a faded t-shirt with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He looked so completely normal that she let go of her worries immediately. It's just us. Where ever we are, it's just us.

He looked around the room quickly, his expression showing no hint of what he thought until his gaze landed on her, his shoulders relaxed but his eyes lighting up. Kicking the door shut behind him, he started across the room, dropping his bag in the middle of the living room. She barely had time to deposit her wine glass on the coffee table beside the couch before he was there, one knee on the couch in front of her, one hand supporting himself on the armrest behind her. The other hand quickly cupped the back of her head, fingers twisting in her hair as he leaned down to press his mouth to hers.

Her legs parted to let him slip between them, her arms wrapping around him and holding him close, close, closer. His weight pressed down on her almost uncomfortably, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Not when his teeth brushed against her lip to open them, not when he groaned so deliciously when she obliged him.

When her lungs felt fit to burst she finally pulled back, happy that at least he was as short of breath as she was. Grinning up at him, she brushed her fingers across his face, threaded them through his hair. 'Hi,' she said simply.

His answering grin was equal amounts pleased and mischievous. 'Hi,' he said, leaning forward again to brush his nose against hers. 'I missed you,' he said, lowering his face to her neck and pressing his lips against her skin.

She couldn't help the way her body arched into his of its own accord, but she did suppress the urge to just tear his clothes of there and then. 'Do you like the apartment?'

His mouth trailed up her neck and along her jaw. 'It's beautiful,' he murmured against her lips, his eyes only on her.

Dork.

Before she could pull back far enough that he could see her rolling her eyes at him, Killian pushed himself back to sit properly on the couch beside her, barely waiting for her to awkwardly pull her legs out from underneath her before he was pulling her right on top of him. She settled against him easily, straddling his thighs, chest to chest with his arms loosely around her waist. 'Better?' he asked, one eyebrow lifting.

'Better,' she said softly, closing the distance between them to press her lips gently against his.

It felt good, relaxing, to just have him here, to touch him and taste him, to breathe him in. She had missed him.

The last few months had been nothing like she'd feared they'd be, and everything that she hadn't dared to hope for. They'd still had their own lives when they'd been together, their own space, and when they'd been apart she'd been able to cope. Being away from him was different now, the longing different. It didn't tear her apart, drive her into the arms of a warm distraction, but when she saw him again it felt sweeter, like coming home.

Love wasn't a dark, dangerous thing anymore, and she'd never felt freer than since she'd embraced it.

She kissed him softly, slowly, revelling in the taste of him and in no hurry to rush things, but it wasn't long before Killian's arms tightened around her, his mouth becoming more insistent, and his enthusiasm was catching. One of his hands tangled in her hair while the other clutched at her waist, his fingers slipping under the hem of her shirt and digging into her skin. Hers had been gripping at his shoulders but she slid one down his chest, catching the neck of his t-shirt with the tips of her fingers to drag it down, revealing a muscled shoulder and a rather attractive collarbone that she quickly closed her mouth over.

His groan went straight through her, causing her hips to move forward of their own accord, aligning with his and she could feel just how much he wanted her, in his ragged breaths, in the way that he always pulled her closer, in the hardness that was now in just that right spot between her legs. She moved against him again, muffling her moan against his neck at the feel of him even through two pairs of jeans and underwear, the roughness of the material only heightening her sensitivity. 'You feel good,' she murmured into his neck.

Both of his hands moved to cup her ass, encouraging her to move against him and she didn't hesitate, rocking her hips forward and down. The friction was good but not quite enough, even with the quiet groan from deep in his throat as he tugged on her hair, nudging her up so that he could take her lips with his own.

She gave herself into him for a minute or two, losing herself in the taste of him, in the familiar feel of his body against hers, and then he seemed to give in to the same impatience as she was starting to feel, tugging on the waistband of her jeans. 'If you value these jeans, I'd take them off now,' he suggested with a waggle of his eyebrow.

She laughed breathlessly. 'Or what, you'll tear them off me?' But there was a glint in his eye that said he might be at least partially serious, and it wasn't like she needed more of an excuse to take her clothes off with her boyfriend.

Standing up on awkward legs, she made quick work of the zipper but then Killian's hands were pushing hers away, slipping inside her fly, sliding around to knead her ass for a moment before he slowly drew her pants down her thighs. Her insides clenched when he pressed his lips against her hip, steadying herself with her hands on her shoulders.

'This part,' he murmured, his voice barely reaching her ears as he trailed his tongue down just slightly, just below her hipbone where his touch always made her shiver, his eyes looking up at her through his lashes and seeing right through her. 'I always miss this inch of skin the most.'

As soon as she stepped one leg out of her jeans she pushed him backward into the couch and straddled him again, unzipping and tugging down his jeans and underwear as one. She swallowed his groan with her mouth on his when she wrapped her hand around him, pumping him a few times before she shifted on his lap, lifting herself slightly to line him up at her entrance.

The way her name fell from his lips when she lowered herself onto him sent a shudder through her and straight to her core; combined with the feeling of him stretching her so deliciously, she had to give herself a moment to take it all in.

It might have been the same for him too, if the way his arms tightened around her was anything to go by, with his face buried against her neck. It was barely any time at all, however, before she realised that her hips had started rocking against his of their own accord. Giving into their need, she set a slow, fluid pace, just enjoying the feeling of being together again.

The zipper of his jeans was scratching against the backs of her thighs but she couldn't care less, her pace increasing as her sensitivity slowly started to build. Killian's hands had been on her hips, encouraging the way that she moved against him, but now one of them moved up her side, groping at her breast through her shirt and bra before tugging down the material and pushing her back so he could take her nipple between his lips, licking, sucking, biting until she thought she might go crazy with it. Supporting herself with her hands on his knees with his other arm around her waist, she leaned back to accommodate him, moaning at the new sensations that the angle caused for her. And then his hand was moving again, down between her legs, 'fuck' slipping from her lips as his thumb found her clit.

Every inch of her skin felt oversensitive, the drag of his cock inside her combined with his lips, tongue and teeth and his hand on her clearly designed to drive her crazy but she wasn't in any mood to resist. When she felt herself building, building, building she didn't fight it, grinding down against him harder, determined at least to bring him down with her, thrilling in the way his grip tightened on her, his head through back and his face flushed, eyes half closing but on her, always on her.

He didn't need much more encouragement, either, thrusting frantically up into her as she fell apart around him, his whole body stiffening as he came shortly after her.

By the time Emma had caught her breath she still wasn't to move, her body relaxed and boneless over Killian's, breathing in the scent of him. His hand was gently brushing up and down her back, only causing her to melt into him more. This was a pretty damned good end to her long day.

The thought of her early call time the next day was the thing that caused to her finally make a move, leaning back slightly to smile down at Killian's equally tired eyes. 'Love you,' she murmured.

Smiling up at her softly, he reached up to brush her hair behind her ear, the backs of his fingers stroking down her jaw on their way back down, his eyes telling her before he said the words. ' I love you, Emma.' He still said her name as though he was savouring it. 'Give me a tour, then bed?'

She showed him around the apartment quickly, relieved that he didn't hate anything, amused at how impressed he was with the fancy double stove in the kitchen (at least somebody that lived here would make use of it now). When they got to the bedroom he made a tired, half-hearted suggestive comment about trying out the new bed but she just shushed him, helping him out of his clothes, pulling him into bed and turning off the light.

'My bag -'

'You can unpack tomorrow.'

'I -'

'Shut up and just sleep with me.'

He paused, the air thick with what she just knew that he wanted to say, but after a moment he let out his breath with a laugh. 'Just don't trip over it tomorrow,' he said, his voice tired but amused. He pulled her closer as she settled against him, her head on his shoulder and her arm across his chest. He was warm, and she tucked her leg in between his too, wanting to feel him as closely as possible.

This type of intimacy wouldn't have been possible a year ago. She wouldn't have been afraid to be with him, to sleep beside him or even hold him as closely as this, but what it meant to her had been pushed down so far that she hadn't been able to recognise it. But not anymore - and she wasn't alone, she wasn't miserable, she wasn't broken.

Love was strength, if you did it right.

Taking in a deep breath, she let it out slowly, her body relaxing entirely as she did so. Yes - this was right.

This was home, now that he was here.