A/N: I originally wrote this intending to upload it as a standalone oneshot, but I'm thinking now I may turn this into a series of oneshots. If you'd like me to do so, let me know. I've written some other encounters for Emma to have after the breaking of the curse and i've got a few ideas that I could write, but I'd love your suggestions too. So be sure to review with what you'd like to see and I'll write it, of course giving you credit for the idea though. ;)

Disclaimer: Of course I am not Adam Horowitz or Edward Kitsis (despite how much I wish I was) and therefore, regrettably, nothing belongs to me. I only borrow the characters of OUAT and make them do my bidding.

The gale-force winds buffeting the building threatened to tear off the window shutters, rattling them constantly. In the back of her mind Emma knew that the images she was picturing of the wind ripping them off as if they were as light as feathers and shattering the window were highly unlikely, given that the purpose of the storm shutters was to prevent such eventualities, but that didn't stop her worrying.

"I should have gone home," she muttered to herself, pacing and looking up at the hole in the ceiling. Usually there was a steady drip of water, but as she looked she could see a number of rivulets dropping into the bucket below. They'd have to replace the bucket soon as the water was almost already to the brim.

"It'll be fine," he said. "The storm will be over in no time – it's always like that around here."

"You know telling me that these storms are common isn't exactly reassuring, Graham," Emma told him. "And I'm more worried about the Sheriff Department collapsing on us because someone never fixed the roof than the storm itself." She'd been nagging him to do something about the hole in the roof for weeks. It wasn't just that it was a danger, though that was a serious concern. No, Emma was annoyed about the hole in the roof because it was situated directly above her desk.

"Sorry, I'll do it tomorrow. Happy?"

"Oh, that'll do me a world of good! The rain will no longer drip onto my head when I'm working, but I won't be here to appreciate it because I'll already be dead!" Emma shouted over a roll of thunder.

"Would you quit with the melodrama?" Graham asked, leaning back on two of his chair legs in front of his desk. "We're not going to die."

"And you know that how, Graham? Since when can you tell the future? Is this some magical power you've forgotten to tell me about? You know I'm beginning to get really sick of everyone around here – Ruby keeps transforming into a frickin' werewolf, Regina and Mr Gold are using spell after spell in the town, August's turning from wood to man again and now you."

"At least take the hardhat off," he muttered.

"I need the hardhat!" she snapped.

"You're so cute when you're stressed," he commented in an off-hand way.

"Now's not the time," Emma told him impatiently, though despite her hostility towards him, she was glad to have Graham back. She didn't know how it happened. Just one day he had reappeared, standing on the doorstep of the house she still shared with Mary Marg-Snow (she had to remember to start using their real names), seeming very confused. Henry told her that it was the water from the Wishing Well they'd drunk after they went hiking – it supposedly had the power to return what was once lost after all – but Emma didn't know for sure.

"Well when is the time, Emma?! You've been avoiding me for weeks!"

"How have I been avoiding you? I'm standing in the same building as you right now! I wouldn't be trapped in this building in the middle of a storm if it weren't for you."

"I did try to tell you that there was a storm due and I can't help the fact that a tree fell right in front of the door, can I?"

"Well, I don't know, you're the Huntsman, Graham, you were raised in the forest. Surely you ought to be able to see these kinds of things coming." she told him pointedly.

"Is that the problem? That I'm not really Graham, I'm the Huntsman?"

"I told you. There is no problem! I haven't been avoiding you," she replied, beginning to get exasperated with his insistence.

"You know what I mean, Emma. You've barely said a word to me before today."

And it was true. Emma had been avoiding Graham. At every opportunity she took the case that would allow her to escape the Sheriff Department without Graham for a few hours. It wasn't Graham exactly, but she found it hard to get her head around the fact that he'd come back from the dead. She found it so hard to even make eye contact with him, afraid that she wouldn't see any signs of life in his blue eyes.

"I'm sorry, but you're meant to be dead!"

"Thanks-"

"-Wait, you know that's not what I meant," Emma interrupted. "I'm glad you're back, I am. I just don't know how to deal with it, I mean you were dead – I grieved for you and now you're alive and you want me to just forget about it?"

"One of the many advantages of magic," Graham muttered sarcastically as a flash of lightning from outside lit up the room. It was beginning to literally form forks through the sky.

"Stop trying to make this funny! It's not funny. This is real life, Graham. You died. You were dead."

"Well what would you have me do? Do you want me to return to being dead? Shall I kill myself? Or I could go and see Regina or Rumplestiltkin – I'm sure either one of them would be happy to off me. But funnily enough, Emma, I don't think that's what you want. I wouldn't be here if that was what you wanted."

"What did you say?" she asked, her heart pounding.

"I think you heard me," he whispered.

Emma shook her head. She thought she'd heard what he'd said, but it was ridiculous, wasn't it? Once you were dead, you were dead. She had no idea how Graham came back, but it couldn't be anything to do with her, could it? She was just Emma. She didn't have magical powers like the rest of the fairytale characters.

Graham sighed. "I said I wouldn't be here if it wasn't what you wanted. If you hadn't drunk from the Wishing Well and missed me so much, Emma, I never would have come back."

"Now you're just being stupid," she mumbled, backing away slightly as he stood and walked around his desk, ending up in front of her.

"Stupid? Really? You think I'm being the stupid one?"

"Well, I-"

"-When are you going to stop talking?" he asked hypothetically.

"Hey-"

"-Emma!" he exclaimed, pushing away all pretences and capturing her lips with his own.

Shocked, Emma stood unresponsive.

Worried, Graham pulled away to search her eyes. The last time they'd kissed, she'd been just as keen as he was. What was different now? He hoped she hadn't found someone else.

"Emma?" he asked, damned uncertainty permeating his voice.

An echoing groan from outside filled the room. Wide eyed, Emma and Graham turned their eyes upwards towards the hole in the ceiling. A shadow fell over the hole.

"Oh crap," Emma mumbled.

"Get out of the way!"

Graham grabbed hold of Emma and pushed her away. Emma toppled away from her desk, falling onto the floor.

There was a reverberating crash as a tree collapsed onto the roof, cutting through the roof tiles like they were mere water.

The tree seemed to fill the room, barring Graham from view.

"Graham?" Emma called.

He groaned in response. "Emma? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she reassured him. "I bet you're glad I wore the hardhat now."

"Yep, that was the first thing on my mind."

"Where are you?" she asked, getting to her feet. Despite avoiding being squashed beneath the tree, she did bear a number of scratches from its many branches, some of which were scattered around her on the floor.

"Right here," he replied, waving an arm so she might see him lying beside the tree, his foot caught beneath it.

"Oh God, now what do we do?"

He struggled, trying to twist his foot this way and that, but he couldn't pull it out from under the tree. "You need to call for help, Emma."

Suddenly, the door flew open, admitting Nova into the building.

"How did you..?" Emma began, thinking about how the door had been blocked by the first fallen tree and then cutting herself off when she remembered that despite appearing a Nun, Nova was in fact a fairy.

"Did someone ask for help?" Nova asked.

"It's Graham," Emma answered. "He's trapped under the tree."

Nova smiled at Emma and pulled a piece of wood out of her sleeve. It didn't look like a magic wand, it looked like a twig torn off a tree, but as long as it worked, appearances didn't matter, Emma supposed.

A wave of the wand later, Graham was free, hobbling about the Sheriff's Office and cussing about the pain in his ankle. He didn't think there was anything broken, but it still hurt like hell.

"The rest of the town awaits. But the storm has passed," Nova told them both, before leaving. She couldn't help thinking that if she and the other fairies had their wings, things would be a whole lot quicker.

Emma had been busy preparing an icepack for him. As she entered the office and sat him down, she couldn't help being reminded of his care for her the night he'd died. She gently placed the towel containing the ice over his ankle, doing her best not to hurt him, but he still winced, just as she had when he'd dabbed at the cut Regina had given her.

"Thanks," Graham muttered.

She looked up, meeting his eyes for the first time since he'd kissed her only to find his staring at her intently. She gazed back, wanting to break the connection between them but finding herself unable to.

Graham was unaware of his hands reaching out to her and pulling her up to sit on his desk. The icepack lay on his leg forgotten. Graham's hands found her back and pulled her closer, she found she couldn't resist the temptation to reciprocate. She lowered her head, her hands resting on his chest, one of them covering his beating heart. The moment her lips touched his, he was on his feet, the pain in his leg forgotten. Her lips moved against his fervently and her fingers tangled themselves in his brown hair. Feeling his lips again was like finally taking in a breath of fresh air after surfacing from underwater. She felt like she'd been deprived for months, though couldn't remember feeling that way at the time.

Breathlessly, Graham pulled back and rested his forehead against hers, looking into her hazel eyes, and wondered how he'd ever lived without her. Just being around Emma Swan was…intoxicating. She had a way of enticing him not just with her eyes or her lips – the way she would move them – but with her personality too. Sometimes she was tough on him, but other times she was the loveliest person in the world. A person of such contrast was bound to captivate him.

"I love you, Emma," he murmured, pressing his lips against hers once more.

She couldn't say it yet, it was too early. The last time she'd fallen head over heels in love, it had ended in disaster. He'd left and she'd been stuck with being a single mother. But she knew she loved Graham too. Telling him that would just wait until another day.

A/N: I hope you liked this and I'd love to know what you thought.

A timeline for reference so you can hopefully avoid confusion:

Reunion (Chapter 2) – Same day as the breaking of the curse

Parents together (Chapter 6) – 1 day later

August Chapter (Chapter 8) – 2 days later

The Big Bad Wolf (Chapter 4) – 2 days later

Jack and the Beanstalk Chapter (Chapter 7) – 1 week later

Hiking Chapter (Chapter 9) – 1 and ½ weeks late

Huntsman (Chapter 3) – 2 weeks later

Storming (Chapter 1) – 1 month later

Whole town Chapter (Chapter 11) – 1 month later

Dreaming (Chapter 5) – 5 weeks later

Grumpy Chapter (Chapter 10) – 5 weeks later