Emerys woke up on the morning of her birthday with a smile on her face – something she hadn't done for several years.
She was ecstatic that her birthday this year had fallen on a Saturday, but less so that her parent's wanted to take her out for birthday breakfast.
Normally, birthday breakfast would consist of Beignets from Café Du Monde, but this time it would just be Granny's.
Her parents were a little down heartened by the fact that they'd basically be taking their daughter to work for her birthday, but Emerys had made sure they knew that she liked Granny's food and was totally fine with going there.
Of course, after that she'd be going to Killian's, or Regina and Zelena's as far as her parents were concerned. He had a surprise for her and she couldn't wait.

Arriving at Granny's, Emerys saw something entirely mortifying.
"Oh no..." She groaned.
"We tried warning Granny that you weren't into the whole big charade thing, but she insisted." Her mother chuckled. "Her words were 'a girl's eighteenth birthday is no joke and one that should be celebrated properly.'"
Emerys walked into the diner to see the whole place decorated with black and silver streamers, balloons, cutlery, crockery, cups, tablecloths, the works. Over the bar was a sign reading 'Happy birthday Emerys'.
"Jesus fucking Christ..." Emerys mumbled to herself.
Over at the opposite end of the diner to the door stood Granny, Ruby, Regina, Zelena, Belle, Emma, Alice, Robin, Will, Jefferson, Peter and Neal.
"Happy birthday Em!" They all cheered.
"Wow... Thanks guys." Emerys chuckled nervously.
Behind them was a table filled with breakfast foods.
Waffles, pancakes, fruit, yoghurt, cereal, toast, Pop Tarts, a less-than-breakfast-y chocolate fountain with marshmallows and other chocolate friendly snacks, but then Emerys saw them...
"Beignets!" She squealed, running over to the table.
Jocelyn and James laughed, watching their daughter stuff her face with one.
"It wouldn't be your birthday without birthday Beignets." James smiled.
"They may not be New Orleans' finest, but they're handmade with love from Granny." Granny grinned.
Emerys thought she was in Heaven as soon as her taste buds coated themselves with the deep fried, powdered sugary goodness.
"These are damn good, Granny. Thank you so much." Emerys pulled the old woman into a hug, being mindful of her sticky, powdery fingers.
The only thing Emerys felt was missing was Killian.

Emerys had never had a full on party in the morning, but she could get used to it.
Just when things couldn't get much better, someone opened the diner door, the overhead bell grabbing Emerys' attention.
'Oh my God...' She thought.
"Mom..." She frowned, walking over to Jocelyn. "What is Mr Jones doing here?"
Jocelyn looked over to see a rather awkward looking Killian and smiled, beckoning him over, which is when the birthday girl realised that Liam was in tow.
"I invited him and his brother. His brother owns a bar on the outskirts of town and I broke up a bar fight there the other night with the help of him and Killian. He knew I was your mother and we got talking. He told me not to tell you or your classmates this, but you're his favourite student." Jocelyn smirked, elbowing her daughter playfully. "So I invited them along."
"Mom, that's so weird." Emerys grimaced, doing her very best to hide how excited she was that they were here.
Good morning, Sherriff." Killian smiled. "Hello Miss Taylor. Happy birthday."
He handed her an envelope.
"Thanks Mr Jones." Emerys gave a small smile.
"This is my brother, Liam. He wanted to say hi and thank your mom for helping out the other night." Killian said, fake-introducing him.
"Hi Liam, nice to meet you." Emerys awkwardly waved.
"Nice to meet you too, Emerys. Happy birthday." Liam winked, handing her a bottle gift bag.
Emerys side-eyed her mother, who smirked and turned her back.
"What the Sherriff doesn't see didn't happen." Jocelyn laughed.
Emerys smiled and took the bottle bag from Liam, seeing it was a bottle of Jack Daniels.
"My favourite! Thank you so much!" Emerys grinned.
"You're very welcome." Liam chuckled, before turning to her mother. "Sherriff, could I talk to you for a moment, please?"
"Of course, Liam!" Jocelyn smiled, leading him to the back of the diner, away from the noise.
Killian awkwardly stood next to Emerys, who placed the bottle bag and envelope down on the table of one of the booths.
"I can't believe you're here." Emerys mumbled, looking anywhere else but at him.
Killian shoved his hands in his pockets, not looking at her either.
"I couldn't miss my kitten's birthday breakfast party, could I?" He smirked. "Your real card and gift is waiting for you at mine, by the way. The one I've just given you is just for show."
"Thank you." Emerys looked down, unable to hide her smile.
She picked up the envelope and opened it, seeing a plain old 'Happy 18th' spread across the front.
Emerys chuckled and turned the card's page.
"To Emerys, happy eighteenth birthday, don't think this gets you out of homework! From Mr Jones." She read aloud, followed by a laugh.
"Thank you Mr Jones." She giggled.
"You're most welcome, Miss Taylor." He gave her a subtle wink.

After the breakfast party, Emerys went back to her house with Regina, Ruby and Zelena to grab her overnight bag, then headed over to Killian's.
"I can't believe both of you are in relationships with teachers..." Ruby sighed on the walk.
"Neither can I, to be honest." Regina chuckled.
"I can't believe I'm even having this conversation with you two right now. I thought Killian and I would stay a secret for at least a couple of months more." Emerys said.
"I can't believe you haven't been caught out by now. Mr Jones would lose his job and never be able to teach again, your own dad would have to kick you out of school and you won't be able to graduate, you'll probably have to move again and Mr Jones would be sent to prison and it'd be Hell for everyone." Zelena replied. "Same for you and Mr Watkins, sis."
"All of us are being careful. Strictly professional in school and next to no physical contact outside of school." Regina told her.
Emerys remained quiet. Though she knew what the consequences would be if – God forbid – they did get caught, but hearing it out loud was a whole different thing. It would ruin Killian's life and reputation.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at Killian's house, music was already blearing out of his surround sound.
"Girls! You're here. Come on in." Killian smiled, opening the door wide for them to enter.
Inside was Kristian, Liam and someone none of the girls had ever seen before.
"You all know Mr Watkins, though for today we'd all rather our first names, if you please." Killian laughed. "So, I'll be Killian for today, Mr Watkins will be Kristian, this is my brother Liam and our good friend Robin. I thought it was about time he met our birthday girl."
Robin approached Emerys with a smile.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Emerys. And it's nice to know that you have a name other than Liam's classic 'little mouse' or 'mystery girl'." He said, shaking the girl's hand. "Happy birthday."
"Hi Robin. Thank you." Emerys giggled.
She then reached into her overnight bag and pulled out the bottle of Jack Daniels Liam had given her.
"So who's for drinks?" She smirked.
The room erupted into a mixture of 'aye', 'hell yes' and 'yep's.

With everyone occupied, Killian pulled Emerys aside, into the piano room.
An envelope was sat atop the piano and Killian reached for it, passing it to his love.
"Your real card." He smiled.
Emerys opened it and read it aloud.
"To my little kitten, I hope you have the best of birthdays today. I love you more than I'll ever be able to express. From your Killian xx." She smiled, feeling her eyes sting with tears. "Don't ask me why I'm getting emotional." She laughed, minding her makeup as she wiped her eyes carefully.
"Is it alright?" He asked, holding her by the shoulders.
"Of course it is. Much better than your parent-friendly one." She laughed. "Thank you Killian. I love you too. More than you know."
He smiled and leaned down, taking her mouth with a soft, yet meaningful kiss.
"You'll get your gift when everyone's gone." He mumbled against her lips.
Emerys pulled away with a smirk on her face.
"Oh will I now?" She raised a playful eyebrow.
"Not like that, you little minx." Killian chuckled. "But that too, aye."
Emerys grinned, going to skip out of the room, earning a slap on her ass that made her squeal and burst into a fit of laughter as the pair made their way back into the living room.

"Quick one in the study, eh brother?" Liam winked.
"Less of that, mate. I still have my teaching reputation to uphold with the students who haven't seen me naked." Killian scowled.
"Okay one, gross." Ruby grimaced. "And two, if we're going to have these sorts of conversations, I'm going to need a lot more alcohol."
"In the fridge." Killian chuckled. "And less of the gross, thank you very much."
Zelena looked slightly spaced out, so Emerys felt the need to go an investigate.
"Hey." She said, plopping herself down on the couch. "What's up?"
Zelena snapped out of her daze and gave a slightly embarrassed smile to her.
"Oh, nothing. Just thinking." She mumbled, stealing a glance at Robin, who was laughing and joking with Liam, Kristian and Regina.
"Robin's pretty cute, isn't he?" Emerys smirked.
"What? Oh, yes, I suppose."
"Fucking hell, Zee. You're a mess when you get all crushed up." Emerys laughed.
"Keep it down! I don't want the whole street to know." She hissed.
"I'm getting you a drink. You look like you need it." Emerys giggled as she got up and went to the kitchen, where Killian and Ruby were talking. "What are you guys chatting about?"
"Killian's just told me what he got you for your birthday!" Ruby sang, excitedly. "I'm so bummed that none of us are allowed to be here when he gives it to you."
Killian chuckled, sipping his glass of rum.
Emerys smirked, going to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of wine she'd persuaded Killian to get especially.
"Cracking that out early, aren't we?" He teased.
"Zelena's having a small crisis." Emerys rolled her eyes.
"Is she okay?" Ruby asked, clearly genuinely concerned for her friend.
"Yeah, she's fine." Emerys giggled. "Unless you count 'she's got a crush' as not fine."
Killian and Ruby shared a glance.
"Who's she got a crush on?" Ruby frowned.
Emerys looked over to Robin, who was engorged in conversation.
Ruby and Killian followed her gaze, each of their expressions turning to that of shock simultaneously.
"No way!" Ruby squealed.
"For fuck's sake, don't tell her I said anything." Emerys sighed, pouring the wine into a glass.
"I've got this." Ruby smiled, taking the wine glass from the birthday girl.

A matter of seconds later, Landslide by Fleetwood Mac sounded through the speakers.
Emerys and Killian instantly looked at each other and smiled as he walked over to her.
"It's our song, love." He mumbled, taking her waist as he began to sway to the tempo of the music.
"I suppose it is." Emerys smiled, resting her head on his chest as her hands found his biceps.
The moment was perfect.
Just the two of them in the kitchen, swaying to the perfect tones.
As the song finished and the two parted, they smiled to one another.
"Aww that was so cute." Regina smiled, holding her phone up.
"Please tell me you didn't film that." Killian raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe..." She smirked.
"Regina, you can't do that! What if someone sees?" Emerys began to panic.
"It's alright, guys. My photos are password protected. There's ones on here I'd rather people didn't see too, ya know." She chuckled.
Emerys sighed heavily, glancing to Killian, who shrugged.
"Two more months, 'Gina. Then we can take all the pictures and videos we want." She said.
Regina's face fell. "Fine..."
Killian perked up a bit.
"We could put it on my laptop. My private one never leaves the house." He suggested.
Regina grinned, nodding.

In the study, Killian sat down at his desk, Regina and Emerys standing either side of him as he opened it up.
"Phone, please." He said, holding out his hand to Regina.
"Damn... I've never had my phone confiscated by a teacher... I was hoping to make it all through high school without that happening..." She frowned, causing Killian and Emerys to chuckle.
"You'll have it back at the end of the party, Miss Mills." Killian smirked.
"Ugh. Fine, Mr Jones." She teased, handing her phone over.
Once the video was uploaded to Killian's laptop, Regina deleted it from her phone and headed back to the party, letting Killian and Emerys watch it back.
"You look so happy, love." He smiled.
"That's because I am." She leaned over, wrapping her arms over his shoulders with her chin resting on his head.
Killian reached up and stroked her arm, soothingly.
"I love you." He whispered.
"I love you too."