If there was one thing that Emma could be shamelessly selfish about, it was Jefferson.
After everything they'd been through, she figured she deserved as much. That he deserved as much. Emma knew it wasn't so much about deserving love as much as finding the right person to love all the bits of you that others couldn't, or just didn't want to. And it was scary, really scary for her. Opening up to that possibility again, after the heartache that came the first time she let it happen.
And it wasn't necessarily that it was different this time, not really. Love was love, and that was what made it so universal. It was largely down to Jefferson; a little broken and damaged, but still so sweet and caring despite it. Or maybe because of it. And that was mirrored, because even if she avoided it, she was just as damaged and a little broken, from growing up with nothing and feeling unloved most of her life, that the idea of being loved became so foreign.
Resting her forehead against Jefferson's, hands moving to circle his neck, arms around his shoulders, Emma just smiled a batter free smile. "Well thank you for the heads up on that," there were bigger things to worry about here, like what would try to kill them, and who might leave next, or what new things might arrive. More to worry about than the chance of maybe getting hurt. "And um, just to return the favour, of the false courtesy," but she'd told Cora once that love was strength, even if it didn't seem like it all the time. "I definitely plan to do the same, loving you just as selfishly and all that."