"I am going to kill Ruby," Emma thought as she walked up the walkway to the house party. It was midnight on a Saturday, well now Sunday, and if her parents caught her out of the house they were going to kill her, then they would likely ground her until the end of the school year.

Ruby had called her about 20 minutes ago asking her to come get her at this house party because her ride was also too drunk to be driving home. At least she had enough sense to call. Not one to ignore a friend in need, Emma quickly had snuck out of her bedroom window with her car keys in hand in order to go find her friend.

Normally, she avoided house parties. She was by no means a goody two shoes, but her father was the town sheriff, so she didn't make a habit of frequenting places that often get broken up by the cops.

One nice thing about house parties, however, was that she didn't have to wait for someone to answer the door; they were almost always unlocked. Which thankfully was the case at this particular party.

Walking in Emma was overwhelmed with the sight of all of the bodies before her and the smell of alcohol and cigarettes. She barely had any room to walk around. It was going to be impossible to find Ruby in this mess. Pulling out her cell, Emma dialed Ruby's number figuring she could just tell her to meet her out in front of the house.

The call immediately went to voicemail. Perfect, now she was worried. Putting her phone back into her pocket, Emma continued to try to work her way around the partygoers. Ruby really did owe her.

Walking into what looked like the living room of the home, Emma scanned the room for Ruby. That was when she saw him. Neal Cassidy. He was sitting on the couch with his arms on the shoulders of the two girls next to him. She recognized the girls as Tamara Owens and Emily "Tink" Belle.

He was not a person she wanted to see again, ever. Their relationship ended almost six months ago. They had started dating at the end of their 9th grade year. She fell hard and fast for him and she had thought he felt the same. Emma spent the whole summer before 10th grade wrapped up in everything that was Neal.

When they started the school year things gradually began to change. He started pressuring her to have sex even though she wasn't ready. In order to keep him happy she started to ditch her friends and class to spend more time with him. Her grades started to suffer and her parents noticed. When they tried to talk to her about it she ignored them and began sneaking out to see him.

Everything came to peak when she had snuck out of her house to surprise him on his birthday. She was finally going to give in and have sex with him. Except when she walked into the party she knew he was going to be at she couldn't find him. When she asked his friends they all became extremely awkward.

She finally found him in one of the rooms of the house… with another girl. It wasn't a pretty sight. So she did only thing she could do, she turned and ran out of the house. She finally reached the station, where her father was working the night shift that night, and fell into her father's arms a sobbing mess. She broke up with him at school the next day.

Even six months after their break-up it still stung to see him. Emma tried to back out of the room unnoticed, but of course that would have been too easy. Right as she turned to walk away, she heard Neal yell her name. There was definitely no way she could ignore him now. Turning back around, she noticed that he had come to stand in front of her.

"Neal. What is it that you want?"

"I'm just wondering what the sheriff's little princess is doing out of her palace so late at night."

Great. He most definitely had been drinking.

"Ruby called. She needed a ride. Have you seen her?"

"Lucas? Yeah. I saw her."

"Where? I'd like to get her and leave as soon as possible."

"Oh I could tell you, but what am I going to get in return?"

He had backed her up until she was against the wall. She was getting uncomfortable really fast.

"Neal, look I just really want to leave. If you could just tell me where she is I would be really thankful."

Neal just looked at her and crowded her even more.

"How about a kiss? I'll tell you where Ruby is and I get a kiss. That seems like an even trade."

"No, Neal. You know what, just leave me alone. I'll find her myself." Emma said as she tried to squeeze past him to get away from the wall.

"Oh no you don't," He had blocked her with his arm, "Come on Emma. It's an even trade."

Then, he leaned down to kiss her, but before his lips touched hers someone came up behind Neal and pulled him back.

"I believe the lady said no, mate."

A look of recognition crossed Neal's face. Whoever Emma's savior was, Neal knew him and he was obvious scared of him. Emma, on the other hand, had no clue who he was. At this point Emma couldn't really see his face because he was still looking at Neal. What she could see was what he was wearing, which included dark wash ripped jeans, a black button up, a leather jacket, and motorcycle boots.

"I would suggest you leave the lass alone and find your way back to your friends."

Neal just nodded his head and walked away quickly. Then, her savior turned and looked at her. Emma was struck by how handsome he was. He has the bluest eyes she had ever seen with dark – almost black- hair. His face held what looked to be days old stubble and a small scar on his cheek. He thoughts were broken when he spoke to her.

"Are you okay, lass?"

"Oh. Um… yeah. Thank you for helping."

"It was my pleasure." He said, and then he smiled at her.

His smile lit up the room.

"I heard part of your conversation with Cassidy. You're looking for your friend Ruby, yes?"

"Yeah. She called and needed a ride. I tried to call her when I got here, but her phone went to voicemail."

"Well you're in luck then. I am pretty sure that your friend is the same one that is currently out back with my friend Victor."

He must have meant Victor Whale. He was in the same grade as Emma and Ruby had been crushing on him for the better part of the year, so he was likely right. What Emma couldn't understand though was how this person knew Victor, and apparently Neal, when she had never seen him before.

"Come on, lass. I will take you to them."

He went to grab her hand in order to lead her to her friend, but Emma quickly pulled back. His eyes met hers and she could see disappointment there.

"Um… Who exactly are you?"

He kind of straightened up at her question.

"Killian Jones."

She may not have ever seen him before, but she knew who he was. Her father had complained about him enough to her mother.

"I'm Em..."

"Emma Nolan. I know who you are, lass. Your father has your picture on his desk."

She had forgotten about that photo.

"Now that we are friends, do you think you can trust me enough to lead you to your friend now?"

Emma smiled at the word friends. Emma just smiled and nodded her head. Killian reached to grab her hand again and this time she let him. He led her through the house until they reached the backdoor.

Once through, she noticed a huge bon fire in the back yard. There to her right was Ruby and Victor. They were kissing. Emma sighed and looked at the clock on her phone. It was ten minutes until one. She decided she would give her another ten minutes until she broke them up and brought Ruby home.

"So tell me Killian, why do I never see you at school?"

"I don't really go. I have to work most nights. School just is not high on my list of priorities."

"My dad says you get arrested more than any other juvenile in town."

"So you have heard of me," Killian said with a smirk.

"Well, I have heard about you from dad."

"And are you going to take what your father's says about me to heart, lass?"

That was the question that had been going through Emma's mind since she found out who he was. According to her father, Killian was a dangerous person. He was going nowhere fast and likely would spend the rest of his life in jail, if he stayed on the same path. All of that information did not add up to the person in front of her. To her, Killian seemed kind (he saved her from Neal when he didn't have too). He also seemed like he had some kind of code.

"I like to form my own opinions on people."

Killian smiled at her in response. Looking at her phone again, Emma realized that it was now one o'clock.

"Well, I better go have Ruby come up for air."

"Aye. When you get her meet me at the edge of the lawn. I'll walk you back to your car. Can't have you getting attacked by Cassidy again on my watch."

She smiled at him and nodded her head in agreement and walked over to Ruby. Once she got Ruby's attention, she was able to grab all of Ruby's belongings and the two girls made their way to the edge of the yard where Killian was waiting.

The walk to her car was a short one. Emma helped Ruby in the car and buckled her in. When she shut the door she turned and looked toward Killian.

"Thanks again for all of your help."

"No problem. I'm glad to help."

"Well, I guess I will see you around town since you don't come to school," Emma teased.

Killian gave her another one of his brilliant smiles.

"See you around, lass."

"See ya." Emma said as she got into her car.

Pulling away from the curb, Emma took one more look through the mirror to see Killian still at the curb watching her leave. She smiled to herself as she turned her attention back to the road; she definitely hoped that she would see Killian Jones again.

(Turns out, she didn't have to wait long to see him.)

(He was waiting for her by her car.)

(At the end of the school on Monday.)