A/N: Much love to Kaicchan, phoward, someclarafication, LTC522, OnceUponABookworm, ARDingbat, ouatcs, Revenessa, Kammeh14, EurekaBeck, pandajw, wendyhookjones, KillianJones, Ckyrandomfan, Cheshire Illusionist, Ravengirl07, WapomeoHuntress, blankface, James-Padfoot, Mel, florenzu, Mackie1971, Lunalove25, NatyLeao, and the guest reviewer!


"I still don't think this is a good idea."

Emma glanced at Mary Margaret in the mirror, careful not to move her head as she finished applying a thin streak of eyeliner.

"It's nothing," she assured her, "Just some fun. Ruby's going too, Victor asked her. It'll be fine."

"I don't like it." Mary Margaret sat down on the edge of Emma's bed. "Why would he just ask you like that? It could be a trap."

"Hey. We're not blowing up the Death Star. It's just a party." Emma came and sat next to her, fixing her with her most reassuring smile. "If you're so worried, why don't you come along too?"

Mary Margaret snorted. "Ha! I think not. Regina might tolerate you and Ruby if she finds out, but me? Invading her house and home? Don't forget that Principal Mills lives there too."

Emma pressed her lips together. "Yeah, I know, but I've been assured that Ms Mills is out of the house tonight. Look, I'll text you the whole time, keep you updated."

"Yes," Mary Margaret said, seeming pleased with this plan. "You do that."

Emma rolled her eyes. Sometimes Mary Margaret acted more like her mum than Astrid did.

"What else? Shall I be home by midnight?" she teased, and Mary Margaret mock-scowled and swatted at her.

"Seriously though," she said, fixing Emma with a rather more sombre look. "If anything happens – if Regina or Killian or any of them does something – just call and David and I will come get you out of there, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks." And great, now Mary Margaret was making her paranoid, as though she were about to walk into a den of lions rather than crash a birthday party.


The Mills' house took up probably a third, if not half, of the entire street block. Emma had driven past it many times, but never gotten a close up look. It was certainly an impressive building, a three-storey redbrick manor with expansive front gardens and neatly trimmed topiary lining the entrance path.

There were quite a few people milling in the garden already, which had been strung up with fairy lights and colourful paper lanterns. Most of them were people Emma recognised from school, and when she walked through the gates a few looked at her in surprise, probably wondering what she was doing there. Their groups' feud was no secret.

"Emma!" a voice called out, and Ruby bounded up by her side, looking stunning as usual in a strapless crimson dress and matching lipstick.

"Hey!" Emma said, glad to see her friend. She grinned. "You had a look around yet?"

"Yep," Ruby replied, popping the 'p'. "Fanciest house I've ever seen! And it's not really a house party, it's sort of a classier thing, so... I'm glad we dressed for the occasion."

"Speaking of dressed for the occasion," a voice drawled behind Emma, and she turned to see Killian.

"You look absolutely delightful," he informed Ruby, with accompanying wink, and then turned to Emma.

"And you look... beautiful," he continued, in a slightly odd voice, like he had been aiming for flirty but ended up sounding a bit too sincere, and Emma bit her lip, unsure why she suddenly felt a warm flush of delight at his words – he'd probably said the same thing to a hundred other girls before. Not to mention she wasn't even all that done up, she'd put on a simple blue tunic dress, with a white paisley print along the hem and a beaded neckline. Nothing too fancy, but then again, she supposed Killian spent the vast majority of his time seeing her in the school uniform.

"Thanks," she replied. Before she could reply, Victor swooped in beside Killian, nearly knocking the other boy over. He was wearing a pair of bright green shutter shades, and as they stared at him in confusion, he reached forward and jammed a pair of hot pink ones onto Killian's face.

"...thank you?" Killian said sarcastically. "You look like a total douche, by the way."

"And now you do too!" Victor sneered. He turned to Emma and grinned. "Emma Swan. I didn't realise you were invited."

"That's because I wasn't," she replied, and his grin widened.

"Great. Now I won't be the only one Regina gets mad at for bringing one of her mortal enemies." His gaze flicked over Ruby appreciatively. "You look hot, by the way."

Ruby rolled her eyes, but smiled. As Victor took her arm and led her off, Emma wondered just when the two of them had become so close. Then again, Emma-of-two-weeks-ago would have been asking herself the same thing about she and Killian.

"Shall we go inside?" Killian asked, and she nodded. He made to take the shades off but she grabbed his wrist.

"Wait! I want to take a photo of that."

"You're not gonna post it on Facebook, are you?"

"...no," she said unconvincingly, and stuck her tongue out. He shot her a mock-glare, but obligingly pulled a face while she snapped a picture of it. And promptly texted it to Mary Margaret with the caption 'save me he is oh so dangerous' before putting her phone away and smiling.

"Inside, then?"

He nodded, shoved the glasses in his pocket, and offered her his hand the same way Victor had. Emma hesitated for a second, then shrugged and took hold of it. His grip was warm and firm and oddly comfortable.

"Someone will undoubtedly have snuck booze in," Killian said, as they approached the marble steps leading up to the front door. "But as a general rule Regina hates people getting drunk at her house."

"Well, I wasn't planning on it," she replied. "Do you hang out here much?"

"Not really. Sidney does. The rest of us tend to meet up in town or at Victor's place."

Inside, the party was already quite lively. The interior of the house was massive, all sloping ceilings and tiled floors and fancy wide staircase, but most people were lingering in the entrance hall where a buffet table was set up, so it was quite crowded. Pretty much their entire year group was there, and quite a few others from different schools, talking, drinking punch and dancing to some random pop song playing over the stereo system. It was surprisingly civilised for a teenaged party, which Emma supposed was in line with Regina's style.

"Impressed?" Killian asked, and Emma turned to him.

"Mostly curious! It's weird to think of Regina living here every day."

"Rest assured, she's just as human as the rest of us."

"I know. It's just very extravagant. I guess that's what being totally rich is like."

Astrid and Leroy were quite well off – Astrid had had a job in the profitable mining industry before switching to part-time work after adopting Emma. Most of the saved up money had gone towards the adoption and sending Emma to Queenhart. They were by no means poor, but certainly a far cry from this sort of lifestyle.

"Yeah, but you know what they say. Money can't buy everything," Killian said.

Emma glanced at him. "Regina seems happy enough," she began to say, before pausing as she realised that she really didn't know that. Her only close contact with Regina was in the form of, well, fights. She always seemed content enough – but if Emma's interactions with Killian were anything to go by, it seemed you couldn't just judge a person by how they acted at school.

"Has Regina ever dated someone?" she asked curiously. She'd never seen the other girl in a relationship at school, but not every boy in Storybrooke went to Queenhart.

Killian ran a hand through his hair. "Once," he said, after a moment's hesitation. "Not since she started high school."

"What? So when she was a kid? Those don't count."

"It was... different." He shook his head, and Emma realised that while she might be Regina's enemy, Killian was still her friend, and obviously didn't want to reveal whatever it was that Regina probably didn't want spreading around.

"Apparently Sidney used to have the biggest crush on her," he informed her instead, and Emma smiled.

"Actually, I remember that. Year 8, I think. Everyone was talking about some drama in her group."

"Yeah. They managed to work it out and stay friends, though. Anyway. Want to see the rest of the house?"

The upper levels were off limits, and Emma was surprised to see that there were actually security cameras installed above the staircase and two guards standing at the banister, watching the goings on. She supposed the school principal would probably not be particularly happy about having a hundred students wandering around her home.

As it was, they explore the drawing room – and really, who even had a drawing room nowadays – as well as a sitting room with a television screen so large it took up almost an entire wall, and finally the backyard.

More topiary surrounded the neatly trimmed lawn, most of it, oddly, cut into the shape of a series of hearts of varying sizes.

"Rumour has it," Killian whispered in Emma's ear, close enough that she felt his breath against her skin, "That Principal Mills steals the souls of anyone who defies her and channels their life force into her shrubbery."

"You are ridiculous," she huffed, and couldn't help the shiver that tingled down her spine when he laughed against the side of her face.

"What's that tree there?" she asked, pointing to the impressive fruit tree that was in the centre of the lawn, the most prominent feature of the garden.

"Ah. That would be Regina's apple tree. Her pride and joy. It was planted on the day of her birth, and she's been its sole carer since she was old enough to hold a watering can. She loves that thing like it's her own flesh and blood." He raised and lowered one shoulder. "I've personally never seen the appeal of plants. Had a cactus once when I was 9. It died."

"You managed to kill a cactus?"

"Apparently."

She eyed the tree. For a moment she was seized with a flash of vindictiveness.

"What are you thinking, Swan?" Killian asked suspiciously, and she shrugged.

"Just how easy it would be to take a bite out of every single apple on that tree. Or draw on them in permanent marker."

"You want to troll Regina?" He was grimacing, but there was a spark of amusement and almost fondness in his eyes.

"Maybe." She smiled mischievously. "Come on! That's hardly anything compared to the stuff she's done to me. We never get a chance to hit back. Moral high ground and all that."

Killian shrugged. "Well, I'm hardly one to try and stop you. If you recall, I'm quite the believer in revenge."

"I remember," she said.

"But in the interests of not becoming a not-so-innocent bystander, I'll step out while you do... whatever it is you're going to do. I'll meet you back inside." He tipped an invisible cap to her before vanishing back into the house.

Emma walked up to the tree, had a few second thoughts, and then finally decided that what the hell, Regina deserved it. Besides, it wasn't like she was going to go and pee all over the house or anything. This was almost more of a prank than some sort of terrible revenge.

In the end she decided not to be too mean, and settled for just taking some bites out of the apples on the lower hanging branches. To Regina's credit, they tasted pretty good.

Having messaged a picture of the results of her nefarious scheme to Mary Margaret and receiving an amused reply, she returned to the party. She didn't realise how cool and silent the garden was until she re-entered the house, which seemed to have become even more crowded and noisy since she left. There was no sign of Killian around, but she caught a glimpse of Regina suddenly, gliding across the floor of the hall, and quickly ducked back behind a marble column, hoping to stay out of sight.

A bunch of girls were standing near her, and she moved to mingle at the fringes of their group. Extensive watching of David playing Assassin's Creed had assured her that this would pretty much render her invisible.

One of their phones trilled, and the girl checked it, her eyes widening. "Oh my God, Mr Gold is here."

"What?" another exclaimed. Emma frowned.

"Yeah, it's going around! Someone saw him walking through the drawing room!"

"What the hell is he doing here?"

Well that's weird, Emma thought. And then was hit by a flash of concern for Killian – naturally the first person who sprang to mind at the mention of Mr Gold.

She stepped away from the group and set out in search of him. Ruby and Victor were dancing a little way nearby – well, doing more laughing and stumbling about than dancing, as it seemed Victor was not very good – and she marched over to them.

"You seen Killian?" she asked, and Victor pointed at the entranceway into a coatroom that joined the main hall to a secondary sitting room (really. For God's sake. Who needed two sitting rooms?).

She gently pushed her way through a crowd of people attempting to perform Gangnam Style, entering the coat room where it was quiet and empty. She took a moment to give her eardrums a break, when suddenly she felt a hand on her elbow.

"Em," Neal said.

She spun around so hard that her own hair nearly gave her whiplash.

"What – what the hell are you doing here?!" she demanded.

The shock of seeing him already had her heart slamming against her ribcage. Neal looked slightly pained. He didn't let go of her arm.

"We need to talk!"

"Did you follow me here?"

"No." He was lying. "We need to talk."

"About what?"

"I want you to understand why I did it," he said, pleadingly. "We should – I like you, Emma, I want to stay friends. I don't want to stay in this, this tense angry thing we've got going on!"

"Tense angry thing?" She shook his grip off roughly, folding her arms across her chest like they could somehow defend her. "I have every right to stay in this tense angry thing! And what the hell was that back at the library? Telling me you dumped me for my own benefit?!"

"Because I did!" he sounded frustrated. Like she was the one who just couldn't get it, and that was it. Emma had just had it. Here and now, they were hashing this out.

"I thought I was pregnant, Neal!" Her voice cracked slightly, but she barrelled on. "I thought I was pregnant. With your child! And you just left! You just dumped me and left! How, in any way, shape or form, was that for my own good-"

"Because I wanted to keep it!"

She was struck silent, mouth half-open. Neal was glaring now, his eyes burning fiercely.

"I thought you were pregnant, and I knew that I wanted to keep it, and I knew that that was exactly the wrong thing for you! I knew that if you kept it... it would ruin you."

"Ruin me?!" she cried, aghast, and he cut back in.

"Yes, Emma! It would have ruined you. It would ruin what you were building with Astrid and Leroy. I could see you weren't close to them yet – not as close as you would have to be to raise a child under their roof! I knew you would be terrified of having to tell them, you would worry they were gonna send you away – I couldn't put you through that! I knew that people at school would talk, that Regina would have a field day with it! So that's why I left, okay?! That's why I left! I left so that you could be safe, so that you could be happy! And it killed me to do it! It killed me!"

She stared at him, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. Neal's own eyes looked suspiciously damp, wide and open and honest-

No. Not honest.

Not honest, her lie detector blared. Not honest. There's something more.

"That's not... that's not why you left," she choked out. "That's not. There had to have been more. And you stayed away for two years. As soon as I found out it was just a scare – Ruby called you. She let you know. And you didn't come back."

Neal's gaze dropped to the floor, shoulders slumping. There was a terrible moment of silence. Outside, the music and chatter stopped momentarily, before a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday started up.

Emma felt sick.

Neal swallowed hard. "I... my parents," he said, flatly. "They just fought, all the time. I knew they were breaking up. They were pulling apart and accusing each other of cheating and I was stuck in the middle and I needed to get away. And then I got the offer for the exchange program, and then you said you were pregnant and I knew. I knew I had to leave. It was like – it was like fate, the offer came along and it was what I had to do. For both of us. For you."

Emma stared at him.

"Fate," she said dully. "It was like fate."

"Yes!" And his gaze snapped back up to her, eyes burning. "So do you get it? I wasn't trying to hurt you, I was trying to help-"

And there he broke off, because Killian had come out of nowhere and punched him in the face.

Emma stumbled back, hand flying to her mouth in shock, because where did he come from, what's going on-

he heard.

"You absolute-" Killian had grabbed Neal by the shirt and shoved him back against the wall. "-minging-" a punch to the stomach - "-asshole!"

"Get off me!" Neal shoved Killian back, spluttering. Blood was dripping from a cut on his lip. "What the hell, Killian?!"

"You are a snivelling coward," Killian roared. Neal took a step forward, and Killian moved swiftly between him and Emma. "Stay away from her!"

"This has nothing to do with you!"

Emma had never seen either of the boys this angry, so tense they were trembling, fists clenched.

Neal tried to step forward again, and Killian charged him. He knocked him back against the wall, but with one hand out of action, Neal had an advantage, and he landed a punch on Killian's jaw before the other boy ducked low and tackled him about the waist, sending them both to the floor.

By now people had heard the commotion and were spilling into the coatroom, most shouting, some cheering and jeering, and Emma stepped forward to intervene, when-

"Get off my son!"

Mr Gold was suddenly there. He grabbed Killian by the back of the shirt, but when pulling failed, he hooked an arm around the boy's waist and yanked him back. They both fell to the ground and Gold got to his feet and pointed his cane at Killian, still on the floor.

"Don't touch him again!" he snarled.

Killian glared up at him. "You stay out of this, old man!" he yelled.

"What's going on here?!" Regina had shoved her way through the crowd. If the situation had been different, Emma might have found the look on her face amusing, as she took in Neal wiping his bloodied lip, Mr Gold threatening Killian on the floor, and Emma standing there watching like a stunned mullet.

Regina planted her hands on her hips. She did not seem at all cowed by the fact that her year coordinator was standing in front of her. She just looked very, very unimpressed.

"I repeat," she snapped, "What is going on here?"

"That is exactly what I want to know," a voice rose above the murmurs of the spectators.

The crowd parted like the Red Sea, and Emma's blood ran cold.

Striding through the ocean of teenagers was Principal Cora Mills. She rarely ventured from her office, and the only time students usually saw her was once a week at assembly – unless they had committed a transgression serious enough to be sent into her Lair of Doom.

Up close, she was even more intimidating. Lips bright red, hair piled atop her head in an impressive bun, heels giving her a few inches of extra height and a cold, steely look in her eyes.

Mr Gold slowly lowered his cane.

"Cora," he said flatly.

"Rumpel," she replied, looking most unamused. "What the hell are you doing in my house?"


Emma wondered if she was dreaming.

It certainly felt very surreal, sitting on an uncomfortable fancy chair in Regina's house, feeling as though she was waiting outside the principal's office to be called in and face the music.

In a way, she supposed she was.

Her phone was buzzing continually with text messages from a frantic Ruby, who had been dragged out of the party by Victor before they could get in trouble as well. She had now alerted Mary Margaret, who was also spamming Emma's inbox with a shower of concern and fretting.

Emma switched her phone to silent.

Neal was sitting opposite her, hands braced on his knees, head hanging down. He had only spoken once since the fight, and this to tell Mr Gold that "You shouldn't have come."

The house was now still and empty, the guests all gone. Emma had been forced to stay behind, under the orders of Cora, who wanted to "sort this out without getting the police involved and without having to deal with drama at school on Monday."

So here she was. Stuck waiting.

She could only really think about two things.

Mr Gold's first name was Rumpel, which really, what.

And Neal hadn't apologised.

He had thrown a lot of 'becauses' at her, but he hadn't apologised.

He wasn't sorry.

"-can't do things like this!" Cora's voice drifted suddenly from behind the door of her nearby study. "I am this close to expelling you, Jones. I could not care less about this thing you have going with Gold, but you bring it here? Into my house and home?"

She heard Killian reply, too quietly for her to make out the words.

"You are walking a very, very thin line. I've done everything I can to help you. But if you get into trouble like this... I should have called the police tonight. And if I had, you would have been out of this school faster than you could blink. You have no breathing room to take risks like that."

A pause.

"There are a hundred other students out there waiting to take your place at Queenhart if you mess this up again. Dr Hopper tells me you've been missing his sessions. That won't do. He's been trying to call your house but no one answers. I sent a letter home asking your father to come in two weeks ago and got no reply."

This time, Emma heard Killian's reply. "He's out of town."

"He's been out of town for the entire month."

"He'll be back. Next month when you ring – someone will answer."

Another pause.

"So what am I meant to do? Just send you home? I can't contact your parents." A heavy sigh. Some talking in softer tones. And then Cora's voice again, close to the door, "You're lucky Regina likes you."

The door opened and Killian emerged, Cora close behind him. He looked pale, tired, still a bit irritated. There was a dark bruise blooming on his jaw where Neal had hit him.

"Neal," Cora said, inclining her head towards the study. "In here, now."

He trudged in, slowly, leaving Emma and Killian standing alone in the hallway.

A tense silence settled over them. The lights in the corridor seemed too bright and too harsh, and Emma still felt sick.

She spoke first.

"You shouldn't have done that."

He turned to look at her, eyes very tired.

"Sorry?"

"You shouldn't have done that. Attacked Neal. It wasn't anything to do with you. I could have handled it myself." The words came out very flat.

He looked stricken. "I wasn't-"

"I'm not angry," she continued. She couldn't quite get her voice to sound anything other than flat. "You just... shouldn't have done that. He was mine to deal with."

Killian didn't seem to quite know what to say.

As it turned out, he didn't have to say anything, because Regina came storming down the hall. She looked absolutely livid.

"Regina," Killian began, turning to her, and she pulled to a halt right in front of him.

"You," she snapped, and stabbed a finger at his chest. "What the hell was that out there? You just ruined everything!"

"Not here!" he hissed, with a glance at Emma, but she cut in.

"Yes here! This is my house, Killian! What were you thinking?! Neal was our best bet!"

Emma froze. An odd sensation overcame her, almost like a premonition. Whatever she was about to hear, she knew that she wouldn't like it. Yet she couldn't bring herself to leave. Killian's face was drawn rigid and angry, his eyes very bright, and Regina's lips had curled into a snarl.

"It was going so well," Regina said, deliberately loud enough for Emma to hear. "And you just screwed it over completely. He hates you now, he'll never tell you anything."

"He wasn't telling me anything anyway," Killian replied, his voice very tight.

"He didn't trust you enough yet. He's never going to trust you now." She threw her hands up. "So there goes that plan! Back to square one, just because you let your stupid crush get in the way of things! Do you even want this?! Are you even trying here, because it sure doesn't seem like it!"

"Regina..." he broke off, turned to Emma, but she took a step back away from him.

"You weren't really friends with Neal," she said. The look on his face said it all. "You were just using him... to get information?"

"Emma-"

"Information about what?" Me, was her first horrified thought, but she quickly discarded it. They wouldn't have gone through Neal. And then it came to her, the way they had been outside of Mr Gold's office. Drastic measures. "Mr Gold. You were just pretending to be his friend because you want to get something on Gold."

Killian just stood and looked at her, arm hanging limply by his side. He had nothing to say.

Emma swallowed a few times. The nausea was creeping up her stomach and through her chest, sick disappointment overwhelming her.

She had thought Killian was better than that.

She had thought she'd initially misjudged him.

And don't get her wrong – it wasn't that she felt at all protective towards Neal, quite the opposite, actually. But the fact remained.

He'd done it again.

The exact same thing he'd done to Aurora, he'd done again with Neal. Conspiring with Regina to trick and betray and use someone before throwing them away-

And God. God. What if the same thing was being done to her right now?

Was she about to be thrown away too?

Panic rose up. She quashed it down, and made herself go very cold and very still, and said, "What about me?"

"What?" Killian asked, softly.

"How do I fit into all this? Is that why you were being so friendly to me as well?" Oh God. Oh God, no. The things she had told him.

"What?" Killian repeated. His eyes widened, "Emma, that's not-"

"Don't lie to Miss Swan," Regina cut in. Her eyes glittered darkly, and she strode up next to Killian, placing a hand delicately on his shoulder. "You were close to Neal. You were the closest person to him for over a year. You knew things. Things that could have helped us."

"No. Regina-" Killian hissed, turning to face her, but she dug her nails into him and continued.

"Surely you didn't think he liked you, Emma. You? Really?" She laughed, harsh and bitter. "He could have any girl he wants. And you're not what he wants."

Something in Emma snapped.

Something that was wound very high and tight. Something that had broken the first time she was sent away from a foster home, and again when Neal left, and she that had rebuilt precariously and lined with high walls that had now, somehow, been infiltrated, leaving her open to bombardment.

She turned and strode towards the door, uncaring of what Cora would say. Behind her she heard Killian shouting, angrily, but couldn't make out his words. All she heard was Regina's voice, snapping at him: "Do you want this?! Do you want this?!"

She walked out the door, and out the gate, and down the road, and took out her phone. She saw herself in the dark reflection of the screen, and her face looked very blank.

And she sat down on the curb, and called Mary Margaret.


A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter :P :) :P :)

Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated! ~ 3