The next morning Killian slips out to his apartment to grab a change of clothes and a shower. When he returns he more than vocal about his doubts.
"Love, are you sure about this?" he asks as he makes breakfast for them.
"Absolutely and my cabinets are more bare than normal. A trip to the grocery store is needed. I'll have my gun and Will is too smart to make a move on me in a crowd. I will be fine," she attempts to reassure him. He grumbles in agreement, but is willing to go along with the plan nonetheless.
They make a quick run to the grocery store and pick up everything she wants. Killian desperately wants to hold her hand, but he knows she will slip her hand out of his grasp and a little under forty eight hours ago she was with another man. Well everyone in town thought she was, doesn't matter if she was undercover that hasn't quite got out yet. It's best for now they not flaunt their feelings publicly. He wants to, but knows they can't. At least not for now. Once this is all cleared up he fully intends on taking her to a nice restaurant and treating her the way she deserves.
When they finish up he insists on loading the groceries into her car. Emma attempts to help him, but he simply takes the bags from her hands when she does. This causes her to laugh the first genuine laugh he can remember hearing from her. Within one second she tenses up.
"What's wrong, love?" he asks her without stopping his task.
"I can just feel everyone's eyes on me and it's a weird feeling, one that I am trying ignore, which is difficult when the town doesn't try and hide the fact they are whispering about me," she says without looking at him.
"We do live in a small town, it happens. They could at least hide the fact they are whispering about you, very rude. No tact," he jokes and gets a small laugh from her, "No, in all seriousness I am sure your little trip the to emergency room didn't go unnoticed and neither did Walsh being taken away by David. The town talks. That's all it is. No one thinks differently of you or your ability to be deputy," he says as he loads the last bag in.
"How did you know I was worried about that?" she asks.
"Ah you're an open book, love. I know how much your job means to you, which is good cause you're bloody brilliant. Come on, let's take this stuff back and head into the station. We're going to start on trial prep today," he says as they climb into her yellow bug.
After putting away all the groceries and picking up lunch from Grannies the new couple head into the station. David is waiting for them in his office sorting through all the files on his desk.
"Hello, how was your walk around town?" David asks them.
"No one was following us, but everyone in town saw us, so hopefully he comes out of hiding soon," Emma says as Killian begins to pass out everyone's lunch.
"Since we are all here I thought we could start on trial prep," Killian suggest and David nods. For the next fifteen minutes Emma tells them everything about Walsh. Every insecurity, every flaw of his that Emma knows of. Killian writes everything down, David finally interjects.
"Does Walsh know about Arizona? David asks. Every muscle in Emma's body tenses. Killian can see her walls build themselves up again. Just when he thought they were starting to come down.
"He knew about him not all the details," she says tight lipped. David gives her a pointed look.
"What's Arizona and why are we worried about Walsh knowing?" Killian asks choosing to avoid that Emma won't look at him. Always two step forward and five steps back with her.
"When I was 17 I went to jail. Walsh's lawyer will use it to destroy me. Destroy this case."
"Is the record sealed?" Killian asks
"Yes it doesn't come up when you run a background check on her. But," David pauses, brows furrowed in thought.
"But what David?" Emma snaps
"Walsh's lawyer. It's Gold," David admits, looking defeated.
"Could this get any worse?" Emma says burying her head in her hands.
"Can I be let into the small town politics? Who is Gold? Should I be scared?" Killian asks looking between the two of them, waiting for an answer.
"Robert Gold owns just about everything in town and was a skilled prosecutor in Chicago for a long time. He's the one person in town you don't cross he'll make your life hell by lifting his finger. Power is his weapon and he welds it well. The editor of the newspaper wouldn't sell it to Gold he wouldn't meet his stupid demands. So, Gold revealed the editors affair to the whole town at a town meeting. Editor resigned and Gold got the paper. Gold always wins," David explains.
"Aye mate but you've never seen me work," Killian smirks.
"Gold will find out about Arizona and use it. It's over lets just release Walsh now it would be easier let's save the tax payers money," Emma says frantically.
"The little faith you have wounds me love," Killian says, clearly shocked by her words, her willingness to give up.
"It's not my lack of faith in you. It's that I'm more afraid of the shark. He's got me scared because no one's ever beat him," she says.
"What's your horror story of him, love?" he says, changing the subject.
"Gold owns the library and closed it because the librarian wouldn't go out with him. She's a friend of mine and let's just say she'd be better off if she never knew him," she sighs
"No, that's not possible, he couldn't have the district runs the library," Killian refutes her story.
"The official reason the library closed was because of renovations. Regina made him reopen after eight months," Emma says with an I-told-you-so look.
"The point being is he's a shark, but so is Regina. Emma, Regina is the stand in judge for the time being. She won't let Gold do whatever he wants, if anyone can help us beat him it's Regina," David says calmly.
"Wait Madam Mayor is also stand in judge?" Killian asks his brows furrowed.
"Yeah, it's some weird, old town law. We haven't had a judge in about ten years. There isn't a lot of crime here besides a few folks who need to spend the night in the drunk tank, so it wasn't really a problem. There is also the problem that no one else is qualified for the job," David explains.
"That's just madness," Killian says aggravated, by this town's backwards laws.
"That's just the way it works here. Trust me in this moment we want this outdated law it helps us. Regina is the only one who will fight Gold with us. She won't let him walk all over us or be corrupted by him," Emma says.
"Aye sounds like it," Killian shake his head and looks down at his notes. Emma knows she will have to tell him everything, but she definitely doesn't want to have that conversation in front of David. For now that can wait.
After hours and hours of preparing for the trial they all decide to call it a night. David heads home to Mary Margaret. Emma drives Killian to his place. She is surprised to find out he lives in renovated warehouse by the docks.
"No offense, but I never took you for the ocean view type," she says with a smile.
"Aye I've always lived by the sea it calms me. This was the only thing available on short notice, but it's nicer than expected. Would you like to come up and see it? Have a glass of wine?" He asks her.
"That sounds nice," Emma smiles. They get out of the car and he leads her up a set of stairs to his apartment. Killian swings the apartment door wide open and ushers her in. She walks in and her jaw drops a little bit. It's beautiful and view is spectacular. The old upper floor of the warehouse has been updated into a beautiful, sleek studio apartment. Brand new appliances in the kitchen, granite countertops. In the corner there is a bed and a door that she presumes leads to a bathroom. There is a wall of windows across from the kitchen and the bedroom, that give the most beautiful ocean view.
"This place is beautiful. How on earth did you find it?" Emma asks in awe.
"It was the last apartment listed on the realtor's web page. Luck of the draw really," he says with a smirk. Killian moves to the kitchen island and pulls out two wine glasses.
"Red or white, love?" Killian asks her as she walks up to the kitchen island.
"Red, please," he pulls a bottle down from the cabinets and pours them each a glass. They take a seat on the stools surrounding the island.
"You have that look in your face," Emma says before she takes a sip of wine.
"What look?" he asks confused.
"Pity, it's written all over your face, but I can see it most in your eyes," she grumbles without looking at him. He lifts her chin with his finger and makes her look at him. Once again when he touches her she feels a warm, tingling sensation wash over her body.
"I don't pity you. I would like to hear the story when you're ready of course. The last thing I would ever do is pity you. I think you're a stronger person than I could ever imagine. You've been through more than most and you're still standing. So, no I don't pity you," he says never breaking eye contact.
"When I was seventeen I was young and stupid and in love. Or what I thought was love," Emma starts.
"You don't have to-" Killian interrupts and grasps her hand.
"I know, but I want to and you should know," Emma takes a deep breathe and continues on, "I ran away from my last foster home and I met Neal while I was stealing the car he had already stolen. After that we would steal food to survive and sleep in motel rooms that people had already left. We wanted a permanent home, somewhere to call home. He had these stolen watches in a bus station locker. He couldn't go and get them so I had to. I was glad and more than willing to do it. He was the first person who actually wanted me around. He was the only person who ever said I love you and I believed him. So I went for the watches and he step me up to take the fall. The judge took pity on me and I was only in jail for eleven months. While I was in jail I found out I was pregnant, but about four months in I lost the baby. I got out just before my eighteenth birthday. And the car we stole was waiting for me. I never heard from him again," she says barely holding herself together.
He doesn't say anything, Killian just takes her into his arms. She doesn't cry because this all happened years ago, but telling the story still hurts she lets him hold her and it feels so good.
The only other people who know about Neal are David and Mary Margaret. When she told them she broke down, so this is progress. Each time she tells it gets easier. Killian just strokes her hair and holds her close.
"Come on, it's been a long day. You can stay here tonight," he whispers into her ear. She nods and he picks her up and carries her to his bed. Emma shrugs off her red leather jacket and Killian pulls her into his chest. That is how they fall asleep. In each other's arms.
-KEKE-
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading the story. Hope you guys have a good week!