I know I know I'm a few days late please forgive me. Here chapter 12 xx

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNIFER WE LOVE YOU

Chapter 12: Perception

Killian didn't go to school today. He could hear his teachers' voices saying: "You can't keep skipping class, do you want to miss your exams another time?"

He couldn't, really? Watch me.

The sky was beautiful; a mix of pink, orange and a tiny bit of blue. It was the dusk.

He was making his way to the dock, thinking it could be a great idea to smoke two or three cigarettes out there and as he arrived, he heard a familiar voice.

Indeed, Emma Swan was sitting on the first bench.

He smiled. Let the fun begin.

"I caught a cold" she said, through the phone.

He couldn't help but chuckle at this. Right, she caught a cold. That was why she was sitting there when it was bloody cold outside.

As she hang out the phone, he decided it was the right time to show himself.

"Have I ever told you that lies don't suit you?" He started with a smirk, remembering that Friday he told her that in Mrs. Mills' lesson.

"I'm starting to think you can't go a day without seeing me." was what she said in response, having this daring look in her eyes.

On the moment, it took him by surprise since he was expecting her to make a great demonstration of her annoyance instead of this sassy comment. But it would take more than that to fluster Killian Jones.

"I can't. You're my sunshine; lighting up my day, keeping me alive... What are you doing to me woman!" He exclaimed, raising his arms in the air and closing his eyes to accentuate the theatrical despair.

She shook her head gently, rolling her eyes; but he noticed the little smile on her face. As hard as she tried to deny it; she couldn't lie to him. It was obvious that she did like his company.

"So, what could a beautiful girl like you be doing here, alone; at almost 8 p.m?" Killian asked, sitting next to her.

"Why so curious?"

She wanted to keep up the secret thing uh? Or maybe she wanted to test him, to see if he was good enough to win it.

And her intense gaze was just what he needed to understand; she was challenging him.

"Just who are you Swan?" He said calmly, so calmly that she looked unsettled for a second.

He was being honest, he truly and desperately wanted to know who she was. He wanted to climb that wall of hers, to break it, to simply destroy it.

Because she was this kind of difficult puzzle you would spend days on without succeeding, and then you would finally give up.

But he won't give up on her. Ever.

If Emma went to the dock, it was to avoid Blue and to have peace. But funny thing considering the fact that she was now there, with Killian Jones. And she quickly learned that nothing was peaceful when it came to him.

The irony.

He had just asked who she was; and she clearly didn't want to answer to that. But she wasn't letting him have the last word either.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She shot back, with less strength than she wanted it to have. Her voice was almost trailing; if she wasn't Emma Swan, she could have sworn it was an attempt to flirt.

But Emma Swan didn't flirt.

"Perhaps I would."

The sincerity in his voice hit her. And she didn't know if it was because of this but she looked away, not able to handle a staring contest right now.

They both kept quiet, listening to their heavy breathing getting lost in the wind.

"You know something Swan? You made quite an impression at school." Killian stated suddenly, breaking the silence.

"Did I?" She responded, squinting.

"Aye. You already have a bunch of rumors on your account."

"Really?" She folded her arms on her chest.

"They say you're 20. Are you?"

She laughed.

"Do I look that old? No, I'm 17, turning 18 next October. How old are you?"

"A bit older; almost 19. Let's say I'm not really the good student." He said with a wince.

"I kinda figured that out."

"They say you are antisocial."

"I am, this isn't a disease but I can't say I'm not." She shrugged.

"Are you a fake blonde?" He inquired playfully, raising his eyebrow.

"Nope. 100% natural man."

"They say you're lesbian."

"What?" She widened her eyes, only to burst into laughers a few seconds later.

"I mean no I have nothing against homosexual people, mostly when they are not afraid to say it because it means that they accept themselves. But no I'm not."

"Too bad, I saw it as an explanation to the whole you-resisting-my-charms thing." He sighed before adding a pout.

"Your charms?" She mocked.

"I am devilishly handsome."

"And devilishly modest. My turn now. I heard you were a vampire." She faked a scared expression.

"Then if I'm Edward Cullen you're Bella Swan?" He played along. "Don't be so sad, you keep the awesome bird name."

"Bird name? Thank you." She rolled her eyes.

What they were doing there seemed innocent, almost like small talk. Unless she decided to bring it to another level. Which she did because 'okay enough with the joking', was what she thought.

Let's start the serious business.

"They say you kicked a teacher and sent a guy to the hospital." she repeated what Mary-Margaret told her, looking straight ahead to avoid his gaze.

His jaw clenched. She knew she was approaching the sensitive spot at the view of this sudden change of mood.

And the atmosphere was getting a lot more tense.

"I've never hit a teacher. But I did beat this guy up."

"Why is so?"

"I thought that what we were doing was confirming rumors, not giving justifications." He huffed.

Right. But now that he wanted to keep it a secret she was dying to know.

"Let's change the rules." She said dryly.

"You wanna do an 'ask everything you want and I will answer'?"

She considered it. And she knew it was a bad idea.

A really bad idea.

But it was also a way to discover more about the bad boy.

"Yup. So why?" She was going to regret it, she knew it.

He exhaled deeply before saying "he insulted my mother."

"And what did your mother think of it?"

"Nothing, she is dead." He deadpanned.

She swallowed her saliva.

She wasn't expecting this one. And she was also utterly astonished by how he said it.

Most of the people would use euphemisms to say things like that such as 'she's gone'; just as how he announced Milah's death when they were in detention.

To her, 'gone' sounded like regret. 'Dead', well more like anger. But why would he express anger toward his mother's death?

"How?"

"Cancer." He spat.

She understood immediately. He was angry because he couldn't have done anything to save her, he was furious because he was a spectator to this disease and not a fighter. He couldn't have any regret since he couldn't blame himself for anything; she was doomed, the game was rigged since the beginning and he couldn't change this fact.

"Why did you move here?" Killian's voice interrupted her train of thought.

She looked up to face his gaze, and she realized that he perfectly knew that something was wrong in her family life. The question was how?

"Foster system." She said, keeping her head high.

"Orphan uh?" He smiled weakly. "I learned to recognize those. They all share the same look in their eyes, the look you get when you've been left alone."

"How could you know about that?"

"'Know' is kind of exaggerated. Let's say we've spent quite some time together lately and I started having suspicions. That you've just confirmed."

"Anyway." she breathed out. "Next question; do you have any siblings and what about your dad?"

He pressed his lips together and clenched his fists. Another sensitive spot.

"I have a brother who's married and has a child. And when it comes to my dad."

"He abandoned us when my mother was pregnant with me. Leaving her with two children. Little bastard."

He was like her.

He was an orphan too.

He knew what it was to get left, he knew all of this. And she didn't notice. She didn't notice that behind this cocky personality of his, he was hiding a painful past including a wasted childhood and a disastrous experience of love.

"I got lucky though, never been in the foster system. My brother was major when we became what they call orphans." He kept playing with his hands as his eyes were showing an extreme sadness, that she never thought she would see on someone like him.

She felt guilty now, because playing this game was her idea, even if she knew it was going to hurt. But she didn't know it would hurt him that much. So she had to fix the thing now, she owed him that.

"Hey you know what they say" Emma decided to joke around with the rumors she heard from the girls to improve the atmosphere. She couldn't bear this tension anymore. "They say you got plastic surgery" She chuckled.

And he did too.

"They say you're a spy... What else? Oh yeah,"

"They say you killed" she let out another giggle.

But he didn't say anything, didn't make a single noise.

She stopped chuckling.

No this couldn't be true.

She looked into his eyes, fearing the answer.

And she could see the regret and sadness all over his face.

So she started to put the pieces together.

Death. Regret. Sadness.

Everything was starting to become clear, even more now that he was rubbing his tattoo with strength.

"Killian." She half-whispered.

He looked up, mostly because he was surprised that she used his first name and that she said it in such a sweet voice.

"Look I don't know what exactly happened, but no matter what; this wasn't your fault."

"No matter where, when, how; it was all an awful accident. I do believe that, you should too." She continued, her voice shaking because of the coldness yes, but also because of the emotion. She wasn't totally an emotionless robot finally.

He didn't respond at first, nodding slightly; but then he looked at her straight in the eyes and declared:

"For someone who's never been in love, you're quite perceptive aren't you?"

"Maybe I was, once."

I'm so excited for tonight's episode! That I'll watch tomorrow only -.- . And normally you'll be getting chapter 13 this Thursday if I'm not having too many homework. Chapter 13 will be some sort of transition thingy I mean well you'll see.