Chapter 14

I thought it was about time we dug into Killian's past a little bit and it's something I'm hoping to explore over the next few chapters. We've heard about how he got onto law (because of his brother) but we don't know much about his relationship with Milah. This is something I hope they'll go into on the show, as so far I don't like Milah but I want to know why Hook loved her so much. Okay, so on with the chapter!

"This trial is to decide on the verdict of either guilty or not guilty on the defendant Neal Cassidy. He has been charged with several offences, but this trial is based on the offence of supplying instrument to cause the miscarriage of Neal Cassidy and Emma Swan's unborn child. Could we have the jury back in, please?" The judge asked. Emma was sat twiddling her fingers nervously.

Today was the day they would find out if Neal would be charged for his abuse on Emma. Snow, David, Will, Belle, Aurora and Robin were sat with her, Snow with a firm grip on Emma's forearm. Emma could see Graham was sat on the adjacent set of seats out the corner of her eye but she couldn't look at anyone but Neal. He was sat in the defendant's seat staring at Emma. He had menacing eyes and Emma knew that if it had just been the two of them in the court room, he would have beaten her within an inch of her life by now.

The jury piled in and took their seats. Another member of the court spoke.

"Madame Foreperson," he said, and the woman sat closest to him on the juror's bench stood up. "Answering yes or no, have you reached a verdict in this defendant?"

"Yes," she said meekly. Emma held her breath; her heart beat rapidly.

"A verdict of you all, or a majority?" he asked.

"A majority," she said.

"Would the defendant please stand?" he asked and Neal stood up, his eyes still on Emma. When David saw this, his balled his hand into a fist so tight his knuckles were white.

"Do you find the defendant Neal Cassidy guilty or not guilty?"

"Not guilty," she said, this time confidently. Emma let out a loud whimper, which caused everyone in the court to look at her. Snow put her arms around her and held on tight. Tears cascaded from Emma's eyes and a curt smile could be seen on Neal's face.

"Mr Cassidy, you have been found not guilty. You're free to leave the dock," the judge said. Neal thanked the judge, and he left the dock. "Members of the jury, thank you for your careful attention to the facts and for giving your verdict. You have discharged your duties honourably." The jury filtered out of the courtroom and Emma began to cry uncontrollably.

"Let's get her out of here," David said. Snow helped Emma to her feet and David put his arm around her. Snow held her hand and they all left the courtroom, the rest of the group behind them. They walked out of the building and almost made it down the steps before Robin ran past them. He pinned Neal up against a car, their faces inches apart. David kept Emma at his side on the steps with Snow, Aurora and Belle, but Will chased after Robin.

"You sick bastard, how did you do that? How did you play the system?" He screamed, his voiced echoed around. Robin pulled him away slightly before he slammed him against the car. "You beat her, manipulated her, and murdered her child, and you walk free? WHAT DID YOU DO TO GET OUT?" He bellowed the last words. Neal smiled at Robin and Robin punched him square on the nose and it broke in impact. Graham, who had watched the whole exchange, walked up to Robin and said; "I'll give you two seconds to walk away before I arrest you for ABH." Robin gave Neal one last filthy look before he and Will walked away. Neal struggled to stop his nose from bleeding and he cried out in pain. The rest of the group followed, but when Emma got to the pavement, Graham asked to speak with her.

"Emma, I can't apologise enough for this," he said. "But don't give up hope. This was just the first of many offences he faces conviction for. Cases of domestic violence are difficult to convince everyone of and unfortunately there just wasn't enough evidence."

"I understand," Emma nodded and she was turned to walk away but Graham held her arm.

"I want to help you," he said. "There's a lawyer you can contact who can ensure that a restraining order can be placed to stop Neal coming within a set amount of you. His name is Mr Gold and if you tell him I referred you, you won't need an appointment." Graham scribbled two numbers onto a piece of paper. "The top number is Mr Gold's and the second is mine. Don't hesitate to contact me if you need anything." He didn't give her a chance to answer before he put Neal into his car; he loudly explained to Neal that he was going to the hospital.

Emma woke up the next day with the biggest grin spread across her face. The last three days had been amazing. She couldn't stop thinking about Killian, and how grateful she was that both her friends and Killian got on well with each other. It was about 8am when Emma woke up, and she sat up in bed and read for an hour before she made her usual Sunday breakfast of pancakes and bacon.

She hummed as she cooked, and when she saw Ruby in the back garden, she knocked on the window and invited her over. Emma unlocked the backdoor and piled the pancakes and bacon onto the table.

"You want to join me?" Emma said as she got the maple syrup out of the cupboard and put the teapot on the table.

"Emma," Ruby said, with one eyebrow cocked, arms folded.

"What?" she said looking at Ruby.

"It's Sunday. You don't want anyone over on a Sunday." This was true; Sundays were Emma's selfish days.

"Well, maybe I'm in the mood for some company," she said with a laugh.

"Call Killian then," Ruby teased. "He must have had quite an effect on you."

"Yeah," Emma laughed. "He's something." Pongo came running through the door at that moment and Emma dropped to the floor to hug him. "Hello, oh I've missed you so much!" Pongo licked all over her face, which made her giggle like a schoolgirl. "Stop it!" she said jokingly, and she stood up. "Ruby, thank you so much for looking after him, how much do I owe you?"

Ruby held up her hand. "Nothing." Emma looked confused and so Ruby continued. "Emma, I've known you for 9 years and I've never seen you this happy. I've never known you to date a guy, have him stay the night, and then have him meet your friends. Emma, I'm so happy for you, this is what you need. Anytime you want me to look after Pongo, I will. I'll do anything to make sure you keep rising up." Emma burst into happy tears and they hugged. Ruby said bye to both Emma and Pongo and she left. Emma had some fantastic times at university with Ruby, both of them always out partying together. At the given it seemed like the best idea, but the reality is that Emma should have sought help.

Emma ate her breakfast (4 pancakes and about 10 pieces of bacon – she was starving!), and went upstairs. Usually her Sundays were spent reading or watching TV, but Emma didn't feel like that today. She wanted company.

As if she could read her mind, Snow rang Emma. Emma answered on the 2nd ring.

"Hey Emma!" Snow's voice sang down the phone.

"Morning, Snow. How are you?"

"Yeah, I'm good! Listen, I know Sunday's are your day, but David and I were having a Sunday roast this afternoon with some of his colleagues. Now, as nice as they are, it'll be all work talk, nothing for me to talk about. Did you want to come over?"

"I'll bring dessert!"

"Emma, you're a star! Come over for about 3:30pm, okay? Bye!"

Emma went back downstairs and hunted through her recipe books until she found two desserts that she knew would go down well: trifle and cupcakes.

It has been a long time since Emma had baked and she was quite looking forward to it. After a rush to the shop to buy everything she needed, she had the fruit soaking in rum in a bowl while she made 6 different types of cupcakes. The trifle recipe was one that Snow's mother had given her and Snow had given it to Emma. Apparently it had been a tradition to pass this recipe down through the generations since the early 1930s. Snow had always seen Emma as her daughter, despite them being the same age, and on their second Christmas of being friends Snow gave Emma the recipe.

It was 1pm by the time Emma had finished baking. She had a huge 9-layered trifle in a bowl and 36 cupcakes in a special cupcake carry case. Emma had made Oreo, vanilla, coconut, strawberry, chocolate, and lemon drizzle flavoured cupcakes. Emma had 2 and a half hours before she needed to be at Snow's, a journey that could take up to 2 hours. She rushed upstairs and grabbed the first outfit she could think of. She opted for a blue button-up shirt with white stripes, teamed with a navy blue knee length skater skirt, red heels and a red clutch bag. She ran a brush through her hair and thanked her parents for blessing her with naturally wavy hair that behaved. After her usual amount of makeup was put on, this time she wore red lipstick as well, she grabbed her phone and swapped over everything from her the bag she used the day before to the red clutch.

Emma had 10 minutes to get to the car, and she stopped to take a photo of what she had made. She sent it to Aurora, Bella, Robin and Will, with the comment 'haven't done this much baking in a while!' She paused and decided to send a photo to Killian as well: 'Selfish Sunday turned into baking for the 5,000!' Emma put away her phone and loaded up the car. She had a slightly beaten up bright yellow Volkswagen bug. She loved her car but she rarely had time to use it given that she was always on the trains or at home. Pongo jumped into the backseat after Emma had ensured everything was turned off (Emma had once left the oven on after her last baking session, a mistake she was not going to make again!) and she had locked up the house. Emma took off her heels to drive and was about to start the engine when her phone pinged. A text from Killian: 'Swan, you are a woman of many talents. I hope I'll get to taste your baking creations soon!" Emma smiled like an idiot before she put her phone away and drove off.

The quickest way to get to Snow's meant Emma would have to pass by Killian's house. It took her two seconds to decide what she was going to do. Emma arrived at Killian's gate and panicked when she couldn't remember the code. She pressed the 'call' button, but nothing happened. Before she could turn around and abandon her idea, the gates opened. Emma drove up to the front of the house and put her shoes on before leaving the car. Emma knocked on the door and Killian answered after a few moments. He was dressed in a black Henley shirt and dark denim jeans.

"So you're the owner of that yellow bug," Killian smiled and nodded at the car. "Normally I wouldn't let just anyone into the gate, but when I saw the car I had to know who it belonged to."

"Hi," was all Emma could say. She was too happy to be here. Killian walked over to her and kissed her. "I hope you haven't ruined my lipstick," Emma said.

"Nope, nope, you look stunning," Killian said as he inspected her mockingly. "You look beautiful, Swan." He kissed her again. "What's the occasion?"

"Snow and David are having a Sunday roast with David's colleagues and Snow wanted me there. That's what I made the trifle and cupcakes."

"You're full of hidden talents," he laughed. Emma remembered why she was there.

"And now for the reason why I'm here," Emma said as she walked to the back of her car and opened the trunk. Emma had divided the cupcakes up into 6 boxes with 1 of each cupcake in each box. Emma selected the box she liked the most, shut the trunk, and gave it to Killian. He looked ecstatic when she gave him the box. "These are for you. I hope 10 minutes later is the soon you meant." Killian wrapped one arm around her and pulled her in for a kiss.

"Thank you, Emma. These look perfect. Just like you," he said, as he looked deep into her eyes. They kissed again, Emma's arms around his neck, not wanting to let go. She had an idea. "I'm happy you're here, Emma, but I fear what Snow will think if you're late!"

"Just hold on a second," Emma said and she ran down to her car. She bent over and got her phone out.

"That's quite a view you're giving me, Swan," Killian called, as he leant against the doorframe with his head cocked to the side. Emma turned back and shot him a look before she stood up.

"Hey Snow, is it okay if Killian comes today? Okay, thank you! I'll be there soon," Emma said and put her phone away. "You've got 5 minutes to get ready. Oh, and this is Pongo by the way," she nodded at Pongo who looked quite confused as to where they were. Killian smiled and he went back into the house. Within 3 minutes he had changed into a smart navy shirt, black trousers, and black brogues. He locked up the house and opened the door to the backseat of the car and introduced himself to Pongo. Pongo licked him all over and barked gleefully. Emma told him that was a sign that Pongo liked him, and they set off once Pongo and Killian were both back in the car.

On the journey, Emma and Killian spoke non-stop. She recounted all the funny stories from university with the group and all her stories had Killian in stitches. She chose to leave out first year, not wanting to tell him about the demons from her past just yet. Killian asked if she would be okay if he invited the guys over to his at some point and Emma told him what a great idea it was.

They got to Snow's 5 minutes early and she was ready at the door. Snow came down and took Pongo while Emma and Killian grabbed the desserts from the car. Killian had his arm around Emma as they entered the house and followed Snow through to the kitchen. Snow told them to put the desserts down on the table before she took Pongo outside. There was someone else in the kitchen but neither Killian nor Emma saw them. Killian told her how beautiful she looked and Emma thanked him for coming with her. They kissed and the person in the kitchen could tell how much love was in that kiss.

"Hello, Killian." The person had found their voice. Emma and Killian broke apart and Killian's smiled dropped and the blood drained from his face.

"Milah?"