The characters will always belong to Kitsis and Horowitz but I'm taking them out to play.
"Emma, we discussed this all day yesterday and agreed that this is what's best for the studio. It's a fair proposition and considering how personal this is for all of us I'm not willing to piss off the person who actually stepped in to save us. I've already signed on the dotted line, so get over the pity party and remember that it's not all about you and your tangled up love life."
Regina wasn't yelling at her but it was a close thing. Emma knew she was being difficult, if Regina had been pulling the crap she was the yelling would have started long before.
It wasn't that Killian's offer wasn't exactly the break that the studio needed to keep afloat or that his timing with the whole thing was nearly perfect. She just couldn't get past the fact that he had disappeared without any warning and returned as a saving grace for almost half the town. Ruby had even told her about what he'd done for Granny, gifting her the deed for the diner without any kind of payment in return.
She had felt a little ashamed when she heard that. After all her accusations that he had done it to save the Quills, Emma had never even thought about all the others he had become responsible for. Word had been spreading all through town about the varying offers he'd made to business owners that all seemed to favor them instead of him. There was even a rumor that Gold was using everything in his power to find a way to get it all back, but Emma only had Leroy's word to go on.
"Are we sure that we can trust him? Where did he get the money for all this? I mean, come on, he was working as a florist for Anton for God's sake. Not exactly a high paying job," Emma hedged.
"I can't believe I'm hearing this or that I have to say this to you," Regina sighed. "Killian is a good man, just look at what he's done for this town. If you can't trust him that says more about you than it does about him.
"As for the money, well, how much do we really know about his life before he came here? He could be a Lord or something and was over here to escape his obligations before. We don't know why he left, maybe his castle needed a new coat of gold or his horde of diamonds needed counting. Don't look the damn gift horse in the mouth and sign the papers. End of discussion."
Emma wanted to pout, despite how childish and immature it would make her seem. She also wanted to set the facts straight and let Regina know just how much she wanted to trust him. It was that step, that leap of faith, that terrified her the most and the reason she was hesitant to sign the papers. If she put it all on the line and she lost it, because of him, it might be the thing that would finally break her.
Yet, Regina was right. Emma was letting her personal feelings and worries cloud her judgement. They had talked through every aspect of the contract the day before, pleased to find there were no hidden surprises or loopholes. It had been a relief to know that there was nothing that seemed out of place or suspicious, that Killian was true to his word. He seemed to be an honest business man but Emma couldn't be sure.
"Stop overthinking it," Regina snapped as she rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that wounded look, either. I told him we'd have an answer by this morning and it's already almost noon."
"You're the one that made that promise, not me," Emma grumbled.
"Yes, but you're the one that's still stalling. You know what? You get to be the one to hand deliver the good news. I'm tired all this dancing around, from the both of you."
Regina picked up the copies of the contract and practically shoved them into Emma's hands. Before Emma could protest or try to figure out what she meant Regina's phone rang and effectively ended the conversation.
Huffing a bit as she stood up and walked out the door, Emma decided to get over her issues and treat Killian as he should be treated as the landlord. If she let her feelings drive her any further she would end up doing something she would regret.
"Emma?"
With a start Emma realized she had walked in a daze to her station and David was sitting in her chair, looking up at her worriedly.
"Hey, David. What's up?" She was glad to see him and not only because he was a welcome distraction.
"Not much, just thought you'd like to get some lunch? My treat," he said with a smile.
"Ah, music to my ears," she answered with a smile of her own, tossing the contracts on her desk. "Granny's?"
"You have to ask? Mary Margaret has developed an obsession with kale. I need something deep fried before I do something drastic," David said seriously as he stood up.
"Like try to force Henry to eat it instead? He still refuses to eat apples by the way."
"It's not my fault the poisoned apple was the thing he remembered most from Snow White. Be glad I didn't make him watch Stand By Me instead. You'd be living a sad pie-less life."
"Ha ha," she deadpanned as she led the way out of the studio.
"I'm serious, no one deserves that kind of misery," David intoned, straight faced. "All you'd be left with is cake as a baked dessert option and that's just wrong."
"You know, I still don't understand your weird cake hatred. Cake is a birthday, wedding, and company picnic standard, it's inevitable party fare."
"My mom always made pies for my birthday," he said with a shrug as he stepped up behind her on the curb in front of Granny's. "By the time I learned that cake was a thing it was too late to be converted."
Emma snorted, ignoring the odd looks she got from a group of young mothers as they left the diner. Her laughter doubled when she caught sight of David wistfully watching the strollers roll by. She couldn't help herself, the Nolan's baby fever seemed to have reached new heights and she'd had to endure every moment of it.
"You know, you could be taking Mary Margaret out to lunch instead," Emma suggested, trying to keep her lips from twitching. "Then you could get a little more practice making a baby instead of looking like you're ready to just grab one and run."
"Emma, I'm a sworn deputy. If anything I'd make sure Mary Margaret was here to run a distraction and then grab one and run," David joked, cheeks red from being caught staring.
They made it through the whole meal before Emma realized why David had invited her to lunch. She had been caught up in teasing him about getting Mary Margaret pregnant and trying to get him to take Henry camping again for the first week of summer. It wasn't until their waiter walked by their table three times after their plates had been taken away without any sign of a check that she got an inkling about what was going on.
"David. You didn't want to come to Granny's because of the onion rings did you?" She asked warily.
"Not completely," he hedged, eyes shifting to their waiter as he passed by a fourth time. "Although Mary Margaret has gone a little overboard with the kale lately."
"David," she warned.
"Alright, alright," he sighed, looking at her warily. "Mary Margaret told me about everything that Killian's done."
She wanted to get up and walk away. To walk until she reached the town limits and then just keep going. It seemed to be the only way she'd get a single moment where she wasn't being lectured or on the receiving end of looks of concern from her so called friends.
"If you thought buying me a grilled cheese and extra onion rings would soften me up, you're sorely mistaken. I don't need everybody butting into my business again, thank you very much."
Digging in her pocket for her wallet she almost missed David rolling his eyes.
"What?" She asked "I didn't ask for this. For everyone to tell me that I should feel this way or that way or look at it from this perspective or another. Why won't anyone let me think and feel how I want to?"
David considered her for a second before nodding to himself and looking her straight in the eye.
"I also talked to Killian."
"David, please tell me you didn't do something stupid again," she groaned, ignoring the sudden drop her stomach had taken.
"He called me, actually. Seems he wanted to apologize for, how did he put it? Oh yeah, 'Any undue harm I may have caused by my sudden disappearance'. Then he put on some song and dance about Henry and making it up to him but funny enough, I'm pretty sure he wasn't talking about Henry," David was tapping the table with his fingertips, as though he was trying to dispel the tension the topic had brought up. "Look, I get why you're upset, we all do. He disappeared without a word, right after the mess with Neal started, when you needed someone in your corner. But you have to realize that he's done something no one else who left you has done. He came back. Not only that but he made sure to let you know that he never stopped thinking about you. Even if the way he did it was a little unconventional."
Emma sat back, floored that David was still the one backing Killian. She still didn't know what their conversation had been after David had released Killian but for David to still be championing him so many months later it had to have been significant. There was still a niggling feeling that something was off, that Killian was hiding something behind the grand statement of his return, and it was that feeling that had her digging in her heels about trusting him so fully.
"David, those letters were for Henry. I was just an afterthought, a simple gesture to be polite," she tried not to sound like the broken, sad woman she'd been when Killian had left but from the look on David's face she failed.
"You need to stop lying to yourself, Emma. Yes, those letters were addressed to Henry but it wasn't hard to see that they were meant for you. You just never read between the lines."
"Then why didn't he write to me or call, anything? It's not hard to pick up a phone these days."
The indignation that she'd felt when she realized Killian had spent all his time playing savior was starting to flare up again. He'd gone behind the backs of too many people, working in the shadows buying up the town, and then waltzed in expecting everyone to fall at his feet. She suddenly felt like marching back to the studio and ripping up the contract into confetti.
"And yet you seemed to have the exact same problem," David's calm, almost accusing, voice was like dumping a bucket of cold water over her head.
"Excuse me?"
"You had his address from the very first letter he sent Henry. You've also had his number in your phone since last summer. It's pretty safe to say that you don't get to play the 'he could have called' card," David said, none too gently. "At least Killian made some kind of effort. How do you think he feels? He has no idea that you've been spending the last eight months waiting for the next letter to arrive, hoping for some clue that he was coming back. Now he has and you're mad at why? I can tell you right now that he didn't buy Granny's, or Anton's, or any of it because he got a wild hair up his ass. All of that was a means to an end, to getting the fate of Queen's Quills back into yours and Regina's hands. He did all of this for you."
Her jaw dropped and she immediately snapped it shut. She had hoped, late the night before when the moon had set and the sunrise was still hours away, that he had come back for her that part of him still wanted her but she had stomped it down and tucked it away. Now it was bursting out, filling her with a warmth that she could feel from her toes to the tips of her ears and she was helpless to stop it.
"How do you know that?" She asked in a small voice.
"It's not that hard to miss if you have eyes, Emma," David chided gently. "And just talking to him for two minutes convinced me of it. Talk to him, he deserves that much."
He stood up, making a production of looking at both his watch and the clock on the wall. Emma knew she should say something, anything but her thoughts were a jumble, racing amongst themselves in tangle of emotion. David smiled at her sympathetically and dropped his hand to her shoulder, squeezing gently.
"Don't worry," he smiled when she looked up at him, "I think he's more worried about what you have to say than you are of what he does. I've got to get back to the station but feel free to call me if you need anything."
Emma hummed in agreement, the only sound she seemed capable of making. He squeezed her shoulder once more and then left, throwing out a greeting or two to people as he passed. She shook her head wondering if he'd ever run for the sheriff position and then shook it again when she realized she was avoiding the very real issues she was faced with.
Slowly she stood up, smiling at their waiter who nodded discreetly finally acknowledging her suspicion that she had no bill to pay. It was just another thing on the long list of questions she had for Killian. Ones that she would ask when she showed up at his office with signed contracts in hand.
Mick was nowhere to be seen when she got back to the studio. He had a habit of letting his curiosity get the better of him, drifting back to watch whoever was working on a tattoo at the moment. She made a mental note to threaten to chain him to the desk if he made it a habit as she rounded the corner and headed towards her work station. The sight of Neal sitting in her chair brought her up short.
"What are you doing here?" Emma snapped, annoyed that she had to deal with him on top of everything. "Henry said you weren't going to be here until next weekend."
"Aw, it's nice to see you too Emma," Neal said with a lazy smile.
"What are you doing here?" She repeated, simultaneously glad and mad that Jefferson was the only other Quills worker there and he was busy with a client.
"You know, I'm not entirely sure. It's not like you're the nicest person to talk to when I'm in town. If you're even willing to talk to me that is."
"Neal," Emma said exasperated. "Do you seriously expect me to be all smiles and sunshine with you? We talked about this."
"No, you lectured me about this. Then you yelled at me about it and then a couple more lectures plus those lovely voicemails you sent after Christmas," he said, smile still in place. "If I didn't know you better I'd think you'd actually want to talk to me."
"You don't know me at all, you just think you do."
"Nah, I think I know you pretty well. You're the same girl I met back in Portland, just older and a little bit more guarded."
"Well, we both know who to thank for that," she snapped, crossing her arms and leaning on the partition.
"Could it be… me? I'm still not entirely sure since you haven't mentioned it in the past month or so," his dropped his smile and gave her a pointed look.
"Why are you here, Neal?" She asked for the third time, annoyed and starting to get pissed off.
"Friendly visit?" His voice was hopeful. "Nah, you never stay around long enough for even an unfriendly one."
"Jesus, Neal, stop with the runaround. I have important things to get to," her eyes flitted to the contracts on her desk.
"I'm sorry, Emma."
Her eyes snapped back to his. He was watching her, warily but seriously, all traces of joking long gone.
"For what, exactly?" Emma asked, just as serious and just as wary.
"Everything? Acting like an asshole every time I've seen you since New York. Not being there for Henry, for you. Leaving you, setting you up, I don't know, take your pick," Neal sighed, rubbing his hand over his face.
"Most of that sounds pretty good," Emma agreed with a sigh of her own.
Grabbing the chair from Ruby's station she rolled it to where she had been standing and planted herself in it.
"I never meant to hurt you, Emma," he said it so quietly Emma could barely hear him over Jefferson's tattoo gun.
"But you did," she took in an unsteady breath. "You broke me, Neal, and I don't know if I can just smile and tell you I forgive you. Not right now."
"Not right now, but someday?"
"Maybe. I'd like to think so but I'm not making any promises."
"I can live with maybe," Neal said with a small smile.
"Don't hold your breath, I'm still mad at you," Emma told him without heat.
"I know but maybe someday you won't be," he shrugged.
"Why now? What brought this on?" She asked, genuinely curious.
"The last time I was here Henry kept talking about Career Day. It's next Friday, did you know that?"
"Yeah," she said slowly.
"I don't even know why I asked, that's all Henry was talking about. How you had been at every one, even when you had a double shift or were sick," he trailed off looking down at his hands.
Emma remembered the Career Day she'd been sick. She'd had to cancel all her appointments the day before and she'd had to send Henry to David and Mary Margaret's that night. Despite spending over twenty-four hours in bed and feeling like she'd been hit by a semi she had made it to Henry's school on time. Her talk hadn't been one of the best, she could barely remember if she'd even said her name at any point, but she had been there.
"Did he ask you to be there?"
She didn't even know what Neal did, if it was even legal, but if Henry wanted him there she wasn't going to interfere.
"Nah, he never brought it up and I didn't ask. I'm just a guy who's dropped into his life and trying to be a small part of it. I'm not his hero."
"Well, Captain America had to cancel," she tried to make it a joke but couldn't quite get past the lump in her throat.
"Don't sell yourself short," he looked back up at her. "You've raised a good kid, Emma."
All hopes of keeping her tears in check were lost. It wasn't just what Neal had said but the way he had said it. She didn't need his approval or his support, they were too far beyond that. His respect and admiration, however, was the one thing she didn't realize she wanted and it suddenly felt like all the years of resentment had sloughed off at once.
"Yeah, he's pretty great," she said once she could form the words.
"Just like his mom," Neal said quietly, holding out a box of tissues for her.
"Neal," she warned.
"No, I know. Don't worry I'm not trying to get back with you or anything but that doesn't mean I can't see that you've done more than okay since I fucked up your life. Besides I'm seeing someone and she's got me toeing the line."
He grinned and she huffed out a laugh, finally grabbing a tissue from him.
"Good, you need it."
"Yeah, I do," he took a breath and seeming to decide something leaned forward. "Look, the real reason I'm here is Pops called me and said that I needed to get here fast. Didn't say why or what was going on. I thought it had something to do with Henry but when I got here all Pops would tell me was that I needed to keep you distracted. He was rambling on about getting played and how no one could pull one over on him. Do you know what the hell is going on?"
With a start she realized she did know. Gold had found out that Killian was CB & EJ or at least that he was connected to the company. She'd heard of Gold's boasting over how he'd made a deal unlike any other and the money he'd been payed was beyond what any of the properties were actually worth. At the time she had found it annoying and almost a slap in the face to the people he'd already had under his thumb. She was beginning to understand just how much Killian had taken on.
The fact that Gold needed Neal to distract her was the first thought that something else was at play, almost like a sweater unravelling. She would only need to be kept out of the way if she posed a threat to Gold. He had done it before, forced her to do something she didn't want to for his own gain. Suddenly she thought back to that day, when Gold had threatened the studio if she hadn't kept Neal in town. Killian had been acting at odds with himself and distant with her, as if he had been trying to push her away but not wanting to do it.
"Neal, where is he?" Emma stood up suddenly, her chair rolling across the studio from the force of it.
"I don't know. He just said he had business to attend to and that I should try to talk to you about getting to see Henry more," Neal stood too, confused. "What is it?"
"I'm not sure. Look, can we do this later?" She asked, eyes darting to the front of the studio and back to Neal's puzzled face.
"Sure, I guess. Emma, what's going on?"
"You're dad's being an asshole and I've been one too. Feel free to pick up Henry from school, he'll be excited to see you."
Emma didn't wait for his answer as she stormed out of the studio. She turned towards the flower shop but only went as far as the unmarked door in between it and the studio. The door led to an office space above the studio that had been empty the entire time she had worked at Queen's Quills. Regina had complained that they could use it themselves more than once. When Emma had looked at the card Killian had left with the file she had been amused to see that he had taken over the space himself.
The door was unlocked, not a surprise but still weird after all the years she'd walked by it wondering how a space like that had stayed empty for so long. She took the stairs at a fast but even pace. Gold didn't need to hear her thundering up the stairs and neither did Killian, she needed the element of surprise on her side.
Stepping onto a small landing Emma saw only one door, which was open. She cautiously walked through and found herself in a kind of waiting room, or it would be it had any kind of furniture in it. There was a second door, which was closed, and she could hear voices coming from behind it. They weren't yelling but they were talking loud enough that she didn't have to strain to hear what they were saying.
"... Edward Thatch and I'm supposed to believe that it was in fact you?" Gold's voice was low, biting.
"Thatch is my lawyer, a ruthless, pigheaded, asshole of a man but one I'm elated to have on my side. He was more than willing to be my mouthpiece considering how much I pay him," Killian sounded at ease, almost lazy in his response.
"This cannot stand…"
"And yet it will. There's nothing you can do, all properties are legally mine now. You've been payed, papers have been signed. It's done," Killian's voice had taken on a steely tone.
"I'll be going over those papers with a fine tooth comb, Mr. Jones. I will find something," Gold threatened.
"Be my guest but there's nothing to find. Thatch made sure of that. Perhaps if you had retained a lawyer of your own instead of foolishly representing yourself this wouldn't have been such a surprise."
"All this for a woman whose affections have long since transferred to another? What a shame, I'd almost think of you as trouble if not for that."
Emma could almost hear the sneer in Gold's voice.
"It may have started out that way but I've found a greater purpose for what I've done. I wouldn't get too comfortable, Gold. I'm just getting started and you have nothing left to hold over me," the dismissal was easy to hear in Killian's words.
Suddenly the sounds of things being tossed and breaking came from behind the door. It slammed open and Gold stalked past, barely sparing her an irate glare and a low growl in his throat before he limped down the stairs. She stood in the outer room for a moment more before going into the office.
Killian had been right when he said that his office wasn't set up. He must have taken some decorating tips from Granny because his desk seemed to be a card table, which was upturned and leaning against a stack of boxes, and there were only two badly rusted folding chairs, one of which was on its side next to the table.
There were papers strewn everywhere, a puddle of water spreading across the floor and broken pieces of glass all around. Killian was on his hands and knees picking up the glass, unaware that she was standing in the doorway. She bent down grabbing a lone piece of paper, nothing much on it save seemingly absent doodles of boats, and walked over to him.
"Sorry about the mess, just been with a man who's a bit upset with his lot in life. Watch where you step there's a bit of glass still lying about," Killian said jovially without looking up at her.
She fought the impulse to laugh. He was scurrying around on the floor in another suit, dark grey this time, and no jacket. The long sleeves of his black shirt were rolled up to his elbows and he was plucking glass up off the floor as though he still wore the khakis and polo shirt from the nursery.
"Is this yours?" She asked waving the paper in front of his face, her face flushing as she remembered how she first met him.
"Alas, every shoddy thing in here is mine, not to mention… Swan?"
He was looking up at her in disbelief, a pile of glass in his left hand and a large shard gripped in the fingers of his right.
"You're not wearing your glove," she said stupidly, the paper in her hand drooping pathetically in his face.
"Gold stopped by rather unexpectedly. I didn't get the chance to put it back on," he stood up and tossed the pieces of glass into a trashcan. "That's not the contracts."
Emma looked down at the doodle covered paper in her hand, kicking herself that just because she knew what she was going to say to him he didn't. For all Killian knew she was there to tell him that she wasn't going to sign the contract, that Queen's Quills wasn't going to stay in the building he owned. She wanted to kick herself even harder for letting him think that.
"No, I left in kind of a rush. They're downstairs, I should go get them. Wait here, I'll go get them," she said half turning back out of the office.
"Swan," Killian was watching her with a bemused smile. "Why did you rush up here?"
She thought about lying to him or at least half lying to him. The words wouldn't form and she realized she didn't want them to. They were getting another chance and she wasn't about to screw it up by keeping things from him instead of figuring it out together.
"Neal was sent to the studio to keep me from interrupting whatever Gold was here to do," she shrugged and swept her hand out over the floor. "Looks like I was too late to prevent this."
"Were you coming up here to play the hero?" He asked, rocking back on his heels. "I must say I'm honored, love."
Her cheeks heated up as she felt a blush spread across her face and down her neck. To hide it she stepped further into the office and moved to set the table to rights, avoiding his eyes. It was only when the table was back on its four legs that she noticed what must have been a bouquet of flowers strewn across the floor.
"It was a vase," Killian supplied as she bent over to pick up one of the buds, leaving the doodled on page on the table. "The broken glass I mean. Anton sent them up earlier, kind of a welcome back and thank you all in one go."
"I have a couple of spare vases down in the studio. I'll bring one up when I get the contracts," she slowly turned the light pink flower, a rose, in her fingers, darting a glance up at him.
"You're going to sign them?" He asked hesitantly, watching her closely.
"Of course I am. As Regina kept telling me, I'd be stupid not to. You've done so much for so many people in this town, us included," she held the bloom out to him.
"No, love, you keep it," he said quietly.
"Roses are overrated," she complained even as she pulled her hand back.
"And yet I still want you to have it."
Killian gave her a knowing smile and started picking up debris from the floor. He tossed the papers randomly on the desk but carefully placed the flowers on the seat of the chair that was still upright. Emma crouched down to help him, still gripping the rose tightly.
"Why CB & EJ?" She asked as she stood the chair up and sat in it, the papers all cleaned up, the water haphazardly mopped up with napkins from Granny's, and the few pieces of glass that had been left swept into the trash.
"Oh, that," he chuckled as he gathered the flowers in his arms and looked around the office before shrugging and putting them on a short stack of boxes. "I needed a company name that wouldn't tip Gold off that it was me behind it all. I thought of all sorts of things, song titles, catchphrases from movies, using the names of classic rock artists, you name it I considered it at least once. Finally I figured initials would be the best, and least conspicuous."
"But what do they stand for? I mean, the 'J' is for Jones, right?"
"Right in one, Swan," he grinned and sat down.
"But what about the CB or the E? Do you have a million names like Prince William or something?" She asked, wondering if Regina had been right about Killian being a Lord of some kind.
"Never pegged you for fancying His Royal Highness, love. Should I be jealous?"
"You're avoiding the question," Emma pointed out, ignoring his teasing.
To her surprise he rubbed behind his ear and dropped his gaze to the mess of papers on his desk.
"I, er, don't have a million names. The initials stand for Captain Blue Eyed Jones," he looked up at her quickly to gauge her reaction before looking back down. "A little inside joke with myself, as it were."
"You named your company after a nickname Ruby gave you?" She was dumbfounded by how ridiculous and almost adorable that was.
"You've addressed me by it a time or two as well, love," he answered as he looked up at her again.
She felt the heat of a blush return, "And the 'Captain' part?"
"You, er, have accused me of being a pirate before. I figured if I was to go through with my plan, try a little pillaging and plundering from Gold's hoard, I ought to have a fitting title for the part," Killian sounded like he was forcing himself to be cheerful and gave her a tight grin.
"Where did you get it?" She asked, done waiting for the right time to address how he'd had the money to do it all. "Where did the money come from for you to do all of this?"
"It's all mine, if that's what you're wondering. Nothing dodgy about it, despite what lies Will may have been spreading around town," his eyes flitted away from hers and she could tell he wasn't lying but he was still keeping something from her.
"I haven't heard anything Will's been saying," Emma tilted her head slightly, wondering if it was worth pushing him on it. "That's a lot of money you've put into this town, into helping people, helping… helping me. I just need to know that you're going to be okay, Killian."
His eyes widened. She wasn't sure if it was from her saying his name or from her obvious concern for him.
"You don't have to worry about me, Swan. I had some savings from Liam's life insurance stashed away."
"But that couldn't have been that much," she nearly bit her tongue as she snapped her mouth shut, cursing her callousness.
"It wasn't but it was a fair amount once added to another sum," he said hesitantly, almost unwillingly and looked away from her.
"Another sum?"
"The settlement from the accident that did this," he said with a pained smile as he held up his left hand and was watching her with guarded eyes.
The accident that ruined his hand, the one that had killed his wife and had him escaping from the aftermath of it all to Storybrooke. She didn't know how to respond to the enormity of what he was trying to tell her.
"And you used it to help me?"
He looked at her seriously then, dropping all pretenses. Emma's breath caught in her throat as he gazed at her unblinkingly.
His answer, when he gave it, was at once heartbreaking and full of hope. In that moment she knew she was done running and done pushing him away. She was ready to move forward, to have a future, with him.
"Yes, Emma, I did."
A.N.: There's only one more chapter and an epilogue to go after this. We're winding down and I don't quite know how I feel about it.
Next week it will be Killian's chance to explain everything.