Emma halted in her tracks as she looked up at the big glass windows and her heart dropped to her stomach. Her hand reached out for the bug to steady herself as she saw Killian and Lily together, her arms around his neck, kissing.

She closed her eyes, not wanting to see anymore. She opened her car door, sat down, and did what she does best: run.

Killian overcame the shock from the kiss, and pushed Lily away, and took a step back. His hand instantly wiping his mouth, as he shouted, "Bloody hell, why did you do that?!"

Lily's eyes widened, and she started sputtering, "I thought…" She looked down, "When you said...I…"

"You thought wrong. You KNOW I have a girlfriend; you KNOW about Emma." He was over the repulsion, and now he was just angry. "Why would you ever think—"

She cut him off. "I'm so sorry. I read everything wrong. I thought. I heard the rumors about…" She looked back down. "Killian. I'm sorry. I really am."

He wanted to fire her on the spot, but his anger was out of control, and he didn't want to say something he shouldn't. It would be better to talk with Regina, and have her HR department deal with Lily. He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. "I need to get out of here. We'll talk about this tomorrow." He started to head down the stairs, and she called after him.

"Killian, I'm really sorry. What about the building?"

He turned to look at her, the anger in her eyes had her still where she was. "This will not be the location." There was no way he would work in a building with the memories of that kiss with Lily tainting it. "I'm calling a cab." With that, he left Lily, Arthur, and Percival behind, and walked out of the building. It didn't take long for a car to pick him up, and drive him back to Mills Racing, to grab his own car, so he could drive home. He had to tell Emma what happened.

His fist hit his steering wheel, he was furious. Emma had told him she didn't trust Lily. He trusted Emma, but he had never thought in a million years that Lily would kiss him. He thought he had made clear to everyone, not just Lily, that he was with Emma. Why would she ever...? His knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. He had to calm down before he got home and talked with Emma.

He had the car call Regina, and he got her voicemail, so he left a message. "Regina. It's Killian. It's urgent, and about Lily. She…" He didn't want to say it, but he had to. "She kissed me tonight. Why, I haven't a clue. I want her gone. I can't work with her after that. We'll talk tomorrow."

He made it into his garage, and immediately noticed that Emma's car wasn't there. He looked to his watch; it was much too late for her to still be at work. He fished out his cell as he walked into the house and dialed her number.

Emma's apartment door opened, and she walked in with two bags of luggage, her eyes red and face streaked with tears. Just as she closed and locked the door, the sound of "Gimmie Some Lovin" played. It was Killian's ring tone. She had set it up to tease him after they watched Days of Thunder together, only it backfired because he would sometimes just call her to hear it go off and start kissing her wildly.

Her lip quivered at the memory, and hit the button the button to stop the music and send him to voicemail. She then slid down her door, and collapsed on the floor. Her body heaved as she started to sob.

After the crying slowed, her curiosity won out and she listened to the message "Emma. I just got home, and you aren't here. You don't usually stay out this late on a work night. I'm a bit worried. Please call or text me. Love you."

Her heart constricted at the last two words, but her mind flashed back to seeing him kiss Lily. She erased the message, and the tears started again. He didn't sound like there was anything wrong, as if it was just another day. How many nights had he been with Lily, and then came home to her? The thought had her heart breaking even more. It was like Walsh all over again, only this was so, so, so much worse.

After leaving the message, he headed into the bedroom; the need to change clothes and take a shower was extremely prevalent. But once he got to the bathroom, he instantly saw that her sink was bare. All her things were gone. His heart dropped, and he turned around and headed to her closet. It was like a tornado had gone through it. Some of her stuff was still there, but quite a bit gone. Drawers were open, things were on the floor; some hangers were left, others gone. She had packed in a hurry, not even caring how she did so.

He immediately tried to call her again, but it once again went to voicemail. "Emma. I saw your closest, I know you...left." He had a hard time saying that last word, and his voice cracked. "Please call me. I love you; please talk to me."

He disconnected that call, and then called David.

"Hey, Killian, what's up. It's a tad late…"

Killian didn't let him finish. "Do you know where Emma is?"

That got the other man to stop, his voice turning concerned. "What? No? What's wrong?"

Killian ran a hand over his face. "She packed her bags and she left. She's not returning my calls."

"Okay, okay. Let me call her."

"Thanks, mate." With that he hung up the phone and sat down on Emma's side of the bed. He reached for her pillow and hugged it close while willing his phone to ring and have it be her.

Emma somehow managed to change into her pajamas, and was on her couch drinking directly from the open bottle of wine she found in one of the packed boxes in her kitchen. She was already halfway through the bottle when her phone rang.

This time, it was the theme of Harry Potter , otherwise known as David's ringtone. With how late it was and in her drunken state, she immediately answered, worried something might be wrong with Mary Margaret and the baby. "David? What's wrong?".

He let out a sigh of relief. "I should ask you that. Where are you? Are you okay? Killian is worried sick."

At the sound of her boyfriend, or was it ex-boyfriend now, the tears started once again, she started sobbing. "It's over."

"What? Why?"

"I can't...I don't want…" She hiccuped through her tears. "Just...leave me alone." She disconnected the call, and threw her phone to other side of the couch, and took another long drink of the wine, still attempting and failing to numb the pain.

Killian's head jerked up as the phone rang, and he saw it was David. "Anything?" he asked, desperate.

"I got a hold of her. So she's okay...well, no she's not. But she's safe." David sighed, "She's drunk, and told me that the two of you were over. Which, I assume is news to you." Killian wasn't sure what was happening, but David continued. "Whatever this is between you, you better fix it, Jones."

"Thanks for your help, Dave. I just...at least I know she's not hurt." With that, they ended the call, and he started pacing. As the worry over her well-being settled, his brain caught up with everything that happened. "Bloody fuckin' hell," he yelled as he grabs his keys, and ran to his car. He wasn't sure how, but Emma must have seen the kiss Lily gave him. It was the only explanation.

He drove over to Emma's apartment, assuming that is where she went. They hadn't yet moved everything out of it, as she still had some time on the lease. He flew up to the building and tried to ring through. It was too late at night, and no one was coming or going for him to sneak on in like usual.

However, either she really wasn't there, or—more likely—was not answering the call to allow him in. He sat down on the step and called her again from his phone. At the beep from her message, he began. "Emma, what you saw isn't...what it looked like. I swear. Lily...kissed me. I pushed her away. I made it clear I wasn't interested. Emma, you were right about her. Please, talk to me. We can work this out. I love you. Please." He hung up, and sent her a text message as well, saying the same.

He waited over two hours to get a call, a message, or for someone to come in or leave the building. But it was just after one in the morning, and he knew at this point, it wasn't going to happen. He finally decided to head home and find her at the shelter tomorrow.

Killian waited until it was an hour after she would start work; he didn't want her to leave if she saw his car. But when he pulled up, he didn't see the yellow bug anywhere. He had a bad feeling, but he went inside anyway. He checked Emma's office, but the light was off and door was locked. He then found Tink sitting at her desk, and knocked on the door.

The blonde looked up and smiled, "Hey, you. Did Emma send you to get some of her cases to work on?" She shook her head, and stood up. "She needs to learn not to work when she's sick."

His heart sunk at the news. "She called in sick?"

Tink stopped, and then looked him over. "You didn't know she called in sick. What happened?"

Killian looked down shaking his head. "She left."

Tink's eyes widened. "What?"

He looked back up at her, "Tink, please, if you hear from her will you let me know? Emma saw something, and what she thinks it was...it...wasn't. If she would just talk to me…" He sighed. "Please, Tink."

"I will, Killian." He nodded and started to walk out of her office, but she called after him, making him stop. "You know what happened with Walsh, right?" He nodded again, the lump in his stomach growing. "Take that into account. That past hurt I'm sure is playing into this."

"I know. That's why I need to talk to her." With that, he turned and headed out. He had to go talk with Regina and take care of another mess by the name of Lily.

Emma pulled out of the gas station where she had just filled up her car and grabbed some junk food. She wasn't exactly sure how far away she was from home, but it didn't feel far enough. With the sound of Killian's ringtone, she reached over, turned off her phone and flung it into the passenger seat, and then turned the music up as she drove further and further away.

Killian walked straight for Regina's office and went inside, shutting the door behind him. She finished her phone call and turned to him. "Killian. What happened?" She then held up her hand, "Wait, let me get Kathryn on the phone." She immediately called Kathryn, and then put her on speaker phone. "Okay, with our legal counsel present, what happened?"

He couldn't sit, and started to pace as he told them the story of what happened yesterday. When he got done, he turned to Regina. "I want her gone. I promised Emma that if Lily tried anything, I would fire her."

"Killian…" Regina started, but Kathryn cut her off.

"We can't fire her."

"What?" Killian asked. "After what she did? Isn't there like sexual harassment laws? At-will employment?"

Kathryn sighed over the phone. "Were there witnesses? Besides Emma, who currently won't talk to you?"

"No. Arthur and the other guy were downstairs. But—" he replied.

"So it's he said vs. she said. This was the first instance?" Kathryn asked.

"Yes, but she kissed me! She knows about Emma."

"But she apologized afterwards and implied she thought you felt the same."

"Obviously she thought wrong!" Killian was steaming angry and looked to Regina for help.

"Killian. She could claim that you came on to her. She could claim so many things. She has apologized. And whether we like it or not, in this case, you are the guy and she is the girl, and well...the courts are more likely to believe a man came onto a woman than the other way around. If we fire her, she could claim wrongful termination. She could claim retaliation, because she didn't fall for your sexual advances. She could use your past history against you." Regina gave him a sympathetic look. "She could bring up Milah, and how you had an affair with a married woman."

He kicked the wastebin over, and clenched his fists. "How can I work with her after this?"

"You won't." Katheryn answered. "We'll have another member of the team work with her and report to you."

Killian rolled his eyes, and Regina caught it. "I know it's not ideal, but...Killian she could drag you and the charity through the mud." He finally sat down in defeat, and Regina ended the call with Katheryn. "I'm sorry, Killian." When she sensed he was calm enough, she called in Belle, and they told her she would need to check out the locations with Lily from now on.

Once the meeting was over, Killian and Belle left the office, and continued to talk about the changes. Belle stopped. "I have to tell you something." She looked down. "I have a feeling this is all my fault."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Emma called me yesterday and asked for the addresses of the buildings that you were all going to see. She was missing you, and I called Arthur and got the information and gave it to her. If I hadn't…"

His heart ached even more from Emma trying to find time with him. "Belle, this isn't your fault. But I need to know, did you ask Lily or just Arthur?"

"I just asked Arthur. I didn't tell Lily anything."

He nodded, and left to head back to Emma's. He waited around, but it didn't take long to get inside as someone else exited. He tried her door, but with no answer he headed to the garage. Her car wasn't in her space. He hung his head as he walked to his car and went home.

He had little hope of it happening, but when he saw she wasn't at the house either, his heart broke a little more. He didn't want to, but he had to fly out that night for the Pocono race. While packing, he left more messages, but he wasn't shocked when he didn't get any responses by the time he was picked up to head to the airport.

Emma walked through the door of the tiny cabin, and dropped her bags by the couch. She turned to look out the windows, at the lake with the mountains behind them. She then went back to the car to grab the bags of groceries she picked up at a small market in the tiny town, and headed back inside. She unloaded the bottles of wine, bars of chocolate, pints of ice cream, pop tarts, and frozen pizzas, and put them away in the small kitchen area.

She had rented the place for the rest of the week and the weekend; she wasn't sure if it would be enough time. She just had to get away from everything and think. Well, actually not think. She reached for the corkscrew and opened one of the bottles. Once open, she grabbed a bar of chocolate and headed outside to sit by the water, and try not think about how alone she felt.

The next day, Killian spent every free moment trying to call and text her. He also texted David and Tink. But they hadn't heard from her. He spent barely any time in the car at practice, and as soon as he could he was out and went to find Ruby and the others.

He found the girls first, since the guys were still in practice. Ruby came up and gave him a hug. "Still no word, huh?"

He shook his head no. "And I guess she hasn't reached out to any of you either, huh?"

"Nope." Ruby replied and the others shook their heads. "And we have all tried to call her, but they go straight to voicemail. She has to have turned her phone off."

He sat down in an open chair, and Ruby sat back down in hers. Ashley patted his shoulder. "Just give her a little time, and when she calms down, you can explain it. Everything will be fine."

Killian folded his arms on the table, and put his head down on them. "She shouldn't have to be calming down. We shouldn't have to go through this. But she won't even let me talk to her."

The girls exchanged looks, and they continued to try and cheer him up.

Qualifying the next day went just as bad as practice. No matter what Robin said, or how much he tried to lift his spirits, all Killian could think about was her, and how much he missed her, and how he should be out there looking for her. Of course, he had no idea where she was, but he felt like he had to do something. He qualified in nineteenth place and he didn't care.

He left the garage before anyone could stop him, headed back the RV, and opened up the bottle of rum. He poured two fingers' worth, downed it, and went back for more.

The next morning, he went into the garage still wearing his sunglasses and Robin sighed. "Please tell me it's just a hangover and that you aren't still drunk."

"I'm not a bloody idiot," he said and then took a large drink of his coffee from his travel mug.

Later on as the race started, and all the other drivers hugged their wives and girlfriends, he felt just how alone he was. Prior to Emma, it hadn't really bothered him, but now...now he knew what he was missing.

Emma clicked through the channels on the cabin's TV, trying to avoid the race. Her curiosity kept getting to her and she would click over to it, but then she would quickly turn it before she got to see how he was doing. She kept telling herself that she didn't want to know.

However, she finally caved and watched the last few laps of the race. She was shocked to see him finish the race in twenty-second place. Seeing him get out of the car made her heart hurt. However, when he walked away from reporters, refusing to answering questions, she could see the look on his face—she could clearly see the pain there.

She crept over to her phone sitting on the table and looked at it, debating if she should turn it on and listen to the messages or not. She took a deep breath, picked it up, and her finger hovered over the power button. Her mind replayed the kiss again, and she quickly sat the phone back on the table, clicked off the television, and crawled up in bed, tears already hitting the pillow.

Killian woke up to the sound of his phone and he quickly sat up to answer it, hoping it was Emma. "Hello?"

"Hi, Killian." Came Tink's voice.

He groaned, and shut his eyes to the light, her voice too high for his ears and pierced his brain. He shouldn't have finished the bottle of rum last night on his flight home.

"Good to hear you, too," she said. "I just thought you should know. Emma called in again. She is using the last two vacation days she has, and taking the rest of the week unpaid."

"What?" He couldn't believe that she was doing that. She loved her job, but she was risking it, and her ability to even pay her bills in her attempt to avoid him.

"You heard me. I don't know where she is, she didn't call me. She just left a message on Archie's phone, and when he called back, it went straight to voicemail."

"Thanks for the update, Tink."

"No problem."

Killian ended the call and found his way into the kitchen. He made himself some some breakfast and coffee, trying to shake off the hangover. He was home now, and he needed to figure out what to do to try and find Emma. He went over to the couch and opened his laptop. He spent close to two hours crafting an email, and sent it to her personal and work emails. He just hoped she saw it, and soon.

With that done, he headed into the bedroom, looked into her closet, and started to straighten what was left. He refused to believe she wouldn't be using the space ever again.

On Wednesday afternoon, he answered a call from Belle, who asked to meet him for coffee because she needed to talk to him.

He met her at the coffee shop, and each grabbed a cup before they sat down. "You don't look so good," she told him.

"Yeah, well. Not sleeping, cause she's not there. Drinking too much to try and not feel the pain. But….you know what...nevermind." He sighed. "What's going on, Belle? Why did you need to meet me?"

"The more I am around Lily, the more I think that something is going on. Something isn't right. I can't put my finger on it. But, these contacts of hers. They are almost too friendly. Also, the prices we paid for those shirts, for web design. They weren't great deals, they actually seem pretty high."

"Okay, keep looking, and keep your eyes open. Let Regina or me know of anything that you find that is out of the ordinary. Also, can you get quotes from other vendors that would have been able to produce the same products, and get a price for it? I'd like to have that information."

"Will do. Also, we looked at a few other buildings, but I truly don't think you would like them. I just don't like those two guys she has, something isn't right with them."

That got his attention. "Are you not feeling safe? If that is an issue—"

She stopped him. "No, no. It's not that. I just feel like they're hiding something from me. And I…" She looked down.

"Belle? What?"

"I may have started looking online for places myself, with the criteria you wanted. I'm not sure why they are having us look at some of these locations, when there are places much closer and cheaper that would work."

He finally had something to smile about. "Can you send me a list of those places that you found?"

She smiled back. "Will do. Oh, and I better get back to work. Thanks for meeting me here."

"No, thank you." He watched her leave, and then picked up his phone and called Regina as he headed to his car. He quickly told her what Belle had told him.

"Interesting. I'll work with Kathryn and the IT department; we now have reason to tap into her work email and computer. Let's see what she has up her sleeve."

Emma was a coward, she knew that; she had called herself that multiple times. She had waited to drive back to her apartment when she knew Killian would be flying to the race in Michigan on Thursday night. She figured she could at least get work done on Friday with him out of the state. It wouldn't cut into her paycheck so much. It would also be a good test to see if she was emotionally ready to be home. She was pretty sure she wasn't, but she had to try.

So she was at work not even fifteen minutes when Tink found her. "Emma!" she yelled and basically flew to her and wrapped her in a tight hug. "You're back," she said as she squeezed her.

Emma nodded silently, and then Tink pulled back to look at her. "Wait. You're still upset."

"Of course I'm still upset. You think I can get over it so quickly?" Emma shook her head. "I just need to be left alone, and try to get through this pile of work," she said as she ushered her friend out of the office.

"Emma, wait!" She put her foot in the way off the door. "Did you talk with Killian?"

Emma didn't answer, and tried to push Tink out the door. "There is nothing to talk about." She said and finally managed to get the door shut, and locked.

Tink pounded on the door. "Emma, it's all a misunderstanding! You need to talk to him!"

Emma clenched her fists. Yeah, sure it was a misunderstanding. "Go away!" She yelled and then sat at her desk, put her headphones in, turned up the music and started to work.

She started on her emails, fling the ones that had already been taken care of by Ingrid or someone else, and answering some easier ones first. But then she found the one that Killian had sent her. The subject said, "Please Read - I love you." She swallowed down the lump in her throat hard as the cursor hovered over the email.

Part of her wanted to read the email, see what it was that he could possibly say. But another part of her, the part of her that was abandoned as a child, left by Neal when things went wrong, got cheated on by Walsh, etc. etc., just knew it would be filled with lies. She had fallen for the lies so many times from so many people, and she didn't want to fall for them anymore, especially from him. And with a determined click, she deleted the email.

Practice went really bad with how distracted he was, his mind on everything but the race; he was just glad he hadn't hit the wall. Robin had tried to get his mind in the moment, but it wasn't happening. He was about ready to pull himself from the race. When he saw Regina, he was going to tell her as much, but she came up to him with a smile. "We need to talk."

He followed her to a quieter location, and she told him what they were finding on Lily. Belle had gotten the costs for some of the things Lily had bought through her contacts, but from other vendors, and those other vendors would have been cheaper, and some for even better quality products. "However, she is really careful not to use her work email to talk with any of her contacts. Only the invoices go to her email. We are starting to think that she is working with her so-called contacts and getting money on the side when she gives them work. I have Kathryn looking into all these companies and the people that she is dealing with. She is also reaching out to Lily's old company. If we can prove this is what she is doing, than we've got her."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally, some good news. I really need that."

"Still nothing from Emma?" she asked.

He shook his head no. "She's not talking to me, or anyone."

"I'm sorry, Killian. But she has to surface at some point. Just give her some time."

He nodded, as Regina patted his shoulder and then headed back to the garage. He shouldn't have to give her time—she shouldn't need the time; neither of them should have to feel this way. He tried to focus on what Regina told him, and hopefully, hopefully, he might be able to get a little revenge for what Lily did.

Once he got back to his RV, he noticed a text message on his phone. It was from Tink.

TB: Emma is at work today. She refuses to talk. Good luck.

Even though she was still unwilling to listen to Tink, or call him back, he couldn't help the smile that came to his face because she was back in town. Though the smile dropped when he realized she was there because he wasn't.

Emma found herself still in her PJs in the afternoon, eating chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream from the container while flipping through Netflix. She had attempted a Harry Potter marathon, but all it made her do was think of the Killian and their trip to the amusement park, and the damn bracelet he got her for Christmas that for some strange reason she was still wearing.

She jumped when she heard the knock on her door and slowly stood up. She knew it couldn't be Killian, but she still took a look through her peephole to see Mary Margaret. She should have known. "Go away."

"Nope!" came the chipper reply. "Besides, are you really going to make a pregnant woman stand out here all day, because you know I will. And, can you please open the door, I really need to pee!"

"Damn it," she said and opened the door for her sister-in-law. The brunette handed over what looked like Chinese food and then ran for her bathroom. Emma sighed, and moved into the kitchen with the food. She stuck her partially eaten ice cream in the freezer, and then opened the take out. The woman certainly knew what she liked to eat and it was all there.

A few moments later as she was plating the food, Mary Margaret walked in. "Much better. I think this little one likes to kick at my bladder," she said while rubbing her more rounded stomach.

"How far along are you again?"

"About six and half months."

"Wow. Where does the time go?" Emma said as they both moved into the living room with their food and drinks. She was trying desperately to keep the conversation off herself, but she was also curious. Then the timing came into her her mind. "Oh my god, the baby shower is next weekend."

The brunette nodded. "It is. I'm hoping that you will still be able to make it."

"Of course I'll be there! You know that." Her personal life might have just taken a horrible turn, but she wasn't going to miss that. Especially since it was next weekend due to Killian's racing schedule. She forgot that he didn't have to race next weekend. They ate while Mary Margaret updated her about the sonograms, and what was going on.

"Just you wait 'til you get to deal with all this." The woman laughed and Emma instantly got quiet.

"Yeah, I doubt that's ever going to happen."

"Emma, I know you want kids, so why—"

"Because!" she yelled, and then stopped herself. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you," she said and stuffed her mouth with an egg roll.

Mary Margaret sighed. "Talk to me."

She knew her friend wouldn't stop asking, she was more stubborn than her. "I took a big chance opening my heart to Killian after everything else. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to do that again. All that happens is I get let down, and I get hurt. I'm just better off by myself."

"Oh, Emma—"

"Don't 'oh Emma' me."

Her friend took her hand and squeezed it. "You need to know. Killian has been going crazy trying to find you." Emma tried to yank her hand away, but she kept a firm hold of it. "No, you HAVE to talk to him. You need to stop running. I don't know everything that happened, I don't know exactly what he has to say. But I know he LOVES you. You both deserve to at least talk about this, before you write it off completely."

"I don't want to face him. I don't think I can." Emma's voice came out barely audible.

"Have you read his messages, or texts? Or anyone's?"

"I heard his first one."

"But not any after? Or anyone else's?"

She shook her head no. "I know he sent me a lot; I see the number of missed calls, voicemails, and messages when I turn my phone on. I saw the email he sent me. But I can't...I just can't bring myself to read it." She couldn't bring herself to see him say that it was true, or see the lies, or...she stopped the thoughts. They had already been racing in her head for too long.

Mary Margaret changed the subject, and they started talking about other things, trying to keep Emma's mind off the issue at hand. But once the plates were in the sink, and she was getting ready to leave, she gave Emma big hug, and while she squeezed tight she said, "You need to read the email, Emma." She pulled away to look at her. "Before you go further down this path, just read the email. With everything you have both meant to each other, you need to do that."

She knew if she didn't agree at least a little, her sister-in-law wouldn't leave, so she nodded, "Okay, I'll...think about it."

It wasn't until much later that night, and after almost a full bottle of wine, that she finally went to her personal email and opened up the message from Killian.

Emma,

First, please know that I love you. I love you more than anything. You are my world, and without you here, I feel like I'm floating in a meaningless void. I miss you terribly; please, please just talk to me.

Second, what you saw wasn't real. It was a setup, by Lily, I'm sure of it. I swear to God that I did not kiss her. She bloody hell kissed me. As soon as the shock wore off, I pushed her away. I was disgusted and angry. I have not talked with her or seen her since. I was going to tell you that night, but you were already gone.

Third, I should have fired Lily as soon as you told me you felt something was off with her. I believe your instincts, love. But I had no worries of her making advances with me because I knew they would never work. It just never occurred to me that she would be so bold to try something like she did. I am sorry.

Lastly, please come home. After I write this, I will be tidying up your closet. All you need to do is just bring your bags back and unpack. I'll help you. You belong here, with me.

We can overcome this, love. Please, just talk to me.

All my love,

Killian

She finished the email with tears streaming down her cheeks. His words, and the wine making her even more emotional. Was it true? Was it all just a mistake? Could she truly believe it?

Race day was not something Killian wanted to be a part of. He refused to talk to the press, much to Regina's chagrin. But she didn't push. The one o'clock race started at the two-mile track. It was 200 laps that only partially took his mind off Emma, with Robin constantly chiming in his ear.

He understood why his crew chief was more talkative than normal—he was trying to keep his head in the race, for which he was grateful, even though it was bloody annoying. However, it was the slight hope that Emma was actually back at work and that they might actually be able to fire Lily that helped his mood enough to move up in the pack and finish in fifteenth.

He was happy for Sean, who won, with Victor and then Jefferson following him, but he didn't stay after the race. As soon as he was out of the car and had taken a quick shower, he was the first driver out of the track and to the airport flying home.

As soon as he got to the airport back home, a car was waiting for him, and he told the driver to take him directly to Emma's. Once to her apartment complex, he told the driver to take off. He didn't care if he had to wait outside all night to have a chance to get inside and see her.

But luckily just as he was getting up to the door, a pizza man left the building and he made it inside. Once at her door, he could hear the television on in her apartment. She was there. He took a deep breath, and then knocked. He listened as the television turned off, or was muted, and he knocked again.

He swore he could hear her steps approach the door, but she was hesitating. "Emma, I know you are there. Please, please open the door and talk to me, love."

Killian heard the chain being removed, and then the door cracked open. His heart sped up when he saw her face. "Emma—"

Her voice was almost inaudible. "Hi."

Point Standings:

Car - Driver - Points - *=leading

#71 - Killian Jones - 543

#8 - Phillip Haven - 562

#36 - Victor Whale - 563

#53 - Sean Herman - 564*

#65 - Eric Sirena - 563

#92 - August Booth - 550

#12 - Tarrant Jefferson - 496