Sorry for the delay with the new chapter! The holidays were a bit hectic. Also, I had bad writer's block. I do not really love this chapter, and it is a bit short, but it is needed to move the story along. At the end of it, it will have been three months since the Emma arrived at her new foster home.

Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 9: Fight Like You'll Never Die

"Emma. May I speak with you a moment." Her English teacher, Mrs. Lyd said as she was walking out of the room after the bell rung. Emma always associated someone needing to talk to her with bad news. It was always she did something wrong or was being sent back to go to another home or something along those lines.

"Yes?" Emma asked after the students had already left the room.

The woman rose from her desk. "I have noticed your work in this class is quite exceptional. Your last paper was very good for someone your age."

"Thank you" Emma muttered.

"I was thinking maybe we put you in the Honors English. It would be a bit more challenging than this class."

"Okay." Emma replied hesitantly. She never had done Honors work. But then again she had never stayed in one place long enough to get the chance.

"I will talk to the principle and we can get you placed within the week." She smiled. Emma nodded and left. She was still very quiet at school, at least with the teachers. She was used to adults using her as a source of income or enjoyment. Trusting the other kids and Killian was one thing, but adults-. That would take a while. Time that Emma probably did not have. She would be in another home before she knew it.

"Emma, dear, that is wonderful!" Of course the school called Mrs. Abernathy to let her know of Emma's change of class. That must be a normal thing that did for students who actually had parents to call. "Killian, isn't that wonderful?"

"Good job, Swan." He told her, voice sincere, but a smirk still playing at his face. "You've been here for two months and you are already outdoing me."

"It's not my fault you are easy to outdo." She teased.

"Hey, now you two." Mrs. Abernathy jokingly warned. "I love you both equally."

The "l word" had scared her the first few times Mrs. Abernathy had used it. To be honest, it still scared her a bit, but she did not physically recoil or emotionally run like she did at first. She let it go in one ear and out the other, moved on as quickly as it happened and did not let it ruin her day. It was still weird to hear someone say that, with genuine love behind it. Emma did not know how to accept love or how to show it.

It was not that Emma did not want love in her life, she just did not know how to show it or accept it. Her entire life she had been too broken to receive it and now, the time when someone finally wanted her to be a part of a family, she did not know how to or what that meant. Emma was broken and she did not know if healing was ever possible. She secretly prayed it was, but most of her prayers went unanswered.

The minute Killian walked in the door, Emma was there, ready to talk. "How was therapy?" She whispered as Mrs. Abernathy walked up the stairs.

"Fine. Same old same old." Killian recounted his visits, remembering to many "I don't want to talk about it." conversations. Today, however, had strangely gone in another direction.

"Now, Killian, I think-"

"I don't like talking about it." He always cut the therapist off.

"It will be good for you to talk about it. Just a little."

"It's been years. There is no point talking about it now."

"Yes, there is. You need to heal-to work through everything that has happened."

"I don't want to talk about it." Killian felt like a broken record.

"Okay, let's talk about something else-you have a new foster sister. How are you liking that?"

"She is nice." Killian answered truthfully. "Her name is Emma and she is fourteen. She has been with us for three months-I think this is the longest she has stayed in one spot."

The therapist seemed to ignore that last comment. "You two getting along?"

"Yeah. We are a lot alike."

"You two talk a lot then?"

"Yeah, I guess." Killian muttered.

"Have you told her-"

"No. It does not concern her. She has not told me all of her past and I do not need to tell her all of mine."

"I was just thinking-if you two get along and are so similar, maybe she would understand better than me. Maybe talking to her would be a start."

"Why would I want to do that?" Killian asked cynically.

"What did Liam always tell you? A man unwilling to fight for what he wants-"

"Deserves what he gets." Killian finished.

"You want to get better don't you? You have to fight for it."

"That's good." Emma clearly did not know how to answer.

"Yeah." Killian stopped for a second before he continued."We talked about you. He wanted to know about you and I told him we got along...that we understood each other."

"Why are you telling me this?" Emma asked, confused.

"I want to trust you. This is how I need to start." I have to do this. I have to fight. He thought to himself. For Liam.

Please review! See you next time!