Senior Year

Chapter 41

"That's where the money's from?" She asks. I shake my head.

"No, of course not. The story goes on. My father took me along with him to many of these cons, having me gain the trust of the woman he had chosesn. I was good at it, and I wanted to spend time with my father. Liam however was furious over everything. He was almost 7 when we left our mother, and was the noble one, still very much is." I take a large sip of my drink. "When I was 9, Liam 13, my father's picture was everywhere, all telephone poles, all bulletin boards, all over the news. There was a 700 000 dollar reward for his capture. Of course with all the money he'd acquired, he avoided the police for a long time. The reason he was eventually caught had nothing to do with the police at all."

"How was he caught then?"

"It was Liam. He woke me up one night, and told me that we had to leave. He dragged me to the police station, and turned him in. Just like that."

"The money, its not from your fathers savings, it's from the reward money?" Emma clues in.

"Aye. I was $350 000 rich by the time I turned 10."

"Why didn't you ever tell me? I've told you about my past. You pushed me for the truth for so long, but you kept this a secret?"

"It was a long time ago, and it never came up. I wasn't hiding it purposefully, I just don't talk about it. Ever. It isn't part of who I am, it's in the past. No need to talk about it really."

"Not even to Liam?" She asks. I shake my head no. Liam knows very well not to mention anything about our father "So why now?"

"I just thought that telling you would convince you to let me pay for your schooling." I bring the conversation back to the original purpose. "Did it?"

"No."

"Come on Emma, don't choose this time to be stubborn. It's not even my money, I shouldn't even have it. I didn't turn my father in, I didn't even testify against him. I stood by my father, I didn't help get the man locked away. I fought for his freedom. The bastard had me believing that using me was love. It was all Liam, he stood up for both of us, and got us out of our fathers grasp, and back into our mothers."

"You found your mother?" She asks.

"Aye, well she found us. We were all over the Ireland news, she sought us out soon after his capture."

"A happy ending," Emma smiles with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Very much so. She passed a couple years ago, but I've made peace with it. My childhood after everything was quite blissful. We moved past things, and continued to live our lives. The money was the reason Liam and I were able to move here, and pay for our education." I explain briefly, and reach for Emma's hand again. This time she intertwines our fingers and holds on tightly. "I have all this money, and I didn't do anything to deserve it. I want to do something purposeful with it. Why not let me do this for you Emma?"

"Because I don't want to be your charity case," she looks to the floor.

"Oh Emma, you're not a charity case. You will however be, living off of a minimum wage job with no benefits if you don't go to college."

"I know," she sighs and puts her forehead against our held hands.

"So you'll let me do this for you?"

"...I'll pay you back, like I loan," she agrees.

"I don't need it back love," I rebuttal.

"Don't fight me on this," she counters.

"Alright, it'll be a loan," I agree, then add, "One which you have no need to pay back,"

"Killian..."

"We'll agree to disagree for now," I hush her. She rolls her eyes, but I choose to ignore it. I turn to the pamphlets in front of us. "I'm not sure which school has the best program for social work. I didn't know you were interested in it until now."

"I want to help children in my situation. I think the best way to do that is to make it my job. The best school around is UMaine, but it's over 3 hours away," she pushes it away, and starts looking through more.

"Hey no," I take the pamphlet. "If it's what you think is best then we'll send something there as well as the other schools in Maine." I grab 4 other schools from the bunch and make a 'yes' pile.

"All of those places? It's almost $200 each application," Emma stresses.

"Hey, didn't I tell you not to stress over the money," I kiss the side of her head.

"Ok, ok, sorry. Thank you, you're changing my future you know," she tells me sincerely.

"Well I hope to be part of this better future," I reply. She keeps her head down, looking at the papers, but I can see the blush on her cheeks.

"A happy ending," she mutters just loud enough for me to barely hear.

A/N

And finally Killian's backstory is revealed! Vote and comment :)