A/N: So sorry this has taken me so long, I wrote an over 40 page chapter, and decided it was best to split it up into two because there is so much going on in these now two chapters it would be hard to follow all at one time I think. But I'm releasing them at the same time because they go together! 

Time skip to mid March so only a couple weeks from where we left off! Also Jefferson! :D

𝓓𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓲𝔃𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓻𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓵 𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼
𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓼𝓮𝓮𝓶 𝓽𝓸 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶 𝓲𝓷
𝓟𝓵𝓪𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓪 𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓰𝓲𝓻𝓵 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽
𝓗𝓲𝓭𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓵𝓮𝓭 𝔀𝓮𝓫𝓼 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷

Blaire

I pulled into the driveway late friday night and took a deep breath. I had gotten up around 3 in the morning to make the drive to New York for a tour of my new school, The trip was paid for by the school, but I didn't care to stay overnight in a hotel room by myself, so I made the drive back and because it was a tour for a college, I was excused from school today. It was Friday, and usually the only teacher who gave homework over the weekend was Killian so I wasn't too worried about missing more than I already had.

I had left my phone off all day, If I was going to end up going to New York by myself next fall I wanted to make sure I was going to be able to last a day without calling David for help. The tour was a little overwhelming to say the least. This was a really good school, and I wasn't sure I was exactly up to par with a lot of the artists there, I brought a small portfolio of my work, and they seemed to be impressed with some of it at least so there was that.

I turned my phone back on and scrolled through my messages, I let everyone know before hand that I was leaving my phone off for the day so most of the messages were just typical good luck and drive safe messages. My personal favorite was from Jacob, telling me to make sure I came back because he needed me at work sunday. I clicked on Killians message telling me to call him when I got home. It was around 2 in the morning right now but I knew if I didn't call him before I went in and went to bed I'd wake up to a thousand text messages asking if I was okay. I hit the dial button and put the phone to my ear.

It rang a few times before I heard the phone pick up. It took a couple of seconds before Killians groggy voice came through.
"Hello my love." He said sleepily.
"Hello." I chuckled. "Sorry to wake you, I just wanted you to know I was home."
"Already? The school paid for a hotel didn't it?" Killian asked.
"It did..but..I didn't want to stay alone in a hotel so far from home." I said.
"So you drove all the way back??" Killian asked "What time is it even?" He mumbled "Bloody hell its two in the morning you've been almost up for 24 hours."
"And I'm feeling it." I said.
"Well go to bed." Killian said.
"You are grumpy when you get woken up in the middle of the night." I giggled.
"Not grumpy. Concerned, we know what lack of sleep does to you love, I just want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine, I called Archie this morning to ask if skipping a dose of my sleeping pill was going to be okay for one day. He said not to make a habit of it, but it was fine."
"Any more sleep paralysis episodes?"
"I've had a couple, but nothing as scary as that one." I said. "Archie said its my body getting use to the meds still, he said it could take a month or so to get used to it." I said.
"Well you should probably get some sleep soon to avoid triggering another episode. I was doing some research."
"I thought you said googling medical stuff was a bad idea."
"I wasn't googling I was going through my old psychology notes from University." Killian defended himself.
"You kept all of that stuff?? I throw away homework assignments as soon as I get them back." I laughed.
"Well see now, it comes in hand sometimes." Killian said. "Stop teasing me and go to bed, lass."

"But I like listening to you talk." I pouted.
"Well come over tomorrow and i'll talk your ear off." Killian said.
"I can't I have plans, I'm going to the gym tomorrow to sign up and get back into boxing, and then I was thinking of working a short shift at O'malleys in the afternoon."
"What about sunday?" Killian asked.
"I'm working all day sunday and after I get off David wants to have a family night." I said. "So I guess Monday at school?"
"No such luck, School is out Monday to prepare for parent night." Killian said.
"Oh.. what's that?" I asked.
"Its basically like parent teacher conferences. No students, just parents and staff. There were papers passed out on Monday for it. Didn't you have parent night in Oregon?"
"Something like that, but my mom was working and my Dad didn't go. I don't remember getting a paper for it." I sighed.
"Well that's okay, David is on the list for both You and Emma. At least as far as my classroom meetings go." Killian said.
"Well, thats good at least someone has it figured out." I said. I raised my eyebrow as I watched what looked like someone lurking around the side of my house.
"Hey, I'm going to let you get back to sleep and I'm going to go to bed." I said.
"Alright love, maybe after parent night you can sneak over for a bit."
"I'll try, in the mean time I'll text you. Love you."
"Love you too. Get some sleep."
"Will do." I said and hung up.

I got out of my truck silently, leaving my things in the trunk. I even left the door open a bit so it didn't make a noise when I shut it. I crept up towards the house and saw someone who had been kneeling down, stand up with his back to me. I picked up the shovel that was leaning against the garage and stalked towards him.
He turned to me and I raised the shovel but he put his hand out to stop it before it hit him in the head.
"Blaire! Its me!" He whispered.
I took my phone out of my pocket and shined the flashlight at him.
"Neal! What the hell??" I hissed. "You are either really stupid or really brave. Haven't you done enough?" I asked.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Neal asked.
"Well you knocked up my cousin." I said and shrugged. "Whats your game plan here?"
"Are you questioning me at 2:30 in the morning about my intentions with your cousin?" Neal scoffed.
"Sure. Why not?" I shrugged again.
"I'm trying to get out of here before we wake up your uncle." Neal said.
"Then answer my question." I said and stopped his path away from me with the shovel. "What happens when the baby gets here?"
"Emma says she's keeping it, so I guess we're keeping the baby."
"You guess?" I asked and stepped in his way as he tried to go around me the other way. "There is no guessing Cassidy. You're either sticking around, or you're not and if you're not, then you need to tell her now beforehand." I said.
"I'm not going anywhere Blaire. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Neal asked.
"Yes actually. You may be worried about what my Uncle will do to you when he finds out about all of this, but its nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you if you made Emma a promise to her and that baby to stick around and you don't follow through." I said. "Understood?"
"Okay. I got it.." Neal sighed.

The porch light flipped on.
"Fuck!" Neal hissed.
"Go through the back gate. Hurry." I whispered and snuck back over to my truck as the front door opened so I could make it look like I was just getting home. I pulled my bag out of the back of the truck and put it over my shoulder and waved at David who stood on the porch.
"I thought you were getting a hotel." He yawned.
"I just wanted to come home and sleep in my bed." I shrugged. "I traded the hotel voucher for an extra food voucher and grabbed food on the way back so don't worry, I've eaten I'm just exhausted." I smirked. I walked up on the porch and David smiled and hugged me.
"How was New York?" He asked as we walked into the house.
"It was good. I'm really excited for fall." I said and smiled. "And I'm nervous. You don't know how many times I wanted to call you to ask for help with directions, especially since my GPS brought me to a really shady side of the city at one point. I mean I used to live in a town where every side of town was shady..but this was a new level of shady. I also felt a little overwhelmed after my tour and almost caved then too." I said.
"You could have called Blaire. Anytime." David smiled.
"How am I supposed to survive living up there part time if I have to call you for everything?" I asked.

"I don't expect you to jump right into life in New York Blaire, I don't think anyone does. I expect phone calls, Hell, i want phone calls, if you want to tell me about something exciting, great, if you want to vent about anything, thats okay too. If you're scared, or overwhelmed I don't even care if its the middle of the night. I'll be here to talk you through it. Emmas staying here in town and I know theres going to be plenty of phone calls from her too. Kind of makes me wish I could be two places at once."
"Well...maybe SBU has art classes that will work, maybe I don't have to leave." I said.
"I think you do." David said. "As much as I would love you to stay close, you need to go. You didn't just win that scholarship from luck, you won it because someone saw your art and thought that this kid is going places and we'll get her to the next step."
"You said you wouldn't kick me out." I smirked.
"I'm not kicking you out, this is always going to be your home. But I'm not about to let you give up on New York." David smiled.
"I'm going to miss these 2am pep talks Dave." I chuckled.
"I'm always a phone call away." David said.
"Thanks." I sighed and hugged him.
"You're welcome. Now go get some sleep, You have plans in a few hours don't you?"
"Yep. I'll get some sleep. I was going to see about going in and picking up a small shift at work today, but I think after my plans I'll just come home and chill since I'm working all day sunday."
"Good plan." David said. "See you in a bit." He said. I walked up the stairs.

I walked into my room and put my bag down. I kicked off my shoes, and took my hoodie off and hung it on the door. I walked over to my bed and smiled at Bowie curled up on my pillow.
"I'll be right there bud." I said.
I put on some pajamas and turned on the tv, and shut my light out. I couldn't sleep without the TV on lately, the light from the tv helped me to see around the room if I happened to wake up in the middle of the night. I just kept the sound down low so I didn't bother anyone. I curled up in bed with Bowie, who went from the pillow, and curled into my side. I looked at the clock next to my bed, and sighed.
"Why do I make plans in the morning, Bowie?" I asked. He mewed at me and went back to sleep. I wanted to get back into the gym, and boxing, not because its what my Dad would want, but because I wanted to get back into shape in case I had to fight someone off. It was a close call when Milah tried to get me killed, too close of a call, and now that I had a potential murderer after me I wanted to make sure I could hold my own. I hadn't set foot in a gym since I left Oregon or kept to my Dads ridiculously strict diet, that he didn't even follow himself.

One of the only things I missed about being in the gym constantly were the people I was training with. It was like a family. My Dad had a best friend, Jefferson who was college age working there with him, Kass and I used to hang out with him all the time, I always felt better after hanging out with Jefferson. He was someone I could talk to about literally anything that was bothering me, any time and since I left Oregon I hadn't talked with him. I almost grabbed my phone, to look him up on facebook, but I knew if I picked up my phone, I'd stay up on it until it was time for me to get up. I would just look him up later today. I rolled over and snuggled into Bowie and closed my eyes hoping to get at least a little sleep before I had to get up.

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I looked in the door mirror at the gym outfit I had picked up while I was shopping the other day. When I first came to Storybrooke, I was very fit. But since I hadn't stepped foot in a gym or kept with my Dads stupid diet, I had put on a little weight. I didn't usually care how I looked, but as I looked in the mirror I could hear my Dads nagging voice in my head telling me I'd gained too much weight. I picked up my phone and snapped a picture from the mirror and sent it to Killian.

Me:
What do you think?

Killian:
😍

Me:
Look who learned how to use Emojis. I'm so proud of you. Be honest though.

I poked at the little pudge to my stomach and sighed.

Killian:
I was being honest. Am I missing something? I think you look, what do the kids says these days...fire. ;)

Me:
When you say stuff like that you sound like you're 30.

Killian:
...as someone who is 4 years shy of 30 that kind of hurts.

Me:
Thanks for the ego boost. Even if its biased. My Dad is back seat driving in my brain again. I don't know if I want to go to the gym or order a pizza and eat it by myself as a form of rebellion.

Killian:
You've been talking about getting back into boxing, and the gym for a while, I also remember you saying you were doing it for yourself, not for him. Remember that?

Me:
Thanks for the reminder. I'm about to head out.

Killian:
Good luck, love. Send me Gym pics too ;)

Me:
:P Maybe.

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I got to the gym early with the youth boxing was still going on, and I signed in on the paper for the young adult class, I had actually missed boxing, It was good stress relief when I could tune out my Dad barking orders at me during matches.

I was watching the kids practicing, but there was one boy who didn't have a partner who was watching the other kids. I walked over to him and set my bag down.
"Wheres your partner?" I asked.
"He didn't come today..or last week and last week Meg let me partner with Michael but he hit me really hard in the eye on purpose. He said it wasn't on purpose, but it was, and I don't want to be his partner anymore." The boy gave me a very long winded reply. He definitely had the black eye to prove his side of the story.
"I wouldn't want to be his partner either. You can be my partner for the remainder of the class if you want." I said.
"Aren't you a little old for this class?" the boy asked.
"Uh. Owch. You're not wrong, but I'm here early waiting for my class to start." I chuckled and crouched down to his height and raised my hands. "Come on, show me what ya got."
The boy started swinging at the palms of my hands blindly without any form whatsoever.
"Alright hang on." I smirked and stood up and took him to the punching bag in the room. "I'm going to show you a trick." I said.
"I like tricks." The boy smiled.

"People assume boxing is all about the hands right? Well footing is just as important." I said and moved my feet a little.
"See how my feet are?" I asked.
The boy nodded.
"If you try to strike how you are standing, you are giving your opponent an advantage because you're off balance." I said and hit the bag a few times changing my footing based on which way the bag moved.
I stopped the bag.
"Ready to try?" I asked.
"Yeah!" The boy grinned and stepped up to the bag. I knelt down and put my hand on the floor. "Left foot here." I said. The boy moved his foot to where my left hand was.
"Right foot here." I said as I moved my hand. He put his right foot in the right spot and I stood behind the bag and held it.
"Okay now which hand is your dominant hand?"
"Both I'm ambidextrous." He stated proudly.
"Okay, so lead with whatever hand you feel more comfortable leading with and strike the bag. I said and held the bag still. He made contact with the bag and actually moved me with it. Heaven help whoever this boy went up against when in the ring for real.

"Good!" I coached and moved to the side with the bag. "Where are you feet going if the bag is over here?" I asked. He looked down at his feet and then back at the bag like he was working it out in his brain and then moved his feet exactly where they needed to be without me having to show him. He was very smart, for what looked like a 6 or 7 year old. He struck the bag again and I moved to the right, and he followed perfectly.
"I'm going to let go, and let it swing as you hit it, remember your footing and keep your eye on the bag at all times." I said and let go of the bag and stood back watching him, move around the bag with precision that I hadn't even mastered at that age.
"Excellent. Keep it up." I said.

"Bastian, your fathers here!" The teacher called from across the room, stealing his eyes away from the bag, the bag swung and hit him directly in the face knocking him backwards.
"Oh!" I said frantically and hurried over to him while he sat on the floor crying and holding his nose. I crouched down to him and grabbed my bag and unzipped it grabbing my towel, and a cold water bottle.
"Can I see?" I asked. The boy moved his hand and showed me his bloody nose
"I'm going to press this to your nose, it might hurt a little okay?" I said.
"Wait!" The teacher called as she hurried across the floor, the boy however nodded at me and I held the towel to his nose. "Can you sit up super straight for me?" I asked. He kept crying but listened to what I said and sat up straight
"I'm going to put this on the back of your neck its going to be cold, but it will help stop the bleeding okay?" I asked. He nodded through tears and I put the cold water bottle on the back of his neck. I wished this was the kind of care my Dad would have given to me every time I had a bloody nose.
"I know it hurts, and you might feel embarrassed because you're crying but its okay to cry when you are hurting you don't have to be embarrassed okay bud?" I asked.
"Okay." He said nasally.

"Wow.." The teacher said.
"What?" I asked.
"Bastian doesn't ever let anyone touch him, and the last time he got hurt he screamed 30 minutes anytime we tried to help."
"Bastian?" I questioned and looked at the boy, his hair was a very beautiful red color, and his eyes were bright blue.
"Oh no!" I looked up and saw Mr. J. hurrying over. "What happened?" He asked and then looked down at me.
"Blaire?" He questioned. "I didn't know you were teaching here."
"I'm not. I'm just waiting for my class and I saw he didn't have a partner so I was his partner. I was showing him footing and when the teacher called and said you were here he looked away from the bag and it came back and hit him."
I pulled the towel away from his nose to look at it closer.
"I don't think its broken but you may want to take him to get it looked at just incase"
Mr. J. crouched down.
"Are you okay Bastian?" He asked.
Bastian nodded and then frowned at me.
"You told me not to take my eyes off the bag, and I did. I'm sorry." He said. "Its my fault."
"Hey, its okay. Its not your fault. It was an accident."
"Daddy Blaire showed me so much!" Bastian said excitedly and stood up. "She showed me where to put my feet and I actually understood what she meant and it makes sense now!"
"Did she?" Mr. J said and smiled at me. "Well, your mum is in the car, and I'm sure she is going to be just thrilled to see your nose." Mr. J said sarcastically. I chuckled.
"Blaire! Will you walk out with me?" Bastian asked and put his hand in mine, which by the surprised look on Mr. J's. face and the teacher I gathered that was not a common thing.
"I'm sure Blaire is busy Bastian." Mr. J. said.
"No its okay, I can walk out with you guys." I said and shrugged.
"I think you may have made a new best friend." Mr. J chuckled.
"Can we go see Uncle Killy so I can show him the moves Blaire showed me??" Bastian asked.
Uncle Killy.. Okay that is the cutest thing I've ever heard. What is happening to me?
"Sure. After we go see the doctor about your nose." Mr. J said as we walked out of the building.

Mr. J walked over to the car, and opened the back door for Bastian and he let go of my hand and climbed into his booster seat and Liam buckled him in.
"Liam! What happened to his face??" Mr. J.'s wife exclaimed.
"I'll explain in a minute. Ariel, this is Blaire she's one of my students."
"Shes my friend Momma!" Bastian grinned at me from the back seat. I smiled at him and Liam closed the door. Bastian waved at me from behind the glass.
"Nice to meet you." Ariel smiled.
"I'll be there in a second Ari." Mr. J said and walked back towards the building with me.
"I hope its okay that I was helping him.." I said.
"No, its perfect. I've never seen him be okay with anyone besides me, his mom, and my brother touching him. I don't know if my brother has mentioned to you all in class that Bastian is autistic, He has a hard time finding friends, and we haven't told him, but the mother of the boy who was his partner, pulled him from the class because she didn't want her son to have to be paired with him." Liam said. His eyes watered a bit and I felt a burning rage as my blood boiled.
"What? Why?!" I all but demanded.
"Some people just don't understand, and I can't explain to you, how much the kindness that you showed my son means to me, and my wife. He wanted to drop the class because the other kids have been kind of mean to him, Meg tries to stop it, but kids will be kids, but you've made him excited about it again." Liam smiled. "So thank you."
"Of course." I said. "No one deserves to feel left out of anything."
"Well I best let you get to your own class, Thank you again." Liam said and waved at me. I waved back at him and then at Bastian who was still waving at me.

I waited until Liam drove away before I turned back to the building and went inside. When I got inside I was met by the teacher from earlier, Meg, who was at the front desk looking at the sign in sheet and back at me.
"I Knew it." She said and put the sign in sheet down.
"Knew what?" I asked.
"You're Jimmy's kid." She smirked.
"Unfortunately." I replied. "And you are? I asked.
"Megara, but you can call me Meg. I knew you were in town and I was wondering when I'd be seeing you." Meg said.

"Well I work around the block at O'Malleys you could have seen me anytime if you wanted." I said and shrugged.
"I could have, but I didn't want to overwhelm you. It has to be weird moving to a town where everyone knows who you are, but you don't know them." Meg said.
"A little." I admitted. "So were you and my Dad close?"
"Close? No. Decent friends, maybe." Meg shrugged. "I got along with your mom more." Meg said and frowned. "When I saw you come in..I thought I was seeing a ghost. You look just like her, except-"
"My eyes." I sighed. "I know."
"But then, I was watching you work with Bastian and I was reminded of your father." Meg said.
"Ouch." I said.
"Well I didn't mean it in a bad way. Your Dad was always good with the kids here." Meg said.
Of course he was. They weren't me.
"I am kind of confused though." Meg said.
"By what?" I asked.
"Why sign up for a class? You don't need a class. I've seen your moves on youtube. Your Dad sent links to me all the time."
"Did he send the versions of him screaming at me in the background? Or just the ones with the music? What about the one with my first match? Where he's telling me to get off the floor and stop crying because the kid I was up against broke my nose and I was embarrassing him?" I asked.
"Okay, I get it, your dad is a tough subject. We'll move on. My point is, you don't need a class. But I...need help." Meg said.

"Help with what?" I asked.
"My partner and coworker, Tink, is out of state for a bit. I need help with my classes on saturdays. What do you say?"
"I literally just met you." I said. I'm a stranger, that just walked in off the street and you want me to help you teach your classes?"
"You aren't a stranger. We've met before, just last time you were tiny." Meg shrugged.
"I'd have to talk to Thomas. I'm not off every Saturday."
"You let me handle that old Alley cat, he owes me. Look, I'll pay you of course. Whatever he pays you for saturdays plus a little extra, I'll give you a key to the place so you can come and use the equipment whenever you want." Meg said.
"You realize I'm going to New York in like six months right?" I asked.
"Tink will be back long before then. I mostly need help with the kids. Thats Tinks thing. But you could help with your age group too if you want. I'm starting a class in five minutes if you want to stick around, you can. I can't teach you anything you don't already know but you can teach them." She said and nodded at the group of teenagers stretching.
"You don't have to say yes or no now, you can think about it. The gym equipment is through the door over there if you want to use it while you think."
"Sure." I nodded and walked over and picked up my gym bag. "I'll think about it." I added and walked through the other door to the work out equipment.

Halfway through my workout, my music on my earbuds was interrupted by an incoming call. I glanced down at my phone and saw that it was Killian so I bent down and picked up my phone and answered.
"Hello Killy." I smirked.
"I knew, that nickname was going to come up, as soon Bastian told me about meeting his new friend Blaire." Killian said. "That nickname is reserved for the 6 year old only." He chuckled.
"Well you're just no fun." I said.
"From what I hear, you made quite the impression." Killian said. "What happened to, Blaire I hate kids Nolan?"
"I don't....hate kids Killian. I tolerate them."

"Liam says you were very good with him...and I know he's already said it, but Thank you Blaire. Kids his age..they can be particularly cruel to him and he doesn't understand why and you took it upon yourself to make him feel included, and teach him things in a way he'd understand and you didn't even realize he was my nephew. You just..did it."
"Of course I did, I can't stand to see people left out of things." I sighed. "And now that I know hes your nephew I really want to fight a bunch of 6 year olds for being jerks."
"They don't understand either Blaire and Unfortunately parents don't seem to bring awareness to kids like Bastian in their homes." Killian said.
"How is Bastians nose? Did Liam take him to get it checked out?" I asked changing the subject before I got even angrier

"Aye. Its not broken, just bruised. Thank you for jumping in to help him. He told me what you had said to him, that was very sweet."
"What...do you think your brother would think of us?" I asked suddenly.
"Why do you ask? Is he getting suspicious?" Killian asked.
"No..At least I don't think so. I just...I don't know, just curious I guess." I said.
"I'm honestly not sure what he would think." Killian said. "It could go either way with him. He could be happy for us, or he could kick my arse up between my ears." Killian chuckled.
"You think he'd be mad?" I asked. "I..just don't want to hurt you and your brothers relationship...or get in the way of you seeing Bastian."
"Blaire thats not going to happen. I promise." Killian assured me. "I don't plan on telling him or anyone else until after graduation in June, so we will figure it out when its that time, don't worry yourself over it right now. How is your class going?"
"The teacher didn't want me to take the class." I sighed.
"What? Why??" Killian asked

.
"Its...a long story. She knows my Dad and she's seen videos my Dad would post on youtube of me boxing and apparently she thinks I'm too good for a class, instead she wants me to help her teach her classes, every saturday until her coworker gets back in town. I told her I'd think about it, so I was in the middle of a work out when you called." I said.
"I think Bastian would love seeing you every Saturday. But its up to you, you have a lot on your plate right now, between being a senior in high school, and already working a part time job." Killian said.
Not to mention solving my mothers murder mystery and trying to get evidence that my dad had nothing to do with the O'Malleys arson, and constantly looking over my shoulder to make sure I'm not about to get murdered myself. I thought.

"I might at least help with the kids. She seems to have my age group under control, but trying to teach kids boxing can be like wrestling a bag of cats. My Dad had at least two people helping him. That and I like kids at least more than my own age group." I said with a shudder. "Meg says she'll talk to Thomas about me being off on Saturdays apparently he owes her for something." I added.
"Theres no telling with that part of town." Killian said.
"What do you know about this part of town?" I asked.
"I just know some shady shit has gone down over there, The owner of the Rabbit Hole is apparently a drug dealer, and even some of his staff sells for him, I was just a kid when the O'Malleys arson happened, but Thomas and and Gold, did not get along, and Gold saw O'Malleys as competition, yet no one even looked his way when the arson happened and I personally think its because he paid Sidney Glass to keep the medias attention off of him." Killian said.

"Holy..shit." I said. "Holy. Shit." I repeated.
"What is it love?" Killian asked.
"If I can prove that Gold was behind it, That would mean that it wasn't my dad."
"No. No No No." Killian said. "Absolutely not Blaire."
"Why?" I asked. "If I can prove he didn't do it, once I prove he didn't murder my mother he would be able to come back home if he wanted." I said.
"Blaire if anything your father at least deserves to be there for what he put you through as a child, and Gold is extremely dangerous. I don't want you getting involved. You thought when Milah tried to have you killed was scary? Gold will actually make it happen."
If you only knew the shit I've been dealing with since New Years.. I thought.
"Blaire your silence tells me you are contemplating doing it anyways. Please Promise me you won't go snooping around in Golds affairs. Let the police handle it."
"People keep telling me that." I sighed.
"What do you mean? What else are you snooping around in that you shouldn't be?" Killian asked.
"Nothing." I muttered.
"Because that's convincing." Killian sighed.
"I have to go and finish my work out. I'll call you later." I said.
"Okay. talk to you later love." Killian said. I hung up and sighed. I didn't like lying to him but If he knew about the creepy texts and the threats, he would drag me to the police station consequences be damned.

Killian:
Please heed my advice Blaire. Don't go snooping around at the Rabbit Hole. I love you.

Me:
I love you too.

I put my phone in my gym bag and went back to my workout. In a way, Killian was right, even if my Dad didn't murder my mother, and even if he didn't burn down O'Malleys. He did at the very least deserve to sit in a cell for everything he put me through emotionally as a kid. He only hit me once that I remember. He was drunk and I tried breaking up a fight between him and my mom, but the things he said, and the way he made me fight for his love and attention hurt worse than any physical damage he could have done and I hated that until I moved here and saw how fathers were supposed to treat their daughterI thought that it was completely normal for my Dad to treat me the way he did so he never took accountability for royally fucking me up. I glanced up from the elliptical at the wall of pictures of employees past and present and my eyes landed on a photo of my Dad. I stepped off of the elliptical and approached the wall.

I clenched my shaking fists, and squeezed my eyes shut as memories came rushing back all at once.

"Get up off the floor and stop crying, you're embarrassing me!"
"He broke my nose Daddy!" I sobbed.
"You're never going to get anywhere in life if you cry over stupid shit like this."
"James she's 10! You put her up against someone way bigger than her!" Mom argued and knelt down to me. "Come on Baby. Its okay."
"This is the problem Jack! You fucking coddle her. I'm trying to teach her that life is going to constantly knock her on her ass and she's just going to have to get up and keep moving and you're teaching her its okay to sit and cry like a baby."
"This isn't some life lesson James! Life didn't knock her down, the 14 year old boy that YOU put her up against did and now she's hurt and you are making her feel bad for being hurt."
"You are overreacting. Its just a broken nose, She'll have many more and she can't just fall over and cry every time it happens."
"I'm overreacting? No! I'm a pissed off mother. Because after She fell down, that kid kept hitting her while she screamed for you to help her and you did fuck all!" Mom said and started walking away with me.
"Where are you going?!" Dad demanded.
"I'm taking her to the hospital James to get her nose looked up, because unlike you I care about our child."
"Oh for fuck sake Jack I care too, you're just making me look like the bad guy like you always do!"
"Because you are the bad guy and I'm sick of it, I'm done." Mom said.
"What are you saying?" Dad asked.
"I'm saying, I'm leaving and I'm taking my Daughter with me. I'm going back home."
"You aren't taking OUR daughter anywhere!" Dad yelled.
"I don't wanna go Mommy." I cried. "I want us to stay with Daddy."
"See? She doesn't want to go."
Mom put me down. "Go get in the car so we can get your nose taken care of Okay Bean?" She smiled at me. I nodded and walked outside of the room towards the main entrance and turned back and looked at my parents yelling at each other. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up at one of the teenagers that was training with my Dad, he also worked here in the summertime. His name was Jefferson, and he was always nice to me.
"Come on, lets go outside and wait for your mom." He said "You don't need to see all this."
I nodded and followed him outside.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up suddenly to a door slamming and sat up in bed. I heard cabinets shut in the kitchen and a glass being slammed on the counter. I got out of bed and walked out of my room and into the kitchen to see my Dad pouring himself a drink. He looked down at me and threw his drink back and poured another one.
"Go back to bed." He said. "Why are you even up?"
"I heard a loud noise...It scared me." I said.
"Its fine. It was just your mom leaving for work. Go back to bed."
"I'm thirsty." I said.
Dad grumbled and slammed his glass back down. I flinched.
"Of course you are." He said and pulled another glass down from the cabinet and slammed it shut again. My eyes welled over.
"I didn't mean to make you mad at me Daddy."
"I'm not mad at you." He said and went to the sink and filled the glass about half way with water and walked back over to me and pushed the glass at me. The water splashed out and went down the front of my Pajamas.
I raised the glass to my mouth with trembling hands and took a sip while sniffling.
"Again with the crying." Dad said and went back to his drink.
"Why are you drinking that stuff if it makes you angry?" I asked.
"It doesn't make me angry. A wife who constantly threatens to leave me, and a kid that just wont stop crying over every little thing makes me angry." He said.
I looked up at him with tearful eyes.
"You said you weren't mad at me." I said with my lip quivering as I spoke.
"Just drink your water and go back to bed Blaire." He groaned.
"My Pjs are wet." I said softly.
"Its just water, It will dry...Christ." He said and poured himself yet another drink.

I finished my water and walked past him into the kitchen and stood on my toes and put the glass in the sink. I walked up beside him.
"Daddy.." I said. He turned around.
"Jesus Christ kid What now?" He asked. I looked down at my feet.
"I just wanted to say Good night, and I love you." I whimpered.
"Good night. Go back to bed now and for fuck sake stop the whimpering."
"Sorry Daddy." I said and gave him a quick hug and hurried back to my room. I climbed back in bed with my wet PJs and pulled my blankets up over my head and closed my eyes trying to imagine the conversation went differently and that he told me he loved me too before sending me to bed.

I shook my head and scoffed at the picture of my father.
"Fuck you." I spat and picked up my gym bag and threw it over my shoulder before I left the room. I stormed past the class Meg was teaching and she followed me.
"Hey leaving so soon?"
"I have to get the hell out of here." I said.
"Whats wrong?" Meg asked.
"Whats wrong?" I scoffed. "Whats wrong is that everyone I meet who knows my Dad talks about all these great memories with him but you people didn't even fucking know him." I spat.
"Hey, take it easy." Meg said and put her hand on my shoulder. I pushed her hand away and rolled my eyes before walked out of the gym.

I took the shortcut through the alleyway heading home, it was cheesy as hell and straight out of a hallmark movie but I could really use a cup of cocoa and a chat with David. I was in the middle of texting him to see if he was home when I felt an arm wrap around my chest. I shuffled my bag off my shoulder and dropped my phone. I grabbed ahold of the arm of the person who grabbed me and twisted it Until he let go. I spun around and kicked the hooded figure in the gut. He groaned and held his gut and reached out to me, I grabbed his arm again and swung my leg against the back of his knees making him fall. I pushed the attacker on his back and pulled his hood down and raised my fist to hit him and stopped just before I hit his face. I tilted my head to the side looking at the familiar face.
"Jefferson?" I asked.
"Thats what they call me." He chuckled. "I see you still have the moves I taught you."
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Nice to see you too Blaire." He said. "Can you let me up now? Or are you still planning on punching me in the face?"
I stepped to the side and held up my hand to help him up. He took my hand and got to his feet.

He stepped closer to me.
"Why do you look like you've been crying?" He asked. "And whos ass am I kicking?"
"I haven't been crying." I lied.
"You're full of shit." Jefferson said.
"You drove all the way from Oregon to tell me I'm full of shit J?" I scoffed and wiped a tear from my eye.
"Someones gotta keep you in line, Nolan." Jefferson smirked.
"I fucking miss you." I cried and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him.
"Well...this is new. Usually you just punch me in the shoulder." Jefferson said and put his arms around me.
"I missed you too kiddo." He said and then held my shoulders and pulled back. "Are you okay? You wanna go somewhere thats not in the middle of an alley and talk?" Jefferson asked. "I have a room at the bed and breakfast, I just checked in this morning."
"Honestly that would be great." I said.

—----------------------------------------------------------

I walked with Jefferson to the Bed and Breakfast. It was probably the paranoia that had been lingering with me since New Years, but..him suddenly showing up made me a little nervous.
"What brings you all this way?" I asked.
"Well, you of course. I..went to visit your Dad and he said you'd been moved here. I know that you've been through a lot since last year with your moms murder, and your dad waiting for a trial for the murder and then moving to a completely different state away from everyone you've known your whole life and I wanted to come see how you were doing." Jefferson explained.
"How did you know where to find me? How did you know where I would be?"
"I wasn't sure if you were still into the gym thing or not but I took a wild guess." Jefferson shrugged.

"I just got back into it...since I've been here I haven't set foot in a gym until today.. I've also treated every day like a cheat day..so theres that." I sighed. "I'm out of shape."
"Could have fooled me." Jefferson said. "If I wasn't me, I'm pretty sure you would have knocked my ass out and left me in the alley."
"Probably. Its...been quite the year.." I sighed. "Wheres Gracey if you're here?" I asked Jefferson and his girlfriend Priscella had a daughter right after high school, they broke up a few years after she was born but Jefferson always had Grace, she was his world.
"She's with Pris right now... its a long story involving a custody battle from hell. Somehow Pris got full custody and I'm stuck with visiting Gracey as often as Pris will let me." Jefferson scowled.

"I'm sorry J. Thats not fair. She was never there, now she wants to pretend to be a mother?"
"Pretty much." Jefferson sighed. "Its okay, I'm going to get her back, its only a matter of time before she messes up and the judge gives me back custody."
"Hopefully soon. I never liked Priscilla." I scoffed.
"I know you didn't." Jefferson chuckled. "You made that very clear."
"You were a trust fund kid. She just wanted your money. I only pointed that out." I shrugged.
"And you ended up being right. Now shes only wanting to have custody because Grace is now part of that trust." Jefferson frowned.
"Well I'm going to Oregon sometime during spring break I'll be sure to stop by and give her a punch in the nose, ya know for old time sake." I said.
"I thought we've talked about reining in that anger of yours." Jefferson said.
Well I just wont tell him what I did to Peter Malcoms face with a cafeteria table...

"What are you going to Oregon for?" Jefferson asked.
"Well, we're actually going to Disneyland, and then I asked my uncle if we could go to Oregon after that so I could visit my Dad. I have things I need to say to him that are much better said in person."
"So you're going to go to the happiest place on earth and then...mess it up by visiting your Dad?" Jefferson asked.
"Right?" I sighed. "He say anything to you..about the trial?"
"Not really, just that he wasn't fighting it, to keep you safe. I know first hand how much of an asshole he could be, especially to his own kid but it seems that spending all this time locked up has made him realize he's made some mistakes."
"It just doesn't make sense to me, why go down for a crime you didn't commit?" I asked.
"He's going to do prison time regardless, if he didn't do it, he knows who did and hes keeping that from police. If it were me, I'd spend life in prison to ensure Grace's safety so I understand kind of. It just sucks that he spent so long treating you the way he did, and when he finally does something somewhat right by you, hes in prison."

"I'd rather the person who actually killed my mother be in there then have him to play the hero all of a sudden." I scoffed. "When we went to Oregon for my moms funeral, he was different, but I figured that was because my uncle was there and he was trying to play father of the year."
"Its really hard to tell with him." Jefferson sighed. "I honestly think your Dad does love you, but he has a hard time communicating it in the way that everyone else does."
"I honestly thought the same thing, but now I don't know. I can't see how anyone who loved someone could constantly tear them down. I feel like I was always a huge inconvenience for him."
"I understand." Jefferson said. "Do you know what you're going to say to him?"
"I have a whole book by now." I sighed. "I just hope I don't chicken out when I see him."
"I can't see you chickening out of anything." Jefferson chuckled.
"You don't know what it was like to be raised by him." I said softly. "He drives back seat in my brain daily."
"If you want, I'll meet you up there and go with you? Like when you just got your drivers license and had to tell him you drove his truck into a postal box." Jefferson smirked.
"That was different." I sighed. "This...I need to do alone. Did he say anything about me when you visited?" I asked.
"He said you dropped contact with him and he figured that was more so your uncles doing than yours." Jefferson said.

"My Uncle David would never do that. He told me it was always my choice if I wanted to talk to my Dad, and after I started realizing how my Dad royally fucked me up I made the choice not to take his calls. I stopped contact after he was arrested at my moms funeral. He knew he was going to be arrested I thought he actually could have done it for a while." I sighed.
"He and your mom fought like cats and dogs, but he could never Blaire. He told me he was arrested at the funeral because he made a deal with the police. He knew where she was, and a deal was made that if he led police to your mother, He could be out for the funeral and he could spend some time with you." Jefferson said. "He was supposed to have a bit more time after the funeral to talk to you, but it didn't go that way."

"So..he really was there when she was killed." I said.
"Apparently yes." Jefferson sighed.
"And he did absolutely nothing." I said as I stopped walking. My fists were balled and shaking at my sides. I felt like I couldn't breathe. Jefferson put his hands over mine.
"Blaire." He said, but his voice sounded far away. The last time I felt overwhelming anger like this, I broke Peters face on the cafeteria table. I felt like I needed to punch something, but the only thing around me was a brick wall. Which was likely why Jefferson had his hands over mine.
"Blaire. You have to breathe." Jefferson said. I tried to pull my hands away from his but he wouldn't let go.
"I'm not about to let you break your hand so don't even think about it. Breathe." He said. I didn't even notice that Jefferson had reached around and got into my gym bag until I was splashed in the face with cold water from my water bottle. The shock of the cold water snapped me out of my rage.

"Jefferson what the fuck?!" I snapped and pushed my wet hair out of my face.
"Sorry kid, you needed a reset and that was the only trick I had in my hat." Jefferson smirked. "Welcome back, I hope."
"I hope you know that you are the only one who gets away with calling me kid, or kiddo." I glared. "Or splashing me in the face with ice cold water."
"It did the trick." Jefferson shrugged. "Though, just barely. You looked like you were seeing red."
"I was." I grumbled. "How could he have just stood there and watched her die?"
"I'm not in anyway saying that what he did was okay, but I saw the look in his eyes when he was telling me. It haunts him."
"As it should." I scoffed I shook my head and turned away from Jefferson

. "I hope like hell he doesn't get any rest from it, and if he does, he cries himself to sleep every night thinking of how he let her die, the cruel and horrible way she did, and then letting her body be eaten by animals and insects, in a shallow grave for nearly a month!" It came out as a mix between a scream and a sob.
"Blaire..its going to be okay." Jefferson said. I turned back to him.
"How is anything about this ever going to be okay?! He was supposed to protect her, I know now he never really wanted me, but how could he let this happen to her?! He left her to ROT Jefferson, and he came home that day and pretended like everything was okay until her work called and said she never showed up, I called her phone, all night leaving voicemails crying and begging her to come back and he fucking knew that she wasn't coming back!" I screamed.

I felt all the air was being crushed out of my lungs. I held my chest. The ache and emptiness I had felt since my mothers body was found was much more intense now. I dropped to my knees in the middle of town square trying to breathe. Jefferson dropped in front of me and put his hands on my shoulders. I gasped for any air that I could panicking now.
"In through your nose, out through your mouth Blaire, slowly." Jefferson said. "Easier said than done, I know just try."
I followed his instructions the best I could. Jefferson looked through my gym bag and grabbed my headphones and put them over my head. He picked up my phone and looked through my music and picked my most recent playlist, and clicked the first song. Which happened to be Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen.
"Just tune out everything else and try to breathe for me." Jefferson said. I listened to the song, and of course thought of Killian, that song was on my playlist titled KJ <3 I tried again to steady my breathing. I closed my eyes and tried to just focus on Killian. His hugs, they were warm, and safe. Safe. Blaire. You're safe.

I calmed down enough to where I could start to breathe again.
"Did he send you here?" I asked.
"No, I wanted to come see you, the news back home is getting ready to run a story about the deal he made and I wanted you to hear it from someone you knew, and hopefully trusted before they spun their version of it."
"He told you all of that, but did he tell you who actually killed her?" I asked shakily.
"He wouldn't. He said it wasn't safe for you to know and he knew If he told me, I would tell you."
"Can I tell you something...and you not freak out?" I asked and stood up pushing my headphones down.
"You know you can B." Jefferson said.
"I think the person who killed my mom is after me now, think is actually an understatement, I'm positive, hes after me."
Jefferson looked around.
"You think he's here?"
"I Know he is. I just don't know who he is." I said.
"Lets continue this talk at the bed and breakfast." Jefferson said and put his arm around my shoulders leading me to Granny's bed and breakfast.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Killian

I sat in my home office working on individual reports for all of my students to give to their parents monday night during parent night. It was one of my least favorite things about my job to be honest. I tried by best to make sure my students excelled, and sometimes due, the students' lack of cooperation on their part it doesn't make for a pleasant conversation with their parents and I come off like the bad guy who just hates teenagers. Which wasn't at all true. Of course, I was a little harsh at times with my students, but I did truly care about them and their futures.

I flipped the page in my binder, and the next student on my list was Blaire. This one was going to be challenging because I had to try and do the report as her teacher, and not make it too personal. I didn't want to word vomit at David about how great I thought she was. I had to be fair to the other students and not make it obvious that I was in a secret relationship with his niece. I had to be honest about her grades, and how she had a hard time focusing, but given that other teachers had noticed the same thing about her, I'm sure he'd hear it before he made it to my classroom, but still I had to discuss the fact that her grades were slipping even though I knew that it was because she was under a lot of stress recently, and I was pretty sure there was things she still wasn't telling me about what was going on.

I sighed and turned the page to Emma instead, figuring I'd come back to Blaire later. My phones text notification chimed beside me and I glanced down at it. It wasn't a number I'd seen before.
I tapped on the message.

Unknown:
Looks like there is competition for you Mr. Jones.

Attached was an image of Blaire, hugging another man probably just a bit younger than me, She looked like she was crying so it seemed like it was an emotional meeting. What unsettled me about the image the most, was the fact that someone I didn't even know, knew about Blaire and I.

Me:
Who would this be?

Unknown:
Theres no fun in that.

Attached was another image of this man leading Blaire into Grannys bed and breakfast. Given how my marriage just ended, the picture struck a nerve. Blaire didn't seem like the type to do that, but then again Milah didn't either at first. I hit the dial button on the message and put the phone up to my ear.

"Ooo, that struck a nerve didn't it Mr. Jones." A distorted voice spoke.
"Who the fuck is this?" I demanded.
"As I said, there is no fun in that. I've been keeping tabs on your little secret girlfriend for a while and just thought you would want to know what she is up too. I'm sure she never mentioned him." The voice chuckled.
"How long have you been following her??" I asked.
"Longer than you can imagine." He replied. "But games aren't fun with only one player. Welcome to the game Mr. Jones. I'm sure Blaire will fill you in on what happens when you don't play along."

The line went dead and I looked down at phone in horror. What the fuck had Blaire gotten us into and was this what she's been hiding from me the whole time and who the hell was that man she was with?

I opened my text conversation with Blaire and sent a quick text.

Me:
Did you pick up a shift at O'Malleys like you said you might? I was thinking of ordering from there tonight and picking it up so I could see you.

I was hoping for a text back, maybe saying that she met up with a friend, but what I got was silence on her end and it just didn't sit well with me.