This is what happens when you binge-watch The Property Brothers on Netflix. I'm so goddamn sorry.

Full disclosure, for me to point to when people inevitably complain: I have no clue how Property Brothers is filmed. I made all this up. I don't really care.

This is dedicated to killians-dashingrescue (bashful-killian on Tumblr). She knows why.

Emma had already downed the last bit of her hot chocolate before Regina even stepped in the conference room, which was not a great sign. Regina was only late when there was an issue that meant the next episode was going to be a pain in the ass.

The meaning wasn't lost on Mary Margaret either. "This had better be good," she muttered before taking a sip of her beverage. Emma nodded in acknowledgement before the door finally opened.

"Sorry I'm late," Regina said, hurriedly sitting down at the conference table, making a great show of elegantly brushing her hair out of her face. "It took us a while to confirm with our next guest that he'd be able to pony up the dough."

Ah, that problem. Emma met Mary Margaret's gaze and they both rolled their eyes. Now that the show was more popular, they had tons of applicants with absurdly low budgets. And since Regina had turned her life around and gotten what she considered her "second chance," it was like she thought she was a fairy godmother whose calling in life was giving broke-as-hell people their dream homes.

There were still strict budget requirements, of course: Mary Margaret was a damn good agent, but depending on the square footage, location, and other amenities, the "perfect house" she had to find might not exist for a given budget. They were shooting in a slightly cheaper location for this season (up in Bumfuck, Maine), but even so, there were people who just couldn't afford to be on the show, no matter how moving their stories were, or how pressing their needs.

"So let's have it then," Mary Margaret said; Emma was proud of her sister for masking her irritation. "Who's the guy?"

"Killian Jones, age thirty-two, recently lost his wife." Regina pulled out copies of the application and pushed them forward. "We're looking at a budget of about one-fifty."

"One hundred and fifty thousand dollars?" Mary Margaret asked. "Okay … that's not terrible for this area, I guess. What does he need?"

"Three bedrooms, one bath, two car garage. As close to the waterfront as we can get him."

"He's single?" Emma asked. "Who's going to be on the show with him?" They'd tried, back in season one, to have single people on the show, and the two episodes they'd managed to produce were downright terrible. So terrible, in fact, that they'd changed the requirements halfway through the season, not even bothering to wait until they'd wrapped. They needed two people to get a good dynamic going.

And to keep the lone homeowner from getting a little too attached to the pretty, single, female general contractor.

"His brother. He'll be flying in from London a few times to get the episodes in."

"Will he be available enough?" Mary Margaret asked. "You remember what happened last time we had someone long distance." They all did—they'd had to basically move that episode to the end of the season, re-dress the home for the "big reveal," and film the design reveals last. Reality television wasn't actually reality, but Emma had standards, and having the design reveals and the home reveals be real mattered a lot to her.

"I'll take care of that," Regina said, waving her hand like it would wave away the problem. Emma just shrugged at Mary Margaret; either Regina would make sure it worked, or they'd be adding "Both people must live locally" to the requirements next season.

"Design preferences?"

"He's into nautical crap—he even has a boat." Regina picked up her copy of the application to read off of it, which was a not-so-subtle hint to Emma that she should do the same instead of asking questions.

"Okay, anything else? I assume we're going for the drinking game trifecta here: open concept, gourmet kitchen, and master retreat." Mary Margaret snorted, and Regina even smirked, although she didn't reply. Emma sighed and took a look at the application.

Recently widowered, consultant who worked from a home office, liked to go sailing on his yacht, big fan of the traditional and classic. That might be a little more interesting than the couples who always came in asking for the same thing: something with character but also modern but also timeless.

She was less pleased about another note on the application. She hated that Regina had added the little checkbox: Will you be living in the home during the renovation? It didn't matter that there was a lengthy disclaimer and warning, trying to convince as many applicants as possible that it was the worst idea ever to live in a reno zone and could they please please please live anywhere else, even a tent in the backyard?

Mr. Killian Jones, fool that he was, had checked Yes.

It wasn't just that it would be a huge pain in the ass for him, although that was definitely true. Noise from seven in the morning till late at night, dust everywhere, no privacy, no space, belongings barely accessible. And that was best case scenario; if they fell behind schedule, there'd be noise all night. And if they were demolishing the bathroom, this guy would be shit out of luck, and not entirely figuratively.

But it also meant that Emma was going to have a homeowner all up in her business all the damn time. It was bad enough when she dealt with control freaks; there was that time they had a project manager on the show, and the guy was on site every damn day for five weeks, pestering her. She'd had homeowners whose interference had caused renos to last up to a week longer than planned.

Invariably, the ones who lived on-site made her life harder. This Jones guy was either going to constantly question the design plans, or he was going to demand that she complete the reno ahead of schedule, or worse, both. Even if he was the most charming man alive, she was going to hate him.

"His max budget isn't going to be too unmanageable," Mary Margaret said, dragging Emma out of her thoughts. "What's the problem?"

Regina shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Well, his late wife had been sick for a long time, so most of his savings went towards hospital bills. He's spent the past year rebuilding his finances, but he doesn't want to take on any more debt. He's going to be making a cash offer."

"Oh wow," Mary Margaret said, and then the same realization hit her and Emma at the same time.

There weren't any loans. This guy had exactly one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for this project, and not a penny more. They had the ten grand extra they had for every episode, meant to be used as contingency, but that would be it. If there was anything super wrong with the house they convinced this guy to buy, they were basically fucked.

"Well, this guy had better be handsome, charming, and entertaining," Emma said, dramatically setting down the application. "Low budget, cash offer, international brother, and living in the reno? Least he can do is give us our highest rated episode."

"Oh, I don't think that'll be a problem," Regina said, pulling a photo from her folder and sliding it over.

Emma almost bit her tongue off when she saw it. This was going to be even harder than she thought.

"Here we go," Mary Margaret whispered as the cameras were getting set up.

"We've done this, like fifty times," Emma reminded her.

"I know. It's still kind of exciting."

"Sure."

"Are you done?" Leroy asked angrily. "I don't got all day!"

"You do, in fact, but yeah," Mary Margaret said. "Let's go."

"All right, in five! Four! Three!" he began, before completing the countdown with his fingers.

"Killian's been working day and night for the past year to rebuild his finances and to repair his broken heart," Mary Margaret said, with the perfect balance of hope and sympathy. "He's finally ready to move out of the tiny apartment he shared with his late wife in the city, so he can get a fresh start here on the water."

"We're going to help him find the perfect place to get that fresh start, but with his budget, we've gotta find him a fixer-upper," Emma chimed in, trying to sound friendly and optimistic as she said her lines. "But with the Fix-It Sisters, Killian's new place and his life are going to get the refresh they need."

"Cut!" David called. "Good, that was perfect."

"Who wrote that?" Emma asked, grimacing as though the words themselves tasted terrible.

"I did," Mary Margaret replied. "Is there a problem?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "It's just a little too … "

"It's a little hopey-changey," David acknowledged, "but from my vantage point, it sounds sincere. And besides, it'll get the audience rooting for us to give his guy a great place. You have no idea how much we need to create interest."

"True," Emma admitted. "Another episode of 'Diane and Stewart are ready to stop renting' isn't going to help our ratings."

"That's the spirit," Mary Margaret said. "Now, we'll brief this guy and his brother and meet you guys at the first house."

"See you there," David said with a wink.

"Oh my god," Emma said as she and Mary Margaret walked to their car. "Will you two please get it over with already?"

"Ever since your little fiasco with Neal, do you really think Regina's going to be on board with me sleeping with our best director?"

"David is not secretly married," Emma said defensively.

"Fair enough," Mary Margaret replied. "I'll think about it. I know he's apprehensive about disrupting the balance we have."

"You mean you are," Emma said knowingly.

"Maybe." She sighed.

"I know David's a good director, but he is replaceable if things to go shit, okay?"

"Look, let's not talk about this. I said I'd think about it, and you know I will. But I want to stay focused on filming today, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

Within minutes, they were at their temporary office. Emma missed the days they used to shoot in their hometown, Boston, where they still had their homebase studio and Emma and Mary Margaret still had their condos. They'd shot the first season in the area, before the network decided they needed to expand and try other real estate markets. Every new place meant finding space to essentially house the show, and it also meant finding reliable trades and sourcing decent materials. Every damn time.

Emma parked the car in her dedicated spot while Mary Margaret looked around the sidewalk in front of them. "I don't see anyone."

"Maybe they went inside?"

"Guess we'll find out."

Sure enough, in the lobby, the found the two men sitting on the uncomfortable couch near the front desk. The first man seemed reasonably relaxed, but the second one looked like he might throw up from anxiety. Emma recognized the second as their newest guest, and so did Mary Margaret. "You must be Killian." She stepped towards him and offered a hand.

Both men stood abruptly, and the ill-looking one shook Mary Margaret's hand. "That I am. This is my brother, Liam."

"Hi," Emma said, keeping her distance in case Killian did throw up.

"Usually, we'd go straight to the initial house," Mary Margaret said, glancing towards Emma as though asking for permission. Emma nodded, and her sister continued. "But you seem kind of nervous. Why don't we head upstairs and talk about what to expect?"

"That would be lovely," Killian said, even though he still looked like he was going to ruin the carpeting. Not that it would matter, Emma thought with irritation, since the carpet was cheap and ugly, nothing she'd ever install herself. She sent a quick text to David, letting him know they'd be running a little late.

Mary Margaret took the lead, bringing the brothers to the well-dressed office they used for the design reveals, as opposed to one of the sterile conference rooms. "So we know that Regina already spoke with both of you about what to expect, but we've got a little bit of time before we have to get started. Let's talk about the process we're going to go through today and next week."

"I wasn't here for those discussions," the brother, Liam, offered. "So it would certainly be helpful for me."

"Oh, okay." Mary Margaret shot Emma a look; they were definitely requiring local people for all future episodes. Regina had insisted that this guy would be totally briefed beforehand, and clearly that wasn't the case. "Well, I assume that you've seen the show, Killian. Liam, have you?"

"Parts of episodes, here and there. Sorry."

"It's nothing to worry about. The whole point of our show is that we help you purchase a sub-par property, and then we renovate it to fit your needs. The first thing we do, though, is try to get an idea of exactly what you're looking for. That way, I know what kinds of properties to find to show you, and Emma knows what kinds of renovations would need to get done."

"Didn't you ask for that information in the application?" Liam asked.

"Yeah, but trust me," Emma said, having answered this same question a million times already. "It's one thing to say what you want, but it's another thing to see it. This might be reality TV, but we do want happy homeowners at the end of it, and to do that, we need to make sure that what you want on paper matches up to what you actually like."

"Okay," Liam replied, seemingly satisfied. "So today, we're just looking at places to get an idea of what my little brother wants."

"Younger," Killian muttered.

"Yeah, basically," Emma replied.

"Killian, are you all right?" Mary Margaret asked. The guy still looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him up.

"I'm fine, lass." Lie.

"Are you sure? Do you need some water or something?"

"Thank you, but no."

"She's asking because you look like you don't want to do this," Emma interrupted. This was no time for tact. "We're going to be driving about ten minutes to a house, where we're going to be filming your reactions as you walk through it. We can't do that if you look like you'd rather be anywhere else but here."

"Emma!" Mary Margaret hissed.

"No, come on!" she replied, a little more forcefully than she'd intended. "Every season, we have to turn down hundreds of applicants, people who are desperate to be on television and get a brand new house. If he doesn't want to be here, he's seriously wasting everyone's time—ours and his own. No one's forcing him to be here."

"That's not strictly true," Liam interrupted, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I may have insisted."

"Look, I appreciate all the concern, but I'm fine," Killian said angrily. "I can put on a face for the camera. Let's just get this over with."

"Okay," Mary Margaret replied, a bit subdued. "Let's get going."

The ten minute drive to the house was incredibly awkward, with Mary Margaret glancing in the rearview mirror almost every ten seconds to check on their guests, and with Emma trying to control her irritation. She had a reputation for being the prickly sister on the show, but viewers really didn't know the half of it. She tried very much to control it, to present a bright, sunny, funny exterior to the cameras, but on her bad days, her attitude sometimes got the best of her.

To be fair, she didn't usually lose her temper like she just had, but these were definitely extenuating circumstances. Sure, they'd had some really nervous and anxious guests, and there was that one woman who'd been so excited at the sight of her newly renovated house that she'd vomited. And there were plenty of couples where one partner was much less eager to be on television than the other.

But Killian Jones clearly did not want to be on the show at all. And given the difficulty that he presented them with even without his reluctance—his inflexible budget, his international brother—this was insult to injury. Emma could just feel that this was going to be an asbestos episode, with the luck she was already having.

The camera crew was ready when they arrived. "Got lost?" Leroy asked sarcastically.

"Let's just go," Emma said. "No more delays."

"All right," David said, eager to quell the fight between star and cameraman before it could start. "Hi, there—I'm David Nolan. I'm directing this episode."

"I thought … what's her name? Who was the woman who worked with us in New York?" Liam asked.

"Ruby Lucas. Yeah, she directed the last episode, so she's a little busy with editing right now. Don't worry, though! You're in good hands, I promise."

Emma caught Mary Margaret breaking into a dopey smile and made a mental note to give her sister another push in the right direction when they were done filming for the afternoon.

Once everyone's microphones were in place, and Mary Margaret and Emma had their hair and make-up touched up, David gathered them all around. The drill was the same as always, but it always made guests feel better if the Fix-It Sisters were a part of this little meeting.

"We're going to film the four of you walking up the sidewalk from that direction," he said as he pointed. "Mary Margaret is going to start giving you some details about the house at that point; if you need her to repeat anything, we recommend that you wait until we cut. We'll film you walking into the house from the outside, and then we'll have you walk in again so we can get your inside reaction."

"That seems a little silly," Liam interrupted. "We won't be surprised the second time."

"Welcome to reality television," David said patiently, as though he hadn't had to have this same conversation with guests dozens of times. "You're going to have to act surprised. And we can do a few takes to try to get the best one." He glanced at Killian, who still looked as though he wanted to run for the hills. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, mate. Let's just get on with it."

"All right. Let's set up for the first shot then."

The scene went reasonably smoothly, with Mary Margaret maintaining her chipper demeanor as she always did. Emma took up the rear and put on what she called her "listening face," since this was the part of the show where Mary Margaret got to shine. She also paid attention to the two brothers, or, since she was behind them, their body language. Liam seemed confident, nodding as Mary Margaret spoke and looking around at the beautiful front yard and the lovely facade of the house. Killian, meanwhile, kept staring straight ahead and didn't seem to be reacting to Mary Margaret.

Inside was a little better. Liam seemed to come around to the idea that they were going to have to act surprised, and both brothers seemed genuinely interested in the details of the house. It was a gorgeous home, recently built, with a kitchen that Emma would have been proud to have created herself. The master bath, she thought, was a little poorly planned out, but it was more of a personal preference she had regarding the use of space.

As they waited for the cameras to set up in the back yard for the next reaction shot, Killian approached her. "I can't afford this place," he said, his voice low, as though this were some big secret and not something that happened every episode. "Why are you showing it to me?"

"It's not about that," Emma said, trying to mitigate her irritation. "What do you think of the house?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. As I said, I know I can't afford it."

She resisted the urge to snap at him, to point out that they'd gone over this before. Instead, she pointed at the crown molding. "What do you think of that?"

"I think it's fine. I don't really care one way or the other."

"I think you do," she replied. "Keep that in mind when we're looking at other houses." She tugged on his arm and brought him back into the master bathroom. "Tell me what you think of this bathroom."

"It's a bathroom," he said sullenly.

"Yeah, I got that." Was he determined to be such a pain in the ass? "Tell me … what do you think of the sinks in the vanity?"

"I wouldn't need two," he said sadly.

"Two are good for master baths if you have the space."

"Aye, but what good are two sinks when you're single?"

"You planning on being single forever?" He didn't reply, and she remembered—he was a widower. Mary Margaret was known as the tactful sister for a reason. "Well, what about the style?"

"What's the name of this style?" he asked.

"Vessel."

"I think it looks terrible," he admitted. "Honestly, I do like the cabinet. I'm a big believer in a place for everything and everything in its place, and I prefer being able to stow items out of sight. But these bowls just look so …"

"Clunky?" she offered. "I'm always afraid I'm going to knock them off, like they're freestanding bowls or something."

"Exactly," he said emphatically. "I'd prefer something a little more traditional."

"What do you think of rectangular sinks? Like the one in the half-bath downstairs?"

He frowned and blushed. "I hate to admit this, but I wasn't actually paying attention."

That was a little irritating, but there was nothing to be done about it now. Instead, she beckoned for him to follow her back downstairs to the first bathroom. She pointed at the sink, a reasonably attractive one she recognized from IKEA. "Oh," he said. "It's a little modern for my tastes."

"Good to know. This is basically what we're looking for," she reminded him. "I need to get a good idea of your personal taste so I can actually give you a space you'll like. Otherwise, who knows? I might put vessel sinks into your master bathroom and ruin the whole house for you."

He chuckled. It was the first time she'd even seen him smile besides in his photograph. "You make a fair point, lass. I'll try to be a little more helpful from now on."

"Good. We should probably head to the back yard now, by the way. They're probably all set up and ready for you to have a look."

"Very well."

By the time they "surprised" the brothers with the price of the house (a cool two hundred grand over budget), Killian seemed a little more relaxed, and he'd been able to provide a lot more useful feedback regarding his preferences.

"So, what do you think?" Mary Margaret asked. They were filming the brothers' "confessional" reactions outside on the sidewalk—first the, "What a perfect house! I can see myself living here!" reactions, and then the, "I can't believe they showed me a house I can't afford! I don't want a fixer-upper but I guess I have no choice if I want my dream home!" ones. After that, they'd film her and Mary Margaret's "after" reactions and head back to the office.

"I don't know," she admitted. "He loosened up a lot as the tour went on. But I think he's going to be really apathetic about the reno, and I don't know how to deal with that."

"I think if he had his way, he wouldn't even be moving," Mary Margaret said. "Liam seems more excited about the process, like he's saving his brother from something. I'm going to see if Regina will let us have a look at the footage from New York. But an apathetic homeowner—that's a new one. Won't that be easier?"

"It might be," she admitted. "Not gonna have him showing up every hour, questioning my designs. I think that as long as I don't overspend, he's not going to care."

"That's good."

But it really didn't feel that good. It wasn't just that she had the ability to really fuck this up, creating a house for this guy that he really didn't like. It was the thought of showing off a gorgeous living space to this guy and having him look at it like it didn't even matter. She was used to convincing people to care less about the details of the space, not to care more. Or at all.

"Yeah. Let me know if Regina gives you the footage. I'd like to have a look, too."

"Sure thing." And then David was calling them over, and the conversation ended.

The footage had been simultaneously very helpful and awful and not helpful.

Mary Margaret's reaction summed it up for both of them. "Well, I'm not a religious person, but I think we need to make a significant sacrifice to the editing gods."

On the one hand, Emma got an idea of ways to tweak her current designs to better suit Killian's needs. He liked things that were traditional but not overly ornate. It was a fine line to walk between that and modern, and it would take effort to avoid creating a bland space. But it was something she was well-practiced at, given her own design preferences.

He liked personal touches and simple pieces over anything abstract; that would help the budget, since she could just pick and choose from his belongings to dress up the place. He was clearly into nautical themes, as his application had mentioned; that wasn't just something he'd said (or his brother had said) to punch up the application. She hadn't been sure, but now she felt confident updating some design plans to reflect that.

But on the other hand, she was more convinced than ever that no house she could design would ever be good enough for Killian Jones, because no place would ever be as good as the tiny, builder-grade New York City apartment he'd shared with the love of his life.

It was his brother who was pointing out all the flaws and singing the Fix-It Sister's Greatest Hits: Liam complained about lack of storage and prep space in the kitchen; Liam complained about the lack of outdoor space; Liam complained about how there was nowhere for guests to crash but the couch. Killian, in the meantime, was quiet and almost defensive of the space, calling attention to the view of the city and constantly mentioning Milah, his late wife.

He hadn't wanted to leave. He hadn't wanted the fresh start they were giving him. Great.

It was certainly the sunk cost fallacy talking, but it really was too late to call it quits and send him back home. Will and Belle, their editors, would just have to make sure that the opening was as uplifting and hopeful as possible, instead of miserably depressing. And then it would be up to her to get him to at least act interested and happy about his new home.

Three days later, though, when they met with the brothers to view some additional properties, Emma was pleasantly surprised to find that Killian wasn't that negative about the conditions of some of the homes. Liam was—she suspected his whole "parts of episodes, here and there" comment wasn't entirely true, since he was definitely intentionally giving them a ton of material to work with regarding the flaws of all the places they were touring.

Killian still wasn't that effusive about anything, but Emma could tell he was trying. He made a few comments here and there about use of space and structural oddities—"Why would they set up a bathroom like this?" and, "I don't understand why this bedroom would need two doors to the same hallway." He also made a few throwaway comments that Emma made mental note of: he didn't like the blond hardwood in one house, and in another, he seemed quite interested in a set of built-ins around a fireplace.

That evening, she and Mary Margaret shared their observations and notes, and while her sister touched base with the realtors and listing agents regarding the house showings the following day, Emma made some adjustments to the designs of the two houses they were going to look at. She had a feeling, when she was done, that she knew which one Killian would pick.

"You all set?" Mary Margaret asked, popping her head back into the room.

"Yeah, just finished." She gestured at the screen, which was showing the latest version of the living room in that particular house.

"Oh, that looks fantastic, Emma. I think he's going to pick that one, honestly."

"Me, too. I'm a little worried about the state of the house, though. Budget-wise."

"I spoke with Killian's realtor—she said the sellers are expecting condition of home inspection, and they might be pretty easily swayed about covering a few thousand in closing costs."

"That's good. We'll have to see if we can get them to cover the whole thing though—I'll need basically everything we can get for the reno."

Mary Margaret frowned at that. "Yeah. I guess we'll see. Anyway, I'm going to head home for the night—are you coming?"

"Yep." She turned back to the computer screen. "Give me a sec and I'll meet you downstairs?"

"Sure thing."

Before she closed the program, she took another look at the master bathroom. The layout looked pretty good, but there was something bothering her about it that she couldn't quite figure out. She was satisfied with her decision to keep just a shower stall instead of trying to add a tub; there was a full bath on the first floor already and it would cost way too much to make space for one upstairs. The placement of the stall and toilet seemed fine, and she thought that the vanity and sink she'd picked would match Killian's preferences.

But there was something off about the use of space. It wasn't that there was too much empty space—she wasn't a fan of filling up bathrooms to use every nook and cranny if it wasn't necessary. And she was glad that the layout allowed for the shower stall to be towards the window instead of the door; she was always afraid that someone would open the bathroom door too forcefully and shatter the glass when the stall was right up next to the door. So what was missing?

She'd have to figure it out later, though—the beeping of her phone indicated her sister was getting impatient; she must have been obsessing over the problem for longer than she'd thought. She quickly saved the design, shut down the computer, and headed for the door.

The final showings went as expected, which was a huge relief to both Fix-It Sisters. Emma was sure that there would be plenty more obstacles to handle for this episode, but at least there were no issues with the viewings.

First, they toured a single-storey foreclosure that was way under Killian's budget, leaving Emma with about half the budget left over for renovations. It had a gorgeous waterfront view with a solid deck that she was reasonably sure wouldn't need much work. It had two full bathrooms, a bonus, but only two bedrooms, and the kitchen was a disaster.

Killian, to her surprise, was visibly disheartened as they walked around the property. Both he and Liam were aware of the fact that this was one of the two houses that their realtor had managed to set aside, and that Emma had drawn up plans for. They were clearly expecting it to be at least comparable to the properties they'd viewed a few days ago. And, well, even Emma could admit that it wasn't.

"This is a foreclosure," Mary Margaret explained on camera, "so we'll be dealing with the bank. That means we won't really be able to negotiate the price. But for seventy-five thousand dollars, that leaves Emma plenty of room in the budget for renovations."

"But it doesn't even have the right number of bedrooms," Liam protested.

"I know," Emma said, "but I'd fix that." She pointed to the door to the downstairs bedroom. "This bedroom is pretty huge for a spare bedroom, so I could easily split it in half. The front end could be an office for you, Killian, and the rear would make a great guest room for you, Liam, when you come visit."

"I suppose," Killian said. He didn't sound convinced. "I'd like to see another place, though. I'm not feeling terribly at home here."

The second house was a two-storey, also with a great view, but with a giant, rocky pit for a backyard, and no deck. It had the right number of bedrooms, but the entire place felt closed in and dark. "Please tell me this is less expensive than the other one," Killian muttered.

"It's actually more expensive," Mary Margaret confessed. "List price on this house is one hundred thousand dollars. But unlike the other place, this one isn't a foreclosure, so we'll be able to negotiate the price."

"And one easy way to make this house work for you is to knock down about half the walls downstairs," Emma explained. "Right now, you've got to go through the dining room to get to the stairs, and you have to go through the kitchen to get to the downstairs bathroom. If we opened up everything down here except for the bedroom and the bathroom, it would feel like a palace."

"The backyard is terrible, though," Liam pointed out.

Killian nodded. "Aye. A deck would be nice at least."

Emma nodded. "We might be able to fit one in. Everything else, I can make work on your budget. I promise." She hated promising—either house probably going to need some serious updates to the electrical system, and she was reasonably sure there would be a five or ten grand problem hiding somewhere within the walls.

But she knew this was the right house for him; she'd be fine renovating the other one, but hopefully she and Mary Margaret could sway him.

They met with the brothers the following morning, in the same room as their first meeting. At least this time, Killian didn't look like he was going to die or anything, although he looked more anxious than excited. That was normal, at least; they always had people on the show who were very nervous about deciding which house to make an offer on. Belle and Will wouldn't be facing as much of a challenge with this footage as they were with the stuff filmed in New York.

Liam was good about ooh-ing and aah-ing at the designs. He seemed to be a huge fan of what they'd nicknamed the "Flimsy Foreclosure," excitedly pointing out the gourmet kitchen and the refreshed master bathroom. Killian meanwhile, was mostly disinterested, although Mary Margaret managed to prompt him to be a little more effusive about details he liked. He pointed out the new windows in the kitchen, which would open up the house to the view even more than it already had been.

Next up was what Mary Margaret was calling the "Closed Off Cottage." Again, Liam went through the appropriate motions, nodding in approval at the open concept design. "Now that I see what you mean, I really like it," he explained. "It was hard to imagine before."

Killian seemed pleased with the open concept, and unlike Liam, it didn't bother him very much that the kitchen would remain rather small. "I rarely cook for more than just myself anyway," he explained.

Emma hid her grin; she knew she had Killian hooked with the design. Now, there was just one more obstacle. "Let's talk budget," Mary Margaret said.

The foreclosure was going to cost only one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, well under the maximum budget, and she could do it in four weeks. The "Closed Off Cottage?"

"They're listed above market value," Mary Margaret explained. "I'd say this property should be listed at ninety-thousand, and I'd suggest making an offer of eighty-five thousand." It was a number she and Mary Margaret had gone over multiple times with the listing agent and Killian's realtor, and it was crucial that they get that price. Because …

"The renovations are going to be more extensive than the other house, especially if we're going to add a deck. I'll need sixty-five thousand dollars, which puts us at our maximum budget." Killian flinched. "I'll also need six weeks instead of four. But you will have that house by the end of it." She stared at him, hoping he would realize she was serious. Hell, she would get as creative as she had to with the budget if he would just take the house. Even if it meant pulling an all-nighter or two.

She was uncharacteristically nervous as she and Mary Margaret grabbed coffee in the lounge while Killian came to his decision. "What's wrong?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just going to be really frustrated if I have to deal with that foreclosure."

Mary Margaret nodded in understanding. "Me, too. Not that I love arguing down homeowners, but the setup of the other one is just perfect. That master bedroom and office upstairs?"

"I hope that clinches it for him." The other house would only have views of the harbor from the spare room (or what would be the spare room when she was finished with it), the kitchen, and the deck. In fact, the only significant advantage of the foreclosure was the price. It would be a nice house when it was done, but it would always be the safe choice, not the right choice.

But this other place? Killian was going to get gorgeous views from almost every room in the house. She could just imagine him, sitting at a desk in front of a massive window, looking over the water, as he worked from home. She could see him cooking dinner and being able to watch the sunset, since there would be no walls between the kitchen and living room. And she could imagine him waking up as the sun rose, gently lighting up the relaxing and serene bedroom.

If he couldn't imagine that, then he deserved what he'd get: a reasonable house that would work just fine for a few years before he moved on.

A text from Regina alerted them to the fact that Killian had made his decision; chugging the rest of their coffee (Emma being extra careful not to spill—she still hadn't lived down the one time she had to change her shirt and they'd had to refilm), they headed back inside.

"So, do we have a decision?" Mary Margaret asked, flashing an encouraging smile at the brothers that would get picked up by the cameras.

"Aye, that we do," Liam said with a wink. Emma's heart sank a bit; he'd been much more excited about the foreclosure.

"And?"

Killian was actually smiling. "I think I'm going with the 'Closed Off Cottage.'"

She thought she'd heard wrong at first. Mercifully, Mary Margaret took over. "That's fantastic, congratulations! What made your decision for you?"

"I know it'll be more expensive, and it'll take longer," he acknowledged. "But if I'm to get a fresh start, this seems like the right house for it."

"Awesome!" Emma didn't even need to feign her enthusiasm.

"I need to get started on the paperwork, since we're going to have to argue the price down a bit. In the meantime, Emma will stick around and go over the design."

And with that, the cameras were off. "All right, I'll call your realtor," Mary Margaret told Killian. "How low are you comfortable going?"

"Are you sure eighty-five is really reasonable?" Liam asked. "Even without the walls, that place needs a lot of work. The wallpaper in the spare room was just horrible."

"Wallpaper isn't that hard to take care of," Emma pointed out. "It's entirely superficial. The bones of the house seem pretty solid from what I've seen. And we'll be making the offer contingent on inspection, so if the inspection turns up something really awful, we can rescind our offer entirely, or make a lower one."

"And keep in mind that you are paying for a great location with an incredible view," Mary Margaret reminded them. "If you go much lower than eighty thousand, you might offend the sellers."

"Could we perhaps try eighty?" Killian asked. "Would it help if I wrote a letter explaining my situation? And having a cash offer—surely that will help make my case?"

Mary Margaret nodded. "Sure. Do you want to write the letter now?" She pulled a legal pad and pen from her briefcase.

The three of them sat awkwardly and silently as Killian wrote. Mary Margaret kept checking her text messages, Liam looked over the designs again, and Emma stared at Killian. What might he be writing that would sway the sellers? She wasn't feeling judgmental; this tactic was unusual, but it had worked in the past. She was just … curious. Mary Margaret and Killian's realtor were already going to inform the sellers of Killian's backstory; what more could he be adding?

Finally, he was done; he pushed the pad and pen back to Mary Margaret. "So, we'll try eighty?" she asked; he nodded. "All right then. Emma, call me when you're done?"

"Sure thing." As Mary Margaret left, she turned back to the brothers and pulled over print-outs of the designs. "All right, so first of all, although we're going to focus on a few spaces for the episode, we will be finishing the whole house. You know, refinishing floors, redoing paint and trim, the works. But the open concept living space and the two upstairs rooms are going to be that main focus of the episode."

"But you are adding the deck," Liam said forcefully.

It took a significant amount of willpower to avoid rolling her eyes; it was in the plans, wasn't it? "Yes, we are." Mary Margaret and Regina would have been so proud of how calm and measured her voice was. "And we'll be refreshing and refinishing the downstairs bathroom and spare room. That wallpaper was terrifying." That earned a chuckle from Liam.

"So what do you need from me?" Killian asked. Back to business; the excitement she'd seen in his eyes when he'd made the decision had disappeared.

"Right now, we need to make a few design decisions, and I'll need you to sign off on a few things. For example, the original hardwood in most of the rooms looks pretty good, but I don't know what's under the tile in the kitchen. If there's more original hardwood, that's great, but if not, or if it's not salvageable, we'll have to buy flooring, which will cost more."

Then she pointed to the living area. "Another thing we need to consider is furniture. I can easily source some great, affordable furnishings, but is there anything of yours you'd like to see in this space? And if not, what do you think of the furnishings I've selected?"

"I really like the built-ins around the television," Liam said.

"Aye. I've a nice television already. Forty inches," he said, "if you need that for your plans."

"I do, thanks." She scribbled it down on the diagram.

"I do like that style couch," he added. "All I've got is an IKEA one I'm dying to rid myself of. Honestly, that's probably the case for the majority of my furniture."

"How about the cabinets and counters? We can try to reuse some of the existing cabinets, since we're keeping this wall of the kitchen, but like I said, I can't guarantee anything."

"I'd prefer that it not feel like a beach home, if that makes any sense," Killian said. "I'm not sure if I can explain it, but the color and style of the cabinets and counters …"

She looked at the pale beech shaker cabinets in the design. "Well, how about this same style, but in white? Brushed silver pulls and gray quartz countertops, and you'll get a traditional feel without it looking like Grandma and Grandpa's vacation cottage." Liam chuckled.

More and more design decisions flew by, and Emma was nearly through with her checklist. Until Liam had a comment. "The master bath seems a little … off."

"How so?" She wasn't about to let on that she had the same feeling, especially if Killian didn't seem to care. But Liam couldn't elaborate, and so the problem would just have to remain.

"All right, so we're basically with the design decisions. One last thing we need to talk about is living arrangements." She hated this part so damn much.

"My lease in New York is about to end," Killian explained sourly, and Liam looked down at the table. "Even with the best possible timing, I'll likely only have a day or two of overlap between my lease and gaining possession of the house."

"And extending your lease for a couple months isn't an option?" she asked. "Most landlords are usually okay about this sort of thing."

He glared at her, and Liam took over. "Your producer said it was perfectly fine for him to live there during the renovation. You're not implying she lied, are you?"

"No, of course not!" She shook her head; clearly this was a sore subject. "I just wanted to be sure. In that case, I need to go over some information for you, and you'll need to sign some paperwork indicating that you understand what the process will entail."

"Very well," Killian replied stiffly.

"In order to get a renovation done in such a short time period, we're basically going to be starting at seven every morning and working until quite late, sometimes as late as nine or ten, depending on the nature of the work." Jackhammering obviously would violate local noise ordinances if they were doing it towards midnight, but still like painting wouldn't.

She continued. "There's going to be dust everywhere, especially since we're knocking down walls; even with the measures we'll take to prevent dust from getting into other areas of the house, it will happen. You also will not have any access to a kitchen, and since we're refreshing the downstairs bathroom and remodeling the upstairs bathroom, there are going to be times when you won't have bathroom access either."

Liam looked nervous, but Killian continued to glare at her as she continued. "Depending on what we find in the walls, you also might be out of electricity, maybe for a day but sometimes for longer. And you will eventually need to find somewhere else to stay during the final week of renovations; we're going to have to finish up whichever room you're living in."

"I understand all that," Killian said. "What do I need to sign?"

She pulled the paperwork from a drawer off to the side and slid it across along with a pen. "I recommend that you stay in the spare bedroom and use the downstairs bathroom until we remodel it. We can also move the old fridge into the garage, so at least you can keep using that."

"Can he live in the garage?" Liam asked.

She shook her head. "We're going to be storing all sorts of stuff in there—anything shipped will have to sit somewhere till we need it, and while you do have basement storage, it's much harder to lug stuff in and out of there. And we'll be storing machinery and equipment in there, too, which we'll be using regularly."

"I see."

"When you pack up your stuff, you should make sure you label everything really well, and indicate which stuff is off-limits to us."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we're going to be buying some new furniture and decor for you, but we like to personalize the place and really make it yours. Like, dishes in the cabinets, photos on the walls, and so on."

"You're not—you're not going to unpack for me, are you?"

"Of course not." She tried not to sound disgusted, but she couldn't help it. Walsh had intentionally ignored the rules and she'd ended up opening boxes of his pornography. "No clothes or toiletries. I'm not interested in going through your underwear." Killian raised an eyebrow but didn't reply. Instead, he just glanced over the paperwork, likely checking to make sure there wasn't anything hidden in there that she hadn't mentioned, and then signed it.

"Awesome." She looked around for her briefcase before remembering she hadn't brought it. She'd have to drop by Regina's office on her way out. "All right, that's it for now. We'll be in touch when there's news of a reply from the sellers."

On her way to Regina's office, she bumped into the producer herself. "Oh, hey, I have paperwork for you."

"Oh?"

"Killian Jones, we just wrapped up the design stuff and he signed all the shit about living in the reno."

"Excellent. I'm on my way to a meeting, but you can just give it to Sidney."

"Great, thanks."

"How did it go?"

Emma shrugged. "Fine."

"Fine?"

"Come on, Regina, what do you want me to say? You know how I feel about people living in the reno zone."

"Fair enough. He seems like a nice fellow, though. It probably won't be as bad as you're imagining."

Emma scoffed a bit as her producer just smiled and walked away. She just knew that Killian Jones living in the reno zone was going to be an issue.