Disclaimer: I own nothing!
It had been almost two weeks since Hook and the others return from Neverland. Twelve days to be exact, not that he was counting or anything! He had told Emma that he would give her the space she needed to make her decision, that he'd wait for her, no matter how long it took. The pirate, though, hadn't seen his Swan, not really, since the afternoon of their arrival back in Storybrook. He had seen her walking down the streets, always with her son close by her side. When she looked across the road and saw him flashing her a great big smile she would give her head a small shake and return her attention back to her beaming son.
~X~
The bell rang softly as the door to Granny's opened, letting in a gust of cold winter air. Hook stood by the door, closing his eyes and letting the warmth of the diner wash over him. Today, the pirate had been informed was 'Christmas Eve,' he still wasn't quite sure what that meant, but from what he understood it was the one day a year that a man, named Santa, broke into people's houses and left toys for the children. It also seemed to mean people spent hours out in the dreadful cold weather to find a tree just to chop it down and bring it into their home. None of it made any sense to him, but he went with it. Opening his eyes he saw that Granny's had really gotten into the spirit of the season. In the corner of the small diner was said tree, decorated with lights and little red, glass balls. Shifting his gaze from the tree he noticed that there were also strings of red and white lights hanging loosely above the windows and a few sparkling gold stars placed to cover up where the lights were held to the wall.
Moving his eye across the tables slowly he looked for the familiar figure he had hoped he would find sitting in one of the booths sipping on a mug of hot chocolate and cinnamon, but alas she was nowhere to be found. Sighing quietly and hunching his shoulders slightly, the captain mad his way over to the counter were the tall dark haired waitress was standing sucking on a candy cane. "Evening love," the pirate greeted, covering his mood with a smirk, "love what you've done with the place," he gestured at the lights along the wall.
"What makes you think I did it?" Ruby asked, pulling the candy cane she'd previously been sucking on out of her mouth and feigning hurt.
"Everything's red, love," pointed out the pirate with a chuckle and another cheeky smile directed at the wolf.
"Well ya. Red is a Christmas color!" the girl retorted. placing the swirled candy back in her mouth, index finger looped loosely around its curve. Hook had to laugh at that, dropping his eyes from the girls mouth. It was only then that he noticed what she was wearing. She had on a deep red dress, a thick black belt hugging her waist, with white fur around the cuffs of its long sleeves, the bottom hem that just barely made it to her mid-thigh, and also the collar that dipped down lower than most peoples. That coupled with how it fit to her body made it impossible not to let the imagination wander, just as, he thought, all her outfits were designed to. "Hey, Hook? You want a table or what?" the girl asked, snapping the pirate out of his thoughts and back to reality.
"No love, just came to get something to take back to my ship with me," he looked away, grabbing a menu from the counter and scanning the page and sighing audibly. "I may need a minute love," he answered her impatient finger tapping, scratching his chin with his right hand, but not looking up from the page.
"You better hurry, pirate, your my last customer and I have plans I really don't want to be late for," Ruby sounded board and in his peripheral vision the captain saw the waitress bend down and lean over the surface of the bar. he couldn't help but notice how that made the deep v of her dress drop slightly lower. He smiled behind the piece of paper in his hand as his mind began to wander again. Although, he stopped smirking when he turned the menu over and a few words practically jumped off the page and punched him in the gut, Hot Chocolate, with ether cinnamon... Hook took in a sharp breath, is eyes filled with sadness and his heat filled with guilt. How could you do that? How could you even think about that? What about Emma? the small annoying voice in the back of his mind yelled accusingly, feeding his guilt even further.
The wolf-girl must have noticed the pirates change in demeanor, even from behind the cover of the menu because the next thing he knew she was pushing off the counter and walking over to the bar, pouring a glass and sliding it down the empty bar toward him, "what's this," the captain inquired in a slightly uneven voice.
"Rum," Ruby answered in a softer tone. when Hook raised an eyebrow at her she added, "I convinced Granny that we should start keeping some in stock, not a lot of people in this town drink the stuff, but as long as some people are willing to drink it I thought it was a good idea."
"Thank you love," was the pirate answered before downing the glass in one quick shot. Getting up the pirate placed the glass back down on the counter he began to walk towards the door.
"Weren't you gonna order something?" Ruby reminded stepping out from behind the bar, arms crossed in front of her chest.
Turning around to face the girl he simply answered, "not hungry anymore love," he smiled half-heartedly and turned back around walking out into the bracing cold and festive lighting.
Just before the door swung closed Hook heard Ruby call out a simple 'Merry Christmas !' The pirate smiled again and chuckled to himself whispering sadly, "ya merry indeed."