Disclaimer: I own nothing. Obviously. Also, this is my first attempt at something not so-fluffy-you-want-to-dance-on-a-cloud-of-cotton-candy fluff. I was having feelings. Hopefully, the pronouns aren't too confusing, but there was a reason I wrote it that way.
Song is "So Close," Jon McLaughlin
You're in my arms, and all the world is calm.
The music playing on for only two.
So close, together.
And when I'm with you
So close, to feeling alive.
He held her tight, swaying to the music without really hearing it, too caught up in his thoughts to care. She had initially scoffed when he suggested dancing at the wedding. There was no way you could keep up with this realm's music, is the excuse she had given. Lass, I've been alive for 300 years; there is hardly anything that I can't keep up with, had been his simple response. She had to give him credit; he has taken everything this world has to offer in stride and with seldom surprise. He hardly even rolled his eyes anymore... Never mind, he rolls his eyes all the time. She'd be worried if he didn't.
A life goes by,
Romantic dreams must die.
So I bid my goodbye
And never knew.
The song continued, his body moving on instinct as his attention continued to waver. He smiled out of habit, but it never reached his eyes. The blonde in his arms didn't seem to notice.
You know this is never going to end, she said. This non-stop struggle, this endless search for a "happy ending"… In her story, she truly believed there was no "happy ending" in sight. So he had backed off. That's what she said she wanted.
So he waited. He knew she needed time.
So close, was waiting,
Waiting here with you.
And now, forever, I know
All that I wanted
to hold you so close.
He actually laughed when viewing the invitation for the first time, thinking it was a joke. David had assured him it was the very same one he and Snow had received from Belle and Gold. Consider it a truce, David had suggested, Don't jump to the negative. Look for the good…. He thought that's what he had been doing all along.
So close to reaching
That famous happy end.
Almost believing
This was not pretend.
She shifted in his arms, sensing his tension.
"Hook. You know you can talk to me, right?"
"I do. It's…I—I just can't."
A nod and a gentle squeeze of his shoulder told him she understood and would be here if he needed her. After all they'd been through, he knew that.
And now you're beside me,
And look how far we've come.
So far we are. So close...
He finally found her eyes, sitting at the table, talking to her father, pretending that she didn't notice him on the dance floor in the arms of another woman. She had already said this situation was too complicated for her to deal with, that she needed to focus on her son.
He understood that, but until he saw the pain in her eyes as the blonde in his arms leaned forward to hug him did he think his love just might be requited.
"Thanks for the dance, Tink," he said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "Lord knows I couldn't have very well been seen attending my former foe's wedding stag, " he added at an attempt to lighten his mood.
"Killian," Tinkerbelle responded seriously, having seen the looks between him and Emma the whole night, "Don't give up. She'll come around. You're close…."
Oh, how could I face the faceless days,
If I should lose you now?
We're so close to reaching that famous happy ending.
Almost believing this was not pretend.
Let's go on dreaming, though we know we are
So close, so close
And still so far...
So close, He thought as he grabbed his jacket and walked out the reception hall door, convincing himself he didn't feel her eyes following him the whole way out. But still so far away….