I have been a huge Hook/Charming shipper for awhile, and this is my first CaptainCharming fic. It is an AU, in Storybrooke. Bear with me, I know it might seem a little slow at first. I hope you guys enjoy it!
Chapter One
Just A Regular Day
David Nolan's apartment was a mess. An absolute mess. Boxes dotted the shiny, hard-wood floors, hiding their beautiful gleam; papers were cluttered together in piles on the dining room table, a combination of mail, medical reports and random paperwork; the trash can was overflowing with take-out food boxes; there were dirty dishes in the sink; and a mixture of clean and dirty clothes seemed to have taken over the space around the washing machine. His apartment really was an absolute mess.
It wasn't common for him to live like that. In fact, it was more common for it to look like no one lived in the apartment. Since he was a child, David had a tendencies to be labeled as a "cleaning freak," something which had been reaffirmed when he, at the age of four, had been found by his parents scrubbing his bathroom floor, his hands bleeding from his force. He had felt like the family's maid had done a poor job, and hadn't gotten rid of "all those evil germs." David, suffice to say, had always been adamant about cleanliness and organization.
But, nevertheless, his apartment was a mess that morning. It truly was, though, despite his "clean freak" tendencies, David didn't seem to notice nor care that morning. He had other things to occupy his attention.
"Mary Margaret," he said over the phone, attempting to maneuver his way around the packed up boxes that dotted the floor of his apartment, "It's okay. Take however long you need." Some of the boxes were filled, others were almost empty. They contributed heavily to the mess, but they weren't his. They were hers: his ex's.
David and his girlfriend Mary Margaret had decided to break up their relationship almost a week ago. It had been mutually agreed upon, since, recently, it seemed all they had been able to do was argue with one another. Over anything really: bills, friends, places, events, etc. Surprisingly, his obsessive cleaning hadn't been a topic of argument, but most everything else had been. But, most importantly, the spark that had once been felt between the two had been lost a long time ago, for both. David no longer loved Mary Margaret, and she no longer loved him. Neither was actually sure when they stopped loving the other, but it had been for awhile. Their relationship had truly ended long before their actual breakup.
Thankfully, they were both doing their best to keep the breakup friendly, and they both agreed to remain friends. Maybe that's what they should have just always been: friends.
"David, I am sorry. I really am. It's just my new place won't be available till the end of the week. When it opens up, I promise I'll come get all my stuff and be out of your hair," Mary Margaret explained on the other end of the phone. "I know you must be tired of having all those boxes everywhere."
They had lived together for about three months, but, since the apartment had belonged to him before they moved in together, Mary Margaret had been the one to move out. David offered her to stay as long as she needed till she found another place, but she had thought it best to move out as soon as possible. Though she wanted to remain friends, she did want to move on with her life. And David, despite his offer, was certainly ready for her to move out as well. He, too, was ready to move on.
"No, really, whenever is fine. Mary Margaret, it's no big deal, really. The boxes aren't actually that bad" he laughed. Just as he said it, though, he tripped over one of the many boxes and slammed against the wall. The pain stung in his arm, as he let out a moan. David rubbed the bruise with his hand as he balanced his phone in the other. "Okay maybe they are."
"I really am sorry, David," she replied, hearing his crash against the wall. "Believe me, I am trying my best. It's just I've got a lot on my plate now."
"Mary Margaret," he said, reassuringly, "It's fine. I get it. We both have a lot going on right now, that's why we didn't work. We are both very busy people." Both David and Mary Margaret would admit that their lives were hectic. You wouldn't think that a small-town doctor and an elementary school teacher would have such busy lives, but they did.
And when two, fast-moving, working people such as themselves were involved romantically, it didn't always work. But hey, that was life.
"I am just happy that we are able to end or relationship and still remain friends. I really am," David added, forcing a smile to appear across Mary Margaret's face.
"Me too, David. Truly. And I hope the best for you, and that you find the right girl or guy for you. David you deserve it," she said warmly. David blushed.
He arched an eyebrow. "Guy?"
He could hear Mary Margaret utter a giggle from the other end of the phone. "Oh David, you don't think I didn't notice? For a much as you liked women when we first met, you obviously also had a thing for men. Trust me, attraction is very hard to hide."
"But Wh-"
She interrupted him. "Especially for you, since you practically always show what you're thinking by your facial expressions. It's alright, it didn't affect our relationship."
David stood there, surprised. He hadn't the slightest clue that his girlfriend had known.
"Anyways, thank you so much for putting up with the boxes. I promise I'll come get them by the end of the week," she said, changing the topic, "Okay, I've gotta go. Class is getting ready to begin and my students are starting to show up. Bye," She clicked her phone, ending their conversation.
He set his phone down on the table, and examined the knot that had formed on his upper arm. It had swelled into a black and purplish bump, one that didn't look to pleasant. It didn't feel too good, either. But, thankfully, he was trained to examine injuries. He knew that it would go down within the next few days.
But he couldn't stop thinking about what Mary Margaret had said. She was right, of course, David was attracted to men as well as women. He hadn't always known that. It hadn't been an easy thing to discover about himself. He had always had crushes on girls, never on guys. The feelings for men had always been there, whether he had realized it or not, even since he was a kid. But it had been hard at that age. That kind of attractions weren't quite been accepted by his family. His father, for one, had made his opinions very public. He told David that said feelings were wrong, and that he was to only be with women. Exclusively. But David eventually realized that he couldn't hide that aspect about himself. And, apparently according to Mary Margaret, he hadn't been all that good about hiding it to begin with.
He just couldn't get over the fact that she had known, and still had stayed with him. He respected her the more for it. Like she had said with him, he, too, really did hope she found the right person for her.
With that thought, he quickly glanced at the clock that hung in his living room. It was 8:15 which meant he had to get to work.
David swiftly rushed over to the front door of his apartment. He slipped on the coat that was hanging in the closet nearby over the bright blue scrubs he was wearing ( a necessity for his job, of course) and also wrapped a scarf around his neck. He hurried out the door, locked it behind him, then down the hallway and to the elevator and out to his car. Within ten minutes he was at the Storybrooke General Hospital, where he worked as one of the two in-house doctors in all of Storybrooke along with Dr. Whale.
After a morning of paperwork, David finally met with his first scheduled patient of the day around 11:00: Leroy Arenberg, a tiny, grouchy looking man with ruff scruff and narrowed eyes. He worked part-time at the hospital as a janitor, so it was relatively easy for him to come in when he needed to.
Today, Leroy wanted David to take a look at his throat and give him some medication. He was concerned that he might have strep throat since his throat was scratchy and he didn't feel well. David realized that it was, more likely than not, a cold, since it was that time of the year in Storybrooke. However, to ease Leroy's concerns, he agreed to take a look.
"Leroy, you are fine," David explained to the small, pout-faced man who sat in his examining room, after getting a glimpse of the inside of his mouth and throat."You have a minor case of the cold. It isn't anything serious. I'll proscribe you some antibiotics and it should be cleared up in a few days." He looked at his patient reassuringly.
The man looked unconvinced. "Are you sure doc? It has to be something more serious. My throat feels like it is on fire. It's gotta be strep throat or something!" His eyes darted around worriedly and he tightly clutched his hat in his hands.
David was used to this kind of behavior. In his five years as a doctor at the Storybrooke General Hospital, he had seen many patients coming in all the time with a minor illness thinking it was something fatal. That was usual for most small towns, especially Storybrooke. Not only that, but it was also particularly usual for Leroy.
Leroy was a regular of two places in Storybrooke: the bar, where he spent his evenings, and the hospital, where he spent his days. He had a pretty serious drinking problem, but nevertheless he was very cornered about his health. Despite his nickname around town being "Grumpy", he could easily have been nicknamed "Scaredy" when it came to his health. He usually overthought what he really had, always thinking it to be something far more serious than it really was.
In a way, David thought, it was good that he was so cautious about his health.
"Yes, Leroy, I am sure. You'll be fine. I am a doctor you know," David said, trying to put him at ease.
Leroy grunted. "Can you double check, just to make sure," he asked, adding emphasis on the last part.
"I can, but my diagnosis won't change. You have a cold."
Anyone would have agreed with him. In this case, Leroy exhibited the usual symptoms of a cold: a runny nose, scratchy throat, sneezing and couching, etc. It was common for people to get a cold at that time of the year. It was December in a New England town and still some people went out into the weather without warm clothes on. There was nothing David or anyone else could do to prevent it besides telling people to dress properly for the weather, otherwise they'll be back in the hospital in no time.
Leroy was a frequent offender. He never wore a coat, and it was actually more than likely he didn't even own one.
"Just check again so we can be positive, doc. Please!" he pleaded, looking desperately at David. "Better safe than sorry, right doc?" David conceded and reached for the small flashlight that he used to examine the inside of patient's throats from his pocket.
"Alright," he said, clicking on his the small light and pointing it towards his patient, "open up." Leroy did so eagerly.
As before, David still didn't see any white spots on his throat, which ruled out strep throat. There was minor drainage, and his throat was also red, both of which would be symptoms of a cold. Like he had said, his diagnosis didn't change.
"Yep. Just like I said before, you have a cold. Again, nothing serious."
Leroy sighed heavily, finally reassured and relieved it wasn't something serious. David wondered if the man had hoped it was something serious, so that way he could get the medication for it. But he shook the thought out of his mind. However, this was Leroy they were talking about.
Nevertheless, David scribbled down on a sheet of paper and handed it to the small man. "Here is a proscription for some medication that will help. Drink it twice a day for three days and you're cold should be gone."
Leroy nodded. "You got it, doc." The man hurried out of the hospital room and off to somewhere else, most likely a bar, while David entered the rest of Leroy's medical information in his file and then moved on to his other patients.
The rest of David's day at the hospital had been the usual ebb and flow of patients, exams and proscriptions: Ashley's newborn had had a fever and wanted to make sure something wasn't serious; Mayor Mills had come in for her monthly checkup with her son, Henry; Eric had needed a refill on his allergy medication, along with Granny, who had needed a refill on her pain medication. It was like most other days at a small-town hospital: not boring, but not particularly thrilling, either.
David enjoyed his job at the hospital. He liked helping people everyday, something he had learned he enjoyed after spending a year in Africa working for to help feed starving children on a missionary trip. Now, helping people with minor medical illnesses was a heavy step down from that, but that didn't stop him from still liking his job. But, his work inevitably always left him tired at the end of the day. A day of hard work, but still a tiring one, and he always found it a relief at the end of the day to come home.
So, it was of no surprise at all, that when he finally got to his apartment after clocking out of his shift at about 8:00, he dropped his coat and scarf on the floor and fell onto his couch, the plushness of the cushion and pillows that greeted his face a soothing welcome. He groaned pleasantly as he closed his eyes and took in the feeling of relaxation.
He could very easily fall asleep then and there. And since Mary Margaret didn't live there anymore, there would be no one to tell him he couldn't. But, he really should sleep in his bed. Otherwise he would wake up with a crook in his neck and an aching back like Granny. He didn't want that.
David pushed himself off the couch and sleepily dragged his way to his bedroom. Passing by his dining room table, he noticed a important item he had failed to realize he had forgotten at work that day: his phone. He had left it on the table that morning, after ending his call with Mary Margaret, and had absent-mindedly left without picking it back up.
He picked it up and checked to see his notifications. Four calls from Mary Margaret, two from his father, one from a patient, and another from an unfamiliar number. David sighed annoyingly. "I am not even going to check my emails," he mumbled to himself. He was too tired.
Setting his phone back down on the counter, he walked back to his bedroom. Not even bothering to flip the light-switch on, he slipped off his pants and shirt and dropped them on the floor. Only in his briefs and a light T-shirt, he pulled off the covers to his large bed and plopped in. Hugging the pillows he lay on tightly, he let out a small groan of pleasure. After a long day of working, he was finally comfortable.
Sleep overcoming him, he was ready to let the snoozes take him away. Then, suddenly, a vibration sounded from the other room.
His eyes flew open as he was jerked back from his sleepily drift away. A loud ringing followed the noise, filling the air. It was his phone.
David rushed out of bed towards the device, wondering who would be calling at that hour. He grabbed it and immediately looked at the caller ID: The Hospital. He pressed the accept button and listen to the voice that was sounding from the phone.
"Doctor Nolan! We have a code 12, there has been an accident!"
The voice was that of a nurse, and David immediately realized the situation. He replied that he would be there within ten minutes, and quickly hung up the phone. He ran back to his bedroom, slipped on his scrubs, grabbed his car keys and phone off the table, and rushed off to his car.
It had sounded serious on the phone.
