She was avoiding him, and she knew it. After simply walking away from him after his "Perhaps I would." comment, Emma frankly didn't know what else to do. Avoiding him until she figured that part out seemed like a good enough plan.
The morning after their little moment, Hook invited her along with him to see if they managed to round up some food.
"Care to join, love?" he had asked her.
"No. I'll stay here." she said, looking anywhere but at him.
He said nothing and went on his way. Then Regina suggested they would cover more ground if they split up.
Looking towards her, he asked "Shall we?"
"I'll go with Regina." she said hurriedly as he gave her a confused look. And really, why wouldn't he give her a confused look? She chose to go with her enemy instead of him!
Throughout the day, if he happened to be standing too close, she would back away. Keep her distance. It's the safest way. It's her way.
But Emma was in a tough situation. How can you truly avoid the only person that can help you find your kidnapped son?
She was screwed.
Shit. He's coming her way. Of course he is. God, why can't he just go away?
"You've been avoiding me." he says as he stands in front of her.
Sighing, she wishes more than anything that someone else was awake. But her parents are asleep and so is Regina…as Hook should be, since she's taking first watch.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" she asks him, pretending to be very interested in a tree trunk just to her left.
He sighs. "You've barely looked at me since we shared that drink. Have I pissed you off?" he asks.
She says nothing. She wonders when that tree was planted.
"Look at me, Emma." he says. And it's the tone in his voice when he speaks, the light hurt, that gives her no choice but to oblige. Closing her eyes briefly, she looks at him.
She swallows. "What do you want from me?" she asks him. Because, really, what the fuck does he want from her?!
He tilts his head and gazes at her, questions in his eyes. "I want to know why you've been avoiding me."
She sighs and looks up at the sky, leaning her head against the tree. "Why don't you just leave me alone?" She can hear the hint of anger in her tone.
"How am I supposed to leave you alone when I'm trying to help you find your son?" he asks her, irritation in his tone as well.
She glances at him and wishes she could use her magic to get him far away from her. She has more important issues to deal with right now, like finding Henry and frankly, Hook is a distraction. He does nothing but distract and cause a disturbance with his whole "I'm trying to help." act. He's not trying to help. She bets there's something in it for him. Something he's hiding from her. He's not helping them. He's a bad person. He's a villain. He's a pirate.
She repeats that to herself.
He's a pirate. He's a pirate. He's a pirate.
"I don't need your help, pirate." Her tone is cold, especially on the last word.
As soon as she says it, she wishes she hadn't. She shouldn't have. Something flickers in his eyes and as soon as she sees it, that flash of hurt, she closes her eyes briefly and looks at that tree trunk again. He says nothing and starts walking away from her.
She glances a look at his retreating figure and quickly looks away again. She swallows.
Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it.
She doesn't listen.
Quickly going after him, she calls his name. "Hook, wait." she says. He doesn't stop and now she's running after him. She grabs his shoulder. "Wait." she says, breathless, but not from her light jog after him.
He shrugs her hand off him and turns to face her. She can see that he's pissed. "It's clear to me that you no longer need my services, so I'll just be on my way." He turns to leave again but she gets in his way.
"Emma, I'm asking you to move." he tells her, his voice firm. Oh yea, he's pissed.
She doesn't move.
He tries to step around her. "Where are you going?" she asks him, placing her hand on his chest before removing it quickly.
"I'm bloody leaving. It's what you wanted, right?" he asks her. He's looking at her, waiting for her answer. She's freaking out a little…a lot. He's still gazing at her. She sees him swallow and does the same.
He sighs. "Emma." and he says her name in that tone of voice that says "Please."
She looks at him and takes a deep breath. "I'm….I'm not good with this. I've never been good with this. I don't understand what you want from me." She finds herself rambling. "I mean, what do you want from me? You show up out of nowhere into my life, you come back and now you're helping me find Henry and I just can't figure you out. Why are you doing this? Did I ask you that already, because I've been meaning to and if I didn't, I'm asking now so why are you doing this…"
He cuts her off by placing a finger to her lips. "Breathe, darling." He takes out his bottle of rum and offers it to her. This time, she happily accepts, taking two large gulps.
Handing it back to him, she questions him again. "Why are you helping us?" she asks.
Hook sighs, takes a swig himself, and sits down, leaning against the tree. She does the same, sitting across from him.
"I spent most of my life obsessed with Rumplestiltskin, obsessed with getting revenge for taking Milah away from me." He looks down. "And for what? I lost everyone. I had no one. Meanwhile, he went about his life, he found his love. And I had nothing. I was the only one obsessing. I came to the absolutely pathetic realization that I needed a change…that I needed to move on. And that's what I'm doing."
He gazes at her, something she can't quite place in his eyes. "There's nothing in this for me. I let the person I hate the most on my ship. I could be off in the middle of the ocean, screwing any lass I wanted but instead, I'm facing mermaids, poisonous plants, and a nasty little boy by the name of Pan. So tell me, darling, is there really anything in it for me?" He tilts his head and she just looks at him, straight in the eye.
"Have I told you a lie?" The memory comes to her. He's not lying. And it's that fact that scares her more than anything else.
She doesn't know what else to say, so she just says "Thank you." and she knows he knows what she's trying to say.
He shrugs it off and looks up at the sky. There's a comfortable silence between them for a few seconds until he speaks.
"Now would you be a dear and lessen the amount of walls I have to climb?" he asks her, smirking slightly.
Her heart beats a little faster and she smirks.
"Perhaps I would."
End.