It's finally Friday! After a long exhausting day at the sheriff's office, Emma Swan had one last thing to do before going home and getting her well- deserved rest: grocery shopping. By the end of the week, her fridge had run low of food and with Henry staying at Neal's she'd gotten lazy about taking trips down to the store.
Emma strolled down the aisles looking for the items she'd written on her list. The pitter pattering sound of the shopping cart wheel followed her as she went down each section. She casually threw a couple of pasta boxes into the cart, not caring to look at the labels. She grazed through an assortment of canned goods and settled on a can of clam chowder and some chicken broth. Emma knew she wasn't much of a chef so most of her things either had to be packaged or instant.
Her mind was in all sorts of places as she mindlessly perused through the store. She thought about her lonely weekend coming up and how everyone in town seemed to be going away for vacation. Her train of thought jerked to an abrupt end and her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she nearly ran her cart into a man crossing the aisle.
"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! I wasn't-"Emma was in the middle of apologizing when she recognized the black leather coat and shiny boots. She looked up. "Hook," she was surprised to see him here as he was usually out at sea with his dear ship the Jolly Roger. "Sorry I wasn't looking."
The startled captain relaxed and flashed a handsome grin. "That's quite alright, lass. Consider yourself lucky to run into such a devilishly handsome pirate," he gave Emma a smoldering look. Apparently he was doing some food shopping of his own, all he had were a few bottles of rum and a box of crackers.
Emma ignored his comment and proceeded to pass him when Killian stepped in front of her cart. This was not a good time. She was already cranky from work and she did not want to deal with a childish pirate. "What do you want, Killian?" She asked with a twitch of annoyance and anger.
"I just want to know why you're still here, love. Everyone else is on vacation."
"Too busy for one," She muttered trying to get away from him. "Now will you please move?"
"Aye then, we should do something together this weekend." There was a spark in Hook's eyes. His words came out like a challenge.
Emma sighed. Spending her weekend with this pirate was the last thing she wanted to do. She'd received complaints time and time again from the citizens of Storybrooke who wanted the pirate to stop badgering them. While she wanted nothing to do with him, it was better than spending the entire weekend by herself. No Emma. Don't.
"Do you want to come over to my place tomorrow?" Emma blurted before she had the chance to stop herself. Shit.
Killian raised an eyebrow "well if that's where you're going with this…"
"No! Not what I meant. Look, why don't you come over to my apartment. We can make pasta." She glanced at the pasta box sitting in her cart.
"Pasta?" There was a genuine look of confusion on Killian's face as he formed the new word in his mouth.
Emma shrugged, "yeah, Saturday is when Henry and I make pasta for dinner and since he's at Neal's, you can help me."
His expression of confusion turned into a cocky smirk, "It's a date then, milady" Killian as he leaned toward Emma and winked before heading to the checkout lane.
Emma was left with a befuddled look as she took in what had just happened. Oh Emma, what did you get yourself into?
Emma was setting up the kitchen while listening to the radio when she heard a loud knock at her door. She knew it was Hook by the distinct sound of his metal appendage hitting the wood of her door. "It's open!"
She heard Killian let himself in and close the door "Swan!" his low voice boomed throughout the room.
"In here" she called out as she boiled a pot of water at the stove. She heard Hook's footsteps walking into the kitchen.
"Bloody hell, what's all this?" He seemed surprised yet amused at all the machines and activities going on in the kitchen: the lights from the stove, the hum of the fridge, and spinning motion of the microwave. It was all so new to him.
"It's called modern technology." Emma said as she chopped some red tomatoes and poured it into a bowl.
Hook ran his hand briskly on the granite counter and watched intently at what Emma was doing. "So what exactly is Pasta?" putting a strong emphasis on 'pasta'
"It's Italian food. Basically, it's noodles and you put whatever you like as ingredients"
Hook nodded as he continued to watch her cut other vegetables.
"Here, you can help boil the angel hair pasta noodle" Emma handed him the pasta box.
Killian stood back from the box, refusing to take it. "I will not eat hair from an angel!" he exclaimed with disgust
Emma let out a laugh as she explained to him what angel hair meant "No Hook, the name is just the English translation of an Italian word. The thinness of the noodles resembles an angel's hair."
Killian blushed as he took the box from her and ripped it open swiftly with his hook. He took out a piece of noodle and nibbled on it.
"Killian, what are you doing? Don't eat that!" Emma snatched the piece of noodle from him.
"It's not very tasty" he said as he stuck out his tongue
"That's because you have to boil it in water first and let the noodle cook and soften. Then we can add sauce to it" She guided him to the stove where the boiling water waited. She motioned him to dump the noodles into the pot.
Hook watched in astonishment as he witnessed the noodles transform from thin stiff sticks into soft and bendy strings inside the bubbling pot. "This is wicked sorcery," he muttered.
Emma chuckled at his comment. Later that evening, she had taught Hook the different ingredients that went into pasta as well as how to make the sauce. Killian had slowly mastered the art of slicing and dicing the ingredients with his good hand. Emma was quite surprised at his quick learning ability and allowed him to mix the pasta and ingredients into the sauce.
The delightful aroma of pasta sauce crept into every crevice of Emma's apartment as the duo finally sat down to enjoy their creation.
Emma handed Hook a glass of wine and poured herself one too.
Killian sniffed the drink and took a sip only to wrinkle his nose after.
"What? Don't they have wine in your realm?"
"Aye, but rum is more suited to my taste," he said as he took another drink seemingly enjoying it a little more "this'll do."
Emma set a plate of pasta in front of him. "Alright, the moment of truth. Dig in!"
She watched as Hook picked up the fork, stabbed it into the noodle, gave it a gentle twist, and took a bite. His blue eyes lit up with pleasant joy as he smiled and took in another forkful. "This is absolutely delicious, lass!" He exclaimed with pasta still in his mouth.
Emma giggled in amusement watching the pirate discover his new favorite food and dug into her own pasta.
To her surprise, the rest of the night went very well. The two managed to carry interesting conversations throughout dinner and the pirate captain would tell her tales of him and his crew fighting the sirens and krakens at sea. She was actually enjoying their time together.
"I want to thank you for this, Swan" he held up his glass to her
Emma smiled shyly and gently clinked her glass with his and gulped down her last bit of wine.
"I don't normally get to enjoy such close company here in Storybrooke." Hook said as he downed his wine. Emma could sense a little sorrow in his voice.
Then it hit her. This was why he was always bothering her and other people. He just wanted company. Ever since his tiff with Mr. Gold, people of Storybrooke have viewed him as a villain and often steered away from him. He had no one to talk to or spend time with, just a lonely pirate with nothing but his ship. Emma immediately felt horrible about the times when she'd rudely brushed him off whenever he approached her.
After dinner, Hook kindly helped her with cleanup and dishes. She would washed the dishes while he dried them and put the plates and utensils away.
"I, uh, should be going soon, the hour's getting late" he said as he placed the last fork in the drawer.
Emma looked over her shoulder at the clock hanging on the wall: 10:35pm. Time had indeed gone by quickly.
Hook gathered his leather coat and headed to the door. "Thanks again, love"
Emma smiled and opened the door for him. Just as he was about to go, she stopped him.
"Hey um, Killian, I truly had a great time tonight. I want to let you know that you're welcome here anytime."
Killian was surprised at her kind gesture and flashed a grin, "I'd happily oblige to another date, Miss Swan." His face was inches away from hers. Emma could practically feel his deep blue eyes fixating upon her. "Good night then, lass"
"G'night," Emma replied as she shut the door. She took a deep breath in and out. She leaned against the door as she tried to collect herself. Why was she acting this way? Her cheeks were hot and her heart was racing. She'd never felt anything quite like this. Emma tried to brush it off, to act like it was no big deal, but she couldn't. Emma Swan couldn't understand the feelings boiling up inside her but she knew one thing: she liked it.
Unbeknownst to her, the pirate stood on the other side of the door thinking the same thing.
-Fin.-
Thanks for reading! ^.^ Reviews are appreciated and encouraged. I don't own the characters.
Question: If you invited Captain Hook to your place what kinds of food would you introduce him to?