Prompt from Tumblr. The italicized part is a flashback.
Emma's eyes fluttered open as the sun began rising on the horizon, illuminating the inside of the cabin. She stretched her legs backwards, smiling when her back came in contact with Hook's chest, noting how his arm was wrapped tightly around her waist. She found herself being lulled back to sleep by his steady breathing that was simultaneously keeping rhythm with the waves rocking the ship. He really did have the sea in his blood. Before she let sleep consume her once again, she twisted herself free from his grasp, ignoring the pleading groan that left his lips.
"Emma, darling, come back to bed," he said with a groggy tone, sleep mixing in his voice.
"I have to get back before my parents wake up." She gathered her clothes from the ground and slipped them on quickly before walking back to the bed and planting a chaste kiss on his lips. "Sorry," she said quickly while sneaking toward the door, casting him a quick glance as she grasped the handle.
"When are you going to tell them, lass?" he questioned, his voice muffled by the pillow. She sighed, opened the door quietly, and gave him a trying smile.
"Soon. Go back to sleep. I'll see you at breakfast."
Emma made haste back to her room, trying her best not to let the floorboards under her feet creak, and slipped under the cooled covers on her bed. A sigh left her lips as her gaze sat comfortably up towards the ceiling.
She hadn't planned on any of this happening; not the late night rendezvous with the pirate captain, definitely not spending the night wrapped in his embrace, and especially not the part where she let herself be completely vulnerable to him.
It had been a temporary escape, a way to soothe her worries and take her mind off the extremities she was dealing with. But it quickly escalated from wanting someone to keep her company and talk to her to something way more than she anticipated. The memories from that first night a week or so ago were still fresh in her mind, haunting her thoughts, and constantly reminding her of how quickly things took such an unsuspecting turn.
She felt like she hadn't slept in days. The exhaustion from Neverland was catching up to her and the unfamiliarity of the land was taking a toll on her ability to think coherently. Time passed in spurts; it was completely relative and what was a day here could be a week back in Storybrooke. It moved slowly at times, and at others seemed to pass too quickly; every day it changed, managing to catch her off guard.
She laid in bed, tossing and turning furiously, trying to silence the thoughts in her head. She was worried, constantly fearful for Henry's well-being and the persistently dark and cursed water around them served as a painful reminder of their near impossible task. The island was so big, there was no way they would find Henry anytime soon, no matter how hopeful she was that they could. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as her eyes darted around the quiet and empty cabin. There was no stopping her train of thought while being silently engulfed in the darkness; it only fueled them more. Throwing the blankets off her legs she walked towards the door and silently pulled it shut. She needed a remedy; she needed an escape.
For some reason her venture from her cabin pulled her towards Hook's. The soft glow from a lantern was emitting from the under the door, its light tempting her, luring her in. With a deep sigh and not a single second thought, she knocked quietly. While holding her breath, his inviting voice that was muffled by the door, encouraged her inside. She gave him a trying smile as their eyes met.
"Evening lass," he said with a slight smirk. "To what do I owe the honor?"
Emma rolled her eyes, realizing this was a probably not the best idea, bust staying anyway. "Couldn't sleep."
"So you've come to my cabin?"
She scrunched her nose at him, narrowing her gaze. "I can leave if you want."
"Don't be daft, love. You're more than welcome to stay." He got up from his chair and walked to his cabinet, eyeing her briefly. "Sit, I insist."
Emma did as he asked, watching him grab a bottle of rum from the cabinet's depths, along with two small glasses. Her eyebrows shot up as he filled them both halfway before turning around to face her with a smile. He placed the two glasses on the table and slid one in her direction with the curve of his hook. She gave him a questioning look, resulting in a small chuckle from him. "Love, it's just rum, it's not going to kill you."
"Are you trying to get me drunk?" she asked with the prod of her eyebrow, tapping her fingers lightly against the glass.
"Why would I do such a thing?" he said with a playful scoff and teasing glint in his eye. "Besides, if this alone will get you absolutely smashed, we'd have a bigger problem on our hands."
She scowled. "Oh trust me; this will not get me drunk." She knew what was coming as soon as her sentence fell from her lips; before the smirk spread viciously on his face.
"Is that so, Swan? Care to prove it?"
He was challenging her. He was challenging her because he knew she couldn't say no.
Bastard.
"You're on, pirate." She knew this was a bad idea, but for once in her life she didn't give a damn. With one swift movement she threw the drink back, relishing in the burn as is slid down her throat and ignoring the voice in her head screaming at her to stop. The more drinks she had, the softer the voice got before it was completely silent, her brain seemingly numbing in place.
She shuddered to herself as she tried to shake the memories from her mind. Neverland had a way of doing that; causing her senses to work incoherently. There was something about the way the breeze blew with its seemingly magical qualities that managed to seep into her thoughts and bring concealed desires to the surface. Desires she tried so desperately to ignore. But with a few drinks in her system, those desires came out full force.
She could blame it on her new surroundings. She could blame it on the alcohol flowing through her. She could blame it on the heat of the moment. But what started as a quick kiss soon turned into them clawing at each other, ridding their clothes, and falling against the bed. The thing was that she couldn't bring herself to feel guilty about it. She repeated maybe once or twice too many times that it would never happen again, but when she found herself in his cabin the night after, she wasn't surprised.
It was an escape; but it turned into so much more. With the encouraging silence of the night and the safety of the dark, she found herself opening up to him, finding comfort in the way his fingers tangled in her hair or rubbed invisible circles on her back. Each night, after the first, she stayed with him, curled against his side, before waking up early and heading back to her cabin before her parents or anyone else woke up. She knew she had to tell them eventually, and she would; when she was sure it wouldn't lead to "Captain Hook" becoming "Captain Hooks".
Unable to fall back to sleep and cautiously moved around the room until she heard the rest of those on board getting up. She made her way groggily to their eating quarters, sitting herself down and sipping on a glass of water she so dreadfully wished was coffee. She watched with a small smile as her parents fixed breakfast, nudging at each other playfully. Maybe they would understand more if she explained to them how much she enjoyed Hook's company. She saw a completely different side to him, a comforting and caring side that listened quietly as she talked, holding her tight when she needed it, and planted sweet kisses along her temple when she was upset. There was so much potential growing with the two of them; her parents had to understand.
Just as she was going to approach them, Gold and Regina strolled through the door, with a less-than-cheerful good morning before sitting at the table next to Emma. Gold smiled mischievously as he looked in her direction and she narrowed her gaze, trying to read him; see what he was up to.
"Why Miss Swan, I do believe you're glowing."
This caught the attention of the room and her eyebrows shot upward and furrowed forward, something inside her cringing suddenly.
Oh my god he knows.
"Must be from all the pixie dust in the air," she amused, but frowned when it garnered no reaction. Her parents were staring so intently at her that she couldn't look them in the eye. Something in her gut said this was about to take an unappealing turn.
"Ah, so it's not from your late night escapades with our beloved pirate captain?"
A pin could have dropped in that moment and it would have rang soundly throughout the room. The silence was unnerving, but when she opened her mouth to speak, nothing came out. All she found herself doing was gapping at Gold, eyes wide, shocked. "I…" she started, fumbling over her words. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You're going to lie to your parents, dearie?" His tone was so sinister, so evil. What the hell was going on?
Her cheeks had involuntarily flushed red as she met her mother's gaze, seeing how Mary Margaret's face had contorted to a horrified expression. "Emma?" she questioned quietly. "Is what he's saying true?" Heart hammering in her chest, a defeated expression falling on her face, she nodded; simply nodded, while staring at the floor.
Unfortunately for Hook he chose that moment to waltz proudly through the door, nodding in her direction. Before she could warn him or protest against him, David took a few quick strides towards the pirate, connecting his fist to the side of Hook's face.
"What the bloody hell was that for?" Hook shrieked while holding his cheek. Fearing the two would lash out at each other, Emma jumped to her feet and ran between them, interjecting herself before more punches were thrown.
"For taking advantage of my daughter, you sick-"
"David!" Mary Margaret screamed before he could continue.
Hook chuckled deeply, glancing at the small amount of blood staining his hand. "I see you told them lass."
Emma sent a pointed glare in Gold's direction before turning her attention back to Hook. "Not exactly. You can thank Gold for them finding out."
Suddenly Hook lunged in the man's direction, causing Emma to grab him by the shoulders, holding him in place. She could physically feel him fuming, his eyes falling to a darkened state. "Why the hell would you do that?" Hook growled as Emma gripped his shoulders tighter.
"What, Captain, afraid your beloved is going to leave you out of pure embarrassment that she was caught? I guess that's and understandable reason to be angry, after all, she was a stammering mess when I mentioned it."
Emma sighed, unable to meet his gaze as it fell to her, his eyes pleading with her. "Emma?" She didn't answer. "Emma, darling, is that what this is to you?"
She finally looked up, meeting his inviting blue eyes, seeing the hurt in them. Shaking her head vigorously, she shook her head. "Of course not." Reaching down, she intertwined her fingers with his, giving him a smile, before turning to her father. "What Gold said is true; we… um… we have been sneaking around together at night." She wasn't entirely sure how to word it; how do you word something like that to your parents?
"Did you two…" Mary Margaret started, finishing her sentence with a gesture between the two of them.
"What, sleep together? I don't think it's anybody's business, if we're being honest-"
"Emma, he's just taking advantage of you being worried about Henry," David said and Emma tightened her grip around Hook's hand.
"No he's not!" Emma screamed, causing everyone's eyes to widen. "I'm 28 years old, dad, I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions about this sort of thing. If you have a problem with this, you're going to just have to deal with it. And for the love of god, stop with the over-protective dad thing. I know you haven't been able to be a dad for very long, but can we skip that stage? You have to trust me and my decisions, okay?"
David stood silently, eyeing the two of them quickly, before looking back to his daughter, a sigh escaping his lips. "You're right Emma. But you're always going to be my little girl." She gave him a smile and he side eyed Hook, narrowing his gaze in his direction. "But I swear if you hurt her, at all, I'm cutting off the other hand. Are we clear?"
"Crystal."
With everything out in the open and established, Emma felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders, the tension in the room starting to ease. Breakfast was still painfully awkward, but they managed; just like they would continue to. Excusing himself from the table, Hook walked out of the quarters and up to the top deck and after offering to help clean, getting a persistent no from her mother, she followed him.
He was leaning against the railing, his good hand fiddling with his hook, his stare lost in the ocean. She came up beside him quietly, their arms lightly brushing, falling into the silence, letting it consume them. After a few moments she let out the breath she was holding him, looking up at him longingly.
"I'm really sorry about earlier, about how David reacted."
"It's okay lass. I get it; he's just doing his fatherly duties." There was something about the way he spoke, something that pained deep in her gut. He sounded… hurt? Broken?
"You know I'm not ashamed of this, right?" She questioned while pointing between the two of them. But instead of answering her, he stayed silent, never meeting her gaze, never looking at her. He stayed off in his own almost bubble, putting up that wall. She sighed, letting her head fall forward. "Hook, if I was embarrassed about this I wouldn't have stood up for you." He still didn't look at her, or say anything. With a frustrated groan she turned so she was facing him full on. "Killian, look at me god damn it!"
His name falling from her lips tore his gaze from the water and straight to her eyes. "Are you sure about this Emma?"
She nodded, reaching up to cup his cheek and turn him toward her, holding his stare. "Completely sure. You've been more than helpful during this trip. You brought us here, you've listened to me when I just needed someone to talk to and you've comforted me without questioning it. You've been monumental in keeping me sane in this new atmosphere. Trust me."
Trust. It was something they had both had a hard time getting from the other. But with the sun shining high in the sky and the waves rapping quietly on the side of the ship, something felt different. Like the trust had always been there; it just needed to be dug out. He bit his lip and smiled down at her, reaching up to cup her cheek as her hands fell against his chest, nearly over his heart.
"I trust you, love. I believe you. It's just going to take some getting used to from me. I've spent the last 300 years thinking I would never be good enough for someone, especially not someone as yourself. So you're going to have to be patient with me at times, savvy?"
"I can do that," she said quietly while leaning into him, her lips ghosting across his. "Thank you Killian."
"No lass, thank you." He closed the small space between them, slanting his lips across hers. It wasn't the first time they had kissed whatsoever, but it was the first time it wasn't under the cover of darkness. It was sweet, but laced with passion, and it was, in Emma's mind, perfect.
It was going to be tough and aggravating, challenging at times, but she had no doubt in her mind that whatever they had between them was going to flourish into something magical. All they needed was a little time, a little trust, and a little faith.
Something Neverland would give them in handfuls.
Standing there, arms wrapped around one another, Emma couldn't help but smile. This was right, this was perfect; her seemingly meaningless escape turned into something so much more. And she was entirely grateful for it.