Just a little bit longer and the hiatus is finally over! I'm so excited for the new episode, and this is a kind of wild best-case-scenario specualtion that won't happen, but that demanded to be written. TMWA will be updated tomorrow, so keep an eye on that and thanks for reading.
If yesterday somebody had told her that tonight she would be on Hook's ship with Henry and Neal, sailing for Storybrooke, she would've asked them what drug were they on. And yet, here she is, watching the lights of New York City fade in the distance, the wind whipping her hair in her face.
Emma turns and looks at Neal and Henry, leaning over the railing and talking, their backs to her. Henry hasn't said a word to her since he found out about her lie, and it's breaking her heart, because she had honestly thought she was doing what was best for him. She's still reeling from seeing Neal again, and she can't believe that now that he's back, she doesn't want him anymore. After such a long time of secretly hoping that someday he'd find her again and give her the perfect excuse for leaving her, it hurts to see that he hadn't changed at all, that he can still hurt her so easily, without even realizing he's doing it.
"You don't look too happy that you've found your son's father", Hook says, standing next to the helm and watching her expectantly. She shrugs, surprised that he managed to pinpoint the exact origin of her bad mood.
"He's not..." Emma starts to say, then pauses, remembering who is she talking to. "It was unexpected, finding him and finding out he's also Gold's son."
Hook doesn't say anything, but his jaw clenches at the mention of Rumplestiltskin. Still, she welcomes the silence, because it feels strangely comfortable. It's something she had never expected, but it was obvious from that day on the beanstalk that he just gets her.
"Do you have any alcohol on this ship?" She asks him, coming closer and smirking at the look on his face.
"What kind of question is that? You know I do", he says and grins at her, and she hopes he can't see how much he's affecting her. "Come along."
"Where?" She asks, frowning. "Who's going to drive this thing?"
"This ship sails itself once you put her on a course", he tells her, and Emma follows him below deck, casting one long look at Henry before descending the stairs.
Hook's cabin is small, consisting of a bed, a desk and a chair, and a cupboard filled with trinkets. Emma picks up a golden locket and admires it while he finds a bottle of rum and a glass, pouring a generous amount and handing it to her. She puts down the locket and takes the glass, their fingers brushing together. It sends a jolt through her and she turns her back to him before he can notice and make another stupid innuendo.
"What's with this? Some kind of favorite stolen treasures shrine?" She asks, taking a careful sip of her rum and then a bigger one, running her fingers over a beautiful dagger with what looks like real rubies set into its hilt.
"Hey!" He says, feigning hurt, and she turns and rolls her eyes at him. The rum is making her warm so she takes off her coat, walking around Hook and dropping down on his bed, leaning against the cabin wall and watching him sit down in the chair behind the desk.
"Tell me. Why are those exact things in that cupboard?" Emma demands, a little surprised when she realizes that her glass is already empty. She stretches her arm and Hook pours her another round, before taking a swig straight from the bottle.
"Because they were too beautiful for me to let go of", he answers, his eyes so blue even in the dimly lit cabin, and Emma looks away because it feels like he's talking about her, and she can't handle that now.
They drink some more in silence, Emma's eyes darting around the cabin before finally being pulled back to Hook. His feet are propped up on his desk and he looks completely relaxed, offering her the bottle because her glass is empty again. She takes it from his hand and drinks from it, settling her glass on the floor next to the bed.
After that, things escalate really quickly.
Emma knows she's drunk, but she doesn't care.
"I just wish I could have a week where I don't have to deal with anything bigger than a petty theft. I swear, it's even worse since I broke that stupid curse", she says, slurring her words, and Hook actually looks apologetic.
"I can imagine that me and Cora coming to your town didn't help", he says with a half smile, and Emma waves her hand at him.
"Oh shut up. You stirred a lot less trouble than you could have", she tells him, taking another swig of rum, sloshing a bit on her shirt.
"I made Belle forget who she was!"
"And then got hit by a car... We've had this conversation before", she says, shrugging because it doesn't matter. She likes talking to him, not only because he always looks at her like she's some kind of marvel and no guy has ever looked at her like that before, but also because she feels she could tell him anything and he'd never judge her.
"Luckily, now I'm not tied to a bed", he says, and Emma's expression softens.
"How are your ribs?"
"Better than last week, but still bloody sore", he says, and she nods to herself.
"That's what you get for tangling with Gold", Emma tells him and hands him the bottle. She gets to her feet and the cabin sways around her, making her grab the edge of his desk to stay upright. "I'm drunk."
"Yes, darling, you are. Shall I leave you to get some sleep?" He asks, and she looks at him, surprised that he'd suggest such a thing.
"Don't be ridicililous", she says, smiling and coming around the desk to look down at him. Her fingers tangle in his surprisingly soft hair and he looks up at her with a steady look, waiting to see what is she going to do next.
Emma opens her mouth and a torrent of words comes out, but she's too drunk to apply any kind of filter to them.
"You're really pretty, and I like you, but I know I shouldn't. How are your eyes so blue? Sometimes when I look at you I can't stop thinking about kissing you. Why do you like me? I know you like me because you said "hey, beautiful" after you got hit by that car, which was very stupid, by the way. Sometimes, I worry that Rumples- Rump- you-know-who will have it with you and that he's going to kill you, because you suck at being a villain and I like you so I don't want it to happen, so sue me. If we were together, I think my dad would be really mad, but Snow would understand. Snow is onto me, she knows I like you, but we both pretend I don't. If I let you kiss me now, would you do it, or would you be a gentleman like you always claim to be? That was really hot when you wrapped your scarf around my hand and tied it with your teeth; it's the reason I left you up on the beanstalk, because I liked you too much too soon, and I'm sorry. I didn't like it when you were mad at me and it's good that you weren't mad for long. Did you let me win that sword fight in the Fairytale Land, or am I really that good?"
Emma giggles and slides from the desk right into his lap, his arm around her waist the only thing that's keeping her from toppling over to the floor.
"Cat got your tongue? You won't answer any of my questions?"
"That was a lot of questions, lass. Which one would you like me to answer first?" He asks her in a low, sexy voice, and Emma puts her hands on his shoulders and blinks a few times to bring him into focus because her vision is a little blurry from all the alcohol.
"You know which one. The one about kiiiiiissing", she says, tilting her head to the side, waiting for him to answer her. A part of her thinks that maybe she's going to regret it tomorrow, but even greater part of her can't wait to feel his lips on hers.
"It's hard being a gentleman when you're like this", he tells her softly, brushing her hair away from her face, his thumb caressing her cheek. She leans into his touch, closing her eyes for a moment, but the room starts spinning so she opens them again. His eyes are even bluer from this close, and she smiles, crossing her arms behind his neck.
"How come you're not drunk?"
"I'm a pirate. I can hold my liquor."
"I can hold my liquor too."
"Obviously not rum", he says, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
"You gave me rum because you had planned on me getting drunk", she pouts, and he shakes his head.
"I did not! You asked me if I had any alcohol. It's not my fault I only have rum", he says, and Emma looks at him from under her eyelashes, grinning.
"You really are a gentleman."
"After all this time you still seem surprised", he says, and Emma shakes her head.
"I'm not. I just wish you weren't", she says, her eyes darting to his lips, and when she looks up and their eyes meet, it's clear to her even through the alcohol haze that she's got his heart in the palm of her hand.
Emma leans the rest of the way forward and kisses him, every doubt flying out of her head because this feels so right, this feels like fate and written-in-the-stars perfection. He pulls her closer and runs his tongue over her bottom lip, making her open for him, a sigh escaping her, liquid heat pooling low in her belly. She bites his bottom lip playfully and he groans, his arms tightening around her like he never intends to let her go.
And she's fine with that.
"Emma, we can't. Not like this", he says, somehow finding the strength she lacks to pull away, breathing as heavily as she is, looking at her like she's a delicious meal that's just a little out of his reach.
"What are you talking about? I'm not even drunk anymore", she slurs, despite her best effort not to, wishing she could make him see that she really wants this, really wants him, drunk or not.
He gives her a pointed look and stands up with her in his arms, carrying her to his bed and settling her under the covers.
"I thought pirates were supposed to be good at taking advantage of people", she says, grasping his hand and refusing to let him stand up and leave her.
"I am good at that. But not when it comes to you", he says, their fingers entwining, and Emma smiles, realizing that he'd been like this the entire time she'd known him; she just choose to ignore it.
"Can I get a goodnight kiss?" She asks him, and he leans down and makes her wish come true, just a brief brushing of his lips against hers before he's gone, leaving her alone in his cabin.
Emma closes her eyes and inhales his scent on the pillow, drifting off to dreamland, reliving his kisses all through the night.
Henry wakes her up at the crack of dawn, shaking her until she groans and opens her eyes, sitting up and gently cradling her pounding head in her hands. It seems that he's over his anger, telling her animatedly that Storybrooke is already in sight.
She tries to remember last night, but everything beyond her walking into Hook's cabin is a blur of rum and blue eyes and strange fluttering in her belly that she can't explain.
Henry races back to the deck ahead of her and she takes her time, making the bed and looking around the cabin for anything that would stir her memory, because she knows there's something important she needs to remember before she faces Hook. Her eyes are drawn to a golden locket in the cupboard and she takes it on an impulse, slipping it into her coat pocket before leaving the room.
Hook is at the helm, talking to Henry, and the second she sees him, she can taste rum flavored kisses again, memories from last night assaulting her all at once. He looks up, his eyes finding hers across the deck, her cheeks burning because she had gotten drunk and kissed Captain Hook.
"I trust you slept well", he says when she climbs the steps to the quarterdeck, and Emma nods slowly, trying to figure out what to say to him.
"How come my mum slept in your cabin?" Henry asks him, and Hook glances at Emma before speaking.
"You mother was feeling a little bit under the weather, so I let her sleep it off", he says, and Henry nods to himself, coming around Hook to hug Emma before skipping off to find Neal.
"Please tell me I didn't say anything stupid last night", she says when Henry is out of earshot, coming closer to Hook without even realizing that she's doing it.
"You said nothing I hadn't already known", he tells her and winks at her, which makes her even more worried than she already was.
"That doesn't help me", Emma says, and suddenly realizes that they are standing really close. She steps back and he steps forward, crowding her against the helm, reaching around her to turn it and dock the ship in Storybrooke harbor.
"What do you say, lass? Shall I kiss you again now that you're more or less sober?" He asks her, all his attention focused on her. He holds her with his eyes, holds her so tight she can't move, can't think, feeling like there's cotton in her brain and fire in her veins.
"Emma!" Snow yells her name from the dock, moving toward the ramp, followed by Charming and Grumpy, and the moment is irreparably broken. Reluctantly, Hook steps away from Emma, and she gets the strangest urge to tell him that someday soon he'll have her, sober and willing, and he won't have to be a gentleman, but the words are stuck in her mouth.
The smile he gives her makes her think that he already knows, and she smiles back before she turns away and goes to sort out the mess she'd made when she found Gold's son and Henry's father at the same time.
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