"You can't leave" Emma stated bluntly.
Hook looked away as his jaw twitched nervously. He took a deep breath before looking at her again. "There's no place for me here."
She stood anxiously on the wharf's edge, afraid she might not be able to control herself if she took one step closer. "That's not true."
The pirate sighed. "This is not my home. It might be fine for all you cursed lot to stay and play happy families." He gave a forlorn glance towards the ocean. "But I don't belong here."
Emma struggled to understand his sudden change of heart. "Where exactly are you planning to go? There are no more portals, no more magic beans. How do you plan to get home?"
"The sea is my home Love." With a half-hearted smile he rapped his knuckles on the wooden frame of the ship "The Jolly Roger is all I need."
"Hook." She pointed toward the ocean. "That sea out there, it's not the one you know. It's not your world either. At least here you wouldn't have to lie about who you are or where you've come from. You can be yourself."
"Be myself?" Hook laughed sarcastically. He picked up a pile of loose rope from the deck of the ship, beginning to circle it around his hook and elbow. "Vengeance has been my life for longer than I can remember. I had one goal in life – kill Rumplestiltskin, avenge Milah. But now" he sighed. "Now I don't know who I am."
"And you think you'll find yourself out there? Everyone here has an alter-ego. Maybe you can go back to being Killian Jones." She regretted the moment the words came out of her mouth. It had been the villainous Captain Hook and all his charm that had lured her in. It was the pirate who turned her on and appealed to a primal side she didn't even know she had. She didn't want to suggest that he abandon that side of himself. Yet she had begun to wonder if it was Killian who had touched her heart during these past few weeks.
He glanced briefly in her direction, clearly afraid to maintain eye contact for too long. "We're one and the same Love. Always have been. Always will be." He finished circling the pile of rope and placed it back neatly on the deck. He sighed again and looked around the ship as if putting together a mental check-list of things to do before he departed.
"Please Hook. Surely you're as exhausted as I am. Just rest a while." She gave him a small hopeful smile. "Every sailor needs a good port in a storm right?"
"Aye, but I think it's safe to say the storm has well and truly passed Love." He took a deep breath, cleared his throat then nodded to himself. "Best I be on my way."
Emma took a few nervous steps toward the Jolly Roger. A barrier of unspoken words and mixed emotions made the air thick and impassable. "C'mon. This is Storybrooke. Just because we defeated Pan doesn't mean there isn't some other big-bad just around the corner. We'll need your help. We need you on our side."
"We?" Hook laughed quietly as he pushed past her on the gangway and headed to untie the moorings lines from the wharf. "Is that the 'royal we' Ms Swan? Do Snow White, Prince Charming and the Evil Queen really need a pirate like myself?" He shook his head as he untied the remaining moorings and threw the rope up onto the ship. "Somehow I doubt it"
"Hook, I need you," she finally confessed, feeling the panic set in as she watched him make preparations to set sail.
"Come now Love," he scoffed quietly with a hint of bitterness in his voice. "If our time together has proven anything, it's that you are more than capable of looking after yourself." He walked back up along the gangway and slipped past her on to the ship.
Emma's heart ached. This wasn't a side of Hook she was used to. He'd always been next to her, with a cheeky smile and a whole lot of innuendo ready to cheer her up. Even at their darkest moments he had filled her with hope and laughter. Now he was cold, distant, and unable to even look her in the eye. "Hook, please. Why are you in such a damn rush to get out of here?"
Hook paused for a moment then turned to give her a mournful stare. "I think you know the answer to that Love."
Emma stepped over the threshold and on to the Jolly Roger, afraid it might drift away with the tide at any moment. She wanted to strangle and kiss him all at the same time. "What? I tell you my son is my top priority, and now you're just going to run away and pout like a child?"
"I have nothing but respect for your decision Ms Swan. Family should always come first. But you made it quite clear. There is no room in your heart for love. And when the day comes that you finally do have room in your heart..." There was a sound of defeat in his voice. "Then perhaps it should be reserved for Henry's father."
Emma took a step towards him on the deck and growled at him. "What happened to fighting for what you want?"
Hook shrugged. "A pirate knows how to pick his battles. I took Baelfire's mother from him. I'm not going to take away the woman he loves as well. I've decided to gracefully bow out of the competition."
She was pissed now. "I'm not his for you to take Hook. I'm not goddamn conquest or a trophy to put on someone's mantle."
"Aye, but it's a tad hypocritical don't you think?" He glared at her with a furrowed brow. "For you to play the game if you don't want to be treated like the prize?"
"I was never playing a game!"
"No? You say one thing, do another. You say you never stopped loving Neal but kiss me and say it meant nothing. You look at me with such contempt one minute only to bat your eyelids at me the next. You're a bloody master game player Love." He spat his words angrily at her. His blood was boiling now, his face red with frustration and anger.
Emma was fuming, her hand clutched in a fist as her side. "Screw you Hook. Screw you."
The pirate scoffed loudly. "You had your chance Pet."
Her insides flip-flopped with lust, desire and rage. Fighting him with a sword had been far easier than this battle of words. She ground her teeth, fighting the urge to hurl a barrage of insults at him - just praying for the ultimate come-back to fall from her lips.
Hook glanced at the wharf, watching the Jolly Roger drift from it's now loose moorings as if it were a ticking time bomb. With his head lowered to his chest he sighed. "It's time for me to go."
Emma latched on to the gangway railing, doing her best to keep the ship moored to the wharf. "What if I told you it's not Neal that I want?"
"Don't toy with me Love. I couldn't bear another minute of it."
As he turned from her she reached out and quickly grabbed him by the hand. "What do I have to say to get you to stay?"
He glanced over his shoulder but didn't turn around. "There you go again, asking questions you already know the answer to."
Emma's tough exterior was beginning to crumble. Tears were welling in her eyes again as she clutched at his hand. Her voice cracked as she looked up at him. "I don't want to play games any more Killian."
Hook sighed and finally dropped the bravado. "Damn it Emma. Just tell me how you feel." He pulled her hand to his chest and held it to his heart. "If Baelfire is the one you want then so be it. I'll wish you well, then sail off into the bloody sunset. But if there even the slightest chance that it's me you want…" His voice trailed off quietly.
Emma sniffled and choked back a few more tears. "I'm not ready to tell you what you want to hear. Not yet"
He stretched out his hook and placed it under her chin, lifting her gaze so he could look her in the eye. "All I'm asking for is a bit of hope, Love."
She whimpered and threw herself into his waiting arms and anchored herself to him. His lips were warm as she pressed her mouth to his in a long and wanton kiss. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer still.
When they breathlessly pulled away he placed a trail of kisses along her nose and cheeks – finally stopping to rest his forehead against hers. He flashed her a familiar smile that Emma hadn't seen in days. "I've always believed that actions do speak louder than words" he added with a quiet chuckle.
Emma kissed him again then grabbed him by the scruff of coat and gave him a stern look. "Just tell me you'll stay."
"I'll stay Love. I'll stay."