The bottle of rum was nearly empty as it rolled across the deck of the Jolly Roger which was still anchored out in the middle of the ocean. Storybrooke's lights could be seen off in the distance; the streets were quiet though its residents would soon be rising as dawn was approaching. Emma and Hook could see the day's first light out to the east on the horizon, but neither were in a sober enough state to sail the ship back into port properly. Instead they were sprawled out on the deck, propped up only by the crates they had originally been sitting on.
Hook reached down at his feet and grasped the rum that had just rolled against them. He emptied the remainder of the liquid evenly between his glass and Emma's. "So, Hook," Emma slurred slightly, "what's your story? Everyone in this damn town has a story that's very different from the fairy tales I know, so what's yours? Are you just like the infamous Captain Hook I read about as a kid?"
Hook tossed back the last of his rum, wiped his chin and looked over at Emma. He was thoroughly amused by her buzzed state and laughed, wondering what the legend of Neverland was like in her world. "I doubt my story is anything like the one you've read about all your life, my dear."
"Then tell me," Emma insisted. "What is the real story of Peter Pan and Neverland?"
Hook surveyed her and decided that if he was going to break down her walls, now was the time. And he knew just how to do that. "I'll tell you," he started, "but first I want to know yours."
"Mine?" Emma raised her eyebrows curiously.
"Love, you have been preoccupied all day. It's no secret that something is wrong. So let's have it, Emma. What's going on?"
Emma took a deep breath, arched back her neck draining the booze into her, and slammed down her glass on the crate. "Was this your plan all along?" Emma asked heatedly. "Is this why you wanted to take me sailing?"
"The thought had crossed my mind, but it wasn't the only reason," Hook confessed. Emma gave him a sour look, but Hook returned it with a soft grin. "That doesn't mean that my curiosity behind it isn't genuine." He reached out, brushed her hair back over her shoulder, and looked her straight in the eyes. "You can trust me, Emma."
She looked deep into those blue eyes of his and, despite the influence of the rum, could tell he wasn't lying. Hanging her head in defeat, Emma sighed. "Fine. I came to Storybrooke a little over a year ago. One of the first people I met here was the sheriff-"
"Aren't you the sheriff?" Hook interrupted.
"I am now, but I wasn't when I first came here."
"Then who was?"
"...Graham." Emma's eyes filled with tears. "His name was Graham." Her voice quivered. She had not said his name in a long time. Most people, especially her parents and her son, knew it was such a delicate subject with her and avoided bringing up the former sheriff if they could, which is probably why anyone failed to acknowledge today in the first place.
Hook saw the pain on her face as she thought about this "Graham". Whoever he was, he meant a great deal to Emma and, if he had to guess, something tragic had happened to him. "Where is he?"
"He's gone." She paused and wiped away the small drop that had fallen on her cheek feeling Hook's eyes on her, but she could not meet them. Emma exhaled and pressed on. "A year ago today - well I suppose yesterday at this point," she said gazing out at the growing light in the east, "he died in my arms. One minute he was standing in front of me, the next he was collapsed on the floor. He was... just... gone... and I never got the chance to say goodbye." Emma's voice faded away as she became consumed in grief.
Hook wanted to reach out and comfort her, but didn't know if he had broken down her walls enough for her to accept it. Instead, he asked a question. "Did you find out why?"
Emma didn't answer right away. Instead she looked down and pursed her lips. Hook saw as the expression of pain on her face flipped to anger, almost hatred.
"Oh yes, I found out why," Emma finally stated after a moment. She lifted her eyes, a fury resonating in them, and looked straight at Hook. "He was killed. Murdered. All because I came to town and started changing things..." She trailed off and the answer clicked suddenly in Hook's mind.
"Regina," he stated simply. "She killed him. She crushed his heart, didn't she?" Hook could see in her eyes this was exactly what happened. He saw the walls around her heart come crashing down as tears of hurt and anger started flowing down her cheeks. He reached his hand up and made to wipe them away, but Emma, feeling extremely vulnerable, pulled her face out of his reach and turned off the waterworks.
"Yes, it was Regina," Emma spoke, trying her best to steady her voice. "But I didn't know that until a couple months ago when I realized all this fairy tale crap was true."
"Did you love him?" Emma was shocked at the bluntness of Hook's question, but realized she had never really thought about the answer to it before now.
"I only knew him for a few weeks," Emma pondered out loud, "but I suppose, yeah, I did in a way." She paused, gathering her thoughts. Never in a million years did she think she would ever be talking about this, and to a pirate of all people. "Had he not died, I think my life would be even more different than it already is."
"What do you mean?"
"I had been alone for so long, nearly ten years, and one day my kid decides to show up at my front door and completely turns my life upside down. I start to trust people even though I had shut everyone out for years. I still don't trust most people-" Hook saw her glance briefly in his direction. "But Graham was the first person who I found myself trusting after all these years and then he was ripped away."
Hook wanted nothing more than to comfort her, so without hesitation, he reached out, took her hand in his and lifted her chin with his hook. Emma didn't look at him; water was once again filling her eyes. Hook allowed her time to compose herself and when her eyes finally met his, he gazed into them and whispered, "You can trust me, Emma. I will never betray you."
Emma saw the truth behind his eyes and smiled. "I know. Thank you," she whispered back and she felt herself leaning in towards him. Her armor had come off and she saw nothing except the pirate in front of her.
Hook returned her smile. He had finally broke through the thick walls that Emma had built up around her. He had her trust and that was all he ever wanted. Until now. Now he wanted something more. He wanted her heart and it seemed, as Emma bent in closer to him, that she was about to offer it to him. He looked at her lips and felt her sweet breath on his face.
Just as their lips were about to meet, a crisp breeze blew in from the ocean. Emma, as if just realizing what she was doing, froze for a moment. What are you doing?! she thought quickly to herself and sat bolt upright, removing her chin from the touch of his steel and retracting her hand from his grip.
Hook watched, completely perplexed at the sudden turn of events, as Emma stumbled getting up from the floor. "Emma?" he questioned looking up at her.
"It's nearly dawn," Emma chimed pointing out to the horizon. She made an attempt to start preparing the ship for sailing back to shore, wobbling around (whether from the alcohol or the panic inside her, she did not know), not having any clue what she was doing.
Hook stood, watching Emma futz with ropes she clearly not knowing their proper function. He took a step forward, hand stretched out towards her. "Emma, love," he started.
"We should get back before everyone wakes up," Emma interjected. "Come on, I have no idea what I'm doing here."
Hook let out a long, deep sigh. He knew Emma Swan was a complex woman, but never realized how complex until now. He had won her trust, but that wasn't enough anymore. He wanted her - all of her - and, until that moment just before, he didn't know how much he wanted her. She was what had been missing in his life for the last three hundred years.
Still watching Emma as she attempted to raise the Jolly Roger's anchor, Hook decided that this was it. He was giving up his revenge for good. He was giving it up for her, so he could be with her. She was his new beginning and he would do everything in his power to show her that he could be the one person she was missing in her life just as she was the one who had been missing in his.