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Chapter III:
Good Form, Bad Form

The Captain had given Emily his bed for the night. She protested at first, but he kept insisting that she was a guest on his ship and that it wasn't proper for a lady to sleep on the couch nor with the rest of the men down below. He even told her not to fret as he was more than happy to take the couch. Emily was taken back by the fact that even though he was a pirate, he was quite etiquette.

But the blonde couldn't fall asleep.

Her body tossed and turned in discomfort as the night went on. Eventually, she ended up watching the clock on the nightstand tick the hours by. When both hands finally landed on the 1, she admitted defeat, got up from the bed, and wandered around the room mindlessly.

Emily soon found herself standing in front of the mirror and pouted at the faint dark circles around her eyes. She looked to her right to see a pitcher of fresh water and a basin and poured a small amount in it. While she considered it rude in the manner of her to use it without asking first, she figured that with the amount of generosity the Captain had shown her already, a little bit of water was most likely the least of his concerns.

She washed her face and patted it dry. Afterward, she let her hair down from its bun and shook out the tight curls. Emily took one last glance at herself before making her way to the small library the Captain had behind his desk. Her heart fluttered at the impressive collection he had – there was science, philosophy, poetry – all of her favourites. She bent down and trailed her fingers over the spines until they stopped at a red cover with gold lettering on it: Utopia.

She furrowed her brows as she pulled the book from the shelf.

A little ironic for a pirate to have in his collection... she mused.

Emily strode her way to the fireplace and took a spot down on the carpet. She cracked it open and began to absorb the knowledge the book had to offer.

She occupied herself with reading as the hour went on. But suddenly, in the midst of it, Emily could feel a sense of bitterness rise in her heart.

She let out a shaky breath and glanced at the crackling fire. It almost felt like she was home – reading in front of the fireplace just as her father would come home from one of his work parties, and then nag at her for not being in bed; cursing her addiction to the written words.

Except, she wasn't home, and her father wouldn't walk through that door.

She could feel a string of tears spill over her cheeks. She reached a hand up to brush them away.

Abruptly, the door of the cabin swung open. Emily quickly composed herself as she watched the Captain come strolling in.

He seemed to be heavy in thought as he tossed his coat and hat onto the desk. He went to untie the first couple of strings on his blouse as he made his way over to the bed to check on the sleeping girl. He paused and stood puzzled when he realized it was empty.

Where did she–?

"Captain?"

Startled, he darted his attention over to the fireplace. When he saw the blonde sitting on the ground, his face relaxed, and made his way over, a nervous smile on his face.

"My Dear, what are you doing on the ground?" he inquired.

She held the book up to him sheepishly, "Just doing a little reading, Captain... I hope you don't mind, I borrowed it from your library."

"Ah, not at all," he said as he took a spot down beside her. He then frowned, "Was the bed not up to your standards?"

Emily's eyes widened, afraid that she had offended him, and blushed, "Oh no, it's perfect, Captain, really." The blonde gave him a tiresome look and a small shrug, "I suppose I just always find it difficult to sleep in a new place on the first night..."

He chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Yes, I understand that."

Then, like a curious child, Hook peered his head over her hands to see what book she picked out. She cocked a brow at him and smirked playfully at what he was doing.

She decided to answer the question for him, "It's Utopia, Captain."

"Utopia? My Dear, I have better books," he scoffed teasingly.

Emily let out a chuckle and closed the cover, "You're a pirate, Captain. Of course this book doesn't interest you. I was impressed to even find it in your library."

Hook paused and gave the girl a challenging smirk. The laugh she let out indicated it as a joke, but he couldn't help but still take a part of it as an insult – it was a little bit of a bold statement for a girl to tell her captain.

"And what do I being a pirate have to do with a book?" Hook chuckled.

"Do you know what this book is about?" she asked curiously.

He clicked his tongue and looked away sheepishly. Judging by the expression on his face when she asked him, Emily realized she caught him only telling half the truth.

"I, uh…barely got halfway. I found it quite dull, actually." He confessed.

"Well, Captain, I suggest you try again." She urged, holding the book out to him. "I think all books are great – even the bad ones – well, whatever you consider bad. They always have something important to say."

When he let out a mocking laugh, Emily frowned and looked away, embarrassed to have suggested such a thing. Hook's laugh cut short, and he averted his gaze at her.

She's serious… he noticed.

"Why this book?"

"It's just very insightful," she responded. "I think you'd learn a lot if you give it a try."

She raised a hand to her necklace and began to twirl the pearl between her fingers while she shyly returned his gaze.

When their eyes finally locked, Hook gave out a hushed gasp and could only sit stunned. He swallowed hard as her sea-green coloured eyes pierced into his.

He couldn't figure out why, but there was something oddly bewitching and amorous about her.

He blamed it on the warm glow of the fire highlighting the structures on the blonde's face, and how her hair had dried into messy tousled curls. He even started to blame a bit on the idea that she was wrapped in his housecoat, sitting alone with him in his cabin. Even her soft-spoken nature was to blame since it lured you to lean in close to her just to hear her speak.

What he found the worse of all was that he knew she wasn't doing any of it on purpose.

He wondered how she could make everything she did seem so effortless.

When he still hadn't responded, Emily curled her lips timidly and looked down in her lap.

"It's getting late, Captain..." she murmured, slowly getting up, "I think it is time to try and get some shut-eye."

Hook became flustered when he broke out of his trance and realized she was already standing up. He nodded quickly in agreement and followed. She placed the book on his desk while he pulled an extra pillow off the bed and began to makeshift a place to sleep on the couch for himself.

Emily crawled into the cot and rolled over, watching Hook fluff the pillow before he laid down.

"Captain?"

Hook looked up, "Yes, my Dear?"

"Goodnight," she smiled as she buried her face in the pillow.

He stared at her quietly before replying, "Goodnight."

Hook stared at the ceiling, agonizing over their conversation. Why did he have to poke fun at the book that she obviously cared deeply about?

His eyes peered over the couch to see her fast asleep in bed and then darted them over to the book on the desk. He hesitated for a moment, thinking that he could just get up and read it, but decided against it and plopped back down. He was tired, anyway.

After a minute though, he scowled and got up when he couldn't stop tormenting himself over it.

Hook tiptoed his way to the desk and glared down at the book that seemed to have been taunting him.

He finally caved and picked it up. Taking his spot back on the sofa, he opened it up and began to read.

Emily awoke the next morning to the sun spilling in through the stained-glass windows with hues of blue, green, and red sparkling off the gold accents of the room. She moved upright and lifted her arms in the air, giving her back a nice long stretch.

Turning her attention over to the burnt-out fireplace, she giggled as she saw a set of legs dangled off the side of the loveseat. She estimated Hook to be about 6 feet tall, and in comparison to the sofa, it estimated to be maybe 4. She silently got up from the bed and strolled over to the couch where she caught a glimpse of a sleeping captain; his curls stuck to his face and were as crazy as a lion's mane. The blanket he was sleeping with began to slip off to the side; Emily reached out for it and adjusted it back onto him. She gave him a playful smirk when she caught sight of the book lying on the ground next to his hand.

There was a quiet knock and then the cabin door clicked open. She looked up to see Smee walking in carrying a large chest with a breakfast tray balancing on top of it whistling a happy tune.

With eyes wide, Emily frantically placed a finger to her lips and motioned for Smee to be silent.

Smee sees the sight of this and stops immediately. They both look to Hook who let out a few grumbled words about a 'demon crocodile' and then shifted a bit in his sleep. When he no longer stirred, he gave Emily a smile and placed the chest on the ground. Smee then moved the tray of food onto the table, grabbed hold of the teapot, and poured Emily a cup of tea.

"Good morning, Miss Emily," he whispered, handing it over to her.

"Good morning, Mr. Smee." She took it delightedly from his hands and took a sip; she felt like she hadn't had her morning tea in days, "Thank you very much."

He grinned at her and moved back towards the chest, "I have something for you, Miss."

Emily cocked an eyebrow at him and inched closer in curiosity. Smee popped open the chest to reveal her dress and many other layers of fabric with a few pieces of jewelry and shoes within, "The crew and I found some ol' dresses for you."

"Oh!" she gasped as she bent down onto her knees. She placed the tea beside her and began to rummage through the gowns. She smiled sheepishly as she came to realize that they were all very much outdated – she believed they looked to be somewhere from the early 1700s. She then furrowed her brows when she also realized that there were no other women on board.

"Mr. Smee, I thank you for these but…" she was afraid to ask, "Where did these come from?"

Smee just gave her a foolish grin. "They were, uh…left behind, Miss. From…other women."

A look of suspicion crossed her face; she just had to flat out ask, "Are…are these from…" the next word came out barely audible, "…prostitutes?"

Smee's face began to flush a deep red and he twisted his cap in his hands with embarrassment. Emily let out a nervous chuckle, but was thankful for the gift, nonetheless. She began to wonder as to what happened that a lot of women would simply leave whole dresses behind.

"Well, still… Thank you." She said softly. "But how do women just...leave their clothes behind?"

Smee let out a snicker, "The Cap'n caught a few of the crew...y'know...and well, scared the women off."

Emily let out a simple 'ah' and looked at the clothes with amusement. She could only imagine the horrified looks of the women getting walked in on by the Captain.

He gave her a nod, "Let me know if you need anything else, Miss." And then hastily made his way out of the cabin.

She clicked her tongue and took another glance at the gowns. While it wasn't really in her intentions to stay on this ship for much longer, she supposed that having more than one dress and a housecoat wouldn't hurt. She let out a thankful sigh that the Captain at least had a sewing machine so she could alter what Smee had given her.

Emily picked up her tea and took a glance outside the window.

While she didn't mind her time on the ship, she knew she needed to find a way home and today.

The Captain groggily got up and groaned in pain as he placed his hand on his lower back. His body felt cramped, and it ached as a result of sleeping on the couch, but he couldn't be all irritated by it since he knew it was in a gentleman's best interest to give his bed to the lady. He looked around the room grouchily and found the blonde nowhere to be seen. He cocked a brow at the fabric that was sprawled out on the floor with a few pieces folded up sitting on his desk.

He shuffled to his wardrobe and pulled out a clean outfit for the day. He grunted as he pulled off his shirt, then placed a hand on his shoulder where the harness for his hook rested. He looked down where the strap crossed his collar bone to see that the skin was red and irritated accompanied by a slight burning.

Fuck… I knew I should have taken this off last night, he scowled to himself.

But he was trying to be modest in front of the lady by not stripping his shirt off in front of her, otherwise, it would have been deemed as 'bad form'.

Finally dressed, Hook made his way out on deck. The sun was high in the sky and the crew was kept busy by doing their daily chores. In the distance, he could see a few men onshore placing inventory in a rowboat to bring back onto the Jolly Roger.

Amongst the men, he searched for the familiar blonde.

He caught sight of Emily sitting crouched on the chair at his desk with a cup of tea in her hands and Murphy standing next to her. He was hovering over the desk with his elbow resting on it and a fist against his cheek telling ridiculous stories. He could see Emily's expressions range from discomfort to pained to annoyed.

The first mate came rushing over to the Captain. He stood at attention and gave him a salute.

"Morning Cap'n!" Smee greeted, but it went unacknowledged by Hook. "It's about noon now! O' boy! Ye slept in really late today, Cap'n! Noodler, Mason, and Jukes went to shore to get more food, and Chef was wondering what you'd like made for dinner tonight–"

Smee stopped talking when he noticed that Hook had paced his way over to Emily and Murphy. He gave a shrug and returned to his duties.

Meanwhile, Hook arrived just in time to listen to Murphy shamelessly flirt with the blonde.

"So, there I was alone, Lass, with only a dagger in my hand and my pistol out of gunpowder with 40–no–60 thieves surrounding me," he blabbered on. Emily wasn't even listening anymore.

When she saw a shadow crept over her, Emily peered up and sighed with relief when she saw that it was the Captain.

"Good morning, Captain!" she interrupted; her voice held a little too much glee for Murphy's liking.

Murphy's voice came to a halt and he whipped around to see Hook glaring at him with an aggravated expression. His brow was twitching at his crewmate and his eyes flickered with hints of red. Murphy bolted upright, taking a few steps back from him.

"I don't pay you to flirt with women," Hook hissed.

Murphy paused and let out a cough, "B-But Cap'n, you don't pay us at all–"

"Get to work!" he barked, waving his hook in his face.

Murphy let out a yelp and booked it to the below deck. Emily's eyes widened in alarm at his outburst and slowly stood up from his chair. When Hook spun back around to look at her, his features immediately softened when he caught a glimpse of the distraught look on her face.

"I didn't mean to distract your crew, Captain..." she mumbled, avoiding eye contact with him. She had a hand pressed against her lips in a meek manner.

Hook quickly moved to her side and shook his head; speaking in the softest tone with her, "No, no, no," he objected, "They're all a bunch of blithering idiots. It is not your fault."

She gave him an assuring smile but still kept her gaze low. Even though it was Murphy who was giving her unwanted attention, she still felt guilty – mostly because she didn't expect Hook to get angry like that. In the fit of his anger, she could have sworn she saw his eyes go from blue to red with rage...

He frowned and gingerly placed his hand on her lower back, slowly leaning into her. Emily let out a small gasp; startled by his touch. She bit her lip and finally looked up at him. Even though he crossed a boundary by touching her without permission, she found that she...didn't mind at all. He still kept a respectable distance between them, but it was her who was inching closer.

"My Dear, please don't be upset." He begged, "You did nothing wrong."

She slowly nodded her head in understanding.

The Captain averted his attention down at the desk. He scrunched his face when he noticed a map of the Mainland sprawled out over the one he had of Neverland. He dropped his hand and backed away from her, moving to sit at his desk.

"Why is this out?" he grumbled.

Emily hesitated before she spoke, "Captain, there's something I wish to ask of you–"

A sudden loud crash interrupted them. They both turned their heads to see the rowboat that was used to bring the stock back from shore had crashed onto the deck with Noodler, Jukes, and Mason sprawled out from it and the crates of food spilled everywhere.

"Brimstone and gall, men!" Hook thundered, standing up. "What are you doing?!"

Jukes and Mason scowled rubbing their heads as Noodler rashly got up from the ground and ran excitedly towards Emily. He skidded to a straight stop right in front of her and used a hand to brush the wrinkles out of his filthy shirt then pulled the hat off of his head. In his other hand, he held a bouquet out to her.

"H-Here Miss," Noodler stuttered nervously, "T-These are f-for ya!"

Emily arched her brows in surprise and then gave him a small smile. The bouquet he made for her was really just a collection of weeds he had mistaken for wildflowers, but she was still flattered, nevertheless.

"They're beautiful, Noodler," She thanked. She took the bouquet from him, and lifted it up to her nose, taking a sniff of the sweet smell of spring.

"They're a welcome present!" he grinned. "We're excited you'll be staying with us, Miss!"

"Stay?" Emily froze and her smile fell. "I…I can't stay, Noodler."

What made them think she was staying?

The crew all came to a collective stop, and they looked over at her with gloom.

"You're...not staying?" Noodler said with a pout.

"I must return home." She said grimly, turning her attention to Hook.

She watched as his eyes darted down at the map in front of him. It clicked that it was her who pulled it out.

"...I see..." Hook mumbled.

The Captain continued to glare at. The longer he stared at it, the more his face began to harden with mixed expressions Emily couldn't quite figure out moving across his face, or even why he seemed upset.

"Captain, I truly thank you for your hospitality," she stammered, "I just–"

"Well," he stated harshly, "how do you plan on getting home, hm? You surely didn't think I would take you, did you? I have better things to do."

Smee came rushing up to the deck when he heard the Captain talking angrily, but kept at a distance, watching warily.

The blonde stood shocked by his response. She bit her lip and lifted a hand to her necklace anxiously. While she figured that the Captain's generosity was to cease at some point, it wasn't this fact that shocked her, nor did she really expect anything from him in the first place – it was how he was speaking to her that was making her feel uneasy.

It sent a chill down her spine; his tone was ice cold, and his eyes were almost hollow.

"O-Of course not, Captain," she sputtered, "I-I'm just lost." She walked closer watchfully and traced her fingers along the worn-out map to make a point, "I don't know where to even begin navigating. I thought maybe you could help–"

"My Dear," Hook said coolly, "Neverland isn't on a map…in fact, it isn't even in this world."

In a rage, the Captain stabbed his hook into the map and flung it to the ground. Emily's eyes widen at his sudden outburst and stumbled back in a confused state. What did he mean by that statement?

"I...I'm afraid I don't understand..." Emily mumbled, afraid to even look up at him.

"The only way out of here is to fly." He spat back.

Emily furrowed her brows at him. At first, she thought he was joking, but realized he wasn't when the Captain stood there serious as ever. Her stomach began to tie in knots again, and she was completely taken back by the complete 180 Hook did. For someone who showed her much compassion and tenderness, his annoyance towards her at this moment was nerve-wracking.

It didn't make any sense to her.

"What do you mean 'fly'?" she questioned. She was beginning to wonder if it meant something other than the obvious.

"Fly!" Hook shouted, stomping towards her, "What do you think it means, you broad?!"

Emily heard a collective gasp as she stood shocked and humiliated in front of the crew. Within seconds, tears began to flood her eyes and without another word, she turned on her heel and ran to the cabin, the door slamming behind her.

Smee frowned as he watched the entire scene unfold.

"Oh Cap'n..." he stated disappointedly, "You raised your voice and insulted a lady."

Bad form.

Hook plopped back down in his chair as he took in a large breath with regret immediately written on his face.

He didn't mean to get so angry with her.

Something inside him just didn't want her to leave.