Regina arrived at the place that was apparently her home. She wondered if perhaps the pirate had taken her to the wrong place; she couldn't possibly own a house so big. It looked like it could fit five of the home she had yesterday. Or, however long it had been.
Once inside, she was sure they were in the wrong place. Everything seemed far too fancy for her. It almost felt as if no one lived here. All of the items were perfectly placed in their rightful positions and there wasn't a spec of dust she could see.
"I live here?" she asked a loud, though she hadn't meant for it to slip out.
"Beautiful place, isn't it? Tis no wonder I almost prefer it to my ship," he told her as he put the things in his arms down. He had carried what she assumed were her belongings the entire walk home while he stayed close by her incase she fell again.
"Do you need anything, love?" he asked her once she was settled in on the couch.
She shook her head because she was stubborn. She could've really used a drink but she didn't want to ask the man for anything. Besides, he seemed distracted even while he asked the question. His eyes were rimmed with black and he always seemed to have a cocky grin on his face, but when he wasn't paying attention, the mask slipped away. He was looking around the house rather nostalgically and she noticed that his eyes were sad. Of course this wasn't easy for him either, she thought. He lost something too, if they really were as close as everyone said they were. She wondered if anyone would be able to tell that he was sad, or if she could because they apparently had a strong connection, even if she couldn't remember it.
Finally she decided she needed to stop thinking about the strange man. She didn't know him; she didn't need to be concerned with whomever he was missing. She wasn't that person anymore.
However, she was a person who was thirsty and she needed to do something about it before she grew any weaker.
"Um… Captain Hook?"
"You can just call me Hook. The only time I request my full title is on my ship and in your bedroom," he told her. She felt her face turn crimson as her jaw dropped. Against her will, she even felt a smile forming on her face. She refused to laugh, though. Even though it was challenging, seeing as how Hook was carrying on as if he hadn't said anything at all. It wasn't until he noticed the look on her face that he realized what had happened. "Oh, my apologies. I'm not very good at this, am I?" She was about to agree with him but he spoke again before she had the chance, perhaps on purpose. "What were you about to ask me?"
"I was going to ask where I could go to get something to drink."
He was out of the room and back before she even had the chance to ask where he was going. When he returned he had a glass of water in his hand.
"You need not be wary of asking me for anything. This wouldn't be the first time I took care of you," he told her as he handed her the glass.
She took a few big gulps and decided she had nothing to lose by asking him to explain. He had said he wouldn't tell her anything, but he was the one who brought it up, after all.
"What happened?"
He hesitated before taking a seat in a chair across from the couch.
"It was a few months ago. You had fallen ill. I believe you called it the flu. It was awful. You were bloody miserable. All you wanted to do was sleep and be left alone, and of course all I wanted to do was make sure you were alright. I woke you up almost constantly to check on you."
"You woke up a sick person?" she laughed.
"I was concerned! I didn't know any better. It's no surprise we butted heads all week. We did eventually come to an impasse though. I was allowed in the room with you as long as you could sleep. I lay in bed with you while you rested. We were both happy. That is, until I caught your sickness."
"Really?"
"Aye. And then you took care of me too."
Regina almost smiled. "I like that story."
Hook laughed once. "Who would've thought a tale of us both being miserable and sick would turn out to be the one that we liked the best?"
The room grew silent and the nice moment made Regina forget for a moment that she was terrified. She actually felt comfortable; too comfortable, apparently, because a yawn escaped her mouth. She hoped Hook hadn't noticed.
"You need to rest," he told her after he noticed the yawn. "Would you like me to show you to your bedroom?"
"No!" she said too quickly. "I mean… I just, I can find it on my own. Where do you sleep?" she asked, terrified to hear the answer.
He hesitated as he watched her so closely that she felt the need to look down at the floor rather than into his eyes.
"I sleep right beside you in your bed." She tried not to show it but she felt as if she was about to scream, or cry, or both. "But, understandably, I can stay at the Charming's apartment for the time being."
Regina accidentally sighed with relief. She was sure Hook noticed. "I-I'm sorry. I just… this is all still so new to me. I'm sure you're… a nice person, but-"
"Worry not, darling. I'll return in the morning to check on you."
He was gone in an instant. Regina sat on the couch in silence, feeling the emptiness of the house weigh down on her. On her farm, she could hear animals and the wind and countless other noises. Here, it was like nothing existed. It was just her.
Regina was completely and utterly alone.
A few hours later, Regina sat in the same tense position in the same uncomfortable couch. The only difference was that now it was dark and she was terrified.
She had looked around the room but didn't see any lanterns and by this point it was too dark to get up and search for something to start a fire with. On top of the darkness, she kept hearing noises. It was as if the house itself was making them. Sometimes she heard a beep, other times she heard a gust of air that was followed by a cold breeze coming from the ceiling.
Oh, she wished Daniel was with her. He would look around the house to make sure everything was okay. He would hold her until she wasn't afraid.
She didn't know what new world she was in, but she was sure she didn't like it.
It wasn't until the sun was up that she managed to doze off.
Barely twenty minutes later, a loud banging on the front door awoke her.
Groggy from her horrific night of no sleep and still disoriented from her memory loss, Regina rose from the couch and somehow found her way to the front door, although once she opened it, she wished she hadn't gotten up at all.
Standing right outside of her house was a large group of people. She didn't recognize anyone but she could tell they were angry. An older woman even looked like she had a weapon. There was a man in the front that was the apparent leader of the group.
"C-can I help you?" Regina asked nervously.
"Help us? No, you can't help us. We don't want anything else from you. We want you to get out of our town," the man in the front said.
Regina wondered if this was some sort of joke but as she looked around at everyone, she got the feeling that this was a very serious confrontation.
"Are you sure you have the right house? I… I'm sorry, I don't-"
"Save your apologize. You had a plan to destroy everything, including all of us. You will not be getting any forgiveness," the older woman said. There was a rumble of agreement throughout the group.
Destroy everything? What were they talking about? What did she do? She couldn't have done whatever it was they were saying she did.
"I'm not sure what's going on. If you would just let me explain-"
"We're done with your explanations. We should have stopped letting you get away with things a long time ago, lady." This time it was a short man standing more towards the back that yelled at her.
"Please, please just tell me what it is you think I did. I don't remember. I can't- I just-" she tried to say but her voice was starting to falter as the crowd seemed to get angrier with every word she spoke. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes.
"Enough talking. We're just giving her more time to get away. Let's get her!" someone yelled and they started moving closer to her house. Regina didn't know what to do. She could feel her heart pounding and the tears were now falling freely down her face. Were these people going to kill her? Why? What had she done to make them so angry? She wanted to run but she couldn't move. Her feet were frozen on the ground. Besides, where would she run to? She got the feeling her farm was much farther away than she could imagine.
"Is there a problem here?" she heard from someone that wasn't standing before her. It was coming from inside the house and it wasn't angry or scary at all. It was strong and confident, unfazed by the chaos.
She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and was surprised that when she turned it was Captain Hook standing behind her. He didn't even glance down at her, just softly moved her aside so that he was protectively standing in front of her now.
Immediately she felt the emotions change throughout the crowd. They all stopped approaching the house and silence fell over them.
"We didn't come here for you, Captain. This doesn't have to concern you."
"You came for Regina. That concerns me, understood?"
"We aren't going to hurt her. We just want her out of our town!" someone yelled from the back and the crowd cheered with agreement.
"Let's get one thing clear, mates," Hook said as he placed one hand on the sword he carried in his belt. The crowd instantly got quiet. "Regina isn't going anywhere. If you come back to her home, I will be forced to take… less than jovial measures to rid her of your disruptions. Do I make myself inescapably obvious?"
No one said a word and apparently Hook took that as a good thing because without a second thought, he slammed the door shut on their shocked faces.
"You alright, love?" he asked, looking at her for the first time since he got there. His eyes flashed to her tear stained cheeks and she noticed that he seemed to be angrily clenching his teeth.
"Who were those people?" she asked as she wiped her tears.
"They were some of the not-so-friendly town locals."
"What did I do to them?" she whispered, scared to even think about what she could have done.
Of course, Hook didn't tell her, though. He leaned down so that he was eye length with her and spoke carefully. "You didn't do anything, Regina. They are just confused miscreants. Don't give them a second thought."
She rubbed her eyes and sighed. Regina was exhausted and stressed and miserable.
"You don't look well."
She nodded and hoped he couldn't tell that she was once again fighting back tears. She had a feeling that he could.
"I didn't sleep last night. I was on the couch all night and I just sat there and when I finally fell asleep those people started banging on my door," she said quickly, rushing to speak as if she was running from the threat of crying. Tears didn't fall, but her voice cracked.
"Alright, alright, my dear. Just relax. Why don't you go lie down upstairs? You need to sleep."
Regina nodded and she made a decision in her head that she wasn't sure she would like tomorrow. But she had to ask him. She needed him, as much as she didn't want to admit it.
"Hook?" she asked as he started towards the door. He stopped and looked at her. "Do you think… could you stay here with me for awhile?"
There was a smile on his face that he quickly hid, but she saw it. She supposed she was happy that she had made him happy, but at the moment, she could only think about how tired she was.
"I'll stay for as long as you'd like," he told her. He sat down on the uncomfortable couch she had been on all night as Regina went upstairs to her bedroom.
A/N: I am so so so sorry for how long it took me to post it. I had it completed and then my laptop went screwy so I lost it and had to start all over again. It's been hectic! I hope you all are enjoying season 3 so far. I think it's shaping up to be the best season yet! We're getting a lot of Hooked Queen interaction! Again, I'm so sorry for the delay on this chapter. I hope you liked it though!