Author's Note: Thanks for reading, it's really flattering! Thanks for following and favoriting, and especially for reviewing! Reviews help my writing the most, and are always welcome! This fanfiction will pretty much be one chapter about Peter, one chapter about Hook, and so on and so forth. I may break that, but for now it works well. Sorry if the characters seem out of character, but remember it has been two years since they left Neverland and decided never to go back, just to keep in mind. Enjoy this chapter!
James Hook worked hard to make a living. After two years living as roomates with his most loyal friend, Mr. Smee, Hook was ready to move out. Fortunately for the two an old grocer, friends with their neighbor, Henrietta Morris, immediately employed the two former pirates. Hook and Smee both got a shave and a haircut and looked like average British men compared to everybody else.
James was stocking shelves and ran into the bumbling Mr. Smee.
"Smee!" exclaimed James, annoyed.
"Oh sorry, cap'n, I didn't see you," muttered Smee.
Hook smiled, something he never would have done while he was in Neverland. Mr. Smee had been his first mate, but James had treated him as if he were nothing. Hook had expected the pirates to listen to every single thing he told them to do without argument or mistakes, but Smee had made plenty of mistakes. Deep down, James realized that Mr. Smee honestly cared about him and for some reason never made him walk the plank. Hook shuddered at the thought of making men walk the plank.
James regretted his actions in Neverland. While living in Neverland, he was driven insane with revenge, and many paid the penalty. Now in London, Hook suffered from mild depression but never spoke about it to anybody. He realized how he had been acting soon after his crew had abandoned him, save Mr. Smee, and now tried desperately to improve himself. Hook had always wanted to be a good man, really, it was just in Neverland his way of achieving that would be by getting rid of Peter, however illogical it really was.
"It's alright," the former captain replied.
"Don't be slacking!" exclaimed Mr. Green, the grocer, to the two men.
"Oh, never!" exclaimed Mr. Smee in alarm.
Mr. Green laughed from across the store. The grocer was an old man with much compassion for others. He didn't tolerate laziness, but had patience with incompetence. He personally liked the two men working for him and tried his best to give them a good salary, but he was not a rich man by any means.
"Smee," said Mr. Green, "I'm going to have to go with you how to organize the newly arrived groceries in the back before they go on the shelves again. It seemed you did it wrong the last time you did it."
"Sorry, sir," said Mr. Smee.
"No, don't worry about it, come on," said Mr. Green patiently.
James watched the two make their way in the back. He was a fairly competent man, considering he had been displaced from his own timeline. Mr. Green had recently began to let Hook run the store by himself. Customers often seemed weary of the man with a hook for a hand, but most just accepted it and didn't say anything.
Since it was early in the morning, James wasn't expecting any customers to show up and left the cash register unattended to go straighten the items on the shelves. He began to work on a can display in a pyramid shape, making sure it wouldn't easily fall.
A short, blonde girl walked in. She looked to be about 20 years old. Not used to having customers this early, Hook immediately attempted to reach the cash register. Unfortunately, he knocked over the can display on the way over and quickly went to clean it up. The girl, seeing him struggle, immediately went down to help him.
James Hook didn't know what to say to the girl, only trying to finish cleaning up the mess he had made so she would have less to do. He wanted to thank her, but found no words. He looked over at her and their eyes met briefly, but the girl immediately looked away. Hook realized she was extremely pretty and his heart rate quickened.
"I'm sorry if I alarmed you," said the girl as James picked up the last can.
James opened his mouth, but again he could not speak. He shook his head instead.
"I, uh, was going to buy some chocolate," explained the girl awkwardly.
The former pirate beckoned her to follow him, and showed her the small collection of candies within the establishment. She smiled in thanks, before choosing some and proceeding to the register to buy them. James quickly made his way over, but bumped into a table along the way and sheepishly slowed his pace. The blonde had a hint of a smile on her face, but said nothing.
James typed in the price of the chocolates and took the money she gave him, but returned her the wrong change.
"Oh, don't worry about it," said the girl, realizing his mistake.
Hook found he could not meet her gaze. It was silent for a moment, but the girl spoke again.
"My name is Arabella," the blond introduced, "I see from your nametag that yours is James."
Hook smiled, opened his mouth again to find his voice gone. He felt like he couldn't breathe.
"Have a great day," said Arabella finally.
She held out her hand so he could shake it, and he stupidly held out the hooked hand. Arabella's eyes widened, not having noticed his disability earlier, but nevertheless smiled and shook it, before exiting the store.
"Thank you," James managed to whisper after she was gone.
Arabella felt strange as she left the grocery store. She had gotten chocolates for her best friend, Julie, who was sick with a cold. She hadn't really put much thought into the errand, but for some reason she couldn't get the visit out of her head. The man, James, with his hooked hand, and his clumsiness wasn't something she saw every day, she decided. That must be why she's still thinking about it now. She shrugged to herself and continued on her way, confident she would have a great day.
Hook felt extremely disappointed. His physician had diagnosed him with mild depression, but James had never felt like this before. In those moments with the girl, he felt like the pirate captain in Neverland who could be outwitted by a mere boy and whose hand was eaten by a crocodile.
Hook shook the thoughts away immediately. He was a changed man, he could never go back to being that awful person. His past was behind him, he would never, ever return to Neverland.
"What was that commotion?" asked Mr. Green as he emerged from the back room.
"A customer," replied James.
"This early?" asked Mr. Green.
"We are open," said Hook, "Every once in a while there's a customer."
"True, true," said Mr. Green.
Hook didn't say anything but just looked straight ahead.
"Everything alright?" asked Mr. Green.
"Yes, fine," answered James. That was true enough, everything should be fine.
"Something's wrong!?" asked Mr. Smee, approaching them.
"No, nothing," said Hook.
"You don't look so good, Cap'n," said Smee.
Mr. Smee always knew when something was wrong with Hook. It was almost touching, really, but James in this case didn't like that Smee knew him so well. Smee was a simple man, he agreed to be loyal to his captain and kept his word to this day. Pirate or not, Smee followed James around and did his best to help him. James honestly considered Smee his best friend, but rarely mentioned it to the little man. He knew Smee would be extremely happy at any compliments, but Hook these days was a man of few words.
"I'm fine," grumbled Hook.
"Oh, well okay."
James went back to straightening items on the shelves, but again found his mind drifting to that girl who had come in. What was wrong with him? He had made himself look like a fool, and it was not a good feeling. He would never see her again, would he? It doesn't really matter, does it?
Mr. Green left the two men by themselves to go balance his accounts.
"What is it, Cap'n?" asked Smee finally.
"Nothing," stressed Hook again.
"But, in all the time I've known you, this is how you act when something's wrong," bumbled Smee.
"Alright, fine," admitted Hook, "There was a customer. I made a fool in front of her."
"Her? A woman?" asked Smee, interested.
"It doesn't matter, I-I just felt like I did when I was still in Neverland and captain of the Jolly Roger," Hook stated.
"Well, that was you," began Smee.
"I've changed," said Hook firmly, raising his hooked hand.
Mr. Smee said nothing. Really, to him, the captain had always been this way. Smee had always seen Captain Hook as a conflicted man. For some reason in Neverland, Hook was simply obsessed with killing Peter Pan. He was a cruel man and never listened to others. Smee had watched Hook change from the moment they arrived back again in London two years ago. James had no authority here, perhaps that's why he had changed so much. Smee himself had changed little; he had no regrets of his actions in Neverland.
"You have," reassured Mr. Smee.
Hook nodded, but again didn't say anything. His dissatisfaction was the result of his encounter with the girl, yet he realized he had felt this feeling before. A million times, in fact, whenever Peter Pan escaped his grasp. Hook shuddered. He had no idea what he would ever do if he ran into Peter Pan ever again. His biggest fear was that he would become the notorious Captain Hook all over again, and die at the hands of the boy.
No matter what Hook did the rest of the day, he still couldn't forget the girl. Arabella. That name danced through his mind and made its way to the tip of his tongue. He longed to speak it. She was beautiful.
"Cap'n?" asked Smee suddenly.
"What is it?" asked James.
"You just didn't seem to be listening. You act like you're in love or something," rambled Smee.
"In love?" asked Hook thoughtfully.
Smee continued to speak, but James wasn't listening. Was he in love with Arabella? Was it even possible to love somebody he had only met once and not even spoken to?