Whoops, double posting . Blame it on the boredom that is spring break. As always, it's not edited blah blah blah.
"Hold still," Emma seethes, tightening Hook's tie.
He winces as she tightens it until it's in place. Henry is rustling in the kitchen trying to get ready for school. They all woke up late this morning after having to clear out of the apartment last night because one of their neighbors forgot to blow a candle out after leaving for the night.
Hook walks into the kitchen to see Henry shoving cereal down his throat. "Say, lad, would you hire me?'
"Depends on what I'm hiring for," he says.
Emma cuts a glare at Henry. "You're late, kid. Stop talking and more eating."
"Ever the persistent mother, Swan."
She shrugs, gathering Henry's coat and backpack to hand off to him. "Somebody has to be the responsible one around this house. Seeing as it's not you, the duty falls to me."
"Way to hurt a man's pride, love."
Emma moves in closer to him. "I'm not your love." She brushes past him, grabbing her own purse. She's walking Henry to school today since it's on her way to the office.
"Good luck with the interview," Henry yells to Hook as Emma rushes him out the door.
"You remember how to get there?" Emma says, texting into her phone. "If you need help, the phone's GPS will help you."
Henry and her spent all of dinner last night teaching Hook how to use a GPS and a phone in general. Thankfully Hook was a pirate so he knows how to navigate. New York City is different and it's certainly not the high seas he's used to. Hook seems to have gotten a hang of the weird talking device. Henry even showed him an app that lets you take pictures and send them to people. Called Snap Talk or something like that.
Hook busies himself for the next couple of hours. Since Emma's letting him stay in her apartment rent free for the time being, the least he can do is clean up around the apartment. Heading into the laundry room, Hook's cheeks redden as he sees Emma's bras in the washing machine. He scratches behind his ear, contemplating whether or not he should do the laundry. He doesn't know how Emma would react to find out he did her delicate laundry. Might be an awkward discussion for both parties involved.
As the clock ticks 11:20, Hook rushes out of the house. He zips up his coat that Emma helped pick out for him. It apparently is supposed to be a warmer alternative to a leather jacket. Hook gets on the bus contraption, bouncing his knees. He's never been on a job interview before. This is a whole new experience. Much like everything else the past couple of days.
Walking into the Coast Guard office, he tells the secretary he's there for an interview. The woman is around Emma's age and she gives him a small smile, blushing as she tells him the boss will be right out. Hook thanks her before retreating to the seats against the wall to wait. A few minutes later, a large man walks out from the door behind the desk. He greets Hook, shaking his hand.
"Come on in, Mr. Jones."
Hook sits across from the man. The two men talk about the love of ships and water before the man, Mr. Callan, questions him about his work experience. Emma made his resume to document him having worked with the navy for the past six years in England, explaining his accent. The man looks impressed as Hook tells him about his fabricated story. At least he has experience with ships in general.
The man looks pleased with his response. "Well, Killian, I'd say you'd make one hell of a captain. What do you say to joining the crew?"
He nods his head. "Aye, I would like that." And he would. He may be living in a strange world, but as long as he's on the water, maybe he wouldn't mind so much. It might make it easier to take his mind off Emma. His mind has certainly been clouded by her, but she clearly doesn't take an interest in him as she so lovely stated by saying she was not his love. The stubborn woman.
The men exchange final words before Hook heads out. He starts Monday and works through the week, 6 to 2 each day with weekends off. He smiles, excited to sail the coast early in the morning. Getting off near Emma's office, he decides to surprise her with grilled cheese and onion rings. He knows how hard this new life has been on her, and if he could do one thing to ease her stress, it would do just fine.
Walking into the office, he's met with stares. He went home before to change into a pair of jeans and a blue button down shirt and a leather jacket. Smiling at the woman, he makes his way to where he sees Emma sitting at her desk, hands raking stressfully through her hair. Just as he's about to say something, a man leans against her cubicle.
"I know this might be unprofessional of me," the man starts, "but we should get some drinks sometime. Maybe after work tomorrow?"
He sees Emma look up from the file she's reading. "I would like that."
His heart nearly sinks. He has no reason to be upset with another man asking her out. As he already knew, he knows Emma doesn't feel the same way he does. She was clear about that in Neverland; he just didn't want to admit it.
"It's a date," the man says. The man brushes past Hook, giving him a tight smile as he walks by.
Making his way to her desk, he drops the greasy bag in front of her. "It's no Grannys, but it isn't so bad."
She looks up at him with an annoyed expression on her face. "What are you doing here, Killian?"
He waves off her annoyance at his arrival. She didn't seem so pressed when that man came to ask her out in the middle of the work day. All he did was bring her lunch as a way to thank her for all she's done for him. But if she's freezing him, he can play that game too. Emma Swan is stubborn, but so is Killian Jones.
"Sure didn't seem upset when that man asked you out for a drink."
Leaning back in her chair, she crosses her arms against her chest. "Jealous? Killian, it was one kiss. We both know that the pressures were high, and we were just in a moment. That's all it was. It didn't mean anything."
"Maybe not for you, Swan," he mutters.
"I think you need to leave," she starts to write something down on the file she had been reading before he came. "Thanks for this."
"No problem," he grinds his jaw. "Oh. By the way Swan, I got the job."
With that, he walks out of her office before she can say anything. On his way out, he sees an Irish pub. Walking into the dimly lit bar, he orders a shot of rum. Glancing at his phone, he sees a text from Henry asking him for a dual on the video box they've been playing after school. Lifting his fourth shot of rum to his lips, he ignores the text. A blonde sidles up beside him.
"Buy me a drink?" she whispers into his ear.
Normally he would be up for a woman's attention and he would be buying her a drink or two, but he can't stop thinking of Emma. Emma and the man who asked her out. He should be sticking his tongue down this willing girl's throat, but he's no longer that pirate. His days of pillage and plundering were over the moment he locked eyes with Emma in the pile of corpses she found him under.
"Sorry, love," he tries to wave her off.
This only spurs her on; she places her hand on his thigh. "What's a man like you doing here alone on a week day? Bad break up?"
"You could say that," he finishes his other shot, ordering another one. If Hook is good at one thing, it's holding his rum.
The woman smiles at him, inching her fingers up his thigh. He gets up from the seat, moving to one over. "I'm not in the mood."
She pouts before finding another man to pry on. The bartender gives him another shot, leaving the bottle beside him. An hour later, he's drank the whole bottle of rum and he's a but unsteady. Maybe he can't handle the rum as much as he used to. He tips the bartender generously before heading back to the apartment. Looking at his phone, he sees its past seven. Emma has texted him twice asking where he is and if he'd be home for dinner. That was an hour ago. Henry has texted him three other times making sure he was okay. Also if he wanted to play on the video game box.
Running a hand through his hair, he stops at the front door. He knows Emma's going to have a problem with him coming back to the apartment drunk. Especially with Henry home. Fumbling for his keys, he's met with the opening of the door and a pair of very green, very angry eyes staring holes into his head.
"Where the hell have you been?" she bites out.
He faintly stumbles through the door, greeted by a very worried Henry. "You're alive!"
"Henry," Emma looks over her shoulder at her son. "Can you go to your room for a second while I talk to Hook about something?"
Henry glances between the two of them, his eyebrows raising. He doesn't say a word as he walks to his bedroom. Emma hears the door shut and tugs at Hook's collar. "You're drunk."
"Aye, love," he sways closer to her. "Surprised you noticed."
She narrows her eyes at him, not flinching at the alcohol on his breath. "I have a young son living here. It's unacceptable for you to come home drunk. And it's unacceptable to just not let us know where you are. Henry was worried sick!"
"Was Henry worried or were you, love?" he asks her.
Emma lets go of his collar. "You do this again, and I don't give a shit whether you have money or not, you are out of my damned house!" she screams at him, slamming the door to her bedroom.
Later that night, Emma is sitting against her headboard, a pillow against her chest as she stares at the wall. She agreed to a date with Walsh tomorrow to push Hook from her mind. As hard as she might try to deny it, maybe that kiss in Neverland meant something. After he left her office today, she noticed the ping in her heart when she gave him the cold shoulder. She thought it would be easier. Easier to forget about how her heart skips a beat when she sees him first thing in the morning with his rustled hair. Throwing her comforter off her, she pads into the kitchen. It's a little after midnight.
Though she has to be awake for work, she needs something to take the edge off. A drink is just the thing she needs. Pouring herself a shot of rum, she swallows it, cringing at the bitterness of it. How does Hook drink more than one shot of this? One shot isn't enough though, so she throws back three more before her mind starts to buzz. Smiling she heads back into her room, but her body collides with a hard body.
"Swan?" Hook steadies her with his hands on his shoulders.
Smiling, she sways forward and he has to catch her against his chest. "You're warm…" she breathes into his chest. "And your abs…" she laughs.
"Are you drunk?" he quirks an eyebrow at her. After the lecture she gave him earlier tonight, he's surprised to see her like this.
Giggling, she moves her head to nestle in his neck. "You smell like rum and the ocean."
Hook holds in the laughter building within him. "I think you need to go to bed, love."
She pulls back from him, searching his eyes. For what, he doesn't know. Closing her eyes, she moves forward, pressing her lips lightly against his. He doesn't have time to react before she grips his hair tighter and deepens the kiss. Resisting the urge to moan, he pulls away from her. He doesn't want her when she doesn't even know what she wants. Clearly she had too much to drink tonight and doesn't realize what she's doing.
"If I go to bed," she looks at him with hooded eyes, "you have to come with me."
His eyes nearly bulge from his head. She is so going to regret saying this in the morning because he is definitely bringing this up. "Not the best idea you've had, love."
Emma bites down on her lower lip. "Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me," she gives him a wink that he can't help but laugh at.
The next morning Emma wakes up with a pounding headache. Perhaps four shots of rum wasn't the greatest idea. Especially when she has an eight-hour work day and a date with Walsh after. Crap, Walsh.
"Morning," Hook says from over the newspaper he's reading. "Sleep well."
She squints at the sunlight shining through the window. "Like a log."
"Mmmm…Swan," he says to her and she turns back around to him. "I did enjoy that kiss last night and the invite to join you in your chambers. However, I am disappointed in you for getting so drunk with Henry in the house."
Emma's cheeks redden as the events of last night come rushing to her. She not only kissed Hook, but invited him to her bed. And her refused. How embarrassing. Turning on her heels, she heads back into her room to get ready for work. She manages to avoid him the rest of the morning.