Here we go! I really hope you guys will like this one:)
Emma sits on the edge of her bed. It's two hours left until midnight, and she doesn't feel tired at all. Usually, this is the time she'd go to sleep. She had at least five cups of coffee earlier at Granny's, she's definitely not going to fall asleep tonight.
She pucks up the note from her desk and reads it a few times. Then she opens it. There's another sentence, written with smaller letters, she wrote it in the morning. She keeps staring at the words, tries to realize what they mean, but her head becomes dizzy. She takes a deep breath. She'll propably forget about it the next day, and the sentence will still be there, but it's actual meaning will be lost to her.
But whoever she will be in the morning, that person needs to know it.
As Hook enters the room, she writes another sentence under the first one, then hides the note in her drawer. When it's over, she'll figure it all out. She stands up.
"Are you okay?" he asks. He looks so unusual with casual clothing on, having both of his hands. It's like he was part of the curse that brought everyone to Storybrooke, and he is part of their lives now. He is just Killian Jones.
What if she wakes up the next morning and she won't remember him?
She glances at the drawer for a second before saying, "Yeah. I'm fine. Bit of scared, but I'm okay."
He gives her a smile, warm and encouraging, as he steps closer. "We'll figure this out."
"How many times have you told me that?" she whispers, staring at her own hands. "What if one day I just won't believe it? What if I go back so far that I won't know who any of you are? I thought I found a family and now it's slowly drifting away and there's nothing I –"
"Hey, shhh", he leans in and holds her in his arms. She hadn't realized she started crying.
His hand caresses her hair, his other arm is around her shoulders, she feels the tip of his nose buried in her neck as her arms find their way around his waist, and she knows what she had just written on the note is all true.
He slowly lets go of her, even if he doesn't want to. He wipes her tears away with his fingers and she closes her eyes.
"Your parents made some tacos", he says. "Whatever those things are."
She laughs, but her eyes are still sad.
"We're all staying up with you. See what happens at midnight."
Emma gasps. He can't help but hugs her one more time, just holds her tight. "Look, Emma. It may take some time, but we'll find a way eventually. It's only been a week and we made good progress. If there's anything I learned from you and your family in the past few days is that good always wins. And you're good."
She buries her face in his shirt and takes a deep breath. He wants to stay this way but her parents are really waiting downstairs, and he doesn't want to answer questions.
"Come on", he says and lets go, this time fully, only their hands are touching.
She nods. "Can you tell me about the previous days?" she asks as they approach the stairs. She can see her family in the kitchen, preparing for the night like it's just a party or something. "What I was like, what I did", she adds, looking up at him coming after her.
"Of course."
"No, you're doing it wrong!" she says, laughing. She takes the egg from him and cracks it. "See? You have to be careful with it."
"That seems really easy to do, lass – with two hands."
"Well, maybe you should tell Gold to give your hand back. Given that you're not trying to kill him, it would be an amazing start of a friendship."
He laughs at the thought. She cracks another egg then looks up at him.
"I'm serious. It's worth a try."
Killian shakes his head. "What, should I just walk into the shop and go all 'Yo, Crocodile, you got something of mine and I want it back'?"
"'It might come in handy sometime'", she adds, trying to copy his accent. He bursts out laughing.
"Alright, you gotta work on that, Swan."
"We'll have plenty of time, right?"
Emma hands him the last egg, and he bites his lip as he cracks it on the side of the plate. She helps him with her left hand and they slowly open it.
"Perfect", she says with a smile. "Wow, I'm teaching Captain Hook how to crack an egg."
"You should feel honored."
She pokes him with her elbow. "I am. I just won't remember it."
He sighs. "Tell you what. Maybe tomorrow you won't, but one day you will. And we'll have a good laugh mentioning it up."
"Telling old stories at the fireplace", Emma adds, this time with a voice that sounds like Snow's.
"Bedtime stories for the grandchildren, you know", he answers. She starts laughing so hard she has to lean against the bar. They keep laughing, then trying to stop it, then looking at each other and starting it all over again.
She takes a few slower breaths to calm herself down before asking, "Do you have kids?"
He blinks. "Do I look like I have any?"
"Well, you're… you know. Nothing, I'm sorry."
"It's fine", he says as he steps to the sink to wash the last of eggs off his hook. "I could have some, I guess. I don't know."
She nods. "Henry likes you, you know."
Killian smiles at it. "He's a great lad. Reminds me of Bae when he was young."
He looks back at her after realizing what he just said. "Emma, I didn't mean to –"
"Um, no, it's fine. It's weird to know he's… dead, and that I was there. I only wish I'd remember what I said to him, if there was anything. You know there were things I wish he knew about."
He nods.
"But really", she adds. "It's fine."
"The first day you chained me to a table", he says, the corner of his mouth twitches up as he remembers. They are sitting at the dining table with two glasses of champagne, her parents are playing something with Henry. Regina is still at the shop, though it's half past eleven.
Emma leans closer, "Really?"
"Aye", he nods. "We had a really friendly conversation you know, and then I wake up and – the bloody handcuffs again."
"You must be really sick of them."
"Damn right I am. But that's not the point, you see, we didn't know what the whole curse was about back then, and you said you want your family safe, so we went to sleep at the sheriff station."
"We?" she asks. "How did we become so big friends?"
"Well, to be honest, you said you'll go to the sheriff station and I said I'm coming with you, whatever you say."
"That sounds a lot more like you."
He nods.
"But really, what happened before that?" she asks. There is something inside of her that makes her trust him, and she doesn't understand.
"What makes you so curious?"
"I don't know, I'm trying to figure things out", she says. "I wrote myself a note with important stuff, so that I know what's up, and it's kinda weird that it has 'You can trust Hook' written on it, without an explanation. I want to hear the explanation."
He takes a sip from his champagne and grins. He clearly doesn't like it. Her thoughts wander about his bottle of rum, the one he used to clear her wounds with, but then it hits her that it's another vulnerable, soon-to-fade memory, and she didn't want to go there.
"Explanation, huh?"
She nods.
"Well, um. Tamara and Greg told me to help them destroy the city with Regina's self-destruct crystal, and I agreed. But then I realized killing the Crocodile is a stupid thing to die for, and I came here to tell you about their plans. Long story short", he says, pulling out a small, crystal-like bean from his pocket, "you could have escaped with this, but instead you chose to send the self-destruct through the portal and try to save the city. It was not a sure plan, so I took the bean and ran. By the time I changed my mind and came back, you already saved the town."
"And that's when I got cursed."
"Yeah, around that time."
She sighs. The way he talked about what he did, there was so much self-hatred in those sentences. She grabbed his hand above the table, and the words she wrote on her note started twirling around in her head. She won't remember this. She'll forget about all of it, and ask him again, tomorrow. And the day after that, and the day after that, and she hates it.
Soon she will forget about him, too, and the thought scares her.
"Hook, there's something I –"
"Wait", he says, standing up. "It's midnight."
"What?" she jumps up too and stares at the clock. Just like everyone else.
She counts the seconds, one by one.
It's past midnight.
And nothing happens.
So, what did you think?
I really like to keep you guys waiting. The next one comes on Wednesday, because I am just like that.