"What the hell is between you two, Gold?"
Mr. Gold glanced up from his work on a trinket to see a fuming Emma staring down at him, hands on her hips. He straightened himself and moved away his work, a sly smirk present on his lips all the while.
"What on earth would you be talking about, Ms. Swan?"
Emma was extremely close to grabbing him by the collar of his suit jacket and slapping his head down onto the counter. Instead, her eye just twitched.
"I'm talking about Hook's constant hatred of you, the need for revenge against you, the confrontation at the town line, you beating the crap out of him. As sheriff, I demand to know why there's so much chaos between you two before someone other than Belle gets hurt."
Emma caught a small flinch on Gold's face at the mention of Belle, his nose scrunching up slightly in disgust. Picking up his cane in his right, he traced his left hand along the counter as he moved around to the front, so that he would be standing properly in front of the sheriff.
" I haven't done anything, dearie. Why is it me you're asking and not our favourite pirate? I've heard that he's moved into the Charming household as of recently. Surely you're more likely to get information from your new housemate?"
Emma pursed her lips together and let out a quiet sigh. It was taking everything in her not to punch him.
"I'm asking you, because I thought you might be the bigger person in this situation. I want to know what you did to him to provoke revenge and what he's done to you to provoke… whatever that was two weeks ago."
She was bluffing slightly. She knew it had something to do with a woman named Milah, that much had been said between Hook aimlessly ranting in the hospital and the heated exchange between him and Gold on the road that night. However that was all she knew and so she was leaving it up to both men to tell her the complete truth.
Finally Gold danced his eyes around the room and leaned against the counter, ready to tell his part.
"He stole my wife," he stated quite simply, as if it was just an offhand matter. Of course his behaviour proved otherwise.
"And?" she said, pressing for more details than four words.
"He persuaded my wife to leave me and my young son and both went off sailing the seas, leaving our son motherless. He stole my first love. I think that is worthy of some sort of anger towards him, am I right, dearie?"
Emma didn't react, keeping her eyes narrowed and avoiding Gold's own eyes.
"And what did you do to make him hate you? Why does he want revenge so bad?"
At that Gold let out a scoff, turning back to his counter and picking up the trinket from before.
"He blames me for her death, despite it truly being his own foolishness that got her killed. If that is all then, Ms. Swan, I would like it if you would leave my shop now."
Emma didn't need to be told twice, turning on her heel without even looking back to see Gold's face. The man painted a very nice picture for himself, but she highly doubted he was being as detailed as he could. And of course his telling of it would be in his favour.
Deciding the impulsive Gold visit had taken enough out of her for the morning, she slammed the pawn shop door before pulling out her phone to let Mary Margaret know she was heading to the station for an hour.
"If you want her to be nice to you, you've got to be nice to her, Killian."
Hook rolled his eyes, exaggerating his irritation with the-should-be Queen Snow. He was currently struggling to wash his breakfast plate, having only one hand and just a stump, showing just how much he really relied on his hook.
"Well it's certainly not my fault she acts like she's got a pole up her ar-"
Mary Margaret grabbed his wrist aggressively and pulled it away from the plate, shoving him away from the sink and giving him a small glare.
"Please do not finish that sentence, Killian. You know she has trust issues. Just let her warm up to you in her own time."
He pouted like a ten year old and crossed his arms against his chest.
"Oh for god's sake, Captain. Just give her some time."
Mary Margaret watched him ignore her as she finished drying his plate, and didn't even bother try to stop him when he disappeared off to the sofa.
"They are going to kill each other," she muttered to herself as she dumped the dish cloth onto the counter and placed it in the cupboard. Seeing nothing else that needed cleaning up in the kitchen, she headed out to the front porch to tend to her plants, happy enough to leave Killian on his own in the sitting room.
"So Hook, what's your side of this story then?"
Hook looked from the book he was reading, a Disney picture book of course, and scrunched his dark eyebrows together in confusion.
"Sorry, wh-"
"You and Gold," Emma snapped, folding her arms impatiently. "What's your side of the story? As sheriff it's my duty to settle this goddamn dispute, so talk."
Hook rolled his eyes and tossed the book away, standing up angrily to face Emma.
"Let me guess, he told you some sob story about Milah and how I stole her from him, am I right? Well I hate to disappoint, princess, but the crocodile hasn't been completely honest with you."
His face was now uncomfortable close for Emma, his warm breath hitting off her cheek, but this time she doubted he was being flirtatious. He was positively fuming, his nostrils flaring slightly and his blue eyes bore into the back of her skull. Anger was radiating off him. For once she actually felt intimidated by Hook in a way.
"Well... Wh-what happened then?" She said, her voice becoming much quieter and somewhat timid.
"Would you like me to lie to you and tell you a nice story about how I stole his wife and then he stole her back, or would you prefer the truth?"
Emma stared blankly, not ever seeing this type of passion from Hook. She felt mute as she noticed tears beginning to fill his eyes, his jaw still clenched in anger. Who would've known the great Captain Hook had a tear in him? Emma certainly didn't expect it.
"The truth of course. Jesus, sit down Killian," she ordered, leading him over to the sofa.
If she had to be honest she was a bit terrified he was going to break down crying. But that wouldn't be very captainy now would it?
However he didn't sit down beside her, instead stared down at her as if she'd grown two heads. He gradually moved the arm he had been pointing aggressively at her down to his side, keeping the soles of his feet planted to the ground.
"...What's wrong?" Emma asked, getting more concerned for his seemingly fragile state of mind by the minute. She frowned as he continued to stare at her.
"You called me Killian. Thank you."
He suddenly jerked out of the frozen state he had been in and moved over to sit beside her on the sofa, not meeting her eyes and instead looking down at the plush cream carpet with his one hand resting on his stump. Emma guess he would've been wringing his fingers together had he the other hand.
She soon decided that she wasn't going to comment on the fact she had called him by his name, as she didn't want to ponder on it herself. Why had she said it? Probably a slip of the tongue caused by his apparent misery. Yes, that was it, she told herself.
"I met Milah at a pub one night when we docked. She was on her own of course, was right fun. Then her husband turned up... asked her to come home for her son. I may have been cruel to him then, I know. But I had already accepted that I was a bad person so I couldn't have really cared less,"
Emma tossed a disapproving look at him, causing him to perk up slightly and give her a wink.
"Hey love, I'm a pirate. What do you expect?"
Another eye roll.
"Anyway, she came with us, we fell in love, planned to go back for her son when he was old enough, and then of course, it all turned to shit. One night a couple of years later, we bumped into a beggar on the road. Turned out to be Gold, now as the Dark One. See before we left off in the Jolly Roger with Milah, the imp had come to the ship early that morning, asking for Milah to stay. 'Course she stayed and I said I'd be honorable and duel him for her. Well he wasn't the Dark One then so he let her go. Cowardly bastard. But this time, let me tell yea, love, he had the upper hand. Dueled me and ended up with my sword in one fist and my heart in the other."
He paused his tale to look up at Emma, to try to read her expression. All he could see was sympathy, and most likely pity. It was the nicest attitude she'd ever had towards him so far.
"Milah stopped him of course, said if he spared my life she'd give him a magic bean Smee had. He gave m'heart back and agreed to meet us at the ship in the morning. Obviously it didn't go very well. When he showed up he ended up almost attacking Milah and I ended up with the bean. And he-"
Emma watched as Hook's Adam's Apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed, an actual tear trailing down his left cheek. She reached out instinctively to pat his shoulder soothingly. Obviously I've been around Henry too long, she thought, instantly regretting her actions. But she never took away her hand, only sliding it down his arm to grasp his wrist. The corner of his lips tugged up slightly as his eyes spotted her hand.
"He thrust his hand into her chest and pulled out her heart. And then, right before my eyes, he crushed it. He made her die in my arms only to then chop off my hand. You see now why I pursue this 'foolish revenge'."
Emma spent a moment processing all this new information that Gold had 'left out'. It was only when she felt Hook slip his wrist out of her grasp to replace it with his hand that she was pulled out of her thoughts. She tried to discreetly look down at their joined hands without him noticing, so she could pull her hand away. She was not so lucky.
"C'mon, love. You're being so nice to me, don't stop now."
She looked up into his twinkling eyes, finding her heart beating faster than usual.
"You're not getting a kiss, if that's what you think."
He let out a small laugh at her bluntness and looked back down at her fondly.
"I never said I wanted a kiss. I'd just like it if we were friends. Or at least civil towards each other."
She consider for a moment longer, quickly imagining what life would be like in the house if she and Hook were...friends.
"I think I could live with that."
His mouth stretched up into a grin, and one of his dark eyebrows rose as he looked down cheekily at her.
"Well what is it will do firstly as friends? I'd like to explore the use of the moving people in the magic box."
"No," came his quick reply.
"What, why?"
However Emma didn't reply with words, but with her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. To say he was surprised would have been an understatement, but he didn't say a word about it and tucked his chin on top of her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," Emma finally said into his neck. She took note of the smell of the sea, leather and wood that clung to him, all mixing together to give him his own unique scent.
"...For what?" He mumbled, not yet letting go of her.
"For being horrible to you and not appreciating how nice you were to me; for not taking your feud with Gold seriously, not considering that maybe he really did hurt you."
She finally let him go and got off the sofa. Feeling awkward, she avoiding looking at him as she stepped away. She glanced over at the DVDs on the shelf by the TV and one particular one caught her eye almost immediately.
"What are you doing?" he asked curiously, trying to watch her movements as she inserted the disk into the sliding tray. He was completely bewildered by the magic that the people in this world had harnessed, to create such wonderful and extraordinary things.
"I'm putting on a DVD, and you're going to sit and watch it. And I'll sit and watch your reaction and laugh."
Yes, he thought, watching the blonde princess smile as she hopped back onto the sofa and pulled her legs underneath herself to get comfortable. If them being friends meant she would smile more often he would defiantly enjoy her company.
The magic box lit up and began to tell a story to Hook. The main character in this play was a man named Peter, and he had a wife and two children, a boy and a girl. Well this isn't very exciting, he thought. That was until he saw Emma glancing over at him with a sly smirk on her face, as if she was waiting for something to happen. And then it did. He heard the name Peter Pan, and Captain Hook, and so if he hadn't thought this box was magic before he certainly did now.
"What is this, Swan?" he exclaimed after seeing a fairy take 'Peter' into the sky to go to Neverland. "How is it the people of your world know of Neverland? You say there is no magic here, yet this is obviously evidence that magic does exist here!"
Emma couldn't stop herself from letting out a small laugh. He was looking at her as if she had two heads again.
"It's not magic, Hook, it's science." She stated simply, and then picked up the remote to increase the volume. "Now ssh, you'll love this part."
She faintly heard him grumbling about how she was full of lies and that there must had been spies in Neverland to have known all this information. But soon, he began objecting to the inaccuracies of it all.
"Peter Pan is not a wuss like this man that is portraying him. He is not to be taken lightly and this play makes a mockery of him."
"It's called a film, now ssh."
Soon enough, there was a glimpse of the infamous Captain James Hook, and it took the real life captain a moment to register that this was this world's interpretation of him.
"Wait… No… You cannot be serious! Your people think I'm like that ugly old coote? And James? My name is Killian, not James. What is this?"
Emma was now holding in laughter that would cause stitches, the look on Hook's face making her feel like her chest was about to explode holding in the laughter.
And then, he groaned in disgust.
At this point the laughter was released and Emma felt like she had drunk a bottle of wine. However it seemed she was just enjoying herself too much for once instead of brooding over paper work at the station until eleven at night.
Sounds came from the kitchen, Mary Margaret obviously having finished her planting and now beginning dinner. The sound of the loft door being opened and closed announced David's arrival. But Emma just couldn't bring herself to get up and help with dinner, or greet her father and sit down with hot cocoa as she usually did if she was back from the station.
Instead she stayed where she was; sitting on the sofa, her legs gradually moving from underneath her leading her into more of a lying down position without her knowledge. Hook became engrossed in the 'film' and forgot all worries and noises around him also, and after the first hour of the film, he noticed Emma had unintentionally dropped her head onto his shoulder and had fallen asleep. Looking at her so peacefully asleep brought a wave of tiredness over him as well, the brightness from the TV beginning to hurt his eyes and darkness of the room almost seducing him into sleep. Finally after fifteen minutes of trying to keep his eyes open to see the last hour of the film, he dropped off to sleep, his head resting on Emma's.
"Guys, dinner is read-"
Mary Margaret stopped herself before finishing her sentence and almost 'awh'ed out loud. With her head popped in the doorway, she saw the credits of a film playing across the screen, and Hook and Emma sleeping silently, both with their heads resting against each other. Unable to bring herself to wake them up, she let a smile grace her face.
"I'll just… keep some for you both… then." She mumbled, closing the door quietly.
It would just be her and David for dinner tonight then. Without their daughter there to be humiliated by their romance, Mary Margaret planned her idea for a meal by candlelight for herself and her husband.
David would be pleased.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! Chapter three only has a tiny bit to go and I'll put that up in about... well I might just update every five days now. Depends. But be expecting it in five days folks. If it's not up, nag me. Seriously. Oh and Davis Family Fan? Your scene should be in the next chapter. A little adapted but still very...very... I don't have a word for it. Nevermind! Review guys! Lemme know how it's going.
Next time: Mary Margaret was sitting at the kitchen counter drinking her coffee, instructing Killian how to use the waffle machine. Unfortunately, neither of them saw David coming.