Hook

“yeah and you had every chance to be fucking honest for over a year and now? NOW you choose to tell the truth? god dammit, james,” she cursed, wanting him to feel the pain that she couldn’t escape from… the pain that he had caused. “you’re doing it again, you’re blaming it all on me? you’re getting pissed that i left after i found out what you did to me? that wasn’t equal, that was manipulation and i could spell it out in ten different languages but you still couldn’t get this pressed into your thick skull.” the sound of his hands couldn’t make a dent in her brain with how angry he was getting. “yeah, RIGHT AFTER you told me the truth, how the fuck was i supposed to listen when you don’t care about me?” 

“don’t you dare fucking call me that,” she said, all the wind in her body nearly leaving. zarina could feel herself slipping, wanting to grasp for air and in the process reach him. “don’t,” she shouted, anger bubbling up. “you could’ve led with sorry but you didn’t, you had so many chances to come clean but you chose then to do it?” she couldn’t believe her ears, “you keep fucking with my head,” she stormed over to him, “why? why do you keep torturing me with your fucked up words?” she laughed, that was rich coming from him, “are you joking? i don’t even know who you are. you kept me at arms length, demanding everything from me and giving nothing back in return. i don’t know anything about you, you’re a stranger.” 

his words left her silent, the anger leaving her body but remaining her eyes, but this time it wasn’t directed towards him. she was angry at herself and being called out on it certainly didn’t help. “you’re doing it again, stop thinking you’re better than me! even if i wanted to come back, even after i begged for you to give me a chance and to be equal, i never will be. you won’t ever let me forget this, you won’t ever let me live anything down. that’s why you always mention the accident right? and my friends, who by the way –– never left me. you won’t let me forget them so i stay with you. how could i miss someone that did that to me?” 

“just because i wanted answers doesn’t mean i care for you in anyway.” 

hook wasn’t sure what to say anymore, words seemed to have left him. heart thumping away against his chest rapidly, feeling himself sober up much too quickly. “goddammit, zarina. of course i wasn’t about to tell you the truth before, don’t you see? can’t you just understand,” he brushed his hands tightly against his eyes. snapping his head back against the wall with a loud thud, wincing at the sudden pain. “i’m not blaming you. i’m giving you facts. i wanted to talk. you didn’t. you left.” 

“call you what? hendricks? that’s your last name,” james said. “there you go. saying that i could of come clean when i did. i didn’t care, zarina. didn’t give a shit about anything but myself, and then things changed.” he glared towards her but not at her, knowing that every word was a lost cause tired him. wanting to just leave her and everything behind. james had changed, that he knew, but zarina only seemed to see who he had been. “i’m not torturing you. you’re here out of your own free will. please, not even you believe that.”

“she says she doesn’t know me. like she doesn’t know i love playing chess. or that poetry is my favorite reading pastime. or that i dream to one day sail away and never come back,” he scoffed. “you know me well, zarina. because you know all the things that are important, but sure say you don’t know me.”

hook stood up straight brushing the dirt from his legs, tugging everything into place. whether he staid or left nothing would change, of that he was certain. “just lets end this. i’m not good for you, and you’re definitely not good for me. everything i say you’re twisting it so that it fits your narrative,” he drawled out. making sure he had his small phone at hand, and wallet, looking towards the end of the alley. “trying to tell you what had happened is for nothing, you don’t actually want to listen. also, just for your information. it was i that found you on that bus in that street in the rain. it was i that took you in and cared for you until you were better. not your friends, not anyone else.” 

   "i’m feeling the love,“ said megara in a sing-song tone. she only watched him as he went back into the cabin. her gaze turned towards the water as she took a breath. she could only smirk at his question,” i do know better,“ she said with a shrug as she began to walk towards the very front of the boat. though she merely laughed as he threw two chairs out the window. she reached for one to unfold it for herself and planted herself onto it,"i still don’t get what you think i have going, i’m just a simple bar tender.”

“It’s at that point in summer where I think putting a popsicle in my juice instead of regular ice cubes is peak innovation.”

she wanted to lunge out and shout, push him to the ground, just to show that she couldn’t be walked over but that’s the furthest thing from the truth. he walked over her constantly, she could kind of see that now but honestly the lines were quite blurred. as he got closer, she could feel the anger in herself wanting to disappear, having the comfort of having someone so close was always a weakness, or so she had thought. her nails dug into the palms of her hands. “im not the weak one! don’t you dare call me that when i went out to help you fucking survive.” but his words cut her off. they were done? thats when she could practically imagine the steam blowing through her ears. “you and i are down? you had everything to do with it, it wasn’t my choice, you sadistic fuck. you were just using me, you always used me,” she shouted. she didn’t care that he was that close to her. “you’re the same drunk that would come home blaming me for being insecure, just to get me to prove my worth. i was your fucking crutch for a vendetta against a child. you don’t get me to fuck off, you get that?” 

she didn’t know why she was doing this, there wasn’t a point, no progress was going to happen and she wasn’t going to forgive him. “but you didn’t deserve one. you didn’t even say sorry, you asshole.” she shook her head, nudging her shoulder against him as she stormed down the alley, just to pace back over to him. “how am i supposed to believe ANYTHING you say after that? you’re the one that fucked up, not me.” 

he just brushed her off, she wish she couldn’t have a bottle of whatever was cheapest to calm her down but no –– she was raging and much to her dismay, sober. taking her hands and shoving them against his chest. “i ask you for the truth and you lie. i told you i needed a place and you manipulated me,” then came another shove. “i just wanted you to prove to me that you made a mistake and you can’t even fucking do that! why couldn’t you just lie? it’s not like i could fucking see them coming! but at last, you even managed to let me down too.” 

“you asked me to be honest, zarina. weren’t you the one that told me to treat you like an equal to me? well, look what that brought us.” hook held onto his jacket tightly, trying to give his hands something to do. no matter what he said nothing he felt like nothing seemed to stick to her, desperate to put distance between them once again. “stop. honestly, just stop. you’re doing it again, zarina.” knuckles cracking at the force he was exerting, walking down the alleyway trying to clear his brain. “I WANTED TO TALK. i wanted to make things right, to explain everything.” 

James laughed at it all, feeling tired and drowsy, even bored with the conversation. “you already fucked off, hendricks. you fucked right off and didn’t even give me a chance to say sorry, so don’t come here acting all mighty.” he scoffed, brushing his hair back. “i’m not going to say i wouldn’t do it away, because that’d be lying. the person i was in that time, and the person i am today are two completely different entities.” leaning against a wall, a couple of meters away from zarina but close enough for her to hear him. 

“but listen to your own words, cap. listen to your own fucken words. you asked me for truth, and i lied, but now you say that i should of just lied?” tilting his head back against the brick to look up at the sky, a hollow laugh escaping him. “please, i might of let you down but you’re still here. you miss me. you crave my presence anyway you can get it.”

  megara was relieved the moment that he showed his face. she merely rolled her eyes as she pulled the bottle from her purse,“ well sadly for you, you don’t get one without the other.” she held the bottle up for him to see before it went right back into the bag. after that she was going to climb aboard without waiting for an invitation,“ you are one of the few people in this town that doesn’t make me want to claw my eyes out.” she took a breath the moment that she got herself settled and glanced around,“ so are you going to give me a tour or should i just make myself at home?”

“No, no! I swear I didn’t touch it! Please don’t get mad, it was not me.”

“Well then,” Helen dropped her bags back into the basket and moved her basket to the side. “I didn’t realize i was taking up so much room.” she really wasn’t though. 

@cpjameshook

   crescentia harbor wasn’t a place that megara found herself in that often. she usually stuck to her normal haunts but she was off work for the night. the idea of going home wasn’t one she could stomach. she wanted to avoid the fountain because wonder boy had suddenly formed a habit of showing up. that was perhaps why she had decided to seek out hook. though she hadn’t come empty handed and had a bottle of vodka from hades’ liquor cabinet. his boat wasn’t that hard to find and she was walking down the dock. a sigh coming from her since it was basically the first time she had shown up,“ james?” she wasn’t sure if she should just climb on or wait for him to show his face,“ i’m bored and i bring brooze and my pretty face.” it would be just her luck that he wasn’t there but it was worth a try. if he wasn’t then she would just get drunk alone and sit there on the edge of the dock.

“Oh,” Marie paused, taking in the person in front of her. “I think you meant ‘Excuse Me’ “

“I’ve worked two weeks straight and this is really not a good time right now.” Helen shifted the bag of groceries on to her hip. She was trying to be the mom who worked and still ran a household to give Bob some type of break. A girl can only be spread so thin though, right? “All I’m asking is five minutes to put these groceries up and to sit down and then I will help.”

“Am I?” he asked, the question innocent enough. Michael frowned, arms crossing with a huff, “There’s no point in being so sour all the time. I mean, really! Where is that going to ever get you!?” 

“God I fucking hate you,” she cursed under her breath even though she knows that’s the furthest thing from the truth. She was haunted by the image and the thought of him, he haunted every corner and every inch of her. There are times where she thinks that he’ll sneak around a street lamp, going to talk her into a corner but here she was, completely untouched… just lost. The last time she felt lost was when Hook picked her up from the train station but now it was different. If he hadn’t of thrown the bottle, she would’ve gone over to him and crouched to be at his level. That’s what they were right or what they were supposed to be, at the same level, right? Equals? But there he was, walking towards her and she didn’t have the strength to walk away, what did she have the strength to do? “Bother?” She was nearly out of breath as he walked closer, taking a half step back, truly not adding to the distance. “Don’t fucking play the victim, this isn’t a tragedy written against you, grow up,” her voice was shaky, hands struggling to make a fist. She wasn’t used to this, she was used to her eyes being glued over his shoulder –– on the SAME team. But this, what was she to make of this? He mentioned how she didn’t have a place to stay when he knew her situation better than anyone –– maybe that’s what hurt more. “This is my home too,” she replied back. She didn’t know why her heart was still beating while he was around, how did he still have this affect on her. “Fuck you…” she said weakly, “I belong here, if not more than you. Even after what we’ve been through, you’re still wicked to me. I gave everything to you and you have the audacity to dismiss me as if I was nothing?” She turned her head towards the side, she couldn’t let her eyes meet his, it was far too painful. “I keep waiting for an excuse that’ll make me come back but your words… they keep fucking me over. Prove me wrong, prove to me that I’m overreacting…. p l e a s e.” 

Hook stood in front of her, just a couple of steps away, close enough to know that he reached up he could touch her. How dare she stand in front of him and ask him to prove her wrong when she had begged her to stay. When he had allowed himself to tell her he cared about her more than he should. “Stop. Just stop, Zarina. Are you so weak that you can’t handle facing the truth? You and i are done, by your own hand at that. So, no. Don’t stand there telling me that i am playing the victim when all i’m doing is telling you to fuck off,” he whispered towards the end. The stench of the alcohol in his breath, knowing that tomorrow he would regret more than just the hangover he would have.

“I begged you to give me a chance. To let me explain myself and my actions. I told-I told you! I told you that everything might of started that way, but it had been a long time since i’d felt in such a way.” he replied angrily, feeling the anger almost sober him up. “I told you that . You disregarded it like it was nothing.” Hook breathed in deeply, taking a step back, holding his arms at his side. “When i tried to tell you that i lo-that i cared for you it didn’t matter. You dismissed it, and then you walked out of my life.”

“Well sorrrry— didn’t realize that by asking an innocent question, I’ll be causing a disturbance in whatever mindset it is that you’re currently having while brutally mutilating a clock.” She scoffed at his childish mockery. Cass then shook her head. “It wasn’t the batteries I was conscious about. Although now that you still have them, maybe you can use them for something much less… aggravating to your sensitive senses.”

He could get under her skin more than anyone else, how dare he be anywhere near her after what he did. How dare he speak like that, out loud for everyone to hear to make her look like the bad guy when he was the one that fucked her over. “Get off,” she shoved as someone nudged her shoulder once more. As he fled the scene, she couldn’t help but storm after him, rage bubbling up in her again. “Hey, you,” she shouted, pushing the door wide open before slamming it shut with her boot. “Shut the up,” she said, putting her hand up, hopefully stopping him from talking. “Fuck me? Fuck me, seriously? Fuck you, Hook. I didn’t do anything to you besides be there for you constantly, when are you going to get a hint and skip town, asshole?” 

   "why does it matter to you why i keep the job i have?“ asked jack, starting to almost feel anxious. he was used to people thinking ill of him. though it was usually over christmas and not the fourth of july,” i can take your suggestions and see what changes i might be able to make but i don’t have final say.“

“I just think it’s a little pointless to completely destroy something. What if you needed it later? What if someone else needed it?” he wondered aloud, raising an eyebrow. “I’ll just move on, then. But don’t be so surprised when someone else gets curious as to why you’re destroying stuff.” 

HIS  SMILE  CURLS  ,  eyes  stiff  .  ❝  I’m  never  growing  up  .  ❞  he  steps  forward  ,  exhaling  .  His  gaze  drops  down  to  his  hand  ,  or  at  least  ,  where  it  used  to  be  ,  ❝  you  didn’t  have  to  grow  up  either  .  You  shouldn’t  have  .  I  liked  you  more  back  then  ,  now  you’re  just  ….   you’re  just  a  codfish  .   A  coward  .  ❞  He  let’s  the  moment  hang  above  ,  before  ducking  around  the  man  ,  winding  up  right  behind  him  .  Feet  guide  him  back  ,  closer  to  the  exit  ,   back  to  SAFETY  . 

❝  but  if  you  say  so  ,  then   I  guess  we  are  done  here  ….  for  now  .  ❞

“funny. i never actually liked you, peter. i liked who i was when i was with you, but now i know better.” hook laughed at himself. peter had been such an essential part of his every day humor, someone whom he relied his mood of the day, and he never saw just how toxic it all was. “a coward? i’m not the one that doesn’t want to grow up peter. i’m not the one that’s scared about the inevitable.”