James Hook

“But you make me happy,” She said. This conversation they’d had forever and she somehow knew that it would never end either. It was an endless cycle, but it made her glad in someway. “You always have. I always want you to be happy, even though I know you’d be glad to be a bitter hermit for the rest of your life,” Her lips quirks upwards as she teased him.

Cherry laughed with him before untucking her head to look up at him. His smile was a rare thing. She always did her best to keep him smiling but she didn’t always have success. “If it makes you happy Daniel should cook all the time,” she smiled gently.

A part of him was willing to let the smile drop when Cherry pulled away but he knew how much it meant to her to see him smiling. She was one of the few reasons that he did smile most of the time, and he was sure she knew that. If seeing him smile.

She hugged the switch closer. She nuzzled her head closer to his throat to hear his breath and heartbeat. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like to hear those sounds every day. To be In a home where she could cook out of love and want and not just for employment. 

Her heart ached so hard that a deep part of her wanted to sob. She had never wanted anything so much in her life, but it was something she couldn’t exactly ask for.

“James, what are you talking about? I’m a chef. You two wouldn’t cook. I would,” She laughed weakly. “But you’re right. No one can make tea like you can,”

“Not every day, I wouldn’t allow it. Plus potentially seeing Daniel flail around in the kitchen is too much of a funny thought to not let it happen just once, you know?” He asked with a quiet laugh.

Cherry pressed her face against his shoulder, taking in the scent of his shirt and soap. She tried not to be too tactile with James. She knew he could be funny about touching, but she couldn’t help herself. She just needed too. She just needed to be close to him and feel his warmth and his strong arms. It was different than being in people’s arms who didn’t care. 

“If I could be with you or Daniel forever, I’d never complain about anything ever again,” Cherry said in a small voice. They had all joked about her staying with them, of what their futures could be like, but she’d never said the words out loud. She was scared of rejection or it being impossible. She would be expensive and didn’t want to be that kind of burden on James.

James gently rested his head atop Cherry’s and he slowly started to rub his hand up and down her back in a slow movement, hoping to give her some comfort. They had often talked about getting Cherry out of there and whilst for the most part it had been something that was joking and hypothetical both he and Daniel had considered it as something that they would work towards. They would go on more adventures, sell more treasures, save more money and they would get her out of there. It would be the three of them against the world.

Cherry shook her head and stepped forward, fitting herself against James and hugging him tight. She didn’t know how else to express everything she was feeling. She never wanted to be apart from him again. She had already experienced that once when he was drawn to the other world for a number of years.

 “I just…want to be safe,” She murmured against him. “I don’t ever want to lose you, James,”

It was second nature for his arms to wrap gently around the sub as she pushed herself towards him. It wasn’t often that he did physical contact with people but he would never, ever deny Cherry the right to it. She was one of the few good constants in his life and he wasn’t about to ruin that when he knew that they both needed this.