#holly hook

                                          Nothing gold can stay.

Rose sighed dramatically as she watched James accost an innocent individual. She debated leaving, but she was sure he would spend the entire night tormenting everyone there. She wished she could have a drink right about now. 

“Stop harassing innocent bystanders. I am right here.”

James exhaled at the sound of her voice. He turned away from the stranger and walked over to Rose. He was relieved, though it was hardly a happy reunion. He stood in front of her, silent. God damn this woman for always leaving him so out of sorts. He cleared his throat.

“You shouldn’t be at a place like this in your state,” he said.

Rose scoffed. 

“I’m surprised you’re concerned considering the last time we talked you actually accused this baby of not being yours,” she said. It was surprisingly vindictive of her; a part of her could blame pregnancy mood swing. The rest she blamed on James’ face as she broke the news to him and watched him come apart. “I haven’t been drinking. I have just been with friends, catching up.”

James’ jaw clenched. He supposed he deserved that. That didn’t mean he had to like it, though. Some ‘friends’ they were to let a pregnant woman remain in an environment like this. Even he knew better than that. “Fine place to catch up, a bloody bacchanal swarming with shifty looking university students.”

Rose snorted. They both knew most of them frequented James’ bar. It was rich coming from him, though she managed to bite her tongue. “They’re harmless,” she said. Rose eyed the frat boys by the keg and rectified. “Mostly.” 

Rose crossed her arms in front of her, as if she could protect herself from more pain. “James… why are you here?” The last time she had seen him, she told him she was willing to do this herself. She didn’t want her baby to be raised by someone that hated them. “I told you about the baby. I told you what I wanted.”

James looked away, shaking his head. She didn’t really expect him to have this conversation here, did she? He sighed, collecting himself before looking at her again. “Rose… just come back to the bar with me. We’ll talk there. You shouldn’t be here. Not like this.”

Fuck, how had he gotten himself into this mess?

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Unlike many of the others, he remembered who they once were. He remembered he was not really the owner of a bar, but James Hook, captain of the Jolly Roger, the most feared pirate of Neverland. 

As soon as she stepped through the door of his pub, all eyes were on the blonde stranger, including James’. He was intrigued, to say the least. She seemed too pretty, too pristine for his pub. Still, he wasn’t going to look this gift horse in the mouth. With a snap and a shout, one of James’ barback’s was falling over himself to take the flower arrangement out of the woman’s hands. James himself sauntered over as well. “I’m James, the owner of this bar. Now how may I help you Miss…?”

“Briar. Rose Briar,” she said. “I’m doing a flower delivery.” She looked around the establishment, trying to find her footing. She tried not to stare at the giant crocodile perched against the wall or wrinkle her nose the smokey smell filling the room. Her gaze dropped down to his hook and went back up.“Do I have the right place?”

The pleasant smile on James’ face grew wider, “Not even close, love.” He had never seen her, but he had heard of her. Rose Briar. Briar Rose. The Sleeping Beauty. Seeing her up close he knew the moniker was well deserved.

Not taking his eyes off of the sweet little Rose, James snapped again. The barback with the flower arrangement at once appeared at his side. Ah, so satisfying to know he’d trained his employees well. And who said negative reinforcement didn’t work? James turned his head slightly to look at the barback. “Take that to the flower shop down on Main Street. If you’re not back in fifteen minutes, well. Let’s just say you don’t want to find out, lad.”

Rose’s head shot around, confused as to what just happened. The flowers disappeared through the doorway before she could argue. James smiled at her. “Now, Rose, was it? Please do the honor of buying you a drink to make up for any distress this mix up might have caused.”

“Oh, I couldn’t. I mean, I clearly wrote the address wrong. It’s all my fault.” She didn’t want to be rude, but it was the middle of the day. After seeing his mouth poised for more smooth words relented. “I will take a water.” Then, she could be on her way.

************************************************************************************

She wasn’t supposed to fall in love with him.

It wasn’t the age difference, though sometimes it became a bit more obvious that she was twenty-six and he was twenty-five. No, the big issue was the stream of people that came into the pub. They were literally lining up to be with him and Rose felt the jealous seethe within her. They were friends. They were friends. She repeated the mantra so much it stuck inside her heart like a drumbeat.

They were friends.

Then she kissed him and they weren’t.

She always knew they existed in the liminal space between dating and nothingness, but she didn’t expect for her jealousy to overtake her. She pushed him against the wall of the alleyway behind the pub and pressed her mouth to his. For once, she had surprised him.

Then she’d asked him to define their relationship. He refused, but he did take her out on his boat. 

James didn’t want to call her his girlfriend and she didn’t want to share. They both got what they wanted, but never agreed out loud, so there was always the fear one of them would back down, that one of them would break the unspoken rules and end whatever it was they had.

It wasn’t supposed to be love, but it was. At least for her. So, no one expected for her to be the one caught kissing someone else.

She pushed him away when the shock was over but it didn’t change anything. It didn’t change the fact that their child was conceived in a chaise longue in some stranger’s house, while a party raged outside the door. It didn’t change that out of all the times they made love, the one that was fueled by anger and jealousy was the one that made their baby.

Rosie was not prepared for him to grab her hand as they walked out of the party. She knew he didn’t drive, for whatever reason, and she couldn’t afford a car since she was cut off. A fragile attempt to get her to come back home and give up on her dreams of owning a flower shop.

“My place is closer,” she said. “We can go and talk there.”

“Sure your bird won’t try to peck my eyes out again?” he asked.

“That’s only because you kept banging on the door.” 

“He sounds surprisingly human-like.”

Rose snorted. It shouldn’t have been funny, but it was. She remembered he once told her he had been left-handed before the accident. So was she. She wondered if their child would be lefthanded as well.

She was trying to figure out how to bring up the baby when he clutched her hand tighter.

“I have a son.”

Rose stiffened. “What?” 

“I left before he was born. We were seventeen and idiots.” He sighed. “You know Jim, from the pub?”

“The one who always gives me dirty looks?”

“That’s him.”

“He’s....”

“Yeah.”

Rose felt everything begin to pulse as the blood rushed through her head. This was too much.

“He came to find me after his mother passed. That’s why he’s been crashing on my couch.”

He moved to run his hook through his hair before remembering he no longer had a hand there. He sighed. “Rose. I don’t know how to be a dad. I clearly fucked it up the only time I tried. But I’m willing to give it a go. With you. If you still want me.”

Rose could her her parents screaming for her to rethink this, to run away, to run home. But she couldn’t. Maybe god would call her a sinner, but she wanted to be with him. And she knew there was good in him.

“Do you want to move in with me?” 

She stopped so suddenly, he accidentally yanked her arm.

“What?” she yelped.

“Move in with me. I need to find a bigger place anyways. We can close on something before...” he gestured at her stomach.

He avoided her eyes. Rose bit her lip and brought her other hand on his face. She made him look at her. “James?”

“Yeah?”