WILMA COULDN'T LIE — ever since she stopped by the hospital and talked with Killian, before playing him some of her favorite songs, that was all she could think about. Her thoughts revolved around the man now, unable to draw themselves anywhere else, and everything and everyone around Wilma seemed to remind her of the pirate, making it impossible for her to stop and take a single breath without that damned smirk forcing her to blush and smile to herself. It was a stupid crush, tugging on her heartstrings, and Wilma couldn't help but admit that she wanted to see him again — and again, and again...

  However, instead of paying another visit to the bedridden pirate, Wilma had spent the rest of the day by helping her friends with figuring out what the outsider was doing in Storybrooke — which in her opinion was absurd, because it wasnt like she was a fairytale character murderer, so why would the next guy be? Still, she helped out with figuring out the mystery of Greg Mendell, which took most of the day. After what she could finally call decent nine hours of sleep, Wilma had headed out and taken a stroll in the fresh air before finding her way to Granny's diner and ordering a grilled cheese to kick off the day.

  Yet she still couldn't stop thinking about Killian damn Jones.

  "What's up?", Ruby's voice startled Wilma, who looked up from the sandwich crumbs on the empty plate in front of her, and clearing her throat, the latter flashed a smile as Ruby lifted an eyebrow. "I hope my sandwich isn't causing that frown on your face", the waitress chuckled, and shaking her head, Wilma did the same before shooting Ruby a grateful look for the delicious sandwich she had truly enjoyed with every single bite.

  Sheepishly smiling, with her fingers fumbling with the hem of her shirt, Wilma looked up at Ruby. "Oh— no, it's... nothing's wrong. I'm just... thinking about something", the woman explained with pink cheeks, a somewhat apologetic look in her hazel eyes as she pursed her lips and looked at Ruby, who seemed to catch her drift.

  "Or, maybe, someone?", the woman suggested, leaning towards Wilma with an interested look, and frankly, Wilma was this close to cracking and revealing all about the crush she was harboring in her heart, the intense feelings that only bubbled to the surface whenever she saw Killian or even his name was mentioned, but before she had the time to speak, Leroy saved the situation.

  The dwarf ordered three coffees from Ruby, who gave a meaningful look to Wilma, but instead of pressuring the woman more, she started to work on Leroy's request while the man took a seat by the counter to catch his breath. "I'm going to help Snow and Charming with finding Cora", he told Ruby, whilst Wilma closed in her own shell again and remained quiet, although she was close enough to hear the conversation between the wolf and the dwarf.

  "How do you plan on doing that?", Ruby questioned, and Leroy's answer was simple and the thing that earned Wilma's attention — all of it.

  "Charming has an idea. Apparently Cora came here with Captain Guyliner, so we're going to ask him nicely. If that doesn't work, we'll find other methods", Leroy explained, and Wilma perked up instantly, her eyes widening and brightening with undeniable joy, as she nearly stumbled off of her seat and flashed an innocent grin at Grumpy. The dwarf turned to look at the woman with a confused look whilst Ruby did the same and handed the coffee cups to Leroy, but Wilma couldn't help it — only the mention of... Captain Guyliner, it was enough. And if her favorite breakfast companion, Prince Charming and his lovely wife were going to pursue Killian and find out what the new villain in town was plotting, she wanted in.

  Clearing her throat, Wilma lifted her eyebrows and smiled widely, unable to hold it back. "You wouldn't mind some extra hands to help, would you?", she questioned, before nudging Grumpy, "especially when Killian only has one."

———

  THE COOL BREEZE pulling at Wilma's chestnut locks caused the woman to smile to herself as she walked beside Mary Margaret, her wide eyes curiously looking around the surroundings that had already grown quite familiar to her over the couple of visits she had paid to the docks. It wasn't cold, but chilly enough for Wilma to tug on her trench coat in attempts to avoid the wild wind, but nonetheless, she liked what she was experiencing — the familiar smell of the sea, the atmosphere she remembered from her fishing days with her father, the glorious ships and adorable boats resting by the pier. Of all the places she had visited in Storybrooke by now, this was rather likely her favorite. Especially with something beyond beautiful right in front of her — dressed in his usual long leather jacket, Killian was limping towards The Jolly Roger with David, Leroy, Mary Margaret and Wilma right behind him.

  As if Wilma hadn't been confused enough by all these relations to one another, she had now heard from Mary Margaret that Cora was Regina's mother, and also the reason she became the Evil Queen in the first place, kind of — she did kill her true love and did plenty to drive Regina over the edge. And now, Cora was in Storybrooke, brought there by Hook on his ship, which had led the group to the docks where they were led by Killian, and David, who clearly didn't trust the man enough to let him walk very far away. But whilst the two, and Leroy, walked up ahead, Mary Margaret and Wilma stayed behind just enough to conversate without any curious ears listening on.

  "So... I've been wondering — should I call you Mary Margaret or Snow?", Wilma spoke up bravely, glancing at the former princess, who chuckled lightly, but instead of amusement she seemed to be full of kindness beyond belief. That was visible in her caring eyes as she turned over to Wilma and looked at her with a ghost of a smile tugging up her lips, and Wilma couldn't help but return it.

  Exhaling deeply, Mary Margaret eventually shrugged as some kind of response. "Whichever you prefer, sweetheart", she replied with the happy smile still dancing on her lips, and nodding, Wilma glanced at the woman before settling with the latter option — Snow. To be honest, Wilma felt like Mary Margaret was a piece of the woman's past, something that she wasn't really, until she grew into that personality, but as she looked at the brave yet good-hearted princess with a bow and some arrows in hand, Wilma deemed Snow just right.

  "Right, well, Snow... Could I ask you something?", Wilma asked, and once she had been nodded at, she swallowed thickly before continuing. "If you were, say, um... crushing on someone, what would you do?", she finished awkwardly, her cheeks heating up as she glanced at Killian, not ever wanting to look away but to avoid being obvious, she did. Mary Margaret — Snow — smiled immediately, feeling a familiar shade of giddy, as it had been all Wilma could concentrate on lately, and with bravery, Snow took Wilma's hand and squeezed it tightly, earning the other woman's attention. The two of them stopped walking, perhaps to avoid anyone hearing, perhaps to avoid reaching their destination before the conversation was ready to be ended. Nonetheless, the two stuck behind and stood in the wind whilst the men continued their way.

  "I'd tell them. Or at least make a move. I did that, and it turned out to be very much worth it. But if I only had done it quicker, maybe Charming and I would have been together sooner. So, whatever you do, don't hold back", Snow breathed out, grabbing both of Wilma's hands and looking into her eyes, "getting rejected... it sucks, but you'll heal. But not knowing? Now that's something you'll regret forever", she instructed Wilma, who felt shaken to her core by the strong piece of advice she swore to never forget. She didn't know if she had the guts to actually do what Mary Margaret was suggesting, but she was going to remember it, for sure. Partly because it was actually solid advice, partly because it was advice from Snow White. Perhaps that was why it was so wise, anyway.

  Smiling, Wilma nodded. "Thank you", was her simple display of gratitude, but the sparkle in her eyes, the wide smile, the tight squeeze of hands, it was enough to tell Mary Margaret that it did mean something to her. Therefore, they stood there for a couple of seconds, holding hands and smiling at each other like best friends, or perhaps mother and daughter — even if Snow already had a daughter, and Wilma had a mother. Or at least used to.

  But eventually, the two continued to walk, but they didn't get very far when Snow had already nudged Wilma slightly and flashed a mischievous smile at the woman.

  "Now, if you don't mind me asking, is this crush of yours Hook?", Snow asked carefully, and at that very instant, Wilma turned red and kicked the ground with a sheepish smile on her twitching lips. And even if she would have chosen not to answer the curious question, it would have been pretty damn clear. With that in mind, Wilma shrugged and looked over to Snow with flushed cheeks, which already gave away the answer.

  "I prefer Killian", she pointed out, but sighed dreamily then, "I mean, it is kind of unbelievable how hot he is", biting on her bottom lip as she looked away from Snow just enough for her adoring gaze to land on Killian, who stopped nearby and looked around only for his hypnotizing, blue eyes to lock with Wilma's and send shivers throughout her body in the process. Even worse was when the man flashed a damn smirk at her, and she was nearly jelly by now, about to swoon and melt and drool over the dashing pirate tugging on her heartstrings.

  She wasn't sure how it had even happened, how he had made her so weak, but now, every time she looked at him, things just felt right. It had started out slow, but the edge had arrived sooner than expected and Wilma had fallen straight down — and was still falling. And each time she looked at Killian, and he looked back at her with the most intense of gazes, she sank a tad more.

  "Just be careful", Snow pleaded, and nodding, Wilma smiled at the woman as convincingly as possible to ease her worry.

  "Always", she confirmed bravely.

  As the two women approached the men they had allowed to lead the way, Killian turned around with a disgruntled, almost even offended look on his face, his working hand clutching his chest whilst he limped towards the invisible ship of his. "You didn't even ask me about my recovery", he pointed out with his lips pulled into a frown, which was twitching with desire to break into a mischievous smirk. And chuckling, before anyone else could do the honors, Wilma decided to fix the terrible atrocity of not asking Hook if he was okay. Although admittedly, the woman was genuinely interested in finding out.

  "How are you feeling, Killian? You okay?", she questioned, walking over to the man and eyeing him cautiously to spot any signs of being unwell — luckily, excluding the limp and the bruises forming on his sharp features, he seemed fine. And concluding from the smirk that finally broke free and spread out on his tempting lips, he was.

  "Well, beautiful, you could always come closer and feel for yourself, if you'd like to get another taste of the goods?", Killian lifted an eyebrow flirtatiously, and as the man radiated with confidence, Wilma turned red and looked down to avoid eye contact with him in the knowledge that her heart was already on the verge of bursting in her chest. But at the same time, slight panic kicked in as she realized that Killian had just revealed something she had been keeping a secret buried under some little white lies that now caused Wilma to feel guilty for ever taking that path — and now Snow, David and Leroy knew that there was something beyond their awareness.

  And the look on David's face was kind of priceless, kind of intimidating. "Another?", he let out in shock, which was also widening his eyes as he directed a worried look to Wilma, before facing Hook. "Another?", David spat again, but this time, more bitterly and angrily as he glared at Killian and grabbed the man from his collar, not afraid to threaten him for whatever he had to do with Wilma. So he threatened him indeed, assuring that he would gladly cut off the other hand too, which caused the pirate to back off willingly.

  "Ah, calm yourself, prince", he attempted to comfort David, along with a few promises of not getting involved with Wilma in any way — promises, all of which turned out to be quite empty and meaningless, as the man had barely finished what he was saying, when he directed a tempting wink towards Wilma. But instead of clinging onto the tension between the two, David preferred ignoring the atmosphere in the air and cleared his throat before asking where the hell Hook's ship was.

  After bantering just a tad more, Killian eventually gave in and started to limp towards The Jolly Roger, which surprised everyone except Wilma, who merely flashed a toothy grin at her friends before following the pirate into the invisible ship. After nearly stumbling on the few steps, but gracefully avoiding a painful landing flat on her face, Wilma had managed to climb aboard and so did the rest of their little group. Although it was Wilma's second visit on the vessel, she was still breathless for a moment, and as Killian proceeded to answer Leroy about whether the ship could travel between worlds, the woman looked around with wide eyes and parted lips, adoration evident in her features — which Hook noticed, and he couldn't help but grin with fondness and a hint of pride as he looked at Wilma walking around and admiring The Jolly Roger.

  As Wilma wandered around, the rest of them discussed Cora's plans and discovered a cage, and once the woman noticed a seemingly innocent man slumbering inside, her attention was earned as well and she rushed to David's side before asking the obvious.

  "Who's that?"

  Killian cleared his throat, forcing a small smile as he replied lightly, "He's a giant", as if it was no big deal — however, instead of intimidating Wilma with his choice of words, the woman was quite amused by this, and couldn't stifle a snort as she glanced up at Hook with a look questioning whether he was serious or not.

  "Not sure how things worked back in the Enchanted Forest, but here, giant means something a tad bigger than... that", Wilma smiled, nodding towards the sleeping man whilst wiping away the eager locks pushed to tickling her face by the chilly wind. If anything, this giant looked rather adorable, and it encouraged Wilma to keep on smiling as she looked up at Killian, who snorted in return but maintained the eye contact she feared would end her one day.

  "Love the sass, darling", Killian pointed out, before continuing, "this giant just happens to be reduced to a normal size by Cora, but in reality, he's quite the tall lad", which only caused David to roll his eyes. The sheriff seemed to be having quite enough, as he then decided to step in and demand for answers, which only led into the inevitable — David getting annoyed and grabbing Hook by his throat, but despite causing Wilma to jump at the sudden, aggressive way to handle things, it got results, and Killian offered them the key to the cage so it could be opened and the giant could be questioned.

  As Snow opened the cage and knelt beside the man, Wilma took a step behind — not that she doubted his intentions, if anything, she liked to see the good in people, but she couldn't even imagine what was going through his head. Taken, caged, and now surrounded by strangers, it had to be an unpleasant situation for the travel-sized giant, which encouraged Wilma to take a step behind and hum I Want To Break Free — no pun intended — as she watched Snow carefully wake him up and assure that everything was okay — that he was safe.

  With Snow's help, he climbed out of the cage and looked around warily, but once he was promised that Cora was out of sight and couldn't hurt him, he seemed to relax just a bit. The sight made Wilma smile and have belief in whatever Snow and Charming were planning on doing, but it was the moment Charming even set a finger on the small giant when things went south. Anger and betrayal just lingered in the air as the giant, who had introduced himself as Anton, faced David and ended up punching him straight in the face, so hard the prince flew across the ship and landed rather painfully after a glorious fly through the air.

  With what seemed to be almost instinctive, Killian used his good hand to grab Wilma and reel her to safety, away from Anton, who knocked Leroy down just as easily as he did with David. Wilma had no intention to run head-on into danger either, so she remained close to the pirate, nearly body to body as she followed the situation and how it unfolded, with Snow stopping Anton from killing David, which he surely would have done if he only could. But instead, he fled the ship, but not before he had sworn vengeance, which left them, especially Wilma, with wide eyes and shock spreading all over her.

  "I feel like that was one of those moments where dramatic music plays and everyone immediately regrets everything", she just breathed out — and she wasn't that far from the truth, either.

»»»

ahh this chapter was a bit longer again, but i hope it wasn't too long ((:

++ wilma + david is totally the brotp of the book just saying