SHOCK WAS THE uppermost emotion conquering and overcoming all of Wilma as the woman stared into the ocean eyes of a sole stranger sitting in the armchair of her room, with a smile he intended to radiate with sheer innocence dancing on his lips. She was somewhat incapable of comprehending how and why there was a man in his room — an attractive one, at that. But not even the piercing eyes, the plump lips, the overall flawless features could take away the confusion within Wilma, who was still wondering whether or not this man was to be considered dangerous or a threat, and if she should be running for the hills by now. But eventually, curiosity got the best of Wilma, and after what could be considered an awkward amount of silence, she finally opened her mouth to react.

  "You know, if you're looking for a place to stay, I'm sure Granny would be more than willing to give you a room. You don't have to break into mine", Wilma spoke, not even bothering to chuckle as she stayed at a safe distance and observed the stranger, who, well, was definitely not from this world. Or at least Wilma gathered so, from the excessive amount of leather he was wearing and the whole appearance that made him look like a fairytale character — which he probably was. She was unable to draw her attention away from the man, especially when the son of a bitch flashed a smile which was probably one of the prettiest Wilma had ever had the privilege of witnessing — a bright grin with a hint of amusement, followed by a dry chuckle.

  "That sounds doubtful, beautiful. Besides, I may or may not be hiding, in a way. I thought this room was empty, so I came here to keep an eye on things, so to say. Clearly, I was mistaken", he clarified, before attempting to find a better position on the seat, and then shooting Wilma a flirtatious smirk. "Although, perhaps this is just better", he winked, earning a chuckle from the woman, even if her heart leaped against the common sense in the back of her mind, but she just blamed it on the mischievous smirks being sent her way.

  Then, the man sat up a little better and Wilma could see his hand pressed against his side, with stains of blood on his slender fingers, earning a worried, sympathetic look from Wilhelmina, who took a step closer in the belief that he wasn't going to harm her, even if he claimed he was hiding, meaning he wasn't all that innocent. Nonetheless, Wilma approached him to observe the source of blood with concern shining bright in her soft, kind eyes.

  "What happened?", she questioned carefully, directing a troubled gaze to the stranger, unable to stop the desire to help from kicking in.

  Shrugging it off as nothing serious, the man glanced down at his wounded side before looking up at Wilma with an improved smile. "Ah, the life I live is full of dangers, love. Worry not, I will be alright", he assured to offer the brunette some comfort and relief, and snorting, Wilma nodded in agreement.

  "Indeed you will, because I'm going to do something about it", the woman responded sassily, as she remembered seeing a first aid kit somewhere in the room, and with a little effort, she managed to locate the set she needed to tend to the stranger's wounds. With the kit in hand, Wilma knelt in front of him, which caused the man to lift an eyebrow in a mischievous manner, earning a shake of her head from Wilhelmina. "Not a word", she muttered, assuming he was holding back several dirty jokes she would rather not hear for multiple reasons. And surprisingly, he obeyed and kept his mouth shut as Wilma opened the kit and took out the essentials.

  "Do you mind taking your shirt off?", she asked, feeling a flood of warmth rush into cheeks as she glanced down to avoid eye contact with the man in the knowledge that it would only cause great embarrassment for Wilhelmina. But even if she refused to look up at him, it didn't stop the man from laughing lightly.

  "What, you're not going to buy me a drink first, love? Bold", he teased as he proceeded to unbutton his vest with one hand, "I like it", which made Wilma roll her eyes, yet she smiled as she looked up at the man. He clearly seemed to struggle with undressing by himself, using only one hand, but to avoid being nosy and overly confident, she didn't offer any help or ask any questions, just sat there and waited for the man to reveal the wound so she could sanitize it, for starters.

  Eventually, he succeeded and Wilma took the right to unveil the nasty cut on his side, and with her breath getting stuck in her throat, the woman revealed his bare chest and tried to pretend like the heat on her face wasn't there. But it didn't mean it went unnoticed by others.

  "No need to be embarrassed, sweetheart. If it makes you feel any better, this is quite the familiar situation to me", he pointed out, and with that, Wilma pressed the cotton pad soaked in sanitizer against the bloody wound — which wasn't too deep, luckily — and made the man gasp sharply at the sudden pain shooting through him. Lifting an eyebrow, Wilma looked up at him, and was met by a curious gaze, which she returned.

  It was there and then that Wilma realized how beautiful the stranger was, with his tempting lips curved into a teasing smirk, his blue eyes giving away his emotions, the rough stubble Wilhelmina was tempted to run her fingers across, the tousled dark hair or the simple, yet flirtatious lift of an eyebrow that sent her heart on a journey over the moon and far beyond. Even if Wilma knew absolutely nothing about this guy, she was glad it was him who had decided to break into her room — at least he had plenty of charm, which he didn't fear to direct at her.

  "So... Who are you?", Wilma broke the silence between them, glancing down again as she gently patted the cotton pad against the wound, making him breathe heavily at the sharp jolts of aching, but he appreciated the attempt to either get to know him, or draw his mind elsewhere — perhaps even both. Despite the fact that he had given Wilma plenty of reasons to doubt him, she felt intrigued, and she wasn't going to allow herself to be scared away.

  "Captain Killian Jones, at your service, darling. Though most people prefer to call me by my leading feature", he introduced himself, his velvety accent like music to Wilma, before he then lifted his other hand, which he had been successfully hiding until now. "Hook", he finished, showing the shiny, sharp hook he had as a hand, and he could feel Wilma jumping slightly against his body as her eyes found themselves on the reflection shining on his substitute hand. However, instead of being scared, she only grew more interested as she observed the object, along with a sense of amazement now that she knew Captain Hook was real too. She just never expected him to be so — well, hot.

  "Right", Wilma chuckled, "nice to meet you, Killian", she responded then, before grabbing a gauze pad to cover the wound. Softly, she shielded the cut, her fingers grazing over his muscles whilst finishing up and making sure he was alright, which made the both of them tense, but neither addressed the evident tension that descended between them.

  "Not Hook?", he questioned, surprised that the woman called him by his actual name, as his eyes curiously followed Wilma, who got up and closed the first aid kit while taking it back to where she found it from.

  Shrugging, Wilma turned back to Killian and smiled carefully. "I find it rather rude, to be honest", she admitted, and the man knitted his eyebrows together in confusion.

  "It's a nickname."

  Chuckling, the woman nodded her head, causing Killian to show equal signs of amusement as she took a seat on the bed opposite the chair he was still sitting on. "And are you going to call me by a nickname too, then?", she replied, her eyes following his movements as he began to button his clothes with the one hand he had left, not capable or even willing to look away. There was something about him, something irresistible, and although Wilma felt like that was a thought he brought out in most women, she didn't stop herself from enjoying the fact that perhaps the notorious Captain Hook would make her friend list. She surely wouldn't mind.

  "I don't even know your name to begin with, but aye. I find you rather charming", he responded, pushing himself up from the chair, and as he did, Wilma forced herself to do the same to find herself standing in front of him and staring up into his hypnotizingly beautiful eyes. The look in his eyes was quite intense, full of attention and interest and all of it directed at Wilma — it was the kind of look that could have caused Wilma to spontaneously combust right there and then.

  "Sorry, I think that one's taken", she smiled, thinking back to David — or Charming — before adding, "I'm Wilma", earning a nod from Killian. Their eyes were locked in the most intent of ways, and Wilhelmina could feel his warm breath on her face as she stood there, stopping him from leaving, although it was merely what she considered best for him, someone who was just bleeding on her armchair.

  "Lovely name. Suits you", Killian grinned, and completely ignoring the attempt at flirting — successful attempt, at that — Wilma drew in a deep breath and moved away enough for personal space to be recreated, but not enough for the Captain to run out of the room, although she suspected he had no intentions to do that, anyway.

  Looking around, Wilma pondered on how to form a sentence that wouldn't come out creepy or anything alike, before setting her gaze back on Killian. "I think you should stay for the night", she began, and the man's eyes widened at the unexpected suggestion, but before he had any time to interject with a teasing remark, Wilma had continued. "Only for your safety. You're obviously hurt, so...", she gestured towards the wound she had fixed up, and Killian glanced down as he realized it was still there, a nuisance slowing him down, but it wasn't all that bad. After all, a beautiful woman had just suggested him staying in her room for the night, and it wasn't anything like him to turn down such a tempting offer.

  Looking up at Wilma, Killian flashed a smile. "Shall we share the bed then?"

———

  GROANING IN DISCOMFORT, Wilma woke up as she rolled on the mattress she had discovered in the closet and slept on for the night, whilst Killian had taken the bed — it had been a fight of twenty minutes at the very least, with him insisting on being a gentleman and letting Wilma sleep in the bed, and Wilma arguing back with the fact that Killian was some kind of a guest for now, and therefore, he was going to take the bed. And at some point, the pirate had understood that Wilma wasn't going to give up, so even if it was against his nature, he succumbed and ended up having a far more comfortable slumber than Wilma.

  Wilma opened her eyes then and stared at the bland ceiling for a while, listening to the silence all over the room, excluding her quiet breaths — but none were coming from the bed. Eventually, the feeling of loneliness got the best of Wilma, and the woman ended up sitting up only to find an empty bed with no Killian in sight, meaning that he had bolted early in the morning, and the realization made Wilma sigh as she climbed up to both feet and stretched. The room was back to normal, and it took Wilma a while to wonder if last night had been anything more but a dream she ended up having as she passed out due to immense exhaustion, but she came to the conclusion that it was all real — Captain Hook was real, and so had been the tension lingering in the air until the very end.

  However, even if Killian was gone, that didn't come in the way of Wilma's plans for the day, as she had late in the evening decided to stop by the library today, to find a few books, but more importantly, to meet Belle. And that was exactly what she did after getting dressed and getting a bagel from Granny's diner to munch on as she made her way to the library.

  Carefully, Wilma opened the door and sneaked in, but instead of a cozy, lovely place, she found a complete and total mess, havoc had taken over the place and the scattered books and fallen shelves caused the bagel to drop from between Wilma's red lips. With horror spreading out within her like a wildfire fed with gasoline, the woman rushed around to make sure no one was hurt, and eventually, she came across a woman, who seemed startled by the unexpected company, which ended with the two staring at each other with equal concern — until Wilma's faded into joy as she realized she was face to face with her favorite fairytale character, and Belle's became replaced with the sheer happiness of finally meeting the new girl she had heard so much about.

  "Um— Belle?", Wilma asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper, but audible enough for the librarian to catch it.

  "That's me. You're Wilhelmina, right? I've heard so much about you. You arriving to Storybrooke... It has blown everyone away", Belle flashed a warm smile at the woman, who cleared her throat and tried her very hardest and best to remain calm and reasonable, even if she was screaming inside.

  "Wilma's fine", she corrected the princess with a smile on her painted lips, as she tested the boundaries of reality and stepped closer to Belle. "What happened here?", she questioned then, looking around the mess of a library, which made Belle chuckle nervously.

  "Someone I intend to go after. This might be sudden, but would you like to join me? Going alone doesn't sound so... safe", Belle responded, lifting an eyebrow at Wilma, whose immediate enthusiasm and excitement caused her to become devoid of words or thoughts, anything that made sense. With her eyes widening and lips parting only for nothing to come out, Wilma nodded her head rapidly as a response, and with an even wider smile, Belle started to walk towards the entrance of the library and Wilma followed keenly like a loyal puppy.

  "Who are we going after?", Wilma asked, all giddy, but she couldn't help it — she was joining one of her favorite people on a magical quest to hunt down a villain. It was beyond exciting. Well, that was, until Belle answered to Wilma's question.

  "Someone nasty", Belle turned over to Wilma as she opened the door for her, "his name is Captain Hook." And just like that, Wilma's smile was long gone.

  Oh no.

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oooo this is getting intense,,

hope you liked it ((: x