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“What do you say?” Hook mused, the red petals tipping downwards. “Will you be mine?”
You looked at the bouquet in shock. Well, it shouldn’t have been a surprise honestly. Ever since you stole his jewelry right off of his body at the beginning of the school year, he had been obsessed with you. Frequently he made attempts to convince you to date him or go out with him, and you’d think after months and months of turning him down he’d finally back down but no; he was annoyingly, irritably, completely smitten with you.
You sighed as Hook looked at you with eager eyes. They had a light of mischievous hope that never seemed to dim. Giving him an air of indifference, your gaze wandered. “Never in a million years.”
He simply made a little smirk and corrected his posture. Like it was just a minor inconvenience. A setback.
“These are some of the finest lycoris flowers imported across the country.” Hook explained in that suave voice that never got upset at you. “I picked them out especially for you.” He took a step closer that you might be able to grab them. “Only for you.”
The heart in his voice was undeniable, but you didn’t want to accept; let alone in front of all these people in the courtyard. Tilting your chin up, you looked down your nose at him when you spoke monotonously.
“Hope you have the receipt.” You told him before turning around to walk away. There wasn’t a point in sticking around longer just to disappoint him all the same. You may not have liked this little game he was playing with you -no matter how much it secretly entertained you- but you didn’t want to lead him on. “And besides,” you took a small pause to give him one last glance. “Red’s not my color anyways.”
Hook was agape as you left him; not missing the way something glinted in your hand and spun around before sheathing itself in a hidden spot within your clothes.
Like some scene from a cartoon, while he stood there in shock, a diagonal line seemed to magically appear in the middle of the group of flowers, they comically slid off, and fell to the ground.
Regaining his composure, Hook smiled at the decapitated flowers. He was determined to get you to fall for him on this romantic holiday.
And he had all day.
You raised your eyebrow. “Again?”
Standing in the room doorway, Hook
presented the giant red heart to you like an offering. It was simply and shiny, with no ornament, but the quality of the container looked expensive. You pretended to sate your curiosity by sating his own and pulling the lid off.
It was filled with delectable chocolates. You immediately put the lid back on.
“Do you not like them?” Hook asked genuinely. He always seemed eager to please you. Maybe that was why you kept rejecting him.
Pulling no punches, you looked him dead in the eye and said you were allergic to them. The color drained out of his face as if the blood had been sucked out of his toes.
“I can get some different ones-“ he tried to put his charismatic mask back on, but it was still slipping.
“Don’t bother, I don’t really like chocolate anyways.” You told him, shutting the door in his pretty face and walking to your seat. When nothing indicated him trying to open the door again or enter the room, you slipped something out of your desk and secretly admired it.
Red petals twirled around your fingers. The little spindles reminisced spiders, and you found it oddly comforting. You’re not sure why you kept it. Perhaps you thought it was pretty. Really though, you just hated the waste.
That was definitely it.
That was why your heart beat quicker when you looked at it.
“You never give up do you?” You said, unamused. There was just the slightest tinge of annoyance in your tone. It was to conceal your impressment.
“Not until I’ve stolen that pretty heart of yours.” He flirted. Rolling your eyes, you slammed your notebook shut and started to gather up your stuff. Hook didn’t move from his spot in front of your desk, and he seemed to draw quite an audience from the other people in the class.
When he pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket, you quickened your attempts to grab your things and leave the room. Once he started reading though, you froze.
“You take my breath away like the embrace of death, though I’ve never known your touch.” A couple of girls sighed romantically, and you kept your head down, nose near your knees. “And it must be true when they say you’re a thief, because you’ve managed to steal my heart.” You tilted your head slightly. Just enough to peer over the edge of your desk and see the note in his hands. Ink bled through the backside and it didn’t match the put-togetherness of the previous gifts. It looked rushed. “Even though I’m a man of many needs, there’s one need I find true.” You slowly inhaled. “And that is to have you by my side. That one thing I need is you.”
Everyone started clapping. A couple girls cried happy tears. An aura of confidence wafted off of Hook like his expensive perfume.
You stood up abruptly with your bag and bursted out of the room in a record-breaking speed. If he called out to you, you refused to let your ears hear it.
There’s was nothing he could say, no argument he could make, that would convince you to stay in that room another second and accept his confession.
Nothing.
Chewing some chocolate in your mouth, you savored the rich, complex taste as it melted and coated your tongue. The flavor helped keep down the emotions that perpetually wanted to make rent in your eyes. He was such an annoyance. He was such an idiot. He was-
Endearing. Charming. Enchanting.
You hated that he made you feel this way. And it was for that reason exactly that you were hidden away in a little arched nook in the castle-like academy wall. Anyone walking past could see you, but other than that, no one would spot you down the corridor.
But of course fate just had to hate you today. You recognized the footsteps that ever-slowly came nearer. You knew the sounds of those boots. You heard the faint, nearly unnoticeable sound of necklace chains clinking together. Digging your fingernails into your palms, you curled in on yourself and tried to make your body as small as possible.
The footsteps stopped.
You didn’t dare to raise your head.
Soft breathing could be heard in front of you.
“I’m sorry.” A deep voice uttered. It was soft. Softer than you had ever heard it before. “I don’t know what I did but I’m sorry.”
You heard something crack from within you. You raised your head.
“Don’t know what you did?” It was so angry the way you said it. You wanted it to be angry. Wanted him to know you were angry. He flinched and took a step back. Taking opportunity, you pushed out of the nook in the wall and tried to run away. He grabbed your wrist.
“Let me go.” You demanded, feeling the heat in your face threaten to make a mess of your emotions. He let go. You were actually surprised.
“Please don’t go.” He contradicted his action with his words. “Please.”
You grit your teeth. Your hands clenched at your sides. There didn’t feel like any option. There was only one thing you found you could do. As much as you hated it, it was the only way to get out of this with your heart intact.
Slowly, steadily, you walked down the hallway, away from him. Away from Hook and his gentle hand and gentle voice. It hurt your heart and crawled inside it only to rip it open. It stung so much. It stung so much when he asked you to stay.
So why did him letting you walk away sting even more?
The small piece of paper crumpled between your fingers. You stopped reading it some time ago; the words long since burned into your brain.
Retiring to your dorm, you were laying lifelessly on your bed. Nothing disturbed your peace; and you oh-so-desperately needed your peace. The silence coated the air and carried just the faintest whiff of something floral. Barely lifting your head, you set your dead eyes on your nightstand. A red object lay tantalizingly and promised sugary sweetness.
A knock on the door disrupted your fantasy.
Groaning, you lifted your corpse off of the mattress and trudged to answer it; already feeling a headache coming on. When you opened it, you resisted the urge to shut it back closed.
“What do-“ Your annoyance was clear, but stuttered when you saw his face. “-you want?” You finished more gently. Hook was sheepish; hunching slightly and angled towards you. He was holding something. A necklace.
You recognized it.
It was the same necklace you stole from him on that first week of school. The silver luster of the chain had immediately caught your eye, so you nicked it. Unfortunately, Merlin caught you and forced you to return it to him.
And here he was, seemingly offering it to you.
“I-“ he winced. All his charisma had disappeared. Was it because of you? “I wanted to see how you were doing, and… offer this as a peace offering…” he brought the necklace forward as he said it. You wanted to raise an eyebrow. Scoff, maybe. But, all your emotional energy to even care was totally, completely drained.
“And what makes you think I want it?”
He looked astonished, and stared at the piece of jewelry. “I- you- you stole this when we first met. I’ve held onto it ever since but I thought you still… I thought you still wanted…”
“Well you were wrong.” You tried not to flinch at the way he reacted to how you said it. His arm lowered.
“I don’t like to be wrong.” He murmured to himself. You felt an eye twitch.
“Yeah well you’re wrong about a lot of things.”
“Like what?” It was an innocent question. A curious question. A question that made the subtle rage bubble up inside your chest. He could be so arrogant sometimes. He had no clue.
“You do all these things out in public in front of everyone and you get me things you don’t even know I’ll like because you have no idea what I like and no matter how old it gets I can’t bring myself to hate you!” It all finally bursted out of you in a single breath; leaving you panting. Anger was flush on your face. Something else was on his too; like if after the initial shock of your words, he was finally absorbing them.
“What do you like?” He asked, as if that would somehow amend this.
“It’s too late for that.”
He looked past your shoulder and into your room. “Well, if that’s true,” he spoke slowly, almost like he was trying not to scare you. “Then why did you reject my gifts?”
You turned to see where he was looking, and the blood left your face. He saw the nightstand. He saw the flower head and the box of chocolates. Looking down at your hand, you saw the crumpled piece of paper you forgot you were still holding. He saw that too.
You were a skilled thief, but even you couldn’t get away with it once someone saw the things you stole. But that wasn’t the matter right now. You felt lost. Broken. Had this been all your fault? Were you the reason he couldn’t get to you? The reason he was able to worm into your heart despite your apprehensions?
Had you hurt him?
“Are you okay?” He spoke.
You wanted to laugh, but you didn’t have the energy.
“I think I should be asking you that question.” you stated lightly, getting distracted by the door frame.
“I’m fine.” He said softly. “I just- I’m trying to wrap my head around this.”
“You don’t have to.”
He bore his eyes into yours, blinking a few times. “But I want to.”
“Why?” You let the snap slip through. He didn’t flinch this time. Somehow, he knew that you were just injured; lashing out in pain. He didn’t hold it against you. Instead, he leaned into the doorframe, closer to you.
“Because I like you.”
Why did that surprise you? And more importantly, why did it make your heart beat faster? Why did it… give you hope?
“I- I like…” you weren’t sure why you were saying it. You didn’t know how it was coming out so easily. It was absolutely crazy. “I like you too.”
He smiled. He smiled and it made you so happy to see him smile. It added on to that hope that maybe, just maybe, things could turn out okay. But did you deserve it?
As Hook placed the necklace in your empty hand, you decided you didn’t care. You were selfish, but so was he. So perhaps you could be selfish together.
“I like that idea.” He said. Apparently you said that out loud.
Shaking off your apprehensions, you closed your hand over his. Boldly, bravely, he slowly brought his mouth close to yours in an open question to kiss you.
Faster than he could blink, you pulled him into your dorm room and pushed his back against the wall.
“Didn’t you learn anything?” You chuckled, eyeing his lips as you leaned in close. Hook looked down at your hand on his chest and smiled.
“No.” He told you in a teasing manner, closing the distance slightly. “Care to remind me?”
You pointedly closed the door without moving from your spot. With a threatening whisper that was full of promises, you reminded him in a hushed voice.
“I don’t like it when you do these things publicly.”
Hearts palpitated in his eyes, and the only thing keeping him from kissing you was you kissing him first.
It was everything you ever dreamed it could be (and you totally didn't dream about it). Hook was such a flirt, and his experience showed when he returned your affection. And yet, you were the only one to hold his other affection; his feelings. His heart. It was a privilege no one but you had, and that made you happier more than anything else.
Pulling away, he gave you a loving smirk. There was a question on the tip of his tongue. Before he had the opportunity to ask it, you interjected by telling him you still had classes you needed to attend that day.
“Relax.” He said, grazing his knuckles along your collarbone. To your shock, you realized a necklace was there. He slipped it on at some point during your altercation. Guess he was giving you a run for your money. “I was going to ask you something simple.”
“Oh yeah?” You hummed. “What is it?”
Brushing his thumb against the spine of your neck, he asked you his ridiculous question with heightened amusement.
“Will you be my Valentine?”
You rolled your eyes in good nature. “Shut up.”
“Make me.” He challenged, leaning into your face again and sharing your breath.
“I would, but I have a feeling it would make you even more obnoxiously noisy.” You teased. Scoffing, he brought your lips close to touching.
“Says who?” He murmured, lulling into a trance at your proximity; completely under your spell.
“Says me, your Valentine.”
He smiled. Or rather, you felt his smile. For once, everything was right in the world, down to the little detail of having this man in your arms. Down to the little things he did to show you how much he liked you; even if he did do them in a way that was impossibly irritating. Hook was such an annoying idiot.
But he was your idiot.