It Is What It Isn’t was my second foray into Fanfiction, and full of those early Captain Swan feels. Set in Season 3 after the return from Neverland, we see Emma trying to balance her newly explored feelings for Hook with Neal being an active part of her life. As if that weren’t hard enough, Hook and Neal become the victims of an unwitting curse, tying them together in a way neither of them saw coming.

In this scene, Neal has asked Hook to give Henry some formal swordplay training, much to Emma’s chagrin…

After a shower and a quick cup of coffee, Emma realized that they’d been swordfighting for over an hour and were most likely thirsty by now. She grabbed the pitcher of lemonade out of the fridge and a couple of solo cups and headed out into the yard.

Holy God.

The man had taken his shirt off and was swordfighting her son wearing only tight black leather pants and boots. She’d never seen him shirtless before, and it was more than a little startling. She’d seen the chest hair, of course, but who’d have guessed he’d have those abs? His arms weren’t a surprise, though. She remembered how strong they’d felt when he was kissing her. He’d pulled her in, almost crushing her as she’d felt his tongue and lips and…

Stop. Just stop it, Emma.

This was getting out of hand. Time to fire a warning shot across a certain pirate’s bow.

She set the lemonade down on the table set up near the door. “Henry! You thirsty, kid?”

Henry dropped his sword, heading over to the table. Emma handed him a glass and he drank thirstily. “Thanks, Mom. Hey, do you know where all my star maps are?”

“I think you put them on your bookshelf.”

“Hook’s going to show me some of the constellations tonight. Isn’t that cool?” He ran inside, heading up the stairs.

Emma poured a second glass of lemonade and walked it over to Hook. His chest was…glistening. She tried hard not to stare but was entirely unsuccessful. And worse, he knew it, from the smile he was biting back as he took the drink from her hand.

“What’s this?”

“Lemonade.”

He drank it, then handed the glass back. “Well, it’s doesn’t have the kick of rum, but it does help…cool things off.”

Enough was enough. Emma gave him a glare. “You need to stop this.”

“Stop what?” He raised his eyebrows, the picture of innocence, if it weren’t for that incredible chest. Damn him.

“You can’t use my son to get to me, Hook. It won’t work.”

He actually looked affronted. “I would never use Henry. He and his father asked, and I agreed to help.” His voice lowered. “And I don’t need to use anyone to get what I want from you, love. From the way you’re looking at me, I’d say you’re halfway there at the least.”

Emma turned to make sure Henry wasn’t coming back yet. “You said you wouldn’t use any tricks.” She reminded him.

“I did. I said that when I won your heart, it wouldn’t be because of any trickery. But I’m not discussing your heart right now, love. We’re talking about your body, and mine. We’re talking about how badly you want my bare chest on top of yours and how much you wanted me to move my fingers lower when I touched you this morning. We’re talking about how much you remember of your mouth and mine and the way we moved together.”

“Stop. It.” She gritted out. “Just because you kissed me-”

He brought up a finger in protest. “Ah – but I didn’t kiss you, love. You kissed me, as I recall.” He leaned in, until she felt his chest brush against her, and she could feel the heat of him through her thin tee shirt. His breath feathered her lips as he gave her his promise.

“When I kiss you, love, it’ll end in a very different way.”

It Is What It Isn’t can be found at Fanfiction.net.