"Well," Crystal says to herself. "This was fun, but I can't do any more damage around this place."
She stands up and exits the library, heading towards the kitchen. She walks in to find Belle standing next to the stove, chopping vegetables while a big pot of water is boiling. Gold sits at the dining room table with Gideon cradled in his arms, giving his son a bottle. Paige and Patrick are sitting at the table as well, sipping sodas straight from the can.
"So, I'm going to take off," she says, standing in the middle of the kitchen.
"Where's Ben?" Belle asks. "You two were in the library for an awfully long time."
"I gave him relationship advice; we had a brother-sister talk with him to help fix things with Mal. Speaking of which, I know you two are technically supposed to be my aunt and uncle, but if you need any advice, I'm just a few streets over. Anyways, hopefully, he's going to patch things up with her and then we can focus on getting everyone home. So, I'll see you tomorrow at your shop Dad..."
She leans down and gives him a side hug. "I do have a key to get in."
"Preferable over your usual method of entering places," he mutters.
"Love you too Dad," she smirks sarcastically.
She turns to Gideon. "I'll hopefully see you tomorrow too," she coos, giving him a kiss on the forehead.
She nods at Paige and Patrick, "Good to meet you two, seriously if you need help with anything at all, just give me a ring."
She then goes and gives Belle a hug as well. "And I'll see you tomorrow as well. Any and all researchers will be required to send these kids home."
"Have a good night then," Belle says, smiling.
"See you later," Crystal says, nodding before exiting the kitchen. She locks the front door and begins walking down the street towards her own home.
She lets out a deep sigh of relief. All the kids have a place to stay for the night and all the portal nonsense could be figured out tomorrow; she's pretty sure she left the book with the portal ingredients in her Dad's shop. It probably hasn't been touched because of everything that's happened. She does feel bad for accidentally bringing all these kids here, even though according to Mal it was mostly Uma's fault. But Crystal's own portal testing did receive these teenagers, who are now realms from their real home and parents. Although, for the kids on the Isle, it's probably a blessing in disguise... She can relate, she has her own crappy parent, despite him doing his best to improve. But she's already been a therapist to one person today, and that's plenty.
Right now, she just wants to go home, microwave a Ready-Meal, then some popcorn, and watch Netflix. Tt's been a long and confusing day and she's ready to call it quits. She thought about getting take-out from Granny's but by now, she just wants to spend the night alone, no more friends or relatives. She watches as the sun sets behind the vast forest of trees, separating their bizarre fantastical world from the rest of the Land Without Magic.
Finally, she reaches her apartment and fumbles to get her key out. However, when she's about to grasp the knob, it opens on its own.
Not again, she growls in her mind. Who else finds the need to break into my apartment?!
She swallows hard, letting one of her hands light up as a precaution. She reaches in and turns on the downstairs light. There only seems to be boxes and stacks of junk, some of them casting sharp shadows due to the exposed lightbulb hanging above them, but Crystal knows there is someone else here.
"Whoever you are, get the hell out!" she barks angrily, still hovering in the doorway. "Look I'm sick of this and I'm not afraid to use my magic to get my point across."
"Oh, trust me, Love, I know good and well that ye mean that..." a voice says smoothly.
Crystal nearly jumps out of her skin when she sees Harry Hook perched on the old counter of what was once likely a shop that she loved underneath. His boots dangle forward at a strange angle, as the juvenile pirate attempts to pose on the piece of furniture. His blue eyes seem to sparkle in the dim lighting and his well-defined and broad shoulders flex as he hops off the counter and stands in the centre of the room.
"God you scared me," Crystal says, turning to face the son of Captain Hook.
"Was never my intention, although you did take a rather long time to come back, I was about to giv' up on ye."
"Maybe you should have," she muttered. "What the hell are you doing here anyway? I thought the last time you broke into my apartment; I made my intentions pretty damn clear,"
"Ye made 'em crystal clear," he smirks, putting emphasis on her namesake.
"So why do you find the need to keep entering my home?"
"A pirate should never back down once he's found treasure."
The line makes Crystal roll her eyes more than blush, which she did both of.
"I don't think you actually understand the difference between treasure and a human being."
"Frankly, I don't see a difference, when I see something I like, I can be relentless."
"You know women are not things to possess, right?"
Harry shrugs as if this makes no difference to him. Clearly, the emphasis on equal rights is lost on him, which should be expected if he was raised by villains.
"And why do you find the need to keep pursuing me, I've made my intentions quite clear,"
"Crystal," he purrs. His blue eyes seem to narrow in, like a cat approaching its prey.
This time, the emphasis on the word sends shivers up her spine, and not the good kind. He's coming off as creepy rather than charming. It's true that he wasn't hard to look at; he did have a particularly alluring appearance as well as some clever wit and concern for other human beings like his sister CJ, but she still can't shake the sinister vibe from him. From what Mal and the other kids have told her, Harry has a couple of screws loose in his head and he's more than willing to do anything to get his way... his pursuit of her being one of them it seemed.
"So why can't you get it through your thick skull that I'm not interested?"
"Because I know it's not true," he says, taking a step closer. He wants to keep acting as if trying to seduce her, mostly by sauntering towards her slowly, but he was wary of what the girl could with her magic, so he plants his boots on the floor.
"I know you care about me, that yer cheeks go pink when yer near me. I know ye like me too, yer just too afraid to admit it."
"Or maybe I'm turned off by the fact that you have no respect for boundaries. Breaking into someone's house is not attractive, it's a felony..." She sighs, knowing that trying to explain laws to this kid is going to be completely moot.
"A princess does need her castle," he shrugs.
"Please, I'm no princess. I'm the offspring of an imp that is the embodiment of all darkness; the closest thing I would be is an elf, if that, maybe an orc."
"Whatever ye may be, yer a very attractive one."
Crystal rolls her eyes again. She ignores the fact that her heart is accelerating, and she refuses to look into his bright blue eyes because it may cause this indignant exterior to melt a little bit. It was flattering that he found her attractive enough to pursue, but why? She only attracted freaks and weirdos and any good relationship that she did have ended in tears and broken hearts. She also wasn't the most beautiful person either, average looking and hardly the type that guys from all over would be knocking down doors to date her.
"A lot of people don't say no to you, do they?" she groans.
"Not often, I tend to get whatever I want, especially with this lovely piece," he shows her his hook that gleams in the light.
"Yes, your imitation hook, but I have bad news for you buddy, weaponry is not attractive, especially when you're trying to appear approachable or dateable to a girl."
"Dateable?" he asks in confusion.
"Have you never heard that word before?"
The pirate shrugs.
"A date is when you take someone that you like out to a movie or dinner or even a walk along the beach. Something simple and you talk about your interests to get to know each other. It's much more appealing and attractive than stalking and breaking into people's homes."
The smile leaves Harry's face as he ponders this new information. He's never even heard of a date before. It seemed interesting, and at the same time boring. There didn't seem to be any excitement; no thrill of the chase or the passion for a reward.
"It's what most people do in this day and age if they like someone. Trust me, it took your dad a little while to figure this out too. How about you go home and think about it and..." she sighs taking a deep breath. Maybe it was time she took her own advice, the kind that Ben had taken to go and fix things for Mal, and move forward. Her hands shook slightly at the thought and she bites her lips hard. "If you come here to talk to me without breaking and entering, I might consider you dateable."
She then gently waves her hand and poofs Harry to the front porch of Emma and Killian's house. She then locks the door and puts a small enchantment on it to prevent any further tampering with the locks. She heads upstairs to microwave food and finds a new show to binge-watch. However, through the next hour, she hasn't realized that she has not stopped smiling.
A/N: Hey everyone, sorry for such a long wait, but here's a new chapter. Happy Easter to everyone. (If you celebrate it).