Happy holidays everyone! Don't forget to Review, it helps a lot. I might take a short break from this because I have so much going on right now but I'll try my best to get another one out. I'll have another chapter of You're Like a Fire by the next chapter
I lay heavily in the bed trying to sleep before we have to get up and leave for the airport.
The week has been pretty bleak. We packed and planned more than anything else. Edward talked to Nick again and also his parents, not telling me much about either.
I pull my leg over Edwards waist as he pets my head that lays on his chest. His other hand slides under my leg and brushes against me through my shorts. "Mary, I'm really fucking horny," he whispers.
I scoff at him but don't say anything.
"We haven't done anything since the shower," he says sensually. "We'll be at my parents tomorrow night and I don't know how much of an opportunity we'll have."
Oh, yes. Attempt after attempt I've brushed off and just went to sleep and I plan on doing just the same tonight. I have my reasons though. He won't regret waiting later.
But his hands feel so good against me.
"We have to be up and leaving in six hours," I say quietly. "I don't want to meet your parents having that 'just fucked' look."
He laughs under his breath. "You seem to be taking this role seriously."
"If I'm going to pretend we're together I better sell it or what's the point?"
"I think the 'just fucked' look would add to that story." He looks down at me but I just huddle closer.
"If you need it that bad you can take a dirty pair of my underwear and go out to the couch to use your hands," I scoff.
"You suck," he pouts.
"Goodnight, Kenway," I say with a shitty smile.
"Goodnight."
"Boarding flight 265 to port Columbus"
"This is it," Edward says grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the podium to scan our tickets and board.
I've been on edge since we arrived. In a place such as this, they are employed to find anything that could be hidden and lucky I wasn't pulled out for a pat-down.
Edward was though and I understand all the reasons why. He's got a few shallow scars on his face and tattoos covering his arms. He's an easy target.
The most entertaining part was him trying to flirt his way out if it with the young man placed with the job.
I remember asking him why and all he was responding with was 'it worked with you'.
We enter the cabin, sliding our bags in the overhead. Luckily we're able to pack light to avoid checking bags.
I take the seat by the window, feeling a bit sick to my stomach. I've never been on a plane before. I spent my time on a ship when I first moved here but I've never much liked the idea of flying.
Edward sits down beside me, buckling his seatbelt and turning to me with a tired look. I follow his lead and buckle down turning my back to him and looking out the window.
"You okay Jim? Looking a bit pale."
"Nothing's wrong," I defend. "Just never been on a plane before. That's all." Why does he always have to ask?
"Never?" He continues turning closer to me. He looks like he's about to say something biting but he doesn't. "It'll be fine. The worst would be if your ears pop then I'll be here to kiss it away," he jokes.
"I can take pain Kenway. I think you're forgetting what happened to me a week ago." I look over at him and laugh in spite of myself as a thought reaches me.
"Isn't it only within the last week that we could stand each other?" he asks, reading my mind.
"It would seem so."
The pilot comes over the intercom announcing safety procedures and flight information that no one seems to pay any attention to.
Then we start to move and my hand grips harder on the hand rest. A heavy hand is placed over mine, the owner pretending not to pay attention to the amount of discomfort I'm in. Thank him.
Then we take off and like that, we no longer touch the ground. The uncomfortable pressure that fills my ears when driving through mountains returns but it's not unbearable.
I cast my look out the window at the ever expanding world. "It's brilliant," I find myself whispering.
"It is," Edward confirms. "I also see something else that is brilliant."
"Oh you sap." I watch out the window. It seems to put everything in perspective. "What is it like?" I ask him, looking at him. "Your home."
"It's like a small town house. One story. My parents had a room, we had a bathroom, dining room and a tv that we set up beside the table." I hear him sigh lightly but smile. "Since I didn't have a room my father took the loft of the old barn and turned it into my room. We painted it, insulated it and all that. It's nice in actuality and it's about a quarter mile from the house. That is where we will be sleeping." He smiles that stupid smile of his again.
"It sounds charming. Now tell me about your parents. I do have to pretend they could be my future in-laws."
He laughs a bit before starting. "My mothers name is Linette. She must be a pretty good mother to put up with as much as she did, though my father did hide many things I did from her. His name is Bernard. They're farmers but they aren't like rednecks or anything just self reliant people. They work hard."
"How did such nice sounding people create you?" I punch his arm lightly to let him know I don't mean it.
"Dad always said it runs in the family. He wouldn't let me use that as an excuse though."
"He's a smart man then. I think we'll get along just fine."
"I don't know," he starts, "he's one for marriage and I know what he'll be pushing, if he likes you." He says it almost like he knows he'll like me.
I side eye him with a grimace. I swear to god if he even tries. "Your poor parents. If only they knew," I chide and poke that scruffy cheek of his.
"I think they would be pretty proud that I was able to convince you, of all people, to pretend to date me in front of them. Who's laughing now?" He pokes me just like I poked him.
"Still me. I'm planning on embarrassing the hell out of you, mate."
"I'm fine with that. It just adds more to our story of how madly in love we are, right Kiddy?" He looks right pleased with himself.
Kiddy? What in the hell? "Call me that again and I'll..."
"Now before you threaten my manhood, listen. To everyone else they think I'm calling you kitty like a cat but to you and me it's just your last name with a y. That means you can come up with one for me. Anything you want."
I take a moment to think this through. I need something equally embarrassing. "If I have to be kiddy then I'm going to call you Kenway the entire time without explanation."
"You do that anyway."
"What do you want me to do? I don't spend my time thinking of pet names for you."
"You should reconsider that," he laughs.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Does he do that? It really doesn't surprise me.
"Nothing," he says simply and lays on my shoulder.
I sigh. "Sometimes I think you take advantage of my kindness."
He looks up at me, making his eyes look like those of a puppy. "Kindness? Are we still talking about you?"
We share a laugh. "Wake me when we land."
"Okay."
I place my palm over the blondes mouth, taking my last ice cube and slipping it into his shirt.
His eyes snap open and with my freehand I pull him close to keep him from standing. He yells against it but luckily it only comes out as a muffle.
He stops struggling after, I assume, the cube either melted or fell out and looks up with anger in his eyes. "What the hell was that for?" He hisses.
"Time to get up."
He turns around to see others getting up and grabbing their things. "Why the ice cube?"
"I can't let your parents think we're too close and you seemed in too good of a mood." I pat his shoulder and stand with him, grabbing our small book bags out of the overhead.
"What can I say," he shrugs, following me into the terminal.
"I need to change. Let's get out of security and stop as soon as we can." I keep my voice down just loud enough for him to hear.
He smiles knowingly and walks with me past security and to the outside of the women's restroom. No one is around so I grab my hair tie and bandana and pull them off before walking into the bathroom, leaving Edward in the hall.
I slip into the stuff easily, fixing the soft red material and pulling up the jeans and combat boots. Jesus help me.
I fix my nappy hair in the mirror, the small beads I've always wear clink together. With my bag behind me I exit and meet Edward in the hall.
His smile is undeniable. "It seems I have the most beautiful girlfriend in the world."
"Piss off." I slug his arm lightly and he wraps his arm around my shoulder leading me down the hall, our back packs slung over our shoulders.
Then a see an older woman in her early fifties walking towards us with her arms out. She reminds me a lot of Edward. Her hair looks like it was once sandy blonde but now it's speckled with gray like every woman of her age. He has her eyes. They looks so full of life.
"Eddy, dear." Her accent is just as welsh as his.
"Hello mum," he says pulling her into his arms her head to his chest because of her short stature.
A man with darker hair and eyes just as blue walk up beside her and pat Edward on the back, with a rather large smile on his face.
I have the distant feeling to make myself scarce but that's not an option at this point.
"We've missed you," his father says thoughtfully as his mother lets him go.
"I've missed you too."
"You've gotten so old!" His mother say cheerfully. "Became everything we thought you'd be."
"Thanks mum," he says awkwardly, casting a glance towards me.
That seemed to be enough to shift the attention to me. "You must be his girlfriend. What was your name dear? He never told us." She glares at her son and he smiles apologetically.
"It's Mary. You must be Linette and Bernard." His father nods and shakes my hand. Out of habit I squeeze a little too hard and see discomfort on his face before I let go, internally cursing myself.
"We best be off. We'll have more time to talk on the way back," Bernard says. He leads us out the entrance and across the parking lot.
Edward stays mostly to my side, trying to occasionally grab my hand but I keep pulling away. He casts me a sly look, his parents walking in front of us.
Bernard pops the trunk and insists on putting my things in.
His mother takes the divers seat and his father the passenger, leaving me to create distance between Edward and I in the back.
"So," Linette starts. "Where did you two meet?"
"In the navy actually," Edward says.
"I bet you two have a sweet story of your first meeting." She is sadly mistaken.
"Not at all," I say with a small laugh. "We saw each other around and talked but weren't at all involved. It wasn't until we were assigned the same job that we spent the entire day screaming at each other before our friends had to separate us."
Bernard laughs under his breath and I notice Linette staring Edward down in the rear view mirror.
"I like your accent. Where are you from?" Bernard asks.
"London," I say simply. I really don't want to dwell on my childhood.
"It's very nice."
"Thank you."
"How was your Thanksgiving?" Linette asks.
"We didn't really celebrate," Edward shrugs. "We've been busy lately and I don't think Mary does anyway."
"We didn't start celebrating until we had Edward," Linette says to me. "It seems we did well with installing a pride in his country." She sounds a bit bitter about that. They really didn't want him to leave.
I don't know how to answer so I don't. I know their hearts are in the right place and they feel like they're loosing their son but everyone leaves at some point.
"You both must be tired. It'll take an our and a half to get back home so you might as well nap," Linette says after a few minutes.
Edward may have gotten his nap earlier but I didn't. I rest my head against the car door and pretty much pass out of exhaustion.
"Mary. Mary," I hear Edward's voice whisper and push on my shoulder lightly.
Why am I laying down?
I open my eyes to find I'm laying with my head in his lap. I glare up at him but he only smiles and helps me sit up. The bastard pulled me against him while I slept.
"We just got here," he says. "They went ahead and went inside so I could wake you up. We can go out and put our stuff in my room or we can go in the house and do that later."
"Let's just put our stuff away. I need time to adjust to this amount of liking you." I leave the car and grab my bag out of the trunk.
"That's it." He points to a barn just a little ways off the house. We carry our stuff across the yard. The outside is nicely painted that red color most barns are. It's two stories but instead of walking inside he pulls out a ladder. "Up you go," Edward says, ushering me up.
I slide open the upper door and find a dark room. "Where's the light switch?" I call down to him.
"On the right."
I flip it and the ceiling lights come on. His room is like I expected it to be.
"I'm gonna throw the bags up you catch them," he yells.
"Okay." He takes my bag in his arms and chucks it up. I steady myself and catch the end without walking out. "Next one."
He then throws his up and I pull it inside.
His bed sits in the corner. His walls painted a plain white but covered in posters of movies, video games, and half dressed women. I'm just glad he'll never see my teenaged selfs room. A desk sits off to the side papers stretched across the surface but covered with a thin layer of dusk.
"Nice place," I say to fill the silence.
"Yep." He closes the door behind us and sits on the edge of his bed. "It's been a long time."
"Do you regret leaving this place?" I lean against the wall my arms close to my chest.
"In a sad way. I wouldn't give up my years on the ship or even the training but I've always felt like I've left something behind." He doesn't smile after like he usually does.
"If it's any consolation I think you did the right thing. Isn't that the point of free will?" I can tell how much my approval means to him by just the way he looks up at me.
"If I wouldn't have went I wouldn't have met Thatch, Anne, you," he pauses to look hard at me, "Ade, Ben, and hell I'm even glad I met Charles."
"You sound upset by that."
"Not upset. I just never realized how much I appreciate you guys. Especially you. I would have still been living with Thatch if you hadn't have taken me in and I would have been forced to come here alone. I appreciate it." He nod lightly to himself.
"It's what you do for people you care about."
"I'm glad you care about me. I wish I could show you how much I care about you." He walks up to me, standing a foot away with one hand on the wall over my shoulder.
I keep my arms crossed looking unamused.
"The least I can do is give you a kiss." His hand moves to the side of my face but I stay unmoving.
"I think I'm good without one."
He rolls his eyes at my stubbornness. "It doesn't have to be anything special. Just as friends."
I reach up to his cheek as touch it lightly. He leans into my touch and moves closer. Then I flick his cheek.
He stops and glares at me. "Fine." He turns away and steps off me. I really like playing hard to get.
I grab his collar and pull him back to me. My arm around his waist to pull his hips to mine and push his back to the wall. I push my mouth against his in a really ungraceful way.
After a moment I hear him try to say something against my mouth but I ignore him. A stupid comment wouldn't help anything.
He grabs my hair and pulls my head back. "Listen," he whispers before darting in to kiss me quickly,
A car horn is going off. I step away, letting him off the wall but he pulls me in again and kisses me deeply.
We break the kiss, panting. "Let's continue this tonight," he says, a sly smile on his handsome face.
I place a hand on his chest and push him back playfully as I head to the door. Opening it I stand on the ledge outside with Edward looking over my shoulder.
"Edward!" I male voice yells from the window of a truck.
"Fuck you Nick!" He yells back.
Nick and a brunette women step out of the car and make their way over. I slide down the railing of the ladder and Edward follows suit.
They throw their arms around each other in a hug. The brunette offers her hand to me, which I take, cautious of my earlier mistake with his father.
"You must be the girlfriend," he says taking my hand. I make sure to crush him for referring to me as that.
"The names Mary," I say with a bitter smile as he cringes.
"You also have an accent?" the brunette asks. "It's very nice."
"Umm thanks."
"I'm Abigail and this is Nick."
I nod hoping for Edward to pick up in the conversation. "So you're married?" He asks.
"As of two months ago," Nick says with a smile and kisses Abigail.
"Congrats."
"Now the reason we came over," Nick starts. "A group of us are going to the lake in the park tonight like we used to. You two up for it?"
Edward hesitates and looks at me, knowing he'd rather stay here and continue where he left off. I won't let him do that. "Sounds great. We didn't have any plans."
"Everyone's showing up around eight, see you two then." They turn their backs and head off to their truck and drive off.
I head back up the ladder, Edward following and simultaneously upset with me. Entering the room, he shuts the door and pulls me back into his chest. "We didn't have to go," he whispers against my ear, his arms around my waist.
I pull away from him to keep this from escalating again. "I'd rather meet your friends than do something I can have anytime."
"You can't have me anytime," he says, offended.
"Face it. You're easy, Kenway." I brush past him and sit on the edge of his sheets.
"I am not," he protests but keeps his smug smile.
I have to prove him wrong now. "Please. I wouldn't be able to change in front of you."
"That's because you're beautiful," he shrugs. "In your own way you're perfect." He's implying a lot with just those two sentences.
He takes my hand and under his breath he utters words that make me feel nauseous with uncertainty. "I think I'm in love."
"Don't say that." I'm stunned. This is Edward Kenway, standing in the room he grew up in telling me he loves me. "I care about you Edward but if you expect my feelings to change you're sadly mistaken." I look into his blue eyes, seeing the exact thing I don't want to see in them. I'm slowly breaking his heart.
"I don't expect your feelings to change," his voice is rough. He pauses before laughing darkly to himself and sweeping his hand over his hair. "It's stupid of me to think that we have been anything other than. I just thought... Damn it." He sits down heavily beside me and hides his face in his hands. He's beating himself up for saying anything.
"I'm sorry," I say quietly and place a hand on his back.
"I feel like if I don't tell you I won't get the chance. You will always have a place with me." He looks up, his expression one of sadness. "I know you won't stay long after we get back and I want you to know you can stay. I won't ask for anymore of this. Sex, feelings, anything. It'll be gone, I just want you to stay. I need you to stay."
Don't I feel the same way? Haven't I always just wanted a place to belong and someone who needed me as much as I needed them. Do I want him to be that person?
The answer makes me feel ashamed. "I can't promise you that much."
"I need you Kidd. Where am I going to find someone else like you?" His hand on my chin forces me to look into his eyes. "I don't care if it's Mary Read or James Kidd that I have to make mine, I just need you by my side."
I breathe heavily forcing out the words that I've never thought I'd say. "The care I feel for you is beyond that of friends but to ruin everything we have over this?"
"We already have."
I raise my hand to the side of his face touching the features I've memorized in my head since the first time we kissed. "I can try," I say quietly, feeling it's only appropriate for this intimate of a moment.
I tip my head up so our lips just softly brush. We settle into the kiss. It's not rushed and fevered like before. It's soft and I can feel how much he cares in just the way he holds my hands in his, like a fragile thing that would break if he held on to hard.
His forehead stays pressed to mine. His breath soft against my face. "You know it killed me to see you hurt? You've never been helpless and all of a sudden you needed me. That's what changed. Seeing you stumbling in, bloody and in pain right after we fought.
"All I kept thinking is, what would have happened if you died? The last thing I would have of you was being told the truth but I was too stubborn to see that." His eyes flick up to mine, filled with emotions both sorrowful and romantic.
I should have ended it sooner.
"Kenway I-"
"Mary." He won't let me finish the sentence knowing it won't end well if it started with 'Kenway.' "Stay with me until you can't any longer. Then when I'm no longer what you want you can go."
"Edward I do need you but I also need time. I just learned my best friend as feelings for me beyond liking my arse and tits," I laugh. "We'll see where this takes us and I care about you but I don't know if I can care like you do."
"Okay." He smiles and pulls me down to lay beside him, his legs tangled in mine, lying face to face.
His hand plays with my hair and his other presses against my back and holds me to his chest.
"You're such a hopeless romantic," I scoff.
"It seems to have charmed you." His voice stays low and quiet like he'd be damned if anyone else knew. "You looks beautiful when you look at me like this. Confused but happy and I like you when you're happy."
"I like being happy too." I feel almost like a child saying it. He makes me happy, with his stupid jokes and the way he holds me at night but I'm scared to admit it. Relationships lead to marriage which lead to children and that's something I don't want. So I pull closer to him and enjoy this while I can.
