Thank you all again for your wonderful, encouraging words in your reviews. My thanks may get old, but I really do appreciate it - StephanieSparrow, camille-2406, Patlamouche, and Rwy'n-Y-Blaidd-Drwg.

And a little special treat in this chapter for you all. :)

Chapter Twenty: Troublesome Rum

I am a strong and independent woman who never needed anyone before in my life.

Emma took a deep breath.

I got along just fine by myself before, and I can still get along fine now.

Another deep breath.

One little kiss doesn't change anything.

A quick breath.

Right?

"Are ye in labor? What's with the breathin'?" Jack's face appeared in her vision, interrupting her train of thought and self-analysis. What happened the night before had not escaped her. That would be impossible after she didn't do anything last night but think about it. Sleep wouldn't even interrupt the mental replay of the kiss.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Does it look like I am pregnant?" She tried to retain a shiver as Jack's eyes ran down her body.

"Er… is this a trick question?" He asked uncertainly.

Emma closed her eyes and sighed. What she needed at the moment, she realized, was a little space. And some rum. Leaving a confused Captain Jack behind, she headed straight for the galley. Once there, she headed right for the rum, pulling out two bottles, one in each hand. She uncorked one with her mouth and spat the cork out onto the floor, sending it rolling across the room. She took a deep swig and closed her eyes, relishing the burn as the rum swept down her throat. She paused for a breath before taking another deep drink. She knew it wasn't ideal, drinking away her problems, but at the moment, she was tired of thinking.

She slid into a chair and set both of the bottles onto the table, her hand rubbing her temple. Someone cleared their throat.

Emma jumped and she immediately noticed Peter, sitting at the same table right across from her. How she didn't notice him before, she wasn't sure. "Peter!" She exclaimed. "I, uh, I didn't see you there." She realized how crazy she must have looked. "Rum?" She asked, picking the unopened bottle up and tilting it to him.

"No, thank you." He declined politely.

In the ensuing silence, Emma took another, long drink. For whatever reason though, she was not feeling tipsy yet. "Why is it that whenever I want to be drunk, I can't, and whenever I don't want to be drunk, I am?" She said aloud. After realizing what she said, she realized that perhaps she maybe was a little drunk. Or maybe she was just crazy.

Stupid kiss. Stupid Jack.

Peter raised an eyebrow but did not answer her question. "You must think I'm an awful person for leaving my wife and daughter behind." He said quietly, his eyes downcast.

This caught Emma completely off guard. When she initially heard that he had left his family behind, she thought that was a little bizarre, but that thought hadn't crossed her mind since. The only thing that had been on her mind since leaving Port Bain concerning Peter was how he must view her. How she now viewed herself. "What?" She spluttered, spraying her rum across the table. "That's the last thing that's been on my mind recently. All I could think of was how awful you must think I am for killing you wife and leaving your daughter without a mother."

"You didn't kill my wife, however easy it may be to blame you for her death." He said. "But I keep thinking that if I would have never left, that would have never happened. You wouldn't have had to stay behind which means that pirate wouldn't have come. There wouldn't have been as many issues if I would've done my rightful duty and stayed by my family."

"Don't blame yourself for her death." Emma austerely said.

"You should take your own advice." He countered quickly.

The two stared at each other across the table, willing the other to admit that they weren't responsible for her death.

"What's this?" Jack's voice broke the silence jovially. "A staring contest?" He was grinning from ear to ear until he noticed Peter's somber face and Emma's evading one.

Emma and Peter both stood and spoke at once:

"I think I'm gonna go lay down." He said.

"I'm going to check the crow's nest." She said

Jack raised a brow at both of them and let Peter exit the room, but as Emma passed him, he gently took her arm. "I just left Anamaria at the crow's nest, so you don't need to go check it."

"Oh, well I uh, ya know, my shoulder's been kind of hurting, so I think I'm, uhm, going to go, let it rest…" She said lamely.

Jack's eyebrows lowered in concern. "What kind of hurting?"

"It's just, uh, sore." She lied again.

Jack gently pushed her back down into one of the chairs. He stood behind her, brushing her hair aside as his hands moved underneath her blouse to her shoulders. There they began to work, gingerly massaging, and a small gasp escaped from Emma's lips. His fingers instantly froze. "Does this hurt?"

"Nono, it's fine." She slurred. She wished now that she wouldn't have drunk so much rum earlier. She also realized that she had just not given the rum enough time to kick in. She was now feeling the full affects of the drink. It began to cloud her judgment as she internally began to wonder if this was part of her plan or not. Was he supposed to be touching her? She never specifically told herself that he couldn't, though another thought reasoned that this would be conflicting with her being an independent person.

Well, she wasn't really depending on him. He was just giving her a massage. What harm could that do?

With the internal arguing over, Emma leaned her head forward, closing her eyes and just enjoying the feeling of Jack's hands on her skin.

Jack's hands paused, resting against her skin. "Does it feel better?" He asked.

Emma lifted her head and nodded. "Much."

Jack smiled. "Good." He removed his hands from the top back part of her shirt and patted it awkwardly back in place. "Glad I could be of service to ye."

Emma stood and pointed her thumb towards the door. "I think I'm gonna go."

"Are ye okay?" Jack asked, taking a step after her.

"Yeah, yeah. Not feelin' too well." She said, which was slightly true. The rum was doing much more than she had wanted it to do earlier.

"Was it something ye ate?" He asked.

No, drank, she thought wryly. "Nah, just, ya know…" She trailed off. Her mind was fuzzy and she couldn't think of a proper word or excuse to finish her sentence.

"No, I don't…" Jack replied, perplexed. He reached out and steadied her as she began to stumble.

"Just a lil drunk." She admitted, shooing away his steadying hands.

"Are ye sure?" He asked, disbelief written across his face.

"No, I mean yes. No, I'm sure." Emma frowned, unsure of what she was trying to say. Her hand extended towards the wall to steady her body. She stumbled to it and then slowly slid down it towards the floor. "Too much rum." She mumbled.

Jack hurried to her side and took one of her hands. "Look at me," he said.

Emma tried to focus her eyes on Jack's face before her, but all she managed to keep looking at were his lips. Those beautiful, beautiful lips of his. "Looking," she managed, still looking at his lips.

Jack's hand brushed a clump of hair out of her face. "There's nothing wrong but the rum?"

"Nope," she answered.

Jack was unsure whether that agreed with or disagreed with his question, but he decided to let it go for the moment. He was unsure whether Emma really knew what was wrong in this state. "Well, I'm here." He said with a small smile.

Emma returned the smile, weakly, and leaned towards him, nestling her head into his shoulder. Jack pushed her head off with his shoulder. Emma frowned and looked up at him, wondering what was wrong. But he the corner of his lips were turned upwards and he lifted her chin up. His lips inched closer and closer to hers until Emma could wait no longer. She impatiently pressed her lips against his and knotted one of her hands into his hair. Jack responded enthusiastically, moving one hand behind her head and the other trailing down to the small of her back, setting every spot he touched on fire. Emma pressed herself even closer to him and, as the kiss deepened, she released a small moan.

Jack's mouth slowly moved from her lips to her jaw line, and then intolerably slowly to the start of her neck. She involuntarily let a sigh escape. Everywhere his lips touched felt as if they were ablaze. Yet she couldn't get enough.

Perhaps it was the fact that Jack's hand began to inch up under her shirt, or the fact that she smacked her elbow against the wall, shooting a jarring pain up her arm that cleared her mind for just an instance. Whatever it was, Emma suddenly realized the situation she was in. "Jack!" She exclaimed, trying to push him away from her. However he mistook her cry for one of pleasure and his lips moved to her collarbone.

Unsure of how else to stop him, Emma jerked her knee forward, right into his groin. Jack released a cry of pain and doubled over. "What the bloody 'ell was that for?" He shouted angrily.

But Emma was already scrambling away from him and to her feet. Her once-clear mind was already beginning to fog up again as she tried to search for the words to explain. "I—this isn't, I can't… you don't… I have to go!" She finally managed, racing from the room. She headed for her room, but as she flung open the door, was surprised to see Anamaria there.

"Emma!" she said, worried at the sight of her disheveled friend.

But Emma was already racing away from her room, just trying to find some place that she could be alone, where no one could bother her or question what had just happened. She flung open a door at random and threw herself into the little storage room. It was only three or four feet across, but Emma didn't care as she sunk to the floor, cradling her head into her knees.

After she had convinced herself that all Jack was was bad news, here she was flinging herself at him once more.

Well he started it. She thought stubbornly.

Actually, it was the rum.

Either way, she realized that this would have to stop. She would have to confront him about it and they would talk it out and things would go back to normal. That was her only solution. They couldn't just keep sneaking off and having make-out sessions.

As Emma compared the two kisses, they couldn't have been any more different. The one from last night was slow, and sensual. Then, Jack was a little intoxicated. The one that occurred only moments ago seemed to catch on fire itself and couldn't be put it out. It also created something that wouldn't easily be quenched. And this time, she was the intoxicated one. But this had to be stopped. She couldn't keep going on like this. If she did, she could only think about how much she would be hurt in the end.

And as much as she didn't want to see Jack right now, she would have to seek him out and they would have to discuss their situation. It was the only way. But as she leaned her head up against the wall, she just felt tired. Extremely tired. And despite the moments that they shared, she felt alone.

Well, what a situation we have between Emma and Jack! :P The next chapter will pick up more of the plot again - it was very fun to write. Anyhow, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

As always, reviews do make my day! :)

-Becca