That evening I found myself browsing Jack's larger-than-expected collection of books as he sat at his desk, plotting out a course on his charts.

"You have Shakespeare?" I asked with a laugh, standing up with one of the volumes in hand.

He glanced up, faint smirk in place as he nodded once.

"Have you read any?" I began flicking through the delicate pages of King Lear.

"'Course."

"D'you have a favourite?"

He shrugged, turning back to his charts. "That one about the king bloke, with the witches, that was good."

"Macbeth," I said, laughing once again.

"Why, what's your favourite?" He tapped his compass a few times, scowling when it apparently didn't give him the results he wanted.

"Romeo and Juliet."

I heard him chuckle quietly, eyes still on his charts.

"Why is that funny?" I was unable to keep the smile from my own face.

"Of course ye like that one, all the romance and the secrecy, and the... The..." He waved a hand in my direction, tracing invisible shapes in the air, moving on from the sentence he couldn't finish. "I coulda pinned you as a romantic from the moment I saw ye, love."

"You seem to know a considerable amount, Jack, perhaps I should be pinning you as a romantic instead," I teased, laughing when he rolled his eyes dramatically. "And if you must know, I like the ending the most. Dying in the name of love only for it to be in vain."

"Bit morbid, aren't you?" He closed the compass, shook it, and opened it once again.

I placed the book down and came to stand behind him, catching sight of the compass before he snapped it shut once again. It was pointing through me in a South-East direction at the Isla De Voluptas, a quick glance at the chart told me, although when I glanced behind me I noticed the bottle of rum that sat on a shelf, wondering if that was what he wanted most in the world at that moment. It was very likely.

"Where are we headed next?" I asked, perching on the edge of the desk.

Jack glanced down at his charts before looking back up at me, reaching behind himself for the rum. "England, untimely, I promised Bill a little family reunion, he wants to surprise May and Will. But on the way we'll stop here," he pointed to an 'x' he had pencilled onto the chart. "Here, here, and wherever else convenient."

I nodded. "Hoping to come across any more merchants?"

"If they've got good stock like the last ones did, aye."

I sat in silence, watching him continue to plot the course, raising my eyebrow when the compass kept pointing the same way it had, and Jack kept shaking it in an attempt to get it to change.

"What's on the Isla De Voluptas?" I asked, leaning over and pointing to it.

"Eh?"

"Your compass keeps pointing to it."

He looked up, confused, and snapped the compass shut once again. "Who told you about the compass?"

I thought about how I should answer for a moment, before deciding on honesty. "I overheard you and Bill talking about it once. It points to whatever you want most in the world, no?"

I thought I saw vague panic in his eyes, but when he blinked it was gone, so perhaps I imagined it.

"Aye, it does."

"So what's in that direction that you might want?"

He gave me an odd look, pausing for a moment before he answered. "I wish I knew, love."

We were silent for a moment before he spoke again.

"Everything still hurt?"

"No," I said, laughing slightly. "I'm getting more used to the work, I think."

He nodded, leaning his elbows on his desk and resting his chin atop his hands. "Good... And the crew haven't been giving ye any trouble?"

I shook my head. "They're fine, most of them anyway. What's the one with the eye called?"

"Ragetti?"

"Yeah, him, we had a long chat about the colour of the sea the other day, it was very enlightening."

Jack chuckled, glancing up at me. "Y'know, I feel like we haven't chatted in a while, love."

"There's less to tell each other, I suppose, what with us both being on the same ship each day."

He nodded absentmindedly, picking at his fingernails and in doing so drawing my attention to his hands. They were dirty as ever, but my eyes were caught by the glitterings of his rings, more specifically the new green jeweled one on his index finger.

"You've got a new ring."

He hummed, startling out of whatever daze he had fallen into and focusing on the ring in question. "Aye, swiped it from a wench in Tortuga."

I was suddenly reminded of the image of Jack kissing that woman against the wall in Tortuga, and grabbed the bottle of rum that he had left on the desk near him. He looked faintly amused as I drank from it, snatching it back from me with a smirk when I finished.

"Well, it's good to know I've had at least some influence on ye," he said, shaking the bottle at me before he took a swig from it himself.

I hummed, glancing out of the window at the setting sun and standing up. "I think I'll retire for the night."

He also glanced over his shoulder at the window. "Sun's barely set yet, love."

"I'm tired tonight," I said, trying to keep my voice light as I approached the curtain which led to the bedroom. "Goodnight Jack."

"'Night love, take the bed if ye're that tired."

I let the curtain swish shut behind me, letting out a breath and closing my eyes for a moment before I bent down to undo my boots and shrug off my coat. I removed my belts also before lying on the bed and pulling the sheet over me, staring up at the ceiling.

Despite my efforts to forget it, I couldn't rid myself of the image of Jack and that woman in Tortuga.

That woman who wasn't me.

Because I had come to realise that what I had thought was just a firm friendship becoming firmer still was actually me falling for him.

Falling... In love with him?

Whatever it was, I couldn't risk acting on my emotions. If Jack didn't feel the same way then I would be spoiling the friendship that we had, and the two of us living so close to each other would become awkward. And if it became so awkward that I had to leave the Pearl, I had nowhere to go.

So telling Jack wasn't an option, falling out of love with him and remaining satisfied with our friendship was.

-*-*-*

But of course, this became even more difficult one of those rare evenings that the two of us actually slept at the same time.

I jolted awake in the chair, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm my racing heart, my nightmare still flashing before my eyes.

"Y'alright, love?" I heard Jack ask, and I nodded.

"Fine. Just a bad dream. Sorry to wake you."

"Not at all, I've been awake for hours."

I narrowed my eyes and glanced out of the window. It was still dark, either the late hours of the night or the early hours of the morning, I couldn't tell.

"What was yer dream about, love?"

I sighed, shaking my head. "It's silly really, just my father..."

"Not silly at all, darlin'," I heard Jack say. "C'mere."

I opened my eyes to see Jack gesturing to his bed, and shook my head. "I couldn't."

I shouldn't.

"C'mon love. I won't do anything, I promise. I'll behave."

I sighed, shivering slightly against a cold draft that blew in past the curtain and stood up, making my way over to the bed. I removed my boots and coat, leaving myself in just my shirt and breeches, and slid onto the bed beside Jack. True to his word, he stayed on one side, and I lay on my back, realising that it was unlikely I'd fall asleep again that night.

"Jack?" I asked quietly, so quiet that if he was asleep he wouldn't hear me, but if he was awake he would.

"Hm?"

"You wouldn't take me back to my father, would you?"

"'Course not."

"Not even for the cash?"

"Not even for the cash." He propord himself up on one elbow, blinking as he looked down at me. "Was this what yer dream was about?" I shrugged, and he sighed. "Love, I swear on it, I'd never take ye back there. I visited, I know how much you hated it. And I won't let anyone else take ye either."

"Thank you, Jack."

He gave me a half-smile, before lying back down. "Ye're welcome. Now stop worrying so much and go to sleep."

When I next woke up I found myself unable to move due to the arm around my waist and found I didn't really care, instead laying my head back down beside Jack's and closing my eyes.

I forgot what Bill's wife was called but I think it was May so we're sticking with that. That last scene was one of the only one's I've included from the original draft of this story, mostly so it still ties in with my other fic, but I like it.