Okay guys, the next installment. I think you'll like! Heehee!
Chapter 19
"Elizabeth?" Will called, knocking on the manor's parlor door. When there was no reply, he stepped inside without invitation, quickly noticing that she was the only one in the room.
She stood immediately upon spotting him. "Oh, Will, it was awful." She crossed the room to where he stood and he instinctively took her in his arms. "Gin's been upstairs for hours; I had to tell my father she wasn't feeling well." She pulled back slightly and brushed a few stray tears from her eyes. "I don't know what to tell her that's going to make this any easier."
"There's nothing you can say," he told her gently, thinking about how devastated he would be after losing her. "I just…I can't imagine dealing with something like this and knowing she's to return to England soon with Lieutenant Weiss."
Elizabeth nodded her understanding and her eyes drifted to her feet.
"Look, um," He glanced back at the door he had come through, as if searching for any sign of her father or an eavesdropping maid. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you, and…I don't know if Gin's situation inspired this, I don't know if this a completely inopportune time, but…this has to be said."
She nodded and he took that as an invitation to continue. "Alright then," He cleared his throat and hesitantly kneeled in front of her.
Her eyes widened and she resisted the urge to take a step backwards. "Will…"
"Elizabeth," he began, releasing a breath he hadn't realized until then that he had been holding. "Will you marry me?"
* * * * *
"Gin?" Elizabeth gently shoved the door of one of the mansion's many guest rooms and peered inside before entering.
Her friend lay sprawled out on the oversized bed. The occasional sob racked her body and her sniffles could be heard clearly from where Elizabeth stood.
She crossed the room slowly and cautiously sat down beside her on the soft mattress, reaching out to her tentatively. "Gin? Are you alright?"
It took Gin a moment before she sat up, wiping her tear streaked face with a balled up piece of tissue paper that had long since passed its point of being useful. "No. I'm not," she finally managed, shakily. "I…I don't think I can do this."
"Virginia?" a voice called, muffled slightly by the heavy oak door, but clearly Richard's. "Are you ill?"
Gin looked to Elizabeth who nodded, comprehending her silent plea. She stood and headed for the door, cracking it open upon reaching it. "Richard," she greeted him pleasantly.
"Miss Swann," He gave her a polite nod, glancing behind her into the room. "Is Virginia alright?"
Elizabeth stepped out into the hallway, shutting the door firmly behind her. "She just has a slight headache," she explained. "Visiting isn't a good idea just yet. She was reluctant to let even me inside." There were several moments of awkward silence before he went on.
"Well, I-" He attempted to move past her, only to be thwarted by her moving to block his entrance. "I just wanted to check on her."
"And I'm sure she appreciates that. But she'll be fine," she assured him, forcing a pseudo-smile. "Up and about by dinner, I'm sure. No need to worry." She stood there, hand on the doorknob, hoping he would take the gesture for what it was-an indication that he should leave.
He sighed and glancing at the door one more time, complied.
* * * * *
It wasn't fair.
Any of it.
Meeting Jack, falling in love with him…all for nothing. Nothing at all.
She felt the tears well up again and angrily brushed them away before they had the opportunity to fall.
If he had never saved her in the first place, none of this would have happened. He wouldn't have lost his ship, he wouldn't have been taken by the Navy, and he wouldn't have been sentenced to hang by her own father. She had ruined his life, and then taken it from him.
A small tap brought her out of her guilt, though where it was coming from, she couldn't tell. She ignored it, scooting to the edge of her bed and rising to her feet. She strode over to her dresser and began tugging elaborate dresses out, stuffing them one by one into her bags. She stared at each of them, almost disgustedly. Oddly enough, she was beginning to miss pants. The dresses were nothing but a reminder of how narrow her original socialite life was.
Resisting the urge to scream, she continued to pack frantically in an effort to keep her mind busy.
It didn't work.
Her thoughts were filled with all the possible situations that could have saved his life. Protesting more against her father's order, telling Jack to run instead of raising the white flag, never allowing him to seduce her, telling him about her engagement in the first place, never boarding The Black Pearl, all the way back to not losing Elizabeth in the streets during the raid.
There was that tap again. Exasperated, she turned to the glass plated French doors that lead out onto her small balcony and squinted into the darkness that had fallen since the sun's setting. She couldn't make out anything. Sighing, she tossed the deep blue garment she had been holding back into its drawer and crossed the room to the doors. She pulled them open, half expecting a small bird to fly into the room.
Not small, but a bird nonetheless. A Sparrow to be exact.
She gasped as Jack stepped inside, his grin growing wider at the expression on her face. "I told you." He shut both of the white doors behind him. "I'm not that easy to kill."
She didn't move for ten full seconds. Ten. She had counted.
She stood there, gazing at him, as if memorizing every detail, every feature. "How…" was all she eventually squeaked out.
"Little trick I learned a long time ago," he elucidated, taking a step forward. She backed up and he wondered if she was afraid he was a ghost of some kind. "For when there isn't anyone around like dear William to aid in my rescue. You see, that was Gibbs in the hangman's uniform. Handy that their masks cover everything but the eyes, don't you think?" He stopped here, but didn't receive an answer, therefore he went on. "I always hide him below deck during such escapades as our capture ye see, just in case of emergency, there's one crew member that's not in the brig. You followin' me?" Again, no response, just shocked silence. "Anyway, it's fairly simple. Run the noose to the waistline."
She still didn't move, and though she was sure he was beginning to contemplate whether or not she had gone into shock, she had been listening intently. It was…ingenious, to say the least.
"Waited until everyone had cleared out before ol' Gibbs cut me down. Shoulda seen the look on the guard's face." He winked at her, and though it was rather inappropriate due to the seriousness of the situation, it seemed to break the tension and he managed to take her in his arms. Gin practically collapsed in his embrace and she clung to him, as if trying to assure herself through touch that he was alive and well.
"Jack," she sighed in relief, rising to her tip toes for a better grip.
His hold on her waist tightened. "I'm alright," she assured her, nuzzling his face into her hair and inhaling the familiar scent. Jasmine and raspberries. As long as he lived he would remember that smell. No matter where she went.
It wasn't long before he felt her begin to shake with silent sobs and he comforted her the only way he knew how. He kissed her forehead, her nose, her lips.
Unexpectedly, he was met with a painful slap, not his first, and surely not his last, but definitely the most stinging.
"Don't you ever do that to me again!" she demanded, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. He faced her again, rubbing his jaw. "I…" She took a breath to collect herself. "I thought you were…"
"I know, I know." He drew her to him again, hoping it wouldn't end in another blow to his face. "I'm sorry."
She gulped and breathed in deeply, resting her head against his chest and allowing him to pull her closer. "Wait," she began, stepping back away from him. "You…you have to go."
"Go?" Jack scoffed. "I just got 'ere."
"This is different. It's not the middle of the ocean, it's not your ship, this is the governor's household. She glanced behind him at the closed double doors that overlooked the darkened Caribbean colony. "If you leave now, they'll never know you were here." She turned back to him. "And you could escape."
"I'm not on to slip out quietly." His grin returned and he slowly advanced on her again, only to be greeted by the palm of her hand on his chest, stopping him. His gaze moved down to it, then back up to her. "I like to make an exit."
And an entrance, Gin thought to herself. She sighed. "Making an exit is going to get you killed," she reminded him. He arched an eyebrow. "Again," she added.
"Well, I can't let His Pompousness Norrington think that he actually caught Captain Jack Sparrow, now can I?"
"Jack," She looked back in the direction of her bedroom door through which Elizabeth and Richard's voices could be faintly heard. "You can't just-"
"No need to worry," they both heard Elizabeth say as she pushed the door open, backing into the room. "I'll look after her." She practically slammed the door in the bewildered Lieutenant's face and turned around, leaning back against it.
Her eyes fell on the couple standing at the opposite side of the room and she stared at them, expressionless. She opened her mouth, most likely intending to call for Will, but seemed to think better of this and closed it again. She blew a few strands of hair that had been teased out of her bun off her face, almost exasperatedly.
"Alright," She looked back and forth between them, "What did I miss?"
* * * * *
I told you not to scream just yet ;) . What can I say? Majority rules!
