Cordelia snuck into her cabin without disturbing Anamaria.  She sobbed quietly into her pillow as she let Jack consume her mind.  He'd been so sweet, so supportive, so…she was under the impression that he could have loved her.  She certainly loved him…past tense…well, she tried to convince herself that it was past tense anyway.  Despite her stealthy ways, Cordelia had woken Anamaria.

"Cordy?  Wha's wrong, lass?" Anamaria asked, making her way to Cordelia's bed.  The two truly had gotten rather close over the past several weeks.

Raising her head ever so slightly, Cordelia blurted, "Jack thinks I'm a whore."

Anamaria's eyes widened.  "Wha'?  Tha' can' be true!  I've known 'im for years and have ne'er seen 'im look at a lass like 'e looks at ye."

"Maybe before," Cordelia said, sniffling, "but not now.  We were…no, never mind."

"Come on, Cordy, don' close up on me.  Wha' happened?"

Cordelia felt funny asking, but she needed to know.  Straightening herself up, Cordelia shyly asked, "Have you and Jack?…Were you and he ever?…Did you two…"

Knowing what she was being asked, Anamaria smiled and said, "No, lass.  Jack ne'er bedded me, an' I ne'er wanted 'im too.  Jack and me brother were close, tha's 'ow I came t' know 'im.  An' ye know I'm only 'ere now 'cuz he owes me a ship."  Anamaria shook her head.  "But tha's all beside the point.  Wha' happened in Jack's cabin?"

Cordelia was embarrassed as she spoke.  "We were…that is I thought that we were going to…and we started to and he was enjoying it…I was being really slow and…"

"Well, lass, ye know pirates ain' used t' things goin' slow."

"I know, and I was O.K. with the fact that his past is full of…that sort of thing.  But he got a bit odd when I tried to take off his shirt.  He said he'd never done those things unclothed and things boiled down to him thinking of me as a whore."

"Lass, I'd bet me life tha's not wha' Jack's thinkin' at all."

Cordelia crossed her arms over her chest.  "If it's what he's used to, it is very well what he's thinking."

Anamaria sighed and her tone was much softer than Cordelia had ever heard.  "Cordy, ye've still got so much t' learn abou' 'im.  As much as he tries t' hide it, 'e's a good man.  'E's got a few quirks, but tha's wha' makes 'im Jack."

"But how am I supposed to love a man that won't let me in?"  Cordelia gasped and quickly put her hand over her mouth.

Anamaria smiled.  "Wha' was tha'?"

"Nothing…nothing, I swear…"

"Then ye'd be lyin' wouldn' ye, Cordy?"

"I…I think I'd better get some sleep."

"Aye," Anamaria said, smiling.  "'Night then."

"'Night."