AN// Oh, come on people! That was NOT a bad cliffy. It wasn't like someone's gonna die.... I should work on my foreshadow... I SUCK at subtlety. *grin* And ummm...

WARNING!!!! There's a reason this story is rated R and with the upcoming events and the chapters to follow, the violence and sexual situations will justify that rating. This one has some of the latter but BARELY... I wouldn't even consider it a sexual situation... Just a little heated. *grin* But I want to warn just in case...

And it's been a good few chapters so I shall repeat the disclaimer: I Do not own Pirates of the Caribbean(wish I did) I do not own the characters Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann or Jack Sparrow..*hears incoherent shouting* *cough* sorry... CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow and for a brief moment in time, Norrington. I DO own Patricia Taylor and Toulouse and Abegnale and his bunch though I make ZERO money from this. Don't sue... you won't get a dime from the girl who hasn't a penny. Now read on.

Chapter 16: More Than That (-- This chapter just had a perfect name waiting for it...*grin*

"Patricia, love." Jack grinned his toothy smile at her as he leaped down from his upper deck. He put an arm around her shoulders as she looked around half-confused and half-angry. "You're awake and ready to be introduced to your new shipmates!"

"New... shipmates?" she choked. She clutched the top of her cloak tighter when she saw that all of them were throwing her appraising glances. "Why do we need shipmates?"

"Ummm... I figured it would take less time bringing up the Maiden's booty if we hand more hands to work with," he answered nonchalantly. Patricia whirled at him, her eyes ablaze again.

"I thought I made it clear that we weren't to go after it!" she exclaimed.

"And I thought I made it clear that I wouldn't follow through with your request," Jack smiled putting a hand to cup her chin. "Frankly, love, you're adorable when angry like this." She slapped his hand away and just glared at him.

"Don't touch me," Patricia snapped. "Where's AnaMaria?"

"Right here," the woman answered coming up to the two. "See, Jack? I knew she wouldn't be up to this."

"Up to this? You make it sound like a damn game! It's not!" Patricia tried to reason with them but she knew it was too late. She sighed in semi- defeat. "When did we leave Tortuga?"

"About noon," AnaMaria answered. "Look, Patricia... It's not as if we won't be careful..."

"Have you read the journal?" she interrupted and AnaMaria nodded.

"Those natives are probably long gone by now, Tricia... Don't worry..." AnaMaria reassured her. Elizabeth then came up to the two as Jack walked away, smiling in triumph, finally getting his way.

"And it's not as if you have a choice anymore. You're in the middle of the ocean, for god's sake. You can't runaway anymore," Elizabeth added, placing a double meaning to her words and the subliminal message wasn't lost on her.

"Yes... I pretty much figured that, Elizabeth," Patricia answered softly, looking down at her feet. Her anger towards Jack receded and her nervousness towards Will returned. AnaMaria quickly caught on to the line of conversation and she looked up at Will who was looking at them, unsure whether he would be welcomed into the group of women. His eyes caught AnaMaria's and he understood that he was finally allowed to talk to her. He came to her so stealthily that Patricia didn't even realize his presence until he spoke and put a hand on her back.

"Come on inside, Tricia," Will murmured and swallowed a lump in his throat when he saw pure fear in Patricia's dark eyes. "We need to get you into proper clothes." He hid her body with his as he noticed the look in the other pirates' eyes that Patricia noticed before. All of them seemed to wonder whether the innocent looking girl had anything on underneath the thick cloak she was clutching around her body.

"I... I'm fine," she stammered, tearing her eyes away, trying to find some escape but Elizabeth's words finally made themselves clear as glass. She couldn't run away anymore.

"No, you're not," he answered softly. His knuckle brushed against her shivering cheek. "You're freezing. Now come with me..." She looked back up at him and saw his pleading eyes. All she could do was nod and let him lead her down to his cabin.

"Do you think they'll finally fix themselves and Will won't say anything stupid anymore?" AnaMaria asked.

"Will won't do anything stupid anymore... hopefully," Elizabeth replied as both watched the young couple disappear below deck. "It's all up to Patricia's willingness to let Will in at this point."



Patricia sat down on the bed, her teeth beginning to chatter at the wind blowing in from the open window. Will took the task upon himself to close the window and grab another blanket. He sat down next to her and opened a crate next to the bed. Inside the box was an abundance of clothing and necessities for a woman that Jack had managed to buy (or steal, Will wasn't sure) for Elizabeth and Patricia. Will grabbed a brush and motioned Patricia to him. He opened the blanket, wrapped it around her and began to comb out the jungle-like tangles in her black hair.

The tension between the two was thick enough to get lost in. Patricia's heart beat was racing... not only from nervousness... but HE WAS SO CLOSE... His fingers kept brushing against the nape of her neck...His palms would smooth down her hair and she would feel the heat of his skin on her back... His breath was tickling her ear... Oooo... tickle.. As tense as the situation was a low giggle emerged from her lips as he exhaled and Will didn't miss it.

"What?" he asked confused. Last he thought, laughing at the situation was the stupidest thing to do but it was nice to see her smile again even when she tried to cover laughter with her hand. "What is it?" he asked smiling himself.

"Your breath is getting into my ear," she giggled softly. Will smiled wider as he realized what she meant.

"So?"

"What do you mean so? It tickles! That's so!" she laughed.

"Tickles?" he asked, playing stupid for a second. "Tickles like this?" Then his hands let go of the comb and started to slide around her waist his fingers extracting her laughter from her. Her legs kicked at the walls trying to get the much stronger man off her.

Upstairs, Jack started to roll in laughter. "Well, that didn't take long now did it?" {Author's Friend's Note// For a seemingly innocent kid, Isha ( the author has a really dirty mind... AN// -_- I'm NOT a little kid!}

Somehow, in their playing, Will managed to secure her wrists together with one hand and hold them against her chest. She was beneath him on the bed and she was grinning up at him. "Is this your way of telling me that you don't want to talk about what's happening between us?" Patricia's smile faded away and she rolled out from underneath him.

"Uhh..." She put a hand through her hair nervously as she stood away from the bed and sat on a chair on the otherside of room. "No... no... talk is good... I think." Her mind swept off to a dream she had during her nap. She had dreamt about never telling Will anything and how he would still smile at her without thinking it would be taken as more than a friendly gesture. "I wanted to apologize..."

"Apologize for what?" Will took up another chair and sat down in front of Patricia, who was looking at her hands. One, he noticed, was still bandaged. He took both hands in his and tried to get her to look him in the eye but she just kept staring at their hands now.

"Apologize for how I acted last night and for my stupid outburst," she murmured.

"Alright, for how you acted last night... I STILL have half my mind on telling you off for that..." he trailed off as Patricia looked up at him, her eyes pleading for forgiveness. "How do you do that?" he muttered, shutting his eyes to block away her look. He peeked them open again only to see her lips, quirk into an amused smile. His memory took him to the kiss that they shared the day before and he let her hands go to rub the image away from his retinas and to wipe away the tingling feeling that began to make themselves known on his lips. Her expression turned confused as she saw him wipe at his mouth. He looked down at her again, his eyes clouded. ".... Just one more time," he muttered.

"What?" she asked bewildered. Her voice snapped Will out of his daze and he shook his head. "You said something... What?"

"Nothing important, love." Will's hands reached out for Patricia's hands again. "For your actions last night, I still say you're now under my watch. You don't go anywhere without me anymore, understand?" She nodded. "But for your outburst... Why are you apologizing for what you said? And it wasn't stupid..." Now it was Patricia who retreated.

"It... It wasn't true," she said softly. Even though she had mentally prepared herself for those words, it still almost made her cringe with how bitter the lie tasted on her lips. Will just looked at her. He never thought that Patricia could ever hurt him but at that moment, he felt like he got stabbed in the chest and Patricia was holding the knife. She was looking him in the eye and didn't flinch at his shocked face. "You... you just kept... I hated how you kept on trying to be so damn protective." Another lie... I happen to LOVE your overwhelming yet unexplained urge to protect me. "And all this with Jack that was making my mind whirl..." Semi- lie... Making my head whirl, yes, but in a good way. "And you kept giving me this bollocks story about how you love me more than Miss Swann which is such a blatant fairy tale..."

"STOP!" Will exclaimed. His mind whirled in itself. It was a lie?! No... He remembered the kiss. And why would she run and get drunk? No... it was NOW that she was lying. He could finally read her clearly. She shook her head at his reaction and narrowing eyes. She stood up to leave, not sure how much longer she could keep up her composure for the sake of the lie, but Will took her by the shoulders and pinned her against the wall.

"Will!" she gasped, not liking the angry look in his eyes.

"You're not leaving this by walking away again. I made the mistake of letting you run the last time. I'm not making that mistake once more," he said, his voice low. Patricia looked down again and Will's hand let one shoulder go to put the palm on her cheek. "Have you ever lied to me before all this? Before you met Jack? Before the party that night? Before we ever stepped foot on this ship?"

"No," Patricia answered, her voice barely above a whisper. "Never... I couldn't" His hand felt her warm tears and he cupped her chin to bring her face up to him. He leaned down to rest his forehead against hers.

"Please... PLEASE, Tricia-love, don't lie to me now," he pleaded.

"It was worth a try..."

"Stop talking," he ordered before leaning down and kissing her again. The kiss remained innocent in its moments alive and Will smiled, inwardly, as she kissed back. Both hands released her shoulders to cup her face and wipe away the tears. He angled his head away again so that the kiss was broken but their foreheads remained connected. "Stop crying, love."

"If that kiss was some sort of apologetic symbol that it would be the last one we'll ever share and you're about to tell me you only love me as a little sister, then please don't make me listen to that... I don't want to hear it. Just simply step away and I'd understand but don't make me hear those words come out of your mouth..." she whimpered. Will stared at her in wonder.

"I kiss you and you're still worried about that?" he laughed. "Obviously, I didn't get my message to you quite clear enough because I REALLY don't have any more romantic feelings towards Elizabeth anymore, or any other girl besides you for that matter. It's that or my stupidity is rubbing off on you... Let's try again, shall we?" Before Patricia could voice her lack of understanding, Will kissed her again, this time the tip of his tongue prodded against the closed slit of her mouth. She was too surprised by this new kiss that she couldn't move until Will took her lower lip between his teeth and gently tugged at it. "Open up, love..." he mumbled.

Patricia smiled and followed orders, her hands going up against his back, feeling the muscles coordinate for his own arms to move. Will's hands were busy against her cheeks and smoothed its way to her hair where they fisted the strands to pull her closer.

Only at that moment did Will realize how badly he'd been wanting to kiss his best friend again. No, not best friend... she was more than that to him now. But... yes, he'd been wanting to this for the last 24 hours. No, not 24 hours... He's had this urge to kiss her for more than that... Years and years before he finally felt her lips consciously on his, did he have the urge to kiss her...No, not just kiss her... He wanted to do more than that...

Will's lips started to unconsciously make their way across her cheek and down the side of her neck, kissing every speck of skin, tasting the salty remnants of the sea air. His hands went down around her waist and pulled their hips closer together just to let her know what that moment was doing to him. At the feel of his arousal on her hip, Patricia moaned and only urged Will to continue his work, her hands now pulling at his brown hair.

".... We're here! We're here! I know this is a lovely moment for the two of you but we're here!!" Jack exclaimed, literally bouncing into the room. The captain was holding out his hand so that his view of the bed would be blocked and had his head twisted to the see the table by the opposite wall... It just so happened that Will and Patricia were NOT at the bed but next to the table by the opposite wall. Jack's hand dropped as did his jaw but not because of their compromising position but something else entirely...

Will and Patricia had stopped their kissing when he entered but their arms were still entangled with one another. Patricia was hiding her mirth in Will's shoulder, misinterpreting Jack's expression. Will couldn't give a rat's ass what Jack looked like and his own aggravation in the curve of the neck he was recently tasting.

"Jack, get out!" Will cried, annoyed. He put his head up to look glare at the captain only to have to be hit upside his head by Jack. "What in bloody hell was that for?!?"

"I heard someone banging against my ship and I thought you already bedded the girl!" Jack said agitated himself. "I come in and I see you're only necking her!?! For god's sake, mate, move a little faster!"

"Well, we wouldn't still be in this bloody position if your nosy arse hadn't barged in on us!" Will snapped back. Patricia, feeling Will's rising irritation turn into anger, planted a small kiss on his neck and shushed in his ear. It had the effect she wanted and Will's tense body relaxed against hers.

"Well, my apologies to you, Miss Taylor," Captain Sparrow said in a dignified air. His gaze grew pointed at Will. "You, Mr. Turner, can just bite my ass." He backed away a bit and regained his happy manner. "Anyways, the reason for my intrusion is that we've arrived at where Miss Taylor found our little treasure. I want all bodies on deck for a little speech and instruction from my part, understood?"

Patricia, still feeling that Will was in no condition to talk without insulting Jack, spoke for the both of them. "Aye, captain."

Jack Sparrow headed out and before he could shut the door properly, Patricia and Will caught snatches of his conversation with Gibbs and AnaMaria.

"They were just necking!" Jack cried out in disbelief.

"Then what was all that banging?" Gibbs asked from across the hall.

"How the hell am I suppose to know!?"

"Maybe he's really good at necking," AnaMaria added thoughtfully.

"Like bloody hell he's good..." The door slammed shut and Patricia laughed against Will, who was still frustrated at the imposition.

"We're continuing this later," Will growled before giving Patricia a searing kiss. Patricia nodded and laughed at the desperate look in his eyes. "We'd BETTER continue this later..." His hand taking a hold of hers, he led her out of the room. As they traveled down the hall and up the stairs, Patricia stopped.

"Will?" Patricia called. He halted just a few steps above her and below the door to the deck.

"What is it, Tricia?"

"Back down below... you said you had no romantic feelings towards any girl but me..." Will nodded.

"It's the truth, love, if that's what you want to know..."

She shook her head. "No... Not like I didn't want to know if it was true or not but..."

"What? Just say it. I'll answer..."

"I'm still a little confused by what you meant by that..." Will just gave her an amused smile as he leaned down and kissed her softly again.

"In the most simplest of words, it means I love you..." he whispered. Will chuckled as Patricia's eyes widened and he just pulled her up to him and led her out onto the deck, his arm tight around her waist.

AN// I wonder how long it took me to write this... I was on a roll today... I started it and I couldn't stop. So YAY! Applause! Isha updated in less than a week!... I think.. Now be kind and review... Sandra.... I got a bone to pick with you... *angry face*