Just a little note: People have said that Will seems to get over it rather quickly. I'm soorrry!!
BUT:
two things – first of all, Will is still hurt and feels bad and so on, but he doesn't want to be the "weak guy" and he doesn't want to make Elizabeth feel worse by making her feel guilty. Or something like that. I don't know. He's a gentleman :D
And also, if Will's gonna be sulky for the rest of the story, this is NEVER going to end *lol* Sorry for my impatience. Hope you all don't mind too much. If you do…well, I could try to expand that last chapter…mmm…I'll see…aaaanyway, on with the story mates, shall we? ;-)
Here's Chapter 16..well actually only 15 (I still haven't figured out how to take a chapter off!! Anybody?!)
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"I always knew Gibbs was right!" Jack slurred loudly. "Women are no more than bad luck! Shoulda listened t'him. Smart guy."
"Here's to us!" Will chimed in, nearly toppling over. "To the sup – supr - supreme sex! There, I got it right." Jack scrunched up his face at him but shook it off and grinned madly instead, clinking mugs with Will.
Will blinked a couple of times as if to clear his vision and staggered around. Suddenly Jack perched a finger.
"That's not rightfully right though!" he stopped. "Rightfully right? That didn't make any sense..." He said to himself. Then he straightened up and focused on Will again, and his speech was accompanied by a number of odd hand gestures. "Well I was saying that ye can't actually say that, since yer a eunuch! Remember?" Jack flung his arms wide and grinned at Will in the triumph of actually forming a sensible sentence.
Will decided he was too drunk to argue and took a large swig of rum instead. Suddenly he became solemn and seemed almost sober despite his large amount of alcohol (specifically rum!) consumption.
"Do you love her?"
Jack stared at him for a moment and then rolled his eyes to the ceiling, clearly annoyed.
"Eh mate. None of that lovey dovey stuff, savvy? We're here to forget 'bout 'em. Bloody strumpets." He grumbled.
"Jack…" Will said warningly, although it seemed rather unconvincing since he dropped to the floor just that moment and grinned crazily up at Jack.
"You haven't ans – ansred – answered my question." He said, trying to sound stern.
Jack waved his hand carelessly and then sighed.
"Always one t'ruin the fun, aren't ye Will…" he pouted.
"And ye shoulda learned by now. Pirates don't love."
"I do…" Will said quietly after a moment.
Jack glanced at him and tried hard not to feel guilty at the look in Will's eyes.
"Aye…but yer not a real pirate, yer a eunuch, Will!" he finished cheerfully, trying to avoid and end this rather unpleasant conversation. Will looked offended though and looked as if he was about to grab a sword and fight Jack.
Jack slapped him on the back reassuringly.
"It's not worth ye gettin' beat again." He said with a cocky grin.
Will sighed in defeat; his head hurt way too much to endure some pointless argument with Jack now. He didn't know why he had joined Jack here anyway. He looked around and blinked a couple of times to clear his vision. Their table was off in the far corner, separated from the noisy brawls that went on in the tavern. All around him men were drinking or busying themselves with pleasurable company, some were playing cards, which usually ended in a fight. The noise was deafening. Mugs clattered, tables were knocked over, whores screeched and drunkards yelled random obscenities. Will hadn't even known a place like this existed in the proper town of Port Royal, but Jack had proven him wrong. He was still surprised at the sight of Jack back at the governor's mansion. He had looked so…defeated. So vulnerable.
Jack and vulnerable? Will shook his head. Of course Jack had tried to hide it as soon as Will had entered, just not quick enough. Will knew something was bothering the great captain, and he couldn't and didn't want to say no when Jack asked him to join in for a round of rum "t'forget all this shit". Will grinned, though rather half-heartedly. 'At least I'll be able to drink as much as I want now', he told himself, remembering how much Elizabeth had despised of the 'vile drink'. He downed another quarter of rum and rubbed his forehead. This wasn't what he wanted though, and he knew it. But neither could he blame Jack, who was obviously feeling just as miserable as him.
"Oy whelp. You still alive?" Jack slurred and eyed him curiously.
"Ye gotta learn to hold yer liquor mate!" Jack grinned and started to sway quite precariously himself. Will saw it coming, but it was too late to warn Jack Sparrow.
With a loud *thump* Jack's chair gave way and the Captain found himself toppling onto the floor, spilling his rum in the process.
The sight was too hilarious and Will held his side in laughter at Jack's expression.
Jack grumbled something incoherent and peered curiously into his, now "bloody empty" mug of rum.
"The rum's gone!" he yelled. "I wasted some perfectly good, drinkable rum! Bloody 'ell!"
Will stretched out his hand and Jack stared at him in bewilderment, then taking his offered arm though to steady him. Will grinned at him and somehow felt more at ease. Some of the tension between them was gone and it wasn't only the effect of the rum. Maybe things would get back to normal some time after all…
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Jack groaned at the blinding sunlight that was passing through the window. Upon further investigation he noticed that he was back at the governor's mansion, wondering when and, more importantly, how he had gotten there. His head was pounding and he had to admit that even the great Captain Jack Sparrow wasn't completely invincible to the effects of rum. He got up and quickly closed the curtains, holding a hand to cover his eyes and dropped back onto the bed. He was still fully dressed and smirked at how the proper servants would react if they saw him laying on the smooth white silk sheets in his boots.
The door opened and Jack saw Elizabeth sweeping in. He tried to hide his dirty boots as well as possible and grinned at her sheepishly.
"'Morning." He said carelessly and smiled innocently.
"It's noon." Elizabeth replied coldly. "You have missed breakfast. If you want to eat something, ask in the kitchen. I'll be off to the tailor." With that she left and shut the door.
" 'It's noon. You have missed breakfast'." Jack mocked Elizabeth's voice, but he wasn't very sincere about it. It hurt to see Elizabeth treat him this way. No. Wait. It didn't. He didn't care whether Elizabeth was mad at him. All he cared about was his ship. His Pearl. 'Right.' he assured himself. Which he hadn't even checked on after his escape from prison. Will had said it was safely at the docks, but who believed a whelp?? What if that bloody Norrington had 'confiscated' it? Wouldn't be unlikely…
That thought in mind Jack quickly jumped off the bed and sauntered out the door, heading towards the docks. At the sight of his beloved ship he sighed in relief and waltzed over, lifting his hat in mock respect at the dock-guard, whom he had dubbed Mr. Smith.
It felt so good to feel the familiar wood under his fingers, to see the mighty black sails billow in the wind. It seemed like a year since he had been aboard the Black Pearl, when it was actually only a week. His gaze wandered from the open ocean toward the bustling city of Port Royal, the Swann mansion gleaming in the background, and back towards the sea. He'd made up his mind. There was nothing holding him here anymore and there were adventures to be survived, curses to be broken and cannons to be fired…so he might as well leave.
Now.
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A/N: Writer's block, writer's block, curse that stupid writer's block!!! Gahhh! I'm sorry if this chapter didn't really live up to your expectations – I am very unsatisfied with it. But I hadn't updated in some time, so I thought I'd just give you this, I'll try to rewrite it though. This story is seriously slacking though…suggestions are more than welcome!!! *nudge nudge*
Thank you for the reviews everyone! It's sooo great to get all that feedback – any author's gonna agree with me on that!! …I think…
Drink up me 'earties!
~Sereture