Disclaimer: Not mine, never was, never will be.
Author's Note: Holy Crap! I went to check my e-mail this morning and found in inbox completely flooded with reviews! I can't tell you all how much it means to me to get such a response to this story and I'm eternally grateful for your support. And now...on with the story!
Elizabeth was suddenly very aware that not only was she sitting on His bed but that she was wearing men's clothes, which had far less material than her usual dresses and did very little to hide her figure. She hoped he would contribute the flush that was creeping up her face yet again to the rum, but she doubted it.
"So tell me 'Lizabeth," Jack started as he rose from the chair and swaggered toward her, seeming more graceful than anyone who moved like him should, "Why is it that you've not yet wed young Mr. Turner out there?"
She spared him a glance as he settled next to her on the bed, "We've been searching for you. There hasn't been time."
"Mm-hmm," he drawled, "An' Tha's the only reason, is it?"
"Of course that's the only reason. What other reason would there be?" She snapped at him, angry that he was questioning her relationship with Will.
Jack said nothing. He merely looked at her, and she was suddenly reminded not only of their kiss but of the flirtatious banter before and the way the needle of the compass would swing toward him when she wasn't concentrating on the chest. She felt very warm all of a sudden. Her breaths became shallow and quick and she was acutely aware of exactly how close she and Jack were sitting.
'Too close. You are far too close Elizabeth. This is a very bad idea.' She paid no attention to the voice in her head, enthralled by the man next to her.
Jack spoke suddenly and she nearly jumped, "Then I suppose you'll be wantin' ta head back to Port Royal as soon as possible then won't ya?"
Elizabeth's head was fuzzy and it took a moment for her to process what he'd just asked. Both the rum and the intoxicating feel of Jack next to her, so close she could feel the chill of his still damp clothes and the warmth of him underneath were proving to be a bad combination. She forced herself to think straight.
"We can't go back to Port Royal. We're both fugitives from justice since James ran off with the letters of marque and Jones' heart."
Jack actually looked a little surprised, "So it was the Commodore who stole my thump-thump. That's very interesting."
He seemed lost in thought for a moment, sipping his rum and gazing at the ceiling as though it was speaking to him. Elizabeth was content to just look at him, marveling once again that he was really here.
"So I gather the wedding's been postponed a bit more then?" he looked at her questioningly.
"Well I hardly think they'll allow us to conduct a wedding before they hang us, Jack."
"Still...there's plenty of other places willing to perform one. Even Barbossa, mutinous bastard that he is, has the authority to do it. An' I seem to recall you bein' quite desperate to... 'be married' before. Or is just in name that you two are unjoined? Dear William hasn't been ungentlemanly in my absence has he?"
Elizabeth's eyes widened at his implication, "First of all Captain Sparrow, Will is a perfect gentleman and would never do what you are suggesting until we were properly wed. Secondly, I would never allow a man as vile as Barbossa perform my wedding ceremony. Especially, need I remind you, as he previously tried to kill both Will and myself. And thirdly," she stood, meaning to walk away from him but the action made her head spin and she lost her train of thought, "Thirdly... 'unjoined' is not a word." Satisfied with her argument and more than a little dizzy, she sat primly back down on the bed and took another sip from her bottle.
'Sip, Lizzy. Don't gulp. Ladies do not gulp.' She rolled her eyes a bit a that thought, "Ladies don't drink rum, either. And they certainly don't dress in men's clothing and sail around with pirates." Still, the suggestion was a good one since she'd thoroughly proven that she could not hold her rum.
Jack eyed her for a moment, amused at her anger. Elizabeth glared a him a moment longer before giving in. She couldn't stay mad at him. Not when he was alive and here and grinning at her. She huffed, nudging him with her elbow before taking another sip of her rum.
They sat in quiet comradery for a few moments, drinking and feeling the pitch and roll of The Black Pearl under their feet. Obviously Barbossa and the crew had grown tired of waiting for Jack to reappear and had begun the long journey back. As Elizabeth's mind wandered idly she found herself contemplating a question that she'd been wanting to ask for a week now.
"Jack? How is it that you weren't still chained to the mast of The Pearl when we found it?" It had been bothering her since they'd found the ship and now seemed as good a time as any to ask.
"I escaped them, of course. Couldn't very well have a fight to the death with a horrible beasty while chained to me ship could I?" Jack stated as though it was perfectly obvious.
"But how?" She looked at him, eyes lit with the curiosity of the twelve-year-old girl who loved pirate stories.
"Well 'cause I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, luv."
Elizabeth laughed, affection bubbling in her heart for the man sitting next to her, "Oh Jack," she leaned against him then, her head nestling into his shoulder comfortably, "I missed you so."
About a second after she said it, she wished she could take it back. It was one thing to admit to herself that life without Jack Sparrow was unbearably dull but it was a different thing altogether to admit it to him. It was too late now though. She felt him stiffen under her cheek, twisting to look at her properly.
"Did you now?"
He was unbearably close again, eyes searching hers, the look in his eyes far different than what she had expected. She had assumed he would be his usual cocky self, probably make a suggestive comment or two and move on.
Instead he was staring into her eyes with an almost vulnerable expression. It occurred to her suddenly that, with the life he led, he'd probably never had anyone to miss him before. That realization instantly washed away the last of her doubts concerning her feelings for Captain Jack Sparrow.
"Oh Jack..." her hand, shaking slightly came up to touch the side of his face. She smiled, "Of course I did."
Jack started visibly at the tender touch of her hand on his cheek, and she felt sympathy welling up in her heart for the man in front of her. Her thumb stroked his cheek softly as she looked directly into his eyes, letting him see how much she had truly missed him.
As they stared at each other his eyes slowly lost their startled, vunerable look and she some them darken with another emotion entirely. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment as she recognized the look. The same one he'd given her when she'd teased him months earlier on the deck of this very ship. Right before he'd very nearly kissed her.
"'Lizabeth," his voice sounded strained, "If you don't get up this instant an' leave this cabin, 'm gonna kiss you."
Elizabeth's eyes widened from his words but she couldn't bring herself to be shocked or to get up and leave the cabin. Instinctually she'd known it would come to this should they ever find him.
Maybe she was going to hell for it but she was getting another taste of Jack Sparrow. She had to know if the passion from that first kiss was still there or if it was just the heat of the moment. If it wasn't she could go back to her fiancé and never wonder again but if it was... she'd never be able to marry Will.
She licked her suddenly dry lips nervously and felt heat shoot through her as Jack's eyes followed the movement. Slowly she took Jack's bottle of rum and set it and her own on the floor. Then she met his eyes again and, barely above a whisper, she sealed her fate, "I'm not leaving."
TBC...I just know you guys are gonna kill me for leaving it there but I couldn't resist! Next chapter (complete with a traumatic true story of what happened as I was writing it) will be posted tomorrow!