Time And Time Again
-by F and F

Disclaimer: Don't own the lyrics, don't own the characters

Author's Note: My first songfic. The song is "time and Time Again" by Papa Roach. I think the story's okay. So there.

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Yes I did it and I'll do it again
It doesn't matter if I am your best friend
I don't think so
You're not that smart
Over and over it breaks my heart

Will sat alone in his house. He and Elizabeth had fought again. He sighed. She had walked out again. Will couldn't believe that after only a year of marriage, it was all falling apart. Elizabeth would shout insults at Will, telling him she didn't love him, telling him that it didn't matter. He had to get used to her little quirks, Will knew, because they would happen, again and again. He always seemed to take Elizabeth's insults harder than Elizabeth took his. She always seemed composed when she returned, always seemed to ignore the insults as they came flying at her. Will still wasn't immune. She broke his heart, every time they fought.

The cycle continues
Time for your crime
The pain comes back in an ugly design
Her make-up smears, the tears that she cries
Over and over every night

Elizabeth couldn't stand being around Will any longer. He made her heart hurt. Every time she looked at him, she would see his face snarling out insults at her. She would always act like nothing had happened, like he hadn't said anything to hurt her, when all those insults stored up within her would explode. Every night they fought. Every time she left. She ran to the forest and cried her eyes out. When she returned to Will, she would first go to her father's and freshen up, leaving no trace of the tears that had flowed down her face only hours before.

Emotional swords slash my soul
And now the pain, it takes control
I think about you
I think about me
I think about the way that it used to be

Elizabeth looked back fondly upon the first months of her marriage. They had gotten along so well, Will never expected too much out of her. She never expected too much out of Will. When the fights started, Elizabeth thought it was just a rocky patch, that it would go on for a couple of months and then things would go back to the way they were. She was wrong. These fights had been going on almost every day for the past eight months, getting worse and worse every time. Eventually, Elizabeth took to leaving when she couldn't bear it any longer, when she felt her mind ready to explode at the pain engulfing it. That was how she discovered the little, unused spot in the forest.

Another sob racked her body, but Elizabeth had no tears left to cry. She wished she could run away, but she knew it would break her father's heart, and she couldn't do that to him. So all she could do was sit piteously in the forest, as sob after sob racked her body, sob after sob until she was numb.

I need a bottle, I need some pills
I need a friend and I need some thrills
A shoulder to cry on
A friend to depend on
When life gets rough

Elizabeth wandered through Port Royal. She stopped at the docks, staring out to sea. The sea always helped calm her nerves. Then she saw a familiar looking ship. The Black Pearl. That would mean Jack was here. Jack would listen, Elizabeth knew, as long as he had some rum in his hands. Elizabeth was almost smiling now, as she made her way to the tavern, where Jack was sure to be found. Elizabeth thought that she, herself, could use something to drink.

Time and time again
You'll think about yourself
Before you'll think about me
Time and time again
You'll think about yourself
Before you'll think about me

Jack was sitting in the tavern. He was gambling with his crew. He was winning…of course, it helped that he cheated. He was pulling in fistfuls of cash, when he felt a slight tap on his shoulder. He looked to see who it was, and saw the tearstained face of Elizabeth Swann. Turner, now, Jack reminded himself. "What can I do for you, luv?" Jack asked. "Jack, please. Would you come with me outside?"

Once they had arrived outside, Elizabeth started to tell Jack about how marriage was going for her and Will. She told him of the fights, and the insults, when Jack interrupted her with the wave of his hand. "Listen here, luv, do I look to be someone who can resolve your problems? I am not going to pull myself into this mess. Will would get quite riled up if he knew I was even listening to you. I don't want to hear any more," Jack stated.

It's like a fight every single day
It's always easy when you have it your way
Deep in my heart
In the depths of my soul
My selfish ways are out of control

Will decided he wasn't going to wait for Elizabeth tonight. He was going to find her. He rose from his chair and went down to the docks, where he knew Elizabeth found comfort. Instead of finding Elizabeth, he found the Black Pearl. A dreadful suspicion came to his mind, as he rushed to the tavern to find Jack.

Turns out, he didn't even have to enter the tavern to find Jack. With Elizabeth. Elizabeth was the one talking, crying. Will stayed in the shadows. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he wanted to see what would happen next. Jack waved his hand and then he started to speak. When he stopped there was an intense silence. Will chose this moment to burst forth from his hiding place. "So I'm not good enough then, is that what it is, Elizabeth?" Will spat. Elizabeth turned, horror and guilt written in every line of her face. "You think I'm too lowly? Not enough adventure? So you would run to this rum-soaked pirate instead?" Elizabeth started to cry, but Will was too furious to care. "So is it him you love? Are you certain he loves you back?"

"Let's not get me -" Jack began, before Will turned to him. "You are a dirty, selfish pirate. You are nothing compared to me," Will yelled. Elizabeth started to scream at him, unintelligible at first, before Will began to understand. "Will, you are a self-absorbed ass! You are not that important to me, to anyone!"

I'm sorry that it comes down to this
I punch through the wall as I break my fist
Her make-up smears
The tears that we cry
Over and over every night

Will had returned home. Elizabeth had left the area where he and she were fighting. Jack had managed to slip away somewhere in the middle of the fight. Anger and sadness raged war within him, and he broke down and cried. He didn't cry frequently, but tonight he did.

Elizabeth was also crying, out in the forest once more. She wished she and Will could work past this, but knew that it was doubtful it would ever happen. She cried and cried, wondering what Will was doing, wondering where he had gone.

Will's mind was going over everything he and Elizabeth had done throughout the year of their marriage, as the last of his tears went sliding down his face. Mostly they fought, he realized. With this thought, his mind began going over the fights themselves. Before long, Will was blazing with anger once again.

Time and time again
You'll think about yourself
Before you'll think about me
Time and time again
You'll think about yourself
Before you'll think about me

You're so selfish
You're making me want to end this
Relationship
You're making me want to end this

Will was shaking with anger as he stalked over to the bedroom. He got an evil idea in his mind's eye, and set about putting it to work. Now, Will wasn't usually a vengeful or violent person, but tonight, for some reason, Elizabeth had pushed him past the brink. She calling him selfish when she was the selfish one, always running out, probably spreading her tales of woe around with the other wives. He tore up her pillows, burned her books, cut her blankets. He smashed her dishes and furniture, turned over tables and dumped out the wine. When he was done, he was shocked, and perversely pleased, at what he had done, but still there was anger locked inside him. Without thinking, he slammed his left fist into the nearest wall. He heard a loud cracking sound, and when he pulled his fist away, there was a deep impression in the wall. His knuckles, of course, were swollen and bleeding, but Will didn't care. He gathered what belongings he would need, wrote a hasty note, and left that damned house for good.

When Elizabeth arrived home three hours later, the tearstains and smudged make-up still down her face, she found the place a disaster, tables turned over, debris from various furniture scattered about, a large whole in the wall. Lying on the ground by the turned over table lay a note reading:

"Elizabeth,
We have grown apart. I do not regret burning your books, smashing your furniture, destroying your home. You are as nothing to me. I will not be returning.
Love,
Will"

Elizabeth choked back a sob. How ironic he had used the word "love" rather than "hate". She made her way to her room to find it also a disaster, flopped down on the slashed-up bed, and cried into her torn up pillow.

Time and time again
You'll think about yourself
Before you'll think about me
Time and time again
You'll think about yourself
Before you'll think about me

Loving ties unwind
Lost time behind
Loving ties unwind
Lost time behind

It was two months after the whole ordeal. Elizabeth and Jack had started a fruitful relationship, Will had become a hermit. While Jack was a liar, and occasionally selfish and greedy, Elizabeth came to live with it. He never once assumed he was better than other men, better than Elizabeth herself. He would bring Elizabeth along with him whenever he set sail for some distant island and the two of them would stand at the prow, talking about the sea and her many wonders. Occasionally Elizabeth would look back on her time with Will, she would try to find the snag in the otherwise smooth fabric of their relationship, try to find the cause of all the ordeals in the latter part. She never forgot Will, and Will never forgot her, as much as they may have liked.