"So am I to trust you will return her to me…Captain?" The corner of her lips lifted slightly as she heard Matthew speak the title with obvious amusement. "I don't want to get word of my men being stranded off some African shore and you having stole my ship." When she looked to where he stood next to her on the dock under the bright morning sun, she saw him smirking just as she had expected, and grinned.

"Oh, like I would do such a thing…" Her pout was animated and a low chuckle sounded from Matthew Rathbone's chest. Together they watched members of his crew load cargo onto the vessel he had acquired only months ago. Let's just say that Navy ship they had planned to intercept, well…it no longer sailed under navy colours.

The Sirens Song, as she had been rechristened, was by no means as large as the ship Matthew himself Captained, this was simply meant to be his little side project as he had called it. But she was still magnificent. There were flakes of blue and green paint covering the woodwork which just made it beautiful in Nicolette's eyes. No wonder Matthew had names it as he had, the ship truly looked like a dream, a mirage once surrounded by the open water.

It was perfect for what they needed and it just so happened the ship didn't have a Captain yet but Matthew had heard rumours of the calling and he had been planning to attempt to sail to the shores of Europe to try and help some of those hundreds who had been captured.

That was before the song had been sung, only moons ago.

The plan had been for his crew to help them cross to Africa and then they would barter some other passage from there to Singapore but, with no one left to rescue, that had been forgotten and they now had a clear route planned to Singapore. Nicolette would Captain The Sirens Song with her crew and a crew supplied by Matthew and once they reached their destination, The Sirens Song would then return to the Caribbean.

She didn't blame the man for not allowing her to take the ship further, a lot further. It was understandable for him to not want to loose his new ship off the end of the World… A concern which he had expanded to herself...on multiple occasions.

"They're good men. They'll…" Matthew hesitated and paused as Pintel and Ragetti stumbled past them carrying a large barrel between them. "I have told them to allow you to return with them, as Captain, should you change your mind."

As much as she appreciated how he cared for her and worried about her, she was beginning to grow frustrated at Matthew's constant blatant hints for her to stay with him. It started with him trying to convince her she couldn't get Jack back and then that it wouldn't matter whether they got him back or not. Then, once he realised insulting Jack would not work on her, he turned to trying to convince her to return to him after it was all over.

"I can't Matthew. I…" The man looked away from her with the same disappointment on his face as all of the other times he had tried over the past couple of days. "I need to get him back. Or at the very least I need to try."

"You could end up in there yourself you know, the locker." He spat with a frown. "You're willing to risk that?" All Nicolette could do was nod and place a hand softly on his arm as he scoffed. He wasn't trying to be an arse, she knew that, and she knew that if the roles were swapped she would be putting up with much more of a fuss from Jack.

"I'd rather face the locker than Beckett." She tried to joke but neither of them gave more than a fleeting smile. "I'll make sure she returns in one piece." Nic nodded towards the Siren, alive with sailors. "Thank you, again, for this."

"You know I can never say no to you." Matthew chuckled as he produced a joke of his own and squinted at her from under the brim of his hat, through the suns bright rays. "Make sure to tell Sparrow he owes me now."

"Oh I will." Nicolette grinned. "Him and me both do, over and over again."

"Ready to set sail Captain!"

Matthew noticed her grimace as the call was announced and let out a true bellowing laugh.

"It will take you a while to get used to that I assume." He spoke through continuing laughter and she nodded.

"Never really thought bout it before. Not that I don't like it, it's just…odd. I feel like I keep looking behind me when someone calls me that."

"You've seen and sailed more than enough to know what you are doing." He reassured her and then gave her a gentle push towards the gangplank now empty of cargo. She was the last to board, all of her crew had been aboard for hours getting things ready, and she hated to admit it but she was a little scared.

"Be safe in these waters, you hear?" She narrowed her eyes and dropped the smile to fix him with a look, long enough for him to know she was serious and nod. "The seas, they don't belong to us anymore in the way they once did."

"Aye…I know." Matthew nodded solemnly and walked to stand almost toe to toe with her. "You too. Don't get lost over the edge." She smiled then, chuckling under her breath and nodding slowly.

"I will try. See you later Captain."

Matthew bowed his head at her as she began to take small steps back away from him. It was only as her foot hit the end of the gangplank that she turned to stride up towards the deck of the Siren where her crew awaited.

"Raise the gangplank. Cast off and weigh anchor, prepare to set sail." She spoke clearly once she reached the deck, directing her words towards Gibbs who had been awaiting her before turning and walking past Will, Elizabeth, Tia and Barbossa who stood in a row by the railing of the ship. They all held expressions of confusion and she could only assume why, Matthew. She had seen them all stood in a line watching her for the past twenty minutes.

Barbossa had asked her the moment she returned to the Inn they were staying at after he had caught her sitting with the gentleman at the bar. 'Just exactly who is he?'. The name had rang a bell with Hector the moment it left her lips and ever since, if she was with Matthew discussing plans then one could guess that Barbossa wasn't very far away. Where as the troubled couple, well they hadn't dared ask her, they just continued to watch in silence.

Even if they had asked, she hadn't the need to tell them. It was her business... Hers and Matthew's, and maybe Jack's.

"Well well well…if it isn't Captain Jack Sparrow." A young petite little blonde cooed as she pressed herself against the bar to lean over towards the young man, her breasts pressing against the wood and up out of her corset.

"Cecilia, looking as pretty as ever." Jack smirked back at the girl as he took his seat, the one he always took at The Ol' Sailor, and removed his hat, setting it on the bar next to him. "They got you pouring me rum now eh?"

"Oh no, I was just catching my breath." She giggled with a wink and dragged her body up to stand straight. "Can I keep you any company tonight Captain?"

"Maybe tomorrow luv, I want to rest if it's you I have to impress." As he expected the girl squealed before giggling excitedly, tossing her hair over her shoulder and biting down on her lips teasingly. But, as pretty and as tempting as she was, he was not into the girl for tonight and he cleared his threat before scanning the bar. "Now where is Nicolette? I do fancy me some rum."

Upon hearing a girls name which was not her own come from Jack's lips, Cecilia's face dissolved into a frown and she stood up, fixing her corset.

"Nicolette? Haven't seen her all night, she's probably with that Mr Matt-"

"Cecilia!" A sharp snap cut off the girl who jumped and whipped around just as Imelda, the Inn Keeper and Madame, came out from the kitchens. "I believe you've had much too long of a break back here, go on get!" She smacked the young prostitute with an old rag she wiped her hands with making her scurry off back onto the bar floor before turning to Jack. "Evening Captain, Rum?" Imelda didn't wait for his answer to come before she started to pour him a mug full of the amber liquid.

Jack, though he may at times come across naive and a penny short, was not daft. He also knew Imelda well enough to know that she was indeed avoiding his eyes and had interrupted him and the young maid at that precise moment for a reason.

"Hmm." He grunted in answer though the rum had already been set in front of him. "No help tonight?" As he predicted the woman just hummed as she busied herself wiping up spills for a good few minutes. Then, she sighed and shook her head.

"No, sorry Captain. I know I'm not as easy on the eye." He couldn't help but grin at the women who was easily still in her prime and still gorgeous, but he wouldn't let that make him give up. So, as he took a sip of his drink, he thought of what his next move would be.

"You gave the girl a break? Unlike you, thought you were a bit of a slave driver."

"Captain Sparrow! How very dare you insinuate such a thing!" Imelda cackled loudly, smacking her rag playfully against his arm this time. "The girl deserves a day off with how hard she works around here. Hasn't took a day off ill in 9 years apart from the time she had the pox, poor thing." The women tutted as her smile fell and her mind drifted back to the memory of the little thirteen year old coughing up a storm next to her in the bed. The heat radiating from her little frame was enough to keep Imelda awake all night but she couldn't bring herself to leave the small child's side when there was no one else to watch over her.

"So…" Jack drawled, pulling her from her day dream. "Who is Mr Matt then?" Imelda fixed Jack with a stern look and began to mumble under her breath.

"Oh that girl, bloody gossips the lot of them." She glanced at Jack, sighing when she saw him continuing to stare at her. It wasn't her place to discuss the girl, especially what she got up to in her own life outside the damn tavern. She had never had much of a social life, nothing in the area of friends apart from whores and drunken sailors. What little she did have Imelda thought should have been allowed to be her own. But she knew Jack Sparrow and she knew how smitten he was for the girl during his short stops in the Port, so much so he wouldn't give up if he thought something threatened that. Oh why did that stupid girl have to open her big busy mouth.

"It really isn't my place to say Jack." She sighed again, harder and spread her hands wide against the bar as she leant upon it. "You should speak to Nicolette while your here." The implied suddenness which needed to be actioned caused Jack to lean back and narrow his eyes curiously.

"Is something wrong?"

"No! No, nothing is ill with the girl." She could feel the atmosphere becoming heated as Jack became more and more curious and less patient. Imelda could also feel herself giving in slightly, but for girls sake as opposed to Jack's. If this was how he was reacting when he thought something was up, how would he be when he knew what the situation actually was.

Imelda swept her eyes around the bar just in case the girl had came in during the past few minutes and then met Jack's gaze, sympathy flooding her insides. She had known Captain Sparrow since the day he first came into the bar, the same day she had watched the two youngsters steal glances at one another across the tavern floor before finally meeting and pawing over each other until closing hour. The sun was about to rise again when Nicolette had came to her and asked if it would be okay to step out with the young Captain to see his ship. Imelda had smirked as she had granted her permission and warned Jack to bring her back safe, chuckling when she had been awoken by small timid feet creeping past her chambers only an hour before the girl was set to wake.

She didn't want to be the one to tell him the news but god knows what would have happened if Nic told him.

"The girl…" She started slowly. "Nicolette is engaged to be married Jack." She stopped there to allow him to react but the man simply froze. His lips were parted and his eyes narrowed into slits and he failed to move…for a good while. Long enough to make Imelda feel uncomfortable and she had seen a lot of odd things during her time. "Jack?"

"Hmm?" He immediately answered and shook his head of the stiffness. "Engaged…to be m-…married…Nicolette?" Imelda nodded slowly. "Nicolette Barker?" Jack leant further across the bar, his brows lifted.

"Yes Jack. Nicolette." After a moment, the man reared back and pushed out his bottom lip as he sways lightly in his seat.

"Oh." He perked, still frowning although it seemed he was in a dream like state. It was odd, Imelda had expected him to be angry, or at least a little bit more wound up. "Well isn't that funny." Obviously she had spoke to soon; Jack gritted his teeth and his fingers began drumming a fast paced rhythm.

"Jack…Matthew-" The woman stopped and tilted her head at the Captain with a tut as he made a face and repeated the new name back to her childishly. "Oh stop that, you're not a boy anymore." He dropped the twisted face immediately but sat back from the woman, offended, as she continued. "He's a good lad. He wants to look after her, get her out of this place." She smiled and cast her eyes around the tavern. As much as she called the place home she didn't want the girl to grow old here and risk becoming a whore herself. She was better than that, she had more ambition and life in her than to turn to laying on her back to entertain men.

"Pirate?" Jack asked straight and to the point.

"Aye, just a deck hand but the lad has ambition. Wants to be a Captain, get himself a ship." Upon hearing this Jack scoffed.

"Some people already have all that." Jack mocked. "How long has she known him, two days?"

"Three months. So no, she didn't know him last time you were here." Imelda shot Jack a look as she saw him open his mouth and he quickly snapped it shut. "He came in here, they talked. He came back, a few times, and then he asked her." Jack turned his eyes down and he stared into his rum which was quickly depleting. "He loves her Jack, like it or not, and she agreed to marry him."

"Where is she now?" He asked, more suddenly that Imelda felt comfortable with and she swallowed hard. "With him?"

"Yes. He arrived this morning. They've been out ever since."

"And when are they getting married?" Imelda paused then and although the bar was alive with chants and rows and laughter, a silence settled over them as Jack's question hung in the air.

"Three days." Jack started to laugh and the woman truly didn't know what to do.

But Jack, what was he to think, never mind do? What? Was the girl expecting him to just come into the tavern one day to visit her, to take her back to the springs they had once swam in, or through the markets as their hands grazed and played with each other, while she had a ring on her finger?

Was she going to continue to wear his ring, the one he had gifted to her a few months back, on the neighbouring finger? Or was she going to get rid of that too?

"Don't do it Jack." Imelda warned but he played innocent.

"Do what love?'

"Go after her now. You've been coming here for close to two years. Don't go and offer her empty promises now." Though he hated to admit it, Imelda was correct and that had been the first place for Jack's mind to go, only…would they be empty?

"Wouldn't dream of it love." He grinned and finished the rest of his rum. "Now, when is the blushing bride to be set to return?"

"I don't know Jack." Imelda watched the man with a sad smile, mainly caused by the idea of what the night ahead may hold for Nicolette. "The boy stays on the ship, she normally gets back…I don't know. She shouldn't be long."

"Excellent! In that case, I'll take another rum."

The bar was still very much alive when Nicolette eventually entered through the side door in the early hours of the morning. Sailors were falling over drunk or grinning at her as she shimmied past them, her cream shawl wrapped tightly around her shoulders.

"Good night Nicolette?" One of the girls, Sylvia, smiled brightly at her from her place upon a man's lap as she passed by.

"Aye. But for me it is bedtime." She answered quickly and nodded as a wish of sweet dreams came from the girl's mouth before it was covered by the mans. The thought of Matthew's lips upon hers only moments ago crossed her mind and she smiled as she made it to the bar to pour herself a drink of water before going to her room.

However, as she rounded the bar and walked towards one of the water barrels, humming softly along with one of the sea tunes being sung near by, Nicolette halted. Her green eyes met warm brown ones which had already been staring at her when she spotted them and her heart suddenly beat against her chest hard…harder than when Matthew had held her pressed against the tavern wall outside in a teasing embrace.

"Jack?" She breathed and the smile came to her lips automatically as her feet carried her closer to him. He himself couldn't help smiling either as her eyes lit up and the shawl slipped from her shoulders as her grip on the cloth loosened.

"Hello love." Jack almost forgot about everything he had been thinking about for the past few hours as he downed pint after pint, working out just what his plan was. It almost slipped from his mind as her delicate face, so pretty, lit up and she stopped just inches away from him. If he reached out he would have been able to touch her hand. Her hand, the one he could now see clearly decorated with two rings, one of which was his, the other was not.

"I was starting to get worried." Nic laughed a little, her voice still preciously quiet. "It's been months."

"Aye, it has." He was quiet, quiet for him at least, Nic noticed and she frowned.

"Is everything alright?" Her ignorance was what brought Jack back to the present and suddenly his face turned sour. Upon seeing him look away from her and frown as his eyes darkened, Nicolette shifted from one foot to the other and cleared her throat awkwardly. "Jack?"

"You're getting married." He answered her immediately with more of a statement than a question and she was left stuck, speechless and shocked. It must have been one of the girls who told him, or Imelda possibly? Either way he had found out somehow and…she didn't really know what to do.

Call her ignorant but in all the time which had passed since she met Matthew, she had thought of Jack in the beginning…and when the big question was asked, but she had convinced herself that he wouldn't care. After all she was just a silly little girl who listened to his stories. Whereas he was Jack Sparrow, pirate Captain and pirate Lord of the Caribbean. She…she had assumed he would have just wished her well and moved on to one of the whores she knew he regularly visited.

It hurt her, but a man did love her so why should she be sad? For once, since she met Jack, she didn't feel like she was sat around waiting for a man who didn't care to come visit her.

"I…yes…" She said, for the longer she stood there thinking of what to say, the harsher his glare seemed to grow. "I…" Nic trailed off in a whisper before sighing. "You are bothered by that?" She felt stupid asking the question. She waited for him to laugh as she stared down at the floor, but it never came and when she looked up Jack was staring into his rum.

He opened his mouth to speak but closed it almost immediately and scoffed softly. As the women around him giggled and men whistled and cheered at one another, all the while this angelic image stood staring at him with eyes so empty and confused, Jack couldn't think.

"Can we be alone?"

Being alone with a woman betrothed, it was oh so wrong in the eye of those others who were not them. If they were anywhere else in the world this would have been improper, Nic may of actually been at risk of loosing her groom. But not here, not in Tortuga. So, with minimal hesitation, Nicolette nodded and then gestured for Jack to follow her as she came out from behind the bar and headed towards the stairs leading up to her room.

She knew at least some of the girls would be watching and already gossiping but in that moment her mind was too busy spinning with different thoughts for her to care and she would set them all straight in the morning.

They were silent as Nicolette led the way, Jack following a few steps behind as they wound up the different floors until they reached the final flight of stairs and Nic took a key from the small loop on her belt.

It was dark when they first entered the room, the only light coming from the moon which shone through the small attic window in the slanted roof which overlooked her bed. Nicolette moved quickly, lighting candles to provide a soft warm glow of light in the room. Most of the flames were cadged in pastel coloured Turkish lanterns which created intricate patterns on the ceiling once lit. Other thicker pillar candles stood upon stone columns or small patterned plates upon desks and chests of draws. She didn't own a lot of belongings by the looks of it, but everything she did have was pretty, delicate and chosen with taste instead of greed.

"Sit, please." Nicolette spoke, pulling Jack's attention to her and he frowned at her unfamiliar formality. Never the less however, he took a seat on the small bed and awaited Nicolette as she removed her white linen apron, stained a dull muddy brown with wear.

She then took a seat next to him on the hard cotton stuffed mattress. There, they sat in silence for a good minute before Jack cleared his throat.

"So…should I assume my invite was lost at sea?" Nicolette hoped he was joking but one look at Jack's face had her wincing as she saw the taunting expression and cold eyes.

"I-" She stuttered and then sighed, stuck on what to say. She didn't feel bad, well maybe a little, but she mainly felt guilty and she wasn't sure why. She liked Jack, of course she liked Jack he was…Jack. But…she couldn't spend the rest of her years waiting behind a bar for him to visit for one night every six or seven months between his adventures and exciting voyages.

She had to have her own dreams, and Matthew had spoke of such wonderful things. He wanted to be with her, to share things with her and show her the beautiful things he had already been able to see. He wanted her, and so why was she being made to feel like she had betrayed the man in front of her now?

"Yes…oh." Jack smiled weakly. "You weren't going to tell me?"

"Yes. I…no... I..." Nic whispered and her voice was high and squeaky with awkwardness. "How was I to tell you when you weren't here? And I didn't think you would care." Why would he? Of course they had kissed and played around like silly children but…that was all. Jack had never expressed a want for her beyond that, apart from the desire to get her into bed which she strictly turned down. He didn't want her in his life permanently, he didn't want to take her anywhere, so why would he care if someone else did?

"I...It's sudden." Jack replied with a shrug. "Are you staying here?" He noticed Nicolette's face change then and her body seemed to shrink in on itself a little as she licked her bottom lip and then pulled it into her mouth to bite down upon it. How he wished in that moment he could do that very same thing to her lips, but it wouldn't be right anymore.

"I haven't told Imelda yet, or anyone else. But no, I'm leaving. I'm leaving Tortuga actually." She spoke almost too quietly for Jack to hear. "Matthew, that's his name…" She stated and Jack nodded, pretending not to already know this. "…he knows of this smaller port, less trouble…prettier which isn't hard really." Nic laughed as her fingers played with each other nervously. "He has found us somewhere small to live, we leave the day after the wedding."

"Four days?" Jack asked and ignored Nicolette's shock upon discovering he already knew the date of the wedding. He was too busy thinking of how he had almost missed her. With the wind and the seas, four days was nothing and if anything had delayed him even the slightest bit he could have arrived in Tortuga to find her gone, missing. He would have never seen her again and that struck him harder than he allowed himself to acknowledge. "Who will there be to tell me stories to love?" Jack said it as a joke but deep down it held more hurt than she would ever know.

"In this place?" Nicolette laughed. "There's plenty of girls who will queue up to listen to your stories. After all, you're Captain Jack Sparrow." She giggled and patted his arm but Jack simply shook his head and forced himself to meet her eyes.

"Aye…but none of them are you are they darlin'?" Nic's smile was wiped clean off and replaced with a look of absence as her mind went blank from hearing his words. She was not sure how she was meant to take them but something about the look in his eyes and the missing spark, told her he was serious.

"I, em…" Her heart started beating faster in her chest and her mouth went stone dry. The surrounding darkness and silence provided little comfort and she was left with nothing to say, which she chose to admit. "I don't know what to say Jack. I'm sorry, I thought…well I didn't think…" Nic released a deep sigh and twisted her hands so hard it was near painful.

She only stopped when she felt a warmth lay over them and when she looked down she saw Jack's hand, holding both of her own.

"There's nothing to say sorry for darling." Jack whispered and shuffled closer to her on the bed. "I guess I always assumed you would be here. That I could see you."

"I didn't think there was anything between us Jack." Nic whispered hoarsely and started to play with his fingers. Even that was wrong, that small show of intimacy, but the thought of letting go made her stomach lurch. "I just thought if there were anything then you would have asked something by now. Not that I expected you too!" She quickly added, spinning her head round to look at him. "I know you and you have the greatest life. You're free and you have the Pearl and open seas... I didn't expect you to do anything I just mean, if you did want to you would have done something."

There was a silence and it hung in the air, loitering over them like a thick storm cloud as Jack took the chance to stare at her while she concentrated on his hands and played with his rings and bracelets.

She really was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Out of all the cities, oceans, treasures and women he had ever laid eyes on, nothing compared to her in his opinion. She had the softest and the most untouched skin, so innocent and smooth it made him afraid to hold her when he was allowed the chance to. Her eyes were like shining emeralds reflecting the clearest oceans and her lips were so full and inviting he could not stare at them for long before having to look away. Even in rags and ruined clothing she was still a vision, she would have to grow tentacles and warts for Jack to find her un-fetching. She was the most desirable perfect creature in his eyes and to see her get married off to some no named Pirate would kill that.

"Come with me." The words slipped from Jack's lips before he registered even thinking them, but he didn't regret them. And instead, as Nicolette turned to him with eyes wide in shock and her hands suddenly shaking he said them again. "Come with me."

"Wh-What?" Nic laughed and shook his hands off her as she stood. "Are you mad?" She turned on her heel to stare at him but Jack didn't say anything and Nic found her mood calming as the initial shock melted and she took in a deep breath. "Jack…I'm engaged to be married." Jack looked at her then and she had never become more confused so quickly as she saw what looked like hurt in his eyes. "Imelda has bought me a dress and everything, she's…" Nic returned to sit next to Jack, plopping down on the bed with a sigh. "Made pie." Although Nic didn't believe she was helping, she heard Jack laugh and smiled gently as she spied his face out the corner of her eye.

"You love him?" Jack muttered after a long second.

"Of course. I'm-I'm going to be his wife." That word still felt odd coming from her mouth, so much so that she kept saying it to an absolute minimum. She had never imagined herself as a wife. The image she had in her head of a wife was a well to do woman who socialised and…well did not do much else outside of appeasing her husband, like all of those women her mother had worked for before they crossed the Atlantic. She already knew that's not what she would be though…she would be something different and unfamiliar…

"And that's what you want?" Jack asked leaving no room for anything but a yes or no answer before he carried on. "To sit in some little house on a quiet shore on your own?" To this, Nicolette simply shrugged as that had been the image she had pictured herself over the past few weeks and honestly, she did not know if that was what she wanted. "You're not with child are you?"

"What? No!" Nicolette grimaced. "No I…" Her voice left her, as did her train of thought and Nic went back to playing with her hands. "There's nothing hear for me Jack but whores and barrels of rum. A change of setting won't make that much of a difference."

"I always thought you wanted to travel? To go on an adventure?"

"Yeah and look where I've got to?" Nicolette raised her brow, scoffing. "I saw and did more as a child than I have in the past nine years."

"You could join me crew Nic." Jack said, barely above a whisper as his hand laid to rest on her knee, over the layers of dress and cheap worn petticoats. "Come with me, I'll show you things you couldn't even imagine. You'd have more of a life on the Pearl than you can have anywhere else."

"Jack-" Nicolette breathed. "I can't- I couldn't do that to him." She started to shake her heed as she felt Jack shuffle closer to her once more and she couldn't bring herself to push him away, not even as his hand came up to her face and brushed a stray strand of hair from her eyes.

"If you have asked me once you've asked me one hundred times."

"Yes, and each time you laughed and said no!" She exclaimed through forced laughter, not quite believing his words. "Why has me getting married changed that suddenly?" Nic looked at Jack as he pulled his body back from her and pouted thoughtfully.

"Nonsense." He shook his head but she just laughed at his denial even more.

"Is it? If I weren't getting married, would you be asking me? Or would we being doing what we always do until you left again?" Jack fell quiet and she watched him until her brain became fuzzy and she had to look away. She hadn't wanted to get mad at him or for things to become heated but she knew she was right and that this was only spanning from Jack being told she wasn't his toy anymore. "I don't know why you care Jack but…it is what I want."

"Why I care?" He repeated her words as he removed his hand from her knee and put it on to his own. It wasn't right for him to be touching her now. "Maybe…maybe I don't want you to marry him."

Jack stood before he could catch her reaction for he knew it would make him want to run, everything about her made him want to run usually. From the way Nic made him want to be someone else, someone better, to the way she smiled at him and for a fleeting second he hated having to leave.

Those feelings remained buried most of the time and when they dared to surface, they were drowned out by rum and other women.

As he paced the small room, he noticed the cold draft and the faint noise of the crowds outside. How could she be content living here and not complain? Never once had she complained, even when he had asked she had merely shrugged. The girl deserved better, perhaps she should go and get herself married.

"Why?" Jack stopped pacing but stayed staring at her small wooden handed down dressing table instead of her. It was clear of makeup give or take the odd tin of rouge and pot of powder he guessed the whores had gifted her and mostly covered in things she needed daily, a hairbrush, hair ribbons, soap… The mirror was dusty in places but overall everything was cleaner than any other room of the tavern he had ever stayed in.

"Jack?" Nicolette called, bringing him out of his daze. He turned to look at her and shrugged as he shook his head. She had never seen him be so serious, so inanimate, and that scared her. "Why?" She tried asking again.

"I don't know." Jack finally answered her weakly. "I thought of things differently." It wasn't until Nicolette's hand touched his shoulder that he even realised she had stood and she helped him turn to meet her.

They were toe to toe and Jack had to tilt his head down in order to meet her eyes and his hand automatically went to her chin, tilting her face upwards as it always did when they stood in this position.

"It's torture love, holding you like this and knowing I can't kiss you." Nicolette swallowed hard and turned her eyes downward upon hearing Jack's words. "All I can think about doing is kissing you."

Nicolette's lips parted and she exhaled a sharp breath as she closed her eyes and bit down lightly on her bottom lips. Though her chin was lowered, Jack could still see her plump lip being caught and of just made his desire harder to ignore.

Before he had the chance to second guess himself, Jack took her face in his hand once more and cupped her cheek as her eyes rose from the floor to stare into his own. Her heart skipped several beats as she watched him, knowing and yet unable to stop him. His thumb stroked her neck, just under her ear, and she involuntarily shuddered.

Nicolette couldn't recall closing her eyes or leaning closer into him but all of a sudden Jack's lips were on hers. The force was gentle at first but then she let out a warm moan and her hands crawled up his shirt until her fingers were gripping his fraying collar and it became more heated than either of them had expected.

Before she knew it, Jack had picked her up and brought her legs to wrap tightly around his waist and he had turned them and walked her back until he could sit her upon the small dresser with his body between her legs. His hands explored her thighs and all he wanted was to rid her of the long thick skirts which hid her perfect skin from him.

Nicolette gasped as Jack harshly grabbed her waist and pulled her closer and he took advantage of her open mouth and ran his tongue around hers. She whimpered then and kissed back for a moment, but then her enthusiasm seemed to dwindle and a few seconds later Jack felt her hands on his shoulders pushing him away.

"Jack." Nic whispered his name breathlessly for what seemed the millionth time that evening and pushed him away harder until his hands had slid from her thighs onto the old wood of the dresser and he leant far enough back to study Nicolette and her panting chest, wrapped tightly in a blue cotton corset.

"I can't do that to him Jack." She muttered as she avoided his eyes and brushed a hand through her messed up ponytail. "I…" Jack braced himself to be denied by her and to be asked to leave, knowing this would be the last time he would see her. He shouldn't have kissed her, she should have just left her to it at least then…at least he wouldn't have painted himself as a fool. "I have to talk to him first…I can't just leave without seeing him."

At first Jack thought he had misheard but then she smiled at him and he found himself breathing a sigh of relief. Nic on the other hand, was not sure what had changed her mind but there had been something in her gut, something she couldn't shake, which was telling her to go with Jack. An instinct in her heart, a stupid childish dream carrying her away…whatever it was, it was strong enough to make her mind up.

"You want to come with me?"

"You promise you're not just offering because your jealous?"

"Me? Jealous?" Nicolette just raised her brow in reply, causing Jack to narrow his eyes. "Course not love. I want you to come with me." He leant back into her, pecking the apple of her cheek. "I reckon there's a lot of fun we can find, you and I, out there." She didn't fight the grin which spread across her cheeks and a shine came to Jack's eye.

"But what of the crew? Those men can be suspicious." She asked, dubious.

"Blast the crew!" Jack called as he interlinked her hands and just like that, he had suddenly returned to the Jack Sparrow she knew and looked forward to seeing. He was animated and full of life and he swayed from side to side even though his feet remained firmly planted to the floor. "They'll do what they're told and we…" Jack paused to grin and lean as close to her as he could without kissing her. "We will go wherever we desire."

"When do you leave?" Nicolette mirrored his grin but she wasn't expecting the answer she got.

"First light at dawn."

"Dawn?" Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped as she began thinking of everything there was to do. "That's only hours away." Jack just winked at her and then stepped back, walking backwards towards the door to her bedroom.

"Then you better get running darling." He smirked and opened the door for her which suddenly had her second guessing herself. Disrespectfully, she had forgotten about needing to talk to Matthew as Jack had described what he could offer and now the thought of it made her feel sick. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll let him down softly." Oh he was just loving this now he had won wasn't he? Nic had the right mind to chuck him out and tell him she had changed her mind, but how could she when already both her heart and mind had made the final decision.

She wrapped herself up in enough layers to fight off the cold of the night before she left Jack in her room to await her return so he could personally escort her to the Pearl. It was safe to say that she returned with barely any of the smile she had left with and her cheeks had been tear stained and sad.

Neither of them spoke about it. Jack never even asked one question on what happened, truly he didn't care and thought it may be dangerous to ask the girl when he had just won her. He simply stayed quiet, smugly grinning to himself as Nic packed her things and then together they went to the Pearl. The rest, well, the rest was history.