Disclaimer: I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean.
A/N: Ok kids, this takes place after Dead Man's Chest, and is a spoiler. I'm a die hard Jack/Elizabeth shipper however; I'm a nice person and like to give the benefit of the doubt for Will, thus resulting in the love triangle… REVIEW!
EPOV
The hardest thing was getting on the boat with Will after my persuading Jack. I knew he'd seen what I'd done, and I hated myself for putting him in so much pain. But the worst part was, I enjoyed kissing Jack. Somehow, deep down I knew it all along. It didn't matter though; Jack was gone now, and I'd do anything to take back what I did. I couldn't wait to find him, to apologize, to know what it's like to have curiosity get the better of me again; I'd more than willingly climbed on the boat when a plan was set. I held myself up in the captain's quarters with a bottle of rum, occasionally coming out to help on deck, not feeling anything. As I guzzled down bottle after bottle, attempting, and failing entirely, to distract myself from the overwhelming pain of seeing Jack's hurt face as we sailed to shore that fateful day, I felt more than saw someone sit beside me.
"'Tis not becoming for a lady such as y'rself to dwell," Barbosa chastened.
"I'm dis-hic-inclined to aque-hic-est your request," I slurred between hiccups, hardly aware of the incoherency of the question.
"Oh, come now Miss Swan, 'tis time to pull y'rself together! We're all sorry about what happened to Jack-"
"Captain Jack!" I practically shouted; the rum made me incredibly testy.
"Aye," he allowed, gritting his teeth, "But ya don't see us crawlin' to the bottom of the bottle." He paused, slowly trying to pry my fingers off the bottle. I attempted to stand and walk to the other end of the cabin, but stumbled and ended up sprawled on the floor. Barbosa, despite his anger of what we'd done to him, was at least attempting to have a heart as he went to help me up.
"Thank you," I replied curtly.
"You're welcome," he spat, all traces of warmth gone. I glared at him for a moment more, and then staggered out the door. I saw Will at the rail, looking as if he were in deep thought as he gazed off into the distance. He gave me a half-hearted smile that quickly turned into a frown of disapproval.
"Elisabeth, what happened to you?" his voice held very small traces of concern. He still cared about me; there was no doubt of it. And as I met his eyes, one thing was absolutely certain: He still loved me. I merely waved the rum bottle at him in response, and took another swig. He sighed as he moved closer to me, reaching for the bottle. I kept it just out of his reach and began to stumble away, waving my finger at him in disapproval.
"Elizabeth," he was getting annoyed with my teasing.
"Well, it serves you right," I began, "If it weren't for you, Jack would still be alive!" I saw the pain and confusion on his face. I quickly lied to myself so I could slide it back to Will. "After all, if you hadn't been selfish and killed Jones' heart when you had the chance, Jack would be free! Jack would be in my arms!" I really hadn't meant to utter the last sentence; I rarely dared to even think something so absurd. The rum, as soothing as it was, had it's drawbacks.
Now I'd made him angry. "I wasn't the one who chained him to the boat!" He shot back at me, eyes livid.
"I wouldn't have had to if you stabbed that blasted heart!" I'd begun to curse; another extremely unladylike habit of the rum. I hated to hurt him, but I couldn't restrain myself.
"Do you want to know the most terrible part?" I sputtered.
"What could you possibly tell me that I haven't already figured out yet?" his tone was hard; furious.
Tears had begun to run down my cheeks, as I muttered, "Damn," furiously trying to wipe them away. "I'll never be with Jack; even if we find him alive. No matter how much I love Jack, I have to marry you." I'd begun to sob heavily.
Instead of going to comfort me, he sighed in frustration, "Because that would be so terrible, wouldn't it?" He came close to me, looking me straight in the eye as he spoke. "Having to marry me. I don't know if you've forgotten, but you said you loved me once. You'd said you wanted nothing more than to be with only me, for the rest of our lives."
"Once." I spat, looking away. He grabbed my wrist roughly, forcing me to look at him.
"Don't lie to me Elizabeth. You still love me; regardless of what you feel for Jack." His voice was intense, and serious. He caught me off guard.
"It doesn't matter!" I tried to hide my shock at the truth in his words.
"It does matter! It matters more than anything!" He looked me in the eye with more intensity than my mind could handle, due to none other than the rum. His face was so close, so tempting… As if he could read my mind, he placed his lips firmly to mine.
WPOV
The accusations she threw at me, though she was incredibly drunk, still hurt all the same. The poor girl was on her way to becoming a pirate herself: regular doses of rum, dressing in breaches, cursing. Not to mention the countless number of times she'd kissed a pirate. It was still painful to say "a pirate" instead of "me". The way I'd seen her kiss Jack was never even attempted with me; it wasn't something I'd soon forget. She still loved me; it was etched into her kiss. Or maybe it was the rum; in any case I'd kissed her, unable to resist much longer. I'd wanted to hold out longer, to hear her say it, but the temptation was too great. I knew it meant nothing, just a drunken exchange, but I couldn't help but hope that somehow, I'd won her back. That I'd finally overcome Jack Sparrow, Captain or no.
"Will," she whispered into my neck.
"Yes my love?" I whispered back into her hair as I ran my fingers up and down her spine.
"I hadn't finished what I was saying." I couldn't help but wince. Maybe I hadn't won her back. Maybe her heart truly did lie in the arms of Jack Sparrow. I couldn't let that happen. Jack had taken every important thing from me, and I wasn't about to let him take Elizabeth. I felt a twinge of jealousy, as well as betrayal. I'd saved his life on more than one occasion, and he betrayed me by stealing the love of my life. I don't know if I could watch them kiss again. As if on cue, the image of them swam through my mind, the same image that had haunted me for the last month.
"What were you about to say?" I grimaced, and braced myself for the impact.
She smiled, which only discouraged me further.
"You look concerned; are you afraid Will?"
If she only knew how afraid I was. I quickly composed my face and responded with a laugh, "And what do I have to be afraid of?"
She seemed reassured and continued, "The most terrible part is not marrying you. The most terrible part is not being with you for eternity." She'd begun to cry again. I enveloped her in a reassuring hug, and finally succeeded in removing the rum from her possession. I pulled back and kissed her on the forehead. I put an arm around her waist and began to walk her back towards the cabin.
"Come now, it's starting to rain, love." I ushered her into the cabin, and made sure she was settled, before kissing her sweetly. "Good night darling…I love you." I added, just to hear her response.
"I love you too." She whispered, fatigued.
As I turned to leave, she shouted after me, "Wait!" I turned to face her.
"Yes Elizabeth?" I went back to her side, curious about what more she would want to say.
She hesitated then said, "I honestly mean what I said. I-I love you." I couldn't conceal the grin making its way across my face. I kissed her intensely, and then broke away.
"You should get some rest," I said regretfully.
She pouted, "But…"
"I'll see you in the morning," I cut her off with one more passionate kiss, and then escaped. I went to the rail and began to gaze out across the dark ocean again when I realized I had something in my hand.
The rum bottle.
I laughed to myself softly, then tossed the bottle into the water as far as I could.
A/N: Ha ha, drunk Liz is ALWAYS fun. So, what'd you think? Good? Bad? Why are you writing you suck at this?
REVIEW!
