Something More Than Before
Chapter 3 – The Way It Was, Almost
Elizabeth left Jack's cabin about an hour later, glad that they had talked things through, and then had a good laugh about things afterwards. Elizabeth was starting to feel like everything was going back to the way it was. She shivered in the cool night air, and proceeded to her own cabin to go to bed. Inside Jack's cabin, he blew out a candle, and he too went to bed.
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The next morning was a bright and crisp one. The cold air nipped at everyone's fingers, and they all cursed the winter's frost. Despite all the cold and gloom, Captain Sparrow was at the wheel. After sneaking herself an extra ten minutes or so in bed, Elizabeth finally emerged from her cabin, and looked around the deck of the ship until her eyes rested on Norrington. She smiled and headed his way.
"Hey," she smiled sweetly as she approached. He turned around to face her.
"Hello," he said suspiciously, eyeing her closely as she drew closer.
"What's with the suspicious tone?" Elizabeth asked, taken aback.
"What's with the sweet, little 'will-you-do-something-for-me' tone?" Norrington retorted.
Elizabeth paused. "OK, here's the thing."
"Here we go," Norrington muttered.
Elizabeth glared at him before going on, "Listen, I would really appreciate it if you told nobody, especially not Will, about Jack and the kiss. Please do this for me."
"Are you and Jack actually together?" Norrington asked.
Elizabeth shook her head. "No. We both agreed it would be best if we pretended it never happened...and I would be grateful if you did the same."
Norrington considered for a moment. "What's in it for me?"
Elizabeth had been prepared for that. "This."
She leaned in and gave him a fierce kiss, but not one as passionate as she had treated Jack to.
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As Jack shouted orders at Gibbs, his eyes caught something he thought he'd never see. Elizabeth was glued to Norrington via the mouth. Although Jack knew that Elizabeth felt nothing for Norrington, why did he still feel an unfamiliar feeling in his gut? Jack Sparrow could not be jealous of someone who had kissed him twice then requested that they forget it. Still, he felt like he wanted to kill Norrington for kissing Elizabeth. Surprisingly he wanted to kill Norrington more than usual.
He watched in silence as they pulled apart and he saw Norrington smile and nod his head. He saw Elizabeth say something, a single word, and then start to walk away. But she stopped walking, a look of shock upon her face, as she locked eyes with Jack. And she could swear that in that moment before he broke eye contact that she saw a tiny sense of hurt flutter across his tanned face.
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A few minutes later, Jack was back inside his cabin, after assigning Cotton to the wheel. Elizabeth was desperately rapping on his door.
"Jack!" Elizabeth cried through the tiny gap in the double doors. "Jack, let me in!"
She heard a chair clatter behind the doors and a key being turned in the lock. Jack appeared at the door, a steely look on his face as he surveyed Elizabeth through his dark brown eyes.
"What?" he asked quietly. He did not sound angry, which surprised Elizabeth.
"About before, with Norrington –" Elizabeth started quickly.
"What about it?" Jack asked.
"Well, I saw you, and it looked as though..." Elizabeth stopped. She didn't know what it looked like.
"As though what?" Jack said. "As though I cared? Well, my dear, I'm afraid you were sadly mistaken."
He went to shut the door in her face, but he was stopped by Elizabeth's foot suddenly being there. He looked down.
"Elizabeth, move your foot."
"No," she said stubbornly. "I am not going anywhere until we sort this out."
"There is nothing to sort out," Jack told her coldly.
"Yes there is!" Elizabeth protested. "You looked hurt when you saw me kissing Norrington, and I want to know why!"
Jack finally looked up at her. "Come in, then."
Elizabeth smiled inwardly at her victory over the pirate. This time, he didn't wait for her to go inside first, but instead left her standing at the doorframe. He sat down at his desk again. He seemed to spend a lot of his time there.
Elizabeth shut the door behind her, and walked over to his desk, but this time she didn't sit down. She simply stood, looking down upon Jack.
"Jack, I am not going to just sit and listen to you talking your pirate logic," Elizabeth said. Jack looked up at her from his map, before standing up and walking round to her. She could feel him breathing on her neck.
"You wanna talk?" he whispered menacingly. "OK, let's talk. You go first. Answer the questions. Why were you kissing Norrington?"
He had moved to stand behind her. She didn't look at him. She stood firm.
"I was trying to make him keep quiet about me kissing you," Elizabeth told him honestly.
"Yes," Jack said. "I suppose it would be hard for ol' Norry to blab if you had your tongue down his throat."
Elizabeth turned around and slapped Jack. Jack's hand flew to his cheek, and he looked at her and smiled.
"Now this is a proper pirate negotiation," he said.
Elizabeth moved almost as close to him as she did when they were kissing. "Answer the questions," she whispered.
"Why was it, then, that when I kissed Norrington, you all of a sudden acted like I was the bad guy?" Elizabeth challenged.
Jack looked her right in the eyes. "I don't know."
"Play the game," Elizabeth smiled. "I answered your question, now answer mine."
"I did," Jack said quietly. He no longer had the tone of someone accusatory, but now looked quite put down.
Elizabeth looked at him. She had caused a red hand print on his cheek. She hesitantly reached up and stroked it.
"I'm sorry," Elizabeth said truthfully. She moved around him to leave, but his hand caught her arm and pulled her back.
"Maybe this is why," Jack said softly. He pulled her into a mind-blowing kiss that made her go weak at the knees. She wrapped her arms around him again. They broke apart, and Jack whispered against her lips, "I want you to myself."
He felt Elizabeth smile against him, and she whispered back, "At least until we find Will." She kissed him soundly, before turning and leaving.
For some reason, this time as she left Jack's cabin, she didn't think she would feel guilty for some months to come.
Well, the affair has officially...BEGUN! Dun...dun...DUN!
I hope you enjoy the rest of the chapters to come, because I have some rather big plot twists in mind as well as what an epilogue could be. Just so you know, Elizabeth and Will haven't 'done it' yet, but it will be implied that Jack and Elizabeth WILL. Not have, WILL!
Review please!
QueenSerenity818 out.