Something More Than Before
Chapter 5 – Don't Mess With Love
Elizabeth couldn't believe that Jack had done this for her; even Will hadn't done this for her. And when your 'bit on the side' does more for you than your fiancé does, then you know that something's wrong. Then again, Jack wasn't her 'bit on the side', he was her boyfriend for the time being. It was strange for Elizabeth to think of Jack as her boyfriend; it had always been Will in her eyes.
No, she couldn't let herself think lower of Will simply because of the gestures that Jack had surprised her with. She wouldn't let herself fall in love with Jack. She couldn't. There was too much at stake, and too much to lose. She loved Will, and that was how it would stay.
"Sit down," Jack smiled. He looked truly happy, for a change. Elizabeth smiled back and made her way to the table. Jack sat at his usual place, opposite her.
He pulled a bottle of red wine out of seemingly nowhere, and filled both of their glasses.
"I'm only having one, Jack," Elizabeth said warningly.
"Fine by me, love," Jack said, smiling, "just take your time on that one."
As Elizabeth raised the glass, she saw Jack still with a happy smile on his face. He looked up from pouring into his wine glass and caught her staring at him.
"What?" he asked innocently.
"Why do you look so happy?" she asked suspiciously, her eyes narrowing as she took a drink.
Jack considered for a moment. He was going to sound like a real sap saying this, and it was so corny, but there was no other way to say it.
"It's nice to have someone to care for," he said. "Especially when it's you I'm caring for."
Elizabeth blushed a deep red, enough to match the wine she was drinking. Jack could only smile wider.
The rest of the meal was passed with much laughter and witty remarks from Jack. Elizabeth could only look on and smile at him. As he took his last drink of wine, she knew that both had enjoyed themselves and each other's company immensely.
By this time, Elizabeth was getting quite drowsy. She also noticed Jack's eyelids struggling to stay open. Finally, he stretched his arms out in front of him, and yawned widely.
"Well, I'm going to bed," Jack said exhaustedly, standing up and heading towards a four-poster bed in a corner of the cabin that would have been hidden had Elizabeth not looked around the room enough. "Feel free to leave whenever."
The only preparation Jack made to go to sleep was to take of his boots and climb into the bed. Elizabeth stood up and took off her boots too. She walked slowly over to Jack's bed, and noticed he already had his eyes closed. She walked around the other side of the bed, and quietly climbed in. One of Jack's eyes sleepily opened, and he smiled faintly as Elizabeth cuddled into him. She reached up and kissed him briefly, before laying her head across his chest, his arm holding her tightly. Within minutes, they were both asleep.
-----
Jack awoke the next morning to find Elizabeth still soundly asleep on his chest, a content smile on her face. He looked down and smiled at her as she began to stir. Her sleepy eyes fluttered open and looked up at Jack.
"Morning," she said happily as she lay on his chest again, closing her eyes aswell.
"Mornin', love," Jack replied, giving her a little squeeze. She opened her eyes and propped her head up with her arm on the pillow, looking at Jack while smiling. Jack looked at her.
"What?" he asked.
"Last night was really great," she said. "Thankyou."
She leaned over and gave him a long, deep kiss. They broke apart and Jack smiled back at her.
"No problem."
Elizabeth giggled. "I don't want to leave."
"So..." Jack said, fiddling with some of her golden hair between his fingers, "don't."
"OK," Elizabeth replied without hesitation. "Do you mean permanently?"
"If you want to stay here permanently, you can," Jack told her, caressing her cheek. She smiled under his touch.
"There's one thing I'm not entirely comfortable about," Elizabeth said slowly, her face becoming serious.
"What's that?"
"We're not messing with love here, are we?" Elizabeth asked.
"No."
"Good. So this is like an arrangement?"
"Call it whatever you want, love," Jack smiled, laughing, "the main thing is, we're both going to be satisfied during this."
Elizabeth giggled and playfully slapped his chest. "Jack!" she scolded lightly.
"What?" Jack said innocently.
"Will and I haven't even done anything..." Elizabeth stopped. "That was too much information, wasn't it?"
Jack put on a mock thoughtful face, and put his finger on his chin. "Just a little, love."
Elizabeth laughed. Jack looked around at her and started laughing too.
"With any luck, we could get to that stage," Elizabeth said suggestively.
Jack raised an eyebrow. "The dearly beloved doesn't get that privilege?"
"The dearly beloved isn't here, is he?" Elizabeth smiled mischievously.
"I suppose not," Jack smiled, kissing Elizabeth again.
-----
Elizabeth emerged from Jack's cabin minutes later, and Norrington was quickly on her case.
"You spent the night in Jack's cabin?" Norrington asked incredulously.
"We had dinner, and then we went to sleep. That's all," Elizabeth said, getting annoyed by Norrington's persistence.
"Am I supposed to believe that?" Norrington asked.
"Well you're going to have to," Elizabeth said angrily, "because that's the truth."
"I can see you and Will having a serious fight over this," Norrington said, an air of warning in his voice.
"If Will doesn't find out, then we don't have a problem," Elizabeth said stubbornly.
"What if you fall for Jack?" Norrington sighed.
"This is just an arrangement so that we have someone to cling to while we have nobody else," Elizabeth told him, "so we agreed this morning that we weren't dealing with love."
"Good luck," Norrington said sincerely. Elizabeth looked away and walked around him, and didn't turn back around.
Wow, Norry really knows how to tick Liz off, eh? Please don't flame for sex references!
Please review!
QueenSerenity818 out.