Chapter 3

"What would you say if I told you that I met the girl I'm going to marry?"

Jack, apparently, did not realize that his best friend was completely serious asking him such a question, because Will had to wait for him to finish laughing before he could get a coherent word out of him.

"You ask th' weirdest questions, mate," he managed finally, wiping his eyes on his shirtsleeve. Then he stared at Will for a moment. "Oh God, yer serious, aren' you?"

"I – yeah, sort of…"

Jack started laughing again.

Reddening quickly, Will downed the last of his beer and got up to leave. "Why do I even bother?"

Anamaria passed Will on her way into the bar, and just that quick glimpse of his face was more than enough to tell her that he was annoyed. Jack was standing at the counter, chuckling quietly to himself. Ana slid into the stool across from him.

"What did you do to Will this time, Jack?"

Jack was still grinning madly. "Yer never gonna guess wha' tha' fool boy jus' came in 'ere an' asked me."

Ana knew he was waiting for her to ask what. She didn't oblige.

Jack glared at her ineffectually for a moment. "All righ', fine. Be tha' way." The uncontrollable grin sprang back onto his face. "Tha' li'l idiot comes in 'ere an' says t' me, 'Wha' would you say if I tol' you I met th' girl I'm gonna marry.'" He started laughing yet again.

Ana just stared. "Well?"

Jack's smile faded somewhat. "Well? Well wha'?"

"Well who is it?"

"'ow should I know?" Jack asked defensively.

Ana looked livid. "Do you really mean to tell me that your best friend came in here and all but told that he's in love, and you didn't even think to ask with who?"

"Wha – no!"

Throwing her hands up in the air in frustration, Ana jumped off of her stool and followed the same path Will had taken out of the bar.

She caught up to him just as he reached the door of his shop.

"Hey, Will!"

Will glanced up briefly, unlocked the door. "Hey, Ana. Didn't I just see you going into the Pearl?"

Ana nodded. "Sure did. And then I left again."

"Dare I ask why?"

"Jack's an idiot."

"Ah. No arguments here, then." He held the door open for her, following her inside. As soon as the door had closed behind them, Ana turned excitedly toward him, all but jumping up and down. "What's the matter with you?" Will laughed, trying to step around her.

"I've been waiting for you to find a girl for ages! Who is she?"

Will rolled his eyes. Jack would tell anybody anything. "She's just this girl I met."

Ana shook her head emphatically. "Uh-uh. If you're telling Jack that she's the girl you're going to marry, you're certainly not brushing me off with 'some girl I met.'"

Will shrugged. "Fine. Her name's Elizabeth. Elizabeth Swann."

"Elizabeth Swann," Ana repeated. "Hmm… Elizabeth Turner… you know, that kind of works. I like it, don't you?"

Will laughed nervously, turning red. "I didn't say I'm actually marrying her, you know."

Ana grinned. "No, but you like her, don't you? That never happens. I swear, you're so hard to satisfy."

Will knew she was teasing him. "It's you women who are hard to satisfy. What, exactly, is so wrong with being a blacksmith?"

Ana sobered suddenly. "She does know that you're a blacksmith, right?"

Will nodded, couldn't help smiling. "She's been here, actually. She thought it was great."

Ana looked thrilled again. "Really?"

"Really."

"Then she's a keeper for sure, mate! When do I get to meet her?"

"We're not even dating!" Will exclaimed. "And besides, you already have. She was sitting next to me at the Pearl last night."

Ana thought about it, remembered suddenly. "Aww, I thought you two would have made a cute couple!"

"Ana!"

"When's the first date?" Ana pressed, undeterred.

"There isn't one yet."

"There should be. There's going to be, right?"

"I don't know. There could be, at some point."

Ana shook her head. "There had better be. And as soon as there is one, call me."

Will rolled his eyes. "I will."

She smiled. "Off course you will. But in the meantime, you'd better hope she doesn't go back to the Pearl."

"Why's that?" Will asked apprehensively.

"Because when I left, Jack was launching into the rousing tale of 'How William Turner Found His Lady Love.'"

"Oh God…"

"Sorry. Can't say I didn't warn you, though, so be prepared."

Will remembered with sudden clarity the week that Jack had spent regaling his bar patrons with the tale of 'How William Turner Got Rejected By Three Women in One Night, Because Apparently, Making Swords Isn't as Sexy as He Thought It Was.' It was a bad week.

"You don't think he'll tell everyone, do you?"

"Remember that time he told everyone about how you got rejected three times – "

"Yeah, yeah, I remember…"

"Well… there's your answer, mate."

"You look mighty familiar, you know tha'?" Jack eyed the girl sitting in front of him critically, unable to remember how he knew her. He hoped he wasn't about to get slapped.

"I think I know why you don't remember me," she said, smiling.

"Oh really? An' why would tha' be?"

"Because when you met me, you were so drunk you could barely form a coherent sentence."

"Ah."

"Then your girlfriend came and picked you up, and your best friend had to stay here and work all night, even though he had to work in the morning."

"Ahh." Jack chose to ignore the pointed remark about Will having to work. "So you met Will, then?"

"Uh-huh."

"You wanna hear somethin' funny 'bout 'im?"

A/N: Will's in trouble now!