FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

36—UNROMANTIC ROMANCE

DISCLAIMER: Jack'n'Lizzie etc. do not belong to me. I make no money from the writing of this fan-fiction.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone! They make me smile. :)

For this chapter, I wanted to return to some silly, romantic nothingness, at least for part of it, and even a little bit of role-reversal between Jack and Elizabeth. Hopefully I didn't go overboard with mush.

This chapter is very short, but ripe with Sparrabeth-y goodness. Big things are in store for our favorite pirate couple!

Thanks again and enjoy!

It was the middle of the afternoon, and sleep had at long last found her. And not the kind of hazy, drug-induced sleep inflicted by a cannibal's dart, either. It was the kind of blissful, post-sex-with-Jack sleep that she so enjoyed. It was heavy and peaceful and… his moustache was tickling her neck.

"Mr. Sparrow," she said in a heavy, tired whisper, "if you wish to keep all of your digits, you would be well-advised to let me sleep."

He chuckled and she smiled, rolling onto her back and rubbing the sleep out of the corner of her eyes before she opened them to look at him. He was smirking down at her with his trademark grin and she couldn't help but laugh again.

"When you say digits, dear Lizzie, do you mean just fingers and toes or—"

"You know full well what I meant," she smiled, brushing the tops of her fingertips across his bare thigh. She then let her hand drift upwards, grazing his bicep and stopping to squeeze lightly, delighting in the satisfied grin and slight moan he gave.

"Yer ticklin' me," he said, his tone relaxed and unguarded. She loved it when he was like that.

Elizabeth was quiet for a few moments before her thoughts drifted to a more serious matter. "We have to be more careful, Jack."

"Of ticklin'?" he asked, his brow quizzical.

"I could wind up pregnant if we do not exercise more caution," she said, "and my belly, fat and swollen with your child is the last thing we need to worry about." She watched him as his lips tightened in the slightest of ways, his forehead wrinkling and his eyebrows knotting together. His eyes stared off at something unknown and he was quiet for so long that she had to prod him back to reality. "Jack?"

When she spoke his name, he relaxed again, even smiling. He splayed his hand flat across her bare stomach. "S'not too awful a notion, is it, luv?"

"Jack Sparrow pondering children!" she said playfully. "I've never heard of such a thing."

He shrugged. "You've never asked." His voice was completely serious. Her heart quickened a little, though with excitement or apprehension, she wasn't entirely sure.

"You're serious?"

"I'm entirely serious," he confirmed. Upon seeing the mild panic on Elizabeth's face, he grinned and swiftly kissed her forehead. "M'not sayin' we should get at it right now, but maybe someday—"

"Someday," she agreed, placing two fingers over his mouth. He smiled and kissed them lightly before rolling away from her, onto his back. He let out a hefty, contented groan.

"Bet that was a conversation ye never thought ye'd have with the likes o' me."

"I must admit, it did take me by surprise," she told him. "At least, I didn't think you would be the one to suggest domesticity first." Then again… she thought to herself, to say Jack was full of surprises was a complete understatement. "I don't know that I'm ready to be a mother yet."

Without thinking, it seemed, Jack continued. "Are ye ready for other things?"

Elizabeth sat up, curious, and looked down at him, the sheets wrapped around her torso. "Such as?"

"Let's get hitched, Lizzie."

"What?" she laughed, half our of disbelief and half out of nervousness.

"Married. I and you. You and I. Us." She continued to stare at him in disbelief, her mouth half open. Jack watched her, more than amused, and shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean, we're practically common law as it is, Lizzie. Might as well make it official."

Elizabeth turned her back to him, not sure that she wanted him to see the look on her face. She closed her mouth and breathed in through her nose as something inside her chest began to hurt.

"I'll take your stunned silence as a no then," Jack sighed.

"'Might as well make it official?'" Elizabeth finally said, turning around to face him, her eyes narrow and cold. "That's awfully romantic of you, Jack." She schlepped out of bed, tossing the sheets over Jack's face. She listened to him sputter as she searched for her blouse and breeches.

"M'serious!" he objected, sitting up in bed.

"I can tell that, you stupid man!" she cried. She pulled her pants up over her hips and tied them tightly before setting to work on the buttons on her shirt. "You have absolutely no sentiment whatsoever!"

"Oh, I see, then," he said, rolling his eyes. He got up out of bed, taking the sheet with him and wrapping it around his waist. "Was I not just pinin' away at the thought of you carrying around our child then?" He stomped over to where she stood, interrupting her attempt to locate her boots.

"You're even stupider than I thought!" she said, rather loudly, causing Jack to look over his shoulder as if he expected the entire crew to be standing in the doorway, watching them. "When you ask a girl to marry you, you're supposed to get down on bended knee and tell her how much you adore her and how much you wish to do so for the rest of your bloody life, not very unromantically suggest you get 'hitched' because she's already slept with you more than once!" She slugged him in the arm as she said the last part.

"Ow!" he yelped, rubbing his tender bicep before grabbing a hold of her forearms. "Lizzie, what's gotten into you??" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed half with anger and half with befuddlement.

Elizabeth stared at the pathetic, wounded look on his face before letting out an angry huff of air. "I'm sorry," she quickly apologized. "It's just… look, it's not your fault. I have already been engaged once and it was so horribly unromantic that I prayed constantly I would have another chance to do it right. You've already done a tremendous job at sweeping me off my feet, Jack Sparrow, but I just thought… I just thought that if you ever asked me to marry you it would be… more… more than something you felt obligated to do because we've been… intimate."

"I thought it was," he said after a few moments, his eyes fallen to the floor. "And so ye know, Lizzie-beth, I didn't ask you to marry me because we've been intimate. I asked you because… because… well, because frankly, I never wish for you to be away from me ever again. An' I'm sorry darlin' that I'm not good with the romance and the sonnets and all that… but there it is."

Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears as his own dark eyes flashed up to her face again, a nervous, boyish grin fleeting on his mouth. She looked down at his hands and blinked. She lightly massaged her thumb over his knuckles before bringing one of his hands up to her mouth.

"I think you're better at it than you realize," she said quietly, kissing his hand and then holding it against her cheek.

Jack's head snapped up and he looked at her.

"Was that a yes?" he asked, his eyebrows nearly darting up to the ceiling.

Elizabeth laughed and smiled, then laughed again. She nodded. "Yes."

Jack smiled and released his grip on the sheet, letting it fall to the floor and pool around his ankles. Elizabeth shrieked with laughter as he hoisted her off the ground, whirling her around a little before carrying her back to the bed.

"I bloody well knew I had to be more romantic than Norrington," he proclaimed, burying his face against her neck and leaving a trail of kisses from her collar to her jaw.

"You are, Jack," she reassured him, allowing her eyes to flutter shut in bliss. "You most certainly are."

A/N: Well, there you go! Hope you liked it!

I also wanted to let you all know that I posted a new Sparrabeth oneshot called "What Hurts the Most." Check it out if you haven't already!

See you next time!