Heloooooooooo! Sorry it's been a while. School's back :( 5th year... not fun.

Anyway, a looooong chapter to make up for it and I have some exciting stuff planned for you! I'll say no more ;)

LOVE YOU
XX

I was right about the tree holding the house up. Long, thin branches grew along the walls and thicker ones ran along the ceiling, keeping it from falling apart. There were parts in the floor where the boards had split and parts of roots had pushed their way through and turned back down again. You hardly noticed them though, it felt like it was completely natural that they were there and the house would have looked odd without them. Not that it was, by any means, a normal house, but I'd have been a fool to expect it to be. It looked like the place where everything that's ever been lost by anyone comes to say. Things from all the corners of the world had collected and found a home in the strange, jumbled house. A number of instruments had found themselves in among the collection, a mix of sounds from all over the world were being plucked, or blown or pressed by the people surrounding the chair in the middle where Teague sat with his guitar. Nobody was playing a particular tune, but the sounds mixed well together with their absentminded plucking. It was a sound of accidental loveliness. Several conversations were going on in the room; I wasn't sure where to look first.

I spotted Jack in the corner, perhaps the only one not smiling. He was looking extremely annoyed, but he had his hat back. He'd placed it firmly back down on his bandanna, lower than usual. I looked for the small boy and soon found the reason for Jack's annoyance. His nephew was running around him in tight circles screaming something uncomprehend able at the top of his lungs while Hugh egged him on. I laughed and Jack narrowed his eyes to glare at me, his arms folded and expression sulky. I pulled a face at him and his lips twitched as he fought a smile.

"Isabel!" Jenifer tugged on my arm. I looked down at her- my niece, as I suppose she was. She tucked some of her wild brown hair behind her ears. "Come and meet my daddy."

Gregor and Kate were very much in love with each other and their children. The adoration in their eyes when they looked at either child showed it all. Gregor always looked awkward when I saw him without Kate. It was probably because he had quite an awkward build. He was extremely tall and gangling with long, thin limbs. He looked like he had been stretched. He didn't really fit anywhere properly and things looked just that little bit too small when he held them. The only thing that looked right near him was Kate. In spite of the fact that he was a head or two taller than her, they just seemed to fit together. You only had to take one look to see that Gregor, who looked awkward holding a fork, was meant to be with Kate.

He stuck out a bit from Jack and his family though, the tallest of them being Hugh. I was careful not to mention it to Jack, but I quite liked Hugh. He was charming and cheeky and wound Jack up no end, which was probably why I liked him to be honest. It was clear that he and Jack were never going to get on completely. I think they were too similar to be friends. I could imagine both of them vying for Teague's attention when they were younger. Hugh was the oldest, which was something I imagine Jack held against him and probably still does. He was also taller than Jack, something that blatantly annoyed him because whenever they were standing near each other Jack stood up impossibly straight, but in spite of his stretching he couldn't quite reach Hugh's tall, lean figure.

Jack's fierce sister, Anne, was the youngest. She and Kate looked very similar. They had the same light brown wavy hair and the shape of their faces was very similar. They were both quite short and of the same slim build, but couldn't have been more different. Kate was friendly and approachable, but Anne? Not so much. She stayed a little apart from the rest of us, clutching her sword and looking sullenly in the direction of the sea. I got the impression she didn't much like me, or anyone else for that matter. Kate kindly explained in hushed tones that it was Jack she had a problem with more than me. She'd never really forgiven Jack for leaving them. Not that Jack was really looking for forgiveness from any of them.

Between Kate and Anne there were twins- Roderick and John. Roderick was the most cheerful man I had ever met in my life. He could find the silver lining in hurricane season. His smile divided up his large round face and instantly made the room seem a lot brighter. The twinkle in his eyes seemed permanently fixed there and it automatically made me feel happy about… well, about everything really. In direct contrast was his brother John. While Rod looked forward to the good things in life, John seemed to prepare for the worst and assume that it was going to happen. There were no features in his face that suggested his expression had ever changed from his glum frown. He didn't speak often and when he did it was to contradict his brother's hopefulness or to comment on how something was about to take a turn for the worst.

Bartholomew was just as quiet as Rod, but for different reasons. Rod maintained an air of deep thought, while Bart seemed to go by the philosophy that people should only speak when they absolutely had to. For example if they were being spoken to and asked a direct question… or if they were on fire and needed help.

Dinner was an interesting affair. We all swapped seats at least ten times before we were settled because Jen and her brother, Adam had a huge fuss over who they wanted to sit near and Anne almost walked out when she had to sit next to Jack. Eventually, we were all sorted and an awkward silence descended on the table. Anne laid her gun down so it was only a few inches from her fingertips and narrowed her eyes at Jack.

"Anne, no guns at the table," said Teague in warning tones. She sighed and sat stubbornly for a moment.

"I might need it," she said through gritted teeth. Her freckled nose wrinkled slightly as she glared across the table. I looked at Jack. He said nothing, but stared back at her.

"Anne…" he said again and she rolled her eyes. Reluctantly, she flipped her pistol off the table and slouched right down in her chair. Jack looked smug and Anne looked away from him, disgusted. For a whiled there was nothing but the sound of eating.

"What a lovely evening it's going to be," Rod smiled like there was nothing wrong or awkward at all. John's thick black eyebrows knotted together.

"It'll never last," he muttered darkly and his dark brown, almost black eyes looked out of the window for the thunder clouds he was expecting to see. A collective sigh passed around the table like a breeze, but Rod appeared not to notice.

"So, Jack," Hugh was sitting on my right and looked over my head at Jack who was on my left. Looking back on it, it probably wasn't the best seating arrangement in the world. "Got a ship of your own yet?"

His tone was lighthearted, but Jack stiffened beside me and this time it was Anne who looked smug. "Yes," he said tersely.

"Really? Cause last I heard you were chasing the Pearl…" he said innocently. "… and rather unsuccessfully at that," he added under his breath.

"Well we got it back, didn't we lad?" Teague smiled and I thought he looked genuinely proud of his son. Everything in Jack's face closed and his expression became steely and hard to read. He nodded once.

"Ah, so dad helped you?" There was something very patronizing about Hugh's tone.

"Yes."

"Course he did."

There was a silence. Everyone stopped eating except Jenifer and Adam who hadn't noticed that there was something going on. Jack put down his fork and looked at the table. He clenched his fists and his knuckles went white. Desperately, I tried to think of something to change the subject.

"You know, we were once-"

"What do you mean by that?" Jack cut across me. I shut my mouth and sat back in my chair. Clearly, we weren't done yet. Hugh shrugged.

"Nothing," he said, but his sugary sweet tone clearly indicated that he meant 'something'.

"Go on?" Jack pressed.

"It's just a little convenient that the only time you've been home in years is because you wanted something in return." Without pausing for breath he turned to me and smiled a brilliant smile. "Isabel, honey, can you pass me the salt? Thanks, darling."

I reached for it, feeling my cheeks burning and Jack's eyes boring into me. I picked it up. "Don't," Jack said before I could pass it to Hugh. I stopped and looked at him. What the hell did he expect me to do? As I hesitated Hugh very gently took hold of my wrist and with his other hand pulled the bowl of salt out my hand. I looked at him and he moved his hand down from my wrist to take it properly. He smiled and kissed the top of it. I begged him not to with my eyes, but his smile only widened. Jack's chair scrapped against the floor as he stood up. He stood for a moment. I had to tug my hand free and felt guilty even though I hadn't technically done anything wrong.

"Sorry, Jack," Hugh smiled. "Did you want the salt?"

Jack left and another silence descended. Everyone apart from the children and Hugh looked at me. "I should… I should…" I rose and pushed my chair in. A silence had never been so awkward. I gestured to my plate. "Thanks for the….it was…. Thanks."

I followed Jack out without completing a sentence. The door shut behind me and I found myself praying we wouldn't be here for long. I could see Jack in the hallway ahead of me. I called for him and he stopped, but didn't turn.

"You don't need to follow me, Isabel," he sounded cold.

"I was just- "

"You're following me like a dog."

It hurt, but I made circumstantial allowances. "I wanted to make sure you were-"

"I was alright on my own for years before you came along and I'd be fine…" he stopped. He stopped too late.

"Go on." I narrowed my eyes as he turned. "Go on, say it."

"No," he shook his head. "Belle I'm-"

"Say it!" I said loudly. Silence. "You'd be fine without me, that's what you were going to say, wasn't it?"

"No."

"Don't lie. Admit it." I folded my arms.

"I didn't mean it. I was going to say it, love, but I don't mean it… I'm sorry."

"Fine," I said curtly. He hesitantly stepped towards me. When he bent to kiss me I turned my face so he only caught my cheek. He sighed.

"I love you," he said.

"Yeah," I replied and turned away from him. We'd see how alright he was without me in a few hours.

I spent a long time avoiding Jack that night and subsequently spent a lot of time with Hugh. I was doing it all to spite him. To show him that I was an ally he couldn't afford to lose. Not here. I liked Hugh because he cheered me up. A lot. But only because he was so much like Jack in many ways.

When the time came for us to start retiring to bed I let Jack crawl into the bed Teague had designated for us on his own and I stayed out with Hugh. My plan was to wait until I was sure that he'd be asleep when I went in, if I went in.

I went to sleep feeling awful and woke up with a secret.

Please review! Thanks. :)