Hello! And Merry Christmas to anyone reading this :-) I have to say I'm getting a little desperate for reviews as I have no idea whether people like this story or not so PLEASE if you're reading let me know what you think! But yes, hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

Chapter 8

Jack entered the crowded tavern to mixed reviews, the positive reactions being mainly from the various, scantily-clad women and the negative from the men who crowded round them. Lily, usually so bold, shrank back as one particularly beautiful woman sauntered up to Jack and tugged one of the beads hanging from his beard playfully.

"I knew you'd come back." She said in a low voice, raising one eyebrow. Jack put a casual arm round her waist and drew her closer to him.

"Couldn't keep away, luv."

The lady put both arms around his shoulders and smiled up at him, then she noticed Lily standing just behind him looking decidedly uncomfortable.

"Jack, who's that?" The woman asked, glaring icily at Lily and withdrawing her arms, simultaneously slapping away Jack's hand that had strayed a little lower than her back.

"Her? Oh nobody, she's a distant friend of me aunt's cousins...daughter's – um - sister." Jack replied, tripping over his words slightly. Lily however was having none of it.

"I am no such thing!" She said indignantly, her hands on her hips. The woman looked furious.

"I knew it! You just can't help yourself can you? What's so good about this little hussy anyway? Is she better in bed than me? What?" She shouted and the whole room fell silent, Lily could feel her cheeks burning.

"No we -" She started to say at the same time as Jack said "It's not -" But neither of them got further as the woman slapped Jack across the face and stormed out of the tavern, knocking Lily into the wall as she went.

Scattered laughter was heard along with the odd cheer, Lily dusted herself off and glared at Jack.

"How charming." She commented icily and Jack gave a wolfish grin.

"Oh she can be, believe me." He replied and Lily raised an eyebrow. Jack laughed at her disgusted expression and took her wrist, pulling her to an empty table and gesturing to her to wait.

Lily rested her chin in her hands and crossed her legs, trying not to shift under the uncomfortable scrutiny of everyone around her. A tankard was put down on the table and she looked up, expecting to see Jack, but the man who sat down was a stranger with a brown ponytail and dirt on his cheeks.

"Alright beautiful?" He greeted her with a crooked smile. Lily sat back in her chair and regarded him coldly.

"Perfectly adequate." She replied and his smile grew wider.

"Oh I'd say you're better than that." He leaned forward slightly and she tensed, looking round to see where Jack was in all this. She found him at the bar, talking to a shorter man with sideburns.

"What's your name then? Mine's Jacob." He continued and Lily heaved a sigh.

"Lily Turner." She told him without thinking.

"You ain't from these parts." The man said, it was not a question. Lily sighed,

"Not from this area, no." Why wasn't her disinterested tone and closed body language making him get the message? This always worked with the boys back home.

"Well I'd be more than happy to give you a tour of the neighborhood." He offered, his voice low and seductive for all that it was rough.

"Another time, perhaps." Lily cut him off, refusing to look at him. "I am here with a friend."

The man snorted, "Some friend who leaves you all alone." He leaned even closer so they were almost touching, "You never know what could happen to a pretty girl like you."

Lily shuddered and he laughed. Just as he reached out a hand, however, a shadow loomed over the table and both the stranger and Lily looked up to see Jack.

"Jack." Lily breathed – she never thought she could be this happy to see him. He was staring down at the other man who sat back in his chair and stood up slowly.

"No harm meant." He said, glancing quickly at Lily before slinking away. Jack sat down in the chair he had occupied.

"What were you doing talking to him?" He asked.

"He was talking to me. And where were you I'd like to know?" She retorted and he laughed.

"Easy luv, I ain't yer childminder."

"And I am not a child."

"Have a swig o' this then." He said, pushing a tankard of something towards her. Lily met his gaze, fully intending to refuse, but the challenge in his mischievous eyes made her think again.

Taking a deep breath Lily picked up the tankard, it was heavy, and regarded Jack.

"Cheers." She said and he grinned in a rather surprised way and clinked his tankard against hers heartily.

"Cheers." He agreed and they both drank.

Lily had never tasted anything like it...bitter yet sweet and thirst-quenching, it seemed to fill her up and clear her head at the same time.

"This is wonderful!" She exclaimed to no-one in particular (Jack had not yet surfaced from his substantial 'swig'). Sip by sip all of her worries built up in the trying couple of days she'd had were vanishing and being replaced by a refreshing feeling that nothing in the world could harm her, especially not the man ogling her from the next table.

"Am I the object of your meditation my good sir?" She asked him boldly, "If so kindly meditate at someone else." She laughed at his shocked expression and turned to Jack.

"Why haven't I tried this before?" She asked, giggling as she noticed the man with a ponytail looking at her somewhat bitterly.

"Well that I do not know luv, but I thought it was about time you did." He replied, his voice seemed even lower and more throaty than usual and his eyes were sparkling.

"Have another." He swiped 2 tankards from a nearby table and pushed one towards her.

"Drink up me hearties yo ho." Lily said wryly and Jack clinked his tankard against hers again.

"And cheers to that!"

They drank and again all of Lily's troubles drained away. This time when she looked around her nothing seemed quite in its right place, rather swirling and slightly blurred. She rubbed her eyes and blinked rapidly but still could not focus.

"Jack my eyes are going funny." She said, looking across at him beseechingly but he only laughed.

"Jack!" Her voice rose in panic as the room tipped and he rolled his eyes.

"It's the rum, it'll settle." He told her and she sank back in relief.

"Really?"

"No yer dying."

"JACK!"

After a while she couldn't help but join in his laughter and soon she was hiccuping.

"Oh dear." She managed to blurt out between hiccups, Jack shook his head at her.

It was then that the door burst open to reveal a tall, dark, terrifying man. The whole tavern fell silent but one more hiccup escaped Lily and every head turned to look at her, she grinned apologetically.

The man had not moved from the doorway and did not need to, everyone's fear and attention was held by him without apparent effort. His hooded eyes scanned the room and Lily began to feel afraid as she saw Jack slip behind a group of people – why would he need to hide from this man?

With two confident strides the man was in the room and people backed away to give him space, beginning to mutter.

"Lily Turner." He growled suddenly and the muttering stopped; Lily's heart felt like it would burst right out of her chest. "I'm looking for Lily Turner."

Don't move, Lily told herself, keep very still. She could see Jack from his spot in the shadows watching her intently and could have kicked him for deserting her. She felt another pair of eyes on her and looked over to see the man with a ponytail looking at her with narrowed eyes. The memory hit her – she'd told him her name! Stupid, she berated herself, you idiot! Remembering his bitter look earlier she turned pleading eyes to him but he turned away, Lily felt panic clutch at her chest.

"That's her." He said and each word had the ring of a death toll to Lily. Rough hands grabbed her arms and she cried out:

"No! You're mistaken! I-"

But the man had crossed the room with powerful strides and was standing frighteningly close, now he took her chin in his hand.

"Fits the description." He muttered and Lily winced as his eyes roamed over her body, from the shadows she saw Jacks eyes flash.

"Let me go." She snapped at the men holding her, struggling to get out of their grip, she was now awfully sober save for a slight muzziness in her actions and a lack of clarity in her thoughts, not the best in a situation like this.

"Alright thanks gents." The frightening man told the men holding her and grabbed her arms painfully, securing them with just one of his large hands at the small of her back he pushed her towards the door.

"No, please!" She begged but he didn't seem to notice or care about her distress.

They were at the door, his free hand on the handle, when they heard a man's voice.

"Cole!" Jack said as jovially as he could. The man turned around slowly, dragging Lily with him. His eyes widened as Jack emerged from his hiding place and touched his knuckle to his forehead. "Been too long mate."

"Sparrow, what in the blazes -"

"I know, I know, I haven't changed a bit eh?" Jack grinned, leaning against a table. You'd have thought he was perfectly at ease but Lily saw that his hand was resting on the place he kept his knife.

The silence had fallen again but at a glare from the man everyone returned uneasily to their conversations leaving him free to walk towards Jack.

"You know we didn't part on the best of terms." He said coldly, his grip on Lily's arm tightening painfully.

"All in the past eh?" Jack said breezily, waving a hand in dismissal. Lily's eyes widened – was he friends with her abductor?

"That's as may be but I can't stay; business to attend to." He said shortly and Lily realised with a stab of horror that he meant her.

"About that..." Jack said, gesturing to Lily, "what's your purpose with the girl?"

Lily felt sick, why was he talking like he didn't know her? He had told her himself that he simply stuck to the 'winning side'...well what more could she expect if she was foolish enough to trust a pirate.

"Some bigwig wants her, I get her. Just the way it works. Don't know any more than that." He replied gruffly but the grip on her arm was slackening.

"That's fair enough...as a matter of fact I knew this one's parents." Jack said, stretching. Lily could have screamed at him – how dare he speak about her like this?

"You seem to know everyone round here. So...you got a problem with me taking her?" He asked warily and Lily's breath stopped, this was Jack's chance!

"No, by all means take the whelp – kill the whelp." Jack said waving his hands, Lily's hopes plummeted and she could remain silent no longer.

"You tricked me! You cretin! You lowlife rat! You took me away from my family, left them in danger, got me DRUNK of all things simply so you can pass me over to this thug! How dare you!" She was beside herself and would have hit out at him if it hadn't been for the man – Cole – holding her back.

"Steady." He growled but she doubled her efforts to get free and – to her and his surprise – succeeded in twisting out of his grip and dashing to the door.

"Idiot." Jack groaned as he casually smashed a chair over Cole's head, knocking him unconscious. "Should have stayed put."

Unaware that she'd run out of the frying pan into the fire Lily ran as fast as she could in the first direction she saw.