A/N - Sorry it took so long! And no yelling if it's not what you expect or isn't the best lol

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Emily's tongue swiped across the corner of her mouth as she pressed the small towel against the brunette's busted lip, letting the ice wrapped inside cool the bloody cut. "Aaron I told you not to go up to that man."

The older man shook his head. "He was inappropriate towards you, Emily."

"Exactly!"

Both brunettes let their heads turn towards Jack in the deck chair beside them, watching as Rose cleaned the wound just above his left eyebrow with the small rag she held between her fingertips. Emily looked to her friend with sad eyes. "Jack, this was not your battle to fight. Neither was it Aaron's."

Jack gave a shake of the head. "Emily you don't seem to understand why we did what we did."

"I understand that you two got us all booted from the dining area for the rest of our voyage. I understand that you almost bludgeoned a man for looking my way."

Aaron let his eyes harden on the woman before him, taking her hand in his to make her eyes look his way. "He not only looked at you Emily, but he winked. He winked at you, Emily."

Emily shook her head, her confused eyes looking towards the older man. "Yes?"

"He winked!"

Small Jack looked up to his father with his eyebrows raised. "What's a wink, daddy?"

The older blond looked towards the boy. "It's something you don't do to beautiful and intelligent women, Jack. It's considered very rude if it's also to someone you don't know and are not accompanied with."

Emily looked to her friend, her teeth gnawing into her lip as she kept the towel in her hand to the brunette's lip. "Jack I could have spoken with him myself."

"And let him possibly take advantage of you?" His light eyes looked towards the brunette with a frown etching his face. "You know what he would have said if you went to confront him?"

Rose shook her head as she tried to get the blonde's attention back to her. "Jack, don-"

"He would have told you to step out of his way because you're a woman."

All mouths immediately snapped shut, their eyes going to Emily whose tone turned from confused to hurt in one small second. Her doe eyes widened, tears springing up at the corners before she let her hands fall to her lap.

Jack felt his heart crack into two when he saw the beautiful brunette's body sag, her head shaking before her watering eyes looked up into his. "Emily, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"How could you say that to me?"

"Em you know that I didn't mean to say it like that."

The older woman shook her head, a bitter laugh escaping past her lips. "But you did." She felt a salty tear land on her pink lips as she stood from her seat, her hand dropping the towel onto the chair beside the man she admired. "If you will all excuse me, I think I need to be alone for a minute."

Jack stood from his seat, his hand reaching out for his friend. "Emily I-"

"Don't touch me!"

Jack let his hand fall to his side as he watched the brunette walk as quick as she could from where they sat.

Aaron stood with a glare in his eyes, his hands fisting at his sides as he looked to the younger man who had broken his girlfriend's spirit. "Do you have any idea what you've just done to her?"

The blond gave a sigh before shaking his head, his feet already moving in the same direction his friend's just had a moment ago. "I can fix it."

"Jack maybe you should let her be alone for a minute."

Both men turned their eyes towards the redhead who sat completely still, her gaze down casting towards her feet that tapped against the wooden deck. "I just think that she should be able to compose herself for a moment."

Jack felt himself give a laugh as he looked to the woman before him. "Do you hear yourself, Rose? Emily is my friend and I made her cry. You think I should just leave her to fix herself?" He shook his head. "She deserves someone to be by her side to help get her back onto her feet when she falls. And I made her fall, Rose. I'm the one who made her fall and I need to help her back up."

Rose watched as the blond man before her quickly followed the same path the younger woman had just before. Her shoulders slacked before her eyes made their way to Aaron's, smiling slightly when the tense man sat back down in his seat. "I'm sure she'll be ok in a moment, Aaron."

Aaron felt his pulse quicken as he refrained from rolling his brown eyes, watching as the younger woman kept her twitching hands settled in her lap. "Right."

Jack's eyes looked around as he tried to quickly make his way along the deck, his gaze landing on every crew member and passenger that passed him. "Emily?"

The brunette heard her friend as she continued to look over the railing of the ship and down to the rushing water beneath her, keeping her bottom lip sucked in between her teeth. She let her fingers curl tighter when she heard his footsteps become louder, and she knew he was getting closer to her with each step he took. "I asked you to leave me along for a few minutes, Jack."

The younger man gave a shake of the head as he settled himself against the railing beside his friend. "You know I can't do that, Em."

"I just need you to stay away from me."

Jack felt his shoulders stiffen, watching a tear fall down the brunette's pale cheek. "You know I didn't mean it the way that it came out, Emily. I would never think that, but other men would in an instant." He leaned forward, trying to get his friend to look his way. "You know that's not me."

Emily turned her head to look to the younger man, her eyes watering more than a moment ago. "Jack, I do understand what you meant and how you were trying to explain the situation to me." She shook her head, more tears slowly cascading down from her eyes. "But it still hurt me. It's not fair that people think of me and every other woman that way, and having you say that just broke me."

The blond looked to the older woman, smiling inwardly when he took a step forward and she didn't move away. "Emily, I would never hurt you. You are the true definition of beauty and ecstasy, and you have no idea how much I hurt myself by calling you such a thing."

Emily's eyes softened on her friend, feeling his hand land softly on her upper arm and rub her pale skin gingerly. "You called me a woman, Jack. That's what I am."

"But not in the sense I used it." He smiled to the older woman, wiping her tears away with his free hand. "I know that you could take down any man if the time and place was right."

The older woman let out a laugh, her eyes rolling slightly as she smiled to her friend. She let her lips roll inward as she felt the blonde's hand tighten slightly around her arm. "Thank you for coming to talk to me, Jack. It was sweet." She leaned forward slightly, placing her hands on Jack's shoulders before her lips gently grazed his cheek. "I like that you can make me smile."

Jack felt his heart beat quicken as the brunette moved so her face was directly in front of his, her nose brushing his softly before a smile graced his face. His eyes looked up into hers, feeling the heat from her body radiate onto him as he moved his hands to her hips, pulling her against his body. "I like that I can make such a beautiful smile grace this world."

Emily looked to the man in front of her, her eyes glancing down to his lips just millimeters away from hers before her tongue swiped along her bottom lip. "We should probably get back now."

The blond shook his head before moving backwards, standing a good distance away from his friend. "Yeah, of course." He plastered a smile to his face, holding his hand out for the brunette woman to take. "Ready?"

Emily bit her lip before placing her delicate hand in his, squeezing firmly as they fell into step with one another. "Ready."