This story picks up where season 2 left off. Ed still has unresolved trust issues and Stede is desperately trying to ~take it slow~ to let Ed work through his feelings. Of course, that's much more difficult to do when you're alone on an island sharing a bed… This is just the first chapter of many to come in this story. I have about 5 more chapters on the way (at least). Enjoy!

Chapter 1 - The First Night

Stede

"This place really is a shit hole," said Ed, staring around the ramshackle cottage.

It was true that the place certainly was in disrepair. There were multiple holes in the floor, showing through to the sand beneath it and, likewise, multiple holes in the roof opening to the darkening sky. They were standing in the main room. A hearth was on the back wall with a crumbling chimney. To their left was a dusty wooden table and some mangled shelving on the walls. To their right, a door (that Stede assumed led to the bedroom) was leaning off its hinges.

"Well," said Stede, wrinkling his nose, "let's prop the door open and air the place out a bit before bed."

Ed walked over to the door and propped it open while Stede walked towards the door leading into the bedroom. It was a tiny room with dusty curtains and a rotting bed frame. There was no mattress. Stede stepped deeper into the room. There was a window facing out the sea. Stede smiled. It would be a beautiful thing to wake up to every morning. The glass on the window was shattered. Stede took a closer step, peering at the window. Was that blood on the glass? He stepped closer –

"Ugh!"

Ed came into the room.

"What is it?"

Stede looked down to see that he had trodden on a decaying seabird.

"It must have flown in through the window and got itself all cut up," said Stede, stepping back from the spot. "Poor bugger."

"Well, at least we found the source of the smell," said Ed.

Ed bent over and picked up the rotten corpse with pinched fingers, wrinkling his nose as he did so. Once the bird was disposed of outside, the house did really begin to smell better.

"Okay, supper!" said Stede, clapping his hands together. "I suppose we'll need some water – I can do that."

Ed was staring out the door as the sun was setting over the western edge of the cove.

"Ed? Should I go get some water?" asked Stede, more tentatively.

"What? Oh, yeah. I suppose so. And I'll go try to hunt something, I guess. I'm kind of tired of fishing," said Ed.

Stede noticed that Ed was looking everywhere but at him.

"Ed? Is anything wrong?" Stede asked.

"No, of course not," said Ed, bruskly, still not looking at Stede. "Let's go get something to eat."

Stede found a freshwater stream not far from the house where he got some water in a pot. He brought it back to the house and started a fire in the old hearth, boiling the water. He saved some of the water to cool for drinking. By that time, Ed was back with a rabbit.

"This time, we'll disembowel it," said Stede, remembering all too well the rabbit they had had at Anne and Mary's.

Ed smiled.

"Yeah, definitely," he said, fidgeting nervously with his leathers.

Stede stared at him, but didn't want to press. Ed would talk about whatever was bothering him when he was ready. At least, Stede hoped he would. And Stede desperately hoped that Ed wasn't already regretting his decision to become an innkeeper with Stede. Desperate to prove his worth, Stede took over the job of disemboweling, which he had actually learned that night with Anne. Then, for the first time in his privileged life, Stede cooked dinner.

Edward

Ed leaned against the wall opposite the hearth, watching Stede crouched by the fire, painstakingly tending to his rabbit. His face was lit only by flames as darkness descended upon the little island, turning his face as golden as his hair. He was beautiful. So why did Ed feel so… unsettled. Why could Ed not look Stede in the eye?

Because he'll see what I am. He'll see that I'm nothing without the ship, without pirating, without Blackbeard.

A memory of Stede's reaction to him with no beard came back to him and he grimaced.

How long before he leaves this time?

"Well, I think it's cooked," Stede was saying. "Actually, I think it's over-cooked if I'm being honest. I was just so scared to undercook it. Didn't want to spend our first night with food poisoning."

Ed looked at him now, a jolt going through him at the words. Our first night. Yes, they had technically spent their first night together a few nights ago, back on the Revenge. But that had been in the heat of passion after Stede had killed Ned Lowe. This felt different somehow. More formal. Ed was rubbish at 'formal'.

"Well, come sit," said Stede, looking wearily at Ed.

Stop being a dick, Ed said to himself and forced a smile.

"I'm sure it'll be great, babe," he said, sitting down next to him on the floor beside the fire.

The rabbit was slightly overcooked, yes. And rather bland with no seasoning. But for a first attempt it wasn't half-bad, Ed thought.

"I have some bed linens and quilts in my trunk," Stede said. "That'll have to do for now, I suppose."

"Sorry, Mate," said Ed.

"What? Don't be sorry!" said Stede. "It'll be like an adventure!"

"Sleeping with no bed? That's an adventure?" said Ed, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, for me it is," said Stede, chewing his rabbit thoughtfully. "Although I did have to sleep on the floor at Spanish Jackie's. That was a nightmare, that was. And I slept up on the deck on Zheng's ship – like a real crew member! But this will be different. Better. This will be with you."

Ed's blood ran cold. He tried to brush off the feeling.

"That's a lot of pressure," he said, laughing awkwardly.

Ed was staring into the fire, but he could feel Stede looking at him intently.

"Hey," said Stede quickly, putting his hand on Ed's knee. "We'll take it slow."

The casual touch sent shivers through Ed's body.

I don't want to take it slow, a voice moaned in his head.

But I have to. Or he'll lose interest.

"Thanks," Ed mumbled.

"I am sorry, by the way, about ambushing you the other night," said Stede. "There's no excuse for it, really. I'm sorry if, um, it wasn't good for you."

Ed's head snapped up to look at Stede, who was staring his hands in lap now, rabbit forgotten. Memories from the other night flashed through his mind in waves of pleasure. Stede crushing his body to his own, tangling his fingers in Ed's hair. Stede's moans as Ed put his lips on his cock. The feeling of Stede's mouth on his own cock, his blonde waves soft beneath Ed's fingers. The look of ecstasy in Stede's eyes as Stede finally entered him. The feeling of being one. How could Stede think it wasn't good for him?

"The other night," Ed began, but his voice cracked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "The other night was the best night of my life."

Stede looked at Ed, his hazel eyes imploring.

"It was?" he whispered. "Really?"

Ed nodded, unable to look away from Stede's eyes now.

"But you said it was a mistake," said Stede, his voice trembling slightly.

Ed looked away now, swallowing hard. "It was. But not in the way that you think."

"Please explain that," Stede said, moving his body so that he was in front of Ed, but Ed averted his eyes. "I don't want to make a mistake again."

"It wasn't your mistake," said Ed, firmly. "It was mine."

"What do you mean?"

Ed just shook his head. "It's stupid, Mate, forget it."

"I won't forget it!" said Stede, suddenly angry. "I won't forget that it was such a mistake, that you decided to run off and leave me to become a fisherman."

"Hey, I came back! Like, right away," said Ed, defensively.

"Oh, I see," said Stede, firing up. "So because you came back right away and I didn't, what you did was totally fine then?"

"I never said that," snapped Ed.

"You don't say a lot!" said Stede. "All day you've been moping around and you won't say why. Now you tell me that the other night was the best night of your life but still a mistake? And you refuse to explain what the hell that's supposed to mean. So I'm stuck here, treading on eggshells, wondering what's the next mistake I'm gonna make that'll have Ed leaving me again – "

"Me leaving you?" Ed snorted. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"No! I don't!" said Stede, exasperatedly throwing his hands into the air in a move that Ed found irritatingly adorable.

"The other night was a mistake because it was too soon," Ed blurted out. "It was too soon for you to see that much of me. Because I know the sooner you see me – I mean, really see me – the sooner you'll be high-tailing it out of here and I'll never see you again. And I don't want this to end."

Ed's voice broke on the last word and he was horrified to see the room before him suddenly blur as tears clouded his eyes.

"Oh," said Stede softly. "Oh, Ed."

Then his arms were around Ed, holding him close. Ed, hating himself, buried his face in Stede's shoulder as sobs wracked his body.

"I told you Stede," he cried. "I told you I'm not a good person. You haven't known me that long. You'll see. You'll see how bad I am."

Stede stopped Ed's blubbering then with a kiss. It was a sweet kiss, but firm and full of unsaid things.

"And I told you," whispered Stede against his lips. "I love all of you. I know there are dark parts of you. We all have dark parts of us."

"You don't understand," Ed sniffed, shaking his head.

"I understand that it's going to take you a while to trust me," said Stede, firmly. "To trust this. And I am willing to wait however long it takes. I love you, Edward Teach. Now and forever. That's a promise."

Ed wanted to crumble at these words. They were everything he had wanted to hear. He so desperately wanted to believe them. But the pain that would engulf him if the words turned out not to be true… if Stede ever left again…

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," said Ed, back away slightly and wiping his face on the back of hand. "I've completely ruined the amazing dinner you've made."

"Not at all," said Stede, smiling warmly at him. "I'm glad you opened up to me. Now, let's clean up and get to bed. It's been a long few days and I think we could use the rest."