The Weakness in Me

The first thin sliver of sunlight fell through the prison window, and Will opened his eyes. He was normally an early riser and he had the distinct feeling that he was late getting to the shop. He also had the distinct feeling that he’d slept at an odd angle against a stone wall. He rolled his shoulders and became newly aware of the warm body—wait, there was something wrong. He looked to either side and realized that it wasn’t one person who sought refuge in his arms during the night. Jack was curled against his side, as well as Elizabeth.

The sight was truly odd, considering the goings on of the night before. Elizabeth’s arm draped across Will’s chest, grasping some of Jack’s hair in her fist. Her other arm curled against Will’s chest, helping to cushion her head. One of Jack’s hands was curled delicately around Elizabeth’s wrist, the other tucked beneath Will’s shoulder blade.

Jack shifted, pulling his hand out from beneath Will. His other hand gently stroked Elizabeth’s arm until she released his hair. When she had let go, he tenderly arranged her hand on Will’s chest and looked up to greet the other man’s eyes.

“Good morning, Will.”

“Jack…”

“Prison cells are too cold for my liking,” Jack said, gesturing to how he was laying against Will, “and I couldn’t resist.”

“Resisting your urges may be something you need to work on,” Will countered, lifting a hand to stroke Elizabeth’s hair.

“She’s a beautiful lass, Will. I was thinking about it… stay with her and never mind an old man like me. She deserves to be treated fine.”

“You’re going to leave just like that when they open the cell, aren’t you? Never mind any of this. Why did we even have this discussion, anyways, if you’re just going to leave?” Will was surprised at the pain he felt at the pirate’s words. He knew that Jack was right. Elizabeth deserved better than this, better than arguments in a prison cell over the infidelity of her husband. The infidelity itself was a cruel blow, much less having to talk about it all day, then spend the night in the same space as the man that caused the infidelity in the first place. Yet, Will felt saddened at the fact that Jack was just going to leave it at that. He was going to spurt out his feelings and then disappear into the sunset once again, leaving Will to wonder what could have been. What could have been if he had never married Elizabeth? What could have been if he left with Jack now?

“The point was to get it out there and try and explain why I did what I did, lad, not to try and negotiate terms,” Jack grumbled, “that was never my intention. Go home, William. Have tea with Elizabeth and remember your marriage.”

“What about my father’s marriage? You didn’t care about that.”

“You’re not at sea. When your father was at home, I didn’t bother him.”

“Still…”

“It’s an entirely different matter, William. Don’t bring the dead into this.”

“But…Jack…”

“Will, listen to me. Do you love her?”

”Of course I do.”

“What about me? Do you love me?”

Will fell silent, staring into those soulful eyes that told him everything about himself but nothing of their bearer. No, he wasn’t sure of his feelings for Jack. Not like he was sure about Elizabeth.

“Your silence speaks for itself, lad. You belong here, with her… and stop pining after me now that I’m leaving. It’s not fair… not to her, not to me.”

“Thank you, Jack,” Elizabeth joined in as Will was about to retort, revealing that she had been awake during the entire conversation, “it is good to know that you, at least, have any sort of sympathy. My husband, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired.”

She sat up and stretched the best she could in her constraining clothes, slowly working the sore muscles in her neck and her back. The pain in her muscles had woken her up only minutes before Jack had spoken. She allowed herself to remain in the same position for the odd comfort that the feeling of Jack’s hair in her palm, and the warmth of his skin against hers provided. The warmth seemed to still be there, even after he had released her hand, extending from her arm to her shoulder and breastplate where it rested comfortably. The sensation was imagined, added to by his sympathetic words in her favor, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t enjoy it any less. It was the same feeling she got in the morning, waking up to Will smiling at her, telling her she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It was the feeling of proof. Seeing Will’s face in the morning, the gentle curve of his lips pulled into a smile, and hearing his voice buzz through his chest into hers was proof that he had not vanished in the middle of the night. Jack’s tender hold on her wrist, and his words that made their way to Elizabeth’s heart by another route were proof that he cared and he wasn’t about to steal William away from her. She felt newly remorseful for his imprisonment, and her rough treatment of him during their talk. He was anything but the rough scallywag she thought of him as. Her own Will was closer to that definition with the carelessness he showed for her emotions and his apparent selfishness about the situation. He didn’t want to hurt either of them, but he didn’t want to make strict commitments, either. That principle ignored the fact that they were already married and all he had between himself and the pirate was one drunken night on a ship.

“Elizabeth, you know I wasn’t actually going to leave,” Will’s voice brought her back into the present and she leveled him with her gaze.

“Do I? I have evidence of you contemplating such an option with the discussion yesterday and what I happened to overhear. Maybe you don’t really intend to leave me, however you have no apparent intentions of promising me that you won’t for the sake of unfulfilled desires. If you want me to trust that you’re not actually going to leave, prove it to me. Don’t leave me,” Elizabeth said, then turned her gaze to Jack, “as for you, I would appreciate it if you would join me for tea sometime later this month, when things between my husband and I have settled down some. Will you?”

Will lowered his head as Elizabeth addressed Jack, feeling as if he had been dismissed entirely from the conversation. How was he going to prove that he wasn’t going to leave her? The obvious answer was to stay by her side, but he wasn’t sure how to regain her trust. Leaving things how they were, that could take years. And what of Jack? He raised his hand to the bridge of his nose and pinched, trying to fend off the headache that was quickly forming.

Jack tipped his hat and stood up, “I’d be honored. In the meantime, it would appear as if the morning crew has come to get us out.”

Norrington’s shadow was easily recognizable as he descended the stairs, his arms held behind his back, his profile a neat cut out of what it meant to be disciplined. Jack hoped that he wasn’t coming for an interrogation at the same time that he was glad to see that shadow. Oddly, that shadow spoke to Jack of freedom instead of the usually foreboding that included imprisonment.

“Well, Sparrow…” Norrington began, but stopped in mid-sentence as Elizabeth drew herself to her feet behind Jack, straw sticking out of her hair. Will followed, laying one hand on her slender shoulder. She glanced over her shoulder and he drew the hand away, feeling chastened.

“What’s the meaning of this, Turner? …Elizabeth?”

“Oh, it is nothing, commodore,” Jack leaned against the bars, “young William was missing my ‘threats’ and Elizabeth and I were planning a tea party. Marvelous, really.”

Will was amazed at how easily the pirate could lie and tell the truth in the same sentence.