Unseasoned Ties

"How do you know?" you ask.

"Cause I do." Jack turns you and sits you down. Jack plants himself down opposite you and pulls the oars out to sink them into the water. You watch silently as he begins rowing quickly and intensely efficient. After a few minutes of watching Jack row, you decide that you just can't watch anymore. Especially when you have the opportunity to follow beads of sweat rolling down his chest with your eyes, and seriously wanting to second that with your tongue. You turn around, away from Jack, and watch the far-away ship getting closer and closer.

After what seems like hours of silence and rowing, you can actually make out the tattered black sails and you notice that the ship is sailing towards you now. 'So it is the Pearl, how the hell did he know?' You're also amazed that he's rowed nonstop with barely making a sound.

You're almost at the point of falling asleep by the time you two get close enough where you can hear someone yelling orders to the rest of the crew. You start getting very excited at the thought of being able to walk around and put pants on.

After a little while longer, the Pearl is right alongside of the small boat and immediately a rope is thrown down. Peering up, you see Mr. Gibbs ordering the rest of the crew about. Jack stands up and roots around the floor of the boat until he finds the pistol and tucks it into the back of his pants.

"Gibbs!" he yells loudly up at the boat. You instantly see the pirate's head pop up. Jack picks up his bottle of rum and throws it up to Gibbs' waiting hands. Standing up, you tie the blanket around your waist. Half cause you don't wanna leave it behind, and half because you don't want your legs exposed around Jack's crew. Turning to you, Jack smiles appreciatively at your covered legs.

"Come on luv," he says. Jack grabs the rope and ties it securely around your waist, "Jus' in case. Now wrap yer arms aroun' me an' hold on tight." As he raises his arms up high on the rope, you wrap your arms around him and hold on. Jack pulls you both up on the rope and hand over hand slowly starts to ascend. The feeling of nothing beneath your feet is going to take some getting used to, and you hold on tighter to Jack.

"Ye should wrap yer legs aroun' me waist luv....nothin' sexual 'bout it, I'd make me feel like yer safer," Jack assures you.

You smile at the fact that he felt the need to make sure you knew he wasn't trying to come on to you. Doing as he suggested, you wrap your legs around his waist and immediately feel safer. 'Jesus, he's strong,' you think as Jack pulls you both up. With Jack climbing the rope and the crew pulling the rope up, you two make it to the dock rather quickly.

Gibbs quickly helps you up and over the railing and Jack pulls himself up once you're safe on the dock. Grateful for the room, you stretch your stiff and aching limbs. Looking around, you notice the group of people openly staring at you. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, you move back to stand behind Jack as he talks with Gibbs. Gibbs is handing Jack a small item that you can't see clearly and you try to follow the conversation without knowing how it started or what they're talking about.

"Did ye get what I asked of ye before?" Jack questions as he tosses the small item in the air and catches it, you can see now that it is Jack's famous broken compass.

"Aye, the Pearl docked right after Brigs snuck off wit you an' the lass and I had the crew pick it all up fer ya. Did ye teach the ol' ass a lesson?"

"Not how I would'a liked," Jack replies grimly. He then pivots towards you and smiles broadly, "Bath or food? Which first luv?"

Bouncing on your heels you smile widely and dramatically hug Jack, "Bath, definitely bath."

With you still wrapped around his neck, Jack turns you both towards Gibbs, "Get some o'the men ta set it all up."

Jack pulls your arms down and tells you, "Ye get in there an' the tub 'ill be there shortly, I'll join ye later wit' food after I get up-ta-date wit' me crew."

Excited for the bath and food, you ignore the urge to stay and help do anything that needs getting done. You figure that Jack has some things he needs to do so you should just let him get them done. You tell Gibbs that you will see him later and he scowls at you in response, "Oh simmer down, you'll love me. Oh and how did you find us anyway?" you ask curiously.

Gibbs gives you a pompous look and responds with, "Jack's compass, 'ow else?"

'Interesting,' you think as you turn and walk away towards Jack's quarters, you hear Gibbs mutter to Jack, "Are ye insane?" You can barely hear Jack's response, but you're certain that he said, "Possibly."

You're so relieved to see Jack's room. You walk over to the balcony doors and swing them wide open. The sight of everything exactly how it was left makes you instantly feel comfortable. Not knowing what to do while you're waiting for the tub, you make the bed, and arrange your pile of clothes on the chest at the foot of the bed. After a few minutes the doors swing open and two pirates stomp in carrying the huge tub. After they place the tub off to the left, they leave and come back many times with steaming hot water to fill the tub with. Not wanting to stare at them as they work, you walk out on the balcony and wait a few minutes. You turn around right as they are about to leave and thank them only to be met with the closing of doors. "How kind of you to say," you say sarcastically aloud to the shut doors.

Walking over to the water-filled tub, you notice a clean white towel neatly folded on the table with a few small bottles and a bar of soap sitting on top. Picking each one of the bottles up and smelling them, you come to the conclusion that they are peppermint bath oils. Smiling in approval, you take them all over to the tub and set them down beside it. You save one of the bath oil bottles, but dump the other two into the tub. Checking the door to make sure that it's shut, you get undressed and slowly sink yourself into the steaming hot water. The temperature is a little hotter than you usually prefer, but you don't care. The hot water quickly relaxes your muscles and you sigh in pleasure.

You've been in the tub for as long as the water would stay warm. After it starts cooling down where you start to get cold, you decide that it's time to get out. You used the bar of soap to wash yourself and your hair, 'It should be very interesting to finger-comb without the aid of conditioner.' You pull yourself out of the tub and wrap the towel around your body, making sure that it's tucked in tightly so it won't fall off.

"What do I wear?" you mutter to yourself. You don't really wanna put dirty clothes back on after you just took a bath. Remembering the chest that's full of clothes, you make your way over to it and kneel down to open it. After a few seconds of rooting around, you find a white shirt that looks like the exact same shirt as the other one Jack gave you to wear.

You next try to find some sort of pants you could wear, 'Dirty underwear...so not what I wanna wear.' Surprisingly enough, you manage to find some dark grey pants that look a lot like sweat pants only thinner. They'll be a bit too big but you can handle it. Slamming the lid shut, you stand up and toss your finds onto the bed.

"I don' know if I want ye wearin' me clothes luv, actually...I don' think I want ye wearing anythin' at all."

You jump at the sound of Jack's dangerously low voice and spin towards the sound to find Jack leaning back against the small table. You fix him with the best withering stare you can muster up while being clothed in a towel, "Jesus Jack, don't do that! Announce your approach.....or I'll make you wear a bell like a cat and I don't know how that will work out, what with all the sneaking around pirate type stuff you have to do….how long have you been there?"

The menacing stare is somewhat hard to keep when you take a moment to look at Jack. 'Big mistake when I'm trying to look angry,' you tell yourself. Jack must have bathed elsewhere because his shirtless torso is glistening with water droplets and he's wearing a different pair of pants. His hair is damp which makes it appear even darker than it usually does.

Wordlessly, Jack pushes himself away from the table and begins to slowly swagger towards you with his arms hanging at his sides. You firmly stand your ground as Jack sidles up close to your body so his chest is pressed up against yours. You keep at still as possible when he leans forward and rests his mouth against your left ear.

"Don' worry luv, I'll only peek when ye want me to," Jack softly murmurs into your ear.

Having him that close to you causes your body to react in an unstable manner. You can feel your heart racing and wonder if Jack can feel it against his chest. Trying to get control of yourself you shakily ask, "W-where did you get a bath at?" The voice in your head instantly mocks you for your stupid question but you couldn't think of anything else with his moist skin against yours.

Keeping his hands at his sides, Jack has made no move to touch you. Instead, he breathes in the scent of your hair deeply and then releases it in a long sigh as he says, "Crew 'as their own tub."

'Of course they do, stupid stupid girl,' you reprimand yourself. Suddenly a loud grumbling sound erupts from your stomach and you start giggling at the noise. Jack pulls away wearing an amused grin and moves to the side so you can see behind him. You almost gasp at the sight on the small wood table. There's plates heaping full of food, including bread, meat, cheese, and fruit. As well as food, there are two jugs sitting in the middle. 'Please be water, please be water,' you hope.

"Get dressed an' ye can eat till yer tummy explodes," Jack says while picking up the clothes you found and holding them up against your chest.

He leaves the clothes in your hands and moves over to the clothes chest at the foot of the bed. Opening it, he grabs the first shirt he sees and lets the lid fall shut. As he quickly pulls the long-sleeved black shirt over his head, you taunt with a grin, "Don't get stuck."

"Yer hilarious luv," Jack responds impassively as he pulls the shirt over his flat stomach. As his flesh is covered you can't help but think, 'He shouldn't be allowed to wear clothing, ever. That should never be covered up. Why deprive the world of his amazing body? Or just me, don't deprive me!'

Spinning around, Jack sways over to the other chest against the wall. 'I completely forgot about wanting to know what's inside that one,' you think. You watch as Jack drops to his knees in front of it and hauls the heavy lid up. He begins to rummage through it and then pulls two pistols out of the mystery box. 'Well that answers the contents of the box question,' you think feeling slightly disappointed that the contents weren't more thrilling.

Jack tucks the two pistols into the waistband of his pants at his back and then continues to rummage through the chest. Pulling something else out that you can't see, he stands up and kicks the lid shut with his foot. As he turns around, you see that he has three hardback books stacked up in his hands. You smile broadly at the idea that now when Jack leaves you all alone in here, you can read something to occupy yourself.

Jack saunters over to stand in front of you and hands you the plain appearing books. You take them with a look of pure joy and excitedly ask, "Where did you get these?"

"Knew they were aroun' 'ere somewhere, ye said books make ye happy. So there ya go," Jack distractedly tells you while studying his fingernails.

'Awww he wants me to be happy. He doesn't need books to make me happy, he pretty much covers that by just being here,' you think, 'And look how he's pretending like it doesn't matter.'

Jack glances up, notices your knowing expression and huffs in fake annoyance, "I don' know what ye like ta read, I've 'ad these fer awhile so they'll 'ave ta do 'till we dock again."

The three books aren't overly large; they're all about the same size except for the fat one at the bottom. Holding them with your left hand, you open the first one to find that it is a book of stories and poems written by Coleridge. At home you have a huge book filled with every poem and story he's ever written and you're surprised to see it's presence in Jack's possession, 'He just keeps on astonishing me.' Keeping your jumps of gratitude contained until after you've looked at them all, you move the book to the bottom of the pile and open the cover of the next one.

A large smile breaking out on your face, you can't help but look up at Jack to see him looking rather impatient. Looking back to the Victor Hugo poetry book, you have a feeling that the last book is going to be even better than the first two. Shifting Hugo to the bottom, you open the last book and practically squeal in excitement.

"You've read Don Quixote!?" you shout, feeling excitement bubble up.

Jack almost flinches at your sudden outburst. Nodding his head slowly he asks, "I assume that ye 'ave too?"

"Of course I have! Actually I love all of these authors. But Quixote is amazing," you say not being able to contain your exhilaration. You're not used to being in the company of a person who actually has good taste in books. 'I can't believe he has these,' you think, 'although what do I expect? He's never been all that predictable.'

Jack shakes his head from side to side slowly while rubbing his finger along his chin, "Jus' where is Quixote from, me lil' nymph?"

You smirk and ask, "Trying to see if I've actually read it?"

"Jus' an inquiry luv," he responds innocently.

"Well...just guessing here...I could be wrong Jack...but I'm thinking that Don Quixote is from La Mancha," you slowly answer.

"Are ye tryin' ta get on me tits luv?"

You start laughing at his way of asking if you're trying to annoy him, "Always Jack, it's one of my goals in life. To get on your tits. Maybe even pull a few times."

Making sure that the towel is secure and won't fall down, you move to set the three books on the bed and then turn back to Jack. You, without warning, wrap your arms around Jack's waist and deliver a friendly hug. Jack seems surprised at your action and after a second he responds with engulfing your frame in his arms. Resting your face in the side of his neck, you mutter loud enough for him to hear, "Thanks Jack, it really means a lot."

Jack laughs softly and says, "Bloody 'ell luv, if this is how ye react, I'll get ye new books every day." Giving you one last squeeze, Jack steps away from your embrace and smiles warmly down at you. Placing his large hand on the top of your head making you feel like a small child, he commands, "Now get dressed an' eat luv, I got some things ta do."

You grin and ask tauntingly, "I though you wanted me naked?"

"Far too distractin' luv, ye'd never get any food in yer system."

Jack delivers a pat to your head and then drops his hand to his side. Swinging around, he heads for the doors and flings them open, turning towards you before he leaves. "Go ahead an' eat, I'll be back in a bit. An' don' taunt me 'bout yer luscious bare body luv," with that said, he quickly exits and shuts the doors behind him before you have a chance to reply.

Grumbling to yourself in annoyance that he left you all alone to eat, you pull the towel off and quickly pull the large shirt over your head. Then you pull the thin pants up your damp legs and realize that you'll have to hold them up so they won't fall off. 'At least I get to wear pants,' you happily think.

You sit at the table and immediately help yourself to a bit of everything. Without anyone watching you, you're free to eat as messily as you want. Picking up one of the jugs, you're happy to find it filled with water. Knowing that fresh water doesn't last long on a ship at sea, you figure they stocked up when they docked.

Once you finish eating, you leave the table to get comfortable on the bed and open the Victor Hugo poetry book. Skimming through it, you stop at a poem that has been written on and read aloud to yourself the underlined parts:

"Gravediggers are tearing a way for me toward God. Since death is knowledge, to the ancient usherette I say, It's time! Take me into the dark to see the show."

You instantly recognize the poem and wonder what made Jack underline the last part.

After an hour of reading and no return of Jack, you begin to feel bored and feel the urge to go find the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow. Standing up from the bed, you stretch your arms in the air and then pull the pants back up from where they slid down a bit in reaction to your movements. 'I can't go walking around holding my pants up the entire time,' you think to yourself. You look around the room and notice the forgotten sash lying on the floor that Jack was previously wearing wrapped around his slim waist. Retrieving it, you tuck your baggy shirt into your pants and start wrapping the long material around your waist until you're satisfied. Tying it at your left hip, the ends nearly reaching your feet, you realize that you probably look a bit like a pirate. Quickly shoving your shoes on your feet and making sure that the ends of the pant legs are tucked into the boots, you tie them and stand back up. Remembering that there is a mirror in the room, you move over to stand in front of it and appraise your appearance. Satisfied with the clothes, you try to fix your hair that's currently extremely mussed up. Trying to comb through it with your fingers, you give up and decide that it looks good enough. 'I really don't think I have to start worrying about my hair now, it was worse before I washed it so it's good enough.'
Leaving the mirror, you walk over to the doors, open them, and step out of Jack's room.

You're instantly met with a cool light breeze and the sun shining brightly overhead. Closing the doors behind you, you walk out further onto the dock and ignore the stares you receive from the crew. Glancing around you see that everyone appears to be doing a task and no one seems to be just standing about, 'Obviously Jack's crew listens to him.'

Turning around, you look up towards the wheel (or at least you think it's called a wheel) and see Jack standing proudly with one hand resting on one of the knobs. Deciding to join him, you make your way up the stairs to your left.

You step quietly since Jack hasn't yet noticed your presence. 'Or if he has, he's good at pretending otherwise,' you think. Stepping lightly, you move behind Jack and stand still for a moment thinking about your next action. Before you can decide on anything, Jack's left arm slides around behind you and he places his hand on your lower back. Then he pulls you in close so your chest is flush up against his back.

His unannounced movement surprises you and you allow him to effortlessly press you against himself. Standing still you rest your forehead against his broad back for a moment and breathe in deeply. 'He smells so good,' you think, 'How does he smell that good? Pirates are supposed to be smelly.'

The feel of Jack leaning back against you causes you to snap out of your thoughts and you move to your right out of his grasp. Ducking under the arm resting up on the wheel, you stand back up to lean against his outstretched arm giving the appearance of his arm being wrapped around your shoulders. Without saying a word, Jack places a light kiss to the side of your head and then rests his head against yours.

"So how do you work this beast?" you lightly question.

Jack chuckles in response and moves around behind you and places his other hand on the wheel, effectively trapping you in his arms against his chest. "Tis a tricky procedure. Not everyone has Captain Jack Sparrow to assist em. Yer blessed," Jack arrogantly responds.

You laugh at his words and lean back against his sculpted chest, "I guess I am pretty lucky then."

Instead of saying anything in reply, Jack takes a step forward causing you to be pushed flush up against the wheel. 'Oh fuckin' hell,' you think as you try to get a hold of your rampant hormones. The length of his body is pressed fully against yours and you can feel every single inch of him. Trying not to seem effected by Jack's actions, you attempt to stay calm as if nothing is causing your heart to race uncontrollably.

"Sooo… any idea as to where we are headed?" you question with a surprisingly steady voice.

Jack leans his head down to your ear and mutters, "When we get there, I'll know where we were headed." You can feel his mouth behind your ear placing light butterfly kisses and the heady rush of him being so close is threatening to take over the last shred of control you're grasping on to.

Staying as unresponsive as possible, you ignore the tingling feeling in the pit of your stomach. It gets more difficult after he moves his left hand off of the wheel to place it on your hip. As his fingers gently kneed your flesh through the material, you allow your eyes to fall shut.

"Nice look luv…" Jack lets his words trail off.

"Yeah, hope you don't mind I borrowed your sash, the pants just wouldn't stay up. I figured since everything else I'm wearing is yours, what's one more thing?"

His hot breath puffs against your ear as he says, "I love how me clothes look on ye, me own lil pirate lass."

You laugh lightly and worm your way out of his hold. Stepping to the side you move away from him and turn around to face him once you're a good distance away. Looking up at Jack you notice how his expression has changed drastically. 'He looks like a little kid who was just told he could open all of his Christmas presents early,' you think. Jack's eyes are open wide in astonishment and then a smirk slowly spreads across his tanned face. Deciding to ignore his odd reaction, you make a mock curtsey and ask, "So I'm pirate enough for you? Do I get a sword now?"

Jack shakes his head in amazement and his smirk turns into a full-fledged smile. In an instant the smile falls from his face when he glances down at the crew below seeing that they are all blatantly staring up at you.

'What the hell is going on?' you wonder. Looking from the crew back to Jack, you ask, "What is it? Do I have something on my face or did I just grow a tail?"

Jack quickly moves to stand in front of you, blocking the crew's view. "What the 'ell do ye think yer doin' luv? In me room it's great, very much welcome, but not fer me crew."

"Huh? Care to explain?”

Jack looks down on you like a parent scolding his child, "So ye didn't realize that yer shirt is transparent?"

Looking down, you see that with the sun's light, the white shirt is practically see-through, 'Oh crap, I'm not wearing my bra!'

You quickly bring your arms up to cover your chest and look up wearing a panicked look, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know. I wasn't thinking. Oh my god I was flashing everyone!"

Smiling, Jack is quick to clarify, "I don' mind a bit luv, jus' keep the good bits away from me crew. I don' share."

'No wonder why the crew was blatantly staring at me. I was flashing them all,' you tell yourself.

"Luv, ye need ta get inside… now," Jack advises with a warning tone.

Glancing up at Jack you plead, "But I wanted to stay out here, I don't wanna go sit all alone in your room staring at the wall and counting the amount of rum bottles you have scattered. It's boring as hell… although I guess hell would have to actually be boring for that to be true and people try to make it out as all hell-fire and pain, so it probably wouldn't be all that boring…" your babbling starts to trail off the second that Jack begins to pull his shirt off over his head.

You forget entirely what you were talking about. All you can see is the sleek taper of muscles along Jack's upper chest. 'How is it that I'm resorted to drooling every time I see him take his clothes off? Oh yeah… probably cause he's fucking gorgeous.'

Jack holds his shirt out to you hastily and instructs, "Put it on o'er the other then if ye don' wanna go back ta me room."

Grinning, you sarcastically ask, "Do you just use any excuse you can think of to take your clothes off?"

"I don' need an excuse. 'Sides, it would be cruel of me ta deprive ye of what ye so very much yearn for," Jack states arrogantly with a smirk as he holds his shirt open to aide you in the putting on process.

Knowing that you are going to have to move your arms away from your chest in order to put the black shirt on and that Jack will most definitely see the outline of your breasts again, you pause for a moment to think.

'Screw it, he already saw,' you think. Grabbing the shirt from Jack's outstretched hand, you quickly put it on gaining an appreciative whistle from the man you've grown so attached to.

"Oh shut up," you giggle.

Jack grins in your direction and pivots around to face the helm once again. 'Ooh he's serious Jack now,' you think with a laugh at his solemn expression. You watch as Jack pulls his compass from his pants pocket and flip it open. After grunting at what he sees, he flips it shut, shoves it back into the confines of his pocket, and spins the wheel to the left a considerable amount.

Chewing your lower lip slightly, you try not to focus on the way his back looks with the sun beating down making his smooth skin glisten. Wringing your hands in front of you, you hesitantly ask, "Well…what do I do?"

Without turning to you, Jack replies off-handedly, "Whatever ye want."

Frowning in frustration, you try to come up with something to do with yourself. Looking around, you see that everything has already been taken care of, or is in the process of.
'I wonder what time it is,' you think. You assume that it must be around three o'clock in the afternoon so it is way too early to sleep. Not knowing what else to do, you plant yourself down to the left of Jack and get comfortable on the hard-wood floor. Looking down, Jack smiles warmly and ruffles your hair with his hand.

"Hey! Don't mess with the hair buddy, you could lose a hand. I'm that dangerous," you advise jokingly. When Jack looks back up, you tug on his pant leg like a small child wanting attention.

"Pull hard enough luv an' they'll come down. Warnin' ya."

Smiling, you ask with mock fear, "Are you trying to scare me?"

Turning around so you're no longer sitting facing Jack, you lean back against his leg and fold your arms across your chest self-consciously.

"How long have you had those books?" you ask suddenly, wanting to know more about Jack.

Without looking up, you hear Jack say, "Don' know, had em fer awhile. Quixote was me mums, she used ta read it ta me 'fore I even knew what a book was."

"My mom used to read to me a lot too. The first book I ever remember her reading was ‘The Little Prince’ and it's still one of my favorites," you tell him.

"Don' believe I've 'eard o' that one luv, tell me 'bout it," Jack muses effectively shifting the topic away from his childhood. 'I hope he doesn't think I didn't notice his little shift there,' you think, 'Oh crap, I don't think Little Prince was written yet, I don't think the author is even born yet.'

"It's written by this unknown French guy, few people have heard of it actually so…" knowing that what you just said is complete bullshit and that Antoine de Saint- Exupéry wasn't a complete unknown, you let yourself trail off.

"Tell me 'bout it?" Jack requests.

"Uummm okay, I'm not very good at explaining what books are about but I'll try. The narrator gets stuck in the middle of the desert and he meets the little prince who first asks him to draw a picture of a sheep and goes on to tell all about his travels. How he traveled from planet to planet and on each planet lives one grown adult. He lives alone on a plant that's very small and for company he has a single flower that he loves. Umm…it's kinda hard to explain why it's such an amazing book. My favorite part is when he meets the fox on Earth and the fox kinda helps him learn what's important about life. I like it though cause you can read it to a child and the kid would love the bright pictures and the entertainment value, but than you can read it when you're an adult and it gives you an entirely new meaning. The author kinda mocks adults and how they're all the same and have lost their imaginations. Yeah…well that's it."

"Sounds like ye got a lot out o' it," Jack replies.

"Yeah, it tends to have that response," you answer. You frown when you realize that you'll never read that book again and then you're hit by all of the things that you will never be able to do again by staying with Jack. 'I'll never read any of my books again, or watch Reservoir Dogs again. Never see my family or friends. I'll never get to see The Sex Pistols live again. Won't be able to see whatever movie Quentin Tarantino comes up with next. Never be able to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, never know how Depp pulls Wonka off or how Tim Burton directs it. Never find out who plays Chenault in Rum Diary and if Josh Hartnett ruins it all…or see what happens in Alias…' your mind just rambles off every single thing that you can think of that you were looking forward to and sorrow breaks through.

"Ye alright?" Jack questions gently and reaches down to run his hand through your hair.
His question doesn't quite register and when you don't respond Jack kneels down beside you, making sure to support your back with his hand so you won't fall backwards. Lifting your chin up with his fingers, he turns your face towards his and the movement snaps you out of your thoughts.

Looking in your eyes, Jack repeats his question, "Luv… are ye alright?" His eyes are piercing and filled with warmth, 'What the fuck am I going on about?' you demand of yourself. Seeing the concern etched in Jack's features, you grasp that nothing else matters but the here and now. 'I have this perfect man crouched in front of me actually caring and I'm all upset that I'll miss Alias?’

"Luv?"

Realizing that you have yet to say something, you lean towards him and place a chaste kiss on his lips. Pulling back smiling, you assure him that you're fine.

With a small worried frown still placed on Jack's face, he asks, "Ye sure? Ye looked like yer world jus' crumbled."

"Definitely. You've fixed it."

After a beat, Jack asks, "Ye miss yer family?"

Touched by his observation you're quick to clarify, "I do miss them, but I think I miss the idea of them more than the reality. I see myself here."

"Why'd ye leave em?"

Thinking about what to say, you realize that the answer was pretty simple. "I just wasn't happy."

"Are ye happy now?"

"More than I thought possible."

Finally a smile covers Jack's features, "I won' ever make ye tell me anythin', jus' know ye can if ye want."

Overcome with love for the man kneeling next to you, you counter, "You too, I don't wanna push but sometimes I have a problem with that so just tell me to back off."

Jack shakes his head and makes 'tsk tsk' noises, "Luv, I only want ye on me, never off."

Playfully pushing his chest with your hand you laugh at his words. "You're completely incorrigible."

Jack chuckles and stands back up as he laughingly says, "I love ye too."

Freezing abruptly at his words you think, 'He can't mean love love. He's just meaning friend love. Can't be love love. Jack Sparrow doesn't do that love love thing. Gotta stop saying love love. Gotta stop talking to myself.'

Standing up from your position on the ground, you walk over to the ship's railing and lean over letting your hair fall in front of your face in a tangle.

"Don' go an' fall over on me."

Looking back to Jack you teasingly ask, "Would you jump in and save me?"

Wrinkling his eyebrows, he asks incredulously, "An' get meself all wet? Hardly. Hope ye can swim."

Glaring at him, you retort, "Bastard. What if I do fall in? You won't save me? I could drown. Get eaten by crazy fishes. I'd haunt your ass. I would do a good haunting job Jack, I could make your life miserable."

"Ye wouldn' 'ave ta be deceased ta do tha' luv."

"That's it. You are going down," you calmly say while stepping away from the railing and walking past Jack.

"Luv, what are ye doin'?" Ignoring his question and without looking back, you calmly step down the steps. You can hear Jack jog to catch up with you and by the time you step inside his room, he's right behind you. 'He's quite the paranoid one,' you think gleefully.

The bathtub and the remains of your meal have been removed, as well as any traces that they may have left behind, 'Quick little workers,' you think. Walking to the table, you grab the jug of rum that was cleverly not taken away by Jack's crew and walk out to the balcony.

Jack, apparently haven gotten your intentions, hurries to run in front of you and blocks your way to the edge. "Nu uh luv, I don' think so," he says wagging his finger in front of your face in a scolding manner.

You grab his finger with your free hand and bite it, not too hard but hard enough where Jack gasps a bit.

"Ye bit me!" Jack shouts incredulously.

"Very astute observation there Captain Obvious. Care to share with me anything else obvious? Ooh look, there's water down there!" you dryly respond. 'This is fun,' you think.

Jack glares at you and pushes you back a little bit so he can stand in the doorway and places a hand on each side, effectively blocking your passage. His eyes dark and challenging, he asks, "Ye wan' another obvious report luv?"

"Oh yes please, astound me with your wit," you sarcastically reply.

Slyly grinning in a way that doesn't make it to his dark eyes, he stares at you silently and just when you are about to make the attempt of pushing by him in order to throw his rum overboard, he answers.

"I wan' you... obviously."

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AN: Thank you so much to everyone taking time to review. I love them. I'm sorry for the long delay. My best friend gave birth to her gorgeous baby boy Aiden on the 15th so I've been busy being an Aunt. I hope the looong chapter makes up for it. I hope the next update is soon. Thanks again. Hope the chapter is enjoyed and keep reviewing!!