A/N: Hello again. This is the last chapter. Just to warn you….And I got it up quick, didn't I? Anyway, hope it satisfies your expectations!!!
Disclaimer: Is my name Disney? No. No it is not.
Jack stormed back into his cabin, muttering darkly to himself about completely incompetent crew members. He slammed his cabin door over-dramatically and froze when he caught sight of the bed. He raised his eyebrows, looking mildly interested.
Apparently, when Elizabeth had asked to sleep with him, she'd actually meant…sleeping.
"That's a first." Jack muttered to himself, considering waking Elizabeth up just to seduce her. It wasn't very often women just fell asleep in Jack Sparrow's bed. At least, not fully clothed.
Jack grunted in annoyance and sat down in a chair, kicking off his boots and unbuckling his belt and weapons. They clattered noisily to the floor, as intended, and her shot a hopeful glance at the bed, willing Elizabeth to wake up. She didn't.
After knocking things around as noisily as possible and still failing to wake Elizabeth, Jack finally pulled off his shirt and resigned himself to sleeping. He threw himself onto the bed and propped himself up on his elbow, looking at Elizabeth.
Her chest was rising and falling slowly, her hair was loose around her shoulders. She looked beautiful, angelic, with the remnants of tears still glistening on her cheeks. Jack pushed part of her hair out of her eyes and she turned towards him slightly, her forehead falling against his shoulder. He let his arm fall and stroked through her hair lightly, giving her an exasperated look.
"What'm I going to do with you, Lizzie?"
Elizabeth felt the first pulls of consciousness tugging at her eyes and put her hand over the,, not ready to get up and face another day. She took a deep breath, looking for the comforting smell of saltwater that usually pervaded the cabin, only to find that the room smelt rather strongly of rum. That is, more strongly than usually, considering this was Jack's cabin.
Elizabeth suddenly had the feeling that she wasn't where she thought she was, that she'd missed something. She tried pushing herself up on her wrist to look around, but a jolt of pain sent her gasping back on the pillows.
Then she remembered what had happened.
She opened her eyes cautiously and found herself inches away from Jack's bare chest. She swallowed, wondering how the devil she could have possibly gotten this close to him without waking up.
She couldn't help staring at him, watching the rise and fall of his steady breathing, her eyes roaming over the many scars and lingering on two bullet holes below his left shoulder. His chest was tan, muscular, roughened from years of sailing under the harsh Caribbean sun.
Elizabeth suddenly found herself harboring a desperate want to touch him. It was an entirely new feeling to her, considering the only part of Will she'd ever wanted to touch was his face…and here she was, wanting nothing more than to feel Jack's skin under her fingertips.
She reached out hesitantly and rested her finger lightly on the tip of a scar, tracing it from the center of his chest to a little above his naval. Jack didn't wake, so Elizabeth flattened her pal and slid her hand over his ribs.
"Curiosity killed the cat." Jack mumbled sleepily. Elizabeth looked up, her cheeks coloring, and saw him watching her with half-opened eyes. And quite an irritating smirk.
"It's a very good thing I'm not a cat then." Elizabeth answered swiftly, drawing her hand back. Jack snorted, and caught her hand before she could stop him.
"I didn't say stop." He said in a low voice .Elizabeth blushed again, something that she was getting rather good at doing.
"This is what you meant." She said, as he placed her palm against his chest again.
"What?"
"When you asked me it I've…if I've ever wanted to just touch someone. This is what you meant."
"That depends," Jack said seductively, "do you want to touch me?"
Elizabeth bit her lip, feeling exposed suddenly. She looked down and traced his scar again, not answering. She didn't want him to tease her right now, not when she felt unprotected and vulnerable.
"How did you get this?" she asked, for want of something better to say.
"I 'ad a bad run-in with Poseidon's trident after the barmy old chap caught me wiv one of his daughters. Bit of an overreaction, don't you agree?" Jack answered, the familiar slur touching his voice.
"Is that true, Jack?" Elizabeth asked skeptically, an eyebrow raised. Jack smiled fleetingly.
"Might be." He said non-commitally, his eyes glinting teasingly. Elizabeth smiled to herself and shifted her fingers to the bullet holes beneath his shoulder blades.
"And these?"
Jack seemed to consider for a moment before replying.
"Scarlett, lovely girl that she is. Has quite a temper. And, unfortunately, excellent aim."
Elizabeth kept silent, digesting his words. She got the idea that Jack had just told her the honest truth….quite the accomplishment, by his standards. Knowing this, she did not press for an explanation of the other bullet hole. Instead, she put her fingers near a deep gash in his shoulder, still open and sporting dried blood.
"Dear William himself." Jack announced quietly, before she could ask.
Elizabeth let her hand fall and adjusted her head on her shoulder, so she looked at his face. She pursed her lips, at a loss of words. The mention of Will had made her feel suddenly awkward; lying in bed with Jack like it was nothing to be ashamed of.
"Jack…" she whispered in a small voice, "What are we doing?"
Jack twitched and eyebrow at her and gave her a half smile before answering.
"I'm almost positive we were having a discussion about my numerous, dashing battle scars." He said, his voice not so teasing as usual.
"You know what I meant." Elizabeth said softly, lowering her eyes, afraid her sudden insecurity was glaringly obvious in them. "What is…this?"
Jack didn't answer at first, though she felt him staring at her with those smoldering eyes of hers. Then:
"What do you want, as you so delicately put it 'this' to be?" he asked in a different tone, reaching out to touch her hair. He stroked her cheek and she looked at him again, not sure what to say, wondering what exactly the right answer was. He was looking at her solemnly, and something about his eyes, something indescribable she'd never seen before, helped her to get the words out.
"I want it to be something. I want to know that I- I didn't just break Will's heart-risk my own- just to be another…notch in your bedpost. Because if that's all I'm going to be…if you're just going to-to throw me away…" Elizabeth broke off, her words catching in her throat. She swallowed, bi her lip, and looked away, trying to compose herself. When she finally looked back at him, her eyes were wet. "I need to know that that won't happen. Please Jack…promise me that, and I swear I'll walk away from Will, no regrets, and never look back; I'll sleep in this bed with you every night. But if you can't promise…if you…I'm tired of getting hurt, Jack-"
Jack cut her off with a kiss, pulling her closer and running his hand through her hair.
"I could never hurt you, Lizzie." He said intensely, his eyes locked on hers. He kissed her again, this time not pulling away until the need to breath was imperative. "I promise." He added flippantly, almost as an afterthought, in that playful tone of his.
"Then…there's no turning back?" Elizabeth half-asked, half-stated, searching his eyes for any doubt or untruth. Jack simply gave her his old, teasing grin.
"Love, have I ever given you reason not to trust me?"
A/N (again): And, Fini. I hope you people enjoyed it, though my reviews have been good so far so I assume you have…yay! Another note: I stole the 'notch in your bedpost' from a fall-out boy song, because I am a Fall-out boy worshipper. Plus, it's an awesome line. Cuz I bet Jack has many notches in his bedpost. Anyway, goodnight to all. (And review, please!)
Alexa