A/N: okay so this took a tad longer than anticipated but i got sidetracked by other fandoms, blame netflix ;p

Waking up, as it turns out, is quite the opposite of falling asleep.

Ben is startled awake by Harry's violent cursing.

He pulls himself upright and stifles a yawn as he sees Harry pacing his small room, already dressed and looking ready to seek revenge on someone.

"Harry?" Ben asks, confused.

Harry pauses, as if having forgotten he's here. He exhales audibly before slowly turning to Ben with a frown. "How long have you been awake?"

"Uh, I- I just woke up?"

Harry seems to find some sort of comfort in that. "Right. Well, rise and gloom, princess!"

Ben blinks.

Laughing, Harry shakes his head at him. "You're gonna have to be a little faster than that if you don't want to be left here on your own."

Even though he knows the alternative is being back up in the crow's nest, Ben all but jumps to his feet at the thought of being left alone - actually, at the thought of being left with the other pirates who clearly want him dead or at least don't care if he exists or not.

Harry, for one reason for the other, seems not to want him gone and although it's probably just Uma's orders, Ben wants to believe it's something more.

Which is why he follows Harry without question.

"This would be so much easier if you were allowed to leave the ship," Harry mutters as they eventually make their way to where Gil is waving at them.

"Sorry," Ben mumbles, not entirely sure what he's sorry for.

Harry stops walking so suddenly that Ben crashes into him. There's a strange shock in his eyes as if he hadn't expected to be heard, even though he'd addressed Ben directly.

Ben opens his mouth to apologise again but Harry turns and marches ahead before the words leave his mouth. It only takes him a second to process that and catch up, at which point Gil has met them halfway.

"You're late!"

Harry rolls his eyes. "I arrive whenever I want."

"But you know Uma's annoyed after you left us yest-"

Clearing his throat pointedly, Harry grins. "I also leave whenever I want, Gilly."

Ben frowns, wondering when Harry had done anything to annoy Uma; he'd only come back to his room after having eaten with the others and hadn't, to Ben's knowledge, left again. Maybe he was a heavier sleeper than he thought.

"Boys! Get over here!" Uma yells from somewhere, and Ben can't help but flinch.

Harry glances back at him before sighing. "Well, better go see what the captain wants!"

"Should I...?" Ben trails off when Harry raises a perfect eyebrow at him.

"Stay with Gil, just in case Uma's feeling knife-happy this morning," Harry says quietly, sounding almost like he cares for Ben's wellbeing. But then he adds, "Cleaning the deck before lunch really ruins an appetite."

And then he's gone, nodding to Gil before heading towards wherever Uma had been yelling from.

Ben honestly doesn't know what to do with the sheer amount of mixed signals Harry gives off. Although to be fair, it's possible they're all the same signal and Ben is just being overly optimistic as usual.

Gil grins at him. "You look like you're about to fall over."

"I do not!" Ben argues, crossing his arms. He can't, it wouldn't be proper for a king to look weak, regardless of where he is.

Gil doesn't seem to believe him and bites his lip. "I'm not supposed to but I'll try and find you some food so you don't fall over."

Ben frowns. "What do you mean you're not supposed to?"

He wonders if Uma had planned for him simply to die of hunger but then remembers that she'd allowed Harry to bring him food, so clearly only the first mate was tasked with making sure he didn't die.

Gil seems to regret saying anything, though, because he turns and starts walking away.

"Wait!" Ben calls softly, "Am I meant to follow you?"

"Uh, if Harry said so." Gil doesn't stop walking though, so Ben takes that as a yes and hopes he's not going to get thrown overboard.

As it is, Gil leads him below deck and somehow navigates his way to finding the end of a bread loaf and two apples before Ben has even adjusted to the darkness.

"Probably not what you like but anything more and someone will notice."

"Thank you," Ben whispers, pocketing the apples and starting to eat the bread because there's no way it'd stay intact in his pockets.

Ben trips over no less than three objects he can't even see by the time they get back above deck, to where Ben spots Uma and Harry deep in conversation. Well, deep in argument.

"Oh, not again," Gil mutters as he spots them too.

"They argue often?" Ben asks, trying to finish eating as soon as possible so Uma doesn't notice.

Gil gives him an odd look. "They never stop."

He doesn't know a lot about pirates but he's pretty sure a captain and a first mate aren't meant to be continuously arguing.

Harry flinching backwards is enough to pull him out of his thoughts, just in time to watch Uma clearly bark an order at him and storm off to do whatever it is she does throughout the day.

"Harry!" Ben is moving before he can think about it but by the time he and Gil reach Harry, he's smirking at them.

"What, did you miss me?" He quips, then scoffs. "Your pockets are not large enough for subtlety, princess."

Gil looks wholly confused. "But Uma-"

"Is just grumpy. Now, I believe we're on lookout duty," Harry tells Gil, clapping him on the shoulder before brushing past both of them.

The two of them share an incredulous look before Ben gives Gil a sheepish smile and all but stumbles after Harry, groaning internally as the ropes come into view.

Harry doesn't wait for him this time, flying up until he's at the top before looking back down with yet another smirk. "You coming or not?"

Ben grits his teeth and pretends he's just in another sports class, pretends this is just a warm-up set by a coach rather than a potential life or death situation.

Even so, his stomach is in knots by the time he reaches the trapdoor. Harry seems to take pity on him and extends a hand to help him up, which he takes gratefully, exhaling audibly once they're both safely sat down.

"Thank you," Ben says as soon as he doesn't feel like throwing up.

Harry leans against the side of the crow's nest and nods, his eyes slipping shut as he waves a dismissive hand in front of him. "Can't have you die on my watch."

When he doesn't open his eyes again, Ben frowns. "Harry? Are you...?"

"I'm fine." Harry sits up straighter, wincing.

Ben opens his mouth to argue but Harry looks up and shakes his head slowly. "What did I tell you about sticking your nose where your brain can't follow?"

As if his eyes had been waiting to defy that very order, only then does Ben notice the blood.

Sorry for the cliffhanger but I do have the next chapter planned already so it shouldn't be too bad :) 

Thanks for reading x