"I was supposed to come up with the plan." I whisper over to Vince, scowling. He shushes me, holding out a hand to quiet me down from my mini temper tantrum.

I managed to all of his crew out of their cells. It took me awhile to get all of the keys, and some of the guards noticed I had taken their keys, so I had to use some of my womanly charm. A lot of womanly charm.

It worked, believe it or not.

All of his nasty vultures for a crew got away unharmed by escaping through the sewers under the castle. Vince said if they were to be caught, he didn't want to be in that big pile of suspicious looking men traveling through the nasty sewers. So he formed a new plan. We silently make our way to the garden, throw ourselves over the railing, climb the wall surrounding the castle and then we're free. Only... it isn't that easy. It could've been easy if Vince hadn't slipped out from the shadows and got caught by a pair of guards patrolling the castle halls. A stupid pirate he is.

A sudden thought zips through my head, my eyes snapping over to Vince that was crouched down in the bushes like a creep or a stalker. I didn't have to hide because, well, I'm not exactly wanted at the moment. I will be when I come back to this place the next time, trying to steal the coins that Vince failed to do. Stealing from myself? Can you even steal from yourself?

"How come you know the castle so well?" I whisper over to him, crossing my leg over another.

Out pops his head from the bushes, his lips holding a slight smirk. Sometimes, I want to slap that smirk right off his face, but I'd probably get a hard slap back. That's probably why I haven't done it yet. I don't know if this guy has insane ticks or is somewhat of an abuser. I guess I'll find out on this long, unknown journey I've wriggled myself into.

"I have my ways," he blinks, dipping his head back down in the bushes.

I heave out a breath, the aggravation getting to me. I've been sitting on his bench for at least thirty minutes now and he hasn't moved an inch. Does he like sitting in random bushes? If he does, we need to have a serious talk. I get it, you don't want to be caught a second time. Two guards have already seen you crawling around the castle late at night. They probably have already alerted all the other guards, along with my mother. But seriously, just go and throw yourself over the dang railing and run for your life.

Either I'm stupid, don't know what I'm talking about and he's doing the right thing, or he's just too paranoid and needs to move on. As I'm deep in thought, the same two guards come strutting into the garden, guns in hands. I gulp, reaching up and hooking my finger around the neckline of my shirt to pull. They pass by the bush Vince is hiding in, giving me a smile and I try to smile back the best I can. When they keep walking, I breathe out, relief washing over me like a big wave.

Vince creeps up to the edge of the bush, peeping out to see that the guards were heading on their way to do one more round of patrol around the castle. As their footsteps get softer and softer, Vince hops out of the bushes. I snort at all of the leaves and twigs in his dirty hair, my lips curled into a smile. His eyes snap over to me, quietly telling me to keep my mouth shut.

He reaches out and snatches up my wrist, pulling me from the bench and over to the railing. I peer over the railing, eyeing the ground carefully. The drop wasn't too bad, but if I don't land this right, I could possibly sprain my ankle. My eyes flicker from to his hand on my wrist and his face, lips pursed.

"If you don't let go, I will bite you." I warn him with a nasty tone.

He lets go, not in the mood to have teeth sink into his skin. I hum in approval, grabbing onto the railing and heaving myself over the edge. I land on the ground feet first like a cat, not feeling any pain sting at my ankle. Good. I didn't sprain it. Vince follows after, landing beside me with a cocky smile.

"Stop smiling and get your butt over the wall." I hiss at him, dusting myself off.

He walks up to the ten feet high, concrete wall, hand scratching at the stubble around his lips and chin. His eyes trail from the top of the wall and over to me. I tilt my head, shrugging my shoulders. If he expects me to come up with some kind of legendary plan that gets us over this wall, he's about to be let down. I've gotten over this wall in many ways, but that was when Anthony still had my back. We're on our own. He puts his back to the wall, cupping his hands together and nodding at me.

"Ladies first," he says, a sly smile on his face.

I grab onto his shoulders, pulling my leg up and pressing my foot down into his cupped together hands. He lifts me up to where I can reach the top, my fingers lacing around a part I can hook my hand well enough so I can pull myself up. With much struggle and many minutes wasted, I finally get myself to the top.

"Bloody hell, you're heavy!" Vince exclaims, flailing his arms.

I stare down at him, giving him the best glare I could possibly muster up. His bright smile makes me growl, hanging down a hand for him to grab onto for support.

"Just get up here, you stupid pirate..." I sneer at him, wiggling my fingers to let him now I'm impatient.

He starts to back up, both of his eyebrows furrowed and biting his bottom lip. I take a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for the major struggle that is about to come. This guy is tall, probably has a bunch of muscles under his black shirt, and just looks heavy in general.

Please don't let my arm break off.

He shifts all his body weight forward and starts to run dead straight for the wall. Now I didn't understand what he was running for. He could've just jumped up and grabbed my hand easily. So why was he running towards a solid wall like a retard? Beats me.

He scales up the wall about three steps before latching his arm around mine, his hand grabbing onto my forearm. I start to pull him up, grunting at how heavy Vince is. It's worse than I thought it would be and I even prepared myself.

Wait... did he just climb the wall? Oh heck yeah. He's teaching me that crap.

"You say I'M heavy when you're the fattest one here, Vince." I half-heartedly glare at him from the side.

He doesn't reply, standing up and adjusting his belt to where it wouldn't be slipping off. He secures his pistols to where they don't fall from the belt loops, not looking up to meet my cold eyes. Not wanting to wait on him, I shift to the other side of the wall and jump off. His head snaps up and his lips part, ready to yell at me.

"Aye, hold up!" He shouts, quickly jumping down to follow me.

"Well if you didn't take so long checking on your precious baby pistols, I wouldn't have to wait up, see?" I crane my head back to him, giving a cheeky smile.

"By the way, you still have twigs and such in your hair." I point a finger in the air, not bothering to turn around.

I already knew his hands had tangled into his hair and now was pulling out small green leaves and short brown twigs from long his blonde strands. As we're walking, the familiar smell of the ocean hits me. With clenching and unclenching hands, I bolt off in the direction that has the sound of waves crashing together. Vince's footsteps are hot on my heels, the sound of his pistols rubbing together and the clinging of his many pocket zippers followed by his heavy stomping.

I skid to a stop, pushing through the trees to find the same beach I feel in love with many years ago. I'm met with the beautiful sight of stars twinkling down onto the ocean water, the water sparkling just as bright as the stars in the night sky. The moon shined bright, providing a light path of light over the golden colored sand. Bending over, I pull the zippers of my boots down, wanting to feel the sand against my feet. I catch a glimpse of Vince shaking his head, both arms crossed against his chest. He's probably used to the view, living on a ship and all.

"Hey, give me a break. I haven't been this beach in years." I snap at him, pulling my feet from the leather boots.

He holds up his hands, surrendering. Loud laughing makes me yelp and jump a mile high, backing up towards Vince who looked a little ticked. I follow the line of his sight and my eyes connect with his crew all laughing at us. They were just chilling, some sticking their feet in the water and other talking around a fire like a bunch of good friends having a camp over. All their eyes were on us, my cheeks blaring a bright, embarrassed red. Almost as red as the crews fire.

"Cap'n Williams is whipped!" One laughs, the others joining in.

Vince grabs onto one of his pistol handles as a warning, all of his crew quieting immediately. His green eyes bore into the souls of his men, some of his crew turning a ghostly pale. With a heavy breath, I start to laugh.

"He's whipped? L-looks like you guys are the ones that are whipped!" I cackle, tears coming to my eyes.

Vince groans, picking up my boots, harshly grabbing my arm, and dragging me away with pink tinted cheeks. I never really thought about it but I bet he's not used to having women around, much less an overwhelming one like I am. I continue to howl with laughter, tears spilling over my eyes and cascading down my pale, moon kissed skin.

"Stop laughing, will you?" Vince growls at me, his rough sounding voice mixing with my laughs that echoed over the water.

"S-sorry..." I sniff, giggling as I wipe away my tears with the back of my hand.

I blink multiple times, ridding the last of the tears with a uncontrollable smile. Vince keeps quiet, his eyes skimming over my facial features. I push myself up onto my tippy toes, getting a closer look at his eyes. They're normally a vibrant green color. Right now, they're a dark blue, the color of the ocean beside us.

"Where was that place you promised to let me and my crew stay, Lass?" He speaks up, turning his head away in embarrassment.

I shift myself back down to my heels, spinning around and starting to march down the side of the ocean stopping point. Vince keeps quiet, carrying my boots while I enjoy the feeling of cool water rush over my feet. The soft, wet sand still felt the same under my bare skin. Now only one thing was missing from this experience. Someone to share it with. Sure, Vince is behind me but I doubt he wants to chat with me, much less answer the questions I have for him.

"What? Cat got your tongue, Lass?" Vince asks, his tone laced with cockiness.

"Oh? What makes you think that, Pirate?" I ask back, my tone unusually sweet.

"I know in that pretty little head of yours is over a thousand and one questions for me. Go ahead, I don't bite. Much." He says.

I can practically feel his smirk. It's like this sudden game of cat and mouse is being played? That's how it feels to me. Actually, if I'm going to be honest with myself, he kind of makes me feel like a small clutter of dust; mentally and physically. My estimated guess is that he is 6'3 and I'm only 5'4. So we have him being way taller than me, but also the fact that his personality washes over mine. I feel like if we were to duel with words, his words would be the sharpest and cut the deepest. I can cut, he can wound.

"Why did you choose the life of a pirate?" I blurt out, most interested in his past.

I stop a second, long enough for him to get over to my right. I thought he felt lonely behind me all by himself. That, and I didn't like the feeling of his eyes staring at my back. It was a creepy feeling.

"I didn't choose it. The pirate life chose me. I was born into it, actually."

"Your parents were pirates?" I look up at him through my lashes, most curious.

"No, only my father. My mother was a commoner. Now why did my old man pick her? I have no clue." He keeps his eyes pinned to the ground below him, not lifting them once.

"Do you have any siblings?" I lean forward to get a better look at his face.

In an instant, like someone had stabbed him right in the heart, his expression goes from stone cold to almost terrified. My eyebrows furrow together when he looks over to me with harsh eyes. This guy is so hard to read. What did I do?

"Yeah, I have a sibling. He's in prison," is all he answers, nailing his eyes back down to the sand.

I probably shouldn't press any farther. If I'm getting these reactions from asking him about his past, then I'll just throw up my hands and not say a word. I will ask him more questions later because that's what I do, but also because I don't want to have his eyes cutting at me again. Keeping my mouth shut, I twist my head to the left to look at the ocean. I pull my arms backwards and twist them together behind my back, enjoying the moment nonetheless.

"Why do you want to come with us pirates? Aren't you afraid, Lass?" Vince finally asks me a question.

"Of course I am. I have no idea who you are, what you are, and what you're planning. The only reason I'm going with you guys is because I have nothing else to lose. My fiancé is dead thanks to you, my mother hates me, and I'm pretty sure my butler would be better off without me." I answer with all honesty.

Everything I said is true. Am I trying to guilt trip him? Certainly.

Before he can retort something snappy back, I point towards the large, dark cave I used to play in as a child. It looked less disturbing the last time I saw it, I'm going to be honest here.

"That's where you and your crew will be staying... unless your crew wants to stay over there." I give a sheepish smile quickly followed with the batting of my eyelashes.

Womanly charm don't fail me now!

The closer we get, the more interested he became. Shoving my boots back into my hands, he goes to walk straight up in there. Dude, you're not going to think of the possibilities that you might need some light?

"Hey, might need some light, huh?" I call out to him, not fully prepared to step inside to search for him.

He doesn't reply back, nor does he come walking out. So he is a lunatic that can see in the dark? Okay, that isn't as bad as I expected it to be. I prop myself up against a cave wall that has moonlight shining down on it, waiting for Vince to get back.

"You didn't tell me that there would be a crashed ship in there." Vince pops out from the darkness, nearly giving me a heart attack.

"No need to, right? You were already in there." I clutch at my chest, glaring at him slightly.

I slide down the cave wall, ready to park my butt for the night. I don't know what time it is, if my mother is looking for me or not, but I'm tired. How am I going to sleep out here without a bed? I guess I'll find out. Vince huffs, taking off his belt, along with his pistols. He sets them on the ground and leans his back against the wall, sliding down to sit beside me, his body giving me little warmth. I didn't mind him sitting by me but I don't want him right up on me.

"Your crew always like that?" I pipe up, a smile coming to my face as I turn my head over to Vince.

"Aye, pretty much." He replies with his famous smirk.

"Better treat them like family because they are your family now."

This sudden feeling of my heart becoming heavy makes goosebumps rolls over my arms and legs. I clamp my eyes close, tossing my head back in an attempt to sleep. I haven't slept in knows how long, and I just wanted the feeling of guilt to stop eating away at me. My body becomes tense when Vince's arm slides over my shoulders, pulling me close to his side. With flushed cheeks and the fear that if I pulled away he would snap at me, I lean into his side and accept it.

"Goodnight, Vincent..." I whisper.

"Goodnight, Lass." He mumbles back, not saying anything else for the rest of the night.

So all night long, I'm wide awake with flushed red cheeks, eyes wide, and listening to the sleeping, soft breathing pirate beside me.