An Unexpected Turn

Chapter 6

Mal woke up the next morning, her head on Harry's chest. She winced as she sat up, her body still aching from yesterday's events. Her hand slowly lifted to trace one of the tattoos on Harry's bicep. Things would never be the same after what happened the day before. She knew Harry well enough to know that he'd never let her in any body of water alone again. She also knew that things were going to change between them.

After he had come back into the infirmary, Mal tried to talk to him about the kiss, but he kept changing the subject, always telling her they had time to talk about it later. When they arrived at his dorm, she asked again, only to be met with the same response. Soon after, they had fallen asleep. What was she supposed to do?

Just as she was about to stand up, she felt Harry move next to her. His eyes opened slowly, a smile appearing on his face as soon as he saw her. "I'm guessin' you're feeling better?" He reached up to run his fingers gently across the cut on her forehead. "I'm always the one to leave the scars on you, aren't I?" He muttered, his smile fading.

"Don't say that, Harry. This wasn't your fault. Just bad luck, remember?"

"I shouldn't have left you in the water. I shouldn't have turned my back. I shouldn't have taken you at all. I knew what could happen. I've seen countless men die in the ocean, I've killed men in the ocean." He sat up, running his hands down his face in frustration.

Mal grabbed his arm, pulling his hand away from his face. "Harry Hook, you stop that right now. Do you hear me? This wasn't your fault; this wasn't my fault. I knew what could've happened, and I still agreed. I don't regret one single second of yesterday. So you are going to stop this bullshit whining and blaming yourself because this isn't the Harry Hook I know."

Harry just looked at her for a moment. "There's something about you that makes me terrified of losing you. When you first left for Auradon, I was more pissed than upset. When Uma pushed you, a few years ago, and what happened yesterday... those are different. You didn't leave by choice. You could've died and there's no coming back from that."

"I'm not going anywhere, Harry. You have to remember that. It's going to take a lot more than a wave to take me down." She let out a small laugh, leaning forward to press her lips against his. "Stop worrying."

Harry lifted his hand to rest his thumb against Mal's bottom lip. He knew they had to talk about what happened between them. As much as he tried to run away from the conversation, he knew he couldn't run forever. "I want you." He said simply. "I'm not hiding that anymore."

A smile slowly appeared on her lips at his words. "Yeah? The big bad pirate finally has a weakness? What will Uma and the crew think?" She teased.

"Fuck 'em." He said, placing his hand on the side of her neck before crashing his lips against hers. There was something about Mal that made him feel freer than any ocean ever could. He didn't know how she got into his heart, but she had been there for so long that being without her seemed impossible. Now that he had her, he wasn't letting her go again.

Mal slowly pulled back, biting back a smile. "So this is what you want?"

"Aye," he whispered. "I wouldn't want anything else."

—

After a few hours, Mal decided to go back to her dorm to get herself cleaned up. As much as she loved the smell of saltwater on Harry, she couldn't stand the smell when it was attached to her own skin. She quickly showered before pulling on a fresh set of clothes.

"I'd ask how you are, but going off of that smile, I'd say you don't really care that you almost died yesterday." Evie said, walking into the dorm. "Plus, I just saw Harry scaring a couple of freshmen, so I'd say he's in a good mood, as well."