(fluffy hurt/comfort blackbonnet reunion, teen, 2k, also on ao3)
Ed really had been ready for a fight.
Honestly, he had been. That heartbreak and that betrayal, the days and days stewing in his fury, lashing out as the Kraken, all of it boiled his blood and set him up good and proper to cut that cruel, selfish bastard to ribbons.
All right, days and days might be a bit of an exaggeration. It’s probably been a week since Izzy shook some sense into him. Fortnight, tops. But still. Ed had been ready. He’d hated Stede. He had.
So when the man himself appears in Ivan’s scope, waving his oar overhead like a fool and towing the rest of his miserable crew in what seems to be a makeshift raft, Ed can’t blame Izzy, really, for hissing I’ve got the cannons ready, Captain Blackbeard. Just give me the word.
Ed seizes the scope.
He sees Stede Bonnet.
He lowers the scope.
His heart twists painfully in the cage of his chest and then keeps twisting, something hot and bright and sick surging through his veins like sunlight.
“What a fucking moron,” Izzy seethes. “As if he could hurt you like that and expect to be welcomed back with open arms. We’re actual fucking pirates, you twat,” he calls, as if Stede might hear him across the water. “You’ll see what you get when you fuck with us.” He snarls, turns to Ed. “Shall I, boss?”
Ed stares at the little dot on the water, coming steadily toward him. Stede’s rowing. Didn’t expect that. Crew is probably—ah. Crew is probably a bit weak in the arm, weak in the everything, after what Ed did to them.
“Boss?” Izzy asks again. Ed growls. He shoves the scope at him, scrubs his hands over his face, smudging the black paint there.
“Just—wait.” Ed growls, and stomps off to the captain’s quarters.
“Wait…for Bonnet?” Izzy calls after him, shrill with incredulity. “Edward, you can’t possibly—”
Ed doesn’t wait to hear what Izzy thinks he can and cannot do.
He slams the door behind him and stares at the hollow shell he made of Stede’s quarters. Only fair, given, he thinks furiously, what Stede made of him.
He strides over to the bed, yanks the curtains shut, and climbs in. There he is through the window, unmistakable, coming closer. Just as Ed absolutely one thousand percent has not been dreaming about every night.
The fuck does he want? To finish Ed off? Cut out his heart, well, fuck that, he’s already done that. Piece of shit, fucking coward—only—
Only that’s not what it is, Ed knows. He’s been fucking thinking about it since that morning on the dock. He knows what it is. Ed wasn’t enough, he wasn’t enough for Stede, he’d been stupid, a fucking moron, to think he was, and Stede finally wised up about it. Too weak and too broken at once for someone who shone like that, so he’d cracked Ed open and scooped out the softest bits of him with a fucking snail fork and left behind the pieces.
But…
Well.
Why’s he back, then?
Ed stares at the little boat for a long, long while. Izzy’s going to knock any minute, Ed knows he is.
He wipes away the tears he hardly noticed spilling, smudging his hands black.
He knows what he has to do.
*
“Captain,” Izzy says with barely controlled glee. “They’re close now. Could still do cannons, yeah, but are you thinking more hand to hand?” He nods. “I get it. More personal.”
“Yeah, mate.” Ed says. “Sure.” They’re close enough now that he can see Stede’s in a plain white shirt. None of his fancy clothes, his curls wild in the wind. Ed still can’t see his expression, but he can tell he doesn’t look like the man Ed had nursed back to health from a Spanish stab wound anymore, not exactly. There had always been a sort of…restlessness about him. Anxious, fluttering energy, bird-like.
This Stede Bonnet stands steady. Like he knows where he’s going, really knows it, for the very first time.
Ed’s never felt like this before. Or—no, shit. That’s not true. He has, twice, very recently.
When he thought Stede might die.
And when he realized Stede wasn’t coming back for him.
He’s…terrified.
“Fuck off, all of you,” he growls at the rest of the crew. “Belowdeck, go on.” Izzy jerks a nod, grotesquely eager, and barks at them to obey. Jim, whose knuckles had been clenched white on the railing, looks like they’d rather fight Ed to the death than lose sight of Oluwande again, but Frenchie manages to drag them off.
The rest of the crew Stede’s towing, er. They’re alive! All of them, looks like, which is probably good. They do look, well. A bit worse for the wear.
And that’s the fucking thing, isn’t it? Stede didn’t want him because he thought Ed was a monster, and Ed had gone and proven him right in the worst possible way. Stede’s bloody rowing with a boatful of crew who, by rights, should want to take Ed apart with a filleting knife.
Ed should arm himself.
Ed should blow them all out of the water.
Ed should set course for the furthest possible bearing and leave Stede behind in his wake, for good.
Ed should.
Ed absolutely, definitely, for-fucking-sure should.
Ed lowers the ladder.
And then there he is, without a weapon on him. Sea-salt in his hair and his brow creased in concern. Ed stares at him, black on his face like ink, his hands tight on his knife and his gun.
You’ll see what you get, Izzy’s voice echoes in his head, when you fuck with us.
Stede opens his mouth, but Ed cuts him off.
“I’m sorry,” he says.
“What?” Stede blinks.
“What?” his crew choruses.
“What?!” Izzy shrieks from somewhere on the ship.
Ed falls to his knees. Feels good, sagging like that, like he’s stopped forcing himself to be upright. Everything just sort of crashes into him, and he buries his face in his hands.
“Stede,” he says, and the name feels like honey on his raw, sob-scratched throat, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I’m sorry to all of you, I fucked up. I fucked up!” Ed’s crying like he’s done every night since he painted the guise of the Kraken on his face, tears streaking down his cheeks, open and wet and vulnerable as a bared throat. “I’m sorry I hurt you because I was hurting,” he tells the crew, “I’m sorry I fucked everything up between us.” He means to look at Stede for the next bit, but he can’t. “I’m sorry I wasn’t good enough. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry—”
Stede takes a beat, and in that brief moment Ed thinks he really has fucked everything up for good now. Stede’s going to laugh at him and cut him down and even if Ed managed to survive it he’s lost it all, his crew’s never going to follow him now—
“Oh,” Stede says, real wonder in his voice, “...you love me.”
Ed peers up at him, scrunching his face against the sun.
“What?” it’s his turn to ask. “Er. Yeah. Ob…viously?” He gives a half-hearted shrug of a gesture, indicating the general fucking mess of his life that he’s made because the man who has his heart decided to stomp it into the sand. He sniffs, wiping his nose with his knuckle. “I’m sorry,” he mumbles. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m—”
But then Stede joins him, sinking to the deck with a thud. His eyes are wide and bright, and it’s not fair, it’s really not, that he should get to look so fucking handsome right now. Goddamn rude of him, really.
“It’s all right,” Stede says.
“Speak for yourself!” comes a shrill voice that Ed recognizes as Lucius’s, and Ed flinches. Stede rolls his eyes, flapping his arm dismissively.
“For fuck’s sake, you’re fine. Pete, Fang, would you find Lucius some proper food? Shut him up? All right. Thank you. Anyway.”
“I’m sorry,” Ed murmurs, twisting his hands.
Stede makes a sudden gesture that seems almost as if he’s reaching for Ed’s cheek, but thinks better of it. Ed gives another miserable sniff.
“No,” Stede says firmly. “I’m sorry.”
Ed blinks at him.
“Oh God, Ed, I didn’t know,” Stede says, shaking his head. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know. I didn’t think I deserved you.” And that makes no fucking sense, but Stede looks really fucking stricken about it. “I thought I was ruining you, my love, and I couldn’t live with myself if I did, but then I figured it out, how I felt! Mary helped, actually, and now I realize that you feel the same way and oh God, you thought—if I made you feel—shit, fuck, Ed I’m sorry—”
Ed furrows his brow.
“You’re saying you thought I was the one,” he says slowly, “who was too good. For you. You thought you were ruining me.”
Stede nods very hard. His own eyes are shiny with tears now, and fuck, that’s no good at all. Ed hates that.
“Yes, and now I see that I have a bit, just in the very opposite way that I thought I was, fucking fuck.” He shakes his head. “I’m so sorry it took so long. I—the other Badminton showed up, and you were all beardless! And I got him killed too, and he said—all right, it’s a rather long story, actually, I should warn you—”
“Hang on,” Ed says, something clicking into place. He sniffles again. “I want to hear that story—very badly, actually—but you said.” He clears his throat. Tilts his head to the side. “You said, my love.”
Stede blushes.
It’s so fucking adorable Ed wants to blow something up about it.
“I did,” he says. “Not to—well. That is—only if you’ll have me. Only if you feel the same way.”
Ed stares at him.
“Oh, shut up,” he says hoarsely. “As if I could’ve made the answer to that any more obvious. And you didn’t ruin me, you bastard, you made me better than I ever thought I could be.”
“Well, then, right back at you,” Stede says, sounding out of breath.
“All right,” Ed says gruffly, “now that that’s sorted, should we—mmph.”
Stede kisses him.
Stede kisses him, and Ed sags into him, and Stede holds him tight.
The first time, Stede had been tentative. Tender, surprised, and pleased.
This time, Stede kisses him and Ed can tell all at once he’s been thinking about it since the day they parted.
Stede kisses him hungry, hard, and messy. Stede kisses him with his hands in Ed’s hair and his sturdy body pressed to Ed’s unsteady one.
Stede kisses him and Edward Teach knows, for the very first time in his life, what it is to be wanted, and cared for, and loved.
“Ah,” Stede says, when he pulls away at last. “Wow.”
Ed stares at him again. He’s got Ed’s makeup smeared on his cheek. He’s beaming. He’s sure.
Ed growls.
“Do that again.”
Stede grins, and he does.
Presently, Ed becomes aware of the entire crew cheering, as well as Izzy’s loud groans.
“Can you ever forgive me?” Stede murmurs into his mouth. God, he tastes good. Smells good. Feels good. Sounds good, even. Fucker.
“No. Absolutely not,” Ed says, taking Stede’s lower lip gently between his teeth. Stede whines, and Ed nuzzles closer into him, running his hands all over Stede’s chest, reassuring himself that this is actually real, this is happening. “Fuck off, you were such a dick, yeah? Never will.”
Stede makes a contemplative sound low in his throat that goes right to Ed’s cock. His hands tighten in Ed’s hair and Ed moans helplessly at the gentle pressure there, and then he’s dragging Ed into his lap right there on the deck.
“How will I ever earn your forgiveness?”
“Mm.” Ed rocks in his lap. “I’ve, ah. Got some ideas.”
Stede flashes a mischievous grin.
“Well, you know me! I’m all for sharing feelings. I’m all ears, my love.”
Ed groans and wraps his arms around Stede’s shoulders, breathing him in. It’s as if he can physically feel the weight of the last week leaving his body. Stede holds him so tenderly, so steadily. As if Ed himself is something precious Stede wants to keep.
And fuck, Ed wants to be kept.
“God, I missed you,” he whispers.
Stede squeezes him tight, his palm soothing on Ed’s back.
“I missed you too, my love. I’m so sorry. I’m here now, here with you. This is where I want to be, for as long as you’ll have me.”
Ed pulls back just enough to look at him.
“And what if I never want you to go?”
Stede smiles so big and earnest Ed feels like a star is twinkling right there in his chest.
“Then I’ll say fucking thank God, because I don’t want to ever leave you again.”
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
I did the thing! What’s your plan to vote this year? #vote #vote2020 (at Cranston, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGISKJfnS0j/?igshid=1i1s5tgyhnc5w
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Daily floof! I brushed him some last night to try to get rid of the extra floof. He wasn’t happy. I think he remembers. #tozerthepozer https://www.instagram.com/p/B-qMnhdHwod/?igshid=4cvxo3pmkscm
It’s hard to tell because he’s a cat, but I’ve decided that Tozer likes having us home more. It gives him more access to my bed for naps. #dailyfloof #tozerthepozer https://www.instagram.com/p/B-msDNiH3KC/?igshid=wnp0r2tp2rf7
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
