𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
‣ will turner x f! reader | 1.5k words | slight angst, fluff, friends to lovers, comfort; im in love with will turner
‣ when the uncertainty of the future makes itself known to you, he's there to give you a gentle reminder through his embrace.
‣ i recently watched potc for the first time ever and yeah. im obsessed with him maybe actually
You used to long for nights like this. A couple hours to yourself and the great blue while the rest of the world quieted, weak to their need for rest.
Above you lay a painting of constellations as far as the eye can stretch, and if you watched closely and held your breath, a wish could be found amongst the specs of light. Blink and it’d be lost forever, but such are the wonders of the vastness beyond Earth’s gates. It was a shame the moon welcomed sleep instead of wake.
Without a single cloud, her light embraced you like your mother once did, many years ago in childhood.
Your hands grip together above your trembling kneecaps. The moon brought cold winds with her beauty, as did the sea water beneath the Black Pearl. The weather wouldn’t scare you off this night, however. The bundle of cloth tightened around your shoulders as you peered up to the sky once more, allowing yourself yet again to be caught in her hypnosis.
It’d been months since you stepped foot in your hometown. The second boot met this vessel’s wood, the gravity of consequences made themselves familiar. Home would never be home again. Your image was now tainted, purity washed away with bad blood, piracy, under command of Captain Jack Sparrow. And what a name he had, for good and for worse. Mostly worse.
It didn’t bother you at first. No longer bound to an island with invisible chains of societal pressures and standards. Out here, your name was all you had. No care for a backstory, for family ties, or occupation. Freedom released the chains from your soul, metal rupturing under itself and disintegrating. The stench of saltwater, pirates and rum soon became home, and as you inhaled and exhaled on the wooden steps, your joints and aching muscles freshened.
Still, there was a feeling you couldn’t quite shake off no matter how far you sailed. It was bothersome, and you could tell it was beginning to affect you.
“I knew I’d find you out here.”
Others were starting to notice as well.
There was room for one more occupant deliberately open, he took note of. His body heat robbed you of your chill, replacing it with his warmth as his arm bumped yours, easily reminding you of the liminal space you now resided in.
Will Turner had become a close friend. Never the type of man you’d suspect to become a pirate, with his understanding nature and selfless acts. He had a father out there, you learned early on. “Bootstrap” Bill Turner. His name carried weight overseas, having been a part of Jack Sparrow’s old crew–prior mutiny.
His whereabouts lay unknown now, either taken by the sea herself or out on a boat serving another captain under alias. You could see how much it affected Will. He wasn’t one to particularly hide his emotions, and yet, certain days he required a little re-reading.
His arms dangled over his thighs with his lips resting in their usual frown. The pinch between his brows had lessened a bit, but you could still detect a faint indent. A pirate’s life isn’t necessarily blissful, you suppose. His brown eyes interlock with yours when his chin turns to you.
“What’s on your mind?”
You break his eye contact to find your fumbling fingertips, your nails anxiously kneading your cloak’s fabric back and forth, back and forth, back and forth…
Will drawls your name as his shoulder nudges you. You scoff with a grin.
“Sorry, I just,” You glance up, still not meeting him. “I’ve been thinking about home lately.”
He hums.
“You miss it?”
Do you? You pause for a moment.
“I don’t know yet.”
He remains silent to allocate for any other thoughts you want to share, to which you settle in and release another sigh.
“It’s not that I wish to return, in fact I quite enjoy being out here. I have no life back home, but here I am, watching the night sky like I’m a little girl again.”
A single cloud trails the moon’s borders, a warning for frigid air. Will shuffles closer.
“I think about what’s to come. For you, the crew, myself.” You threaten another smile. “Jack.”
Will chuckles. “No bother worrying about him, that’s for certain.”
“And still, I wonder where he will end up. He’s so unpredictable, frankly it stresses me out.”
The two of you share a hushed laugh. You at last face him beside you, a nice fervor to your cheeks at his dimpled grin and soft eyes. He truly was handsome for a pirate. You’d imagine this life would break him, that one day his sanity would wane and crumble right before you, but his smile brightened the night as it always had, even now in your time of turmoil.
He’d rot away on the Black Pearl should he remain here, when his destiny lay greater than yours, greater than any old pirate on a quest to satisfy selfish desires. A frown kisses your lips.
“Where will you go, Will?”
His brows pull together this time in skepticism.
“In a year’s time, say we’re still here, sailing the Black Pearl. Where will you go then?”
You watch as his knuckles cushion his chin. He’s quiet, steadily exhaling through his nose as his eyes wander the deck.
“...I’d like to find my father.”
You lean closer, pushing him just slightly.
“And tomorrow? Say we hear news of your father right at dawn, just as the crew wakes up. Would you go, then?”
You realize then you wouldn’t want him to. The pain of his absence would be too great for your longing heart. You wished happiness for him, but would he stay if you asked him? Would you even be able to unleash that self-serving desire to him?
You speak faster than your pounding chest can keep up with.
“I-,”
“ You have far too much potential to be here with us when you could be making more progress out there. You should go. You should be with him, you deserve to know where he is, and what happened to him.”
Will nods. You make a fair point. The sorrow of his leave has begun to sink her claws into your blood, but maybe now's the time to mourn him before he inevitably vanishes from you forever.
“And what about you? Where will you go?”
You flinch, taken aback, the suddenness tethering you to the present moment. It renders you speechless for a minute. It wasn’t a year in the future, and tomorrow hadn’t yet broken the horizon. Will Turner was still here, right here on these steps, tonight. His inquiry brings him even closer to you, as if he too could feel the crave of your pulse, the pulse that quickened the longer you lived in his eyes.
“...I’ve nowhere to go.”
It’s revealed at last, and Will softens. You fixate on your knees, the tugging of fabric never faltering under your grip.
“...I’m afraid, Will. I’m afraid one day, the Black Pearl will fade, and so will everyone aboard, you included. I’m afraid of the day I’ll be stuck here while life carries on without me.”
You didn’t want him to go. You have him now, but how long until he disappears to the sea? Until you’re inevitably alone, sailing a ship with no crew, no family, no home.
“It’s incredibly selfish of me, when I want more than anything for you to find your father. I want you to go where the wind can take you, and still I…”
Will’s hand encases yours.
“I’m not going anywhere without you.”
He speaks your name like a god’s prayer, as if it was a sacred relic to be cherished and protected. Maybe you could pretend that’s how he felt about you. You squeeze his hand in return, but he continues.
“What happens in a year doesn’t matter now. You’re here, and I’m here. I’m here tonight, tomorrow, and more days to come.”
His open palm takes the side of your face to turn towards his, his body meeting yours.
He was even beautiful up close; his gaze could lull you into a hypnosis that matched the moon’s, and as his thumb soothed the skin of your cheek, you realized just how eagerly you were holding onto him.
You see blatantly how much he means to you. How dear his presence was in your heart, and how him being close to you awoke emotions you never wanted to forget. It feels foolish now to wonder about future events when he’s here before you, promising his commitment through the palm of his hand.
“I’m not leaving you.”
He catches your tears with both hands, embracing you ever so close to him, erasing any fragment of space that allows the wind to brisk your skin. His warmth flushed your body as more and more tears fled you, clinging onto his forearms like he’d vanish any second. When he parts, his forehead kisses yours, refusing to let you go just yet.
“Wherever you are, I’m with you. If you’ll have me, I’ll stay with you and protect you from ever worrying about me leaving you again.”
His body encircled yours in a safe caress, his arms tight around your torso. You rested your cheek against his collarbone as you sighed, breathing him in, holding onto whatever you could of him.
“I’m with you, Will.”
I’m with you.
