Modern!Edward Kenway Ch1

You woke groggy, the sunlight sharp against your eyes and the harsh bite of stale beer in the air. You couldn’t quite remember what happened last night. The most you remembered was meeting up with a guy at some bar down by the docks…

You rolled slowly over onto your side, fingers slushing through the tangles that were knotted in your hair. You swept your eyes up across the room, taking in the unfamiliar space. A studio apartment, perhaps? It was a loft of some kind with a living room and kitchen. You were resting on a bed that had seen better days, a thin blanket tossed over you somewhat sloppily.

A few feet away from you, near the living room couch, someone was standing with their back to you. He was decorated with tattoos, each one flexing under the movements of his muscles as he tugged his shirt over his head. He tossed the article onto the recliner, fingers reaching up to shake the coarse strands of his blonde hair before patting the pillow on the couch.

He wasn’t your date, you think, but then again… You couldn’t quite remember who it was you were meeting with last night. You stiffly and rather painfully sat up, the muscles in your neck coiling and sweat chilling across your skin. You rolled your eyes closed, fingertips pressed into their swollen tenderness. Had you drunk too much? That didn’t sound like you at all...

“You alright there, love?”

You snapped your eyes open just as he was walking across the small space. You noted the accent, thinking perhaps it was familiar… Those blue eyes though, the way the corner of his mouth quirked… “You're that bartender?”

He kneeled down in front of you, sloppy grin and raised brows. “Edward. Owner, more the like, but aye, the bartender. You remember what happened last night?”

Your brows drew painfully together, a dizziness that still clung sharply to your senses. “Uh, I went out for drinks with a guy… A friend set us up…” Heat swelled behind your eyes as you tried to remember the shaky and staggering walk through the bar and towards the stairs. Yes, you hadn’t been feeling well so you tried to find the bathroom and then…

He seemed to scoff a bit, annoyed suddenly, “Yeah, well, some friend... ‘cause your date tried to roofie your drink, love.”

You sucked down a breath. “Roofie!”

His hand gripped your knee, squeezing it tenderly but his words were bordering on humor, “Roofie, slip a Mickey, lace, dose… otherwise drug you and leave you senseless.” He grinned, tugging at your knee until you looked at him. “But you’re fine, love. A little rattled, I see, but you’re alright now.”

You darted a glance down at your hands, finding them clutching each other, knuckles paling the longer you clenched them. You remembered a bit of it, the stumbling on the stairs, Edward gathering you in his arms and asking if you were alright. Your date rounded the corner, trying to play it off as if you had too much to drink… Edward must have known, must have somehow sensed it because he didn’t let you go with him.

The other man even so boldly shouted “she’s my date” as if you were somehow his to claim. He seemed offended that another was getting in his way.

Someone heard the commotion and approached the stairs. He didn't even look all that surprised when he took in the situation. “Something the matter, Kenway?”

His grip around you tightened, words hard pressed, “Afraid not, Adé. Seems someone tried to use drugs here in our bar. Why don’t you show this man what happens to scoundrels like that at the Jackdaw?” After that you must have collapsed, fainted even. You couldn’t remember much after that. All of it had been so hazy.

“Thanks,” you mumbled, peeking a glance up at him.

He chuckled, something far too lighthearted and sweet. “Anytime… although preferably, I’d rather it not happen again. Least of all not to the same girl.” He got to his feet, a hand motioning towards the pillow. “Rest a bit longer. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“No, I shouldn’t.” You glanced over towards the windows. The curtains were drawn but you could see the morning sunlight slipping in. You hadn’t been fully honest with Edward about your date. It hadn’t been a romantic sort of liaison. A friend had set it up, someone you knew from a previous job, in hopes of finding you new work.

You got up quickly, your hand rubbing across your arms as if you were trying to clean away the events. “I should get home. I need a shower and…”

Edward reached out. His arm barred you from moving further away but he wasn’t forceful, only enough to get your attention. “You were drugged. You want to get home. You want to get somewhere you can feel safe. I get that, I really do, love, but right now… I don’t think it wise to drive with that drug in your system. And… it might do you good to report the bastard to the police.” He huffed a breath of air, fingers rushing up to smooth out the creases forming on his forehead. “Well… actually, about that, he might have… had a hard time of it last night.”

You analyzed the way he pushed his lips off to the side, the way he dared a quick look at your expression. You weren’t even sure what yours was. You couldn’t feel much of anything and your face… everything felt so hollow and strange.

“A few of those who work here… they don’t take kindly to people that hurt our customers.” He rolled his eyes out across the room. “If you catch my drift?”

You stated it, no fear or concern just plain blunt curiosity, “Is he hurt?”

Edward raised a shoulder. “Yeah.”

Your lips thinned. You weren’t upset, perhaps sickened because it finally hit you that someone had tried to hurt you, truly and brutally hurt you. You’d been in danger before but this… the idea of being raped and killed without being able to stop it, having no control last night and that left you vulnerable… If it hadn’t been for Edward and Adé, you might have been a nameless corpse in the morgue.

You gave a nod. “Okay.” You tossed your gaze over your shoulder to the bed, a messy one with covers tossed every which way. “I’ll stay if that's alright.”

“My place isn’t much.” He was grinning again. You didn’t have to look to know, his words held it. “A real mess, really, but I hadn’t exactly thought a girl was coming up. Well, I mean, girls do come up here but they’re usually not the…”

You looked at him, the nervous way his hand was raised at you as if he were pointing you out. You raised a brow. “They’re usually not what...”

“Well, they’re usually not the decent sort who care about the mess.” He tilted his head, chin angling in just the right light that it made him look almost charming. And he was charming, sweet in a way, if not rough around the edges. The tattoos along his chest and arms demanded attention, the taut muscles even more, but you kept your eyes from wandering.

“Maybe I like the mess.” You failed to press your smirk away when you waltzed over to the bed. “I’m sure you’re tired. Worked at the bar all night, I take it?”

“At the bar, aye.” Edward gave a resound sigh, one that told he was more than ready to crash on the couch. “Adé usually handles the books and finances. James, on occasions, when he stops by.” You heard the couch creak under his weight, the groan that sounded from low in his throat.

You settled on the bed, curled up on your side and daring to sweep your gaze over towards couch. You couldn’t see Edward’s face, only the mussed strands of his hair, the deep tan of his skin. A sailor, you think, noting the anchor and the ship’s wheel. There may have been a ship on his chest but you were too nervous to really look at it.

You gathered enough courage to finally ask, “Do you have a ship?” But he didn’t reply. Your ears strained to listen to the soft hushed sounds of his breathing. You whispered curiously, “Edward?” And smiled when you realized he’d fallen into a hard sleep. After a long night and the strange event, he must have been truly exhausted.

You drew in your bottom lip, sinking teeth into it to keep from crying. How did your life get this way? How could you let yourself go down a path so dark that you ended up in some bar down by the docks and in the debt of a stranger? You’d pay him back somehow. Because if Edward had wanted to, he could have done horrible things last night. Instead he’d… rescued you.