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It was early noon when Ed started heading home after a long morning of fishing and checking out the market for a few things that Stede asked him to get on his way back, sending him off with a small list and a kiss goodbye when he left. Now he was heading up the trail to their Inn with a bunch of fish draped over one shoulder and a bag of the listed items over the other, humming an old but catchy shanty he had picked up on his younger days at sea.
 
The former pirate slowly walked up the trail, ignoring the twinge of pain in his bad knee as he climbed up the hill where the Inn stood, mentally kicking himself for forgetting his leg brace before leaving. He never had a problem leaving the Inn since it was all downhill, but going back up always gave his knee problems. However, he wasn't too worried about his knee since he could finally see the Inn, knowing it wouldn't be too long until he was inside, probably being fussed over by Stede when he found out his error of leaving his brace behind. The gentleman was probably waiting for him now, ready to scold him as soon as he walked through the door, noticing his brace still perched up on the side of their shared bed where Ed left it.
 
Ed drew nearer to the Inn now passing their garden, almost making it home. However, when he heard a crashing sound he came to a halt, ceasing his humming as the small smile on his face fell. He remained quiet for a second his eyes wide when the crashing continued, his blood running cold when he heard yelling.
 
"Stede?" He whispered, knowing that Stede was alone since their only customer left that morning. Another crash made his heart beat faster, already fearing the worst as he dropped both the bag of items and the fish.
 
"Stede!" he snapped, reaching for the dagger that he kept on him always in case of an attack going to run toward the Inn, however to his horror, a sharp pain shot through his knee and up his leg causing him to fall to his good knee clutching his bad one. "Fuck!" He grits out, not realizing how bad his knee was acting today until now. But that was the last thing on his mind as he forced himself up, fighting through the pain as he began to limp hastily toward the Inn, clutching his dagger tightly.
 
"Stede!" He called out, limping faster when he heard a scream. "Hold on babe!  I'm coming! I'm-!"
 
Ed came to a stop when he heard the front door barge open, pausing when he saw a man crash through the door and fall onto his back on their porch, almost like he had been kicked right into their door, sending him flying out of the Inn. From what Ed could see, the man looked like he had been through the ringer. His brown shirt was slashed to bits, and his skin was covered in cuts and bruises like he had been beaten up and slashed at. Ed opened his mouth to speak but before he could utter a word he heard heavy footsteps coming from inside the Inn and getting louder and louder. He then watched as the man's head shot up in fear, making it to his hands and knees, trembling as he tried to crawl away, seeming like he was too afraid to properly stand. Ed's eyes widened when he noticed that the growing stomping of heavy boots was none other than Stede who walked out of the Inn. Ed could only stare at his lover in shock, his agape mouth quickly shutting at the state Stede was in.
 
Ed watched as Stede stopped as soon as he made it out of the door, noticing that he didn't have a scratch on him, clutching his sword that he had insisted on holding onto that day, telling Ed that he had a weird feeling all day and felt that he should hold onto the weapon for the time being until the feeling left him.
 
"Just a precaution, dear," Ed remembered Stede saying that morning before he left. "I can't shake the odd feeling and this makes me feel a little safer."
 
Ed was glad that Stede's intuition rang true, otherwise if Stede didn't have his sword, he might have not had the upper hand. But the upper hand did he have, clutching the weapon tightly, his eyes scanning the area for the offending and frightened man that he had kicked out. The former pirate watched as he locked eyes with him for a second, the look of fury in the blond's eyes was making Ed feel a type of way that he wanted to explore more with him later that night in their bedroom, but right now all he could do is watch as Stede turned toward the noise of frightened whimpering.
 
Stede's head snapped toward the steps, watching as the frightened intruder tried to crawl away, making it toward the top porch steps. The blonde let out a growl holding up his sword as he stormed after the man, his boots stomping so hard on the porch that Ed feared the old wood would break.
 
The man turned his head toward the stomping his eyes growing wide when he saw Stede coming right at him, shaking his head in fear as he stammered out. "Wait, Please! I'm sorry! I-!"
 
Stede ignored his pleading as he kicked the man right in the side, sending him falling back and rolling off of every porch step, hitting the dirt with a loud thud, and landing on his back.
 
Ed stood there in stunned silence, his eyes wide with shock as he watched the man groan in pain, slowly lifting his head, but the man paused his eyes wide as he stared ahead. He followed his gaze watching as Stede walked down the steps toward the man who was now crawling back trying to escape Stede's rath but to no avail as the blonde reached down and snatched the front of the man's shirt pulling him forward.
 
"If you ever darken our doorstep again," Stede began with a growl, placing the sharp end of his blade against the man's neck forcing the man to lift his head to avoid the blade, whimpering when he felt the cold metal press between his neck and chin. "I won't stop from slicing you into bits next time... But lucky for you, I'm the gentleman pirate, and I'm generous to let you leave but I won't be so if I ever see you here again... Understand?"
 
"Y-Yes sir, I-I won't come back!" The man blubbered, trying to back away from the blade, looking into Stede's eyes. "I swear!"
 
"Wonderful," Stede whispered as he pulled the blade back before yanking the man forward leaning forward as he glared daggers into the man's frightened eyes. "Now get the fuck out of here, you're banned from our Inn!"
 
Ed could only watch as Stede shoved the man into the ground when he let him go, causing the man to yelp. His eyes were still full of shock and unable to speak as he watched the man scramble to his feet, and begin to run away from the Inn and away from Stede in fear. He did move out of the way as the man ran toward him. Luckily the man was too scared and just ignored Ed as he passed. The former pirate watched as he ran down the hill falling a couple of times before he ran out of his view. Once he was gone Ed turned back to Stede, his breath leaving him at the steely look in the blonde's eyes as he also watched the man run, sheathing his sword with a huff. However, Ed's breath hitched when Stede's eyes fell on him and miraculously the steel look in his eyes softened as a look of distraught formed in his features.
 
"Ed!" he exclaimed as he ran to him.
 
Shaking himself out of his stupor, Ed limped toward Stede, ignoring the pain in his knee once more as his worry grew. He made it halfway toward the Inn when he collided with Stede, feeling him pull him into a tight hug. The former pirate just held Stede tightly, taking note of his lover's trembling shoulders.
 
"I heard crashing and yelling when I was walking up the trail," Ed whispered, holding the back of Stede's head, his golden curls seeping between his fingers. "I feared the worst."
 
"Oh, Ed!" Stede began, his voice cracking and sounding so distraught. "It was awful!"
 
Ed's worry only grew at that, never hearing Stede sound so distraught in his life. He pulled away from the embrace, beginning to look Stede over for any wounds or signs of inflicted pain. So far, Stede looked physically fine, but he was clearly in distress, tears beginning to form in the brim of his eyes as he looked at Ed with pain in his features. What did he do to him?