So, Harper's Island is my current obsession and I grew fond of Shane after he died (I know, weird.) Here's this little one-shot. I own nothing (although I wish I did) except for Zoe. Enjoy it and review. It's not that hard.
When Zoe Mance went down to the Marina in search of her brother, she wasn't paying much attention to where she was going. Her gaze was quite focused on the wood beneath her feet. If it weren't for the fact she'd spent so much time there growing up, she might have walked right off the edge. That, and the fact that she bumped into her brother's best friend, literally. Walking right into Shane's broad frame was enough to pull her out of her thoughts and make her actually look up from the ground. Her greeting was a teasing smile.
"You know if you don't watch where you're going you'll end up swimming with the catch of the day," Shane said to her, trying to sound serious despite the playful look on his face.
"Hey Shane," Zoe said with a roll of her eyes. As she followed him over to the boat he and her brother worked on, she asked, "Is Jimmy around?"
"Nope," he replied, stepping onto the boat. "He's helping Julia run some errands in town, I think. What you need?"
"It's nothing. I just need to talk to him about staying with him for a while until I can find my own place," she told him, nonchalantly. She stepped onto the boat and slid down on one of the few clean seats.
Shane looked at her curiously as he worked around the boat. She wasn't sure what he was doing but then again she'd never known much about boats. "I thought you were living at the Crescent Complex with what's his face."
"Adam," she corrected, not that it mattered. Shane and Jimmy never referred to any of her boyfriends by their actual names. It was their weird way of saying they didn't approve or like the guys. "And we're not living together anymore."
That was when Shane got the protective look in his eyes. "Whatever that douche bag did, I'm gonna kick his ass!"
"Shane-"
"You know, I never liked him. I remember how he was in high school. He was a douche bag back then too."
Zoe let out a sigh of frustration. She knew she shouldn't have told him anything. He always reacted like this. It was part of the raging temper he had at times. Ever since they were kids, he'd been so overprotective like an older brother. It made her want to beat him senseless sometimes. "Shane! Stop it. You're not going to go and beat him up, okay?"
"Tell me what the douche bag did and I'll consider it," he said, folding his arms over his chest as he stepped in front of her. This was the side of Shane that aggravated her.
"Shane-"
"Zoe. Tell me."
"He cheated on me, okay. Has been for almost two months with Gina Campbell. I caught them, hooking up a couple days ago after I got home from work." Zoe dropped her gaze from Shane's to look at her black, worn out Chuck Taylor's. She waited for him to start ranting again about what he wanted to do to Adam but he didn't. Instead, he slid down into the seat next to hers and put an arm around her shoulder.
This was a side of Shane she'd only seen once before. She'd broken her arm when she was ten after falling out of a tree that she'd been climbing in her backyard. Jimmy had run down the street to where their mom worked to get help, leaving Shane to comfort her. He'd dropped his tough guy persona and did everything he could to stop her crying. He said it was because he didn't like watching girls cry but she always thought it might have been that he was worried about her. Jimmy hadn't believed it when she told him and she decided not to bring it up again. After that Shane always stuck to his "hit first, ask questions later" philosophy.
Zoe couldn't help but lean into his shoulder as she sat there. The two of them sat quietly for a while. Shane had never been skilled with words when it came to more serious matters. She fiddled with the little silver bracelet around her wrist before asking, "You're still going to kick his ass, aren't you?"
"Most likely," Shane answered simply.
That made her laugh a bit, the first time in a few days. She lightly hit his chest despite the smile on her face. He simply gave her arm a soft squeeze and briefly kissed the crown of her head. This was the side of Shane she loved.
Wait. "Loved"? No, that's wrong.
Zoe found herself blushing a bit as she thought things over. She'd never used the words "love" and "Shane" in the same sentence unless she was talking about his eating habits or taste in women. She'd known him for years. He'd been Jimmy's best friend for as long as she could remember. She learned that growing up on a small island meant sticking with the same little group of people. He'd always acted like a second big brother especially when Jimmy wasn't around. She'd never really considered him as anything else until now.
Shane was as handsome as any other guy on the island, if not more. He had dark hair that he kept short unlike Jimmy, whose hair always fell in his eyes when he didn't have on his stupid hat. He had nice brown eyes that usually had a sly look to them and a fair complexion that was common in that area of the country. He had built up quite a bit of muscle on his tall frame from working at the Marina. He'd even managed to stay in shape despite his reugular visits to The Cannery. He did smell like fish sometimes but considering that most of the guys her age on the island worked with fish in some way she was used to that.
"Zo?"
Shane's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. Zoe looked up at him. Even when they were sitting he was taller than her. He was looking at her with concern in his eyes, a foreign thing to see.
"You gonna be okay?"
"Yeah," she told him with a small smile.
Shane smiled back and stood up, saying, "Good." He disappeared into the wheelhouse and she heard him moving stuff around. When he came back out, he had a baseball bat in his hands.
"So where does the douche bag work?"
Zoe smiled. She was starting to like this side of Shane.