Both Mary Ann and Ginger were surprised at the Professor's behavior.
"Is that what he did this morning?" Ginger wanted to know.
"That's exactly what happened. Oh Ginger, go get the Skipper and ask him to go after the Professor. Tell him to bring him back here."
Ginger didn't have to be told twice. She exited the hut and saw the Skipper hurrying off. She called after him.
He looked over his shoulder long enough to answer, "I'm already on top if it, Ginger. I"ll get him."
xXxXx
The Skipper had no intention of letting the Professor get away with his behavior. Nervous or not, there was no excuse for walking out like that.
I never thought I'd see the day where I'd have to hit the Professor over the head instead of Gilligan.
He followed the Professor to the lagoon, where the younger man was alternating between skipping stones and drawing circles in the sand with his toe.
xXxXx
He was just about to toss another stone into the water when he felt a hand close around his wrist. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that the Skipper was attached to that hand.
"Leave me alone, Skipper. I don't really feel like company right now."
"I'm not here to keep you company. I'm taking you back to camp so you can keep Mary Ann company."
"I can't do that, not after the way I walked out on her today."
"You can and you will, even if I have to carry you over my shoulder. I know you've embarrassed yourself by lousing up the whole flowers routine, but you walked out on Mary Ann twice, and she's gotta be wondering why. Now I'm pulling rank, Professor. Get back to camp and tell Mary Ann the truth, and that's an order."
It wasn't often that the Professor found himself speechless, but this was one time he couldn't find a thing to say or do except to drop his handful of rocks and walk back to camp like a dog with his tail between his legs.
xXxXx
Mary Ann was doing her best not to cry, though she wasn't sure why she wanted to. Part of her felt so sorry for the Professor. For the first time, she'd seen how nervous he could be around her, and however attractive she found shyness to be, he clearly wasn't comfortable with it.
She also felt bad for having to send the Skipper after the Professor. Mary Ann had always been a do-it-yourself kind of girl, and she wanted to go after the Professor herself. If it hadn't been for her ankle…
But mostly she felt sorry for herself. She had no idea what she was going to tell the Professor when he came back. He'd be here any minute, and she didn't know what to say.
What was it Ginger called it? A Mary Ann way of telling him? What's the best way I can do that?
Baking him a pie was out of the question, which was a shame since she was so good at it. Mary Ann looked around t he room in search of an answer, and her eyes finally fell on her notepad. It was still open to the picture of the Professor she'd drawn.
Maybe that's it. "Hey Ginger, I need you to do something for me."
xXxXx
The Professor took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his nerves, but it didn't help. He reached a slightly-jittery hand up and knocked on the doorframe.
When Ginger opened the door and handed him his bouquet of flowers, any confidence he might have had started to leave. Then he saw Ginger smile as she whispered, "Here, you get a do-over."
He raised an amused, if not somewhat befuddled, eyebrow as the redhead let him in and announced, "Mary Ann, you have company."
xXxXx
Mary Ann smiled at the Professor, hoping that the knitting project-covered flowers from Gilligan didn't look too obvious.
"Hi, Professor. Oh, you brought flowers. Are they for me?"
xXxXx
The Professor smiled as he realized that when Ginger said "do-over," she actually meant it. Gilligan's flowers were nowhere to be seen—though it looked they may have been hiding under Mary Ann's knitting project—and both girls were looking at him as if he hadn't been here just ten minutes before.
"Yes, they are for you. There's nothing medicinal about them, though; after all, they're just common wildflowers."
Stop it, Hinkley. You didn't come back to give her another science lesson.
"I don't think they're common," Mary Ann commented. "I think they're lovely."
Before he could talk himself out of it, the Professor said, "Not as lovely as you."
xXxXx
Mary Ann was so unsure that she'd heard him right that she wasn't even aware of Ginger leaving the room. Her mind went back to what Ginger had said earlier about the Professor being in love with her. Mary Ann hadn't had any reason to doubt her roommate, but she definitely believed her now. It had been a simple compliment, but the Professor had all but admitted his feelings for her.
"Professor," she started to say, but he cut her off.
"Mary Ann, please let me finish before I completely lose my confidence. I've been wanting to tell you for quite some time now, but everytime I would try, my mind would override my emotions, and I would start reciting scientific facts instead. Perhaps subconsciously I was trying to impress you, but I found it frustrating to be talking of how to get fresh water from salt water when all I wanted was to tell you that…"
xXxXx
Here was where his voice trailed off, and his courage faltered. The Professor had been pacing back and forth across the tiny hut, but the moment he looked at Mary Ann, he started to lose his nerve.
He cleared his throat and hastened to finish. "All I wanted was to tell you that I care for you…very much, actually."
xXxXx
Mary Ann saw a hint of red creep into the Professor's face, and suddenly she was aware that she was blushing too. She was quiet for a moment as she tried to organize her thoughts. Like the Professor, she had so much to say, but had no idea where to begin. So she simply held out her notepad, picture-side down, and told the Professor to flip it over.
xXxXx
He accepted the notepad and did as the brunette asked. The image Mary Ann had drawn of him caused his blush to deepen; it was an amazing likeness. Then, as he became of aware of the heart surrounding it, he realized what she was trying to tell him.
The Professor looked at Mary Ann, and once again found himself unsure of what to say. So he offered her a shy smile.
xXxXx
Ginger and the Skipper stood outside the window and eavesdropped on the young couple. As they watched the Professor make himself comfortable across from Mary Ann on Ginger's bed, the pair of snoopers shook hands in silent congratulations on a job well done.
xXxXx
Mary Ann held close her flowers from the Professor as they made shy attempts at small talk. While she was completely unaware of the matchmakers standing outside, one thing Mary Ann did realize was that had it not been for that three-hour tour, she never would have met the Professor.
And even though being marooned is exactly ideal, just being with him makes it paradise.