A/N: Thank you CraftyTink529,xoxLiveLifexox, Miss Magic 101, jcwwefanatic, Animal Luvr 4 Life and nikki1335 for reviewing the last chapter, you guys are great.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter... I think this is probably my favourite of this story so far. Don't forget to leave me feedback.


Chapter 9 – Water

"You're in a good mood this morning," Julie chuckled lightly, her head shaking back and forth as we washed out some of our clothes in the ocean.

"I am?" I asked, a beaming smile placed on my features, "I guess that I am... I hadn't really noticed."

"Hmm," The dark haired woman eyed me suspiciously, "Does this have anything to do with a certain hunk of a man?"

I glared back at my friend playfully. The truth was, I was in a much better mood now because of John... but it was mainly because I'd finally managed to get a decent conversation out of him. Yesterday, after thinking he'd turned me down again, he surprised me when he changed his mind and came on the walk with me. As we explored the island a little further, and ended up getting lost for an hour after all, we had a rather interesting conversation. It was mainly about the other people on the island with us, filling each other in on the gossip we knew, but it was fun.

Neither of us bought up the subject of his girlfriend, but I was going to wait until he was ready to talk about it again. That's if he ever would be, because I didn't know if he was going to go back to being the same old John again, the one that didn't even want to know what I had to say...

"I don't know, Julie," I shrugged lightly, "I guess I'm just happy that I finally got to talk to him, you know? Not to mention that he seems to be taking better care of himself now."

"Hmm, are you sure that's it?" She asked, watching me from the corner of her eye as she rinsed out a purple t-shirt.

"What kind of girl do you take me for?" I asked, glaring again, "I'm not stupid, Jewels, I know that John and I can only ever be friends, and that's okay. Anyway, I don't even know if he wants that much, maybe he was just bored, he'll probably hardly speak to me again now..."

"Right, I'm sure he'll never want to speak to you again," She rolled her eyes, "That's why he's on his way over here right now."

"He is?" I asked, my eyes growing wide.

As I span around to look for him, I jumped, not realising how close he was going to be.

"John, oh, err, hi," I smiled up at him brightly, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

I smiled to myself as I watched him do this... it seemed to be a habit of his, and I didn't realise until I started to blush that I found it extremely cute.

"Good, that's good," I nodded, answering quickly to forget my thoughts, "So, umm, is there something that you wanted?"

"Actually, I was, err, wondering if you'd like to go on another walk or something?"

"I, oh..." I stuttered, turning to look at Julie.

As much as I wanted to go with John, I needed to finish up here, I couldn't leave her to clean my own clothes for me. But as I turned to her, she grinned at me, sending me an almost non existent wink.

"You go, I'll do this," She smiled.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," She nodded at the pair of us.

"I owe you big time," I mumbled as I gave her a quick hug.

Once I had said goodbye, I followed John up towards my tent, so I could put on more suitable clothes for a trek.

"So, did you enjoy yesterday that much that you had to come back for more?" I joked as I pulled on my trainers.

"Actually, I did," He smiled lightly, resting as best he could on the side of my shelter, "I don't know about you, and I'm sorry if I'm bothering you... but you're about the only person who I can really speak to at the minute. Don't get me wrong, most of the other guys are nice, but..." He stopped for a moment, tilting his head to the side as he watched me stand up, "I'm not sure, it's just... the pain doesn't seem so bad when I'm with you, somehow you always seem to find a way to make it easier," He shrugged, his voice barely above a whisper as his eyes found the floor.

While John wasn't looked, I placed my head in my hands for a few moments and let out a deep, shaky breath. Oh dear. John basically telling me that he wanted to spend more time with me really wasn't going to help. He'd just lost the love of his life, for crying out loud, he had a totally different reason for wanting to spend time with me than I did him... no matter how cute I found him, how much I wanted to get to know him more, it didn't matter. I couldn't listen to my stupid little feelings telling me that I could possibly like him. I had to get him feeling better first.

"Well John," I began, putting on a smile and walking slightly closer to him, "You don't need to worry about bothering me, because apart from Julie, you're about the only person who seems interesting enough to spend time with," I grinned playfully, "And just so you know, whenever, and I mean whenever, you need to talk about your girlfriend, or anything for that matter, well I'm here for you," I smiled, placing my hand ever so lightly on his forearm.

"Thanks, Crystal," He nodded, his topaz eyes finally looking up into my own, "That means a lot."

I simply gave him a quick smile, not really wanting our conversation to get any more intimate. Of course, eventually John was going to want to speak to me about his girlfriend again, but from the way he struggled to even mention her, it didn't seem like it would be any time soon. At least I'd have time to prepare myself before things started to get more personal.

"So, where do you want to go today? Are we just wandering again?"

"Actually," He grinned slightly, the dimples on his cheeks hitting me full force, "When I was on my own for the first few days, I found this place...well, I think you might like it. That's if I can find my way back," He laughed lightly.

"Hmm, okay, sounds good," I nodded with a chuckle, "Lead the way."


"John, are we lost again?" I groaned, wiping my forehead for what seemed like the one hundredth time.

It was about an hour into our walk, and I was already about to collapse. Despite the fact that my concussion was nearly gone, I still felt dizzy from time to time, and with the mid-day sun beaming down on us, I really wasn't feeling too great. All that I wanted right now was a nice, cold, shower... god how I missed water...

"No, we're pretty much there," He stopped in his tracks, turning around to smile at me, "Do you hear that?" He asked, holding his hand up near his ear.

I stopped beside him, wondering exactly what I was supposed to be hearing. As my ears began to adjust to the surroundings, my breath caught in my throat as I heard a sound which I hadn't heard in what seemed like forever. A noise that made me think I must have been in heaven.

"W...water?" I stuttered, my eyes wide.

"Yeah," John laughed, "There's a place where a waterfall ends just through here," He pointed, yet again starting to walk, "It's like a little pool. It's beautiful."

Eager to reach the most beautiful noise I had ever heard, I quickened my pace to keep up with the much larger man. As I reached his side, I noticed that a small smirk was placed on his features as he looked my way. I noticed that his mouth was open, ready to start a sentence, but before anything could leave his mouth, we came out into a clearing, into one of the most breathtaking things I had seen.

I stood in awe as I looked at the large waterfall, a football pitches length away from us. As the sun shone down on the falling water, rainbows of light reflected from it, hitting the trees around the clearing with hundreds of different colours. In the middle of the clearing stood a large pool of water... cold, clean, heavenly water.

"John, my god... John..." I looked at him, my eyes wide, "Thank you so much," I grinned.

"I thought you'd like it," He smiled down at me, "So, umm, are we just gonna stand here all day, or are we gonna go swimming?"

I grinned up at him brightly before kicking off my shoes and pulling off my t-shirt to reveal my bikini top underneath. There was no way I was going to pass that offer.

"Last one in has to wash the others clothes for a week," I squealed, already running towards the water.

Just as I was about to launch myself into the pool, I felt a large, strong pair of arms wrap around my waist and spin me around, so that I was now facing the way that we had just come from. The few seconds which it took for my head to stop spinning, where a few seconds too many. As I span back around, I spotted John already standing waist deep in the water, his muscular top half bare, a triumphant grin placed on his features.

"Hey, that's not fair," I pouted, resting my hands on my hips, my eyes trying hard to concentrate on anything but his gorgeous body.

"A deals a deal," John smirked, "When do you want my clothes?"

"Haha," I scowled playfully, but couldn't hold onto my fake annoyance for long, as once I stepped foot into the water, I was so much happier than I had been in a long time.


"So, umm... you're American, right? Where abouts are you from?" John asked, rubbing his hands through his wet hair as we made our way back towards camp.

"Boston, you?" I asked, ringing out my own hair.

"Boston, Mass?" He asked, his eyes growing wide, "I'm from West Newbury."

"Seriously?" I grinned, "That's a little crazy," I chuckled.

"Yeah, a little," John smiled back, "So um, you're family is back there? And your, umm, boyfriend?"

I looked up as John mentioned my boyfriend, and couldn't help let a smile grow on my features as he was yet again rubbing his neck awkwardly. It made me slightly pleased that, although I knew I couldn't do anything about it for a long, long time, my non existent boyfriend made John awkward.

"Yeah, I was born and raised there, and to be honest with you, I've never even thought of leaving," I shook my head, "As for the boyfriend, there isn't one."

"Really?" He asked, raising his eyebrows lightly as we finally walked out into the wide, familiar open space of the beach.

"Yeah," I shrugged, "Just haven't found the right guy yet, you know?"

"Hmm, pretty girl like you, I'd have thought guys would be lining up to date you," He smiled slightly.

"I, err..." I stuttered, trying to forget the fact that John had just called me pretty, making another group of caterpillars burst into butterflies in my stomach, "I guess not," I shrugged again.

With another small smile, John stopped in his tracks, looking around the beach. The sun was beginning to set, I hadn't realised that we'd been gone for so long.

People were hurrying around with their last minute chores before the campfire would start. It was tradition now, each night we would sit around a fire and socialise. It was the next best thing to television.

"So, err, I'll see you in a few?" I asked, pointing over to the fire, which people were already starting to make.

"Of course," He nodded with a smirk, "Besides, I've gotta bring you my washing."

I rolled my eyes at him playfully, making him laugh slightly. With another goodbye and a small wave, he finally turned from me, making his way back towards his shelter.

As much as I wanted to continue watching him walk away, I made myself turn around, telling my legs to take me to my own tent. I let out a deep, shaky breath as I reached it and grabbed for a clean towel, no thanks to Julie. I really did owe her one now. As I rubbed my hair as dry as I possibly could, I thought about the day that John and I had just had. A smile spread across my face as I realised how well it had gone. It seemed that I was finally managing to help him. He seemed happier in so many ways. Even, if in the process, I might end up hurting myself... it would be worth it, because he would be okay again.