Ship wreck, ship wreck, ship wreck, ship wreck, Eva chanted in her head. She'd never seen a ship wreck before. What if there was treasure? Or skeletons? Oh, she was excited. She ran out to the pool house and began to rummage for a snorkel. She found a light blue pair that seemed to fit and popped them on her face. Perfect, now the fins. Eventually, she dug out a matching pair that were close enough and walked over to her chair to deposit her belongings. Off came her white t-shirt and off went the sunglasses. Darcy gave her a look from above the paper. How nice of him to follow her out and critique her.

"You wanna come?" she asked.

"No."

"Suit yourself," she said, turning towards the water.

"Where are you going?"

"Ship wreck."

"You don't even know where it is?"

"I'll find it. It's like ten thirty, I've got plenty of time."

"I don't feel comfortable letting you go by yourself."

"I'm twenty four. No. I'm twenty five, Darcy. I'm not a child." He scoffed. Bastard.

"It's really only worth going if you take a scuba tank."

"Sorry I don't match up to your list of necessary characteristics, but I can't scuba."

"Then at least let me take you out there. You'll never find it by yourself." She groaned.

"How long do you intend to take?"

"Seconds," he said, standing up. And, there went the shirt. Couldn't he at least make it easier and have some hideous deformity or something? Then again, she'd always found Erik cuter than Raoul, so…

She watched him kick off his shoes and walk to the boathouse. He came out thirty seconds later holding a snorkel of his own.

"I thought it wasn't worth going without a tank."

"Perhaps I've been quick to judge." Of course you have, asshole.

"So, what now?"

"Dingy. It's docked out front."

"Can I drive?"

"No."

"Ass." He ignored her and walked around the house. Eva insisted upon beating him and ran ahead, nearly tripping down the dock. She jumped into the dingy.

"Sit on the other side, nearer the back," he said, jumping in behind her and starting the motor.

"Why the back?"

"Better weight distribution. You go faster," he said, untying the lines and steering the boat away from the dock.

"You don't strike me as such an irresponsible driver."

"There's a lot you don't know about me," he said. And much I don't care to, Eva added to herself.

The rest of the rather quick trip passed in silence, Eva closing her eyes and letting the salt spray coat her lips. She felt the boat slow and wobble as Darcy stood, leaning over to tie the boat to the thoughtfully placed mooring ball. She tried not to look at his arms as he tied the knot. She snapped the mask over her eyes, blinking furiously at the bit of salt stuck under her lids. Darcy stuck his own mask on and jumped out of the boat. Well, here went nothing, she thought. With that, she flung herself into the water. It was warm and salty and excellent and—holy shit. Rather, holy ship.

The ribs of an old shipping vessel pricked up towards the surface, covered with moss and surrounded by fish. Filigrees of light shone down through the water, sparkling into the depths. Eva was mesmerized, and just floated around, letting the waves sweep her to and fro.

She inhaled and exhaled, mind whirring as she created stories for the wreck below her. About a hundred yards away, she saw the juts of rock most likely responsible for the ship's demise. She'd never have seen them from the surface. The remains could easily have been there for decades, possibly a century. It had been a storm, she decided. High winds, low visibility. Most had perished in the wreck, the rest had found shelter on an island and rowed to safety, but they'd lost their friends, perhaps their families. Maybe they were escaping. Maybe they were refugees. Everything they had was on this boat, and now it was gone. Now their families were gone. They were tortured by it. Perhaps he'd forgotten it was his turn in the crows nest, perhaps he'd drawn the maps wrong. Perhaps they were all drunk as hell. He'd survived, but he'd lost his brother. His father was dead. What was he going to tell his mum?

No, sad. That's sad, she thought. She went to wipe a tear from her eye, but found her mask in the way. She poked her head above the water and struggled her way back to the dingy, hauling herself in and pulling her fins from her feet. Darcy hoisted himself up a few minutes later. He looked at her with an eyebrow raised, and she cocked her head. They made their way wordlessly back to the house.

Eva stepped of the dingy with a shake in her step, wobbling towards the house. She felt a hand grab her wrist.

"You ok?" she heard him say. His voice glided over her wounds, numbing her, caressing her. When had he developed that power over her? She shook his hand from her arm.

"Fine," she said stalking to the pool house, dropping off her snorkel. She was still sort of wet, and scrounged around the pool deck for a towel.

"They're the pool house."

"Why are you here?" she asked him. He looked at her quizzically. "I mean it. Why are you always here?"

"Charlie's a friend of mine."

"So you lend him your plane? Waste your weeks tolerating me for him? Why are you here?"

"If you're attempting to amuse yourself with the intricacies of my psyche, you really needn't bother."

"Yes, because everything I do is for my amusement. I dearly love to laugh," she said, throwing up her arms. "Not you, Darcy. You are not to laugh at."

"You have given me more credit than I deserve."

"I wouldn't disagree."

"From where does this conversation spring?"

"I am not a child. I do not need you to be nice to me, to cling to me at all times and tell me where things are and exist every fricking time I turn around. I do not need to be coddled by someone such as you."

"Such as me."

"As perfect, as faultless as Sir Darcy."

"Your judgment is certainly poor if it has led you to that conclusion."

"You, lecturing me on judgment?"

"I'm not going to have this conversation with you, you're acting as a child" he said, turning away. "Eva, please don't torture yourself. It's not worth it." He walked into the house. She kept herself from screaming and flopped into the pool. Her hair spread out, halo-like around her. She closed her eyes and floated. The water lapped at her cheeks.

Darcy stormed up the stairs. No, he wouldn't get angry with her. He couldn't get angry with her. She was introducing feeling into him, and he couldn't stand that. From now on, he wouldn't do it. He couldn't. He would sit and work, and the next twelve days would be a piece of cake.

He kicked off his shoes as he entered his room, changing into a pair of dry shorts and toweling off his hair. It stuck up in angles. He looked at himself in the mirror, poking at the skin under his eyes. He hadn't been sleeping much, and the dark spots were starting to show. He disregarded them and walked outside to his deck, leaning against the balcony. Of course she was there. She was always there. He groaned and flopped onto his chair

The next four days went quickly. Jo grew sicker, Charlie clinging to her bedside. Eva and Darcy said little to each other. Five days after they had landed, Eva was overcome with the desire to do something, go for a bike ride, anything. But she felt awful asking for anything from Charlie, so she stayed silent and read by the pool side, refusing to make eye contact with Him. She rarely even referred to Him by name anymore. On the fifth day, a visiting doctor decided that Jo was in need of medication. He had phoned in the request to a pharmacy back on the big island but couldn't deliver it himself. Eva jumped at the opportunity to go pick it up, though she was promptly reminded of the few miles of water in between her and the prescription. Darcy had offered to drive and, considering her previous enthusiasm, she felt more than slightly awkward at the prospect of bowing out. She figured she might as well, considering how stir-crazy she was getting, and went to dress herself.

She figured, for Jo, she might as well wear one of her new dresses. But then maybe He would get the wrong idea. Well, what wrong idea? And why did she care about what He thought? He was just a tight-ass who couldn't pull the stick out if he tried. She tossed her hair up in a messy bun, thought better of it, and let it hand loose. She swiped on the tiniest trace of eyeliner and grabbed a pair of sandals, though she hated to. She hated shoes and avoided them whenever possible.

She met Darcy in the foyer. Why did he always stare at her like that? Probably to reassure her of her inanity. At least it worked.

"You ready?" he asked.

She nodded and slipped her sandals on. He opened the door for her and followed her out to the big boat. God, that really was a gorgeous thing. About thirty two feet, she guessed, and royal blue with white leather. Say what you want about new-ish money, but damn, Charlie had style. She climbed aboard and sat near the bow, putting on her sunglasses. The boat roared to life and Darcy threw the lines back onto the dock, piloting out into the water. The trip seemed longer this time, but Eva relished in every moment. The sun was hot on her legs and the sea spray was cool on her face. She could have fallen asleep had she not picked the more rickety bit of the boat to sit in, but she mustered through without admitting her mistake. It was comfortable enough, and at least she could wear a dress without tights and six sweaters.

They eventually made it to Tortola. Darcy parked the boat and stepped off, waiting for Eva to get her bearings as she regained contact with dry land. She began to walk ahead of him, realized she had no idea where she was going, and stopped. He walked ahead of her, leading the way to the pharmacy. He went in to retrieve the medication, then came out empty handed. She looked at him blankly.

"Are you really not going to talk to me for the rest of the trip?" he asked. She sighed.

"I was attempting."

"What happened to getting along for Jo and Charlie's sake?"

"I thought better of it."

"But you still came?"

"Out of tender consideration for my poor friend's feelings."

"And to think you were going stir crazy with nothing to do." Not that that had to do with him or anything.

"I resent the implication."

"I see. Well, since we're here, anything you'd care to do? Johanna's medication shouldn't be ready an hour, so we have a touch of time to kill. A bit of light shopping, bike ride, spelunking?"

"Do they actually have spelunking here?"

"I wasn't seri—"

"I wanna go spelunking. Let's go spelunking."

"I don't think we actually have time for spelunking. I don't even know what spelunking is."

"The Great Darcy doesn't know what spelunking is? Inform the papers, call a press conference."

"Do you know what spelunking is?"

"That's unimportant. I want to go spelunking."

"You're not even dressed for it."

"You said you didn't know what it was!"

"Tell you what. Indulge me. Spend the next hour in a bookstore, grab a coffee, and amuse yourself. I need to run a few errands anyway. I'll come get you and take you back to Netherfield. We'll check on Jo and make sure she's doing all right. Then, tomorrow, we'll go spelunking. Fair?" Eva sighed.

"If you insist."

She walked to the bookstore, perusing the shelves. It was small, but to her liking. The owner had ignored the general lines of bookshelves, preferring to stack books in miscellaneous piles with no regard for author or genre. It was magnificent. She happily spent the next hour delving into pages, tucking a few worn paperbacks under her arm. Darcy returned a bit later, a few bags in tow. Eva paid for her books and walked outside before turning back towards him.

"Any chance we could grab a coffee? I'm dying."

"There's a shop over there."

"Excellent." They sat down at a rickety table under a beach umbrella. The coffee arrived fairly quickly, and Eva could no longer hold in her curiosity.

"So," she said, "What's in the bags?"

"This and that."

"How specific."

"Well, there's Jo's medicine, a few things for me, and a late birthday present for you," he said, taking a nonchalant sip of coffee. She wanted to detest him for thinking of her, but couldn't quite control herself.

"Can I open it?"

"If you wish. I was going to wait until tonight, but now is as good a time as any."

"I mean, if you don't mind." The faintest of smiles crept onto his lips as he pulled a small package from the collection of bags under the tables. She tried to open it daintily. Inside of the black paper was a small red box. Her eyebrows furrowed as she popped it open, revealing a crimson teardrop pendant on a gold chain.

"It's beautiful."

"I'm glad you like it." She looked up at him.

"Why are you being nice to me?"

"Call it a peace offering."

"Can I wear it?"

"Of course." She tried to open the clasp but her hands shook. He stood and walked behind her, sweeping her hair to one side. She couldn't help shivering as his cool fingers graced her neck. The clasp behaved and, just as swiftly, he was back in his chair. She looked down.

"It's beautiful." He merely took another sip of his coffee.

The medication had come out of the pharmacy faster than he would have thought, but he had given her an hour in the store and figured it wasn't fair to renege. He did a bit of light shopping, picking up a present for her. He'd been enough of an ass recently to merit it.

He was dying for caffeine, but it was about time to head back. He didn't want to leave Charlie and Jo by themselves for too long, but when she had suggested a coffee, he was thoroughly relieved. Why did she look at him like that, chewing her lips and fussing with her hair? It had gone curlier in the humidity, but it was still lush enough to make him ache for it. She seemed to mind, though.

"So," she said, "What's in the bags?"

"This and that."

"How specific."

"Well, there's Jo's medicine, a few things for me, and a late birthday present for you," he said. She looked so surprised. Was it really that out of the ordinary for someone to get something for her?

"Can I open it?"

"If you wish. I was going to wait until tonight, but now is as good a time as any."

"I mean, if you don't mind." He couldn't help but smile at her hesitance, and reached into the back. She was itching to open it. He hadn't felt that sort of excitement in ages. Her fingers twitched as she opened the box. Was it too much?

Could she wear it? Of course she could wear it. It was hers. She seemed…confused, and she was having an awfully hard time opening the clasp. Hoping he wasn't crossing any boundaries, he stood and brushed her hair to the side. Just as marvelous as he had imagined. She was so warm, her ears pink from the sun. Figuring he was taking an awfully long time, he slid the clasp into place and sat down, though he could have spent ages standing behind her.

"It's beautiful," she said.

Could she see the flush in his cheeks? He settled for hiding behind his coffee.

Author's Note: Have a few extra words for the tenth chapter. And, as per request, a touch more of Darcy POV. Hope you guys aren't tired of this yet, we're just getting started.

Much love and best wishes,

Zoe