Hurley was nervous as he made his way over to Libby's tent. Please, please don't let me do anything dumb or say the wrong thing or make too many bad jokes, he thought. Please let me be cool for just once in my life.

Libby had seen him coming and stepped out of her shelter to meet him. Despite her earlier protests, she was glad the girls had insisted on loaning her nice clothes and jewelry for the evening.

"Wow," Hurley said as he reached her side. "You look really pretty tonight, Libby."

Libby colored slightly, smiling her sweet smile at Hurley. "Thank you," she said softly.

Hurley gestured up the beach. "Ready to walk a little ways?" he asked.

Libby nodded, then kicked off the borrowed sandals. "Too hard to walk in the sand," she explained at Hurley's questioning look. He laughed and took her arm, gently steering her up the beach.

They walked for about thirty minutes, talking about nothing in particular – the weather, Eko's newest building, some of the relationships that were forming on the island. Soon they rounded a bend and came to a secluded beach that Sayid had shown Hurley earlier that day. The sand was whiter here than it was on their beach, giving it a sugar-like appearance as it created a half-moon shape surrounding an aquamarine lagoon.

Libby gasped at the beauty of it. "Oh, Hurley, this place is amazing!" she exclaimed, mesmerized at the sight. "It's like something out of an old pirate movie or something," she added, blushing again when she realized how silly that sounded.

Hurley caught her blush. "No, that's just what I thought when Sayid first showed me this place," he told her earnestly. "I mean, you have to wonder how come the sand is so white here and why the water takes on that greenish color and why it's so clear…." He trailed off, wondering if he was talking too much. "So anyway," he said, clearing his throat. "You, uh, you wanna sit down or something?" At Libby's nod, he spread a blanket out on the ground.

Libby sat, then leaned back on her elbows. Hurley sat cross-legged next to her. He pulled a water bottle and two cups out of his pack. He poured Libby a glass of the mango-and-vodka concoction that had become Rose's specialty.

"Wow, that's great," Libby said after her first sip. "Hey, look at that!" she added, pointing toward the horizon. The sun was just beginning to set, casting rays of vivid purples, reds, and oranges across the sparkling water.

"Yeah, the sunsets are one of the best things about being here," Hurley said, admiring the colors. "I mean, uh, we have sunsets in L.A. but you can hardly see them with the smog and all."

Libby nodded. "I know what you mean," she said, taking another sip of her juice. "We used to have this cabin up at Lake Tahoe and my favorite part of going there was actually being able to see the sun rise and set."

Hurley frowned a little at her words. "Uh, 'we'?" he asked with uncertainty in his voice.

Libby looked away. She hadn't meant to say that, hadn't wanted to go into such details tonight. "Um, yeah, my husband and I," she said, still not looking at Hurley.

"You're married?" Hurley asked, hoping that the disappointment he felt wasn't evident in his voice. Well, that figures, he thought to himself.

"Not anymore," Libby said flatly. "My husband passed away about six months ago."

Hurley felt instantly relieved, then ashamed for feeling that way. "Geez, Libby, that's rough," he said sympathetically. "How, uh….I mean, what happened?"

"Car accident," Libby replied, finally looking up. "It's why I was in Sydney, actually. Everyone convinced me to take some time off after….after it happened. Sydney was a place David had always wanted to go and so I felt like going there would be something I could do for him."

Hurley pursed his lips, not knowing quite what to say. Crap, I suck at things like this, he thought remorsefully.

Libby looked at him sharply. "Hurley, did you think I was going to tell you that I was still married?" Libby asked him.

Hurley shrugged his shoulders. "Woulda been my luck," he said finally, not meeting Libby's eyes. "Every time I, well, like a girl, something seems to go wrong."

Libby smiled, her heart melting at his vulnerability. "Hurley, look at me," she said softly, reaching out and placing her hand on his cheek. "Look at me," she said again. He finally brought his eyes up to meet hers. "Hurley, I like you, too," she whispered, leaning in and brushing her lips against his in a soft, sweet kiss.

Hurley reached up and covered her small hand with his larger one. Breathless, Libby finally pulled away, her lips, slightly reddened and swollen from the kiss, curved into a small smile. Hurley put his arm around her and gently guided her down onto the blanket, pulling her towards him as he settled down beside her. They lay together as the sun finished its descent into the sea and the first stars begin to dot the sky.

Hurley knew he'd always remember this moment.

-------------------

Darkness had settled over the island. Sawyer threw another couple of logs onto his fire and settled back against a tree truck, staring moodily into the orange flames. He looked up when a figure passing by caused a long shadow across the sand.

"Well, if it ain't Ana-Banana," he drawled smoothly, looking up at her. "What brings you over this way?"

Ana-Lucia shrugged, her hands shoved into the back pockets of her jeans. "No one better to talk to, so…" she trailed off. Then she cleared her throat. "Uh, can I sit?"

Sawyer gestured grandly at the sand next to him. "Be my guest, darlin'."

Ana-Lucia plopped down, readjusting her backside in the soft sand several times before finding a comfortable position. She leaned back on her elbows and stared at Sawyer's fire. They sat in silence for several minutes.

"So, uh, how'd the golf game yesterday go?" Ana-Lucia said, finally breaking the silence.

"Just peachy," Sawyer said sarcastically. "All that male bonding shit is just my style, don'cha know?" Ana-Lucia chuckled softly. "And what about you, chica? How did the hair-and-make-up routine go for you?"

Ana-Lucia shrugged again. "Not terrible," she admitted. "Not too terrible, anyway," she amended when Sawyer started to laugh.

"Aww, does that mean I lost the bet?" Sawyer asked her, laughing at the image of the tough girl sitting next to him being "one of the girls."

"I don't know," Ana-Lucia admitted. "I guess I lost, too, because you know you ended up having a good time out there with the boys yesterday." Two days ago, after downing a few bottles of tequila from Sawyer's secret stash in a game of "I Never," they had made a bet that neither could participate in one of the increasingly frequent bonding activities on the island without either pissing someone off or getting pissed off themselves.

"Well, guess we'll have to call it a draw then," Sawyer said, throwing another log onto the fire. "Imagine that, the pair of us actually fitting in with the clique 'round here."

"Hey, don't push it," Ana-Lucia warned. "Knowing you, I'm sure you'll do something obnoxious in the next day or two that's guaranteed to piss everyone off and you'll go back to being a pariah once again."

Sawyer shrugged. "Guess that's a possibility," he admitted. "But you never know. I may just be turning over a new leaf."

Ana-Lucia snorted. "Yeah, I'll believe that one when I see it." She laughed and leaned back into the sand again.

-------------------

The moon was high in the sky when Hurley and Libby finally arrived back at Libby's tent. They had talked for hours that night, each just enjoying the feel of the other's arms, neither feeling the need to take things further. There was plenty of time.

They stopped in front of Libby's tent. "Hurley, I had a wonderful time tonight," she said, caressing the hand that held hers tightly. "I'm really glad we were able to spend some time together away from everyone else."

"Yeah, uh, me too," Hurley told her. "Look, Libby, is this, uh, something that you might…well, that you'd maybe want to do again?" His voice was hopeful.

Libby smiled and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "You even have to ask?" she said playfully. "Goodnight, Hurley," she added, disappearing into her tent.

"Goodnight, Libby," he said, smiling broadly as he walked back toward his own tent.

-------------------

Shannon awoke early the next morning and attempted to ease out of bed without waking Sayid. She dressed quickly and made her way down the well-worn path leading from the beach to the caves. Kate was washing clothes in a small pool several hundred yards away from the cave where she lived with Jack. She was humming softly – U2, thought Shannon, how interesting – as she wrung out one of Jack's shirts and draped it over the clothesline she had rigged.

"Hey, girl," she called out as she got closer.

Kate looked up and smiled. "Morning," she replied, reaching for another shirt.

"You're awfully smiley this morning," Shannon commented as she reached down to help Kate with the remaining clothes. Kate blushed and looked over towards the cave that had been designated the infirmary where Jack was busy examining Jade's swollen ankle. Shannon caught the look.

"Oh, I get it," Shannon laughed, causing Kate's blush to deepen. "Slut," she added teasingly, throwing her hand up to block the sopping wet shorts that Kate had tossed at her. They laughed together and turned back to the laundry.

"So, listen, Kate, I need to, uh, ask you something," Shannon said after a few moments of silence.

"Shoot."

"Okay, well, see, the thing is…." Shannon trailed off nervously.

Kate turned her full attention on Shannon. "Shannon, what is it?" she asked, beginning to worry. "Come on, you can tell me."

Shannon sighed. "Okay, I need a favor."

"Of course, anything," Kate said, puzzled.

Shannon paused for a moment, then continued. "I need you to swipe something from Jack's stash for me," she said.

Kate's eyes widened. "Shannon, what could you possibly need that you can't just ask him for?"

Shannon sighed, blew out a breath. "A pregnancy test."