Caroline & The Blue Lagoon
Chapter 4
Rated 'R' for sexual content
By:
*****~*****
--Morning came early, as morning always did, and Caroline shivered, waking to the cool morning as Richard left her side.
She sat up and rubbed her arms… "Burrr…"
"I'm sorry… it's time to get up…" Richard smiled sympathetically, offering her his hand to help her off the ground.
"Yeah, I know. Thanks…"
--They started their day like they usually did, traveling down the well-beaten trail to fetch the water…
"Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water…" Caroline sang the nursery rhyme… "Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after."
"Ever notice how violent nursery rhymes are?"
"Huh?"
"They are. Well, some are. 'Jack fell down and broke his crown… Jill came tumbling after.' ~ 'Fee, Fie, Foh, Fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman: Be he alive or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread.' ~ 'Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King's horses and all the King's men, couldn't put Humpty together again.' ~ 'There was an old woman who lived in a shoe; she had so many children she didn't know what to do. She gave them some broth without any bread, then whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed.' …"
"Yeah, I see your point…" she cut him off before he could quote any more rhymes… "Guess I never really thought about it. Can see how you woulda thought about it though…"
"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked, stopping and turning, facing her…
"Nothing bad… just the way you described your childhood and all. I don't know, seems to me like you focused a lot on stuff like that…"
"Stuff like what?"
"Sad stuff. Depressing stuff…"
He seemed to take offense to her comment… "Not a lot…"
"Richard, I didn't mean anything by it. I was just making an observation…"
"Yeah, well, my childhood was messed up, so if I tended to focus more on the morose, that was one of the biggest reasons why."
"I know. I'm sorry."
He couldn't stay mad at her, even if he'd wanted to… "It's ok. Sorry, it's just a touchy subject."
"Fair enough."
They continued about their task, walking in silence. They both could sense the tension, the air was thick with it, but neither were brave enough to confront the issue… until…
--It had gotten a bit later, and Richard and Caroline were eating various fruits as they watched the waves lap at the sand on the beach…
"You know…" Richard began nervously… "About last night…"
"I know…" Caroline interrupted… "You were just helping to keep us both warm. Thank you. I know how uncomfortable it made you…"
Her comments caused him to lose his nerve… "Yeah, right. You're welcome…"
"It is getting colder here though. If we're gonna be here much longer we should think about warmer clothes. Or at least blankets…"
"I know…"
"Ever see the movie 'Dances With Wolves'?"
"No."
She shook her head, smiling… "Figures. Anyway, the Native-Americans made blankets to wear out of buffalo hide… I think… to keep warm when it got cold…"
"We don't have buffalo here…"
"I know that. But couldn't we do something similar? With what we do have?"
"Possibly."
"Ok… cause I can't imagine you'll be wanting to do that every night."
"Do what?"
"Snuggle with me to create warmth."
"Oh." His tone was off, even for him, and it didn't go unnoticed…
"Is something wrong?" she asked, confused and concerned…
"No. Why?"
"You seem upset…"
"I'm not."
She didn't believe that to be true, but she held her tongue. Upsetting him by pressing further wouldn't accomplish anything. If he didn't want to talk about it, no amount of asking would open him up. Best to just drop it…
"Ok. So, ready to go hunting?" she asked, changing the subject…
"Yeah. We better get going…"
--He had made a crude bow and arrow, that wasn't really good for anything besides killing small animals… like rabbits. He'd have to kill a lot to make even one blanket from the pelts though. What he needed to figure out was, what bigger animal's fur would make a good blanket, and how would he kill it once he found it.
--"Here's the problem…" he said as they headed out to hunt… "If we kill a bigger animal, there's no way we could eat all the meat before it goes bad…"
"Ok…"
"So, what do we do with it?"
"Well, couldn't we bury it?"
"Bury it? Yeah, I suppose we could bury it…" His words sounded more sure than his tone…
"But?"
"Well, I'm worried about scavengers. It's possible we could have a problem with scavengers…"
"Even if we bury it?"
"Not sure…" he mumbled, deep in thought… "Also… depending on how big it is… how would we kill it?"
Caroline shuddered at all the talk of death… "I don't know…"
"I'm sorry…" Richard apologized, realizing the conversation was affecting her… "I'll figure something out. Don't worry…"
She knew he was trying to protect her, from the unpleasantness of surviving, and she was thankful for it. He treated her like an equal, but was also sensitive to what made her squeamish. He was very understanding and kind… and she found herself dreaming about him, both at night and daydreams. About him taking her in his arms and kissing her, touching her…
"Caroline?" His voice ripped into her thoughts…
"Hmmm? What?"
"Are you ok?"
"Oh, yeah, just thinking…"
"Can I ask what about?"
"Nothing special…" she lied. She couldn't tell him the truth. He obviously didn't feel the same and it would make things awkward between them.
"Ok." He didn't feel comfortable pushing the issue, so he dropped it.
*****~*****
--After dinner and after the sunset, they both went into the shelter…
"Will you…?" Caroline asked, trailing off before finishing the question…
"What?"
"Sleep with me… again tonight. Like you did last night…"
A shocked expression flitted across his face before he realized what she was asking… "Yes. Of course."
He lied down behind Caroline, her back to his front, and he wrapped his arm around her… warming her. She sighed contentedly, and the soft, sweet sound caused Richard to respond in a way that was very noticeable to Caroline.
"Richard?"
"What?" he replied, his eyes closed tight in anticipation of what she would say next…
There was a pause that seemed to last an eternity before she finally answered… "Goodnight." Was all she could say. She couldn't say what she'd wanted to… she let her fear rule her actions.
"Goodnight."
*****~*****
--During the night Caroline awoke do to the cold, Richard no longer beside her. She sat up and looked around, her eyes having a hard time adjusting to the lack of light. She could see the fire outside and peeked out, seeing Richard kneeling near it, adding sticks and wood to it.
"Richard? What are you doing?"
He jerked around, startled… "Just stoking the fire…"
"Do you do this… every night?"
"Yeah."
"I didn't know that."
"Well, you're usually asleep…"
She sat beside him and rested her head on his shoulder, causing him to tense.
"You take such good care of me. Thank you."
"You're welcome."
She placed her hand gently on his thigh and waited for his reaction. There was a sharp intake of air, but nothing more. Than, she felt his hand slide up her back, coming to rest on her shoulder.
"Richard?"
"Yeah?"
"On the ship…" she trailed off, struggling with her courage…
"On the ship…" he encouraged her to continue…
"There was a moment… right before the explosion…"
He knew what she was getting at… "Uh-huh…"
"Well, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but I kinda thought… you were about to… kiss me?"
"You're not wrong."
She took a needed breath to settle her nerves, then continued… "Do you ever think about… you and me…?"
"Yes…"
"You do? Cause I sometimes--"
"But we can't." he interrupted.
"Huh?"
"Don't think I haven't thought about it. Believe me, I have. A lot."
"Then, what's the problem? Don't you find me attractive?"
"Of course I do!" he assured her. To say he merely found her 'attractive' was an understatement... "But think about it Caroline. What if it didn't work out? We could be here a long time… we can't afford to have conflict between us."
"How can you be so sure it wouldn't work out?"
"I'm not. But if it didn't… it could be a problem."
"Ok…"
"We need to be able to work together. If we were having relationship problems, it could jeopardize our safety…"
"I understand…" she sounded sad, and he picked up on it immediately…
"I'm sorry Caroline. The last thing I ever wanted to do is hurt you. I'm just trying to do what's right."
"Yeah. I know."
He pulled her close and kissed her hair… "Ready to go back in?"
"Yeah."
"Do you still want me to…?" he left the question hanging, but she knew he was referring to the sleeping arrangement.
"Yes."
He smiled… "Ok."
--They snuggled up to one another, their hearts racing at the closeness. Richard wondered if he had done the right thing. As much as he wanted her… wanted to be with her… he felt apprehensive. For all the reasons he discussed with Caroline and for one reason he hadn't… he didn't want to hurt her. His history of relationships was poor at best, and for whatever reason… whoever was at fault, all his former relationships had ended badly. He didn't want that to happen with Caroline. She was too important to him. Too wonderful a person. Instead, he decided to keep their relationship platonic.
--After their minds stopped buzzing, they finally fell asleep, the cold night causing them to pull together just a bit tighter.