"What's with the smile?" she asked him as they sat down and enjoyed some of the fruit they'd been picked.
Jack shrugged. "I'm happy."
"Yeah, so I see," she said, looking a little sceptical. "I just can't work out what about."
"Something so strange about me being contented?" Jack asked.
"I think you're a little passed contented," Kate replied. "And you are stuck on the same island I am, right?"
"You have to admit it's kind of beautiful," Jack stated.
Kate looked at him. "You're up to something."
Jack gave her another little smile and then looked down. "Maybe."
"Well I'm guessing it's something good so I guess I shouldn't worry about it," Kate said.
"Nothing for you to worry about, Kate," he assured her. "Come on, let's get these seeds to the garden."
Boone was still spending most days out hunting with Locke and Jack had his own chores to take care of so they usually just met up in the evenings when Boone returned to the caves with Locke. Jack and Boone would then go out for a walk after supper but they'd usually just end up making out, which Jack was really okay with. Then Jack would walk Boone back to the beach and then he'd head back to the caves where he'd go to bed and try not to think about sex too much.
One night they were out for their walk, moving close together, their hands swinging and occasionally catching each other. Jack wished he had the guts to hold Boone's hand, he actually really liked holding hands, but he didn't want to make things awkward. The 'accidental' touches were doing enough for him right now anyway.
"Maybe we should take a rest," Jack suggested, even though both of them were more that fit enough to make the walk and then some, but they both knew what 'take a rest' translated to.
Boone stopped and looked at him with this expression of longing that he was undoubtedly unaware that he had. But Jack was happy he wasn't aware of it because then he'd probably try and hide it because that's what Boone did but Jack didn't ever want him to hide that look, he wanted it right there on display for him.
"Okay," Boone said. "I was getting kind of out of breath," he smiled, raising his eyebrows.
Jack smiled at him. "What I had in mind probably won't help with that."
He closed the short distance between them and kissed Boone deeply, wrapping his arms around his waist and pulling him as tight as he could. Boone kissed him back in that fantastic way that he always did and Jack could feel himself going over the edge again. Boone's shirt rode up a little and Jack found his hand on flesh which was rather nice. He and Boone might make out everyday but they were taking things slow, for Jack's sake more than anything, and every new thing that happened made Jack a little restless to get to the next stage. But he wasn't really there yet and Boone was ridiculously understanding about that fact.
Jack pushed Boone back against a tree, which he always seemed to end up doing, but Boone didn't really seem to mind. In fact Boone made a little noise that led Jack to believe that he quite liked being pushed up against a tree. So Jack carried on with the kissing and the touching and let his body take over, his mind apparently gone on vacation someplace. Boone's hands on his hips were so amazing and Jack could tell that Boone was dying to move those hands south but also knew that Jack wasn't really up for that yet. Well, Jack was up, but hands stayed above the waist. They hadn't come together yet but Jack had gone back to his little cave and finished himself after one of these encounters more than once and he guessed Boone had done the same thing.
But right now this, this was enough to send Jack into a crazy frenzy and he wasn't sure if he could take anymore. Jack was an idiot for ever putting this off, he thought. He could have been doing this weeks ago. So Boone was a man, big deal. He was so perfect for Jack and Jack knew that but he just closed the door on the whole possibility because of a slight gender issue. But being with a man had it's upsides too. Boone was just as strong as he was even though he seemed to try and hide the fact but it always shone through. And Boone's stubble actually felt pretty nice against his neck and Jack imagined it would feel pretty nice in other places too. And Boone knew all about a man's body, which made Jack even more impatient to get to the below the waist stuff. But he wasn't going to rush himself because he'd end up freaking out again and Boone being as skittish as he was, he'd probably never come back. He just had to pace himself. Which was getting harder by the second when Boone did that thing he was doing with his tongue right now.
Jack pulled away and put a hand up against the tree Boone was leaning on, trying to steady himself and catch his breath a little.
"Bedtime?" Boone asked, probably unaware of the images that single word was conjuring up in Jack's mind. Then again, maybe not.
Jack nodded a little. "Yeah."
He looked at Boone with his big eyes and pouty, freshly kissed and slightly wet and parted lips and he found himself leaning in again, claiming that beautiful mouth. It took Boone a second to catch up but it was only a second and then they were right back in it like they never stopped. It took a while before Jack mustered up the willpower to pull away again and when he did he kind of wondered why he bothered, kissing Boone for the next few hours seemed like quite a nice plan.
"I think this is the point where I'm supposed to walk away so you don't do something you're gonna regret but you have me pinned to a tree," Boone said.
Jack nodded a little, his brain still running mainly on basic sex instincts. "Yeah, I do," he agreed.
Boone looked at him, waiting for something. Jack just looked back, concentrating on breathing in and out because he felt like he might forget to do it.
"So you gonna move or you gonna kiss me?" Boone asked.
Jack knew what he wanted to do but he also knew what he should do. He leaned in and kissed Boone tenderly but briefly and then took a step back, his legs feeling a little shaky. "Free to go, Mr. Carlyle."
Boone smiled at him. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
Jack nodded. "Definitely."
Boone nodded a little and then looked at Jack like he wanted to jump him but then he turned around and headed towards the beach. "Night," he called back.
Jack watched him go and then leaned heavily against the tree until he regained the full use of his legs.
The next night he was sat on the beach with Kate and Sayid and they were talking about some stupid problem that Jack could care less about. Actually, if he was honest, he wasn't even really listening to them, he was just waiting for them to finish so he could go off and be with Boone.
And then Shannon came striding up to them and stood there, staring expectantly down at Jack. "Hi, Jack," she said.
Jack looked up at her, a little puzzled. "Hi, Shannon."
Boone was a few steps behind her and came to stand by her side, giving her a rather distasteful look. "Shannon," he hissed.
Shannon pretended like he wasn't even there. "You wanna know something, Jack?"
"Shannon, shut the hell up," Boone told her, his tone harsher than Jack had ever heard before. In fact he couldn't even imagine Boone being harsh.
"Boone has a crush on you," Shannon said, looking rather triumphant.
Oh, right, Jack thought, she doesn't know. But she was looking far too smug for his liking and she was upsetting Boone which was like a cardinal sin or something. Or maybe Jack was just smitten, one of the two.
"Yeah, I already worked that out, thanks," Jack said calmly, trying to make eye-contact with Boone who was just staring daggers at Shannon.
"Don't you care?" Shannon asked, clearly trying to get a rise out of him.
"Why would I care?" Jack asked. "He's a really good kisser."
Well, that took the self-satisfied look off Shannon's face. And actually Kate looked like she really wanted to say something but just kind of sat there and stared at Jack. Boone looked briefly at Jack, not looking too happy, and then turned his attention back to Shannon.
"You are such a bitch," he spat out before storming off towards the jungle.
Jack sighed. "I'm guessing I wasn't supposed to say that," he said to no one in particular. He stood up and went after Boone, preparing to play damage control.
He thought that maybe Boone would be crying when he found him but he was way too mad to cry, he was just kind of ineffectually kicking things. Jack stayed a few paces away so he didn't get caught in the crossfire.
"You okay?" Jack asked.
"Shannon is such a bitch," Boone stated, clearly still mad.
"Yeah," Jack agreed. "But are you okay?"
Boone turned to face him. "Yeah, Jack, never better," he replied sarcastically. He then started thrashed about like a toddler having a tantrum again. "God, why does she have to do stuff like that?"
Jack took a few steps forward and grabbed Boone gently but firmly, pinning his arms to his side. "Boone, just tell me what's wrong."
"What's wrong?" Boone asked incredulously. "What's wrong? Were you not just there?"
"Yeah, I was there," Jack replied calmly. "Boone, I don't care if people know about us, I'm not ashamed of you."
Boone's expression softened and he stopped trying to get out of Jack's grip. "Thank you," he said. "But that's still not really the point. The point is that Shannon told you that because she wanted to embarrass me and she wanted to make my life hell. She did it cos she wanted to get back at me."
"For what?" Jack asked.
"Cos I warned Sayid off her and she said that I ruined her shot at a relationship so she was gonna ruin my shot even though I didn't even have a shot," Boone rambled.
"You do have a shot," Jack told him. "I'm here with you aren't I?"
"Still not the point, Jack," Boone said, seeming a little impatient.
"So what is the point?" Jack asked.
"The point is that she didn't know all that. The point is that she was trying to ruin my life. And the point is that even though we're kind of together you still might have freaked out about people knowing."
"I'm not freaking out," Jack pointed out calmly. "You're freaking out a little. But I'm not freaking out." That earned him a smile that he was more than happy to see. "And did you see Kate's face?" Boone shook his head. "Priceless." Boone smiled and rested his head on Jack's shoulder. "So what's the deal with warning off Sayid?" Jack asked, letting go of Boone's arms so that he could wrap them around Jack's back.
"I was just looking out for her," Boone stated.
"Sayid's a good guy," Jack said. "I think she'll be okay with him. What's wrong with them being together?"
Boone pulled away and looked Jack in the eye. "Jack, I have to tell you something about Shannon," he said seriously.
"What?" Jack asked.
Boone just looked at him for a really long time. So long that Jack thought he'd forgotten what he was going to say or changed his mind completely.
"Shannon's a bitch," he finally repeated.
"Yeah, you said that already," Jack stated.
"She's not a nice person," Boone reiterated.
"Okay, fine, whatever you say," Jack replied. "So, seeing as I was already at the beach we didn't get to have our walk today. You wanna go now or you wanna just sit and chill? Cos you look kind of beat."
"I'm okay," Boone said. "I could walk."
"Okay," Jack replied. "But seeing as you're looking tired maybe we should take a rest now," he suggested.
Boone smiled at him and nodded his head as Jack ran a hand through his hair and then pulled him in for a kiss.