"You have fun tonight, Doc," Sawyer called on his way out.
Boone looked at Jack. "What's he talking about?"
Jack shook his head. "Nothing." He sat down next to Boone. "How's the leg?"
Boone gave him a look. "How many times do I have to say it, Jack? I know you're thorough but Jesus."
Jack looked irritated. "I mean are you up for a walk?"
"Walk?" Boone asked. "Where do you wanna go?"
"I thought we could go back to the caves," Jack suggested.
"Why?" Boone asked. "I like it here."
"You like it here?" Jack asked.
"It's preferable to a cave," Boone replied.
Jack sighed, looking a little put off. "Look, I thought maybe we could get a little privacy, that's all."
"Privacy?" Boone asked.
"There's just, there's always someone here," Jack explained. "And I really hate this place," he added.
Boone looked at him. He looked like a nervous schoolboy trying to ask someone on a date. Which was strange. But he was obviously trying to ask something that he wasn't prepared to say out loud.
"Are you talking about sex?" Boone asked. "Like proper sex?"
Jack looked at him. He was about to say something and then changed his mind. "Do you think you can make the walk?" he asked.
"For sex I could," Boone replied.
"I'm serious," Jack said.
"So am I," Boone told him.
"Boone, just..." Jack closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Sorry," Boone said in a small voice.
Jack smiled and opened his eyes. "Just be quiet, okay? Locke's still lurking around here somewhere."
Boone smiled at him. "Okay."
"Do you think you can get there?" Jack asked him.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Boone told him.
"Okay, good," Jack said, standing up. "Let's get your stuff."
Getting a straight answer out of Jack might be impossible most of the time but Boone was fairly sure he knew what was going on. And Jack didn't seem particularly comfortable about it. Boone told himself it was probably just nerves on Jack's part, he was just a little nervous. Which was understandable he guessed. But Jack hadn't said anything in over ten minutes and he'd barely looked at Boone unless it was to check he was being careful with his leg.
"Let's take a break," Jack said, stopping and taking his pack off. He sat down on a rock and took out a bottle of water, taking a sip. He looked at Boone. "Sit down, we're resting for your benefit."
Boone moved over and sat down next to Jack. "You okay?"
Jack looked at him. "Me? Yeah, I'm fine." He offered the water bottle to Boone who took a drink.
"You know we don't have to, right?" Boone asked him.
"I want to," Jack told him.
"Well, yeah, I'm not saying you don't want to," Boone said. "But it doesn't mean that you're ready. There's a natural progression of things but that doesn't mean you have to move right on to the next thing. You can take some time if you want, I don't mind."
"I'm ready," Jack insisted. "And you're ruining it."
"Ruining what?" Boone asked, giving him a puzzled look.
"You're supposed to come back to the cave with me and marvel at how considerate and romantic I am," Jack told him.
"You haven't spoken to me in ten minutes," Boone stated. "How is that considerate and romantic?"
Jack smiled. "Sorry. I was thinking."
"Second thoughts thinking?" Boone asked. "Cos that's totally okay."
"Stop trying to let me off the hook," Jack said. "Didn't work when a plane fell on you, it's not gonna work now."
Boone smiled at him. "So what were you thinking about?"
"You," Jack replied simply.
"Me?" Boone asked.
"You," Jack nodded.
Boone looked at him. "What about me?"
"I could tell you," Jack said. "But I'd rather just show you later."
Boone smiled. "So you really wanna do it?"
"Do you always think everything to death like this?" Jack asked. "Can't you just go with it?"
"No, I don't go with it very well," Boone told him. "I like to know what I'm doing."
"You're doing me," Jack stated. Boone looked at him, unsure what to say. "See this is why I don't talk about sex, people look at me like that. Some people just shouldn't talk about sex."
Boone smiled. "I think you should definitely talk about sex."
"Maybe later," Jack said. "You ready?" Boone nodded and handed the water bottle back to Jack. "If I go too fast, tell me."
"I'm okay," Boone told him.
"I know you are," Jack replied. "But if I go too fast, tell me. And if you need to take a break, tell me."
"Will do, captain," Boone responded.
"And don't smart mouth me when I'm trying to care," Jack told him.
"Sorry, Jack," Boone said, giving him his best puppy dog face.
"Let's just go you emotional blackmailer," Jack said.
Thankfully Jack wasn't quite so obsessive about the stops on the way back as he was on the way there so they made pretty good time. When they got back to the caves the first thing that hit Boone was the lack of people. It wasn't empty or anything but he definitely remembered it being more populated than this.
"Lot of people have moved to the beach," Jack explained. "It's like a little village down there."
"That's kinda cool," Boone said. "Shannon said she had a tent down there."
"Yeah, she told me all about," Jack replied. "A lot. I have to go down there and give her and Sawyer their meds actually."
"You have to go now?" Boone asked him.
"In a minute, yeah," Jack replied. "I won't be long."
"Okay," Boone said.
"But first, I want to show you my cave," Jack said. "Our cave."
Boone smiled at him. "Our cave?"
"I'm not making you a tent," Jack said.
"I don't want a stupid tent," Boone told him, a smile in his voice.
"Good," Jack replied. "Come on."
Jack led him over to the cave that Boone hadn't been in since their first sexual experience together. Boone smiled to himself. He'd almost forgotten what they'd been doing the night before the stupid Beechcraft incident. Thinking back that was the only time Boone had ever been in Jack's cave. After the accident he spent all his time in the makeshift infirmary before moving to the hatch.
As soon as they reached the cave Boone noticed that things were different. Firstly, Jack had put some tarp over the cave entrance, forming a curtain to stop people from seeing in, which was a nice touch and also rather a smart move. Jack moved the tarp to one side to let Boone go inside. Jack must have taken some bedding from the hatch and he'd set up a nice little sleeping area which was looking very inviting to Boone right now. He made his way inside and sat down on the covers, closely followed by Jack.
"Oh," Boone said.
Jack looked at him. "Oh, what?"
"Oh, you really are considerate and romantic."
Jack smiled at him. "I try," he shrugged.
"Thank you," Boone said. "This is really nice."
"It's just a cave with a few sheets and a tarp," Jack commented.
"It's great," Boone asserted. "I love it." He looked around. "I bet this is better than Shannon's tent." He turned back to Jack who was smiling at him. "Thank you."
"You already said that."
"I know," Boone replied. "But it's worthy of repeating."
He touched the side of Jack's face and pulled him in for a kiss. Jack responded, leaning his body into Boone's and wrapping his arms around him. As they got more into it Boone leant himself back, pulling Jack down with him. Jack pulled away.
"Okay, two things," Jack said. "Number one, you seriously have to be careful with that leg."
"If you don't shut up about the leg I'm going to prove to you how okay it is by kicking your ass with it," Boone told him.
"And number two, I really have to go to the beach now," Jack told him. Boone pouted. "I know, I don't want to. But Sawyer's expecting me and if I don't go down with them he's gonna come up here looking for them and I really don't want him sticking his head round that tarp."
"Yeah, okay, you can go," Boone told him, letting go. "But you better be quick."
"I'll run all the way," Jack promised.
Boone smiled at him. "Oh, and check out Shannon's tent and tell me how lame it is."
"Will do," Jack said, getting to his feet.
Boone laid on his back and looked at the ceiling of the cave as something clicked in his head. He look back at Jack. "Hey, Jack."
"Yeah," Jack replied, sorting out his pack.
"Did you tell Sawyer we were having sex tonight?"
"No, I didn't tell him," Jack replied.
"Cos he seems to know," Boone continued. "He said 'have fun tonight' or something. And he made it sound suggestive. And I know Sawyer makes 'hello' sound suggestive but he sounded like he knew."
"I didn't tell him," Jack repeated and Boone noticed that he was avoiding his gaze.
"You didn't tell him, but, what?" Boone asked.
Jack looked up a little guiltily. "He might have guessed."
"How did he guess?" Boone asked. "You must have said something."
"I don't know, he just did," Jack replied, putting his pack on. "Look, I won't be long okay? I'll be right back."
"Okay," Boone replied.
Jack leaned down and kissed Boone again and Boone could tell how much he really didn't want to leave. But if anyone understood a sense of duty it was Boone so he wasn't going to ask him to stay. Also this was a medical thing. And then there was the added fact that Sawyer might come wandering by. And knowing Boone's luck he'd bring Shannon with him. He pulled away.
"You should go."
Jack nodded. "Hold that thought, okay?"
"It's been there since the day I met you, I think it'll hold another hour," Boone told him.
Jack smiled. "The day we crashed or the day we spoke by the campfire?"
"Definitely the day we crashed," Boone admitted.
Jack smiled at him again and Boone couldn't help smiling back. "In that case I'll be less than an hour."
He gave Boone one last kiss before heading out of the cave. Boone looked back up at the ceiling and smiled to himself. Considerate and romantic. And also very hot. Boone could definitely do worse.