"Hey you!"
Sawyer flipped around to face a blonde woman who was scantily clad in a red bikini…she looked a bit frantic.
"Mmmm," he drawled, giving her a slow once-over, "what can I do for you?"
"Have you seen Boone? He's my br-boyfriend," she corrected herself smoothly, hoping he wouldn't notice.
He clucked his tongue in regret.
"Damn, you're taken then."
"Yes," she spat coldly, "have you seen him?"
"Never heard of him."
Shannon stalked away angrily without another word, not missing the casual "feisty" left in her wake.
---
About a minute later, she was intercepted by a man who introduced himself as Jack Shepard.
"Hi," he said, "ah, listen, I heard you talking to that man over there about your boyfriend. He was helping me earlier, but I saw him go off that way."
Jack pointed down the beach.
"Thanks," Shannon stated plainly, starting off at a run in the direction in which he had pointed.
---
Shannon spotted Boone sitting alone down by the water, watching the sunset.
"Boone!" She yelled when she got within earshot.
He turned his head away from the water so that the orange and pink light shone over his hair.
She stopped next to him, her breath coming in short gasps.
"Is it your asthma?" He asked, suddenly concerned.
"No, I'm fine."
He looked up at her inquisitively.
"Did you tell anyone?" She burst out after a moment.
Boone looked taken aback.
"Tell anyone what?"
"That we're siblings. Does anybody know…anybody?" She asked desperately.
"No, I haven't told anyone yet, why?" He asked, utterly confused.
Shannon relaxed immediately, all worry and anxiety gone as quickly as it had come. Her next words were surprisingly casual.
"Because I told the pregnant girl you were my boyfriend," she said nonchalantly, examining a fingernail.
Boone's mouth fell open and his eyes widened.
"Excuse me?"
"I. Told. Her. That. We're. Lovers." She said calmly, as if trying to make a child understand that playing with their daddy's knife is not a good idea.
Boone's face cracked into a grin as he began to laugh. And laugh. And laugh.
"You know, that's real funny Shan," he said after his laughter had died down.
Shannon sat down in the sand next to him.
"It's true," she began, "and you better not tell anyone otherwise, or we'll both be in deep shit."
Boone started at her, completely bewildered.
"You're not joking."
"Of course I'm not joking. Why would I joke?"
Boone stood up abruptly.
"Why the hell would you tell her that? You're toying with our life as though it's just a game," he shouted.
"She asked, and I felt like saying yes. And anyway, it doesn't matter. Nobody knows what we really are to each other. All we have to do is pretend. And," she added as a cruel afterthought, "we seem to be pretty good about pretending with this sort of thing."
"Yes," he said coldly, "you do."