Title: In Admiration - Part 17

Fandom: Lost

Characters: Jack Shephard, Boone Carlyle

Prompt: #4 Firsts

Author's Notes: Written for the LiveJournal community slash100 (underscore between "slash" and "100" – for some reason FFN deletes it)

…………

Boone had been very glad that they didn't go to the hatch. He was feeling a little fidgety, which Boone figured was caused by residual excitement from the previous night's developments, and it was taking a lot of his energy to suppress it. Watching Locke teach Walt how to throw knives didn't bother Boone because Locke's attention was on Walt, not him, and if it had just been the two of them John definitely would have noticed how Boone was feeling and would have said something. Locke could be freakishly perceptive.

He clearly hadn't been thinking when he ended up tackling Michael and holding Locke's knife to his face. Boone was actually glad Michael hit him because Boone wasn't sure what he had planned on doing, and he definitely didn't want to think about it.

After Michael left with Walt, Boone thought they were going to go to the hatch, but John just pulled out a whetstone and got to work on sharpening his knife. Boone felt like he was being examined under a microscope from the look Locke was giving him, and he shifted nervously. "Go back, Boone, I won't need you today."

"Are you going to the hatch?"

Locke shrugged. "I might. You aren't."

"I want to help," Boone blurted out, but he wasn't sure why he was being defensive. He didn't really want to be out here. He also, though, didn't want John to think he was giving up.

"I understand that, but you've been distracted all day, and I'm sure Jack wouldn't like it if something happened to you."

Boone tried to read John's expression, to see if the other man really knew anything. "Why would it matter to him?"

"He's the doctor. Accidents happen when people aren't paying attention."

Boone nodded slowly, leaving without saying anymore. Locke didn't know anything. That or he was testing Boone to see if he'd tell him anything. There was no way he could have known, though, unless he'd followed Boone back to the beach. Or if someone else saw them and was telling everyone about it. Or Locke really didn't know anything and Boone was overreacting to a harmless statement.

He couldn't help but smile to himself when he got to the caves and saw Jack in the middle of filling up several water bottles. Boone was also surprised to see that no one was around. He went over to the pool, removing his own bottle from his backpack, and crouched down beside Jack. "You kick everybody out?"

Boone loved it when Jack smiled and even more so when the smile was directed at him, as it was now. "If I knew how to do that I would have been doing it for a long time now." Boone saw Jack's eyes move away from his own and down a little, and Boone realized his face was probably red if not already bruising where Michael had hit him. "What happened?"

"Tripped," Boone lied, feeling bad, but he didn't think Jack needed to know about what happened with Michael.

"Do you want to go for a walk?"

"Will there be kissing on this walk?"

"I think that's a likely possibility. There might even be making out."

Boone liked the sound of that very much. He shoved the water bottle back in his bag, trying not to look eager to hurry after Jack in some random direction in the jungle. "Is this your usual come-on? Going on walks?"

"No... But I'm also usually not stranded on an island after a plane crash with no hope of rescue when I'm on a date."

Boone smile broadened. "So this is a date?"

"If you want to call it that." Jack stopped, looking back to, Boone guessed, to see how far they were from the caves. He bent down, giving Boone a disappointingly chaste kiss on the lips that left him craving more. "You're going to have to bear with me. I can't exactly buy you drinks or take you out for dinner."

"I don't think that'll be a problem," Boone replied, happy from the smile he got from Jack, and even happier when Jack grabbed his hand to guide Boone through the jungle. "Are we going somewhere specific?"

"Just away," was Jack's response, and Boone didn't have a problem with it. Boone found himself paying attention to the jungle around them and the direction they were heading, thinking it would be really embarrassing to end up lost. He wanted to think he had picked up some tracking abilities from what Locke taught him. "This looks good."

Boone looked in the direction Jack was facing to see they reached an area that looked like it might have been near Hurley's makeshift golf course. The trees got thinner and then there was a large grassy area, but it still had some trees spaced intermittently. Boone's gaze was drawn directly to the white tarp that was suspended in the air, held up by sizeable sticks in the ground, vaguely resembling Sawyer's beach tent.

"Something tells me you planned this." Boone looked at Jack, touched by the gesture.

"I saw the shelters being built at the beach and had an idea."

"You did all this today?"

Jack nodded. "No one came to bother me about rashes, bug bites, stab wounds, or head injuries. So far it's been a good day."

Boone moved under the tarp, watching Jack follow him, and trying to keep his hormones from getting too out of control. "I think it could get better."

"I agree," Jack responded, and Boone felt his breath getting torn away as Jack's mouth covered his with a slow kiss. Boone savored the warmth and pressure of Jack's lips, opening his mouth a little wider to deepen the kiss, committing the taste and feel of Jack's mouth to memory.

Boone was having a hard time remembering the last man he'd been with who had treated him like he was worth anything, but he was having a hard time thinking as all of his senses absorbed Jack. When they moved to lie down, and Jack placed his arm under Boone's head so he wouldn't have to lay on the ground, Boone thought of how he could easily get used to this.