Title: In Admiration - Part 26

Fandom: Lost

Characters: Jack Shephard, Boone Carlyle

Prompt: #23 Life

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

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It had been two days since their coming out, so to speak, and Boone was finding everyone strangely accepting of it. Well, everyone he knew, anyway. There was like forty of them crashed on the island, and Boone doubted he knew half of them. All in all, life was pretty much the same as it was before, except now with having to sneak off into the jungle whenever they wanted to be together, people now had a tendency to turn their backs and pretend they were doing something else whenever he and Jack were within five feet of each other.

Some of the new advantages of everyone knowing about their relationship included sleeping privileges. Last night he had gotten back from the hatch with Locke really late, and the second Boone showed up at the caves, Jack was hovering around him. Some days he got really irritated with Jack's over-protective manner, but then he needed it.

Locke had Boone chopping down trees, hacking the branches off the larger ones to make logs. They were trying to build something, but what it was, Boone had no idea, and Locke didn't seem to eager to tell him, which made Boone wonder why Locke kept dragging him back here at all. The man sure liked his secrets. Boone got to the caves absolutely exhausted, eating half a papaya and some fish before deciding he just wanted to go to bed. Jack didn't think Boone would be able to manage the mile or so walk back to the beach, so he stayed at the caves that night.

Sleeping with Jack felt nice, like they had a sort of quiet intimacy that transcended the kind forged by sex. Not that Boone wasn't interested in sex, but he wasn't used to sleeping with someone and only be expected to sleep. Boone didn't think he could have sex in the caves anyway. They echoed too much - might as well sell tickets and put signs on trees announcing what was going on.

Boone looked up from his spot on the beach to see Shannon running over to him, a genuine smile on her face. Boone started to feel a little worried. He wasn't used to seeing her happy, especially lately, so either a rescue boat showed up somewhere or she'd done something bad.

"I've been looking for you all morning!" Her voice sounded giddy as she plopped down next to Boone in the sand. "I totally made out with Sayid last night! We're like a couple now! Isn't that great?"

Boone's thoughts were stumbling over each other so quickly his mouth had a hard time deciding what order they should go in. His first thought was wondering what Sayid might have that Shannon would find useful getting her hands on. His second was maybe Shannon really was going to change and be better. His third was disbelief that they'd only kissed, and she hadn't slept with him yet. Then Boone wondered if she had tried but Sayid had some sort of religious holdups even though he didn't know if Sayid was even the slightest bit religious.

He must have taken too long coming up with an answer because Shannon punched him on the shoulder. "Can't you just be happy for me?"

"I'd be happy if I thought your intentions were good."

"Is that why you told him about how I go after older guys for their money?" Boone swore mentally, noticing how her eyes were welling up with tears. "How come everyone can get a new life on this island except me? You don't think I can change?"

"Shannon..." Boone sighed. "I don't think I've ever seen you pull through with anything, so I can be a little doubtful."

"Wow you are just like Sabrina," Shannon snapped, her voice filled with bitterness.

Boone was being unfair. Maybe Shannon really was tired of how she ran her life before the plane crash and really did want to change. She had been nicer to him lately, not expecting him to tend to Shannon's every need and actually doing things on her own. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I've just been a little-"

"Sexually frustrated and needed to take it out on me?" Shannon interrupted, and Boone winced at her phrasing. It made him think of that night in Sydney. "You guys still haven't had sex yet?"

"You haven't slept with Sayid yet."

"We've only been together for a day!"

Boone raised an eyebrow. "And that's stopped you before?"

Shannon scowled at him, but it was more playful. She didn't seem upset anymore. Picking on Boone had to be her most beloved pastime. "You wanna make a wager?"

"On what?"

"On who gets laid first," Shannon grinned, and Boone gaped at her in disbelief. "Oh come on, you were never this much of a prude before. Jack must be rubbing off on you. Oh wait! He isn't!" She giggled at her little innuendo.

Boone found himself pinching the bridge of his nose. "You can't make bets about sex, Shannon."

"Why not? Before you guys went public there was a pool going around about if Kate was going to sleep with Jack or Sawyer first." He felt his stomach drop out when Shannon mentioned Kate. Boone hadn't seen her in a while... He wondered how she took the news. "No one's told her yet," Shannon said as if she read his thoughts. "Between Hurley and Sawyer the whole island knows, but no one seems to want to tell her."

"Shouldn't someone say something? I mean...she flirts with Jack a lot. What if she tries something?"

"I think that's why they aren't telling her. I made the mistake of telling Charlie that if Kate ever tried to get in you and Jack's way I'd beat her up. I think Sawyer mentioned finding some disposable cameras in the wreckage that he'd be willing to trade for the right price."

Boone laughed. "I'll find markers or something and try to make Team Shannon T-shirts should that happen." He knew she was probably joking when she'd said that to Charlie, but it was nice hearing that Shannon was willing to watch after Boone like he had always watched after her. Maybe this really was a new life for both of them.