Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.
A/N: I just want to say that you guys are wonderful and sweet with your reviews and I'm happy that you're enjoying this story. I know that we'll be snapped back to the reality of Blindspot in another few weeks, but in the meantime, I'm perfectly happy to live in this little happy Jeller bubble.
When Jane and Kurt reached the water's edge, they paused, looking for Sarah and Sawyer. They found them not too far away, further out into the water and a little ways to the left. "The current pulled them down the beach a little bit," Kurt explained. "The further out you go, the stronger the current under the water is, and even if you try to stay still, it tugs at you. If you're out in the waves, like they are," he looked out at his sister and nephew, who were jumping over waves as tall as the eleven year old, "It can move you pretty far down the beach pretty fast."
Jane nodded, thinking, Check your surroundings, be aware of the current. Got it.
"But you're planning to come in the water with me, right?" she asked.
"Of course," he replied. He was perfectly happy to stay by her side the whole weekend. "I just wanted to make sure you knew."
Just then, as they were looking at each other, one of the bigger waves to hit the beach that morning happened to reach them, sweeping past their feet and licking at their legs well past their ankles. Jane's eyes opened wide in surprise and her grip on his hand tightened. "Wow! That's cold!" she gasped in surprise.
He chuckled at her, nodding, then said, "Yeah, the water along this part of the coast won't warm up until sometime in August. It's still early in the season…"
She looked back out at Sarah and Sawyer, who were almost fully immersed in the water. Sounding genuinely surprised, she asked, "And people swim in the water when it's this cold?"
Kurt smiled, and replied, "Some do. Some wait til later in the summer. But then, we probably won't be here later in the summer… It's been years since I was at any beach. Sarah will vouch for that."
"Too much work to do?" she asked him jokingly, knowing that that was exactly it – work never ended, and he never took time off. She didn't think he really wanted to take time off, either. At least, he'd never done it voluntarily that she could remember… Not that she did either – her only time away from work had not exactly been her choosing, after all. She looked over at him, but glanced up to keep track of the waves every few seconds.
He bobbed his head affirmatively, pretending that she didn't already know the answer. "Well, yeah… one case then another case… The bad guys never seem to take any time off, after all. Then one day we found this woman covered in tattoos… It was hard to think about anything else but her – work – after that."
Jane couldn't help but smile at him. "What made her so unusual?" she asked, playing along.
"Well," he began thoughtfully, "she needed our help, but she wanted to help us at the same time. We tried to explain to her that that wasn't how it worked… but, well, she wasn't really good at taking no for an answer."
"So you just gave in? That easily? You?" she asked in amusement.
"Not exactly," he said, remembering his annoyance when they needed her as their Chinese translator, and not just once on the same case. "We discovered that we needed her… And besides, there was always just… something about her. Stubborn as she was, I liked having her around." He thought back to their few arguments at the beginning, about the little things, like whether she would stay with the car… "Though it did take a little adjustment for all of us."
She was smiling at him, curious to see what else he would say. "The tattoos led us all over the place, getting to expose all kind of things that people were doing wrong. So not only did we get the chance to solve lots of new cases because of her, but we got… her. As part of our team." Glancing from the incoming waves and then back to him, she shook her head and chuckled in amusement at his oversimplified version of their history.
"What can I saw? I lucked out," he added.
"Hmmmm," she replied, not quite sure what to say. The change in pronoun – 'we' to 'I' – hadn't escaped her notice.
"As far as the water temperature goes…" he said, getting back to the topic at hand, "really, it's like anything else. You just have to get used to it." She looked at him skeptically, then back down at the water.
It's like anything else… you just have to get used to it, she repeated in her head.Well, she'd gotten used to lots of things in the past few years… all things considered, chilly water didn't seem like too big a deal. And she really did want to go swimming. After all, who knew when she'd get back to the beach again?
Just then, another wave rolled toward them. He tugged on her hand and they walked a few steps forward, and he watched her brace herself against the incoming water. She didn't react with as much surprise this time as she had to the first one, he noticed, and when he took a few more steps out into the water, she seemed to be fine with it.
This particular beach, referred to as Oceanfront, was relatively flat, and swimmers had to wade out a good distance in order to do anything that remotely resembled "swimming." This made it an ideal beach for all ages, since you could wade in the shallow water or go out deeper, as long as you were careful of the waves. Despite her initial reaction, it soon became apparent that Jane was not one of the people who would wait until the water warmed up in August before she went swimming. Before they knew it, they'd made it little by little out to where Sarah and Sawyer were jumping over the waves as they rolled in.
"Jane! Uncle Kurt!" Sawyer cried in surprise. "You guys came in!"
"Hey, buddy," Kurt said to his nephew, as Jane grinned, watching Sarah give her a knowing look.
They all stopped talking and paid attention to the incoming wave just then, since this one was noticeably taller than Sawyer – perhaps the tallest one yet. "You jump up just before the wave comes in," Kurt called to Jane over the sound of the water. She nodded, watching it, and glancing at him. Following his lead, just before the wave reached them she pushed off the bottom and rode the wave to the top, feeling Kurt squeezing her hand tighter. Everyone around them in the water, whether they knew them or not, looked elated as the wave passed by them on its way to crash into the shore. Within a minute, the water level returned to where it had been, below their shoulders, as if the wave had never been there at all.
Kurt looked over at Jane and saw that she looked just as excited at riding the wave as he'd hoped she would. He hadn't done this in years, and he remembered now how much fun it was, and how much he'd missed it. He could say the same thing about a lot of things in his life… he'd never been what he would describe as 'carefree' or 'fun loving' – most people would sooner call him 'serious' or 'hardworking' or 'trustworthy…' which, of course, weren't a bad things, but the fun things, the ones that most people tended to seek out, those were things that Kurt had tended to ignore in favor of, well, work. He'd been that guy for most of his life – serious, focused… It was strange now – in a good way – to actually enjoy the regular things that people tended to enjoy, like a day off of work at the beach, riding the waves. That difference, he knew, was all because of Jane.
For those seconds that they'd been riding the wave, Jane had felt like just another person at the beach, instead of the girl with "all those tattoos and no memory," as she knew it was so easy to classify her – especially the tattoo part. Looking around them, the water wasn't what she would call crowded, but there were a fair share of other people around them. When the big wave receded, her shoulders and back now visible again, she felt as though her bare skin was now drawing more attention than it had before – even though that probably didn't make sense. Those few seconds of normalcy had made the difference feel more pronounced.
It was a common push-pull inside her head. In familiar situations, like at home, she was accustomed to her tattoos and the level of attention they drew. Besides, she wore more clothes at home than she was currently wearing. Not only that, but in New York lots of people had one extreme style or another, so she didn't stand out quite as much. But here on the beach, where she was far more exposed than usual, it was different.
Kurt looked over at Jane to see that she had ducked down slightly, so that the water covered her shoulders. He crouched down beside her, bringing himself closer to her even though it meant having to bend his legs more than she did, since he was taller to start with. Only the tops of the bird on her neck were showing, and he wondered if she'd decided to lower herself into the water to cover her tattoos. While he wished that she didn't feel so self-conscious, it made sense. When the water reached her neck, she looked just like everyone else. Never mind that he didn't think she should aspire to be like everyone else, when she was so clearly extraordinary. When you had no choice but to be different, it was normal to crave the ability to blend in, to at least have the choice.
Standing at eye level with her was different, since usually he had a height advantage, and he couldn't help but turn and look straight into her eyes. She smiled at him, and now neither of them were paying attention to the waves rolling toward them… which was about to be a problem.
Without warning, there was a deafening roar as another huge wall of water crashed over them, except this time, they weren't riding it – this time, they were under it. Somehow they managed to keep their hands clamped together, both of their impulses when they were hit by the water having been to hold on tighter. Still, for a few seconds they flailed around, trying to right themselves and to find the surface. Possibly by virtue of his height alone, Kurt got there first, turning toward Jane and putting his free arm around her waist, pulling her up as quickly as he could. They were both gasping for breath, standing and leaning against each other when the wave passed.
"I think that might be enough waves for right now," she said, still breathless, and he nodded, reluctantly letting go of her waist so they could walk back toward shore. He made eye contact with Sarah, who stood nearby with Sawyer. She looked at him questioningly, and he just nodded at her – yes, we're okay – after which her eyes danced with laughter, and he got the feeling that she'd either seen the whole thing, or at least enough of it to figure out what had just happened. Wisely, she turned her attention back to the waves and her son as Jane and Kurt retreated. They made their way back toward the beach, several other waves hitting the backs of their legs as they walked through shallower and shallower water to the sand.
"And that," he told her as they reached the beach, their feet quickly becoming coated with tiny grains of sand as they walked back to their towels, "is why it's important to pay attention when you're swimming at the beach."
"Aren't you supposed to tell me these things beforehand?" she asked in her best pretend serious voice, letting go of his hand so she could sit down facing the water. He sat down beside her – close, but not quite touching her – grinning, and stretched his arms out behind him, leaning back on them.
Both of them were now soaked from head to toe, and he asked, "But what would be the fun in that?"
She turned and looked at him, shaking her head, and asked, "You know that's not the right answer, right?"
"But why not?" he replied, still grinning at her. She just shook her head at him, turning to look at the ocean and then pushing him playfully with her shoulder, without looking back at him.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there," she said, now looking over at her shoulder at him, and sitting back up. He just chuckled and laid back on the towel, folding his arms behind his head and closing his eyes.
"Tired?" she asked him, turning partway around to look at him.
"Yeah, for some reason," he replied without opening his eyes. "So go ahead and stare at me now while you have the chance. I don't mind." She blushed slightly, but then punched him playfully in the side. His smiled widened, but he still didn't open his eyes. "Oh come on, you know you want to… "
"I do?" she asked, sounding surprised. Do I? she asked herself. She was quickly losing track of reality vs. the line they were dancing back and forth on.
"Definitely," he replied, nodding confidently. "Oh, and If I don't wake up in another hour or so, would you put some more sunblock on me? Please?" He did open his eyes then, looking at her with a look that was both mischievous and innocent at the same time, waiting to see her reaction.
"You wish," she said, raising her eyebrows at him and smiling.
"No? Why not?" he asked, feigning confusion.
"Well… what's in it for me?" she asked, though she had a feeling she knew where this was going.
"Hmmm… well, I could return the favor," he suggested innocently.
"Not if you're asleep," she pointed out. He considered the information carefully… or did a good impression of someone who was considering it.
"Okay, so then we both take a nap, and then wake up and remember to put on more sunblock. So we don't end up sunburned," he said, looking at her as if it made all the sense in the world.
"But then what if neither of us wakes up in an hour?" she asked, knowing full well that he wasn't trying to make sense, only to be cute.
"I think we will. Besides, eventually Sarah and Sawyer will show up, and they'll wake us up to tell us how cute we are," he said, closing his eyes again.
She sat and looked at him, smiling, thinking more and more that his crazy sounding plan sounded good. He peeked an eye open at her.
"So?" he asked. He took his right arm out from under his head, laying it in the space beside him and patting the towel, then moving it out of her way, so it laid across his stomach. She shook her head at him, but turned and laid down on the towel beside him, her arms at her sides, angling her head just slightly so it rested against his shoulder. She closed her eyes against the glare of the sun, thinking that this plan of his actually did make a lot of sense. Feeling him shift slightly, she didn't bother to move or open her eyes, and so she was surprised when, a few seconds later, she felt his pinky hook itself around hers, the rest of his hand resting on the towel closer to him.
Wow, we really are disgustingly cute, she thought, smiling, but keeping her eyes closed. Without stopping to think about it, she curled the fingers of her left hand in slowly, so that their pinkies were wound more tightly together, feeling him do the same a few seconds later, wondering if she would be able to fall asleep when her heart was beating so fast.
She did fall asleep, and it didn't take long. When she woke up again, the first thing she noticed was the sound of the ocean. That's weird, she thought. Why do I hear the ocean? It took a few seconds, but it came flooding back to her. She suddenly became aware that her pinkie was still wrapped around his and her head still rested on his shoulder. Before she'd even opened her eyes she was smiling. And that was when she noticed the feeling that someone was watching her. Of course, there were lots of people on the beach, and thanks to her tattoos any one of them could realistically have been watching her – which was more than a little creepy. Still, that seemed less likely.
When she finally decided to open her eyes a minute or so later, lifting her head off of his shoulder to look around, she found that someone was indeed watching her – though it wasn't the Weller she'd expected it to be. Kurt was still sleeping, but Sarah was sitting on the other side of him on their line of towels, glancing back and forth between them and Sawyer, who was building a sandcastle just a little down the beach toward the water.
Jane smiled at her, slightly embarrassed, even though she had known that the likelihood of Sarah happening on them that way had been high. Kurt had even been counting on it. Sarah was grinning at her, as she'd been doing a lot since they'd picked her up back in New York, and she had obviously come to her own conclusions about what was happening between the two of them. Jane felt herself blushing slightly, but didn't mind. This was definitely a better kind of attention than she tended to inadvertently draw to herself.
"I swear, the two of you are just too cute," Sarah said, shaking her head. Jane shifted, trying to sit up without disturbing her left hand, where her pinky remained firmly wrapped around Kurt's. This proved more difficult that she'd expected, but she finally did accomplish it, placing the hand that was joined with his in her lap and facing Sarah.
"What time is it, anyway?" Jane asked, wondering how long she'd been asleep. She didn't think it could have been too long… The sun didn't seem to have moved in the sky, after all.
Sarah glanced at her phone, which was beside her. "About 10:30. We haven't been here too long," she replied. If Jane didn't know better, she'd say there was a glint in Sarah's eyes that said she knew Jane was asking out of more than just curiosity.
Please tell me that all the Wellers aren't psychic, she thought to herself.
Just then, she heard a woman's voice behind her yell, "Sarah?" and Sarah looked up, startled, her face erupting into an excited grin a second later. Sarah jumped up and skipped forward, obviously having just recognized the woman, moving toward her as quickly as she could. Jane turned and looked over her shoulder at the pair. Sarah's friend had long, straight dark hair and dark eyes, slightly tanned skin, and was holding the hand of a small girl who had to have been her daughter, because she was absolutely a mirror image of her, but in miniature form. Sarah had bent down to greet the girl as well.
Feeling a tug on her hand, Jane turned back around and looked down to see that Kurt was now awake, blinking at the scene around him, and probably the noise of the two women nearby, talking animatedly.
"Hey," he said, sleep heavy in his voice. Jane had to admit her heart skipped a beat just a little hearing that sleepiness in his voice… and combined with the way he was looking at her? She was lucky she could remember her own name at that moment. "What's going on here?"
"Apparently Sarah just ran into a friend of hers," Jane replied, though that much seemed obvious. "Sawyer's over there building a sand castle," she added, pointing to where Sawyer worked, appearing to be deep in concentration. Kurt glanced over at him, then nodded, looking back at Jane with a sleepy smile still on his face.
"And how are you?" he asked her. "Did you get a nap?"
"I did," she replied, unable to contain her smile after he made sure to ask how she was doing. "And then I woke up and Sarah informed me that we were too cute again."
He chuckled at that, and asked, "Can I call it, or what?"
They glanced back up at Sarah and her friend, who were moving towards the empty towels on the other side of Kurt to sit down. Kurt tugged on Jane's hand, their pinkies still looped together, pulling her closer to him. She had pulled herself all the way up to sit cross-legged, facing him, and now that he had tugged her closer, she sat with her knees against his side. With Jane nearby, Kurt could now push himself back up on his elbows without having to let go of the one finger of hers that he had possession of.
"Mara," Sarah was saying, "This is my brother, Kurt, and… that's Jane," Sarah said, nodding at her. Jane couldn't help noticing that no explanation of her identity was given, however, the reason was pretty obvious. The real story was long and complicated, and even the shorter version was still complicated, because what would she have said? "This is the FBI asset that my brother's in love with?" No, none of the three of them would have known how to classify Jane and Kurt's relationship. Luckily, however, the fact that they were almost holding hands took care of that for them, or so Sarah assumed. Mara could jump to her own conclusions.
Looking at Jane and Kurt, Sarah said, "Mara is a friend from college. How weird is it to run into her here, of all places?" Both Jane and Kurt nodded in agreement. It certainly was unlikely, after all. Meanwhile, Mara's daughter had settled herself right on the other side of Kurt, and was looking up at him intently.
"And this little peanut," Mara added, "is my daughter, Megan."
Megan continued to stare at Kurt, a smile slowly forming on her lips as she looked at him. "How old you are you, Megan?" Jane asked, noticing that the girl hadn't once taken her eyes off of Kurt since she'd sat down beside him. Without a word, and without looking away from Kurt, Megan slowly held up three fingers, one at a time, as if she was counting them out as she went.
"Three, huh?" Kurt asked, smiling back at her. She nodded shyly. Sarah and Mara dove back into conversation about how each of them had been, their mutual friends, and all the kinds of things that friends who haven't seen each other for a while tend to talk about.
Jane leaned down toward Kurt and said quietly, "I think you have an admirer."
He tilted his head up in her direction before she had a chance to sit back up, and nodded, replying seriously, "I think you may have competition."
"Oh?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "I'm one of your admirers, am I?"
"You're not?" he asked her, looking disappointed.
She just smiled at him, but then shook her head. "Sadly, there's no way I can compete with that level of cuteness," she said remorsefully.
"I don't know," Kurt said, looking at her as if he was pretending to consider whether she could compete with the three year old. "You're pretty cute, too." Jane grinned and shook her head at him.
"Hey, Megan," Kurt said to the girl. "We know a boy named Sawyer who's building a big sand castle over there," he told her. "Do you want to come and help him?"
Megan's eyes left Kurt for the first time as she looked back at her mother, asking for permission to go over to where the sand castle was being built. Mara smiled back at her. "Go ahead, I'll be right here," she told her daughter. They pushed themselves up, Kurt finally dropping Jane's hand to make standing up easier. Before she knew it, Jane saw Megan put her hand in Kurt's and tug him toward where Sawyer had at least half of a giant castle compound built. Jane followed behind them, smiling at how cute this little girl was, and even more than that, how in love Megan seemed to be with Kurt.
As the three of them walked away, Jane heard Sarah tell her friend, "My brother has been in love with her for the past two years, but this weekend is the first time I've even seen them hold hands… but there has always been something there." Though no one was looking at her – except possibly a few strangers looking at her tattoos – Jane felt herself blushing. She didn't really think that it was true… not really… though yes, maybe there had been something there all that time… but Kurt in love with her for the past two years? No… It was a little strange to hear that said out loud.
Sawyer was glad to see reinforcements coming to join his construction crew, and he set everyone to work right away – telling them which buckets to fill with which kind of sand, when to turn them over and where to put them, where to continue digging the mote that he'd already started… and on and on. Clearly he had a very specific vision for his castle. The whole time, Megan kept herself right beside Kurt, to Jane's amusement. The girl was so cute, and Kurt was very good with her, asking her to help him with things that a three year old could reasonably be expected to accomplish. Jane became Sawyer's main assistant, which included mostly filling buckets with sand.
Finally, the sandcastle complex was finished. "It's so fancy," Megan said softly beside Kurt, looking very much in awe at what they'd built.
Kurt chuckled beside her. "Yes, it is fancy, isn't it?" he asked. To Sawyer, he said, "The student has become the master. I'm very impressed, kid." Sawyer beamed happily, looking from his uncle to Jane.
"What do you think, Jane?" he asked.
"I can honestly say it's the most amazing sandcastle I've ever seen," she told him sincerely. She really hadn't seen many sandcastles, but she didn't need to mention that, of course. Sawyer looked more and more excited.
"I'm going to get my mom to take a picture of it!" he said excitedly, standing up and scrambling back to where Sarah and Mara were sitting and talking. A minute later, the two mothers walked around to the front of the sand castle, which faced the water, and stood beside Jane, who'd been standing there and admiring it as well.
"Wow," Sarah said, looking at all the details appreciatively. "Sawyer, I think this is your best one."
"I thought so, but I wasn't sure…" Sawyer agreed, grinning from ear to ear. "Can you take a picture of it? And of our construction crew?"
Sarah smiled in amusement, looking up at their 'crew.' "Of course," she said. "Sit down behind it, so I can see you and your masterpiece," she told him. She clicked her phone on and pulled up the camera, waiting for it to focus. She was getting ready to take the picture when Sawyer spotted Jane standing beside his mom.
"Mom, wait! Jane, come get in the picture!" he insisted. Jane started to protest, but Sarah rolled her eyes at her. "Go…" she instructed Jane, nudging her toward the group. "Go sit next to Kurt," she told her, knowing that that would convince her. Sure enough, the protest Jane had planned to voice was suddenly gone, and she walked slowly around the large sandcastle complex, past Megan, who'd claimed one side of Kurt, to the space between Kurt and Sawyer.
Kneeling down and shifting to move a mound of sand that was unexpectedly under her right knee, Jane put her right hand on Kurt's shoulder to steady herself. He glanced over at her, smiling with a warmth that immediately made her face flush. She not only left her hand resting on his shoulder after she'd finished dealing with the sand under her knee, but she let her forearm fall against his back, as well.
It wasn't until after the picture had been taken that Jane looked down and saw that Megan had climbed into Kurt's lap. Glancing at his face, she saw that he looked both very amused and very unsure what to do next. Sawyer had stood up and was talking with some other kids, who had stopped to admire their creation, and Sarah and Mara had walked back to the towels to sit down. "Hey Megan," Jane said to the girl, who looked at her slowly, not quite sure about this stranger who she clearly didn't like as much as she liked Kurt. "Do you want to go walk down the beach and look at another big sandcastle?" Megan just looked at her, her eyes wide, but didn't answer.
She looked at Kurt and shrugged, as if to say, I tried.
"Do you want to, Megan? All three of us?" he asked. He was amused to find that when he asked her, she nodded earnestly, right away. Jane just shook her head, rolling her eyes and smiling at Kurt, as he grinned back at her. "Okay then, let's stand up," he said. Jane stood up first, still balanced against his back and shoulder, letting go of him reluctantly. Megan stood up next, accepting only Kurt's help, and Kurt last. "Ok, let's just go ask your mommy, okay?" he asked her. Megan nodded and grabbed his hand without a word, tugging him toward where her mother and Sarah had settled back down to chat.
"Okay if we walk down the beach a little bit to that next sandcastle?" Kurt asked Mara as he was pulled, more forcefully than he'd expected, towards the women sitting on the towels.
"Sure," Mara replied. "Not too far, though. We need to leave in about…" she looked down at her watch. "…Twenty minutes."
"Not a problem," Kurt said, already being pulled away. He looked at Jane, who was standing a few feet from him. She'd been standing and suddenly wondering if she was about to be left behind with Sarah and Mara. Not that they weren't nice and everything, but…
Kurt stopped momentarily in front of her, though she could tell from the way he had braced himself that Megan was exerting a large amount of energy pulling on him. "You're coming with me, aren't you?" he asked, taking her hand. She chuckled as the two of them were pulled by a surprisingly strong three year old along the beach toward a small group of kids that appeared to be admiring another sandcastle, not too far away.
"I think she's in love with you," Jane said, leaning closer to him so that she could be heard over the waves and not have to raise her voice. He smiled, turning to look at her before she had a chance to pull back, and finding their faces suddenly very close together.
"Jealous?" he asked her, grinning broadly. She made a face at him and pushed her shoulder gently into his upper arm, trying not to make him lose his balance since he was holding Megan's hand, as well. She'd seen him with kids a few times, but never one so young, or who was so instantly and completely smitten with him. To Jane's surprise, he let go of her hand, but less than a split second later, he'd put his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. He leaned down to speak near her ear, and said, "Don't worry, you're still my favorite."
She could feel her cheeks getting warm, and she punched him gently in the arm, as she seemed to do quite a lot lately… after that, she simply leaned into him as they kept walking toward the group of kids ahead. They slowed to a stop as they approached, and Kurt's arm dropped from her waist, his hand finding hers once again.
At the center of the group of kids, they saw a girl with shoulder length wavy blonde hair, who appeared to be about Sawyer's age, telling the kids who had gathered around to look at her castle to back up, and not to touch it. It seemed like a safe assumption that that she was the builder of the castle, since she was so protective of it.
Megan turned and looked up at Kurt, her large, dark eyes filled with wonder, then she tugged at his hand once again. "Come on," she said over her shoulder to Kurt, not letting go of her grip on his hand. He turned and smiled at Jane, saying, "Apparently we're going closer." She just shook her head, giving him a teasing look but saying nothing, allowing herself to be pulled along behind Kurt and his new 3 year old best friend.
Megan found a closer angle from which she could look at the castle, admiring it quietly while the group of kids – all older than she was – talked excitedly around her. She listened to the chatter, listened to the girl who'd built the castle talk a little bit about it, and then finally she seemed to be satisfied with their excursion, tugging Kurt back in the direction of Sawyer's sandcastle, which had begun to attract a little bit of attention as well.
As they reached Sawyer's sandcastle, they saw that Mara and Sarah were now standing up, still talking animatedly. When Mara saw them, she waved, calling out to her daughter. Megan began walking toward her mother obediently, still holding onto Kurt's hand firmly. Jane let go of his other hand, which made him turn around and look at her in surprise. She was standing with the crowd of kids admiring Sawyer's sandcastle, and waved her hand in the direction of the girl's mother, indicating that he should go on without her, figuring that it was probably time for him to return the adorable little girl to her mother anyway. Megan's apparent love for Kurt was unbelievably cute, and only showed her once again how good he was with kids.
What she saw when they reached Mara and Sarah, on the other hand, was a little… unsettling. Megan didn't appear to have any intention of letting go of Kurt's hand, and as Jane tried specifically not to watch the exchange taking place not far away, attempting to concentrate on the other kids surrounding Sawyer, she found herself doing exactly the opposite. She watched as Mara spoke earnestly to Kurt, appearing to gush over something that Jane couldn't guess. How great he was with her? Perhaps. Asking him if he had kids of his own? Maybe. Checking his hand for a wedding ring? Somehow, just from looking at Mara, Jane couldn't help but think that it wouldn't surprise her if that was exactly what she was doing.
As Jane watched, Mara went so far as to put her hand on Kurt's arm, leaving it there while she was talking. Again, she forced her eyes away from the scene, glancing at Sawyer's castle, but her eyes went back to the three adults and one three year old of their own accord. Mara's hand was still on his arm, and she appeared to have leaned closer to him.
Kurt, to his credit, bent down to talk to Megan, thus freeing his arm from Mara's extended grasp. He couldn't see Jane, since he was facing away from her, but he had absolutely no doubt that she was watching, especially after Mara had seemed to attach herself to him. He couldn't know this woman's intentions, but his only intention was to get away from her. Now on Megan's eye level, he smiled sincerely at her.
"It was very nice to meet you, Megan," he said kindly. "but I think it's time to go with your mommy now."
Megan shook her head stubbornly, managing to still be adorable at the same time, the way only a three year old can. Kurt chuckled, now attempting to peel her fingers from his hand – how could a three year old be so strong, anyway?
"Okay sweetheart, give me a hug and then it's time to go, okay?" he asked her. Megan seemed to think about this for a few seconds, before she nodded and let go of his hand, attempting to reach her arms all the way across his shoulders. He chuckled at her, giving her a hug and then standing back up, folding his arms in an attempt to keep her from grabbing his hand again. Megan did not look happy.
"Thank you so much," Mara was saying again. "You're so good with her…" She laid her hand on Kurt's arm, just above his elbow, again, and looked as if she was about to say something else. A long few seconds went by, during which Mara simply stared at Kurt, to the point where he was definitely feeling awkward.
"Mara," Sarah's voice cut through the background noise of the waves, seagulls and children's squeals of delight around them.
"What? Oh, right…" Mara replied, straightening the bag on her shoulder. "So nice to meet you, Kurt. Have a great weekend." As she withdrew her hand from his arm – and he swore that she did it reluctantly – she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, then withdrew and, without looking at him again, turned and hugged Sarah, saying that she hoped that she'd see her soon.
Kurt was confused by Mara's behavior, but just looked down at Megan and smiled. The girl was still looking at him adoringly, now holding her mother's hand. He dropped his arms and waved to her, told both of them, "Nice to meet you," one more time, and then excused himself to walk back to Jane.
She wasn't used to the feeling she got while watching the exchange between Kurt and Mara. The only thing she could compare it to had been watching Kurt with Allie, despite the fact that logically she knew that it wasn't anything like that had been. Realizing that she wasn't going to be able to stand where she was standing and not watch them, Jane had turned and walked to the water's edge, wading a little ways into the water so that the tallest waves were hitting her just below her knees. She had her hands on her hips, for lack of anything better to do with them just then, not wanting to put herself into a completely defensive looking posture by wrapping her arms around herself, though she wanted to. There she stood, determined not to think about what was happening behind her – and so of course, thinking of nothing else.
He didn't see her by Sawyer's sandcastle, where he'd left her, which he didn't necessarily take as a good sign. Of course, she stuck out of the crowd and it was only a matter of seconds before he saw her, standing in the shallow water and looking out at the ocean. He splashed out into water after her, noticing as he got closer than she looked very… tense. He smiled, though he knew the situation wasn't funny from her perspective, because he couldn't help but find her annoyance… cute.
She was thinking too hard, she knew, but she didn't seem to be able to stop. The loud crashing of the waves seemed to match the deafening roar inside her head, though neither was saying anything in particular, only combining to elevate her stress level. You're being silly… no, ridiculous she told herself, but found that she was unable to listen to her own assurances.
And then, suddenly there was a splashing sound right behind her, followed quickly by arms wrapping around her bare waist, his face leaning down beside hers so that their cheeks were touching. Turning his face slightly toward hers, he asked, "What'd I miss?"
"Nothing," she sighed, leaning against him reluctantly. She did not like this feeling, whatever it was.
Don't you see how he's acting, silly…? the voice in her head told her. You have nothing to worry about.
Still… No, she didn't like this feeling one bit.
He couldn't be sure what part of the scene with Mara that Jane had seen, but judging from the tension he'd seen in her when he'd approached, and that he could still feel in her now, she'd seen more than she'd wanted to. He wanted to believe that she knew she had nothing to worry about when it came to him, but he also knew that Jane didn't have the experiences – at least in her memory – that most people did, and it was part of what made her so vulnerable. Whatever Sarah's friend, Mara, had been thinking… well, it didn't matter to him what she'd been thinking, and it was important to him that Jane knew that.
"It's not just Megan who's a fan of yours, I guess," he heard her say. "It must run in the family."
He smiled and turned his head just a little, which was enough to press his nose into her cheek. He held it there, breathing in and out against her. "You know it's all about you, right? Always has been."
She felt a strange sensation in her chest, like relief and falling at the same time. It was both comforting and scary all at once. It was what she wanted to hear, and yet…
Before she realized what he was doing, he'd tilted his head up slightly and kissed her cheek, slowly, letting his lips rest against her skin even after the actual kiss was finished. While slow, it still happened much too fast, she thought. Just like everything else between them, there was a depth of emotion in that tiny kiss that words wouldn't have conveyed even if he'd tried to use them.
She leaned against him for an extra few seconds, surprised, and realizing that she'd held her breath for a second. Not wanting that particular moment to be over, she turned reluctantly and looked in his eyes as he slowly pulled back to look at her. She noticed that the way he looked at her then was pretty much the same way he had looked at her almost from the beginning – she just hadn't always understood what it meant. With only a few exceptions, which were now firmly in the past, there was always unwavering devotion in his eyes for her… because that was how he felt, plain and simple. She couldn't help but smile back at him.
"You ready to go back in the water again?" he asked her, looking out at the waves. She glanced back out toward the horizon in the distance, and suddenly she felt his cheek leaning against hers again.
"Maybe," she shrugged, thinking that she was actually fine where she was. "But here's not so bad either." He chuckled at her, certainly not about to disagree.
"Then again," he said thoughtfully, "we should probably put on more sunblock before we go getting drenched again…"
She turned slightly to look at him in surprise. "Is it time already?" Not that she was complaining, of course.
"Just about," he said, though he actually had no idea what time it was. "Better safe than sorry, right?" he asked innocently. He could feel her shaking her head and chuckling at him without actually looking at her.
He finally unclasped his hands from around her waist and reached for her hand, and they walked back up the sand, past Sawyer, who was still enjoying his few minutes of fame, back to the towels. Sarah was standing there, looking from Sawyer, to the ocean, and now at them as they approached. She looked worried.
"Kurt, I'm sorry, I don't know what she was thinking," Sarah said as soon as they approached. "I mean, it was pretty obvious that you guys… I mean… I don't know…" Sarah didn't seem to be able to find any words that she was actually happy with, to her dismay. "I haven't seen her in years… so I really can't explain why…"
He just shook his head, grinning at his sister. "It's fine. I mean, I know I'm irresistible…" he said with a shrug and a smug look on his face, earning him a punch in the arm from Jane and a relieved eyeroll from Sarah.
"Oh, right, okay," Sarah replied, glad that her college friend didn't seem to have made any waves between Jane and Kurt. "Well, speaking of unpredictable people you meet on the beach, I'm just going to vet Sawyer's little groupies down there…" she said, starting toward the group of girls standing around Sawyer, a protective look on her face.
Kurt sat down the towel once again, and Jane did the same. He grabbed a bottle of sunblock and shook it, then tossed it aside after determining that it was empty. Picking up another bottle, he shook it and then began spraying it on his arms. When Jane held out her arms expectantly as he finished spraying his own arms, he sprayed hers too, and then they both rubbed the sunblock in. They repeated the process with their legs, shoulders and chests. "Lean back," he told her. "You need some on your stomach." She smiled and raised her eyebrows at him but said nothing – he wasn't wrong, after all – leaning back against her elbows with her legs out in front of her. The spray wasn't as cold as it felt on her back, but it did tickle, making her jump a little, and he chuckled as she made a face, and then rubbed it into her skin as he just watched her in amusement.
She sat back up and saw him grab the face lotion bottle, squeezing it into his hand and then to her surprise, turning to her. "Better let me handle this," he told her.
"Oh yeah?" she asked. "Why's that?"
He was already gently dabbing the sunblock on her face. "Because you," he told her evenly as his fingers moved over her face, "are terrible at it." She tried to pretend to be offended, but she just ended up laughing. "Hold still," he told her, putting his palm against her cheek to stop her from moving. "I don't want to get it in your eyes – and trust me, you don't want that either."
"Okay. Sorry," she replied, though she was definitely not sorry for moving after his hand had gone to her cheek. She attempted to be serious again, as directed, but simultaneously wanted to move more so that he'd put his hand up against her cheek again. He continued to swipe gently at her skin, and she closed her eyes only when he worked on the area around her eyes. Otherwise, it was simply more fun to watch him.
Finally, after what was probably a far more thorough job than was necessary, he withdrew his hand and squeezed more sunblock onto it, this time swiping it quickly across his own face. A minute or so later, he stopped and looked at her intently, waiting for her to inspect his work. "So, how'd I do?" he asked. She just shook her head. Of course she couldn't be sure, but she suspected that he'd done less work on rubbing it in that time than the previous time, leaving her more of an excuse to rub his face as well.
She grinned at him, shaking her head, but he feigned innocence and just smiled at her as she rubbed in the white streaks on his face. Even though she'd watched him just as intently while he'd rubbed the sunblock on her face, she felt slightly self-conscious about how closely he was watching her just then. Now finished, she withdrew her hand slowly from his face and wondered if she was blushing yet again. It seemed to be a constant with her this weekend.
"If you lay on your stomach, I'll get your back," he said, breaking into her thoughts.
He says that so innocently, she thought. Not that she thought he meant anything else by it, but… she looked at him for a few second, and then slowly lowered herself onto her stomach, preparing to be assaulted by the icy sunblock.
She gets flustered so easily, he thought as she looked at him before turning to lay down. He found it endlessly amusing. "Ready?" he asked, once she was situated.
"I guess so," she replied, as he watched all of the muscles in her back tighten.
"Hmmmm… Let's see if this helps," he said, laying his left hand on her lower back. He let it sit there for a second, noticing that she seemed less tense, at least for the moment. "Okay?" She just nodded. He started spraying her upper back, and then, when that was finished, switched hands so that he could rest his right hand on her upper back, slowly rubbing in the sunblock while his hand was there, and sprayed her lower back. Finished spraying, he asked, "Was that any better?"
"Yes, it was," she said, resting her head on her folded arms, facing him. "For fear of feeding your already oversized ego, that was brilliant."
He turned his attention to rubbing in the sunblock on her shoulders, then working his way down her back. I need to remember to buy Sarah dinner, or wine, or something, he thought. This may be the best way possible to spend a day off of work. When he finished rubbing the sunblock in, he was once again distracted by tracing the lines of her tattoos, which he thought he could do for hours. He glanced up and saw that her eyes were closed, and the longer he traced her tattoos, the bigger the smile on her face until finally she opened her eyes and picked up her head slightly, looking at him.
"I'm not complaining about what you're doing," she told him, "but I get the feeling that it has nothing to do with sunblock anymore."
Laying his hands down flat against her skin, he laughed and replied, "I have no idea what you're talking about." She looked at him skeptically, holding in a laugh.
"Alright, well I'll stop then," he said. "It's my turn anyway." He laid down on his stomach beside her, passing her the bottle of sunblock.
She sat up, realizing that she probably shouldn't have said anything and just let him continue with what he was doing. Next time, she thought, and then immediately thought, Oh really? Next time, huh? He was watching her, she realized, with an amused look on his face. Picking up the bottle of sunblock, she shook it while considering whether to try out his new technique. He hadn't complained about the cold on his back, however, somehow she didn't think he would dislike her hand there, either. Again, knowing that he was still watching her and was probably quite amused by now, she slowly laid her left hand on the middle of his back and began spraying… because why not? It was a relatively safe bet, after all. Making a point not to glance back at his face, figuring that he'd just be chuckling about her, she got on with it.
He felt her hand on his back before she started spraying, and he smiled. He'd wondered if she was going to copy his idea, even though the cold on his back hadn't bothered him much. You certainly wouldn't hear him complaining about his hand on her back. She sprayed the sunblock slowly and methodically all over his back, and then took her time rubbing it in, just as he had done. She could say almost for sure that neither of them was going to end of sunburned – or, if they did, it wouldn't be for lack of trying not to.
Finally, she lifted her hands off of his back, slowly, laying down on her stomach beside him. His eyes were closed, but when she laid down beside him and folded her arms under her head, just the way he had, their elbows touched and he opened his eyes. Suddenly he was looking directly into her eyes, and it surprised her for a second, so that she almost forgot to breathe.
Since when did I have to remember to breathe?
Easy, the voice in her head replied, since you two finally figured out there was something between you. Which, by the way, took way longer than it should have…
This thought made her smile without even realizing it.
"What?" he asked. She looked at him in confusion, which made him chuckle. "What's with the big goofy smile on your face?" She pretended to narrow her eyes at him.
"What? Aren't I allowed to be mysterious? Besides, I'm pretty sure you already know," she said.
He scooted his head closer to her, though still resting on his arms. "What do I know?" he asked, now almost whispering.
She just smiled at him, shaking her head slightly. Nope, she thought, not out loud. "Should we go back in the water?" she asked him, changing the subject and smiling innocently.
"Do you want to?" he replied.
"Well, it's fun… we just have to pay more attention to the waves," she grinned.
"I'll try," he said, "but you're very distracting."
"I am not," she protested, laughing. What in the world was he talking about?
"Then why am I so distracted by you?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her, challenging her to find another explanation.
"I don't know," she shrugged. "Maybe you should get that checked out." She bit her lip to hold back her laughter.
Looking at her thoughtfully, he said, "I don't know… I don't think it's curable."
"That's a shame," she replied, trying to pretend to look sympathetic while remembering to breathe. Because he wasn't really saying…
If you don't already know that that's what he's saying, and that the same applies to you too, for that matter, you're worse off than I thought, the voice in her head told her.
"No, not really," he replied, staring at her mischievously. "I'm totally okay with it." Neither of them spoke for a moment. They were both suddenly unwilling to take the game they were playing any farther than they already had. The look on her face made him wonder if he'd already gone one step too far, so he just smiled at her, the same earnest smile that he'd always reserved only for her, and watched her face relax with relief.
You should know better than to worry like that, she told herself. He would do anything for you, and you know it.
She relaxed and smiled, feeling silly for worrying. "So… back in the water?" she asked again. "We are at the beach. It's what we're supposed to do here."
"If it will make you happy, then sure," he said, pushing himself up slowly. She turned over and reached up to take the hand he offered her, pulling her up.
Once she was standing, she let go of his hand quickly then exclaimed, "I'll race you!" before suddenly turning and sprinting toward the water. He shook his head and took off after her, thinking that either way, he'd already won.
