Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.

A/N: This chapter took a backseat to The Aftermath for a few days, but now that that one is done, I can give this my full attention. And for those who've wondered if I'm going to continue I See You (several people have asked lately), the answer is yes. I've had so many Blindspot fics going this summer, that one got a little bit left behind… but I promise, I will get back to it soon.

Jane had already dashed out into the water, significantly farther than Kurt had expected, by the time he caught up with her. The waves were larger than usual that day, as they'd already discovered the hard way, though at that moment the water lapped gently against her mid-section. However, they could see the ones that would require their full attention rolling in.

"Hey," he said, finally catching up with her and stopping at her side. "You're out here pretty far… the waves out here are going to be…"

"Crazy, yeah," she agreed, an excited twinkle in her eyes as she glanced up at him, her eyes immediately going back to the water ahead of them. She'd learned her lesson, after all. "Just keep your eyes on the waves this time, Weller," she told him jokingly.

"Hey, I think you were as guilty of that as I was," he replied, pretending to be offended. A wave approached, growing bigger the closer it got. He glanced at her quickly in anticipation.

"Eyes on the water," she repeated without looking at him, somehow knowing that he was looking at her instead of ahead of the waves.

"Fine," he mumbled, stepping behind her and putting his arms around her waist. Then in a low voice in her ear, he asked "Happy now? My eyes are on the water." To say that she was surprised would have been an understatement, but she didn't have time to focus on that, because just then the wave rolled toward them. They pushed off of the sandy ocean bottom simultaneously to ride to the top of the wave together, the current depositing them farther down the beach than either of them had expected.

She turned her head slightly, towards him, brushing the scruff on his face with her cheek, finding that his face remained very close to hers. "Now who's not watching the water?" he said, again into her ear, and she felt a shiver run down her spine. This had to be some kind of dream, obviously – the whole weekend. It couldn't really be happening… They weren't the same Jane and Kurt who worked together at the FBI, who had successfully avoided any and all progress in any relationship – or anything like a relationship – between them for the past two years (though they'd had a little help messing things up that first year). Or maybe it was just because they were at the beach? What were they going to—

"Think later," he said into her ear, "Right now, jump." And with that, before she had a chance to even turn her head, she felt him lift her off the ground, pulling her to the top of the water, where another wave was cresting just exactly where they were. She watched the horizon ahead of them while they rode the wave, feeling like he was holding onto her a little tighter that time.

Well, to be fair, it's good that he was, because you weren't paying attention, which you had just told him to do, the voice in her head told her mockingly. She had a feeling she was not going to hear the end of that one.

As soon as their feet touched the sand, he was speaking into her ear again. "I'm sorry, what were you saying about watching the waves? Something about paying attention…?" She couldn't help but smile, and leaned into him unconsciously.

"Did I say something? Sorry, I don't remember…" she replied, pretending to be confused, and meanwhile staring out at the next wave, already approaching. While it was hard not to turn and look at him, she was liking this technique of riding the waves much better than just holding hands and hoping the current didn't separate them…

He shook his head, chuckling, both of which she could feel because they were so close together. It really was perfect, and she begged herself not to overthink it. Not to think about it at all, actually, simply to rise and fall with the waves along with Kurt. Surely, at least for a little while, it could just be that simple…

They rode the waves this way for quite a while. It wasn't long before he'd lost count of how many waves had come and gone since they'd started, and that fact alone told him that they were probably a significant distance down the beach from where they started. After their feet once again touched the sand after a particularly big wave, she heard him say reluctantly, "We should check how far we've moved from where we started… we probably need to walk back before we end up miles away." Even though she knew he was right, she hated the idea of stopping what they were doing, of separating from him, even though they would be walking less than a foot away from each other. Even that was too far away.

Her face contorted in displeasure, and she looked at him sideways. The look on her face was one he could only describe as a glare, as she replied, "I've taken a vote, and the answer is 'no.'"

Continuing to look straight out at the water, he replied into her ear, his voice full of amusement, "You've taken a vote, have you? And who did you ask, exactly?"

"Just me," she replied, as if it was completely obvious.

"You didn't want to ask my opinion?" he asked jokingly, pretending to be offended. "Aren't I a part of this?"

"You already said that you want to get out of the water, so your vote doesn't count," she replied, not caring how childish she sounded, and feeling his laughter against her back as her ears filled with the noise of the next wave, quickly approaching.

"As if you could get rid of me that easily, Jane," he growled in her ear, resting the tip of his nose against her earlobe for a split second before returning his attention to the approaching wave. "After this one, we take a break," he announced, just before her ears filled with the sound of water and they pushed off of the ocean floor together, sailing toward the crest of the wave.

Definitely a dream, she thought, trying to enjoy that one last wave to the fullest. It was behind them – literally – far too soon, of course, and Kurt dropped his arms from around her and pulled her by the hand out of the water. Fine, she thought, finding that she was more tired that she'd expected to be after so much swimming against the current. They made it to the beach and wove in between the kids running, splashing and building sandcastles along the shore, as well as the wide variety of adults along the increasingly crowded beach. It wasn't a surprise that so many people were out. It was the beginning of a summer weekend, it was now late morning, and the weather was perfect.

They walked slowly, not in a rush. Jane was once again trying not to feel self-conscious about her tattoos, and yet not really able to completely avoid it. It had been such a relief to be up to her neck, or even just her mid-section, in water, that coming back out of that water almost made her feel more exposed than she had before she'd gone in. Some of the looks she got from people around them were hostile, others curious, while some people just stood and stared, mouths open. Kurt, as usual, was very aware of what was going on, especially when he felt her hand stiffen in his and saw her jaw clenching, even as she plastered a smile on her face. Nothing can ever be easy for her, he lamented in annoyance.

They'd ended up farther down the beach than even he'd expected, and he was looking for familiar landmarks among the hotels on the boardwalk when he saw a giant statue along the edge of it, not far ahead. It not only told him where they were, but reminded him that this was a landmark that he'd been meaning to show her. He remembered reading about that statue at some point…

"Hey, take a look over there," he said, tugging gently on her hand and pointing his free one towards the huge structure that towered over the boardwalk. The people surrounding it looked like tiny models of people beside it.

"What is it?" she asked, completely in awe.

"It's a statue of King Neptune, ancient Roman God of the Sea," he told her.

"God of the Sea?" She tried not to sound as frustrated as she felt just then. Somehow she was sure that it if her memory hadn't been wiped, she would know something about this. Sometimes she wondered what else she didn't know, things that small children probably learned in school, and the thought made her cringe. There was nothing she could do about it, however, so she tried to push the thought from her mind.

"Yeah," Kurt replied, "the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans believed in Gods and Goddesses of, well, just about everything. The Romans called the God of the Sea Neptune. The Greeks called him Poseidon." Her hand had already been slightly stiff in his, and at his explanation, he felt the tension increase. Not everyone in the world knew about ancient Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, of course, and he wished that she wasn't so hard on herself about the fact that she needed him to explain them to her. Then again, of course, that was easy for him to say. She needed so many things explained to her, even now, more than a year after she'd been with the FBI, and he couldn't begin to imagine how frustrating that was.

"Let's go grab our towels, and go check it out," he suggested, noting that she nodded, but didn't say anything. They had to walk the equivalent of several more blocks before they found their things, carefully picking up two of the towels that were spread out there, so that they didn't disturb the rest of their belongings. Kurt also grabbed his phone, just in case, and as almost an afterthought, grabbed both of their sandals. Then they began backtracking toward the statue, cutting back up the beach toward the boardwalk.

They walked the rest of the way to the statue in silence, as he traced his thumb back and forth against hers, hoping it would help her relax even a little. This part of the sand, just before they reached the stairs, was the more frustrating part, where it was so dry that it shifted under their feet as they walked, slowing their progress to the equivalent of a crawl.

Jane had already been frustrated, and had to make a conscious effort to keep from letting the shifting sand irritate her. No, she thought, I refuse to let any of these trivial things spoil what has been, in half a day, a perfect weekend already. Mercifully, they reached the four stairs that led them off the sand and onto the concrete boardwalk, where Jane could once again focus on the annoyance of being stared at for her tattoos. She had given up on trying to walk through the sand while keeping her towel wrapped around her, since it just kept falling off, instead draping it over her shoulders loosely so that it hung down over both shoulders. She had resigned herself to the fact that it didn't matter how she positioned it anyway, there wasn't nearly enough of it to cover her tattoos and stop people from staring at her.

When they reached the top of the four steps that separated the beach and the boardwalk, Kurt put their sandals down on the pavement in front of them so they could slip them on. She was very glad he'd thought to bring them, because the cement of the boardwalk was only a few degrees cooler than the surface of the sun, or so she decided. Just more proof that Kurt thinks of everything, she thought.

She took a deep breath and walked toward the statue, willing herself to ignore the crowd of people around her. Now that they had made the transition from the beach to the boardwalk, she felt even more exposed in only her bikini than she had on the beach. Of course, there were plenty of people walking on the boardwalk in only their bathing suits, but there weren't as many as there were on the sand, which was a few steps away. And none of them were covered neck to foot in tattoos.

It doesn't matter, she told herself, focusing on the giant statue in front of them and willing herself to actually believe it.

They approached King Neptune slowly. It seemed that the base of the statue was a popular place for people to stand and have their pictures taken, and it was a few minutes before they were able to walk up to the figure without jumping into someone's vacation photo.

When they did, Jane ran her fingers over the metal octopus that was built into the bottom left corner of the rocks at the base of the statue. Those rocks made up the throne on which the sea god sat. Looking up above her head, she saw large metal fish, also attached to the rocks so that they appeared to be swimming by. Above that and slightly to the right, King Neptune rested one larger than life hand on the back of a giant turtle, as he sat up tall and surveyed those who approached his ocean from the road. It truly was impossible to get a good view of the structure from right in front of it, it was so massive.

Kurt watched her take in the details of the statue from a few feet away, and his smile widened as she then turned around to beckon him to join her. "It's impressive, isn't it?" he asked, walking up beside her and looking up for a minute. He turned to scan the people nearby, then stepped away from her to ask a nearby woman to take their picture in front of the statue. The woman agreed and he handed her his phone, then she quickly stepped back obligingly to do so. Kurt tugged on Jane's shoulder to get her to turn around, then quickly hung both of their towels on the railing beside them and slipped his arm around her, smiling for the picture.

She turned in surprise, looking at him questioningly. "Are you sure you want evidence?" she asked, glancing down quickly at his hand on her waist. He was technically her boss, after all.

He responded by pulling her closer and whispering, "Smile for the picture, Jane." She did, and the woman then walked toward them to return Kurt's phone to him.

"I took a few," the woman told him. "You guys are really cute together."

"Thank you," Kurt told her sincerely, turning to Jane and reaching around her for their towels. He could have stepped all the way around her to get them, but, well, any excuse to lean closer to her was something he would take advantage of if given the chance. He put his hand on her back and guided her a few feet away from the statue so that someone else could have a turn in front of it, leaning back against the railing that lined the short drop off from the cement to the sand.

"Let's see if these are any good," he said, leaning towards her so that she could see the pictures that had just been taken of them as well. Without giving it a second thought, she leaned closer to him, letting her head drop against his shoulder. He turned toward her, unable to keep from smiling, then looked back at his phone.

It turned out that the woman had done an excellent job of getting the entire statue in the picture, despite how tiny it made the two of them look in comparison. She had taken several shots, including a few candids that showed the conversation they'd had before turning to smile at the camera. His favorite was one where they had turned toward each other, when she'd asked him if he wanted evidence. When he zoomed in, he could see the two of them looking at each other intently, as they so often did. The others were good as well, but that one of the two of them was his favorite.

Once again feeling self-conscious, Jane attempted to wrap her towel around her waist – not that it did much good in the way of making her less conspicuous, of course – only to have it fall down again almost immediately. Kurt smiled as he watched the battle she was having with her towel, then stepped closer to her to help out.

"May I help you with that?" he asked, catching the edges of the towel just before it fell down for a fourth time in only a minute or so. He stood very close to her, his hands holding onto the towel, his thumbs on the inside of the towel, against both the material of her bikini bottom and the skin just above it, waiting for her response before he proceeded.

Looking up at him, she simply nodded in amusement. This line that they were dancing on was a lot of fun, she couldn't help but think. Holding her hands up in the air as a sign that she wouldn't interfere, she looked at him innocently. "Be my guest," she said. "Clearly I'm failing at this, but I'm sure that you're an expert."

"That's right," he replied seriously, but there was laughter in his eyes.

"I'll stay out of your way," she promised, draping her arms loosely over his shoulders and looking down to watch him wrap the towel far more tightly around her waist than she had.

He'd been surprised when she'd rested her arms on his shoulders, but you certainly wouldn't hear him complaining. As he wrapped the towel tightly around her waist, he paused to look back up at her as she hesitated to meet his eyes. He watched her for several seconds before she glanced up at him shyly.

For a second she wondered if she should have just let her arms hang down, but when she finally looked at him, his smile told her otherwise, and he continued to pull the towel around her waist with one hand while holding it securely with the other. Finally, he tucked the loose end securely inside, and she wondered if it was her imagination, or if he was purposely moving in what felt like slow motion.

Her arms were still draped over his shoulders when he finished, and she glanced back down at the towel that he'd so expertly fastened for her, noting that his hands rested gently on either side of her waist. His thumbs rested against her skin, moving back and forth ever so slightly, the rest of his fingers on the towel. "Hopefully that will stay up for a while," he told her as they looked at each other again, both very much aware of not only his hands, but also her arms laying across his shoulders.

"Thanks," she smiled at him, not moving. She wondered fleetingly if she should move, or just stand there, feeling very foolish, with her hands dangling behind his head. The problem was, the movement of his thumbs on her skin was making her feel slightly dizzy, and she wondered if he was doing it on purpose. She closed her eyes for a second, unable to help herself, and when she opened them again he was looking at her with a knowing smile.

"Should we go back and see what Sarah packed for lunch?" he asked her, not looking away.

"No," she replied without a second's hesitation. Actually, she would do almost anything to stay in that exact spot for the foreseeable future.

He couldn't stifle a burst of laugh at her immediate reaction, and decided to pretend he didn't know exactly the effect he was having on her. Feigning confusion, he asked, "Oh, aren't you hungry yet?"

She narrowed her eyes at him playfully, shaking her head. "I am, but I'm okay for now."

"Just okay?" he asked innocently.

"Shut up, Weller," she growled at him, wanting to punch him playfully, the way she usually did when he teased her like this, but not wanting to move.

"We could go get frozen yogurt, or ice cream…" he said thoughtfully, as if she might change her mind if he found the right incentive. She just stared at him, shaking her head slightly. "No?" he asked. "Hmmmm." Just then they heard the sound of his phone buzzing, signaling that he had a text.

Wait, where is his phone, anyway? she wondered. She watched as he removed his right hand from her waist, using that hand to undo his towel, which he'd wrapped around his waist the same way he'd secured hers. Draping the towel over his right shoulder, and her left arm, instead, he reached into a pocket she hadn't even noticed at the bottom of the leg of his bathing suit, removing his phone.

He unlocked the screen, then looked at it for a second before telling her, "Apparently Sawyer wants us to come back and eat lunch so we can go play mini golf with them." He slipped his phone back into his pocket and replaced his hand on her waist, his thumb immediately resuming its slight movement. "So what do you think?"

"Isn't it too early for lunch?" she asked in agitation, about ninety-nine percent sure that he was torturing her on purpose now.

"It's almost noon," he said, once again smiling innocently at her. Leaning back all the way against the railing, he tugged her towards him until they were suddenly only inches apart, at most. His hands were no longer on her waist, his arms now encircling her instead. "Come on," he said softly to her, "it'll be fun."

She wasn't sure how much of his intentional teasing she could take, what she did know was that she didn't seem to be able to disagree. It sounded like fun – though maybe not quite as much fun as what they were doing at that moment... And now that she thought about it a little more rationally – which was only possible because he'd stopped what he'd been doing a second ago– she was hungry.

Sighing dramatically, she rolled her eyes at him. "Okay," she finally agreed, knowing that he was endlessly amused with her reactions to him. That part was now pretty obvious. She let her arms fall slowly from his shoulders, taking a few tentative steps beside him and noticing that the towel he'd wrapped around her was remaining tightly secured.

They made their way down the steps once more, and she silently cursed the dry sand again, trying not to frustrate herself too much as she struggled to walk in it. His hand found hers, tugging gently to slow her down, and she remembered what he'd told her about this part of the sand, that fighting to walk faster would only make her more frustrated. Slowing down to walk beside him, she immediately felt better – because the walk seemed easier, and also, simply because the closer to him she was, the better she felt in general. Just like she pretty much always had.

When they approached the spot on the sand where they'd left their things, Sawyer jumped up and ran the last few feet to meet them. "Jane! Uncle Kurt! Are you going to come with us to play mini golf?" To say that he was excited would be an understatement. "Of course we are, buddy," Kurt told him. Jane couldn't help but smile. When she glanced at Sarah, she swore from the look on her face that Sarah wanted to say something to her… or that she knew something she was having trouble keeping to herself. Jane smiled slightly uneasily at the other woman, fairly sure that the two of them were the subject of her gleeful smile.

Kurt had laid down his towel in the sand once again, and Jane knew that she should do the same… except that she hated to undo his work. She still couldn't believe that it had stayed fastened so tightly. Her hand rested on the spot where the corner was tucked securely underneath, but she couldn't bring herself to pull on it. However, as she watched him sit down, Sawyer immediately flopping down beside him, she realized that she could always ask Kurt for his help securing it again later. Yes, that would definitely be something she'd need help with…

Just like that, she laid her towel down and walked around to the cooler to help Sarah distribute the food she'd packed.

"There," Sarah told her, giving her first sandwiches, then bottles of water, "those are for you and Kurt."

"Thanks," Jane replied, walking around to her towel, at the far side of the rectangle that they'd made by laying the towels down next to each other. Kurt was engrossed in conversation with Sawyer, leaned forward slightly with his back to her, so she simply held one of the two water bottles, dripping with condensation, or possibly melted ice, above the center of his back. She only had to wait a few seconds before the droplets hit his skin, and he whipped around quickly to find the source.

"Need some attention?" Kurt asked her in amusement.

"Not at all," she replied innocently. "Just holding your water for you."

"Very nice of you," he grinned, taking the water from her and shaking his head. She handed him his sandwich at the same time, then sat back and listened as Sawyer jumped right back into his story, demanding his uncle's full attention. Jane stretched her legs out in front of her, looking out at the ocean as she ate her sandwich.

When she finished eating, she leaned back against her elbows, her mind wandering. The waves were still crashing loudly, as they'd been doing earlier when they were out in them, and she found that it was surprisingly easy to be mesmerized by them. Before she knew it, she saw Sawyer dash towards the water, Sarah trying her best to keep up with him.

Looking over at Kurt in surprise, she saw him grin back at her. "Sarah convinced him that the adults needed another half hour before mini golf, so they went back to play in the water."

"Your sister is a saint," Jane mused. Sawyer was adorable, but he was a little too energetic for her just then.

"I'm not sure I'd go that far, but she's been incredibly… helpful this weekend," he agreed with a crooked grin, winking at her.

She smiled, glancing back at the ocean. He'd turned over his shoulder to talk to her, and when she'd looked away he'd taken the opportunity to lean back in her direction, so that suddenly she was surprised when she realized that he was using her as a pillow, his head leaned against her outstretched legs slightly about her knees.

"Comfortable?" she asked him, looking down and tilting her head slightly to her left, trying to match his angle.

"Yes, thanks," he smiled up at her. She transferred her weight to her left hand, moving it slightly to the right to brace herself better, and then, not quite sure what possessed her, she sat slightly forward just enough to lay her right hand hesitantly over his heart, feeling it beating from inside his chest. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, though not enough to actually take back the gesture, she kept her eyes on her hand, and watched as his right hand came up slowly and covered hers. Smiling shyly, she took a chance and glanced at his face, finding him watching her intently – as usual. She felt like she should say something. She wanted to say something… but no words would come out. As she often did, she bit her lip unconsciously, then felt him squeeze her hand.

She realized only then that the 'hand over the other's heart' was a flashback to the first weeks after they met, to the two separate "you're my starting point" declarations. It hadn't been something she'd done consciously, and she wondered if it had occurred to him, as well. The way things seemed to work between them, it probably had. He had a tendency to know what she was thinking, or to think it himself even before she even got a chance.

As her thoughts cleared slowly, she noticed that his hand was moving slowly back and forth over hers. Neither of them had spoken for quite a while, when suddenly he smiled mischievously. "What?" she asked him, knowing he was thinking of something specific.

"I was just thinking," he replied, "that we're going to need more sunblock before we play mini golf." She could feel herself blushing almost immediately, to her annoyance. She picked up her water bottle, but then realized that she couldn't open it with only her free hand, and set it back down, flustered. He watched her in amusement, holding out his left hand to her. "Let me hold it for you," he said. She handed him the bottle, which he held still while she twisted off the top, dropping the small, round piece of plastic back on the towel beside them and then taking the bottle from him in her left hand.

"Thanks," she said, taking a drink, then holding it out to him. "Do you want some?"

"Sure," he replied, taking the bottle carefully in his left hand, and lifting his head slightly off of her leg so that he could drink without spilling. She immediately felt a chill on her skin where his head had been, and though it had been the polite thing to do, she regretted offering him the water, since it had led him to sit up. A minute later, however, he leaned back gently against her leg, holding the bottle up. "We should probably put the top back on now."

"Yep, hang on," she replied, reaching across herself to pick up the top, which sat on the towel to her right, with her left hand. She then attempted to screw it back on with what was her non-dominant hand, which was something of a comedy routine. It definitely wasn't as easy as getting the top off had been. After a few failed attempts, she eventually succeeded in putting the cap back on the bottle, and then tossed the bottle across the towel. "That seemed like it was harder than it should have been," she observed with a chuckle.

"Hey, I knew we could do it," he said.

"I could have just used both my hands," she observed.

He squeezed her hand, pressing it against his chest, and she smiled reflexively, without even realizing it. "But I like this one where it is," he protested. "Besides, not having two hands to open the water bottle made such a handy distraction, didn't it? When you were trying to avoid looking at me when I mentioned that we needed more sunblock…" He looked her directly in the eye as he spoke, and for a second she was so stunned, she couldn't even think of how to react. This just made it even funnier to him, and he couldn't hold in his laughter. Still holding her hand in his, he lifted his head off of her leg and turned, sitting up, so that he was sitting beside her, transferring her hand to his left.

Once he was settled, he looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, and saw her fighting a smile, making a face that looked like she was trying to look annoyed – but failing. He grinned at her, the same grin that she could never resist, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Shut up," she said.

"I didn't say a thing," he replied innocently.

"Shut up," she repeated, laughing to herself. She felt him shift as he reached across the towel behind them, and a second later he held up a bottle of sunblock.

"Would you rather do this before Sarah and Sawyer come back, or after?" he asked, again in his best teasing voice. Of course, it wasn't as though they were going to do anything scandelous. They were on a crowded public beach, for goodness sake… and yet still, she rolled her eyes at him, conceding the point. It was better to do it while it was just the two of them. There would always be the audience of strangers watching Jane, but at least they could pretend that they weren't there.

"Backs first, just to be sure?" he suggested. She narrowed her eyes playfully at him, sure that this was somehow a trick of some kind, but, unable to find one, just shook her head at him, smiling suspiciously. He put his best innocent look on his face and shook the bottle of sunblock. Leaning down towards her ear, he whispered, "Come on, you know you like it," and then watched her eyes widen in surprise as she turned a deep crimson all over again. This is really too much fun, he thought, almost feeling guilty for teasing her. Almost, but not quite. And certainly not enough to stop.

She turned over onto her stomach, crossing her arms in front of her and laying her head straight down in between them, so there was no chance of her looking at him, no matter which side of her he leaned towards. This time, instead of spraying her back, he used the non-spray sunblock, squeezing it onto one hand and rubbing his hands together before starting with her shoulders. She'd been bracing for a blast of cold, so she was surprised when it didn't come. On the contrary, his hands rubbing her shoulders were far preferable to what she'd been expecting. Forgetting how flustered she'd been a minute before, she picked up her head and looked over her left shoulder at him.

"That's not the same one," she said in surprise. He squeezed her shoulders, continuing his work and smiling.

"Nope, it's the one you put on your face before," he said. "You can use it anywhere, most people just use the spray these days, because it spreads it out faster. This one takes longer, but I thought you might like it better." She smiled at his thoughtfulness, putting her head down against her right cheek, so that she was looking at him over her left shoulder.

No icy blast and it takes longer? she thought to herself. I'm definitely okay with this. She closed her eyes and enjoyed what was basically an excuse for a back rub, from her shoulders to her lower back. Despite the fact that it took a little longer than it had with the spray sunblock, she found that it was over much too soon. With the knowledge that Sarah and Sawyer were due back soon, she noticed that his fingers lingered idly over her tattoos for only a minute once he'd finished the actual sunblock application, and she found that she was disappointed. Plenty of time for that later, she reminded herself.

She had stopped feeling his hands on her back and was just thinking of opening her eyes to see where he'd gone when she heard a noise beside her. Squinting against the sun, she opened her eyes just enough to see him lying beside her, mirroring her position, his head resting on his folded arms and his face turned toward her.

She smiled at him drowsily, knowing from the dopey grin that she could feel on her face that he was going to comment on how relaxed she looked – and she didn't care. After all, it was true. He gave her that smile again – the one that lit up his face every time – and that teasing look was suddenly in his eyes again. "I told you you liked it."

After considering denying it for half a second, she shrugged and replied simply, "I never said I didn't," before sitting up slowly and laying her left hand softly in the middle of his back – she wasn't even sure why she did it, since there was as of yet no sunblock there to rub in. "Which one?" she asked, "Spray or… the other one?"

"The spray is fine," he told her. "We don't have as much of the other one, I'd rather make sure there's enough for you." She smiled at him and shook her head, amazed by his seemingly never ending thoughtfulness as she reached for the bottle of spray sunblock and shook it. Moving the hand that was already on his back a little lower, out of the way of the spray, she began at his shoulders and worked her way down to his lower back, trying hard not to miss any spots.

She had basically finished and was really just moving her hands back and forth across his lower back when Sarah and Sawyer returned from the ocean, droplets of water raining off of them as they plopped down on the other side of Kurt. Jane's hands came to a stop, but didn't leave his back, as she somehow felt like she'd been caught red-handed doing something that she wasn't quite supposed to. Kurt turned his head in their direction and opened his eyes, smiling at them. "How was it, guys?" he asked, directing the question mostly at Sawyer. His nephew was bouncing excitedly on the towel, not realizing that water was still flying off of him in every direction.

"It was awesome! The waves are so great today!" he replied happily.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "He could probably do that all day and not get tired," she said, looking back at Jane and Kurt. "His mom, on the other hand…"

"And miss mini golf? No way!" Sawyer interjected.

"Well, we were just reapplying sunblock in preparation for mini golf," Kurt told him. At the mention of sunblock, however, a pouting look crossed Sawyer's face.

"We don't have to do that again, do we mom? Not yet…" Instantly, it was as though he was five again. Sarah smiled knowingly at her brother.

"Absolutely do," she told her son. "Jane and your uncle Kurt are doing absolutely the right thing. Sunburn, especially on your light skin, is a big deal. So dry off, because there's no mini golf until you're covered in sunblock again." Sawyer's groans of protest did him no good, and he eventually surrendered to his fate. While Sarah focused on her son, Kurt sat up, picked up the bottle of non-spray lotion and dabbed a small amount onto his fingers, holding it up as a signal for Jane to lean closer and hold still, so that he could put it on her face.

"No faith in me, still, huh?" she asked quietly in a teasing voice, so that only he could hear her.

"Are you complaining?" he asked in the same tone, raising his eyebrows in pretend surprise. He used his thumb to smooth sunblock across her cheek and noticed that she didn't answer right away, and instead, she closed her eyes. He continued his work with a satisfied grin.

"Sorry, what were we talking about?" she asked a minute later, opening her eyes again and pretending to have no idea. Not that she would have been able to follow a conversation if they had actually been having one, as distracting as it was to have him doing what he was doing. He was right, she was definitely not complaining.

Aware that Sarah and Sawyer wouldn't be occupied forever, Kurt finished rubbing sunblock into Jane's face faster than he would have preferred, before smearing some on his own face, leaving it to her to finish rubbing it in. She tried to be thorough but quick, wishing she didn't feel so rushed this time. After that, they finished applying sunblock to the areas of skin that they were able to reach themselves, by which time Sarah and Sawyer were dried off and finished applying as well. Sarah tied her towel around herself, her bathing suit still damp, and Sawyer just carried his towel and the bag of sand toys.

Jane slipped her shorts and t-shirt back on, and Kurt slipped his t-shirt back over his head, since they were now mostly dry. She opened her mouth to voice the realization that they hadn't actually needed more sunblock on their backs since they'd both just put their clothes back on, but then she saw Kurt grinning at her mischievously once again, and she closed her mouth, suddenly aware that he'd probably known exactly what he was doing. Shaking her head at him, she couldn't help but smile, remembering him telling her, "You know you like it." This only made her blush slightly all over again.

As if he could read her mind – and he probably could, she admitted to herself – he took her hand with the one that wasn't carrying the cooler as they walked behind Sarah and Sawyer through the sand towards the boardwalk. He knew that the weekend wasn't going to last forever, but just then, he pretended that it would.