Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.
The water felt even better that time than it had any of the previous times they'd ventured into it that day, and Jane and Kurt followed Sawyer out into the waves once again, hands still joined. Sawyer stopped when the water came up to the middle of his ribcage, and Jane and Kurt stopped just behind him. The waves were just as big now, if not a little bigger, than they'd been earlier, and it was only a minute or so before they spotted the first one rolling towards them. Sawyer looked over his shoulder at them excitedly, grinning, and at the last second Kurt stepped behind Jane, putting his arms around her waist just as they pushed off the sand, into the swell of the wave.
This time, however, after baking in the heat at mini golf, Jane decided that she wanted to put her head under the water, too. Twisting slightly while they were at the top of the wave, she put her hands on his, loosening his grip on her just enough that she could push herself just far enough below the surface to be submerged, holding tightly to his hands. When she surfaced, as the wave passed them, he was looking at her in confusion.
"What was that?" he asked. She could hear the concern in his voice, and it made her smile.
"I was just so hot, I wanted to cool off," she explained. "It feels great," she added, "You should try it on the next one."
He looked at her evenly. "Okay," he said, "but tell me in advance. I need to know when I have to save you from drowning." She felt an urge to kiss him then – he was just too sweet for words. At that second, however, she realized that she should turn and check on Sawyer, who'd been right in front of them before the wave. Thankfully, he was still within an arm's reach of them, and he was watching the next wave roll in with anticipation.
"Hey Sawyer, two more waves, okay buddy?" Kurt called over the sound of the water, the volume of which was increasing as the next wave approached.
"Okay, Uncle Kurt!" Sawyer called over his shoulder, bouncing excitedly.
"You want to go under again?" he asked her, and she didn't hesitate.
"Yes!" she yelled over the sound of the water, and a second later they were pushing off the sand with their feet once again. At the crest of the wave, instead of floating themselves over it, they pulled back down, and this time she didn't have to fight against him to submerge herself just under the water. They popped back up as the wave passed, catching their breath and finding their footing, finding Sawyer still nearby.
Kurt shook his head slightly, blinking quickly from the saltwater, and looked at Jane, who was already turned towards him. "You're right," he told her, "that was exactly what we needed." Spotting the next big wave approaching, probably still twenty seconds or so away, he asked, "So are going under on the last one, or not?"
"Yes, one more time," Jane said gleefully. Kurt couldn't help but smile at her, nodding.
"Okay, last one," he called to Sawyer, who held up a thumbs up sign, hopping excitedly. Jane turned around to look at Kurt, whose face was once again just beside hers.
"Eyes on the water, I believe is what you told me before," he mumbled into her ear, not at all unhappy to have an excuse to lean closer to her. She couldn't help but smile, glancing back out at the waves, but leaning her face against his. It was yet another perfect moment, another moment when she wondered if this could truly be happening.
Their third and final wave rolled in, and they rode over it, just as they had the over the others, pulling their heads underwater at the last second, just long enough to immerse themselves in the cool water once more. Coming back up for air, Kurt gradually loosened his hold on Jane's waist, and turned to call Sawyer, still hopping happily in the water in front of them.
"Come on, buddy, let's get going," Kurt told him. "Before another wave comes along to knock us over on the way out." Then, as an extra incentive, he added, "We'll definitely be back here, either later today or tomorrow." Sawyer turned and began bobbing back toward shore along with them, and Kurt dropped his hands from Jane's waist, finding her hand once more. They walked back out of the water to see how far down the beach they had ended up.
While they certainly hadn't been swept as far away by those three waves as they had by all their time in the water earlier, it was a few minutes before they found their things again. All three of them picked up their cups of now partially melted ice and their sandals, and because putting them on their feet again was useless for the moment, since it was impossible to walk across the beach with wet feet without having them end up coated in sand, with or without sandals, they just carried them. Jane picked up her shorts and t-shirt, not putting them on quite yet, since she was still dripping wet – despite wanting to cover up at least some of her tattoos – and Kurt grabbed his t-shirt from where he'd dropped it in the sand.
When they reached the boardwalk, they decided to sit on one of the benches on the far side that faced the ocean, while they dried off for a little while. Sawyer sat at one end, fascinated by the different people who were walking by. Jane sat down in the middle, immediately sliding closer to Kurt, who took her clothes from her and put them on the other side of him, along with his t-shirt, draping his arm behind her along the back of the bench and sliding closer to her, as well.
The sun was hot overhead, and she knew it wouldn't be all that long before they'd be broiling again, even with the remains of their lemonade, watered down by the melting ice in their cups, if they stayed where they were. Still, it would be nice not to have to walk back to the house in only her bikini, so she was definitely in favor of sitting to dry for a few minutes. She sipped on her drink contentedly, leaning back against him.
Sawyer was completely distracted by the people passing by, and it was interesting to Jane to see that it wasn't just she and her fellow FBI coworkers that sat and scrutinized people, albeit on different levels and with different motives. That was when she felt the familiar sensation of Kurt's fingertips on her skin, his time as he traced the ink lines on her left shoulder, then down her arm slightly and back up again. No ice cubes this time, she also noticed, smiling at the memory from earlier.
She closed her eyes for a second, remembering her promise to herself that morning that she was not going to interrupt him if he started tracing her tattoos again. On the contrary, she felt like it should be encouraged. As she opened her eyes, she wondered if he was doing it consciously or not. Keeping her eyes firmly on the people walking by in front of her and the view of the ocean, lest she break the spell, she had the feeling of wanting to freeze time, as she had so many times that day. This was perfect, after all.
He'd figured that with Sawyer distracted, he could get away with innocently tracing the lines on her shoulder. After all, why not? He'd take any excuse to make contact with her. Knowing exactly what he was doing, he started tracing the ink on her skin from her left shoulder, which was right in front of him as he sat with his right arm extended behind her, so that her left side was slightly in front of him. Ever since he'd started doing it a few minutes ago, she'd been sitting very still, leaning back against him, which he took as a sign that she liked it. He, of course, was happy to continue for as long as he could get away with it.
They sat in the hot sun on the bench for about ten minutes, just like that, before Sawyer began to get restless, turning to them to ask, "Okay, how much longer to do we need to dry?" Kurt's hand stopped moving, his whole hand coming to rest across Jane's shoulder where his fingertips had been slowly but steadily inching along.
"What do you think, Jane, are we dry enough to head back?" She was, after all, the one who wanted to put clothes on over her wet bathing suit, the idea of walking back from the beach, along the road, in only her bikini seeming less than ideal to her.
She rubbed at the fabric of her bathing suit slightly with her finger, deciding that it was 'dry enough' for her. "Yes," she replied, looking at Sawyer, "we can go back if you're ready." Sighing inside, she lamented the fact that she had to move. Just then she felt like she could happily have sat there like that with Kurt for the rest of the day – though she knew that at some point, she would have changed her mind, once the sun got too hot. She'd also noticed that no matter where they were, when she was with Kurt she felt like she could have stayed wherever it was they were indefinitely. The thought made her smile.
Sawyer jumped up from the bench, while Jane and Kurt stood up much more reluctantly, neither of them wanting to break contact. They did, however, and Kurt handed Jane's clothes back to her, then slipped his own t-shirt back on. Once Jane had her t-shirt and shorts on, they walked to the foot wash nearby, a square shaped poll a few feet high, where several other people were using the small spray of water that came out of a low faucet, operated by a button, to clean the sand off of their feet. Once those people were finished, one at a time, Sawyer, Jane and Kurt each also cleaned the sand off of their own feet, then finally put their sandals back on.
Before they started walking, while Sawyer walked to the drinking fountain nearby, Kurt walked up behind Jane, stopping close behind her. "Is my stuff still in your pockets?" he asked casually.
"I think so," she replied, seeing exactly where this was going. He reached around her so that his hands were on her hips and slid his hands carefully into her pockets, as if to check that everything he'd put inside was still there – though Jane knew that with the exception of his phone, nothing in there was likely to be of any actual concern to him. He pulled his phone out of her right pocket, pressing the button to light up the screen as he rested his chin in her shoulder lightly. Not finding anything he needed to see on his screen, except the time – 1:30pm – he clicked the screen back off and slipped the phone into his own pocket, but replaced his hand in hers.
There they stood, his chin resting on her shoulder, his hands in her pockets and her hands sitting lightly on the outside of her pockets over his, until Sawyer walked back from the water fountain. He looked at them and shook his head, a puzzled smile on his face, then said, "Ready, you guys?"
"We're ready," Kurt assured him, slipping his hands out of Jane's pockets so that they could walk beside each other, following behind his nephew, who seemed to be in a little more of a hurry than they were –as usual.
Since they'd gone onto the beach at 23rd Street, having headed straight up the block from mini golf, they had to backtrack slightly down the boardwalk to 25th Street, where they walked between the hotels and across Atlantic Avenue. Sawyer was out in front of them, impatient to get back to the house and see if his mom was ready for the rides that he was so excited about trying. They walked past the shops on the block of 25th street between Atlantic and Pacific, crossing Pacific to the far side and turning right to go one more street, that last half block that gave 25 1/2th Street its unique name.
As soon as they'd turned the corner, Sawyer ran the rest of the way to the house, and Jane and Kurt watched as he reached the front door and made his way inside. Sarah must have left the door unlocked for them, knowing that she had the key. Now no longer worried about keeping up with an energetic eleven year old – not that they'd really been doing it before – Jane and Kurt slowed their pace considerably, pulling slightly closer together. It was hard to believe that everything that they'd done in Virginia Beach – with the exception of sleeping very close together in the single remaining guest room – had happened that same day, and that that day wasn't nearly over yet. It seemed impossible that at that time the previous day, they'd been at work, with no idea that they'd even be away for the weekend. Life was certainly full of surprises.
They finally reached the door, and, upon entering, found Sawyer sitting on the couch, watching a cartoon that neither of them recognized. He looked up when they came in, and said, "My mom's asleep. Can we wake her up, do you think…?" It was a dilemma, to be sure. Both Wellers knew the danger of waking Sarah when she didn't want to be awoken, and yet, she had promised Sawyer that she'd take a short rest and then they'd go to the carnival.
"How about this, buddy?" Kurt proposed, closing the front door behind them and walking towards the couch. "We'll let her sleep for another half hour, and then if she's not up, I'll wake her up."
Sawyer looked happy with this plan, and Jane couldn't help but wonder exactly what she was missing. From the looks the two were giving each other, she guessed that Sarah didn't like to be woken up.
"Sarah's… not always very nice when she doesn't get the sleep she wants," Kurt explained. "It's good that she actually said that she wanted to 'lie down for half an hour,' because she'll have had more than that, and therefore at least in theory, she can't be mad if I wake her up…" Jane nodded, seeing that both of the guys must have been on the receiving end of Sarah's displeasure with being woken up more than once.
"Sounds like a plan," she said, heading for the bathroom.
Kurt looked at his watch to see exactly what time he was going to have to brave waking up his sister – a job he was not looking forward to – and then ventured outside the small beach house to find the bench he'd seen as they approached, set off to the side in the shady yard. If Jane didn't find him there, he'd come back and find her in a few minutes. It seemed like a good place to sit and wait.
When Jane came out of the bathroom a minute later, she found Sawyer still watching cartoons, but no sign of Kurt. She walked to the kitchen and, for lack of anything else to do, she got a glass of water. She stood by the counter with it, staring out the window, when she saw the back of Kurt's head through the glass. Abandoning the water, she let herself out and walked around the house to the far side, where she'd seen him.
"I almost didn't find you out here," she said as he looked up with a smile. He was sitting on a slightly oversized wrought iron loveseat with a worn but soft yellow cushion. She walked the rest of the way towards him slowly, feeling a smile creep across her face of which she knew she had no control.
More and more, when he looked at her he found that he had to catch his breath. He wondered how in the world he'd only just started to understand what he'd felt for her for so long. He was smiling adoringly at her before he even realized it, and wondered if he looked as silly as he felt. Not that it stopped him from looking at her that way, of course.
Sitting down beside him, she felt him move towards her to fill in the little bit of space that she'd left between them, once again stretching his arm along the back of the seat behind her. Feeling butterflies in her stomach, she looked up at him and felt herself immediately calm down. As much as she might be unsure about things between them, he was first and foremost Kurt, the person she trusted most.
"You didn't get enough of the hot weather yet today? You wanted to stay outside?" she asked, turning slightly and leaning back against him. He had turned himself as well, to match the angle she was sitting at so that they were parallel, and now had his hands clasped together in front of her, encircling her in his arms.
"Well," he said quietly, finding one of her hands and beginning to trace the honeycomb pattern on the back of it with one finger, "We could watch cartoons with Sawyer while Sarah takes a nap, or we can sit right here…"
She had to admit that she was a little drowsy just then, between all the time in the sun that day so far, the late night the night before, and how relaxed she was feeling, sitting there with him as he mesmerized her once again with the movement of his fingers on her skin. "Okay… good choice," she murmured, leaning her head back against him, feeling a soft chuckle rumble in his chest.
The next thing she knew, he was saying her name softly into her ear, which she immediately decided was a very nice way to wake up. She shifted slightly, looking around and remembering where she was, that she'd fallen asleep leaning against him on the loveseat in the small yard of the beach house, and that he was now watching her as she woke up. The sleepy smile that she greeted him with was inevitable.
"Is it time to wake up Sarah?" she asked, her eyes closing again against her will.
"No, not quite," he murmured.
She forced her eyes open again, not wanting to fall back to sleep, and her eyes landed on the sunblock that was sitting on the ground nearby. "Oh," she chuckled, "sunblock again?" This was totally okay, as far as she was concerned.
"Might as well take care of that before we wake up Sarah," he said into her ear. She shook her head, smiling, and turning slightly to look at him. "What?" he asked, wide-eyed and innocent once more. "You disagree?"
"Of course not," she replied, reaching forward to pick it up. He had to let go of her then, so that she could reach, which she immediately regretted. Sitting back up, she put the two bottles on the bench beside her.
"Your shirt is kind of in the way of the sunblock application," he observed, keeping his face and voice as neutral as he could – with only partial success.
"That's a pretty smooth way to tell a girl to take her shirt off," Jane replied, looking at him playfully, even as she tugged slightly at the bottom of her t-shirt. "Won't I be wearing this shirt at the carnival?" Not that she was against sunblock application either way, of course…
"Maybe," he replied thoughtfully, pretending to consider her question carefully, while bringing one hand to the back of her neck and tracing the ink at the base. She shivered involuntarily. "Or we might want to run right back into the water again when we're done. It's best to be prepared… right?"
"You're smooth, Weller," she chuckled. He gave her his best 'I don't have any idea what you're talking about' look, but couldn't hold it more than a few seconds before his smile broke through. Leaning forward slightly, she pulled off her t-shirt, leaving her sitting in her bikini top, this time with her shorts, once again.
Had there been neighbors across the street, she may have been slightly uncomfortable, but there were no houses on the other side of 25 1/2th Street. One of the newer high rise buildings had gone up across the street so that the remaining houses now faced the fence around that building's property. On the sides of the beach house, there were enough trees that, while not completely hidden from the neighbors on either side, they had a certain amount of privacy. Besides, she did have her bathing suit on.
He reached forward to get the sunblock, which sat in front of her, and she felt the soft fabric of his t-shirt against her bare back. Once he'd leaned back, she scooted forward slightly to give him room to work, and she heard the familiar sound of sunblock squirting out of the bottle he'd just picked up.
Before applying the lotion to her back, he rubbed his hands together to warm it up, then started with her shoulders and the base of her neck, moving slowly and inspecting each tattoo as he went. He'd stared at all of them for many hours long ago in pictures, of course, and the uppermost ones were visible above a shirt, but it was completely different looking at them on her skin, like this.
Her head fell forward as he worked on her shoulders, and she couldn't help but feel that the sunblock application was becoming less about the sunblock and more of a massage each time he did it… which she did not object to one bit. About halfway down her back – right around the bottom strap of her bikini top – he stopped to squeeze more sunblock into his hands, rubbing them together and then returning to his task, which had her both completely relaxed and simultaneously wide awake.
Finishing her lower back, he worked his way back up slowly. At her mid-section, his fingers worked their way slowly and carefully under the strap of her bikini top across her back, rubbing in the sunblock there and then carefully moving the strap back into place. He slowly worked his way back up to her shoulders, as she once again thought that she could have sat there all day if he'd kept doing what he was doing.
You've literally thought that you could 'stay there all day' about every single time he made contact with you today, she told herself.
Because it's the truth, her inner voice replied.
She couldn't help smiling when he planted a soft kiss on the back of her right shoulder, then leaned back slowly. "You are way too good at that," she told him sincerely, turning to look at him, turning forward to lean her back against the back of the bench. "Who've you been practicing on?"
"You," he replied, as if it should be obvious. She chuckled as she picked up the spray sunblock.
"Okay, Weller, take it off," she instructed.
"Hmmm…" he said, tugging his t-shirt over his head, you get 'Your shirt is kind of in the way of the sunblock application,' and I get 'Take it off?'" The look on his face said that he was offended, but she knew for sure that he was kidding, and just doing an excellent job of keeping a straight face.
She raised her eyebrows at him in surprise. "Is that a problem?" she asked curiously. He had to be teasing her…
He winked at her, unable to hold in his smile any more. "Not at all," he replied, grinning and pulling off his t-shirt, turning his back toward her, as she shook her head at him. He really was something else. She shook the can of sunblock and then slowly sprayed it on the top section of his back. Beginning her work with his shoulders and neck, as he had done on her, she couldn't help but think that there was no way she was as good as he was at this. Still, she was determined to try. If nothing else, it was her job to rub in the sunblock, and that much she knew she could do.
Finally his back was done, and he turned around to face her. Though it had only been a few minutes, she felt like she hadn't seen his face in far too long. You've got it bad, the voice in her head told her, but she chose not to listen. On the contrary, she was feeling pretty damn good today. She saw the bottle of sunblock in his hands again, and for a second she wondered what he was doing as squeezed a few more tiny dots onto his fingers.
In a split second she remembered that he hadn't done her face yet, and that this was what he was about to do. How could she have forgotten? She kept her eyes open for as long as she could, closing them only involuntarily when he worked near them, as he dotted the cool lotion onto various point of her face and started rubbing it in. She was just as mesmerized by his eyes as she normally was, especially since his face was so close to hers. When he finished, reluctantly bringing his fingers away from her face, they smiled at each other for a second, neither of them moving.
Finally, she looked away, reaching with her left hand for the bottle of sunblock lotion, which he'd tucked between his leg and the back of the bench, steadying herself with her right hand on his knee. Sitting forward, she found that unlike on the beach, where she'd been able to adjust herself to the level of his face easily, there on the bench she needed to kneel to get herself to the right height.
As she pushed herself up onto her knees carefully on the overstuffed cushion, she felt his hands on her waist, steadying her. She knew that his main concern was that she didn't fall, but she also knew that he wasn't holding onto her bare skin wholly unselfishly. Grinning at him, she shook her head slightly. Again, the innocent look on his face was accompanied by the "I'm not doing anything wrong, am I?" smile.
"I don't want you to fall while you're doing such an important job," he told her quietly. She just nodded at him knowingly, the look in her eyes telling him, Right, buddy, that's exactly what it is, as her eyes twinkled happily. Whatever they were to each other, however much he might be enjoying what he was doing, she knew that his main concern was for her wellbeing, and the feeling was powerful. Despite the fact that she knew it wasn't new, and she had always known that he cared about her, somehow she'd never quite understood the full force of it.
As she worked on his face, he moved his fingers slightly, making sure not to let go of her waist but not exactly making it easy for her to concentrate. "You're going to end up with sunblock in your eyes if you don't stop distracting me," she warned him. He seemed to consider this trade-off for a few seconds, finally stilling his hands.
"Oh, okay," he conceded. "I guess it's worth keeping still. For now." He gave her a devilish smile, and she just shook her head at him once again.
A minute or so later she was finished and let her hands drop slowly, lowering herself back down to the bench, though still kneeling. As she sank down, he kept his hands still, so that they simply skimmed her sides, ending up just barely on her back, slightly above the strap of her bikini. When she felt the underside of her arms brush his hands, the pressure from which would have pressed his hands against her skin more tightly, she raised her arms back up to drape them over his shoulders, as she had at the beach. Not that she had a problem with his hands pressing against her… but suddenly they seemed to be in slightly more dangerous territory and she was caught off guard. Of course, they were adults… but at the same time… And besides, if nothing else, they were outside, and right in front of the window.
It was innocent and not innocent all at the same time, somehow, and her stomach was now full of butterflies that felt like they were caught in a wind turbine. He leaned closer to her slowly, stopping a few inches away and just looking into her eyes.
Before either of them could give any more thought to what they were doing or not doing, they heard the front door open and then close. His hands slid quickly back down to her waist as she simultaneously turned toward the door and leaned her back against his chest. Neither one of them was sure who they'd rather be discovered by, Sarah or Sawyer.
It turned out that it was Sawyer, having kept a close eye on the clock and noticed that half an hour had elapsed since Uncle Kurt had had he would wake up his mom in half an hour. "It's time, Uncle Kurt," the boy told him, slightly impatiently.
"Okay buddy, we'll be right there," he promised. Sawyer turned and walked back inside, appearing unphased by whatever the adults were doing.
As soon as the door closed again, they laughed, relaxing, as he pulled his arms around her, leaning his forehead against her bare shoulder. "Come on," he said, kissing her shoulder again, this time squarely on top, "he'll be back out in thirty seconds if we don't get in there." She knew that he was right, so as much as she didn't want to get up, they both stood, put their shirts back on, picked up the sunblock and walked slowly toward the front door.
Sawyer was waiting impatiently on the couch, and stood up when they entered. He looked slightly apprehensive as he walked toward them. Kurt smiled, understanding both Sawyer's excitement and his slight fear of waking up his mother. Sarah was generally very nice, but being woken up was one of the few times when she could be… unpleasant.
"Why don't you two stay here, and I'll give it a shot," Kurt told them. Sawyer nodded seriously, Jane watching the exchange with interest. Without another word, Kurt walked around the corner, and they heard footsteps, followed a few seconds later by a knock on Sarah's door. They heard the door creak open slowly and close again, followed by muffled voices. Sawyer and Jane just looked at each other and shrugged, waiting to hear how things went. The fact that there was no yelling so far seemed positive.
A minute later, they heard the door close again, and Kurt walking back around the corner. "She's getting up now," he said to his nephew. "She said to get ready to go while we're waiting. And I quote: 'Use the bathroom and put on sunblock.'" Sawyer rolled his eyes, exhaling heavily.
"I'll start with the bathroom," he said, moving quickly in case his uncle wanted to start putting sunblock on him. They smiled, already knowing Sawyer's dislike of it. While he was gone, Jane and Kurt picked up the two respective sunblock bottles, stepped outside the front door and finished their own applications. Sawyer came out and watched them as they finished up, and then Kurt beckoned him forward. He didn't want to, but he let his uncle quickly coat him in sunblock.
When Sarah emerged a few minutes later, the rest of them were ready to go, so she quickly sprayed sunblock on herself and they were on their way. Sawyer bounded down the street in front of them, Sarah calling to him to slow down but not quite willing to chase him, Jane and Kurt once again in the rear of the group, fingers laced together as they walked close beside each other. Once again, they headed up to the boardwalk, turning right once they got there, setting off on the ten block trek down to the rides, which were located at 15th Street. Ten blocks didn't sound too long…
As excited as he was, Sawyer slowed down enough to walk beside Sarah by the time they'd reached 20th Street, but continued to bounce excitedly beside his mother. It was hot outside, and the ten block walk down the boardwalk threatened to overheat them before they'd even arrived. Jane couldn't help but wish they could go back in the ocean again, but she also knew that the little carnival would also be fun. Besides, she was with Kurt. He could make anything fun – ever the times when their lives were actually in danger. Well, some of them, anyway.
A short distance before they reached the carnival entrance, they passed a cart selling hot dogs, a few other food items and a selection of cold, bottled drinks. "Hang on, Sarah," Kurt called, then looked at Jane. "Do you want something to drink?"
She nodded, having just had the same thought. "Anything cold… but… no ice this time," she said, biting the side of her lip to keep from laughing. He grinned and winked at her mischievously, then stepped up to the cart to talk to the man standing behind it. A minute later, he was back with two bottles of water. He handed one to Sarah, and the other to Jane, both of whom took them gratefully. Sarah took a drink and then passed hers to Sawyer, as Kurt had expected her to. After a few sips, Jane held the other bottle out to Kurt, who looked at her questioningly.
"Did you get enough? Are you sure?" he asked.
Smiling at his thoughtfulness, she held the bottle out to him insistently. "Have some, already, before I change my mind," she told him. He took it from her, taking a long drink as she turned to look at the ocean. Though he had trouble believing that the opportunity was presenting itself again, he simply couldn't help himself, even knowing that he was getting himself into trouble. Before she could turn back around, he held the bottle up, quickly pressing the bottom third, still covered in condensation from the cold water inside, against the base of her neck. This time she was facing away from him, so he couldn't see her reaction, but there was no gasping in or expressions of shock – she seemed far less surprised. After all, it wasn't as cold as an ice cube, he figured.
There was something cold on Jane's neck, and while the initial surprise wore off quickly and she found that she actually liked the sensation of the water bottle against her skin, she was in awe at the same time. He was really doing this to her for a third time? What exactly was he trying to do, force her to retaliate? Reaching her left hand up and over her shoulder to the bottle that was against her neck, she grabbed the hand of his that was holding it there, then turned and looked at him through narrowed eyes over her right shoulder.
"Weller, I swear, you need to stop doing that," she hissed, though the look on her face said that she actually liked it.
"You're just mad because I got you three times and you haven't gotten me once," he said, removing the bottle from her neck and tugging on her hands to spin her back around to face him.
"So, what I hear you saying is that I need to try harder…" she replied thoughtfully, watching him as though she was already formulating a plan. Alright, if that's the way you want it…
He could see the wheels turning behind her eyes, and he couldn't help but wonder exactly what he'd just started. Jane was more than a little bit competitive and, of course, something of a ninja when she wanted to be.
He handed the water bottle back to her as they continued toward the entrance. She took a quick drink and then, before he had time to react, thanks to her lightning fast reflexes she had the bottle at the base of his neck, moving the neck of his t-shirt out of the way with one hand as she turned the bottle upside down with the other so that she could pour what was left inside the water bottle down his back inside his shirt.
The surprised noise he'd made when the water had first made contact with his skin had caused Sarah and Sawyer to turn around to see what was happening behind them, and they looked on in amusement.
"Whatever he did, I'm sure he deserved it," Sarah called to Jane, who grinned. He grabbed hold of her hands playfully, including the one holding the now empty water bottle, pulling her around in front of him. He tried to stop laughing, but found that for several minutes, he simply couldn't. His laughter was infectious, and standing in front of him, Jane couldn't keep a straight face either.
"Well that was fast," he said, "but I'll still ahead."
She just shrugged, still unable to stand up straight because she was laughing so hard. "Enjoy it while it lasts, Weller," she replied with some effort, as she laughed. "And just be glad I didn't have a cup of ice this time."
He found the competitive side of her just as endearing as he did every other side of her. Leaning closer to her, he said quietly, "It feels really good, actually. If there was more water I'd be happy to do the same to you." He winked at her, and if he'd looked at her differently, it could have come across very differently. However, he was still laughing, and she knew that despite whatever slight innuendo there might have been, he didn't mean anything serious by it. The fact was that it was so hot at that moment, that she could only imagine that it did feel good to have water poured down your back.
"Maybe later," he added thoughtfully, grinning at her. He slapped him playfully on the arm as they both began catching their breath.
"Come on, you two, we're almost there," Sarah called from a few feet away, where she and Sawyer were waiting. Jane dropped Kurt's hands and jogged over to a nearby recycling bin to get rid of the now-empty water bottle, then ran right back to him before following after Sarah.
The fact that Jane went back to Kurt before walking to join Sarah, and the corresponding fact that he waited where he was for her before walking any farther to catch up with his sister, wasn't lost on Sarah. She had known, of course, that the two were perfect for her. Even though she didn't see very much of Jane most of the time, all it took was to observe her brother, to hear him talk about her, to know how he felt about her. It had been that way for a long time. While she gave them a hard time about things, Sarah couldn't help but grin at the two of them. It was fun to watch them figure out what everyone who knew them had known a long time ago.
"We'd better catch up with them," Kurt mumbled, his head bent slightly towards hers, "or Sawyer's going to come back and drag us in there by force." Jane smiled at the thought, though she didn't think Kurt was exaggerating just then, as she saw the poor kid looking at all three of the adults in supreme annoyance for the fact that they weren't yet inside the entrance to the miniature amusement park that they'd been talking about for hours now.
They picked up the pace and caught up with Sarah and Sawyer, heading for the rides ahead, which towered above them from the next block over, off the Boardwalk at Atlantic Avenue. Sawyer quickly declared that he was going to ride "every single ride they have!" so Sarah decided to buy him a wristband that would allow him unlimited rides. Sawyer, of course, was more than okay with the idea of "unlimited rides."
Kurt knew that he and Jane were going to ride at least some of the rides, but before splurging on either tickets or a wristband, he thought maybe they should have a look around first. "Should we check the place out, then decide about all this?" he asked her while Sarah paid for Sawyer's wristband and some tickets for herself. Jane nodded in agreement, leaning her head against his shoulder, already feeling a little sleepy again. She was excited to try out the rides, of course, since it was something she'd never done before, but at the same time, the walk, her giddiness and the heat combined had taken a little bit out of her.
He leaned his chin against her forehead, slipping his arm around her shoulders. Sarah and Sawyer turned toward them, coming back from the ticket booth as Sawyer fastened his wristband. "Are you guys coming?" he asked excitedly.
"We definitely will, we're just going to walk around and check things out first," Kurt told them. Sarah nodded, not surprised to find them slipping away for a little while. "But we'll catch up with you in a bit, okay? You can try everything out so we'll know what's good," Kurt told Sawyer, who smiled at the idea of being the "ride tester."
"Okay!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, and turned toward the nearest ride, no longer paying any attention to them, as Sarah waved and followed him.
The park, being practically on the boardwalk in the middle of a beach town – in other words, smack in the middle of prime oceanfront real estate – was unsurprisingly small, not having been intended to be a full sized amusement park. Kurt found it adequate for what it was – a small collection of rides that was a bonus to people visiting the beach. Had he been to bigger amusement parks? Of course. Did that matter? Not at all. He would've been just as happy to ride every ride or none of them. As sappy as he knew it sounded, he was just glad to be there with Jane.
Though they walked slowly, simply enjoying the festive atmosphere, the smell of food in the air, and most of all, each other's company, it didn't take them long to weave their way around the whole place. It was fairly standard as far as a small, carnival type park went – rides that whipped you around and around, or side to side, or both at once. A few smaller rides for kids. A roller coaster, a giant slide, and a Ferris Wheel. And of course, games where you could win prizes that few people in their right mind would spend money to buy, but which became extremely desirable when the goal was to win them.
"This place is tiny compared to a real amusement park," Kurt told her. Their pace had slowed almost to a crawl as they walked, his arm still around her shoulders, hers back around his waist.
"Oh, yeah?" she asked. He didn't mean anything by it except to tell her exactly that. Of course, there was always the chance of touching a nerve that came with calling attention to things that she still didn't know, even after all this time.
He nodded. "It's the same idea, this one just has fewer rides and is packed into a tighter space. You haven't been to Coney Island, have you?" he asked her, realizing after he said it that if she hadn't been there with him – which she hadn't – then the chances that she'd been there at all were slim to none. It wasn't as though she knew a lot of people. The only person she'd ever spent time with when he hadn't had at least an inkling of what they'd been doing had been Oscar… but he knew that the focus back in those days hadn't been about having fun.
Almost afraid that his thoughts showed on his face at that moment, he was somewhat relieved when she shook her head. "I've heard of it, though. Every time someone brings it up, Patterson and Zapata go on about how I need to go there."
He smiled, thinking that that sounded exactly like them. It was strange, thinking about the other members of their team. Of course, Jane was part of his team, and had been for a long time. It was just odd because for the past twenty hours or so, he'd been thinking about her not as a part of his team or someone he worked with, but just as Jane, completely outside of the context of work.
Those few words served to remind him just how out of the ordinary this weekend was, and how before they knew it, it would be only a memory. A chill ran down his spine at the thought that it was going to end, and things between himself and Jane would go back to the way they'd been for the past eight months or so, since they'd managed to move past everything that had happened last summer. They'd simply been dancing around each other, never daring to get any closer.
It couldn't go back to that, surely… could it? It seemed impossible, and yet… Once you're back home, you have to decide one way or the other, he told himself. You have to make a conscious decision whether you're going to do something, or just keep dancing the way you have been for so long. At that moment, going back to what they'd been only the day before felt… impossible.
After the words had left her mouth, she couldn't help but feel a strange sensation. Bringing up work, while not an uncomfortable subject, served to remind her that all this – what was happening between the two of them, whatever it was – was something that could soon disappear. Try as she might to silence the voice in her mind that screamed at her to do whatever you want, but don't forget that this can't last, the voice had a point. In another forty-eight hours, they'd have to head back to real life. On Monday morning, things would be as they had been before, as if this weekend had never happened.
But was that possible? Surely, it didn't have to be that way… She felt panic rise unexpectedly inside her, and a sensation that she was falling, even though she knew very well that her feet were firmly on the ground.
It was almost as though all at once, both of their minds had jumped to almost the same thought… the fleetingness of their magical beach weekend, despite it only being their first day there. His arm tightened around her shoulders and he turned slightly to pull her the rest of the way into a tight hug. "Well, we'll just have to get out to Coney Island one of these days soon," he said into her ear, leaning close, sensing that her mind had gone to the same place as his. After all, they were usually just that in synch with each other, and it seemed to be happening that day more than ever.
"Maybe we'll even let the others tag along." Doing that, of course, would be significant if they were going to go as more than friends, because it would be showing their – relationship? – to the others. The idea that he even considered that was reassuring to her. Still, he now found it a little hard to breathe, but not because she was laughing.
She hugged him back, wondering why she felt like she was holding on for dear life, feeling relief flood through her. What exactly was happening, anyway? The tension that filled her had sprung itself on her so quickly, she'd barely had time to identify how she felt or why. But of course he knows, she thought to herself. After all, he always did. Forcing herself to smile in an attempt to push the doubt from her mind, she just nodded, leaning into him and exhaling slowly, reminding herself to simply breathe in and out, that whatever happened, it would be okay. If nothing else, this moment was evidence that whatever was between them wasn't going to disappear into nothingness.
The noise of the crowd and the rides around them slowly began to make its way back into her ears, and she lifted her head off of his shoulder, where it had been for the past several minutes. Making a conscious effort to exhale slowly again, she tried to smile evenly up at him, but feeling it falter slightly as uncertainly bled through. "Sorry," she said simply, not even quite sure what she was apologizing for, thinking that he was probably going to think she was crazy, and most likely ask why in the world she was apologizing. She had no idea how she would answer that question, which made her feel even more tense.
Instead, however, he just shook his head insistently. "Not allowed," he replied, kissing her forehead gently, his lips lingering on the spot for more than a few seconds, not moving. She felt her heart squeeze tightly then, and she couldn't quite figure out if what she was feeling was happiness or love or relief or heartache, or maybe some of each of them at the same time, or maybe something else altogether. The only thing she did know was that she didn't want to let go of him, and so thankfully, he hadn't made a move to let go of her yet.
He was talking into her ear again, and she tried to quiet the noise in her head so that she could hear him. "Should we go on a ride? You know, since we're here?" She nodded her agreement slowly, though she still wasn't ready to move. "I know a good one to start with, perfect for right now," he continued. "Look over there," he told her, turning them partway around and then pointing toward one of the tallest rides. "It's called a Ferris Wheel. You sit inside the car and it turns in a circle, just slowly – see how it's moving there? It just does that, and you go around and around. You get a really good view of the beach and the ocean – you can see really far from the top. Okay?" She nodded again, exhaling slowly and still trying to catch her breath. "And then after that," he added quietly in her ear, "we'll go on something faster."
She couldn't help but smile – at him, at that moment, at how she felt… all of it. Just then, she chose to believe that it was all going to be okay.
A/N: Okay, for all the people who want them to kiss… It will happen, I promise. I'm not saying when, just know that it will. (I have an idea of when it will be, but honestly I'm not sure. The characters keep surprising me with what they do as I write) I'm just a huge fan of the tension between them (as you can probably tell), but… well, I'm not saying anything else about that. :)
