Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot or The GooGoo Dolls or any of their music (specifically, the songs, "Over and Over," "Better Days," or "Long Way Home"). Writing about Blindspot is simply the outlet for my obsession.
They'd been lucky to get those seats on the wall when they did, because it wasn't long before they realized that they had the most sought after spots within range of the stage. Not fifteen minutes after they'd climbed up, there wasn't a spot to spare, and the standing room in front of them was already filling up as well, as people slowly packed tighter and tighter in against each other.
Their green bag sat tucked under Jane's legs on the wall, so that it didn't get trampled or forgotten. Jane herself had changed position, still leaning back against Kurt, now with her knees tucked up close in front of her, her feet resting flat on the wall as she faced the boardwalk and the ocean in the distance, the stage across the park to their left. He still sat straddling the wall, one leg on each side, as close behind her as he could. His right arm wrapped around her middle, his hand resting on her knee, while his left traced the ink under her skin along her left arm, back and forth between her elbow and her shoulder.
He'd pushed both of the short sleeves of her t-shirt up onto her shoulders at some point, and had been surprised when she hadn't objected. Surprisingly enough to her, as well, she didn't mind – after all, what was another few inches of tattoos in the grand scheme of things? That small section of her arms wasn't going to change anything, other than to give him more skin to work with – and she was definitely in favor of that… especially because every once in a while he would rest his chin against one of her bare shoulders and lean his head against the base of her neck.
Her head was leaned back and to the right, against him, and her wavy hair hung down in front of the left side of her face, the bird tattoo on her neck squarely on display. She hadn't given it a care in the world, despite the fact that, as usual, her tattoos did draw attention as they sat there on the wall.
She'd watched people go by for a while, noticing the double takes that some of them did when they spotted her, and had decided that she preferred to close her eyes. Tuning out the noise of the strangers' voices, whether or not they were talking about her, she focused on the feel of Kurt's arms around her as she leaned into him. Somehow she just decided to forget that the rest of the world even existed, much less that they were paying any attention to her at all.
You've come full circle, a voice in her head told her, if you're choosing to forget. She chuckled to herself at the thought, which made Kurt lean down beside her ear, whispering "What's so funny?" before kissing her on the cheek.
She opened her eyes and looked at him, as much as she could considering that their faces were so close together that eye contact was difficult. "I was just thinking," she said quietly, having turned toward him to speak closer to his ear, the same way he had spoken into hers, "how funny it was to sit here like this and close my eyes and just let myself forget about all the people around us and whether anyone was looking at me." She paused as he nodded, and she added, "It occurred to me that for me to be actively, voluntarily forgetting things… it just seemed a little funny when I thought about it."
There was no hint of sadness in her voice, but he turned and leaned back, looking her squarely in the face just to be sure. Many things that dealt with her past were many sensitive topics, of course, but he was relieved to see that her expression was actually the picture of contentment.
Smiling back at him, she noticed the surprise on his face and knew what he'd been thinking. He was sweet to be concerned. For quite a while now, since they'd repaired their relationship over the past year, he'd shown only the utmost concern for her, erring on the side of a little too much at times. Given their history, and how hard she knew that he had worked to rebuild trust between them, however, it made perfect sense.
Yet again, the looks that were exchanged between them were like a conversation. Are you okay? his eyes asked. Everything's fine, hers replied. Nothing to worry about. Really.
Once he was satisfied that she really wasn't upset, and that her laughter had been genuine, he allowed himself to smile. "It is a little funny, when you think about it," he agreed softly. She looked up at the sky over the ocean, the light quickly fading from it, then realized that at this hour they were facing the wrong direction.
Jane turned her head, peering around his shoulder and up towards the sky, letting out a surprised "Wow," before her brain could even process her reaction. The sky that was visible between the buildings was lit up with color, a swirling mix of red, orange, pink and even a streak of dark purple where a cloud sat at the edge of the other colors as they melted into the darkening sky. Kurt turned to see what she was looking at, putting his hand down behind him to steady himself – and therefore, both of them – on the wall as he turned.
"Obviously we're facing the wrong direction," he said from beside her. "Do you want to switch sides?" It made sense, of course, since she wouldn't be able to see much if she sat behind him… so she nodded and he hopped down, shaking his head at a few very excited people standing nearby who thought that they were getting a chance at a prime spot on the wall. Jane turned and moved into the spot that he had occupied a minute before, and Kurt hopped back up, taking his place behind her as they settled comfortably into the same position they'd been in, now facing the sunset.
She hadn't thought that it was possible to improve on the way they'd been sitting, but she suddenly found that sitting there and watching the sunset with him made it even better. She sighed happily, feeling the scruff on his chin brush against her skin where her neck met her shoulder, just inside the neckline of her t-shirt. She leaned her head away so that she could look at him, turning at just enough of an angle that he could turn and kiss her cheek. She grinned, leaning her forehead against the side of his head, her system flooded with more happiness than she had known that it was possible for one person to feel.
"I'm dreaming, right?" she asked him. "I mean, I must be…"
"Not even a little bit," he replied sincerely. She smiled so hard, she decided she must look fairly ridiculous, but she didn't care. She liked this feeling too much to let feeling silly stop her.
Pulling their bag from under her legs, Jane opened it and pulled out her phone. 7:52. The concert should be starting very soon. Before she put it away, not even sure why she did it, she opened the camera app, pressing the button that reversed the camera back on the person holding it. She wasn't big on taking pictures – even before the… uncomfortable way she'd spent the previous summer, she'd never been big on photography. After all, what was there to take pictures of? She didn't know anything about her past, much less what was worth remembering from the present. But very slowly over the past year she had allowed the habits of her friends and teammates to begin to rub off on her. Patterson and Zapata had been known to snap the occasional picture when they were out for girls' night, and Jane couldn't help but feel like just then, she and Kurt probably looked especially adorable. So why not?
Besides Patterson and Zapata, Sarah must be rubbing off on me, too, she thought to herself in amusement, realizing that the thought that they probably looked adorable sounded like a very "Sarah" thing to say.
She held the phone at arms' length in front of her and attempted to frame their faces in the middle. Kurt didn't notice what she was doing at first, but after she nudged him and said, "Hey, look up," she could suddenly see his blue eyes in the frame as well. Of course, the sunset was in front of them and therefore not in the picture, but that was okay. There was just enough light left, between what was left of daylight and the streetlights above them, to give the picture the perfect glow. Not too dark, not too bright. Kurt even smiled, obviously amused at Jane's new habit, leaning his cheek against hers.
"Since when did you start taking selfies?" he purred in her ear once she put her phone back down, closing the camera app. She shrugged against him, blushing slightly.
"I don't know," she replied, slightly embarrassed, "I guess I picked it up from Patterson, mainly..." He chuckled at her, shaking his head in amusement. He was still close enough to her that his face brushed against her with each shake of his head, and she felt chills go down her spine. No matter what he said, she was almost sure that she was dreaming, and that was fine with her. As long as no one woke her up from this dream, she had no objection.
She clicked the button on her phone and the screen lit up again. The time now 7:57. There was nothing happening onstage to indicate what would happen next, so her eyes wandered back to the sunset. "Almost time," he said into her ear.
I could get used to having him talk into my ear all the time, she thought to herself. She just nodded against his cheek, without turning around.
Just then, a buzz spread through the crowd. As she turned her head toward the stage, she noticed that the crowd now stood tightly packed between where they sat on the wall and the stage at the other end of the grassy park. If there was any space in there anywhere, she couldn't see it. Once again, she thought about how lucky they were to have found seats on the wall, giving them not only a place to sit, but an unobstructed view of whatever was about to happen.
Apparently someone could see something happening, though Jane and Kurt couldn't see it from where they were. Jane shifted her weight so that she was turned to face the stage, leaning her right shoulder against Kurt's chest and folding her legs down beside her on the wall. He shifted slightly as well, though he didn't turn to face the stage completely, like she did. His left arm was draped behind her, somewhere across her lower back, his right hand on her right knee and clasped in both of hers.
The first indication that the show was starting was a few low, quiet notes. The sky was suddenly almost completely dark, and the streetlights behind them over the path didn't shed light far enough for them to see what was happening on the stage. The music got louder and faster, and from above the stage, bright green searchlights suddenly began swinging back and forth together to the beat, crossing each other in time to the music. The crowd was excited, and already there were loud cheers as the music continued to intensify. Jane had nothing to compare this experience to, and so she sat, transfixed, wondering what would come next.
And then the lights came on to reveal a man at the microphone in the center of the stage, as well as several others on various instruments, and the song started in earnest. Jane didn't know the song, of course, so she just let the lyrics wash over her as she sat and listened in awe.
"Picking up the pieces out, they left you in again
Love is all you want but you're never gonna feel the same
It's hard to be yourself when everyone around is changing
Open up your eyes and you'll never lose yourself again
And we go over and over and over again
Are ya lost in the past thinking what might have been?
You're here and you're now, started over and then
Take it over and over and over again."
Jane sat, stunned, as she listened to the music. The spotlights changed colors and moved back and forth as she reminded herself to breathe. She couldn't help but feel like this song had been written for her. But how? She just didn't have enough experience with music to realize that there were just times when songs could do that to a person.
Listening to the lyrics, Kurt knew immediately where Jane's mind would go – it wasn't too hard to guess. He pulled his arms more tightly around her, clasping them around her waist on her left side, since he was still sitting sideways against her on her right. She responded by leaning into him, her head falling against his chest, and if he wasn't mistaken, he thought he felt her move as if taking a sharp intake of breath. He smiled, holding on tighter as he kissed the top of her head and then looked back at the stage as the spotlights changed from blue, to purple, to green.
This is a fitting end to the weekend, he thought, as the song launched into the chorus, and pink lights momentarily illuminated smoke that shot up suddenly into the air behind the lead singer. Even though he hated to think about the fact that their beach weekend was actually ending, he couldn't deny that there wasn't much that would've ended it better. The fact was, the weekend was going to end whether he wanted it to or not. Yes, it was only Saturday night, and technically they weren't leaving until Sunday at noon, but somehow this still felt like the end. The next day, the hours remaining would tick by far too quickly, down to nothing…
Coming back to the present time as the first song ended, he chided himself for getting so far ahead of the current moment. He was the one who'd assured Jane that everything would be fine. Therefore, he needed to take his own advice and relax. They didn't know exactly how they would work it out, all he knew was that they would. Of all the things they'd already been through, this would not be the one that was insurmountable.
The first song ended and the crowd roared its approval. Jane glanced around as the colored spotlights danced through the darkness, illuminating the people who were now tightly packed even out onto the boardwalk and past it, some who preferred more space standing further back, on the beach. The lights just then looked purplish, and they gave the crowd an otherworldly glow. Now I know I'm dreaming, she thought to herself.
Of course, she didn't know any of the songs, but the next one was starting, so she once again focused her attention on the stage.
The concert went on like this, song after song. Some of the lyrics spoke to Jane more than others, but even the ones that didn't left her feeling like she was in some sort of trance, unable to look away from the stage… not that she wanted to. She had Kurt holding onto her tightly, and there was nothing else that she could have needed. She even remembered to take a few pictures of the staged bathed in the constantly changing colored lights.
At one point a slower song started as the lights on the stage stopped flashing and just softly illuminated the lead singer, bathing him in blue light as he sang. More than any other song she'd heard so far, the lyrics of this one took her breath away.
"And you asked me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
'Cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And designer love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
So take these words and sing out loud
'Cause everyone is forgiven now
'Cause tonight's the night the world begins again."
Chills ran through her body so hard that she actually felt herself shudder, and she felt tears in her eyes that hadn't been there a few seconds before. Kurt had felt the movement as well, since they were already so close together, and could sense the change in her as she tensed. He just pulled her even closer yet, which she hadn't thought possible, leaning his face into her cheek.
"Sssshhhh," he said soothingly, knowing that words were neither necessary nor would they really do justice to what he wanted to say just then. He found that he was unexpectedly emotional as well.
The concert continued, blending together into a string of lights and sounds and colors, both of them sometimes hearing the words and sometimes just overwhelmed by the experience, but always pressed tightly against the other, as if some unseen force might try to pry them apart if they didn't. There was no other word for this night, or indeed, this weekend. It was perfect.
The show had been going for more than an hour and it seemed unlikely that there was much more left. Jane didn't know any of the songs, of course, but she noticed that the band had launched into an uptempo one that seemed to be getting a lot more in the lighting effects department than most of the others, and she guessed that it might be the last song. Therefore, she tried even harder to memorize everything about that moment as the music swelled around her.
"I see the darkness and it's following me here
To all the cracks and all the edges of your fear
I know where you go
You try to run away, but really you are falling
Through endless shadows made of everything you thought it was
Till you woke up.
When your hope is sinking like a stone
I will take your hand, I will walk you home
If you never try, you're never gonna know
I will take you there, but you can't let go
'Cause it's a long way home."
She sat on the wall, completely overwhelmed, as Kurt continued to hold onto her tightly. There were simply no words for what she was experiencing. Her brain had long since stopped being able to sufficiently process the information that her senses were taking in, so she just sat and enjoyed the blissful sensory overload. She would happily have stayed right there, in that moment, if only she could have figured out a way to freeze time.
The song finished and the crowd roared. The band thanked them profusely for the chance to play for them, said good night and then they were gone. The crowd immediately came to life as the spotlights from the stage, now simply white, were turned outward into the park to help illuminate the area for the dispersing spectators.
Jane and Kurt sat still, remaining where they were on the wall. There was no rush, after all, and the area around them was relatively chaotic now that the tightly packed crowd was all trying to move at once. Kurt leaned down toward her ear once again, and asked, "So, what did you think?"
She just shook her head, not really having adequate words to voice her thoughts. "Wow," she replied simply. He chuckled against her, nodding in agreement.
"That's for sure," he mumbled in her ear before turning to lean his temple against the top of her head. For a while they just watched the crowd as the people talked and joked with others around them, gradually heading out of the park and back towards their next destinations – restaurants, bars, hotels… wherever they might be going.
This is nice, Jane thought, and not only because Kurt had his arms around her. No, she was noticing that in the dark like this, even with the streetlights, people didn't tend to give her a second look. She glanced down at herself, then up again. She could easily see her tattoos… there seemed to simply be something about the dark, or maybe something to do with the fact that Kurt was holding onto her tightly, or maybe it was a combination of both. It wasn't just that she wasn't noticing people looking at her. This time, she was actively looking for any odd looks she might be getting… she just wasn't getting them.
Interesting, she thought, storing this tidbit of information away for the future. It didn't matter, of course, it was still something to note.
She was sure that it had been at least a half hour, if not more, since the concert had ended, but she'd put her phone away part way through the concert and she didn't feel like digging into her bag to take it out once again. It didn't matter, after all. The crowds were much thinner now, though there were certainly lots of people still out and about. It couldn't be much past eleven o'clock, if it was even that late, she guessed.
"Are you ready to get down off this wall?" Kurt asked her quietly. "We're going to be sore from sitting on these bricks, I think… at least I am… and it's only going to get worse the longer we stay up here."
Jane hadn't given another thought to it, but now that Kurt mentioned it, she was feeling sore from sitting on the hard brick wall… She shifted and groaned slightly, thinking that maybe if she stayed still, the sensation would go away. It didn't, of course.
Kurt's arms dropped reluctantly from around her and he shifted himself over far enough that he could put down one hand on each side of him, then hopped down from the wall. Jane sighed as she moved her legs out from under her, so that they dangled in front of her as she faced Kurt. They both knew that she was more than capable of getting down from the wall herself. Indeed, after everything he'd seen her do in the field, she could have easily done far more than jump down from a brick wall a few feet tall and he wouldn't have been at all surprised. Still, that didn't stop him from putting out his hand to her, nor did it stop her from letting him take the green beach bag from her, or from taking his hand as she hopped down to the ground.
Standing up once again for the first time in several hours, everything on the back of Jane, from her lower back down to just above her knees, seemed to scream in pain for a few seconds, and she winced slightly as she stretched. She attempted to wait out the protest of her nerve endings, who were less than pleased with her choice of seating for the past few hours. After standing there for a few minutes the irritation seemed to abate, and she felt as though the damage wouldn't be permanent, after all.
"Ready?" Kurt asked, and she smiled up at him.
"Yep," she replied, taking the hand that he offered her.
"Do you want to go back?" he inquired, though he was fairly sure he knew her answer.
Thanks to their nap, she didn't feel tired yet. She knew that she should feel tired, and that she didn't want to spend the next day sleeping away their last few hours at the beach… she just simply couldn't bear to willingly end their last day there together.
"Not yet," she replied almost pleadingly. He couldn't help but smile at her. Despite the fact that he knew morning would come early, and he had something in mind that would require him to somehow, miraculously, get her out of bed much earlier than usual, he couldn't help but indulge her. He knew exactly how she felt when she said not yet. He didn't want any of it to end yet, either.
"Let's walk back toward the beach, then," he suggested, and she nodded, a smile returning to her face after its momentary absence. There were plenty of people strolling along the boardwalk, though fewer on the sand. To her surprise, he headed for the steps that led down onto the beach. She had no objection to this, so she went along with him without complaint. They slipped off their sandals at the bottom of the stairs, and Jane opened the green bag without prompting so that they could put them inside.
She was surprised to find that the sand was cool, almost cold, under her feet. It felt very different from the sensation of it on her feet during the day, when it retained heat from the sun. She glanced down at her feet, as if expecting to actually see a difference, but no, everything looked just the same.
"It feels different, doesn't it?" he asked, noticing her looking down with a slightly puzzled expression. "It's amazing what a difference a little heat from the sun makes."
"Yeah," she agreed, looking back up and glancing out toward the ocean. It was so dark now, they really couldn't see exactly where the water was hitting the sand, though from the sound of things, the waves had increased from earlier that day, when they'd been so calm.
They walked partway down toward the water and then turned and continued parallel to it for a few minutes, passing several other couples who seemed to be out for a nighttime stroll. Then, as if he'd reached the spot he was looking for, he stopped, pulling her to a stop as well. "Look up," he told her quietly, all of a sudden. She did as he suggested, and was surprised at how many stars she could see.
She'd seen stars before, of course, mostly on her occasional trips outside of New York City. There hadn't been what she'd call a lot of those trips, and many of them had been related to Sandstorm… but she tried not to remember the circumstances of the other times she'd looked up at the stars, only allowing herself the memory of having done it before.
It was impossible to be sure if this was the most stars she'd ever seen or not, but it was certainly right up there. Besides the occasional lamp posts that lined the boardwalk and dim lights from the hotels, there wasn't a lot of light here, at least not compared to New York City, so it made sense that there would be a decent view of the night sky.
He watched as she continued to stare upward, craning her neck to look in all directions at once. It reminded him of a time he'd done the same thing as a kid, and he remembered – too late allowing the full memory that included Sarah, his father and Taylor to wash over him, but shaking himself to recover quickly – what he had done to get a better look. It had been Taylor's idea, he recalled with a sad smile. He was slowly adjusting to be able to think about her without being overwhelmed by all the feelings about her, and his father, that used to so overwhelm him. It was easier because he was with Jane, and she always understood.
"Try this," he told her suddenly, breaking the spell that she felt like she was under, "you'll get a better view." Before she knew what was happening, he'd dropped her hand, sitting down in the cool sand and then lying back – right there in the middle of the beach, in the middle of the night, no towel or anything under him. He looked up at her expectantly, smiling the smile that she could never resist.
Why not? she thought, plopping down beside him and then turning so that when she lay back, she was at the same angle he was, and as close to him as she could be. Their shoulders touched, and she smiled at the sensation. Her sleeves were still pushed up over her shoulders, and she felt the cool sand under the back of her arms, as her left shoulder pressed against the comparably warm cotton of his t-shirt. Her head was turned to face him, and she had the simultaneous urges to both lay her head against his shoulder and shift somehow in order to bring her face closer to his. However, she did neither, simply continued to look at him.
He'd been looking at the stars, and when he sensed her laying still beside him without saying anything, he looked over at her to see that she was looking at him instead of the sky. He smiled at her, shaking his head, and then tilted his head toward the sky. "Look up, silly," he told her with a chuckle, glancing at the sky and then back at her. There was a slightly pouty expression on her face, and she continued to look at him. Shaking his head at her and smiling, he reached down for her hand, lacing his fingers through hers and bringing it up so that the back of her hand rested against his chest. He saw her smile then, and he asked, "Now will you look up?"
Without a word, her eyes went from his face to the sky, where she was finally able to take in the full extent of the stars visible above them. He was right, the view was much better this way, now that she didn't have to crane her neck to look around. She squeezed his hand, not finding any words that would be adequate to what she was feeling just then, just as she hadn't been able to do for the past few hours.
She'd long since grown accustomed to being overwhelmed – the feeling was as old as anything else that she remembered from her life as Jane, having started when she was discovered in Times Square. The difference tonight was that she wasn't used to being overwhelmed with happiness. Being overwhelmed with pain? Loneliness? Grief? Frustration? Those she understood. But happiness? Her heart threatened to burst with it now, and somehow, on the eve of having everything change again, she felt paralyzed.
It was only his voice that brought her out of her thoughts then. "I used to lay like this at night sometimes. I'd sneak out in my backyard when I was supposed to be asleep… or even when we went camping and I couldn't sleep…" he said softly. She glanced over at him, but he was staring up at the stars. "When I was a kid, I would dream about whether or not there were aliens up in the stars… What they looked like… If they were friendly." He chuckled slightly, remembering, and she glanced back up, now looking at them differently, young Kurt Weller's thoughts bouncing around in her head.
"As I got older, I guess I got more practical, a little more serious... I would stare up at the stars and think about how many of them there were out there, and how I was only one of billions of people on this planet out of so many planets, and how very, very small that made me. And all the things that I worried about – mostly Taylor, by then, because she was long since gone…" He paused then, and she heard the slightest break in his voice, but noticed that he didn't shudder that time, he just took a deep breath and kept going. "…but Sarah, too – everything I worried about suddenly seemed so unimportant. After all, I was barely a speck in the universe. What difference did any of it make?"
He stopped talking and Jane considered his words. She didn't think he was asking for an answer, necessarily, but she wanted to respond anyway. "That just makes what you do matter even more," she said quietly.
"How so?" he asked curiously, finally turning to look at her again.
"Just that… if there's so much out there, and if we're such tiny specks, then it's even easier to get lost along the way. We – those tiny little specks of whatever we are in the big picture – we need to stick together." She paused as if thinking about something, then added, "What's the expression? Strength in numbers?" He just nodded, looking from her face back up to the sky. "It just seems like if we're each so tiny and insignificant, the best way to get through it all is to…" she trailed off, looking up at the sky, unable to finish her own sentence.
You're not really one to talk about healthy coping strategies, after all, she reminded herself. Even now, there were plenty of days when she felt like she was just hanging on the best she could.
"Hold on tight and hope for the best?" he replied, his eyes still locked on the sky. She hadn't known what she wanted to say, exactly, but his suggestions sounded just as good as any other, if not better.
"Yeah," she replied softly. After that they both fell quiet, lost in their own thoughts as they stared at the sky. The cool sand below them kept her from quite drifting off to sleep, though she was slowly getting closer and closer.
After what felt like a short time, but, judging from how much emptier the beach and the boardwalk were when Jane's eyes flicked in that direction, was actually a good deal longer than she'd thought, Kurt was the first one to speak. "It's late," he said, lifting his head to look around. "We should head back and get some sleep."
Jane made a noise in protest, unwilling to concede that their final full day at the beach was ending. He propped himself up on his right elbow, leaning over her in the sand. "I had an idea of what we could do to make the most of the morning tomorrow, but it involves being awake enough, early enough, to do it," he told her, smiling warmly at her from only about a foot above her.
"Getting up early? Why?" she asked, frowning. The end of the weekend and I havetoget up early? she thought with displeasure.
But the look on her face just made him smile. "You'll like it, I promise," he told her, leaning down until his face was only an inch above hers.
"Okay," she whispered, suddenly deciding that pouting wasn't worth it when he was that close to her. He leaned down and kissed her slowly, then leaned back with a smile on his face.
"Come on," he told her, "It's easier if we walk back now, while you can still walk with your eyes open, not like this afternoon."
"Oh ha ha," she replied, "I had my eyes open."
He just shook his head at her. "Whatever you say," he said, kissing her on the forehead and then leaning back to push himself to his feet. He'd let go of her hand in order to do that, and now, as she sat up slowly, he offered it to her once again.
"Such a gentleman," she said with a smile, allowing him to help her up. Once they were both standing up, she realized in dismay that she was probably covered in sand all over again, as was he. She swiped at the backs of her arms and confirmed that yes, this was indeed the case. This sand is really getting old, she thought, her increasing tiredness making her just a little grumpy.
"That's the only thing about laying down on the beach without a towel," he said, as if reading her mind. "You get covered in sand." She smiled when he brought his hands up to her shoulders, brushing the sand off of the back of them, and then moving up her neck, swiping at her skin quickly before moving upward, to her hair. He stepped to the side to try to look at the back of her head, but grinned and shrugged, moving back in front of her. "It's kinda dark at the moment," he said with a shrug, "so I'm just going to have to wing it."
Threading his fingers in her hair at the base of her scalp, he moved them gently, in short, quick shaking motions. She felt a little bit of sand rain down onto her shoulders, as well as a buzz in her head from the contact of all ten of his fingers being in her hair, against her skin, at once. After a few shakes there, his fingers changed position, moving higher into her hair and repeating the motion. She felt just a little lightheaded from what he was doing, not because he was shaking her head too much, just because she liked it so much, and she put out a hand to steady herself. Her hand landed on his side, above his waist, and once it was there, she let it stay where it was.
His hands smoothed over the back of her hair now, shaking slightly once again, before moving back down to her shoulders, then lower, across her t-shirt, brushing across her back in the same area that he had applied sunblock so many times over the course of the weekend, but now making contact only with the fabric, not her skin. Then he stood back up in front of her, a slightly guilty smile on his face. He looked extremely amused with himself. "I can't guarantee it's all gone," he told her, "but it's a good start."
"Thanks," she said, stepping to the side of him and brushing her hands across his shoulders, up to his neck and then ruffling the short hair at the base of his neck before running her fingers against his scalp, his short hair soft under her fingers. For some reason, she felt self-conscious doing it, despite the smile it brought to his face. She looked down, feeling herself blushing slightly, then moved back to his shoulders and his back, the way he'd done with her. Having finished returning the favor, she stepped back around to the front of him.
"I think you missed a spot," he told her.
"Oh really?" she asked, seeing through his ploy immediately. He's so impossibly cute, she couldn't help but think. "And where's that?"
"I'm not really sure," he replied thoughtfully. "It's… somewhere back there." He waved his hand toward his back, and she just shook her head at him. "What?" he asked her teasingly. "Is it bad if I liked that?"
Now she was really blushing, and she was thankful for the cover of darkness and the possibility, no matter how small, that he couldn't see the color in her cheeks. Though of course, he would know anyway. She picked up the beach bag and slung it over her shoulder, grateful for something else to focus on for a few seconds.
"Not at all," she replied, finally looking back at him. "Quite the opposite." She leaned closer to swipe half-heartedly at his back again, and he reached out an arm and pulled her closer.
"Come on," he said, taking her hand. "Let's go back."
"One second," Jane said, stopping and dropping his hand so that she could take out her phone. She clicked through the menus as quickly as she could, then typed out a text to Patterson and Zapata as he watched in amusement. He couldn't see what she was doing from his angle, but her rapid typing gave him a clue.
Saw a band called GooGoo Dolls next to the beach, then laid in the sand looking at the stars. Not a bad night.
She attached the selfie she'd taken of them earlier and one of the pictures she'd taken during the concert when the stage had been bathed in purple spotlights, and then hit send, replacing her phone in the bag and turning back to Kurt. "Ready," she said with a smile.
"Reporting in?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. She just shrugged. "They're so curious, it's kinda fun to feed them crumbs," she grinned.
Kurt stepped towards her and put his arm across her shoulders as she reached out and mirrored the gesture across his back. They turned to walk slowly toward the steps that led back up to the boardwalk, both of them trying hard to think about anything other than the fact that the day really was over. The next day would be the one when they had to leave, and it made them hold on just a little tighter to each other than they would otherwise have as they walked back to the beach house in contented silence.
A/N: I chose the GooGoo Dolls because I saw them in concert a few months ago and so many of their songs seem to be perfect "Jeller songs," though they have never (and probably wouldn't be able to) played at the tiny amphitheater in Neptune Park. As much as I've tried to keep my facts realistic in this story, that part is creative license. Also, if my memory is correct, that brick wall is far shorter in reality than in my story. But… details, details. It worked better that way. And yes, there are at least three more chapters in this story at this point, two for Sunday and one for Monday… though my ideas do tend to expand, so more than three isn't out of the question. ;)
