A/N: Alrighty, readers! Here's another chapter for you! I actually had 2 other scenes planned for just this chapter, but it was getting pretty long as it was, so they'll be in the next chapter.

(BTW, this chapter was inspired by my trip to Jamaica in June. I'll explain more at the bottom.)

ENJOY!

When Colleen woke up the next morning, it was to the smell of coffee brewing. After sitting up on the couch and stretching, she made her way into the kitchen where Jack was leaning against the counter, sipping on a mug of coffee. As she walked in Jack looked up and smiled at her. She almost shyly smiled back.

"Morning." He said softly.

"G'morning." Colleen answered.

"Want a cup?" He asked, pointing to the pot of coffee.

"Yes, please." She replied, taking a few steps closer to Jack.

She leaned against the counter on the other side of the coffeepot so she was out of the way while Jack moved around the kitchen. She thanked him quietly as he handed her the full mug, then he once again leaned against the counter next to her. Colleen took a sip of the hot coffee before looking at Jack.

"So," she stretched out the word to get his attention and to make her question not seem so awkward, "do you guys have a shower around here?" She asked in a rush.

Jack looked at her dumbfounded for a moment, before realizing that she couldn't possibly know since he never pointed it out to her. The bathroom didn't have one because of the small space, so he had to build one at the back of the house. They passed it on their way back from Fire Mountain, but both were too preoccupied with Jack's back to really care or notice.

"Of course. It's out back." He said. "Would you like me to show you?"

Colleen blushed and ducked her head. "Sure." She mumbled.

Jack nodded, then set his mug on the counter and started for the back door. Colleen took another drink from her own mug before setting it down next to his and following him out the door.

As soon as she stepped down from the door, she turned to her right to where she saw Jack go and saw him standing in front of a shed-like box against the house. It was made of bamboo tied together to form the walls, which were about eight feet high. The door was only about six feet high. Jack dramatically opened the door and did his best Vanna White impression to show her the inside.

"I assume you know how a shower works, so I won't explain how to use it." Jack joked, letting the door close.

"Oh, well, thank you for that, then." Colleen replied sarcastically with a grin.

Jack returned the grin, then started walking back towards the door. "I'll go grab you a towel." He said.

Colleen glanced down with a nod before snapping her head back up. "Oh, Jack!" She called before he disappeared into the house.

"Yeah?" He asked, sticking his head out the door.

"Um, you wouldn't happen to have a pair of mesh shorts I could borrow, would you?" She asked, then quickly spoke again. "Not that I don't love my pants, but we're in the tropics and it's kinda hot to be wearing pants."

"I think I have a pair for you. Lemme go dig 'em out." He said. "Anything else?" He asked with a smile.

"That should be it." Colleen mumbled.

Jack nodded, then ducked back in the house to go for the items. Within two minutes, Jack came back out with a fluffy teal towel and a pair of navy blue basketball shorts. He handed them to her and she took them with a thank you.

"The shorts will probably be huge on you." Jack said by way of apology.

"It's alright. It's better than pants." She said with a smile.

Nodding, Jack stood there a moment before clearing his throat, obviously awkward.

"Well, I'll just...go and...get breakfast ready." He muttered, pointing back to the house.

Colleen nodded, amused at his awkwardness, then watched as he walked back into the house. She then turned and opened the door to the shower and stepped in. Throwing the towel and shorts over the door, she stripped out of her clothes and put them strategically over the door as well (so no underwear could be seen by anyone). She turned the taps to make the water a comfortable temperature. When the water was lukewarm, she stepped into the spray and sighed, closing her eyes, and letting the water run over her body.

She stood there for a few minutes before she opened her eyes to look around. She saw a bottle of shampoo sitting on a ledge, so she picked it up to smell it and read the label. As long as it wasn't Jack's shampoo, she'd use it; she didn't think Nim would mind. If it was Jack's shampoo she wouldn't use it, reasoning that only Jack should smell like a man. The shampoo smelled of fruit, so she used it.

As she was lathering up her hair she began to think of the situation between her and Jack...and mostly the night before. Her hands paused in her hair.

We shouldn't have kissed. She thought. Maybe it was only a one-time deal. The more she thought on that, the more she didn't believe it. Bullshit. You liked it. You like him. There's not a snowball's chance in hell that that was only one time. Her traitorous mind thought. Sighing heavily, she rinsed the soap out of her hair, still thinking. I can't do anything more than like him. If I start loving him, I'm screwed...well, both of us would be screwed. His feelings would be hurt and my heart would burst. I'll have to leave here at some point. I still have a job and research back in California. She almost teared up thinking about her lost boat and friends/colleagues. Wow. That was a bit dramatic. She thought as she thought back on a relationship between her and Jack.

Sighing again (this one out of frustration), she shut off the water and grabbed the towel. She dried off then put her clothes back on...only forgoing her Adidas pants for Jack's shorts. They were a bit long and about two sizes two big. She found a drawstring around the waistband and pulled it tighter, then rolled the waistband up, so the shorts reached the tops of her knees. Opening the door to the shower, she wiped her feet off, then stepped out. She took the towel and wrapped her hair up in it like a turban. Grabbing her pants, she shut the door, then walked back into the house.

In the house, she went to the kitchen to grab her now cool cup of coffee, then headed to the couch. She set the mug down on the coffee table, then folded her pants and put them on the back of the couch, near where her shoe laid.

She grabbed her mug of coffee again, then looked up and over to Jack's work station. She jumped and let out a small gasp, realizing that Jack was sitting in front of the computer and was watching her. He smirked as she gasped.

"Jeez! Give a girl a heart attack, why don't ya." She said, slowly walking over to him.

"Sorry. Thought you saw me." He replied, turning his eyes back to the computer and clicking the mouse.

"I didn't, but I'll forgive you this time." She said, setting her mug on the edge of the table and taking the towel off her head. She rubbed the towel over her hair to dry it a bit more before flipping it over her shoulders.

Jack nodded. "How was your shower?" He asked.

Colleen opened her mouth to respond, but paused for a moment as she saw Jack's cheeks turn a little pink. He's blushing! She thought. She couldn't recall seeing him blush before.

As she delayed in answering him, she saw his blush deepen. Taking pity on him, she smiled and answered: "It was very good. Refreshing."

"Good." Jack mumbled. He clicked once more, then turned to look at her, his blush slowly leaving. "The captain replied to our e-mail. He says he'll have everything here in three days. Think you can live off of my clothes for that long?" He asked looking pointedly to the shorts she was wearing.

Colleen mock-glared at him, then nodded, for both the confirmation from the captain and for the clothes.

"I thought you were making breakfast." She said, picking up her mug of coffee again.

"I was, but Nim decided to take over, so I came in here to check everything." He replied.

Colleen opened her mouth to say something, but Nim came into the room announcing that breakfast was ready.

After a delicious breakfast, Colleen decided that she wanted to spend some time with Chica and her babies. "To observe and try to figure out why they like humans" she had told the Rusoes. Jack offered her a pencil and pad of paper and Nim offered her a comb to brush out her hair, which she gratefully took, then headed through the rain forest to the beach where she remembered Nim showing her where to find the babies. As she reached the rock formation, she reached her hand in and found three babies currently in the hiding spot. She took them out carefully and set them on the sand.

"Hello, little darlings." She fondly said to them.

She sat in the sand and watched the baby turtles move about. After a while, she took off Jack's borrowed shirt and set it on the rocks, she put her hair up into a high ponytail, then refocused her attention on the turtles.

An hour or so later, Chica swam up on to the beach and came over to Colleen, sunning herself next to the scientist, while they both watched the babies walk around and swim in the shallows before coming and checking in with mom, then walking about again.

Colleen was so surprised with these turtles' behavior that she spent all of the morning at the beach trying to record as much data as she could. She followed them around as they walked on the beach and swam in the shallows, getting her feet and legs wet as she did so.

Around lunchtime, Chica took her babies into the water to get food. Colleen, feeling hungry herself, said her good-byes and promised to come back again, then (after picking up Jack's shirt and pencil and pen) headed back to the house. As she walked, Colleen tossed the shirt over her shoulders to put it back on, but stopped when it felt like sandpaper over her skin. Stopping and taking off the shirt, she looked at her shoulders and chest. They were definitely sunburned. Sighing, she continued walking back.

Once at the house, colleen walked in and set the shirt down on the couch, then turned to find Jack sitting at the desk, researching.

"Um, Jack?" She asked tentatively.

"Hmm?" He asked, not looking up.

"Uh, do you have any aloe?" she continued, looking down at her arms.

"Aloe? Why would you need...?" He slowed to a stop as he turned around to face her. He took off his glasses and set them on the table before getting up and walking over to Colleen, whose chest, arms, shoulders, face, and back were red.

"Oh, Colleen." He muttered as he looked over her. He placed a hand lightly on her shoulder and she shivered...not just from his touch, but from the way he said her name, with such sympathy. "Come on. We have some plants out back."

He took his hand off of her shoulder and led her back out the back door and over to some spiny-looking plants. He broke off one of the leaves and handed it to Colleen.

"Gently rub it on your skin." He instructed. "You can keep breaking parts off to get more gel out."

Colleen nodded, then took some of the gel onto her fingers and rubbed it on her arms. She did the same for her chest, shoulders, and face. When she couldn't reach beyond her shoulders, she shyly looked up at Jack.

"Do you mind?...I mean, could you...?" She tried to ask, motioning to her back with the aloe leaf.

"Oh, sure." Jack jumped in. He took the leaf from her hand and squeezed some of the gel onto his fingers, then rubbed the gel onto the backs of her shoulders first. When he moved to the center of her back, he moved her hair over her shoulder, so he could get the back of her neck as well.

"Ugh, my neck, too?" She complained.

"A little bit. It's not bad, though." He replied. "Actually, none of this is really bad. Pretty normal sunburn. You should peel by tomorrow."

"Lovely." She mumbled sarcastically.

Jack grinned, then spread more of the gel onto her back.

"I don't mean to get too personal here, but I have to go under your tank top a little bit." Jack said. He wanted to warn her, so she didn't think he was trying anything funny.

"It's okay." She replied.

He nodded, even though she couldn't see it, and slid his fingers under her tank top just enough so he could cover her sunburn well.

"There." He said when he was finished. "All aloed up."

"Thank you." Colleen said, turning to face him.

Jack nodded. He had the desperate urge to kiss her, but thought better of it. He didn't want to push his luck. Clearing his throat, he looked down at the used aloe leaf.

"Well, you missed lunch." He said.

"I know." Colleen said on a breath. "Research, you know. You get so caught up in it, you forget the time." She paused. "I'll just go make a sandwich or something."

She then walked around him, careful not to touch him, and walked back into the house and to the kitchen, where she got a sandwich together.

Jack stayed where he was for several seconds, before walking around to the side of the house where the compost heap was maintained. He threw the used aloe leaf onto the pile, then went back into the house via the mud room. He found Colleen in the kitchen eating a sandwich.

"When you're done with that could you help me with my bandages?" He asked as he walked by, taking his shirt off as he went.

Colleen stared at him open-mouthed, sandwich almost at her lips, before replying. "Sure be ready in a minute."

She wolfed down her sandwich and hurriedly cleaned up her mess, then went to help Jack with his bandage change.

A/N: Okay, so the whole sunburn thing happened to me...except mine was worse. It was second degree sunburn and it blistered. Here's your public service announcement: if your sunburn starts to blister, go to a doctor. They have this wonderful cream that dries out the blisters within a day. I had to suffer for a week because the cream was at home and I didn't even think to take it with me (the cream was from the last time I had 2nd degree sunburn...you think I'd learn my lesson).

Aloe straight from the leaves is supposed to be better than the green stuff you get at drug stores. It has a weird smell to it, though, and it's like Slimer visited (because it's really gooey).

Reviews?