Disclaimer- I don't own flight 29 down or any of its characters
Jackson paused. Something was wrong here. A regularly pompous, haughty Eric was sounding off in a joyous laugh reacting to something Melissa had just said. He stopped laughing and offered Melissa a soft smile before walking off with the empty water jugs. Melissa watched him leave with a morose smile, contradictory in itself. Jackson watched as an obscure object in the background, removed from all that was happening before him. The smile faded from Melissa's lips. She stared into the fire with a melancholy look, uncharacteristic of her usual effervescent tendencies.
"Hi." Jackson welcomed in a terse gesture, a poor effort to act nonchalant about the exchange he had just seen between Eric and Melissa.
"Hey." Melissa responded with one of her big trademark smiles. But something was off about the smile. It had an awkward tightness to it, but was lazy at the same time. She kept the smile for a couple of seconds, as if she had something to prove by it.
"How's the fire?" Jackson questioned. An exceedingly lame way to get conversation started, but a way nonetheless.
"Burning," Melissa answered with a playful tone of sarcasm. Sarcasm: it was something new for Melissa, probably picked up from Eric. Jackson couldn't help but be bitter. He just didn't quite know why.
Jackson could see that Melissa was too smart to fall into conversation, a clever ploy by Jackson to pump her for information about what she was talking to Eric about. But why should it matter anyway? It was the seemingly playful exchange; no harm was done by it. Both participants were alive and well and Jackson certainly wasn't physically harmed. There was a feeling in the pit of his stomach, though, that wouldn't go away. It just seemed so wrong. Why would Eric take sudden interest in what Melissa had to say? And what was with Melissa? Why did she seem so… sad?
Jackson quickly realized that he was standing over Melissa in absolute silence, looking off into the distance to think, looking like an idiot. She glanced up at him, as if asking him why the hell he just standing there, if there was some purpose to it. He became self conscious and headed over to their shelter. He picked up the fishing rod and stalked off to the beach. Fishing would give him some time to think.
A/N: So what do you think so far? I don't know why I decided to make this story into a love triangle drama-thing. It just kind of happened. Sometimes when I write I don't plan anything out and just see what happens. Clearly this was one of the times. I'm not quite sure how I like it; please tell me your opinion. If you have any ideas, please share. Next Chapter will be more in Melissa's point of view, about what she and Eric were talking about and stuff.