AN: Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love all my readers so much. Keep reading guys. I know I've been getting chapters out pretty fast, but it's probably going to slow down soon—silly school getting in the way I will still update—hopefully around once a week, depending on how crazy the week is.

"No! Rach!" Amy called out, walking down the beach of the sixth small island they'd searched. Amy, her mother, and Hiram Berry had been on their search for three weeks now with nothing to show for it. They'd found no trace of Noah or Rachel at any of the islands they'd searched, frustrating the small search party.

They'd been on their current island for three days now, searching each part. Amy felt it was a waste of time—there was no sign anyone had ever set foot on this spit of land. She knew her brother—he'd be on the beach waiting for rescue, not hiding in a cave somewhere.

But her mother wanted a thorough search. So they stayed on each island for a few days, making sure they'd searched every nook and cranny to ensure Noah and Rachel weren't hiding from them.

Amy understood why her mother was being neurotic about the search, but it was getting on her nerves. Maybe it was due to the frustration of not finding anything or the fact that she hadn't gotten a good night of sleep in almost a month.

"I'll kill you both if you're here and hiding," she muttered under her breath, kicking a seashell out of her path. Just like the last five islands, Amy knew her brother wasn't there from the moment she stepped off the boat. She could sense it. Noah was her only sibling, and even though they hardly saw each other anymore, she still had an intuition about him.

The night he and Rachel first started having trouble, she knew something was wrong and called him up, listening for two hours as he broke down and explained everything that was going wrong in his marriage. And of course, being the supportive sister, Amy took his side. It wasn't just about being loyal to her brother—Amy truly felt Rachel was in the wrong here. After all, who put their career above their own family?

Not Noah. And not Amy either. She'd given up her whole life for her brother. She was positive she'd lost her place at school—it wasn't like they were just going to let her pick up where she left off when she got back home. She left the country without even notifying the school.

She'd left her boyfriend, too. Amy had been seeing one of classmates for six months and two weeks when Noah and Rachel's plane went missing. He understood she had to fly out and help her mother, but he couldn't understand why she was abandoning her future for what he saw as a pointless search.

Needless to say, she'd ended things with him as soon as he called the search for her only brother a waste of time. She was better off without him in her opinion. There were plenty of fish in the sea.

Amy followed her mother, who had given up on this island finally. She was gesturing for Amy and Hiram to follow her back to the boat. Amy's stomach did a somersault at the sight of the boat. She'd been throwing up every day since stepping foot on the vessel, and she was not anticipating another day long voyage until they reached the next small island.

"Come, Amy" her mother ordered. "We need to get a move on if we want to reach the next island before nightfall."

Amy sighed, looking at her mother. "Mom, why are we doing this? It's taking so much time, and we have nothing to show for it. I don't mean searching," she said quickly, noticing her mother's face. "I mean going around in a slow, tiny boat that makes everyone seasick. We're all tired, sleep deprived, and in a constant state of nausea. We need a new approach."

"I have to agree with your daughter, Judy," Hiram added, coming to Amy's side. "The thought of going back on that boat for another full day makes me want to vomit."

"Well, what would you two suggest we do?" she asked with a huff. "It's not as if we can teleport to each and every island."

"What about a plane?" Amy suggested. "Like, one of those small planes that can take us low so we can see the island. I'm sure Noah and Rachel have set up something that we'll be able to see that people are there. We'll go and investigate every place that looks promising."

Judith seemed to consider the idea. She didn't exactly enjoy living on a boat, but she'd do anything for her children. "Next time we head back for gas, we'll call a small plane company and see if someone can help us with that. If not, we stick with the boat."

Amy nodded energetically. "Yes, that's all I ask Mom. If it's too much, I promise not to bring it up again."

Judy smiled at Amy. "Well, we're wasting time. Come on, dear. We need to get a move on before we get stuck in the middle of the ocean in the dead of night."

xxxxx

Rachel woke up the morning of their third week there, feeling entirely frustrated. When Noah had said he was going to make her fall in love with him again, she thought he'd start the next day.

So far, he hadn't made a single move on her. No kisses, no hugs—hell, he never even tried to hold her hand. He had essentially friend-zoned her, and Rachel did not like that one bit.

Rachel liked the chase. She liked when guys worked hard to get her attention, and the fact that Noah wasn't trying at all was worrying her.

Had he changed his mind about them? Did he want a divorce again instead of getting back with her? No, she didn't think so. As much as he didn't try to mend their relationship, he also wasn't hostile or cruel. Noah took care of her—he caught food in the morning and kept the fire alive for most of the night so Rachel could get a good night's sleep, sacrificing his own sleep for her.

It touched her that he'd do all that for her, but that was all he'd do. He was trying to keep her alive and healthy, not anything else.

Rachel didn't know what to do. She wanted Noah to chase her, to charm her and make her love him again. If he was attempting to do that, he wasn't trying very hard.

When Rachel woke up that morning, she realized she was sick of waiting. She was done waiting for Noah to make the first move. If he wasn't going to try, then she was. She was going to make Noah Puckerman fall back in love with her.

Rachel wasn't used to making the first move. The last time they were on the island, Noah had made all the moves. He confessed he was in love with her first. He kissed her first. He created their romantic dates and even asked her to be his 'island' girlfriend.

Maybe it was her turn.

Rachel walked out of the small hut, finding Noah asleep beside the fire. It was still going strong. She smiled, walking next to him. She was about to wake him, but she decided against it. He was so tired from staying up every night, he deserved a few hours of peace.

Instead, Rachel took one of the canteens they had made out of a coconut shell and headed into the jungle towards the lake. In the three weeks they'd been here, Noah and Rachel had both made improvements to their living arrangements.

They still stayed in the small hut Noah had built their first day here, though Rachel had added some decorations so it looked a little homier.

Noah had attached a few sharp rocks to the tops of branches, turning them into spears which he used to hunt. They'd discovered a relatively large population of wild boar on the island, which quickly became their dinner of choice.

Rachel had woven together palm leaves and long grass to make a large net which they used to fish. From her suitcase, they salvaged shampoo, soap, toothpaste, and toothbrushes, leaving them feeling clean on a daily basis.

They made a small basket out of sticks and leaves where they kept the bathroom supplies. They kept it at the lake so they weren't forced to tote it back and forth each time they wanted a shower. Although they had no towels, they had all the clothes Rachel and Noah had packed. Using the sharp edge of a rock, Noah had cut open some shirts, giving them something they could use to dry themselves off. It was better than nothing.

Rachel had seen a change in herself during the short time she'd been here. After spending years in California in the public eye, she'd become a very superficial person. She didn't try to be that way, it's just how she'd become. At first, she wasn't like that, but when tabloids and blogs began criticizing her for her style, she changed. She wore clothes that were more expensive than a flight to Florida and never left the house without consulting her stylist.

She knew that was all part of what led to her and Noah's relationship crumbling, but it was part of the price of being famous.

Here, there was no one to care about what she wore. Still, the materialistic part of Rachel was still present in the beginning. She'd broken down into tears when Noah cut her favorite pair of jeans to turn them into shorts so she didn't overheat. All of the expensive clothes she'd brought with her were now cut up, torn, dirty, or all three. And strangely, Rachel didn't care.

Rachel made her way down the path Noah had cleared that led to the lake. There had been tree branches, leaves, rocks, and other obstacles that littered the way, but Noah had spent one day clearing it so they could walk to and from the lake easier. Now, Rachel didn't need him with her if she wanted to bathe. Noah still insisted on coming with her, but sometimes Rachel needed the alone time. So she took advantage of the times he was sleeping and used it to swim in the lake.

Rachel dropped the canteen on the mat she'd woven from palm leaves. There was a change of clothes there along with all their shampoo and soap, as well as the makeshift towels they'd created.

Rachel stripped off her clothing until she was entirely nude, jumping into the water. She had no reason to be modest here—the only person who'd see her was Noah, and he'd already seen everything before.

Rachel kicked to the surface, spitting out some of the water. The lake was shaded by the tall trees of the jungle, making the water cool, even in the middle of the day.

Rachel swam over to the edge once she'd done a few laps of the lake, grabbing the shampoo and soap, cleaning herself off. She and Noah promised to use the supplies sparingly—they only had so much and had no idea how long they were going to be here. At first, they thought they'd be rescued right away, but now they'd given up hope. Rachel and Noah only used the shampoo and soap every three days, hoping that would make it last longer.

Rachel swam every day and tried to clean herself off with just the water, but it didn't compare to actually using soap to get the dirt out of her hair and skin.

Once she'd cleaned herself off, Rachel climbed out of the water and stepped onto the mat, being careful not to get her clean feet dirty. She used a cut up shirt of Noah's to dry herself off, feeling very refreshed.

Rachel pulled on a tank top with several holes in it and the cut off shorts that Noah had made out of her favorite pair of jeans. She picked up her brush, combing her hair and getting all the knots out.

At home, Rachel would normally dry and straighten her hair before applying makeup after a shower. Here, she didn't have that option. She had makeup in her suitcase, but she didn't see the point of putting it on.

Pulling her sneakers on, Rachel decided to venture around and explore for a while instead of heading back to their camp on the beach. Noah was asleep, so either place she'd be alone.

Rachel slid the dagger Noah had made for her into her pocket. She didn't feel comfortable carrying it, but he wanted her to have something to protect herself with, just in case she encountered a particularly aggressive boar.

Rachel made her way out of the jungle, turning left to walk along the beach towards the other side of the island instead of heading back to their camp. Despite the time they'd spent here, Noah and Rachel hadn't done much exploring. They mainly stayed at their camp or went to the lake. Noah would walk around the jungle when he was hunting for food, but they didn't explore the beaches. They were worried about survival, not seeing what the island had to offer.

Today, however, Rachel was interested to see what else the island had to offer.

Twenty minutes of walking and Rachel had seen much of the same of what she saw at their camp. A lot of sand with an ocean view on one side and trees on the other. There was nothing special about this beach. It wasn't an extraordinarily beautiful beach.

Rachel decided to keep walking and see what else she could find, hoping she'd find some kind of supplies. She didn't find anything that would help them live on the island, but she found something else instead.

Forty minutes from their camp, there was a small section of the beach the stood out from the rest. The jungle was on the one side of the sand just like the rest of the beach, but instead of just leaves, there were hundreds of flowers peeking out of the trees.

They weren't like any flower Rachel had ever seen, and Rachel had seen many different types of flowers in her life. People were always sending her bouquets on the set—various arrangements of roses, daisies, and other types of flowers.

These looked more like an orchid. The flowers were pink, white, purple, and yellow. They were attached to the trees which were hanging over a small area of the beach. Rachel imagined that at night, it was even more beautiful.

The water washed up onto the beach, bringing hundreds of shells with it. The whole area was filled with seashells, starfish, and sand dollars. Rachel smiled, walking around the small, beautiful area of the beach. In her mind, it was very romantic. And the perfect place.

xxxxx

When Noah woke up, it was after noon. The sun was high above his head, shining down on him. He was seated outside his and Rachel's hut, the fire starting to die a little.

Noah quickly added some more wood, nudging the logs with a branch, causing the fire to grow larger, which was his intention.

He glanced around, not seeing Rachel on the beach. Normally, Rachel was sitting on the beach with food for him when he woke up from a small nap. He couldn't even remember falling asleep. He'd been up late tending to the fire like normal. Rachel had been inside the hut, fast asleep. She kept the entrance to the hut open normally so if something happened, Noah could get to her easily. He'd watched her sleep for a few hours, trying to figure out the best way to go about things.

Noah imagined Rachel was getting frustrated. He'd told her he was going to romance her, but then didn't. It wasn't that he didn't want to, it was that he had no idea how to. The last time he'd tried to get a woman to fall in love with him, he'd been a junior in high school and had ended up marrying the girl. Now that they weren't head over heels in love with each other anymore, he had no idea how to bring the spark back into their relationship. He'd been so charming when they were younger. He had no idea how to be that way again.

He'd thought about bringing her flowers, but he hadn't seen any on the island. He thought about bringing her breakfast in bed, but he normally fell asleep before she woke up, so she was always the one bringing the food to him instead of the other way around.

He'd run out of ideas. Noah wasn't a very imaginative guy, and having to come up with a way to get the only person he'd ever really loved back was too much for him. He didn't want to lose Rachel, but he couldn't think of a way to keep her.

As Noah got up, he didn't hear anything. He peeked into the hut and saw it was empty. He figured Rachel was at the lake, so he headed into the jungle, taking the path towards the lake.

The water was empty. Rachel's dirty clothes were sitting on the edge of the water for her to wash later, but she wasn't there. He was about to turn back and see if she was around the camp again when he spotted a large leaf sitting on the mat. By the way it was placed, it looked like it had been set there instead of having fallen there accidentally.

Curious, Noah picked it up, turning it over in his hand. On the opposite side, he recognized Rachel's handwriting. It seemed she had used her lipstick to scrawl a message for him.

Noah,
Went exploring and discovered some pretty cool things. Going to keep searching the island and see what else I find. I'd love it if you join me on the west end of the beach at sunset later tonight.
-Rachel

Rachel had drawn a small map pointing to where she wanted him to meet here later. The end point had a star on it. Even though it was all in red, Noah imagined Rachel intended the star to be gold. He smiled a little at the note, setting it on the ground as he started to disrobe.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous about Rachel exploring the island on her own, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. She was already gone, probably at least a mile away from where he was right now. He'd spend his whole day looking for her and end up lost instead of actually finding her.

Anyways, it gave him a few moments to himself, something that seemed so rare on the island. Noah dove into the water, the cool water surrounding his aching body. It seemed everyday he was hunting or cutting wood or lugging something from the jungle to the beach for them to use. He never got to rest and do nothing. Hell, he hardly got to enjoy the water when he was in the lake. Normally, he dove in for five minutes before getting back to work.

Noah grabbed the shampoo, grateful that it was bathing day. He hated smelling like a hobo, but it was the best they could do with what they had. They had one bottle of shampoo and one bar of soap. It wasn't as if that was going to last forever.

Noah spent longer than normal in the water. He didn't want to get out, but decided it was probably a good idea when his fingertips started to resemble raisins. Noah climbed out, drying off with the cut up fabric that came from one of Rachel's dresses. She'd almost killed him when he put a slit up the side, but she didn't need it here. Might as well get some use out of it.

Noah headed back to camp, feeling clean and refreshed. He still hadn't seen Rachel, but he figured she was going to be missing until he went and found her later.

Noah grabbed a piece of the boar he'd killed two days ago and put it on a slab of rock over the fire, cooking it for him to eat. He and Rachel kept the boar meet in a hole at the edge of the jungle. They wanted to keep it covered so as not to attract any animals, as well as keeping it from going bad as long as possible.

Noah spent the day on the beach, generally relaxing. He took another nap, catching up on allt he sleep he'd missed over the past few weeks. He was averaging probably around four hours each day, but it was worth it if Rachel was safe and well. So far, she was, so that was all that mattered to him.

When the sun started going down a little, Noah grabbed a canteen filled with water and pulled his shoes on, following the map Rachel left him. He walked along the edge of the beach down towards the water where the sand was harder and easier to walk on.

After walking for half an hour, the sun was starting to set and he still hadn't found Rachel. He knew she'd be pissed if he didn't show up, but he had no idea where this place she found was. If it was in the jungle, he was out of luck—there was no way he was going exploring in the jungle when the sun wasn't out. He knew what was in there, but he still didn't trust the boars not to attack him. He'd killed plenty of them, so it wouldn't surprise him if they retaliated when his guard was down.

Noah was about to turn back when he saw a small yellow glow up ahead. Curious, he headed in the direction of the light.

He stopped when he saw the sight before his eyes. It was a small beach with a canopy of trees filled with flowers above it. Someone had set a small fire off to the side.

On the sand, there was a giant circle made from shells. In the center, there was a makeshift table with two stumps for chairs. On the table, there was a meal of fish and fruit. Leading up to the table, there was a trail of flowers. There were a few handmade torches stuck in the sand, giving more light to the area.

The entire scene screamed Rachel. Only she would put this much time into something as simple as a dinner.

Noah was too busy admiring the scene that he didn't realize Rachel had appeared at his side until she spoke. "What do you think?" she asked.

Noah turned to her, speechless for once in his life. He simply shook his head in amazement, unable to find the words to convey what he was feeling. "What is this?" he finally croaked out.

"I found it. It's just a little beach. I set everything up. That's what I was doing all day," she explained. "I caught the fish and prepared them. I picked the fruit, washed them, and cut them up. I did everything, Noah."

"But why?" he asked, reaching down to pick up one of the flowers. "Why would you go to all this trouble? You must have been working on this all day without rest. Why would you put yourself through that?"

Rachel shrugged her shoulders with a smile. "I guess people do crazy things for someone they care about."

Noah took his time to really get a look at Rachel. She was just in a tank top and cut off shorts, but she looked different. Her hair was flowing down her back and she'd found a way to weave a few flowers into her dark locks. He was also pretty sure she was wearing makeup. Not a lot, but enough to be noticeable. It was a pleasant surprise as he'd gotten used to seeing her without it for the past few weeks.

Rachel took his silence as invitation to speak. "I'm getting sick of waiting around for you, Noah. I like the chase, but you have to give a girl something to work with. This whole not making a move is driving me insane. So if you're not going to get the ball rolling, I will."

"So, you're asking me out, then?" he laughed.

"I already did, and you accepted by showing up tonight," she said, looking up at him.

Noah was shocked. This was so unlike Rachel yet so her at the same time. She went after what she wanted, but she was also not the person to make the first move. With a smile, he put his arm around her shoulders. "Well, Miss Berry, let's have our first date."