Authors Note: So I lied. It's been a while for this chapter to be written out. Oh well, here it is. Off topic thing: I have to write a reflective essay about love. I'm baring everything in it, and I'm really nervous because it's the one thing I truly believe in and I don't want to have to show it to anyone, especially not a teacher I've only known for two weeks :( This part is shorter than the others but oh well.

Disclaimer: I don't own them, only borrowing them for my own and my readers' enjoyment.

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Treading Water

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Robbie didn't make an appearance back at the lodge for the entire lunch break although Stuart said that he had been down in the canteen when he had went down to get food.

Jackie had been lying on top of her bed for almost twenty minutes when Stuart brought her a sandwich and a bottle of orange juice. He sat on the edge of the bed as she lay on her side, facing him but not wanting to say anything.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

"Not really," she gently shook her head from side to side.

"I'm not prying, I'm just worried, is it something related to Robbie?"

"Well who the hell else can make me act like this?!" She watched as Stuart raised his eyebrows at her sudden outburst of anger.

"I'm sorry, it's just been a tough morning," she apologised as she sat up and reached out for the juice.

"So what should I wear for this stupid raft building exercise?" He smiled as he noticed she was looking a bit more like her normal self.

"Something warm that you don't mind getting wet if you fall in the lake or wherever the hell we're going."

"Thanks. And at least you'll be there to keep me company instead of only him."

"Yeah it will be a nice change to have you next to me for the first time this weekend." Stuart smiled and gave her a quick hug before leaving her to eat and change.

***

Robbie meanwhile was standing behind one of the buildings in the grounds having a cigarette. He was supposed to have given them up but he was in such an annoyed mood he felt as though he deserved one. He hadn't dared to go back to their make-shift home because he knew if he did he would have to face Jackie and that would either end with them having an argument or the more probable option: wanting to pull her close and kiss the pout that she reserved for whenever he did something stupid.

Robbie knew the other men would assume he had insulted Jackie but that was better than having to admit the truth.

***

Half an hour later the three that had been in the lodge had went down to the main entrance with no idea if Robbie would turn up or not and dreading what lay in store for this activity. Dave turned up a few moments later without the folder containing names which they all thanked the Gods for.

"No Robbie?"

"No, we don't actually know where he got to after getting lunch."

"Oh well, looks like you three will have to do this by yourself. The lake we'll be doing this on is just behind that wooded area so not that far to walk."

Just as they were turning away Robbie appeared in front of them, "You weren't planning on leaving me behind were you?" He put on a fake grin and followed Dave as Jackie mentally counted to ten to make sure she wouldn't scream out loud.

When they got to the edge of the water Dave stopped them beside a mound of pieces of wood, rope and some empty barrels. "You have 2 hours to build some sort of floating object which will hold at least one of you on the water."

Stuart whispered in Jackie's ear, "Do you think that we could get him to test ours and we'll have made it so bad that it'll fall apart as soon as it hits the water?" Jackie dug her elbow into his side because she now was having to stifle a huge grin.

***

An hour later Robbie and Jackie had barely looked at each other and only spoke to each other if it was essential to the task in hand. Their 'vehicle' was basically two of the large empty barrels on their sides tied to about six of the planks of wood.

"So who's going to be the one trying to survive on water with this thing?"

Jackie wasn't paying attention to the conversation and by the time she realised what was going on the guys had nominated her to go. She glared at the three of them but the glare hardly reached Robbie since her eyes tried to move away from him as quickly as possible.

Dave appeared on exactly the two hour deadline and found their creation lying at the side whilst Stuart and Jackie sat on a couple of rocks chatting, Robbie was a few steps away having a cigarette and Matt was pacing around them, speaking occasionally to the team.

"Are you four going to show me that this works," he asked pointing at the raft thing.

Jackie grumbled a bit as she climbed on to the raft when it got into the shallow part of the water. It was going well until an unexpected gust of wind picked the underneath of the raft up and tipped it over. Jackie ended up coming back up completely soaked. Matt, Stuart and Robbie all tried different techniques to not show how hilarious they found it as she passed by them with a look of pure hatred on her face. She was heading in the direction of the lodge and she was already out of sight by the time Robbie decided to go after her.

***

When she got into the sanctuary of the bedroom she quickly discarded the jumper and t-shirt that she had on and found a dark blue long sleeved top in the wardrobe that she put on. Just as she was straightening it out over her body she heard a soft knock on the door, "Yeah?"

"Just me. Can I come in Jacks?" She recognised Robbie's deep voice immediately and sighed, could she not have one moment of peace this weekend to even just change?!

"Fine," she mumbled as she picked up a towel to dry her hair with.

"About earlier; I think our anger must have got the better of us and I'm happy enough to forget it ever happened if you are too."

"Of course I am. And yes, I know it was just a build up of angry thoughts that got too overpowering." Both knew that it was on no terms just frustration that had caused the kiss – well it may have been the frustration of them never having kissed before but that wasn't the point they were getting at.

They could see how nervous the other was while standing there, Jackie was picking the stitching at the end of her sleeve and Robbie couldn't keep still, he kept fidgeting with his hands and then shifted positions from standing to sitting on the bed and back again.

"So have you got any idea what fun activity we have after dinner?"

"Something pointless like orienteering," he said with a grimace before smiling then leaving the room so she coud get out of the wet trousers.

Both of them had to take a deep breath, it had taken booth of them all their energy to not step closer to the other and either hug or kiss them. They both regretted how much had changed within this one morning and they still had the evening and then the forthcoming day and the few hours journey back to Glasgow. Robbie and Jackie didn't believe they could last that long in normal terms, never mind the kiss and sharing the room.

***

To Be Continued.
Next chapter: Fluff will be reintroduced. Night-time orienteering can only spell disaster for these 4 can't it?