"Hey Joe"

Not again...

"Can you come and help me?" Robyn stuck her lower lip out, trying her best to look cute. She was laying on a blue towel, in a floral string bikini that was made for someone with a stature more like Lauren's than the tall, busty blonde lying next to him.

It had been two days since the name game they played around the fire, and Robyn had not left him alone since.

"I actually have to go-" Taking a step away, but he was called back.

"It'll only take 2 seconds!" She sounded almost desperate, forcing him to face her again.

"Fine" He swallowed the groan he felt rising.

"Yay! Can you please rub the tanning oil in on my back?" She smiled towards him.

Joe rolled his eye before forcing his legs to step towards her, he knelt in the sand, and began spreading the thin gel-like liquid around. Grimacing all the while.

"You wanna smoke?" She asked, pulling a pack of cigarettes out from her bag.

"No, I, uh, am trying to quit." He responded as she lit up.

"You know, you can stay and rub me all you want..." she turned and gave him a seductive grin, and, much to his horror, Robyn chose this moment to reach back and one-handedly untie the strings of her top.

THUMP.

Both eyes looked up.

"Sorry.." Lauren mumbled bent over to pick up the wood that had tumbled from her arms, her cheeks were rosy and it clearly wasn't due to the heat. Joe bound to his feet looking pained, "Lo... It wasn't-" He looked down at the barely-covered Robyn, to his oily hands , then to Lauren's crestfallen face, " I was just going to find Darren!" And suddenly Joe was gone.

Picking up the last few pieces she turned to leave when a voice brought her back.
"Lauren, right?" Robyn scowled and blew a lungful of smoke towards the StarKid.
"Yea." She knew what was coming next, but couldn't scurry away quick enough.
"When the rescue boat comes you might wanna see a doctor about your coordination problems." she spoke as though she had commented on the weather. The tiny brunette's mouth formed and 'o' then, she bite back a retort and stalked away, to continue with her job for the day.

"You... You guys heard that too, right? It wasn't just me?" Dylan asked, interrupting Meredith's rendition of 'All Star", and not looking away from the tanning woman.
"Yea..." Meredith and Clark answered, they too were a bit shell shocked by what they just witnessed.
With a huff, the brown eyed girl tossed the wood into the steadily growing pile.
"Hey Lo?" Meredith approached cautiously, "did i really just hear Robyn saying that to you?"
"what?" Lauren asked momentarily confused, before realization blossomed, "Oh, that... Yea, she is a bitch." she shrugged it off and hoped that the subject would be dropped.
"You can't let her say things like that to you!" Clark cut in.
Lauren scoffed, "Like that is the worst she has said..." she mumbled under her breath, and unluckily her friends heard.
"Wha-" Dylan cut himself short and turned around, stalking towards his unsuspecting victim.
"No! Dylan... Stop! Please, she isn't worth it!" Lauren pleaded with him, she gripped his forearm with both hands, but even when she dug her heels into the sand, it still wasn't enough to lessen her friends anger. Even if it did get him to stop and face her.
"Fine. Then you talk to her!" He compromised. The petite looked a bit wary, but nodded and promised that next time it happened she would say something.

He leaned against the trunk of the palm tree. Its bark was rough and covered in edges and cracks, but its uneven surface was quite comfortable under his sore back. He had his most faithful friend lying loosely across his lap; freshly-tuned, as he lazily strummed the tune of his latest creation, and let his eyes roam over all the beach.
He really liked his new song. It was wordless, which was unusual. Usually lyrics came as the notes did, but he didn't fight it. Never did he fight the music. If the lyrics wanted to come last, he'd let them. If they wanted to come together, he'd let them. But he could instantly tell, from the feeling in his gut, that this song wasn't meant for any musical.
So, as Darren waited patiently. Letting his mind do what it wished, and hoping poetic verses would meander on in.
His bright green eyes became trained on a single figure. She is so stressed. He thought as he watched her dart from person to person, occasionally scribbling in her notebook. He watched as she yelled for young Trevor to come away from the rising tide, and for Joey not to eat all of the pretzels.
He released an audible sigh as Julia brushed stray tendrils of brown hair over her shoulder and out of her line of sight.
"Dude. You are so whipped." Brian chuckled from his left. Darren hadn't even noticed his presence.
Darren shot him a look.
"Don't give me any of that." Brian shot at him, "I am just gonna be honest with you, man. Because you need it." Suddenly things had turned serious. The strumming stopped and the green eyes were now in rapt attention of the man beside him.
"You and Juls, never should have broken up. I understood why, and I did think it was a wise decision at the time, but it has been 4 years now, and you guys are still in love with each other. That means something. You guys have been on other sides of the country, both with crazy schedules, and have tried new relationships. And yet you guys still are in love. You guys are practically married already." He took a break, and watched as all he said sunk in, " I know you guys think that the distance could never work, but, the distance hasn't changed anything yet and it probably never will. Give it another go."

Darren's face hadn't changed for the entirety of his monologue, and, after a few moments of silence, Brian patted him on the shoulder, and left him to think about what he said.

He is right. Since the moment they met, he hasn't thought of anything but Julia. She was a permanent part of him. Her eyes, always a vibrant shade of green or gray, he would see everywhere; even on the insides of his eyelids as he tried to sleep.

"What day is it?" He jumped, startled by the presence of his friend.
"Jesus, Jaime! What did you sneak up on me for?" He spoke calmly trying to regulate his heart again.
"I have been sitting here for 5 minutes while you stared off into space... I would hardly call that sneaking." She gave him a tiny smile, "But what is the date?" She tried again.
"Umm... I am pretty sure it is the 5th." He turned back to his beloved guitar and started his newest song up again, this time words were slowly coming into focus.
"Lauren's birthday is coming up, then." She stated, her blue eyes fixated on his shifting fingers.
"Yea... It would be great if they could get us by then." He answered cynically, as Meredith came and sat down with them.
"We still need to celebrate it." She said, "Do you wanna help me plan a party?"
"I will!" Meredith spoke up, both girls turned to their dark-haired friend.
"Of course." He softened up. He'd do anything for his friends.
"Do we still have any of those mini-cake things? Because it can't be a birthday without cake!" Meredith asked, and then added (in her best Donkey impression) "Everybody likes cake!"

The sun was beginning to set now, everything was still fully lit; however, the group of survivors needed to quickly start on their fire, if it were to be ready by the time darkness fell. Liam, Joey, and Jackson, the filmmaker, were working hard to ignite the few embers that they had managed to create.

He watched her for a few moments. Torn between joining her and having to talk about it, and leaving her be, but spending more time without her. Finally, the mental argument he was having with himself came to a close, and he took off his shoes, and walked down to the water.

He knew that she knew he was there, but he waited to speak, and so did she. Coming up next to her; the warm waves lapping just to his shins, while, on her, they made it to her knees.

"What's up?" She spoke first, her eyes never leaving the sun, which was falling faster than he had ever witnessed. Her voice was pure and simple, and that is what scared him the most.

"Uh, nothing.. I, um," He turned to face her, but she looked down, and he knew she wouldn't meet his eyes, "I want you to know that nothing is going on between Robyn and I." He said, earnestly.

She still refused to look at him, but her demeanor changed, she sighed, "You can date whomever you want, Wox, you don't need my permission."

"She is horrible to you, and not my type at all. I don't like her in the slightest!"

"Since when have you had a type?" She finally met his gaze, the familiar smirk in place, but the spark of merriment was missing from her bright eyes, "I thought you just went for any and all women?"

"Oh, you're really funny, you know that?" He shot back.

"I know I am; that's why everybody loves me." She shrugged and the corners of her lips twitched.

"No, no... I don't think that's true." He pretended to think about it. "It is because you are loud, annoying, and stubborn as hell." He smiled widely at her shocked expression.
The spark was back in her whiskey eyes, as she bent down and sent a spray of sea water showering over her tall friend.

He stood for a moment, the salty liquid dripping off his scruffy jaw, "That was deserved." He admitted, before inflicting his low he sent a large wave in her direction, the damage, however was minimized as his target scurried away.

"God, Lopez, you are such a baby. Running away from a bit of water?" He taunted, but chased after her. This made her stop in her tracks.

"I am not!" Feigning injury by his words, she didn't expect him to be right behind her. This was to Joe's advantage as he caught her off guard and threw her gently over his shoulder.

Walking a bit deeper, to where the waves reached his waist, he smiled as she alternated between dramatic pleas for release, and threats to his life.
"Please, please, do not throw me in... If you do I swear to God I will kill you in your sleep!"

"You really should be nicer to me, you know. Your fate rests with me." He sighed, glad to see their relationship was back to their old banter.

"Please, Wox? I will do anything, just don't throw me in!" She begged.

"Fiiiiine." He exaggerated. Placing his hands around her waist he set her down delicately in the waves.

"You could have at least let me go in shallower water?" she complained as she waded through the ocean heading closer to shore.

"I can still throw you in, really, it isn't too late!" He offered to her retreating form, his arms open, and his blue eyes twinkled, before following her to the water's edge.

The sun had cast a rosy glow over the earth, making the waves appear diamond, and the sand feel warmer and softer than ever, as the pair walked in the shallows. Each would occasionally stop to examine a stone or shell, or to break the silence with a few soft words.
"Doesn't it remind you of Oreos?" She asked as she held out at black and white rock the size of her palm.

"Yea, great! Now I really want an Oreo." He chuckled. "Hey!" He exclaimed, "it looks like a heart, right?" he held out the pebble. It was small, flat, and smooth, charcoal gray in hue, and it was shaped like a near perfect heart.

Lauren tossed her Oreo rock back into the water, "C'mon, we should probably get back. The got the fire a-roarin'!" She said with a goofy grin.

The pair turned, neither realizing just how far they had gotten from the group.

"Where is Lauren and Joe?" Charlene asked aloud. The group of StarKid's all sitting together, minus the two who were missing, and Julia who still was bouncing from person to person, doing one answered, no one was listening to her question at all.

"Guys? Why is it taking so long for them to find us?" Meredith asked. And the group that was once buzzing with separate conversations and laughs, suddenly died to complete stillness. Brian pulled her closer to him, and kissed her forehead. Suddenly, no one felt like talking.

"I won!" Lauren grinned, and dropped to the sand in front of Dylan. Joe was two steps behind, he bent over, resting his hands on his knees, and panted.

The group was snapped out of their momentary depression as the new arrivals joined them, and by the time Julia and sat with them, they were all happily chatting together.

"I got an idea!..." Joey grinned mischievously.
"Uh oh..." Jaime's eyes grew wide, and everyone gaze shifted nervously from one to another.