"Why are the three of them all huddled together like that?" Charlene asked, joining Lauren, Meredith, and Julia who were munching on some mangoes in the shade.
"Darren is stuck on a song, Brian wrote some, and apparently Joe is helping now too." Meredith spoke, her cheeks full of fruit.
"Weird." Charlene muttered, continuing to watch the boys.
Joe nudged Darren's arm, "I think I have something, give me an hour and I can have this thing finished for you."
"For real?" The curly haired actor asked.
"Yeah, it's uh, it'll be good, I think." Joe took the paper and utensil and sat under the tree nearest to the tent.
Brian and Darren looked questioningly at each other; Joe was an amazing writer, and he was good for silly lyrics, but they had never seen him go after a more serious song. The pair left him alone under the tree and joined the girls for some fruit.
The lightest pitter-pattering, and a pestering jab on his shoulder is what pulled Joe Walker out of his dream, he couldn't remember it now but he knew it had involved pancakes and sweet, sweet, civilization.
"Ready?" She asked with a wicked, left-heavy grin.
She kneeled next to him with bottle of whiskey in her hand. Joe Walker blinked a few times; his vision clearing and Joey's snores getting louder. Using the inside of his wrist to clear the remaining sleepies from the corner of his eyes, he pushed himself into an upright position.
"Mhmm.. Let's go." Lauren sprung to her feet and started confidently down the beach.
Joe checked his watch, 10:20pm. He chuckled. This would normally have been early for them, the stress, lack of electricity, and plethora of out of door activity messed with everyone's sleeping schedule, in a much improved way. Since arriving at the island, everyone had gone to bed with the sun and risen with it. Making their bedtime around 9 and their wake up time between 5 and 6. Their circadian rhythms much more natural, and off from their routine of sleeping from 2 or 3 until 11.
Joe continued to stumble after his much more awake, and already tipsy friend, who had plopped herself down on the sand down the beach aways. The same place they had pebble hunted all those days ago. As he sat down beside her, she let out a content sigh, and he couldn't help the corners of his mouth from twitching up. He grabbed a random bottle from the two that lay between them: it was a squat, and rather round bottle. Taking a swig, he grimaced but welcomed the burning sensation. Whiskey. He should have guessed, Lauren always went with whiskey.
"The other one is rum," she exhaled, seeming to read his thoughts.
"I'm feeling whiskey tonight."
They laid there in silence; Her watching the stars, him staring into the bottle between them at the warm color reflecting the moon.
The petite brunette suddenly downed a few mouthfuls of their shared bottle, and softly began to sing:
"As I was goin' over the the far famed Kerry mountains..." She snapped her head around to Joe, locking her eyes to his, "I met with captain Farrell and his money he was countin'-"
Joe laughed at her attempt at the Irish brogue, took back the bottle, and had two long gulps; unsurprised but still in awe of his tiny friend's tolerance. He had spent his college years with this woman, he knew how much she could take but it still was an insane tolerance for someone her size. He joined her at the chorus;
"Mush-a-ring, dun-a-do, dun-a-da..
Wack fall the daddy-o, wack fall the daddy-o: there's whiskey in the jar!" Lauren and Joe, both fighting the giggles, continued with the song. By the end the two were dancing around in circles on the beach.
"Lo!" Joe, who just had the first sip of their second bottle stolen by his friend, grinned excitedly at her.
"What!?" She answered enthusiastically back, the pair of them swaying slightly on their feet.
"It's 12:04!"
"Is it really?!" Her eyes widened, running over she turned his wrist towards her.
"You're 28!"
"I'm 28!"
The yelled simultaneously: she wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he hugged her to him, and spun in a circle in their drunken joy. He placed her feet back down on the sand, and kissed the crown of her head.
"Happy birthday, Lo", He felt her smile into his chest and looked down to see the warm color of whiskey reflecting the moon once again, but there was no bottle this time.
"Wow, am I drunk.." He said not breaking eye contact.
"Me too." She mumbled, pulling away but leaving one arm wrapped around his back.
"Wox." She whispered, out towards the waves.
"What?" He whispered back, though a bit distracted.
"What is it?" He spoke quietly again. Blinking away whatever had been occupying his thoughts.
She sighed, sliding her hand into his, and leaning into his side, "Nothing, I'm just really glad you are here with me."
He smiled.
"Me too." He said with a squeeze of her hand.
Eventually the pair had sat down and had some great drunken discussions on; dialect based on which region of the United States you where from, which university of Michigan professor was the hottest, aliens, and they ended with a lovely reminiscing of their mutual childhood love for Oregon Trail. But all good things must come to an end. And at about 2:17am Julia shook Joe awake with only a mild look of disapproval at the bottles laying in the sand, before they silently made their way back to the camp: Lauren remaining asleep in Joe's arms.