While I know I said the Castles in the Sand story was complete, I keep getting ideas for additional stories for Tess and Harrison. Rather than just putting up new story after another, I've decided to simply add them on here as new Chapters. As always, I welcome any feedback!

Castles in the Sand: Lost in the Clouds

It was midday when they met up; Tess Morgan looked around the parking lot as she parked her car. She was a little early but after the way their first date had gone, she'd decided that she owed Harrison. And so, Tess had set several alarms to ensure that she got there if not early, than at least on time. To her surprise, a moment after she pulled into a parking space there was a knock at her driver side window. Shrieking, she turned to see Harrison standing next to her car, grinning and waving in at her.

"Oh, sorry," Harrison said, opening the car door for her. "I didn't mean to surprise you."

"I thought I was early," Tess said to him. As she turned to get out of the car he offered her a hand, which she took with a smile. "I figured after the way things went last time…"

"You mean where you lost track of time working on your experiment, we drove 400 miles to your hometown, your mother and sister decided I was gay, and we slept together in a completely plutonic way?" He arched an eyebrow at her.

"Uh, yeah, all that."

"Oh, that was obviously the best date ever, right? I mean, the part where your dad died sucked, but other than that… definitely some of my finer hours." Harrison flashed a beaming smile at her.

"I remember my promise though. Less excitement this date," Tess declared.

"Yes. And with that, I thought we'd take a nice leisurely hike up Mount Thom." He waved at the mountain. "What do you say?" Staring at him, Tess realized that he was wearing a pair of sturdy looking hiking boots, jeans, a flannel shirt, and had a hiking pack on his back.

"Glad you warned me to dress for being outside." A bit nervous about her second date with the man who'd saved her life, Tess Morgan took the hand Harrison Wells offered her. "Are we going to get rained on?" She looked up to the sky as they headed towards the trail.

"Weather man said it isn't going to hit until tomorrow morning," Harrison replied. "Come on. I want to show you my favorite spot." They started out on the trail. At first they walked in silence, but eventually Tess spoke up.

"Thank you, again, for last time." She smiled at him, amused with the way he used his hat to keep his hair out of face. Instead of the newsboy cap she'd bought him, he was wearing a baseball cap backwards.

"No problem. How are you doing, anyhow?" He offered her a hand to help her over a rock. She paused, holding his hand and looking up at him.

"I'm okay," she finally answered. "I don't know that I would be if it hadn't been for you." Catching up to him, she slipped her hand into his and smiled as his fingers curled around hers. "So, Dr. Harrison Wells, what did you think of meeting my family?"

"Well, your mom was very nice. Your sister... not so much. I will say, I think you're the prettiest of all three of them." He smiled at her, enjoying the way the sun caught in her hair, and the way her smile made her entire being seem to light up. Lost in thought about her, he tripped over one of his own feet. Luckily, Tess caught his hand and kept him from doing a complete face plant on the ground beneath their feet.

"Well, thank you. A man falling over himself to convince me how pretty I am," Tess said with a cheerful laugh. "What do you have in that bag?" They kept going, Harrison paying a little bit more attention to where he was putting his feet.

"Oh, that's a surprise," he said, a cheeky grin filling his face.

"I like surprises, but only when they're good surprises." Tess felt like an idiot. She didn't know what to say to this man. His smile made her feel silly and made her want to smile back. "You know," she began, "I never did get to ask you. What did you study for your doctorate?"

He answered without thinking, too distracted by her to process everything. "Which one?" Pausing, Tess arched an eyebrow at him. "Sorry. I have, a few." He trailed off, uncertain what else to say.

"A few? As in a few doctorates?" Tess stared, watching him continue ahead of her apparently unaware she'd stopped.

"Well yeah, I-" he looked to his side, realized she wasn't still there. Stopping, he twisted to face her. "There's just so much out there to learn." Looking a little lost, he came back to her, wondering if his intellect would be a turn off for her. Oddly enough, it was for some women.

"I agree." Smiling at his lost look, Tess wrapped an arm around his waist, and started back on the trail. "So, what are your doctorates?"

"Oh, uh physics, and I'm a MD, and genetics, biology, mathematics," he trailed off.

"Is that all of them?" Tess wanted to laugh at him. He seemed so self-conscious.

"Those are my favorites," he answered. A little worried, he watched her for any sign of boredom or disgust. "So…"

"So, I think I really need to pick that brain of yours for help with my experiment." Tess jumped a rock and let go of his hand so she could dash ahead.

"Are you really okay with it?" He ran after her, hoping that she wasn't running away because he was so smart.

"Only if you promise to keep helping me with my work." They reached the top of a hill and she stopped, gazing at the beauty spread out before her. "Wow. That is beautiful."

"Think my view is better," Harrison said, standing a few steps behind her and admiring her. "Lame! That was lame. I'm sorry." Coming forwards he stopped next to her, turning to face her. "Look, I suck at the whole dating thing. I'm really attracted to you and want to see you more than once in a blue moon."

"Good. Then you can come by my place tomorrow so we can go over the data from my latest experiment," Tess said.

"Yeah, okay. Come on, I want you to see this." Taking her hand, he led her up the path, walking in silence for several long minutes. Finally they stepped out into a clearing with a stream running along the side.

"Harrison, this is lovely," Tess managed to gasp out. Nodding, Harrison removed his backpack and started pulling things out. First out was a blanket, which he spread out on the ground in a sunny spot. "Are we having a picnic?"

"If you're game," Harrison said with a smile. Nodding, Tess knelt next to him in the grass, leaning forwards to see what else he had brought with him.

"Definitely game." He'd brought bread and various sandwich fixings so that Tess could make whatever she wanted. There was also freshly cut fruit and some chocolate. They sat and ate, laughing and talking about everything from Tess's research to Harrison's sandcastles. As they chatted, the clouds seemed to move in, taking over the sky and darkening the day.

"Maybe we should head back," Tess said, watching a cloud turn dark and ominous.

"Yeah. It's starting to look like the weather man was wrong." Jumping up, Harrison started packing everything away, glancing up at the sky once or twice. When they had everything mostly packed, he slung the backpack over his shoulders and Tess started to lead the way back towards the parking lot.

It had taken them nearly 2 hours to get to the picnic spot, and going back they were forced to slow down. As they picked their way down the trail, rain started to fall. Harrison slowed more to make sure that Tess didn't fall, both of them slipping on the now muddy trail. A few more steps and they slowed even more as the ditch next to the trail rapidly filled with water, rain pelting them. Tess paused to glance up, lost her balance and started to fall. Seeing Tess falling, Harrison reached out, caught her and managed to shove her towards the trail before losing his own balance and falling into the ditch. He managed a shout of pain before the water carried him away.

"Harrison!" Shouting, Tess rushed after him, watching the water twist and tumble him over rocks and down the mountain. Several times she slipped and nearly fell, but eventually she came around a corner to see Harrison, his pack caught on a tree branch and water rushing over his head. Making sure she was on stable ground, Tess reached out. "Grab my hand!" She felt his hand wrap around hers and with some effort, she managed to pull him to the side, and helped him up and out.

"Thanks." Harrison managed before a coughing fit shook his body. Kneeling next to him, Tess started checking him for injuries. He had a nasty gash behind one ear, the start of a black eye, but he seemed to be focused on his left leg. Harrison was on the ground, his left leg half bent, both hands clutching at it.

"Okay, try to hold still, I'm going to check your injuries," Tess lectured. Trying to ignore the rain, she ran a hand over first one arm, then the other.

"Stop. Ticklish!" With a shout, Harrison squirmed away.

"Stop squirming!" Tess shuffled after him in the rain, the mud and water forgotten momentarily. "Harrison!"

"Sorry. I'm very ticklish. I'm okay. Just, help me up and let's get down to our cars." He held a hand out. Glowering at him, Tess took the hand and pulled. As he stood, she watched him with a critical eye. He seemed to be favoring his left side, keeping his leg up and whimpering a little.

"Can you put weight on that leg?" Tess nodded towards the leg he was favoring.

"Sure. No problem." Shaking his head, he went to take a step forwards with the bad leg. As he set his foot down he cried out and started to collapse. Tightening her grip on his hand, Tess did her best to take his weight. "Ow-ow!"

"Okay. Put your weight on me." Tess shifted a little, setting her body so that she would be able to take his weight. Looking up, she could see pain painting his face. "Okay, you sit. Is there anything in your pack we can use to splint your leg?"

"It's my ankle," Harrison informed her. Looking around, he spotted a rock. "Okay, can you get me over there?" Following his gaze, Tess nodded and together they struggled the four feet to the rock. Whimpering, Harrison lowered himself to the rock. Once he was seated, he unslung the pack, setting it down on the ground.

"Let me take a look at it," Tess said, taking his foot gently in her hand. "You said it was the ankle?"

"Yeah. I don't know if I caught it on something or twisted it." He watched as she started untying his boot. "Careful."

"Stop being a baby," Tess lectured. "There's some bruising already visible and you have a pretty deep laceration above it." She managed to slide his boot and sock off with minimal whimpering from Harrison. "Cute toes." Frowning, she examined the rapidly swelling ankle. "I think you've broken it. Do you have any pain killers in that bag of yours?"

"Basic first aid kit," he said, reaching into the pack and pulling out a red kit. "Tylenol." He shook a bottle at her. "No splint, but ace bandage." He offered her the bandage he'd pulled out.

"Okay. I'll try to stabilize this the best I can," Tess said. "Take some of that Tylenol." Nodding, he opened the bottle and took the medicine while he watched Tess wrap his foot. When she was done, she carefully put his sock and boot back on, tying the boot as tightly as she could. "Ready to try it again?"

"Yeah," Harrison agreed. Taking a deep breath, he stood, pulling the pack on and then allowing Tess to take his arm over her shoulder. "Slowly," he requested as they started off. Nodding her agreement, Tess did her best to help him as they hobbled down the trail, rain pouring down around them.

"Thank you," Tess said as they stumbled.

"For what?" Harrison glanced at her, then turned all of his attention back to the wet trail in front of them. He didn't want to fall again.

"Well, you wouldn't have ended up in that miniature stream if you hadn't kept me from falling," Tess declared. They both slipped some and Harrison cried out as he caught them on a nearby boulder.

"Sprain!" Stopping them, Harrison held the offending hand up to look at it. Like his ankle, his wrist was bruised and starting to swell. "Bad day," he grumbled. Almost unconsciously, he tucked the wrist close to his chest, self-splinting it as best he could.

"You know," Tess said, as they started on the trail again. "I thought we had agreed this date would be less exciting than our first."

"Hey, now I don't know how you define excitement, but our first date was still more exciting than this," Harrison countered.

"Then perhaps we should agree on a definition of excitement for the next date," Tess suggested. It made Harrison laugh, which ended in a whimper. "Broken rib or two?"

"Yeah. So, I get another date?" He tried to contain his excitement, which wasn't hard considering the amount of pain he was experiencing.

"Of course," Tess declared. Despite everything that had happened to them, he was still grinning, though occasionally she could see his pain. "How could you have known the clouds were going to turn against us."

"So I don't lose points to the attack clouds?" They were making progress, successfully distracting each other from their misery.

"Definitely not. Plus, you get a big bonus for risking yourself for me," Tess added. They arrived at the cars. "Now, I think we get in the car and I drive you to the ER."

"Of course, because no date of ours is complete with a trip to the hospital." Harrison grimaced, letting Tess lead him over to her car.

"At least no one is dead this time," Tess said. She helped Harrison into the car, relieving him of his pack. While he attempted to get comfortable, Tess got everything into her car, before joining Harrison in the front seat. "And once more, you are my knight. Even if you are my knight in muddy clothing." With a grin, she leaned over to gently kiss him before starting the car and heading to the hospital.