Lost Video Island

[mistojen]

You and me both, Ruth

wait, I mean...


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[PsychoCynic]

Sawyer/Aislynn - it's finally happened!

Lol. I don't mind short chapters since I have no time to read anyway.

Why is Sun on the island anyway? She was never in the game.

Can't wait to see reactions when the castaways go back.
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[Rocksiren]

Mmmm...marshmallows...
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"You are just an encyclopedia of weirdness." ~ Supernatural

[mistojen]

[PsychoCynic]

[mistojen]

Yeah school messes you all up It's okay, girl, no worries
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[mistojen]

“Ready?” Paul whispers, squatting down beside Claire’s bed.

Claire opens her eyes immediately and looks over at him. Though everyone else had fallen asleep, Claire and Paul had simply been pretending; waiting. “I thought you’d never ask,” she whispers back, sitting up and tossing her blankets off.

“Should we wake Sun? She fell asleep,” Paul asks quietly, standing as Claire crawls out of bed.

Shaking her head, Claire tiptoes past Paul and makes her way silently out of the sleeping quarters with Paul trailing behind.

The two of them make their way out to the beach before they begin to converse again.

“Do you suppose we’ll get into trouble if we get caught?” Claire asks as they pull the rowboat down into the water.

“Probably,” Paul replies nonchalantly.

Claire looks over at him as she hops into the boat and pulls up the oars so that Paul can push the boat far enough out in the water to row without hitting the ocean floor. “What? Don’t you care?”

Jumping into the boat and taking the oars from Claire to row, Paul shakes his head. “So long as I get to see Ruth, it doesn’t matter.”

Claire smiles sadly. “You really like her, don’t you?”

Paul looks up at her and they lock eyes for a moment. “Yeah...” he says softly and then looks away from her, concentrating his strength on rowing against the waves, “yeah, I do.”

“Did you know each other before the game?” Claire asks, keen to keep the focus on Paul and Ruth’s relationship so that her relationship, or rather, lack thereof, with Charlie doesn’t come up.

“A little,” Paul says. “Well...by a little, I mean we never met in person before the game, but we’d been acquainted on that forum.”

“Online, that is?” Claire asks.

Paul nods.

“So, was she everything you thought she’d be?” Claire inquires.

A short pause falls between the two of them as Claire watches Paul, waiting for his response.

Finally, a small smiles creeps onto his face. “Ruth is perfect,” he sighs stupidly.

Claire nods and looks down. She remembers when she felt that way about Charlie.

“What about you and Charlie?” Paul ventures, “are you going to give him another chance?”

Frowning, Claire looks back up at Paul as they near the other island. “What if he doesn’t want one...?” she asks before she can stop herself from voicing her private worry.

“Why wouldn’t he?” Paul asks, raising an eyebrow. “Look at you,” he adds, nodding at her.

Claire blushes and frowns, feeling suddenly self-conscious. “What...?”

“I mean,” Paul says as he hops out of the boat and pulls it toward the shore, “you’re beautiful. I don’t see why he wouldn’t want a second chance.”

Smiling a little, Claire blushes harder. “Thanks. I don’t know...there’s Jen, you know.”

“Forget about that,” Paul says dismissively, offering her a hand to help her out so that he can pull the boat onto the sand, “if he loves you, she won’t be a problem and if he doesn’t love you, then he’s not even worth the trouble.”

Claire chooses not to say anything in response as her eyes rove over the beach and stop to her left. Her smile falls instantly away. Without looking away, she responds to Paul finally. “So, then,” she says quietly, “if he doesn’t love me...where do I go from there?”

After pulling the boat far enough onto the sand that he’s certain it won’t get carried away if the tide changes, Paul walks over to Claire and looks at her. He sees that she isn’t looking at him and he allows his eyes to follow hers, resting them a little way down the beach where Charlie and Jen lay sleeping on the sand.

“That doesn’t mean anything, Claire,” Paul says confidently, “so what? Maybe they were out here talking, ending it. Maybe they just got tired and fell asleep. It’s not like they’re naked or all cuddled up or anything,” he adds reasonably.

“Let’s go,” Claire says, nodding toward the Blue Team Hut. “Go say good night to Ruth and let’s get back to our island. I don’t want to think about it.”

Paul wraps an arm around her and leads her away, heading toward his old team’s hut.

“Do you want me to wait outside?” Claire asks when the come around the side of the hut and toward the door. “I mean, since it was never my hut...”

“I won’t be long,” Paul replies apologetically, hoping Claire will understand. “I don’t want to get caught.”

Claire nods and forces a smile. “Okay.”

Paul returns her smile, not seeming to notice that hers was not genuine, and disappears into the hut.

Standing just inside the door, Paul’s eyes scan through the darkness and see that Ruth’s bed is empty. Furrowing his brow, he swears under his breath and looks around the room. He sees Jack, Locke, Colin, Kate, and finally, Ruth. He smils as he realizes she’s sleeping in his old bed. Who is missing, though?

As he approaches Ruth’s sleeping form, it dawns on him that Steph is missing. He wonders absently why she didn’t join them on their island, but it’s only a passing thought as he comes up to the side of his old bed and squats down beside it.

A wan smile crosses Paul’s face as he reaches forward, gently brushing a piece of hair off Ruth’s face and tucking it behind her ear. She stirs slightly and Paul decides it’s time to go before he’s seen.

Standing again, Paul leans down and presses his lips to her forehead, smiling down at her again.

“Not that I want you to lose...” he whispers to her even though he knows she’s asleep, “but I hope you come to my side soon.”

After a short pause, Paul stands back up and walks back out of the hut.

Claire looks up from where she’s sitting, staring at the ground, thinking. “Ready?” she whispers and stands up slowly, brushing the dirt off her shorts.

“Yeah,” Paul replies quietly, looking over his shoulder at the door of his former sleeping quarters one more time. “Let’s go back.”
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[Polarbear]

Aw Ruth and Paul <3 That was so sweet Jen
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[mistojen]

Thanks, Paul. I try.
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[marcus]

The past two eps have been AWESOME, Mon Amie. I'm so sorry I didn't read them sooner. But they rocked. Looking forward to the minesweeper challenge.
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It's official - Aislynn is 36. Add a 0 to the end of that and you've got a full circle.

[Rocksiren]

Aww...
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"You are just an encyclopedia of weirdness." ~ Supernatural

[Hobbes]

When's the minesweeper challenge coming Jen?

[mistojen]

Next episode, Warren, I promise
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[PsychoCynic]

[Stardael]

Aww... That was so cute! Great writing as always!

And just to be clear, I'm not dead.