Chapter Text
Nico didn’t mean to do it. She swears she didn’t mean to do it. Shit. Shit! She’d forgotten she’d been holding the staff. It was a mistake. That’s all it was. It was an awful, awful mistake. And it was Gert and Chase’s fault, really. Because if they hadn’t been acting like such idiots around each other and just talked it out, she wouldn’t be so annoyed with them and she wouldn’t have snapped and told them to ‘Go somewhere alone and work their shit out.’
Her mistake had been that her staff was active when she said it, she’d been practicing in the living room when they’d passed by, bickering about something stupid. Because that’s all they could do, since the night at the dance. Either be totally awkward around each other making it weird for everyone, or fight with each other. And it was driving Nico crazy. Especially because she knew they both liked each other, but they were just too stupid to figure it out.
So she’d told them to go somewhere alone, and the staff had taken it literally. The moment she’d finished speaking, they’d just… vanished. There hadn’t been a flash of light or a puff of smoke, no sound effects or dramatics. They’d just disappeared. Nico had blinked at first, not really believing what her eyes were telling her. They were gone. Without a trace. Nico had sent them… somewhere. She hoped. Because the other alternative was that they were really, really just gone. Like, dead-gone. Or, wiped-from-existence-gone.
Nico’s stomach sank. This was their fault! They’d been driving her crazy! Except, it was actually completely and utterly her fault. The staff was more dangerous than a loaded gun, no amount of annoying behaviour could justify using it on her friends, even if it was a mistake. And now they were gone and it was her fault. How was she going to fix this? How was she going to get them back? Could she get them back? Were they dead? No! No no no no no no no…
Nico’s mind raced as she stood there, still dumbly blinking at the spot the two clueless lovebirds had been standing when they’d disappeared, when she was interrupted by the angry roar of Old Lace, who’d come rushing into the room, surprising Nico. “Aaarrgh!” Nico had screamed in an unattractive way, but it seemed like the shock kick started her brain again and she suddenly felt her spirits rise as a wave of relief washed over her.
Old Lace was alive! She was alive! So that meant Gert was alive! And that meant Chase was alive… probably. It would only make sense, she reasoned. She wanted to cry she was so relieved, and her mind was already switching gears to start figuring out how to get them back when she realized she’d been a little quick to celebrate. Because across from her, Old Lace growled and snorted out a harsh burst of air. And then Nico remembered.
She lived with a deinonychus. And she’d just zapped the only person that could control it half-way across the planet, for all she knew. And it looked really, really pissed off.
Shit.
“And what’s that… supposed to… mean…” Gert shouted, rounding on Nico, but she trailed off towards the end, her anger fading quickly to bewilderment as she blinked in confusion. It was suddenly very bright. And hot. A warm breeze blew past her, and Gert could smell and taste salt in the air. What… the hell. But despite all of the sensory information she had to run with, the hot sand under her feet, the sound of the lapping waves, her brain refused to process what the fuck was happening.
“Uhhh… Gert?” Chase asked from beside her, but her brain still didn’t want to function.
“Shut up.” She snapped.
“But—“
“It’s not real, shut up!” She interrupted, turning on him, intending to turn this rising panic into anger directed at him, but she definitely felt the sand give way under her feet as she did. And suddenly she knew. It was real. This place… wherever it was… it was real. She just really, really didn’t want it to be.
Gert felt her heartrate speed up and she could literally feel the panic seep out of her endocrine system as it permeated every inch of her body. And she did not appreciate how infuriatingly calm Chase seemed. In fact, he was looking at her with a raised eyebrow, like he was thinking of telling her how wrong she was. That this place was obviously real.
But he didn’t have to. The second his eyes met hers and he saw the look on her face, the smugness washed away, and his eyebrows knitted together in concern, his full lips pulling down into a frown. “Gert…” He whispered as he looked at her with heartbreak in his eyes, but the word was washed away by the sound of wind blowing through palm trees, and waves breaking on the shore. She looked at him with wide, watery eyes, frozen, as the reality sunk in, and she supposed she must have looked pretty pathetic because he moved then, pulling her into a tight hug, his strong arms wrapping around her protectively. One hand held the back of her head firmly to his chest, while the other pulled her body against his.
The firmness of which he held her was exactly what she needed. It was comforting and protective, it grounded her and made her feel, even if just for the moment… safe. She needed it so much that she didn’t even think about the fact that this was Chase. Chase who she hadn’t been able to talk to properly for weeks, let alone touch, since… and she was currently nuzzling her face into his chest without shame. But she gave herself a pass because she’d been magically transported to some fucking island and they had no supplies or food, and she was freaking out. So she pressed herself against him and let him center her, getting as close as she possibly could, pressing her ear against his heart to try to hear the calming beat, hoping it would help to steady her own.
After a minute or two, Chase spoke, but he didn’t loosen his arms or pull away. “It’s okay…” He soothed into the top of her head, his lips moving against her hair. And it suddenly occurred to her how intimate and welcome it felt, but this was not the time for that. So she forced it from her mind, and pulled away from him finally.
“This is the opposite of okay, Chase.” She replied, and he nodded reluctantly.
“Okay, so it’s not great.” He agreed, but he was still holding back, and suddenly Gert felt annoyed. She knew he was trying to be positive so she’d stop freaking out, but she was freaking out for good reason, and she’d really appreciate it if he’d just validate that for her right now.
“Not great, Chase are you serious!?” She snapped back. “Look around! Tell me, if this is what not great looks like, then what does really fucking bad look like then!?” She added, gesturing widely with her arms. When he hesitated to answer, she followed up with a question that suddenly burned inside her. “How can you be so calm!?” She screeched, and she really wanted to know the answer to that, so she stopped yelling and looked at him with bared teeth and wide eyes filled with worry, looking to him for answers.
“I’m not! I’m not calm, okay? How can I be calm? One second we were in our living room and the next--” He answered back in a yell, gesturing widely with his arm, and Gert felt her heart sink a little bit. But at the same time, she preferred when he was honest with her, so that felt good at least. But she didn’t like the way his face fell as he admitted it. “But Nico did this to us—“
“Remind me to have a serious discussion with her about staff safety!” Gert cut in.
“—And she’s going to fix it.” He finished, ignoring her interruption. His expression changed from scared to resolute, and confident, and despite herself, Gert felt her hopes rise.
“You think?”
“Well yeah, I mean… she’s probably just trying to figure out what spell to use.” He reasoned, and Gert felt her eyebrows raise as she considered this. It was a very good point.
“Un-do last spell.” She said after a moment, thinking of a good spell idea.
“That would work, right?” Chase agreed. “How about ‘Find Gert and Chase’?”
“No because who knows where we are, that might just be like that tracking spell Nico used that night she stole the staff. It would take them forever.” She replied, and Chase nodded with pursed lips.
“Okay then, ‘retrieve Gert and Chase’.” He tried, and now Gert nodded.
“That would work.” Now she was nodding more firmly. “That would work. This will probably just take a few minutes, we could pop back into the hostel at any second… right?” She asked, hopeful, and Chase nodded next to her enthusiastically. And then he looked around, his eyes squinting in the sunlight, and with her spirits on the rise, Gert couldn’t help but notice how impossibly handsome he looked. Like some sort of male model, effortlessly posing for a beach photoshoot. She felt herself swoon and her stomach sink at the same time, because how could anyone as beautiful as him be intended for someone as plain as her?
“You know, this place is beautiful.” He said after a moment, and Gert realized she’d been staring at him rather than the tropical paradise around her, and she hoped he would attribute her blush to the heat and not to embarrassment. But now that he mentioned it and she looked around… it was truly magical. The beach stretched about a mile or two long, it was hard to tell, and it was broken by a large outcrop of rocks on the one end, and tight tropical forest at the other. Behind them, the white sand gently sloped up and eventually there was at first a thin smattering of palm trees that got closer together and denser farther back.
Now that she was sure they’d be rescued at any minute, she allowed herself to appreciate how beautiful it really was. But it was also remote. There didn’t seem to be any sign of people, and she’d wager anything to bet this was an entirely deserted island, based on Nico’s wording of her spell. Gert knew she didn’t mean to do it. And she should really be more careful. But she wasn’t going to be mad, as long as she was rescued soon. Because as long as she wasn’t staying, this was a pretty wonderful place to visit. Maybe Nico should take them on vacation more often? Alex could really use one, she thought to herself as her eyes scanned over the ocean before her.
“Yeah… oh look!” Gert pointed, her face lighting up as a smile stretched from ear to ear as she pointed out at the water. “Dolphins!”
Chase turned to look, and he smiled as he saw them. “They look different than the ones at home.” He said after a moment, and Gert saw that he was right.
“We must be really far away…” She remarked, and she knew her voice quivered with nervousness towards the end, her excitement giving way to anxiety, because she’d never actually been anywhere overseas before, and the reality was suddenly setting in that this was her first time away from the western portion of North America. Away from home. Dale and Stacey had always left her and Molly behind when they went on their expeditions, because they knew the idea made Gert nervous.
Chase must have noticed, because she felt his arm wrap around her shoulders and he pulled her to his side. And yes this was the most contact they’d had since they’d slept beside each other in that stolen Gibborim van the night they’d run away, but she was still allowing it. Because circumstances seemed to dictate that to be the right call. She needed the support. And as reluctant as she usually was to accept help, she really could use it right now.
“Hey, let’s sit down… we can watch the water and wait for Nico to zap us back home.” He suggested gently, and she nodded, so she lowered herself down to sit in the sand next to Chase, who kept his arm around her. But she wasn’t reading anything into that. He was just comforting her, because that’s what any half-decent person would do. It didn’t mean he liked her. And if she enjoyed the closeness, well… whatever.
“The sand is really hot… do you want to move to the shade?” Chase asked, but she shook her head. He was right, it was burning, almost scorching hot. She felt it cooking her alive, actually, and the warm humid air gave no relief. But she didn’t want to move.
“No, why bother. Any second now…” She replied, trailing off as she moved her eyes from Chase’s face back out to the ocean. It was so… vast. She felt herself getting sucked away from shore as she stared out into the never-ending stretch of turquoise. She had to believe it was true. She had to. Because if it wasn’t, they were stuck there. So she refused to move. She refused to make herself more comfortable. Because that was tantamount to accepting that they weren’t getting rescued.
Because if help didn’t come quickly, it wasn’t going to come for a long time. If at all. But she refused to think of that. So instead, she just stared out at the ocean, trying to calm herself in the beauty of it all, and she waited. “Any second now…”
Chase was starting to worry. The sun had begun to set over half an hour ago, and he had finally reluctantly left Gert’s side. Because it was clear to him. They weren’t going to be rescued. Not today at least. But Gert refused to give up, she refused to believe that they were stuck here. He had a feeling if she did, she might unravel. Because if they didn’t have her anxiety medication at the hostel, they certainly didn’t have it on a desert island. Add to that any food, shelter, or potable water and they were truly, royally fucked. So she kind of had a point. But he had to stay strong, for Gert. Even if he was starting to freak out himself, he couldn’t let her know.
So he let her continue to sit there as the sky turned from light blue to a stunning red orange, to a beautiful periwinkle, and settling into a darkening indigo as stars started to appear, and he took it upon himself to scope out where they might sleep tonight. Because he thought it was going to come to that. As the sun settled low on the horizon, sinking down into the ocean across from them, he came to understand that. They were spending the night on the island. And beyond tonight? Who knew?
The bad news was there wasn’t any immediately obvious places to set up camp. Not within eyesight of Gert, at least. And he refused to let her out of his sight. He was leaving her be for now, but tomorrow, he was going to need to go exploring. He was going to need to source some water, and check out any potential food sources. And then there was fire, and shelter… he tried not to let it overwhelm him, and to focus on the task at hand. They needed somewhere to sleep tonight, and it couldn’t be on the beach.
The tide was already coming in. The water was almost up to Gert’s feet, she’d have to move any minute if she didn’t want to get wet. And with the way the temperature was plummeting since the sun went down, he really didn’t think getting wet would be a good idea. He’d prefer if she not go hypothermic on top of all of their other problems right now.
There weren’t many options, so he did the best he could. He thought he could recognize the line that represented where the tide usually maxed out, it was just before the sand stopped sloping upwards and it crested to a sort of plateau. So he began clearing an area just beyond where the palm trees started growing, but where they were still far enough apart, and soft sand separated them. When he was done clearing and the sand was as debris-free as he thought he could get it, he started collecting palm-fronds to lay on the ground as a bed.
When he was done, he had to admit, it wasn’t ideal. But it was a heck of a lot better than nothing. He laid down on it, to test, and it was serviceable. He’d work out something more permanent tomorrow. But for now… he looked up and saw the stars were visible above him between the sparsely grown palm trees, and he could already see more through the trees, at this early hour of the evening than would ever fill the Los Angeles sky, on even the darkest nights. And he tried not to think of the fact that he would be sleeping under the stars with Gert. He tried to ignore the way his stomach did backflips and he felt like he wanted to float away at the thought, because that was inappropriate right now. With all the things they had to worry about, including Gert’s anxiety, it was the wrong thing to be thinking about.
And yet, the thought was there. Gert and Chase had a history under the stars, he couldn’t help but have his mind go there. Their first kiss had been under a clear night sky, stargazing, in seventh grade. It was one of Chase’s most special, most reflected-upon memories. And ever since then, every time he looked up at a night sky, he thought of her. So it was hard not to think of her, now, and to anticipate the closeness. Because the fact that he’d gone along with her stupid ‘one-time-thing’ pronouncement, and he’d been arguing with her for the past two weeks (Alex called it unbearable sexual tension, before Chase had punched him in the arm), Chase was way too far down the rabbit hole with his romantic feelings to deny them to himself.
Did he love her? Chase really didn’t have anything to compare it to, no healthy frame of reference, so he couldn’t be sure. But he thought he did. Because he knew he’d die for her, if he had to. Even though she didn’t want to be with him. That wouldn’t even be a factor in his decision. So if that wasn’t love, what was? Although, if he was being honest, he’d probably do that for just about any one of his friends. But he’d especially do it for Gert. She was always separate in his mind, more special, more precious.
Not that he’d let her know it much recently. God, he was an asshole. And an idiot. But it seemed to be the only way Gert would talk to him at all, if he annoyed her into yelling at him. And then he’d yell back just so he could interact with her. Because things had been unbearably awkward otherwise. He’d ruined everything that night at the dance, and if he could take it back he would. Which was awful to think of, because until she’d told him it was a mistake, a one-time-thing, it had been the best night of Chase’s entire life.
The single best thing that had ever happened to Chase also happened to be the single worst thing to happen to him, because it seemed to have shoved this wedge between him and Gert that he didn’t know how to remove. And their relationship was worth more than sex. So he regretted it, and even now he kept his eyes on the sky looking for a shooting star to wish it away, make it so it never happened. Because he just wanted his Gert back.
After a few minutes of quiet contemplation, Chase began to worry about the rising tide and how Gert was out there in the darkening evening, alone. He’d hoped she’d come join him on her own, but she must be really upset. And now that the bed was done, he could go back to worrying about her. So he went to go get her, and found that she was sitting a little higher up the sloping beach than she was before, and he thought she might be moving back inch-by-inch as the tide pushed her away a little bit at a time.
He sat down quietly next to her, but she didn’t turn to look at him. Her eyes were fixed on the horizon, so Chase pulled his eyes off of her face and looked out with her. There was nothing there, but it was beautiful. The ocean had changed from turquoise to sapphire, with the waves reflecting the moon and stars, flashes of light mesmerizing to watch. He sat so close to her, he could feel the heat from her body in the now cool night air. And if this were any other circumstance, it would be romantic. But he knew how worried she was, and with good reason, so he pushed that feeling aside in favour of concern for Gert.
“She didn’t rescue us.” Gert said finally, and Chase sighed, and his eyes sank from the horizon to his feet before he looked over at her.
“Yeah. Are you okay?” He asked, and she finally pulled her eyes away from the water and looked at him. And she didn’t really look okay. She looked confused, and scared, and fuck all he wanted to do was hug her. Would she like that? Would she be okay with that? Thankfully, he got his answer quickly when she leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. Chase ignored the wave of butterflies that fluttered through his chest making him almost dizzy, because again, it wasn’t the time for that, and he wrapped his arm around her pulling her closer.
But then a wave lapped up the shore and hit the toe of his boot, and he knew they’d have to move quickly. “Hey, why don’t you come up to bed, the tide’s coming up quickly.” He said in what he hoped was a soothing voice. She lifted her head and looked at him with a skeptically raised eyebrow, and he smiled because it was the most Gert he’d seen her be since they’d been marooned here a few hours ago. She’d been so broken, but now her expression said she was sassy and ready to put him in his place, so how could he help but smile?
“Bed? Chase we don’t have a bed here, we don’t have anything.” She argued, and Chase rolled his eyes at her, if for no other reason than to get a rise from her. Because he reasoned if he kept her sassy and annoyed at him, it would help her not to be sad or scared.
“Okay, come to the pile of palm leaves I laid on the ground for us, unless you want to go for an evening swim?” He retorted, and as if to accentuate his point, another wave lapped in and this time it got Gert’s foot wet. She was wearing sandals on bare feet, and Chase made a mental note to take his socks off to share with her when they got to bed. It was already getting cold enough to send shivers down his back, he worried about the night to come, how much further the temperature would drop. His mind moved to building a fire, and a proper shelter. But it was too late tonight.
“Alright, alright, I see your point. I just… I didn’t want…” She said, stumbling to articulate her worries. But Chase knew what she was going to say. He didn’t know how he did, but it was like they had this connection and he just understood her.
“You didn’t want to accept this was real, I know.” He said gently, and she looked at him and nodded.
“It’s just… we’d be back by now. If she could—“ Her voice got tighter as she spoke and it looked like she was going to cry so Chase pulled her in for another hug. But the water was still coming in, so he stood up with a groan and extended a hand to help Gert get up. She’d been sitting for hours, so he imagined she’d be very stiff, and she was. They walked slowly up the beach to the bed he’d set up in silence.
When they arrived, she regarded it, and Chase felt his stomach flip nervously as he worried she’d hate it. He knew it wasn’t much. It wasn’t even a fraction as nice as the shelter he was already planning in his head. But he’d cleaned it up the best he could, because he knew she’d be sleeping there and she deserved the best he could do for her.
He’d been holding his breath, waiting for her to say something, but he exhaled in relief as he saw a beautiful smile spread on her face. “You did all this, already?” She asked in wonder, turning to him with eyes that shone in the starlight, even under her glasses. “Chase this is… impressive.” She added, and Chase wondered if he was glowing in the dark with pride.
“It’s nothing… not compared to what I plan—“ But he cut himself off, his eyes widening in regret. He didn’t want to say the wrong thing, to be the reason Gert stopped smiling. He knew she was probably still hoping they’d be rescued soon, and might not like hearing about his plans to build a shelter. Because for some reason, Chase had an idea that they’d be here for a while. Call it a gut instinct. But he didn’t want to burden Gert with that. Luckily, she seemed to let it roll off her back and she smiled back at him.
“I can only imagine what mad scientist-slash-inventor Chase Stein will come up with stuck on a desert island.” She laughed as she teased him, reaching out to elbow him lightly in jest, and he blushed under the moonlight and felt his dimples pull in as he smiled back at her. “We’ll probably have coconut telephones and monkey butlers within the week.” She added, and he laughed out loud and smiled so easily, it didn’t even occur to him that this was the most natural, genuine interaction they’d had in weeks. It just felt so right, it made him feel temporarily like things hadn’t been so awkward with them. Like they were Chase and Gert again.
“Just one monkey butler at first, but he’ll train others.” He laughed, finishing the joke and he elbowed her back. “And yeah, I may have a few plans.” He added, but she was still chuckling. And it felt so right that he draped his arm around her shoulder casually. He felt her tense only for an instant before she relaxed and that knowledge warmed him up inside almost as much as her body heat was doing at his side.
“I have complete faith in you, I think I’m in very good hands.” She said, making him smile, but then when she finished she froze, her body tensing and she snapped her head to look at him with wide eyes. “I mean, not your hands, like, literally, I meant in general, like the saying…” She stammered, and Chase chuckled, but suddenly became very aware of the arm he’d put around her. How had that happened? Holy shit he hoped it didn’t make her uncomfortable.
He supposed he’d gone too long thinking and not talking, because Gert continued to fill the awkwardness. “So…” She said, looking down at the bed, and then up at him. He hesitantly lowered his arm from around her, and he felt the biting cool of the night reclaim him immediately, and felt a little bad as Gert pulled her arms up to wrap around herself. “One bed, huh?” She asked, looking from the bed, to him.
“Yeah, well…” He started, holding one hand up to rub the back of his head in a nervous way. “It was the best I could do short notice.” He added, but it wasn’t the whole truth. There was a whole host of reasons he felt they should be sleeping together out here. Safety was a big one, and practicality, and even if it made his stomach flip and flop in nervous anticipation he also knew they may need each other for warmth. But there was also that undeniable other truth. That he just wanted to sleep with her, plain and simple. And despite all the awfulness of their current situation, the very clear and present danger of it all, he couldn’t seem to shake the grateful excited feeling that this was the perfect opportunity to get close with Gert again.
He knew he should be worried about other things, but he couldn’t help but keep coming back to the one huge positive about all of this… that he was with her. And yes he wanted to sleep with her. Sue him. “If you want, I can sleep on the beach tonight…” He added though, just in case. He wanted her to be comfortable. But thankfully her eyes went wide and she was vehemently shaking her head.
“No!” She said forcefully, but then she cleared her throat nervously and took it down a notch. “No, I mean, that’s totally fine. I’d—I’d rather you stay with me.” She added nervously, and she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and gave him a sideways glance and shy smile, and he felt himself melt in reply.
“Good.” He said, but then immediately regretted it. “I mean, not good, but—yeah, that’s ok.” He added, though after he’d spoken he thought he’d probably made it worse than before. Jesus, why did he lose all his cool around Gert? He’d never stammered like an idiot in front of Eiffel or any of the other bitchy girls. It was only since that night at the dance. Before then, banter and conversation had come easy. But since that night there was a tension, and Chase felt like he was on eggshells around her at all times.
“So, should we--?” Gert asked, motioning towards the makeshift bed.
“I mean, it’s probably too dark to get anything else done, right?” He asked.
“I don’t need you to get eaten by the smoke monster, I think you’ve done enough for the night.” She answered, and he laughed, suddenly taken back in time to those days and weeks they’d spent binging Lost when they were thirteen. And with that, Gert laid down, testing the fronds before committing. He looked at her, laying down before him, and tried to ignore the rush of blood that flooded to… parts of him… because okay maybe he’s seen her from this angle in a dream or two, or three hundred, over the years. He’d had a resurgence of them lately, of course, especially since that night at the dance. It was all he could think of, actually. But he really needed to not have a boner right now, so he did his level best to force the memories of the dreams from his mind. “Not bad.” She said, looking up at him, and then she patted the space beside her. “Come on, Stein, take a load off. You deserve it.” She said, and he smiled and lowered himself to the ground beside her.
“It really wasn’t much.” He replied as he settled about six inches away from her on his back, his arms folded under his head as he looked up at the stars.
“Well it’s better than nothing, how about that?” Gert asked, reaching over to poke him in the ribs, and he laughed, pulling an arm down to protect himself.
“Okay, it’s better than nothing.” He agreed. “But you haven’t seen anything yet.” He added, and she smiled.
“Monkey butlers.” She replied, with a smile, and it was radiant even without the light of day to brighten it.
“Something like that.” He replied, and there was an easy silence that followed, as Gert rolled onto her back and began gazing up at the stars.
“I’ve never seen so many.” She said after a few minutes, and her voice was breathless and full of awe. Chase looked over at her, his eyes running over her silhouette, pausing at her nose, her lips, her breasts.
“Beautiful.” He breathed in agreement, but he wasn’t talking about the stars. Gert didn’t know that, though, and she hummed her agreement.
They were quiet for a while after that, both of them looking up at the sky, not really knowing what to say. Chase didn’t want to make anything worse, and he had a habit of saying the wrong things, so he thought he’d give Gert some peace and quiet instead. She seemed lost in thought, anyways, as she looked up at the night sky. Only the slightest of frowns gave away the worry that he knew was starting to bubble up inside of her again.
“Do you think it’s going to be long, before they find us?” She asked eventually, rolling over onto her side to look at Chase. She folded one arm under her head, and the other played with a palm frond between them nervously. Chase did the same, rolling to face her, wanting to look her in the eye. Well, as best as he could in the darkening night.
“You want honesty, right?” He asked, hesitantly. He thought he knew her well enough that she wouldn’t appreciate placating bullshit, and she didn’t like to be treated like she was totally made of glass, but he still wanted to make sure.
“Always. I can take it.” She said boldly, but there was a quiver to her voice betraying her nervousness.
“Then I’m not sure.” He replied, and Gert rolled her eyes.
“That’s not an answer.” She moaned, reaching out across the few inches separating them to push at his chest. He laughed softly and smiled at her in apology as he shrugged.
“I’m sorry, but it’s all I’ve got. But I’ve been thinking about it—“
“Whoa, be careful with that, you might pull a muscle.” She interjected, teasing like she always does, and he scowled in response.
“Hey, even I have good ideas sometimes.” He replied defensively, but he hoped good-naturedly, and she smirked.
“Okay so lay it on me, what have you been thinking about?” She asked, and the way she kept eye contact with him sent shivers down his spine that had nothing to do with the cold of the night.
“Well, I’m not sure how long it could take. I mean, it could conceivably take weeks or months if they have to find us like you guys found Alex. But—“ He said, and she interrupted.
“But?” She repeated in question, the word filled with trepidatious hope.
“But maybe… I’ve been thinking about Nico’s spell.”
“Is that what we’re calling what she did to us?” Gert asked sharply, but Chase just looked at her with soft eyes.
“Come on, Gert, you know she didn’t mean to.”
“Yeah, but it’s still her fault.” She shot back, and Chase couldn’t really argue, but he didn’t want to let the conversation devolve too far into negativity.
“Okay, but does that change anything?” He replied carefully and she huffed out a breath.
“Can’t I just be mad?” She challenged back, and Chase thought about it. And he determined she was right. Why couldn’t she be mad, if that was how she was feeling? Come to think of it, Chase was a little mad too. But mostly just because Gert was. He hated for her to be upset. But if he was being honest, he was kind of loving this. For now at least. Time would tell if they could find water or food, if they’d end up perishing on this paradise and by the time the rest of their group found them they would just be sun-bleached skeletons. That could very well happen. But for now, they were okay, and all Chase could really think of was how he was happy to be so close to Gert. To be talking to her again. Because that’s all he’d been wishing for, for the past few weeks.
“You’re right. Nico should have been more careful.” He agreed, and Gert made a noise like a ‘harumph’ in appreciation for his acknowledgment.
“That’s an understatement.” She said obstinately, but under the light of the stars, Chase could see the smirk on her face and it made him smile. “Ok, but you never told me what you were thinking about.” He looked at her for a long moment with big eyes, working up the courage to respond.
“She told us to go somewhere alone to work our shit out…” He replied, finally, and Gert’s eyes went wide in reply, before she shifted them away from his gaze.
“Oh…” She said simply, and Chase swallowed. There was a lot implied in that command. There was a lot between them. What could it mean, working their shit out? It could mean becoming friends again. It could also mean more…
“Well… maybe if we do… we’ll just…”
“Get teleported back to the hostel?” She asked, looking at him with inscrutable eyes.
“I mean…”
“It’s not a bad idea… but Chase… I don’t…” She stumbled, and the look on her face was so awkward and worried that he felt his chest constrict in response.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean…”
“No, it’s okay, I just…”
“Because—“
“Yeah—“ She replied, and it was so awkward, Chase felt the air leave him. He didn’t know where to go from there. He’d just suggested they work their shit out, and after what had transpired between them at the dance a few weeks ago, and the ensuing tension afterwards, that was a bit of a loaded suggestion. And he didn’t mean to insinuate anything! It was just an idea he’d had. A possible solution. But who knew what was involved with even doing that? He regretted saying anything already. He should have just let it happen organically. What was wrong with him?
Gert rolled over then, away from him, and Chase felt like he was falling. He didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing. That had not gone well. But he was too embarrassed to say anything else. He didn’t want to make things worse. If she wanted to roll away from him, he had to let her. So they laid there in silence, until he thought Gert had fallen asleep.
But Chase couldn’t sleep. It felt like a few hours had passed, and all he could think about was how close Gert’s body was. And how cold he was. And about a thousand other things. But those were the top two. But then he heard her moan in her sleep, and she curled in on herself, wrapping her arms around her body, and Chase felt his brows constrict in worry. And suddenly all he could think about was her wellbeing. When she moaned in discomfort again, he’d already had enough. He hesitantly raised his hand and rested it on her arm, gently shaking.
“Gert? Hey Gert?” He whispered softly over the sound of the waves and the gentle wind through the palms. She moaned once more, like she was in pain, before she woke with a hiss and a whimper.
“C-cold.” She said simply, and Chase thought he heard her teeth chatter, and that was it. That was all he needed to hear. He shifted over, shimmying his hip towards her, until he was right against her. But she was facing him and it was causing a space between their bodies and that wasn’t going to work, so he was bold enough to use his hand, placing it above her hip and gently pushing to roll her onto her other side. She was compliant though, and she murmured in gratitude, so he felt emboldened to complete what he started. He couldn’t really believe this was happening, but he was working on instinct. If he stopped to think about it, he’d probably freeze. But right now she was cold and his instincts were telling him to warm her up.
When she was settled on her other side, he slid in behind her and cupped his body around hers. His knees found the inside of hers and he tucked his feet underneath her own, and she pressed them down against them trying to absorb the warmth he provided. That was all the invitation he needed to wrap his free arm around her middle and to pull her tight against him, his chest against her back. He held his breath to steady himself because he was dizzy with the rush of her proximity, but it blew out of him in a bit of a croak as she let out a soft coo of pleasure. That sound would fuel him for days to come, he knew it, and he stored it in his memory to be replayed in times of need. Because wow.
And he didn’t want to thank Nico. Because this was dangerous. And serious. But as Gert nuzzled back against him to get as close to him as she possibly could, and she hugged his arm against her chest, he had to admit his was a bit torn. Because this wouldn’t have happened without Nico, and despite the situation they were in, this isolated moment in time was pretty good. And then Gert moved in a way that caused Chase’s eyes to pop open, and then he scrunched them down to control it. She hadn’t meant to. He told himself that immediately. He couldn’t let it affect him. He couldn’t ruin this for her. Shit.
But if something happened down there, she either didn’t notice or say anything, so after a few tense moments, Chase relaxed and just focused on not thrusting against her. It was a surprisingly difficult thing to do, if he was being honest. It’s like his body was pre-programmed or hard-wired to work that way. But he was better than his base instincts. He could master them. For Gert.
A while later, they both drifted off together. And surprisingly, Chase had good dreams for once. Because she was there.
When Gert awoke, it was to the screeching of seagulls on the shore. She squinted against the already harsh light of the day, trying to figure out where the hell she was. The hostel was never this bright. Or this salty… or sandy… okay, she was on a damn beach. And suddenly she remembered everything. Especially…
“Chase!” She gasped, reaching forward with her hand to grope the space he had occupied last night. And suddenly she had this memory of his body wrapped around hers, or was it a dream? Her heartbeat sped up at the thought, because dream or memory, it had been… everything. But it had to be a dream. It had to. And if it wasn’t, then, well, he was probably just being nice keeping her warm, because it would be way more boring being stuck here with a corpse. That must be it.
But that didn’t explain where he was now. So Gert sat up, the palm fronds rustling underneath her, and she squinted against the bright light. Geez, it really would have been nice to be able to pack for this trip. She could really use a hat right now, or some sunglasses. Or a glass of water. Damn was she thirsty. So she groaned a bit as she moved to her feet. She couldn’t see Chase, but her eyes were still adjusting, so she did her best to ignore the wave of panic that seemed to be rising in her chest with his absence.
But thankfully all it took was a few steps towards the beach to hear some rustling down the way. When she turned, she audibly gasped, but thankfully the sounds of wind and ocean made it audible only to her. Because she couldn’t help it. Chase was making his way down the beach towards her, dragging behind him two massive stalks of bamboo. And he was shirtless, his muscles flexed from the strain of their load and glistening in sweat. And it was everything Gert could do not to lick her lips.
She stood there, slack-jawed and staring, for a good minute before he looked up and noticed her as he approached. “Hey Sleeping Beauty!” He called out with a bright smile, and Gert snorted and rolled her eyes, doing everything in her power to stamp down the smile that wanted to bloom on her face. Beauty? Was he talking about her? Sure.
“How long have you been up?” She asked, because she didn’t know how to respond to Chase calling her a beauty, even if it had been a joke. Chase finished the last few steps dragging the bamboo over to a pile he was creating with a grunt of effort, and clapped his hands together before wiping them on his pants. When he was done, he finally turned to Gert to answer her, and that’s when she realized she’d been staring. No, not staring. Ogling.
“I don’t know, since the sun started rising and those fucking birds wouldn’t shut up.” He laughed, thankfully either not noticing her eyes continue to drop to his bare, glistening chest, or mercifully not mentioning it. Although, he did appear to flex just now as her eyes once again drifted downward, so maybe he was noticing. And was it suddenly warmer out? Geez, Gert was getting hot.
“Yeah, well…” She started, trying to get her brain to come up with anything. “Don’t go and get yourself dehydrated and die. Take it easy.” She snapped, and wanted to slap herself on the forehead immediately. Chase’s brows constricted, nonplussed, and Gert continued. “No offense, but I think I need you to live.” She added, and she meant it as a criticism, as a jab, but she couldn’t help but enjoy the smile that spread on his face for some reason at her words, his eyebrows un-knitting and raising in mirth.
“Don’t worry Gert, I know you’re a city girl at heart. I’ll take care of you.” He said, and Gert felt torn instantly by contradicting feelings. On the one hand, she wanted to melt into a puddle and swoon and replay those words a thousand times in her head: I’ll take care of you. On the other hand, she was a feminist and there was no way she needed a man to take care of her! But he must have been able to read her last thought on her face, because he added defensively, his hands coming up between them to ward her back. “And not because you’re a girl! So don’t even try. If Karolina was out here with me, with or without the powers, I probably wouldn’t have to lift a finger. She’s been deep-woods camping since she was a baby. It has nothing to do with your gender. It has everything to do with the fact that you, Gert, are an indoor kid.” He replied, and she huffed.
It was true. Gert had been camping once in her life, and it was at one of those yuppie campgrounds that had bathrooms and showers and wi-fi… so it barely even counted. And even then, she’d spent 90% of the time sitting in the car, avoiding bugs. “That’s fair.” She grumbled with a pouty face, and Chase smiled at her. His expression looked unbelievably fond, but she must have been reading that wrong. He was probably feeling smug. That’s all it was. “But don’t let me catch you spewing any misogynistic bullshit.” She added, pointing at him, and he laughed.
“I wouldn’t even dream of it.” He said, putting both hands up to the sky like he was surrendering. And Oh God the way it pulled at the bare shining muscles of his chest, and the way his biceps bulged and reflected the light of the sun… Gert coughed and turned away. She decided to stare out at the ocean until she felt herself calm down, silently cursing Nico for putting her in such a situation. Not only might she die slowly of thirst or hunger or exposure, but she was going to be tortured by the gorgeousness of the guy she’d been in love with since second grade who was too good for her and would never rightly want to be with someone like her.
“It couldn’t have been anyone other than Chase?” She asked the ocean before her quietly, knowing the words would be washed away in the sounds of nature around her. But of course, he had chosen that moment to come step up beside her.
“Huh?” He asked, and Gert jumped a little and turned to him.
“What? Nothing!” She replied, and then she saw the coconut in his hand, and her mouth started watering. He followed her eyes and smiled as he held it out to her. There was a small hole at the top, and she wondered how he had managed that, but she wasn’t surprised. Chase was nothing if not industrious.
“I thought you might be thirsty.” He said with a smirk, and Gert wondered if that was because she was blushing from head to toe. But she didn’t want to act too bashful, because then he’d definitely notice. So she reached out and took the large, green coconut from him.
“Thanks.” She said as she raised it to her lips, and she instantly felt better as she took a big gulp of the sweet water inside. She felt more hydrated, and felt her blood sugar rise, and it was just what she needed. “Ahhhh…” She couldn’t help but say in refreshment as she pulled away and wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, and Chase laughed. “How many more of these do we have?” She asked, looking at him, and he looked like he was thinking.
“About a million, if I can find a way to get them down from the tall trees. I climbed for that one, and got a few more, but it got a little sketchy.” He replied, and involuntarily Gert felt her brows raise.
“You moron, you could have gotten yourself killed!” She snapped without thinking, overcome with worry, even though he was standing here and he looked alright. And then she realized that her concern could be easily construed as her caring about him too much, and she slightly panicked, so she added, “And then what would I have done? Indoor kid, remember?” Thankfully, Chase smirked in response.
“You’re right, what was I thinking?” He joked back, and she couldn’t help but feel the corner of her lips pull up lopsidedly. “How about you spot for me next time?” He asked, and Gert’s mind instantly pictured her looking up at him from below, and the angles for admiring that would provide, and she felt her flush intensify as she nodded jerkily.
“Yeah, uh huh, that would definitely be safer.” She said through a croaky voice, but she mastered it quickly and turned to him. “Okay, so what do we do next?” She asked, wanting to move to something productive. Something to get her hormone-ravaged mind out of its current downward spiral.
“Well I was going to jump in the water and cool off for a minute, plus I’m disgustingly sweaty.” He said, and she nodded but looked decidedly away from his body as he said it, like she’d seen some particularly interesting bird or something. “It’s already so hot out. How can it be so hot during the day and so cold at night?” He added, and Gert wanted to give him an explanation about distance to the equator and humidity levels etc but she decided to give him a break because he’d been working so hard already. She could see their pile of bamboo was significant, and a small pile of coconuts sitting by Chase’s shirt under a palm tree. “You want to join me?” He added, causing Gert’s head to snap back over to Chase.
She couldn’t help but look down at his chest, and then down at his jeans, before looking back up at a very smug looking face. “I don’t bite.” He said with a smirk, and Gert made a really embarrassing squeaking noise. And then he started to undo his pants, and Gert thought she might need some oxygen, despite being currently surrounded by fresh air. She shook her head vehemently and looked away.
“No, I’m good for now. I think I’m just going to…” Gert said awkwardly, pointing away back up at the place they’d slept. “Go…” She added, trailing off… practically running up the beach and away from the hot guy stripping before her. What was her problem? Oh yeah, it was probably the utter and total feeling of inadequacy he brought out in her. That was it. It was hard to appreciate him without constantly being reminded of how he was a 10 and she was a 6 at best. And that was on a good day.
She did sneak one backwards glance as she went, however. Because she was human okay and she wasn’t perfect. And she saw him sliding down his pants over that perfect ass that she’d admired many times over the years, always from afar, and revealing a tight pair of light-grey boxer-briefs underneath. He kicked off his pants on the dry sand and then trotted towards the ocean, stopping to let a wave break on his legs, before continuing. And Gert swallowed and forcefully turned away. It simply wouldn’t do if he were to turn around and see her watching. He’d probably never let her live it down. And she didn’t want to let him know she liked him.
He’d gone along with the one-time-thing scenario, so now she couldn’t let him know how much she cared. Because there was one thing she would rather die than become, and that was a fool. She wouldn’t embarrass herself by throwing herself at the fucking Greek god that her old childhood friend had turned into, because there just wasn’t a world where the two of them could ever be together. Not that she could see at least. And she didn’t want to be a fool, and she also didn’t want to completely ruin whatever shards of a friendship they still had with each other.
So instead, she started sorting Chase’s pile. Long sticks that could be used for the shelter, and she started breaking up the drier sticks and whatnot for firewood. She scratched herself a few times, winding up with a few small cuts that stung with her sweat from kicking through the stronger ones, but all in all, it was a very cathartic exercise and she found a lot of her (let’s face it, sexual) frustration leeched out of her as she did. Though most of it came right back when she cautioned a glance back to see how Chase was doing in the water. The answer was he was doing fine. And she chose an awful time to look, because he was just finishing, walking up towards her out of the ocean, dripping everywhere like some god of Atlantis. It looked like he was moving in slow motion.
She squeaked once again (since when had that become such a problem?) and turned back to what she was doing in a rush, but luckily he was much too far away to hear. She didn’t know if he could see her, either, because the sun was behind her and likely in his eyes. But she didn’t know if she’d be that lucky.
About a minute later, he came up behind her, but thankfully she was very aware of his presence so he didn’t surprise her. “Hey, good work! I was going to get working on a fire soon. It could take all day, it should probably be our number one priority, after last night.” He said, and Gert felt her eyes widen but she kept them on the tinder she was breaking up in front of her. So it hadn’t been a dream… But she forced the thought from her mind as she focused on his words and turned to look at him quizzically.
“What do you mean all day? It’ll only take a few minutes, the sun is out.” She said, like it was obvious. She stared him in the eye, her eyebrows quirked like he was a weirdo, because was he joking?
“Did you bring a box of matches you’re not telling me about?” He asked in return, a look of confusion on his face. “I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to make a bow-drill, Gert, or to start a fire with one, but I did it in scouts once for a badge and it took all day. And that was with tools.” He replied, and she laughed.
“Chase we were in tenth grade English together, did you not even read Lord of the Flies?” She asked, and his eyes darted away from Gert’s guiltily and she laughed because that was all the answer she needed. “Okay I’m going to take that as a no. Luckily, you’ve got a Piggy right here.” She added, and almost laughed at the wide-eyed upset look that flashed over his face.
“Why would you call yourself that?” He asked, seriously, and Gert’s impulse to laugh caught in her throat at the seriousness in his voice. It was like she had deeply wounded him by calling herself a name, and wow. That was… interesting. She would probably want to think about that later. But now wasn’t the time.
“No, Piggy is a character… with glasses?” She added, and he still looked confused. “Here, let me show you.” She said, and she knelt down on the sand and took a small bundle of dry twigs with the fluffy tinder, just enough to be an example, and settled them on a clear spot of sand. Then she looked up at Chase to make sure he was watching and big mistake. Why hadn’t she noticed before that he hadn’t put his pants back on!?
His boxers were wet and clung to him and… well… it painted a very clear picture of what was underneath. She could leave it at that. “Chase!” She choked, ripping her eyes off of… him… and snapping them up to look him in the eye. She did her best to scrunch her features in to look angry, or at least the closest approximation she could muster. “Why don’t you have pants on!?” She added, and he at least had the decency to look embarrassed as he reached down to cover himself with his hands.
“My boxers were wet!” He replied defensively. “I need to let the little guy dry out before I put my pants back on.” He explained, and Gert rolled her eyes.
“Little guy is right.” She snarked, and he looked comically wounded, and Gert smiled.
“Hey! It isn’t so little… is it?” He asked, and she groaned and tried not to laugh. The answer was no, but she wasn’t going to let him know that!
“How about we stop talking about your dick?” She snapped back, and he smirked, knowing he’d flustered her, and stretched, reaching to the sky with his arms, leaning back and jutting his hips forward in a long ‘ahhhhhhh’, and she swore she was going to kill him if Nico didn’t rescue them soon. He was doing it on purpose, the cocky (pun intended) bastard. How could he be so comfortable with his body around her? And of course, she took the fucking bait, and couldn’t help but allow her eyes to travel south before he finished stretching and she forced them back to the little example fire she was making.
“You were the one that brought it up.” He argued back, and Gert felt her blood pressure rise, and she didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or to hit him. But then he knelt down beside her and leaned over to see what she was doing. “So show me what you’re talking abou—ohhhhhhhh.” He finished, cutting off his question as he watched Gert remove her glasses and hold them up to find the sweet spot in the sun, so she could focus the light on the tinder. In just a few seconds it was smoking, and in a few more a tiny little flame burst into life. Chase instinctually leaned over it to blow, causing it to burst into a tiny little roaring fire, even though it wasn’t big enough to last more than a few seconds.
Then Chase pulled up, smiled down at the fire, then turned his face to Gert. And there was so much joy and wonder there, a smile that split him from ear to ear, and he held up his hand for her to high-five, which she did with a smirk. “You’re a genius!” He enthused, and she snorted a laugh, but didn’t answer so he continued. “I don’t think you understand how much time that saved. We really need to get to work on a shelter in case it rains. And the coconuts will do for now, but we need real water by tomorrow or we’re going to be really sorry in about a day or two.”
Gert nodded, and tried to ignore the dizzy, out of control feeling of anxiety at the thought of being here for days or more, the thought of going thirsty, or hungry. But she reigned it in and nodded again more decisively. She could do this. She could do this.