Somewhere Only We Know

Surf Trip?

Waking up under the unfamiliar shade of banana leaves, Kie panicked. Jumping up, a pang went up my ankle. It quickly reminded her why she was here. Another reminder was the warm hand on her arm. JJ and Kie had fallen asleep next to each other. After Kie started moving, JJ woke up, wiping his eyes. 

"How long have we been out?" He asked

"Judging from the sun, I'd say at least an hour." Kie responded. 

JJ sighed, stretching. 

"We have to head back." Kie said firmly.

"Woah, why? This place is awesome."

"JJ, we have to let the others know we're ok." Kie explained. 

"Oh, right." For a minute there, JJ had imagined the two spending the rest of their days there. Just under the banana leaves with a fresh water stream running just beside them. It would be so simple. Just like their surf trip. 

When Kie had asked to come along on his surf trip, he'd thought she was joking. But no, her warm yet shy smile had shown that she was completely serious. She was ready to leave with him. So maybe he fell asleep to daydreams about their surf trip. Maybe his mind wandered to them growing old together. Maybe it was an idea that had been building in his head for a while. 

Kie staggering a few feet in front of him showed JJ that she would need to lean on her the rest of the walk home. Not that JJ was complaining. The thing was, physical touch had never been a rare thing for him and Kie. They would sleep on opposite sides of a hammock, or dance together at The Wreck. Her pushing him on the shoulder after a bad joke was nothing out of the ordinary. 

But after she had saved him, something had felt a little more..... tense. Like there was some unspoken thing that had happened. After Kie had saved JJ on the boat, he always saw her glances linger a little more than normal. Every time she looked at him, it was with  more tenderness than before. And sometimes, he would make her blush. Kie? Blushing? Now those were two thing that JJ wouldn't have used in the same sentence till now. But he swore something was up, and he wasn't sure it was a bad thing. 

"Here, let me help Kie." JJ said, lending her his shoulder. 

"Thanks, J" Kie said, visibly relieved. 

The rest of the walk back to camp felt good. Kie felt JJ's steady steps mirror her own. 

"you know, I haven't forgotten about that promise you made." JJ said, interrupting the comfortable silence they had fallen into. 

"Promise?" Kie asked, confused.

"About our surf trip." JJ responded warily, rubbing his neck. 

With that, Kie's smile brightened. " Of course we're going on a surf trip. It's just a matter of when and how."

"Well, we are on an island. We could make surfboards." JJ started. 

Kie's heart fell a little. She'd thought that the surf trip was going to be an only JJ and her kind of thing. Maybe she'd miscommunicated her intentions. 

"Hey woah, if you want to do it another time that's chill. I just thought that since we're already here..." JJ stumbled on his words, trying to figure out what he had said that was wrong. 

"No JJ, it's not this place that's bad. It's just.... I thought the surf trip would be just the two of us." Kie replied, not meeting his eyes.

JJ stopped in his tracks, staring at Kie like she had just cured cancer. Kie's heart dropped in her chest, realizing what she had just done. 

"wait, I mean, if you don't want to that's fine, but like I just, we were talking about, and I said one more not all the pogues but if that's not what you meant-

"stop"

Kie became silent, afraid of what she was going to hear. 

JJ realized that he had scared her, that she thought his response would be negative. Little did she know that inside he was absolutely screaming with joy. 

"Kie, you're completely right. It's a 'nothing to lose squad only' kind of vacation."

With that, the tension in them both eased. Kie's smile got a little bigger and she was pretty sure she saw a blush forming on his cheeks.