Daughter of Hans; Ben Florian

4

"Sorry."

"Its fine," I said grabbing a slice of a sandwich.

I smiled at him and bit into it. I looked at the sandwich in awe. Even the meat tasted sweet, it didn't taste sour and old like the food back home. I took another bite and looked up to see Ben chuckling.

"What? We don't get food like this back on the isle," I explained.

"I'm sorry for all that you've been through," he said placing his hand over mine.

"Uh, its ok. I guess its not entirely your fault."

I pulled my hand back and moved some hair out of my face. His hand stayed in the place my hand was. His face changed from happy to guilty. I placed my hand on his.

"Really, it's ok."

He looked me in the eyes and smiled. He stood up unexpectedly.

"Ready to swim?" He asked.

Crap.

"Um, you go ahead I'm gonna finish my sandwich."

He grabbed my hands and pulled me up.

"It'll be there when we get out," he said and he took off his shirt.

I looked away. I'll just stay in the shallow parts and it'll be fine. I took off my dress and immediately felt self conscious. I turned around to see Ben up on a cliff.

"How did you get up there?" I yelled out.

"I just came up here!"

He roared and jumped in. I laughed at him and sat on the edge with my feet in the water. I looked around for Ben and didn't see him.

"Ben?" I called out.

I started to panic.

"Ben?" I repeated.

I jumped into the water to look for him.

"Ben!" I yelled out.

I wasn't thinking until my feet weren't touching ground anymore. I flailed my arms attempting to stay afloat. I screamed out before going under water. I shut my eyes tight and attempted to push off the bottom but my feet couldn't find the bottom. I felt a pair of arms around me and opened my eyes to see Ben underwater. My lungs started to burn and he pushed us above water. I gasped for air and tried to stay above water. Bens arms still held me as he swam to the pavilion. When he got to it he sat me on it.

"You can't swim?" He asked.

"No," I said angry.

"You live on an island."

"Yeah, with a barrier around it."

"But you still tried to save me."

"Yeah, and what do I get? Almost drowning and being incredibly cold."

I moved over to where I sat while eating and Ben grabbed a towel to wipe himself off. I looked away from him, clearly angry. I felt him set something on me. I looked back and his jacket was sitting across my shoulders.

"Thanks," I muttered.

"I told you that I love you. What about you?" He asked.

I looked away embarrassed.

"I don't know what love feels like."

His fingers moved to my chin and pulled it to face him.

"Maybe I can show you."

He leaned and and kissed me. I didn't know what to do so I stayed still. His hands grabbed mine and put them around his neck. He pulled away and I got nervous. His nose touched mine and I looked into his eyes unsure of what to do. Out of nowhere, I heard someone shout something angrily. I stood up quick and so did Ben.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"I dont know. Hello!" Ben yelled out.

We didn't hear anything again. I was kind of freaked out, who saw us?

"Can we head back?" I asked.

"Yeah, c'mon."

-

I told Ben goodnight and headed back to my room. When I opened the door Quinn stormed out pushing past me.

"What the hell man!"

I went in my room and closed the door. Celia stood up and sat at her desk. She began writing fast.

"Ok... I'm just going to act like nothing happened, but Quinn better still be apart of our plan," I said sitting on my bed.

"I don't know if he will be. I'll figure it out. Just stay out of my business," she said harshly.

"Damn, ok," I stood up grabbing my bag with some clothes and my dagger and went to Evie's room.

I was going to see if I could sleep in there for the night but then I remembered Mal hates me.

My only other options were Quinn or Ben. Definitely not sleeping with Quinn since he has a roommate. So Ben is my only option. Well, this is going to be awkward.

I walked to his office and the light was still on. I knocked quietly.

"Come in," he said.

I popped my head into his office to see him sitting at his desk writing something.

"Hey, Jackie," he said standing up.

I walked in and closed the door behind me quietly.

"Hey," I said quietly, "sorry if I'm interrupting anything."

"No, no. You're fine what'd you need?"

"Hey, so I wouldn't ask this if I had any other choice, but do you have a place I could sleep for the night?" I asked obviously nervous.

He rubbed his neck.

"I have a futon in my room, but I would never make you sleep on it," he said trailing off.

"That would be fine. It's just Celia blew up on me because something happened between her and Quinn."

"That's fine. I can sleep on my futon you can sleep in my bed. I don't mind at all."

"No, I'll sleep on the futon. I don't want to bother you or anything."

"Nope. C'mon, I was about to head back to my room anyway."

He grabbed my hand surprising me and turned off the lights in his office. He closed and locked the door and led me to his room. He looked both ways before leading me into his room. He closed and locked the door behind us. I suddenly got nervous, why did he lock the door. As if he could read my mind he told me why.