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[broken_brushes]

There was something very weird going on with the weather. Before the island, I'd spent most of my life in Southern California, so I definitely wasn't any kind of expert, but when you live in a place for three years, you notice when something is different

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[headofaccounts]

Pete had never been much for extreme changes in the weather, which seemed to be the only kind of change that went on around the island. He'd never been much good at reading the weather, either, and he'd spent most of the day so far tromping about outside. He'd gotten better about making his way about the island in the time he'd been there, as opposed to staying strictly in the compound or his hut.

With fairly little notion of where he was heading, he'd started following the shoreline, pausing only once when anyone came into view. He'd passed a few people so far, but none who were immediately familiar. He knew Shari kept a boat somewhere around here, as they'd had a conversation near it some time ago (nearer to the beginning of his island tenure, if he remembered correctly), but he'd forgotten exactly where it was. It was a welcome sight when he spotted it again, more so when he saw that its owner was there, too.

"Everything ship-shape?" he asked once he was closer, glancing about the boat.

[broken_brushes]

Looking up from tying off a final knot, I smiled. "As much as it's going to get," I admitted. While I'd learned a lot in my three years on the island, I still wasn't what I'd call an expert on sailboat maintenance. I did do my best, though.

"What brings you out here?" I felt compelled to ask, like he couldn't have just been walking along the lagoon for no reason at all. I liked Pete. A lot, in fact. Probably too much, if you wanted to get technical about it, especially since Peter had shown up (And don't think I wasn't aware of the potential headache the shared name could cause). So sue me if I thought that maybe, just maybe, he was out there to see me.

[headofaccounts]

"I thought your boat was out here somewhere," he said. He knew it wasn't a proper answer, to some extent at least, but it was the thought (or whim) that had gotten him out of the compound in the first place.

"Besides," he added, in a lighter tone. "I'm allowed to be out here, aren't I?" Stepping out onto the dock, he raised a hand to his forehead, shading his eyes as he looked out to sea. He didn't know what to look for, to be honest, but maybe - just maybe - he'd see something that would definitively be a sign to either get the hell back inside or stay outside. (And maybe it'd seem like he had a better idea of what he was doing.)

[broken_brushes]

"Of course you are!" I quickly asserted, and briefly pulled a face. "I didn't mean to sound like you weren't, sorry. That was rude. I'm glad you came by. It's lucky that I was actually here." My days were typically so full I didn't have a lot of time to spend out on the boat anymore.

"I'd offer to take you out, but I'm a little worried the weather is going to take a turn for the worse with the way the waves are looking," I added with a motion to the boat. "Hence battening the hatches and all that."

[headofaccounts]

"Maybe when the weather gets better." Smiling a little crookedly, Pete lowered his fingers, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He missed going out on the water, to some extent. Fisher's Island wasn't necessarily home to the best of memories, but at least in this case, absence had made the heart grow fonder.

"You want any help? I don't have all that much experience around these things, but I don't think I'm a total loss."

[broken_brushes]

It had always been so difficult to tell where I stood with Pete, so any chance to suss it out was one I was willing to take. The trouble, of course, was with the result. Friends was fine, I could completely live with being friends. It would suck a little in that way it always had with Tim, but I would deal. If he kind-of-sort-of-maybe liked me more than friends, though, I didn't know what I was going to do. I had always kind-of-sort-of-maybe liked him, but things had changed, and drastically. Being me (and therefore a natural idiot), I just threw myself into the fray and trusted everything would turn out alright.

"I was actually just finishing up, but if you felt like walking with me back up to the Compound, I'd love the company," I answered, smiling as I adjusted my ponytail.

[headofaccounts]

"It'd be my pleasure."

As far as Pete was concerned in their relationship, he knew where he stood. He just didn't know how to proceed. He'd never been good with people -- he knew it, as much as he disliked the fact. While he'd gotten considerably better since arriving on the island, the circumstances under which he'd arrived were still very much nagging at his head. What had happened with Peggy wasn't the sort of drama that he wanted to live through again in any way, shape, or form. The rapport he had with Shari was different, granted, but it didn't mean that he wasn't still very apprehensive.

"I can manage walking."

[broken_brushes]

The last thing I wanted was for the experience to be awkward, so we were barely to the end of the dock before I spoke up, not wanting the silence to drag on too long.

"So," I began, such a promising little word. "What have you been doing with yourself lately? I can't tease you about adjusting to island life anymore, it seems like you officially have."

[headofaccounts]

"I haven't really been doing much," he admitted, hands hanging by his sides. "Getting used to being adjusted, I suppose. It's just weird that this island is what's normal for me, now." It had been almost a year since he'd shown up on the beach, and she was one of the very first faces he'd seen. All that time, and he wasn't really sure what had happened to most of it.

"I haven't seen much of you around," he added, glancing over. "Keeping busy?"

[broken_brushes]

"Always," I replied with a wry smile, then tipped my head back a bit to get a look up at the sky. Still as blue and cloudless as before. "I didn't used to be this way," I continued as I slid my gaze back to earth again. "Busy, I mean. It just sort of…happened. I lost a lot of people all at once and I think for awhile, it was nice to have something to keep my mind off it. Now, I just like feeling like I'm making a difference, cheesy as that sounds."

[headofaccounts]

"It makes sense," he said, trying not to keep looking over at her. "Keeping occupied usually helps, one way or another."

Pausing, he cleared his throat, any and all semblance of nonchalance going straight out the window. "I'm here if you need to talk to someone," he began, tone a little stilted. "You know that, don't you?"

[broken_brushes]

I couldn't tell you why, but there was something almost startling about that admission. Maybe it was simply because it was Pete and our friendship had never seemed to fully evolve, or maybe it was because he himself sounded a little uncertain about saying it. At any rate, I probably took longer to reply than I should have, and I know I had to have seemed a little surprised, my green eyes going wide as I peered back at him.

"I…" I began, then faltered, because my natural inclination was to say yes, of course, but I didn't want to lie. "I actually didn't," I admitted, and offered him a faint, abashed smile. "I should have. We used to talk, me and you, but then-" I shrugged. "I don't know what I thought. That you'd gotten settled and moved on, I guess. But I know now, and…I'm glad."

[headofaccounts]

The pause was almost enough to give Pete a heart attack; had he made a misstep? Said the wrong thing? Relief was immediately distinguishable on his features when she spoke up again.

"I got settled down, but moved on?" Managing a quick smile, he ducked his head, keeping his eyes on the path. "I don't think so."

He opened his mouth as if to speak again, repeating this gesture a few times before finally asking, tone doing absolutely nothing to hide his need for some kind of validation, "Really? I mean -- are you really glad?"

[broken_brushes]

"Of course I'm really glad, why would I say all the rest and then lie about that?" I asked with a breathy little laugh. "That would be just plain mean. I like you, Pete. I always have, even when you were that guy sweating in his suit on the beach. I kind of do this thing where I, like, hold people at arm's length these days, but that's not anything to do with you. Maybe I was subconsciously hoping you'd made other friends or something, I don't know. I'm probably overdue for therapy, I can tell you that much."

I flipped a hand through the air, trying to grasp the words I actually meant to say. "But what I mean is, you can talk to me, too. You don't have to, but you can. I can't promise I'll always be the best source of advice, but I tend to be better at giving it than taking it."

[headofaccounts]

"I think the same goes for most of us," he said amiably, smiling down at the ground. "Thanks. I mean, I've met other people, but I still -- like -- you. A lot."

This was where things got tricky, he guessed. Where he stopped being able to put together sentences that didn't suggest his IQ points had taken a severe hit.

"I'm not good at talking to people," he admitted abruptly, raising his head to look over at her. "I don't know what it is, but -- I'm not. And I'd like to be. At least around you."

[broken_brushes]

"Okay," I replied, a little bewildered. He'd gotten so awkward so quickly, I couldn't help but wonder what he wasn't saying. This was supposedly a guy who had made a living selling things to people; something wasn't adding up.

"You like me?" I prompted with a cant of my head, teasing.