The price of the passage (LOST plot)

As soon as Nick yelled land. The adrenaline took over, pumping my blood throughout my body warming me up. I started paddling and kicking, his good hand looped in the fabric of my life preserver. As I felt the squishy but warm sand beneath my feet, i took a huge sigh of relief. I crawled up onto the shore with the help of a crashing white cap. I lay on the shore, my chest rising and falling quickly and deeply from the lack of breathe.

Suddenly, Nick started running towards the other side of the shore. I squinted my eyes and peered in that direction. A bright orange life jacket stood out against the navy sky. I followed him as carefully as I could. He fell back, probably exhausted, and I noticed blood streaming down his arm, he was losing blood quickly. I had a choice, go check on the other person, or take care of this wound. I tore the bandaged shirt from my own wound and strapped it on the deepest gash on his arm. I tied it tightly, putting a good amount of pressure on it to stop the bleeding. I tire off the remaining fabric with my teeth and headed forward toward the other person.

I hoped it was Minty, but it wasn't, it was Salem. "Salem!" I gasped as i collapsed in the sand next to him. He didn't seem to wounded as the rest of us, except for the deep cut on his back, which to no surprise, re opened and was bleeding. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" I said desperately again. I looked at his face, pale and shocked. I couldn't blame him. I was trying the best i could to hide the shock and pain in my emotions. I just had to keep moving on and do the best i could to help out.

I feel myself slipping out of consciousness on this horrid beach. The pain in my back fades, but I know it's from my dreary state. Four people are hovering over me - wait, no. Two people. I'm seeing double, now. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" asks a voice. I think it might be Lexi, if I'm seeing right. I shake my head vaguely, knowing she'll expect an answer. I blink the saltwater out of my eyes and try to think straight. This much I know: The boat was destroyed in the huge storm we're experiencing. I was thrown overboard, along with everyone else. They seem to have been swept onto this island just like I was. We're on an island. With no boat. I think the captain is up here on the island with us. The captain. Who nearly got us all killed. Might have gotten someone killed, if my thoughts are deceiving me. What the hell is wrong with him?

I slowly rise from the sand, trying not to fall as the dizziness comes over me. Lexi is here, so I grip her arm for a moment, maintaining my balance. If Nick is here, he's going to hear it from me. If he's dead, then, well. He got what he deserved. I see him down closer to the water, holding something in his hand. He looks a bit beat up, but that's his own damn fault. Before I know it, I'm yelling at him without restraint. "You bastard! You let a bunch of kids go into the middle of a raging storm and you nearly killed us all! You're sick, and you got us all into the worst position possible!" My head is starting to pound, and I hear my heartbeat clearly. I shut my eyes forcefully, trying to block out the dull pain.

The more my mind gets straightened out, the more confused I am about what the hell I'm doing right now. I just yelled at Nick, and he's pretty pissed. Yet, for some reason, I don't back off. I actually do something really unexpected.

"Why don't you make me?" I say very quietly, so that only he can hear me. In fact, I know he did, because my face is inches from his now. The height difference is miniscule, so our eyes are just about even. I make an effort to breathe on his wet skin. I can just barely feel his breath on my neck, giving me the chills. I still don't know what I'm doing. I just know I'm dangerously stupid and I'm gonna end up with a knee in my crotch.

[[ooc: we could totally go for a major plot twist right now...]]

If I thought I was confused before, then this is a whole new level of weird. If you can call it weird. Because, well, Nick is kissing me. I'm not sure if he's doing it just to be an ass, or this is a genuine kiss. The way things were going before, it kind of seemed like we were going to do something weird. But when he pulls away, there's this satisfied look on his face, like he was trying to prove a point. What that point may be, I don't know. But I feel my heart jump a little and it worries me. I've kissed girls before, and only girls, but this leaves me feeling funny. Funny how? I don't know, but I think I like it.

So, of course, I end up crashing my lips back into his. And I find my hands taking their place on his wrists, gripping them firmly. My only hope is that he won't kill me for this.

The impact is enough to tell me that I did make a stupid move. Luckily, I don't think Nick is really at his full power right now, so the hit could have been a lot worse. But my hand shoots up to my cheek as I recover, and his knee juts into my leg, making me grunt slightly. "What the fuck are you doing?!" I look up at him with anger in my eyes. I mean, he kisses me, and whether or not it was meant to be serious, he shouldn't have punched me for kissing him back! "Returning the favor," I snap, my tone bitter. Pretend he enjoyed it as much as I did. Which leads me to wonder: Did he catch on that I kissed him back because I might have liked it? Really, I'm not even sure why I kissed him like that. The normal me wouldn't have. But something made me do it. Maybe it really was attraction. Maybe I have a secret love that's kept secret from me, even.

Okay, I'll stop being ridiculous.

After Salem got up, with a mildly stable and completely angry attitude, a series of things unfolded that just left me with my jaw dropped and in a complete state of shock. Salem started throwing out completely unnecessary spoken attacks on Nick, he must have been pretty traumatized. Suddenly, Nick kissed him.

I staggered back in disbelief, what was he doing? When he released, Nick looked appeased with an evil obnoxious grin. He was doing it to annoy him, it settled me down for a second until Salem threw his own lips against Nick's. I think I almost fainted. Was Salem really... gay? I shook the thought out of my hed just making a reasonable excuse that he was just annoying Nick also. The look on his face though, seemed a little unsure yet happy.

The next thing I knew, Nicks fist was flying at Salem's face, not as strong as I imagined, but it wold leave him sore for a bit, then he kneed him in the leg, which I knew hurt from the painful grunt in his voice. I threw myself between them, "What the FUCK do you think you are doing? Sure, Nick crashed us on an island, but at least were still alive!" I yelled at them with an astonished, confused, slightly disgusted, and hopeful tone.

I was practically interrupted by a girl's voice, then Nick got in front of us, I looked at Salem and rolled my eyes, and focused back at the girl approaching girl. A nice few inches beneath my height, she looked tired and mangled. Her smirk showed that she was stable though. I examined her in the dim moonlight, her face showed she was a lot younger that us. What was a girl doing here? "You look like you need a knife. So any other survivors I should know about?" she said after round of other words and tossing a knife at Nick's feet. In fear that he would use it against Salem, or anyone else, I grabbed it before he could even touch it and looked at him with narrowed eyes as I held it to my chest closely guarded. I then looked back to the girl, "Just us right now, there were two others, but we haven't seen any signs that they're here, or even alive." I said sadly. Boy, were we in for an adventure.