Carpe Diem - Part 2

Carpe Diem - Part 2

Hurley walked up to Shannon and stood for a moment, not knowing what to say. Shannon was oblivious to his presence and continued to pat Vincent while she stared at the ground.
Hurley cleared his throat loudly. “Hey, um, I was wondering… do you want to go for a walk with me?”

She looked up at him and he saw how red and blotchy her face and eyes were from crying.

“What?” Her voice was quiet and cracking slightly as she struggled to hold back tears.

Hurley shifted his weight to his other foot. “I was, um, going for a walk. I thought you might like to come. And Vincent.”

He nodded towards the golden retriever. Shannon looked at Vincent and then back at Hurley wordlessly.

Hurley panicked slightly. Had he made a mistake? Had he been stupid to even think that Shannon would go anywhere with him? He wasn’t sure but he knew he had to keep his cool.

“I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Shannon wiped her eyes. “No I do. I’ll come.”

A wide grin spread across Hurley’s face and he realise there was no way he’d be able to control his happiness.

“Great!”

Shannon got to her feet and reached for Vincent’s lead. “Where were you gonna go?”

The question caught Hurley off guard. “What?”

Shannon fixed the lead onto the dog’s collar and stood up. “For a walk. Where were you going to go? The beach, the jungle?”

Hurley felt stupid. “Oh! I thought maybe, um, the beach?”

“Ok.”

Shannon took a couple of steps forward so that she was level with Hurley.

Hurley’s grin became even wider. “Let’s go then.”

The two walked out of the caves into the bright afternoon sunlight.

Hurley opened his mouth to speak then hesitated for a moment. “So… how are you? After, you know.”

Shannon glanced away and Hurley immediately thought he had ruined what could be the makings of a new friendship. After a minute she turned back to him and he saw that, although there were once again tears in her eyes, he hadn’t offended her.

“I’m ok. Still crying a lot but it’s only been a week since… well anyway, Jack says it’s normal.”

“Good. So Walt left you with Vincent then?”

He knew the question was a little stupid but the last thing he wanted was an uncomfortable silence. Shannon smiled slightly.

“Yeah. He’s a sweet kid.”

Hurley nodded. “Amazing at backgammon.”

“You played with him?”

The grin that had faded from Hurley’s face during his struggle to make conversation once again returned.

“Yeah. Said his step dad told him he was the luckiest person he ever knew and he was definitely right.”

Shannon nodded. “I hope they’re all ok, on the raft. I know the weather’s been fairly good since they went but I’m still worried.”

“I’m sure they’ll be ok. Besides, they’ve got Sawyer. He may be a chain-smoking jackass but at least he’ll be able to look after everyone.”

Shannon smiled again at this. “I never liked him much either.”

Hurley nodded and fell silent. After a moment he spoke again. “You know, you’re really easy to talk to.”

Shannon looked at him. “You sound surprised.”

“I am a little. It’s just you’ve kept to yourself a lot since we all crashed here. And no offence but you seemed kind of…”

Hurley trailed off, suddenly realising what he had been about to say. But to his surprised, Shannon didn’t look angry. On the contrary, she looked amused.

“Bitchy? I had to be. No one’s ever respected me and if I broke down and cried, then what would they think? They’d know they could get to me.”

Hurley looked surprised again.

“I can’t believe I’m telling you my life story, I hardly know you.

Hurley nodded. “I kinda bring that out in people.”

“I’ve noticed. Why did you come up to me? If that’s what you’d heard from people and what you thought then how come you still wanted to hang out with me?”

“Because I learned a long time ago not to judge people before I know them. And I’ve decided I won’t judge you until I know you properly.”

“Thanks.” Shannon smiled at him and for the first time in a week, all the weariness and traces of tears were gone from her face.

And suddenly Hurley realised how much he’d actually come to like Shannon in less than ten minutes and was surprised at how much she seemed to feel the same way. I guess it’s not true what everyone said about her, he thought.