fourteen.

                                    

                                          
"So what are you going to do once we get back?" James asked as he stood with Wren on the deck of the ship.
"I'll probably go see my sisters. They probably think I'm dead," she replied. 
"Maybe, but people hold on to hope for a long time, especially under your circumstances."
"They didn't know where I was going. The army made excuses to hide our actual intentions. In was incredibly discreet. My sisters were probably told that I was being sent somewhere by the army. I expect that they got an MIA notice, if not a KIA."
"Well, it'll be a welcome surprise, then."
She hummed in response, laughing softly through her nose. 
"So when all of this is over, when can I find you?" She asked. "I figure I owe you a lighter."
He looked over to see a smile gracing her face. A smile just for him. 
"It's alright, I mean you did save my life with it. I can't think of a better way to lose it."
"Oh, okay," Wren trailed off, the smile dropping from her face. James didn't know what he'd done to make her smile fall away, but when she saw him looking, a forced one returned in it's place. 
Then it clicked. 
How could he have been so stupid!
The girl he'd found himself hopelessly attracted to—dare he say in love with—had suggested spending more time with him, and he shut her down. Now she probably thought he wanted nothing to do with her, when in fact, he wanted nothing more than to spend more time with her while not risking their lives.
He had only known her for three, nearly four days, yet somehow he had fallen hard for her. Wren, the girl who had survived that island for six years; the girl who had saved his life, maybe all of their lives; the girl who'd shattered his heart when she fell from that cliff that morning. 
How had he come to care for her so much in so little time?
After seeing James looking out into the sea, conflict in his eyes, Wren mumbled a quick "good evening," and departed to her assigned room. 
James watched her go, cursing himself for not fixing his mistake, when it dawned on him. His second chance. 
He'd seen her walk into a room a few doors down from his own after check-ups, so hopefully that was her room. 
He took one final look out at the merciless sea before turning to follow her.
"Conrad!" Someone shouted. Turning around, he saw that it was Hank. 
"Marlow," he greeted in return. "Excited to be going home finally?"
"Nervous, but mostly excited. What about you?"
Only if she would be there. James nodded before clapping Hank on the shoulder and moving past him. 
He waited outside Wren's door for a couple moments, debating whether or not to knock now or later, but ultimately decided on now and raised his knuckles, rapping on the door twice. 
He heard light footsteps from inside and took a deep breath. 
                          
Wren had left the deck of the ship feeling rejected. It seemed that James didn't want to spend any more time with her than he needed to, he made that abundantly clear when he shut down her lighter idea. 
The conflict in his eyes afterwards caused a flicker of hope to flare up inside her, that maybe, just maybe, he actually did want to see her again and just didn't pick up on her meaning. 
When she reached her assigned room, Wren sat back on her bed, letting out a huff. 
How had she come to care for this man so much in so little time? It seemed impossible, yet there she was. 
Surely one couldn't fall in love in only three days...
Right?
When Wren heard a knock at the door, she stood and made her way over, silently hoping it would be James wishing to express that he really did want to see her again, once this was all over. 
It was him. A small smile rose to her lips as she leant lightly against the door. 
"Conrad."
"Riley."
"Wren," she insisted. 
"James," he reminded, giving her a smile. 
Her own smile grew and she stepped aside, welcoming him in. 
"I heard this was your room," he told her. 
"You heard correctly. Did you need something?"
He took a step closer to her. "I wanted to test a theory." He took another. "You can tell me if I'm right or not." Still closer. 
"Go on," she agreed, tilting her head back to look him in the eye. 
Giving her enough time to stop him, should she want to, he raised his hands to cup her cheeks and lowered his lips to hers. 
The world faded away, and it was just the two of them. 
Almost immediately she kissed back, only pulling back once to say, "I like this theory," before kissing him again. 
It was magnetic; Wren couldn't pull away even if she tried to. It started out slow, both afraid of making the wrong move lest they hit another situation like they had minutes before.
James let his hands drop to her waist while hers lifted to wrap around his neck, pulling each other impossibly closer. He nudged her backwards and Wren let out an almost inaudible squeak when her back hit the closed door. 
She tilted her head to the side and her breathing hitched when he moved to leave a trail of soft kisses down her jaw and onto her neck. Slowly, he slid his hands under her shirt and splayed his fingers on her back and she moved one of her hands to tangle her fingers into his hair. 
"James," she said softly, not wishing to ruin the moment, but still wanting to make something clear. 
"Mm?"
"I'm not going to have sex with you."
"Didn't think you would, Wren," He looked her in the eyes. "After all, you only met me three days ago."
A pang of relief rang through her head. "And yet," she began, "in those days I seem to have fallen quite hard for you."
"I find myself in the same position."
Wren smiled before she grabbed the front of his shirt with the hand that wasn't in his hair to pull him into a kiss again.