"Just tell me why I have to be here again?" Jack Marston asked from his position of sitting against a tree, a book in his hands. It was snowing slightly, and he was just thankful he didn't need to venture into the probably freezing waters of Aurora Basin, unlike his companion, Laura Knight. He had met Laura a while back, and they had begun to travel together across the countryside. She was a month older than him, and had blonde hair and dazzling blue eyes, which Jack loved. They had become good friends, sometimes even lovers, but they tended to drift between the two. Laura turned to him, an amused expression on her face.

"Because I don't want to be bathing in the water only to turn around and find myself face to face with a bear, that's why!" she explained, and Jack raised an eyebrow,

"Well, if you didn't want that to happen, then why did you choose perhaps one of the most heavily populated bear areas in the whole God damn country?" he questioned, and she scoffed.

"Oh be quiet, Jack Marston," she scolded, turning around and making her way to the shore of the water. Laura reached up and began to unbutton her blouse, only to stop and turn to him, "Now, don't be lookin' when I'm gettin' undressed," she reminded him. He chuckled, tilting his head to look down at the pages of his book.

"Believe me, the last thing I want is to see you naked, Miss Knight," her response to the remark resulted in her blouse hitting him square in the face.

"I've never heard a bigger lie in my entire life, Jack Marston," he heard her mutter, and he smiled, scratching his head as he began to read some of the pages of his book. His hair had been cut short a few weeks ago, much like the style he wore when he was younger. Initially he had been annoyed by the haircut, but now he could see the advantage of not having hair flying in your face constantly. By now Laura had plunged into the water, and was beginning to swim around. She turned towards him, treading water, "The water ain't that cold, you should come in. Unless you're too chicken," she teased, and he looked up at her, smirking,

"You know it's not like that,"

"Then what is it like?" she replied quickly, and he sighed.

"I can't swim," he explained, and she scoffed.

"It's not even that deep, I'm only swimming because I like to swim," she said, and he didn't reply. Laura frowned, but then grinned when she thought up the perfect plan, "It's a shame really. Big, bad ol' Jack Marston can shoot bears and hunt down outlaws, but he won't even step into some shallow water," she added, and suddenly he threw down his book and stood up, and angry look on his face.

"That is it!" he shouted, taking a few steps forwards. For a moment she thought she had genuinely upset him, but then he grinned, "If you want me to go in the water, then I'll go in the water!" and with that he charged in, making water spray everywhere. Laura squealed and began to swim away, only for his hands to grasp her waist under the water and pull her back to him. She was laughing now, and she turned around to face him. He was soaking wet, and his hair stuck to his forehead in small clumps. But yet he was smiling. Pulling her close to his body, their lips pressed onto one another's, their tongues wrestling with each others as the kiss became more passionate.

Suddenly, Jack pulled away and leant down, kissing her neck tenderly. Laura moaned softly, but she placed a finger to his lips.

"Before we continue, I want to be dry. I want to be in a nice, clean room. And you have to be naked too," she said teasingly, and he smiled gently.

"Well, we'd better hurry then, shouldn't we?"

After drying themselves off and putting clothes back on, the pair rode down to Manzanita Post, where Jack owned a small cabin just off the main road. It was dark when they arrived, which was good, as there weren't as many people around to interrupt them. After hitching both of their horses up to the hitching post, they made their way inside the cabin. As soon as the door was closed, Laura grabbed Jack by the front of his shirt and kissed him passionately. He moaned slightly, but then pulled away. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"What is it now? Don't you want to?" she asked with obvious concern in her voice. He smiled, still holding both of her hands.

"It's just..." he paused, thinking of a way to put it, "I need to tell you something, before we go on to do anything," he asked, and she smiled gently,

"Well, tell me then," she replied, and he exhaled slowly.

"I think I love you," he said quietly, smiling happily at her. Laura paused, staring into his eyes as the words repeated themselves in her mind. After about twenty seconds, a huge grin appeared on her face.

"Wow... I think I love you too, Jack Marston," she replied, and with that he leant down and kissed her tenderly. They kissed for about a minute before pulling away and holding each other closely. Laura placed her hands on either side of his face, "I think this could work. Besides, I know more about you than most people do," she whispered, and he smirked.

"Like what?" he questioned, and she grinned.

"I know how big your..."

"Alright that's enough," he interrupted her, making her chuckle, "C'mon, do you want to do this or not?" he added, and she nodded.

"Course I do, why do you think I dragged you here in the first place?" and with that they locked the door and shared a passionate night of love together. Not only as friends, but as true lovers.