Juliet sat down in front of the campfire near her tent. Pulling her feet underneath her, she sat contentedly by herself staring into the fire. Tuning out the cacophony of noises around her, she hardly heard the quiet breaths of a nearby approaching visitor. The soft sand shifted under her as they stopped inches from her foot.
She looked up to see Jack, hands in his pockets, staring out at the water. Slightly shifting the weight from his right leg to his left, he gazed down at Juliet who was now looking at him. Silently lowering himself onto her blanket, he sat beside her. Juliet's gaze returned to the fire, feeling a little bit inside her as he brushed her arm with his.
Jack wrapped his arms around his knees, clenching his fist in his right hand. A moment of comfortable silence passed between them until Jack spoke.
"What you did today." He started, his face looking downward.
Juliet looked over at him.
"For Sun…" He said turning to look at her.
Juliet smiled. "I know."
Jack smiled and stared at Juliet just a moment too long. Cheeks slightly blushing, he looked away and chuckled softly. Juliet knew not to ask what he was thinking. This was always an unsaid commonality they shared. No matter how much they wanted to, they never asked each other the truly important questions. Sure, they'd dance around the subject every now and then, but they never really got down to the – what do you call it? – nitty gritty.
"They're really starting to accept you, Juliet." Jack said quietly, almost in a whisper.
"Yeah." She said through a small smile as she gave him a sideways glance. Her eyes sparkled, which didn't go unnoticed by Jack.
"You hungry?" He asked her. "Cause I could go get-" He was cut off by Juliet
"No." She said quickly. She had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach that made her feel like she didn't want him to leave. "I'm fine."
Jack plunged his elbows into the sand behind him, and leaned backwards. Juliet did the same.
"So, Jack. What do you miss most about being married?" Juliet said, brushing a piece of hair off her shoulder.
Jack paused, unsure of what to say. The question had certainly taken him off guard, but he didn't want to show it.
"Well, I guess the whole idea of marriage." He said
"And pretty much everything that goes with it; the trust, the happiness…the love."
"Yeah. The love thing was always nice." Juliet spoke softly.
"You were married?" Jack asked, questioningly
"Yeah. Only for a couple of years." She swallowed. "He fell in love with someone else."
Jack dropped his head, but quickly brought it back up. "It's kind of funny how we were in pretty much the exact same situation." He laughed, even though the subject wasn't funny.
"Yeah, I guess so." She said and giggled along with him.
A moment of silence passed between them. Juliet laid flat down on the sand, placing her hands lightly over her stomach. She fiddled with the unraveling button of her pants as she thought how similar she and Jack were. Their lives paralleled each other before arriving at the island. Jack followed suit soon after. Placing his hands behind his head, he stretched his legs out, allowing him to relax even more. Finding his niche in the sand, he began.
"What do you miss most about being married?" Jack asked, curious to find out.
Thinking a minute, Juliet responded. "The 'too'." She stated simply, as if it made sense without explaining.
"The 'too'?" Jack asked, clearly confused. His brow furrowed with confusion as he cocked his head to the side to watch her.
"You know, the whole, 'I'm going to get some ice cream, you want some too?' or 'I love you'… 'I love you, too'" She moved her hands up her stomach, resting slightly below her breast. Placing one hand gently on top of the other, she turned to look at Jack who was watching her hands intently.
"Yeah." He said shyly, "I miss that, too."
They smiled in perfect unison.