Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of its characters; they belong to ABC and Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. Also, I don't own the song "Dancing in the Moonlight;" it belongs to the band King Harvest, or the song that inspired the title of the whole story, "Nothing Will Tear Us Apart," which belongs to Adam Pascal and Larry Edoff.

"Damn, Blondie, you sure clean up nice," Sawyer drawled as Juliet walked out of the bathroom in their little house in Dharmaville. Her hair was swept up in a French twist, she wore a pale pink lip gloss and the slightest hint of mascara, and she had on a pale blue halter-neck dress that perfectly matched the color of her eyes.

"If I didn't know any better, James, I'd think you actually gave me a compliment," she replied smoothly, but with a slight twinkle in her eyes. Sawyer pretended to look offended, but he secretly (or not-so-secretly, depending on whom one asked) enjoyed the easy chemistry the two of them shared.

"Don't go gettin' a big head, now, I'm just being honest."

"Well, then, you look very nice as well." Sawyer, dressed in a borrowed black suit and a navy blue button-down shirt, offered Juliet his arm, playing the part of the Southern gentleman he could have been to a T. She smiled, linking her arm with his and melting his heart at the same time. The two of them walked outside toward what was usually the Dharma mess hall. Today, however, it had been turned into a beautiful mock chapel and reception center, since Sandra and Joseph were getting married. Sandra worked as a nurse in the infirmary, and Joe was the assistant head cook for the Initiative.

As they were about to enter the hall, they ran into Miles, Jin, and Daniel, who happened to be back on the island from Ann Arbor at the moment. All of them except for Jin looked rather uncomfortable in their dress clothes, and both Sawyer and Juliet stifled back laughs.

"C'mon, A-Team, let's head inside," Sawyer said, nodding toward the door. After the three other guys had gone in, he stepped aside, holding the door open for Juliet.

"Some guys just don't know how to treat a lady," he said, shaking his head and grinning at her. She smiled back wryly and followed the rest of the group to their seats. Although she too appreciated the ease with which the two of them could do just about anything together, she still wasn't entirely sure where they stood. Sometimes he could be so irritating she would threaten to get on the next sub and leave for good, but other times, like today, he was so sweet she wondered if he had more than just friendly feelings toward her. And usually it fluctuated back and forth between the two extremes in a matter of minutes!

"I guess it's all just part of his charm," she though to herself. As the five of them found seats, however, and the music began to play to signal the beginning of the ceremony, she found herself leaning more and more toward the "more than friendly feelings" theory. When they stood up to watch Sandra enter in her simple strapless white dress, his hand brushed conspicuously against hers, and the spark between the two of them could have lit the entire room.

Which meant, of course, that Sawyer could feel it too. After everything that had happened with Cassidy, and then Kate, he was hesitant to let himself fall for anyone again, let alone actually get involved with someone new. But there was something different about Juliet – for one thing, she tolerated his screw-ups in a way that made him want to work at being a better person without feeling like he was being judged or pitied.

On the other hand, what worried Juliet were not her past relationship failures, although she certainly didn't want to repeat what had happened with her ex-husband. No, what she feared was much deeper and darker, and made her wonder if she was ever even going to be capable of loving someone again. But, as this was a wedding, she tried to push those thoughts from her head at least for the duration of the ceremony.

After the actual wedding was done, they moved through the temporary walls to the other half of the building to the "reception hall," where they had a beautiful meal, catered by all of Joe's coworkers, of salad, steak, mashed potatoes, and chocolate-and-white marble wedding cake. Upon finishing her dessert, Juliet began to hear the strains of the deejay coming from the lawn just outside the hall. Against her better judgment, she looked over at Sawyer, extended her hand, and asked,

"Dance with me?"

"Uh, I don't really dance, Goldilocks," Sawyer replied with his typical swagger.

"What, is big bad Sawyer afraid of a little old dance floor," she retorted, as usual, breaking through his bravado in one fell swoop. At that, he began to hear chicken noises from across the table.

"Bawk, bawk, bawk," Miles clucked at him.

"Fine," he said as he stood up abruptly, "but only for you, Juliet." They walked out the glass doors and onto the newly created dance floor just as the strains of "Dancing in the Moonlight" filled the evening island air. For as awkward as he had felt just a few moments ago, Sawyer's hands seemed to know exactly where to go to hold Juliet close to him as they began to sway back and forth to the rhythms.

We like our fun and we never fight

You can't dance and stay uptight

It's a supernatural delight

Everybody was dancing in the moonlight

Meanwhile, Juliet was still focused on Sawyer's last words. What did he mean, "only for me," she thought? She considered asking him, but decided that would ruin the moment they were having – and it was a very good moment. However, it all soon became a moot point as a slow song that neither of them recognized came on, and they disappeared into their own little world. The lights hanging up around the edge of the dance area created the perfect atmosphere for something to happen, and the fates did not disappoint.

For the first time in a very long time, Sawyer felt like, just for a few minutes, he might be able to let down his guard and allow someone to see past the angry, gruff image he projected to keep his vulnerable 8-year old self at bay.

"Juliet," he managed to choke out before his brain caught up with his heart, and she looked up at him with those eyes that seemed to pierce right through to his soul. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on the situation), Sawyer had never been a big talker. So in that moment, he did the only thing he could think of – he leaned in and kissed her. It was slow at first, almost hesitant, as though he was afraid she might get angry and pull away. But she didn't, and instead deepened the kiss, pulling him back into a dark corner of the night were she hoped no one would see them making out like love-struck adolescents. It was several minutes before either of them needed to come up for air.

"I'm – " Sawyer started to say.

"Please don't end that sentence with 'sorry,' James," Juliet pleaded. He looked at her again, unable to figure out exactly what she was afraid of, but hoping like hell that he could make it better.

"Do you wanna go back to the house?" he asked softly.

"What about the others?"

"They're big boys, they'll figure out how to get back on their own." With that, Sawyer entwined his fingers with Juliet's, and they quickly walked, then ran, back to their house, scared that they might lose the courage they had both recently gained.

As they reached the entrance, Sawyer threw open the door, pulled Juliet inside, and pushed her up against the closest wall he could find, which happened to be the one separating their kitchen from their living room. He ran his hands down her arms, staring at her for a moment before she began kissing him just as passionately as she had a few minutes ago. Slowly, his lips broke away and he began kissing and nibbling his way down her neck to her collarbone, and back up again. Without stopping, he pushed her gently towards her bedroom (only because its doorway happened to come before his) and onto her bed. As he laid down on top of her, his hands around her back beginning to unzip her dress, he noticed something strange – she was shuddering below him, and not in a good way.

"Juliet? What's wrong? Did I do something?" Sawyer asked as he pulled himself up to a sitting position on the edge of her cream-colored comforter.

"No, it's not you, it's – I'm sorry, I thought I could do this, but I can't," Juliet stammered as she started to stand up and leave.

"Whoa, whoa. Not so fast, there," Sawyer said, putting an arm out to stop her and pull her back down on the bed. "We don't have to have sex tonight, ya know. That's not," he stopped for a moment, trying to put together words that he'd said before, but never really meant until now, "why I – I care about you, Juliet. I wanna be with you…if, if you wanna be with me."

Juliet sat in silence for a moment, still shaking, her head staring down at the carpet. Suddenly Sawyer realized that there were tears streaming down her face.

"Hey," he said quietly, "What's that for?"

"You don't want to know," she replied in the faintest of whispers. Sawyer sighed, hoping he wouldn't regret his next words.

"Yes, I do."

"No, James, you really don't. Just go back to your room, let me sleep this off, and tomorrow we'll wake up and go back to the way things were."

"Uh-uh, Blondie, that's not how this is gonna work. You gotta let somebody inside all those damn walls you built up."

"Why? I was doing just fine before tonight," Juliet retorted.

"Look, even if it ain't me, you're gonna wanna be with somebody again sometime. Wouldn't you rather get all the bad stuff out with me?"

At that, Juliet offered up just the slightest smile.

"No, because if I can't have you as a lover, I at least need you as a friend. You're the only thing keeping me sane on this island. And you'll run away if you hear what's wrong with me. At least this way I get to keep the memory of the way your kisses and your arms around me make me feel." Sawyer's mind reeled at what she had just said.

"Look at me," he said, taking her face in his hands, "I'm done runnin'. And there is nothin' wrong with you. The only thing wrong here is whatever somebody did to you that makes you hurt so bad. Do you hear me? Whatever it is, it ain't your fault."

"They raped me," Juliet began, sobbing even harder, "every night, for weeks. Because I wouldn't do what they said. Because I tried to get off the island. Because I tried to help –" at this, her she stopped and fell forward into Sawyer's arms. His heart nearly broke, not just because of what she said, but because he realized that part of it was because she tried to help him, Kate, and Jack.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," he repeated over and over again, hoping to make some sort of amends for the role he had in this.

"No, James, it's not your fault. It's just – being back here, in a bed, with a man – I haven't been with anyone since before," she paused, looking up at him.

"Hey, I told you, I'm not just in this for sex. Whatever you need."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Juliet asked suspiciously. "You've been weirdly nice all day."

"What, a guy can't change?" Sawyer said, mildly offended.

"Unfortunately, not in my experience."

"Well, maybe you make me want to be a nicer person," he pointed out, "but don't worry, I won't stop makin' fun of everyone and sayin' stupid shit all the time. I'm not that nice."

Juliet laughed for the first time that night, and found herself being pulled into Sawyer's arms once again, one of his hands in her hair, drawing her head to his shoulder, and the other around her back, moving gently up and down.

"Look, I got plenty of baggage and scars myself. This ain't gonna scare me away," he breathed into her ear.

"Good," she replied, "because you make me want to trust people again. That's something that hasn't happened since before I came to the island." They sat in silence for a few more minutes, just appreciating each other's company.

"You ready to go to bed?" Sawyer finally asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Juliet replied, yawning.

"Hold on just a sec. I'll be right back." Juliet quickly changed into her pajamas and was getting under the covers when Sawyer came back into the room, dragging the big armchair from their living room.

"What are you doing?" she asked incredulously.

"I didn't think you'd be ready to have a guy in your bed, but I didn't wanna leave you alone tonight," he replied matter-of-factly.

"James, you didn't have to do that," she began to protest. But he clearly wasn't hearing any of it. "Thank you," she said softly.

"You're welcome, Juliet." And with that, they both curled up and went to bed. But before they fell asleep, Juliet reached over and grabbed Sawyer's hand, fully intending to hold onto it all night long.

A/N: So, I realized the tone of this chapter changes dramatically about halfway through, but I didn't want to mislead anyone by having the first chapter be all light and happy and then going all dark and twisty in the next one. Most chapters will be more of an integrated mix of multiple moods/tones.

I hope you enjoyed, and please let me know any and all suggestions/constructive criticism that you have. I'll try to update the story at least once a week.