High Heels, Tin Cans & Dirt Roads

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Author's Notes:

I'm working currently on the fifth chapter of my skate story called 'The Long Way Home', but for the past week I found myself with a mild case of 'writers block'. I just couldn't work on that chapter because this little 'story' here kept on clouding my mind instead. So instead of ignoring and getting nothing done, I finally caved and put it all down for ya'all to read and hopefully like and review.

It's basically two missing scenes that would take place around chapters 10 and 11 of my other story 'How They Moved On'. Please let me know what you thought of it. Rated M (Just to be safe)

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Los Angeles

He stood there for a long moment, surrounded by strangers that were scurrying around in his very own house still working on getting everything set up for the nuptials that would take place here shortly.

Miles and Hurley were talking, hell they might've even been talking to him but he'd managed to drown out their voices and all the other noises around him when his mind was racing a mile a minute, going over every twist and turn his life had taken to wind up at this moment.

He looked down at himself, his second glass of whiskey in his left hand he made a mental note to himself that he'd needed to ease up on the liquor since he had every intention of driving his new bride and himself off to their honeymoon himself. There won't be a white stretch limousine waiting for them to draw unwanted attention from the paparazzi. Kate and he were going to have none of that.

But with Cassidy's disapproving words still in the back of his mind, he glanced down at his own attire once again, the dark stain blue jeans and boots, matched with a bright white t-shirt, covered by a dark blue sport coat, he began to wonder if letting Kate pick his outfit for today was the right choice.

The memory of how and when she'd proposed his attire was still crystal clear in his mind ... she was naked and so was he and they were wrapped up in each other at that moment. He would've probably agreed to wear a pink tutu had she demanded it in that very moment. That thought brought a quick smile to his face, but the smile faded just as quickly as it had appeared when the stark realization came to him about just how fucking screwed he was.

Without giving it another thought, he swirled around to face his friends, blurting out, "I gotta talk to her."

Miles and Hurley both stared at him, both surprised at his request when Miles sarcastically quipped back, "Good luck with that ... she's guarded heavier then the President at the moment."

Hurley's chubby face contoured into a frown, "Dude, you're not getting ... you know, like cold feet ... I mean, you aren't gonna tell her to call this off, right?"

"Ain't got nothin' to do with cold feet, big guy." James reassured him with a smooth smile and a pat on his best mans shoulder, "Just gotta have a word with my girl before we get hitched, that's all."

And with that he headed for the stairs, taken two steps at a time with Hurley and Miles hot on his heels, clearly wanting to not miss out on their friend's attempt of getting passed Carole, Claire and Cassidy.

Right as he reached the top of the stairs, the door to his bedroom opened and Cassidy stepped out, fierce eyes first bore through him and then gave Miles and Hurley the same fear inducing look. "What in the world ya'all think ya' doin' up here?"

James came to a sudden stop right in front of his former lover, "I've gotta talk to her."

Cassidy crossed her arms in front of her, blocking the way to the bedroom door with her body when she shook her head and replied, "Not a chance in hell, Sawyer. She's already dressed, and if you walk in there now and get a look at the dress she'll never forgive you for it. And I won't let that happen."

James huffed and lowered his gaze, staring at his boots peeking out from under his jeans, while Miles and Hurley remained silent in the background awaiting patiently his next move. His head snapped up suddenly and his eyes met Cassidy's in a challenging stare, "Look, I ain't gotta see her, I just gotta have a word with her, so if ... maybe she can come to the other side of the door, you getting' me?"

Cassidy exhaled excessively and didn't unfold her arms either, when she asked, "That word you gotta have with her, is it going to break her heart?"

"No." James replied without even having to think about it.

She nodded now and held up a hand, gesturing for him to take a step back, "You just hold on and I'll see what I can do."

And with those words Cassidy disappeared back into the bedroom and quickly shut the door behind her.

"I'll betcha fifty bucks that this isn't going to happen." Miles blurted out.

"You're on." Hurley replied back and shook Miles outstretched hand, both ignoring James' death glare.

Suddenly the bedroom door opened and Carole stepped out, one hand holding onto Aaron while the other pulled Clementine along, but immediately the door fell shut again.

"Hi Daddy." Clementine waved her free hand in the air.

"Hi Pumpkin. Well, ain't you lookin' like a lady today?!" James drawled as his daughter walked towards him. She nodded and smoothed down her dress with her small hands and smiled wide.

He nodded and smiled towards Carole, and she returned the gesture with a genuine smile of her own. James reached down to run a hand through Aaron's hair, "And how 'r' you doin' buddy?"

"Good, Uncle James." Aaron replied smiling as well.

"Nervous?" Carole's unexpected question caught him by surprise.

"A little I guess."

The older woman let go off Aarons hand just long enough to cup James' unshaven cheek in a soothing motherly gesture and even her heavy australian accent couldn't change the way she suddenly reminded him of his own mother when she spoke, "She's head over heels for you, son, you've got nothing to be nervous about. She loves you."

James choked up and found himself unable to answer her, so he simply nodded his agreement. Carole seemed to understand and offered him a smile in return before she carried on with the two children towards the stairs.

Right as Carole and the kids had disappeared the door opened again and this time it was Claire who stepped out. She pulled the door shut behind her, not allowing him to sneak a peek past her and immediately addressed him with concern, "What is going on? Why do you need to talk to her?"

Finally, someone who's not afraid to get right down to business, he thought as he embraced Claire's bluntness, "Well, mamacita, for one I wanna go over my outfit with her, thought maybe I should at least change into a nicer shirt. And ... well, I just need to hear her voice one last time before ... everything changes."

Claire shook her head, "Well, for one your outfit is fine, and nothing's changing ... you're crazy about each other, putting that ring on her finger is just a way of admitting it to the world, and that's really all there's to it."

Claire made a valid point, but still, he had this urge to hear her voice one last time, an urge he couldn't quiet explain away, but he couldn't just ignore it either. "Look, I'm gonna talk to her one way or another, with your help or without, through the door or face to face, I really don't care how ..."

Claire shushed him just then, and gave him a shove away from the door, "Don't get all big bad Sawyer on me now, she's in there trying to look perfect for you, and she would break down in tears if you got to see her in her dress before she walks down that aisle towards you."

"Ahhh, come on." James voiced his annoyance and disagreement, "She ain't never been one of those girly girls, she ain't gonna care if -."

Claire cut him off before he could voice his thought, "She's a girly girl today, because it's the day she's getting married to you, so trust me on this, Sawyer, she'd be really upset if you'd barge in there and ruin this for her."

"Look, goldilocks, I already been over this with my Uber-ex. I don't need to actually see her. I just want to talk to her." He pointed at the door behind her, "So if you could just get your pretty little blond bob back in there and tell her to come to the door, I promise to be a good ol' boy and turn my back to it and we -."

The door opening behind Claire interrupted him mid sentence when Cassidy quickly stepped out and shut the door behind her again.

Just then Claire turned when Cassidy's eyes met James' and she nodded, "You've got 5 minutes, but." She stepped up and got right in his face, "But if you hurt her, Sawyer, I swear I'll hunt you down and make you regret it."

A cocky grin crept onto his face, "You mean like the way I regret ever meetin' you, darlin'."

"Worse." She replied without an ounce of hesitation, seemingly unaffected by his unnecessary cruel words.

And before he knew what had happened, everyone had just vanished down the stairs and left him standing alone in his upstairs hallway, just a few measly steps away from his bride.

He swallowed the lump in his throat as he stepped closer to the door and rapped his knuckles across the white wooden surface, accompanied with a tentative "Freckles?"

The door creaked oddly, and he could've sworn that this door had never made that sound before, when it opened just an inch and he was just about to say something ... something funny, it was on the tip of his tongue but he just couldn't voice it when her small voice almost whispered to him from the other side of the door. "Just say you're not calling this off."

Awestruck by her voiced fear he answered her fast without any hesitation in his statement, "I ain't callin' this off, Freckles."

He heard it, the sigh of relief that she'd probably hadn't really meant for him to hear, but he'd heard it none the less and a smile crept across his face when she suddenly spoke again. This time louder and with more confidence then that whispered plea from just a moment ago, "I mean if you changed your mind, I guess -."

"Never, Freckles." He interrupted her, "Ain't getting' rid of me that easy, Sweetheart. And even though I'm getting' old an' my memory ain't what it used to be, but I'm pretty damn sure we had this talk already last night. So like I said, I ain't here to call nothin' off, baby girl."

"Okay." She answered and he could practically hear the smile in her voice. "Cass said you wanted to talk to me. So ... what's up?"

He reached overhead, stretching his torso along with the seams of the jacket he was wearing in the process and gripped the ledge of the doorframe above his head, it was the only thing he could think of doing at the moment to occupy his hands to keep them from pushing the door all the way open and pulling her in his arms. "I'm thinkin' I should change into a nicer shirt for this shindig."

"That's it?" she asked, and he could hear the surprised tone in her voice.

"Yup, pretty much!"

"Okay." She answered without skipping a beat.

The ease with which this issue had been solved even surprised him as he answered her back, "Okay then. How -."

"Hold on." She interrupted him, he heard the clicking of her heels and then from further away he heard her call, "You can come in now."

One palm was already flat against the door, but Cassie's and Claire's voices were suddenly in the back of his mind warning him not to ruin this whole dress thing for Kate when he tentatively asked again, "Are you sure, Freckles? 'Cause I've been lectured 'bout not seein' you in your dress couple times today, those fierce looking hyenas are just waiting to tear into me, you know?"

He heard a soft chuckle then and she assured him, "I'm behind the bathroom door, James, you can come in and pick a shirt."

He walked into the room and shrugged quickly out of the jacket, threw it on the bed, and as he pulled the shirt off he asked, "Any suggestions?"

"You didn't like my suggestion." She quipped back and he couldn't help but smile at that too.

He took a step into their walk in closet, the left side was all his, as he began to riffle through his white button-down shirts, looking for the most decent looking one. "Yeah, well, ... it ain't that I didn't like it, just figured if everyone's making such a fuzz about that dress o' yours, I better look the part of the groom ... speaking of which, can you believe that son-of-a-bitch security guard tried to keep me out of my own weddin'."

"What?" her voice sounded louder and had he not been all the way inside the closet, he would've gotten to see her poke her head through that bathroom door. "What do you mean he wouldn't let you in?"

While trying on shirts and checking in the mirror whether to tuck it in or leave it un-tucked, he went on to explain. "Told me there ain't no James Ford on the list. Sawyer was though."

A moment of silence passed as he zipped up his pants after having decided to actually tuck his shirt in for once, but now he quickly removed the belt he had on and was looking through his collection of belts, giving each one a critical look as he compared the color of them with the color of his boots.

"Cass made the list." Came her sudden explanation.

He let out a chuckle, more to himself then for her benefit and added as he began to pull the belt through the loops of his denims, "Well, that explains that."

"No." Kate tried to reassure him, "She did go over the list with me, read me off the names and I gave her the okay." She paused again, "You were the first one on that list, James, but I'm just so used to her calling you Sawyer, it never dawned on me that she'd actually put Sawyer down as your name. I'm sorry."

"Well ... no worries, I made it and I ain't leavin' the ball without the belle." He soothed her worries while he'd spontaneously decided to wear a vest under his jacket as well, but since his wardrobe was rather limited on the fancy-affairs-side-of-things he only had two vests to choose from and a decision was quickly made before he stepped out of the closet and pulled on his jacket again.

Just then the bedroom door opened without so much as a warning knock and Cass marched in, "Time's up and -."

He was just about to jump in with a witty remark when Kate spoke up from behind the open bathroom door and beat him to it, "We're not done talking yet, Cassidy, I'll send him down to get you when we're done." Kate's voice was firm yet friendly. This wasn't about Cassidy's screw up with the name, but simply about her wanting to have a few more minutes with him to talk ... even if the talking was done through a barely cracked open bathroom door.

James smirked, unable to contain his amusement when his eyes challenged Cassidy to say anything to him in the presence of Kate or to deny Kate's request for more time with him, because if he knew one thing about the relationship of his former mark and his wife-to-be, it was that Cassidy wouldn't argue with Kate, especially on her wedding day.

James stood his ground in the middle of the room in the most literal sense when Cassidy had to actually walk around him to get to the bathroom door. She poked her head in and he could hear their hushed voices going back and forth. Something about that everyone was here, and ready and that she still needed to do Kate's make up and finish up her hair and such, but before Kate could once again voice her need of having more time with him, James simply couldn't help himself and butted into the conversation. "Ain't like they're gonna start without us."

"He's right." Was all Kate said in response to his words, and that was Cassidy's cue to throw in the towel.

"Alright then you two, I'll give up." Cassidy said and threw up her hands as a sign of defeat as she walked around him again to leave the bedroom now, "Come and get me when ya'all done up here, and please, please for the love of god keep it PG."

"Duly noted." James called after her retrieving form right before he turned his full attention to that tempting one inch crack of the bathroom door. He slowly walked over to it. His heaven was just one the other side of that door.

"You wanna see my get-up?" He asked in a hushed yet husky tone of voice.

"No. Just ... surprise me." She flirted.

"You've got it, babe." He was so close to the door, his finger running over the white wood just itching to break down this barrier between them.

There was a long silent pause between the two, when she suddenly spoke up, "You never asked me why I was up?"

"What?" He asked not understanding.

"Last night." She began to explain, "Or more like this morning, when you came by the house at 3 am. You never asked why I was already up."

"Hmmm." He nodded, "Well, ain't gonna lie to ya', Sugarpop, about 3 hours ago I asked myself that very same question when I had time to sit and really think about everything we talked about last night." He paused and she sighed wondering if he'd ask her now, or if she should just go ahead and say it.

"So, if you're trying to be all mysterious, gotta say it's definitely workin', honey. Are ya' gonna tell me or what?" His southern drawl had a humorous undertone to it, which had a soothing effect on her fraying nerves.

"I was sitting there in the dark, thinking about whether or not I should go to see you ... 'cause I couldn't sleep either."

Her admission was equally a relief as it was a surprise, and he just couldn't pass up the chance to mock her about it, "So you gave me a hard time for showing up there when you were 'bout to do the same damn thing?!"

"Yup." She smirked, then closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the door before she sighed heavily and just by the sound of that heavy sigh he knew there was more to it than that.

He tried to ease her into whatever it was she felt she had to get off of her chest, "Anythin' else, darlin'?"

She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, "Yup." Her voice sounded uneasy when she began to speak and just that alone made him nervous as hell. "You know how you asked me to go see about your daughter before you jumped off of that Helicopter?"

"Of course." He answered, wondering where the hell this conversation was going.

"Well, I sort of hired a P.I. to find her. It wasn't like you gave me a whole lot to go by, and -."

"You screwed him." He chimed in, frowning at the thought of her with another man.

"What?" she blurted out and immediately went into defense mode, "Why would you think that?"

"So you didn't screw him?" he asked still rather skeptical.

"No, James, I didn't sleep with the P.I., who by the way was in his mid fifties." She answered and he couldn't help the smile that crept across his own face at the disgusted tone in her voice and also for the fact that whatever she was about to tell him couldn't possibly be worse then what he'd just imagined.

"Well, what I'm trying to tell you is that Cassidy and I already knew each other before I knew you. She helped me when I was on the run and we -."

He sighed inwardly when he realized what she had herself all worked up about. He rubbed his hand down his stubbly face, and cut her off in the middle of her little speech, "Freckles, I know."

She stopped, wishing that stupid door wasn't there so she could see the expression on his face and in his eyes, "What do you know?"

"Everything." He drawled, "Her helping you to talk to your momma. Her confiding in you about the prick that knocked her up and screwed her over all in the same god damn week. And you telling her to send that son-of-a-bitch to prison."

Her hands came up to cover the sob that threatened to escape her mouth at the realization that he knew. That he had known and she didn't have a clue.

She tried not to cry, a bride shouldn't look like she'd been crying right before she gets married, but all hope was lost when his hand penetrated through the crack in the door and was just there, open palm waiting for her to take it. She reached for it and the first teardrop rolled down her cheek when a shock of electricity shot right through her from his touch and he reassuringly drawled, "Doesn't change a god damn thing, baby girl. You hear me?"

She nodded, even though she knew he couldn't really see her. It took her a moment to regain her composure, but she finally managed to ask, "So you're not mad?"

"What's done is done!" he readily replied and there was a sudden pregnant pause between them as their fingers intertwined and both gripped the side of the door that was keeping them apart from one another.

In his attempt to cheer her up again and lighten the mood, he suddenly spoke up, "You know I've been thinkin' 'bout my vows to you."

Her head snapped up at that and she couldn't help but ask with a bit of worry in her voice, "We agreed not to write our own vows. You said –."

"I didn't, no need to worry, honey bun, I ain't gonna outstage ya' in front of all our friends, but just this morning a few things came to me that had we decided to write out own vows, I think they would've been pretty good."

"Oh ... like what?"

"I vow to make love to you every day, ... if you want me to."

She chuckled, "Of course you would."

"Are you sayin' you ain't gonna want me to?" He questioned, and she could practically hear the smile on his face.

She cleared her voice, and answered his question with a vow of her own, "I vow the same to you!" She paused, "How's that?" She crinkled her nose in delight now at the welcome turn of events and subject.

"I like that, darling, that's just the kind of thing a man wants to hear right before he gets hitched." He answered still smiling. "What else you got?"

"I vow." She started and then paused to think, "I vow to not be one of those wives that nag."

"I vow to not remind you of that vow when you do nag."

"James!" she scolded.

"Just kiddin', girl. Hold on a tick." He rubbed his chin, "I vow to try my best to give you nothin' to nag me about." He paused for effect and then asked, "Better?"

"I'll take that vow and raise you one. I vow to be a good stepmom to your daughter."

At that his smile faltered and he choked up for a moment, unable to answer her.

After a beat or two of silence she asked, "James?"

"Still here, Freckles." He managed to get out as he regained his composure and squeezed her hand still entangled in his, "You've already been a great stepmom to her. You're the reason she loves me at all."

Now it was Kate's turn to fight back the onslaught of emotions that rushed over her again and she was thankful when he finally spoke up again but she hadn't been prepared for his sudden seriousness and loving words.

"I vow that I'll always be faithful to you. I vow to be a good husband. And I-I ... I know I ain't the easiest person to love, Freckles, but I'll promise I'll try to be. I vow to always be your man ... and that means ... I'll always put you first. I vow that you'll always be my girl."

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Several hours later

The country road they were on was dark and there wasn't a house in sight when James decided it was time to finally pull over and do this. He glanced in his rearview mirror one last time, but there was nobody. Nobody had followed them, no photographers, no reporters, no paparazzi.

They both shared a look and a quick kiss and then giggled as if they were drunk, but they actually weren't. They got out of the car and Kate hiked up her dress, gathering the extra fabric up and off of the dirt road in an attempt to not ruin it before the night was over. She met him at the trunk of the car and watched as he opened it and pulled the tin beer and soda cans out to fasten them to the rear bumper.

She watched on with delight as he reached in for a can of spray on fake snow foam, closing the trunk and holding the culprit out for her to take.

She readjusted the material so she could hold it up with just one hand, stepped over the stringed up tin cans in her high heels and gave him a mischievous dimpled smile before she started spraying the tell tale words followed by two exclamation marks across the tinted rear window of his car.

"Just married." He read them out loud, "Looks, perfect doesn't it?" His voice in her ear made her shiver when he stepped up behind her and let his hands take advantage of the easy access she was giving him with the way she was holding up the fabric in front of herself.

What he hadn't expected was for Kate to turn around, to let go of the dress and fling herself into his arms. Her lips crushed onto his and as the kiss quickly turned more passionate, he gathered up her extra fabric for her and picked her up while cupping her butt cheeks through the bunched up fabric of her dress.

Stumbling back to the front of the car with her in his arms, he cursed against her lips when he couldn't get the car door open without setting her down, "Jesus, Freckles, at this rate we ain't gonna make it to our honeymoon suit." And to Kate's displeasure and surprise he actually broke off the kiss.

"We can't, honey." Despite the darkness she could see his blue eyes connecting with hers. "The first time as Mr. and Mrs. Ford shouldn't be me screwin' you against the side of my car on some dark county road, and ruinin' your pretty dress in the process."

At that she began to gather up the fabric again, then tentatively bit her bottom lip while she turned her head nodding towards the car as if to say 'what about the back seat' but he quickly shot that idea down as well, "Backseat ain't the right place either tonight, but I'll take a rain check on that offer."

He could see that disappointed pout on her face and he had to force himself not to laugh at her. Leaning in to her, he nuzzled her neck before his lips brushed and sucked lightly on her pulse point causing her to moan.

He took one of her hands and forcefully pressed her palm against the length of his still engorging erection as if to prove a point when he whispered into her ear, "This is just as hard for me as it is for you, Princess."

She pulled her hand out of his grip and away from him, "Who's teasing who now?"

He smiled at her remark, "Freckles." He drawled, "I don't even know anymore, but I swear to god you've gotta get your pretty little ass in this car right fuckin' now before I lose all self-control and do you right here."

She grinned at that, he opened her car door for her and she quickly stepped inside. Walking quickly around the front and getting in himself, he leaned over to her one more time to kiss her, then chuckled when he saw her pick a piece of rice out of her curls and throw it at him grinning herself.

"Seatbelt." He commanded before he put on his own. He started the engine and began to pull the vehicle back onto the road, his eyes shining and connecting with hers as the sound of the tin cans rattling on the pavement behind them brought a smile to both their faces.

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End Notes:

Please leave a quick review or comment to let me know what you all thought. And now that I've got this off of my chest, I'll get back to chapter five ... I'll post it as soon as it's complete. Thanks for reading! xoxo