Title: Tabula Rasa

Rating: T (Shouldn't go any higher than that, for the most part K).

Disclaimer: I don't own Lost, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, or House. If I did though…well I don't…so I'm not gonna think about that.

Chapter 1: Return to Normalcy

It had been almost a year since that memorable day when they'd been rescued. It had been a day full of mixed emotions for Jack, because although they were being rescued it would become the end of his romantic relationship with Kate.

She had told him that she didn't want to ruin his life, and that he deserved better than her. As much as he told her it wasn't true, and that it didn't matter she would not change her decision. Realizing this was an argument he couldn't win, he pleaded with her to stay friendly to him; that he couldn't handle never seeing her again, and after a long discussion she stubbornly agreed.

When the survivors arrived in Los Angeles, for the most part their lives returned to normal. Jack and his father got their jobs back at St. Sebastien's, and although the hours were still long, it helped Jack keep his mind off Kate. Charlie had returned to Driveshaft, and had invited all the survivors to his and Claire's new house for a private concert. Kate learned that the FBI had deemed her time on the island sentence enough and allowed her to stop running. Upon hearing that Kate had no place to live, Claire had immediately offered her best friend a place with Charlie, Aaron and herself. Sawyer had reverted back to his old self and returned to conning people, although he stayed in the Los Angeles area. Hurley had returned to find his lottery money still intact, and after paying off all his island debts, returned to his family. The rest of the survivors had gone their own separate ways, with Sayid beginning his search for his long lost love, Nadia, and Locke had gone back to Australia, starting up an outback expedition business to make up for the one he wasn't allowed to take part in.

Jack and Kate's friendship had become extremely strong in those few months. In fact, to anyone passing by the pair of them on the street they looked like a happy couple, but to each other, they were nothing more than friends- best friends.

All they'd built together was tested though, when Kate came to tell Jack she was seeing someone. He'd told her he had no right to choose who she dated and that they were just friends, and felt a pang of jealousy in his chest for saying it. But when she told him who it was, he erupted with anger…

"Sawyer?!? You're seeing Sawyer!?" Jack yelled angrily.

"I thought you just said you had no right to decide who I date?" Kate said, but she knew he'd react like this, and found the floor a convenient place to look.

"But…Sawyer? Kate you can do so much better." Jack replied.

"If I didn't know any better Jack, I'd think you were jealous." Kate said with a menacing smile.

"No, Kate. The day you told me we could never be together, I moved on. I won't lie to you; it wasn't easy to think of you as just a friend, but I got there eventually." Jack said coldly.

"I'm sorry Jack. It's just he was always nice and charming to me on the island. He asked me out a few weeks ago, and we've been dating ever since." Kate explained.

"But Kate, he's a con-man…" Jack began.

"That's why it works Jack. The fugitive and the con man, we make the perfect couple. It looks like I made a bad decision in telling you; I just thought you deserved to know. Considering how you were always at each other's throats on the island…" Kate replied, turning to leave.

Jack didn't like this at all. But he could tell Kate wasn't going to budge on this, and his friendship with Kate meant more than anything to him.

"Kate…Kate, wait…I'm sorry I reacted like that. I didn't have any right to say those things. There's nothing more important to me than our friendship. Sawyer and me…I guess we were always kind of competitive… I just hope it works out between you two." Jack said.

Kate turned around, walked up and embraced Jack.

"Thanks Jack, that means a lot to me. I gotta get home and help Claire out with dinner. But we'll hang out soon right?" Kate asked hopefully.

"Yea, definitely Kate. I'll see you soon." Jack replied.

In the months that followed though, Kate had grown farther away from Jack and ever closer to Sawyer, until about a month ago, she'd moved in with him. As far as Jack was concerned, that news told him he needed to move on for good. If she could forget about him, he was damn sure he could do the same.

Jack was wrong. He never really got over losing Kate, to Sawyer of all people. A bad day at the office, combined with his already bleak mood could prove catastrophic. He'd met a woman named Sarah at the bar after one of those rocky days at work. He'd lost a patient that day, and even though it was not his fault, Jack blamed himself for the child's death. Sarah had comforted him, telling him not to blame himself, and he found himself settling comfortably into conversation with her after those kind words.

At the end of the night, Jack got Sarah's number. They had been on a few dates since then, and were going steady. He had told Kate about Sarah, if only to try and get her jealous, but she was excited for him, telling him how great it was for him that he was dating again. Feeling better than he had in a long while, Jack began to settle into a routine. He'd head out to the hospital extremely early and get back around dinnertime. Some nights he'd go out with Sarah for dinner, but tonight was not one of those nights.

Surgery had gone well that day. He'd saved two young boy's lives after a car accident. They'd been sitting in the back seat of their mother's car, and the roof of the car had crumpled when they flipped, crushing parts of their spines in the process. Fortunately, their mother had only minor injuries from the crash.

After filling out the necessary paperwork, he'd returned home to a takeout Chinese dinner from the night before. Jack flicked on the TV, and started surfing through the channels, eventually settling on the medical drama House. Jack liked to second-guess House's decisions with his own medical knowledge, and Hugh Laurie was as witty as always. Jack was so caught up in the show, that he didn't hear his cell phone ring in the kitchen.

The end of the episode came quickly, and Jack was enjoying himself. It was just after two in the morning, and Jack decided he'd head up and grab a few hours of sleep before heading back to St. Sebastien's in the early hours of the morning.

Halfway up the stairs though, he heard his doorbell ring. Sarah. It had to be, who else would be at his front door this late at night?

Jack lumbered back down the stairs, and over to the front door, opening it and his jaw dropped. It definitely wasn't Sarah.

"Hi, Jack."

A/N: This if my first ever fanfic, so reviews would be appreciated. I'd like to know whether you like it, love it, or want to me stop writing this very second. Thanks.