Title: James and Katie

Pairing: Skate

Spoilers: none

Disclaimer: I dont own lost

This is a stand-alone. Or one shot, whatever you call it.

Thanks for reading!

"What, you're not gonna tell me?"

"I'm the one who asked the question," he protested.

"Just tell me."

Sawyer sighed, exasperated. He was sitting across from Kate, a fading fire marking the distance between them. Everyone else had left now, off to sleep, but Sawyer wasn't very tired. And neither was Kate.

He lay back against the sand, linking his fingers behind his head, and looked up at the stars. She wasn't gonna drag it out of him that easy. It wasn't something he'd ever told to just anyone.

"Guess," he said.

Kate remained looking at him, over the fire. She thought for a very short moment and then quickly spat out, "12."

Sawyer sat up just as quickly. "12! Geez, my childhood wasn't that messed up, Freckles!"

Kate shrugged, aloof and amused by his reaction at the same time. She imagined him as the kind of kid who icould/i lose his virginity at 12. The kind of kid with no real childhood to be stripped of anyway, considering what she knew of his past. He was probably tall for his age. Big. She looked at him more closely, a playful gleam in her eye. She could imagine him losing it to an older girl, too. Maybe a babysitter.

"Sorry," she said. But it was an empty apology. Just something you say to keep the conversation moving. And she was really curious now. "So tell me."

He straightened his posture and drew his legs beneath him, sitting cross-legged. He pinched the sand and let it fall from his fingers. "I dunno, I don't wanna ruin the child-slut image you got of me."

She laughed. "You tell me and I'll tell you."

He was sold. Well, he was going to tell her anyway or else he wouldn't have brought up the topic. But that was only cuz he wanted an answer out of her too.

"17," he said.

He looked at her closely, ready to read her reaction. His smile was sort of shy. It wasn't something he was very proud of. And even if she was joking with her first guess, he could see from her expression that she thought that he'd be younger. Heck, he thought the same thing.

Kate didn't know why his age took her by surprise. 17 was still considered young to a lot of people. But not to Sawyer. She could tell, behind his smirk, that he was at least a little embarrassed.

Kate briefly weighed the options of asking him why. She was almost sure there was a reason. Maybe he was a really geeky kid with glasses and a retainer. She tried to imagine it without breaking out into a grin. That was ridiculous.

17 really wasn't that old. It was only a year more than when she'd lost hers. And she'd always thought she'd been really young.

"To Cindy Caldwell," he said.

"Hmm?"

"That was her name."

She suddenly found herself thinking of this Cindy Caldwell girl and of his first time. Did he even get his boxers completely off in the rush to get rid of his virginity? She assumed he wore boxers back then. He did now. She occasionally saw them peaking above the rim of jeans whenever he bent over.

He probably wasn't very different now. She could just see his jeans falling lose to his ankles, swiftly pulling his boxers off only as far as they needed to go, not bothering to fuss with the peripheral of clothes.

"So you remember her name," Kate said. "I'm impressed."

"You always remember the name of your first. I remember a lot of other things too. She was blonde. She had great breasts. She was older too." he said, proudly.

Kate smiled. She knew it.

"Did she rock your world?" she asked, having fun with this conversation.

"All two and half minutes of it."

She laughed out loud.

"I'm a lot better now," he said quickly, defending himself.

Kate nodded her head. "Sure."

"Your turn."

She looked at him. She could lie. Or not. She toyed with the idea a bit, thinking it might hurt his feelings, her age. This was a sort of competition even if neither of them had called it by that name. She wouldn't lie this time.

"16. To Tom Brennan."

Sawyer grimaced and put his hand to his chest. "Beat me by a year."

Kate shrugged.

Sawyer was acting shocked but he sort of was. Where she thought 17 was old, he thought 16 was pretty young, at least for her. But he didn't really know much about her anyway, though he still wondered why that age. Was she in love with this guy? Was she just a kid who thought she new everything about the world? Maybe she was really popular. The girl every guy wanted to get with and this Tom guy was the lucky bastard who did it first. He latched on to this idea even if the image of 'tomboy' and 'popular chick' didn't blend very well.

He looked into her eyes over the fire, could almost feel the heat on his face. His lips felt hot as he curved them into a demure smile.

"So did he rock your world?"

Kate looked back, her eyes unwavering. She did not open her mouth to speak. Her lips stayed pressed together, upturned to form a silent smile. Her expression conveyed what Sawyer immediately understood. She would not answer his question.

Sawyer's smile broadened, understand. So she'd been in love the guy. And it had been 'special.' Too special to make jokes like that about it. Probably happened in a dim bedroom with whispered 'I love yous.' He was a good enough con man to read a woman's smile. No matter in what form it presented itself.

This sort of scenario usually made the cynic in him come out. Now it just made him sad.

He lay back, looking at the stars again. He wondered what it'd be like to sleep with someone he loved.

He turned his head to look at Kate. She was laying now too, and looking up. As if sensing his heavy silence, she sought to break it.

"What was your name?" she asked. "When you were 17?"

Sawyer looked at the moonlight reflecting off her milky skin. The freckles on her nose reminded him of the stars. What a stupid thought.

"It was James."

He could see her smile, eyes closing. She could've guessed that. Give her a couple of tries and she would've gotten it. He was definitely a James.

"I was Katie."