A Certain Romance

-- The Story of Jack and Kate --

By Dale Wallett Productions

Chapter 1: Wishin' & Hopin'

It had been 51 days since the plane crashed and left two sets of survivors on different parts of the island. 3 days since the 'Tailies' had joined up with the other passengers of Oceanic Flight 815. 1 day since Jack, Locke, Sawyer and Kate had been confronted by the others and 1 day since Jack had ignored Kate and her apologies.

Jack sat on a log, staring out into the ocean. Thinking of what he would have been doing if he were not stuck on the island. He probably would have been working long hours at the hospital, "fixing people" as his ex-wife Sarah put it.

The thought of what could have been had crossed many of the survivors' minds recently. What would they have been doing if the damn plane had not crashed? Despite the fact that the crash was a tragic event that claimed many lives, most of the survivors were grateful for it, thankful that they had been brought together by a simple act of fate, as Locke referred to it.

If the plane had not crashed I wouldn't have to be thinking of training armies, thought Jack. The previous day he had talked of training armies with the ex-cop Ana-Lucia, but not all Jack's thoughts about the island were negative.

If the plane had not crashed I wouldn't have met HER. Jack's stomach did a flip just at the thought of her. How bad he felt about not letting her come, although he just wanted to protect her. The image of the gun held to her head had haunted his dreams the previous night. What would he do if something had happened to her? He couldn't live on the island without her. It would be too complicated, she was the one holding him together. Kate was the one person keeping him sane. Jack knew he should go speak to her, tell her he only said she couldn't come because he didn't want anything to happen to her, but she was probably with Sawyer. Her and Sawyer seemed to be spending a lot of time together lately; maybe she had chosen Sawyer over him. After all, she did run from him after their kiss in the jungle. Jack didn't understand why Kate had to run from him? Damit...why didn't I run after her

Meanwhile, on the other side of the camp, Kate sat thinking of the previous days' events. Thinking of the only person on the island whom she felt she could talk to: Jack. Her feelings didn't match his though...or so she thought!

Kate sat on the beach, absently picking up handfuls of sand and letting them run through her fingers. The island was really starting to feel like home for her, which was strange, seeing as she ended up there completely by accident. Or not. Lately she had begun to think more and more that they were there for a reason. But she tried to not think about it as much as possible, it sent shivers up her spine, all the scary secrets that the island held. But then again it stopped her thinking about Jack, which she couldn't seem to stop doing lately. She just wished that she could go back and do things differently with him. She wished she hadn't followed him, Locke and Sawyer into the jungle the previous day and made him so angry. She just wished she hadn't kissed him in the jungle several days earlier. What was I thinking? she asked herself. Why did I do that? But she knew very well why she did it. She just couldn't fight her feelings any longer; she had to show him how she felt. Her stomach did a flip at the memory of the way he held he close, the way she felt so safe with him pressed against her. But she shuddered at the way she had run away afterwards. She just didn't want him to say anything to her, she just didn't want to get hurt again. But Jack is different came a voice from the back of her head. He understands you. Kate made up her mind. She stood up, brushed the sand from her clothes, and set off to find Jack. She walked towards the camp, where Sayid was tending to the fire.

"Have you seen Jack?" She asked him.

"I believe he's on the beach down that way." Sayid replied, pointing north.

"Thanks" She told him, setting off to talk to Jack. How was she going to tell Jack everything she was thinking? Relax, she told herself. Just tell him that you're sorry, and you only did it because… suddenly all thoughts left her head, as she walked over a sand dune and saw him sitting on a log.

Jack heard a noise on his left. As he turned his head he almost jumped up in surprise. There she was, just as he was thinking about her. She looked like an angel appearing over a sand dune and slowly walking towards him. She sat down next to him without a word. Jack didn't know what to say. Kate decided to initiate conversation.

"Hi"

"Hi"

"Look, about yesterday, I know I was wrong, and I know I shouldn't have done it. I just don't know what came over me, I mean, you probably hate me now and…"Kate was cut off just as she started to babble.

"I don't hate you, Kate." Jack continued to stare out at the gradually setting sun. "And I understand why you followed us."

"So are we cool now?" She asked hopefully.

Jack gave her a grin. "Yeah we're cool."

The two of them sat side by side on the log, looking out at the beautiful sunset in front of them, just enjoying each other's company. Jack inched a little closer to Kate and she couldn't suppress a smile.

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As the sun continued to set and the tide began to come in upon Jack and Kate the two stood up and let the water rush over their legs and feet, laughing and mucking around. Little did they know, two pairs of eyes were observing them from afar.

"Dude, look at them!"

"I know. They're so bloody ignorant."

Charlie and Hurley sat beside the fire, observing the different happenings going on around them. The topic of conversation tonight: Jack and Kate, and their relationship.

"I guess you could say they are both in denial," Hurley said, snorting as Jack tripped over his own feet into the water. Kate tried to pull him up, ending up in the water with him.

"But they can't keep living in denial all their life. You just can't live with those kinds of feelings." Charlie said. He shook his head at the fact that neither of them was being honest with themselves or each other. On the other hand, he had not confessed his feelings to Claire in fear of rejection. Maybe that's why they're keeping their feelings to themselves! Charlie thought.

"Dude, how long do you give them?" Hurley asked, suddenly ending the silence that had crept over the two survivors as each went into their own thoughts.

"Oh, I'd say two more weeks, tops. I mean they've lived on this island for what? 50 days? Like they'll last much longer." Charlie replied.

"Alright dude, I'll make you a bet. If they get together in two weeks or more then I'll get off your back about Claire," Hurley started,

"But if they get together in less than two weeks…." Charlie didn't like where this was going.

"Then you have to confess your feelings to Claire".

"Hey, who even said I had feelings for Claire..." Charlie trailed off,

"Deal" Hurley said, ignoring Charlie's denial about Claire.

"Deal" Charlie sighed, reluctantly taking Hurley's hand and sealing the bet. He had a bad feeling about this. Hurley was a lucky guy; he had won the lottery after all.

Charlie and Hurley continued to chat, talking about everything on the island and off. They had both had their fair share of island gossiping for one night and soon left the fire ablaze with a few odd survivors unable to sleep. Hurley and Charlie retreated to their respective tents, happily thinking about the nights progress and how unhappy some would be about this little bet. The campsite darkened as another day of this god-forsaken island came to an end. The mysteries of the island would obviously take time to unravel.

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