Title: The Choice
Rating: I'll give it PG-13 for now
Background: Post season three (If Charlie had gotten out of the hatch alive ;-) ) Post rescue.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Authors note: This is my first fic, so please be kind. Any and all feedback is great!
She's the only love I've known
And now, she's gone away.
She's the light that brought me to the edge,
Will I ever love again?
Kate Austen woke up in an unfamiliar bed with sunlight pouring in all around her. She sat up, startled, and looked around. The bed next to her was empty, but she could hear the faint sound of someone whistling in the next room. In an instant, it all came rushing back to her. Feeling ashamed, Kate got out of bed and dressed quickly. As she was making her way into the room where she knew he was, she tried to convince herself that it wasn't as bad as she thought. "He's just an old friend," Kate told herself. "Jack would understand. He always did." But who was she kidding? Would Jack, her fiancée, the man who was quite possibly the love of her life, really understand that the night of their engagement, she left town to go sleep with Sawyer, just because running was always her first instinct? No, he wouldn't.
"Well, good morning Freckles," Sawyer said from the stove. "Made you some waffles."
"Sawyer, I can't..." Kate couldn't find the words to tell him that she had to leave. He looked so happy right now, and she couldn't tear him down, like she had done almost a year ago, when she told him that she didn't think they should have a relationship off the island. They'd tried, sure, but in the end, Kate had realized that they didn't have as much in common as they had once thought.
"What's wrong?" Sawyer asked, walking closer to her. Kate pulled her ring out of the pocket of her jeans and put it back on her finger.
"I'm engaged. This is wrong. I... I really have to leave," Kate replied, and she could feel tears welling up in her eyes.
"Who's the guy?"
"Sawyer."
"Who's the guy?"
"Does that really mat-"
"Who's the guy Kate? It's Jack isn't it?" Kate didn't respond, and he took her silence as a 'Yes'. "Son of a bitch," Sawyer said under his breath. "You and the Doc really getting hitched?"
"He won't like it if I'm here." was all Kate said. "I should just go."
"Yeah, I guess you'd better," Sawyer snapped, glaring at her. Kate looked at Sawyer, daring herself to meet his eyes for the first time today. "Go, Kate. Get outta here!" Sawyer yelled. Kate still flinched a little whenever he called her by her real name. As she walked out the door, slamming it shut behind her, she wondered briefly if she'd made the right choice leaving him. With him, she felt comfortable, like he understood her completely. With Jack, she had a stable life, but was that really what she needed? After all, the night he proposed to her, she'd driven an hour and a half, just to see Sawyer, whom she hadn't spoken to in 11 months. Even though it had been that long since they last spoke, Sawyer still took her in like no time had passed at all. But she had made a choice, right? When she said she would marry Jack, and again when she left Sawyer behind, she knew what she was doing, and all signs pointed to Jack.
