Firstly, thanks to everyone who reviewed my other SKate one shot- The Waterfall, you probably know who you are.
Disclaimer: I own nothing lost. I did make up the magazine article though.
Spoilers: For everything up until half way through The Long Con
10 ways to tell if he's in Love
Sawyer lay back on the sand, staring at the sky. People thought that because he was wounded, they could just walk into his tent and steal his stuff. He'd just walked in on the Jackass riffling through his bag, looking for medicine that he'd supposedly stolen. He would have given it to him if he'd asked, but of course the Doc would never think of something like that.
His eyes fell on the discarded magazine Kate had left with him after she'd finished reading '10 ways to tell if he's a sensitive man' to him. He'd hoped she would stay with him for a while, but she'd muttered something about needing to get some fruit and had promptly ran in the direction of the hatch. He knew she knew that he knew she was lying. She was off to see the Doc. And not about getting his stuff back either. She was of course desperate to know why he would pick Ana-Lucia over her for this little army he was creating. As if it wasn't obvious already. He was clearly still annoyed over her jeopardising their attempt to save Michael.
He picked up the magazine once again, wondering if there was anything else of interest in it. His eyes fell on one article in particular and he shuffled through the pages to find it. His eyes fell on the title, 10 ways to tell if he's in Love. Sawyer smirked. This should be good.
1. When he follows you around, just to make sure you're safe.
He frowned as he thought back to just over a month ago, when he'd followed Kate into the jungle to make sure she was alright. He'd got hit on the knee by a rock for his trouble, but they'd found their waterfall. They'd had a lot of fun there, but that didn't mean he was in love with Freckles…
2. When he treats you differently from everyone else
Yeah, well maybe he treated Kate a bit better than he treated everyone else, but that was because she understood him. They had a connection; it was only natural that he told her more than anyone else. Especially since everyone apart from her seemed to hate his guts until he'd gotten back and they started treating him like a great war hero. They were all such hypocrites. Except her. She'd always cared for him, he could tell. He just wished he'd been conscious in the hatch to see her take care of him, and then he could know for sure exactly what she felt for him
3. When he makes up pet names for you.
He had nicknames for everyone; it didn't mean that he was in love with Freckles. Hell, if that was the way things worked, he'd be in love with the Doc.
4. When you're the only one he tells his problems to.
Of course he didn't tell his problems to anyone else on the island. They hated him. Plus what exactly could he say? "My mum slept with a con man, so my dad shot her and himself while I watched?" they'd look at him with pity and he couldn't stand pity. And then the only alternative to that pity would be to say, "Don't worry, I started doing exactly the same thing myself a few years later…" He'd become an even bigger outcast than he is now, not that that would be a terrible thing, if a little inconvenient, food wise. Someone's gotta fish for him 'cos he sure as hell didn't know how. So that's the only reason she's the only one that knows. Because she's the only one that can't care what happened before the crash.
5. When he knows you better than you know yourself
It's not his fault he's so damn good at reading people. And it doesn't mean he loves her. It doesn't even mean that he cares. It just means she's a worse liar than she thought. Whoever wrote this magazine was more brain dead than Charlie.
6. When he's worried about you, it's obvious
Of course he'd been worried when Zeke had laid a hand on her. This man clearly had no qualms with shooting people, and he had Kate. If anything had happened to her, he would have hunted him down and killed him. Hell, he would have killed Jack for letting it happen. But it was just stress. Not love. Sawyer had never been in love and he wasn't about to change that on this rock.
7. He takes every opportunity to touch you
Well he wasn't about to deny that. A little flirting with a little touch every now and then couldn't do any harm, could it? Except to Jack's blood pressure of course. He enjoyed it when they stood close, when she helped him stretch his bad arm, when he had his arm flung across her shoulders to 'help him walk'.
8. You can tell him anything and he won't laugh or judge you
She didn't exactly tell him about the whole fugitive thing, so he didn't think this one applied at all, especially as he spent near enough his entire island life thinking up new nicknames, or ways to further antagonise people. But he'd like to think that if Kate came to him with an actual problem, he'd listen.
9. When he worries about other guys going near you.
Well of course he worried. How much did they really know about the other survivors? They could be a bunch of psychopaths for all he knew. That Ethan guy had managed to stay as one of them for ages before anyone noticed, and by then it was too late. So he would continue to keep a close eye on Mohammed, Jackass and Lardo if they spent too much time around Kate. You could never tell what they might do.
10. He's overly protective.
It looked like they'd been running out of ideas when it came to this part. It was similar to another. Anyway, he wouldn't say overly protective. Just the right amount of protective in the jungle of mystery. However, according to the idiots that wrote this magazine, that probably counted.
He sighed and flicked over the page to see the results.
0-3
Sorry. He probably cares, but it doesn't look like love just yet.
4-7
He's well on his way to falling for you.
8-
This guy probably loves you
9 or 10
He's got it for you bad. You're a lucky girl.
Sawyer flicked back and counted again. His result couldn't be right. However, again he got 9.
Crap.
So what do you think? Good or bad?