Finding Elvis

It was very early in the morning. Far too early for her to be awake, yet there she was, sitting on the beach, watching the sun rise. Kate was still wobbling from sleep, and blinked slowly, her mind trained on nothing but the ascent of the orange orb, which was easy to look at in dawn, as clouds still covered it in haze.

"What're you doin up at this hour, Freckles?"

She watched him walk a few more feet to her and crouch beside her. Kate still did not reply, but looked at him, before finally returning her gaze to the sunrise, which was becoming brighter.

Why was she awake, anyway? Her nightmare had already become less vivid, and the details were no longer as sharply clear to her as they had been when she'd first burst from her tent an hour or so ago.

"I'm an early riser." Kate replied dryly, and Sawyer rocked back onto his butt in the sand with a groan, and set his wrists on his knees.

"No, you're not." Sawyer said so quietly and nonchalantly that Kate took a moment to realize what he said. She looked to him with a furrowed brow and started to ask what made him think that, but he spoke again.

"So, what's on your mind, sweetheart? Lovesick?"

Kate sighed, not angry but exhausted, and said wearily, without conviction, "Sawyer, let me just tell you this now to get it out of the way: it would be in your best interest to never speak to me again."

To her surprise, Sawyer laughed. Kate turned her head to him thoughtfully.

"A bit touchy on the subject?" He quipped. Kate scowled; this conversation and the quickly rising sun was harshly throwing her out of her dream like haze, and she was not liking it.

"No, just irritated with you." She bit back at him.

Sawyer raised his hands in surrender and was quiet for a moment. Kate was beginning to relax when,

"So what is up with you and our savior, anyway?"

Kate made a sound of exasperation and disgust and hung her head for a moment.

"Nothing is up, Sawyer, and you being over here right now just proves how insecure and jealous Jack makes you." Kate reasoned, and Sawyer narrowed his eyes.

"Are you kiddin me? I ain't threatened by that do gooder. There just ain't nobody else awake."

"Which reminds me, why are you up so early?"

Sawyer smiled and looked away from her hazel eyes to the sun, which had lifted itself free of the horizon. He didn't answer, and Kate scoffed.

"You're too much like me, Sawyer."

"Oh yeah? How do you figure?"

Kate watched the side of his face until he looked at her. Her expression was stony, yet her eyes held understanding, and her voice was soft as she admitted, "I have nightmares, too."

Sawyer was about to protest, but decided against it. He knew how rare it was that Kate revealed something as implicating as that to him. Because, like she said, he was too much like her, and he definitely wouldn't have told anyone about his nightmares.

They sat in unexpectedly companionable silence, afraid to speak and ruin the truce, until other campers' voices were heard. Sawyer slapped his hands on his legs and stood.

"Well, you're no fun, Freckles. I'll have to get the latest gossip from Stay Puff. I'm sure he'll keep me updated on you and Jacky poo." With that he turned to walk away. Kate flipped him off, but decided it wasn't enough. She yelled after him.

"You can't see it, but I'm flipping you off right now."

He didn't look back, only waved his hand as if dismissing her. Kate couldn't see it either, but Sawyer was grinning like a fool.

The day dragged on and on, like no other day had on the island. Kate talked with Charlie and Claire, Hurley and Sayid to pass the time. But it was only afternoon when she had already reverted to sitting on the beach, watching the horizon.

A sudden thought made her smile. If she closed her eyes, she could almost pretend she was on a weekend vacation. Holding hands with a lover, as they strolled through a quaint seaside village. But her smile dissipated as she opened her eyes to the cruel veracity. She would never feel the joy and contentment she'd been dreaming about. They were on this island for good, and Kate would never get to redeem her life and regain the time she'd lost running. She'd have no peace, no family of her own.

Kate looked behind her at the camp. Charlie sat with Claire and Aaron, singing. Claire nudged Charlie with her elbow in encouragement and looked back down to her baby. Charlie continued to gaze at her in what could only be described as adoration.

Kate furrowed her brow at the jealousy she felt sting her, and gazed over the ramshackle tents that housed half the inhabitants of the island. Her eyes brushed past Jack and immediately zeroed back in on his familiar figure. He was talking to Sayid, agreeing with whatever idea the Iraqi had come up with. His hands were stuck in his back pockets, and the wind ruffled the bottom of his button down shirt.

Sayid started gesturing with his hands around camp, illustrating to Jack where something could be built, and Jack's gaze wandered over the sand near to her. Kate knew she should divert her eyes, but somehow couldn't tear them away. His eyes finally came to rest on her. He smiled that sly smile Kate hated herself for loving, and would never admit that she kept trying to coax from him. Kate suspected he knew she'd been staring.

He returned his attention to Sayid, and Kate turned back to the horizon, her heart beating surprisingly fast. She sat still as stone, but her mind raced. Her thoughts centered on the man who'd unwittingly made a deep impression on her since the very first time they met, a few months ago. What was going on between them, anyway? She hadn't given it much thought before, but Sawyer'd brought it under scrutiny. If Jack was as wonderful as she thought he was, then why was she avoiding him? Why was she so scared of him?

Because he makes you think. He makes you feel.

Emotion was something Kate had tried to avoid for a very long time. It attached her to places, and made it too hard for her to leave. But now, no one was chasing her. It was okay to be attached, because they were probably going to be there for a while. Yet she still feared relationships, avoided too deep of a connection.

Old habits die hard. Maybe all those years of shutting herself off from human relationships had turned her into a cold shell of a person, with no soul capable of connection to another human being. Surprisingly, that thought scared her more than any island beast.

"Hey." Jack said quietly as he sat next to her. Kate jumped at the sudden interruption of her thoughts. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He laughed, and Kate smiled, shaking her head and returned her eyes to the sea. Jack's scent suddenly hit her, and she realized just how close he was sitting.

He couldn't have been more attractive if he wore the most expensive designer cologne that drove every other woman crazy. No, to Kate, Jack was naturally alluring. Maybe it was the pheromones in his sweat, the way a hint of his shaving cream always mixed with smoke and salt and the natural scent of his body. Or maybe it was fate pulling her heart to him, one could not tell.

All Kate knew was that after the very first time she'd inhaled that odor, every whiff of it since has made her heart pound, because her body knew that scent was tied to Jack. She reacted to it in a way that made her feel as if her body was not under her own control. She'd smile at him and flirt with him and lean toward him. When he'd walk away and his scent dissipated, Kate would berate herself for acting so stupidly, and yet, when he'd return, she'd do it all over again.

It was a vicious cycle.

And Kate lived for it.

"How are you, Kate?" Jack asked, and a corner of her mouth turned up ever so slightly. What a good question.

"As well as anyone."

"Sure about that? You seem pretty lonesome sitting all by yourself. I thought that look you gave me looked a lot like a cry for help."

"I'm fine, Jack. Thanks." She said gently, but curt enough to make him think he wasn't wanted.

"Good." He replied, disappointed, tearing his eyes from her for the first time.

Silence.

"Well, I should get back to the caves." He stood, but paused, and Kate couldn't bear to look up at him for fear of losing all inhibition completely at sight of his deep brown eyes. "Why don't you come with me?" His voice sounded breathy, like he'd just gotten off a marathon. That got her attention. She snapped her gaze to him.

"What?"

"Come with me, Kate. Move to the caves." Jack crouched next to her, imploring. He held his hands out as if he would touch her, but her eyes regarded him warily, and he dropped them, defeated. His chin sagged to his chest, and he took a breath before looking back up to her, his face exhausted and surrendered.

"I need you, Kate."

Her breath stopped in her chest. The words nearly made her burst into tears that very moment. To be needed by anyone would make her indescribably happy. To be needed by Jack would make her life worthwhile. But, Kate decided the double meaning she heard in his words was just wishful thinking on her part.

"What?" She repeated, in more of a gasp for air this time.

"I can't run the settlement alone. More and more people are moving from the beach to the caves. Michael's busy with Walt and the raft, Sayid's busy with Shannon, and I don't have anyone else I can trust with this. I need you." With that last, sincere divulgence, Jack set his hand on her arm, which was wrapped around her knees. Kate's eyes lingered there, on his hand which rested on her skin.

Jack's hands were always steady, a surgeon's hands, yet now they shook. Maybe he was tired. Maybe he was nervous. They were warm, too, his hands, and the warmth of them tingled her skin and made her hair stand on end.

"You keep saying that." Kate grimaced, trying to grasp this situation.

"What?" Jack returned innocently.

"I need you."

"Well I do."

"No you don't, Jack. You don't need me." Kate nearly spat bitterly.

"Yes, I do." His voice was gentle as he insisted, matter of factly.

"Why?" She asked, louder. Kate felt her temperature rise, and her heart beat faster. Jack was being so vague, so infuriatingly unclear about everything. She wanted to know what he felt. What did he feel for her?

"I don't know. I just do. I need your opinion before I make any decision, I feel better when you're around." He said, offended that she yelled at him, then let out a sharp breath and looked to the ground. Kate shook her head and stalked down the beach to her tent.

"Kate!" She heard him growl in exasperation from behind her. But she did not stop. She was angry with him. If he thought he could string her along and keep her close enough but not too close, he was wrong. He couldn't give her a little bit and nothing more. She needed all or nothing.

When she threw herself onto the cot she'd constructed, and calmed down enough to form rational thoughts again, Kate breathed deeply. Smoke and salt were the only odors in the air. She looked down to her arm, gently touching the place where he touched her with her fingers, half wondering if it had really happened. Her arm was warm as if he held her still. For a fleeting moment, Kate let the thought enter the forefront of her mind: she wished Jack was sitting next to her again.

She'd successfully avoided him that day and all the next until evening. The emotions elicited when he was around were far too intense. Kate was dragging her feet through the sand to her tent for a nap, since the sun seemed to exhaust her today.

"Kate!" Jack called her. The sound of his voice calling her name sent a shock up her spine, and her heart went racing. Kate put away the thought that he'd been interacting with her a lot lately. She was miraculously revived, and turned to him, instantly realizing he looked far more exhausted than she. Jack's eyes told her he hadn't gotten much sleep, and that there were far too many things weighing his mind. Kate felt an unexpected pang of guilt at fighting with him the day before.

"Will you talk to me, now? Have you calmed down?" He asked seriously.

"Yes. But I can't guarantee I'll stay that way for long."

"I don't understand why you're angry with me in the first place."

"I'm not angry with you, Jack. I don't think I could ever be angry with you. I'm frustrated, that's all."

"But why? What have I done wrong?" He cooed, his big brown eyes so pleading it melted Kate's heart. Kate, as her nature is, was terrified Jack could melt her so easily. So, she got defensive and lashed out.

"Why the hell do you keep hounding me? Why are you trying to get to me?" Kate snapped, and Jack started to object, but she continued. "To prove that you can, maybe? Well, fine. I'll admit it, damn you Jack, you get to me. More than anyone I've ever met. Are you happy now? Can you finally let me be?" She pressed her lips tight together, unconsciously clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides in anticipation of Jack's next words. But he didn't speak, not for the longest time. He just watched her with a strange sort of light in his face. Like he'd just answered a riddle. And maybe he had.

"Now why would I do that?" Jack finally responded quietly.

"To preserve my sanity."

"You worry too much, Kate." He said lightly with a crooked smile, and Kate's eyes widened.

"Jack? You're telling me I worry too much? Ha!"

"Yeah, I mean if you just took a step back, you'd be able to see it."

"See what?" Kate scoffed. She was beyond embarrassment at revealing her feelings. She was just tired of it all.

"That we're perfect for each other."

The cynical smile disappeared instantaneously from Kate's face.

"I…I don't understand." She shook her head lightly, hardly comprehending the unexpected statement.

"Yes you do, Kate. I know you're scared, but you can't make me believe that you don't feel what I feel." Jack said earnestly, taking a step to her. Kate flinched, as if wanting to take a step back. Her instinctive reflex was to do so, but she restrained. Something about being close to Jack made her abandon everything she'd ever learned in her life as a fugitive.

"And what exactly do you feel?" Kate asked innocently in a whisper. She was looking up at him in such a way that took Jack's breath away. What did he feel? There were no words to explain it. So, the corner of Jack's mouth tilted up in a hint of a smile as he realized there was no other way to make her understand.

In one more step he was taking her in his arms, her delicate features encompassed by his strong body. His mouth crushed upon hers, forcefully claiming what he'd wanted for so long. He didn't kiss her tentatively, not knowing if she'd return his affections. He kissed passionately, because he knew how she felt. It was in her eyes. Only vigorous for a moment, though, he then brushed his fingertips over her cheeks as he gingerly pressed his lips to hers once more.

The explosion of emotion inside her was overwhelming. Her breath was gone, almost as if she was drowning. Hislips were soft and wet, and she couldn't get enough of him.

Jack leaned back slightly so he could see her face. Kate opened one eye, and then the other, feeling off balance, and Jack chuckled. She focused her eyes on his, and grinned, as words failed her for the moment. Jack wrapped his arms around her shoulders and he held her tight, and Kate set her chin on his broad chest, warm and content, all her worries from but a minute before all but forgotten.

It had been a full week, and Kate had begun unconsciously marking her time from that day. The day after they kissed, five days after they kissed… As if it was the beginning of the world for her. For a few days, they tried keeping their relationship out of the public eye, but it soon became too difficult. Jack just couldn't stand walking right by her and not sweeping her into his arms and kissing her. So, the news spread like the plague throughout the island.

Kate resigned herself to strolling the length of the beach while Jack had business with the campers to tend to. She'd stopped walking when she spotted Jack talking with a surfer named Janelle. Her gaze was assiduous as she stood, fixated.

"Didn't your momma teach you it ain't polite to stare?" Kate's eyes moved reluctantly to the sound of Sawyer's voice as he meandered up to her. The thoughtful smile she'd just realized had lain on her lips faded away. Sawyer pondered her expression for a moment.

"Why him?" His voice sounded softer than Kate thought it could. It seemed almost melancholy.

"What do you mean?" Kate asked, though she knew very well what he meant.

"There's a fine selection of men on this island," meaning himself, "and you could have any one of them you wanted. Yet you choose the doc. Just curious as to why." He shrugged, feigning disinterest. Kate paused a moment, then returned her gaze to Jack's figure, across the beach. Just by looking at him, Kate could almost taste his kiss, feel his arms around her. She smiled to see Jack headed toward them.

"He is the one I want."

Sawyer's expression then was one of astonished, almost painful understanding. Like turning a corner and suddenly coming face to face with Elvis himself, then realizing you knew where he'd been hiding all along. Sawyer's usually cool blue eyes suddenly took on a full range of emotion, and seemed wide with unexpected comprehension. He was, in a sense, in the presence of greatness. The aura that surrounded Kate filled all who witnessed it with hope for all of them.

As Kate walked from him to meet Jack, Sawyer knew that no one who ever lived could love any better.

A/N...If you think this story was a little bit like the five graces, you're right. I was going to make a shorter version of the five graces, but ended up changing it so much that I just put a different title on it. You can't plagiarize yourself, can you?

-Austin B.