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Fruit of the Jungle
"All by your lonesome again, Freckles?"
"Not anymore."
She turned to smile at him and Sawyer felt a smile tug at his own lips. He'd be lying if he said his reasons for seeking her out were strictly pure. She hadn't been the only girl to catch his attention since the crash, but she was the only one to hold it for more than a day.
"What brings you all the way out here?" She was climbing a tree, and he had to tilt his head back to get a look at her.
"Well, Freckles, I was just taking a walk and I thought I'd stop and take a moment to admire the scenery."
"How charming." She laughed, "Hey, heads up!"
Sawyer looked up to see a piece of fruit falling at his head. He managed to dodge it and the fruit landed harmlessly at his feet, "Hey, watch it."
Her response was to laugh and drop another melon in his direction. Sawyer picked it up and threw it back at her. It smashed against a branch and split open, spilling juice and seeds on the ground.
"That one was yours," she informed him.
"That's okay, Not the kind of melons I wanted anyway."
Kate was so used to his innuendos no that this one barely fazed her, "Do you stay up and night thinking of these?"
"You know it, Freckles."
"I think you're getting worse. Charlie could have come up with that one."
"Was that a shot?"
"Yeah it was a shot. What re you gonna do about it."
"Well I'm gonna- Jesus, Freckles! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
She had stood upright on a branch at least twenty feet from the jungle floor and leapt to another one a few feet away. Kate turned and grinned at him, "Worried about me, Sawyer?"
"Damn it, girl, someone has to be." He took a few steps to the right so he was standing directly beneath her again. "What're you doin' up there anyway?"
"People gotta eat, Sawyer. Locke and Boone haven't caught anything in weeks. Jack said we should all do whatever we can."
"Of course, if Captain Hero Jack said so, that must be the way to go."
"You could help, you know." She held tightly to a branch with one hand, while dropping another fruit in the bag she was carrying.
"And why would I do that?"
"I don't know. Seems like we're gonna be stuck here for a while. I wouldn't want everyone hating me."
Sawyer smiled a knowing smile, "Not everyone here hates me."
"Oh really? Name one."
"Well you in particular seem to be pretty fond of me." He put a hand on one of the lower branches and started climbing upwards.
"Ha!" she scoffed. "A little full of ourselves are we?"
"Maybe," he answered, still climbing. "But I'm pretty sure I'm not exaggerating on this one."
Kate paused in her fruit picking and wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead. "What makes you think I like you?"
Sawyer hauled himself beside her on the branch and nicked a piece of fruit hanging above him. "I'll admit," he said, taking a bite. "Most of the time you seem pretty pissed at me." Bits of juice leaked onto his chin and he lapped it up with his tongue. "But," he said, leaning over to whisper in her ear. "You don't kiss someone you hate like that."
"You're a pig, you know that?"
"Well, I try."
"The only reason I kissed you was so you'd tell me where Shannon's inhalers were. Inhalers that you didn't even have. She could have died."
"Yeah well she turned out to be fine didn't she?"
"Only because Sun and Jack knew what they were doing."
Sawyer groaned, "Again with the doctor. Can't you just forget him for one minute?"
"Jack is twice the man you'll ever be."
"Really now?"
"Really." Sawyer was quiet for a minute, and Kate felt a pang of remorse the same as she had the last time she compared the two men. Irritating though his was, Sawyer didn't deserve that. However, just as she was preparing to apologize, his mouth descended on hers, destroying all thought of anything else.
She tasted of cantaloupe, cantaloupe and a little of the ocean. Sawyer could guess where the cantaloupe was coming from, but he didn't know why she'd been drinking ocean water. He suspected the good doctor had never bothered to tell her the dangers of drinking salt water.
She let his hand slide up her back and come to rest behind her neck. He smiled against her lips as her hands found his hair and buried themselves in it. Sawyer rested his forehead against hers as she pulled away for a breath, making sure she couldn't get too far. "Now tell me ol' Jacko could ever compete with that."
She laughed softly, and he kissed her again. Kate had to hold tightly to Sawyer to keep from tipping off the branch. It had been a long time since anyone's kiss had made her that dizzy. "Okay, I give. No one anywhere could ever compete with that."
"Well thank you, Freckles, it's good to be recognized."
"Don't get used to it. Your ego's big enough without someone to stroke it."
He winked, "I'll settle for you stroking something else if you don't mind."
"Oh, I'm sure you'll be taking care of that once I leave."
A foreign voice, completely unwelcome in the tree, shattered the make believe world that had somehow come to be during the past ten minutes, "Hey, Kate, you need any help?"
Panicking, Kate pushed herself away from Sawyer and nearly tossed him off the branch in the process. She swung to the ground effortlessly and landed directly in front of Jack. "No, I got it covered."
He took a step backward, startled, "Be careful when you do that. We don't need another island casualty." His tone was light, but Kate got the feeling that he was actually more concerned for his supply of antiseptic than he was for her safety. "What's he doing up there?"
"Just helping out, Jacko!" Sawyer hollered down cordially. He took another bite of the fruit he was still holding, and Kate unconsciously ran her fingers through her hair to make sure he hadn't left any seeds in it. Jack looked at her closely for the first time, and she knew he was taking in her swollen lips and slightly mussed hair.
"I can help too. Three people can get more done than two."
"That's okay." Kate said quickly. "We're about done anyway." She could feel Sawyer's eyes on her, but refused to look up into the tree.
"How's that feel, doc?" he asked. "Something on this island managed to get done without your help. How are you gonna live with yourself?"
Jack chose to ignore him. "If you're done, we'd better get back. Looks like it's gonna rain."
Sawyer smirked. Looks like the doctor just can't handle a little competition. He waited for Kate to go with him, of course. After all the effort she put into hating him she couldn't very well act like she actually liked the island outcast.
"See you later, Sawyer."
"Later, Freckles."
He simply smiled to himself as she walked away, glancing over her shoulder every few steps. This wouldn't be the last time they picked fruit, Sawyer was sure of that. She'd be back.