Title: Music
Summary: SANA. Sequel to 'Other than Words'. She saw him as he was, and she accepted it. She accepted him. And that was something new to Sawyer.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
Author Notes: NUMBER FOUR! Ooh, never gotten this far. But then, I really love Sana, how can you not? And remember, there's nothing like making up after an argument...
"Y'know what I miss?" Sawyer asked out of the blue and Ana Lucia peered over at him, cracking open her eye slightly.
"What's that?" She asked, entertaining him, because Sawyer was surprisingly needy when it came to attention and getting a lot of it. And it wasn't like Ana was doing anything of importance, she was merely lying beside Sawyer and doing a form of sun baking since she couldn't be bothered to shield herself from the sun as she lay in the sand.
"Music. I could do with a good ditty or two, listen to some good old fashioned rock and roll." Sawyer said, pulling a 'rocker face' with the 'devil' hand gesture to accompany it. Ana just tilted her head in his direction, opened both eyes properly and stared. After a few moments she cracked up, laughing so hard that she doubled over, rolling around in the sand.
"What was that?" She wheezed out when she was actually able to speak again. Sawyer just shrugged, trying to keep it nonchalant and not showcase that he was a little embarrassed by the Latina's outburst of laughter at his expression. After a raising of her eyebrow and an expression that made it clear that she wouldn't leave him alone until she found out exactly what he was trying to pull with that face contortion, he sighed and gave in.
"It was my 'rock and roll' face." Sawyer muttered and this caused Ana to burst into fresh bouts of laughter. This time Sawyer went slightly red and looked insulted, "What, it ain't that bad!" He protested and Ana would have replied, but she was still busy laughing so hard that her eyes were starting to water.
Eventually Ana recovered, lying there holding her stomach which was aching from too much laughter and wheezed, trying to draw in much needed breath. Sawyer just huffed and buried his head in his book. Ana looked up at him and noticed that he looked like a five year old who'd just been told that his picture of an aeroplane resembled a scribble.
Sighing at the childlike temperament of the man that she was now supposedly 'attached' to she leaned over and patted him on the knee. He lowered to book slightly to look at her over it, his eyes suspicious. She just shrugged apologetically at him and offered him a lopsided grin. Apparently, this was enough to end his little tantrum and he lowered the book further to show a blinding smile. Ana's grin always seemed to do that to him.
"I miss my iPod." Ana said suddenly and Sawyer raised an eyebrow at her. Shrugging she just shot him the same look back, "What? You miss your," She imitated his look with major exaggeration which made him scowl, "So why can't I miss my iPod? I mean, I used to go to the gym in the morning and work out while listening to it. I miss it." She said and lay back down, closing her eyes against the harsh sun.
Sawyer regarded her for a moment, and then shrugged to himself. It wasn't as out of the blue as his, so who was he to judge the Latina who missed her iPod? Sawyer had never owned an iPod himself, preferring the radio and his CD collection and not really bothering with buying technology that he figured would become old a few months after you bought it.
"What kinda music you listen to Chica?" Sawyer asked, curious about the girl who he knew next to nothing about. She shrugged, keeping her eyes closed this time and answered him lazily.
"Hip hop, dance sometimes, R'n'b, that kind of thing." She mumbled and when there was no answer she finally cracked an eye open to look at Sawyer, who was now looking at her with a horrified expression. Raising an eyebrow at the frozen expression she asked, "What?"
"You," He choked and then swallowed and tried to speak again, "You actually listen to that?" He asked, his voice climbing in frequency and shock.
"Not anymore." Ana replied like a smartass, gesturing to the Island around them and the obvious unavailability of music, and Sawyer, instead of shooting back a reply like normal, just looked at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. This made Ana shift uncomfortably on the sand under his study of her. After a few moments she finally exploded under the scrutiny.
"What?" She asked all of a sudden, frustration evident, and Sawyer almost jumped at the sudden explosion.
"It's just..." Sawyer studied his hands which were at rest in his lap, and tried to find the right words for the obviously insulting thing which he was trying to put across without losing a limb. He was quite fond of his limbs nowadays.
"You think I have no taste in music?" She hit the nail on the head and Sawyer was relieved that he wouldn't have to come up with his own tactful way of saying it. He nodded and gave her a helpless look as her temper flared before him. She was the Vesuvius to his Pompeii and he could only hope that he could somehow get her to calm down before the little villagers were turned to cinder.
"You, the one who likes," She once again did the exaggerated version of Sawyer's 'rock' face, "Thinks I have no taste in music?" She was more shocked than insulted at the moment, but Sawyer was sure that the shock would give way to fury extremely soon. So he just shrugged and offered her an apologetic look, his eyes begging her forgiveness, along with what he hoped was a charming smile.
But apparently it wasn't as charming as he thought it was, because Ana just rolled her eyes and stood up, giving him a dirty look before walking off.
Sawyer swore under his breath as he watched the bronzed Latina walked off, her shoulders tensed angrily. He really had a habit of sticking his foot in his mouth whenever it came to the Latina for some reason. Around other women he was able to charm the clothes off of them. Literally. But Ana was somehow immune to his charms, and all of a sudden he found himself saying all the wrong things at all the wrong times and kept being left alone feeling like a tool. A clueless tool.
Digging his fingers into his temples, he wished that he wasn't such a klutz when it came to romancing a woman. Not trying to get into her pants, because that was his speciality, but actually romancing her. Especially when he had to make up for his own mistakes in wooing said woman.
He knew where she was headed, it would be where she had gone every day when she used to take walks during the day, down the beach to her own spot where no one bothered her. Well, he didn't know exactly where it was, but he was sure if he followed the beach he could find it. However, that wasn't his concern at the moment, his concern was what he would say to aforementioned wronged woman.
An apology? Of course. But what could he possibly say that would make her forgive him? And was what he had said so goddamn terrible? So their music tastes didn't match, was that such a big deal? It wasn't like they were gonna have to fight over what music to listen to anytime soon. Or maybe ever, the thought flitted through his mind but he dismissed it. Concentrate on the here and now, try and figure out what the hell he was gonna do about his woman troubles.
Maybe this one little disagreement on music, which Sawyer had to admit he treated her pretty crappily over, was like the last straw. He knew they were different, she was a cop and he was a con. You didn't have to be a genius to figure out that them getting personal was going to have some repercussions, thanks to their past lines of work. He had just figured that since they were stuck on the island for an indefinite time period, they could put their past in the past.
Apparently Ana wasn't so ready to let go of her past.
He could do what he would've done back in the real world, sugar coat it. Try and use his charms to get her into a phase of mind which wouldn't let her think so much, if you know what I mean. But he knew that, 1) she wasn't the type to fall for that, and 2) having that kinda relationship with a person when you had to live with them was like playing with fireworks. The deeper you bury something, the more explosions when it all goes off.
Plus, being maimed by a crazed ex cop was nothigh on his To Do list. And knowing the people on the island, they would be egging her on. Damn unpopularity. Didn't even give him the option to use a human shield. Even hostages were more willing to protect criminals than the self righteous people on this island. Damn wannabe saints.
Hell, Doc Jackass and Freckles would probably be the ones to hand the meat cleaver to Ana Lu. Damn Holier-than-thou-completely-up-themselves couple. At one point Sawyer toyed with being the 'other' couple. The naughty to their nice, the dark to their light, the devil to their angel, the laid-back to the too-tight-corset-wearing-restricted-breathing-straighter-than-a-damn-arrow selves. And it would've fit damn well too.
But then he let his mouth get in the way.
Then he thought it over and decided that trying to prove that he was badder than Jackass was probably not the best reason to go round with Ana Lu, hell he had it down pat anyway. Maybe he just loved the fact that he could be himself around her, without those expectations. Without needing to be charming all the time, without always having to want to do things the alternate way, without any expectations at all. Ana Lu saw what he was, without digging too deep, without any questions or giving out any 'pep' talks about good and bad and how he should conduct himself within the goddamn guidelines.
She saw him as he was, and she accepted it. She accepted him. And that was something new to Sawyer.
He'd spent most of his life being something he never wanted to be, or trying to be something he'd always wanted to be. Then when he landed on this island he was someone different, though not by much. He was still the same as before, but since he was now at the bottom of the moral ladder he was thought of as the island criminal. And he knew that he wasn't the only one who had had a brush with the law, it was just that he acted like it. He was proud of it. And then there was the lady charmer image which he'd donned for his whole life.
But Ana had rejected that. He'd tried to charm her, but the only time she was interested was when they were fighting or talking serious or throwing banter at each other. She was immune to his charms, and at first it had annoyed the hell out of him, but now he was almost glad. Of course it meant that he couldn't get out of a fight easily, but it also meant that he couldn't hide behind something he'd hid behind his whole life.
Damn, she really had him thinking about things. Realising that this wasn't exactly the best thing to do, he quickly stood and began to jog down the beach in the direction she'd taken off in. All the while his mind stayed on the fact that he'd finally found someone who he didn't have to charm, who he didn't have to act around.
And he thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.
Sawyer noticed the dark wavy hair of the woman that he'd managed to lose a few moments ago. Approaching her slowly he realised that they had done this many times, her running off and him chasing after her. It was practically a habit now. Except this time, he wouldn't get off the hook as easily as last time.
He sat down next to her and she didn't react to this, she just continued to sit there, although Sawyer was pretty sure he saw her jaw clench. He stayed silent for a few moments, gathering up the courage to try and involve the angry Latina in conversation. Or at least tell her he was sorry. Damn, he should've brought something to shield him from the attacks that he was almost certain she would make. He should've at least brought his glasses, to protect his eyes. He quite liked his eyes to not be scratched out, thankyou very much.
He summoned up all the courage he had, and wished that he had snagged some 'liquid' courage as well, and cleared his throat to start speaking. This still didn't get Ana's attention so he just started to speak.
"Listen, I'm sorry okay?" Damn, he didn't mean it to come out so defensive. That wasn't good. This was what finally made Ana acknowledge him and she turned to him, with her eyes flashing dangerously. Uh oh. He tried to back pedal furiously, "What I mean is, I didn't mean to be so... Y'know?" Sawyer trailed off and the anger in her eyes gave way to something else as she lifted her chin at him defiantly.
"So what?" Ana asked, her tone showing that there was no way she was letting him off the hook without torturing him. She knew exactly what he was talking about, but hell, he deserved it.
"Such a..." Sawyer trailed off again, still struggling to come up with the words needed to describe what had gone on between them earlier. Ana raised her eyebrow at this, coldly questioning him.
"Such a what?" She asked and he coughed, trying to search his mind for an answer that wouldn't make her hate him more.
"If it had been someone else, I would've punched 'em for acting like I did. Hell, for less than I did." Sawyer said and then took a deep breath before continuing, "I know what I did was damn stupid, and immature and all that, but hey, it is me," He offered her a charming grin and then moved on seriously, "I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry, for how I acted and all. And if you could forgive me then..." He paused and then just said, "I'd be real happy." He finished and Ana looked at him as if he was a stranger, and to her he was.
Sawyer was not exactly known for his way with words, or apologies, yet here he was apologising, being humble, and using words with the ease of a politician (minus the lying). And Ana had no idea of how to deal with it. She'd seen one side of him, and although she knew there had to be more to him than that, she'd never questioned that side. She never felt the need to, when he was ready, if he ever felt that there was some reason he should, he would show her the rest.
And she was ready to wait for that. But apparently, now she would no longer have to wait.
She watched him closely, as if trying to tell if he was bluffing, if he would break into a wide smirk and say something like, 'Ah, c'mon chica, I wasn't being serious'. That would be just like what he usually did. But after his expression didn't change, except that the hope faded slightly at her silence and the sadness increased.
She considered taking his hand in hers, but thought that wasn't the sort of thing they did. They had bypassed the sweet innocent lovebird's stage straight to being lovers. So, instead, she wiped off any remaining grains of sand on her hand and brought it up to lay it gently on his jaw that was covered with stubble. She didn't move it, didn't run her thumb along the jaw line as he was so accustomed to doing to her, she just kept it there and felt the feel of his rough jaw under her palm.
Suddenly she felt as if her centre of gravity had shifted, instead of being held to the ground by the invisible force, she felt the need to lean against Sawyer, to close the gap between them. So she leaned in and rested her forehead on his. Noticing his increase in breath she felt a small tingle of excitement run through her at this. She still had it.
"I'll always forgive you, Sawyer." Ana whispered and then, seeing the twinkle in his eye, she added, "But that doesn't mean you get to screw up consequence free." She warned him and he just grimaced at this.
"No worries Muchacha." He whispered back and his hand went to her chin, lifting it up so that their lips could connect in a searing kiss. Sawyer put everything into that kiss, he was aware of how it sounded like he was the girl in some romance novel, but he did. He tried to show her how he truly was sorry, and how he felt for her so deeply that it felt sometimes like he would go crazy if he wasn't touching her.
Pushing back her hair (which she hadn't had tied up since that jungle experience, something he took as a good sign) he ran his fingertips from her temple down to her neck, feeling her shiver under the barely there touch that he knew drove her crazy. As if wanting more contact, she grabbed his face with both her hands and crushed their lips even closer together and pushed him backwards onto the sand.
Damn, Sawyer loved it when she took charge.