Author's Note: This story has been in my head ever since The End aired. I had always wanted to envision that moment and while this isn't my original, I'm glad that it's finally complete. I hope that you like it. The Suliet shipper in me misses them and this was a little bit like therapy.
Also, I'd like to say Merry Christmas to be Fandom BFF, Cara. I hope it lives up to your expectations. :)
Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own Lost, or the characters of Sawyer and Juliet. I just took them out to play.
The diner was empty save for a few older men and the waitress that was serving them and as Juliet turned her head, she could see the cook in the back preparing food. Pale rays of sunlight filtered in through the window and she drew a deep breath, trying her best to make sense of it all. She wrapped her fingers around her mug, taking in its warmth as she turned back to him.
"Everything okay, Jules?" Sawyer asked. They'd barely talked since leaving hospital, trading words for kisses and urgent brushes of fingertips. It hadn't been a problem but now her silence made him wonder.
She blinked and smiled in his direction before bringing the coffee to her lips. "Yes, I'm just trying to make sense of all this."
Sawyer chuckled before shifting in the booth. "You and me both."
Juliet opened her mouth to speak only to shut it again. Quietly, she set her cup down and slid her hand into his on top of the table. Memories of another life hung in the air around them; sunflowers and kisses, waking up in bed and spending the day together. Fights, laughter, love. So many things that she felt for the man sitting across from her that a few hours before she had no idea existed. "So we made it."
His calloused thumb grazed her wrist. "Yeah Blondie," he said quietly, "and I ain't lettin' you out of my sight."
"Really?" Juliet raised her eyebrow. In reality, there was nothing she wanted more. The longer they sat there sipping their coffee until it turned cold, more and more things started coming back to her. An island, that was where they had lived before (because really, even though she'd accepted the fact they were dead there was no real way of processing that), and the people they'd lived with there were waiting for them. She knew this, was sure of it as she would've been had she read it from an invitation directly, and yet there was no rush to break apart from the moment.
Sawyer muttered something under his breath that she couldn't quite make out and when she started laughing he raised his head in curiosity. It struck him; the way her blue eyes seemed to dance as her lips parted in a smile. There had been a time when he didn't think he'd ever get to see it again and that fact didn't slip by him easily. "Juliet-" he began roughly, pausing to clear his throat.
"Yes?" she answered. Quietly, the waitress came to their table and gestured to their mugs. Juliet nodded politely and waited until she was gone to finish. "Is something wrong?"
"Not at all." Sawyer replied. He knew that despite not completely having a handle on the situation. Just a few short hours before he'd been the guy who was a cop that went out a few times a week with friends and had recently screwed up one of the best friendships he'd ever had by completely wrecking a date that was destined to not work from the moment it began. At the time he didn't understand why but if the woman opposite him in the booth was any indication then there was something far bigger at hand. "I've never been the guy who reflects and all that, ya know? And yet I can't seem to help it now."
Scenes of awkward dancing in the kitchen and cooking food whose name he couldn't properly pronounce played in her mind. He was a man who didn't try hiding who he was, despite the horrible scenes from his past that he'd relayed to her, and she loved that about him. "Of course. I remember that about you."
"What else do you remember?" Sawyer asked, because in the midst of his whole world being turned on its axis she was there and that was what mattered. He'd never been that great at expressing himself emotionally either and yet sitting with Juliet made him actually want that to be different.
Juliet sighed and settled in closer to the table. In that moment she realized that her hand had yet to leave his since the moment they sat down and yet somehow she was perfectly okay with that. The frenzy of becoming familiar again had passed, replaced only by the simple comfort of being in one another's presence.
Eventually the conversation faded and there was a certain air of anticipation surrounding them. Though neither of them spoke of it, they both knew it was time. "Are you ready?"
Slowly, Juliet pulled her hands back and smoothed them over her napkin before pushing it to the side. "As ready as I'll ever be. You?"
Sawyer nodded and rose to his feet. He grabbed her hand, nodded at the waitress and the cook behind the counter, and started heading for the door. He stopped just outside the diner, his eyes fixed in a look of concentration.
"James?" Juliet gave his hand a squeeze before turning to face him. Her eyes scanned his face for the slightest hint of hesitation. "Are you sure you're ready? Because if you're not, we can wait."
"No, I'm fine. Everyone's there and waitin'. All this time we haven't seen them and now we're all just supposed to...what? Disappear?" Sawyer was frowning, his arm holding her close as he the seriousness of their situation started settling on him.
Juliet put a finger to his lips before pulling him in for a kiss. She let her lips linger for a few seconds longer than necessary, wanting to make the moment last. "I don't know what's going to happen either. But you know what I do know? I'll be there with you. That's enough for me."
Sawyer pretended to consider it for a second before nodding and pressing a kiss to her forehead. No matter what they'd been through or what was still up in the air, he was there with her and that was what mattered.