Disclaimer: I own nothing!
This story is set the day after Jack's flash forward. It's set after the island, but will have flashbacks from the island. The first couple chapters are kind of dark, but it will get lighter as the story progresses. It starts out Sawyer/Kate, but will probably end up Jack/Kate. There's a lot of Skate in the beginning, so people who like them together may like this too.
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Click.
My gaze jumped to the door next to me. The handle turned, and my body tensed. A man walked through the door, talking on a cell phone, and I relaxed again, letting my head fall back against the wall behind me.
The man continued forward down the long hallway, then started down a flight of stairs.
I sighed and returned my gaze to the closed door. I was positioned on the left of it, so when it opened it would narrowly miss hitting me. But, the person on the other side wouldn't be able to see me until after they had already come through the opening.
Standing there in the quiet, my thoughts drifted to Kate. They seemed to be doing that a lot lately.
The day we had gotten rescued, when the plane landed, it had taken all of three minutes for the reporters and cop cars to swarm into the airport.
My first thought was of getting Kate out of there as fast as possible. If the cops found her she would be sentenced to life, which was something that I couldn't stand.
"Let's go Freckles." Sawyer said grabbing Kate's arm. "I f you don't get out of here in the next five minutes, you'll be spending the next forty years in a cell next to a biker chick covered in tatoos."
"Kate!" I called, running over to them. "Take this and get the hell out of here." I said handing her a check.
"What?" she stared down at the numbers and shook her head. "I can't take this..."
I should have known that she would fight me on the money, she fought me on absolutely everything else. But I needed her to take it, if I couldn't protect her myself, I had to at least give her something to ensure she wouldn't starve to death.
"Yes, you can. Kate you have to go, they're already looking for you." I said, motioning to the cops searching the airport.
She looked where I was pointing, and I could see panic in her eyes. I sighed in frustration. She definitely wasn't the hardened criminal type that she used to be. The months on the island had changed her. They had changed her for the better, or so I thought. But now... she didn't seem to care about being caught, being put in jail. For once she was actually standing still.
The she turned, and I caught sight of the old Kate in her eyes. All of her walls had been put back up, and her old stubborn determination was back. I could see her hesitate and consider something. Then out of nowhere, she threw her arms around my neck, burying her head under my chin.
"Promise me you won't come looking for me." she whispered, her lips brushing my ear.
I pulled her closer, holding her tight to my chest. I didn't want to let go, because I knew if I did she would be gone, running away like she always did.. And I'd be alone. Again.
She backed away from me and stared me straight in the eye. "Promise me."
She knew me too well. She would make me promise her, make me say the words out loud, because she knew if I didn't I would never let go.
I swallowed hard and looked up, my eyes finding hers. We stayed like that for a long time, neither of us wanting to be the one to look away. I saw Sawyer shift uncomfortably out of the corner of my eye.
"I promise." I said softly, my pain evident in my voice.
I saw a flicker of disappointment briefly cross her face, so fast that it left me doubting whether of not I had really seen it at all. Then she backed away from me, sneaking a skittish glance at the cops over her shoulder.
Sawyer reached over to grip her shoulder and she nodded at him in silent understanding. Then, just like that, she was off and running across the airport. She turned her head to look at me briefly, and I could see deep regret etched across her features. Then, she disappeared. With him.
I heard the sound of footsteps coming from the other side of the door, and I straightened my eyes returning to the door once again. The knob turned and a petite woman walked through, looking straight ahead. She was wearing faded jeans and an emerald green tank top. Her dark brown curls tumbled down her back, bouncing as she walked.
Kate.
I moved away from the wall and started forward, grabbing hold of her elbow. She whipped around, fear flashing in her eyes. Then she blinked, her eyes scanning my face.
"Jack?" she said uncertainly
She took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest.
"You stalking me now?" she asked, anger slipping into her voice.
Was I? I barely knew right from left these days.
"I just want to talk to you..." I said, my voice slurring slightly.
"You're drunk." she said, with a mixture of concern and disgust in her voice.
Damn. She wasn't supposed to know I was drunk. Why did I have to drink before I came, anyway? Why had I come at all?
I started forward, but stumbled slightly. The concern must have won out because Kate moved forward and put her hand on my arm, steadying me.
I wasn't used to Kate having to hold me up. Normally I was the strong one. On the island I was the hero, everyone expected me to be. They didn't know I was I failure there, but now, Kate knew. I was nothing but a pathetic drunk.
"How did you know I was drunk, I thought I hid it so well." I said sarcastically.
She gave a soft, bitter laugh.
"When you spend most of your life cleaning up after a drunk, you start to be able spot them pretty easily."
I looked up sharply. Kate lived with a drunk too? Huh. Of all the things that I thought had happened to her that had never crossed my mind. Maybe we really weren't that different after all.
"Yeah..." I said, my gaze catching hers. "You do."
She just stared at me for a few seconds, understanding flickering in her eyes. Then she broke my gaze and said softly "Let's get you home."
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"You promised me that you wouldn't come looking for me." I said softly, then winced. Why did I always have to bring such sensitive topics?
We had just gotten in my car, with me at the wheel and Jack at the passenger side.
He glanced over at me, a small smile on his lips.
"I didn't think you meant it." he said, echoing my words from the island.
I clenched my jaw and threw my car into gear, starting across the parking lot. I wasn't quite sure if I had meant what I'd said either. All that I knew was that I destroyed everything I touched, and I didn't want to hurt him. Hell, that had gotten me real far. After everything with Sawyer, I had managed to break him without even trying. I could only imagine the damage I could do to him now.
"Turn here." Jack said, pointing to the left.
I blinked, startled .I'd almost forgottenhe was with me. I turned down a narrow street and turned into the awaiting parking lot.Jack opened the door and stepped out.
"Thanks for the ride." he said, stumbling slightly.
I felt a pang in my chest watching him. He was so different then from what he was on the island. I was used to seeing the Jack who was strong and ready to save the world. The Jack that was always there, saying everything would be okay. But now... it was if as soon as we left the island we'd all returned to the people that we used to be. We couldn't pull together and help each other. All we had was ourselves, and that sure as hell wasn't enough.
I watched him walk up the steps and at the last second called out "Jack, wait!"
He was too far away to hear me, and I watched as his front door closed behind him, leaving me once again alone in my car, wishing for more things that I could never have.
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"I think Jack should move in with us."
I winced. Once again, I just had to bring up the sensitive subjects.
I was laying on the bed in the room I shared with Sawyer, dressed in pajamas. He was currently pulling a shirt over his head, but he stopped with it half on to stare at me.
"Come again?"
I sighed and sat up. I had been thinking about this all night, I had absolutely tortured myself thinking about this.
"He's screwed up, Sawyer. He's drinking, he's doing drugs, and only God knows what else."
Sawyer nodded. "I definitely see how this is our problem."
I glared at him. I should have known he would react like that. I had kind of brought this up out of thin air, even though Sawyer did know about Jack's drinking.
"How can you act like that? He's our friend! What if you were him?"
"Well it's a good thing I'm not him, isn't it?" he retorted, heading to the bedroom door.
I jumped off the bed and grabbed his arm, forcing him to look me in the eye. I stared right into them, trying to read him.
"What are you afraid is going to happen if he moves in here?" I asked, my eyes boring into his.
He held my gaze for entirely too long, not saying anything.
I stepped away, completely taken aback. He was scared I would wind up with Jack. Nice to know we had a mutual trust going on here.
He turned toward the door, leaving me confused and upset behind him.
"You want him to move in here, fine. Do whatever the hell you want, but don't expect me to like it!" he snapped.
He stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut in my face on his way.
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