This story is set after the episode "What Kate Did" in season 2. Nothing else goes into account yet…for the time being…because I'm just trying to get caught up myself. ONESHOT FOR NOW…

FLASHBACK

Kate was sitting in the jungle, staring off. She couldn't face anyone. Not now. Not like this.

"Kate, what are you doing out here?" She turned to that familiar voice and saw Jack standing there. He approached her.
"What happened in the hatch Kate? Why'd you leave?" she turned her face from him and he moved to be in her view.

"I come back, I find Sawyer just lying on the ground. You just took off…"

"Is he okay?" she interrupted.

"Yes, Kate. He's fine." He replied.

She stood and started to walk away. She turned back around, looking at Jack. "I'm sorry." She said, and continued walking.

"Are you?" Jack asked, and Kate turned around looking shocked.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I'm not as perfect as you." She shot back through clenched teeth. "I'm sorry that I'm not as good!" Jack put his hands up to stop her.

"What's going on with you?" Jack asked in concern.
"Just forget it." she said, turning to walk away again. Jack grabbed her arm.
"Don't walk away from me."
"Let go of me."
"No. Kate. Kate. No."

"Don't. I can't."

"It's okay." Jack said, wrapping his arms around her as she cried in his shoulder.
"Hey…"

"I can't escape from this place and it's driving me nuts."

Jack looked at her with concerned eyes. "I know. It's okay. It's alright. It's alright." He repeated, looking into her eyes. The look on her face softened and she grabbed his head with her hand, pulling her into the most passionate kiss she had ever experienced in her life. To her surprise, Jack didn't fight it. She pulled out of it, resting her forehead against his. She backed up and ran away.
"Kate!" Jack called after her. Neither one of them could believe what happened between them. But they both knew that it was a long time coming, and one day, they'd have to deal with the fact that they had fallen in love with each other.

Kate was sitting on the shoreline, looking out into the ocean, hearing the waves crashing. This was her favorite time of the day; sitting out watching the sun rise. She woke up every morning to see it. She smiled, feeling the cool breeze blow through her hair and she rubbed her hands against her bare arms in an attempt to warm them. She felt a blanket around her and looked up to see Jack standing there. He wrapped it around her shoulders and sat down.
"Hey." He whispered.
"Hi." She said, looking down.
"Look…Kate…"
"I know. I'm sorry for kissing you."

He looked up at her. "What?"
"I'm sorry. Let's just…forget that it happened…okay?" As much as it pained her to say it, she had to.

"But…Kate…I don't want to forget it." he confessed. "I'm not sorry that you kissed me. At all."
"What?" she asked, puzzled.
"Kate…I…" he heard someone approaching and turned around. Hurley cleared his throat.

"Sorry…am I uh…interrupting?"
"No…of course not." Jack said somewhat sarcastically. Unfortunately, Hurley hadn't picked up on the sarcasm.

"Dude…you have hatch duty. Remember?" He asked and Jack sighed.
"Yeah…okay…" he said, getting up.
"Jack!" Kate called as he started to walk away. He didn't look back. She shook her head, laying down in the sand, quickly falling asleep.

"Morning Freckles." She awoke much later and squinted at the sun. She groaned, rolling over and burying her face in her arms.

"So what happened between you and Jack-o?" Sawyer asked, sitting in the sand beside her.

"What happened between Jack and I is none of your business Sawyer." She retorted.
"Ouch. That hurt Freckles." He joked. "But let's just say I'm not the only one who's noticed that things between you and Doc are a little tense to say the least."
"Butt out Sawyer. This doesn't concern you." Kate just wanted him to leave her alone right now, and she'd do whatever it took. She stood up and starting walking.

"Where you going gorgeous?" He shouted at her.

"Going to find Jack!" she answered, not looking back.
"You know he loves you right?" He yelled loud enough that the whole camp could hear. She walked up to him and whacked his arm.
"What was that for?" He asked, rubbing his forearm.
"For putting your nose where it doesn't belong." She said, slinging her backpack over her shoulders and running away towards the hatch.

She approached Jack who was sleeping in the bed in the hatch. She sat on the end of the bed and he opened one eye.
"Hi." She whispered. "You hungry?" she asked, pulling a banana out of her bag.
He sat up, taking it from her and smiled.
"Thank you." He said quietly. They sat in silence for a few moments until Kate finally broke it.
"Jack. We need to talk." She started. He looked up at her. "Okay. Start talking."

"Can we go…somewhere else and talk?"
"What's more private than this Kate?"
"Please?"
Jack sighed. "Okay…Locke's heading over here anyways…"
"Great." She smiled, and walked out of the room and out of the hatch.
She stood there in silence and waited silently for Jack. He came out of the hatch and closed the door behind him.
They started walking.
"Kate…have you ever been in love?"
"What is this? 20 questions?" she joked.
"Not really. But just answer it." he sighed.
"In love? Not really." She said.
"Have you ever loved someone?" He stopped.
"Who hasn't?" Kate asked, rolling her eyes. "Of course I've loved someone."
"But never in love?"

"Nope. You?" she asked as they continued walking.

"What?"
"You ever been in love?"
"Yes."
She nodded.
"I was married. To a…girl named Sarah. I operated on her…I thought she'd be paralyzed. But by some miracle she could walk. She kept saying that all she wanted to do was dance at her wedding. She danced at ours." He said, sitting on a log. Kate sat beside him and he continued.

"We were married for about six months and things were great. It all started to get bad…" he sighed, looking up at Kate again. "I um…I worked long hours. I operated on an Italian man…his daughter wanted me to try to remove a tumor on his spine. He didn't make it."
"I'm sorry." Kate said.
"That night…after the surgery…his daughter…she kissed me. And I kissed her back. I didn't even try to stop her." He closed his eyes, feeling the tears. "That night, I got home and told Sarah. I told her everything. I just….I wanted to fix things with her. Gosh we hadn't even really talked in weeks. I'd get home really early in the morning and go to bed as she was waking up to go to the gym or work or wherever she was going…"

"So what happened?"
"She confessed that she'd been seeing someone else and she was leaving me. Just like that…and then I realized…I didn't want to live without her. I realized how much I did love her…and she wasn't as willing to fix things as I was."
"I'm sorry Jack." She whispered.
"And I thought I knew what love was…" he said softly, getting up and continuing to walk. Kate immediately got up and followed.

"Jack I'm sorry."

"For what Kate?" he asked, turning around and facing her.

"I'm sorry that I made you recall all of that. I'm sorry that…I kissed you. I'm sorry about everything Jack." Her voice was breaking and he could see her eyes brimming with tears. He dropped his bag and immediately ran to her side, holding her tight in his embrace.
"Kate…look at me." He tilted her chin up with his index finger and smiled.
"Stop apologizing." He laughed.
"So I'm just supposed to forget?" She backed away from him. "How could I forget Jack? That kiss…that was something I've never felt in my life…and you just walk around acting like it never happened! Like it meant NOTHING to you!" she yelled, crying more.

"Is that what you think? That it meant NOTHING?!" he emphasized the last word, going up to her and grabbing her hand.

"When you kissed me yesterday, I felt something that I NEVER did with my wife. And if you think that kiss meant nothing to me…then I'd have to say that you are entirely wrong! Kate I love you…ever since I met you I loved you. But Kate…it will never work!"
"Why? Why won't it work Jack? Just tell me! Am I not good enough for you? Am I not…"

He cut her off. "I knew that I could never have your heart Kate!"
"And why's that Jack?"
"Because it belongs to Sawyer."
Those words stung his heart more than anything he had ever said or heard in his life. Even more than Sarah telling him that she was leaving. Nothing compared to this.
"Jack…I…"
"Kate. Forget it." he said, walking back off towards the beach.

Like so far?! If you do please tell me and I'd love to continue! I have a really bad habit of not updating as frequently as I used to…but I'm trying to wrap up my other stories so I can focus on this fic right now…cause I really want to keep writing. So PLEASE let me know!!! REVIEW! It's a oneshot for now…and I won't be continuing till I finish up at least one of my other stories…so be patient with me…