A/N: Well, hello there. It has been long since forever that I've done anything with this story. Mostly because I wrote out chapter 2 and then lost it. Seriously, it's like it vanished beyond all findability (even though that's not a word haha). Recently, though, I miraculously found it in an old old old notebook. I wasn't going to post it, but I figured, "What the heck...why not?" So here we are. Sorry to anyone who actually remembers this and is mad at me for basically abandoning it.
Disclaimer: As I would think is fairly obvious, I do not own Lost or P.S. I Love You. Those belong to some fabulous writers/producers/directors/authors. Also, I do not own 'Annie's Son' by John Denver (which is a beautiful song, by the way). Moving on now...
Kate hardly left her apartment for the next few weeks. She spent her time slow dancing around from room to room to Patsy Cline and John Denver, and watching Brat Pack movies. Those were some of her and Jack's favorite films to watch together on rainy Saturday afternoons. The brown leather jacket she had given him for their first Christmas off the island never left her body. Dirty dishes and takeout containers littered the apartment and there was hardly a clean surface to be found. The only spotless area was the bedside table on Jack's side of the bed. He never liked when it got cluttered up, so Kate kept it that way for him. 'He would have wanted it that way,' she thought.
Kate was in the middle of belting out 'Annie's Song' by John Denver, using one of Jack's combs as a microphone, when Sun, Claire, and Charlie entered the apartment. They stood in shock, watching their friend sway dramatically to the music. After a few seconds, Kate noticed them and froze where she stood. She grabbed the stereo remote off of the coffee table and turned it off. All she was wearing was a pair of Jack's gym shorts and his favorite Red Sox t-shirt.
"Happy birthday!"
"You're thirty!"
"Happy birthday, Kate!"
"Uh...hi," an embarrassed Kate said, "Wh...uh, what are you guys doing here?"
Claire spoke up, "It's your birthday, we're taking you out. Duh."
Just then, Jin came in carrying a rather large stack of mail. "Kate, I grabbed these for you; they were falling out of your mail..." he looked up and saw the scene. "...box."
Kate rubbed her eyes. "Just...just give me a minute to get cleaned up," she said as she turned and walked to the bathroom. Once she was out of sight her, friends immediately began to clean.
About an hour later Kate came out of her bedroom wearing an outfit one would assume was meant for a grandmother. Sun got up and shook her head, steering her best friend back into her room to look for something, anything, other than what she was currently wearing. "We're going out, Kate, not knitting socks. Come on, I'll find you something."
Another half hour passed and Sun was putting some finishing touches on Kate's hair. Claire walked in smiling. "You look fantastic, Kate!" she said, "And something just came for you."
The three women walked into the living room area where Jin and Charlie were seated, careful not to sit in Jack's recliner. The girls sat down on the couch and looked at the giant yellow box on the coffee table. "Well, are you gonna open it or are you planning on waiting until your next birthday?" Charlie joked.
Kate stuck her tongue out at him and looked at the box again. She lifted the lid off to reveal a cake. It had white icing with pink, green, and blue trim. There was a message on top of it written in blue piping. Whoever was behind this, it was not funny.
Happy birthday, Katie! I love you so much. Love, Jack
The widow looked around at her friends, who all sat in stunned silence. "Jin, did you do this?" she demanded.
Jin shook his head, confused. "No, I did not, I swear." He noticed something taped to the inside of the lid. "What's this?"
He took it out and handed it to Kate. It was a DVD and it had 'Watch Me' written on it with black Sharpie. She quickly put it in the player and pressed play. Jack's face came on the screen. Everyone stared in disbelief, while Kate's hand flew to cover her mouth.
On screen, Jack smiled and waved. "Hey, Katie," he said, "I know that this might seem a little...I don't know, odd or maybe even morbid, but I'm gonna keep talking anyway. The truth is, I'm not ready to say goodbye to you yet."
He paused, looking at the camera, and Kate knew he was looking only at her. He took a deep breath and continued.
"I waited until your birthday to do this because I figured you might've become a bit reclusive for awhile. Okay, that sounds extremely self-absorbed...but you know what I mean. Right? Anyway, here's the deal: I've written you a lot of letters, one for each month of the year, and you'll be getting them in all kinds of different ways. Good thing your birthday's in January, huh? Now, don't try to figure out how the whole thing works; it'll just ruin it for you, and it's too brilliant anyway. Just trust me on this, okay?"
"Okay," Kate whispered, wiping away tears.
"Good!" Jack clapped his hands together, "Katie, it's your birthday. Oh yeah, happy birthday, honey; I wish I could be there with you to watch you freak out over turning thirty. It's not all that bad, I promise," he smiled, "But eat some of that cake, go out with your girlfriends, and have some fun! You should get this month's letter sometime tomorrow. I'll see you later, Kate. And remember, I love you. Forever."
Kate wiped her eyes as Sun and Claire gave her a much needed hug. They all looked up when they heard clattering. Charlie was standing there with five plates and forks. "Anybody for cake?" he asked with a cheeky grin.
The group of friends talked and laughed as they ate their cake and Claire broke out a bottle of tequila, which disappeared in about ten minutes. When the cake was gone, Sun called two cabs; one for the girls and one for the guys.
"We're going to find a club somewhere to get into," Claire told the guys, "You two go do whatever. Oh, and don't wait up, we will definitely be awhile."
The girls left and ended up at a club named 'Nu' that they had heard was some sort of celebrity hotspot. They were desperately trying to get in, but the bouncer wasn't budging.
"You don't understand, Mr. Bouncer Man, we are famous, I swear!" Claire argued. Sun and Kate nodded to back her up.
The large man in front of them rolled his eyes, "Yeah, lady, and my mother is Joan Rivers."
He turned back to the line while Kate, Sun, and Claire tried to figure out how to get inside. Just then, a big name actress named Lena Kilgarus was ushered to the front of the line. "Make way, people! VIP coming through!" the bouncer shouted.
Lena was about to enter the club when she saw the three ladies standing on the sidewalk. "Um, excuse me?" she called, and they turned to see who she was. Their eyes widened.
"Aren't you three survivors of Oceanic 815 from awhile ago? Kate Shephard, Sun Kwon, and Claire Littleton-Pace?"
They nodded and Claire spoke up, "Y-Yeah, but this guy doesn't believe us, so we can't get in."
Lena shot the surprised bouncer a mean look and spoke again, "Well, I know who you are; you can come in with me."
The three followed the actress into the club, smirking and sticking their tongues out at the bouncer as they passed him. Once they were inside, the drank and danced until they could hardly stand anymore.
After several hours had passed, Sun went over to where Kate was seated at the bar and asked over the music, "Hey, do you want to go to Rose and Bernard's? I'm kind of over this club, it's not as cool as we thought it would be."
Kate nodded; she was done with it, too, but she was sure it wasn't for the same reasons. Wherever she looked there was a couple sucking each other's faces off or dancing together or holding hands and laughing. Soon she was torn from her thoughts by Sun, Claire, and Lena stumbling over to her.
"I guess I'll see you three around; it's been fun, really," Lena said with slurred words.
"Thanks for, for bringing us i-in with you, Lena, that bouncer's a knob," Claire replied. Kate guessed that she had let loose completely tonight because Charlie was home with Aaron.
Lena looked confused. "A what?"
Sun giggled, "It's an Australian thing."
"Oh," the actress replied and handed Kate a napkin with a number scribbled on it, "Well, give me a call if you ever need anything, you guys."
The girls waved goodbye to each other as they went their separate ways. Sun, Claire, and Kate stuck their tongues out at the bouncer again as they left and got into a cab. Once the driver knew his destination it on ly took a few minutes to get there.
The three friends walked, or rather staggered, into the Home Kitchen, a restaurant owned by Rose and Bernard. Sawyer had decided to stay in L.A. after the crash and had asked Rose for a job when the restaurant was opened. He looked up from one of the cash registers when the door opened and saw Kate, Claire, and Sun stumble their way toward a booth in the corner.
"Can I get you ladies anything?" he asked cautiously, walking over to their table.
Claire just started giggling uncontrollably while Kate dropped her head on the table and mumbled an answer. "Coffee. Lots and lots of coffee."
Sun nodded and added, "Thank you, kind sir, for your generospitality!"
Sawyer looked at her strangely for her invented word, but turned away and went into the kitchen. Soon enough, Rose, having been informed by Sawyer of the state of the ladies in the dining room, came over with a pot of coffee and some mugs, and sat down with the drunken girls.
"Well, happy birthday, Kate," she said, handing the widow a cup, "I'd say you three had a bit of fun tonight."
Kate took a sip of steaming liquid before laying her head back down. Sun was too busy stacking the salt and pepper shakers to notice the mug in front of her. Claire started laughing again, "It was ace! Once we got rid of that bloody bouncer. I swear, that boomer was as mean as cat's piss!"
Kate didn't lift her head as she mumbled, "I swear, Claire, you get more Aussie when you're drunk..."
"Good on ya, mate!" Claire declared as she tried to stand up.
Rose laughed softly and told her, "I had Sawyer call Charlie, sweetheart, he's on his way. Same for you, Sun, Jin's on his way."
A few minutes later, the men showed up and took their wives home. Kate was now asleep at the table and showed no intentions of waking up anytime soon. Rose sighed. "Sawyer," she called, "Would you bring Kate over to my place? We're not far from her apartment, but I don't think she's going anywhere for the night."
The young man nodded and picked the sleeping woman up into a fireman's cradle. He followed Rose next door and up the stairs into a small guest bedroom. He gently laid her down on the bed and watched asa her shoes were slipped off her feet and she was tucked in by Rose. The older woman looked up at him but he never took his eyes off of Kate's sleeping form.
"Sawyer?" Rose said, getting his attention, "You can start closing up next door."
The Southerner nodded and slowly left the room. Rose stayed a few more minutes and sat with the young woman who was like a daughter to her. She then kissed her on the forehead and whispered, "Sweet dreams, honey."