Happy Monday everyone - here's another chapter for you! Thank you SO much for the reviews, and for not being annoyed that I didn't include the press conference sooner... you're all just brilliant! Hope you enjoy this one - it was quite fun to write... I'm trying to strike a realistic difference between them making it difficult (as they always did, of course) and them actually getting together (as they did... of course!). I hope you enjoy this one. Thanks again guys! xxx

Chapter 10

They had a comfortably quiet drive back to Kate's new house on Panorama Crest. The radio played quietly and Kate and Jack were both lost in their thoughts. The journey lasted about twenty minutes, and Jack pulled in to her driveway, shutting the engine off and looking over at her. "So this is it huh?" He glanced up at the house.

"This is it." She smiled, opening her door and readjusting her hold of a sleeping Aaron. "You want a quick tour?"

Jack glanced at the clock on the dashboard, aware of the time. "Sure." He smiled back.

They entered her house and Kate threw her keys down on the side table. It was dark until Kate flipped on the kitchen light, illuminating the back half of the ground floor. "Have a look around, if you want. Sorry it's such a mess." She still had Aaron in her arms. "I'm just going to put him to bed." She slipped off her heels and headed upstairs with the baby, leaving Jack alone.

He wandered through to the kitchen, and walked around the dining table. Opening a cupboard door, he noticed that she was already better stocked than he was. Heading back in to the living room, there was a sofa, and some new baby clothes, but not much else. He sat down on the sofa.

A few minutes later, Kate padded back downstairs. "Sorry about that," she said softly as she approached him.

"How is he?" Jack kept his voice low, so as not to disturb the quietness of the house.

"He's fine. Hopefully he'll sleep through for a while." She sat down next to him on the sofa. Her face was half illuminated by the light from the kitchen, and half in the relative darkness of the room they were in. "You want a cup of coffee?"

Jack puffed out his cheeks and checked his watch. "I uh, I'd really be better getting home. I start at the hospital tomorrow."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Gotta be up... bright and early." He gave a very light laugh, not making any move to leave despite his statement.

Kate didn't say anything either. She just sat there for a moment, staring down at the coffee table, her hands clasped together on her lap.

"You ok? After today?" Jack asked, his voice steady and serious. He watched her carefully, wondering how much this was really affecting her.

"Yeah. I'm ok." She answered without looking at him.

He nearly probed her some more, but he stopped himself, knowing she probably wouldn't appreciate it.

He frowned and joined her in concentrating his gaze on the coffee table. "I hated it." He sighed, deciding to be straight-up with her. "I do hate it. I hate the attention, I hate that we have to lie. I hate that we left everyone behind and we can't say anything about it."

Kate glanced sideways at him. His brow was furrowed, and she could see that the muscles in his body were tensed. She didn't say anything.

"I know it's gotta be done, but... I wish... I wish-" Jack exhaled heavily and suddenly, his body slouching slightly, as if in defeat. "I don't even know what I wish. I wish it didn't have to be this way."

It was a simple statement, but full of nuance. He wished they had never crashed on the island, he wished their friends hadn't died, he wished they hadn't left people behind, he wished Kate wasn't on trial, he wished he wasn't just sitting here next to her unable to tell her how he felt. He wished it was all different.

"Me too." Kate didn't really know what else to say. She was quite taken aback by how much he was opening up to her about this. Glancing sideways at him once more, she reached out and took his hand, which was lying limply on his thigh. She took it and enveloped it in hers, their hands connected between them on the sofa. They sat there for a little while, just holding hands, not saying anything.

Eventually, Jack turned his head to look at her. He waited for her to return his gaze before he spoke. She did - her eyes met his and they shone in the darkness.

"What happened at your arraignment?" He asked the question softly, and directly, with no agenda - just love.

Kate seemed to recognise this, and she didn't flinch, or look away, or sugar-coat her answer. She spoke back quietly, but directly. "They're going to set a date. And they're going to try me for fraud, arson, grand larceny, grand theft auto, assault, and murder."

Jack didn't break eye contact, but his heart sunk in his chest. He held her gaze, and her hand, and didn't back down. "I'll be right here."

A small, sad, unintentional smile pulled at Kate's lips at Jack's quiet, simple statement, loaded with meaning and promise.

He smiled back.

A few seconds passed, and Jack felt the hairs on the back of his neck start to stand up. He noticed as Kate's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, and only then did he break the spell that was lingering between them by looking away.

"I'd better get going." He said it with regret, but he knew that if he stayed any longer, he would never convince himself to leave.

They untangled their hands and stood up, Kate pushing her hair back behind her ears.

She walked with him to the door, reaching out to open it. Suddenly, without overthinking what he was about to say, Jack stopped, placing his hand over hers once again as it sat on the door handle.

"Kate, I - I'm sorry, about the newspapers." He frowned slightly and pursed his lips together, angling his head as he looked at her. "I know it's - it's not what you need right now."

She dropped her hand from the doorknob and from beneath his, and looked up at him. "Don't worry. I've heard... worse accusations." She raised an eyebrow.

He nodded his head up and down a couple of times and glanced at the floor, licking his licks and frowning slightly as he looked back up. "Yeah. I'm still sorry."

Kate took a breath. "It's not your fault." She gazed up at him. He was close to her, and she couldn't have broken his gaze even if she'd wanted to. The moment stretched on - became longer and longer, neither of them breaking it, not looking away, not moving apart. She noticed Jack swallow, and when she looked back up at his eyes, she saw that they were on her lips. She waited, not moving an inch, her heart in her mouth, and then he moved, he moved towards her, imperceptibly at first, and then suddenly, she could feel his breath on her face, she could see his pupils dilate and then she felt his lips against hers, and she kissed him back without a moment's hesitation. She might have expected a light, tentative first approach from Jack, but it was immediately apparent that that wasn't what he was going for. He kissed her deeply, his hand landing on the small of her back, pulling her slightly closer, and she responded in kind, her hand finding his waist and grabbing hold. She kissed him earnestly, lovingly, desperately - like she had always wanted to. Her hands moved up and cupped his face, just like they had the first time she had kissed him - and she felt his fingertips on her bare waist. She let him push her - gradually and gently and gentlemanly - against the door, and she pulled him even closer, his body flush against hers against the woodwork. His hands were making their way to new territory, when something made them both suddenly pull apart.

A cry from the baby monitor crackled through the air, startling them both, and turned towards it, breathing heavily. Jack looked back down at her, her eyes sparkling in the darkness, and didn't say a word. Neither did Kate.

Another cry was emitted from the monitor on the table, and Kate looked at it. "I should probably go check on him." She gulped, licking her lips.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure, of course." Jack ran his hand through his hair, taking a step back. "Yeah, go ahead. I should really be getting back."

"Oh." Kate bit her lip, unsure. She adjusted her shirt, which was ruffled and had been pulled up. "Sure. Get home safe."

"I will." Jack put his hand on the doorknob, looking at her, not knowing what to say. The baby's cry continued through the monitor. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"Ok." He opened the door, and the fresh night washed over him, making him feel like he was sobering up, even though he hadn't been drunk. He turned back around one last time. "Night Kate."

"Night Jack." She closed the door.