Quickie:
Just so we all know, I'm a diehard YANKEE fan! w00t! Yeah. Just wanted to clear it up. :)
Chapter 35
Upstairs, Kate had changed into her pajamas and Sawyer was still in the shower. She went into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet, looking for her toothbrush. The sliding shower door opened.
"You mind, Freckles?" Sawyer's head poked out from the door.
"Nope," she said, not even looking at him.
"What're you lookin' for?"
"My toothbrush. It's not in the cabinet where I left it."
For a minute, Sawyer was quiet and the door slid closed.
"You sure you left it in there?"
"Yeah. I used it this morning."
Not long after, it opened again and he was there.
"Hey Freckles," he whispered.
She turned to look at him and he held her toothbrush.
"I beg to differ."
"You wanna toss that over here?" she said, her hands on her hips.
He said nothing, but waggled it more, raising his eyebrows, waiting to see what she'd do. Exactly as he had wanted, she walked over and went to get it, but he raised his arm high above her head. She folded her arms and waited for him to lower it, but it slipped out of his hand and fell into the shower. He looked at it, then back at her, grinning.
"You wanna come in and get it?" he asked.
"Forget it," she turned around.
But he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She turned around, looking straight up into his eyes.
"Don't you dare," she warned.
"Or what?" he started to pull her slowly.
"Sawyer!" she shouted.
But he had already pulled her into the shower. Luckily, the faucet and knobs were at the other end, so she didn't hit anything. She stood up, her pajamas rapidly getting soaked.
"I just put these on!"
"What for?" he said in mock annoyance.
"You are unbelievable!" she said, looking up at him. She turned to get back out, but he slid the door closed.
"Not-uh. You ain't gettin' away that easy."
"What're you gonna do? Hold me hostage in the shower?" she almost laughed.
"Somethin' like that," he said, sliding his hands up and down her waist slowly.
"Please. You're injured."
"Hey. I took my meds so I'm all good," he stepped back, raising his hands in the air dropping his defense.
She laughed and shook her head. "In case you've forgotten, the meds are only temporary."
"That's okay. I'll take what I can get," he teased, looking her up and down.
Her shirt was drenched and stuck against her tightly at every curve of her body. Her flannel pants stuck themselves against her legs. The curls of her hair were slowly soaking and straightening themselves out and water was dripping down her face.
"You know, I'm likin' the new look, Freckles."
"I'm kinda fond of yours, myself," she said, looking downward, then back at his face, with a sudden change of heart.
He laughed and pulled her close. "It's one of a kind," he grinned. "But I'm sure they have one similar in your size…"
"Yeah?" she slid her hands up his chest and around his neck.
She pulled him down to her and leaned up on her tiptoes kissing him. He wasted no time peeling off her soaked shirt. He was thrilled to find nothing but bare skin underneath. He tossed it over the top of the doors and it landed on the tile floor with a loud smack. He quickly lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He backed her against the wall and their kissing grew fierce and yet, gentle.
He used his body to hold her up against the wall while he started tugging at her pants. He slid them – along with her panties – down her legs, and wriggled them off each leg, one by one. Without bothering to even toss them out of the shower, he wrapped his arms around her once more and started kissing down her chest, teasing her breasts with his lips. She closed her eyes, blinking away the water, as they moved in an upward rhythm. She could feel her back slightly sliding up and down the slippery tiled wall but was only filled with pure delight and pleasure.
The water was starting to feel numbingly hot. Steam poured from the top rim of the doors, and it looked as though the whole room was filled with fog…
Allison and Jack, meanwhile, had finished the dishes and were now talking over coffee in the living room. Though Allison finally got off the topic of why she was in prison, Jack couldn't stop thinking about how she said it was Sawyer's fault. Silence filled the room and they both looked down awkwardly. While Jack sat forward in the armchair, Allison was sitting with her legs outstretched on the couch, tracing the rim of her cup.
"I hate to sound rude, but it's been itching at me since you got here," she started, suddenly. "Do you and Kate have a history? I mean being stuck on that island together and everything. Did anything happen between you two?"
He looked up at her and she saw his face looked tired now. She felt bad for asking, but she really wanted to know. He sighed.
"Kate and I…" he nodded. "We've had our moments. But…it didn't really…" he shook his head now, looking away. "It didn't work out."
She nodded and it grew quiet again.
"So do you still see any of the other survivors of your flight?" she asked, wanting to get rid of the tension in the air.
"Yeah. I still see a good handful of them."
"That's good. It's good you keep in touch. Really good," she said, looking down now.
"You must have a lot of friends, right?"
"I had a few," she smiled, thinking about them. "Lot of junkies they turned out to be. But they're the kind of people who always have your back, no matter what, you know? Now, none of them will talk to me anymore. I haven't seen or heard from them since I was arrested."
"I thought they had your back?"
"You would think right?" she sniggered and lied back on the couch. "But that's the tragic life I lead. Homeless, friendless, and sexless!"
"Not friendless," he assured her, smiling.
She smiled back gratefully.
"What's that?" he asked suddenly.
"What?"
"On your wrist?"
"Oh. It's a charm bracelet. Been passed down for a few years. My great grandmother to my grandmother to my mother to me. Each time we're supposed to add a new charm. But only one. Then we hand it off to the next generation. It's kind of like a family heirloom, I guess."
She took it off and sat up to show him. He got up and sat next to her on the couch to get a better look.
"My great grandmother put this silver rose on it because that was her favorite flower. My grandmother put this one."
"A whale?"
"She wanted it to symbolize her."
He laughed. "A whale symbolizes her?"
"Well, she was pretty big," she laughed too. She spun the bracelet a little bit to the last charm. "This one my mom put on."
"Is she a dancer?" he said, looking at the tiny pinky ballet slipper.
"Was. Yeah."
"I'm sorry."
She shook her head. "I used to take ballet when I was little. So I guess I got it from her."
They both got quiet. She spun the bracelet around in her fingers a few times, absently. Jack looked at it again.
"There's only three charms on it," he noted.
"I haven't gotten one yet. Haven't been able to decide what to put on it."
Jack pulled out his keys from his pocket suddenly, and started fumbling with them. Allison sat up watching him as he appeared to be taking something off them. He put his keys on the coffee table. She looked from then back to him.
"Let me see your bracelet."
She gave it to him and he spun it around to an empty space. She watched him curiously, unable to see what he was doing. When he seemed to be done, he looked at her. She looked from his hand with her bracelet clenched in it, to him. He took her hand and opened it, and put her bracelet in it. She looked down at it and finally saw what he had done. He had put a tiny metal pair of red socks on a chain with a clip-on clasp onto her bracelet. She smiled.
"Tiny red socks…" she laughed. "How cute."
"They'll win eventually," he grinned.
"They will," she agreed.
He watched her smiling as she admired the little socks. She looked back up to him, beaming.
"They're perfect. Thank you," she kissed him lightly on the cheek.
"You're welcome." He laughed. "I kind of feel like a cheese ball now."
"No. It wasn't cheesy. It was sweet," she assured him.
He shrugged.
"Hate to sound like all those sappy movies but, this is the nicest thing any guy has ever done for me," she said in a high-pitch mocking voice.
"Now that is cheesy."
She laughed. "It is, isn't it? And yet, I just said it!"
He laughed too. "Well if that's the case, I'm proud to be the nicest guy you've ever met."
"Ooh hang on there, buddy. Getting ahead of yourself, aren't you?" she teased.
"Well, you just said it."
"Touché."
They both quieted again, and Allison seized the opportunity to put her bracelet back on. Jack glanced at her and saw she was having trouble with the clasp and the bits of hair that she had to keep pushing out of her face to see it.
"Do you want help?" he offered.
"Sure."
He took the bracelet and she held out her wrist. After a few tries, the bracelet was back on, and he looked back at her. Their eyes immediately locked. Not a minute later, they were kissing passionately.
They fell into the couch together engulfed in what seemed to be an everlasting kiss. Allison's fingers wandered down his shirt as she started unbuttoning each button. He slid her shirt upward and she stopped unbuttoning his to let him lift it over her head. She quickly finished all the buttons and pushed his shirt back and down his arms and he shrugged it off. The kiss suddenly grew more and more intense. They started to unbutton each other's jeans and Allison broke away from the kiss, panting. She laughed.
"This breaks so many first date rules."
He laughed too. "I'm guessing right about now, you really don't care?"
"You know me well already."
She pulled him down to her kissing him. Just then they both broke away, startled by a screech from the shower faucet turning off.
"Shit," Allison muttered.
She and Jack looked at each other and laughed. He got up off of her and they hurried to get their clothes back on. Proving them to have good timing, Kate came down the stairs fully dressed in pajamas, drying her hair with a towel. She slowed at the last few steps, Jack and Allison staring at her. She started folding the towel and quickly went into the kitchen, without a word. Jack and Allison exchanged glances and were thinking the same thing. Wasn't Sawyer the one taking the shower?