Disclaimer: Lost does not belong to me in any way. Promise
Author's Note: As a die-hard Sawyer/Kate fan, I am convinced that Jack/Kate is definitely gonna happen. So mark my words and remember them when it happens... "I am right, I swear I'm right, I swear I knew it all along..."
The soft breeze against his closed eyes was a small relief. He felt the urge to let himself fall on his back, on the sand, and lay still until the tide came up again. The sound of the waves crashing on the shore beckoned him though, and he couldn't but open his eyes.
The sunlight gave him a headache, and he narrowed his gaze just in time to see her walking towards his spot. He sighed, looked down and then into the horizon, wishing they weren't stuck in an island.
"Hey" She said, sitting next to him.
"Freckles" He greeted, suddenly fascinated by the circles he was tracing on the sand.
"Where've you been? I haven't seen much of you lately."
He finally raised his head and met her eyes only for a couple of seconds before looking away again.
"Guess you didn't look hard enough." He replied, uncharacteristically serious.
She stared hard, trying to read his face. When she finally succeeded, all she could do was sigh.
"You heard."
"I saw."
It was her turn to lower her gaze to the sand while wondering why she felt like she owed him an explanation.
"You know," She heard him say "one would think it feels great to prove one was right all along."
"Sawyer..." She started, and moved her upper body to face him completely. She even placed her hand on his arm.
He flinched, but turned to her nevertheless.
"Don't." He stopped her "I-, I made a mistake. You deserve someone like Jack, a doctor... someone who is not selfish..."
Kate knew she had seen that look on his face before, but couldn't quite place it.
"But after all this time, I think I started to believe there was some kind of hope for me. I actually wanted to see for myself all those things you said about me being a good person, deep down."
He shook his head bitterly, angry at his own gullibility.
"The fact that you're telling me this proves me right."
Sawyer looked at her in disbelief. Her naiveté didn't make her any less perfect to him. He gave her a small smile and raised his hand to tuck an unruly lock of hair behind her ear, but stopped himself at the last second.
He simply couldn't do it. So he did the only thing he could.
He stood up, nervously ran his fingers through his hair and looked at an expectant Kate.
Once more, her face was too much for him to bear.
"Just... please, move to the caves."
She left her sitting there at the beach, staring after him.
Vindication, he concluded, was way overrated.
Written by Mary S.