Chapter 12- Hungry Eyes

Sawyer reached in his pocket for some complimentary bottles of alcohol. He glanced at Kate who was still awake and then at Jack who was sleeping beside her.

"You want some freckles?"

Kate stopped poking at the dying fire with her stick, and then placed it down. "Want some what?"

Sawyer smiled back at her suavely, and then jingled the two small bottles of clear liquid together. "You know you want some."

"I'm not a big drinker," Kate said looking down at Jack.

Sawyer looked down at Jack as well, "It looks like Jack's gonna wake up with a headache the size of Texas, he must be hella tired to be sleeping on the ground like that."

Kate patted Jack's arm, "Jack…"

Jack snored.

Sawyer chuckled, "He sounds like a damn train goin' through the woods."

Kate slowly lifted up Jack's head, and then rested it on her leg. "You were snoring the other day too, every time I tried to close my eyes all I heard was your war cries."

Sawyer tossed Kate one of the bottles, "You know you want it sweet cheeks, now what was that about my war cries?"

Kate looked down at the bottle of clear liquid in her hand, "I was just saying that you snore loud…that's it."

"Well, I usually don't get much time to sleep…so when I can I sleep hard." Sawyer twisted the cap off of the small bottle and took a swig. "Mmm…that's good."

Kate watched Jack's chest rise slowly up and down. She still felt butterflies in her stomach, from the thought of Jack rubbing her shoulders earlier.

"I'm hungry as a pack of coyotes…"

"Where are you from Sawyer?" Kate asked placing her hand on Jack's shirt.

"Why?" Sawyer smiled and then took another sip of his alcohol.

"Because…your so..."

"Country… a hillbilly,"

Kate smiled, "You took the words right out of my mouth."

"Well call me whatever you wanna sweetheart, but according to the ladies my hillbilly ways are what keeps em' coming back for more."

"Your so full of yourself you know that."

"I'm a confident man, what can I say sweet cheeks."

Jack slowly sat up, "Woah, I can't believe I fell asleep."

Kate watched as Jack's eyes traveled down to her jeans, and then back at her. He must've just realized that he was sleeping on her.

"I'm sorry about that, I don't know how I…"

"You were sleeping on the ground, and I thought it might be a little more comfortable on my leg." Kate said in a quiet voice.

"I'm going to go catch us some fish." Sawyer said getting up.

Kate watched Sawyer, "How are you going to do that?"

"I got my ways, don't you worry your pretty little face…we're eating tonight."

Kate stared back at Sawyer confused, she still wasn't sure how Sawyer was going to catch the fish.

"Since ya don't want the alcohol, I'll put it to better use later," Sawyer said reaching down to take the bottle out of Kate's hand. His hand was bigger, so he covered her hands with his, as he took the bottle.

"I'm not gonna bite babycakes, why you flinching like that?" Sawyer asked.

Kate shuddered. She couldn't read Sawyer, one minute it seemed as if he didn't care about her, and the next?

"Well, the fish ain't going to catch themselves," Sawyer said turning around and walking towards the river.

"Hey Sawyer, I'm just curious how are you going to catch the fish?" Jack asked staring back at him with a smile.

"These hands,"

Kate giggled. Wow, was she really laughing.

Jack looked back at Kate in awe. She giggled. Rarely had he even seen her smile, but know she was giggling. Maybe he could get a laugh out of her before the night was over. "Hey Kate, I think I saw some string in the trunk."

"Did you?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, do you want to make a makeshift fishing pole…it might be a longshot, but I think it'll work better than Sawyer's hands."

"I think so too," Kate said.

Jack watched as the fire reflected in Kate's eyes. Those sexy eyes of hers. He looked down and smiled to himself, Now is not the time Jack.

Kate stood up and dusted off her jeans, "I can't wait until we get some new clothes."
"Yeah," Jack said deep in thought. He stood up as well.

Kate glanced upwards, the fire illuminated the dark skies. "What if someone comes?"

"From what I saw there wasn't civilization for miles, so I think we should be fine."

"You think so Jack?" Kate asked.

Jack raised an eyebrow, "If I told you I was positive…would you believe me?"

"Probably,"

Jack smiled, "That's good to know, but I know about as much as you." He walked over to the drivers' door and popped the trunk.

Kate stepped back.

"Don't worry Kate, I'm not going to make you go in the trunk."

Kate leaned against a tree and watched as Jack removed a roll of string from the trunk.

"Maybe she was going to knit?" He asked referring to Hailey.

Kate nodded slowly. Her eyes widened when she heard some footsteps.

Jack looked up alarmed. "Kate," He whispered signaling for her to come over to him.

Kate ran over to Jack. He reached for her hand and pulled her close to him.

Kate struggled to calm her anxious breathing. Jack pulled her closer to him She closed her eyes, and silently prayed that it was just Sawyer.

"What you'll doin' playing hide n go seek?" Sawyer asked in amusement.

Kate jumped as Sawyer stepped over to them.

Sawyer shook his head, "Well ain't you'll some fugitives…."

"Stop sneaking around." Kate said standing up. She then turned around and helped up Jack.

Sawyer crossed his arms, "It's in my nature,"

"It's in your nature to sneak around?" Kate asked.

Sawyer nodded, "Yeah,"

"So where is the fish at?" Jack questioned.

"Hold your horses, ain't you greedy. First you acted like I wasn't going to catch none, and now you want some."

"I still don't think your going to catch any fish, I mean really, what are you going to do? Jump into the river like he-man and snatch the fish up with your fists?" Jack said in disbelief.

"You testing me Doc?"

Kate sighed. She could tell they were going to argue again. She hated when they argued. Especially since Sawyer seemed to have a fighter's mentality. "Guys…"

"Hold on there sweet cheeks." Sawyer said holding up his hand.

"You mean Kate," Jack corrected.

Kate smiled at Jack.

Jack smiled back at her, and then turned back to Sawyer.

"Doc, it sounds like you want to challenge…"

"Sawyer," Kate scolded.

Sawyer smiled, "What, how often do we get to play. If Jacko here wants to gamble then it's on."

"Gamble, we don't have the time for…" Jack started.

"What's wrong, you scared your gonna lose in front of Katie here?"

"What did I tell you about calling me Katie," Kate growled.

Sawyer ignored her. "So what's it going to be Doc? I see your tryin to make a fishin' pole over there. If I catch more than you…with my heathen ways then I win, and if you catch more with your prehistoric invention then you win."

Kate sighed, "Not only is this ridiculous, but you have nothing to gamble. We're out here in the woods with stolen credit cards and a stolen car."

"Actually, I think your wrong precious," Sawyer said.

Kate raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"We got you, babydoll," Sawyer said stepping closer to her.

Jack clenched his jaw. "What kind of gamble are you talking about? You can't have her, she's a human and she makes her own choices…"

"Cut the Oprah shit Doc, I'm not talking about getting' freckles in the sack…"

Kate glared murderously back at Sawyer.

Sawyer grinned to himself, "Even though that's worth fantasizing about…"

"Your so dirty." She accused.

Sawyer winked back at her, "I'm a man ain't I?"

"When are we leaving? We shouldn't stay out here too long with that fire." Jack advised.

Sawyer shifted his eyes to Kate, "After we eat we'll leave, and Jacks the gamble is whoever catches the most fish gets a kiss from her."

Kate groaned, "Are you kidding me? Do you really think we have time to play games?"

(Break)

Jack thought it over. Did Sawyer really think he was going to catch more fish than him with his bare hands. Sawyer baffled him sometimes. He glanced at Kate from the corner of his eye. She had to think this gamble was as ridiculous as he did.

"Can we just go?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, after we get Hailey's ashes…" Sawyer said.

Kate's mouth dropped open for a second. Sawyer had remembered.

Sawyer looked away, "I'm just saying after one of us gets that kiss."

"Why do you want to kiss her so bad?" Jack asked.

"Huh? What you talkin' about? It's just a gamble." Sawyer defended.

Kate didn't believe him. She didn't think he genuinely liked her, but she did think he wanted to sleep with her. Too bad, because it wasn't happening. Maybe Sawyer thought she was like all the other girls he liked to talk about.

"So what do you say beautiful?"

Kate rolled her eyes. Why was Sawyer putting her on the spot. She glanced down at the string in Jack's hand, maybe Jack would catch the most fish?

"Fine, but we have to leave soon." She said finally.

(Break)

All Sawyer wanted was a kiss from her. He wasn't falling for her. All he had to do was keep it in check. Kate was no different from all the other girls he slept with. As long as he grouped her in that category he would have no problem. Sawyer smiled back at her suavely. Even though it was dark he could see those eyes of hers, them sexy hypnotizing eyes.

Dammit Sawyer. She ain't nuthin special. No matter how much he tried to convince himself that, he knew he wasn't buying it, because if he was then he wouldn't be fighting the Doc for a kiss with Freckles.

(Break)

Jack felt like he was fighting for Kate. What was going through his head? Was it really logical to be thinking about kissing Kate, with everything that was going on?

Kate walked over to him. "I think your going to win Jack,"

"You think so?" Jack asked.

Kate placed her hand on his shoulder, "I'm rooting for you."

Jack felt his heart skip a beat. Kate made it sound like she wanted this kiss as much as he did. Jack had to clench his jaw in order to control the roller coaster of emotions that was rushing through his head.

"Do you want me to find you a stick?"

Jack started to unravel the string, "I got it, I feel almost foolish for doing this."

"Well we do have to eat, and I really don't think Sawyer's fishing method is going to get us fish."

"You're right. If you don't want to kiss me then you don't have too." Jack said.

Kate smiled.

Her eyes said it all. She stared back at Jack with determination and desire. She wanted it.

Jack held his breath. Where had Kate been all his life? He looked down and smiled.

Kate playfully hit him, "What? Are you laughing at me Jack?"

Jack looked up at her with a joking smile, "And why would I be laughing at you?"

Kate shrugged, "I don't know, maybe because Sawyer made me to be the gamble."

"Your not a bad gamble," Jack said.

Kate sat down next to him. She reached for the string, and started to help Jack unravel it. "We might not eat tonight."

"Or get kissed." Jack added in.

Kate smiled back at him.

She was smiling wide, and he could tell that she meant it. What a beautiful smile she had. "I'm just kidding." He added.

(Break)

Sawyer watched Jack and Kate. He felt like they were part of a clique and he was watching them from the outside. Well, that was alright. Kate and Jack were underestimating him. He walked away, with fierce determination towards the river. The fish came out at night in full force, and he knew how to get em'. All those games of catch the fish back home was going to pay off tonight. All he wanted was one kiss from Freckles, just one, and then he could let her go.

(Hey guys thanks for the awesome reviews. You all rock. All I can say is someone is definitely getting kissed next chapter..who will it be Jack or Sawyer? Many more shipper moments are to come…they are still in danger, but they "might" be safe for a while. I'm eager to work on their relationships, and then start back up the dangerous situations. Peace guys. Also Nikki-da-latina, did you want my e-mail address, or someone else's. I wasn't sure, but if you want mine, it should be up there, and if it's not I can give it to you. Peace guys.)