As You Like It
Chapter Seven
Author's Note: Thank you to my reviewers who have been..well..reviewing! I love knowing if people like my story or not, and most specifically what they like about it. It really helps me write.
Chapter Seven: In the Dead Of the Night
Night had dawned on the castaways, shadowing the ocean and beach where few survivors still remained. Though Shannon felt uneasy on the beach at night, what with both Sayid and Boone there, she had waited to late to make the walk to the caves, and didn't like the idea of being in the jungle at night. She was surprised that night when Charlie too had decided to stay at the beach. Shannon was struggling to start a fire when Charlie came up to help her.
You know, Charlie said playfully, I'm beginning to think you're following me.Me follow you? Shannon snickered. I was here first. Charlie grinned, make excuses. So what brings you here?I live here, Shannon pointed out, smirking, where's Claire?
Through the newly burning fire, Shannon saw that a wave of guilt rushed over Charlie's face at the mention of Claire's name. He quickly hid it, though, oblivious to being caught.
he shrugged simply.
Shannon said happily, forgetting to hide the relief in her voice speaking that she wouldn't have to be alone. Realizing this, she quickly changed the tone of her voice. Do you..want to stay here for a while? With me, I mean.Actually I was planning sitting by myself and staring at absolutely nothing for hours into the night, Charlie said.
If it was supposed to be funny, Shannon didn't get that. Like Shannon, Charlie also quickly changed his tone.
People around here like to do that, he quickly added. Want to sit down?
Shannon narrowed her eyes.
It's my fire.
For a few moments the two just sat in silence before Charlie started laughing.
he said, shaking his head when Shannon glared at him, isn't this exactly what we didn't want to happen?
Shannon giggled and then shivered as a cool breeze made it's way over the sea.
Oh, here, Charlie said, taking off his sweatshirt and throwing it to Shannon, take it.
Raising an eyebrow, Shannon picked the sweatshirt off the sand where it had fallen. She cotton was reeked with sweat and the sleeves around the wrist were torn. She looked back up at Charlie, who seemed proud of his gesture.
You don't like chick flicks, do you? She asked, putting the sweatshirt around her shoulders despite the filthiness of it.
She had to admit, it was kind of cute. With the new conversation going on, Shannon had failed to notice that the two had managed to scoot closer together by the fire, putting them only inches apart. She couldn't be too sure who made the first move, but one minute Shannon was wondering what the weird smell coming from Charlie's jacket was, and the next she was against him(or rather, her lips were), and then the only thing that seemed to matter was the she was kissing him, and he was kissing her back.
At the beach- night
Shannon shot straight up from slumber, panting for breath. Wiping a hand across her forehead she brought back traces of sweat. She shivered, and Shannon immediately thought to reach for Charlie's jacket, and that's when she realized it was all dark. There was no fire- not even signs that there had once been a fire. The only footprints around were her own, and the only people around for at least a mile were a few castaways she didn't know. Most importantly amongst these discoveries was that there were no signs of Sayid, Boone, or Charlie for that matter. It had all been a dream.
You look lost, someone commented behind her.
With a gasp Shannon turned around but let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was only Locke.
You also look cold, he added.
Shannon shivered. Now that he mentioned it..
Mind if I start a fire? Locke asked, pointing to the ground.
A little to shy to say anything, Shannon just shrugged. Locke sat down and stared at the sand in front of him, as if he forgot something.
Shannon just had to say. Trying to use magic?
Locke didn't answer, only smiled as if he had foreseen(or whether, forehead) her saying that. He then reached into his backpack he had brought along, pulled out to stones, and began rubbing them together. Shannon couldn't help but to snort.
Come on, she said, that doesn't really work.
Nevertheless, Locke kept rubbing the stones against each other. Shannon just stared.
Does it? She wondered out loud.
A spark answered her question, and that spark soon developed into a full blown fire.
Shannon said, impressed.
Locke smiled again and then welcomed the moment of silence when Shannon egged it on.
I had this dream, she confessed finally.
She was beginning to see why no one liked talking to Locke. He had the patience of a therapist and Shannon found it intemedating.
I was with this.. Shannon stopped, not wanting to embarrass Charlie. Just the dream itself was embarrassing enough. And does this guy have a name? Locke asked, as though he were an officer interrogating a suspect.
Shannon tried to think of a quick lie, I didn't know him. Which was the weird part, right? I mean, if you're going to have a dream about someone you should at least know them, right?One would think that, Locke agreed.
And so I'm sitting with this guy I don't know, Shannon went on, doing what she thought was a pretty good job of hiding the truth of the dream, and we start talking and then..you know.. she quickly decided she didn't want Locke to get the wrong idea. After all, the dream wasn't that bad..was it? We kissed.
Locke nodded, as if he was used to hearing this kind of story. And then the unexpected came.
So does Charlie know what you think of him?
Shannon's breath caught in her throat.
She asked, stuttering.
I'm not blind, Locke said, I can see what's going on around me.
And was less could she expect from Locke? Shannon was so embarrassed. Here she was confiding a dream to a man that was at least twice her age; and not to mention she had only spoken to him once or twice before. Worst of all, in all of this Shannon realized too late that Locke was still in league with Boone. She had fallen into a trap so gracefully that it almost appeared to be set up. Shannon sighed.
This is so screwed up, she muttered, shaking her head, here you are probably worried about some big island mystery and I'm worried about my love life.We all have different priorities, Locke said in a reassuring way, there are people who devote their life to finding the smallest facts of books, movies, tv..Yeah, well those guys are idiots, Shannon snapped.
They probably think the same thing about you, Locke smiled.
Is that supposed to make me feel better? Shannon grumbled.
Not really, Locke admitted, but it was worth a shot.
Locke put on a mysterious smile-smirk as he stood up.
Shannon said quickly, looking above her. Where are you going?This is something you need to figure out on your own, Locke said and begun walking away.
Shannon stared at the ground in front of her for a moment, furious, before calling behind her:
Don't ever go into psychology!
Further down the beach
Kate noticed that the longer the night drew on, the rougher the tide got. She thought this was odd since in the morning the waters seemed cool, calm, and welcoming. However, she wasn't a bit surprised to look out into the sea and find Sawyer floating on top of the waves, allowing them to push him towards the shore one wavelength at a time. Kate couldn't help but to smile.
You don't have stage fright, do you? She called out.
Sawyer flipped himself over and Kate could see him showing off his own smile in the moonlight.
Not at three AM, he replied.
What makes you so sure it's three? Kate asked curiously.
I'm psychic, Sawyer said with a mischievous grin, Alex let me borrow her tarot cards. I foresee betrayal and death coming your way.
Kate rolled her eyes.
Alex doesn't have tarot cards, she pointed out.
Sawyer waded a little closer to shore.
And how would you know? He said.
Weren't you the one that helped Sayid go through her stuff?
Sawyer's face fell in defeat, and he let himself sink underwater only to come back up to shore moments later, and shake the water out of his hair like a dog. She could've sworn he did this only to show off.
How about you come join me?
That didn't take long, she thought.
How about I don't and say I did, Kate said, going along with Sawyer's usual playful tone of conversation.
Sawyer teased, looks like you got me.Okay, then how about I'm with some one, Kate said.
Hell I'm not asking you to go to the prom or anything! Sawyer laughed. It's only swimming. Nothing against that in the Bible, is there?
Kate raised an eyebrow.
You read the Bible?If I'm going to hell I should at least know what for, Sawyer shrugged, besides, it ain't like I'm going to tell anyone. Kate said, acting surprised. Not even your new group of friends? Sawyer said sarcastically, jealous of the popular crowd?Not in the slightest, Kate smirked and then noticed something, any reason you have jeans on?
She barely noticed the blue standing out when Sawyer flipped over a second time.
Decided to wash them and couldn't figure out which soap to use, Sawyer smirked, so I decided, what the hell?
Kate smiled and looked to the side. The tide had calmed down in the slightest, almost as if some higher forced had put it that way, making the waters look very tempting. It was only a swim after all. What could it hurt?
Decided to play it safe, Kate floated out into the shallow waters in shorts and a tank top, despite learned lessons from Jack that swimming in clothes wasn't the easiest thing to do.
That's better, Sawyer smiled when after she swam up to him, I was about to lose my voice.I think that's the smoke, Kate said seriously.
She could smell it on his breath. Sawyer must've savored a few packs somehow from his stash.
Any reason you're out walking around at night and not busy with everyone's favorite hero? Sawyer asked.
Jack's asleep, Kate said, rolling her eyes and added, for once.
Sawyer studied her and Kate had the feeling that he'd see right through any lie she told him.
Somethin' on your mind Freckles?
Kate smiled at her own nicknamed, which urged her to confess.
Do you believe in mind control?
The question was obviously the last thing Sawyer expected- his face showed it. Sawyer cleared his throat, recovering from the surprise.
Shouldn't you be asking the psychic about that? He said.
Thought you were the psychic, Kate smirked.
An impatient moment of silence followed.
Kate finally said.
You serious about this? Sawyer shrugged, why not? Government does stuff like that all the time, right?
Government. The word sank into Kate's mind. Government..how much was the government involved in this? Were they? And whose to say it was even the United States government? Who exactly were they dealing with here?
Does it scare you? Sawyer asked he, breaking her train of thought.
She looked up at him.
She asked quietly.
The government, Sawyer said in a low, inquisitive tone, the entire world's after you- he looked into his eyes as if trying to get the statement to stick to her mind, does it scare you?
Kate stared directly into his eyes and without hesitance replied:
Nothing scares me.Even Jack? Sawyer went on.
Kate's facial expression distorted in confusion.
Why would Jack scare me? She inquired.
If we ever got off this island, Sawyer said, do you think Jack would turn you in?They'd probably arrest me from the start, Kate said.
But the question made her think. Here on the island with no rule of law, everything seemed easy. The only thing that could control them was a machine, the thought of which disturbed her, but at the same time eased her worries. No one really knew anything about her- only Jack, who had no reason whatsoever to say anything to anyone about it. It wasn't as thought she were threatening their lives, after all. No one was out to get her on this island, and all in all, the people who knew about her past didn't really seemed bothered by it. Of anything, they'd use it to their own advantage, not to directly harm her. And rescue- the raft had failed what two, three times, and they had been on the island for nearly four months. What were the chances that a ship was coming anywhere near this area? Kate hadn't really worried about it, but she had never really considered it either. Even with the raft launchings had seemed two surreal to believe it to be true. She wasn't even sure if Jack had thought of the situation.
I wouldn't, Sawyer said in his same soft, slurred voice.
Kate could only stare at him. She should've figured that Sawyer wouldn't be the one to deal with law enforcement hell, he probably had one or two departments out to get him himself, but would he be doing it for her, or to ease his self-conscious? Sawyer must've took her pause as a cue that she was contemplating something between them and must've thought that he needed to do something to help make her decision, because out of nowhere, he leaned forward and kissed her. Kate, however, broke it apart before even giving herself a chance to kiss him back a chance, she might add, that she didn't want to take. She stared at him, hurt, betrayed. Why couldn't he just accept things were how they were?
The guy who turned me in got twenty-three thousand dollars, she said, trying to throw in variables just to test Sawyer.
What would I want with that kind of money? Sawyer said.
You're a con-man.Doesn't mean anything.
The sea was deathly calm around them and the tension between the two could've been cut with a knife.
Are you going to try and kiss me again? She asked, throwing him off-guard.
Sawyer seemed to be finally taking in what she was trying to tell him.
Only if you want me too, he replied.
And Kate finally knew exactly what she wanted. She had known it all along. The entire conversation had been pointless because no matter what offer Sawyer could make her, Kate knew in her heart what she truly wanted.
I want to be with Jack, she said softly, speaking her thoughts.
It was almost painful to watch Sawyer as he gave a single nod and gazed down into the navy blue waters below. No matter how satisfied with her final answer she was, she knew there would always be that part of Sawyer that only she was able to bring out. Kate looked down as well and then turned and swam back to shore. She had to move swiftly against the tide to make it back before being tossed away. The waters were raging again.
Author's Note: Bleh. I hated that chapter! Liked the concept of it..I just think it worked out better in my mind though. Thanks to Clarkson4 and Freckles-101 for reviewing! You guys rock!
Coming up next, on As You Like It:
The outcome of Sawyer and Kate's conversation will be revealed and a new character with a past connection to one of the castaways joins..but for how long?
Thanks again!
Until next time..
+ October Sky