Author's note: Well, this is it, the last chapter in my story. I say that, I already have a hundred ideas for follow up stories that I may go into at some point but for now I think this is a nice way to end it. Thanks for all my reviews for this piece, it's nice to know people are liking it. Enjoy...
Boone was getting restless. He knew that this might be the last time he got to see a few of these people, but he had something else at the back of his mind. He had another reason for tonight to be special, a personal reason. Tonight felt like the end of era. They weren't all just saying goodbye to Claire and Charlie, they were each saying goodbye to each other. They may see each other from time to time, sure, but it was never going to be like it was. Tonight was about saying goodbye to the island.
But when a door closes, another one opens and Boone couldn't wait to show Jack this new door.
Unfortunately he'd gotten stuck talking to Ana-Lucia most of the night. Not that he disliked Ana, he just didn't feel they were particularly close on the island. Then he realised Sawyer staring at the pair of them and figured he was in the middle of some kind of complex mind game. Trust him to find the two psychos in a room full of friendlies and stand in-between them.
He remembered how he'd felt when Sawyer, Michael and Jin brought the tail end survivors to their camp. Or, more specifically, how he'd felt when Ana-Lucia entered their camp and recognised Jack from a flirting session at the bar pre-boarding. Well, wasn't that just fantastic. Back then he and Jack were in the very early stages of a relationship and he'd just gotten used to the fact that Kate wasn't a threat when in waltzed Ana-Lucia to start eyeing up his man.
Not that Jack was interested. Nope, Jack, apparently, was a one man man and no woman was about to change that.
Boone managed to excuse himself from Ana-Lucia's dismal attempt at three hours of small talk and went in search of Jack. He found him sat on the patio, nursing a drink. He looked distant and Boone was just wondering if he should interrupt when Jack noticed him, sending a smile his way.
"Hey," he said, sitting up a little.
"Hey," Boone said, going over to sit next to him.
"Things seem to be winding down in there," Jack commented.
"Yeah," Boone agreed. "I don't think anyone wants to admit it's over though."
"I guess it really is though, huh?" Jack stated. "Over," he clarified. "Our experiences, our connections." He reached over and took Boone's hand. "Well, for most people."
"Yeah, I guess we're one of the lucky ones," Boone conceded, really believing it for once.
"Me and you. Shannon and Sayid. Claire and Charlie, of course," Jack reeled off. "I guess you can count Michael and Walt in the party's not over yet category," he continued. "Then there's Sawyer and Ana-Lucia," Jack added, almost joking.
"Do not mention them," Boone warned.
Jack smiled, clearly amused, but didn't push the subject. They sat in silence for a while, just holding hands and enjoying each others company. Comfortable silence, Boone thought. A nice way to end an evening.
"So, you ready to head home?" Boone asked.
"Yeah, I think it's getting to that time of night," Jack agreed. He put his drink down and turned to Boone. "Let's go say our goodbyes," he declared.
Goodbyes are never easy and Boone didn't like to dwell. They went round and wished people luck and whatnot but the two of them got out fairly quickly. It was pretty emotional in there and it was only going to get worse. It was strange. It was sad and happy at the same time. It was like they were all closing a chapter in their lives but they were opening a new one too. There was hope for the future that they could all feel, even if they didn't want to admit that it was the end for them.
Boone started up the car and drove away from the hotel. Anticipation was making him a little giddy and he couldn't stop smiling.
"What's with you?" Jack asked, looking over at him.
"I've got a surprise for you is all," Boone replied, trying to not give anything away but wanting to shout it out right now.
"Oh yeah?" Jack asked, intrigued.
"Uh-huh," Boone replied with a smug look on his face.
"So what is it?" Jack questioned, searching Boone's face for clues.
"You'll have to wait until we get home," Boone replied simply.
Jack looked at him and seemed to give in. He turned his attention back to the road. Considering this fact it did take a while to realise where they were going. He looked around. "Erm, Boone, I think you took a wrong turn," he stated.
"No I didn't," Boone replied confidently.
"We're going the wrong way," Jack insisted.
"Just trust me, okay?" Boone instructed.
Jack studied his face. "Okay," he conceded, settling back down.
By the time they pulled up at the house Jack was looking very puzzled.
"We're here," Boone announced, getting out of the car.
Jack looked confused and jumped out after him. "Where's here?" he asked, looking around.
Boone took hold of his hand and led him to the driveway of the house. It didn't look it's best at night. Not that it looked particularly good during the day, Boone conceded. But it would.
"What do you think?" Boone asked.
"I think it's a wreck," Jack replied. Well, he had a point there, Boone thought. Jack turned to look at him. "Boone, what are we doing here?"
Boone rolled his eyes. "Because that's what you do at the end of the night," he stated as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You go back to the place that you live."
"But, Boone, we don't..." and then it clicked. He looked back to the house. "We live here?" he asked.
Boone nodded, a huge smile on his face. "I kinda bought it," he admitted.
Jack looked to check out the house again. "It looks like it might fall down."
"It's not gonna fall down," Boone insisted. "I had a bunch of people come check it out and it's really not as bad as it looks. It's gonna need some work, sure, but I'm up for it."
"Wait, you're gonna do this place up?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, I figured it's what I could do," Boone stated. "Cos, y'know, I figured, we're rich, so I don't need to work."
Jack laughed. "You figured that, huh?"
"Hear me out here," Boone pleaded. Jack nodded. "So, we have the money, and I have the time, and I wanna do it. This is what I wanna do. Cos when I was doing Zara's nursery for Shannon I really enjoyed it and it was really great to see the end product. So I wanna do that for us," he explained. "I want my job to be to make us a home."
Jack looked back at the house for what seemed to Boone like far too long. He then looked back at Boone again, raising an eyebrow. "You gonna show me what my home looks like inside?" he asked.
Boone smiled. "Follow me," he said as he dragged Jack up the drive.
He showed Jack the kitchen that need a little plumbing work but most of it was superficial. He showed him the dining room with the original fireplace that he planned on cleaning up. He showed him the living room with the French doors onto the huge but rather overgrown garden. He showed him the bathroom upstairs which was in tact but would need a new suite. He showed him the master bedroom and where he planned to knock through to one of the smaller bedrooms to make an en suite.
"Cos you gotta have an en suite," Boone explained.
"Of course you gotta have an en suite," Jack agreed with a smile.
And then Boone took him into the room opposite the master bedroom and he swore his heart skipped a beat. Not a big deal, he told himself, even though he knew it was a pretty huge deal. He took a deep breath, making sure he was holding onto Jack's hand.
"And this is the nursery," he said, looking carefully at Jack's face.
But Jack didn't get it. "You mean for Zara?" he asked.
"No, Shannon can look after her own brat," Boone stated, a little incredulous. "This is for our brat."
Jack's face was blank. Boone could tell he was trying not to get his hopes up, he knew how much kids meant to Jack.
Jack turned to face Boone. "Our brat?" he asked carefully.
"Look, I'm not talking next week or anything," Boone quickly informed him. "But I've been starting to think about it and it's not absolutely terrifying, which is something. I want to give you what you want."
"I want you," Jack stated. "That's more than enough."
"I know that," Boone replied. "But I want us to have everything. I'm gonna make this into our home, I'm gonna give us a white picket fence, and then we're gonna talk about this brat some more."
Jack smiled which, of course, made Boone smile. They stood there grinning at each like a couple of idiots. A new chapter, Boone thought.
Jack leaned forward and hugged Boone. "Thank you," he said. "This is..." he pulled away a little and looked around. "Boone, this is amazing," he stated.
Boone smiled and pulled him back into the embrace. "I love you," he said into Jack's ear.
"I love you too," Jack replied.
Boone smiled to himself. "I know."