Chapter 7: Trust

'Everything sounds so much louder when you're blind,' Kate mused to herself as she sat by the fire Sawyer had started. Or at least, she thought it was a fire; Sawyer had sworn enough and she could feel warmth on her face now. Despite her situation, she smiled inwardly. Sawyer still made her laugh, and he got frustrated so easily.

Kate had indeed followed Sawyer after their little argument; it wasn't like she could do anything else though. She had no choice but to go after him, it was perpetually night in her world now and it wasn't like she could have just stayed there. And although he was constantly pissing her off, Kate admitted to herself that she was thankful he was with her. She couldn't imagine being out here alone.

Maybe she should really lay off Sawyer, it wasn't his fault that she had fallen. It was just that she had a monster headache, and the pain in her side only made things worse. The pain had receded slightly, but Sawyer's whining hadn't helped any. Sawyer had been right about one thing; she was definitely tired. Sleep seemed like a really good idea right about now.

Kate let out an involuntary yawn. As much as she wanted to sleep, she was afraid to let her guard down. Anything could happen if she wasn't aware, and she wasn't sure she could or wanted to trust Sawyer. What if he decided to leave?

"Go to sleep Freckles," Sawyer said, breaking their self-imposed silence, "I'm not goin' anywhere."

With a soft thud a pile of fabric landed beside Kate. Sawyer had presumably tossed the blanket to her, their only blanket. Regardless, Kate pulled it over herself; it was really cold without her blouse, even though that only offered minimal resistance to the winds.

"Thanks," Kate murmured quietly, curling into the warmth the blanket provided.

Her eyelids were beginning to droop and before she finally drifted off to sleep she heard Sawyer say you're welcome.

Kate woke with a start, opening her eyes cautiously. She prayed that it was only a dream, that her blindness had been but a figment of her imagination; however, her dreams were dashed when all she saw was darkness. Even in the darkest of nights, light still filtered in. This was not the case with her though, where there should have been light and color there was only a black void.

"Sawyer?" she said tiredly as she began to sit up.

When there was no reply she called out again, more loudly this time. Yet still no reply was forthcoming. Kate was starting to get worried; Sawyer couldn't be that heavy of a sleeper, no one was on this island.

"Ha ha, you got me. That was a good one there," Kate laughed uncertainly, but when he didn't start laughing with her Kate's heart skipped a beat. "Come on Sawyer, this isn't funny any more."

Now Kate was not only panicked, but she was angry as well. Sawyer had said he wasn't going anywhere. When had he left, and, more importantly, why? Granted, they still weren't on speaking terms, but that was only because she had fallen asleep so suddenly last night. And yeah, they had been fighting, but it hadn't been as bad as some of their previous fights. Why would that one argument make him leave her, especially now?

Kate stood, pulling the blanket around her shoulders; it seemed colder now than it did before. She called Sawyer's name again, although she knew she wouldn't get an answer.
How could he do this to her!

"Oooh, Sawyer, if I get my hands on you…" Kate muttered menacingly.

Kate heard the sound of rustling bushes behind her and turned around cautiously, straining her ears to see if she could hear something specific. As the rustling came closer towards her, she backed up slowly. The noise could be caused by anything, from a boar to that sicko who had kidnapped Charlie and Claire. Being blind just made her even more vulnerable.

The noise stopped abruptly and a voice spoke softly next to her ear, "What exactly were you gonna do to me, Freckles?"

"Sawyer," Kate shouted, for it could only be him, "you bastard!"

Kate spun and, using all her strength, punched Sawyer directly in the shoulder.

Sawyer let out a grunt of pain upon impact, "Damn Sweetheart, for a blind person you sure are a good shot."

"Where the hell were you!" Kate demanded, spinning around and moving away from Sawyer quickly so he wouldn't see the tears forming in her eyes.

Kate paced restlessly, running her hands through her hair roughly, her motions short and jerky. She willed herself not to cry, not now, not in front of him; she didn't want him thinking she was weak.

"Jeez Freckles," Sawyer said to the distraught woman in front of him, "I was just out for a smoke."

"You left because of that?" Kate said disbelievingly, still facing away from him as she slowly lost her battle against the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her.

"Thought you didn't need me."

"I…I…" Kate let out a hoarse sob and tried start again, but her face crumpled and she broke down in tears, sinking to her knees.

She didn't care anymore, and she couldn't stop the tears now that she had let them out, even if she wanted to. Tears ran in steady streams down her cheeks and her shoulders shook with the force of her cries. She couldn't help it; she was blind and lost in the jungle, and Sawyer had scared her to death. She just hoped that he wouldn't leave her again.

"Aah, Kate," Sawyer said sympathetically as he sat down next to her uncertainly.

Sawyer didn't know what to do now; he had never dealt well with crying women. Usually he just left, but he couldn't do that with Kate, that was what had started this whole mess in the first place.

Kate's sobs were painful to hear but he couldn't just sit there and do nothing. She wasn't like other women; he couldn't sleep with Kate to shut her up. Slowly he raised his arm and placed it around her shoulders. When she didn't resist, Sawyer gently pulled her towards him and she latched on like a lifeline, throwing her arm around his neck. Kate buried her head in his shoulder as she continued to sob.

"C'mere," Sawyer said softly and eased her onto his lap, if only to get more comfortable.

Kate didn't protest, only curled further into him and tightened the circle of her arms around his neck. Sawyer slid his arm around her back while the other stroked her hair tenderly, all the while making soothing noises in the back of his throat.

After sitting there for a while, Kate's tears began to ebb and her grip loosened as she began to drift off to sleep again. Sawyer could feel the soft puff of her breath against his neck and the rise and fall of her chest had evened out; now that all of Kate's tears were gone she could rest easy.

Sawyer shifted her slightly, but did not move her from her place in his lap. It actually felt nice to comfort someone for once. He fell asleep like that; watching over her, his cheek resting lightly on the crown of her head.

Beyond the sleeping pair stood a man in the shadows of the trees; watching, and waiting.