Chapter 10

Part One

He has been trying to come up with something, but as Sawyer waited for a pack of Church goers to finally cross the streets, he still didn't know what to say. He checked his reflection on the rear-view mirror as the street started to clear out for him to pass. He had his face cleanly shaved and his hair neatly trimmed just this morning, but it wasn't for the memorial service he had agreed to go to, not for anything else really—just the surprise he had planned out for Kate tonight.

Half an hour later, he was walking into a small Spanish villa. Needless to say, he was already late, but he made no attempt to rush. Spotting Claire standing in front of a couple of people (he immediately made out Charlie, Sun, and Jack) at an outdoor gazebo, Sawyer made his way across the empty restaurant, signaling towards a rather eager waiter that he already knew where he was going.

Heads turned the moment he stepped out; Claire just nodded and went on.

"Everytime I look at Aaron, I couldn't help but remember Kate. After all, she was the one who helped me deliver my baby… I remember how brave she was back in the island…"

Sawyer sat in a corner, arms over his chest, head tilted down.

"But I also remembered how sad she sometimes looked," Claire continued. "How she'd just go wandering around alone… How she looked over the horizon…"

Sawyer suddenly remembered the Kate he used to know back in the island. How she seemed to just hate his guts (Well, I give her reason to); how she looks at him, that look that just strips him bare…

He was forced out of his thoughts when Sun stood up and started to talk.

"Kate and I spent time around the small patch where we planted… She went around looking for seeds I could plant… When she learned I could speak English, we talked about a lot of things. She was the first person I could really talk to for so long…"

It wasn't long before Sawyer was drifting again... How Kate had kissed him. Being tied to a tree was somehow a good thing; he wouldn't have restrained himself otherwise.

"I believe she's still with us today. After all, the people who pass away never really leave us," Sun had ended her speech and had gotten back to her seat silently.

Sawyer didn't' hear much of what other people had to say really. He saw them stand up and begin their speeches—Hurley, Charlie, Shannon, Sayid, Michael—but he almost as immediately drifted back to his own thoughts—remembering Kate back in the island, thinking about what Kate was doing right then, making mental notes for the surprise later, prodding himself for what to say. It was only when Jack finally stood up that he came back to his senses—not only because after Jack, he would be the only one who haven't spoken yet, but also because that was Jack.

"The first line I said to Kate went something like 'hey, do you know how to sew'," Jack began. He was looking down on the ground, his hands were in his pockets; upon his lips was a melancholy smile. "She said 'I…I sew the curtains in my living room'… A few minutes later, she was stitching my wound up. She's the bravest woman I know…"

Sawyer's mind was suddenly racing, thinking about what was said and done between Jack and Kate. He tried to remember the times Kate could have been alone with Jack. Although he would never admit it, he felt a tinge of jealousy; and it annoyed him painfully even to just listen to Jack talk about Kate.

"...I only wish that she stayed; maybe I could have done more for her," Jack said, meaningfully.

At this, Jack started to go back to his seat. Sawyer wasn't sure whether or not he was going to be relieved—on one hand, he wouldn't have to listen to Jack talking about Kate any longer; but on the other hand, almost everyone was now looking at him, waiting for him. He shifted then started to speak, not bothering to stand or even look up.

"I…," he began, but he didn't know where to begin—this is Kate he was talking about. "She spent most of her life running away. And maybe she thought that dying was her greatest escape," then he paused. Why was he saying these things? Why was he about to reveal to these people what he really felt? He felt slightly more annoyed, but he continued nevertheless; he wasn't going to ruin this, if only because this is Kate's. "I'm only wishin', that wherever she is now, I hope she's somewhere where she feels safe, some place where she wants to stay; somewhere that would make her stop wanting to run away."

Part Two

It was already 5:30 in the afternoon when Kate heard Sawyer's truck park out in the driveway. She had her spiel all ready—What took you so long! The service was supposed to have finished 5 hours ago! Where have you been and don't go lying to me because I can tell if you're lying! I was so worried! I spent half of the afternoon just worrying! But that was before I spent the other half being angry!

"What took you so long! The service was supposed to have finished…" Kate was already bellowing exaggeratedly even before the front door was fully open, but she suddenly stopped, her entire speech put aside.

Sawyer, his hair brushed neatly up, was holding up a deep red, satin dress and black stilettos with red heels and soles.

"Okay, you gotta work with me here, Freckles. Go on up, take a shower, put this on and don't come down 'til I come up to get you," Sawyer insisted; he was breathlessly nervous. He had of course prepared for tonight—been shopping since Friday, stashing everything inside his truck so Kate wouldn't have any idea about this.

"Sawyer, you're not thinking of going out, are you," Kate replied nervously. Driving around in a heavily-tinted truck was one thing, but it's another thing to actually be out, be seen.

"Just go, no more arguin' 'cos I ain't gonna listen to anythin'," he said persistently.

Kate finally conceded, she was both nervous and excited at the same time. She moved forward and gave Sawyer a light kiss on the cheek, smiled at him, got the dress and shoes, and went upstairs.

After what felt like half an hour or so, Kate looked at herself in the mirror. It was the first time, for so long, that she actually looked at herself. And somehow she felt beautiful—Sawyer made her feel beautiful.

She waited a few more minutes then she heard Sawyer coming up the stairs. He was so excited that he was taking the steps two, sometimes three at a time. By the time he was in front of Kate, he was breathless. But it was more because of what he saw than what he had been doing down stairs.

Kate's long, curly hair fell unintentionally, but sophisticatedly sexy; her cheeks were blushing even without make-up. The full of her breasts were highlighted by the dangerously low v-neckline; the dress complemented her every curve.

Kate, on the other hand, smiled as she saw Sawyer. He had neatly pulled back his hair, the way he did when he'd have dinners with the husbands whose wives he's conning. But forget, just as Sawyer did, about that for a while. The long sleeves of his dark blue polo were neatly rolled up, his black pants were mint, and his black shoes were carefully polished. Kate moved closer to Sawyer, and as she whiffed the scent of expensive perfume, she kissed him tenderly on the lips—it was all she can do to stop throwing herself at him too easily.

As if remembering something, Sawyer's face lit as he fished out for something inside his pocket. Then he smiled; Kate turned her head following Sawyer as he moved around her, stopping just behind her. He stroked her hair aside, and kissed her neck. Then he reached over and before Kate realized it, around her neck was a white gold chain, glistening diamonds and pearls dangling from it.

She almost gasped. "Sawyer, what… why…," she didn't know what to ask really—why is he doing this, what were these gifts for? Sawyer bringing home surprises wasn't new to Kate; in fact every time he went out, it's almost like he always made sure that he had something for her. Especially the last two days—when his errands would take him more hours than the usual and he'd come home saying he was out shopping for whatever it was that he had for her that day—Friday it was a box of second-hand books Sawyer said she might be interested in, and Saturday it was a couple of shopping bags full of clothes and underwear Sawyer said he is interested in; but he never brought home something as grand and as expensive as this, plus the dress and shoes.

"I just thought these would look good on you," Sawyer whispered.

"This is beautiful," she looked down at the necklace and tinkered with the pendant. "This dress…"

"Is easy access," Sawyer said mischievously as he moved closer and slipped his hand through the plunging neckline and cupped her breast.

Kate laughed. "So you put me in this dress only to get me out of it again."

"Not yet," he smiled and immediately took her hand and led her down the stairs. At the foot of it, he asked her to close her eyes.

"O so there's more surprise," Kate said feigning innocence as she obediently shut her eyes close.

"Well, Freckles, you ain't seen nothin' yet."

Sawyer placed one hand over Kate's eyes, the other over her shoulders; then led her silently. It took Kate only a fraction of a second to realize that they were moving towards the patio. The cool night breeze suddenly, but gently hit her face. Just as she was finally giving up on trying guessing what Sawyer was up to, they stopped.

"Here's where you gotta act surprised again," he took off his hand over her eyes, moved beside her so he wouldn't miss her expression, and waited nervously for what she would say.

But Kate was speechless. They were by the door leading out to the patio, but if she hadn't looked hard enough, she wouldn't have recognized the backyard at all. The first thing Kate noticed was the lights. The trees that used to be dull and dark at night were draping with white Christmas lights; it was as if the stars decided to come closer tonight. Even the ground that used to be littered with dried leaves now had candles lighted along the corners. Every foot of the patio was covered with different flowers all planted in clay pots—roses, lilies, tulips, irises, sunflowers. A small but elaborate round table, set for two, by the door certainly made it clear that they were having a candlelit dinner. There were so many things she wanted to say, so many things she felt she needed to say; but as what often happens when one is surprised, she couldn't put them into words.

"Sawyer…," was all Kate could manage.

"You spend so much time out here. I just thought…since you liked being out here so much…," Sawyer watched her move across the grounds towards the flowers.

"Everything's wonderful," Kate said graciously as she moved towards the table. Instinctively, Sawyer pulled out a chair for her to sit and then sat opposite her.

"You know what, I never thought of you as the sweet, surprising kind," Kate teased, determined to stop being so stunned.

"Yeah, well, never thought of myself as like that too," Sawyer admitted. He, for a fact, knew that he was suave, some sort of an expert in being extra nice to get what he wanted; but Kate wasn't a con. Anyway, he tried to push these thoughts away. Kate was different.

"It's kinda uncharacteristic of you really," she began again. "'Course I don't mean anything bad, and I'm not complaining or anything," she quickly added lest Sawyer think that she wasn't appreciative at all. If nothing else, she was more than appreciative—this was the first time anybody did anything like this for her.

"I mean, for one, I didn't think you'd be living in a really modern, really clean house," she went on. "I always saw you as the one-room apartment kinda guy, smoke and beer littered everywhere," she teased.

"I'm hope I ain't a disappointment. You like the flowers," Sawyer asked as casually as he could, trying to change the subject; he didn't want to ruin anything by having to tell Kate how he got this house. "Thought you might want to, I dunno, take care of them or somethin'."

"They're beautiful. Everything, really, is so beautiful."

"Well, don't expect me to say they're nothing compared to you 'cos you've had enough compliments for tonight, you hear," he said, grinning as he reached for the bottle of red wine.

Kate laughed heartily.

"So this is what took you so long."

"What did you think, Freckles? You didn't expect to hang around after the service was over, did you? I wasn't gonna hang around listening to them catch up. To Claire talk endlessly about her baby or to the Doc telling a story about this expensive L.A. hotel he's staying at now or to Hurley insisting that he jinxed the damn flight," Sawyer ranted on, but he was clearly amused.

"So tell me, what did they say about me," she said, really intrigued.

"Who, the people from the island? Well, they said pretty nice things about you."

"Don't they always. So what did they say?"

"Well, Claire said you were so brave to deliver her baby; the Doc said a little piece about his pick up line that made you end up stitchin' him up; and everybody seemed to think that you should have become a doctor yourself."

Kate didn't know if that last thing was supposed to be sarcastic, but she chose to ignore it; there was something more important that she wanted to find out.

"What did you say," Kate asked hopefully.

Sawyer hesitated; he didn't seem to want to make Kate think that he was too vulnerable, but he also wanted Kate to know he wanted her to stay right there. It took him a few more split seconds to decide.

"I said I hope that wherever you are now, you wouldn't want to run away," he finally whispered, looking at Kate, straight into her eyes.

They fell silent, so silent they can almost hear the flicker of the candles.

"Sawyer," Kate finally started to say; the tone of her voice made him nervous; it was as if she was going to say she was sorry that she doesn't feel as much for him.

"It's fine. You don't have to say anything."

"Sawyer," she said again, as if not listening to him at all. "There's no where I'd rather be," she whispered as she held out her hand.

But she had barely touched Sawyer's hand when a sudden loud crash made her jump. Then there were yells which seemed to come from the house next to theirs.

Kate suddenly stood up and rushed towards the wall which separated their house from the neighbor's, trying to hear what was happening.

"He's hurting her again," Kate cried out; there was urgency in her voice. Before Sawyer could say anything, she was darting across the patio, through the house, and straight out the front door. It was only a few seconds before Sawyer heard the doorbell ring next door. And before he was out the patio to follow Kate, he heard a gun fire twice.