Summary: "I don't remember the island because there is no island to remember. None of those people exist; it's just you and me. And it always will be."

A/N: Okay. I know that in "Numbers", Hurley talked to Sayid in the nighttime and then went out the next day to find Rousseau. In my story, he waited a day before he left, simply because I need time. This chapter, however, is the morning after the last chapter.

Sorry it took me so long to update, my computer has big problems.

Disclaimer: If I owned Lost, Boone wouldn't have died, Sayid would never have spoken to Shannon, Sawyer would still be the lovable, sarcastic asshole who punched everyone, and Evangeline would only be shown every 2 to 3 episodes. Clearly, it's not mine.

Chapter 2: Pretences and Lies

"Its all confusingly amusing

Bitter and tainted,

The picture you painted to me…

Just 'cause it's all in your head


Doesn't mean it has to be in mine

Don't believe what you said

Still can't get it out of my mind…"

"Only One" – Lifehouse.

Sayid awoke the next morning to a dreary day. The sky was overrun was dark clouds, but he didn't think it would rain for a while, and so he got up to see Shannon. To see if he could help her with anything.

Halfway there, he stopped himself. Was he just proving her brother right, by doing this? He thought about it for a moment, coming to the conclusion that what he wanted was to spend time with her, under the pretence of helping.

He looked up at the sky as he continued on his way to Shannon's shelter. It must be mid-morning, he thought. Many of the castaways were awake. He hoped Shannon was, too; he didn't want to wake her. He hoped she was still in her tent.

Sayid gently lifted a corner of the tent, "Shannon?" he asked softly. No answer. His eyes scanned the small space, and found that, aside from Shannon's belongings, it was empty.

He sighed; now he would have to find her. Of course, he could just start work on trying to make a radio for the raft, but without knowing where she was, there would be no use in working. He would just worry about her, unable to focus on anything.

Kate and Sun passed him by quickly, Sayid hated to bother them but he couldn't think of many people who would know where Shannon was, let alone know who she was. And Kate seemed to know where nearly everyone was most of the time. "Excuse me," Sayid stopped them. "Have either of you seen Shannon?"

"I'm sorry--" said Sun timidly. Sayid was still unnerved by hearing this woman speak English.

Kate cut in, "We haven't seen her this morning. She might be with Jack, I guess."

"Why would she be with Jack?" Sayid asked, confused.

Kate shrugged, "Her asthma? I don't know. Where else would she be? She might be at the caves anyway, getting water or something."

Sayid thought about that, "You might be right. Thank you for your time," he said hurriedly before making his way to the caves, keeping an eye out for Shannon and making sure to see any tracks or hints of her through the jungle. There were none.

Sayid remembered how Hurley had interrupted his sleep this previous night with questions of Rousseau. He decided to talk to Jack about this as well. But first, Shannon. Sayid approached Jack, who was busy rearranging the medical area.

"Hey, Sayid." He greeted, looking up.

"Jack. Have you seen Shannon this morning?"

Jack scratched his chin, "Hmm, no, I haven't. But when I think of Shannon, I think of Boone, and I haven't seen him either. You might want to ask Locke."

"Where is Locke?"

"There's a clearing in the jungle up near the beach. I think he sleeps there, because whenever I need to find him, usually that's where he is."

"Thank you, Jack. I will try that." Sayid said gratefully, before launching into an attack about getting Hurley to do his dirty work.

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About fifteen minutes later, Sayid had followed Jack's directions and stumbled upon Locke, who was sorting some wood. "Hiya there," Locke said happily, "Beautiful morning, isn't it?"

"It is going to rain," Sayid objected.

"Beautiful morning," Locke repeated to himself, as if he hadn't heard Sayid. "So." He straightened himself. "What can I do for you?"

"I am looking for Boone, or Shannon. Have you seen either of them?"

"Well, not this morning, no, I haven't. I've been here all morning, and Boone won't be coming by today, I've given him the day off."

"Do you two have a little job company here, or something?" Sayid joked.

"Yes, I suppose you could say something along those lines," Locke replied, which caused Sayid to look thoughtful, and a moment of silence passed between them before Locke rubbed his hands on his pant legs, "So. Is that all?"

"That is all," Sayid said, a bemused expression on his face as he turned to leave.

Locke picked up another piece of wood, and called after the man, "Check in Boone's shelter."

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that before?" Sayid wondered as he left Locke.

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Boone smoothed his hand over Shannon's blonde hair, watching her as she lay asleep on top of him. He was amazed and a little confused by the night's events. Why, after weeks of no contact whatsoever, this had happened. It was all because of her dream, he decided. That dream had freaked him out too, especially the death parts. That he'd killed her, and what they hadn't talked about – that he'd apparently died on the island. He shook his head; momentarily forgetting that his sleeping stepsister was on top of him, thinking that there was no way that he would ever die here.

The sudden movement from Boone shaking his head tipped Shannon slowly off of his body and onto the ground. She woke up, startled. "Where–where am I?" she asked drowsily.

"You had a bad dream," Boone said soothingly, "And you came in here last night."

Shannon stared at him in surprise, "Well, you know I'm not seven, Boone, I can handle nightmares."

Boone sighed, annoyed, as she crawled away from him, "Whatever, Shannon, apparently you can't."

"Shit," she said as she peeked outside, "It's nearly midday, Sayid's probably wondering where I am."

Boone rolled his eyes, "Of course," he said sarcastically, almost angrily.

She tsked, "Well don't you have someplace to be today, too? Doesn't Locke want you?"

"Actually, no," he stood up and so did she, "He gave me the day off."

"Aww, maybe he doesn't like you any more," she said bitchily.

He rolled his eyes again, "I was wrong, you haven't changed. Aren't you leaving?"

She gave him a disgusted look, "Why do you have to be such an asshole?"

His mouth dropped open, "Oh, I'm an asshole? You're a bitch!" He accused.

"Oh, no kidding," she glared at him, "Whatever, I'm going to find Sayid." She nearly left the tent but he called her back.

"I could have turned you away last night," he said quickly, before she left. She turned back to face him, and chuckled slightly.

"Yeah, but you'd never do that."

He sighed, frustrated, "Just go, Shannon."

"I'm so over this," she muttered and leaving him fuming, she stormed out of the tent, straight into Sayid.

"Shannon! Have you been here all morning?" Sayid asked, curious as to why she was in Boone's tent.

"No, my stupid lazy ass brother needed soap. I guess he couldn't bother Locke for some, had to bug me."

"Right," Sayid said, sounding like he didn't really believe her. Why did she need to be in his tent for that?

Sayid had barely spoken when Boone came up behind them, continuing their fight, "You're over it, Shannon? Why did you think I'd been avoiding you? I'm over your bullsh-" he stopped as he noticed Sayid, and glared at him, "Sayid."

"Boone," Sayid gave him a tight smile, then turned back to her. "Shannon, I was wondering if today you–"

"Actually, I'm gonna be busy for all of today. I'm tanning."

"Oh," Sayid said, disappointed.

"Shannon, the sun isn't even out!" Boone exclaimed.

"Oh, leave me alone!" she cried, and again stormed away, heading towards her own shelter.

"Sweet dreams Shannon!" Boone called after her sarcastically.

Sayid gave him a funny look, "I don't understand; it's the middle of the day. Why would she be sleeping?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess I forgot." Boone lied, "I'm going for a walk, so if you don't mind…"

"Yes, I also have business to attend to. Good day, Boone."

"Yeah, bye," Boone walked away from him, as quickly as he could, down the beach as Sayid turned and went back to the caves, to talk to Hurley.

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"I'm over your bullshit." What did he mean by that? He wasn't even going to try for her any more?

Shannon sat alone, in her shelter, thoughts swimming through her head. She wished that there were someone on this island that she could talk to, anyone. But there was no one who'd understand her relationship with Boone, who wouldn't judge, so there was no one who she wanted to tell. No one would give her advice, anyway. She thought of Locke, he seemed pretty good with the advice. But then, how could she be sure that he wouldn't tell Boone everything she said? There was really only one person who wouldn't tell Boone, or Sayid, and who wouldn't judge at all, because he wouldn't care. She made a face, but decided to talk to him. Sawyer.

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Sawyer was lying in his little shelter, straining to read the book in front of him, and wincing at the noise coming from outside. His head didn't hurt so much today, but each and every noise made him anxious that it would start up again. A pain began to twinge behind his eyebrow and he knew it was useless reading. All he was going to end up with was a headache, and it wasn't as if he hadn't read the book fifty times before. He scowled, and threw it to the side, then lay basking in his dim surroundings, glaring at a random, unknown spot. Until she strode in and sat opposite him, and stared at him, waiting. Waiting for what? He tried to focus on her features in the dim shelter. They stared at each other for what seemed like forever until he cleared his throat.

"Yeah?" she asked.

He gave her an amused look, "You tell me. This my tent, here, precious."

She crossed her arms over her chest and said nothing. He sighed, "Look, Sticks, you don't ever barge into my tent, ever. So there's gotta be a reason for it now. You just tell me why, then we can get over it and move on."

Shannon sighed, and stretched her legs out, "I came to you because I need to talk, and I need someone who's… indifferent, to listen. And I figured that you wouldn't care to judge."

Sawyer tipped his head to the side, "Nice little theory you got there, sugar. What's on your mind?"

"You'll listen to me?" she asked, surprised.

"Hell, aint nothin' else to do to fill up my time! Just," he added as an afterthought, "Don't speak too loud, alright? I get these…headaches."

"Okay," Shannon said, thoughtfully, then paused, "It's a really long story."

"And I'm positively made of nothin' but time, Sticks," he drawled, and leaned back, hands behind his head, finding that he actually wanted to hear what she had to say. Damn, he must be finally losing his mind.

And with that, Shannon launched into her tale. She started from when she was eight, and her father was marrying Sabrina Carlisle, then gave him a short overview of her teenage years with Boone. Then she told him about how, after she moved out, Boone would continuously come to what he thought was her rescue, paying off her boyfriends to leave her. She told him about how her father died, so Boone was no longer really her stepbrother. And then she told him about Sydney, and about how he'd been since the crash. And, finally, she told him about kissing Sayid, and about her dream the previous night. "And now I don't know about anything, how I feel about Sayid, or if I feel anything for Boone," she ended, her ashamed eyes sliding to the ground, waiting for his reaction.

Sawyer scratched his head, trying to come up with an answer, "If you want my opinion… I think you already know how you feel."

Shannon look up at him and narrowed her eyes, "What?"

"You heard me, darlin'. Why would you go into such detail about Metro if you didn't feel anythin' for him?"

"I–I just wanted to explain about–us, to–to you," she sputtered, "It had nothing to do with how I feel about Boone."

"Okay, how about this? Metro's been goin' out with the old man every day, you say?"

"Locke? Yeah," Shannon sighed, disappointed in her step-brother.

"And he's been ignorin' you, after he always gave you attention, right? So what d'you do, hell, in the past gettin' him jealous always worked. So you set your sights on Mohammed. All you're really tryin' to do with Mohammed, here, precious, is get Metro jealous, cause then you get his attention without havin' to reduce yourself to askin' for it," he swallowed. "But that's just my opinion."

Shannon blinked a half dozen times, "I–I don't know…"

"Alright, I can see why you probably don't wanna feel this way. Everyone thinks he's your brother, right?" she nodded. "And I can see why you came to me," he continued, "Bein' from the south, right? You think I'd be used to it." He spoke in a decided tone, and leaned back.

She blinked at him again, "To be honest, that thought never crossed my mind. I just thought you'd be the best, like an… impartial judge… or something."

Sawyer gave her a look.

"What?" she asked, "I'm telling the truth!"

"It's not that, Sticks… I'm tryin' to figure out if all that blinkin' is Morse code for somethin'."

She snorted, "Don't tell me you know Morse code."

He relaxed, "Nah, I don't. Anyway. You think that if you came out and told Metro you like him, love him, want in his pants, whatever it is, he's either gonna reject you, or you'll have a little relationship goin' and everyone here'll think you're both sick." He accused.

Shannon thought about it, "Well… Yeah, you might be right there."

"Of course I am."

She ignored that, "I mean, can you just see the look on Kate's face, if me and Boone showed up at the caves and started kissing? Or, someone like, I don't know, Claire, or–or Jack. Or, oh my God, Sayid. What would they say?"

Sawyer shook his head ruefully, "You dug your own grave here, sugar."

"How's that?"

"Well, you told everyone that Metro was your brother. If you'd have thought about it, the first night we crashed, you should have taken him into the jungle, had wild-crazy-jungle sex with him, and told him not to tell anyone that he was even your stepbrother. But nawh. Instead, you go rabbitin' on to anyone who'll listen about your 'stupid brother'."

She let that dawn on her, "Yeah, but… Shit. No, because after we crashed, it was like… it was a tragedy, okay? And at that time I just thought that he'd always be there for me, you know? He'd never given me any reason to think he wouldn't be. And by the time he started going off with Locke, it was too late. Everyone thought they 'knew' he was my brother."

"Then I guess you shouldn'ta run your mouth off about that one, huh, Sticks?"

"Can we please stop talking about what I should have done!" she cried. "I didn't, okay!"

Sawyer winced, "Fuck, Sticks. Headaches," he pressed his cool fingers onto his forehead, hoping to stop the headache before it arrived.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He grimaced, "It's alright." They fell into silence and after a few minutes the slight pain was gone. "Look," he continued. "I aint the best for givin' relationship advice, but the way I see it is you either have to stop whatever it is you got with Mohammed, or tell Metro how you feel. Or both, both would be good, too."

Shannon looked at him, conflicted. "But I… I don't… I don't know if I like Sayid, and I don't know if I only think I have feelings for Boone because he's not giving me any attention."

"Hmm, well, let me tell you this, Sticks. You're a smart girl. Now, from my point of view, I don't particularly favor either of them, so I personally cant see the appeal of either asshole–"

"Boone's not an asshole!" Shannon cried angrily.

Sawyer grinned in triumph, "See, Sticks, you're so quick to jump to Metro's defence."

"Well–Sayid's not an asshole either," she faltered.

"Maybe I'm the asshole," he drawled thoughtfully, then nodded. "Probably. But you've just proved my point. You're more attracted to Metro than Mohammed."

"No, I… Maybe I just feel more loyalty to him," Shannon asked hopefully.

"Maybe, but that's not it. You're more attracted to him."

"Maybe I just feel like I owe him?"

"Sticks, come on," he looked at her with pleading eyes, "Stop lyin' to yourself."

She bit her lip and looked away, "I feel like a thirteen year old with a crush," she smiled slightly.

"Just tell Metro how you feel. What have you got to lose?"

"Um, just the demeanor I spent twelve years building. Other than that…"

"What good's a reputation if it's a lie?" Sawyer asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"This isn't about me."

"Maybe not, but I could."

"Okay, I'll bite." He sighed, "What do you mean?"

"Well, the whole time we're been on this island you've played the real asshole role to a tee, so what I don't get is why you're helping me. Being nice."

Sawyer furrowed his eyebrows, "I guess you caught me in a good mood," he said gruffly. "And I'm really bored."

"Well, whatever it is… Thanks," she flashed him a grin.

He found himself smiling back, "No problem." He paused, "Damn, have I actually found a friend on this freakin' island?"

She smiled slightly, surprised, "Maybe you have. So long as–so long as I can come bitch about my problems." She smirked.

"Like I said, it gives me somethin' to do other than sit here staring into space, somethin' which you interrupted, by the way."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said playfully, then sighed. "Well, it's been fun, but I better be going. Either 'Metro' or 'Mohammed' will be wondering where I am." She stood up.

"Don't be makin' fun of my nicknames, now. I spent a long time perfectin' those."

"Pity you didn't spend as long on mine," she pouted, brushing dirt off her pants.

"What d'ya mean?"

"Well, I mean… 'Sticks'?"

He laughed, "Sugar, it's a compliment."

"I think you've told me that before," she said, uncertain.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Now get out of here, and don't tell anybody I was nice to you." He winked.

She laughed as she left his tent, calling out behind her, "What good's a reputation if it's a lie!"

Sawyer sat shrouded in the dim light of his tent once again, this time mulling over Shannon's story. The thought at first disturbed him, that one could fall in 'love' with someone who had been classed as their sibling for twelve years. But he supposed that if Shannon had never thought of Boone as her brother and vice versa, there wasn't really anything wrong with it. But even though that was his conclusion, the others wouldn't think of it that way. To them it would be tainted, wrong.

But just because these things worried her, he didn't see why it had to be his problem. Why did she have to bother him about it? Now he was involved, and he hated that.

Then he wondered if she'd even been telling the truth. She could have been stretching the truth, after all, he only had her word to go by. More importantly, he wondered if he believed her. He decided that he didn't, but it did slightly amuse him. He didn't believe her, then. But he couldn't stop thinking about it.

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While Sawyer was thinking, Shannon was making her way along the beach. Instead of going to her own shelter, Shannon found herself going to Boone's, and was surprised to see him sitting on his 'bed', staring into space. She sat down next to him.

"Hey. You look like Sawyer," she said.

"What?" his head snapped around to look at her. "Shit, Shan, what did I do to deserve that?"

"Leave him alone. He's a nice guy."

Boone nearly choked, "He's a–I'm sorry, what?"

"A nice guy." Shannon said forcefully.

"Okay, well–did you miss the part where he beat me up just for trying to help you?"

She shrugged, "He's different somehow."

"Oh, don't tell me–he's going to be your new boy toy."

"Why do you care?" she asked snottily. He didn't have an answer and she sighed. "Not that it's any of your business, but no, he's not. We were just talking, and he helped me a lot. He's really good to talk to, like a psychiatrist or something."

"Minus the drugs," Boone replied. "...Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

She crossed her arms over her chest, "Why would you ask that?"

"You've been acting weird lately…last night and this morning, and now..."

"Why do you care?" she repeated.

He glared at her, "I don't know why I bother, but I do care about you Shan. Despite what you might think."

She gave a bitter laugh, "Yeah, and you act like it, too."

"Well, Shannon, the way you act around me, I wouldn't be surprised if you turned cartwheels when I die."

She stared at him, hurt. "Why–why would you say that?" she asked in a small voice.

"Oh, come on, Shannon," he said, trying not to let himself feel bad.

She cut him off, "No, why would you–bring that up? You dying? You know how I was after that dream last night."

"Yeah, because I killed you, right?"

"No! God, how self-centred do you think I am?" she paused, "Okay, don't answer that. Boone, I could make sense of it. You wanting to kill me. Because you've been avoiding me and I thought, I thought you hated me. That I'd finally done something to push you away from me, like forever." She blinked back the tears in her eyes, twisted her fingers in her lap, and willed her voice to continue. He stared at her, a little bewildered. "But, the part that I couldn't get was how I'd said that you'd died on the island. I just don't get it. And I–I keep thinking, thinking that what if you do die here? What–what would I do without you?" A fat tear rolled down her cheek. Boone took one of her hands in his, and with his other hand wiped the tear away. It amazed her how, in the dim afternoon light of the tent, he knew it existed and where it was on her face.

They sat in silence, his fingers rubbing hers. She leaned into his shoulder and felt calmed.

"Oh Shannon," he said finally.

"What?" she asked, turning her head up to look at him.

"I… It's so hard, why don't you see that?"

"What's so hard?"

"Us."

"Oh." She paused. "I know how hard it is, Boone," she said softly.

He was quiet for a few seconds, then said, "You said you thought you'd finally pushed me away. The thing is, Shannon… You can't. You didn't push me away, okay?"

She looked at him, confused, "So why were you avoiding me?"

"Because whenever I'm around you, all we do is fight! Because I can't stand you yelling at me, because I hate making you upset! Because I genuinely thought you liked Sayid, because I wanted to give you space!" Because I love you, he thought, and wondered how she'd react if he said that.

She stared at him through wet eyes, "Maybe I didn't want space. Maybe I just wanted you," she said pitifully.

He gave her a look, "See, Shannon, I can never see what's real any more. I never could when it came to you. You say that now, but what happens tomorrow? When you're with Sayid, and I walk past and I want to talk to you? Are you still going to be all pissy about it?" He didn't give her a chance to answer, "See, I think you will be. I never know if I can approach you or not. I never know anything, Shan."

"Neither do I."

"You know more than I do. You know how you feel."

"You sound like Sawyer."

"Okay, stop it with the telling me I'm like Sawyer! I'm not!" He cried.

"Yeah, well… Whatever. It's beside the point. I actually don't know how I feel, okay? I truly don't. And you know more than I do, anyway. You know how you feel."

"So do you!" he said, frustrated. "You told me in Sydney."

"Sydney was…" she trailed off.

"A mistake?" he offered.

"What?" she asked, incredulous. He couldn't have meant that.

"Oh, think about it Shannon. I know you regret it."

"Then I guess you don't know me at all, do you? Because I really, really don't. I'd do it again like that." She paused. "That was one of Sawyer's suggestions, actually."

Boone's jaw dropped, "You told Sawyer about Sydney?"

"I–I told Sawyer about everything," she avoided his gaze.

"You're kidding me. Please, please tell me you're kidding me." He pulled away from her, and pressed his fingers to his forehead.

"I'm sorry, Boone. I needed help."

"So you chose Sawyer!"

"I trust him!" she yelled.

"Why couldn't I help you? Don't you trust me?" his voice sounded drained, and slightly childish.

"God, Boone, what do you think I was talking to Sawyer about? Why would I need to tell him everything about us? I wanted to know what to do about you!"

Boone squinted at her, in his classic confused state, "Me?" He blinked a few times.

She sighed, annoyed, "Yes, you."

"What about me?"

"I would quite like to know that myself." Sayid entered the tent. Both Boone and Shannon looked at him, shocked.

"How–how long were you out there for?" Shannon squeaked.

"Long enough," Sayid sighed, then admitted, "Since you came in, Shannon. I was hoping to talk to you, but now I hope you will just tell me the truth. What is going on between you two?"

Boone and Shannon shared a guilty glance, then Shannonlooked atSayid. "Boone, I'm going to tell him."

"What? No! Shannon!"He tugged on herarm"You've already told Sawyer, okay, one person is enough!"

"Well I bet you've told Locke!"

"I actually haven't."

"Yeah, I believe that." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes, "Anyway, I really like Sayid, he deserves to know."

Sayid gave Boone a somewhat triumphant look. "Yes, Shannon?"

"Well, um, where do you want me to start?"

"How about why you talked to Sawyer?"

Shannon thought for a second. I shouldn't have to tell him anything. It has nothing to do with him, it's none of his business. Still, she sighed, "I was just asking him what I should do about Boone. Because he's always off with Locke and I miss him. As great as you are, Sayid, I need my brother, too. I always have."

Boone took her words seriously, as a sort of comfort, but one that made him feel bad. Sayid believed her, "I suppose that makes sense," he relaxed. "So what happened in Sydney?"

"Um," Shannon forced herself to look embarrassed, "Well, you see what happened was…" she sighed, "I had this boyfriend, Brian. And he was hitting me, and abusing me, that type of stuff–"

"She always picks guys like that," Boone interjected.

"Yeah. Some stupid thing of mine, I guess. So, anyway, Boone flew out from LA to pay Brian off, but then he came over to mine and Brian's place to take me back to LA, but Brian came home and sort of went crazy, I think he'd been drinking or something. So, anyway, he and Boone got into this big fight, and I… I…" she trailed away, staring at her lap because she knew otherwise she wouldn't pull this off. She'd come up with… nothing.

"She stabbed him," Boone filled in. "About three times, with a knife. Not too big, but it did some damage. We called an ambulance, said it was self-defence. All they had to see were our bruises and they knew we were telling the truth. Plus, the day before, I'd gone to the police before I paid Brian off, but they said I needed evidence."

"Hey, I didn't know about that," Shannon objected.

"Yeah, it happened," Boone looked into her eyes so she'd see he was telling the truth.

"Was he alright?" Sayid asked, aggrieved by their story.

"Who?" they asked together, turning to look at him again.

"Brian, was he alright?"

"Oh, just fine," Shannon said, "I only got his leg and his hand."

"I see," Sayid said. "And, one last thing… Why all of the argument about not knowing how you care for one another?"

"Oh, just a stupid brother/sister thing," Shannon covered.

"Yeah," Boone added, "It's sort of a different version of sibling rivalry."

"Ah," Sayid said, accepting their story. "Well, Shannon, I was wondering –"

He was cut off by Jack's cries from up the beach; "Sayid!"

Sayid sighed, "I must go. Shannon, will I see you later?"

"Sure," Shannon breathed, then fell onto Boone after Sayid had left. "That was horrible! I'm so sick of lying to people."

Boone didn't move, as solid as a rock underneath her, he growled, "Yeah, I imagine it would be hard, lying to your boyfriend like that. But then, you never had any problems with lying to me."

Shannon was helpless, she couldn't think of a comeback, but when one came to her, she bit down on it because she was tired of fighting with him. Still, it slipped out softly, "Boone…you were never my boyfriend." He opened his mouth furiously, but she added quickly, "Neither's Sayid. But don't you dare think that I didn't feel bad about lying to you. It tore me up inside. In fact, if Brian hadn't told you, well… I like to think I would have told you, but me and my abusive boyfriends were like a barrier between you and your girlfriends. Didn't you see that?" She turned to face him, her hands on his chest. "It was never about the money, Boone."

He looked at her, almost as though he was happy, then his face clouded over and he held her hands, pushing them back towards her, "Shan, I'd like to believe that, but… I'm not letting you do this to me again."

"Do what?" Shannon blinked, completely clueless.

"I think you should go." He said, standing up and pulling her up with him.

"Boone! Answer me!" she demanded.

He sighed, "Your little speech to Sayid just proved it to me. You'll always be my sister. Nothing else." She looked at him, her eyes filling with tears. "I have to get over you," he whispered, and kissed her forehead.

She turned and left his tent, and just as soon as she was outside, she sat down and sobbed quietly, just loud enough for him to hear. He sat back down and put his head in his hands, wishing it wasn't so complicated, wishing for a day when the lies would end.

A/N: Sorry that its taken me so long to update, major problems with my computer. Then I sorta went Harry-Potter-crazy. Again. But, hey, it's here now. Oh, just in case you didn't get it, their recap to Sayid of what happened in Sydney was just a lie. I'm sticking to the "Hearts And Minds" story.

Still haven't written the idea that I had in "Numbers"… Next chapter will have more of Sayid's point of view, and more 'help' from Sawyer. My Numbers idea should happen in the fifth chapter. But I'm just going with this, it's very spontaneous :) lol…

Hope you guys liked! Tell me what you think!

Oh… And… to those who reviewed, wow… You guys honestly made my day…

LeoChris: Thanks :) Yeah, it sort of was a prologue I guess… All the other chapters will be a lot longer… or at least I hope so ;) I was gonna try to add in Charlie/Claire, just as a break from the Shannon/Boone stuff, coz if I write them for too long it goes too out of character.

Reema, sunny102, and RT4ever: Thank you all so much :D

Saraiyu: Wow, I actually didn't think they were in character, lol… Especially Boone. So I'm glad you said that, thanks :D I'll try to fit in Charlie and Claire.

Anon: Thank you! I agree, and I wasn't going to give the secondary couple too big of a part, and I might not even do it… Haha I don't know.

Chris3137: Wow. Thank you. Yeah, I do like Kate. She just annoys me how she's always involved. But aside from that, and especially since "Born To Run",I like her. I was thinking of Sawyer/Kate/Jack… Because I love Jack and Sawyer… Yeah, that was sort of it with the dream. I can't believe you liked it; I love Lost Hearts In Manhattan… Sorry I didn't review but my computer's sort of screwed, it wouldn't let me review anything. Pleease update soon :D

Faran1078: I know :) lol… Thanks :D. I'll email you back soon :)

I'm speechless that people actually liked that chapter, lol.

More soon… I've written chapter three but I'm waiting till four's done before I post it.