Chapter 2

Kate had been swimming down in the pool, finally having a chance to relax by herself, and was heading back up to her hotel room. She was starving, having burnt so much energy off in the pool, but doubted that she could actually be bothered to go and find some dinner. She loved swimming, it reminded her of the peaceful times on the island, particularly as she was in the pool alone. She was just about to close her room door when she heard a voice calling her.

"Freckles!"

She turned to see Sawyer jogging down the corridor towards her. "Hey, Sawyer." She said with a smile. Since Sawyer had started to get together with another girl from the island, things between them were not as heated or flirtatious as they used to be, to Kate's liking.

"I need to talk to you about something." He said seriously.

She frowned a little at his tone, but stepped back so that he could follow her into the room. "Sure, come in."

They went straight through onto the patio, which overlooked the greater part of Sydney. Out of the rooms she had been into, she had the best view by far.
"What's so important then?" She asked, leaning with her back to the wall of the balcony while Sawyer sat down in one of the deck chairs.

"Jack." He said simply.

"What about him?" She asked, hoping that he wasn't going to ask what she thought he was.

"Do you love him?"

"What?"

Once again, Sawyer felt like ramming his head against the wall. Obviously thing was going to go exactly the way it had done with Jack. He had even given the same reaction as Kate had done. "I figured it would be worth getting straight to the point considering the afternoon I've had with Jackass."

"What do you mean?" She asked, pretending she didn't know what he was talking about.

"That's the problem with you two. You're so incredibly stubborn." Sawyer pointed out.

"I'm not stubborn." She protested unfairly.

"That's the most stubborn thing you can say." Sawyer informed her.

"Whatever." She said with a wave of her hand. "Now, what are you talking about."

"Do you love Jack?" He repeated. The question was simple, as was the answer, but she had to be awkward.

"Have you been drinking?" She asked him, avoiding the question.

"Ok, let's try this another way." He said, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "Do you think that there's one person for everyone?" She looked at him strangely, so he explained further. "You know like 'Sleepless In Seattle' and all those other films that you probably like. That somewhere in this world there's one perfect person for everyone."

She shook her head with a tiny laugh, like the idea was absurd. "I've had too many crappy relationships to believe in that, why?"

"Because, for the Doc, it's you."

She was silent for what seemed like an hour. She stared at him, and then turned her back on him, looking out on the view. Sawyer fought back a groan; even though she was sober, she was just as difficult to deal with.

"How do you know that?" She asked quietly.

"Because he told me." Sawyer said, standing up and coming to stand up beside her. "Come on, Freckles, you can't go through life thinking everyone's going to let you down."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I'll only let him down." She reminded him quietly - too quietly for Sawyer to believe her.

"Why? Because he couldn't stop you from getting onto that boat? You really think that Jack of all people was going to let you stay on that island on your own?"

"I'm over that, Sawyer." She assured him. She continued to look at the view, but turned her face around so he couldn't see her.

"Then why don't you love him?" Sawyer asked exasperated.

"Because I can't!" She snapped back loudly. "He's probably going to get back onto a plane, fly back to L.A, back to his perfect family, his perfect job, his perfect house. Everything about him is perfect, and look at me! I'm a criminal, Sawyer. I'm not good enough for him. He doesn't know what he's talking about when he says he loves me, he's probably been stuck on that island for too long" She marched away from him, almost back in her apartment when Sawyer caught her arm and turned her towards him.

"So have you, Freckles." She was silent and looked away from him. Sawyer could see her thinking, realising, exactly what he had planned. "Look, I'm having a romantic crisis myself at the moment." He told her. "We're all having a drink downstairs tonight, we all want you to come as well, you're not hiding up here forever. I could do with some female help." With that, Sawyer let himself out, and went downstairs, feeling accomplished, while Kate sat down in the nearest chair and thought deeply about what he had just said to her.