Jack stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed, and watched Boone grab his things across the room.
"Did you sleep well last night?" Jack asked him.
Boone looked up at him. "What?"
"Did you sleep well? Are you well rested?" Jack asked, fighting a losing battle with his eyelids.
"I don't know, I guess so, why?" Boone asked, looking puzzled.
Jack shrugged. "When you get back, if you wanted to slip back into bed for a bit, that'd be cool," he suggested. "If you wanted to snuggle."
Boone laughed a little. "Snuggle?" he asked, quirking a brow.
"Snuggle's a viable word," Jack told him.
Boone nodded. "Okay." He went over to the bed and ran his hand over Jack's buzzcut. "I don't wanna wake you."
Jack shook his head. "You won't wake me."
"Then what's the point?" Boone asked. Jack sighed, he had a point. "I'll see how far into REM you are when I get back."
Jack nodded a little. "Okay."
Boone gave him a smile. "I'll see you later." He leant down and gave Jack a kiss before exiting the room, closing the door behind him.
Jack listened to Noah thundering around downstairs and then he heard the front door followed by the car starting up and driving away. He settled down in the bed and found himself drifting off to sleep. He was almost there when the phone rang. He considered ignoring it but he knew it could be the hospital in which case he'd better pick up. He sighed and rolled onto his back, picking up the receiver.
"Hello?"
"Mornin' Doc."
Jack found himself cringing a little at the familiar southern drawl but he also found himself quite intrigued. "Sawyer?"
"Yep," Sawyer replied.
Jack was far too tired to try and work this out right now and Sawyer was apparently giving him nothing to go on so Jack found himself sighing.
"Shouldn't you be at work or somethin'?" Sawyer asked.
"I'm on nights," Jack replied. "Why, you hoping for someone else?"
"You mean like your little boyfriend?" Sawyer asked. "Can't say I relish the thought of speakin' with either one of you."
"So why did you call, Sawyer?" Jack asked, his tone a little more irritated than he'd intended.
"Old lady's got me ringin' round, got some news," Sawyer replied.
"Yeah, what's that?" Jack asked.
"We're gettin' married," Sawyer replied, sounding almost unimpressed. "Well, engaged. Whatever you wanna say."
There was a pause as Jack tried to take this in, it wasn't quite what he was expecting somehow. "We're talking about Ana-Lucia here, right?"
"Who the hell else d'ya think we're talkin' about?" Sawyer asked, sounding annoyed and also a little impatient.
"So does this mean you guys are actually gonna admit your an item?" Jack asked, finding himself amused all of a sudden. "Cos, y'know, it's only been, what, nine years?"
"It ain't been nine years," Sawyer replied.
"It's nine years, Sawyer," Jack stated.
"That goddamn crash might've been nine years ago but we ain't been together nine years," Sawyer insisted.
"Fine, okay," Jack said, really lacking the energy for this right now.
"Anyway, we're havin' an engagement party, you can come if you want," Sawyer offered, sounding anything but excited at the prospect.
"Well, with an offer like that, how could I refuse?" Jack replied sarcastically.
"No one's twistin' your arm, Doc," Sawyer pointed out.
"That's an understatement," Jack commented.
There was a silence in which Jack was sure he heard Sawyer sighing at least twice and he started to wonder exactly what the purpose of this call was, Sawyer was acting rather like a kid who was forced to write thank you notes after Christmas.
"You do the whole proposal thing?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, whole shebang," Sawyer replied.
"Down on one knee?" Jack asked.
"Down on one knee," Sawyer affirmed.
Jack found himself smiling. "Doesn't seem like your style."
"I was drunk," Sawyer said.
"But didn't you have a ring?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, I had a ring," Sawyer replied.
"So you must have planned it," Jack commented.
"Yeah," Sawyer admitted. "It was her birthday, I didn't know what to get her."
"So you got her an engagement ring?" Jack asked. "Pretty big commitment for a last minute birthday gift."
"I wouldn't have given it to her if I wasn't drunk," Sawyer insisted.
"You're really making a lot of excuses, Sawyer," Jack commented. "Don't you want to marry her?"
Sawyer sighed. "I haven't spoken to Kate in eight months, two weeks and three days."
"That's some pretty accurate time keeping," Jack said.
"I don't know where she is, I don't know how to contact her, I never have," Sawyer went on. "But she used to ring or she'd write. She used to let me know she was doin' okay. But we were talkin' less frequently and now I think she's given up on it all together."
"Sawyer, what does this have to do with..."
"If she said she'd have me, said we could have somethin', anythin', I'd drop Ana in a second," Sawyer said. "Cos I want Kate more. I always have. But Kate didn't want me."
"Do you love Ana?" Jack asked.
"Does it matter?" Sawyer countered.
"Do you love her?" Jack pursued.
"Yeah," Sawyer replied, making it sound like a confession. "Yeah, I do."
"Then it's okay," Jack told him.
"It ain't okay, Jack," Sawyer insisted. "Cos I love her second best. And what's the use in that?"
"You can't have Kate, Sawyer," Jack told him. "What's the use in wasting your life over that?"
"She wants you," Sawyer stated. "Ana."
"Me and Ana never..."
"No, I know you never," Sawyer cut in. "You were too busy bangin' Pretty Boy to ever. But if you said you'd have her she'd drop me like a bad habit. I'm her backup just like she's mine. I don't know if something like that could ever work."
"Is that why you rung me?" Jack asked. "You want my advice?"
"She wants kids," Sawyer stated, changing the subject. "I don't want kids but she really wants kids. Lost a baby once, has all these issues, can't wait to be a mom."
"Why don't you want kids?" Jack asked.
"What in the hell would I do with a kid?" Sawyer asked him like he was a complete idiot.
"Kids love you, Sawyer," Jack told him. "You were the only one who could stop Aaron crying, remember?"
"That don't mean I'd be any use to a kid," Sawyer dismissed. "Bein' a father's about more than that."
"Yeah, it is," Jack agreed.
"Speakin' of which, how's your runt doin'?" Sawyer asked.
"His name's Noah," Jack stated, trying to convey his annoyance.
"Yeah, stupid name that it is, why'd you wanna do that to a kid?" Sawyer asked.
Jack sighed. "He's fine."
"Good."
"Why don't you want kids, Sawyer?" Jack asked. "What are you afraid of?"
"I ain't afraid of nothin', I just don't want 'em," Sawyer insisted.
"I don't believe you," Jack challenged.
"What, you think I got some daddy issues or somethin'?" Sawyer asked.
"Daddy issues?" Jack repeated. "You scared you're gonna end up like him."
"I just said it weren't about him," Sawyer stated, getting angry.
"What did he do to you?" Jack asked.
"He didn't do nothin' to me," Sawyer insisted. "It's what he did to himself and my mom."
"They're dead?" Jack guessed.
"They're dead," Sawyer confirmed.
"You think you'd do that?" Jack asked.
"You think he thought he'd do that?" Sawyer countered.
Jack sighed. "I'm chief of surgery now," he said. "That's my dad's old job. I treat everyone I work with like shit and then I come home and have Boone run around after me and I never get to see my son." He sighed. "I am a bottle of scotch away from becoming my father."
"That scare you?" Sawyer asked.
"It terrifies me," Jack admitted.
"You think you can stop it?" Sawyer asked.
"I think I better try," Jack replied. "What more can I do?"
Sawyer was quiet for a few moments. "I don't think I'm gonna stop wanting Kate," he said finally. "I don't think that's gonna go away."
"You can't have Kate," Jack reminded him.
"Hell, I don't even know if that crazy girl's still alive," Sawyer commented.
"Can you imagine your life without Ana-Lucia?" Jack asked. "Can you imagine going home and not having her there? Can you imagine not seeing her, not knowing where she is?"
"No," Sawyer replied simply.
"Then I think you better buck up, cowboy," Jack told him. He heard Sawyer snort a laugh. "So when's this party?" Jack asked.
"Don't matter now, we're sendin' out invitations, you'll get one," Sawyer replied.
Jack smiled to himself. "So you did phone for my advice."
"Just checkin' out the competition," he drawled, a smirk in his voice.
"No competition," Jack told him. "And Ana should feel the same way."
"Well I'll talk to you later, Doc," Sawyer told him.
"Yeah, you take care," Jack told him. "Of her as well as yourself."
"I thought you weren't interested," Sawyer said.
"I just want to see you go down the aisle, that's gonna be something," Jack told him.
"Anyone tries to make fun of me in a tux and I will punch them," Sawyer warned.
Jack smiled. "I don't doubt that."
"Bye, Doc."
"Bye, Sawyer."
Jack clicked off the phone and hid himself under the covers again, finding sleep suddenly coming back around to get him. He had to kind of despair at the way Sawyer and Ana had gone about their relationship but they seemed to get something from each other that they needed and he was sure they were happy if they'd just let themselves be. He closed his eyes and gave thanks that he and Boone, though they may have their problems here and there, were nowhere near that screwed up. And just before Jack fell asleep he made a mental note to make sure he never took Boone for granted.