Next Chapter is completed. Thanks for all the reviews, guys.

CHAPTER FOUR: WHATEVER'S LEFT

Jack lay alone in his cave. It was probably somewhere near three in the morning, and he was still awake, sweating and struggling with nightmares when he was still half awake. He'd felt this every night now, but he hadn't gotten used to it. He could barely keep the camp together these days, what with Aaron getting sick and Sawyer taking things right out from under their noses. Everyone was tense. Everyone was looking at Jack expectantly, prodding him into the leadership position, asking for advice about everything from what to do about sunburns to which direction they should go in search of boar to how to woe that special someone. The last one made his stomach turn every time it rose.

He knew he'd be alright in his heart, that he was just fine now, but he wasn't used to 'fine'. None of them were anymore. That was the thing. They were all perfectly fine, and that made them even more terrified than being in trouble.

As for the Kate problem, she had begun to talk to him again about useless topics that were the same sort of things they'd talked about in the first few days here. They were slowly following the same path they'd taken the first time around, as if it was a giant network of paths and they'd happened upon the one they'd finished not five days earlier, deciding to try again. The only problem was, they weren't trying any new tactics. It was the same thing. The same problems between them were already beginning to arise.

If they didn't deal with the problem soon, she would blow up in his face once more, throwing another glass. Or maybe she'd shoot him this time. He looked up and found himself looking up at her. She was just standing there, her wavy chestnut hair falling perfectly around her, creating a halo.

"I thought you'd be asleep." She said quietly. He didn't say a word. It seemed that she'd been reading his thoughts, because they both knew this was a completely different path. She had to know that he'd do whatever she wanted now that she was here. The madness was setting in inside of his mind, his whole body buzzing with the sensation.

She sat down next to him, her arm brushing against his, and it almost physically hurt him, the emotions were so strong. She turned her head and kissed his cheek so lightly that it might not have been a kiss at all, and his eyes wanted to half-close in a drugged state as his body tingled from head to toe. She must have seen this reaction, because suddenly she was shoving him onto his back on the cave ground, his breath not quite returning to his lungs from the impact before she pressed her open mouth against his lips that were seeking air.

He felt like he could breathe through her, strange as it was. He knew his back was probably going to be bruised badly tomorrow, because there were three rocks digging into his back as she kissed him hard, her tongue forcing it's way into his mouth. As quickly as she had kissed him, she had sat up and punched him in the chest. It wasn't to hurt him badly, it was simply to tell him something, though he wasn't sure what.

"Do not blame me for everything, Jack. This is your fault too." She said, and it was desperate and helpless sounding and altogether very unlike her. It was news to him that it was his fault too. She hadn't told him that. He nodded, knowing she was right.

"Let's try this again." He whispered, and forced himself into a sitting position to kiss her softly. It was harmless kissing, no sex involved. That was how they wanted it for now. No sudden leaps into something they couldn't handle. When they stopped kissing, she curled up against him, lying on the hard ground. He fell asleep quickly, no nightmares plaguing him.

When he woke up the next morning, she was gone and he wasn't sure if it had been a dream or if it had been real.