Three months had passed, and things could hardly be better for the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 since their rescue. Every single one of them had been given enough compensation from the company after having lived five years on that island, and they had spent it well. Sawyer had brought several sports cars which had also garaunteed him the attention of several beautiful ladies; Sayid and Shannon had married on the island only days after they had been rescued; Michael and Walt headed back to L.A straight from Sydney; Charlie and Claire had no plans to marry, but with their own daughter, Charlotte, that had been born on the island shorly before the resuce they were clearly planning to stay together for a while. And Jack...Well, Jack got his girl.

He and Kate had been together for the whole three months. Having spent three years on the island together as well, having spent a full two years in the obvious flirting of their denied relationship, they were closer than ever. With the money it gave them in compensation, they had a house in Sydney, as well as a second, smaller home, in Venice, where they inteded to go when they got sick of the bustle of the Australian city. When shopping for it, Kate had fallen in love with it straight away, which was enough for Jack; it sat upon a hill which overlooked the whole city, and had a balcony which was large enough to rival the terrace out the back. The open fireplace in the living room was working, and after half an hour of looking around, they had brought it.

It was their first time over at the house, seeing as they fancied a break away from the city. Venice, although being a city in itself, had a special charm to them both that neither could explain nor deny. Standing at the edge of the terrace that led off the bedroom, Kate looked down at the city before them. The sun was just rising, creating a beautiful orange glow over the city. She smiled, tugging the shirt closer around her to fight off the early morning chill coming in through the open window.

"Good morning." Jack muttered, wrapping his arms around her.

She noticed that he wasn't wearing anything on his chest, and had either come over half way through dressing or just simply stopped at his trousers. "Where's your shirt?" She asked him curiously.

"I don't know." He replied playfully. "I think its the one you're wearing."

She laughed, and leaned back against him, still staring out at the scenery. "It's beautiful isn't it." She observed.

"Yeah you are." He said quietly, as from where he was standing besider her he was speaking directly to her ear.

She felt like blushing, but she had grown used to comments like that from Jack now. He was as devoted to her as he was to saving peoples lives, which was saying a lot. Everyone on the island had expected it, though it was strange that Jack had spent so little money on luxuries for himself, but was always bringing home gifts for Kate, spoiling her with embarassing displays of flowers sent to her in public places, usually at work. She worked in a local store not too far from their Sydney home with a few girls who were more than friendly enough to her. It wasn't for the money, but instead she got a job to keep herself occupied and stop her turning into a couch potato. Jack never brough her jewellery though, seeing as she never wore any.

"I was talking about the city." She told him.

"I wasn't." He whispered lovingly.

She turned around and kissed him, her arms winding around his neck. Jack kept one arm on her waist, and the other snaked up her back and rested his fingers on the back of his neck. Pulling away from kisses like this one was always hard for them both; but Kate pulled away after a few minutes because she knew that there were people walking around down below their house, and she didn't want to give the locals too much of a show. Jack seemingly had the same idea.

"Kate," Jack muttered.

"Yes?" She asked.

"I-uh.."

Nervous Jack was a side to him she usually enjoyed seeing. It was a playful sight to her that usually on the island ended up in them disapparing for hours on end. This time was different however. His eyes were shifting everywhere except her, and everytime he met her gaze, he looked away immediately. Kate frowned. What was going on? She put a hand on his cheek, and moved his face so he was looking at her again. "Jack?" She asked him again. "What's wrong?"

When she put her hand over his face, he couldn't help but notice how soft her skin was. "Kate, I want to ask you something." He told her, she could feel him slightly moving against her hand, trying to look away but forcing himself to focus on her.

"Ok." She said, slightly confused. "Ask away."

"Well, I-, uh, I, um."

Kate smiled. "Jack, what are you going on about?" She said with a small laugh.

"Hey," He said with a nervous laugh. "Don't laugh at me, I've been psyching myself up for days to do this. And now I can't remember what I was going to say, so I have to improvise."

Kate started to feel anxious, wondering if what he was going to ask her was the same thing that she had thought of when he had said that. "Ok," She replied simply.

"Right, here goes." He started. Come on Jack...deep breath...you can do this...1...2...3...4...5... "Kate, I love you." He waited a moment, watching her smile. It was the first time that he had seriously said that he loved her, and from the happy look on her face, he wondered whether he should just leave it there. No, thats just being stupid. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. "Wait, I'm still going." He said with a smile. "I love you." He repeated. "So much that I when I'm not with you, I can't stop thinking about you, and when I am with you, you're the only thing I see and hear. And I like it. You're the only person I want to think about, and when we're together, every second is fantastic. I want to spend every minute I have with you, Kate. I love you." Now that he had said it once, he couldn't stop saying it. "Now, I know that you don't wear much jewellery, and I know that when it does come to sparkly things, I don't have the best taste, but I was wondering if you might wear this."

He opened his hand, revealing a diamond and pink sapphire cluster ring. She looked down it with wide eyes, she knew that pink sapphires were both hard to come by and extremely expensive. "Jack, it's beautiful." She whispered with shining eyes.

"Wait, this isn't right. I have to do this properly." He said, almost to himself. He closed his hand again, shielding the ring frome veiw. Taking a deep breath, Jack bend down to the floor, getting on one knee. Kate gasped quietly, knowing what he was doing. "Kate, I love you more than I can say. Will you marry me?"

Jack watched Kate as she wiped underneath her eye. He kept a hopeful expression on his face, but was inwardly worried. Oh god I've made her cry, that can't be good. But she was still smiling, and wasted no time at all before getting on her own knees and flinging her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "I love you too, Jack." She said happily. "Of course I'll marry you."

They both laughed, and Jack put the ring on her finger. She looked down at it. "And you think you don't have taste?" She asked. "It's beautiful." She kissed him again, this time, she didn't worry about the onlookers who may have a veiw of them, as they were sheilded by the balcony wall.

"Does this mean I can have my shirt back?" Jack asked hopefully.

"No, it means I get to keep it." She replied playfully. "You'll have to get another one."

Jack laughed, and then his face turned completely serious with a small frown as he remembered, "Sawyer owes me a hundred bucks." He said thoughtfully.

"Really?" Kate inquired.

"Yeah. When I told him a few weeks back that I was going to propse to you, he bet me a hundred bucks that I wouldn't go through with it."

Kate laughed. "So everyone knew about this?"

"Basically." Jack revealed. "I hope you know that everyone thinks I'm insane now." He pointed out.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She told him, and kissed him again.