Entwined Together
Summery: Jack and Kate meet one night in a bar, one going through a divorce, the other just killed her father. Somehow their lives become entwined, and they discover they aren't as different as they thought. Takes place as if there wasn't a crash.
Chapter Four: Distance Effects
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Jack drove back home with a heavy heart. Leaving Kate at the hotel alone just didn't seem right. Especially after what happened the other night. He was a doctor. Maybe if he had told her that, then she might've consented into staying at least one more night. Anything would've been better than what she told herself she had to do.
He often wondered just what it was that caused her to be so distant. Kate Ryan was probably the most interesting woman he had ever met, and he didn't know a thing about her. Other than her name, what had she told him? Or a better question; what had he told her?
Jack was just as much a stranger to Kate as Kate was to Jack. He shouldn't be blaming her for not being straightforward when he didn't make any more of an effort. She knew about Sarah, but at what cost?
It had taken the last of his courage just to go back to his house, knowing it would be empty upon his return. He found himself thinking about all he had told her. He had given her his card with high hopes. Hoping that she would take the hint, and call him periodically to let him know that she was okay. Hoping that she would eventually trust him enough to give him some kind of way to communicate with her, should the need ever arise.
Jack had done many things since dropping Kate off at the hotel in an effort to get his mind off her. He had gone to a bookstore and tried to browse the shelves for something he could wrap his mind around, an easy escape from the constant worry he was sure was coming. But all the browsing did was remind him of Kate even more.
So he thought about going to a movie, but shunned that idea quickly because almost every movie, despite genre, had some sort of romance in it, and he wanted nothing more than to keep that part of his life at bay.
Finally he concluded that there was nothing that could hold up to his high standards of putting his mind off of Kate. So he went home.
It felt strange, different. Almost an empty sort of feel to it. It hadn't felt that way before he had taken Kate to his house, because back when Sarah had first left him, he had sort of liked the fact that the house belonged to him alone. Now he wished he was sharing it again.
What could possibly make him feel this way? He hadn't even known the woman a full day, and already she was consuming his thoughts, having an impact on his actions. He knew he wasn't in love, but there was something there, something undeniable.
He parked his car in its usual space in the driveway, and walked up to the front door, taking his time to unlock it. Once inside he made his way into the spare bedroom, though he didn't know why. In all his years of living there, he had probably only stepped foot in here once or twice, for practical reasons only. He told himself that it was only to tidy up a bit, though he knew the real reason. He just didn't want to admit it to himself, because that would be admitting to feelings he didn't want to have so soon.
If only he had tried harder, made a bigger effort to make her feel more at home. In his mind he made a list of all the things he could've said, should've said that would've at least helped him feel better about letting her go. He could've said she was welcome to stay as long as she wanted, that she was always welcome back if she ever needed to. That she had a friend out there if she needed one. Compared to the what-ifs, he didn't make an attempt whatsoever. He acted like a stuck-up rich man who had let someone stay in a room of his too-large house, someone who had needed a place to stay.
Jack knew that this would be a moment he would remember later on, and still visibly flinch every time he let his mind drift back to this particular moment in time.
All of a sudden, the phone rang, unannounced and unwelcome. Annoyed, Jack ran out of the room and by the foot of the stairs where the upstairs wall phone rested.
"Hello?" he croaked, hoping that it was Kate on the other line.
"Hey Jack," the unexpected voice of Sarah had entered his ears, only was it Sarah? The same one who, just an hour before, had come barging inside, all but throwing herself at Kate, accusing Jack of things he'd rather leave unsaid, as if he was the bad guy.
"What do you want?" he snapped, tempted to hang the phone up on her, but he knew that would only bring on another fight, and another confrontation.
Sarah sighed into the phone before answering. "I wanted to let you know that I was sorry," she finally got out.
Jack was speechless. Sorry? She was sorry? Luckily she spared him the action of having to answer right away.
"I was out of line, saying those things…and I wanted to let you know that I actually think that it was a very nice thing to do," she continued.
Jack still remained silent, searching deep into her voice to find some kind of flaw with this new-found sincerity. "You do?" was all he managed, and he wished he could take his words back as soon as he let them out.
"Yeah, I do! It's just that…I was surprised…I come home and you tell me to be quiet because you have somebody upstairs sleeping…it was so sudden!" she pleaded, as though she could give some justification to what she had done.
"Yeah, it was. You'd know about sudden actions, wouldn't you?" Jack threw back at her, not caring if the words hurt her or not because she had hurt him.
Sarah sighed again. "You know I'm sorry about that?"
"Are you? Because every time we spoke during the weeks after you left, all you could do was talk about how happy you were, and how great he was! Did you think that just because you didn't feel anything anymore that I didn't?" he snapped, no longer thinking before he spoke.
Her voice became harder. "Look. I'm trying to apologize, okay? I really am sorry about what I did, and I know that what I did by leaving hurt you. But I didn't have any other way to say it," she explained in her no-nonsense sort of way that Jack had, and still did, found very appealing in her person.
"I didn't just call to apologize to you. I'd also like to apologize to her, for just barging in…"
"Kate's gone."
"What?"
"She left about a half hour ago. Checked herself into a hotel, telling me she couldn't impose like she did," he said coldly, as though it were somehow Sarah's fault that Kate was gone.
"Oh. I would've liked to straighten it out," she said disappointedly, though Jack could make out a hint of relief as well.
"Is that all?" Jack demanded, suddenly wishing he had hung up on her after all, wanting nothing more than to crawl into his bed and sleep the day away.
"Yeah, I guess it is. I'll see you on Thursday," she said, and they hung up without saying goodbye.
Jack clambered into his room, not bothering to change into his pajamas, and fell onto his bed.
XXX
Kate took the elevator to her room, ignoring the few stares of people who probably found it odd that she was carrying nothing more than a backpack at a place like Embassy Suites. She was out of place, and knew that it had been stupid and foolish to take Jack up on his plea to pay for her to spend her nights in someplace other than a moldy motel.
She definitely knew that the standards of her room were higher than anything she had ever seen in her life. It was like living in a mini-apartment. When she first unlocked her door and stepped inside, a sofa greeted her, a TV on the opposite wall, along with an armchair. A sink lay comfortably beside the door leading to the bedroom, along with a mini-fridge. The bedroom held two beds, two closets, and a bathroom that was bigger than her closet back in Iowa had been.
Kate felt like she could move in here, and definitely be set for the rest of her life. She put her backpack on the bed she wouldn't use, and went inside the bathroom, turning on the shower and letting the water heat up. She went back into the other room and turned on the TV. She needed to check up on her status as a fugitive, make sure no one had spotted her recently.
She stripped down and climbed into the shower, the feeling of heaven washing over her. She couldn't remember the last time she had taken a shower as good as this. The last place she had cleaned herself up had been a two-bedroom apartment in desperate need of repairs, but the owners, who had been out at the time, were too poor to care and instead just ignored them.
Kate stayed in the shower for what felt like close to an hour, and only got out when she felt the water cool down. She got out, grabbed the nearest towel, and dried herself off. She put on her only other t-shirt, a light green one, and put on the same pants. Traveling light had its advantages, but those advantages could only go so far.
Noticing a square shape in one of her pockets, she took it out, not remembering what it was. Her heart skipped a beat when she read the name.
Jack Shepard.
And just like that, she remembered that she had never said thank you. He had done so much for her, giving up one of his rooms and giving her some of his hard earned food, and she couldn't even manage a simple thank you. She was disgusted with herself.
So before it even registered in her brain what she was doing, she walked to the phone and picked up the receiver. She dialed Jack's home number, hoping that he would be there.
It rang twice before she heard the busy signal. Figures, she thought to herself. Feeling slightly disappointed, she put the receiver back in its respective place, and went back to the TV, figuring that she might as well not feel guilty for wasting Jack's money.
After about five minutes she turned it off, bored with what was on. It was more like she didn't know how to watch it. She had been on the move for so long, never staying in one place for more than a couple of days that she never had time for TV. She had been on the run for so long that she had forgotten how to stay still.
So against her better judgment, she grabbed her stuff and left the hotel, figuring she could at least explore Los Angeles before she could leave, and maybe drop Jack a note before she was forced to leave again. After all, it was the least she could do.
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A/N: Do not worry Jaters, Jack and Kate are going to meet up next chapter, but it isn't to say goodbye…wonder why.
Thanks to X-Kate-X, nikki-da-latina, BrizilianJaterGirl, toolostforyou, Peppy87, lostfox, Ella Julian, helaluvE, Orlando-crazy, jimmy-barnes-13, skater23, and DarknessBlossoms for reviewing. Glad y'all still like it! Don't forget to review!
