Chapter 2
"Where am I going to go!?"
Claire was frantic now, hyperventilating and moving around like a fish out of water. It was terrifying to any onlookers at the airport.
Kate escorted her to the nearest facilities, excusing their scene along the way to flyers with judgmental and piercing retinas pointed their way.
"It's okay, It's okay" she repeated soothingly. "You're going to stay with your mom in the Motel 6. It's okay, Claire, breathe,"
Claire tried to calm herself with her breath, a hard feat, it turned out. This only seemed to end up in more hysteria at the failure to obey the command.
With arms outstretched Kate drew her in for a hug. With reluctancy she allowed a stream of tears to escape her eyes and engulfed herself in Kate's embrace. She didn't have to do this. She had every reason to be curt and to the point. She'd been so mean to her back on the island. She didn't deserve this.
After a moment passed, Kate released the hug and put her hands on Claire's shoulders.
"You ready to head back in?"
They had landed at the airport, as the flight was supposed to land, but Frank had insisted that they all scatter within the airport and then leave as soon as possible. He said he would explain the crash and tell them that the other passengers had passed away upon impact.
Kate was a bit nervous that this would bring attention to the fact that the oceanic passengers where in another crash, and that was just blatantly suspicious. But she swallowed her fears, and although they stayed in a lump at her throat, she went along with his plan.
"Okay," Claire shakily responded. Kate was relieved to be one step closer to leaving this airport. The pair quickly met up with Sawyer and Miles for one last rendez-vous before they scrambled. "Sawyer" she thought. Since when did she stop referring to him as that. She guessed the island, round two, morphed his name into "James" from now on. She didn't quite know how that sat with her.
Kate took him by the arm, swinging him away from the group. "Hey, whatcha gotta rip my arm off for," he drawled, clearly annoyed. She rolled her eyes and sighed, then set her mind into ready mode. This was to be a quick conversation.
"Where are you going? I need the address."
"Well hey, what's got you so ballsy. Who says I want to tell you where I'm headed?" This was so obviously not true but he didn't give the slightest bit of concession in his face or voice. Kate would be lying if she had said this didn't hurt, but she brushed it off, and went on with her proposition.
"What I mean is…my place," she paused to draw in breath, concealing her bubbling feelings for Aaron, "my place is a, a bit lonely and I think it would be crazy to lose contact so quickly. After all we've been through a lot together." Those were some hard words for her to say, but now it was out there. Out in a grey cloud between the space in which they breathed.
James mulled this over in his head. Everything felt stiff and frozen. His mind was foggy. On one hand, he knew that having Kate available was almost and inevitability realized at the moment they got off the island. Everyone, really. Before he was just teasing. But on the other hand he seriously wanted privacy, cigarettes, and booze. But is that what she would want? No. He needed these people right now whether his willful nature would let him say that or not. So he begrudgingly began to tell her about his house. It was located in the suburbs (a target place for conning lonely housewives) and had been vacant since 2004. But that was where he lived. And that was where he was going.
To Kate's relief he finally began to verbally give her the address. She gasped quietly as he recited the location. "Oh my god," He looked at her like she was crazy, but it seemed to go unnoticed by Kate. "I live only about ten minutes from there."
He looked her straight in the eye. "Good. We may need each other right now." He smiled shortly and left with Miles to hail a taxi. Huh. Maybe they were going to try to be roommates.
Now she drew her attention to a much more calm Claire. She was tapping her fingers absent mindedly on the side of her leg.
She was calmer knowing that she was going to an actual room with a bed and food. But everything was about to change. She was going to see her son for the first time in three years. Would he like her? Would he even remember her. Oh god, she was also going to see her mom. Her mom she thought was comatose. She began breathing deeper and deeper until she felt slightly woozy.
She could do this, right? Oh god could she? Finally she decided to suck it up and ask if Kate was ready to go. And she was.
They took off, ready to arrive at the motel 6. This was a new beginning Claire hoped.
