Chapter 21

Another five days went by and Jack and Kate were now in Oklahoma. Kate stayed suspicious of him since that argument they had in Kansas, especially since as he didn't seem like himself in the past few days. This was worrying Kate because she could obviously see that something was wrong but Jack didn't want to tell her.

Not many words were shared between them , just the simple Good morning, how are you and good night. They hadn't spent that much money since then, the odd cash here at shopping and petrol but that was about it. They, of course, didn't go out, it was far too dangerous even though they were quite far away from where they started off from.

Jack could sense the eerie atmosphere in the car, which made it even more difficult to communicate with Kate. They simply didn't have much to talk about although he could see that something was wrong.

She had her legs tucked in underneath, her arms around them, staring out into the distance as in a trance. Sometimes Jack did think that she daydreamed a lot but this was different by far.

'You okay?' he finally got to ask. But with no reply back. He tried again after a couple of minutes, 'Kate?'

This time she looked at him as if to gest to carry on.

'Are you alright?' he said slowly and she nodded, almost too unreluctantly. 'What's up?'

This time she turned her head back to where it was, continuing with her daydreaming session. Jack sighed. Maybe there wasn't something wrong with her after all.

'Have you ever felt like you didn't belong anywhere?' a tired voice came out of Kate, her eyes still concentrating on the horizon.

'All the time.' Jack sighed, brushing a hand through his hair. But why did she ask? Did she feel that way right now? Is that why she wasn't talking?

'Was there ever a time in your life when the world just...' she stopped, trying to think of the right description, 'stopped for you and that was the line when you just knew that it was time for your life to change?' she asked, tears now streaming out of her eyes.

Scoffing, Jack replied, 'Why do you think I run? Just for fun? That's how I changed my life. That line you are talking about, that happens to everyone. At some point in their lives, it happens to everyone. For me, it happened when I... you know what.' he trailed off, still carrying on driving.

She smiled softly to herself. 'For me it was when I hit that police officer and I had to run away with you into the woods. I knew-I just knew from then that my life would just change.' She looked up at him with a blank expression.

Just as Jack was about to answer, she continued.

'And then I realised... that I didn't want my life to change. I realised that I was happy for who I was and-and that I shouldn't keep criticizing myself because I work too hard, or for any patient I don't save or that I don't have a husband or that I'm not like other women who stay at home cooking and cleaning for their family. I realised that I was a good person and that I didn't want to go and live somewhere else, that I wanted to carry on my life as how it was and continue being successful because you-you know some people in this world don't even have that opportunity. And I realised all this at that moment, that long-life moment. I realised that I didn't want to change but I had to...'

By now, Kate was shivering with the cries that overtook her eyes first but now her whole body as she shook and slumped into her seat. Jack had already stopped the vehicle and listened to her pouring her emotions out, or whatever parts were audible. He realised that they had more in common then he thought they did. He also felt exactly the same way after he killed Desmond.

After she loosened her body, letting herself drop as further down into the feat area of the car as possible, Jack decided that it was best if he took her to the bed at the back. As he crawled over to her limp body, he hugged her tightly, staying that for what seemed like a lifetime.

After she had calmed down a little, he picked her up and carried her to the back, laying her down carefully on the bed. He lied down next to her, just to rest his feet a little but she quickly curled up to a ball, clenching his arm with both hands, trembling. He put his arms around her, letting her stop crying completely and before he knew it, she had already fallen asleep.

Careful not to wake her up, he tried his best to get out of the bed but when he realised he couldn't, he gave up. Soon afterwards, he fell asleep too.

Erm... not much to say this time. Apart from I wanted to say that this fic is finishing in about 5 chapters time. Yes, I did promise that we would meet a lot of other characters and I'm still keeping that promise, we will... but just not as soon as you may think. But I do keep promises so just remember that... it's difficult to explain, you'll just have to wait for another update. :D Thanks everyone for reading, and especially for reviewing and I hope you enjoyed that chapter:)