Disclaimer: I don't own Lost or any of the characters.
Sorry for the wait, and sorry for it being so short. I have written (almost) all of it now, so I'll be posting the next part tomorrow. There will probably be 4 parts altogether, although the next two ones will be quite long. I hope you enjoy it! Please read and review!
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Kate watched Locke sit down next to Jack, further down on the beach. She watched, disappointed and angry, how he refused yet another meal. She knew that she had no right to feel that way; she hadn't even talked to him since he came back from the Hydra. She told herself that she was avoiding him because he had hurt her. He had, by saving her life, made her think that she had lost the two persons she cared the most about. She looked past the two men on the beach, in the direction of the graveyard. She shuddered as she remembered the many nights she had slept there, curled up between their crosses. Until three days ago, they had all thought both of them were dead. Now, when he was back, she felt so bad for believing him dead. She felt so bad for giving up all hope of ever seeing him again. With Sawyer it wasn't as bad. She had reconciled with his death, her only comfort being that he had at least died knowing she loved him.
Jack, on the other hand, was a completely different matter. The last time she had seen him had been when Juliet had taken her in to see him, to convince him to do the operation. It played over and over in her head like a broken record. The way he had been so disappointed in her for believing the Other's threats; how distant he had been. She had spent the last three months agonizing over what she should have done and said. How she should have confessed her feelings, how she should have said that she missed him, and wanted him, and needed him. There had been so many misunderstandings between them; the kiss being the main one. She had wished she could have explained it to him. Explained why she ran. Told him that she was sorry for that, but could never be for the kiss.
She had just started to finally accept that he was gone forever, and now that he was back she had no idea how to approach him. She saw that she hurt him by avoiding him, but she still wasn't sure that he was there. She had no idea how to deal with all her feelings, blowing inside her like a class 5 hurricane. She wanted to hold him and touch him, but she was still afraid that he would go away. That he wouldn't be real, and if anything were ever to happen to him again, this way it wouldn't hurt as much. So, a quiet little voice told her, why does it hurt so much to be apart from him then?
"Hey sweetie." She jumped at the sound of Claire's soft voice, kicking down her bottle of water. Claire smiled slightly, moving closer to her friend. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah…" Kate answered quickly, nodding her head. Only she was far from it. Having Jack so close by was like a dream, yet she was so scared of her emotions and everything that could possibly go wrong that she couldn't find it in herself to be happy about it.
"I went by the graveyard today." Claire said and Kate shook her head, as if to tell her to stop. Claire only put her arm around her, holding her close. "You need to take the cross down, sweetie. He's back now." Kate held her breath for a second, taking in Claire's words. He's back now. He's back now. He's back now. She felt a tear run down her cheek, and as the first one hit the sand, she found she couldn't stop the millions of other ones following it. Claire held her as she cried, unceremoniously forcing all her fears and her hurt out of her body. He's back now.