It had been three years since both Juliet and Jack had died, and life had never been the same. Kate had returned to a somewhat normal life, helping Claire raise Aaron like she wanted to, but there was always a pain in her chest that she couldn't get rid of, like a scar on her heart.
She was good at pretending it wasn't there though. Kate devoted her entire life to helping Claire raise Aaron, she felt it was the only thing that would justify Jack's death. Aaron was, after all, Jack's nephew, and Claire was his sister. Kate spent a lot of time with Jack's mom as well, even though Jack's mom told her that Jack would want her to have her own life part from his family, Kate couldn't see it any other way.
One night Kate was alone by herself though. Aaron was in bed and Claire had gone out on a date. She had met a British man at a bar and they had both hit it off. Kate had insisted Claire have a night out. Kate sat on the couch in their two story house. She knew what today was. It was the anniversary of Jack's death, and of the day he saved everyone. Claire had been too busy getting ready for her date to remember, and that was okay with Kate. She didn't really want to handle having Claire fret over her and having to assure Claire over and over again that she was okay.
"How are you doing Freckles?"
Kate turned her head, in shock. James sat beside her, his hair was trimmed and he wore a leather jacket.
"How did you get in?"
"Door was open, I knocked but no one answered. I decided to let myself in." James rested his arm on the couch, touching her shoulder with his hand.
"What are you doing here?"
James smiled sadly at Kate. "It's been three years."
Kate's face crumpled into tears at this, and once again James pulled her into him, holding her tight. Kate knew she didn't need to pretend with James. He knew what she was going through, because he was going through the same exact thing. No words needed to be exchanged, they just needed each other.