Disclaimer: the first 50th time it was funny but now, it's not anymore… I DON'T OWN LOST !
A/N: thank you guys for the reviews, you're all so great! Here's chapter four with a lot of Jateness.
Chapter four: A funny lunch.
Jack settled the box on Kate's bed and walked back to the living room. He found her leaning over a box full of books and could not keep his eyes from travelling along her thin legs. She turned around suddenly and caught him starring.
"Are you checking me out?" she asked chuckling and he joined her.
"Believe me; you'd know if I was checking you out."
"Then I know." She replied smirking.
"Oh you can talk, miss 'I like your tattoos'" he said looking intently at her. She blushed a little but she did not break eye contact.
"I was only interested in an artistic level." She said and they both chuckled again before letting a comfortable silence fall between them. She turned around and began to take the book out of the box to put them on one of the living room's rack.
"Do you need some help?" he asked putting his hands on his hips.
"Sure." She said smiling and handed him a couple of books.
They finished unpacking her things and he sat down on his favourite armchair, the one he would always seat in when he comes to see the girls, while she prepared coffee.
"So, do you like it here?" he asked her when she handed him a cup.
"Yeah, it's really nice." She answered smiling and seating down on the couch opposite to him. "Claire and Shannon are great."
"Yeah they are." He said nodding.
"You guys seem to be so close. I mean I've only known you for like…" she looked at her watch, "twenty hours," he chuckled, "but what I've seen yesterday was pretty amazing. It was like watching an episode of Friends." She said half teasing.
"I like that show." He said defensively.
"Me too." she said smiling softly. "You are so different from each other, yet you are friends." He nodded and smiled.
"I don't think it's that impressive. After all, it's rare to found friends who are perfectly alike. Plus don't be fooled by what you saw yesterday, it took us quite a time to get where we are today." He finished more seriously. She took another sip of her coffee and thought that through. "And we are not that different, we have at least one thing in common."
"Really? What is it?" she asked intrigued.
"We were all, at least at one point in our lives…" he paused, searching for the right word and it came out on its own, "…lost."
"Lost?" she asked and he nodded. "I know the feeling." She whispered almost sadly.
"Then you're a perfect candidate to join our club." He said smiling and she smiled back. Silence fell between them again but neither of them seemed to mind. They kept sipping in their coffee, enjoying each other's company.
"I've never been to L.A before." She said after a little while. "I've travelled a lot but always lived in small towns."
"I've lived here all my life. I can't imagine a better place to be…" he trailed of and looked down at his hands; a hint of sadness crossing his adorable brown eyes.
"What's wrong?" she asked concerned.
"Nothing's wrong." He said smiling weakly. She felt the urge to reach out to him, took his hands and make him talk to her. She did not though. More than anyone else on this earth, she knew that sometimes, it is hard to talk. Moreover, they barely knew each other; she could not expect people to confide in her when she did not. She was not even sure if she wanted him to. So, instead of insisting, she smiled softly and proposed him another cup of coffee.
"No thanks. I think I'll just leave; Sawyer must be waiting for me." He stood up and looked down at the street, though the window and sure enough, Sawyer was standing outside of his car and was leaning against it. Jack chuckled as he saw him checking out a beautiful woman with red hair.
"I better get going before he gets in trouble." She laughed and he headed toward the door.
"Thanks for the help." She said smiling sweetly.
"Anytime. Thanks for the coffee." She smiled again and he could not keep the word that came out of his mouth.
"You uh- you wanna come?"
"Where?" she asked frowning.
"With me and Sawyer."
"I'm sorry to repeat but where?" she asked again emphasizing the last word and he chuckled lightly.
"We're having lunch. You said you didn't know L.A; maybe it's time to see what it's like."
"Okay, give me two seconds to get my purse and my jacket."
"It's hot today, you don't need your jacket." She nodded and went to get her purse. "Plus you might forget it once again." he said teasing and she rolled her beautiful green eyes.
"I was about to come up and get you but I understand why you were late." Sawyer said smirking when he saw them arrive. "Hello Freckles."
"Hi Dimples." She said teasing. Jack laughed when he saw Sawyer's face fall. "You're the one who started with the nicknames." Kate said innocently, trying to hide a smirk.
"Come on guys! I'm starving." Jack said before his friend could reply and sat on the back seat. Kate and Sawyer kept smirking at each other before getting up. He put the key in the ignition and looked questioningly at his best friend.
"I wanna go to the Italian restaurant Claire talked about." Jack said and sawyer nodded starting up the car. Kate smiled at the two men. Since Tom died, she had forgotten what it was like to be really close to someone. It was nice to see that again even if she was just a witness.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the restaurant. They took a table next to the window so that Kate could watch L.A people in their everyday life. After ten minutes of starring, she realised that it was not that interesting. People barely looked at each other; they were too busy talking in their cell phones or reading the latest news and gossips or rushing to their next appointment. It had its advantages though. A city so big that everything you did was done fast and practically anonymously. It was clearly the best place for her. 'Can't believe I never thought about it before. Next time it'll be a big city as well. New York maybe…' she thought. She wanted to get away from her past and her so called home and she always thought that the best places to hide were small towns.
She ate and watched them interact. They told her many childhood stories that made her laugh to tears. At first it surprised her that these two were friends but they had a lot more in common than she thought. After that Sawyer gave her the entire list of nicknames, he gave for each of them and the story that go with every one of them.
"They're all so easy Sawyer." Kate said laughing.
"Maybe, but they fit perfectly." He said with a hint of pride in his voice.
"And what's your nickname?" she asked him raising her eyebrow. She saw how all his body tensed and feared that she asked something she was not supposed to.
"It's Sawyer." He replied coldly. Kate looked a bit confused.
"Long story." Jack said echoing the word his best friend had said during last night's dinner. Kate nodded and smiled with sympathy. She looked for another subject and found the perfect one.
"So how come Claire and Charlie aren't together?" she asked.
"That's an interesting question." Jack said.
"I don't think so." Sawyer said groaning. "This situation isn't interesting it's stupid and frankly quite boring." He said slightly annoyed. Jack gave him a look and Kate waited for him to continue.
"They're not stupid, it's just complicated." Jack said.
"And probably scared too." Kate added
"Oh come on! Please! Scared of what?" Sawyer asked. "They're already acting like a couple anyway. Even you, Freckles thought they were when you saw them for the first time together… it's obvious!"
"He kinda has a point here." Kate said.
"Duh!" Sawyer snorted.
"Hey did you forget that Claire actually has a boyfriend?" Jack asked and Sawyer frowned. "Thomas! Tall, blonde hair and an Australian accent…"
"Stupid look." Sawyer finished "Yeah I remember."
"It doesn't matter, she still has a boyfriend." Even though he would kill to see Claire and Charlie finally together he knew it was none of his business.
"So?" Kate and Sawyer said at the same time and they all laughed.
"You mean you would cheat on the person you love…just like that?" Jack asked. Sawyer was about to answer positively but he cut him off.
"I know you would, I was asking Kate." And the two men turned to look at her.
"Well obviously, I would not cheat on my boyfriend and I'm not suggesting this is what Claire should be doing…"
"But?" sawyer said.
"But if I knew I was feeling something, anything, for someone else it wouldn't be fair to my boyfriend if I played games."
"You think Claire is playing games?" jack asked.
"I wasn't talking about Claire, I was talking about myself. The real question, the only one that matters is what do they really feel for each other?"
"Hello did you see VH1 Reject yesterday?" Sawyer asked and she could not help but laugh. It was obvious that Charlie had fallen head over heals for the cute blonde.
"Yeah but what about Claire?" she asked. Jack was about to respond but Sawyer cut him off.
"We all know, me included," he said with a roll of his eyes and jack chuckled lightly, "that they will hook up eventually. Doc knows it, Claire knows it and even Charlie knows it. So why don't they just jump on things and leave us the hell alone? Now that you satisfied your curiosity, could we please drop the subject? Talking about love literally itches!" he said, making a face. They finished lunch and talked about Sport and cars in other words subjects that would not itch Sawyer. Kate was slightly surprised by her won behaviour. Usually she barely spoke to people but here she was laughing, joking, teasing and actually enjoying it. The urge of running away was still there but somehow it was not as much sweltering.
At 1:30, Sawyer declared that he had to go to work so he left Jack and Kate alone. Soon after that, Jack paid for the meal and they left as well.
"So we can take a cab or just walk back home." He said when they were out. Kate looked around herself and smiled; it was a pleasant afternoon.
"Let's walk." She said and they smiled at each other. He shoved his hands in his jeans pocket and without thinking about what she was doing; she put her arm through his. He smiled down at her and they walked in silence enjoying the hot day. He spent the afternoon showing her around. They were in his hospital neighbourhood when they passed in front of a dinner. Kate stopped and they turned to look at it. She always thought about her mum when she passed before one. She would look through the window and imagine herself back home, seating in one of the tools and eating chocolate cake while her mum would be pouring coffee to the clients. She would watch the waitress in her uniform and remember the good times with her mother. Forgetting Jack's presence for a few seconds, she sighed deeply. He noticed the change in her mood.
"Something's wrong?" he asked worried. She was about to deny it when she noticed a sign hung on the door.
"Look, they're looking for a waitress." She said pointing at the sign.
"Is it bad?" he asked confused.
"No, it's great!" she said smiling widely. "Come on." She said grabbing his hand and leading him inside.