Disclaimer: I'm so far from owning Lost that even the possibility of me dating Foxy seems more plausible.
A/N: Hi folks! How is it going? I hope you enjoy reading this fic as much as I love writing it. I have so many ideas that I don't know where to put them all and if this story is ever going to end. As usual, I hope you'll leave a lot of reviews and don't be shy leave suggestions too… I love to collaborate! If you want to see something special just tell me and I'll see what I can do.
This chapter is less angsty than the one before and there's a lot of explanation. Enough rambling, enjoy!
Chapter seven: What a girl wants.
"What are you going to do?" Sun asked Claire softly, putting a hand on her knee. It was the evening after Claire and Thomas' last date. Claire, Shannon, Kate, Sun, Lilly, Libby, Ana-Lucia and Marissa were having a girl night while the men where at their basketball night. They had decided to do it tonight instead of tomorrow night to leave the girls alone during "this time of crisis", as Hurley put it. Claire had filled the ones who were not aware of her pregnancy yet and she told them every detail of her last date with her, now, ex boyfriend.
"I don't know." Claire answered truthfully and shrugged. "I thought that I would be able to make a decision and now that he's gone, everything seems even more complicated than it was this morning."
"But what do you WANT to do?" Libby asked. "I'm sure you thought about it."
"Do you want to keep the baby?" Marissa asked. Claire averted her eyes from them. She wanted to keep it but she knew it was more complicated than that.
"It's not that simple." She said. "I'm alone and I didn't finished school yet." She explained.
"You're not alone." Shannon said putting an arm around her shoulder.
"I can't count on you guys to pay for everything he or she will need."
"Claire, if you want to keep this baby, you have to." Sun said seriously. Kate noticed a hint of sadness in her voice. "The money is not a problem." She added.
"You have your work and your scholarship." Lilly pointed out.
"And your parents will help you." Shannon added.
"It's just temporary; you'll be done with school in less than three month. Then you're going to be able to work and you will be able to provide for your child on your own." Libby carried on.
"But for now let us help." Sun said smiling softly. "We want to." She added and they all nodded.
"You've never been alone, sweetie. The men will want to help as well." Shannon said. Claire looked at all of them and felt the tears built in her eyes.
"Thank you guys! I promise I will find a way to make it up to you." She said, letting the tears fall down on her cheeks. "I really want to keep this baby. I mean I just keep thinking about my mother. I, too, was unexpected but she did not give me away nor had an abortion, she chose to keep me and I wanna do the same thing for my baby." She said putting her hand on her stomach. "I wanna give him his chance and it doesn't matter if his daddy is a stupid coward; I'm gonna love you so much, you won't even realise he's not there." She said looking down at her stomach and talking to it. In fact, she had made the decision of keeping the baby, the minute she knew she was pregnant but she just needed help to say it aloud.
"I'm sure the boys will be more than happy to play his role." Sun said with a smile
"Especially Jack and Charlie, they are so good with kids." Lilly added.
"Yeah I saw Charlie last summer with his niece, he was so adorable." Claire said.
"Charlie's an uncle?" Kate asked with a smile.
"Yeah." Claire replied. "Her name is Megan, she's 5. She lives in England with her parents Liam and Karen in the south of England." She explained.
"Last summer they came to visit Charlie." Sun added and they began to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Kate asked.
"Liam told us that they were playing in a band when they younger and Charlie was convinced that they would become huge stars." Claire said laughing. For a few seconds, the image of Charlie singing and holding a guitar in front of thousands of people crossed Kate's mind. She burst out with laughter and they all joined her.
"He still got his guitar." Claire said with a smile.
"Remember the time he went to your class to talk about music?" Lilly asked Sun and they all laughed.
"How could I forget? He convinced all the kids that they could be rock gods if they wanted to. I still get phone calls from parents complaining because their daughter is convinced that she's going to be the next Janice Joplin." She said laughing.
"Charlie is definitely one of a kind." Libby said with a smile and glanced over at Claire.
"I think Jack is the one who made the more impression on your students though." Ana- Lucia said and Sun nodded.
"Jack and Charlie went to talk to your pupils? Why?" Kate asked. She thought that Charlie was an exception.
"Well it was the career day at school and parents came to talk about their jobs. When I talk about it Jack, Charlie, Sayid, Libby and Ana-Lucia wanted to participate as well."
"Jack went just after me." Ana-Lucia said. "I thought that no one could beat a cop, but Jack literally mesmerised all of them." She said with a wink.
"The kids were speechless and the parents all wanted his card just in case they would need a spinal surgeon." Sun said with a smile.
"He kept saying that he wasn't done with school and that he hadn't a card yet but nobody listened." Libby added with a chuckle.
"I remember a single mom coming to me after school the next day asking for his number." Sun said and they all laughed.
"What I remember is the scene Sarah made when you told us." Shannon said with wink. She did not seem sorry for Sarah at all.
"Yeah but she should be used to that now." Lilly added.
"What do you mean?" Kate asked. She tried to hide it but since the conversation turned to Jack, she was even more focused.
"Hello!" Lilly said. "Did you take a look at him?"
"Yeah I did, he's good looking…" she was cut off by Shannon's sarcastic snore.
"Good- looking? Please, Jack is hot." She said crossing her arms.
"Handsome." Claire added
"Gentle." Sun carried on
"Funny but in a special way." Libby joined them.
"Smart." Ana-Lucia pointed out
"And he's going to be rich." Marissa finished. They all had a dreamy voice and their eyes were sparkling.
"Plus, you saw him shirtless and he made quite an impression so don't act all casual on us." Shannon said smirking. Kate tried not to but she laughed. Jack was pretty awesome; she had to agree with them.
"Okay I got your points, all of them." She said looking around to all of them. "I see he has is own official fan club." none of them blushed or felt embarrassed by her comment. "Anyway, I'm sure Jack would never cheat on the woman he loves, even if women are throwing themselves at him." Kate said matter of factly. They all turned to look at her with questioning looks. "We talked about that the other day." She explained looking down at her hands.
"Well, Jack may seem perfect but we all have our flows." Shannon said with a smirk, which reminded Kate a lot of Sawyer's.
"You mean he actually cheated on Sarah?" Marissa asked, chocked. Shannon glanced at Claire and hesitated. She almost regretted to have said this much.
"Promise it won't leave these walls." Claire said and the rest of the women, except Sun, nodded eager to know.
"Jack has been dating Sarah since his first year at college and everything seemed perfect in the beginning but as we all know, lately it has been kinda hard between them." Shannon began. The group of women nodded, feeling sad for the handsome doctor.
"A couple of months ago, he met an Italian at the hospital. She was accompanying her father who was very sick. Her name is Gabriella." Claire carried on "Jack was really glad because for a resident it was an honour to work on such a difficult case." At Shannon and Claire's surprise, Sun spoke next.
"Jack and the rest of the doctors were trying to make his father better but Gabriella's father didn't made it." She said with a sad look.
"You knew?" The two blondes said surprised and sun nodded. Claire and Shannon looked at each other and a look of understanding crossed their eyes. "Jin." They chorused.
"Men say we like juicy gossips but they like them even more than we do." Libby said and they all chuckled.
"Husbands and wives are supposed to share everything." Sun said defensively.
"That wasn't your secret." Shannon pointed out.
"It wasn't yours either." Sun replied.
"Whatever." Shannon said." Where were we? Oh yeah right, the old men died." She said and Kate was surprised by how cool and nonchalant she seemed to be about this story. "Through the weeks Gabriella and Jack had developed a very close patient's daughter / doctor relationship. So when her father died she turned to Jack for support."
"One thing leading to another…" Claire continued
"What? Did they sleep together?" Marissa asked putting a hand over her mouth. Shannon, Sun and Claire shook their heads.
"No but she kissed him…"Shannon began
"…and he kissed her back." Claire finished with a wicked smile. For some mysterious reason, Kate felt bad for Sarah. She looked around her and to her surprise; the women were all smiling. Jack had done something bad, yet they were happy and even thrilled about it. Shannon noticed Kate expression.
"We're not bad people, Kate. If it was another woman than the Ice Queen we would have called Jack on it and forced him to tell her the truth." Marissa's eyes widened in shock.
"He didn't tell Sarah?" she asked. Claire shook her head.
"Nope. Their relation is already difficult; he did not want to make things even more difficult."
"He'll tell her eventually." Shannon added.
"When? After the ceremony?" Lilly asked sarcastically. It was Kate's turn to be chocked.
"They are getting married?" she asked unable to hide her disappointment. When she heard the sound of her own voice, she tensed. Since when did she care? It was not like her at all to be attached this quickly. In fact, she never was attached. Not since, she left her hometown. Here she was, worrying about a guy she barely even knew.
"Unfortunately, yes. As soon as he'll finish his residency." Lilly said, a flash of sadness crossing her chocolate eyes. Kate could feel that there was something more. Since Sarah's name has been evoked, she felt the atmosphere change but now that they were talking about their wedding, it was as if they were at a wake.
"What's wrong?" Kate asked with a frown when she saw Claire jaw contract with anger. The blonde looked at her with a mixture of sadness, rage anduncertainty. She was not sure if she should bring that on, it already hard for them to accept it without talking about it for the millionth time. It was not as if they could do anything to change his mind now.
"There's something more." Shannon said mirroring Claire's expression. Kate realised how much the two blondes looked alike.
"What?" Kate asked worried.
"He's leaving." Claire said fighting back the tears.
"What?" Kate repeated looking around her looking for confirmation. She had it when she noticed how sad they all looked.
"She got a job on the east cost." Sun said.
"Something really huge apparently." Libby carried on and Kate noticed the hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Something she could not turned down."
"Jack can be a doctor anywhere so he decided to follow her." Ana- Lucia explained.
"We're loosing our leader, our friend for that bitch!" Shannon said bitterly and for the first time, Kate saw her eyes filling with tears. Kate felt strange. She felt sad for them but surprisingly she also felt sad for herself. She felt the fear built up in her chest. She did not want him to leave. 'You'll probably leave before he does, stupid!' she told herself. 'Stop caring!' she ordered to herself as if it was possible.
"When?" she asked in a whisper.
"After my graduation." Claire said drying the tears that had finally fell upon her cheeks. She took a deep breath before carrying on. "We tried to talk to him, we tried to convince him but he can be so stubborn." She said sniffing.
"Sawyer even went to talk to her but Jack got mad when she told him so we just gave up." Sun said defeated. "It's not the end of the world, we'll still each other." She said trying to cheer the other up but she failed.
"It won't be the same." Claire said and if the situation were not this sad, Kate would have smiled at her childish voice.
In the mean time, on the other side of the city, on a basketball court…
"Dude, you're screwed!" Hurley said to Sawyer laughing when he missed his third shot in a row.
"Shut up Big Mama." Sawyer snapped, frustrated.
"That's it. I think we should take a break." Jack said putting the ball down and heading toward a wooden bench where a bottle of water and a small towel were waiting for him.
"What do you mean 'it'? We can still beat you." Sawyer said pointing at his team, which was constituted of Jin and Michael. Jack was playing with Hurley and Charlie.
"Sawyer, you're busted. Just let it go." Jack said before drinking some water.
"Whatever. If Sayid was here…"
"It wouldn't have made a bloody difference." Charlie finished smirking.
"We always won." Hurley finished proudly. Sawyer rolled his eyes angrily. He looked at Jack and decided to drop it when he saw his friend. Jack was working a lot and with his Sarah issue, things were rough for him lately. He would not admit it to anyone but he was glad to see him relax a little. He reluctantly went to seat next to his teammates and took the water bottle that Jin was handing him. He took a sip and sighed deeply, enjoying the hot breeze. He also had a lot on his mind lately.
"So, how is Lilly's mum?" Charlie asked Sawyer changing the subject into a more serious one. Sawyer sighed deeply and looked down at his hands.
"Not great." He replied sadly.
"The chemo didn't work?" Jack asked turning into Doctor mode. Sawyer shook his head.
"How is she holding up?" Hurley asked and Sawyer let out a frustrated groan.
"She's so damn stubborn. She doesn't want my help. She keeps saying that she's fine but I know she's not." Some one else would have been surprised to see in Sawyer's eyes so much care and concern and to hear so much worry in his voice but his friends knew that he cared a lot about Lilly. A lot more than he was letting on. A lot more than he would admit to himself. He sighed again and they all noticed how he tense he was. "It was a long week." He said in a barely audible whisper and they all agreed.
"First, the arrival of Kate." Hurley said.
"That's not a bad thing." Jack said before he could even stop himself. They all looked at him smirking.
"She's really nice. She was a great support for Claire today." Charlie came to help his friend.
"Second, Claire is pregnant." Hurley carried on.
"Yeah. You should have seen her at the hospital yesterday." Jack said unable to forget the sight of a teary and desperate Claire seating all alone in a bench outside the hospital.
"You should have seen her today." Charlie said proudly. "How she handled the whole date. She was amazing." He said grinning.
"Yeah, right!" Sawyer snorted, regaining his usual sarcasm. "As if it was the only thing that mattered now."
"What do you mean?" Jin asked.
"She's free now." Sawyer pointed out.
"Dude, she's pregnant." Hurley said.
"You think it's gonna stop him?" Sawyer asked laughing. "He was already hitting on her when she was off limits."
"I'm still here, you know." Charlie said a little irritated by Sawyer.
"Unfortunately." Sawyer retorted with a smirk. Charlie sat down next to Jack and ignored him. They sat silently for several minute, everyone wrapped in their own thoughts. It has been a long week indeed.
"Where's Sayid, anyway?" Michael asked after a little while, leaning back against the bench.
"He had…um to finish something." Jack said smiling widely.
"Spill it Doc!" Sawyer said smirking. He knew something was going on. Jack shook his head.
"I promised I won't tell." Jack said not able to erase the smile that was spreading against his sweet face.
"Oh come on Jack. It's us, what is he up to?" Jin asked.
"Who said he was up to something." Jack asked raising his eyebrow.
"What, you think we're stupid or somethin'? We saw the cheeky grin on his face all week long. He's preparing something, I'm sure." Michael said raising an eyebrow.
"We're bloody sure." Charlie added. They all looked at Jack expectantly. He chuckled and shrugged.
"You'll know in time." He said with a smirk.
"Dude, it's not fair. How come he told you and not us?" Hurley asked a little offended by Sayid secretive behaviour.
"He didn't tell you guys because you're unable to keep a secret, especially from the girls."
"Oh and you can?" Sawyer asked raising an eyebrow.
"Of course I can!" Jack replied defensively.
"Yeah right!" Jin snorted. "Sun never learned that I had a huge crush on her in high school."
"What, you're still on that? It's ridiculous. First of all I made a mistake, I didn't meant to tell her, it kinda came out of my mouth before I could stop it. And second of all you should thank me; without me you wouldn't be married to the only woman you love." Jack said smiling but Jin did not look too convinced by his speech.
"Yeah, I would have preferred that you made your mistake else where than in the middle of a crowded cafeteria." He said the memory still fresh in his mind.
"Yeah I know, I'm sorry but you know I always had a bad timing." Jack said smirking.
"So why the girl shouldn't heard about Sayid little secret either?" Charlie asked. Jack looked away, not wanting to answer.
"Because it concern one of them." Michael said sitting straighter.
"Sticks." Sawyer added with a smirk.
"What would he be preparing to her that is so important?" Hurley asked.
"It's important enough for him to keep it from us." Charlie added.
"Could we just drop it, please?" Jack asked pleadingly. He knew that they were close to find out and Sayid will certainly not be happy if his surprise was spoiled. Jin suddenly jumped to his feet and smiled widely.
"Tunrintin tunrintin." He sang the wedding march.
"Marriage?" Charlie asked looking at Jack. The doctor nodded slightly and could not help but smile.
"Awesome, dude!" Hurley said laughing.
"That's really cool, man." Michael agreed.
"Yeah, it's great but please don't tell anyone." Jack pleaded.
"Does Boone know?" Jin asked.
"What do I know?" Boone's voice said from behind them. He was walking toward them and an old man on a wheel chair was rolling next to him. They all turned to greet him and his friend.
"Guys, this is John Lock. John this is everybody. Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, Jin, Michael, Charlie and uh… where's Sayid?" he asked frowning.
"He couldn't make it." Jack said hurriedly, keeping Sawyer from saying something stupid. Sayid had not told him that he was planning to propose to his sister. He knew how much protective he was toward Shannon. He even tried to stop this relationship when it started but when he saw how much they loved each other he began to accept it, it took him quite a while but he accepted it eventually. Shannon was happy and in the end, that was all that mattered to him.
"Nice to meet all of you, finally." John said with a smile. The men nodded and smiled back.
"We heard a lot about you." Charlie said. "Boone said you were some kind of adventurer." He finished with a perplex look. Boone and Jack threw him reproachful looks and he shrugged. "What?" he said defensively.
"Don't mind him." Boone said still throwing angry looks at Charlie.
"Nobody does anyway." Sawyer said and Charlie smacked him on the arm.
"Anyway, I was just heading back home with John when I decided to drop by. Sorry, I had a lot of work, my mother needed me." Boone explained.
"It's okay." Jack said. They all sat back on the bench.
"So who won?" Boone asked eventually, smirking toward Sawyer.
"I give you three guesses." Jack said and they all laughed.
"So what were you up to?" Boone asked.
"Well I was thinking about a shower." Jack said.
"Yeah the girls are probably waiting for us." Michael said getting up. They all said good-bye to John and Boone and headed toward their cars.
Back to the girl's apartment.
"He has to be tall, with blue eyes, long hair, and a muscular chest but with no chest hair…" Lilly said dreamily. They were talking about the men of their dreams.
"Dimples." Shannon said with a malicious smile. "You forgot the dimples. You can't talk about Sawyer without mentioning his cute dimples."
"I wasn't talking about James." Lilly was the only one who called him like that and for some mysterious reason, he did not mind.
"Of course you were." Ana-Lucia said smirking as well.
"What about you Kate? What does the men of your dream looks like?" Libby asked with a cheeky smile.
"I don't have that kind of image in my mind." She answered. It was weird for her. It was as if she was at a slumber party with the most popular girls of the school and she was the new one who everybody wanted to know because she seemed cool but the problem was she did not want to be known.
"Come on!" Claire said with a smile and a roll of her beautiful blue eyes. "We all do." She added. Kate looked at them and gave in; after all, it was not as if she was talking about her past. She could at least give them that piece of herself.
"I want what every girls want…" At that moment, Sawyer slowly opened the door. He heard Kate voice and put a finger upon his mouth, quieting the men. They gathered silently in the hallway and listened carefully. Jack and Hurley were not happy about it but followed them anyway. When Jack heard Kate sweet voice describing the men of her dream he thought that it was not a bad idea after all.
"I don't really care about his look, although it would of course be better if he looked nice." She said with a sheepish smile and they all giggled.
"Of course you wouldn't mind if he had tattoos either." Shannon said smirking and Kate rolled her eyes. "You're not denying it; I'll take note of that."
"Are we back to high school?" Kate asked.
In the hallway, the man turned to look at Jack with questioning looks and smirk when Shannon mentioned tattoos. He looked away, trying to hide a smile, which did not go unnoticed by Sawyer who smirked. Even though they were not able to see the girls, they turned their attentions back to the living room when they heard Kate's voice again.
"I want someone who really cares about me not just someone who pretends to just long enough to lead me into his bed." She began and they all nodded knowing all too much what she meant. "I want someone who's happy to wake up next to me every morning without make up or fancy clothes on. I want someone who accepts me for who I am and not who he wants to see in me. I want someone who would find special and sweet ways to show me that he loves me, like a rose on the pillow when I wake up or a chocolate delicately put next to my purse." The girls giggled and she blushed a little not sure if she should continue. She looked at Claire and the blonde noticed her discomfort.
"Please, carry one. Please it's beautiful." She said pleadingly and the rest of them nodded in agreement. Kate smiled and carried on.
"Ok…um I want someone who surprises me, someone who would make love to me each time differently but always as if I was the last and only one he could or want to love." She said grinning.
"Dude, that's inappropriate, we should show them we're here." Hurley said embarrassed.
"Shut up." Sawyer whispered.
"I want someone who understands me just by looking into my eyes, someone who wouldn't care where I came or what is my past. Someone that wants to have a child not because it's time but because he would have it with me. I just want some one who loves and who makes me feel special." Kate finished feeling slightly embarrassed but confident nonetheless.
"I think you should write that down and publish it as the official description of the perfect man." Libby said stunned by Kate's words. They all laughed.
The men looked at each other not knowing what to do now. Jack came closer to the door. He opened and closed it loudly and they all entered the living room, pretending they just arrived.
Hurley, Jin and Michael went to seat next to their lovers before greeting them by a kiss.
"How was the basket?" Lilly asked Sawyer smiling.
"Good." He replied with a simple nod.
"Good for us." Charlie said smiling but Sawyer ignored him.
"You want me to drive you home?" he asked Lilly.
"No thanks, I got my car." she answered smiling softly.
"You finally got it back?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, it took the garage a month to find what the problem was but they finally found and repaired it." She explained. She looked at Sawyer who seemed a little disappointed.
"I'll miss our ride too." she said with a smile and he could not help but smile too.
"Where's Sayid?" Shannon finally asked. The guys exchanged looks and a smirk appeared on Sawyer's face. Jack noticed it and rolled his eyes.
"Grow up, man." He said. "Sayid called earlier. He said that he was tired and going straight to bed." Jack lied. Sayid told him to say that in case Shannon would ask after him. He knew that his girlfriend would not disturb him if he were sleeping. "And I think I'm gonna follow his example." Jack added. He bent down and put a kiss on Claire's hair who smiled.
"Good night." She said.
"Good night, every body." He said looking at the rest of the group. He looked at Kate and smiled genuinely before leaving. Kate looked down at her hand and smiled to herself. She tried not to, but it was hard to act casual when he was wearing shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt.
"I think I'm gonna head to bed as well." She finally said. "'Night." She said waving at them and she went to her room.
Half an hour later, every body went home and Claire and Shannon were left alone on the couch.
"You're gonna be okay?" Shannon asked for the millionth time. Claire nodded and gave her a genuine smile.
"So what do you think of tonight?" Claire asked changing the subject.
"It was great." Shannon said with a smile and Claire nodded.
"I can't believe that nobody except us noticed that the guys were there during Kate's speech." They both laughed lightly. "Jerks!"
"What a speech…" Shannon said.
"I kept thinking about Jack. She was describing someone who was supposedly imaginary and I kept thinking that she was talking about Jack."
"Me too." Shannon said with a malicious smile. "I hope Sayid is ok." She said a little worried. She had noticed his weird behaviour lately.
"I'm sure he's fine." Claire said putting a hand on her shoulder. Shannon nodded and smiled as well.
A/N: that's it for today. Hope you guys liked it. Please let me know.