Disclaimer: I really don't own Lost. All the characters (except Lilly and Marissa) were born in J.J and Damon's minds (lucky bastards lol).
A/N: I want to thank you guys so much for your lovely words, you're great reviewers. Here's the next chapter of "Founding Forever". Hope you'll enjoy it, let me know what you think of it. This is for all the Shayid fans, who miss Shannon and think that her death was really unfair (just like I do).
I also wanted to tell you that since last chapter, every chapter title would be inspired by a song. Last chapter it was "what a girl wants" by Christina Aguilera. This one, it's "love" by Keisha Cole.
Chapter eight: Love.
It was a week after the girl's night.
Claire was still having morning sickness but now that she had the support of her friend and family, she was feeling much better. It became a morning routine for Charlie to drop by every day and have breakfast with her. He never forgot to bring peanut butter with him. Someone would think that he was waiting for something in return but the smile that spread on Claire's sweet face every time he opened the front door was all the reward he needed or wanted.
Kate was happy about her new work. Her boss was nice and she got along pretty well with her colleagues. The dinner was situated in a respectable neighbourhood so she was not bothered by 'drunk dumbasses' as Shannon so poetically put it. As far as waitressing was concerned, it was the best job she ever had. Her new friends kept coming eating here, saying that the service was excellent but her favourite visitor was, of course, Jack. He stopped taking lunch from home or eating at the cafeteria. Even though it shortened his lunchtime, he would prefer coming to eat with Kate or being served by Kate. They would talk about the latest gossip and laugh a lot. It scared both of them how close they got in so little time but they chose not to think about it. After all, he was engaged and leaving the city in three months and she barely had a life. Well of course, he did not know that she was running but he knew that something was wrong. He wanted to ask her, not to judge her but to make sure she was okay. He wanted to protect her but something told him she did not want to be protected. Therefore, instead of talking about the important things, they fooled themselves and pretended than there was nothing more between them than a refreshing friendship. He liked that she was not treating him like some kind of hero that he was not and she liked that he did not force her into talking about herself. They liked each other's company and even if they should, they tried not to ask themselves the important questions. Pretending and hiding were arts and Jack and Kate had become masters in these areas through the years.
Between his work and his constant visits to Lilly's mother, Sawyer had not a lot of time to come see Jack or the girls but he took the time to send Claire a package. When she had ripped the brown paper off, Claire looked at Kate and Shannon and they all smiled. He had sent her a football. 'It better be a boy!' said the little note that was in the package with the gift. It was so typical of Sawyer. He would never tell it to your face but he would found ways to show you that he cares about you nonetheless. Marie, Lilly's mum was not getting better. The doctors were less and less hopeful about her state and her chances to recover. Mother and daughter knew that the end was near and tried to spend as much time together as they could. Lilly even took some time off. Sawyer's apartment was five blocks away from Lilly's one so he would spend a lot of time with them; trying to get their minds off things but it was not an easy task. Boone, who was Lilly's ex-boyfriend, would find the time to come see them as well. In fact, ever since Sawyer told the men during their basketball party that Marie was not doing well, all his friends found the time to drop by. Marie loved her daughter's friends and enjoyed their company a lot.
It was not in the same scale, by any means, but Sayid was having some issue of his own. He thought that preparing the night of his proposal was going to be great and exciting but it turned out that satisfying the person you love could be more difficult than you think. First, he had to keep Sawyer and the rest of the group from saying the truth to Shannon. Luckily enough, Sawyer was busy lately but it did not mean that Charlie or Michael were willing to keep their mouths shut. With the help of a threatening Jack and a pregnant and hormonal Claire, they managed to keep them away from Shannon. Then, he had to explain to Shannon why he had not drop by with the men after the basketball party. He tried to go on with Jack's lie but she did not bye it. It resulted with them arguing and they were not speaking to each other for two days now. He tried to apologise several times but she would not let him finish. She would leave the room, slamming the door behind her. He knew that it would not last long but it could last long enough to cause him problems. The most important one was to convince her to accept a date with him. How was he supposed to ask her to marry him if she did not even want to be in the same place as him? Claire, who was having a hand in it from day one, tried to help him. She knew Shannon was not mad because he did not came of that night but because he was hiding something from her. Claire knew what he was hiding, in fact, every body knew but they obviously could not tell her what it was. Kate and Claire managed to make her face him long enough for him to present a respectable and sincere apology.
"It's true, you were right." He said bluntly. She was seating across of him, her arms crossed over her chest defensively, her brows frown angrily and looking everywhere but at him.
"I knew I was." She mumbled. "What was I right about?" she asked making him chuckle softly.
"I am hiding something from you, something important." For the first time she looked right into his eyes, fear apparent in her own. She let her arms fell on her lap and kept looking at him, fear replaced by anger now.
"What?" she asked through her teeth.
"I was keeping a secret from you and I still am." He said simply, keeping an expressionless face. Beside the fact that he was lying to her for an entire week now, what made her head on the verge of explosion was his emotionless voice. Does he even care? She kept thinking. It was really mean of Sayid to act like he was acting right now but it was for the sake of their relationship and even though he tried to push this thought away, the blank look she was giving him at that exact moment was pricelessly funny.
"Go to hell! You can keep doing what you're doing with the person you chose to, I don't care anymore!" she screamed, standing up. He stood up as well and grabbed her waist before she could leave and slam the door for the thousand times this week. He loved it when she overreacting, she reminded him of the spoiled child she used to be.
"Let go of me!" She ordered angrily.
"No." he said looking at her and giving her an amused smile.
"What is wrong with you?" she asked a little distracted by his behaviour.
"What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you? You really think I can cheat on you?" he asked, hurt obvious in his voice. Shannon's face softened when she heard the sound of it.
"Of course not." She finally said. "But you've been acting so weird lately; I don't know what to think anymore."
"I have a lot on my mind, it's true but I promise I will tell you everything in time. In fact, I was planning to have a dinner with you tomorrow night, where I could tell you everything. What do you think?" he asked with a smile. She looked unsure for a few seconds but before he could understand what was happening, she had wrapped her arms around his neck and was kissing him. Kate and Claire who were standing on the frame of the kitchen door looked at each other and smiled.
"Mission accomplished." Claire said with a satisfied smile.
"Good work Littleton." Kate said.
"Thank you. You did well too, Austen." Claire replied and they smiled at each other.
"Don't think you're off the hook." Shannon said with a frown. "We're not done!" she said and he nodded.
"I hope so."He said softly before brushing his lips against hers again.
The worst part of his job was what he did the next morning. He was not afraid at all but he knew that it was not going to be easy but it was important for Shannon. He respected Boone a lot; he could not ask his sister in marriage without telling him first. He arrived in front of Boone's apartment, took a deep breath and knocked.
"Hey buddy what's up?" Boone said opening the door smiling.
"Hey. I'm good, thanks. Can I come in, I have something important to tell you." He said seriously and Boone's eyebrows creased in worry. Shannon's brother step back and let his friend come in. Sayid went to seat on the couch and Boone went to the kitchen. He brought back two cans of coke and he sat opposite Sayid, handing him a can.
"So what's up?" Boone asked and Sayid chuckled.
"A lot. I've been preparing a surprise for your sister and it's taking a lot of energy and time."
"What kind of surprise?" Boone asked with a smile.
"A big one." Sayid answered mirroring his smile. "In fact I even had to go to New York."
"Really? When?"
"Wednesday. I went to see Shannon's grandmother." Boone's frowned again, intrigued.
"You went to see the mother of Shannon's mother?" he asked amused.
"Yes, she had something that belonged to Shannon's mother. Something that I really needed." He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a little back velvet box out of it. Boones tensed as he recognized it.
"You needed Shannon's mother's engagement ring? Why?" he asked although he knew why.
"I love your sister Boone, more than I loved anyone in my life before and I want to try to make her happy, for the rest of our lives. Tonight, I'll ask her to marry me." Sayid revealed unable to hide the smile that appeared on his face. Both men remained silent for a while.
"You came for my blessing?" Boones asked with a hint of surprise in his voice. He knew Sayid was a confident man who always did what he wanted. He was a little surprise to see him seating on his couch, asking for permission to marry Shannon.
"Well I'm not asking for your permission, I just thought you'd want to know." Boone nodded.
"Then I guess my next line should be Congratulations." He finally said with a smile and he held his hand to Sayid who shook it. They looked at each other smiling, got up and exchanged a manly hug. "It's really great." Boone added with a genuine smile.
"Thank you." Sayid said smiling back. They hang for a little while and Sayid left an hour later, relieved. He thought it would be the hardest part but it turned out it was the easiest. He went back to his apartment where he found Jack, Claire, Kate and Charlie seating in the leaving room. Shannon was still at work and called him while he was on his way back home to tell him that the photo call was going to be longer than she thought and that he had to call the restaurant to cancel the reservation. He tried to sound disappointed and hung up.
"So how is Boone?" Claire asked apprehensively.
"Good." He said winking. "It went great." He added reassuringly with a smile.
"You seem very proud of yourself." Kate pointed out with a smirk and he simply smirked back.
"She just called saying she would be late and I had to cancel our reservation." He said smiling widely.
"And how is that good news?" Charlie asked confused and Claire rolled her eyes.
"It leaves us more time to set the whole thing up." She said smiling at Sayid.
"You're going to help?" Charlie asked clearly not happy about the idea of Claire doing anything unnecessary in her state.
"Of course I am! Charlie, I'm pregnant not dying. I cannot seat around and miss the fun."
"We still have time." Sayid pointed out, looking at his watch.
"I'm hungry." Kate declared.
"Let's have lunch then." Jack proposed.
"Sounds good to me." Charlie said and five minutes later, they were all seating in Jack's car.
The day passed by pretty quickly. Claire and Kate had helped Sayid set up his surprise late that afternoon and now, he was seating in the girl's apartment wearing a fancy black suit, waiting for his girlfriend. When she arrived, it was past 10:00 PM and she seemed exhausted. She entered the living room and stop when she noticed his clothes.
"Are we still going somewhere?" she asked sounding tired.
"Yes we are." He said kissing her cheek. "The girls are waiting for you in your bedroom with a surprise." She threw him a quizzical look but he just nodded toward the door. She still looked unsure but she was smiling nonetheless; she loved surprises. She opened the door and found Lilly seating on her bed while Claire was on hers. Next to the blonde, a beautiful sleeveless green flannel dress was disposed on the bed, waiting for her. On the floor, just under the dress a beautiful pair of light green sandal was delicately standing. Claire smiled at her widely.
"Come on, we gotta get you ready." She said with excitement and grabbed Shannon's hand leading her to the bathroom. Half an hour later, Shannon went out of the room wearing the dress and the sandal. Her hair was beautiful pulled up in a chignon and several locks were falling loosely. Lilly had lent her light green earrings that matched her outfit perfectly and she was wearing just enough make up to accentuate her beauty. In other words, she looked absolutely stunning and even if he was the one who bought her the dress and the shoes, Sayid lost his ability to speak when she showed up. She smiled shyly at him and held her hand to him. He took a few steps and took her hand with his. They smiled at each other and she enjoyed the look in his eyes. It was a mixture of love and passion.
"I don't think there's a word in the English vocabulary which can say how much you're beautiful tonight." He said lovingly and she felt herself blush. She leaned and brushed her glossy lips against his, the kiss quickly deepened and she felt her knees go weak as he let his tongue slip into her month and explore it as if it was the first time. He reluctantly pulled away and they had to catch their breath.
"Thank you." She whispered and she hugged him tight.
"You're welcome." He answered with a smile. "We have to go."
"No, no, no, no, you're not going anywhere before we immortalize this moment." Lilly said and Claire held a digital camera in front of her eyes. Shannon smiled and Sayid rolled his eyes. They stood close to each other and he put an arm around her waist.
"Perfect match." Claire said before taking the picture.
"Can we go now?" Sayid asked and Claire nodded.
"Have a nice dinner." Lilly said before the door closed behind them. From the hall, Shannon could hear the high-perched squeal that Claire and Lilly let out once they were gone.
In the mean time, on the beach Jack and Kate were keeping Sayid surprise safe. With the help of the girls, he had set up a beautiful table, which was protected by a beautiful and high white tent. It was an open one, which aloud one's eyes to wonder around the beautiful sight in front of them. On each corner, outside of the tent they had driven in a long torch that was burning. It gave to the picture a wild and ancient side that Sayid appreciated and knew his lover will as well. He had ordered dinner from a luxurious restaurant and Jack and Kate were in charge of keeping the table safe and the food warm. They were seating on the chairs, silently looking at the crashing waves. Kate seemed lost on her thoughts and Jack could not help to think that she looked cute under the moonlight.
"So Kate, why did you volunteer to come with me on this dangerous mission of surveillance?" he asked making her look at him with a smile.
"Nothing good on T.V" she said shrugging and he chuckled.
"I mean, didn't you wanna be a part of the girly preparative?" he asked looking at intently and for her brief second she felt herself drown into his gaze. She regained control of her eyes and thoughts and shrugged.
"Claire and lily are Shannon's best friends; they are the one who should be with her. Plus I'm not that kind of girl; I've never been attracted by girly stuff." She explained and he nodded.
"Thought so too." he simply said looking back at the ocean. She kept her eyes on him for a little longer than she should have and eventually mirrored his position to watch the ocean as well. They sat in a comfortable silence for a long time, looking and smiling at each other from time to time.
"You know, the last time I swim in the sea I was nine." She said with a smile and chuckled at the chocked expression he was giving her.
"How come?" he asked gently.
"Don't know. My mom used to work a lot so she did not have enough time. I used to go with a friend of mine when we were kids but when his parents divorced we just stopped going." She said with a sad look that broke his heart. He did not know what to say after that, he was not used to hear talk about herself.
"It's really too bad. I love swimming." He said with a smile. She really appreciated the fact that he did not try to comfort her, although the warm smile he was giving her was soothing. "Especially by night." He added and his smile turned into a smirk. She noticed a wicked sparkle crossing his eyes and she felt herself tense apprehensively. He got up from his seat and dangerously got closer to her.
"You wouldn't dare." She said and his smirk widened. "Come on Jack, we're clothed and we had to keep an eye on the table and…" but before she could finish he shoved her over his shoulder and he ran toward the water. She felt impressed and, even though she would never admit it, slightly turned on by how easily he had lifted her up. She began to laugh hysterically as he stepped into the water. He lead them far enough for the water to reach his elbows.
"Jack let me go!" she said between two giggles.
"As you want." He said with a chuckle and he threw her under the surface. After a few seconds, he began to panic when he realised that she was not coming back up. Suddenly he felt her arms around his knees and before he knew what was happening he was falling. Before he could regain the control of his members, she was crawling over him and keeping from moving. Despite the late hours, they could still see each other thanks to the moonlight. She gave him a playful look and he went along with it. He pulled away from her grip easily and put his arms around her waist. Her shirt was pulled up because of the water surrounding them allowing their skin to touch for the first time, he realised how soft, and warm her skin was despite the cold water. Their eyes were locked with each other's and even if they had tried to, they would not have been able to look away. Suddenly the lack of air became unbearable and he brought them both up without letting go off her. As they resurfaced, they took a long breath of air. They kept looking at each other, feeling attracted to the other one as they never felt before with anybody else. She realised that she had her arms around his neck and it explained why their bodies were so close to one another. She also realised how comfortable she felt in his arms. His grip was gentle and soothing but firm enough to keep her safe. She knew that if they did not stop now they would probably do something stupid, something they would not be able to erase but she also knew that while looking into his adorable eyes of his, it was the last thing she cared about. It was new; all of these feelings were new for her and they were keeping her warm. He had managed to do something nobody was able to do for ages; he made her forget her past and all her fears. She felt his thumb caress her arms and she felt herself shiver under his touch.
"Good job, guys!" they heard someone yell at them from the beach. Jack reluctantly looked toward the person and let go off Kate when he realised that it was Sayid. He looked back at Kate and smiled.
"We're in trouble." She commented making him chuckle lightly. She did not know what to feel anymore. When she heard Sayid, she felt a little relieved because he saved them from doing a huge mistake, even if it did not feel like it while they held each other. However, when Jack had let go off her she felt her heart ache from disappointment. They swam back to the shore and smile apologetically at the couple.
"Don't worry we were taking care of everything." Jack said.
"I bet you were." Shannon said with a wicked smile. She was standing next to Sayid; with one of her hand holding one of his while, the other one was holding her new pair of sandal. Jack turned to look at her preparing himself to roll his eyes at her but she stopped short when he finally got a better view of her.
"Wow, Shan'. You look amazing." He said making her blush a little.
"You really do." Kate added with genuine smile.
"Thanks." Shannon said mirroring Kate's smile. Jack looked at Sayid and noticed how proud he seemed to be. He nodded at his friends and they smiled at each other.
"I think our job is done here." Jack said and Kate nodded looking at him for the first time since they got out of the water. Jack was mesmerised by the sight he had in front of him. She looked even more beautiful than usual with her wet curls falling widely over her shoulder and the moonlight reflecting in her already beautiful green eyes. "I don't want to get sick." He said finally looking away from her.
"Oh, if I get sick then you will really be in trouble." She said making him raise an eyebrow with amusement. "Good night." She added winking at Sayid.
"Thanks." He said with a nod.
"I'll see you in the morning." Shannon added.
Kate and Jack left and Shannon turned to look at Sayid. She put her palms on his chest and slowly made her way to his neck. She leaned and gave him a passionate kiss. She pulled away with a satisfied smile.
"Thank you." She whispered and turned to look at the beautiful table he had prepared. 'This is amazing. It must have taken you a lot of time and work." She said putting her arms through his.
"Nah." He said shrugging and she raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Well yeah but I had help." He said and she giggled. "Shall we?" he said leading her to her seat. They sat and they began to eat and talking.
"So did you saw the look on Jack's eyes?" she asked with a smile that made him laugh. Some men could find annoying the fact the women loved gossiping but Sayid found that side of Shannon very funny and cute.
"Yeah. He looked at her like I look at you." He said and she smiled at how sweet it sounded. She loved Sayid's romantic side. She was used to this kind of surprises. He would always find fantastic ways to show how much he loved her. Even if tonight was to apologise about his cruel behaviour yesterday, usually it was just like that; because he felt like it. It seemed to make him happy and she could not be or feel more joyful.
"I love you, you knew that, right?" She said taking his hand in hers.
"Yes I did and I love you too." he answered and they leaned to share another sweet kiss. They kept eating until they were done. They talked and they laughed. Sayid's heart drop every time he saw her smile and he laughed at how stupid it was. They knew each other for more than two years now and she still had this strong effect on him. It was as if she had the keys to his heart and that he would not be able to survive without her. That is why he had done all this, not because he would feel proud of himself, not because he wanted something in return but because he wanted to make her happy for the rest of her life. He did not want to miss one single smile.
"Thank you Sayid, it was great." She said with a smile.
"You're quite welcome." He said and put a sweet peck on her cheek.
"You didn't have to though. I was a little mad but it was too much trouble."
"I didn't do it to apologise." He said seriously and she looked him with questioning eyes. "Tonight is a very special occasion." He added and she looked even more confused.
"Is it? Because I'm sure we didn't miss any anniversary." She said and he chuckled lightly.
"It's not that. I love you Shannon. You're making my life worthy; these past two years with you were the best of my life. You're the missing part of my soul…" as he was talking, he got up from his seat and knelt in front of her. She took a deep breath and put her hand over her mouth, realising what he was doing. Her heart filled with tears and he smiled putting a hand on her cheek.
"Don't cry sweetheart." He said caressing her cheek with his thumb. "I love you Shannon and I want to try to make you as happy as you're making for the rest of our lives. I want to have children with you. I want to be the only one." He took a deep breath and try control his shaky hand as it pulled out the small black velvet box. "Shannon Rutherford would make me the immense honour of becoming my wife?" he finished, opening the box and revealing her mother's engagement ring. As she recognised it, she began to sob and threw herself at him. He held her close and let her cry on his shoulder; knowing they were tears of joy. "Is that a yes?" he asked chuckling and she giggled. She pulled away but kept her hands on his shoulder, her face was gleaming from her tears and he swear he could see the moon reflecting in her chocolate eyes. She nodded vigorously.
"Yes I will." She replied her voice shaking from her crying. He felt his heart grew warmer and warmer as he smiled widely and slid the ring around her finger. She looked at it and smiled. It was perfect. She looked back at him, feeling happier than she ever felt.
"so does it mean that we're serious?" she asked with a smirk
"Quite definitely not, I I do that to all women I saw on my building hall." He said faking indifference and she laughed. She looked intently at it ans she knew that it was the best thing that could happen to her. She saw it in his eyes; she saw the real, the true and the only love.
A/N: this is it, chapter 8. I hope you guys liked it. I think I have to explain the Jate part. I wasn't planning on it, I wanted to dedicate this chapter to Shayid and only to them but this idea came to me as I was thinking of the next chapter and I thought it would be better to put it in here. I really enjoyed writing it and I knew you were waiting for something to happen between them so I really hope you enjoyed reading it. Please let me know what you think. I wanna let you know that I changed the ending as well. It was supposed to be more dramatic but a lot happened and I did not want to tell too much already but I'll definitely save the drama for a future chapter so be warned. Well enough for now, please hit the purple button, it really means a lot and it's helping me write.