"Damn, you know a lot of people," commented Kate.
Jack watched as she pushed her chair away from the table and tipped it onto its two back legs. She let her hair down from her ponytail, and sifted her fingers through it.
"Maybe just compared to you. Are you sure you don't want to invite anyone else?" he asked. She shook her head hurriedly. "A lot of them are my mother's people, actually."
Jack stood up from the chair he'd been sitting at, his list of guests in front of him on the table. He wandered vaguely toward the kitchen.
"Has Shannon found a new roommate yet?" he asked.
Kate shook her head. Somehow, without any conversation taking place regarding the matter, they'd decided to live together at Jack's house after their marriage. She didn't explain that she didn't have to find anyone new, that Cooper would simply place another one of his girls there, as he had once done for her.
"Do you need help packing?" he asked. She shook her head. He'd barely been in her bedroom, and she didn't want to give him the opportunity to sort through the relics of her life.
"Shannon will help me," she said, by way of an explanation.
Idly she picked up his list of guests, smiling to herself whenever she came across a name she even vaguely recognized.
"You're inviting Juliet?" she asked in surprise.
"She's a friend."
Kate nodded, carefully searching for any mention of the name "Sarah", and found none.
"You're welcome to invite any of your exes," said Jack. He searched her face, and Kate knew that he was longing for her to mention something, anything, about her life. "Sawyer, maybe."
Kate laughed.
"Sawyer isn't my ex."
"Oh? He seems so..."
"He's protective. He's a good friend,"she explained.
"And he's coming?" asked Jack.
"Of course. I need to fill up my side," she said, laughing. He grinned. His guests overpowered hers to the extent that they were going to bother to have the guests stick to specific sides.
"So he'll bring a woman?"asked Jack. Kate nodded.
"Sawyer has lots of women."
Silence descended upon them. Kate looked at Jack, and saw that he was unable to keep a smile off his face. She was glad that she'd been able to honestly tell him that nothing had happened with Sawyer. It seemed to set him at ease.
"Sarah's not coming?" she asked, deciding there was no better time for the conversation.
"Mom probably invited her. She won't come," he said reassuringly. Kate stood and walked over to where he was standing.
"Why not?"
"We didn't part on the best of terms."
Seeing as this was the most information she'd received on the subject, Kate was fully willing to pry.
"Why?"
"I wasn't around. Marriage wasn't anything like she thought it would be," explained Jack.
"Most things aren't," she observed, turning her back on him to walk back to the table. Jack put his hand on her arm to stop her.
"She cheated on me. I wanted to make it work. I hadn't been doing the best I could, and I wanted to start to. She didn't."
Kate turned back to face him, knowing she had no words to say to him that could make this better.
"So I'm going to try harder. I'm going to be around," he promised her. She let her hand slip in to his, contemplating the beautiful blonde, Sarah, and of how much she had changed Jack.
Kate searched for words, knowing he deserved them.
"I lost my virginity to a man named Tom," said Kate abruptly. Jack's eyes met her in surprise, willing her to continue. "He was my best friend. And I loved him, and he thought we were going to be together forever and ever, and get married and have lots of kids, and I knew I never could, even though I wanted to."
"What happened?" asked Jack.
"I left. I ran. I couldn't stay put," she explained.
"Do you regret it?"
Jack's question was simple, his expression was stoic.
"He's happy now," she said simply. And I'm happy, too."
Considering, Kate thought that Jack had dealt with this revelation of her former life astonishingly well. Nevertheless, she was relieved when the phone started to ring. Distracted, she broke eye contact with him to look for it.
"I think it's coming from your room. I'll get it," said Jack, heading off toward the bedrooms. She nodded and turned back toward the guest lists.
"Oh..."
Kate looked to the door Jack had opened, and bit back a laugh.
She ran to stand beside him, staring into the bedroom he'd all but entered. She rolled her eyes at the sight that greeted her.
Her roommate was lying on her back, her boyfriend Sayid atop her. His muscled body moving in perfect, even thrusts. Her long, smooth leg around him, her head tilted back.
He hurriedly closed the door, glad to have not been seen by them, and turned to Kate.
"You live in the other room, don't you?" he asked. She nodded, restraining a giggle. She studied his face, noticing he looked red and uncomfortable.
"You okay?" she asked cautiously. He nodded tensely.
"Yeah. Of course. Just a little bit... turned on," he admitted.
She agreed awkwardly, and felt a shiver as she noticed how intently he was watching her. She understood, in that moment, how badly he wanted her.
"Shannon is beautiful," conceded Kate. Jack smirked.
"I'm not thinking about Shannon. You're beautiful, Kate."
Blushing, she took Jack by the hand and led him back to the table.
Kate and Jack took some advantage of having the apartment to themselves, after Shannon and Sayid left separately. Kate was infinitely glad when Jack did not question Shannon's abrupt departure in a cocktail dress, hours after Sayid had left.
They spent the evening as they were rapidly becoming accustomed to – Jack cooked in her small, inadequate kitchen, she watched him over his shoulder and did her best to not be actively unhelpful.
They ate dinner on their laps, watching the James Bond marathon on TV. Kate compared the various James Bond's in order of how attractive she found them until Jack became nervous, at which point she moved in closer to him and encouraged his arm to slide around her shoulder.
"Could Sarah cook?" she asked in a small voice. Jack chuckled.
"Better than you, maybe."
While this answer was not as reassuring as she'd hoped it would be, she decided that it was entirely acceptable.
"Are you still scared?" he asked. She shrugged. She lied.
"No."
More reassured by her answer than she had been by his, Jack pulled her farther in to him and firmly kissed the top of her head before letting his attention drift back to the movie.
Author's note: I'm so sorry for not updating lately, I'll try and get better on that. Thank you for sticking with me!