A/n: This chapter relies a bit on that flash-forward scene season 4 at Hurley's birthday, but mostly is new because of the circumstances. Once again, thank you to my reviewers - you guys rock. ;)

Chapter 13

On Saturday, the pair flew down to Los Angeles early in the morning. They went straight to their hotel to drop off their things and since they had the rest of the day before Hurley's party in the evening, Jack suggested they do a little sight-seeing. Addison had visited the city a handful of times, but she had never really had the time to actually check out all the touristy things (though she'd always wanted to). Having lived in LA for many years, Jack had seen pretty well everything but was happy to show her around anyways.

They hit all the usual spots, including a section of the Walk of Fame, Grauman's Chinese Theatre and Rodeo Drive (where Addison pretended she was rich and snobby, affecting an accent and playing the part well enough that a sales woman fawned all over her, as she tried on a couple dresses in the most expensive store they could find). They had lunch at a little out of the way hot dog place that Jack loved and later they drove by the hospital where he used to work.

Late in the afternoon when they arrived back at their hotel, Addison whined that they hadn't spotted any celebrities out and about. Jack reminded her that they had driven past Gary Sinise out walking his dog, which was followed by her repeating that it hadn't been him though Jack maintained that it had. The pair separated into their rooms, still arguing good naturedly about Gary Sinise, and started getting ready for Hurley's birthday party.

As Jack dressed, he felt some trepidation about the party because he knew it was going to be strange to be with the others without Kate also present. He also was not looking forward to any questions he might have to field about what happened with her, her whereabouts and so on. He was determined to banish her from his mind, however, and did his best to shake away her memory for a few hours.

"Addison?" Jack rapped on the door that joined his and Addison's hotel rooms. "You almost ready?"

She opened the door a moment later and Jack felt his breath catch in his chest when he saw her. Her dress was a deep blue color with a thick band of shining black fabric at the waist. When she stepped forward, the lower half of the dress, which reached just above her knees, flowed gently. She'd left her hair mostly down, though a portion was held neatly back with a small black clip.

"You clean up nice," she remarked with a smirk.

"Thanks," Jack said rubbing his hand over his freshly shaved face. He glanced down at his own attire – a fitted black suit jacket with matching pants and a crisp charcoal-colored button up shirt – before returning his gaze to Addison. "Ready to go?"

She scooped up a thin black shawl and her clutch. "Let's go grab ourselves a taxi."

During the cab ride to the Reyes residence, Jack worried about Addison meeting others from the Oceanic crash. He still didn't feel ready to disclose the entire truth about what had happened to him and therefore didn't exactly want to be standing there chatting about it in front of her. As they pulled up in front of the massive house, he decided he might just have to make sure the others knew that Addison wasn't aware of the whole truth and ask them to keep it that way.

Addison meanwhile, was feeling elated to be attending a function with Jack. He looked extremely handsome and she couldn't help but stealing little glances at him when she knew he was busy looking out the window. She fretted silently that she'd chosen the wrong shoes, as the shiny black heels she'd chosen were impossibly high and likely would have her feet throbbing in a few short hours, but they matched the black on her dress too perfectly not to wear.

Jack and Addison arrived at the party with just a few minutes to spare. Hurley's mother, Carmen Reyes, bustled out at once, hastening them to the backyard where the rest of the guests were.

"Hugo will be here any minute!" she said, her voice colored by a Spanish accent.

The pair joined the small crowd gathered in the expansive backyard. Jack frowned as he glanced around, noting the Hawaiian island theme of the decorations. Hurley's father came forward a moment later with large fake leis.

"Here, here," he said, handing them each one. "Glad you could make it, Dr. Shephard. Hugo will be so happy."

Mrs. Reyes shushed her husband at once. "He's coming!" she whispered hoarsely and waved for everyone to stop talking.

Jack and Addison exchanged amused looks and put on their leis.

Only a few moments later, Hurley threw open the patio doors and everyone shouted, "Surprise!" Mrs. Reyes rushed forward, kissing her son on the cheek and placing a lei around his neck while he looked a bit stunned and confused, but Jack was fairly certain he was putting it on for his parent's benefit. On Hurley's other side, his father clapped his back cheerily.

"Happy birthday, son! Were you surprised?"

Hurley glanced between his parents. "I had no idea – you got me!" He sounded fairly convincing, but Jack couldn't help chuckling quietly. Hurley may not have known exactly which day his parents were planning the surprise birthday, but he had known it was going to happen for a long time already.

Addison had to stop herself from staring at the bigger man while he and his parents exchanged typical "post-surprise" comments. She'd noticed some of the other Oceanic survivors scattered amongst the other guests previously, but somehow seeing Hugo Reyes not too far away from the spot where she was standing made everything she'd read about Jack feel suddenly much more real, though she couldn't articulate why exactly. This man too had survived the horror of a plane crash and three months on an island.

She hastily swallowed down the emotion fast rising in her throat. She would have to pretend she knew nothing about the crash – nothing past the minimal that Jack had told her that night at the bar. That was the only way she was going to get through this party without letting on that she in fact knew nearly every detail.

The party officially kicked off about then, and Jack retrieved a pair of drinks from the Tiki bar for himself and Addison. He shook his head in disbelief at the excess of island themed objects everywhere as he made his way back to her. He wasn't sure if the Reyes' thought they were being funny or ironic, but he personally was finding the theme quite irritating.

"Everything ok?" asked Addison when he'd reached her and handed her a drink. "You looked kind of… dark and stormy right now."

"Do I?" he looked up, clearing his features. "I was just… thinking."

"Penny for your thoughts?" Addison smiled.

Jack glanced around at the other party guests briefly, spotting Hurley across the sun dappled yard, laughing and talking animatedly.

"He was in the accident with me." Jack finally replied. "In fact, there will probably be… several people here from the… accident."

Addison dropped her gaze to her drink for a moment, though Jack didn't notice as he rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. She couldn't imagine how hard this must be for him, to be surrounded by people who were traumatized, same as him. She wished he would talk to her about it so she could help him through this.

Why must he do everything alone? She thought. Aloud, she asked, "Are you ok?"

He cleared his throat. "I will be. Will you excuse me for a second?"

She nodded. "Sure."

Jack crossed the yard to where Hurley was standing, and his friend embraced him happily at once.

"Good to see you again, dude." Hurley grinned. "Who'd you come with? She's pretty hot."

Jack laughed. "Her name is Addison. We work at the hospital together."

"You two, like, 'together' together?"

He shook his head, glancing briefly back at her. She was chatting with a couple and he knew instinctively she was rambling on about something that had happened at the hospital one day. He was smiling when he faced Hurley again.

"No, we're just friends."

"Sure, dude. Sure."

Jack chuckled, then reluctantly changed the subject. "She doesn't know about what happened – or about Kate. I haven't told her."

"She doesn't know anything about it?"

"She knows that we were in a major accident."

"Uh, biggest understatement ever, dude."

"I know, it's just…" Jack sighed. "It's too much. Even now, it's too much."

"I get it, don't worry. I haven't really told my parents all the details either. They know the gist of it." Hurley shrugged. "Maybe someday, you know?"

"Exactly. So if we could just… well, avoid the topic when she's around?"

Hurley gave Jack's shoulder a pat. "Not a problem dude. I'll let the others know."

Jack thanked his friend and rejoined Addison, who was chatting easily with Juliet. The blonde woman smiled and greeted Jack with a hug.

"It's good to see you, Jack." She said and pulled back. "Addison was just telling me about a certain story from your intern days. I must say it's one I haven't heard."

Jack chuckled sheepishly. "It's not really a story I tend to spread around."

"How do you two know each other?" Addison asked. She was fairly certain she hadn't seen this woman's face in all her Oceanic-related reading a few nights ago and couldn't help wondering if she was Jack's ex or something.

"We used to work together," Jack answered swiftly. Juliet's eyes flicked briefly to him but she nodded in agreement. He could tell she was curious as to why he hadn't said where they really knew each other from, but she played along effortlessly.

As they began discussing Juliet's work at a fertility clinic, several people approached them. Addison's pulse quickened as she recognized James "Sawyer" Ford, Sayid Jarrah and his wife Nadia – two crash survivors and his childhood sweetheart. She held her smile in place, firmly reminding herself that she wasn't supposed to recognize any of them.

"Wondered if you'd be here, Doc." Sawyer smirked. "Heard you'd up and gone north to Washington."

"I did," Jack smiled and shook his friend's outstretched hand, then joked, "Got tired of all the sun."

Jack greeted Sayid and Nadia next, before proceeding to introduce Addison to them as his good friend and coworker from the hospital in Seattle where he now worked. As he chatted with his old friends, he felt himself relax. Being with them was familiar and welcome, and even though they'd met under horrible circumstances, he felt closer to all of them than anyone else in his life. He had to silently admit, however, that Addison was closing in on being added to that list of closest friends.

The only problem with being surrounded by these people was the painfully obvious fact that someone was missing. Kate, of course, was not present and the ache of that fact clawed at his chest and he ignored it fiercely. He pulled his attention back to the conversation.

Addison was content to listen as the group talked about everyday things. Though she'd repeatedly promised she wouldn't think about the crash and information she'd read, she couldn't help it. These people, these survivors, were all around her and she watched their faces as Jack talked about his new life in Seattle.

She could tell that these people admired and greatly looked up to Jack, and she felt a flood of warmth towards him. She thought of the press conference video, how he had been the one to face the press and release the statement on behalf of everyone. It almost felt as though he was a leader to them, the person who made decisions and held them together. Even Sawyer, who took every opportunity to tease Jack throughout the conversation, seemed to respect him deeply.

There was no mistaking the connection and bond he had with these people.

Hurley approached the group shortly after that, his round face beaming.

"Mom said Claire is coming too, she's just running late." He said. "I'm glad you guys all made it here today."

"Couldn't miss it, Tubby," said Sawyer. "Heard there was an open bar."

Hurley cocked his head at his Southern friend. "Dude, I actually miss the nickname thing."

They laughed and Hurley began peppering Sayid and Nadia about life in Iraq. Jack noted that Juliet slid her hand into Sawyer's. He still felt a bit surprised to know that they were dating, but then he saw the way Sawyer looked at Juliet, and his doubt melted away.

He finished the drink in his hand just as Hurley began explaining how Sun had called earlier that morning. She and Jin were just about to leave for the hospital, and Hurley gushed that there was probably a new baby Kwon in Korea right now.

Addison listened to Jack glean more details from Hurley about Sun's phone call for a moment, before she excused herself and headed to the bathroom.

She hadn't been actively thinking about it and it wasn't a decision she had consciously come to, really. But as she had stood there watching Jack in that crowd of people, Addison simply knew: this wasn't attraction, or mere friendship, or anything seemingly simple like that.

She'd seen the way he'd looked at her when she'd emerged from her hotel room earlier. It had made her heart skip a beat to see him gazing at her like that. Maybe he was in love with someone else, but maybe – just maybe – he was falling in love with her too. She was certainly willing to wait and see where things went between them, as long as it took.

Oh God, she thought, staring at her reflection in the guest bath mirror. Of course I would go and fall in love with the one guy I can't have.

Addison sighed heavily.

A/n: As a quick aside here, I have to say that when I was writing this story, I kept thinking of that bit from How I Met Your Mother when Ted is narrating about when "I love you" comes about: the moment you think you think it, the moment you know you think it but aren't sure of it, the moment you know you know it but can't say it out loud yet, and the moment you can't keep it any longer. Something to keep in mind! ;) Thanks for reading!