A/n: Next chapter, immediately, as promised. Hopefully I will be more on top of things after this! (Assuming I can tear myself away from The Hunger Games series...) This chapter contains one little moment, that for some reason is one of my favorite of this entire story (and it's really tiny), as well as... a major development. (*tease tease*) Read on.

Chapter 15

The following day, things between Jack and Addison probably should have felt more awkward, but because both were silently and steadfastly determined to ignore the almost-kiss in the courtyard, they returned without too much difficulty to the routine of their friendship. They shared a large brunch at the hotel before packing up and heading to the airport roughly an hour and a half later. When the pair arrived at LAX, they discovered that their flight time had been changed, the result of which meant they were suddenly running late for their flight instead of being comfortably early.

"Oh, come on!" Addison groaned.

Jack shook his head with frustration. "Nothing we can do – come on, let's hurry."

They rushed as best as they could through the usual security checks to their gate, where the airline employee stationed there was cheerily issuing a last call for boarding.

"You can't just change the time like that," Addison panted irritably, shoving her tickets at the uniformed woman.

"It was changed early this morning, and we do post the changes on our website. It is up to those flying to ensure they arrive early or on time for their booked flight." Her smile was plastic and her tone infuriatingly light.

Addison glared at the woman and looked ready to retort but Jack shot her a look and mumbled, "It's fine, let's just go."

Addison reluctantly kept her mouth shut but shot the woman another fierce glare before heading down the walkway to the plane.

She complained quietly to Jack as they put their luggage into the overhead compartments about the whole thing. He had lifted her mood by the time they took off, however, with amusing stories about past flights he had been on with nasty flight attendants or overly friendly passengers. When he looked away to purchase each of them a set of earphones, she wondered if it was hard for him to get on a plane again after what had happened – she wouldn't have been able to, ever, she thought – and wished she could ask him how he did it.

When they were almost to Seattle, the plane hit a little turbulence. Though the turbulence was indeed quite mild, she still saw Jack's knuckles go white as he clutched the arm rests. He let go briefly as the plane settled and she grabbed his hand in hers.

Jack turned to her in surprise and she forced a nervous smile on her face.

"I know it's hardly any turbulence, but I've never been great with flying," she lied. With perfect timing, the plane shook slightly again and she squeezed his hand hard, inhaling sharply as though truly anxious.

"It'll be alright," he assured her. "We're almost there."

He leaned his head back in the seat and closed his eyes. Addison watched his shoulders relax a little and felt comforted herself at the sight. She continued to hold his hand until the plane began its descent for landing and was glad he didn't know she had never really been a nervous flyer.

By the time they'd retrieved their luggage and were sharing a cab back to their apartments, it was shortly after 5 o'clock.

Addison rubbed her eyes. "I can't believe that after all that food we had this morning at the hotel, I'm actually hungry right now."

Jack chuckled and joked, "I didn't think I would be hungry until midnight, at least. What makes it worse is the thought that I actually have to get up the energy to cook some form of supper now."

Addison moaned. "Don't remind me. I don't know why I'm so tired, but the first thing I want to do when I get home is sleep. Especially because I have an early shift tomorrow."

"Me too." he sighed.

A couple minutes passed and then Addison perked up slightly. "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we order take out at one of our apartments for supper? Then no one has to muster the energy to cook."

"I like your style." Jack grinned. "Whichever one is closest."

"Deal." Addison returned his smile.

They ordered Thai food from a place three blocks over from Addison's apartment and it wasn't long before it arrived. They spent the evening watching TV and chatting, simply relaxing. Though they were both exhausted, time managed to slip by without them noticing until it was nearly midnight.

"I can't believe I stayed up this late," Jack grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "Tomorrow morning is going to come way too fast. And I still have to get home!"

"Why don't you stay here?" Addison offered. "You still have your things from the weekend, and I have a couch."

She kept her gaze trained in a casual manner on the TV. She meant the offer as a gesture of friendship, she truly did – she'd said the couch was free, after all – but that didn't stop her over active imagination from already racing with possibilities and unlikely scenarios. For this reason, she almost hoped he would say no, so she could slow her rushing pulse and quell the butterflies that had suddenly sprung up in her stomach.

Jack shrugged. "Why not. We're working the same shift tomorrow anyways, so we can carpool. You sure you don't mind?"

"Not at all." Addison smiled and chanced a glance his way.

She couldn't help wondering if this was a dangerous combination: him in her apartment, and her sitting next to him, aware that she had fallen in love with him. She forced herself away from that avenue of thought. She felt as though she was always the one who took a chance, who put herself out there, who got her heart broken. When it came to love, or even lust, she forged forward swiftly with almost no second thought. For once in her life, she was going to be patient. She would wait, she wouldn't push. She would let him stay at her place tonight because they were friends and nothing more. That was that.

"Thank you, Addison," he said. "I appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Jack."

Early the next morning, when the alarm clock in Jack's phone went off, he sighed grumpily, feeling cheated out of a good night's sleep. This was of course his own fault, as he had stayed up late the night before watching TV with Addison, but he was sleep-deprived and edgy nonetheless.

He was ready quicker than Addison and proceeded to make them some fresh coffee so they wouldn't have to stop and buy any on the way to the hospital. He felt better after he got some caffeine in his system too, so he wasn't quite so surly when he saw Addison.

"Good morning," he greeted when she finally emerged from the bathroom.

"And good morning to you." She took the coffee mug from his outstretched hand. "How was the couch?"

"Comfortable, actually."

"Slept ok then?"

"Slept great. Just not long enough."

"Here, here."

They finished up their coffee and headed out of Addison's apartment. Despite feeling tired, Jack found he felt strangely at ease and content as Addison drove them to Seattle Grace. It was something he hadn't felt in a long time, and attributed it to the weekend he'd spent with Addison. He wondered what it would be like if he began dating her and wondered if she would even want to date him.

She was an incredible woman and a brilliant surgeon. He felt good when he was with her and it was easy to forget all the horrible things that happened to him. She made him happy and he cherished his friendship with her. He shot her a sideways glance before returning his gaze to the passing buildings and scenery.

And she's completely beautiful, he thought.

His mind was still turning on a similar track when Addison pulled into the parking lot a short time later. He stopped short when he saw all the activity in front of the hospital. He noted dozens more vehicles than usual in the lot, many of them not even properly parked. There seemed to be a crowd of people at the entrance but it was difficult to see why.

"What's going on?" Addison asked.

"I don't know," replied Jack, but a cold feeling of dread was slowly building in his stomach. He was pretty sure he could see boon mikes and large television cameras which meant that the crowd was full of the paparazzi. It looked like there were dozens of bystanders, too, all hovering and wondering what the commotion was all about.

Addison parked her car, far away because there were no empty spots closer, and the pair made their way across the lot. As they neared the entrance, she said quizzically,

"Is that… the press?"

Jack's heart was thumping wildly in his chest now and he fought the urge to turn around and run. It's me – they found me, he thought anxiously. It's over. Everyone is going to know now and everything will be different. God, please let this be a mistake – something else. Let it not be about me…

They came around the side of a large SUV and then everything seemed to happen at once. Several members of the press at the back of the throng caught sight of Jack and Addison approaching the hospital and began shouting to one another, passing the word up to the front.

"It's him!"

"It's Shephard!"

Jack's gaze darted between the various faces and cameras as they rushed forward, while Addison stepped close to him, looking startled and pale. They began walking quickly, practically having to push their way through the paparazzi as questions were hollered at Jack and microphones where shoved in his face.

"What really happened on that island, Jack?"

"Is it true you flew to LA this weekend to attend an event with several other Oceanic survivors?"

"Dr. Shephard, why did you move to Seattle from LA?"

"Witnesses say this hospital is where you now work – is that true?"

"Police say Kate Austen was very nearly caught last night in Seattle. Have you heard about this report?"

"Jack, do you know anything about what happened? Did she try to contact you?"

While Jack had been keeping his head down, fighting through the crowd and refusing to speak a word, at the onslaught of Kate related news, he couldn't help himself. He glanced up at the nearest reporter who'd been trying to badger him about Kate.

"What about Kate Austen?"

The cameras continued clicking and flashing or recording but the crowd fell quiet the moment he spoke. The man Jack had addressed looked joyful that he was the one who would get a scoop or quote.

"Last night, Kate Austen was spotted at a diner outside of the city. A citizen notified the police who were in pursuit of Miss Austen as she fled into the city, but they lost her somewhere downtown and were unable to locate and apprehend her. Do you have any comment on this, Dr. Shephard?"

He held the microphone out and Jack swallowed hard, his heart pounding. Kate was in Seattle? He wondered if she had tried to contact him, to find him at his apartment perhaps. He felt dizzy at the news and his mind was reeling. He hadn't checked any sort of news outlet for anything new on Kate in almost two days and now this had happened.

"No," he finally said hastily. "No comment."

A/n: Thanks for reading!