Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST

Kate stood impatiently at the door of the dorm room waiting for Jack. He was driving her to Tom's house and she could hardly wait to get there.

Jack walked out of his room and grinned as Kate glared at him. "I'm coming!"

"Come on Jack!" Kate said.

It was a bright Saturday afternoon, and Jack and Kate had been rooming together for a couple days. Kate had learned a lot about Jack in that time.

Jack grabbed his keys and they went down the stairs and into his car. He had a pretty nice car. He said that his parents had bought it for him and that's why it was such an expensive car.

Jack turned the car on and they started driving as Kate got out her directions.

"You nervous?" Jack asked.

"Oh yeah." Kate laughed nervously.

"Well, I'll be there right?" Jack looked at her briefly.

"Yeah. You don't have to do this. I can go in alone."

"No that's okay. I want to see how Tom has put up with you all of these years. Maybe he has some tips."

"Hey!"

"It's true."

"I don't bother you. What do I do?" Now Kate was curious.

"Well, you always leave your plates in the sink, you never put them in the dishwasher."

"The dishes are your job." Kate pointed out.

"Yeah but you could make it a bit easier for me by rinsing out the plate." Jack grinned at her with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Yeah whatever. So what else?"

Jack grew serious for a second. "You always fall asleep on the couch every night." Jack remembered how he had almost kissed her forehead the night before.

"How does that bother you?" Kate asked.

"Trust me, it does."

"Wait, turn here. It's on this street!" Kate pointed.

"Okay, okay. Don't freak out."

"I'm not."

"Sure you're not." Jack pulled in front of the house and turned the car off and looked at Kate.

"Aren't you going to get out?" Jack asked.

"I will. I just need a second."

Jack nodded. This guy must mean a lot to Kate.

"Maybe you should go in alone." Jack suggested.

"No!" Kate whipped around to look at him. "I mean, okay." She coughed and looked at him pleadingly and he nodded.

"I'm coming. Don't worry." Jack assured her.

"Thanks. I feel so stupid."

"Why?"

"I haven't seen him for a long time. What if he's already married and has kids?"

"He wouldn't do that to you. Come on, let's go." Jack pulled his keys out of the ignition and got out of the car. He shut his door and kept eye contact with Kate as he walked around to her side of the car. He opened the door and she just looked at him.

"Am I gonna have to carry you up the steps or what?" Jack put his hands on his hips and acted like he was reprimanding a little girl.

"I'm coming." Kate said quickly. She jumped out of the car and slammed the door.

Kate practically ran up the steps but stopped in front of the door. Jack walked around her and rang the doorbell, and then pushed Kate in front of him.

A couple seconds went by and Kate started to get restless, shifting weight from foot to foot.

"Calm down." Jack whispered in her ear, and Kate found herself shivering. Why would she react that way to Jack whispering to her? Kate pushed the thought out of her head when the door opened, revealing a woman of about twenty-five, with red hair.

"Can I help you?" The woman said impatiently.

"Um, I'm looking for Tom Brennan?"

"Yes?"

"Can I talk to him?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm a old friend of his, are you his roommate?"

The woman laughed. "No, I'm his wife."

"Oh." Kate tried not to show her surprise, but the woman noticed the way her face fell.

"I'm Rachael." The woman opened her door wider. "Come on in."

Kate stepped inside and then looked back to make sure Jack was with her.

"Have a seat. I'll go get him." Rachael told them, motioning to the couch.

Kate looked around her. It was a fairly large house with two stories. Jack sat on the couch and waited for Kate to join him.

"It's huge." Kate whispered to Jack as she sat down next to him, trying to hide her disappointment.

"Yeah, well, I've seen larger."

"You have?" Kate turned to Jack.

"Yeah. My parents live in a pretty big house. I'll take you there sometime."

"Really?" Kate grinned.

"Yeah, we'll have a barbecue or something."

"Katie?"

Kate and Jack looked up.

Tom practically ran down the stairs and enveloped Kate in a hug. "Oh how I've missed you!"

Jack couldn't help but notice the way they hugged. They obviously had a history.

They broke apart and Kate struggled to compose herself. She couldn't cry in front of Jack and Tom's wife.

"Hi." Tom offered a hand out to Jack and Jack stood up and shook his hand.

"Hi, I'm Jack, Kate's room-"

"Boyfriend." Kate smiled at Tom and put an arm around Jack, pulling him close to her.

"Boyfriend." Jack quickly recovered, trying to hide the shock on his face, putting in arm around Kate's shoulders. He couldn't help but notice how perfectly she fit in his arm.

"Boyfriend?" Tom asked. "That's great, Katie!"

"Well I see you had no problem moving here." Kate said.

"Well, we've gotta move on Kate. You know that right? How's your mom?" Tom said awkwardly.

Kate shrugged. "I had to get out of there. I couldn't handle being around that pig." Kate said in disgust.

Tom nodded and turned to Jack. "So how did you meet Kate?"

"Yeah, Jack. Tell him how we met." Kate looked up at Jack, regretfully pulling away from him.

"Uh." Jack tried to think of something. "We've known each other for a while now. A mutual friend introduced us."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Jack's always trying to play it down. We actually hadn't met until earlier this week, but we'd been sending letters to each other for years, When we finally met, it was just… magic. I don't know. It's like we're meant for each other. It's like fate or something."

"Fate? I thought you didn't believe in fate, Katie." Tom said.

"I didn't. Not 'til I met Jack." Kate smiled up at Jack and he smiled back at her, wanting more than ever to kiss her. He quickly shook his head. He didn't want to think about that. They were roommates and nothing else.

"Well we're having a party next weekend and we'd love for you guys to come. It's a couples party anyways, so it will work out." Tom said.

"That sounds great!"

"Well I might be busy next weekend." Jack started to say.

"No you won't." Kate said.

"Okay, I won't." Jack sighed.

"Kate's already working her magic on you, huh?" Tom smiled.

"Oh yeah." Jack stared at Kate. He wondered if it was possible to fall in love with someone this fast. He hadn't ever believed in love at first sight before, not until now.

A/N: So Jack's fallen for Kate, but they're gonna be fighting their feelings for a while now.