Sawyer sat down at his table, Rose settled down in the chair across from him. Both of them started eating the breakfast she'd made. Pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon … the whole shebang. He was already dressed in his dharma jumpsuit, ready for work. The painkillers were starting to kick in and his headache was almost nonexistent by now.

She looked up from her plate, "Who would've thought that you and I would ever have breakfast like this together?"

He looked up from his plate and tried to smile at her, and nodded.

She continued, "You know when you first showed up here a couple weeks ago, and said you'd volunteered to stay on the island, I thought to myself that that doesn't seem quite right. Especially since Hurley had told me all about your beautiful wedding ceremony. You do remember marrying Kate, don't you?" She asked with a big grin on her face.

He looked at her almost annoyed, "Of course I remember."

"Well, anyways, I thought to myself, stay out of it Rose, this ain't your business, so I did. But then I ran into Kate this morning, and she looked like hell to put it nicely and when I asked her why she was here, she looked like she was about to burst into tears right in front of me. And see, I can't recall ever seeing Kate cry. Ever. For anything. And I know this ain't my business, but then I find you lying on the beach like that. Just as sorry looking as she was. So why don't you tell me what happened?"

They locked eyes for a moment, and she could see Sawyers face get tight.

"And sweetheart, spare me lies and for once speak the truth."

He swallowed his last bite, and took a drink of his coffee.

Looking at her, putting the cup back down, he started rubbing his ring on his finger before he sighed and started telling her about everything. Everything that had led up to him coming here, his reasons and why she'd come back and all of it. The whole truth and nothing but the truth. Hurley, Ben and Richard knew the truth too, but for some reason he couldn't help the sense of relief he felt when he opened up to Rose about it. It must be her calming way and motherly nature that she had about her, he reasoned with himself.

Rose had just let him talk. Didn't interrupt him with questions or comments … no, she just leaned back in her chair, she'd put the plate aside, and had both her hands folded on the table right in front of her, listening to what he was explaining.

She hadn't said anything yet, just looked at him, and he looked at her. He searched her face for a reaction to his bold confession about all the events leading up to this.

"Aren't you gonna say somethin'?" He finally requested a reaction from her … anything, just say something.

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table now too, and shook her head.

"Honey, if your head wasn't already hurting right now, I'd punch you."

Whoa … he didn't expect that. He was just about to say something back when she interrupted him before the first word even left his tongue.

"I wasn't finished." She said, which shut him right back up. She locked eyes with him again.

She reached across the table and put her hand over his and giving his a little reassuring squeeze. Then she continued, "That was really stupid but that's real love! You really love her, don't you?"

He nodded his head, with a look on his face as if his biggest secret had been revealed.

"Now I do have a few questions though."

"Go ahead, shoot." He blurted out.

"You seem to have quite a dilemma on your hands now. How do you know you can't tell her the truth? Who told you that you couldn't?"

"Well, Hurley, Ben and Richard seem to agree on that unanimously. I can't tell her the real reasons why I did what I did, and neither can anyone else. And I imagine right now she thinks I did it to get away from her, or something like that." He looked lost, at a loss for words and ideas of what to do.

"Well, the good news is that you have at least 1 month to convince her otherwise."

He raised his eyebrows, "1 month? What are you talking about?"

"I overheard Ben talking to Frank this morning and apparently the submarine won't be back for another month to take Kate and Frank back where they belong. So what is your plan?"

He shook his head, looking down at his hand while playing with his ring again, "I don't have one. For the first time I have not the slightest idea of what to do. Because no matter what I say, I can't leave the island regardless. And besides, what I did can't be undone. There is a headstone on a cemetery in L.A. with my name on it."

Rose sighed before she pushed her chair back and stood up. She picked up his empty plate and hers and walked over to his kitchen sink before saying, "Now there's the spirit, givin' up already."

He stood up too, stretching his arms up over his head, elongating his body into a full blown stretch as he yawned, and then said, "I'm open to suggestions."

She looked up from the water gathering around the dishes in the sink and smiled, "She has no clothes."

He just looked at her.

Rose turned the water off, "I saw Ben handing Frank some clothes. And then Frank said that Kate could probably use a change of clothes too. You wanna get back on her good side without spilling your secret, then you might just have to be very attentive to her."

"Attentive? Yeah, sure, I'll run right over to the mall and buy her a few outfits." He said with an sarcastic undertone.

"Don't you take that tone with me young man." She replied quickly.

"Well, what do you want me to do? Want me to pull down my curtains and get the sewing machine out?"

She dried her hand with a dishtowel, "No sweetheart, don't be ridiculous." She smiled, "But I know where some clothes are."

She opened the door to the basement room of her little Dharma house, walked down the stairs and he followed her close by.

What he came to see was a room full of shelves, filled with clothes, shoes and all sorts of things.

He gave her a surprised look. "Where did you get all this?"

She said, "These are all the clothes that were left behind in the Dharma houses, when Hurley took over this place. We threw a lot of the things out, but I thought I'd keep some of them, for the off chance someone's house might burn down and they'd need new clothes and things." She glanced back at him over her own shoulder. "So, go ahead, take your time. I'm assuming you know her size. So take whatever you want for her. I'm gonna go over to the supply room and get you a few empty boxes to put the clothes in. And then I'm gonna have a little talk with Hurley about this issue. There has to be something he can do."

She started walking up the stairs, and he turned around to say, "Thank you."

"You're welcome sweetheart. But you do realize this is just the tip of the iceberg. After what you did, it's going to take a lot more than a few boxes of clothes to get back on her good side."

He nodded, "Oh, I know."

She was standing by the window staring out into the unknown. One particular house she couldn't take her eyes off. It all looked so familiar yet so different at the same time. Where there used to be a white picket fence surrounding a swing set was now a chain link fence surrounding a paved basketball court. The houses, although remodeled looked the same as they did before. The little changes not to overwhelming that it would catch her eye. She wondered when he would leave his house. Would he come out smiling, as if he didn't have a worry in the world or would he look sad, like he did yesterday. Would he look and feel like her? If he did, then she'd at least give him a chance to explain … maybe. She'd actually eaten breakfast this morning, … to her surprise she'd been hungry. She'd slept in her clothes and felt icky by now to say the least. How did she ever survive living by the beach or with the others. Oh hell, we are the others now … how that thought almost crippled her.

Hurley startled her out of her thoughts, "What are you staring at?" He walked up beside her and looked out the window.

"His house." She said, not a trace of emotion attached to the words … she was secretly proud at herself for it.

"Kate, that's not his house." Kate met Hurley's eyes in surprise. "Uhm, you can't see his house from here, it's around the corner that way."

Now she was embarrassed. She'd been watching someone's house for forever, and it wasn't even his.

"Oh, I guess I just assumed he'd moved …" Hurley interrupted her before she could finish.

"In the house he'd shared with Juliet?" Hurley smiled at her, "Nah, he moved in the house him and I shared way back in the old days. When we came here with Locke. The real Locke I mean."

A soft smile formed on her face against her will. He picked the house that he'd shared a night in with her.

"You know there are a bunch of people coming over here any minute now. Just thought I'd give you a heads up."

"Who's coming over? And why?"

"Oh, we have some new recruits and the first couple of weeks they come over here a few times a week to talk things over. You know, it's kind of hard to explain. You'll see." And with that he turned around and walked into the kitchen to get himself another drink.

"Uhm, I think I'll just go and explore the new neighborhood, if you don't mind? And I think I might need to take a shower, get a little cleaned up." She looked over at the soft sympathetic smile Hurley displayed.

"There's a storage building down by the old boathouse. Do you remember where that is?"

She nodded her head to him, while pushing her hands in the pocket of her jeans.

"It's unlocked, and you can go and get whatever you need. There's shampoo, deodorant, soap, … you know, whatever. Even food, candybars and stuff. So, go help yourself to whatever you need. I'll be here, and like I said, you can come and go as you please."

She flashed him a smile, "Thank you Hurley. One more thing. Where would I lease likely run into him?"

"If you're trying to avoid him then staying out of the jungle is your best bet. As far as I know he's out in the jungle with some troops again today, he's head of security, you know? So they won't be back until right before nightfall. So he won't be anywhere near here these houses today."

"Thanks." Was all she said, she grabbed her backpack and walked out the front door. Heading for that storage place to get a few things.

As he was going through stack after stack of folded up clothes, he had to wonder if this would even be the tip of the iceberg. This might just be a tiny speckle of ice just forming somewhere. What he'd done was unforgivable, unless she knew the truth … but she would never know the truth, so all of this was basically pointless.

He had been so angry at himself since the day he'd watched her disappear in his rearview mirror. But at least he was comforted that she wouldn't know what he was about to do. He was comforted by the thought of her moving on, after all she had gotten over Jack fairly easy, sure she will get over me even quicker. She'd have Claire and Aaron … and Cassidy and Clementine to help her move on, and I'm sure Miles will stick to his promise and make sure she'd be alright.

He sighed, she wasn't supposed to come here, and he was never supposed to explain anything to her. Ever!

He carried the large cardboard box up the stairs. He'd found pants, shirts, even a few dresses and shoes for her. As he made his way into Rose's Living room, he could hear her call out. "You're all set James?"

He put the box down on the floor for a moment. "Yeah, I think this should all fit her." He looked at her, "You think I should take it over to her right now?"

"Oh honey, you're gonna have to wash those first. They've been sitting in my basement for almost a year now."

Damn. He hadn't even thought of that. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Do you know where she is though?"

"Well, she was going in the supply room, getting some shampoo and other things when I went to get the boxes. I think she went back to Hurley's house, but I'm not sure."

"Alright, I guess I head home then and wash these first. Thanks." He picked up the box and walked out while Rose held the door open for him.

He walked across the paved path, right by Hurley's house, wondering what she was doing in there. She was so close, and yet it seemed like she was a million miles away.

When he finally reached his little house on the prairie, he managed to get the door open without even setting the box down. He backed his way in, pushing the door open all of the way. He'd left the radio playing this morning, he hated the house completely silent when he came home. The voices and sounds of the radio gave him a false sense of someone here, and he welcomed it. He walked right down the hall, and opened the door that led to the basement, bringing the entire box down there with him.

He dumped the box onto the cement floor and started loading the washer right away. He put in the detergent, even fabric softner and walked back upstairs. As he closed the door that led down to the basement, he got startled by the noise of running water somewhere. He opened the door back up, heard the washer fill up down there in the basement, but that wasn't it. That's when he realized his shower was running.

Son of a bitch, did I leave the water running this morning. I was pretty hungover at first. He shook his head to himself as he ripped the bathroom door open. When he rushed in, he immidiatly was brought back to reality when he saw a backpack on the floor and her clothes folded up on top of the backpack.

She heard the door swing open, and out of reflex peaked her head out of the shower curtain. Son of a bitch … he was supposed to be in the jungle somewhere.

"Freckles?" he asked with such a surprised and vulnerable undertone to his voice, it almost melted her heart right there. Almost!

Her eyes locked with his as she was holding onto the shower curtain for dear life. "What are you doing here?"

He smiled at her weird questions. Doesn't she realize that she's in his house and not the other way around? "I live here sweetheart. What are you doing here?" He was proud at himself that he could even form a sentence, yet such a good one with her standing there butt naked and soapy wet hanging on to his shower curtain.

She stumbled on her words, "Uhm … Hurley said that you'd be gone all day, and he has some kinda meeting in his house, so I came here to get cleaned up."

You can invade my house anytime. Invade anything and anyplace you please, baby. Loved the thought that she'd come here … his house. She could have went to Ben's place where Frank was. But she didn't ... she was here. His house!

"Do you need anything?" was all he brought out.

"Do I need anything?" she raised her eyebrows at him as she repeated the question. Yeah, I need a man that loves me enough to not walk out on me and pretend he died just to get away from me. But instead she asked, "What do you mean?"

"Shampoo, soap. You know, anything." Me all over you, ... or someone to scrub your back.

She shook her head, "No, I got everything I need. So could you get out now."

There it was, the rejection he'd expected but hoped wouldn't come. "Sure." He started to walk out, but then stopped and turned back around. She still looked at him, as if she wanted to see him leave with her own eyes, not trusting him enough to do as she said.

"I found some clothes that should fit you. They're in the washer right now, probably be about an hour before they're washed and dried. I can borrow you something else until then if you want."

She could see how hard he was trying, but she was still furious inside. But then moments later that feeling crawled back into her heart … the one that said 'he didn't die, he's right here'. So she nodded, "Okay."

He smiled as if he'd just won the lottery, "Okay, I get you some clothes then."

End Note: Reviews are always appreciated! Thank you for reading!