Quickie:

bonboni - She had 3 glasses of wine. What do you think?
xox-emily-xox - It was not Damien. Trick of the mind/eye.

I'm always so insecure about Kate's character in this chapter. Prove me right or wrong in my feelings.

Chapter 20

Kate pulled into the parking lot of the bar she'd assumed the men would be in, according to what she'd overheard Charlie saying. She and Sun had been making small talk throughout the ride there. Sun had quieted though, once they pulled into the lot. It was most likely because of her nerves.

"Have you ever crashed a Bachelor's party before?" Sun asked Kate.

"No. Have you?"

"No."

They both laughed.

"I'm not sure if I should be scared of what we might find inside," Sun said seriously.

Kate laughed. "I don't know. Charlie's a pretty respectable guy."

"Is he?"

Kate thought for a moment. Charlie did have an unfortunate past. But…so did everyone these days. And he had taken responsibility for his actions.

"Yeah. And so is Jin," she reminded Sun.

Sun's expression eased and Kate knew that her last words had the right affect. She unlatched her seatbelt.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go find them."

Kate and Sun entered the bar. It was quiet and there were only a few men there whose heads turned upon Kate and Sun's entrance. Kate looked around for a minute, her eyebrows creased. She could've sworn this was the place Charlie had said.

"Something I can help you ladies with?" the bartender called.

Kate and Sun exchanged glances, and went to the bar.

"Do you know if there's a bachelor party here?" Kate asked, hesitantly.

"Yeah. You two the strippers?"

"Strippers?" Sun asked, both surprised and appalled.

The bartender came around the bar and took them both by their arms.

"Right this way," he said, leading them to a door where they could hear the shouting of men and loud music.

"But we're not…" Kate tried.

"Right in here," he said, shoving them in and closing the door behind them.

She and Sun exchanged confused glances. No one had noticed anything. They looked around, watching. Kate instantly spotted Sawyer playing pool with Jack, Charlie, Hurley, and another man that she didn't know, and wearing a smirk. She knew just by that smile that he was winning. And he most likely wasn't letting anyone forget it, judging by the annoyed expression Jack wore.

"Sun!" Jin looked up from the bar in surprise.

She looked at Kate, who smiled and nodded in allowance, then went over to him. They were lost in their Korean language after that.

"Oy! What're you doing here!? No gals allowed!" shouted the man playing pool, having spotted Kate.

All of the men around the table looked up and saw her at the door. They all looked surprised, with the exception of Sawyer who looked rather intrigued. She looked at him, raising her eyebrows as her mouth formed into a guilty grin. He raised his cue and stood for a moment, just gazing. He handed the cue to Jack, who stared at him.

"I'll be right back."

He started to walk over to her and she met him halfway.

"What do you think you're doin' here, Freckles?"

She grinned, wryly. "Came to join the party."

"This is a bachelor's party!" the man shouted again.

"Oh shut up, Liam!" Charlie said to him, loudly.

"Hey Charlie," she called, smiling as she walked over to the pool table.

Sawyer watched her, stunned. "Unbelievable," he muttered to himself.

"I thought you and Claire agreed no strippers?" she teased.

"What?" he said, looking surprised. "I didn't hire any."

"Oh, well the bartender out there thought Sun and I were the strippers. I don't know why he'd say that."

"I didn't get any."

Sawyer turned walking away toward the bar. Kate looked at Jack and saw eyes moving. She turned around, catching Sawyer trying to escape.

"Hey!" she called to him.

He turned around, his eyes narrowed.

"Where you going?" she asked.

"I was goin' to get another drink."

She studied his expression for a moment and finally noticed he was repressing a smirk. She raised her eyebrows and her smile faltered.

"You hired the strippers?!"

He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. His smirk said it all.

She stared, shocked. "Real nice Sawyer."

"Oh come on, Freckles. What's a Bachelor's Party without naked girls?" he teased. "I mean if we all weren't stuck here, we'd probably be at home with our girls, in bed. Am I right?" he shouted to the room.

"YEAH!" all the men agreed.

She looked around at all of them, noticing even Jack laughing. She stared at Sawyer again, who was smiling proudly. Too proudly, as a matter of fact.

"Naked girls, huh?" she said with a mischievous grin.

She nodded and walked away from him, over to the bar where several of the men were taking tequila shots. His smile lessened a bit, as he watched her curiously. She grabbed a shot glass filled with tequila and downed it. Sawyer's grin was gone now, and his anger level rose.

"Son of a bitch…" he said under his breath.

"Hey bartender! Can I get a change of music?" she shouted, and turned around staring at Sawyer again with a spiteful look.

The music started and she stood on top of the bar. The men went wild with shouting and cheering. Sun stared up, appalled, raising her hand to her mouth. She couldn't believe she was seeing such behavior from Kate. After seeing the glare in Sawyer's eyes, she knew that no good would come of it. She urged Jin to leave, and they did. Jack quickly came around the table and stood at Sawyer's side.

"She's had too much to drink," he informed Sawyer, quietly and concerned. "I could tell just by her eyes when she came in."

Sawyer stared at him, shocked, then stared back at her wildly. She was starting to move slowly with the music, unbuttoning her blouse teasingly. Sawyer was thankful that she had a tank top underneath the blouse. He stared around the room and noticed all the men were watching her now. He couldn't let it go on. When the blouse was off and flew into the crowd, he put his foot down and went over to her.

"That's enough, Freckles," he hissed.

"I thought this is what you wanted?" she shouted, grinning.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her down from the counter.

"You know damn well it ain't," he said quietly. He glared at all the men. "SHOW'S OVER!"

"Let go of me, Sawyer," she said angrily.

"Time to go," he said, taking a firm hold of her wrist and pulling her toward the door.

She pulled back sharply, freeing her wrist. He turned around, staring at her with his eyebrows lowered. She started to walk away from him but he grabbed her arm again. When she tried to get away again, he lifted her up and carried her out over his shoulder, ignoring her protests. As they walked out of the bar, he grabbed her blouse from the man that was waving it in the air. He let her down only when they were outside and in the parking lot.

"What the hell is wrong with you?' he shouted.

"What? Isn't that what you wanted?" she snapped, opening the door to the car.

"What in the hell made you think I wanted that?" he said, standing outside his door as she got in.

"Naked girls, right?"

He looked away from her, shaking his head in disgust.

"You had other women on their way to do the same thing! What does it matter who the woman was?"

"It just does!" he said, getting in the car and starting it. "Jesus…You gotta turn your jealousy into that?"

"Jealousy?" she laughed, looking away.

"Put your damn shirt back on," he said, tossing it at her.

She stared at him, glaringly as she buttoned the blouse up again. He gripped the steering wheel and stared away from her, but didn't take the car out of park just yet.

"What the hell gave you the right to drink? You know damn well you ain't supposed to be."

"I have every right to do what I want to."

"Not when you're carrying a kid, you don't."

She scoffed, and folded her arms, leaning back in the seat. She looked away from him again, out the window. He pulled out of the parking lot finally.

"Christ, Freckles."

She turned back to him. "You know, why don't you just say what's really bothering you, Sawyer?"

He tightened his grip as he drove. "I don't know what you're talkin' about."

"I don't think my drinking has anything to do with why you're angry."

"Oh really…"

"So let's hear it."

He shook his head, his anger level increasing rapidly.

"Come on, Sawyer. Tell me," she urged.

He breathed in, long and hard. She wasn't rational enough, he reminded himself. She was still drunk, as normal as she might have sounded.

"Well?"

"JUST DROP IT!" he snapped.

They drove silently back to the apartment that was, thankfully, empty. And so it would be for the rest of the night. Charlie was staying at his brother's that night and Claire at her sister's with the rest of the bridesmaids. Kate had been invited, but the night had obviously taken its turn.

While Kate retreated to their room, Sawyer went into the kitchen to get her a glass of water. He found her sitting on the bed, her knees against her shirtless chest, wearing only her bra. Probably the affects of the alcohol, he'd assumed.

"Here," he handed her the glass. "It'll help."

She stared at it, then back up at him. "I don't want that."

"Just drink it," he shoved it in her hands, annoyed.

"Why won't you tell me what's got you so mad?"

He sighed and walked over to the sliding door, peering out.

"Because you're drunk, sweet cheeks."

"Don't make up excuses," she said, getting up walking to him.

"I'm NOT!"

"Now you're stalling."

"God…WOULD YOU JUST FORGET IT!?"

"WHY!?"

"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT THEM LOOKIN' AT YOU LIKE THAT!" he shouted as he whipped around. He sighed, taking out his package of cigarettes. "You know you…you think you can just…"

"What?"

"You get up there…and you start takin' your clothes off…" he paused, taking a long drag of the cigarette. "I ain't gonna sit back and watch all them…watchin' you. Lookin' at you. I don't want them lookin' at you. You ain't theirs to look at."

"Oh so you own me now?"

"I didn't say that!" he said, frustrated.

She shook her head and went back into the bed, lying curled on her side now, her back facing him. He opened the sliding door to the deck, letting the smoke out of the room. Kate instantly pulled the blankets over her.

"You stand up there and you do that and next thing you know they'll all be grabbin' at you and tryin' to get in your pants."

She said nothing, but he heard her breathing. He took another drag of the cigarette and exhaled a long stream of smoke out the door. The room was silent for a few minutes, and Sawyer had been certain she'd fallen asleep. He tossed the finished cigarette over the ledge of the balcony, and watched it until it was gone. He went back into the room closing the door, but still staring out it.

"I'm sorry," Kate said quietly, almost startling him.

He turned around and walked slowly over to the bed, sitting on it. She didn't turn over to face him. He looked down at her and pulled back the bits of hair that were in her face, tucking them behind her ear.

"I know," he murmured.

In a few minutes, she was out. Unfortunately, he knew she wouldn't remember anything when she woke.