Quickie:

bonboni - Filled with Skate indeed. After all, this is a Skate story.
SassyLostie - Oh lordy. More angsty? And I thought I was writing a soap opera:)
xox-emily-xox - "You have a great mind!"/ Well thank you. I like to think I do too. And I will try to work on PB&J. But it's going to be hard at first. Still getting over my beloved's departure. sniffles

Eeps! I'm getting to be so greedy for reviews and giving too many chapters. But you guys are just such amazing reviewers.

Chapter 25

"Hi…everyone," Ana greeted awkwardly.

"Hi Ana," Jack said quietly.

Kate looked down at her plate, unwilling to even look at Ana-Lucia. Ana glanced at her. She didn't expect Kate to say anything to her anyway. She guessed that Sawyer would have told her what had happened by now. That was reason enough for Kate to dislike her, and she knew it.

Her eyes slowly traveled around the rest of the table. Jack's greeting wasn't surprising, being that he was a nice guy. But the fourth person at the table, the blonde woman who sat between Jack and Kate, was shooting death glares at her. She wasn't sure if she really deserved that. Whoever this woman was, she didn't really have the right to look at her that way. Her only guess was that this woman knew who she was. She grinned down at her plate then back up at them all. The table certainly was full of tension.

"Look if this is how it's gonna be, I'll find somewhere else to sit," she told them.

Kate looked up finally, apparently taking a liking to the suggestion. Sawyer, on the other hand, started shaking his head.

"You don't gotta do that. I'm sure we could all act mature about this and get along," he said, glancing at Kate.

Kate peered at him, stunned. She couldn't decide whether or not to be angry or proud. She held his gaze for a moment, hoping that her eyes would pierce through him and change his mind. However, he challenged her gaze by raising his eyebrows. And she could have sworn his eyes were almost lit with amusement! She looked away from him in disbelief.

"Sawyer's right," Jack chimed in. "You don't have to leave."

Of course Jack wouldn't want her to leave, Kate thought, feeling a slight twinge of jealousy. She switched her gaze to Allison, whose eyes mirrored her own. She knew that Allison, of all people, wouldn't let him get away with it.

"Actually, Jack, I think maybe she should go," Allison said.

"Allison," he warned, quietly.

"Jack…"

"You don't even know her."

"But you do. And that's enough to make me hate her already."

"Gee thanks," Ana said.

"Not talking to you," Allison said. "Jack, I really don't feel comfortable with her here."

"Instead of telling him that, why don't you tell me that?" Ana said. "'Cause I'll leave."

"Good. Then go."

Ana got up from her seat and pushed her chair in.

"Ana," Sawyer and Jack both said simultaneously.

Allison looked at Jack incredulously, Kate at Sawyer. Then they exchanged glances. Ana stood uncertainly, not knowing what to do. Finally, Allison pushed back her chair and stood, angrily.

"Forget it. Stay."

With that, Allison stalked off toward the bathroom. After watching her walk away, Kate stared at the centerpiece on the table. A moment later, she, too, was up and walking in the same direction Allison had. Sawyer sighed, and Jack looked down. Ana sat down again.

"Sorry about that."

"It's not your fault," Jack said.

"Yeah it is."

"They'll get over it," Sawyer said.

"Really, I don't wanna make trouble for you guys. I can go sit over there…by Jin and Michael…or something. And you can all go back to your happy little lives."

Sawyer snickered.

"What?"

"Nothin'."

"Can you believe them?" Allison's voice echoed in the bathroom. "It's pretty obvious that she's not welcome. Why do they have to be the good guys and make it okay for her to sit?"

"I wish I knew," Kate said, staring at her reflection in the mirror. It was almost hard to believe that she was looking at herself.

"I don't even know who she is but I already don't like her."

"She's an ex. You have reason to not like her."

Allison laughed. "And you don't? Wasn't she the one that Jack cheated with?"

Kate looked down. "That's not the reason."

Allison leaned against the sink and started to tug on one of her curls. "Whatever the reason…"

Kate smiled. "It looks like we've actually found something to agree on."

Allison raised her eyebrows. They were both silent for a moment, looking down at the floor.

"You think maybe Sawyer's right?"

"I don't know," Kate replied softly.

"Well could you handle sitting there with her?"

Could she? Could she really sit there and act chummy with the woman who Sawyer had practically cheated on her with? Was it possible? Her churning stomach still told her 'no' but her heart said otherwise. What had happened was in the past. And she couldn't blame Sawyer for it. Especially not after everything that had happened with Damien.

"I think we'll survive," she nodded.

"Really?"

"Yeah. As hard as it is to believe, Sawyer's right," she grinned. It was a nice to be able to feel proud of him..."We can all act mature about this. And who knows, maybe it won't be so bad."

"I'll be damned," Allison muttered. "He actually found someone to trust him."

Kate laughed. "It took some work."

"I'll bet." She stood upright again. "Well if you can stand her, I can stand her."

Kate nodded and together they left the bathroom and headed back to their table.

"Oh! By the way, congratulations," Allison said before rounding the table to her seat.

Kate stopped briefly, and exhaled softly. So Allison had found out too. She wondered which one of them had told her. She sat down again next to Sawyer, and the table was awkwardly quiet.

"You ladies all right now?" Sawyer asked.

Kate turned and stared at him. "Just fine."

His eyebrows lowered in confusion. She was still upset, he guessed.

"I'm sorry I made such a fuss," Allison apologized, mostly to Jack.

"Sorry I caused it," Ana said.

"It's okay."

Ana had to laugh. It didn't take her long to realize just how modest Allison was.

"Don't apologize to her," Sawyer teased Ana.

Too fed up to sit quietly anymore, Kate reached for Sawyer's arm.

"I need to talk to you."

With that, she stood and waited for him to join her. He sighed and stood too. Jack, Allison and Ana-Lucia watched them disappear outside. The sun was still shining when they got out and gave Kate a beautiful glow. Sawyer was mesmerized by her for a moment until she started to speak.

"What's wrong with you?"

"What?" he snapped out of his trance.

"What's wrong with you?" she repeated.

"With me? You're the one gettin' all upset. I should be askin' you that."

"That's not what I meant."

"I'm just tryin' to make peace. I know you don't wanna put up with her but – "

"I don't care about Ana-Lucia, Sawyer."

"Then what are we talkin' about?"

"We agreed we weren't going to tell anyone else after Charlie and Claire found out."

"Yeah…"

"You mind telling me how Jack knows?"

"Doc knows!?"

Kate nodded. "Allison too. I'm just trying to figure out why, when we said we were going to keep this to ourselves, that you decided – "

"Hang on a tick. You ain't tryin' to pin this on me now, are you?"

"What am I supposed to think?"

Sawyer smirked. "You really think that I would tell Doc?"

Kate stared at him, wordlessly. Actually, now that she thought about it...

"Of all people that I would tell, if we were tellin' people…"

She looked down sheepishly. It finally hit her. It wasn't Sawyer who had told Jack. It was Charlie. She should have realized that earlier. Sawyer would never tell Jack anything. She let out a small laugh and looked up at Sawyer, hoping he'd forget this mishap.

"I didn't think so," he said, still smirking.

"When Jack had told me, I just thought – "

"Yeah, yeah. Save it, Freckles."

She laughed. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you'd better be."

"Or what?"

He put his arm around her and rested it on her lower back, pulling her closer to him.

"I think you know what."

She reached up fixing his collar. "Do I?"

He raised his eyebrows, surprised. She was practically giving him an open invitation. She slid her arms off of him and took his hand.

"We'd better get back inside."

"Yeah. For all we know, Ally could be bitin' off Ana's head."

That wouldn't be so bad, Kate thought.