*Kate POV*

Kate all but ran through the forest. She paused every so often to check the tracks and make sure she was going the right direction. I shouldn't have left Sawyer alone. I should have stayed. Her mind repeated over and over. If Sayid had hurt Sawyer... She didn't want to think about it right now. She had to catch up and make sure everything was okay. Ahead of her, Kate heard someone else coming towards her. She thought about hiding, but what if it was Sawyer? What if he was hurt?

"Sawyer?"

"Kate? That you?"

Sawyer came into view and Kate ran to check on him. Sawyer grabbed her arms and held onto them, stopping her inspection of him.

"Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked releasing her arms.

"I don't know, I just thought..."

"Thought what?"

"Nothing. It's okay."

Kate turned to walk back to the beach. She was relieved to find Sawyer unhurt. Either he knew why she was worried about him and he didn't want to talk about it, or he didn't know and she didn't want to tell him.

*Sawyer POV*

"Kate."

Kate kept walking.

"Hey, wait up."

Sawyer put hand on her shoulder and stopped her. When he did Kate turned to face him again. Sawyer saw the bruises he'd left the last time he'd talked to her and removed his hand as quickly as he could.

"Hey, about the other day."

"Don't worry about it Sawyer." Kate shook her head as she spoke.

"I'm sorry about that. I don't know what happened."

"Yes you do. If you don't want to talk about that's fine Sawyer, but you know what happened."

Sawyer lowered his head. "Yea, guess I do. I'm still sorry I hurt you."

"I told you it's fine." Kate took Sawyer's hand. "Come on, let's get back to the beach."

Sawyer nodded and let Kate lead him back to the beach.

*Sayid*

Sayid sat in the same clearing he'd been talking to Sawyer in. The same clearing that Sawyer had kissed him in. He'd told himself, the reason he stayed was to give Sawyer time to get a good lead. Truthfully he stayed because he wanted time himself to process everything that had just happened.

The kiss had been wonderful. Sayid smiled as he thought about it. He'd wanted so much more, but had resisted the urge to push for anything. It hadn't been easy. Up until this moment he'd have said sleeping Sawyer, peacefully sleeping Sawyer, was his favorite. Then again, aggressive Sawyer was pretty amazing too.

This wasn't going to be easy. It was going to take a lot of work to make Sawyer realize he could trust him. Sayid was glad Sawyer didn't run the second he was free. It was a hopeful sign. As much as he was glad to have Sawyer kiss him, Sayid didn't take it as a sign in any direction. It could go either way at this point. I need more time, Sayid thought to himself.

"Time I have. What I need is patience." He was trying, but it was hard not to push Sawyer too fast. If he did, it could backfire and Sawyer would never trust him. He didn't know how long he could stand watching Sawyer face his demons alone. Sayid stood and collected his things. He took one last look around and started walking back.

*Sawyer POV*

The first person Kate and Sawyer came across when they stepped out of the forest was Charlie. Charlie cocked his head slightly and watched them for a little bit before he waved. Sawyer looked down and realized he was still holding Kate's hand. He looked up at Kate and she met his eyes. Kate released Sawyer's hand and waved back to Charlie. Charlie smiled, nodded in their direction before walking off.

"You know this is going to get around, don't you?"

"Don't worry about it Freckles, no one's gonna believe it."

"Oh yea? And why's that?"

"Come on, you and me? Everyone's gonna know you've got better taste." Kate laughed at his comment. Good, he thought to himself. It was good to see her smile. "But don't worry, I'm not gonna let the fact that you'd never want me stop me from pursuing you." He winked at her.

Kate laughed again, and punched him in the shoulder.

"Come on, let's go see if we missed anything important."

Sawyer watched Kate walk forward but didn't move. He knew why she'd been looking for him. He was sincerely grateful she hadn't pushed for
him to talk about it. He suddenly realized, Kate was probably the closest he came to a best friend on this damned island. Kate turned around and looked at him. He didn't know what she was thinking but he could see the wheels turning.

"I was just thinking about how Jack's gonna have a fit when he hears about me and you holding hands." Sawyer gave her his best grin and was rewarded with another smile.

"Come on, let's go." she said motioning him to follow her. He walked forward but stopped when he reached her.

"Can I talk with you for a minute?"

"Yea, sure. What did you need to talk about?"

Sawyer led them back to his tent. Sitting down he focused his eyes on the ground in front of him. He didn't even know if he could do this, but he wanted to try. Maybe talking with Kate would make it easier to deal with Sayid. Kate sat down next to him and put a hand on his arm. Sawyer finally looked up and took a deep breath.

*Sayid POV*

The afternoon was ending and it would be dark soon. Sayid should have arrived sooner but he had walked to clear his thoughts before coming back. A few people greeted him but mostly no one took notice. Just as well, he didn't want to bother finding a reason for being gone most of the day. He had enough to think already. Sayid walked towards his tent and glanced at Sawyer's.

Kate was walking out of Sawyer's tent. As soon as she came out she was followed by Sawyer. They embraced and Sayid could see Sawyer smile and nod at something Kate was saying. Sawyer looked up and their eyes met. Sayid shoved his tarp out of the way and walked into his tent.

*Kate POV*

"I can't do this. God know's what he's gotta be thinking now. Fuck."

"Calm down Sawyer. It'll be okay. Nothing happened."

"You don't understand? Either way I'm screwed. Either he thinks there's something up between me and you, or he believes we were just talking."

"How are you going to be screwed if he thinks we were just talking?"

"Because I wouldn't talk to him. Because he won't understand why I'd talk to you but not him."

"It's okay Sawyer."

"This is not okay, Kate. He just tied me to a tree to get me to talk to him."

"He did what?"

They both turned at the sound of another voice.

"Charlie." Kate started walking slowly towards Charlie.

"Don't Charlie me. Did you or did you not just say Sayid just tied you to a tree?"

"Charlie please. You don't understand everything." Kate pleaded.

"I might not, but I understand you don't tie people to trees just to talk to them."

"Charlie." Sawyer whispered. Kate and Charlie turned to look at him.

"Please. Don't do this. Please, don't say anything about this."

"And you, why do you want to protect him? Especially after last night?"

"I can't do this. I'm sorry Kate. I need some time alone." Sawyer turned and walked off.

"Dammit Charlie! What's wrong with you?"

"Me? What's wrong with you? You okay with Sayid tying people to trees when he feels like it?"

"No, but you don't understand what's going on. There's more to this than you know."

"How could tying people to trees for no reason ever be justified?"

Kate just shook her head and bit her lower lip. She should go explain what was going on to Sayid. She couldn't though, she'd promised Sawyer she'd stay out of it. She had just convinced Sawyer to open up about some of the smaller things before they'd walked out of the tent.

"Fine. All I was trying to do was help a friend. Whatever."

Charlie started to walk off.

"Wait." Kate waited to see if Charlie would stop. When he did she continued. "Charlie, I'm sorry. I just can't tell you everything. It would be betraying Sawyer's trust. Please don't say anything about this. Give him time to do this himself, please."

"What can you tell me?"

"What?"

"Tell me what you can without betraying his trust."

"It won't be much."

"How would you feel if you were me, Kate?"

"You wanna take a walk?"