[Fanfiction] Running to stand still {Lost}
TITLE: Running to stand still
SERIES: Family Portrait - Part 10/25
FANDOM: Lost
AUTHOR: nicis_anatomy
CHARACTER: Juliet Carlson/Jack Shephard
GENRE: het, romance
RATING: PG-13
WORD COUNT: 1,409
SUMMARY: Jack breaks a deal, but Juliet can't stay mad at him for long ... Written for prompt "Shower Together" for schmoop_bingo and prompt #080 "Forgiveness" for 100_tales.
WARNING: English still isn't my native language (although I wish) and the story is not beta'd. General spoiler for season 6.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters. I just borrow them from time to time to have some fun with them.
NOTE: This is a series of oneshots that can stand alone. But they work better as a multipart-story. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Bonus.
~*~*~*~*
"You lost!“ Juliet yelled, panting heavily, as she reached the front door of her house, her heart pounding hard against her chest.
She bent forward, her hands pressed on her thighs, breathing heavily and sweating so much that strands of her hair were stuck to her cheeks and forehead. But with the adrenaline still rushing through her veins, Juliet didn’t even notice how much she was sweating or how her legs were shaking by exhaustion. All that mattered to her was that this run had felt so good after all this stress she'd had these past weeks and it was an amazing feeling to bring so much space between herself and the hospital with all it's misery or problems, with every step she took. She was glad that Jack had convinced her that a run in the evening was the right prescription a doctor - especially this doctor - would give you.
But most of all she was overwhelmed by the feeling that she'd won their sprint from the park back home and that Jack had to grant her one wish now. That had been the deal when she’d agreed to go running with him, instead of staying home and reading a book. It had been a compromise to the 'tour de stade' Jack had suggested in the first place, but that had sounded too much for Juliet - especially after months of no training at all.
After a short discussion, Jack had agreed with the alternative of a race making her both happy and excited, but as Juliet now turned her head to check on Jack, the flush of success vanished.
Juliet frowned as Jack joined her at the front door, stepping next to her to join her stretching exercises. She didn't like what she saw at all and the reason for her almost impossible victory was too obvious by how he looked. There was no sweat on his face or showing on his grey shirt, and his face wasn’t as red as hers was and he wasn't even breathing heavily.
In fact, he looked as if he hadn’t run at all for the last hour.
“You cheated,” she said, sounding anything but amused. “That’s not fair. We agreed that the winner would be King for the rest of the day.”
“Yes, we did,” Jack said, grinning as he propped himself on the small handrail to stretch his legs. “And you won; you are Queen for the night. What’s the problem?” Lowering his leg again, he turned, trying to pull her in an embrace but Juliet stepped back from him and cursed silently as she almost trapped over the small step at the doorway.
“The problem?” Juliet put her arms akimbo and shook her head. “The problem is that you cheated, Jack. You let me win. You aren’t even sweating or panting for air. You let me win, although it was impossible for me to beat you. You did it on purpose and that’s … that’s …”
“That’s very gentleman-like?” Jack said, trying to help her out. “Because that’s who I am and how I am? Because my parents raised me that way?”
“Yes and … no,” Juliet replied, confused by his argument.
She rubbed her face, sighing. “That’s not it. I mean, it was nice of you and I love you for always being a gentleman, Jack, but … you shouldn’t have done it. I know I can’t run as fast as you can …”
“Because you are a woman and woman don't run as fast as men, and because haven’t practiced in months.”
“Exactly.” Juliet nodded. “Well, the last part is true and I will pretend that I haven’t heard the first part.” She glared at Jack, but all she got in return was one of his smirks. She couldn't help but return the smile, but her body language kept telling him how upset she still was. “But that’s not the point. I was happy to have won this race, but now that I know that you did it on purpose, my win isn’t worse anything.”
Jack shook his head and stepped closer to finally pull her in his arms. At first, Juliet tried to fight his embrace - she felt sweaty and uncomfortable, besides still being mad at him - but then she just relaxed in his arms, taking full advantage of the heat his body was radiate. Soon, she stopped freezing and the chill of the cold October air vanished. She snuggled against his chest and wrapped her arms around him, ready to forgive him but not yet ready to tell him this.
“That was mean of you,” she mumbled against his chest. “What if I could’ve won anyway? I mean ... it's not that impossible, isn't it?”
“No, it's not,” Jack said. A few soggy strands of hair had escaped her bun and were hanging in her face, and Jack brushed them out of her face, his thumb gently caressing her cheek. “Are you still mad at me?”
Juliet shook her head. “Maybe a little bit.”
“I’m sorry, Jules” he said. “Next time I will give me best to beat you. And if I do, the shower will already be waiting for you when you make it home. Like an hour or so later." He grinned. "How does that sound?”
“Amazing,” Juliet said. She leaned back to look up at him. “I liked the part with the shower.” She cocked her head slightly and grinned. “Will you join me, Dr. Shephard?”
“In the shower?”
“Hmm …”
“Of course.”
“Now?”
“If you want to.”
“Of course I want to,” Juliet said, taking his hand to lead him inside. “Besides … you made me Queen. Tonight, I can get everything I want from you. And it’s your own fault. You are not allowed to complain or to negotiate.”
“I knew there was a downside …” Jack mumbled and then cringed as Juliet’s elbow hit his stomach hard. “I mean … I would love to share the shower with you, Mrs Carlson.”
“It’s Queen Juliet or Dr. Carlson,” Juliet said as she opened the door to her apartment. She dragged Jack along with her, and closing the door she then pressed him back against the wall to kiss him hard.
He kissed her back, possibly even harder and Juliet felt that flush of success, she’d felt before she found out that Jack let her win on purpose, rising inside of her again. She closed her eyes and pressed her whole body against him, trying to make as much contact with him as possible.
Eventually, his kisses changed from hard to soft and teasing, making her heart skip a few beats. Juliet ran her hands lower until she reached the hem of his shirt and let her fingers slip under it. She felt him inhale sharply as she touched the sensible skin on his lower back and she kissed him even more passionately.
"I thought you wanted to shower," Jack mumbled against her lips and without breaking the kiss he pushed her softly into the bathroom, shedding their clothes and leaving a trail through the whole apartment, and when her elbow made contact with the shower curtain, she blindly reached for the tap to turn on the hot water.
Jack waited a few minutes for the water to get the right temperature, making good use of the time as his mouth started to explore Juliet’s neck, raising soft moans, before he finally maneuver them into the tiny shower cubicle and as the warm water touched Juliet’s skin, she closed her eyes, enjoying the caressing of the water above and of Jack’s hands that were suddenly all over her body.
She allowed him to wash her hair and let out soft moans as his fingers did their magic tricks by massaging her scalp, her neck and then her shoulders, loosening the muscles tension as he did so, before it was Juliet’s turn to do the same to him.
Slowly, reality faded out and time stopped, wrapping them into a huge steamy bubble of hot water, hands, lips, kisses and soft moans leaving everything outside this bubble so unreal and unimportant and nonexistent, until the water finally turned cold, bursting the bubble and leaving them shivering in each others arms.
They stepped out of the shower, and as Jack wrapped her into a soft towel and then carried her into the bedroom to lower her on the bed, Juliet asked herself why they had waited so long to take this first shower together.
- tbc -
SERIES: Family Portrait - Part 10/25
FANDOM: Lost
AUTHOR: nicis_anatomy
CHARACTER: Juliet Carlson/Jack Shephard
GENRE: het, romance
RATING: PG-13
WORD COUNT: 1,409
SUMMARY: Jack breaks a deal, but Juliet can't stay mad at him for long ... Written for prompt "Shower Together" for schmoop_bingo and prompt #080 "Forgiveness" for 100_tales.
WARNING: English still isn't my native language (although I wish) and the story is not beta'd. General spoiler for season 6.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters. I just borrow them from time to time to have some fun with them.
NOTE: This is a series of oneshots that can stand alone. But they work better as a multipart-story. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Bonus.
~*~*~*~*
"You lost!“ Juliet yelled, panting heavily, as she reached the front door of her house, her heart pounding hard against her chest.
She bent forward, her hands pressed on her thighs, breathing heavily and sweating so much that strands of her hair were stuck to her cheeks and forehead. But with the adrenaline still rushing through her veins, Juliet didn’t even notice how much she was sweating or how her legs were shaking by exhaustion. All that mattered to her was that this run had felt so good after all this stress she'd had these past weeks and it was an amazing feeling to bring so much space between herself and the hospital with all it's misery or problems, with every step she took. She was glad that Jack had convinced her that a run in the evening was the right prescription a doctor - especially this doctor - would give you.
But most of all she was overwhelmed by the feeling that she'd won their sprint from the park back home and that Jack had to grant her one wish now. That had been the deal when she’d agreed to go running with him, instead of staying home and reading a book. It had been a compromise to the 'tour de stade' Jack had suggested in the first place, but that had sounded too much for Juliet - especially after months of no training at all.
After a short discussion, Jack had agreed with the alternative of a race making her both happy and excited, but as Juliet now turned her head to check on Jack, the flush of success vanished.
Juliet frowned as Jack joined her at the front door, stepping next to her to join her stretching exercises. She didn't like what she saw at all and the reason for her almost impossible victory was too obvious by how he looked. There was no sweat on his face or showing on his grey shirt, and his face wasn’t as red as hers was and he wasn't even breathing heavily.
In fact, he looked as if he hadn’t run at all for the last hour.
“You cheated,” she said, sounding anything but amused. “That’s not fair. We agreed that the winner would be King for the rest of the day.”
“Yes, we did,” Jack said, grinning as he propped himself on the small handrail to stretch his legs. “And you won; you are Queen for the night. What’s the problem?” Lowering his leg again, he turned, trying to pull her in an embrace but Juliet stepped back from him and cursed silently as she almost trapped over the small step at the doorway.
“The problem?” Juliet put her arms akimbo and shook her head. “The problem is that you cheated, Jack. You let me win. You aren’t even sweating or panting for air. You let me win, although it was impossible for me to beat you. You did it on purpose and that’s … that’s …”
“That’s very gentleman-like?” Jack said, trying to help her out. “Because that’s who I am and how I am? Because my parents raised me that way?”
“Yes and … no,” Juliet replied, confused by his argument.
She rubbed her face, sighing. “That’s not it. I mean, it was nice of you and I love you for always being a gentleman, Jack, but … you shouldn’t have done it. I know I can’t run as fast as you can …”
“Because you are a woman and woman don't run as fast as men, and because haven’t practiced in months.”
“Exactly.” Juliet nodded. “Well, the last part is true and I will pretend that I haven’t heard the first part.” She glared at Jack, but all she got in return was one of his smirks. She couldn't help but return the smile, but her body language kept telling him how upset she still was. “But that’s not the point. I was happy to have won this race, but now that I know that you did it on purpose, my win isn’t worse anything.”
Jack shook his head and stepped closer to finally pull her in his arms. At first, Juliet tried to fight his embrace - she felt sweaty and uncomfortable, besides still being mad at him - but then she just relaxed in his arms, taking full advantage of the heat his body was radiate. Soon, she stopped freezing and the chill of the cold October air vanished. She snuggled against his chest and wrapped her arms around him, ready to forgive him but not yet ready to tell him this.
“That was mean of you,” she mumbled against his chest. “What if I could’ve won anyway? I mean ... it's not that impossible, isn't it?”
“No, it's not,” Jack said. A few soggy strands of hair had escaped her bun and were hanging in her face, and Jack brushed them out of her face, his thumb gently caressing her cheek. “Are you still mad at me?”
Juliet shook her head. “Maybe a little bit.”
“I’m sorry, Jules” he said. “Next time I will give me best to beat you. And if I do, the shower will already be waiting for you when you make it home. Like an hour or so later." He grinned. "How does that sound?”
“Amazing,” Juliet said. She leaned back to look up at him. “I liked the part with the shower.” She cocked her head slightly and grinned. “Will you join me, Dr. Shephard?”
“In the shower?”
“Hmm …”
“Of course.”
“Now?”
“If you want to.”
“Of course I want to,” Juliet said, taking his hand to lead him inside. “Besides … you made me Queen. Tonight, I can get everything I want from you. And it’s your own fault. You are not allowed to complain or to negotiate.”
“I knew there was a downside …” Jack mumbled and then cringed as Juliet’s elbow hit his stomach hard. “I mean … I would love to share the shower with you, Mrs Carlson.”
“It’s Queen Juliet or Dr. Carlson,” Juliet said as she opened the door to her apartment. She dragged Jack along with her, and closing the door she then pressed him back against the wall to kiss him hard.
He kissed her back, possibly even harder and Juliet felt that flush of success, she’d felt before she found out that Jack let her win on purpose, rising inside of her again. She closed her eyes and pressed her whole body against him, trying to make as much contact with him as possible.
Eventually, his kisses changed from hard to soft and teasing, making her heart skip a few beats. Juliet ran her hands lower until she reached the hem of his shirt and let her fingers slip under it. She felt him inhale sharply as she touched the sensible skin on his lower back and she kissed him even more passionately.
"I thought you wanted to shower," Jack mumbled against her lips and without breaking the kiss he pushed her softly into the bathroom, shedding their clothes and leaving a trail through the whole apartment, and when her elbow made contact with the shower curtain, she blindly reached for the tap to turn on the hot water.
Jack waited a few minutes for the water to get the right temperature, making good use of the time as his mouth started to explore Juliet’s neck, raising soft moans, before he finally maneuver them into the tiny shower cubicle and as the warm water touched Juliet’s skin, she closed her eyes, enjoying the caressing of the water above and of Jack’s hands that were suddenly all over her body.
She allowed him to wash her hair and let out soft moans as his fingers did their magic tricks by massaging her scalp, her neck and then her shoulders, loosening the muscles tension as he did so, before it was Juliet’s turn to do the same to him.
Slowly, reality faded out and time stopped, wrapping them into a huge steamy bubble of hot water, hands, lips, kisses and soft moans leaving everything outside this bubble so unreal and unimportant and nonexistent, until the water finally turned cold, bursting the bubble and leaving them shivering in each others arms.
They stepped out of the shower, and as Jack wrapped her into a soft towel and then carried her into the bedroom to lower her on the bed, Juliet asked herself why they had waited so long to take this first shower together.
- tbc -