Fic Post
Show: Lost
Pairing: Sawyer/Juliet
Title: Feels Like Home
Rating: K+/T
Summary: He held tighter on her waist and closed the mere inches separating their lips.
A/N: An older story that was never posted on LJ.
It was one of those days when you thought that the world was made for doing nothing. The sun was burning and only a slight breeze reminded you that a storm could upset the stillness of the moment in a matter of seconds. James decided that after Horace's permission to have the day off, he could very nice spend his time sitting on his porch reading the latest book he had borrowed.
His shirt was annoyingly sticking on his back and the place next to his ears was itching at the spot were his glasses made contact with his skin. Giving up his effort to focus on the letters in front of him, he stood up putting the book on the seat of his chair and took his glasses off. He run a hand through his hair and letting out a quiet sigh, he decided to find out what the person he ended up spending most of his daily time with was doing. In an unregistered motion he knocked his knuckles on the fence and hopped down the stairs. He reached her house in 47 steps -she had challenged him once into counting them, not his fault- and knocked on the door. Receiving no answer, he went around the house to find Amy in the backyard, where she had developed quite the garden. 'Passing time', as she liked to call it. 'Getting over her husband's death’ was Juliet's version of the story. Amy raised her eyes, her hands still covered in dirt, and gave him a welcome smile.
"She's not here!" Her voice had a note of cheer and self satisfaction.
Was it that damn obvious? "Well, good morning to you too, sunshine!"
She let out a small laugh. "Morning, Jim! How are you?"
"Sweating like a man working in the mines. I decided to take a walk and take my mind off of it for some time."
"Huh! Make sure your 'walk' passes from the dock then!" Her eyes gave him a playful look and he could swear he noticed a tiny wink.
Deciding it would be best for both of them if he let it all slip, he waved and walked away.
"I think it's mutual, you know!" He turned around to see a smirking Amy. "What are you talking about?"
"Just go for it, Jim. You never know!"
He thought that her gaze was way too heavy at that specific moment, so he let his eyes explore the various arts of flowers in front of him. More by auto-pilot other than conscious actions, he smiled and before she could say anything else he headed towards the opposite direction.
Juliet took her shoes and socks off and let her feet sense the delightful contrast between the temperature of the air and the water and she thanked everyone up there, who might as much as heard of this island, that there was still something cool left to enjoy. Not that she didn't have a nice time with the D.I. Ironically, it was quite the contrary. To her astonishment, she seemed to get so used to this place and people she had barely spent a year with, that she came to consider it something close to a home. It was a strange feeling she hadn't felt for years. Well. At least not since she set foot on this island; the 2001 version of it, anyway! She let herself get absorbed by the infinity of the sea laying in front of her and focused on the thin line that separated the light shade of blue of the sky from its darker greener, in some way, version reflecting on the surface of the water. She felt that, just maybe, if she intensified her gaze something miraculous would happen, she couldn't even imagine what. Her concentration was interrupted, though, by a pair of footsteps approaching her. Before she realized it, a red looking barefoot James sat next to her, his boots, as she later noticed, recklessly kicked off somewhere along the way.
"Hey!" she let out. She wasn't really surprised to see him. Someone could even say she was simply waiting for him.
He didn't answer back and for a long time they remained silent. So did nature apparently, following their game, as no bird sang or wind blew.
"Do you still want to go?" he asked, his eyes not making the slightest movement.
"Excuse me?"
"Do you still want to go?" he repeated. "Home."
She sighed. "I don't have a home outside the island, James. Not now. We both know that. You said so yourself, remember?"
Again, no answer. She started to feel uncomfortable, as if she was supposed to say something more and prepared herself. Licking her dehydrated lips, she returned her gaze back to the ocean and told him the words that had been going on in her mind for some time now, torturing her with unreasonable guilt.
"This is my home now." She whispered.
She turned to him once more. James stared at her half in disbelief half in surprise.
"Your expression is funny, just so you know!" she smiled and he beamed.
The kind of smile that he found himself lately, more frequently than ever, thinking that it was the motive power of the sun itself.
He stood up abruptly and ignoring the fact that he was still fully clothed he dived into the water, leaving her alone and somewhat confused on the wooden dock. He quickly emerged to the surface and swam closer. He placed his arms on the wood to support himself and looked at her teasingly.
"Your turn, blondie!"
"I am not getting in there!"
"What are you talkin about! Sun shines, water's swell. Come on!"
She hesitated for a moment and then nodded negatively. "No way." She couldn't help another smile, but at the same time she could feel her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink at the thought of him and her in the water. Maybe the sun was really getting into her.
"You know you are being irrational, right?" he asked still teasing, one eyebrow raised.
She did.
He mocked frustration and having given up he extended his hand to her, prompting her to help him climb back up.
What followed next, she wasn't quite sure how exactly it did happen, or even how to explain it, but next thing she knew her head was in the water and the only thing that kept contact with her body was his hand inside her own.
"You are insane!?!" she exclaimed, more of a statement than a question, when she came back up for air.
He laughed, dimples working overtime, and still holding her left hand, he placed his free one around her waist bringing her closer.
Her amused expression vanished and for a second a light version of panic took over, before she could wonder why the hell he was looking so sure of himself. She swallowed and found his eyes in a dangerously close proximity to hers, and in her haze, all she could strangely think about was how ridiculously close was the colour of his eyes to the one of the sky, maybe a wave of sea somewhere to establish their uniqueness.
He held tighter on her waist and closed the mere inches separating their lips.
A taste of salt here, a flavour of sweetness there.
It was soft; no rushed emotions; she didn't put up a fight -couldn't even if she wanted- and he savoured each minute. And the moment she let herself relax and put her palm at the back of his neck, he felt something that could as well resemble happiness.
They stopped thinking and the only thing, which was more of a feeling and less something that could be described by words, that crossed both of their minds was how it felt right; felt like home.