Fic: With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept (Aaron/Ji Yeon)
Title: With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Ji was the only one who knew him - front and back, inside and out. She was the only one he wanted and needed in his life.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lost. At all. I wish but alas...
Author's Note: So, these two are sort of becoming my future!OTP.
Previous Parts: Our Last Days as Children
Aaron had a lot of time to think while Ji was asleep. It had been a while - neither of them had been keeping track - but long enough for them to be most of the way through Nevada. It was the middle of the night. Aaron hadn’t stopped driving, and Ji had fallen asleep curled up in the passenger seat.
For the last hour or so his mind had been on one thing in particular: a newspaper article about Ms. Katherine Austen. There were plenty, mostly written during the trial (which he had been too young to remember), but those didn’t matter to him. No, the one he was thinking about had been written while she was on the run, in a local paper in the town where she had killed her father. He had read it so many times he almost had it memorized.
“…Miss Austen remains, as of now, still on the run and, the police say, should be considered extremely dangerous.”
It was so ironic, he thought, that even though she wasn’t his mother, she had somehow passed on this notion to him, to pick up and leave without thinking about what it would do to anyone else in his life. He told himself it was different, but he still hated it. Hated that he was more like her than he cared to think about. Whether he cared to think about it or not didn’t really seem to matter, though, because it was all he was thinking about right now.
“You’re not your mother,” Ji had said whenever they had ever got near this subject.
“She’s not my mother,” he’d rebut, usually angrily. It was a bitter pill to swallow, learning something you had believed your whole life was a lie, and then be asked to live with it - while you say goodbye to the one constant in your life, to the girl you love, the only person you could really open your heart to. He had felt like he was surrounded by strangers. Ji was the only one who knew him - front and back, inside and out. She was the only one he wanted and needed in his life.
All he had wanted, for almost two years, was to go away with her, away from people he didn’t know trying to force their way into his life and pretend to be his family, when he’d made it more than clear he wasn’t willing to make room for them.
Ji was the only one he wanted and she was gone because of them.
Around dawn he spotted a motel sign and decided now was as good a time as any to stop for some rest. Ji was obviously tired, and his minds was running circles around him. He needed to sleep it off. He had so many more important things to be thinking about than everything he had just left behind.
“Hey,” he said, gently shaking her shoulder. She made a cute little noise in her sleep. “Ji, wake up.” She shifted back and forth before she opened her eyes and squinted up at him.
“What’s going on?” she asked, clearly terribly groggy.
“I stopped at a motel,” he told her. She sat up and stretched her arms over her head. “I think we need some sleep.”
She nodded tiredly and yawned. “Okay,” she agreed. Aaron was suddenly struck by the notion that he had no idea what to do next. Where were they going? What were they going to do when they got there? They had been so eager to get away, he didn’t think either of them had really thought of the practicality of it all.
“Aaron?” He turned and Ji was standing outside the passenger side door, looking at him, concerned. He sighed and unbuckled his seat belt. He was so tired, all he needed was some sleep.
He locked the truck and walked around, putting his arm around her.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m just tired,” he answered. He only got obsessive when he was exhausted. Once he got some sleep, he knew he would be able to see everything a lot more clearly. When he looked down at Ji, though, she was frowning up at him. She was worried. And truth be told, he was a little bit too. But he smiled and shook his head. “I’ll be fine.”
“Aaron,” she said, putting a hand on his chest and stopping him before they got to the door. He looked at her, confused. She took a step back, shook her head, and ran a hand through her hair. “What are we doing?”
“Ji, not now.” A parking lot was not the place to be talking about this, especially when they were both so tired.
“Seriously, what are we doing?”
“Right now, we’re going to sleep.”
“That’s not what I-”
He sighed. “I know what you meant,” he said. “But I’m exhausted, and so are you. Can we talk about this when we’ve both got some sleep and we can think a little more clearly.”
“Will we, Aaron?” she asked. “Really? Are we running away because we want to be together or are we running away because we hate them?”
He shook his head. “How does it matter now?” Because they couldn’t, and wouldn’t, go back. Like it or not, they were stuck with everything that came with the decision they had made. They had to deal with the reality, they were dealing with it now. As best they could.
“We’ll figure this out,” he promised, squeezing her hand in his. “We’ll be fine.” She nodded, like she wanted to believe him but didn’t quite. That was okay; he didn’t believe himself yet either.
She took a long while to consider him, but eventually nodded. “Can you get a room while I wait in the truck?” she asked.
He nodded. “Sure,” he agreed. He kissed her before walking into the front office as she settled back into the passenger seat. When he came back out, she was leaned up against the window and appeared to be asleep again.
Aaron really couldn’t help but smile. There was so much up in the air right now. There were so many things to worry about, to be unsure of, but at this moment, he didn’t really care. He was looking at the girl he loved with her face smushed up against a window, asleep in the seat of his crappy, second-hand truck.
The one thing he was sure of right now was that there was no in the world that he wanted to be more. And that counted for a whole hell of a lot, right?
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Ji was the only one who knew him - front and back, inside and out. She was the only one he wanted and needed in his life.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lost. At all. I wish but alas...
Author's Note: So, these two are sort of becoming my future!OTP.
Previous Parts: Our Last Days as Children
Aaron had a lot of time to think while Ji was asleep. It had been a while - neither of them had been keeping track - but long enough for them to be most of the way through Nevada. It was the middle of the night. Aaron hadn’t stopped driving, and Ji had fallen asleep curled up in the passenger seat.
For the last hour or so his mind had been on one thing in particular: a newspaper article about Ms. Katherine Austen. There were plenty, mostly written during the trial (which he had been too young to remember), but those didn’t matter to him. No, the one he was thinking about had been written while she was on the run, in a local paper in the town where she had killed her father. He had read it so many times he almost had it memorized.
“…Miss Austen remains, as of now, still on the run and, the police say, should be considered extremely dangerous.”
It was so ironic, he thought, that even though she wasn’t his mother, she had somehow passed on this notion to him, to pick up and leave without thinking about what it would do to anyone else in his life. He told himself it was different, but he still hated it. Hated that he was more like her than he cared to think about. Whether he cared to think about it or not didn’t really seem to matter, though, because it was all he was thinking about right now.
“You’re not your mother,” Ji had said whenever they had ever got near this subject.
“She’s not my mother,” he’d rebut, usually angrily. It was a bitter pill to swallow, learning something you had believed your whole life was a lie, and then be asked to live with it - while you say goodbye to the one constant in your life, to the girl you love, the only person you could really open your heart to. He had felt like he was surrounded by strangers. Ji was the only one who knew him - front and back, inside and out. She was the only one he wanted and needed in his life.
All he had wanted, for almost two years, was to go away with her, away from people he didn’t know trying to force their way into his life and pretend to be his family, when he’d made it more than clear he wasn’t willing to make room for them.
Ji was the only one he wanted and she was gone because of them.
Around dawn he spotted a motel sign and decided now was as good a time as any to stop for some rest. Ji was obviously tired, and his minds was running circles around him. He needed to sleep it off. He had so many more important things to be thinking about than everything he had just left behind.
“Hey,” he said, gently shaking her shoulder. She made a cute little noise in her sleep. “Ji, wake up.” She shifted back and forth before she opened her eyes and squinted up at him.
“What’s going on?” she asked, clearly terribly groggy.
“I stopped at a motel,” he told her. She sat up and stretched her arms over her head. “I think we need some sleep.”
She nodded tiredly and yawned. “Okay,” she agreed. Aaron was suddenly struck by the notion that he had no idea what to do next. Where were they going? What were they going to do when they got there? They had been so eager to get away, he didn’t think either of them had really thought of the practicality of it all.
“Aaron?” He turned and Ji was standing outside the passenger side door, looking at him, concerned. He sighed and unbuckled his seat belt. He was so tired, all he needed was some sleep.
He locked the truck and walked around, putting his arm around her.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m just tired,” he answered. He only got obsessive when he was exhausted. Once he got some sleep, he knew he would be able to see everything a lot more clearly. When he looked down at Ji, though, she was frowning up at him. She was worried. And truth be told, he was a little bit too. But he smiled and shook his head. “I’ll be fine.”
“Aaron,” she said, putting a hand on his chest and stopping him before they got to the door. He looked at her, confused. She took a step back, shook her head, and ran a hand through her hair. “What are we doing?”
“Ji, not now.” A parking lot was not the place to be talking about this, especially when they were both so tired.
“Seriously, what are we doing?”
“Right now, we’re going to sleep.”
“That’s not what I-”
He sighed. “I know what you meant,” he said. “But I’m exhausted, and so are you. Can we talk about this when we’ve both got some sleep and we can think a little more clearly.”
“Will we, Aaron?” she asked. “Really? Are we running away because we want to be together or are we running away because we hate them?”
He shook his head. “How does it matter now?” Because they couldn’t, and wouldn’t, go back. Like it or not, they were stuck with everything that came with the decision they had made. They had to deal with the reality, they were dealing with it now. As best they could.
“We’ll figure this out,” he promised, squeezing her hand in his. “We’ll be fine.” She nodded, like she wanted to believe him but didn’t quite. That was okay; he didn’t believe himself yet either.
She took a long while to consider him, but eventually nodded. “Can you get a room while I wait in the truck?” she asked.
He nodded. “Sure,” he agreed. He kissed her before walking into the front office as she settled back into the passenger seat. When he came back out, she was leaned up against the window and appeared to be asleep again.
Aaron really couldn’t help but smile. There was so much up in the air right now. There were so many things to worry about, to be unsure of, but at this moment, he didn’t really care. He was looking at the girl he loved with her face smushed up against a window, asleep in the seat of his crappy, second-hand truck.
The one thing he was sure of right now was that there was no in the world that he wanted to be more. And that counted for a whole hell of a lot, right?