(Untitled)

[complicatedguy]

Who: Sawyer and hopefully some other people.
What: Burgers for breakfast and explorin'
Where: All along 12th street and elsewhere
When: Tuesday morning
Status: In progress, open

Comments

[nogirllikeme]

Kate had always felt a sense of comfort from restaurants that reminded her of her mother's diner. Years of sitting at the counter after school and doing her homework while her mother served regulars and families passing through on road-trips and truckers were forever burned into her memory, and it was this reason alone that had caused her to walk into the burger place

[complicatedguy]

"Yeah," James nodded. Maybe he oughta say somethin' else, but it were the truth. He hadn't wanted ta see her, not here. But now he didn't really want her ta leave. "Where you stayin'?" he asked, just fer somethin' to say.

[nogirllikeme]

"There's a small apartment I've paid down for the next few months a few blocks away," Kate told him. It was so close, in fact, that the restaurant had been within walking distance, and she'd always loved to be outside.

[complicatedguy]

James nodded again, glancin' around the diner, more'n more unsure as to how to act with Kate. This were one of the reasons he had come up here in the first place; he hadn't no idea howta interact with her or the doc or even goddamn Hugo out in th' "real world."

Speakin' of th' doc, though... "Jack with ya? Or you two finally call it quits -- fer now, at least."

[nogirllikeme]

Kate looked down at the mention of Jack. She hadn't given him any indication of where she was going - mostly because she didn't want anyone to come looking for her.

"He's... not here," she finally said, leaving it at that and hoping he would garner enough information from that statement to let it lie for now.

[complicatedguy]

James's lips twisted thoughtfully as he watched Kate avoid his gaze. "Uh-huh," he said softly, knowin' Kate weren't likely ta give him any information she didn't want him knowin', but also feeling comfortable in that he could read her well enough ta guess that Jack had no fuckin' idea where Kate was.

[nogirllikeme]

Her eyes narrowed slightly under his gaze. He was on to her now, and they both knew it. Kate fidgeted, shifting her weight back and forth between her feet as she looked back up at him.

"Don't look at me like that," she muttered, for lack of anything else to say.

[complicatedguy]

Sawyer tilted his head to the side, looking down at her thoughtfully. His eyes were soft, but still sharp and aware. "I don't got no other way ta look at ya, Freckles."

[nogirllikeme]

Kate found her own gaze softening the longer he watched her that way, and with a sigh, she reached up to brush her dark hair away from her face, the strands having fallen out of her ponytail in her haste to clean up.

She took a deep breath, weighing her options, and then decided to just come out and say it.

"I'm glad it's you here." Not Jack, not Sun, not even Hurley.

[complicatedguy]

James sighed, sticking his hands in his pockets and ducking his head for a moment. As much as he tried ta convince himself otherwise, he was real happy ta see Kate. They got along (when she wanted them to, at least), and after all he was somethin' in love with her.

"Me too," he said.

[nogirllikeme]

She hadn't lied about her feelings for Sawyer when she'd owned up to them in one way or another. The feelings she felt for Jack were there, too, somewhere beneath the surface. But Jack wasn't here. Sawyer was. And that felt like it put things in some kind of perspective.

"Mind if I join you?" Kate asked, biting her lower lip.

[complicatedguy]

James glanced over his shoulder at the counter -- where, sure as fuck, his burger was sittin', waitin', along with a cup of coffee that was probably real damn cold by now. He shrugged, then nodded as he looked back at Kate, raising his chin a little. "Don't see why not."

[nogirllikeme]

And with that, Kate plopped herself down on the stool next to his, resting her chin in her hand as the waitress sidled over to her. Ordering the same as he had, she swiveled in her stool to face James again, legs idly dangling.

"How long have you been in town?" she asked.

[complicatedguy]

James grimaced as he quickly downed his coffee so as ta get a fresh, hot cup as soon as possible. Making a face as the last swill of cold liquid flowed down his throat, James shook his head and looked at Kate outta the corner of his eye. "Just a few days now. Got in durin' the weekend, but I ain't looked 'round much yet."

[nogirllikeme]

Kate almost had to laugh at the irony. A few days ago was roughly when she'd made the trip up north. They'd likely been within a hundred feet of each other the entire time and had never known it. Instead of laughing, though, she smiled.

[complicatedguy]

Enjoying the first bite of his burger, James looked over at Kate again, his elbows on the counter and empty coffee mug awaiting a refill. He swallows most of the bite and asks, "What's so funny?"