Lost fanfic: Wake up alone
Wake up alone
Lost
Kate/Juliet
PG-13
Post-rescue, spoilers to Left behind.
Phrase prompt at lost_femmeslash - It was sort of amusing in hindsight.
1.
Sometimes she goes to those kinds of bars. She's not exactly sure why.
Sometimes she turns down everyone. She sips her vodka tonics and watches one-night lovers on the dance floor or bartenders making drinks.
She sits there and looks untouchable to everyone around her.
Other times she might take someone home. Never those young arrogant girls who think they can get anyone in bed. No, those girls she turns down icily with a polite smile.
She likes strong women who don't talk much. Women who don't get attached to anyone. Some might say she likes women who remind her of herself but that's not really true. The women she sleeps with are brunettes, and she always thinks they are braver than her.
So there's a slight difference
2.
She has lost the count of how many times she's been to those kind of bars when she sees her there.
For some reason she's not even surprised.
Juliet watches her.
Her hair is still brown and slightly curly. It's not sun-scorched anymore, nor so messy
She's wearing make-up and clean clothes and holds a beer bottle loosely in her hand while chatting absent-mindedly with a young college girl. She smiles, then laughs lightly but her body language tells she's not really interested.
Kate Austen.
She never really paid that much attention to her on the island. She remembers her as the girl who Jack loved but who slept with Sawyer. She remembers holding her in captivity.
Her memories have started to fade, it's been so long. It feels like it all happened in another lifetime or to someone else, to a completely different person.
Apparently she is not in jail.
Juliet didn't read any newspapers when she got back nor did she watch the news so she never knew what happened to her. She has never even thought of what happened to her after the rescue.
She has ran into Jack a couple of times but he's a wreck nowadays and he's no longer in her life. Sometimes she sees glimples of faces she knows in a crowd. She recognizes them from the island but she turns away, avoiding them.
They all seem to be living in Los Angeles now. They are like immigrants settling in the neighbourhood right next to the airport they landed on, on their way to a new life in a new country.
Juliet tried living in Miami but it was full of memories of the life she used to live so moving to Los Angeles seemed like a smart move.
And now she's there.
Her life is very simple. She works eight hours a day in a well-known medical company and at night she goes out and sometimes she brings someone home with her. She doesn't talk much and she's been estranged from her sister and her friends. They tried catching up on each other's lives when she returned but so much had changed.
3.
Kate disappears from her sight for a moment. When the crowd dissolves, she is looking in her direction and their eyes meet.
She doesn't seem shocked to see her either.
Kate excuses herself from the company of the young girl and grabs her beer bottle by the neck.
She walks up to Juliet. She does it without a hesitation and suddenly Juliet remembers what she was like on the island. Brave and tough and never afraid of a confrontation.
"Hi," she says and her voice is familiar even though she hasn't heard it in such a long time.
She remembers the night they spent in the jungle chained together in handcuffs, shivering next to each other in rain-soaked clothes, hoping for warmth but unable to ask the other one even to lean closer. She chuckles at the thought. It was sort of amusing in hindsight.
4.
It's surprisingly easy to be with her. They somehow manage to find a lot to talk about without even mentioning the island or anyone they both knew.
Kate seems to be doing good. She seems content and Juliet is actually happy for her. She wonders why she remembers their relationship being so strained on the island.
They leave after the last call.
The streets are quiet and the scent of rain hangs heavy in the air. Neither of them is drunk but they've had their fair share of drinks so they wave a cab down and climb in the backseat.
When the taxi pulls up in her driveway, she pays the driver who drives off, and then kisses her impatiently under the streetlights.
5.
In the morning she wakes up alone.
Juliet knows Kate is not the type to get attached so she's not surprised to find her gone.
She takes a shower, then takes her time getting dressed and makes herself a cup of coffee. It's past noon when she notices the half-faded phone number scribbled on her palm and she smiles.