Juliet snapped out of a deep sleep, to see another car racing towards them. A split second later, they collided. She didn’t even have time to scream as she flew against the seatbelt. The car spun and the airbag deployed. As soon as she hit it, she heard a sickening crack of Jack’s skull against the windshield. Juliet struggled out of her seatbelt and crawled over to Jack. He was limp in his seat and his forehead was bleeding profusely.

“Jack?” She said frantically, checking his pulse and grabbing for his hand. “No, no, no…Please.” She begged him, but when she felt no pulse as she held his face in her hands. “Jack, please.” She choked out, starting to sob.

“Jack!” She shot up out of bed, breathing hard, before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.

It’d been four months since they were rescued from that hellhole of an island. It’d been 2 months since the car accident…since the night that Jack died. It was nearly two months since the most painful funeral of her life, and nearly a month and a half since her first nightmare. 30 days since the grief really set in, and two weeks since she thought she’d go crazy with the pain.

She felt so alone…She finally had him after the island, and now all she had was the memories.

They had their tender moments on the island, Jack and Juliet had never been together until a few days after rescue. They had tried to go their separate ways, but realized that like many of the survivors, they had nothing to come home to. They had been a couple for two months, when Jack took her for a late night drive, unbeknownst to her at the time, a ring in his jacket pocket. She had fallen asleep on their way and woken up to horror.

It was all over so fast, it hadn’t seemed real. Juliet wished it wasn’t.

She let out a soft sigh and got out of bed, stripping her pajamas and beginning to get dressed. The clock read 5:42am.. .and it was a Saturday at that, but she knew that she’d never be able to get to sleep. She never could when she dreamt of that night. She’d tried to let go, but she had a feeling that it’d be a long time before she truly would.

--------

When she got to the cemetery, no one was there. It was eerie, and she almost felt out of place… but when she saw the flowers on his grave and the engraving of his name on the headstone, she had to choke back a sob as she knelt next to it... next to him. She’d been so alone for so long on that island, and when they’d been rescued, she’d come home to nothing.

Suddenly, she was aware of a presence behind her.

“James?” She gasped, startled.

“Hey.” He said, sounding a bit distant and quiet, unlike the Sawyer she had known on the island, yet he still managed to flash a weakened version of his trademark-Sawyer-grin.

“What are you doing here?” She asked calmly.

“Payin my respects, same as you.”

She stared out ahead. “Why weren’t you at the funeral?”

“I guess I’d been on the island too long.” He paused, and Juliet’s eyes held confusion at his vague statement. “I got tired of death.” She didn’t answer, but only gazed back at the grave. Sawyer sighed. “Hey, Juliet…” She glanced up at the sound of his voice. “Did…did Kate come?”

She shook her head. “I guess she was tired of death too, huh?” She asked softly, standing.

“I haven’t seen her since we hit land. She ran the second she could, no explanation, no goodbye…” He turned away slightly, his hair blowing in the cold breeze of the early morning. “She don’t care about no one anymore, Jules. She only cares about runnin.”

“Always the optimist, aren’t you?”

“Well, what else am I supposed ta think?” He snapped, whipping around to look into her eyes. Neither really knew how the conversation had gone from Jack to Kate, but it had, and there was no escaping it.

“That she loved you both, so to save you from the pain of the truth, she ran.” Juliet said simply.

“You tellin me she killed two birds with one stone? Cuz I don’t buy it. And this ain’t about Kate.” He growled, knowing he wasn’t making sense. He shook his head and began to walk away, feeling he had done more damage than good.

“James…” She grabbed his arm.

He looked back a ther darkly, his eyes going to her hand on his upper arm. Finally, a small smirk graced his lips. “Ya mind, Blondie?”

“I-” She stumbled, looking down again and letting go of his arm.

They both stood like that for a few seconds. Neither said a word until Sawyer broke the silence with his deep, Southern tone.

“How long’s it been, Juliet? Two months give or take a day, since he…” She looked into his compassionate, blue eyes, surprise in her own. “What? Just cuz I didn’t come to the funeral, don’t mean I didn’t get the memo. He…He was my friend too.” He said, regret in his tone.

“Congratulations, I didn’t think you had any.” She teased lightly to disguise the thin sheet of tears in her blue eyes.

“You love him?”

She blushed unintentionally, taken aback by his question. “What?”

“Yeah,” He chuckled, the sound friendly, but the tone somewhat cold. “That’s what I thought.” He whispered, and then with one, last forced smile, he walked away.

“James?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you alright?”

He let out a low chuckle. “I’ve never been alright in my life, Juliet…But thanks.”

The End