lostproject1081, posts by tag: week three - LiveJournal (original) (raw)

James goes to the kitchen to get his dinner, grabbing a beer from the fridge before sitting down. Glancing over at the couch, he watches the back of her head, every now and then nodding in agreement with whatever she’s reading. He thinks about what Miles said the night before.

He wants to kiss her.

He’s never been this wrapped up in what he should or shouldn’t do when it comes to a woman. He was the con man, the one putting women’s minds at ease and bedding anyone he wanted. He’s never had a problem with it before, so why the hell was a kiss so damn difficult? He knows the answer even before his mind can finish asking the question.

This isn’t a con. He wants to kiss her because he wants to kiss her. There’s no ulterior motive, nothing to blame this on. It’s just Juliet.

Miles looks at James intently in the security room. "Just. Kiss her. Do it before you drive me crazy, LaFleur."

James stares at Miles for a good minute or so before speaking. "What the hell are you talkin' about?"

Miles runs a hand down his face. "She? Likes you. You? Like her. And if you deny it, I swear to God Jim, I'll punch you in the face."

"I'd like to see you try, Rocky."

"Rocky hasn't even been made yet so you can't use it. And, by the way, you didn't deny it."

James stops to think about that, but shakes his head dismissively. "I ain't her type."

"How do you know what her type is?"

"I just know."

"You're assuming, you ass."

James shakes his head. "This conversation is over."

"Why are you getting so upset?" Miles protests. "It's because you like her. You wanna kiss her, LaFleur."

James turns around and starts walking away without saying anything else.

Miles yells after him. "And I'm taking bets!"

Juliet can hear him taking a shower, then brushing his teeth. She knows when he’s in his room getting dressed, and she rolls over onto her stomach to listen to him trying to be as quiet as possible so that he doesn’t wake anyone else. It’s his turn for the early shift which means that he’s the only one up. Or so he thinks.

They were up late the night before, and while she listens to him finally getting something together for himself for breakfast, she wonders what he thinks now that she’s told him a little bit more about herself. He’d reassured her, she’d hugged him, and that was it. Only the hug was with a shirtless version of him and she can’t quite get it out of her head. Had she lingered too long? Maybe she’d lingered.

She finally hears him in the pantry taking what she assumes is her last DHARMA granola bar, but she doesn’t care. That won’t be enough to hold him until dinner since he never seems to come home for lunch. (She wonders when she started to notice that sort of thing.) Once he’s gone she gets up and goes about her day off routine until lunch time. That’s when she commits to the idea of packing him a lunch.

Walking down into the security station where James is watching monitors with Miles (who looks a little bleary eyed after his night out), she clears her throat. James turns and waves her in. "Come to watch the news?"

Miles barely suppresses rolling his eyes. "I’m taking my lunch." He decides to leave before he suffocates in the tension.

Juliet watches him make his exit, and she takes his abandoned seat, putting her legs up on the desk in front of them to mimic the way James is sitting. "Brought you something," she says without looking at him, her eyes on the small black and white screens as she hands over his lunch.

"Must be my lucky day," he smirks as he opens the bag and pulls out a sandwich. "Oh, gourmet. And DHARMA 'crisps'. If that ain’t high class, I dunno what is."

Juliet’s grinning now and she looks over at him. "I hope you like it. I hear my sandwich making skills are pretty amazing." She stands to go so that he can enjoy his lunch in peace, but he reaches out to hold onto her wrist.

"Where do you think you’re goin', Blondie? All I got is Miles to talk to and it ain’t exactly stimulatin' conversation. Well, most of the time."

She sits back down, happily surprised that he’s asked her to stay, and steals his chips.

Juliet stands there, watching him eating her ice cream. "James?"

He pauses with the spoon halfway between the carton and his mouth. "Oops."

She rolls her eyes and digs a spoon out of the drawer before sitting next to him. "Did the ice cream fall out of the freezer and drag you out here from your bedroom?" There’s a smirk playing on her face as she takes a bite.

"Didn’t think you’d mind, considerin’ you drank my last beer the other day."

"Oh, so this is revenge?"

"Not anymore since I didn’t finish the whole thing."

She smiles around her spoon as she takes another bite. "It hasn’t been this hot on the island in a long time. Or maybe we’re just spoiled now that we have four walls and an air conditioner."

"You gettin’ soft? We could always take a field trip out to the jungle. Maybe do a little runnin’, gather some mangoes."

He’s making her smile a lot, and this is no exception as she actually laughs a little. "Don’t even think like that, James. I like my four walls."

He finally looks at more than just her eyes and realizes she’s wearing a tank top and those skimpy DHARMA shorts. He shakes his head and takes a bite of the ice cream.

She’s very aware that he’s only wearing boxers and she clears her throat. "I’m surprised Miles isn’t out here complaining about the heat."

James snorts. "He ain’t even here. Spending the night with Lisa or Leslie, or...hell, I can’t remember her name."

Juliet laughs louder, leaning a little so that her head falls on his shoulder for a second before she pulls it together. "You know this island isn’t very big, he’s going to be the topic of all the gossip."

"You think?"

She nods. "Oh, I know."

That earns her an eyebrow arch, and she realizes that this isn’t something she’d ever thought she’d be discussing with him. And it doesn’t exactly have a happy ending. She’s quiet for a minute, considering the facts of the story. Quiet for so long that he speaks.

"Hey, you don’t have to tell me," he offers.

"No. I will." She takes a bite of the ice cream, remembering a day she ate this same type of ice cream in bed. "I had an affair. On the island before you crashed here. It was...I don’t know what it was," she says honestly.

He stares at her in surprise, forgetting the spoon in his hand for a minute. "You had a what?"

"An affair, James. I slept with a married man."

"Damn. Had no idea you had it in you."

"A girl gets lonely on the island," she says with the barest hint of a smile.

"What happened?"

"You sound like Amy."

He takes a bite of ice cream indignantly. "You started the story, now you gotta finish it."

She looks at him, sighing softly. "Ben happened. He sent Goodwin to the tail section of your plane to pose as one of the survivors. He got found out, and someone killed him."

There’s a lot of silence for a long time. He doesn’t know what to say. She doesn’t want to tell him the full story about Ben. "Anyway. People knew we were sleeping together. His wife knew. I wasn’t very popular."

James puts down his spoon and takes a deep breath. "Well. I ain’t got a lotta room to judge, Blondie. I’m not exactly a saint."

She knows. She’s read his file.

He reaches out and lets his hand rest on her knee for a minute and his hand is warm, the gesture taking her by surprise. "It don’t matter, Juliet. None of it matters, especially now."

Juliet reaches out and wraps her arms around him because she’s surprised at his words and a little touched by them.

It doesn’t matter who she used to be. It only matters who she is now.

Pulling back, she lets her fingers mess up his hair before turning to go back to her room.

It doesn’t matter.

Juliet’s starting to realize that James stares at her when he thinks she doesn’t notice. She usually does, and sometimes she calls him out on it, but most of the time she says nothing. Tonight isn’t going to be a night she lets it go.

"James?" There’s a little grin playing on her lips because she’s had more than a couple of beers and now she’s feeling bold.

He looks at her, a little worried because of that grin and he takes a sip of his drink. "Yeah?"

"Did you have something you wanted to say?"

He leans back on his elbows against the steps of the porch. "Kinda do, actually. Have a question for you."

"Then I have an answer," she responds coolly.

He likes that and smirks a little into his beer bottle as he takes another swallow before looking over at her. "Why’d you stay?"

She knew this would come up eventually, and she sighs a little, drawing her knees up to rest her arms on them. "Because you were right. There’s nothing off of this island for me."

He doesn’t know what he expected her to say, so he lets her silence linger for a minute before speaking again. "Well. You coulda left. Hell, you still could. Go off and invest in Microsoft or somethin’."

Juliet laughs at that, smiling widely. "Is that your plan eventually?"

"Hell yeah it is. Gonna live in the most damn land locked state there is with my millions."

She knocks her beer bottle with his. "Sounds like a plan, James. Sounds like a great plan."

She needs a plan.

Jin blinks a little in surprise as Juliet stands. "Good job today, Jin." Her smile isn’t genuine, he knows. He tries again.

"Jim. Likes you."

She stares at him for a few seconds. "How do you know?"

He understands 'you' and the look of confusion on her face, so he shrugs a little. "We talk. He talks. Understand enough."

Juliet’s a little shocked at this information. He talks about her? Of course he talks about her to the person he thinks can’t understand a word he’s saying. Suddenly she’s laughing, pressing her face into her hand. "Thank you, Jin."

The question was...what did she do now?

She’s writing something, sitting on the couch with her legs tucked up and the notebook on her thighs. She does this every night just before picking up her book. James flops down on the other end of the couch and looks at her until she finally murmurs something. "Can I help you?"

He puts on his glasses, opening Lord of the Flies (ironic, he knows) and shaking his head. "Nope, just mindin’ my own business."

"Good."

He’s aware after ten minutes that he’s read the same sentence over and over again, and she’s still writing, never pausing for a break.

"You’re staring again," Juliet finally looks up at him pointedly.

"What the hell are you writing?" He can’t help it, he has to know.

She’s quiet, her eyes moving over him, deciding if she can trust him with this vulnerability she has. "Letters."

He snorts. "Well, that clears it up."

"To my sister."

His smirk leaves his face immediately, and he wants to reach out to tell her it’ll all be okay one day, but instead he just nods and lets her get back to it.

He feels like an ass.

Day Fifteen
She's writing in a notebook, has been every night since the two weeks were up. He never asks what she's doing, and she hasn't offered to tell him.

Day Sixteen
Juliet's helping Jin with his English, and he's making good progress. "You. Very much like..." It's when he's trying to figure out Jim or James or Sawyer that she cuts him off and ends their lesson early.

Day Seventeen
They're drinking together on the porch, James and Juliet, and he looks at her for a second. He wants to say something but he doesn't, and they keep watching the sunset quietly.

Day Eighteen
It's the middle of the night, it's hot as hell, and she gets up to find the last of the chocolate ice cream. She's surprised when he's already there, in just his boxers, eating the ice cream right out of the container.

Day Nineteen
Juliet lays in bed, listening to him getting ready for his shift, and she smiles a little at the memory of the night before. Maybe she'll take him lunch today.

Day Twenty
Miles looks at Jim intently, eyes focused on him. "Just. Kiss her. Do it before you drive me crazy, LaFleur."

Day Twenty One
He comes home to find her curled up on the couch engrossed in a book. She doesn't even look up. "Dinner's in the oven." It's the fact that it's so damn domestic that gets him.