complexguy | ★ but I'm going to be okay as long as you're beside me along the way

He grips her wrist, wanting to hold her right there. "Can I get another kiss?"

"You can have anything you want," she breathes out, kissing him again.

"Whenever you want, I can help you into a bath," Juliet offers.

"Kinda want one now," he mumbles, starting to push himself up. He just feels sticky and gross. "You get in first." Yes, he definitely wants to be held and he's not ashamed to admit that.

"Let me help you in, then I'll get in behind you," she promises, wanting to be able to help him if he feels like he might pass out.

Juliet gets up and steps up to help him gently to the bathroom, kissing his shoulder softly before turning on the hot water in the bath.

"Ready?"

He nods a little, then slips into the tub, letting her get comfortable behind him. Once they're both in the tub together, he sinks back against her. He's still so damn exhausted, so he doesn't say anything, just closes his eyes as she holds him.

Juliet lets the quiet settle because it's comfortable and she knows he must be lethargic as hell. So, she just washes him quietly, murmuring to him softly when she needs him to move.

"Do any of your joints hurt?" she asks him quietly.

"Yeah, a bit," he mumbles, so comfortable as he rests against her. "Worse before, though." When his fever was at its worst, he had terrible body aches, but they've tapered off now.

"As long as they're getting better," she soothes, hands moving up and down his arms before pressing a kiss to the back of his head.

"Your fever was high for a few days, you have no idea how relieved I am," Juliet breathes out.

"Didn't mean to scare you," he breathes out, but he sighs a little in contentment because it feels so good just to be in the water, to be held by her and kissed.

"Try not to again, for my sake, okay?" she asks with a soft smile, kissing the back of his head again and then rubbing his neck and shoulders.

He mumbles an affirmative, but then eventually, feeling so much better (along with being warm and relaxed), he starts to lightly doze right there in the water with her.

Juliet lets him doze for a while, until the cold of the water is too much and she murmurs at him.

"James, come on. Let's get back into bed."

He wakes up slowly, yawning a little as he sits up. With her help, he gets comfortable in bed again. "Sorry I'm so damn out of it, baby. Gonna take me a minute to get back to myself." He smiles sleepily, leaning in to kiss her cheek. "You take good care of me."

"You don't have anything to apologize for," she promises, running her fingers through his hair. "I'll always take care of you. Best that I can."

She pulls the sheet up to cover them both, kissing is shoulder softly.

He sleepily mumbles a reply, drifting back to sleep quickly. Over the next few days, he finally catches up on sleep, regaining his strength and feeling so much better now. It's all thanks to Juliet, of course.

He's not feeling so much better that she's comfortable with him working, but he isn't contagious anymore, so Miles and Jin come over for dinner. It's a good time, all of them laughing and joking when Miles makes the innocent comment that it's insane, how they'd never just be having a casual dinner together like this if not for some crazy circumstances bringing them together.

And then he elaborates by saying hell, Jim and Juliet probably never would have been a thing.

It's innocent, but now Juliet's thinking about it, for the entire rest of the evening.

For his part, James doesn't think much of the comment at all, but he does notice that Juliet seems to get progressively more quiet and subdued as the evening goes on. He doesn't call attention to it while they're all together, but after Miles and Jin go back, James casually remarks, "Got kinda quiet, Blondie. Everything alright?"

Juliet doesn't want to make it a big deal, and she shouldn't. But she can't help thinking about it.

"Do you think Miles is right?" she asks quietly. "Just...you know. In the real world, I wasn't exactly the gun toting type."

"Right about what?" He honestly doesn't make the connection at first, thinking back to what Miles said that might have been significant. Narrowing his eyes a little in confusion, he asks, "'Bout us not bein' a thing if we weren't on the island? Juliet, I didn't have a thing with anyone back home." He gets quieter now, always a little ashamed when he talks about his past.

Juliet didn't exactly, either, even before she came to the island, and she reaches for his hand.

"Just that until this happened--" She pauses, turning her head up to meet his gaze.

"Were you and Sayid gonna torture me?"

It feels strange to hold her hand when she asks him that question, like he's a damn hypocrite. So, he can't look at her when he responds. "Why you gotta know that, Juliet?"

"I need you to know it's okay," she breathes out. "It just made me think about all of the things that had to happen to get us right here."

She tugs his hand until he looks at her. "No matter what your answer is, a week after that day with Sayid, you saved my life from flaming arrows. You showed me who you really were a lot earlier than you realize."

She can say it's okay, but he's not feeling that way right now. His eyes only briefly flicker to hers, then away again. "We were gonna torture you, and that's okay?

"I tased you and helped keep you locked in a cage like an animal. Was that okay?"

They both immediately saved the other, and he can't deny that.

He's quiet for a long moment, biting his tongue. She was just going along with Ben and the Others, but he'll leave it at that for now. "How'd you know I was really a good man, Juliet?"

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject