A/N: Firstly, I am terribly sorry for the long wait for this chapter, which is in fact the final chapter. I only intended for this story to be short, and I am so grateful for all the support and kind reviews I've had whilst writing it.

Hope this is worth the wait.

Thanks again :o)

This chapter contains strong language.

Denying her just this once their nightly ritual of a story, Sawyer had quickly sent his daughter to her bedroom when they arrived home, saying she'd had a long, tiring day.

They both had.

Clementine let out an impossibly wide yawn, reaching out wildly with her arms and her hands grasping air. She looked tiny, lost in the blue fabric of one of his t-shirts, and he yanked the duvet up closer towards her chin. The small glow of the lamp beside her bed bathed the two of them in a deep orange hue which made him feel tired himself. Once she settled, she looked up at him sleepily and he allowed a sleepy grin to appear on his face. Sitting on the edge of her bed, he realised how exhausted he actually was.

He took this moment, in all its rarity, to observe his daughter through untainted eyes. Eyes that hadn't been ruined by years of revenge seeking, of stealing, or cheating, or killing. He was just a guy, a father, saying goodnight to his daughter, and the more he focused on that thought, the more it could be true. The more he wanted it to be true. That life was really this blissfully simple.

But it wasn't was it? The woman sitting in the other room was proof of that.

Letting out a long sigh and forcing himself to banish Kate from his thoughts, he gently brushed his thumb over Clem's head, brushing a few stray hairs from her face. She smiled up at him, her eyes slowing closing, and he felt something almost painful in the pit of his stomach.

"Can you take me to the bus stop again tomorrow?" she suddenly said, shocking him slightly.

"You bet. I'll take you there every damn day till you're a hundred years old."

She giggled.

"A gazillion years old." She said, and reached her arms around his neck to pull him down for a hug.

"You know kiddo…" he suddenly found himself saying "Dunno what I'd do without you."

"Me too." She yawned, obviously not understanding the full seriousness of his statement, which didn't surprise him. As he pulled away, she yawned a quiet "Love ya." , which made him smile like it always did, and he replied with a "You too." before pressing a kiss to her forehead and standing up.

He felt his insides freeze all of a sudden. He didn't want to leave this room, this moment, this fantasy of domestic bliss that he hadn't even known until recently that it was all he wanted. He sure as hell never thought there would come a day when he would wish that Kate wasn't there.

But he was wishing it now. Just leave, leave me alone, leave us alone.

Of course, all of those thoughts instantly vanished when he laid eyes on her.

As he stepped out of his daughter's room, he saw Kate stood awkwardly in the center of the living area, her coat and bag hung up by the door.

Here they were again. This situation was absurd, he thought. She was stood there in his tiny, pathetic excuse for an apartment, looking more stunning as every moment passed by, and he wondered what would happen now. He tried to tell himself he was a fool for even considering she might stay. Because she hadn't changed at all…she would always run, even when she didn't need to. He didn't know whether or not he liked the fact that he knew her so well, even now.

And a part of him didn't even want her to stay. A kid was one thing, but Clem was…she was tough. She could move from state to state, she could follow and cope with this life they had between them. They managed, somehow. They were codependent- they needed each other. Another presence would destroy it all, he knew. Even if that person was Kate.

It was just too complicated for them.

It didn't stop him from wanting it though. Wanting it more than anything; a family.

Once again, he'd turned into someone he didn't recognize anymore.

"Thanks for the passport by the way."

That was the first thing she said to him. It stunned him so much he almost couldn't think of a reply.

"Yeah…hows that workin' out for ya?"

She smiled. "Not too bad. Runnin's not so fun when there's no one chasing you though."

Only she could say something superbly twisted like that and he found himself smiling.

"Well…any time, Freckles." He said.

Kate nodded…then looked hesitant, like she was unsure why she was here, glancing from side to side and avoiding his gaze. She was waiting for him to say or do something, what he had no idea…and yet his next actions just came instinctively. A primal urge within him, something he had longed to do since he saw her earlier today.

That was today? It felt like lifetimes ago.

He strode forward and pulled her into a fierce embrace, burying his nose into her shoulder, her sent causing him to spiral through memories, good and bad, and in that one moment he remembered vividly every single reason why he'd fallen in love with her.

She let out a gasp, but soon hugged him back just as intensely, and he thought her heard her let out a small sob. He didn't think he could bear that anymore. He simply clung to her like it was the last time he could do so, which it probably was, and tried to shut down his head and simply indulge in her.

"Kate." He sighed, miserably. She gripped him tighter, and he pretended they weren't in his home, that Clem wasn't there, that they were stood once more beneath burnt wreckage and jungle, the tide crashing beside them, the sand warm beneath their feet.

"Oh God." She sighed, pulling away from him. He didn't want to let her go anymore.That had always been his problem with her…he'd never been able to just let her go.

Swiftly, she wiped away a few tears that had escaped and sucked in a breath as she pulled away from him. Not for the first time, he wished he could tell what she was thinking.

She glanced around the messy room, spotting drawings that Clem had done scattered across the floor, a few photos of her, of the two of them, a teddy bear, books, so many books old and new, because she could already read and hardly stopped.

Kate sighed and finally looked at him.

"You've changed so much." She said softly, shaking her head in wonder. "I mean…it's you. But it's not…it's not you."

She laughed at herself slightly and he had to smile at her.

"I thought…" she continued. "Back then. I never thought that what we had would…"

He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear this. But part of him wanted to scream at her to carry on, to just tell him the truth.

"I kept telling myself…it's never going to work between us. It never would have worked between us, there was just too much damage, too much chaos. And I look at you now and I can't help thinking…what if I'd just…held on?"

"Don't do this…" he said weakly, feeling a knot in his stomach. He'd voiced these questions thousands of times in his head and they sounded so much worse when she said them aloud.

She grabbed his hands.

"It hurts." She said bluntly, staring at him fiercely. "Knowing I could have had something real with you."

He let out a shaky breath and pulled away from her, stepping back.

He glared at her.

"It's different now." He said. What the hell was she doing do him? "She's my life now."

He remembered a time when he would have said the same about Kate herself. When he would have done anything for her…

She looked at him for a long moment before nodding, sadly.

"You really love her, don't you?"

His answer was immediate.

"'Course I do. She's mine. You never were. You were never mine."

She seemed shocked at this comment, and walked back over to where he was stood, placing a hand on his chest and stopping his heart.

"I meant what I said." She said in a small voice. She seemed so weak in that moment that it hurt him. "All those…years ago."

She glared at him meaningfully.

"I meant it."

He knew what she was talking about, and he was unsure whether or not he was glad she hadn't actually said the words. Maybe it was easier this way, that they parted on the terms they had done before, that they were left to continue their lives as if this whole sorry encounter had never occurred. Because they would part…she couldn't possibly stay, she wouldn't want to stay, and even if she did…

She seemed to read his thoughts after a long, awkward moment.

"I should leave." She sighed.

And then he found himself clinging onto her wrists, completely ignoring all the warning signs in his head, only paying attention to the fierce pounding of his heart.

"Where will you go?" he almost growled.

"I don't know." She said quietly. "I just…I need to leave- "

He cut her off with a kiss. He knew almost the exact instant that their lips collided he would end up regretting this, but he didn't care. It felt like this entire, fucked up day had been leading to this exact moment, this precise, terrifying sensation that was happening to him as he completely lost himself. He was kissing her with a violent passion he wasn't even aware he was capable of…it shocked him until he realised he hadn't been like this with anyone for so long, his life so utterly dedicated to his daughter. He hadn't felt this way since the last time he was with her, on the island…feeling as though he could tear down the entire jungle just to be able to feel her skin merge with his own, consumed with thoughts of her, this pure, undeniable passion that existed between them.

The fact was, he loved her. He loved her just as painfully now as he had back then, and it was agony knowing that she was wrong…that they could never have something real. All this, it was just emotion, too destructive, too wild, and Clem…

He pulled away, and the two of them were left clinging, both their foreheads resting on one another, their breathing ragged. This was no life…this was just a short indulgence in ecstasy, something he knew couldn't last no matter how much he wanted it to.

He knew he had nothing to lose.

"I love you." He muttered quietly, knowing it to be so true, knowing that there'd never been anyone else, there never would be anyone else.

She let out a horrible sob then that he knew he would remember for as long as he lived.

She kissed him again…just like before, the first time, just as slow and wonderful, just like perfection…then pulled away.

"Goodbye James." She said.

She began to walk away and he only let go of her hand when she was completely out of reach. He watched her in a daze as she picked up her bag and sent him a meaningful look before opening the door to the apartment, ready to walk of the door and out of his twisted world.

There was no point in stopping her now.

"I'll…" she began. She couldn't tear her eyes away from his own and in that moment he tried desperately to memorize every single feature, every color in her eyes, every freckle on her face.

"I'll see you."

Then she left.

Gone.

All the air seemed to leave his lungs and he let out a strange noise, a breath, a groan, something like a sob, before breathing in through his nose like it was the last time he could do so.

He didn't even have time to regain rational thought before he heard small footsteps padding along the floor towards him.

"Daddy?"

She sounded sleepy, almost irritated, and sad. He turned to look at her and saw that her tiny little eyes were slightly red. He swallowed down the painful lump that had formed in his throat, his eyes blurry, his head hurting and everything around him seeming out of place, like he was on some kind of crazy drug trip.

"What's a matter?" he forced out, his voice hoarse, his hands trembling as he crouched down in front of her so he could look into her eyes.

She seemed guilty. "Can't sleep." She said, as though she'd committed some sort of crime

He barely heard her. In an almost dreamlike state, he picked her up and carried her back to her room, laying on the bed himself and simply holding her close, placing a few kisses on her head, whispering meaningless things that eventually sent her to sleep.

He held her there and just gazed into the darkness of her room, waiting to fall asleep, afraid that he might dream.

He clung to her like a lifeline, like it was the end of all things, like she was the only one left in the world.

Which she was. To him, she was the only person left.

She was all he had.

That was all he though until sleep finally claimed him.