In My Veins- Jack and Kate

Authors Note: Hey guys, alright so I'm completely aware that I said I wasn't going to write anymore stories for these two, and when I said that I fully intended not to write anymore, but I was on vacation and I guess I sort of dreamt up this idea, and it wouldn't stop nagging at me, so I decided to run it by a few people and they told me to write it, and here we are. The story is very different from every other story that I've written for two reasons, one; it wont be so bubble gummy, and two; it's going to be Kate's journey, where as my other stories are sort of Jack's. So it's something pretty different for me, kind of a challenge, I don't know if I can do this well, but hopefully you'll stick around to see. Also I'm going to put a song at the start of every chapter that inspired the theme of the chapter, just because the only thing as great as Jate is music right?

I do not own lost, or anything else.

Prologue- Those Nights

Stay up late and we'd talk all night
In a dark room lit by the TV light
Through all the hard times in my life
Those nights kept me alive

-Those Nights, Skillet

When were kids we believe that the world is this magical and safe place, and there's nothing out there that can hurt us, that naive feeling that tells us were completely invincible. We can do or be anything we want, you want to be a doctor then you're a doctor, you want to be a princess, you can be a princess. You've got your whole life ahead of you and you have all these plans, you know exactly what you're going to do, every next move you'll make. Then comes that first moment, that first horrible thing that happens to you and the pain you feel makes you snap out of the fairytale and pushes you into reality, where the world is scary and unpredictable and you can bet its going to throw you around, you realize that your not a princess and all those plans, there just plans and everything can change in a instant.

For Kate Austen that moment was March 23, 1994 and she was 17 years old. She had spent the night at her boyfriends house, Zack was Kate's best friend in the world, if she was being honest her only friend. She knew he was always there for her; he was the only person in her life that hadn't managed to let her down. She felt his warm hand lay softly on her arm, and she smiled as she opened her eyes to see him, then she looked at the clock, it was 3:30 am and she gave him a questioning stare, he gave her a small smile and held out the phone to her.

That phone call in the middle of the night changed Kate's life, it also informed her that her mother had passed away, the cancer she had been fighting had won out in the end.

A year passed since Kate lost her mom, and the one single reason why she managed to keep it all together, one reason; Zach. He'd been her rock during the funeral and continued that ever since. Kate was left with her Wayne, a man she couldn't stand but found out shortly after her mom's death that he was her father.

He came stumbling in the house at night, his breath smelled of whiskey and his clothes smelled like smoke, Kate walked over to him, throwing his arm around her shoulder to help him find a chair before he fell over

"How much have you had to drink?" Kate asked, as she let him slide into the chair

Wayne grabbed her arm with a firm grip and pulled her down to him "You are beautiful" He slurred

She yanked her arm away, his fingers left red marks on her skin from the grip he had on her, she started to walk away, when his drunken voice called her back

"Katie, make me something to eat" He demanded

She sighed "I have homework to do, find something to eat"

He stood up abruptly and walked over to her, grabbing her wrist and slamming her against the wall, "What did you just say?" He yelled, his breath hitting her and making her sick inside

"Wayne, please I have a big chemistry test tomorrow, I need to study" She pleaded, wincing as he twisted her wrist

The next she felt was his hand come across her face, and then she was thrown across the room, she lost her balance and tumbled down on the floor, hitting her head against the counter on the way down. She quickly got up and ran out the front door as fast as she could, she ran and ran until she finally got to his house, knocking on the door, praying someone would answer at this hour of the night, relieved she saw a light go on and seconds later the door opened

"Katie?" He whispered, trying to wake himself from his sleep

When he took a better look, he saw that tears were pouring down her face, blood from her lip mixed with her tears, she had a bruise on her cheek, and she was shivering, he brought inside and wrapped one of his jackets around her

"What happened, Katie? What did he do?" He asked softly, rubbing his hands up and down her arms

She shook her head furiously and he kissed the side of her head and stood up to get her a wash clothes for her lip, he came back, leaning so he was in between her legs, he brought the damp clothes up to her lip dabbing lightly at the blood, when he was satisfied, he tossed it aside and brought his lips to hers, kissing her softly

"Come on, let's go upstairs" He said, knowing she wasn't going to tell him anything tonight, he led her to his room, and laid down next to her on his bed, wrapping his arms around her she snuggled into him

"I love you" He whispered as he drifted off to sleep

Kate lay there watching him sleep, she thought about her mom and about the plans that they both made for her, find someone who loves her, graduate high school, get out of this town, go to college, get married. She knew she already had the first part done with Zach, and she was about 2 months from graduating high school and she wished her mom could be there, she knew she'd be proud. That plan was all that Kate had left of her mother, and she swore that she would follow that path, that road because she believed that it mattered to her mother that she followed it, so Kate blocked out everything else, everything around that wasn't on that road, was simply a blur to her.

End Note: Okay, before anyone asks this, I promise you it is a Jate fic; it's just that Kate needs to go through some things first, let me know what you think, should I keep going with this one?