Author's Note: This is my first attempt at Lost. I watched the show for the first time in high school and recently rewatched it before my trip to Hawaii. I spent a whole day seeing filming locations and learning even more about the show! It was a great experience and I hope every Lost fan gets a chance to go some day! Anyway, I've been reading Suliet fanfiction since I first watched the show and I finally decided to give a shot. I have read nearly every Suliet fic there is on this site, some of them multiple times, and I hope mine will be just as good as some of my favorites!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Lost. If I did we would have gotten to see much more of Sawyer and Juliet!

Please read and review! I've had a long break from writing and I'd love to know how I'm doing!

Title comes from Pvris' song You and I.

"We can meet in the middle Bodies and souls collide Dance in the moonlight When all the stars align For you and I..." -Pvris

You and I

Chapter One

It had been seven months since she landed in Dharmaville, since they all landed in Dharmavile in the 70's, and things were not going the way she had planned. They had played nice with the hippies and were given a chance to search for Locke and the others, or the rest of their 'crew' as Sawyer referred to them when speaking to Dharma Initiative members. Of course they found nothing and when the sub was ready to leave a few days later Juliet was ready to get off this godforsaken island and back to civilization where one didn't have to worry about smoke monsters, time flashes, or bug eyed little men who had no qualms about keeping a woman prisoner for three years. But things had changed. Juliet had been on the dock not twenty four hours before the sub was set to leave planning her first moves off island when James had asked her to stay. "Two weeks. That's all I'm askin'." And she had agreed.

Soon after they were all welcomed into the Dharma Initiative and invited to stay long term. She hadn't been too keen on the idea at first, but the guys all jumped at the opportunity. Dan so he could continue his studies in Ann Arbor, Sawyer so her could continue to keep an eye out for their 'crew', Jin because he wasn't going anywhere until he found Sun, and Miles….well Juliet suspected Miles' immediate response of "Sign me up, boss!" had more to do with the busty brunette working in the cafeteria than anything else. Despite her concerns she relented. She supposed Sawyer was right – there was nothing out there for her in the 1970's so every week day for the past six months she had donned the navy blue jumpsuit of the Dharma Motorpool and spent the next six to eight hours elbow deep in grease working on the DI's small fleet of jeeps and vans.

It wasn't all bad though. In fact she'd started to enjoy her time in Dharma. She'd become fast friends with Amy. The two women were good for each other. Juliet had helped Amy through her loss of Paul and Amy had become a sort of surrogate sister for Juliet. She still missed Rachel terribly and longed to meet her nephew, but she was happy to have Amy as a friend – one of the few friends she'd made since coming to the island over three years ago. In fact, the only real friends she'd had in the last few years she'd found in Dharma in the 70's. If anyone had told her that months ago she'd have said they were crazy.

There was Amy, of course, and Miles. He was a wiseass and made too many crude jokes, but he was a good person and she knew she could count on him if she needed to. Then, there was Jin. Juliet had been helping him with his English and he was coming along nicely. He was the quietest of their group and spent many nights gazing up at the stars thinking of Sun. Dan had left for Ann Arbor soon after being accepted by the DI. Juliet never got to know him very well, but she knew he would do all he could to get them back to their own time. She hoped he was doing well away from the island. It had to be easier to heal without mini-Charlotte running around.

Lastly there was James. Or Sawyer. Or LaFleur. Whatever. To Juliet he was just James and lately an involuntary smile crept onto the face whenever she thought of him, which was more often than she'd like to admit. They had spent the last six months living together as roommates. Despite what most of the DI thought there was no funny business, just two friends sharing a small yellow house.

A little over six months ago Horace had approached them with their permanent housing arrangements – two neighboring two bedrooms. The rest was up to them. Juliet had hoped to be paired with Jin, not because she like him more or Miles and James any less, but because from the beginning she knew Jin was kind and considerate – two qualities required to be the perfect roommate. She didn't say anything though. The last thing she wanted to do was piss someone off when they were supposed to be working together so when Miles suggested they all draw straws she had agreed. And she had ended up with James.

At first she didn't know what to expect, but the very first night they both realized they had a lot more in common than either one thought possible.

"Honey, I'm home!" Sawyer called as he made his way into their new Dharma house carrying a box full of the few possessions he had. He heard no response form Juliet. Shit. He thought. I hope I didn't piss her off already. We've only been living together for five minutes! Then he saw her. She was sitting cross legged on the floor in front of a bookshelf in the living room. The shelves were decently stocked and she already had a small pile of books stacked to right of her to read first.

Sawyer set his box down on the kitchen table quietly. Juliet was engrossed in whatever book she had in her hands and Sawyer guessed she had yet to realize he was still in the room. He walked up behind her slowly and when he got close enough he bent down bringing his mouth within inches of her left ear.

"Whatchya got there, Blondie?" He asked loudly and howled with laughter when she jumped, her book flying right out of her hands.

"Not funny." She whined as she got up and collected the book she'd through into the air moments earlier.

"Sorry. I couldn't resist." Sawyer said still trying to control his laughter.

"Well don't do it again." She replied while playfully smacking him in the chest with the paperback in her hands.

Sawyer's laughter subsided and he finally noticed the title of the book in her hand as she turned to pick up the books from her stack that she'd knocked over when he surprised her. "I get this one first." He said as he plucked the book from her grasp.

Juliet turned and eyed him curiously.

"It's my favorite." He explained with a smile as he held up a copy of Of Mice and Men.

She hadn't expected James to be a reader. Sure, she saw him reading some during her time at the beach camp, but she assumed he read there because there was nothing else to do. She never expected him to read for fun where there were other options. She couldn't have been more wrong. The man was like a sponge soaking up every book he could get his hands on. She was no different and it was the first major thing they discovered they had in common. They would talk at length about what books they liked and disliked and every night they weren't with Miles and Jin they sat on the couch reading in a companionable silence. Miles had teased them on more than one occasion after barging into their house one night to inform Sawyer of the latest developments with a girl he was trying to go out with only to find Sawyer sitting on one end of the couch, his reading glasses perched on his nose and Juliet at the other end, legs tucked underneath her, facing Sawyer. Both were engrossed in their own book.

"Seriously?" Miles had asked with incredulity. "This is what you guys do with your nights off?"

They had both looked up at him. James was visibly frustrated. "What's so damn important Miles? It was just getting good!" And he shook his book a little for emphasis. Juliet stifled a laugh. He was reading that particular book out of protest. He insisted he would hate it. She'd bet him one week's worth of dishes otherwise and was pleased to see she'd already won.

Miles was speechless. He shook his head and exited th house. Ever since them he had occasionally referred to both James and Juliet has nerds, geeks, dweebs, and every other similar adjective he could come up with.

James always responded with "At least we know how to read, Enos." And that would be the end of it, for a while at least.

Juliet and Sawyer discovered they had more in common than just books. They shared favorite music and movies from the future…or past depending on how you looked at things and they could talk about TV shows for hours. Dick York was obviously the better Darrin on Bewtiched, but who was funnier on Three's Company – Mr. Furley or the Roper's?

Aside from their interests they got along well in other areas, too. Sawyer hated to do laundry and Juliet despised sweeping the floors so they compromised. They took turns with other chores. Of course neither one was perfect so they argued sometimes, usually about James tracking mud in on his work boots or his bad habit of leaving the seat up. Other times it was because Juliet took too long in the bathroom.

They also lived with some unspoken rules. Whoever didn't cook did the dishes. Whoever got up first in the mornings got the bathroom first and whoever lost in the morning got it first that night if they wished. They also worked hard to respect each other's personal space. Accidental touches and any other infringement on the other's space resulted in a flurry of "sorry"s from both parties. These exchanges generally resulted in a quiet smile and knowing smirk exchanged between Jin and Miles, always unseen by Sawyer and Juliet that seemed to say "someday they'll figure it out."

Juliet wasn't sure when it happened, but sometime over the course of the last six months James began to enter Juliet's thoughts more frequently and she found herself genuinely looking forward to spending time with him. She first noticed it one day at the Motorpool. She was underneath one of the blue Dharma jeeps when she heard the latest piece of island gossip. She surprised herself when she realized her first thought wasn't 'I wonder what Amy would have to say about this', but 'I can't wait to see James' face when I tell him" instead. Somehow Juliet and James had stopped being roommates and started being best friends.

What scared Juliet more than anything was that now things were starting to change again, at least they were for her and she didn't know what to do. Ever since they landed in Dharma James had been breaking down all the walls she had meticulously build over the last few years. After Jack she had promised herself she was done with men and relationships, at least while she was stuck on this rock. Love never worked out for her. Edmund had used her for her research and she had let him walk all over her for years. Goodwin had been sent on a suicide mission just because she loved him. Ben kept her prisoner for years. Then there was Jack. She was wary of him at first, but he could be a smooth talker when he wanted to and she had thought he genuinely cared for her. She believed him when he said he'd get her home. In the end she realized what she really was to him – a distraction from Kate. She was a pawn in their never ending game of cat and mouse and although she didn't show it, it hurt. She had trusted him and he let her down just like so many others before so as she watched the freighter go up in smoke she made a decision. She was done. Love clearly wasn't in the cards for her and she was tired of getting hurt.

But then James has swam to shore and her life had turned upside down. Now she caught herself staring as he did the dishes, marveling at the way the muscles of his upper back and shoulders moved underneath his white t-shirt. She began to wonder what those same muscles would feel like under her fingertips and she shook her head trying to clear the images from her mind. She should not be thinking those things. For one, he was her best friend. For two, she had made a promise to herself and for three, there was no way he could ever feel that way about her. What man would like a woman who tasered him the first time they met and gave him weekly lectures about not drinking milk out of the carton? Besides she liked the relationship they had. They could count on each other, they enjoyed each other's company and she didn't want to do anything to mess up what they had.

Sawyer didn't know when it started, but somewhere over the last few months he started thinking of Juliet differently. First they were strangers. Then enemies. Sometime between flaming arrows and moving in together they became kind of friends. After living together and learning more about each other they became best friends. He was okay with that progression. It made sense. She was the only person that ever knew everything about him, all of his secrets, and accepted him anyway. The problem was that now he dreamt of blue eyes and blonde hair and the sight of her in her favorite shorts began to make him feel and think things he definitely should not be thinking or feeling about his best friend and roommate.

He remembered one night a few weeks ago when he'd gotten home late from work. She had fallen asleep on the couch waiting up for him and he was struck by how beautiful she looked. Her hair was fanned out around her head like a golden halo and the book she'd been reading laid open on her chest. The though exterior she showed while awake had faded as she slept and he thought she'd never looked more peaceful. In that moment he thought she looked like an angel and he smiled to himself knowing if he ever told her that she would probably taser him again. She had recently told him about her ex-husband and he couldn't understand why any man would do that to her, why they would chase secretaries and research assistants while she waited at home. Just the thought of it made Sawyer's stomach turn. She was beautiful and smart and kind, perfect in his eyes and he believed any man would be lucky to have her. If Edmund hadn't already been hit by a bus James might have run him over himself. He knew most of the baggage and pain that she carried originated with Edmund and he wanted nothing more than to make it go away

Sawyer's thoughts were interrupted by Juliet. She was beginning to wake up and he quickly backed up towards the door in an attempt to make it look like he'd just gotten home and hadn't been staring at her for the past several minutes while she slept.

Juliet stretched and yawned, knocking her book to the floor before she opened her eyes. "Did you just get in?" She asked sleepily.

"Yeah." Sawyer lied. "Had problems with the fence. Damn boars were settin' it off again."

"Oh." She yawned again. "There's a plate on the counter if you're hungry. I'm going to bed. Night James." She smiled before heading towards her bedroom.

"Night." He replied as he watched her retreat down the hall.

Sawyer looked over to the counter and sure enough there was a plate of food neatly wrapped in foil waiting for him. As he ate he made a decision. He wouldn't, no couldn't, do anything to jeopardize his friendship with Juliet. She was all he had. Sure, there was Miles and Jin, but Juliet's companionship and support was what he couldn't survive in Dharma without. Besides, he knew she was way out of his league. She was hot shot doctor and although she was currently masquerading as a mechanic, he knew she deserved more than a professional conman turned hippie commune security guard.