Chapter 1
Charlie sat by the fire, staring into the glow as he had done so many days before. He knew what they thought. It wasn't like he couldn't see Hurley and Michael, standing from a distance watching him, lowering their voices to hushed whispers. They thought he was going crazy. Maybe he was. Without Claire with him, who knows?
Jack came and sat next to Charlie, handing him some aspirin. Charlie didn't argue this time, because he actually did have a headache from worrying about Claire constantly. "You OK?" Jack asked. For the first time, Charlie actually pondered over this question. Was he OK? He didn't even know himself.
"Jack…do you, and the others…do you think I'm going crazy?" Charlie asked, not bothering to face Jack.
"You're not going crazy, Charlie. A crazy person only thinks they're getting saner," Jack replied, quoting the same words Locke had said to him, too.
Charlie smiled and studied his feet. "I miss Claire. Without her…I'm nothing. I'd barely met her and…"
Something interrupted Charlie's statement. Twigs snapped, leaves crinkled. Someone was coming. Charlie and Jack both turned to face the dark, mysterious woods. Two figures were coming towards them, and it looked like they were holding something big.
The two figures slowly appeared, and they were holding someone else. Charlie squinted and saw that it was Boone and Locke carrying…
"CLAIRE!" Charlie exclaimed, running over to her. Her face was red and dirty, her clothes torn and caked with mud. Claire gave Charlie a look, almost as if she were seeing him for the first time. But then a single tear ran down her cheek. "Charlie…" She whispered.