Introduction: WHAT WE DON'T KNOW

"Just because you say it's going to be alright doesn't mean it actually will be!" Charlie said, trudging after a very upset Claire. He hadn't meant to upset her like this.

Claire stopped and turned around. "I don't want this…" She exclaimed, holding his backpack out for him to take it back but he refused. "I said I don't want it."

"Claire, if something sudden happens to me, I want you to have my things!" Charlie tried to explain but she just stood there, with a plain expression. She dropped his backpack, causing the content to fall out and Claire shook her head, walking away again, leaving him there. Charlie got down on his knees and started packing the backpack again.

Getting back to her own little "tent", Claire watched Aaron sleep calmly. He didn't have to worry about the things she worried about, and he didn't have to face the bitterness or life – yet anyway. All of that calmed her, but Charlie was still on her mind. As he was quite a lot of the time, since she cared about him – a lot and not in the way friends care about each other. Her thoughts were interrupted by Sun.

"Is everything alright?" Sun asked, really meaning it as she and Claire were close.

Claire nodded and forced a smile. "Yeah, everything's perfectly fine!" She answered and Sun looked at her in disbelief. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I saw you and Charlie…" Sun said. "Did you have a fight?"

"No…" Claire began and looked down. "It's just that… Charlie thinks he's going to die."

Sun stared blankly at Claire. "Is he sick?" She asked worriedly and Claire shook her head. "Then why would he think that?"

Charlie was walking along the beach, alone, trying to listen to what Claire had told him. That everything would be alright, they would work it out together. But so far, Desmond has seen him die doing something for Claire or rescuing her. How could he be there for her, when he was destined to die once he was going to do something nice for her? Charlie sat down in the sand, watching the waves dance in front of him.

He wanted it to be him and Claire – and Aaron of course. He treated Aaron as if he was his son, and Charlie hoped Claire had realised that. Charlie had kicked the drugs for the two of them and fought his own war with his inner demons and there was so much more he'd do for Claire and Aaron – or as he liked to address them – his family.