Chapter 2

Three weeks went by. Every other night Claire had a nightmare. That was the least of Charlie's worries. Every time he went out, no matter how many times he asked her, she would refuse to step outside the door. Not even when Charlie went to buy a crib for Aaron. Every time it was a different excuse: either too tired, or just couldn't miss this documentary on migratory seagulls, or many other cliché responses. He was getting tired of not knowing why she was acting this way.

Something happened before she showed up at his doorstep, and whatever it was, he was going to find out. Sure, he didn't want to push her, but not few were the times he caught her crying around the house and there were the mysterious nightmares. He couldn't let her keep suffering in silence. He still felt like he had to keep his promise that he'd take care of her.

One night after dinner, he walked up to her while she was watching TV "Hey. Is Aaron asleep?"

"Yeah, he's probably down for the night." Charlie sat on the couch next to her.

"So... I was thinking that tomorrow maybe you, me and Aaron could go to the park..."

"No," she cut him off. He sighed.

"Claire, you've been here for almost a month. You have these crazy nightmares. You refuse to go outside and I don't have a clue why you're acting this way. What's out there that's scaring you so much?"

Silence.

"Don't you think I have the right to know?"

More silence.

"Claire..."

That's when she started to cry. So much that Charlie had to turn off the TV; the laugh track from the sitcom she was watching suddenly seemed too cruel. He mentally kicked himself. That was why he wasn't pushing her. "You know what? You don't have to tell me," he said, guiltily.

"No, you - you're right," Claire said between sobs. She calmed herself down before starting her tale.

"When we got rescued, and I lost you and everybody else at that airport, Thomas – that's Aaron's father – he found me. And I kinda got stuck with him. I don't even know how... and he was different. Still a jerk, but now... an obsessive jerk." She sighed, trying to fight back the newly formed tears. "He was angry all the time. And he didn't let me do anything. I stayed 10 months at home. He was afraid that I'd run away if I went out" She laughed humorlessly "He was right.

"Then one day... we had a huge fight. He was out of control. I thought he was going to... I got scared, I didn't know what else to do... what if he tried to hurt Aaron?" Her voice cracked and Charlie put a hand on her shoulder, urging her on.

"I-I got it from the nightstand. It wasn't mine, I didn't mean to..."

"What? You didn't mean to what?"

"I shot him. He's – he's dead." She barely finished her sentence before she started sobbing again. Now it made sense to Charlie everything that she was doing. He knew very well that PTSD was a hard thing to deal with. So he reached out and held her, just letting her cry.

"They know I did it, I just know they're after me! I can't go out, they'll find me..."

"Don't worry, they won't get you. I promise."

"How can you say that?"

"I won't let them."

"So... are you still letting me stay?" She asked, surprised.

"Of course I am."

"Why?"

His expression turned dark "Because I know how it feels."

Then Claire remembered about Ethan. Charlie knew what it was like to kill someone who's hurting you. It wasn't even because of that she reached for him.

"Claire... why did you come to me? Of all people?"

She didn't know what to answer. She didn't even know why. Something just told her she'd be safer with Charlie. So she just scooted closer to him and cried.

"Right. How about we go to sleep now?" He felt her nod against his chest.

Later that night, Charlie was lying on his bed, eyes closed but still not asleep. To think that Claire – perfect, sweet, innocent little Claire – could take someone's life... hell, to think she'd ever wield a gun, somehow made him sleepless. He felt like everything he knew was wrong. And now he was hiding a witness to an unsolved crime in his house and he didn't even care. He felt more connected to her now than he ever did on the island. He wasn't gonna let anyone take her away from him. Not again.

He froze when he heard the door opening. It took a moment for the person to walk in. In slow, light steps, as if not to wake him, the person approached the bed. Charlie was scarred beyond his mind, thinking it was a burglar, or even a cop. He almost jumped in fight when the person climbed in the bed and scooted closer to him.

"I couldn't sleep." It was just Claire. Now he felt stupid for thinking a burglar would climb in bed with him. He relaxed and held her closer.

"'Sokay, love. You can sleep now. I won't let anyone get to you." Then he thought about the last time he said that. Claire got kidnapped and god only knows what they did to her. What if the same happened now? What if they just hid here and one day they find her? He couldn't let that happen. No one was taking her from him. They couldn't stay here to be found.

They had to run.

"Don't worry, Claire. I'll take care of you. I love you." He blurted it out without thinking. He froze once again. He didn't even know he felt that way. Luckily, when he looked down at her, she was already asleep. "Okay. Goodnight, love."

Somehow, a part of him was disappointed that she didn't listen.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! And I'm sorry about the Thomas thing... lol