Disclaimer: Not mine.

Characters: Claire, Charlie, Kate,

"This bread is so dry," said Claire as she stood in the waves swallowing the last of the dry bread. She cradled Aaron in the sling Charlie had made for her. Aaron slept soundly.

"Hey there, luv." said a familiar voice.

Claire spun around to see Charlie walking towards her with a jar of peanut butter. Claire smiled when she saw him. She walked up towards him and rapped her arms around his neck. He smiled as he gently kissed her on the lips. Claire smiled back. They sat down and watched Aaron snore a bit till Charlie removed the lid of the peanut butter. They both scooped up a big glob of it with they're fingers. Claire giggled as the taste of the peanut butter slowly melted on her tongue. Charlie smiled at her delight. Claire looked back up and him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I miss you, Charlie." she finally said.

Charlie closed his eyes and kissed the top of her head. Claire reached out for his hand, embracing it tightly.

"I know ya do," he replied. "But I'm not gone, I'm still with you."

A tear trickled down Claire's cheek. Charlie quickly wiped it away and gently held her chin so that she was looking at him.

"I am never going to leave you."

Those words rung through out Claire's head.

"I'm never going to leave you…Never going to leave you…Never…Never…"

Claire awoke to Aaron's wails. She quickly ran to her son, calming him hoping that he hadn't woken up anyone else in the camp. She realized that she had been crying and wiped away her tears. She kept hearing Charlie's voice in her head, what he had said to her. Her face grew sad again and realized that it was only a dream. Charlie never walked up to her and kissed her, they never ate peanut butter, he never promised to be with her always, it was merely a dream. A dream it was, and yet, she could still taste the peanut butter and the tip of her tongue. She could still feel his warm hands brushing away her tears. She held Aaron closer to her, fighting back tears.

Claire eventually pulled herself together and walked out of her tent to get some food. She had realized how hungry she was all of a sudden. She walked over to the kitchen. She grabbed a box of cereal and poured it into a bowl. And as for Aaron, she filled the bottle with some fresh milk. Normally she would get what she needed and retreat back to her tent or the spot Charlie usually hung out. Normally no one would say a word to her. Normally.

"Hi Claire," greeted her friend Kate. Kate had been off on adventures to God knows where with Jack lately, so Claire hadn't seen her much. Claire smiled lightly.

"Hey."

"Listen Claire, do you think you could help me pick fruit today?"

Claire was a little shocked by her request. But she didn't question it. She simply nodded. Kate smiled.

"Great. Sun agreed to look after Aaron."

Kate grabbed a bottle of water and headed for the jungle. Claire gave Aaron to Sun and followed Kate.

Claire and Kate approached a mango tree. As usual, Kate would climb the tree and throw down the fruit as Claire collected the fruit on the ground. Today was no different. Kate basically did most of the talking. Claire didn't really have much to say. She simply listened to Kate talk. Not once did Kate ever mention Charlie, but that didn't stop Claire from thinking about him.

"Okay, I think that pretty good for today. Let's head back to camp." Kate said climbing down a tree.

"Okay." Claire replied simply.

Kate felt a little sad that her friend wasn't talking that much. But she didn't want to push her; she had just lost the man she loves.

"Listen," started Claire. "You go ahead; I think I'm going to walk around for a bit."

"Okay, but stay close to the camp."

Claire felt like she was a child again who was being told what not to do. But she didn't get upset, she just nodded slightly. Kate smiled back and headed back for the beach.

Claire wandered around not really doing anything. She just wanted to be away from all of the people who had pity on her. She didn't want their pity, actually that was the last thing she wanted. The more they pitied her, the more it reminded her of Charlie. The more she thought about him, the sadder she became.

Claire stopped and took a break from all of the walking she was doing. She sat down on a fallen tree and took a sip of her water. She looked around and listened to the sounds of nature. She wanted to be happy and to be at peace with the world, but she just couldn't let go. She sighed and got back up and continued walking around. She stopped for a moment when she heard the bushes rustling behind her. She slowly turned her head to see, but nothing was there. She turned back around and slowly started walking again.

"Hello, Claire,"

Claire froze. She turned back around to see who it was behind her. She gasped and raised her hand to her mouth as she backed up and almost burst into tears.

"Ch-Charlie?" she asked in a shaky tone.

Charlie stood in front Claire in his classic jeans and tee, with one hand in his pocket. Charlie didn't have his 'DS' ring on. Claire put her hand down and walked toward Charlie. He backed up a bit.

"…Charlie, what are you doing here?"

He smiled. Then he turned around and started to walk away.

"Wait, Charlie stop!" she shouted, but Charlie was already out of site. Claire sat down on the grass, trying to realize what had just happened.