I cannot believe I lived through a plane crash. Not only myself, but also my unborn baby. I cannot believe I'm stuck on a deserted island with almost four dozen strangers. I cannot believe I was kidnapped by this bad man, and escaped only to have amnesia. The one thing I cannot believe the most is I've fallen in love.
For three months, I thought I had found someone I might want to spend the rest of my life with. When I first met Thomas at a friend's party, he was shy and attentive. He was a painter, and I enjoyed hearing him talk about the great works of his favorite artist. He was so passinate about his work. I found myself really liking him.
We started dating, and our relatioship became intense very quickly. Before I knew it, I was pregnant. I had mentioned once to Thomas about wanting children. He started fidgeting and said it was a lot of commitment. I knew he didn't want kids, but he had looked into my eyes with such sweetness and told me we could make it work. I believed him.
One day, Thomas snapped. He left me, alone and pregnant. I hoped deep down that he'd come back, but after a week, I didn't care anymore. I couldn't support a child, so putting it up for adoption was best for it.
Then my plane crashed and I met Charlie. He was twitchy and odd, but looked at me without fear like I was a person instead of a ticking timebomb of responsibity. He took care of me, made sure I was comfortable and safe and not lonely. He never asked anything in return expect for my friendship. He even killed a man to keep me safe. It scared me when he did it, but somewhere deep inside I knew I could trust him. He would take care of me, and he has.
"Answer me one question," I say to Charlie while we sit alone by the fire late one night as my son feeds on me under a blanket.
Charlie looks over at me, and he sees me. He always sees me. "What's that, luv?"
"How is it that a rock star who had a number one song, who probably had girls flopping all over him, who had everything..."
"I didn't have everything."
"Okay, maybe not everything."
"You forgot to mention the drug addiction."
"Charlie!" I hiss, pinning him with a glare. "You overcame that. Besides, you were just a good guy on the wrong path. It happens. Look at me, a good girl on the path of stupidity."
"You're not stupid, Claire."
"And you're not a drug addict anymore."
Charlie laughs softly, and rubs my back as my son seems to be falling asleep against my breast. "All right, we're even."
"Do you understand where I was going?"
"Not really, Claire, but go on."
"Why did you choose a single, eight month pregnant woman when you could have gone after nearly any woman on this island?"
He comtemplates my question for a moment as he stares into the fire then turned to me again. "It looked like you needed someone, and honestly, I needed someone too."
"Shannon told me you used your whole Driveshaft status on everyone, but you never used it on me. Why not?"
"Actually, I was going to use it when I approached you, but it seemed like it didn't matter after we started talking. You talked to me like I was somebody."
"Just like you looked at me like I was someone."
We mirror each other's smile.
"You know I care about you, Claire."
"I know." He didn't have to say it, but I'm glad he did. "I care about you too, Charlie."
"Not much was sacred to me before getting stranded on this island, but this word has always been and only my family has heard it from me. You and Baby Aiden are my family now, so I want to tell you - I love you."
Had I ever heard that from Thomas? I think back and realize I never did. I believe Charlie. It's different this time. I believe he cares for me, and cares for my son. I believe he loves me.
"I want you to know I won't leave you like he did."
Now out of all the things I cannot believe has happened to me, I think I can finally believe this.