I'm back with another update. I didn't think I'd be able to update before I left but I did. Remarkable isn't it? In this chapter Liam finally makes an appearance. I hope I made it enjoyable and funny. Remember, reviews are greatly appreciated! I'll update again when I get back from North Carolina on the 16th! My deepest sympathies go out to the victims and their families of the terrorist attacks in London, right now they need it the most.

Chapter Six

Two days later, Charlie gave Claire a day to herself to relax. He took Aaron out for awhile so Claire could do what she wanted at the apartment.

Claire decided to take a nice long bath to relax all her tired muscles. As she sat there in the tub she thought about Charlie. She smiled thinking about all the nice things he'd done for her. She also smiled because she thought he was extremely cute and how nice he was.

Claire then thought about Aaron. She knew that if Charlie and she ever hooked up she would have to tell Aaron about his real dad one of these days. She couldn't just say that Charlie was his dad and that would be the end of it. She knew that he would have some of Thomas's looks when he got older.

Claire sighed and closed her eyes. She leaned her head on the tub wall and pushed all the thoughts out of her mind.

With Charlie and Aaron…

Charlie pushed Aaron down the sidewalk in the park. He noticed that Aaron was starting to get kind of cranky so he pushed him over to a bench and picked him up out of the stroller.

"What's the matter?" he asked bouncing him slightly to calm him down. Aaron's sobs came down to a whimper as he looked up at Charlie. "Oh, I see your little trick. You just wanted me to hold you." Charlie tickled him slightly and Aaron let out a giggle.

"What a cute baby!" Charlie looked up to see a young girl in her twenties standing near them. Charlie looked down at Aaron.

"Thanks," Charlie said smiling. She walked over and sat next to him.

"Is he yours?" she asked. Charlie opened his mouth to tell the truth but then decided against it.

"Yeah, he's mine," Charlie said smiling. The girl touched Aaron's hand softly.

"He's adorable, are you a single dad? Because I love single dads," she said touching Charlie's shoulder gently. Charlie looked down at her hand. Now it was time to tell another little lie.

"Actually no, his mother's at home waiting for us. I gave her the day off today," Charlie replied. The girl frowned and removed her hand from his shoulder.

"Well, you know I noticed you weren't wearing a ring so I figured I'd asked," she said.

Charlie looked down at his ring finger and decided to throw in another lie. Claire would never know. "I left it at home this morning. I forgot to put it on."

"Oh, well bye then," she said. Charlie smiled as she walked away. He then looked down at Aaron. Aaron looked at him and then spit up on his clothes.

"Aaron!" Charlie said. He then dug into Aaron's diaper bag for a burp cloth to wipe Aaron's mouth. "Damn, I forgot it at home. We're going to have to go home and get you cleaned up."

Charlie packed up everything and put Aaron back in his stroller and proceeded to go home.

Back at the apartment…

Claire had now turned on some music to help her relax. The music was booming through the apartment and she couldn't hear anything else.

Outside the apartment, Liam pulled up in his car and looked up at the building. He walked up the elevator in the lobby and rode up to the fifth floor.

Liam walked up to Charlie's apartment door and knocked. He then heard the music and knew Charlie wouldn't be able to hear him. Liam knocked louder and yelled, "Charlie!"

There was no answer so Liam pulled out his key to Charlie's door and unlocked it. He opened the door and turned back around and locked it. He looked around to see the apartment was remotely clean.

Liam threw his jacket down on the couch and sat down on the couch. He figured he could surprise Charlie.

Claire let the water drain in the bathtub and wrapped a towel around her body and walked out to go to her bedroom.

She opened the door and proceeded to go to her bedroom when she spotted someone sitting on the couch in the living room. She screamed out loud and Liam jumped up and spotted Claire.

"Who are you?" they both said at the same time. Liam looked at Claire closely.

"You must be Claire," Liam said.

Claire nodded. "Yeah, who are you?" Liam laughed and Claire pulled the towel around her tightly.

"I'm Charlie's brother, Liam," he said. Claire sighed.

"Oh, okay. I just thought you were a burglar or something," Claire said. They both shook hands.

"Charlie told me you were beautiful, I can definitely see it," Liam said. Claire blushed and pulled the towel up on her.

The door opened again and Charlie walked in. "Claire, I forgot Aaron's…" He spotted the two of them.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked.

"I came out of the bathroom and your brother was just sitting there on the couch. He scared me to death," Claire said. Charlie smiled and took a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"It's okay, you go get dressed. I'll take care of Aaron…and my brother," Charlie said looking at him. Liam smiled.

"Okay," Claire said. She walked briskly down to her bedroom and shut the door. Charlie turned to Liam.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Charlie asked.

"I did! But she had music going really loud and she couldn't hear me!" Liam explained. "I'm sorry, how was I suppose to know she was taking a shower?"

"It's okay, you just didn't see anything I haven't seen right?" Charlie asked wiping off Aaron's mouth and getting out a new outfit for him.

"Charlie, she was wearing a towel. How could I have seen anything?" Liam asked. "Wait, you've seen a part of her body?"

"Well when she breastfeeds Aaron where else am I suppose to look?" Charlie asked. Liam laughed.

Claire walked back out, fully dressed and her hair piled on top of her head. Charlie smiled at her as he dressed Aaron.

"We haven't formally introduced ourselves. I'm Liam Pace," Liam said.

"I'm Claire Littleton; it's nice to meet you. And that's my son, Aaron," Claire said. Liam nodded. He looked over at Charlie who smiled.

Later…

"So, how did you meet her?" Liam asked. It was later that night and Charlie and Liam were out on the balcony drinking some beer and catching up.

"It was the third day on the island and I helped her with her luggage. She was very pregnant by then and I guess I felt sympathy for her," Charlie explained. "But soon, it no longer became sympathy and I fell in love."

"The only girl you've ever fallen in love with?" Liam asked.

"Yep, the only one," Charlie replied. "But I didn't start spending a lot of time with her until I quit using."

"Which I'm proud you did by the way," Liam said. "So, you witnessed a birth too?"

"Yeah, well actually I sat a little ways from where she was giving birth. One of our friends, Jin held me back. I really wanted to go sit with her and hold her hand, but I sat back. And then she had Aaron and I felt so happy," Charlie explained.

"Kind of like how a new father feels?" Liam asked. Charlie blushed.

"I guess so. I was waiting for him to come that whole first month we were on the island. She even went into false labor beside me, and can you believe I actually managed to stay calm?" Charlie asked.

"Well, I'm proud of you, you're talking like you're a loving husband and father," Liam said. Charlie looked over the city from his balcony.

"That's what I want to be, if only Claire will let me. I really love her and even though we haven't kissed or gotten close, I know I want to marry her," Charlie said.

"Just don't do anything stupid. Don't risk this relationship with her, because if you do you may never see her or Aaron again," Liam explained.

"I know, and I'm trying to give her all the time in the world but still," Charlie said. "It feels like I'm slowly deteriorating inside because of her."

"What do you mean?" Liam asked.

"Even though she's with me, she's not. She's not with me the way I want her to be with me. I want her and me to be in love," Charlie said. "It hurts because I don't have her with me."

"Yeah, I know. It's just a goal you have to reach," Liam said. Charlie nodded and took a drink of his beer.

Meanwhile, Claire had put Aaron to bed and was staring out the window at Charlie and Liam. She sighed as tears came to her eyes.

"Charlie, I love you but how do you know things won't work out?" she asked herself. She closed her eyes as the tears ran down her cheeks.

"I want to marry you, I want to hold you, I want to take care of you, I want to have kids with you," she whispered. "But what if something goes wrong and we won't be able to do that?"

Claire watched as they picked up the empty beer bottles and stood to come inside. She rushed away from the window and wiped her tears. She raced to her bedroom and threw herself under the covers.

A few minutes later, Charlie walked into her bedroom. Claire closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.

Charlie leaned down and kissed her cheek softly. "I love you Claire." Claire listened as he said the same thing to Aaron and then left the bedroom. Claire turned over and looked at the door.

She would have to tell him. Sooner or later, and Claire hoped that it would be sooner rather than later.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

This will be my last update until I get back, so I hope everyone has a safe week next week. I'll be updating within the days I get back. Please read and review while I'm gone. See you all then.

REVIEW RESPONSES

Hekate-Trivia: Of course they'll be together in the future. Maybe even in the near future. As always, thanks for the review!

Moodys-rejected-heart: It's okay you haven't updated, just have fun on vacation. As always thanks for the review!

Bailey/ ronrox101: Thanks. I still don't think I'm a great writer and I have a lot of improvement to do. But thanks for the review! I'm so glad you're a big CC shipper.

Cldysks: I'm sorry to always keep you hanging. Hopefully I didn't with this chapter. Next chapter might make you very happy. Thanks for the review!

CCLover4ever: Yeah, poor Charlie. Don't worry though; it will get better for him. Thanks for the review!

Redireas: If you like last chapter's Liam/Charlie convo, I hoped you like this one too. Again, thanks for the long review!

Inwepirate-elf: It's okay you didn't update, I know you're still reading. :) Thanks for the review!

Until next time,

Lost Hobbit