Hekate-Trivia: Lol. I'm sure your confused about the whole Liam thing. Most of the people who are readers for this chapter have read my other fics too, and Liam has always been a pretty interesting character, so ever since I brought him in on my second fic, he's kind of been kept as tradition. Kind of one of those people you love to hate. Well at least, I do. But as for the next chapter, I think Charlie is going to start trying to kick the drug habit and be a good guy for Claire and Aaron. Oh, also. I know this has been taking forever, and I'm sure the spelling is driving you crazy, but in your review you wrote " my email: I'll start editing asap" but I never actually got your address. I'm not sure what happened there, but I thought I'd let you know since the only other person who offered to bata is now on vacation, and it would be really nice to have one.

CCLover4ever: Your reveiws are always so amusing. I was expecting to be mean like the show at first and drag their relationship out, but I just couldn't help it. So yes, we have a kiss! And there's plenty more where that came from. So you can put the bat down now, I think Shannon's learned her lesson.

Lostlorenzo: Hey. Glad I could hear from you. As for Charlie and the heroine withdraw, it was a mixture of both options. For one, obviously he was in jail so theres no drugs available, but I don't think he would have been takeing it even if he could get a hold of it. You'll see in this chapter that he in fact has made the dissishion to quit, wich is good. Oh, and I'm glad you liked the ending. I was really proud of the kiss, though I was worried I might have gone a little over board. Usualy kisses don't take up four or five paragraphs, but still. I actualy had to go back and read the last paragraph to remeber what you were talking about, but I'm glad you liked it. And yes, Shannon is a meany for makeing Charlie out to be such a junkie when she's dateing Liam, but theres some stuff comeing up sood that will explaine her position a little bit better. But yeah, the altered memory is a big clue to the whole plot, so I'm glad you brought up that question. Well, this thing is getting super long, so i'm gonna wrap it up. But yeah, great to hear from you and I'll be sure to throw in alot more dramaticly awsome kisses!

Deja Vu

It had been Three days. Three days since he got out of jail. Three days since he'd kissed Claire. Three days since he vowed to clean himself up. Who would have thought the process would be so damn tormenting? At first, it seemed so easy. He would spend all his time with Claire and Aaron and forget all about the withdraws. Reality, in this case, was being quite the bitch.

He leaned back against his bathroom door, starring at his refection in the mirror. His eyes were dark, his skin was way to pale, his hair was a mess. He was a mess. Throwing up once every hour and shaking like a leaf. He wouldn't let Claire see him like this. He sighed and leaned his head back against the door, slowly closing his eyes.

How long was it gonna take before all this stopped and he could see Claire again? At the moment it seemed like they would last for ever. He pushed off the wall and walked too the sink, splashing himself a few times to keep awake. It wasn't working to well. Not that he could actually sleep. His mind was exhausted, but his body was wide awake. He'd turned into a walking contradiction.

The sound of a phone ringing in his living room startled him at first. Quickly, he opened the door and went out to answer it. "Hello?" He answered, his voice a little off tune. "Charlie?" He recognized Claire's voice immediately, smiling at the familiar sound. Just hearing her made him feel ten times better, even if he didn't exactly like her tone. She sounded concerned, and he knew exactly why.

"Hey luv" He replied, dropping to the couch and muffling a cough so that she wouldn't hear. " I'm a little worried. I haven't heard from you in three days" She explained directly, the worry in her voice very unsettling.

"Yeah, I know. I'm kind of sick" He explained with a gulp, already feeling guilty for lying. But what else could he say? "Oh..." she spoke up quietly after a moment, and for a second Charlie wondered if she could tell that he was lying. Then he heard Shannon's voice in the background and knew she'd just trailed off. He sighed in slight relief, though he didn't actually feel any better.

"Sorry about that" She explained apologetically after finishing her conversation with Shannon, which had only taken about a minute. "No problem" He assured, understandingly. "So, what do you have? Cold, flew, fever, Cancer, the pelage?" Claire questioned sarcastically, laughing a little in her own amusement.

"A little bit of everything" He replied playfully, hopping to laugh, but coughed instead. "Aw, you poor thing" Claire teased, "Have you seen a doctor?"

"Nope" He replied honestly, deciding to lay down. Sitting up for to long made him dizzy. "Why not?" She questioned, sounding quite like a mother. "Not necessary. Its just a cold, it'll be gone in another day or two" He explained, reassuringly. "But if you go to a doctor, you can get medicine, and then it won't take as long to recover" Claire explained persistently.

"Well, that may be true. But I also have no way of getting there" He explained, cringing once again at his own ability to lie. How he was managing to pull it off so well, he didn't know. "I could take you" She offered openly. "I don't want to get you sick" He replied, in contradiction.

"I have a good immune system" Claire explained. "Yeah, but Aaron doesn't. Then you'd just be passing it on to him" Charlie reminded, hopping he may have finally found a dead end. "You really don't like doctors, do you?" She questioned teasingly, finally giving in. "Not particularly, no" He replied with a laugh.

"All right, Well...I was just checking in. Making sure you weren't, you know, dead" Claire explained sarcastically, laughing once again. "Nope, fraid not" He replied jokingly, feeling a smile prick at his cheeks. "All right, well I've got to go. Aaron is fussing again" She added, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"All right" He replied, understandingly, though he didn't really want her to go. "Oh, and Charlie?" She spoke up, her voice a little bit quieter. "Yeah, luv?" He questioned, a little bit worried at her sudden drop of humor. "Get better, Ok? I miss you" She explained hopefully, and he could just imagine the look on her face.

"I will, luv. I promise. I'll be back in action before you know it" He assured playfully, trying hard to keep a normal tone with a knot in the back of his throat. The two said their initial good byes and hung up, leaving Charlie with an overwhelming since of guilt. How could a simple lie be such a strain? He'd spent his whole life lying to people. Women, family, himself, it never seemed to bother him before. But this was different. This was Claire.

He laid back on the couch and put his hand behind his head, the other one resting across his stomach along with the silent phone. He closed his eyes and breathed out a sigh, leaving the rest of the room to linger in silence. Only the soft tapping of his fingers against the back of the phone breaking through the utter quiet, magnifying the sound so that it pounded in Charlie's ears. Making it impossible to focus on any other thought except the repetitive tap, tap, tap...

"Sir?" A women's voice startled him, causing him to jump in his seat. He'd been fidgeting, badly. Absentmindedly playing with his ring, tapping it rapidly against the arm of his chair to keep his mind of his own paranoia, witch was growing every second on the crowded plain. He looked up at the women with glassy blue eyes that did a very poor job in hiding his fear.

"Are you all right, sir?" The Australian flight attendant questioned, looking him over in concern. Great, just what he needed. It wasn't bad enough he was having withdraws, and tweaking out of his mind in paranoia, but now he had to get bloody stewardess on his ass. So much for flying second class.

"I'm fine, thank you" He assured, trying to sound casual. "Are you sure?" She questioned, eyeing him skeptically. "I'm fine" He repeated insistently, giving her a rather forceful look. His palms were sweating. A heavy lump had formed in the back of his throat. He could feel the sweat bedding at his temples, as well as any where else you could find a pulse. The nerves making his cravings teen times worse. Now his veins were actually begging for it. It would only get worse from here.

Momentarily, the women was distracted by an announcement being made over head. He took the opportunity of having her distracted and quickly undid his seat belt. He hopped to his feet and began quickly moving down the aisle, his heart pounding in his chest. "Sir!" He heard the women call from behind him, but quickly ignored it. He stooped at the first path room and shook the handle. Locked. Damn it.

He looked back over the shoulder, finding the stewardess along with a few others now on his tail. Shit. Just as he expected. He quickly moved on, cutting across a center row of seats and tripping slightly over a bag on the floor. "Excuse me" a bratty voice exclaimed, but he ignored it and kept going. Finally, he came upon the next bathroom. Luckily for him, this one was open.

He snuck inside and locked the door, checking to make sure it was secure before slipping off his shoe and pulling out the little baggy. He stared at it as it shock between his pointer and thumb, his whole body trembling at the sight. He wanted it. He needed it. He couldn't bare to lose it all. But keeping it was to much of a risk. One little baggy wasn't worth getting arested...was it?

Just a taste, he decided, quickly fumbling to get it open. Slowly, he dipped his finger in and pressed the gritty little powder to his gums, feeling them go numb instantly. Right away, the small tingly feeling rushed through his body. The good kind. The kind that just made you want to lay back and feel yourself move all over the place without actually moving one inch. He closed his eyes for a moment, savoring it.

When he opened his eyes again, he was face to face with his own dazed expression in the mirror. The distant look on his own unfamiliar face was sobering. Just enough to snap him back to reality. Pretty soon they'd be banging at the door. He had to get rid of it. He let out a deep sigh and held the baggy out over the toilet, closing his eyes tight. He didn't want to see it go. He couldn't watch. Just as it slipped out of his fingers, he felt the floor shake beneath him.

He lost his balance and stumbled back into the wall, feeling his back hit it hard. Before he could even regain his balance, the tiny room shook again, sending him up into the air and slamming hard against the ceiling. He dropped to the floor an instant later, looking up in confusion. It didn't take him long to figure out what was going on. Quickly he stumbled for the door and got it open, falling out into the aisle as a result of another turmoil. A suit case came sliding down the aisle, headed straight for him. Somehow, he managed to dodge it, but just by a few inches.

Taking no time to recover, he scrambled to the first empty seat he could find and strapped himself in. Breathing traumatically as he held the oxygen mask to his face. As he squeezed his eyes shut all, all he could do to get rid of the sounds of shredding metal and painful screams was to focus on his own heart beat, pounding rapidly in his chest.

His eyes snapped open, chest still pounding. He was clearly no longer on that awful plain. He breathed heavily, looking down at himself in confushion, trying hard to figure out what had just happened. The phone rinnged on his chest, the harsh sound burning his ears and makeing him jump up franticly. The phone rolled onto his lap as he sat up in startlement, stareing down at it with whide eyes.

He took a few deeps breath again before he decided to answer. "Hello?" He answered, his vocie trembling in his troat. "Charlie! How've you been?" Liam's voice boomed on the other end. Charlie sighed and leaned back into the couch, letting out a sigh of releif. "Fucking miserable, thank you" He replied moodily, laying his head back agenst the arm rest a little to hard and mubling a curse under his breath as he sat back up, rubbing it angrily.

"How come? Your girlfriend dump you already?" Liam teased sarcasticly. "What do you want?" Charlie grumbled, cutting to the subject. He wasnt in the mood to joke around. "Well, someone put their cranky pants on backwards this morning" Liam noted playfully, competly oblivious to Charlie's annoyance. As usual.

"Liam..." He sighed, scoldingly, to tired to sit around and play games. "Alright, alright. I was just calling to make sure you bring you ass down to the club tonight" Liam explained, finally getting to business. "What club? What are you talking about?" Charlie questioned in confusion.

"Uh, hello? We have a show tonight" Liam exclaimed in reminder. "Fuck..." Charlie muttered, he was right. He'd forgotten all about work. "What? Your gonna be here right?" Liam questioned insistently, a hint of panic rising in his voice. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be there" Charlie assured with a sighed, running his fingers through his messy hair.

"Alright, good" Liam confirmed, letting out a sigh of relief. "When am I supose to be there?" Charlie questioned tiredly, unable to remember. "Eight o'clock. That gives you about five hours to get your shit together" Liam explained teasingly. "Alright" Charlie nodded, cradling his head in his hands. "Alright" Liam replied, and hung up the phone.

Charlie pressed the hang up button and let the phone drop to the floor before laying back against the couch. He was in no shape to leave the house. Tonight was going to be hell. He could feel it. He sighed once again and pushed himself to his feet, slowly staggering to the bath room and closing the door behind him. He pulled off his wife beater and dropped his sweat pants before climbing into the shower.

The cold water shook him a bit at first, and for a while he thought it might actually wake him up. But once his body got used to the chill, he grew tired once again. Not much of the hot water was working. Someone upstairs must be running water as well.

By the time he got back out again, he was shivering. He quickly dried off and pulled the towel around his waist, catching another glance in the mirror and hopping to see some improvement. No such luck. He still looked like crap, but now he just looked like crap with wet hair. Annoyed at this fact, he moved out of the bath room and into his bed room to get dressed. He decided to do this without looking himself over in the mirror in order to avoid any self conflict.

All the while as he began fumbling for his cloths, he stared at his bed. It looked so good right now. He wanted nothing more than to just throw himself under the covers in a warm little cocoon and sleep his addiction away. After a moment of starring at the empty white bed longingly, he forced himself to look away. He needed to concentrate, even if it was on something as small as getting dressed.

With more effort then necessary, he managed to get the cloths on. Nothing special. Just jeans and a t shirt. Normally for a show he would go all out. Nail polish, eye liner, nice cloths, he always wanted to look great for the crowd. At this point, he didn't care. It wasn't a crowd worth impressing. Just a heard of low life's like him. Charlie cringed at the thought.

No, I'm not like them. I'm getting better. He reminded himself as he walked back into the living room. He didn't feel any better. Hell, he probably felt a hell of a lot worse then half the junkies out there who were high off their asses right now and laughing easy. But Charlie knew he was lucky, despite the unbearable feeling he carried. He had something all of them would never have. His second chance. He had Claire.

With that thought in mind, he snatched up his keys and walked out the door. As he drove to the club, he gradually began feeling better. His hands didn't shake quite so much. It was to cold outside to be sweating, no matter how badly you needed a drug. And the thought of drugs alone had slowly started to pass away. He was feeling a whole lot better.

When he finally made it to the club he was surprised to find that it was in fact not a complete piss-whole like the other clubs they usually played. It was very big, very modern, and very crowded. The type of place that had a line out side that wrapped around the side walk. Time's like these made Charlie very happy that he was with the bad. He hated waiting with a passion.

"Baby brother!" he heard Liam's voice call, though he was no where in sight. "Liam?" Charlie looked around in confusion. "Look up!" The familiar and slightly inebriated voice instructed. Charlie did so and spotted his brother, as well as the rest of the group above him on a balcony, witch he hadn't noticed until just then. Charlie faked a smile and gave a little wave.

"What are you waiting for? Get your ass up here!" Liam insisted with a laugh, waving him with one hand, witch was keeping hold of a half empty bottle. Charlie looked around, but couldn't seem to locate the stair way. "How?" He called, looking up at his brother in confusion.

"Fly!" Liam called back playfully. Yep. He was defiantly drunk. But after a moment, Charlie felt a smile crossing his face. It had been a long time since he'd smiled over something Liam said. Usually he would just get annoyed. To caught up in his own shit to find Liam funny. "There over there" Patrick, the drummer, explained, pointing an unsteady hand in the direction of the stair case.

"Right" Charlie nodded, doubting they heard him as he turned through the crowd and began to make his way to the stairs. When he reached the top he was confronted with a very large bald man who had bouncer written all over him. He stood with his arms cross and said nothing, his look said it all. Charlie held up the little pink all-access pass that hung around his neck, his key to the city...or at least to the balcony.

The man nodded and moved aside, allowing him in. Charlie meet up with the rest of the band on the other side in the VIP section. "Baby, you made it" Liam exclaimed once Charlie came into sight, instantly throwing his arm around his shoulder and placing a bear in his hand. Charlie smiled a laughed to himself. They'd been there for half an hour and already Liam was drunk out of his mind.

"This is a great place. How did you get us booked?" Charlie questioned, turning to Patrick who was standing close by. "I have connections" he replied with a shrug and a conspicuous grin. "Ah, I see." Charlie nodded, looking down at the bottle in his hand, "So the managers female?"

The three shared a laugh and both Liam and Patrick took a sip of their bear. Charlie at first lifted his own of habit, but then took a second thought. "Well are you gonna drink that or just stair at it?" Liam questioned teasingly, making a face that only a drunk could make. "I'm not thirsty" Charlie replied, covering himself. Liam and Patrick exchanged a glance, the both broke out into laughter.

"Oh, Charlie...I love you" Liam explained, practically falling over him in a hug. "Um...thanks" Charlie replied, patting him on the back and trying not to laugh. "Well, were gonna be on in about an hour, might as well start getting our shit together" Patrick suggested, always the first to get down to business. "Excellent notion" Charlie agreed, happy to have Laim off him once again. They turned back and headed down a different set of stairs, one that lead them back stage to their equipment, and began getting everything together.

Later...

"Do you realize what were doing?" Shannon questioned, hugging herself as they walked down the side walk. Claire had been spacing out, thinking about a special you know who as the two walked side by side. She turned to Shannon with a curious look, having know clue as to what she was talking about. "Were double dating" Shannon confirmed with a laugh, keeping her arms cross. It was freezing outside and she wore nothing but a flimsy jacket over a dress that left the majority of her long legs bare.

Claire on the other hand wore jeans and a coat. Shannon would always tease her whenever they went out together, saying Claire was always over dressed. Normally Claire would reply with "No man is worth freezing over", but now her opinion had changed a bit since Charlie came along.

"What's wrong with that?" She questioned, smiling to herself. "What's wrong with you?" Shannon retorted, raising an eye brow at Claire as if she'd lost her mind. "Nothing" She replied honestly, shrugging and still carrying her dazed little grin. Shannon shook her head. "What?" Claire questioned innocently.

"Your hopeless" Shannon explained with a sigh. Claire still didn't know what she was talking about, but she decided to give in and let it go. She was in to good of a mood to worry about any skeptic criticism. Gradually the two lapsed into silence. The excitement was killing Claire. She hadn't seen Charlie in three whole days, but that mind blowing kiss had been etched in her mind ever since. It took her breath away just thinking about it.

"I need to get you a string" Shannon noted, teasingly, once again catching Claire's attention. "A string?" Claire questioned, eyeing her in confusion. "Yeah, so you don't float away" Shannon explained, giving her a playful nudge. "I'm not ... floating" Claire defended, blushing a little from Shannon's comment. Or had she been blushing all along?

"Oh, ok" Shannon rolled her eyes skeptically. "I'm just...nervous" Claire explained, sliding her hands into her coat pocket. "What are you nervous?" Shannon questioned curiously. "Because...Charlie doesn't know I'm gonna be here. What if...what if he wasn't sick? What if he was just...blowing me off?" Claire replied nervously. "Claire, would you come down? He likes you. Apparently he likes you a lot. So your gonna come out tonight, your gonna be brave and your gonna have fun, understood?" Shannon confirmed in a motherly tone.

Claire looked skeptically for a moment, but then slowly a smile warmed onto her face. "All right...I'll try" Claire agreed, feeling slightly reassured. "You better. I wouldn't want to have to kick your ass in three inch heels" Shannon threatened teasingly, a smile crossing her face as well. "I don't know why you where those things any ways" Claire noted, shaking her head.

"Lima has a thing for spiked heels" Shannon explained bluntly, a suggestive grin crossing her face. "Well, then...buy him a pair" Claire replied teasingly. The two shared a good laugh. Gradually, the two began lapsing into silence. Claire's mind had just began to wonder off again as they passed a bench on the side walk where a bald man sat in a heavy coat and glanced up at her. Her jaw dropped open as her eyes connected with his.

"Claire?" He questioned, looking just as astonished as her as he rose to his feet. Claire continued to stare at him in confusion. "Do you know him?" Shannon questioned, shooting Claire a strange look. Claire didn't know how to react. The only time she'd ever seen the man was in her dream, and yet he knew her name. It didn't make any since.

"Claire, do you recognize me?" He questioned, a small grin brushing onto his face. But all Claire could think of was the message he'd given her. He was your responsibility, but you gave him away. Now everyone pays the price. Frightened by what she was seeing, Claire shook her head and backed a few steps away.

"Who the hell are you?" Shannon insisted, stepping up defensively. "Shannon, calm down" He suggested, holding out his hands as if surrendering. Claire's eyes widened. "How the fuck do you know my name?" Shannon demanded aggressively. "You don't remember me do you?" He questioned to her, keeping completely calm.

"What? No, I don't remember you! I don't know you!" Shannon exclaimed. "But you do" He confirmed, ignoring Shannon's remark and turning to Claire. She didn't know what to say. She knew him, no doubt about it. He'd been in her dream. He'd spoken to her. But what could she possibly say to him? And what would Shannon think?

"I...I don't know what your talking about" She replied softly, lowering her eyes. He was convinced. "Claire, you have to listen to me. We made a mistake. We thought we were getting a second chance, but we were wrong. We cheated fate. Now we all will pay the price" He explained, holding her by her shoulders and forcing her to look at him. Claire could once again feel the connection. It wasn't any where near as strong as the kind she got from Charlie, but it was there.

"Get your hands off her!" Shannon instead, quickly breaking the silence and shoving him away. She grabbed hold of Claire's hand and lead her away. Claire walked with her willingly, looking back at the man only once before turning the corner. "Jesus Christ. How many crazy people are in this damn city?" Shannon muttered angrily as the walked at a quick pace down the side walk.

"He didn't seem crazy" Claire noted softly, still very confused. "What do you mean he didn't seem crazy? He grabbed you!" Shannon exclaimed, looking at Claire as if she were insane. "He knew our names Shannon!" Claire reminded, insistently. Shannon tried to respond, but couldn't think of anything to say. "What if he was telling the truth?" Claire asked softly, not knowing what to believe.

"No, Claire. He was crazy all right? He'd portly over heard us talking and picked up our names or something" Shannon explained, looking for the most logical explanation. Claire nodded after a moment, pretending to agree. "Now come on, lets get to that club before we get mugged" Shannon suggested, playfully. The smile returned to Claire's face and the two continued walking. After a while, they turned the corner to find an extremely long line making its way down the block.

"Please tell me that's not where we're going" Claire spoke up, looking at the line in fear. "Yep" Shannon confirmed with a grin. "Shan, It'll take hours before we get inside!" Claire exclaimed in annoyance. "Well, yeah, if we were waiting in line. But your forgetting, you and I are very important people" Shannon reminded playfully, lifting to back stage passes out of her purse. The two both grinned and headed to the front of the line.

Later...

The show was amazing. It had been so long since Charlie'd played for a decent crowd. Normally they only played bars full of drunks and coke heads who were more concerned about hooking them up then hearing they're music. But the people here not only listened, but responded. He could still hear them cheering as he walked off stage. The adrenaline rush was amazing. He was shaking all over. Who needs drugs when you had a feeling like this?

"That was fucking fantastic!" Liam exclaimed, feeling the high as well, though his may have partially been drug related. But Charlie's was all his own. He hadn't even drank anything from the bottle Lima had given him early. He was completely sober, and happy. He hadn't been able to say that since...he couldn't even remember. The feeling was overwhelming. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

When he turned back to face his brother, he noticed he had his arms warped around someone. It didn't take him long to recognize who it was. "Liam, you guys were amazing!" Shannon exclaimed, turning her head to kiss him. The two got a little out of hand, and Charlie decided it would be in everyone's best interest to give them their privacy, even if they were in public.

He started to wonder off, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Claire. She looked gorgeous. It felt like it had been an eternity since he'd seen her. Just the sight of her took the air out of his lungs. It didn't take him long to realize he'd been starring. Embarrassed, he quickly tried to think of something to clever say, but a simple "hey" was all he could come up with.

"Hey" She replied, blushing slightly as she pulled a strand of hair back behind her ear. "I didn't know you were coming" He explained, laughing nervously. He couldn't stop starring, even if it was making her cheeks glow bright red. "Surprise" She replied with a shrug, obviously not knowing what else to say.

His smiled widened and he decided to move forward, warping his arms around her. The feeling made him blush even more, and he worried that if his smile grew any bigger his cheeks might rip. He had only meant for it to be a quick hug. A little hello. But for some reason, once he had her in his arms, he never wanted to let go.

After a moment, Claire lifted her head, smiling that mind-blowing smile as she looked up at him. He smiled back and lowered his arms, glancing away after a moment to check on his brother, who remain in the same place, both him and Shannon continuing their public display.

"Would you get a room?" Claire teased, laughing softly at Shannon, who lifted her head in surprise. "You know..thats a great Idea" Liam explained with a grin. Shannon gave her a wave and a playfully grin before following him off into the crowd. "Well..guess we wont be seeing them for a while" Claire concluded with a sigh and a hint of a laugh.

"Yep. Just you and me" Charlie nodded, feeling a little awkward. Claire beamed as she reached for his hand, a nervous grin on her face. It felt like elementary school. When the girls would catch you looking at them and then they would point and giggle. Back then it was just humiliating, but now...

"Where are we going?" Charlie questioned curiously as she lead him through the crowd. "Well, were in a club witch is blaring music, witch everyone around us is dancing two, so I thought we might as well join the crowd" Claire suggested, turning face him with a playful smile. "Oh, no" Charlie shook his head, "I only dance when I'm very happy, and very drunk"

"Well...In that case" Claire reached over to the bar witch conveniently sat a foot or so away and grabbed two bottle off the top. "Drink" She instructed, placing one in his hands. He stared at it for a moment, considering the idea. After all the years of being in a band he'd learned to hold his alcohol, so one bottle wouldn't do much harm. And after all, it was Claire's idea. And the look she was giving him was very persuasive.

"Cheers" He grinned and tapped his bottle to hers. "So, exactly how drunk do you have to be" She questioned, raising an eye brow after she took a sip. "Well, its not necessarily the drunk part you should be worried about, luv" He explained, and playful grin across his face. "What? Your not happy?" She asked playfully, crossing her arms as if offended.

"Oh I'm happy " Charlie assured, taking a step forward and closing the space between them. "But...not happy enough to dance." He added, smiling suggestively as he tilted his head to the side. "well, in that case..." Claire finished another sip of her bear before sliding her arms around his neck and leaning up to kiss him.

His arms instantly wrapped around her waist, pulling her as close to him as he possibly could. It was just as passionate and just as powerful as the last, although the attitude was much different. He felt like a toddler. The way little kids come upon a new place with all the happiness and excitement in the world.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so openly and honestly happy. Claire had a power over him no one else could match. He pressed his forehead to hers after his lip parted, both their arms slowly lowering. After a moment, he took her hand in his and pulled her into the crowd.

end
for now

We've reached quite the turning point in this chapter I think. Some big clues are starting to show up. I was worried if I got to far into Charlie and Claire's relationship I might lose track of the actual plot, but I think so far we're managing. So now not only do we get to have all these big, confusing secrets unraveling, but we get to have all the cute Charlie and Claire stuff in the process! Its grand the way things turn out. Well, hope you enjoyed. Please review.